The Stevenson Story

Christmas was very different for us this year. We usually sleep over at my parent's house, go to Eric's parent's, go to grandparents and pretty much just revel in seeing and hanging out with family. This year, we did our very first Stevenson Brooke, Eric, Jack and Avey only christmas. It was definitely memorable. Reading the christmas story from the bible, listening to christmas music all day, playing new wii games, and watching lots of Burn Notice (ummm, I am totally addicted I absolutely love it and can't wait for the new episode to come out in January.) Here are some pictures from our day right at home. Our fantastic christmas tree and presents Santa and family left! Christmas decorations. The lights wouldn't fit on our "tree", so we hung them around our living room instead. More of the family room. Waking up at the early hour of 8:45 AM- :) we had to wake Jack up. The start of the unwrapping... Jack fixing his tractor from Santa- and wearing his...

Love the matching blanket/outfit from 2 separate people! My neighbor Sue got Avey the outfit, and my aunt Becky the blanket- fun! In actuality I'm doing much beter than just "Stayin' Alive. I am feeling much better physically besides a slight lack of sleep, and that makes a WORLD of difference for me- especially in being a mom for Jack. Here's a little update Eric finished his last class of the semester last night at 7:30 PM. Hooray! He did fabulously in his classes this semester, and I would venture to say he'll have close to straight A's when grades come. It's amazing what you can do when you have time, and you LOVE what you're studying in school. I am so glad that although we still haven't been able to find a job- we accomplished a whole semester of graduate work. Jack is HUGE! I think he really grew twice his size overnight- and that was the night Avey was born. Really though, his hands and feet are so much bigger, and I can't even b...

Yesterday we had a momentous event in our house. My mom left home for Utah. While recovering from having the baby, and feeding and sleeping in different intervals, my mom has been cleaning and keeping my cute little toddler occupied. And I certainly felt quite busy enough just doing that. (recovering and feeding a baby) Sunday it dawned on me that Monday night my mom wouldn't be here anymore. How would I keep my toddler occupied when I was feeding the baby, or when I can't move very quickly, or when he was having a meltdown because I wouldn't feed him cookies for dinner? How do I keep my house clean with a toddler continually climbing on things and pulling things out and spreading chaos all around? I figured it out last night while Eric was at class and after we had dropped my mom off at the airport. I can't. And that's o.k. And we miss grandma SOOOOOOOOOO much! Jack started calling her mama (he calls me mom or mommy, he's never said mama, so we figured ...

***update: we decided to go with Avey Kristine Stevenson *** I decided to fill in a timeline of my labor that my mom wrote out so those of you that care can see exactly how the labor went down for me. Monday night December 7th 9:40 My mom's plane arrives in Hartford 20 minutes early. Sharon calls Eric to come and pick her up. Eric calls Brooke and asks if she's in labor. "Nope not yet, have fun picking my mom up." 10:15 Brooke realizes she has had a few harder contractions in a row, she starts timing them. 10:30 Brooke calls Eric. "Just to let you know my contractions have been 4 minutes apart since 10:00 PM"- Brooke hangs up phone and the next contraction has her on the floor breathing through it. 10:42 Brooke calls Eric. 8 hard contractions since last call. "Hurry!" Panicky voice. 10:45 Eric and Sharon arrive at apartment in Springfield. Brooke greets them with, "We need to go to the hospital RIGHT now." Not how are you mom, or a h...

Well well here we are. A long road of pregnancy, a long way from home, and a VERY short labor everything came out perfectly (pardon the pun). At 12:01 a.m. on December 8, 2009 Avey _____* Stevenson was born. She weighs 9 pounds, 2.2 Ounces and measures 21 cm in length. She has red hair (arguably strawberry blond), dark blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and a fabulously pleasant disposition. *We are still torn about the middle name. The competing middle names are JoAnna, Kristine, or Anne. This was a miracle in timing. I guess that means that Avey will be a punctual person throughout her life. Brooke called me (Eric) on the way home from picking up Sharon (Brooke's mom) from the airport stating contractions were coming every 4 minutes. We hadn't even gotten to our house when she called with "the voice" that told us to hurry up 'cause the baby is coming. That was a little after 10:30. We rushed her to the hospital down the road, I dropped Jack off at the neighbors house, an...