The Stevens Family

Eagles!

2010-03-13T09:03:00.000-06:00

As an effort to get the boys some fresh air last week, I thought we'd go out and do some eagle watching. We took a drive to the Lock and Dam north of Burlington (I don't know it's number), and immediately saw our first eagle as we drove up the road to the dam. It was hanging around a deer corpse on the side of the road, and flew up and over our car as we drove down the road. It was a great "first sighting" and got the boys very excited about seeing more eagles.
We were the only ones there that day, so the boys were able to run free and stretch their legs a bit. There weren't huge amounts of eagles, but it was enough for us! We had so much fun that we went back over the weekend with daddy, and even made a trip to Keokuk to see if we could have some better luck.
I've been practicing with a new camera, so this was a great opportunity to try out my zoom lens. Enjoy!

The House's "New Year Update"

2010-03-12T10:00:00.004-06:00

A bit later each year, but better late than never, right? A few years ago I made a giant To Do list for our house and I've tried to update it yearly to reflect what we've accomplished.

Here is the key:

Red: Accomplished in 2007

Blue: Accomplished in 2008

Green: Accomplished in 2009

Black: To Do

Jayden's Room - NOW the "Toy Room"

Touch up floor paint
Install and paint quarter round and floor trim
Finish shelving (this is partly done)
Install dimmer switch
Blank covers for obsolete outlets
Install lighting in closet
Paint door

Master Bedroom

One more coat of paint on walls
Edging on ceiling
Plate covers
Finish Trim
Install Door
Install closet lights
Run cable to our room

Upstairs Hallway

Finish patching cracks
Sand
Primer and paint ceilings and walls
Install lighting
Switch plate covers
Paint woodwork
Install shelving

Kid's Bath

Finish Floor
Plumbing
Order faucet for tub
Sand walls
Primer and Paint walls and ceiling
Finish painting bead board
Put up trim
Put up and finish door
Install Lighting
Hang medicine cabinet

Stairway

Sand, primer, paint walls and ceiling
Sand and varnish woodwork (this is partly done)

Living Room

Finish woodwork
Finish installing built in media cabinet
Finish dresser
Finish and install french doors
Touch up paint

Family Room - This is now the Dining Room

Touch up paint
Put up woodwork
Finish woodwork
Install built in bookshelves

Dining Room - This is now the Family Room

One more coat of regular paint
Top coat paints
Woodwork
Switch plate covers
Door on closet

Half bath

Put in ceiling
Plaster, sand, primer, and paint walls and ceiling
Paint bead board and woodwork
Plate covers (all but the lightswitch)
Hang medicine cabinet

Kitchen

Electrical
Plumbing
Drywall walls and ceiling
Plaster, Sand, Primer and paint walls and ceiling
Install and paint woodwork
Sand and varnish floor <--We painted instead
Install lighting
Install cabinets
Install appliances

Outside

Scrape paint
Primer (partial!)
Paint (partial!)
Begin landscaping
Finish Bay Windows
Porch Floor (partial!)
Straighten Porch (partial!)

Gavin's Room - NOW the "Boy's Bedroom"

Burn paint off closet door and bedroom door
Primer doors
Paint doors
Fix floor
Install quarter round
Touch up wall

Here's to 2010!

Preschool Picture

2009-10-10T07:41:00.001-05:00

Jayden's Preschool Picture

First Day of Preschool

2009-09-10T11:07:00.002-05:00

On Tuesday, Jayden had his first day of preschool. He's been so excited about starting school, he was bouncing off the walls all morning. He'll be going every Tuesday, Thursday and Friday afternoon. We got out the door about a half hour early, so we took the time to get a few pictures.

This picture was his idea. He wanted a picture in front of the tree like Ethan...I'm not exactly sure what that means, but I'm sure it means something.

Here we are heading out the door. Notice the Rock N Roll sign he's doing with his right hand.

In front of his new school!

The teachers had name tags for all of the kids, Jayden was pretty happy to wear his.

The minute we walked through the door, Jayden took off on his own. While the other kids were hanging on their parents legs, I was trying to keep up with Jayden. When I told him Bye, he didn't even look my way to tell me goodbye...I guess this is good?

Jayden didn't give very many details on the day. When I'd ask him a question, he'd just shrug his shoulders. From what I could gather over the last couple of days, they read a book about a bird, Spongebob was on the tv somewhere, they had Goldfish Crackers for a snack, and they practiced something. He just told me that they're going to McDonalds today. So, who knows.
After school, we went to the doctor for his physical. Jayden is not a good kid to take to the doctor. We'll just leave it at that.
We finished the day with a trip to Dairy Queen, Jayden had some money from Grandma and Grandpa and decided he wanted to go for ice cream.
For the most part, it was a good day (if I can black the memory of the doctors office out of my memory), and he is very excited to go back. I think I've answered "Are you SO Happy I go to school now?" about 50 times since Tuesday, which just tells me that he is so happy. He has also proclamed that he can read the big chapter books because he goes to school now as he sat down to "read" the Series of Unfortunate Events.
So far, I think we're off to a great start!

Porch Progress

2009-09-09T10:54:00.006-05:00

We've come a bit farther from out previous Porch Demo post, so I thought I'd share!

To start with, the old footings had to be pulled out, which were huge stones. Holes were dug, and new footers were pored. From there, we had to get some new green treated lumber to rebuild the frame. (I'll say "we" a lot here, but I really haven't done anything on the porch, "we" means Josh, my mom, and my Uncle Perry)

Nice and straight!

After the new fram was built, we used some flooring that we got from my mom's building, and some from the Preservation Station to redo the floor. It is so much nicer to have a porch floor with a straight edge! Also, each peice of the porch that goes back up is stripped of the old paint, sanded, and primed before it goes up.The before and after of the porches arches.

Yes, even the neighbor boys get put to work.

Two posts down, two to go!

Isn't it amazing how a how a porch that is a hundred years old can look so nice with a bit of work and some paint?

Cutest Lemonade Pourers in Town!

2009-07-19T09:07:00.002-05:00

Jayden and my nephew Ethan are having a Lemonade stand! Come watch the RAGBRAI teams come in from the best view in Burlington while enjoying ice cold lemonade! Saturday, July 25th!

Gavin and his buddies

2009-05-17T20:30:00.001-05:00

Gavin, Jasper and Gizmo

Front Porch Demo

2009-04-05T10:19:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Josh, my mom, Perry and Jayden started working on our front porch. If you've been to our house you probably know that our porch was a bit, um, rough...really, it's pretty embarrassing. Luckily for us, my mom has most of the materials we need to rebuild from her building downtown that we're able to get things started right away.
Here is what we started with. Lovely isn't it? I mean, really, who doesn't like exposed cinder blocks at the front of their home to welcome their guests? Not to mentions the birds and squirrels that liked to make their home in the corner, and the "rebuilt" porch post that looked like a scratching post thanks to the squirrels and that was pretty much rotted away.

Here is the other side. Not much better. The board you see laying there was a frugal attempt to keep neighbor cats out from under our porch.
And notice the lovely jagged floor boards edging the front of the porch. You may even notice a few boards that were remnants of a better time when lattice was used in place of random boards.Here they are, getting to work. My mom had all of the two by fours at her place, Jayden jumped right in to help unload.
I had to show houses that afternoon, so I missed out on the fun demolition, but when I came back, the demo was DONE! The porch is braced up, no floor, the posts are off, and Josh even built these LOVELY cinder block steps for us until we get everything rebuilt.
So far, so good!

Gavin's First Birthday Party

2009-03-10T16:00:00.004-05:00

We had Gavin's Birthday party on Sunday, February 22nd. I've discovered that it's much more difficult to plan a Birthday party in the winter, so we decided to keep it simple and intimate since our family is starting to get spread out a bit.
Our first order of business was assembling the slide that the Wilkins family got him. It will great for him to have his own appropriate sized slide when we get to play outside this summer!
From there, we had cake. I worked very hard on his cake, mostly because we kept his party so low key, I still wanted him to have pictures to look back on and know that we did something special. This was my first fondant cake....and last I'm sure...unless enough time goes by that I forget how much work this type of cake is.
The cupcake on top was meant for Gavin, but he didn't want a thing to do with it!
Rather than just having cake and ice cream, I thought we'd do an ice cream sundae buffet.

After not even touching his cupcake, we thought we'd give him a slice of cake. As you can see, he didn't want anything to do with this either. The weird part is, this kid has a HUGE sweet tooth. He'll scream and cry if he sees a cookie, piece of candy, or anything yummy looking. His brother did the same thing with his first Birthday cake.
He did, however, like the ice cream toppings.
From there, we opened presents. At this point it was past his naptime, so we had to be quick! Jayden was kind enough to help. He got lots of fun toys and great clothes!
Here he is modeling a new outfit from Nana:
During Gavin's nap, the older boys went outside to play. They had a BLAST playing in the snow.
Overall, we had a wonderful time. Thank you everyone for sharing this very special day with him!

Happy Birthday Gavin!

2009-02-23T18:50:00.003-06:00

Happy Birthday, to our sweet little boy Gavin!

A cute video of Gavin enjoying some Birthday Balloons:

I'll post a bit more info soon!

First Haircut

2009-02-12T06:49:00.002-06:00

I wanted to wait until after his one year Birthday, but I got tired of constantly washing the dried in food that tangled up his hair. His hair was really pretty unruly, but I knew that once he had a haircut he would not look like a baby any more and it's hard to prepare yourself for that. So last night, we chopped the curls. We bribed him into sitting still with some Conversation Hearts, Jayden has apparently introduced these to him earlier in the day while I was on the phone. If you know Gavin, he has to constantly play with food that is in his mouth, so one heart kept him preoccupied for a couple of minutes at least.
Anyway, here is the before:

And here he is this morning:

Whoops!

2009-02-09T14:27:00.004-06:00

Well, I'm slacking, and I'm sorry. I've been so busy lately working and I've had sick boys for the past week. I've had so much that I've wanted to blog about, because we've been doing some fun things (except for the sick week). This will simply be an abridged version of the last month of so.
Some of the fun things we've done:

We went to the water park...when it was -20 outside.

We've gone roller skating

We've played

We've painted

And we've caused trouble

Whew! That's it for now! Back to work :)

2009-01-26T13:28:00.002-06:00

Hey all! I've finally given my other website a facelift. I've been playing around with it all weekend, and I think it's finally starting to look the way I've been wanting it to look.
The idea behind that blog is basically going to be community focused. I'll keep it updated with some fun stuff that is happening in the community, some real estate, and anything else I'm inclined to write about!
I would love any feedback, constructive criticism is welcome!

www.chelseastevens.com

Dear God, Give Me Strength

2009-01-09T15:03:00.002-06:00

I love my children, very very much. But some days...some days are just plain hard. Today is one of those days. It builds up slowly through the week, and then that one day hits, the one that I spend every minute after noon looking out the window for Josh's car to pull up so I can hand at least one boy off to him. I feel like I have to occassionally share these days, so someday when the kids are older and they possibly read this, they'll know what life was really like. Not just the fun things, and smiling at the camera, but the other stuff. The stuff that I'll probably block out as they get older.
Gavin, typically, is my easy one. I say that knowing full well that by teenage years the opposite might be true. He's pretty happy just to wonder around the house playing with odd toys, stacking boxes, and going through cabinets. Our only difficulties here is that he still doesn't sleep through the night, and we'll have those odd days that he just wants to be carried ALL day. So really, this post isn't so much about him.
Jayden is what you'd call a spirited child. Depending on the stage of the phase that he's in, this can be wonderful or overwhelming. Right now, I think I'll call this the Light Bulb Stage. Any of you reading this that has been around Jayden in the last month knows exactly what I'm talking about. He is obsessed with burnt out light bulbs. He could find the light bulb on the back of the tree, a foot back that was burnt out, and he would tell everyone. The first week or so, it was kind of funny. The second week, we were all stocking up on light bulbs to give Jayden less to talk about. By now, it's just getting annoying. Some of the light sockets in our house just don't work. We can't do anything about it, we tell him this, but he does not let up. I know, that sounds harsh, but try going through Walmart with this kid, and you'll see. (He also points out broken floor tiles, broken shopping cart handles, and if he's out of the cart he is facing the shelves).
Jayden is a kid that is always moving, thinking, and talking. He has to see how everything works, and then ask about a million questions, or at least enough questions that he inevitably loops right back to the first question he asked. His emotions are loud, and they can go to one extreme to another in a split second. It's probably obvious, he spends a lot of time in time out. He isn't a bad kid, he just gets wrapped up into what he's doing so much that he loses sight of the rules.
Today, just didn't start out right. It was the day that Gavin wanted to be held to start with, which is fine some days, but today it just wasn't working. Jayden was Jayden time ten. He had a million things to ask and to say, I could hardly start one task without him asking me to do 3 or 4 other things..."Mommy, come here! Want to play a game? Look at THIS! I want more milk."
There were a few times that I had peace. Peace that I paid for. The first time, I was showering, and Jayden and Gavin were playing in Gavin's room with the door shut. The sounds were happy, so I left them to it as I dressed and got ready. Jayden finally came barging into my room with his super loud "Mommy, look at this!!" and then ran back into Gavin's room. I took my time. I knew it was something I wasn't going to want to see, so I delayed it. I made my way into Gavin's room, and Jayden exclaimed, "Look, EXPLOSION!!" Every single toy, rug, book off the bookshelf, and anything else that was within reach was thrown into a huge pile in the middle of Gavin's room. Jayden was thrilled, until I made him clean Gavin's room.
The second time, I had just made Jayden a special snack while Gavin was napping. I had just finished making a snack for Jayden, and hopped on the computer for a couple of minutes. I heard giggling coming from the kitchen, and Jayden occassionally whisper "come here Jasper." Once again, I suspected something, but I really didn't think it was anything too major. Then Jasper came running into the room with an almost empty bottle of green food coloring. I ran into the kitchen to find food coloring EVERYWHERE, on the cabinets, the floor, and Jasper. I was livid. Jayden was promptly put in time out as I scrubbed the floor, fuming, scrubbed the cabinets, still fuming, and washed Jasper. As I watched the green water wash off of Jasper and go down the drain...the laughter started. Of course, as a parent, I've learned NEVER to let a kid see you laugh, so I hid it, dismissed Jayden from time out, and looked out the window for Josh.
I know it wasn't a horrible day, just one of those days. One out of many many days.

Gavin's Baptism

2009-01-04T20:05:00.002-06:00

On December 21st, Gavin was baptized at Saint John's Church. His Godparents are our good friends, Liz Toal and Steve Ballinger. It went very well, Gavin was squirmy as usual, but pretty behaved for the most part.

Afterward, we had a few people over to our house for snacks and cake.
Here he is with his Godparents getting ready to open up some presents!

Thanks so everyone who came to celebrate his special day!

New Years Update

2009-01-02T07:30:00.004-06:00

New Years Eve I had really, really good intentions. My idea was to get my life in as much order as possible so I could start the new year off good. I had very symbolic thoughts going through my head as I rushed through the house trying to get all of the new toys put away, as I straightened and cleaned, and had another battle with my never ending pile of laundry. I thought, if my house is clean when I enter the new year, maybe it'll be a sign that I can keep it that way. I went to the grocery store and loaded our fridge up with fruits and veggies and good stuff, hoping this would symbolize that our fridge will always be full in the next year. Needless to say, by evening I was taking things pretty seriously. My intentions for the rest of the evening was to go out with friends, and to stay up until midnight with Josh to welcome the New Year. So we met with friends for some Mexican food, and headed down to our favorite bar, the Paddlewheel. I had a margarita, and while enjoying an evening our socializing (this seldom happens outside of our family) I started to feel horrible. Thankfully the Paddlewheel boasts the cleanest bathrooms of any bar with good reason, because I spent a good amount of time on floor...I won't go into much more detail, but I'm pretty sure it was food poisoning. So Josh dropped me off at home so he could go pick up the kids. I was in bed by 9, and vaugly remember midnight due to Gavin waking up the first of a handfull of times.
Even though I may not have rang in the New Year as expected, I'm hoping that maybe it will symbolize something else. An empty stomach and lack of appetite may actually mean that I'll finally lose this stupid baby weight. If only it were so simple, right?

On to other things New Year related. Two years ago I developed a list of everything that needed to be done on the house. I came back last year to update everything we'd done so far. Last year I highlighted everything in red that had been accomplished...really, it was pretty impressive. This year, I'll use blue. I'm not sure if there will be much blue used, but we had a baby this year, so we'll just blame it on that.

Jayden's Room

Touch up floor paint
Install and paint quarter round and floor trim
Finish shelving (this is partly done)
Install dimmer switch
Blank covers for obsolete outlets
Install lighting in closet
Paint door

Master Bedroom

One more coat of paint on walls
Edging on ceiling
Plate covers
Finish Trim
Install Door
Install closet lights
Run cable to our room

Upstairs Hallway

Finish patching cracks
Sand
Primer and paint ceilings and walls
Install lighting
Switch plate covers
Paint woodwork
Install shelving

Kid's Bath

Finish Floor
Plumbing
Order faucet for tub
Sand walls
Primer and Paint walls and ceiling
Finish painting bead board
Put up trim
Put up and finish door
Install Lighting
Hang medicine cabinet

Stairway

Sand, primer, paint walls and ceiling
Sand and varnish woodwork (this is partly done)

Living Room

Finish woodwork
Finish installing built in media cabinet
Finish dresser
Finish and install french doors
Touch up paint

Family Room

Touch up paint
Put up woodwork
Finish woodwork
Install built in bookshelves

Dining Room

One more coat of regular paint
Top coat paints
Woodwork
Switch plate covers
Door on closet

Half bath

Put in ceiling
Plaster, sand, primer, and paint walls and ceiling
Paint bead board and woodwork
Plate covers (all but the lightswitch)
Hang medicine cabinet

Kitchen

Electrical
Plumbing
Drywall walls and ceiling
Plaster, Sand, Primer and paint walls and ceiling
Install and paint woodwork
Sand and varnish floor <--We painted instead
Install lighting
Install cabinets
Install appliances

Outside

Scrape paint
Primer (partial!)
Paint (partial!)
Begin landscaping

Gavin's Room wasn't on here when I started the list, so I'll add it now. This is everything that still needs to be finished.

Gavin's Room

Burn paint off closet door and bedroom door
Primer doors
Paint doors
Fix floor
Install quarter round
Touch up wall

My big hope is that this year I'll defy the odds in Real Estate and make enough money to hire all of this work done!

ps. I'll get to the Christmas update someday. It was so overwhelming, that the thought of revisiting it is exhausting to think about.

Must be a boy thing.

2008-12-19T19:03:00.004-06:00

So, last night we were sitting having our dinner, and Gavin is babbling away. Josh looks at him and goes "Say dada?" and Gavin looks at Josh with his impish grin and goes "Dada!" I take my turn and look at Gavin and go "Say mama?" and he looks at me and says "Mama!" How cute is that? Anyway, today at lunch I attempt to see if I can get Gavin to say "Mama" again. I sit across from him and start baby talking "Gavin, can you say Mama? Maaamaaaaa?" and Jayden immediately mimics me, but with his own words. "Gavin, say poop. Poop! Can you say poop?? Gaaaaavin. Poop" I can't wait to take Gavin into public after Jayden has successfully taught him his favorite words.

It's Santa!

2008-12-16T09:55:00.002-06:00

Saturday we took the boys to see Santa. Jayden was pretty pepped up about it, and I was beginning to think that maybe this year he would get a picture with Santa (it was a no go last year). He sat with Josh as they made out his Christmas list before we left, and we stressed to him repeatedly that he didn't get presents that day, he just told Santa what he would like so Santa would know what to bring. We decided to go to Fun City, because it supports the Kiwanis club and you get a card to play the games afterward. Jayden was pretty pumped up when we got there, we all started walking towards Santa, and as soon as he got into view...Jayden immediately started walking backwards. Luckily the picture machine wasn't working and we had a good 20 minutes to warm Jayden up to Santa. Gavin on the other hand was mesmerized by Santa. He walked right up to him, and as I placed him on Santa's lap, he immediately started crying.
So, we didn't exactly get a Hallmark moment, but we did get both kids in the same picture with smiling with Santa.

Christmas Hoedown!

2008-12-09T20:04:00.001-06:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Gavin's One Man Band

2008-12-09T18:22:00.002-06:00

Apparently Jayden isn't going to be the only loud kid in the house. Gavin has figured out how to toot the recorder, and use it as a pretty awesome drumstick too!
Also, you'll see that he's walking better and better. He'll be ten months on the 23rd, can you believe it?!?

Saint Nicholas Day

2008-12-06T07:37:00.003-06:00

First of all, you all need to check over at Hazel's Blog, her parents have some wonderful news! It's a story like that that makes Christmas so much better, and reminds us all to be thankful.

Secondly, you may or may not know that today is St. Nicholas Day. This is the actual feast day of Saint Nicholas, patron Saint of Children (among many other things). From my understanding, the Eve of St. Nicholas Day is when St. Nicholas fills the children's stocking. It's supposed to be with things that the children can share, so typically treats and candy.

This was our mantel this morning. St. Nicholas was nice enough to put everything up on the mantel, he must have known that Jasper (our dog) is typically on the naughty list and not to be trusted with anything on floor level.

Jayden was patient enough to let us snap a picture before they peeked into their stockings. The boys also had some gifts from Josh's parents, they got Gavin a baby Christmas CD, some cars, and some socks. Jayden recieved candy, a Cars dry erase board, playing card games, and a slinky.

St. Nicholas got the boys candy, raisins, some other snacky stuff, toys, and they're yearly ornaments.
The ornaments each year typically define the child for that year. This year, Jayden's was a John Deere Tractor, and Gavin's was an angel that says "A Gift From God" since this is his FIRST Christmas.
That was all for this morning. Hopefully we'll get to see Santa today. I don't know if Jayden will sit on his lap, but maybe a taste of whats to come from this morning will help entice him. I have a pretty strong feeling that Gavin might yank Santa's beard off, but we'll see...

Hazel Update

2008-12-01T15:01:00.003-06:00

For an update on baby Hazel, please go to their blog: http://hazelana.blogspot.com
Her mother has written a complete update on everything that has happened up until now.

In case you didn't know, batteries are very very dangerous. The battery that Hazel swallowed was out of a remote control, but it was one of those small nickel sized batteries. Those same batteries are used in greeting cards, and can be very very dangerous around small children. All over the county children are being rushed to emergency rooms because those batteries come out, and the children swallow them. Battery acid starts leaking within the hour, and has the potential to cause a lot of damage.
Many of you know, Jayden LOVES those cards, and we always keep them out to play with. I'm sure this is the case in many houses. But, I'm sending out a request for no more. I can't imagine going through what Hazel's mother is going through if Jayden or Gavin were to swallow one. So, we're going to stop buying them, and would love for you to do the same. Nothing is more important than a child's safety.

Thanksgiving 2008

2008-11-30T09:36:00.004-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving, we sure did! It was Gavin's very first Thanksgiving, and he got to celebrate it four times! How lucky are we? We had our first at Josh's parents house last Sunday.

Here is Peyton having his Thanksgiving dinner.

And here is Gavin starting his first meal, he gets pretty impatient waiting for his food, so he had a roll to tide him over while his meal was fixed.

After the meal, everyone went outside to take a ride on Papa's wagon.
Kimmie might hate me for this, but I think it's a pretty funny picture. Apparently she was pretty excited about the ride.

Jayden, Colin, and Taylor.

Nate playing football with Colin.

The big kids even went for a ride!

Jayden helped Papa drive. Gavin was inside napping during all of the tractor rides. On Thanksgiving Day our little family made a nice big brunch; eggs, bacon, french toast, homemade doughnuts (thats right Jenny!), and some fruit. Jayden ended up spending the day at Nana's house and we joined him that evening for a Thanksgiving dinner with my mom and siblings.
On Friday my sister and I took our boys down to Warsaw Illinois to have a leftovers lunch with our Grandpa. I snapped a few pictures with my Grandpa and the boys. Gavin was being very squirmy so I had to take what I could, not the best, but better than nothing!

Here is Grandpa with both of the boys, I honestly don't know if Gavin was laughing or crying.

And here he is with Gavin!On Saturday we went to the Quad Cities to have Thanksgiving at my cousin Hanna and her husband George's house. She did a great job! Everything was fantastic. She also thought it would be fun to go to the John Deere Pavillion, so we loaded up after lunch and headed that way. In case you didn't know, Jayden loves tractors, and at the Pavillion, you get to go on most of the tractors. He and Ethan had a blast! Plus, they had a gift store that had everything that John Deere made, TONS of toys and clothes at really good prices. Jayden got a hat and a backhoe with some Christmas money from Grandpa.

Here is Jayden and Ethan up on one of the tractors, Jayden is trying to buckle himself in.

In the huge scooop!

Sharing the riding lawn mower, Ethan was being a goof.
Another goofy smile!

After all of our Thanksgivings were over, we woke up this morning to SNOW!

Prayer Request

2008-11-28T09:41:00.003-06:00

Please send your thoughts and prayers to baby Hazel. She is in the ICU and having difficulty breathing following surgery. What was thought to be croup was actually a battery lodged in her esophagus . They've removed the battery, but the battery acid had already thinned her esophageal lining and there are now worries of that rupturing.
Hazel is almost exactly the same age as Gavin (four days older), and I can't possibly imagine what her parents are going through.
Get well soon Hazel!

9 Months Old!

2008-11-21T07:14:00.003-06:00

My baby boy will be 9 months old on Sunday, can you believe it!? And in addition to that, he's walking! He took his first steps when he was 7 months old, and just this week he's really been trying to walk instead of dropping to crawl. I was even able to shoot a successful video this morning without Jayden or Jasper storming through.

How cute is that??
I can say it's cute now, but I know it's going to mean a lot more work here soon. He's already an ornery little guy that's discovered a super cute smile in the middle of mischief can turn a mother from scolding to laughing instantly.
Currently, our daily battle of mischief involves the doggie dishes. We keep the food dishes at the farthest end of the house, all this does so far is buy us more time to catch him before he gets to the dishes to dump out the water and food. I usually start with the "No no no! Gavin!" when he is about halfway there, and I'm still half a house away from catching him. The distant sound of me saying no will make him stop, sit, and look back for me every time, but as soon as he sees the smallest glimps of his mama coming, he books it with every fiber of his little being in an attempt to get to the food dish. He is smiling and laughing the entire time, until he feels both hands on him as I swoop him up, then he has a full fledged tantrum. At monotonous and annoying as this should be, I still laugh every time because he's just so diligent. And we both know, that someday I'm going to be too late and he'll be at the finish line with a mouth full of puppy food and that ornery smile on his face.

So, as you now probably know, Gavin is happy to eat anything, but pretty much demands a sippy cup of water with every meal and will yell until he has one. He is completely off of babyfood, he just eats what we eat. His favorite foods are cheese and cold raw fruit and veggies....I think mostly becuase they feel good on his gums.

He officially has teeth coming in. Two on the bottom, and one on top. Maybe, just MAYBE this means he'll start sleeping through the night because he'll be out of excuses not to??

Jayden and Gavin have good days and bad days. Jayden typically doesn't want to share his toys, and the only toys Gavin wants to play with are Jayden's. Besides the toys, they get along very well. If Gavin is ever crying, Jayden starts singing to Gavin or runs to grab him a toy to make him happy again. Jayden is also pretty good at watching out for Gavin if I'm busy doing something, and he isn't afraid to scoop him up under his arms to pull him away from something Gavin shouldn't be getting into.

Overall, Gavin is the sweetest, happiest baby. Unless you're trying to do something he doesn't want to do. Such as, wipe his nose, change his diaper, dress him, put him in his car seat, get him ready to sleep, give him medicine, or snatch him away from any mischief he might be getting himself into...then, you pretty much get a full fledged tantrum until whatever is being done to him has passed. All of the other times, he's just perfect.

CNH Open House

2008-11-20T09:20:00.003-06:00

Over the weekend Joe, Josh, and Jayden went to the Case Open House. Jayden, of course, was in heaven. He loves everything to do with construction machinery, so this was just his thing! Here are a few pictures!

Decision 2008

2008-11-04T07:32:00.001-06:00

Trick or Treat in Burlington

2008-11-01T19:24:00.004-05:00

Last night we headed to Kim and Nate's house for another round of Trick or Treating. Once again, the evening was perfect. It was warm enough to not even need jackets, and the sky was completely clear. Kim and Nate also have the perfect neighborhood, well lit with neighbors waiting expectantly on their front porches with bowls full of candy. Jayden knew exactly how things worked this time around...almost too well. If a person dare to give him only one piece of candy, he would stand and eyeball their bowl full of candy until they threw a couple of more pieces in his bag. It was horribly embarrassing, but funny at the same time. I'm sure I'll get him back when he becomes a teenager.
Once again, he donned his fireman costume. I was actually able to get a good shot of him in it!
I didn't have the same luck if there was more than one costumed kid in the picture, but that's alright. Good enough, right??

Gavin the dino and Peyton the dragon. We tried to sit them next to each other for a picture, but they just rolled around. We couldn't get a shot of either of their faces, but it's still cute!And we're off!

We dumped the candy on the floor when we got back, Gavin enjoyed himself by digging through the booty....

and attempting to eat his share too!

Trick or Treat in Denmark

2008-10-31T10:09:00.006-05:00

Last night we went down to Denmark Iowa with my sister's family to her friends, the Williams', house. They had healthy snacks ready for the kids in hopes that their bellies would get full with good stuff before all of the junk. In Denmark, everyone goes door to door on hay rack rides because the little town is so spread out.

Gavin went as a dinosaur, the cutest dino I've ever seen if you ask me!
Jayden went as a fireman. Here the boys are on the hay rack ride. Jayden was so eager to go Trick or Treating that he grabbed a seat as soon as we got to their house.

Here's the crew! Jayden, Gavin, Ethan, Olivia, Landis and Kane were our Trick or Treaters for the evening.

Gavin's first time!

Gavin loved this pumpkinHere is Jayden with his loot at the end of the night. He had such a great time. When we got back to the Williams' house he looked at me and asked "We get to stay here forever?"

On a side not, Gavin has taken a liking to pumpkin cookies. If the fridge door is left open for a second longer than it should be, this is what happens:
Happy Halloween to everyone! We're going out tonight with Kim, Nate, Peyton, and Grandma (think that's it?)...so watch for another post tomorrow!

Oops! A forgotton post!

2008-10-27T18:59:00.004-05:00

So, a few nights ago I spent all of this time uploading pictures to the blog, and then our internet went out and I was unable to post the blog! I forgot about it until just now, so now my blog is out of sequence...but oh well.
This weekend Becky and the kids came down to spend some time with family. On Sunday we all went to Fun Fest at Notre Dame. It was tons of fun, there was a jump house, games, food, and pumpkins. Jayden was a bit crabby, so we weren't able to play that many games, but we still had fun!
Here is Gavin picking out a duck in the duck pond game.

They had a very cute Slingo game shaped like a spider web.
We carved our pumpkins earlier this week, Jayden had a ball, and Gavin was just happy to be there. Here is Gavin posing with his pumpkin. Look how well he's standing now!
To keep Gavin preoccupied, we gave him a biter biscuit, as you can see, they're very very messy!
Jayden actually got right in and helped scoop out the pumpkin.
The finished product!
Spooooooky!
That's all. Sorry it's not a very exciting post, everything I had written earlier wasn't saved.

Rainy Days

2008-10-25T21:38:00.005-05:00

For only being gone for a short bit of time, it took us a bit to get back into the groove of things this week. I started off Tuesday by working very hard to get all of our luggage unpacked and put away, and to catch up on a few more chores. Apparently, this wasn't the best way to start the week. Jayden was very irritable, and more difficult than usual. So, for the rest of the week I focused on activities. The weather was horrible, and Jayden begged to go outside from sun up to sun down every day. He already had the sniffles, so I tried to keep it fun inside. Easier said than done.
Gavin on the other hand has been as happy as can be. He wanders all of the house, and only gets cranky when he's hungry or sleepy. Plus, he's only been waking up 2 times a night this week (down from 4-10), and he's been napping great. We put a stereo in his room and have Michael Buble continuously playing...seems to work!
First thing Wednesday morning we went to get some Play-Dough. Jayden was thrilled because he plays with it all of the time at Grandma's house. We'd had Play-Dough before, but had to get it out of the house because Jayden wouldn't stop eating it when he was younger (Yuck, huh). He has played with it for hours at a time this week, definately a good investment!
I also thought it would be fun to recycle our old broken crayons. My sister gave me a Halloween muffin tin for my Birthday one year, and it made the perfect mold for new crayons! In case you haven't tried, it's very easy.
You simply grease a tin, and throw in the broken crayons. Bake until they're all melted...

And voila! Cool new crayons!
I also thought I'd introduce one of my favorite foods from childhood to Jayden, sugar sandwiches! Suprisingly, he didn't like them!We also made forts. This was a hit with Jayden, Gavin, and Jasper.

I tried to find a good mud substitute. Jayden loves digging with his tractors in the the dirt outside, and I know this is going to be one of the things he misses when the weather gets bad. I threw on his swim trunks and put shaving cream in the tub with his diggers. It was fun, but it didn't keep him entertained for quite as long as I'd hoped.
Gavin thought it was cool though!
Tonight we took the kids down to Bootiful Nauvoo. We wanted to get there in time for the Halloween Parade, but we just missed it! It was still a wonderful event, and we fully intend to go again next year.
There are hundreds of Jack O'Lanterns throughout the town. As it got dark, they really added to the atmosphere. There was a haunted house, but the line was over half a block long, so we skipped it. The whole downtown was open, with treats to be found everywhere, kids in costumes, and entertainment. I had no idea it was such a big deal, the sidewalks were absolutely packed down both sides of the street.
Nice and toasty!There were also picture boards throughout the downtown. Here is Jayden as the Headless Horseman!
And that's it for the week! I can't believe we had such a hard time with cold rainy weather already...I just hope we can survive this winter!

Hooray for Vacations!

2008-10-25T16:21:00.005-05:00

As you mostly know, Josh and I were able to go down to Cancun last Friday through Monday on a trip that Josh won through work. It seems like a short trip, but it was just right.
We stayed at an all inclusive, adults only resort about 90 minutes South of Cancun called Aventura Spa. Almost every room had an ocean view, and a balcony with a hammock. This particular resort didn't have a beach, but it did beach coves that opened up to the ocean.

There were pool bars at each end of the resort. Many of the restaurants had the grass type roofs, they were cool!

We arrived on Friday afternoon, and basically settled in and took advantage of some of the restaurants. On Saturday we'd signed up to go snorkeling. We left the hotel at 7:40am on an hour and a half bus ride ride to Cancun. From there, we hopped on a boat to take us the the Isla Mujeres, the island that we would be snorkeling off of. I was very nervous, because the waters were choppy and I'd forgotten to take my Dramamine. But pretty much immediately we discovered that we were on a party boat, and all of the guys that worked on board immediately took our attention away rocking boat. They started with one of the guys dressed up in Titanic costume, looking all over for "Rose." Admittedly, I was pretty confused, until one of the other guys popped out in drag dressed as Rose from Titanic. They did a quick reenactment of the movie, here's a snapshot:

The boat ride had to have been over an hour long but it flew by, and before we knew it we were at the island!So, we get to the island and promptly jump on another boat. This one was much smaller, but not nearly as fun! We traveled to the world's second largest coral reaf system, where we jumped out and got a quick guide to snorkeling from our instructor. It was very easy and relaxing. There were tons of really neat fish, some looked like 20 pound goldfish, only a rainbow of colors instead.

After snorkeling, we stopped by a place that was offering "Swimming with the Sharks." It was free, the guy just worked for tips. The tour guys on our boat called him Tarzan, and it was easy to see why. When someone came up to swim with the sharks, he would stand on the edge of the large cage and peer into the water then he would dive into the water and disappear until he came up holding a shark. Here is Josh with the shark, this one was named Monica Lewinski ("Don't worry, she won't bite!" we were told).

And here I am. It was very cool, the shark didn't feel at all like I thought it would, it was rough like sandpaper.
Once we showered off and grabbed a bite to eat at the restaurant on the island we headed over to a group of palm trees and grabbed a short nap in the hammocks. Here is a view up from the hammocks:
This is the beach on the island. The resort we stayed at is one of seven resorts owned by Palace Resorts. They also had a resort on the island, so we were able to take advantage of all of the amenities because it was part of our all inclusive package.

Then, we hopped back on the boat and they took us to the other end of the island to go shopping. I really enjoyed this because it was a chance to see a bit of real Mexico, away from the resort. There were children everywhere, guys gambling on the sidewalks with bottle caps, street vendors, and some really great shops. I'm not very good at haggling, but it wasn't all that difficult. Josh and I were looking at some hammocks similar to the ones on the beach but we weren't sure if we actually wanted one. The sales guy followed us around the store constantly dropping the price as we looked at other goods. So, we bought one for $20, down from $30. I'm sure more haggling could have been done, but we were happy enough.
This is the beach by the town on the island.

After shopping, we got back on the boat. I think that the boat rides were probably my favorite part of the entire trip, they were so entertaining! The guides always had music cranked up that they'd sing or dance to. Here, they all donned mariachi outfits and did some synchronized dancing. They put on YMCA, and did a few different styles of the dance. First, they did the regular style, then the Macho Mexican style, and then the Sexy Ricky Martin style.

Drinks were provided!

On Sunday, we decided to take it easy. The weather wasn't all that sunny, but it was nice enough.
The water was very clear, and had tons of fish. We decided to get our snorkels and head out into the cove. I didn't enjoy it as much, I really don't like fish, they totally ick me out. On the reef, we were in deeper water so the fish weren't as close. Here in the cove it was pretty shallow and the fish were all around us. I finally headed in after I heard a weird crunching sound and looked over to see a huge fish with big teeth eat up three other fish in one mouthful.
Our last night was spent at a banquet for Josh's work. They gave out tons of cool prizes, and had really good food. Of course, Josh and I didn't win anything but we still had a great time.Phew! That's it! Overall, we had a wonderful time! I loved Mexico. All of the people were so wonderful, and I've never seen a more helpful, friendly staff.
And of course, the kids were well taken care of! Gavin stayed at Josh's parents house, and Jayden stayed there the first night, and the rest at my mom's house. And Jasper stayed at my sisters house. I think we pretty much wore our entire extended family out. As nice as it was for Josh and I to have some time together (and sleep!), we were very happy to get back home to our boys.

Typical Male

2008-10-14T19:32:00.004-05:00

I asked Jayden to play with Gavin for a few minutes today so I could get some chores done. Apparently playing with Gavin means surrounding him with toys, barricading him, and going off to play in his own room.

Pumpkins!!!

2008-10-04T14:46:00.001-05:00

Yesterday we decided to take advantage of the beautiful fall weather and head the pumpkin patch. It happened to be Family Fun Day at Rogers Pumpkin Farm, so there were a few extra activities going on, such as a real tee pee and a jump house.

As soon as we hopped out of the car, Jayden said "I want to see the kitties!" Apparently he remembered from last year that the place was crawling with kittens. Needless to say, he cared more about playing with the cats than he did about picking out a pumpkin.

Jayden trying to pick up one of the monster pumpkins.

They have five or six corn husk tee pees up all of the time, it's the perfect hiding spot for a 3 year old.

Our quickly snapped photo of Gavin before he started picking things up off of the ground and shoving them in his mouth.

Gavin was so enthralled with the pumpkins, that we could never get him to look at us for a picture.

We had a great time, I hope to get back again this fall season. I love pumpkin patches, and I keep telling Josh that we're going to have our own someday. He thinks I'm crazy.

Southeast Iowa Air Show!

2008-09-25T13:42:00.003-05:00

Last weekend we met up with Joe, Barb, and Mandy at the Southeast Iowa Air Show. It was on hiatus last year, so we were pretty excited to get there this year. Plus, it was FREE! They had a NASA exhibit, helicopters, airplane rides, and air show and the Jump 4 Fun stuff.

Here are Jayden and Gavin as astronauts at the NASA exhibit.

While everyone else enjoyed the air show, Jayden enjoyed the inflatables. He loves these things!

The Aerostars.

Papa showed Jayden the workings of a helicopter, right up close.

It was a fun day! I was hoping Jayden would have gotten more excited about the air show, but once he sees the inflatables, that's all he wants to do.

For you Burlington people, don't forget, Heritage Days is this weekend! There will be bands, food, pony rides, inflatables, pumpkins and all sorts of other fun things. Hope to see you there!

A milestone!

2008-09-24T12:48:00.003-05:00

For a few weeks now, Gavin has been pulling himself up to stand. I've been slow to posting get about it, I know, but better late than never!

He pulls himself up to stand on anything, even a bare wall! Here he is at the couch this morning, with a goofy little smile.
Look ma, one hand!

This is a very common site. Gavin follows us everywhere, and pulls himself up on our pant legs. It's cute, but a little difficult if I'm trying to get dinner ready and I have a little monkey hanging on my legs.
My baby is growing up too fast!

"I don't want to sleep in here."

2008-09-12T09:09:00.002-05:00

Well, it's happened. Millions of families have gone through this, and I thought we'd be immune. No matter how hard you try to keep a safe, healthy environment for your children, you can't control everything.

We've got monsters. My "fearless" little boy is afraid of the dark.

He's been getting increasingly timid for awhile now. Maybe too many games of hide and seek that involve us jumping out and growling at Jayden which always resulted in screams and laughter. Maybe cartoons with wierd creatures that helped develop his imagination. Maybe just a right of passage that would have been inevitable anyway.

It started out with the occasional difficulties getting Jayden to bed. He's always been very good at bedtime, so we did what it took to get him to sleep in his bed and hoped it was just a phase. We would sometime get a knock at his door in the middle of the night, we'd open it we'd find Jayden clutching his pillow with tears running down his face telling us "I don't want to sleep in here." It was heartbreaking and we'd always take him into our room until he fell back asleep.

Josh and I are tired. With a teething 6 month old that wakes up every TWO TO THREE hours, and a toddler that won't go to bed and knows to wake up only on the nights that Josh and I most desperate for sleep, we're tired.
Gavin's nightly ritual is baby orajel on his gums (against doctors orders), and cereal and Gripe Water in his bottle right before bed at around 7:30pm. We then proceed to go in his room 2-3 times within the next hour to settle him back down. He is tired, and he is ready for bed, but he fights sleep so bad that he wakes up crying a few times before he finally conks out. Then it's Jayden's turn.

Now our nightly ritual has gone from reading a few books, rubbing Jayden's back and leaving his room to a good half hour or more of talking him into staying in his room and waiting until he falls asleep, with the occasional "I don't like this room" muttered while his eyes are closed.

Now, not only am I sad for him. I don't want him to be scared. I don't like not being in control, and this is a situation I don't have much control over. But, I'm also sad because we've worked so hard on this house, I don't like hearing him say he "doesn't like it" for any reason. I've been scared of the dark most of my life, mostly while I was young because I walked in my sleep and would wake up out of my bed so often. My fears have mostly moved from the childhood fears of the dark: monsters and ghosts and things you can't see; to adult fears of unlocked doors, fires, and strangers. They're still there even if they're in a different form, I feel like I can still relate.

I've decided to take a different approach. Apparently telling him that monsters aren't real isn't working, so I think I'll just have to work with the situation. A popular method is "Monster Spray." So this morning we went down to Walgreens and picked some up. I went with some air freshner that has a picture of a window on it, since he has a window ghost. Not all that creative, but he insisted on going with me to the store so my choices were limited. We also picked up a ghost light from the Halloween section that the assistant manager (and fellow Remax Realtor) told me his granddaughter uses against monsters. We came home and sprayed down Jayden's room, and then the rest of the house for good measure. And we put his anti monster light next to his bed.

So here's hoping! This is another blog that's mostly meant as a reference point, so when Gavin goes through all of this I can look back and remember everything that I'm sure to black out at some point.

If any of you parents that have gone through this has any pointers, I'd love to hear them. I don't care how ridiculous they might be, I'll try anything. For now, wish us luck on the Monster Spray, if anything, we'll have a very nice smelling house!

Vote For Pedro Gavin!

2008-09-09T20:23:00.003-05:00

I put some of my favorite pictures of Gavin in the American Baby Cover Contest, you can comment and vote HERE! You can click on the stars in the upper left corner to rate it, and click the recommend button if you want to recommend it...I'm not exactly sure what that means, but it can't be bad. :)

Fort Madison Rodeo Parade

2008-09-08T14:03:00.004-05:00

Over the weekend, we decided to take advantage of the nice weather and head down to the Fort Madison Rodeo Parade. It was a great parade! Tons of candy, tractors, horses, firetrucks, and anything else a little boy could love. Jayden had a great time scurrying around for candy, and Gavin squealed and talked in excitement the whole time.

Gavin and Josh enjoying the parade

Jayden with his candy

In our house, tractors are about as cool as it gets.

This picture is for Grandma and Papa.

And totally unrelated, this is just a cute picture. Gavin loves sitting outside, but as soon as you sit him down he grabs handfuls of grass and shoves it in his mouth. Typically, I rush and do everything I can to keep the grass out of his mouth, but this day, he was just too cute.

Happy Birthday Jayden!

2008-09-01T14:31:00.005-05:00

Jayden turned three years old on the 29th! We've had a very busy weekend, so I thought I'd wait until it was over to do my write up. Friday was a pretty easy going day. Josh stopped by the house before he left Burlington so Jayden could open his Birthday presents. He was very excited, and couldn't wait to play with his new toys!

My mom and Jayden share a Birthday, so she picked him up after lunch to spend the afternoon with him. They went shopping for his Birthday present, picked up Ethan, and spent some time at Fun City. Afterwards, we all met at my mom's house for some supper and cake.

Gavin was in heaven with all of the watermelon he could get his hands on.
All day as my mom asked Jayden what he wanted for his Birthday, his response was "a Birthday cake!" By the time the Birthday cake came, he was ecstatic! He sqealed with laughter as we presented him and my mom the cake, it was really very cute.
Sunday was the big party day. Josh's family watched Jayden overnight on Saturday, and until the party on Sunday, so Jayden was able to show up at his party after it was all decorated.

It was a circus theme, so I attempted to decorate the house like a Big Top. Easier said than done, but I think the effect was carried out enough. The banner on the porch reads "Jayden's Big Top" and we had a sign out by the sidewalk pointing to the "Stevens' Fairgrounds."
I wanted some old fashioned Circus posters, so I decided to make my own.
Here is Gavin's:

Josh's:
Jayden's:
We had a picture board, here is Jayden with his head in the lion's mouth!
And instead of gift bags for the guests, we had a duck pond where they won "prizes."

We had a few more games, horse shoes, ring toss, and a bean bag toss that my Uncle Perry made.

We also busted balloons that had candy inside.

And we had the slide out, this was a huge hit with the kids!

Gavin had a pretty good time too, even though he didn't get to go swimming.

Jayden was very excited to open his presents. He got lots of really great games, vehicles, clothes, books and some other really neat toys.

And finally, he got his cake! Originally, we were just going to have cupcakes, but after his excitement over the Birthday cake at my mom's house, we decided to throw together a smaller cake for him.

That was our weekend! Thank you everyone who came for making it such a fun party. Jayden is a very lucky boy!

Happy Half Birthday Gavin!

2008-08-23T10:17:00.005-05:00

Gavin turns six months old today, I can't believe how fast the time has flown! I don't have his stats yet, as we haven't been to his doctors appointment, but I can show you some of the "tricks" he has learned so far.

He sits very well. As you can see, we don't even use a barricade of pillows anymore!

We've been practicing with a sippy cup.

And we've kind of skipped baby food and moved onto the self feed stuff. I know, it's not the most desirable route to take, but this kid was impossible to feed. He can't sit still for a second, and getting the spoon into his mouth was pretty much impossible. So, we got some biter biscuits, he's thrilled, and it works wonderfully for us.
And, he is starting to crawl a bit more. He's had a "scootch" down for awhile now, but he's finally learning to use his arms.

His favorite toys are not actually his toys. He's in heaven if he can get ahold of a bag, he loves Jayden's cars, and if Jasper is chewing on something Gaving does all he can to get it from Japser. He still has no teeth, but he is working on them! He has gotten himself all the way up to sitting from his belly once, otherwise he can tripod himself up. He also chatters a lot. He has his "dadadada"s "gagagaga"s "babababa"s, and the occassional "mamamama"s down. Along with just a lot of very loud happy screaming. He is a wonderful, happy baby, with a temper. :) He loves his big brother, and his big brother loves him. Jayden is always bringing his toys in for Gavin to play with, and I think Gavin already prefers. He is definately a daddy's boy, he lights up whenever he sees Josh and immediatly starts reaching for him. It's very cute, and I know Josh loves it.
He still is not sleeping through the night.
So, there you are, a little update on who Gavin is today and I got all of my mommy bragging out of the way. He is such a fun little guy, that we're all looking foward to what the next six months are going to bring.

West Burlington Pool

2008-08-02T21:22:00.001-05:00

Josh and I decided to load up the family and go swimming. We originally tried to go to Dankwardt Pool, but even though the website says it's open til' 7pm, the workers told us they've only been open until 6pm for at least the last four years (after watching us pull up at 5:55 pm, unload Jayden, Gavin, our towels, and our bag). So, we thought we'd try out the West Burlington Pool. We had a GREAT time! They don't have a real kiddie pool, but the area is very kid friendly. Plenty of activities, shallow water, and lifeguards. It was a wonderful time.

I finally picked Gavin up a pair of swim trunks today, he was so wound up after Josh dressed him for the pool. He basically laided on the floor and screeched until we got fully ready.

I picked Jayden up a swim suit with floaty pads built in. I told him they were his strong muscles, so of course he had to show them off for us. Jayden's suit gave him loads of confidence, and he was doing a great job jumping into the deeper water, and he was swimming from the side to us.

This was Gavin's intertube, he wasn't quite sure of it at first.

But within minutes he fell asleep, and napped for about half an hour like this in the pool.

Gavin floated for about an hour and half, his toes were very wrinkly by the time we finished up...

While Josh and I were grabbing the camera to take a picture of Gavin's toes, we looked down and noticed that a cold little Jayden had laid himself down for a little break.

I think he was a little tired....That was our day!

Big Boy!

2008-08-02T21:08:00.000-05:00

Gavin is growing up so fast! He's been getting up on all fours for the last couple of days, and even rocking a bit.

He is also sitting very well also.

Ain't he cute??

Now, if only he'd start sleeping through the night!

A recap of our summer, thus far

2008-07-31T07:09:00.010-05:00

I haven't been that great at updating the blog this summer so I thought I'd do a monster post to catch us up to date. We've had a great summer so far, and we've done a lot of very fun things. Here is a quick overview of a few things that the boys have experienced so far.

We've made many trips to the park,
played in the swings,

and watched the fish.

We've gone to the water park.
and splashed down the same slide,
over and over and over.

We've acted silly,

We've relaxed,

And we've slept.We made a road trip to visit family,

we threw rocks in their pond.

ran through their fields,played with their doggie,
and showed them that Jayden isn't afraid of a little mud.

We played with family

played with the new puppy,

and played with mommy's camera when she wasn't looking.

We went to see airplanes,

right up close!

We went to the fair,
and saw lots of animals.

and had snacks.

We've also seen lots of fireworks, Jayden has gone to his first baseball game and Gavin has been learning all sorts of new tricks. But, this post has gotten long enough, and maybe I'll get more in depth at another time.
So, that's all for now!
All in all, we've had a pretty wonderful summer so far!

2008-07-31T06:56:00.004-05:00

We decided to give Jayden his Birthday present early yesterday. It was getting too hot, and it would be too silly to wait another month to give him such a cool present. He came outside after his nap thinking that we were going to play on the Slip N Slide, instead, he found this:

He was pretty thrilled (as were we!), and screeched with laughter every time he got to the top of the slide.

Also, Happy Birthday to Josh! He turns 27 today!

Pieces of Me

2008-07-27T10:01:00.002-05:00

I got this from Jordan over at The Arnold Family blog. It looked like fun, so I thought I'd do my own.

Here's how you make your own:

Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr search, using only the first page, choose your favorite image, copy and paste each of the URL’s into the mosaic maker (3 columns, 4 rows).

The questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you attend?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
10.What do you love most in life?
11. One word to describe you.
12. Your Flickr name.

Meet Jasper!

2008-07-19T19:50:00.004-05:00

Our newest family member!

We really didn't mean to get a puppy today, but we just couldn't pass up this cute little puppy. Jayden and I talked Josh into stopping at the puppy sale today at the Horse and Hound store. There were hundreds of the cutest little puppies, and out of all of them, Jasper caught our eye. Josh and I have always talked about getting a Puggle, Josh loves Beagles, and I wanted something a little cuddlier, so a Puggle (half Beagle half Pug) seemed like a good compromise. So far, he is a very passive, cuddly puppy. He's laid back enough to not add too much more chaos to the house, but playful enough to wear Jayden down. Gavin loves him too, he giggles when Jasper tickles his face with his sniffing. We're very excited to have him and looking forward to the fun times we're sure to share with him!

Four Month Checkup

2008-06-26T11:49:00.002-05:00

We had Gavin's four month appointment on Monday. Here are his stats:
Height: 26" at about the 75th percentile
Weight: 14 pounds at about the 50th percentile

He had three shots, and an oral vaccination (which is so much better!).

Gavin is rolling both ways, is able to completely lift his head up while on his tummy, and is starting on solids. He giggles, mostly at his brother, and babbles all of the time. He loves Jayden, and Jayden loves him. I see a lot of mischief to be had together in the future. He is a wonderful, happy baby...even though he still doesn't sleep through the night.

On the move!

2008-06-17T17:42:00.004-05:00

Alright, so I finally was able to take a video of Gavin rolling...without Jayden jumping in the picture. And, while I was at it, I thought I'd see if I could get Gavin moving, because the kid is always all over the place if we leave him alone on the floor. So, here you go! Gavin's official four month birthday is in four days, so I think he's doing pretty good.

On a lighter note...

2008-06-17T09:50:00.001-05:00

Gavin has been giggling like crazy at Jayden, and of course, Jayden loves it! Here is a quick little video.

Oakville Iowa Flood

2008-06-16T13:53:00.002-05:00

Kim and Nate have shared some pictures and a video from when they went up to see the Oakville Flood last night. Some of the pictures are of Nate's parents farm, most of their buildings are almost completely submerged in water. You can see the top of their white barn, and the top of their house.

Flood of 1993

2008-06-16T07:26:00.004-05:00

I don't know about you guys, but all of this talk about the Flood of 1993 versus the Flood of 2008 had me as to how the two really compared. Josh and I couldn't find any pictures online, I'm assuming because there were no digital cameras, but luckily, my mom made a video back in '93! We were able to upload it to the computer, so we thought we'd share it with anyone else curious about the Flood of '93. We had to cut it down quite a bit (particularly the 2 minutes of the camera sitting on my mom's lap while she drove), but here is a look at the Great Flood of 1993 of the Mississippi river fronts in Burlington Iowa, Fort Madison Iowa, Keokuk Iowa and the Des Moines River between Iowa and Missouri.
You can really see the difference in preparations in the cities between now and then. For the flood of '08, there were huge walls of sandbags and levies everywhere, in '93 I can't really notice nearly as much...but maybe the sandbag walls were already submerged. Anyway, here is the video. It's not horribly exciting, but it does give a good view of the damage.

ps. If you want to see some pretty awesome pictures, go here:
http://www.thehawkeye.com/us/commpix/flood/

Iowa Flood of 2008

2008-06-15T08:08:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures of Burlington Iowa from this morning, sorry about the quality, many were taken from a moving car.

Great River Bridge.

Memorial Auditorium

Iowa side river front.

Big Muddies tried their hardest, but as you can see, their levy has filled in.

Looking at the train tracks from Main Street.

Main Street preparations.

Main Street

Railroad tracks.

Looking down front street.

Who'd a thought...

2008-06-06T18:20:00.003-05:00

I'd have multiple posts in a day, let alone a week!
Today, I thought it would be fun to try out the Jumperoo. Gavin was kicking like crazy in my arms, and Jayden was off at a baseball game with Josh, so it was safe. Lo and behold, he loves it! And he already jumps, which is pretty darn cool. Of course, I got a video. I sound like a dork, but you gotta do what you gotta do to make a kid happy.

I did try to upload some new pictures, but blogger timed out three times, so I guess they'll have to wait!

Gabbin' Gavin

2008-06-06T09:18:00.003-05:00

Well, Gavin has discovered his voice, and it is loud! He is always "talking" now, it's pretty darn cute. Here's a short video of him this morning. He talked a lot more if he was able to hold onto the camera, this is why there are extreme close ups of his mouth occasionally. So, if you think you hear a baby crying while on the phone with me, this is what you are hearing.

A milestone! Woohoo!

2008-06-05T13:41:00.002-05:00

Today, Gavin finally accomplished what he's been trying to do for weeks, he rolled over! Sadly, I didn't get a picture because like always, I couldn't find my camera. Plus, I didn't really want to ruin the moment by tearing my house upside down just to find the darn thing (which was simply on the kitchen counter). Anyway, I wanted to share, and get it down in print so I'll have it to reference to when I get around to scrap booking. As of now, I can't possibly imagine having time to scrapbook.

I'll try really hard to get some pictures on here, until then, you should totally check out what Remax is doing, we're the first office in the area to get Visual Tours up on Realtor.com! I'm really excited about it.

Happy Mother's Day

2008-05-11T20:49:00.003-05:00

Since I've been so horrible about keeping updates, I thought I'd go ahead and give you all a general family update. You know, everything you wanted to know about us, and more!

I'll start with little Gavin. He is now a whole 11 weeks old, can you believe it?? He's a pretty happy little guy. He smiles all of the time, and is content as long as he has something to look at. He "talks" quite a bit now, and although he is happy mostly, he definitely isn't afraid to complain when he gets too bored or tired. Up until recently, he loved laying on the floor watching his toys, but now he prefers to be sat up so he can watch everything else that's going on. He loves to practice rolling over, and gets the biggest grin whenever I pull him to his side by his hand. He is also starting to giggle, and is apparently going to be very ticklish. Currently, he wakes up about one time a night, and is still sleeping in our bedroom, but not with us. I just seem to have separation anxiety about leaving him all alone in his big lonely bedroom. We're going to get him in his own room this week. As much as I love the new baby stage, I'm getting very exciting about the new stage he's entering. The three month mark seems to be when the personality really starts to develop, and he'll start getting a bit more mobile. I have a feeling Jayden is going to love it when Gavin gets more interactive, and is able to roll around on the floor.

Jayden is the epitome of a two year old. Although we don't get full fledged tantrums (yet!), he definitely has developed an attitude. Half of the time I already feel like I'm dealing with a teenager, he rolls his eyes, talks back, and Josh and I both feel as if we're being talked down to. But, we're working on things. He knows to apologize, and he knows that he won't get what he wants when he isn't being nice or respectful. I just keep telling myself that they are called the Terrible Twos with reason. I'm really not complaining though, this is more of a journal entry so I can be sure to remember everything about my boys, flattering or not. The twos also have a very wonderful side. Jayden is very sweet, he tells me he loves me at all times of the day, gives wonderful bear hugs, and gives his little brother kisses all throughout the day. He also talks. A lot. Like, nonstop. If a thought enters his head, it immediately leaves hi mouth. My basic day revolves around answering every question about everything that could possibly be asked. "Who you talking to?" "What are you talking about?" "What's that called?" "What's that smell" "Do you hear that?"...the list goes on. It really is wonderful, just a little bit migraine inducing on some days. We can now have complete conversations. I don't think a day goes by that Josh and I don't sit and laugh at the things that come out of Jayden's mouth nowadays. He has also been doing a lot with imaginative play, which I totally love. Currently, his favorite thing to play is Landfill. This consists of him filling up a dump truck with laundry and driving it across the house to dump it. Sure, it makes folding laundry a bit more difficult, but it's a lot of fun to watch him play. His favorite shows are Tom and Jerry, Spongebob, and Caillou, I think Caillou is the current top show because it's the only one he'll really sit and watch every time it is on. Jayden is a wonderful big brother to Gavin, when he thinks he's alone and I'm peaking around the door I can hear him tell Gavin he loves him and he makes silly faces to get a smile. During a thunderstorm Gavin was crying, and Jayden came up and gave him a hug and told him "It's okay Gavin, it's just a thunderstorm." It was very cute. We do have our moments, but they aren't enough for me to think that Jayden is a perfect big brother. But, Gavin is also a pretty perfect little brother, so he isn't hard to love.

Josh and I are both doing well. Josh is doing awesome at work, and isn't far from possibly winning a trip to Mexico in a sales contest. So, if you've got a business in need of rugs, uniforms, etc., give him a call! As for me, I'm starting to get busier as a Realtor. It's very difficult to get started because you have to build a clientèle from scratch, but things are starting to pick up. I really believe it's the perfect job for me, and I'm anxious to see what my career brings with the years to come. The only hard part is that I pretty much work from home, and it can get difficult to get time for everything. Our family is amazing though, and they do all they can to help us out with the kids. Josh is pretty wonderful too, and never complains when I'm running out the door to show a house and leaving him with the kids. Josh is a wonderful father, his main goal is very evident that he wants his family to always be first, even if it means going into work at 4am so he can be home at a good time during the day. And even when he goes to work at 4am, he gets up at night with Gavin to give me a hand. Really, what more could a girl want?
Oh, and another small update, we had to break down and buy a car. I didn't like our previous one, but I was still hoping it would last at least another year. Well, it wouldn't. So my brother in law, Scott, got us an awesome deal on a 2002 Ford Explorer. We love it, and are so happy that we were able to get a perfect car at a very good price.
I could keep going, because it seems like our life is completely filled up with all sorts of things going on, but I think this is enough for one night.
I'll leave you with some random pictures. I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Gavin in his Van Halen onesie.

When Taylor came home to visit, they had such a great time playing. They both thought they could drive the car at the same time...

Mommy's future real estate assistant.

Brothers!

I don't care if I might be biased, but I think he's pretty darn cute.

2 Month Checkup

2008-04-22T21:16:00.003-05:00

Here are the stats:
Length: 23 3/4 Inches
Weight: 11 pounds, 11 ounces

I got bored while waiting for the doctor, so I thought I'd sneak in a doctor's visit photo. Gavin was a real trooper for the shots, he screamed blood murder, but only until I picked him up.
Gotta love having the "Mother's Touch" super power. Plus he was lucky because they've combined shots, so he only had to get 3 instead of 5.
The nurses and doctor all commented on how he was such a calm, content baby. Which he definitely is. Overall, the doctor said he was perfect. I agree.

The Three Hot Mommas

2008-04-22T10:49:00.005-05:00

As most of you know I was pregnant at the same time as two of my sister in laws, Becky and Kim, and we got a few pictures along the way!

Becky, Kim and I, right before Colin was born.

Shortly before Peyton entered the world.

And the three bouncing baby boys. As you can tell, Gavin wasn't really in the mood to pose for pictures.

Today is Gavin's two month checkup, so I may actually get in TWO POSTS today! Wow!

Don't quote me on that though...

Easter!

2008-04-02T11:23:00.008-05:00

As you'll surely be able to tell by the following pictures, we had a wonderful Easter.
We started off the weekend by braving the cold and going to the Bees stadium for an Easter Egg hunt. There were TONS of kids, so it was kind of hard to get a lot of eggs, the whole hunt for Jayden's age group was over in less than five minutes. He still had a great time, and was thrilled to be able to eat as much candy as he wanted. Gavin slept the whole time.
From there we headed to the mall to check out the Easter Bunny, Jayden was a little apprehensive but we were eventually able to get him to sit in front of the Easter Bunny...that picture is a couple of posts back. Gavin slept.
On Sunday morning we were able to explore the Easter baskets that the Easter Bunny had left behind. Once again, Jayden was thrilled to be able to eat all of the candy he wanted. He also helped Gavin go through his own Easter basket. Jayden got candy, bubble, some toys, a book and a little Spongebob Soccer set; Gavin received books, a monkey bank, a monkey pillow, and some other little toys. We also had a little Easter egg hunt for Jayden...next year he'll finally have some competition. After our little bit of Easter at our house, we headed to the Memorial Auditorium for mass. Jayden was pretty good, he would have been better if his parents would have taken church into consideration before letting him lose with his Easter candy beforehand. And of course...Gavin slept. We then went straight to Joe and Barb's house for lunch. There were more Easter baskets waiting for the kids, as well as an Easter egg hunt. Jayden was the only kid able to participate, as Taylor and Colin were at home, and Peyton and Gavin are still a bit small. Needless to say, he ended up with another basket full.

And our last but not least stop, we all headed to my mom's house for dinner. There was yet another Easter Egg hunt, Jayden had some pretty good practice at this point, which was good because he actually had some competition with his cousin Ethan. They both did great and ended up with full buckets. Jayden and Ethan had a great time together, and they, along with my mom's dog Allie, helped each other burn off a lot of energy. Gavin was actually awake a bit, and the pictures of him in a previous post show just how happy he was by the evening.

It's a mom thing,,,,

2008-03-27T11:37:00.003-05:00

...we enjoy showing off every little thing, no matter how mundane it may be to everyone else.

Happy Baby

2008-03-24T12:39:00.003-05:00

Stay tuned for our Easter weekend update...

Happy Easter!

2008-03-22T18:03:00.002-05:00

Happy Easter!

From,

The Stevens Family

A post! Woohoo!

2008-03-17T18:31:00.009-05:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, but the last three weeks have flown by! Life has been GREAT with Gavin, and surprisingly much easier than Josh and I imagined. I guess once your life has been turned upside down by a baby the first time, the consecutive times don't have quite the same impact. So far, Gavin has been a great baby. He's pretty happy if all of his needs are met, and when he isn't happy he's pretty easy to calm down. For the most part, he lets Josh and I sleep. We get up 2 to 3 times a night with him for a feeding and a diaper change, but he typically goes right back to sleep.
Gavin has already started to smile while he's awake, it's very cute. I've been trying to catch a picture, but it's almost impossible with a digital camera. He also has a very strong neck and is always looking all around when he's propped up. He is just getting out of the newborn phase of constant sleep and has been staying awake for hours at a time during the day. It's a lot of fun to have him awake so much, but it's also getting a bit difficult dividing out attention between him and Jayden...but I know it will be easier with time.
Jayden loves his new little brother. He's always giving Gavin hugs and kisses and he does whatever he can to help calm Gavin when he's crying, whether it be finding the binky or making funny noises and faces. He loves helping mommy and daddy out, and although it can be a little stressful sometimes, he only means well (at least when it involves Gavin).
Gavin had his two week checkup March 10th, and so far he had already gained over one pound, and one inch! He passed everything else with flying colors. :)
Here are a few pictures since we've been home.

Gavin smiles in his sleep a lot, and Becky was able to catch a picture!

Here's Jayden giving his brother some love.

And a few random pictures...

Here he is today, decked out in green for St. Patty's day! This was the tail end of a smile :)

We've been trying to keep busy so Jayden doesn't get too bored with us.
Here is Jayden and Taylor enjoying one of their favorite pastimes at Grandma and Papa's house blowing bubbles on one of our warmer days.

Jayden has been to his most favorite place in the world twice since Gavin has been home...Fun City!
Look at those abs, he hardly looks like a toddler any more!

His second trip was with his cousin Ethan, I'm pretty sure they both could have spent the entire night going down the same two slides. They had a great time!

That's all I've got for now. I'll (hopefully) post more pictures soon!

It's A Boy....Gavin Thomas Stevens!!!!

2008-02-24T20:50:00.028-06:00

Gavin Thomas Stevens

Hello family and friends, my name is Gavin Thomas!!!!
I was born at 2:03 A.M. on February 23, 2008!
I weigh 7lbs. 5oz. and am 20.5 in. long!!

It all started when my Mommy went to her appointment Friday at 3:40 and begged her Doctor to bring me into this world. They gave her her wish and within a half an hour they had my Mommy hooked up to start the process of brining me out.

Despite my comfortable conditions inside my Mommy, I had no choice. Around 1:45 the Doctor came in to check on my Mommy and I. He knew something I didn't at that time but within 20 minutes I was out and on the warming table screaming and crying.

I had no idea how much nicer it was on the outside. Mommy instantly gave me some food. I didn't even have to ask. I got to stay with my Mommy and Daddy for a short while until I needed to go get cleaned up and to let my Mommy get some rest. After all, she waited a long 9 months to see me.

The next day proved to be even better, I hope this is how every day will be. I found out that I was not the only kid in this family. I had a big older brother named Jayden!
Who in my books is the best big brother any little brother could ever wish for. He sure does love me, don't you think!?!?!

Just when I thought the excitement couldn't get any higher I met the rest of my family!!
This is my Papa Joe!!

And this is my Grandma Barb!!

This is my Nana Becky!!

Here is my Grandpa John!!

And my Grandma Deb!!

And here is the rest of my family!!
from top my Aunt Mandy, Aunt Heather & one of my big cousins Ethan, Aunt Becky, cousin Hanna, another big cousin Taylor, her little brother but another big cousin to me Collin, Aunt Kimmie, and my soon to be newest Uncle Nate!!

I even hear I have an Aunt who lives all the way near New York City who will be traveling all the way to here just to see little young me!!! I truly must be loved to have such a wonderful family!!

And last but not least, here is my ever so proud and loving DaddyI will return for more pictures and comments as I am going to my new home this morning!!!
Bye Bye!!

Here we go...

2008-02-21T09:37:00.002-06:00

I'm giving in. I've given a lot of thought to this whole caster oil idea, and Jordan's comment pretty much set me into action. I picked up a bottle today, and I'll be mixing my cocktail in a little bit. Approximately 2 ounces of caster oil mixed with orange juice.
We'll see what happens.
Jayden and I will also be having Mexican for lunch, so I'll either be on my way to having a baby...or just really really uncomfortable for the rest of the day.
Besides that, I'll walk as much as possible today. If I sit for any period of time my back gets so sore that I can hardly stand. But, if I stand all day and do a lot of walking my ankles look like they've got elephantiasis by the end of the day.
If none of this works then I'm just going to have to work up some tears at the doctor's office so they don't send me home tomorrow. I did get my first stretch marks ever on my tummy, so at this point I think I can work up some legitimate tears.

Maybe it's a good thing?

2008-02-20T10:07:00.002-06:00

I seem to be stuck playing the waiting game, so I've been killing time in pretty unproductive ways. Today, I thought for fun I'd look up the babies' new astrology sign. I don't put a lot into astrology, but I do think it's fun. My mom is big on the compatibility between the signs, and this whole time we've been planning on the baby being an Aquarius. As Jayden is a Virgo, we were expecting the two to have a rather dramatic relationship because supposedly they would love each other, but there would a lot of fighting. But now, the baby has moved into the Pisces sign, which for a sibling match up is the "perfect couple."
Here is the little write up from Tarot.com :

This sibling combination is the "perfect couple". Though they come from opposite sides of the zodiac wheel, these two will have an easy time finding balance and harmony in all that they do. Virgo has a firm grip on reality, while Pisces likes to live in the world of imagination. It will be easy to see, even in early childhood, how these two will cross-pollinate their ideas and help one another to become well-rounded. Both are sensitive and kindly by nature, and even Virgo's criticism will roll off Pisces often-oblivious back. Pisces' creativity will entrance Virgo, and they'll work together to make their dreams come true. Of course, there will be fights now and then, but you won't have a hard time resolving them. A firm reminder to "play nice" might be all these two need. They're likely to continue playing well into their adult lives, too, much to their -- and your -- delight.

There you go, another pointless blog post. My camera is packed up, so this is why my blog is temporarily going away from cute family photos to this.

Still pregnant.

2008-02-18T21:17:00.002-06:00

I'll go back to get checked on Friday, and if my body hasn't done anything significant then I'll have to go BACK next Monday or Tuesday for an ultrasound to make sure baby is happy. Basically, the doctor didn't seem in any big hurry to get this baby out. He keeps commenting that I'm measuring small, so he must think that the baby has room to grow or something. I measured small with Jayden, and I went a week and a half early and he was 7 pound 7 ounces...so the longer I'm pregnant, the bigger my fear of a really big baby with an epidural free birth.
Any natural inducement ideas would be gladly welcomed. I've been eating spicy food and trying acupressure, and I did one sit up (I resorted to toe touches because my back is too sore for a real sit up). Being a believer in Murphy's Law, I've also spent hours walking around busy stores thinking my water would break if I kept putting myself in a public place, as well as going to the doctor without all of my bags packed. Maybe it doesn't work if you actually try to plan by it.

Well, here's hoping I don't make it to Friday.

Any time now baby....

2008-02-18T10:44:00.004-06:00

Well, it's February 18th. The due date.

I'm still pregnant.

Baby can come out any time now...

My will power to not eat an entire box of Ho Hos is dwindling more and more each day, I'm thinking once I can officially start saying "I'm 10 months pregnant" ALL will power will be out the door. I have my 40 week appointment today at 4pm, so send some labor vibes this way and hope that they'll just keep me!

ps.

2008-02-07T18:38:00.000-06:00

Don't forget to enter a guess on our online baby pool!
<~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Only 11 days until my due date!

Pregnancy

2008-02-03T12:35:00.000-06:00

As of tomorrow, I will be 38 weeks pregnant, I think it's about time for a pregnancy post. I get asked how I'm feeling multiple times a day. Frankly, I feel huge. And sore. Bloated. Tired. And I'll probably tell you as much, because as wonderful of an experience as pregnancy is, it's still pretty uncomfortable.

But obviously, the goods still out weigh the bads in many other regards. Jayden, for example. Even though it's a bit more work and a bit harder on my body, it's a lot of fun to be pregnant with a toddler. So far, Jayden is the best big brother a pregnant belly could have. Every day he comes up and hugs my belly, talking softly to it, "I love you baby" "Hi baby! Hiiiiiiiii" with big hugs and kisses. And once, a frantic (in a silly acting sort of way) "Get it out! Get it out!" when I explained that it was a little leg in there that was doing the kicking. Jayden is getting very eager for the new baby, and maybe slightly annoyed with us because we're making him wait so long. Once, my mom was over working on the room while I prepared to go to the grocery store. She asked Jayden "Is mommy going to get a new baby from the hospital?" Jayden replied "No, mama go to store." She tried to clarify, "Yes, mommy is going to the store now, but she'll go to the hospital when she gets the new baby." Once again, "No, mama go to store." When I came home with all of the groceries I took them into the kitchen, and Jayden ran frantically looking around and through the bags "Mama! Baby? Where baby?" It was cute, and you probably had to be there, but I thought I'd share the story so we'd always remember when we come back to read these blogs.

And really, even though I've complained, I've had a really great pregnancy. No big scares, uneventful doctor appointments, basically no worries. The doctor has told me that I'm measuring small, but I'm measuring the same that I measured with Jayden, and he was 7 pounds 7 ounces, so I'm not worried. This baby is active, but not nearly as active as Jayden was. The heartbeat has never been below 150, which makes people say it's a girl, but Jayden's heartbeat was always fairly fast also. I was doing really good with weight gain, until I hit week 20. Then I think I rewarded myself for my good behavior a bit too much. Cravings haven't been crazy with this one, no big bowls of sauerkraut like I had with Jayden. Towards the beginning it was jalepeno poppers, and chili, and lately it's been Mexican. So...spicy food I guess.

Well, there's a bit of an update. It's more of a point of reference for me, so I can see a little bit of what I really felt like rather than what I've made myself remember.
Hopefully we'll be bringing home the new addition within the next two weeks, I'd really rather not go past my due date.
And here, the token pregnancy picture. It's so hard to get a decent picture, but then again, I'm 9 months pregnant, how photogenic am I supposed to be?

That's all. I doubt I'll post again before the baby gets here, so wish us luck, and check back for pictures from the hospital!

Nursery Update

2008-02-03T10:10:00.000-06:00

Thanks Stone for keeping on top of us about the nursery. I've been meaning to post pictures for ages, but more and more keeps getting accomplished in the room on almost a daily basis, so I keep putting off taking a picture. Plus, when there's more that gets accomplished, theres usually more of a mess of tools, paint cans, etc.
As with every other room, I can't publish pictures of the nearly finished room without publishing pictures of where it started. For some reason, I don't have a lot of pictures of this room. I think because it was SO disgusting, I probably never really felt the need to take pictures of it to show it off. So, you won't see pictures of the horrible shag carpet, or nasty buckets of water that were permanently stationed in the corner of the room to catch the rainwater, or a really good picture of the flaky painted woodwork that would have made any lead abatement inspector shiver. But I'm sure you all can get a pretty good idea of what we started with.

This is a shot of the closet. The closets in the babies room and Jayden's room are really great closets, but they started out completely disgusting. The roof leaked above both, causing huge holes in the ceiling and the plaster to turn to dust at the touch. The built in drawers were thankfully empty, but they had been duct taped shut to keep out the draft. I still can't get the duct tape residue off because it was so old, so if anyone has any suggestions besides completely sanding them down and varnishing them, let me know.

The best aspect of this room is the three windows that face the street. Jayden loves watching out of them for daddy to get home, and I'm sure the new baby will love them just as much. As you can see, the windows themselves were rotted. The woodwork was a flaky mess with tons of staples, nails, plastic, and window treatment hardware all over the place. Nasty.

This is a view of the other window in the room. Obviously after we had done some work on the place. I'm pretty sure this picture was just taken in the last couple of months, considering the room is empty. It was our storage room for the first year or so of us living in the house.

This is the opposite wall with the closet door. We had taken out the wall sconces, and still had to patch the holes along with all of the other cracks all over the room.
You can't really see all of the nails, but I took this picture to signify the hundreds of nails we had to pull up from the floor that were left from the many layers of flooring we took up.

Yay! Paint! I like vibrate colors for children's rooms. It gives little babies something to look at. This color is much more pleasing in person. This picture is the day that I started on the floor. For Jayden's room I painted the pine floor, and we love it. It's cheap, durable, and it works great with train sets.

It was pretty beat up and messy, I bleached it twice before painting. Then I primered twice, and painted twice.

And Jayden helped the entire time. He has been such a great help with the babies room.

And the room today. To us, is practically finished. To other people, maybe not. Everything is painted except the woodwork around the single window and the doors. We still need the light fixture... and the furniture. Heather was nice enough to give us a rocking chair that looks perfect in the room. Besides stripping paint, plastering, sanding, and painting my mom's contribution was the window treatments for the room (with four fairly large windows, Josh and I wouldn't have been able to afford anything nearly as nice). Joe and Barb have ordered the crib. And we'll fill in the rest of the gaps when we find out if it's a boy or girl (choosing a gender neutral color is about as far as I'll go) and when we get our tax return.

You can't get a good picture of these windows because of the lighting, but I'm sure you can tell they look lots better.

Like I said, I had a hard time cleaning up the dresser. But it still looks lots better. And it's clean.

The rocking chair. As you can see, this window still needs a bit of work. But we're almost there!

This is the crib, isn't it pretty? I like straight lines and darker woods, so it's pretty perfect.

This is the changing table we're hoping to get. It's made by the same manufacturer and it's the same finish, so hopefully it will look good. As far as changing tables go, this one looks like it could function as a regular piece of furniture someday.

That's all for the nursery. I'll do a follow up pregnancy post shortly, I have to make myself presentable first so I can show off my ginourmousness.

New Years Update

2007-12-29T09:34:00.000-06:00

January 2nd of last year I did our New Year's Resolution for our house. So, I dug it back up to see how well we did. I've highlighted everything with red that we've accomplished.

Jayden's Room

Touch up floor paint
Install and paint quarter round and floor trim
Finish shelving (this is partly done)
Install dimmer switch
Blank covers for obsolete outlets
Install lighting in closet
Paint door

Master Bedroom

One more coat of paint on walls
Edging on ceiling
Plate covers
Finish Trim
Install Door
Install closet lights
Run cable to our room

Upstairs Hallway

Finish patching cracks
Sand
Primer and paint ceilings and walls
Install lighting
Switch plate covers
Paint woodwork
Install shelving

Kid's Bath

Finish Floor
Plumbing
Order faucet for tub
Sand walls
Primer and Paint walls and ceiling
Finish painting bead board
Put up trim
Put up and finish door
Install Lighting
Hang medicine cabinet

Stairway

Sand, primer, paint walls and ceiling
Sand and varnish woodwork (this is partly done)

Living Room

Finish woodwork
Finish installing built in media cabinet
Finish dresser
Finish and install french doors
Touch up paint

Family Room

Touch up paint
Put up woodwork
Finish woodwork
Install built in bookshelves

Dining Room

One more coat of regular paint
Top coat paints
Woodwork
Switch plate covers
Door on closet

Half bath

Put in ceiling
Plaster, sand, primer, and paint walls and ceiling
Paint bead board and woodwork
Plate covers (all but the lightswitch)
Hang medicine cabinet

Kitchen

Electrical
Plumbing
Drywall walls and ceiling
Plaster, Sand, Primer and paint walls and ceiling
Install and paint woodwork
Sand and varnish floor <--We painted instead
Install lighting
Install cabinets
Install appliances

Outside

Scrape paint
Primer
Paint
Begin landscaping

So basically, there is a lot we did get done, and there's a lot we didn't get done. BUT, part of what wasn't on the list was the front bedroom, because at the time we weren't necessarily planning on needing to have that room finished anytime soon. I'd still say it was a pretty good year. My list was fairly ambitious, because if we actually had finished it, our house would be done, and that just doesn't happen with old houses.

Last year at this time we didn't have anything close to a working kitchen or a fully functional bathroom, you can simply look here to see what we were living in. We had plastic up on the doorways that led into the kitchen, and I think we were still traveling to our parent's houses in order to shower. Now every appliance is up and going (well, basically...our ice maker isn't hooked up for our fridge and I use a match to light the gas burners on the stovetop), both of our bathrooms are complete, our dining room is actually used as a dining room and all three of our bedrooms are completely liveable. The outside of the house is still scary looking, but hey, we needed one good Halloween with it like it is.

There is a bit of an update. I'll post some pictures of the babies room once I actually take a picture of the near finished product. We still have some woodwork to finish, the floor to repair and the light to hang...but you'll get the gist of it.
So, that's it for our year end review. Maybe I'll be ambitious enough to do a new list here in a few days...but we'll see. With a newish job and a new baby, I don't know what we'll be able to accomplish. Hopefully I'll sell a couple of millions dollar houses and we can just hire the rest of the work done. :)

Merry Christmas!

2007-12-27T08:26:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Our family had a GREAT Christmas, but boy, are we exhausted! "We" meaning "me," Jayden is a bundle of endless energy.
Our family Christmas' started out at my sister's house on Sunday, where we celebrated with Dad and Debbie. The boys had a blast playing together, at least until all of the new toys started entering the scene. They received some great toys, and some really cute clothes.

Here are the boys posing in front of Heather's Christmas tree before they were able to open presents.
Ethan played Santa by handing out all of the gifts. Jayden helped Grandpa John open up his Rubix Cube.

Jayden had present opening down, but each toy had to be taken out of it's box before he'd agree to go on to the next gift.
On Christmas Eve, we went to my mom's house to celebrate with that portion of the family. My mom, my sister's family was there, my brother (after work) along with my Uncle Perry, Hanna and George, and Brittany and Jacob. The present opening here was a flurry of paper, and was done in about 5 minutes...you can definitely tell the boys are getting older. Here, they both got a lot of great toys, and were actually pretty much content with their own presents that they didn't bother each other too much by trying to play with each other's new toys.
This is our in front of the Christmas tree pose. We were trying to get a picture with Ethan, Jayden and Jacob, but it's almost impossible to get all three boys to look at the camera, stay seated, and smile at the same time. You can see how thrilled Jayden was by the time this picture was taken.
Ethan and Jayden.
After Christmas at my mom's house, we went to midnight mass. Josh is in the choir, and he organized some people to get together and performed "An Angel Came Down" by the Transiberian Orchestra. They did an awesome job, and if I can somehow get a video of it on my computer, I'll post it. They all sounded great, Josh especially. :)

Christmas morning we opened presents from Santa. He brought Jayden some really cool toys (if I do say so myself), and luckily, even though it wasn't wrapped, he didn't notice the best present until the very end. It was a four wheeler that was still charging, and since he's gotten that, it's pretty much been in motion the whole time.

Here is Jayden in the middle of opening, he received a couple of more dinosaurs, a camera, a Buzz Lightyear, and some more trucks. Santa is nice enough to put together all of the toys that he's received for Christmas so far so Jayden can play with those too on Christmas morning.
This is the way Jayden got a start on most of his presents, he had to bite off the corner of the paper.

In the middle of it all.

Finally, mid morning, we had the Steven's family over to our house for the Christmas celebration. The kids were starting to get pretty worn down by now, but they perked up quickly enough.
We started the morning with some homemade donuts. We all teased Josh because he wanted to make 50, which seemed like way too many. But, we only had 1 left over, so he had the last laugh. Josh had to recruit Joe and his frosting making abilities, so they both pretty much were in charge of breakfast. We also had a braided bread roll, and some fruit.
Two hours later, we had lunch. I knew if we started presents before we ate lunch, we wouldn't be eating until mid afternoon. Thankfully, people were still willing to eat.

Joe and Josh making their famous donuts.

Jayden opening more and more gifts! We had a rule here, no opening up the toys until all of the presents had been opened. It was really difficult when we was getting guitars and other cool toys, but he made it through. In addition to the toys, he got some great clothes, so he's going to be totally stylish for the rest of the winter.
Jayden and Taylor have been wrestling a lot lately. It's hilarious, because they both love it, and they actually don't annoy each other when they're in the middle of a good wrestling match.
Here they are, taking a quick break to pose for the camera.

Here's the newest family...aww....aren't they cute?
Here's a shot of the mess, while Taylor is opening up her gifts.
One gift that Jayden received from Hanna and George at my mom's house was a whoopee cushion. George was disappointed at first, because the boys weren't all that thrilled. By the end of the night, Jayden was having a great time with it. But then again, he is ALL boy, so he would think that it's hilarious. What I didn't expect, was for Taylor to have such a great time with it too. Who knew?
Well, that pretty much sums up this years Christmas. I think I could have written much longer chapters, but I'm sure you all get the gist of it. We had such a great time...it feels like every Christmas just gets better and better, especially with so many new additions to the family.
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and will have a great new year!

ps. Stay tuned for a house update post, whenever I get another chance to sit at the computer undisturbed again. I'll have some pictures of the babies room, and maybe a year end update of what's been accomplished this year.

Welcome to the family!

2007-12-09T11:46:00.000-06:00

Our newest family member, Kimmie and Nate's son, Peyton Thomas.

Snow Day!

2007-12-07T11:17:00.001-06:00

It snowed!!
Duh, right?
Jayden and I took full advantage of it, he bundled all up (making him look like he'd gained about 30 pounds) to head out to play, and I was able to get the rest of the walks shoveled. I thought we'd only be out for 5 or 10 minutes before it got old, but he did NOT want to come in. He loved throwing snowballs, eating the snow, and falling straight into it covering himself from head to toe in snow. And of course, I had my camera ready.

Here he is when we first got out, he refused to put his mittens on before we headed out, but it gave him a good opportunity to get a few hand fulls in before he realized that mittens were a good thing.

And with a couple of hand fulls, came many mouth fulls.

He went straight for his sand box, which is a lot of fun to climb up with mittens, especially when your mom can't get your thumbs into the thumb place.

Obviously I had to throw my mittens on him, he wouldn't keep his own on. He liked them because they built up snow, which made for a really handy snack (no pun intended!).
He even braved the slide!
Of course, we had to get his truck out. The best $12 we ever spent on a toy.

Who is Huckabee?

2007-11-19T14:29:00.000-06:00

Alright, I haven't really followed the whole political thing much so far...we've still got a ways to go. I just know who I'm not voting for.
Quite honestly, although Huckabee is quickly climbing in the poles, I had given him very little thought. Until I saw his ad. Now, I won't be able to get him out of my mind. Good marketing? I'd say so. Would I vote for him? I'm still up in the air.

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-01T09:12:00.000-05:00

What a great Halloween! True, we only had ten trick or treaters, but that's ten more than we've had the last two years at our old house. Hopefully we'll build up some momentum over the years.
We decided to have people over for chili and snacks this year, the kids are getting too young to want to drive around town all night, and they're old enough to appreciate candy. Jayden went as Buzz Lightyear, his first costume where he really gets to be something he absolutely loves. He flew through the house all evening with his arms up and making the appropriate sound effects (usually with a sucker in his mouth all night).
Here are few pictures of the kiddos:

Jayden as Buzz Lightyear

Ethan as part of the marching band

Taylor as a princess

Jacob as a jumping frog

Their first Trick or Treat house! As you can probably tell, Jayden was a little leery of walking up to strangers houses.

Taylor had to make sure Jayden was holding her hand all night.
The kiddos!

Very spooky.

The especially had fun crunching in all of the leaves!

Overall, success! The kids loved trick or treating, and all of us grown ups had a blast! I honestly don't remember the last time I had such a fun Halloween!

Halloween Decor

2007-10-13T19:41:00.000-05:00

When you've got a house that looks like ours, less is more when it comes to decorating the exterior.

The real "Monster House"

What's missing from this picture?

2007-09-26T17:10:00.000-05:00

The crib! Yes, we have officially moved on to the "big boy bed."

After having both beds in the rooms since we moved into the house, we're loving the extra floor space!

Some of you may be thinking "Hey Chelsea, what about the babies room, you ARE halfway through your pregnancy now, right?" Well, here it is, isn't it cute?
All that's left is the floor, walls, ceiling, woodwork, closet, plate covers, and light fixture. Plus decorating.
We did move out the bathtub. So technically, there has been progress to some degree.

Hooray for Fall!

2007-09-24T18:21:00.000-05:00

So, it's finally officially Fall, and I'm so excited! Fall is definitely my season, especially since we have Jayden to enjoy it with now. This weekend we'll be doing our annual trip to Oktoberfest in the Amana Colonies, something Josh and I started on our second anniversary, this will be our sixth visit! We look forward to it every year.
We're also looking forward to the pumpkin patch this year, Jayden enjoyed it last year, and I know he'll enjoy it even more this year. Plus, it makes for some great photo ops!
Watch our for our house this Halloween, we're really going to spook it up! Not that it takes much, what with the peeling paint and everything, but I think we'll be able to add a few nice touches.
Over the weekend we bought Jayden his first pumpkin. I know, it's a bit early, and it will probably start to rot before Halloween even gets here, but you really should see how much his face lights up whenever he sees the pumpkins at stores. I thought it would be really cute to let him finger paint the pumpkin, actually let himself make a mess in a controlled environment. And although my intentions were good, the whole "weekend craft" didn't turn out quite as cute as I thought it would. Jayden actually didn't like getting his hands all messy, truly a huge surprise there, apparently he only likes to make a mess when he's causing trouble and we're not watching. Plus, the paint was all gooey and blended together and didn't turn out to be the colorfully painted pumpkin I'd imagined. But, it was still pretty fun, and Jayden gets really excited every time we walk out the door and he sees his pumpkin.

Jayden giving a big "Cheeeeese!" with his very own pumpkin!

After I squished his hands into the paint to get the ball rolling, I know it's finger paint, but really, what fun is it painting with just one finger?

The finished product!

ps. Heritage Days in downtown Burlington is also this weekend, as is the Heritage Trust Tour of Homes. Look for me working at the Morrison's home, I chose the "work in progress" house for obvious reasons (those nicely finished houses just don't feel right).

You learn many lessons as a parent...

2007-09-18T08:59:00.000-05:00

For instance, this morning, I learned that Dawn dish soap takes permanent marker off of skin (in addition to lipstick and paint).

But really, how could a person get too mad at this face?

Happy 2nd Birthday!

2007-08-29T07:00:00.000-05:00

Today is Jayden's second birthday. I really can't believe that he's already two, but at the same time, it seems like coming home from the hospital with him was decades ago.
Here's a little flashback of what he looked like when he was a day old. I could post pictures of his actual birth day, but it was late at night, so the only pictures are from when he was really really new which aren't necessarily the cutest pictures.
Last year, on his actual Birthday, right before I cut off his curls.
And here he is today...well, not today, a couple of weeks ago...I dont' have a fresh Birthday picture just yet :)Needless to say, Jayden has changed a lot. He's becoming less of a baby and more of a kid each day. He is very active, always running (usually while screaming), jumping, and climbing on everything. He loves other children, and unless he's playing shy, he'll walk right up, say hi, and start playing. He's a very sweet little boy, he's always giving kisses (if asked for) and big squeeze hugs. He'll do anything if he thinks someone is sad, and he'll worry if he thinks you're hurt ("no owie momma...no owie").
Jayden has a very ornery way of staying out of trouble. He'll listen if he is told no, most of the time, even if he does throw a bit of a tantrum. By this time he also knows whats allowed and what isn't. But in his mind, if no one sees him doing it, then it isn't wrong. So as soon as he starts saying "Bye bye mommy" or "Mommy, in there," which is him telling me to leave the room, or we hear a door close, we know to be on the lookout.
He is also doing very good on his development. His fine motor skills are coming right along, he can do a perfect rock n roll sign. He can understand pretty much everything you say to him, if he'll actually listen is another story. He's been using more and more sentences. The sentences are a lot of fun, because they aren't always sentences he is repeating as he's heard them, he's putting words together to make his own sentences. It's just a really neat stage.
Some of his current favorite things to do write now are driving (playing in someones car), swimming, climbing, and exploring. He is still a fan of Pee-Wee, we've been stuck on Pee-Wee's Christmas Special for a couple of weeks now. He also enjoys Caillou, Sesame Street, and Blue's Clues. He hasn't really got a favorite food right now, but he does love apples, bananas, pancakes, and McDonald's french fries.
Well, there's our Jayden update. And my fall back for his lack of scrapbook that I've been meaning to get started for two years now.

We love you very much Jayden, and we can't wait to see what the next years will bring, but are hoping that they won't go by too fast like they have already. Happy Birthday Sweetie!

Happy Birthday to my mom also! Love you!

Saint Louis Trip

2007-08-22T13:30:00.000-05:00

As most of you know, my mom decided to take us on a weekend trip to Saint Louis last weekend. We all had a wonderful time! We arrived on Friday afternoon, and just took it easy. We ate and went swimming at the pool. Jayden loved swimming, but he wanted to be a little too independent, attempting to jump into the deep end and trying to get us to let go of him in the deeper water. It was a little nerve racking, but we were really proud that he is so comfortable in the water.
Most of you know that Jayden is an early riser, it can be a little irritating on regular weekends, but on vacation, it really pays off. On Saturday we got up and went down to the Gateway Arch. We were pretty much the first people there...
This was great, because we pretty much had the place to ourselves at first!
And we had no waiting time to get up in the Arch. From the Arch we went straight (through the ghetto) to Grant's Farm. This was such a wonderful place to go for a family vacation, all you really pay for is eight dollars for parking, and any food you want for yourselves or to feed the animals.
You get to the actual farm by taking a tram ride through the deer park, which is completely open, and allows you to see the different types of deer close up.

This is the open deer park:

I think our favorite part of Grants Farm was simply feeding the baby goats. Jayden was a little standoffish at first...
but he soon warmed up and tried to hug any goat he could get to!

Jayden also was able to see Josh's favorite birds, the bald eagle, close up. They stay put because they are injured, and cannot fly away.
After Grant's Farm we made it back to the hotel so Jayden could take a much needed nap. We didn't really have any specific plans for the rest of the day, so we just grabbed a bunch of brochures so we could see what else the area had to offer. We were planning on going to an aquarium downtown, but we wanted to drive by the City Museum first because the brochures made it look really really cool. Once we drove up to the museum, we knew there was no turning back. The place was freakin awesome! I highly recommend it to any family. My pictures won't do it justification, but you can see better pictures on their website.

This is the view from the outside. It was an old shoelace factory that was converted to the museum in 1997. All of the parts of are of recycled material, there were two airplanes, a bus hanging off of the roof, and countless tunnels, passage ways, and slides. You could spend days here!. You could get to both of the airplanes which were stories high through mesh tunnels. Pretty much everything you see (except the roof I think) could be crawled to in numerous ways.
This is Jayden in Toddler Town, a place just for little kiddos to climb and slide and play in the balls.
This is a view of the outside from a different viewpoint. On the bridge in the middle, are Josh and Jayden.
One of the many bridges...
Inside was a whole other experience. Everything you saw, was climbable. There was a gigantic fish which you could enter through it's mouth, and find a series caves. Whenever we were separated, it was almost impossible to get back together because of the crazy passageways, even if you were within site of each other.
After the museum, we just had to take it easy. We swam a bit more, but basically just lounged around a bit. That place wears you out!

Sunday morning we got up, packed up the Jeep, and headed for the Saint Louis Zoo.
Once again...first ones there...look at those lines!
It seemed beneficial at first, but we were there before the animals were up and the train was running, so it did take awhile before we were able to see too much.
We did get to ride the carousal for free though!
Jayden was very happy once the train opened up!We really enjoyed seeing the animals once they decided to wake up and come out.
There's our little monkey, watching a monkey eat his breakfast.
At the end of our zoo trip, we went to a Sea Lion show. They would jump through hoops, ring bells, throw Frisbees...really anything you can teach a dog to do...except sea lions are a bit bigger.

All in all, we had an excellent time. I wasn't sure about Saint Louis as a vacation destination with a toddler, but it was a blast. There was so much to do, I can't wait to get back!
Thanks mom!!

House, what house?

2007-08-16T08:30:00.000-05:00

Another catch up post, to let you all know that we're still here. We're just really busy! I've been pretty busy with work, I've actually started showing houses! It's a ton of fun, but a little stressful when you've been used to dealing with a toddler and are suddenly dealing with adults.
As most of you know, we have a new nephew! Colin Michael was born at 7:40 am on August 10th. He is absolutely adorable! I've got a video of a lot of little videos I took during our visit to the hospital. I've also been trying to update ALL of our YouTube videos, so be sure to check them out!

We had our first ultrasound last week to determine our exact due date. It will be February 18th! I've been asking Jayden if he wants a little brother or sister, like Taylor...his response is always a big "No way!"
We went to my dad and Debbie's house in July, and were able to take advantage of the great beach nearby. It was SO much better than Geode! It wasn't icky green! Jayden had a great time, and you can catch a video of him experiencing his first waves on YouTube.
Here he is getting buried by Daddy:

The sand was too hot for him to walk on!
We also made it to the Des Moines County Fair, here are him and Taylor getting a first hand experience with some of the livestock.
Last weekend weekend we went to the Sweet Corn Festival, Jayden LOVES corn on the cob! He also loved the slide, the bumper cars, and the jump house (another YouTube video). I got a lot of great pictures, I just had to have a cut off point for this post.Last years Sweet Corn Festival:
Lastly, we've been growing tomatoes this year. It may not sound exciting to everyone, but we've had a lot of fun watching them grow. Jayden has been a big help!

That's all for now. No, no updates on the house. We're just enjoying ourselves. Plus, we've got a new baby, and a new job to think about...so we're taking advantage of free time.

We'll be going to Saint Louis this weekend, hopefully I'll get some pictures up within the next month!

Want to renovate a house?

2007-08-07T10:03:00.000-05:00

Check out my other blog for some info on a really neat old house that is currently on the market that is in need of a lot of TLC. Burlington Blog.

Finally, a job!

2007-07-24T08:43:00.000-05:00

For those of you who don't already know, I'm officially a REALTOR. I'm working with Re/Max in West Burlington Iowa, you can find all of our contact info here: Re/Max
I'm very excited to start this new chapter in my life, and I really truly feel like it's the perfect job for me. I'll probably post my current listings, and open houses on my other blog, hopefully I'll be filling that up soon.
So if you or someone you know is interested in buying or selling in Southeast Iowa, please let me know!

Taking a break.

2007-07-03T10:24:00.000-05:00

We made is through the Open House, so now we're taking it easy for awhile. We really want to enjoy the summer with Jayden a bit, especially since we'll have a little on at this time next summer.
On Sunday we went to Fun City, and had an absolute blast. Jayden loves the water, and he basically dove right in, and went down every single slide he was allowed to go down (there are a lot!). I didn't get any pictures, simply because I didn't want to be stuck with the camera all day.
This morning, Jayden and I went to Starr's Cave. In case you didn't know already, Jayden is 100% boy, so this was perfect for him...there were bugs, dirt, a bridge and the really cool cave, so he was pretty happy. This afternoon we may be trying to make it to a beach in the area, my sister Heather and her son Ethan are scoping things out at Lake Pollmiller to see if it looks like fun or not. Hopefully it looks okay, because I've been anxious to take Jayden to a real beach. Here are a few pictures from this morning:Also, I updated my other blog, the one all about the Burlington area, it's also about Starr's Cave, but with more scenic pictures:
http://burlingtoniowa.blogspot.com/

Open House Day!

2007-06-30T20:07:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd put together a little online Open House with before and after pictures of most rooms for those of you who couldn't make it. The pictures aren't all the greatest, but I think they'll show what we've done so far. I'll write a bit more about the actual Open House at the end of the post.

Dining Room: Before

Dining Room: After
We still have a lot of painting to do, but we've come a long way so far.

Living Room: Before

Living Room: After

Family Room: BeforeFamily Room: AfterMaster Bedroom: Before (actually, after we took the plywood off of the windows, added new windows, and took out the shag carpeting)Master Bedroom: AfterJayden's Room: BeforeJayden's Room: AfterUpstairs Bathroom: BeforeUpstairs Bathroom: AfterDownstairs Bath : BeforeDownstairs Bath: AfterKitchen Picture 1: Before

Kitchen Picture 1: After

Kitchen Picture 2: Before

Kitchen Picture 2: After

Babies Room: Before (Did you catch that??)

Babies Room: After. Obviously, we have a lot of work to do in the next 8 months. :)

Yes, we are expecting a second little one sometime around February. We're very happy, and I really can't wait to get started on this room!

As far as the Open House goes, we had a really great time. Close to 70 people showed up, so I think it was a success. It was great to hear so many wonderful comments from everybody, and a really nice ego boost to keep us going. The previous owner even stopped by, so that was kind of fun to show him how much we've done, because he more than anybody would know how much work we've done far. Here are a couple of pictures from the party, I didn't have much time to take many pictures because I was busy giving tours most of the time!

The pictures will come, I promise!

2007-06-26T20:27:00.000-05:00

So, I'm a week late with picture updates (sorry Steve!). Our open house is this upcoming Saturday, and you wouldn't believe how hard we've been working to get things done. So basically, I'm not posting pictures until this weekend because I don't want to ruin things for the people who are coming, so if you aren't coming, you'll just have to wait until the weekend (ahem, Steve). Lord knows I hate posting a blog without pictures, but I think it will be worth the wait. Not that it's anything spectacular, but there is a lot of stuff that I'm pretty darned proud of. In the last couple of weeks we've almost finished the half bath downstairs, mostly finished our bedroom which had been sorely neglected since we've moved here, and nearly finished the upstairs bathroom too! Those are a lot of rooms that are almost done! Can you believe it? Sure, we still have a couple of rooms that we have barely started on, but it still feels good to have some rooms that have the biggest things out of the way.

Plus, those of you who aren't coming on Saturday (Steve again), you'll be missing a pretty neat surprise.

Also, the folks over at RemodelingMySpace have written up a lovely article on the blog, you can read it here: http://www.remodelingmyspace.com/contest-entries/stevens-family-blog
It's such a nice write up, and for those of you who may not be all that familiar with our renovation process, they really summed things up nicely.

PS. I'm just teasing, Steve.

Alright, so I couldn't quite post without pictures, cause the kids in my family are so stinking cute.

Jayden on the carousal at Steamboat Days with Josh...pretty much the only ride he could/would ride.

Ethan and Scott are in the last seat on the roller coaster at Steamboat Days. If you look close enough, you'll see Scott's tongue sticking out in an attractive 'gag' face.

Jay and Tay hanging out by the pool.

Jayden's newest favorite summer toy, the Slip n Slide!

We are working....really, we are...

2007-06-17T20:38:00.000-05:00

...we just aren't blogging much.
Actually, we've gotten a lot accomplished since I last wrote! The half bath downstairs is almost done, the upstairs bathrooms is also almost done, Josh cleaned up the basement, and I repainted Jayden's floor. All in all, a very good weekend here. Tiresome, but good.
I'll post pictures and a few more details tomorrow. I just wanted to give you all something to look at so you don't quit stopping by.
Blogging just doesn't feel the same when there aren't pictures to look at.
Plus, I've got some majorly cute pictures of Jayden. Surprise surprise.

The Open House is in less than two weeks.
Wish us luck.

A few notes....

2007-05-31T20:28:00.000-05:00

We've made TONS of leeway on the downstairs bathroom. We went a little bit bold with the colors, but the effect is pretty cool. All we have left to do is to paint and put up trim boards. I'll post a picture when I can get a decent one. I'd kind of like to wait until the project is complete until I share a picture.
We're also hoping to get a lot of progress done on our bedroom this weekend. It's basically a lot of woodwork, and a second coat of paint on the walls. And then I can hang stuff up on the walls, and sort of decorate. Yay!
A store in Fort Madison, Sweet Magnolias, is in the process of a going out of business sale. They have a lot of stuff that I'd love to have, but even at sale prices are a little steep for me. We did find one thing though, it isn't perfect, but it is the perfect size for the space that will one day hold our built in book shelves. I know we won't be able to afford the perfect built in bookshelves for years, but I really wanted something to put in the space that would hold our board games and whatnot. This is what I found:
It was only $80, and it was the perfect size. I thought we could reface the drawers, add some cool knobs, and paint it. We'll wait awhile before we start anything on it, mostly because we aren't sure exactly what we want to do with it. But for now, I'm just glad to have the nice deep drawers for extra storage.

Our open house is scheduled for the fourth weekend of June. So, if you're from this area and read this blog, and I know you, leave me a comment and let me know if you want an invite. Chances are you're probably already getting one. It's nothing to spectacular, just basically a way to let everyone see how far we've come. Plus booze and snacks.

I'm working on another blog. Since I'm becoming a realtor soon, hopefully (come on fingerprints!), I thought I'd start one up about the Burlington Iowa area. It'll basically consist of the fun activities going on in the area, because there really IS something to do all of the time, you just have to find them. Since I'm an old house lover, I'll probably post information regarding older houses that could use some help as they enter the market. There will also be links to other local sites and blogs that pertain to the area. We'll see. I hope to get more of a start on in the next couple of weeks. The link will be www.burlingtoniowa.blogspot.com.

In Jayden related news, he's still a bit of trouble. Not bad trouble, just getting-into-a-lot-of-stuff-because-he's-so-curious trouble. After the lipstick incident, I warned Josh, "Do not let him out of your site, not for a minute!" And I went off to work. I came home to Josh with a scowl on his face and a broom in his hands. He was cleaning up the hot cocoa powder that covered the kitchen floor, trailed through the family, and coated our couch in the living room. Can't say I didn't warn him. Our house smelled delicious.

THIS is why we can't have nice things...

2007-05-24T07:54:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I posted regarding the difficulties working on the house when it's just me and Jayden. Well, it didn't stop there.
Here is the reason I can't even let the boy out of my site for ten minutes:

Jayden is going to look abused for the rest of the day because he had it rubbed into his eyes so bad that I couldn't get it all off.
That chair he's standing on....that I upholstered....with the perfect fabric? Slightly pinker. At least I bought extra fabric.

THIS is why I don't work on the house...

2007-05-23T08:01:00.001-05:00

We have a LOT of painting to do. Although I'm a stay at home mom, I refuse to paint during the day when it's just me and Jayden. Today, I gave in. It was just a little bathroom. And this is what I got:

A potato in my paint. Plus a floor covered in toilette paper, a vacuum hose full of pennies, and one little hand covered in paint.
Surprised?
Not really.

Meet the neighbors.

2007-05-20T16:42:00.001-05:00

I finally met some of the neighbors that have been waking Jayden up at the crack of dawn. I went out to hose of some of the cracked up, useless foundation I dug up in the back yard, as I was spraying these two baby birds came out to play in the water. They walked right up to me, and probably would have walked right into my palm if I would have let them.

And of course, the mama and dada kept a close eye on them:

I think playing in the water is enjoyed by most youngins...

Warning: Old person bit ahead.
I started my very first vegetable garden today. So far, it's just tomatoes. We'll see how they go before I venture into possible killing any other innocent plants.

Bankers, Gardening, and a new camera

2007-05-17T09:14:00.000-05:00

Our bank appraiser and our loan officer came to the house on Tuesday to appraise the house again. The house turned out much different (in a good way) than we had planned on when they did the initial appraisal, so they wanted to redo it so our loan would look better. I think it went well, they both left smiling, so that's a good thing, right?

Well, we did really good with our to do list last weekend. We were able to accomplish everything, except getting anything started in the downstairs bathroom. Hopefully we'll be able to get to that sometime this weekend. And I really really want to get our bedroom finished. So hopefully we'll be able to get those two rooms under control in the next couple of weeks.

I'd really like to get some more yard work done also. Yesterday I decided to clean up the back corner, it was completely grown over when we bought the place, and it's getting more and more under control. I decided to uncover some of the concrete, there used to be a building in the corner, and the foundation is still there. What I thought was just a couple of cement slabs turned out to be the entire foundation. It's very uneven, and it was under 3-4 inches of dirt. I'm not sure what we'll do with it, but for now, Jayden is having a good time driving his trucks on it.

Also, in case you didn't know, we lost my camera in the move. We assumed Jayden put it in a box (because he really does try to help), but we haven't found it, so we think it may have gotten thrown away (another thing Jayden likes to help with). We finally gave in and ordered a new camera, since I'm (almost) a Realtor now, I can use it as a tax right off! I haven't had the chance to play with it too much, but I did take a couple of pictures and videos last night just for fun, and basically just to see if it could take a picture of Jayden that didn't turn out as a complete blur.

Jayden getting ready to settle in for the night with his new best pal, Grover.