Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Double Time Tag

Ok, so Daneen a great friend of mine and my sister-in-law Shanda both tagged me one day after the other. So, does that mean I have to tell you 12 random things about me?...hehe...that would just get either way too boring or far too personal. Both of which are way too much information. Hahaha. Well, here it goes.



1.I have a real problem with asymmetry. For example, the new house needed to be landscaped so we hired a company to come do it, by the time it was all over with the Supervisor over the job could have read my mind like a book. I am sooo predictable. If I have three trees in a row I need to have another set of three's close by. If I have a hibiscus on one side I have to have a hibiscus on the other side. It just about drove me crazy when I saw that my landscape lights were not side by side but put at every other length of the walk path. Oh well I need to give a little right?
2.I have lost brain cells. I used to think I was a good multi-tasker, but with the past years endeavor, being pregnant, giving birth, a 4 year old daughter, an almost 3 year old daughter, a very busy husband, a very busy me. I have lost it. I remember when I was 21 thinking about how smart i felt when I was able to remember a clients profile for a year, memorize all the product info and specifications for both residential and commercial applications, help with Parade of Homes houses and deal with School. I thought I was a pretty capable individual. Not the case anymore, I can hardly remember what someone told me 5 minutes ago. Sorry Mom! I cant remember how many times she has asked me to email her information on something and I have completely forgotten about it. I am just going to give a shout out to all my mommy friends who know what I'm going through. This is just a phase...this is just a phase...this is just a...wait what was I saying.


3.I am addicted to white garlic pizza sauce, ham & pineapple Pizza. I have had to stop eating anything tomato, because it seems to be affecting Christian's tummy. So I either had to stop my love of Pizza cold turkey or improvise...and there was no way I was going to stop eating Pizza. Enter in, white pizza sauce. I really cant get enough of it.


4.Ok possibly my most embarrassing piece of information. I think I am going to buy maternity jeans from here on out. I purchased some jeans for this last pregnancy and decided to splurge a little on them so they would fit my size 36" inseam. They were so comfortable that I thought they would be nice transition jeans after the baby arrived. Notice I said transition. I might have just made the transition to stay in maternity jeans. Lets talk about this...No Annoying button to dig into your less then firm tummy and no zipper to have to yank down when you have 3 crying children starved for attention, when you have held it as long as you possibly could before you finally exploded and wet yourself. Up and down ladies...its so easy. I wonder what Stacey and Clinton from what not to wear would say.


5.I love to dance. Stew dies when I am in the car jammin' out to the music while we are stopped at a red light with cars on all four sides of us. I have thankfully passed the jean down to the girls. It is so fun to see them rock out to any song with a beat. Ashlyn's favorite place is the front of the abercrombie store. They really crank the music in that place. Get down get down...do do doot, do do doot!


6.I have a pretty high pain tolerance. Most people would probably assume that I would be a little whiney when it comes to pain, but in a proud and glorified posting moment, I would like to share a little boast about myself. Hahaha. I have proudly endured 2 natural childbirths. But maybe I should add I didn't want to. It was not self inflicted or maybe it was, whatever the case may be my body will not except epidurals. apparently, it doesn't like them. This last pregnancy as I went into triage the nurse said "I believe you when you say you are in labor, but you outwardly you aren't showing any signs." I asked her what she meant and she said well you aren't verbalizing how painful your contractions are. I finally asked if I needed to moan to be admitted into a room. As you all can probably imagine it didn't take long to get into one after that. Then boy o boy I really wanted and epi. but after I had the 12" needle stuck in my back it was time to push. WHAT? No pain relief again...fine! I think the anesthesiologist felt so bad he was just standing there in amazement that it didn't work. I looked over at him and said no offense but I am not paying for that...its not working. He kept apologizing, really I don't know what was happening all I could think about was getting the baby out and not having anymore pain. Well, it must have been a traumatizing experience for him because he never billed me for that epidural.

That in a nutshell is a few things about me. I pass this little tag on to (Stephanie, Kamarie, Leah, and Meg) P.s. Jenny if you even read this tag your it too!

Sunday, December 16, 2007

O Christmas Tree

We finally finished our christmas tree. This year I am calling it the Dr. Suess Tree.


I am sure you can see why. Miss Ryleigh was the creative art director this year and it was about gathering all the same color and trying to see how many ornaments we could fit on to one branch.



As for Ashlyn...well she was just the director. I am sure visions of sugar plums were dancing in her head as she was carefully choosing each space to put an ornament. As she flitted around the room, in her ballerina outfit of course, she just kept proclaiming-- THIS IS THE BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!



I could not move any of the ornaments, like I had planned, after they had gone to bed. I felt so lucky and thankful that my little ones felt somewhat empowered to take ownership in this years Christmas Tree. I agree with Ashy, this is the best Christmas ever!




**Nice Honey**
Never a dull moment at the Smith household



OK, I know I have gotten a little Christian baby photo crazy but I have good reason to be sooo in love with this baby. There is always the part about how much "pain & suffering" he put me through and finally he his here...hehe. My grandparents serving a mission in Nauvoo (that's reason enough right there huh grandma. Grandparents not living near us to watch him grow. Well and of course the fact that he is way too cute. How can I not post these pictures. Ooooh I love those toes.

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

A letter to Santa...Love, Mom



A girlfriend of mine sent this to me via e-mail and I thought it depicted probably every mommy friend I know. So here is to all my lady friends who work so hard to keep their families running! Thanks Jennifer you know I need this kind of stuff! Love ya!


Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my
children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor
and sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a
shade tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my
list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter
with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry
room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time
in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple,
which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze,
but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy
aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh
month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint
resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a
television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking
animals, and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the
crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, 'Yes,
Mommy' to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't
fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without
the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting 'Don't eat in
the living room' and 'Take your hands off your brother,' because my
voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can
only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough
time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the
luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being
served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to
brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare
ketchup a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It would
be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house
without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized
crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my
feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back.
Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and
come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave
crumbs on the carpet. (you promised me last year you would lose some weight with me so next year you and I could be a cute size two blonde...ok, some requests go too far, but none the less.....

Yours Always,

MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep
my children, healthy, safe and of course, young enough to always believe in Santa.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Temple Lights


Daddy promised our girls that we were going to have a special surprise after work on Friday. So, our Family went to the temple lights and if anyone remembers what it was like on Friday, it was still raining into the night. We packed up our hoodie coats and headed to the temple.


The girls were so excited to see Mary on the donkey and baby Jesus, but the best part was...the PINK CHRISTMAS LIGHTS!!!


Well, Christian didn't really care, but he was a good sport about it.


Oh, and I cant forget about the reindeer rides *wink, wink*! They just weren't working that night, maybe next year. We had to explain that they were the three wise men. Hahaha too cute! We had a great time, hardly anyone was there and the little girls thought that it was all for them.



Thanks for a great surprise Stewy!

Wednesday, December 5, 2007



Well, I totally missed the post on thanksgiving so I am just going to run right into getting ready for christmas. I wanted to start a tradition this year of doing one thing about christmas everyday up to Christmas. As crazy as life has been these past weeks I am thankful we have a tree up! The girls were just so excited to see the "most beautiful christmas tree" go up. I'm hoping that next week I will be able to start whats left of my new Christmas tradition. By the way, is it me or is Christmas coming much faster then it ever has. It will be here and gone before we know it!



By the way here is the proof I have been wanting to post...He does smile!!!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Who's Ya Daddy?


Well if this little man doesn't look like his Daddy I don't know who would. Christian has been smiling and meaning to smile this past weekend. While he was having a little smiling contest with me I grabbed my camera to try and get some shots...of course by the time I got back to get a picture he was done. In the meantime I got this picture and holy cow does he look like his daddy. Stew's brother has one that is the spitting image of him and well I guess it was Stewart's turn. Ooh gotta love it! At least we know he will be cute when he grows up! (Not that he isn't darling already...but hey I'm the biased mama)!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Crackers for Breakfast???


This morning Miss Ryleigh kept coming in, way too early, to get us up for breakfast. After the third attempt to get us out of bed she gave up. Stew and I both thought she went back to bed, but after a few minutes went by we heard the rustling of something plastic, so of course any parent would jump up to see what was going on. To our surprise Ryleigh had gotten in the pantry and decided to help herself to a little breakfast...poor starving baby! She sure was happy though!

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Halloween Finally!



After many many comments that life must be hectic with the now three children, because I hadn't been posting as often as I used to, hehehe, I am finally sitting down and writing about some of the past events. Well, as every parent knows if you get the outfit just right Halloween will be a huge success, and thank goodness it was! After many hours of preparation of costumes and hair and makeup we had the perfect "Elina Rainbow & Island Princess". It was a lot of fun to see how much they got into Halloween this year with them having aged a year. Even little Christian got into the festivities, but got a little worn out with all the high pitched fairy excitement.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Favorite Spot


Christian's favorite place at the end of the day is perched up on Aunt Kamarie's shoulder. He is just so content with her...she is a seasoned pro. I have bets on when we will see little Reeds & Kamaries running around.

Princess?


Well as grateful as I am that my two girls are artistic this is not one of the happier moments, but one of the cutest. I can not believe that they colored all over their craft table but when Ashlyn so proudly showed me her "beautiful princess" I could not help but share this darling picture!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Mr. Mellow


Some days I dont know what to do about this baby! He is so chill! My two little girls were Lil' Miss Drama the day they came out. This little guy is so content. This is a picture of him just kickin' it in the sun on the sofa. I love his "I just ate the biggest thanksgiving dinner" look.

Havasupai


Ok, so I promised Stewart that I would post the Havasupai pictures, but since the baby has come as every parent knows, you work on getting a routine for a while, so we are using a picture from one of Stewy's buddies. Thanks Jeremy for sending these over for me to see! It looked like tons of fun! These are the guys and hopefully you can see the hilarious "facial growth" that was mandatory for this trip. You gotta love Tyler's! (its my favorite, I was hoping Margot would let him do it! ;) ) Oh by the way, this was taken after a quick dip swimming in one of the gorgeous "natural pools."

Thursday, October 11, 2007


After the rough weeks we have had with Christian's jaundice it finally seems as though he is doing better. He is finally keeping his eyes open longer than and hour a day. He still struggles with the light at times but is more than happy to open them up and look at the new world he is in.

True Love


Everyone has been asking how the girls have been with Christian, here is a taste of how it really is. The girls have been so loving and nurturing. Ashlyn feels very close to him, as you can tell and Ryleigh is very protective of him. Honestly we have been so blessed this year and it feels so good to have a little piece of heaven with us.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

So much alike!


Everyone has been asking if Christian looks like either of our girls. Stewart and I think more like ashlyn but when we were going through our old photos it is clear to see they all look so similar. We love you all and are so grateful you are in our lives, sweet babies!

Christian Stewart Smith


Well, we finally have our little boy home with us. He arrived on September 25th at 10:49pm. Labor was actually cake and as usual went fast. Leave it to me to pay for an epidural and it not work. After I realized how painful getting a baby out was...again...I didn't waste any time, 3 pushes and he was ours. He weighed 7lbs 15oz and was 20 inches long. He is such a good mix and was such a beautiful newborn. Well at least to Mom and Dad! He has the most gorgeous full head of black hair and he fits it perfectly. After all of the heartache over what to name him Stewart and I finally realized who he really was and decided to go with Christian and of course Stewart as a middle name is to carry on his fathers heritage. Welcome home baby boy, we love you!

He's Here He's Here!

Contest Winner


Congratulations to Uncle Reed who hit the nail on the head! His prediction was the 25th late in the evening and boy was he right on; Christian came at 10:49pm that evening. You can redeem your prize whenever you are ready. Thanks to all those of you who supported us through this pregnancy and for the fun this contest was to help me get through the last mundane days of a girls pregnancy.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

Baby Arrival Contest

Well I am absolutely going out of my mind, ready to have this baby and well as he keeps wanting to make a grand entrance he is just putting me through agonizing pain and grief. But, man I am excited to see him! So I am putting together contest/poll of every one's Due Date guesses. Whoever wins will get to come along with me to enjoy my favorite craving during this pregnancy. I am sure you are getting excited to WIN and find out what this craving is. I wont leave you in suspense...it is a nice tall Styrofoam cup of "Grade A" Sonic Ice. So, don't hold back let me know what you think I will post it and we will have the redeeming of ice soon!


Sunday, September 9, 2007

Some things are better left Un-done


Well Stewart and his buddy's decided to go on a guys trip and hike Havasupai (pictures to come) but they had some criteria that had to be taken care of before they could go. One that needed to be attended to was the growth of facial hair and as we all know Stewy has none. So here is his bold attempt to reinvent himself. This is an honest hard try at 1 month of facial grow out. Nice honey! Thank goodness they are home safe and clean shaven.

Saturday, September 8, 2007

Baby Shower

Thank you to all of you have given your Time & Support in helping us with this pregnancy. It was so great to see friends and family that came to the shower to show yet again...more support. I love you all and am so grateful for the relationships I share with you. A big thanks to Jenny & Jennifer and anyone else behind the scenes who put together such a great shower! It was so great to see faces there that were unexpected arrivals and I truly am so thankful for everything that we received. I always say I don't deserve the people in my life and here is my meager way of giving you all thanks!

Thursday, September 6, 2007

At the mall...dare we even go?

Ok, here is my disclaimer! I have been a little nervous to post this picture because I didn't want anyone getting the wrong impression but the result of this was too cute not to post. Reed & I were at the mall today basically wasting time since I am Stewart less this weekend and well, my little girls love listening and dancing to the loud music at Abercrombie & Fitch and before I knew it Ryleigh was running over to this giant picture of this poor kids belly and yelled out "BELLY BUTTON", of course everyone and there dog were walking by.

Reed turned bright red and coincidentally we grabbed the girls and pretty much ran the opposite direction. Poor Ryleigh is infatuated with belly buttons since mine has become an outy with this pregnancy. Honestly, you never know what these innocent children will do.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Getting Bigger & Bigger


How appropriate is the picture above? We just went to another appt for baby today and as usual he is still gaining more and more weight. I'm sure I will pop like a balloon before he makes it out. They let us know that he is in th 78% for his "age". Talk about a big boy. At 33 weeks we already have a 5lb 6oz little one. He will surely be the Football player his daddy has been praying for. On parents.com it showed this picture as the size a baby his weight is to be. Other fun news is that he has a full head of hair. It is crazy what you can see on ultrasounds these day. More updates will come but the biggest news right now is his crazy growth.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Uncle Reed Feels the Need for Speed!



Ok so as soon as I posted the last blog Ashlyn decided to try it again. Of course having such a great uncle, Reed decided to step in and show them how much fun they could really have. Uncle Reed working up a sweat, pushing the girls around!

Grease Lightning






This morning I woke up to screaming, giggling girls and wondered what was going on. Ashlyn had already dressed herself in the princess dress of choice for the day and they were using the block box to drag race across the floor. As each one of them took turns toting around the other they began to get a little braver and tried going faster then the time before. Our greasy haired little girls were having there first taste of speed. It was so fun to capture their little faces raging with hysteria!

Tuesday, July 31, 2007


I couldnt resist when I saw how hilarious the girls looked last night during their bath, I just had to post these pictures. The classic "whoville" head & bath time. They love getting their hair scrubbed especially if it involves a crazy hair-do.

Monday, July 23, 2007

Baby Boy Smith



Well, today was the beginning of the end of this pregnancy. I am 29 weeks 2 days and will start going to appt. every 2 weeks from here on out until "baby boy" is born. The poor thing still doesn't have a name. We were able to see his little growing body in a 3-D ultrasound today and those are the pictures you see posted. The update is that he is now 3 lbs 3 oz and growing big and strong. He is low in the pelvis in birthing position, so hopefully we wont have to worry about a breech baby. As you can see, again, this is not my baby. They said his face is a little squished down there so his features look a little more enhanced, but he is a chubby little boy. Look at how kissable those lips are. I cant wait to see how true to the scan he really is.