Welcome to the world, Lily!

On December 27, my sister gave birth to sweet Lily Grace. I was so overcome with emotion to be there with her when she made her entrance into the world. I even got to cut the cord! Thank you, Lesley & Jesse, for allowing me to be a part of this magical moment.

I was very anxious to see Spencer's reaction to his new baby cousin, since he'll have a baby sister before he knows it. He has been sweeter than I ever could have dreamed. He squeals and giggles when he sees her, wants to hug and kiss her and visit constantly. Let's hope the excitement sticks around when it is our turn to bring a baby home.

SNOW!

Spencer has not been a fan of the snow up until this point, so I was not sure what he would think of our snow day the day after Christmas. Turns out, he loves it (and has been very upset since that there hasn't been any more snow.)

Merry Christmas!

What a great Christmas we had. It has been more and more fun each year as Spencer gets older and this was probably the best yet. We have lots of family in Boise, and managed to see everybody. We started out on Christmas Eve and my Grandparents house. Spencer loved playing the Grand Piano for his Pop Pop.

We continued Christmas Eve at my dad's house. The hot air balloon in Spencer's hand was not a gift, but a decoration that he has been holding on to all month long whenever he goes to their house. He will be sad when Gramma packs it all up!

Grampa Scott always has to get some sort of motorized toy and this year the boys got their very own Gator!

And then there was Christmas morning! Spencer still wasn't as excited as I thought he would be about running right downstairs to see what Santa brought. Instead, we still had to do our routine of a cartoon and glass of orange juice in bed first. But it was well worth the wait. Santa brought lots of goodies in his stocking and a piano!

But the highlight was from Mommy & Daddy...his very own Jake & The Neverland Pirates spyglass! He got Bucky and a Sword too, but nothing could compare to the spyglass.

One last stop for Christmas to my mom's house. By this point, he is becoming such a pro at opening gifts he thought he might try climbing into the boxes instead.

We hope ALL of our friends and family had a great holiday!

I am so thankful...

Each year, Saint Lukes holds a holiday party for their NICU "graduates" and this was the first time we have been able to attend. It made Chris & I both SO THANKFUL that our NICU situation was relatively mild with just a five day stay, as we saw parents who spent MONTHS there with their little ones. We are forever grateful for the care he received there but, no offense, we are hoping that we do not have to take advantage of your hospitality this time around! There were lots of kids, cookies, and crafts and Spencer had a great time making an ornament for our tree. Hard to believe 2 1/2 years ago he was just five pounds and we were bringing him home...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

For the first year in many, many years, I did not have an event the day after Thanksgiving, so we decided to load up and go to Utah to see the Stonehocker's. Before we left, Spencer and I made this hat (which may or may not be politically incorrect these days, but I don't know how to make a pilgrim hat so DEAL WITH IT).

I would be absolutely lost without my iphone and a terrible parent because I would have NO PICTURES OF MY SON. How did I go to being so good about taking pictures to so terrible? I apologize in advance to Baby Emily...I hope I get my act together by the time you are born! ANYWAY, our first stop in Utah was to In N Out. Seriously, Mama needed a burger BAD. Spencer enjoyed the delicious fries and shake. Just typing this post makes me crave one.

Ogden, UT has a very fun place for kids called the Treehouse Museum with lots of interactive displays, learning and fun to be had. But Spencer didn't want to leave the fire truck.

Getting his first bowling lesson from Aunt Jodi...

And to really get ourselves in the holiday spirit, we drove around the Roy, UT Fire Station. This picture does not even remotely do this place justice, as there are thousands and thousands of lights here. So pretty. Bring on Christmas!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

I wasn't sure what Spencer would think of Trick-or-Treating this year, but boy did he get into it! And so polite! He was sure to actually say Trick or Treat, thank you, and even tossed in a few Happy Halloween's as we left houses! Here we are getting started by walking down to Rocco's house...I think he got confused and thought he was Frankenstein by that walk!

Mommies can dress up too!

When we got home and checked the mail, he had a special card from his Nana that played "Monster Mash." Over and over and over again. This card has since been "misplaced."

The day before, CenturyLink had a Halloween Party so Spencer got EXTRA treats. He sure had a great time!

Pumpkin Patch

The annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch was kind of a disaster this year. Spencer wanted to be carried around the patch and refused to show any interest in the pumpkins. And then I lost my wedding ring (but THANKFULLY found it later in the car). The only thing he enjoyed (and I enjoyed because at this point I had my ring back on my finger and wasn't a hysterical, hormonal pregnant mess in the middle of a pumpking field) was the wheelbarrow.

We tried to get a family photo, but this just sums up Spencer's mood. This was also about sixty seconds before I noticed my ring was missing.

Oh well...they can't ALL be happy memories!

New Bed!

These pictures are all the way back from Labor Day, but it has taken me this long to get around to downloading and editing them! This was the debut of Spencer's big boy bed and to say it was a hit is a total understatement. He went absolutely bananas for it!

He probably should have had this bed months ago, but I wanted him to stay a "baby" just a little while longer. You can only fight the inevitable for so long though.

Scarecrow Stroll

This is the second year that Spencer's daycare has gone on the "Scarecrow Stroll" at the Idaho Botanical Gardens as a fall field trip. There aren't a ton of flowers in bloom this time of year, but the highlight for the kids is the pumkin patch. How I love this sweet little boy!

When he wasn't busy finding pumpkins, he was probably marching. Kid loves to march.

Random Phone Pics

I admit it, I haven't been great about carrying the camera around. But I always have my cell phone on me, so here are a bunch of random pics from the summer. Starting with this one of our new baby cooking away at about ten weeks (wow, six weeks ago already!).

We are still getting LOTS of use out of our annual pass to Zoo Boise, but instead of a favorite animal, I think the jeep next to the lions is Spencer's favorite part.

Lots of time at the boat with Grampa & Gramma this year. My Cautious Calvin is turning into quite the dare devil as he jumps off the dock.

Out for a ride...

A quick trip to Great Harvest turned into a mid-morning mini-date with Spencer, who insisted we "sit down" to have a snack instead of taking our bread on the run.

Halloween Preview:

Cabin Progress

My mom and stepdad are currently building a cabin in New Meadows...that we hope to be ready to occupy by Thanksgiving! Last weekend we actually camped at the building site for several reasons - 1, we wanted to check out the progress and 2- it just might be the only camping spot in the state that isn't on fire. I forgot my camera, but I stole this picture from my mom's facebook page.

This view almost brought me to tears. You see, this will be the view from the loft looking out into the wilderness and it reminds me of the very similar view I had as a child looking out of the loft at my grandparent's cabin in Garden Valley. My grampa and my dad built that cabin from the ground up and some of my very best childhood memories are there. My grampa is no longer with us, and that makes me sad and I am also sad that we don't have that cabin anymore. But this is a place to create new memories and I am so very grateful that Spencer and Baby Stoney #2 will have this place and time with their grandparents. Up next, Spirit of Boise Balloon Rally this week!

Annual Island Park Trip

We had a great week in Island Park this year! I have been anxious to get up there all summer because I knew Spencer would have a blast and he really was in his element up there...my little nature boy. This is our view just a few steps from the cabin. We saw this momma and baby a couple times while we were up there.

Something I didn't know he would be so in to is huckleberries. In all my years, I don't recall ever eating a huckleberry, let alone pick them, but we got REALLY into it this year. I had no idea how much hard work it was! You can see us all toiling in the fields in our top secret huckleberry spot.

Spencer ate those berries just as fast as he could pick them. And he did it not one day, but TWO days for about two hours each time. I couldn't believe it!

I love this pic of Spencer and his daddy, deep in the huckleberries!

Spencer is also a 4 wheeling machine, which Chris just loves. I would love it too and I am pretty bummed that I have been sidelined from the 4 wheelers this summer due to the baby on board. I'll just have to make up for it next summer.

Parting family shot.

We're on a boat!

We have had lots of fun this summer with my dad on his boat. Spencer absolutely LOVES his grampa, as evidenced here.

Unfortunately, morning sickness also means boat sickness, but my little man's cuddles always make me feel better.

Camping Season in Full Swing

We have found a new camping space that we have fallen in love with. I am not going to say where, because I don't want you to take our spot next time we want to go up but it is near our favorite place in the world...Stanley, Id. We've already camped their twice and are planning to go back next month! There is a perfect Spencer sized rock there where he can look at the "ribber."

It's always fun to march through the woods.

Cuddles with daddy.