"Backpack"

I might think this is way funnier than it actually is, but at the very least, it's super cute!

Easter Fun

Poor little Lydia has not had much luck with outdoor egg hunts in her three years of life. The first year, she was almost one, and she was walking, but the egg hunt we were going to got rained out. I felt okay about it, because I wasn't sure she would understand the whole concept of pushing kids out of the way, grabbing eggs, and tossing them in her basket as she ran to get more. :)

Last year, I thought Lydia might think an egg hunt would be quite fun. But, again, it rained, and then I remember her being sick with a fever, so maybe that is why we didn't go to the rescheduled egg hunt either.
This year, we again did not get to go to the outdoor egg hunt, this time for obvious reasons... it's been raining non-stop for months. (I might be exaggerating a little, but seriously, only a little). So, we had a fun egg hunt inside at grandma's house.
This was probably more fun for Lydia anyway, because there were SO MANY eggs hidden in the basement, and her only competition was Joel, who has only been walking for a couple months, so odds were good she was going to get most of the eggs!
Joel learned to walk just in time for Easter and egg hunts. He figured out the art of egg collecting quickly because he has an awesome sister who showed him just what to do.



On Easter day, during a break between rain showers, we headed out to G'mama and Papa's patio for an egg hunt.

With one egg hunt under their belts from the day before, Lydia and Joel were egg hunting pros at this point.

Well, almost. Joel did get a little confused, being outside for an egg hunt, and he did start collecting rocks instead of eggs. So cute!

And here is our other super cutie! Notice how she only has a couple eggs in her basket, but they are already open. Her motto this year was, "Why wait until after I've collected all the eggs to find out what's inside? I can open them immediately after I find them!"

Holidays are so much fun with little kids!!

Where's scooter?

For months, this is how Joel got around:

Josh, Lyd and I called him scooter - it was especially cute when Lydia called him scooter!

Then, on his first birthday, he started crawling. But, on our hardwood floors, he still preferred scooting, which I think is actually pretty smart, because I'm sure it's better for his little knees!

Now, this is Joel's preferred method of getting around:

Needless to say, I'm a little bit busier these days! :)

FINALLY!!!

On April 8, 2011 at 14 months and 14 days of age, Joel finally got his first tooth!!!!!

Ready for Spring!!!

And sunshine!!!

And warm weather!!!

And dancing!!!

Aunt Cassie, I made the deadline! :)

Playing Together

Things Lydia and Joel do together:

Read books

Play with dolls

Decorate with stickers

Play doctor

Pose for pictures

Four Generations

Four Generations of Handsome Stegman Men

Super Bowl Sunday

On Super Bowl Sunday, Aunt Krissy and I decided to plan a fun food menu with new recipes from the world wide web. Then, all the ladies, including little Lady Lydia, put on their aprons and whipped up a feast!

I realize now that I don't have any pics of the final products, but what I will remember most about this day is dancing around the kitchen as we cooked (Aunt Krissy, you can thank me later for not posting any pics :) ) and this picture:

Looking at Little Lady Lydia in this picture makes me think this photo should be black and white and dated 1835. And that the rest of us shouldn't be smiling. I love it!

Lydia, Meet Joel!

This is a good sign, because Lydia does not share her pink bear with just anyone.

Baby Joel

Joel Michael was born on January 25, 2010 at 10:39AM. He weighed 9lbs 3oz and was 23 inches long!

Joel's entrance into this world was much different for me than Lydia's entrance into the world. I delivered Lydia naturally, the old fashion way. I waited day after day for her to decide to make her debut. She ended up being a week late. Intense labor started around 8AM. The car ride to the hospital seemed to take forever and was super uncomfortable. Checking in to triage seemed impossible with all the questions. And then, finally around 4PM, Lydia arrived!

But with Joel, we woke up like any other morning - except it was a little unusually early for us (6AM), and I didn't get to eat breakfast. We arrived at the hospital at 7:30, comfortably walked up to triage to answer all their questions, understandably waited while the nurses attended to mothers who were in more immediate circumstances than us, went into the operating room nervously, but without pain, around 10:15, and then the next thing I knew, there he was... handsome little Joel!

Recovery was definitely much more difficult for me with Joel than with Lydia.

And changing Joel's diapers were much trickier than changing Lydia's.

But, we all made it, and now we can't imagine life without smiley, precious little Joel.

January Snow

Remember the snow way back in January...

Classic Lydia picture - very serious.

There's a smile... and a snowman!

Christmas 2009

Thanksgiving 2009 Highlight

This is a picture of Lydia with her cousin, Colton, on Thanksgiving Day 2008.

On that Thanksgiving Day, the only food Lydia was eating was pureed.

This is a picture of Lydia and Colton on Thanksgiving Day 2009. This year, Lydia was tall enough to reach the crackers sitting on the table. And so, she happily helped herself to an appetizer of Ritz Crackers. Being the polite little girl that she is, she also got crackers for Colton to enjoy, too!

My, what a difference a year makes!