Jonathan FINALLY learned how to feed himself with a fork. Such a big boy!

Jonathan's 1st Birthday

We celebrated Jonathan's 1st birthday this past Saturday. We ended up holding his party in the basement of our church because we had over 30 people come. It ended up being a FUN day. I decorated using the theme Veggie Tales. I put out primary colors and balloons on the tables, and each balloon base had a veggie tale's finger puppet. Those will be fun for Jonathan to play with!. Other than that, I didn't decorate anything else. I figured he's one, and on one cares. But it looked nice. I had a birthday boy shirt for Jonathan, and he had a number 1 balloon on his highchair!

I wanted to keep the food simple. So I ordered party subs from Subway, and had baked beans, veggies, fruit salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, chip/salsa and chips and dips. It was all yummy. I had SO much food left over (but we did eat all 9 ft of the subs).

I ended up making the cake myself. I've never made a cake, besides putting one in a pan, using can frosting and adding sprinkles. So I did a practice one, thanks to the help of Michelle. The day before I made the real ones. I was getting frustrated with the faces, so Nathan ended up drawing them for me. I was afraid I would run out of cake, so I made cupcakes as well and made them into the french peas.. :)

We had some fun games for the kids that were at the party. The first game we played was pin Larry's face together. I made some eyes, nose, mouth and tie for the kids to pin on. It was fun to watch them stick them on, and in the funniest places too.

We also played Veggie Tales musical chairs. Nathan took Jonathan out, and we got some other parents/grandparents took some of the other babies/kids out. It was fun to watch them place the babies on the little chairs.

I ended up also having coloring pages and playing a Veggie Tales movie in the background. Jonathan had fun playing with all his baby friends (Gabi, Sonya, and Ethan).

Jonathan's Great Aunt Tammy made the smash cake for us, and did an absolutely WONDERFUL job! I just loved it. She is very talented! Thanks Tammy for doing that!!!!

I wondered how he would attack his smash cake. It was his first time eating cake. At first he didn't know what to do, he would look at the cake and then poke at the veggie tales characters, but he didn't dig in as I expected at first. Daddy started him off. We ended up giving him a spoon so he would realize that this was something to eat. He finally started eating the red frosting of the number one on the top, and soon dug in and loved the icing!

Jonathan was tired by the end of the day, but managed to get through opening gifts. He received so many wonderful gifts, including: webbles school bus, helicopter, tow and pull tractor, 2 cars and a car bath towel, John Deer tractor, sand toys and bib, golf set, hungry Caterpillar book and stuffed animal, 3 trucks, Boat, Basketball hoop, and a car play run and car folding chair. You could tell by the last few gifts he wasn't interested in looking at them anymore, he just wanted to play! Thanks to all our family and friends who came and gave him all these wonderful things!

All in all - it was a wonderful day, and Jonathan was tired by the end! However, once home he was so excited about all his new toys all he wanted to do was play!

a boy.... proof of God's perfect plan

It's A boy!!! We are having another boy! How fun will this be! We pick out a name as well, Lincoln William Steele. We didn't name Lincoln after anyone, we just both really liked it. William is Nathan's middle name, and we both have Grandfather's with that name, so it's fitting. I feel like that is such a STRONG name, and I can't wait to meet him.

However, I can wait at the same time. Jonathan is still little, and I am enjoying my time with him before I become a mother of 2 little ones. I pray each day that God will give me the energy, love and patience to be the best mom I can be. So until he comes end of may/early June, I will cherish this time, but I do look forward to adding Lincoln to the mix :)

I think for our family, God knew what was best.. another boy. This way, Jonathan and him will grow up close, can share a room when we decided baby number 3 will come (which by the way, won't be as quick at this one, I'm thinking when Lincoln is 2, almost 3..), and we have all the baby clothes and supplies we need! Thank you God for your perfect planning!

Jonathan's 1st Christmas

This Christmas was one of the best ever for me, because it was Jonathan's 1st. We had 5 Christmas' in 3 days, it was crazy, but fun!

Christmas Eve morning we woke up and had our own little Christmas. We ended up getting Jonathan a little piano, a cheetah that goes forward when you push a button, a fishing boat and a new book. He was scared of the wrapping paper, but once the toys were out he loved playing with them.

We then headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house where we opened gifts and ate a brunch. It was fun to be with my family. Jonathan got a Micky mouse rider, a machine that throws balls into the air, and a tonka truck. Loads of fun for him!

Christmas morning I worked, but Nathan took him over to Nonna's house to spend the day. After work I headed over there too, Nathan's mom's family were there. Jonathan got a hammer from his great uncle Al and Aunt Mary, and a play mat that makes noises when you touch areas (one side is animals and the other side is musical instruments) from Nonna. The new baby even got presents, a musical stuffed animal, swaddles and a blanket. We had a wonderful meal, and Jonathan ate a TON of sweet potatoes and rolls!

Sunday morning we had Christmas with Nathan's immediate family. That day Jonathan got a semi-truck/tow truck toy, a new blanket, Packer bibs/hats, an animal sounding toy from Nonna. He got a "bag of bugs" from Uncle Lucas and Aunt Kay. Another fun morning!

That afternoon Nathan's Aunt Tammy and her family came over. Jonathan got a "sing-o-matic" animal, and new baby got a giraffe blanket.

All in all, it was a GREAT Christmas, Jonathan was SPOILED! And his momma loved every moment of it! But I am glad that it's over for another year. Next year we'll have another baby to have a 1st Christmas. FUN FUN FUN!

the little things

Tonight I was playing with Jonathan. He had a plastic lid from his baby food. I took it from him and then handed it back to him. He then proceeded to give it back to me again. We passed it back and forth for quite a while, him laughing the whole time. I then gave the lid to Nathan who started the same game with Jonathan. The funny thing.... Jonathan would start to hand it to him, and then as Nathan would reach out to grab it, he would pull it back as if he was teasing him, and just laugh and laugh. such a stinker!!! gotta love my little guy!

life

Life has just been flying by, and I have found no time to blog. I was sick with the stomach flu all day yesterday, so my mom came and picked up Jonathan and had him spend the night over there. Today my brother is watching him while I rest and regain my strength, so I thought I would take a few minutes to share what has been going on in our lives. Since my last post of stresses, we have continued to have car problems, but they are almost done being fixed, and I'm praying that we won't have any problems after this next week.

Nathan went hunting a few weeks ago, and got a doe. My brother went with him and got a buck fawn. I always enjoy eating the meat, and making up different dishes and recipes for venison. My favorite is the roast. cooking meat in the crock pot is somehow magical, the meat always cooks perfectly.

I've been working 2-3 days a week. I enjoy my job, but look forward to someday finding a job in a hospital where I use a lot of the skills and assessments that I've learned at school. I feel like I'm losing a lot of my knowledge that I've learned, and that scares me. I hope to start looking and apply as soon as I have this baby in May.

Jonathan is now 9 months old. I can't believe how much he has grown and how curious he is. Everyday is an adventure with him. he's crawling, pulling himself up on furniture, walking along furniture, and can climb the stairs. Thank God for baby gates! He's got 4 teeth. The upper teeth gave him a lot more problems than the bottom teeth, poor kid. Lots of crying with those two. But his smile is so cute with teeth. He learned how to PUSH his toys across the floor the other day, so he now spends his time on his stomach, pushing toys under the couch and coffee table. then I have to proceed to drag them out because he can't reach them and he does it all over again! so cute. He's also into EVERTHING! He is curious and wants to learn as much as he can. He's learning to open my cabinets. He's found one that has his bottles and bibs in it. He then proceeds to pull everything out the drawer onto the floor. does he put it back, nope, he leaves that for momma. He has also leanred where that where there is a toilet, there is a roll of toilet paper. Yep, he knows how to unroll the WHOLE roll. We now keep the bathroom door shut. lol

I decorated for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving while Jonathan was taking a nap. I was so excited to see his reaction to the Christmas tree. when he FINALLY woke up (he took almost a 3 hour nap that day) I brought him downstairs. At first he just sat in my lap and stared at the tree with a blank expression. It did not take long for him , however to get a huge smile on his face and want to go over and explore. He only goes by the tree if the lights are on, so thankfully if I don't want him over there I just turn off the lights. I'm looking forward to this 1st Christmas. we got him 3 gifts, and I had them under the tree unwrapped at first. One gift is a small piano. Well, he found it, and I heard him playing with it. Thankfully we know he'll like it, and I know he doesn't remember seeing it, so all is good :)

Other than that, not much is going on in our lives. We stay busy. work, family, friends. we have a bible study Tuesday nights which we are really enjoying. Nathan is working out at the gym. we are looking forward the birth of our 2nd child and of family and friends. God has truly blessed us, and we look forward to the next year and all that will come with it.

life stresses

Lately, I feel like life is throwing me every punch in the book. First, our white car died... and we could not figure out what to do to fix it. So, we bought a new truck from a used dealership. The NEXT day, the check engine light came on. not cool. We waited a few days, thinking maybe I didn't tighten the gas cap. we bought a new cap in case this one was bad. The light never went out. We then had it checked out and found out that the transmission needed fixed, and we needed new wheel bearings! I took the truck to a transmission place in Cedarburg. They did a nice job for a good price and replaced both wheel bearings and the brake pads. So, i picked up the truck. They did have one problem with it not starting at first, and said we might need a new fuel pump, but hopefully not for a while. Back on the road, and the truck was running nice! Everything was looking up. two days later, I go out to start the truck before work. I smell gas in the garage, and the truck won't start! So needles to say, now it's sitting in my garage until we can get it fixed and again, I'm borrowing my parents van. So, I've been praying and asking God to help me get through this, trying not to stress and trust God that he will provide. Last night I get home from work and Nathan informs me that the washer broke. Hopefully he'll be able to fix it. But geez, what else is going to go wrong?

So this was my rant, one way to get my stresses. I KNOW God is in control and everything will work out. I need prayer from others that I always keep that in mind and that I don't stress.

Thanks for listen.