Matthew Update and layout of the day

Matthew Sick Update...

I took Matthew into the pediatrician this morning and they discovered he has an infection in his lungs. He also had another ear infection in one of his ears. They prescribed us more antibiotics and a nebulizer that we need to do 3-4 times a day. You can't even pick up a nebulizer one has to be delivered and it was delivered 2 hrs after I left the Dr's office. You put this liquid medicine in it and Matthew has to put a mask on to basically breathe this medicine that is getting pumped in by a machine blowing air. This is helping to open his lungs so the mucus can get out. We did two treatments today and already he isn't coughing as much tonight so hopefully that is a good sign that it's going to work. He didn't like the mask much and kept fighting me and I kept telling him it was going to make him feel better and not cough. He finally settled down both times and was really good. Hopefully he feels the benefits of the treatments and won't fight me as much tomorrow.

I just feel so bad for the kid. Who would think all this would happen at almost the beginning of May w/90+ degree weather. Maybe it's the change in weather and more crap is blowing around. We are going back in two weeks to check his lungs and his ears and if his ears haven't cleared up then we'll probably go see a ENT doctor. Fun, fun!

I've been playing around with the new PSE 6 last night and tonight and am learning some cool new things. It's a sweet program and I'm loving what I can do. I've created more layouts in the last 3 nights than I have the last year. Pathetic! I just think it's easier to create on the computer since you can undo instead of getting through a paper layout and hating what you've done.

Anyways, here are two more that I did last night and tonight. Off to bed...we keep going to bed late every night and it's killing me.

You can click on the layouts to see them better.

We had this styrofoam cube thing that came with a pkg of mine and Matthew thought it was hilarious to sit in. He's wearing his new summer hat.


Matthew loves to hide from me behind things or run away from me so I got this really great picture one day of him underneath our dining room table. I just love that happy smile and the fun games we play. The poor thing hasn't been his happy fun self lately. :(

Sick again...and going digital

Well us Stephens have had a rough last couple of weeks. Matthew got really sick on Thursday night and we were up until 3:30 am trying to get him constantly cleaned up and sleeping w/out throwing up. I was suffering from an infection in my old root canal that now needs to be re-rooted. That pain can take anyone out. Jordan got SICK Sunday night and worked from home Monday. Jordan worked from home today because Matthew was running a slight fever last night and just plain looked sick this morning. I'm just hoping the rest of this week gets better.


Besides being sick we've been doing the following....
-Two weeks ago I went to Dallas on a Wednesday night for a site visit on Thursday and then flew to Vegas Thursday night for a site visit on Friday. Jordan flew up with Matthew Friday night and we hung out with his family on Saturday and then went and saw our friends Dave & Melanie that used to live 5 houses down from us (we miss them-sniff, sniff). They have a son just 2 months younger than Matthew so it was fun to see them playing together. I think Vegas for us now with Matthew being so young is just weird. I definitely felt weird pushing Matthew around in a stroller at Mandalay Bay. It's definitely more of a singles scene at Mandalay than family oriented. We did go shopping at this super nice outlet mall on Saturday with Jordan's brother Skylar and his family and his mom. I scored some sweet deals at the Ann Taylor outlet. I'm so excited!

-This weekend we finally caught up with our friends Mark & Cherilyn which I am ashamed to say we hadn't seen for over a year. They live in Queen Creek which is about an hour from us and time flew before we knew it. They've had a son Brighton in the meantime and he's a cutie. We've resolved to see them much sooner than later. We had some yummy Mexican and laughed like usual as their humor and ours is pretty alike.

-I've been dabbling in the digital scrapbook area for awhile but haven't done a ton of projects. I made some 4x6 pages for Cherilyn and got them printed at Costco as matte pictures and slipped into an album for her so she can put her favorite pictures of Brighton in there (her new son). I decided to venture into doing a 12x12 layout of Matthew so I'm posting a few of my project pages below. Let me clarify that I did not create my own elements I just bought digital kits online that I downloaded and then used digital papers and elements to create my layout in Photoshop Elements. It's super fun and addicting and you can play around with a layout until it's perfect and they way you like without ruining any supplies. I won't go completely digital, but this is a fun alternative to paper scrapping. You can print scrapbook pages out like they were photos at Costco for $2.99 a page. Costco does pages up to 12x18 and I think maybe even bigger.

-We're just trying to get well and I get to go to the Endodontic on Thursday-yipee!. We have decent dental insurance, but I was worried my re-root canal wasn't going to be covered but good news for once is that it's covered 90%. Good thing as he was $105 (total cost, not mine) for a 10 min. consult yesterday and the re-root canal is going to be $1,245 (total cost). Why didn't I think of doing that for a career?


Cherilyn's Album














My first digital 12x12 page

Matthew loves to take anything that is stackable out of the cupboard in our laundry room and organize them in rows or on the steps of our stool. I was taking pictures of what he was doing and he came right up and smiled at me so I got this great pic.

HSN sucked me in!

I do have to admit that I LOVE QVC and haven't ever bought anything from their rival HSN. I happened to turn the channel past it the other day and stopped and got sucked in by their Today Special. I have a lot of line dry items and they were selling this portable CloseDrier where you hang up your items and they dry them faster than line drying. I also got sucked into buying a handy little steamer and some huggable hangers.


All these items came the other day and I got the CloseDrier out yesterday to dry a line dried shirt quickly before heading off to work. A shirt that usually takes 2-3 hrs to dry was dry in less than 30 min. I also used this morning on some line dried items and they were done before the time was up.

I used the portable steamer Sunday on a top I was ironing for work for Monday. My top had all this rouching and the steamer was perfect to get the wrinkles out without having to iron it.


The last item I bought were huggable hangers. We've needed to reorganize our closet for a LONG time now and we started the other day with some clothes. Getting rid of what we don't wear and organizing what was left. The cool thing about these hangers is that they are kindof velvety so slippery items won't fall off of them. I have that problem with several of my clothes and now I won't be finding clothes on the floor when I want to wear them. I am so excited!

Anyways we ARE trying to get organized and my next task is to sort out my shoes and figuring out what I'm keeping and what I'm giving away.

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Matthew threw up on the way to daycare yesterday while Jordan was taking him (I had early morning meetings to go to). Jordan ended up staying home with him yesterday and I'm at home with him today. He's had ear infections and his medicine you're supposed to eat with food which he ate with an Isagenix shake but not solid food so probably between that and riding in the car he had issues. He hasn't had a temp and hasn't thrown up again so we're happy about that. I have to take him to the pediatrician to check out his ears this week and talk about if we need to do tubes or not so think happy thoughts for us that everything works out well.

Making cookies...and a mess!

Matthew is such a big help lately. In the morning he helps me add powders to his protein shake, he helps put my clothes from the washer into the dryer (we have frontloaders for both), and today he helped me make cookies for the first time.

We were supposed to have a couple from our ward over tonight (she was sick so it didn't happen) so Matthew and I made cookies as our treat (before I knew they weren't coming). He likes to stand on our barstools and help me with projects lately (I think he just likes feeling like a big boy). He poured the sugars in for me, the baking soda and the salt. I tried to have him help me pour the chocolate chips in, but for some reason he kept wanting to eat them instead. At the end of the cookie making process I gave him the spatula and bowl to lick and boy did he have a great time. He was not very happy when I finally took everything away to get him and everything else cleaned up. He definitely had a great time.

Seriously, who needs a binky when you're eating cookie dough? Apparently Matthew felt the need to add the mess to his binky.

I asked him to give me a cheese and this is what I got. I love those squishy cheeks.

I really love the independence he's showing. He loves playing outside in our backyard, he can entertain himself with silly games and talk in silly voices like me, but he'll still snuggle with me when he gets an owie. He loves to sing and read books and is generally a very good boy even when getting into mischief. He's starting to say small sentences and can pretty much imitate any word we say. Yesterday, he was hiding and then ran out and said, "Here I are." He's so cute and sometimes I can't believe he's ours and how much he's changed in almost two short years. I love the baby stage, but I think I love this stage even more. He wears me out with his energy but every day is worth the craziness. I can't imagine our life without this sweet boy in it.

Here come the 1,2,3s.....1-2-3

Playhouse Disney sometimes plays cute little music videos in between their shows. I kept hearing this cute song about zeros and noticed one day that it was by They Might Be Giants. I ordered the CD from Amazon and we've been listening to it for the last month or so. Matthew really loves it and it came as a CD/DVD combo so now he asks for "songs" when he wants to listen or watch it.



I wanted to expand our "Children's" song collection as I'm getting a little tired of the 1,2,3s. I got an Amazon giftcard for my birthday and hadn't used it yet and decided to go find some more music the other day with my card. I picked up Here Comes the A,B,Cs by They Might Be Giants, Juice Box Heros by Imagination Movers and Catch that Train by Dan Zane and friends. Imagination Movers are kindof a rock band for kids and Dan Zane is more of a folky, groovy kind of feel.


We definitely listen to his music as we're driving to/from work/daycare twice a week so this should be fun and give us more variety. He throws less fits and is pretty good when his music is playing. If you have little kids and need some more music I can vouch for the They Might Be Giants CD/DVD's and I'll let you know how the Imagination Movers and Dan Zane go.

On another note: It's been a tough week accident/health wise for Matthew. He was playing on our bed the other day and did a cheek plant right on the end of our footboard so now he has a bruise line on his face. It's so weird. Matthew caught a cold again and was sounding pretty yucky yesterday cough wise so Jordan took him to our urgent care in Maricopa and found out he had a pretty bad infection in one ear and the other ear also had the start of an infection. I was really surprised because he hadn't been acting too grouchy lately. He had been poking his ear a little bit but not all the time. He's now on ANOTHER round of antibiotics which I HATE!!! After he gets done with his treatment I'm going to take him to the doctor to see if he is going to need tubes or not. I just don't want to have his system immune to antibiotics and this is probably around his 6th time since he was born.

We're off to a crazy week as I have an event this weekend so I'm pretty busy with work, I have book club on Tuesday night and bunco on Thursday night. Jordan is doing the single dad thing on Friday and Saturday. I definitely couldn't do my job without his support and help with Matthew so a big thanks to Jordan!

This IS Ammericcccan Idol.....

I've been watching American Idol since the beginning and usually find my favorite about half way through the year. This year is tough because I don't have my favorite nailed down yet and there are quite a few talented singers. Another great thing I love about this show is that Jordan will watch it with me and we discuss the performances while they are happening. We actually agree with Simon more often than not, even if what he says goes against our favorites.

There are two Mormons that have made it to the Top 10 this season and both are doing reasonably well. There are also a couple of other guys that I think show great potential to make it to the end.

My Top 4 (in no particular order) are:
Brooke White (mormon)
David Archuleta (mormon)
Michael Johns
and
David Cook

I have felt reasonably confident so far that my choices would get through and I've been watching American Idol off the DVR a day or so later than the Tuesday airing so I haven't been contributing my vote. Tonight we had some free time after cleaning so we decided to watch it about an hour after it aired (you only get to vote up to 3 hrs after the show airs).

Every week they have a new theme and tonight's theme was songs from the year they were born. It started out pretty slow and Brooke, David, and Michael's performances were good, but not stellar, but will definitely get them through to the next round. David Cook was the last performer of the night and BLEW ME AWAY! I love old school Michael Jackson songs and he took Billie Jean and re-worked it into a rock song. Seriously maybe the best song of the whole season so far. I watched him performance twice already and I'm going to keep it on my DVR for awhile in case I want to visit it again. I can see that song being a single on the radio today. He's now made me a fan and might be inching closer to being my favorite of the season.




I did finally vote tonight...even though I loved David Cook I know he is safe this week so I voted about 20 or so times for Brooke White. She's up there as one of my favorites - she's sweet, so talented and Mormon so I have to support. She can play the piano by ear (learned tonight from her vignette), plays the guitar, and has a pretty interesting voice. I can see her making albums like Alicia Keys but with a different twist. I do only take my support so far so if she starts bombing she's off my list.

It'll be interesting to see who gets booted tomorrow night. I think it will be Chikezie or Ramiele. If you haven't started watching tune in and make your vote count!

BTW-for the record Jordan does not vote for this show. He just likes to watch and comment on the performances. I am the only one in this household that makes an impact on the shows outcome. :)

Easter.....and our March goings on

We've had quite a busy March. I was out of town on a work cruise for 9 days (Feb 29-March 9). Jordan did a great job holding down the fort and being a single dad. I got home late on Sunday and suffered from motion sickness/vertigo for about a week. My friend Heather (we grew up together) and her husband Michael and their son James came to visit us on March 14th and we had a great time going to spring training baseball, eating out, shopping, and letting Matthew and James play together. It was so great having them here and we hope they had a great time. The pics below are from Heather's blog - she took some great ones!


We were a bit worried about Matthew and his sharing skills, but he did really good with James and cried when they left.


Two little boys naked as can be getting ready for bathtime.


They had just woken up from naps and wouldn't sit still to take a pic so I scooped them up and took a pic with them. It was St. Patrick's and Jordan was the only one that didn't wear green.


James loved the grass in our backyard and didn't cry at all.


Loving our squishness.

I took them to the airport the morning of the 18th and then dropped Matthew off to daycare and went to work. After work we did laundry and packed as I headed up to Utah after work on the 19th with Matthew for a work trip which we extended through to the weekend. My parents watched Matthew on Thursday while I went to visit some vendors for a big project I'm working on. I picked up Jordan from the airport afterwards on Thursday. My niece and nephew came over Thursday night for a sleepover and helped entertain Matthew Friday while I was visiting some more vendors and Jordan was working from my parents. They colored Easter eggs and went to the Layton park to feed the ducks. Although Matthew I guess ate more bread than he fed the ducks!


It was really fun hanging out with family as we don't get up to Utah as much as we would like and it's even better when work paid for my plane ticket. Friday night we went over to my sister's and played Rock Band with their family and my brother and sister-in-law. It's great when we play as Matthew can be as loud as he wants to be. He even was pretending to sing and rock out and cracked me and my sister up. He was closing his eyes and tilting his head back. I so wish I had a picture, hilarious.


Saturday, Jordan and I went to the temple on a well overdue trip. I got sick in January when my whole family went so it was nice to finally get to go. It's hard getting away on the weekends especially since we/I have been traveling so much. We picked up Taco Time (my favorite - crisp bean burritos) on the way home and changed and then headed to Horton Hears a Who with my parents and met my oldest sister, my brother-in-law, my niece and her son, and my sister's grandkids (are they my grand niece and nephew?). Anyways, it was cute - not up to par with Pixar movies but pretty cute. Matthew did pretty good and just got restless at the end. We came back and ate dinner and then just hung out since all of us (me especially) were tired. My sister Laura came over and played with Matthew who of course stayed up way too late!


Sunday we went to Laura's ward for sacrament and then came home and packed up. Around 2:30 everyone that came over showed up. We had about 18 people. Not all the siblings came as they were doing things with their families. My mom does an annual Easter Egg hunt with plastic eggs with $5 bills inside so it was fun going outside to find them. Everyone gave Matthew their empty eggs for him to put in his Easter basket. We had hid the colored real eggs around the house earlier in the morning so he definitely figured out how the Easter egg hunt worked. So cute!


We had a great time and hopefully things will settle down a bit. It's been so crazy around here with my being gone so much. Jordan has been a trooper putting up with me and my crazy work schedule. I have some really fun work projects in the works so it's exciting seeing things evolve and finally get the go ahead to do projects that I wanted to get started on 3 years ago when I started at Isagenix. Jordan will be posting pics later from the weekend.