Quick note

Brooke and Eric decided on a name for their firstborn: Jack Waldrop Stevenson (Waldrop is a family name). Congratulations to them! Jack has had to be under a bili blanket at home to help with his jaundice, and just yesterday the doctors said that his bilirubin count was low enough that he can come out--yay!

Savior of the World is coming up, opening night is tomorrow, and I am really excited. Hope to see some of you there!

Brooke and Eric's addition: an update

Here's some super cute pictures of the newest Barrus grandchild. He still doesn't have a name, but Jack, Clark, and Edward are all in the running.

He DOES look like me!

My mom sent me some pictures they took when I was 3 months old, the same age as Scott right now. Everyone always says that Scott looks just like Brandon (and I agree), but these pictures show just how much of his mom Scott has in him! On the left is Scott and on the right is me.








And, for good measure, here are some newborn pictures of Scott (top) and Brandon (bottom).






On Grandma Sharon's shoulder...


on Mama Sharon's shoulder.

Getting so big!

Scott is growing up so fast! He's loved to stand on our laps while we hold him up since he was about 2 months old. A few days ago our neighbor gave us an exersaucer-type toy, and I knew Scott would love it from the minute I first propped him in it with a rolled blanket. See for yourself:

He's SO happy to be able to "stand" by himself!

Very interested in his rattle.

He is already grasping and getting things to his mouth...isn't he a genius?

Surreptitious gnawing :)

Sharing his rattle with Mom. What a sweet boy.

It's a big toy and takes up a lot of our little apartment, but it's worth it. Scott is so happy, and I cleaned the whole bathroom yesterday while he watched me from his standing position, never a peep of annoyance that I wasn't holding him. Hooray!

He ain't camera shy, that's for sure

Scott makes the most precious melt-your-heart-by-sticking-out-his-lower-lip faces when he is sad; Bran and I decided we needed to capture them for posterity and Scott's first date. We laid in wait for him to become agitated (let's be honest, we didn't have to wait long) and started snapping photos. I swear, all these pictures are taken within seconds of each other.

A very sad life. Poor Scott.

More of the same.

Oh! ALMOST got the cute lip action!

"Wait, what's Dad doing?" Check out the little tear rolling down his cheek.

Aaaaaand now he's completely happy, captivated by the camera.

So we didn't get any cute pouty pictures, but we did discover a way to make Scott happy when he's getting fussy. Ah, what a funny baby.

The newest family member

Here is a video of Brooke and Eric's new baby boy, born June 20 at 7:28AM (right on his due date!), weighing in at 8 lbs. 13 oz. and measuring 19" long. To clarify, Brooke is Brandon's sister.




This is so adorable; it brings me right back to the day Scott was born. Congratulations, Stevensons!

Hug your kid(s)

Sunday's Deseret Morning News ran a very sad feature story about Utah couple and their 2-year old daughter.

Last year, she was diagnosed with metachromatic leukodystrophy, and I can't even imagine going through this with Scott.

Give it a read.

A Curious Resemblance

"The Twins"

Hee hee, we have a monkey child, there is no denying it. And he is CUTE.

Our Little 40-year-old

Just had to share this quick--Scott looks like he has a huge receding hairline when we wash his hair. That, combined with his little old man face, makes him look like he could wear a tie and pack an attache with the best of the white collars.

New console table

So, I've been wanting a console table for some time now (for those of you who don't spend your spare time watching HGTV, that's a table that can flank a wall or the back of a couch). Tables such as these cost upwards of $200 at "normal" furniture stores, and still above $100 at discount stores like Wal Mart. So when I saw this one for $55 at the Super Wal Mart in Idaho Falls, I decided to snatch it up. I got an extra $10 off for some flaws in the top (it was the display model), and it was mine for a bargain! I think the whole tablescape turned out very cute, and the storage is nice and keeps junk from piling up in back of the couch as it was wont to do before. I also love that we can now display our beautiful light-up Salt Lake Temple and a cute wedding picture. Hooray for new furniture!

The splash park

I've been wanting to take Scott to the splash park a block from our house practically since he was born; now that the 6 foot snow drifts are melted (and it's only snowed once this week!), I figured I could finally take him. Here are some pictures from the trip (thanks, Brandon!).

It was very sunny (yay!).

Scott didn't quite know what to think of all the loud water and screaming kids.

It was also windy and still a little too cold for a 3-month-old (Brandon was right all along).

We didn't end up going in the water, but here is Scott's reaction to his first outing at the splash park.

We will definitely try this again, especially when it starts getting REALLY hot. There is also a fun carousel at this park, so we'll have to try that one of these days, too. We saw Sunny and Ruby there, and got to chat with them for just a little bit, which was really nice.

And just to compare Scott so you can see how much he's grown, here's some pictures from when he was a month-and-a-half; he is now 3 months old.

ALWAYS gets one or both of his arms out while he's sleeping.

He doesn't even fit those PJ's anymore!

Still the same characteristic grimace. :)

Internship update

I started my internship for the Idaho Falls Post-Register almost two weeks ago now. So far, so good, though I'm not enjoying the commute to IF five days a week. After working from home (commute time: four seconds), making the 30+ minute drive one-way is taking some getting used to.

Not to mention the fact that there's tons of construction on Highway 20. After the snow and ice melted off the highway a few months ago, nasty cracks started showing up for long stretches. I'm guessing the process of ice melting and freezing over and over on the road made these cracks and then worsened them. That's what you get for not consistently plowing your streets, Idaho.

Anyway, it looks like they're completing ripping up all four lanes (two each way), and making a new road entirely. It's restricted to one lane for at least half of the 30-mile stretch between here and IF, both ways. Normally this isn't too big of a problem, but for some reason they aren't working on the overpasses, so every time they have to transition from road they're working on to overpass, the road elevates about eight inches in the form of a small ramp. And then once you're over the overpass, it ramps back down again. This happens about 10 times from IF to Rexburg.

If I take these ramps at anything over 40, bad things happen to my car's suspension.

Overall, not good times.

Commute aside, work is great so far. I've covered minor-minor league baseball, written stories about high school players of the year for tennis and golf, and even gone to a high school football All-star game.

The atmosphere is very laid back... I'm one of only four people who do sports for the paper, and my boss is a great guy. He treats me like a regular staff member, so I'm not fetching coffee or anything. I'm the only member on staff, too, which is somewhat interesting, but not an issue.

This week I'll be covering the Idaho High School Rodeo Finals in Pocatello. I'm doing a feature story on a couple kids who've done this since the day there were born. Pretty interesting.

A good experience thus far. Ten more weeks to go.

Playtime in Pictures

Scott LOVES this mobile. Every time we begin winding it up, he grins so big!

His favorite is the red elephant. Thanks, Grandma Tammi!

Scott also loves his toy from Grandma Sharon.

"Hi, Mom! Just playin' away!"

Scott can do about 10 minutes on his tummy, and then he's done. :)

Back time is fun, too.

A "Scott's-eye" view. He likes to look at himself in the mirror.

Bathtime is also lots of fun. We've graduated from the sink to the tub, and Scott loves kicking his legs in the water.

"I'm a little monkey boy!" Thanks for the cute towel, Aunt Amy.

And the best game of all is watching basketball with Dad. What a treat!

Pictures by the Falls

For Joe's Eagle Court of Honor, we had a lot of family come into Idaho Falls. My uncle Eddie, an excellent photographer (he took many beautiful pictures at our wedding) took some family photos of us all on the Greenbelt. In back of us are the falls that Idaho Falls is named for, and in the distance across the river blending in the with the clouds, you can barely make out the Idaho Falls Temple. It was a nice time and we got some really nice pictures.

Scott was a little fussy at the time, but at least he wasn't crying. :)

You can see the temple a little better in this one.

I absolutely love this one of all the sibs.

And the little Barrus fam. Scott is eating his fists, his new favorite pastime.