Growing Boy

I don't know if every parent thinks it or what, but I KNOW my boy is so smart.  :)  I absolutely adore him in every single way.  I am really trying lately to allow myself to relinquish some control and let him help out more.  He is a pro at unloading the dishes from the dishwasher (okay, so some of the silverware gets put into his mouth, but who will notice, right?)  He loves to feed the fish and Wally.  A week or so ago, he put his shovel in Wally's food bin and that totally cracks me up!  He is even getting really good at picking up his toys and putting them away!  How stinkin' responsible!!  He loves to help Mama dust anything and everything.  If you give him a wipe, he will clean off his toys or anything else he is asked to. 

He has a book of shapes and he can now say and point to "circle" and "star." 

The child loves his trucks!  I have always wondered if we are ingrained as girls to like dolls and boys trucks, but whatever it is, he loves his trucks!  He is all boy!  Wherever we are in the house anytime during the day, if he hears a truck drive by, he looks up at me with his big blue curious eyes and says, "Truck?"  Yes sugar, a truck.  He hears every single airplane that flies by our house too.  We are still working on airplane. 

It seems like he learns more new words everyday.  He now says "fork" fairly clearly.  Some of his other favorites:

-Bye, Bye     -Jesus   

-Night Night  -Go, Go 

-Dog       -WaWa 

-Dude!     -Hello

-Thank You (although he mostly signs this one) -Drop

-Truck Town (one of his favorite books)

-Cookie -Baby
-Up    -Down

He loves to help me in the kitchen!  One of our favorite things to do is cook together.  I was going to make banana muffins the other day, but Steven kept signing and saying "Cookie" over and over.  So, what is a mother to do?  I gave in and tried banana chocolate chip cookies.  Yup, they are delicious!  He pours in the ingredients from the measuring cups and he loves to watch the mixer mix.  Anytime the oven timer beeps, he runs into the kitchen and says, "Hot!  Hot!  Hot!"  Yup, I did somethin' right there!  He knows to stand way back. 

Steven loves music!  Whenever he hears it, he starts dancing or banging on whatever is near him.  He really is very good with rhythms as well.  One of our favorite games to play is pounding out rhythms on the table after eating.  He does very well with mimicking whatever rhythm we start with (or visa versa).  The child LOVES the piano.  He often plays little ditties.  And there HAS to be a book of music open on the piano for him to play.  He loves to pound out little songs and then turn around for his applause! 

He is getting so good using a fork/spoon.  It started out that he would throw the utensils aside and just use his hands.  As he got better at it, he would pick up his food and then stab it onto the fork, or put it into the spoon with his hands.  Now, he uses the utensils with ease.  Sometimes after a meal his hands even look clean!  We are working on when he gets done not throwing his food, but simply pushing his plate and telling us "All Done."   

Yup, his hair-dos are crazy in the morning!  After he eats he knows we go upstairs to brush our teeth and do our hair.  He has started telling the baby in the mirror how handsome he is after his hair is done by giving him a High 5

I really love this one with the macaroni on his nose!

His daddy talks to him in Portuguese in hopes he will be bi-lingual.  The only word we have heard him say in Portuguese is "Luz" which means "light."  But he knows all of his body parts in Portuguese and English:

Eyes-Olhos               Leg-Perna

Ears-Orelhos            Toes-Deidos

Mouth-Boca            Head-Cabeça

Nose-Nariz              Hair-Cabela

Belly-Barriga

Tongue-Lingua

Teeth-Dentes

Knees-Joeilhos

Feet-Pez

He is truly a sweet child! He cares so much about everyone else. If one of the other children are crying, he goes over to them to give them a hug. Overall, he is a very cuddly boy. It makes me so absolutely happy! thank my Heavenly Father for him numerous times a day, every chance I get.

The Firefighter Museum

Our dear friends, The Hills, moved to Colorado in March 2011.  Because of school and work and sickness, it seems like we haven't done a lot together.  We we changed that on Friday, February 17.  We went to the Firefighters museum in downtown Denver.  It was super fun!!

They had a fireman pole to slide down

Lydia kept trying to throw her entire body on the pole, but Rhonda showed her how to use just her arms and feet to wrap around the pole to go down.

Steven went down once and that was enough (hense the look of pure fear on his face!)

Emmy didn't even need any help!

Our favorite part of the entire day was the dress up station!  They had coats, hats, gloves and boots for the kids to put on.  They looked so adorable!  We decided the crazy trip downtown and the "bump" into the yellow pole and the prices and everything else....was all worth it because of these pictures!!  Thank goodness for good friends and good times!

Look at these 3!  They are the cutest firefighters I have ever seen, and believe me, I have seen some good lookin' ones!

I Love these kids!!



After the museum, we went to Gigi's cupcakes, which are about the best cupcakes EVER!!!  Then back to my house for lunch.  We got the kids down for naps and just enjoyed our afternoon together.  I am ever so grateful for good friends who live so close!  (and grateful to Denver for some fun places to visit!)

A cold park day in January

One thing Denver did very well was building parks.  We LOVE the park!  One tends to get a little stir crazy in the winter, so when it warmed up to 50 degrees in January, you better believe we took the opportunity to run to the park!  It was a little chilly, but we had a BLAST!  There were quite a few other children there and despite knowing some of them from church, my sweet little guy just wanted to play with his Mama, and so we did! 

Seriously, I would give this kid the world in a bottle if he asked for it!

Melt. My. Heart.

He loved driving!!

My Crazy Life

After having Steven, I went back to work full time for nearly 6 months.  I couldn't handle it.  Emotionally, I was a wreck!  I cried all of the time.  I was breastfeeding so during lunch/dinner breaks I would lock myself in a closet to pump milk for him.  It was really a disaster.  Because of the nature of my job, there were days I would leave before he woke up and I would get home after he was in bed for the night.  I had enough emotional breakdowns and I finally said enough is enough.  I  didn't care at that point if we lost our home or anything else, I had to be home with my son. We have been so blessed  I haven't had to go back to work full time.  I watch two little girls and my nephew during the week and I still work nearly every night teaching massage at the school, but I wouldn't change my time with my son for anything!! 

My 4 cute kids waching robins dance outside the window.  They were entertained for a goodd 15 minutes watching these birds look for berries on our trees outside.

When they knew the camera was out, they started posing

The 2 boys, Steven and Emmett.  I call Steven the quarterback and Emmett the football!

Yup, its a crazy life, but it is my life!

Big Boy Bed

When Steven went in for his 18 month appointment, our pediatrician suggested (okay, not really suggested but told us) he needed to be in a toddler bed sometime between then and his 24 month appointment.  I know I looked at the man like he was crazy.  My boy is still a tiny baby!  He can't sleep in a big boy bed!  Was this man nuts?  So, we didn't really talk about it much.  Until one Saturday, Matt brought it up.  "I don't even think we have all of the parts."  (We bought his big boy bed at a yard sale quite some time ago for $7 because it was so stinkin cute!!)  So we went down to the basement and within an hour, the bed was assembled.

It sat in Steven's room for quite sometime and with some cajoling from Matt, we put the mattress in it.  Steven thought it was just a fun truck to play in until it came down to going to bed.  But he actually slept through the night.  Yeah...I cried.  Don't judge. :)  And then the next weekend, the crib came down.  *sigh*  How does it happens so fast?  Every time he wakes up in the morning or from a nap, he looks as if he has aged.  He gets bigger and bigger, stronger and smarter.  My tiny baby I brought home from the hospital is now in a toddler bed?!?!  It doesn't seem possible, but I am so grateful for him.  He loves his bed.  It cracks me up some of the positons I find him in.  (I would take pictures, but he is such a light sleeper I know it would wake him up.)

Dishes

When I was first engaged to my sweet Matt, it was a big deal to his family that I pick out a china and/or stoneware pattern.  His mom grew up a debutante and her family was always entertaining high end dignitaries.  Matt grew up similarly.  I did not.  My mom's china came from the grocery store, buying one piece at a time, getting a discount with each dollar spent.  A china pattern was the furthest thing from my mind.

I remember shopping all over town (and out of town) for a pattern I liked.  I remember thinking they all kinda looked the same after awhile.  After visiting several stores, I had a mental breakdown.  I started crying, thinking it was about the silliest thing ever.  But I knew it was important (and if I didn't get them for my wedding, I probably wouldn't EVER be able to afford them anyway!)  We went into one store and I found a goblet I was absolutely IN LOVE with.  It was a bigger, heavier goblet than what I had been looking at. It had cute little sunflowers all over it.  Then the bowl.  Beautiful yellow with these same cute flowers on it. I still don't even particularly care for the plates, but I LOVE my stoneware!  It makes me happy to pull it out and entertain.  The goblets make me smile every time I use one and think about the crazy mental breakdowns I experienced on their behalf.

Fast forward 7.5 years.  My dishwasher is now full of plastic cups, plates and even flatware in pretty colors.  I am more proud of those plastic dishes than anything because it means I have a little one.  It means someone with jelly hands and a ravioli face calls me "Mama."  Those plastic dishes mean more than all of my beautiful stoneware.  It is all about perspective.   I love every moment of being a mom.  I love everything about it and I am eternally grateful!!

Family Picture Time