Not again!!!

I walked into stella's room this morning after her bath, and this is what I was greeted with. Honestly, I can't stand it. I am soooo grossed out by these things, they may make me go crazy. So disgusting!

I would love to kill this thing, but it is too high for me to reach, even with a chair, I would have to get on my tippy toes, and by the time I got the chair in the right position, the thing would probably be flying right towards either my mouth or hair. Sick! I hate these things! So right now this horrible thing is sitting in Stella's room, door closed (not like thats gonna stop the thing from moving throughout my entire house), doing who knows what, and by the time Andy gets home to take the thing down, he will probably be hiding in her dirty clothes, or in her crib. Ewww... I am so grossed out! So at least it isn't this bad (the picture below that I found online)... but these palmetto bugs (aka american cockroaches) should just leave me alone, or I am really gonna flip one of these days.


I can't have such a depressing post, so I will leave you with a couple cute pics of the kiddos. (Mostly Sterling, Stella hasn't been the most cooperative model lately :) )

Here is Sterling sitting in "Stella's" bumbo seat. It, along with everything else Sterling ever wants or uses, is hers. Just ask her... actually, you don't have to ask her, she'll tell ya - loud and clear. If your too close to her or anything that is hers, she'll "politely" ask you to SCOOT BACK! Sterling has spit up in the chair a couple of times now, so maybe Stella will be willing to give it up now.



Stella wants to hold Sterling all the time - still. He usually just tries to ignore the fact that she is playing with his hair, his pacifier, his hands, etc. and just bide his time until I take him back. Sweet kid gets more LOVE than he would ever know what to do with. From the look of things, Stella is going to be a fantastic mom, a little on the controlling side, but definately loving. She is constantly telling him "it's ok" and "love you". It is so sweet to watch her with him, when she's not yelling "MINE" that is.

the luckiest kids in the world

I don't think my kiddos know how good they have it. They got a dad who LOVES to play with them. Swing them, fly them, chase them, tickle them... boy did they make out in the Dad department. Stella has had her fair share of flying around the world in her daddy's arms, and now Sterling is getting his chance. We're pretty sure he loves it.

Florida pics

We (and Emile, the Rozmus's French exchange student who Stella is in love with) went to Florida to spend some time with Andy's parents who were on a little trip in Orlando. We stayed with them at the Hilton Grand Vacations Club, and had a FANTASTIC time. The hotel is probably my favorite hotel ever - there is a big lake in the center, with fish and ducks to keep Stella entertained, as well as two huge pools with all sorts of fountain/waterfalls to allow Stella hours of fun. We went last year too, but Stella was still too young to fully enjoy it. This time, however, she was in heaven. She spent hours at the pool, and we all had a blast! Thanks Duane and Audrey for the wonderful trip!

Enjoy the millions of pictures!

Code Adam

Stella in one of her favorite hiding spots. Too bad they aren't all as painfully obvious of spots as this one - the corner of our kitchen.

While making our way home from Florida on Monday, we decided to make a little stop at some truck station so that I could feed Sterling. Andy and Emile (the french foreign exchange student staying with the Rozmus') decided to take advantage of the moment and get Stella out of the car for a little break. While Andy was "shopping" with her, she turned the corner around an isle. Andy says he turned no more than two seconds after her, and she was gone. I think, "like she fell into a hole" were his exact words. They tried to find her for a second, and then alerted management. A code Adam was called, and immediately everyone started looking for Stella. Andy looked in every cupboard at least once. Emile ran outside to see if she could have jetted through the doors, but after looking around for only a few seconds, ran back inside. That's when I saw him, through the car window while feeding Sterling, and I knew Stella was lost. I automatically had the thought that he was looking for Stella, but I thought that if they actually couldn't find her, Andy would call me. No call, so I figured she must be safe, and maybe Emile was looking for Andy or something. They searched everywhere for Stella, and then searched everywhere again. Emile went back to one of the stock rooms near where Stella had "just" been, and the manager in there assured him that no one had been in there. Andy says that a million different things were going through his mind. Finally, when Emile went to check the stock room one more time - he heard Stella yell his name, trying to be found. All one big game of hide and seek. She was in the back corner between a whole bunch of stuff. Emile said she was in the best hiding place she could have been. Thank goodness she saw him and called out his name, or who knows how long the "game" would have gone on. Stella loves to hide, she is almost always "hiding" at home, and she often makes her toys hide, and then laughs so hard about it. Looks like we are going to have to drive into her head that she is only allowed to hide when we are "playing a game" together at home. We are so glad it was just a scare, and that she is perfectly safe and sound.

Caught on Camera

I have finally been able to get some pictures of this little guy smiling. Normally, when I pull out the camera, he goes 100% serious, and cant take his eyes off the huge black thing in front of him. I think he is finally getting used to having it around now though, and ignores it long enough to laugh at me, and allow me to snap a picture. I am looking forward to many more pictures of this adorable toothless grin.

Easter

Stella enjoyed Easter so much this year. Last year, we had a basket for her, for my benefit I'm pretty sure, and this year - it was much different. During Breakfast, Andy told her that the Easter Bunny comes to peoples houses and poops out candy...yes, I know...I should have explained, but he did, and Stella was excited. We got her down from her high chair, and told her to go see if he had come to our house, and she was off. She found the first one, and of course wanted to open it right away. Once she saw that there truly was candy inside, she found all 11 others so quickly. The Easter bunny obviously thought Stella would be easier to fool than she was. Next year, that bunny better hide things a little better. I enjoyed watching Stella run around the house with such excitement. After finding each egg, she would hold it up to Andy and myself and be so proud and excited. We got the whole thing on video - and I will cherish that video for ever. She was so sweet!


Andy's mom made the kids these adorable Easter outfits. Our pictures can't do them justice. A lady in our ward was saying how it feels special to have someone sew something for you. Just knowing they took all that time to make something just for you. I think my kids will grow up feeling grateful that their Grandma can do that for them.


(something funny Stella said to Andy last night:

Andy: Stella, can you think of anything we need from the store? (they were going grocery shopping)

Stella: Yeah.

Andy: What do we need?

Stella: Pops (bubble wrap) ... Toys.

Hmmm...)

I see football in my future...

This little guy is two months, well, has been for a little while now, and turns out he's not that little after all. Not that I couldn't tell, but seeing the numbers at his two month appointment was pretty funny. He is off the charts in all three areas, height, weight, and head circumfrence. Milk does his body good. He weighed 14 pounds 7 ounces, and was 25 inches, and I don't remember how large his head was, but it was large. Hehehehe...what a little clunker. He wears anything from 3 month to 12 month clothes, and he has rolls all over. It is nice to have such a good eater, after having to worry about Stella, and her picky little appetite. At least she is picky for fruits and veggies, but I still worry about her nutrition on a daily basis. I'm pretty sure Sterling isn't lacking in the nutrient department.


He has been an angel baby with his sleeping habits. He has slept until 6:20 twice, and 4:30 four times. Last night, due to gas, he was up 5 times, but before that he was doing fantastic. It is wonderful to be getting such good sleep already!


He is getting cuter and cuter by the minute. He smiles and giggles now all of the time. It is so precious to see some of the similarities between he and his sis coming out. Speaking of his sis, she is as goofy as ever. She is doing much better in nursrey now, because we have our friend Karen drop her off, and so she is not in any shock that we are leaving her. The nursrey leader says she mothers all of the other kids in there. What a little sweetie!



She loves to hold Sterling. The love/hate relationship is still going strong. One minute she will be smothering him with kisses all over, and the next she will be stealing his pacifier and throwing it across the room, or biting his feet, etc. We've got to watch her closely!




Stella imitates me all of the time. She also calls me by my first name. Nice. When she wakes from a nap, she will just call out "melissa" over and over again until I come in to get her, but when I ask her my name she says Mama. She loves to take her babies and stuffed animals everywhere. She will literally have a breakdown if we make her leave them.


I will post easter pictures soon. Andy's Mom made the kids some adorable little easter outfits, and Stella had a blast searching for eggs! It was so fun!

Scary Stories

If someone would have told me a week ago, that by today, I would be on page 226 of a book, and be dying to find the time to read more, I would have laughed out loud hysterically at them. I am definitely not one who enjoys to read. I am pretty sure I completed about 10 percent of my reading assignments in school, and was lucky to skim a small fraction of the rest. I just can't stand to read. My mind wanders, and by the time I've read one paragraph, I have to go back and re-read at least three quarters of it because I've gotten completely lost in my day dreams. I have read one book since graduating from college, and it was while I was pregnant with Stella. I got it from my best friend Rashel for my baby shower, and it was about a pregnant woman on bed-rest. I read it, and enjoyed it, but it took a while to read, I didn't read more than maybe 5 pages a day.
Lately, people have tried to convince me to read the twilight series. At first, I was highly un-interested. A book about vampires. Please - why would I ever be interested in reading some ridiculous story about vampires. I am into reality, to truth, I can't stand science fiction or anything else that doesn't seem 100% realistic to me. So I would always just kind of politely say, maybe.
After Sterling was born, my mom told me that my sister in law read twilight while nursing her son. This gave me an idea. I kept falling asleep during the night while feeding Sterling, and I would wake up hours later sitting in a chair with a sore neck and sleeping baby in my lap. I decided to try reading twilight during night feedings to help me stay awake. This plan didn't last long though, I was too tired, and had even less motivation than normal to open a book in the middle of the night. So the book sat on the shelf for weeks.
I finally decided to open the book a couple of days ago and give it a chance. I am addicted.
Last night, as I was laughing with Andy about how crazy it is that I am finally interested in a book, and it is a book about vampires none the less, he told me a story from his mission. He ran into this man named JC, who claimed to be a vampire. He said there were hundreds of different types of vampires, and he happened to be the kind that needed lots of vegetables, not blood. He said that once you learn to recognize vampires, you will notice them everywhere. He then dropped the bombshell. Apparently Andy was a vampire as well. JC didn't tell him what type he was, just that he was. This has me thinking... Andy does move rather quickly, and often times at night, his feet are extra cold even under the covers, and he is extremely good looking. He can charm the pants off anyone, and his strength can be shocking. Hmmm... in this picture he even looks a little like a vampire, just a tan one.


Huh. All this talk about Andy being a vampire makes me even more desperate to go see what happens in the story - gotta go.