Sweet Baby Doll

Like any parent I absolutley love my kids. I will confess however that I had a definite fear when I was pregnant with Jocelyn that I would not love her as much as I love Caleb. It was just so hard to imagine being able to love another child. I already loved Jocelyn, even while I was pregnant, but I feared that we wouldn't be able to have the same relationship as Caleb and I do. Over the past few months I have realized how much love can grow. I am absolutely in love with my little baby doll! It still amazes me!

Spider Man,Spider Man, does whatever a spider can!

I have to admit I absolutely detest spiders! I'm not very fond of other bugs, but spiders are the absolute worst! I have had several run-ins with nasty arachnids this week and I wanted to share the horror. Last Friday I went onto our covered porch to get my coat and discovered that a misguided spider momma thought the coat would make a great place for her nest.

Seeing this just sent shudders up and down my spine. (I know, I'm a wimp)After several suggestions to my husband that he go "take care of it" I grabbed a knife and a napkin and scraped the sticky mess off of my coat. I felt like a champion!-- No, actually I just went to the sink and washed my hands. I don't really think that did anything but it made me feel better.

This morning I found a scorpion on my wall in the living room. Yes, a scorpion, not an ear wig. It looked like a tic with scorpion pincers. I went online and looked the thing up (after I squashed the bug with a shoe) and found out it is called a pseudoscorpion chernetid.

I took tons of pictures to show you but most didn't come out very clearly. I did, however find a great little movie that really showcases its talents. Here is the link in case you are interested.
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/weird-little-chernetid-pseudoscorpion/262756301

Last night at dinner Caleb just out of the blue said, "My name starts with 'C' and Daddy's name starts with 'D' and Molly's name starts with 'M'!" Dan was very impressed and I must say I was so proud. We have been working on his alphabet since Thanksgiving and it is great to see progress. Caleb has really developed mentally just in the past few months. He puts puzzles together very easily now. When he first started he would get so frustrated because he couldn't get the pieces to fit together. Now he understands that the pictures go together and he loves puzzles. I know that this is very normal for his age, but as a parent it just thrills my heart when I can see him learning so much!

Caleb told me today that he likes blue snakes and I like pink snakes. I'm not so sure about that! Snakes are pretty much right up there with spiders.

Paper Planes, Paper Hats, Paper... ALL OVER MY HOUSE!

We made paper airplanes the other day and paper hats tonight. I can't believe the amount of paper crafts one child can produce. Of course most of his art is at my urging and enabling. I hate the thought of throwing these little works of art away , but, seriously, where am I going to put the stuff? I decided to take pictures of all of the recent masterpieces and then trash them. That way I don't have to feel guilty for not hanging onto a wilted snowman and a torn turkey. I will scrapbook his pictures so, one day when he is discovered and becomes famous, I can sell them for billions of dollars, Uh... or I can just show them to his girlfriend when he is in highschool. We'll see...
Since I took all of the pictures, I decided to make a slide show so you too can enjoy his talent.

We went to the library this morning for story hour. Caleb loves it. The lady who reads also brings her cat and the cat lets all of the kids man handle her. One kid tipped the cat right off of its chair and it didn't even make a sound! One very noteworthy thing happened today: Caleb went to the library in Undies! Now don't get me wrong, he had clothes over the undies, but he insisted on undies this morning instead of a pull-up.He has been potty training for three weeks now and he has been doing very well for the most part, but I usually put him in a pull-up if we leave the house or he is in bed. We were at the library for an hour and a half and he did not have an accident. I was so proud of him!

I wanted to include a couple more pictures. Caleb has been sleeping on the floor for the past few weeks. It is not because he does not have a perfectly good car shaped bed to sleep in, it is just that he wants to sleep in the "mud" (His words not mine.) He is so funny! I just don't know what he is thinking sometimes. I decided to let him sleep on the floor next to his bed. You have to choose your battles sometimes and I figure as long as he is sleeping in his room, I am happy.

You can barely see his feet sticking out of the bottom of the blankets. So silly!

The last one is of the snowman Caleb and Dan made the other day.


Caleb's quote for the day: "Jocey can't sing. She's too little and she doesn't have teeth."

Apple juice/ Frozen Tundra/ My favorite pictures

Caleb asked me this morning, " Mommy, did you put apple juice in my apple? It's yummy." It's pretty cool when kids think you really can do anything.

I mentioned yesterday my dislike for cold and snow. I guess I should be thankful. I heard on the news last night that it is -70 degrees in Siberia, Russia. I guess my back yard isn't as much of a frozen tundra as I thought.

Here are some of my favorite pictures of my kids. Actually pretty much every picture with one of my children in it is my favorite, but I'll just post a few for your viewing pleasure.

This was taken just a few days after my baby doll was born.


This was taken last summer.


This was taken in the front yard. Maine is gorgeous in the fall!


My dad and Jocelyn at Thanksgiving.

My first post.

Well, I did it. I have started a blog. I decided that I don't have enough things to do, so I needed to add one more thing to keep up with. I guess I'll introduce myself, even though anyone reading this right now already knows me since I am the one who told you about it. My name is Stephanie Christner. I am 28 years old. I am the wife of Dan Christner and the mother of Caleb - 3 years and Jocelyn 3 & 1/2 months. I live in snowy Maine and most of the time am happy about that - that I live in Maine, not necessarily the snow. I actually don't like snow very much at all. It is cold and wet and messy and ... Anyway, I am trying to learn to like snow because I need to be a good example for my kids. I don't want them to be couch potatoes all winter long like I probably was. I remember a few times that I had fun in the snow when I was a kid, but I really don't like it any more. If you like snow I think that is great! Well,I am rambling. I love the state of Maine It is beautiful in all four seasons (especially if you are only visiting in the winter and don't have to stay allll winter long.) I love spring! I am looking forward to it already- I know, I have a long time to wait.

My husband Dan is on staff at his home church. His dad is the pastor. Dan is in charge of the youth group, Sunday school, church maintenance and a ton of other jobs- pretty much whatever needs to be done. He also takes a lot of side jobs whenever he can get them. He is such a hard worker and I am so proud of him.

I am a stay at home mom and I love that I get to stay home to raise my children. I know that this is what God wants for us right now even though I could be out making money I feel that my children's security and happiness are more important right now. If you work outside of the home, please don't think that I judge you. I think it is great that you can do that. I know my self and I would not be able to keep order at home and be a nurturing mother if I was working and then rushing home to cook,clean, love,teach,discipline etc. I love my kids and I probably brag on them too much if that is possible.

Caleb is such a sweet boy. He is always saying cute things. The other day, he brought me a tract and asked me to read it to him. I told him that it would tell him how he could go to heaven. He said, "Oh" I asked him if he wanted to go to heaven and he said, "Nooo." I asked him where he wanted to go,and he said excitedly," Molly's house!" Yeah, I don't think he's ready yet.

Jocelyn is a little sweetheart. She smiles all of the time. I am so blessed!I will put some pictures on my blog soon.