Rowan at 2 months

It is 11:50 p.m. on 11/13/11, and I'm sitting next to a beautiful, sleeping baby. I marvel at the sound of his heavy breathing and his tiny hands and feet as he lies on the couch. My heart took another picture, and I am grateful.

Rowan is 2 months old. He is now bringing out more of his personality. He is happiest in the morning (does this mean he will be a morning person? If so, he will be the only one in this family :) );  he can sit in his swing in a good mood for a  little while. Rowan can confidently lift his head as of 7 weeks, enjoys tummy time for a good 2 1/2 minutes, and smiles a lot more. He is also cooing and LOVES to be held. Rowan is also a punctual kid--he makes it known he is ready to eat at exactly 2 hours every time. If we're a second after the 2 hour mark, he makes it known he is unhappy LOL! Rowan has the cutest pout, though. He is experiencing some colic, but he's getting through it.

The kids are enjoying their little brother as well. Rory will get the diaper and wipes for us, Malachi feeds, burps and holds Rowan a lot, Wyatt has already added Rowan to the computer login (it's for when he grows up, he says), and Yasy is ever the nurturing sister-she loves to give Rowan hugs and kisses and also enjoys feeding him.

 Rowan during tummy time

 He starts to get mad after 2.5 minutes.

 Yup--it's 6:30 a.m. and he's smiling and cooing away in his swing!

 Malachi and Rowan on the steps of the Oakland temple, sharing a moment.

 Here's Kai and Rowan sharing another moment after his evening feed.

Here, Rowan smiled after he burped.

 Comfortably sitting on his daddy's lap.

Being held by his Dad after a "colic" moment.



Caught red-handed

Once in awhile, the younger kids want to camp out in the girls room, but I usually tell them only on a weekend since Wyatt has school during the week. Apparently, they charmed Rob into saying yes LOL! So, on the 2nd, the girls and Wyatt camped out in the girls' room. They were in bed with the lights off when I checked on them. 30 minutes later, I thought I should check on them again. As I got to the top of the stairs, I heard Rory say "Ready set go!" I see 3 kids with the legs in pillowcases-they were doing the sack race as part of a relay race they made up. The room was turned upside down, but I couldn't get mad. It was cute! Anyway, I asked them to show me what they were doing and below is a picture of them being caught in the act and then 2 videos from it.

Family Home Evening November 4, 2011

Since I have class on Monday nights, we had to move Family Home Evening (or Family Night) to Fridays. We make it more geared towards just spending time with each other in order to include Rob. It is so nice to spend time together as a family. Tonight, we played "Dr. Seuss' I can do that game". Each person has to pick 3 cards which tells the person what they are supposed to do with the prop. It was definitely a fun game!

Tonight was especially wonderful as I watch my 13 year old gently help his younger siblings read the instructions to them and just being with us.

 Rory and Yasy are excited for the game to begin

 The boys are also ready

 Rob listens to the instructions

 Rowan and me

 Let the family game begin!

 Kai helps Rory pick out the cards.

 Rory had to put one of the props under her arm and go in circles twice.

 Yasy's turn at the game.

 Yasy had to put the boat prop in her shirt and jump twice.

 Wyatt had the most difficult out of the three. He had to hold the ball between his elbows and jump over the pole.

 Kai had to crawl around the pole with the prop under his chin.

 Don't ask! But I did it...Ta da!

 Rob had to skip around the pole with a rake on his back.

Family treat: 2 pieces of Halloween candy. They were pleased!



Halloween 2011

I have never been a big fan of Halloween. The dressing up, eating candy....none of that has ever appealed to me. When Malachi was first born, I thought I could get away with not dressing him up, especially since he was a baby. I compromised with Tom, and passed out candy instead. When Malachi was a toddler, I realized I had to change my attitude because Malachi would miss out; I realized I didn't need to dress up--I could dress up my child and my husband instead! I still need to find the picture of Tom as a Jolly Green Giant and Malachi as a Little Sprout.

Anyway, after the younger kids were born, I thought it would be fun to dress them up in themes: when Rory was a baby, the younger kids were Mickey, Minnie and Daisy. I let Kai be his own character after he won me over with "Dressing up as my own is important for my independence!" This year, I couldn't get the kids to agree with me on a theme-I guess they all wanted to be independent. So, Kai was a Victorian Vampire, Wyatt was Luigi, Yasy was Super Woman, and Rory was a Princess Ballerina. Rowan was...well, Rowan! Kai wore his costume to school and to the school social that night, but he wasn't feeling well enough to go trick-or-treating with us, so he didn't dress up that night.

We only went to homes on our street. There weren't many lights on this year, but that's ok. Here are some pictures from the night.

 Rory smiles as they wait for the door to open at the first house.

 Luigi is ready for the next house!

 When they got to the front porch, they noticed a bat hanging on top.

 I had to take pictures in the garage because everytime we turned on the lights inside, the doorbell would ring even though our porch light wasn't on.

 The kids are pleased with what they collected!

 Since it's Halloween, I thought it was fitting to have the kids stare at Lucky, our stray cat, as she walked across them.

 Kai helps the younger 3 inspect the candy as well as help them start trading.

Yasy and Wyatt trade candy because Yasy can't have any nuts. 

Rowan's Blessing Day

Today was such a memorable day. Rowan Samuel was blessed in the Antioch II ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by his grandfather, Thomas S. Steele. Mom and Dad Steele came on Saturday, 10/29/11, and were swarmed by the grandkids. Grandma and Grandpa read books, chatted with everyone, and Grandma helped Malachi with one of the primary songs on the piano. I made turkey lasagna for the first time. I always seem to try new recipes whenever they are in town! I'm glad it came out ok!

Rowan's blessing circle consisted of Bishop Van Ness, our former Bishops Tuioti and Hawkins, Brother Mastrolia, Brother Kane, Brother Chapman, Brother Smith, and Brother Stevens. How grateful I am for these faithful brethren. They have all be instrumental in our lives, helping our family. I was actually a little nervous today because Rowan's usually hungry around the time that Dad would be blessing him, so I tried to plan it just right and wanted to feed him about 30 minutes before we'd leave. Rowan wanted to eat an hour earlier, so I was hoping he would just take a longer nap. Usually, he's awake at 2 hours exactly to feed! Rowan ended up sleeping through the blessing, sacrament, Sunday School as well as combined R.S & Priesthood meeting! I think it was the grandparents who held him the entire time that made it possible for him to sleep so long!

Dad gave Rowan a meaningful blessing; I felt the spirit so strongly today, and am grateful whenever they come to visit.

 Rowan and Grandma Steele on his blessing day.

 Rowan was looking at Mom. It was such a cute pose.

 Grandpa and Grandma with the grandkids.

Rowan with Grandpa and Grandma. I think Rowan raised his hand to say "Wait! I'm spitting up so don't take the picture yet." It was still a great picture!

Our 7th Heaven's First Official Blog

Well, I always thought blogging was not for me, but I thought it was time to try it out after seeing my inlaws' and sister-in-law's blogs-they inspired me! I also figured that by blogging, I will not only be able to share our lives with our family and close friends, but perhaps this will serve as another form of journaling for me. The other day, Rob and I were talking about all the kids' milestones, and we had trouble remembering which kid started eating more at what age, and which kid walked or crawled at what stage. I didn't write it down in my journal, but was grateful that I found those answers in one of our family letters.

So, the above picture is our first official family picture since we became 7.  Malachi is 13 years old, Wyatt is almost 6, Yasmine is 4 1/2, Rory is 3, and Rowan is 6 weeks. It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon on 10/15/11, and I was tired of being cooped up in the house from being sick and from postpartum. It was the perfect way to spend the afternoon with the people I love. My sister-in-law, Theresa, agreed to join us and take pictures. We went to Tilden Park's Botanical Gardens, which is the place where Rob and I took our engagement pictures. Below are some wonderful moments of the day.

 Wyatt was fascinated with the huge cactus, and kept pointing to the thorns.

 It usually takes about 4 to 5 tries before we have a good one of all the kids. At least all kids were looking at the camera this time.

 We walked down to one of the creeks in the garden, and decided to pose for the camera again.

 Our little Rory loves to pose for the camera. She always smiles on cue.

Wyatt wanted to show off his muscles, so I showed him how to do it.

 I thought this pose said it all!

 The cool 13 year old look :)

 This above picture reminds me of the Sound of Music movie as it looked like we were trekking over the mountain.

 This is one of my absolutely favorite pictures of my oldest and my youngest children. I'm grateful for them.

 So, I wanted a couple's picture, but it was taking us awhile to "get it right". Rob thought it was funny.

Rowan was just starting to smile, so Theresa snapped the picture quickly to capture the moment.

 Rory thought something was really funny. Theresa captured the moment perfectly!

 Rory was patiently waiting for the wind to blow the leaf.

 The photographer and me.......

 Yasy decided to pose for her Auntie Theresa.



Yasy wanted to see what would happen to the leaf if the wind was blowing. In this picture, she was trying to figure out why the leaf was not blowing away.