The House that Eric, Erika, Alex and Sarah Built

This year we started a new tradition at our home of making a gingerbread house and then decorating it as a family. Our friend Nicole taught me how to make the gingerbread and let me borrow her pattern that she does with her family.

It was a long process, but it was so much fun to decorate as a family. It is a three day event where you make the dough the first day, roll, bake, and cut it the second day and then assemble it the third day.

Everyone got in on the decorating, well eating too. It was nice to have no plan for the design and then it just started to have a life of its own. Here are some of the pictures to show the process. Alex was all about adding sprinkles and was very good at unwrapping the mini Santa Claus candies. We almost didn't save the last Santa from being eaten. Sarah was just content to sit in her high chair and let Alex hand her candy to eat. It was a fun time to be together and to do something as a family.









But as all good things come to an end so do our kids patience as witnessed below. Sarah was ready for bed and Alex wanted to take a shower. I guess all of the creativity really drained them.

Alex Graduates

Last week Alex had his graduation from ECI (Early Childhood Intervention). They are a government service that provide help and assistance to children from birth to age three. Since Alex turns three before his next visit, he was up for his graduation.

He was first tested for a speech and language delay last year a month before Sarah was born. At 22 months he said and signed approximately 10 words. Now he is speaking in sentences and can tell us what he wants and is feeling. He has had a language explosion. With the help of ECI and his speech and language pathologist, Beverly Carroll, he has just taken off and we couldn't be more excited to now understand what some of his needs and wants are. They have come once a month for the past year and have shown us how we can incorporate ideas into normal routines or play in order to get the most of the language experience. It has truly been an amazing blessing in our life to have Beverly come to help with Alex. The knowledge that I gained by working with Alex will help for all our children and any future children that we have. Here are a few pictures from Alex's "graduation".

Tunnels and Towers

Alex loves to play with his blocks and is really excited to build two things, tunnels and towers. Ever since going to Virginia to visit my sister's family he had been so excited and fascinated with tunnels. We had to pass through one on our way to and from the airport. It made quite the impression on Alex because he loves to see trains go through tunnels and identifies them for us in books. Living in Houston there isn't much tunnel action going on in this city where flooding is somewhat a common event, but we do the best we can. Our "tunnels" are comprised of underpasses. Maybe he will get a tunnel for Christmas or his birthday. Here is a snapshot of Alex doing what he does best playing and having fun. We love our sweet little boy.

Extra Hands???

Have you ever run out of hands and still have need of extra hands to hold things? Sarah is very ingenious and had come up with a solution for her problem. If she has something that she wants to hang on to and wants the use of her hands then we often see this.





She will also crawl around the floor or up the stairs with one of Alex's cars in her mouth. It is so funny to watch because Alex never did that.

Snow in Houston

On December 4th it snowed in Houston. It was the second year in a row to snow. Last year's snow storm was more impressive in our area than this year's. Although I did hear that there was more snow in other parts of Houston than where we lived. Even though there wasn't any to play in, we took Alex outside and bundled him up so that he could experience what little snow we had. I think he was most excited about being outside and running around. See for yourself.

We have famous relatives... well, almost

Alex and Sarah have famous relatives. Well almost. Both of their Papa's have famous look-a-likes.
I am assuming that you know who Papa Jung looks like...





Papa Stewart's famous look-a-like might be a little more difficult to recognize.
But Alex had no problems recognizing Papa Stewart's "twin" while watching the Frist Presidency's Christmas Devotional. Does that give you any clue?


It was so cute to hear Alex say "That's Papa Stewart." It was the sweetest thing ever. What great shoes his two Papa's fill. We love all of our famous relatives.

A gift for Heidi

Sarah's First Birthday

We celebrated Sarah's first birthday a few days ago. We are so lucky and blessed to have Grandma and Papa here for the big event. They arrived a few days earlier and we couldn't be more thrilled to have them here for her big day and Thanksgiving to boot.
It started off not the best day for Sarah, she had her 1 year check-up at the doctor's office early that morning. It was a good thing too because the day before she broke into hives and had a rash. Not the best way to celebrate. She was a real tooper though. She had four shots and the H1N1 flu shot too. Our suspicions were confirmed when they produced the stats.
Weight: 22.8 lbs-- 50-75%
Height: 30 1/4 inches-- 75-90%
Head size 75%

We have one healthy baby girl. She needless to say came home and had a very long nap and then we were able to celebrate her birthday with cake, ice cream and presents.
She had a great time opening her presents and loved playing with them when she was able to get her hands on them. (We seem to have a little possessive big brother, when it comes to new toys.)

Grandma and Papa Stewart have a tradition of making a lamb cake for their grandkid's first birthday. Alex had one on his first birthday and now it was Sarah's turn to be a part of a family tradition.


Unlike Alex and his birthday cake, Sarah was not shy about digging in. She loved the cake and couldn't get enough of it. We had to take it away so that she would eat some of her dinner. All the time she was eying it and wanting some more. One of the funniest things was that I put a small scoop of ice cream on her tray and at first she thought it was the frosting. She scooped up the entire thing and jammed it in her mouth. She didn't know what to do with it and she froze solid and after she got used to it, she swallowed it.



Since my parents couldn't make it for her actual birthday we are holding a small party celebrating this weekend. I am sure that Sarah won't mind diving back into another cake and opening more presents.

As a little side note, we had a little goof up on the birthday presents and Alex opened his present from Aunt Heidi a tad bit to early. Here is a little sample of his reaction.

Our Exciting News

Well, it has finally happened, Alex went to the potty in the toilet twice tonight after church. WE were so excited!!!!!!! I sure hope that it continues. Now we need to also concentrate on the direction. I hope the exciting news continues tomorrow. Alex celebrated with two potty treats. Whoo-who!!!! Hip Hip Hooray! Sorry no pictures of the momentous occasion.

Halloween 2009

This year Alex dressed up like a lion and Sarah was dressed like a witch. They looked so cute. Before we settled on Sarah's costume, we also dressed her up in a pink cat costume. Both were cute, but the witch costume won out, mostly because the pink cat costume was a little snug on her.
We celebrated Halloween a day early with our ward's Trunk or Treat activity. The ward activity was fun, but I am learning that Alex does not like change, things that are new, or loud music. Since the Trunk or Treat involved a carnival too with 300 people, let's just say that Alex spent most of his time wandering the hallway and the parking lot and would almost refuse to go into the carnival. Maybe in the future he might enjoy doing some of those activities. After we got started Trunk or Treating, Alex warmed up to the idea that people were just giving candy and treats away. He kept on going from car to car.
Here are the cupcakes that Alex decorated himself for the Trunk or Treat.He did a fabulous job! Oh, and of course he had to be the quality engineer and see if they passed inspection...
Yep, I guess that they are alright.

The next day (Halloween) we decided to have a few of Alex's friends and their parents over for a little Halloween get together. It was nice to have some company and share in the kid's excitement for this fun tradition. We had chili cheese hot dogs, some great dip, chips, carmel and apples. We even got to decorate a cupcake with sprinkles.


Then we got the kids dressed in their costumes, took pictures and then hit the neighborhood in search for treats.
And then you know you have to do the traditional family and group photo sessions until all the kids and you are starting to lose patience. So with out further adieu, here are ours.
Here is Sarah with her friend Brielle. They were due about a week apart, but were born a few weeks apart because Sarah came so early.

Alex did great saying Trick or treat and even remembered to say thank you every now and then. The kids got a ton of candy. Sarah and I headed back a few minutes earlier so I could get her in bed. Alex stayed out with Dad to finish trick or treating, but then totally lost it when he kept asking to "see the yellow" ( the yellow road reflectors). Eric didn't know what he was talking about and kept taking him to see anything that was yellow... Trick or Treating ended shortly thereafter for us.

It was a lot of fun to see the kids' excitement of going from house to house. What a fun day to spend with our family and friends. We look forward to doing it all again next year.