The Christmas spirit ... Or bribery

We finally got Alden to hold Lucy. I have been trying for quite some time to get Alden to sit in his chair and hold Lucy on his lap. And no amount of bribery or candy could convince him. But somehow on Christmas Eve he finally agreed to do it. Maybe it was the Christmas spirit, or maybe it was because Alden is beginning to love Lucy.... Or perhaps it was just the chocolate bribe. No matter what it was - I finally got what I wanted. A bunch of shots of the two of them... And they were even in matching pjs thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Steed.

Alden said a few cute things. First one while Regan and Alden were delivering the last of the Babkas (Ukrainian Circle Breads) on Christmas Eve, he said at one of the homes "Trick or Treat." And secondly when we were getting ready to act out the nativity - just our little family, I asked Alden who he wanted to be. He said "I'll be Mary." I told him I was a girl so I'd be Mary and he could be Joseph or a wise man or a Shepard and he said again "I'll be Mary." :) What a funny kid.

It was a wonderful Christmas, simple and quiet. But a wonderful family Christmas. And I hope all of you had the same.

Merry Christmas

Just wanted to post and say that I hope everyone has a great Christmas and gets lots of time with loved ones. It'll be a nice quiet family Christmas for us. I'll post pictures of Alden and Lucy from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day sometime. Hope everyone remembers the real reason for the season.

dreaming

Okay I want this. I wanna save up and buy this. The things you could do with it. So cool. I do have a GREAT digital camera now - it's a Canon PowerShot A70, but I wanna upgrade. In the summer I got to try out my FIL's camera - its a nice one - I think similar to this one. And it just added to my desire to have a fancy one like this. Quicker shutter speed.... Now let's all take a minute and admire the beauty of this together now. Ahhhhh. A real beauty.

Family Photo shoot

On Sunday we reasoned and bribed Alden until we could get him to be in a family photo.... and it worked. Well kind of. As long as I ran back and forth between where we were sitting and to press the timer on the camera - while carrying Alden so he didn't run away. :) Toddlers. Every day for the past week he says to me "Mom, I'm ready for my presents now." Toddlers.

just call me forgetful jones

well I came on here three days in a row..... but couldn't post.... cause i forgot my usename AND password. Good thing blogger has those magic links for forgetful people like me. :) Now back to regular posting consistency. :)

100% Girl

Since today is the 15th of the month, the Designers at Scraptivity always do a Guest Design Lift. We were lifting December Guest Designer Jennifer (you can see her page here ) and this is my take on it. I always love doing these. So much fun to try and take things you like about different layouts and add them into your own style and own pages. Stuff on here from a birthday RAK from HeatherM sent me. (The Heidi Swapp Chipboard letter, the blossom and the small chipboard heart. Thanks Heather!!!
Try a lift! They are great!

Adorable, sweet, princess Lucy

One of the great things I got in my baby pool stuff was some cool page kits from HeatherV . It made making this page a snap. I just added another definition from My Mind's Eye that I got from the fabulous Cate S., a small piece of thinner ribbon and sewed it all down. Thanks girls!!!

lunch time imagination

Alden is so full of imagination lately. His play has taken on a whole new level and he is often around the house playing, talking or singing to himself. Often it is the Bob the Builder or Thomas the Train theme songs he is singing. Now the talking, I'm not always sure about. Some times it is easy to understand what he is saying, but often times he is talking so rapidly or quietly that I can not understand what he is saying. He also gets so caught up in his play that he is unaware of anyone or anything in his surroundings.
Yesterday at lunch, was such a play time. He was eating his peanut butter sandwhich and sitting on the heater in the kitchen. He was talking to himself, completely undiscernable to me, and eating his sandwich. It sounded like gibberish - but he would talk and then move his arms or start to laugh. I got down in front of him and he had no idea I was there. I took many photos of him and even when he looked in my direction, he wasn't looking at me... but past me. He was so involved in his imaginative situation that I wasn't there.
A few weeks ago, while playing in the basement playroom, he asked me to set up a tent with the couch pillows and a blanket. After I had built it pleasingly to him, he told me it was his farm and that he was a cow. I grabbed some stuffed animals for him to add to the farm, and he then told me that he was Farmer Ben (as in the Farmer in the Bearstein Bear books) and that those were his animals.
I love that he has such an imagination. It is so fun to see and so lively.

Another cup please: 50 end of the year questions

Another cup please: 50 end of the year questions

I saw this on my friend Patti's blog... so I thought I would give it ago.

What are your resolutions/good intentions for the New Year?
1. To move home to Alberta
2. I have a list.... I'm not going to list them all here - but like last year, Regan and I separate them into 4 categories. Spiritual, Emotional, Mental and Physical. Then we set ones for ourselves, our family and one for each other.

What happened in your life that you never expected to happen?
1. Lucy got sick and was in the NICU

What is one thing you did that you have never done before?
1. Went to Whitefish and had a vacation at the lake

What were your biggest achievements?
Giving birth?

What were your biggest challenges?
Being homesick, learning to adjust to very little sleep again and the first trimester of pregnancy.

What is your biggest regret?
I didn't take more pictures myself when we were home.

When were you happiest?
Lots of different moments.

Who was your best friend?
Regan

Who surprised you this year? In what way?
Alden. I hadn't seen him so upset before.

Who did you admire most this year?
My mom. She just keeps on the path even though she gets thrown so many curve balls.

Who were you in love with?
Definately Regan

What was the most important lesson you learned?
I need more trust in Heavenly Father's plan for me.

What was your favorite TV show?
Gilmore Girls and Lost

What was your favorite film?
Loved Batman Returns. Can't remember any others I have seen this year. :)

What was your favorite book?


What was your favorite food?
Sweets and Red meat. (How can you tell I was pregnant this past year?)

What was your favorite song?
Right now it is Breath of Heaven - cause it's Christmas.

What were your favorite phrases?
"That's a funny name"

What did you do for your Birthday?
Spent time with my little family and bought a new outfit. And the next day went to dinner with some girlfriends.

Which was your favorite Holiday?
Christmas

What was the best gift you gave?
Birth. And the ones I made for Christmas are good too I think.

What was the best gift you received?
A flight home.

What did someone say to you that surprised you?


What was your hobby?
Scrapbooking and photography

What new discoveries did you make?
I have lots of good ideas.

What was your guilty pleasure for the year?
Deep and Delicous cakes. mmmmmmm.

What did you do on an average day?
Spent time at home. Did some cleaning, some diaper changing, cooking and a little creating.

What was your fashion like?
Comfy and casual.

What was your career/job like?
Stay at home mom.

Did you make more/less/same amount than the previous year?
Same - nothing.

What new skills did you learn this year?
I learned to create fonts.

What do you think was your most valuable contribution?
Time with my kids.

What lesson(s) did you learn about yourself?
I need to trust Heavenly Father more and that I am tougher than I thought.

What were the most significant events of the past year?
Having Lucy

What were you afraid of?
Lucy in the NICU and handling two kids.
Never moving home.

What was your most memorable journey?
Giving birth.

Which did you do more of? Smile or cry?
Hopefully smile.

Did you make any new friends?
Yepper.

Did you lose any old friends?
Don't think so. I refound some instead.

Did you have any births/deaths in your family?
2 deaths and 2 births.

Did you fall in love/out of love?
Fell in love more with Regan.

What is your newest tech item?
Fontifer.

What was your most extravagant purchase?
A new outfit.

What should you have done more of?
pray

What should you have done less of?
worry

What made the biggest difference in your life?
Regan's consistency.

What gave you joy?
My family. Alden. Lucy. Regan. Seeing our families in the summer.

What made you sad?


What is your motto for the year?
Home is where the heart is.


Antuanette Wheeler

baby it's cold outside

This past weekend our first winter storm it... and it sure came down. Tons of snow - probably about a foot. Power outages, blowing snow. A winter friday night. So the next morning Regan was being a good husband and neighbor, went out and spent 2 - 3 hours shovelling our driveway and our neighbours (they were away.) Sunday it started to rain. And rain. And rain and rain... you get the point. So a lot of the snow melted. All that work and he could of just waited.... but he was being a good guy! (He's good at that!) Made the roads slick this morning when we went out. I'm glad to be home and safe again this afternoon!

Lucy had her 2 month check up. She weighed in at 11 pounds 7 ounces. She is doing great. And also really tall - in the 95% for her height.
Even though this first picture is out of focus - I had to keep it. It is the first time we have been able to catch Lucy smiling... of course it is blurry. Oh well - it's still cute!


















Alden is doing great too. He looks so big in this photo. I just took it about 10 minutes ago...and he looks bigger already. We have been talking to him about Christmas and trying to teach him the real reason behind Christmas. I think we will be having a birthday cake close to Christmas and talking about how it is Jesus Christ's birthday to help it sink in a bit. He knows to say it is his BIrthday - but then asks when his is so he can get more presents. He's three. :)

just a little break

I have been doing a lot of Christmas prep... and I just wanted a chance to create for myself for a few minutes today. This page was mostly prepared and thought out ahead of time. So I just basically had to sit down and glue and sew it together. Alden says some really cute things lately. And this page is documenting one of them.


Another thing he says a lot lately is "that's a funny name." When we read books or anyone says their name he comments, "well that's a funny name." It's pretty cute.

the oddness continues.....

So Alden has NO interest at all in potty training. I've tried most things. Bribes. New underwear with his favorite character. Candy. Telling him he is a "big boy" now. Taking him to the toilet every 10 minutes. Not ready. Well that's fine. I'll wait. But why does a kid who doesn't want anything to do with the toilet.... take a blanket and pillow and lay by one? I don't get him!

she's got skills!

So I got a big package from my grandma. Christmas stuff and some cute dresses she made for Lucy. All girlie and pink and lacey. Just cute! This past Sunday Lucy wore one to church and she got lots of compliments on it. (Which she took very well.) I love the dresses and I just love that my grandma took the time to make them just for Lucy. What a nice gift!'

stinkin' cute!

Yep that's my kids. Stinkin' cute.



Is this out fit SO CUTE?? Aunty Whitney (and Uncle Brad) got the sweater for Lucy, the jeans are from my friend Shannon and the long sleeved onsie is from another Vanessa.


Alden has always loved vehicles. But the past three days he has been ALL ABOUT his race cars lately. He asks for them when he first gets up. And they go with him all around the house. It is so cute to see him totally immersed in play. He talks while playing with a running commentary or just imaginary play now. And it is so neat to see the small changes in his play that show his mind is growing up. I asked him if we could go for a car drive today to do some errands and go places. I wanted to know if he would be good. He said "no, I be bad." Okay. No errands today.

Turning the big 2-8

"Birthday's are good for your health. Statistics say the more you have of them, the longer you live."

Wednesday was my birthday. The whole day I was thinking about how the older you get the more your birthday's change. When you are a kid it's all about the party. About the friends coming over. And the cake and presents. But when you get older (and totally mature :) ) it's not about all that any more. Regan made a point of staying home from Young Men's on Wednesday to be with me. It's not that we did anything exciting - but we were together that night. And I appreciate that. I guess it becomes more about that kind of stuff.

Since it was just December first, a new kit comes around for Scraptivity. And new DT layouts.... Here are two I got done. I wanted to do more - but you know, having a new baby and all made it a little hard. They'll be middle of the month pages.





Also since it is December first, looks like I better start Christmas shopping now. Not too many days left.

life with a toddler

Well Alden has gotten into some strange habits lately.

First of all he will never wear a shirt during the day. Pretty much right after he gets dressed... he takes it off and won't put it back on. He says it "tickles him" ? Not sure what THAT means. So he is always running around here with out one on. I think this picture seems to sum up life with him lately pretty good. He made every thing a mess and he is running around without his shirt on. :)

Another of his habits lately is to sleep on the floor. Sometimes beside his bed, sometimes behind the door. Tonight when I went in to check on him, he was sleeping right behind the door (so I had to push him with the door to open it) and he had taken his pj top off... so he was freezing cold sleeping there. He will never come out of his room unless we get him. But he goes to sleep on the floor. Crazy kid!


Lucy is doing great too. She still doesn't smile very much. I think we have seen about 4 smiles when she was awake and meant it. She is starting to get nice full cheeks like Alden had You sure can tell they are siblings!

a love of creation

I just finished this scrapbook page. I have been working on it for a couple days, since I have two kids now and one is still pretty small, I don't get to scrap as often as I did before. Bedtime at 7 pm for Alden isn't the same for Lucy yet. And I was just scanning my page and I thought how much I really love scrapbooking.
I found a great scrapper on TwoPeas today named momteacherwriter and she inspired me again to create.
Choosing the papers, the little additions you can add, sewing on my pages, ribbon, hand cutting my titles.... i love matching the colors and the feel of the supplies. And I love that I get to write and store memories for my children and others to read. I love photography and taking a really good picture. It is such a great hobby. I learned to love art from my mom and this is a form of art that combines so many things I love. And as Van Gogh said "The way to know life is to love many things." One of the many things I love.

35 years with no end in sight

Yesterday I wanted to post (but it ended up being a BUSY day and night) and say Congrats to my mom and dad! November 17 was their 35th Wedding Annivesary. They got married still in their teens, when they were both still kids. But they have one of the best marriages I have ever seen. Just wanted to post a page I did a while back about mom and dad and how their marriage has taught and influneced my own marriage.
So I was thinking about a top ten list.
Things Mom and Dad taught me. (And this is just 10.... they taught me lots more. :) )
10. What a great thing marriage is.
9. No matter what goes on around you stick together.
8. Tithing works!
7. God really does listen and answer our prayers.
6. Create.
5. To notice and appreciate God's beautiful creations all around us.
4. Focus out instead of in. Service makes you feel better.
3. You always have enough to share with others.
2. Duty and dependance and To just quietly go about doing good.
1. That they love all their kids eternally.
Love you Mom and Dad!!! And Congrats!

a break thru

a break thru
Originally uploaded by rhondaleesteed.

FINALLY after Lucy has been home 6 weeks - Alden acknowledges her. He decided to come and sit by Lucy and have her hold his finger. It was wonderful to see... and yes I have LOTS more photos of this great occasion. :) I couldn't have been happier!

A chance to talk

We (Alden, Lucy and I) got the chance to go visit some friends today. I met Sherri and Jennifer at PACT (Parents and Children Together Association) when the number ones were all under 2 months. We all started going to a New Mother's Group in 2002. It was such a good thing for all of us. We met, along with other first time moms, each Tuesday to talk and learn from each other. We, along with 2 other moms, have kept in touch and our kids have continued to keep us connected. Now Sherri and Jennifer and I all have recently had baby number 2. It was wonderful to get together with them today.

I think we forget. As mothers. As parents. We forget how painful child birth is.... and we do it again. We forget how it feels to go without a good night's sleep for weeks, months. We forget how it feels to have your milk come in and the cravings you get when you are breastfeeding. It is so wonderful to be able to share those "re" remembrances with others who are going thru the remembering again too.

I wasn't much of a girl's girl when I was younger. I always thought girls were to emotional and petty. I would of rather play games WITH the boys than giggle about them or try and kiss them. But the older I get I am beginning more and more to really appreciate what women can offer each other. A good girlfriend is something of value. Not to dump on or just talk bad about your husband... (since I don't think either is necessary) but to have women of similar situations and different situations to learn from and spend time with. Women are a powerful force for good. If we let ourselves be. We can truly build each other or pull each other down. And I am grateful that today I got to spend time with women who choose to build other women up.

Lucy's announcement

lucy's announcement
Originally uploaded by rhondaleesteed.

This is Lucy's birth announcement that I made. I am quite happy with how they turned out. I used Gin-X patterened Papers (the one at the top) and Making Memories (grey polka's) along with white and pink cardstocks. The font work and monogram was all done in Illustrator. I just have to get them all addressed and in the mail now. It is wonderful to announce Lucy's arrival this way. Girlie and pink.

After all it's me

I have been browsing other's blogs and even read some reviews of the whole blog craze. According to some articles blogs are just another version of the old fashioned soap box... Well that isn't what I want mine for... But my feelings and opinions will obviously be expressed. After all it's me.

Mostly I wanted a place to show my creations and sometimes just to write my thoughts. I thought it would be a great way to keep connected with family who all live far away. Keeping in contact is important. So this is a beginning. Of an on-line me.