Memorial Day Campout 2007

I've been a little slow getting this entry done. The Stevens family has a tradition of going camping on Memorial Day weekend. We were glad we were able to go this year. Jeff was scheduled to work Friday, Saturday & Sunday, but we still managed to spend some fun times up with the family. This year we went to a place called Silver Creek Plunge. It was great! We had a big group campsite with a creek running nearby. (I'm still amazed we got through the trip without either Jacob or Caleb taking a plunge!) We spent tons of time playing games, horseshoes, riding motorcycles & 4-wheelers, singing around the campfire, hiking, fishing, and just enjoying time together.
Jacob was super proud of the two fish he caught. One was pretty small as you can see, the other was pretty good sized. Jeff had a few nice fish as well. One of the highlights was our hike up to Boiling Springs Hot Springs. It was actually a pretty intense hike with some fairly steep areas & drop-offs. Jacob was sure a trooper & walked the whole way by himself. I felt great & almost forgot I was pregnant. And Jeff was the pack champ, carrying Caleb & a bundle of supplies the entire way on his shoulders. (Caleb's close to 30 pounds now & the bundle was about 20)
The weather was pretty nice, it rained a little Sunday afternoon but was pretty much sunny and warm otherwise.
All in all it was a great trip & so fun to spend the time with family. We wont have much time coming up in the near future so we'll enjoy the time now!

OUR BABY IS OFFICIALLY... unofficial

Yesterday we had our ultrasound and after five months of waiting, guessing, and wondering…we still don’t know what we’re having.

It was still a fun experience, we were able to see the baby and its cute little hands, feet, face, etc. I’m so grateful that everything looked good & the baby appears to be healthy. But as far as knowing whether we’re having a girl or boy, it’s still a mystery.

First of all, after doing the measurements the doctor said that I probably wasn’t as far along as they thought. (Just as I’ve been telling them all along, but they don’t like to factor in long cycles) so first of all the baby wasn’t quite as big & therefore some things aren’t as apparent. Secondly, the baby was not in a good position & had its legs crossed. And no amount of pushing, poking, or prodding would convince it to move around. We’ve come to believe that we either have a baby that is extremely modest or a big tease. Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed. My OB seemed content just telling me to have another ultrasound done in a month or two when we move back to Philly. Hmm, wait another month or two? I don’t think so. It looks like I’ll probably just have to pay the extra $85 and have someone else see if they can convince this baby to be a little less modest!

Chinese Gender Predictor Chart

So with our ultrasound less than a week away, my thoughts keep turning to this new baby. Will it be a boy or a girl? It's almost like Christmas, I can hardly stand it. There is a "Fetal Fotos" business not too far away, and for $85 you can take an early peek. I've exercised a lot of self-restraint and haven't gone. (It's probably mostly because my husband just wouldn't understand the need to spend extra money when I would find out a couple weeks later anyway.) So I've just tried to keep my mind on other things.
I have, however, entertained myself with all those fun internet based gender predictor tools. There are tons of old wives tales, and so called "fail-proof" methods of determining what your baby is. There is one however that I remember seeing when I was pregnant with both Jacob and Caleb. It's the Chinese Gender Predictor chart, and actually worked both times with Jacob and Caleb. According to this chart we'll be having another boy, but according to lots of other methods & charts, we're having a girl. So I guess I'll just have to be patient and wait until Tuesday when we'll find out officially.
So I thought it would be interesting to just do a fun poll. According to this chart, did it correctly predict your children? Just look at the month you conceived & your age at the time of conception. Follow the chart & it will tell you pink for a girl & blue for a boy. Did it work for you?

Mother's Day Part 2

On Thursday Jeff had a surprise for me. For Mother's Day he had done the sweet breakfast & some beautiful potted flowers (which I thought was a great!), but he had one other gift that he hadn't been able to give me. Apparently he had gone to the store to pick it up, but it wasn't available for a couple days. So he surprised me on Thursday with the incredible new Provo Craft Cricut machine! He knows I've been admiring them for quite a while now and thought it would be fun. I couldn't believe it! It is such a fun machine to use. It's so versatile & makes creating die cuts so simple with the press of a button. Thanks Jeff! You're the best!

FOR SALE

As of today, our home is officially For Sale! I can't believe the day is already here. I figured since we've been having pictures taken for the listing, I might as well post some pictures of our home sweet home. It's amazing how different it looks now versus when we bought it. There were two gigantic ugly trees right in the front yard (if you could call it a yard), and the inside pretty much needed to be gutted & redone. We did all new floors, carpet, paint, lights, doors, kitchen, bathrooms, windows, garage door, grass & yard, etc; doing most of the work ourselves. It's taken a lot of time & hard work, but it's so rewarding to see how great it's turned out. I only wish we could enjoy it longer.

I found a picture of the outside of our home before we started doing the work. Doesn't give quite the same "Fixer-Upper" look as in person, but it's come a long way!

Mother's Day

I was a little unsure of how Mother's Day would be this year. Jeff's schedule just happened to work out that he is on-call today until Monday afternoon. I was a little disappointed. But I just have to say that I have the best husband ever. This morning, even though he had to go into work early, he got up and made me breakfast before he left, and not just basic cold cereal & toast. He went all out and made delicious crepes filled with fresh strawberries & whipped cream, cut grapefruit & orange juice. Then he gave me a cute card & some beautiful flowers. Ever the romantic, even under a busy schedule. I felt so loved.
Church was a little busy, but hey, I'm used to being alone so it wasn't much different. Our bishopric was released today though & sacrament meeting went 30 minutes overtime, so the boys were definitely rearing to go to nursery. During the 3rd hour they had a special Relief Society meeting for all the mothers that was really neat. And to top off the church aspect of the day, Jacob & Caleb presented me with their sweet little gifts. A paper with their painted-stamped handprint & the little "Fingerprints" poem. How sweet.
After church the Stevens had a little dinner at their home, so we all met up over there & enjoyed the dinner and time together, then gave gifts for Mother's Day. After spending time with the Stevens, I headed up to my parents where we pretty much repeated the same. The boys were excited though because we're spending the night with the Tanners.
Although it wasn't the Mother's Day I had imagined, it turned out pretty well; allowing me lots of time with my two little boys, celebrating the whole idea behind the holiday. I'm so grateful for Jacob & Caleb (and for our upcoming baby), so grateful to be a mother. Although it's a demanding role, it is wonderful and so rewarding. And I'm so grateful for a loving thoughtful husband. Happy Mother's Day!

Elder Tanner

After weeks of anticipation; Elder Houston Tanner has received his mission call and will be leaving on August 22nd, 2007 to serve in the Concepcion, Chile mission.

It was a fun celebration tonight. My mom called me this afternoon to let me know that Houston had received his mission call in the mail. She said they would be inviting a few friends over for him to open it tonight at 8:00. We showed up along with about half the neighborhood & tons of family. It was a pretty big gathering & fun to see all the support for Houston. Everyone was super excited when he read his official call, and there were a few who had even guessed right. Houston has a cousin, Tyson who is also serving in Chile so the family is pretty excited.

I'm just bummed we wont be here for his farewell. But we're so excited for Elder Tanner!

Bike for Four

I've been procrastinating putting gas in the car for a while until I got to a gas station that had better prices. Unfortunately, one of those "better-priced" gas stations is nowhere to be found at the present time. As the 'Check Gauge' light went on, I had to stop at the most convenient location & just put in a couple gallons; enough to go to a somewhat cheaper station. I just spent $11.50 for a little over 3 gallons of gas! At this time I'm imagining having to sell off all of our possessions just to afford trips to grandma's house, which I figure, costs about $5 a trip at this point. Hmm, I'm seriously contemplating a bicycle for a family of four; although it might make trips to grandma's a bit interesting.

Our day today...

Today was a Tuesday and yet another day for Jeff to be on call. It’s amazing to think he’s already on another month. Those elective months just go by way too fast! We have been lucky though, Jeff had a three day weekend which was really nice. So we'll miss him today until tomorrow afternoon.

I decided to try and just keep as busy today as possible and squeeze in a few fun things for the boys. This morning we started out with a trip to the post office.

Side Note: I came across some ink cartridges, normally $37, that were only $3. I decided to check them out on ebay, and then bought 8 cartridges. I listed them on ebay, and they’ve sold for about $45 a pair (with shipping). Anyway, it’s been fun to have some money for extra things, like a new pair of needed Sunday shoes for Jacob, a pair of maternity jeans that are actually long enough & look cute, etc. Anyway, that's what the trip to the post office was for this morning, I had to ship another package. And let me just say how much I love being able to print shipping labels online! I love being able to just walk in & set my package on the counter without having to wait in line with very impatient 3 & 1.5 year olds! After selling things at Christmas time & having to deal with 45 minute lines, I decided that was it! No more lines at the post office for me!

After the post office we made a quick trip to the store to pick up a couple little toys. Yesterday while picking out a toy for Cole’s birthday party, Jacob found a little fishing set with the magnetic fish & pole that I let him have. It was an instant hit, the only problem was that both Jacob & Caleb wanted it, and it was causing some problems. We’re still working on sharing better! Anyway, it was $2 for the set, so I decided to just go back and get a couple more. They’re fun toys & great for baths anyway.

After the store, we went to the gym. I’m trying to take advantage of all the time I can before I get too big to be at the gym without getting too many looks. I’m not showing yet, so right now is perfect time. I enjoy it too. Even though it’s a workout, I always feel so much better & have so much more energy when I do go. I think it’s a nice break for the boys as well, they enjoy playing at the daycare for the most part. Lately it’s taken some persuasion to get Jacob to want to go, but he always ends up having a good time.

When we were done at the gym it was time for lunch & a nap for Caleb. Jacob then played with his fish in a bowl of water while I got some things done during Caleb’s nap. I also had someone come to pick up a chandelier that I sold on craigslist. The owner of our house had put it in brand new when we moved in, but we went with brushed nickel fixtures, so the other light went bye bye. We did a few more miscellaneous things, and then when Caleb woke up we went on another quick trip to the store to get a few things.

After the trip we had to hurry home again because there was another lady who was stopping by to pick up another fan/light I was getting rid of. It’s so nice to get rid of things in the garage!

We then had a quick & easy dinner. On nights when Jeff is on-call, we usually do fun simple dinners. Many nights it’s “Breakfast” for dinner. Tonight, Jacob really wanted corn dogs he had seen at the store, so he & Caleb had corndogs with peas & apples. I had a subway sandwich-gotta love Subway’s $2.49 Tuesday deals- And then to enjoy the rest of the day, we went to the park to play for about an hour. Both boys love getting out & there is a great park just minutes from our house. It had cooled down enough that the weather was nice & it was a perfect time to be at the park. Their favorite activity tonight was racing up the big playground & down the big tunnel slide. I love it when they play well together. We finished off at the swings, and went home for Popsicles & a much-needed bath. And finally it was time for bedtime! I had great plans of scrapbooking tonight, but I think I might just call it a day & go to bed early myself! Hopefully Jeff has a good night tonight & gets some sleep! I know the boys are excited to see him, almost as much as me!

A Bit of News

After a few too many *almost* "slips of the keyboard" I guess it's about time to just post the news.
We're so excited for our new addition, (and yes it will be another Philly baby:). I'm almost 4 months now and have been feeling great. A huge blessing not only for me, but for Jacob & Caleb as well!

Another fun thing about this pregnancy is that in the Stevens family there are four of us who are expecting. One is due in August with #2, one is due in September with #1, I'm due in October with #3, and one is due in November with #7. (And all 7 will be under 11-no multiples)
So we'll have 4 babies in 4 months. It will be fun family reunion!

We're not sure yet whether it's a girl or boy, but the appointment for the ultrasound is scheduled for May 29th.

We couldn't be more excited.

...And the Good Times Rolled

Well the marathon week has finally come to an end. The baby shower was great (more pictures yet to come), and the mission farewell was wonderful. We all got our fill of tennis & games & had a wonderful time visiting with the extended family. It's probably good that it didn't last longer just because I think everyone is pretty much exhausted. We would stay up late playing games & having fun, only to get up early again the next morning to continue with daily activities. I would definitely love to catch up on some sleep.
Anyway, more pictures of the week's activities will follow, but here are some that I have. We took advantage of this time to get a family picture since it's the last time we will all be together for at least two years.

I don't have the copy of the big family picture yet, but I do have some shots of the grandkids with grandma & grandpa (there are 14 now, and there will be 18 by November), Our family picture (which isn't exactly my favorite, sometimes kids don't cooperate:) But nice to have nonetheless. Hopefully the professionally taken shots will turn out better.


And the original Stevens family.


And of course a partial group shot from Jonny's farewell on Sunday. (I say partial because some people, including our kids, were already in their classes)
I wish I had pictures of everything that went on, but more than anything it's fun to have the memories. It's been a great week.

Showers, Missions & More

I think I’ve been on a blogging and picture strike this week. There’s a lot going on and my focus has been on other things.

This week has been one for family. Jeff’s younger sister Gina is having a baby shower on Saturday so I’ve been trying to come up with some fun ideas. I’m especially excited about a “Price Is Right” game, and I’ve downloaded the theme music to play during the game. Gina & Bryan have wanted a baby for seven years now, and they’re thrilled to finally be having a little boy. Everyone is so excited for them.

The other thing going on is Jeff’s younger brother Jonny is having his missionary farewell on Saturday. He’ll be leaving for Argentina on Tuesday. So family has been coming in throughout this week and more will continue to arrive before Sunday. It’s been crazy, but fun with all the games, family & chaos.

Anyway, here are some random pictures of Caleb with one of his favorite toys from the past week. He can’t get enough of cars & trucks; especially a huge, metal dump truck that was a gift from Grandma, of course. He loves anything that has to do with cars, even the movie!

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

I came across this poem today & just had to laugh. Some days it's so true.

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin,
She'll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
So she'll pour herself some.
The coffee will get spilled by her three year old.
She'll wipe it up.

Wiping the floor, she will find some dirty socks.
She'll remember she has to do some laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She'll trip over some snow boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan supper for tonight.

She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She'll look for her cookbook. (101 Things To Make With a Pound of
Hamburger.)
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill which is due tomorrow.
She will look for the checkbook.

The checkbook is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two year old.
She'll smell something funny.
She'll change the two year old.
While she is changing the two year old the phone will ring. (Of course!)
Her five year old will answer it and hang up.

She remembers that she wants to phone a friend to come over for coffee on
Friday.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
She will pour herself some.
And chances are,
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.

Written by Kathy Fictorie

Based on If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Numeroff

Happy 30th Birthday Jeff!

Happy Birthday Jeff! I still can’t believe he’s 30 today. The time has gone by so quickly! I’m sure this birthday will be one to remember. The 20’s are over, he’s crossed the barrier to the true adult world. It still doesn’t seem real, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing. I guess looking at what he’s done, graduating from undergrad and medical school and well into ophthalmology residency with 2 children of his own, 30 sounds about right! I’m sure he’ll still be the recipient of some teasing. (and yes, some of it will probably come from me since I’m 22 now & won’t hit the 30 mark for awhile…I’m sure Jeff will return the favor then, but at that point we’ll be looking forward to his 40^th birthday anyway, and that will be something to *celebrate!*)

More than anything, I am so grateful to be celebrating Jeff’s birthday because it’s a celebration of him and his life. I’m so grateful for him; he truly is my best friend and eternal companion. I love him more and more everyday. I guess if that’s the case, that the older we get & the more time we have together the more we love each other, then let the growing old together keep going! Happy Birthday Jeff! And here’s to many more years ahead!