Friends

I finally scanned this picture in from a photo session in May. Aren't they so sweet? We didn't even tell Maddie to rest her head on Asher's hands, she just wanted to be close. I love that they are such good friends.

Maddie was sick on Tuesday and Asher was beside himself with boredom. He kept begging her to play outside with him and she just wanted to lay on the couch. I remember worrying that having a baby so soon after Asher was taking something away from him. Far from it! I am so happy that we gave him his best friend. In fact, Paul and I were arguing a few weeks ago and Asher ran up to us and yelled "Mama! Daddy! Be best friends like me and Madeleine!" So I poked Paul in the eye and ran off with his toy.

Some random notes: Being hugely pregnant adds at least 20 degrees to the summer heat. I ran into a friend yesterday who seemingly just had a baby. I asked how old she was now and I was astonished that she is 9 weeks old! It seems like the baby was just born and she is older than the time I have left! This pregnancy is flying by.

I also joined face book yesterday! Paul finally set it up for me because he wants me to play face book Mafia with him. I was dragged into it kicking and screaming, but I am now finding it hugely addicting. Um, so, be my friend :)

The Blue Bridge

Today Vanessa found a video on the Tri-City Herald of some workers replacing the flag on top of the Pioneer Memorial Bridge, aka the "Blue Bridge". The video wasn't too exciting (or high quality) but the Blue Bridge is one of Asher's favorite local monuments (that and Badger Mountain..."Dad!!! I see Badger Mountain with the radio towers and the TV towers!!! Dad!? You missed it!") and he loves American flags, so he thought it was awesome.
So this evening after work and dinner we went to walk across the bridge. The kids loved it. Madeleine kept saying "I see the river! It's beautiful." Asher soaked it up with his typical stern intensity. For Asher real fun is a very serious thing. You can see it in this picture of him dragging Vanessa, refusing to stop for pictures. Vanessa and I enjoyed the walk, but were less comfortable. I wouldn't have thought twice about being on the bridge by myself, but its different with your wife and kids. Having Madeleine straining to free herself from her stroller seat didn't calm my nerves as I carefully eyed all the gaps in the railing to make sure she couldn't fit through them. Still we made it out to the middle of the half mile bridge to see the new American flag in all its glory.From the Blue Bridge we could see the "Cable Bridge". I was already planning that to be our next Tri-Cities "adventure" and on our way home across the Blue Bridge, Asher said"Dad, I want to walk on that bridge too."
Now, two unrelated topics. First off, I was going to link to our post about climbing Badger Mountain last fall, but in searching through the archives I realized we never finished that post. So I have finished it up and posted it, and if you are interested it is linked here, as well as above.

Also, I wanted to give some more thanks to Jeromy Riggs for his plant recommendations for our landscaping. When we came back from the Blue Bridge hike we found our Rose of Sharon's first blooms. Not only is it beautiful, but it is growing to perfectly fill its space in the yard and it blooms right after all our other flowers have disappeared. Thank you Riggs. We miss you guys (and your Oreo cake).

Princess Madeleine

2 years old is such an interesting age. One minute she is iron-willed and incredibly defiant, the next she wants to cuddle and pretend that she's a baby.

New skills include:
-Shouting "No!" More times in a day than I ever thought possible
-Conjuring up tears so she can get sympathy from her Daddy
-Opening doors, which means nap time and bed time are optional in her mind
-Making Asher on the receiving end of physical torment (for once)
-Running away very fast if I let her walk in stores (hence the new stroller)
-Taking off all of her clothes and running around the house naked indoors and out.
-At various times of the day, she is a puppy, kitten, baby, or princess and she demands that we treat her that way.

Madeleine was seriously the most docile child on the face of the planet until right before her second birthday. Now, she is a force to be reckoned with. She has such a wild imagination and a penchant for the dramatic. The other day, she fell off of a chair, but landed on some soft bedding and I asked her if she was hurt and she wailed "Nooooo". Then I asked her if she was scared and she wailed "I'm scared of spiders!"

It's nice with your second child because I can recognize Maddie's terrible two's for the temporary stage that she's in. It makes it easier to find humor in her reign of terror, and I know that she'll be my sweet Madeleine again when she has finally convinced herself and us that she is her own individual with her own feelings and needs. Then, it will start all over again when she's 12 (shudder).

Asher and Memorial Day

I haven't talked much about what Asher has been up to, so I thought I would post some updates. He is just a bundle of energy and it is good energy about 90% of the time. I absolutely love the age he's at right now because he is always coming up with such interesting and novel ideas. He is really into the computer and his favorite "game" is Google earth. He's always begging to play "the earth".

Tonight we were talking about the baby and he demanded "Mama, we have to name the baby either Lydia or Rudolph. Choose right now". Ummmm, let me think about that one...

(by the way, I really think we are going with Lydia and not just because the alternative is Rudolph)

I think I must be looking pretty pathetic because when I sit down he likes to bring me all of his blankies and his Dumbo to help me feel better. He has been really sweet with me lately.

He has also started to talk about what he wants to be when he grows up. He loves to ask if he is going to be as big as Daddy when he grows up. He also wants to be an astronaut so he can see the earth and he wants to be a farmer like his Grandpa-Great so he can drive tractors (just not the noisy kind).

Speaking of Grandpa-Great, we visited on Memorial Day and I wanted to share some pictures. Grandma and Grandpa-Great have all sorts of interesting things: they have cats, and a wheelchair, harmonica, and tractors. Asher is really sensitive to noise, but he fights with it because he also loves tractors. He really wanted to ride with Grandpa-Great this time. Madeleine also wanted to ride with Grandpa and Asher. Asher took his Big Brother responsibilities very seriously and held onto her tight, he was very concerned that she was going to go out the door while the tractor was moving.

Good Deal

The ultrasound tech that scanned the baby on Friday told me about a going out of business sale at a Liquidation store in Richland located right behind the Ace Hardware store. She told me that they had tons of baby stuff. I've been needing to upgrade my $10 umbrella stroller that I got 3 years ago because the wheels no longer push strait and Paul ends up a hunchback with angry eyes after pushing it for any length. I've been researching lightweight/umbrella type strollers for a few weeks, and decided to check out the sale. I got an even better stroller than I thought we could afford for half what I was willing to pay! It is a $130 stroller on Amazon and I only paid $40 for it! There were some seriously high end strollers there- Maclarens, Joovy's, Combis, etc. They had designer diaper bags, car seats, and high chairs too. I just wish I didn't already have all of the other stuff I need. The store people told me that people are cleaning them out to sell this stuff for a profit on ebay and Craigslist. I just thought I would pass along the good deal :)

Oh, if anyone wants an umbrella stroller that will give you a hunchback and angry eyes let me know and it's yours!

Happy Father's Day

Today is Father's day, and thus the video to the grandfathers, but it was also the weekend of the stake Fathers and Sons. This was my first time going as a father and Asher and I had tons of fun. This was one of my weeks when I work four 10 hour days and then get Friday off. So after the ultrasound in the morning we packed up and headed out.

I will spare you all the details, but will just say that we had lots of fun. For Asher the highlight was throwing rocks in the river and sleeping in a tent. One highlight for me was an impromptu climb up the mountain with just the two of us, because he kept wanting to climb higher and higher, and then put his entire trust in me to carry him down the very steep slope. It also made me smile when he told me in the morning that I didn't let the monsters get us in the tent. It made me feel like such a dad to have him trust so completely in me. On our way home he also told me "Camping is really fun, Daddy. We should go next week too."

Baby Girl Smith

I had a follow up ultrasound yesterday at 29 weeks because the baby wouldn't cooperate at the 20 week ultrasound and show us her face. Also, my placenta had been too low, but it has moved up which is good news. This time she had a foot and both hands over her face again, but she did allow the ultrasound tech to get brief images of what she needed. The tech couldn't get us a good 3d picture of the front of her face, but she did get these from the side. It's amazing how much growth has taken place in the last 2 months. She is a nice chubby little baby. I can't wait to meet her. Oh, and she's still a girl, a nice confirmation.