Mommy Blog

The Girls Together

2008-03-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

All Ember

2008-03-29T11:44:00.001-07:00

The Dishwasher! The Shoe Fiend! Arrrgh!

A Little Bit of Everything and Sylvan is 4!

2008-03-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

My amazing and adorable parents. Sylvan continues to astonish the world with her unique fashion sense, and really who doesn't want to wear a tutu all the time? The most beautiful girls in the world!! (even if they are a little blurry) and the only picture I have of Sylvan's birthday, because I was just having too much fun. We had blueberry cupcakes with blue frosting. Sylvan was the mastermind, and grandma came through with making them a reality. What a team!!

Sylvan the Photographer

2008-01-28T11:27:00.000-08:00

Princess Sylvan the photographer leaves her princess tent: Her work:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T23:04:00.001-08:00

Sylvan's favorite gift from Santa? The tutu, of course! The girls and the dolls that I made for them. The cutest baby in the world!

A New Adventure in Aspen

2007-12-04T16:34:00.000-08:00

Sylvan, Ember, and I are off visiting my sister in Aspen, CO. Sylvan is over the moon about the snow and winter sports. She had a blast sledding, and has been begging to go ice skating before we leave. I can't even describe the ecstasy of her face as she looked outside and saw that it had snowed one night we were here. She also got to ride a pony at Ginger's barn. She wanted to ride "all day and all night." We may have another horse woman in the making. Here are a few snow pics.

Starting School and Ballet

2007-09-28T11:41:00.000-07:00

This has been a big month for us! Sylvan started taking ballet lessons, and she started pre-school! She also had a lot of fun with paint one day at home, and got buried in the sand with Grandpa. :)

Ceramic Painting

2007-08-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

Sylvan got a paint your own ceramic tea set, and she and I had a lot of fun playing with it!

2007-07-26T15:13:00.000-07:00

Grandma HUGE new purple couch 30th Birthday Pile of girls with Auntie Ginger

A Good Day

2007-06-24T20:00:00.000-07:00

Miss Mouse Sleeping Hey! It's Me! Fairy Princess Grandma and Sylvan

We Are So Adorable

2007-06-24T18:04:00.000-07:00

Bathing Beauty "Mommy, you are so funny!" Cutest Girls Solstice Princess Ember

Sylvan vs. Ember 1 month

2007-06-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

Sylvan Elizabeth Ember Isabelle

New Pics!

2007-06-18T11:15:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to post some new pictures for all the fans out there. :)

Visual DNA

2007-06-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

This is Sylvan's (who knew she liked coffee so much?):

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

And this is Mine:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

And Now We are Four

2007-05-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

Ember Isabelle Stradinger has arrived! This is the whole story: I had been having mild contractions and other signs off and on since Saturday. We almost thought that I was in labor on Saturday, but nothing came of it. On Tuesday, which was my official due date, I had what they call a "high leak," which means that my water didn't break as much as it just started to trickle around 10pm. I continued having mild irregular contractions through Wednesday and Thursday morning. On Thursday morning I had three doses of Castor Oil, and let me tell you that that was totally disgusting, but there weren't any immediate effects from that. That part was really challenging because I felt like I should be in labor, but there wasn't really anything happening. Alice, our midwife, was amazing and supportive, and she encouraged us to just relax and have a nice day on Thursday. At her suggestion we drove up to the river at Paradise Road, and just relaxed (she later said that if she had known how quick it would be maybe she wouldn't have told us to go so far, but it all worked out). Sylvan went to play with her friend Keiran, and we are very grateful to my mom, Shalon and Ryan, Shalon's sister Taura, Chad and Lillian, and my brother Todd for taking care of Sylvan all day, and making it a good day for her. We got home around 3:30 and Peter took a 2 hour nap while I watched a movie. It was nice to have a minute to myself. :) Peter woke up and Mom, Todd, and Sylvan got back from the zoo at around 5. Mom and Peter made a delicious pasta dinner while I chatted with Todd. Some time between 5:30 and 6 I started having mild contractions which I pretty much ignored since I had been having them off and on for so long. We all sat down to dinner around 6 and I ate a little bit, but then had three or four increasingly strong contractions. After the second or third one, Peter called Alice (she had told us to call as soon as anything changed). By the time I had the fourth one I totally freaked my brother out by laying on the floor and moaning. :) I made it into the bathroom, and had another powerful contraction while my mom called the midwife. Alice wanted to talk to me, so between contractions she asked if I wanted her to come, and I said that I did. Alice arrived about 15 mins. later. By this time I was totally out of it since I was having really intense contractions one on top of the other. Alice wanted to check me, so Peter got me over to the bed, and Alice checked me and I was only 3-4 cm with a large bag of water in front of the baby's head. My thought was "I might die if I have to do this for the next 10 hours!" At which point the Castor oil kicked in and I made a bee line for the bathroom. I had about three really intense contractions, and then my water broke and it was so much that part of the membrane came with it, and it felt like delivering the placenta. Then I really started going, and the contractions didn't really seem to have more than a minute in between, and Alice said that I was pushing, so it was back to the bed. Alice checked me again and I was pretty much complete. Alice frantically called her assistant, Ronda, and told her to get right over. I had a few more crazy intense contractions, and then started to push. They had me roll onto my side in an effort to slow things down, and prevent me from tearing. Peter said that I could probably have done it in one push, but Alice slowed me down, and I panted through three pushing contractions and she was out! At 8:23pm, a whole 2 hours after active labor started. If I look a little like I got hit by a train, that was kind of what it felt like! Alice said that it was "wild," and I would have to agree. The whole thing was so fast that Ember didn't really have time to adjust, so she had a little trouble breathing at first. That was scary for everyone. Although I was in such a hormone fog, and in shock, that I wasn't too worried. Fortunately, Alice was amazing, and my mom really stepped up and helped too, and Ember was fine. She has just continued to thrive. She was 8lbs 6oz. just like her sister, and 20.5 in. long. We are so grateful to all be together now, and her big sister has been so sweet and loving! Life is good!

Belly Casting

2007-05-04T10:17:00.000-07:00

We decided to do a belly cast this time, just like we did with Sylvan. Sylvan was fascinated by the whole process, and we had a lot of fun. I'm sure that I'll paint it just like the one that I did for Sylvan.

Easter Egg Hunt and Update

2007-04-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

April is almost gone! Where did it go? Here is Sylvan on an Easter egg hunt. She has become totally obsessed with candy. We had to limit it to designated treat days, and crack down on whining, or we would have been driven totally mad by the constant whine for candy. She is doing very well, and looking forward to being a big sister (even though she keeps insisting that she will be a brother). She has been talking about all the things that she will teach the new baby: how to eat real food, and how to walk, and how to sit the right way in the car. She also raided the carefully organized wardrobe full of baby clothes that I had organized by size up through 24months, and tried to put them all on. She became trapped in a dress, and had to be rescued. It was an effort to keep my temper, but I just threw them all back in the wardrobe willy-nilly. I figure that will be another project that Mom will enjoy while she is here. :) She will be here in 9 days! and I only have 23 days until my due date!

Birthday Things

2007-03-28T21:04:00.000-07:00

This is the new dress that my mom sent Sylvan for her birthday. It's so nice to have such a talented mom! My parents sent a bunch of other fun stuff too, but this was the highlight.

Classic

2007-03-09T07:30:00.000-08:00

Sylvan was so cute yesterday. She decided she needed to take her purse with us to Bible Study, and she is standing in such a classic pose I couldn't resist. I think that there are pictures of all of my grandmothers in this same pose with a purse over her arm.

Matching 'Dos

2007-02-19T14:19:00.000-08:00

Sylvan and I got matching haircuts this week. Now we look more like twins than ever!

With Grandpa and Grandma in SF

2007-02-19T14:15:00.000-08:00

After the funeral for my Great Uncle Pete, a much loved relation, we had a nice, but short visit with my folks. Sylvan was keeping Kyra in her sweater so that she would be warm. Pretty cute!

My Beautiful Girl in All Her Glory

2007-01-16T10:59:00.000-08:00

Just the cutest girl in Santa Barbara The guy at the library has started calling us "the twins." What do you think? Good hair day at lunch to celebrate Dad's new job! New Christmas clothes. Trucker cool style at the doughnut shop.

Christmas

2007-01-16T10:51:00.000-08:00

Here is Christmas.

Halloween

2007-01-16T10:36:00.000-08:00

So, here is Halloween. :)

Pregnant?

2006-10-21T21:09:00.000-07:00

These are Peter's latest pregnant pics. I still don't really look pregnant, but Peter is really appreciating my lovely cleavage. :)

Hammy

2006-10-21T21:04:00.000-07:00

Sylvan has a new "smile" for the camera, and it's been cracking me up. She is also exhibiting her newly, even more opinionated fashion sense. It often includes the red, white, and blue hat that I made her for the 4th of July. She's amazing!

Pregnant!

2006-10-06T08:47:00.000-07:00

So, we're pregnant again. I think that I'm about 9 weeks now. I havn't been to the Dr. yet, but the morning sickness and fatigue seem to confirm the pregnancy test. :) Peter had grand plans for taking a picture every day, but some how it hasn't quite happened.

My Beautiful Mom's Group

2006-10-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

This is my fabulous Mamatoto group. We got together when Sylvan was about three months old, and have been meeting regularly ever since. This was a great picnic in the park that we had a few weeks ago.

Wonderful Vacation

2006-09-20T13:16:00.000-07:00

We had a fabuloius vacation. Here are a few highlights. Our new red car (and Sylvan's BIG sucker). Sylvan and Peter paddling Lewis and Clark's Canoe. And Sylvan at the Monterey Aquarium with her new favorite, the jellies. We also seemed to have picked up a passenger on this trip, incase you haven't heard the 2nd baby is on the way. .

A Visit From Auntie Ginger

2006-09-20T13:10:00.000-07:00

Sylvan had a great time hanging out with her "friend" Auntie Ginger. and Ginger and I had a great time going out to dinner together.

Visiting With My Parents

2006-06-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful visit and great weather while my parents were here. They tested out the futon for us, and played non-stop with Sylvan. My dad even did a solo flight for over an hour! He's awesome. Mom decided to buy us some plants for our little patio. We had a great time digging in the dirt, and Sylvan still remembers the worm that we found. She alternates between asking when it will come back, and saying that she is going to protect her baby from it. We said goodbye at the Oxnard airport, and you can see everyone had fun.

Good Visit!

Our Anniversary

2006-06-16T22:45:00.000-07:00

We've been married six years! June 7, 2006. We've made it through the first five years, which apparently means we're in it for the long haul, according to the statistics. :) We had a mellow celebration. We took a long walk, and had a sitter for Sylvan, and then came home and watched the MTV Movie Awards (a long standing tradition since there was literally nothing else on TV the entire week of our honeymoon), and another movie all snuggled up in the livingroom.

Sylvan Wears a Dress

2006-06-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

Sylvan wears a dress of her own accord. It's actually one that my mom made for me when I was small. She likes the "squares."

A Dress!

Crashed On the New Futon

2006-06-02T16:55:00.000-07:00

We have finally broken down and purchased a guest bed! We got a really nice futon with a sprung mattress that will allow us to host guests comfortably, and I will finally have a place to sit and knit or read while Peter is on the computer. The futon of love is all about togetherness. :) Sylvan is testing it out for us right now.

Crashed
The Futon of Love

Mommy Time

2006-06-02T16:50:00.000-07:00

We love to read books in the rocking chair, and I wanted to put up the rare pics. that I am acutually in!

Rockin' and Readin'
Kiss Me

Our Little Grown Up

2006-05-21T20:59:00.000-07:00

We continue our adventures in potty training. Sylvan has reached a new plateau. She will actually tell us now when she has to go, which is really nice. Being Sylvan, she of course now gets very angry if you try and make her go potty when she doesn't want to. As always, if she can do it herself she doesn't want help. Peter and I were noticing the other day that she is now completely fluent in English. Which sounds funny, but she can speak in full and easily comprehensible sentences. Which from a two year old is amazing, and a little strange. Strange and wonderful that someone so small can be so decided and articulate.

Dressed to Go to Work

Tie Dye Groovy

2006-05-10T22:53:00.000-07:00

Sylvan loves her tie dye pjs. Peter said that we had been transported to the 70s when he saw these pictures.

I'm so groovy!
See My Jammies

Laughing with Keiran

2006-05-10T22:50:00.000-07:00

Keiran and Sylvan had a ball in the rocker at Olivia's birthday party.

Friends

Beauty Shots

2006-05-10T22:42:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it amazes me how in unexpected moments Sylvan is so beautiful.

Profile
Lovely

The Saturday Farmer's Market

2006-05-10T22:32:00.000-07:00

We love the Saturday Farmer's Market. We go as often as we can, and I particularly loved Sylvan choice of outfits this week. :)

Sampling

Cooking Up a Storm

2006-05-10T22:26:00.000-07:00

Sylvan loves to sit on the counter while I cook, and while I was turned the other way, she found the Cream of Tartar and the meat tenderizer.

Crazy Chef

Eliot's First Day at the Beach

2006-05-10T22:18:00.000-07:00

This was Eliot's first chance to play in the sand. Sylvan had a lot of fun sharing the beach, and her hat with him.

The Man in the Sun
Lillian Eliot and Sylvan in the Sand

We're Back!

2006-05-10T22:00:00.000-07:00

So we're back with a new look, and Sylvan is cuter than ever. She's wearing her new orange dress that we bought with birthday money.

Cheesey Grin
Happy Dance