A Very Merry Christmas

We were most blessed this Christmas. The only thing that would have made it better is if it had snowed...but you can't have everything. Savannah had lots of fun this Christmas and is now really good at ripping wrapping paper. Joe wins the award for being more childlike than his daughter as he woke me up numerous times on Christmas Eve to see if we could open presents yet! Bless his heart I love him. Savannah had a hard time that night she was over tired and over stimulated so neither she or I got very restful sleep until after about 2:30am. And I don't know what time I finally fell asleep after that. But Joe boy he was ready to go. Finally at about 8am I decided he wasn't gonna let me rest until we opened presents. So he went in and woke Savannah up and led her into the living room. At first she wasn't sure what to do cuz we had been telling her to leave presents alone now for a couple weeks (the ones I had wrapped under the tree for family) and all the sudden it was okay to rip into them. We had more fun watching her open presents than we did with our own....its fun to be a parent.

Savannah is seen here playing with her Geo Trax train set that daddy helped her build....hours of fun! She also got a baby doll to get her ready for her new baby brother that will be here in about a month! As you can see these pictures are only a day old and thats because I got a digital camera for Christmas from my parents! I feel extremely spoiled this year because I also got a new dishwasher and my own set of tools as Joe has scattered my former set of tools to the four winds. And let us not forget a new washer and dryer. What else can a girl want? I feel very very blessed and grateful. Joe got his "Gigantor" star wars Lego set that I forgot to take a picture of but is very impressive. So I'll post one next time....it is actually motorized and walks around.
We hope you all had a merry and bright Christmas too!

No sense of smell

My nose if broken....I mean to say that it doesn't preform a basic function for me....I can't smell. I've always been aware of this but recently it has come to my attention just how much of the world I am missing due to my broken nose. My washer is old like 20 + yrs old and Joe got it from his parents when he moved out on his own. So its been worked hard. They've got a ranch and all manner of farm animals and that was the machine that used to wash their grimey clothes. Well fast forward a few years to the present day when I am washing my family's clothes in it. Apparently there is a leak of some kind and it smells like mildew in this washer making our clothes smell that way (didn't know this...) on top of that all the years of washing farm animal stink out of clothes has compounded the smell to some odd mildew, poo, dead animal smell (didn't know this either...). So apparently this smell is getting worse. (didn't know this....my nose really is broken) and finally a brave soul (who I am very grateful for) decided to let me in on what the rest of the world has been smelling for a while. I now thinking about all the hours I've spent washing clothes for nothing. It does seem that washing them still gets out stains and stuff just doesn't leave them smelling fresh. I'm so embarassed. I want a new nose. My mom is the brave soul that very kindly brought my attention to it. And it is her theory that when I had my head surgery...the one that I had when I was a brand new baby for being born without a soft spot....(some of you may not know this story) anyway I have a scar from ear to ear so that they could fix my brow bone and give me a soft spot. The brow bone broke during birth because my head wasn't giving at all and if it hadn't we both would have bled to death. Anyway so what does this have to do with my washer and my nose??? Well to preform the surgery they cut me from ear to ear and then peeled the skin downward even with my nose. It seems that there may have been so wires crossed when they put everything back in its place. I have a short in my nasal system...sometimes I can smell things sometimes I can't and I can't always count on my nose to alert me when something smells bad. So....my nose is broken. I need a new washer.... and then I have to wash every single piece of clothing all over again to get rid of the smell....it might take a couple washings....I won't know unless I ask if the smell is gone. So my friends who love me please just tell me, I'm beggin you. It will be much less embarrassing coming from you than nobody ever telling me and I just have to stink in ignorance. I mean it please tell me. I love you all Merry Christmas!

Its all business!

We made a gift basket for some of the people we do business with and needed a card. So I added a few "christmas-y" touches to our logo and printed them up as tags. I was pretty happy with the finished product. Whaddaya think?

Christmas Past.....

Here is a little stroll down memory lane. This Christmas will be our 3rd Christmas together as a family. Christmas is an extra special time of year for us because Joe proposed to me on Christmas morning 2004 we were sitting in about the same spot we are in the family picture of us a year later! Savannah wasn't in the mood to be photogenic....

This picture is of Savannah in her special Christmas dress. Mom decided to have a little Christmas photo shoot. Savannah just knew she was pretty....

These are of last Christmas....we had just barely finished the bedrooms in our "construction site" home and it was just in time to put up the Christmas tree in the new living room we had been using as a community bedroom. I was so excited...It felt like a real house!

Merry Christmas!

I am almost done with the craziest part of Christmas....the shopping. I'm so excited. Savannah is loving every moment of the holiday season and I just love that she loves it. We got up our Christmas decorations and brought our family pictures out of storage....they've been in there for over a year! It was so fun to see them all again. So now our house looks more like a home with things hanging on the walls and everything. It was such a relief to get those up on the wall. I have all these goals to accomplish before the baby is here...many of them I have done. I just want this stuff done cuz otherwise I won't get to it for like 6 months to a year. So far all thats left is:
1. Finish organizing the kids room and find a place for all the baby gear that I will be needing.
2. Clean and organize our room so the baby has a place to be for the first little while before he seems old enough to put in a crib.
3. Organize our business files and paperwork to prepare for doing the books ourselves.
4. Get all the home improvement left overs out of the house (they've kinda blended into everything else I'm so used to seeing them there... things like boards and empty paint cans we don't need anymore.) I think that I'm forgetting something but thats a good enough list.
Wish me Luck! I am going to be 32 weeks or 8 months along on Monday! Yahoo!

Five things Challenge

Five things I was doing 10 years ago.....
1. Had just moved to Frenchtown, Montana and were getting ready to move to Darby, MT....it was my freshmen year of High School 15 yrs old
2. Became confident in my ability to draw people, especially faces, I really fell in love with art making around this time.
3. Learning how to be adaptable to a brand new place....I hated Frenchtown, MT
4. Discovered in MT you can get your divers license at 15.....I didn't actually get it until I was 22.
5. Tried out for my first High School Drama production....A Christmas Carol

Five things on my To Do list Today
1. Do the dishes (partially done....are you ever really done???)
2. Make a house payment (done)
3. Go Christmas shopping (done)
4. Pay bills (done)
5. Schedule visiting teaching appointments (sort of done)

Five snacks I enjoy
1. sunflower seeds (pregnant snack craving)
2. string cheese (pregnant snack craving...I hate cheddar cheese right now it tastes bad to me)
3. Banana Nut Crunch cereal (pregnant snack craving)
4. Rice Krispie Treats (pregnant snack craving)
5. Stuffing.....(yeah I think its just my anticipation of Thanksgiving?? I'm pregnant.)

Five songs I know the Lyrics To
I've lost my identity because most of the songs I'm thinking of are Savannah's favorites

1. Care Bear countdown
2. Five Little Monkeys
3. Alvin and the Chipmunks theme song
4. Daughtry's "I'm going home" song
5. The Turkey song "Theres a big fat turkey down on Grandpa's Farm and he thinks he's really gay.
He spreads his tail into a great big fan and he struts around all day.
You can hear him gobble at the girls and the boys and he thinks hes singing when he makes that noise...
He'll see his song another way upon Thanksgiving Day!"

Five of my bad habits
1. Assuming that just because I'm pregnant that people should get out of my way in public places and on the road.
2. Procrastinating.....always
3. I stay up too late
4. I get caught up in meaningless details
5. I am bossy

Five things I would do if I were a millionaire
1. Pay off my house
2. Pay of my medical bills
3. Get health insurance
4. Get a massage...a good one...no just get a servant that just does that for me.
5. Help my family

Five things I will never wear again
1. any dress from before my first pregnancy...the girls don't fit anymore.
2. 2 pairs of neon socks layered on top of eachother
3. big glasses with way to big lenses
4. the bangs that stayed in a perfect curl across my forehead
5. holiday inspired sweaters and turtle necks my mom thought I looked adorable in.

Five of my favorite toys
1. paint brushes
2. finger paint
3. my vaccume
4. my non-stick frying pans
5. paper on which to make art

Five friends I am going to tag
1. Heather
2. Lindsey
3. Jean
4. Patty
5. Jen

What's New?

I thought it was about time I changed my blog to something else! We are finally a week free of the plague. It took Savannah 2 weeks to get over it. I was pretty ornery about it by the end. We're all grateful its over. Now she is getting her eye teeth. I know what you're thinking....she hasn't had them this whole time. No. So she is kinda grumpy lately and in short supply of patience. At the grocery store, Super 1, they have car carts. Its basically a shorter version of your average cart and then this plastic car on the front for kids to sit in and make them think they are driving. I'm sure you've seen something like it before I don't know why I'm giving a description. Anyway Savannah loves these things. We have a 2 yr old moment when they're not available at the grocery store. But usually she gets over it pretty quick. Not lately though.....its more of a long moment of screaming. And not just at the grocery store. Something in her little head decided all stores we enter should have car carts. And no matter how hard she cries its not enough to conjure up one. The scene usually is something like this. I try to calmly explain that they don't have car carts here. We'll just use this kind of cart. And then my pregnant self will try to heft a struggling 2 year old into the front of the regular cart. However when she knows I'm placing her in the wrong cart she screams louder and then tucks her legs awkwardly so I end up holding her suspended above until I can get her legs straightened out and get her seated. Its in this position I try to use the mommy voice about not throwing fits and screaming. But I'm so out of breath (pregnant 7 and 1/4 months) that I don't sound very convincing. Once she is finally in the seat I am hot, red faced, and struggling to catch my breath. Still unable to express my disappointment in her verbally. So I rely on the stern face to get the point across until I can squeak out a "that is naughty Savannah. No no!" By this point she is pretty much over it and the only evidence that remains is one alligator tear lingering below her eye and the occasional shuddering breath from crying. It just goes to show how much she really does run my life as much as I like to think I am the boss.

"My piggy and me!"

Here is Savannah at 7 months sleeping on the couch with new piggy. His tail still curled then and he was very plush and had the softest pink fur. She loved to play with his tail as she fell asleep. And she still does to this day. There is very little they don't do together.







I made the mistake of answering the phone while Savannah was in the tub. Upon returning I found this. She explained to me "piggy....tubby, in!" And the picture shows the desperate clutch she had when I tried to take piggy away.

Piggy got to stay. I washed Savannah.

Savannah washed piggy. Everybody wins.

Then once piggy was dry... they took a nap.

THE END

The Black Plague

This illness is never gonna leave us alone! Savannah is now sick with it. I thought she got it a little the first time...not that having it once is enough in our family. We have the Black Plague at our house. I really feel like crying as I'm typing. I don't know wether to laugh or cry. It's been 3 weeks of this nasty thing. Savannah has been so brave and down right detemined to not let it get her down. Five minutes after throwing up she is bouncing around the living room happy as can be. She is my hero....I did not feel like bouncing at any point! I guess the most challenging part of her being sick is she doesn't understand to throw up in a designated area like a bucket, or a toilet. I'm the meanest mom shoving her head down over this bucket and saying "Its okay honey, mommy's here" as she is forcefully trying to push the bucket away. Meanwhile I am having dizzy spells (I feel like an old woman saying it like that). I pretty much always have a low blood count but its a little more pronounced when I'm pregnant....and even more pronounced when I've been up all night with a two year old. I almost passed out in Super 1 today, I think I scared the cashier to death....poor woman. She helped me to a bench and got me a cool compress. I felt so stupid. And there is Savannah crying in the store worried about me when she is the one throwing up all day. So today I have a great respect and love for mothers all over the world. My mom is amazing I can't even touch the amount of times shes battled the ugly world of sick children. I woke up today feeling very much in awe of her. How did she do it? Then she says to me...." thats just what you do...you do what you have to for your kids because you love them, theres just no question."

So Sick of being Sick!!!

I think I'm done being sick now. I have been to the hospital twice in less than a week and a half. I'm done being poked and I'm done running for the bathroom....I've done my time. To those of you I have infected I want to send my sincerest apologies. I know the misery you've been through. Everyone is pretty stumped about how you can get what I got twice. So they're checking on some other possibilities....yuck! This time at least I had a perscription for nausea medicine that I started taking immediately upon feeling icky. So the good news is I didn't ever throw up the 2nd time. The bad news is that evidently all that I ingested had to come out some way....if it wasn't coming out my mouth it was gonna find another avenue and it did. Unfortunately I became just as dehydrated as I did the time before. My baby doctor ordered me to the hospital when I said that I was feeling like I was going to pass out even though I was laying down. Two liters of saline later I got to come home and still make frequent visits to the potty. Now I am a little more balanced and am feeling really tired but not so sick anymore. I am tired of the BRAT diet which is bananas, rice, applesauce, toast and am now aloud to eat a little more variety of food. I want to thank everyone who is offered to help run errands and cook my family meals, even do my dishes and laundry....what dear friends I have. Thanks!
I'm pretty sure now I'm on the mend! Just in time for Halloween! Yay!

Happy 2nd Birthday! September 10, 2007

We had a party for Savannah at the park just a few blocks from our house. I made the horsey cake by cutting a rectangle cake in a particular pattern and then used Laffy Taffy rope in purple and pink for hair. I had lots of fun! And she loved it which made it even better!

During present opening time the first gift she opened with lots of help was from her friends Kelsie and Griffin and it was a pack of 3 pairs of dress up shoes! She couldn't open another present until she had a pair of those shoes on. Then she ran around for the rest of the party wearing them. They knew she loved shoes because every time we go to visit them the first thing she does is ditch her shoes and proceeds to try on everyone elses (she does this every where she goes).

"These Are My Jewels!"

I ran across this cool story in the LDS living magazine may/june 07 edition. It was in an article on choosing motherhood over a career...a choice many women have faced. In a little side note this story is related and I really liked it.
"Cornelia Scipionis Aficana (born ca 190 bc) is considered the perfect example of a virtuous Roman woman and a loving, devoted mother. She married Tiberius Sempronius Gracchas, a powerful Roman politician, and together they had twelve children- very uncommon by Roman Standards.
Legend had it that after a noble Roman woman questioned Cornelia about her choice of dress and personal adornment, which was far more understated than most Roman women of her rank and station, Cornelia motioned to her children and said, "These are my jewels!"
Romans admired her exemplary virtues, and when she died at age ninety, they dedicated a statue in her honor-the first one attributed to a non-mythological woman."


I thought that was so cool. Here are a few pictures of my jewels...

The last pregnancy...we'll see whats in store this time

Here I am pregnant with Savannah at my baby shower. This was a couple weeks before she was born. They are measuring me with toilet paper squares...I don't remember now how many it took to get around me. And for any of you wondering that is Silver Tolman standing next to me...sorry Silver I didn't ask your permission to post your picture.

This cutie is Joe as a baby I'm not sure how old he is... my guess would be pretty close to a year between 9 and 12 months I just wanted everyone one to see what baby chase could possibly look like. Darling!

We're Having a Boy!!!

Its official! Baby Chase Joseph Stanek will be joining our family in just a few months!

I thought this picture was fitting...theres Savannah showing me some art work and theres Baby Chase riding around on my back. I suppose I find comfort in chaous! The only thing thats missing is Joe in the back ground asking me where his various tools are....ahhh home sweet home

Painting...

Savannah's room I had great expectations for and I told myself that it wouldn't be that hard. It was. But after many hours of work it was worth all the effort and I may never do it again so I'm glad I got pictures of the process. I started by painting the whole room with the lighter green color and then masking off stripes where it would have the darker green. My speedy mom and dad painted the dark green stripes in a jiffy and Joe's mom Kay brushed in the border using white primer actually. Thanks for your help you guys!

Then I started adding some flower detail inside the stripes... Sometimes it is actually more work to know exactly what you want...not knowing means that you could possibly find something less complicated because your expectations didn't complicate it. I did attempt to simplify by using stencils....

But then I just painted over them and did them all by hand. AHHH! If thats not enough then I proceeded to do a bunch of little flowers (using a stencil) all over the dark green stripe. Then finally the border which I knew from the beginning I wanted to look like lace with ribbon weaving in and out of it proved to be the last straw. All the energy I had left I had to use on the trim which in the picture below is not a painted yet...I never wanted to paint again. And I don't think I did for almost a year...

Actual House of Crazy

We purchased this house last summer and got a screaming good deal because it was in bad shape. We had to replace literally every surface.

Here is a pic of the front door and living room when we moved in (left).

This room was the last room to be completed but it is now done!

The pic above and on the right is of the kitchen and you can also see into the living room. Notice our marvelous "baby gate" blocking off the construction zone. It was a door to a closet in one of the bedrooms turned on its side. We hopped over it for months.

Here is a picture of the lower cabinets being reconstructed due to the disgusting mouse colony living within them. YUCK! Joe and my brother Caleb rebuilt the drawers, lining, and facing of this part of the cupboards.

This is a star I drew up and Joe masterfully converted into a pattern in our floor. It is located outside the doorways of both bedrooms. This takes lots of skill and practice, I tried to help Joe do this and all I did was confuse myself and him. After that we decided we better leave that kind of thing to him. I'll stick to painting....

Welcome to the Stanek House of Crazy

Our home is made up of Daddy Joe, Mommy Rachel, and baby girl Savannah (who is 2 now and reminding me everyday she is not a baby). We are soon to have another baby join our family this winter. Our due date is Feb 4, 2008. We shouldn't forget to mention we are also running a business out of this home, Stanek Masonry, which is another little baby of ours 6 months old and growing strong.

Introducing Joe!

Here is the man of the house and we think hes great! He makes us laugh and is always full of surprises. These days he is working his tail off as the owner of new business. He is very dedicated and excellent at what he does. We are so proud of our Daddy he is working so hard for our family and is doing a great job! Right now is his favorite time of year HUNTING SEASON...look out wild life Joe is on the hunt. Hes had "the fever" since he got his first elk last fall, bow hunting. It was awesome!

Lets Hear it for Savannah

We just had her 2nd birthday and is now living up to age 2 in every way. She is the sunshine in our lives and more. Her favorite things right now are "Chip-icks" (Alvin and the Chipmunks), Care Bears, shoes, shoes, shoes, and her Daddy! They are thick as theives these days and it is so fun to watch. She is learning to count and so far her favorite numbers are recited as follows "three, six, eight, two, six, eight!"

And Me!

What can I say I'm a mom, a business owner, a wife, a nursery leader, a homemaker...you know the list busy moms! And I have never been happier. Oh I have my days...believe me! But in between I'm doing good. This pregnancy I am loving compared to last time. I think this time I'm too busy to think about how tired and yucky I feel. We are looking forward to finding out what the baby is. We'll let you know.