Missing Wisconsin

Happy Summer Holiday!

Our families are such a blessing. We had a great time back home and are slowly getting back into the swing of things on the West coast. The time change is a nuisance but Greyson is his usual resilient self and adjusting just fine. We'll share some pictures and stories but want to bullet the list of things we miss the most about Wisconsin.

• Fried cheese curds should be a food group
• Fields and lawns and land!
• Indoor waterparks are great entertainment
• Nothing compares to a sunny day on the Minocqua chain
• Culver's custard should be a food group
• Our families! We got to see our parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, nieces and nephews. We just wish we had more time.
• Soft pretzels and cheese should be a food group
• Beer Can Island (need we say more?)

The work of Brian Letarski and crew- casa de la Guenther

Mike & Grey on a jet ski ride

Bria and Grey were inseparable

Sunset on the 4th of July

A bagpipe band at the Yacht Club?

Greyson kept our families entertained and didn't disappoint. He strummed his air guitar, sang original songs ("It's time to take a nap") and suckered his cousins into playing a game he calls "Wolf Cub" (he's the wolf, you're the cub). I can't believe the 4th has come and gone. The week went by way too fast! The rest of the summer will fly by as we prepare to move in a month (we did find a house just 2 blocks from our current location), anticipate a visit from the Johnsons in late August and then the birth of baby boy Guenther in November. We miss all of you very much!

What do we Do?

Greyson is now at the age where he frequently asks us a) "are you going to work?" and b) "do you have to go to work?". I remember my neighbor, Dawn, telling me that time would come and she was right...it's not easy when your child asks you not to go.

What we've explained to Grey is that we work so that he can eat his favorite foods, sleep in a warm bed and get an occasional Matchbox car from Target. Internally, Mike is thinking about childcare, sports equipment, tuition, and any other investment that might reap benefits for us sometime down the road. Anyway, it's a conversation that any family with one or more working parents has to have with their children at some point. What I can tell you is that we're working to do all of the above but also because we get some satisfaction (most of the time) out of it as well. Many of you have asked what exactly it is that we do so this post is a high-level attempt to explain it.

Mike works for Salient Surgical Technologies, a medical device company based in New Hampshire that manufactures the Aquamantys, a device that controls blood loss during hip, knee, spine and organ surgeries. The other question he frequently gets is "how did you get into med device?", which can be difficult if you don't have a background in biology and/or an ancillary industry. When Mike graduated from Ripon, he was hired by Sysco Foods. In a nutshell, he sold food to restaurants and he did pretty well at it and in his 2nd year, won a trip to St. Lucia. On that trip, we met John Lauer and his girlfriend Maria. John was a Regional Manager for Stryker Medical. We made fast friends with them and when we got home, John called Mike and asked if he'd be interested in interviewing for a position with Stryker, selling capital equipment to hospitals. It goes to show you that the old adage is true, "it's who you know". 8 or so years later, John left Stryker and then called Mike and asked him to come and work for him again, at Salient. So, Mike sells the Aquamantys to orthopedic surgeons. He's often in scrubs, in the OR, observing and assisting with his device (yes, sales guys really do assist). He's usually out of the house really early in the morning and back in his home office in the afternoon. When we transferred to Seattle, Salient had a position for him too. I'm thankful for his schedule because it allows him to relieve our nanny and spend some time with Greyson before I get home.

So, what do I do? And why the heck did we move to Seattle for it? Most of you know that I've worked for the same company, Allegis Group, since I graduated. I started out as a Technical Recruiter for Aerotek, the Engineering division. I've held a number of different roles with Aerotek- recruiting, sales, training and management and in 2004, was asked to transition to Allegis Group Services (AGS), a new division at the time, to manage a new client. AGS has grown into an entity that is much larger than when I transitioned so I won't bore you with the specifics but our core business is workforce management which basically means that Fortune 1000+ companies that spend a lot of money on contingent labor will outsource the end-to-end functions to us. We manage everything from the suppliers who do the recruiting to the process of getting them paid. AGS was awarded the Microsoft account in early 2008 and I was offered the opportunity to run the program. I manage a large team, most of them as fresh-faced as I was when I first came out of college. I spend most of the week in my office with the team but when I'm not there, I'm at Microsoft which is what you might picture- HUGE, very environmentally friendly, very casual and pretty cool. The main campus has 12 restaurants, a state-of-the-art soccer field, an art gallery and retail stores. It literally looks like a mall.

So, that's what we do when we're not at home laughing at Greyson who puts a baseball shaped Easter basket on his head and calls it a Babushka. Last night at bedtime, he had a 30 minute conversation with an imaginary friend named "Tyson". Who needs to watch TV when you can turn on the baby monitor and listen to the comedy channel?

Happy 4th of July to all of our friends and family. We're on a plane bright and early tomorrow morning with no responsibility to surgeons or Microsoft for a week. Before I sign off, I just wanted to share a pic of Mike & Grey from this past weekend. Grey is wearing a Green Bay Packer sweatshirt that was Mike's when we was a boy. I love that Mike's mom saved it. The sleeves are a little long but it's adorable on him. Enjoy!

Northwoods Here We Come!

We love Minocqua!

The pics above are from July 4th 2008 on lakes Tomahawk and Mincoqua. On behalf of Mike and Greyson, I just want to say that we can't wait to get on a plane next Wednesday for our first return to Wisconsin since the holidays. Grandma Janet and Papa Lee pull out all the stops for the 4th of July week every year including pontoon boat rides, tubing (Big Mable, anyone?), jet skis, roasted marshmallows and to-die-for meals that you can't get at the best restaurants. We're also really looking forward to seeing the "new" house; a full scale Extreme Home Makeover, from what I hear (I think we should call it a retreat). Greyson has been talking about the fireworks- some days he can't wait, others he insists he doesn't want them- we'll see how it goes. We're going to spend a day with my family as well so there's no doubt it will be a busy week. We're looking forward to posting pictures of our trip and sharing some fun stories. Uncle Brian, if we pack a Superman cape, will you...?

Dear God, if you're reading this, please make the sun shine and keep the rain away. We know it's been hot and humid back home and although we aren't missing the humidity, we are selfishly hoping it sticks around until July 6th. Amen.

We're coming off of a very enjoyable Father's Day weekend. Happy Father's Day to our awesome dads! Grey & I sent Mike to the spa for a much needed massage, we did a little more house hunting (we may have found something) and watched the US Open. Somehow it captures Greyson's attention (those of you who know him well know that very little keeps his attention!) When I was a kid, I would literally cry when my dad and Grandpa turned golf on. I'm an addict now.

Guenthers, Letarskis, Koflers and Archbolds...get ready. The Greyson-invasion is coming to a theater near you! See you soon!

Thrilling Changes!

It's a Boy!

Our growing addition says hello! (How cute is this hand?)

I'll be honest...I was shocked. For years, I've pictured myself as the mom of 2 boys but for some reason, after getting pregnant, I was convinced we were having a girl. I mean, really convinced. So, when the tech told us (showed us, more like it!) we were having a boy, I didn't know what to say; and even if I had, I would have been drowned out by Mike's excitement literally reverbrating off the walls. To say he's ecstatic is an understatement. Now that my head has wrapped around it, I'm joining in the excitement and especially enjoying Greyson's anticipation.

A 3rd house in less than a year...are you kidding me?

On another less exciting note, the Guenther family is moving once again! (Sigh) I'm actually quite calm about the whole thing and will spare you every last detail but the gist of it is that the guy who owns the house we're renting (see former posts for references and photos of the house) is defaulting on his loan. Seems the stimulus package hasn't trickled down to his bank so he's been unable to convert his construction loan into a traditional mortgage. We offered to put a short-sale offer in to prevent him from foreclosing but it turns out that he'd prefer to let the bank take it so he can gut it first (I'm told this is illegal, and therefore plan to document our move out with video so there's no mistaking who took the built in espresso machine, custom light fixtures and commercial refrigerator). We are not ready to buy out here just yet but are keeping our eye out for a deal. We're hoping to find something in the next few weeks and then move in early-mid August. Stay tuned for an updated address.

Here's a couple of photos from last week. A little bit of trouble and a little bit of fun. Enjoy.

Greyson "buttering" the toaster

On the shores of Lake Washington with his friend, Ryder

Ryder and his daddy with Mike & Grey before dinner - Houghton Beach, Kirkland WA

A Little Bit of This...

Our closest friends and family know Proud to Introduce Photography very well. Some of them even know the mastermind behind it, Allie Gadziemski. Allie is a light that came into our lives right after Greyson was born when I went on a mission to find an out-of-the-box photographer to capture our family. Little did I know she would become a big part of our lives and be counted among one of the people I miss the most. Little did I know she would become friends with my friends, take wonderful photographs of many of them, and make an impact in much the same way she impacted us. Allie is the eye behind every holiday card you've received and piece of photography/art you've seen in our home(s). She's photographed our family a dozen times and is the catalyst of hands down my most embarrassing moment. If you don't know the story, I give you permission to ask the next time you see me (note: see, not talk to). Allie recently gave birth to her third son, Desmond, and her blog was an inspiration to start mine so I just wanted to say thanks to her and one way or another, we will figure out a way to get in front of her camera for maternity/newborn this year.

Greyson's Uncle Nate (my 30 year old brother, currently living in Boston) lived in Chicago after college and aside from a short stint in Washington DC and his current digs in Boston, considers himself a Chicago guy and will be back again in the fall. Thankfully his taste in the NFL hasn't gone "the way of the Bears" but he is a Cubs fan, thus the photo below. It is in Nate's honor that I'm blogging tonight as he recently told me that they make his day. I just can't promise this frequency on a regular basis!

At the beginning of the year, I listed a few things I wanted to get accomplished- find an OBGYN and pediatrician, among other things. What I didn't list, but should have, was to find a local kid's barber ("hair cut store" in Grey-speak) since his haircuts were being done by yours truly since the move. Fortunately, we found a place called Brat Pack that has enough distraction to keep kids from going too crazy with sitting still in a chair for 15 minutes. Unfortunately, we didn't find it until this past weekend so Grey has been getting the aforementioned home-grown haircut for close to a year. It's not like he gets a buzz cut. Mike's only request is "keep it long" so I'm challenged with keeping him still on the bathroom sink while I use my shears (Target's finest) to look and act like I know what I'm doing. Having said shears also means that Greyson knows they exist and this is why I walked into his room a week ago to a clump of his hair on the floor. He cheerfully pointed out that he had returned the shears to their rightful place. How nice of him.

Note the missing chunk of bangs

Thankfully Brat Pack did a nice job of blending it in and I can happily hang up my barber hat...for now.

We had another really nice weekend. The weather was perfect and we had no obligations so we rolled out the Diego slip n slide, did some yard work and fired up the grill. It was the epitome of relaxation. A couple of weeks ago, Mike ordered Greyson a set of starter golf clubs- he's been swinging clubs and baseball bats lefty since he was 1 (Mike is very proud) so it required a custom order. He debuted the clubs tonight and is already showing both talent and frustration; a combination that I would like to save him from if I had my choice. He seems to be instinctively hard on himself. As parents, don't we just want our kids to be good but humble, hard-working but realistic? If you have the recipe for this, please, share it!

Milestones & Memories

Milestones

I've been blogging quite a bit lately about Greyson's growth and this post isn't much different since he's surpassed another and kept us laughing the whole time. For the past 6 months or so, we've been talking about getting rid of his pacifier for good (affectionately referred to as his 'nuk'). He's depended on it for naps and nighttime along with his monkey blanket, which is a Kushie Kritter he's had since before he was born compliments of the Johnson family. If the aforementioned monkey blanket ever goes missing, we're in for some trouble. I lament the fact that I didn't purchase a 2nd one right away as doing so now would do nothing but build distrust since he'd know it was an imposter immediately.

Back to the nuk. His dentist recommended that we wait until he potty trains and then throw him a Build a Bear party where the nuk gets sewn up into the bear of his choice (hmm). We skipped that suggestion since we'd already been plugging the fact that there are needy babies in Africa without nuks. At his request we put his nuks in an envelope, addressed to the needy babies, of course, and put it in the mailbox. Unfortunately, one of the nuks was damaged during the trip so the needy babies sent it back (the end was missing rendering it useless though it did provide some comfort for the first 2 nights- picture a distraught 3-year old clutching it in his hand trying to understand where the important piece might have landed. He thinks it's in the Pacific ocean). His reward for going nuk-less was a new bike that seems to scare the crap out of him. He'll sit on it, but that's about it.

Memories

Thank you to our grandfathers, uncles and friends on this Memorial Day. We celebrated by spending the weekend in Vancover, BC; a glorious 3 hour drive North (less if border patrol weren't so congested). The weather in the Northwest was as beautiful as the locals can remember it being and as a result, we enjoyed the most panoramic vistas we've seen aside from the tropics. There's something about snow capped mountains on a warm sunny day...we stare at the view as if we're looking at it for the first time. It's truly breathtaking. We stayed at the Marriott in downtown Vancover and walked for miles, visiting the amazing Stanley Park, the Vancouver aquarium and Granville island. Greyson made quick friends with the bellmen, charmed the waitstaff who in return gave him a free build your own sundae and had the best time watching the sea planes take off and land below our balcony every morning. If we're out here next year, we'll definitely be returning!

Lookout Point @ Stanley Park

Stanley Park

Coal Harbor from our balcony

Greyson & daddy on a hike

Greyson is growing up!

Big Boy Bed

Well, the transition is complete and I'm elated to report that it's been a big success. Last week Wednesday marked Greyson's first night in his new bed and I don't think I need to tell you that it was met with some trepidation from us. Mike set the line at 2 for the number of times Grey would get out of bed (and Mike took the over). Total number? Zero! He woke up at 7am, walked out of his own room for the first time and gave me the biggest smile and best 'good morning'. It made my day. Since his first night, he's been napping as usual and sleeping great at night. I wonder what we were worried about?

Greyson & his new bed

View from his closet

The whole transition was a really great experience for us. It reminds me that, as usual, I need to relax and give Grey the credit he deserves for being able to handle change. Lest I forget that he moved with us to a new state, with a new nanny and 2 new houses in 6 months. He's also nearly done potty training. Sara's potty chart was a huge success. The small incentives did the trick (we watched his final incentive tonight- the movie Bolt). We'll be ready for overnights in a week or two.

Greyson & his potty chart before he fully completed itHappy Mother's day to our moms (we love you very, very much) and to our sisters, cousins, aunts, grandmothers and friends. We hope you all got to celebrate in your own special way. For me, it was a relaxing day; sunny and warm. Mike & Grey let me sleep in, made me chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and helped get the baby's room organized. It was a great day.

Getting ready to go to the park on Mother's day
One of his park favorites
It's a rare occasion for me to get 2 posts in 2 weeks; if I get 2 in a month I'm happy. I just couldn't wait to share Greyson's latest milestone with you. We're so proud of him. Now if I could just get him to come up with a different baby name- he's still really stuck on 'Jesus'.

Date Night!

Beautiful weekend

It's Sunday night, Greyson is asleep and Mike and I are in our huge bed sitting side by side with our respective laptops open. There was a time when you could tune into life at our house between 8:30pm and 10:00pm and the picture was the same. I'm happy to report that this is actually a bit of an anomoly as we made a conscious decision before the holidays to minimize our nightly habit of working in bed. This is not to say that it doesn't happen from time to time if one or both of us has a deadline or gets an itch to shop online. Tonight, it's a combination. Per an earlier post, we have pulled the trigger on Greyson's "big boy" bed which is scheduled to deliver on Wednesday. I visited Pottery Barn kids to take one last look at the vintage sports quilt we fell in love with a few months ago. Aside from the price, I love it. Internet shopping complete, my plan was to rearrange a few meetings I have set but the blog sidetracked me. My calendar can wait. In a future post, I'll be sure to add a few pictures of Grey's new room along with an update on the transition.

May is officially here and we tried to take advantage of what was a beautiful weekend. Swine flu be damned, Greyson visited a number of parks in the area with Sara and we put a nice dent in his new bubble collection. (He is potty training like a champ and earning his prizes; thus the bubbles). We're down to a diaper at naptime and nighttime and in between he gets his pick of underwear by Spiderman, Thomas and Lightning McQueen.

Greyson & daddy on Saturday afternoon

On Saturday afternoon, we had the pleasure of seeing Mike's best high school friend, Tobin Janke, who has lived in LA for the past 10 years and was visiting Seattle with his girlfriend. I forgot to take pictures but he looks great, as always, and is vey happy. They brought Greyson a few books from the Mr. Mischief series and he's now working on memorizing them. After Tobin's visit, Mike and I got ready for a dinner out sans Grey (our first in a very long time). El Gaucho, a Seattle steakhouse, did not compare to our favorite Milwaukee hangout but we enjoyed the company of our friends who were enjoying their first night out since becoming new parents 8 weeks ago. It was a fabulous 3.5 hour dinner and I can't wait to get out with them again. This picture is Greyson kissing my 13 week old (and very much popped) belly before Tobin arrived.


It's been a while since I've shared video on the blog and I've certainly got enough of it. This clip is an excerpt of Greyson "interviewing" himself. He uses his wiffle ball bat as a microphone and chats away as if he's in deep converation with someone important. I'd love to say that he's this cute all the time but we're officially in the "3 year-old stage" and have been enjoying such phrases as "don't talk like that", "that's not true" and "I don't care". A few nights ago, he walked out the back door after being told not to (in his underwear and a T-shirt mind you) and ran 2 laps around the house. It was all we could do not to fall into fits of laughter as a blond streak whizzed by the patio doors.



A big congrats goes out to our friends Robb & Molly Mathia who just welcomed their first child, Dylan, to the world. We've enjoyed the pictures and hope to meet him soon. The Shah family is expecting their second son in August, the Leatherburys a second son in July, the Goehlers are anticipating the birth of their first son and the Lichts are breaking the trend with a girl on the way as well! Like the first time, I'm enjoying sharing my pregnancy with great friends and lament the fact that I'm going to be missing regular play dates this time around. Soon the time will come...

Ummm, Jesus?

Baby #2

Most of you now know that the Guenther family is expanding. We've been blessed with a 2nd pregnancy (albeit a nauseous one) and are due on November 9th. Whether this baby is a little early or right on time, he/she will be born around family birthdays, just like Greyson was. Mike's mom, my mom and my brother all have birthdays between mid-October and early November so let the baby pool begin.

Greyson has been pretty indifferent about the whole thing although daddy is having to remind him not to jump on my belly. A couple of months ago, we asked him if he wanted a brother or sister and he didn't think twice before replying "brother". When asked what we should name the baby, his answer after a pause was "Jesus". Since that's a bit much to live up to, we're going to keep thinking about it. If you have name ideas, we'd love to hear them.

So, I was dismayed to learn, after my first pre-natal appointment, that I am considered an "aged mother". I'd like to lobby the medical community for something less depressing. Combine the "age" with Greyson's prematurity and that makes double the number of appointments, blood tests and other invasive and annoying procedures. I'll suck it up but continue to complain about the sacrifice of my time and a $15 co-pay for every visit. Mike, per his usual, is an amazing and patient husband and father. I'll spare you the annoying gushing, but let it be known that he is the reason I am.

I'm not a good pregnant person. I have yet to experience the beautiful skin and hair, sun beams radiating all around me, queue the happy music "mom glow". It just doesn't happen for me. The better picture is a tired, red-faced, bloated, panting lady walking to the beat of Twisted Sister. Come and see me after this baby comes- I'll get my glow on.

Thank you to our family and friends for the well-wishes and congratulations. We're enjoying the time with Greyson who makes us laugh every day. He just finished soccer and started baseball at the Kirkland Community Center and we're enrolling him in a day camp where he'll get to explore his fasincation with bugs, dinosaurs and marine life. He has officially said "No" to more art classes. It was fun while it lasted and if you happen to receive a package containing the remnants of construction paper, finger paints, glitter, glue, colored cotton balls and pipe cleaners, I have NO idea where it came from!

Greyson and his friend Jayden on their last day of soccer

Grey told Mike yesterday (in his words) that "Hayden freaked out when I showed him my ow-wee!". We decided that, yes, it's a good thing he has a sibling on the way who might appreciate his ow-wees more than our poor cat. Happy Easter, Happy Spring!

Changes on the horizon...

Sunny Days!

70 degrees and sunny in April. We'll take that! We're coming off of a gorgeous weekend and are told it's going to stay that way for the balance of this week. Lexi and Hayden (our Persian cats for those of you who haven't met them) got their bi-annual groom on Saturday. This entails a bath, a "lion-cut" and comb. The first time they were groomed this way I laughed out loud. the pics below are from last year, but you get the picture. When you're used to seeing a big mass of fur, the picture of a shaved cat save the tip of the tail, face and feet, is shocking. We all got in the car to pick them up from the groomers and when Lexi meowed in her carrier, Greyson said "Shhh, it's OK Lexi". He's going to make a great big brother. This weekend was the first since before we left for Cancun over a month ago that we had very little on the agenda. We made the most of it by chasing bugs in the backyard, doing a little spring cleaning, grilling steaks with friends on Saturday night and having breakfast at "The Original Pancake House" (there's one in Brookfield and if you haven't been there, we highly recommend it) on Sunday morning. When the sun comes out in Seattle, the parks, sidewalks and beaches are packed. It's energizing!

This is Hayden. He's very masculine and not at all happy about the scarf. He loves Mike & Grey

This is Lexi. She's a total girl, very sweet. She'll snuggle with anyone, except Greyson :-)

Potty Time!

When I got home from work last Thursday night, Sara and Greyson were very excited about a new project- Greyson's potty chart. Together, they came up with prizes that can be won after 10 stickers are collected (1 sticker for every visit to the potty). Sara made the potty chart over the weekend and it's now proudly displayed in Greyson's bedroom. He's been pretty good about going on the potty for a while now, with reminders, but Sara wanted to take this approach to see if we can get him out of diapers for good. I'm all for it and Grey is pretty excited. He refuses to wear a Pull Up. It's either Spiderman underwear or his Pampers size 5s, so stay tuned for updates!

A big boy bed!

This month, we're shopping for a big boy bed. Most of our friends and family transitioned their kids out of cribs at a much earlier age and to them, I say "good for you". But, I will staunchly defend myself on our decision to wait for a number of reasons the least of which is I have enjoyed a restful night's sleep since Greyson was 4 months old (this being the official age at which he consistently slept 13 straight hours) due to the fact that he is unable to crawl out of his crib. He tried once, about a year ago, and it was enough to scare him from trying again. (His crib is a sturdy, solid wood model that does not "adjust" in a manner that allows the rails to come down- combine that with the fact that Greyson weighs about 30 lbs soaking wet and is not the tallest in his age group and we have a recipe for easy nights).

Grey & mommy before bedtime. He used to request 3 books. Now it's 1 book and some baseball

That being said, it's time to make the move. So, I'm looking for advice. Cute little car bed close to the floor? Full size bed with mattress that will take him to college? Bunk bed? Something else entirely? In addition to this, I'm also looking for the anecdotal scenarios to consider...what works to keep your kids in bed all night? Do they get up and go to the bathroom on their own? Did you change your nighttime routine to accommodate the new room arrangement?

Most of you know me well enough to know that I'm not good at asking for help/advice. It's a weakness and I'm working on it. So, I'm seriously interested in your feedback. Have a great week and if you're in the Pacific NW, enjoy the weather!