Here are some new photos of our amazing son Ellis Anthony...To update, he is still working on his dance moves (see earlier post), and we could have sworn that he said the word "hi" yesterday a couple of times. Now that he has mastered English, we will be starting his language training in German sometime next week...He went to the doctor today, and we were grateful to hear that our prayers were answered as the doctor could not find any trace of his earlier heart arrhythmia. We also found out today that is now over 16 lbs and 25 inches tall! Hard to believe that not that long ago he was half that weight and nearly 6 inches shorter. The local NFL football teams are already calling inquiring about his availability in 20 + years...Now if he could only grow some more hair! Enjoy the photos! Thanks for checking in...george, heather and ellis.

Christmas 2007 came and went, but not surprisingly without photos being taken. Below are shots of our newest son with his parents, with his mom, with Santa (his first visit!) abuela (grandma), and a shot of some of the primos (cousins). Enjoy...hope everyone's holidays were as festive and memorable...george and heather and ellis

Well, as many good things eventually come to an end, so did someone's 30's. Yes, my friends, Heather turned the ripe old age of 40. Hard to believe by looking at her, but yes, she is now learning if the saying about 40 being the new 20 is in fact accurate. Okay, I must come clean! It was in fact myself, George, that turned 40 the first week of December. Yes, I turned 40 and lived to tell about it! Here are some visual proofs of the big event, and some friends who joined me in the celebration. Many thanks and love to my lovely wife Heather for all of her planning and "schemery". It was an amazing weekend, and I truly felt loved and cherished. Thanks to all who made it to the birthday bash, and found it in their hearts to actually be nice to me that day. Special thanks to the Harrisons for the "George Poliszuk 40" pins (see below) that were stolen from the Mitt Romney Campaign, and Rick, Liz and Gabriel for the incredible surprise and special appearance from the Pacific Northwest. Much love to you all. Enjoy the photos! gp

Here's a recent video of our Ellis getting down and funky....enjoy

These are pics (not in order) of wonderful friends and family that have come to visit...Erin Nassir happened to be in San Jose when Ellis was born, and came that day to see him...it was such a blessing, as most of our friends and family are elsewhere. My mom was here (as is seen in previous pics in the blog)... my friends from Carlmont stopped by - Amber has a babe who's 6 months now...so we needed a Jake and Ellis pic...then we had the bonus of seeing Greg and Annette White with their babe Madison (can't wait to see you guys again this weekend!) - followed by my dear friend Sarah from Connecticut who came and just hung out with me. My dad, Grandpa Arneson, came after her, and we took Ellis for his first glimpse of the city...he made it through a DaVinci exhibit AND lunch...it was good practice for mommy! Last but not least, we had George's brother Robert and his family here for Thanksgiving. Madison, the middle, is almost five, and she thought we had named the baby 'Alice'. She said to me...'he's pretty cute, even if he has a girl's name' :)...we'll clear that one up when she can spell...all my attempts at getting her to see the difference came up empty. We are celebrating George's birthday this weekend (I won't tell you which one, but it's a big one between 30 and 50 :)
Parenthood is awesome and tests every bit of patience at the same time sometimes. I can't believe, though, how much I love this little guy...I look forward to getting my smiles every morning, and can't wait to introduce him in person to everyone!

Here are some additional photos of Ellis with his beautiful cousin Lilian, in a rather agitated state!, and his cousin Lilian with his favorite Aunt Heidi! Enjoy...

Parenthood has been easier and harder than we expected. Ellis has been awesome, and is quite the handsome fellow and monkey boy. We absolutely love being parents, and treasure each moment/day that we get a chance to hang out with him. Heather has carried the majority of the load with the 24/7 feedings and also with the transition to her true calling, being a mom. I have changed quite a few diapers, and feel most useful when trying to get him to sleep, which I have had a lot of success at so far. Speaking of sleep, we are sleeping a fair amount but know that every night is a new adventure. We have been the beneficiary of some amazing dinners from our friends the Branches and also Menlo Park Presbyterian Church where we have been attending.
Here are some additional photos, and snapshots of our son. Enjoy! George and Heather and Ellis

Okay, without further ado, here is our newest addition, or Ellis Anthony. Ellis Anthony Poliszuk was born October 14th, 2007 at 12:54 am, weighing in a 7 lbs 13 oz, and 19 inches in length. Labor, from the time of the shorter contractions to the time of birth, was only about 6 hours, and he literally was out in two pushes once the latter stage of labor kicked in. I will spare you the gory details, but the doctors and nurses were surprised how quickly he wanted to come out and they were scrambling to prepare to catch him. It was a surreal sight seeing him born, and then processing the fact that he is our child. As you will see from the photos, he is an awfully handsome fellow and currently looks like a combination of the two of us. Feel free to comment otherwise, but that is our story and we are sticking with it. Heather and I could not be happier even with the sleep deprivation, and we are already deeply smitten by this guy. Enjoy the photos and video! Thanks for all of your support, love, and prayers on our behalf.

George, Heather, and Ellis Poliszuk

These were the last photos taken of Heather before giving birth. Both were taken on Friday Night October 13th, 2007, and Ellis was born a night later or on Saturday Night. As you can see in the photo, Heather looked great and did not appear to be nearly 10 months pregnant. Little did we know how much our lives would change in a short period of time...

I promised more preggo pics...and here they are - but first, an answer to prayer - Ellis had a completely normal non stress test Monday - so it looks like he is growing out of his arrhythmia!!!

(first pic is me in full nesting mode...not with a sewing machine, but with a caulking gun...very strange, but the project had been waiting for too long! :)

Okay, so I realize it's been almost a year since we've posted here - in fact, I'll be surprised if we have an audience at all...but I have a lot to say, and nowhere to say it - so this seems like a good forum. It's been a looooong year since leaving LA...it's strange that it (and the people there) are so much a part of our consciousness's, (is that a word?), yet our daily lives are so different. We've continued working on the house - which has seen much improvement...my job has gone from sometimes a disaster to usually a pretty good day, and George has joined First Republic Bank again, which has been such a good place for him, it's nice to see him enjoying his job.

Between the struggle to get pregnant (very emotional), getting pregnant, and the loss of two central family members this summer (my grandmother and George's father), there have been many trials this year. The most difficult by far has been losing Tony (George's dad) just about 4 weeks ago. Despite his past of hospital visits and poor health, there was always the expectation that he would bounce back like he had so many times before. Actually losing him has been very difficult for especially Luisa, George, and Robert. I know at the house, we keep expecting him to walk back through the door. Especially hard is the fact that he won't get to meet his grandson, although George plans on fully indoctrinating our son (Ellis Anthony Poliszuk) in his grandfather's love of baseball :)

Last Poliszuk Family Portrait taken/February 2007.

It IS amazing, however, to have faith and a belief that we will see him again - that there is hope in the midst of it all - the same feeling that was pervasive at my grandmother's funeral in July...that not only was there such faithfulness in both of their lives, but that they really ARE beyond all of the worries of this world, but that we will have the opportunity to see them.

I have a new niece - Lillian Ruth Auderer - Heidi went into labor two weeks before her due date and had the baby September 19...I've only seen pictures, but she has silky blond hair and was 8 lbs when she was born (the doctors said that if she had gone full term she could have been up to 10 pounds!

We have been praying for Ellis...as some of you know, he was diagnosed with a arrhythmia about 3 weeks ago. Through a fetal echo and a growth scan at Stanford, it was determined that it is a benign arrhythmia that would at some point resolve itself. At this point, I am heading back to Stanford twice a week in the mornings for what is called an NST (non-stress test), basically testing the baby for signs of an accelerated heart beat, etc. What's amazing is that the Lord has given me such a peace, such a realization of my inability to do anything about this - that Ellis is His completely, is His gift to us for a while, and that trying to control anything is total vanity that I have any control :)...so we're praying, that he will be a blessing to everyone he meets under any circumstances, and that we will have a drama-free labor and delivery. At this point, I am dilated 1 cm and 50% effaced, which I've heard could carry me through to my due date, or according to my doctor, may mean that he'll come a little early (which I wouldn't complain about! :)

George is so excited to be a dad - he puts his hand on my belly and says 'Ellis'...and the baby kicks and kicks...recognizes his voice already. Of course, he also talks to him about the most recent 49ers game - but that's a bit expected! I'm working 3 periods a day, which I am loving as a schedule, and have a student teacher that will take over as an intern when I go on leave (which is planned for October 17) One of the best things about having the student teacher is that he is now familiar with my system, familiar with the students, and can basically take care of himself while I am gone...such a great situation! I am so thankful for the school and my department chair for making it possible for me to stay there and take my leave without worry:)

Well, I will sign off...we will post some new pics of the belly (which has it's own zip code by now) soon...and hopefully not to far after that, will post some pics of our son!

Good morning! It's 6:30AM on a Saturday - really TOO early to be up, but because of my school schedule, I can't seem to sleep in anymore...too 'programmed', I guess. Man, do we miss you guys! The pace of life is entirely different here - there's a new local library, we've been reading, using our Netflix...generally just enjoying a bit of a slower time - that is, until Otis arrives...that's right! We're getting a puppy! We actually found him about 4 weeks ago and will pick him up next weekend - we've got all the 'stuff' that we need, just picking him up next week. I've been poring through dog training books - and we've been discussing the fact that this is the first big commitment we've made since being married...a definite life-changer, but I think it's about time we grew up...pet first, then baby :) (no, not an announcement) Here's some pics of Otis...when we pick him up, he'll be a big bigger than this...he's a lab...isn't he cute!








I picked him up and held him like a baby...he fell right to sleep - man I love this dog - we're probably a bit obsessive, but we keep talking about how we can't wait to take him running...things come out of our mouths like 'wouldn't this be fun if Otis were here?' (pretty ridiculous, but we're excited)




On the work front, my job is OK - the staff is amazing...accepting, I feel like they are friends already, and have felt very accepted and supported. The students....they're another story. We have a unique combination of students here - the students from the surrounding area - mid to upper class, and then the busloads of students that are bused in from East Palo Alto - some are good kids, but the maturity level is extremely low...lower than I have experienced even in my time at Options For Youth - and then throw 27 of those into a classroom where you're trying to teach them math, the subject that everyone hates, and you've got yourself an interesting, sometimes disturbing dynamic. I couldn't be more thankful for where I work, 2 minutes from home, and some of my classes are awesome (I really like teaching geometry).

Personally, I have realized that part of the reason I felt so connected in LA is that I met a lot of people when I was single, and basically when you're single, your second JOB is to socialize, hang out, build deep relationships, and I was the beneficiary of those relationships I had built while single even after getting married. I've found here that that building process is going to take a bit longer...because although there are some really great girls at work, my priority is George and being home...all that to say that I miss you guys...there's no 'replacing' you :) On a bright note, there's a two people around my age at work that are great - one who's expecting her first baby in May, and another that isn't married, has been SUCH a welcoming presence at the school, and who is hanging out with gp and I in the city tonight....so we're beginning to feel a little more a part of things.

Still no church home yet - we're trying a new one on Sunday...keep chanting to ourselves that 'we'll never replace CA'...such a hard act to follow! I'm heading out to visit Sarah in November...can't wait to hike through the Connecticut woods with her for a weekend! :)

We're still making slow progress on the house - although we're going to stay here through the summer, we'll be finding a place of our own at that point. We're going to stay here to pay off debt and hopefully allow gp to go to school almost full time next year...so we're here for the time being, and are hoping to find the housing market even lower when we look next summer!

Here's some pics of what we've done...compare them to the pics from the first post, and there's QUITE a difference!



Here's a view of the living room (kind of looks like our apartment in Glendale transported to a different room...) we still need to replace the baseboards and put moulding in this room, but we're really happy with how it turned out..












another view....












here's the bedroom, complete with my first moulding project ever...not perfect, but definitely a learning experience!











We've also had a few visitors since arriving...Dana Martin came for the weekend...






















and the Barnts drove down for a 24 hour stay and some Giants baseball (what else!) Aunti Hed couldn't have been MORE happy!









at the Giants game...















Lori trying desperately to bolster the Giant's season...alas, she failed...






















and we had a visit from Lolo! SO good to see her....









one more fun thing...we're headed to Europe for 10 days in December...figured we'd make good use of the school break!

We miss you and love you - come visit, and we'll try to return the favor soon!

Love,

the ghp's