The Peper Family

2012-01-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

So I dropped the ball again.... sorry. I told TJ today that I need him to make sure that I have time on sundays where I can do some blogging, because otherwise it probably won't get done. This is obviously something I just really struggle with. So, because there's so much to catch up on, I think I might break it up into 2 posts. I don't want to overwhelm all of you.
So first, there was Halloween. It was really fun and Steven went trick-or-treating for the first time! He was super cute and even though he obviously couldn't say "trick-or-treat" at the doors, he would always sign thank you afterwards. He dressed up as a lumberjack and TJ even made him a little hatchet he could carry around. I had to dress-up also (for work) and so I decided I wanted to be a lumber[jane?] too! It was actually a really fun costume (I don't like costumes that are too fussy) and I got a little prize at work for it :)

We also went to a haunted house again this year. It wasn't quite as good as last year, but it was still really fun. We went with Katie, Mckay, America, and Tyler so it was a fun group :)

The other thing I'm gonna cover in this post is our family pictures. They turned out soo good! My friend Nicole who lives above us took them and she did an amazing job. I think it helped that Steven loves her, so he smiled at her a lot. We had gotten some taken back in May, I think, but we didn't have the rights to those, so we couldn't use them for christmas cards or anything. So, it was a good excuse to get some new ones, and I'm so happy we did! Sorry, there are a lot I'm putting up, but these aren't ever 1/4 of all of them, so it was hard to choose favorites!

Playing catch-up

2011-10-09T01:11:00.000-06:00

Hooray!! We finally got this working again! Sorry it's been sooo long since an update. There obviously is a lot to catch up on, but I'll try to keep it short.

So first, in June, my brother Geoff and his fiancé Emily got married. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony, which was also good for the kids because they could run around till it started.

TJ had to leave the day after the wedding to get back for finals, but I was able to stay and we had a little Rands' family reunion! It was lots of fun, although the fact that Steven got sick the day after it started made it a little less fun. I'm not really sure what exactly was wrong, but he had a fever and threw up a couple days in a row. Bottom line, he wouldn't let me put him down and wouldn't let anyone else in my family hold him, which was pretty sad. He also didn't really want to play with any of his cousins. One of the few things that did make him happy, though, was the piano. He LOVES the piano.

We finally sold the Passat (otherwise known as Mrs. Jones). It was bittersweet since we had been trying to sell it for a while, but once it came down to actually letting it go, we weren't sure if we could do it! This was the car that TJ and I fell in love in! She had been with us through our entire relationship so far, we brought Steven home from the hospital in her, and for TJ, she had been a part of his life since high school. Anyway, we miss her, but trust that she's happy with her new family. (We made the guy we sold her to take this picture right after we signed all the papers)

We got some family pictures taken that I had gotten a Groupon for. We love them!! The people did a great job and we just wish they weren't so expensive so we could get pictures take there all the time!

In August, TJ's family came to Utah and we had a Peper family reunion. It was so much fun! We started out hanging around in Provo/Lehi for the first half of the week, and then headed up to Midway and stayed in a house up there for the rest of the week. It was gorgeous in Midway. We were able to spend lots of time outside during the day, and then the grown-ups got to play games once the kids were asleep. It was especially fun when we played Minute to Win It. Lyndsay did an awesome job putting it all together, and it was one of the most entertaining things I've ever seen.

We also had some good girl bonding time shopping, and three out of the four sisters/sister-in-law got matching shoes! I felt like a true Peper girl.

After a week of TJ's family making comment's about Steven's hair and how he needed a haircut, we finally relented and gave him one. It was so, so sad. Once all his curls were gone, he just didn't look like my little baby anymore.

Anyway, now that we have this up and running again, I promise I'll update more soon! It's good to be back :)

Videos... well not really

2011-06-05T23:43:00.002-06:00

So I just have a question... is anyone else not being able to upload videos on here? I've seriously been trying since I put up my last post and it won't let me! I don't know what's going on, but I'm really frustrated about it! We finally got some really good ones of Steven walking and I have a bunch from around his birthday that I want to put up too :(

Catching Up

2011-05-17T10:40:00.009-06:00

So obviously a lot has happened in the last month and a half, so I'm just going to jump right into it. First, Steven had his 1 year well-check. It went pretty well. He's a very healthy little boy! He weighed 22.18 lbs (41st %tile), was 30.75 ins long (81st %tile), and had a head circumference of 18.25 ins (50th %tile). He had to get 4 vaccines which was not fun. I always feel like he looks at me incredulously after getting those, like "how could you let this happen to me??" The only thing that the doctor was worried about were his communication skills, which are basically non-existent. He's doing really well in every other area (motor skills, fine motor skills, social skills, etc) but he does almost nothing in the way of communication. He barely waves, he doesn't do any of the baby signs we've been working on with him for around 5 months, and he definitely isn't even close to saying any words. It's extremely frustrating. The doctor said that she wanted me to come in and fill out another developmental worksheet at 14 months, and if he still hasn't made any progress at that point, we'd discuss options. So far, we've got nothing.

Besides that, just a couple fun things that have been going on - we finally got Steven a suit and he looks so handsome in it. We haven't really gotten a good picture of it yet, but here are a couple anyway...

TJ's been working with him a lot on playing the djembe. He also got 2 egg shakers which he loves playing with. We're pretty sure he's gonna grow up to be a percussionist.

Here's a picture of him and me on Mother's Day

So I know I might get some flack for these pictures, but I just think they're adorable. And I am not cutting his hair. I might trim the sides a little sometime soon, but I am not cutting those curls off. I think they're the cutest things ever.

Last of all - some pretty big news - he's finally walking!! Well, more like waddling, but it's progress. For a long time, we could only get him to walk if we were holding his hands. Then, all of a sudden within the last two weeks he went from me seeing him take his first step by himself, to taking about 11 in a row a few days later, to doing it all the time (when bribed with food), and now he will just get up and walk sporadically for no reason at all. We had a video of him doing this, but for some reason, I can't get it to upload, so I promise I'll post it later!

Happy Birthday Steven!

2011-04-01T23:28:00.008-06:00

I can't believe my little baby turned one yesterday!! Both TJ and I don not feel like we've had him for that long... Time flies when you're having fun! We decided to have a little party for him with a few of our friends and it was so much fun! We had pizza,

opened presents,

and ate cake! He pretty much inhaled it.

He was being pretty grumpy, though, and wouldn't let anyone else hold him. Every time they tried, he would start crying, and sometimes he would just start for no reason.

Still, it was tons of fun!

We are so lucky to have great friends that came to show their love for steven! Ty and Kami,

America and Tyler,

and (not pictured because they had to leave a little early)Katie and Mckay.

Happy Birthday Steven!!! We're so lucky to have him in our family. He brings so much joy into our lives and we just love him more than I thought was possible.

Most Favorite/Least Favorite

2011-03-22T21:32:00.005-06:00

Every night at dinner at the Christopherson house, everyone gets asked what their most favorite and least favorite thing was that happened that day. I wanted to do that for my trip. Since I was there for 10 days, though, I think it's only fair that I'm not limited to just one thing in each area.

Most Favorite - My new nephew!! Henry Atticus Christopherson is just the cutest little guy. His first week and a half in his new home was mostly spent sleeping, but when he did open his eyes, he always looked very skeptical of this new, bright world. I loved being reminded of what new babies are like :)

Most Favorite - Nieces/cousins. Spending time with Juniper and Olive, Jennie's two daughters was great. I got to take them to school and pick them up almost every day. Some days were a little challenging, but I definitely had lots of time to bond with them. So did Steven! And this video proves it...

Most Favorite - The beach!! It was especially great to be able to take Steven there and let him play around. Hopefully he'll learn to love it as much as his mom.

Most Favorite - The playground. I went there with Junie and Steven and it was so fun! It was such a nice area and such a nice day! There weren't any wood chips or anything for Steven to put in his mouth, so it was perfect for him. And I got to introduce him to the slide which he loved!

There were, however, a few not so favorite things that happened.

Least Favorite - Throw-up. Everyone in the house (accept Henry, thankfully) got sick at one time or another. Luckily Steven and I weren't sick at the same time, and it was only a 24-hour thing. It was my first time dealing with Steven throwing-up, though, and that was not so pleasant. The first time he threw up all over the rug, himself, and me right before church. (You would never guess that was about to happen in about five minutes following this picture)

That night he threw up all over his crib. I only had to scrub the throw-up out the of the latter (you're the best, Cody!!) but I think it's safe to say that was my least favorite thing. It might have even been worse than throwing up myself, which came a couple days later.

Least Favorite - Pulling hair. Steven decided pulling hair was his favorite past time, especially Olive's beautiful blond curls. This made it almost impossible to keep them next to each other (like in a stroller) or to really let him around her at all unsupervised.

Least Favorite - Driving home. The drive there was really not as bad as I thought it would be, even going on about 4 hours of sleep. We made good time and Steven was really not that unhappy. The drive home, however, was filled with taking the long way, getting lost, taking an even longer way, getting a ticket, crying, Steven having a huge blowout, and finally getting home at 3 am. No bueno.

Overall, though, it was pretty much just an awesome trip all around. I loved being able to spend time with my sister and Cody, too!

11 Months

2011-03-06T21:51:00.004-07:00

I'm not really sure when Steven turned 11 months, but it happened sometime in the last week :) He's doing great, and is such a happy guy, especially when he's around people besides us. I can tell he's going to be quite the social butterfly. Something that I'm sure has contributed to him having some not so happy moments recently is the fact that he has 4 teeth coming in right now. Poor guy! He loves to play with our cell phones, and seems to know a lot about them already! As I was importing some pictures from my phone the other day I discovered this one...

I'm not even sure how to take these on-screen shots, but apparently Steven does! He's getting closer to being able to stand up on his own, but doesn't seem in a huge hurry to conquer that milestone.

He also has starting doing some other cute things. When he gets really excited (or if I do it first) he scrunches up his nose and breathes really fast through it. It kind of reminds me of something that my family used to do (I can't remember why... I guess it was an inside joke I was somehow never a part of)

Also, just today when we were taking his pictures, we were trying to figure out the best way to pose him and discovered the rocking chair worked well. We also discovered he likes rocking in it. Now, there have been a few injuries in my family that I know of involving rocking chairs, so I don't plan on letting him do this often, but it was still cute.

Trip

2011-03-05T13:32:00.003-07:00

I just got back from a trip to IL for a few days. It wasn't the happiest of reasons to go home (my Grandma passed away), but as always, it was great to see my family. All of my sibling came except for Jennie (who is due on the 12th, so that would not have been a good idea!) and we also go to see Aunts, Uncles and Cousins. It was great! Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera, so I just took a few pictures/videos with my phone. Everyone loved Steven. It was really great to have him there. I was a little unsure if a funeral was the best place for a baby, and though it was hard to keep him quiet all the time, he brought a lot of joy to an otherwise very sad situation. It was impossible for people not to smile at him, and he always smiles back. He started reaching for everyone when he was being held, and ended up just being passed around between everyone. I really got a break because everyone was so great and helped take care of him. Anyway, I wish I would have taken more pictures/videos, but this first one is of Hillary playing with him at my Grandma's house. I just thought it was super cute :)

This next one is of Steven with my Uncle Perry. He had just been doing his Donald Duck voice, which Steven loved, but I didn't catch it. I still thought this was precious, though.

The flight there and back were a little difficult, however. On the flight there, Steven was pretty happy most of the time, but didn't sleep at all. That was no good, since we didn't get into St Louis until 11:45. The night before the flight back, Kelly and PJ were nice enough to let us stay with them so we didn't have to wake up so early, but I still had to wake Steven up before 6, which he didn't love. Once we got on the plane, I started thinking a replica of the flight there wouldn't be so bad. I wasn't that lucky. Steven was really unhappy and I could tell he was just exhausted. Unfortunately, Steven will almost never fall asleep with me holding him. So instead, he screamed for probably 45 mins straight. I didn't want him to disturb the entire plane, so I put my hand over his mouth a lot to try and muffle the sound. I'm sure that didn't sound very good either, though. Finally, after 45 mins of him screaming, me rocking back and forth and trying everything I could think of to comfort him, he finally wore himself out. With him looking like this, I almost forgot what a terror he had been just a few mins before.

At that point, he luckily slept for almost the rest of the flight, and was much happier when he woke up.

Overall, it was a really good trip. Pretty exhausting both physically and emotionally, but good.

Steven's favorite things

2011-02-16T23:17:00.004-07:00

Here are some of Steven's favorite things:

He LOVES eating. All the time. In fact, he is so impatient when it comes to eating. In between every bite, he basically yells at me. He also can't stand it when we're eating and he's not, even if I just fed him. So, we give him whatever we have. Once, it happened to be a pickle. He didn't seem to mind at all.

He also loves the bath/shower. Recently, I realized that it was much easier to just bring him in the shower with me than trying to shower while he was napping (since that usually wakes him up for some reason). I found out that he loves it and so does double duty in letting me shower and keeping him very happy. Also, I've come up with a system where after I get out, I fill up the bath and let him play while I get ready. It works great! I think his favorite thing to do is pull everything off of the side, into the tub, and then splash a lot.

Steven loves making a clicking sound. Every time he's unhappy and I make that sounds, he smiles so big and gives me this look like, "finally! you're speaking my language" and then he always makes the sound back to me. In fact, I was watching this video on my phone earlier and he heard himself making the noise, and so from the back seat of the car, he started clicking too :)

Last of all, Steven loves being read to! He especially loves it when TJ reads because he does it in a much more entertaining way than I do...

Me stuff

2011-02-11T20:38:00.006-07:00

So I don't love doing posts about me... before I had Steven, I had a really hard time finding things to blog about. Anyway, there are a couple of things I wanted to post, though, that are basically just about me. So, bear with me...

First of all, when I was visiting my sister over christmas, she re-taught me how to knit. It was great! I loved doing it, and this is the finished product! Sorry about the weird pictures... it was really hard to take pictures of myself.

This next thing isn't so much about me, I guess. My sister Jennie, knowing my love of scarves, made me this for christmas. I love it! She wanted me to take some pictures for her to put up on her blog (shapeofaspoon.blogspot.com - check it out! It's awesome) and so I thought I'd put them up on here too.

10 Months

2011-02-02T15:21:00.004-07:00

Only two more months till Steven is a year old! It's happening so fast! I keep looking at pictures of him when he was first born and I can't believe how much he has grown! It just makes me so excited to see what he will become. One thing I really miss about when he was really little was when he used to snuggle with me. He doesn't do it very often anymore, but every once in a while, when he's really tired, he still snuggles, and I love it.

Anyway, here are some pictures we took... We tried putting some gel in his hair and it made it really curly. We thought it was so cute!! So, we might have gone a little overboard with the pictures

Sock in Mouth

2011-01-25T09:09:00.007-07:00

Steven's new trick is taking off his sock and sticking it in his mouth. Or, if he has no socks on, he will crawl around until he finds one. He's happiest only when he has his sock hangin out his mouth. Here are a few pictures:

Also, we finally got him a booster seat. He loves sitting in it and eating his cheerios and other fun snacks. Unfortunately half of what we put on his tray ends up on the floor beneath him... We are considering getting a dog to clean up after him.

19 Days Late....

2011-01-17T18:10:00.011-07:00

So Steven is now officially 9 mos and 19 days old... I haven't been doing very well at keeping up with the monthly updates. Also, it's getting harder and harder to take pictures of him with the little sign. I guess it might be a good thing I only have 3 more left!

We went to the doctor's for his well-check, and the pediatrician says he looks great! His stats were:

Weight - 19.4 lbs, 31st %tile

Head Circumference - 17.5 ins, 25th %tile

Length - 27.8 ins, 78th %tile

Percentage wise, he dropped in all the areas, but he is healthy and happy, so it's ok! He also has started pulling himself up on everything. It's great, but sometimes a little inconvenient. His reach is a lot farther now...

Also, Steven's been having so much fun playing with TJ's drums. It's one of his favorite things to do, especially with TJ. Anyway, here are some cute pictures of it...

TJ's birthday

2011-01-11T23:30:00.004-07:00

So here are the pictures I didn't have for my last post of TJ's birthday. I LOVE the beach. I could have spent all day, every day there... There are all sorts of things to do!! Jumping rope with kelp, collecting sea shells, drawing in the sand, going to the warf and seeing sea lions... the possibilities are endless!

More holiday stuff

2011-01-10T19:53:00.011-07:00

So I've realized that me and the holidays do not mix well with blogging. There's just too much!! I still don't even have all the pictures from our trip to Santa Cruz, but I figured I might as well do a post now since it's already going to be so long.

So TJ got to California on the 21st, just in time for his birthday the next day! We spent it exploring Santa Cruz, which was really fun! We went to the beach, saw some sea lions, and other fun stuff. These are the pictures I don't have, so I'll put them up as soon as I get them. I did take some pictures of the little party we had for him that night, though. Jennie made him a super yummy cake that he's been bugging me to make ever since.

The next day TJ and I went to San Francisco. We loved it! We did the normal tourist stuff, and also went to this super yummy restaurant I found on the Food Network. Also, while we were there, we got a new camera!! Our camera wasn't working very well anymore, and after using Kelly's over thanksgiving and Jennie's while I was with her, I just couldn't go back to a point-and-shoot. So, we have a lot more pictures from that point on in our trip.

Christmas eve we made a trip to Monterey to go to the Aquarium. It was really fun! My Dad and I touched a ray, we saw a man with his dog on his surf board, and Steven saw fish for the first time.

Christmas was super fun. Even though TJ and I didn't have presents for each other, (the camera was both of our birthdays+Christmas) we still got stuff from my parents and Junie :)

So, after another really long car drive home, we are ready to stay put for a while! We had some presents waiting at home for us too, though, so we basically got 2 Christmases!

Catching up

2010-12-14T22:17:00.005-07:00

So first, here are some more pictures from last week when Jennie, Junie and Olive were visiting that Jennie took with her camera...

Also, we went to a ward christmas party for our ward on wednesday and Steven saw Santa for the first time! :) I don't think I was actually that exctied about Santa, just excited about a cute photo opportunity.

Steven and I are now in California. We're having a great time here, but we miss TJ lots... He'll meet us out here on the 21st. We can't wait! Until today, it's been gorgeous here. It rained all day today, but it didn't bother me that much with all the nice weather we had before. On Sunday, after church, we went home and got stuff for dinner and then headed to the beach. It was amazing. I never want to leave....

The kids took a bath together so we of course had to get some pictures :)

Oh Christmas Tree

2010-12-07T22:23:00.011-07:00

I was so excited to put the christmas tree up this year, and thought it would be really fun to wait to do it until my sister Jennie and her two kids got here. The more the merrier, especially with a 2 yr old and a 4 yr old involved. So on saturday, Junie helped TJ put the tree together,

Steven and Olive helped with the lights,

Olive was so excited to put up ornaments,

and we all helped Steven open up his ornament and put it on the tree

Afterwards, TJ read Steven a book. It was so cute :)

Other than that, we've had a great week so far just hanging out!!

(just to explain, this nifty little thing Steven is holding is something we got from Jennie that we can put solid food in and he can smoosh until he can suck it out of the little holes in the mesh)

Let the Christmas cards begin!

2010-12-05T18:03:00.008-07:00

Christmas cards are one of my favorite things about Christmas. It's actually the way I kept track of TJ over the years, so we can thank them for getting us together. This year, Shutterfly is giving away 50 free christmas cards for posting about them, so I jumped at the opportunity. I've actually had a few experiences with Shutterfly at this point, and I love them! For the past two years we've had our Rands Family Reunion. All of us always take lots and lots of picture there which is great! On Shutterfly, you can make share sites which is a great way for us to put all of our pictures together and then put them into a book. So now, I have two great books from our family reunion, which I love!

I guess now that we have a kid, it's time to start sending holiday cards out. They have awesome ones! There have been a few times when I've used them to send cards to people that I want to make a little more personal. It's fun because I can put a picture of the person on the front of it! Here are a few of my favorite christmas ones...

They have really cute ideas for great little gifts for people too! There are photo calendars

and mugs to just name a few. I'm excited to take advantage of all the options they have!

Christmas Giving

2010-12-02T11:17:00.004-07:00

So I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've ever posted twice in one day, but I just really wanted to post about this. My friend Rosalyn who took our family pictures is having a contest right now on her blog about Christmas Giving. You can read about it here: http://rosalynphotography.blogspot.com/2010/12/gift-for-giving.html

Anyway, I decided to enter and it reminded me of an awesome tradition that we had in my family growing up. My favorite tradition was doing the 12 Days of Christmas. It was this awesome thing that my parents came up with where they would make up rhymes for each of the "days of christmas" involving everything from canned pears to kazoos. We would then pick out 2 or 3 families that we thought could benefit from it. Sometimes it was a new family in our ward, or a friend from school. Then, on December 13th, the fun began! Each night, we would take our "gift" and poem to their house, ring the doorbell, and run/hide. Growing up, being the runner was the thing we all wanted to do. So, that would go on for 11 nights as we tried our best not to get caught or give away who we were. Then, on night twelve, Christmas Eve, we did everything the same as usual, but this time, at the end of our poem we said Love, The Rands. That last gift was the best, too. It was a print that my sister had done of the Baby Jesus in pointillism. It was our way of sharing the gospel and the true Christmas spirit with those around us. It was something I'll never forget, and an amazing way that my parents instilled the spirit of service in all of us. I haven't done this yet since I've left home, but I definitely want to! It's hard since we usually travel over christmas, but I am determined to make time for it.

Thanksgiving + 8 months

2010-12-02T08:16:00.022-07:00

This is gonna be a long one...

We all went to Indiana for Thanksgiving to spend time with TJ's family. I was really excited about it, but a little nervous about how Steven was going to do on the plane and how the time change would effect him, etc. We traveled to the midwest with him once before, but he was only 3 months old, and so was still sleeping all the time so it wasn't as big of a deal. The plane ride definitely could have gone better, and worse. He basically starting crying as soon as we got on the plane. We could sporadically keep him entertained, but he would still whine, and I knew he just needed to go to sleep. There was a lady on the plane that even offered to walk around with him for a little while to give us a break. Finally, I got him to sleep, and even though he didn't sleep for very long, it definitely helped! We had been super lucky and the airline people at the gate had moved some people around so we could have a row to ourselves. It was obviously very helpful!

When we got there, he was so excited to see all his family! It was so cute. The Wilson's had only met him once, so he was still pretty new to them. He met Kate for the first time and gave her kisses (kind of) but then got very distracted with her bow.

On Tuesday, we all went to the Children's Museum in Indianapolis. It was super fun for the kids and the adults.

Thanksgiving was so much fun, filled with deep frying a turkey in the rain, making frog-eye salad, Steven's first thanksgiving meal (out of baby food) and opening ornaments from the cousins.

We had our first mix-up with baby Steven and Uncle Steve... Even though I knew Steven didn't have an ornament (it was from the Detro's and we didn't bring it with us), without even thinking, I watched while he opened a gift addressed to Steven. When he opened it to find glass bottles, we were all a little confused. Then, I used my head, and realized he must have opened something for Uncle Steve. I'm sure this won't be the last time they get mixed up...

He was still very happy though! All he wanted to play with was the wrapping paper.

On friday we got some family pictures taken. It was short and sweet since the kids (and Uncle Steve) were not too happy with the chilly weather.

I had helped Katy and Kelly make pajamas for the little kids and they turned out super cute! I was just sad I didn't get a pair... again! ;)

I thought it was the cutest thing that Dylan was holding Steven's hand!

And then we did the circle game! Even the Detro's got to join us via google chat. And there was some awesome stuff this year too! I guess all that black friday shopping really paid off, even if TJ and I did almost die and everyone was very sleep deprived...

So that was Thanksgiving! We were so sad to leave and come home, especially because that meant being in the car that Jill and Randy are lending us (how nice is that??) for 30 hours! The drive wasn't horrible, though, and Steven did a lot better than expected. He slept most of the time, and only spent about 3 hrs total crying. Hopefully that means that he'll do well when I drive to CA with my sister Jennie and her two kids in a little over a week.

The last order of business is that Steven is now 8 months old! I seriously can't believe how fast he's growing!! He's getting better and better and crawling every day, is getting into everything, makes the funniest noises, and has starting pulling himself up on things. It's so much fun to watch him discover new things. He is just the best little guy :) It's getting harder and harder to take picture's of him with his sign though. I've resorted (as you can see) to just putting it off to the side and trying to get both of them in the picture. oh well.

Owie

2010-11-18T23:19:00.002-07:00

Steven go his first "owie" today... It was so sad! We haven't done a very good job of baby-proofing the apartment yet, and TJ's djembe is lying on it's side on the floor right now, blocking access to the DVD player. Steven likes playing with the djembe, which usually is fine, but recently he's been trying to pull himself up on things. Today he tried to pull himself up on the djembe. Since it's round, he kind of slipped off the side of it and must have caught his eye on one of the tuning pegs or something. He was crying so hard! He was having a rough day already and crying at everything, so I didn't even realize what had happened till probably 15 mins later when I noticed above his eye was all red. It's already looking tons better, but I was so sad for him! I guess I really need to figure out this whole baby-proof thing...

Videos

2010-11-14T20:01:00.002-07:00

So we've taken a lot of videos over the past few days, so I wanted to share them!

This fist one is what happens when Steven starts getting tired in his Jumper... I love the swaying back and forth.

The next one is of Steven and TJ watching the Penn State game on saturday. He was so excited!! :)

And then this last one is what Steven does basically whenever he sees a soda can. I'm pretty sure he's gonna be addicted when he grows up...

First Football Game

2010-11-11T15:14:00.003-07:00

On Saturday a couple friends from Idaho were in Provo to go to the BYU game. They had some extra tickets, so Steven and I got to go too! Unfortunately TJ was working so he didn't get to come. It seemed a little wrong that Steven got taken to his first football game by his Mom, but I guess I'm just that cool :)

Andi holding Baby Steve. I was really suprised at how well he did. We only left like 10 mins early, and that was only because BYU was up 55-0

The poor guy was so tired afterwards!!

So much...

2010-11-04T23:26:00.010-06:00

So I've definitely been putting off doing a post because I've gotten so behind! I've had things to update it with pretty much every day it seems like, so I got a little overwhelmed. So this is gonna be a long one... Prepare yourselves.

Last Wednesday was TJ's night off, so we decided we needed to do something festive! So, we got together with our friends Katie and Mckay and carved pumpkins. It was so fun! I honestly don't remember the last time I did that, if I even ever did!

Saturday was football, of course, and Steven and TJ spent some time bonding...

TJ went to work that night where they were having a costume contest. He dressed up as a Mexican Banana. Don't ask...

I went with Steven over to Lyndsay's for dinner and to hang out while the kids went trick-or-treating. I didn't get dressed up, but I had to dress Steven up, even though he didn't go out with them. It's the principle of the thing! I also couldn't let this amazing cape go to waste! (thanks Katy!)

I just thought this video was super cute. He's making some crazy faces! I think he might have been trying real hard to fly away...

He also had fun while we were there playing with Andrew. I'm not sure how much Andrew actually liked it, though...

Oh, also, as I was going through his clothes on saturday night, I realized he had another halloween costume. Since sunday was technically halloween, TJ decided he had to wear it. He was so cute...

Sunday night we went to see our friends Kami and Ty and have dinner with them. They love baby Steve and are so cute with him!! Oh, and with all the pictures we were taking of him on sunday, I forgot to take an actual "7 Month" one. I can't decide if I should still take a late one...

Yesterday, I had to go to Deseret book, and while I was there, I saw this adorable Book of Mormon ABCs book. It might be a little advanced for Steven still, but there's no harm in getting them started young! And he really seems to like it!

SO, to wrap up this ridiculously long post, most importantly of all... STEVEN IS CRAWLING! We actually used the book as bait to get him to crawl to us and it worked great! We are so excited, even though I actually have to baby-proof our apartment now.

We tried it again, later, using food, and that seemed to be a pretty strong incentive too :) He's obviously not great at it yet, but he seriously is improving every time he does it. I just can't believe it!!

Hopefully everyone's still awake after reading this post, and I promise I'll do a better job of keeping up!

Trip to Rexburg

2010-10-25T21:52:00.004-06:00

TJ and I got to go up to Rexburg this weekend, and it was so fun! The actual reason we went up there was so that TJ could train at the outlet up there. We also got to visit the Elsworths! It was awesome. We played lots of games like always. The boys got a little into it...

We also met Brenna for the first time and she is such a cutie! I just can't even remember Steven being that little.

It was so good to be able to spend time with them. We miss them tons! We figure that in order to guarantee that we never lose touch, Steven has to marry either Lizzy or Brenna. We all know how well marriages works out when they meet when they're little... :)

Stats and Videos

2010-10-19T18:57:00.006-06:00

I took Steven in for his 6 month well check yesterday and it was not a very fun visit. He got four shots plus some drops. Then on top of all that, the Dr was a little worried about a rash he had (which I'm pretty sure isn't really a rash since it's been there forever) and so wanted to get some blood drawn. That was also not fun. By 10:00 am, both baby and mommy were in desperate need of a nap! Anyway, here are his stats: he weighs 18.54 lbs (58.7 %tile), is 27.7 ins long (80.7%tile), and his head circumference is 17.3 ins (45.8 %tile). So he's still doing pretty good I think! He dropped to a lower percentile in weight, but went up in everything else! So I'm glad we're feeding him solids. Hopefully that will help keep his weight up. He's doing better with eating, too. Or, at least he did once, and we have proof of it! Every time since then, though, hasn't been so great. (PS Sorry about the videos... I took them all on my phone so they don't go full size)

Steven also started making a new noise! It's kind of clicking, and he does it all the time now.

He's also doing great sitting up! He still needs to have padding around him, but he stays up for a long time!

He's still sleeping in crazy positions, too. I walked in on this one the other night...

This last video is for Kelly... just to show how much Steve loves his Elephant! He plays with it pretty much every time he's in his crib :)

So close!!

2010-10-15T13:07:00.003-06:00

Steven is so close to crawling!! On Wednesday, it was TJ's day off and so we went with some friends to a haunted house. When we were about to leave Steven with the babysitter, he starting getting up on his knees and rocking back and forth. We seriously considered staying home at that point because we were convinced he was going to crawl for the first time while we were gone. Well, that didn't happen, but he's been getting up on his knees all the time! It's great. And, as you can see from this video, tries to push himself forward, but hasn't quite figured out how to move his hands, too. I'm working on it with him, though.

Also, we broke down and got one of those jumperoo things on monday. It was a little expensive, but I think it was a great investment. Steven loves it! I can seriously leave him in it for like 45 mins and he's perfectly happy. Also, it was the cutest thing... The other day I had him in it and I was running around trying to get some things done. All of a sudden, I didn't hear him jumping anymore for a few mins, so I came to check on him. I found him just staring out the window at the kids playing outside. I don't know why, but I thought it was so cute how mesmerized he was by what was going on out there. I took a video of it, but realized it wouldn't be that exciting to anyone else since it's just of him staring out the window. So here's a video of him jumping in it instead.

6 Months!!

2010-10-02T21:45:00.013-06:00

Oh my goodness... Steven is 6 Months old!! I just can't believe it. That's half a year! It's just crazy! I haven't taken him into the doctor's yet, so I'll have to do another post with his stats. He's doing great, though! He's getting so much better at sitting up, finally starting to eat... kind of, and even starting to show signs of crawling!! I just love him so much. It's basically impossible not to be happy around him. This might sound cheesy, but he really makes me want to be a better person so I can be a better Mom for him.

So here is the proof that he's maybe starting to think about crawling. It may not look like much, but I was so excited!! (try to ignore his infamous annoying noise he's making the entire time. I swear, that noise is the only bad thing about this baby, but man does it drive me crazy!)

A couple other fun things that have happened recently... Steven won't stop rolling over at this point. It's pretty ridiculous. I went to see Lyndsay a little while ago, and as soon as I laid Steven down next to Andrew, he rolled over, basically on top of him! Poor Andrew! I guess I'm going to have to be more careful putting him next to other babies from now on!

Also, I went to my friends Bachelorette party last night, and I couldn't find a sitter, so I ended up bringing Steven. It felt a little weird, but I'm sure he felt super cool being the only boy there and getting tons of attention from pretty girls :)

Last of all, as requested, here are the rest of our family pictures. There are a lot of them, and they're not as good as the other ones, so I'm making them smaller...

Family Pictures

2010-09-28T22:28:00.008-06:00

Last week, we were so lucky to be able to have my friend, Rosalyn, take some family pictures as a late "baby shower" gift. She did such an great job. Steven did pretty well, although he usually smiles all the time, and we had a hard time getting him to do it at all. Oh well, I guess that's how it usually goes... they do cute things till you bring out the camera. Anyway, I pretty much think Rosalyn's the coolest, most talented person ever. All of them are amazing, so here are some of my favorites... (sorry there are so many, but I just couldn't narrow it down any more than this!!) Thanks Ros!

Crazy Sleeper!!

2010-09-26T23:31:00.000-06:00

Our new favorite thing to take pictures of is Steven sleeping. We just think it's so hilarious all the different positions he gets in and the moving around he does. Anyway, so here are a few examples (all taken with my new iPhone!!!) :)

And 5 mins later....

Football season!!

2010-09-19T13:27:00.001-06:00

Last Saturday we were finally able to bask in the wonderfulness of football season. We spent the entire day at our friends house watching football on their 96" projector screen. It was awesome. We had especially wanted to go up there because these friends are huge Alabama fans, and Alabama was playing Penn State. So, we came all decked out in our PSU gear! Even though really none of the games went like we wanted them too, it was a really fun day!

Also, we just took this video like 10 mins ago... I know it's so gross and we stopped him, but only after we got a video of it. I thought it was the funniest thing. He's sucking on everything now! Just earlier today, I was holding him and he started sucking on, first, my shoulder, and then, my neck! Crazy boy...

Football, ducks, and a surprise!

2010-09-09T20:12:00.001-06:00

TJ has been "working" with Steven and his football that Uncle Steve gave him. This is as far as he's gotten. I guess there's still some work to be done. As you can see, he likes holding other things too, like the remote :)

Also, I've been going on walks every other morning with my friend Jessica and her little girl Morgan. The other day, she wanted to go feed the ducks so I of course had to grab the camera. Steven obviously didn't do much but look at them, but Morgan kept saying "Steven" and handing him pieces of bread. It was cute. And I got some cute pictures too :)

So, last of all, the surprise is... we buzzed Steven's hair. I blame it on all the people talking about how out of control it was and saying it looked like a bad toupee. So, because of all those comments, I got it in my head that it would be better to cut it all off so that it would grow back more evenly and make his bald spot not so noticeable. And, I had to fight TJ to do it. Obviously, he's still adorable, but I do miss his hair :( He looks a lot like his daddy now!

5 Months

2010-09-04T12:57:00.000-06:00

Wow! It's been a while since I've done an update. Maybe two excuses are that school has now started and I also started a new job 3 weeks ago. I don't know if that's really the reason, but life has been a little busier recently.

Steven is now 5 months old!! Crazy how time flies... I tried to take pictures of him holding his little sign, but he was much more interested in playing with the paper/putting it in his mouth than anything else, including looking at the camera.

I see that my last post was about Steven finally rolling over. Well, he does it all the time now - when he's laying on his mat right after he eats (and then proceeds to spit up everything he just ate) and my favorite is when he's going down for a nap or for bed at night. In fact, I just put him down for a nap and he's already screaming because he's stuck on his stomach. That's the bad part - he can't roll back over onto his back and he doesn't like being on his tummy. So I'm working on it with him... all the time! Still no progress, but hopefully he'll learn how to do it soon so I don't have to flip him over every 30 seconds. Even though I keep flipping him over, he usually ends up falling asleep on his stomach anyway...

On wednesday, we also fed him solids for the first time! I'm not sure if he actually ate any of it though... Most of it seemed to come right out. It's obviously gonna take a while for him to get used to it.

Mostly because we started him on solids, we decided a Bumbo would be a good addition to our family. So I went and picked one up this morning. He seems to like it! Whoever came up with these was genius!!

These are just a couple random pictures we've taken over the past 3 weeks. He got the adorable checkered outfit from our friend Jen when she and her family came to visit. I took the other one just because it looked kind of like he got his pacifier and the elephant's foot confused...

Finally!!!

2010-08-21T12:59:00.001-06:00

Guess what?? Steven rolled over for the first time about 20 mins ago!! We're so excited. He did it pretty much the whole way (he just didn't stay rolled over for very long), so then I got out the camera and got a video of him doing it again, but so much better! Hopefully he keeps it up :)

and he was so nice to pose for the camera after he was done...

Summer Fun

2010-08-13T20:22:00.000-06:00

We've been having lots of fun so far this summer, including spending lots of time with family. Recently, TJ's mom, sister Katy, Grandparents, and Uncle Jack have visited/are visiting. Here's a picture of us all at Pizza Pie Cafe (a must stop when family's in town)

We also went boating with TJ's professor Dr Brough and his wife. It was a lot more fun than expected... TJ did a really good job waterskiing. He made some really awesome faces, too. I almost did a good job wakeboarding... but not quite. We both had fun tubing though! Steven did pretty well. It was right during nap time, so he was fussy until he fell asleep for a little while. The rest of the time he was great though. His life jacket was a little big, but I thought it looked really cute :)

Steven went bowling for the first time! If you ask me, though, he looks a little scared of the bowling ball.

And here's more laughing... gotta love it :)

And he's doing better sitting up, too!!

4 Months!

2010-08-07T16:38:00.000-06:00

Steven is now 4 months old!! (well, 4 months and a week at this point) We took him in for his well check on thursday and everything went well. He weighs 16 lbs 9 oz (80th %tile), is 25.75 ins long (77th %tile), and his head circumference is 16.5 ins (38th %tile). So in every area except for head size, he's above average. The chart says he had a big growth spirt, but that could just be because the nurse measured him wrong last time. He had to get 2 shots, which was no fun, but he actually didn't do to bad. He started crying after the second one, but only took a couple mins to calm down. He was pretty worn out the next day, though.

Here are some other pictures from throughout the week...

He seems to be getting nervous when TJ carries him around in his car seat. Here he is holding on for dear life!

He managed to almost pull his gym thing on top of him the other day...

He got his first hair cut!! TJ wasn't too excited about it, but I think it looks cute (you can hardly tell a difference)

He had fun playing with Aunt Katy, and I think he felt super cool when she spiked his hair.

Here's a picture of him with his cousin Andrew who is 4 weeks old... He looks so chunky compared to him!

He's started hanging out on his side a lot and grabbing his feet. I think it's so cute and I'm just waiting for him to actually start rolling over!

Here's a video of him laughing, which he's doing a lot more now.

We finally took the little net thing out of his bath so he's sitting up in it more now. I guess he liked that he could splash around in it more...

Pictures

2010-07-30T20:08:00.001-06:00

So I've had some cute pictures that I wanted to post on the blog for a while now, but I just couldn't really think of much to say about them. I guess people really care more about the pictures anyway, though, so enjoy!

Steven's still working on sitting up. He does a pretty good job most of the time, though after a while he started losing it...

slowly falling over...

He's still wiggling off his mat all the time. It's crazy! I put him down, and when I come back he's definitely not where I left him!

He's starting to not hate tummy time so much, and is getting really good at holding his head up and pushing himself up.

This picture is from when we went to Lyndsay's house when Jill, Katy, Jack and Brody got there. I still think it's the cutest thing that all the cousins are always so excited to see Steven! They love playing with him, and he loves it too!

Steven has starting spitting so much ALL THE TIME! It's kind of ridiculous, but so cute :)

The End of the Trip...

2010-07-21T18:36:00.000-06:00

After TJ went home, I went on to my parents house where I helped them with some things they needed to get done for their kitchen remodel. I stripped some wall paper and then helped them take down their kitchen cabinets. Before we could even do that, though, we had to take everything out of the cabinets and find places to stack it (like on top of the pool table and chests in the family room). It was quite an adventure. At this point, they've also torn up the linoleum and knocked down the two walls that the cabinets were on. Next, they're putting in hard wood floors and then new cabinets are going up. I'm so excited to see the finished product!

On Wednesday, we went to visit my friend Lindsay (I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of this) and it was so good to see her! We spent the night there, and went on the next day to my grandma's house. It took us about 2 hours longer than it should have, due to traffic, but we finally got there! While we were there we saw all of my aunts and uncles and a few of my cousins too. It was great and they all loved Steven!

Here's my mom, Grandma, Steven, and Me - 4 generations

Mom, Aunt Penny, Uncle Perry, Steven, Aunt Tanya, and Grandma in front

The next afternoon, we left for the airport. I had realized a few days before that since I was flying out of St. Louis, that meant we could go visit Kelly and her family! We had a great time and Brynn and Tyler were so cute with Steven. Tyler kept saying "I love this Baby" (but if you imagine it in Tyler's voice, it's even cuter) and they all wanted to hold him and play with him. They are going to be so great with their new little sister when she gets here! We're so excited to get to spend more time with them in the future.

It was so fun visiting with everyone, but I'm so happy to be home now! I missed TJ so much and I know Steven did too :)

Rands Family Reunion: Part 2

2010-07-11T20:05:00.000-06:00

The rest of the reunion was really fun! On Wednesday we went on a couple bike rides. First, we were supposed to go on one around the Notre Dame campus, but before we got very far, Junie wrecked on her bike, hit her mouth really hard, and had to be rushed to the dentist by Cody and Jennie. So then, we had no guides. At that point, we just went for a ride around the lake and through a little bit of campus. While going around the lake, we came upon some people feeding swans. Apparently the swans had been there for years and so were very tame. You can't really tell in the picture, but I fed one! Then, after naps, we took another long bike ride to a pool. It took us about 45 mins to get there and probably 30 to get back. The pool was really fun, though! Steven liked it much more than the splash pad. He fussed a little at first, but then did great! He especially had fun when his cousins came and played with him. That night, the adults played Pictionary and had tons of fun! We played guys against girls and the naturally the guys ended up winning 2 games to 1.

On Thursday, we went to a place called the Children's Healthworks Museum. The kids had a blast there (I think they ended up staying for close to 5 hours) and even some of the adults found things to keep them entertained. Then that night we had a talent show. The kids put on a little skit that Nana had helped them with, Junie and Cody did this awesome dance to a You Tube video (Deceptacon - Le Tigre) and Jennie played her violin. We unfortunately didn't get many pictures of those things... TJ got a little distracted taking pictures of Steven while we were watching it.

Friday afternoon, the Whartons left. After that we had a pretty low key day. The kids played in the sprinklers and had a water balloon fight. The cousins all had tons of fun with Steven, though, and always were asking to hold him. Nathan even said that he was his cutest cousin, and that he wanted to take him home with him. Every time Olive saw him, she would stop whatever she was doing and run over to him yelling "Baby!". It was super cute.

Saturday we spent the morning packing up the cars. But, right before we were about to leave, of course, Steven had a huge blowout. It was so big that we ended up just rinsing him off in the sink and throwing away the onsie he was wearing. That always seems to happen at the most inopportune times... Then we took TJ to the airport :( and I continued back to macomb with my parents to help them tear apart their kitchen! It was so good to be able to spend time with my family! I was so glad they got to meet Steven, especially since none of them had yet except for my parents. I'm really sad I won't be able to see most of them for probably another year, but hopefully someday we'll live closer!!

Rands Family Reunion: Part 1

2010-07-06T18:14:00.000-06:00

It's been a very eventful couple of days for all of us! On sunday, we all flew from Salt Lake to Chicago, and it was Steven's first time flying! He did so well. He just slept on a pillow on our lap most of the time, and didn't even fuss that much at all! All went great until the last five minutes or so... I was feeding him as we descended into Chicago and he was fussing a little bit and then threw up all over us as we landed. Oh well. It still went a lot better than expected. It was also really fun because we saw so many fireworks being set off on our way from Chicago to South Bend.

Monday was blueberry picking. It was SO hot and humid (something we're not used to anymore) but we still had a great time and are thoroughly enjoying the fruits of our labor :) Steven fell asleep pretty soon after we started and so I set him down so he wouldn't be so hot. I was amazed he stayed asleep until we left. After we got home, my niece Juniper asked me to paint her fingernails and toenails. Of course, after I had painted her nails, everyone else wanted theirs painted too! It was much more of a feat than it would have been with the Peper family and their 2 girls...

Today we went to a splash pad (pictures of this will follow in a later post) which Steven wasn't a big fan of. The water was a little cold for him, I think. Then we went to the South Bend Chocolate Factory and went on a tour. It could have been a lot more enjoyable, but we had to wait 45 mins for the tour to start and it was so hot in there. We all got to wear awesome hair nets, though, so that made it all worth it. Steven fell asleep after not to long, even though he was basically sitting up in the sling. I guess he was pretty wiped out... We've all had lots of fun so far and look forward to the rest of the week!

¡¡¡Tres Meses!!!

2010-07-01T22:53:00.000-06:00

Baby Steve is 3 Months old! He is getting cuter and cuter every day. I love watching him make new discoveries and learn new things. For instance, we've started putting him under this... toy (I don't even know what to call it), and he loves it! He has started grabbing the toys that hang down and swats at them too. Also, he scoots everywhere! As you can see in the pictures, I start him out in the middle (shown in picture #1), and the next time I look at him he's half-way off the mat or has turned himself sideways (pictures #2 and #3). It's hilarious! He's also still talking and laughing up a storm. I feel so lucky that I get to stay home and spend so much time with him.

Busy Busy

2010-06-22T00:06:00.000-06:00

I know it's been a while since my last update, but I honestly didn't have almost anything to update the blog about. Then, this past week, a ton happened! So here we go...

TJ and I drove up to Squaw Peak one night to look at the view. On the way up there, we saw something pretty amazing...

Steven has now starting smiling all the time! I love it so much

My parents came to visit over the weekend and we decided it was a perfect time to go hiking! It was so much fun! TJ forgot to put on sunscreen and so tried another tactic to protect his neck from getting burned.

We saw some people rock climbing and I started wishing I was doing it... So, when I found a good spot, I couldn't help but do a little climbing myself! This picture doesn't show it very well, but I got pretty high!

Steven found it very relaxing

We had a really fun time and it was so gorgeous! We decided we're definitely going to have to do a lot more hiking this summer.

Also, while my parents were here, my Mom got some sewing projects done that we had talked about when she was here after steven was born. I, of course, hadn't gotten them done. I'm so glad she did though because I think they're so cute!

Then, on friday, my best friend from back home got married! It was so exciting!! TJ and I went to the sealing and then stuck around for the reception afterward. It was beautiful and she was beautiful and we all had so much fun.

Steven even made a new friend while we were taking pictures outside the temple. He honestly wouldn't leave Steven alone! His Mom kept taking him away, and he would come running back. Eventually, however, it got a little out of hand and he started trying to shake the car seat, so we had to keep a close eye on him...

Then, father's day was so much fun too! I took some pictures of Steven and I to put on a card for TJ.

Last of all, TJ's been working really hard to get Steven to sit up. I'm not really sure how much this video means... I kind of think TJ just balanced him the right way. But who knows! Maybe our child's just even more amazing than we realized! Oh, and I don't know why the movie is sideways... I definitely didn't record it that way!

Stats

2010-06-02T23:42:00.000-06:00

We went to the Doctor's today for Steven's 2 month check-up. The Doctor says he looks great! He now weighs 13.27 lbs and is in the 84th percentile! I guess I don't have to worry about him not eating enough! His head circumference is 15.77 in which puts him in the 52nd percentile. Now for length, the nurse only measured him at 22.5 in which only puts him in the 33rd percentile. I, however, would have to dispute that finding. The way she measured him was by laying him on the bed that has that paper cover on it, and then marking where his head and feet were, then measuring between those marks. After she did that, though, I layed him back down, and his feet reach at least an inch past where she marked. I'm not bitter though. I just know my baby's better than the 33rd percentile and that's all that counts, right?

Anyway, after all that was done and the doctor had checked on him, it was time for the sad part - the shots. It was probably the saddest thing ever. Steven really isn't a crier (which I am so grateful for) and so I was not prepared for what was coming. He cried SO HARD and it was the worst thing ever. I wanted to punch the nurse for making my baby cry that much. I started tearing up, it was so bad. Not that anyone, like my husband, was there to comfort me. No, no. TJ was cowering in the corner avoiding the needles and his terrorized child and heartbroken wife. It's ok though. We just see now who's going to teach our children to be brave...

ANYWAY, overall, it wasn't too bad of a day. And now, to make this post a little more interesting, here's a picture and a little video of my adorable child taken a few days ago. I'm really just looking for an excuse to post these...

2 Months!

2010-06-02T00:06:00.000-06:00

I can't believe it's been two months!! It's kind of a weird feeling because that seems like so long, and yet not so long all at the same time. Looking back at pictures from the hospital, he's grown so much! He's baby-talking all the time now and I think it's the cutest thing ever. I love the fact that he's more alert every day so I can actually interact with him. I feel like he might actually be starting to have some faint idea who I am... I hope. :)

Doesn't he look so much more grown up compared to the first week we brought him home?

And he pretty much has the cutest Dad ever, too... and makes the cutest little super hero in his cool little super hero cape that Katy made him for Christmas.

It's just fun having my tiny little super guy around :)

Thumb Sucking

2010-05-26T22:51:00.000-06:00

Steven's been getting close to sucking his thumb for a while now, but mostly just sucks on his hand. Then, last night, I went in to get him up to feed him, and there he was, full on sucking his thumb. Now he's doing it all the time! I haven't decided if I want this habit to continue, although it helps him comfort himself when his pacifier falls out. I sure do think it's cute, though!

Cutie

2010-05-20T17:58:00.000-06:00

We haven't had a lot to update the blog about recently, but earlier this week we went on a trip up to Rexburg. This would have been the perfect opportunity to take some pictures and do an update, but, we of course forgot our camera. I was so mad! It was a really fun trip, though. We stayed with our friends, Jen and Sam (and their little girl, Elizabeth) and also got to see some of our other friends that we haven't seen for a while. It was so much fun! The coolest thing was watching Elizabeth play with Steven. She kept giving him hugs and kisses and trying to hold him. It was adorable!

Besides that, things have been going really well with Steven. He's still having a pretty hard time nursing, so that's a struggle, but besides that he's amazing!! Plus, he's started sleeping for a straight six hours at night. It's amazing! He's starting to smile all the time and making cute little noises. I actually took a couple videos of him. It's nothing huge, but I thought it was cute. The shirt says it all :)

Here are a couple other pictures I took of him. We wanted to take some outside to show the crazy snow we got today (the latest measurable snow we've ever gotten, the news just said), but we ran out of time before TJ left for work. So, I just decided to take some inside. I just thought this shirt was so cute!! thanks Lyndsay :)

1 Month!!

2010-05-08T18:57:00.000-06:00

Steven is now over 1 month old! I can't believe it! He's already grown out of his newborn clothes and is so much more alert. He still spends a lot of time sleeping, but he's usually up in between at least two of his naps and so we get to spend some time interacting then. I think he might be starting to recognize me! Maybe not, but there's at least some eye contact. He's just so adorable. I can't believe how much I love him!

So here are some pictures we took of him at 1 month, though we were a little confused exactly when that was... Since he was born on the 31st and April only has 30 days, we didn't know if he turned 1 month on the 30th or the 1st. This was something I had never considered before. Any thoughts, anyone?

We also found out that he loves hanging out on the love sac. He spent basically all day there on sunday, and, let me just say, looked really cute doing it!

This is just a random cute picture that TJ took... he thought he looked like a star :)

Baby Blessing :o)

2010-04-29T23:11:00.001-06:00

Steven was blessed on Sunday and it was such an awesome experience! TJ gave an amazing blessing and Steven was so good the whole time. He didn't cry at all!

TJ had wanted to get a little baby tux for him to be blessed in. He had found some online, but put off buying one so we had to find one in a store. Unfortunately, the only tux we found was to big. We ended up getting this little outfit instead. I thought it was adorable :)

It was so great to have my parents, TJ's dad, TJ's brother, Steven, and TJ's sister, Lyndsay, all there at the blessing. Steven is obviously well loved.

Uncle Steve brought some presents for baby Steven - a little Broncos football and 3 Penn State onesies that he'll fit into just in time for football season!
It's so cute how much Lyndsay's kids love Steven. They always want to look at him and hold him. I love it!

TJ loves playing with the kids. He took them for rides around a living room until there was a little accident that ended in tears...
After that he told them he wasn't going to do it anymore because it wasn't safe. Yet, all four of them tried their hardest to convince him, even Madison who had gotten hurt a couple minutes earlier.

Steven loves hanging out with Daddy... and napping with him

Steven not only has a Mario outfit, but has a Luigi outfit too!

Steven got to spend some quality time with Papa

Nana always made him feel better

Random Stuff all rolled into one...

2010-04-23T10:12:00.000-06:00

Steven is still having a lot of problems keeping his food down and his tummy hurts a lot. When we took him to the doctor's on tuesday, she gave us some more recommendations for things to do for him, including increasing the dosage of his medicine, giving his some probiotics, and limiting his eating time. He wasn't so interested in what she was saying, so he decided to take a little nap and rolled over onto his side all by himself!

We got a swing hoping it might help, especially with the acid reflux because he would be able to nap at more of an upright angle. We ordered the swing online and were so excited when we got it! He seems to like it...

This week Steven got his first piece of mail too!! As you can tell, he was very anxious to open it.

It turned out to be his social security card, which he thought was very exciting.
He loves hanging out with his friend, Pounder...
...and his new friend, Monkey, that he got from America's mom, Silvia Ruggieri

We are also so impressed with how strong his neck is! He loves just staring up at the wedding pictures we have on our wall.

He does a really good job getting his head up, but can't control it quite as well on the way down. I'm surprised he hasn't gotten a bloody lip or anything from smashing his face into our shoulders!

"Don't look at me like that, Dad!" or possibly, "Is that all the facial hair you can grow?"

We also got to go and visit Lyndsay and her family again
...and he met Grandpa for the first time!
He had lots of fun looking and David's baby book with him. Hopefully I can make one that cool for him!

It's been a good week so far, though still pretty rough with all the spitting up he's been doing, which seems to be more consistent. I just feel so bad for him because he always seems to be in so much pain! I felt just a little less bad for him this morning, though, when he decided it would be fun to poop all over me and our bed. It was pretty disgusting. He redeemed himself a little, however, by finally peeing on Dad! He's peed on me multiple times, and now pooped on me too, but this was the first time getting TJ. Go Steven!

Rough Night

2010-04-18T19:50:00.000-06:00

So I was amazed at first at how well Steven was doing. He slept really well and could even put himself back to sleep with no problem and he hardly ever cried! That, however, has slowly gone downhill. Last night I think I finally hit my limit. He hadn't slept well all day and hadn't been eating very well either. Then, he threw up after two feedings, kept waking up even when it wasn't time for him to eat, and wouldn't stop crying or take his pacifier. I was very frustrated and tired. Luckily, my mom was here to save the day. She woke up to all the crying, told me to go back to sleep, and took Steven. It was amazing and I was actually able to sleep for a solid 2 hours until she woke me up to feed him. My mom is so great :) Needless to say, we were all a little tired today (and having 8 am church didn't help with that....) and so we all took naps! I think these two looked the cutest doing it.

We also have gone on a couple walks this week. We tried using the carrier that Jill and Randy got us, but he didn't seem to be a big fan of that, at least not yet. He did, however, love this one that my mom brought, and he falls asleep in it every time. TJ's not so excited that he prefers this one. I'm sure it doesn't have anything to do with the pattern on it...

We also took some pictures today for the Peper family letter. We tried to take them when Steven was awake, and I think he did great!

So even though it was a rough night last night, and I'm sure there are many more of those to come, I'm still so grateful for my wonderful family :)

A lot happens in a week!

2010-04-13T21:53:00.000-06:00

So I never thought I would have so much to write about in just a week, so I'll try and keep the narrative down to a minimum...

I dressed Steven up one day in a green shirt and overalls and one of TJ's friends commented that he looked like Luigi. Unfortunately, before I could get a picture of his cuteness, he had a blowout, so I had to change his clothes. So, to make up for it, we decided to dress him up like Mario the next day... We thought that David would especially like this

Also, we gave Steven his first bath! I was a little frustrated because TJ was too busy taking pictures and recording videos to really help me, so it didn't go as smoothly as it could have. As you can tell, Steven didn't like it very much. I'm happy to report, however, that my mom and I gave him another one today and it went much smoother.

He did look really cute in his towel and robe afterwards though

TJ had a busy week last week full of all sorts of concerts. After his percussion ensemble concert, there was a little get together for all the percussion students at Ron Brough's (the head of the percussion department) house. While we were there, Steven had his first experience with a musical instrument and his Daddy couldn't have been more proud. His first note was a G, quickly followed by an F...

Then, this weekend, my mom and I went to Rexburg for my friend Andi's wedding reception. It was so much fun and I not only got to see her, but also some other friends from the social work program. I also got to show Steven off to all of them

Best of all, though, we stayed the night with my best friend Jen and went to church with her family on Sunday. It was so good seeing her and Sam and Lizzy!! I think it's obvious that Steven and Lizzy are going to be best friends when they get older. Either that or Lizzy's going to beat up on him all the time... ;) Either way, they were adorable together.

Lizzy even gave Steven a hug!!

Last of all, we took Steven into the Doctors today, we thought, just to get him circumcised. We were supposed to go back in tomorrow for his two week check-up, but they decided to just get everything done today. SO, as of today, Steven weighs 9.02 lbs (62nd percentile) and is 21.6 inches long (85th percentile). So he's doing great! We can't believe how much weight he's gained!! We're so grateful we have such a healthy boy :)

Drs and clothes

2010-04-07T17:59:00.000-06:00

So it's been a pretty fun week so far. On monday we had a doctors appointment, mostly to check and make sure he still wasn't jaundiced. We also wanted to make sure he was doing ok, though, because he'd been throwing up pretty often and we were afraid he wasn't getting enough nutrients. This was obviously our first time meeting the pediatrician, but I really liked him. He seemed nice and really good at what he did. He told us Steven looked great! He also said that as long as he's pooping and peeing, we have nothing to worry about in terms of the excess spitting up. It's normal for babies, I guess. Also, they weighed him but that didn't give us to much information. When he was born he weighed 7 lbs 7 oz and the scale at the doctor's said he was already up to 7 lbs 12 oz. After a second weighing, it was decided that there must just be a discrepancy between the two scales, and so we're not really sure how much, if any, weight he's gained back. He was so good for the doctor too! He just laid there while the doctor was poking him and checking him all over. I'm more amazed every day by what a good baby he is.

Also, I dressed Steven in regular clothes for the first, and then second, time! I new he was the cutest little boy, but I had no idea he was this cute! :) The clothes swallow him, but he still is the cutest thing I've ever seen. I don't know if he loved wearing them though...

Also, we caught him sucking on his wrist. It's probably not the best habit for him to develop, but it's still so cute!

AND, he fell asleep like this yesterday and I just thought it was so adorable. Wow, I really sound a little obsessed...

Baby Steve In Action...

2010-04-04T19:48:00.000-06:00

Here are a couple of not very exciting (yet at the same time VERY exciting because they're of Baby Steve...) videos of Baby Steve. He's moving around a little and talking a bit. The second one is so Kelly can see his hands and feet.

Baby Steve's very first Easter!

2010-04-04T16:55:00.000-06:00

A few pictures of our Easter celebrations and random cute pictures of Baby Steve.

This is Steve opening his first ever Easter basket! He was very excited.

This is him hugging his new best friend.

Here he is about to open an Easter egg from his basket filled with his favorite Easter treats.

This is Julia with her Easter Basket.

It was a long day...

Tiny Little Super Guy :)

2010-04-02T20:37:00.000-06:00

So, we finally have our baby! He was born at 8:28 pm on March 31st. He was 7 lbs 7 oz, 20 inches long, and perfect. Labor was hard, but TJ was the best support person ever. I'm doing great though, and love being a mom so far. We just love our little baby Steven. All the nurses at the hospital said that he was the cutest baby there, and we agree!

We had a few visitors while we were in the hospital like my Mom (though I'm not sure if she can be considered a visitor when she was there during the whole birth), my friend Katie and her fiancee Mckay, and TJ's sister Lyndsay and her two oldest kids, Jared and Madison. We loved seeing them all and we know that Steven loved meeting them too.

We were so excited to bring him home today, and I felt so bad when TJ had to go to work. I know he would spend every minute with his baby if he could. He's already the best Dad ever, just like I knew he would be. I'm sure I'll be adding more pictures soon now that I have something so cute to take pictures of :)

Pregnant... Still

2010-03-21T21:49:00.000-06:00

So... It's been a while since I updated to blog. I've been putting it off again, waiting to get more pictures from some people. I really just need to start taking my own pictures instead of trying to get them from other people...

A while ago, I had a friend at work offer to take some pictures of TJ and me. At first I was a little confused, wondering why I would want pictures of me looking like this. She, however, said she was just trying to build up her portfolio because she's getting ready to start a photography program at school. So, since it was going to help her out, and she wasn't charging anything, I decided it wouldn't hurt. It was an interesting experience and we tried a lot of different things. We even tried a couple poses with my bare pregnant belly showing. I did not like those. They were gross. But, besides that, some turned out pretty cute! So here are a few we liked...

Also, I had my baby shower last 2 weeks ago. It was so much fun! My friend America planned it with the help of my sister-in-law Lyndsay (and the use of her house), and it was great. We played some fun games, had awesome food, and I got so many great presents! It was so much fun and everyone was so great and generous! So, here are a few pictures from that too (thanks again to Lyndsay)

So... after all these exciting things have happened surrounding my pregnancy, I'm still pregnant. My Mom is here, she's brought pretty much everything I need, my last day of work was yesterday, and so I am so ready to have this baby. And yet, here I sit, still waiting....

Crazy Day!!

2010-02-02T22:56:00.000-07:00

So first of all, I just want to say what an achievement this is! This is my 3rd posting in like 5 days! I can't believe it... Anyway, yesterday was just such a crazy day, so I decided I needed to commemorate it. It started out like any normal day, but then it all got a little out of control when I went to work...

It wasn't super busy at first, and recently it's been slow except on the weekends, so I wasn't really expecting anything. We had a few reservations that night, but it wasn't anything that would take up more than our back party room, so I didn't think it would be a big deal. Then, before any of the reservations got there, I got a call from this lady saying she had a group of 24 coming in. Still, I thought we could handle it no problem since it was still super slow. Then, right around 6:15 - 6:30, all the reservations starting rolling in. I showed them all to their seats and soon realized we didn't have any room for anyone else besides these groups. I had the cashiers start putting people on a wait, tried calling in some extra help, and after that didn't work, realized I was going to have to handle this alone. I spent the next half hour trying to find places for one of the the groups whose reservation of 15 had turned into close to 35. Then, once I had that under control, I spent the next hour running around like crazy cleaning tables, seating people, moving tables, moving chairs, and trying to find time to help in the kitchen and make sure things weren't falling apart back there. Finally, by around 8, we were off a wait and I finally got to catch my breath and start sending some of the employees on break.

Then, as I was standing up front, this guys walked in the door and he looked so familiar! It took me a second, and then I realized that it was Ryan from this past season of So You Think You Can Dance! I didn't know what to do. First, I said hi and asked for his autograph. Then I felt really stupid and realized I didn't care about his autograph, but that I wanted a picture with him. So I asked one of my cashiers to take one with my phone. Then, after all that, I had to switch back into business mode and ask him what I could get for him. I felt so embarrassed! But here's the picture...

The last thing that sort of wrapped up my emotional roller coaster of a night was a text that I got from a friend that had been in our ward back in Rexburg. She text me and asked if I had heard what happened to Derek Johns (a friend from the ward). I said no. She then proceeded to tell me that he had been killed in a car accident on the way home from work when he hit a moose. I was in shock. The adrenaline was still pumping from running around and meeting Ryan, and then I all of a sudden wanted to cry. I don't know why, (I'm guessing the fact that I'm pregnant had something to do with it) but I was really upset, even though I hadn't been really close with Derek. I guess it just hit really close to home because he and his wife haven't been married very long, and I starting thinking about how I would feel if something like that ever happened to TJ. They were such a happy couple and were some of the nicest people, and it just made me so sad to think about his wife, Lindsay, and how she must be feeling.

Anyway, it was a day filled with all sorts of emotions, and at the end of it, I didn't really know how to feel. As TJ and I said our prayers that night, though, I found myself just being so grateful we were there together, and grateful for all of my family and for the gospel that makes it possible for me to be with them forever