Happy Father's Day

I just wanted to make sure that my husband knew how much I love him being the Father of our children. They love to spend so much time with him and are always wanting to play with him. I must get at least a dozen questions about Daddy's whereabouts throughout the day.
Here are some of the many things that I love about my sweet husband.

• He is an excellent example of putting the kids first when he gets home from work. There is a chorus of squeals when he opens the door and they run to him.
  
• He is great about including them in "helping" with projects around the house. They feel so special when they get to work with Daddy.
• He is an excellent provider for our family and makes sure that our needs are met.
  
• He is able to give us priesthood blessings to bless our lives and health.
• He helps me with the things I need done around the house.
  
• He loves to play with the kids and makes time for them.
  

I love that I married him and that he is the head of our family. You make me so happy and I appreciate all of the sacrifices that you make of your free-time, finances, and energy that you make in our behalf.
Here is a picture of your first official Father's Day.
Here is another proud moment in his life.
We love you Daddy!

Sarah's 18 months old

My little baby girl turned 18 months old a few weeks ago and I can hardly believe it. She has grown-up so fast before my eyes. I am constantly amazed at what she is learning and the new things she is able to do everyday. The list keeps getting longer and longer of her accomplishments.
We went to the doctor a few days ago and were still amazed at her stats. She is one solid kid. Pretty soon she will give Alex a run for his money.
Weight: 27 pounds ( 75-90%)
Height: 33 3/4 inches (90-97%)
Head size: 48 1/2 cm (90-97%)

Here are some things that I want to remember about Sarah at this age:

• She loves to read books and will bring you a book to read her.
  
• If you are sitting on the floor, she will back herself up to you and sit down on your legs.
• She calls Dad- Daddy, Mom- Bobby or Mommy, Alex- Adix, Sarah- Sada
  
• She will call after Alex and run to play with him at the park.
• Sarah is a climber and is often found on top of the kitchen table.
• She loves to be rocked with at night and loves her blankie that Aunt Karen made for her when she was a baby.
• She is constantly on the go and loves to RUN
• She gets excited about doing a little job for you.
  
• She wants to do everything that Alex wants/can do.
  
• She is a cuddle bug and LOVES her Daddy!

Best Buddies

A lot of our day is spent correcting behavior and practicing being kind to one another, but there are those moments that you want to remember and cherish. It is fun to see Alex and Sarah playing with one another. A few weeks ago we decided to make cookies for Daddy because he was returning home from Denver on a business trip. I asked Alex to take good care of Sarah and these are the pictures that I took from that day. What a cute set of kids I have at my house.

Wow, That's Messy

Aren't you glad that your toddler doesn't look like this after every meal?

Fun Times with Daddy

Alex and Sarah can't wait to spend time with Daddy and often ask about him while he is at work. When it is time for him to come home at night, usually there is a chorus going of "Daddy, Daddy!" "Where is Daddy?". Who can blame them if you had someone there to play with you when he got home. Here is a glimpse into why they love playing with Daddy.

Alex Singing his ABC's

I got Alex to sing the ABC song to me the other day. He is adorable, just my opinion. ;0)

Our month of Surprises

The month of May was full of surprises. It started with a trip to Colorado Springs to surprise Eric's mom for her 70th birthday. She had no idea that we would be there to share in her birthday. Her birthday happened to coincide with Mother's Day this year and what a better way to celebrate than to be there to share in her happy memories. We also had a surprise of our own up our sleeves. More about that in a minute.
We flew into Denver and got there late at night. It was a difficult flight with Sarah. It was her bedtime and I thought that it would be a good time to fly because she would be ready to sleep. It totally back-fired. She was screaming and kicking almost the entire 2 1/2 hour flight. Eric finally held her standing up in the back of the plane and she finally slept for about 3o minutes of the flight. It was not a fun experience. Alex was amazing on the plane and he was so excited to get to visit his Grandma and Papa Stewart.
We hung out at Aunt Heidi's house and got to play with our nieces and Cooper the "Ginormous Dog". He really is so huge. I was a little worried about Alex and Sarah interacting with him, but slowly over a period of time, Alex was ok with having a dog the size of a horse around him.
Finally we got ready for the big surprise party. Family came in from Utah to share in the excitement. There waiting for Mom Stewart were her family and friends. We all waited in the living room and were waiting for her to come into the kitchen to see all of us there. Dad Stewart rounded the corner first and everyone yelled surprise.

Then the real guest of honor came in and saw all of us standing there. It was so fun to see her reaction and to know that we were there to witness it too. Alex ran over and attacked Grandma Stewart with a giant leg hug. She was so surprised to see him and us because Eric had been so heavily involved in a work project, that we didn't know if we would be able to really come out anyway. Thankfully we were able to and it was a great feeling to know that we were able to be there for this big moment.


Now for the other surprise that we had been keeping. They didn't know that we were pregnant and how far along we were. It just happened that we had our 20 week ultrasound the day that we left home. We asked the technician to find out the gender and then she sealed it in an envelope. We placed it inside the card for Mom Stewart and presented it to her at the party. We were on pins and needles waiting to see if a little boy or girl were going to be joining our family. When she opened it, I remember saying , "Well, what is it?"
She didn't have her glasses on and we finally got to see the picture of our little boy that will be joining us soon.
Thanks Heidi for taking that picture of the baby surprise.

We got a sinus cold while there. Sarah had to go to the doctor because of a pink eye infection and a rash, but not all of it was spent at the doctor or being cooped up. We got to spend time playing at the park, feeding the guinea pig, Honey, and just spending time with family creating memories. We loved being there and sharing in those happy memories.
I took this collage from my Sister-in-law's blog.

Some major catching-up to do....

I am going to attempt to post a lot of posts in the next few days because so much has happened and so little has been written about what we have been doing in our family. I will attempt to post them in a meaningful order, but no promises. Stay tuned to our family happenings.

Good-bye Old Friend

We had to say good-bye to our our old friend, our Honda CR-V. It has been affectionately called the Black Hole and Black Death, That is the first car I bought and it has been a wonderful and dependable car for our family.
Since our family is expanding and our car's capacity is not, we had to get a new set of wheels. We traded in our CR-V for a 2007 Honda Odyssey. I am loving it!!!! We have been looking for a few months now and found a great deal on the Odyssey. The kids love it and I am looking forward to many new and happy memories in our new family car. Before I show some pictures of the Odyssey, I want to remember a few of the many memories we have had in Black Death...

• Bringing Sarah and Alex home from the hospital
  
• Driving in the Smokey Mountains
  
• Many road trips to Colorado and Killeen
• Hitting black ice and running off the side of the road in Amarillo
• Fitting our TV , dryer, and bicycle in the back of the car
• Evacuating for the hurricane with our cat, Shadow

Good-bye old friend and Hello New Friend....