2009 review: Sep/Oct

Welcome to day 5 of our 6 day review of 2009!

September was an interesting month although it turned out to be far quieter than we were expecting. Everyone adjusted to our new school schedule surprisingly well! Praise God for that! Really, there isn't much to say of September and October. Life was busy full of school stuff, homework in the evenings, and not much else. We did start a new tradition this year with taking the kids to Chuck E Cheese instead of trick-or-treating. We were also happy to have my Mom here for that. And the kids didn't seem to miss trick-or-treating. Besides, $50 spent on pizza, drinks, and tokens was a lot less than what we would have spent on just the costumes for the kids.

Important days in September:
*We said good-bye to church friends who moved to North Carolina on the 19th :(
*Yet another baby arrived at the church on the 26th!

Important days in October:
*And another church baby was born on the 27th! (Only one more church baby to go -- thus far! -- and it looks like she'll make her debut early in 2010)

Picture to share from September -- I love the expression on Caleb's face! This was taken on one of our zoo trips.
Picture to share from October -- everyone @ Chuck E Cheese

2009 review: July/Aug

Okay, so it's really day 4 of our 2009 review....so consider today a buy-one-get-one-free day! :)

July....more birthdays! My niece's birthday and our "baby", Nathan, hit double digits this year! And speaking of birthdays, we really got rolling at church with the babies! One was actually born the last week in June (sorry I missed that one on the last post) but he was due in July so I tend to forget he's actually a June baby. July 4th was a good day -- my "BFF" (had to squeeze that in here somewhere) welcomed her 3rd child/1st daughter on Independence Day! I'm so glad they didn't decide to name her Firecracker or something bizarre like that. "Lily" suits her fine and, turns out, Lily is on the top 10 list of baby girl names for 2009! (I can sense Candace rolling her eyes now....) But we weren't done yet! Another church baby was born on Nathan's birthday, the 28th! And did I mention how odd it is that all of us at church had the opposite gender of what our last babies had been? There's one exception -- the other March baby was a first baby so he's obviously not an opposite. Weird, I know....

August -- even more birthdays! My father-in-law's and my nephew's! August was a difficult month for me/us as we decided we were going to try public school this year. Looking back now, half way through this school year, I can really see how that was the right decision for our family.

Important days in July:
*Niece Kaylie's birthday on the 13th; she turned 6
*Nathan's 10th birthday on the 28th

Important days in August:
*Father-in-law's birthday on the 4th; he turned 64
*Nephew Jeffery's birthday on the 20th; he turned 11 (Jeff and Kaylie are siblings)
*First day of school on the 25th

Picture to share from July -- I love this picture of Timothy taken at my niece's birthday party!
Picture to share from August -- new glasses just in time for school! Caleb has since gone through 3 pairs of glasses. Sheesh!

2009 review: May/June

Oops! Missed yesterday....sorry! Tuesdays are always crazy with Timothy's speech therapy. As long as little Miss cooperates, I'll try to get 2 posts up today.

Welcome to day 3 of our review of life in the Stevens Clan during 2009! Today, we're up to May and June! Since John's birth in 2005, May is always a busy month for the Clan! John's birthday is the 5th and Elizabeth's is the 18th, not to mention my mother-in-law's is the 21st! And then throw in Mother's Day and -- voila! -- one very busy month! But I always like the fact that May means summer really is coming and the kids are getting outside more and more and more! I'm sure May will have new meaning in 2010 as we anticipate the end of our first year of public school. June is a good month, too, although not quite as busy. This year was particularly fun. My brother, our only June birthday, turned 30 this year and we were in Tennessee to celebrate with him. It was so much fun to be with family and friends and to be a part of his special day. And don't forget VBS! [Note to self: Don't go on vacation the weekend before VBS starts! It WILL wear you out!]

Important days in May:
*John turned 4 on the 5th
*Elizabeth turned 5 on the 18th

Important days in June:
*Brother Kevin turned 30 on the 13th
*Jonathan and I celebrated our 11th anniversary on the 20th

Picture to share from May -- birthday party cupcakes! (I have to share 2 pictures to show both sets of cupcakes)Picture to share from June -- our first family picture since Lydia's birth. These were taken as part of my WHOLE family getting together for pictures. We were all in green, my brother and his family were all in yellow, and my parents wore white. THAT was interesting, getting all 9 grandkids together for a picture, especially when the portratit studio was running late and we had a surprise birthday party to get to!

2009 review: Mar/Apr

Welcome to day 2 of our 6 days reviewing what 2009 held for the Stevens Clan! Day 1 -- January and February -- went up last night. We hope you enjoy our walk through this past year as much as I am enjoying putting it together. It's winter break here so I'm home with all 6 kiddos so I can't guarantee that each day's post will be up this early. At the moment, Christmas toys are still new and some of them are still being rediscovered as more and more bags are unpacked and a certain little sweet girl is currently happy in her exersaucer so I have more than 30 seconds to focus on something. So here goes....

March was a great month for the Clan! We welcomed Miss Lydia on the 2nd. She was our biggest baby, weighing in at 8 pounds+. I found out the hard way just how bad those amniocentesis are but it was worth it to know that little miss was ready to be born! We were a little afraid when she failed her hearing test in her left ear and were bummed when we found out I was to be released but that she would have to stay because of jaundice. But, it was good for her to get the light therapy she needed and it gave them a chance to repeat her hearing test which she passed with flying colors the 2nd time around! She's definitely a hearing child -- I can really tell a difference between her and Timothy at this age. She's, of course, 9 months old now (will be 10 months old on Saturday) and just celebrated her first Christmas but that's for a different post!

April was rough. Adjusting to life with a(nother) newborn, trying to jump back into homeschooling (didn't happen), and having surgery made for an interesting month! [Note to self -- if you ever have to have surgery again, even if it is laproscopic, GET HELP AHEAD OF TIME! You're going to need it!] One highlight of April ~ finally getting a van big enough for our new family of 8!

Important days in March:
*Baby Lydia born on the 2nd
*Finding out that a great friend of mine was finally pregnant after 10 years of trying plus getting to take Lydia home on the 6th was a great day!
*Another church baby born on the 7th

Important days in April:
*EASTER! And our church's first Easter Egg Hunt which we're excited to do again this coming year!

Picture from March -- she's (still) so beautiful!!!
Picture from April -- trying to get 6 kids to sit still for a picture is like pulling teeth! Poor Lydia will have to try and forget that her head was cut off in her first Easter picture with her siblings! Oops!

2009 review: Jan/Feb

Welcome to the 6 days of 2009 for the Stevens Clan. We hope you enjoy this walk through this past year as much as we know we will. Blessings to you in 2010!

January and February of '09 were interesting months as I was pregnant with Lydia and began struggling with preterm contractions early in the year. Thanks to "pregnancy fog", I can't remember much else and their aren't many pictures to show off!

Important days in January:
*The 16th marked the birth of what has been the year of babies for our church
*The 29th was Jonathan's 34th birthday

Important days in February:
*My mom turned 54 on the 16th
*Church baby #2 was born on the 17th as was my niece, Hannah
*I turned 32 on the 20th

Picture from January -- big snowfall!
Picture from February -- welcome baby Hannah! You should see her now! She's got the chubbiest cheeks and the most beautiful shade of red hair (my brother's 2nd red-headed baby which is interesting considering he's got brown hair and my sister-in-law is blonde! Me with the red hair has zero red-headed babies!)Coming tomorrow....March and April!

2 year and 9 month check-ups

Timothy and Lydia had check-ups this morning. Here's a rundown:

T: Weighed in at 27 pounds, 34 1/2" inches tall. He's back to the 50th percentile for weight which is great! Our dr thinks his persistent runny nose is likely due to allergies so we're going to give some allergy medicine a week's trial to see what happens. No sign of sinus infection so the only other explanation would be that he's catching cold after cold after cold. He's met all his milestones except in speech which is to be expected. He rec'd his last vaccine (until he's 5, that is), his seasonal flu shot, and his first H1N1 flu "mist" which will have to be repeated in 1 month's time. Otherwise, he goes back in June.

L: Weighed in at 17 pounds, 7 ounces and 26 1/2" long. She's still holding in the 25th percentile for both but that means she's steadily growing which is, of course, good news. Again, likely that her persistent runny nose is a result of allergies because she, too, is clear of sinus infection so we're putting her on a 1-week trial of allergy meds. He was pleased with where she's coming in head and neck control so we're very thankful he doesn't think we need to see the neurosurgeon and/or physical therapists. However, it does appear that she's got some form of lazy eye or a wandering eye so off to Children's opthamology department we shall go! She rec'd her 2nd seasonal flu shot (always have to get 2 when you get it the first time) and her first H1N1 shot (can't get the mist until you're 2) which she'll have to have repeated in 1 month's time as well. Otherwise, she goes back in March for her big birthday check-up. (1 YEAR? GASP!)

Stay tuned! We got the kids all dressed up in their Christmas digs last night at my in-law's and tried to get a decent picture of all 6. We'll post the final result as well as some hilarious "out-takes" soon!

Two

Happy 2nd Birthday, Timothy!!!

Timothy arrived exactly 1 calendar month (a little over 4 weeks) early. He was my only daytime baby! I woke up that morning in pain but didn't think I was in labor. I thought it was a UTI or kidney infection. Imagine a 5th time mother not knowing she was in labor! Pain was too intense to stay home so I called for a sitter for the kids (thanks, Kisha!) and Jonathan called in to work -- what would have been his FOURTH day on the new job! By the time the sitter got here and we got in the car, I realized what was going on. We arrived at the hospital around 7:30 and I was dialted to 7. Definitely baby day! They gave me a special epidural -- they basically gave me medicine in my spine before they placed the epidural catheter that gave more medicine. That was FABULOUS! We chilled until around 10:30, they broke my water, and Timothy was born. I remember being happy to have delivered before lunch -- I could eat! In fact, I got to eat twice. They brought me lunch while still in the delivery room and then I got lunch again after we were moved up to the recovery unit. Funny what we remember, huh? It was to be a tumultuous (sp?) December but we're not going to focus on that. Today we're celebrating 2 years with Timothy, in spite of what we've endured, and are thankful to the One who not only gave us Timothy but has also sustained him and us (as He always does)!

Days after birth6 months1 year18 months (don't you just LOVE that face?)October this year....I love this shot of him!

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7 and 9

7 years....

birth1 year3 years5 years
Earlier this year when he lost his first tooth

Caleb is doing great in kindergarten! He's starting to read very well and his writing is good. He's even attempting to sound out words when he writes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CALEB!!

9 months....

Lydia is 9 months old today! Wow! She's showing signs of "army crawling" although she's certainly not doing it full time. She's rolling still but with a purpose now, to get to things she wants. And on Saturday, her first tooth popped through. And she's into clapping her hands!

birth

approx. 6 months
few weeks ago