The low down

So here I am saying I am going to start posting again and I don't follow up on my word. It's hard to get things going again. You want to have the perfect post, with the perfect picture. So I put off and put off and nothing gets done. The point of this blog is to keep friends and family up to date with the Stecker household. So let's do just that...

Frank:

Frank the Tank is a big boy. He is just shy of 9 mo and already almost 24lbs. He has been crawling for a month or so. Has two bottom teeth. And just started eating some finger food by himself. Hi is all around a cutie patootie.

Evelyn:

This two and a half year old pistol is awesome. She is getting so big. She is sleeping in a big girl bed. She is officially potty trained (including pooping in the potty). Now if we can just get her off the gummy bears (the treat she gets for peeing in the potty).

Ev says she is ready to go to school. She is obsessed. However, she is not old enough yet. She needs to be 3 to start preschool. I am not ready for her to start school yet. But I know she will love it. I have her signed up for a toddler tumbling class this winter. She will love it as she is always bouncing and jumping off EVERYTHING!

Daddy Stecker:

Dan has been busy working as an electrician for a commercial electrical company. He is in his last year of apprenticeship and will finish in May 2011. In June, he has his big test that will make him an official Journeyman Electrician.

He is bartending very part time at the Bulldog N.E. It is a great bar with awesome food.

Dan has been spending his extra time skateboarding. Hanging out at old man skate night at the local skate park or when the weather was nice, at one of the awesome outdoor skateparks that the Twin Cities has to offer. Now that winter is here, he has brought the skatepark into our garage. Check this out,

Mamastecker:

I have been a busy bee. I absolutely have no regrets of leaving the corporate world. It is the best decision I ever made. I am enjoying being a birth advocate, birth doula, serving on the board of the wonderful Childbirth Collective, teaching BYOB (Bring Your Own Baby) yoga at Blooma, going to school for nursing pre-reqs, and waiting tables at Psycho Suzis. Life is good.

So that is the low down on the Stecker family. I hope to fulfill my obligations of a blogger and continue to update you all.

Be well.

I'm BAAAAACK

I decided to start blogging again...again. I have such a fantastic life and I want to share it. And the best way to share it is to tell the internet. I do have friends that follow me, so I am sorry if you hear this stuff too much. OR if I sound conceded. I am really just telling my story to an alternate universe. I don't care if anyone ever reads this. I just want to tell my thoughts and experience.

Update:

I have found true happiness. In July, I officially left the corporate software world. I was so unhappy at ESRI. I really want to be here for my kiddos, and and I found a true passion working with mamas as a doula, yoga instructor and eventual midwife. Life is grand.

So, I hope to share with blog world my experiences on this new journey, it's an awesome but bumpy ride.

Stay tuned.

Still on a birth high

My friends and photographer put together a slideshow of some of the highlights from Frank's pregnancy and birth. I have watched it a million times. I love it. It was such an amazing experience and I think the video really captures the experience. Dan picked the song (Soul and Body, by Death Cab for Cutie) and I think it is a perfect fit. I am still reeling from the experience. I would do it all over again. Having both a hospital birth and now a home birth, I can definitely say..."Do it at home people!!!!!!!" It takes away so much of the fear in birth which turns into pain. Of course, by choosing a home birth, you are hopefully more informed than the average woman, so that takes away the fear/pain too. I was laughing and smiling up until the end. I am so proud of myself and my body and of course Frank.

On another note, I forgot how tiring a newborn is. I was trying to prepare myself, but whew it is tough and I am only two weeks in. That being said, it is a little different this time. I am trying with all my might to breast feed Frankie. Breast is BEST! But I had a breast reduction 14 years ago, and this adds some challenges my way. With a reduction, my milk glands were cut and this can cause me to not make enough milk. I am planning on writing a whole post detailing my BFAR (Breast Feeding After Reduction) experience. But in the meantime, I am feeding every two hours or less. The first week I was supplementing with some donated breast milk but when Frankie was gaining a ton, we backed up off the supplements. Then he lost a ton so we are back to supplementing. We will find our groove I know, but it is hard work I tell you. I'm tired and my boobies are sore.

But I am in love...

Frank James is HERE

I want to start blogging again. Although I am not sure when I will find the time. I can only seem to access the internet via my phone these days, and it is hard to blog with it.

Our son, Frank James, is finally here. He was born at home on Sat March 13th. It was a purely magical and amazing experience. I will be posting my birth story very soon. It was everything that I ever wanted. I had the best support team. My amazing midwifes, Emme Corbeil and Clare Welters. My amazing Doula, Judith Nylander. And my amazing doula photographers Emily Rumsey and Alisa Blackwood.

Till then, here is a little pic of the guy getting his newborn examine.

Crazy Baby Lady

So I got RAGING mad at hubbypants this morning. This has been happening a lot lately. My hormones or something. I will even realize that I am getting way madder than necessary, but can’t stop myself.

Dan took my car in for an oil change. I scheduled it because of a $5 coupon I had. I accidentally left the coupon at work yesterday. So, this morning I emailed the coupon to Dan and told him to tell them when he dropped off the car about it. He got the oil changed and when I asked him if he had any problems with the coupon, he said that he forgot to tell them when he dropped it off, and when he went to pay, they wouldn’t take it. I got so mad. So mad. Over 5 freakin dollars. Or the fact that he didn’t follow directions. Or the fact that he wasn’t persistent that they take the stupid coupon. Or the fact that a baby is eating my brain.

Anyway, I know I was/am being ridiculous, but I seriously considered divorce for a minute.

Signed,
crazy pregnant lady

Doula-ing #12

Today I attended an amazing birth. My last few births had been tough and left me asking myself if I was really meant to be a birth doula.

The answer is YES.

The look of accomplishment on my mama's face says it all. The gratitude she gave for "getting her through it" and "not letting her get an epidural." She was giving me WAY too much credit. She got herself through it. She did such an amazing job. Breathing through each contraction calmly and letting her body work hard for her. She made it look easy. And as for not letting her get an epidural...well I just did what a doula does, offer alternatives, suggestions and distract.

It was a great way to start my maternity leave from doulaing. And it inspired me for my own birth.

Thank you.

Daycare Drama

Evelyn started a new daycare on Thursday. It was a very sudden decision. This is Ev's 4th daycare in her short 18mo. Our in-home daycare, just became too unreliable. We were missing alot of days of work and had run out of PTO. Its a L-O-N-G story, but we will take the blame for biting off more than we could chew. Home daycare is cheaper, but in return, you aren't guaranteed care 365 days a year (minus holidays). The home provider gets 2 weeks vacation and 1 week sick leave, all paid. That results in paying double daycare those weeks. We had just bit off more than we could chew.

I think it is going to be harder on us than Evi. She has been adjusting well and drop off has been pretty easy. I am going to California for work next week, so I am nervous that it is alot of change for Evi all at once. But hey...kids are resilient right?

3 more months and we won't have to worry about daycare.

till then....

Halloween 2009

it takes time

Evelyn has a new obsession with hats. A few months ago, she couldn't stand anything on her head at all. Now she can't get enough of hats.

Earlier this year we got an awesome deal on a brand new Burley bike trailer (double that is...we were planning :-). We were so excited to spend the Spring and Summer on family bike rides. Of course, we are trying to teach Evelyn good habits, so she must wear a bike helmet to ride. The problem is, she HATED the helmet. We tried two different kinds of helmets and neither worked. Every couple of weeks we would try to go on a family bike ride and by the time we were out of the alley, she would scream "all done." It wasn't the Burley, it was the helmet she hated. We were sad, but figured she would love it next season.

Well last weekend we were getting ready for winter and cleaning out the garage. Evi was helping and all of a sudden she got really excited. "Hat! Hat!" she said pointing to her head. She had spotted her helmet and wanted to wear it. I put it on her and she ran around the garage with glee. We actually couldn't get it off of her. She wore it on her walk and playing in the yard. It was real cute. Then she saw her "car" aka Burley, and wanted to go for a ride. She loved it. So here we are, at the end of the season and she is ready to go.

Can't wait for her to teach her brother to like "hats" so we can go on family bike rides.

Long long time

It has been months since I last updated. Sorry about that. I just didn't have the time. Three months have past. I figured to get back into the swing of things, I would just list the cool things we have been up too (thanks to Bri for the idea)

1. We're pregnant. Yea...big surprise. That is really what caused my halt in blogger production. I felt so crappy. I could barely make it through the day. It was way easier with Evelyn. Early on I was conviced it was a boy cause I was feeling so differently. But then Dan kept telling me I acted/felt the same way the first time. And then Evi went around saying "sister.sister." Then I was convinced it was a girl. But in the end, the ultrasound showed It's a BOY!. We are beyond excited. Evelyn is too.

2. We are planning a home waterbirth. I am very excited about this. I absolutely trust my body and birth. So this is the right thing for us. Dan is so supportive and I am thankful for that. Let me know if you have any questions.

3. Evelyn has been doing so much lately. Here are a few...

• It snowed for the first time last weekend and when Evelyn saw it she said "Oh my God!"
• She LOVES gapes (grapes) she asked for them all the time.
• She loves mongeys (monkeys) and is going to be one for halloween
• She has to walk everywhere.
• She loves hats
• She loves to draw.
• Every time she falls, she says, "i'm okay"
• She has 3 molars that are coming in.
• She is just plain AWESOME.

4. Dan's bartending gig is coming to an end. The Uptown Bar, Dan's weekend gig, is coming under the wrecking ball. The legendary place is being turned into retail. This is a good thing though. While we have really enjoyed the extra money, it is time for us to have weekend together as a family.

5. We are going to Austin for Christmas. We haven't been there in almost 5 yrs. Can't wait to meet my new nephew, see old friends, and fill my 8mo preggo belly with ATX food.

6. I am so so close to certification as a birth doula. I just have to observe a childbirth class and turn in everything. I am sitting in on a Lamaze class in Nov. I truly love doula-ing. I can't wait to do it more. I had a very busy month of Sept. I had 3 births in 9 days. It was hard with working full time and being sicky from pregnancy. I have only one more birth scheduled for Nov and then I am taking a break to pamper my pregnant self.

I think that is all for now. I will be updating this more often now that I feel better.

Evi photo of the day

Big girl

Check out Evelyn's latest obsession. Playing with mama's shoes. She is such a girly girl.

Happy Birthday to me....

I turned the big 32 on Monday. I had a great day. The funny thing is, all my life I have tended to make a big deal out of my birthday. But last year was the first time I didn't. I had just had a baby and couldn't really go out and celebrate. I didn't mind it at all. For heaven's sake, I had the best present ever....a baby Evelyn. But because I didn't celebrate my 31st bday, I spent the best part of the year thinking I was 32. I honestly didn't know that I was only 31. Who makes themselves OLDER? Me apparently. So no I am the real 32 years old and I like it.

I didn't make any plans for my birthday again this year. I just wanted a nice family night with grilled steaks, baked potatoes, and a Dairy Queen ice cream cake.

I didn't get what I asked for, I got something better. Dan surprised me with a babysitter for Evelyn (thanks Christine) and a dinner out at a burger joint in St. Paul we have been wanting to try. Its called the Blue Door Pub. And it was delicious.

We enjoyed some yummy Surly beer.

An appetizer of Spam Bites = Spam, cream cheese, and pickle breaded and deep fried. Served with a side of sweet chili lime.

And Dan had there award winning Jiffy Burger = covered with peanut butter, pepper jack, and bacon – just like Mom used to make! Dan said it was absolutely delicious.

All in all, I had one of the best birthdays.

Big kicking feet.

So I thought I would try and upload some video to share. What a fun way for all of you so far from MN to see how awesome she is. This is from about a month ago... I am amazed at how little she seems.

It is one of our favorite moments...bathtime.Evi loves to kick kick kick.

Evi Stones

I thought I would talk a bit about all the cool stuff that Evelyn is doing lately.

She is such a girly girl.

1. She loves purses. It is funny seeing her carry a purse half her size.

2. She also loves fingernail polish. She has this fake plastic fingernail polish bottle and brush that she carries around with her ALL day long. She walks up to you and pretends to paint your nails. Its so cute.

3. Evelyn has also become quite a little mama herself. She is finally into dolls. She loves feeding them bottles, holding them, kissing them, pushing them in her baby stroller. She will also cover them with a blanket and tell them "night night."

4. Singing. Evelyn loves to sing. One of her favorites is The Itsy Bitsy Spider. She does all the hand motions. It is to die for. She is only 14mo old. I am pretty sure she is a genius.

5. And finally, Evelyn loves....I mean LOVES books. This is such a relief to me. See, I didn't read to her much as a baby. I know you are suppose to start when they are in your womb, but I didn't. Then after she was born, I read to her some when she was a teeny tiny baby, but as she got older, she would push the books away. She didn't want to be rocked in the rocking chair or read to. But now, now she loves books. After her bottle at night, she will bring a book over to us, crawl into our lap and let us read her a book. Not only that, but she has to have a book in her bed and she will read to herself. I am so glad I didn't damage her by not reading to her every night.

Man she is so awesome!

4th weekend

I wish I could say a ton happened this 4th of July weekend. but so far...that is just not true.

We had weather below average. It was cloudy and somewhat rainy. It definitely made for a lack of motivation. But on the actual 4th, Evelyn and I went to our friends Jolie, Eric and Evie for a BBQ. It was tons of fun.

See, Evi and Evie are exactly 1yr apart. Last year Evi was just a baby, but this summer, they actually started playing with each other. It is great fun.



Then, we found a baby frog in the yard. I showed it to the girls. It's that teeny tiny thing on my hand

It jumped out of my hands so Evi bent down to check it out.

Then...

she stepped on it. Thankfully she didn't know that she had killed the frog.

P.S. I found out that Evelyn really likes corn on the cob.

The results are in....

I was denied admission to the post-baccalaureate Nursing program at St. Catherine's University. I am totally bummed. But at the same time it is not the end of the world. For those that didn't know, I have decided that I want to be a labor and delivery nurse and in the far future a Nurse Midwife. So I decided to apply to nursing school. What the heck. I have probably 30 yrs of left in the working force. I might as well be happy.

So, St. Kate's has a night and weekend program for folks that have a Bachelor's degree in another field. I applied and found out today that I didn't get in. that is okay. While I hate being rejected...I would rather reject them - wouldn't we all. But, while I am bummed, I think I would be way more freaked out had I gotten in. That would mean I started school in two months. I want to have another baby in the next year or so and how do you take maternity leave from school.

So bottom line....All is well. Now I get to focus on my family and start taking pre-reqs at the community college for 1/5th the price.

I will be a nurse. Just not in two years.

Out.

Cut the Cord

This is Dan removing the cable from our house and roof. See, we got rid of cable (a.k.a. satalite cable) back in April.


WE LOVE IT!


I must admit, I had become pretty addicted to my DVR and would sometimes record up to 4 shows at once. 2 on the downstairs tv and 2 on the bedroom tv. I didn't want to be watching so much TV. Plus TV is bad for kids. I believe it is a factor in childhood obesity. So, we wanted to set a good example for Evelyn.


Also we made the decision to work really hard this year reducing our cost of living so that I can hopefully be a stay at home mom next year. Cable was one of the first things to go.


I gotta tell you, it feels great to not pay almost $100 a month to watch TV. Now we watch it for free. And we get great channels....in HD. So we are set. Plus, you can pretty much watch anythign you want on the computer. It really makes me feel like I am sticking it to the Man.

Cry face

I absolutely love Evelyn's cry face. When she was a teeny tiny baby, I sometimes would be staring in admiration at her face, before realizing "oh wait...she's crying."

Dan and I are always taking pictures of her crying, which makes Evelyn cry even harder. But she is so cute.

I thought I would share.

Man I love her to pieces.

Love thy neighbors..

So a lot happened over the weekend. We have some super awesome neighbors (note sarcasm) that live directly next door. They are a couple in there 70's and are foster parents. They adopted one of there foster children, Michael, who is now 19. Michael is a disrespectful twerp. We have been having problems with Michael since last summer when his parties in the garage and alleyway got out of control. We found drug paraphernalia, drug baggies, graffiti in the alley, fights, kids parking in OUR driveway - blocking the garage. It has been a real treat, let me tell you.

We have tried EVERYTHING. At first we tried talking to Michael and his friends, asking them to respect the neighborhood and our things. Then we tried talking to the parents. They stated that they didn't have any control of Michael and to call the police. Super helpful I tell you (note sarcasm again). There are about 5 of us neighbors that have formed a "neighborhood watch" of sorts and we call the police often.

It all escalated on Friday night. Dan and I were out for a walk/run with Evi and when we got home, Michael and 3 of his friends were out back with the cops. They cops came up to our door and told us they found narcotics and Michael took the blame. He was going to jail. The 3 other kids are banned from the property.

We felt victory. They finally got busted.

Then on Saturday morning we woke up to this...



Yep. They slashed my tires. Awesome. We are livid. But, there is nothing that we can do. Unless you witness the act, the police can't do anything. It sucks and cost us $400. We filed a report and have the support of the police. But it is still very frustrating.

We have decided to take the stance that we are not going to let them scare us off. We live in a great neighborhood with lots of young families and we are not going to let this punk beat us down.

Hopefully, now that the kids are banned from the property, the disturbances will subside.

I keep you all updated.