Hello! If you are someone interested in keeping up with the Stagers (haha, nowhere near as exciting as those Kardashians)
Our blog can now be found at:
http://thestagerfamily.shawwebspace.ca
Thanks!
Michelle
August 1, 2013
May 29, 2013
Draw on paper...
Izzy is still learning that we only draw on paper... Needless to say we only have washable markers.
Happy New Year!
Okay, okay, it has been a while. Life just gets in the way doesn't it? We've had a busy year and a bit trying to figure out a life/work/family balance that works for us. I'm happy to say we have finally got it figured out! Although it still has its challenges it feels nice to know we can just go with it for a while and not look at other options. I will get into that a bit more details later but basically, I hope to post more regularly again soon. June is a bit of a busy month as I am in training for another half marathon but over the next few months, I should be able to bring the blog back!
The dogs
I thought I would start with the dogs because, well, they tend to get forgotten! Bogey and Lorelei are definitely getting older. The funny thing with the boxer breed is that they seem like puppies forever and then, you look over and see a bit more grey hairs and a little less bounce in their step. Don't get me wrong, if you come for a visit they will still greet you like they have never seen a human being before but they sleep a bit more and don't jump as quick when you open the front door. We always joke when we find life a handful we would just open our backyard gate and let them join the coyotes. Well, twice now our gate has been left open for one reason or another and they just hung out in the backyard or waited patiently at the front door until we figured it out. They are still incredible with the kids and take a lot of tail chasing and 'cuddles'.
Kayden
Well, our first born turned 5 years old and all of a sudden he changed drastically! He's gotten so tall, definitely has his Dad's build and talks to us about what's going on in his head. He's very excited about the Fall because he gets to start Kindergarten. We have decided to put him in French Immersion and he is also taking the bus so it's an exciting year ahead! This winter Kayden took skating lessons and now he is in soccer so he's keeping busy and loving it. His favorite topics these days are all about the solar system. I get a lot of questions about how fast the Earth spins and why don't I feel dizzy? I definitely enjoy this phase but must admit that all of my science and nature knowledge must have gotten shoved out of my brain to fit in all the baby information. So, I am re-learning a whole bunch of things I have lost and enjoying that too!
Isabelle
Oh Isabelle, what can I say about this little one. She is most definitely in her terrible twos which adds a whole other dynamic to our lives! We are also trying to potty train and well, mixed with the terrible twos it isn't going as smoothly as we would like! She is a little comedian and loves to make people laugh. She talks to everyone and often asks people questions like, do you like my shirt? Having a girl is so different than a boy it's eye opening. I can often overhear her in a corner talking to her feet or two objects as she invents a story with a Mom and a Dad and a baby. She loooves to dance and has some pretty interesting moves already in her repertoire. She adds a lot to our family and we most definitely feel complete with her in our lives. Her and Kayden are in a sibling rivalry stage but I see glimpses of that passing and hope the fall brings a whole new side to their relationship.
Chad
Chad is working hard at a building downtown. He's loving being an Electrician and will take pictures of his work because he's just so proud. I'm so thankful we decided a career change had to happen and we did it! He is also enjoying this phase in life with the kids as it is a lot easier to understand their wants and needs when they just tell you. He's starting to run a bit now as he decided to join Terri, Darin and I as we run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas in November. I don't imagine it will take long for his legs to figure it all out so I'm trying to keep my jokes about all of it to a minimum! I'm pretty sure his legs are twice as long as mine so even if he runs 'slow' he'll run faster than me!
Michelle
Well, I have finally figured out a job that I can do and still be a mom a whole lot of the time! I left Bellstar, and joined Westside Rec. Centre as a customer service representative then a shift supervisor. I then left Westside this April and have taken on Human Resource work from home for Darin's company (Darin is Terri's boyfriend for my family that may wonder about this new name!). I'm so thankful for this opportunity and although I'm still figuring out how to make this all work, I definitely see it working and am just in the midst of making new habits. It takes 21 days to form a new habit right? This new job allows me the opportunity to be around for the kids and for Chad. I've recently stopped eating Wheat as I had a pain in my side for the past two years and couldn't figure out what it was. My doctor suggested removing wheat as she suspected my intestines were swollen. Well, ever since I've done that I've been pain free and it has done a lot for my energy level and ability to focus. All that to say, I make pretty much all of our food from scratch now and am learning how to bake with new flours and being home more allows me the freedom to do that. We are all benefitting from it!
That gives you a quick glimpse of what has been happening in our lives but definitely doesn't capture the last year and a bit! I'm hoping to post a group of pictures that will help with that.
The dogs
I thought I would start with the dogs because, well, they tend to get forgotten! Bogey and Lorelei are definitely getting older. The funny thing with the boxer breed is that they seem like puppies forever and then, you look over and see a bit more grey hairs and a little less bounce in their step. Don't get me wrong, if you come for a visit they will still greet you like they have never seen a human being before but they sleep a bit more and don't jump as quick when you open the front door. We always joke when we find life a handful we would just open our backyard gate and let them join the coyotes. Well, twice now our gate has been left open for one reason or another and they just hung out in the backyard or waited patiently at the front door until we figured it out. They are still incredible with the kids and take a lot of tail chasing and 'cuddles'.
Kayden
Well, our first born turned 5 years old and all of a sudden he changed drastically! He's gotten so tall, definitely has his Dad's build and talks to us about what's going on in his head. He's very excited about the Fall because he gets to start Kindergarten. We have decided to put him in French Immersion and he is also taking the bus so it's an exciting year ahead! This winter Kayden took skating lessons and now he is in soccer so he's keeping busy and loving it. His favorite topics these days are all about the solar system. I get a lot of questions about how fast the Earth spins and why don't I feel dizzy? I definitely enjoy this phase but must admit that all of my science and nature knowledge must have gotten shoved out of my brain to fit in all the baby information. So, I am re-learning a whole bunch of things I have lost and enjoying that too!
Isabelle
Oh Isabelle, what can I say about this little one. She is most definitely in her terrible twos which adds a whole other dynamic to our lives! We are also trying to potty train and well, mixed with the terrible twos it isn't going as smoothly as we would like! She is a little comedian and loves to make people laugh. She talks to everyone and often asks people questions like, do you like my shirt? Having a girl is so different than a boy it's eye opening. I can often overhear her in a corner talking to her feet or two objects as she invents a story with a Mom and a Dad and a baby. She loooves to dance and has some pretty interesting moves already in her repertoire. She adds a lot to our family and we most definitely feel complete with her in our lives. Her and Kayden are in a sibling rivalry stage but I see glimpses of that passing and hope the fall brings a whole new side to their relationship.
Chad
Chad is working hard at a building downtown. He's loving being an Electrician and will take pictures of his work because he's just so proud. I'm so thankful we decided a career change had to happen and we did it! He is also enjoying this phase in life with the kids as it is a lot easier to understand their wants and needs when they just tell you. He's starting to run a bit now as he decided to join Terri, Darin and I as we run the Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Las Vegas in November. I don't imagine it will take long for his legs to figure it all out so I'm trying to keep my jokes about all of it to a minimum! I'm pretty sure his legs are twice as long as mine so even if he runs 'slow' he'll run faster than me!
Michelle
Well, I have finally figured out a job that I can do and still be a mom a whole lot of the time! I left Bellstar, and joined Westside Rec. Centre as a customer service representative then a shift supervisor. I then left Westside this April and have taken on Human Resource work from home for Darin's company (Darin is Terri's boyfriend for my family that may wonder about this new name!). I'm so thankful for this opportunity and although I'm still figuring out how to make this all work, I definitely see it working and am just in the midst of making new habits. It takes 21 days to form a new habit right? This new job allows me the opportunity to be around for the kids and for Chad. I've recently stopped eating Wheat as I had a pain in my side for the past two years and couldn't figure out what it was. My doctor suggested removing wheat as she suspected my intestines were swollen. Well, ever since I've done that I've been pain free and it has done a lot for my energy level and ability to focus. All that to say, I make pretty much all of our food from scratch now and am learning how to bake with new flours and being home more allows me the freedom to do that. We are all benefitting from it!
That gives you a quick glimpse of what has been happening in our lives but definitely doesn't capture the last year and a bit! I'm hoping to post a group of pictures that will help with that.
March 6, 2012
Happy 4th Birthday Kayden!
Wow! I can't believe I have a four year old! Kayden has grown so much in the past couple of weeks. He enjoys having a conversation and using his imagination. We are going to go bowling to celebrate his birthday this weekend so I hope to have more pictures to celebrate his birthday. He is turning into a very caring, thoughtful little boy.
Kayden next to a picture of his Daddy about a year older than he is right now.
Smiling for the camera, he is saying cheese.
Izzy just being silly Izzy
The race track. One of many huge successes for his birthday!
And, ofcourse, the theme of the year, we made cake pops! Kayden requested green pops. It's pretty easy to find green in the month celebrating St.Patrick's Day.
Chad and I both worked on Monday so our celebration was short but sweet. Kayden thoroughly enjoyed his birthday this year and already has plans for next year.
Life for us is still pretty hectic but by the end of March we should calm down a bit. I've decided to resign from my job at the Hotel and Resort Company. They have been great to me but the job really has a workload of a full time job. That with the commute just didn't make it the right fit for our family. Instead I will be working in customer service at the Recreation Centre 5 minutes away. It's a great atmosphere that I enjoy and it lets me have some adult time while the kids enjoy playing games with Ms. Michelle (a new dayhome this month). As most of you know, I've been struggling to figure out what our new balance in life looks like. I feel incredibly confident that we finally figured it out. This will all probably change again when the kids are both in school but it's comforting to know I'm happy, Chad's happy and the kids are really happy. That's all you can ask for in life right?
Today in Calgary it feels like winter all over again as we are receiving a huge snowfall. Most of it will soon be melted so hopefully we can dream of spring soon!
February 12, 2012
Hello! We're back!
I wish I could say we were doing so many exciting things that I just didn't have time to update the blog. The fact is our house was hit pretty hard with a couple of illnesses. We're all getting back to healthy now though thanks to some good night's sleep. It was a pretty rough week for us but I'm happy to say the black cloud is lifting above our house and moving somewhere else.
I've been back at work now as well which means a lot less spare time (ha, ha, I say that like I had time before...). I will have to save that story for another blog entry but needless to say, life is busy in the Stager household. The camera doesn't get taken out as often but the memories are still as precious.
Kayden is growing up and I just can't believe the little man he is becoming. The other day he told me 'when I turn 69 years old, I'm going to turn into a Robot'. The interesting thing about that is with technology and where it's going, he just might be right!
Isabelle is growing and has very little baby left in her! She is in that phase where she doesn't have words and so everything is finger pointing and 'unh!, unh!'. I will regret saying this but I look forward to words! She is a Cheerios-aholic and loves to eat. She has 6 teeth working on number 7 and they just all seem to be breaking through one after another. Her and Kayden are sharing more positive playtime with ring around the rosy and, well, Izzy chasing Kayden just about anywhere he goes.
I hope to pull out the camera more often and keep this blog updated. Thank you all for reading this little blog and we have been thinking of all of you and send our love your way!
January 7, 2012
Happy 1st Birthday Isabelle!
Our baby is 1 year old already! It's incredible to think that one year ago we were sleep deprived, busy as could be and trying to balance having a baby and a toddler... Wait a second, that sounds familiar... I'm kidding, we are not as sleep deprived. We are still working out what that balance is but we're getting there.
Isabelle is a busy body that is for sure. She certainly keeps up to her nick name, busy Izzy. Her favorite hobbies right now are clearing out the tupperware cupboard, dancing and dropping toys into the dog bowls. She is already trying to copy the sounds of words we say so I'm sure she's going to try and figure out talking next. Her eyes seem to still be that grey/blue/green mix and I'm guessing now that she's a year old, they are here to stay.
We invited a few close friends and family to help us celebrate Izzy's first birthday. I ended up having to work that morning and so the party was a little disorganized but she didn't notice!
Trying out some yummy cupcake
The older children having fun with windows stickers.
Being goofy...
Trying on the hat Nana made
Reading birthday cards thoroughly
My out of focus video of us singing Happy Birthday!
December 25, 2011
Merry Christmas from the Stager Family
Merry Christmas! We had our turkey dinner Christmas Eve and it was delicious! We have enjoyed all of the family time and certainly feel loved. We are enjoying our first christmas all together that is for sure.
Kayden opening some gifts
Isabelle cuddling her dolly
I can't believe that just one year ago this was me (and Grandpa Stew)
And this is me now with our beautiful little girl.
I have an overwhelming feeling this year that I am so thankful for all the family, friends and love we have surrounding us. We are so lucky and blessed. Thank you to everyone because if you are reading this blog, you certainly play a part in this feeling.
We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and all the best in 2012!
November 21, 2011
Look who's walking now...
So, Isabelle started walking! It happened during our chaotic life and we had to double check with each other if this was the first time it had happened. Isabelle had taken a couple of steps but nothing we considered walking as she wasn't brave enough to try it out for long. I went away for a girls weekend on the 12th and Nana and Grandpa K came to visit. They helped get Isabelle's confidence up and left on Sunday. On Monday when I was with the kids on my own, Isabelle started walking! I called Chad and asked, 'was Isabelle walking this weekend and you forgot to tell me?' He said, 'no, is she walking now? She was still hanging onto furniture last night'. We have been anticipating this for a few weeks now and almost missed it when it happened. She's growing up so quickly. You probably see why the blog has been neglected now, no rest for us in this house!
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