The Stewarts

Great Wolf Lodge

2011-08-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

We needed a little break so we thought we would check out the great wolf lodge. So glad we did, everyone had a blast!! They have everything at this hotel you need. The indoor water park we so much fun. They even had a family hot tub, I loved it!!

At night all the kids in the hotel in the "living room" and there is an animated show and a book reading, The girls loved that everyone was in their pajamas.

This quick mini vacation is one we will be repeating soon!

Cherry Blossoms

2011-05-03T19:08:00.000-07:00

We took a great walk through the cherry blossoms one of the last evenings they were still out, it was so beautiful. Stephan skipped out of work a little early so we had extra time to explore and ended with a very yummy dinner at the white tiger.

Stuck in the Muck

2011-02-02T18:53:00.000-08:00

So what do you do on your way home from South Carolina when you get stuck in a snow storm? We decided to stop after nine hours in the car we were ready to get out. Although the idea of being stuck inside a hotel room with four kids did not seam that much easier. But we made the best of it, we have long been a two hotel room family, but finding a connecting room was harder at the last minute.

We wrote on the windows.

We did some good bed jumping, snuggling, and story telling.

And we took a shower/bath with random hotel room objects, and then we slept!!! It was a fun adventure, since everyone was stuck from the storm the hotel provided dinner and breakfast for everyone in it, and we met new friends and felt a strong since of togetherness.

August is One!!!

2011-02-02T18:27:00.000-08:00

We are so blessed to be able to live near family, three months after we moved to the D.C area, Stephan's brother Caleb and his wife Ashley moved back to D.C. from New York. Moving to a new place was so much easier with them. Since then we have had three more kids, and they have had two. Our kids are extremely close in age and have not gone more than a week without being together for the last three years. This week their little boy August turned one and we are lucky enough to be able to celebrate with them. He is a very sweet, loving boy who loves to snuggle, has not seen food he does not like, thinks sleep is overrated, LOVES to talk and is very advanced in his vocal skills, and we know he will grow up to be an amazing man of God!!

Camera is very excited to be the big sister and celebrate!!

The cake, by Aunt Michelle:)

What happened to my cake?

All the cousins! Ashley's two brothers and their families also live in the area, so I tried to get a photo of all the cousins together, 8 kids under the age of 5. We know how to party!!

The First Snow

2010-12-22T17:19:00.000-08:00

Oh boy, I love the snow!!! We could not wait to get out in it as soon as it started. I waited just long enough for Shepherd to take a nap and then I took the top three out in it. Lucy and River kept crawling around in it saying they were swimming. Miles and Lucy make snow angels and River tried to follow along but could no figure out how to get on her back so she made angels on her tummy.

God had really blessed us by putting us in the perfect neighborhood, it's amazing, we have so many friend. There are 16 young kids within walking distance, they all love to play together and went sledding and trying to make snowballs. I love it!!

Love the sleeping baby:)

2010-10-17T09:27:00.000-07:00

It's getting better

2010-09-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

Today when I got home from an awesome baby shower I took the kids for a walk and the love continued. River is really enjoying her siblings and they are still really enjoying her. I love it!!!

Today is a good day!

2010-09-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

Today is a milestone for us, River is playing with Miles and Lucy and Miles and Lucy are playing with River. They have enjoyed each other for a long time but this is different. Miles and Lucy have long established a pretty solid relationship, they have solved how to play with each other, rarely do they take or argue, they mainly share and enjoy. In fact ,for a while I have noticed how sweetly they will play things that is not their first pick just for the sake of the relationship. Miles will play baby and tea party and Lucy will play with transformers(although she mainly mothers the transformers). And for the most part River just does her own thing, but all morning long they have been interacting, talking to her and sharing with her and enjoying her. This makes for one happy mommy!

Our birth story

2010-08-28T18:57:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been a while since I have posted, we have been busy! Our sweet new baby is a boy! He is amazing and we are enjoying every minute with him, even thought we have had some ups and downs. Shepherd arrived two weeks late!! The three days before he accutally arrived I was in and out of labor, I would have contractions every three to five minutes for four to five hours and then it would just stop, this was pretty frustrating to me because I was expecting a fast labor and I was not getting any sleep. The day I was in real labor I did not believe it, Stephan and I were out together and my contractions were getting pretty intense. By the time we had gotten home I convinced Stephan that I wanted to just go to the hospital, forgo all my birth plans and have them put me to sleep altogether. I could not take any more false alarms. So he called my midwife to tell her my desires and she say she would be right over since it sounded like I was in fact in transition.

I was still pretty skeptical but decided to wait for her, when she arrived I was 7cm so I decided to stay home and have the baby since it did seem like it was really happening. For the next two hours Stephan helped me labor and three pushes later Shepherd was born. I was so excited to meet him finally!!

Sweet baby shepherd was born with a cleft lip and palate which we knew about from an earlier ultrasound but to see it in person was very emotional for us. We are very thankful that he was otherwise born very healthy and with a sweet disposition. Shortly after he arrived we brought the kids up to meet him, they were very excited holding and kissing him. Even though we had told them about his lip, the first question they had was "why is he missing a piece of his lip?" They love his and are so very excited about him joining our family and we cannot stop thanking God for this great gift.

Snow, lots and lots of snow:)

2010-02-12T21:27:00.000-08:00

Well I know I am very behind the time but I'm going to try to get to blogging again. We have had so much snow and I LOVE it!! It still surprises me how much I do enjoy the cold. I guess I am no longer a Floridian, I remember the few cold days I had in Florida by trying to find shoes other than flip flops to wear to school, sometimes not being successful. I think one of the biggest changes of living up here is the seasons, in Florida everything is always green and sunny. Don't get me wrong I love green and sunny but I think growing up there has made other seasons in life a little harder to adjust to, maybe change in general a little harder to adjust to. Life is full of seasons, some great, some just good, some a little scary, but change is always happening. It feels like just yesterday that I held Miles in my arms and entered motherhood, since that time we have done nothing but go through joy filled seasons with him and I can't wait to experience more. So I have been embracing the snow, playing in it everyday we can, just looking at the beauty of it, hearing the peace it brings. Loving this season as full as I can and excited about the next season and what it will bring.

I love this picture of Miles, he had just gone down a HUGE hill by himself and did a total wipeout, even flipping over, I was thinking he was going to start crying. But instead he celebrated as if he has just done some extra tricks. I love it, we don't call ourselves the danger family for nothing:)

Sweet, sweet River, she is so full of peace and joy. Can't get enough!

I love my life!!!

2009-12-05T17:57:00.000-08:00

I gotta say, not a day goes by that I don't say how much I love my life!! I just love how God lavishes his love on us in all forms. I love being a wife, a daughter, a sister, a mommy, and many other things that I get to be. Right now my kids are truly bringing in the most Joy around here, I also love my great husband who shares that Joy with me.

These guys are so sweet and compassionate and loving and FUNNY!!! They make up silly songs about whatever they are doing and try very hard to make the songs rhyme. I laugh most of the day. They play together all the time and are including River in their fun. People are growing like crazy. Miles just outgrew his first convertible car seat and Lucy is close behind him, River is standing and signing all the time. We are getting to see more of Stephan since we moved and his commute is only 15 minutes!!!! I love that for sure. And in case you did not hear, we have sweet baby number 4 in the oven!!!

The last of South Carolina

2009-08-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

Hmmm....... That's a lot of posting for just one trip:) This is a picture of the kids eating watermelon on the front porch. Poppy's favorite summer treat is watermelon and the kids had no problem sharing with him.

Since both Stephan and Caleb's parents and Aunt Ashley's parents live in South Carolina, we do some visiting to both families. Ashley's parents have made a little playground in the backyard with some swings and a fort, also their is a bird feeder that the kids got to help fill up. That may have been their favorite part.

Miles showing us his muscles.

This is a picture from the day at the farm, I love this picture. He LOVED the baby animals, but especially the kittens who let him pick them up and carry them around. He was so sweet and gentle, he even changed the tone of his voice and talked to them. He really wanted to bring one home and even tried to just put on in the van. I just could not get enough of watching him play with them.

More South Carolina

2009-08-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

Man I am really behind, since this South Carolina trip we have been to Florida, Virgina Beach, Camping twice, had a miracle with Lucy,and River is a crawling machine. Better get to blogging:)

While we were in South Carolina we drove over to a friends farm and spent the day playing with animals. I really enjoyed this, It was a beautiful day and there were so many baby animals, I do have a sweet spot for babies:) They had this huge pig, when he was a baby they let him live in the house with them, but now he is all grown up and lives on the farm with everyone else. He decided to roll in a mud puddle and then rub himself off on the van. The kids thought this was so great, they are still telling the story.

This is my mother-in-law's horse. He is really beautiful and sweet. She looks so happy on a horse:)

All the kids got to take pony rides, Camera was the one who enjoyed it the most. We also say a one week old baby donkey who really liked me and let me pet him for quite a while. It was a great visit.

South Carolna

2009-06-27T17:40:00.000-07:00

Back in May we took an awesome trip to South Carolina to visit the fam. I am pretty far behind on blogging:) My sister in law and I were planning to drive down and stay for a week with the kids. Sadly a few days before we were scheduled to leave her grandfather passed away and so she went down right away and I was to follow and we would drive back together. This would be my first major trip alone with all three kids. They did great, traveled well and I just really missed the conversations that my sister in law and I have during the driving.

Miles and Lucy love all the attention they get from their moppy and poppy, they love to take baths in their big tubs.

All the kids can't keep away from watching TV in the big comfy bed, it bought us lots of adult conversations in the other room:)

Aunt Micah and Uncle Kyle, who is not quite sure what to think about this baby thing.

The Pool

2009-06-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

Stephan had to work a on a Saturday and it was a very hot day, so I decided that I would go and get the kids a pool to play in. So I loaded the three of them up on the van and took off to Walmart, this really was the first really hot day of the season so it was the first time I used the ac in the van since we got it in October. Hmmmm.......shouldn't it be blowing cold air? I guess it is not working, but no matter the Walmart is just down the road, we can put our windows down and sweat it out, we did sweat, everyone had bright red cheeks. When we got out of the car at Walmart we walked up to the garden center and there was a man there who told us that Walmart was closed. Walmart closed at 10am on a Saturday? That is unheard of! But a water pipe was broken inside and they did not know how long it would be closed. I looked down at two little faces that said, "what about our pool?". So we loaded back up and decided to drive to the other walmart 20 mins away, I felt so committed to this by now. That Walmart was open and we are looking at pools, the little one looked like it could really only fit Miles and Lucy in it, and since we often have other little ones at our house we decided to go with the big one. So off we walk to the car, River sleeping in her carrier in one hand and me having to hold this pool with the other arm extended straight up into the air so it would not drag on the ground, all the while herding the other two to the car. Then we got to the car.......did I even think about having to put this big pool into my van with three car seats. The answer is most defiantly no, but I was so committed at this point, so I pushed and pulled and got that pool in. It did block what ever bit of warm air was blowing out of the vents, but in the end I told them they were camping in the car. We made it home and the pool has provided many hours of fun since:) The ac was fixed the next week! Well worth the adventure.

27 Worms

2009-06-26T21:21:00.000-07:00

Oh boy, worms!! Not really my favorite thing to do, digging up worms and bugs, but I said when I first had kids I would work on not being sueemish with bugs, always try foods that I don't really like, ect... in order for me not to influence my kids in a negative way. But I will be excited when Miles and Lucy can just go off and find their own worms without involving me.

Here are all our bugs, just for that one afternnon, don't worry we let them go.

Miles was very nurturing to these worms, saying things like "its ok" and "I gotcha". He also would name them according to how long and big they were. Many were named Daddy and River, but a few in between got Mommy, Lucy and Miles.

National Train Day

2009-06-25T21:10:00.000-07:00

River was very excited about our trip to Union Station for National Train Day two months ago. I almost did not go because Stephan had to work and It was my first really big outing with all three of the kids, I'm glad we went!

We got to go on an Amtrak train and walk around exploring and sitting in all the seats, playing with the tables, and checking out every nook and cranny. Miles really could not get enough, he has always loved trains. While sitting in the chairs, Miles loved to read up on the safety manuals.

We decided to metro in because I thought there would be a large crowd and riding the metro really kept with theme of the day, they did enjoy the train ride and did very good with the crowds. They were very patient when we had to stop and nurse River. They also had many model trains to watch and fun kid handouts like train stickers and whistles. It was a good day, I think we will make a tradition of it every year, next year we will make sure Stephan can go with us:)

Creative Obeying

2009-04-26T19:02:00.000-07:00

Last night when Stephan put Miles and Lucy to bed he reminded Miles not to scratch the bug bite on his arm he had gotten outside earlier that day. Moments later what was heard on the baby monitor was.....pat pat pat Pitty pat (that is the sound of someone little walking around) then silence for a minute, then "Thank you Lucy" and "your very welcome Miles". First of all gotta love the manners, we are constantly working on them and its fun to hear it pay off, also love the very, Lucy thinks adding adjectives and adverbs into all her sentences is way fun. As for what was going on, Miles was walking over to Lucy's crib and sticking his arm up for her to scratch his bug bite. When Stephan snuck in there to witness this and asked Miles what he was doing, he said "I didn't scratch it, daddy." Oh boy! to the creative obeying!!!

How are we doing?

2009-04-04T09:40:00.000-07:00

These pictures say we are doing great, everyone is sleeping:) Therefore so am I. I worked out River schedule so that all three of them take their naps at the same time everyday and so I take an hour nap everyday, it makes me a nicer mommy. We are all doing great. Miles adjusted just fine to River, he seems to understand the whole process and tell us that one day River will get big and play with him. I think he relates to when Lucy came and how now she is his best friend/partner in crime. Lucy is taking a little longer to adjust, she just sees that River is getting a ton of one on one time with mommy(nursing) and she is not. We have been making a point to get as much one on one time with Lucy and she is working through it. River is growing fast, I have her two month appointment next week along with Lucy's two year appointment, I am anxious to see how big everyone is getting. I don't seem to get to the computer as much as I used to, but I do have some fun stories and pictures to post when I can.

River :)

2009-03-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

Sweet River began gracing us with smiles at just 3 weeks, She does not just smile once at you, she will smile over and over again, especially when she is getting to hear her daddy's voice. Check out the red hair!!!

Meeting River

2009-02-11T18:17:00.000-08:00

Miles and Lucy finally got to meet River the day after she was born, since the spent the night downstairs and on Tuesday's they both go to preschool for the morning. We decided to take them to preschool and then tell them about the baby because we knew if we let them met her before school they would not want to go and that morning alone for us was nice. So Stephan got them from downstairs and took them to school. On the way home he told Miles that when they got home he had a surprise for him, Miles said "Is it the new baby?" Miles is often more aware then we give him credit for. They were both very excited to meet her and hold her, we have a video of it that I will try to post later. Miles said "Its not in your belly anymore! Can we play horse?" Apparently his has been missing some active play with the mommy and knew that me not being pregnant would be a good time for him to get some of that. Everyone is adjusting well and enjoying River, they both love holding her and they have been sharing toys with her and Lucy has been reading books to her. We are so excited to watch them all grow up together.

It's a Girl!!!

2009-02-11T18:13:00.000-08:00

Her Story....

As everyone knows by now, this baby was not interested in coming out! I really was anticipating the baby coming in week 39 just like the other two did, when that did not happen I just kept saying I'm sure it will come out tomorrow. Then after I was one week late I felt a little like I would just be pregnant forever and he/she was never coming out. My midwifery group is only allowed to let you be two weeks late so the date she had to be born by was Feb. 13th, or I would have to go to a regular OBGYN and be induced in a hospital, I really did not want to have this baby in the hospital so we scheduled a natural inducement of the 11th. My mother in law was able to have an impromptu visit with us for the weekend and had to leave on the 10th, so on Monday I decided to go ahead and get induced because it would be nice to have her here when the baby comes.

I went into the office around 12pm and they monitored the baby for about 20 mins to make sure she was happy and then I took the medication and stayed in the office for 2 hours to monitor the baby to be sure she would not be upset about the medication. She was a happy baby and when I left the office around 4pm I was having contractions. I came home and Stephan and I started getting ready for the baby:) Miles and Lucy went to eat with their aunt and uncle who also took them to play for in a play room, so they were well loved and I am so thankful for Caleb and Ashley's presence in our everyday life. They also planned to return Miles and Lucy downstairs with my best friend Alicia who rents out the basement and they would be having a sleepover with Alicia and her daughter Isabella. I am also so thankful for Alicia and the fact that I knew my kids were close and well taking care of the whole evening. I was really able to focus on myself and not worry about anything else.

Around 5pm I was having contractions every 5 mins and my midwife Lisa came to the house, along with my birth assistant Lori. They got everything set up and paperwork ready and I just relaxed and worked through my labor with Stephan who was AWESOME!!! Around 8:00pm I was at 7cm and labor was moving very fast, the last 45 mins or so were pretty intense, I found out why later. About 5 mins before the baby was born I decided I would be more comfortable in the shower, most people may not know but I am know for my showers, I just find it very relaxing to sit and let the hot water bead on me, so I felt like that would be the most comfortable place for me at that time. I barely made it to the shower, since at this point my contractions were right on top of each other and I was nearly ready to push, But I did and about 1 min later I was pushing, Luckily only 4 pushes for me, the first one was my water, then the head and then the baby:) It was pretty fast and very exciting. My first question was, "It's a boy, right?" We really thought we were having a boy. No one had looked they were taking care of her and then handed her to me, I was just so awestruck and snuggled into her and Stephan and I were just staring at her with tears in our eyes. Finally after a few minutes we looked and were shocked that she was a girl, very excited but shocked. Stephan took her and warmed her up and I got out of the shower, and we all went over to the bed and snuggled, it was very sweet. Later my midwife explained that she came out holding her hand to her mouth trying to suck her thumb, that was why when she was coming thought the birth canal the last 45 Min's it was a little more intense. She is apparently very tenacious!!!

This is a picture of how they weighed her, she weighed in at 7lbs 2ozs.

She has very fair skin and very light hair, different than her brother and sister. She is so beautiful and such a blessing, we are so thankful she is finally here. Because we really thought we were having a boy we had really only finalized our boy name, which we are still keeping to ourselves since the next baby may be a boy, so she went unnamed for the first day while we figured it out. Stephan knew from praying for the baby when I was pregnant that his/her name needed to mean peace, so we went from there praying and talking about what to name her. We named her River Pax, Welcome little River!!!

That baby

2009-02-01T14:02:00.000-08:00

OK so now I feel like the baby really is not coming at all, all last week I thought today could be the day, not that I am late, I just fell like I'm going to be pregnant forever. At my 38 week appointment they gave me a prescription for a 41 week ultrasound and said I should schedule it now in case they fill up, ha I thought, 41 weeks, no way, well on Friday I called to schedule, luckily they had an opening for this Thursday. I guess the baby is just warm and snug. It could be slightly frightened since lately Lucy has been saying "no baby, DRUM" and drumming on my belly:)

Snow day

2009-01-30T19:32:00.000-08:00

We had tons of fun playing in the snow the other day. It was so powdery and pretty. We have this great little hill in our backyard that Stephan ran up and down with the kids in the sled, he tried to fit in the sled himself but was unable to:)

Miles and Lucy both loved is so much, they went down the slides into piles of snow, we made snow angels, Miles played snow soccer, and we happened to be watching my brother and sister-in-laws dog who loves to play in the snow. He was so spunky and played chase with the kids, they laughed and laughed. We finally tried to bring them inside and Lucy kept yelling "more snow".

Miles' baby

2009-01-30T19:24:00.000-08:00

Miles is very aware that the baby is really coming, he has been doing all sorts of cute crazy things associated with babies. Mainly he stuffs this baby in his shirt often, what I love is that it is not just the baby, his favorite blanket has to go into the shirt as well, Miles is a blanket lover, it is a very sweet time when he shares his blanket. He has also been taking care of babies, like his helicopter, who somehow managed to get a diaper on the other day. He talks about the baby all the time and if asked will spill the baby's name:)

He fell asleep with his baby and blanket in his shirt.

Where is the baby!

2009-01-28T08:29:00.000-08:00

Still no baby:( I kinda set myself up since both the others came exactly three days early and I started labor with them at 11:30 at night, I was really thinking we would have a baby by now. I know all babies are different but I was hoping:) I am feeling really tired and very home bound since all the snow and ice, and just think it would be great to have the baby right now, but on the other hand it may be better to wait a few days since we are having a home birth and everyone needs to get to my home, and the ice may slow them all down. Meanwhile Miles and Lucy are very aware that the baby is really coming now and its not just something we are talking about and reading about, I have some fun pictures I will post very soon and a cute story.

Relationship

2009-01-24T18:17:00.000-08:00

I am loving Miles and Lucy's growing relationship so much. They do almost everything together these days and look out for each other, both in good and bad. If Miles notices some type of snack left on the counter within reach, he pushes his chair up to the counter and grabs two of whatever it is and goes to seek Lucy out to give her one. They also both ask for each other if I am doing something with just one of them, while reading a book to Lucy today she looks around and says "where Miles" "I find him". They both do really enjoy one on one time with either of us.

Tonight I was listening to them play on the monitor after we put them to bed, and one point when Miles was probably drifting off to sleep Lucy noticed that he was quiet and let out a shriek "Miles" in a little bit of a panicky voice, he immediately says "whats wrong lulu", so sweet, you could tell he was tired but still wanted to reassure her. Earlier when they were still in full not ready to sleep mode Miles yelled "mommy" in a play full voice and then quickly prompted Lucy "you say daddy lulu" I think he was hoping to get us all in their for a family reunion to avoid sleeping. So fun to see them enjoying each other.

5 more days until this baby is due....I'll keep everyone posted:)

Where have I been?

2009-01-07T18:55:00.000-08:00

October

In October we went to a fun Halloween party with the great moms group I'm a part of, Miles was a fireman and Lucy was a ladybug, I also had Isabella with me and she was a bee. Here is a group shot, it was fun to be with everyone in such cute outfits, a little overwhelming but fun.

We also took advantage of all the fall festivals in October, we went to 3 different ones and to one particular farm 3 times. This farm has fun slides, a tractor ride, petting zoo, and a huge room filled with hay which last year Miles was not crazy about but this year never wanted to leave. I think fall activities are my favorite part of the year, I just love to be outdoors in that crisp coolness with all the different colors. Growing up in Florida, we never really had a change in seasons so I have really enjoyed that about living up here. I also still enjoying slipping back to Florida in the middle of winter and feeling that change:)

Also in October our little blue car blew up, we miss it, Miles asks about it sometimes, and now we are officially the owners of a mini van, it was a little hard for me to embrace at first, But I am so grateful and blessed by it. That only makes sense to those who knew me in my unsaved, drag-racing, fire bird owning days(oh the stories).

And also in October Miles turned 3, I can't believe it. Miles is such a gift from God and we have enjoyed every minute with him. He is compassionate, empathetic, determined, loving, and I could go on. I just look forward to many more great years enjoying him!!

I don't really know why I have not been blogging lately, I miss it, its fun to share my joy with others. Tons of stuff has happened in the last few months, somehow the kids keep growing along with my belly-only 20 days left. I'll try to do some recapping and then see if I can keep up with it again....

Painting

2008-10-13T17:01:00.000-07:00

We have been painting all the time lately, mainly because it has quickly become Lucy's favorite thing to do. She walks around the house calling "Paintin, Paintin" changing the tones of her voice as if she is calling for a dog. Then while painting she proudly exclaims "I Paintin!!!" Miles enjoys painting also, he has gotten very detailed lately. He has started to tell us what he is painting, the last few things he has painted were a rocket, and a very, very, fast train. I'm excited that they are enjoying art so much, it was my favorite thing to do as a child, any type of creating, and although I have been pregnant for the last 3 years, one day I hope to get back to oil painting.

I love surprises!!!

2008-10-03T09:19:00.000-07:00

So the other day I told Stephan I wanted to pick him up from work on Friday and do something fun, this is not so abnormal for us, so he said "OK do you want to go to the park with the kids?" I did not say anything so I guess he thought that was what we would be doing. When I went to pick him up, there were no kids in the car. "where are the kids? Are we going on a date?" I told him yes, we were going on a date, a nice long date. I drove into D.C, with him drilling me the whole way about where we were going and what we were doing, Stephan loves surprises just as much as me, so he was pretty excited. Then I pulled up and parked the car, "This is where we are eating? In a hotel restaurant?" I did not answer but walked to the back of the car where I had a bag packed and our pillows. A huge smile came across his face as he realized we had a night to ourselves and he said "We can sleep as long as we want!" And we did, we walked across the street and ate dinner and then we just stayed in, watched a movie, ...., and slept in! Then we walked around eastern market in the morning and hit up some museums before coming home. It was nice to have a little escape together, and I loved that he had no idea!

Just Married!

2008-09-04T18:47:00.000-07:00

The truck:)

The Wedding

2008-09-04T18:45:00.000-07:00

The wedding was beautiful! My brother-in-law Caleb added some very special touches, he made a photograph video of the two of them growing up that was perfect and at the reception he had made a special recording for Micah to dance with the men in her life to, there were the perfect touches to a great day, my brother-in-law is very talented, I'm one of his biggest fans.

Since I got to stand next to Micah I saw a lot of great words said purely with eyes, it was a very special view for me:) Kyle's eyes said it all when she walked down the aisle, but said even more while she said her vows. I know they will have a very blessed marriage filled with wonderful memories. We are so excited for them and so equally blessed that we got to be such a big part of it all.

Since we had a sitter for the reception, Stephan and I enjoyed just being a couple, and a brother and sister-in-law.

Getting Ready

2008-09-04T18:43:00.000-07:00

These are a few shots getting ready for my sister-in-law Micah's wedding. We all got together at James and Tracey's house and did nails and make-up, and a great hairdresser did all out hair. It was a fun morning. The atmosphere was very calm.

Micah and her mom on the phone, she wanted me to wait until she was off the phone but those of us who know her know that this picture is more realistic:)

Micah is so beautiful, she is everyday but today she was radiant!!!

Spkinklers

2008-09-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

One of our fun activities in South Carolina was playing in the sprinklers, Lucy and Camera really loved it, Lucy preferred to watch.

Miles was doing a lot of "cooking" and mixing water from the sprinkler and leaves and items from around the yard into a big bowl of yummyness which he then tried to feed to the dogs.

I did not get a picture of it, but Camera's favorite thing was to eat the sprinkler water, she would just run over to it with her mouth wide open and eat it, meanwhile the other parts of the water were hitting her in the face and eyes, which you would think would bother her but she was so happy. It was fun for all!

Moppy and Poppy's bed

2008-09-04T18:34:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a ten day trip to South Carolina for Aunt Micah's wedding. We had a lot of fun but mainly did a lot of work:) We slipped fun in for the kids during the day as much as we could and at the end of the day the kids could not wait to run into Moppy and Poppy's room and snuggle into their bed. In this picture they are having a snack of some popcorn and watching some cartoons. There is something very comforting about being in that big bed, sometimes poppy would sit with them and watch t.v(through his eyelids).

Camera's Bithday

2008-09-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful little niece turned one (a little while ago), we had a fun family party for her. We used supplies from previous parties, which mainly where western themed.

Everyone enjoyed themselves, mainly because there were cupcakes involved, They only tolerated the dress up part for a few moments. We have really enjoyed being so close to Camera during the first year of her life, she is a beautiful happy little girl:)

Elmo

2008-08-07T12:28:00.001-07:00

So I have this problem with posting to the blog, I want to have all this time to sit down and post a picture and a story, and the truth is that is so rare, so I may begin more postings without pictures or tons of time.

We just took a trip to South Carolina for my sister-in-laws wedding shower, and for the trip we took a dvd player and bought a new movie, an Elmo movie. Well Lucy is in love, she thought is was the best thing, she was ohhing and ahhhing and saying uh-oh when he was in trouble, she learned to say his name right away. So we watched it once on the way down and once on the way back and that is all it took, she has been pointing to him on book covers, on toys, saying Elmo and reaching out to him for a hug. She just recently realized he is on her diaper and began by just pointing to him and now she hugs and kisses him on the diaper(clean ones of course) I guess we are going to have to buy an Elmo doll. When I was a little girl I used to have a Grover doll, I really loved him and slept with him every night, I still have him, I guess she will be an Elmo girl.

Strawberries

2008-07-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

We went out the first weekend strawberries were there and had some picking fun, Miles showed Lucy what to do and she thought it was great. They both walked around looking for the biggest ones and we tried to convince them to put them into the buckets, no such luck, into the tummies they went:)

They had a tractor that Miles got to pretend to drive, he made tractor noises and told us to "watch out" as he turned the wheel.

Dinner....yum yum, for dinner that night we had a salad with strawberries, Gorgonzola cheese, and steak, the strawberries were such a great starting point. We had the same dinner later that week because it was so good!!

Baby:)

2008-06-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

We are having another baby!!!! We are so excited! I would love to say exactly how far along I am and when the baby is due, but it just keeps changing and its a little confusing so I'll wait until my next appointment on the 8th of July to really know, hopefully:) I knew I was pregnant before I wanted to tell anyone because I really wanted to wait until Fathers Day to tell Stephan, well anyone who knows me knows this is a silly idea, first of all I tell Stephan everything, and I get so excited about things I can't keep it in. I made it a good while, two weeks, all the while though I was telling a few girlfriends and making them promise to keep it a secret because I was bursting. Finally I could not make it anymore, but not just for myself, but really for Stephan. Stephan has always been affected by my pregnancies, it embarrass him, but he really loves the connection. The week before I told him he was pretty emotional and the night before at 10:30 at night, he said he just had to have some cookies. Stephan does not really have much of a sweet tooth at all and he is usually sleeping at 10:30 since he still gets up at 4:30am to go to work. But this night he said he just HAD to have cookies, off he went to the grocery store he came back with cookies and appetizers, and make them both, he kept saying how he was just to hungry and felt so different lately. Of course I was laughing in my head, because I knew what was going on with him. I knew that he would be happy to know he was not crazy, just pregnant so I decided to tell him. The next day we were playing outside when he came home from work and I had Miles go up to him and say "more babies" Stephan picked him up and said "you want more babies?" Miles just repeated "more babies" and Stephan said "OK we'll work on that for you" and flashed me "a look:)" hmmmmm, that was not very clear, don't worry I have more, I had a gift bag outside with a very small baby outfit inside and I gave it to him and said that I could not wait until Father's Day to give him his gift, He opened it and said "This won't fit me" I just waited looking at his until everything fell into place, He figured it out, "Are you really?" he said. Very excited to had a good celebration hug and kiss before Lucy and Miles wanted in on the group hug. We all went out for dinner to celebrate and every now and then out of the blue Stephan would say "3 babies" in a little bit of an overwhelmed voice, then he would hold my hand and smile a sweet smile at me and say "3 babies" in an excited voice.

Since then I have been explaining it to Miles and Lucy, When I ask Miles if the baby is a boy or a girl he says it is a boy, he is very confident about this and then he goes on to tell me that the baby will like big trucks, and trains, and dirt, so far Lucy just likes my belly button:) We are all very excited!!!!

Tents

2008-06-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Miles loves to make forts and his favorite thing to do lately is hide. So he runs and hides behind doors, in closets,under blankets, pretty much anywhere. He especially likes to hide when someone is coming that has been gone for a while, this week Stephan has had to work a little late a few days and has been coming home while we are sitting at the dinner table, Miles wants to hide from him so bad, so I told him to just cover his eyes. Of course I have to do it as well and so Lucy tries to be just like us, she puts her hands "over her eyes" usually one on an ear and the other on the top of her head, never really over her eyes because then she may miss something. So there we sit waiting for daddy to come in the door from the carport, and I say "shhhhh" because hiding so obviously would be more discreet if we were quiet. The door opens followed by a loud chuckle by Miles and and very loud "Hi" from Lucy and me saying "shhhhh" Stephan of course loves these games and inspires most of the hiding and forts, so he immediately plays along saying "where is my family" and calling the kids by name. two entire seconds have now passed with Lucy throwing her arms in the air and begging(whining) for daddy to come hug her and Miles laughing and still trying to keep his eyes covered. I'm not sure why but I still have my eyes covered as if I am truly hiding. By the time Stephan has kissed Lucy enough to calm her down Miles has thrown his hand to the side with a huge smile as if he really had tricked his daddy. Its a fun time and so easy to amuse them:)

Fun Family weekend

2008-05-21T18:30:00.000-07:00

This past weekend James and Tracey came up to visit and go to a family wedding and because my sister-in-law graduated from law school(yippee). We had such a fun and working weekend. They helped us mow the lawn and get lots of little stuff done around the house. The wedding was very beautiful, it was outdoors and it was a perfect day!

They had horses and the kids got to feed them. It was also very nice to see some of the family we had not seen for a long time and some of them had not even met Lucy yet. Miles love the horses and was saying "neigh neigh" to them. He kept asking if he could ride, I'm assuming he has seen someone ride one before because he has never asked to ride on any other animal.

Lucy likes to dance, she walked right out there on the dance floor and put her arms in the air and rocked back and forth, I have no idea why I did not get this on video, it was very cute. she also got to dance with her poppy and moppy. Miles did not think dancing was a very good idea and preferred to stick close to us in hopes for more cake:)

Miles got to take many rides in poppies truck, and now anywhere we go if he sees a black truck, he gets excited and points to it saying "poppy truck" "me". We were very sad to see them go, but we will be spending lots of time with them this summer because Micah is getting married, we are soooooo excited for her!!!!!

First concussion

2008-05-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

So the Stewart's are pretty competitive by nature and Lucy was not about to be outdone, she decided to be the first and probably the youngest Stewart to have a concussion. And luckily her nose is not broken, just possibly deviated, but its to swollen to find out so we will have to go back in a few days. What happened....... We had a fun morning playing outside at our new house, it's only the second time we have been able to play in the backyard since moving, she ran, not walked over to the hill(pretty steep for a little one) and stepped right down the flight of stairs that goes down the hill. She hit her nose on the second step and landed at the bottom on her little head:( My poor baby, she was barely phased at all, a little crying and then she was fine. Flirting and waving and giving high fives to every nurse and doctor she could. They said to me "are you sure she is hurt, she is so happy" She is recovering well and enjoying all the extra attention. Miles was so sweet when he saw that she was hurt, I had to herd them inside and tend to her and he ran into our room and brought us a large piece of gauze and a band aid, and ran to her saying "boo bo" he prayed for her and everything, it was very sweet to see such a compassionate gift flow from Miles.

10 DAYS=A "big truck", a wedding, and a funeral

2008-04-25T10:21:00.000-07:00

It has been forever since I have posted, we have been very busy and have lots of fun stories and pictures to share:) We are moved, I would say the move was pretty seamless, just a ton of work. We had some good friends come and help us and with then all there were more children so we had 5 children under 3 "helping" us move, they were very well behaved and really loved the "big truck". They all wanted to ride in it and drive it, we took them to sit in it and they all took turns pretending to drive. We made the move on a Thursday night, odd day to move but was the best for us, on Friday we went to the old place and cleaned and did all the finishing touches while the kids went to spend the day with their friend Aliyah, Then on Sat we started the unpacking. (We are still unpacking somehow) Then the next Saturday we went to a wedding, a family wedding that was beautiful, the reception took place on a river boat that cruised down the Potomac, the cherry blossoms were at their peek at the time and it was awesome. We went without the kids and it was a nice treat for Stephan and I. Then on Sunday I had to fly to Florida, My uncle suddenly passed away from heart failure. Just Lucy and I went and spent three days bringing baby joy to all the relatives. Having my uncle die so suddenly was very awakening to think that you can not prepare for everything and to think how close in age he is to my parents. Lucy soaked up all the attention she could get and relished being an only child temporarily. We are back now and close to unpacked and getting everything someone organized, expect more posts soon:)

The box

2008-03-15T20:07:00.000-07:00

I just found this video in the edit section, it is much older as you can tell from Lucy, but still cute.

Lucy Walking

2008-03-15T18:16:00.000-07:00

Lucy is walking more everyday, this is a short video of her walking at the zoo:)

President's Day

2008-03-05T11:31:00.000-08:00

So I am a little behind on my postings, on presidents day this year it was a beautiful day, and one great benefit to Steph's new job is that he is home on holidays so we loaded up and went to the zoo. Stephan had a I'm so proud I can't hold it in moment-Miles and Stephan were looking at the Prairie Dog's and Miles was very excited and kept pointing emphatically to the stroller, so we let him get down and show us what he wanted from the stroller. He grabbed Lucy's stuffed mouse and ran back to try to put it in one of the prairie dog's holes. Stephan was so excited about his association that he patted the man next to him (yes- a complete stranger) and said look at this. It was a sweet moment, very proud daddy:)

Lucy just relaxed in her stroller, and smiled at all the people and animals:)

AWE

2008-03-05T11:20:00.000-08:00

So on valentine's day and every day the week of Stephan was working late on a project so he was leaving at 5:50am and getting home around 9pm and we knew we would not be together on valentine's day, when I got the kids up in the morning this was waiting for me on the table. It's a bowl of cereal (no milk yet) and three tea lights on the table and the word love spelled out on the plate in honey:) So romantic, it was a great surprise that made me smile!

Smile

2008-03-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

Ok so here is a video of some of the ways we get the kids to take a group picture:) I don't know how to flip it but its worth just turning you head for.

Valentine's Day

2008-03-05T10:53:00.000-08:00

The day before Valentine's Day we went to our playgroup for a fun party, it was also Violet's Birthday so we had tons of goodies:) This is a picture of most everyone on the couch. Miles is on the right side in the red sweater and Lucy is two on the left with red sleeves.

One of the sweet girls Grace was helping to feed Lucy the bottle, it was so very cute!

Singing

2008-03-01T10:50:00.000-08:00

During some fun family time Miles decided to make a microphone, set onto the stage and sing, this may not be so big to anyone else, but it was to us any step closer to Miles talking more it great, plus really cute!

Party!!!

2008-02-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure how much you can see of this picture but it is Lucy, Miles and Izzy. They are all standing up talking and laughing with each other. It's so fun to see them wake up from nap time and stand up to play with the others in the room. I'm so glad I was forced to put them in the same room, it has worked out so great.

The 17 dollar box

2008-02-11T12:15:00.000-08:00

I love good deals and the other day in Target I found a stroller on clearance for just 17 bucks, my freind Alicia needed a stroller because the wheels broke off the one she had. So we brought it home and Miles love assembeling it with Daddy, and then he realized that the box it came is was pretty cool, so in and out of the box he climbed, then he went to get some trains to come into the box also and just hung out in the box. Soon Daddy cut a door and a window int he box and made it into a house. Everyone had to go in the box, "daddy bock" "mommy bock" baby bock" he would say while pulling us in.

Lucy would crawl through the window and go around to get into it again, she loved it. Daddy put a clip through the window with a baby ring on the inside so they could get in the box and shut the window behind them. The box then became a clubhouse where we would have to knock on the door to get in and say the secret password which was "bubble" just because it is still Miles' favorite word. This went of for 3 days, with no one tiring of the box, but after all that it started to fall down and Miles decided it would now be good for standing on and jumping off. So quickly the box was flattened

So now we have a flat box so we cut it apart and had one big piece of cardboard hmmm... what to do... we layed it on top of a crib and a chair covered part of it with a blanked and now we have the roof to a fort, with a sunroof! Miles brought is cars and garage in the fort and played for a while, then he noticed that he could open the sunroof and place his cars on the roof, by the time we cleaned up all the cars were on the roof.

Shortly before the box made it to its final resting place it was a great big easel. Man that was a great 17 dollar toy:)

Trains

2008-02-06T11:31:00.000-08:00

Miles still loves trains so much! On cold days we like to go to a mall around the corner from us where they have a great storytime and a train that goes around the mall. Miles loves to ride on it and Lucy really enjoyed it also, she would wave at the people walking by.

Random Sweetness...

2008-01-31T10:38:00.000-08:00

When we decided to move up to the Washington DC area for Stephan to pursue a different line of work, we did not know anyone. But then just a few weeks later Stephan's brother and sister-in-law Caleb and Ashley told us they were moving here too. We were so excited, somehow just having them near us has made us more secure. Since then they have a baby girl as well that is just 3 months younger than Lucy. Even if our time in this area is brief there will always be great memories of the special times we got to share together as just siblings, aunts and uncles and cousins. Stephan and his brother have always been very close and good friends and Ashley and I have also found a close friendship over the years, I am just so thankful that we are all in this area together:)

Lucy

2008-01-24T13:22:00.000-08:00

It feels like yesterday that I posted a video of Lucy crawling, and now she is taking her first steps, it happens so fast.

Florida Part two

2008-01-24T07:40:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun in Florida taking advantage of great weather, I loved the break from the cold and the ability to go outside. We went to the zoo and got to see tons of animals. It was a little cold that morning (to the Floridians) and so all the animals were spunky and out. Miles and his cousin Issac got to feed and pet the giraffe. Lucy loved looking at all the animals and missed a nap again but was so in love with all the things she did not mind.

Miles and Issac played so great together it was fun to watch, here they are talking on the phone with each other. We opened presents with everyone and got some fun new stuff. It was very sweet to see the kids playing with their new toys.

Then we took even more advantage of the great weather and spent some time at a nice park and the beech. Miles loved the beech, the two cousins played so great together, miles even learned how to say beech, however it comes out a little more like another b word:) We had a great trip!!!

Florida Part One

2008-01-24T07:32:00.000-08:00

After Christmas we headed down to Florida for a week, the kids and I flew down first on New Years eve. They were great on the airplane. We got there just in time to go to a family party and play with cousins and get loved on by everyone. Then the next morning Miles got to wash a boat with papa and he even went for a boat rid in the pool. This was very exciting because the last time we were in Florida Miles did not want to play in the pool at all, this time he practically walked right in.

Lucy loved playing and being snuggled by papa and nana, papa has these great big hands and snuggles great with babies and Lucy loved falling for him to rock her to sleep. She also loved the dogs. She became an expert crawler chasing them.

National Museum of Natural History

2008-01-23T17:59:00.000-08:00

After we got back from South Carolina we had a good family day together before we flew off to Florida. Miles loved the museum so much, he said "wow" often. We thought Lucy would take her morning nap in the stroller but she was so interested in everything the whole time she missed it altogether and was just fine. We followed up out trip to the National Museum of Natural History by taking a trip to the Building Museum for some good play time.

They had a live bugs exhibit and Miles got to hold multiple bugs and smiled so big. I was a great family day:)

Christmas in South Carolina

2008-01-23T17:26:00.000-08:00

We had a great weekend with family in South Carolina during Christmas. The whole family was together. We spend time just relaxing and had a nice big Christmas Eve dinner. We had to drive home on Christmas day for Stephan to be back at work the next day. Miles loved opening presents and taking presents to whomever we told him to take them to. I got so many awesome presents. My favorite was a new red coat, the most thoughtful gift and I love it!

Miles wanted to do everything the "big" people did, after dinner he wanted to use the tea cups, so we put juice in it for him and he loved it, he would gingerly set it down on the saucer and clap for himself. He also got to have a grape juice toast in a fancy champagne class.

He really loved drinking out of all the fancy things:) Lucy got her two front teeth for Christmas and we were all very happy they came through, she was a little fussy about them.

We tried to take a picture of all three of them in their matching p.j.'s but Miles wanted to have nothing to do with it. So sad:(

Traveling

2008-01-02T11:15:00.000-08:00

We are currently in Florida celebrating with my family. We have been traveling so much lately, I just want to be home! We were in South Carolina for 10 days at Thanksgiving, then we went back for 5 days over Christmas and now we are in Florida for a week. We really are having a great time. We have enjoyed every minute of sharing time with our families. I Can't wait to post all the cute Christmas pictures when we get home, but this picture is a good start:)

Crawling

2007-12-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

Here is a short video of Lucy crawling. She is very mobile these days, she follows me everywhere I go.

First Snow

2007-12-06T11:29:00.000-08:00

Last week we had our first Snow of the season. It was beautiful! It snowed all day. These pictures were taken first thing in the morning, later on that evening the ground was covered. Miles loved it!

Decorating

2007-12-06T11:24:00.000-08:00

The kids were so helpful during the decorating this year, Miles loved the Christmas village and still likes to climb up on the couch and watch it, next year we will have to get a train to add to the village.

Lucy helping with the Christmas lights.

Tree sleding

2007-12-06T11:21:00.000-08:00

So at the farm they had this great bid dogs that were hooked to sleds and once you cut your tree they would pull it to your car for you. They were very friendly dogs and Miles loved this action.

Luckily we had poppy's truck to bring home our tree in, Miles loved every minute of "helping" tie the tree in the truck.

And as for Lucy throughout this whole endeavour she was taking a nap in the truck, to much excitement for her.

Christmas Tree Hunting

2007-12-06T11:17:00.000-08:00

So we went to Butlers orchard again this year to cut our Christmas tree. It was a very cold day but very bright and beautiful. I think Miles may have remember doing this from last year because he grabbed the saw and went up to the tree to cut it down himself.

Finding the tree was a little harder than last year, Miles likes all the little trees that were his size and Stephan just wanted to start cutting, so anytime I said "oh I like this tree" Stephan would want to start cutting before we even looked at the other side.

But it did not take long before we found one we all liked. Stephan started cutting and Miles was overseeing.

It turned out to have a pretty big base on it and took some serious cutting, see how Steph had to take his jacket off and everything.

Last of the Thanksgiving photos...

2007-12-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

These are two random photos but my favorite, the first is a very accurate picture of the Stewart men, they are all looking at something electronic, my brother-in-law is showing off his new I-phone and they are all mesmerized.

Uncle Caleb with Lucy, I love this picture because Caleb looks great and those are my favorite tights on Lucy.

Thanksgiving part two

2007-12-06T10:52:00.000-08:00

Miles took this mop cart out of the garage and pushed it all around the neighborhood, it was his grocery cart, we all thought it was pretty funny.

This is a picture of Miles playing golf, Poppy loves golf so we got Miles his own set of clubs and they were out playing on the front lawn.

Thanksgiving part one

2007-12-06T10:37:00.000-08:00

We went to South Carolina for Thanksgiving. My mother-in-law (www.swordandshieldministries.org) travels a lot and was speaking in williamsburg which is only a few hours away. So all of us kids and grand kids drove over to williamsburg for the weekend and them she drove us all back to Sumter. Micah labeled the trip a van ride with 4 women, 3 babies, and a hamster. Pretty good movie title:) So it took us quite a while longer than normal trips mainly due to the still nursing 2 infants, and I ended up not feeling well either. Sadly only 45 min from home at midnight we had to stop 3 times for me not feeling well, and by the time we got home everyone had decided I was pregnant. I am not currently pregnant just some leftover sickness from the Lyme's disease. All in all it was a fun car ride.

The husband joined us the day before thanksgiving and here is a picture with all or us except Micah, she was in the shower and Caleb and Ashley and Camera had to leave to go to her side of the families Thanksgiving dinner so we just got what we could.

This picture is Dylan kissing Lucy, Dylan and Payton are two great kids that Miles loves to play with when we are in Sumter, their mommy Misty is my best friend back home so we are always getting together when I am home. Both Dylan and Payton call Miles "baby Miles" because they were around when he was born and although they know he is no longer a baby that is still what they call him. Misty and I joke that when Miles is in high school they will still be calling him "baby Miles"

This is Amanda and Jackie who are Miles and Lucy's Godparents. We are so blessed to have such great friends who will pray and lead Miles and Lucy in the right direction with us. Miles loves Jackie and learned to say his name right away.

Recycle

2007-12-06T10:33:00.000-08:00

So we are defiantly recycling some of Miles winter clothes from last year for Lucy. We don't really think she minds or knows the difference, most every night she is sleeping in blue pajamas. These pictures are from when we were trying his winter stuff on her to see what fit her. This had was one of our favorite items for Miles last year, we called it his Russian hat, and Lucy looks pretty cute in it also!

2007-12-05T10:49:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we went to visit our friend Alicia who lives in Ellicott City, and she took us to this great park that had tons of slides and fun things for a little climber to do. We played there until we got to cold to stay any longer and then she took us to this really different donut shop where they make each donut fresh for you and then you pick out the toppings and they are still hot when you get them. It was really yummy, ranks above krispy kreme!

They had this fun zip line which of course if it is dangerous Miles loves it.

The Lobster

2007-12-04T12:19:00.000-08:00

A little while ago we had one of our family dinners with Caleb and Ashley and Camera and Micah. We were celebrating something and we put a lobster costume on Camera, the costume was really made for a dog but Camera was so small that I thought it would be cute and dog costumes are tons cheaper than baby costumes. Anyways she was cute!

Here is Aunt Ashley trying it on, she ran around the house for a minute with it on her head and Miles thought is was pretty funny.

After all the kids went to bed we watched a movie together and I snapped this shot of brother and sister, its a very appropriate picture because at any given time all three of the Stewart's siblings are most likely wearing black tops and jeans. And they often have the same body postures or positions while doing things. Its really fun to watch these similarities and discover that they are not all environmental. I always thing of the little things compared to the similarities that my brother and I have that are more environmental because we were adopted. The two of them watched the whole movie on the couch like this and my sister-and-law Ashley and I sat on the other couch and talked about all the things that we notice they all do alike.

Take me with you!!

2007-12-04T11:13:00.000-08:00

When stephan was still working nights, we used to take turns trying to go to work with him, no such luck and now we have him at nights!

Watch out for Mega postings...

2007-12-04T11:05:00.001-08:00

So I have not been posting much at all for the last month and it makes me a little sad, because I don't even know if that many people look at our blog but I am so excited about our life that I love to share it. So I am planning on doing some back blogging to share some of the fun stuff that has been going on this past month with us.

First is a fun story about Miles. A few weeks ago Miles started verbalizing identities of objects, all coffee cups were "daddy" and Vacuums were "mommy", which I think is odd since daddy does most of the vacuuming. We went to target and walked by the undergarment section and Miles points to the largest bra I have ever seen, and says pretty loudly "Mommy" and then signs milk. Hmmm.. luckily no one knew the sign for milk and I told him that yes mommy does have one like it, then we went around the corner and he gasps in excitement and grabs a pair of very bright green underwear from the shelf and yells "CAA-CAA" which is how he says his aunt Micah's name. But to the average person that just sounds like another name for poop. I could not help but laugh, and his aunt Micah probably does have underwear like that. I think he choose those to be Micah's because she had just spent the weekend with us and was wearing these bright green socks. We continues to walk around and Miles kept pointing to cleaning supplies and brooms and labeling them "Mommy" So I guess I better do some more cleaning.

2007-11-08T18:39:00.000-08:00

For Halloween we went with our friend Alicia and Izzy to trick or treat at the mall. Lucy was a skunk, we sprayed some people with her tail and Miles thought it was so funny.

Izzy was a turtle.

Miles was a cowboy, this is when we locked him up in jail:)

Wrestling

2007-10-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

Miles loves to wrestle. He really enjoys it and laughs so hard we have to take breaks to make sure he is breathing.

He has really got his game face on, he painted it well by pressing it up against the window that we had just finished coloring on.

Following the footsteps

2007-10-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

So I think Lucy likes basketball just like her mommy.

Lucy's First Bath

2007-10-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

Lucy had her first big girl bath this past week. She thought it was great. At first she just sat there and looked at the water and looked back at me, then she started hitting at it and splashing around. Miles kept wanting to climb in there and show her how it's done.

Harvest Time

2007-10-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

We went to a Fall festival this past week and has lots of fun. There were animals to pet and feed. Lucy just looked at them and growled. They also had a hay maze and a corn maze, Miles loved running around in the hay maze there were some other children his age inside and they all ran around squealing.

Lucy thought the hay was just a little rough.

They had these big huge slides you could go down on a potatoe sack. They were really fast. I loved them and so did Stephan and Miles, Lucy did not seem to really think much about it other than she had no choice because she was strapped to us. They also had this big barn full of hay that you could just wrestle in and jump around in, Miles thought it was great and kept trying to throw it to us but couldn't understand why it did not make it.

Then we went on a hayride out to the pumpkin field and picked out pumpkins, We each got one and piled them into the wagon, by this time in the day Miles was pretty worn out and decided the wagon would be much better than walking. They had some fresh picked apples for snacks. It was such a fun day!!

Happy Birthday Miles!!!

2007-10-22T15:51:00.001-07:00

Miles turned two on Saturday! I just can't believe it, time really does go fast when you are having a good time. So of course we got him trains for his birthday, he was so happy. We went out to dinner and they brought him a Sunday with sprinkles and whip cream, the whole works. When he saw it coming his mouth dropped and he said "whooooo" and pointed. He could not believe it was for him. He opened his presents and joyfully said "choo choo".

His new train is really fun for us also, he has also made up some new noises for the trains when they are moving and when they fall off the track. Once we got the track all set up he pushed it around and then ran off to his room and came back with the train whistle that his aunt had bought him and would blow into the whistle and then move the train along the track. Pretty fun!

This is a train book that his grandma and grandpa sent up for him, we have been reading it every day. It is so fun to pursue this interest with him. We are so thankful for the past two years with Miles and cant wait for more:)

2007-10-22T07:07:00.000-07:00

Yippee Skippie Stephan graduated!!!! It is very exciting for us to enter into a new chapter of our lives. Stephan is now looking for a new job more in his field and we would love everyone to join us for prayer about this. We had a fun weekend, Stephan's parents came up a few days early and kept Miles and Lucy for us while we got away alone:) We went to Williamsburg VA, we even got an complimentary upgrade at our hotel and had a Jacuzzi in our room. We hit some outlets and walked about historic williamsburg and did a lot of talking. It was so nice. And I know Miles and Lucy had fun with their moppy and poppy who love them very much. My parents were planning to come up also but we were going to be gone the whole weekend and its a long drive not to see us so we are going down to Florida next month to spend some time with them. It is so nice that Stephan doesn not have homework every night now and we get more of him:)

Sweet Moment

2007-10-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

I was in and out of the kitchen the other night cleaning up from dinner when I saw Miles and Lucy playing together. Its really the first time they have been on their own playing like this.

It was a very sweet moment to watch, Whenever Lucy would drop her car Miles would pick it up and he was mainly just playing with his car near her but they really seemed to be so happy and comfortable with each other. There was such a sweet atmosphere in the air.

2007-10-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

What do you do when you really love trains but your parents wont give you any until your birthday? You just make a train with your cars. Poor baby, good thing his birthday is this weekend!!

2007-10-01T18:12:00.000-07:00

Our beautiful little lady. Lucy has had a big week. Her two teeth have made there way all the way through. And there are four more on their way in now, four at once is no fun, but she is handling it well.

She has also learned to sit up all by herself, and has really started growling at everything. Miles likes to pretend to wrestle with her and she laughs at him. She has a deep, kinda belly laugh that makes us all smile.

She has also learned how to lay down from a sitting position and scoot to a desired toy.

We are loving every minute we have with her. She is so fun.

2007-10-01T18:10:00.000-07:00

Lucy is loving sitting on her own. Here she is playing the drum.

2007-10-01T18:04:00.000-07:00

Bedtime stories with two is defiantly more fun. Miles thinks Lucy is so great and always wants to hug her or hold her or kiss her. I think it is so sweet

2007-10-01T17:58:00.000-07:00

Alicia and Izzy and Ashley and Camera.

More fruit!!! We went fruit picking again. Miles just ate his way through the farm.

Lucy hung out with Aunt Micah.

The stewart men pick a good one:)

2007-10-01T17:54:00.000-07:00

Poppy came to visit a few weekends ago, we were so busy playing with him that I only snapped a few pictures of him with Lucy.

I think they are pretty cute!

Slumber Party!

2007-09-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

4 adults + 3 babies + 900sq. ft. = slumber party:)
This is Camera sleeping, she thought that slumber parties were for sleeping, hmmm I don't think the adults got that memo.

Miles loves babies, here he is holding Camera with his Uncle Caleb.

Lucy had the right idea, slumber party means pillow fights and laughing.

This is Camera and Lucy playing

Here is Uncle Caleb and Camera with the only clean towel left, the monkey towel. Uncle Caleb, Aunt Ashley and my beautiful niece came to spend a night with us because they needed to leave their house for a night. We had fun, we all stayed up late talking and of course all the babies still got up early. Miles thought is was so great that everyone was still in the house when he got up in the morning.

Diner for three

2007-09-15T10:45:00.000-07:00

On Thursdays Aliyah comes over to play with us, Miles thinks it is great! This is everyone at dinner time, I have to put them next to each other because they like to share food and feed each other.

2007-09-15T07:54:00.000-07:00

Poor little Lucy got her first tooth on Tuesday. She did not think it was a very good idea and needed extra snuggling. Then on Wednesday she got her second tooth, she thought that was an even worse idea, she had a rough few days but is doing better now and we are calling her our baby piranha.

2007-09-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Even more pictures from the trip. This is Lucy and Camera playing together. Every time we put Lucy next to Camera she smiles.

This is a friend Kaitlyn holding Lucy.

This is Rebeca and Kaitlyn with Lucy and her big smile.

2007-09-12T15:38:00.000-07:00

More pictures from our trip home. This is Lucy with her moppy, they snuggled and watched some TV together.

This is moppy giving Lucy a bath in the sink.

Miles got a bath in the sink also, he just stood there and played with the squirt part of the faucet, pretty cute but pretty messy.

2007-09-12T15:23:00.000-07:00

The weekend before we left for South Carolina we took Miles to a water park that is really close to us. He loved it!!! He loves water if it is his size. He played until we drug him out.

Some other kids had some balls and toys that they shared with him.

He loved this ring.....

It was his crown and he wore it on his head for a good half hour. Every time he would bend over it would fall off his head and he would pick it up and put it back on his head.

2007-09-07T11:03:00.000-07:00

My sister in-law Ashley, me, and our surrogate sister in-law Amanda.

We had a great long weekend, we went home and it was so nice!! My sister and law and I drove down at the beginning of the week with the three kids so that we could soak up all the grandparent time that we could, then the Stewart brothers joined us on Saturday morning. Moppy and Poppy bought Miles a little pool for the back deck and he was in it every day, we just relaxed and enjoyed being home with friends and family.

This is Miles preaching at church with poppy. Stephan always tells me stories about what would happen to him if he acted out in church, I even recall one of his dad stopping the sermon to come spank him. But grandchildren are a very different story, they can hold the microphone and everything:)

Miles getting attacked by the tickle bug.

The whole Stewart family-Stephan, Caleb, Ashley and Camera, me and Lucy, Poppy and Miles, Moppy, Micah

All the Stewart girls

All the Stewart boys

This is Miles and Lucy with their Godparents Jackie and Amanda. Jackie loves to say Godfather like in the movies and says that whenever we come down he is going to buy ring pops for Miles to kiss his ring.

Me and Amanda with good friends Trish and Stacey.

2007-09-05T17:50:00.000-07:00

Lucy has discovered she likes her feet, this is her just relaxing. Yesterday I saw her sucking her big toe.

Smiles

2007-09-05T17:43:00.000-07:00

Lucy loves to smile, all you have to do is look at her and she flashes you a great big smile. She is such a happy baby!

MIles' baby

2007-08-25T17:37:00.000-07:00

Miles has a baby and he loves it so much, he does everything he sees us doing with Lucy to his baby. He kisses it and pats it on the back and hugs it, he pretends to change it's diaper and he uses his little blanket to cover it up for sleep time. He is very sweet to his baby

2007-08-25T17:33:00.000-07:00

Outnumbered!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! On Thursday I was very outnumbered by little people,Aliyah comes to spend Thursday afternoons with us while her mommy is teaching, and this week Camera came to spend Thursday with us also because her mommy went back to law school this week. So with my two that makes four little ones and just one of me. CRAZY!!!!

2007-08-25T17:26:00.000-07:00

Aunt Micah came up for a visit last week, we got to meet her boyfriend kyle. She brought Miles thee cutest presents! One is a train whistle, which Miles loves to use. The other is a fish tank inside a TV box, its very cute, we will soon have a pet fish. It was very fun to spend some time with Micah and Kyle and I'm glad they got to meet Lucy.

2007-08-21T18:20:00.000-07:00

Lucy, Izzy, and Miles all playing together.