Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! We are grateful for everyone of you that we call family or friends! Thank you for making our life better in every way! Enjoy your day!
P.S. We are committed to saving turkeys so we will be eating ham - I know un-American!
What can I say!

Good Morning!

For the Grandmas and Grandpas - cute baby Maxwell videos. The first one is this morning when he was talking a bunch! The second video is him waking up from a nap!

Computer Crash!

I feel like I have been missing in action - our computer crashed earlier this week - augh!
Time for a "why I am grateful for this drama" list.
1. Although I missed my computer, it is not vital for life (seems like it).
2. My cellphone has internet access.
3. Morgan backed up our computer two weeks ago (yes, a prompting that he acted upon)!
4. Because of Morgan's smart move - only a few pictures lost!
5. Morgan cashed out some vacation time two weeks ago - it showed up yesterday!
6. Found a reasonable priced computer yesterday at Best Buy.
7. Morgan is home to set up the new computer while I man the kids.
8. Overall - grateful the Lord made it possible to have internet and computers - keeps me linked with my friends!

So I am back but with not much else to add! We are home again this Sunday with a sick Marin - it is going to be a long winter!

Just because they are cute!

Just had to post these pictures if for no one else but Grandma & Grandpa! We were getting ready for church and had a few extra minutes - imagine that being a few minutes early for church.

Aren't they cute! I took 11 photos to get these fun shots - I am not a great photographer and three kids never smile at the same time!

Today was Hattie's primary program - always the best week - you can always feel the spirit during the program!

Church has been challenging the last few weeks with Marin and Maxwell. Today it was drama for Marin because she wanted to sit with her best friend, Sadie. I refuse to do that unless I am desperate so she cried and carried on. Maxwell was tired and fussy too! Thankfully lots of sisters are willing to help - THANK YOU SO MUCH to all of you! So after much drama - Marin & Maxwell fell asleep and slept through the primary program and Sunday School! Oh well - we keep trying - every week it will get better or worse but we keep trying!

Aren't We Adorable!

Here it is - what you have all have been waiting for! Our 2009 family picture!!!

Every year we drag our growing family down to our favorite picture studio and make them dress alike and take numerous pictures. Then I drag my sweet husband through picking the picture we like the best - this is truly the worst part! Picking out clothes and taking the pictures although hard are not as hard as picking the picture where we have our eyes open, looking in the right direction, looking happy, looking thin & handsome etc.

As you can see this is a cute shot with Marin & Maxwell looking one way, you can't see Manhattan's cute hair style, not my favorite background but we are all there and we did have a good time! Maxwell is awake, Manhattan is smiling cute, Marin's sideways smile is my favorite, and Morgan & I don't look as tired as we feel!

So now you see us at our best!

Home Depot Saturday!

This weekend I was feeling so sick - Morgan took the girls to Home Depot and on a picnic so I could rest. It was Marin's first time so she was excited to get her Home Depot apron and her first pin. They made trivets for our kitchen! They turned out really cute - they were so proud!

Trying to Catch A Smile!

Maxwell has started to smile now - it is hard to catch him! He is also cooing a lot more and sitting happily watching everything around him. Here is a collage of my attempts to catch him smiling this morning - he is so cute but it is not easy to catch him smiling! It is so nice to have him smiling - makes the crying worth it!

Getting ready for Church

Some cute pictures of the girls on Sunday!!

Big Feet?

The girls & I are sure that Maxwell inherited the Smith "big feet". This is what we found when I unwrapped him yesterday morning! He just can't keep these socks on! It was cute & so funny!All loaded up and ready to go! Maxwell and I were heading off to PTO! He is starting to coo and smile more but I have not gotten any pictures of the smiles yet!

Happy Halloween 2009

Pumpkin Carving

I know you know - I LOVE FALL!

More fun fall photos!

I know this is the third/fourth set of pictures but I can't resist
taking this pictures - all the kids are so cute!

This time Maxwell got into the action! We almost lost him in all the leaves! It was pretty funny! Yes, we allowed it to get some pictures!! They were supposed to be raking the leaves to the curb but the fun got away and we still have lots of leaves on our lawn!!
I LOVE FALL!!

Just Random!

Aren't They Cute!

So I wake up a few times a night to nurse Maxwell - I have these random thoughts for blogging as I sit up and nod off and on! I am sure you don't want to know everything but these are some of the funny things that have happen, I have heard, noticed and decided!

1. I am a new woman when Maxwell only wakes up once a night (went to bed at 10, woke up at 1:30, and then at 5:30) and heck, 5:30 is morning to me!

2. To go along with that - if we all go to bed at 10 pm I feel better no matter how many times he wakes (within reason of course).

3. Marin is a stinker and so cute! Yesterday she tried to lift Maxwell of the couch and dropped him on the floor. yes - I know you never leave a baby on the couch, never leave a child near a baby on a couch, and above all never turn your back for one second to a baby and a Marin!!

4. Marin loves everything we do - she is constantly saying things like "go back" and "don't go this way, go that way" and "I want to do it again". She is my out and about child whereas Hattie likes to stay home.

5. Manhattan is the best big sister - she will hold Maxwell as long as he is happy - once he is a tad fussy - "I think he needs you Mom!"

6. The girls have both been sleeping until 6:30 am - heavenly! One morning they both woke up and read books together in Marin's until I heard them giggling at 6:45 - I am not sure how long they were awake but it was very cute!

7. Our cousin has contracted swine flu, when I told Hattie she started crying - she was afraid Phoebe was going to die. Yikes - didn't think of that when I told her. I felt so bad, didn't think about that when I told her.

8. Manhattan has decided she wants _______ from Santa. She knows it is expensive so she wondered if she could save her money up and leave it for Santa in her stocking to pay for some of it. We told her that we are not sure Santa works that way - but we are sure that ______ is somewhat out of Santa's range! What to we do with this one!

9. Manhattan is loving 2nd grade but is totally upset when the other kids misbehave and they miss recess or games etc. I used to use that system when I was teaching and now I hate it when I see how sad she is. The other day she was teary when she lost her math game time because her partner threw the dice and had to sit out - then she lost out too. Come to find out she volunteered to be his partner because no one else would play with him - she was really upset because she had to sit alone while everyone else played!

10. I love being a party planner with my friend Lindsey (ward Halloween party last night) but I am exhausted once the party is getting started and then over so fast - I so appreciate people in our ward that help out and even help with my kids!

11. My husband is wonderful - getting up at night and changing diapers, working all day, and doing all the activities we have at night - he helps me manage it all!

12. Diaper creme is hard to wash off a toddler's hand - lucky that was all that the creme was on!

13. Some days it is better to relax and hold Maxwell during naptime than to try to frantically get things done - some days you just need a break!

P.S. Maxwell is fine from the couch incident - now I have to worry about Marin pulling him out of the swing or car seat - she is getting better at the buckles!

Maxwell is 1 month!

Ok, so this post is a week late by I figured I would wait for the 1 month check up today so I can add the great details you are all dying to know!
Here are Maxwell's stats at 1 month old:

height: 22 3/4 (75%)
weight: 10 lbs 2.5 oz. (75%)

For anyone that might remember (me, my mom, my mother-in-law, maybe Morgan) he was only 7 lbs 5 oz at birth. He has chunked up for sure. How did the girls compare at this age? He is two plus lbs heavier and 1 inch longer than both girls at this age! Yeah for sturdy boys and breastfeeding that is working well this time!

He is still a growler (I think it is the flash) for pictures bit here are some I have taken over the last month!! The best pictures that I have been taken have been when Hattie has been holding him! He is starting to smile a little but it is probably an accident! Yes, I love the screaming pictures - it cracks me up! He is actually a very good baby but he doesn't like his picture taken!

Boo At The Zoo!

This morning Marin & Maxwell & I went to the zoo with some friends for the Boo at the Zoo event! It was fun and the kids loved it! Plus I got some cute pictures of Marin! Big surprise that Marin is a princess - it is what she does!! Actually it was what we have - I just let her pick a dress and we were off. She didn't understand but she got into it!!

Pumpkin Patch Fun!

More Fall Photos

Just some more fun leaf photos of Marin, Manhattan, and Lauren!
I love these fall days - It is getting a little chilly - I am dreading the coming of winter!
I love this picture of Lauren & Hattie!

AM/PM - Adventures of Marin!

I know I am behind in my posts about Chicago but I had to post these pictures!

Where do I start? Marin is comedy central! This morning she was into the foot lotion and then this afternoon it was the raspberries! Neither was none with malice - I prefer to call it creativity! She is so funny but somedays she makes me exhausted!

Fall is here!

It is starting to look like fall here!

The leaves are falling and blowing around! It has gotten quite chilly here! We are bundling up with hats and gloves already - yikes!! I can't believe that three weeks ago when Maxwell was born we were all wearing shorts everyday!

I love this time of year even though I keep finding leaves in my house, in the girls hair, and some in their clothes and diapers too!! I think with all the wind and rain we have had here our tree with change colors and all fall in the next week or so - kind of sad really!

Adler Planetarium and Time to GO!