he was a nice boy

Little boys come in all shapes and sizes,
Shy and adventurous, full of surprises,
With misshapen halos and mischievous grins,
Small dirty faces, and sweet, sticky chins.
They'll keep you so busy, and yet all the while
Nothing can brighten the world like their smile.
And no greater treasure has brought homes more joy
Than a curious, active, and lovable boy!

Pneumonia

I visited the doctors earlier today and found out that I had pneumonia. I had been wondering why I couldn't shake this cough and I was short of breath, etc.

Now I know. At least I know I'm not just a big wimp with a plain old cold.

Please pray I get better soon.

little knight

Daddy got Oliver this sword and he absolutely loves it. It's made of foam so it doesn't hurt. It was cracking me up that is twice his size, but he still waves it around like he's a macho man.

Oliver came down the stairs Saturday morning in style. 

Everything but the kitchen sink

A typical day for Oliver and I consists of waking up, getting dressed, and mommy stopping Oliver from eating everything. 

With all of my previous experience with babies I don't remember any of the children in my life eating as many strange things as Oliver and as often.

Pictured here is him getting caught eating the corner of the goldfish box. Not the snack inside just the yummy cardboard.

Some other favorites:

- dead ladybugs

  - hair   

-fuzz

       -any paper

-cell phone

-hair brush

-highchair

-guitar

-couch

-any form of wood

-hammer

-zippers....

and I could keep going          

Sunshine! Oliver spending some time with Grandma Becky on the back deck.

This kind of reminds me of baby bear " ... and this chair is just right... "

Time outside

In the early part of last week we had a few days that were in the mid - upper 70's so we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's to play outside.

This is Sampson, my parent's English Mastive

Oliver loves being outside but is not so fond of the grass

When sitting in the grass with his socks and shoes off, Oliver will stick his feet up in the air, and when standing he'll alternate feet so that both feet are not touching the ground.

Oliver sick.....again

Oliver starting getting sick Saturday night and Mark and I took shifts all day Sunday snuggling him. He is especially a Daddy's boy when he's not feeling good.

Oliver's Mercedes Benz Convertible

Grandma Kelly found Oliver his first convertible. 

He loves it. Too bad it's not big enough for Mommy and Daddy to ride in too.

OLIVER'S FIRST EASTER

The night before Easter we headed over to my parent's house to dye Easter Eggs.

Mom getting the eggs ready

The littles

Oliphant's first egg!

Seconds later it hit the floor with a loud "splat!".

Nan and I

LJ and Nan

He chose Blue.

what a perfect little egg

At the end of the night an ice fight irrupted and we all ended up very cold.

Why then, you ask, is there a pepperoni on your forehead? Mark got carried away.

On Sunday we were supposed to head to my Aunt & Uncle's for our traditional brunch, but later Saturday night Oliver came down with a fever so we ended up staying home. No egg hunt:( At least next year he'll understand and enjoy it more.

Happy Birthday Grandpa Melby!

Mark's Grandpa Melby turned 85 this weekend.  He's still sharp as a tack. 

There were tons of people crammed into Melby's house celebrating with him.

Swimming

We recently got free week passes to a nearby fitness club, so on Saturday we took Oliver swimming for the first time. 

There was a nice "warm" pool so it wasn't too cold for Oliver. 

He splashed and splashed. He eventually figured out that splashing us got a reaction so we became the main targets.

What a fun way to spend a cool spring morning. We all enjoyed ourselves. 

We forgot to get the little swimmer's, so his diaper was about as full as it could possibly get.

Prayer Request

I just quickly wanted to ask for prayer for the completion of our home.

Our move-in goal is memorial day weekend. Through God all things are possible! I, we want and need it to be finished.

Please pray that we will have patience in the mean time and wisdom and strength to get it all done.

I think it's safe to say we are planning on having an insulation party April 25 or 26th. If anyone is willing and available please let me know.

616-780-3318 or brittanystagg@yahoo.com

We'll feed you pizza and provide drinks, etc.

Breakfast duo

See-Food (no, I did not teach him that)

Mommy's fruit salad...

Oliphant's fruit salad

"why is the cork on the fork..." 

Oliver working on feeding himself

A favorite pastime

We love going to Lisa and Ivan's for games and dinner.

Since we don't have our own house yet they're always the ones doing the cooking. 

This particular night we played Sorry!

Who knew this could be such a crazy game. We were screaming and yelling

Lisa was sure that the boys were cheating....

.....no, no they weren't. Ivan ended up winning.

After dinner we dove into Lisa's amazing German Chocolate Cake with toasted coconut. Yum! She is such a good cook.

I got a call from Lisa yesterday informing us that Ivan accepted a new job in Philadelphia. (sniff, sniff)

We were praying for him and God's will to be done. I know this is an awesome opportunity for them and wish them the best of luck.

However, we are going to miss them tons! 

In case anyone reading this does not know, Mark has known Lisa since they were 2 and she is technically his first wife ;)

Lisa and I met in Jr. High and have been best friends since. We met Ivan not long after the two had been dating and we fell in love with him as well. 

For some odd reason God has allowed us to follow them wherever moved to.

They were in MI and I van was going to SMAT, not long after Mark and I moved two doors down.

Then they moved back to WI to Milwaukee, and whadya know we bought a house not 10 minutes away. So, now that they're moving again we're joking about finding a house in Philly ourselves. (not really though) 

We love you guys! 

two of a kind....

The other day Mark and Oliver decided to wait in the car while

I ran into the grocery store. This is what I found when I came out.

Believe it or not, I was only in the store for 20 minutes.

Oliver has been spending a lot of time standing lately. He's on those little feet a 

good portion of the day.

This is his favorite spot to practice, and sometimes he'll get brave enough to hold on with 

one hand.

Thats his "I'm cool" face

Little "Yilly"

Lilly with her crazy good looking uncle

I think she has to be the smiliest baby I've ever seen

Reagan guarding herself from the inevitable vomit bath

Marriage and Puzzles

I just had to share this.

Mark and I have been married for 3 years and this Saturday we'll celebrate our 8th year dating.

At this point you think you've pretty much covered each others likes and dislikes but this weekend I was proved wrong.

While looking for a game at the store Mark stopped in front of the puzzles and excitedly announced " We should get a puzzle! I love puzzles!" I then replied 'who are you and what have you done with my husband?' 

"No really" he said "every time I think of it I look for airplane puzzles....."

The conversation and my disbelief went on for several moments.

We ended up finding a 1000 piece puzzle and started working in it last night. I realize this probably sounds terribly nerdy but it has been so nice to spend time together doing something with 0 stress and still be able to carry on a conversation.

So, in short if you're looking for something relaxing to do with your spouse or significant other you might give a puzzle a try.

A sidenote: If you drop a piece and your 10 month old chews on it, you most likely will not get it to fit right.

Finally Crawling

Oliver turned 10 months on April 4th. That night we put him down on the kitchen floor and he started to crawl! I couldn't believe it. It's like he's been doing it forever. What a turkey.

He's moving around so much more now even when he's just being held. He'll climb up me using my hips and shoulders and steps. 

This morning was the first time he was at the office since he's crawled. Oh boy! Am I in trouble. 

Life is getting more and more interesting.