The Museum with Cousins

What a blessing to have family in town in June! We got a call telling asking us to meet at the museum and we jumped at the opportunity to play with our cousins, Reagan, Hannah and Taylor! And of course their parents Ben and Angela! Aunts Carolyn, Rebecca, Molly, Uncle Travis and Nana were there too!

Arrgghh...don't fear, but there is a pirate near!

Arg, our cousins in front of a pirate too!

Angela's deer ears

When you say Ram Power, you said it all!

Moose horns

Steven is the same size as a small dinosar! And he does a good job making a noise like one too!

Steven and cousin Taylor are 4 months apart.

He LOVES to kiss and hug on his cousins!

And then came Emmett. Emmett is 7 months younger than Steven and 3 months younger than Taylor. (Not pictured is the last of the fab 4, Josie, who was born in May. 4 cousins born in 10 months! What a blast!)

In the Discovery Center of the Museum. It has a lot of activities for the little ones to participate in.

Hannah and Steven putting animals together.

Playing in the giant bird nest

June Picnic

We went to the park with the intent of getting pictures done for Steven's birthday inviations, but my little cherib had another thing on his mind. So, we just ate our yummy picnic dinner and did snap a few fun shots! His eyes are so electic blue when we get him outside. They absolutely melt my heart!

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Steven LOVES go-gurt! Of course, he particularly enjoys the blue that stains everything and anything in its path!

Mommy and her boy!

This picture makes me cry. I think about our Heavenly Father and how He promises to never leave us alone. I think about the "Footprints in the Sand" poem; during our hardest times, it is then that He carries us. Matt and I anxiously waited and prayed for so many years to hav ea little one bless our lives. Many, many times my Heavenly Father carried me. Matt is such an incredible, amazing father to Steven. I can picture him leading, guiding, walking beside my son to teach him, to love him, to help me make right choices. How grateful I am for these two boys in my life. How grateful I am to be a wife and mother! I never, ever take that for granted! I thank my Heavenly Father many times a day for them!

At the Park

We LOVE to go to the park as a family. Steven is getting much better at the swings and practicing his crawling in the grass. And this face...it is really too much!!

Howdy Partner!

He giggles and giggles in the swing!

Memorial Day at the Aquarium

We don't have a lot of time together as a family. Matt works during the day and I am home with my sweet boy and two of my friends children. Then, I turn around and go to work at night. Matt and I are two shis passing in the night and Steven is our little lighthouse. We were so excited for Memorial Day because it meant an ENTIRE day of just the three of us; no church meetings, no work, no interuptions. Just us! We fretted over where to go and finally decided the aquarium (one free admission helped a lot with that decision)! We needed to grab a couple of things from Wal-Mart so we packed up and left. It was when we pulled up into the parking lot that I remembered, "My phone was on the bumper of the truck. Please, tell me you grabbed it!" I was in histerics. I called and called hoping it ended up in the trunk, but no can do. I took Steven inside and we looked for shoes for him while Matt retraced our steps. About half an hour later, Matt met us in the checkout line with my phone. I was SO hopeful, but it turns out the battery had been lost and the case was in ruins. To make a long story short, I still use my phone, but the charge only lasts a couple of hours and there is no back. I hope someday it is in the stars to get a new one. :)

Matt is so sweet, as he knew I beat myself up about it enough. The only thing he asked is I forget about and try to have a good day. So, I did. We had a great day at the aquarium. Anytime with my boys is a great time though!

Underwater diver, Steven!

Be careful! Great white shark teeth ahead!

Be brave Steven, it is a Shark!

Matt is so intent on telling Steven about the Pacu fish. They have these in Brasil where Matt served his mission. Steven did such a great job listening to Matt tell him all about the fish and Brasil.

My two favorite people in the entire world! Steven was just loving up on his Daddy!

Happy, Happy Boy Steven!

Steven fell asleep toward the end of our time. He is so sweet, even sleeping in the stroller!

My favorite part is the tank full of jelly fish. I am just grateful there is a nice thick piece of glass between the fish and me. Look at my super cute hubby and me!!

Does your aquarium have three lovely mermaids? We watched an underwater show about them and then they came to greet the crowd. Steven was asleep for that part too! :)

Mommy's Little Helper

I absolutely LOVE having my little baby around with me everywhere I go. He is such a blessing and a welcome sight. From sun up, to sun down, he is the happiest baby. However, I find having a little shadow makes my chores take twice as long. But ya know what? I wouldn't change a thing about it for the world! I just smile and think about how blessed I am to have this sweet spirit in my life!

While Mommy types on the computer, Steven likes to take things out of the arts and crafts box. If only I could teach him to put it all back in.

He LOVES to unwind the toilet paper from the roll, and he is so quick. The boy can unravel an entire roll in 10 seconds flat. There has got to be a record to be won here!

He also enjoys helping with the dishwasher.

I wanna be like you Dad!

Saturday is our fix up, clean our home day. Daddy is the Mower of the Lawn. It was an agreement we made before we bought a home. I am slightly allergic to grass (and I can't stand dirt under my nails) so Matt is the outside guy. The first few times we kept Steven inside because we figured he wouldn't like the loud mower. On this day I took him outside to watch Daddy and he absolutely INSISTED that Daddy hold him. So, Matt did. My super strong husband mowed the lawn with his nearly 25 pound son in his arms. Steven laughed and giggled and smiled. I LOVE my boys!

I am always reminded of this Tim McGraw song, "I've been watchin you"
He said I've been watching you dad, ain't that cool
I'm your buckaroo, I wanna be like you
And eat all my food and grow as tall as you are
We like fixing things and holding mama's hand
Yeah we're just alike, hey ain't we dad
I wanna do everything you do
So I've been watching you

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!!

Ladies and Gentlemen of the blog world,
HELP!!! I cannot figure out how to use all of these new things. That is why I haven't blogged because I can't stand that everything is messed up on my page. My picture is crazy. My tabs on the margins have moved down and I can't make them move back. I am ready to just start fresh. Any advice? Can someone come over and fix it all for me?? :)