A growing family

Once Frank and I decided we are going to expand our family, my head was full, so many thoughts, will we be good parents? Will our children sit on some couch in 30 years talking about how we screwed up their lives? But in we dove. The decision was the easiest part.

To start with I gained over 70 pounds when pregnant with Megan. There were many reason for this I assume. I was a smoker and quit as soon as I found out I was pregnant. I am sure I was a real hormonal piece of work to be around while going through nicotine withdrawal. I also decided that Megan liked Lemon water ice and mini chocolate donuts. She NEEDED to have them!

At some point the pregnancy was deemed “high risk”. I had placenta previa. I would have to take a few days off from work each time and lay flat and not move. I was sent for a “high risk” ultrasound, which was code for way too long. They counted every limb, finger and even toe. They searched for each organ and after almost 2 hours they determined that Megan was just fine.

I grew larger and larger, my due date came and went, I walked and grew and then walked some more. I thought if I kept moving she would eventually drop out. Once I was over 2 1/2 weeks late they finally induced labor and my giant 9 lb 6 oz baby girl arrived. They quickly swept her away from me after determining that she was not breathing properly. She stayed the next few days in the NICU. In the end, thankfully she was fine.

I loved being a mom. We decided the Bailey clan needed another member. My pregnancy with Madison was pretty uneventful. Other than being ~~huge~~ massive and extremely uncomfortable, it went pretty smoothly. Once Madison was born, my Megan seemed to be taken over by a very unhappy little person that I did not know. There were some complications during delivery with Madison so they converted to an emergency C-section. I ended up in the hospital for several days. During visits Megan would not talk to me or sit with me and she wanted nothing to do with her sister!

Things are so much easier with the second child. By the time I left the hospital, the nurses had already had Madi on a decent schedule. She was such a pleasant baby. Good eater, good sleeper and for the most part little fuss. It did not take long for Megan to warm up to her sister.

Watching them together was and is wonderful. They get along beautifully. Of course they argue at times but they are the best of friends and think of each other always. If either is away from the other and offered anything, they ask for one for the other. They are my world.

Could there be room in the Bailey clan for more little ones?

Piano, soccer and homework, it must be the weekend!

I don’t know how people with 3+ children do it! This weekend was the first of what we will call a normal weekend for the forseeable future. Saturday Morning started with a 10:30 am piano lesson for Megan. I took her to that because Madison had a soccer game at 11:30 and Frank is the assistant coach. Megan and I planned to go right to the game until we received the panicked phone call from Frank that he had lost his wallet. I always love calls like that, I mean I did not have the wallet. What made this loss more important than the normal “can’t find my wallet” dance is the fact that he had to drive to Washington DC Saturday night for a convention and needed photo ID to get in.

Funny, I can vote without photo ID but Frank was going to be unable to attend his convention without one.

Megan and I changed course after her lesson and headed home. We were in the house under 5 minutes when I was able to locate the wallet..thankfully. I don’t understand how this happens so often. I place my purse and keys in the exact same spots every time I enter the house. When I need them, I know exactly where to go. At least once a week we search for something that belongs to my husband and after all of these years I guess that is something that will not change.

So back across town for Megan and I to catch Madison’s game. We arrived just in time. It was hot and humid. The kids energy levels faded quickly due to the heat. At Madison’s age they do not keep score, which is a good thing :-)! They tried and we were all happy when the game was over. They all looked like they had been swimming.

Back home for some lunch and preparation for Megan’s soccer game. By late afternoon it was even hotter but there was at least a small breeze making it tolerable to sit in the full sun. I need to buy a hat. AFter the game back home for FRank to pack and head to Washington.

On Sunday Madison and I sat and completed her first school project. It was an “All about me” poster. The kids could draw pictures if they were not able to fill in the answers but Madison would have none of it. She would answer the question and I would spell each word as she filled in the lines. Then we colored it together. This took a while to complete. When we were finished, she was so pleased with herself…and I was very proud I must admit!

I am happy that the girls go back to school tomorrow, I need a day off!

Will this fill the void? (an ongoing story)

I was hired at Best Buy as a media supervisor due to my experience at good ole Sam Goody. I was in charge of the giant area in the center of the store, and in those days it was giant. We still had VHS and cassette tapes boxed computer software and of course DVD’s. My department did well and at the first chance I had to apply for a promotion I jumped on it!

I was promoted to a management position in merchandising. I was not the greatest at that, to put it mildly. Best Buy in the early years made a decision that to compete it needed to grow quickly. They would blast a market with multi-store same day openings. IT would cause great hoopla and a lot of press. People would line up for great deal.

Behind the scenes it caused issues. Low stock levels and awful shrink problems due to large amounts of employees hired in small periods of time, trianed by other short term employees. This opportunity allowed for me to use my strength. Identify and attack the issue. Most of the stores in our market had massive shrink issues, (loss, theft etc). I was moved to inventory control in one store and within a few months we had either retrained, relocated or arrested all who needed. By Inventory time the store was under budget and did even better the next time. Due to the companies continued massive growth, it did not take too long before I got my shot to take over my own district where we did the same. Massive retraining, lots of meetings with employees to gain buy-in, a few arrests here and there and success for the mission of shrink control.

Life was good! For many years I had fun at work. But like everything it had to change. That type of growth could not continue forever.

Somewhere around 2002ish they started the “re-structuring” . A politically correct way of saying downsizing and piling of work on another. I would assume other roles with little to no additional pay. Lots of headaches. And it hit me…I was making great money, had lots of toys but hated getting up in the morning hated everything around me.

I had achieved everything I wanted, power, money success so what was my problem? Frank and I had been talking about children but after the way I grew up I was so afraid that we would be terrible parents.

We were married six years before having Megan. I made the decision early in my pregnancy that I would resign my position after having the baby. My market won a holiday contest sending myself and several other of my team to LA for a few days. I was about 4 months pregnant at the time of the trip. I think this trip was part of helping to make the decision. I did a good amount of traveling with work, late nights and early mornings. This would not be good for my soon to be growing family. I did not tell anyone at the company this until after Megan was born, they would probably never have believed me anyway.

Megan was born In August 2004, I resigned in October, at the end of my leave. Once I looked at that adorable little face I knew I could not go back to work. I was given the opportunity my mother never had, the opportunity to be home for every fall, every tear, every smile, every everything and I jumped on it!