J.D.s Haffy Birthday

As you all know, we have decided to celebrate J.D.'s Haffy Birthday (instead of the actual date). So, on June 23rd, we set about to do our annual Smith Family Birthday Traditions.

Birthdays in our house are much like Christmas morning.

The night before... the Birthday Fairy decorates the dining room with streamers, balloons, birthday cups, plates, napkins. And, then the presents are left out for the young one to discover upon coming downstairs.

At 7:00am, J.D. woke up... went straight downstairs and saw his presents.

He came back up to my room and said, 'Open Presents, Mommy!"

Mommy said, "Yes, in a little bit. Go wake up Nana."

So- he did. This time by-passing the presents like a good little boy.

Nana said, "Go wake up your mommy."

So, the poor child tried again.

With no success... he decided to go back downstairs and take matters into his own hands. At 7:12am, I heard the sound of ripping paper.

He had opened the tee-ball set. And, by 7:30am, I had it all put together. (Did I mention that Jason was in Ireland on a mission trip at this time. I learned my lesson about buying toys that need to be assembled when the dad is not home... ahh!).

Anyway, we opened presents, ate cupcakes and eggs for breakfast and then proceeded to play, play, play.

I think it was a tie of who had more fun... Nana or J.D.

J.D. loved his scooter and helmet, wading pool, soccer goal, tee ball, books, new clothes, etc. What a day... what a day!

Below are some pictures (in no particular order... since I am not skilled enough at this blog thing to get them in the order I really want them in...)

This picture was taken after dinner... he played all day!

Another after dinner picture... isn't it great of both Natalie and Nana!

This was the day before at the Colorado Springs Zoo. We took our great friends to the zoo. We saw about a 1/4 of it (that is what you get when you take 4 adults and 5 children under the age of 3)

Cupcakes and Eggs... for breakfast! Yummy!

J.D. and Mommy at the Mexican restaurant for J.D.'s birthday dinner.

More cupcakes and eggs...

In the wading pool... can't post any other pictures of this day long event... for J.D. likes to swim in the nude.

Coloring at the mexican restaurant. We chose mexican because we thought the food would come out fast... boy were we wrong... so we filled our time with coloring.. appetizers... etc.

Precious Natalie at dinner... prior to the arrival of the cheese dip for appetizers.

Halfway through the appetizer course, Natalie took over the cheese dip... should have gotten a final picture (maybe Nana did) of the cheese dripping off her chin, welded between her fingers, smeared all over the table. (We left a good tip...)

This picture needs a time stamp... had this scooter assembled before 9am! Did I mention that I missed Jason this day for a variety of reasons...

Ice cream at the zoo. A passer-by named J.D. the Ice Cream Boy. I think this man took a seat on a bench nearby just to watch how this was going to turn out... messy!

7:30am!

Decorations by the Birthday Fairy.

Awaiting the arrival of cupcakes and eggs!

Natalie's Theme Song

Anything You Can Do
ANNIE OAKLEY, FRANK BUTLER
Anything you can do, I can do better.
I can do anything Better than you.
No, you can't. Yes, I can.
No, you can't. Yes, I can.
No, you can't. Yes, I can, Yes, I can!

If Natalie could talk... this would be what she would say to J.D. everyday! She is really trying her best to keep up with him.
She can kick a ball, play with trains, make a truck go really fast on the floor, ride his bike, hit him till it hurts (self-defense on both their parts, I think), and now she is starting to babble and get in her 'two-cents'.
Natalie said her first word the other day... "Up". Not Mom or Dad... but she said exactly what she wanted... she wanted UP! Now, she says it all the time! Can't believe this was her first word...

Rumor has it...

Rumor has it that the Smith's are expecting baby #3. Well, the rumor is right!
Baby Smith #3 will arrive around November 20, 2007.
J.D. will be 2 yrs and 10/11 months. Natalie will be 20 months old.
We are crazy, we know it, no need to remind us... just pray!

What has happend in the last month?

So, so much!
Natalie turned 1.
She sings (okay..hums), loves to give kisses (watch out boys.. she is a kisser), has learned how to stand up on her own and is even giving walking a good try (but on her own time and own terms).
She is so much fun... more and more fun everyday. She loves songs. Her favorite is the milkshake song from storytime... she starts pouring and shaking and you know it is time to sing.

J.D. is learning to use the potty. What a process. He is in big boy underwear during the day and we have had minimal accidents. (It helps when the underwear has The Wiggles or Thomas the Tank Engine on it... you don't want to get them wet!)
Last night we had a typically potty training experience. J.D. had to go #2. Put him on the potty- he didn't want to go--- but he didn't want to get up either. He cried and cried for about 1 hour. Then, I brought in the portable DVD player, put on Elmos Potty Time and he calmed down- did his thing- and promptly asked for candy. Then, 1.5 hours ago I promised that we would play outside after he went potty. Now, it is 8:30pm- dark and cold. But, we did it anyway. I had a choice to make. Was I going to be that mommy that was too practical- or was I going to make good on my promise? The neighbors must have thought we were nuts. But, honestly it is one of my favorite mommy-moments so far.

In the last 6 weeks, Miriam Storm has come to live with us. She is amazing. She plays so well with the kids. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful she is- or how much we are going to miss her when she leaves in April. She is Aunt Mimi to our kids- and we just wouldn't be a complete set without her.

Natalie is waking up... gotta run.
More pictures to come... who knows... maybe sometime before June :)

Carrie

Natalie Turns 1

Okay, so she turned one a month ago... to the day!
We had a great day. We started, as is our tradition, with cupcakes and eggs.
Then, we hurried to get ready for our first birthday party. The theme was Pink and Green.
We had pink balloons, pink plates, pink cupcakes, green table runner, Natalie wore pink and green. It was everywhere.
We had a couple of friends over- Garrison and Daniel Counts and Isabel Carew (plus their mommy's).
We played outside, it was a beautiful day. The boys played basketball. Natalie tooled around in her walker.
It was great fun.
Then, we moved inside for the one year old lunch consiting of: peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, strawberries, chocolate cupcakes with pink icing. Yum, Yum.
Even the adults ate the tiny tots menu!
As you can see, it was great fun.
Natalie got some cute clothes, great toys and more sessions of Tumble Tots. Very exciting.
Can't believe she is one already. What a blur this year has been. She surely keeps us on our toes.

How many ministers does it take to baptize a baby?

THREE!
Natalie was baptized on Sunday. My parents came in for the weekend and my dad baptized Natalie during our Sunday morning service at church. Take a look at the pictures...
It took ONE minister to read the questions from the book of church order, ONE minister to actually sprinkle her head with water (her Pap!), and ONE minister to hold the water....
It was a great morning- but it did strike me as funny that all these men in robes participated!!!

do you think she is tasting the water???

looks like it to me...

Photos from Jan. 07

J.D. built this tower... he did it himself...

My children love their Nana!

Isn't this the cutest 'stinker face' you have ever seen???

More of the tower...

bathtime fun... gotta have some of these to pull out when they are 16!

J.D. having his morning coffee with daddy!

The cousins (Jackson, J.D. and Natalie) playing with Uncle Steve and Aunt Barbie in Mamaw's living room.

Love this picture!

Okay... so maybe this is the best 'stinker face' ever!

Has it been a month since our last entry???

Why- yes! It has been over one month since our last blog update. Let's ponder what might have kept us from the computer... 1. Christmas! We had a lovely quiet Christmas here in Colorado Springs. And, for the first time in almost 20 years- there was snow on the ground in Colorado Springs on Christmas day- or so they say... with the amount of snow fall we have seen since we moved here- I think this city experiences snow amnesia from one winter to the next! I am not sure who was more excited about Christmas morning- the parents or the children. Jason and I were so excited to give J.D. his train table and to watch Natalie open presents that we almost woke them up so we could get started. Which in the end- might have been to our advantage- since we opened gifts ALL DAY LONG! Seriously- we opened gifts from 8:30am- 2pm and then from 8pm- 10:30pm (this session was more of mommy just opening the gifts and showing the kids...). I have attached some fun pictures of Christmas... like the kids waiting at the top of the stairs behind the gate, Natalie climbing the presents (yes, we had a small mountain of them), Natalie being fascinated with a very big box... she climbed it, chewed it, etc... all in an effort to get into it!, and so on! What else has been keeping us busy... oh yes... 2. Natalie is SO mobile! We are constantly on 'stair patrol'. I am not sure that I sit down while she is awake. She is on the move!!! I have stopped being able to talk on the phone while she is awake, I can't do much actually while she is awake... she is into everything! And, it is so fun! 3. Natalie is not sleeping through the night. No one really believed me... but I think my parents are now true believers since our last visit... where Natalie decided to fuss for hours on end for several nights!!! So, most of the time, I am decided between taking a nap or updating the blog... today- the blog won! 4. We went to visit Nana and Pap and Mamaw in Cincinnati. Mamaw had her hip replaced.. so I took care of her while my mother took care of the kids. It was a win-win for all involved! Mamaw is a stellar patient- she is recovering so well- everyone is so impressed. And, my mother should start a blog with all the stories she has of the week with the kids. And, I love my kids- yet, I am thoroughly grateful for some much needed time off from being a mommy. Hope you enjoy the pictures from our last month!!! Carrie


Natlie and Mommy on Christmas morning... the toy wiggles, giggles and snorts!

Natalie loved Christmas!

Remember when boxes were so entertaining???

Who needs toys when there are boxes, tissue paper, ribbons and bows?

I tried (and failed) to take a picture of the kids and Jason all dressed up on Christmas Eve... you can see why we gave up!



See all the pieces on the floor... I am sure this is the first of many Christmas Eves that Jason will have a construction project!

Kids on Christmas morning!

Although the picture is a little fuzzy... you can see our precious little girl scaling the mountain of presents!

J.D. and his John Deere tractors! We play and play and play with these!

J.D.'s 2nd Birthday

J.D. turned 2 today! I can't believe that I have a two year old. He is so fun... I always thought that I loved babies the best... but this year from 1 to 2 has been so much fun. He has learned so much- gotten to be such a great participant in our family- and continues to surprise us every day.
Today, we started with cupcakes for breakfast, followed by opening gifts from mommy and daddy (okay, next year, EVERYONE needs to play along with the birthday move... remember we are going to officially celebrate on 6/23 from now on...), followed by making gingerbread houses with our new friend Garrison (ate more candy than actually got on the house), took long naps and then went out for pizza.
It was a great day. And, I think we have started some fun new traditions- cake for breakfast and gingerbread houses with friends!
Here are some pictures from our wonderful day!