In Case You Hadn't Guessed...

I'm no longer blogging! I have decided that blogging is an aspect of my life that I'm just not that into anymore. Since my last blog post:

• I went 12 days past my due date...
• ...only to be blessed with another beautiful homebirth with our midwife, Nancy Spencer, and massage therapist, Katie Greenfield...
• ...where I gave birth to our second SON, yay! We hadn't found out the baby's gender so it was quite a dramatic and wonderful scene getting to find out for myself. I got to cut his cord too!
• We named him William Hudson, and he was 8lbs 9oz. and 20.5" long...my biggest baby by about a pound! He is such a sweet and darling little boy, a good nurser, is just starting to smile socially at me and Isaac, and just last night we moved him to his brand new crib in Johnny's room where he slept from 10:30pm to 5:45am! Good boy :)
  
• We are adjusting to life with 3 littles here and I think it's going pretty well. I have still yet to figure out how to keep up with ALL the house chores AND keep all 3 kids happy all day, but we're working on it ;) At least the laundry is caught up most of the time and regardless of what the floor looks like, we're still happy here.
• I am enjoying cloth diapering both little ones a LOT. It's been a different experience cloth diapering a newborn (since I started Jeanine in cloth when she was about 8 months), but it has been fully enjoyable and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. It was nowhere near as much work as I thought it was going to be.
  
• John is doing well. He loves William to death, enjoys playing on his computer and looking through books, and is starting to get better at writing his letters which he can now recognize by sight. Fairly soon I'm going to start teaching him all the letter sounds (better than he knows them right now) so that we can get an early jump on reading. He's dying to learn!
• Jeanine has been teething FOR.TWO.WHOLE.MONTHS! The poor girl is a wreck most of the time and sleeps all the time! She's such a sweet and smart little thing and speaks in full sentences now. She and I enjoy being girly sometimes by painting our nails and doing our hair up. Let's just say I'm really glad I got at least one girl in the mix :)
• Isaac is still super busy but enjoying his job on the fire department. He works 48 hours straight at the station and then is off for 4 days. We LOVE this! It's a perfect fit for our family and we're proud to be a fire fighter's family!

OK, that's all! If you want to keep up with us and see pictures of the kids or our family, please join us on Facebook! I won't be blogging again, though I'll leave this current one up for a while until I figure out what I want to do with all the posts and links to other blogs. Hopefully we'll see you around Facebook soon!

A Whole Lot Going On Here...

...with her outfit, that is...

Big Girl, Big Bed!

After a lot of discussion and exploring the pros and cons of making a major change, we decided Jeanine was ready for a big girl bed before the baby comes. Might as well take advantage of the fact that she slept in a twin bed at my sister's house last week for a nice long nap, right? So before her afternoon nap today the whole family helped out in changing her crib to a toddler daybed and she couldn't have been happier with the new arrangement! It did take a bit (she got out of her bed twice and opened her door) to get her to stay put and sleep but after she fell asleep on her own with the door closed she slept for over 2 hours!

3 Amigos

Aren't these the 3 cutest little boys you've ever seen?!

January left-overs

"It's cold mom...why can't I have some clothes...and why are you taking pictures of my bum again!?"

Johnny coloring his cardboard house...best $12 we ever spent for Christmas! Still gets colored or played in every day!

Nini just being a total ham!

Johnny showcasing his car at the AWANA Grand Prix

Watching races from the finish line...

At the starting line getting ready to push the button to start his own race!

Our New (to us) Blessing

No, I didn't have the baby yet...that will be a whole different kind of blessing! But, last month we were able to get me another van, yay! In case you don't remember, September 8th of last year my van was smashed to smitherines and we became a single car family for several months. In all honesty it wasn't that bad and we would have gotten by with it for a lot longer than we did, but Isaac's work circumstances made it impossible for me to take him to work and have the car (long story), and being carless much more often than having a car was taxing on all of us. SO...we packed up the family and went out in search of the perfect van for us all. And this is what we ended up with!
It's a light blue 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan! We have lots of room for the 4 of us, new baby, and plenty of stuff that goes along with carting around a family of 5. It's already been such a blessing, though we had some issues with the dealer we bought it from, but that's all fixed and the van is wonderful. I'm enjoying new freedom again being able to get out of the house when we're all stir crazy and need a coffee fix ;) (OK, maybe I'm the only one who needs that, but still...)

My Little Pony

Jeanine just got her first "real" ponytail today. It took a little while to figure out how wet to make her hair, and how much hairspray would be needed on those fine little baby hairs (as it turns out...A LOT!), but she is such a doll! She looks a lot older (*sniff sniff*)with a ponytail too! Unfortunately she only left it in for 2 hours before ripping out the rubberband...and then I noticed she was breaking out in hives all over her forehead, ears, and scalp (probably from the Suave hairspray I used) so I need to figure out something different to use next time :) Right before her nap I had to submit her to such trauma...washing her hair in the sink! Oh the atrocities!

Feeling Guilty

Yep, I haven't blogged, yet again, in 4 weeks! How does the time slip away like that? Things have been going well here. I've finally gotten back on the housecleaning and "feeling-caught-up" bandwagon (after feeling like garbage pretty much since the beginning of this pregnancy) and it's such bliss lately! The floors are vacuumed, the dishes are done, the laundry is clean and put away, the diapers are fresh and oh so cute! I've even been cooking more than usual, which of course I want to keep up after the baby comes. All this in preparation for as little mayhem as possible whenever #3 decides to make his/her arrival. And NO, we still aren't finding out what we're having and are so excited for such a special D-day this time around! I have my suspicions and some solid name ideas, but my lips are sealed!I am now 31 weeks along and feeling pretty good lately, probably from the extra exercise just from cleaning the house like I should, lol! Only about 9 weeks to go and I'm so excited to meet this little one who derives pleasure from strategically placed tickly toes in mommy's ribs and perfectly placed jabs to the bladder. I have been getting very regular chiropractic and massage care throughout the pregnancy though and this has kept me sane and in great physical shape so as not to be in constant pain like before.
The kids are doing great! Jeanine is 17 months and full of energy and giggles. She's quite the talker and knows exactly what to say to get what she wants. Today she perfectly pronounced "Coffee" as we walked past the coffee pot in the kitchen...ahhh, a girl after mommy's own heart! If I had to compare this smart little lady to her brother, I'd have to say she's probably on the same verbal level he was at when he turned 2! Guess that's just the difference between girls and boys. She's definitely all girl, if you know what I mean. She loves her tea set, baby dolls, hair pretties, and looking classy! We might even go together tomorrow for a well-earned mani/pedi :)
Johnny is also thriving and having fun lately. He is studiously learning all of his AWANA Bible verses and earning his patches like a pro! We even missed quite a few weeks in a row in Nov/Dec and he has caught up over the last few weeks. The AWANA grand prix is this coming Sunday so Johnny and Isaac have been busy building John's racecar for the big day! He is doing a little bit of "schoolwork" each day in his wipe-clean alphabet book and is beginning to know which letter is which and the sounds they make :) Right now his daily activities include play-doh, vacuuming with mom, building with blocks, dates to the shooting range and Home Depot with dad, and learning to be kind to his sissy...no easy task for a 3.5 year old!Isaac is also doing well and really enjoying his new schedule on the fire department. He works 48 hours straight at the station and is then home for 4 days. It's so wonderful having him home a lot more lately, quite a difference from what we've ever known! He's also working for Cutco part time as well and is having a blast being 100% unstressed about his work.
OK, that's all for now, I'm having bloggy overload and even though there's more pictures to post, I have no more inclination to do so :)

Out there...literally!

Me, 27 weeks and 4 days according to the calendar, and MUCH bigger than I was with the 2 previous kids!

What Happens When Daddy is Bored?

Um...yeah. At least he used a Crayola Washable, not a Sharpie ;)

Dates with our Tiny Loves

(Title stolen unremorsefully from Here, sorry Lauren. But good job thinking it up!)

Of course, since I'm a woman and the mom, I'm the only one who got pictures from this wonderful morning, but Tuesday morning was pure bliss! Isaac decided to take John out to breakfast, and from there came the longest lasting Daddy date so far. They had such a blast and Johnny couldn't wait to burst through our front door just after lunchtime and tell me all about Home Depot, the gun shop and shooting range, playing in the playplace at McDonalds for breakfast, and having Taco Bell for lunch. Yep, just guy stuff, but he was thrilled!

What did us carless ladies do? Absolutely nothing, and it was great! Mommy got in some computer time while Jeanine played with her dolls and teaset. We read books together, played on the floor together, and apparently when you get to play alone, it's best to get into all the toys your brother never lets you play with, like his Little Einstein Laptop. She sat for about 20 minutes on her new plush ride-on horsie with that laptop just pressing buttons and knowing she wouldn't get it snatched sadly back away by her brother. Apparently it's also SO cool for 16 month olds to wear reindeer antlers and push toys around in the stroller yelling "GO!!!". Apparently. We had a blast though, and for one full morning I heard no shrieks or screams coming from the playroom resulting from a dirty look or a snatched toy. Just bliss, through and through. Next time I'm looking forward to being the one to take John someplace, or maybe just stay home with him as well. I love one on one time!

Recap...Get Ready!

When I realized it'd been almost a month since my last post I was a little appalled. We actually haven't been that busy, I guess I just lost the bloggy motivation for a while. It happens when it's December, you have 2 kids, and another one sucking the life out of you daily from the inside out ;-p

SO...Johnny is ALL better, praise God! After my last post he started getting worse again and we took him to Children's Hospital in Seattle. It was a long day but we were so glad we went. After much debate, the specialists there decided he probably never had an infection or MRSA at all, it was just severely angry Eczema, if you can believe it! We took a bunch of crazy proactive measures to get him better, just treating for severe eczema, and there were no more open wounds or spreading after only 2 days! He is now completely healed and back to normal.

Reindeer came to visit mid-December! Not sure why they also wore reading glasses...

We (and by 'we' I mean 'I') got some new diapers, woohoo! Just one shot, but they're super cute and I'm trying a whole bunch of new brands of fitted and prefold diapers. I absolutely LOVE cloth diapering. If you want to know more, just ask!

We tried to stay unbusy and quite lazy this month as well...hence the sweats, jammies, and no makeup or hair done ;)

And then, came Christmas! My parents came for a visit for the first time in 6 months! We all had loads of fun and it was over much too soon, and I actually don't have a single picture of them!! What was I thinking? Oh well, the kids had fun, got lots of great gifts and time spent with family, and were sad when Grandma and Grandpa left Monday morning. 6 days went by way too fast! Johnny especially misses Billy, their 100lb Doberman. Mommy and the cats are now much happier that Billy has left the building ;-p

Christmas morning at home, just our family (you'd never know we JUST woke up and dragged ourselves downstairs huh? Sarcasm heavily laid down here, lol!):

Christmas day at Jen and Ryan's house with my parents and all the kids. 6 adults, 6 kids, a bun in the oven, lots of presents, even more sugar, and awesome food! A sweet new hat for the winter:Tearing open some books with his cousins:Jeanine's new ride-on plush princess horse:

Johnny's new backpack with his name on it:

Saturday after Christmas, hanging out at our house:

Just some kiddo downtime watching Monster's Inc. (Warren, Aubrey, and Jake):

It's also been nice having Isaac home this Christmas season. He took some days off and has been home since Christmas Eve morning, but will go back New Year's Day. We love having daddy home more! We will also get a chance to see Isaac's family on New Year's Eve when we go visit. Looking forward to seeing our new neice Ava who is 3 months old now!

A Mommy's Dose of Grace

Well Johnny is feeling great and his leg looks a thousand times better than it did! We finally have things completely under control and almost back to normal, woohoo! Besides that, we haven't done much lately. Jeanine had her 15 month shots (a month late) yesterday and also both flu shots. Yikes, 6 shots is pretty much baby torture, as evidenced in the blood-curdling screams that sprang forth from my poor daughter's lungs, but we like our immunizations current here ;)

Today was actually a much better day than usual here at the Stegman house. Lately we've been battling loads of disobedience, heaping piles of bad attitudes, and sibling rivalry by the boatload, but for some reason God gave this stressed out mama a glimpse of harmony. It seems like when it rains, it pours, but occasionally God sees it fit to dole out some grace for both me and the children. What an awesome reprieve and reminder that I'm not doing this mom thing for me; I never have and never will. That's simply not what being a mom is all about. At the moment of conception, suddenly it's not about me anymore, it's about that new life and what I have to give through the grace of Christ. Days like this remind me to be patient, kind, and ever-loving through the daily trials of child-training and discipline because somewhere down the line there will be a fruit reward! Here is what the children did for over an hour after dinner, and from naptime to dinner time they were equally harmonious :) Amazing!

And yes, Jeanine MUST wear the Mr. Potato Head glasses almost full time these days. She really makes me laugh!

Update

We finally went back to the pediatrician yesterday when John wasn't responding yet to the antibiotics. He was pretty shocked about the progression of the wounds while being treated for so long, and we decided on a more aggressive course of action. Finally this morning, Johnny's leg seems to be responding to the oral antibiotics, topical antibiotics, and steroid cream and is no longer one big open wound. We are keeping him on his meds through the course of the next week and continuing to bandage up his leg after applying all the medicines so that it can't spread. We are so thankful that God has allowed Johnny's body to kick in and do its' job and begin healing! Thank you for your continued prayers for Johnny and his healing, and mommy's sanity ;-)

Oh, The Weather Outside is...

COLD! Sorry it's been a while, and I still don't have much to post, but I decided I better stop in and blog something before you all start abandoning reading entirely, lol! As the post title says, it's cold here! We actually got snow yesterday! It's a bit early for that here and we never truly get very much, so it was surprising to look out the window before lunchtime and see little flecks of white clouding up the sky! Nothing actually stuck here at our house but Johnny was still determined that we should go outside and make snow angels. Since I'm not one of those fun moms who abandons everything on a whim and makes "grass angels", we stayed inside where mommy wouldn't freeze. ;)

Also, Johnny has been battling quite an infection lately. It started around the beginning of November when we were in GA and John's eczema flared up. I guess it was worse than I thought and it slowly developed into Impetigo, probably from him being a roughhousing boy, and from scratching it with dirty little boy fingers. We went to urgent care on Nov. 17th and they prescribed some topical antibiotics for it, which did not help at all. Instead of the recommended 5 days, I used the ointment up entirely for almost 3 weeks to no avail. Right when it ran out we went to the pediatrician and he said Johnny had some severe Impetigo or maybe even MRSA infection. He prescribed an oral antibiotic...which we later found out in the ER on Friday night that Johnny was allergic to it!

His rash kept getting worse all the while, so the ER diagnosed him with cellulitis and prescribed a new antibiotic that is supposed to work well on the MRSA bacteria. So far it's still been getting worse, but he's been on this antibiotic for less than 48 hours still, which is apparently the magic number for the beginnings of effectiveness. We've been in contact with our pediatrician's nurse line and for right now we're just waiting it out and keeping a very close eye on the poor boy's leg. He's on full time Benadryl and Tylenol since it's itchy and swollen and painful, but I think it's finally starting to get better.

If you're squeemish...don't look:

This is what it looked like last night, at its' worst so far:

It also spread to his lower leg and other leg yesterday, but we're just waiting out the antibiotic. Please keep our boy in your prayers! If it gets worse after today, we will be going to the hospital to admit him and get him IV antibiotics. And if you know someone who has MRSA, don't send them our way! We don't know how Johnny got this in the first place, but we do know we want it gone for good :)