Happy 1st Birthday Steven!

It is really hard for me to imagine that a year ago I was in the hospital giving birth to the most amazing little guy ever! He has greatly enriched my life and made me feel complete in a way I have never felt before. Steven is so happy and everyone who meets him says he is "a nice guy." His smile melts my heart! I love you Steven Robert!!

For breakfast, I made him banana pancakes and served them on the "You are special" plate. I bought it years ago for the purpose of having birthday breakfasts/dinners on it. He only ate a few bites because he really wanted yogurt, breakfast of champions!

His Nana came to pick him up for lunch with her and Grandpa. They went to Burger King and had fries. Then, they went to the Toy Store and Steven picked out his own ride on toy. He LOVES it! At first, he could only go backwards, but he eventually got the hang of it. It is a Lightning McQueen car and has all sorts of buttons you can push on it. When he pushes the music button he starts dancing on the seat. What a cutie pie!

We went to Red Robin for dinner. He drank out of a straw for the first time! He loves mandarin oranges pizza. He tried a bit of everyone's dinner and had a great time.

We came home and opened presents. Of course, he pulled in the loot! He did a great job opening gifts himself, but he was done by about present two.

To be completely honest, he was too tired and too grumpy to do cake that night, so we put it off until the next night. My mom said he wouldn't know the difference, but I always will. I was excited to make his first cake, but I am by no means the artist. I made a #1 and used blue frosting. He dug right in. He is a pro!

He was so happy to eat his cake! Seriously, look at that face!

Sharing cake with his Grandma-Great and Grandma who came from Idaho for the special 1st birthday!

The After:

I love you Bug!

Attempt at Family Pictures

A very shy 6 year old, a grumpy 4 year old, a 2 year old and 4 kids under 1...this sounds like an equation for some trouble. Add one camera, 7 parents trying to get their kids to look at the camera and smile, a very patient Nana and Grandpa and here is what you get....some VERY INTERESTING grandchildren pictures!

In the middle of taking these pictures someone said, "This will be easier in 2 years!" I thought to myself, "Are you crazy? We will have 4 TWO YEAR OLDS and who knows how many other children will be born in the following 2 years." Ya just have to laugh!

Daddy holding Steven and cousin Josie. Steven LOVES babies, but when his parents hold another baby, he has some pretty extreme jeleousy issues. He did have a good time lovin' on his cousin though.

Aunt Molly...she is so beautiful!

Steven and Nana

Cousins at the Zoo

I think this about sums it up...Cousins at the zoo!
Really, we had so much fun with all of our cousins visiting! (June 14,2011) The zoo was a hoot with 7 kids. Someone always wanted to go somewhere. Here is a sampling of our fun in the sun at the zoo:

Steven was looking super cute in his hat and sunglasses. He was ready for some fun!

Steven loved telling his dad about the tigers. It was very interesting to me that Steven was so enthralled by these large beasts. He babbled and babbled to his dad all about them. He pointed and growled. Matt patiently listened and told him what he knew about the tigers as well. It made this mommy's heart so happy to watch!

Aunt Carolyn's favorite animals are the giraffes. They are pretty fun to watch and there were a couple of smaller giraffes as well. They were so cute!

Steven is smaller...much smaller, than a polar bear, in case you were wondering. :)

The Polar Bears were kind of fun, too. Even though it was extremelly hot, they weren't playing in the water, but we got a great view of one sitting on the rock, almost as if he was posing for us.

Steven and Hannah measuring up to the Polar Bear. I think both of them might be a nice little snack if found floundering in the waves. I think the Mamas will keep a good watch on our little seals.

Sleeping cousins: Steven and Henry both fell asleep about the same time. They looked so cute just sleeping in the strollers!

Taylor and Steven are only about 4 months apart. She is so squishy! I love her!

Carolyn...what more can I say?

Josie and Amber...Josie girl is only about 6 weeks old. She was a trooper at the zoo!

Taking a break from the heat while some of us watched the seal show.

Hannah enjoying a drink on Uncle Matt's lap

3 Cousins in the wagon. Looking at these pictures makes my heart happy. I love when Steven gets to play with his cousins! He loves them so much!

Riding the Carousel:
It took Steven only a minute to warm up to the Cheetah (and of course, he was running VERY fast) and the round and round motion. He absolutely LOVED it and didn't want to get off at the end!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get a picture of all of the cousins on the carousel because of where everyone was sitting, but here is what I did get:

Aunt Molly and Nana

Cousin Henry and Uncle David

Cousin Emmett and Aunt Carolyn. Emmett is riding on his mommy's chest for the ride.

Family picture time at the zoo!

The Pachaderms are my favorite!! Here are just a couple of shots of them!

I have to appologize...my dear, sweet husband took the camera and this is only one shot of one animal bottom I ended up with. He makes me laugh, what can I say. :)

We had a wonderful time at the zoo with our cousins! We are so grateful they were all here visiting! We love you!

These are a few of my favorite things

A year ago I was nine months pregnant and really, enjoying every single moment of pregnancy. Today, I am chasing after my crawling eleven month old, trying to plan a birthday party and reminiscing about the little tiny baby that one year ago was bouncing and kicking inside of me. I love Steven so much. I made a comment to Matt the other day about how I don't think I knew what true happiness or real love was until Steven came along. How did I ever feel content or complete without him?

Steven is growing by leaps and bounds! His two teeth on the bottom finally came through the beginning of June and just yesterday his top tooth broke through. He has really been an easy baby so far with teething. He has started to stand on his own but he gets so excited and proud of himself that he starts flapping his arms and falls down.

Favorite foods: Steven really is a good little eater. He LOVES fruits! He absolutely loves strawberries and will eat two or three of them in one sitting, and usually protests for more! He loves peaches and pears and bananas. He is following suit after mommy and loves sweets probably more than he should. When his cousins were visiting we ran for an icecream cone and nana handed him the entire thing. The boy ate the entire icecream cone! I was really flabbergasted. He wanted to be like his older cousins.

Steven is a cuddler! Heavenly Father knew I needed that! We enjoy loving on each other and playing together. He loves to hug and cuddle cousins or friends at church or Nana. He is so sweet and seems to know when people around him need a hug. He is very in tune with the spirit!

He LOVEs to play with balls, and he is really good at throwing them. He puts the ball over his head, winds up and throws it! I am so proud of him and his coordination. He puts shapes in their correct spaces, builds with blocks very well and does just about anything he wants to! He is a pro with electronics. He stands up and pushes buttons on our DVD player and box.

Steven loves Wally dog and we are working very hard at saying "Dog." He almost has it, but isn't quite there. He plays tug-of-war with Wally and his bone. It is about 50/50 on who wins. Wally is so content to lay there and let Steven do what he is going to. The other day we were on a walk and Steven protested very loudly to hold Wally's leash. Wally slowed down his walking and was very gentle while Steven held onto the leash. I was so proud of him. These two are absolutely best friends. As much as I can't stand Wally's black hair all over my house, I am grateful he is such a great friend to Steven.