My husband is nesting

I've heard about the nesting phenomenon that overtakes women when they are expecting. I keep waiting for it to kick in - but until it does, I'm content watching Dave nest his little heart out.

I've never seen anything like this.

When we bought our home 4 years ago the plan was always to add a bathroom downstairs. I feel the need to post pictures of our current bathroom so you can understand what I'm dealing with.




I really don't feel pictures do this justice. To truly understand you have to try washing your face at a diagonal while straddling the toilet b/c your husband is simultaneously brushing his teeth in front of the sink, and has just elbowed you in the head.

Or try walking through the bathroom to the kitchen while your husband is standing in front of the sink. The only way to get by is to go through the tub/shower.

Let's just put it this way. I have to store my hair dryer and curling iron in my bedroom dresser. Does that paint a clear enough picture?

However, just saying we want to add a downstairs bath doesn't mean much. We say a lot of things like:

We should go to New Zealand!
We should start playing Tennis!
We should win the lottery and buy a ranch in Steamboat Springs!

Also - we have been known to have a real talent for starting projects, and not such a strong talent for finishing them. In fact...we first broke ground (literally) on the bathroom project last summer. Dave was in the process of painting the outside of our home, and it started to rain. So he came inside and was puttering around looking for something to do. I could tell he was bored which never means good things for our home. About 10 minutes later I heard a loud WHACK! I ran downstairs to find Dave hitting our cement floor with a sledgehammer.

Carrie - "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
Dave - "Starting on the bathroom!"
Carrie - "NOW?"
Dave - "Well...it is raining outside!"

After Dave created several large dirt holes in our basement floor the bathroom area went untouched for about 6 months. And then word of the baby hit.

Since then Dave has transformed into a workaholic. He gets to work at 7am and gets home at 4:30pm. He goes running and is home by 5:00pm. From 5:00 to 10:00pm he works on the bathroom. This has been going on for, I kid you not, THREE MONTHS.

Here is the space we planned to turn into a bathroom:



Note the furnace - right in the middle of the room. And note all the existing duct work/plumbing/drains that had to be moved to create some head room.

We paid someone to actually move the furnace to the corner and in past 3 months Dave has:

Re-done all the existing duct work for the furnace


Re-done all the existing plumbing/wiring/drains
Added new plumbing for our new washer/dryer
Installed new washer/dryer & a new utility sink
Added new floor drains for the toilet, sinks & shower


Laid new cement around the floor drains


Framed the entire bathroom


Put in all the new plumbing for the bathroom (hot & cold water supply lines)


Added a new electrical circuit for the bathroom
Ran all the new electrical wiring
Installed can lights & 3 outlets


Hung dry wall for the ceiling


Tonight he plans to hang the dry wall on the walls.

I really need to stop getting on his case for not putting his shoes away.



So this big mess of ours is beginning to actually look like a room. I'm starting to believe a new bathroom might be in our future. That is not to say we haven't had our share of set backs. There was the time Dave cut a live electrical wire which turned out to be the power source for our furnace. Luckily his wire cutters were insulated so he didn't DIE (or get shocked), but it did burn all the hair off his arm.

Today Dave and I were talking on the phone about what would come next. He said he planned to rent a paint sprayer from home depot this weekend and re-paint the entire inside of our home. You heard me right. The ceilings, the walls, the doors, the trim. He wants everything to be brand spanking new. Like I said people, the man is nesting.

I told him once he was done with his part (adding the bathroom, repainting our whole home, etc.) - I would be happy to take over. You know...I'll decorate a bit. Hang a picture or two in the new bathroom, buy a crib for the baby's room, etc.

He didn't seem too impressed.