Leah's Birthday Party

We celebrated Leah's Birthday with our families this evening. I truly love having get togethers like this so that we can spend time with our family! It was such a wonderful evening and we are so thankful for all who came to make this time truly special.

The highlights...

Leah showing off her walking skills. She just doesn't want to let go and do it on her own. That's OK though. Take your time sweet girl :).

The Pie...the BEST pizza ever!

Alli and Ryan

Very cute picture!
Connor knows how to smile for the camera...so cute!
The Presents
Leah and Lexi had more fun playing with the paper.

Leah checking out her new toy.

Opening some more gifts. Thanks, again, for all of the sweet outfits, toys, and books. She loves them all!

The Cake

Time for the cake! Leah was SO cute with her little cupcake.

First...Noah helped blow out the candle.

Then she just went for it! She just put the top of the cupcake in her mouth and started sucking away. It was so dang cute to watch!

THEN she picked it up and continued to suck the frosting off. She just couldn't get enough :).

Leah does NOT like getting messy. She is very careful not to get her hands dirty, so once she noticed all of the cake and frosting covering her hands, she just had to stop and observe the situation. She soon put her worries aside and continued to enjoy herself.

The Pinata!

No party is complete in this family without a pinata. The kids just love it {and the adults do too :)}. Here's Annie and Connor taking a turn...so much fun!

We really had such a wonderful time tonight! Leah has been sick this past week and it was nice to have her feeling better {not 100% better, but better enough} so that we could have a fun party for her. Leah is such a delight and we just love her to pieces! Until the next birthday...{FYI...Noah is turning THREE in TWO weeks...ahhh!!!}.

Leah is ONE!

Happy Birthday Leah!

We celebrated Leah's first birthday this past Saturday. Yes, she is ONE! This past year has been amazing. This little angel has been such a blessing in our lives and we cannot imagine our lives without her. She has each one of us wrapped around her little finger and we are more than willing to give her all that she wants and needs at any time. I remember when I was pregnant with Leah and how nervous I was with how Noah was going to react to his new baby sister. Noah's life has been enriched in so many ways with Leah in his life. He has become her little protector and he is always there when she needs him. It makes my heart so happy to see the wonderful bond that they share with one another. Yes, Leah is the princess in this house and I am grateful beyond words to have her in our family. I look forward to this coming year and all of the many experiences that we will share with her. Here are some highlights from the past few months with Leah...

~ She isn't walking yet, but she is standing all by herself without any support. It is only a matter of time before she takes off.
~ For something so small, she is incredibly loud. Really...she knows how to get your attention! I keep telling myself that it's cute {not really}.
~ She is an incredibly picky eater. She doesn't like baby food at all, or bottles, although she will give in when needed. She prefers the real stuff off of our plates.
~ She has the most amazing eyes. I am constantly receiving comments from people on how big and beautiful her brown eyes are...they are pretty amazing! She just needs to look at us with those big brown eyes, bat her lashes, and we will do what she wants.
~ She has five teeth, and I swear the rest are all coming in at the same time. Teething has been our biggest challenge with this little angel. I hope that they come in fast.
~ She LOVES to play with Noah and she prefers Noah's trucks over her own toys. Noah is always more than willing to share, which is wonderful!
~ She is the BEST sleeper! She started sleeping through the night when she was two weeks old. We have had our weeks when she wakes up a lot, but that doesn't happen often. When she does wake up, I just nurse her and she is off to dreamland. I am so grateful that she sleeps well because I need the rest :). It's tiring keeping up with her and Noah.
~ She is such a petite little thing. She is such a fast little crawler, so I swear she just burns off whatever she eats. The one good thing about her being little is that it is so easy for me to carry her around, and she pretty much spends majority of her time in my arms, so I am grateful that I am able to carry her without too much pain.

~ She is incredibly lovable. We just can't get enough of her! She gets cuter each and every day and we love showering her with hugs and kisses, and she is very accepting of them, which is always nice.

~ Her little laugh cute enough to make my heart melt. She might be a loud screamer, but her little giggle is the cutest thing I have heard in a long time.

Needless to say, we love her pieces. Happy Birthday, to our little angel! We love you more than you will ever know!

Here is a slideshow of some of my favorite pictures of Leah from this past year. It's amazing how much she has grown in such a short time. I look forward to the changes and growth this coming year. Click here see it with music :).

California 2009 ~ The Beach

We went to the beach on Leah's birthday. I love going to the beach and there are times that I would trade in the mountains for the ocean. I just love the sound, the sand, the atmosphere, the beauty of it all, etc... It was a bit chilly when we went, so I didn't bring a swimsuit for Noah, which was a bad idea....he wanted to dive in and play no matter what the weather. Live and learn.

Noah could have spent all day playing in the sand, and so could I! It was so much fun!

Mommy and The Birthday Girl
They were so happy to be there! It was wonderful!

Daddy and The Birthday Girl

Noah just loved splashing in the water.

California 2009 ~ Disneyland

We just got back from a wonderful {and very well needed} trip to California. We spent four days at Disneyland and the beach with four of Doug's sisters and their families. We had a fabulous time and are a bit sad to be home already. We just had so much fun! Noah had a so much fun, and Leah had a blast watching everyone have a good time. Leah pretty much cuddled with me or was asleep in the stroller the entire time {that's why there aren't very many pictures of her}. Here are some highlights from our trip to Disneyland...

Upon arrival to the park, we had to take some quick shots.

Doug's sister, Suzi, and her kids made the trip to Disneyland to play with us. We were SO happy to see them! So happy!!! We miss you already!

Noah was tall enough to ride majority of the rides. Of course, he prefered the kid rides, and I don't blame him one bit!

Dumbo was definitely a favorite!

I love these boys so much! Doug is such a wonderful daddy to these kids and I love how he makes every moment worth while. It was wonderful to spend the past few days with him and have him all to ourselves the entire time!

I was a little nervous to how Noah was going to react to the characters, but I had no reason to. He loved meeting all of the characters...especially Pluto! He loves puppies!

There were a total of TWELVE Smith cousin's on this trip! We sure do love them all to pieces! We had so much fun jumping from ride to ride with them.

Noah got a sheet of stickers from some lady at some stand in Disneyland. Noah had them in hand the remainder of the day. He knows what he likes and he will make sure that nothing happens to his posessions!OK...Leah is a screamer! Those that have been around her know that she can put off this high pitched scream that will make your ears ring! She's really good at it! So, here is a picture of her smiling by the Screamin' rollercoaster sign...too funny!!!

Yes, they did sleep. I know...AMAZING!

One more family picture.

***More pictures to come tomorrow...I'm sleepy.***

Expressions

This little angel cracks me up with her facial expressions. I just love it when she scrunches up her little nose...it makes me smile every time! The last one is directed at Noah...she was playing with his toy, and she knows how much he loves that {heavy sarcasm!}.

Snowing = Staying Home

You will rarely find me out and about when it is snowing outside. Guess what? It snowed today! Luckiy I had nowhere to go today, so I was able cuddle up and play all day with these cuties...their smiling faces always make my day!

Bowling

I have been wanting to go bowling for a while now, and today we finally went. I just knew that Noah would have so much fun, and that he did! When we walked into the bowling alley, he just looked around trying to figure out what was going on. When I asked him if he was excited, he just beamed up and said "Yes!". He took his own shoes off and put on his bowling shoes, went and picked out his ball...he was ready to go! He did surprisingly well for his first time...Doug was so proud. We will definitely have to go back again, and soon!

Sorry all of these shots are of our backs...but that's just how it is :).

Noah bowling for the first time. He even got a STRIKE! He had beginners luck!

Doug is a really good bowler and I have rarely seen him bowl badly. Good form, babe!

OK...I'm a little embarrassed to even show this, but here are the final scores. Yes, Noah beat me! Now, I was a good bowler at one time...I even took a bowling class in college because I needed one extra credit that semester. I was a pretty decent bowler after that class, but that has apparently worn off. Oh well...I had more fun watching Noah and Doug anyway!

Trapped In

This is Leah's "Dang you, Mommy, for trapping me in so that I can't go and climb the stairs" look. Yeah, she is officially everywhere and it is just a matter of time before she starts walking. I do want her to walk, I really do, but I don't want her to wander off on her own and attempt to climb the stairs and fall! No, I don't...that would make me very sad. So, I have trapped her in the living room where all of the toys and books are that she has no interest in. Sorry, Leah, I love you to pieces, but I know, and you know, that you can't climb those stairs. We'll work on it this week though...deal?

First Day at the Park {this year}

Photos and Blogging

One of my goals for this year is to take a picture every day. I actually started a blog separate from this one to document those pictures, but posting my photos and thoughts there has taken away from this blog. I don't want to deal with managing multiple blogs...that's just becoming a hassle. If you would like to see my "a photo a day" pictures, I have added a slideshow on the sidebar...just click on it to see all of them :). It will be updated often.

This little project has actually been pretty fun and I am sure that I will be thrilled at the end of the year when I am able to look back on ALL of the photos that I have taken together. I just love taking pictures and documenting my life...love it! I have been reading Ali Edwards blog lately and I am so inspired by her and her take on taking photos and how every photo has a story behind it. I love her simple style, which is SO me, and how she creates wonderful stories with all of the pictures that she takes. I want to be able to put all of my pictures/thoughts together so that I can look back and remember all that has happened in my/our lives in a scrapbook. Now I just need to find the time to do it :).

Just a few thoughts on blogging...

When I first started this blog, I didn't know where it was going. I didn't know if it would stick. When I look and see that I have kept this blog alive for almost two years, it makes me happy. I have never been good at journaling, but now that I see how much has happened in my life in the past two years, and to see that it has been documented, I so wish that I could go back and do this for everything else that has happened up until that point. It is so wonderful to have this blog to share the happenings of my life with you, and I do hope that you enjoy reading it. I love reading your blogs...it makes me happy to see the happenings in your lives.

So, here's to taking more pictures and a lot more blogging...