The Stephens Family

October 11th and a visit to the neurologist

2010-10-12T16:25:00.000-07:00

We had an appointment with Dr. Stein, the neurologist, yesterday and she checked his reflexes. She scheduled an EEG for 10/22 and was happy with her findings and believes the seizures were cased by a temporary, benign condition of blood thickening due to dehydration in newborns called central venous thrombosis.

Later, we stopped at the pediatrician's office for a weigh-in. He gained 6 ounces over the weekend and now weighs 6 pounds and 2 ounces. This is a good finding as he gained six ounces over the weekend.

On a sidenote, I took this photo on my iPhone using a program called Hipstamatic that recreated the effects, or lack of effects, of a Polaroid Instamatic photo. This is my favorite photo of little Tobin.

-Scott

October 8th Pediatrician's Visit

2010-10-12T16:20:00.000-07:00

Today, Tobin went to see the pediatrician and was able to have his Phenobarbital dosage cut in half. This is a great step and yields a much happier and more energetic little man.

-Scott

October 6th is a good day..no longer institutionalized

2010-10-12T16:12:00.000-07:00

Today, we were able to take our baby boy home for the first time. We are optimistic, even though our little guy will remain tethered to an apnea monitor for a month or so. We are so grateful for each step. God has a plan and we continue to praise Him for his blessings each day.

-Scott

October 5th in the NICU...MRI Day

2010-10-05T16:56:00.000-07:00

God is good. The NICU doctor reported to us that Tobin's MRI appeared normal. It still needs to be reviewed by the specialist in the morning, but we feel this is an answered prayer. We hope to take him home tomorrow.

-Scott

October 4th...One Week Old Today

2010-10-04T17:35:00.000-07:00

Today, Tobin is on week old and God is Great.

He is feeding better than expected, gaining weight and scheduled for an MRI at 7:30 in the morning. His IV was removed, yet he is still receiving his Phenobarbital, the anti-seizure medicine, by mouth.

He is due to be released on Wednesday and we are overjoyed to have some light at the end of this tunnel and excited about the opportunity to bring our youngest son home for the first time.

-Scott

October 3rd in the NICU

2010-10-04T17:09:00.000-07:00

Tobin is 6 days old today and he is truly a blessing.

He is eating like a champ and gaining weight. He has no idea and may never truly appreciate the dozens and dozens of wonderful people praying for him. We hope to bring him home in a couple days. As we visit him a in the NICU, we remind Tobin he is missing out on great experiences as long as he is in the hospital.

When Tiffany and I went to church this morning, we received more hugs and comfort than we could ever have imagined. Thank you to the Kingsfield Church congregation, the members of our small group, Pastor Chris, Pastor Aaron, Brook and Colton. Aaron, you are truly a prayer warrior. Chris, your message spoke directly to me today. And Brook and Colton, your music brought me to tears and humbled my soul.

-Scott Stephens

October 2nd in the NICU

2010-10-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

Today, Tobin is 5 days old and God is Great.

No seizure activity for 24 hours since he started drinking breast milk. Amen.

No more IV nutrition. Amen.

Good initial evaluation from the neurologist today. Amen.

More tests in the next couple of days.

Tomorrow the big brothers get to visit him in the NICU.

October 1st in the NICU

2010-10-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

Tobin is 4 days old today.
His hypoxia and hypoglycemia stabilized. He started having small seizures and was given an EEG and phenobarbital. The activity stopped. The neurologist will be in this morning to interpret the EEG. However, he was taken off of the O2 and IV nutrition. We are optimistic, but won't be able to ...take him home until Monday at the earliest.

-Scott Stephens

Sept. 30th..Heading to the NICU...Prayers Needed

2010-09-30T16:53:00.000-07:00

I find myself humbly in need of your prayers as my son, Tobin Christopher, who was born Monday Night has been admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

He developed shallow respirations early today and he was determined to have low blood sugar and low blood oxygen levels. After his admission to the NICU, I was sitting and talking to him about his bright future. In the middle of our talk, he had a seizure. This was one of many in the late afternoon and early evening tonight. He went through a battery of tests and was given Phenobarbital to control the seizure activity.

He will stay in the NICU for at least 3-5 days.

I am asking you to please pray for my son and my family as we endure this difficult time as we find ourselves humbled daily.

-Scott Stephens

Baby Bliss

2010-09-28T11:44:00.000-07:00

Tuesday September 28, all of the Stephens were together. The big brothers all got to take turns holding and loving on their little brother. Both of the boys were so excited to hold him that they would argue about who was going to hold him and how long they got to hold him. All of the family got to come in and see our new bundle of joy. It is one of the happiest times in our lives.

Baby is Born

2010-09-27T19:40:00.000-07:00

On Monday September 27, Scott and I went to the baby doctor for a routine visit to check on the baby. While we were there I told the doc that he seemed to not kick and then kick really hard. He then said let's monitor the baby for a while. So we did, and he had a decelerated heart rate. He sent me straight to the hospital. While I was in the hospital it happened two more times. So he decided that I should deliver that day. They tried to induce me but the bay would not tolerate the contractions. That is when we decided to go ahead and have a c section. When they pulled him out he was blue. So they took him away and started to give him oxygen. Soon I heard the sweat sounds of crying.As they sewed me up then passed Scott our new baby boy. It was one of the happiest moments in my life.

Sept 27th...The New Addition to Team Stephens

2010-09-27T16:36:00.000-07:00

Team Stephens has increased our roster by one. Our son, who is currently without a name, was born at 19:37, weighing in at a whopping 5 lbs. 8 oz. and measuring 18.5" long. We hope to decide on his name by early tomorrow. Thanks to all of you for you prayers. As times got rough today, we felt each and every prayer.

AWANA Graduation

2010-06-12T09:03:00.000-07:00

This was the first year for our boys in AWANAs. They loved it. Mason loved it the most he would ask every day if it was Cubbies day. Thank You LLCC for allowing Mason to join even though he was only 2.

Laguana Hills Memorial Day 50 Yard Dash

2010-05-31T21:48:00.001-07:00

Waiting for our race to start.

Watching all the racers start their races.

The starting line

On your mark get set go!!!

Shea placed 1st over all for the 4-unders and Mason place 3rd. I have some fast runners.

First pool day of the year

2010-05-28T21:42:00.000-07:00

We got a new pool this year. A dinosaur pool. We love that it has finally gotten hot enough to use it.

Firefighter Mason

2010-04-25T21:32:00.000-07:00

Mason is following in Sheadon's foot steps. He wants to have a firefighters birthday for his 3rd birthday too. Here are the photos we took to celebrate!

Dana Point Bike Race

2010-04-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

Today we participated in our 2nd Dana Point Bike race.

Easter Photos

2010-04-09T21:14:00.000-07:00

Sea World

2010-03-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks Papa Bob and Grammy for coming with us to Sea World. We loved every part, except Mason when Shamu got him all wet.

Big News

2010-02-03T21:02:00.000-08:00

We just found out that we are expecting baby #3. He is Due Oct. 2. The big brothers are so excited.

Grandparents Day

2010-01-28T20:49:00.000-08:00

Shea was so lucky this year. He had all of his grandparents come to Grandparents day at his preschool.

Ice Skating

2010-01-11T20:52:00.000-08:00

Today we went ice skating for the first time. The boys loved it. Now Mason wants to be a hockey guy.

My Hockey Guys

2009-12-31T10:49:00.000-08:00

We went to the Noon Years Eve Party again this year at the Discovery Science Center. We had a blast. The boys got to pretend they were Hockey goalies. Shea is a pro and may follow in Mom's footsteps as a goalie, but Mason does not want to have anything to do with it. Take a look.

Goalie Shea

Not so goalie Mason

Shea's Preschool Performance

2009-12-09T22:40:00.000-08:00

It is so awesome to see your own in a performance. Here are some pictures of Shea during his performance. Unfortunately, I was on the total opposite from where Shea was singing. I hope that I will be on the same side when he sings during church on Sunday. Here are the photos I got and some of the video of him singing.

Making our wagons at Home Depot

2009-12-05T11:40:00.000-08:00

Christmas Music Class

2009-12-03T16:33:00.000-08:00

This year I took the boys to a holiday music class. We all had a great time. Now the boys want to listen to Christmas music in the car. And boy do I love that!!!

Biker Sheadon

2009-11-16T12:46:00.000-08:00

Today Shea decided that it was time for him to ride his bike. A couple of months ago Shea's bike got ran over by a car and the training wheels were bent so we took them off his bike. I kept trying to get him to ride it but he kept telling me no. So, when I asked him today if he wanted to ride, to my surprise he said yes. And look what happened....

This was about 2 min after he peddled for the first time. I have to give credit to the strider bike, it totally helped with his balance. Not even 4 and he is a riding machine.

Engineer Shea

2009-11-08T20:32:00.002-08:00

Shea is having a train birthday. So, this year we went to Disneyland and rode the train in our engineer outfit. Mom took photos so we can put it on the invite. Check out some of the photos.

Pumpkin carving

2009-10-29T21:49:00.000-07:00

We carved our pumpkins today. What a feat... Sheadon put his hands in the pumpkin without gagging and even pulled out some of the stuff.

Shea is so excited. He pull stuff out of the pumpkin without gagging, this was his 1st.

This pumpkin we grew in our yard, and he is eating his own seed.

Look at the pumpkin on the right Mason picked it out and it is still green. It looks awesome!

Pumpkin Patch

2009-10-19T21:34:00.000-07:00

This is becoming our family tradition...

We go to the pumpkin patch with Papa Bob, Grammy, Mimi, and Paul.

First Rain of the Year

2009-10-14T09:37:00.001-07:00

Since it is raining today we thought it would be fun if we went for a walk in the rain with our new rain gear.

Mason's 2

2009-06-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

Cowboy Mason- Mason loves horses and he wanted a neigh birthday so we had a cowboy birthday for him. This is him all ready to go.

Mason in his birthday hat

I can not believe that Mason is two. They grow up so fast.

Happy Mother's Day

2009-05-13T22:54:00.000-07:00

I had a great Mother's Day Weekend. We went to the river and had a great time. Grammy, Papa Bob, and Auntie Danielle came with us too.

Our Mother's Day dinner

Me and my Boys

Shea loves watermelon

But he does not like cold water.

Mason is ok with cold water.

Auntie trying to wakeboard.

Mommy's still got it.

I can still go outside the wake. Yeah me!

Auntie and Mason at Joe's

Mother's Day Tea at Shea's School

2009-05-07T16:22:00.000-07:00

Shea and Mommy at school.

Shea's best friend Cooper.

My Mother's Day gift.

I knew that I would love being a stay at home mom, but now I love helping out in my son's class even more.
Today was Mother's Day at preschool.
I had such a good time. Then at the end they gave each mom these: (Don't read it unless you want to cry).

Once upon a time there was a child ready to be born.
So one day he asked God:
“They tell me you are sending me to earth tomorrow but how am I going to live there being so small and helpless?
Among the many angels, I chose one for you.
She will be waiting for you and will take care of you.
But tell me, here in heaven, I don’t do anything else but sing and smile, that’s enough for me to be happy.
Your angel will sing for you and will also smile for you every day.
And you will feel your angel’s love and be happy.
And how am I going to be able to understand when people talk to me, If I don’t know the language that men talk?
Your angel will tell you the most beautiful and sweet words you will ever hear, and with much patience and care, your angel will teach you how to speak.
And what am I going to do when I want to talk to you?
Your angel will place your hands together and will teach you how to pray.
I’ve heard that on earth there are bad men. Who will protect me?
Your angel will defend you even if it means risking its life.
But I will always be sad because I will not see you anymore.
Your angel will always talk to you about me and will teach you the way for you to come back to me, even thought I will always be next to you.
At the moment there was much peace in Heaven,
But voices from earth could already be heard, and the child in a hurry asked softly: Oh God, if I am about to leave you now, Please tell me my angel’s name.
Your angel’s name if of no importance;
You will call your angel “Mommy.”

Have a wonderful Mother's Day!

Jesus Loves Me

2009-04-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

Here is Mason and Shea having a jam session while Mason sings Jesus Loves me.

Refuel series at Saddleback

2009-03-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,
I am going to be a small group leader for a 3 week series at Saddleback Church. I am going to be hosting an online group every Wed night at 9pm. Please pray that I am able to fill the shoes God wants me to by hosting this group. Pray that I will be a support and encourager for all who join my video chat. If you are interested in viewing or learning more about this series please check out this video. Don't forget to turn of the sound for my music on the right side of my page.

Clark's 1st Birthday

2009-03-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

We went to the Great Park in Irvine for Clark's big day and they were having a snow day. Check out all of the fun things we did.

Played with Josh Practiced playing hockey

Had a snow ball fight with our friends Noah and Jordan

We went on the big orange balloon ride way up high.

Really really high We made some snowmen

All for Clark' s first. What a great day!

Mason loves to sing in the bath tub

2009-03-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

Here is Mason singing his ABC's.

Spectrum with the cousins

2009-03-06T20:35:00.000-08:00

We went to the Specturm with the Ritter Girls today and we had so much fun.

Mason counting to ten

2009-02-22T20:45:00.000-08:00

Mason loves to count to ten and he can even recognize numbers up to ten. Watch him count and then in the middle of counting he sees a taxi and then goes right back to counting.

Mason and Shea's first trip to the snow

2009-02-15T17:36:00.000-08:00

Our family went to Big Bear to see our first snow. It was perfect weather!!! Snow on the way up the mountain, with big white snowflakes, and sunny all day Sat and Sun.

Shea's first Slide Ride

Mason's First Ride

Our Visit to the Fire Station #39

2009-02-11T10:24:00.000-08:00

Kids with Fireman Ryan

Fireman Ryan getting dress for us

Fireman Mason

Fireman Shea

Our tour of the station and the engine

Listening to No Dinosaur for Tea

Shea's ABC's

2009-01-05T20:49:00.000-08:00

This was Shea less then one year ago. Listen to this post and then listen to the next post- Wow what a difference.

Shea can not only count to 15, but he can say and recognize all the letters of the alphabet. Listen to my smart little boy. Original Date 2/15/08

Shea's ABC's take 2

2009-01-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

Here is Shea saying his ABCs almost one year later. What a difference a year makes. I can not wait until next year to see what he can do.

Make sure you watch the other one first.

Mason Reading

2009-01-04T12:57:00.000-08:00

Mason loves to read this book over and over again just like Shea.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T15:39:00.000-08:00

Have a Blessed Year to all our friends and family.
Don't forget to go to the bottom of the blog to turn off the music so you can hear the boys.

Noon Years Eve

2008-12-31T15:51:00.000-08:00

Today we went to the New Years Eve Party at the Discovery Science Center. We had a great time.

Boys in the Dinosaur section of the center

We made some rockets

We got to see what bats see

We got to hear what bats hear

We did experiments

We made Party Hats and said Cheers!

They even had a count down with falling balloons.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-26T15:19:00.000-08:00

Every year since Shea was born Scott has had to work on Christmas. This year was no different, needless to say my boys enjoy every minute of their time at the Fire Station. After the fire station visit we went to Grandma Gail's house and had some cousin fun.

1. My boys in front of Daddy's engine
2. Papa Steve and Mason
3. Shea sitting in Daddy's sit in the Fire engine
4. Mommy and Mason
5. Kissing cousins
6. Mason, Shea, Hanna, and Hailee
7. BFF
8. Grandpa Barry and Hanna

Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T16:06:00.000-08:00

Every year we spend Christmas Eve with the Dawson side of the family. This year it was at the Anderson house. Thanks Andersons.

The Stephens Boys

The Dawson Family little ones

Grammy and her boys

Great Aunt Claudia

Auntie Danielle

Rainy days at the Stephens House

2008-12-22T23:10:00.000-08:00

So we got this frog as a White Elephant gift at church and the boys love to play the music and dance. They fight over who gets to make the frog sing. Shea was a little shy as soon as I got the camera. You have to come over soon and see his moves.

Shea's first stage show

2008-12-19T15:23:00.000-08:00

Ok so this is not that exciting for everyone, but for me mom. This was pretty cool.

My little firefighters

2008-11-01T08:01:00.000-07:00

It is getting close to Shea's 3rd birthday and I thought it would be fun to ask him what he wanted to do. So I asked him, " Do you want an O George (Curious George), Elmo, Word World, Dump Truck, Trash Truck, etc. party never mentioning Fire. But, every time I said something he would say no Firetruck. Needless to say he will be having a Firefighter party. Here are some photos we took to make his invite.

Mason wanted to get into the act as well.

It's out

2008-08-02T21:49:00.000-07:00

Some of you know that I had a kidney stone removed on Thursday. It was really big (9mm). And some wanted to see what it looked like, so here it is:

Cattle Drive

2008-07-28T22:00:00.001-07:00

On Saturday we took the boys to Costa Mesa to watch the cattle drive to the fair. We all had a great time.

When we were all done with lunch and the cattle drive we let the kids jump in the fountain. How white trash are we?

Check out the video of the actual cattle on the streets.

It has been a long time

2008-07-23T13:43:00.000-07:00

It has been a really ling time since I have blogged. I have lots to catch up. So be looking back in the next week and I will add a lot of past things that I have been meaning to blog about. But for now here is what Shea has to say about his Dad.

Mason is almost there

2008-05-31T21:27:00.000-07:00

He just started to push the chart all around. He now stands by himself and if you hold out your hands is almost runs. But, so some reason he just does not want to walk by himself. Deep down I don't really want him to walk either. Then he will not be my baby anymore. :0(

Helping Daddy

2008-05-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

My boys are getting so big that they are starting to love to help around the house. Their favorite thing to do is to help Daddy wash the cars. Just look at how much fun they had last week.

1st River Trip of the Year

2008-05-23T22:34:00.001-07:00

We went to the river for the first time this year. We had a great time, check out our photos.

Mother's Day

2008-05-12T21:09:00.000-07:00

What did you do Mother's Day? I went to the river and had a wonderful time!

It's been so hot lately

2008-04-19T13:01:00.001-07:00

Mason is 10 months

2008-04-18T15:03:00.000-07:00

I can not belive that my little man is now 10 months old. It seems like yesterday I was pregnant with him. He is doing so much. If you want to see what he did last month check out Shea and Mason's webpage.

Have you ever

2008-04-17T14:08:00.000-07:00

I was wondering if any other mom's out there have taught their kids something that they wished later that you had not?

A couple of months ago I thought it would be a good idea to have Shea help me cook. So, far it has been going well. He really enjoys helping me out, and I think it has even helped with keeping him away from the stove. We have had discussions about where he can help, where he can not, what is hot, where the fire comes from, and how the fire is what makes things cook. I bet you all are thinking this all sounds great, why am I blogging about it.

Well, this morning we came down stairs and I asked Shea. "What do you want for breakfast?" He said, "Pancakes." I said, " Great. We can make some after I go get Mason and get him started on his breakfast." Well, I went up stairs and I heard some movement down stairs. I did not think anything about it. When I finally got downstairs. Shea had gotten in the cabinet gotten out the Bisquick, oil, a bowl, a fork, and was starting to pour the Bisquick. If I had been about a minute later. I know that there would have been food everywhere. I am so glad that he can not open the frig yet. It was hard not to laugh as I walked in the room and he says," I help make pancakes."

All Done

2008-04-06T08:28:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of teaching Mason some sign language. I was trying to teach him the sign for all done, but he started to try to say "All Done." Listen to the end of the video really close. He tries to mimic the words and not the sign.

Time Change

2008-03-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

Yuck! Ok so some of you like the time change, but for me, not so much. The morning of the time change always starts out great. Since my boys always get up between 6 and 7am it was really nice for them to get up at 7:20 and 8:05. Then as the day went on I tried to get them on their nap schedule. (Mason 9:30 and 1:30 and Shea at 1.) So, I tried to not be to hasty and change them by an hour so I did it at the half hour instead.
Mason did not do well with the first nap. He cried for the entire half hour difference. He finally fell asleep at 11am. I had to go in and wake him at 12 for lunch. I did not want to let him sleep so that I could maybe get him back on course at the second nap. His second nap I tried to put him in his bed. He was not having it and the crying was making Shea stir, so I brought him in bed with me. Which ended up being great- we slept for 2 hours.
Shea went to sleep with little problem. I put him to bed at 1 and he slept until 5. My mistake. I should not allowed him to sleep so long, because now that we are trying to go to bed he will not.
Mason and Shea both did not want to go to sleep. They were both crying and and Shea kept getting out of bed and turning on his light. They both gave me grief until 9:15. I can not wait until tomorrow so we can do it all again. ;0)

We're in the army now

2008-02-29T21:20:00.000-08:00

Today Mason started to army crawl. He is well on his way to becoming a crawler. Good Job!

Two Nights of Bliss Again

2008-02-29T20:57:00.000-08:00

So, I keep having only having two great nights of sleep and after much thought I have come to the realization that the nights that Mason sleeps until 6am are on the nights that Scott's not home. I think that some how Mason goes to sleep telling himself that Daddy's home tonight so if I cry loud enough, long enough, and hard enough either Daddy will come in my room and talk to me and rock me or Mommy will finally give in and bring me to their bed. It is really strange because this week Scott has been gone 5 out of 7 days and Mason has slept until 6am for four of them and 7:05 for one of them. He did however sleep until 5:30 on one of the nights that Scott was home.
One good thing out of all of this is I now know that he does not need to eat and his stomach does not hurt so now I need to figure out what to do. I think the first thing we need to do is not allow Scott to go in his room. But, this is not very fair for me. I already have to get up with him most of the time and now I will be getting up with him all of the time. And now with the new rules of getting up with him I can not just bring him to bed with us I actually have to get up, go in his room, put his pacifier in his mouth, and walk out. I must do this over and over until he either goes to sleep or the clock turns 6am. I know most of you are probably thinking you should just let him cry... I have tried that. We did that with Shea, but with Mason one of two things happens he either cries so loud that Shea wakes up (having two kids up at 4 am not so great) or he cries so hard you can not even console him. He turns into that kid that cries so hard that he starts to hyperventilate and cannot calm down for hours.
So with that all being said. Please pray for me, that I will have the strength to get up every night and be able to keep up with Shea every day.

2 nights of bliss

2008-02-17T21:11:00.000-08:00

Ok, so in my last blog I was again talking about my sleepless nights and now for the last 2 nights Mason has slept until 6am. I woke up both nights at 4am, I think my body is just excepting it. I laid there listening to the sound of nothing. I was so excited. I closed my eyes and fell quickly back to sleep.
I did not do anything different then I have been doing for the last month or so...
Mason ate at the same time, took his two naps, and got his medicine at 10pm. The only thing different was Shea fed Mason cheese pizza. I was helping Scott empty the car after getting home from Costco when I put the boys in their chairs, gave Shea his pizza, and Mason some crackers. When Scott and I finished we sat down to eat our pizza and we looked at Mason he was taking a huge bite of pizza. We asked Shea how Mason got the pizza and he told us that Mason wanted it so he gave it to him. Scott and I looked at each other and laughed. We figured that he had already been eating it so why take it away. I just fed him is normal dinner between his bites of pizza. Then last night Shea gave him some of his noodles. So I do not know what to do now. Maybe Mason needs to eat real food. I gave him some of Shea's homemade Mac n Cheese, just to be on the safe side. I will again pary that Mason sleeps and that I do not wake up so I can have a full nights sleep.
Just a side note that I thought of last night... I think God does not let my boys sleep through the night until they are 9 months or so, so that I would not want more kids closer together. ;0)

Ok...Ok...

2008-02-15T20:56:00.000-08:00

So, I have not blogged in awhile. Not much has been going on here. We have been doing the same old same old. And all I want to blog about is the fact that my 8 month old has a stronger will than me. He still wakes up between 4 and 5am. I just do not know what to do. I have tried to let him cry (cried for an hour)... holding him and when he is asleep putting him back (wakes when I put him down)... rocking him in his chair (wakes when I put him down)... standing over the crib and sing to them... just standing over him... keeping him in the crib and putting my hand on him... putting his pacifier in his mouth and walking out. I have done all of these for an hour or so each and the only thing that seems to work is for him to come and sleep in my bed. I can either fight with him for and hour or so or just bring him to bed with us and he is asleep in no longer than 5 min. I really do not care that he comes into my bed. I just wish it was after 6am.

You have to take the good with the bad

2008-01-15T22:05:00.000-08:00

Mason has now slept for 7 hours in a row for the last 3 days. Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! He sleeps from 11pm-6am. He did sleep from 11pm-4am, then he would cry I would feed him and we would all sleep until 7-7:30. Now sleeping until 6 means he cries and wakes Shea up. So instead of getting up at 7-7:30 we now get up at 6. Boo Hoo.

Great Quote

2008-01-07T09:44:00.001-08:00

Ok, so I was just about to clean my house when I got this email from a friend. Now, after reading this quote I guess I should wait.
Here is the quote:
Cleaning your house while your children are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. (Phyllis Diller)

Just kidding I'll get working.

God has a sense of humor

2008-01-06T22:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I knew that God had a humor but COME ON.
Last night was the first night that Mason slept through the night. I fed him at 10pm and then he did not wake up until 5:45am. Hurray for that! But, then the rain woke me up around 2pm, Shea was crying at 4am, and Scott had to get up for work at 5am . So needless to say I did not sleep through the night. And now tonight Mason went to sleep without eating. For some reason he did not want to eat. I even woke him up at 9 and he did not want to have anything to do with me. I will try at 10 and then it will all be up to God.

Scott's 1st Day

2008-01-06T21:19:00.000-08:00

We are so proud of Scott and his promotion that we went to see him on his first day as captain. He is now the Boss of the Hot sauce on Engine #1.

Aren't Grammys Fun

2007-12-31T09:08:00.000-08:00

Santa

2007-12-19T20:55:00.000-08:00

Well as you can see in the photo... Shea was so afraid of Santa that the photographer made me sit on Santa's lap for the picture. I tried to tell her that I would love the photo of him crying, because when he becomes a man it would be great to show him how afraid of Santa he was. But, nope they would not take it. So, I had to be in the photo.

Important Notice

2007-12-18T22:25:00.000-08:00

To all of you who drink coffee or tea out of the industrial coffee pots, ie. ones like the one at church. The pot itself is extremely hot. I was holding Mason and he reached out and touched the side of the pot. He started to cry and I thought to myself, "Why are you crying? That's not hot, and touched it." And guess what it is really hot. I ran Mason to the bathroom and put his hand in cold water. Before I knew it there were blisters on the back of his hand. Needless to say we took a little trip to the ER.
Mason is fine now and truly it was scarier for me then for him, as you can see in the photo. I just want to share my new knowledge with all my friends.

What A Difference A Year Makes

2007-12-18T22:06:00.000-08:00

The first two photos were taken a year to the day after the bottom two photos.
My baby not a baby any more. :0(

Disneyland

2007-12-17T21:56:00.000-08:00

Scott gave me an early Christmas present and it is the best gift I have gotten in awhile. He bought us both season passage to Disneyland. So, he took all of us to Disneyland on Monday. The boys loved it. After ever ride Shea would say, "More". Mason loved Small World so much that Scott thought for a second that he was having a seizure. Here is a video of Mason at the parade.

Eating

2007-11-20T20:27:00.000-08:00

I started feeding Mason cereal and baby food this month. I thought that we should start him on food a little earlier then Shea, because he is bigger and he already has 2 teeth. However, I am having trouble getting him to open his mouth. He cries until I put the food on his lips and then he tries to suck the food in. I try to hold the food in front of his mouth until he opens but he just cries. I have tried to push the food in his mouth and sometimes that works. He loves eating the food, he just does not know how to eat it. When I am eating and he wants some of it he will open his mouth as I bring it to my lips, but does not do the same when he eats. Shea had no trouble eating, but he started food when he was 6th months old. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Our little roller

2007-11-07T20:16:00.000-08:00

He is a roller with a mission. Mason can now roll from his back to his front and his front to he back. If you lay him on the floor on the other side of the room from Shea and I he will keep rolling until he reaches us. Check out the video of him showing his stuff.

Halloween

2007-11-07T20:10:00.001-08:00

The boys and I had a great time on Halloween. For those of you who went to the Compass Harvest Fest you know what I mean. It was awesome!

Pumpkin City

2007-11-02T13:12:00.001-07:00

My Little Sluggler

2007-11-01T20:44:00.000-07:00

Shea likes to hit balls in the backyard. It looks like he will throw right handed but be a left handed hitter.

My handyman

2007-10-27T15:51:00.000-07:00

For those of you out there with kids who love to work with tools. This is the perfect thing to do. Lowes gives kids free aprons, safety goggles and all the tools they will need to make the project. I went with both of the boys all by myself, but I do not recommend this. It was a little hard to help Shea and hold Mason at the same time. One of the dads made this comment to me, "Only a mom could help a 2 year old hammer and hold a nail with one hand and hold a baby in the other." I just laughed. This would be a really fun thing for them to do with Dad. When we were done making our spider they gave us a certificate and a patch to sew on to Shea's apron. It was so fun. If you want to do this the next project is on Nov 10 at 10am. Go to http://www.lowesbuildandgrow.com/ and sign up.

Teething

2007-10-27T08:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Mason just started to get his two bottom teeth... When Shea got his first 2 teeth it did not seem to brother him. But, with Mason he can not sleep. I put him down he puts both hands in his month and chews on them the whole time crying. I tried some Tynol and it seemed to work a little but only for about an hour or so. Does anyone have any other ideas of how to help Mason?

Shea can count to ten

2007-10-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Shea can now count to ten, but for some reason he always skips 5. It is so cute.

Mason Belly Laughs

2007-10-21T23:00:00.000-07:00

Hailee, Mason's cousin makes him laugh.

Camping

2007-10-15T07:57:00.000-07:00

We went camping this weekend. This was the first time as a family of four. I think Shea had the most fun. He ran for three days straight, being chased by Hailee. This is a picture of them both sitting in the Ritter's camper watching Over the Hedge and drinking their milk. Mason loved going also. He loved to watch everyone.

Big Boy Bed

2007-10-03T08:19:00.001-07:00

Last night was Shea's first night in his toddler bed. We had to go to the toddler bed, because yesterday when we put him in his bed for a nap he kept crawling out. I wanted to wait until his 2nd birthday, but I guess Shea had a different idea.
It was a little hard. He wanted to get out of his bed and get out of his room. We put a round door knob on his door so he would have a harder time getting out of his room. He kept getting out of his bed. Then stand in the middle of his room and cry Mama, downstairs, Mama's ni night (meaning he wanted to sleep in my bed)etc. I kept going back to his room picking him up, put him back in his bed, all without talking to him.
Finally, I just told him to get back in bed from outside the door. He eventually stopped crying and put a bunch of his toys in the bed. I looked in the monitor and I did not see him, so I went upstairs to tell him to get in his bed. But, to my surprise he was in the bed with all of the toys piled up on top of him.
Then this morning he started crying at 5 am. We had to do the whole thing over. But, this time I told him that I would stay in the room as long as he kept his head down. He could not keep his head down so I left the room. He cried, but this time not for very long. He then woke up at 7. This time he did not cry he just walked to his door, knocked, and said, "Hello". It was really funny. As I walked to the door to open it, I heard him run back to his bed and get in. When I opened the door he was sitting on his bed and said, "I Mama". I told him he was a good boy for sleeping in this big boy bed, and that he could come out. He climbed out of his bed and ran all over upstairs for about 5 min non stop.
I hope tonight he just goes to bed without any crying. It kills me when he cries. Especially when he switches to saying Daddy when I do not come to his rescue.

Soccer

2007-09-21T20:35:00.001-07:00

Shea just started his soccer class. It is the funniest thing that you have ever seen. There are about 15 kids in his class. They are 1 1/2-2 year olds. The coaches name is Tiffany. She is really nice, but she tries to get the kids to do a lot of things and they can not do anything. We stretch, run lines, and do ball skills. But, I think that Shea is going to be a goalie like his mom. However, he does have some dribbling skills.

3 months

2007-09-18T20:03:00.001-07:00

Mason is now 3 months old. I can not believe how fast it has gone. It feels like he was born yesterday. I do not think that it went this fast with Shea. Anyways, Mason is now smiling, giggling, holding his head up while he is laying on his stomach. His brother still loves him. Just today Shea thought that Mason was hungry so he tried to give him a pancake. If you want you can come check out the rest of our family photos for this month, by clicking on the link.

Family Portraits

2007-09-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

Shea is such a big boy

2007-09-14T20:09:00.000-07:00

Well today Mason is three months old, which means he is old enough to go in the jumper. I put him in it today. He did not seem to know what to do with it, but Shea wanted to swing him in it. I can not believe that 18 months ago I was just putting Shea in the jumper. Boy does time fly!

Brotherly Love

2007-08-29T12:52:00.001-07:00

I hope that Shea's love for his brother never stops. He always wants to hug and kiss Mason. I cannot wait until Mason can hug his brother back.

Croup

2007-08-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

So we had are second trip to the ER on Sunday. Shea had a terrible cough and he sounded like he was having trouble breathing. He also had a fever of 102. Scott, Mason, Shea, and I all went to Mission to see what was wrong with Shea. The first nurse was nice and got us to a room quickly. Then our doctor came in, he was also nice. He checked Shea out and wanted him to get some xrays to rule out pneumonia. Shea loves the xray part. He was a really god boy and stayed really still, they gave him some stickers for being so good. Then they came back into the room and told us that he had croup. So, they gave him some steroids that he spit half of them out. The nurse said that it was ok, but I thought that I would ask the doctor. He said that it is very important for him to have them, so he should get a half a dose. I told him that there is no way that Shea will take any more. So, he said that he would have to get a shot. I agreed that a shot was better then him spitting it out. Then we got the two lamest nurses in the world. They told Scott and I that they would take Shea's temp and give him a shot all at the same time. And nope that did not happen. They kept telling Shea that was the worst of it. Nope that was not true. Finally, they were making Scott so mad that he was making faces at them. So, they thought that Scott was not feeling well and kept asking him if he was ok and if he need to sit down. I had to keep myself from laughing at them. They then came back and said that Scott had to pin Shea down as the two nurses pined his legs down and one of the nurse said hold him really tight he is strong. I was thinking who do they think they are holding down The Hulk, he is just a one year old. Then when all of that was done, the head nurse looks at Shea as he is crying so hard that his face is red, there is snot everywhere, and he is having trouble breathing, and says ok that was not so bad do you want something from the treasure chest. I said we have to get out of here. They said ok you have to sign here. I signed and then I ran. Not really, but I wanted to. THOSE LADIES WERE CRAZY!
Shea feels better and will be ready to meet the world on Tuesday.

Our Trip to Laughlin

2007-08-09T12:35:00.001-07:00

We took our first trip to Laughlin with 7 week old Mason. Everything went really well, Mason loves to go fast in the boat. It puts him right to sleep, just like his big brother.

Days without Scott

2007-08-03T13:36:00.000-07:00

So at first the days without Scott were really hard. I did not know if I was going to be able to be a Mommy of two by myself. But, then I forced myself to get out and get over it. So, I did. The only thing that has been really hard is the night time. As soon as it is dinner time, Mason wants to eat, and at bath time he wants to eat again. I just have to get this timing thing down. Also, naps I have to get them to go down at the same time so that I can nap. I will keep you all posted.

Our first day out without Scott

2007-07-25T12:05:00.000-07:00

Today was are first day out without Daddy. We are so sad that Daddy could not come, but I did ok. I can not believe that I already went out with the boys all by myself. Scott has only been back to work for 3 days and I was brave enough to go by myself. But, I do not think that I am ready for open spaces. We went to Zoomars with one of my Mommies group. It is a large petting zoo with gates all over. So, I could keep up with Shea and most of the animals were in pens that Shea could not get to them. He loved all of the animals until he saw the train. Then all he wanted to do was ride on it. I even traded his pony ride ticket for another train ticket. We had to leave a little early because he had a breakdown and wanted to ride again. But, all in all we had a great time. Mason can not wait until he can see the animals, instead of riding in the bjoin. Check out our videos below.

Mason Andrew Stephens 6/15/07

2007-07-21T22:24:00.001-07:00

The Boys on the 4th

2007-07-21T22:19:00.001-07:00

Sheadon and Mason on the 4th of July. Both of them got to wear their patraotic outfits to the first ever 4th of July block party.

Getting Sadie

2007-07-21T21:52:00.000-07:00

This is a photo of Scott and Sadie the first day that we brought her home in Feb 1998. Who knew this was the beginning of our family.

The Stephens Family

October 11th and a visit to the neurologist

October 8th Pediatrician's Visit

October 6th is a good day..no longer institutionalized

October 5th in the NICU...MRI Day

God is good. The NICU doctor reported to us that Tobin's MRI appeared normal. It still needs to be reviewed by the specialist in the morning, but we feel this is an answered prayer. We hope to take him home tomorrow.

October 4th...One Week Old Today

October 3rd in the NICU

Tobin is 6 days old today and he is truly a blessing.

-Scott Stephens

October 2nd in the NICU

Today, Tobin is 5 days old and God is Great.No seizure activity for 24 hours since he started drinking breast milk. Amen.No more IV nutrition. Amen.Good initial evaluation from the neurologist today. Amen.More tests in the next couple of days.Tomorrow the big brothers get to visit him in the NICU.

October 1st in the NICU

-Scott Stephens

Sept. 30th..Heading to the NICU...Prayers Needed

-Scott Stephens

Baby Bliss

Baby is Born

Sept 27th...The New Addition to Team Stephens

AWANA Graduation

Laguana Hills Memorial Day 50 Yard Dash

First pool day of the year

Firefighter Mason

Dana Point Bike Race

Easter Photos

Sea World

Big News

Grandparents Day

Ice Skating

My Hockey Guys

Shea's Preschool Performance

Making our wagons at Home Depot

Christmas Music Class

Biker Sheadon

Engineer Shea

Pumpkin carving

Pumpkin Patch

First Rain of the Year

Mason's 2

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day Tea at Shea's School

Jesus Loves Me

Refuel series at Saddleback

Clark's 1st Birthday

Mason loves to sing in the bath tub

Spectrum with the cousins

Mason counting to ten

Mason and Shea's first trip to the snow

Our Visit to the Fire Station #39

Shea's ABC's

Shea's ABC's take 2

Mason Reading

Happy New Year

Noon Years Eve

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve

Rainy days at the Stephens House

Shea's first stage show

My little firefighters

It's out

Cattle Drive

It has been a long time

Mason is almost there

Helping Daddy

1st River Trip of the Year

Mother's Day

It's been so hot lately

Mason is 10 months

Have you ever

All Done

Time Change

We're in the army now

Two Nights of Bliss Again

2 nights of bliss

Ok...Ok...

You have to take the good with the bad

Great Quote

God has a sense of humor

Scott's 1st Day

Aren't Grammys Fun