Happy Birthday Noah!

I can't believe it's been two years since we welcomed Noah into our home. In a lot of ways I feel like he is still a baby (even though he tries to prove to me daily that he isn't). In honor of Noah on his birthday, here are a few things I always want to remember about him at this age:
- He's daring. I swear, nothing scares this kid. He'll jump from high places, climb on unsteady surfaces, and approach anyone or anything. Getting hurt doesn't seem to stop him, it only makes him more determined!
- He gets into everything! Every day is a new mess with Noah. If we turn our backs for even a second, he takes his chance.
- He likes to play pretend. Even though he doesn't really understand the concept of pretend, he still likes to be called by a different name. Right now his current favorites are Brobie (from 'Yo Gabba Gabba) Warehouse Mouse (from 'Imagination Movers') or, simply, frog. It's not uncommon to hear 'Hi, me (insert ficticious name)'.
- He is constantly reminding us of who he is. If we greet him, but don't say his name, he will say it for us. It's almost as though he thinks we forget every now and then.
- He's artistic. He loves to color, draw, paint, etc. Usually he does this stuff on surfaces that aren't supposed to be used (like my walls).
- He's very physical. He loves to dance, run, climb, wrestle, throw - you name it! This makes him extremely active and hard to keep up with (the word rambunctious comes to mind)! He doesn't have a lot of patience for things that require sitting down (like reading or church) and he is in Heaven whenever he gets the chance to go outside!
- He's all boy!! Cars, balls, rockets, boats, balls...these are his favorite things.
- He talks constantly. He likes to sing 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' and tell knock knock jokes that he hears from Clayton (well, he sort of tells them). He knows, for the most part, how to verbalize what he wants and isn't shy about telling you!
- His favorite foods are Mac 'n' Cheese, any kind of fruit, blueberry muffins, pizza, and PB&J sandwiches.
- He can be very sweet. He will run up to you for no reason at all and give your legs an enormous hug! He also will tell you things like 'awww mommy' or 'sweet daddy' or (my current favorite) 'Keekiss (Clayton), you so so cute!'.
- He has pretty good manners. He usually remembers to say please and thank you and says sorry even when it's not really his fault!
- He hates socks! I don't understand what it is about socks, but he pulls them off with his mouth every chance he gets! It's not unusual for me to find his wet socks lying around the house (yep, it's pretty gross).
- He's very social. He gets so excited to see friends and go to nursery. No seperation anxiety with this boy.
- He loves his big brother. He loves to follow Clayton around. On days that Clayton has school, he gets really excited when it's time to go pick him up. He is also usually pretty good about listening to what Clayton tells him to do (which isn't always good). I love their relationship and I hope they can continue to be such good friends.
- He is still very cuddly. If I am sitting down, he will curl up on my lap. Even though my lap is rapidly disappearing, he still tries to fit in it. I hope he stays this way for a while longer. I love to cuddle with him!

He is definitely a more challenging toddler than Clayton, that's for sure. However, he makes up for it by being extra snuggly and sweet. It is so rewarding to be his mom. He is such a fun kid - Justin and I always say that we don't want him to grow up! I love him so much and I am so glad that he is a part of our family!
I love you Noah - Happy Birthday!!!

Thankful

This time of year I always think about all the many things I am thankful for. I thought I'd share a few (sorry, no pics this time - you'll have to wait until after Thanksgiving):

Here are a few of the more superficial things that I have been especially thankful for lately (and am not sure I could live without - how did those pioneer women do it)!
The Magic Eraser - these nifty sponges have saved my life so many times and everytime I see them I honestly think to myself, "wow, I'm so grateful for these"
DVR - very superficial, but there's something so delightful about being able to record shows and save them until Justin and I can enjoy them together. It makes our lives much more convenient (also, it's sooo nice to have Little Einsteins and Imagination Movers ready on demand). Honestly, what'd we do before we could pause TV?
My bed - it's so comfortable and warm. I have to make sure I stay away from it during the day because if I even sit on it, a 'minute' turns into an hour long nap!
A house with an attached garage - I love not having to scrape the ice or snow off of my car in the winter everytime I want to leave the house. It's actually one of the things I am most grateful for in the winter.
Hot Chocolate - I just couldn't get through the winter without it! My new favorite is the Hot Chocolate from Dunkin Donuts (try it, it's amazing). Seriously, 'America runs on Dunkin' and now - so do I!!!
A basement where we can all hide out together - our TV is down here, the kids toys are down here, the treadmill is down here, etc. It's nice to be able to have a space that's part of the house but that can be easily closed off when company comes so that we don't have to subject everyone to our day to day messes!

And here are a few of the more non-superficial things that I am thankful for (in no particular order):
The Gospel of Jesus Christ - there are many times in my life when I think I've had it and frustration sets in and I get really down. I always feel so uplifted when I stop to think that my Heavenly Father knows me and won't ever leave me stranded. He always knows just what I need (which might not always be what I think I needed) and provides for me in so many ways. I'd be lost without the gospel and I am so glad to have it as a lighthouse in my life.
Medical school - I am so grateful for everything that Justin is learning in school. The debt is no fun, but I appreciate that he knows about the body and how to recognize what's wrong with it and what to do to heal it. I have come to trust him implicitly when it comes to all things medical and am so glad that I can turn to him (because I can be a bit of a worrier).
Justin - He's everything to me. He's my best friend, my partner, and the love of my life. I can't wait to see him every night and share my day with him and hear about his day. He does such a great job of balancing school, his church calling, and family. He gets really busy, but does so many little things to let me and the boys know how much he loves us. He can read my mood instantly and usually knows just the right things to say or do to help me out. I thank my Heavenly Father every day that I get to spend my eternity with Justin.
Clayton and Noah - I love these little boys so much! I had kind of hoped that our third child would be a boy (seriously) because of how much fun I have with these two! They are my joy in this life. I am also really grateful that I get to be a stay at home mom. They are a challenge at times, but getting to spend every day with them is such a blessing. I love that I get to see every new trick, hear every new song and joke, and be the recipient of many hugs, kisses, and (at times) tackles! I live for these boys (Justin included) - they really are the best things about me!
My Family - I have the best family ever!!! I am lucky enough to have parents that I want to be just like, sisters who are my very best friends, and brothers who I would love my boys to emulate. I can honestly say that I am friends with each member of my family. I always hope for a day when we can all live closer (like, on the same street). Justin thinks it's a little strange that I talk to my mom and sisters on the phone at least once a day, but I just feel lucky to have people in my life that I actually want to talk to that often! I also have really great in-laws! I can't forget about them!!!
Having our needs met - At this time of year, when we are especially encouraged to give to those in need I am always grateful that we have all of our needs met. We have a warm home, food to eat, seasonal clothing that fits, beds, etc.
A healthy body - I feel so fortunate right now that I have a body that can do just about everything I want it to. At this point I feel especially fortunate to be able to get pregnant have healthy babies. I complain a lot about being pregnant, but honestly, I am so blessed that I even have the opportunity to be pregnant. I'm also really grateful that it's going to be a girl this time! Woo-Hoo!!
Good friends - I was so nervous to move out to Vermont. I was certain that I wasn't going to meet anyone that I could get close to. I hated the thought of being at least two plane rides away from family and worried constantly about what I was going to do without 'family' close by. Well, I have made wonderful friends out here who I consider family. There are several people I can call on a moments notice who I know would help me out in any way I need (or who I know will come over to just hang out and chat). Now, when I think about leaving Vermont, I get teary because I don't want to leave these great people that I've met. I want to coordinate with them so that we can all go to the same place for residency!

There are many, many more things both superficial and non that I am grateful for right now, but these are the ones that I have really been thinking about lately. I have been so blessed in my life and I'm glad that there's a time of year that really encourages us to focus on those blessings.

Family Pictures

Last year, my friend Vanessa took our family pictures and they turned out - in my opinion - awesome! She is an amazing photographer with a great eye and great taste so I asked her if she would take them again this year. Fortunately for me, she said yes. I think the pictures turned out even better this year! Here is a taste:
I realize that Noah's hand is in his mouth, but this is still one of my favorites, we all look so genuinely happy and I love it!
I just can't get over Clayton's smile in this one! He never smiles like that but it cracks me up and I'm glad we caught it.
These ones of the boys and Justin make me smile. I especially love Justin's face when Noah is running to him. It's a face that I see Justin make a lot when he plays with the boys and I adore it!

Justin pointed out to me that Clayton and I are making the same "fisty" face in this picture. I guess now I know where he gets it...
Vanessa caught these two sweet boys holding hands. While this isn't my favorite picture (I wish they would have been doing this when Justin and I weren't standing behind them), I love the moment. These two are such good friends.
Holy cow!!! Is this Justin's clone or what!?! Even the expression on his face...such a Justin expression!
This is one of my favorite pictures of all time! This kid is so gorgeous! And those curls...they warm my heart. Maybe his little sister will get them too...
I love this one of me and Justin. He looks SO handsome (and so young)!! I'm one lucky lady!
I had to throw these two in. They are my very favorite ones! This is probably typical in a lot of families but in our family, this occurs almost daily. The boys tackle Justin while I watch and laugh (grateful that they aren't tackling me).
Finally, every family with little kids has to have at least one shot like this. I'm not sure what exactly I'm doing in this picture, but I love how all of my boys look. Justin's expression is my favorite in this picture! Ahhh, memories!!

Thanks again, Vanessa for taking our pics! I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out!!!

This week...

Clayton has been sick. Not just any kind of sick either, it's been the kind of sick that just breaks a mother's heart. It started off with two days of vomiting, three days of fever, and two days of congestion with a couple days of grouchy recovery thrown in for good measure. He's been dihydrated, delusional, and so weak that we've had to carry him everywhere. In 5 days he ate two peanut butter sandwiches - and that's it. Poor kid. I'm glad he's finally at the end of it!!
This was taken around day 4 of his illness (so once the vomiting and fever were done). Noah seems to get sick a lot, but at least when he gets sick it's just runny noses and coughs. Clayton only gets sick every couple years, but when he goes down - he goes down HARD!!!
Also this week we had our first snow! I'm certainly not ready for it - I am not a fan of cold weather and there are very few things I like about snow, but ready or not - it's here! Sadly, because Clayton was so sick, he hasn't been able to go play in it. He keeps looking longingly out the window though and telling me he wants to make snow angles. Noah, however, was able to go out and play!

As you can see, it was a huge hit! This kid was in Heaven out in the snow!

Speaking of Noah, we had one more delightful incident this week: Noah took his first trip to the ER! I came home from a meeting at 9:00 Tuesday night only to have Justin inform me that Noah had shoved a small bead up his nose. I swear - I don't know what to do with this kid - he's crazy!!! So off to the ER Justin and Noah went. Fortunately the bead was extracted very easily by Justin once they were in the hospital (yeah, the trip was totally unnecessary) and they were home by midnight! Noah is definitely my little troublemaker. If you turn your back on him for even one minute he might find a marker, hide a cup of milk under his bed (yeah, that was a pleasant smelling surprise), or shove something up his nose! He definitely keeps me on my toes!

So that was our week in a nutshell. I think Justin will back me up when I say I hope we don't have another week like this for a long, LONG time!!

Harvest Soup Festival

Last week, Clayton's school had it's 'Harvest Soup Festival'. The families were invited to come at the end of the school day and see a the kids perform a little singing program and then stay and eat some soup that the kids had made that morning. It was so fun to be able to see Clayton perform with his class. When Noah and I first got there, the kids were all outside playing (the kids from both of the sessions were performing so they played while they waited for everyone to show up). Noah was in Heaven! He loves picking Clayton up from school because it means he gets to play with the big kids for a few minutes - but on this day he got to play outside with the kids for about half an hour!! I just think that Clayton is so handsome. The older he gets the more he looks like Justin. After they played for a while, the parents got to come inside and get ready for the performance. All the kids lined up outside so they could make their 'grand entrance'. Clayton was, in my unbiased opinion, the absolute cutest kid! When he walked past me in line he started beaming and waving like crazy. Then, when they were seated on their "stage" he kept looking at me and giving me this huge smile! Then the kids sang their three songs. I realize that these videos aren't great quality (I'm not the best videographer) and it's hard to tell what they're singing - but when you get about thirty 3 and 4 year olds singing together it's inevitable that they will be difficult to understand. However, all three songs are very short and they're pretty funny so they're worth a watch!



I am so proud of how well Clayton did! I love how much Clayton loves school. Here are a couple of pictures of us right after Clayton's performance:
Noah didn't really care much about watching the kids sing, he just wanted to play. But the toys kept him quiet and well behaved so it worked out perfectly.
I love Clayton so much - I feel so blessed to be his mom!
After the kids sang, we got to eat lunch at the school. The kids made a yummy vegetable soup and all the parents brought delicious dishes to share. It was a great day and I am so glad that we got to share it with Clayton!

Third time's a charm!

Yep, that's right folks! Justin and I decided to give parenthood another try! We go back and forth between feeling extremely excited and extremely nervous (we are going to be outnumbered - what were we thinking?)!! The boys, being boys, don't care about the baby at this point. Every time we try to talk about it, Clayton tries to change the subject (such a guy)! Clayton's known about the baby since week 8. Justin was worried that he'd spill the beans, but he overestimated how much Clayton cares about babies (he's never really been a 'baby' person). Here are some of my pregnancy stats:

-Right now I'm 18 weeks
-The baby is due April 14th (although I wouldn't be sad if it came a week or so early)
-I have been feeling fine - tired all the time but no morning sickness (and a healthy appitite - so my weight gain has been delightful). Basically this pregnancy feels exactly like my pregnancies with the boys.
- We have a couple of names that we like, but we haven't decided on anything for certain.
- The baby is growing and developing well, so far - perfectly healthy (yay)!

So there you have it. 3 kids. Wow - that sounds like a lot! However, we love our boys and we can't wait to add another little Smith to our household!

By the way - it's going to be a GIRL!!!!! (I was so happy that I cried during the ultrasound! But I'm a little nervous, what am I going to do with a girl!?!)

Leaves

I raked leaves today, which is NOT my favorite thing!! I love fall and I love how gorgeous it gets here, but there is a downside. When you have this many trees, you have leaves (duh). These leaves must be raked. Normally, Justin does all the raking, but his schedule right now isn't really condusive to yard work. He comes home pretty late and, because I'm selfish, when he's home I want him to be with us - not out in the yard working! So, I sucked it up and raked the front yard (the backyard is a monster for a different day). 3 hours and 18 leaf piles later (yep, that's right, 18 piles of leaves) I am done. I haven't bagged them up yet - someone (Justin) hid my leaf bags. It was a pain in the neck and I am not looking forward to having to bag them - bagging them is always harder than raking them in the first place.

Anyway, the boys loved this!! Clayton kept begging me to play in the piles. I kept telling him no - I was working pretty hard and I did not want them to ruin it! However, once I was all done with the raking I picked a pile and told them that they could play in it for a little bit. The boys went nuts! They loved it! So, of course, I ran inside and grabbed my camera to capture some of the fun. This was one of those times when I wish I had a better camera. There were so many fun things going on, but my camera was to slow to get most of them. These were some of the ones I did get:
Clayton loved to jump in the leaves. At first he would only jump and land on his feet, but eventually he progressed to belly flopping in the leaves - it was cracking me up!
Noah preferred to stomp through the leaves. You are going to notice that there aren't too many good pictures of poor Noah. He refuses to look at me when I'm holding the camera.
I thought these pictures were pretty cute. They were playing tag and the tree was 'base'. So they'd take turns running up to it and hugging it. I know that Noah isn't looking, but I love profile shots of him. I would love to crop this picture. I think it would be pretty great as a close up!
Clayton is always willing to 'give a little somethin' to the camera.
These next two are my favorites of the day. Wonder of wonders - Noah is looking at the camera AND smiling!!
Clayton is laughing in this picture because Noah was in front of him making funny noises. I told him to look up and this is what I got. I love it because it's totally Clayton - squinty eyes and all.
Speaking of Clayton - I had his parent teacher conference a few days ago (it's still a little weird to me that he's old enough to have parent teacher conferences). His teacher told me that he is the most polite child in his class! He still prefers to do things by himself rather than join the group - but he is always very nice and respectful about it. It made me happy to hear that he's so polite.

So there was a bonus to raking leaves. My boys had fun and, I'll admit, I had a lot of fun watching them. Their energy and excitement over the simplest things always makes me smile. When do we grow out of that? At what point do we become people who look at piles of leaves and think, "Man - there's another chore" instead of, "Yippee, something to play in"? I love these two little guys - they are trying their best to keep me young!

**After I posted this I went out to start bagging leaves (thanks Missy for bringing me bags) and Troy and Mindi came to help me out!! It didn't take long at all for the three of us to bag the front yard and then they helped me rake and bag a good portion of the backyard. Thanks guys - I honestly couldn't have done it (at least not all in one day) without you!**

Whodunit?

About a week ago, Justin and I were lucky enough to get to go to the best Halloween party in town! My good friend Vanessa (and her husband Rick) threw a murder mystery party. It was amazing. She is a wicked good hostess - she had every detail planned to perfection! The theme was 'Last Train from Paris' and it was set in Paris in the 1940's. I don't want to ruin it for those who may do this in the future so I won't go into too much detail. I will say, however, that if you check out Rick and Vanessa's blog HERE you can see a few more of the details and some of the ways that Vanessa went all out to make it an authentic night (seriously, I don't know how much time and effort she spent on this party, but it was really amazing - you need to check it out on their blog). We left the kids with babysitters (Chase and Missy left Enoch at our house and those three boys required three babysitters - seriously) and didn't get home until after midnight. I can't remember the last time Justin and I were out that late - we were having so much fun that I didn't even realize how late it was.

Anyway, it was a great time. I hadn't laughed that hard in such a long time. If you've never been to a murder mystery party, I highly recommend it - it's extremely entertaining. Everyone got into the spirit of the party and was dressed to the nines. The costumes were great and people had the accents to go with them (or at least tried to). Here are all the suspects:

(Back row): Rick, Vanessa, Justin, Missy (she cracked us up all night) and Chase
(Bottom row): Me, Melissa and Dustin
Here is a shot of me and Justin. I think Justin is a handsome man, but he would have been a movie star in the '40's - he seriously looked like he had just stepped out of a time machine!
Each of us had a part to play and I think that everyone was given the right part for them! Justin was an airforce captain and I was a Parisian socialite (I got to wear LOTS of sparkly jewlery - who wouldn't love that)! Alright, I know this post is kind of rambly and I didn't give out a lot of info, but I don't really know what to say. It was insanely fun. The last time I went to a party like this it was for my 16th birthday. It was fun then - but I think it was even more fun now that I'm older and I care less what people think about me (a.k.a. - I am not afraid to make a fool of myself in front of other people). It was a fantastic night with good friends, delicious food, and tons of laughter. I can't wait to do this again!

Halloween

This year, Justin was gone for Halloween. This made all of us very sad. Justin loves to take the boys around trick or treating, so he was really disappointed that he couldn't be with us this year (hopefully this won't happen often). Anyway, this year he was at a conference in Baltimore and so it was up to me to take the boys out. Fortunately for me, my good friend Missy's husband was also out of town for a conference so we decided that we'd take our kids out together. I've said it before, my neighborhood is great for trick or treating. We don't get too many kids that go around our neighborhood so my neighbors make a big deal about the kids that do show up. Especially the young ones (because let's face it - they are the cutest). Every house we went to either handed out full size candy bars or they kept encouraging the boys to "take some more, take some more"! Needless to say, we made out like bandits!! I didn't take too many pictures of the boys but here are some of the ones that I did get:
Sadly, this is the best one I could get of both boys together. Noah is at that age where he is extremely uncooperative when it comes to taking pictures. Everytime I'd put on his costume, he would refuse to look at the camera!
Clayton really got into Halloween this year. He is, I think, the perfect age for Halloween. He totally understands the concept and he was so enthusiastic at every house we went to. He also loved his costume. He chose for himself this year what he wanted to be. He wants to wear it all the time. I think it must be what moms of girls experience with dress-ups.
I was a little worried about the boys being too cold as we were trick or treating (so they both have on several layers under their costumes), but it was actually a great night. It wasn't too cold at all! This is the only picture of all three of us together on Halloween (I wasn't doing that great of a job at taking pictures, most of these pictures are ones that Missy took).
Here is the best picture we could get of all three boys, Noah, Clayton, and Enoch. I think this is a great picture because you can see all three of their faces and two of them are smiling! Amazing!
Finally, here is Clayton with his haul! It actually keeps going off to the right. Noah got just as much - plus we had leftovers from what we planned to give out. I am not sure what we're going to do with that much candy!
Halloween was so much fun this year. I'm sad that Justin wasn't here to experience it with us, but I'm also glad that we got to go with Missy and Enoch (it's just so much more fun with friends)! Okay, well, I have some candy to go eat now...