Cradle Robber

Happy 26th Birthday to my wonderful, handsome husband, Bradley. Brad truns the big 2-6 in about fifteen minutes. So as a tribute to my main man, here are 26 little things I love about Brad, in no particular order…

1. His ability to remain calm in any situation. (When he worked at the bank, a 90 woman was flipping him the bird and yelling at him and it didn't even phase him.)
2. How dang smart he is.
3. His ability to turn everything into a joke
4. He makes me laugh…really hard…all the time
5. When he talks to Dominic and Jade and plays with them - it is the best
6. When he listens to rap music…and sings every word
7. When he makes fun of me
8. When he speaks Spanish
9. The millions of handwritten letters I have from him
10. The witty cards he buys me for every holiday
11. He loves to go out to eat
12. He isn't obsessed with sports or video games
13. He has the strongest testimony of any person I know
14. He serves others and forgets about it
15. He works so hard for his family
16. He is a goal setter
17. He is oober organized
18. He knows when I'm at my breaking point
19. He doesn't let me get too serious
20. He asks me if his clothes match
21. He appreciates an occasional trip to Kohls or Ross (let me stress occasional)
22. He quizes me on 107.5 songs
23. He thinks he knows more country songs than me
24. He always brings home treats for me and the kiddos
25. He lets me have control most of the time
26. He is the best husband and dad in the world!

We love you so much! Happy Birthday:)

It all started with a Sonic Blast…

So, I have been failing as a mother with Jade in that the girl is 7 months old and has never really eaten a lot of solid food. I thought for sure I was going to be one of those people nursing my kid until they were in kindergarten the way she was not liking food, and me not being super persistent with it. (Okay, I wouldn't really nurse her until then all of you people thinking I'm some wacked out granola mama.)
But, the other day I decided to give her some of my yummy fried ice cream blast from Sonic (thanks to the extra calories I burn nursing, I think I'm entitled to eat one like every day!) (heaven forbid I actually like loose weight from nursing…anyway…)
Jaders was pawing at it like she wanted to eat some. So I gave her some…and she liked it!
So tonight I busted the spoon and squash out and low and behold, she ate food! Amazing isn't it? She looks a little crazy in these pictures, her hair gets a little crazy when I take it out of whatever apparatus is taming it!

Stevens family photo shoot

Dominc, Jade and I went to Utah last week to spend sometime with Lori, Earl, the kids and Joey and Brittney. (Although due to busy, busy work schedules, I didn't get to see a whole lot of Joe and Brit)
We had so much fun shopping, going to the zoo, going to Parade of Homes and shopping. Lori and I also concocted this photo project for her living room wall. I think it turned out pretty cool. Here are some shots from her super cute family.
I had tons of fun doing it!

This could be the worst picture ever…

Okay, so I was sorting through some photos on my external hard drive when I can across this. Normally, I try to pick like the cutest pictures of my kids and slap them up on my blog, I almost died laughing at this picture of me, Brad and Dominic (Dominic is the only one that looks even half way cute…)
I can't wait to show this to Dominic when he's a teenager and say, "see what childbirth did to me!"
P.S. Notice the IV bruises on my hand? Nasty! Here's to everyone's crappy photos…please tell me I'm not the only one that takes them!

Life's little changes

We've had many little changes in our household recently that have impacted our little world. First of all, Brad just finished his first week as an accountant at a CPA firm in Las Vegas! He is enjoying his job so far, and I'm enjoying taking his suits to the dry cleaners on a regular basis. (Not really, but he does look pretty handsome in them) I am grateful for everything he does for our family. He is still chugging away at his Masters classes too and will be done in December if all goes well. Then he will turn his efforts to the CPA exam. I'm looking forward to the day that my husband can come home from work and just be home and not study (I'm sure I'm not alone on that one!) (I don't know what will be left of the blogging world when all of our husbands are just home.)
I think the next change that is rocking my world a bit is Jaders crawling! She is so stinkin' cute! She gets up on all fours and rocks back and forth and then makes a nose dive for something. I just hate that she can get little pieces of junk in her mouth - I think it is a nightmare for every mother of a crawler!
Next, a got a new church calling - the primary president. I was called about two months ago and I'm just now numbing from the shock. We had our first activity on Saturday - the pioneer day breakfast for the whole ward. It went well and I'm just glad it is done and over with. Things have gone pretty smoothly. I love the little kids and I am working with some really talented people. It certainly just goes to show that when you're comfortable, the Lord has a way of shaking things up a bit!

Our beautiful new cousin!

Sydney Olivia Smith was born this morning at 8:06 a.m. via c-section. She weighed 7 pounds, 12 ounces and was 20.5 inches long. Samantha has been staying with us while her mom recovers. She is super excited for her new sister. Here are some pics of the little one.

Jade is 6 months!

Jade hit the six month mark on the 15th. I had a "well" check scheduled today that turned out to be a sick appointment! She hasn't been sleeping well the past few nights…okay she hasn't been sleeping at all! (Which makes for a grumpy mama might I add.) Turns out the poor girl has a double ear infection. After a big o bottle of amoxicillian, hopefully she'll be ear infection free next doctor's visit in two weeks. (I couldn't bear to make her suffer through shots today!)

Jade's six month stats: 16 pounds, 24 inches (average on weight, a little short on height)
Accomplishments: she can crawl/scoot (I, know, why is it always the people (like me) with crap on their floor constantly that have kids that crawl before six months!)
she just discovered her feet!
she loves Dominic!
she isn't into any food whatsoever - just nursing, a lot (which happens to be my exercise regimine at the moment)
she has the cutest laugh and really gets going when you tickle her ribs or neck
makes the "lip face" often - which I'm pretty sure she gets from me. (I always tuck my lips in when I'm concentrating)
(The last picture shows this face!

We love, love, love our little Jade.