May...

So, I blinked my eyes and it was June! What happened to May??? It just slipped right past me, which is not a good thing. I thought I would share some random pictures from May, you know, just to catch up :).

When the weather was nice, we spent our time outside, mostly blowing bubbles!
I really can't emphasize how much these two love to read. I mean, look at them, sitting side by side, each with a book in hand. Too cute!
Noah's so excited for summer and SWIMMING, that he pretends our tub is a pool!

This boy gets me through the day...I just love him to pieces.

And this girl keeps Noah and I, and Doug for that matter, on our toes each and every day. She makes life pretty interesting...you know, with her 10 outfit changes everyday, constant changing of shoes, "I want this and that" attitude, etc...

Sleeping Beauty {yep, she still sleeps through the night and takes 3 to 4 hour naps, and I just love her for it!}

Seriously, WHY do I buy toys when they would rather just play in boxes?? Talk about HOURS of entertainment!

Busy, Busy, BUSY!!!

Life in the Smith household has been CRAZY busy the past month. I looked at the blog today and felt that it needed some sort of post, seeing that it's been so long since my last one.

Well, the BIG news is that we moved! Everything has happened so fast, but the good news is that we are completely moved into our new home and we are LOVING it. I love having a yard to pretty up, Doug loves the built on basketball standard, and the kids just love having room to play (inside and out!!). We're beyond happy and are loving spending our evenings outside and meeting all of our new, and wonderful, neighbors. It's been a great transition for everyone. We are pretty much unpacked on the main floor, which is just what I wanted before the baby comes. Things are all lined up and I think that I can safely say that we are 'ready' for this little guy to make his arrival!

We are finally getting the Internet on Monday, so I'll probably be putting up a lot of post because I have taken so many pictures and have so many cute stories to share. No pictures in this post, as I'm doing this all from my phone :). So, more to come on Monday :).

Noah's FIRST Soccer Game

Noah had his very first soccer game earlier this month. He, and all of the other players on his team, were a bit confused on exactly what they needed to do, but they had a fun time, and that's what it's all about. Good thing that they don't keep score, because the other team creamed us. BUT, the fun news is that Noah made the very first goal!!! I was so excited to see him score that goal! Good times!

34 Weeks!

I can't believe that we are on the final stretch with this pregnancy! I went to the doctor last week and I am going to be induced on June 18, which means I really only have 5 WEEKS LEFT! I have learned that 5 weeks is nothing when it comes to pregnancy, so I'm getting a little nervous on how fast the next few weeks are going to fly by!

But, the thing is, is that Doug and I are getting SO excited to meet this little guy...to see who he is and what he looks like. Oh my, I just love that first moment when you see your baby for the first time...I'm looking forward to that! I know that it's going to be amazing for both of us!

I am also getting very excited to have my body back...I seriously feel like my body has been taken over this time around. I know that it's all worth it, but I'm just getting so tired of: gaining weight at lightning speed, heartburn, sore ribs {oh my, this is the worst!}, constantly looking and feeling tired, going to the bathroom every 10 minutes!, waddling from side to side and getting teased by Doug for it {it's true, babe}, having Braxton Hicks contractions every 15 minutes {or less, sometimes}, not being able to get up off the floor after playing with the kids, etc... The list really does go on, but I'll stop there. Really, I do know that all of this stuff is just part of the deal when it comes to pregnancy, but I'm so thankful to almost be done and have this little guy out for everyone to see!

The other thing that scares me a bit is that I am NOT ready, at all. I haven't got the clothes ready, the car seat ready, bought the diapers and all the other little odds and ends that you need when you have a baby. Oh my, the next 5 weeks really are going to fly by because I really have SO much to do! Plus I wanted to get his baby blanket completely done...we'll see if that happens.

The one thing that I do know for sure is that Noah and Leah are so ready to meet their baby brother. Noah is constantly asking me questions about the baby and how he can help when he comes home. He is really going to be such a great big brother {again}! I'm excited because when we brought Leah home he was so oblivious to the entire situation, and with this baby he has grown up so much and is aware of what is going on and the changes that are going to take place in our family. I'm really excited to see how he really is when we bring him home. Leah...well...I don't think that she really understands what's going on. Although, she does come and kiss my belly constantly and says "hi baby" to my belly, BUT, she the same thing to Doug's belly, which makes him feel really special, so, ya, I don't think she gets it. She is very nurturing when it comes to other babies and she loves taking care of her little babies, so I guess we'll have to just wait and see how she reacts when we bring her little brother home from the hospital. It'll be interesting, that's for sure!

So, there's my update on this pregnancy and here's to just 5 more weeks before we meet this little angel {and, NO, he does not have a name yet!}.

Here I am at 34 weeks in all my pregnancy glory...

He Did It!

Doug graduated this past Friday with his MBA from the University of Utah!

He has worked SO hard the past two years and I am SO proud of him and this amazing accomplishment! I am beyond excited that he is finally done and that we can now have him home with the family from here on out.

The graduation commencement was wonderful and the kids were decent. Thank goodness we had lots of family there to distract them and keep them occupied. After the commencement, both of our families went to Buca di Beppo (yum!) to celebrate Doug and this great milestone in his life. We had a wonderful time spending time with the family and enjoying one anothers company. It really was a wonderful day!

Doug ~ I really am so proud of you and I knew that you could do it! You are so amazing and the children and I are so lucky to have you! You are amazing husband and daddy and we can't wait to start this new chapter in our lives...minus homework :). Love you!

Here are some pictures from the big day...

Ryan giving Uncle Doug a high five! We were really so happy!
Our family...it took a lot of effort to get this shot! Oh boy!
Doug and his cute parents.
Doug and his cute sisters, Kristen and Alli.
Doug and my cute mom.

Love this picture! Here are the boys at dinner and Noah couldn't stop playing this snowboarding game on Doug's phone...too funny!

So Sleepy

Sundays are always hard when it comes to napping for the kiddos...we have church from 1:00 to 4:00, and by the time that we get home it's time to start dinner and wind down for the evening. After getting the kids ready for bed this past Sunday, I set Leah on my bed while I did some random things. After coming back in our room, I found her sound asleep...and there she stayed for almost an hour. Such a sweet little angel!

Week In The Life ~ Saturday

~ I was on my own this morning because Doug had to meet with his group from school. Luckily, he was home around 10:00, which was wonderful! Leah woke up with a very concerned look on her face...as soon as I pulled her out of her crib, she hurried over to the potty and started to try to take her jammies off. I helped her out and she sat on the potty and did her business...ahhh...she's really started to understand this whole potty training business, which is wonderful!

~ After getting ready for the day, we all headed out the door to run some errands as a family. We had to stop at Home Depot and get some supplies to repair our closet, which for sure needed to be fixed this weekend, and then we went and got Noah some new shoes, then to the car wash, and then to In-n-Out for some lunch. Once we came home, the kids went down for their naps...they were beyond exhausted. Doug's sister came over and delivered some YUMMY donuts and I ate 1 1/2 of them before she even left! They were that good! {Thank you Annie!}.

~ This evening, Leah and I went to a wedding shower for my cousin's fiance in Eagle Mountain...I've never been out there and it was so beautiful! We had a wonderful time hanging out with my family, eating good food, and seeing all the fun gifts that everyone brought. When we got home, my handy brother-in-law and his darling family were there helping Doug patch up the holes in the closet. They stayed for a bit after I got there and it was fun chatting with them while the kids played...that is until they got tired and a little cranky. I expected it because Leah was beyond tired by the time we got home. Noah insisted on making a "tiny bed" downstairs while Doug ran to get a few more supplies that he need for the closet, and I agreed. We all snuggled up on the bed and watched The Little Mermaid until Doug got home...then it was off to bed...for all of us!

Week In The Life ~ Friday

~ We woke up to a major catastrophe this morning...at 6:30 we heard a huge crash, which turned out to be our closet shelves falling down! Not good! I spent the morning pulling everything out of the closet, while Noah became "Handy Noah" and attemped to repair the damage, which was quite cute to watch. No house work was done today because I was spent from moving everything out...that's a lot of work for a pregnant woman!!

~ Our afternoon consisted of a lot of playing, wrestling, crying from wrestling, and just relaxing.

~ Doug was home a little bit early this evening, which was WONDERFUL! Both of the children attacked him when he walked in the door {no joke}! We had dinner, did some chores around the house, and went to bed. It was definitely a pretty slow day!

Week In The Life ~ Thursday

Today was a wonderfully, ordinary, average day here in the Smith household.

~ This morning the children woke up so happy again...this is my week :). They were not at all hungry when they woke up, so we spent our time playing in my bed with Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and in their room making a mess! They were finally hungry come 10:00, so we headed down for some cereal...I just love how I caught them drinking the milk out of their bowl at the same time! After breakfast, I chased Noah around the kitchen, the best I could, and then they watched a little Barney while I got ready for the day. Barney is our new friend...they just love that show!

~ Our afternoon consisted of going to the park, eating some lunch, going and getting me a drink at Sonic during Happy Hour, riding bikes, napping, planting more flowers, and relaxing.

~ Tonight we went to a play for my CUTE little niece, but I didn't get any pictures of her great performance. She did such a wonderful job and I'm really so proud of her! My mom was so wonderful and came down to spend the evening with Leah while Noah and I went to the play. After getting ready for bed, we all hit the sack early!

Noah's FIRST Soccer Practice

We signed Noah up for soccer and today was his very FIRST practice. Leah and I stayed and watched as he met his team mates, warmed up, did some drills, and goofed around. He did such a wonderful job at following direction from his coach and at the end of the practice he came up to me and asked "Are you proud of me mom??"....to which I replied, "I am SO proud of you!" which was accompanied by a huge hug. Words can't explain how much I love this little guy...he's pretty amazing.

Geared up and ready to go!
Stretching out...
This little gal was good *most* of the time...I eventually had to take her over to the playground to play, but all in all she was a good little cheerleader to Noah :).
Doing drills...

Goal!

And then, after about 40 minutes, everything kind of just fell apart...crying, wrestling, and Noah sitting IN the goal while picking grass! Classic!

Week In The LIfe ~ Wednesday

~ Since the kids didn't get a bath last night, we had one this morning after breakfast. After playing in the tubby for nearly 30 MINUTES, it was time to get out and ready for the day. Noah insisted on staying in while I got Leah ready, so I sat in the hall and did just that. Leah loves to be wrapped up as a burrito after her bath and she kicks and screams the moment I unwrap her to put lotion on her. I feel badly, but it has to be done! Once she was dressed, Noah got out and did what he usually does after a bath...roll up like a ball on the ground with his towel over him. Leah had fun sittting on him and pretending that he was a horsey! Ha! We actually went somewhere today...Noah had his class and Leah had Toddler Gym...AND I FORGOT MY CAMERA! Oh well, life happens. They both had a fabulous time, as they do every Wednesday.

~ Lunch consisted of quesidillas and a smoothie, and I can't tell you how much they LOVE smoothies! We pretty much make one every day...yum! Leah got it all over her, which was just lovely. Noah didn't want to take a nap, so he opted for quiet time during Leah's nap, which consisted of reading books and coloring while he watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang {strangest movie ever, if you ask me, but he loves it}. I cut out ALL of the squares for a quilt that I am making for Leah. I'm hoping to have the top done by this weekend...we'll see! I had to cut 176 small squares and 44 larger ones...lots and lots of cutting! I also spent some time playing with Noah in his tunnel as best as I could. It is SO hard for me to get up and down lately due to my ever growing belly. I made the best and we had fun!

~ Doug came home tonight, which was a VERY good thing! The only sad thing is that I had to leave as soon as he came home so that I could go do some visits. I made them a yummy, and easy {love the crock pot}, dinner...BBQ chicken sandwiches with potatoe wedges and fruit, and I was a bit sad to have to wait to eat it. Doug was such a good daddy and played with the kiddos while I was gone. When I came home, Doug told me that Leah peed her pants THREE times...seriously?!?! I personally think that she was playing a joke on Doug because she has been doing so well during the day. Silly girl...I couldn't help but laugh. After getting the kids ready for bed, we tried to put them down....for like 45 minutes! They wanted nothing to do with going to bed tonight...stinkers! We just went along with it and played a bit more, read a few more books, and sang a few more songs. Once Doug layed down with Noah, he was out in a matter of minutes. Leah finally gave up too and was off to dreamland pretty quickly once she decided to calm down. Doug had homework to do tonight, and I finished cutting fabric for Leah's quilt. It was so nice to have Doug home tonight and I can not wait for him to graduate in a few weeks! Something to look forward to :).

Week In The Life ~ Tuesday

~ This morning was pretty normal around here. Noah was sneaky and came into our bed last night, as he does pretty much every night {we're working on it}, so I was able to wake up to a happy little face this morning. He is always so, so, so...sweet in the mornings and will just shower me with hugs and kisses and tell me over and over again that he loves me the "mostest". Love it! Leah was very happy too...which means I was VERY happy :). After breakfast, we pretty much just played and got ready for the day. I found Noah looking under my bed with his flash light...apparently there are a lot of treasures under my bed. Go figure.

~ This afternoon we headed up to visit my mom and dad. I took the kid's bikes, which was a very good idea. We pretty much spent most of our afternoon riding around, digging in the dirt, going on walks, taking naps {NOT Noah}, watching Wall-e {not one of my favs}, going to the playground, eating popsicles, etc... We had such a fabulous time hanging out and enjoying each others company. I just love days like this :).

~ After eating some dinner, we loaded everything up and headed home. Noah fell asleep in the car {no surprise there} and Leah watched Baby Einstein Baby MacDonald. She just loves this video and could watch it over and over again. Noah headed straight to bed once we got home, as he was beyond exhausted from playing ALL DAY LONG. Leah was not at all tired, so she and I hung out and played for a bit before she headed to bed. It was a good day.

Week In The Life ~ Monday

I've always enjoyed reading Ali Edward's blog. This week, she is challenging people to follow along with her Week In The Life project, so I thought, why not? I love taking pictures of my little ones, and it's pretty obvious they are all that I take pictures of, but I thought it would be fun to document their days/week from start to finish. I'm going to try and add some pictures of Doug and I, as we are definitely involved in this family, we're just not seen much outside the camera :). I'm hoping that this will be a fun project to look back on...we'll see :). I'll share some of the pictures that I have taken each day and some of the highlights from our day throughout the week. Here goes...

MONDAY
- Our morning was the same as usually. Leah woke up incredibly happy, which is always a good thing. We ate breakfast and I was amazed that Noah ate THREE bowls of cereal...this kid is going to definitely eat us out of house and home! I did my morning *chores* while the kids played, which didn't involve much yelling/arguing, thank goodness. Noah's doing a great job at writing his letters and he was very focused this morning on having me tell him a letter as he wrote it on the chalk board. To my amazement, he wrote every letter correctly...progress! Noah and Leah helped me hang some clothes up to dry, which I am so thankful for, and Noah made his bed ALL BY HIMSELF! AND he did it all with a smile on his face :).
- Today was an absolutely beautiful day, so we headed to the park this afternoon with a lot of popsicles in tow. There were a handful of our neighbors at the park too, so we shared our popsicles with everyone. Leah has finally decided to go down the *big* slide and she is full of happiness as she goes down it over, and over again. Every time that she goes down she tells me, "One more, mom," which translates to ten more times. Noah had fun riding his bike around and around with his friend. It's amazing to me how much energy these kids have...I swear they never get tired...at least it seems like it. At lunchtime we headed home...kicking and screaming! They did NOT want to come home, but they were happy once we walked in the door and saw that I as indeed making lunch...like I would lie about telling them that it was time for lunch! I'm hungry too! After some yummy peanut butter and honey sandwiches, we headed off to take naps...kicking and screaming, again! BUT, once they hit their pillows, they were both out...for almost 3 hours each! I decide to sit outside for a bit and take in some of the nice weather.
- When the kids wake up, we have a snack and then head out to run some errands. After running to a few stores, we make our final stop and buy some flowers to plant in our flower pot. Noah is beyond excited as he helps pick out the flowers. This is so new to him and he is so excited to help plant the flowers and take care of them...he tells me that he will remember to water them every day, and I know that he will!
- We get home and have dinner and play some more. It's time for a bath and Noah insists on getting in our tub because it's so much more fun...I give in and agree. They play in the tub for close to 30 minutes...they just love tubby time! Always have! After getting out and getting ready for the night, I tell them that they have to clean up their toys in their rooms...they weren't happy about this one bit, but I am SO tired of cleaning up after them and I totally think that they should help. To my amazement, they both get up and go and clean up everything! Wow! We then all snuggle up in my bed and read books...and boy how they love their books. We spent close to 45 minutes reading book after book! Even I get lost in them and loose track of time!

Sorry if this is so long {and boring}...this is mostly just for my documentation, but I enjoy sharing with you. It's fun to look back on stuff like this...at least it is for me :).

"No shoes!!!"

Leah loves shoes and is constantly putting shoes on and off, on and off, on and off... BUT, whenever we leave the house and go somewhere, anywhere {outside, the market, any store, etc...}, she will NOT wear her shoes! It drives me nutty sometimes because everytime we get her out of the car, we have to put her shoes on, and then as soon as we go inside wherever we are going, she takes them off! Again! AND she'll throw a HUGE tantrum if we even attempt to put them back on her feet. AND there is no way that I am letting her walk around barefoot in the market, or any store for that matter...GROSS!! I just don't get it...she definitely has a love/hate relationship with shoes. Thank goodness it's getting warm out so I don't have to deal with putting socks and shoes on her whenever we go out...

Noah is 4!

Four years ago today, we welcomed our first born. It's crazy how it seems like it was just yesterday that we were bringing home this little bundle of joy...

I wanted to make today as special of a day for Noah as I could, so I talked to him and asked him what he wanted to do. Our day was filled with pancakes for breakfast, a trip to Farm Country, a fun afternoon of playing with his cousin, a special dinner with just Mommy and Daddy, and then more gifts and MORE cake and ice cream. I think that he had a fabulous day, and I think he just loved the fact that he didn't have to take a nap today...haha. I had so much fun putting aside all my household duties and just playing with my FOUR year old, and Leah too :). We had a blast!

Noah helped me make his birthday breakfast and he was thrilled when I made his pancake into the number 4. It took him a few minutes to actually eat it. He also insisted on having a "real" placemat and a metal fork...you know...since he's now FOUR!
Noah loves animals and was so excited to go to the farm. He loved petting them and feeding them and would spend time at each animal before moving on. Bunnies! Leah was beyond nervous almost the entire time that we were there. She didn't cry, but she yelled and reached for me whenever we pulled up to a new animal. I guess she doesn't share Noah's love for animals. Feeding the ducks. Noah LOVED the horses! This horse was incredible friendly and Noah just loved stroking him. I love the sign on the fence... Feeding the goats. Leah finally decided to attempt to feed the goats...with ONE piece of corn. We finished our visit by riding one of the ponies.

That evening we went to The Cheesecake Factory...just Noah and Mommy and Daddy {thanks mom and dad for watching Leah so that we could enjoy our dinner :)}. I was smart and brought a gift for Noah to open at the restaurant...a digger truck. He LOVED it and kept saying "Thank you so much, Mommy. This is my favorite truck!". Then we went to my parent's to get Leah and opened more gifts...this boy LOVES GeoTrax and was thrilled to get two more trains. I think I am even more thrilled because now both Noah AND Leah can have a train when we play...it'll be nice to not have them fight for one train anymore!

And, of course, we ended the evening by singing Happy Birthday and eating MORE cake. Yum!

It was a wonderful day...and I still can't believe that my little man is FOUR! Four is such a big number to me, and I am just amazed at how fast Noah is growing up. He is such a wonderful little guy and we love him more then he will ever know. Happy Birthday Noah!!!