Xander 15 months OLD!

Well, my "baby" is 15 months old now! I can't believe it!!! He is growing up WAY to fast!

We had our Dr Appt and Dr. Burns said he was "incredibly smart!" I already knew that, but that he was developmentally about a two year old! She said the way he analyzes things and the way he understand what you are telling him are things a two year old does! :) I don't remember the exact numbers, but I know he is 50% for his weight (we FINALLY moved up from the 30%!!!) and 92% for height (yep, he's gonna be tall like his Daddy!).

Here are a few things about him:

Likes:

• Watching cartoon on his big sister's bed (because he can now CLIMB ON THERE, so there is NO stopping him now!)


• Cars or anything with wheels.


• Climbing on EVERYTHING. He already has a few battle wounds for those adventures.


• Chasing the dogs. Poor Toby just can't get his legs to work as fast as they need to to get away from Xander! LOL!!


• Pushing things. Whether it is the empty toy crate, a car, or his sister's grocery cart!!


• Running outside! Since the weather is beautiful down here, he can play outside a little more and loves to run around (which usually ends up with him chasing the dogs in the backyard!)


• ALL FOOD!!! He has FINALLY become a great eater!!! However, he does prefer Daddy to hold him while he eats! LOL!


• Patty-Cake! He LOVES when we do patty-cake!! He even does it himself!!!!
  BOOKS, he LOVES books!! Which I LOVE because he will actually SIT STILL for me to read a book to him!
  Baths- I think he might be part fish


• Giving Kisses! Which Mama LOVES to receive! :)


• Hugs- He will give you a hug and then pat you on the back!


• Pillows! He LOVES pillows!! He will pull a pillow off the couch just to put it on the ground and lay on it!


• K-State (OK maybe he doesn't' know he loves them yet, but he does say "Go Cats!")
  
  

Dislikes:

• Timeout. However, if I say timeout he will walk over to the timeout wall and sit down, but KEEPING him there is the problem! :) He does look awful cute sitting in timeout!


• When his sister isn't sharing. Xander may be two years younger than Breckyn, but he can pretty much let her know when he is NOT happy with her! LOL! Let the WWE matches begin!
  

Things we are working on:

• We will begin the FUN of Potty Training soon! I am NOT looking forward to this, and I am PRAYING that Ms. Patty at the daycare will work her magic on him like she did Breckyn!


• BIG BOY BED!!!!! We will be converting his crib into his Toddler bed soon as well!! Probably after the new year!


• Talking more. Xander completely understands what you are saying to him, but he will reply with doing what you are asking, or by looking at you and smiling! LOL!! :) He words right now are "Mama, Dada, Sissy, Papa, Fish, Lola, Tobe-Tobe (Toby the dog), Cats (as in GO CATS!), bottle" Dr. Burns said he was fine with the words, but it seems like Breckyn was a jabber box when she was his age! LOL! I have NO idea where she got that from either, must be the Steele side! ;)

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from the Steele's

Christmas Vacation!

We Celebrated Christmas at Thanksgiving this year with my family and this kids brought home a TON of new toys!! We stayed with my Grandma Pike, who was celebrating her first Holiday without Grandpa-which was hard on ALL of us, and had a blast!! My niece Deanna came and stayed with us and Breckyn was in heaven!!! Someone close to her OWN age to play with!

Breckyn and Deanna playing dolls!

His new choo-choo train!!!

Xander was pretty excited about all his new toys!

This Christmas was FULL of fun things! Our church did a Night in Bethlehem again, which was a BLAST! Breckyn got to make a necklace, top, wreath for her head, "bread," and some pottery!

Breckyn coloring her Top!

Mommy and Breckyn Making a necklace!

Mommy and Breckyn making our pottery!

Breckyn helped me start to decorate the tree this year for Christmas!! We had a blast!! This Christmas was so much fun!!! Linda and Keith (Strider's parents) came down to celebrate with us! I think the kids pretty much made out like pretty darn good!

Breckyn helping decorate the Christmas Tree!

Breckyn helping Xander decorate the tree!

Xander's new four wheeler from Mimi Dedra

Xander's new Choo-Choo from Santa (AKA Grandma and Grandpa Pike)

Breckyn's bike from Santa (AKA Grandma and Grandpa Pike)

Xander update!

Xander is such a big boy!! He was in the 95% for height and 30% for weight. Tall and skinny. Which looking back were the same exact stats as Breckyn was at one year!!! :) He wasn't allowed to get any shots though, because he STILL has strep throat. UGH! So, we have to wait a couple weeks and then take him back. But other than that he is fit as a fiddle!!! He has four teeth right now. Two on top and two on bottom, but working on three more (two K-9's) and one on bottom. He isn't walking all the time just yet, but it's pretty darn close. He loves to steal whatever his sister has and then play the victim when she steals it back. I can see many battles in the Steele house that will happen soon! :) But his favorite thing is to play with Breckyn. He gets so excited when she actually lets him play! LOL!! He isn't talking a ton yet, but his new words are Xander, brother, and sister. He loves to clap and his smile is so heart melting. He is such a great boy and we are so blessed!!!

Breckyn Update

Well, we are officially three!!! Strider took her to her three year check up and like we knew she is perfect in every way!!! She was in the 95% for height and 60% for weight!! She grew FIVE INCHES in the last year!!!! She is such a little girl now, too. She is no longer my baby, or even a toddler!! :( But she is so smart and loving!!! I just can't believe my baby is growing up so fast!!!

Baby Goat

While back in Kansas for my Grandpa's funeral my Sister in law brought over Lucky, their baby goat!!! She was such a sweetheart!!! Xander and Breckyn loved her!!!

Breckyn petting Lucky


Xander petting lucky!

Breckyn, Matthew, and Lucky playing tag!

Alumni Band-Yep I twirled! :)

September 17th I was honored to be able to get to step foot on the KSU Football field again!!! I twirled with the alumni band and relived the glory days!!! :) It was a great weekend that I got to spend with my best friend, Lindsay, for a much needed girls weekend!!! Good times!

Seeing double? NOPE! THAT IS ME ON THAT BILLBOARD!!!! :) 6 Years and they still can't get rid of me in Manhattan, KS!! :)

My Best Friend Lindsay and I!

Doing some three baton for an Alumni Band Performance!

Alumni and the current Twirlers, Katelyn and Lauren

(FYI, Lauren was a candle lighter in my wedding!!)

Shannon, Lindsay,and Me! Shannon was my coach!

My Daddy came to watch! I was so excited

that he came to watch me.... and the football game! :)

Grandpa

I knew that one day I would lose my Grandparents, but even though I knew he was in failing health, I wasn't ready. My Grandpa was such a huge person in my life growing up. He taught me so many things. One thing I know he was proud of was teaching me to fish. LOL! Fishing was his passion and having us fishing with him made it even better. I remember it like it was yesterday too. We were out in the boat, and I had my brother's orange and white snoopy fishing pole. Grandpa told me to hold down the button and then "let go" when you "cast it." So, I literally let go and the pole when right into the water! LOL!! We couldn't even get to it in time to save it. I remember being so upset that I lost Chris' fishing pole because I knew he was going to be so mad at me! LOL!! A story that has been told for YEARS is a story I am going to tell my kids as well. :) But I also remember Grandpa laughing and reassuring me that it was OK and we can get Chris a new pole! LOL! He was such a strong, stubborn man who was going to do things in his own time, and no one was going to tell him when to do things! Which is probably where I get my "little" bit of stubbornness! ;) But after years of fighting a hard fight with his health he is at peace. I wasn't prepared for it even though I knew it was coming. But I do have to say, he looked so at peace at the funeral. He isn't in pain anymore and I am sure he up in heaven, in a boat, catching fish and drinking a beer! I am blessed that I have some amazing memories with him that I can share with my kids. Also, I have some great pictures of the kids with my grandparents as well. And anytime I miss my Grandpa all I have to do is look at Xander's ears, because they are a spitting image of my grandpa's! :) My Grandpa told me that when GOD was handing out ears he thought they said Beers and asked for two big ones! :) I will miss that man for than anyone knows, but I blessed to have had him in my life for almost thirty years, and I am comforted in knowing that he KNEW how much I loved him and how proud he was of me with the woman/mother I have become. RIP Grandpa, you will be missed everyday.

Xander and Grandpa

Breckyn giving Grandpa hugs

Giving Grandpa Kisses

Day at the Park

After an extremely HOT HOT HOT summer it finally "cooled" down enough to take the kids to the park! We went to the little park at our church! Breckyn always asks to play on the ship after church and it has just been to hot and we are hungery after church! LOL! :)

Need a Ride?

WEEEE!!!

Birthday Party!!!!

September has been a very busy month for us!!! But it is also BIRTHDAY MONTH for my two favorite people! :) Breckyn turned THREE and Xander turned ONE!!! It was so much fun and we are so blessed with some really great friends and family!!!

Maybe just ONE bite... One BIG BITE!!

So GOOD!

That is Yummy Mommy!!! Can I have more? PLEASE?!!!!!

He LOVED the tissue paper!


YAY For for Presents!

Princess on her Present Thrown! :)

Which one to open next?!!

Cupcake Face!!!


My cute little man!

All smiles after all those amazing presents!!!

After a hard day of opening presents it's time to relax playing washers!

This Blog is for you Dedra and Teresa!

So, it was brought to my attention that I have been a bad blogging mama lately! LOL! :) So get ready for the updates of all updates! LOL!!


August has been a pretty crazy month for us!!! After my not so exciting vacation to Colorado I went back to work only to find otu a week later that AGAIN I had strep throat. UGH! So, I thought, I will just take the kids in to be on the safe side. Then Breckyn told me her "Tongue" hurt, and pointed to her throat. GRRR!!! So, we went to the doctor and BOTH kids had Strep throat. Then with a little less than a threat on his life, Strider decided to go to the doctor to get tested as well. So we were FOUR for FOUR with Strep Throat! Not something I like to be four for four on! LOL!! But with all of us on medication we are hopefully on the mend!! :)

Now for the for stuff!! Breckyn started PRESCHOOL!!!! She has a uniform and everything she has to wear!!! I took her on Monday (August 23) to her first day. We got donuts before just as a special treat!! She was so excited to get to wear her "Princess Pack-Pack," too! LOL! :)

Breckyn before school showing off her "Pack-Pack"


Such a big girl!


My baby is silly!

So Then on Tuesday we had our Cheer/Dance Recital!! Breckyn was the youngest by at LEAST three years, but she did so good!! I was such a proud Mama!! She stayed out there and danced and cheered her little heart out! :) She even did a little improv in there, too!! I am positive we have a performer on our hands!!!

Before leaving!!

Practicing before the Recital!

Hands on Your Hips, Smiles on Your Lips! :)

Breckyn doing her Jump!! She did so GOOD!!

I KNOW what you are all thinking. What about twirling?! Well, she definitely had a blast performing, and don't worry we are still working on our "lessons," but she is still just a little to young right now to twirl. But in a couple years she is going to be WELL on her way to working toward becoming a second Generation KSU Twirler! :)