Sick Days {or weeks}

It breaks my heart to see my kids sick. We have been dreading getting "the sickness" that is going around, but it hit hard this week. I have been doing laundry around the clock and giving Leah and Isaac at least 3 bathes a day. Yes...we got "that" sickness, the one that I absolutely dread because all of the baggage that comes along with it makes even that much worse. During it all, the kids seem to be in brighter spirits then I would have imagined, which makes it all that much easier for me. This was our life this week, so here are some pictures of the good and peaceful times.

Isaac has not felt good at all for pretty much the entire week...but he still shares his precious smile even when he is under the weather. This proves that he is seriously the happies baby...and I love him for it.

And is this not the cutest tubby time picture ever?!?! So, so cute!

The night before last, Leah was *literally* up the entire night. Thankfully, she was able to catch up on her beauty sleep by sleeping the entire afternoon away yesterday...in my bed, of course! She was in higher spirits after this, thank goodness. She is such a bear when she doesn't feel well, which is not fun for anyone involved.

Noah had a little cough this week, but nothing that would make him officially *sick*. He was in good spirits and was such a helper to me. I'm thankful for this little guy every.single.day. He keeps me grounded when times are rough around here...especially when he is constantly telling me that he loves me and give me lots and LOTS of hugs. I'm glad that he was my first born :).

Precious Moment

I had to share this cute video of Noah and Leah on Doug's birthday. When we were driving to dinner, they fell asleep...holding hands. Now, this is not something new...they actually hold hands all of the time when we are driving around in the car. This is just the first time that I captured it on video, and I'm so glad that I did :).

Untitled from Angie Smith on Vimeo.

Daddy had a birthday...

...last week!

It's been a crazy week here in the Smith Household. The sickness that we have been dreading finally hit, and it's NOT good. The kids are all down napping {finally}, so I am now able to write a little something about my sweetheart's birthday.

Doug turned one year older this past Saturday, and he was SO excited about it {not really}. Noah has been looking forward to Daddy's birthday for weeks, so we definitely had to make a whole weekend of it for the kids sake, right?! Plus, I LOVE celebrating birthdays, so we had a whole lot of fun stuff planned to make Doug's day super-duper special :).

Friday ~ I planned a lunch with Doug's family at The Pie! OK...now it has to be said that The Pie is the best.pizza.ever! With that said, it was a wonderful lunch! We got our favorite pizza and hung out with some of our most favorite people. Good, GOOD, times ;).

Doug and his younger sister, Alli.
Kristen, Steff, Elijah {so cute!}, and Alli. The girls are pretty darn cute too :).
These three good lookin' boys are the best of friends...I'm so glad that they have one another :).
Saturday ~ Doug's actual birthday. Doug wanted to go snowboarding on his birthday, so, after sleeping in {oops!}, we headed up to SLC to drop the kiddos off at my parent's house {thanks, again, mom and dad!} and then headed up to Park City. I was expecting it to be really busy with the Sundance Film Festival going on, but it really wasn't that busy at all. It snowed most of the day, and it was a bit cold, but we still had a great time. I absolutely love this resort...it's SO beautiful.

After our day on the slopes, we headed back to get the kids and go to Doug's other favorite restaurant, Texas Roadhouse! My mom and dad were able to come to, which was great! The kids were on their best behavior...it's SO nice that they are being so good when we go out...this means that we can go out more often with them! Doug and I both agreed that this was one of our best meals there...it was delicious! And, those rolls, oh my, they are seriously the BEST!

Sunday ~ No birthday is complete without a cake, candles, and singing "Happy Birthday"! Noah and Leah helped me make some cupcakes after church, and that evening Doug's parents came over to help us celebrate Doug's b-day one last time. I made peanut butter frosting {YUM!} for the cupcakes, and we sang to Doug, and Doug had the help of his precious little boy and girl to blow out his candles. Then we devoured the goodness that is the peanut butter cupcake.

Doug and Isaac {aka...Doug's mini-me!}. They look SO much alike to me.
Love Leah's bed head from her nap earlier that day! Awesome.


Doug...I love you more than you will ever know. We all had such a wonderful weekend celebrating YOU! You are so special to all of us, and we hope that you had a fabulous Birthday! LOVE YOU!

Isaac ~ 7 Months

This has been a big month for Isaac. He has reached so many milestones...it's crazy! This month actually went by slowly, especially when he started to do so many things. I love watching him grow and learn each and every day. It is truly amazing to watch!

~ He started eating solids, and he's finally starting to enjoy it. My method with introducing food to my little ones is make it *somewhat* fun. Sometimes I just put the food on his tray and let him play with it, and if some of it makes it's way in his mouth, then good job Isaac :). Up until about a week ago, everything that I put in his mouth with the spoon came right out! He's just learning to keep what I give him in, and to swallow it. I've kind of given up on store bought food {it's just so expensive, and some other things that I won't go in to}, so we have started to make baby food here at home for him. He actually likes this food so much more...I don't know why I haven't done this before! Live and learn.
~ He can sit by himself.
~ He can crawl, and he crawls *everywhere*! Let the baby proofing begin!
~ He can go from crawling to sitting. That's actually harder than it sounds, but he's mastered doing it.
~ Needless to say...he is very mobile. We are having fun watching him discover new things with his mobility. I've had to sit down with both Noah and Leah and talk to them about keeping little toys and food off of the floor, and to pick up anything if Isaac shouldn't have it. They seem to understand and have been a huge help to me in this department, which is great!

~ He can also pull himself up on anything, and everything! I'm amazed at how strong he is.
~ Although he does like to spend time on the floor playing, he still prefers to be held. He is a mommy's boy, but, if he's in the right mood, he doesn't care who is holding him. Just as long as he's being held. He just loves to snuggle :).
~ He will let you know when he is unhappy...that little cry of his breaks my little heart. Thankfully, he doesn't cry too often.

~ He absolutely LOVES books. He loves flipping the pages, and, of course, chewing on them. They are definitely his toy of choice ;).

~ He seriously chews on anything and everything that he can get his hands on, including his own fingers ;). I'm wondering when his teeth are going to make their appearance. He's been in a bit of pain lately, so I'm hoping that it's sooner than later.
~ He wakes up two times in the middle of the night...and I'm sick of it! I am being a little sarcastic, but I really am SO ready for a good nights sleep. Noah and Leah aren't any better, but I just won't go there right now in regards to those two punks {we wake up almost *every* morning with them in our bed!}! Despite waking up twice, he is a great napper...that's a good thing :). He's a growing boy!
~ His hair is growing like crazy...and it's coming in SO dark. I love it!
~ He's a little featherweight. At his 6 month appointment, he was barely 16 pounds. I attribute it to his mobility, because he is a very good eater.

~ He is such a happy little guy and he is constantly sharing his beautiful smile. I can not get enough of his smile and giggles...it makes me SO happy to see my babes happy :).

I'm still in awe that Isaac has been in our lives for 7 months...I truly can't imagine our family without him. He makes us complete. Here are some pictures from this past month for your viewing pleasure. Man, oh man, he's cute :). I can't get enough!

Kitty

My Leah adores her little kitty, who is, conveniently, named Kitty! I loved my stuffed animals when I was a little girl, and it makes me smile when I see Leah carrying Kitty around with her...oh, the memories. The best is when Leah says her prayers and she prays for Kitty...it really is so, so sweet. She also prays for Popcorn, Noah's little puppy. I'll have to get a picture of Noah and Popcorn up soon...I have some good stories to go with that one :).

love of games

My Noah has discovered the fun of games. Now, for those of you who don't know, Doug is freakishly good at games...like really good. Although, I will brag that I can totally kick his trash when it comes to Guitar Hero {go me :)}. Anyway, Noah is beginning to prove that playing games is in his blood {or something}, because he is also way good at games. Maybe it's just his generation...I don't know...but it's gets me every time I play a game with him and he totally wins! And I thought that I was good...guess not.

And, btw, I totally limit his time when it comes to playing these games. I mean, what kind of mom would I be to let him play it *all of the time*?!?!? ;)

on the move

It is crazy how fast this little boy is learning. As of this past week, he is crawling everywhere! Doug and I just look at each other in shock when we see him go from point A to point B in record time for a 6 month old. The is definitely a new beginning for him...let the fun begin :).

Standing...already?

So...2 weeks ago Isaac was doing this. Our solution was to lower his crib. Then, a week later, we moved him to his new room...to his new crib. Well, the next morning we found him like this...

Oh boy...this kid is really tricky. I was in shock when I saw him standing in his crib...he's only 6 months old! Well, we lowered his crib, again, and he still stands up. The only problem is that he doesn't know how to sit down once he's standing...makes for some interesting nights because he stands up whenever he wakes up! I've had to go in his room more than I would like at night to lay him back down. I guess moving him to this crib really wasn't a good idea in terms of getting some sleep. He'd rather stand up instead of go to sleep! Seriously...I will never win!

Isaac's First Cereal

We started Isaac on cereal last week. The jury is still out on what he thinks of it. I personally think he likes chewing on the spoon and his tray more than he likes the cereal itself.



It feels like it was just yesterday that we were feeding Leah cereal for the first time. She actually really loved it at first...I would have never known {at the time} that she would be my picky eater. Maybe this means that Isaac will be a good eater. I hope so!

New Year's Day

Doug had to work New Year's Day {BOO!}, but, thankfully, we were invited up to Annie and John's house to spend the afternoon relaxing with family and playing in the snow. Annie and John live up on a BIG hill and they get lots and LOTS of snow...the perfect place to go sledding, that's for sure. I was so glad that it was a nice day so that we could really enjoy our time playing outside. Leah was a champ and she lasted longer than I anticipated...I think Noah would have stayed out there all day if given the opportunity. He seriously LOVES playing in the snow!

Thank you, John and Annie, for inviting us over...it really was a wonderful day :).

All bundled up and ready to go play. I'm glad they enjoyed it because it takes *forever* to get them all ready in their snow gear!

Here's Noah and Jacob going down the hill...

and here they are afterwards.

Happy New Year!

We had a great New Year's Eve...we spent it at home! Fun, right? YES...way fun! I wouldn't want to celebrate any other way than with my sweet family.

After going to dinner, we came home and had our own little celebration. And, no, I did not let the kids stay up until midnight {they are only 4, 2, and 6 months}....SO, at 9:00, I set the timer for 5 minutes, and when it went off we screamed HAPPY NEW YEAR, drank some bubbly {I mean, sparkling apple cider}, and then went outside and popped some poppers. The kids had a grand time, and that's what matters.

Then, once the kiddos went to dreamland, Doug and I watched Back to the Future II...and I wondered when we're going to live in a world with flying cars. According to the movie, we only have 4 more years to get there ;).

I hope that everyone had a Happy New Year!

7 Years

I remember January 2, 2004 like it was yesterday. It was a cold, cold day {much like today}...it was the best day of my life. Marrying Doug is the best thing that has happened to me. To think of all that we have been through and accomplished the past 7 years...it makes me smile. Some years have been harder than others, but we have had each other to lean on the entire time. He is my best friend in life, the best father to our three amazing children...I'm thankful each and every day that he is mine.

I love you, Doug! You make my life complete :).