BABY STOVER

2009-12-24T12:46:00.016-06:00

Happy 1st Birthday Sydney Claire

One year ago today at 7:30 a.m. I gave birth to my special Sydney Claire. Today my precious baby is one! She is talking and laughing and such a joy. Every morning when she wakes she looks around and says, "Hi Da". She loves her Daddy! She says, "A-pen" for her sister and when she is very upset she yells, "MAMA". We are so thankful for our sweet sweet baby. God bless you little angel! Here are pics of her starting with her first day on earth and every month since then! Enjoy

a few hours old

one month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

today...one year old

2009-10-03T17:01:00.021-06:00

Catching up

So I have not blogged in 3 months. We had a busy summer and my dad got sick and things just were not easy to where I could blog. We are all doing great now though. Sydney is 9 months old and Aspen will be 3 in 2 months. 4 weeks ago I discovered that Syd had a bottom tooth coming in and in the past two weeks she has cut three more. She now has two on bottom and the two on top are breaking through. SOOO cute. She weighs a little less that 20 lbs and is in the 50% for weight...25% for height..and her head is in the 50%. So..she is just all over the board. She has started trying to crawl but usually just goes backward scooting around in circles. She laughs and for several weeks now has been saying DADA. She says MAMMA when she is sooo upset she cannot stand it but lately I say, "sydney say momma"...and she looks at her daddy and laughs and says, "dada". She says it nearly every time I ask her to. Her fav. baby food is pears, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, corn, and real green beans. I take tiny pieces off of our green beans and she eats them. We just really enjoy Syd and are thankful for how happy she is. She is really super easy and sleeps through the night and is just a real joy to our family.

Aspen is doing awesome! She is almost 3 and weighs 32 lbs. She is into order lately. She lines everything up in rows according to their kind. She has certain things that she loves everyday and once she decides that is the chosen thing of the day that is all she wants. She also has to have a daddy, mommy and baby of everything. We ate celery the other day and she wanted the baby and momma celery. They had pickles for snacks at VBS and instead of eating them she brought them home and said she wanted to sleep with the "pickle baby". We just recently bought her a pumpkin and I bought a big one, medium one, and baby one for her obsession. She has to have them all in a row watching her sleep...haha! I know sounds a little OCD, but I think she is just really in to order. She just started getting serious about potty training 3 days ago. I made her a chart she puts stickers on and she loves it. She knows when she has to go and has done awesome. She also says really funny things like: When she is talking to Guy and I sometimes she says, "honey can you do this" or "it's ok honey". I fed Sydney a few days ago and she said, "That was a good idea Nanny", and then patted me on the back. A few days ago we had this conversation:

Aspen: NO!!
ME: Aspen you are getting a spanking for saying No

after the spanking....

Me: I want you to start obeying me and not saying no..do you understand me?
Aspen: NO!!!
Me: Aspen Belle what did you just say?
Aspen: NOOOOO Problem Nanny

She is too smart it scares me. She also like to say all the time, "I don't think so Mamma". She has no idea how to use this..she just randomly says it throughout the day. When she is crying she will say, "I don't want to be sad anymore"....haha! After our football game the other night she was crying and said, "I just need my sister!!! Sydney I just need to hold you me"....She really loves Syd and they enjoy taking baths every night and playing together. She is into Veggie tales, The Land Before Time, Toy Story..as always.., Frosty the Snowman, and Arthur. She has Toy Story memorized. Anyway, I could go on and on, but our girls are doing very well and are just loving life as we are too. God has been soo good to us!

our going away party for Chelsea

Going away party and drinking 20 below drinks

7 months old in an old dress of Aspen's

7 1/2 months old swimming in our pool

2 1/2 years old

Sydney 9 months old

crawling backwards

Keeping the daddy monster from coming in her room

I finally have Syd's room finished

Syd 8 months old

At our college students' frisbee tournament

frisbee tourney..they made our family t-shirts

Syd(8 mons) on daddy's computer

Aspen making a huge cupcake cake with me

Amy Shaw bought me this cupcake cake pan I wanted and I tried it tonight..I really don't want to eat all this though. I think i will take it to church tomorrow.

About to go to Memorial's Homecoming. our friend made Syd's bow

Aspen playing at the football game in the stands

Our friend Cassiana at college small group

We carved pumpkins at college small group

Aspen's potty chart

Syd and her baby pumpkin I bought her

2009-06-12T18:07:00.029-06:00

It's been 6 weeks since I blogged!

In the life of a baby 6 weeks is huge. This marks the difference in Sydney finally smiling at us, laughing at us, teething, sitting up, rolling over and so much more. These pictures are a story of our past 6 weeks starting from today working backwards to May 1st! At the beginning of May we went to Guy's mom's house for 5 days to finally have Christmas with the whole family. We also got to meet Guy's sister, Rachel's daughter Tabby for the first time. We enjoyed our time and it was good for the kids to see their grandma because they only see her about once a year. Aspen baked bread and blew bubbles with her, and Sydney just enjoyed smiling at her! After our time there, we headed to Shawnee to see my brother and his family! We had an awesome time with them especially with my niece and nephew and we also celebrated my 30th b-day on May 12! For my b-day they wrote the reasons they love me on 30 pieces of paper located all throughout the house! It was very thoughtful and also kinda funny! Most of my brother's comments were like, "I love Nancy b/c she thinks she can play hockey, or she thinks she is cool..etc...." I loved them all though!! :-) Sydney also marked her 4 month b-day before we left for Oklahoma. She weighed 14 lbs and was 24 inches long. She just started smiling and by 5 months was laughing out loud! She is the happiest sweetest baby in the world and I cannot believe she is growing up so fast! A few weeks after we got home from Oklahoma my cousin Holly and her new husband Josh came to visit us! Sydney was just about in love with Josh and Aspen stuck with Holly. When they left, for two days all I heard about was going to Holly's house. On May 24th Syd turned 5 months and on the 27 Aspen turned 2 1/2. Sydney is laughing, rolling over, sleeping through the night and is just thriving! She is around 15 lbs and is just so chunky! She is a major momma and daddy's girl. When she goes to Guy she instantly grabs his goatee and then is suddenly calm. When she sees me she grabs my hair and just talks and coos at us. She ADORES Aspen and half the time we are telling Aspen to get off Sydney or to play softly with Sydney and then we see that Sydney is cracking up at what Aspen is doing! Aspen is around 29 lbs now and is just getting those mean two year molars. She is soooo much fun and just really loves her "momma nanny" which I love. Everyday I get hugs and kisses and cuddles. She will say, "Momma..need a Kiss? OKAYYYYYY" and then she kisses me. She does not like bugs but is not really scared of them either. She likes to make a show of it, like if she sees a bug she yells out, "WHOAH scary spider..lets kill it Nanny". Then, she gets really close to it and asks me to kill it. She carries our flyswatter everywhere saying, "I got the swatter..lets get it". A few days ago I walked into Syd's room and I saw two legs sticking out of the crib. Aspen found a way to climb in Sydney's crib and though I could not see Sydney in the crib when I walked in, I did hear her laughing at Aspen! Life has been crazy lately, but so good! We just love our girls and feel especially blessed to have healthy children!

This is my new comforter set we bought yesterday!! YAY!

Sydney today at 5 months and 2 weeks old

Aspen found a way into Syd's crib! AHHHH

She was so proud!

I had just given my baby a bath and she was so happy!

Aspen riding her toy horse! She was scooting around the house

2 1/2 years old exactally on this day

5 months old

5 months old and rolled over for the first time on this day

At Kemah feeding sting rays with Jewel and Steve

With cousin Holly..saying goodbye...So sad!

Sydney with her boyfriend Josh

5 months old exactally this Sunday morning!

Almost 5 months

With her cousins and Uncle Chris

All of my b-day signs on the walls

Today I turned 30 at Chris and Jess's house!

Sydney (4 1/2 months)with her big cousin Ally

Aspen with Grandma on May 12th

Leaving Grandma's

Me blowing out candles on my cake at Guy's mom's house!

In their matching Jammies that Grandma gave them

Tabby(Rach's daughter), Syd, and Aspen is matching Jammies

Tabby (1), Syd (4 months), Aspen (2)

Grandma and Syd

Aspen and Grandma baking bread

Grandma taking it out to cool!

2009-04-17T17:32:00.011-06:00

Easter, LTC, and Good friends

We have had a full couple of weeks! Last week our friend Jacob Hance called us from Louisiana and told us he was picking our good friend Tyler Ellis up at the Houston Airport in a few hours. We were so excited b/c the airport is about 10 min. from our house. When they arrived we went and had lunch for a couple of hours and caught up on old time! We were so happy to see these guys again!! A few days later we headed to downtown Houston for Leadership Training for Christ. We spent two days down there watching our teens compete in different activities that teach them to be leaders in the church! They did great and Aspen had a ball being with all the kids!! Sunday morning we woke up and headed to church straight from our hotel. The Easter Bunny came to our house instead of the hotel! Aspen loved her Easter basket complete with a mini chocolate bunny. Sydney got one too that I thoroughly enjoyed eating!! Later that day we had a church easter egg hunt in our annex because of the rain. That was our week in a brief synopsis! I would love to write more but I am lucky to even do this with two kids! Lets see...Aspen is now 29 months old and 28 lbs. She is learning to use the potty but we have not perfected it yet! She is really enjoying sitting on it though and putting toilet paper in it. She always says funny things and yesterday She was telling me she wanted some milk and she said, "GIVE ME THAT MILKERS". I told her that was not the right way to ask. Guy said, "aspen you need to say, May I have some milk". So, she then said with a whimper in her voice, "MAYME MILKERS PLEASE!". It was really cute! She likes to "share with Sydney". This means she says, "here sydney..here is a toy" and then quickly yangs it away saying, "Thats A MY TOY!". haha! We are working on this!! She still loves to hug and kiss her mama and everyday asks if she can hold me and "kiss you me". Sydney is around 13 lbs and will be 4 months old on the 24th. She is now compltely sleeping through the night meaning from around 10:00 till 7:00!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!! She smiles everytime I talk to her and sometimes can't fall asleep or keep her pacy in because she is smiling so much at me! She also outright laughed this week when I sang a song to her! She never crys and is such a joy!!! I love my girls!!!! They are more fun everyday!!!!!

at LTC with some of the girls

Our good friends, Tyler and Jake

Best BUDS!

2009-03-29T15:50:00.009-06:00

My baby is 3 months and Aspen is 28 months

Well 5 days ago my little Sydney turned 3 months old and just 2 days ago Aspen turned 28 months old. Syd is around 13 lbs and is sooooo happy! She smiles constantly especially when she has a face up close to her. She wakes up happy and is just generally happy all the time! I LOVEEEEEEEEEEE IT! She sleeps through the night most nights and even when I feed her at 6:00 she goes back to sleep till 9:00. The best thing about her though is her sweet personality. She is just so sweet and actually giggles from time to time! Aspen is doing great and is such a great big sister. This week Syd was having a tummy ache and went to Syd and said, "it's ok baby sydney". A few days ago we were eating ice cream and Guy told Aspen she had to sit on the fireplace to eat it so she wouldn't get it everywhere and out of her mouth came, "That's idiculous". We were floored! Guy says ridiculous a lot and I guess she caught on. She got in some trouble for saying that because what daddy says should never be ridiculous! :-) I could not ask for better kids. Being with them is so rewarding and I never want to forget the little things like at night when Aspen says, "nanny, I hold you!" or when Sydney sees me and smiles and coos! What a great life we have!!

syd looks up to Aspen and always stares at her! Thanks for the matching pajamas Grandma Haney!!

3 months old!

Aspen sharing her toys with Sydney

She was exactally 3 months on this day

This morning Syd and Aspen wore matching Disney dresses to church that Mimi bought them

2009-03-23T21:15:00.006-06:00

We are back

We have not blogged in a while. We spent a week in Lubbock seeing our friends from AIM and taking our teens to a camp there. It was a great time of relaxation and spiritual renewal for us. Thanks to all of our friends who made it a great week! This week marks Sydney's 12 week birthday! :-) She weighed 12 lbs 7 ou. at her appt. last week. She just discovered her hand two days ago and would just hold her little fist in front of her eyes for several minutes! She smiles everyday now and actually started this a couple of weeks ago but now consistently smiles when she looks at her mobile and at her mommy! AHHHH! She also has been sleeping through the night the past few weeks. She usually eats at 10:30 and then sleeps until 6:00 or 7:00! How cool is that?? I feel like a new woman with all of this rest! Things are going great though and Aspen just loves Sydney! She loves to say, "it's ok Sydney" when Syd cries. Aspen's new thing is her toy cell phone. She says, "Nanny! PHONE". When she says this I grab my phone and we have fun little conversations about this and that. She is hilarious and is still sooooo cuddly with me. I hope she never outgrows snuggling with me. The pics are of my girls on Sunday morning. A friend of mine owns a children's clothing store in Lubbock and Syd is decked out in her new clothes!

2009-03-03T16:47:00.008-06:00

Planting Flowers

Yesterday when Guy got home from work I was a little bit down and had had a difficult day. Guy being the sweet husband he is thought we should go buy me a coffee at Starbucks and then some flowers to plant. We had a lot of fun buying mulch and picking out flowers. When we got home we brought the girls in the front yard with us and planted the flowers. Aspen was really cute as she picked up our pots and organized them all on the mulch. Then she began pulling all the petals off, but I quickly got to her and explained that we could not pick these flowers. She is obsessed with them. Sydney sat in her swing for two hours as we planted everything. She was awake the whole time and just smiled and looked up at our tree! What a fun afternoon!

2009-03-01T14:24:00.009-06:00

I love my kids

I had such a good week with my girls! It is funny how some days I just think how will I ever get through this day because I am so tired, and other days I cannot imagine life without my two little girls and all the joy they bring. I have said it so many times, but I have so much more energy now that Sydney has been born. I am really loving life and enjoying waking up each day to spend with my kids! This week was not different than any other except I just enjoyed reflecting on how much God has blessed me. Ironically Aspen got into everything this week but for some reason I didn't get too overwhelmed. Here are some examples....On Monday Aspen came running into the living room with my lipstick all over her face and she said, "i'm pretty Nanny". I was a bit upset but then just started laughing to myself b/c you should have seen this child covered in lipstick. Then I walked through the house and found lipstick on my dresser, walls, recliners, and floor! Aspen did get in trouble, but truthfully why did I leave my lipstick where she could play with it?? The next day I was putting Syd's bow on her head with Kairo Syrup and right in front of me Aspen grabbed the syrup and poured it all over the carpet! Now let me tell you...she got a pretty big spanking for this and now refers to the syrup as, "no no". Then, last night she came walking into my room with lemonade all over her. All she said to me was, "Oh no Nanny Oh no". She is absolutely into everything and so I have learned the hard lesson of putting things up high and also balancing that with making sure she knows there are just things she does not need to touch. It is so funny because up until about two weeks ago she just left everything alone. All this said, I am so grateful to have a child that is healthy enough to play and get into trouble. I am so thankful to God for giving me the job and the pleasure of raising to girls to be like him! I love being a parent!!

Sydney is 9 weeks old and is really starting to smile and try to talk to us. She makes the sweetest cooing noises. At her two month appointment she was 11 pounds and 14 ounces. Her height was 21 inches. She is in the 50th percentile pretty much across the board! She is also holding her head up really well when we place her on her tummy! She eats at around 10:00 everynight and then sleeps until around 4:00 a.m. I feed her at 4:00 and then she sleeps till around 8:00. I cannot get over that I am only feeding her once in the middle of the night! It is just awesome!!! Enjoy the pictures!

In their matching outfits Mimi bought them

My 9 week old girl

holding her up well

Aspen put my lipstick all over the door

She crashed on me after playing outside with daddy

2009-02-24T14:50:00.005-06:00

Family pics and pics of the Girls

We decided to go get some professional pics of our family on Sydney's 8 week birthday because she is just growing too fast and I feared I would never do it. I was happy with how they turned out. It is so difficult to get good pics with two little girls but after a ton of shots we have a few that are pretty good! Enjoy!

2009-02-17T19:25:00.010-06:00

Valentines Day and Sisterly Love

Valentine's Day is always a fun time for our family but was especially fun this year. Guy bought me red roses and took his three girls out on a date. We went to eat and then went to the mall for a little shopping. I had so much fun dressing my girls up and enjoying being with Guy! Sydney wore a pink dress I bought her and Aspen wore a new skirt and shirt that said, "Daddy's sweetheart". That night Guy and I had what we like to call date night at home. We put the kids to bed and then order food from a good restaraunt and rent a movie. Since having kids, we don't always want to find babysitters every time we want to go on a date so we started doing an at home date night a couple of years ago! So much FUN!

Sydney is 8 weeks old tomorrow and is just such a sweetheart. I was sick today and had a dr. appt. and I took her with me. She didn't cry at all but just patiently sat with me for 2 hours in the waiting room. LONG WAIT right? I was worried that she would get fussy but she was sweet as can be. Aspen spent the day with daddy at work and didn't want to leave the church because she was having so much fun! When we got home tonight I took a few pics of the girls together. Aspen enjoys loving on Sydney and helping her find her pacy! Such a great big sister!!

Sydney and I dressed up for Valentine's Day

My two girls in their outfits

Aspen in her cute V-Day outfit

My beautiful roses

Pretty blue eyed baby

Sydney is just so calm with Aspen

Loving on sissy

Here's your pacy Sydney

My sweet 8 week old girl

2009-02-12T17:34:00.009-06:00

Sydney is 7 weeks and Aspen is 27 months

Well things are moving right along in the Stover family! Aspen had a birthday party to go to this week. It was princess themed so she was quite happy. It was also Sydney's first birthday party and she wore a little dress and even got a party favor bag. How cool is that?? I weighed her today and she is 12 lbs which is much more than I thought but I am not at all surprised either. She feels pretty heavy! After the party we bought a kite. Guy looked at pretty princess ones for her, but she wanted a Buzz Lightyear one of course. He is her hero and favor character ever! So today we finally took the kite out for a spin. Aspen liked it for about 5 minutes but I was in heaven so I flew it a while and then in an effort to chase Aspen because she was getting away, the kite got stuck on a powerline. I quickly let go so I wouldn't get electricuted and the kite wrapped around it. So...we lost the kite but as far as I know it is still flying over in Crenshaw Park! Sad story. Anyway, things are going well with our two little ladies. We are meeting our small group friends at Chic Fila tonight for dinner so the girls will get some playtime in with their friends! Enjoy the pictures!

I am trying to get a non crying pic with her face toward the camera!

Not yet.....

YAY - good pic Sydney

Her princess dress for the b-day party

Our pretty princess who likes quite sad. She was a bit shy and it took her a while to hang with the other kids!

2009-02-06T20:38:00.009-06:00

Sydney is 6 weeks old and Aspen is adorable!

Well, Syd is 6 weeks old this week. She seems to really look at us and notices when we walk in the room. If I am talking she arches her head to see me. I love this. Sometimes I find myself just wanting to hold her and never let go. She is such a cuddly little thing and I really want to soak up all the time with her at this age. She is growing too fast! Everyone has asked me how this transition too two children has been and I have to say it has been phenomenal. Aspen was sick with acid reflux and cried so much the first few months that I think we were thrown into difficulties right away. Sydney does seem to have a few tummy problems but she does not cry non stop like Aspen did. I think since Aspen was such a challenge at first that we feel like Sydney is a breeze. We just love having 2 kids. I also feel sooooo much better than I did while pregnant and so I have a ton more energy to deal with 2 kids! God is good!!! Aspen is doing wonderful. One of our college students that Aspen adores came home this week and so Aspen has had a good few days. We took her to the park to play with Lauren on Thursday and then Thursday night our college students came over for small group and Aspen had tons of fun with them. In the bottom pictures Aspen is eating spaghetti with Nathan and sitting with Kayla at our bar. She loves the college students!!!

2009-01-27T18:04:00.009-06:00

Our family and one month old Sydney

These are just a few pics from this week. Sydney is a month old and in all of these pics she is between 4 weeks old. Aspen is wearing a princess dress in most of these pics and it is not because I never change her clothes. She LOVES to dress up and if I could describe her in any word it would be PRINCESS!!!!! Every morning no matter what we have dressed her in she wants to wear her pink princess dress that she calls, "wings" because it has wings that attach but that she never wants on...Go figure!! So...we let her wear this around the house everyday and occasionally to Starbucks or to the church to see Guy at work. On Sunday mornings we put our foot down about this and she is always a little sad that she cannot wear her wings there!! She is such a fun little girl these days. She loves to watch a movie or cartoon on Guy's laptop an hour before bedtime to relax. She always asks Guy to lay down with her and she says this.."Daddy, lay room and puncuter me". This means, "lay down and let me watch the computer but she calls a computer a "puncuter". She also all day long chases me around saying, "Nanny...hold you me" I love the way she is trying to form sentences and how they come out. She is a huge cuddler still and wants Guy or I to hold her and cuddle everyday. I LOVE THIS!!! She also loves Sydney and always says, "SINNY come here!!" Sydney is a great baby and we have really loved having our little family. Things are getting more normal and this transition has gone remarkably well! I think we can thank God for that!!! We prayed a lot!!! Also the last pic is of our whole family at church. On Sunday the elders had all the families with babies and children to come on the stage and they prayed for us and for our babies to love God and to marry Godly spouses one day. It was so awesome and we really appreciated it!

2009-01-17T18:21:00.011-06:00

Long Awaited Pics of Miss Sydney Claire

So, Sydney is now 3 weeks old and we are loving every minute of our lives with her. Aspen has finally adjusted and loves to kiss her sister and grab at all of her extremities. It gets a bit scary at times but Aspen is learning to be gentle and she constantly asks Sydney to come play with her. I am doing great and have recovered pretty well from my surgery. We are not sleeping too much at night but hey we expected that so this new baby has not been too big a shock to our systems. Yes my Christmas Tree is still up and will remain that way until we have a free second to take it down. Actually some of the teens we work with have suggested that they come over and take our Christmas stuff down. That would be nice. The pics on here are from the most recent to when she was one day old. These first few pics are of her at 3 weeks old and the last few are the first week! She is now 3 1/2 weeks old. I think she weighs around 8 lbs now and is 20 inches long! A far cry from 6lbs 8 ounces and 18 inches long.

2008-12-24T16:07:00.003-06:00

Sydney Claire is here! She weighed 6lb 8oz and was 18.5in long. If you would like to see more photos you can check out http://picasaweb.google.com/guystover78/Sydney#.

2008-12-22T19:22:00.006-06:00

Christmas Eve for Aspen and 2 days till Sydney is born

We did things different this year since I will be in the hospital on Christmas Eve and morning. We had Christmas Eve tonight for our sweet Aspen! We made Christmas cookies for Santa and then watched Shrek and some of Willie Wonka. She wasn't too fond of that. It's not much of a toddler movie. I've really enjoyed spending time with Aspen this Christmas season and making some fun Christmas traditions with her. We are so excited to have Sydney and to add to our family. I have been praying for my girls to love each other and to be best friends. I look forward to next Christmas when I have a sweet one year old and three year old. God is so good to us. Have a Merry Christmas and we will see you on Wednesday morning when we deliver Sydney!!

2008-12-18T14:47:00.006-06:00

Playing in the leaves after our first SNOW

Two days after we had unheard of snow everything was back to normal and we had a little fun outside. Guy was in the garage painting Aspen's toy chest and I asked Aspen if she wanted to play in the leaves. I raked them all up in a pile and she had so much fun. Enjoy the pictures! Nan

2008-12-12T21:26:00.004-06:00

Only a week and a half till Baby #2 is Born!

I haven't posted a pregnant picture in a while so here it is! I am 37 weeks pregnant and ready to see little Sydney's face! We are getting ready for everything and this week my sweet husband undertook a new project. We took the dresser out of Aspen's room because we think Sydney will need that more right now and Guy is in the process of building a toy chest out of a bench I have. This bench actually was my bed growing up and then my mom had it turned into a cute bench for me! Well, I covered it in red and cream toille and it looked great in our house in Lubbock. We now want to put it in Aspen's room but wanted to make better use of it. The color is a little bit yellow, the cushion doesn't match and we need this bench to hold toys! This week Guy bought a bunch of lumber and so far the toy chest is looking great! I recovered the seat with a pretty pink and all that is left to do now is to paint the bench white! It is going to be an awesome toy chest/seat!

Me at 37 weeks pregnant!

The new toy chest/bench! Picture it all white!!

Me and my girl cuddling before bedtime tonight. She asked me to sing her, "Twinkle Twinkle". I always oblige because I like that she still needs me!!! :-)

2008-12-10T22:36:00.009-06:00

SNOW.....IN HOUSTON!!!!!!

I have lived where it snows my whole life and I do not think I have ever been this excited to see it! It has not snowed in Houston in 4 years and we have lived here a year a half and have never seen snow. The last time we saw it was while we were in the hospital after Aspen was born. It snowed for a few days and she came home to our house with snow covering everything!! I am due with Baby Sydney in 2 weeks and it is so neat that it is snowing here. Aspen had a rough night and for some reason would not fall asleep. She had been in her room crying for a really long time when we looked outside to see our entire yard covered with snow! So...being the good mother I am, I got Aspen out of bed (so now she thinks we will not be consistant with going to bed :-)) and we put her warm clothes on and took her outside to play for a while. Needless to say she did not go to bed till 10:45 and her usual bed time is 8:00. She loved the snow and her daddy taught her how to throw snow balls at her very pregnant mommy. NICE DADDY!!! After we played a while we came in and started a fire and Aspen wanted a snack. We were in a tradition making mood, so we all got a glass a milk and had some donuts and milk and watched the snow fall! It was a really great memory and you never know but this could be one of the only times Aspen will ever see snow.

2008-11-29T21:34:00.016-06:00

Aspen's 2nd Birthday!!!!

Well, Aspen's birthday was officially on Thanksgiving day this year, so we celebrated her birthday today! As you can see we had a Princess Dress Up Party! We invited 4 girls from church and Aspen's cousin Jewls. The girls played with all of Aspen's toys and I am happy to say that we did not have any arguing or fighting over toys from the 2 to 4 year olds who attended!! Aspen was blessed to have her Mimi, Great-Grandmother, cousin and many friends at her birthday! This first pic is of her and her cousin Jewls. Jewls and my cousin Melody and her husband James came down early to spend the day with us and Jewls and Aspen had so much fun the way Mel and I did when we were kids! It is such a joy to live close to them! Enjoy the pictures!!!!

2008-11-06T23:24:00.017-06:00

Carving a Pumpkin and Trick or Treating

Aspen enjoyed carving her first pumpkin and going Trick or Treating at our church's Trunk or Treat. Aspen was Supergirl this year which is actually super funny because my niece Alison also wore the exact same costume 7 hours away in Oklahoma and neither of them planned it that way. The shirt you will see me wearing was made by the girls in our college small group. The back of it says, "Pumpkin in the Oven" and I am very pregnant there at 31 weeks. Very cute idea those girls had!! Enjoy the pictures!

2008-10-13T20:49:00.003-06:00

28 and a half weeks pregnant

I had to write today because every day I feel Sydney bumping around in my stomach but today was different. She usually just kinda pops me really hard and startles me. Today I was sitting in my chair during Aspen's nap time honestly just thinking about Sydney. I had my shirt pulled up where I could look at my stomach and she started doing the smoothest big movements. I could see a large wave go over my stomach and when I put my hand on my stomach I could feel what felt like an elbow going by slowly. She usually is asleep or still in the morning but today I got a show. She did these slow strong movements for about an hour and I just sat there mesmerized. When Guy came home I said that I accomplished nothing during Aspen's nap time which is usually my time to clean and get things done. As sick as I have been in this pregnancy I had a sweet moment today where I just really enjoyed having Sydney with me and in a way I didn't want to rush the pregnancy. There is something so indescribable about a baby inside of you. God is so good to give me two little girls. On another note my Aspen is the greatest encouragement to me. Lately I have started to get sick a lot like with morning sickness but all day. When I feel like I just need to lie down Aspen always comes in and says, "Hi Nanny....HAND???" I walk somewhere with her and she just wants to show me everything. When I have morning sickness she sits on the floor and holds my leg and says, "Sawey Nanny or Nanny sick". It is neat how God gives us such little people for inspiration!!

2008-10-07T20:05:00.011-06:00

PICTURES OF OUR WEEK

Well, we have had a full week as you will see in all these pics. Aspen is now 22 months old and is such a beautiful little girl. She is into everything and wants to help out so much. Today she helped me make mashed potatoes and last week we made muffins. She threw the blueberries in. As any ornery two year old she gets into trouble from time to time but it is so sweet when she realizes this and apologizes. Last night she did a few things that resulted in a spanking and time out. We sat her on the couch and she could not move until she told Guy she was sorry. She would not even look at him for at least 10 mins. I would not let her up and so finally she said, "Nanny, sorry". I said, "that is fine, but you must tell daddy that you are sorry". I carried her to Guy and ever so softly she said, "sawey daddy". It was so sweet and made me proud of her. I love just being with her and watching her do new things. Last night she wanted to skate on our tile and she fell down so many times but just kept getting back up. She kept saying, "I kating". Totally off the subject, but I am now 27 weeks pregnant and the baby is doing great. The dr. has scheduled my c-section on the books officially for 7:30 a.m. on Christmas Eve. We cannot beleive we will have a little Christmas baby! I am feeling pretty good and am just focusing on enjoying Aspen and being with her these last few months before she gets a new sister! ENJOY THE PICS. THERE ARE SEVERAL!!

Going to church

27 weeks Baby

Us at the Memorial High School; Game on Friday. We wore matching bows in our hair

Enjoy football game popcorn for SUPPER!!

She wears this bucket on her head constantly and calls it her HAT

Skating in her dinner stained pajamas

Wearing mommy's high heels

It rained today and she loves to wear her raincoat

Wearing her raincoat in the house of all things. She cries when I take it off.

Helping me make mashed potatoes. She handed me the potatoes to peel and then placed them in a bowl after they were cute. She kept saying, "PEETAYTOES".

2008-09-25T13:41:00.013-06:00

Our Vacation and Hurricane Ike

I realize this is long overdue. We went to Padre Island around August 28th for our vacation and on September 9th we were evacuated for Ike. Busy Busy!! First about our vacation. We had such a good time. This was our first time to go somewhere for more than a night with just the three of us. We usually go see family but thought we needed a little family time. Summers are always busy and especially for youth ministers, I think. We had been running crazy and so decided we wanted to go somewhere where we didn't have to do anything touristy. We stayed in a Holiday Inn right on the water and there was an amazing view. There were hardly any people because of the time of year so we enjoyed chasing Aspen around the beach and letting her run wild. We didn't think about how tired we would be from chasing a toddler to the water just before she dove in, but at the end of each day we were sooo ready for bed! Aspen is fearless. She chased seagulls and got upset when we would hold her hand in the deep water. There was one day where Guy, Aspen, and I were sitting on the sand right where the water comes in and we were watching the little clams or whatever they are digging in the sand. There were hundreds of them and so Guy and I picked some up and they would try to suck to our hand. For whatever reason we were fascinated for a really long time and then Aspen decided she would pick some up. Before we knew it she had one in her mouth. Guy calmly asked her to give it to him because we didn't want to startle her and cause her to choke. She just looked at him and started crunching down on the shell. I gasped and then she spit it into Guy's hand. The real disturbing part was that it was in pieces and the clam or meaty part was gone. I yelled out, "GROSS" and she said, "YUMMY"! It was a weird experience! Anyway, the next morning we decided we needed to go do something other than the beach because we didn't want Aspen to get too much sun, so we went to the Texas World Aquarium. This was really awesome and Aspen loved getting to see all of the dolphin shows and different exhibits. Here are a few pics from our trip!

This is the USS Lexington out on the beach

Aspen is obsessed with umbrellas and so at the aquarium we bought her this cute one with animals on it. Guy taught her how to say every creature on her umbrella!

We were laughing so hard because she carried this thing everywhere and it looked like an umbrella with feet!!

She loved the beach!!

This is her running away from us!

Now on to the Hurricane! We luckily did not sustain any water damage but our fence and trees were taken down! We returned to Houston two days after the storm and were in awe at the damage as we drove into Houston. We saw a plane ripped on half in a friends neighborhood. We saw houses flattened and electric poles lying across the freeway. The best way we can describe our experience in this is like that of culture shock. Electricity became a luxury and food was scarce basically until the past few days. One day I had a really bad day because I waited in line for over an hour for gas and then was told that the station had run out! That same night I drove to six gas stations in total darkness because the electricity in the city was out along with stop lights and each time the stations were closed for lack of gas. I also had no milk for Aspen and all stores were closed because they were too destroyed or had no electricity. Needless to say, I had a bit of a freak out that night but things have gotten a lot better since then. Many people lost their homes and it is a sad situation! It is amazing how dependent we are upon modern things. It has been a humbling experience complaining about what we have gone through and then watching others who have it much worse. Continue to pray for those who are homeless!!

2008-09-04T12:43:00.002-06:00

Pregnancy Pics and Updates

Well, I am now 23 weeks pregnant and took this picture in an outfit I had when I was pregnant with Aspen so I could compare how I look. I am most definitely not sick anymore like I was with Aspen. I have a condition called Placenta Previa(somewhat common with previous c-sections) and so I have to take it extra easy right now. When I go back to the Dr. he should tell me if the problem is correcting itself or not. If it is not then depending on circumstances I will have to take it more easy than I am and could eventually be put on bedrest. So far I have had a few times when I did too much in a day and had some problems, but I am completely optimistic about everything. I feel like the problem will just correct and if it doesn't then everyday I am closer to delivering a healthy baby. By the way, we came up with a name. Our little girl is named SYDNEY CLAIRE. We both just love the name and it was actually hard to come up with. We tried it out for a few days and when Aspen kissed my tummy and said, "hi sydney" then we knew it was the name. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I have been getting harassed :-) for not putting up any preg pics. I will post later about our vacation! Enjoy your day!!

This is a pic when I was pregnant with Aspen. I was 2 weeks less pregnant than I am now.(is that how you say that?) anyway, I was about 21 weeks there. Just a comparison.

2008-08-26T08:17:00.007-06:00

VACATION TIME!!

We are soooo excited to take our vacation this week. We have only taken four days off since we have been here so we have about 10 left until January 1st. We are taking off for a week starting today and then Guy will take some off when the baby comes as well! We love to travel but honestly are exhausted from a summer of fun with the teens. We have decided to go to Padre Island in Corpus Christi and are leaving tomorrow!! We are staying at a hotel on the beach and are planning on just playing in the ocean with Aspen and really relaxing. I am especially excited about the smoothie bar our hotel has right on the beach. I am sure I will visit that several times! Hope all of you have a great week. We will write more when we get back after the 1st of September! I will leave you with some pictures we took with some of our best friends here when we went to Moody Gardens in Galveston!!

Aspen and her best bud Elyssa who is 2 years

Emma(4), Aspen and Elyssa

Yes that is Aspen's diaper that is falling out. Aren't we great parents??

After the aquarium we went to eat some Mexican food and saw these horses in the lobby. Our husbands gladly hopped on for some pics with their girls!!

2008-08-20T20:01:00.003-06:00

Updates on Aspen

You know most of what I write on here is so I can go back and look at it one day. I do not journal anymore due to lack of time and so this is my way to remember what happens in life. I was watching Aspen today and just admiring some of the things she does! Every time she sees any of the kids in the youth group she sticks her fist out and wants them to give her knuckles. When they do she says, "DUN". They all love to do this with her. When she gets in trouble for something she runs straight to me and kisses me and says, "sawey Nanny" (sorry nanny). We always want to laugh so bad but we try to hold it in for the sake of discipline. Today Guy was counting and when he got to six Aspen added, "seven" and then he said eight and she said, "nine". I didn't know she could do this but I felt very appreciative to Sesame Street which she has to watch every morning. She runs in the living room yelling, "ELMO". She also fills in the missing letters to her ABC's and can tell us what several colors are. I am not sure if she is advanced but I think she is super smart! :-) She loves crowds and any time there is a big youth event at our house she is sooo happy to entertain all of our guests! She sings Twinkle Twinkle and Jesus Loves Me while dancing and when she sees a star on anything she says, "tinkle tinkle". She is very loving lately and anytime I ask for a hug or kiss I get one. She loves to read books and is really a mamma's girl which I love. I thank God for the baby girl he has given me. I feel like I enjoy her more and more everyday and that makes me excited about the new baby as well. Children are such blessings!!

2008-08-09T20:41:00.009-06:00

Visitors and My baby girl

We have been blessed to have a lot of friends come visit us over the past months but this past couple of weeks some of our best friends came to town. Robby and Carla came and stayed a week and they were not only a lot of fun but also a big help to us. Carla helped me with Aspen and Robby helped Guy install a new door and do some MANLY things around the house! We had such a good time with them. We love you guys!! Enjoy the pics we took recently! Some are really random!

Aspen's Grandma Wanda bought her some new books and toys and she is seen here playing with her new things!

This is totally random, but Dougle and Lucy came to visit in April and I just found this picture and thought it was so sweet. Auntie Lucy was successful at getting Aspen to sleep while I went to the store!

I really wanted her to look at the camera but was really never successful! She is my sweet girl though!

Carla and I went shopping and when we came home we found Robby on this couch and Guy and Aspen asleep on the couch in the pic below. We thought it was soo sweet!

2008-08-04T20:37:00.002-06:00

BABY NEWS AND HURRICANE BLUES!

I am lame. Did I really just write that title?? Well, we found out today that we are having DUN DUH DUHHHHHH....another GIRL!!!!!! We are very excited. Guy is taking it like a trooper. Actually he is really happy but all he can think of is paying for weddings and having a house full of girls!!! :-) I left the Dr. today and went straight to Babies R Us to look for a celebratory outfit! We bought little pink converse shoes the day we found out about Aspen and today I looked but was just too picky. In a few days I will look again!

Currently we are waiting for Tropical Storm Eduardo to hit us. The name sounds so suave and cool, but really it is just a mean storm. It keeps being upgraded to Hurricane status and then goes back down. If you look on the map though it is seriously headed right for our house!! Our new house is just north of Galveston so they are shutting jobs down and everyone is supposed to stay in and wait it out. At Walmart today there were only three loaves of bread left and no water left! CRAZY!! We have gas in the car and plenty of water in case they call for an evactuation, though I think it is a little late for that! So, we are excited about our ten inches of rain and possibility of no electricity!!! :-)Tonight we took the teens to SYS(Summer Youth Series) and there was no one there because of the Hurricane! We felt very cool that we showed up! I am sure the "SMART" people who have actually been in Hurricanes did not go for a reason. Guy and I are hilarious because we keep comparing it to Tornadoes. We both grew up around them so they are not as scary. I think we are pretty naive though and forget a hurricane hits more than a small area!! So, Pray for us!

2008-07-17T19:32:00.015-06:00

New House, Pics of Aspen, and Update on Pregnancy

Hello people! Sorry it has been so long. Over the past 6 weeks we moved into our first house, started our dr. appointments for Baby #2, had 3 separate groups of house guests, and started our summer madness with the teens. Things have been nutty and so I apologize for not writing! I will begin with the house. We love our new home. After much paint and hard work we moved into our beautiful home on Kensington Place. Our home is in a pretty subdivision on a quiet street in the vicinity of NASA. Aspen has a big backyard and plenty of shade from our trees to play all day!

I am now 16 weeks pregnant and things are starting off pretty much like Aspen did. I am sad to say it, but I am very sick and have actually lost nearing 16 lbs. The baby is healthy though and is a squirmmer. It takes forever to find his/her heartbeat because of all the movement. The dr. will probably deliver me c-section on Dec. 26th now. He says he wants me to enjoy Christmas along with other reasons! We find out what the baby is on August 4th. YAY!!!

My sweet 19 month old girl is more talkative than ever! We are so proud of her speech. She says everything and is even trying sentences out! Today she mimicked a song and said, "I'm a daddy's darling". She has a ton of teeth not even sure what she is missing but she is really eating a lot of things now. We went to the beach with the teens the other day and it was so neat because we all sat to have a devo and sing, and Aspen went and sat by her daddy and just watched the teens and tried to sing with them. I had a moment where I just thanked God for allowing my baby to be in the presence of good kids and to learn about being a Christian from them. God has been so good to us!

Aspen and Lauren; Aspen at the devo; with Lauren; with Cassiana and Lauren

On the 4th of July at Mimi and Grandpa's house in College Station

The new house with our two week old couches..WHOO HOO!

2008-05-23T21:51:00.002-06:00

You guessed it. I am pregnant. I am a little over two months and I had my first dr. appt. a few days ago. My dr. did an ultra sound and I was able to see the baby and hear the heart beat. As many of you know I had a c-section with Aspen and so my dr. would prefer for me to have one with this new baby. I am scheduled for a c-section on Dec. 23rd. I am not sure how it has worked for me to have Aspen 2 days after Thanksgiving and this baby two days before Christmas. It is fitting though because I love holidays! Guy and I are thrilled and can't wait to introduce you to the other cutest baby in the whole world!

2008-05-12T19:41:00.009-06:00

Mothers Day and the BIG 29

Let me preface all of this with the statement that I have the most giving husband in the whole world. We had a really long weekend. I was in charge of decorating the church for our senior banquet on Saturday night. I spent all day Friday with my sweet hubby decorating and cleaning for the banquet. We were just absolutely exhausted when Saturday night was over because we literally have had one responsibility after another lately. Knowing that I was feeling overwhelmed and tired Guy surprised me by telling me that for Mothers Day and my Birthday (on May 12) he had made reservations at the Kemah Boardwalk Hotel for Sunday night after church. He even made arrangements for a friend to keep Aspen over night!! So, I was super excited and then Sunday afternoon Aspen came down with a fever and was acting really cranky. I did not think I would have a good time in a hotel knowing she was not feeling good so I asked Guy if we could bring her along. His response was, "she's my baby girl and I don't mind her being with us". We were worried she would have a bad time but when we got to Kemah she was actually really happy. For those of you that don't know, Kemah is a little town with a Boardwalk and amusement park right on the water. It is beautiful and has a lot of shopping and restaurants. The room Guy reserved had a balcony and when we walked in we could hear music playing from a band outside. Aspen was so excited and we sat outside and listened to the music. Monday morning we got up and drank a cup of coffee right on the water and enjoyed watching the waves. Aspen was so excited and kept running up and down the boardwalk screaming. All in all it was a great mother' day and birthday. My mom even made me a cake like she has every year. I love her cakes because she decorates them herself! Someone asked if I enjoyed our date night with Aspen with us. I couldn't help but say yes. I absolutely love being with my little family. Things are just not as much fun without my baby girl!

Our hotel from our balcony

Aspen listening to the band from our balcony

2008-05-05T19:27:00.008-06:00

I love you daddy.......

Something wonderful happened for the first time last night. Guy was lying Aspen in her crib and as I stood in the doorway I heard their little conversation. It went like this:

Guy - Good night Aspen
Aspen - Nigh Nigh
Guy - I love you baby girl
Aspen - DATTY??
Guy - Yes??
Aspen - I LUH U!!!

I really didn't know she was capable of saying I love you but since her first time yesterday it has become a new and frequent phrase. In fact, today she repeated the words, Rain, Good girl(goo gurl), Mornin', and No mam(no man) So cute! She even repeated me after I sang, "rain rain go away". she sang, "rain rain ohhhh aaa" She has been around several kids lately and has learned so many words. Last week we spent time with my cousin Melody and her daughter Jewls. Aspen was repeating everything Jewls did and said. Jewls has a puppy named Bella and Aspen was yelling, "BAYA BAYA". She just has so much spunk and is such a joy to be around!

My cousin Melody's husband took Aspen and Jewls' for a spin around the block.

Melody bought the girls some chalk and they had some fun drawing. The beautiful jeep behind Aspen went unused because Jewls was terrified when she pushed the gas and the jeep took off. Aspen looked a little stunned too but was also curious for more!

Her easter dress

2008-04-28T09:15:00.005-06:00

MY SURPRISE VISITOR REVEALED

LINDSAY

My great friend Lindsay is in South Africa as an aim student. We have been friends several years and always have too much fun when we are together. She was there for me when I was pregnant and even bought herself some maternity clothes :-O just to make me feel better when I first had to buy them. She has been in Africa for nearly a year and decided to take a break for a few weeks and come to America. Her friend Livia is graduating LCU very soon and Linds wanted to come surprise her for her graduation present, thus why I did not tell anyone that Lindsay was here. She spent 5 weeks in the states visiting friends and family and came to stay with us the first week she was here. I don't think I have laughed so much in a long time. Saturday night she flew back here to Houston to end her trip. We got one more fun night with her(by the way she had the flu) and then took her to the airport Sunday afternoon. Thanks for the trip Lindsay!

2008-04-14T19:37:00.004-06:00

BIG NEWS

So, today for the first time in the Stover Family history, we put an offer on a house! AHHHH! We have been house hunting for a few weeks and we found the perfect one. My mom is our broker and she had us sign so many papers basically offering an amount to the owners of the house. We feel confidant that even at worst we could still afford this house and buy it! WE ARE SO EXCITED!!! Maybe later on this week we can tell you if we will be signing a contract!

On to more important things. The above picture is telling of our lives lately. Aspen loves to play and so about every couple of days we take her to a park. This pic was taken by our friend Link at a park in Lubbock. Aspen loves to slide and swing with her daddy. Lately when Guy comes home from work, Aspen starts bouncing around and charges for the door screaming HI DATTY...HI DATTY! She is most definitely a Daddy's girl and I love every minute of it since I was and still am a Daddy's girl! I have much more to write, about youth ministry and life but I am extremely tired from a long day of checking houses out! So, for now I will just say have a great night sleep!

2008-04-01T20:05:00.009-06:00

Camp Adventure, Easter, and Stats

I am always rushing to catch up with posting my blog. So much has taken place in our life and in the lives of those we care about in Houston and we have not had much time to sit and rest! Two and a half weeks ago a young girl who had been a member of our youth group last year, died in a tragic car accident. Our teens and church family were deeply affected by this loss and we have been humbled by the faith and strength of our teenagers who we love so much. Days after this took place, Guy and I took off for Lubbock to take our teens to camp adventure. This was a good thing for the teens to go to because it helped them through some difficult days and allowed them to have some fun. We especially enjoyed it and were reunited with many friends and family. We also greatly appreciated the encouragement that God blessed us with.

Kason Partlow, Aspen, and Eliana Wix

Aspen and her crazy cousins

Aspen and her Great Grandmother Johnson

LTC

The day after we left Lubbock, we took our exhausted teens to LTC(Leadership Training for Christ). They all performed in many events and we had so many gold medals. Aspen enjoyed being around the teens for so many days and just had a ball at the hotel in downtown Houston!

Saturday night a dear friend of mine came into town to see us for a week. Sunday morning we got up early and left the hotel and headed back to Pasadena. Sunday was Easter but it didn't feel much like it because we were all so tired and just wanted to rest. We did manage to hunt easter eggs a few days before Easter with some friends from church!Hunting eggs with the kids at church

Such a big girl holding her basket

Monday night my friend who is staying with us watch Aspen, and Guy and I attended a memorial service for our young teen who passed away. As we watched the slide show of Hannah growing up, I thought about Aspen and how God already knows her life that is ahead of her. It made Guy and I both so emotional thinking about how God has Hannah in his hands now and how that he holds all of us and knows what will happen to us before we do. God is so good to give us the time that we have together!
Friday my good friend left and life is back to being not so exciting and fast paced. I will write more about my surprise visitor later!

STATS:

Aspen is growing everyday and becoming so talkative and adventurous. She began walking...NAY RUNNING on March 12th and has not stopped since. She stands on her toy cars and thinks it is funny to climb on the couch and jump off head first. Her newest words are: NO NO, Bath(BA), PINK(Peeenk), Guy(GIIIII), Thank you(TAY TOO), Water(WA WA). She looked at a book today that is pink and shouted, "PINK". I don't think I have really ever said that before. Then in church on Sunday she saw Guy stand up in church and she shouted, "GUY, GUY, GUY!!!" It was pretty cute! I also said to her today, "do you want to go home?" She said, "NOOOOOOOO". Then I said, "do you want a bath?" She answered, "BA???" She gets very excited about her bath!

2008-03-07T17:34:00.004-06:00

WHERE HAVE I BEEN YOU ASK??

Yes! I have not blogged in forever. We have had a busy few weeks and so much has happened. A few weeks ago we went to Lubbock for a 2 day visit to take our teen Lauren and her parents to visit AIM. Lauren will be in the 2008 class! Our trip was short but sweet and we had a great time visiting family and AIM friends! The day after we came home from Lubbock we had Homecoming at our church Watters Road. This was a weekend of worship, fellowship and lots of singing. It was so neat to meet people who were previous members of the church and hear their stories. When the weekend was over we were exhausted but pressed on because the next weekend, Feb. 29th and Mar. 1st was the highly anticipated youth ralley "SOUL LINK". This is held in North Houston and has many speakers including David Fraze who come out to share God's word with our teens. We were super excited about this weekend because we were able to hang out with our good friends Paul and Melanie who are youth ministers in Georgetown, Texas. The weekend was awesome and there were so many teens who attended. We actually think it would be a good place for some AIMers to visit because all of the colleges were their representing what they have to offer. While the teens were in class and Paul and Guy were talking it up, Melanie and I took our kiddos to play at a playground. We really enjoyed being around each other because we both have recently moved to work at new churches and we are both missing just being around people who "really" know us! It was such a blessing to spend the weekend visiting with her! We love you guys.

Here is a pic of Melanie's son Kason and Aspen

So, on to the past few days. Since we left Lubbock Aspen has not been sleeping. Well, she goes to sleep and then at 2:30 wakes up to stay awake for several hours. Now, we are sleep deprived parents and are usually pretty patient people but after 8 days of this I was about to go crazy and so the last night she did this I thought she was throwing a fit and I disciplined her. Well, Weds. we had her 15 month Dr. appt. to get her shots. When we get there she is totally upset and crying hysterically. I tell the Dr. that she isn't sleeping and I am about to go crazy and then he looks in her ears and says, "OHH She has a really bad ear infection IN BOTH EARS". He proceeds to tell me that she is probably not sleeping because it hurts. Well, naturally I feel like the worst mom ever for being upset with her and then of course the Dr. tells me she is cutting molars which is painful. So, after hearing all of this then he gives Aspen two shots that make her even more miserable. So, to say the least Aspen has been running fever since Weds. and is just as sweet as can be for a kid that really doesn't feel well! What is the lesson in this? I am not sure...I just wish babies could tell us how they feel! Oh her stats at her appt. were:

Weight - 21 lbs.
Height - 30 inches
Head - BIG(kidding it is just above the middle range)
Teeth - 4 in front, two on bottom, and 3 others coming in.

Walking- still only with us holding a hand. She will walk by herself occasionally but does not do it regularly

Words - LIGHT(loves to point these out), Nanny, Daddy, Ba(ball), BaBa(milk), NO NO(LOVES THIS ONE), Duck, Puppy, EYE, NOS(nose, or in Russian she actually says it right), book, BYE BYE, HEY, MIMI, LALA(Lauren), Baby(every kid but her)

Oh but the best is when we tell her to blow a kiss and instead of kissing her hand she licks it and then after that makes a kissing sound. Very gross but cute!

2008-02-12T21:17:00.002-06:00

My Daughter the Hippie

Well, I have many stats to fill you in on, but first I have to share the fact that several people in the past several weeks have commented on Aspen being a hippie. The reason for this is that any time a song, or music of any kind is in the air, Aspen's body instinctively moves with the beat. This is something that became evident at a Christian rock concert we went to at Harding. Aspen was sitting on one of our teenage boy's lap and she threw her arms in the air and let her body go without a care in the world. She swayed and sang along. During Bible class when the teacher begins singing Aspen does this same thing and hums along to the music. She just throws her body around and giggles everytime she hears anything musical! We are JUST SO PROUD! Especially me considering the music lover that I am. Now on to Stats:

14 1/2 months old
6 teeth(4 on top, 2 on bottom)
21 lbs and 29 inches long
Crawling and walking while holding onto our hands
7 steps by herself to date
CLIMBING on everything (she stacked a bunch of her books and climbed on them to get to her cd player......she climbs on our bar stools, couch, coffee table..and anything else that can be climbed)
Cuddling - she is still my baby and after nap time it is not uncommon for me to bring her in the living room and for her to just sit in my lap cuddled up to me for over an hour. I love this!!!!!! Then when she is done...the silliness begins!

SHE LOVES:
BOOKS (she can be found reading quietly in her room while listening to her Disney songs....In fact today I went in her room and watched her stack books to turn on her cd player and then sat down and read a book. Then she climbed back up to turn the volume up...HAHA)

MUSIC
RITZ CRACKERS
JUICE
THE TEENAGERS(She will go to them anyday b/c she knows she will be spoiled)
CELL PHONES - she is obsessed with these.(not good)

Favorite Games:

She uses any and everything as a phone. Anytime she hears a phone ring she will put her hand or whatever she has up to her ear and say "YA YA". It is so funny.

She also pretends to talk to her babies. I think this is sweet.

2008-02-04T19:31:00.000-06:00

Our Trip to Oklahoma and Arkansas

We just got home last night from our 11 day trip away from Pasadena. Guy received his first bit of time off since we moved here and we used a few days of that to visit his mom and sisters in Oklahoma. We had Christmas with them and Aspen got so many presents. She even got a car from her Aunt Rachel. Her Grandma enjoyed playing with her and cuddling with her first granddaughter. After Oklahoma we left and headed to Siloam Springs, Arkansas to visit Guy's sister. We stayed one night with her and drove through some very cold weather. We even saw some snow, something we haven't seen in a while. We arrived in Searcy, Arkansas on Thursday to meet up with our teens and a couple of parents to go to Harding's college days. While there we saw one of our Aimers from two years ago, Sarah Everett. She recently came home from Albania and has started school at Harding. While Guy was with the teens, I spent the afternoon with Sarah sipping coffee and visiting about her field experience. We think God set that whole "chance" meeting up because I was missing AIM and Sarah was needing an AIM person to talk to. YAY GOD! Later that afternoon Guy's childhood best friend Doug and his wife Dixie and son Ethan came to hang out with us. We went to our hotel room and watched our kids play together. Later that night we had a great meal with them at a mexican restaraunt and ended the night with Aspen's first live college basketball game. Harding WON!!! Yesterday we made the 10 hour trek home and were very happy to sleep in our own beds last night. Enjoy the pics of our trip!!

In Grandma's back yard

Aspen reading with her Grandma. She absolutely loves reading.

I am not kidding when I tell you that all of the presents surrounding Aspen were hers.

Watching a bird in Grandma's back yard.

As we were driving through the Ozarks on the way to Rachel's house I just had to pull over and take some pictures. It was a very cold rainy day and this lake was gorgeous.

While we were driving I turned around and Aspen was reading this Rather large book her Grandma bought her. We thought it was too funny!

Aspen and her buddy Ethan (Doug's little boy). I laugh at this because I grew up with Guy's friend Doug as well and this just reminds me of a little Nancy and Little Doug!

These two kids played all afternoon together. Aspen's forehead is red in this picture if you can tell. She and Ethan were chasing each other and Aspen crawled out of the bathroom and then came around the corner just as Ethan was crawling into the bathroom. They rammed heads and instead of crying, they both touched their heads and moaned. We were laughing so hard!!

2008-01-18T13:27:00.001-06:00

(LATE) Pictures of our TEEN Christmas party

Aspen made us laugh because she wanted to be in the center of all the presents and activities going on. The teens are sweet to her and let her help open their presents. Our living room is very tiny and I think we had 24 people in it. AHHH! It was nice and cozy. I made pizza puffs, pumpkin bread and chocolate covered pretzels! We love our teens so much and a couple of them(Lauren and Cassiana) came over early to help me go crazy making food! I love my girls! We have been very blessed to work with teenagers who try so much to be like Jesus. A few of my girls spent the night with us a while back specifically to help me make pies all night long so that we could go deliver them to people who are not able to leave their homes. These girls have such a heart to serve. Lauren was the only one available to deliver pies the next morning and she was so kind to people and was such an example of Jesus. We love all of our kids and Guy and I have a deep desire to do anything we can to help them grow into men and women who see the purpose God has for their lives. When you have a free minute pray for our teens. God has blessed us more than we could have imagined by allowing us to spend time everyday with such great kids!

2008-01-12T18:34:00.000-06:00

MY FAVORITE GIRL

Guy took a pic of us today as we played together. What a good day. This morning I told Guy I wanted to go see the Battleship Texas which is only a few miles from where we live. We had fun driving around trying to find it without really knowing where it was. We discovered some more very beautiful areas of the Port of Houston where boats dock and people kayak. We finally found the ship and it was only one dollar to enter the park. It was fun to read about the history and the battles that were fought. Then when we got home we were able to Skype and talk to some of our best friends, Denyce and Dougle. This what not at the same time of course. Both of their spouses were busy and so we talked to each of them at different times. It is always nice to visit with friends who are as close as family and remember that we have people all over the world who love us and who we love. Guy and I have been super busy with the teens and so today we just enjoyed not having a plan. How nice! In a week and a half we have our first bit of time off since moving here 7 months ago. We get a week off and we are going to Oklahoma to see Guy's mom. She has only seen Aspen a couple of times. The last time she saw her was 7 months ago and Aspen has changed so much. We are excited for the time with family and will enjoy having someone to cook for us and love on Aspen.

Aspen loves to look at pictures and often carries them around with her. See her bottom teeth.

More pictures to look at. Most of them are of our past aimers

Pretty blue eyes

2008-01-10T19:02:00.000-06:00

Life with Aspen

It has been so long since I have posted. One reason for this is that I love to be with Guy and Aspen and really treasure my time with both of them at night. During the day it is impossible to post because I am busy with my girl...changing diapers, feeding, playing, disciplining, putting her down for a nap....and so on. I absolutely love my evenings especially when we get to stay home as a family. About 4 nights a week we do not have a youth activity going on and we eat dinner and play with Aspen until bed time. I put her down around 8:00 and then Guy and I have a few good hours to just talk and spend time together. I really enjoy my time with my favorite people.

This is a pic of Aspen at Christmas. My pretty blue eyed girl

I have not filled anyone in on our girl's stats.

Age - 13 months
Weight 21 pounds
Teeth - 4 on top and 2 on bottom
Crawling very fast, pulling up, walking while holding onto our fingers
Words - MOMMYYYYY(she says this with a very drawn out EEEEEEEEEEE), dada, duck, BABY(again with a very long EEEEE), HI, BYE BYE, NEW(this means nose b/c she points to her nose), Nanny(my other name), MIMI(my mom), LALA(our teen named Lauren), Puppy(she affectionately calls my nephew Christian this).

She has a great sense of humor and anything she can hold she puts up to her ear and says, "YA YA). This is her talking into a phone. She plays chase with us everyday, giggles constantly, and SINGS all the time. Everything is a song and during church she moves her hand with the song leader and sings along. Very cute! She is the biggest flirt at church and all through church she makes googly eyes at people and tilts her head slightly while smiling. Every Sunday people come up to us and say, "get a hold on that girl...she is such a little flirt". :-) She is very strong willed and wants to do what she wants. We are having to discipline(no fun), but she reacts well to it and has been obeying what we encourage her to do. Mostly this is all about repetition. We don't like her near the fireplace and so we continue to discipline her and now she has stopped going near it. YAY!!!!! Other things are not so easy and so we are slowly being thrown into parenting. I am in a parenting class at church and it has really helped me to feel more confidant in what we are doing. Well, I am absolutely exhausted and am going to relax with Guy.

2007-12-23T08:43:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Guy and Happy Anniversary

On the 20th we celebrated Guy's 29th birthday and on the 21st we celebrated 5 years of marriage. I cannot believe I married the boy I have been in love with since I was 14. When I was in 5th grade I wrote in my Lion King journal that I was going to marry Guy and then I wrote my name out like this "Nancy Lynette Stover" all over the pages. He is still just as sweet and cute as he was when we were kids and after 5 years of marriage I love him more than I ever could have imagined. For our anniversary we went to College Station and dropped Aspen off with my parents. Then we headed to Abuelos for dinner, the movies(to see National Treasure) and then to the Homewood Suites for the night. We had such a great time being together and are already looking forward to next year!!!! I love you GUY!!

2007-12-17T21:00:00.000-06:00

Party Time with Aspen

Aspen had a great first birthday! She had two friends, Emma and Elyssa there, and her cousin Jewls who is only three months older than her. Aspen loved her cake. To be honest she loved clapping her hands in the cake. I am not sure if she really ate any of it. At her party she received a cool Dora the Explorer car, a red musical car, a cabbage patch doll, and many musical toys thanks to my side of the family who are all musical. Her grandma (Guy's mom) also sent her some books and a little red wagon. We had such a fun day and ended it by going to dinner with my cousin Melody,her husband James, and little Jewls. What a great day!!

Aspen and her Mimi

Elyssa, Aspen, and Jewls

Emma is 3 and really thought she needed to help Aspen open presents.

Emma played in Aspen's box while Jewls read some of her books

2007-12-17T17:19:00.000-06:00

BUSY BUSY

Hello everyone! Please excuse me for not posting cute pics of Aspen's birthday and other events. Life has been fast and furious lately. The youth at our church have had many activities lately and we have really enjoyed watching them perform at school. Did I mention that we have the most talented kids ever? We are just so proud of their accomplishments. Guy has been getting into his "groove" and the youth classes and functions have been running like a well oiled machine. Guy is teaching the Prophets to the teens on Sundays and Wednesdays and he has become quite the teacher. He makes the kids laugh and uses great imagery to paint a picture of the events that were happening when certain prophets were sent by God to talk to people. The kids seem so interested and their questions are fascinating. I love being able to be in Guy's classes. Even though I learned about these prophets in college, I truly learn new things when Guy teaches. I am so proud of him.

On Friday night we had a youth event called Santa Wrats. We all went to Barry and Karen's house for pizza and then we split up to buy presents for some of our members who cannot provide Christmas for their kids. Aspen and I stayed until 10:00 and talked to the teens about what presents they should buy for certain kids...and then we went to bed. Guy stayed of course and went shopping with the teens. After the shopping everyone stays at the church and spends the night wrapping many many many presents and having fun. Guy came home Saturday morning at 8:00 and still had not slept! AHHHH! I hadn't slept either...but it was because I was scared and aspen slept badly! Then, on Sunday we had lunch with the teens and spent the afternoon playing Santa Clause and delivering the presents to all of the families. It was such a good experience and such an encouraging time for the familes. Our teens felt good about what they had done and I know God was glorified.

Saturday night I was invited by my friend Christi to go have a little Christmas dinner with a few of her friends. I was so excited to go out with other women and just have fun and eat a good meal without Aspen crawling all over me.(don't get me wrong..I love the child but it is nice to eat without trying to shove it down before she takes the food). We left for dinner at 5:00 and I did not get home until 9:30. WOW - what a good night!

Finally Sunday night we had a staff Christmas party at Barry and Karen's house. They are the most hospitable people I have ever met by the way. Since we have moved here I am thinking we have been there for dinner or have been brought dinner by them more than ten times. What an awesome family! The party was so much fun and Aspen of course was shown so much attention by all of our friends. God has been so good to us and we are really starting to feel like we have friends here and that our ministry is going well. I will post pictures when I have a free second. I hope all of you are well.

2007-11-27T07:35:00.001-06:00

Happy Birthday Sweet Aspen Belle

YEAH - we had to add one screaming picture

Aspen has given us so much joy over the past year. We honestly cannot remember enjoying life without her. It is funny how such a huge responsibility can bring such fulfillment. There are many verses in the Bible that refer to children being a gift and those who have many are blessed. I always thought that being married to Guy was just the greatest thing ever. I never could understand why adding to what we had could make our lives better. I actually thought children would just get in the way of us. WOW - was I wrong!! My goodness...GOD IS RIGHT and I am wrong. Children are a blessing and those with children know that you see God better through your children. THANK YOU GOD for giving us Aspen!

2007-11-26T21:59:00.000-06:00

Where did the time go?

This is the last night my baby will be a baby. Tomorrow she turns one year old! Here are a few pictures from the past few weeks!My pretty girl in her outfit from France(Thanks Jessica Smith)

This picture was taken tonight. We have a tradition that started when I was kid that when we put the Christmas tree up, we eat donuts, drink hot chocolate, and watch a Christmas movie. So, tonight Amy Shaw came over and we all had so much fun putting up the tree. This was Aspen's first time to enjoy it. She was so helpful with the tree limbs. This is my baby's last picture before she turns one! :-(

She was really fascinated by the tree. Yes we have one of those annoying ones with all the limbs that never go in the right place. Major FUN!

This is Aspen's Christmas dress her Mimi bought her.

Cousins Alison and Christian came to visit and we had so much fun. Mimi bought all the kids matching Christmas outfits!

Quality time with Uncle Chris

You've heard of HAT HAIR...well I call this NAP HAIR! Every time Aspen goes down for a nap this is what she looks like. She happened to be in a good mood this day and so I took the picture!

2007-11-20T20:44:00.000-06:00

Life is changing

Aspen is about to be ONE year old. Everyday she learns new things and surprises us with her sense of humor that is quickly developing. She is the biggest ham and likes to smile and make faces at people during church. At home she teases me to chase her by crawling up to me...smiling...and then crawling as fast as she can while squealing really loudly. I get on my knees and crawl around after her. She loves this and loves her DADDY even more. All day all I hear is DADADADADA! She sits at the door when he leaves for work and positions her hands like she is asking a question while saying DA? DA?

Officially she now has four teeth. Two on top and two on bottom. This makes for interesting kisses. She tries to eat our faces when she kisses us and now she just bites really hard while saying, "AHHHHH" It is so cute, but I know I need to stop her before she bites other kids!

I love this time of year because I remember when Aspen was getting closer to being born. I am so excited to experience Christmas with her without the shock of having a new baby and late night feedings! I may actually remember this one!

She is definitely a Daddy's girl!

2007-11-10T21:33:00.001-06:00

A few random photos
This is our living room. We live on the third story of a huge apartment complex. There are no elevators and so we have a nice hike up and down the stairs each day. I think my arm muscles are growing from carrying Aspen up and down. We live in a two bedroom/two bath apartment and we absolutely love it. I see no need for a house because apartments are so convenient and we do not have to pay when things break! YEAH!

Here is another lovely picture of our fireplace and mantle. I really wanted a fireplace because I like the way they look, but of course it is so hot in Houston that we never really use it. I actually wonder why there are even fireplaces in our apartment building. Oh well..it looks so pretty! We also have a picture of Paris above the fireplace because I have been all over Europe but have never managed to see Paris and I really want to!

Here is my girl at night time. She just had a bath and was messing with my picture frames. She particularly likes a picture of Katie's wedding. She always grabs it and says "Puppy". We aren't sure why she does this. My nephew was down from Mexico this week and when she saw him she gasped and said, "PUPPY". I am not sure where we went wrong but hopefully this problem will get straightened out!

2007-11-01T17:58:00.001-06:00

Aspen's First Halloween

Aspen was Tinkerbell for Halloween. Our dear friends Robby and Carla bought Aspen her first Halloween costume. We went to Trunk or Treat at the church and had so much fun taking her from car to car to get candy!

We had a face painting booth and Aspen had a smiley face painted on her cheek, while I had a heart painted on mine. The lovely artists were Kayla and Chelsea.

All in all we had a really great time trick or treating with our girl. She carried her little basket and was really excited when people put candy in it. She did get tired towards the end of the night and so I let the teens hold her while I helped Guy clean up the parking lot. Guy did a really great job helping to organize this event. Many people around our community brought their kids to 'Trunk or Treat' and we are hoping that this will result in them coming to worship with us. I hope all of you had memorable experiences as well.

2007-10-18T17:54:00.000-06:00

WE HAVE A TOOTH!

I am not sure why it is exciting, but Aspen officially has a tooth. She has been teething forever and it was getting to the point that when I told people that, they were like "Ok...sure Nancy...where are the teeth?" Last night I stayed home from church with Aspen because she had a touch of fever and was really sleepy. As I was about to put her to sleep I saw a little white thing at the top of her mouth. I felt it and it was a bit sharp. So, she is cutting the top left tooth and then today Guy discovered that the top right front tooth is about to break through as well. Guy said that at Christmas she is going to have to sing, "All I want for Christmas is my other teeth", since she will have her two front teeth. I am just so happy for her. This is a fun little milestone that means she is that much closer to eating REAL food. I was so worried that she would have to eat pudding for her birthday. :-) Congratulations baby!!!

This is the day before we found the cute little tooth!

2007-10-15T16:50:00.000-06:00

OUR PALS

We had such a good time when Dougle and Lucy were here. We all are of course exhausted parents of babies and so we opted out of going out on the town and doing a bunch of sight seeing. We decided instead to cook dinner at home and just enjoy being with each other. Dougle did get viciously attacked by a stingray, but I think he'll be ok. You'll have to ask him about our man-eating stingrays. Nevertheless it was a very relaxing time with our friends and a good way to say goodbye before they leave for Moscow. Canaan and Aspen had a great time playing together, bathing together, napping together, and crying together. They are going to be great pals one day, and I'm sure will love us when years from now we break out the pictures of them bathing together. Enjoy the pics of these cute kids. We love you Dougle, Lucy, and Canaan!

Canaan and Aspen had too much fun when Dougle and Lucy came to visit. Aspen doesn't look too thrilled with me taking a picture though.

Already butting heads at a young age.

Reading to my babies

Aren't they the sweetest kids you have ever seen?

2007-10-08T12:27:00.000-06:00

Dougle and Lucy are here

We are so happy because Dougle, Lucy, and Canaan came to visit us for a few days!! We are having a lot of fun just being able to sit around and be our crazy selves with people who know us VERY well. My mom came to church yesterday to see them and after church she took Lucy and I to Babies R Us to buy clothes and toys for the kids. We are so spoiled by her. Then today we went to a Russian store that Dougle knew about and checked out all of the different foods they have. I didn't find much of anything I wanted and Dougle basically just wanted KVAC which is a NON-ALCOHOLIC nasty fermented drink that he lives for. SO...he bought that and when we were leaving I said, "Um yeah I guess there is nothing about Russia food that I really miss". I know I miss Russia but definitely am not a big fan of their candies and foods. The candy bar I most miss from Moscow is actually Swiss I think. So they have only been here a couple of days and we are already sad about them leaving. I will keep you posted on our upcoming adventures.

2007-10-05T19:01:00.001-06:00

Some cute new pics of our little monkey!

2007-10-01T13:39:00.000-06:00

COWGIRL BOOTS
Aspen can finally wear her cowgirl boots that Lindsay bought her. I wanted to tell Lindsay however that it took forever to get those boots on. We did it just for you Lindsay...ENJOY the Pics.
Aspen was a little wobbly with her boots on. She pulled up on her bench and then came tumbling down. Her daddy was having a little talk with her about it.

2007-09-28T11:52:00.001-06:00

Pictures of our time with Chris and Jess in July

Jess made these cute dresses for the girls

This is Sylvan Beach that is only 10 minutes down the road from our house in La Porte. We had fun watching fisherman catch trout.

Uncle Chris and Aspen had a little bonding time.

2007-09-27T10:24:00.000-06:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRIS

Today is my big brother's birthday. Chris lives in Mexico and works hard as a missionary for the cause of Christ. As long as I can remember I wanted to do everything he was doing. In high school I sang in the same group as him, I went to Aim like him, I went to Sunset and LCU like him and I desired to go to the mission field like him. I followed him every step of the way until he went to Mexico as a missionary. I know why I look up to him so much. He always paved the way because he had courage to take the first step. I am still apprehensive about going to the mission field. It is a scary thing to leave everything you know and to rely on God. I love my brother because he seeks out God's wisdom and direction in everything he does. I know this new year of his life is a blessing and that he will use it to the glory of God. He is also the greatest uncle. I think the picture speaks for itself. Happy birthday bubba - nan

2007-09-24T19:12:00.001-06:00

Aspen says "DUCK" for the camera.
Guy said say Duck and then we began recording. Later on he said say "cow" and she said "DUCK". It was very cute.

2007-09-15T20:46:00.000-06:00

Thanks for the T-shirt Uncle Dougle and Aunt Lucy

2007-09-15T20:41:00.001-06:00

Aspen Bonking her head on the coffee table

I am a mean mamma. I took a picture instead of comforting her.

Minutes after she hit her head, she was back being silly!!

2007-09-15T20:20:00.001-06:00

Aspen's first high school football game!
'GO MAVERICKS'

Aspen, Lauren, Chelsea, and their friend from school

Aspen and her sweet friend Chelsea Day

2007-09-12T10:23:00.001-06:00

Aspen being fed by one of the teens at church. She looks so intense!

2007-09-10T20:25:00.001-06:00

Aspen being spoiled by her two honorary aunts!

2007-09-10T20:15:00.000-06:00

We love Robby and Carla! They came to visit for 4 days and we had so much fun that Carla and I begged Robby to change the tickets for three days later. HE DID! We had the best time. I feel renewed! I have really loved Houston, but I have been very homesick lately for my friends. God has been so good to bring friends and family to us and we are grateful for it. Carla and Robby cleaned dishes, bathed Aspen, fed Aspen, helped Guy with a devo, and encouraged us beyond belief. We love you Robby and Carla. Thank you for blessing our life and loving our baby!

2007-09-08T09:41:00.001-06:00

Guy took Aspen to feed the Sting Rays at Kemah. She loved it and even tried to touch them. I wasn't crazy about that and so obviously we didn't let her (don't worry Grandparents). Guy was so sweet and kept asking me to get pictures with he and Aspen. He loves his girl and wants her to love fish like he does.

2007-09-07T14:19:00.000-06:00

Aspen has grown a lot of hair lately, as you can see. It seems like everyday we think her hair is longer and curlier. The humid Houston weather definitely adds to her new curly style!

2007-09-07T13:52:00.001-06:00

Aspen Loves Bible Class. I always get a kick out of her because she is the youngest in class, but she always sits so still with her hands on the table. She is a sweet "obedient" girl. We will se how long this really lasts.

2007-09-07T13:43:00.000-06:00

Aspen and mommy and daddy at the Aquarium Restaurant. Robby and Carla Stephens came down from Lubbock to visit for a week. We have had so much fun that they are even staying a few days longer!!!

2007-08-29T12:19:00.000-06:00

Is there anything better..

Is there anything better than holding your baby? I am not sure why, but the past several days I just cannot get enough of Aspen. I am fortunate enough to be able to stay home with her, and lately I have been thinking about the fact that one day she will not want me to hold her anymore. I have heard from so many people.."don't hold your baby all the time or she will never learn to be ok without you". I understand the reasoning behind that, but I just have to hold that precious girl and love on her. I have put housework and other things on hold lately because I cherish those times with her so much. A good friend of mine named Lena Powell is 81 years old, and when Aspen was born she gave me quite different advice than a lot of people when she said, "hold her all the time and never become too busy to cuddle with her." At the time I was exhausted from late night feedings and I was like, "yeah yeah...sure when I have a break from feeding her I will gladly enjoy her." Her advice was so good though and stems from her enjoyment of her babies. She seems like she enjoyed being a mom so much. I want to enjoy Aspen as well. She is really getting big. We have a new game where I chase her and she crawls away as fast as she can. When she crawls away she looks behind at me and just giggles because I tell her I'm gonna get her. She is also pulling up on chairs and trying to balance herself. I want her to stay a baby as long as possible. It seems like they change and grow so fast! God is so good to bless us with such a sweet girl.

2007-08-17T10:06:00.000-06:00

SO MUCH TO TELL

THERE HAVE BEEN SO MANY THINGS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS AND I AM JUST NOT KEEPING YOU UP TO SPEED. WE HAVE HAD SEVERAL VISITS FROM FRIENDS AND FAMILY AND ASPEN HAS CHANGED SO MUCH AS WELL. WHERE DO I START?

TROPICAL STORMS & HURRICANES - SO, YESTERDAY TROPICAL STORM ERIN HIT AND WE GOT 6 INCHES OF RAIN IN A FEW HOURS, THE ROADS WERE TOTALLY FLOODED, AND GUY AND I HAD NO FOOD. YES WE ARE HURRICANE SAVY. WE DIDN'T KNOW WE NEEDED TO BE STOCKED UP FOR A "LITTLE" TROPICAL STORM. OBVIOUSLY IT WAS WORSE THAN WE THOUGHT. TIGGER AND TANYA AND PAUL AND MEL ARE ON THEIR WAY THIS WEEK AND WE FOUND OUT THAT HURRICANE DEAN IS HITTING ON WEDNESDAY. WE THOUGHT THIS WAS PROBABLY NO BIG DEAL UNTIL OUR FRIENDS TOLD US THEY WERE BOARDING UP THEIR WINDOWS...WHAT??? WE THOUGHT THERE WAS JUST A LITTLE STROM COMING. ANYWAYS, WE ARE NOW OFFICIALLY SOON TO BE HURRICANE SURVIVORS. AHHHHHHHHHHH! THE ADVENTURE BEGINS!!

ASPEN - THE GIRL IS JUST CRAWLING EVERYWHERE. IT IS AMAZING HOW RAPIDLY THINGS CHANGE. I SPEND MOST OF MY DAY MAKING SURE SHE IS NOT EATING ELECTRIC CORDS, STRINGS, TRASH...YES TRASH? SHE PULLED GUY'S TRASH CAN DOWN ON TOP OF HER TODAY IN HIS OFFICE. WE WERE LAUGHING SO HARD BECAUSE SHE WAS COVERED IN PAPERS AND WAS TRYING TO EAT THEM. SHE CRIED THE OTHER NIGHT WHEN I WAS GETTING HER MEDICINE READY TO GIVE HER. SHE STARTED SLOWLY CRAWLING TO ME AS SHE CRIED AND THEN SHE LAY HER HEAD DOWN ON MY SHOE..IT WAS SO SWEET! SHE IS JUST GETTING MORE BEAUTIFUL EVERYDAY. I THINK I MUST HAVE THE SWEETEST AND PRETTIEST BABY EVER.

TALKING - EVERY MORNING BEFORE GUY GOES TO THE CHURCH, HE GETS ASPEN OUT OF BED AND FEEDS HER AND CHANGES HER DIAPER. THIS IS A ROUTINE THAT STARTED WHEN SHE WAS FIRST BORN. I WAS UP AT NIGHT FEEDING AND SO GUY WOULD LET ME SLEEP IN AND HE WOULD GET UP WITH HER. WELL, JUST THE PAST MONTH WE HAVE NOTICED THAT AROUND 7:00 A.M. EVERY MORNING WE HEAR "DA DA" COMING OUT OF HER ROOM. WHEN GUY GOES TO GET HER, SHE ALWAYS JUST KEEPS SAYING "DA DA" VERY SOFTLY. SHE KNOWS THE DIFFERENCE BECAUSE ALL DAY SHE CRAWLS AROUND FOLLOWING ME SAYING "MAMA OR NANNY" OH BOY..I NEED TO TEACH HER THAT NANNY IS NOT WHAT SHE IS SUPPOSED TO CALL ME. I CAN'T HELP BUT LOVE IT THOUGH. ALSO, WHEN SHE BATHES SHE PLAYS WITH HER DUCKY AND WHEN HER DADDY SAYS DUCK, SHE REPEATS "DU" IT IS VERY CUTE!

VISITORS - WE HAVE HAD SO MANY VISITORS THE PAST TWO AND A HALF MONTHS THAT WE HAVE BEEN HERE. IN JUNE BEAU AND KRISSI CAME FOR A NIGHT JUST TO SAY HI, SINCE BEAU CAN FLY FREE WITH SOUTHWEST AIRLINES. IN JULY, CHRIS, JESS, ALISON, AND CHRISTIAN CAME FOR A WEEK TO JUST RELAX AND HAVE A LITTLE VACATION. WE HAVE SOME PICS WE NEED TO POST ABOUT THAT WEEK. WE SPENT THE WEEK GOING TO KEMAH, THE BEACH, THE MALL, AND EVERYWHERE ELSE YOU CAN IMAGINE. FINALLY, JUST LAST WEEK MY COUSINS, ERIN, JAMES, KATE, AND CALEB HENDERSON, AND HOLLY BAKER CAME FOR 3 DAYS TO STAY WITH US BEFORE HEADING BACK TO MEXICO CITY. WE HAD NOT SPENT GOOD TIME WITH THEM IN SO LONG AND IT WAS REALLY NICE. WE WENT TO AN ASTROS GAME SO JAMES COULD SEE HIS TEAM, WE WENT TO KEMAH AND FED STINGRAYS, AND WE ALSO JUST LAYED AROUND AND ENJOYED BEING TOGETHER. TODAY TIGGER AND TANYA VASS ARE ON THEIR WAY, AND THEN MONDAY PAUL AND MELANIE PARTLOW ARE STAYING FOR A FEW DAYS. GOD IS SO GOOD TO BLESS US WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY. I THINK THIS IS HIS WAY OF GETTING US OVER THIS ROUGH TIME OF MOVING. I WILL POST PICS OF ALL OF THESE VISITS WHEN I GET PICTURES. WE STILL ARE CAMERA LESS BUT ARE DEFINETELY LOOKING FOR A CAMERA. ERIN IS SENDING ME PICS OF OUR TIME WITH THEM AND SO HOPEFULLY YOU WILL SEE ALL OF OUR ADVENTURES!

2007-08-10T22:02:00.000-06:00

AIM IS BEGINNING

Well, AIM is officially beginning tomorrow. Have I told you how much I love the AIM Program? I'm sure I have. I am so sad that we will not be in Lubbock tomorrow. This will be the first time in 8 years that we are not there to greet the new students. God changes so many lives through AIM and I was so blessed to be a part of it for so long. WOW - I look back on my life and can see how God used my time in AIM to challenge me and stretch me in ways that were sometimes painful to bring me to a better understanding of him. I will patiently wait to see what amazing events transpire in the lives of these new students that will enter the doors of Sunset Church of Christ tomorrow. What marriages will be a success because of those first steps taken on Saturday? What souls will be saved because a young man or woman had the guts to walk through those doors. God is at work in miraculous ways. If you have never done this, trace your life history through the eyes of God. See the places he led you to and the people he led you to so that you would fall more in love with Him. To my AIM staff, I love you and miss you. To the new aimers, hold on because the ride has begun. - Nan

2007-08-04T16:51:00.001-06:00

This weekend we took our high school teens on a retreat to Brenham, TX, home of Blue Bell ice Cream(I know right?). It was the best thing ever. While there our youth intern Kelsey bought Aspen this cute ice cream shirt and hat. It was a really great weekend to just get to know some of the kids we didn't know well, and also to tell our youth interns how much we appreciated them before they go off to AIM and college.

While we were in Brenham some of the girls and I went shopping and had a lot of fun. We actually went Antique shopping because that is all there is to do there and although none of us were in the market for antigues, we had a lot of fun trying things on. In fact, Aspen was with the girls most of the day. She is pretty much their baby and while I was not looking they dressed her up in a tiara and sunglasses as you can see below. She loved it. I think I might have a little "Ham". Aspen is the funniest kid. She laughs constantly and will go to absolutely anyone who reaches for her. When we dress her up I think she acts a little sassy like she wants to put on a show or something.

Here are a few stats about our little Lady that you may not know:

Age - 8 months
Weight - 17.9 pounds
Teeth -NONE!!
Words - Mama, Dada, Nanny(I know...:-)), Duck, Mimi(just yesterday)
Crawling - YES!!!!! she took her first little crawls? crawl? today. She was going after her diaper bag and succeeded in pulling everything out.

FINALLY SOME REAL FOOD!

I'm like my momma. I get cranky without my ice cream.

Yes - I am lookin good!

She is deep in thought in this picture. We didn't put those sunglasses in her mouth, she just naturally put them there.

This is my Kelsey who is my favorite "GIRL" intern ever! We love you too STEVE!!

2007-07-26T11:43:00.000-06:00

WORK CAMP

WE HAD A WORK CAMP FOR OUR TEENS WHERE THEY WORKED FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT ABLE TO DO THINGS ON THEIR OWN ALL DAY. THEY WERE TIRED BUT HAD PLENTY OF ENERGY AT NIGHT FOR DEVOS AND CRAZINESS. ASPEN LOVED IT. IN THESE PICTURES WE ARE AT "INCREDIBLE PIZZA" WITH OUR INTERN STEVE ON THE LEFT AND ONE OF THE GIRLS IN THE YOUTH GROUP, LAUREN ON THE RIGHT. THIS NIGHT AT THE PIZZA PLACE STEVE, LAUREN, AND AMY PUT THEIR TICKETS TOGETHER AND WON ASPEN A PINK LAMP, A STUFFED MOUSE, AND A TEDDY BEAR. THE TEENS JUST PASSED HER AROUND PLAYING GAMES WITH HER. SHE IS SUPER SPOILED BUT LOVES HER TEENS. SHE IS PRETTY MUCH THE YOUTH GROUP MASCOT!

2007-07-22T20:31:00.000-06:00

ASPEN'S FIRST TRIP TO THE 'ER'

I HAVE MUCH TO TELL YOU. WE HAVE NOT WRITTEN MUCH LATELY BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN DOING A WORK CAMP WITH OUR TEENS. THAT ALL ENDED ON FRIDAY, BUT I HAVE NEWS THAT CAN'T WAIT. THIS MORNING AS I WAS GETTING READY FOR CHURCH, ASPEN WAS LAYING ON MY BED. SHE WAS SURROUNDED BY MANY LARGE PILLOWS AND SO I THOUGHT SHE WAS SAFE. AS I WAS GETTING READY I SAW HER THROW HERSELF OVER THE PILLOWS OFF THE BED. SHE HIT THE NIGHT STAND WITH HER HEAD AND THEN HIT THE SIDE OF THE BED BEFORE HITTING THE GROUND AND LANDING FACE DOWN. I WAS HYSTERICAL. I RAN TO HER AND SHE WAS NOT MOVING OR CRYING. SHE HAD HER EYES SHUT. SHEER TERROR RAN THROUGH ME. I PICKED HER UP AND SHE BEGAN TO CRY. I COULD NOT FIND MY PHONE TO CALL GUY WHO WAS ALREADY AT CHURCH. AFTER RUNNING AROUND ASKING MY NEIGHBORS FOR A PHONE, I FINALLY DROVE TO THE CHURCH AND FOUND GUY. WE ASKED THE CHURCH SECRETARY TO GO WITH US TO THE ER BECAUSE WE DID NOT EVEN KNOW WHERE IT WAS. WHEN WE GOT THERE ASPEN HAD A CAT SCAN AND MANY OTHER TESTS BEFORE WE WERE TOLD SHE WAS PERFECTLY FINE. ALL THEY COULD FIND WRONG WAS A REALLY BAD EAR INFECTION. WEIRD HUH? I HAD TAKEN HER TO THE DR. THREE DAYS BEFORE FOR BRONCHITIS AND THE DR. SAID HER PREVIOUS EAR INFECTION HAD CLEARED UP. SURPRISE IT IS BACK. THERE IS SERIOUSLY NOT A MARK ON HER. GOD IS AWESOME!!!!!! I SURVIVED MY FIRST BAD SCARY THING WITH MY BABY. I NEVER WANT TO DO THAT AGAIN. IT WAS COOL BECAUSE SOME OF OUR TEENS CAME TO THE HOSPITAL AS WELL AS AMY SHAW WHO USED TO WORK WITH AIM WITH US. I THINK I AM IN CULTURE SHOCK. SINCE WE MOVED HERE ASPEN HAS BEEN TO THE DR. TWICE AND THE ER ONCE. WE HAVE ONLY BEEN HERE 8 WEEKS. ANYWAY - I FELT LOVED TODAY BECAUSE PEOPLE CAME TO BE WITH US AT THE HOSPITAL. I KNOW IN LUBBOCK THAT WOULD HAPPEN, BUT BEING NEW TO PASADENA, I JUST DIDN'T KNOW. GOD IS GOOD. WHEN YOU PRAY TONIGHT THANK GOD FOR PROTECTING ASPEN. I LOVE ALL OF YOU - NAN

2007-07-12T10:12:00.000-06:00

Hey - It has been a long time since I have posted. My brother and his family came to visit from Mexico. They stayed a week and then left on Sunday. It was good to have some people we know here. We went to the beach and to Kemah to see the boats. It was encouraging to see missionaries from the field and hear their stories. While they were here, Aspen, Alison, and my cousin Mel's daughter Jewls had their pictures taken together. I will post it soon! Aspen is getting so big. She is still trying to crawl, but not quite succeeding. She did however really start saying DA DA and MA MA. She says DA DA more which is a little sad for the lady who stays home with her all day, but WHATEVER! :-) It is sooooo cute. She also is the most giggly baby I have ever seen and also that most other people have seen. She laughs during church all the time, which is probably not good. She will just look at me and really crack up to where she can't catch her breath. Maybe I am funny looking!

God has been good to us. We are enjoying this congregation so much, and the challenges it presents to us. We have met with several families here and have shared our vision of a family based youth ministry. Many of our friends here are on board and are getting involved in the activities we do. Our parents have been going to Youth Rallies with us and are showing their desire to be involved. Also, Guy has a strong desire for our teens to grasp their faith and to be able to share it with others. On Sunday mornings he is taking the high school students through a study in the Book of Mark. At the end of 4 weeks, he is going to have them each sit down with a junior high student and have a study about Jesus. The teens are so excited about this challenge to teach someone else about Jesus. They are really taking it seriously. We have a great group of teens! That is all for now. Keep praying about our work here. We are excited about where God is taking us. OHH - also our youth intern from OC has decided to go to AIM. He is in the process of raising support and we are thrilled with his decision. Have a great day - Nan

2007-06-26T20:49:00.000-06:00

I love pink!! Today was a really good day. I went to the church to help Guy clean our teen classroom. We spent time with our interns and had a really great time getting dirty. When Guy got off work we took Aspen to stay with some people for the first time, so that we could go on a date. We went with some of our "new" good friends to see a movie and eat dinner. We had so much fun and honestly a lot of the time I was thinking about our "old" date buddies Katie and Brandon. It is crazy how I kept thinking about what Katie and I would say or do. I think I was sceptical that I could have fun with new people, but I totally did. It is neat how God always puts people in our lives to help us get through the hard times. We have met many couples in this church, but Christi and Trey are the ones who have sought us out and tried to make us feel welcome. OH..still not camera. My little crazy girl is growing up. She is particularly cute in Bible class. She holds her Bible..and of course eats it...but none the less she does hold it. :-) I am proud of her and pray everyday that she will be a good little example one day to other girls. I love you all and hope you see God's wonderful blessings in your lives. - Nan

2007-06-23T14:26:00.000-06:00

I WANTED TO SAY, WHAT A BLESSING CHRISTIAN FRIENDS ARE. MY CLOSEST FRIENDS DO NOT LIVE NEAR ME ANYMORE, BUT GOD IS STILL USING THEIR INFLUENCE TO HELP ME GROW INTO A BETTER CHRISTIAN. NEARLY EVERY WEEK FOR THREE YEARS, I WENT TO COFFEE WITH KATIE TO TALK ABOUT OUR RELATIONSHIPS WITH JESUS; AND MY FRIEND LINDSAY AND I WOULD GET TOGETHER AND SHARE WHAT GOD WAS DOING IN OUR LIVES. I MISS THAT, BUT THOSE TIMES REALLY TRAINED ME FOR SPENDING TIME WITH GOD AND SPENDING TIME IN CONVERSATION ABOUT GOD. NOW I HAVE NOT YET FOUND SOMEONE TO REALLY DIVE INTO THE WORD WITH, BUT MY FRIENDS ENCOURAGE ME TO DO IT ON MY OWN BECAUSE OF THE NECESSITY OF IT. I WANT TO ENCOURAGE YOU TODAY TO SPEND TIME WITH GOD AND MAKE HIM SUCH A PART OF YOUR LIFE THAT YOU SHARE WHAT HE IS TEACHING YOU WITH EVERYONE YOU MEET. PRAY FOR ME TO HAVE BOLDNESS TO ASK SOME OF THE LADIES HERE TO STUDY THE BIBLE WITH ME. I HOPE ALL OF YOU HAVE A GOOD DAY - NAN

2007-06-18T18:48:00.000-06:00

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY GUY!!!!!

I WANT TO TAKE THIS TIME TO TELL YOU WHY GUY IS THE BEST DADDY IN THE WORLD.

1. HE GETS UP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO FEED HIS GIRL, WHEN I AM TIRED.

2.EVERY MORNING HE GETS UP EARLY AND GOES STRAIGHT TO ASPEN'S CRIB TO GIVE HER KISSES AND HUGS.

3. HE LOVES ME UNCONDITIONALLY AND SO SHOWS HIS LOVE TO ASPEN.

4. HE IS ABSOULTELY SELFLESS.

5. HE PRAYS FOR ASPEN AND ALWAYS TELLS HER HOW MUCH HE LOVES HER.

6. HE IS JUST GREAT, SWEET, CUTE, WONDERFUL,SELFLESS, HUMBLE, KIND, SLOW TO ANGER, AND THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

I LOVE YOU BABY - NAN

2007-06-14T19:20:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! I love Thursdays! Today is Guy's day off and we had a lot of fun. We decided to explore today. We went to a fish store in Houston, ate at a really cool pizza place and drove around all day. Oh - and Aspen is totally trying to crawl. She lays on her tummy and does this Push up sort of thing. She puts her fingers on the ground and holds her whole body in the air with her toes clenching the floor. Then she starts scooting herself "Backwards". I don't know...maybe she is special or something. She will go backwards in circles just to get to a toy that is in front of her. She can't get the concept of "Forward" down. HAHA! We love our silly baby. I also heard from Katie today. She moved to Ukraine for a year and it was so good to hear from her. My friend Lindsay called too from South Africa. It is cool to have friends all over the world. Keep my friends in your prayers. Have a good night everyone - Nan

2007-06-12T20:20:00.000-06:00

Sorry no pictures!!!! We still have no camera. A detective in Dallas found our camera at a pawn shop but it still isn't here..Some of you have written me and our very sad about the lack of Aspen pics....Pray for our camera to come back to us. :-(

So, We are beginning to love Houston. It is still very HOTTTT!, but the people here are really great. My cousins Michael and Mel Rushing live here too and that is really fun! We went to dinner last week with them and are planning to see each other often! Guy and I have been decorating his office, and I convinced him that Hobby Lobby has everything he needs! And guess what? IT DID! We bought a clock and two wall hangings for his office. Guy has a really great job here and it is cool because Aspen and I can go to the office with him. Today we grabbed some coffee together and then I helped him do youth ministry stuff and Aspen just played on the floor. I love our little family. Moving is scary and making new friends is hard, but I can do anything with Guy and Aspen by my side.

2007-06-06T14:29:00.000-06:00

HEY! Sorry I haven't written in a while. So, we are moved in to our new apartment in Houston. To update everyone on why I haven't posted pictures, when we came to Houston a few weeks ago to get an apartment our car was broken into and our backpack was stolen with our bibles in it and our digital camera. Guy was heartborken about his Bible b/c it was his Sunset Bible with all of his notes. I was pretty sad about the camera because I use it to put pics on our blog. Anyways - I wish I could show you our home and our town. Things are good though! We have a cool town 15 mins. from us named Kemah. It is on the water with boats and yachts everywhere. There is a cool restaraunt with fish aquariums and you can even feed stingrays. Guy and I did that last night and I was screaming the whole time because the sting rays jump out of the water at you. AHH - anyways..FUN FUN! You should all come visit and go fishing with us. well, i will write more later..hopefully we will have a camera at some point. My child is growing quickly and I need to remember these days! Love you all - Nan

2007-05-17T11:51:00.000-06:00

2007-05-17T11:47:00.002-06:00

BRANDON TOOK SOME PICTURES OF ASPEN AND I, AND YOU CAN SEE THEM ON HERE. ISN'T ASPEN CUTE??

2007-05-02T21:22:00.000-06:00

THIS IS ASPEN AND HER HONORARY AUNT LINDSAY. (JUST CLICK THE PLAY BUTTON EVEN THOUGH IT SAYS THE IMAGE IS COMING SOON.)

2007-04-25T21:50:00.000-06:00

ASPEN AND HER BEST BUDDY

THIS PICTURE WAS TAKEN MOMENTS BEFORE ASPEN ATE DADDY'S NOSE. I HAVE PICTURES OF THAT IN EARLIER ENTRIES ON MY BLOG. GUY WAS TOTALLY ASLEEP AND DIDN'T EVEN KNOW IT WAS COMING. HE HATES THIS PICTURE, BUT THAT IS MY SWEET GUYBER!!!!!!!!!

2007-04-24T20:03:00.000-06:00

THESE ARE TWO OF MY CRAZY AIMERS, BRENT AND CAROLYNE. THEY WANTED TO PLAY WITH ASPEN. IF YOU ASK ME THEY ARE MORE LIKE KIDS THAN SHE IS....:-) LOVE YOU GUYS! I MISS YOU AND MISS OUR ABUELOS' NIGHT.

2007-04-20T16:57:00.000-06:00

ASPENS PICTURES

We have put all of Aspens latest pictures on yahoo. Take a look! http://new.photos.yahoo.com/guy_stover/album/576460762398717439

2007-04-19T20:51:00.000-06:00

AIM

I know this is the babystover website, but this is the only one I write on. I am really tired and about to go to bed, but I am so sad. AIM is over. I have given myself to eight AIM classes, and after much prayer, we have decided to stop working with AIM. This is breaking my heart. I know we probably can't continue with a baby, always searching for support and working extra jobs to make ends meet; but it was so worth it. I love AIM. I love what God is doing in AIM. Aspen was around the Aimers for a brief time and I wish she could be around them for many more years. My hope is that Aspen will always be influenced by young men and women who have a true love for Christ. I hope that Guy and I can be good examples to the teens we work with in the future, and that they will decide to give their lives fully to Jesus. God is so good! I have been blessed beyond measure and my heart is full with all of the wonderful people I have been honored to work with.

2007-04-19T20:09:00.000-06:00

MY LITTLE COWGIRL
Aspen's honorary Aunt Lindsay bought her these cute little Ostrich Skin boots, and her Cousin Holly bought her the jean skirt and horse t-shirt. She is so the cutest kid ever!!!

2007-04-17T15:19:00.000-06:00

EVERYONE NEEDS AN UNCLE CHRIS! MY BROTHER HAD NOT MET ASPEN UNTIL EASTER, BUT THEY ARE BEST BUDS! I LOVE THAT THEY BONDED SO QUICKLY. AND THERE IS NO ONE LIKE AUNT JESSICA. ASPEN THINKS SHE HANGS THE MOON!

2007-04-15T14:32:00.000-06:00

THIS WAS TOO FUNNY. ASPEN LIES IN BED WITH US EVERY MORNING AND THIS PARTICULAR DAY SHE WAS PLAYING WITH DADDY'S FACE AND DECIDED TO SUCK HIS NOSE! I THINK GUY WAS PRETTY GROSSED OUT.

2007-04-15T14:28:00.000-06:00

HONESTLY HAS THERE EVER BEEN A CUTER BABY?????

2007-04-15T14:11:00.000-06:00

ASPEN'S FIRST SLEEPOVER WITH HER COUSINS

ASPEN HAS BECOME QUITE THE GIGGLER LATELY, AND WHEN SHE LAY ON THE FLOOR WITH HER COUSINS, SHE JUST COULDN'T STOP LAUGHING. WE ALSO MADE A TENT AND CHRISTIAN, ALISON, AND I ATE POPCORN AND DRANK COKE. IT WAS REALLY FUN!!