I Give UP!

Well, I've been meaning to post for quite awhile, but have been waiting on pictures. See, first they had to get downloaded off the camera. Then, they did get downloaded, but onto a different computer - so I had to wait to get Bryan to burn the CD of the pictures. Of course throughout all that was lots of busy-ness (how DO you spell that word?!?) and tiredness. Anyway, I have this really cute NEW picture of Jonas that I want to post, but I was waiting to post the older pics first...so they would be in order.... do any of you really care about all this?... so tonight, I finally got around to updating the blog, and I pulled out the CD of older-ish burned pics, and guess what...the CD was EMPTY! So, hopefully this pics are still on the other computer, and didn't get erased after the supposed "burning" happened.

So, I GIVE UP..here's the cute picture of Jonas, and you'll just have to deal with out-of-order pictures, when I get the older one up. This was last Sunday...he was 11 weeks old.

One month and the Cobra

You may be wondering at the title of this blog. It's there cuz I'm just crazy...but...

This is a pic of Creedon. He insisted he watch TV with his blanket this way. There are a few things you have to understand about this blanket first though. It's not even his, or at least it wasn't. It was a blanket I made for Bryan the first year we were dating. Creedon has confinscated it as his own. He had a small blanket that was similar - it had flannel back and was tied instead of quilted - when he was little, but it had seen better days and is now packed away. His comfort is "strings". He likes to rub the pieces of yarn inbetween his fingers or in his ear. He can't walk past this blanket (or his one from a baby) without stopping to touch it or lay his head on it for a quick "ear rub". Anyway, this is a twin quilt that is usually on his bed, but almost every day he hauls the thing downstairs with him in the morning. Most of the times he tells me it's his tent, not his blanket. This day I thought he definately looked like a cobra. He had to have the corner over his head that way. I can't remember why, but he was pretending he was doing something or another. That kid has some imagination!
Also, Jonas turned one month last week. (now he's 5 1/2 weeks). This pic is from when he was one month. He still sleeps soundly in the day, and is up anywhere from 3-5 hours during the night. His really good nap is getting closer to night though. It was at 11 am, and is now after supper time. He's really alert, and likes to look around lots. He's eating like a champ and is definately "solid".

I like this pic...it makes me think of a karate, or something...fill in your own caption - but I think it's too cute.

the new and improved Faltynski Family

Jonas has been home for almost 3 weeks now. How time flies! He still sleeps well, but not nearly as much as he did in the hospital, and he is definately MUCH easier to wake up! At his 2 week check up, he had gained over a pound, grew more than 1 1/2" and his head got a whole inch rounder...whatta guy. Bryan and I are still tired. Jonas has upped his food intake to 6 oz. at a crack. (I think he'll fit in with his siblings-they were mega eaters too) He's started to listen intently to voices and is awake and alert for almost 2 hours at a time several times a day. He found his "scream" and uses it when he getting changed (not a fan of nak-y time yet) and when he thinks he's dying from starvation (which happens instantly upon awaking). He's still a super easy baby though.

Here's Jonas hanging out with Dad...actually, they are both kinda sleeping...in and out.

Winter started school Thursday. She's in the 1st grade, and loves it. It was her day for show and tell today (called "sharing" time these days) and she brought in 5 grasshoppers she caught in a water bottle. They all lived through the day, so I guess that was a bonus. I made her release them when she got home. Creedon is going through Winter with-drawals, which he usually voices by saying how sad he is that Iron Giant is gone and won't come play with him. We have to interpret, because he uses made up stories to tell his true feelings (that should be interesting in the years to come!)

Here's Creedon, Winter and Jonas. Creedon has an "I'm the BIG brother" shirt and Winter has an "I'm the BIGGEST sister" shirt on (from their grandmamma and grandpa mark). They are soooo proud. They wear those shirts as often as they are clean.

Jonas videos

Jonas trying to sleep...and not wake up to eat!

Just chillin' and ACUALLY awake

JONAS MYER

Our new little man is finally here. Jonas Myer was born Monday, August 20, 2007 at 10:53 pm. He weighed 8# 14 oz. and was 18.9" long. He had no problems and is a pretty chill little man. He is hard to wake up when he's sleeping good (which is the afternoons). Of course he's more active at night, and now that we are home we are trying to figure out his scheadule (as is he). Last night he would sleep 2 1/2 hours at a crack (not too bad really), then be up for about 45 minutes to eat, burp, get back to sleep, ect. The 5-6:30 time was a little longer though. Bryan was up with him and said he was just alert. He's not really fussy, and he seems like he will be a really great baby to have and hopefully easy to figure out.

Of course Winter and Creedon love him. Creedon is pretty enthralled...but it is in short bursts - he has other things to do than just look at his brother. Winter wants to be part of everything. She's gonna be a great help. I'm sure in a few days they will realize how boring babies really are.

HENNA PARTY!!!!

Today I had a henna party at my house. It was the super duperist bestest time ever!!!! So, for all you wondering, "what is henna?" I'll tell ya. Simply it's those crazy designs you see on Indian women's hands and feet particularly for weddings. More complicated - it's a paste made from ground henna plant that is then applied to the body in designs - the art left on the body is called Mehndi. You can also dye your hair and fingernails with henna. Women have used it forever for weddings and decoraction. It then leaves a stain on your skin that ranges from orangish red to dark brown for anywhere from 1-2 weeks.

I wanted to do my belly really bad. I got in touch with an awesome tatoo artist named Maura. She agreed to help us out by getting us started with then henna, then we could all go from there and work on eachother. Most importantly everyone got to decorate a section of my belly. There were 11 people at the party, but one left early, so 10 people decorated my belly. I'll tell you who did each section. This picture is with the paste still on (you take the paste on after a few hours).

Starting with the flower at top and going clockwise...Wendy Blazivik (did the flower), Molly Sahlberg (paisely looking thing) Susie Bachinski (vine) Mardy Rodman (3-piece swirls) Anna MacInnes (solid looking flower) Maura Codey(swirl strait down) Molly Sahlberg -she did the left over sectin from the person who left (sun and swirls) Kayla (swirls/flower) Kristen Holmes (small greek agape and symbols) Angie Sjodin (large elvish life & initial of my fam.) Tammy Pelosi (fine diamond & swirls).
Then Maura filled in with swirls in between to make it all look together...I'm so glad, it looks great! THANKS ALL YOU GUYS!!!!
This is a picture of Maura...she let us (actually, she wanted us) to tatoo her. So brave...a professional letting the amatuers work ;) We all had a few designs and did designs on everyone else too. I got pictures of almost everyone's but I didn't have space to post them all. This is Anna's back...it looked GREAT.

It was one of the most fun afternoon's I've had in a long time. Thanks to all who came. And on a future note...I have left overs and will probably become addicted to mehndi. So, watch out!

Just logging on to endorse these messages!

Hey Everyone!!!

This is Bryan this time.

I just gotta tell you all out there, that my wife is the greateset. It's great that she keeps up on this blog thing. I am way too unorganized to keep up on this stuff.

Nyway, here's what my side of the last week was. So, you heard that the kiddos where gone last week, and I certainly missed them. But the time I got to spend with Laura was great. Although you heard that dates turn into wierd times of shopping for your children. The extra time was awesome. If there is anything that is a complaint about ministry is that the time you have is not your own. People need help on their time, and so you end up cutting up your planned family times alot. And when you don't have regular chuncks of family time, the rest seems so paltry. But this week I got to have larger segments of time with my wife, and with my kids. And that was quitea blessing. They are so unbelievably important to me.

Thanks Laura for being an awesome person. Thanks for putting up with all the times that I fail to be there because of someone else's stuff. And of course, I need to thank God for putting us together, cuz without her, I dunno where I would be.

origami & babies

So, the monkeys are back (Creedon & Winter, that is... I just call them monkeys cuz I love 'em so much) Bryan and I had some alone time, and basically did lots of baby prep stuff. Man, when you are married for awhile and have a few kids, "date night" becomes a whole new thing. We shopped almost all day monday and picked up all the putzy last minute stuff we needed for when our new little man comes...you know, shampoo, diapers, junk like that. Then we went to Outback for Slupper (lunch/supper). Other than that, we did some other shopping on the rest of the days, watched some movies at night, and spent all day Wednesday being busy. Thursday we went to get the kids.

NOW for the origami part... I had a brillant idea for a mobile over the crib. The crib is partially under a sloped ceiling, and mobiles don't really fit on the crib we have because it has REALLY fat rails. SO...I was gonna hang a mirror we had laying around on the sloped ceiling over the crib and suspend origami dinosaurs from it. Then I ran into several problems. #1 Mirrors can break and or fall and seriously injure babies. (So either I ditch the mirror or I go buy a safe one...like plasticy or something) #2 Origami dinosaurs are really difficult to make. I tried several and kept failing, so I asked my neighbor, Susie to come over and help me...She's pretty crafty and creative, and is a preschool teacher. Needless to say, it still didn't go so well. We found 1 we could make well, so we made like 4 or 5 of that model. I didn't give up though, and found a few others I could handle. So, now there are brontosaurus, stegasorous, and tyranasaraus. I think that will have to do for now! I'm thinking of ditching the whole mirror thing because then I have to go buy it, and I take unusual pride in making something for nothing. (It's a sickness) Oh, and one other thing. Origami dinosaurs look rather confusing and possibly disturbing from the underneath side. Oh, well, it will look cool for everyone else. Besides, it's not like the baby will know any difference.

A look Back

Just a look back at earlier this summer...

Cheese!




Oh, they can be angels...when they sleep!



The monster mask Creedon made...notice he has his "claws" out.

Winter's birthday - June 5 ...so excited

the crazy month of july

So, July was a crazy month for our family. This was mainly because of all the visitors we had this month. It was somewhat because of the Sahlberg family (Sr. pastor) being gone most of the month too. It was actually a really great time - both in spending time with friends and in growing me. I'm not the best at doing the whole "domestic" thing, and having company kinda forced me to do that. And you know what? It wasn't that bad! Wierd...

Anyway, the first week of July (2-9) we had interns at the church. Tara and Steve are college age students that were visiting from Green Bay. They stayed with host families, but were with Bryan every day Monday - Monday. They ate lunch with us almost everyday. It was a good chance to get to know them both. Bryan took the kids with him to watch fireworks with the college kids on the 4th. They had a great view from up at EngerTower. They got home late and the kids had a great time. Creedon told a story about a blue dragon that lasted a half hour. He's so creative...

Then our friends Gretchen, Houghton (whom we tend to call Grouchton - when they aren't around...I think we are lazy and don't want to say Gretchen and Houghton...don't ask why...Bryan and I have problems) Anway, the Richards...Gretchen, Houghton, and their kids Jesiah (2) and Gwenyth (9 mo), and Laura T. came to visit. Gretchen and Laura are sisters. We knew their family from when we worked in Montana. Houghton and Bryan worked together lots. Anyway, they are going to Vanautu to be missionaries, and were on their way to do training with their mission organization. They stayed with us for the weekend and shared with the adult sunday school. It was awesome to visit with them, and Gretchen and Laura are people that are soooo easy to "just be" with. It was hard on them though, because all 5 of them were in 1 room. AND it was hot out and our upstairs is pretty stuffy. The kids didn't sleep very well (unfortunately). Creedon and Jesiah played together lots and plays apart lots too. It took us a few days for me to remember to give Creedon some "chill out" time and some "alone space". So, we let them watch some movies on and off and they got along pretty okay then. They left on Monday the 9th.
here are links to their websites:
Laura's blog http://www.psalm96three.blogspot.com/
Richard's blog http://www.richardsroad.blogspot.com/
Team Vanuatu's website www.richardsroad.com/1.html

Creedon, Winter & Jesiah eatin' some ice cream!

After that we had a week of busy-ness and catch up. Then the 16th-23rd we had interns at the church again. Tara came back and this time brought Jeff. They also brought Bryan's 16 yr old cousin Zach. Zach stayed with us, but the interns stayed in host homes again. Once again, the interns ate lunch with us most days and spent all day with Bryan working. Zach was able to participate in all the activities the interns did. We also had our friend Fuzzy (otherwise known as Armond, but everyone calls him Fuzzy) visiting. He got here on the Sunday, the15th and stayed until the 19th. His son Richard came with too. Richard is 6, so he and Winter got along great....a little too great at times. Apparently they are going to get married sometime, but they arranged to have Richard come get Winter, cuz she doesn't know where he lives. Fuzzy is always full of random jokes and laughs. We stayed up WAY too late every night, and got very little sleep, but had fun playing cards, making jokes, and even having an occasional serious discussion.

Richard, Winter & Creedon...lovin' nature.

So, this week, is more catching up, and the Sahlberg's are back, so Bryan is catching up with Nathan. Winter broke her arm. Turns out Creedon pushed off the trampoline when she was trying to get down because he wanted to get down first. She's had a splint on for 2 days and will get a cast tomorrow. It wasn't a major break, just a buckle fracture, and it didn't even swell much and she's not in pain from it.

Winter and Creedon will be visiting my Mom in Green Bay for 4 days this next week. Sunday, the 29th, after church we will be driving to meet her half way for her to pick them up, then we will drive half way again on Thursday to pick them up. Hopefully they will have a great time. And that will wrap up the month of July.

Just a bit of Faltynski craziness that I wanted to share with you all.

our family

This is the newest man in the family.

Age: 10 weeks to go
Fav. way to bug mom: heartburn & insomnia
DOB: TBA est. arrival Aug. 30









Winter loves to be a ham. She'll tell you any number of jokes (most of which are made up and should probably not be EVER told). She loves to be with people and talk and talk and talk. Her and her brother get the biggest kick out of making eachother laugh.

Age: 6
Fav. color : not black
DOB: June 5



Creedon prefers to be any superhero. He especially likes to shoot you with his powers (webs, ice or fire). He is commonly spiderman, superman, red power ranger, batman, or wolverine. Usually he is accompanied throughout the day by one of these invisible superheros (assuming he's not currently BEING that superhero) or by iron giant or santa clause and sometimes beast.



Age:3
Fav. Food: Popcorn, popsicles, cheesy chips
DOB: Oct 22






Bryan is pretty much the most random person I know. He loves music, wrestling with kids, and being "different". Don't ask him what that means or he just might try and prove it to you. The fact that he's a youth pastor and hangs out with teenagers should tell you lots about him.
Age: 29 (most teens just say "old guy" though)
Fav Food: peanut butter
DOB: Feb 24





Laura - that's me. I'm pretty much, what you see is what you get. I love to read, I hate to cook, I'm not that great at cleaning either. I love my husband and my kids. Life would be so boring without them!


Age: 29
Fav. Book: Eli
DOB: March 10