Battle of the Century

Jon and I have made it through an average amount of trials in our individual 30 years and I'd like to think that we are both pretty capable, intelligent people. We are both college educated, church-going, and pretty well-traveled. Jon grew up in the jungles of Malaysia, befriending monkeys in his backyard. He excelled at an internship with the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia during his senior year and has been all over the world. I didn't have quite the same experience here in the comfortable suburbs of Chicago, but I did survive being a girl in a U.S. junior high, and that has to count for something. I have also been working in the Emergency Room at a local hospital for the past three years...blood, guts, trauma, and complaining rich, spoiled, suburban people with colds...most definitely not for the squeamish.

But, despite all of this, there is one challenge that has stopped us dead in our arrogant tracks:

Her name is Hannah is her game is using every breakast/lunch/dinner to showcase her debate skills. The picture above represents a typical evening in the Strong house. As you can see, the rest of us have left...there is even an empty bottle on the table as baby Jacob has happily finished his meal. But, there is a straggler, dressed only in a shirt and underpants (her usual post-nap attire). As usual, she has refused to eat anything but the smallest nibbles of her sandwich, and given that I am taking this picture, I have probably given up. You see, I have to do this breakfast and lunch as well...so Jon automatically gets dinner by default. He may have great skills in foreign relations, but dealing with Hannah's mealtime policy is a different story.

He starts off like George W. with the terrorists...there will be NO NEGOTIATIONS! EAT! But she is cunning and patient. She waits a little longer... she tells us that she is just not that hungry, that her tummy hurts, that she doesn't "like apples because of the crunchy parts" or that her pepper is too spicy...the list goes on. He starts to waver a bit...from the kitchen he tells her to eat all of her broccoli and peaches and then she can be done. But she is cool and calculating. "Oh", she tells me, "daddy says I just have to eat my peaches". I tell him to repeat himself. He tells her once again to eat all of her broccoli AND peaches. But she doesn't accept the offer at face value. "I can't really hear you daddy, how about I take 5 more bites?" He starts to crack under the power of her somewhat charming negotiation, "Fine, but absolutely no dessert."

And so it goes...sometimes I am stern and mean and this goes on until one of us cries...other times I just don't care anymore and I want to give up. So, I'm sure that lack of consistency is our problem...blah, blah, blah. I guess the bottom line is that you can't force a child to eat, no matter how smart you are, and I won't be surprised if there is peace in the Middle East before Hannah eats a meal voluntarily :)

My Lil Reminder

There are two things that we are pretty consistent about in the Strong house...TV & Bedtime. No more than 2 hours of TV daily, and bedtime each night around 8pm...no matter what. We started this with Hannah and plan to continue it until college. So far, these rules have served our family well. The kids know what to expect at night and sleep well, in their own beds, all night...and they don't spend hours in front of the TV, filling their minds with meaningless information...or so I thought...

A trip to our local drug store today may have proven that 2 hours is still too much...or that no one, even the smallest consumer, is immune to the reach of advertising. As we walked along the aisles, Hannah spotted something that she had "seen on TV". The conversation went something like this:

Hannah: "Mommy, I saw that on TV!"

Me: (not really believing her) "Oh, really, what does it do?"

Hannah: "Butter, Milk, Eggs, Even in the Parking lot!"

Both myself and a passerby started laughing when we saw what she was looking at:

Apparently, this nifty little gadget can record your grocery list for you to listen to later...Even in the parking lot!
YIKES! "My Lil' Reminder" has reminded me how quickly kids learn...Thank Goodness Jon is teaching her how to fast-forward the commercials! :)

Last Day of School

Today was Hannah's last day of preschool for the summer. She is kind of sad because she absolutely loved going to school and seeing her teachers. We got them both cards to thank them for a great year. I wanted to get them expensive Papyrus hand-made cards, but Jon thought the Walgreens brand would be just as thankful :) They were going to have a class picnic outside today and Hannah had to bring a sandwich to school in her lunch bag which she was very excited about. I have mixed feelings about this day because Hannah has so much fun in school and I also get a nice 2.5 hour break a couple days a week, which has been great. But, it will be nice to have her home all the time for the summer. Next year she goes 3 times a week!
<<<------This was my attempt at a group picture this morning


This is Hannah's teacher, and the "tree" she has to find her name on everyday.

Necessary Torture

Poor babies...today was not fun for them. Calah and Jacob both needed shots. It's never fun as a parent to put your happy, and completely oblivious kids into the car and purposely drive them to a place where they will be injected numerous times with deadly microbes. It is pure torture to hold down their little chubby thighs and look into their scared, teary eyes while the nurses double team them with huge needles. I know it's for the best and totally necessary, but it still stinks! What also stinks is watching and worrying for the next 24-48 hours that they will have some dramatic reaction...or worse...develop autism. Calah got her first MMR shot today...the one that has caused a lot of controversy in the media regarding that crippling disorder. Personally, I do not believe the immunization itself causes autism, but that won't stop me from constantly watching her in the next few weeks to be sure she isn't losing vocabulary or withdrawing socially. I'm a mother, it's my professional duty to worry (and check for breathing in the middle of the night). :)

The process is equally distressing for Hannah...she sits in the corner with her hands over her ears and her eyes closed. She is such a great big sister. The whole day beforehand, I kept hearing her say "I'm sorry that you'll have to get shots today, honey" and "don't worry, it will only hurt for a little while". She loves her little siblings...most of the time :)

On the lighter side (or maybe not so much) Jacob is in the 95th percentile, weighing in at nearly 14 pounds. That's one big 2 month old!!

UPDATE!! On the positive side, Jacob slept from 9pm-5am last night :) WOO HOO!

The doctor actually said that he should be sleeping from 8pm-6am every night within the next month, with no more need for middle of the night feedings. Having been thru this twice before, I think he's right...hopefully Jacob agrees!

Fleeing the Scene

Here is Calah trying to run away after emptying the entire contents of Gerber Graduates all over the window sill and living room floor. She's a sneaky one!

The Start of Summer (kind of)

Memorial Day Weekend

Yesterday unofficially marked the beginning of summer, and the weather here in the midwest actually cooperated for once. It was a beautiful, sunny 80+ degree day and we enjoyed every minute of it. Of course today is cloudy, windy and 45 degrees, but what can you do? My family came over for a little backyard BBQ complete with lots of food, good conversation, and of course Bags. The kids had a great day of playing outside and not taking naps. It seems like every memory I have from childhood is in the summertime, as if the winter never existed back then, and I want the same for them.
I also did try to take a moment this year and remember why we celebrate Memorial Day and why we Americans are able to do the fun things we always take for granted. None of it would be possible without the people we honor on this day. So if any of them happen to be reading my blog from Heaven...Thank You!






No one really looks like they're having fun in the picture, but I swear they were!






Bags with my Bro & Sis














Calah just liked to sit on the Bag thingy













Hannah & Calah enjoying the Day

Green Thumbs

Gardening Saturday

One great thing about our house is that it came with 3 seasons of perennial gardens throughout the front, side, and back yards. Daffodils bloom in the spring, followed by tons of other stuff in the summer, and even more stuff in the fall. You can probably tell that we have no idea what we are talking about or what we should do with it. Since we moved into our house late last June, we really didn't have to address the gardening issue until this year. As if having 3 small children is not enough, we also have to learn how to take care of thousands of dollars worth of plants so we aren't known as "those neighbors that killed their beautiful yard". Jon has been working very hard researching, edging, and fertilizing and we've been holding our breath this spring as our inherited new "kids" start to bloom. Our dialogue sounds something like this:

"Didn't we have more of these flowers last year?"
"I don't remember. Maybe"
"I think they're dying, what do you think?"
"I don't know, maybe."
"Is this a weed or a plant?"
"I don't know."
"Should I pull it out?"
"I don't know, maybe"

3 guesses as to which one is Jon is the above conversation :)

So if anyone identifies any of the plants in the above pictures and knows what to do with them, feel free to leave a comment for us. You could help save a life today.

Our Hannah Montana

Hannah's First Public Performance

A couple weeks ago, Hannah's preschool put on their "Spring Program". Her class, along with another 3 year old class, performed songs they had been practicing all year round for parents and siblings. Hannah was a little shy walking in to see everyone in the church, but then opened right up once she got on stage. Her teacher put her in the front row, which was wonderful until she decided it would be a good idea to pull up her dress and show everyone which "My Little Pony" underwear she decided to wear that day :) She did so well and remembered the words to every song and undoubtedly sang the loudest. I was actually nervous for her a little...but I'm a nervous person...I just can't believe she is old enough to be putting on shows for us already.


About a week later, I had a parent-teacher conference with Hannah's teacher, Mrs. Spangler. This was her second of the year. I have to admit I was nervous for this too...I guess you just never really know how your kids are going to act when you're not around. But, as usual, I had nothing to be nervous about...Mrs. Spangler said that she was one of her best communicators, always participated joyfully, and was doing much better at sharing (we had some problems with this at the beginning of the year). She also said that she was a wonderful little girl, who not only was ready for the 4 year-old class, but who most likely could be President of the United States one day. Hopefully the dress-lifting debacle won't come back to haunt her during her future campaign.


Imagine this pose, except with the hem of her dress in her hands :) OOOPS!

By the way, if you're wondering why we have a Miley Cyrus song on our playlist, its because that is Hannah's favorite song. She dances to it in her Tumblebears class and loves hearing it on the radio too. When it comes on in the car, I turn it up and both Hannah and Calah dance in their carseats. It's hilarious.

Mother's Day 2008

This Mother's Day, I was very blessed to spend the day with my husband and three beautiful children. We are very thankful to God for everything He has so generously given us. It has been my intention for a while to start a blog as a journal so that we can look back one day and remember what these crazy days were like (if we make it, that is) :) Now that our family is officially complete, I feel that it is a great time to start writing stuff down. Hopefully this time, I'll stick with it! We have a lot of friends and family all over the world that we need to stay in touch with and this is the perfect way to do it. So....here goes!

Latest News

Jon is still working as an Inside Wholesaler for First Trust Portfolios. His company is planning to move to Wheaton in the fall which will be great because it will be a short 3 minute drive each morning. He will probably ride his bike when the weather is nice. His job has been such a blessing for our family in that he is home each day by 4:30 and gets A LOT of paid time off. He is able to be so involved in the kids' lives because of that.

I (Katie)....(most likely I will be the one writing most of the time so from now on, just assume "I" means Katie unless we specify otherwise). Those of you that know Jon aren't surprised. :) Anyway...I am starting nursing school this fall. Not quite sure how we are going to swing this yet with the kids as classes meet during the day a couple times a week, but we are praying for the perfect person to care for them in my absence. This is something I've been planning to do for a while, and while I'm thankful that I've been able to stay home, I am very ready for this opportunity. I am still working part time in the Emergency Department at Edward Hospital. It has kind of been my fun hobby for the past 3 years.

Hannah is 4 and is wrapping up her first year of preschool. We have seen her grow up so much in the past 9 months. She has endless energy and loves the world around her. She thinks everyone her size is her "friend", and is not self-conscious or shy in approaching anyone. It is inspiring. She has taken up soccer and has practice weekly (Jon is very happy).

Calah is 16 months and continues to be Jon's "mini-me". She looks like him, acts like him and even gives me the same "look" that he does. I always feel like she is my "peace" because she is so calm that just holding her relaxes me :) She loves playing outside and taking baths, and most of all, EATING. Calah out-eats Hannah almost every meal of everyday. She loves her shoes and always wants to put them on and go outside. Her words now are: Mama, Dada, Nana (Hannah), Bath, Ball, Ant, Dog, Juice, Shoes, Uh-OH, Head, OUT!


Jacob Jonathan joined our family on March 25th and since then, things are a little crazy around here. The girls are adjusting well...Hannah is a very helpful big sister and Calah likes to poke him in the eyes. She's not trying to be mean (I don't think), but she's just learning the parts of the face and likes to practice on him :) He is a big boy...almost 14 pounds now. We can't quite figure out who he looks like yet, but most people have noticed that he has Grandpa Beutjer's cheeks. I guess we'll just wait and see.

Lastly, Jon and I will celebrate five years of marriage on June 6. The time has really flown by...probably because we've had a lot of babies...and I can hardly believe it's been that long already.

This is what we used to look like:



This is what we look like after 3 kids: