Last First Days

My kiddos started school last Tuesday (I know, I'm late to blog about it)...and it was kind of sad. 

This is my beautiful daughter, Alexys, and one of her friends, Amanda.  Alexys is a senior this year.  That means it is her LAST FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!  sniff sniff  She humored me and let me catch a photo before they dashed out. 

This is my handsome son, Devon.  He is in 5th grade this year.  What does that mean?  It's his LAST FIRST DAY OF ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.  Where the hell does the time go?  I still remember taking him on his first day of kindergarten and crying my eyes out.  Not going to lie....I might have gotten a little emotional again this year.  But this time I waited until I got to the car. 

It is funny how when we were kids, the school year use to take FOREVER to be over.  Now that I'm a parent, the school years fly by.  I know before I know it, my youngest (now 19 months) will be starting kindergarten.  That will be the last of my babies....and the hardest for me.  

It just hit me

Yesterday Devon, my 10 year old, was left home alone for the first time. His sister left the house at 4 and i called him at 4:30 and 5. I was probably more stressed about it then him. I text Alexys and said "you have only been gone an hour and I've already checked on him twice". She laughed at me and I responded with "damn you kids for growing up". And she said "at least you still have Blake". I didn't respond. That comment didn't feel right. As I was driving home it hit me.

I'm an emotional person, I know this and have accepted this. I cry watching the biggest loser because I get so happy for them when they lose 5 pounds and tell their sad story.

So, like I said, it hit me. Like out of no where I started sobbing. I was even like "WTF is wrong with me".

Alexys will be 18 this summer and then she will possibly move out the next summer after high school. She has grown up before my eyes. I met her when she was 6.

Devon is staying home now by himself. In a year and a half he will be in middle school.

I remember when I was younger time seemed to drag. You couldn't wait for school to be over and then the summers flew by. I felt like I was in school forever! Why is it when you are a parent the time always flies by? I feel like just the other day I was giving birth to Blake and he will be a year next Saturday.

I'm proud of all my kids and their accomplishments, don't get me wrong. But I also miss when they were little and liked to be cuddled. I will admit, Devon is still young enough that he likes to snuggle when he is sleepy. Alexys and I send random sweet texts to one another saying how greatful we are for one another. And Blake is just a baby....and I soak that up as much as I can.

My weekend!

I had a very good weekend! Friday my first born turned 10! I was honestly more excited about this whole double digit birthday then he was. We went to McDonalds with a few other family members and ate and played in the playland. Then we came home and did cake and he opened our gift, Super Mario Bros. for the Wii. Guess what we played the rest of the night?

On Saturday we did Devon's birthday party with his friends at the skating ring. It was a lot of fun. He even said it was the best birthday....ever!

On our way home we stopped so all the guys could get a haircut. Blake got his first haircut and he did great. I feel like the new look "cut all the baby off" so I've thought about asking for all the hair back. But the day was going to come. Now he looks more like his brother and father.

Sunday was a lazy day and it was amazing. Alexys and I played Wii for about an hour or so and then I did some laundry. Robert and I went to the store for dinner stuff and then I came back and went through a box in the closet, slowly trying to organize.

This weekend he will be at the deer lease so I'm hoping to get a lot of things organized, we will see.

10 years old!

photo via

My oldest son, Devon, turned 10 today! Double digits baby! That's a pretty big deal. Tonight we will be dining at McDonald's and playing in the play yard. Afterwards, we will go back to the house for a super yummy ice cream cake and so he can open his gift from us! It's a Wii game he's been asking for, we will probably play that the rest of the night.

Saturday is the party! Devon has decided that this year he wanted a skate party, so that's what we are doing. I hope he enjoys himself. 10 is a big deal, at least to this momma it is.

Pumpkin Patch

I am behind on posts, I know...trying to catch up. A few weeks ago I took my boys to the pumpkin patch. They had a blast.

When I looked at this picture of my oldest boy, Devon, I was like OMG, he's gotten so big. And Blake, he's just cute as can be.

Cute photo of Blake and I.

Then we put Blake in his costume. It was hot as hell. But it is so funny. When we put the "hood" portion of the costume on, Blake has this look like it is the heaviest thing I've ever put on his head.

One of the cutest pictures EVER!

Peak-a-boo!

Both of my boys have those gorgeous blue eyes. Not sure where they got them from, Daddy and I both have hazel.

Such a happy baby!

My boys and I.

He's complete with freckles!

Did I mention the pumpkin patch was on a Christmas Tree Farm? I love this photo.

Thoughtful Thursday

This past weekend I took my boys to the pumpkin patch.

Devon is looking so much older ever time I look at his pictures. Cutest picture ever!

Blake and his beautiful blue eyes.

Rawr!

Took a few photos of Blake the other day. This one he is wearing a sleeper his Grandma bought him. He has some of the bluest eyes I've ever seen.

Here he is in his costume. He's a dinosaur. Devon was a dino when he was a baby for a few years as well. Perfectly cute and chubby baby!

Devon wanted a picture with his little brother. None of them turned out well. But this is better than nothing.

I love holidays, my kids, and taking photos of them. We might trek out to the pumpkin patch this weekend.

Rays of Sunshine

Do you ever sit back and think "my life is pretty great"? Everyone should do that on occasion. Everyone has bad days or random problems but in the "big picture"....is it really that bad. Beauty Sale Shopper had a post today that made me stop and think about just that. I have a job, which these days everyone should be thankful if they have one. I'm not going to lie, I bitch about my job alot, but really....it's an easy job for me (I just work with a bunch of stupid people, Beauty Sale Shopper can agree). I have a wonderful husband that loves me despite my flaws and quirks that sometimes drive him crazy. He's there for me when I need him. He provides the roof over my head, the electricity to live and the comfort and love to get me from day to day. I have amazing kids! Truly....I don't even think they realize it sometimes.

• Alexys-my one and only daughter. My teenager that brings on the gray hair and tons of stress but I wouldn't change a moment of it because that's what I always wanted. I've wished for years for her to live with us and now I thank God to have her in our home. Everyday is a learning experience, some good, some bad but I take them all because it just makes our family grow and become that much closer. She reminds me that I am so much more to her than just a "mom". At the same time....what an honor that when she talks to friends and says "my mom" she is totally talking about me! That is a gift you have to earn...for that, I thank her.
• Devon-my first born. My wonderful 9 year-old that still loves to snuggle with his mommy at the end of the day. That is growing up before my eyes at lightning pace. He loves to do things on his own but still likes to know that we are there for him when he needs us. His love of reading and school delights me to no end. His unbelievable ability to be the best big brother I've ever seen (to think I was actually worried about this). Who use to get so sad when his sister had to go home to her mom and was so happy when he found out she would be with us all the time. Who is such a gentleman and holds the doors open for ladies. Who every day makes a point to randomly tell his family, individually, that he loves them!
• Blake-my baby. Who warms my heart when he smiles when I get him out of bed every morning. Who loves to snuggle when he's sleepy. Who loves to see his brother and sister, and lights up when Daddy come home from work. Who is a wonderfully happy baby that hardly ever cries. Who lights up the room when he smiles. Who every thinks he should totally be the next Gerber baby or Gap baby. Who completed our family and made us a party of 5!

I have a wonderful mom that will talk to me about anything and support me in all I do.

I am lucky enough to have a handful of close friends to go to all the time. Some people find them selves lucky to have 1...but I have several.

So to everyone, take a little time and count your blessings. Some one is always worse off than yourself so be grateful for what you have.

Thursday Predictions

• As I figured....this was not a weekly thing. My last prediction was on 8/19/10, before school started. A few things have happened since then, go figure right! Let me talk about what happened with those predictions first.
• Devon does love school! His behavior is even really good this year.
• I was totally wrong about Alexys! While no teenager LOVES school. She doesn't hate it either and that makes me happy. She got her progress report the other day. She was happy and her father and I were so proud. 5 As and 2 Bs. Not bad at all! If she gets all As on her report card.....she gets $200! Good incentive right!
• Blake...he is able to play with the other babies more now that he sits up. The teachers always comment on his happy personality and have recently said he's starting to babble more. Sweet!
• My anxiety of being an over-protective mom.... I was actually more worried about Alexys then Devon. But when she got home and text me that it was actually a decent day I was happy. I text her Tuesday morning when she was on her way to school...about her mission to become a social butterfly. I told her the goal this week was to make at least 1 new friend. When she got home...she had made several new friends! yay!

NOW FOR THIS THURSDAYS PREDICTIONS:

• Blake-I don't see him taking off crawling anytime soon, but if I could get him to get on all 4s that would be awesome. Sleeping through the night again would be nice. Seems he either pees through his diaper in the middle of the night or just likes to wake up crying lately.
• Devon-I predict that school will continue to go smoothly. He has been asking to have his first sleep over and I might cave this weekend and let him do it. My little boy is growing up and I need to let him spread his wings. I even left him home alone for 20 minutes by himself last week. OMG!
• Alexys-I predict that she will totally get all As on her report card because money totally motivates her. Plus the fact that we actually tell her we are proud of her....I think that does a little something for her as well. She is having a slumber party this weekend (because clearly, I've lost my mind) and I think the girls will have an awesome time. Kristen is coming over early and the girls are going to do a "photo shoot" with me. They both seem excited and are already picking out outfits and deciding hair and make up. I predict at Homecoming she will look beautiful, have an awesome time and dance her heart out.
• Me-I predict as usual I will commit to more things then are humanly possible but still manage to get them all done and make everyone happy. I predict I will try my hardest to get organized this weekend but will decide that chillin with a glass of wine sounds better.
• Robert-I predict that he will enjoy his long weekend away at the deer lease but come Sunday he will miss me and the kids desperately and come home as soon as possible.

There you go....my random predictions in a nut shell. Off to get my hair done today. I need these grays to go away before I have a house full of teenage girls to totally make me feel old. Whatev....I'm pretty cool anyways!

He's a gentleman!

This honestly has to be one of my favorite pictures of Devon and I ever, and one of my favorite wedding ones as well. He offered to help me carry my dress. I love that little boy!

First Day

Today was the first day of school for my kids. Alexys went back to public school after being home schooled for a year. I'll let her tell the story of her first day here. She tells it better. Devon started 4th grade! I still remember his first day of daycare (6 months old), pre-K graduation, Kindergarten and all the grades leading up to now. But still, where has the time gone. Literally I blinked and he is this young man I see before me. I woke up early and made the kids blueberry cheesecake muffins because...let's face it, I rock!! He ate his 3 muffins and then layed back in bed and watched a little t.v. After about 20 min. he got dressed. While I was getting Blake dressed I called in to him "Do you want me to drop you off up front or walk you to your class?" Clearly, this was a test. Also, I needed to know now if I was going to be heart broken and cry. That's how I roll! He responds with "I don't know, what ever you want mom." Really? ok? So as we get in the car and are pulling out of the drive way Devon says, "If it is ok with you, can you just drop me off up front?" And I sadly say "Ok, sounds good! you are getting so big." So I drive up to the front of the school to drop him off, I've done this a million times. I let him out, and says bye....and my eyes well up. I drive off so he doesn't see me. I want him to know that he is a big boy, but he will always be my baby. But I did good! No tears fell...progress!

After work I go and pick up the boys at daycare. Devon tells me all about his day. He has 3 teachers, he has a lot of old friends in his class and it's going to be a fun year.

I hope he still thinks it is fun thru his senior year lol.

He still needs me

I remember the first day of 3rd grade for Devon, last year. We walked into the school to go to his classroom, like we had every year, and when I reached for his hand he pulled away and said "you don't have to walk me, you can go to work". My heart literally broke, I swear I heard it. Do they seriously grow up THAT fast? I held back the tears (which for me, is hard in its self) and smiled and said "let me just walk you to the door and I'll leave". And I did just that. I walked him to the door...I could tell he didn't want to be embarrassed by a kiss and just told him "Have a good day! I'll see you tonight". And I turned and walked off.....trying my hardest to at least hold in the tears until I got out of the school, preferably to my car. And I sat there and cried, because my little boy had grown up. Fast forward to today. Today was meet the teacher night for Devon. We were going to meet his 4th grade teachers. We walked into the school, no big deal....Devon has gone there for a few years now. Alot of the teachers and staff know him by name and asked how his summer was.... and then he did it! He reached for my hand! Me being the emotional person I am totally wanted to tear up, but that would be so uncool and me, being the awesome mom I am, acted like it was no big deal. I just took his hand and kept walking, as simple as taking a breath. We went and met all his teachers and did the regular meet and greet things you do. On this day I realized, no matter how big he might sometimes get....sometimes he still wants his mom. And I'm totally ok with that!

Thursday Predictions

Thursday Predictions use to be for me to recap Wednesday night performances of So You Think You Can Dance and predict who would be in the bottom 3 and ultimately who would be going home that week. Since the show is over (I still need to blog about the winner, I know) I thought I would continue with Thursday Predictions and relate them to my life and/or the world around me. Not sure if this will be a weekly post still or just a monthly. School starts next Monday so I can make a prediction of the first week of school:

• Devon will love it! He misses his school friends that do not go to daycare and loves learning in general. As he gets older his love for school grows, I am happy but I know this will change once he gets in high school.
• Alexys will hate it! She was home schooled last year so it is her first year back in a school environment. In addition, she has changed school districts (she moved in with us) and doesn't have a lot of friends...yet! She holds her own destiny when it comes to being a "social butterfly"...we will see how she works it!
• Blake....nothing will change for him. He has learned to sit up so might be able to interact with other babies more. This should be fun and interesting.

I predict the anxiety of being an over-protective mom to be high on Monday. I want both of them to enjoy the first day of school. I know Devon will be fine....and I'm sure Alexys will work out the kinks...just might take a few days.

I predict that our family as a whole will get in the "school routine" and life will go back to normal. For most of us that is nothing out of the ordinary, but for Alexys it might be a change (another post in itself). Family has always been important to me and my kids are everything! I reward good behavior, grades and being an all around awesome kid. I also have expectations...that I feel are reasonable. This year will be full of learning experiences for everyone in our household but I'm always up for the challenge. Here's to a happy first day!

A Difference 9 years makes....

Not much actually! My first born, Devon is the baby on the left, July 2001. My second born, Blake on the right, July 2010. They look like the same baby!!! Blake is a little chubbier, but he weighed 2 pounds more at birth. Blake also has a fuzzy hair. But all in all...same kid! The smile, the nose, even their pretty blue eyes...the same. I love my boys!

Long awaited family photo

Here is one of our wonderful family photos that Nicole, http://nicolecphoto.blogspot.com/2010/07/stephens-family-old-town-spring-tx.html , took. Click on her link to see the other ones she has posted. I can't wait to see the rest. First family photo...only took 10 years. Why so long you might ask? Maybe somehow I knew our family wasn't complete. We, Robert and I, have always had Alexys, then we got Devon....I just knew we weren't complete. So here we are, party of 5! Love all the shots of the kids together and individually. Enjoy...more to come.

A boys journal

At the end of the school year Devon was able to bring home all his school stuff that he had worked on thru out the year. One of these things was his journal. I finally got around to reading it. It is very interesting to see the kind of things that go thru my boy's head. Somethings are about his life and I remember when something he wrote happened. Here are a few entries from his journal. Some are very sweet, some are random and some are even sad.

"What makes me angry is when somebody steals something of mine or pushes me and hurts me when I fall it hurts my feelings. That's why I don't bully. I will never ever ever be a bully never be a bully in my whole entire life"

"My favorite place to eat is Outback. I love their macaroni and cheese it's so delicious and cheesy and their desserts are so good. And the coloring pages are fun to do."

"My mom grew up in Mississippi and my dad grew up in Texas. They met in high school and my grandpa was in the war, one of the world wars."

(side note: I was born in Michigan and grew up in Texas. Robert and I meet on my 21st birthday and clearly my dad was not in the world war)

"Last night I played with my legos and then I watched tv then I had dinner than dessert and I snuggled with my cat named Sadie. She is really fuzzy and fun to play with alot and I watched my dad play farmville he goes there every single day I come home he's playing it."

"My baby brother Blake was born on Friday. He is really small and I was shy but I got use to seeing him for 1 day then I went to my grandma and grandpa's for 2 days. Then I went home with my dad, mom, sissy and my baby brother, Blake and before I went to bed I held Blake and said good night to him"

"My grandparents are fun to play with and they tell you to try again and they are special because they are best grandparents in the whole universe and they buy you cool toys and if I'm good for a long time they'll buy me a toy"

"This Sunday I'm getting Easter presents and on summer I am going to have tons of fun like fishing with my pawpaw and we are going camping in a tent then I am going to Lake Livingston with my grandma, grandpa, Dad, Mom, Sissy, my cousin Carter, and Aunt Neicey and Korey and Lindsey and Uncle Clay we are going to have a lot of fun that week."

"If I pretended I was a flower and the flower that I would be is a rose because I love the color red and I love my baby brother, Mom, Dad, Sissy, Aunt Mindy, Grandma, Grandpa, Granny, Aunt Neicey, Uncle Clay, Korey and Lindsey, Carter, Pawpaw and I especially candy like mints, chocolate, mini krusty crab sandwiches and skittles and m&m's too."

Is he not the sweetest little guy when he wants to be? I love this boy so much!

Splash Day

Monday we had splash day! The boys and I went over to Lindsey and Korey's new house...they have a pool. Blake was a little unsure about the whole situation. But his little chubby cheeks are so adorable.

He's super chillin. He's like "hey ladies....what's up?"

Devon....not so chill. He LOVES to jump in the pool. Great action shot I know!

My Boys

Finally! I got the cutest pictures of my boys together! Yesterday I took a photography class. Not that I'm instantly an awesome photographer or anything but I was pretty excited. After bathtime Devon asked if he could hold Blake so they sat in the rocker. I had to grab my camera. I don't have many pictures of them together at all. I messed with the different settings on my camera...just as the instructor had asked us to do. It will take me awhile to perfect anything I learned but until then....I have these gorgeous pictures of my boys. The center one is my favorite! Blake seems to have this thing that when the camera comes out he has this deer in the headlights look to him. This picture actually has a little smirk, personality! I couldn't be happier having my boys....I will admit, I was scared about having another one! Not really the thought of having more kids....knowing that I would have to share the love with yet another child....didn't know if I had it in me. Luckily I am a very loving momma and all three of my kids never have to worry about that. Each child means something different to me and I love them with all my life. I pledge to continue to take wonderful pictures of all my kids...even when they roll their eyes everytime I get out the camera. Alexys and Devon are use to it....and Blake is being brought up with my obsession so he should be ok.