eat sleep and farm

I love changing the look of my website, mostly because I get tired of looking at the same thing for too long. My sister Trisha recently sent me this header picture and I loved it! Its from a website called scrapblog.com and she created this for us. Super cool - thanks Trish! Anyway, this will be our new look for a while. I'll probably leave it until the baby is born and then we'll add her to it. :)

Jason and I have only been married 4 years, though we've known each other 14 years. When we got married, people "warned" us that the first year can be very hard - there's much to learn about each other and a lot you learn about yourself (some good and some bad). For us, the first year was a blast. We barely had any surprises (except for how much fun the romantic, physical side of marriage is!) and we found out we were expecting our first little blessing only 10 weeks after being married, so lets face it... the fun began right away. What I hadn't quite realized is that you don't usually learn that much about your spouse in the first year. I mean, you do learn a lot about each other and I very much believe that the first year can often set the tone for your entire married life, but I hadn't quite realized how much I'd continue learning to love about him, beyond that first year. I imagine those of you reading this who have been married longer than 4 ye...

I'm sitting here checking emails, replying to facebook posts, etc... and realized that as I'm typing away, I've got this little baby in my tummy just rolling around, having a party of her own. This is my 3rd pregnancy and yet the first child to really give us such fun shows to watch from our outside view! Just this week our baby has given us the most amazing sights of her hands and feet! Last night she stuck her foot out right near the top of my abdomen and I was able to see 3 toes, very clearly. It was one of the most awesome things, ever. She moves a lot at night, but lately she's had days where she's active for about 20 minutes straight, every hour. Its been fun, but I think its wearing me out quite a bit. My Dr. said she's put on quite a bit of weight since my last appointment (as did I!) and so between growing so much and the moving so much, I'm feeling like I need a vacation. Rachel was napping the other day and so I asked Ethan if he wanted to cozy up...

Ever since Ethan first heard and (somewhat) understood the story of Jesus' life here on earth, he hasn't liked the part where we tell him that Jesus died on the cross for HIS sins... meaning Ethan's. He loves the story up until that point and then gets very upset and insists that Jesus might have had to die for everyone else's sins, but he doesn't like owning any part of that responsibility. If you know Ethan very well, this doesn't surprise you. He loves meeting new people, he'll be your friend as long as you don't say "get lost kid, I can't stand you" and he does not like knowing that he's upset you, for any reason. So it didn't really worry us that he didn't care for that part of the gospel. :) Yesterday the kids and I were driving around town and I was singing to some gospel songs I have on CD in the car. When the disc ended he said - "Mommy, do you think Jesus had to die on the cross because of me?" I could tell...

"Mommy, I'm gonna marry Aunt Trisha." "Okay. Why do you want to marry Trisha?" "Well... because she looks like you and I can't marry you, so I'll take her instead." "What about Uncle Caleb?" "Oh, he can be married with us. He doesn't mind because Trisha loves me." I love how simple life is when you're only 3 years old. :)

This morning the kids and I joined some of our Brentwood friends for a Bowling play date and we had a blast! Ethan already had his 4th birthday all planned out. :) I've never seen kids that young bowl before and it was too cute for words. I loved the little ramp they give the kids to send their ball down, with bumpers and all. It was cute seeing how excited some of them got over knocking down one pin. Ethan got a strike on one of his last turns, without hitting the bumpers! I was so proud of him. He clapped and then came over to me and said "Its because I play bowling on the wii so much." :) Much to my dissapointment I forgot the camera. Today we're enjoying the beautiful weather here in Oakley. It is 76 degrees outside and just gorgeous. Rachel received several outside toys for her birthday, so we've been trying them out. I think the biggest hit has been the bubble blowing lawn mower from Great Gramma Nina. Tomorrow we get to hear the baby's heart beat again ...

We had another fun filled week/end, with lots of pictures. I've uploaded all of them on our family site, but don't have the time to do more than a few on here. So you get to see a few from Sunday afternoon. Rachel got this dress for her b-day and I loved it! With Mrs Swenson on Sunday afternoon Chilling on the couch Our big girl!

We've had quite the eventful week, consisting of a trip to Chuck-E-Cheese, Rachel's trip to Marine World, her party on Sunday, the Antioch Water Park on Monday, Ethan dealing with the flu on Tuesday and then lunch and Cold Stone on Wednesday. Last night the kids and I went with Jason to Sacramento (he went for work) and I took the kids to IKEA. They had a blast playing in the children's toy section and we bought Rachel all sorts of dishes and such for her kitchen. Here are some pictures from our week... with more to come. :) With her new Dora "pack-pack" from Aunt Emmie "I'm 2 now!" Mommy and Rachel @ her party Ethan and I playing air hockey at Chuck-E-Cheese All 8 cousins at Cold Stone (L-R: Emma, Sam, Madison holding Rachel, Kate, Kyle, Joe and Ethan)

For the past several months Jason and I have been trying to get better with recycling, eating as close to 100% organic and locally grown as possible (but not being freaky about it) and making better usage of our energy sources. Another thing he's asked me to do is to try and use less chemicals in cleaning around the house. Sometimes after I clean the shower, our entire bathroom smells toxic and it seriously can't be good for us. Especially me, being pregnant. I've been looking online for some tips (Sara Snow is an absolute favorite of mine - she has very creative ideas!) and one thing every website had in common, was to replace the harsh, chemical smelling scrubbing stuff (like Comet Cleanser) with basic Baking Soda. I didn't believe it would do nearly as good of a job as other stuff, so I went to Target, spend the $0.69 cents for the box and brought it home to clean my showers. It did an awesome job and smelled good the whole time! It actually took off some of the rust...

Last night Ethan was cuddling in bed with Jason and I and he asked me "Mommy, when IS our baby going to be born?" I told him that she's supposed to come around October 2nd, so she might be here in September, but she might be here even later than the 2nd of October. He seemed so annoyed with the end of my answer (having to wait even longer than expected for her) and replied with... "Awwww! I am so tired of waiting for her to get here! I think I'll just go to Target and buy us one."

Our sweet little Rachel turned 2 today! Amazing how fast her 2 years went by. She is getting SO big, I can't even tell you. Its sad and wonderful all at once, because its always hard to see our babies grow up, but its wonderful to see how God is blessing her development. Two years ago my July 14th began at 3:40AM, when I woke up to one very strong contraction. I had been dealing with 2 weeks of false labor, but that contraction was different and definitely told me this time we were going somewhere. :) We left for the hospital by 5:45, arrived at the Walnut Creek Kaiserat 6:45 and Rachel Kathryn was born at 9:55AM. It was an amazing birth experience... following Ethan's the year before, which was awful and something I often try not to remember. I can't believe we'll be going down that road in just 2 1/2 months! I can't wait though! We had a birthday party for her last night with my side of the family and some church friends and then Jason's side of the family...

A friend of mine dared me to fill out this survey, in less than one hour AND still make it interesting. You tell me. :) I'm going to send the same "dare" out to ALL my blogging friends. I think it would be super fun to read these from you... so if you have time (haha!) go for it. ALL ABOUT Stef (I hope you have some free time...) 1. What time is it? 11:40 2. Name as it appears on your birth certificate: not sure. I've never actually seen my BC 3. Nicknames: Stef , Steffi, Steffers, Spanky (thanks Dad), Sweetheart, Love, etc... 4. Parent's names: Emile & Jane 5. Number of candles that appeared on your last birthday cake? I didn't put candles on it... HA! 6. Date that you regularly blow them out: February 6th 7. Pets: NO 8. Height: 5'7 without shoes 9. Eye color: Hazel 10. Hair Color: Brown, with some blond here and there. 11. Piercings: One in each ear. 12. Tattoos: Nope. I wanted to do J's initials on my ankle, but he said no...

Jason and I have been planning to cut Rachel's pacifier habit on her birthday, or maybe the day after. :) Since she turned one, she's only been getting it during nap time or bed time, so its not a horrid habit, but we decided when she turns 2, we're cutting it altogether. Last night I thought we'd have a practice run, just to see how hard the separation would be. She did great! I was even washing her special blankets and so she went to bed with nothing she holds dear. :) We made a big deal out of her getting rid of the pacis. She put them in a special bag for the baby and then we put them in the baby's room. We took the other one sitting on the counter (that belongs to my Mom) and put it in its own bag, to bring back to Nana. I kept wondering *does she have any idea what this all really means?* She got out of bed a few times, wandering around the house, acting like something was surely not right. She never did mention the paci, so I kept reassuring her that her blan...

Here are some random pictures of the kids, from today and then some pictures of the baby's room. As you can see, I still need to hang pictures, but we're going to wait until she's born so we can make sure exactly where we want everything, before hanging it. :) Playing inside on a HOT afternoon so sleepy after playtime with all her cousins See Amber, she's not always happy! :) he loves this laptop Ikea shelf with baskets (this used to be Rachel's) Changing table The crib that was so graciously given to us!

I forgot how much I not only dislike these hot summer days, but how much I dislike them while pregnant. Its really not terrible, other than knowing that the minute you walk outside your nice, cool house, you will instantly sweat, your clothes will stick to every part of your body and (in my case) your stomach will feel like its swollen out to China. I'm doing my best not to complain around the house to my family, so you're all getting it here. :) Anyway, I'm in my 3rd trimester! I just realized it today... I think week 27 was technically the start of it, so I'm even farther than I thought! I know I say it so often, but its true... this pregnancy is going much faster than I thought it would. I have some days where I feel like its dragging on -- usually when I need a nap, dinner is late getting on the table and my legs are sore from standing on them all day. But all in all, its been going faster than even I'd like to see it go. I can't wait to meet our baby and I...

I love when he stands like this :) At Nana's house Playing on the floor with Papa (my Dad) At VBS (closing night) Watching Nana's TV Showing off the new "pack-pack" Nana bought her with Savannah (my cousin)

We has a great 4th of July weekend! Here are just a few pictures from it. The rest are on our family website and at our flickr stream. I had the hardest time grabbing a picture at the perfect moment Rachel with Nana (my Mom) My sister Emily (Left) and her bff Anna Ethan, with his cousins Joe and Sam The kids doing sparklers in the street on the 4th

"Mommy.. did you know I love you and Daddy the most?" (Ethan) "I'm humgry" (Rachel, first words out of her mouth every morning) "When Jesus died on the cross He did it for ME." (Ethan) "I need to find my size!" (heard from Rachel in any clothes store) "Why does poo-poo stink and look so gross?" (Ethan) "I wub You, Jesus." (Rachel, during prayer time) "When I'm bigger and married, I will say 'I love you' to my wife all the time because she will smile and like it when I say it." (Ethan) "Mommy... will you say nofing but YES, all the time for one whole day?!" (Ethan) "Dats a good idea." (Rachel, following Ethan's above comment)

I've been tagged by Jill Combs -- Enjoy! 1. What did you do 10 years ago? 1998? Um... I was 18, in college and working full time at PeopleSoft. Enjoying being young and single and having very few cares in the world. And I thought that was busy!! :) 2. Five items on your to-do list today? 1. Put away laundry 2. Grocery shopping (yay for holiday coupons!) 3. hoping to catch a nap with Ethan. 4. hanging with my hubby and kids; enjoying random kisses and cuddle time from each. 5. getting together with my family to watch the fireworks, games and yummy food. 3. Snacks that you enjoy? 1. banana with peanut butter 2. cottage cheese with fruit 3. apples slices 4. grapes 5. (always) ice cream 4. What would you do if you were a billionaire? 1. pay off our house 2. finish financing our church building 3. give even more to missions... lots more! 4. do some fun shopping 5. save the rest 5. Places that you would live? 1. on a piece of land, in the country, but not too far out of the city. Jas...