Christmas Conversations

In bed tonight:

Sophie: Stop talking! Go to sleep, because I want some presents!

Emmy: Presents aren't the main point of Christmas. Jesus is. I would be okay if I didn't get any presents or anything in my stocking.

Sophie, annoyed: I know!

Emmy: But I still would like to have a few presents . . .

"Old People, Turn it Off"

I know this is a random way to start my first blog post in a L-O-O-O-N-G time, but with this much time gone, I am not going to attempt a big recap.  Maybe a small one, in bits and pieces, but for now, I will just put this out there because I think it is funny.

Yes, every once in a while it does rain over here in Palo Alto, and since Ryan is only two, and it hasn't really rained in about six months, the few little rainy days we've had lately have been a new phenomenon.  And even though he has an umbrella and rainboots, he is not very happy with this rain business.

First off, whenever it rains, he refuses to walk.  He insists that I carry him.  He does not want to get his shoes wet.  This kid does not like to be dirty, or wet, or anything of the sort. (Quite unlike Sophie!) I usually end up giving in and carrying him, because we are usually in a hurry to pick up Sophie at school, and it saves time if I just scoop him up.

Anyway, recently, he has gotten the idea that somehow, somewhere, there is a group of old people who get together and decide to turn the rain off or on.  Inevitably, when I pick him up to walk through the light drizzle, he will say, in a commanding voice, "Old people, turn it off!"  This just cracks me up.

And with that, I am back.  Stay tuned.

He is only smiling because this is the first time he is wearing  his rain boots. The novelty wore off pretty quickly.  

Love and Marriage

What a happy summer it has been, and one of the highlights was seeing my brother get married!  I was so happy to be there with him to celebrate and so thrilled to have his wife as a new sister.  They are a wonderful couple and it was a truly joyful day!

The Happy Couple

Ryan was so proud to be wearing a tie like his Daddy

Emmy relished the chance to hold her new cousin, Baby Lilly

My cute mom with three out of the four joys in her life

Ashley and her sweet baby

I love weddings, because they remind me of how happy I am to be married to this guy!

Watch out, we have a TWO-YEAR-OLD on our hands!

We had the happiest day celebrating our little Ryan boy - he simple delights us. 
A few fun facts about Ryan:

• His greatest love is his binky 
• His second greatest love is his Daddy 
• His third love is any sort of ball, but especially, basketballs, and I promise that Matt and I have not been  pushing this on him! He will stand at the basketball court and dribble, dribble, dribble, then shoot. He can do this over and over again, all the while with a very serious and determined expression. 
• He loves to take naps 
• His favorite song is "E-I-O" - otherwise known as "Old MacDonald" 
• He has always loved reading books 
• As sweet as he is, he has a hitting problem. And when we ask him if he hit someone, he will answer in the happiest and sweetest voice, "Mmm-hmm" 
• He can draw circles - and proudly announced this to me the other day: "a circle, Mommy" - I have to say, I was pretty amazed 
• He gives the sweetest kisses 
• He is very social - when his friends are around, he is all smiles

So excited to have his own bike

Ryan's buddy - also named Ryan

the anticipation . . .

what a moment - to have everyone singing just to him!

pleased with the cake

having fun with a great big ball

What a Dad!

There is the old stereotype that Dads get to have all of the fun.  Somehow, we moms can't quite turn off our brains long enough to live in the moment - the clock is ticking, always ticking, and the list of things to get done is unending.  This stereotype often rings true at our house.  I would say that Matt hardly ever even knows what time it is.  The minute he walks in the door, a great celebration ensues, and all is well in the world . . . that is, until I glance at the clock and start dictating dinner, bathtime, storytime, and bed.

Sometimes, I resent this.  Sometimes, I wish I could just play with the kids - bounce them on the bed at bedtime without even having the thought that they are getting more and more riled up and will have a difficult time falling asleep.  But really, I am grateful.  My kids are so lucky that their dad loves to play with them.  He adores them.  The other day I walked by the room to see Matt squeezing Ryan and saying, "ooooh, I LOVE you!!"  I couldn't ask for anything more.

And even though Matt has a lot of fun and can be quite carefree.  I have to give him credit for this: when we are with friends, wherever it may be, Matt pretty much takes over parenting duties so that I can sit and enjoy talking with my girlfriends.  And when I ask him for an evening or a day off, even multiple evenings or days in a row, he NEVER hesitates to say, "go! have fun!"

It all equals out.  I adore Matt - he is just the right dad for our kids, and just the right guy for me.

Father's Day Festivities

Summer Haircuts

There's something just so fresh and summery about a nice, short bob. These cropped 'do's have made post-swimming chlorinated hair detangling so much easier!

Moments

Our little Ryan LOVES shoes - he puts them on first thing in the morning.  These are his newest pair, and he is just so happy to wear them!

Another ladybug friend

Camping with Daddy

Emmy celebrating her birthday at school 

Emmy showing off her award-winning art

Emmy's cute card for her teacher

Sophie helped Ryan find almost matching clothes, and the two enjoyed a mid-morning snack together

Sophie at Joy School graduation

Emmy showing us her work at her end of year showcase

Ryan just happened to be wearing matching shirts with his good friend, Adam 

Sophie, backstage, ready to perform in "Mickey Motion"

she said to me, "I just can't wait to be in the stage!"

One week of summer

The first week of summer has flown by - we have celebrated simply: smoothies for lunch every day, afternoon swims, extra time for reading, time with friends . . . everyone has been happy so far, and maybe no one more than me. I love having all of my kids together and I love having an unstructured schedule. We have lots of fun plans ahead, but so far, it has been nice to wake up slow.

First day of school break = time for strawberry cream pie!

Bathing beauties, contemplating the temperature of the water

going for it!

taking time to admire a jumping bug

a warm summer night

P.S. I just read The Glass Castle - couldn't put it down. Check it out.

Ramona

As much as I have adored my children as babies, toddlers, and preschoolers . . . I have to say how much I have enjoyed Emmy as a book-reading, six-almost-seven-year-old.   During the last several months, Emmy and I have been reading the Ramona books together.  We find a few stolen minutes and we snuggle up in my bed and I read to her while she follows along.  I enjoyed these books as a child, but I have enjoyed them even more as a grown-up, reading them to my child.

Today we finished Ramona and Her Mother and we we could not stop laughing.  I literally could not read because I was laughing so hard.  In this picture, Ramona is sitting in the school nurse's office with a thermometer in her mouth.  She is looking a bit puffy because the day before her mother gave her a brand new pair of pajamas (not Beezus' hand-me-downs!).  Ramona loves her new PJs so much that she decides to wear them under her clothes.  So all day at school, she is completely hot and miserable.  Her teacher notices her pink cheeks and thinks she is sick, so she sends her to the office to have her temperature taken.  My summary of this incident does not do the story justice!

This is just one snippet of the many funny and heartwarming moments in Ramona's life. We have sorrowed with her when she comes to the conclusion that her Kindergarten teacher does not love her, we have enjoyed the feeling of splashing in puddles with her and her horror when she gets stuck in the mud, and we have felt her joy when she realizes that her father recognizes her in the church Nativity play.  We have laughed, I have cried (hard, on several occasions), and we have looked forward to these special times together. I love Ramona - she has heart and spunk. She is creative, and quirky, and naughty too.  If you read these books long ago and have forgotten how charming they are, read them again!

In my defense . . .

Kudos to Matt for taking such initiative and posting to my blog - this is the first, and hopefully not the last time we will hear from him.

What he forgot to mention, is that six-year-old Emmy completely over-exaggerated the situation in her letter.  First of all, I am almost always in support of children "singing happily" - except when that means singing at the top of one's lungs, long after light's out, while someone else (Sophie) is trying to sleep.  Second of all, in this situation I did not lose my temper.  I wish I could say that I never lose my temper - but alas, it has happened more than once.  But in this case, I was firm, calm, and in control.

Luckily, I wrote Emmy back, put the note on her pillow, and when she woke up, she was so thrilled to have a note in response that she forgot why she was angry in the first place.

Be Treated How You Would Want To Be Treated

There has been both drama and scandal in the Steiger home! Since learning how to write, Emmy uses the almighty pen to express her feelings, usually of anger or sadness. She will quickly turn on her little bed light to find the pen and paper she has stashed up by her bed. Then she goes to work, writing the passions of her troubled heart. Tonight Emmy presented me, Matt, with a letter that I was to urgently have Katie read the instant she came home. I then had to promise I would have Katie respond with a note this very night. Well here are the skeletons in our closet, presented by Emmy (Emmy your mother will be sure to not miss your note by my posting this for all to see :)):


Wold you like to be yeled at and somewon being mean when you are singing hapily? Be Treated how you wold whant to be treated. this skripshur I keep in my mind evreday. I triy not to let go of it. I think you shold do this to. 


P.S. it also helps your temper.


Love, your doter Emmy


Thank you to all of Emmy's fabulous primary teachers that have helped her learn this Golden Rule, and in turn teach it to my amazing, wonderful, and temper-filled wife. Oh yeah, Katie: Matthew 7:12

saying goodbye

Once upon a time, Matt and I did not have children.  He was an accountant, and I was a teacher.  We lived in a cute one-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a law firm.  One day, we heard through the grapevine that we had new neighbors who were about our age and who went to our church.  Back then, Matt was a little bit shy.  (He has since grown out of that).  So when I suggested we go and meet our new neighbors, he hesitated a little.  We brought over some brownies and introduced ourselves to Heather and Dave.  And our lives were never the same.  

Eight years went by.  That is the equivalent of high school and college put together.  In those early years, pre-kids, we enjoyed many late game nights and conversations sometimes into the early morning hours.  We had so. much. fun.  Slowly, our numbers grew.  I had Emmy and Heather visited me every day for two weeks, admiring my sweet little redhead almost as much as me.  A year and a half later, Heather and Dave had Abby.  I will never forget the joy I felt when they cleverly announced they were pregnant.  What a thrill! I'll also never forget Heather and I urgently going to Target to buy her a Christmas tree.  We thought she might go into labor at any second.  Anyway, time really flew by after that - more kids, more good times, and always this feeling that we needed to savor the time we had . . . because Palo Alto might not be permanent.  

And so, this March, Heather and Dave and their three cute kiddos moved to Denver.  We miss them!  The only happy ending to this story, is that I know we will always be friends.  Still . . . I can't help but be a bit sad and sentimental about the end of a big chapter in our lives.  

The night of their departure - I think we're all laughing here to keep from crying

How did we come to have all of these children?

Heather and Dave are only minutes away from getting to see Matt cry 

home

Ryan enjoying a sunny day in Half Moon Bay

We're home. And it is good to be here.  EVEN THOUGH, it will probably take me two weeks to get the same amount of sleep that I got in one . . . I am happy.  Being away has given me an extra boost of enthusiasm and gratitude for the simple life I am blessed with.  

This morning I awoke to smiles and hugs from the girls and a nice, long cuddle from Ryan.  Being the little guy that he is, I think he probably missed us the most.  When I went in his room to get him, he sat in his crib and looked back at me with serious eyes.  I picked him up and he laid his head on my shoulder and just sat there.  I wish I could know how long he would have sat there without making a sound.  But of course a lot was going on and so I snuggled with him and then coaxed a little smile out of him, and then another, and then he was all smiles . . . 

It was a happy day.  I had more patience than I normally would have had when Emmy sulked because she liked Sophie's lei more than hers and when Sophie threw a tantrum at dinnertime.  

I know the high of a vacation will only last so long -- but I will enjoy it while it lasts.  

And I can't thank my parents enough for loving them so much and taking such great care of them!  (Doesn't it look like the kids had a great time?)

This little guy brings his ball everywhere he goes

Sophie is still a bug girl!

The joy of jumping in the waves

Love that Sophie has her baby doll

cute girl