babysitting

Matthew, Christie, Kohen and Natalie

Today was Kohen's first time to be away from Jason and I.  Christie and Natalie (my aunt & cousin) called yesterday and offered to babysit Kohen today while Jason and I moved some of our stuff to the new house.  I was all about it...at first....  I was fine last night after I got off the phone with Christie, but this morning was a different story.  I cried, big time, this morning.  I know Kohen was wondering why in the world his mommy kept crying and having to blow her nose.  I just felt so bad and was so nervous to leave him.  I called my mom and told her how I was feeling.  I cried on the phone with her too.  She told me about her experience with the first time she let her sisters babysit Shelley and she cried like a baby when they left.  

When Jason came home for lunch I told him that I was having a really hard time about the whole babysitting thing.  He told me everything would be fine and its not like we were leaving Kohen with strangers!  I felt better after our conversation and thought I would be okay.  Christie called around 5pm and told me she was ready for Kohen and promised she would watch him every minute he was with Natalie.  I told her I had been having issues about leaving him and she told me if I changed my mind that would be okay.  I told her I couldn't change my mind because we HAD to move the big things from our old house.  I loaded Kohen up and headed 2.5 miles to her house...  When I got there I could feel the tears start coming as I was taking the car seat out of the car.  I went in and there the tears came.  I took Kohen out of his car seat and handed him to Christie.  She said "Stephanie, I've had two kids AND I'm a doctor...Kohen is going to be okay!".  That made me laugh and it was the perfect thing to tell me because it finally hit me that YES, he WILL be okay.  I gave a few instructions and kissed him goodbye.  I left my camera there just in case he did something cute while I was gone!  Jason and I moved like crazy people for about two hours and then we went to pick Kohen up.  I thought he was going to be so excited to see me when we got there but he was pretty mellow and like whatever when he saw me.  Christie said he was great and didn't cry once.  She said Natalie had a great time with him and took good care of him too.  I was so excited to see the pictures they took when I got home.  It made me teary to see how sweet Christie and Natalie were to my baby :)  I can tell from the pictures that he had a great time and loves his aunt and cousins :)
Natalie and Kohen (look at his sweet little hand touching her face) :)

Christie and Kohen

Christie and Kohen

Natalie and Kohen

4 months ago I was in labor

Kohen is 4 months old today!!! We don't go to the doctor for two more weeks though :( I'll update his stats after that appointment.
We're in the middle of moving right now (next door! HA!). Has anyone ever tried to move with a 4 month old??? It's almost impossible...We haven't been able to move anything that requires two people b/c one of us has to always be in the house with Kohen. One of us is always feeding him, holding him, or entertaining him. Even when he naps we can't get a lot done because we can't leave him in the house by himself! I stayed up until about 1a.m. working on things. Jason went to bed early(er) but got up to do the early morning feeding. Kohen and Jason are asleep right now so I thought I would get my blog out of the way for the day and get started on some things around the house while I'm babyless. Hopefully by tonight it will look more like we live in the new house!

Chubby Cheeks equal Fish Face

Oh my goodness...I have laughed and laughed at this picture and this video!

cereal shmereal

Here is what I've heard..."OH Stephanie!  Kohen is going to just LOVE his cereal!".... You all lied to me.  He hates it.  I've tried several times, different consistencies, even some in his bottle...yeah, doesn't work... But we continue to try!

Julianne, Fordyce and Arkadelphia

Kohen got to meet his newest cousin, Julianne Stephens, this past Friday (2-13-09)!  They are about 3 months apart.  

Jason, Kohen, Julianne and Julie

Kohen and Jason

Jason and Kohen with Jason's sister, Julie, and her 3 kiddos:  Julianne, AnnaGrace and Christian.

Jason, Julianne, Kohen and Julie

After we left Julie's house, we drove to Fordyce to spend the night with Jason's parents.  This is Poppa saying hello to Kohen.

Poppa and Kohen

Poppa is SO proud of his "Smith" baby! :)

Poppa, Kohen and Nana.  Kohen had so much fun in Fordyce with his grandparents.  He loves his little Valentine Red Bug!  

After we left Fordyce, we traveled to Arkadelphia to visit my parents.  This was their last weekend in Arkadelphia before they move to Maumelle permanently.  I got to say bye to my house that I've lived in since the 3rd grade.  I didn't get too emotional.  I teared up driving by my church where Jason and I got married and I got a little sad driving out of the driveway for the last time.  I forgot to take pictures, but I'm sure mom and dad will before they leave.  Their house will be listed on Monday.  

My Brother is ENGAGED

Scott proposed to Kristin Hines, his girlfriend of 2.5 years, yesterday!  It was Kristin's 24th birthday!  

Kristin, Scott, Shelley, Max, Mom & Dad met at our house to celebrate mine and Kristin's birthdays (mine was feb. 10 & hers was feb. 11).  When everyone arrived, Jason asked Kristin to help him wrap my new lap top in the guest room....while they were doing that (which by the way I had already opened my new lap top the day before, thanks Jason :)) Shelley and I were busy changing Max and Kohen into shirts that read "WILL YOU" & "MARRY SCOTT".  Jason and Kristin came out of the guest room with my "gift" and Kristin sat on the couch while Jason grabbed the video camera.  They told me to come in the living room and open my gift.  I walked in with Kohen's tummy facing me so Kristin couldn't read the shirt yet.  I asked Kristin if she would hold Kohen, I turned to give him to her and she read his shirt.  "WILL YOU"....then Max walked up and she read his shirt, "MARRY SCOTT?".  She said "WHAT???" and turned to Scott.  He pulled her up to stand and he got down on one knee and said "Will you marry me?".  She nodded yes, crying, and hugged him.  The past few minutes were filled with Kristin saying "oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!"  After all the excitement we loaded up to make our reservations.  Kristin didn't know at the time but her family was waiting at the restaurant to surprise her!


Kristin's ring is a radiant cut 1.4 carat on a cathedral setting.  BEAUTIFUL!

Scott and Kristin

Scott, Kristin, Kohen and Max

Kristin cried again when she read her card that said "Kristin Wood"

Mimi and Kohen

Kristin sees her mom at the restaurant...she screamed!

Kristin's mom

MAX

Christie, Kohen and Jason

Shelley, Mom and Dad

Scott and Kris
Matthew

Driving Range

Centennial Country Club
Kohen's first time to visit the driving range!

Watching daddy hit balls on the driving range



mommy saved the day!

One year ago today...

One year ago today...(2-7-08) is when I found out I was pregnant! Wow, what a year it has been! Kohen is now 3 1/2 months old. At his doctors appointment on Monday, he weighed 15.2 lbs and 25 inches long. 90th percentile in length and 75th percentile in weight. I have a big baby!

Kohen's first Super Bowl party!

Steelers vs. Cardinals...Steeler's won....boo.
The pictures include Steve and Britni Elder, Brian and LeeAnna Boyce and Jason and Kohen.