And Baby Makes Four!

So, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth - I've only spent the past 9 months incubating a new little human to occupy it! I am proud to announce that Nolan Ryan Stupsky (named after Daddy not the ballplayer) was born Thursday, February 4 at 12:04 PM weighing in at 7 pounds 10 ounces and a full head of hear (a mullet if you ask his Auntie Odie [littlebabylehtinen.blogspot.com])! We were supposed to be induced on February 5 but I guess Nolan had other plans and wanted to arrive on his own terms.

This new little man has totally changed the dynamic of our family where parents once outnumbered the child(ren) 2 to 1. Now we're dealing with one-on-one and the effects can be felt daily. We used to be able to tag team Teagan and household chores - "easy, peasy pumpkin squeezy" as Teagan would say but now we're each assigned a child. Yup, you guessed it - that means that the household chores have gone to hell in a hand basket. Granted we're not quite a month into our life-long foray with two children and I know that we'll eventually find balance but until then I need to learn to ignore the less than perfect surroundings.

Now, back to the little man! He's adorable and has quite the set of lungs just like his sister did when she was born. I was told, many times over, that no one has had more than one colicky child so I think we should win some sort of colicky child-bearing award.

Speaking of Teagan she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES being a big sister and puts her hands and lips all over Nolan whenever she has the opportunity. She's writing stories about him almost daily at school and according to her teacher some of her friends/classmates are also writing stories about Teagan's "babe brvr" <---- That's how Teagan spells Baby Brother.

Here are some pictures of the newest little Stupsky and the big sister:

She's already a pro and wants to be the only one to hold him.

Which one is the baby and which one is Nolan!??!  Teagan thought it was really cool that he was the same size as her Itty Bitty Baby.

Big Sister earned herself a field trip to American Girl at Mall of American. She chose to get the full-size Lanie doll. Lanie is the 2010 doll of the year and also happens to be the name of one of her "bestest friends"!

Teagan Loves Frogs

This story is so good - it warrants it's own post. Ryan was mowing the lawn tonight when he called out to Teagan - Teagan headed for home and suddenly she was squealing and jumping up and down - something exciting was going on. But what?!??!

Next thing I know Teagan is running back across the street, where her friends were still playing and she was carrying her Frog habitat (thank you Uncle Jon and Auntie Heather for that wonderful habitat - insert only a little bit of sarcasm here). All the way she was yelling "I have a frog and it's bigger than Chub Chub!!" Keep in mind Chub Chub once held the record for the biggest frog she ever found. That record only lasted two days - sorry Chub Chub!

We could not believe the size of this frog - and I was in shock that it was living in my flower bed!! Teagan took the frog out of the habitat so we could all see how big it was (ok, it was Kari who prompted her to take it out) and when she set it on the ground it took ONE big leap - all the kids ran after it but it quickly took another GIANT leap so they kept running. On the third giant leap the frog landed right on the sewer grate and fell down into the sewer. There was a collective gasp from all the aduts and a scream of sadness from most of the kids. It's gone - forever. Or so we thought.



Next thing you know Chris and Ryan are removing the cover to the sewer and Ryan tried to use a net to 'rescue' the elusive creature. No luck; Michigan J. Frog took refuge under the street. But wait - there's more!!! Before we know it the cover is off the sewer directly across the street - if he keeps going he'll head right into our trap!!! Didn't work that way either - he decided to sit right in the middle - under the street. With Chris on one side and Ryan on the other we tried to scare it - but our bangs and screams didn't phase him; then out came the garden hose. Yup, let's push him out with water.

Trust me when I tell you this is Ryan.

And on this side of the street is Chris.

After 15 minutes, and many visions of Stephen King's clowns in the sewer, Michigan J. Frog was in captivity once again.

The laughter was unbelievable - Chris on one side of the street and Ryan's feet sticking out of the other (yes, he was head first in the sewer hole) many a car slowed to see - but none were brave enough to stop and ask.


It was a successful night - lots of laughter and happy kids to end the evening. Where is the frog right now you ask - it's in my garage plotting to find a way out of Teagan's habitat.

Teagan's First Day of Kindergarten

What a big girl we have now! She woke up very excited and did a great job getting ready for her first day! As we dropped her off in her classroom we could tell she was trying to hold back her tears - thankfully there were a lot of new toys to keep her attention off the fact we were leaving.





At the end of the day we arrived to pick her up and all she could say was "Ahhhhh - I wanted to play longer!" I think we could call it a very successful first day of Kindergarten!!

Mackinac Island - Tour of Michigan 2009

The conversation always goes a little like this:

Mack-a-who? Mackinac Island silly! Never heard of it? There's horses - no cars, and fudge - the fudge is to die for, and the ferry with the rooster tail...  this is about where the blank stare turns to a slight chuckle.  But I'm not laughing. Mackinac Island is a great family vacation spot or a wonderful couples retreat - just check it out in the movie 'Somewhere in Time' with Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour!

We've been wanting to bring Teagan there for quite some time but it's just never worked out since it's another 3-4 hours beyond Marquette which makes it a 9 - 10 hour trip from Minnesota. This year we had a good excuse to visit the island, however, since Jon and Heather's wedding festivities were taking place on Drummond Island on the far eastern point of Michigan. We took the week off prior to the wedding and made way toward Mackinac Island with a stop over in Marquette for a quick visit with family. It was also our last hurrah of the summer as Teagan starts Kindergarten next week!!

Teagan loved the island and all the fun things we got to do. She was not, however, pleased with the island aroma of fresh horse droppings. It was a bit difficult for me too, being pregnant made those smells seem so much stronger than I remember as a child.

It was still a great time! We ate fudge, rode bikes around the island, ate fudge, relaxed on a horse-drawn carriage, ate fudge, visited the Grand Hotel, ate fudge, and stayed at the Mission Point Resort. It was a great first visit for Teagan!!

The view from 'beneath the bridge' in the Lower Peninsula - where the trolls live! We could have gotten to the island from the Upper Peninsula but Teagan really wanted us to drive across the bridge.

The view of the bridge from the upper deck of the ferry.

There's the Grand Hotel!!

Teagan's legs were not long enough for the tandem bike so we got the tag along for the day! She LOVED it!!

Hanging out in front of the Grand Hotel!

In front of the marina

Next Stop Drummond Island, MI for Jon and Heather's wedding and then a 12 hour drive back to Minnesota to get our little girl ready for school!!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

March?!?! Seriously - was that the last post I made here! It's certainly not becuase of a lack of fun things happening in our lives - quite the opposite! We've had a lot of fun since March. Please allow me to recap:

April - We spend almost every week in April preparing for Teagan's first ice show. It's a lot of work to be at the rink two to three nights per week for practice but it all paid off the last weekend in April. Teagan skated in three ice shows over two days and loved every minute of it. Being only 4 years old she was with the youngest group - you know, the ones that make the crowds laugh and say Ahhhhhhh! They were cute and ALL OVER THE ICE!! Teagan is a lucky girl - over the weekend many of her friends and family came to the ice show! Thank you to her friends Katie, Lindsey, Sydney, Summer and their parents for bringing them to the show! It made Teagan feel very special! Thank you also to her grandparents who traveled from Michigan and Uncle Jon and Auntie Heather for coming for the big weekend!









May - The biggest event in May was Teagan's 5th birthday! She had three birthday parties! By far her favorite was the afternoon spent with her friends at Twin City Twisters! All the kids loved running through the gym and jumping on the trampoline, in the bounce house, swinging on the Tarzan swing and of course hanging on the parallel bars! By the time her party was over they were all red faced and ready for naps!












June - FINALLY it was time to go to Disney!!! All that planning and all that waiting but the trip finally arrived. We spent May 30 - June 6 at Disney's Beach Club Villas and spent the week at the parks and swimming at Stormalong Bay! There was no shortage of excitement, but a few of our most favoriate moments were:

- Teagan at the Bibiddy Bobiddy Boutique: Her fairy Godmothers turned her into Cinderella - glass slippers and all!
- Lunch in the Castle with the Princesses
- Secret mission with Kim Possible's Kimmunicator (a must do scavenger hunt at Epcot)
- When Nanny was scared by Captain Hook! She let out a pretty big scream!
- The new ride at Hollywood Studios - Toy Story Mania
- Breakfast at Chef Mickey's with Mickey and the gang
- Spending quality time with Nanny, Poppy, Auntie Odie and Uncle Rob!

We're all anxious for our next trip! Perhaps Christmas 2010!





















The end of June was also an exciting time for us in the Stupsky household! It was on June 26 that we learned Teagan was going to be a big sister! She has been waiting for this day for quite some time and is really anxious for the baby to be born. She'll have to be patient - baby's not due until February 14! In the meantime, she's running around the house diapering all her babies in preparation for her new role as big sister! She'll be a great big sister!!

July - Michigan! Fireworks! Camp! Cousins! Family! Need I say more?!?! Here are some snapshots from our long weekend in Marquette! What a great time!!


It's a beautiful day on Sporley Lake!

Time to play on the beach and in the water - It's hard to get Teagan out of the water!! She loves to collect snail shells!














Cousins!! Connor (5), Madison (8) & Teagan (5)


No surprise here, but Teagan caught a frog!


Posing with Madison!




Gangs all here!! Time for S'mores!