We are very excited that it is getting warmer out and staying dark later. We are hoping to get to know more of our neighbors as we are out more this summer. Joe is taking great pride in cultivating a beautiful lawn. This summer we'll work on keeping the new grass healthy, cut (trimmed and edged!!) and weedless, and we'll worry about planting next year!

Annabelle has now started escaping her room in the middle of the night and coming to our room. She doesn't appear to be scared, she just asks, "What are you guys doing ? How's brother? May I have some milk? She just wants to chat. Then Joe takes her back to bed. Needless to say, her night escapades were cute at first, but now we have put a cover over the door knob in her room so she can't escape! She is really enjoying coloring with markers and playing outside. She had a great time getting to play with Aunt Joy and Uncle Brad-a-ley this week.

I do believe Jayce is starting to feel better. This week he is a lot calmer, happier, and just more comfortable. We are THRILLED! He is sleeping for a 6 hour stretch at night, eating and "talking" to me for about 30 min. and then sleeping 3 more hours. It's not "sleeping thru the night", but it is much better than it was. Jayce is VERY jabbery and he makes so many different sound combinations already. Hmm...another talker like Annabelle?

Annabelle-isms:

Do you love me Nana? You're my woman.

After dancing with daddy she said, "Oh, the house is spinning now."

To daddy as he left for work, "Bye, baby!"

Uncle Luke likes to eat crackers and be on the cross. And I like to press his belly. (what?)

oops...Annabelle got a little carried away with the bubbles!

Jayce is VERY ticklish!

Yes...he already zones in on the TV, just like daddy!


Yeah, he's big enough for the jumperoo!

"Amazing grace how sweet the sound... I once was BLONDE, but now I see"

Annabelle playing dress up with Nana

We have been home now for almost a week from our first family vacation with our 2 kiddos. They were amazing troopers in the van and we only had to stop about every three hours. I was a bit worried when the day before we left for Minnesota Annabelle could barely make it to Nana and Poppa’s house ( a 30 minute ride) without asking to get “unstuck” from her seat because it was taking to long. I thought…oh sister…you don’t know what it coming to you tomorrow!

We had a great time hanging out with Gigi and Papa for the week. We played, shopped, ate, baked and slept a little! Joe and I also got to go out on a date which was very refreshing. It was great to get to see Joe’s great grandma who is 98. She was thrilled to meet Jayce.

Jayce is still adjusting to life it seems. We are hoping that within another month his colickiness and belly issues will be outgrown. Poor little guy. At 3 months he is 16.9 lbs…and he is a crazy sleeper! The poor boy does gymnastics in his sleep all night…no wonder he wakes up so much at night. He is still very visually stimulated and loves to stand and bounce. He is just so snuggly!!

Annabelle is now able to open doors all by herself as her latest accomplishment. She now comes bouncing out of her room in the morning and after nap and announces “I’m awake!!” Sometimes she comes out and asks “Am I awake?” She has a new taller stool so she can wash her hands and brush her teeth without any help and we have caught her many times standing there just looking at her self in the mirror smiling at her self and making faces.

Enjoy the pics!

Learning how to golf

Playing Pat a cake with Gigi

Annabelle doing dishes with Papa

Jayce and Great Grandma Kathy

Annabelle was hooked on peeling and sucking the jice out of the Mandarin oranges. Her poor little finger nails were bright orange!

Handsome boy

Bandaid fashion statement

Playing at the aprk in Gigi and Papa's neighborhood

Making (and eating!) chocolate pretzels with Gigi

We got a double stroller!! And Annabelle was enjoying her huge strawberry sucker!

PLaying with daddy in the pool at the waterpark

Jayce grinning from ear to ear!!

This is the light on the wall that caused Jayce to grin from ear to ear!!

Yeah Poppa! Annabelle liked Poppa's dress! She cheered real loud as Poppa got his MBA this past week.

MOmmy and Annabelle feeding the ducks at the park with Nana on her birthday

Happy Easter! What a great day of celebrating! God has truly blessed us with a wonderful family and we are very grateful for his blessings.
A lot has happened the past month...too much to try and update it all, so we'll hit on the highlights.

It has been a sad time in our family as we have had to say goodbye to my Granny Lucy, or Gusta Granny as Annabelle calls her. Whew...it's tough trying to explain it all to a 2 year old. She certainly has helped us all cope a bit more with her sweet innocence. She asked if Jesus gave Gusta her medicine in heaven to make her all better, she showed Gusta her new Cinderella sunglasses at the viewing, she said she liked Gusta's blue "bed", and she blew Gusta lots of kisses. What a sweet little girl. Though it has been tough, it was wonderful to have all of the famliy together....all 9 million of us!! We had a good Easter together today at Uncle Hank's house and Granny would have been so happy to see all of her kids getting together and having a great time.

Annabelle and Jayce are doing well. Jayce did a fabulous job being baby Jesus in the Easter pagent. He was certainly the star! He still has an uncomfortable belly and is not an award winning sleeper, but his sweet smile and laugh make up for it all! He adores the ceiling fan, playing pat a cake and swinging. He is wearing 6-9 month clothes already at 12 weeks. At his 2 month appointment he was 14 1/2 lbs and 22 1/2 inches!! He is probably at least 16 lbs. now. AH!!! He has a wonderfully annoying spot of "stick straight up" hair on his head...it's an Alfalfa sprout on the side.

Annabelle continues to amaze us with her maturity. She actually puts herself in time out sometimes if she thinks she has not been a good listener! She loves playing in her playroom, eating strawberries (plain or chocolate) by the dozen, and playing with her friend Sophia.

We are now trading in a car and have graduated to a mini van. It was quite an amazing deal and Annabelle is thrilled that it has a "little TV" in the van! We are looking forward to having it on our trip to Minnesota next week! Pray for us!!!

Annabelle sayings:
"The boy gets the boy out, and the girl gets the girl out." (What Annabelle says each time we go to get out of the van. I get her and Daddy gets Jayce)

Ooopsidoodle spaghettios!

Are you my sweet girl mama? Daddy is my sweet boy and I love him so much!

Mommy, close the bathroom door so the boys don't come in. That would freak me out and it would be hysterical!

Jayce's blood pressure is 46 pounds

Can we go to heaven and see Gusta Granny now?

Enjoy the pictures!

Annabelle loves to drive!!!

Looking at the mobile in Jayce's bed!

Annabelle "helping" with laundry!

Cutting the grass with daddy

Watching the NCAA championship

She loved putting the Easter grass in her toes!

Give me Easter candy, too!

Update, only 1 week after the last update!!

It has been a good week around the Costephens' house. We are all pretty healthy, minus the runny noses. Thankfully Annabelle has "chilled" out in her reaction to the "snot sucker" bulb and tissues so she has actually welcomed our help in ridding her of her runny nose.

Jayce is really enjoying bath time each night as he smiles when the warm water is poured over him. I think it must feel calming to his poor little tummy. He is smiling a lot more and has quite a cute little laugh and coo. He is quite amused by the ceiling fan and the hair dryer. He will be two months old this Thursday!

Annabelle is getting to be quite the big girl. We have had a few break throughs in regrads to nap time and bed time. She has always fallen asleep well...as long as we lay near her and sing until she gets very drowsy. Needless to say, the ritual was becoming quite time consuming, so she now is falling asleep by herself with music playing and tears on her part, but she has transitioned very well. Nap time has not equalled sleep per say, but she is at least resting in her room by herself giving mommy a little break. She has had lots of fun opening and closing plastic Easter eggs, screwing and unscrewing things with the screw driver and playing golf with Daddy outside. Since the soy fields are cut down behind our backyard Joe is having fun hitting golf balls 150 yards or so and then he and Annabelle go find them in the field!

Joe and I have been working on our Easter pagent for church. It's quite a production...and for some odd reason I am having a bit of a hard time memorizing the songs... maybe sleep deprivation ?! Joe is John the disciple, I am Mary and Jayce is baby Jesus. It's only fair, since Annabelle was baby Jesus just after she was born! We are praying for no "explosive" loud diapers from him at any poignant, serious moments, but there are no guarantees.

Annabelle always wants to make sure we each have a treat after dinner, and she picked out a sucker for Jayce to have after his nap!

Jayce is listening intently as Annabelle talks to him about his thumb. He as a "chocolate" thumb! He has a drak brown birthmark on his left thumb nuckle.

Annabelle smiling from ear to ear, because brother was just smiling and laughing at her!

The family getting ready for bed.

March Madness

Wow! Another month has gone by! The past month has been quite an adventure around our house. We are grateful that God is the great physician and sustains us even when we are at our weakest. We were visited by the stomach flu for two weeks and have spent the last 2 weeks building up strength again. (Needless to say, somehow I didn't take any pictures for about 2 weeks!) Poor Annabelle had it the worst, then it was passed to Jayce, then mommy, then Nana and then daddy. We had many firsts the past few weeks... Annabelle's first trip to the ER, four days later Jayce's first trip to the ER, "Glow in the dark" lime green "yucky diapers" from Jayce, and a week long Cinderella marathon (the only movie Annabelle wanted to watch while she "throwed up" ). It was such a hard thing to see Annabelle so "out of it" and weak for a good week and a half, but she has now regained all of her "energies" and she is "all better now." The only "scar" that remains is the tape residue from where she had blood drawn. She thinks the left over tape goo is her "bloods" and if we try to wash it she gets quite hysterical and proclaims that "I need my bloods, don't wash it off." Her prayers are now laden with pleas to God that no one will "throwed up" any more. And she is specific "Dear God help us not to throw up in the bucket, or the toilet or the bed or the floor!" One of Annabelle's favorite things to play with now is all of my old Barbies! She plays and plays and plays, dressing, undressing and making them talk. It's so much fun to watch!

Little Jayce man is still working out all of his tummy issues. Due to his, what seems to be, constantly upset stomach each time he eats, he doesn't sleep very well. So we have needless to say tried everything in the book, but probably only time will straighten out his little belly. Last night somehow he finally decided to sleep and went from 9:30 pm to 4:20 am...almost 7 hours! This was a huge shock and a blessing, since he has been consitently waking up 2-3 times a night! We are praying that it wasn't just a one time deal. I feel like a new woman today! Even with all of the vomiting and diahrea Jayce was 12 lbs. 6 oz. at 6 weeks!! And 23 and 1/4 in. long. He is our moose man and is thriving in regards to growth. Hopefully he will slow down at some point! We have had a few "real" smiles each day the past week so that has helped counteract the painful grunting times! Jayce really enjoys tummy time!

We are greatly enjoying the warm weather the past few days with wagon rides, playing ball outside, taking walks and having the windows open. Annabelle didn't seem to notice bugs last year, but it looks like this summer we are going to have to calm her down in regards to bugs "touching her!"

Annabelle"isms" the past few weeks:

Can I help you load the disher machine mom?
My panties just look glamorous don't they?
I am going to go down the slide on my esophogus!
Momma I'm wearing my dancin' dress!
May I hold you momma? It's fabulous to hold you!
Can you get married to daddy again and wear your Cinderella dress?

Enjoy a few pictures...mainly of Jayce, because he is a stationary target!