From the beginning!!!!!!
Steve about 10 days old
He looks a bit concerned
Steve about a month old, still looking concerned LOL
Baby Santa
Jan 1996
Home from NY for a few weeks to hang out with family
First Easter 1996, wasn't he adorable??????
Fat baby:)
Christmas 1996
Christmas 1997 (my hair and Jon's glasses....Oh Lord!)
Love this picture of Jon and Steve!!!!!!
He wanted a army man cut LOL
I love this picture too
The Scooby Doo time...all this was his stuff, he was a SD fan:)
he was in kindergarten that year and that was his uniform
Steve and Buddy....our can for many years. Dec 26 2001 Steve decided he wanted a gray kitten for a late Christmas present. I called our vet and they had a gray one that someone had dropped off. We went and got him and had him till last year. The funny thing is right after this picture was taken, Buddy fell down Steve's overalls....it was not pleasant LOL but a story we laugh at now.
Steve and Sam
My boys....
Christmas 2004
(now Sam is the one looking concerned LOL)
Love these pictures!
Our three boys
Christmas 09
Steve's 15th Bday
Steve at Gatorland
2011 (right before we started the girls adoption)
Thought you'd enjoy all these pictures of Steve as he grew up......
I'm still amazed that I officially have an adult child.... Ok that just makes me feel OLD!!!!!
I know this post will probably embarrass him but .....
I have to say again just how much we have enjoyed being Steve's parents. We went into this thing called "parenthood" somewhat in shock! We'd been married for over 6 years and couldn't have a baby. I did fertility and tests....and then gave up for a couple of years once we'd moved to NYC and got busy in ministry. Since neither Jon or I were big "kid people" LOL we weren't too terribly upset over not having kids. Then I got sick ....and sicker and had no energy whatsoever. I was pretty sure I'd picked up something awful from the drug addicts and homeless we'd been working with. Then I noticed I was smelling everything so strong and gagging....except for the Chinese food....I smelled it and that was all I could think of "MUST have Chinese...." So people started saying I was pregnant. We were like "no way". I tried to get into see my doctor but couldn't for a few days. So someone said we should go to a Christian Pregnancy place for a test. I went but really did not think I was pregnant....well we did the test and the lady told me it was positive.....I yelled down the hall to Jon. I was in total shock!!!!!!!!!! We were laughing and squealing, everyone one in the place was laughing too.
We left and I threw up...and kept throwing up....forever....and ever..... and ever.... Finally my doctor told me at 18 weeks she'd never seen a case of morning sickness like I had. It was awful.... If I saw food on tv, I threw up. If I smelled things, I threw up. Morning , noon and night.....threw up....If the tv moved too quickly I threw up..... The doctor said she didn't think it would go away and it didn't but got a little better as time went on. Then other issues started happening. I had about 9 sonograms....ever one of them I was told "it's a girl" till the last one, 2 weeks before he was born and the tech said "look there is a scrotum" I was like NO NO NO it's a girl....and she was like "believe me that is not a girl!" LOL I had so many sonograms because I didn't have much amniotic fluid (same issue I had with Sam)
So I had "monitoring" 4 days a week. One day I went by myself, as my father in law was in town and Jon was taking him to see the sights..... I get hooked up and Steve's heart rates plummeted....time and time again, his heart rate would go down. At one point they even lost it. I was already in the hospital so they transferred me to Labor and Delivery. I get in my room, there are like 10 people there and I'm handed a gown. I go to change in the bathroom and the nurse yelled at me, just strip, we are probably going to have to do a C-section..... I stripped right there, my heart pounding.
Of course this was 1995, we didn't have a cell phone, Jon was off sightseeing with his dad......I was all alone and scared. Finally that afternoon we were able to get ahold of him and he rushed over to the hospital.
So Steve stabilized, since he was a month early they didn't know what they were going to do. They decided to induce me so I spent Wednesday and Thursday being induced. Finally on Friday things KICKED in....and the epidural didn't work...at all.....it was HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I woke up at 6 am in so much pain....it got worse and worse....by 8 am I had gone from 0cm to 8 cm and was pretty sure I was going to die and really did not care if I did or not.... At 10 am (just 4 hours) I was fully dilated and was told to push. Oh Lord I pushed forever, he was stuck.....it was HELL!!! Finally they used forceps....again it was HELL! But we got a live healthy 7 lb baby.....
Well after ALL of that, and the fact that I thought he was going to be a girl....I was not so sure about all of this....THEN they handed him to me......it was like pixie dust was poured out all over me. I was in so much love.....In that moment, it was worth everything!
We went home a few days later and he actually slept through the night, I was hated by all:) Steve was the easiest baby ever from the get go. When he was about 4 months old I got one picture of him crying and we loved it because he just never cried:) Such a sweet happy boy....
People would say "enjoy it now...just wait till he is a toddler, an adolescent, a teenager...." then it will get hard. Well it never did! I've enjoyed everything from the beginning till now....every stage has been wonderful and full of wonder and excitement for us as his parents.
We made some decisions from day one with Steve and we've always been on the same page as far as decisions and discipline. We chose to work crazy hours so when he was in preschool and nursery, he was only there for a few hours. I went into to work early and Jon went in late and it ended up Steve would only spend 3-5 hours a day away from us.
We committed to keeping him in private Christian school, it was a sacrifice but we felt it was well worth it. Many people have hobbies or boats or vacations that spend money on....we chose to spend money on something we felt was much more important than those type of things.
We also kept him in church. When he was little it was during my "valley time" but he still went to church weekly.
We kept his heart turned towards his family. In adolescence, and teen years it is natural for kids to turn towards their peers but we feel that is not necessarily the right thing! We've always encouraged friendships but we also were carefully observing his choice of friends. We looked for friends whose families had the same values and outlooks.
The way we looked at parenting was not from current books or fads. We looked at what the Bible said and based our decisions on that. It was not always easy nor did we do the "popular" things in some folks' mind. But we didn't mind! We had a goal of keeping Steve's heart turned to God and teaching him eternal truths.
We're not perfect parents but God helped us from early on to have wisdom and discernment.
Some people say "you just shelter your kids too much" First I find that laughable as my kids have seen more of the "REAL " world than most adults but I also look at some of the ones who say that and think...."you know sheltering is not a bad thing!" I don't think children are geared to make some of the decisions that get forced upon them early on, regarding life, drugs & alcohol, sex..... We absolutely made some of his decisions for him when he was younger....but now he is older and is more equipped to make decisions.
My attitude of parenting is like this..... have you ever seen a new tree that has been planted? Many times a tree will have a brace around it until the tree gets strong roots. We planted some trees at the church and they had a base holding them in place for about a year. I think in parenting you should do the same thing. Give the help and support needed until the child has grown deep roots and no longer needs much help from the parents.
I encourage other parents, to start from where they are at and work on things if it is needed. If your child is at home, he/she is never too old to see some good changes.
So back to Steve.....we have loved being his parents....it was just the three of us for over 8 years...then came Sam..... Steve went from the prince to being the kid out in the waiting room in one hospital after another..... But he loved his little brother from day one!
I should have some of the NICU pictures on here, Steve would stand by his bed and just watch him, it was so sweet.
Steve dealt so good with Sam's birth and then less than 2 years later we adopted Shad. Again Steve stepped up. He has always been a big part of his brothers' lives. He just rolled with the punches and challenges of our life.
Then when we went to Ukraine, we saw him really become a man. He was responsible for Sam while we were at the intuition or doing something court related. He handled being in a very foreign country so good. One thing I remember about our trip was he went to the store and bought what he thought was toilet paper and paper towels. He got the wrong thing and returned it on his own to a store where no one spoke English. It was just amazing to see him learn and really roll with whatever surprise the trip had for us.
When the accident happened....Steve was a ROCK! He took care of the kids so we could be at the hospital. He sacrificed the six months we were gone from home. And the thing is he did it so willingly, not in a complaining manner or a grumpy manner. He just saw what needed to be done and did it. So many people around us commented on his presence and how he dealt with things.
When we came home, he lost his room to Selah and her nurses and again, did it willingly. In fact he offered it when we were just thinking about how we'd handle things when we got home.
I don't want to sound like we have the "perfect child" (we had a friend who used to call him that) cause he is not perfect but we so appreciate all he has done and how he stepped up to the plate when needed. He is appreciated, not just because he stepped in and helped but his sweet attitude. Sometimes I'm sad for some of the things he has missed in life but I know God will reward him for all he has done to help out. I would love and adore him even if he wasn't like he is but I do appreciate him:)
We look forward to seeing what God has in store for his future. In spite of everything.....he should be finished with all his high school work by December or January. He then plans on getting a job until he is old enough (19 years old) to go to the Academy. His plan is to become a Correctional Officer. That is what he has wanted since he was 10 years old. We are looking forward to this new stage in his life. I do miss that little man that is in all of those pictures, the time flew by.
So if you think about it, say a prayer for Steve that God will guide and direct his path.
