The Cut

I have now been initiated into the "my child just cut their own hair" club. No, I was not mad. It is a right of passage that is bound to happen to every mother of a daughter. Yes, I cried. We have been trying to grow Jetta's hair for 2 1/2 years now and it was looking so cute. When I saw the damage I kindly took the scissors out of her hand and reminded her we only cut paper but she looked so great that we needed to take a picture. What would getting mad accomplish? I quickly turned around and left the room to have a good cry and laugh and then grabbed the camera to capture these for your viewing pleasure. I did my best to fix the damage but it will take a few more months to get it looking decent. Oh well, I love you Jetta. You always keep my life spicy.

RANCOR

What do you do when your soon to be 5 year old son wants this and only this for his birthday?




You call your mother and mother-in-law for advise. When they give the all clear you proceed with caution.




Happy birthday buddy, we love you very much!

New pics of Pete

All I have time to say is we are doing well. The kids had a great Halloween! They loved having Nanna (my mom) in town, and they are enjoying have Mumsy (Dave's mom) in town. We got a little over 2 feet of snow here and had a great time playing! Pete is doing well and is very smothered by all of us loving him!

Welcome Peter

HE IS HERE!!!!! After a long 9 months and very short labor (4 hours and 1 push later) Peter has joined our family. We could not be more excited. Henry was born to be a big brother Jetta is still figuring it all out and Mommy is wondering what in the world she has done. Here are some photos, I am looking so fine... Not!!! But all that matters is the baby. I will post more when I get a chance.

better news for me

No c-section, he finally turned, the little turkey. He just needs to stay turned. I am dilated to a 1 and 50% effaced. I am thinking in the next week or two. Well, we will see.

A Stevens Update

Well, it has been some time..... I would apologize but it seams to be the latest trend with me. I should not apologize for something that will more than likely happen again. I will not be going into detail here, some things are better left unsaid or un-complained about, but I am at my level of tolerance with this pregnancy and everything it and life has thrown at me. I am very ready to be done! This has been one of the most stressful and difficult pregnancies ever. I have only had three and that is not very many but this one does take the cake. Well, enough about me.....

Henry loves, loves, loves school!! Every day he begs to go and there was one morning when I thought a slight cough would get in the way and I mentioned that we should stay home that tears streamed from his eyes as he pled for me to let him go. "Mommy I promise I will not cough again, just let me go to school, I want to go!" Poor kid.... I hope this love will never change. I am so glad that we were led to this school! Dave and I were talking about how amazing blessings happen when you accept difficult things from the Lord. I would never have hear about this school if I had not accepted my current calling and Henry would probably still be at home, sick to death of me and scared to death of new situations. I love how the Lord is so mindful of our needs.....

Jetta is loving "Mommy Time". The other day we did a nature walk and collection. We pasted our collection onto paper and hung it on the fridge. I am trying to think of ways to still have one on one time with her after Peter comes. She really needs the love and focused attention. She is such a great little thing. Her sass it difficult at times but I would not have her any other way! My dad came in town the other day to pick up my brother, who has been living with us, and take him back to Utah. He told me that Jetta is very much like I was when I was her age.... Oh Dear!! Well, at least she might turn out alright.

Dave has been taking on multiple rolls at our house this past week and I am sure will continue to do so into the next month. He not only works full time but has been doing dishes, laundry, shopping, bathing, cooking, and crafting (with the kids). Since I have checked out of reliable mother, he has taken that roll on. Poor guy, I feel so bad but so lucky to have him. He has even had to cut down, if not give it up for a bit, on his new loved hobby of bike riding. He picked it up a couple of months ago with some friends from our church, but ever since I have been sick and stressed he has been waking up with the kids in the mornings so I can get some extra and needed sleep. What a dear!!!!

Well, three weeks to go, give or take a c-section possibility. We will let you know when the anticipated day draws closer or if all goes well and we are surprised we will post a photo or two. Love to all!!!!

School and Strawberries

Henry started preschool. I can't believe it!!! It has been and answer to prayers! We wanted to send him but the $ is just tight at this time so I planned to teach him and having gone to school to do so, I thought it would all go well. I was ready and prepared but soon realized that being pregnant and then having a newborn and two year old and with my calling, there was no time. Besides, I think Henry was getting bored with just Mommy! :-) So, Dave and I started praying that something that was right for Henry and our pockets would come up and it did. In talking with another Primary Pres. she told me about the preschool that her kids do and how much she loves it and her kids love it and it is affordable. I looked at the curriculum and talked with the teacher who has been teaching preschool for years after teaching public school for years and has an amazing program, and knew it was the right thing. It just fell into our laps and with in 1 week Henry was signed up, had met the teacher, loved her, met his school mates, and started. On his first day he walked right in and looked back with a huge smile and waved as one of the most confident boys I had ever met. When I picked him up I asked how it went and he told me all about the day followed with the question, "Can I go back to school now?" Every morning he wakes up and watches the clock, asking if it is 9:15 yet, that is when we leave. He watches the numbers just counting down each min. My neighbor suggested I get a timer. I am so happy and excited to see him take this new step. I just can't believe that he is old enough to be starting school.

Jetta cried more on his first day than any body. I think she realized her buddy was gone and that she was not quite big enough yet. So I created a special time just for Jetta, "Mommy Time". We love our time together and as you can see from our first day it was quite the girly success! We painted our nails pretty pink and had a tea party with marshmallows, strawberries, and water. :-) We followed our bonding with a walk and some tricycle riding. She and I had a great time together and I am really looking forward to "Mommy Time" just with her, well until it gets interrupted by baby Peter.

Camping on Labor Day

We spent the day in the mountains and the kids kept calling it camping. We had a blast! After I have this baby, and probably next summer we will be spending much more time in the mountains doing real camping. Just a few fun photos to share.

I am finally posting

So since the last time I posted, this summer has really been out of hand. Blogging has been on the bottom of my list. Sorry. My family has been bugging me for an update so here it goes.


Awesome cake by my cousin Chris Fitch who is a professional pastry chef


We celebrated a wedding, my sister Cami and Judd were married at the end of June, it was a fabulous wedding!! Thank you McCall for taking the photos that I was too burned out to take. Being pregnant and taking bridals really took it out of me. I am such a lame photographer! What photographer gets burned out of what they love to do?

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We spent a lot of time on the boat, Henry and Jetta both got in and swam and went surffing behind the boat with Daddy's help. They are so brave, the first time my dad put me on a knee board behind a boat I was 6 or 7 and I screamed the entire time to bring me back in..... I was such a baby!!



We enjoyed the yearly Marshall rodeo in Oakley Utah and Henry and Jetta got all dressed in Cowboy apparel. This photo is some of the cousins at the BBQ. This is the first year since having kids that Dave and I got to sit through the entire rodeo with out interruptions. Quite the monumental moment!
My brother Miles has moved in with us for the summer. The kids love him and completely enjoy driving him bananas!!
We are working on potty training Jetta, so much fun! :-)
Henry has taught himself how to swim. He dives, swims quite the distance in the pool and has grown gills. I can never push that kid to do anything, when he is ready for something he puts his mind to it and accomplishes it. He is a lot like Dave!
I am up to my eyeballs in Primary and I am loving it. I am learning so much from this calling and I am quite humbled that I know nothing and have everything to learn.





Lately we have been to dinosaur ridge here in Denver, very cool for the locals here if you have never been. If you ever plan on visiting I recommend that you go and take the bus tour, you learn much more from the tour guides than walking it.



I took some senior portraits of a friend in the ward.
We celebrated our 6 year anniversary and yes, we are still in love!



This is a self portrait of Henry with shoes on his many toes. He is on a bridge, in the middle of a purple sky and brightly colored sun. And yes, he has on a shirt and shorts with underroos (what he calles underwear) that have been covered by the shorts. In every self portrait he has to be wearing underroos. It is probably one of the most important articles of clothing. :-) He and Jetta both have been drawing, drawing, drawing, and doing lots of side-walk-chalk. We have been using our imagination, and playing with sock puppets whose names are: mommy sock puppet, baby sock puppet and Henry sock puppet. Very original!
:-)

I certainly hope this is enough to fill my family's needs and I am sure this is more information than the rest of you wanted to know. Hope that things slow down a bit so I can update a more frequently.

Just had to share!

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Hello Baby!!!

We would like to welcome Baby Peter Craig to our family! No, he is not born but he is a he. We had our ultrasound today and there was not mistaking it, he is a boy! :-) We are excited and the kids are excited and we love his name. He will be named after my father and Dave's father. My sister Candice suggested we could call him peg for short. Knowing us it will stick. Well, just thought you all might care to know.

We are Back!!

What a whirl wind of a vacation!! It was awesome! Perfect weather, great times, lots of laughs, so much to do and have done, and great family. I do have one confession, I did not take as many photos as I thought I would, in fact I hardly took any. I think the photographer in me needed a vacation as well. Maybe from doing my sister's shoot. Sorry, the visual sharing will be lacking.....

Well, we left Wednesday in our little Subaru and I only mention this because we came home in a much needed bigger vehicle. While we were in California my parents put a for sale sign in our can and with in a few days we had an offer and it was sold. Which only left us one day to find a new car before we had to come back to Denver. We found one we can afford and can and will fit all of us and our new addition (we will find out Thursday and let you all know) and all of our luggage. Oh happy day! Hopefully now our kids will not get sick in the car as we travel to Utah. :-)

So, we left and arrived in Utah to take my sister Cami's engagement photos. It was a 4 hour session, and with horses and with parents that all knew what angle and back ground should be shot. I was tired, but so worth it because the session was awesome the photos were beautiful. For viewing pleasure, click here.

After a day in Utah we left for Vegas, and stayed in the Excalibur. We spent the whole night looking for Merlin the Magician in the castle but he was not there. We finally convinced Henry that he went to Bermuda, like in the movie. He was satisfied with that.

We arrived in Newport Beach the next day and went swimming in the pool. I think I will have second home there some day. It was so beautiful! We were right off the beach and Henry and Jetta loved seeing the ocean from our balcony. The next day we went to San diego zoo. I loved the baby gorilla and the kids loved the rhinos! I got a little sick and spent most of my time in the shade at the front gate but the kids saw so many things. It was great. We all had matching shirts made so that we could see our group and not loose the kids. At the zoo we were a mass of Yellow, Disneyland - Blue. It was so nice to be able to see everyone and know what your child was wearing without thinking about it.

So, the following day was Disneyland and oh, did we Disneyland it. We spent 14 hours there our first day and 13 hours there our second. Henry loved every ride he went on and he went on almost every ride there was. Even the big ones. He loved the Grizzly Rapids ride the best. Jetta loved the Tea Cups. I think she went on that 4 times. I could go on a few and loved whatever I could do. Dave, is a child at heart and loved doing everything at any time with whom ever but I think watching Henry and Jetta brought him the most joy.

We spent a day at the beach and just played and relaxed. It was a much needed day! I have never seen Henry laugh so much and enjoy himself more than in the waves. We could not get him out! Jetta was not sure about the ocean and seemed content to build sand castles. She did like collecting shells and brought home a whole bucket full. I had to get rid of them at the hotel because they were starting to smell. She doesn't know so shhhh! :-)

We went to Sea world. I think this was my favorite. I loved the whales and dolphins and all the shows. We are still doing the Shamu call here at the house. Henry wanted to get wet so bad at the Shamu show but we were not close enough. So at the dolphin show he and Dave went to the 4th row and got soaked!!! Mom and Jetta were just fine where we were. :-) The kids fed the rays but not the dolphins, that was 45 bucks a pop, WHAT????? But they did not even notice because there was so much to do.

The morning we left we went to the tide pools and explored, very cool. Then drove to St. George and then to Utah, found a car and came home. I need a good week of sleep and a personal laundry assistant just to get back on top of things. Thank you Lois and Craig for a fabulous time and a great vacation. We can't wait to go back!! :-) Enjoy what few photos I have......

California Dreaming

For the next two weeks we will be in California. We will be going to Disney Land, Sea World, San Diego Zoo, the beach and much much more. When we get back I will be posting many pics and sharing all about our grand adventure. See you all then.

Why did you eat......?

A few days ago Henry and I were playing and he accidentally kneed me in the belly. I caught my breath and he asked what was wrong. I reminded him that there was a baby in my tummy and we needed to be extra careful when we play. He played a little bit longer and then asked, "Why did you eat the baby in your tummy?" I said, "I didn't eat it." He asked, "Did you just swallow it." "No, I didn't swallow it either." Thankfully because he is 4 he was satisfied with that answer and didn't ask how it got there. I am not ready to have that chat with a 4 year old. :-)

Surprise!!!

For my birthday Dave made this secret video of me and my sweet cycling skills!! :-) J/K This is Danny MacAskill, and this is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen! I love the way he makes it seam so effortless and in my wee mind I think to myself, "Hey, maybe I could that too". :-)

Happy Happy Birthday Daddy Dear!!

Happy Birthday Dave!! We had an awesome day! The kids helped me decorate the kitchen and get presents wrapped. We ate BBQ ribs, corn bread with honey butter, honey orange carrots (thank you crissa), and very amazing raspberry jello salad (again thank you crissa). We had Dave's favorite chocolate cake. We basically ate amazing but gained 30 lbs. just that night! :-) We opened gifts played all night with the kids, heard the new babies heart beat and stayed up until 1:00 doing a puzzle that Dave got. We love puzzles. It was a fabulous day and if any one deserves it, it would be Dave. He is the most amazing man, husband, father, and friend that I and my children could have and we love him to pieces!!!

I'd pee too....

A couple I served my mission with sent these pictures to me. This is a new roller coaster in Ohio. I love the last picture because that would totally be me! :-) Can you believe how crazy scary that coaster would be? It reaches a speed of 120 mph and drops 400 ft. Crazy, Crazy, Crazy, any one up for a vacation?

You Know Your Pregnant If........

You know your pregnant if at 10:30 at night you are enjoying and I do mean enjoying a bowl of cottage cheese with ranch flavored fishy crackers swimming in it and a very tall glass of orange juice. And yes, I did ask Dave to go to market to pick up those items for me last night. Just to note this is the first time I have ever asked Dave to go to the store to get me food to feed a craving in all my times of being pregnant. So, this is the official announcement, I am pregnant. This is our third and I am sure to many of you this is crazy, and at times this is crazy to me but never the less we are excited. I am 11 weeks, sick sick sick, and already showing. I show early because I carry so low. I have not thrown up yet but I sure wish I could because i think I would feel better. The kids are being so patient with me and Dave is always the best! We will be finding out if the baby is a boy or girl, I can't stand the unknown! My sister is pregnant just a month ahead of me and she is one of those that likes the surprise, I could never wait that long. Having a third brings about a whole new set of items to think about. We need a bigger car, uuuggg!!! We will now be an odd numbered family, who will be the one sitting alone on all the Disney Land rides? That is my biggest question. :-) How will Henry and Jetta do? Henry I think will be splendid and Jetta well, I think we will have some attention issues. I am not quite sure how this will affect my ability to do my calling, pretty sure the Bishop will not release me, which is good because as overwhelming as primary pres. is I am starting to love it and especially the children. I have amazing counselors so I am not worried about a thing. Oh, I plum forgot.... My due date is Oct 30th. Not to excited about a halloween baby but my other two have come early by about a week so I am not to worried. Please be patient with my posts and lack thereof. It is on the bottom of my to do list. I will do my best to keep it coming! :-)

8 foot snow man!!

This past weekend we had a fabulous snow storm. We got about a foot of snow. Keep in mind that here in Denver this has really only been our third big storm this year. You can imagine how excited my kids were! :-) Dave was just about as excited as them. His really is just a large child. Well, Saturday morning we got dressed to go out and play. We ended up building an 8 foot snow man. It was so awesome. But if any of you know Denver, by the evening it had fallen over and melted. But at least we got some pictures just for the record.