Gracie's twin

My little girl has a twin!! I spend the majority of my day staring at Gracie and Eldon. After much thought me and Mark both agreed... Gracie looks like the cute, adorable, angelic, youngest of his six adopted siblings...... DOPEY! 

Check out her ears.. haha, her ear really dont stick out that far, they just curve with her head and it makes them look like they stick out. I think she is adorably unique.

Now look at her angelic glazed over blue eyes!

Same as Dopey. But the Cherry on the cake....

Check out that smile. Full, tounge showing, cheek pinchable grin!!


I never Really likds the movie snow white, but I do remember only liking Dopey, the others were to scary, and hairy. I found this little bit of info on Dopey:

Dopey is often the butt of the other dwarfs' jokes, and his silly, playful actions often annoy the pompous Doc and the short-tempered Grumpy. He is not dumb, but merely acts like a toddler. Happy explains he simply has never tried to talk. Though he occasionally whimpers, laughs or hiccups, he does not talk. Dopey is the most popular of the seven dwarfs among audiences.

Despite being conceived late in production, Dopey proved to be the most endearing of the dwarfs. Dopey's appeal proved the success of silent characters in feature films. At one point, Dopey was even considered for the title role in The Sorceror's Apprentice in Fantasia before Mickey Mouse was chosen. However, many of Dopey's traits remain, including the long, floppy sleeves and playful attitude.

The name Dopey may to some carry bad meaning, but for me everytime I see that dwarf, I am reminded of his innocence. What a great comparison to our sweet girl. Innocent, pure, and most of all happy.

Gracie is 4 months old

I am about a week late in posting, but our little Gracie turned 4 months old last week. Has it really been that long since she was born. Our sweet little angel has been blessing our lives since the day she enter. No lying it was incredibly tough being mom to both Gracie and Eldon, while recovering from my much disappointing and painful birth experience, and do all the same things I did before.
For the past 4 months I have been struggling, trying to be my best self, trying to do it all I guess. Lately things have been really great. My way of solving this issue was just to stop. Stop cleaning, stop cooking, stop worrying every 2 seconds, just be a mom and wife. Mark has been great. After about a week I slowly added things back in. Cooking, going out with the kids, cleaning.  Now I am no supermom, and I am still having issues physically from my Cesarean, but the more time passes the more I think that everything will work itself out.
now onto the fun stuff... GRACIE

She is our spunky little girl who just curls with smiles every time she is given a complement. Literally her entire body curls down, I can always tell when she is laughing even from behind. She love being complemented too, Mark tells her how pretty she is and she just smiles sooo big.
She is a serious mommas girl. I can't put her down, and she can't stand it either. Which is seriously amazing, haha but sometimes my girl needs to let me go. She will nap for 1 -2 hours in my arms or 20 minutes out. Now granted she is sleeping threw the night about 80% of the time from usually around 10pm til anywhere between 5:30am if she hears Mark in the morning or 7:30am if she needs a good nap.
She hates tummy time, which is again most likely my fault, but I finally got her to around 5 minutes, YEAH!!
The little lady has found her voice... and it is loud. So along with her not sleeping during the day, neither does Eldon because her little coos and ahhs are more like COOOOOOO and AHHHHHHH!! She seriously is a loud one. I find it so funny she gets louder the more tired she gets, then I will look down because it instantly stops and she is sleeping. Haha my kids have 2 switches either on or off.
She loves her daddy. On the mornings she wakes up when he does, she greats him with such a great smile, and when he gets home even if she is about to fall asleep she wakes up and can't stop flirting with him.
She is still our tiny little baby, who would of guessed she would be so tiny at 42 week gestation, but I guess she really did need the time to "cook" a bit more, and I am glad I stuck to my guns and wasn't pressured into inducing 2-3 weeks prior. Who knows if she would of been developed all the way physically yet. I havent been in to the doctor yet for her 4 month check up, but at 3 1/2 months she was weighing in around 11 1/2 pounds. She is tall though so thats good!
She is growing so much. But with each day she gets funner to be around. We are at that age now where we are just waiting and watching for her to do the next big thing. Roll over, giggle, crawl. We can't wait!

Love you Gracie Girl!!

And of course we can't forget about Eldon! The best baby boy it the world!ELDON!

Why I want mark to get on with a house that has a pole

I have been sick all day, and now cant fall asleep because of congestion, but it is all worth it! haha I had to share this with everyone and anyone. This made my day. Haha I always wondered what Mark would do at a station when not on a call. I guess this gives him something to think about.

I love you Mark, you are our hero!

-Steph, Eldon & Mark

Happy Gradparents day

On the tenth anniversary of the Twin Towers and 9/11 attacks, the ones that forever changed my life views, opinions, and actions as well as millions of other Americans, it is a little ray of sunshine to be able to also spend this day celebrating Grandparents. And WOW do Gracie and Eldon have the best. Even from across the sea Nanna and Poppa are still in the running for number 1. I gave up months ago  competing with them, because they are so cool, they win every time. Only Daddy has a shot at winning number 1 now. That's okay I am fine with just being mommy! Because seriously I have the best kids ever and to know that they are all mine makes up for not being number 1 haha! Plus Eldon and Gracie are so rocking they need an awesome Nanna and Poppa, which they have! So mom and dad this post is for you! What a blessing you are in our lives, seriously you are killing us being so far away, but that too will pass. You both make our kids so happy, Eldon's whole world lights up every time the phone rings because he thinks it is nanna or poppa. You both bring so much joy in our lives we love you beyond measure. Oh and mom can't wait for the continents to come back together so you can walk to our house soon! (haha) Love you both, from Steph, but mostly Eldon and Gracie!!!

Where do you see yourself in 10 years

10 years ago:

• I was 14 years old
• I had just begun my Freshman year of High school
• I was shy, and a bit of an ugly duckling (or at least that's how I felt when I was that age)
• we had been living in GA for almost 3 years
• The twin towers we attacked
• and... I wrote this:

"I just arrived at school and was a bit early so I went to the library to finish up some last minute homework. I noticed the library turning on the TV which was odd because she turned the volume on. That never happens. I try to tune out the noise. I decide to listen in, but the bell rang for advisement so without paying attention to the TV, I went on my way. We were suppose to be in advisement till 8:45, but I guess the bell schedule was lagging and we didn't. Out homeroom noticed others turning on the TV and watching, we decided to do the same.... Wow we couldn't believe it was this a joke? a plane just hit the twin towers in NYC.
The bell rang, just a few minutes later, but the TVs in the hallway were all playing the same thing. The news. And again during 2nd period all we watched was the TV. My English teacher let us skip the lesson for the day.  Another tower got hit, the Pentagon too. Seriously it is beginning to feel like my little bubble of a world is unravelling. Then the unimaginable: the tower falls! After what seemed to be only be an hour later. My prayers went out in hopes that everyone made it out okay. Little did I know, thing were not okay, far from it.
The rest of the day went on much of the same, we were shoveled from classroom to classroom as usual, but only to sit in a new seat and watch the TV. Parents came and pulled friends out of school. By lunch it seemed as if half the school was gone. I was a bit paniced as to why my mom wasn't coming to get me too. But was given a note in one of my last classes that she would pick me and my brother up at the end of the day.
A few days have passed and we still turned to the news everyday. It seemed a new clip of the 9/11 event, as they were calling it, popped up every day. I am scared to know what will happen to everyone still trapped. I hope for the best. I don't really understand why the planes crashed, and why this terrorist group felt they had to hurt people that didn't hurt them. I don't want to go on a plane anytime soon, they make me nervous. Like I said I don't understand a lot that happened on September 11th, I just know what I saw. I hope that I will never live to see something like this happen again."

My English teacher made us write our thoughts down. I can't recall how long after, but it couldn't have been more that a week or two. I tucked it away in my scriptures but I haven't read it in some time. Looking back I can't help but think about "then" and "now" what has changed, what hasn't(not much) all the things I have done. Graduated HS, Moving to VA, then to Utah, getting married, my son, moving back to GA for a new job for Mark ( a Fireman!!), and now Gracie.
Does anyone else think about how their kids will never know a world before September 11th, 2001. They also will never know how it felt that day to watch as our world fell apart on national television. Everything I do is plagued with the actions of 9/11. I really have no desire to go up into a high building. For example I visited ground zero when I was living in VA and saw the clean up still. my friends wanted to go up to the top of the Empire state building, and I chose to do something else. I will always think before I let my kids out of my hands. As they grow I know they will want to go away with friends, but it still makes me nervous to think.
Being the wife of an Atlanta firefighter (and VERY Proud might I add) The attacks of September 11th, 2001 take on a new light. I can only imagine what the families of the 343 firemen and women must have gone through, and I really hope I never have to.
My God Bless this country for the next ten years and keep us safe. I hope I can find a way to honor those who were murdered 10 years ago by living a better life!

here a few proud moments in my life as a Fireman's wife:

Being able to play dress up in REAL Firefighter gear.

Or as Eldon calls "woooo wooo"( the sound a fire engine makes)

Coming inside and instead of coats there are SCBA mask, fire helmet, and a hood

Mark's SCBA mask closer view. (notice the batman symbol)

May we always remember and never forget.  and my we live a life that was worthy of the sacrifices made on that day. This post is especially for the 343 men and women firefighter, my heart goes out to your families.

Gracie is 3 months

3 months old... where has the time gone! I took Gracie to a new pediatrician today, and they may be worse than the first one I took her too. Lets sum it up by describing the entire visit as- dirty, rude, slow. Really is it that hard to have great pediatric care in Georgia? It seems impossible. I guess I will keep looking but for now here are some stats on little

 Gracie @ 3 months:

Weight- 11lbs 3 oz

Height- 24 in

Head- 40 1/2 cm

• she still refuses a bottle- "those things are nasty", says Gracie
• She is smiling A LOT! she has the sweetest smile when I pick her up after she has been asleep and woken up
• She is almost about to laugh
• Loves to be held- guess I love it too- I have a hard time putting my babies down, they are just too cute to let go
• She is very healthy- has had at least 2 cold, but she has gotten over them all on her own
• Poor little girl seriously can pass some major gas:( she lets out toots all the
• hates being on her tummy- as you can see from the picture below
• loves to grasp both her hands together- she constantly looks like she is about to pray. SO CUTE!
• Her hair is either getting thinner or lighter; I dunno may be both
• Her and Eldon are getting a whole lot easier to manage. We go out at least 2 times a week
• Also still won't take a binky- neither did Eldon- Eldon took it for a few months but I think it was when he was older
• She is a great car rider- she either falls asleep or just looks around the entire ride. But if I am stopped for a while she gets upset- I have too avoid traffic. Little girl is only 3 months and already can't stand traffic
• She is so sweet- She constantly smiles- and just wants to be looked at
• She loves complements- Mark will look at her and tell her all sorts of things and she just coo's and ahh's back.

Pretty much she is our little princess and we love her so very much! We are better because we have her sweetness in our family. What a blessing it is to be their mom. As hard as my days seem so be, every night looking back it is so worth every second!

Cuddle time!

Is there anything better than holding a sleeping baby? I will argue my point if you disagree :) I wrote a post like this a while ago when Eldon was still little ( under the age of 1 i mean to say) Against the advise of almost everyone that gave me advise, I have been rocking both of my babies to sleep every night, until they were fast asleep and I got my "cuddle fill". I choose to cuddle as long as they will let me. I have never regretted this and I just politely plug my ears when others told me not to, that they needed to "learn" to go to sleep on their own. Guess what? They did learn!  Eldon I think is in a little independent phase where he doesn't need to be rocked by Momma. Which saddens me a little, but I hope in time he will come back to me. Like the small moments like tonight when he felt a bit sick and he was tired and a bit upset, and he crawled in my lap, head against my chest and we watched Dr. Seuss together.  Eldon now has been sleep in a big boy bed for almost 4 months now with really no issues, I had to put a child proof lock on his door and he hasn't had any issues since- sleeping from usually 8:30pm til 9:30am or 10:30am, and my sweet little girl sleeps from 9:00pm wakes up and nurses around 3:30am for only 20 min and is usually back asleep all in her own room in her own crib. Then wakes up at 7:30pm nurses for 30min and falls back asleep usually until his brother wakes up. 

"Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow,

For babies grow up, I've learned to my sorrow.

So settle down cobwebs, dust go to sleep,

I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep!"

I have heard this quote several times before. I really want to frame it up really nice and put it by my rocking chair, so to always remind me that even though my house is a GIANT mess, this is what truly matters. My babies, my eternal family, my husband. Life really is flying, take it from someone who is about to have a 3 month old!! I will cuddle Gracie as long as she will let me, true I may cause sleeping problems, but I don't care if my kids need to snuggle me before they go to sleep. Life is wasted it seems these days on far less important things, but this is important to me! Haha I just can't put them down!