10 Weeks

John Stephen is 10 weeks old. He's smiling and cooing. He's sleeping through the night (most of the time). We are slowly, ever so slowly, finding a rhythm.

More Fun at Nana's

Matt got up extra early to come and visit with us. He looked super sleepy, but managed to kill me in hearts. He and John really hit it off.I gave John a bath every afternoon in Nana's kitchen sink. He gets super cranky then and a bath is like magic. He'll be crying his head off and then I dip him in some nice warm water and PRESTO, happy baby.
We took an outing to Fermin Park one morning. It was beautiful, right on the ocean. This park's claim to fame is gray whale watching. I guess the whales swim right by on their migration. We took this picture right in front of the old light house at this park.
This is the first picture from our vacation. Here is John on his first flight. The flight wasn't full, so they said I could bring the car seat on board. Then they made me hold him on my lap and seat belt the car seat in. It was weird. But, I did get this cute picture first!

It's a girl!

Here we are waiting for the ultrasound that will tell us that the next Stapf will be a girl. Unfortunately Enloe was backed up and couldn't get Delayne in on time, so we had to leave. We waited with them a bit and then went home. Delayne called later and let us know that she is having a girl. Yipee!!

Ryan's Favorite Playgroup

Every morning Ryan comes in and says, "Good morning, Mommy. What day is it today?" I tell him. Then he says, "What does that mean?" Then I tell him. It's the same every day. His favorite day is Tuesday, because that is the day he gets to go to playgroup. This week he went to his friend Joshua's house. They learned about patterns. I just love all the little ones in his group. All the moms work so hard to have a nice morning for the kids. It's been a fantastic treat!

Maria and Joe

My oldest niece is engaged!  She and Joe will be married this July.  I can't wait!  Can anyone say "ROAD TRIP!"?

Maddie's Field Trip

Well this post is long overdue, but here it is! Maddie went on a field trip with her first grade class to the news station. They were there to learn about the weather and how they forecast it. She had lots of fun. The first picture is of her in front of the green screen that they use when they are on TV, telling about the weather. The second is the whole class on the set. I didn't get to go on this trip as I had just had John. Thank you to the parents who drove and took pictures for me!

John's First Trip to Nana's

I took John to see my Nana this weekend. We had a great time visiting with her. My brother Stephen was able to stay with her as well. We all just took it easy and enjoyed each other's company. More photos to come later...
Below are pictures of the Korean Bell. The Republic of Korea gave the U.S. this bell on Independence Day 1976. It's amazing! When we arrived someone was just getting married in front of it. I'm not sure what the little wooden guys are, but I thought they were cool and they're right next to the plaque explaining the Korean Bell.

John's Second Ear Infection

I had to rush John into the doctor's on Thursday morning. He had been up every hour the night before wanting to eat and crying. He had a fever of 100.5! Poor little guy. I was worried about making my flight to LA, but knew I didn't want to jump on a plane without knowing what was going on with him. It turns out he has another ear infection. The doctor gave us omnicef and Tylenol with codine. I gave John his medicine. I was so worried that he would be terrible on the flights from Chico to SF and from SF to LA, but he was wonderful. He ended up sleeping the whole way. Plus everyone was super nice and helpful. All's well that ends well. I forsee a trip to see an ENT soon...

Giants vs. Diamondbacks

Spencer drove Mac and his buddy, Dylan, to San Francisco on Saturday. They got to see Stephen's new apartment and go to a Giants game! The boys had a great time at the game. Mac talked mostly about the great slide he got to ride down and the churro he ate and not much about the actual game. That's okay, though. I know he had lots of fun.
After the game the boys went to Swensen's. As a kid, I went to Swensen's with Stephen all of the time. We most often went with our grandparents. I remember standing on a gold bar in order to be tall enough to peek into the ice cream windows. That Swensen's has since gone out of business, but the original Swensen's is still going strong. I'm so glad that my kids can still enjoy yummy Swensen't ice cream.

John Stephen at 2 Months

I took Jack into see the doctor yesterday.  He had to get three shots!  It was so sad, but he ended up sleeping most of the day, so it was nice too.  He weighed in at 13 lbs., 3 oz.  He is now 25 inches long.  He is in the 90th percentile for size and weight.  His ear infection is all cleared up.  He is a very healthy baby!

Thank You Marsha!

Grampie Bob and John are enjoying the new quilt from cousin Marsha. She did a lovely job. We've already had lots of fun cuddling with it and looking at the pictures of Pooh. Thank you Marsha!

John is 8 Weeks Old

Our littlest is 8 weeks old.  Time has really flown by.  He's slept for about 7 hours a night for the past 4 nights, so we're hoping to move him into his crib soon.  He's getting too big for the bassinet.  He smiles and coos at us when awake now.  He loves to snuggle close and be held tight.  His hair is still long and dark, maybe it will stay that way. 

Happy Birthday Grandma Smith

For Grandma's birthday we surprised her with a birthday cake for our Family Home Evening treat.  We put on so many candles (48) Grandpa had to help her blow them out!  Happy Birthday Nana!

Happy Easter - John's Blessing

Easter Sunday we all got dressed up and ready for our first time taking John to church.  Maddie was beautiful in her pink Easter dress and hat.  She thought her dress looked like Little Orphan Annie's dress from the end of the movie.  The boys begrudgingly dressed alike and looked quite sharp.  John was dressed all in white for his special day.  He wore the same outfit that Ryan wore for his blessing.  The Smiths and their family took over the chapel.  Everyone wanted to see our little John blessed.  It was so wonderful.  Spencer took John up with Doug, Brett, Dad Smith, Dave Woods and Mark Ping.  The men stood in a circle and put their hands on John's head while Spencer gave him his name and a blessing.  Then Spencer held John up for everyone to see.  It was just precious.  John was content the whole time.  

After church, family and friends came over to celebrate the blessing and Easter.  We had a lovely ham dinner prepared by Doug.  We had 40 people at our home.  The weather was fantastic so many of us ate outside in the backyard.  I think everyone had a good time - especially all of the children!

Gone Fishing

The boys all went fishing on Saturday. Everyone had the chance to catch at least one fish in Gary's pond. Uncle Doug took everyone and supplied them with the necessary equipment. Mac had a good time hanging out with Alex and McKenzie who were up visiting for John's blessing and Easter.

Easter Eggs

On Good Friday the Stapfs, Smiths, and Guadagnins got together to dye Easter eggs at the Stapfs home. Delayne had a great set up and before we knew it, we had dyed 55 eggs! One egg cracked, otherwise we would have done 56...

Mommy's Store

Bonnie came over to have a sleep over with Maddie. When they are together, big messes ensue. When I ask them to clean up said messes, tears always come. In order to avoid the tears, I decided to play a game. They could earn bonus bucks by cleaning up their mess when they were done playing. With the bonus bucks, they would come to my store and buy treats to eat while watching a movie at the Smith Family Theater. Well, Maddie thought, if a small mess cleaned up earns a few bonus bucks, a large mess cleaned up earns a large amount of bonus bucks. So, she and Bonnie decided to make the biggest mess they could in order to then earn the most bonus bucks. BACKFIRE! So much for my great idea... This is a picture of Maddie's room when the had finished making it messy. They even emptied her dresser!! It took us hours to clean up. The didn't get to play store, but they did get to watch the movie.

They look so cute and innocent. It's hard to believe these same children made such a mess!

The Camping Trip

This is Macky, Ethan, and Uncle Brett just before they left to rough it in the wilderness.  I was hoping to have a great after picture as well, unfortunately camping didn't go that well.  Mac was back before dinner.  It was drizzling and cold.  By the time he got home his feet were wet and he was miserable.  Thanks to Uncle Brett for all of the effort!  I'm sure it will work out in fairer weather!

Turtle Bay Trip

Last Wednesday (April 8th) the Smiths, Stapfs, and Guadagnins took a road trip up to Redding, CA. We went to see Turtle Bay Museum and the great Sundial Bridge.  The kids had a marvelous time!  The boys road up with me.  They watched Bedtime Stories.  Shannon and I got to chit chat for an hour while we drove up the freeway.  
Once we arrived at Turtle Bay, we started by having lunch in the Paul Bunyan playground and looked at the logging museum. I nursed John and changed his diaper, and then his clothes, and then we were off to the museum.

Here are Macky and Ethan in the museum.  They were watching a solar panel power the lego pendulum thing.  They were totally into it!Chandler turned the crank on this box to power the light bulbs.  It showed how much power it took to power different types of light bulbs.

I wouldn't drive with these crazy kids!

Jaycee and Maddie had tons of fun together.  Here they are trying to make a "tornado."

This is in front of the aquarium filled with local fish.  The kids had fun trying to identify the different kinds of fish.  Ryan was so into it, we couldn't get him in this picture!

After looking through the museum we walked across the Sundial Bridge.  This is a suspension bridge over the Sacramento River.  It is a huge sundial.  It really is incredible.  We walked across the bridge with the intent to walk through the gardens, but the gardens weren't very interesting.  So, we walked across the bridge again!  Then it was full speed ahead to get home.  John did amazingly well and we had an uneventful drive back home - this time with a car full of girls!

John's First Ear Infection

Friday morning I took John into see Dr. Brown for a fever.  He had been up and cranky all night.  Now I know why - ear infection!  It's in his right ear.  He has started on some medicine and hopefully will be doing much better by tomorrow.  

Mac's First Base Hit

Macky had his first base hit last Thursday!  He came home so excited!  At his second at bat, he bunted and ran like mad.  The catcher was right behind him trying to get the ball to tag him, but Macky made it!  He went on to steal second and run to third on a hit.  The team got three outs before he could make it home.  He was super happy and can't wait for his next game.