Happy Anniversary to Us Almost

I just wanted to write a little something about my best friend in the whole world, my husband. It is amazing and I consider it a miracle that you can meet someone and go from complete stranger to best friend and most cherished companion. We are going to celebrate our 6 year anniversary on Sunday. I can't believe all of the many things that we have done in that short time frame. I love being married to my best friend, so in honor of that I am going to do an anniversary post that took from Eric's cousin's blog. Thanks Mindi for the idea.

1. What date is your anniversary?
June 22

2.Where did you get married?
Jordan River Temple

3. Who proposed and how?
Eric, He took me to the Houston Temple and we went for a walk around the temple grounds and then he stopped by a fountain that is on the side of the temple and we sat on a bench and talked for a while. I kind of knew what was happening, but I was soaking in every minute. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. We had been to my parents house a week before and asked my dad and mom's permission. We had been ring shopping a few weeks earlier, but I didn't know that he had already gotten the ring.

4. How long were you engaged?
About 2 1/2 months


5. What was the favorite part of your wedding day? (besides who you were marrying, hopefully)
All of it. It was fantastic to be in the temple with so many family and friends. So many people sacrificed to be there.


6. What would you change if you could?
I don't think that I would change anything it was so perfect for us.

7.Wedding colors?
My colors were a periwinkle and soft yellow, but we didn't have matching outfits for everyone.

8.Do you remember anything special from your ceremony? Any good advice? A comical moment?
The sealer was a member of Eric's ward when he was younger. We were able to meet about a few months before we were married. He was wonderful and gave us a packet of quotes, talks, and a framed message about how to strengthen your marriage.
I guess Eric and I were a kissing a lot during our pictures because our photographer said, "You guys are sure the kissingest couple I've seen."

9.Were you clean or messy when you cut your wedding cake?
Clean, sort of, some of it dropped down the front of my dress and I had to step out of the reception to retrieve it in private.

10.Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Our first night we stayed at the Hines Mansion in the "Paradise" Room. Then we left the next day and went on a trip to explore New England. It was so much fun. We loved it.

11.How long have you been married now?
On Sunday it will be 6 years.

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart, I love you!

Calling for Tried and Tested Advice

Hi to all you faithful readers out there. I have been missing in action lately and could have usually been found taking a nap and trying to scrub peanut butter and jelly sandwiches off of the floor.

I am just looking for any advice about getting a picky 1 1/2 year old to eat more during the day than just milk, raisins, graham crackers, and macaroni and cheese. Does/did anyone else have this same nagging question at the end of the day " What in the world am I going to feed my little boy so that he will get some nutrition into him?" I have been reading online for advice in this area and everyone said that they will grow out of it and that they are just trying to exert their new independence over at least one thing in their life. I have also read about the reverse psychology technique, where you get everyone at the table to sit down and eat and you don't have any food in the high chair waiting for them. Then they will see that they are missing out and will want some of your food. It said to give them a bite and then to keep ignoring them until they ask for more to eat. That way they have control over the situation and pretty soon they will have eaten 20 or so bites.
Has anyone got any suggestions or words of wisdom for a new mom?

The next area of advice I need help with is airline travel with the same little boy. Any activities, suggestions for a little one who could use a few hours of distraction? Has anyone used new toys or has come across some miracle drug that I don't know about? Please share any and all advice on the matter.

Here is a cute video that we got over the last weekend of Alex. As you will soon witness, he is all boy.

What's Cookin' Good Lookin'

This week there have been many new developments at the Stewart household. Here is a recap...

Well I decided to make some freezer jam for the very first time a few days ago after my friend Melanie shared some raspberry freezer jam that she made. It was so fabulous, that I decided to make some strawberry freezer jam myself. I have made peach preserves and canned them before, but never freezer jam. Man, have I been missing out. It was so easy and it tastes so yummy. I guess that I was over zealous and bought too many strawberries, I couldn't resist. They were only 99 cents at Food Town and they were good quality. I bought 8 containers because I wanted to make a double batch of jam. Melanie thought that you needed 4 containers per batch, so that is why I ended up with eight. Well, experience has taught me now that you only need 1 1/2 containers per batch, so now we have 5 pounds of fresh strawberries in our fridge. I have got to take care of them soon before we have 5 pounds of rotten strawberries in the fridge.
I guess that I will be busy canning, freezing, and preparing strawberries this weekend.
Here is a picture of the finished product and of my monstrous mound of strawberries.



For Family Home Evening, Eric provided a wonderful lesson about Jesus Christ and his life. It was really good honey! I provided the activity, so we made Mother's Day cards for each of our mother's (sorry that they won't get there on time). I initially thought that Eric would be bored with the project, especially when he saw me pull out my scrapbook paper and supplies. I even thought that I saw him roll his eyes ;0) j/k. I also thought that his project would be done in like 30 seconds and I would still be sitting there an hour later trying to finish up. Much to my surprise, he really got into creating a card for his mom. He used brads, crafting paper, paper cutters, and he was even tempted to use some ribbon. I kept looking over at his card in amazement at his beautiful creation. I was so impressed and am hoping to get one of his original creations a few days from now (hint, hint);0). Here is a look at our final products.


The final project we have been working on is adding a new member to our family. We found out that I was pregnant in late March and went to the doctor on Wednesday for our first ultrasound. I was hoping to keep this great news quiet a little longer, but I don't think that some of my clothes will be comfortable for too much longer. We initially thought our due date would be the 4th of December, but using the ultrasound measurements the pushed back our due date to the 12th of December. I have been feeling alright, I feel nauseated most of the day, but I found out that if I eat and drink about every two hours then it is a little better. It was too hard to try and eat and drink at church in secret. I was finding myself taking trips to the car on Fast Sunday to try and munch on something. Well I guess the little surprise is out in the open. We were trying to wait until the end of the 1st trimester to tell everyone because I have miscarried before. I felt safer making that 13 week mark but we are telling a little bit early.
Here is a picture of our ultrasound. It is kind of grainy, I had just visited the bathroom and the technician said that it would have been a clearer picture with a full bladder. Oh, well we know for next time.

The Top 100 list- part 2!

Ok, this is Eric now. I've been teasing Erika about not finishing her list for a week now, and she's been slacking (it's not like she has anything else going on- just watching two energetic little boys all day, taking care of the house, cooking, serving as chauffeur, scrapbooking, etc. etc. etc...). I thought you might want to learn more about Erika through the eyes of her husband- too bad I know her password HEE HEE. :)

57. Erika loves to cook. She is very talented and breads, cakes, cinnamon rolls, etc are her specialty.
58. Erika is VERY ticklish on her neck. She hates having her feet tickled though.
59. Erika loves peanut butter, jelly, banana and cheese sandwiches.
60. Erika scares her husband sometimes when she's driving. She's a good driver- we just have different styles, that's all (I happen to LIKE space between me and the car in front of me for some strange reason- go figure!).
61. Erika loves to go on walks, except when it's too hot. Then she loves to swim.
62. Erika has seen the movie "You've Got Mail" about 673 times. This month.
63. Erika gets stir-crazy being in the house for too long. She likes being out and about. I'm kind of the opposite.
64. Erika taught herself to whistle while we were dating.
65. Erika has a fantastic memory for events and details.
66. Erika has dyslexia. Although reading is sometimes a challenge, her condition has also been a blessing as it has helped her identify kids in her classrooms that could benefit from special care and training.
67. Erika caught her future husband's eye by being a "spiritual giant" when they were in the same Family Home Evening group as singles. Little did he know she was a little trickster too (she splashed in a mud puddle onto my brand new slacks on one of our first dates. I was shocked, but laughed it off when I saw her trying not to laugh) :)
68. Erika loves fruit- ANY fruit. It's definitely her favorite food group. I think this was her driving force for learning how to can/bottle.
69. Erika brushes her teeth religiously every night (Thanks Erika!).
70. Erika once played the computer game "Diablo" all the way through, much to the shock and delight of her husband!
71. Erika has served as both Primary President and Relief Society President.
72. Erika LOVES bring a Mommy. She is great with Alex and I enjoy seeing her play with him. She's also a step-Mommy as she watches a little boy during the day.
73. When we were dating, Erika said she wanted six kids. <:-O
74. Erika is struggling to finish The Dark is Rising book series. She doesn't like it very much (I love it), but see made and is keeping a promise to complete it.
75. Erika was the first person in her family to blog. Unfortunately, she's also the only person in her family to blog (hint hint Karen!) :)
76. Erika talked nearly non-stop about her experiences at BYU when we first met. She had just moved down here and had a great experience there. We sometimes wish we had known each other up there.
77. Erika is generally the one that leads our family is doing good works- she is always looking to help someone- it's one of the many things I admire about her.
78. Erika is patient with her husband's boxes of rocks all over the house. She knew the "baggage" she was getting along with marrying a geologist!
79. Erika sleeps all bundled up in the covers but always with her feet sticking out (on purpose).
80. Erika has dimples in her cheeks. ;)
81. Erika has never been outside of the United States; she's been to 46 states, however. I hope to take her to Europe (especially London) someday.
82. IKEA is one of Erika's favorite stores, along with Michaels and Hobby Lobby.
83. Erika's nickname is "Smiley". She is a very positive, bubbly, and cheery person. Another of the things I love about her. By the way, NEVER call her Eriku. You've been warned.
84. Erika once saved a professor (that she didn't much care for) from an embarrassing situation by telling him he was trailing toilet paper out of his pants!
85. Erika loves to sing to herself but gets a little embarrassed singing out loud sometimes. I love hearing her humming to herself subconsciously.
86. Erika got hooked on the TV show "Babylon 5" (courtesy of her husband).
87. Erika is considering going back to school to get a Master's in Library Science.
88. Erika made a quilt by hand that now proudly hangs on our bedroom wall. It's beautiful and she did it from scratch (no plan). Great job honey!
89. Erika has several strange nicknames from her weird husband- "pumpkey", "honey boof ball", "butterbuns", and "babydoll" to name a few. She also gets whatever is on my mind at the time- isn't that right my little bloggerizer?
90. Erika once almost broke her foot using Tae Kwon Do on some poor unfortunate target.
91. Erika and I kept a log of all of our correspondence and activities while we were dating- she can tell you by memory usually (see #65 above), but I am not as fortunate.
92. Erika is one of the most righteous people I know. She is a lot of fun but she truly exemplifies the Savior, especially in our family.
93. Erika sometimes has trouble expressing herself, because she gets so excited to get something said that she trips over her words.
94. Erika's favorite place is Humbug Mountain, Southern Oregon coast.
95. Erika has turned into a digital picture fiend- usually several pictures per day. I tease her about it a little but I'm glad since our son's growing up so fast...
96. The name of Erika's current car is Black Death (don't ask me... psycho!) ;)
97. Erika is usually right when we have a difference of opinion, but she's not the type of person who rubs it in. She's a very forgiving and patient person with all of "less desirable" traits her husband occasionally displays...
98. Erika's Love Languages are Quality Time and Acts of Service. Read "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman if you have no idea what I'm talking about.
99. Erika helped me to enjoy dancing. I'm no Fred Astaire, but I do like a slow dance now and then with my eternal partner... :)
100. Wow! That's quite a list. Unfortunately, it doesn't begin to describe the wonderful person that I share my life with. Erika is the best thing that ever happened to me- ask anyone who knew me before we met. She is my best friend and the most wonderful wife and mother for Alex. I miss her, even if she's just gone for a walk or I've gone to work. I hope you've enjoyed getting to know her a little better. I can speak from experience when I say she's the kind of friend you want to be around. Thanks for all you do for her!

Grandma this is for you....

Lists, Lists, and More Lists

If you are looking for a quick read, this post might not be for you. I have been tagged many times and am just now responding. I will attempt to do the short ones first then tackle the "big one" given to me by my sister-in-law.

First Tag-- How did we name our little one???

Alexander James-- Well at first we thought about Mason Alexander. We were almost decided on that one, but as the time got closer and closer we both felt that it wasn't the right name. Alexander was going to be the last one to carry on Eric's last name and we were still unsure. We both really liked Alexander and wanted to call him Alex for short, so we decided that it would be his name. Now we had to come up with something that would go well with it. I had already delivered Alex and then the dreaded SS Nazi came to see what his name would be and we told her that we knew his first name, but were unsure of his middle name. We felt like the clock was ticking and we didn't really want to give him Eric's first name because of my first name being so close. Eric was laying on the couch half asleep and said, "How about James?" I thought about it and then said that sounded great. Both of us had great grandfather's with the name James and we thought it was perfect. It united both families and solved our problem. Now it just seems so natural.

Ten Things that I Love about my Baby (Toddler)

1. I love to see him run toward me when I come in the room.
2. I love when he giggles when he knows I am chasing after him.
3. I love that he gives the best hugs.
4. I love that he loves to roll around in the laundry and have laundry wars with me.
5. I love when he wants to sit on the couch with me and lets me read to him.
6. I love that he makes the cutest kitty cat noises. ( I must post that one soon.)
7. I love that he still lets me rock with him before bed.
8. I love how forgiving and unconditional his love is for me.
9. I love how excited he is when his dad comes home.
10. I love how good he smells when he gets out of the bath.


The Big List of Lists
100 Things about Me--- or as many as I can think of right now...

1. I love to spend time with my family.
2. I have only one sister.
3. I love to cook and bake.
4. I won a scholarship in high school.
5. I love to take road trips to new places with my family.
6. I have never gotten a ticket, but I have been pulled over once.
7. I would be considered to be a worry-wort. If I am not worrying about something I worry that I am not worrying.
8. I like to camp when it is not too hot.
9. There usually only 3 conditions when I am grumpy and should be avoided (tired, hot,and hungry)
10. I love to play board games.
11. I am not usually competitive when I play a game and am only trying to win without harming the other players.
12. I cry when I get frustrated.
13. My boys make me laugh everyday.
14. I would rather load the dirty dishes in the dishwasher than unload the clean ones and put them away.
15. I dislike vacuuming as a chore.
16. I love to fall asleep to a thunderstorm.
17. I have visited all but 4 states. (Hawaii, Alaska, North Dakota, Minnesota)
18. I have lived in Texas most of my life.
19. I rarely sit down and let myself rest.
20. Which is probably why I fall asleep in less than 2 minutes most every night.
21. I love to shop and find great deals.
22. I like to play spider solitaire on the computer.
23. My favorite drink is hot chocolate in the winter.
24. I love the smell of fresh bread cooking in the oven.
25. I won Reserve Grand Champion for Quick Breads when I was in 4th grade for our county fair and won over $240.
26. My first tape that I bought was the Beach Boys.
27. I have never traveled outside the US.
28. The most beautiful place that I have ever visited is the Southern Oregon and Northern California Coast.
29. I have used my pressure canner/cooker to bottle spaghetti sauce, pears, nectarines, peaches, peach jam.
30. I love Chinese food.
31. I used to wear huge framed glasses in middle school.
32. One of my favorite sounds is to hear my son and husband laughing.
33. I like to take unfamiliar roads and find new ways home.
34. I want to be a hero to my children.
35. I am a early bird and consequently I fall asleep about 9 pm every night.
36. I usually let my hubby pick out the movie that we watch at night (see #35)
37. I used to take piano lessons when I was younger, but had to quit. I wish that I had kept on going.
38. I started my first real job when I was in college (cleaning toilets).
39. I have seen just about every building in the MTC including Elder's dorms.
40. I have shaken President Eyring, Elder Hales, Elder Scott, and Elder Holland's hands.
41. I called Elder Oaks "Daddy Warbucks" mistakenly.(Not to his face)
42. I knew that I was supposed to marry my hubby after about our second date.
43. I get excited about something that I am learning about and usually have to tell someone about it.
44. I fear losing my family.
45. I fear drowning to death.
46. I have been called a free-spirit.
47. I collect children's books.
48. I am usually pretty patient.
49. Marrying my husband was the happiest day of my life.
50. The day of our son's birth was the second happiest day of my life.
51. Our family has almost always had pets at home.
52. I love listen to the radio. My first and only other car I owned had no radio, AC, and I had to shift it into gear even though it was an automatic.
53. I name all my cars.
54. I love to scrapbook even though I just started it as a hobby.
55. I love taking pictures, but get a little disappointed when they don't turn out.
56. I am signing off because I am going to turn into a pumpkin (see #35). Maybe I will finish the list in the morning.

Texas in the Springtime

Well my friend Ginger posted some pictures that she had taken in a park very close to her house that had Bluebonnet and wild flower beds, so I decided to take Alex there to have his picture taken among the beautiful flowers. They turned out really cute. Thanks for the awesome location information. I couldn't get Alex to look at the camera because he was distracted by two other young children. Maybe I will take him back later and see if he will actually look at the camera. My little baby is growing up so quickly.

Thanks to my Techno Husband...

Thanks Honey for putting music on the blog. I sure do have a sweetheart for a husband.
I sure do have a spruced up blog because of you. Hugs and Kisses oxoxxo

ABC Tag Tagged by Maelynn

A- Attached or Single: Attached.
B - Best Friend: Eric and my sister
C - Cake or Pie: yellow cake with chocolate icing
D - Day of Choice: Friday
E - Essential Items(s): diaper bag, wallet, sippy cup
F - Favorite Color: purple and green
G - Gummy Bears or Worms: worms
H - Hometown: Killeen, TX
I - Indulgences: Buying Crafting items
J - January or July: January because of birthdays.
K - Kids: Alexander 15 months
L - Life would be incomplete without: Family
M - Marriage Date: June 22, 2002
N - Number of Siblings: 1 sister
O - Oranges or Apples: Apples-- Gala
P - Phobias or Fears: Losing my family and drowning
Q - Quotes: “Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.” --Gordon B. Hinckley
R - Reason to Smile: Having my family all well and happy
S - Season: Spring
T – Three places you have vacationed: Oregon coast, New York City, Washington D.C.
U - Unknown Fact About Me: I used to be a Political Science major in college.
V - Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal: carnivore
W - Worst Habit: not speaking my mind all of the time
X - X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Ultrasounds to see babies! X-Rays usually mean that something could be broken.
Y - Your Favorite Food: Country cooking or Chinese
Z - Zodiac - Capricorn

What happened during the rest of March??

Here is my attempt to document what happened during the rest of March with our family.
Eric took off work during Spring Break so that he could help with some projects around the house and also so that we could have fun as a family together.
We cleaned out our junk room and got it all cleaned up and decluttered. Now I have some more space and we are getting rid of some things that have been taking up space. Alex did find a new hiding place in my computer desk. We worked on the yard a bit and finished putting bricks around the front flowerbeds.
We went to IKEA ( I love IKEA) and got a matching end table for our game room, a shoe rack for our entryway, and Eric got a filing cabinet for his office. So that meant that we had to assemble them. We put child locks on our cabinets downstairs and need to only do our bathroom cabinets.
We went to the zoo and had a great time there. It was so crowded, but it was the best day to go. The weather was so wonderful. Alex lasted most of the time, and had a great time at the petting zoo. He also was excited to go through the piranha tunnel. He did stop half way through the tunnel, because the carpeting stopped and he wanted to play with the fringes of the carpet instead of continuing on through the tunnel. It would have been fine, except there were about twenty kids behind him that were trying to get through. Eric had to climb into the tunnel to pull him out. It was a good thing that Eric showed up, because he said that he could hear one of the kids behind Alex saying, "Run him over". That conversation ended abruptly when Eric climbed in after Alex. I think that they were to scared to continue it. Needless to say, we had a fabulous time there.


Then we had participated in an Easter egg hunt on Friday with some little ones Alex's age in the playground area in our subdivision. Mostly we took the kids around and watched them try to put eggs into their baskets, most of the time they missed and discovered that they had found a "new" egg to put into their basket. It was fun to see them walk around and play at the park. Maybe next year there will be more action in the finding the egg department.
The week ended with Eric coming down with a cold/sinus infection and missing Easter Sunday at church. I took Alex and stayed for most of the meetings, but when Relief Society rolled around and I was spending it in the hallway, I left a little early. Alex is into everything and can get into stuff that you never dreamed of. He is so much fun lighting up the room with his contagious laughter or magic sparkling eyes. But he is such a handful sometimes (actually most of the time), but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Alex has not wanted to talk very much, so I have started trying to teach him sign language so that maybe it would help with his constant frustration. I guess that the terrible twos can come as quickly after the 1st birthday as they want to. I looked over yesterday at him and I caught him reading a book to himself. He has gotten to where he will bring you a book that he wants you to read. I didn't say that he would stay still for the entire thing, but he will pay attention for a little bit of it. He is growing up so fast and I just want to take him and freeze frame all these memories, before I forget all of the wonderful things that he is learning to do.
Well I think that that about catches us up to date now.