WANTED

Insomniac to stay with this Peaceful-by-day-baby-turned-Ms. Alert and Noisy-by-night.


Wouldn't you think that by the third child, one would have this baby thing figured out? NOPE, they all have a personality and mind of their own. She's sleeping less at night now than she did when she was 2-3 weeks old. I must say though, she sure is cute, even when I'm looking at her with one eye pried open. I'm currently watching her sleep in her swing and I'm thinking that I wish they made these swings for adults....get in, turn on the automatic arm, throw a blanket on, and off you go into dreamland....

Which Peanuts Character Is She?

Linus?

or...

Pig-Pen?

(by the way, this would be a mixture of eye shadow, lipstick and blush smooshed onto her face).

Happy Birthday PaPa!!

Happy Birthday PaPa! Looking good!!! When Hailey and I were talking about family last night and PaPa's name came up, she said, "he's so silly!" He has earned the reputation of being silly, fun, funny and crazy by my girls. But to me, he's that, but so much more. He's always up for a good time and for living life to the fullest and he's passionate about helping people whether it be through his job or the many community and church activities that he's involved in. He's loyal, loving, energetic and thoughtful. There is no slowing him down as time goes on. The picture above was from the Final 4 in San Antonio last year....it was a weekend full of excitement and joy. I'm very proud to have him as a father (except for the time when he had my name announced on the loudspeaker at K-Mart when I was a teenager....at that time, I was mortified :). PaPa, it hasn't been an easy year, but you're doing great and we all love you very much!

Welcome Home Jake

Let's continue from my last post. Remember how tired I was and how I wasn't thinking straight? Well, after I posted my blog last night, I went and took a shower (I decided that sleeping with the scent of baby puke on my shoulder wasn't too appealing) while Trey bathed Landry. Then, before I fed her, I told Trey that I was going to feed Jake because I'd forgotten. So, off to the kitchen I went and when I poured the food and yelled for him, I immediately noticed that the house was way too quiet. When the food pours, an 80 lb salivating dog comes a runnin'....and there was no a runnin'. Cue heart dropping into the pit of my stomach.

The hunt began. Downstairs, upstairs, outside, in closets, in the garage, in the car....no Jake. Minor panic began to set it. Went outside and yelled. No furry canine. Yelled again, and again and again....obviously not working. We quickly realized that he must've gotten out when Trey was helping me unload the car from Target 2 HOURS EARLIER. So, Trey got "the look" in his eye and immediately went into action. When I say "the look" I mean I could translate without words, "Oh dear, this is not good. My wife loves this dog. Must find dog. Must find dog now." He got in the car and drove around until well after 1AM trying to find my Jakey. Side note: This is one of the reasons I just love Trey. When I'm completely freaked out, he'll do whatever it takes to make me happy. Plus...he loves this darn dog too. No Jake though. We attempted to go to sleep with the hopes that someone found him and was going to call the vet since he had his tags on....BY THE WAY, guess who decided to actually sleep in the early hours of the morning while we were both up and then woke up 2 hours after we went to sleep? Grrrrr.

Good part of the story...we got a knock on the door at 7:45 this morning and we both flew towards the door. We had a wonderful neighbor who saw a friendly beast wandering around and when he went up to them for some loving, they decided to hold onto him for the night and called our vet this morning to get our info. There are sincere, good intentioned people out there. My Jake came home and when Trey brought him through the door he ran up to me, whined and cried while wagging that tail, layed down and is still asleep.

I love the dog. And, I love my husband for searching for him, totally exhausted, without ever complaining. Life is good.

Hodge Podge

Landry is 7 weeks old today. Oh my, how time has flown by with her! For some reason, I was hoping that by this point of her life, she'd be on some sort of schedule....wishful thinking! The only consistant sleeping pattern she's exhibited is one that keeps changing. Just when she sleeps for 5-6 hours at a time during the night for a few days in a row and I become hopeful that we're well on our way to a full night, she decides to mix it up and stay up at night, UGH!!!

And with sleepless nights and early mornings comes exhaustion. In fact, as I type this, my husband is zonked out on the couch next to me with Landry (sleeping of course because I'm awake) on his chest. You know how some people say they only need 4-5 hours of sleep each night? That isn't me. I'm a night owl by nature, but I'm also one who likes to get my full 8 hours of shut eye. Twice today I was in the midst of conversations with people and I got lost in the words because I started thinking about sleeeeeeping. I went to Target all by myself and started wandering the isles, trying my hardest to remember what I was looking for. I even had a list with me and I had to keep rereading it because I would forget what I read. In fact, I even bought new pajama pants and a t-shirt. I NEVER do that, but looking back I think I was drawn to anything that reminded me of sleep. So, I've entered the mothering phase where I've lost my mind. I'm sure I'm going to find it, but it might take a cute, little, smiling, almost two month old to help me out....by sleeping through the night.

In other Smith news, I had some fun conversations with Hailey at dinner. We were talking about family and God. Here goes a tidbit of two of them:
Conversation #1:
Me: Hailey, do you know who Mommy's brothers are?
Hailey: Daddy?
*Uhhhh...no, thank goodness.

Conversation #2:
Hailey: Mommy, do you think there are two heavens?
Me: I don't think so, why?
Hailey: Well, I just think that would be silly. Hey Mom, I think God is REALLY BIG (hand motions and all).
Me: You do?
Hailey: Yep, I think he looks like ONE BIG GREEN PICKLE!!
*Now, I may be sleep deprived, but I don't remember ever discussing how God resembles a pickle. She did later clarify that God is a pickle on Veggie Tales. I think I'm going to start watching more Veggie Tales.

And finally, my little blog is going to get a make-over soon! I'm very excited about it and can't wait to see how it turns out. I'm trying to think of a catchy title for it, but I've been having a hard time getting it just right. Any suggestions? I'd love to hear them. As I've mentioned before, thinking and being creative aren't my best areas right now! Stay tuned for the update! Now, I'm off to put on those new pajama pants....just in time for Landry to wake up :).

Granny, Dan and Landry

Landry had to pass on the girls' vacation to San Antonio, but she made sure to get a good picture in with her Granny and Dan!

The Brazilian English?

Sound weird? It's TRUE! When I was in the 8th grade, our family had a foreign exchange student come to live with us. His name--Edu--and he's from Brazil. He was only supposed to stay a short time with us, but he fit in so well with my family that he ended up staying much longer. And the relationship with our family did not end after he left. In fact, my parents have gone to visit him and his family in Brazil AND when he got married my mom and dad participated in the ceremony and went on his honeymoon with him and Marcia. I've often said that he's the favorite child of the family. Now, he lives in Houston with his wife Marcia (she's just as warm and fun to be around as he is) and their 3 year old, Marina. They came up to visit last weekend, along with his cousin Ricardo, and we had a great time with all of them! Unfortunately, the weekend went by too fast and I didn't get a picture of all of us together, but I got one of Marina and Hailey playing outside. COME BACK SOON EDU AND FAMILY!

Hailey Is Looking for Help

If anyone knows of a way to remove all the bugs from outdoors, Hailey would like to speak with you. Tonight, she announced she isn't going outside because there are just too many of them and they REALLY, REALLY bother her.

Optimistic Wish vs Reality

I've been trying to get a really cute picture of all the girls together smiling (yep, little Landry smiles now!). Here's the closest I've gotten so far:

Here's the reality of taking pictures of a 4 1/2 year old, a 20 month old and a 6 week old:

The Shirt Says It All...

And if you're wondering, her favorite thing to talk about is.....BARNEY....that darn purple dinosaur and his "I Love You" song. Most mornings start off with her saying, "Momma, I want Barney." Actually, it sounds cuter, more like, "Momma, I unt Arrrr kneeeee." Her other favorite things to say: Dadda, Hailey (A Lee), BABY, Jake (AKE!!!), binkie and blankie.

Another Conversation with Hailey

We'll title this one, The Tooth Fairy:
Hailey: MOM LOOK, I found a penny.
Me: Nice job Hailes!
Hailey: I'm going to put it under my pillow.
Me: Ok.....why under your pillow?
Hailey: BECAUSE MOM, that's what you do. The Tooth Fairy will come and take the penny and leave me a present!
Me: You think so? I think the Tooth Fairy comes if you...
Hailey: The Tooth Fairy comes when you leave money under your pillow!

Conversation ends because this is one of those situations where I know to pick my battles...and this is not one I want to pick, so I leave it alone.

Twenty minutes later...
Me: HAILEY, where are you?
Hailey: I'M IN MY BED WAITING ON THE TOOTH FAIRY TO BRING ME A PRESENT BECAUSE THE PENNY IS UNDER MY PILLOW!!

Maybe I should have elaborated a bit more on the Tooth Fairy after all....

They're Baaaaack!

So, I haven't posted in a while. Mainly because my inspirations (aka my kids) were out of town last week! The break....FAB-U-LOUS, I must admit. I'm always nervous to leave the girls, I think it's the built-in-mommy-fear factor that magically appears once you have kids. You know you need a break sometimes, but you hate to leave the kids. However, I got to spend five days alone with Trey and Landry. It was great to have some one-on-one time with her and to relax. And, it allowed me to catch up on some sleep, get some more decorating done around this house, play a little tennis (hehe!), and to actually get out and remember that there is a world that functions even while I've been at home with a newborn the past 6 weeks. Thank you so much Granny and Dan for your help!

Hailey and Reese had a great time. Here's the list of things that I can remember they did...(I'm taking a big breath in right now since there are so many things to list here)...went to Chuckie Cheese twice, went to Sea World (where Hailey got to feed dolphins....no fair says the mommy), went to Kiddie Park (an amusement park for little ones), went to the San Antonio Children's Museum, went to Rainforest Cafe, made Easter eggs, and made ice cream cone cupcakes. WHEW! Life isn't too shabby for Hailes and Reesie!

I'm twittling my thumbs and whistling...

because I don't know what to do with myself! It's just me and Landry today and that isn't going to change for the next FEW DAYS!!! Uncle Kyle came up this weekend for a great visit and when he left, he took two of my kids and my husband with him! That's right, Hailey and Reese are off to San Antonio to visit Granny and Dan, Uncle Kyle, Opa and Mimi and the rest of Trey's side of the family for a few days! Trey's going to hop a flight back to Dallas tonight. Granny is on Spring Break and apparently wants to stay really busy on her vacation! Hailey is especially pumped for the trip because she's got lots of ideas of things they can all do together. I am looking forward to a little down time with no Barney, Dora, Wonder Pets, Diego, you get the idea....but I must admit, I miss hearing the buzzing all over the house....that's a nice way of saying screaming :). I'm sure I can find a way to fill my time though!!

Here's crazy Uncle Kyle getting ready to take off with the girlies! Thanks for driving them Kyle!

You be the Judge

Trey's side of the family thinks Reesie really resembles Trey's cousin, Logan. Well, Logan came over last night to hang out, so I snapped a picture of the both of them. Now, I must admit, that Logan has some sort of connection with Reese because when she sees him, she's all about Logan. In fact, in the picture, they were sharing some yummy corn together!

I Really Want to Keep this Dress on FOREVER!

These were the words that Hailey kept saying over, and over, and over and....OVER again last week. She's outgrown all of her spring/summer clothes from last summer, so I found a dress last week that had butterflies on them and got it for her. Well, she liked it so much that she cried for 30 minutes about taking it off for a bath. After a while, I just pulled the ole' camera out and decided to share our "discussion" (that we were having for the millioneth time) with all of you :). Enjoy.

One Month Old!

Has it really been a month since Landry joined us? Has it been a month since my husband lit himself on fire? It's amazing how fast time flies....ok, maybe not in the middle of the night, but most of the time. I still have a hard time believing we have three kids!

Landry hadn't been weighed since the hospital, so she and Reese went to the dr. today for their baby well-visits. Thank goodness Hailey was in school because Reese had to get three shots and we all know Hailey's opinion on the dr. and about shots. Here are the stats on the girls.

Hailey: 27 lbs, 38 inches....not really on the growth charts for her age. She is Miss Petite.

Reese: 23 1/2 lbs, 32 inches...about the 25th percentile for her weight and 48th for height. Funny, she seems huge to us since Hailey is so bitty.

And then, there's Landry. Apparently, the more kids we have, the bigger they get....cue the theme song to Rocky...

Landry weighed in at 10 1/2 lbs and was 21 1/2 inches long. That puts here in the 82nd percentile for weight and the 68th for height....WHAAAAAAT!? (that was my reaction when they told me)

So, it looks like we have some variety in children...small, medium and large. We will not be going for extra-large.

Ballerina Girl

Hailey had dance today and parents were invited to observe. I love these days. This child of ours is so fun to watch. She is the girly-girl of the family. She knows and adores all the Disney princesses. She loves to wear skirts, dresses, tiaras, headbands and dress-up clothes. She's nurturing and thoughtful with a dash of stubborness. However, she is not fond of bugs. Last week when it warmed up for a bit and she and Reese were playing outside, she did have a mini-meltdown over the fact that she has to share the outdoors with all of God's lovely little creatures. I believe the conversation ended with Trey and I saying, "get over it." Her personality is one which will keep Trey and I on our toes for YEARS to come, but there is nothing better than hearing her tell us how much she loves us because she is not afraid to tell you what she thinks and feels....at all times. Wonder where she gets that?

Sesame Street Live

Trey and Hailey had a blast watching Sesame Street Live! Hailey was so excited to go with just her daddy. By the time they got home, she walked up to me, mumbled a few words, layed down on the floor and well....the picture below will show it all....she was exhausted. Trey and I busted out laughing because she NEVER does this.

In my opinion...

Everyone, no matter the age, should be entitled to one comfy sweatsuit.