Christmas #1 -- Stephens' Family Christmas

We met the week before Christmas with my dad's family it celebrate. We had so much fun with everyone! Our cousins came in town from North Carolina with their sweet girls. They were precious with Mollie and we such a joy to have around. We did dinner at my dad's house on Friday night and then had Christmas at my Uncle Mike's house on Saturday.

Instead of doing presents for everyone, we drew names and then bought toys that reminded us of that person. We gave the toys to a charity in the area for the kids to open on Christmas. This is what Christmas is really about... giving!! None of us really needed anything, and it was a great way to give back for everything that we have.

Here are some pictures from the weekend with our family:

Cereal -- Not a huge fan!

When we went to the pediatrician for Mollie's 4 month check up the doctor said that we could start cereal and food. This girl has not turned back since she was introduced to food. She LOVES to eat! She is slowly realizing how to eat from a spoon and now had decided to start doing raspberries in the middle of her meals. It is HILARIOUS (to her) and a joy (to me) to watch her grow up before my eyes. She currently eats 2 times a day. Once about 10 in the morning and again at 5 or 6, depending on her feeding schedule. She eats cereal with every meal (not her favorite). In the morning she gets a fruit with her cereal and in the evening she eats a fruit and veggie with it. I have to say that veggies are her favorite. There hasn't been one that she didn't like, but peas are her FAVORITE! She will eat anything I put with peas. As for fruits, she is not much of a fan. She enjoys apple sauce and peaches, but other than that, she isn't a huge fan.

Here are some pictures of her first trial with cereal. I have to say that it isn't much better than this some nights. She loves to make a mess! It is all hands on when she eats, but it is so much fun! I wouldn't change it for the world!



I don't know what you are giving me, but I DON"T LIKE IT!

Ok... I will keep trying...

What do you want me to do???

When will this be over???

FINISHED! Thank goodness!!

Now I will be a big girl and hold my bottle.... I know how to eat from this :)

Thanksgiving

better late than never right?!?!?

We enjoyed Thanksgiving day at my dad's house this year. We had the typical Thanksgiving dinner for our family. We had turkey, dressing, bread, homemade mac and cheese, green bean casserole, and my FAVORITE.... broccoli casserole. It was a great day with family, just to be.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we celebrated Thanksgiving with David's parents.

Here are some pictures from the wonderful weekend....

I have a blog?!?!?

Hello world!!!
It sure is amazing how busy life has been since I started back to work in September. I can't believe that I haven't made a post since October. Life has definitely happened, and I have just not made time to update everyone on what is going on...

A quick update:

The past few months at work has been crazy for me. Working on finding a balance for everything has really been difficult. I love my job so much! I can't explain the happiness I get when I see my kids at school "get it". It gives me a purpose in my life. I know my purpose is as a mother, but it is also as a teacher. I help guide and encourage children that might not get it for the rest of their day.

David has been very busy work work as well. We are so lucky for him to have a job that is in town and consistent! He loves his work and feels glad to be helping people every day. He remembers that he could have been in their shoes if he wasn't so lucky. David also enjoys his days with his baby girl. He loves just being the 2 of them and being able to take her from place to place. He even schedules daddy daughter playdates with our friend Jason and his baby!

Mollie is getting SOOO big! She is doing something different almost daily right now. She is almost sitting up on her own (she can sit for a couple seconds and then topples over...). She loves to laugh and smile. She is just the happiest baby ever! She is getting so much better about taking naps in her bed, and she loves being held all the time!

Toby is getting better and adjusting to the baby more and more. Now that she is so alert, she LOVES playing with Toby. He loves this until she grabs his hair with her mighty pull and won't let go. You can tell he certainly loves his time with us when she isn't around though. He definitely feels left out some days.

I am going to do my best to get better at finding time to update this thing. With Mollie getting so much bigger and being awake so much more, finding time for myself has become very slim. I love spending time with my baby girl and wouldn't change it for the world. She has become such a big girl. I can't believe how much she is doing now. I will be posting more blogs later this week updating how she is and what is going on in her life with updated pictures.

Our laptop is messing up and won't read the memory cards right now. I promise pictures will be updated very soon!