Phrases heard everyday in our house:

Justin! Get off the baby!
Leanna, leave your brother alone!! (said oh so many times a day!)
Leanna, let the baby sleep!
Quiet!! (said by an agonized Tom)
Justin, you can't sit on the baby!
You have to wait!
These toys are going in the garbage if you don't pick them up! (Tom)
That was just crust! (when asked why half the sandwich is in the garbage)
Mommy, I'm hungry we didn't eat supper!
Na-na!! (said in a very angry voice by Justin) (that's his way of saying Leanna)
Justin, are you stinky?
I want mommy! (said by Justin while pounding my chest)
I don't know (said by Justin in the cutest little voice ever)

I'll take mine straight, please!

I forgot to mention that last week I caught Justin eating coffee grounds! While making Leanna's breakfast the little stinker grabbed the coffee can, pulled the lid off and grabbed a handful! Apparently he couldn't wait to try to steal some coffee from my cup-or maybe he just needed a stronger rush! This kid keeps you on your toes!

Christmas stuff

I ordered pictures of Timothy tonight-expensive! I only ordered 2 pictures for each grandparent. I figured if they want others we'll just scan ours and print a copy out. And I won't feel guilty because the photographer will be making a bundle off us anyway.
I decorated our front window today-that's one small step. I think in a week we'll get our tree and then I get to do the rest of the downstairs! Houses are popping up all over the place with lights on-it's so pretty! I love that! It's so much more fun when you are seeing it all over again through the eyes of your children, it brings new excitement to everything. All this stuff we do will be the stuff of memories for them. I'm trying to make these memories as happy as possible. That's why I try so hard to establish our own tradditions. Rituals and tradditions are what you remember and they're what frame a child's life. That's why every year it's not just Thanksgiving and Christmas days that are important-it's Black Friday family shopping and cookie making and looking at lights and decorating the tree.......these are family rituals. And they're fun!

they catch on so quickly

When you ask Justin why? he will now occasionally answer, "Because."

: )

We're re-arranging the furniture again. Tom decided last night that we needed to. The best part was that he held the baby long enough for me to do some work, he did more and because there were two adults, not one, the kids weren't as bad or as into things as usual. So that means so very much more was accomplished than would have been if it was just me home with the kids again. He vaccumed with the shop vac! A cleanup was badly needed after I was sick for 4 days. In addition to regular cleaning & laundry, I have Christmas cookies to make & decorate, Christmas stories to read & explain to the kids(mainly Leanna), the house to decorate for the holidays, Christmas presents to finish making, ones to finish buying, and all of them to wrap! And Tom says he just might actually hang lights outside the house this year! We got lights Leanna's first Christmas and he's never actually put them up. And we're going to get a real tree this year. I'm looking forward to that!

Another compliment

Leanna asked me today(out of the blue) if she could look just like me when she grew up. She said we could make her hair "brown up" and she could wear my sweater and my jeans. Can't wait to hear what she has to say about that when she's a teenager.

Lyrics By Leanna

I'm A Little Teapot, as sung by Leanna

I'm a little teapot, short and spout
here is my handle here is my spout
all around teapotworld teapotworld
tip me over and pour me out!

Rolling the genetic dice

I think it's amazing how Justin looks so much like both Tom and I. The older he gets the more of Tom I see in him. But I still glance at him all the time and it's like looking at a picture of me also. I love to see which personality traits and features come through in each child. It fascinates me.

Leanna was a force to be reckoned with right from the start-not just little gradually growing hunger cries for this one! By the time she was 2 weeks old she began throwing her body backwards to announce that she was hungry. She did not want to wait, oh no! Now! I need to eat now!


We didn't immediately have realize Justin's temperment as we did with Leanna. Justin just never wanted to stop eating-if he hadn't been gaining weight beautifully I would have worried that something was wrong. Well, being a mother I did still worry, but it turned out that this was just his style. Only in retrospect did I realize that this was just typical behavior for Justin-he is so intense! His need for me and his need to nurse were extremly high and very tiring to me. He was always baby Jeckel/Hyde-so happy or so very not happy!


Timothy hasn't given us any clues yet, or at least not ones we recognize as such.

Timothy

Timothy now seems to show recognition of me and Leanna and possibly Tom. He's so much more alert. He smiles every so often. It's really neat to watch. I love babies.

The more the merrier!

We have Maree' this weekend. So that makes four kids. It's actually kind of fun to see people's reactions when we are out. It ranges from sympathy all the way to the bizzare(one strange man actually smiled a crazy smile at us and congradulated Tom and said, man, you guys just keep making more people! Then he started laughing. And this was just with our own three.) ( We think he was drunk.). Four really isn't all that many. Think about the days when people regularly had 14 children or more! I remind myself of this when I'm feeling sorry for myself because of my workload.
My Mom has terrible trouble keeping straight her own three kids' names-holy cow, try doing it with 14!

Beauty in the eyes of children

This is a comment from my word-a-day list:
From: Sharon Smith (mainelyneuropsychATprexar.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--dendrochronology
When one of my children was about three years old, she looked up at me so sweetly as I was tucking her into bed. Clearly searching her small lexicon to come up with just the right words to show how much she loved me, she said: "Mommy, your wrinkles are just like ocean waves!" If I looked like that in 1982, you can only imagine what I must look like now!

Nice imagination for a three year old! I think the nicest (physical) compliment ever given to me by Leanna would be either when she thought Monica and Rachel on Friends were me and her Daddy's cousin Jessica(she didn't specify which one was which); or when she thought an actress named Constance Marie(I think), playing the mother in the movie Selena was me. I don't really look like any of them, but as they're all considered beautiful women I'm certainly not going to object to the comparison!!

Childhood

Just a formal announcement here-Maree' Evelyn Stoudt intends to marry Aaron Carter. (Ok, really Jesse McCartney) She gives an ear-piercing shreik at the sight of his face. Music cds and teen magazines top her Christmas list this year. Her ear and the phone enjoy a certain familiarity. She also has a boyfriend at school and wears a bra now. Did I mention she turns 9 at the end of next month?
What happened to childhood?? That's sad. I'm going to try my hardest to keep Leanna from going that path, but I bet it'll be tough with her. Especially since she emulates Maree'. I really think that the longer a kid stays a kid, the happier they are. Both short and long-term.

Anything you Can Do........

Leanna is so pleased-we downloaded the song "Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better!" from Annie Get Your Gun. She loves it! Uncle David taught her that song this summer. In fact, the first version we downloaded was fuzzy so I explained I was looking for the same song with different people singing it. Leanna immediately asked if I was looking for Uncle David. Alas, he has never recorded the song! (to my knowledge, anyway) So we settled for the broadway cast's version.
I did try out Green Jelly's " Three Little Pigs" on her also......I think it's really fun to sing along with. She didn't seem to appreciate it though. I guess she's too young to get a kick out of Sylvester Stallone's appearance at the end of the song. : (

Peace

It's a rare quiet moment in my house.......not silent, mind you-but quiet. Leanna is sitting on the floor, happily playing with a telephone. Justin is roaming the downstairs, stuffing crackers in a box and then dropping both(over and over). And Timothy slumbers curled up in my lap-so long as he's here in the sling he'll stay sleeping. It's a dreary day, but it's actually making me feel cozy in my house, not depressed. Hmmm.......maybe I should make a list of my blessings while I'm feeling content. That's one of those things I mean to do at Thanksgiving, but never get around to doing. I'm trying not too feel to guilty over the state of the house today. Usually that is a full time job-I stress about trying to get the younger two to nap at the same time so I have free time to clean or wash dishes or do laundry(pay bills, whatever). Or I try to do it while holding one and putting another one off. It just doesn't work very well. Usually if I get one thing done it's at the expense of something else. For example, I'll do the dishes, but while I'm doing them Leanna and Justin will be dumping toy boxes in the living room. But today I got a new book in the mail(a gift from my husband's labors 2 doors down) and I just sat reading it while holding Timothy. Very relaxing. Off and on I had Justin next to me-it was very cute; I gave him a baby doll to hold and we put a blanket over it. Just like the baby in my lap. It distracted him from the fact that he wasn't sitting in my lap.
Nothing at all like yesterday when Leanna was sitting on Justin's head!

My prize-winning kid!

Leanna just won a coloring contest at Friendly's restaurant!
Maybe they just give everyone a prize, who knows, but I do have to say she did a nice job. The picture was very colorful and she pretty much stayed in the lines.
On one a side note, she also behaved very well in the restaurant. I've been hearing a lot lately about kids' bad behavior in restaurants and how other adults and the restaurants themselves don't want to tolerate this. We had a very long wait that night and both Leanna and Justin behaved well. At the very end Justin did start throwing his food on the floor next to him, but an hour and a half is an extrodinarily long time for him to sit in a high chair. I'm usually lucky to get him to sit in one for over 5 minutes!
I miss the days when I felt like such a good mommy because my child was eating and drinking very healthy foods and was sweet and affectionate and smart and too young to have disicpline problems. Then she got older and the fun started! Now those moments where I can be proud of how Leanna behaves are much fewer and farther between. So I have to take my little triumphs where I can get them!

my name says this about me.....

The Meaning of my name.....from the website http://www.paulsadowski.com/Numbers.asp
You entered: Stephanie Ann Pengelly (you use the name your parents gave you)
There are 20 letters in your name.Those 20 letters total to 96There are 7 vowels and 13 consonants in your name.
Your number is: 6
The characteristics of #6 are: Responsibility, protection, nurturing, community, balance, sympathy.
The expression or destiny for #6:The number 6 Expression provides you a truly outstanding sense of responsibility, love, and balance. The 6 is helpful and ever conscientious, making you quite capable of rectifying and balancing any sort of inharmonious situation. You are a person very much inclined to give help and comfort to those in need. You have a natural penchant for working with the old, the young, the sick, or the underprivileged. Although you may have considerable creative and artistic talents, the chances are that you will devote yourself to an occupation that shows concern for the betterment of the community.
The positive side of the number 6 suggests that you are very loving, friendly, and appreciative of others. You have a depth of understanding that produces much sympathetic, kindness, and generosity. The qualities of the 6 make the finest and most concerned parent and one often deeply involved in domestic activities. Openness and honesty is apparent in your approach to all relationships.
If there is an excess of the number 6 in your makeup, you may exhibit some of the negative traits associated with this number. There may be a tendency for you to be too exacting and demanding of yourself. In this regard, you may at times sacrifice yourself (or your loved ones) for the welfare of others. In some cases, the over zealous 6 has difficulty distinguishing helping from interfering. You may have difficulty expressing your own individuality, because of involvement with responsibilities and causes. Like all with the Expression of the number 6, it's quite likely that you worry much too much.
Your Soul Urge number is: 4
A Soul Urge number of 4 means: With the Soul Urge or Motivation number of 4 you are likely to strive for a stable life. You tend to follow a rather orderly pattern and systematic approach in your endeavors. You have an inner desire to serve others in a methodical and diligent manner. You want to be in solid, conventional, and well-regulated activities, and you are somewhat disturbed by innovation and erratic or sudden changes. Excellent at organizing, systematizing, and managing, you have a way of establishing order and maintaining it. You are responsible, reliable and in the final analysis, practical. Highly analytical, you can see your way through all sorts of situations and generally have a clear understanding of the issues. You are a very honest, sincere, and conscientious individual.
The negative side of the 4 is rigid, stubborn and somewhat narrow-minded. There is a tendency to hide feelings, or to really not be aware of real feelings. Avoid being too rigid and stubborn in your thinking, and try to always see the big picture rather than becoming to involved with the detail. Don't be afraid to take a chance once in awhile.
Your Inner Dream number is: 11
An Inner Dream number of 11 means: You dream of casting the light of illumination; of being the true idealist. You secretly believe there is more to life than we can know or prove, and you would like to be provider of the 'word' from on high.

about my birthdate

Your date of conception was on or about 22 December 1974.
You were born on a Sundayunder the astrological sign Virgo.Your Life path number is 9.The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2442669.5.The golden number for 1975 is 19.The epact number for 1975 is 17.The year 1975 was not a leap year.As of 11/15/2005 11:21:55 AM ESTYou are 30 years old.You are 362 months old.You are 1,574 weeks old.You are 11,020 days old.You are 264,491 hours old.You are 15,869,481 minutes old.You are 952,168,915 seconds old.You are 4.31311154598826 dog years old. (You're still chasing cats!)
There are 303 days till your next birthdayon which your cake will have 31 candlesThose 31 candles produce 31 BTUs,or 7,812 calories of heat (that's only 7.8120 food Calories!) .You can boil 3.54 US ounces of water with that many candles.
In 1975 there were approximately 3.1 million births in the US.In 1975 the US population was approximately 203,302,031 people, 57.4 persons per square mile.In 1975 in the US there were approximately 2,152,662 marriages (10.1%) and 1,036,000 divorces (4.9%)In 1975 in the US there were approximately 1,921,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)Your birthstone is Sapphire The Mystical properties of Sapphire
Though not meant to replace traditional medical treatment, Sapphire is used for clear thinking. Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources)
Agate, Moonstone, Lapis LazuliYour birth tree is
Lime Tree, the Doubt
Accepts what life dishes out in a composed way, hates fighting, stress and labour, tends to laziness and idleness, soft and relenting, makes sacrifices for friends, many talents but not tenacious enough to make them blossom, often wailing and complaining, very jealous, loyal.There are 40 days till Christmas 2005!The moon's phase on the day you wereborn was waxing gibbous.

public assistance

You know, I was really surprised to see the difference in how you are treated when you are on public assistance. The kids' medical insurance is free because of our income. We go to Sacred Heart Hospital, and they have two doctor's offices-one for private insurance, and one for public assistance. I've seen the difference because I've used both offices. The same doctors work both offices but everything else is completely different. The private waiting room is nicely furnished, with plenty of toys and books. There are magazines for parents to read........you always have to wait but the length of time is completely different! In the public Ass. (ha) office there is one toy and no books, although they have posters on the wall advocating reading. The room is always crowded, there aren't enough seats. I walked to a doctor's appointment 8 months pregnant with two kids in tow, visibly out of breath, and there were no seats and not a single person would let me sit down. The secretaries are way too busy, you always have to wait to sign in, or wait to even talk to her because she's taking several phone calls. And the waiting! To see a doctor for less than five minutes requires about two hours in the doctor's office. This is not an exageration-we timed them when we were there every day for Timothy(jaundice). Apparently your time is not valuable when you don't have money. Try keeping 3 small children taken care of and entertained in a strange room with no toys or books for 3 hours. I'm sure there are some children who might stay sitting quietly for 2 hours, but mine are way too active for that!
So today I'm checking up on getting Timothy added to insurance. You have a month to do it. I had called 2 weeks ago and left a message with the info they needed, my name and phone number. My case worker never called back and I still hadn't received an insurance card for him. I called Friday with no answer(maybe the office was closed for Vet.'s day), and called again today. This time they answered and informed me that I had a new case-worker with a new phone number. Apparently the old caseworker didn't even have the same phone and no one bothered to give either one of them my message. So now I have a doctor's appt. tomorrow and no insurance for Timothy. I guess I'll have to reschedule. I never got a letter or a phone call telling me that I had a new caseworker. And the new lady acted as though she was doing me a huge favor by taking the info to add Timothy. With her accent she was hard to understand. It's very frustrating! Not everyone who needs help is lazy and worthless!

Brotherly love, and pain.....

Also yesterday, Justin pulled a desk drawer completely out and accidentally hit Timothy with it. Immediately Timothy began screaming, and as I comforted him I told Justin, "NO! Hurts!" As I patted Timothy's back, saying, it's ok, Justin watched us. Then he toddled over and put his little hand on Timothy's head and repeated, "Ok, ok!" Awwww.....he was trying to comfort Timothy! Little moments like these keep me going some days!

Jupiters

Yesterday Leanna was "eating" chicken noodle soup. Instead of eating though, she started piling the noodles on table by her bowl. I asked her what she was doing, and her response was that the noodles were Jupiters. I was not familiar with this term, so I asked what, exactly, was a Jupiter. Silly me! A Jupiter is something that goes in your body. I was still puzzled, so I said, "but all food you eat goes into your body!" And my patient four year old explained the difference, "Jupiters go into your body, and they are bad!" Ahhh, yes. I should have known.

Last night

My daughter is so frustrating. I really wonder how I managed to get a kid like her. Sure, her eyes and her body language and her rampant silliness all come from my side of the family. But then she's this little social butterfly-loud, bossy and amazingly stubborn. Ok, fine. Some of the stubborness could come from me. But she is at least 2x as stubborn as I am! That's impressive.
Last night she was sent to the corner. Multiple times. The final corner session was cut short, however, because she took it upon herself to leave the corner and have a crafting party with the tissues. Then she brought her little present over to her Mommy(who was busy watching a movie) and wisely suggested her little gifts were made just for me! See, her disobeying me was for a good cause. She was only thinking of me. She twisted the tissues into the shape of a teapot, an angel, and a snake. So she says, anyway. They all looked pretty much the same to me.
So then I had the difficult task of explaining, with a straight face, why we do not leave the corner, without permission, to make little tissue gifts. First I had to quiet her long enough to explain why this was wrong. And then stop her from interrupting me because let me tell you, this little girl always has something to say! She will always offer an explanation for how her punishment can end or why she should not be punished at all ("But Mommy, can I get out of the corner now? I have a plan for how I can behave!"). Stupid, she is not! Highly amusing, yes.
Anyway, my little lecture was ruined because Laura could not keep a straight face. I burst out laughing, my Mom burst out laughing, Laura burst out laughing, and so did Leanna, who didn't even know what was so funny.

About the blog title....

I should mention that I did recently run across a blog entitled, Mommy needs coffee. I loved the name-it's a phrase I have uttered myself semi-regularly. Especially recently. I felt compelled to use it as my blog name because I love the sense of urgency and possibly desperation implied. For me a warm drink equals relaxation. Well, heat in general. A hot shower or a cup or tea or coffee can all do the trick. I would compare it to the way a smoker uses a ciggarette to calm themselves down. I've always had a cup of coffee to combat stress. Tea I tend to drink for the bigger stuff such as sickness, and when I had the miscarrige. I also drink tea when I'm at my grandmother's house, or with relatives. The addition of the chocolate part is all my own however. Chocolate is not a stress reliever. It just makes me happy. ': )

First Post.....explanation

I'd been thinking about starting a blog for quite a while now. What mother doesn't like to tell people about her kids? And as my sister Laura pointed out, my kids are quite amusing. Well, sometimes it's the kind of humor that is only funny from an outside view, or years down the road, but I can appreciate that. And intentionally or not, Leanna often cracks me up. There are so many times I think to myself, Wow, I never thought I'd hear myself say that! So I figure, why not share? The way I see it, this blog also provides a way to preserve my memories.....all the little stuff so easily forgotten. Not just the good stuff but all the frustrations, the arguements, the temper tantrums....... : ( I enjoy writting, and this will let me vent and hear other's opinions as well. So please feel free to comment, don't be too harsh, and enjoy!