20 weeks

(Yes, I've been meaning to start this post for the past 12 weeks...)

On July 16th, 2013 we got a little surprise. I had a feeling for the previous couple days, and the morning after Brian's birthday I woke up at 4am, eager to find out. I took the test and it was faint, I crawled back into bed...Brian stirred a little bit..."Honey...I think I'm pregnant". Brian rolled over and gave a low "No...you're not." Me, "I just took a test, I'm pregnant." now he's awake. "What!?"

Happy Birthday, Honey!

The beginning of this pregnancy felt exactly like it did with Mary, so I felt pretty confident we were having a girl. Feelings of nausea, but never really got sick. Smells were overpowering. A *Phew* was I tired the first trimester.Going through that portion of pregnancy was a TOTALLY different ballgame having a toddler to keep up with. I struggled to stay awake to go through her bedtime routine and then collapse into bed myself.

There is an awesome new test for old moms that wasn't around when I was pregnant with Mary. It's a blood test at 9 weeks that tells with over 99% accuracy if there are any chromosomal abmormalities AND it tells if you are having a boy/girl. No more waiting until 18-20 weeks!

I went to the doc by myself and found out the sex. I went out, bought cupcakes with color appropriate filling and brought them to Brian and Mary - Brian got to take the first bite and see the PINK filling! Hooray! Another girl!

I'm so excited to be able to use all the clothes again, plus with a two bedroom house, the girls can share a room for longer time now. It was so sweet the first time I heard Brian make a comment about "my girls" - I feel our family is about to be complete.

Many more updates to come between now and March 22nd.

Welcome Home McGough Family!

(Yes, this happen over the summer, I'm finally getting caught up!!) 

As I have written before, I think that houses have feelings. So much happens in a house, how can some of that not rub off on lathe and plaster? I grew up in a house that was constantly being re-stored. It all happen with care and consideration, I got to watch the house take shape as I grew up, too – so I suppose it was almost a sibling J

In the two years in our house, we have kept in touch with some of the seven kids who grew up in this house. Kathleen, Melon (Mary Ellen), Patricia, James Jr., Michael, Daniel, and Kevin. James managed his mother’s estate, and was kind enough to show up at the closing so my parents got some good stories there. Since growing up in Crystal Lake, the McGough Kids have settled all over from West ‘burbs of Chicago, to New York, to Berlin. But this summer, I got an email from Kathleen – the McGough’s were coming to town for a wedding and could they come visit the house. I couldn’t respond fast enough; YES!

We were so excited when the day came, they said they would only stay for about an hour but we had prepped, beverages and some nibbles. Five McGoughs walked up the walk, we all said “Welcome Home!” and hugged like we were old friends.

As soon as they walked in the front door and saw the rattan living room furniture, the stories began; They wound up staying for three hours and left only because they had to get ready for the wedding – I would have gladly had them longer.

Here are just a few of the stories we heard that day:

Living room furniture: Apparently they had rattan furniture that we do. Here I thought we were so original to have a tropical look in the Mid-West, but apparently, their mom had the same notion.

Screened in Porch: The order of the kids went three girls were the oldest and then four boys were the youngest. At times, the girls were assigned to watch the boys, so what did they do? Lock the boys on the front porch, and went about doing whatever they wanted to do.

Where did they all sleep? This is often a question we are asked. WHERE in the two bedroom house, did seven kids sleep. There were 14 years between the oldest and youngest and I suppose it was handy that all the girls came first and then all the boys. When they moved into the house, Kathleen was 5 and James was about a year old. All the girls were in Mary’s room until they left for school – that’s easy. The boys were a better story. There is a little room right at the top of our stairs, we have boxes and old baby clothes piled in it. It’s about 8’x8’ (which doesn’t sound so bad), but it was shaped like an “L” so remove a ¼ of the room, also subtract some ceiling space because we have a slanted ceilings because of the roof. Essentially, an adult could stand in approx. 8’x2’, however three young boy slept in here, a bed, a trundle and a crib. When the fourth boy (seventh and youngest McGough) was old enough to move out of the parents room, then two boys moved to the “music room” downstairs and the other two boys stayed in the little room upstairs.

Breakfast for 9: We’re told that Dr. McGough made much better oatmeal than Ellie. Also that breakfasts usually were a full spread of eggs, bacon and toast…for nine! There was one story I loved about old Mr. Bohl, from out on Bohl’s farm, I remember this farm on the edge of town growing up and now it’s a Target, Barnes & Noble and Chili’s. Apparently he was a character, old, dirty, and carrying a bucket of eggs with his hook where he was missing a hand. I love the story of the three girls sitting at the breakfast table in their nightgowns startled out of their wits as old Mr. Bohl walks in the backdoor carrying eggs with his hook, “Need some eggs!?”

The Music Room: What we are now re-doing as a reading room/guest room, is where Ellie had her piano, they called this the Music Room. When the room was then needed for the boy’s room, the piano was moved. I always wanted to learn to play the piano and I love thinking that there was an instrument in the house.

The Stump in the front yard: We have a large stump in the front yard, Mary uses it as her stage and does a little tap-dance on the stump. It is also used as a launch pad where we all take turns to see how far we can “JUMP!” The boys told us that this used to be a biiiiiiig silver maple that used to turn magnificent colors in the fall. They would play baseball in the summer and the boys would try to hit the ball over the tree. I’m glad to hear that no one was able to do it because I can only imagine the windows that would have been broken across the street.

Overall, we had such a nice time with them. I feel like they are extended family – which I suppose is true since we have a family member in common – our sweet house. They are welcome back any time.

There were lots of good stories around the kitchen, one being why it was once ORANGE

Michael and Kathleen in the kitchen

Kathleen reading the graffiti about her past relationships...

Michael, Melon, Patricia, Kathleen, Daniel - The McGough Kids

I love Mary peeking out the screen porch on this one - the old and the new...

Home Again

One day, Brian announced that he was partaking in a stand-up paddleboard race in Lake Geneva the following week.

Me: Really? Honey you’ve never paddled a S’up before.
Him: I know, but I’m going out with Wendell and Westy the week before and they are going to coach me.

Me: …okay…should be interesting.

I maybe didn’t approach this as a supportive wife should. I sighed heavily and said, WHEN do we have to be there? HOW long will it take? We have to wake up Mary early and leave at 6am, any time we deviate from her routine stresses me out – plus packing her activity bag, swim diapers, change of clothes, snacks, etc. just sends my mind into going over lists at 2am.

The day came of the race and we snuggled Mary in her car seat with the hopes that she would fall back asleep on the 45 min drive up there – no luck. So now, with almost 3 hours cut off of her normal sleep, I was SURE it was going to a rough day with her.

We got there quickly, found a parking spot and I walked into a familiar scene. Pop-up tents, flags, music piped through speakers interrupted by the occasional announcement, the registration table, paddlers unloading gear. The only difference was the bright colors lining the beach weren’t outrigger canoes – they were paddle boards. I was so taken by this scene, got a little teary.

Familiar sights

  We were home again – in Wisconsin. Who knew?

We set up our little spot, got out Mary’s sand toys and the Jeffries were on. Mary even swam in the fresh water a bit. The one draw back to all of her swimming lessons is that she has become a pool-girl and thinks the lake is “icky” because of the seaweed.

It came time for Brian to race, he went into typical race-mode…not the nicest of his modes. But again, it reminded me of the old days back at the outrigger events. He went out in the recreational division (about 3.5 miles) with about 55 other paddleboards – Remember, this was his second time ever on a paddle board.

Going into race mode (not always his nicest mode)

While he was out, Mary and I played more with sand toys, took a walk to the bathroom. When I could see the paddleboards start coming back, I realized our time on the meter was about to run out. Mary and I ran to the car, came back and I see Brian’s red shorts just outside the buoys – Whoops! Grab the camera and run to the finish line!

Brian was the NINTH board across the line and first in his division. Put a paddle in his hand, stick him on some sort of water vessel and the man is a machine. He was also as happy as I remember him being back in California.

Cheering on Daddy

I even went out and tried a paddle board – it felt like the first time I tried an outrigger – It felt like I was home again.

I think we may be on to something here! All along we’ve been trying to find and encourage the outriggers and now we just happen on to a society of people who are paddle-board enthusiasts. Easy to do on any size of fresh water, which is abundant in our area plus there are lots of competitions in the areas – and the Jeffries like competitions! J

On the way home, I apologized to Brian for my attitude, pre-race. I need to give him credit for how well he knows me. I get so stuck in my ways and he knew if he could pry me away, I’d see the light – and I did.

We are now in the market for a paddleboard.
 

Mother of the Year

(I hate to admit that this happen a while ago, but it deserves its own post and not just a brief re-cap)
Remember Mary cracked her tooth? Remember we got it fixed?

A little over a month after we got it fixed, Mary and I were at Target. Each time we go, she insists on getting a food pouch for a treat, this time it was a new flavor with raspberries in it. Halfway through the shopping trip, she said “Something in my mouth” I was sure it was just a raspberry seed. When I held up my hand for her to spit it out, she stuck out her tongue and there was the portion of her tooth that had been fixed. Damn - nice goin' "Mother of the Year".

That same day when she was lying on the changing table, it looked like her nose was crooked. She also kept commenting that her tooth hurt, but I waved it off that it had a sharp edge and that she had bitten her lip or tongue. That night she was up every hour screaming that her mouth hurt, again thought it was because she bit her tongue.

The next morning we had French toast, when Mary tried to bite into a piece, she took it out of her mouth and said “this hurt my tooth” – that’s when I knew something may actually be up. I peeked inside her mouth and her gums were so swollen the tooth on the outside of her broken tooth was almost covered by her bright red gum. Uh-oh.

We gave her Tylenol and had another rough night. The next morning was Monday, I went to work and Brian called the dentist, they could get her in at 11:30am. The blessed Dr. Bloom took a look at her and then marched her up stairs to the oral surgeon. The tooth was coming out. This is where a working mom panics, clears the calendar, forwards the office phone and runs out to the car. It was a long drive home – Surgery? She had to have oral surgery? How does this get performed on such a little mouth?

It turns out when she smacked her tooth way back in February, an infection started and now it was full blown yucky. Apparently it is common for toddlers to have this.

When I got to the doctor’s office. I went to the desk to tell them I was Mary’s mom. I was sure she was mid-procedure, wasn’t sure if she would be sedated, so I told them I would just be in the waiting room. Instead they showed me back to the room where Brian had a sleeping Mary in his arms. When I asked Brian “What did they give her” he told me “nothing” she was just so exhausted from all the pain, that she was sound asleep sitting up in his arms.

I was there for about a minute and she woke up and wanted me to hold her. She had stickers all over her front from all of the nice nurses J I peeked in her mouth again and the tooth that had been chipped and about half the size of the healthy tooth was now hanging down past the healthy teeth – Her little body was trying to push this yucky tooth out.

It turns out that the crooked nose, the cap falling out, the complaining of a hurt tooth was all this infection starting and I shrugged it off...yes, I am "Mother of the Year".

The nurse came back and had a topical on the end of a long q-tip, she told me to rub it on the inside and outside of her gum by the hurt tooth, but it would make her whole mouth numb. A few minutes after I did, Mary was blowing bubbles from her numb lips. She sat up shook her head and said, “I all bettah!” Almost, little one.

Then the doctor came in, said this will only take a few minutes and they would bring her out to the room. Brian stayed and lingered in the room a bit – I don’t think he got the message that we were supposed to go. I get it, a little one will follow instructions better from others when mom or dad isn’t around. We went to the waiting room for maybe 5 min – they came and brought us to the recovery area and brought out Mary with a little blood on the corner of her mouth. I can't imagine they had to pull too hard on a tooth that was already most of the way out.

As soon as she saw us she started crying (exactly why we weren’t in the room!). We sat for a moment in the recovery area, but I didn’t want her crying to freak out the other patients, so we went out to the car.

It was an unusually hot day, so I sent Brian in the Jeep to go get motrin and I cranked the air and held Mary in the front seat. What is a little funny is that there is a Pediatric dentist in the same building. So while I’m holding Mary in the car SCREAMING, these kids are showing up and nervously walking into the office…oh, dear. When I finally did move her to her car seat she fell asleep within a mile of the drive.

We went home, she slept a lot, we ate ice cream and she got to watch all the Caillou she wanted.

She was a good little patient.

Our exhausted little Mary after having her tooth pulled.

I kinda like it now with the tooth totally gone, she just looks like a little kid now.

Bad Blogger! Bad!

UGH, the time has slipped away from me again, work has been the busiest of my life and the light at the end of the tunnel is getting closer - I have so many posts that I have started and vow to get posted soon. I HAVE to get caught up - SO much to tell :)

Whoops...

I seem to have lost a month. If anyone finds it, that would be great. So a quick synopsis:

• The week after my last post, I worked 60 or so hours and was ignoring a sore throat.
• The next week Brian left for a week to go to California for the first outrigger race of the year, Mary stayed with my parents for three days and I was sick, sick, sick. My voice was completely gone, but my clients were not - I still had so much work to do. Luckily I could do most of it from home.
• This same week, I took Friday off and was feeling better enough to spend the day with Mary. We went to an open gym play time at a gymnastics gym with some friends and Mary had a BALL. Jumping on trampolines, hanging from bars, sliding down slides. But the best part was a trampoline that was like a runway and ended at the edge of a large pit of foam blocks. Mary bounced her way down the run way and stood there - No, it's a 6' drop, she wouldn't jump in there by herself - YUP, she did! After the first jump, that's all she wanted to do. It was so fun to spend the day with her and not have to go grocery shopping or do errands like I have to on the weekend.
• Brian was asked back to race with Hokuloa - the club that brought us together. Since he raced with at the last race last year and now went back for the first race this year - there were probably some people who think he never left :) He had a great time and came home with a medal. I'm so glad he can go back, it makes being so far from California all the easier.
• Work, work, work. Okay, the overtime is great, but it's starting to wear on me. I still love the job and the people and the work - but I don't have enough energy at the end of the day to work out, cook dinner or write entries...I DO feel that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, it will lighten up hopefully starting this week when many people are out on vacation during the week of Memorial Day.
• Other than that, Spring came, we planted posies, painted Mary's room, Brian is making progress on the woodwork in the dining room. Some other big things happen but I'll have some future posts devoted to them - for now, here are the pics from the missing month.



Mary helping to plant lantana out front - they get so big around the tree



She has really liked helping out in the yard this year - makes gardening a lot easier!



Someone has started to pick out her own outfits :)



The FREEZE Opened for the summer -Woo-HO! Cheese fries and ice cream for lunch!



Some one wasn't too keen on sharing the cheese fries.



Sitting outside The Freeze - I used to ride my bike here when I was little - so fun to see Mary here now.



Brian heading off to California



The "before" picture of Mary's Room



...and after...



So pretty! I'm so pleased. to have a cute room for my little girl.



Mary loved it. For weeks she would say "my room painted" and she would go hug the walls.



First time playing with play doh



I showed her how to make worms :)



All the woodwork off the dining room and is re-finished. Brian is repairing the walls and then we can paint and put it back up! So exciting to see progress.






The wood work will match the re-finished door you can see. Years and years of paint to remove
I can't wait to see it all together. Brian is doing such a great job!






Mary gave a dollar to the veterans and got to pick out a flag.
Now when we go to the grocery store, she asks where the nice man is.






First time painting fingernails!






...and toes, too!



Brian clearing brush from the back of the house - he's busy, busy, busy






Trimming trees in the back - he did it all with a handsaw...






Play date and lunch out with friends when I took a day off!






Brave Mary finally went down the tube slide - it was a little too loud in there and she was nervous at first.







Me finally feeling better :)

It's GONE

Lonely front steps

When I drive to work, I take some smaller back roads that go through farmland. There is one little farm where a house in the distance often captured my attention. A cute square house with a small curved roof over the front door, a broken windmill stood behind it and a blanket of cornfield infront of it. When I see homes like this, I imagine when it was first built. The first family who was so proud to live there – able to truly see the fruits of their hard work manifest into a roof over their head, food on the table.

I admired this house to and from work every day until one day I almost drove off the road.

It was GONE! A backhoe sat next to where it used to be. My heart broke.

I have always felt like things have feelings, I always felt bad when I would get rid of toys, even books because they were something I loved, and I couldn't cast aside something I loved. My mom always said I was the kid who would come home from the fair with the one-eyed goldfish - it's true, I always would feel bad for the one eyed goldfish because no one else would pick him, so I gave him a home.

The same goes for homes. So much happens in a home, love, laughter, frustrations, spirit. How can you just demo that?

Brian and I have been kicking around the idea of starting a business. Architectural Salvage. Especially now while we are trying to find items for our house, the closest true salvage place is in Chicago, or Milwaukee or Madison, WI. I've talked to a few people and they have said that this area could USE something like this. After seeing the house above, I knew we had to do something. Just think of the items, the craftsmanship that was lost in a dumpster. So, game on.

After deliberatinng on names, for many reason we have decided that the most appropriate name is:

AMERICAN SEARCH & SALVAGE

My Dad is working on a logo now. More to come.