St. Pat's Day/9th B-day Recap!

Well, in ever-popular Steg fashion here are some oldie goldie pics of St. Pat's Day/Hailey's b-day and the days surrounding....yes, beware...lots of pics...so feel free to scroll quickly :) But, wanted to get these posted before Easter and since we're in the midst of Easter cookie baking I thought I'd quick try to download these. So, here ya' go...some March memories in the midst of our April.....above is Hailey showing off our green shamrock pancakes that we had for breakfast on her b-day. Not too shabby for my first try of making shamrocks by hand (and, no, they are not as easy as they look....half of them went in the garbage)....but these were the better ones....even Ash finds them good enough to (almost) eat :)
It was Hailey's idea to make Shamrock smooties to go along with breakfast (fyi...in case I never mentioned it...this was in the midst of our spring break thus why Hailey is home....and remember that this was the first day Shelby was sick...so she's in bed this whole day and thus absent from (most) pics)....but the smooties were pretty good for being healthy. Mommy had to add some vanilla ice cream to make them slightly more yummy :) But, Dylan gobbled them up....he loves his fruit/yogurt!
My 9 year old in her old St. Pat's hat that we got like 6 years ago when she was just Dylan's age...my, how time has flown!
One nice pose for mama...I think this was the only nice pose she gave me all day.....you'll see the other non-nice ones below.....
Ash with her St. Pat's apparel and goodies. She really liked the shamrock beads...an old gift from wonderful great-Aunt Jan (we miss her) :(
I think I posted this pic on 3/17, but it's so cute of my Ash on her 1st St. Pats....gotta love the ever fun Ash tongue!
We even made some quick Shamrock cookies...Dylan especially loved these and had to show them off!
Then while Hailey was gone, mama and Dylan played bubbles.....it was a beautiful, awesome day out...perfect weather...and such a bummer than Shelb was sick in bed and we couldn't leave the house.....we had such big plans for this "supposed-to-be-fun" day :(
We played cars on the froggy top to our sandbox :) It made a wonderful ramp and it was green in honor of the day! :) Oh, and Dylan's best friend, Maddie, came over to play too...but I must have missed taking a pic of her. We love, Maddie! :)
Wonderful Mrs. T. (one of Hailey's teachers) came and took Hailey to the mall and out to lunch (with Big Boy Gabe-her son)....I was so thankful she was able to do this to make the day slightly special for Hailey. We were supposed to play at the park and have a picnic with her and her son, but obviously with Shelb sick, we couldn't :(
After getting home from the mall, Hailey reads over some of her b-day mail....this is a very special card from Nina in FL :)
And a wonderful card and cool stickers from "Auntie" Ann and Josh in MI (Ann also shares the same b-day as Hailey so she always gets her special St. Pat's cards in memory of their shared b-day :))
And some awesome goodies from Auntie Leina (does the face tell you how much she loves these gifts??!!) Aunt Lein always knows what our kiddos like...and Hailey poured over these Egypy books for hours this day. She has even taken them to school to show off how she now knows hierglyphics (sp?)
9th b-day girl hamming it up!
Showing off the lotioins she got/made from Mrs. T!
My oldest and youngest decked out in green :)
Super fun gifts from the Hootie Gang :) A very cool hip hop Christian band CD, Pure NRG, and a very neat "dance" dog tag. Thanks, guys! :)
Ok, so this is a semi-nice pic too...mama always tortures the kids on their b-days with lots of pics.....but they seem to grow up so quickly....I just can't help myself!
Ash spent some time swinging on St. Pats....yes, with tongue hanging out!
And playing on the playset....
and picking clovers...she has one behind her ear (though it's very hard to see :))
What's wrong with this picture? Well, aside from the fact that mommy made a very sick Shelby pose.....do you notice the big fingerprint on Ashley's face? I was thankful daddy figured out why my pics were blurry all of a sudden.....I must have touched the lens :(
One of Hailey's fav. gifts! Mariocart for her DS! She wanted this soooooooooooo badly! Thanks, Great-grandma G. and Aunt Mary!
And HSM3 the movie! Love it!
Dylan giving big sis his gift...some very cool stamp/letter markers :) He was so proud of his gift....
Sick Shelb giving her gift.....that she picked out especially for Hailey that week at the dollar store....this hug almost makes me want to cry :(
What a sad face on Shelba :( Hailey loved the HSM towel from lil' sis.....the kind you have to soak in the tub to make it a towel....
Hailey loved the AG golf/tennis outfit and money from Auntie Sue! :)
Ash even got a present for the day....we love Baby Einstein movies! Thanks, Auntie Mary!
Funny Green Girl in a bow off Hailey's build-a-bear :)
Hailey playing Mariocart for the first time on the good ol' DS! She loves it and was instantly addicted!
Crazy excited face....all over her McCallisters pita pizza (her choice for dinner)...well, her real choice was to go to Olive Garden, but since we couldn't leave the house due to sickness, daddy got take-out from our fav. deli. Well, mommy can't eat from here anymore due to pregnancy puke memories...but daddy and Hailey enjoyed it :)
And here's the cake....Hailey requested the gumball machine cake....she is all about gum these days....it wasn't my greatest piece of art....but it was pretty simple (aside from finding gumballs...who knew they were so hard to find?!)
time to blow out the candles....
Dylan was very "helpful" :)
Me and my baby girl....I love this baby Ash.....
Me and my big girl...I adore her too and I remember when she was just Ash's age....how time flies!!!
Ash in the b-day hat, since Hailey was "too mature/old/weird" to wear it! :)
Our gang....looking green...and I'm not only talking about our clothes :)
Hailey opening up more b-day mail....a wonderful card and money from our super wonderful friends in FL, Max and Debbie! :)
A lovely surprise b-day celebration at Chad and Corie and kiddos' house on 3/15....I love the idea of a brownie "cake" :) Can you tell Dylan was just watering in the mouth for this yummy stuff!
And also on 3/15 we celebrated at Nina and Poppy's house in IN....it was a multi-b-day celebration for Hailey, Mama and Aunt Anne....and the cold stone cake was soooo yummy....red velvet with strawberries in the ice cream!!!! Loved it!
Hailey reading her very special card from Pops in FL. He always picks out the perfect cards!
Ash in her St. Pat's garb....
And more garb....(and, no, we're not Irish, but Ash still welcomes kisses! :))
Some shamrock love from Ash's other side :)
Hailey and her double layer Sam's Club cookie cake. If you've never tried one, it is superb!!! She requests this every year for her b-day party at school....and it's one of mama's favs too!
Here she is after spring break celebrating at school with Mrs. T. and also Zach (who was having a b-day that day)....it was a double celebration with cookie cake and root beer floats...yumm!
And what's a b-day w/o celebrating with free ice cream at cold stone...yumm!
And some more b-day mail....a fun card and big bucks from Auntie Holly and Fam! And below is a cool "nine" card and a neat new pencil case from Jorge and Melissa and kiddos in MI. Thanks, guys!!!
So, as you can see....it was a busy b-day with lots of celebrations. Hailey apparently told a friend at school that this was the "worst birthday ever", but I'm thinking that was slightly on the dramatic side....cuz I don't remember it being so horrible and she did have lots of smiles mixed in. Here's to hoping that year 10 will not be filled with sickness or a hospital stay for Shelby.....

Well, it's time to go and decorate our Easter cookies...and hopefully this weekend I'll have a few more recent pics to share.....have a blessed Good Friday and wonderful Easter weekend.

More Randomness :)

Well, for lack of time I am doing yet another random post of odds and ends pics...hopefully I'll actually get with the times later this week and post some more Easter-ish pics (or Hailey's b-day pics)....I just realized I never posted those (bad mom). Anyway...I just love the one of my oldest and youngest above....you can tell how much Ash loves her biggest sis...and what a big helper Hailey is! Can you see the resemblance too? They really do look a lot alike.
Proof that we have the best daddy around! He's even a non-licensed manicurist :)
Check out chubby bubby and her thick legs! LOL! :)
And my smiley boy....so happy cuz we are about to get ice cream at Cold Stone (for Hailey's b-day)....yummy yumm yumm!
And this is Ash on 3/15 at Kev's parents opening her very first Easter basket. Check out that very thoughtful face. A penny for Ash' thoughts! :) She looks very interested in the loot behind the plastic.....

Early Easter Goodies!

Well, life is nothing less than crazy around here lately and there has been almost no down time at all...but since I'm getting behind on pic posting I thought I'd do a post of the only Easter-type pics I have so far...of the kids with their goodies from Nina and Poppy Stegs. We celebrated Easter early with them on 3/15 so these pics were taken the day Shelby first got sick with pneumonia (though we didn't know it yet :)). Anyway...I thought the pics of Ash were so funny...she discovered fake Easter grass for the first time...and tried to eat it (see above pic :))....she wasn't too impressed though her tongue sorta liked it :) I love babies and Easter....I still remember Hailey's 2nd Easter (she had just turned 1) and she ate through the wrapper to get to the choc. egg inside (remember that mom?? G-ma Fergie was there to witness it in FL :)). So, this weekend should be fun with lots of Easter egg hunts in store....
"Hmmmm"...what is this pink stuff???
Looking very somber :) The "normal" Ash look :) (and, no, this isn't her Easter dress....more pics of that later!)
I'd love to know what's going through that brain?!
Shelb with her goodies (on the day she fell very ill)...she actually picked out all this stuff herself when Nina was here for Grandparent's Day at preschool.....lots of fun goodies!
Hailey with her stash...and some b-day goodies mixed in (since this was the day before turning the big 9!)
And Dilly with his manly goodies :)

Thanks again to Nina and Poppy for all the wonderful loot. The kids loved everything and Kev and I loved our goodies too! And thanks to both Ninas and Poppys for finding the kid's awesome Easter outfits. These are by far the BEST Easter outfits we have ever had...they are adorable! Can't wait to show ya'll!

I'd love to do a more in-depth post, but I am simply just so bogged down with things to do that I can't even process info now much less blog about it. But, this weekend was full of crazy stuff....sleepovers, b-days, girl scout stuff, church stuff, Bible Bowl (Hailey's team won a trophy!), Easter pics....you name it....there was little down time (though I did get to have a girl's night out with my BBF!)....and this week looks to be equally as crazy.....but that's our life...and we wouldn't have it any other way.....More later.....Happy Easter week!

My First Meal! :)

Well, since my mama's been a tad bit busy this week, I've decided to once again blog-jack just in case you were all getting worried that something was wrong in the midst of mama's non blogging tactics :) So, here I am and I'm ready and rearing to tell ya' about my first real meal back on 3/22 (just a day after I turned the big 6M!). I'm sorta into photography like my mama so I thought I'd show you the funny pics of me stuffing my face with cereal. As you can see (above) my big/middle sis, Shelby, had the honors of giving me my first spoonful? I was so confused as to what she was doing at first.....
I made a pretty horrific shudder face when that white chunky stuff went into my mouth.....
...then I decided it would be MUCH more fun to grab the whole bowl of cereal.....maybe I could throw it?
nope, I decided to try to eat the bowl.....but it wasn't as yummy as it initially looked...so.....
I tried eating the spoon.....actually I thought I could nurse off of the spoon and maybe get milk out of it....it didn't work :(
then I tried helping my sissy Shelb feed me.....that turned out to be messier than expected....
I was really fascinated by this thing they call a spoon that feeds me this thing they call cereal....
I'm not so sure I really liked the cereal....but I kept licking my lips as I was pondering this all....
I decided I did like cereal and here I am demanding more! :)
Mama just kept snapping pictures and she didn't seem to get the point that I wanted more food....so I had to tell her.....
So, she gave me more...or rather, I gave myself more...and made more of a mess.....
Look how helpful I'm being feeding myself....I think daddy was trying to get the food in the right spot (it's way overrated to get it in my mouth!) :)
Then then took my bowl away and all I had left was the food on my face...so I just kept licking that....
And then that was it.....I was all done...my first meal down the tubes and in my tummy....and you know what that means........................REAL, SMELLY POOPS! Those came the next day! I could write a whole 'nother post on those stinky things.....but all I have to say now is: I love FOOD! I think tomorrow I get to have my first taste of baby oatmeal! I can't wait!!! This growing up thing is sure great fun! Adios and happy weekend!