All About Steven

I have had a lot of "Elise centered" posts lately, so I thought I would share a few things about Steven to keep things sort of evened out.

Steven absolutely adores both his binky and his blankie
Unfortunately, his mom has passed a bad habit onto him of "soda love."

He makes the goofiest faces, and is a constant mess. In this picture, he had rubbed his yogurt in his hair. Yum.:

He strips his clothes off any chance he gets. By the way, aren't kids still in diapers just the cutest in big boy jeans? It's so cute, I can't stand it.

He eats just about anything and everything. Also, he climbs in and out of his high chair himself. Since he can't say too many words, when he is hungry he sometimes lets me know he wants food by climbing in his high chair and grunting for food.

He HATES his car seat. Not enough wiggle room. But he does love his hat.

He loves to go outside, and always wants to be the one to open and close all the doors.

He likes Disneyland... sometimes.

He loves to climb on anything and everything.

Most of all, he is a bit of a Mama's boy and knows how to make her smile with his hugs, snuggles and chitter chatter.

Artwork and writing

Elise brought home this picture on the first day of school, and told me it was a picture of me. Don't I look beautiful? What I really appreciate about this picture is that I have a body. Usually her people pictures are a head with a face drawn in and arms and legs coming out of it, but without a body. The second picture is of the second time she wrote he name. I helped her write her name for the first time a few weeks ago when we were waiting at the doctor, and I carefully folded up the little scrap of paper we wrote it on and tucked it in my wallet for safekeeping. If you have ever seen inside my wallet, then you know that it is really not a very "safe" place to keep anything. It is on the slightly disorganized side. Now of course I can't find it, so I will just have to keep the paper from the second time she wrote her name. I can't believe how fast she is growing up!

4!

Here are a few of Elise's four year old pictures:

Of course, when I took Steven to get his 18 month pictures he wanted nothing to do with it. He kept trying to run away from the camera lady. So it makes perfect sense that today when he didn't have his hair brushed and he was wearing play clothes, he wanted to try to jump in every shot! Oh well, I guess that is just how it works out sometimes. Maybe we will have better luck with his two year old pictures.

First Day of Preschool!

Today is Elise's first day of preschool. Before we went she was being sad and saying she was going to miss me, but as soon as I dropped her off, she ran in the door and could have cared less if I was there at all. I guess that is a good thing, and it is definitely more what I expect from my independent little girl. Here are a few pictures of her before preschool. In the second one she is making a sad, "I will miss you, Mommy" face, and in the last one she is acting like a dinosaur. She told me, "Mom, I need a picture where I am acting like a dinosaur, because I am in the Dinosaur class." What a funny girl.

Elise picked out her outfit, and she picked both a skirt and a shirt I made her (awww). I don't love the way they look together, but she couldn't be talked into either leggings with the shirt or a t shirt with the skirt, so oh well. And they have to wear tennis shoes to school, which look kind of funny with a skirt, but that's okay because she LOVED her outfit and told me she looked beautiful several times. At least she sort of matched!

A Few Fun Pictures from Elise's Birthday

What a difference a year makes

I think sometimes as I am going about my life, I don't realize how my kids are gradually changing. When I think back to Elise a year ago, I picture her looking just exactly the same as she looks now. So, I decided to look back at a few pictures of her from her birthday a year ago to see how she has changed. I think she definitely looks older, but the changes are becoming more subtle from year to year than they were when she was younger.

Elise on her third birthday:
Elise on her fourth birthday:

By the way, a few people have asked, and yes I did make Elise's Minnie Mouse outfit. The shirt was the easiest thing I have ever made, and turned out really cute. I followed a tutorial I found on a blog to make it, so I thought I would share the link. You can see the tutorial here if you are interested: http://candacetodd.blogspot.com/2009/08/ruffle-sleeve-top-tutorial.html

A Four Year Old That Can Melt My Heart

Today is Elise's birthday. I can't believe that she is four! We had her cake yesterday because we are going to be spending most of today at Disneyland, and will likely be home too late for celebrations. She was so excited about her Minnie Mouse cake and cupcakes. This girl loves cake! It was so cute, after she blew out her candles she looked at me and said, "You know what I wished for Mom? I wished that we could be friends forever, and I wished that we could go on an airplane to Nana and Papa's house!" What a sweet little girl. I didn't even remind her to make a wish when she blew out her candles, so I'm glad she remembered on her own. Here are a few pictures of Elise with her cake.

I made the cake by using a small round cake and I made the ears with two large cupcakes. The polka dot cupcakes turned out cute, and were so simple! I frosted them with red frosting, and then I used halved marshmallows to make the polka dots. Elise couldn't have been happier.

All Boy

Steven was running around outside yesterday, and he insisted on wearing his hat. His face was kind of dirty, and he was running around in the dirt, playing with his ball, and pushing his bike up and down the driveway. When I looked at him I just thought he looked all boy, so I got out my camera and took a few pictures. Now that I am looking at them, I am wishing I had washed his face first because they actually turned out pretty cute. The green grass and blue hat really make his blue eyes pop. Here are a few for your viewing pleasure.

Ready for church?

As we were getting ready to head out the door for church this morning, I decided to snap a few photos of the kids. This was mostly because Elise was wearing a dress that I made last night, and I wanted a few photos of her in it. It cracked me up though, because the kids made faces that perfectly describe how they each feel about church. Elise loves primary and loves her class and teacher. She had a big smile on her face. Steven has finally gotten to the point where I can leave him in nursery and he doesn't cry the whole time. However, he is not a big fan of nursery either. His teacher told me that he doesn't scream or cry, but he spends a lot of time sitting by the door waiting for Mom and Dad to come back to get him. He sits there with his binky in his mouth and his blankie over his head. It cracks me up. There is another little girl in nursery that is just a month older than him, and she has decided that it is her job to mother him. So when he sits by the door with his blankie over his head, she sits with him and plays peek a boo under his blankee with him. When he does get up and wander around, she is apparently right there with him, sticking his binkie which is clipped on him back in his mouth whenever it comes out. Very cute! Their teacher says it is like she is saying to him, "It's okay Steven, I feel your pain." What funny kids!

Elise, excited she gets to go to primary!:

Steven, thinking "Uh oh, here we go again. I'm about to be taken to nursery!" Either that or he's thinking, "Yikes! Look at the haircut my mom gave me. Aunt Kathryn, help!":Maybe I'll just hide under my blankie and pretend this isn't happening:Elise, being a good big sister and giving Steven the, "It's okay buddy, I feel your pain," look.

Just 3, and already engaged!

On Sunday, Elise's primary teacher informed me that she got engaged to her best bud Zach during primary. According to her teacher, the scenario went something like this:

Elise and Zach were sitting coloring a picture in primary. Zach looks up and says, "Elise, when we get big enough to be a Mom and Dad, will you marry me?" Elise says, "Sure, but I'm going to have to get a pretty dress, and we'll have to dance." Zach says, "Alright! It's the perfect plan!" I was seriously lauging when their teacher told me this.

When we got home and we were eating lunch, I asked Elise, "So, did Zach ask you to marry him today?" She told me yes. I asked if she thought that was a good idea. She said, "Well yes, it's the perfect plan because if we are a Mom and Dad together, then we can be friends forever!" She's a pretty smart little cookie.

Zach's Mom had actually told me he might propose in primary, because the night before he had asked if he could marry his Mom when he grew up. She told him no because she was already married. She said he thought for a minute, and then said, "Hmmm... maybe I could marry Elise!" She told him that was a good idea. He then said, "Mom, I think in primary tomorrow I will tell Elise she looks pretty, and I'll ask her if she will marry me when I get bigger." These kids seriously crack me up.

Elise, Steven and Pasadena Miller

How do you like the flow of that one? Today was quite a clear morning, and so when we walked out our back door we could see a lot of the tall buildings in Pasadena. This only happens on clear days, so it kind of surprised Elise to see all the buildings. She said, "Hey Mom, I see a city! What is that city called?" I told her it was Pasadena. She got a big smile on her face and said, "Pasadena! That is a good name! I think we should get a baby girl and name her Pasadena!" What a great idea. Doesn't it just sound like a name that would fit right into our family? And no, I am NOT making any announcements, but in case we ever do have another child, Elise has a whole slew of good name ideas up her sleeve. Her two favorite names to call her babies and stuffed animals are Rejala and Morla. Those would fit right in as well, don't you think?

Better than Dessert!

Steven is our little veggie man. Sometimes I think he prefers veggies to dessert. Last night we were having corn on the cob for dinner, and so I cut a bunch off the cob and put it in a bowl for him. He loved the corn and was happy with that.... until he saw Mom and Dad with corn ON the cob. He pushed his bowl aside and started reaching for our corn and begging. I gave him a whole piece just to see what would happen, and he actually finished it off! What a funny kid. And then there is Elise who I believe is actually afraid of any sort of vegetable. How can two siblings be so completely opposite?

Steven, enjoying his corn:

Elise making her, "Ewww, corn! Isn't that a vegetable? There's no way that is getting near this mouth!" face.