Fall so far....

Here are a few shots from our fall so far. We were lucky enough to go to a few of the Angels playoff games. At the last one we ended up taking Sydney with us and she was a great little girl. We've also visited the pumpkin patch and went to Mickey's Trick or Treat at California Adventure with a big group of family and friends. Sydney's ladybug costume is so cute and she seems to like it. Halloween night we are going to the Schalliol's for a party with friends and all the kids...we are looking forward to it. Darren and I also just planned our first overnight trip without Sydney. We got tickets to the Garth Brooks show in Vegas for late January. We are staying at the Wynn for a couple nights and are really looking forward to getting away. It will be a b-day celebration for Darren as well. Pam and Brent are joining us so it should be great.

Summer 2009

What a busy summer we had! We spent a lot of time at the beach, hanging out by the pool, going to the river and hanging out with friends and family, all the while watching Sydney grow!

As much as I want her to stay small forever, I have to say the older she gets the more fun she has become! She is 5 1/2 months and will be 6 months on 9/28 - I can't believe how fast the time has gone! She's been sitting up on her own for a little over a week, riding in the big girl part of her strollers and getting cuter by the minute. She is a very happy baby that smiles and laughs a lot and she is also a great sleeper. It is such a great feeling to put her to bed at night knowing she won't get up until 6:30 - 7am. She still loves her baths and the water in general. We went to the river over the Labor Day holiday, which was her 3rd trip to the river and she did great. So far she isn't showing any signs of wanting to crawl, which I am happy about, but she does seem to be teething. She loves to hang out with her cousins and her cousins LOVE her too! All three of them swarm her and usually Avery and Brady are fighting over who gets to hold her first. She also loves her grammie, poppie and grandma's and grandpa. We are so lucky that they seem happy to babysit her, giving us time to have date nights or couples nights out.


Some days I do miss work, and especially my paychecks....but it's such a blessing to be able to stay home with Sydney and watch her grow. I go to my first MOPS meeting next week so I am looking forward to some time with friends and it'll be good for Sydney to hang out with some other babies. Hope everyone is doing well!

Sydney 3 months already!!!

It's amazing how fast 3 months has gone by. Sydney is such a sweetheart. She is usually a content, happy baby and sleeping 8 hours at night - which equals a happy mommy! Becoming a parent is everything people tell you it will be, and so much more.

Stewardson party of 3...

Here are some misc. pictures from Sydney's first couple of weeks and Easter. Hope everyone is doing well!

Sydney Grace is here!

Sydney arrived 6 days early (mommy thanks her) on March 28 at 2:46pm. She was 7 lbs. 2 oz. and measured 20 inches long. I had a pretty easy labor, thank you epidural, and a great staff of nurses and doctors at St. Jude. So far Sydney has been a great baby and has made it fairly easy on Darren and I to adjust to being parents. What a blessing it is to have a hubby like Darren! He is super hands on with Sydney and is really helpful with the baby, housework and helping me recovery from labor! He was able to take 2 weeks off from work and that was such a big help. Breastfeeding proved to be a bit difficult for the first week, but after that both Sydney and I got it and now she is pigging out and getting big already. Becoming a parent is everything people tell you it is, but so much more! We can't wait to continue the adventure....

38 weeks!

I am 38 weeks today. Yesterday I saw my doctor and I am dilated to 3 cm. Hopefully it won't be long until little Sydney is welcomed to the world. I am ready!

Baby Shower # 3 - March 7

Thank you mom, Amanda and Louise for putting on my 3rd and final baby shower! It was such a beautiful shower!! Sydney is going to be one loved little girl with people like you in her life. : )

Baby shower March 21

Wanted to share a few photos of my baby shower on Feb. 21. It was hosted by Pam, Noel and Nickie and Nic was nice enough to open up her beautiful house to my family and friends. The 3 of them did an amazing job putting the shower together. I can write about it all day, but the pictures really show how great it was. They even hired a professional crepe maker...Yum! I am so blessed to have such great friends and family. Thank you to everyone who attended!

37 weeks....3 to go!

Check out that belly! Sydney is running out of room to move in there.

34 weeks pregnant....and laid off from my job!

Today was an interesting day at work to say the least. We all knew lay offs were coming, but I honestly never expected it to me. I've been at Ingram Micro for 8 1/2 years and had survived several waves of lay-offfs throughout the years. Surely, being 8 1/2 months pregnant and less than 3 weeks away from my maternity leave starting would keep me safe. WRONG! My entire team is being restructured and me and 2 other friends from my project management team were laid off - that was 1/2 of our team. The good news is I will still get my paid maternity leave and several weeks of severance and I'll be at work until my maternity leave starts on March 7. The bad news....I'll have no job to come back to after my maternity leave ends. But I know that everything happens for a reason and that God has a plan for me, so I am just trying to see all the positives I can with the current situation. Maybe this is a kick in the pants that I should be a full time at home mom. Time will determine what our next moves will be.

On a happier note...I am 6 weeks away from my due date and we are making great progress on Sydney's room! It's finally starting to look like a nursery. : ) I also have another baby shower on Saturday. Ironically I had my first shower at work just last Friday...what timing. Pam, Nickie and Noel are throwing the shower on Saturday and I can't wait. From what they have told me it should be a lot of fun. It's weird that a baby shower is actually for me. I've helped plan and put on so many baby showers that it's hard for me to sit back and not doing anything for my own shower!

-Melissa

30 weeks....10 to go!

Christmas Party at the Shirleys

Ornament Hanging Party at The Lachers

Christmas 2008

This past Christmas season proved another busy one for Darren and I. We were lucky enough to spend a lot of time with family and friends at several parties and gatherings. It was also our last Christmas of "freedom" as we called it, or our last one as just a couple. We logged a lot of miles driving back and forth from Fullerton/YL to HB, but luckily the drive doesn't bother us too much. It may be a bit harder to travel as much next year, but we'll see.

On the pregnancy front, I have been feeling pretty good for the most part. It's hard to slow down during the holidays when you're pregnant. There is always something to do what with the shopping, wrapping, decorating, baking and parties to go to and I have a hard time not doing everything I would normally do. Besides some lower back pain here and there and of course getting tired sometimes, I've had a relatively easy pregnancy, knock on wood. : )

I'll be 27 weeks on New Year's Day so I am closing in on the third trimester. I still feel like I have so much to do before our little girl arrives. Our office is still an office and needs to be cleaned out and organized so we can get started on the nursery. My nana is making the crib bedding so I've started seeking out the perfect fabric for that and need to get everything mailed up to Oregon so she can put it together. I want to do the room in black, white and raspberry pink. I have so many ideas in my mind and I can't wait to get started putting it all together. Guess that's it for now!

Happy Thanksgiving!

With the state of the economy this may not be the best Thanksgiving for some. But I recently received an email from a co-worker that reminded me how lucky we all are, just to leave in this great country. Even with the financial crisis, people losing their homes and jobs, the U.S. is still the best country in the world.

With that said I can look into my small part of the world and be thankful for so many blessings this year.

1. An amazing marriage! I can honestly say that I have married my soul mate. Darren is such a special person and together we share love and laughter every day.
2. An awesome family! I couldn't have a better family to have grown up with. My mom and dad are always going out of their way to do something for me or others and they are both amazing parents. I am also lucky enough to get a long so well with my both my sisters. Having a great extended family is also a blessing.
3. Our little girl in the making. I can only imagine how much we'll love our little girl when she arrives.
4. Our jobs! I know we sometimes complain about having to go to work, but aren't we lucky to have a good job right now.
5. Friends. Having a great core group of friends makes life so much better.
6. The little things in life - hot showers, blankets, a fire place, the beach, a good night kiss, slippers, dessert, hugs, flowers, music, etc, etc....