I wanted to write this story down before I forgot to include it on the blog. Over Thanksgiving break we had some friends visiting and they brought some sweet snacks to munch on while we played games. Alex loved eating them and the next morning there were only 3 treats left. While I was feeding Sarah the next morning, Alex decided to get his own breakfast. He is one smart little boy and kind of sneaky. Here is a little video of what Alex did that morning.
I just wanted to get some pictures of our little Alex and Christmas morning/afternoon. Eric's parents were visiting from Colorado Springs for Christmas and Sarah's baby blessing on the Sunday after Christmas. It was so much fun to have them come and get to stay for so long. It will surely be difficult to see them leave. I have completely enjoyed having them around and sharing in these memories for our family.
Since Alex still is not really aware of Christmas time activities, there was no real rush to open presents early in the morning. We think that he really enjoyed getting new toys to play with. As you can see from the pictures he was completely focused on the new toys and I don't think that we heard a peep from him for over an hour. Grandma and Papa Stewart bought him a kitchen and his Aunt Heidi got him some play food to go along with it. His Aunt Karen got him a fire truck, fireman helmet, and some file folder activities to play with during church. Here is a little bit of a glimpse into our house on Christmas morning.
I have had multiple requests for pictures of our newest one. She is still tiny, but is doing well. She is more awake during the day. I am slowly learning that having two under the age of two is making getting things done a whole lot harder. It seems that once I get something done, it is undone in the next 5 minutes. We are still alive and kicking here, just trying to take it easy yet getting ready for family to come for the holidays. Here are some pictures of Sarah for you Heidi.
Here are some pictures of our sweet little Sarah. It is hard to believe that one week ago our lives changed forever. Our family is feeling more complete and our hearts couldn't be more filled with love and thanks for our sweet little family. She is such a beautiful little angel and her big brother couldn't be more sweeter to her. Alex loves to give hugs and kisses to his little sister, but I can't help but think that he is wondering why she isn't going "home" at the end of the day...
These pictures were taken about 3 days ago and she continues to change daily.
Be forewarned, Sarah's birthing story follows:
Here is the story behind the arrival of our sweet little one.
On Tuesday the 18th of November, I went to the doctor hoping that I would have progressed and would be well on my way. When he said that I was still a two, I was a little disappointed because I was really excited to finally meet the new baby that would join our family. I always thought that our baby would come early, I just didn't think that it would come this early. All week I had had the feeling that I should pack my bag to be ready to go to the hospital. Lesson learned, when prompted, act on that prompting.
Everything was normal on Wednesday, I cleaned the house, made bread, fixed dinner and enjoyed an evening with my husband. We went to bed about 11 p.m. and at about 12:45 I got up to go to the bathroom. As I got out of bed, I said "uh-oh" I don't think I made it to the bathroom. It took me a minute to realize what had happened. I came back to the bed and woke Eric up and said that my water broke and that we needed to go to the hospital. I quickly made arrangements for a friend, Trisha, to watch Alex and then started packing a bag for the hospital. We then dropped Alex off and ran a quick trip to Walmart to pick up some batteries for our camera. We arrived at the hospital and then I went to triage to get checked out. The nurse confirmed the rupture of my water, said that I was dilated to 3 cm and said that I had my ticket to stay the night. The contractions were getting stronger, but not anything that I couldn't handle. They got me set-up in a labor and delivery room and began the whole process of checking me in and getting me hooked up to the machines and IVs.
They checked me when they finished the process and then I was 4 cm. By now it was about 2:30 and things were going well. They continued to monitor me and about 15 minutes later I was 5 cm. I opted for pain medication through an IV, but they couldn't give it to me after I reached 7 cm. I said that I wanted it and she left the room and came back about 5 minutes later and was going to hook me up, but decided to check me again. I was now a 7. She said that she couldn't give it to me now. She asked if I wanted an epidural, and I remembered when I had Alex that it took about 45 minutes to get the epidural, so I opted not to get it. I was going for it. I always thought that if it got too bad then I could get one later.
They kept on checking me and I was progressing very quickly. I was 9 cm and fully effaced. About 5 minutes later I was 10 and was feeling the urge to push. They had already called the doctor on call and he was on his way. Because I was progressing so quickly, the labor and delivery nurses had already called the ER doctor to try and come up and deliver my baby. They were worried that I would be delivering without a doctor present. They kept telling me to breathe and not to push. I kept alternating between pleading to push and giving ultimatums that I would be pushing now. The contractions were coming so quickly all I wanted to do was push. It was probably about 10 minutes of telling me not to push and the doctor finally showed up. He got ready and I asked if I could push he said to go ahead an push and out she came on the very first push. The hardest part of the labor was waiting for the doctor to show up so I could push.
We didn't know if we were having a boy or a girl and we were excited to find out that we had a baby girl. Sarah Anne was ready to come to our family and we couldn't be more excited and privileged to be her parents. We loved you from first sight.
We would like everyone to know that our newest little bundle of joy came into this world on its own timetable. We are now blessed to have a little daughter join our growing family. She made a rapid entrance into this world and we couldn't be more excited to finally meet her. I will have to post the birthing story later after a little sleep tonight. Our new daughter, Sarah Anne Stewart joined our family at 4:49 a.m., this morning. She weighed 6 lb. 11 oz. and was 20 inches long. Mom, Dad and Big brother Alex are doing well. Here are a few pictures to tide you over until I can get some more posted. 
We finally are making the switch from a crib to a "big boy bed". We found a good find on Craigslist for a toddler bed, matress and sheet set for our little man. We showed him a picture of the bed and he was excited about it. The color worked really well with some furniture that we already had in the Nursery. This week has been busy with organizing, purging, moving, measuring, and rearranging stuff to get Alex into his own big boy room. We moved items out of the craft room and made it into Alex's new room in hopes that he would get used to the transition before the new arrival comes in a few weeks.
He did really well his first night considering it was a new bed and new room. He cried a little when he went down, and stayed asleep until about 1:30 and cried off and on until about 3:00, but never got out of bed. I went in and held him until he fell back asleep and then he slept until about 7:30. The next day the plan was to nap him in the toddler bed before church since our meetings are during his normal nap time. Apparently Alex didn't get the memo. Here is what happened.
We put him down to nap and left the baby monitor on so we could hear what was going on. We heard a lot of noise and talking, no peaceful sounds of slumber. I should have gone and checked on him, but didn't. Apparently, he opened the closet doors and found his own "toys" to play with. I went up later to check on him and this is what I found...
One big mess and one tired boy.
That night he went to bed fairly easy, because he hadn't napped that day yet. He only cried once because he fell out of the bed. Eric picked him back up and put him in bed and then he slept until the morning. Here comes the real challenge.
Nap time!!!!
I put Alex down today for a nap and it took some time, and a slight rearrangement of a night stand so that he wouldn't play with the drawers, but I would call it a victory for the parents. See for yourself.
I will post more pictures of his room and big boy bed when he is up. This will just have to tide you over until then.
The score to date:
Alex: 1
Parents: 2 1/2
I have a question for everyone. When did you make the switch from a crib to a toddler/twin bed? Alex is almost able to climb out of the crib and we are also expecting a new arrival in about a month. I don't want to rush the transition, but does anyone have any advice. We were planning on keeping our newest one in a bassinet for a while, so Alex doesn't need to feel pushed out of his crib and getting used to the new baby all at the same time. Does anyone also have any strong feelings about using a twin verses a toddler bed. This is all new territory for me. What have you found that works for you?
We finally got around to carving our pumpkin on Halloween afternoon. Alex, I think could have done without that tradition. He sorta screamed and was scared by all the goop that was coming out of the pumpkin. He also was not to excited about the pumpkin's inside smell. I was really surprised by how taken back he was. Maybe next year he will participate more in the carving activity.
I have already included pictures of Alex at our ward's Trunk or Treat, but the only picture that I got of Alex looks like the "deer in the headlights look". It sure didn't do him justice of how cute of a Spiderman he was. Thanks Trisha for the costume loan. After the trunk or treat, I think that Alex started getting the "idea" of Trick or Treating. We started about 7 pm and just went around to our neighbors. He loved going to the doors and knocking on them. Just a little tiny tap tap tap. He loved putting the candy in his bag and then heading out. We stopped by a few members in our ward's houses to show him off. I know that I am a proud momma, but I really do think that he is the cutest little Spiderman out there and here are the pictures to prove it.
So, so long October and hello November. I am looking forward to November and Thanksgiving and eventually Christmas. Mostly I am looking forward to greeting our new little arrival in December and November is now the only full month that stands in our way. Bring on the cooler weather, pumpkin pie and baking smells. I am ready for you.
Our son LOVES stickers. He even grabs the magnets off the fridge and puts them on his arm thinking that they will stick to his body. Little does he know that he is not made of metal. The other day Grandma and Grandpa sent a Halloween card to him with stickers in it. What a huge hit it was. We had stickers coming out of our ears. They were on tables, cat water dishes, the carpet and of course they were used as body art. He was even nice enough to share some with me. Here is the evidence. Do you see the concentration that is associated with this type of artwork?
We missed our ward's Trunk or Treat last year but made it to the festivities this year. Alex, who wouldn't wear anything on his head last year did really well this year by sporting a Spiderman hat. I found some Spidy slippers at a consignment sale and then borrowed my friend Trisha's Spiderman costume. The video of Alex tells you what he was really interested in doing the entire time of the party. He is so full of energy, but it is so much fun to watch and be around. He finally started getting the idea of Trick or Treat as we were finishing up. I will have to post and take some better pictures of him in his costume on Halloween. He is just so dang cute and adorable. 
I haven't updated the blog in a few weeks and so much has been going on around here. On the 20th we went with a playgroup to the Oil Ranch. I have taken Alex before and he loved it. I was beautiful weather and he had such a great time doing it. He is so stinkin' active and would run from place to place if I had let him. He got to explore chicken water in the petting zoo, ride tricycles, sit on tractors, swing in a swing, ride a horse, and play in a hay bale maze. It was a lot of fun for an almost two year old and a lot of walking for a pregnant momma. Here are a few pictures of Alex and his adventure for this year. 
It all started last week when our friend Ginger called and asked if we wanted to go to the Oil Ranch here in Houston. A group of friends was getting together so that we could have a group discount. Well a series of events played out and she called this morning to let us know that there weren't enough people to get the group rate. Disappointed about not going to the Oil Ranch I called up my friend Meggan who was also planning on going to the Oil Ranch with her daughter Eden and we decided to go to the zoo instead. Perfect!!! We had a morning of minor detours because her husband's car wouldn't start so we had to jump his car and take it to Walmart to check and see if it was the battery. Thank goodness it was. Next detour was the library to drop off Meggan's library books that were due that day. Now we were on our way... We got down to the zoo and found that there was no parking to be found... The zoo was having a free day because of Columbus Day. We found some parking and made our way to the gates. Yea, it's free. We got in and we saw the meerkats, and the giraffes. Alex loved the giraffes. They had tiny,(or not so tiny) babies. Alex loved them and was smiling at them the whole time. Next to the elephants, more babies to see. Well you get the picture. We were at the speckled bears exhibit and I had taken Alex out of his stroller to see the bears better. He was wearing shoes that were a tad bit to big for him and he kicked his feet against the fence and off one of them tumbled into the exhibit. I couldn't believe it. New shoes and one of them is now a bear's chew toy. We looked down and there was a bear and it was sniffing Alex's shoe. I didn't bring my camera so I will have to get the pictures form Meggan. We asked at guest relations if they could get the shoe back and they were going to check on it and try and get it out before it did a number on a bear's digestive tract. So instead of paying to get in the zoo we are paying to buy new shoes. We will keep you posted on the free zoo day that wasn't so free. So when you go to the zoo, remember to Please don't feed the bears.
I guess that I am cheating a bit on this tag... I am supposed to go to the picture folder in the computer and then go to the 4th folder and then the 4th picture and post it... But since they are on Eric's desktop, I am just going to use the pictures that I just downloaded from the camera to my side and use the 4th picture from it.
Here goes... This is what you get when you leave your toddler eating breakfast and check something really quickly on the computer in the other room...
One Big Mess to Clean
Here is a repeated scene that occurs almost daily at our house. It seems that Alex has a burning desire to collect similar objects and place them on the nearest table. He loves to gather them up and then sometimes puts them back where he found them with a little prompting from the adults in the house. I don't know if he gets it from my side of the family, or Eric's... Here are a few videos and pictures of Alex and his daily gatherings...
So every week we are trying to be dilligent about having Family Home Evening. Alex loves to sing Primary songs and looks forward to it every night.(Correction... Alex loves to listen to mommy and daddy sing Primary songs every night before he goes to bed.) We try to make FHE a fun time for him. I am just seeking ideas that all you smart moms have done with your kiddos when they have such a short attention span. We have done picture stories, coloring touch and feel bags, etc. Any other ideas come to mind?
Alex loves to wear his sunglasses. Some times he wears them around his neck or upside down. He gets a kick out of wearing them and walking around the house. He is one cool dude. I just thought that some of you might enjoy them. 
Hello Friends and Family,
I feel so blessed to let you know that we survived the great and dreadful day that Ike and Houston collided. It seems like it was a one-sided fight, but judging from the way that our ward and neighbors have pulled together and helped one another, I would have to say that from our vantage point that it was a little more even. We started making preparations earlier in the week and were so thankful that we did. We got some more water, batteries, milk, and fuel to cook with. Since the storm wasn't supposed to make landfall at Galveston until the early hours of Saturday morning we spent Thursday and Friday making preparations to greet Ike. We cleaned out the garage and parked inside cleaned up the yard, filled tubs, checked and rechecked 72 hour kits.
If we were not blessed with modern technology to let us know that a storm was coming, it would have been like any other day. After we were as prepared as we could be it was a wait and see mode. We invited our friends to come and play games with us for a while to try and take our minds off the impending storm. I was very nervous and the baby could tell because it was very active. Probably more active than it has ever been.
After our friends left to go to their own houses, we took showers, put Alex to bed and then waited. Eric had gotten up very early on Friday morning (4 am) because he couldn't sleep and then at 10 pm, with Ike still hours away from making landfall Eric passed out. With the wind howling around us, he was sleeping so soundly. When it got really windy, I took Alex from his bedroom and brought him down to the make-shift bedroom down in our entry. Before crashing Eric brought down a mattress and we had set up his pack'n play.
I sat half awake from that time until Alex woke up at 2:30 in the morning crying. I could see green flashes of light from transformers popping and could hear the wind howling and the rain pelting against the glass. The only thing that would calm Alex was singing hymns and primary songs to him for about 2 hours. I listened to the electricity flicker and come back on. Finally about 3:30 it went off for good. I kept drifting in and out and finally was able to sleep at about 4:30.Eric woke up briefly and we discovered that we had two small leaks upstairs. We found buckets and then tried to go back to sleep. I was awakened at 8 the next morning with an update from my friend Melanie. Luckily we still had phone and could contact our family and let them know that we were safe and that we just needed to ride out the rest of the storm. Later that morning because of the shift in wind direction, we got water in our back door. After we surveyed the damage to our house and neighborhood we were convinced that we were spared the brunt of Ike.
We lost some shingles and then had that minor leak, but we were extremely blessed, we know that Heavenly Father has spared us and had a watchful hand over us.We went and checked on our ward family and neighbors. Most had the same amount of damage as us and we are so grateful for being protected.
We were also blessed to get power on Sunday about 9:45 and even though it has been splotchy at times, we have had it continually from that time. We just got our phone and internet working again and that also seems splotchy, but we are thankful for the time that we have it. Eric has had the week off work and has been helping to clear debris and help around the house. I wanted to thank all of you who have been praying for us and our safety during and after the storm. I didn’t take many pictures of the damage that we saw, but we are thankful for so many volunteers who have come to help those who have been adversely affected by the storm. Please continue to pray for those who have lost so much in such a short period of time.
Last week we had the great opportunity to visit family in Colorado. Alex loved all the attention and cool weather to play outside in. I sure do wish that I could have taken that wonderfully cool weather with us when we went back home. He LOVED playing on the swings and even got to play on the trampoline for the first time. He was in heaven. Thanks so much Heidi for being an awesome surprise hostess. We created a lot of wonderful memories of our time there.
So on Saturday was my sister-in-law's birthday. She lives in Colorado Springs and unknown to her, there were secret family plans in the works for over a year. Eric and I have know for a while that his parents were planning on moving back to Colorado Springs and they finally settled on a September move. Heidi, my SIL, had no clue that they were planning to do this. She has been trying to convince her parents and us to move back to be closer together.
Here is where strategic planning comes into play. Earlier this week Eric got a call from his parents saying that they were packing a moving truck and would be leaving early the following week and wanted to surprise Heidi for her birthday on Saturday. Eric and I really wanted to be there for the reaction and to spend time with his family. Fortunately her birthday fell on the Saturday right before Labor Day and Eric was able to get time off so that we could travel to Colorado.
Normally in the past we have made the trip in 16 hours, but with a prego mom and a busy toddler, that time was seriously lengthened by numerous stops to visit the restroom, take breaks and recoup our sanity.
We finally arrived in Colorado Springs late in the afternoon on Saturday, Heidi's birthday, and found out that she was going to dinner with her family and would be back a few hours later. We decided to try and beat her home, park the van down the street, and wait inside for her reaction. Mom Stewart had called Heidi earlier when Eric, Alex and I arrived in town and found out her plans. Heidi, who's always so quick to figure things out, thought the grill about her birthday plans from her mom was suspicious began to suspect that they had traveled out to surprise her for her birthday.
After getting cleaned up and refreshed we jumped in Mom and Dad Stewart's van and headed over to her house. Just as we pulled up to her house Mom got out of the car and looked down the street. Uh-oh just as she got out of the car, Heidi and her family rounded the corner to their house. BUSTED!!!! We jumped back in the car and Dad Stewart started driving around the block and we were laughing in the van trying to figure out what to do next. Mike, Heidi's husband, who was driving their van was honking at us to stop. We finally pulled up right back where we started, in front of her house, they pulled up alongside us and Eric popped out of the van and was greeted by some very surprised and shocked faces. He grabbed the camera and I jumped out of the van to greet my nieces and SIL and BIL. Heidi was in such a state of shock, but the surprises were not over yet.
Heidi was talking to her mom and was saying what a bad liar she was because when they were talking earlier on the phone Heidi had asked where they were and Mom's response had been, "We're home." ( Which they were, at their new home.) Mom and Dad Stewart had lived in Colorado Springs 17 years earlier and had been leasing their home for all that time after they had left. They were now moving back to their old home, 10 minutes away from Heidi's family. Here is the video of a shocking birthday surprise.
A while back I took Alex to the Children's Museum downtown and he had a blast playing with all of the fake food. He especially loved the chili peppers. He spent probably 2o minutes putting the plastic chili peppers and onions in and out of shopping bags. I guess what we need for a Christmas present for Alex is some fake food he can take in and out of baskets. I just love the expression on his face in this picture. It looks like he just bit into one. This picture's for you Uncle Mike, from one chili pepper lover to another.
We took the reading challenge and completed the Summer Reading Program at the library and as an added bonus, we got a coupon for a buffet and 50 point game card to IT'Z pizza. We had never gone there before and it was a new experience for Alex. It was like a glorified Chuck E. Cheese. It was fun because we got the point card that we could redeem playing games and winning tickets. Alex was excited about going on the rides and we spent a majority of our playing time in the toddler area where he got to ride a lot of mechanical airplanes, cars, horses, etc. He did super even though it was past his nap time. Here are some fun pictures from our little mid-day outing. Can I just say that it is so nice to have a great hubby who gets every other Friday off to spend with his family.
