The Making of CCA part 6

Chapter 6: Life with Baby

I must stop and share a bit about employment, because we were both quite clear from the beginning of our relationship that we wanted our children to be at home with their mother. Now I am not speaking to anyone else here, this blog is about me (hehe, yes, it really is all about me!). When Baby J was born, I quit my job and picked up the housecleaning business that I had used to pay for college. I arranged all my cleanings around the availability of family members to watch the baby. Both of our mothers and Ben's sisters took shifts so baby would not be in day care. I found supplemental work with The Arc (a company that works with children with disabilities) that worked around Ben's schedule. There were some crazy days, times of scheduling nightmares, but I believe God provided what we needed, when we needed it, and gave us this desire from our hearts.

As little guy grew, we continued to work on the house, putting in flooring, drywall, painting, etc.

Above: Baby J showing off daddy's office. Below: Baby J's room as we began preparations for his little sister to join our family.



Above: J helping daddy put in the wood laminate flooring in the dinning room. Below: the living room, stairs to the bedrooms and kitchen in the background. We installed the first pellet stove for heating (both of our stoves can burn corn as well).




My favorite part of the house are the big windows looking out to the north. I have spent many hours sitting by these windows and enjoying animals, birds, snow falls, rain storms, the kids playing...

The Making of CCA part 5

Chapter 5: Siding

Eighteen months: a major remodel and a baby, plus employment changes. Wow! Sometimes I honestly don't know how we did it. I feel this house is a real testament to our commitment to ourselves and each other and copious amounts of grace from God. I can't explain it otherwise!

With baby here safely, winter over, and the inside "livable" we started focusing attention on the outside. We had paid roofers to put steal on the rather steep roof, but had decided to tackle the sides ourselves. Ben took a week off work, rented a lift, had a big truck delivery a ton of steal, stocked up on sports drinks, rallied the troops (friends and family) and went to work!


I'm the one on the lift in these photos (somehow I didn't get any other photos that week). Was not sure I wanted to help with this part as I am really more comfortable inside with the babies or in the kitchen makin' food. But I am so glad I took an opportunity to try this out. It was an experience we should never have again! This steal is estimated to last 50 years, so I figure we will be too old in our 70's to do this kind of work! :)


It was so warm and humid that week, I lost track of how much water and sport drinks we went through. But the end result was so lovely! The old red was gone and this clean white with lovely green trim looked so inviting to me. I had spent a lot of time researching corn cribs and barns in our area. I knew I didn't want the red, but I also wanted it to look natural. A yellow corn crib would just look strange! So when I saw one done with white and green, I knew that was for me. I love green (not so much olive green, but lighter greens like sage, or darker like forest or evergreen) and the white is "energy efficient," so hubby liked it.


We kept the concrete first level as an attached garage, storage, laundry room, utility room and entry way. The 18 steps (seen in part 2) lead up to where the grain bins had been. That floor is true 2 x 12s on 18 inch centers, so there was really no moving it. We used that space for the kitchen, living room, bathroom, dining room, etc... Which brings us to the third floor. We left partially open for a "loft" feel and put in two bedrooms and an office. Along with the siding, we worked on finishing up the bedrooms so I could paint.


My dad came to visit for a couple weeks and spent a day helping hang drywall. Those two worked hard and it meant so much to me to have my dad's involvement, if only for a day.

People keep asking if the house is done...I am not sure what to say. Some days I look at all there is left to do and think we will never be done!

Birthin' Baby J

In October of 2001, we welcomed our first born, a son, into the world. It was a beautiful experience, filled with joy and precious memories. I thought I was prepared. I had read the books, done lots of research, gone to all my prenatal appointments, talked to mothers, practiced breathing...I was ready! Ha! I spent 26 hours with back labor, not really believing I was even in labor yet. Then, with all of my knowledge on the benefits of being up and about for as long as possible, once active labor kicked in, I planted myself on the bed and didn't really move until after he was born, 13 hours later! Oh, well, all part of the experience (at least that's what I tell myself)!

We were both really excited to be having a baby. We wanted children, several if God saw fit to bless us with them. Each phase was so amazing. I still remember the first time I felt him move. It was a Sunday morning, Ben had left for work and I was still in bed, just enjoying not really "having" to get up. I was so excited to feel this little one that had been growing inside me for almost 5 months now, that I stayed in bed for another hour hoping to feel him again! Telling family was fun too. Ben devised a unique way to share the news with his family. He used a power point display to the song "Baby, Baby" by Amy Grant at church announcing the "soon to be" grandparents, aunties and parents! My how surprised everyone was! Precious memories!

There were challenges, though. The house was not ready. My job was stressful and would not be an option for financial support after little one arrived. Ben's job, while stable, did not provide enough to support us completely. And then there were all those decisions to make medically, and it seemed very few people agreed with our decisions. We turned down most testing and an optional ultrasound. We moved ahead with plans to birth him at home, while registering at the hospital and keeping emergency options open. We weren't following 100% of medical protocol. But we weren't following 100% of "standard" home birth plans either. We were making our own plan based off our own research, thoughts, feelings, opinions, beliefs, etc. It is not easy when you don't "fit" into any ones mold!

The decision to birth our baby at home was not taken lightly. The issues of home birthing are lengthy and while I plan on taking that up in a future blog, for this story, what is important is that as parents we have been faced with many decisions. Each time, we take the information we have available or can research at the time and make the decision we think is best and feel we can live with. We could spend a lifetime second guessing ourselves, however, we chose to move on, learning as we go and passing on these lessons to those interested in our story.

Our little guy was due in November, the 7th actually, so when back labor started just after lunch on October 25th, I dismissed it as another pregnancy discomfort. I barely slept that night and by the next morning was pretty miserable. My mom thought it could be early labor and kept reassuring me that it would either go away or progress. By early evening it had progressed. Looking back now, I understand that is when his head moved from a posterior (face up) position to a transverse (more sideways) position, which is partly why labor still moved slowly. Another reason is that he was holding his little hand on his face and was actually delivered head and hand (with shoulders) in quick succession.

I should pause here and share that his paternal grandpa had a speaking engagement this weekend and had asked grandma if he should go or cancel so he could be sure to be here for little ones arrival. Grandma assured him first babies often come later and she had no inclination that I would deliver before November, so to go ahead and go. Needless to say, I'm grateful someone else called to tell him his grandson had arrived and would be more than 30 hours old before he could meet him.

Baby J was delivered just before 6 am on Saturday, the 27th, his maternal grandma's birthday. It was a beautiful, crisp fall day. Daddy, both Aunties and both Grandmas were here to welcome him. One Grandma caught him and the other cut his cord. Tears and laughter and love filled the room in our home, still mostly unfinished. It was the perfect birth experience for me! And it is his special story.

The making of CCA part 4

Chapter 4: Our new family

Memorial Day weekend, 2001, we moved into our house...well, what we were calling a house. We had a roof, running water and electricity, but the kitchen was makeshift, we still had mostly sub flooring, only a couple of windows and the drywall was not done...glorified camping is how we came to describe it. Over the course of the summer, more and more pieces were completed and by the time baby was born, 10 days early, in October, we considered the house to be "livable" by most peoples standards. Four weeks later, we served our first Thanksgiving dinner in our own home...very precious memories!


Above: The bathroom with one outlet still to be finished. Below: The view out the living room windows. Notice we still didn't have all the drywall and trim done.




The kitchen had become fully functioning by this time and with my Mom and Mother-in-law's help, we had quite a feast!




The 13 months we spent, from signing the contract on the land to serving a holiday meal in our home were some of the hardest on our marriage. I learned a lot about myself, my husband and how we work together. I also learned how to share my thoughts and how to really listen, to make sure we were both heard. I also learned a lot about compromise. A 50 year-old corn crib is not flexible or easily manipulated. My plans had to fit the building, not the other way around. I learned to work within the parameters, but also how to think outside of what was normal to find another way of looking at something.

In the end, I found the character of the building had built a lot of character in me...and that was worth more than we could have ever afforded!

The story really doesn't end here, but I'll pause here...

The making of CCA part 3

Chapter 3: Define "Livable"

Webster defines livable as "suitable for living in, on or with" also as "endurable." But what a person can endure or feel is suitable, is not the same for everyone. So how much had to be done before we could move in was subject to individual opinion.

The reality that we would not be living here by Christmas was a hard one for me to accept. I had been looking forward to our first Christmas tree with such excitement! So, we compromised...Ben bought me a tree and set it up in what would be our living room. I spent a good hour stringing lights, placing on all our ornaments, ones from childhood as well as ones we had received or purchased as a couple, and topping it with the angel I had made. We took a couple photos, enjoyed looking at it all afternoon, and then proceeded to take it all down and put it away so the animals (we had two stray cats at the time) would not damage anything. I think of all our Christmas trees, that was one of my favorites, because it was a special gift for me, for our home, because it was our first.

Ben's mom and dad spent many hours helping out, everything from food to cleaning to stair treads!


With demolition pretty much completed, sub flooring in and new walls being framed, I was really getting excited about the potential. We were working with a blank"ish" slate, waiting to be filled with our ideas, possessions and family. We were turning this building into more than a house...it would be our home!


Above: the kitchen taking more shape, bathroom to the right, remnants of the grain elevator can still be seen in the living room. Below: despite the icicles, the roofers did get the roof completed...eventually!


It got so cold that winter, trying to keep fingers and toes warm enough to work was a challenge. We set up a special makeshift room with a heater to help keep us and our help thawed out! Besides Ben's parents, both of his sisters, my mom and brothers and our friend Kevin (best man at our wedding) worked long hours over three years helping. We were also blessed with many friends who donated time or food or company throughout this project.

With the main living areas taking shape, Ben turned his attention to the bedrooms, on what would technically be the 3rd floor. Floor joists, sub flooring, stairs and wiring.


In the spring we learned that we would be adding to our family...a baby would be joining us in November! Yikes! We needed to get our house done enough to welcome our baby into the world. But, life gets complicated, and if a baby wasn't a complication, the insurance company surely was! They decided we either needed to hire a contractor or have someone living on the premises. Well, the contractor wasn't in the budget, so...we redefined "livable" for our family and made preparations to move in...

Here is the kitchen a few weeks before we moved in...the board covering the window opening on the wall was replaced by a window on the day we moved in!

Chapter 4: Our new family

The making of CCA part 2

Chapter 2: Demolition

Wow...I really didn't know what we were getting ourselves into. It sounds so simple: tear out old wood walls and floors, clean, construct new sub flooring, frame in new walls... Weeks later than I thought, we finally began to put in the bracing for the new sub floors.


The bathroom (above) and living room (below) in the middle of demo / reconstruction. You can still see some of the walls as we stopped demo long enough to secure floors for safety.


Here's my kitchen! Pretty isn't it?!


Walls continue to come down, as well as some old farming equipment. This had been a working corn crib at one time, which means there was still a grain elevator that ran from the the ground floor through what would be the living room and bedrooms up to the cupola at the top...about 35 feet and then back down the other side.


Real progress was felt when the stairs went in. These go from the ground level up to the living room, up about 10 feet from the concrete footing. My father-in-law really came through for us, designing and helping to cut and install the runners. Eighteen steps! Yes, I am very sure of that number!


Winter is fast approaching, slowing work on the roof, well and septic, not to mention construction is harder when your hands and feet are cold!

next up...Chapter 3: Define "Liveable"

The making of CCA

Chapter 1: Purchase

This month marks 11 years since we started the journey on this property. After Ben's graduation in Nebraska, we knew we wanted to move back closer to family. We moved in to his old room at his folks place, got jobs and started hunting for land in the area. We had driven past this place many times before we decided we should talk to the realtor. It wasn't quite what we wanted and were sure it was waaaaaayyyy out of our budget.



The realtor, David, told us there was a sale pending on the property, but to call back in a few weeks to see if the sale had finalized. We continued looking, and almost put an offer in on another piece of land with a small house on it, but it really wasn't what we wanted. Ben called David back and discovered the sale had fallen through and we could make an offer if we were still interested.



So we went to take a closer look...off the blacktop was a huge plus, but there was no house on the property and for the price we really couldn't afford to put up a building. So my dear father-in-law suggests maybe we can remodel the corn crib to save on building costs. I resisted for quite a while...I admit it! I climbed up the little ladder to take a look around where the bedrooms would go. This is what I found:



AH! I wanted to run the other way! But my dear husband promised he would clean it all up, and I could do the floor plan and decor. He (and this crazy idea) eventually won me over. We put in an offer, contingent on the well being usable and the county approving a land use change. The land had been dormant for so long, it was no longer considered residential.

In late July the ball started rolling...and in October the sign out front changed from "sale pending" to "sold". We now owned 3.24 acres with a well and a corn crib and a file full of plans and ideas and a very unrealistic timeline!

Chapter 2: Demolition!