Stevens Family

Exhausted

2011-11-18T22:35:00.000-08:00

Just decided recently....... I'm trying to do too much. It's hard for me to admit this, yes, but when I have headache after headache, and when my family does not get the best of me it's hard. I've been working 22-32 hours a week, homeschooling Elissa, being a mom, and being the only one here most the time it's taking it's toll on me. I just get so frustrated because there's so much I want to do and not enough hours in the day. Imagine what could be done if our bodies did not require sleep!!? Ha! I bet you can guess which hours of my time in this day I'm taking away from by writing in this blog...... yes sleep. It seems that if I want to do anything for myself or besides the usual listed above I do end up cutting into my sleeping time. I really wish there was some alternative and if there's any just that you all are keeping from me please share!!! So far I've cut back on the homeschooling and have sent Elissa back to school. I didn't realize how much stress that was on me!! She does have a wonderful school, I think my main problem with letting her go back to public school was just that "letting her go." I do have major separation issues with my children. I love them to pieces but some days I just feel if I can get to the end of the day I'll have some sanity left in me. I wish for time alone and for me to do things for myself that have been neglected but when I actually do get that time I feel guilty and I miss my children!!! So where's the medium!!? Am I asking for too much? I want there to be more hours in the day, make it so we don't have to sleep, and I want to do everything, I want to be with my children 24/7 but I want to have guilt free time to myself without having to miss anyone.

Salt Lake City, Utah

2011-10-05T10:38:00.000-07:00

We have had a lot of change this past year!! First of all when I was on bed rest with Eva and we had David's mother (Mary Ann) come and stay with us for half of my pregnancy. Our adorable little girl Evangelina Marie was born April 3, 2011. My water had broke at Walmart 2 days prior so I went to the hospital. If any of you friends or family that are 9 months pregnant that still are having troubles going into labor just schedule an appointment with my lovely mother in law (Mary Ann) to go look at greeting cards in Walmart. Apparently in doesn't matter which Walmart you go to you just make sure you go to the card section. Only then will your water break!!! HAHAHAHA For some reason my Elizabeth Anne and Evangelina Marie were both in my tummy when my water broke at Walmart, with Mary Ann, in the card section!!! Really what are the odds!!
Evangelina was in the hospital for 5 weeks in the Rapid City Region Hospital in South Dakota. At the same time David decides that he wants to quit the job he's had for the last 5 years and go back to school. David's decided to have a whole new career change. We sold more than half our belongings in South Dakota to earn enough money to move to Utah so David could attend an LDS college. The girls and I had the privilege of staying June and July with my parents in WA. That will probably never happen in the same situation..... I didn't realize how hard it would be to take care of all 4 of my girls ages 6 and under with one being a premature infant!! Everyone was very unstable with so much change with in the last couple months of mommy on bed rest then leaving half the day to be at the hospital, having a new baby come home, selling a ton of our stuff, packing up and moving from the only home Elizabeth and Emma really remembered. Then staying without Daddy in WA. David was over here in Utah finding us a place to live and moving all our stuff into storage and registering for school. We were able to reunite and be together this last August. It's been so great living here in SLC. We live downtown right by the Temple and we are way close to everything. We walk to church up the road, I home school Elissa, and we're able to walk to pretty much everything we want to do. I got a job working for a home health senior care and one of my clients is actually a retired General Authority of the church. I live right down the road from the Family History Center and Library and the Church History Museum. We are so blessed with all we have and we're so excited to be closer to family and friends that we've missed so much. Shareena and Paul have been such a blessing to have by us! We needed to move all our stuff out of storage so we didn't have that extra $150 a month. Paul selflessly got a truck and trailer and came down to SLC to load up our stuff and took it to their unfinished basement so that we wouldn't have to pay that extra amount. We were trying to rent a truck and they wanted double the amount so that was so amazing that Paul and Shareena could do that for us.
I have finally started my genealogy!!! There's no excuse now!!! I'm right by the Family History Library and they also have FREE genealogy classes!! I've started on my Dad's Jones side. I've traced up to William Ellis Jones and they have a book that I just found that has the whole genealogy and journals of him and his son and also have a ton of information. I feel like I know my great great great grandfather now. He was such an amazing man! Worked very hard for everything he had and always was so loving towards his family. I'm so excited and thirsty to do more and more I just have trouble finding the time.

Praise to the Mothers!

2011-05-08T22:33:00.000-07:00

Praise to the Mothers

I'm not so good at expressing how much I care

for all the mothers I have met out there.

I love you mother who held me so tight

while singing and rocking me through the night.

I love you mother who hoped and cared

who loved and raised the baby I shared.

I love you mother and you are my friend

who has been there to carry me to the end.

I love you mother who I've loved so long

who I've grown with and loved me even when I've been wrong.

I love you mother who calls each day

who lifts my burdens while I'm on my way.

I love you mother who wants to be one now

who has tried and struggled to figure out how.

I love you mother who might not know

who have touched my life and taught me how to grow.

I love you mother who helps me be

who I couldn't be if my babies didn't stay inside of me.

I love you mother who is old with time

who brought me a mother that will always be mine.

I am very full with love today as I reflect on all the women I know and love and who have touched my life, even for a brief time, I do remember you and all and how my life wouldn't be the same without you. Happy Mother's Day!!!

Sweet Blessings

2011-04-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

I was just thinking about how much my girls remind me of how wonderful life is and how precious our time is here. I was reading in Mosiah Chapter 3:19 where it talks about how we should becometh like a child (submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him). I then have been reflecting on how much my girls have taught me this. Yes I am a first time parent like most all of us and the only real training I had was watching my mother. She would always tell me how I will never understand how much she loves me until I was a mother myself. This was a very true statement. She also cursed upon me that I would have children "just like me" . How true this is too. The way my children interact with others is really acted upon how they see me interact. If I have a good day they usually do, if I feel good and at peace they peaceful.
My girls like to remind David and I when we are in the wrong, but they do it in such an innocent way that makes us feel bad and wanna change. They also remind us how much we do good too. The other day Elissa drew a picture of her and I baking cookies together and we both had smiles. Made me feel like she was really wanting us to do something together. Liz drew a picture of me with a sad face and it made me realize how much of a grump I've been being on bed rest. So this all made me think about how I need to change my attitude and how to spend my time. Elissa and I now have Friday night movie and popcorn together after I put the other girls to bed. I've been trying to be more positive with my bed rest attitude too.
I actually wrote this last week before my water broke and just never posted it. So here is this late post......

Beachbody!!!!

2011-03-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/stevenshealth?bctid=41922032001
I don't know if you guys have seen any recent pictures of David lately. He is doing the Beachbody program/coaching and doing their Shakeology and is looking HOT! :) We are trying to turn this into a family business by showing others how awesome it's been for us. David has lost over 30lbs and has a visible six pack. This is the best I've seen him even before we were married. Please call us or email us if you have any questions or wanna sign up!! It's so easy and if you decide you don't like it or it's just not for you every penny is refunded even if it's the last day of the year after you've signed up. Just check out our web pages if you like this video. That's all we ask.

~Nana's Birthday~

2011-03-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

I'm having technical difficulties uploading the card video. I video tapped Mom opening the card from Dad and it's a pretty good video. I'll try to get it up soon. I posted pic's of mom's new hair cut on my facebook page.

Daddy's Trip and Play Dough

2011-03-12T16:32:00.000-08:00

David left Monday morning to San Antonio, TX for business. We were able to skype with him while he was gone but the girls really missed him. Our washer had been busted this whole week so when David finally came back late Thursday night he fixed our washer Friday. So we are doing laundry non-stop to try to catch up. I guess you shouldn't buy those Purex 3 in 1 detergent pads cause that's what actually clogged our washing machine plus $1.01 was pulled out too, so everyone check your pockets! I am the worst at pocket checking. I'm actually so bad that pull ups are not pulled outta the pants in time to go through the washer . . . I really need to do better but I would really scrub a toilet before doing laundry!!

So, with in the last couple weeks my mechanic in training husband has already fixed the speedometer sensor in the van and unclogged a washing machine!!! And I thought he wasn't a handy man when I married him, he sure has changed my views just in two weeks!!! David brought the girls some Texas candy home and they loved it!

My children are little chef's at heart and so we decided since we have all these cookie dough cutters, different shapes and sizes, that we'd make some homemade play dough!! I found this recipe online and it turned out great! Girls and Nana had lots of fun!!

Play Dough Recipe:

1 cup white flour
1/2 cup salt
2 tablespoon cream of tartar (find it in the spice section)
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water
food coloring

Mix first 4 ingredients in a pan. Add water and mix well. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, for 3 – 5 minutes. Dough will become difficult to stir and form a “clump”. Remove from stove and knead for 5 minutes–add food coloring during kneading process. Play dough will keep for a long time stored in a covered plastic container or plastic sandwich bag.

We also put in coconut extract to make it smell good! :)

Beachbody Coaches!

2011-03-02T13:10:00.000-08:00

David and I decided to sign up to be beachbody coaches. We already like the products and the workouts so we decided to make money off of it. So if there are any friends or family interested in the Beachbody workouts or products just please go through our sites also if your interested in being a Beachbody coach click on the links below and check out the benefits!!! Hoping to bring good health to our friends and family. David has already lost a lot of weight and is now building some seriously ripped muscles. He gets really embarrassed about public displays of affection so I won't say more. :)

http://myshakeology.com/stevenshealth ---this is my own actual website
http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/stevenshealth ----this is my coach link

http://teambeachbody.com/member/sn/StevensFitness -----this is David's coach link

http://teambeachbody.com/showcase/-/bcp/637719395001/87978?referringRepId=87978 ---the shakeology link

Baby GIRL Stevens!!!!!

2011-01-25T15:26:00.000-08:00

We had our Ultra sound today and found out that we are having another girl!!! David had a blank stare for a while and told me he's going to definatly get a man cave in our home. LOL I'm so excited, I think I might start getting new girl clothes and stuff cause everything I've owned in the last 6 years has aldready been through 3 little girls so I might have to replace most of the girl stuff I have. Still I'm super excited and for more good news my placenta has moved up so I am going to be able to keep my girly parts longer! :) Here are some pictures of our half way, almost ready girl and also a small video clip of the action going on in my tummy!! :) Enjoy!!

~Hair and Bon Bons~

2011-01-24T14:24:00.001-08:00

My Elissa is so into cooking and fixing my hair which by the way I love! She got this fairy cookbook for her birthday last year so we though we'd bust it out and make something.

Emma’s TWO!!!

2011-01-22T17:36:00.000-08:00

Emma Just turned two on the 20th! It was a crazy day with hormones flying from every girl in the house. David was about to have a nervous breakdown until we finally gave everyone a slice of chocolate cake and a scoop of chocolate ice cream. Not kidding. I do believe girls need chocolate every once in a while to calm the hormones. They should do an extensive study on this . . . anyway we took Emma to the mall and had her ride on all the little kid quarter rides that she is always begging me to take her on. Came to find out that she really is not too into the rides we took her to the play area. Nana and Grandpa Stevens sent money for the girls to go pick out dresses too. We then got pizza (Emma's favorite) and went home to eat it and have cake. Pretty crazy planned but unplanned night.

Princess Tea Party

2011-01-22T17:06:00.000-08:00

Elissa planned her whole party!! She's been planning her own parties since she was 2 1/2!! The first party she planned was her Dora Candy Land party, then this year it was a Princess Tea Party. She invited all her church friends and it turned out being super fun. I can't believe she's already 6 years old now and in a couple years she'll be of baptismal age!

Homemade Chicken Nuggets

2011-01-10T11:41:00.000-08:00

Homemade Chicken Nuggets
our lunch today was fun. We made this with the girls. They had fun mixing the batter and trying to eat raw egg . . .yuck

Liz's 3rd Birthday Cake

2011-01-09T13:10:00.000-08:00

David had to work on Liz's Birthday so we played with her at the water park the day before then we brought dinner and a cake with balloons to David's work to celebrate there. The girls ate spaghetti and meatballs and Liz picked out this pull apart cupcake cake. It was a farm animal one and pretty cute. The girls ended up just eating the frosting. Later when we got home Liz ended up just throwing everything up and started running a fever. Emma had been doing that the last couple days so I knew it was bound to happen. Anyway, sorry Nana and Grandpa for not calling back so you could wish Liz a happy birthday she just wasn't herself for the remainder of the night.

Liz's 3rd Birthday

2011-01-09T11:21:00.000-08:00

Watiki Indoor Water Park. Liz woke up and all she wanted to do for her birthday was go swimming. This waterpark is a huge indoor one with lots of slides and a 300gal monkey bucket dumps over a cute water playground every 10-15 minutes. The girls really had a lot of fun.

January Birthday's Begin!!

2011-01-08T13:32:00.000-08:00

Flowers received from David! They were so pretty and dipped in glitter!

Elissa making me a cake!! :)

Yes as you all know January is our party month. My birthday starts out on January 3, then following mine is Liz's on the 7th. After we finally finish off her cake it's time for Elissa's birthday a week later on the 14th and when we feel like we can't possibly eat anymore cake we have Emma's birthday on the 20th!!!

My birthday of course is the day our children are usually sent back to school from a long fun winter's break and usually was forgotten by everyone except close friends and family that only really matter anyways, right. I remember the first party I was able to have was a Saturday!! I was so excited there wasn't going to be a whole go to school on my birthday event so I invited some close friends. To my surprise it also decided to snow a LOT!!!! My friends weren't able to make it due to the weather and I was again disappointed. I think the first actual birthday party with friends and family I was able to have was at age 16 my lovely parents let me invite friends to a movie. The only movie that was playing was the animated Anastasia. . . . . lolololol why couldn't it have been some awesome chick flick or at least a decent educational movie. But it did turn out fun. I loved every moment of it. The one thing that I do recall on every birthday was that my parents always tried to make it special. Some birthdays I was able to pick out a restaurant to eat at which was usually Chuck e cheese. And by the way after that mouse spanked me with his tail I did not want to go for my birthday anymore. HA! Or we could pick out our favorite dinner and a movie. Those birthdays ended up being my favorite memories, except for the time that the first pizza out of the oven on my birthday was eaten up by all family members so I had to wait for the second, lol!! Still it does bring back the good old memories of spending my lovely birthday with the people who love me and have been in my life and will be forever!!

A little about my 29th birthday . . . 29!!!!! And I thought 15 was old!!!!! Well today I was able to spend the lovely day with my two youngest girls. Elissa went back to school and David worked the whole day until he finally got home from work by 10:30pm or so . . . still it was really special to have my daughter Elissa celebrate by making me a little cake with the little girls gourmet cake maker from Santa. She was so sweet. We then sang happy birthday to me and we split that cake into 4 pieces and ate it!! :) David then brought me home some flowers and a fruit platter. I really have been craving fruit so that's all I wanted for my birthday! Another very special day with my family!! :)

Things We've Been Up To.

2010-12-18T11:14:00.000-08:00

David and I celebrated our 7th anniversary!!! :)

Elissa had a school Christmas sing along that we joined her in. She also had pajama day that day too.

On daddy's day off we went to the mall to see Santa and then got hot chocolate and drove around to see lights.
Elissa colored a picture for Santa cause I told her he'd be there at the ward party. So cute.
Liz wouldn't even go near Santa, let alone look at him!!!
Emma just wanted a sucker.
I had to convince Liz really hard to sit this close. . . lol!

Well our Christmas shopping is done, the stockings are hung and the girls are trying to stay on the good list. I can still use the "Santa Card" as my friend Sara quotes, to keep them in line. Ha

My To Do List For Today

1. Clean kitchen

2. Fold laundry

3. wrap some present

4. Get dressed sometime today.

I really find it hard to want to do things when my right arm has been hurting and aching the last 3 days. I am still trying to tolerate the pain and muscle spasms. I'll be on my knees asking for help with that.

A little note on the Pregnancy and how it's going. . .

Placenta is still low and that's not good. I'm hoping to stay off of bed rest as long as possible. My cervix is staying closed and still has a good length.

Doctor is starting me on Progesterone Shots in my hip weekly. yeah for that.

I still think it's a girl . . .

continued August Vacation

2010-10-11T10:48:00.001-07:00

More pictures from Lake Powell, Zion National

Park, and David's Kanab home with his eagle project and some other houses he grew up in. Can anyone guess where these houses were located.?

August Vacation

2010-10-11T07:58:00.001-07:00

Sorry this is so late. We've been pretty busy. David was able to get the first week of August off so we headed to David's old stomping grounds. We first picked Aaron up in Provo then went to St. George and stayed the night there with perfect swimming weather we swam all night and then woke up and headed to Zion National Park. We hiked the Emerald Pools and it was so HOT outside. We weren't able to get the shots we wanted cause they had a lot of the waterfalls blocked off because of all the gay naturalists. I originally wanted to recreate "someone" singing in the rain . . . if ya know what I mean all you Stevens family!! :)

Having enough hiking for one day we decided to go play Lake Powell.

Better update soon!!!

2010-09-09T23:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry we have been so busy with everything going on over here. Will be posting a super great update soon!!! Just keep checking! :)

Daddy's Day OFF!!!

2010-07-10T01:14:00.000-07:00

David finally had a day off he was almost going on two weeks without a day off and the girls were really starting to miss him. When I say "the girls" I'm including myself in that statement!! I really have been feeling like a single parent at the crack of dawn until the darkness of night! Yeah that's right, David's been putting in pretty long hours from 8:30 am- 9:30pm all week. They just hired two people so the hours should get way better now. I'm really looking forward to his next day off. We had a lot of fun going to Deadwood and by Spearfish it is so beautiful with all the waterfalls and wild flowers. One of my favorite parts were the hiking!! Wish we would have left sooner in the day cause there was just so much to see. We'll know better next time.

Family visit June 23rd 2010

2010-07-06T22:11:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

Girls Camp

2010-07-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

One of my callings at church was the Ward Camp director. I did have a great time being able to get to know the young women in the ward a little better. I haven't been away from my girls no more than a few hours at a time for the last couple years so the thing that I feared the most was leaving my girls for a week!!! David decided to take the week off so he could be there with the girls so that was nice.

I became of great use the first night being there I was volunteered to be one of the 4th year overnighter leader cause the sister that was supposed to come had something come up. I was not prepared at all but did enjoy the refreshing hike followed by some hail pounding on my back at the top of the mountain!!!

Very fun nature walk we went around and ate edible plants. I really enjoyed my time away from home getting some time to serve the Lord and try and be a positive example.

Reptile Gardens

2010-05-29T22:55:00.001-07:00

This trip was a while back. I just hadn't had the chance to blog it yet. I think it was back at the beginning of April that we went. The girls really liked Reptile Gardens! We were just in time for the snake show and they let everyone touch a albino python! They had so many different reptiles it was so awesome plus they had this Sea Turtle that was discovered by Rapid City and it was huge!! There was also a cluster of sea turtle fossils displayed! I got a video of the huge sea turtles they had here but I think they were in their mating season cause one kept climbing on top of the others and making a weird sound so I won't put that up. For the price of our admission we were able to get a year pass so we can go whenever we want this whole season!! :)

Plant Hugs

2010-05-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Just a cute thing Elissa said the other day. Elissa and Liz planted these plants at the Children's Fair and we brought them home and put them in the kitchen window.
Elissa "mommy look at the plants!"
Me "oh they are growing!"
Elissa " no mommy they are hugging!"

She said it so cute! I just had to share.