2013

RYAN

Currently in his second year of law school

Interned at the child advocacy center this past summer

Drove over 8 hours and braved a torrential downpour to attend a BYU football game in Virginia

 

JULIE
Currently serving with young women ages 12-18 at church

Trying to learn how to be a mom to a two year old

Made an appearance on the jumbotron at the Oregon vs BYU game (check that off the bucketlist!).

 

JACKSON

Currently perfecting the terrible twos

Learned some of his numbers, animals, and Mickey Mouse character names

Enjoys singing, drinking smoothies, and running around

AS A FAMILY, WE...

Have gone to the zoo 5+ times

Had the opportunity to see all of our siblings and parents this year

Excited to see what 2014 brings.

 

We hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Love, the Stephens

Lions and Tigers and Zoos; Oh My!

Since we are a zoo loving family, I thought it would be fun to have a zoo-themed birthday party for Jackson. Here is what I came up with: (Prepare yourself for picture overload.)

Jackson woke up to these balloons. He kept saying "Woah!" and pointing at them. At first he was too afraid to go under them. He warmed up pretty fast and started hitting them. Poor kid, later that night when we put him to bed, I took all the balloons down. When he didn't fall asleep, I brought him back out and he was heartbroken that his precious balloons were gone. Oops. If I had known he wasn't going to bed, I would have left them up!

  

A quick video that morning. Check out his awesome bedhead!

 

 

He didn't stay sad for long though...

 



More balloons on the front door

 

 

Jackson is one loved boy. There were 2 more presents that aren't even pictured! I thought Jackson would love tearing into the wrapping paper, but he was a bit nervous to open the presents himself. He watched Dad open them instead! We took a break halfway through the present opening, so Jackson could play with some of his toys. I think it helped him feel not as overwhelmed.

 

We went to Chick-Fil-A for Jackson's birthday dinner--his favorite! We then came home and played some games.

 

A little twist on the Pin the Tail on the Donkey game.

Jackson won (he was allowed to look). Grandpa came in second place.

 

We then colored and cut out these elephants. Stick a party blower in there, and you have an elephant trunk! Jackson thought they were pretty funny.

 

Our zoo animal display. Jackson kept sneaking off with the animals throughout the day.

 

The picture bow

 

 

These kabobs were a bust. They wouldn't stand up on their own!

 

Jackson thought these masks were hilarious. He refused to wear them at his party though!

Happy Birthday, Jackson!!! 



Jackson is 2!

Can you believe our little boy just turned 2?

Jackson is such a joy in my life. He keeps me laughing with his fun sense of humor, melts my heart with his sweetness, and frustrates me at times with his stubborness. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Fun Facts about 2 year old Jackson:

--He still loves his Tiger and Blankie. He doesn't carry it around with him quite as much, but they are still his pals and he sleeps with them every night.

--Jackson loves animals. He is really good at saying the animal noises. My favorite is when he does a duck noise. He says, "Duck! Duck!" instead of "Quack! Quack!" and I think it's really cute.

--His favorite show is Mickey Mouse. He used to love Leap Frog videos, but he has since been converted thanks to the Disney store and Grandma and Grandpa's Mickey room.




--He is still my shy little guy. Jackson will hide his face in his hands or my shirt if a stranger is trying to talk to him. This makes for a tough time taking family pictures.

At the puppet museum

--He loves to sing. Loves it. We have an Elmo CD in the car with 5 kids songs on it. He knows them all and will sing loudly in the back of the car.




--Favorite foods: smoothies, french fries, chicken nuggets, apples

--Talks a lot more now. He has trouble enunciating sometimes and as a result, sounds British.



"There it is"

--We have a family zoo membership pass and have been to the zoo several times. Jackson is in awe that animals are real. The other day the lion was roaring from the top of a rock, and Jackson (and Ryan) thought it was the coolest thing ever.

--We took Jackson to the doctor today, and to say Jackson was upset was an understatement. He fought the doctor as hard as he could. It took the doctor, Ryan, and me to hold the little guy down, and he still broke the doctor's light tool. Jackson's doctor said that Jackson was the strongest kid in the world. We'll be sure to add that to his resume when he's older.

--Had a small obsession with shoes for a little while

 

He thought it was funny to put shoes on Tiger

Ain't nothing wrong with a boy in leopard print

 

Boots...and yes there's a video to go along with this

--The first thing people say after they find out how old Jackson is is, "Wow! He's big for his age!"

--Loves duplos, Little People, trains, cars, books, and animal figurines


Jackson's 2 year old stats:

Height: 38 inches (Greater than 99th percentile)
Weight: 33 lbs (96th percentile)
Head Circumference: 51 cm (98th percentile)

I never did post Jackson's birth story. I typed it out, but for some reason never shared it. In honor of Jackson turning 2, here is a little snippet I wrote just after Jackson was born.

"Jackson Ryan Stephens was 9 lbs 11 oz, 20 inches long (not sure how accurate this was, we think he was longer). He was born on Sunday, November 6, 2011 at 3:23 pm. When I saw him, he looked so big! My mom had said she thought he was going to be 9 1/2 lbs and the dr laughed at her! He said that if there was a 10 lb baby then the dr needed to be smacked. When the baby came out, the dr was like, "Uh oh, looks like I need to be smacked!" It was crazy to see the baby and to think that he was actually MINE! He was perfect. He wasn't blue or white at all, he was rosy pink and the size of a 3 month old. They put him on my chest and he stopped crying and listened to my breathing and heart beat. I loved the little guy!"

Trunk-or-Treat

Tonight was Jackson's first trunk or treat! I thought long and hard about Jackson's Halloween costume. He's at the age where he refuses to wear anything crazy. Hats, bandanas, funny shoes--all out of the picture. I also wanted to get something that he would be able to wear again.

So this is what we decided on:

Skeleton pajamas! He was really excited to put them on when he saw that Mom and Dad had matching shirts.

 

A family of skeletons.

I exclaimed that we were a family of bones! Ryan asked me what bone I was. I didn't really get what he was saying, so I said, "I'm Mama Bone!"

In which he replied, "I've never heard of that bone before."

I told him he was a "funny bone".

Jackson had a good time at the trunk-or treat. We arrived near the end thanks to the BYU game. Jackson was a little shy, but soon perked up when he realized that people were handing out CHOCOLATE. He had this small little pumpkin basket that we bought at Target last year for $1. He had that thing in a death grip all night.

There was this one kid, probably around 7 years old, that wanted to give Jackson candy. He reached out and tried to put it in Jackson's basket, but Jackson kept desperately pulling away. The poor kid tried 3 or 4 times to give him a Snickers. I'm pretty sure Jackson thought the kid was trying to steal his candy.

By the time we were done trunk-or-treating, most of the kids had left. We hadn't even gotten our huge Costco-sized bag of candy out yet.  So we put Jackson in a wagon and went around giving adults handfuls of candy.

At one point, I had put the half-empty bag of candy next to Jackson, and he started frantically stuffing chocolate in his basket. When I tried to give the missionaries chocolate, Jackson did not want to give me the bag. I think he was worried that I was going to give all the candy away. Poor kid--he has no idea that his Daddy will probably eat most of his candy while he's sleeping anyways. :P

When we put Jackson in his car seat, he refused to give up his chocolate stash and kept his prized basket of candy next to him all the way home.

How NOT to Cook Butternut Squash

A couple days ago I tried to make a butternut squash and leek pasta sauce.

*Disclaimer* I have never touched an uncooked butternut squash in my life before this attempt (or a leek, but that's another story).

It began when I went to the store to buy my butternut squash. There was a whole pile of different kinds of squash. I could have chosen the wrong squash, but I didn't. 100 points for Gryffindor!

What I did do, however, was not read the recipe more carefully. I should have bought a prepeeled, presliced squash. That would have saved me from a whole lot of trouble, but I didn't. Who knew such a thing existed in stores? Not me.

I got it in my head that I could make my own peeled, sliced, squash.

Lesson #1: Do not try to peel your squash with a potato peeler.

Bad idea. I had no idea the skin was so deep.

After I sort of peeled the squash, I came to the harsh realization that in order to slice the squash into squares like the picture in the recipe, you have to be a world class weight lifter or someone equally as strong.

So I thought that I would be smart and partway cook the squash in the microwave to make it softer. With my super strenth, I sliced the stubborn squash in half and put it in a casserole dish with water and stuck it in my trusty microwave.

Caution: squash is hot after it cooks.

Result of the half cooked squash? That brings us to

Lesson #2: A half cooked squash is still super hard to cut, but it is also even more slippery due to cooked squash juice. Fail.

And

Lesson #3: Do not...and I repeat, do not attempt to cut a half-cooked, semi-peeled squash with dull kitchen knives like I did. After discarding 3 knives, I finally got a long, serrated kitchen knife and started sawing the thing.

I probably should have quit when I accidentally caught my thumb with the knife. Ouch Charlie.

BUT I DIDN'T! I was like the little engine that could.

After several minutes of subpar sawing and much complaining, my husband took the knife from me, distanced me from my enemy, and sawed through the dang squash like it was wood. I was afraid he was going to cut his thumb off the whole time.

Then, I boiled it.

When it was soft, I shoved the squash pieces into my blender (Lesson #4: use food processor instead) and pressed the on button.

*Cue Jackson running in in excitement, grabbing a spoon, and begging to be put on the counter*

Yes, my child thought it was a delicious smoothie. He was in for a big disappointment.

The stubborn squash clogged my blender, and required extra love and care for it to liquify.

I finally added leeks and seasonings, put it on my pasta, and after much blood, work, and Jackson's tears (just kidding, he didn't cry) I took a bite, ready to savor my hardwork...until I came to the harsh realization that I had forgotten one important detail.

Lesson #5: I don't like squash.

Super Mom Moment

I was about to introduce you to Jackson's #1 best friend...but then I remembered he's already made his big debut on this blog.

Remember THIS post?

Jackson and Tiger have made gigantic strides since that post.

I am happy to report that they are now the best of friends. Tiger goes everywhere with Jackson...and I mean everywhere (story time, nursery, the airplane, you name it). While Jackson has gotten bigger and stronger, Tiger...well, he has seen better days.

Because Tiger is more adventurous than most tigers his age, he was in need of a good washing. He was pretty dirty. Ryan and I decided it would be best if Jackson helped with the bathing process. We had Jackson ceremoniously drop Tiger into the washing machine. We poured the soap in and closed the lid. Jackson thought it was great fun until he realized Tiger was stuck in the washer and was probably drowning. He was so upset. He kept grabbing our hands and leading us to the washing machine insisting we take the poor creature out.

So we did (he wasn't even wet yet!).

Ryan and I then decided to hand wash the poor animal. We washed him in the bathroom sink with Jackson supervising on the countertop. The moment we put Tiger in the sink, the water turned black. Really gross.

The bath was a success even though Jackson had to be separated from his best friend while Tiger dried in the dryer.

Tiger is now whiter than he has been in months, and sometimes I think I see a sparkle or two.

Fast forward to this afternoon. Jackson and I went to Michael's to return something, and I happened to buy Jackson some plastic animal figurines that were on sale for a dollar. He was busy playing with those while I walked to the car. I got Jackson all buckled in and as I was backing out of the parking space, I saw something in my rearview mirror. An orange and black striped something in the middle of the road!

Tiger!

I immediately pulled the car back into the parking spot, got out, and rescued Tiger.

Jackson had no idea that we almost abandoned his best friend. That would have been disastrous. Super Mommy to the rescue!

In other news, today:

• I dropped a frozen chicken on my foot. It hurt really bad. I asked Ryan, "Why did the chicken fall on my foot?" (Kinda like, why did the chicken cross the road). Ryan's response: "Gravity".

• I ate entirely too much chinese food today. Now my tummy hurts.

• Ryan and Jackson were eating a smoothie tonight, and I thought it was really cute. I sneakily recorded some of it, but at the end of the video I accidentally captured a "Happy Feet" moment and had to share. Notice how I am providing free advertisement for whatever is playing in the background.

Reset Button

Today has been one of those days.

You know, couldn't fall asleep 'til 4 am, 7:15 toddler wake up call, forgot my Young Women's lesson at home, spilled boiling hot food in my lap, whiney child kind of day.

Sometimes I wonder what life would be like if I could just hit the reset button and start these kind of days over.

And then I got to thinking...Hey, I may not be able to hit the reset button on my day, but I can hit the reset button on my attitude.

It's amazing how perspective can change the way you feel in an instant.

I was tired, cranky, and ready to call it a day when I realized that despite the difficulties, I am blessed with so much. I am blessed with a healthy child who smiles when I get him from his crib in the morning. I am blessed with a loving husband who will run home and get my lesson for me without a word of complaint. I am blessed with a cupboard full of food when many people are without. I am blessed to be alive.

When I thought about that, a weight of frustration was immediately lifted from my shoulders and gratitude filled my heart.

My day didn't seem so bad anymore.

I mean, how can I be upset when I have this little cutie keeping me company all day!

 

 

And let's not forget this one...first day of school as a 2L. 

 

Jackson and Mommy playing with blanket forts.