Family Pictures

My wonderful friend Keidra LeJeune owns her own photography business, Keidra LeJeune Photography, and took some amazing family photos of us a few weekends ago. We had such a great time and we had the whole gang there from Ryan's family :) The kiddos ran around and played and Keidra captured some really neat moments. I can't tell you how lucky I am to have such amazing in-laws. They are truly the most wonderful people and we are all so very close. They are special to me and I am so blessed to have them in my life. I am one lucky girl and am so thankful for my sweet husband and his family.

And now on to the family photo session.....

The whole Fam :)

Ryan's mom (Carol) and step-dad (Darwin) with the grandkids. Love this one!

The grown kids and spouses

Ryan's sister Casey, Ryan's mom Carol, and Ryan

Ryan's step Sister Natasha, her Husband Josh, and their precious little girl Rylie Kate

Ryan's niece Jayce, nephew Kameron and nephew Konnor. Such beautiful kiddos!

I love this one of sweet Kameron, Ryan's nephew. What a cutie!

Ryan's sister Casey, her sweet kids Brayden and Payton, and husband Anthony.

 Me and my sweet hubby! I am one lucky girl :)

Ryan holding my baby bump :)

XOXO The Stephens

Bump-date!

BUMP DATE : 16 Weeks :)

I have had a few requests to provide bump dates, and so I decided I would jump on the bandwagon. I promise a picture pf the bump will come soon :)

Maternity Clothes: Not wearing many really, still fitting in normal clothes. How I don't know...I figured I would be that girl that would have already gained 20lbs. lol. I have actually lost weight from being sick...not fun. I did buy two pairs of maternity jeans and decided they were more comfy around the belly :)

Gender: We find out second week of November, Ryan and my mom's birthday week :) We will be happy with either...we just want a healthy, happy baby :)

Movement: No movement that I can feel. The only movement going on is the nausea that’s in my belly. haha. I have been really sick for about 2 1/2 months now, it has been rough. I am hoping it is slowing down. I had one great day last week, and I would give anything for a few more like that. lol.

Sleep: Sleeping through the night except for the occasional bathroom breaks. :) They always seem to come at 2am or 3am and again around 6am.

What I miss: Sushi!!! I eat the cooked, but I have been craving a rainbow roll (topped with raw fish). yummmmm!

Cravings: Fresh foods like salads, fruit...and I am definitely craving some sweets :)

Best Moment this week:

My husband rubbing my belly trying to feel movement, a heartbeat or something and saying "honey, I swear I feel the babies heartbeat". hehehehe :) so cute.

The Mom and Dad to BE!

It is hard to believe that over 2 1/2 years ago, I shared one of the biggest and most special days of my life with my best friend. That would be the day I married the most amazing man I could ask for, my husband Ryan. I remember it like it was yesterday. I remember standing in the room with my bridesmaids, and the wedding coordinator for the church came in and said "girls, it's time". My heart started racing with excitement, it is a feeling I could never describe. As the girls left the room, I frantically checked myself in the mirror to make sure I didnt have any hairs out of place or my make up wasn't smeared. But I realized while looking in the mirror, I didn't really care what was out of place...becuase all I cared about was marrying my best friend. As I looked at myself in the mirror, I remember thinking that this is the most amazing day of my life, having the most amazing feeling a girl could ask for, and hoping I would hold on to that feeling and remember what it felt like....and I couldn't wait to get to the alter to him.

We have shared so many memories in these 2 1/2 years, good and bad...and we have proven to each other to be an unstoppable team. Ryan is truly my best friend and the love of my life, and I can honestly say we still look at each other with so much love. He is my rock and he is truly a wonderful man. Of course, as they say...the honeymoon phase is over...but our love for one another has only grown. We have grown together more than we ever thought, and we have battled life's struggles together, as a team, and came out on top. We have built everything we have ourselves and life isn't always easy...but we always have fun and stick together, and keep the love we have for each other first. and I am so proud to call him my husband....and the soon-to-be father of our LITTLE ONE!

So now, we are about to embark on another most amazing special, big day of our lives.....Ahhhhh.... I said it...we are going to be parents!!!!! We are PREGNANT! We are so incredibly excited and both of us just can't wait to meet our little Stephens. It is so hard to describe the feeling and this experience. It is just amazing. We are very family oriented and we absolutely both love kids, and this is just the most incredible experience (along with our wedding day). Ryan is AMAZING with kids, and he has a way with them...it is so amazing to watch him with his nieces and nephews. It brings tears to my eyes. I know he is going to be a wonderful father. There is something about watching your husband talk about your child in your belly, and just look at his big smile. Okay, I know...im getting sappy. I can't help it.

I am going to try hard to keep the blog up-to-date, I have been horrible about it lately due to my icky, morning (all day) sickness. boo! But I have had several requests for a "bump date" post :) so I will get right on that.

Love you all!

the Stephens

Mini Vacay

Get The Net!

ryan and i took a much needed, wonderful, mini-vacay to lake texoma this past weekend. we went to play on the water, get some sun, and also visit ryan's best friend, Jay, and his wife, who lives on the lake. we had such a wonderful weekend and caught tons of fish! not to mention that i got to play with their sweet 4 month old baby, Kenzie Kay...she is absolutely adorable. Can you say baby fever....yup!

ryan and sweet kenzie.

jay just happens to be the best fishing guide on lake texoma, and so we were lucky to have an awesome guide, who knew right where all of the good fish were. the boys kept us so busy that we didn't really get much laying out done. i found that you can't really lay out and fish at the same time...i tried.

thank you to fuller's guide service for a wonderful time fishing! we caught tons of awesome stripper and he knew all of the best spots on the lake. if you are interested in a guided fishing trip, feel free to contact me and i can give you his information. below are some pictures from our adventures. enjoy!

according to jay and ryan, you aren't fishing the right way unless you wake up at the crack of dawn. yup, we woke up at 5:30am, only because i slept in, and saw the sun rise on the boat...it was actually really fun...after i got over the fact that i was up when it was dark :)

one of the first catches of the day!

Reeling in a big one!

Jay's wife, Laura, and I enjoying the boat ride.

Laura and Jay. Laura caught a big stripper!

and another!

We were catching them left and right. so fun!

me and my sweet hubby.

i had to document almost all the fish we caught :) lol.

awww i love him.

one of my larger stripper that i caught.

laura and i took a golf cart ride around the lake in the evening, while the boys went bass fishing. it was so fun. the lake is sooo pretty!

my sweet aunt paula watched our two little doggies, beau and sissie, and when we got home, we walked up to the door with them waiting for us. so sweet. i love coming home to our sweet pups.

XOXO The Stephens



When your're 40 you get attacked by silly string...Truth!

hi friends! i am a little behind on my posts for the week, and there was lots of fun had over the weekend and the last few days. lots of good family and friend time :)

Saturday was a jam-packed day of birthday party fun. Saturday evening after the "bieber fever" birthday party, we celebrated ryan's good friend from work, Robbie's 40th birthday. we started off with some volleyball. apparently, this was "extreme volleyball", as the boys were very competitive. or at least when you mix beer and volleyball, and some good ole country boys. we rocked out to Eric Church all night, ate great home-cooked food (smoked pork shoulder...yummm), and had a few birthday shots with the birthday boy. it was a great night. and is totally our kind of fun.

then, apparently, when you turn 40 years old, you get this.... yes, a bunch of children attacking you with silly string. good times.

then followed up by the perfect attire....

my sweet husband enjoying the party. he is such a great hubby.



saturday evening when we got home after the cookout/birthday party, I found a nice little surprise on our door step from Ryan's dad. since he knows my love of horses, since Ivy is staying at his ranch, he has been teaching me all about horses and riding. i rode horses as a kid, but i have certainly never trained one. he thought this horse book would be good for me to read while i learn about miss Ivy and how to train her :) so sweet of him. it was such a wonderful surprise.

in our efforts to eat healthy, i cooked ryan and i salmon and vegetables this week....i was really excited because with a little seasoning, it turned out really yummy. i had no idea salmon from wal-mart (not farm raised...it is fresh) would be so good. i was convinced that only the restaurants could make salmon that good. i was wrong. :)

Of course I have to do a review of my favorite shows of the week.....

As our monday night ritual, we watch the bachelorette...and by "we", I mean me and our dogs. Ryan sometimes joins in...if he is really bored. lol. he watched previous episodes that were interesting, but he has found emily's season to be a little less drama filled (less interesting). but ryan's mom understands the need to watch the bachelorette and so her and i decided to watch the "men tell all" episode this monday together, while the boys swam. after finding out that the men didnt really tell all, and all that they did tell we already knew.... we decided swimming was the better option. We ended the night in the pool making a wave pool with ryan's nephews. way better than "the men tell all". psh.

for all of those pretty little liars fans, yes I am one of them....it's bad. last night's (tuesday) episode was PACKED with clues on who "A" is. i picked up on several. it was one of my favorite newer episodes so far. We found out that Garrett is no longer on the hook and being charged with murder, and the clue (anklet) that Spencer and Jason found changed everything for the case. Emily found some clues possibly leading to Mya, and the list goes on. i also have a weird feeling that Spencer has something to do with the "A" crew..she knows a lot and seems to be involved in everything. at the end of the episode she broke down once she found out that Garrett was no longer being charged with the murder. What does she have against Garrett if he isn't guilty? maybe that she will now be the one in the spot light? for those PLL fans, share your thoughts!

SOA (sons of anarchy) starts September 11th! GET READY!

Happy Wednesday!

XOXO The Stephens

Bieber Fever

yes, that would be a "bieber fever" birthday cake....ryan's sweet niece, Jayce, has already established the type of guy she likes...the bieber types. as a kindergartener she is pretty certain that she is in love with him, and decided that she wanted a Justin Bieber birthday party. the beebs was quite popular at this birthday bash. the bieber fever birthday for miss Jayce took place at Skateland, and everyone had a blast.  ryan's sister, casey, and i decided we were determined to out skate the young ones, and reflect back on our 7th grade days where we spent our Saturday nights at Skateland....shuffling. for those of you who don't know about shuffling, you are misisng out. :) of course shuffling these days is quite different, apparently, as the regulars were quick to correct us. we attempted to show them our 7th grade ways, and requested "The Dity" by paperboy...and they had NO CLUE what it was. are you kidding! omg! I thought everyone was aware of "The Dity" song! we officially felt really...really old, and settled for Vanilla Ice. the birthday girl was happy, and we had such a great time. we are so blessed with amazing family. below are some of the candid's we snapped of the partay. 

the birthday girl right before heading to the party :) giving nonnie a little pose. so sweet!

 

miss payton is ready to skate! her very first time on skates. so sweet!

aunt Pam is explaining how the skates work and sweet payton is listening really closely :)

success! she is loving it. my mother-in-law, carol, and ryan's grandma are helping payton get started.

then payton decided she liked the race car game a little more than the skates :)

brayden loved skating. this was his first time on skates and by the end of it, he was skating all by himself...at 2 years old. he  kept saying "im doing it guys"....such a cutie! precious...these are the moments we will remember forever.

Casey and i had a lot of fun :) we forgot how much fun we used to have in 7th grade at good ole' skateland.

we may have had even more fun than the kids...HAHA!

Kameron decided he didn't want to wait for the cake to be cut. LOL! what a cutie.

Jayce, the birthday girl, decided to go ahead and join in.

Jayce got tons of dolls, hello kitty items, and of course...Justin Bieber things. even a Justin Bieber doll, which came with his CD.  she left the party carrying the doll and her new Justin Bieber backpack. love it. definitely Bieber Fever going on around here.

Payton cheering everyone on! so precious.

all in all, the birthday party was a huge success and we all had a wonderful time. we really enjoy family time and i couldn't think of any better way to spend the afternoon. the kids grow so fast and i can't believe jayce is almost in kindergarten. such a sweet, big girl. happy birthday Jayce Ann...uncle Ry Ry and Aunt NaNa love you.

XOXO The Stephens