Mr & Mrs Smith

Our wedding day photographs along with our dating & engagement story. You can view this full-screen once it loads. Photo creds by Caitlyn Haines, Teresa Ying & Bryan Stalvey.  Click here to view this photo book larger You'll love Shutterfly s award-winning photo books. Try it today.

So here is the FOUR month scoop for the grandmothers & my future reference : Sleep Schedule: I realize babies 8weeks-4 months have different abilities from babies 5+ months, namely sleep training. We tried pushing a schedule right before the 4 month mark. She is hit or miss, but we are aiming for 8PM bedtime with an 8AM wake time. That means a 7:30 bath every other night, but we change into pjs, read a book, sing a song (so far we're not good at saying prayers or & reading nightly scriptures because dad doesn't see the point yet). She is then in her crib with only slight rocking & then kisses from mom&dad. She typically goes down easy & will make a few noises, but puts herself to sleep. Waking up at night to feed is not predictable yet, but for the most part, I end up waking twice before the 8AM rise & shine. The goal is no early than 3AM, but typically she goes at least 5 hours before waking up. We tried letting her cry when she woke up at 1A...

Well, this is my latest craft. Tulle Pom Poms. I'm satisfied with them. The crafts I do are not perfect & I'm slowly getting over it. This is where Lexi sleeps & I love it. She is there now. It gives me peace. I love sleeping babies & that moment where you hear they are awake & you get to see that adorable smile that says "mommy, it's so good to see you" Here is something I haven't started: If any of you are creative enough for this, we got it free thinking we could make it something. All we really need to do is prime it & it's a great headboard (for our eventual guest room) but for now, those shelves annoy me because our pillows are right in front of them. Any ideas? Mr Smith mentioned raising the headboard a bit from the ground so that the shelf part is higher up, but I'm not sure how he could non-awkwardly do that. The curves make it difficult to just put a 2X4 over the entire opening. Any way, I don't know wh...

Mr Smith wanted me to read this last night. I began reading it out loud, but towards the end got a little choked up. He said that one line was his favorite quote. At first I was getting worried he was trying to tell me something about his headaches (that's me), but the message was sweet - that through it all - we too believe in the same eternal concept. We do want to be worthy of each other, so regardless of what happens in this life, we can be comforted by the simple, yet profound truth that we can be with each other for eternity. There is no person on this planet that I'd rather spend eternity with. I think about that when it comes to Eric as well as Lexi. I wish more people understood, it's not about until death do us part like so many people are used to hearing. There is something greater. It's eternal marriage & an eternal sealing to your children.  All that is left is for us to be worthy of it. Margaret & Mathias are Eric's great grandparents on...

Today is the day where I almost got 8 hours of straight sleep, just 30 min short - minus the 2 times Mr Smith got up & woke me up (it's never perfect), but for the first time, Miss Smith slept for 9 hours. Mr Smith had to turn on the fan during the night which was necessary & then around 5AM he went to go make sure our daughter was still breathing. I was giddy. We were both surprised. We put her to bed a little earlier since her afternoon naps were interrupted by roof replacement & her just not sleeping in her crib for long. I fed her & she took a bath around 8:30. She wasn't really hungry again so I just laid her down & she was out by 9PM without a peep. I had just ordered the Healthy Sleep Habits book & started reading it, maybe all I had to do was buy it. I don't know if I recommend buying the book, I could sum it up fairly quickly. I wish more books got to the point - that's all I want with those kind of books.  I did realize by allo...

So I think I have been a little moody this past month, ever since  the move really. Some days I'm fine, but other days I let myself wallow in self pity, and I then i hate on myself because I know I am so lucky. It's a twisted world and to each his own. I know I was struggling to count my blessings. Instead i was stacking up all the reasons to be annoyed and unhappy. Who are we? After church today, I realized I have been pushing away the spirit with my bad heart. Some of it has to do with how I am filling my time, but I know I have always struggled with a glass half empty attitude. I have a loyal, supportive husband, the cutest daughter, a nice home to live in, the love of many family & friends, & my health. Why on earth do I have a droopy attitude? It's affecting my marriage and probably my daughter when I let it take over and it's the last thing I want. Patience and a controlled tongue is a lot of work. Maybe it's because I feel like no one can understand,...

She is wearing 6-9 month onesies, 9 month bottoms and even some 12 month tops so I'm just as confused at you. I know my baby is chubby but come on manufacturers. I feel like every time I go put something on her that I've waited to fit, there is no room to grow. It is blowing my mind. So any way, we just roll up the sleeves but everything else fits. Our little t-rex. Also, ignore what I said about a schedule & nighttime. I'm almost scared to go to sleep knowing that for the last 3 nights, she has been waking up every 2 hours to eat and throw in one hour when she wants her pacifier. Poor Eric (&me) but I think we will look into a spare bed sooner than later. We take my desktop iMac to get fixed tomorrow. Pray it's fixable & that I can recover most my stuff. I'm trying not to freak out. Oh wait. Already did!

So we took a roadtrip to SC & FL in the beginning of July & we ended the month in a chill-at-home fashion, even for Eric's 30th Birthday ! (and also the anniversary of our engagement which I just remembered). Any way - us hopeless romantics didn't do anything out of the ordinary. Mr Smith apparently hates birthdays, ha. He did let me come up to tour his new office & show off Lexi & take him to lunch at Fatz. It was definitely good & Lexi was pretty calm the whole time. She actually finished a bottle & passed out in a quick stroll around this park where he works. It was lovely - I hate that it is just too far to visit often. I thought about making Key Lime Pie and asked him about it but he said "remember what happened last time?" Unfortunately I do (too tart) & since he is hard to please when it comes to Key Lime Pies (or everything) & I don't like them, we settled for . . . I think nothing. He didn't want to waste candles. I ju...

41 weeks pregnant {+42 lbs} 9 weeks after birth {-45 lbs} And some might hate me, but all I did was breastfeed & walk up & down three flights of stairs to our apartment when I was forced to. I was lucky. However, it still wasn't easy. And my pregnancy gave me major stretch marks, so to each his own body. And Mr Smith still likes to poke my jiggly belly.  So, as I have mentioned before, I could dedicate an entire post to breastfeeding, most likely to help me remember & to help those, who might be going through it for the first time, know you're not alone. For the select few, it's natural & easy. For all those like me, it was the hardest thing about the first month of Lexi's life (a major part of my baby blues), but I told myself I would do it. For all those other things I quit when it got hard, I was going to see this through.  Why? My baby & my body allowed me to nurse, and for that I was grateful. I always thought breastfeeding w...