Sunday, September 28, 2008

And there's more

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Elijah started puking this morning.

So he and his puke partner, Lydia, watched shows and puked until 3pm. Then Lydia took a 3 1/2 hour nap. Elijah has puked several more times and now is in bed. Lydia has not hurled since before her nap and is in good spirits. Is this too much information?



Here is Shiloh cleaning the bathroom ... again. Pin It Now!

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Lydia puked

Pin It Now! Just when we thought we were in the clear... Lydia just puked. AGHHHHH! Pin It Now!

Friday, September 26, 2008

Puke Fest 2008

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I am feeling much better today. I only took two naps. I also ate some dinner (thanks Kara Murphy!). And Shiloh enjoyed lunch while the kids enjoyed some fun prizes (thanks Brenda Madsen!). And thanks to Danika Stokes for dinner last night. And props to the Mann's for the Baskin Robbins delivery.

And so far, Shiloh and the kids have not got the bug! My sister-in-law (who visited us at the hospital on puke day) and niece Kylie are recovering from this wonderful dealio as well. Kylie started puking last night. And Heather (another visitor on national puke day) should be out of the hospital tomorrow. Yep, that's right, we sent my pregnant friend to the hospital with puking and contractions. She is 34 weeks pregnant and they stopped the contractions with a shot. Here she is contracting the disease.



If we have gotten anyone else sick, just let us know. Or rather, just contact my attorney.

Now we are trying to decide what to do with our infested house: do we just burn it down or donate it to Hazmat research?

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Thursday, September 25, 2008

no puking today...for me

Pin It Now! I slept most of the day today. Drank liquids and had a few crackers. No puking and this evening my fever is gone. However, my sister-in-law seems to have caught the bug as did my PREGNANT friend, Heather. They both visited us in the hospital the day Jordis started puking. Heather is now at John Muir in the antepartum ward getting an iv and being monitored. The dehydration caused contractions, but I think that is under control now. So far Shiloh and the kids don't have it. Pin It Now!

Back from ER

Pin It Now! Just got back. Got IV with fluid and zofran (same stuff when I prego and puking). No supposed to just rest and drink clear liquids.
Good night. Pin It Now!

ME to ER

Pin It Now! 2:51am. On my way to the ER again. This time for me. Can't keep anything down. Dehydrated. Pin It Now!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Home from Hospital

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Jordis and I just returned from our 4 day stay at John Muir Hospital in Walnut Creek. I will blog in more detail (because there are some details - both sad and funny) at a later date. But the quick run down is this: Jordis was extra sleepy on Sunday. Took her temp - 101.4. Took her to the weekend clinic and they sent us to the ER (her temp was 103). Then testing. Found out she had Urinary Tract Infection so she was admitted and put on antibiotics. It took 5 sets of nurses and 9 pokes to finally get an IV in her ... head! Yikes. Saddest thing.

She was doing better yesterday until she started puking. So while UTI was on the mend she had picked up the stomach flu. No throwing up today so we were released at 4pm and are now home. Exhausted. More to come. Oh, and I just puked like a fire hose. Looks like I got the bug too. Arghhhh.
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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Food is good

Pin It Now! Most of you know that we were not planning on our surprise blessing, Jordis. We were in the middle of trying to adopt a little boy (Moses) from the Philippines when she happened. To be honest, I was bummed. Besides the thought of 9 months of puking, I was bummed to not be able to adopt.
Shiloh said to me, "Let's talk about the positives here." At the time, I think the only thing I could come up with was this, "People bring you food when you have a baby."

And that was true. And it was good. And I want to give a shout out to those that brought us meals. THANK YOU SO MUCH -
Davina Dong, Erica Hobby, Kelly Decker (twice!), Heather Yamashita (many times before baby and after), Danika Stokes, Teresa Spica, Kristin Lineberry, Marissa Mann, Sarah Melvin, Kourtney Myers, Jenn Murphy, Rebecca Adams, Shannon Hoffman, Rosalyn Esmeyer and Kevin Cox.
I hope I am not forgetting anyone. If I am, let me know, and I will bring you a meal.


Thank you all for helping to savor these baby nutrients by bringing such good food!



And an unnamed friend of ours blessed up by mowing our mega lawns and washing Shiloh's car. THANK YOU.

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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

fashion

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I have always been into high end fashion. Not really. I thought I would entertain you with some photos that display the Hagen's blatant disregard for wardrobe do's and don'ts. Actually, it is just the do's that we have a problem with...


Me and Dee Wallace (my Mom from Lassie). My brown socks really completed the outfit. And the big black ribbon laces on my shoes topped it off.
This is the look we call Little Mr. Sunshine.
Polka dot tights and a striped shirt. Always a classic look. 
What do you do when you outgrow your favorite footies?  Get some scissors.

Niiiiiice.
I don't know where to start here. Is it the hair? The chalk face? The outfit? Or the fact that this is a boy?
Just me and Shi, going to the movies.
Boots work with everything.

Really?
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Friday, September 12, 2008

Video Games

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Monday was Elijah's first day (of his second year) of preschool. He goes Monday thru Thursday, 12-2:30pm. A fabulous time considering lunch, naps and the like. Oh well. After school on Wednesday, we went to his friend, Kaiden's house. They played Star Wars on the Wii.

Today we had this conversation.

"Mom, can we play Star Wars EVERY time we go to Kaiden's house?"

"No, not every time we go there."

"Why not?"

"Because it is not good for your eyes or your brain."

"Then why does my brain think about it so much?"

I didn't feel like getting into a discussion with him about addiction today.

Lydia had some of her buddies over today - Kaleb, Luke and Aubrey. They enjoyed playing 5 minutes in the closet.



Jordis thought that was funny.




Someone left this sweatshirt/jacket out our house a few months ago. It is a size medium and it is Diesel. Anyone?

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Monday, September 08, 2008

What's it like having 3 kids?

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People (thousands of them) have been asking me to post about what life is like with 3 kids. I have several friends, I mean thousands, that have 2 kids and are trying to decide if they want to have another. Well, shoooooot.... don't look to me as a role model or example of normalcy. Neverless, here is a day in the life.



Yesterday afternoon I wanted to take a nap, but only had about 45 minutes by the time I got Elijah and Lydia situated in front of the TV and Jordis to sleep. I made one uninterrupted phone call and then I sat down to do read. Ahhh. finally a few minutes of solitude. As I am trying to read, Phayce (our beloved cat) was BUGGING. He knocked my Bible off the desk and onto the floor. He was swatting and biting at my bookmark and crawling all over me. If it's not kids being all needy and dependent and demanding (I know, I know - that's their job.), it's the freakin' cats.



And incidentally, whenever I am nursing (which, by the way, is going much better than with Elijah and Lydia. I have not had mastitis or thrush!), all the living beings in the house HAVE to act up. It must be some cosmological law or something. The cats are cruising around casually on the kitchen counters or puking on the carpet or stealing Jordis's pacifier. The kids are fighting or climbing on things they are not supposed to be on or blowing their noses WITHOUT kleenex or ... you name it. The snot never stops. Really. It is a revolving door around here! AGH!



Last night was my "night off." I was pretty tired and decided that for my exciting "night off" (which is actually my "few hours off" since I am nursing) I was going to take an evening nap. Weird, I know, but when you are tired enough...
So after dinner I was ready to make my escape. Lydia was throwing her "I don't want to eat this" routine over delicious terriyaki chicken, rice and broccoli. I can't remember what Elijah was doing (he finished his dinner), but he was probably asking to watch a show, play legos star wars with his Dad or for a treat. Jordis was peacefully laying on the ground looking around. Just as I was about to retreat to the bedroom, she puked all over herself and the play mat thing and the carpet. Chaos. So I felt like I needed to help out and I cleaned up the puke and put her in her bouncy seat. Shiloh took her to the bath and I then sat with Lydia to get her to eat her dinner. My precious free time was drifting away.

So that is the taste of the exhausting, frustrating, challenging part of parenting three young children, although I think having one child has its challenges as well. It just gets a little more complicated and challenging as you add more to the mix. But I still think going from no kids to one kid is the hardest. Or at least the most life altering.

Now for some of the good parts...

This morning Elijah and Lydia wanted to cuddle with me and sit on my lap (Jordis was asleep). Money can't buy that action.



The other day Elijah said to me, "Mom, don't you wish you could always have babies so dad could stay home from work all the time." I just gave him a fake smile. I liked the second part of his statement anyway.

Today in the car we were listening to the CD from Elijah's Vacation Bible School when Lydia said, "Mommy, the song said 'Dora.'" (Dora the Explorer)
Elijah replied in exasperation, "Lydiaaaa. The song does not say Dora. It's not even about Dora. It's about praising God."


Jordis is smiling. And she is a good sleeper and has a good disposition. And she doesn't disobey...yet. Elijah and Lydia are pretty sweet to her -so far. Wait 'til she wants to play with their toys.



Elijah and Lydia LOVE to clean up their toys when they are done playing with them. Just kidding.



They love it when you read to them. Shiloh and Elijah are on to the Chronicles of Narnia series. And I am reading him Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. He is a captive audience. We just read about how Charlie's Dad lost his job and that they were so poor they didn't have enough money for enough food for the family. Elijah said, "Don't you wish that was true and that really happened?" I am thinking, "No. How sad of him to say that." I asked him why. He said, "If it were true then we could help them and give them money." It doesn't get any better than that.



And how about when Lydia recently said, "My penis hurts." And pointed to her knee. Or when she said, "I have a tummy ache on my booty." Clearly, we need to work on the body parts with her.

All that being said, I could totally fit being Vice President of the United States of America into my mundane life with all the extra time I have. In fact, it would be a welcome break, a vacation. Way easier than my current job. Oh well, my benefits package is way better. Pin It Now!

Friday, September 05, 2008

3 kids in pictures and an earthquake

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People have been asking - what is it like to go from 2 kids to 3 kids? Well, I don't have time to write about it right now (because I have gone from 2 kids to 3 kids), but here are a few photos that capture the essence of it. And I am working on a verbose narrative of life with 3 kids that I will post soon... hopefully. And the above photo of Jordis (6 weeks old today) doesn't really illustrate things - that was just a teaser.







P.S. We just felt an earthquake. It was quite a jolt. Early reports are 4.0-4.2 on the nearby fault. California livin.' Pin It Now!

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Garden of Hagen

Pin It Now! I started a small garden about 3 months ago. I planted some strawberries and I was feeling good about them. They looked good and strong. And they produced 2 small strawberries. Many people told me that strawberries were hard to grow and barely yielded anything. Now I am a believer. People said you get a few berries and a nice green plant and suck up a lot of water. I don't need any more green plants in my life and we are in mandatory water rationing here. Bye-bye.

I also am growing cucumbers and have gotten several cucumbers out of one plant although for some reason half of the plant is brown and shriveling.




And then there are my bell peppers. Well, they said it can't be done. Another toughy. Once again, started strong. Feeling good. I potted 2 plants in one container and used some organic plant steroid that is supposed to make your garden grow. And it did. It is amazing to compare it with my other pot of 4 plants without the Balco plant enhancement. The drugged plant has many green leaves and many peppers... however, just as with any drug, there are side effects people. I think the bell peppers are overwhelmed. It's like they are in a theater with a max capacity of 200 peeps, but there are 400 peeps! What is a pepper to do except get fungus on it? You can see the brown spot in the picture below. Actually, I am not sure that it is fungus nor am I sure it is from the Balco scandal. Any gardeners out there with some input for me?



As for my other bell pepper pot it grew me beautiful yellow bell peppers that I had in my salad tonight. BUT there were only 4 of them. That's a lot of work and water for a little pepper. Any gardening tips would be appreciated.

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Friday, August 22, 2008

Consider this your birth announcement

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Well, it's not YOUR birth announcement. This is the official birth announcement for Jordis. Why should I spend all that time and money and energy and postage to send out the stats that you already know? I think I will make up a few hard copy announcements for those old schoolers that still are not on the internet. But if you are reading this, don't wait by your mailboxes.



The Hagen Family introduces... (I know, I know, anticlimactic since you already read this stuff. Just humor me.)
Jordis Leslie Hagen
Born on July 25, 2008 at 7:20 pm
Weight 7 pounds, 13 ounces (a lightweight for a Hagen baby)
20 1/2 inches (this is from the 2 week measurement which is more accurate than the hospital - they only measured 19 inches. They have poor measuring skills).



And shoot, I think that is all the info your are supposed to put on birth announcements, right? Oh wait, a Bible verse ... she really needs one since her name is not Biblical and it means "Sword Maiden" or "Sword Goddess." So let's give her Hebrews 4:12:

"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double‑edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

So since you and Jordis are getting shortchanged on the snail mail - let me give you some bonus material.
Extra pics and ... some of my favorite things (whatttt?)



My new all time favorite song is "Instead of a Show" by Jon Foreman (lead singer of Switchfoot). I highly recommend his latest release "Summer" Actually I recommend all his music.

And my favorite books is Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. I saw in speak in San Fran about a month ago.

Okay, that's it for Wendy's recommendations for now. Please feel to comment with your review of my favorites if you have listened to or read them. And if your review is negative, that's cool. There's just something wrong with you.

I bet you never got a birth announcement that was so spellbinding.






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