Tagged..Version 2

I was tagged by my friend Sara, this one's about Jeff.

Tagged- Version 2. Okay Honey, this one's for you!

What is his name? Jeffrey Lyle Stevens
How long have you been married? 5 Years (August 1)
How long did you date? Okay, I wouldn't recommend this but...our first date was June 15th, we were engaged 2 weeks later on July 2nd, and married a month later on August 1st. Crazy, but med school was starting & it was right for us.
How old is he? 30
Who eats more? Jeff, hands down. Now if it's who eats more treats...that would be me.
Who said I love you first? Jeff
Who is taller? Jeff by 6 inches. And it's a good thing because I didn't want to give up my heels!
Who sings better? We both sing, but Jeff has a stronger voice, I love to listen to him.
Who is smarter? Me of course, I married HIM! He's the doctor, but I think we both have strengths in different areas.
Who does the laundry? Me. Unless Jeff needs dark socks or something. Sometimes he'll surprise me & fold the load of laundry on the bed, I love that!
Who does the dishes? Me. But Jeff is always willing to help out in any way.
Who cooks dinner? I generally do the cooking. But Jeff is actually an excellent chef and really enjoys cooking when he has time. You should have tried his Thanksgiving turkey!
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I always sleep on the left side, and Jeff always sleeps on the right.
Who pays the bills? I do the actual paying of the bills, but we do the budgeting/managing together.
Who mows the lawn? When we actually had a lawn we would both do it. I enjoy it, but Jeff probably did it more.
Who drives when you are together? Jeff, unless he needs to read/study.
Who is more stubborn? Hmm, neither of us are really stubborn.
Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Probably Jeff, but we both try to be understanding of each other.
Whose parents do you see the most? They live about 15 minutes apart, so it's probably pretty even.
Who proposed? Jeff
Who has more friends? Me? Jeff? Who knows. If anything, I do a better job of keeping in touch with friends.
Who has more siblings? Jeff. He has 7 (3 brothers, 4 sisters), I have 4 (2 brothers, 2 sisters)
Who wears the pants in the family? Jeff, but we have a pretty equal relationship. I feel extremely lucky to be married to such an awesome guy!


Now I tag: Kristen, Caroline, Jill, Sharesa & Caitlyn

Deck the Halls...Or Walls

Although we’re not exactly ‘decking the halls with boughs of holly’ we are doing our best to make it look more like Christmas here in our little apartment! On Tuesday the 27th I decided that we were going to break out the Christmas tree and decorations. I know it’s still November, but it’s so much fun and Jacob and Caleb were so excited. Plus I love the feeling that comes with the cold weather & holiday season; and northing makes it seem more like Christmas than a Christmas tree and decorations around the house. I love the cozy feeling, especially at night sitting in the dim room with just the lights on the tree & window to light up the room.

We put up garlands with lights over the window and piano, hung stockings along the wall, put decorations around the apartment, and put up our Christmas tree. Jacob and Caleb were great helpers and loved setting up the tree the most. They even took on some decorating by themselves and have adorned the tree with all sorts of toy trains, horses, and dinosaurs. It’s amazing how well the imitation trees can hold them in! Jacob has decided he’s the official light manager and loves to turn on the lights all of the time. I keep trying to explain that 2:30 in the afternoon isn’t the best time to have ALL the lights on, but I turn around and he’s turned them on again. I guess we can look forward to a little higher energy bill this month! At least it’s for a good cause right?

We won’t be going home for Christmas this year, it will be our first Christmas as our own little family, and I’m actually excited. Jeff doesn’t get much time off work and he’s on call again the week after Christmas so it would make for a pretty short vacation, not to mention the added stress & cost of traveling with three kids. We’ll definitely miss being with our families, but I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.

More than anything I am excited to be together as a family enjoying the celebration of the birth of our Savior. Jacob and Caleb are at an age where they’re starting to understand more, and I want them to associate Christmas as a special time where we think about Jesus. The gifts and extras are nice, but the True meaning is everything! I think being here as our own little family will give us that chance to really focus on what is most important.

Anyway, I’m so excited. This really is a magical time of the year, and I love the good feeling in the air! Maybe we’ll even have some snow for Christmas!

Caleb insisted on having a picture taken while he was holding Matthew too!

Turtle Eggs

It’s funny how kids can play with and have fun with the most random things. Tonight while I was making dinner, Jacob and Caleb occupied themselves for about an hour with a bag of potatoes. Yes, just a regular 5 pound bag of potatoes. At first I told them that they needed to put them back, but then I figured it really wasn’t hurting anything, and it was allowing me to get dinner made without distraction so I let them play with the potatoes. They thought it was fun to take them all out and put them in bags, and little plastic boxes. Then they decided that potatoes made great “Turtle Eggs” and pretended that they were turtle eggs. They then took them into the living room & started placing them around the room and on the couches. That’s where I had to draw the line and made them bring the potatoes back into the kitchen, but they still had lots of fun with their potato “turtle eggs” In fact when it was time for dinner, Jacob plopped the bag of potatoes right next to his plate. He couldn’t understand why I wouldn’t let him keep them up there; after all, turtle eggs are perfectly fine companions for dinner right?
One other fun story from tonight.

• This evening for family home evening, we were talking about how Jesus washed the disciples feet in a way of serving them and showing them how much he loved them. Jacob was very interested the entire time and paid close attention, answering questions and talking about the story and how we need to serve others and show them we love them. It was pretty funny though, at the end of the lesson Jeff asked him one more time, “What did Jesus do?” Jacob replied, “He washed the disciples feet.” Then Jeff asked him, “And what do we need to do?” and Jacob answered, “Wash our feet.”

Blankets from Grandma

This morning we got a fun package in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Stevens. Jacob and Caleb were excited to open the box and even more excited when they found it had some special new blankets inside for them! Grandma Stevens made each of the boys a new blanket. Jacob got a green one with tractors & trucks on it, Caleb's was a colorful one with dinosaurs, and Matthew got a cute yellow & navy blue one with little ducks. They were instant hits. Jacob and Caleb have carried them around all day, and Matthew even got to spend a good amount of time laying on his. Grandma & Grandpa also sent some neat books, new matching suits for all the boys (for Uncle Greg's wedding coming up next year) and a few other things. Thanks Grandma & Grandpa, we loved everything!

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was great this year. First of all, the best part was being able to have Jeff’s sister Kimberly and her husband Mike here with us from Virginia. They just moved back east this year to attend law school. They got here Wednesday night and we had a blast having them here. The only bummer about the whole holiday weekend was that Jeff was on-call and ended up spending a lot of time at the hospital.

Thursday was spent baking & cooking and getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner. I enjoy being in the kitchen, but it was a lot more fun having Kimberly there with me. We were able to work together making all sorts of yummy things to eat for dinner, and all the while talking, laughing and keeping the dishwasher going! Kimberly did some awesome rolls, jello and many other things. I think I topped any of my previous records by making 5 pies (apple, cherry, pumpkin, and 2 cheesecakes). Jacob and Caleb had a great time throughout the day. Jeff got a special movie for them to watch that morning, they played with toys, and of course helped with the meal preparation. Jacob was so excited about the turkey & insisted that he wanted the wing. So we saved a wing especially for Jacob. Matthew was a sweet little baby and let me get a lot done! (We sure love his little swing.) Jeff had to go into the hospital that morning to see some patients, but he was back by about 2:30. We planned on eating around 4, and were actually right on schedule. We even had a guest for dinner, a nice man named Abi that Jeff home-teaches. It was fun to be able to sit down together and enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. The only problem was that Jeff got paged again right in the middle of dinner & had to go back to the hospital for an emergency and didn’t get home until 6:30. At least there was plenty of pie when he got home! We finished up the evening by playing games together.

Friday we spent mainly relaxing and enjoying the day together at home. Once again, Jeff had to go into the hospital a few times throughout the day. Jacob and Caleb also got to have some friends, Ben & Seth, over for a while to play on Friday morning. Friday night we had pizza & cinnamon rolls while we enjoyed some of the football games that were going on. We finished up the evening with more games and were all so tired at the end that we could barely stay awake.

Saturday morning, Kimberly & Mike had to head back home but the boys had one fun last walk with aunt Bo-Bo and got to play in some leaves with her. We said goodbye to them and spent the rest of the day just enjoying being home with nothing to do. (Well, me & the boys anyway- Jeff left at 8:30 in the morning & didn’t get home from the hospital & helping people move until 8:00 that night)

All in all, it was a pretty fun holiday weekend. Thanks Kimber & Mike, we loved having you here!

One Month Today

Once again, it's that familiar phrase again... "Where has the time gone?" Matthew is a month old today. And what a great month it's been! We've loved having this sweet little boy. Although I'm a bit lacking on the sleep end, it's been well worth the sacrifice! I'm even grateful for it. I was thinking about it, those late night and early morning feedings are tough sometimes, but I'm so grateful for them because it's time I can spend with Matthew just one on one without any distractions. I love to be able to give my full focus to my sweet baby boy. It seems to be the only time I can sit and enjoy his little hands, feet, face and all those irresistible baby features without anything (or anyone) else clamoring for my attention. The time is going quickly, but I sure love these days. We'll enjoy them while they last!

Hip Hip Hooray!

For the longest time I had been wishing that someone would come up with a way to make your blog into a book. There are plenty of sites that you can create photo books with, which I have loved, but photos are only half of the story. I also like to type my blog entries in a Word document and save them along with my journals, but again, then you have the stories without the pictures. What I really wanted was a place that would do the journaling along with the photos.
Well, after browsing around the blog world, I came across a new site from one of my friend's blogs. There is a site that can turn your blog into a book!

http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook

Take a look, isn't it awesome! They seem to have pretty high quality books, and the pricing isn't bad at all! I'm starting to feel very motivated to do a lot more blogging and more about the simple, "Everyday Experiences" that we have. I still love to scrapbook, and I will definitely continue to keep a journal (After all...we don't put everything in our blogs!) but this is such a great way to keep your family history in a nice book, complete with the stories AND the pictures. I would love to have a book done every year, a great family yearbook/history book. Look out EBlogger, you're going to be getting a lot more posts from me!

It's Always Fun When Grandma Comes

Today was the sad day we had to say goodbye to Grandma Tanner. My mom came out last week and we had a fabulous time with her!
Jacob and Caleb were so excited to see her and spend every minute with her that they could. And believe me, it was every minute! We had to convince Caleb that 5 am was a time for sleeping, not playing with Grandma!
We spent the week doing lots of different things. We did some sight-seeing and took Grandma to see Valley Forge, and also went to dinner at Geno's who we believe has the best cheesesteaks around. We would have done more sight-seeing of the city, but she's seen most of the downtown sights & Jeff needed the car a few of the days. Plus a few of the days were cold! We had so much fun though! Some of the boys' favorite activities were going on walks together, finding treasures, making fun pictures with the leaves we collected, feeding the ducks, going to the library and reading tons and tons of books! They also loved having a trip to McDonalds and the great local dollar store to pick out any prize they wanted. They were pretty much in heaven.
Mom loved spending time with Jacob, Caleb, and Matthew. I think they were ready to adopt her as their new mommy! It was fun for her to get to hold and help with Matthew. This is the first time she's been able to see him. And it was great for me! I remember one morning after a night of not much sleep, I looked at the clock and was worried that I wasn't going to make it on time for Jacob's preschool. When I came out of my room, my mom had fed the boys & gotten them all bathed, dressed and ready to go. I was so grateful! I could have really gotten used to having her around! I changed a whole lot less diapers and had a few of those guilt-free naps.
We really enjoyed having mom here and I was glad that we were able to do some fun things together as well. One afternoon we hit a few stores together and found some fun things. And one night we even were lucky enough to get to go out just the two of us. Jeff watched the boys while we stopped at the grocery store and Kohls for a little late-night shopping together. Of course we had lots of late night heart-to-hearts and even did a few movie nights at home. (We love Redbox!)
On Friday night Mom watched the boys while Jeff and I went out on a date together. We went to a hockey game, the Philadelphia Phantoms. We drove down to Jeff's hospital and parked, then took the Subway to the game. It was pretty fun and it ended up being exciting, we tied in the last 2 minutes of the game & won in overtime. It was so much fun to go out together and not even have to worry about the boys at home. They had fun watching a movie and of course reading all their new library books with grandma.
Sunday was fun taking Mom to church. She loved the ward and meeting lots of the wonderful people. It's a little different experience than your typical Idaho wards, and she had a great time. Monday we just enjoyed our last day together and made the most of the time we had. I took her to the airport at 4:45am this morning, so it didn't really count as a real day, but at least she and I had a little more time to spend together one on one.
I'm sure Dad, Lacey & Cole will be excited to have Mom back; they've been missing her I'm sure. But we're sure grateful for the week that we were able to spend with her. Thanks Mom! We love you!

2 1/2 Weeks Already

I can’t believe Matthew is already 2 ½ weeks old. It’s so fun to see him start to change, become more alert and responsive to everyone, and get cuter every day; and yet I can’t help but feel a little sad that he’s already starting to move through the newborn stage. I think it goes quicker with each baby. He’s already rolled over a few times from his tummy to his back & he’s starting to be able to hold his head up well. He’s starting to fill out and gain weight. He’s been taking ‘real’ baths now and seems to really enjoy them. Jacob & Caleb sure like to help too, although throwing toys into the water doesn’t provide quite the help I’m looking for! We just can’t help but feel so grateful to have Matthew in our home. He’s such a sweetie. Now if he’ll just stay my baby for a while!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween this year was so much fun! Over the past couple weeks we’ve cut out Halloween decorations to put up on our window. Jacob and Caleb have loved doing little pumpkins, spiders, ghosts, witches, etc. They loved sticking them on the window and pulling them off again. My handy little cricut machine has definitely gotten some good use!

Jacob was a gorilla again this year. It was the same costume he wore last year, but he really likes it and wanted to wear it again. That was great for me, simple & easy. Caleb ended up going as a Cowboy this year. It was pretty much some clothes he had & some Dollar store accessories. I wasn’t sure what to do with Matthew, even the 0-3 month costumes were way too big. I figured he would just go as himself, then my friend gave me a cute little onesie with a mummy on it, so even he had some Halloween spirit! (Thanks Sara!)

We had a ward Halloween party on Friday the 26^th. Jeff had to work late so we missed some of the early games & festivities, but we were able to do the trick-or-treat at the church. People decorated doors around the building and everyone went trick-or-treating to the doors. I did a door myself & handed out candy, so Jeff took the boys around & they had a great time. It was fun to be with friends, and see everyone all dressed up.

On Monday, for Family Home Evening we carved our pumpkins. (Finally!) Jacob and Caleb loved helping to pick out the designs. Daddy was kind enough to do the cutting & scooping of the yucky stuff inside (I’m not a fan of that part). And then I cut out the designs while Jacob & Caleb watched. It was fun to put the candles inside & see them all lit up outside on the dark balcony. When they boys saw them they just started to laugh & thought it was so fun. I love the excitement of kids!

On Tuesday the 30^th, Jacob had a Halloween party at Preschool. He had a blast and was so excited to wear his gorilla costume to preschool. They played games, made skeletons, painted pictures, and Jacob’s personal favorite- made yummy caramel apples. Caleb was definitely wishing he had been in preschool that day! Jacob was kind enough to share it with everyone though.

On Wednesday the boys could hardly wait to get all dressed up to go Trick-or-Treating. Jacob asked me about fifteen times throughout the day if it was time to go yet. They were so excited when Jeff finally got home and they were able to get ready. We made yummy chicken noodle soup for dinner, and had yummy apple cider. Then we went through the whole ordeal of trying to get them to smile for some pictures. It’s so hard to do when they know what’s coming! Finally we headed out to go trick-or-treating. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, it was a nice clear night with temperatures in the low 60’s. There is a neighborhood that we love for trick-or-treating here. It’s not too far from where we live and the people are really friendly, plus they’re pretty generous so it doesn’t take a long time! We parked at the bottom of the street, went up one side & back down the other and called it good. We all walked together, and Jeff would take the boys up to the doors while I waited with Matthew (who was perfect the entire time). The boys absolutely loved it. Especially Caleb! He couldn’t believe everyone was just giving him candy by him asking for it. He was so excited and would say “trick-or-treat” & “Happy Halloween” to everyone we passed. At one point when Jeff was trying to empty some of the candy out of Caleb’s bag to make it lighter, he told him, “Don’t touch!” He pretty much had an iron grip on it the entire night. Jacob had a good time too, but it was funny, when we got done with the street he said, “I think that’s good.” Both boys had such a great time. I love Halloween, and I especially love it with kids. Halloween is so fun when they’re this age!

I've Been Tagged...

I was tagged by my friend Lynette. Here are the rules:
A. Each player lists 6 facts/habits/confessions about themselves.
B. At the end of the post, the player then tags 6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog, for these rules.

1. I love the smell of bleach and have ever since I was young. There’s just something so clean & fresh about it. I love my bathrooms and kitchen etc to smell like it, and I am constantly buying bleach & cleaners with bleach. MMmmm.

2. I don’t have pierced ears. My dad wanted us to wait until we were older to have our ears pierced (or also gave us the option of letting him pierce them- hmm). Anyway, I didn’t have a huge desire when I was young, and when I got older and wanted to wear cute earrings I found out that they make cute clip-ons too. I love Claires & The Icing.

3. I love being a mom and spending time with my boys. I love doing fun things with them like making cookies, playing with their toys, doing little projects & especially reading together. We can sit together for hours reading stories. We love the library and fun stories with great pictures! I also absolutely love newborns & everything that comes with them! Being a mom really is the best job in the world & I feel so lucky!

4. I am completely clueless when it comes to television, sitcoms, tv shows & especially reality shows. We don’t have a television, so all I’ve seen is little clips at the gym, waiting offices, etc. I couldn’t tell you the difference between the shows, let alone the names. Pathetic I know.

5. I love organizational products- shelves, cubes, baskets, organizers etc. If I had unlimited funds, I could spend a fortune buying things to keep everything organized. I love the ads in the mail with pictures of closet makeovers and before & after shots of rooms etc. I especially have a thing for square baskets with liners.

6. I am very picky when it comes to socks. I have sensitive feet and am bugged by things that feel funny. Baggy or stretched out socks annoy me, and I hate and absolutely refuse to wear socks that have the lines right on the end of the toes, just ask my mom! I remember one day when I was about 5, sitting & crying because I didn’t want to wear a certain pair of socks that had the lines right on the toes. Everyone was going out to play in the snow; I wanted to go out & play with them, but I hated my socks & didn’t want to wear them.


Okay, Now I am tagging: Caitlyn, Caroline, Sharesa, Alyssa, Becky, & Amber.... It's your turn!

Welcome Matthew Lyle

Matthew Lyle Stevens decided to make his entrance into the world on Friday, October 19th 2007 at approximately 11:40 am. He weighed in at 6lbs 15oz and was 20 inches long. I was feeling a bit discouraged because I had a doctor’s appointment the Tuesday before that and there didn’t seem to be many factors indicating a quickly approaching baby. The doctor wanted to give me another week and then go from there. Technically my true due date wasn’t until the 25th anyway, but when your previous baby is two weeks early sometimes you expect things to go the same way. It ended up being great timing though, it couldn’t have worked out better with Jeff’s schedule. And once again it was a good reminder that babies know when they’re ready to come! I had been a bit uncomfortable that night & woke up a few times during the night. A little after 6:00 I started having some contractions and could tell that it was probably the day. I finished getting things ready and we headed to the hospital. Many thanks to my good friend Kari Marsh for watching Jacob & Caleb for us! We got there just before about 7:00 and got settled. I wasn’t sure how fast the delivery was going to be. I had made up my mind that if it looked like the delivery would be quick I would just go without any medication, and if it was slower then we’d see. With Caleb it was just over 2 ½ hours from first contraction until delivery and they say that your 3rd baby is supposed to be your fastest, but Matthew was content to come a bit slower, so unlike last time I was able to have an epidural this time. Anyway, it was a good experience and so wonderful to have a brand new sweet little baby placed in my arms. There really is nothing like it. Matthew has been such a sweet little baby and we love having him in our home. Jacob and Caleb love having a baby brother and love to give him hugs and kisses and help by getting diapers, blankets etc. I love having a newborn again & would be happy to just sit and hold him for hours on end. I love to just watch their sweet little faces and touch their little hands and feet. It’s different when it’s your third child and you have others that need your attention as well, but we’re so happy and so grateful for our little family. We feel so blessed!