The Last 8 Months

I'll try and give you a quick run-down of the last 8 months. Well, as quick as I can covering 8 months worth of stuff. They've been crazy with several ups and downs.


The last update was back in November after we got the "okay" on our house. Since then we have:

Celebrated Christmas

December was a crazy month. Full of packing up our things and boxing them up. Our tiny condo living room was jam packed with boxes. Christmas was, however, overshadowed by our move. We closed on the house 2 days before Christmas. We put the Christmas tree up about a week before Christmas, and took it down the day after. We didn't even have time to wrap Evan's Christmas presents. Christmas morning, we just took them out of our hiding spots and gave them to him! Poor kid. I promise, though, that his next Christmas' will be more special. Two days after Christmas was the big move. Two Men and a Truck came out and loaded up everything and made the track to the new house. We are still unpacking boxes though 8 months later! We spent our first night in our new house the next day. But we were able to spend time with family and friends. The days leading up to Christmas and after were hectic. But we had a good Christmas with many memories that will last us a life time. It was low-key and hectic all at the same time. Being that our families are so large, we had three separate celebrations to go to, and it was a great time with everyone! Below are some pictures from different family celebrations!

Heil Christmas

Evan's Aunt Becky and Cousin Brooke

Evan's Christmas morning amongst moving boxes...

Gilbert/Devine Christmas

Christmas with Evan's Poppie

Worked On the New House

Woodrot

Even though it was built in 1995, it is everything we wanted - awesome school district, good neighborhood, front yard, back yard, etc - it's ugly and needs several of repairs. The previous owners did not take care of it whatsoever. The had let the gutters overflow, which caused water damage to the siding. A large woodrot hole under the dining room window was fixed immediately. The dishwasher needed to be replaced. The garbage disposal didn't work. So we bought a new cheap sink with a garbage disposal that will do until we can get an entire kitchen remodel. So with the help of my brother-in-law, we got those taken care of. But in order to get the dishwasher out, we had to break a few tiles in the kitchen. Those will be replaced eventually, and right now we have a throw rug over the missing tiles as a quick fix. The house also needs all new windows... The driveway and back patio are sinking, so we are going to have those mudjacked. Recently, our basement flooded. We had to call Roto-Rooter out to snake the mainline, and come to find out, the pipe has settled and bellies underneath our sidewalk, about 100 feet from the house. Not an issue now, but down the road it maybe. Good news is that it is on the city's property, so any repairs that may be needed in the future will be at their cost. The front and backyard are full of weeds and crabgrass. The good thing is the owners before the previous ones planted some great annuals and we have some cool flowers popping up. The interior of the house needs to be painted since it's just blah...but Linda & I hard having a hard time trying to settle on a color for the main floor. We want to also completely replace the flooring on the main floor. The main floor living room has this dark green ugly carpet I have dubbed "The Green Monster". We will replace that with a more neutral color. There's tile in the kitchen, light colored carpet in the dining room, and light colored wood floors through the entryway into the hall and to the eat-in kitchen area. Linda & I want to pull all that tile, wood flooring and dining room carpet out and replace it with a darker cherry wood, large plank sort of wood flooring that would run consistent throughout those rooms.


We are having to live with ugly for a while. Lots of projects for this house. Seems the previous owners throughout the years loved wallpaper. The dining room was covered in nasty green (peeling) wallpaper; the kitchen had this gross orange wallpaper with a border; the main floor bathroom has this brown wallpaper that looks like leather - in a room that has no windows; the upstairs bathroom has more wallpaper and a border; the master bath has purple wallpaper in the jacuzzi part, then this tropical palm tree wallpaper in the shower/toilet part. The house had a finished walkout basement - but the previous owners had painted it brown, every wall. It felt like we were in a paper sack. In fact, I believe the paint color they chose was called "Paper Sack". I found the empty can in the basement. Linda & I chose a cool bluish-gray called "River Valley" from Behr. and that was our first project. I have since stripped the green wallpaper out of the dining room and painted it a deep blue, called "Sapphire Blue" from Behr. I then got the kitchen stripped of wallpaper and that is a light green, called "Dried Chervil" also from Behr.

Downstairs - Before

Downstairs - After

Downstairs - Evan's play area - Before

Downstair - Evan's play area - After

Dining Room - Before

Dining Room from front door looking into the kitchen - Before

Dining Room - After

Dining Room - after wallpaper had been stripped

Dining Room - After (with a paint swatch in the entry way)

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - After

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - After

Kitchen - Before

Kitchen - After

The deck was in desperate need of staining. Also, when it was built, it was only nailed to the house. Our inspection said it would need to be bolted to the structure. Got that taken care of. I spent a week staining the deck, and also got a helluva sunburn. Also the privacy fence was leaning and that had to be fixed as well.

The deck - Before

The deck - After

Back of the house - Before

Back of the house - After

We moved from a 2 bedroom, 1 bathroom, 1200 square foot condo to a 3 bedroom, 2 full / 2 half bath, 2800 square foot house. We didn't have enough furniture to fill it up. And our old couch we had to toss because Truman had destroyed it. It was leather and had taken quite a beating with Truman sleeping and drooling on it every day for the past 5 years. So we tossed it out before we moved. Linda & I needed furniture. So we bought a new sectional for the downstairs living room; and a sofa, loveseat and arm chair for the upstairs living room - the room we've dubbed "The Room We Never Use". Linda wants that to be the "formal" living room. No TV. The place we entertain. I want a TV up there. The room serves no purpose because we don't entertain a lot. Linda thinks a TV up there will cause it to be dirty? I dunno. And when we do entertain, it's not like the TV is ever on. At any rate, I digress... The previous owners had left behind some furniture - including two couches (one had a broken frame, which we had to call for a special pickup to dispose of). One of the couches has been designated as "Truman's couch" and it sits downstairs, and we just threw a slip cover over it. Truman isn't allowed on the new furniture. We have also bought a new coffee and end table; bureau to store all our TV components and DVDs; a new casual kitchen table; and patio furniture and umbrella for the deck. We also had to buy a lawnmower and weedeater.

The Room We Never Use - Before

The Room We Never Use - After with new furniture

Downstairs Living Room - with new sectional, coffee and end tables 

Casual Kitchen - with new kitchen table

Our next big project is to get the house painted; the driveway and patio need to be mudjacked; and the privacy fence powerwashed and stained.

Lost Family Members

2012 has been a rough year for us. Since January, we have attended four funerals. Never before January had I ever been a pallbearer. I have since been a pallbearer at 3 of the 4 funerals we have attended. And the last three funerals were all in the month of June. Evan has now attended two funerals in his two years of life.


My Granny passed away on January 3rd. Which also happens to be my biological mother's and sister's birthdays. Granny had suffered from Lupus for the past year and took a turn for the worst.

Evan & his Great Granny - April 2010

My Granddad passed away on June 1st. I think he missed Granny. He went in for a routine procedure, and turned out to be eaten up with cancer, slipped into a coma, and passed away 2 days later.

Evan & his Great Granddad - April 2010

Linda's Grandma died June 9th. She had suffered from severe dementia for the past several years and took a turn for the worst. She had lived a good 94 years though. Linda was very close to her Grandma, so this loss has been rough for her, along with the other losses we have suffered this year. Grandma McNally was such a sweet person, a kind soul, with a huge heart and loved everyone. I'm glad that Evan got to spend some time with her before she passed.

Evan with Linda, his Nena and Great Grandma - June 2010

My dad passed away on June 16th. He had been suffering from Pulmonary Fibrosis for the past 15 months. The day of my Granddad's funeral, we had to admit him into Hospice House. Hospice House was great and really made dad feel as comfortable as he could, given the condition he was in. My sister, Becky, and niece, Brooke, flew in from Florida and stayed with us for almost 2 weeks. Dad didn't want a big hoopla made over him when he passed away. When speaking about his funeral arrangements, he told Becky & I just to "put him in a pine box". We didn't want to do that and refused that request. Dad hardly ever spoke about his time in the Navy. But towards the end, he mentioned it more and more. He was proud of his service, but not boastful, and never looked for praise. He did request instead of a funeral spray on top of his casket, he'd like for it to be draped with a flag. When Becky & I made his arrangements, I asked the funeral director about this. She said she would be happy to get that arranged with the Navy and Dad was given military honors, a 3-Volley gun salute, Taps, and the Navy servicemen presented me with a folded up flag. It was very moving. I know it probably was morbid, but I had Linda's brother videotape the military honors...

Evan with me and his Poppie - Thankgiving 2011

Evan saying goodbye to his Poppie - June 20, 2012

Dad hardly ever drank any alcohol, but when he did, he drank Milwaukee's Best. So as a toast to him, we had some and toasted to him the night of his funeral. And Dad always put salt in his beer...so we did too!

Linda, me and my sister, Becky, toasting Milwaukee's Best in tribute to Dad.

June is a cursed month in this family apparently. From memory, I lost my Grandpa in June 1990; Linda lost her Grandpa in June 2000; my biological mom had a brain hemorrhage in June 2007; my mom died in June 2007 (a few days after my biological mom had her brain hemorrhage); then this year takes the cake with three loved ones dying. Three funerals in three weeks. Here's hoping July is a better month and 2013 is a better year. I feel like I need to put a bubble around all my friends and family. 

Had Fun with Evan

He's done great with the move and the chaos of the last 8 months. We celebrated his 2nd birthday on his birthday - April 7th. It was a great time with family and friends. He had a "Toy Story" themed birthday...the kid loves "Toy Story"...we own all three installments. 

Evan's "Toy Story" Cake

"To Infinity and Beyond!"

Life-sized Buzz Lightyear!

The Birthday Boy!

Evan, Linda & me with some of his cool toys!

Mmmmm...birthday cake!

It's amazing that two years have flown by so quickly. It's bittersweet to see him grow up and learn. I hate how quickly the time flies! Everyday brings a new adventure. He's such a goof-ball. He loves to climb. He loves to play outside. He likes to swim, but doesn't want to get his face wet. He doesn't like to have messy hands. He loves to play with his toy cars and has to take Buford with him everywhere he goes. He loves to dance. He is still a picky eater.


Last April, I enrolled him in an Aqua Tots swim program at our community center. We completed most of the course - except the last day. He loved the splash, and jump into the water for me to catch him...but wasn't a fan of going under water. I hope that changes. I wanted to get him acclimated to the water, so he wouldn't be afraid of it, in preparation for summer days at the pool... But with this past June, we haven't had much time to get there. Hoping July and August will let us get some pool days in.

Got a New Car

We decided to get rid of my 2003 Pontiac Grand Am GT for a more fuel efficient, family friendly car...so we got a 2012 Hyundai Sonata hybrid! So far, it's been a great car!

Our new 2012 Hyundai Sonata

So now you're caught up for the most part. I can't promise when Linda or I will update again, but we will try and do better!