Family Pictures 2012

We had our family pictures taken a few weeks ago. I planned all the outfits including making Lizzy's dress. It was a struggle but my friend Kim took some amazing pictures and I am so excited to have a few shots of our whole family happy together.

We are so Blessed

Two months have already flown by with baby Christian in our lives. TWO WHOLE MONTHS! He has just grown so much over the last two months, changing daily. It is truly amazing what a wonderful gift a baby is to a family. It is funny because when I was pregnant with the first two kids I was so young and naive. Nothing bad will happen during my pregnancy. Nothing bad will happen to my baby. Nothing bad can happen to me. I am doing God's will by bringing souls into this world.

But bad things can happen. I am lucky. I am a wise almost 30 and lucky to be healthy and have a healthy family. I am really counting my blessings these days, which is rightly so since it is the season to celebrate the birth of our savior. But I am also reminded of some that are not as fortunate as I am.

I have a friend who I have been praying for and thinking about a lot lately. She is a 27 year old mother of two. Recently she was given some trying news. She has struggled with a heart condition all her life, and it has progressively gotten worse with each pregnancy. Over the last few months her condition has gotten to a critical point and she has had to make some difficult decisions. One specific decision is to not have any more children. I can't imagine being young and willing to expand my family only to know that I will never be pregnant again. I look at my little Christian and can't imagine my life without him. If I was forced to stop at Elizabeth. Our family would be incomplete. I still don't feel like our family is complete.

Thankfully she is not short sighted and has realized that just because she cannot get pregnant again that does not mean she will never have another child. She and her husband have decided to take the next step and file for adoption. And the more I think about it and the more she looks into it, the more right it seems to be for their family. She is going to have a fantastic opportunity. She is going to be able to give a child in need a home. A home that is centered in Christ. A home with loving parents who will love that child just as their own children they already have.

So the reason I am sharing this is because I want to remind all of us that there are no guarantees in life. Nothing is just given to us and life can change in the blink of an eye. We should all count our blessings and be open minded about our future. The Lord is the only one who knows our future and has a plan for us. It is our job to follow him and have faith that there is a purpose to the plan. To help us grow spiritually. Be grateful and humble, the Lord will provide for us all.

Oh and some great news, Christian is amazing! He is smiling, giggling, reaching, observing, and growing. He rolled over a few days ago from his stomach to his back (3 times). He is so strong, the strongest 2 month old the doctor said she has ever seen. When he is on his stomach he kicks his feet like he is preparing to take off. I think I might have another early mover on my hands. I love him so much and have enjoyed every second I get to spend with him. Even the early morning ones because he smiles so big when I pick him up to feed him at 3am. He has been sleeping longer stretches thankfully! First stretch is usually 4 hours sometimes up to 6 hours. He is just the perfect little being and we are so lucky to have him in our family.

2 MONTH STATS:
-11lbs 10oz (50th %)
-22 1/2 inches (20th %)

Deck the Halls

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year for a few families in our ward. We are lucky that we have made such good friends here in Albuquerque, especially being so far away from family. The kids played and the adults ate. It was relaxed and wonderful. Jackson made an Indian costume out of a paper bag at preschool the day before and came home so excited about it, that he help Elizabeth make one too. They both wore them on Thanksgiving.

Then the next day we pulled out all the Christmas decorations and listened to Christmas music while we decorated our house. Children make Christmas so magical, they were so excited about all the decorations, the lights, the tree, and the nativity scene. They actually put almost every ornament on the tree all by themselves this year. It was so amazing to watch them talking to each other and hanging the ornaments.

We finished the night by putting the Geotrax trains under the tree and taking some family pictures by our beautiful tree. The holiday season is off to a great start.

November Happenings

Wow has it really almost been a month since my last post? Where does the time go? I know, lately it goes to taking care of 3 munchkins and getting used to a new schedule. I feel like I am finally adjusting, FINALLY. Change is hard, especially for me. I get used to living a certain way and then when something changes it takes me a while to get adjusted. I am the first to admit too, it is a rocky transition every time. I get emotional, usually have a mini breakdown, and then we turn the corner and everything works out.

During the transition we blessed Christian, took a trip to the zoo and the bio park, and hosted Thanksgiving at our house. 

During the blessing Brandon blessed Christian that he will gain an education (he said it twice) and that he will serve in the church. Hopefully we will have a little smartie pants on our hands. We know he is very strong. He has a very sweet personality. Constantly smiling at us and looking around with his big eyes.

 

He loves to be held, by anyone around and he loves watching the kids play and run around the house. He has finally gotten  used to his swing and the past few nights he has slept in his swing starting with a 6 hour stretch (can I say thank you to that because when he sleeps in his bed he only goes for 3 hours at the most).

Elizabeth is finally adjusting to Christian as well. She loves to come over and give him kisses and tell him how cute he is. She talks to him as well telling him that she is his big sister. Jackson adores Christian calling him "his baby". It is really sweet. I don't think life gets any better when they are all loving towards each other.

Our Baby is a Month Old

I just realized I never posted the pictures of Christian from the hospital.

 He came out sucking on his fingers, all ready to nurse.

I can't believe how much he has grown over the last month. It feels like he has always been a part of our family. He is now over 9lbs and 21 inches and has grown out of his newborn clothes. He is smiling and actually on a decent schedule sleeping for 4 hours during the first stretch of the night and then 3 hours.

 Jackson loves him so much and Elizabeth is getting more and more used to him. Trying to be a good big sister. The potty training is getting better too. Still not pooping in the toilet but peeing all the time and not touching the poop which is a plus. Maybe she will be back to normal by the end of the year, we can only hope.

Halloween Happenings

This Halloween was super busy in the Stoker house. Not only are we still adjusting to our new bundle of joy but between the ward Halloween party, Joy School Halloween Party, Preschool Halloween party, and trick-or-treating plus a trip to the pumpkin patch we were busy pretty much every day. Thankfully Brandon's mom was in town to help me haul the troops around town for all the October pumpkin fun.

We started with a trip to the pumpkin patch with our Joy School group. Jackson had actually gone the week before with his preschool class so he was our tour guide. It was really fun to see him showing me around the pumpkin patch and telling me all about what activities there were to do. We went for a hay ride and each got to pick our own medium pumpkin. Jack was just so excited because his friend James got to join us. He loves James.

Then we took our pumpkins home and carved them. The kids actually painted their pumpkins while Brandon, Diane, and I carved a few. Jackson still wouldn't touch the pumpkin guts but Elizabeth thought it was a lot of fun. She was very concerned with picking out every last seed to toast in the oven.

Then we went to our ward Halloween party. It started with a trunk-or-treat which Jackson did not want to participate in without me by his side. I didn't know where Elizabeth went at first she was so eager to get started and didn't seem to want to wait for anyone else.

We set up a photo booth where I took pictures of the ward members dressed in their costumes. I ended up staying in there the whole party so I didn't even get to see what else was set up but the kids seemed to enjoy themselves. They each tried to eat the doughnuts on strings without their hands and took turns Halloween bowling. I think they enjoyed the candy and taking pictures with their friends the most.

Out of the 4 major Halloween events Jackson wore 3 different costumes. (Wolverine, Darth Vader, and black Spiderman.) Elizabeth was Snow White for all the events. Even after I made her special Tangled hair. She is a princess and seems to get what she wants most of the the time. Plus one of her friends dressed like Snow White too, so I think she was really excited about that.

We did have one downfall to trick-or-treating. Earlier in the day Elizabeth was playing outside without shoes on and she stepped in a thicket of goat heads (small thorn-like plants that have poison in the thorns). Her feet were covered in them and she was bleeding everywhere. We pulled them all out and she seemed fine but by the end of the day, right before trick-or-treating her feet were so sore and swollen that she couldn't even walk on them. We had to push her in the stroller to all the houses. She was really cute holding her bucket out and telling everyone that she "hurt her feet on the goat heads." Jackson was the official doorbell ringer and was really excited about trick-or-treating this year. Last year we only made it to two houses before he got shy and decided to go home. It is so much fun when the kids start to discover the holidays and all their excitement is infectious. 

We finished the night off watching Hocus Pocus and Monster House. Lizzy loved Monster House saying, "I love the SPPOOOKY house, it's a MONSTER HOUSE," in her little sweet voice. These kids are so funny.