Tolden Michael is here!!!

Jan. 31, 2007
9:50 a.m.
9 lbs. 1 oz.

We have waited so long to see this boy! Isabelle is the best big sister! She has been a big help feeding him, rocking him, and singing to him. I couldn't imagine being able to love two kids because Isabelle has been the love of my life, but it's amazingly easy to let another one in! We have two great kids with lots of love to give!

So I've decided to come back to blogger and be much better about posting. Let's see...what's been happening? Isabelle is maturing into a very funny 3 year old who has the same humor as her daddy. She can count to 20, knows her shapes, her colors, and can speak some Spanish. She (along with the rest of us) is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her baby brother due any day now. I've been on bed rest for almost 4 weeks! Luckily I work for a great company that allows me to do this with no worries. I keep thinking of all the great books I could be catching up on but instead find myself addicted to daytime TV. It could be damaging my brain cells slowly but how would I know the difference if that is the case? I was watching Maury the other day (the guy that used to have good shows that are now trash). Maury has one show that runs everyday called "Who's your baby's Daddy?" I am so fortunate I don't have to have 9 men tested to discover that. The next day I saw on the news that often babies look like their dads when the come out just to prove paternity. Interesting. Two words: birth control. Well, let's leave it at that for tonight.

Lost

I was in a plane and it crashed on a desert island. That's my excuse for being absent. So if any of you ever come here looking for updates I apologize for past abandonment. So new news in the Christus household is....baby due in February is a BOY! We bought a new house in Gladstone just North of Kansas City. And we have a new little addition to our family, a kitty cat that Isabelle has named Mermaid. Mermaid is a very good kitty. She lets Isabelle haul her around, put in her cabinets, cover her with blankets. All the activities little girls love to have kitties for. Nick is still working from home (so he says!) I still think he has cocktail parties during the day when we are gone. I still work in Westport and traffic for lack of a better word sucks. We happened to move when they decided to start work on the highway. We are looking for pre-school up here for Isabelle because I won't be at Westport forever. I am wanting to transfer after my maternity leave. So if we haven't heard from you in awhile let us know how you are doing!

So here I am again....

Oh,what have we missed in more than a month? Let's see. The pregnancy is going well so far. I am twelve weeks along and Isabelle is certain it is a girl. More than certain really, she refuses to acknowledge that it COULD be a boy. Time will tell. We have found a house in North Kansas City and are in the process of buying. If you have never bought a house, whew. Too much. Nick might as well make it a full time job trying to get everything straight. We went to Florida and visited my grandpa and his wife making time to go to Disney World, the happiest place on earth. I have never seen more people sweating together in one place in all my life. Well, I will update later. Here are some pic's of Isabelle's happiest day ever.

Disney World

Tonight Isabelle was getting ready to watch Tarzan and came running into the kitchen at full speed to get Nick.

"Daddy, daddy, come here. Now. "

"What is it Isabelle?"

The previews to Tarzan had an advertisement to Disney World (land) I still don't know which b/c I never got to go (no bad feelings dad!) .

"Daddy, I want to go there!!!"

"You do?"

"Yeah, and I can even hold Mickey Mouses hand!"

Nothing is better than seeing that kind of joy! Now if anyone would like to donate money for us to go, we'll take it.

Heparin

For those of you who dont' know, last summer we had a miscarriage. During that time we found out that I have a genetic disorder caller Factor 5 Leiden Mutation. It causes my blood to clot during pregnancy which is what caused me to have Pre-eclampsia with Isabelle and to miscarry last summer. So for this pregnancy we get to inject (yes using a needle) the drug Heparin into my legs and belly 2x a day from now until delivery. Tonight was my first dose and Nick got to do the stabbing. First reaction: Ow. Second reaction: OW. Third reaction: ooohh Owww...okay not so bad.

We have a Bun in the Oven!

Sarah: So when can we have another baby?

Nick: When we have a house and are more financially secure (typical).

Sarah: Well then I guess we'll never have another baby! (typical).

Nick: Sarah (sighs), I just think we should wait until the end of the year.

Sarah: (silent treatment)

2 weeks later:

Sarah: Hey Isabelle, go take this stick to daddy.

Nick: (looking at the home pregnancy test) No way! (half excited)

Sarah: (sheepish)

Nick: Are you serious?

Sarah: Isabelle, do you know what this mean? You are going to be a big sister!

Isabelle: I'm a big sister. I have a little sister?

Nick and Sarah: Yep!

Isabelle: I want to name baby sister Alice.

Nick and Sarah: maybe

The end

Arggggg!

I go into work at 7:30 this morning. We open at 9:00. The phone rings at 7:47. Conversation:

Sarah: Thank you for choosing (insert place of work here) this morning. This is Sarah.

Customer: Yeah, uh, I applied for a credit card sometime. And uh I want to know where it is.

Sarah: I would be more than happy to have a personal banker call you when we open at 9:00 and they would be able to give you that information.

Customer: What time is it?

Sarah: 7:47

Customer: So you aren't open?

Sarah: no.

Customer: So what are you doing there then?

Sarah: getting ready for the day so I can answer stupid questions for customers. (kidding, kind of)

Sarah really said: getting ready to open in the next hour and thirteen minutes. I will have a banker call you when we are open for business. Do you have a number I can have them reach you at?

Customer: No. My phones been disconnected. I'll call back.

What is wrong with people? Really? Any answers will be welcome in the comments section.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers and soon-to-be mother's. Even if you are thinking about someday being a mother...Happy Mother's Day to you.

And a little history:

In the United States, Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day."

Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.

In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday school lesson that her mother gave in which she said, "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers."

Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen like John Wannamaker, and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out her mother's favorite flower, the white carnation. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914 Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.

The Parents VS. I-ZILLA

Parents: Isabelle, it is time to go to bed.

I-ZILLA: no.

Parents: Isabelle, you do not tell us no. It's bedtime. Do you want to read a story.

I-ZILLA: No.

Parents: Isabelle, do you want a spanking?

(bad question for future reference)

I-ZILLA: NO!

Parents: If you don't get into your room now, you will get a spanking. Understand?

I-ZILLA: I said No.

Parents: That's it. Get in your room!

I-ZILLA: NOooooooo....Aaahhhhhh.....(exaggerated moaning which happens to be I-Zilla's greatest weapon)

Parents: Isabelle, we love you very much, but you cannot tell us no. You need to learn to obey your parents.

I-ZILLA: (in between quiet defeated sobs) I-Iah-Iam-ss-SS-Sor-sorry.

Parents 1/I-ZILLA 0

Mr. Chicago

If you have never been to Chicago you should request a tour from Mr. Chicago. This is Mr.Chicago helping us cross the street.






Mr. Chicago rents anywhere from $50 - $100 a day but well worth the extra expense. Who else could help you find a bowling alley with "pin boys" in the year 2006?











This is me waiting for the L. Or is it el? I don't know, Mr. Chicago wasn't there for this picture.








Mr. Chicago took us for a drink in the John Hancock building on the 96th floor. Here is a view of Chicago from the restaurant.











Mr. Chicago was incredibly patient while waiting to take this picture with John Vanderslice. Look what we would have missed if he hadn't been?

Thank Mr. Chicago!

Days Off

I love days off. Not that I don't love my job. But I am so productive on days off. Today Isabelle had school pictures at daycare. (Nick of course tells me this at 10:00 the previous night after she's in bed so a bath with clean washed hair is out of question) So at 9:00 I took her school promising her a sucker from the bank if she didn't cry (for some reason getting her picture taken really freaks her out). So after the slight melt down and eventual compromise we headed to the bank for a sucker. Blue was her color of choice for suckers, we said hello to everyone that HAD to work that day and headed home. After we got back we dyed Easter Eggs and then baked some cookies. All of this happened before 10:30 am. Why can't I be that productive at work? It's a mystery I may never solve, and any insight you have to offer would be appreciated. The morning concluded with lunch and a "nap." When we woke up (yes we, I slept too) cleaned house. Long day short, we ate dinner and then went to Cold Stone Creamery on the Plaza for some really expensive, but good ice cream. My day off is over and tomorrow is another day.

Finding Nemo

Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. What do we
do? We swim, swim.

We took Isabelle to Nemo on Ice and it was spectacular.  GO GO GO if you ever
have the chance!  We had so much fun.  This is Isabelle eating cotton candy for
the first time. ($10 cotton candy tastes no different than $1 cotton candy
by-the-way!)It was worth it though b/c she did get the super cool Nemo hat!
Until next time,just keep swimming.

Long Time No See

I am sorry I have abandoned you blogger. It's been so long since I first set eyes on you. I remember the day we met. You were so brawny and inviting. I took advantage of you and we started a relationship right away. As time went on I got so busy with life that I only visited you when I could. Now I feel as if I have left you completely. I don't know when the fun turned into a chore. Days passed with no word from me and yet, here you are, welcoming me back with open pages. Thank you blogger. I vow never to leave you again.

There was a crooked man
Who walked a crooked mile.
He found a crooked sixpence
Against a crooked stile.
He bought a crooked cat
Which caught a crooked mouse,
And they all lived together
In a crooked little house.

I once knew a woman you could compare with a warm towel straight from the dryer on a cold day. A warm towel makes all the cold disappear. You don't want to go to work because the towel is such a safe and comfortable object of simplicity. She was a mother of four and in my early married days I considered every aspect of her life to be absolute. If there was tear she'd turn it to laughter. A question of faith and she'd find the answer. I wouldn't call her perfect. Though I wanted very much to be like her. I modeled my marriage after hers. I found myself yearning for children just so I could be even a shaving of the mother she was. I always thought that a mother was a child's connection to the future. A mother, by nurture, not nature, teaches a child all the fundamentals of how to become an able functioning adult. Around my second year of marriage things began to change. Just little things at first. We would often go over to her house on Sundays for dinner after church. And by dinner I mean a hot home cooked meal with homemade iced tea and dessert. That was the first act of love to go. There were no more Sunday dinners. I saw less and less of her as the months went by. I was busy with my own life trying hard to discover the wife and mother in me that I didn't notice when we didn't talk at all.
TO BE CONTINUED...

Motivation

We started potty training Isabelle about 6 months ago. She did great here and there for about 2 of those months and then she flat out refused to use the big girl potty. This week, she's pottied like it's 1999! Can you imagine if every time we used the restroom we came out shouting and screaming "Yeah! I used the potty!" "That's awesome!" (high five and a big kiss) If everyone was motivated like that in all we did, life would be grand.

Example: Joe works in a factory puting screws in kitchen sinks on an assembly line. One day Joe gets done 2x as many sinks as his neighbor. His boss walk by with his "numbers" for the day jumping up and down causing quite the commotion. "Joe," he says, "You are such a big boy! I can't believe your numbers today! Tonight you can stay up as late as you want! (high five and a hug follows)

Now some might think this a bit extreme or slightly disturbing. But just think how nice and easy our days would be with a little extra motivation to take home with the paycheck.

I Gave My Child a Mullet

Oh, my.

Sarah says: I think I will fix Isabelle's bangs tonight because they are uneven and long.
Sarah thinks: I cut Nick's hair last week and it turned out great.

Nick says: Okay.
Nick thinks: Okay

(cut cut trim trim whack rip saw)

Sarah says: Oops.
Sarah thinks: Oh, crap. I can't send her to daycare like this. They'll call the child abuse hotline on me. The kids will make fun of her. She'll come home crying. Oh, crap.

Nick says: oops what?
Nick thinks: oops what?

Sarah says: Hmmm, it doesn't look too bad.
Sarah thinks: She looks like Joe Dirt. Oh, this is not a good thing. (sweating)

Nick says: What did you do? Sarah. (over exaggerated sigh)
Nick thinks: After what she did to my hair last week I don't even want to know what's going on in that bathroom.

Sarah says: It'll grow. Right?
Sarah thinks: Oh please Lord let it grow fast.

Nick says: Sarah, that looks awful.
Nicks thinks: Sarah that looks awful but I love you anyway.

Isabelle says: Mommy cutta my hair. Pretty.

for more information on the disorder that affects over 1 million Americans yearly go to www.mullet.com and donate today.

Just Pictures

Being a Parent and All the Cliches That Go With It

If you aren't a parent let me clue you into a few secrets. When you become a parent, nothing else is as important as your child. When they cry, you are all they want. When they are happy, you are the one they share that joy with. When they are being stinkers, you are the one that has to discipline them. When you go on a vacation without them, all you can think about is how they'll run into your arms when you return. When they go to school, you worry about them non-stop even though you trust who they are with. When they come home you cook them dinner and you actually like pleasing them with their favorite meal. When you sit on the floor and try so hard to pretend play with them, they are ecstatic, even if you are a terrible pretend player. Christmas becomes 10x as fun as when you were a kid. Birthdays are fabulous too. I often wonder who I was before I was a parent. I can honestly tell you that I don't know. I can't imagine having been alive without her. I can't imagine having to live without her. Those are the few things I learned in the past 2 1/2 years of being a parent. And I know I have much more to look forward to.

My Favorite Toy Is....

It's amazing how much money you can spend on toys . And yet, it all comes down to imagination. I remember when I was growing up we didn't have a swimming pool in our town. So the neighborhood kids and I would fill up drawstring trashbags with the water hose and then pull the draw string up around our necks to keep the water in. We would sit in those things for hours. Can you imagine what people driving by thought? Nick thinks this is an absolutley ridiculous story and loves making fun of me for it. But the point is this, do you really need money to be happy? No. Look at Isabelle enjoying this old stool we bought at an antique store for $10. She loves this stool. She jumps off it, climbs on it, puts blankets over it to make forts, plays her dolls using it as a house. What I wouldn't give to get that childhood ImaGinaTion back.