Mr & Mrs Smith

Christmas is an exciting time for new things, new gifts & treats. It's fun to think about giving gifts to our children or receiving some ourselves. I know some people love this opportunity, but I'm not in love with the gifts per say. I do love the idea of giving of course, and seeing our children get excited over something new. But it gives me anxiety to give, wanting to give something that is valued. I have the same issue with receiving, I want it to be worth that person's cost. Mr Smith may tell you I still love receiving packages. I mean even if you bought it, who doesn't love getting them, but sometimes it can become too much. Perhaps I just don't have the gift of gift giving. My kids still don't know what to ask for & are only starting to show interest in particular things. I have a hard time at this age too because gratitude doesn't always come naturally & I despise nothing more than not appreciating a gift. I may sound like a hypocrit...

6 visitors for Thanksgiving 1 ER visit for Croup 1st snow of the season 1st haircut for Dallin 3 times a charmer for MASTITIS 9 months of Dallin 3 weeks of staying home due to sickness 1 work party 1 ward Christmas Party 4 weeks later I begin to blog... ...to be continued

This afternoon, at approximately 2 PM, both of my children napped for 2 hours and neither napped on top of me. TALK ABOUT MAGICAL. I worked in silence. And basically this came about as I was about to blow my brains out trying to read emails with both kids in my lap. Dallin won't stop touching everything within site and Lexi is singing in a toddler tone words that don't even make sense. One of those "Everyone stop or mama is going to explode". I dropped Dallin into the crib crying, told Lexi to get in my bed and we smiled as I shut the door (like who knows what she'll try to do but I'm shutting the door any way), went back to feed & rock Dallin and lay him back down in slumber and BAM both children actually stayed put and cooperated. Every mother's dream. Successes of the day: 1) Made it on time to library preschool with only a few minor threats when it took 5 years for her to get her socks on and when she asked for a fruit pouch walking into the l...

With 9 weeks to go, I gained 30 lbs. Eat that.  All my muscles have long ago loosened and it has made rolling over in bed a task indeed along with all the other lovely symptoms. The top of my stomach is definitely more crowded and it hurts to sit forward or be restricted at all. My body is ready to be done. My mind and body are on the same page. On a good note, my thyroid is still normal on my current dose. And they have me marked down for an epideral even though my husband and doctor have to give me nightmares about having a quick second delivery. I don't want a back up plan! I want to walk into the hospital calmly and receive my epideral people. Let's make it happen. I just know that Lexi came SUPER fast after they broke my water, so if my contractions start and break my water this time, I might be screwed. JK - it's pregnancy & delivery - all will go according to plan. Things I'd LIKE to accomplish before I enter the dark hole of the first month post b...

This Christmas, I'm truly blessed with a wonderful husband, toddler and a baby on the way. I'm so eternally grateful for my family here and afar. I love my Savior; He truly is The Gift. I am so grateful to know He lives, that there is a plan, and that we can return to live with Him and our Heavenly Parents again some day. My warmest wishes to all of our friends and family this fabulous white Christmas morning. I didn't manage a lot of pictures of the holidays…yet. With Lexi and I both being under the weather, we haven't aimed to be photogenic. I had a few traditions I wanted to reach (I'll add photos as I get them):  1. Seeing Santa . We took a quick trip to the mall on the 23rd. She walked up to him, sat on his lap, told him she wanted a trumpet (he tried to also encourage Paw Patrol and I'm all don't push commercialism mall Santa!). The trumpet was pretty random though; I have no idea where that came from, but it sure made dad proud. He got his ou...

It's nice when you can feel the baby often because e.v.e.r.y time I feel him I'm like "oh good. still there." Whereas our other child is now crying my name after 30 minutes of talking to herself instead of sleeping. It's 3 PM and is today the first day my 2 year old won't get a nap? - - those were my quick thoughts from yesterday.  Today, I shall talk about how I hate giving blood. I got the follow-up thyroid check (I only do it when they force me to) to see if my levels have decreased and heaven help me I sure hope they are closer to normal. Although I do not FEEL normal. The last few days have been extremely sluggish! I'm losing my will to be productive again. Thinking of doing things just exhausts me! It's so crazy! So I hope it passes soon. I've only been going into work once a week recently and I would love this trend to keep up. However, it's craft season and I have yet to plan anything out. Happiness to Mr Smith, sadness to me. Than...

Although I want to say this to all of our immediate family (and we have in various ways on a number of occasions), the truth is people do as they wish and make excuses until they give it an honest thought. This primarily goes out to my children. Perhaps it will make more sense to you for the waiting period may be over by then, but at least you can understand our beliefs in the matter at hand. Our goal will always be to encourage you to have faith and be believing in all things pertaining to the gospel because you want to .  Not because you have to earn His grace , but because His grace should become your motivation in this life.  Some of the gospel principles we've been taught surround self sufficiency in our temporal needs. It will surprise you how many people live day to day or paycheck to paycheck and don't really understand what being self sufficient means and it hurts worse when they don't care or feel entitled to the opposite - especially when America truly is a ...

Now is the time where I keep waiting for THE DAY to come. That magical day of the second trimester where all of a sudden the uncomfortable pregnant-ness is gone and I actually want to crawl out of my bed and accomplish some things with this time we call life. It comes in small, tiny spurts. I feel like when I was working full-time with Lexi the nausea was a lot more debilitating. However, I do not remember the stomach discomforts, indigestion, and lack of pure will power that I have experienced this time around. I felt like the sharp round ligament pain (web-md) was coming around way too soon.  My body is all "hey I remember what this is all about; lets get the party started early!" so it had me worried in the beginning. I'm not sure at what pregnancy number you actually remember the facts regarding your previous pregnancy. Our minds suppress so much for obvious reasons. I wouldn't say it's painful, we'll save that for week 41. But pregnancy = uncomfortab...

She will turn two in just a couple of months! Her second year has flown by for me. And they change so much each day it isn't easy to keep up with let alone remember. So here is to remembering how she places her hands on my cheeks and turns my head in the direction she wants me to look. How she loves to be chased and follow Maren around. I love that she is a huggy, kissy, snuggly toddler still. She shares almost as much as she fights for toys.  She is definitely known for her physical stamina, sass & playfulness . She also has great sleeping & eating habits. They say they should know at least 50 words and begin putting together 2-3 word phrases before their 2nd birthday. She seems to be pretty average with her speech, but we thought we would try to list out her every day words to see where she falls (because even in the next 2 months she will grow like crazy, I still can't believe I will have a 2 year old by then!):  First Words mommy. daddy. bye. hi. no....

All it takes is for me to need some photos for work, one or two to display my family on my desk and I find that I have nothing that sums us up perfectly. I'm either not flawlessly beautiful or Lexi has a funny, but not charming face and well then there is Mr Smith who knows I don't pay attention to him in the photo. I could always go back to the wedding photos of us if all else fails, like our engagements did. Here are the photos I decided on: Unfortunately, we took the photo on the right after I already sent out invitations But it is blurry so it looks best as a 4x6. And Mr Smith didn't tell me that was the last time he would do anything like that again. He gave me his beanie to keep me warm. I miss how beautiful DC is. 8 Things I Like About Working 1. I get to listen to WHATEVER I want in the car during my 20 minute commute or just enjoy the quiet. QUIET. 2. My workspace is QUIET or I can stick headphones in without a problem 3. ...

I didn't take any pictures on Thanksgiving.  I didn't quite manage the famous Amy sweet potatoes, but I tried. And I swear next year I will use a wider, shallower pan so the topping isn't still gooey after an hour (and I might include less topping altogether). If I don't write these things down, I'll forget. Connie made a lovely meal for us all; as she always does. My parents came into town that day for Lexi kisses. She only speaks now, is all. Two months can change a toddler. She is saying phrases; she is relentless with "hey mama" "here go mama"(or daddy). She is adorable so she makes it an exciting adventure. Speaking of, she swallowed G-Grandma's blood pressure pill. So that was a terrible incident of trying to make her throw up which ended in a gag reflex and the poison control promising she will be ok since it was just one pill; watch for mild stomach discomfort that expanded into the nastiest smelling, green diaper of all times. I...

I think her hair has grown the most of anything. She didn't get any taller! Which is hard to believe since all of a sudden she can reach things off tables and in cabinets I once figured were out of reach. She is only a pound heavier.  Stats: 32 inches, 24 pounds. 12 teeth (so one new molar?) We don't really get out much since she is still on two naps, gas is money and maybe we're lazy? I promise one day I'll have fun UT pictures that make it the bestest place on earth to live, but for now, I'm just not really feeling it. Or maybe I'm being selfish and keeping the mountains to myself. So more about Alexis Jane at 18 months. . . Behaviorally , I'd say she is happy, easy going, tough, playful and into everything. I'd say helpful, but she oftentimes causes the mess in the first place. However, usually she will listen when I ask her to pick something up or throw something away. You can tell she likes the idea of helping and being in...

#1 My passion, spirituality, love and creativity are spurred from my emotions. When I become negative, self-defeating or worse, pawn my negativity onto you, then you should help me dial back to my happy state. But simply feeling like something isn't right, when I'm unsure or shed a tear, just listen, hold me and tell me you'll be there. Most likely I just need a moment to think. But before that moment, I need to feel it. #2 This lesson I need to embrace. I need to give up those greener pastures and window shopping. I need to skip down the freaking sidewalk and be okay even when questions are unanswered. I don't need to feel pressured into answering questions. I have today to keep believing, loving and enduring happily. #3 Exactly. I try to share my story here. I try to share how completely average I am and how I'm okay with whatever comes my way, sometimes shining light onto the dark times. Even when things seem like trials or complacency, I...

She is hit or miss when we ask her to say something. She is not to the point where she always repeats what we say, but at least she knows how to use the words below: mom hey, hi book "bu" bye ball "baah" food "foof" water "wa" baby uh oh "oh" mouth "mow" eye hot "haw" no "na" bird "ba" daddy "dah" butt And she knows what we're saying when we ask her to pick something up, go find her cup, her shoes, her paci, are you hungry, close the door, where are your toys, go get a book, daddy is home, it's time to pray (she folds her arms for two seconds), where is the ice-cream cone (she points to it in the book and says mmmm), name parts of the face + belly, what animal we're referring to, etc... signing: food, water & sleep (and points to her crib if she is that tired) animal sounds: dog, horse, monkey, duc...