What's new?

Not a whole lot these days. We are having fun for the summer. I took the kids to the pottery painting place the other day. Ellie really enjoyed it. She got into it big time. Jayden didn't want to do anything when we got there, but after we'd been there for nearly 2 hours and Ellie and I were almost done with our art, he helped me a little and decided he wanted to do his own. I'll pick them up next week and post pictures.

Jayden starts school next week. FIRST GRADE!!!

Eliana starts back in pre-K on the 1st.

Janea and I will have a lovely time with each other while the big kids are in school. I'm looking forward to some down-time.

This week with the Stahl's

we had an exciting week! Jayden's 6th birthday was Monday. I can't believe my baby is 6!! While some days it feels like my life has always had these adorable little people in it, some days I remember being carefree with no one to attend to but myself. I look at pictures of Jayden when he was just a baby and I can hardly remember him being so small. Now, he is 6 years old, 3 1/2 feet tall, and 45 pounds of pure stubborn joy.

We celebrated his birthday with family on Monday evening. I got so friggin' drunk I can't even say! I must have consumed an entire bottle of wine in a little over an hour by myself! I was busy puking my guts out while the kids slept out the final hours of Jayden's birthday. Never again! I will never again drink THAT much in such a short period of time! I think I was still drunk when I woke up in the morning!

We had a party for the kids on Friday. All of Jayden's special friends came to the party and had a good time. We started out with a little craft. They made paper airplanes, puppets, space scenes, and decorated goodie bags that they ended up not needing. We played two games. Pin the moon on the earth and Meteor wars. For pin the moon on the earth, I used the felt solar system wall hanging I bought Jayden for his birthday last year (he's never seen it) and cut out mini "moons" from the edges of the felt. We used special velcro strips to stick them on. The kids were all good about the game and seemed to enjoy it. Meteor Wars was even more fun than I expected. The kids were commissioned to protect the earth from the balloon meteors that were coming in to attack it. They had to pop the balloons. It was fun! :) After that it was prizes (mini flying discs and punching balls--more spaceships and meteors) and playtime while we waited for Dave to get back with the pizzas. We ate pizza and cake and ice cream. Followed that with more playtime. I think all the kids left happy. :)

Yesterday, we took Jayden to ToysRUs to spend his gift cards and exchange a toy he got that was broken. He had a good time. He picked out a Diego PlayDoh set (that he is playing with now with Ellie, but he is afraid they will mix the colors!!), and a transformer toy. We supplemented with other things. And, then we went out to eat at Chili's. This is where Janea made her big breakthrough! She learned to use a straw! That is so awesome because it opens a world of drinking for her. Using the straw will make going out and feeding/hydrating her so much easier on me! Plus, she loves it! :) She was so proud of herself yesterday when she got a mouthful of water! :) I love milestone moments!

July's festivities

It's been a while since I posted. Following Eliana's recital, we drove down to LA for Tammy's wedding. Well, I drove; everyone else slept. Jayden got up at 3AM the morning we were supposed to leave with a massive fever and puking. It was iffy that we would even go! But, we did.

Jayden was the handsomest ring bearer ever and the girls were too cute in their fancy dresses.

While we were down there, we stopped to visit some friends. Dave, the kids, and I enjoyed a fabulous visit with Dave, Marcy, Jonathan, Zachary, and little Ben. The kids all got on famously and we had some wonderful grown-up visiting time.

Following that visit, we stopped at my aunt and uncle's house for a short visit with them. They invited my cousin and her husband to join us as well. I enjoyed getting to know them again. My aunt was brilliant! She bought a set of matchbox cars for Jayden and a princess crown for Ellie and playdoh for the kids to play with out back. They were so entertained it left lots of time for the grown-ups to chat! Kudos, Aunt Dori!!

When we got back from our trip, we had a couple of days at home before Dave set out for China. He was giving some training to the Chinese folks that needed to do some of what Dave does at work. It was quite an interesting experience for him. He also brought back some lovely treasures for us. He brought me a lovely silk blanket (that I don't know how to clean--it stinks). He brought the kids wooden swords, a wooden dinosaur, some traditional clothes, Panda themed playing cards and post cards, and a slingshot for Jayden and a beaded bracelet for Ellie. He also broke the camera while he was there. :( Gotta get that fixed!

Today we went to the Children's Discovery Museum with the Shuman Gang. We met at the lightrail at 9:30 and had a fabulous day! It was a lot of fun watching the older kids run around and play with stuff while the littlest amongst us soaked in all the fun from their perches in the carriers. They got to get out and play in the baby area for a long time, too.

The biggest news for today, however, comes from the littlest Stahl. She is cutting her first tooth! She will be 9 months old next week. I expect quite a bit of drool for the next few months while the teething proceeds. I need to make pictures of her toothless smile a priority for next week, though! :)

That's it for now. Jayden's birthday is coming up and we will have a party with a space theme. More info then.

Dance recital update

Tonight went off without a hitch! Here's a pic:

Ellie's First Dance Recital

Tuesday was the walk-through. They had the kids sit in the house until it was their turn to dance on stage. Poor Ellie's class (a bunch of 3 yr olds) sat there for nearly an HOUR before they got to dance for 2:26 minutes. Ellie broke down in tears afterwards. Perhaps it was the lack of "Mama" in the theatre (she said she was looking for me) or perhaps it was the emotional let-down from all the anticipation of sitting there and then 2 minutes and 26 seconds later it was done. No way to tell. But, at least that part was done so she could really enjoy her dress rehearsal and performances. Yes! PerformanceS! There are 3 of them...I know she is only 3 years old!! I didn't plan the f@#$@#ing thing!!

Anyway, last night was dress rehearsal. So we listened to the director go on and on about nothing she hadn't already told us. Then, we listened to the stage manager yakity yak about nothing important. I'd forgotten how full of their own self-importance stage folks can be. Yes, I was like that, too. But.....

So, they send the kids back to get dressed in their costumes and then to sit in the audience and watch. Ellie's dance is 9th in the line-up. I sat with them for a couple of dances because Ellie was nervous. The girls got crazy when the lights went down between dances. For most of them, it was probably their first experience in a theatre. I explained that it would get dark between each dance so we didn't see them setting up on stage and then the lights would come back up. It seemed to help. By the third or fourth dance they were okay. I was given permission (by Ellie) to go sit with Grandma Tess so I could video tape her performance.

When it was her turn up on stage, they had 4 stage hands shuffling the kids on the stage. Poor Ellie lost a shoe!!! She was standing up there crying (I couldn't really see why until I saw the shoe on stage) but was saved by a savvy techie who saw the shoe and helped her get it on. Thank you, Techie!!! She was right into dancing after that! GO ELLIE! (Note to self--fix the F@#$(@#ing shoe so it doesn't come off again, Idiot!)

Tonight is performance number one. Then tomorrow afternoon; and again, tomorrow night. Oh MY!

The excitement never ends...

Yesterday we had our first ER visit. Eliana was sitting quietly on the big, blue beanbag chair in the playroom watching TV. Next thing we know, she is running in to us in the office (note..20 feet away and totally open to view) to say she got a penny caught in her throat. Eventually, she ended up swallowing the darned thing and it got stuck in her esophagus. Thus, trip to ER.

ER arrival time: 11:40 AM

Once in the ER, they did a vitals check to determine that she wasn't dying. About an hour later, we went in for X-rays. They took 2 shots that showed the penny clearly stuck right above the muscle between her esophagus and stomach.

Another hour later, they bring me copies of the x-rays (yep...totally cool!). They tell me that because the penny is stuck, we are being transferred to Kaiser Santa Clara and she will be admitted there. They have a pediatric GI on call who was in San Francisco at that time, but will be traveling down to Santa Clara for her procedure shortly. In the meantime, let's put an IV in! YIKES! Eliana was very brave. They had a student nurse try first (I should have vetoed that!) but he failed and the regular nurse had to put it in her other arm. Poor thing!

Another hour later, we get the transfer orders and the ambulance shows up. Daddy arrives just in time to get to go on the ambulance ride with her. I, not being the chosen one as a result of the IV thing, get to drive myself to the other hospital. It turned out okay though, because I went home for a snack (being my first food of the day) and to feed the baby. Just in case the time is unclear...it's 3 PM now.

By 4PM I got to Ellie's room at the Santa Clara hospital. The doctors had already been in to check on her and order her new x-ray. Around 5:00, the radiologist showed up with his portable x-ray machine and took her picture right there in the hospital room. No traveling this time. The radiologist couldn't print out a copy of the x-ray for me this time, but he let me go with him to his workroom so I could see the x-ray on the computer. That was WAY cool! Oh...and the penny was still stuck in the esophagus where it had been all day.

New orders...call the Pediatric GI and go in with the endoscope and snabber-grabbers and yank that puppy outta there! The doc was on his way so we had to move fast to get her ready for the procedure. He was to arrive in one hour's time. A half hour later, they came in to hook up her IV to a bag and change her into a hospital gown. Another 30 minutes passed and the NURSES from OR came up to wheel her downstairs...apparently there is an orderly shortage there.

It was nearly 7PM when we got downstairs to the OR and met the doc and the anesthesiologist and signed all the papers. The procedure was only about 15 minutes in length, but they had to wheel her in, hook her up, knock her out, prep, proceed, un-hook, wheel her back, etc. All in all, it took about an hour before the doc came out with pictures of the penny in her chest.

I left the hospital with the pictures at 8PM to go home and feed the baby, say goodnight to Jayden and tuck him in, and change my clothes. I was preparing to spend the night there. I got back to the hospital at 9:30 and Dave called to say they were sending her home! When I got back upstairs, I found out she could go home only after she had eaten. She was sound asleep. Fortunately, the nurse dared to take the tape off her arm. She woke up! I prompted her with juice and jello. She was eager. She drank, drank, and ate. Then they brought her a meal I wouldn't eat, and she nibbled. They said "She needs to eat a bit more." Dave ate it. :)

At 11:55PM, we checked out and went home. PHEW! That was a long day!

Time for a little update. Here's a conversation I had with Eliana last week:

Mommy: Ellie, if you fall off the couch there you're going to break my arm.
Daddy: Ellie, if you break her arm she won't be able to wipe your butt.

Eliana: Daddy, Mommy has two arms.

From the mouths of babes...

I was sitting on the couch next to Jayden while he was talking on the phone to my mother-in-law.

Jayden: Happy Birthday, Grandma Tess.



Jayden: How old are you anyway?



Jayden: WOW! That's a big number!



Jayden: That would be enough cake to feed all the people in the whole world!!