Claire is real cutie pie

Claire is playing "slippery parrot" with her daddy. I would try to describe, but it's self explanatory. She loves it.



Always a funny expression. Who knows where she gets that.

Audrey is a real character

One day Audrey will give up her quirky 6-year-old ways, but for now we enjoy looking at the world through her eyes. Mark gave her the camera to play with and she took some miscellaneous shots of her sister and the living room. I thought this was a close up of one of her dolls, but it is her attempt at a self portrait. Totally creepy!




Her sense of style is quite colorful.




One of the many interesting tableaux Audrey creates and then leaves behind for me to discover. These are Polly Pockets. Something I consider one of the true joys of parenthood is put her to bed or send her to school and then find one of these creative and innocent displays that she has put together all by herself with some imaginative purpose and vision that makes perfect sense in her mind but would never cross mine.



Audrey complained that her night light was not bright enough so I bought one for her that is about as bright as day and very pink (She is asleep in this picture and I used the flash). But it's too bright and she can't fall asleep so this is her solution. I suggested we just turn the thing off so she wouldn't need an eye shade but that was not acceptable to her.



This is Audrey's Daisy Scout troop. She sold girl scout cookies to our friends and neighbors. I bought two boxes for our family. I ate one of them by myself and Mark ate the other all by himself and the kids were shocked by our greediness but that's how it goes with Girl Scout Cookies.

Our backyard is finally kid friendly...

No more construction scraps, old windows, bags of plaster, or tender grass - we are now a family with a backyard.

We love our blue hoodies

Valentine's Day

It's already March, but this is what we did for V-day.

Conversations with Claire

C: "Mama, I love you."
M: "I love you, too."
C: "I love you more than the whole world."
M: "I love you more than the whole world, too."
C: (singing) "Well. It's a Small World after all, it's a small world after all, it's a small, small world."

Mary Poppins!

We took Audrey to see Mary Poppins at the Ahmanson Theater in LA during January. It was a great show. Claire stayed home with Nanie and the three of us drove helter skelter and just barely made it into the theater on time. We really enjoyed the production - especially when Mary flew over us during the last scene. I almost cried. Audrey loved it and we are now in preparations to perform our own version of the play here at home. Audrey has most of the good parts - Mrs. Banks and Mary. Mark is Bert and Jane, I am Michael, and Claire is the director.



We ran around the fountains a little after the show. I had very happy flashbacks of seeing The Phantom of the Opera at the Ahmanson when I was about 19 - with Chad and Rachael and a few friends - and Rachael and I ran through the fountains in our heels and dresses while 25 plus people looked on and cheered, and Chad disapproved intensely, but we didn't get wet. I tried to recreate the moment and it was pretty fun, but I did get wet. I've chosen not to share that photo.



We loved the show and wish we could see it again. Another really happy memory at the Ahmanson!

Claire's hospital stay

Here's Claire the day she left the hospital - looking good, eating, no oxygen tube. I had no desire to photograph her during the first few days, but then I thought it would be a good idea to capture her matted, tear-crusted hair, which I was pretty sure we'd just have to cut off, but we didn't after all. She also figured out she didn't have to wear clothes and refused to put her gown back on after the second day. By this time she was looking almost normal and the blood vessels that had burst in her left eye, making the white turn completely red, were all healed. We're glad she's healthy again.

Happy New Year

We got a new camera for Christmas and there's a bit of a logjam with all the great photos we are taking, so I am sorry for the lack of illustration. It's already been an eventful year, first reaching a number I never even though of in all my life plans - 2010 - who knows why? We celebrated by having a boring dinner and then going to bed at 11 pm.

We also had the terrible experience of Claire developing pneumonia and being in the hospital for 4 days - Jan. 2-6. She is doing great - back to normal and finally off all medicine and breathing treatments. It was a horrible to watch her struggling to breathe and hard to put her through all the treatments she needed to get better. Her pneumonia was caused by a bacteria called mycoplasma, which our doctor says attacks the whole respiratory system and is often just walking pneumonia in adults and teenagers. Apparently, the difficulty in diagnosis is reconciling the way the lungs look with the outward physical symptoms. Claire's lungs did not look so bad, even though her breathing was labored, that's why our first trip to urgent care only got us an antibiotic, and I blame myself more than the doctor for that, although he was not much help.

Later that day I could tell she was not improving and was starting to be lethargic, not eating or drinking, and still working hard to breathe, so we went to the emergency room where they recognized her distress and checked us in immediately. After many hours, tests and tears, we were admitted and she was started on oxygen, IV fluids, antibiotics and steroids, and nebulizer treatments with albuterol and additional steroids. She was quite a trooper through the whole thing considering she's two. She hated the nebulizer and could not stand to see the IV in the crook of her elbow or have anyone touch it, understandably. She did enjoy the limitless TV and apple juice. One of us stayed with her the whole time and after the first 18 hours she improved at a good pace.

We had a lot of help from good friends watching Audrey until my parents could get here. It is nice to know that we have people to call in an emergency, even though we'd much rather not have an emergency. Audrey took it well, mostly, worried about her sister and sending back toys and books every time one of us stopped in to sleep or shower.

I'm not sure when I will be back to normal, but I am grateful Claire is OK - that is the most important thing - and am watching her and Audrey carefully as the cold season continues, hoping we have faced our worst crisis for the year and, even better, both their childhoods. I can dream, can't I? Being a parent is a rough business. We have had plenty of hospital experience and would be glad to be done with it for good.

And during the past few days, and I am told, the coming few days, we are enduring one of California's worst rainy seasons ever. People say we don't have weather, but sometimes we do and we are seriously not prepared for it. I filled my gas tank, bought water and a pile of canned goods, just in case. Today I took Claire to Bed, Bath and Beyond for some mindless browsing. It had been raining for awhile already when we went in, but poured so much during our shopping they were sandbagging the entrance when we left. I was soaked up to my shins getting to the car. Not complaining, it was kind of an adventure. But there was even a tornado warning for Los Angeles, which was a bit alarming, but not too much because I survived the one that hit our town when we lived in Texas, so I know what to do (get in the closet and hope you are not in its path). We are fortunate not to be in an area that floods or slides. Later we are going to drive down to the beach to see 25 foot waves.

Here's to the rest of the month and the rest of the year being eventful - in a fun way, Melissa

Merry Christmas Everybody

Our family has made the most of 2009. There has been a lot of work, plenty of camping, many new experiences, and all the fun and craziness that come with having children aged 2 and 5.

The girls are both a head taller than they were when we moved into our house last summer. Audrey started kindergarten this fall and is doing well, making friends and impressing her teacher with her maturity and good behavior. She saves all her wiggles and attitude for home. Audrey played on her first soccer team this fall – the Magnificent Mermaids. It was a thrill for us to watch her play, but she was not always sure she enjoyed it because she got tired and sweaty and the other teams scored too much. She definitely loved her coach and her purple uniform and the great sack lunches provided each week by other parents. We will do soccer again next year, but tap/ballet and Daisy Scouts are up next for the winter months. Anything that requires a costume change is fun for Audrey – whether it’s cleats or tutus. She is a sweetheart with an exuberant personality and tons of energy. Kindergarten has definitely enhanced her sense of humor, negotiation skills, and determination to assert her position as the older sister. Audrey likes to talk and discuss whatever is on her mind or whatever event occurred on the playground earlier in the day. She is a little hugging machine, and we are told, very generous with her kisses during Sunday School. No matter how old she is, she will always be our first, and we never quite know what to do with her – we just try to keep up.



Now that Audrey is in school Claire finally got to be in a Mommy and Me group. She loved going to her “beautiful school” where we sang songs, fine-tuned her climbing, balance, and bouncing abilities, and had a snack. She was pretty out of sorts when Audrey started school – kept walking around asking Audrey questions or inviting her to play and then, realizing her sister was not in the house, redirecting to me. She has adjusted and likes choosing her own TV shows and not having any competition for my attention. Claire is remarkably independent and as self-sufficient as a two and a half year old can be. She talks very well and people are always surprised when they hear her saying full sentences. Claire loves food and likes to layer whatever she’s eating into a sandwich (sammich). We try not to spend much time arguing with Claire because even though she is easygoing, she is also two, and still does not take much instruction. She knows what she wants to do and what she doesn’t want to do, so we choose our battles carefully. Claire loves to entertain us with song or dance and funny faces. She doesn’t just walk, she sashays, and she does a pretty realistic pretend belch, often at the dinner table. Claire has beautiful curly blond hair that everyone wants to touch and makes her look like a little cherub, but even though she is very good she’s too stubborn and silly to be angelic – adorable, but not angelic. We are enjoying every minute of this stage knowing how quickly she will grow from toddler to little kid and be lots of fun in totally different ways.



Our girls play well together but there seems to be a 20-minute window where goodwill prevails and after that all bets are off. Audrey is more vocal, but Claire is more physically assertive, and eventually I have to intervene. It is always sweet to hear them playing and laughing before the interval goes south. Then the wrath of Melissa is incurred and time outs, spankings, and consequences are threatened. That starts the clock over again, and they go back to playing nicely.

I grew a garden this summer with lots of tomatoes and peppers, some radishes and peas. It was an adventure every day to take the girls outside and see what was edible. Audrey loved to pick but couldn’t be persuaded to eat any of it. Claire ate as much as I would give her. I am looking forward to next summer and working on my herbs in the meantime, trying to figure out which side of the house has the most sun and most convenient water supply. In August I met my wonderful high school girlfriends at the beach for our 5th annual girls’ weekend – three days of great company, huge laughs and a refreshing break from adulthood. I’m still doing lots of freelance and happy to enhance our budget to fund projects like new windows and wiring for the garage – which was so full of junk from the previous owner that no one, not even the inspector, noticed the improvisational electrical work.



Mark is working hard at Samsung, traveling to Korea and Seattle sometimes, and spending a lot of his free time working on the house. He and my dad got our back fence up this spring and now Mark is in the trenches, literally, putting sprinklers in the backyard. Mark showed he’s true blue by flying up to Utah this fall to see a BYU game. The Cougars lost, so it was a serious disappointment, but he hasn’t totally given up on his team, and I predict another trip to Utah next football season. Mark teaches the young men at church and is much loved for his short lessons and steady supply of candy.



Our house is coming along as fast as Mark can go, but not as fast as I would like, because real life has a way of interfering with home improvement projects. I am always working on something, buying furniture, hanging pictures, making curtains, planting flowers, and organizing cupboards. Mark is stuck with bigger and more dangerous jobs like installing light fixtures, trying to dismantle the useless antenna welded to our roof, and calming his wife when she’s made curtains that are 2 inches too short. We have a bathroom to finish and many other things to do on our list, and it seems the house, like our children, is trying to teach us patience.

Our blessings are greater than I can say. Having a home and family have always been my idea of success and we are wallowing in our success these days. I’m sure international recognition and swarming paparazzi are imminent. I’ve already won the awards for Most Calgon-Take-Me-Away Moments in One Day and Outstanding Garden-Fresh Salsa. Claire wins the Biggest Poopy Diaper and Most Beautiful Giggle awards. Audrey wins Best Torture by Rapid-Fire Questions and Sweetest and Most-Ear-Piercing Scream of Happiness. Mark gets the Longest-Suffering Husband and Best Daddy/Horsey Rides.

We update this blog regularly, so there's always plenty to read about our highly accomplished family, including pictures. We hope you are also enjoying success like ours. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love, Mark, Melissa (Bean), Audrey and Claire Sterzick