Last vacation pictures

Ok so here are the last of our vacation pics Im going to post. It was a super time. I'm bummed it's over but really glad things went so well. Kim watched Malachy last night so Mark and I could escape for some alone time! =) We went to the Ameri Suites in Hoffman which are being converted to a Hyatt Home. It was super nice. No hot tub or anything swanky like that...but the had a huge L shaped couch and a huge plazma TV. Which was perfect for us because our plan was to watch the remaining episodes of Prison Break season 1 and sleep in. Throw in some Chillis and it was a perfect night! =) Anyhow with no further adou here are the pictures...

Kim being cute!

Mark, Malachy, and I walking around downtown South Haven with the family!

Malachy is king of the castle.

relaxing with aunt Kim

Mark and Steph...awwww aren't we cute

Vacation

Ok, So I have a bunch more pictures to add but after I got these up Blogger started being itself and wouldn't let me post anymore. =( Despite numerous attempts! So I will try again later.

WE had a GREAT time on Vacation! It was a little chilly and rainy most days but we didn't let that spoil our time. We read books, made cards with my stamps, watched sunsets, rode bikes, played B-ball, swam in the pool, played at the beach, collected rocks, went shopping in cute towns, ate out, barbecued, made smores, went to movies, watched prison break, had chess training games, connect four tournaments, and really enjoyed eachothers company! The only thing that would have made this vacation better would have been if Noah, Lauren, Jason, Dee and Joey could have joined us for a day!...There is always next year! =)

This is Malachy and Dad enjoying the Sun in front of our Cottage

Mark, Malachy, and I went to St. Josephs one chilly-ish day to check out the children's museum then we hit up the butterfly garden. Malachy liked the fish pond.

I just thought this one was pretty. We went to see the sunset a couple nights so Malachy could say good bye to the sun.

This is our family in front of the pretty tall grasses planted near our cottage. As you can see by Poppos face it was hard to know when to smile because the lady taking our picture kept asking us to say things like"I love South Haven" instead of "cheese". So we did the best we could. =)

Noah's home!

Bloggers being a pain so I'm only posting a few of my fabulous pictures! =)

Best Birthday EVER.....minus Mark

ahhhh...Man! I had a huge post written out and then it got erased!

Sooo...I said I had a super fabulous birthday! We had a big party at my house because Noah is home! We were all in such a good mood because we are so stinking excited to have him home! I have the best family and I love them all so much! How in the world did we get so lucky! Thanks Mom and Dad!

Also... I was totally spoiled with presents and I feel sooo loved! Mark is finaly home and went to get me some Wendys and a movie so we can finish the day off right! Thanks everyone for making my day extra special!

My original post was much longer then this and included all the details about my fabulous presents, family, and friends! But now I don't have time because I have to go eat wendys and watch movies with the husband!

Books...Edited***

Soooo...it was somewhat evil of Kim to tag me in this seeing as she knows I have only read 5 books in my whole life. She is trying to expose my humiliation to the whole internet community.

1. One book that changed your life? In the Name of Jesus by Henri M. Nouwen. I read this book at a sm. group training retreat in High School and it turned the way I looked at Leadership upside down. The whole servant leadership thing seems more obvious to me now but at the time it changed how I looked at everything. Henri Nouwen remains my favorite author.

2. One book that you have read more than once? Malachy's baby book that Lauren got me. Baby grows up with Peter rabbit. I probably look at it every other week! =)

3. One book you would want on a desert island? The last Harry Potter book. I gotta know what happens!

4. One book that made you laugh? Boy by Roald Dahl. It's his auto-biography of his childhood. It's interesting and funny. I also enjoyed Flying Solo which follows him through his young adult years.

5. One book that made you cry? Harry Potter and the order of the phoenix. I don't want to spoil it for anyone... so.... all I will say is someone dies and it was really sad!

6. One book you wish had never been written? Can't think of one. I have not read enough I suppose. And if I didn't like it... I stopped reading it.

7.One book you are currently reading? I'm suppose to be reading a Henri Nouwen Book about Solitude with Sandy but we both keep forgetting, getting busy, or losing it! =)

8. One book you have been meaning to read? Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller and Wild at Heart by John Eldredge.

Now tag five people: most people I know pretty much have been tagged! Hmmmm...Sara, Steve, Sandy, Alan, and Jami...I think none of you all have been tagged yet.

OK and I tag Crystal! OMG I can't believe I didn't know you had not been tagged!

Awwwwhhhhh!

Sometimes Christians piss me off!

Luckily I did not have to "work" the Leadership Conference which allowed me the luxury of attending. I think one of the most powerful moments of the conference was the honesty and boldness of Bono in his interview with Bill Hybels. Bono said that AFTER spreading the gospel "The main thrust of the Scriptures is to meet Christ in working with the poor." He supports this claim with scripture. Some obnoxious judgmental Christians who did not even hear the interview go and take everything he said out of context and have them selves a little Bono bashing party. (Apparently this blog is not only about Bono bashing but will gladly bash Bill Hybels as well if the opportunity arises) I just don't understand things like that! The work Bono is doing is good! (And don't even get me started on the work Willow and Hybels are doing) So what is peoples problems and their behavior only justifies Bono's earlier qualms with the church and causes me to feel more distant from it. What ever happened to love!? This is the web site I'm referring too...I know there are a good number of other people out there who enjoy Bono bashing (Bill bashing as well for that matter) so here is a link so you can jump on the band wagon.... http://www.sliceoflaodicea.com/archives/2006/08/rock_star_bono.php
BTW...I'm not referring to my BFF's who don't like Bono for what ever reasons they may have. I'm referring to Christian who spend more time bad talking Bono then they do trying to understand or even find out if what they are responding to is true!

Here are some of my favorite Bono quotes from the interview

-"I never had a problem with Christ, but Christians were difficult for me...they seem strange to me, and I know that I seem strange to them...they tend to judge people by surface problems...I grew very suspicious of Christians, but I was determined to learn more about the life of Christ."

-"I've always thought smack in the middle of a tension is a good place to be."

-"A lot of gospel music for me is lies, because it's people pretending that life is great...I'm more into the blues...I want my music to do something positive, but I want to be honest and own up to my earthly confusions."

- Bono talked about how ridiculous celebrity is and how it is opposite of the gospel why should he be more important then a fire fighter or a mother but as long as he has it he's not going to waste it..."Celebrity is currency--I'm going to spend mine."

-He said that people often say things to him like ,"you have a heart for the poor." and his response to that is "I am not Mother Teresa, I'm a rock star....but I have a head for the world's poor. I am strategic."

-"The church has historically been behind the curve...I think it's because the church is afraid of politics and I understand because all kinds of people have tried to use the church...but we're not about politics... " Here he was talking about the work the One Campaign is doing...He called on Christians to join in on the fight..."Your charity is important but your commitment to justice is what we really need...You'll be marching with a lot of colorful people, but just chill out."

-"Love thy neighbor is not advice. It's a command.... In a global community, the poor and the disadvantaged in Africa are our neighbors. He quoted Matthew 25:45: "Whatever you do for the least of my people that you do onto me."

- He talked about how the Lord's Prayer says,"your kingdom come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven" and how that was his favorite part because he believes that it is literal..."Our purpose is to bring Heaven to Earth. The world is not a happy place for most people living on it. "He went on to say, "Let's walk together. Let's put on the marching boots if needed. Let's stand up for the least of these. ..This isn't a duty. It's an opportunity and an adventure."

I found this quote at this blog. It resonated with the way I'm feeling right now.

We need to remember the wise and rough words of Martin Luther, concerning the church. "She is a whore, but she is still my mother." We do not love the church because she is perfect or pure. We do not love our neighbors because they are perfect or pure. We love our neighbors because God tells us to. We love our neighbors because God has shown us love. We love our neighbors because God empowers us to do so.

Previous post

Sooo....I just want to let ya'll know that my previous post was not intended to be a hang Mark out to dry post. The little I wrote about Mark was only one small piece I included to further explain the extent of my fustration with that night. I thought I should clarify because many of you felt the need to come to his defense. Thanks for looking out for Mark. All is well. =)

pulling out my hair

So it's like 3:46 am and Malachy is up screaming! He has decided he dosen't want to sleep unless I'm laying next to him holding him. (it took me over an hour to get him to bed in the first place!) WEll obviously I can't sleep with him in his toddler bed all night every night. So when he woke up again at 3am I tucked him in gave him kisses , laid with him for a minute and said I love you good night. Now it's 4:15 and he is still screaming. Screaming, Crying, hyper-ventilating and nearly throwing up. It's so horrible. On top of that I had a horrible evenning at home and I was already feeling pushed beyond th capapcity of what could handle. Of course Mark is just sleeping and when the screams get loud enough to wake him up momentairly he just gets up long enough to tell me what I'm doing wrong before he returns to his sleep. Grrrrr....

Grrrrrr...

Random picture of me and my man! These were our "engagement" pictures! 4 years ago almost! Our 3rd Wedding Anniversery is Aug 23rd! Time flys when your having fun I guess.
People being grumpy is bringing me down! There is a full-ish moon maybe that's it! I however, am NOT grumpy. (for once!) Woo Hoo! Mark and I are taking Malachy to the zoo tomorrow! I'm so stinking excited! Also the Summit is this week and I don't have to work it! I just get to take it all in! I'm so lucky! I think it is going to be a good week! If I get some volunteers this week that would make it the best week EVER! I felt like there was something else but I can't remember what it is...oh well! =)

The Flyer Mark and I made to hopefully recruit some volunteers!

My new love

(This is a photo I found at google image to give ya'll an example of Stamping goodness)

so Crystal had a Stampin' up party at my house this week and it was really fun! I think in time I will love Stampin' as much as scrapbooking! The fun things is they go together really well! Much to Mark's dismay, now I have to buy a whole bunch of new craft supplies! Sooo... if anyone was wondering what to get me for my up coming Birthday... wonder no more! Take note Mothers, Sisters, Brothers, cousins once removed, ex next door neighbors....I need craft (stamp) supplies and Mark has my super long wish list! =) If you yourself are a craft lover check out Stampin' up's website and take a look at their online catalog for super great ideas!

Nooooooo!!!!!!

(This picture is from over a year ago but it is the only one somewhat appropriate with the content of this post)

So last week Malachy started climbing out of his pack and play at nap time! This obviously was bad. Sooo...we decided to start making him take his naps in his crib. Well... today we put him down for his nap in his crib (in the basement with the door shut). As I was sitting in the living room watching TV I started to hear some strange noises. Mark went to check it out and sure enough Malachy had climbed out of crib opened the door and climbed up the slippery wood twisting stairs!! AGGGGHHHH!

Now before you suggest we lower the mattress I want you to know it is all the way lowered! The sides come up to Malachy's stinking armpits! I put him back in the crib and he kindly demonstrated his escaping skills for me. The kid throws a leg over the side up to his knee and then uses the leverage to pull himself up and drop on the other side...he is really tall for his age.

This is Bad....very bad because I would still like to sleep at night. After some internet research Mark and I decided the safest thing to do was to convert his bed to a toddler bed so that he doesn't run the risk of cracking his head open on the basement floor while climbing out in the middle of the night. This means it is no challenge for him to get out of bed at all...(not that is was as a crib anymore). So to help reduce the risk of going up the stairs we put a babygate at the bottom of the stairs. To prevent him from going in Kims room and playing in the litter box or drinking paint thinner we put up a second babygate!

He was pretty upset when we put him to bed tonight. After 2 escapes and 15 minutes of screaming and hyperventilating Mark and I spent 30 mins cuddling with him before he fell asleep and we quietly snuck away! Will see what happens when he wakes up in the middle of the night! We did put pillows on the floor incase he rolls off the bed. Arrrgggghhh...why can't anything be easy anymore!? He's growing up way to fast! I know people with children months older then Malachy and don't have to deal with this kind of maddness. I am proud of his climbing skills and all, you should see him at the park! But, come on...this isn't fair!

Stewart on Lebanon Coverage

MySpace

Sooo...this is still my super primary blog but...I made a MySpace page too because I wanted to be like everyone else. =) I put a fun slide show on there! I know Dad would really enjoy all the Malachy pictures.
Other then that nothing new! We are really enjoying our new Dog and the more relaxed pace of this month! August is going ot be crazy...but fun crazy..I hope! =)

This is a taste of the fun pictures over on MySpace!

Meet Guinness

The Proud new PaPa!

As Scott pointed out I'm a big liar! Sorry! Here is the scoop on our new Dog, Guinness... a day late! Guinness is a black and tan minature Dachshund. (wiener doggy!) Our frined and co-worker, Joanne, helped us get her! Joanne's husband works for the city and that's where we got Guinness! She's super sweet! She's 11 weeks old and she loves to cuddle and play. We are so excited to have her... the trick is going to be keeping Malachy from hurting her on accident. He's really excited to have her! The lady at Petsmart told me that you have to be super careful with any minature dog because their limbs break really easily! Yikes! Malachy use to lay on the cats, I hope he dosen't try that with Guinness! I think she is like 5lbs now. The biggest she could get is 11lbs. (Malachy is 25lbs.) The cats aren't sure what to make of her yet. She's a real brave dog so I'm sure she can hold her own but I hope they all get along. The Kunzes got a dog too! He's super sweet! Check out Crystal's blog to hear all about Obi!

Happy anniversary you crazy kids!

Doggy!

We are getting a new dog tomorrow! I will give you pictures and details tomorrow!

Kim's Birthday!

We ended Kim's Birthday celebration with another picture for Noah! =) I wrote the Hi Noah on the driveway in chalk but Mark had to Photo Shop it in because it didn't really show up!

4th of July

Malachy had a very full 4th of July! In the morning Poppo went with us to the parade in Elgin. We stayed nearly 2 hours and then we left but the parade kept going! Then Malachy went swimming at Lou's house. He was very brave and even jumped off the diving board! Daddy caught him of course. (and he had on a life vest) Malachy loved going swimming with Mommo and Poppo. It was fun to see them all enjoying eachother. Then to cap off the night Malachy, Mark, and I went to see fireworks! We all slept very well after that. =)

Malachy's new room!

Taking the week off from...everything...gave me some added time to get creative! I really loved it!

I bought 4 of these hooks and painted them for Malachy to hang hats and coats on.
Mom made the kick butt curtains and I bought and painted the frames. The little cars and such on them were only .50 and I just glued them in the corners.
This is a close up of the curtains because I really love them! It brightens up the room so much. We found the striped materiel and then just added the ribbon to tie in the theme.
This is above Malachy's dresser. He loves pictures of baby! =) The moon is his night light.
Kim painted these pictures they hang above his crib. There is another long one she is going to do of Malachys name that will go above the coat hooks.

There is more to be done when I have some dollars... but for now I'm happy Malachy no longer has to sleep in a pastel room! I want to get one of those toy shelf things with the plastic containers from Target for all his toys. Then I can put his books on his book shelf and store that under the built in desk. Also, we need new lamps. Malachy's favorite part is a car blanket Mom made him. It's a super cute blanket with a silky green binding, unfortunately it's not in any of these pictures.

Malachy seems to really like the room! Yea! Success!

Rash info UPDATED!

OK so we went to the Dr's and Malachy was diagnosed with Hand, foot, and mouth disease. However I am seriously starting to doubt the diagnosis because from what I read the rash is the last stage and only last 1-2 days and we are already on day 3. Also the rash usually is in your mouth, the bottoms of your feet and the palms of your hands (sometimes on your butt). Malachys rash is not on the bottom of his feet at all. It is all over his legs, his tummy, and his back! It is in his mouth and on the palms of his hands. The rash doesn't seem to bother Malachy at all which is good and pretty much rules out chicken pox and measles. Will see what happens. Hand foot and mouth disease is contagious through saliva, diaper changing, and blister juices...hmmm! (his bumps have not blistered at all!)


The Dr. has no idea what I have! Yea! It could be an adult form of Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. Usually rashes are more itchy for adults. However my rash looks nothing like Malachy and it is not on the palms of my hands, feet, or mouth! Also it's more of a childrens illness and it is unlikely for adults to get it. It could be an allergic reaction to the medicine I started taking however it has been 5 days now and usually your body adapts buy now. Also it could be hives from stress, we really don't know. Neither Mark or Kim have it so it is very unlikely to be contagious. The Dr did put me on a kick butt dose of Prednisone, a steroid, for the next 5 days to see if that clears it up! The side effects are being anxious and overly emotional! Yea, just what I needed! =) Also it weakens your immune system so I have to stay away from sick people. I don't know what that means in terms of Malachy she didn't really explain that one to me! My rash is pretty stinking itchy so it makes me sad. =(


Also a prayer request of much greater importance is that Emily has been admitted to the hospital. This is good news. The more that gets done the sooner Emily will be on the road to recovery! I think today will mark day 3! Which means Emily will be home soon! Continue to pray all goes well and for Crystal to have comfort!

Side note: in re-reading this e-mail in replace of the word could I put good... twice. Because they sound the same in my head. Isn't that crazy. This sort of thing happens to me all the time! I'm either extremely dislexic or I have a brain tumor!

Break

Life has gotten to be a little too stressfull for me as of late so I have decided to take a break from all things. I won't be blogging or e-mailing for a week or two. I have taken the week of work and as much as possible, if it is optional, I'm not gonna do it. If appear to be a bit reclusive or avoident that is why. See ya all in a couple weeks!

Steph

The Arts Conference EDITED!

Hmmm...well it was fun! I don't really have the energy to write about it right now but it was a good time! Thanks to Mom, Kim, LoLo, and CRYSTAL!!! for making it possible for us to all go and for giving Malachy an equally GREAT week! I didn't get many pictures because I hate feeling like a tourist at my own church or job...whatever. But here are a few I really liked. I wish I had some of the Delerious concert because it was great!

Happy Birthday Noah

(ok so I know this picture has Noah flicking us all off... but...he would like that and Malachy seems to be amused)
Noahs Birthday was yesterday! We all really miss him. There has been so much going on lately that has got me thinking about Noah. Last week we went to a baseball game with work and at the end they had a big fireworks show done to 3 patriotic songs. As cliche as it all was, I was in tears thinking about Noah. I was so grateful for the sacrifice that he and so many others make so I can live in freedom. Then Kim and I went to a Delerious concert this week at the Arts Conf. We went to the same concert around this time last year. That week last year Noah was having a particularly hard week and they played a song called,"every little thing is going to be alright" I loved the song so much I made a copy and sent it to Noah and think of him every time I hear it. Of course yesterday was Noah's birthday and I wished we could be celebrating with him. I hope he got his Zombie movies! Today at Church there was a "car show" and some Army guys were there with Army trucks and a swanky air conditioned tent! So of course we were thinking of Noah. We took some pictures of Malachy with the trucks. (the coolest one was a truck that had a full blown editing system, live recording equipment, and the satellite possibility to send it anywhere in the world STUFFED inside! It was 1 of only 6 in the Army! Sweet!)Anyways the point is we have all been thinking of Noah a ton and missing him! We love you Noah!

Malachy is making his "oohhhh thats cool" face!

Hmmmm...

Ok so I have checked everyones blogs about a million times today! It would appear that I'm really bored with nothing to do. Unfortunately that's not the case. The Art's Conference starts tomorrow. Kim is attending and Mark and I are working/attending. That means we had to assemble a top notch team of Babysitters!! Lauren (LoLo) is taking the first 2 days! (she is very brave!) and Mommo and Crystal are splitting the last 2 days. Mommo in the mornings and Crystal in the afternoon! I feel extremely lucky to have such great people to leave Malachy with! So anyhoo, in an effort to not frighten them off from ever babysitting again I tried to get the house looking decent! This my friends is not an easy task with 3 cats and a baby! So I kept finding myself at the computer hoping one of you would have posted something so amazing that I could justify taking a break from scrubbing cat smells out of things! =) The saddest part was no one had posted anything all day!! Until just now I went to Sara's blog and she bought a house!! Woo Hooo!!

The Little Gym post because Crystal told me to post again!

So this week marks the last week of our Little Gym class! We are going to bring a video camera and tape it for prosperity! I'm not sure if we will sign up again because it's $80 a month and if you have not caught on yet we are experienceing finanial woes of the major variety! If we can figure it out it would be great to keep going because Malachy LOVES it and has learned so much! It has made him super brave! He tries to do somersaults on the pavement! Yikes! We're so proud! =)

Hmmmm....

Malachy went to the Dr. yesterday because I thought he was sick. He had 3 days of fever! The Dr. decided he was well enough for shots that have made him super grumpy! Grrrr! Also Dr. said we need to stop giving him milk bottles at night and get him off his pacifier or he will suffer a lifetime of dental consequences that will be my fault! Hmmmm...this is NOT going to be easy...as you can see Malachy has a strong affection for his "green thing"!

In other news....I have so much to say but I don't really feel like saying anything! I feel extremely vulnurable right now and my feelings are getting hurt pretty easily. It might be best for everyone if I retreat to my bedroom and hide under the covers watching the Firefox DVD's Arnez lent us! I will say I tried on my wedding dress the other day because Kim is painting me a picture! It is actually a reproduction of a portrait we saw in a book and loved. She is going to try to put my likeness into the painting but it won't actually be me. So I put on my dress and she took some photos for reference. It was fun. My dress still fit! Malachy thought it was a fun dress too...he tried to pull off the beads! Good times!

YES! My Kid really is that cute!

I miss my favorite!

I'm currently at work and I just got off the phone with Malachy and had to go outside to cry! I'm a whole mess of emotions right now. I feel sad, fustrated, angry, selfish, guilty, and ungrateful all at once. I feel extremely sad that I can't be with my child right now.

I feel angry at all the people who say that working mothers choose to do so to support extravagant lifestyle choices. Do you know what I have to give up and how much it hurts! Mark and I do NOT live extravagantly. We share 1 car. We have 4 people living in what is technicaly a 1 bedroom home. We go on dates once every other month! I do NOT choose to work so that Mark and I can eat out at restraunts once a week and buy $80 jeans! That is NOT what's happening in my life and YES I do get offended by this topic I take it very personal. I have been hurt by things people have said that are extremely hypocritical and I'm still angry.

I'm sad I can not spend my day at home with my son. I'm sad that people treat me like I couldn't handle being home with him all even if I wanted too. I'm a good Mom! The reality of the situation is when I'm home now my mind is haunting me with the things I have yet to do at work. I'm distracted by the laundry, dishes, cleaning, bill paying that has yet to be done. It's not like I can just come home and devote myself to Malachy there are a hundred other things I have to do while I try and spend time with him. That is why it's so challanging for me. Not because I'm afraid to be with him or I can't handle it. It's overwhelming all the things I have to make sure get done. I'm tired of people judging my parenting and I'm tired of believing them!

I feel guilty that I have these feelings when I know I should just be thankful for the amazing job I have! I love my job, it dosen't even feel like work to me. I have fun doing it everyday and get to work with people I really care about doing something I enjoy. I'm so blessed.

I think this is just going to be an ongoing struggle in my life. Today is just harder then most and I needed to vent. I miss Malachy!