Chris is Two!

(Note: this was written way back in March when Chris was actually turning two. Why it wasn't published? I never really finished it. Now I don't care and I just want it up!)

Well, almost. His birthday is the 13th, just 11 days away! We will be gone for his birthday, and so since a desire to blog hit me, I thought I would take advantage now and write a post about our little boy. Also, I think there's some family out far away in Utah that would love a post full of pictures--and this certainly will be!

Isn't it amazing he is two? Here are some throwback pictures of him just to document in one post the changes he's been through already:

One day old Chris!

Here he is one week old

One month old.... 

Look at the tuft of hair.... I think this is around six months old.

And now he is such a big boy!

There is so much to be said about Chris. Where to start.... how about with his speaking abilities? His words change all the time.... for example, he got really good at saying "up" when he wanted you to pick him up. However, not long ago he learned "apple" for the fruit (which he applies to all fruit), and now he says "apple" for "up" instead. He's got "mama" and "dada" down great--which we love! He used to say "ow ow" for water but now says "wa wa." He can say "iPad"..... yeah not sure if we should be proud of that one. 

While on the subject of iPad, he loves to use the iPad. He can navigate that thing so well. It's incredible. He has some games he likes, but generally goes straight for the videos I uploaded (Toy Story and Monsters Inc. are his faves right now) and the PBS Kids app. He loves Super Why and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. If we are at Grandma's house, he also love to watch Bubble Guppies on her TV. 

Back to words.... he loves to have conversations and tell you all about things. Generally it's just nonsense words, but it's a lot of nonsense! He loves to chat. He loves to come and get right in my face to tell me things. Whenever we meet someone new, he always points to each of us, as if he is introducing us, saying "Mama.... Dada" and then the conversation is usually about shoes. He likes to point out that he is wearing shoes, that I am wearing shoes, and that everyone is wearing shoes. He is very good at saying the word shoes, too. 

One trick he is learning is following directions! It is amazing. I can tell him to put his cup in the sink, throw away his fruit snack baggie, clean up, go to Daddy, etc. and he will do it! I should say CAN do it because this child has an opinion about everything. He is very decisive about what he will or won't eat, what he wants to do or watch (example: once we were looking at movies, and I suggested Toy Story, but he didn't want that, he wanted Toy Story 2.... decisive.), and what he will obey and won't obey. He says the word "no" extremely well. Lately he says it in such a funny way. He will say "no" in such a way as if to say, "of course not, why would you ever suggest it." He also likes to whisper "no" a lot. We've laughed too many times at that, so he thinks it's funny to whisper no all the time....

He is still a mama's boy. I feel like he goes through phases, and we are in a clingy phase. He doesn't like me to leave (for dates or even to go to the bathroom), and will cry and run after me. It's very sad. I pretty much always have to let him in when I go to the bathroom now.... And even for Nursery he cries when I leave. I have to be the mean mommy who flees the room and ignores his cries. 

He is very sweet a lot too. He loves to give kisses and hugs/cuddles. When we are grocery shopping and he is in the cart, he will often reach out and pull me close for a hug, or sometimes kisses. It's adorable. Whenever he is playing, he always comes over to lay his head on me. Once he did so, and he bonked my head really hard. I said ow, and he started to walk away. Then he turned around, rubbed my head, and gave me a kiss on the mouth and cheek! How sweet is that? 

Discipline has been a learning curve for Jed and I. We have wondered when it was appropriate for time out, counting to three, etc. We've started time outs, and they are becoming a little effective. One triumph we had was with dinner time. As any toddler does, sometimes they just won't eat. And sometimes, they are ridiculous about not eating (screaming, throwing food, only wanting to eat candy, etc.). So a few weeks ago, Jed told him if he didn't eat, to bed he went. He got a few warnings, then Jed started to take him to bed. Chris obviously did not want to, and so once at his room, Jed gave him one more chance to come eat. Chris said yes to come back and eat, and the second he sat down, he accepted a bite of food! It was amazing! We've only had to use that a couple of times since, but each time he catches on quicker that he will in fact go to bed if he won't eat. 

I've also started saying, "First ______, then _______." This was a strategy we used when I taught school. For example, first veggies, then treat. Last week I used it for "first kale chip, then water" and he ate the kale chip (our first time trying those--we both loved them!) right away. It's amazing when you get to a stage where you can reason with them a bit. 

Chris loves to sing songs. Actually, he loves it when we sing to him and he does action. His favorites are: Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Wheels on the Bus, Popcorn Popping, and Jesus Wants me for a Sunbeam. He's pretty adorable to watch with his strange actions. 

He is slowly learning more things.... we've worked a lot with his colors and sometimes he can identify right right ball or puzzle piece if I tell him to get the red one or blue one. Those are the colors  he likes the most, and so those are the ones he has learned first. He doesn't know numbers and I am realizing he doesn't know any letters at all..... we don't even sing the ABCs song! That should change. 

He is definitely still in diapers. He has plenty of exposure to the potty (remember how he has to accompany me all the time), but still he doesn't show any interest or readiness for it. Maybe by the time baby number two comes around he will be ready to try it out. 

His favorite activities include: 

• reading books
• playing on the iPod 
• watching movies
• exploring outside
• going in the car
• grocery shopping (he likes putting the food in the back)
• being tickled and thrown around by Daddy
• doing headstands and somersaults (assisted by us, but not for long!)
• running around with his cousins
• playing with cars and balls
• puzzles
• going on walks
• swinging
• making videos on the iPod
• calling Daddy on the phone
• smelling and trying on Mommy's essential oils
• playing on the piano
• Blowing bubbles, as evidenced by the following video:

Some of his favorite foods: (this one is hard as it changes often)

• juice
• apples/applesauce
• smoothies
• cheese (specifically--shredded. Only the messiest and hardest form of cheese to eat)
• pretzels
• Wheat Things
• fruit snacks
• broccoli and cauliflower (this one still baffles me, but he loves these)
• chicken
• rice (plain or with ice on top)
• carrots (this one is a hit or miss)
• cereal
• cinnamon toast
• fish
• french fries
• ketchup (he has been known to take a spoon to it.... so gross)
• yogurt, especially with granola on top
• corn (this kid can handle a corn on the cob as well as any adult)

Foods he does NOT like:

• bananas (almost 90% of the time.... and randomly it's all he wants to eat)
• lettuce/salad
• beans
• strawberries
• potatoes, mashed potatoes (which he used to LOVE)
• oranges or mandarins
• most things I offer at dinner.... until he is forced to eat a bit and then he generally loves it. Funny how that works.

From Apple Hill in October where he tripped and got a fat lip. :(

Seeing the Christmas lights.

Adorable little church outfit from his G'parents.

I love to cuddle with him while he's sleeping! 

 This next picture is of something he does often. Where he got it, I'm not sure, and why he does it, I'm not sure... but randomly, he will walk around with his finger or hand holding his chin saying, "hm...." It's pretty adorable and super funny. We must have a child that is very pensive.

Hm...

Livin' the life. Water and juice!

Family night out to the pet store! No animals were purchased. We just wanted to explore! Chris LOVED the fish.

Simple Lemon Curd

This is no food blog, but since I could not find the recipe I wanted online, I thought it would be good to put it out there on the World Wide Web! Hopefully this helps those out there looking for a simple recipe for lemon curd like I was!

Recently, I saw a suggestion on Pinterest to put lemon curd in crepes. Yum! I love lemon and I love lemon curd. So, I thought I'd make some. However, my search online was not fun. There are so many recipes out there, many of them using a double boiler (which I don't have and I don't like using the bowl method), most of them straining the curd (do that many people really scramble the eggs? it seems like an easy thing to prevent), many of them adding the ingredients in different orders, and in general, most of them seemed more involved than I wanted in a simple lemon curd recipe! There was even a microwave version, but that one involved cooking it for one minute intervals, and the thought of sitting by the microwave and cooking it one minute at a time for 15 minutes sounded tedious! Also, it did not sound like you would be in very good control. Anyways, the problems people seemed to have were these:

1. Scrambled eggs. The recipes I found all used a double boiler and/or they strained the curd at the end to get out little bits of cooked egg. I felt like this could be avoided really easily by tempering the eggs and heating it on low.

2. Bitter tasting. I have read that when you cook the zest it tastes bitter. Some added the zest at the end, and so I chose to do this.

Finally I found a recipe that I could work with. It's Ina Garten's recipe (Barefoot Contessa on Food Network), and I also saw it on another blog. I liked this recipe the best of all my searching, but I still made changes. Here is my recipe, which turned out perfectly:

This is a picture from the blog I mentioned, Tried and Tasty. Just as this is no food blog, I am no food photographer!

Simple Lemon Curd


Ingredients

Zest of 3 large lemons (I used 5 small)

1/2 c. lemon juice (my five lemons almost made enough, so I used a bit of bottled juice)

1 1/2 c. sugar

1 stick (1/2 c.) butter

1/8 tsp. salt

4 extra-large eggs (I used 4 large and one yolk)



Zest the lemons and set zest aside. Juice the lemons (being sure to keep those seeds out!) and add into a 2 quart saucepan, along with the sugar, butter, and salt. Heat on low until butter and sugar are completely melted/dissolved. As that heats, whisk the eggs in a medium sized bowl until combined. Once the sugar mixture is heated, slowly temper the eggs by constantly whisking the eggs while very slowly pouring in the sugar mixture (I would pause often in my pouring to give the eggs a chance to heat up without overwhelming them). When you have added all the sugar mixture into the eggs, pour the new mixture back into the saucepan, and again heat it on low. Stir (or whisk) constantly for about 10-15 minutes (took me 15), until you can see whisk marks in the curd and it coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and add the zest. Pour into a clean bowl, and cover with plastic wrap, putting the wrap directly on the curd to prevent a skin forming. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate up to one week. Makes about 3 cups.


With this method, you should have no problem with scrambled eggs nor any bitter taste. The key to making lemon curd is keeping it low and slow. I hope this helps others searching for a great tasting but simple recipe for lemon curd!

#2 Baby Bump: 16 Weeks

And so it begins! Second time around, these baby bump updates will come about every month, I am thinking. 

So, we've been through this once before already, so what's different?

We'll start with how we found out. We had been trying to get pregnant for a few months, so I was tracking everything very closely, looking for any clue that I thought I was pregnant. Near the end of February, I just had a feeling this was the month! The previous months I had gotten a migraine about 4 days before my period, and then was incredibly moody/prone to crying 3 days before. Never have I had such bad PMS previously....This month, there was no migraine or moodiness! So I tried to wait to take the pregnancy test, but simply couldn't wait! I took it one morning after Jed had gone to work, and lo and behold, there were two faint lines! Luckily, the test instructions had various pictures of what a positive test may look like, including one that looked like mine, with lines you could hardly see, or else I would not have thought I was actually pregnant. 

You can hardly even tell there is a second line... but there is!

I wanted to tell Jed in some special way, and so I decided to make some Asian cuisine for dinner and make some fortune cookies with a special message inside, telling him we were pregnant. I definitely chose the wrong recipe for those fortune cookies, because they did not cooperate. I got some good ones, though, so my plan was working! I typed up a ton of different messages, some silly and some obvious. "I foresee a lot more diapers in your future." "Joy will come to your family on October 29th" "A new addition will be coming to your family in about 9 months." One for Chris: "You will soon be a big brother!" So the time came when dinner was over, and Jed started to get up without eating his fortune cookie! I tried to stop him without seeming suspicious.... which is hard for me. I'm no good at keeping my face straight when it comes to surprises. So when he read his, Jed just looked at me with a face that said "Is this what I think it is?," obviously not wanting to read too much into it but at the same time, wanting to. So I handed Chris' cookie to him and then mine (mine said "We're pregnant") and while he had to take a second to get over the shock, then he came and gave me a big hug. He was very excited and happy, just as I hoped he would be.

The three fortune cookies say:

"Soon life will become more interesting. Perhaps it will be a girl this time?" (Jed's)

"You will soon be a big brother!" (Obviously this one was Chris's)

"We're pregnant!" (Mine)

Telling the rest of the family wasn't quite as creative. I feel silly doing it in creative ways, so we ended up just telling most everyone without any pomp or creativity. A few weeks after we found out, though, we were going to Disney World with my family, so I ordered a t-shirt for Chris that said he would be a big brother, and on the first day there he wore that to announce it to my parents. 

"Someday I'll drive a big tractor, but for now I'm going to be a big brother!"

Well, that's quite the long story! So what's different this time around?

Sickness: Last time I was threw up every time I brushed my teeth, as well as if I didn't snack enough. This time, I had about a month period where I was sick all day long. No throwing up, just nausea and gross feelings all the time. And nothing really seemed to help more than once. I tried various things: ginger ale or sprite, mints, ginger essential oil, peppermint oil, eating, constant snacking, laying down, moving, etc. Sometimes those things would help, sometimes they wouldn't. So the doctor prescribed Zofran, which surprisingly did absolutely nothing. Then they prescribed Reglan, which they said might make me sleepy. So I took it with dinner a couple nights in a row, and while it did help, for the next five or so hours after taking it, I had an insatiable appetite. I would literally have three full size meals every evening. So that wasn't going to fly, so I stopped that. Crazy thing is, my nausea stopped too. Now, as long as I don't go too long withtout food, I rarely feel sick. I gag when I brush my teeth, but I have only thrown up once, one afternoon when I took a nap and didn't eat lunch. So, I'm feeing pretty great now.

Headaches: If you remember, last time I had headaches and migraines often. This time, it is no different. However, nothing will take my headaches away (believe me, I've tried it all) except tylonol and caffenated soda. I've been drinking a lot of Vanilla Coke these days. Even that, though, has not always helped, so I have a prescription for migraines. It helps, but the first time it just seemed to lessen the migraine to a slight headache, not quite getting rid of it. The headaches are caused by high blood pressure, I believe, so unless that can get under control, I can look forward to many more headaches and migraines over the next five months.

Cravings: Fruit (mostly chocolate covered fruit), and cinnamon/sugar anything. I crave cinnamon rolls a lot, but have yet to make those. I really should. I made an apple crisp with caramel and it was super good for my cravings. I'm actually kind of shying away from chocolate these days, unless it is accompanied by fruit, and then I will eat a lot! So, sweet things are what I'm craving. 

Other fun things:

- I started showing much eariler this time around. The maternity clothes had to be unpacked around 12 weeks. I'm loving the cute shirts, and I have a few maxi dresses so I can survive the summer. I'm loving the maxi dresses! 

- Does Chris know anything is going on? Doubtful. This week he finally pointed to my belly and said, "baby," as I've been trying to get him to do for a while. However, I don't think he realizes my growing belly is actually a baby.

- I have been feeling the baby for a while. Like around the end of the first trimester, I swore I could feel the baby. It happened at the same time every evening, this little whirring in my belly. Based on the ultrasounds we have had, this baby is a mover. So, I'm surprised I could feel it so early, but I'm definitely feeling this baby. 

I believe this is an ultrasound from 12 weeks.

- I'm pretty convinced it's a girl. Based on cravings, my weird nausea, and that I feel like I'm holding the baby higher this time. Also, the baby's heart beat seems to be in the 160-170 range. Chris's was about 140, and they say boys' hearts beat slower than girls'. We shall see.... (ultrasound is scheduled for June 2nd!)

As you may have noticed referenced earlier, I indeed have high blood pressure. It is higher sooner than it was when I was pregnant with Chris. So, for now, the doctor is calling it pregnancy induced hypertension, and I won't go on medication for it yet, but that is probably coming my way soon. I was pretty bummed about the strong possibility of having pre-eclampsia again, but I decided to let it happen as it may. If I have to go on bed rest, so be it. We are in a great ward where I already feel I have a lot of people to turn to for help to watch Chris if that happens. If I have to deliver early, so be it. Perhaps my body will be more ready for labor this time around. And if we have a c-section again, so be it. As long as the baby and I can come out of this pregnancy healthy, the method of getting us there is not as important.

I will end with the most dramatic moment of the pregnancy. April 12th was a great day where we had a night out celebrating Jed's birthday. We came home, went to bed, but weren't asleep yet (our nightly iPad time lol) when I had to get up for a snack (about midnight). I stood up and there was blood everywhere. I ran to the bathroom and took note of the situation. Blood and tissue (or blood clots-I don't know how to tell the difference) was pouring out of me. I was sure I was miscarrying. At this point I was 11 weeks along. Jed and I were both pretty much in shock. I was shaking and Jed was silently cleaning/thinking. I called the on call dr, who sent us to the ER. Before leaving, Jed gave me a blessing. Not much was said, but the main idea from the blessing was that I would have the Spirit with me as I went through this difficult time. In our minds, that just confirmed that the miscarriage was happening. We dropped Chris of at Jed's parent's house, and went to the ER. We waited in the waiting room for over an hour, maybe an hour and a half, and then waited on a bed in the hallway of the ER for another half hour or so. While waiting, I had to give a urine sample, and when doing that I noticed that, while I was still passing tissue, the blood flow had slowed down a ton. That, combined with the fact that I was not cramping, gave me the teensiest bit of hope. So, after much waiting, we were wheeled to the ultrasound room. We were sitting there in silence when the technician says, "Well the baby's heartbeat looks nice and strong." Jed and I both were shocked into silence for a few seconds before I asked, "There's still a baby in there?" And indeed there was, and it was moving around a ton, like a healthy little baby. Shocking. Amazing. We spent another few hours in the ER while the dr waited for my blood test results and for who knows what reasons, but we were incredibly grateful. And incredibly tired--physically and emotionally. I was put on bedrest until the bleeding stopped (which it did Sunday night). We were actually supposed to give talks in church that day, but with no sleep and me on bedrest, we had to call them last minute and cancel. Thank goodness the missionaries were kind enough to step in. I was on bed rest until I saw my doctor a few days later for my already scheduled 12 week appointment, and then I was just to take it easy until I had my genetic testing ultrasound the next Monday, where they confirmed all was well. The doctor has no idea why there was blood, let alone sooo much blood. We feel incredibly blessed we got to keep this baby. I don't pretend to understand what it is like to go through a miscarriage, seeing as I only experienced the first shocking moments of one. I don't know why we got to keep our baby and others don't. But, my overwhelming feeling through this entire experience, trying to get pregnant and almost losing the baby is just that it is all part of God's plan and God's timing. We may not like everything that happens, but one day we will understand why these trials were given to us and why we were spared other trials. 

So that my friends, is how the first trimester has gone. It has been completely different than that last pregnancy, and I can only imagine it will continue to be that way. I'leave you with a picture of my growing belly, taken at 16 weeks and I believe 4 days. You can see that my belly is much longer and not so much a round ball, like it was last time. Although it kind of makes me cringe to compare, here I am last pregnancy at 16 weeks.

A New Year, A New House!

Hello, family, friends, future offspring that may read this.

Since last I wrote in October, a lot has happened....

Halloween happened. Chris was a monkey. An adorable monkey who would say "oo oo ah ah" if you asked him what a monkey says. He loved trick or treating. We only did four or five houses, but he got the hang of it quick!

Highlight of November: definitely my parents coming to visit! They came for Thanksgiving, which was great. We all enjoyed having them here, but I think the best part for all involved was Chris seeing his Utah grandparents. They loved seeing him and he enjoyed it too. Thanksgiving, by the by, was delicious. We had dessert first, this year, as the dinner was taking too long and we were starving. It's a great idea, and I recommend it to all!

Going with the grandparents to see Christmas lights!

December. Of course, the highlight was Christmas. We had a wonderful Christmas. Christopher was spoiled with lots of toys, and we were grateful to have more books and educational toys for him to play with. Jed and I got a lot of fun things. My themes: clothes and kitchen (always kitchen, I hope it never changes). Jed's themes: work clothes and tools/home owner stuff. We felt so blessed, and thoroughly enjoyed it. About a week later, I got the opportunity to play in the Granite Bay Chimes Choir. It was so fun! I love performing in a group, and I love music, and I love Christmas music; so all in all, I really enjoyed doing it. They needed someone to fill in last minute, so after Christmas I practiced every night and only messed up a few times. We played at the Oakland Temple Visitor's Center, which was beautiful. Jed went with me and so it was a fun little outing together. We also got to see our friends Jordan and Kelsey, and hang out with them on Jordan's birthday which was super fun! And we got to go to a party with ward friends and a party at Haley/Donovan's house for New Years eve. Lots of fun people to visit with!

The Yule log cake. A tradition for the Morgan family on Christmas.

And that brings us to January. January started with a bang! Since October, we have been looking at houses. We even offered on a house in the beginning of December, but despite offering on it the day it went on the market, we were out bid by a lot! Back to January. Our awesome realtor texted on the 1st and said, did you see this house on the website (the website where all real estate in the area is posted)? And indeed we did, but the house was over our budget! He seemed to think the seller might go lower (and an email to their realtor confirmed that they would), and so we went to see it. We ended up really liking it, and so we decided to put in an offer! After changing the closing date, they accepted our offer! We were so excited and it seemed so crazy! But, we knew this was what the Lord wanted and this was what we wanted, so we went forward with it. Those of you who have bought a house know this, but we were shocked at how much was packed into January until we finally closed on the house! So many inspections, so much paperwork, so many emails..... However, we were incredibly blessed. Call it a sign that this was the right decision, call it blessings from paying tithing (which is what I do), but not one thing went wrong from offer until closing. We even closed a week early! We felt truly blessed.

Jed signing our acceptance... We just got a house!

Oh and the house! It's in Orangevale. We love Orangevale because it is smack in the middle of everything, yet has a more country feel. Whenever we go to the store, we have at least two options that are equidistant from us, generally to the west to Fair Oaks or Citrus Heights, or to the east to Folsom. We are also quite close to many stores in Roseville. We are about 15 minutes away from Jed's parents and about 15 minutes from Jed's work. It's amazing! It is the perfect spot for us. Our house is 1004 square feet, 3 bedroom, 1 bath. The bedrooms are a tad small, but we fit just perfectly. We love our big family room and kitchen. I love the kitchen. We have lots of cupboards, a pantry, and we got shelves (as my birthday present... as we get older, our presents get more boring, don't they? More boring, but just as exciting to us!) to give us more storage. Also a favorite part is our backyard! It's a great size. We have a patio, and we have lots of grass, but still lots of room for a garden. Also, the house was flipped when we bought it. We were surprised that flipped does not equal perfect condition (missing toe kick in kitchen, no vent in kitchen, quirky kitchen faucet, leaky bathroom sink, TON of caulking to be replaced), however, we did have nice new paint, beautiful new carpet, new sod and landscaping out front, and a generally beautiful and updated house. Nothing major is wrong with the house, so we feel very blessed.

The day we closed... Jed's holding the key to our house.

The back of the house, courtesy of Jed

So, we moved in on January 25th. We had help from the Brownings, Jed's home teaching companion, and Jed's friend Justin. Of course, we had help from Jed's parents. We honestly could not have done this without them. The move went really smoothly, so smoothly that we even had time to go down to West Sac to pick up a couch from Ikea that afternoon. It helps when most of your stuff is already in boxes. :)

The big trailer we borrowed to move.

That pretty much brings you up to speed. We've done a lot of random fixes to make the home work for us, and it's been fun. We're enjoying being homeowners so far. We like our neighborhood and we think we are going to love our new ward. We've celebrated a birthday (mine) and Valentine's Day in our house, and making the memories only adds to the loving feeling we have for this house. So, life feels pretty darn amazing right now. We are very blessed and thank our Heavenly Father for the blessings.

Our V-day dinner. Fresh artichokes! It was so fun to make/eat! And my first time ever having one.

V-day dessert. Also my first time making. They were delicious! 

And now, the current pictures of our house! Yesterday we spent the day decorating, mainly the kitchen and family room. (Let's be honest, the family room took most of the time. Not much decoration needed in the kitchen...) So, here are some panoramas of the house. Hopefully soon we will do a video for posterity of a house tour. I LOVE house tours.... so we will share ours. Not pictured are the bathroom, various closets, and the garage filled with boxes. Oh, or the backyard! So, those will definitely have to be in the house video. Anyway, here be the pictures!

The kitchen. Still waiting on the table and chairs, but those are soon to come!

The family room. Notice the shelves on the left? Yeah, I hung those. Pretty proud :) Learning to be a homeowner.

The bedroom. We took off the closet doors (all four of them) so we could put our dressers half in/half out.

Christopher's bedroom. Need some curtains!

The office/man cave. Jed has called these walls for all his posters and things, since I get to decorate pretty much every other room :)

And that is all, my friends! Come visit, please! We only feel a little lonely out here, missing our friends and family who don't live near. We'll show you all the cool places around!

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!

Halloween

Halloween was fun! The night before, we went to a lovely party hosted by my friends the Hughes. They had a Harry Potter theme. We didn't dress up Harry Potterish but we dressed up in our favorite theme (that will definitely reoccur many more years): Star Wars! Jed and I just wore Star Wars t-shirts, but Chris dressed up as Yoda! Such a cute yoda, he made.

Halloween night we went to our ward's trunk or treat, which was kind of crazy, but fun. Then we visited my mom's house and sister's house to show off how cute our Baby Yoda was. The best part about dressing up: Chris loved it! And by loved it, I mean he couldn't care less! He was comfy and I think he could have stayed in the outfit all week long!

Videos of Chris

Some of the favorites of Chris, including him babbling, crawling, jumping, etc etc.

Life of the Stephensons

Well hasn't it been a while since I've written? I've had my letter to Chris in the works for almost two months... but life is busy! We've discovered having a desktop in the same room as the crib makes it difficult at time to use the computer, and when the computer room is free, the man with the homework gets higher priority than the woman with the blog.....

But anyways, life is so busy! And here's why:

Jed continues school (only one semester left!), and while homework hasn't been terrible, there have been some difficult moments (aka, Stats). He continues to work at the BYU Bookstore as the textbook section manager, but as he's getting closer to school ending, I think he is anxious to be done with it. Adding to these feelings is that amazing news that he got an internship/job! He was lucky enough to have heard about a job opening from one of his good friends from his classes. So he interviewed and got the job! He is the Transportation Planning Intern at Mountainlands Regional Planning. The office is in Orem, but they plan everything to do with city and transportaion planning for Utah, Wasatch, and Summit Valleys. Jed is super excited about this job for many reasons. One fun thing he will be doing is working closely with a professor at U of U, and he's excited about that. So, with two part time jobs and full time school, Jed is a busy, busy man!

I continue to babysit the two kids I started with, and for the last few weeks and the next two I am babysitting another! That means I have a 5 month old, 8 months old, 1 year old, and an almost 3 year old. Yikes! I've discovered that adding a fourth under that age of 3 has been more of a challenge than I anticipated, but he is a cutie and is very well behaved (except when it come to naptime!) so I can't complain too much. However, it keeps me very busy! I'm also busy with my church calling in the Relief Society, but I am loving it so much. You know, having a calling in the Relief Society has been wonderful, because I have gotten to know so many amazing women. I've been so blessed with some of my new friends, and it makes me sad that we will probably be leaving next summer.

Chris is busy as ever, and while I went into great detail with my letter to him in another post, I will summarize. He crawls and stands and babbles and plays with toys and opens drawers and bangs his toys on every surface and eats whatever you put in front of him and has one tooth! So yes, Chris is busy doing his own thing.

We have had one major hiccup in our life for a week, and that was a closet flooding. Nothing was ruined (though we still haven't checked a couple things), but we had to live in chaos with the entire closet emptied out and things placed wherever they could fit around the rest of the house until it was fixed. So, after two weeks, I am happy to say the leak was fixed and the closet put back in order. Other than that, we feel we are in an extremely blessed time of life. We feel so much gratitude right now for our blessings. Among those are our families. We just had a great Thanksgiving spent with my family, and in a month we will be with Jed's family in California, ALL of them for a family reunion! We can't wait.