The Stevens Family

Yes, that's a big ol' bruise on his head. Poor guy fell on the steps for the first time the other day. :(

We had to use the phone to keep him from moving to much.

Josh has gone to this same guy since he was Jayden's age!

Jayden was a very good boy, even if he was a little leery about the shaver!

He discovered that the box of wipes make the perfect step.

He's going to have some massive forearms soon.

almost....

and happy dance!

At this point, I thought I'd just follow him around for a few minutes, just so I could 'document' what goes on in my day so Josh will know why the laundry isn't always put away by the time he gets home.

From the coffee table, he went straight to my computer chair and pushed a few buttons. I pulled him off of my chair...

...and he went straight for the end table next to my desk to look out the window. I thought it was over, so I went upstairs to draw a bath...

And recently, Jayden has started pushing the kitchen chairs around the kitchen so he can get to the counter tops and the washer and dryer. He taught himself this, so I am not taking the blame. This is the first time he did it, Josh and I were both like "Aww, how cute, he wants to do the laundry"

Until we looked away for a second and looked back to find him ON the washer.

So, my days are long. I can't leave him alone for a second. I'd like to think this is just a phase, but I'm beginning to think this is just the beginning.

Thanksgiving was a great day! We started off at Grandma and Grandpa's house, joined by Taylor, Kim, and Mandy. Jayden woke up a little crabby, and he wasn't too interested in sitting through his lunch...but once we got outside he perked right up. Who knew that it would be warm enough for kids to play outside without their coats on Thanksgiving Day? They both had a great time playing in the leaves, and enjoying the attention of so many people. Taylor was being especially photogenic by saying a big "CHEEEESE" every time she saw a camera!
From Joe and Barbs, we went to Nana's house. Heather, Scott, Ethan, Uncle Josh, Perry, Hanna and George were all there too. The guys were mostly entertained by my mom's new TV, and her bar. Jayden was still a little cranky, but he sat through supper a little better. He kept stealing food off of Heather's plate, and was great entertainment for Ethan as he tried to stuff an entire roll in his mouth and when he decided it wouldn't fit, put it back on Heather's plate.
All in all it was a great day with really great food...and we're really looking foward to the rest of the holiday season!
Here are a few pictures of Jayden and Taylor playing outside with everyone else.

Papa got some old balls out of the garage and filled them up with air, both of the kids seemed to want the ball that the other one had (does that make sense?).

Is she a doll, or what?

Jayden and Taylor got to play in Papa' truck for a bit...Jayden enjoyed making squishy faces on the window.

Kisses!

The leaves made a great buffer!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday.
Jayden helped us make some Snickerdoodles this morning. The whole time was "num num num" from him. :)
















Yeah, we let him lick the spoon. He's going to start doing it sooner or later.


We also have a new video from last night:

I've uploaded a couple more videos finally!
The first one is of Jayden trying to do some big boy stuff. He's become really good at brushing his own teeth, and darnit, I thought it was pretty cute. He has also been trying to figure out how to put his shoes on, but he keeps trying to bring his foot to his shoe rather than his shoe to his foot...so its a little difficult for him. Also, I had his coat laid out and I was packing his diaper bag. Apparently, he was really wanting to go bye bye so he tried to get his coat on himself.
Its really awesome to see how much he's grown up. The things he does amaze me everyday. He's really become a mimic of actions, and I really don't know how he's picked so much up from everybody. From grabbing a wet wipe to wipe something up off the floor, to sticking a dvd (a fake one!) in my computer drive and closing it up. Its just the little things that get me...and make me such a proud momma!





The second video is of Jayden and Taylor playing with an old kitchen set that their aunts and uncle used to play with when they were little. The kids loved it!

Well, being a stay at home parent is a lot of fun...but it doesn't pay the best and sometimes the most challenging part of the day is keeping Jayden out of the kitty food.
So, Josh and I were talking about all of this photo and video software on our computers and how it might be nice to do a little bit of business on the side. My area in this house is touching up photography and putting together slide shows. Josh's area is transfering home vidoes from VHS onto DVD.

This is one of those "accidental" good pictures of Jayden. I was just randomly snapping pictures, and I got this expression. I like the pictures that I display to look somewhat professional, meaning no holes in the floor (upper left corner) or the tale end of a big kitty. So, I did what I could to get rid of both of those, put it in black and white, and colored in a bit. Overall, I think the effect is that I meant to get a cute picture of Jayden. :)

Alright, so I used to know a lot about computers and the internet and whatnot. I used to even be able to write html code some! But, since mommyhood, my skills have gone downhill. Basically, what I'm trying to get at is, if you see lots of wierdness and stuff constantly being rearranged on this page, its just because I'm trying to relearn some stuff. :)

We FINALLY have an official moving date! Hooray! We're moving on Saturday, December 2nd. It's not very far away, and we have a LOT to do still...but the date is set in stone.

We're all very excited to get in there...Jayden throws a tantrum every time we leave that house, so I think he'll take the move just fine. :)

We've been having such a good time playing in the fall leaves, I thought I'd post a few more pictures! Jayden loves stomping on the dry leaves, and will go out of his way to do so! Its super cute, and a great excuse for Josh and I to take advantage of the big leaf piles too (its already nice enough to finally have an excuse for the TV being turned to Cartoon Network all of the time). So there are more pictures down below.

I thought it might also be nice to post a few of Jayden's more recent "tricks."

He can walk very well, and often breaks out in a bit of run.
He's a great climber, and can pretty much get on top of anything he can reach.
He's been walking up and down stairs when he gets the chance. He'll either hold on to the railing or any available set of hands.
He gives hugs, and he gives and blows great kisses, always with a big "Muuaaahhhh"
He can shake his head yes and no, which makes things surprisingly easier.
He pretty much understand anything you tell him anymore, whether he chooses to listen or not is hard part.

This is his vocabulary, as his momma, I understand it better than most. :)
Baby (usually if he sees a picture of himself)
No
Momma
Dada
Bye Bye
Uh oh
Wow
Car
Tire
Truck
Hot
Num num - for all food
Burrrr - for anything cold
He now says "Choo Choo" for train and if you ask him what Gizmo (our kitty) says he says "moww" now.
A few he tries to say are
Door - "Doaa"
Bath - "Baa"
Diaper - "Di ber"

Jayden and Taylor making a run for it.
Taylor trying out the leaf pile!

I call this one "Blue Steal."

I think this would be his "Pennock" side coming out...