Merry Christmas

In leu of Christmas cards, here's wishing you a very joyful Christmas, from our house to yours!  Check out these moves...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Heidi's food update

Well...Heidi is taking bottles like a champ now.  She's eating every four hours, 6 ounces of formula, and sleeping 7 to 7 at night.  However, she still has zero interest in baby food.  She either spits it out as soon as it hits her tongue, or she'll just play or turn her head away anytime she sees the spoon headed her way.  I can usually get her to take three or four bites, and then she's done.  Here's a video of her playing during dinner:

Untitled from Emily Smith on Vimeo.

I love how she would arch her back and do backbends out of the Bumbo seat.  She's a silly girl!

I've discovered that she loves to feed herself.  I think we're just going to skip the baby food stage and get to the table food.  She loves to gnaw on slices of apples or pears and enjoys feeding herself baby puffs and peas.  She has one tooth now which will help her jump to table food soon.  We got her a new highchair which she has enjoyed very much.  The dogs seem grateful to have a baby in the house again, too!  They love the leftovers that fall off the tray just for them.  

On a side note, I was able to give Heidi her first set of pigtails last weekend.  This has been something I've been anxiously waiting to do ever since we found out we were having a girl!

P.S.  LOVE this cute sleeper...thanks Melissa!  :)

Sibling Love

Heidi giggles at big brother from Emily Smith on Vimeo.

My Four Year Old

Tobin turned four years old on Sunday...what???  What has happened to my little toddler?  He is a ball of endless energy, contagious joy, and a constant ray of sunshine in our house.  He has a very tender heart and is a wonderful friend to all of his little buddies.  I'm crazy about his hilarious personality.  He's always looking for new ways to make us laugh - a made-up joke, a new silly sound, or a quirky way of walking.  He still loves to read books and is now starting to recognize familiar words.  He knows all of his letters and can count to 30.  His favorite toys are his Playmobil sets.  He'll play with them by himself for the longest time, making up stories and acting out his imaginative thoughts.  He's a wonderful big brother and can ALWAYS make his little sister giggle like no one else can.  He gets excited about going to church and has 13 Bible verses memorized from his Awanas class.  I am so proud of him!  We love this little guy with all that we have and are grateful that God chose us to raise him.

Here's some pictures of his big day and from the pirate party we had with his playgroup friends:

Here's one of his favorite jokes...what a comedian!

Hair today, gone tomorrow

Yesterday, I cut off over eight inches of my hair to donate to Pantene's Beautiful Lengths program.  They make wigs from donated hair and give them, free of charge, to cancer patients.  This is the second time I've donated my hair and I feel like it's a win-win situation.  My hair goes towards a great purpose AND I get a new, fresh look.  Here's the new me:

Six month troubles

Heidi had her six month check up last week.  We've had some challenges with her recently.  At her check-up, her weight measurements were not where they should have been.  At her four month check-up, she was 13.5 pounds, the 45th percentile.  At last week's appointment, she weighed 13.8 pounds and dropped to the 10th percentile.  Now, I'm generally not overly concerned about these percentile numbers since Matt and I are pretty small, I don't expect our kids to be huge.  However, the fact that Heidi dropped such a great deal from her own growth line on the chart had her doctor concerned.  There were other signs of a problem, as well.  She would only nurse a total of two to three minutes, she wasn't sleeping through the night after she previously had been doing so at three months, and her eating schedule was not stretching from every three hours during the day.  The doctor recommended supplementing with a bottle of formula before bed to see if that would help her sleep better.  It became really clear that we have an incredibly strong willed six month old on our hands.  At the sight of a bottle, she would immediately start screaming, arch her back, push the bottle away, and in between screams, she would not remove her thumb from her mouth.  After several days of this battle, we made the difficult decision to wean Heidi cold turkey.  I felt that this was the only way to help her growth because it was becoming clear that she wasn't getting the calories and nutrition that she needed from me.  I need to mention that she has little interest in solids, also.  She will only eat a tiny amount at a time, so that has not become a major source of food for her yet.  So, this weekend, I did the hardest thing I've ever had to do as a mother.  She was angry, stubborn, and making herself exhausted.  It was a horrible weekend, but we have successfully taught Heidi to take a bottle of formula and today, she is back her old, smiley self.  Can't you tell from the picture above!?!  She's eating like I've never seen her eat before which is giving me a peace of mind that we did the right thing.  The doctor wants to check her weight again in a month to see where her growth is.  It feels good to have the hardest part behind us now.  Sorry for being so detailed...I wanted to write all of this down in order to remember this huge hurdle later! 

Happy Monday!

The truth is out

After college, while Matt and I were living in College Station, I worked at a non-profit, pro-life organization called Coalition for Life.  We aimed at helping women choose life for their baby by giving them information about their baby's development, offering them places to go for help and wise counsel, and by explaining the abortion procedure and the long-term emotional and physical effects that can come from it for them, not to mention the death of their unborn child.  

We also worked at informing the community about Planned Parenthood's agenda of making money off of abortions and their insensitivity to pregnant women who find themselves in the scary situation of an unplanned pregnancy.  

This week, the following news story came out where the director of the Planned Parenthood in Bryan resigned after viewing an abortion on an ultrasound.  Now Planned Parenthood is trying to silence this woman by getting a court order forcing her to stay quiet about her experience.  I'm encouraged by this news article because it shows the truth about the abortion procedure, the disgusting financial practices of Planned Parenthood, and the fact that they are trying to cover up their agenda.  Please read it and rejoice with me in this huge step for the pro-life movement!

Planned Parenthood Clinic Director Joins Anti-Abortion Group - ABC News

Planned Parenthood Director Quits After Watching Abortion on Ultrasound - FOXNews.com

Halloween

Here's some pictures from our Halloween.  Tobin was a dragon and enjoyed playing the part.  One of his favorite parts of the day was chasing our friend's dog around their yard, roaring at it.  Poor Libby!

Heidi wore a sweet bear hat handmade by her Oma (Matt's mom) and she looked as precious as ever.  This picture was taken at the fall festival at our church:

Here's the two of them together:

As soon as we wrapped up the trick or treating, Tobin went through a great deal of effort lining up his candy just so.  Do all kids do this or is this a sign of the hereditary OCD kicking in?

Swine flu strikes again

This time, I was the victim.  Sunday night, I went to pick Tobin up from his Awanas class, and within the next hour, I was flat on my back with a high fever, chills, and an irritating cough.  I've been out of it for the last three days and finally feel better tonight.  I still have a slight fever but now my appetite is back and I feel like moving to other places in the house besides the bed, couch, and bathroom.  My mom came to the rescue and kept the kids happy, did loads and loads of laundry, and kept my fridge well stocked with sick people food.  Thank you mom!!  

This has been horrible timing because the kids and I were scheduled to go to Boston tomorrow (Thursday) to visit my sister and her family.  We've been looking forward to this trip for months and needless to say, Tobin and I are heartbreakingly disappointed.  He was all ready to go "trucker treating" with his cousins on Halloween and was also super excited about his first plane ride.  Fortunately, the airline was merciful and did not charge me a penalty to change my plans.  I suppose the don't want me or my four year old coughing all of our germs on the other passengers.

So, as I gradually pick myself up off this sickbed, and start functioning like a real person, I'm continuing to pray that Tobin and Heidi remain healthy and ask that you join me in those prayers!!

Camping with the Smiths

This weekend, we went camping with some of our closest friends.  There were seven families - 14 adults and 17 children...all under 5 years old.  Needless to say, it was a challenge but oh so fun at the same time!  The weather was perfect during the day but very cold at night (high 40's).  We were able to stay pretty warm under mounds of sleeping bags.  Heidi slept surprisingly well in her pack and play, bundled up in fleece jammies along with a fleece sleeper.  It's nice that she sleeps best with her face covered by her blanket, so I never worried about her head getting cold.  Tobin had a blast exploring with his friends.  They were using their imaginations and hunting for grass monsters, dinosaurs, and a "snake man."  There was never a dull moment for him!  His favorite part was roasting marshmallows and eating smores...he takes after his mother, after all!  It was a perfect first camping trip as a family!!  Here's some pictures of our adventure:

Thumbs up for camping.  This is Tobin's very best buddy, Noah

Playing in the gravel by the water spout...endless fun for the boys

Roasting hot dogs for dinner

Mmmmm...Smores

Heidi and I in the morning

Tobin, Noah, and Noah's brother, Finn

All the older kids

Happy campers!

Singing in the morning

Here's a video I took yesterday morning.  Tobin was making up his own song and Heidi was patiently waiting to get a word in:

(Thanks, Lesley, for the Vimeo lead on posting videos. I've been trying to get videos on the blog for a while now and Blogger wasn't so helpful!)

Bad Hair Day

This morning I found Heidi asleep on her belly.  This is the hair that resulted from her overnight flip:

She's been a bit grouchy since she woke up which just proves that you shouldn't mess with a girl having a bad hair day.  

Happy Tuesday!

Balloon Festival

Tonight we went to the Plano Balloon "Festi-bull" (in Tobin's words) with my parents.  It was crowded and hot but a treat to see so many balloons fill and launch right before our eyes.  We ended up having to leave early because poor Heidi was a tad too warm and unable to take a nap in her stroller.  I think Tobin's favorite parts were riding the bus from the parking lot, eating a huge corny dog, and seeing a pirate balloon.  My little guy is so easy to keep happy!   Here are some pictures of the night:

Swine flu hits home

We're still here.  Well, we weren't "here" last week when the kids and I were staying with my parents while Matt was sick with the SWINE FLU!  Yes, it hit our home along with the majority of Matt's volleyball team.  Fortunately, the kids and I went to Salado with my parents for a family get-together Labor Day weekend while Matt stayed home for a volleyball tournament.  As we were driving back, Matt called and said he had a fever, was achy, and was coughing.  It was a no brainer...I couldn't bring the kids back home to be greeted with unknown germs.  We went to stay with my parents for a few days while Matt got better and had a little "staycation" at their house in Plano.  We came back last Wednesday, disinfected the house, and all of us have been well ever since.  Whew! 

In other news, Heidi can now roll over, is sleeping 11 hours straight at night, and loves to squeal, giggle, coo, and talk.  Tobin started Awanas at church two weeks ago and loves going to his Cubbies classes.  He also learned how to ride his bike recently and is so proud of himself!  That's all I have time for today...just wanted to let you know we're healthy and safe! 

I like to eat...eat...eat...

Toesies and handsies.  

Heidi's favorite toy at the moment are her toes.  She will chew on them all day long, anytime she's laying on her back.  This morning, I was on the computer and turned around to see Heidi AND Tobin chewing on their toes.  I guess Tobin wanted to see why his sister was so infatuated with her feet and had to try it out himself.

Heidi turned four months old last Friday.  She had her doctor's check-up the same day.  She weighed 13.2 pounds and was 23.5 inches long (both in the 45th percentile).  She handled her shots like a champ again and even fell asleep on the exam table, wearing just a diaper, while we waited for the doctor.  I have such easy, wonderful, hilarious kids!

5 Years Ago...

The morning of August 21st, 2004, this was me:

This was my groom:

And this is what we got to do:

Yes...today is our fifth anniversary.  Our wedding day was memorable for many different reasons.  Our cake melted to where it looked like it was bleeding down the front of it:  

Two elderly family members fell, one was into this pool:

The weather turned out beautiful despite the "chance" of rain that caused us to have a tent put up last minute:  

I was wearing the most wonderful dress I've ever laid eyes on:

Many friends and family traveled from far away places to celebrate with us:   

Best of all, I married a very handsome, wise, gentle, kind, and hilarious man...my perfect match and very best friend:

Only one word sums up the last five years for me...

and LOTS of it!!

The Big Top

Saturday, my parents took us to the circus for an incredibly fun day!  Tobin was, of course, mesmerized by the show.  After the opening act, he turned to his Mimi and all he said was "Awesome!"  

This was at the Fort Worth water gardens before the show started.

Then we went to the pre-show before the circus where you get to meet the clowns, see some small acts, try on circus costumes, and get autographs from the entertainers.  Tobin was a little nervous at first but quickly warmed up to the idea:

It was such a fun day and Tobin was completely wiped out when we got home.  I thought he was going to fall asleep on his Papaw's lap while he was watching TV:

It was a near-perfect day.  All that missing was Matt (who had to run a volleyball tournament at his school all day) and Tobin's cousins to share in the magic of the day.  Maybe next year we can all go to the Boston show!  

Thanks, Mimi and Papaw, for a VERY special day!!!