Stahl Family Happenings

WHAT?

2012-01-25T14:55:00.000-08:00

I'm not keeping up! For shame! I try though. I think about blogging at 2 AM when Daniel is up nursing AGAIN and I'm awake because of it. Unfortunately, I don't have a keyboard in my brain or in my bed so blogging at that time of the night isn't working. You'd be so amazed with the posts I've put up in my head at that time, though. They were truly amazing works of art! :D

Today, I got inspired by a Play At Home Mom blog. I found this amazing, high-energy mom-blog through Pinterest--another new find of mine lately. These Play At Home Moms are full of great ideas on how to keep little ones busy and learning and confident and self-sufficient. I highly recommend them for ideas but not self-esteem. Reading their site made me feel like a terrible mommy. I don't do nearly as much for my children and have no where near the energy level it takes to make my household run as smoothly.

http://playathomemom3.blogspot.com/2012/01/rls-routine.html

Check out this routine! Although, I do have to say, I have husband support. I would absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE having someone come once a month to scrub us down. Even if it was just the bathrooms, kitchen and the hard floors, it would be a huge help!

But, oh well...this is MY life. Our routine is not a easy to define as the Play At Home Mom. We laze out of bed at 8ish. The older kids can get their own breakfast. I fix a bowl of something for Daniel and Janea depending on what we have and what they want. Gotta make lunches, comb hair, brush teeth, and rush out the door by 8:50 to get Jayden and Eliana to school by 9. When the weather is nice (and my foot is not hurting too much) I like to walk. It means leaving by 8:30 though, and we haven't done that for a long time.

Once I get home from dropping the older kids off, we have playdates on some days and go to the gym on other days. Either way, there is a mad rush to get dressed and get in the car so we can go somewhere. I think socializing the kids is extremely important for their growth. Therefore, we will not just sit at home and recluse behind our own walls.

For support in keeping our naptimes the same, I try to get home by lunchtime, fix something to eat for us all and get Daniel into bed for his nap between 12 and 1. This will give him the necessary time to sleep an hour or two depending on his need every day except Tuesday--early pick up day. Speaking of pick ups, school is out at 3:15. On Mondays, now, that means piano lessons right after school, Tuesdays is Gymnastics, and twice a month, Thursdays is scouts. Every Friday is religious school, dinner, and services. Whew!

Yeah, it's not an easy life, but we're happy. :D

Why bother?!?!

2011-12-23T22:32:00.000-08:00

Yeah, Dave bothered to get us a nice new TV this month. He got some awesome deal with Dell on this 73" DLP fancy new TV. He was so excited about it, I think he wet his pants when it got here! To protect this blessed new machine, I put the baby gate in front of it. Why bother, you ask? I don't friggin' know! Janea had a "magic screwdriver" yesterday and it made "magic screwdriver" scratches at Janea-height all across the lower right hand side of the screen. "HOW?", you ask? "Magic", she answered!

OMG!!!!!

Christmakah is here!

2011-12-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

This year Dave and I did almost all of our Christmakah shopping on Amazon. He has gotten several bonuses this year in Amazon dollars and where we lack funds in real cash, Amazon dollars have made up the difference. It's not how I would ideally do our gift giving, but the kids will be happy. On the first night of Hanukah, they got an Xbox Kinect. How happy are those kids now?!! Last night, (night 2) we gave them gifts from Aunt Dori and Uncle Arnie. Ellie LOVES her Magen David necklace. Jayden was thrilled with Silly Putty; Janea was over the moon with her Dora sippy cup (yep...that's all it takes when you're 3); and Daniel got the cutest Buzz Lightyear tee-shirt! Thanks for the gifts Aunt Dori! I especially loved that they were already wrapped! :D

We have an array of other gifts for the kids. Hope they don't get lost in the shuffle. I have yet to sit down and wrap and organize the chaos. We got Janea a dollhouse that Dave had shipped to work. I hope it comes soon--like today--so he can bring it home and we can give it to her.

In the meantime, I am cleaning out our guest room which has been serving as a storage closet. I got most of the crap out of there, sorted, repacked and stashed away in a better places. Lots of crap is going to freecycle. Anyone want a f@#$ing table? We can't seem to get rid of the table that came with the old couch set. No one wants it! It's pretty big, but a good table to put between chairs or couches. Check it out.... http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/fuo/2764997109.html Interested? I didn't think so, but you can't blame me for trying!

So, the impetus for cleaning is that Dave's 91 yr old grandmother is coming to visit for Christmas. She is staying with us and therefore we need to make a guest room out of our junk room. I'm off to work on it. More as the transformation unfolds!

A new look!

2011-11-19T19:14:00.000-08:00

Blogger wanted me to update to the newest template format. So, we have a new look! Like it?

Just wanted to make an addendum to the last post. Janea's words don't always start with "T". I've noticed sometimes they start with "p". Like "pall" for small. Interesting, note, though, she always knows the word and chooses to continue to say it wrong even though she hears the difference when we correct her.

Daniel got another tooth in! He now has the bottom two and one on top. I hope this is the explanation for why we have been sleeping so poorly lately. Maybe now that he broke that tooth through, the other one will come in quickly and we can start sleeping through the night! :D

Speaking of Daniel, I'm ready to wean him. I've been nursing babies for over 8 years now. I'm so done! I'm ready to reclaim my body as my own and be done with the nursing thing. But, mostly, Daniel has taken a liking to playing with my very short hair while he nurses. It gives me the itchies and makes me pull my head down toward him. I know I will be sorry when this baby thing is all over and I will miss it terribly, but I'm tired of it. I want a break. Can I take a break now and come back to it in a couple of years when I get baby-fever?

And, can you believe his birthday is in only 2 weeks? Me either!! Should probably discuss with Dave any type of celebration we want. Whether we do it on Friday night (we have rel school and services) or wait until Sat to do it....not sure. Will keep things updated, I hope! :D

Kid-speak

2011-11-16T21:11:00.001-08:00

I love how little kids distort words to say them the best they know how. Here are a few of my favorites:

Jayden: kee-koo---cookie
   reg-yule-----regular (Ellie did this one too)

Eliana: ham-aise---mayonaise
            twaw-cwate---chocolate
            p-yule-----pool (also true for skee-yule---school) Not sure how she managed to draw that one out so much

Janea: bamana---banana
           begot----forgot
           be-out---without
           any word that starts with "s" or an "s" blend becomes a word that starts with "t" or the first hard sound of the blend for example "top" is the word for "stop" as well as the "pinning" toy. She would learn later in "tool" that her ABC's have letters between H and Q but for now those letters are just "m n m o p". And someday she is going to get wise to the M&M's that have S's on them and will call them "kittles" instead of "M-a-M's".

I'm looking forward to decifering Daniel James as he gets into the speaking world too. So far, he's pretty challenging to interpret. EEEEE, AAAAAAAAA, and Bah, Gah, Dah, for just about anything and everything that he wants. Food, toys or otherwise. He's not too articulate. But, you can be sure when he doesn't like it. He is loud! He does shake his head no when he doesn't want something and he waves hi and bye. He even said "HI" to Aunt Michelle on the phone the other day, but it could have been a fluke. I choose to believe he meant it. :D

And, although one day this list will include Daniel's distortions, I can wait. He is growing up so fast on me, I want to cry. I swore I would enjoy his baby-ness and his every stage because I worked so hard through the rest of the kids' baby stages, I missed it. But, Daniel is growing up WAY to fast on me. He's creeping up on his first birthday and already walking. Early like his sisters on that one. It's cute though. He's got that wide-footed stance and each step is a hard-fought battle to stay upright. When he gets to his destination on foot, he's so proud! I love his adorable little grin! When he smiles he does it with his whole face! AND, like his brother and sisters, he smiles all the time. It's simply wonderful!!!

2011-10-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

So, last week at choir rehearsal I chose to pretend there was no issue with my being called out for talking. Instead I watched the woman who complained about ME chat throughout the entire rehearsal. I did manage to hear chitter-chatter from many points in the room as a result of being quiet. I found it didn't bother me at all that others were talking. It apparently doesn't bother the woman in front of me either unless she is not talking or maybe unless it is me that IS talking. Either way, I'm not concerned about it any more.

In other news, Daniel James was sick this weekend. He had a fever of 104.7!! I can't believe he was that hot. But, I waited until Tuesday morning to take him to the doc and lo and behold, there was no fever, no sign of illness, just fatigue from having been sick. GRR! He did still get to go to the pumpkin patch on Saturday with all of us. Dave and I took the kids to the little pumpkin patch by our house Saturday. They had a good time playing on the hay maze and in the pumpkins. They went on the little train ride and a hay ride through the sunflowers. It was nice and small and fun. We opted not to get pumpkins because they were pricy there, but it was a good time.

Sunday, Grandma Tess took the kids to the big, fancy pumpkin patch in Morgan Hill. She said it was a ZOO of people (as I said it would be). They waited 45 minutes in line for the petting zoo and the pony rides. They did get to go through a corn maze. Jayden said it wasn't much fun because there were no choices at the intersections. There was only one way to go--no false paths. He's getting so big!! :D

In the end, she agreed with me that it was not worth it to go on the weekend there because of all the chaos. Next year, she wants to take them during the week and after school.....we'll see.

I'm getting ready to make Eliana's Halloween costume. Daniel James is going to wear the wizard costume that all the other kids have worn in yr 1. Janea got a hand-me-down purple dragon that she wants to wear. Jayden wants to be Thor so his costume is coming in from Amazon in a few days. But, Eliana didn't really know what she wanted to be. Dave really wants her to be a lion because her hair is so perfect for it. SO, I am going to make her a lion costume and see what she thinks of it. :D

Speaking of costumes...I think Jayden's has just arrived!

2011-10-14T09:23:00.000-07:00

2011-10-13T20:45:00.001-07:00

To prove to the kids that laundry can be fun, I started a game with them that involved a bit of rough-housing. Jayden took it to a new level by trying to bring in a pillow fight. The game ended abruptly when he clocked me in the head with the remote control that slipped into the pillowcase. :O

Holy poop that stinks!

2011-10-11T21:47:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Dr A asked me to get a stool sample from Eliana. I delegated that task to Dave. Knowing how gross collecting was going to be, Eliana must have let her subconscious get away with pooping right before bed or on the weekends when the samples were going to have to sit around the house for a while. So, we haven't gotten to it for a couple of weeks. Tonight, she told me before dinner that she had to poop and should she go in the thing? I said yes. Dave is in there collecting the samples now (when it's too late to take them to the lab and they will sit around all night...ewww). It stinks to high heaven in there! The whole room is starting to smell like poop. He calls out to me from the bathroom, "This is the most disgusting thing I've ever done!" I agree...that's why HE's doing it!

Seriously?!?!

2011-10-11T21:44:00.000-07:00

"Someone" complained at choir that she's had to listen to my chatter for a year now during rehearsal and she's tired of it. She talked to our new president and the president sent out a message to the board (which I'm on) stating that I've basically blown her off in her every attempt to get me to shut up. Little Complainer says that we are breaking her concentration during rehearsals. Here's my defense:

1) No one has ever said to me directly that my occasional talking has been a problem to them.
2) The major complainer has issues with OH SO MANY members of the group. It's as if she wants to be the only member of the chorus.
3) How am I supposed to know you have a problem with me if you don't TELL me?!

and the last thing I have to say on the subject....

4) It's a fucking non-audition community chorus singing easy to moderate music. It's not hard!! It's not like concentration is so demanding that airplanes are going to crash to the ground killing thousands of people if a little conversation is distracting you. And, lastly, its not a fucking prayer service! Loosen up and have a little fun you self-indulging prima dona!

Wow! I feel better!

Uranus!

2011-10-04T21:03:00.001-07:00

<---Too immature for words!!!! Served Tang with dinner tonight. Ellie and Jayden having a conversation about being astronauts.
Jayden: So, when you are an astronaut you would eat Uranus?
E: Of course, What else would you eat if you were an astronaut?
J: Why would you eat Uranus?
E: Why not?
Me: Please change the subject.
J & E: No way!
J: I wonder how big Uranus is.
Me--ROFLMAO! And the kids don't even know why!!!

Here I try again!

2011-09-27T15:43:00.001-07:00

I'm thinking I want to try keeping this blog updated again. I dont' think I will be able to post every day, but maybe once a week. We'll see how it goes.

I am searching the web for recipes right now. Looking for some fancy way of easily cooking the 6 lbs of pork loin in my fridge. Ok...I am only planning on cooking 2 lbs at a time and storing the rest in the freezer, but I still need a plan. I also got a great deal on pears, but the kids are not eating them with the gusto I expected. I think I will be making a dessert with them. Pear cobbler??

Crazy busy around here right now. Jayden is at the table furiously working on his homework so he can play. Eliana, who stayed home sick from school today is running around in circles with Janea. Grandma Tess is playing cars with Daniel James who is repeating her vroom vroom sounds. It's super cute! I think this may be the first time I've actually heard him making a sound on purpose for the purpose of making that sound. MILESTONES!!

Desitin---eeeewww!

2010-10-04T08:15:00.000-07:00

Here it is 9:00 at night. The kids are all bathed, PJ'd, tucked into bed. Dave and I have settled in front of the TV for some grown-up relaxation. Ellie comes out of her room.

Me: What's up Ellie? (She's usually asleep by now. I'm surprised that she is emerging.)

Ellie: Ummm....well....it's Janea.

Me: Huh? What?

Silence as Ellie escorts Janea into the room.

Me: OMG!! Is that DESITIN??? EEEEEEWWWW!!!! She JUST got out of the BATH!

What do I see? Janea has located the tube of Desitin on the changing table and proceeded to smear it all over her FACE!

Fast-forward in time....It's now 8:20AM--the next day. She STILL smells like butt-cream! :(

PEE!!!

2010-09-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

Ok...I know it's been a long time since my last post, but really...there has been NOTHING significant to report. We've been waiting all month for the stock to reach a salable price and the kids have kept themselves and me busy with school. BUT, today, I have news!

I got a call from my dad, the money from the stock sale just came in. There is a new car in my very near future! THANK YOU, DADDY!!!! Ok...I don't really call my dad "Daddy" but there are times when it is most appropriate. This is one of them. Dave and I still need to work out the details, but I'm getting pretty excited about my new mode of transportation. :D

In other AWESOME news, Janea finally peed on the potty today. She has been sitting on the potty off and on for months but never produced anything before. TODAY, I am getting the girls ready for a bath and they are excited to get in and play with the new toy they have, right? So, I tell Ellie, go potty first so she doesn't need to get out all drippy-wet and go later. I figure, might just as well have Janea sit, too. She might do something. Lo and behold!! The child PEED in the toilet! YAY!!!!!

Eject-a-bed

2010-08-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

so here we go...bedtime X 3, by myself. All tucked in and sleepy. I'm waiting to see if we have the Eject-a-bed plugged in tonight or if she is really going to go to sleep.

This is Little Miss's fourth night in her big-girl bed. It's not been as easy a transition as I was hoping it would be, but all-in-all, not as hard as it could be either. Saturday night was her first night in her bed. She took 1 1/2 hours to settle down and finally go to sleep. I'm pretty sure it was on her bed. Sunday night she was much more tired--not having had a nap I think helped. It only took 45 minutes for her to settle down. Last night she was like a Jack-in-the-box with the damned mattress being her springboard. Everytime she would jump back into bed and we would turn around, she was out of bed again. It took nearly 2 hours for her to settle down and go to sleep. THEN, she was up at 4 screaming her little fool head off in the living room. Not sure why she ended up out of bed or HOW Dave (who was sleeping on the couch) didn't hear a thing, but after I ran up the stairs to fetch her, it took a full 5 minutes for her to stop screaming. Then I took her back to my bed whereupon it took her another hour to finally settle into a deep sleep.

Tonight, she settled into bed easily. So far, I don't think she has even gotten up. I don't hear anything and I haven't seen her pop out of the door yet. I don't DARE look! Heaven forbid she be falling asleep and I disturb her by opening the door! Fingers crossed! :D

First day of school

2010-08-23T04:47:00.000-07:00

So today my kids will start school. I must be excited. It's 4:45 AM and I have been up for at least a half an hour. I can't sleep yet AGAIN! Sometimes I wonder if this is my body's way of getting me ready for the new baby and sometimes I think I am just a retard for not sleeping when I can! Unfortunately, I am not capable of just shutting down and going back to sleep. Not sure why that is, I have never had trouble sleeping in the past.

Anyway, in just a couple of hours, my precious little girl will start KINDERGARTEN and my handsome boy will be a 2nd grader. I am torn about which one I should walk to class, but I think I am going to take Ellie. I don't want to miss out on her firsts. Dave can take Jayden to class. I'll probably take both kids to Jayden's line and get Jayden lined up and situated and then take Ellie to her line. Our neighbor's granddaughter is going to be in Ellie's class. El is pretty excited that she already knows one of her classmates AND that it is the girl that "lives" next door. She doesn't actually live there, but since Grandma takes care of her, she is there most of the time.

Jayden is pretty excited that his buddy Alex is in his class. He was in kinder with Alex but not 1st grade. His other cub scout friends are together in a different class this year. I'm glad they didn't separate Jayden from all three kids. That would have been hard on him I think. He's a pretty emotional kid, my son. :D I think he gets that from me.

Ah well...Off to spend some quiet dark hours alone before the chaos starts.

Money money money money...

2010-08-20T16:36:00.000-07:00

Just spent the last 2 1/2 hours sorting, counting, and wrapping coins from Jayden's and Ellie's piggy banks with them. They had WAY too much fun with this! Jayden has quite a haul with nearly $60 and Ellie has about half that. I think when they were "trading" coins, Jayden ended up with the lion's share of Susan Bs. I don't think I ever saw quite such a large collection...he had nearly 30! I think he is going to have to share some of that with Ellie tomorrow when we take them to the bank to open accounts for each of them. We will probably also have to chip in as I think the account minimum is $100. In any case, I gave Ellie all the "extra" unwrapped coins to put back in her piggy bank and I am going to have to trade out some green-backs for the gold coins Jayden gets from the tooth fairy. I don't want to have to go out searching for more of those when I can just recycle the ones we've already used! :D

Wonderful update!

2010-08-19T17:17:00.000-07:00

I have a wonderful update to this morning's early post!

My dear friend who was going to have to send her daughter to the ghetto school of the neighborhood has now gotten her precious one into a better school in the district. I'm so glad that she called up the district office and asked for a transfer to any of the better schools (they are all better than the one she was assigned)! I don't feel like I will have to worry about this sweet child so much now. :)

Eliana was a trooper today also! She got her lower front teeth fixed. They did cap them, but with tooth colored caps instead of metal ones. They look like crap, but anything is better than stainless steel caps. I'm relieved about that. Also after talking to my friend (mentioned above), I feel better about Ellie's need to take several trips to the dentist to fix her teeth. Apparently as a kid, she had many cavities as well and spent several days going to the dentist to have them fixed. She said that having a little done at a time over several appointments was easier on her as a kid than to have a marathon fixing session. That makes me feel better about the whole deal. PHEW!

Ellie gets her teeth fixed

2010-08-19T04:58:00.000-07:00

TODAY! I couldn't be more upset about this! I'm not upset that she is getting her teeth fixed, but the dentist Dave is taking her to wants to put stainless steel caps on her FRONT teeth! Since when are we so GHETTO that we can't figure out how to preserve appearances with tooth colored caps or fillings?????? I'm disturbed by the whole damned thing and feel like I am failing in parenthood. :( How can I possibly think that I should be bringing ANOTHER child into this world, when I clearly can't take care of the ones I already have? HOLY CRAP!! I'm as bad as Octomom! On the bright side, Ellie is finally going to be cavity-free for the first time in more than 2 years. It was while we were sitting in the hospital after her tonsillectomy that I first noticed the decay on her lower front teeth. I didn't know what a can of worms we would be dealing with when I first saw that. It makes me sad and angry and heartbroken all at the same time. :( No wonder it's 5AM and I am up already!!

The other thing on my mind is how sad it is that my dear friend is torn up about the school she has to send her daughter to this fall. She tried to get a transfer to our school, but really ended up in the ghetto of all schools in our district. She found out YESTERDAY--the week before school starts--that they have a "common dress" policy to prevent the girls from being slutty and the boys from having their clothes fall off and the gangs out of the classroom. The sad thing about this is that she is sending her daughter to KINDERGARTEN!! I am horrified to think of my children having to deal with all that crap at their ages! Maybe she is right to move to Indiana and live near her family. I'm thinking we should be moving out of the big city, too. I wonder if Dave would ever consider it.

Clearly my imagination is working overboard right now. If only I could go back to sleep for an hour or two so I could be fresh when I have a house full of moms and their kids later......

Cubscout camping

2010-08-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight Dave, Ellie, and Jayden are up on Mt. Madonna camping with the cub scout pack. Apparently it is quite cold up there. Dave is texting me about how cold he is. So sad that Janea and I had the forethought to stay home. :) Maybe next year we will go too, but this year, I am not in shape for sleeping on the ground. Wonder what Janea and I will do tomorrow....just the two of us! :D

On the plus side (other than my size), I have about 3 1/2 months to go and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Dave's sister told me tonight that she is planning to come down to visit from Alaska around Thanksgiving this year. I'm pretty excited about that since we haven't seen her in over a year and she might very well be here when the baby is born! :) That would be so awesome! I just wish I could be there for her when she has hers in January. BUT, there is no way in HELL I am going to Alaska in January! Nevermind the fact that I would have just had my own baby....Alaska in general is the epitome of cold in my book. Alaska in January is obscene! Love you anyway, Michelle!

Odyssey or Sienna? 2010? 2011?

2010-08-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

I am stumped! There is so much information to digest about these dang vehicles that I can't process it all and make a damn decision! I was putting it off because we don't have the money to buy anything, but today that all changed and now a decision must be made! HUH??

Oh yeah! I have the best daddy in the whole world and I am going to brag about it! My daddy buys me a new car every time I need one! Yes, from the first one, to the second one, to the current one, and, today, he offered to buy me a minivan! I don't really know what to say. I said thank you, which doesn't even begin to cover how I feel about the offer. I know Dave and I have been struggling with the money issue and the ever increasing need to get rid of my car in favor of something big enough for the whole family. BUT, to accept a gift of this magnitude is just too grand to simply say, "Thank you!"

So, it is with that enormous gratitude in mind, that I am now studiously looking at the differences between the Odyssey (both 2010 and 2011 models) and the Sienna (2011 and 2012 models) to decide what we might purchase. I am leaning toward the 2011 Sienna EXL w/nav since it has the eight seats that I want, leather, power sliding doors, and the in-dash nav system that Dave wants. Any input other than "we have the XXX minivan and we love it" would be helpful. I'm looking for serious qualities that you either like or don't like about the vehicle you have or why you chose to buy or not buy either of these two.

Long day

2010-08-06T22:49:00.000-07:00

Today was a very challenging day for me. I woke up for no apparent reason at 4:30 this morning and could not get back to sleep. By 7:30 I decided I needed to take advantage of the situation and I got my grocery shopping done. By 9, the groceries were home and put away and all three kids were fed breakfast. That was the end of my productive day. I crashed by 9:30 and was sound asleep when Janea wandered downstairs and scared the daylights out of me by climbing up on my bed. She managed to wake me up twice in the whole hour that was I in bed. I am guessing Dave was in the shower by that time leaving no one to look after her so she went awandering. So, being awake anyway, I got up and played trains with the kids for a while. When they were hungry for lunch, I made sandwiches and then I announced it was going to be quiet time. I put Janea in bed for a nap and sent the other kids to play in their bedrooms--I know..I don't like toys in their rooms, but this was a good thing. I tried to sleep. Ellie came out and woke me up 3 times and my phone rang twice. I was doomed to sleeplessness.

Luckily, I found inspiration to go to the library after Janea got up from her lovely long 2 hour nap. It helped pass the time until dinner. The kids helped make English Muffin mini-pizzas. I threw together a little salad and we dined pleasantly. Janea apparently decided she wanted salad (I didn't make her one because she lacks molars) and shouted at me "SAT! SAT! SAT!" until I figured out that was her word for salad. She didn't want me to just put some on her plate, though. NOOOOO! I had to feed it to her on a fork--from the BOWL! She had to get hers just like everyone else did! She is such a little tyrant! Bless her little sweet self! :) I am now off to bed to seek the sleep I so desperately need. Here's to hoping I don't wake up until AFTER the sun comes up tomorrow!

Another Day in the Life...

2010-08-05T19:18:00.001-07:00

So much happened today that was of the mundane order, yet it all seems to be the importance of the day today. I managed (with a little help from Mom) to get through 5 LOADS of laundry today...all washed, dried, sorted, folded, and put away--A feat in itself! Once everything is washed and dried and put away, I intend to go through and weed out the things we have that we really don't need to have. I suspect there won't be much there as part of that laundry was blankets, sheets, and towels. BUT, I have to try!

I also had 5 kids here today for several hours. A friend of mine had an appointment today and needed some extended care-time for her precious little ones. They played rather well all 5 of the kids together, but at times the gang was really really really LOUD! It makes me tired. Fortunately, there were no real catastrophes and hardly any problems.

And, the last fun thing that happened today, Janea just brought me a diaper. Sometimes, she is just playing with the diapers, but this time she needed a change. She pooped and decided it was time for a clean diaper. I told her the next step is to tell me before she poops and we can try to get that potty thing going! :)

Off to get Jayden from karate now. Hope he was good there too!

Scared Dave!

2010-08-04T21:56:00.000-07:00

HAHAHAHA!! I got home from choir rehearsal tonight and when I walked around the corner upstairs, Dave was getting the garbage ready to go out. I popped around the corner and announced, "I caught you!" Apparently, he wasn't expecting me quite yet. I scared the poop out of him! I couldn't help laughing at him but he got all mad! He nearly hit me with the pizza box he was so scared! HAHAHAHAHA....sorry, Dave! I can't help it! It was funny and just what I needed after the day I had.

Today we had our babysitting group here. So, 8 kids from ages 1.5 to 7 running around playing for FOUR HOURS! It's a long time! We had a toilet clogging to deal with (that was disgusting!) which totally explained to me why men are supposed to be in charge of plunging toilets. It's gross and dirty work! But, for the most part, the kids were all well-behaved and played nicely. However, there was little down-time for us grown ups during the day and then, of course, there was dinner to deal with and choir tonight. So, I needed a good laugh when I got home. :)

Knock Knock

2010-08-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

Jayden: Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
Jayden: Not me! ZOOM!

A minute later....

Eliana: Knock Knock
Me: Who's there?
Eliana: Not me! ZOOM!
Jayden: Get it? She's running away! HAHAHAHAHA!
Me: I get it.

A minute later....

Janea: Dot Dot
Me: Who's there?
Janea: Ot me! OOM!

I love my kids! :)

All by myself...

2010-08-02T16:44:00.000-07:00

NO...this is a GOOD thing! My mom came by and picked the kids up. They (all three of them) are having a sleepover at Grandma's and Papa's house tonight! :) WOO HOO!!! I am enjoying the quiet right now with a yummy snack of smoked Gouda, sliced cucumbers, and a taste of Cabernet. Peace! I love it!

Keeping it up!

2010-08-02T04:48:00.000-07:00

So, I figured since I was up at 4 AM again anyway, I might just as well keep up my blog and post again. This time, though, there was no one to blame for my being awake except myself. Janea had a screaming fit sometime after 11 and Dave brought her upstairs with him and there they were when I got out of bed. So, now I gots ta wonder if my waking up was habit or my body getting used to less sleep so that I can start taking care of the new baby when he arrives. I think habit.

Of course, all the stupid things that I am thinking of don't help me at all to go back to sleep. Let's itemize....no let's not. I don't want to rehash everything in my head AGAIN!

On the bright side of things, Jayden had a fun playdate at his friend Johnny's house today. While he was there, Eliana got to go to the neighbors' house and play with Sydney and Dietrich. I stopped in to chat for a while after I dropped her off. We decided to have dinner together (Round Table of course) and spent a lovely evening. Tiffany and I teamed up against Dave and Alan for Cranium and we won! I know...it's hard to believe that Alan didn't win. He has always won every game we have played together. This was rejuvenating.

Additionally, the kids had a lot of fun playing together. They built a fort in the playroom. Tomorrow's task (or is it today...hard to say that when the sun hasn't come up yet) is to clean up in there (again) and secure the shelves so we can really use them. I want to get all the darn toys up off the floor! Perhaps I can get a vacuum cleaner through there soon! Oh well...here's to hoping!

4 AM

2010-08-01T04:11:00.000-07:00

Here we are again. It's 4 AM and I can't sleep. Why? Might have something to do with someone coming to bed at 3:30 and waking me up after I have been asleep for several hours. But, the snoring is the worst part. Even if he just woke me up and didn't snore, I might have had trouble going back to sleep, but with the snoring---no chance!

What am I thinking about? Still that woman at GG with the moving my stroller crap. Seeing the situation unfold in 30 different ways each more imaginative <> than the last. A little ridiculous to be sure. I also imagined a massive gang fight at Great America. Not at all sure where that came from. Didn't see anything there at all that would lead me to think we would be subjected to witnessing violence when we were there just one time an entire MONTH ago! Must be my subconscious telling me that I'm nervous about taking the kids back there by myself. I should probably wait until I can get some company.

Jayden had a friend over today. Dave overheard him telling his friend that his parents are "a pain in the butt" because "Daddy is at work all the time and Mommy is always on the computer or watching TV and neither have time to play games with him". We must really suck as parents. I am going to work on making a bigger effort to spend time with the kids doing kid-like stuff. Tonight, Dave spent an hour with Jayden making "slime" from a kit that Jayden got from my brother for his birthday. Jayden insisted he wanted to do it alone with Dave and no Ellie. So, I pulled out an art project for Ellie to work on. She lasted 5 minutes. After she gave up on that, we put a puzzle together. She actually sat through and finished the whole thing. She was very proud of having finished the puzzle. I hope she remembers the sense of accomplishment and sees more stuff through to the end. She doesn't seem to have the patience to finish things. Well...I'm not sure if patience is the right word, but follow-through is an issue.

We'll just have to see. I guess it will take more discipline on my part to see to the kids' success. I will need to be more diligent.

Starting up again

2010-07-31T05:09:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted in almost a year. Last time I posted, Jayden was just getting ready to start first grade. Now he is on his way to SECOND grade. Eliana will be starting kindergarten in a couple of weeks, too. I can't believe how big my babies are getting. Of course, on that note, the baby is no longer a baby. She is quite the toddler now. She is so full of personality and independence it's hard to believe she can fit all that into her tiny little body.

I love the way Janea wants to get dressed by herself. She refuses to let anyone help her until she has tried and failed on her own (at least 100 times) first. Even then, she might take help, but reluctantly. She wants to do everything her older siblings are doing. If they are playing with Lego's (everyone's new favorite toy), she wants to play with Lego's, too. If they are running around and jumping up and down, you bet she is there! I'm looking forward to spending some one-on-one time with her when the older kids go off to school before the new baby comes. Yes, that's right...the new baby!

Baby #4 is on his way. If someone asked me in my youth how many children I thought I would have, I would have said 2 and no more. But, here I sit at 5:15 in the morning unable to sleep with baby #4 growing in my oh-so-big belly! This is definitely the last one for us. I feel stretched thin over the three already, I pray that I will be able to balance all four and tend to the needs of each of them individually. This is a big fear of mine. But, I'm pretty sure that is not what is keeping me up at night.

I need to learn to let go of old emotions whether they were significant during the day or not. YESTERDAY, I took the kids to Gilroy Gardens. While we were there, I parked the stroller next to a table in a shady spot so I could watch the kids play in the water play area. Janea got caught in a water stream and needed rescuing. While I was gone, some stupid, selfish woman, moved my stroller into a corner in the sun and proceeded to take over my table! I got so angry (as one would expect) but calling her out on the carpet didn't make me feel better. Perhaps because of the way I handled it ("What the hell? You don't just move someone else's stuff! How the hell was I supposed to find that?), or if I'm just dumbfounded by the rudeness of it all. But, in any case, it was YESTERDAY!! I should be able to let it go and move on with my life, right?? Dave wants me to take some stress management classes. I'm starting to think that might be a good idea. Perhaps SOMEONE can help me figure out how to let things go that do not need to be occupying so much of my brain!

Anyway, I think that's why I decided to start blogging again. Maybe having someplace to express my ups and downs of the day will help me be able to let things go and I will be able to sleep better at night. As of now, I've been up for 2 hours. This happens every night as of late. It's pretty frustrating. It's especially frustrating since I don't have down time during the day during the summer. I have all three kids all day long. Even when Janea is napping, I am still on duty with the other two.

Advice? Input?

What's new?

2009-08-20T15:27:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-02T11:58:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-17T18:45:00.001-07:00

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

2009-06-19T21:41:00.000-07:00

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

Ellie's First Dance Recital

2009-06-19T09:07:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-05-18T09:45:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-05-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

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...

2009-04-07T16:49:00.000-07:00

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!!

Mirror mirror on the wall....

2009-04-01T17:19:00.000-07:00

I'm the fairest of them all!

Neighborhood friends

2009-03-28T10:54:00.001-07:00

I love having friends to visit within walking distance of our house. It's what I have always wanted for my kids.

Yesterday we went to play at their house after dinner. They all got along well and played very nicely. Unfortunately, though, Eliana became accident prone. She fell onto her face while playing on the swing.

Later, we were walking home and she and Jayden decided to run. Jayden was wearing sandals that strap to his feet. He was fine. Eliana was running in her bright orange flip flops that are 5 sizes too big for her but she loves anyway. She tripped.

The right knee is still protected by the bandaid.The left knee at the time of the unveiling.

Pobrecita! If we didn't have such fun while we were there....

FOOOOOOOD!!!

2009-03-25T10:22:00.000-07:00

Janea got to eat real food for breakfast today. She was so excited she could hardly contain herself. Then when it came time for eating, she took the spoon in her own hand and fed herself. "Forget it, Mom! I'm a big girl and I can do it all myself!"

I took some pictures:

I'm ready to eat! Bring on that rice cereal!!

Hmmm....this is interesting.

Yeah....I got it all figured out! I don't need your help; I'll feed myself! ROAR!

The tables have turned!

2009-03-23T19:35:00.000-07:00

Tonight, while getting ready for bed, Eliana was taking care of her toileting needs and Jayden took his turn at "check to see if my butt is clean" duty. I couldn't help laughing out loud when he took a flushable wipe and helped her out!

In other news: Jayden had his first T-ball game on Saturday. It was the funniest thing on earth. I loved watching the kids run all over the field to chase the ball. I just wish mine was one of them. He was not at all interested in the game around him. When he was up to bat, he hit the ball then watched as it rolled away. He had to be told several times to put the bat down and run to 1st base. When he was on second, he stayed there even though everyone else was running. The 3rd base coach had to go get him and walk him to third. Over all, it was very cute. I assume that when he gets a better feel of the game, he will pay more attention and it will get somewhat exciting. :)

Jayden is also getting to be quite the reader. He is enjoying his books now and loves to read signs and short little excerpts of things. He actually read an entire book to me yesterday. I am really pleased that he is starting to open up to this new world of reading. Now if he would only outgrow the need to torture Eliana and love her the way he does Janea.....

Eliana is learning by leaps and bounds, too. She also likes to demonstrate how incredibly smart she is. She was pointing out her letters to me the other day (her "sight words") and she was showing me the A and called it the "Uppercase A". When she pointed to the a, she called it the "Downercase a". I never laughed so hard! :)

Janea is healthy!

2009-03-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

She went to see the doctor on Friday for her 4 month check-up. She is healthy and happy! The girl smiles all the time! :) She weighs in at 14 lb 4 oz and measures an astonishing length of 25.5 inches! She seems to have this growing business down pat! She has, however, given up pooping every day for lent. Well, I hope it's as short-lived as that anyway. By the 2nd or 3rd day, she gets a bit grumpy and starts to fuss more and more. Ellie was the same way at about this age, but more fussy and less smiley.

Eliana has a new favorite game. She likes to play "Ring around the Rosie". She can be heard singing at many times throughout the day, "Ring around the Rosie. Hocket Pulled a posie..." Followed by my LMAO! :)

Jayden's new favorite thing to do is read! Yes! Finally, the boy has decided he knows how to read and he is reading signs and labels all over the place. Occasionally, he might even read words in a book. Today he discovered that he could determine the next season of McDonald's toys by reading the bottom of his Happy Meal box. This thrilled him to no end. I am just pleased that he has finally decided to succumb to the world of knowledge. He really likes to read and to learn, but since it was difficult to learn to sit down and focus on putting the words together, he was fighting the reading thing. He seems to be over that now. Although, he would still rather be read to than to read to himself. :) My baby....

Lynda is...

2009-03-04T13:17:00.000-08:00

...totally frustrated! How is it that I can't manage to work out a day to get up to Napa to see such a good friend of mine? I mean, how hard is it to pick a day that Dave can take off work so he can stay home and take care of the kids so I can go up to Napa and visit? I mean, her schedule is so limited by her job that it has to be a work-week visit...no weekends and early in the week, too! Next week is totally out and then she is leaving to go back home! Why couldn't I figure this out? It's not like it's hard to dump all the daily activity on Dave...between schools, dance, karate, t-ball, and choir, we usually have plenty of activity during the week. But, it's not so much that we couldn't have tried something. Oh sigh!

Book report...

2009-02-22T14:30:00.000-08:00

Jayden just finished writing his first "book report". He was supposed to read a story and then draw a picture of what he liked best about the story. Then, he had to write two sentences about that part of the story and why he liked it. As soon as he finished, he ran to the bathroom announcing, "I have to go POOP!"

He says to Ellie, bring in Daddy's books and we can play school! So, there he is sitting butt naked on the toilet (yes...he strips completely to poop) "reading" Dave's books to Ellie. The two of them love to play with books. Now, I suppose there are worse things to play with, but really...Stephen King, Dean Koontz, and the like are NOT exactly beginning readers! It's a good thing they don't get very far in each book.

So, Dave and I are sitting at our computers listening to the kids. We hear Jayden say, "It's working!" We have to find out what that's about...he was snapping his fingers. He's so cute!

Glad for the Mundane....

2009-02-20T09:04:00.000-08:00

Just for fun, I was reading back to previous blog posts and came across this one from March 3, 2006. It made me laugh. :)

Murphy's Law is in Effect!

Yes...If it can go wrong, it will! As of yesterday, the compressor for our air conditioner was frozen over, the furnace wasn't working, the T1 went down, there were termites searching for a new home in our bathroom (since their old home was disturbed by the stucco removal), Dave's tooth is broken and may need a root canal, one of the two lamps in my kitchen is not functioning, the neighbors are asking way too much for their house to rent (but we will probably do it anyway) and they don't allow pets (what are we going to do with Shayna?), and Jayden threw up all over himself and his carseat and my car yesterday on our way to get pictures taken.

Yep! Fun times around here!

Oh yeah!! And it's RAINING!

Amendment--Not 30 minutes after the original posting of this message, we got a call from our bank. Someone has accessed our online information and stole $19,000. Yes...there is more going wrong still...How much more can the Stahl Family take? Tune in next time with "You're in hell and you can't get out!"

If I had known that this was not yet the worst of what was to come, I might have lost my mind then; but to find out that we spent WAY more money on the remodel than we intended to and that there was going to be problem after problem for the next 2 YEARS ... WOW!

I didn't know I would look back on this and laugh, but here I am...laughing away! :) In fact, I went back and read all of the March 2006 posts. What an interesting time!

My thanks to all you adoring fans and loyal readers (hahahahahahahaha) who give me supportive comments in this forum. I really appreciate knowing you're there.

Facebook is changing my life...

2009-02-17T11:48:00.000-08:00

So...I used to blog here, do email through a real email program, and play games on a separate program on my computer. Facebook has changed all of that! I now "blog", email, catch-up with folks, and play games all in the same place. I wonder if Facebook is a secret government agency trying to get us hooked and trapped so they can manipulate us. After all, every application wants you to invite your friends!

On the plus side, I update my "status" frequently enough that my family and friends keep up with what ever shit happens to float through my mind. But, my sisters Michelle and Katie said that they feel more connected with me now since they get regular updates of what's going on. I also really like that I have been able to connect with other "former" friends that I've lost touch with. We don't have much to talk about any more, but it makes me feel better that we just drifted apart and that life got in the way rather than there was a particular reason for the rift.

The down side of FB, is that I don't update my blog much anymore and I fear that I will look back later and wonder what the heck I was doing with myself during the big blanks of time between postings. Oh...then I might remember I was playing countless games of Scramble on FB! :)

2009-01-24T12:34:00.000-08:00

OK...blogger is being dumb. Here's one. I'll get the rest up later.

Anyone want a piano?

Catch-up

2009-01-20T17:09:00.001-08:00

So...it's been a busy month so far...well, mostly this weekend. Dave and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary on Saturday. It was fun. We went out to La Fondue for dinner. I remember that place being a bit better than it was, but perhaps that was because The Melting Pot is just a bit better. In any case, they raised their prices and moved to a newer facility, but I think the quality of service was less and they serve less dipping things than they used to. Dave was unhappy about the lack of bread variety...he likes the rye and especially the pumpernickel. The part that got me was this. We ordered a bottle of champagne to celebrate our anniversary. We hadn't even finished what we were paying for by dessert and she comes out with 2 complementary half-glasses of a different champagne in honor of our celebration. I'm sure they could have done something else to help us celebrate, but more champagne on top of what we already had?? What a waste!

Never-the-less, we had a good anniversary and had a good time with our fondue. When we got home, we opened our "10-year" box. At our wedding we had everyone fill out a questionaire as to where they thought we would be in 10 years. We put them all in a box and sealed to be opened this year. We had a good laugh reading some of the things our family and friends had to say 10 years ago. It was fun.

Sunday, we had a whole different celebration in honor of Janea. We had a baby-naming ceremony followed by quite a party with more food than we could have possibly eaten. I don't know what I was thinking, but there is tons of food going to waste in my kitchen because I can't figure out what to do with it all. I really need a full sized freezer instead of the half-freezer I have now. I just wish I could convince Dave to get one of those deep freeze ice boxes. It would make things much better. We used to have a freezer outside....wish we still did!

Oh! and I got a camera for our anniversary so I can take and post pictures again. I'll do that another day. Right now, I need to go load up toys into a garbage bag....will they ever learn???

Kids say the darndest things...

2009-01-05T18:17:00.000-08:00

Dave and I were sitting on the couch watching a movie that was beyond the interest of our little darlings. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the bathroom...this is usually not a good sign.

Dave: What's going on in there?

Jayden: I have to poop and pee. Ellie's keeping me company.

Dave: Could you do it without making a bunch of noise?

Jayden and Ellie: Ok.

------several minutes pass with lots of conversation and chatter from the bathroom----

Lynda: Jayden, are you done yet?

Jayden: Oh...ummm..yes.

Lynda: Did you wipe your butt clean?

Jayden: Ellie, can you check to see if my butt is clean?

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

Picture It...

2008-12-31T19:04:00.000-08:00

New Year's Eve, 2008. We are sitting down to watch a movie before welcoming in the new year. Jayden--just 5 years old--sits on the couch next to Daddy. In a most irritated tone, he says to his darling sister who is just hanging about, "Ellie, I CAN'T SEE!" She--just 3 years of age--innocently and quite honestly says, "That's because I'm standing here."

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Happy New Year everyone!

Dumb or Embarrassed...

2008-12-28T20:27:00.000-08:00

Not sure which I am more. I am embarrassed because...well...here's the story:

We are celebrating Chanukkah at the synagogue. It's the first Chanukkah party at our new home, so there is quite a large turn-out. To celebrate, we of course sing songs. The most popular song is, of course, "I have a little dreidel". But, Rabbi Debbie makes it interesting by changing it up some. When we get to the part about "I made it out of clay", she lets someone choose what they would make it out of and then makes up a rhyme to go with it. Well, naturally this is a great place for children to participate. Jayden is excitedly raising his hand. He wants to be called on so bad! I asked him, "What would you say if she called on you?" He says, "I don't know. I'll have to make it up if she calls me." And, she called on him right then. He waits a bit, then shouts out "POOP!" OMG if I didn't die of embarrassment right then and there. Unfortunately, all I could do was laugh my ASS off! And, darned if she didn't roll with it!

Now, I am embarrassed about that, but I am stupid as shit for this:

We took the camera to Judy and Gary's house for Christmas Eve dinner with the family. I was consolidating our stuff. I could have SWORN I took the camera out of the "High School Musical" gift bag that I loaded with garbage and put it in the little blue gift bag that we brought home. But, as of today, we can't find the camera. :( Need I say more?

So, no pictures...sorry!

The fun never ends...

2008-12-22T10:31:00.000-08:00

So last week was filled with excitement. Dave had "acupuncture" on Monday. That immediately led to sciatic pain that he did not previously have, but the rest of his back pain was much better. BUT, he was left with debilitating headaches and on Thursday, massively high blood pressure. So, he had a trip to the ER. After a WHOLE day of testing, he ended the day with a spinal tap. Some of the side effects of a spinal tap are headaches when in an upright position. However, if those headaches continue for more than 3-4 days or are accompanied by nausea, he needs to be seen again.

Today, we are off to the ER for a return visit for a blood patch to help clot the leakage of the spinal fluid from the tap site. I can't express how exciting this is going to be! GRRRRR! A bonus to this procedure is more back pain as a side-effect.

More later!

********UPDATE**************

Blood patch done. They made a mess of him with the betadine and the blood and the IVs and all that, but we left hopeful that the procedure was productive. On the plus side...we've been camera happy! :)

Jayden and Eliana show off their moves before a lesson at All Sport Mixed Martial Arts Studio. They LOVE it there. And, the owners/teachers are so nice.

One big happy family! We love to cuddle on the couch. Jayden and Eliana like making faces at Janea to keep her happy, too.

This the bruise Dave got from the ER intern on Thursday before his spinal tap. Apparently, IVs are not his forte!

Janea is ok...

2008-12-10T17:53:00.000-08:00

after taking a tumble from the examining table in the doctor's office!! OMG! I am a bad parent! I took two steps away from her to put Eliana's sippy cup in the diaper bag. While I had my back turned, Janea managed to flip herself off the table! Dr A checked her out and she is totally fine, but it scared the crap out of me!

Eliana is going to be okay, too. She had her dentist appointment today and she was such a big girl! She brushed her teeth with some help from me and the hygenist. Then she let the hygenist take x-rays of her teeth--both front and back! Then, she got her teeth cleaned and was most cooperative! YAY! Lastly, she let the dentist himself have a peek at her mouth and look for those looming cavities that we knew were there. Turns out she has cavities in all four front uppers and also in the lowers. :( I am so upset! At least they will fill them with tooth colored fillings. I was worried about that! We also have a flouride gel that we are to apply every night right before bed. Our new routine will be floss, brush, flouride, bed! The flouride being the new part anyway.

FACEBOOK...

2008-12-02T22:21:00.000-08:00

...is addictive! I joined because a friend asked me to so she could share in the pictures of my beautiful children (see previous post). I didn't think I would do much with FaceBook, but I got started on a couple of the games and I can't stop! I love the word games Scramble and Pathwords. I can play them endlessly (and really...who has the time for all that?!). I also got started on Pirates and Vampire Wars. Now, normally, that's not my cup of tea, but DUDE!!! I love these games. The biggest downfall (as I have had in EverQuest as well) is that you need friends to play too. I can NEVER get my friends to play these online games with me. Oh well...what can I say, I am not a charismatic person. I just love to play! :)

If you have a Facebook page, please join my Pirate Crew (you don't have to play unless you want to, but join me anyway...I get stuff for having crew members) and my Vampire Clan. If you don't have a Facebook page, please make one and join me! :)

I said I was addicted! :)

PS--Update on Ellie's teeth...thank you for the support! I still feel like crap about her teeth, but the support helps. We will be visiting a pediatric dentist to get those filled sometime this month. I better call about that...perhaps I can take time out of my busy Facebook game-play and make a phone call or two :-P

Shameful parenting

2008-11-24T15:48:00.000-08:00

I feel HORRIBLE!! Not only did we find out in July that Jayden had a cavity in one of his teeth, but today I took Eliana to the dentist to determine if she had cavities and she does!!! I was suspicious of her lower front teeth since they looked like there was erosion between 3 teeth. Her teeth are really close together, but still, I thought they looked bad. So, I took her in today. The dentist determined that not only were there cavities between the lower fronts, but she suspects there is one or two in the back as well! I feel like a terrible mom!

We brush! Either Dave or I supervises or brushes the kids teeth morning and night. But, still, both of my kids have cavities before the age of 5! How horrible is that!?! I didn't have any cavities until I hit puberty! What's wrong with me?! Why am I so bad at this mothering thing that my kids' teeth are rotting out of their heads!?!? :(

Ain't they cute?!

2008-11-19T22:24:00.000-08:00

Great Grossities of Childhood

2008-11-09T21:02:00.000-08:00

Among the first great grossities (yep...made that word up, I think) of childhood is the umbilical cord. Even grosser than it's dried stuck-on existance, is the falling off of said cord. Today, Janea's cord fell off. Dave did not tell me this in so many words, but instead, offered something from his hand to me in that close-fisted sort of way that makes you stick your hand out to receive the gift even though you don't know what it is. I was totally grossed out when he handed me the cord. I was like "what am I supposed to do with it?" He said to toss it, but not before we take pictures of it. PICTURES!! Of the dead fallen off cord stump!!! GROSS!!!!! When he took pictures of Jayden's cord, it was a novelty (and I wasn't nearby). When he took pictures of Ellie's cord, I was not surprised, but still not around. This time, he did it right in front of me...while I was HOLDING the disgusting little thing!

Anyone want to see them? I thought not, but here's a picture of the cutie it came from! :)

A new era

2008-11-05T09:25:00.000-08:00

opens up for us as we finally get that moron out of the White House and replace him with someone who has moderate views and a solid plan to get AMERICA back on track. I am so tired of all the foreign involvement of our out-going presidential agenda. It's about time that we start looking at our national needs. Sincerely, I hope (and expect) our president-elect to concern himself primarily with the needs of the people in the country that he serves.

GO OBAMA!

Oh yeah...and for the first time in my ENTIRE life...California SUCKS!

GO VOTE!

2008-11-04T17:23:00.000-08:00

I love Election Day! I think exercising one's right to vote is the most important civic duty of every American (except obeying the laws of the country, of course). That said, Dave and I voted together today with Eliana and Janea in tow. It was a nice family outing. Jayden was sort of there, too, as his school was our polling place. :)

I am anxiously awaiting the results of the election, although I don't expect to like them much. I have been twice disappointed in the presidential elections of this century. Please don't let it happen again!

On the plus side, Wes and Katie were here this weekend. They left this morning so Wes could get home to vote. Apparently, he couldn't figure out how to do it from Korea. :) He will be training in Texas for the next 6 months or so, then he expects another tour in Iraq.

Go Vote!

Welcome Janea Louise!!!

2008-10-25T15:34:00.000-07:00

Janea Louise Stahl was born on Thursday 10/23/08 at 1:56 PM. She weighed in at 7lbs 7.6 oz and measured a whopping 20 inches. Labor wasn't terrible; delivery SUCKED! ****update*****
So, Wednesday I declared I would be going into labor that day. I went to playgroup and then choir, but I left choir early. I was tired. Good thing though, I needed some sleep. I woke up around midnight with labor pains. They were not too strong, but consistent at 5 min apart until I called Labor and Delivery. They told me to drink some water and then take a shower. The contractions stopped in the shower. By that time, we had already called Judy and Gary to come down. They did and then they slept here in our bed until later when we finally called Judy from the hospital. About 3 AM I decided we needed to go in because they needed to give me antibiotics for the Group B Strep that I tested positive for. I wanted to make sure there was enough time. Apparently there was plenty!!

I had mild contractions both at regular and irregular intervals for hours! They put the IV in around 5 AM (it took 3 FRIGGING TRIES!!!!) and gave me the Penicillin and Pitocin. Pitocin is not as bad as I remember until they jack it way up AND my water broke. But, I got to go for a walk around 8:15 or so and met Judy and Gary in the waiting room. But, we needed to get back to the LDR room since I had to pee and the staff was cleaning the bathroom down the hall from the waiting room.

So, we sat around and chatted for a few HOURS until labor started to really progress. I think they checked me around noon and progress was slow. Around 1ish my water finally broke. About 1:30, Dave remembered that he had the cable guys coming to the house to set us up with Comcast and we are dropping our T1. Gary went over to the house to meet them. Good thing cause right about then, they checked my progress again and my water broke...that was the beginning of the real labor right there. I fortunately got the IV drug pretty quick because if they hadn't given it to me then, I wouldn't have gotten it at all. At 1:45, I felt an overwhelming need to push her out. I was not calm! I pushed and pushed and pushed and 11 minutes later, Janea Louise was welcomed into the world. YAY! :)

She had the cord looped around her neck. The midwife tried to untangle it and it broke. OOPS! That made delivering the placenta more difficult...she had to reach in and pull it out (SO GROSS!!).

*****end of update*******

About 2 hours after birth, Janea registered a temp of 101, so the pediatrician on call ordered her to the nursery for an IV and some antibiotics. She was given 3 rounds of antibiotics 12 hours apart and then released to go home. She never registered another temp out of the acceptable range, but they wanted to be cautious. My precious and I stayed 2 nights in the hospital and came home today. Of course, you all know me by now, before we came home, we needed to have an outing. We left the hospital and went to Babies R Us for some supplies (like newborn sized diapers...yep let that go 'til the last minute), and then to Erik's Delicafe for lunch. I was hungry (I know...big surprise!!).

Speaking of hungry...I need to find something to eat now, too. hmmmmm.....

OH!! I almost forgot the pictures!! Click the link:

http://picasaweb.google.com/cybertech/JaneaLouiseBirth#

Still waiting...

2008-10-17T20:58:00.000-07:00

No baby yet. Saw the doc today. Says I am fully effaced and 2 cm dialated, but not guarantees about delivery. Made a new appointment to see me on the 27th. Guess he's thinking if Baby holds out that long, he's gonna have to see me again.

Anyway, here's to hoping for a new addition soon!

Not much to say

2008-10-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

But...I have 15 days until the baby's due date and I GOT A COLD!!!! grrrrr

I was trucking along with the late stages of pregnancy before, but now I have a sore throat, cough, and stuffy head to contend with as well! AND, the worst part is there is NOTHING to take to ease the symptoms until AFTER the baby is born. BUT, I am too tired to even think about labor and delivery right now. I hope she holds out until I feel better....and I hope I feel better TOMORROW!!!!!!!!

Other than that, all is well and we're doing fine. Got some Discovery Toys catalogs in today. Hope to make enough in sales to keep my consultant status without having to buy any toys myself. We are on a very tight budget these days!

Ever have a day like this?

2008-10-05T08:04:00.001-07:00