Things I have learned...

while taking a road trip with two under two and a dog.

1) The dog is the easiest to get along with and makes the least demands. Always take the dog.

2) When the weather man forecasts "flooding" while driving through Arizona, listen to him. Otherwise you might end up hitting a rock while driving on a flooded road (with rock slides) have a blow out in torrential rain and have to change a tire in the dark, cold, wet conditions.

3) In case you need to change a tire in cold, wet, torrential down pours in the dark, before packing a van with two car seats, a boat load of stuff, a dog and two adults, check to see where you access the spare tire and jack and then don't pack stuff there.

4) Verify that your vehicle can store a full size flat tire in the spare compartment, if it can't, don't pack the van so full that you have no room for a flat tire and have flashlight in your car at all times (seems like common sense, right?)  (don't have any pictures of the above adventure)

5) Hotel rooms are a ton of fun!

6) Cousins are great!

7) California traffic SUCKS!

8) 30 year olds can still have a ton of fun on huge roller coasters!  And two month olds are content to do anything.

9) If you take a ~2 year old on a carousel, force him to eat lunch when he doesn't really want to, he may just puke. I guess it is not a big deal when you are at Magic Mountain...they are used to that stuff.

10) Sand feels funny to little feet!

One Month

 

Our baby Olive is one month old today. I can't believe how time flies! Although it does feel like she has been in our lives forever. She is such a good, sweet baby. Just yesterday she started opening her mouth really wide and trying to smile when I talk to her. She is sleeping from about 9:30-1:30 each night (in her own bed might I add) and it is amazing what four hours of straight sleep without a newborn in the bed can do for a woman's mood! We have all adjusted really well to the newest addition! Logan continues to give her kisses every chance he gets. He has also tried to give her a bottle (pretend baby bottle), put her binki back in her mouth, brush her teeth, and give her drinks of milk from the pretend milk bottle that came with "Elmo's restaurant." Another thing that Olive does it put herself to sleep. When she is sleepy during the day she will just drift off, no matter where she is. She doesn't scream bloody murder in the car seat and doesn't have to be held all day. I am amazed at how two kids from the same parents can be so different! I gave her bath on Thursday morning and when I rinsed her head, all of the hair on top of her head went out with the bath water. I wonder what color it will be when it grows back!

Merry Christmas

 

We had a wonderful Christmas at the Stevens' household. I was a little worried that Santa wouldn't find us because we did not have any out door lights, but he did find us and Logan got a ton of presents. Our house no longer looks like adults live here. We had someone come over to measure for a custom gate for the stairs when no one was home. When she talked to Scott later, she asked him "just how many kids do you have?" She thought we had at least four due to all of the toys. Two of his favorite gifts are a tent and tunnel set and an "Elmo's Restaurant."

Related?

 

These pictures were both taken at the around the same time ~ 3 weeks. I think my kiddos look a lot a like, but different too! I love these two! I wouldn't trade them for anything...not even a full night of sleep! Happy Holidays everyone!

She is here!

Our little Olive made her big appearance on December 3, 2009. My labor was very short and I am feeling great. Logan loves the "babeee." He loves to give her kisses and remind me when she is crying! Olive was 6 lbs 10 oz. and 19 1/2 inches long. Welcome baby girl!

18 Months

Logan turned 18 months in October and is gettng to be such a big boy. He loves to play outside and go down his slide all by himself. He loves his doggies and his favorite food is blue berries. He loves to make messes by empting out my cabinets and rearranging the food in the refridgerator. He likes to help me vacuum(which isn't much help), and really enjoys "Mighty Mates" (generic lucky charms), although he really only likes the marshmellows! He had is 18 month check up on the 31st and weighed in at 24.8 lbs and is 34 inches long. Still tall and skinny. He is still quite the "momma's boy" and I fear he is going to have a hard time adjusting to his baby sister Olive when she arrives. He has started to get really jealous lately when I talk to Scott, let alone give him a hug or hold his hand. Life has been really busy lately in the Stevens' household. I have updated our pictures online, check them out (the link is to the right).

Pumkin Patch

We took Logan to the pumpkin patch for the first time this year. He had a really good time. He enjoyed playing in the corn box (sand box with corn instead of sand) and really liked looking at the "Quack quacks." We also got to take a hay ride to the pumpkin patch where he picked out his very own pumpkin. Although he wasn't a fan of all of the stickers in the pumpkin patch, I would say it was a good day over-all.