Holiday Break

The day Josh finished school before the holiday break we flew up to Salt Lake for Christmas. I was a little nervous about how Tienna would handle the flight but she was an absolute angel and slept the entire flight (until we had to walk across the runway in the snow). Tienna doesn't seem to mind the cold and snow at all, in fact she loves being all bundled but having her face poke out in the cold which produces an adorable little munchkin with super rosy cheeks. On Saturday morning we took little pictures of all 5 girls on the Pollei side of the family and realized how difficult it is to get a good picture of everyone when 3 of the subjects are under 1 year old. Let's just say that it was more entertaining to watch the adults entertaining and coaxing smiles out of the little girls rather than watching the little girls. (Thanks again Jessie for taking the pictures, your a real trooper.) Other than that we had a great time with family and friends and even had the chance to go on a couple of dates thanks to wonderful grandma's who were willing to babysit. We enjoyed the snow storms that came while we were in Utah but by the time we came back home we were ready for the Phoenix weather again. All in all we had a wonderful break and loved spending time with family and friends.

Tienna munching on her little frog.

Grandpa Vandersteen and Tienna.

One night we came in to go to bed just after 11:00pm and this is what we found. I guess Tienna was just so excited she couldn't stand to stay asleep.

Taylor and Zoe

The best group picture from the girl's photo shoot .... aren't they cuties?!

Madelin (5) and Halle (3)

Meagan (11 months)

Tienna (6 months)

Zoe (4 months)

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas in Utah with both of our families. For the first time in a year and a half all of my family was together and we had an absolute blast .... Tienna had a blast with her little cousins and Madelin and Halle were wonderful to be so helpful. Thanks again Jessie for the cute pictures you took of all the girls!

The whole Pollei clan Christmas morning.

Tienna playing with the wrapping paper again.

We were also lucky enough to have Josh's sister Jessica and her family in town for Christmas too. Isaac and Lily were so fun to see - we had never met Lily before and Isaac had gotten so big.

Tienna and Lily are only 4 weeks apart in age.

Hanging out at the Gundry Family Christmas Party.

Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we spent time with both families as well as my grandparent's. We loved being able to see so much family while we were in town. Christmas Eve we had a little nativity with my family .... it was one of those productions that was just as much for the adults as it was for the kids. Eveyone had their part and did wonderful. We also had a pinata which is something I had every Christmas growing up with all the cousins on my mom's side. Grandpa Moffat was even a good sport and helped everyone take turns dividing the candy so things were fair just like he used to.

Taylor, Amber and Zoe as Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus.

The 3 Wise People

Madelin and Halle as the shepherds.

Tienna and I were angels.

The whole crew - including Grandpa Moffat (narrator), Heather (costume director) and Grandma Moffat.

Last but not least, dad got roped into being the donkey - long ears and all.

Christmas Day we also got to spend some time with the Pollei side of the family at Grandma and Papa's. While we were eating Josh and I had Tienna sitting on the floor next to our chairs suddenly she grabbed onto the leg of my chair and pulled herself up so she was standing. I can't believe how big she is getting!!!!

More than anything this holdiay Josh and I have both been so greatful for loving family, wonderful friends and the spirit of the Savior. We are so greatful for the gospel in our lives and the many ways it blesses our lives. We are so lucky to have the knowledge we do and such a beautiful daughter; she brings us so much joy and happiness!

Ward Christmas Party

Last Saturday was the ward Christmas party. It's pretty much the one big event for the ward all year so basically everyone comes. The activities committee completely decorates the church, plans good food, fun programs (topped off by the nativity story including the entire primary) and a good chance to chat with lots of people. At the last minute Josh was asked to fill in as seen below and he definitely had tons of fun with all the little kids.

Tienna didn't mind visiting Santa - for the first little bit she just sat there staring at him with huge eyes. Surprisingly she didn't even try to pull his beard or cry one bit.

So needless to say that with the party Tienna missed her 7:00 bedtime (by 2 hours!) and we sure paid for it the next couple of days. This picture is from right before we left the church to come home. She looks so dang tired but was still in a good mood despite having a difficult time with her binky.

So I just realized that I haven't blogged at all about Tienna's latest development - sitting up with no problem. Since Thanksgiving she can suddenly sit up without any problems and loves being able to see what's going on around her a little more. She's even getting good and pushing herself back up when she falls over a bit and reaching to grab toys, etc. that she drops. We love our little cutie!

Getting Bigger Every Day!

Going through the pics we've taken over the last little while I couldn't help but post some that I think are just dang cute. Mostly this will probably be one for grandma's and aunts/uncles. I can't believe how darling our little sweetie is sometimes.

Bath time is always tons of fun ... Tienna has discovered how to splash. Everything still goes in the mouth as you can see, and the toy turtle is by far her favorite.

These ones are for you, Jason. Your niece is already a huge fan of her gum-brush like I was telling you the other day. I'm really hoping it carries over when she actually has teeth.

(As a side note, we finally have to strap Tienna into her little swing because she rocks so much grabbing her toes she's almost fallen out a couple of times.)
So we broke down and got Tienna an early Christmas present that she absolutely loves. She spends quite a bit of her time sucking on the apple.
I actually started some wrapping the other day and Tienna got ahold of the scraps of paper. It was better than a new toy, I can't wait to see her on Christmas morning!

While this is such a cute smile and I love the dimple she has in her right cheek, most of her shirts are this soaked after about 10 minutes. I'm scared that she might be starting to teeth already so we'll have to see what the next couple of months brings.

Tagged Again!

So I've been tagged again, this time by Carlie and all about the love of my life ... Josh!

What's his name? Joshua George Vandersteen
How long have you been married? 3 1/2 years (crazy to think it's been that long!)
How long did you date? about 9 months
How old is he? He just turned 27 but it's a bit of a tender subject
Who eats more? Typically him unless it's something that just sounds so incredibly good (it's weird that I never had pregnant cravings, but they've come on strong since I've been nursing)
Who said "I love you" first? Josh - it was on a night that he was driving me back to Provo after hanging out at his parent's for his sister's open house from her wedding. I guess with all the wedding stuff going on it kinda got to both of us ... that's also the night we decided to get married :)
Who is taller? Josh by almost 10 inches. Part of the reason I was so attracted to him was because he was so tall and I knew someday I wanted to have kids taller than I am and let's be honest, my family's a bunch of shorties.
Who sings better? I'm a little more musically inclined than he is but he's always willing to give it a shot
Who is smarter? Overall I would say Josh. I'm more the random/pointless trivia type where Josh has always done well in school and all of that.
Who's temper is worse? Probably mine. We're both pretty chill but when something bugs me to the point I can't take it anymore I have to vent. Josh is more the pensive type - I've only really ever seen him more than slightly frustrated once.
Who does the laundry? Me - it's one of the perks of staying home with our little one
Who does the dishes? We split it about 50/50 - Josh says that washing dishes is one of the best ways for him to relax from the day.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Looking at our bed from the doorway, that would be me
Who pays the bills? That would be me .... ever since working at the bank for so long I'm a little particular about things like this.
Who mows the lawn? Back in the day when we had a lawn it was definitely Josh. I'm more of a flowers and bushes kind of person.
Who cooks dinner? It used to be 50/50 on this one too but since I'm not working any more I'm really trying to pull through on this one more often. But, I must admit that I love it when Josh cooks cause he always makes cool things I wouldn't think of.
Who drives when you're both together? He does - part of him being chivalrous :)
Who is more stubborn? Mine comes out more often, does that count?
Who is the first to admit that they are wrong? Josh but I am getting better, slowly
Who's parents do you see the most? It's pretty close - both of our parents live close to eachother in Salt Lake so when we're home we try to split it as best as we can.
Who proposed? Josh - he proposed on Valentine's Day and I think everyone in our families knew it was coming that day but I had no idea (he had told me it would take another couple of weeks for he jewler to finish the ring - I should have known better!)
Who has more siblings? I'm the middle of 5 and so is Josh unless you count his 2 stepbrothers in which case he's the 5th of 7
Who wears the pants in the family? We've had several conversations about this with various people but now that I think about it I don't think we've ever reached a final answer .....

I tag: Siri, Amber, Brooke Andersen, Tawni, Lindsey, and Heather

Gingerbread Houses

Last Saturday night we had several couples over to make gingerbread houses. This is one of those traditions that comes from my family and while we're not at home we figured we'd keep it going with our AZ family. In our tiny apartment it was a stretch to fit 16 adults and 5 little munchkins but somehow we managed.

Sarah, Matt, Brooke and Jason

Jeff, Hilary, Lindsay and Morgan

The little kids were so good to play with Tienna - she loved all the attention!

The masterpieces!

Sean had a little trouble with the roof so .....

He decided to make it Santa's fault.

Thanks everyone for coming - we're so lucky to have you all to go through this medical school experience with!

Thanksgiving Trip

The first weekend of Josh's break from school we decided to go on a little hike to see how Tienna would do. She just hung out and didn't seem to mind all the jostling around and even managed to take a little nap. We're excited to start being able to enjoy nature a little more.

For Thanksgiving we decided to pull off a suprise trip to Salt Lake to visit our families. We were able to enjoy lots of laughs and good food with both families and had just enough of the cold to remind us how lucky we are to live in Arizona this time of year. Tienna was wonderful for the entire drive and loved all the attention from grandparents and aunts/uncles. Now Josh has started school again we're already looking forward to the Christmas break and are really getting into the Christmas spirit.

Thanksgiving Break

Grandma Steen Visit

Last week Josh's mom visited over the end of finals week. We were so excited to have her here for a couple of days and made the most of the fantastic Phoenix weather by going swimming almost every day. As you can see from the pictures, Tienna is really loving the pool and will even put up with laying out for a minute or two.

On Friday morning Josh finished his last final for the term and since then we've been lucky enough to have him home with his girls! We're all loving the break and taking advantage of the opportunity to relax before school starts up again. He's been great to help around the house and one night while making dinner with Tienna she discovered carrots in their true form aren't so bad(she's not a fan of the mashed up, pureed kind so far).

Lovin the Cereal!

So last night for the first time Tienna finished off her entire bowl of cereal before bed! Normally I mix her up some cereal and will feed it to her until she's done and that's it. Last night Josh took of the evening from studying so he was around while Tienna was eating. I was busy getting our dinner ready and before I knew it the bowl was almost empty. She had hit that point where she wasn't as interested but somehow Josh got her to finish it off completely (proof below)! The picture of Tienna is right after she finished - as you can tell she's ready for bed. So with her full tummy she actually managed to sleep 11 hours completely uninterrupted which was a first and I must say it was so nice for both Josh and I to get a good night's sleep! We love our little girl and can't believe how big she's getting!

This is a new discovery for Tienna .... water bottles. Whenever she sees one she reaches for it and, of course, tries to get it in her mouth. I think she sees Josh and I drinking from it and knows it's somehow supposed to fit in your mouth.