Lucia's 1st Birthday!!!

Yes, our little firecracker turned 1 on July 4th! I have to say I am
in disbelief...I thought the time would go slower somehow. We had such a
wonderful day celebrating you and the amazing little girl you have become!
Charlie and I love family get-togethers and we love surrounding our children
with people who love them. Charlie's family and my parents spent
the day with us helping celebrate miss Lulu and all of her glory.

Lulu LOVED her cupcake...she ate the WHOLE thing! Charlie and my
dad asked her if she liked the cupcake and she nodded her head yes! Then we asked
her if she was happy and she nodded her head yes again!
Too cute!

Cousins Ambriah and Grace....Nico had a big bite of
icing in his mouth!

Our little Lucia Angelina, we love you sooo much and are so blessed
to have you as our daughter. Watching you grow in your first year has
been incredible....you're such a happy girl! You really are amazing and
have made our family complete. Thank you for being you...and know
that we adore and love you so very much!

On the Run

Things have been relatively smooth lately...which has me on gaurd a bit! The kids love playing outside with buddy, the water, and anything dangerous:) Nico's vocabulary has increased so much since his speech therapy started and it is amazing how much he has to say about everything. We took the kids to our neice's dance recital and they both LOVED it....Lulu fell asleep but Nico clapped and cheered the whole time! Then we went to a carnival...yes, I am always up for carnival food and entertainment...but we weren't sure what to expect from Mr. Nico. He wanted to go on every ride and didn't have an ounce of fear! There was this one ride that was a fire truck and went in a big circle and then stopped at the top.....Nico started to climb out of his seat and I started to scream! Luckily he sat back down and finished the ride without injury.

Here are some pics of random events etc. I just can't believe how big both of them are getting.

I look at the pictures last summer of Nico and he seemed so little! Lulu has caught the summertime tradition and loves corn on the cobb and watermelon! She is one determined little

girl and fights to the end to get what she wants! A couple of saturdays ago we went down to Castle Rock and bought her first pair of shoes! I really didn't want to get pink shoes but it was the only color they had. She thinks they are fabulous and walks around looking down at them and then runs into things!

Mother's Day was really special this year! We went to the museum with my

parents and Charlie's mom and then when we came home we played outside in

the pool. This is Lulu in her little strawberry outfit begging to go

outside with her dad and brother.

Yes, this is Nico's favorite Monkey hat....he is finally

okay with sharing it.
I couldn't resist....Nico and Charlie watching Barney and
relaxing! I love their little nuggets!

I think this captures Lulu in her Godzilla moment!
We call her Godzilla because she destroys everything
in her path. Block towers, train tracks, books on shelves...watch out..
here she comes!


Nico helping Lulu by showing her all of the buttons on the
fire truck. Now, she pushes Nico around on the fire truck and
giggles the whole time!

Little Buddy

Well, once again I am hoping this will post. For some reason I can't post any of my previous posts.

Lulu is a running machine....most of the time running to get out of Nico's way! :) I really can't believe that Lulu started walking at 9 months and she is talking A LOT! it is so funny to watch the differences between boys and girls. Summer is here and the kids have been enjoying their time outside....which leads me to share the latest news at the Stivers house....we have a new member to our family....no not another baby (are you kidding me!)....a baby duck we named buddy! Nico and Lulu had been going everynight down to the little pond by our house with Charlie to feed the ducks. Well, a male and female duck started following them home to our house and Charlie and I suspected that the female had laid some eggs. Sure enough...the ducklings hatched and everyone was sooooo excited. Charlie had taken the kids down the path to find the ducklings. The mama duck was with her 4 little ducklings....and one of them had a deformed leg that kept him from keeping up with the others. Charlie and his big heart knew that he wouldn't make it through the night with all the foxes and coyotes sooooooo he brought him home.

Yes we are now the proud parents of Buddy the duck. Nico is completely head over heals for this duck and calls out for him in his sleep. It really melts my heart. Yes I know a duck is the last thing we needed at our house....but he really is too cute.

Little Lulu

I have been trying to post some stories and have not been able to so here we go again!
Lucia has decided she is going to be on the fast track....and keep up with Nico...she has left Charlie and I with our mouths wide open...asking each other, "did you see that?" She is clapping now, climbing stairs, almost walking, waving bye bye, saying bye, making up cute little games to play with anyone willing to participate. I found her yesterday inside the dog toy bin playing happily with all of the dog toys. We had them Baptised yesterday and I will have that part hopefully with pictures tomorrow. So wonderful to see two little people growing right before your eyes. Amazing. It's funny, when you think of some of your earliest memories and now to have children that age and the memories you want to help create for them. so full of love!

Funny Story

This was a post from 3/25....we have had so many technical difficulties but I decided to post this anyway!

Last Sunday evening, Charlie and I were very focused on a show that we love and it was the series
finale. We really don't watch TV anymore...for all of those out there who remember how much Charlie and I enjoyed watching TV:) Well, Mr. Nico has found his nose and pretends that it is a pocket. He has put all kinds of things in his nose...(thankfully all the things have come out on their own and we haven't ended up in the ER yet) Well, this particular evening he was walking around with a part of a paper towel and pretending that he was blowing his nose...and then he was shoving the paper towel up his nose. On our show it was a very emotional moment and the TV screen was filled with the face of the main character....Nico walked over to the TV and tried to put the paper towel in the man's nose! Charlie and I laughed so hard I was crying!

The picture of Lulu is just because I feel like I have slided her in some way..I don't get to take as many pictures and so I thought I would put this one on this post today. She is starting to stand on her own without holding onto anything and all bets are on that she will be walking at 9 months....really!?

Bus

The Stiver's tumbling and gymnastics school!

Sign up now!

Lulu is refusing to take afternoon naps sometimes.....

the result...

Hanging out in the kitchen with mom

We were visiting Charlie's mom and went for

a walk on Pearl Street in Boulder.

There was the coolest street performer in this dog costume!

Nico was not so sure about the dog!

Nico made a bed for himself

I know that all toddler's seem to have their own language of some sort of gibberish. Nico has been telling us stories that are very intense, funny or exciting. Every now and then we can catch a real word....but it has been a slow go. However since his surgery, he is very chatty and he said bus today! Charlie and I were so excited that we started clapping so he of course made a game out of it and thought it was hilarious! We continue to be so thankful for the difference the surgery made.

Lulu is a little busy body and thinks that she is 2 too! She loves playing and wants anything that her brother has. Thankfully, Nico has become really great at sharing. Lucia always has something to say, especially if she is trying to get your attention! She started climbing the stairs on her own on Monday. Yup, we are in high alert mode again. They both love taking off all of the cushions on the couch and jumping or rolling or pushing each other off. It is really fun to watch. Little miss climbed up on the couch (wuthout the cusions) and celebrated by screeching with sheer joy!

I have to say that things are getting a little easier. There hasn't been a bedtime struggle in awhile and everyone seems to be happy. It's lovely. This is a wonderful chapter in life.

(As I was downloading the pictures for this post, I found about 15 pictures Nico must have taken...really funny!)

Catching Up

Hello there. It's been a long time. Well, we're back! A big thank you to all of you who have encouraged me to continue the blog even though time and some other issues made themselves obstacles. I have thrown to the wind my situation with my brother and his wife and figure that if they do in fact read this...well, then they will know what they are missing out on since they have shut us out of their lives.

Time. Time seems to be in warp speed and I have begged for it to sloooooowwww down. There is so much that has happened that it's hard to find a starting place. 2010 was a crazy year....for many reasons. Nico and Lulu are both doing really well and watching their friendship grow has been such a gift. Really, there were times I thought there would never be harmony in the Stiver's home again....of course I was wrong, but believe me there was some big crazy chaos in this house!

Nico will turn two at the end of the month and he is just a jokester. He continues to climb, jump, and marvel in his own fearlessness. The other day I was playing with him and Lulu and took a quick break on the coach...when I looked over and saw him climbing up onto his lego table where he had stacked his chair and he was just about to sit in the chair when....it slid off sending him flying through the air. He recovered quickly and then we discussed why chairs go on the floor and not on tables:) He had his tonsils, adenoids removed and tubes put in on January 21st. It was a really hard and long recovery but well worth it. He is not in any pain or discomfort anymore and we are truly grateful. The day after Christmas, every joint in his body swelled up and we ended up in the E.R only to find out he is allergic to all the penicillins. Long road...but he is a true fighter.

Lulu is such a happy baby! She is will be 8 months on the 4th and is just delightful! She wants to keep up with her big brother so she started crawling at 6 months and has been on the go. She is soooo fast...we secretly think she walks when we aren't looking because she gets from one place to another in seconds! Nico loves to play games with her and they both giggle until their bellies hurt. She loves to laugh and talk...she has a lot to say! Right now, she is discovering so much and you really forget how precious these moments are. I feel like both of the kids have grown up so fast.

As for Charlie and I we are doing fantastic. Since Nico's surgery...he doesn't wake up as much and doesn't cry in his sleep so life for us seems to have really calmed down. I have to say I am happy that spring is just around the corner...it's so much fun to have the kids outdoors and play with them! I promise I will post again very soon!