Dear Chris: 18 months

Dear Chris,

Six months have gone by since I last wrote to you. That is a shame! I think I may change your letters to a notebook where I can write them more frequently, and just do fun updates on the blog. But for now, here is a letter to you.

We love being your parents Chris. You are at an age that is so difficult and fun. You love to explore. You love to pull things out of cupboards and drawers. Your favorite things always seem to be the ones that make the most noise or are semi dangerous. You have yet to break china or run with the scissors you find, however, and so I deem my motherhood a success thus far! Your favorite things to make messes with are the pots and pans and the tupperware.

Such a good little eater; you slurp noodles like a pro!

The mess that happens after every meal. This time, you didn't really care to eat much at all.

Your favorite toys are cars for sure. You love cars. You love to see cars and trucks and you make this growly grunt, like an engine sound, whenever you see them. You actually almost said truck the other day (yay!). You also love this flashlight, one that you turn the knob and the light turns green or red. You play with that a lot. You can play with pretty much anything. Balls are a big favorite as well. We went to your cousin Ben's soccer game last weekend and you had a hard time staying off the field. Running with other boys and chasing a ball in the dirt? Right up your alley. On Labor Day your cousins played soccer out in the backyard and you had a blast running around with the boys.

Driving in a car, making the car driving noise (when the car actually drives, the sound is a "ooo ooo")

Playing with a bowl

Being outside is another favorite. For a while there, all you would do is stick rocks in your mouth or chew on sticks. We've thankfully moved past that stage. Now, you like to dig around, run, play in the water, drink the water left out for chickens (yeah that one grosses me out.... you are super fast sometimes and so unfortunately, you've ingested more of that water than I care to admit). You like to touch different flowers and bushes. On our runs, that's your favorite thing to do, reach out and touch the bushes as we go past. You just learned how to smell the flowers, and when you do, you scrunch up your nose and pucker up your lips. It's pretty adorable. You also love dirt and you love to throw it around. You love to swing, and you do a great job sitting in the big kid swings.

Overall, though, water is your favorite thing. You love to splash and kick it around. This summer you got to swim a couple of times, which you loved to death! You're one of those kids that can't be unsupervised around water because you will jump in if someone isn't holding you back! I would also take bowls outside and fill them with water, and you enjoyed filling smaller bowls with water and dumping it back in the bowl or on yourself. I think between the love of balls and water, you could do soccer, or swimming, or water polo!

You are learning to say some words! Here they are:

Yes: You say "hum" or "hem" or some variation. You also just learned to nod your head.
No: you shake your head no
Mom: "Mama"
Dad: "Daddy"
Grandma: "Mama," though sometimes you say more of a "gr" at the beginning

Fourth of July Ward Breakfast

At the Santaquin Parade

Sitting in Grandma's yard in Santaquin

Grandpa: "Papa"
Shoe: comes out more like "jew"; this is one of your most favorite words (because shoes=going outside)
Doggie: something like "daw-gee" or "woof" (the woof comes out sounding more like "wf" like you got rid of the vowels)
Jack: (this was his first word, which is the name of my parents' dog) you actually can say this one pretty accurately
Hi/bye: You really just wave for those things, but randomly you have actually said both of those words
Uh-oh: "ah-oo"
Up: (this is your latest word, which we always have to prompt you to say, but you will say it) "pup"
Chicken: "chk"
Touch: "utch" (you say this when you want to touch something, like you are asking me if you can touch it)
Light: how can I explain this one.... it sounds like a baby trying to say light.
The last sound/word you do is this "uhnhnhuh????" which is your sounds for, I want that, can I have that, take me to that, lift me up, etc. It's your sound for pretty much anything. You also still make the dove/flutter noise when you are crazy excited that you're getting something and you can hardly wait.

Here's a video of your talents:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCscVYxh07w

You have signs for a few words, like more, please, wait, and all done. (P.S. teaching you the sign for wait was one of the best things I have ever done. It probably has saved our sanity more than a few times)

You are a pro at blowing kisses, too. For a while, you just did silent kisses, but now you do a great kiss sound as you blow a kiss. It's usually not timed quite right, but it's adorable. For a while now, you've been great at going to bed. I would get your bottle ready, and as soon as you saw it, you would run to whomever was in the room to give kisses, and once the kisses were done, you would come to me (Mommy) and we'd go off to your room for cuddles while you drank your bottle. You generally go down to sleep without a fuss, and we really love that.

Sticking out your tongue when I want a kiss is also a favorite things

You've become a climber.... you climb onto chairs, and then onto tables, and you like to grab Grandpa's keyboard or iPad. You tried climbing up a bookcase today which gave me quite the scare. For a couple months you've been climbing onto couches and beds, which is nice so you don't cry every time you want to get up, but not so nice that you have access to touching pictures and finding the TV remotes.

You have all eight of your front teeth, plus 4 molars completely out, plus a couple on their way. I think your canines are coming in too. You have a chipped tooth. I think it makes for a more adorable smile :)

When there is music, at church or on a movie, you like to dance. Rarely, you will bounce up and down. Usually, you lead the music with your arms, which is what we do in Sacrament meeting. Speaking of church. It's getting better! For about the last six months, church has been rough. Daddy and I would trade off who got to take you for a walk around the halls when you got restless, which you always did. But, your endurance has grown and we can usually keep you in Sacrament Meeting for most of the hour and ten minutes that it is, and now you get to go to nursery! You love it. But what's not to love about kids your age, toys, bubbles, songs, and snacks? You are learning what to do with a crayon. You always end up trying to eat them, but you will learn.

Food. This one has grown tougher. You have always been a great eater, pretty much eating whatever we put in front of you. But since the beginning of the summer, you've gotten a bit pickier. You're pretty fickle too, loving potatoes one day, refusing them the next. The things you always love, though, are cereal, yogurt, and applesauce. Pretzels usually are on that list too. Oh and cookies. There is a drawer in the kitchen with cookies in it. You love to open that drawer, pull out the bag or sleeve of cookies, and bring it to me with your "uhnhuh?" sound asking me if you can have that. I often would say no and there would be a temper tantrum. Just in the last couple of weeks, however, you finally figured out that you can actually get the cookie without asking me. So, instead of coming to me, you just open the drawer, dump the cookies, and eat them. Needless to say, the cookies have been moved.

Just chillin

Oh and one adorable thing you know is what to do when it's time for prayer. You picked this one up quick, you observant little boy. Every time we sit down to dinner, you fold your arms. You fold your arms pretty often, generally if we are gathered in a seating area. Sometimes, though, if we are all sitting down in the wicker chairs in the kitchen (especially if we have guests), you think it's your time to put on a show, and so you will go a little wild and crazy, kicking your legs around, spinning, making a lot of loud noises, and laughing at yourself. It's cute and a little wacko. You can clap your hands. You do it up and down like your daddy did at your age. You can point to a lot of body parts, including my favorite, your chin. You kind of pinch your or other people's chin and squeeze it. It's cute. Oh and you are fixated on your tongue lately, to the point that you find it funny to lick my face. You like to stick out your tongue right as I go in for a good night kiss. Gross! Put that tongue away.

Not much else to say. You are super fun. You love to cuddle (at times) and we love to feel your little head on our shoulders and your little hand curled around our arm. Sometimes you even squeeze our arm or pat it while you give us a hug which melts our hearts. You are just too cute. You give great kisses. You have a lot of energy, but you are not crazy, so we can live with that. You are very loving and friendly. You go to most anyone who wants to hold you, and often you reach your arms out to everyone we pass by at church, which melts their hearts. I think you will be a very accepting and a very outgoing person as you grow up.

We love you!

A long overdue update

Hey there,

Most of you I'm sure are aware of the general things of what's going on in our lives, but here we go with an update for the rest of you, and for the journal aspect of the blog...

Since we last posted, much has happened!

Jed graduated in April. It was great! His parents came out for the occasion, and my family was there, and we all had a good time. Jed was especially grateful to be done with school...finally!

Jed's Graduation Day!

After graduation, we moved into my parents' home (though most of our stuff moved into a storage unit). This was the worst move we've ever done. We did it during the day, and so I did not seek any help, figuring that most men were at work. Bad idea! Also, I originally thought we would take a couple of days to move stuff. Plans changed, and we had just one day to pack, move, and clean. Needless to say, it was a long day, starting early in the morning and ending very late (I believe I got to my mom's house after cleaning around 11). With help from only a few people (babysitting, moving, and cleaning), we somehow did it.

3rd Anniversary Temple trip to where we got married--the Draper Temple!

3rd Anniversary dinner--Chef's Table. I had always wanted to go and there was a groupon! (P.S. It did not disappoint. We loved it!)

So after graduation, we kind of took it easy for a bit. No obligations was a crazy feeling. Of course, that got old fast, and we were anxious to have some sort of schedule. Jed looked for and applied to jobs daily, and Chris and I tried to find fun things to do. After not so long, Jed and I felt like looking for jobs in California (Northern, where he is originally from), was what we should do. Then we realized, if there's where we will exclusively look, let's move there to make the looking easier! It felt crazy and sudden, but also felt right. And just a week or so into being there, Jed went to and LDS Unemployment meeting, and met a man who was the boss at TRC Solutions. He practically offered Jed the job right then and there. We were shocked! And so grateful! Over the course of the next few weeks, Jed interviewed with a few different people, on the local and corporate level, finally getting an official job offer. We felt so blessed! Jed started the job July 8th; we received insurance on August 1st; life is great. Now, we all know the beginning of a job is no fun, especially when you are fresh out of college and have to pay your dues. These last 2 1/2 months have been tough on Jed, but its gets better as time goes on. His official job title is Environmental Scientist. What he basically does is makes sure the engineering projects the company does all comply with the environmental laws of California. He makes a lot of maps and has to put together huge 3 or 4 inch binders of information. To me, it looks quite difficult, but Jed is doing very well there. He has some good guys that he works with, and the hours are very flexible, so it's hard to complain about it as a whole.

Going to the dentist.... thanks to insurance!

Jed on site at the Port of Sacramento

Jed's gear when he goes on site for his job

Many other things have happened this summer. I went on a two week trip to Europe! It's maybe a tradition for the girls of the Stephenson family to go on a trip every several years (I hope it happens again!). Last time around, they went through much of Europe. That was before I joined the family. So this time around, we went to England, Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. It was beautiful! I think overall, England really was my favorite. I did love the other countries too, each for different reasons, but England wins overall. This makes me especially happy as I've wanted to go to England for years and years and years, and when I finally got to go, I was afraid my expectations would be too high. They weren't! It was just as wonderful as I had hoped.

We also had several family reunions this summer. First was the Bruce Stephenson family reunion (meaning just Jed's parents and siblings and their kids). We went to Salt Lake City, where we rented a very interesting home. It had some quirks to it, but it fit us all very well and we had a lot of fun there. We took excursions, like to This is the Place monument and pioneer village, bowling, Pioneer day rodeo, and Pioneer day parade. We had a ton of fun.

At Music and the Spoken Word when during the smaller Stephenson Family Reunion

The next family reunion was the Willard Stephenson family reunion (Jed's dad's siblings and all their posterity). This took place in Delta, UT. For me, the best part of the trip was seeing all the homes and graves of Jed's ancestors in Delta and Holden. It was very powerful to see those things. I also enjoyed meeting many of Jed's cousins I never have had opportunity to meet. The Stephensons are a great family to be a member of! And between both of these reunions, Chris had a marvelous time with so many cousins. He is so social, and for the end of June and all of July, he had cousins to play with almost every day.

The last family reunion was a week after the one in Delta. This was for the Morgans (my dad's side of the family) and it took place in Santaquin, UT. Jed had to return to his job, so Chris and I stayed with my mom for this one. We loved this one too! While we were missing quite a few of my cousins and uncles and aunts, it was great to see the ones that were there. My favorite day was probably when we went to Salem Pond. That pond and park is absolutely perfect. Why did I not discover this until after I moved??? Go visit this pond if you are in the area--it is a must! This reunion was focused around Santaquin Days and we had a lot of fun going to the various activities the city had.

In other news, I have a job! Sort of. I joined Norwex, which is a Canadian based company for cleaning products! Pretty much right up my alley. They have amazing microfiber products and require no chemicals to disinfect or clean. You just use water! I love the company, because they are very generous, very eco-friendly, and have a lot of integrity. And I love the products, because I can clean my home without harsh chemicals, and I can clean my home a lot faster! I really appreciate the fastness of it. So I'm a consultant, which means I can sell it to people individually, I can do parties, and things like that. I've had a lot of fun so far, showing people these amazing products and meeting new people. I'm not super gung-ho about it, but I like my slow speed. I also just became a doTerra consultant, and I'm enjoying learning about essential oils and learning how my Norwex products can work together with my oils! Love it!

Chris. What can be said for wonderful Christopher? He is lovin' life. I'll be writing a "Dear Chris" letter, so there will be more detail there.

Chris playing with his cousins

So that's the big update. The very big update. We're having a good time here in California, and we couldn't be more thankful for the good things God has given us!

Dear Chris: 1 year old!!!!

Dear Chris,

What a wonderful year this has been! I can't believe it was just a year ago that my blood pressure skyrocketed and I was sent to the hospital, and you were born! And now, you've gone through hundreds of diapers, nursed and gone through hundreds of bottles, tried every food imaginable, rolled, sat up, crawled, and walked. It's amazing how much has happened and how different our lives are.

So, here is where you are as a one year old:

- You are SO SMART! We have reached an age where you learn new things every day. When I change your diaper, I give you your brush to keep you occupied, and you will brush your hair (so adorable!). You discovered how to open the diaper pail and that if you put toys in, they will disappear..... yeah not so happy about that one. You love to play games and if we start a game (like peek-a-boo or passing toys back and forth), you never want to stop.

- Speaking of peek-a-boo, you love that, but most especially with your dad. He continues to be the one who makes you laugh the most. He will yell peek-a-boo as loud as he can, and you just love it! So while daddy makes you laugh, you still are a momma's boy. You prefer to be held by me always, will cuddle with me the most, and like me to put you to sleep. You do, however, love your Grandma Berrett a lot and will cuddle with her and reach out to her (which she absolutely loves).

- Your favorite toys: remotes, measuring cups and spoons, keys, pretty much anything you can put in your mouth so your hands are free to crawl, and your birthday present. It's a car that you put balls in, and then when you pull the gear shift the balls pop out. Yeah you love that because you love balls! You also love it when the TV is on. You will stand in front of the coffee table and slap your hands in excitement. You slap your hands in a funny way, one of them going up and down, the other doing this weird circle thing. So, it makes a strange rhythm. But it's adorable. You will point the remote at the TV, too, thinking it will just do something (another reason you are so smart!)

- You love to climb stairs. We do it every Sunday at church. You love to be cozy. You used to (and sometimes still do) know that it's bedtime when I put a blanket over you. When I do that, you will cuddle your little head onto my shoulder and I love it! You also show your love for all things cozy whenever we go in the car. I will strap you in, then lay a blanket over you and tuck it in, and every time the blanket goes on you, you let out this little fluttery giggle (your dad calls it the dove noise) because you love being cozy! It's so adorable. Your dad does the exact same thing when he climbs in his warm bed to go to sleep. Like father, like sone.

- Favorite foods: Cookie Crisp cereal, green smoothies, goldfish, applesauce.

-You are a good sleeper. You sleep really well at night, from about 7-7. Your naps are pretty good.... half the days you don't want/need a morning nap where the other half.... you NEED one. So you still take two naps, usually.

- You are still a generally happy baby. You love anyone who talks to you. You've started pretending to be shy, so when someone says hi you will smile and put your head on my shoulder (adorable!). But you still will be held by anyone and are happy to be so. You used to fall all the time as you walked, and still do pretty often, but you rarely cry. It's awesome! You're a brave, happy boy.

- You definitely let us know when you want something. You've started pointing sometimes, which is awesome. And other times, when you feel that you aren't getting what you want, you will cry and arch your back. And you have been getting loud.... We've tried baby proofing this house, but you just get into so many things. You pull things out of drawers, you rip paper out of books, you take things out of the garbage (how did you figure out how to get past that lid???), but man you can't baby proof everything. But you are slowly learning... I think.

- When you want something, but walking is too slow, you will crawl super fast. It's really cute: you will put your head down so you can crawl faster, and I often am afraid you will run into something because you aren't looking where you are going!

- You will walk across our whole kitchen now! Here's the timeline of your walking: End of October, you were taking steps holding onto a couch. January, you would finally take a couple steps to something that was close by. February 9th, you finally walked! And ever since then, you've been getting braver and braver. You like to hold my hand sometimes, but generally you walk by yourself. You've begun carrying toys around, too. It's been so fun seeing the change!

Well, my baby Chris, you're not really a baby anymore! You've graduated to a toddler. You are so fun, so cute, so happy, so cuddly, so perfect. We love you!

Love,

Mom and Dad

Dear Chris: 10 1/2 Months

Dear 10 1/2 months old, Chris,

Random things we love about you right now:

You love to climb. If the diaper bag or pillows are next to the couch, you get yourself up onto the couch. If we go to my mom's, you love the stairs. I'm a little afraid for when you're bigger and decide to climb up bookcases and dressers....

You've already started tantrums. If you want something, or something is not doing what you want it to be, you will throw your head back and do this frustrated cry. Often we help you and immediately you're a happy little baby. It's sad, but we just have to laugh when you do it because its so cute.

You smack your lips when you eat yogurt. Every time! And these smacks are hard smacks, with a lot of suction build up before each one.

You love remotes and phones, and when you get them you usually just chews on them.

If we present you with a box of toys, bin of shoes, anything, you will pull the items out one by one until the box is empty. 

You sit through almost the entire time I need to cut your fingernails. What a good boy, right? But I struggle doing your toe nails because you are ticklish :)

You will walk if you hold your hands. You have been taking one very small step on your own sometimes too. Walking is close!

You're a lot more particular about food.... You will get upset sometimes and we have no idea why. Generally we just leave you alone for a minute to figure yourself out and you will start eating again. You still hate green beans.

You feed yourself so well! Little chunks of hot dog, cereal, puffs, peas, you can pick them up so well.

When in the mood, you go around saying, "Ma ma ma ma ma ma" or "da da da da da," but never actually to one of us. I've decided we will work a little more purposely on that.

You still just love your baths.... So much! It's pretty great. It's fun to play with you when you're in your bath.

You're a little vacuum cleaner if we don't do a good enough job sweeping. Gross. 

You are so social and just love everyone. On the weekdays you love to play with porter and Lucy. At church you go to anyone who wants to hold you. 

You love to explore church. It makes for some difficult meetings.... 

You love to try to escape outside if the door is open, and you crawl FAST to get there.

You still are really unpredictable with your sleeping habits. It's probably our one frustration with you. We just never know if you will sleep through the night, and if we go in to comfort you, we never know how long it will take you to get back to sleep. It's frustrating, but you have improved generally.

You love it when your daddy comes home. You get so excited when he walks through the door.

When you want to be picked up, you crawl over to the person, kneel, stick up your arms, and bounce, sometimes making noises, until they pick you up. 

We've slowed down nursing to just morning and night.

We've had to do a lot of baby proofing.... You've been pulling all the DVDs off the shelves, opening out pantry cupboards and taking out cans and eating onion skins, and opening drawers and slamming your fingers in them. So we had to buy a lot of thingamajig but now we're pretty baby proofed.

You have six teeth! Your two, bottom front teeth, and your front four on the top. It sure makes for a cute smile!

You love books. You will turn each page for me, which I think is just so impressive. We do have to move fast, though, because if you lose interest you make it very clear and try to grab a new book. Your favorite books are the touch and feel books and this one cute one about Humpty Dumpty. You also love The Very Hungry Caterpillar because you can stick your fingers in the holes.

When it's bedtime, I carry you over to the crib, grab your blanket, and put it around you. You are so smart that when you see me pick up the blanket, you lay your head on my shoulder. I love how you cuddle. Then, every night, we sing a song or two, always ending with I Love to see the Temple. 

When you see moles on my arms, you scratch at them and sometimes try to lick them.

In general, little Chris, you are just a love able boy. Everyone who is around you comments on how little you cry, how friendly you are, how much you look like your daddy, and just how darn cute you are! We couldn't agree more.

Love,

Mom and Dad

P.s. pictures will be added sometime.... But this couldn't wait on pictures any longer!