Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Stevie's Birthday Party

Two years old! We celebrated little Stevie Kate tonight, a little early since her birthday is tomorrow. Dinner at the Hub Cafe and presents & cupcakes at Grandma and Grandpa's house. She loves all of her presents, and unfortunately Jake does too :-) Steve got a little crazy with the camera, but I actually really like how funny we all look.

One of my friends told me today that birthday #2 is one that you can probably skip over without a celebration because they really don't get the birthday thing yet. So the bottom line is that the party was probably for the rest of us. Any excuse to get together...right?

Trip to Shreveport

Steve and I enjoyed a relaxing three days with Mike, Krissy, Drew, Cooper, and Nannie in Shreveport, LA last weekend. We were able to enjoy traveling this time because the kids were safely at home with the Draper clan. I say the Draper clan because Jake and Stevie had adventures with almost everyone, including Tracie & Amy as well as with Grandma and Grandpa. (Thanks for all your help!)

Anyway...we played outside with the boys, watched Cooper play baseball, went out to dinner & a movie, shopped, caught up on sleep, and just enjoyed seeing everyone and relaxing. Mike & Krissy, your home is beautiful and we are jealous of the way Drew and Cooper can ride around on motorized toys throughout the whole neighborhood. Thanks to Nannie for meeting us there so we could hang out together for the weekend.

I know I usually post so many pictures...but I have a hard time narrowing pictures down...just ask my husband :-)

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Jake & Money

Jake has been saving money for a new Thomas track called The Fishing Dock. He talks about it daily and we give him opportunities to earn money. On the flip side, we also use the piggy bank as a punishment sometimes and he has to give money back. Anyway...I can see that his mind is working now to see how he can get more money. He looks for money around the house, in the garage, outside, etc. He then asked me yesterday, "Can I go to Daddy's work and get more money?" We are guessing he came up with this because when he asks why Daddy has to go to work, we tell him because Daddy earns money for our family to have a house, car, toys, etc. I guess that sounded appealing to Jake and now he is ready to enter the workforce.

Stevie's Never Ending Question

As her vocabulary grows, our daughter has started to ask lots of questions. Most of the time, it's almost the same question over and over again...all day. "Where did Jake go?" OR "Where did Daddy go?" OR "Where did Zeke go?" OR "Where did Tippy go?". Those are the most common, but she also asks for lots of different people and pets. This usually happens at least several times per hour. I always give her the answer and then she simply says "Oh." Even though it can be cute at times, we are kind of hoping that she moves on to a new question or phrase sometime soon :-)

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Finding Warmer Weather

We had duel motivations for heading to St. George, UT and Logandale, NV last week. First and most important, to visit family and friends. Second, to get to some warmer weather. With about 8 inches of new snow at the beginning of the week, we were ready to go. Steve stayed behind to do some meetings and pressing projects at work. Thanks to Miranda & fam for hosting us the first night and to Nikki & fam for hosting us the rest of the trip.

Highlights:
1) Jake hiking with Miranda and Maya in the narrows. I couldn't fit with my big belly, so that is how narrow the walls were.
2) Seeing the monkey show at the Clark County Fair with the Staheli kids. Stevie said this was her favorite part (although I'm sure Jake led her to that answer).
3) Jake and Stevie riding the roller coaster at the carnival with the rest of the crew (Nikki, Miranda, Maya, Denett, Jackson, Max, and Laden). Jake said this was his favorite part.
4) Watching Miranda and Denett fall over after going on a ride together at the carnival.
5) Nikki fixing almost every meal for me.
6) Trying to tell if Steve Staheli was making a joke or telling the truth.
7) All of the help that I got from our Staheli cousins.
8) Playing on the water slide and all of the other fun toys in Nikki's back yard.
9) The funny sunburn on my arms.
10) No major issues on the drive to and from.

Can't wait to visit again.

I'm Finally Responding to a Tag

Okay...so I've been tagged several times and I'm finally responding to one of them.

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. Pay me and I'll mow your lawn.
2. Checkout girl at the local gas station. No I cannot sell you cigarettes or beer, even though you are my friend.
3. Waitress at the local cafe. Gotta love the same people that came in everyday.
4. Take my plasma and give me money.

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Dumb and Dumber
2. Jerry Maguire
3. Princess Bride
4. O Brother Where Art Thou

Four places I have lived: (in no particular order)
1. Heber City, UT
2. Rexburg, ID
3. Provo, UT
4. Park City, UT (I've moved around so much....right?)

Four TV Shows that I watch:
1. Oprah
2. The Office
3. The Amazing Race
4. Grey's Anatomy

Four places I have been:
1. Austria
2. Hawaii
3. Daufuskie Island, SC
4. Nashville, TN

People who e-mail me (regularly):
1. Sarah Goodfellow
2. Amber Phillips-Lee
3. Stephanie McClendon
4. Kristin Wayda

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Indian
2. Sushi
3. Hamburgers
4. Smoothies

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. In warmer weather
2. In my bed having a Sunday nap
3. Other than that...things are great the way they are
4.

Four Things I am looking forward to in 2008:
1. Making a little progress toward being a better mother and wife
2. Meeting this child in my belly
3. Going to Bear Lake with the Draper clan
4. Getting back in shape after the baby comes

Four Blogs I Tag:
1. Krissy
2. Nikki
3. Tracie
4. Sara Hansen

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Stevie's 1st Ski Day

Steve and I took the kids to Deer Valley last weekend for some skiing. We were able to borrow our little friend Stella's equipment and decided to send Stevie up the hill at only 23 months. Steve took her up the lift. I think she did pretty good for a 1 (going on 2) year old. Check the video out yourself right here.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Stevie as a Who


If you have seen the movie or read the book "Horton Hears a Who" you will appreciate this. Doesn't Stevie look like a Who in this picture? Gotta love the hair after nap :-)

Ultrasound

I'm now over half way done with this pregnancy...hallelujah! We had an ultrasound last Friday and we decided to take Jake with us. I really thought he would like watching the "baby movie." But his favorite part was getting a treat with dad from the snack bar in the hospital and then having all of our attention on him and not him & Stevie. He kept asking "Is it over now?" once the ultrasound began.

Everything looks very healthy with the baby and we held strong and didn't find out the sex. This little one didn't cooperate very well with getting good pictures. The hands and arms were covering the face almost the entire time. We caught glimpes of the eyes and then the lips, but not the entire face. The heart rate was 133 for those of you who believe that the heart rate can predict the sex. And the Chinese Calendar says we are having a girl. Personally...I go back and forth almost every day.

Ultrasounds are so fun and comforting when you are pregnant. I wish I had a machine at home like Tom Cruise OR I wish that I could talk my doctor into telling me I need more ultrasounds. Oh well.