Stop and Smell the Roses

Little children are full of life lessons. Lizzie and I were on our way home from the park, hurrying along, when she insisted that we stop at a large bush and literally stop and smell the big red roses. Its important to take a moment every now and then to recognize the beauty and bounty of life.

Lucky for her, there was a big red blossom on the ground that she was all too happy to snatch up and take home for a souvenir.

16 Months Old Update

Lizzie just turned 16 months old and Jamie was kind enough to take some amazing portraits once again! I especially love the first pic not only because its really cute but also because it show cases how well her her beautiful little hands have healed.


Lately, Lizzie and I are enjoying every moment together because in the near future we won't get to spend so much one on one time. It will be interesting to see how she reacts to her up and coming sister, Julie! So far Liz is loving the new house, backyard, and nearby parks, etc. She is also loving being near her Grammy and Papa- every time we get in the car she says "Papa!" (Hoping we are going to visit)

I have to say I have really been enjoying Lizzie's ever growing ability to communicate. She seems to learn 1-2 new words a day and it has really lowered her frustration levels. She can voice her wants and concerns such as "I want Daddy!" or an "I want that!" while pointing at whatever her heart desires. Some of her fav things to say right now are: "I want that", "No, no Mama!", "Lenny!", "Papa", "Bye", "Hi", "Shoes", "Cheese", and "Fish!" (usually referring to crackers). And of course she still loves her three fav words of all time, "Mama", "Daddy", and "MORE!"

These days you will rarely catch Lizzie sitting or even walking. She's generally running at high speed. Occasionally, she levels off at a good speed walking rate, but her arms are always pumping wildly and her hips swinging in that funny way toddlers have of moving from one place to another.

She has four teeth now- 2 on top and 2 on bottom. Man, they were slow to arrive (she is now caught up to the average tooth eruption level of a 8 month old), but thats just the dental hygienist in me obsessing over teeth.

Some of Lizzie's favorite activities: doing anything outside, reading, puzzles, getting chased and tickled or chasing after her parents and tickling them, singing songs with hand actions, playing with her cousins, watching "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse", and watching/playing the alphabet game on the computer.
One of the funniest things she does right now is sometimes when we sing a song with hand actions such as, "When You're Happy and You Know it", or "The Wheels on the Bus", she will grab her baby doll or Lenny the Lion and make THEM do the hand motions of clapping or spinning arms...cracks me up every time.

The Marstons

It was so great to see the Marstons who were just here visiting for 2 weeks! The best part was getting to meet little baby Grant! Its so fun to see Steph interact with her three kids- she's such a good mom. I'm amazed at how well she is doing with handling a newborn while taking care of the other two as well.

We were really lucky that Blake was able to fly out for a couple days- we usually see less of him due to his work schedule.

One big event that we were so happy to be a part of was Grant's baby blessing. It was really sweet to see how his older siblings loved him so much and were always wanting to hold and kiss him.

It was so fun to have all the cousins get together and do fun activities like roller skating. They allow strollers on the rink so we got to include everybody!
These three stroller kids were so funny! Lizzie and Katie especially would scream every time they passed each other.
Both Dane and Mike just had birthdays so we had a joint celebration for these two guys!
I'm not sure if the sponge bob cupcakes were for Dane or Mike's benefit, but they both seemed to enjoy them :)
Whenever all the Stevens girls get together its so fun because I actually have sisters now! I never had that experience growing up so its great to get so many sisters now! Especially with two of them being great photographers! I can enjoy the moments and then get great photos from them afterwards!

Grandma and Grandpa!

It was so fun to have my parents visit this past week. Lizzie was in heaven with so many people paying her attention 24/7. My parents really got a great deal out of the visit- a week enjoying the sunny northwest instead of a week of Chicago snow. We took advantage of the weather and went to a beach thats 5 min away from our house.


It was fun to have our parents see our new house and the surrounding area for the first time.

Lizzie was fascinated by the millions of crawling crabs that were all hiding beneath the rocks in the sand.



There's nothing quite like walking around parks, beaches and of course the zoo on sunny days! Lizzie really enjoyed seeing the animals. I was slightly disappointed that they didn't have her favorite animal the lion, but her second fav was there! The tiger! Although, the animal that she enjoyed watching the most was the Walrus! They would continually surface and spit water from their mouths, take a breath, and make a great whooshing sound. Grandma taught Lizzie to say, "pshhhhh!" when asked what a walrus says. Then she'd laugh and laugh like it was the funniest thing in the world.

It was so fun to have both Grandma and Grandpa around! They had Lizzie laughing the whole time with Walrus noises, tickling, and every time she touched my dad's mustache she'd giggle. She even learned to say, "mustache!" and would point at my dad's face.

It was so fun, hopefully they will be back to visit again soon!

My Little Valentine

Its a bit past the Valentine's Holiday, but its never too late to share the message of love OR cute pics of Lizzie right?

For the Valentine's day holiday I let Lizzie indulge her under developed sweet tooth. She does not go crazy over sweets so hopefully she will turn out like her Daddy who only mildly enjoys sugary snacks...mommy is the complete opposite, unfortunately. :/
She did, however, very much enjoy this lollipop for a while until she threw it on the ground in exchange for a pinecone.

Dave is my true sweetheart and valentine, but Lizzie is my cutesie little valentine.
Sometimes I just cuddle her, pat her on the back, and tell her she's my good little baby. A couple days ago, I was pleasantly surprised when she demonstrated that she had taken this to heart. She ran up to me, gave me a big hug/kiss, then patted me on the back and said,
"Good baby!" Since then, this has evolved into her spontaneously telling me, "Good mama!" when she is particularly pleased with me.

All is Well With the Babies!

For the next couple weeks Lizzie is wearing a night time arm splint. It is much bigger and stiffer than I was expecting. Its actually more like a full arm cast that she has to wear each night for the next couple weeks. The Dr. had wavered a few times as to how serious her burn was and what preventative measures to take, but the final say was to wear the splint at night for a couple weeks. She does amazingly well with it- sleeps good and even holds out her arm for us when she sees us coming at her with it before bed. Its a hard cast structure with bands that velcro around her arm. Then we bind it up with bandaging and cover it with a large arm sock...all to prevent her from removing it. This doesn't stop our little Houdini, however, many mornings we come in to see she has slipped it off her arm somehow.

I think thats why she is so happy about us putting it on her at night. Dave and I like to joke by voicing out loud what she must be thinking as we place it on her...things Houdini might say as you bind him in a straight jacket before dropping him in a tank of water such as, "make sure to make it tight...a little tighter...I want a real challenge!"

She may still be wearing a large bulky splint to prevent healing problems but really her hands are looking GREAT!! They have really healed fast. We are so grateful.

In other baby news-

We got the results of the amnio and our little baby Julie Emma is completely fine! No developmental problems at all- just a false positive. And now we know FOR SURE by proof of her XX DNA that she is a girl!!

We are so happy, fortunate, and grateful to have two healthy little girls!!

Its a GIRL!!

Its a girl!!!! I wasn't really expecting to find out the sex of the baby this early but due to unexpected events I got a sneak peak!! I am so excited for Lizzie to have a baby SISTER!!
Top 5 Reasons Having a Girl Will be Awesome!!

1. Liz will have a sister and friend very close to her age!
2. She has a girl cousin and future friend just 2 months farther along than her!
3. Every baby item we already own is pink!
4. Having girls first leads to great future babysitters!
5. We love baby girls and are experienced in the field!

The reason I found out is that I had an amnio performed yesterday. Basically what that entails is an ultrasound sneak peak not to mention a very long needle.
Then, in 8-10 days I will find out for sure if it really is a girl according to confirmed XX chromosomes! Thats a side benefit. We are actually waiting to find out if the baby has any developmental disorders due to some suspicious hormone levels being secreted by the baby. My routine quad screen blood test came out abnormal so they are concerned about possible higher risk for a down syndrome baby. However, we are not really worried at this point because the odds are still over 1:100. (instead of 1:1000 according to our histories/ages) But most likely the cause is related to my due date being off, natural hormone variations, or a number of other benign reasons that cause false positive blood tests. In 8-10 days we will know alot more about our little baby for sure!