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!

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.

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.

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!

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!!!