Thumbtacks meet the leather couch.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Saturday, September 12, 2009
one week down...
Lydia and I have survived our first week together! She had her first Dr.'s appointment yesterday. Right before we left, she pooped all over herself and her car seat. I forgot that new babies do that. There is no diaper that can contain a newborn. She didn't have to have any shots, but they gave me a flu shot. I didn't think it was fair, haven't I suffered enough :)? She is nearly back up to her birth weight, which doesn't surprise me because it seems like all she wants to do is eat. I forgot that newborns take so long to eat. It takes her 45-60 minutes every two to three hours. I feel like all I do is sit on the couch while Asher and Madeleine go on a destructive rampage. Having a new baby is hard, but oh so worth it. I love how she just wants to be held all of the time. I love that Asher and Madeleine are so excited about her. Every morning they run out to see her with big smiles on their faces. Asher says "it's so good to have two sisters!" Madeleine says "baby Lydia is beautiful like me!" Maddie has such a healthy self-esteem.
Asher also had his first two days of preschool this week! His preschool teacher is my friend, Molly, who lives just the next street over. It's so nice not to have to deal with three car seats, it's so much easier to just walk there. He would not pose for any pictures, which was frustrating because Asher usually LOVES to pose for pictures. Paul was home and Asher was really excited to have Daddy take him. He also insisted that Maddie walk with them. He was sad that she couldn't stay with him.
Paul went and got Asher alone and Maddie and I sat in the front yard and waited for them to get home. As soon as Asher saw Madeleine he yelled her name and ran and gave her a giant hug. Asher was just beaming when he got home from preschool, so I know he had a good time, but when we would ask him what happened at preschool he said it was a secret and he wouldn't give us any details. Later, he did say playing outside was his favorite part.
Also, Asher can read and spell simple words with some toy letters we have, but I can never get him to try and write any letters. He always says "it's too hard" and he won't do it. The evening after preschool I found him coloring the letter A over and over again in a notebook. I was so excited.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Welcome Baby Lydia Judith Smith
Vanessa is out of commission at the hospital and so the baby announcement falls to me. Last night, September 3, at 7:51 Vanessa gave birth to Lydia Judith Smith. She weighed 7 pounds 8.5 ounces (our biggest yet) and was 20.5 inches long.
As you can see, Lydia didn't immediately take to her new existence, but she soon settled down.
She has a big, round head (I think they said 36 cm) and has a hard time fitting in the new born hats we bought her. Luckily Grandma Ashby made her some adorable hats that do fit her.
Today I brought the kids by and they just loved her. Madeleine kept saying "She's so cute," and Asher kept saying "Now I don't have to miss her any more." They were really sweet.
Mom and baby are both doing great.
As you can see, Lydia didn't immediately take to her new existence, but she soon settled down.
She has a big, round head (I think they said 36 cm) and has a hard time fitting in the new born hats we bought her. Luckily Grandma Ashby made her some adorable hats that do fit her.
Today I brought the kids by and they just loved her. Madeleine kept saying "She's so cute," and Asher kept saying "Now I don't have to miss her any more." They were really sweet.
Mom and baby are both doing great.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Pictures
Just when I thought they were playing quietly in their room, I come in to check and discover this...
Luckily it was magic marker and not permanent marker this time.
Asher just looked so handsome this day that I had to take his picture.
Luckily it was magic marker and not permanent marker this time.
Asher just looked so handsome this day that I had to take his picture.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Busy summer
First of all, I want to say Happy Birthday to my mother in law, Judy! I really lucked out to have such a wonderful mother in law. Some of Paul's best characteristics came directly from his mom. My favorites being their enthusiasm for life, boundless energy, and good work ethic. So, thanks Judy for being such a wonderful mom and grandma!
Speaking of work ethic, Paul has been nesting this weekend! He vacuumed out our van that was still sandy from our trip to the beach, he mowed the lawn, painted the baby's room, set up bunk beds for the kids, and brought all of the baby clothes down from the attic.
This is the baby's crib. Paul even set up all of the bedding as a surprise. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the walls are now light green.
These are Asher and Madeleine's new bunk beds! They are making pirate faces on the top picture, if you couldn't tell. My favorite feature is the removable ladder. We take it away during the day so the kids don't climb up and play on the top bunk. We've also been removing the ladder after we tuck the kids in bed so there is no unauthorized climbing of the ladder. We are able to put them to bed at the same time now because they can't bother each other as much. We replace the ladder as soon as they are asleep so that Asher can get down if he needs to. Asher complained this morning because Maddie climbed the ladder to come and snuggle him before he was ready to wake up, but that was a problem before anyway.
The rule is no playing on the top bunk, but the bottom bunk is fair game so the kids have deemed it their fort.
For the last week of July my family came from Arizona and California to visit! I had so much fun, I just wish they all lived here.
Asher and Madeleine had so much fun with their twin cousins Ben and Sam. Ben and Sam are right in between their ages so they played really well together. Sam was especially enthralled with Maddie. Before they left both Ben and Sam were calling her "Girly". As in, "Girly, come play with us!"
I stole this picture from Zach and Katie's blog because it was the best one of the four kids together. They were setting off on an adventure to hunt for polly-wogs at my Grandparents' farm.
We've had such a fun summer and I'm a bit sad about the summer winding down. Not too sad though as the end of summer means I get to have my baby!
Speaking of work ethic, Paul has been nesting this weekend! He vacuumed out our van that was still sandy from our trip to the beach, he mowed the lawn, painted the baby's room, set up bunk beds for the kids, and brought all of the baby clothes down from the attic.
This is the baby's crib. Paul even set up all of the bedding as a surprise. It's hard to tell from this picture, but the walls are now light green.
These are Asher and Madeleine's new bunk beds! They are making pirate faces on the top picture, if you couldn't tell. My favorite feature is the removable ladder. We take it away during the day so the kids don't climb up and play on the top bunk. We've also been removing the ladder after we tuck the kids in bed so there is no unauthorized climbing of the ladder. We are able to put them to bed at the same time now because they can't bother each other as much. We replace the ladder as soon as they are asleep so that Asher can get down if he needs to. Asher complained this morning because Maddie climbed the ladder to come and snuggle him before he was ready to wake up, but that was a problem before anyway.
The rule is no playing on the top bunk, but the bottom bunk is fair game so the kids have deemed it their fort.For the last week of July my family came from Arizona and California to visit! I had so much fun, I just wish they all lived here.
Asher and Madeleine had so much fun with their twin cousins Ben and Sam. Ben and Sam are right in between their ages so they played really well together. Sam was especially enthralled with Maddie. Before they left both Ben and Sam were calling her "Girly". As in, "Girly, come play with us!"
I stole this picture from Zach and Katie's blog because it was the best one of the four kids together. They were setting off on an adventure to hunt for polly-wogs at my Grandparents' farm.
We've had such a fun summer and I'm a bit sad about the summer winding down. Not too sad though as the end of summer means I get to have my baby!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The Smiths' Reunion Tour 2009
For those of you too young (or simply not inclined towards 1980's angst-rock) The Smiths was an '80's British alternative band that eventually broke up when their lead singer, Morrissey kicked off his solo career. That is where my family gets the theme for our family reunion T-Shirts. Two of my sisters (who are huge Morrissey fans) picked the font to best fit the bands logo and then on the back we all come up with venue names for our houses. For example, since the nuclear bomb played a significant role in the Tri-Cities, we chose our venue name to be "The Fallout Shelter, Pasco". Since my brother's wife had a baby due days before the reunion, they were "The Maternity Ward, Sandy"(sadly, they were not able to come, but, happily, they had a healthy baby boy and everyone is doing well).
So last week my family gathered to Oceanside on the Oregon coast near Tillamook. We rented a great big house so every family could have their own room with bathroom. It didn't have much of a yard, but it had two levels of decks in the back that overlooked the beach. To start things out, we have a picture of the sunset taken from the deck.
The Oceanside beach has a giant rock outcropping that has a tunnel through it to get to some tide pools. Asher thought the tunnel was super cool.
There were also some caves that Asher loved. Madeleine looks like quite the explorer in this picture. The kids really liked the tide pools, especially the star fish, but we didn't get any good pictures of those.
From the beach you could look across the water at the rocks in the sunset picture and see the sea lions laying on the lower rocks. Asher loved the binoculars, but he didn't use them exclusively for distant objects. 
We also paid a visit to the Cape Mears Lighthouse. It hasn't been is use in decades, but Asher still thought it was about the coolest thing, especially since we got to climb all the way up to the top. Good thing it wasn't a tall lighthouse.
We also went to the Tillamook Air Museum. It is in a World War II era blimp hanger, which is the largest clear span wood structure in the world. They had some cockpits from old planes that the kids just loved. I didn't mind it too much either as exhibited from pursed lips, in the middle of making the appropriate sound effects for throttling up the engines.
The kids liked sharing the controls, but Asher also got a kick out of "flying solo" in the jet fighter cockpit.
Most of the planes were from the World War II era, which was actually really cool, but we really got a kick out of checking out an F-14 Tomcat.
Eventually we all donned our new "Smiths" t-shirts for pictures. For simplicity, most of the family pictures were taken on my sister's camera, but we got a couple good pictures on our own camera too. Our kids weren't very cooperative for group pictures, as you can see in this one of the grandkids in attendence. Smiles from everyone except Madeleine who is trying her best to break free from Asher. Still cute in my opinion.
Then this picture is of the girls in attendence, including my Gram who turns 90 this year.
Then there were the boys in attendence, except for my dad for an unknown reason.
Later that day we took a "hike" to Munson Creek Falls. Madeleine and Asher really liked the idea of walking sticks and they were real troopers. You can see here Madeleine was so eager to see the falls that she would not slow down for pictures. The short walk (1/4 mile) was worth the view at the end.
We played on the beach a fair amount, but me and the kids were too busy for pictures, but Vanessa managed to snap this really cute one of wind-whipped Madeleine.
And finally, no trip near Tillamook is complete without visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I was surprised how into it the kids were. They loved the giant mixing machine and Asher dubbed the conveyor belt the "Cheese Roller Coaster." And then of course there was the obligatory cheese and cheese curd taste testing, all topped off with ice cream cones.
It was tons of fun to spend the time with my family. We really missed my brother Scott and his family, but seeing as their son was born the day before the reunion kicked off, I guess it was excusable.
So last week my family gathered to Oceanside on the Oregon coast near Tillamook. We rented a great big house so every family could have their own room with bathroom. It didn't have much of a yard, but it had two levels of decks in the back that overlooked the beach. To start things out, we have a picture of the sunset taken from the deck.
The Oceanside beach has a giant rock outcropping that has a tunnel through it to get to some tide pools. Asher thought the tunnel was super cool.
There were also some caves that Asher loved. Madeleine looks like quite the explorer in this picture. The kids really liked the tide pools, especially the star fish, but we didn't get any good pictures of those.
From the beach you could look across the water at the rocks in the sunset picture and see the sea lions laying on the lower rocks. Asher loved the binoculars, but he didn't use them exclusively for distant objects. 
We also paid a visit to the Cape Mears Lighthouse. It hasn't been is use in decades, but Asher still thought it was about the coolest thing, especially since we got to climb all the way up to the top. Good thing it wasn't a tall lighthouse.
We also went to the Tillamook Air Museum. It is in a World War II era blimp hanger, which is the largest clear span wood structure in the world. They had some cockpits from old planes that the kids just loved. I didn't mind it too much either as exhibited from pursed lips, in the middle of making the appropriate sound effects for throttling up the engines.
The kids liked sharing the controls, but Asher also got a kick out of "flying solo" in the jet fighter cockpit.
Most of the planes were from the World War II era, which was actually really cool, but we really got a kick out of checking out an F-14 Tomcat.
Eventually we all donned our new "Smiths" t-shirts for pictures. For simplicity, most of the family pictures were taken on my sister's camera, but we got a couple good pictures on our own camera too. Our kids weren't very cooperative for group pictures, as you can see in this one of the grandkids in attendence. Smiles from everyone except Madeleine who is trying her best to break free from Asher. Still cute in my opinion.
Then this picture is of the girls in attendence, including my Gram who turns 90 this year.
Then there were the boys in attendence, except for my dad for an unknown reason.
Later that day we took a "hike" to Munson Creek Falls. Madeleine and Asher really liked the idea of walking sticks and they were real troopers. You can see here Madeleine was so eager to see the falls that she would not slow down for pictures. The short walk (1/4 mile) was worth the view at the end.
We played on the beach a fair amount, but me and the kids were too busy for pictures, but Vanessa managed to snap this really cute one of wind-whipped Madeleine.
And finally, no trip near Tillamook is complete without visiting the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I was surprised how into it the kids were. They loved the giant mixing machine and Asher dubbed the conveyor belt the "Cheese Roller Coaster." And then of course there was the obligatory cheese and cheese curd taste testing, all topped off with ice cream cones.
It was tons of fun to spend the time with my family. We really missed my brother Scott and his family, but seeing as their son was born the day before the reunion kicked off, I guess it was excusable.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
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 :)
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