Blame the Cake

One day while blog stalking I came across this blog post http://bryceandcathi.blogspot.com/2008/09/if-it-were-up-to-cake.html of an old wives tale.

I'm currently working on an old wives tales blog post which is going to be up soon and really funny. This couples friends have a tradition of baking a cake that is half blue and half pink. The cake is then frosted and placed on a turning plate. The father-to-be is charged to turn the plate and the expectant mother then cuts a slice. Whatever color she cuts determines whether or not they are having a boy or a girl.

Because I don't know how to bake......well correction I can but it's not pretty, I asked my next door neighbor and friend if she would mind baking the cake for me. She was happy to do it and brought the cake over this afternoon.

Here is the frosted cake inside one half is pink and the other half is blue but only she knows which is which

V$ turned the cake a few times and finally I cut a slice and boy, oh boy what did we get

Team PINK!!!!!!

This is me and Melisa aka the cake lady

So here is the cake with both sides blue and pink and the slice that V$ and I selected. :) We'll see if this holds any truth in July.

Special Thank You to my friend and neighbor Melisa for making such a yummy cake and taking the time to be apart of me taking on the old wives tales. It was really fun.

16 Week Pregnancy Update

How far along? 16 weeks 1 day



Total weight gain/loss: Gained 1 lbs since the last update total of 6 :)


Maternity clothes? Nope, but I do wear a Bella Band


Stretch marks? Just the ones left over from the last two


Best moment this week? Well about two weeks ago I started feeling movement. That was cool.



Food Cravings? Cream of Wheat and Bread , Fried egg and bolonga sandwich.


Food Aversions? Cooking meat then having to eat it. :(

Best moment this week? I went to the dr today, got to hear the heartbeat which was 151 bpm, nothing better than a lil reassurance.



Movement: Yes started feeling it about 2 wks ago


Gender: Unknown


Labor Signs: None


Weekly Wisdom: Nothing this week, sorry :(


Milestones: Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

www.babycenter.com

Kids and Crafts

Even thought I'm a SAHM, Vashon is social and for the most part plays well around other kids. the groups are getting smaller as our kids are now starting to pick who they want to be friends with but we still get our kids out to play with other kids on a regular basis.

Sheena another AF wife wanted to prepare her 3 yr old daughter for pre school next year by starting an arts and crafts day. Once a week Sheena, Jonique and I meet with our kids and have arts and crafts. Sheena started the first one off with a 4th of July craft.

With only 3 kids, it's not too much chaos but I do truly have a new found respect for pre school teachers and I don't think they get paid enough....but then again neither do SAHM's.

I found myself doing more of Vashon's project at times, but he did have fun.

aww, how cute



2nd project

A big beautiful smile. Gosh he's so cute

Me and Vashon.

Everything went well, there were a few meltdowns, but I think this is a good lesson in arts and crafts but sitting down and actually doing something. It's my turn to host this next week. Wish me luck

A Great Potty Success

Vashon starting potty training around 2.5 yrs old, but wasn't fully trained until Feburary of 2010. He caught on fast and everything was great. We were finally out of diapers. Sure he had a few accidents here and there but nothing to stress over. In May Vashon began the worst of all regression as he would poop in his pants or on the floor twice a day. We tried everything, I seriously lost my patience and considered putting him in daycare, I was losing my mind and what started off to seem like just accidents ended in what I believe deliberate wrong doings. Vashon learned how to get under my skin, but I didn't know how to get under his.


Finally after one night when I was just too tired to yell, to exhausted to take all his toys and it wasn't worth it to spank him. I cleaned up his mess and went down stairs without saying one word to him. I cried.........Then I said "no more candy". We used 1 or 2 jelly beans as a potty reward but we also used candy as a be quiet when we're in adult stores, we used candy when we went on long trips that he was well behaved on, it was an easy treat to buy him when we went to the store. After thinking about it Vashon got a lot of candy during any given week. It was clear to us he loved it, but clear to him that he didn't really have to successfully use the potty to get it.

I set the rules and we stuck to them...the accidents continued. Then while at the store I saw a chore chart. I thought I wonder if I can get Vashon into this potty thing with a chore chart and prizes. I shopped around for cheap $1 and $2 gifts, when I got home I sat Vashon on the counter and me and Van explained to him that he would get to pick a prize at the end of every wk if he went poop in the potty every single day. We went over it many times. We reminded him many time. I even kept the prize box in his sight but out of his reach.

The potty chart was a success. it's been about 3.5 weeks now and Vashon is a potty pro again.

Vashon does get 1 Jelly Bean for every time he poops to keep him motivated, and he's finally upgraded to being able to have candy under special circumstance but not as much as he used to. Some of the prizes in the prize bin are candy.

Out for a Swim

A few days ago we all went to the base pool for a fun day of swimming. I'm not the best swimmer and I don't like to get sun tanned, so I stayed in the shade and took the pictures. Vashon has come along way since last year when he hated water and the pool. Still afraid to start the minor steps of swimming lessons he knew one very important thing.....Hold on and hold on tight.

at the kiddie pool, he had a blast

I coudn't help but post this pic, my hubby is handsome.

Love to Laugh @ the Stewart's

At the lake watching the boys fish I looked down then up and the lens of my sunglasses just fell out. 7/2009

Eating one of the BEST burgers in the world. IN N OUT burger in CA. April 2009

Halloween 2008, we were the best dressed family on Tinker AFB.

umm yea just one of those days before Vashon finally got a hair cut. Sometime in 2008

Arts n Crafts Monday's Vashon had way too much fun with sidewalk chalk, lol

At Elmo Live in 2008, we had a blast




Vashon about 3 wks old sleeping on my stomach. OMG he was so tiny

I love this picture of V$ and my Ex dog Brown Sugar, look how she is sitting, lol

Birthday's

I'm trying to catch up a lil on fun memories, so I thought I'd do a lil post about the kids birthdays thus far.

Vashon turned 1 on April 5, 2008 and he had his 1st birthday party in Moore, OK. His Nanny and great Aunt came out for his birthday along with his Ne Ne, Aunt Vanessa, and all his 1st cousins on V$'s side. His Babyfit.com friend Jonah was also there. The party was at celebration station which was not the best idea, I should have kept it small and at home, he could barely walk. The party was fun and the theme was the Backyardagins which was a show that I loved to force Vashon to watch when he was 1.

His 2nd birthday made up for and thing his 1st party lacked, Vashon had two birthday parties. One in California and another in Oklahoma City. Many kids attended and we did go all out. Throwing him a carnival themed birthday with a bounce house and carnival games. Vashon had a blast, and it was so nice for my side of the family to celebrate a birthday with him.

His second, 2nd birthday party was a combined party with his BFF Ciara, in Oklahoma City, OK and it was an ice cream social party, where the kids were able to make their own ice cream sundaes. Yummy

After having two 2nd birthday parties I decided we would take it easy for his 3rd party and celebrate at home with just mommy and daddy. The truth is when you think of how much you put into these toddler parties, you realize you could have just bought your kid an amazing gift instead. I chose to hold off on a party this yr because when I asked him he couldn't tell me what type of party he wanted. He was able to tell me one thing and that was that he wanted doughnuts instead of a cake. So I went out and bought doughnuts and made a special birthday cake for Vashon's 3rd birthday. We took him bowling, and to the zoo for his special day.

Vayden's 1st birthday we went to Chili's which is something we plan to do every year on May 22nd to remember Vayden. If you've read his story you know the last meal we had before he was born was Chili's. From now on we will celebrate each yr at Chili's on May 22nd.

We did have a cake this year, I'm not sure if we will have a cake every year but we will have something sweet, to remember our sweet heart.

Catch up time

Ok So I'm like 4 yrs behind on updating you on our family, so let me do a very brief timeline right now, so you know how this all started.

I met V$ in Las Vegas, NV in 2006. Our courtship was short but meaningful, I can honestly say that after I met V$ I actually could picture myself getting married. People that knew me then, knew my life long dream was to get out before you get hurt....although I was never really good at that V$ was someone special and something different. I knew after our 2nd date that he was "the one" We were married on March 24, 2007 as you can see I was very pregnant.

Vashon was a total surprise, so much that I went about 8 weeks before realizing that I not only missed a few periods but I was having morning sickness....not bad McDonald's. Here we are at my baby shower, aww just too young kids we had no idea the curve balls that we would have to catch.

Vashon Jordan Stewart was born April 5,2007 @ 35 wks 6 days. The pregnancy with Vashon was almost story book, aside from not being planned, finding out late, the bleeding at 13 wks, and the trip to the hospital at 28 wks with a major horrible painful migraine headache. But I was beautiful from start to finish I gained 18 lbs, I had a perfect no stretch mark belly, my hair grew longer and fuller, my skin was awesome and I had a great medical team.

It was said that lil Vashon stopped growing at about 33 wks so I went in for an amnio to see if his lungs were mature enough at 35 wks and sure enough they were. Labor was induced and I like a pro, lol only was in labor for about 5 hrs and pushed for 35 min. Vashon J Stewart was born at 4 lbs 14 oz & 16 1/2" long, screaming like a 10 yr old.

So 3 months after Vashon was born, my AF husband gets orders to retrain. Yep 3 months after baby, 4 months after marriage.....we didn't have a chance to be new parents or newlyweds. V$ left for retrain school and I a new scared mother took Vashon and moved to Cali to stay with my parents for 4 1/2 months.

When V$ finished retrain school we were no longer assigned to NV and our new duty station was all the way in Oklahoma at Tinker AFB. This was Jan 2008.

Blah blah blah time is rolling, we moved into a house it was nice, had a few trips back to Cali, they were fun, Vashon is growing, very cute. All is well

August 2008 I approach V$ and tell him I want another baby......he says ok, and in October I got the BFP.

Now this is where Vayden's story comes in and he has his own blog so you can jump over there to read his story http://www.vaydenjamesstewart.blogspot.com/. Long story short we planned him, did everything right and he suffered from a rare fetal condition a "fluke" in development that resulted in me carrying to term despite fatal diagnosis....

And having a baby that lived with us for only 3 hrs and 45 min. Vayden James Stewart born May 23,2009 at 35 wks read his story at http://www.vaydenjamesstewart.blogspot.com/

Time went on and our family was now a different family as we joined the group of infant loss families a group that has many member but none of them want to be there. We were tested, we were blessed, we fell, we got back up, we learned so much in such a little amount of time, I'm just so thankful that we stuck together because if anything would break a family, you would think it would be this. We waited almost a year before trying again and we quickly became pregnant with our semi unplanned rainbow baby. I say semi because if you know Vayden's story I was like planning like I had a problem getting pregnant or something, with this baby we just decided on a month that we would stop being so cautious and wait on God. This baby is due in December. you can follow this babys story at http://journeytomyrainbow.blogspot.com/

So we are Christians and we chose to raise our children in the same manner. We're military so we travel a lot. We have family movie night at least once a week, my husband and I are learning how to fight fair. Our children are blessed and not spoiled but to the naked eye (they're spoiled) We want them to have everything they need and most of the things they want, but we want them to know that everything they get is a blessing and it can be taken from them at a moments notice.

We are not perfect but we take awesome pictures and I am a serious picture taker, I believe "pictures are happy moments frozen in time" and I like to capture those, so many people view our pictures and think we're this perfect happy family....we are happy, but far from perfect and sometimes not even happy. But do you really want to see a picture of my auguring with my husband??? lol.

Who Are We

The Stewart Family as of 2010

This handsome man is V$, he's my hubby a Virgo and he's in the USAF. Go Blue!!!!!! Born and raised in Oklahoma. He likes sports, sports, sports, BBQ, the couch, BBQ, and sports. He's an amazing dad and wonderful husband.

This pretty lady is Stephanie (me). I'm Aquarius, currently a SAHM that runs a small foundation to help infant loss families, but can't wait to go back to work. Born in raised in Cali then moved to Las Vegas, NV aka Sin City, where I met Van and we fell in love. I like blogging, talking on the phone, talking on the phone, girly movies, getting my nails done while talking on the phone.

This is our first born son Vashon Jordan Stewart , an Aries born April 5, 2007. Vashon was a surprise pregnancy as I didn't learn about him until I was already 8 weeks along. He was born at 35 wks 6 days and only weighed 4 lbs 14 oz (but didn't spend any time in the NICU). Vashon likes candy, cars, watching Nick Jr. and cars.

This sweet baby is Vayden, he lives in our hearts but spends his days Heaven. Vayden was planned pregnancy that ended in a rare fatal fetal condition. We were told that our sweet baby wouldn't live long after birth at 18 wks of pregnancy. We carried to term and at 35 wks Vayden James Stewart was born May 23,2009 (Cancer) 4 lbs 15 oz and live for 3 hrs and 45 min. He is now our very own angel.

This is Jelly Bean or Baby VJS3 and as of now this baby has no name. I'm currently as of today 6/20/10 14 wks and 5 days pregnant with our rainbow baby. What's a rainbow baby? The baby after a loss, the rainbow after the storm. This baby is due December 14, 2010.

Did you notice something about our children? All of them share the VJS initials. Yes we have a V name complex, but I think given how hard it is to find names that start with V we've done a pretty good job.

So you've met our family...........Any questions?

Introduction

Hello,

My name is Stephanie Stewart (formally known as Stephanie Nolan). I'm the words behind this blog and the other blogs I keep. I have about 3 1/2 yrs to catch you up on but I'll try to be brief, I wanted to create a family blog page to document even the small things for my extended family that have not found the wonderful world of facebook. I like to think of myself as a ppl person, and although it's dangerous to put your life and children out on the Internet, it's also the number 1 and easiest way to communicate and keep in touch. I view this online thing just as I view my identity as I toss my mail without shredding it........"If you really want to go through my garbage of diapers and old food, to find a piece of mail with my info on it....then you may have my not so great credit because the most your going to get is a Victoria Secrets Angels Card". I've shared the most personal part of my life online for hundreds to see, and because I shared that info I was able to meet some of the most wonderful people.

So why this blog and not one of your others you ask?

Today I was sitting down looking at Vashon (my 1st born) thinking "is he going to be mad at me for not blogging about him?" You know the whole 2nd child syndrome? well Vayden (my 2nd born) doesn't get that. In fact I think if Vashon were older he would actually ask me why he doesn't have the memories and keepsakes that Vayden had. Yes Vashon is our pride and joy, and he gets a toy or a snack every time we go somewhere, but in 25 yrs when he asks me about himself as child....how much will I remember and how much am I letting pass me by. I heard him laughing at nothing today....the cutest little laugh you could ever hear, and at that moment I thought of graduation from High School, and how they ask for baby pictures and special memories. That's when I knew I had to start a new blog to document even the smallest things, they say once something goes on the Internet it's there forever....Gosh in this case I hope it's true.

So sit back and enjoy the ride as you understand what it's like Growing Up a Stewart.

14 Week Pregnancy Update

How far along? 14 weeks


Total weight gain/loss: Gained 5 lbs (not normal for me this early in pregnancy)


Maternity clothes? No but no more buttons on my pants


Stretch marks? Only the left overs from the other two


Food Cravings? Cookies, Bread, Berry Shebert (also I don't give into this craving, but I'm craving beer and wine) Pizza , cream of wheat, and chedder cheese


Food Aversions? Soda, things that are too salty, and MEAT



Best moment this week? Getting the call from the diagnositic center that the 1st trimester screening came back with great results. :)


Movement: I still think so, it's very slight and not often, but yes I think so.


Gender: Intelligender says girl, but no rooms will be painted


Labor Signs: Nope



Weekly Wisdom: If you have nothing nice to say, say nothing at all. I'm a very mean pregnant lady this time around and my hubby is getting the most of my tude. He's been a real trooper as far as biting his tounge but i'm starting to pull my weight dealing with the hormones of pregnancy. I spend a lot of time away from him, just because I'm so mean. I love him dearly and I don't know what's wrong with me, but this pregnancy has made me mean.



Milestones: This week's big developments: Your baby can now squint, frown, grimace, pee, and possibly suck his thumb! Thanks to brain impulses, his facial muscles are getting a workout as his tiny features form one expression after another. His kidneys are producing urine, which he releases into the amniotic fluid around him — a process he'll keep up until birth. He can grasp, too, and if you're having an ultrasound now, you may even catch him sucking his thumb.In other news: Your baby's stretching out. From head to bottom, he measures 3 1/2 inches — about the size of a lemon — and he weighs 1 1/2 ounces. His body's growing faster than his head, which now sits upon a more distinct neck. By the end of this week, his arms will have grown to a length that's in proportion to the rest of his body. (His legs still have some lengthening to do.) He's starting to develop an ultra-fine, downy covering of hair, called lanugo, all over his body. Your baby's liver starts making bile this week — a sign that it's doing its job right — and his spleen starts helping in the production of red blood cells. Though you can't feel his tiny punches and kicks yet, your little pugilist's hands and feet (which now measure about 1/2 inch long) are more flexible and active.

http://www.babycenter.com/