Life Decisions....

Hailey told me today, "Mama, I'm not sure of exactly what I want to be when I grow up. I can't decide if I should be a cowgirl or a rock star."

Good thing she has a little bit of time to figure it out!

I Found Reese...

She's been rolling around the house all morning and surprising me. Happy Friday!
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What The Heck Is In The Snow?

It snowed here a couple of weeks ago. I should have taken lots of pictures because the girls love it. I completely forgot. HOWEVER, I did get a few random shots.

#1: We decided to take the girls sledding. Forget nap time. There's snow. Guess which Smithette loved it the most? That's right....there's the Reesie flying down the hill! Guess which Smithette wanted Mommy to hold her the entire time? Hello Landry. Guess which Smithette tried with all of her might to stay out there and brave it, but just was freezing to the bone due to her petiteness? Well, I decided after 10 minutes to stay in the car at the bottom of the hill with the heat on so that Landry could watch and Hailey could sled down the hill, run into the car for 5 minutes to warm up a bit and charge back out to the hill to hit it again. We made it work!
#2-3: I took these and sent them to Trey at work. I wanted to know if the Abominable Snowman was lurking around our house. I don't read animal tracks. I read princess books these days. Trey claims he thinks they were just rabbits. I claim that they must've been descendants of the large Easter bunny breed because they looked huge to me. Or, they were just ghosts doing face plants on the concrete.
If there's another snow, I'll make sure to actually take normal snow pictures!- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I Almost Cried On The Phone Today

The older I get, the more of a softie I am. It's getting to be ridiculous.

I got a call from Hailey's kindergarten teacher today. Hailey had told me that I needed to go up to her school soon because she was going to be a part of her school's weekly assembly and that her teacher would call me about it.

Well, I got the call. Next week, she is set to get an award. I'll write more about that after it happens and I take pictures.

However, the part of the call that almost got me was this. Her teacher said that she wanted to take a moment to tell me that Trey and I have done a wonderful job with her because she is just an incredible student in class. Not only is she excelling in her work, but she does everything the teacher asks and she is an outstanding person and the teacher thinks we should be so proud of the person she is becoming. It got to me.

I told the teacher that as much as Trey and I would like to take the credit for her, we've been blessed with a child that loves to please and is incredibly good natured. It isn't us. It's a total God thing. But even if it's a God thing, that is the highest compliment Trey and I can receive. We don't care if she is the greatest athlete or if she is the smartest student, we care about character. She works hard when asked, tries her best, and is kind to everyone around her.

A few short years ago, we battled daily to get her to eat and her body was overly sensitive to many touches and noises. I feared that she was going to struggle when it came to adapting to a school environment. I couldn't have been more wrong. She's worked hard to overcome those issues and is thriving. I am so thankful and blessed. Good work Hailes!!!

Did You Know...

The meaning of the name Reese? Well Reese means.....enthusiastic. No, really, it does.

Never is it more clear to us that we named her correctly, than when watching her at gymnastics (and preschool, she's nuts there too).

She....is.....a.....riot. When on the trampoline, you'd think she's trying her hardest to fling her arms and legs off of her trunk. When doing all of the other activities, she tries to do it all by herself and never, I mean, never, sits still.

Pure craziness, joy and enthusiasm.

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Pardon Me

Uhhh, Mom, why are you taking my picture? I'm simply trying to eat my bowl of fruit loops, sip my water and finish up my reading on the instruction/installation manual for the Bose sound speakers (which are approximately 10 years old that I just happened to have dug out of random box upstairs). Is this weird or something?
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Breakfast Of Champions

Saturday morning trip to the donut store. The girls go nuts. And....they all wear their PJ's of course!






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A DECADE!!!

I'm back! I haven't so much been in the blogging mood recently. The loss of Jake kind of took the wind out of my sails for a bit. We have been busy, of course, but I've just felt like something was missing. Plus, I know I need to update the blog on him....and I just didn't want to. I hate that he's gone, but I've come to a place where now I know I absolutely made the best decision I could at the time, even though it felt horrible. Now, if I could just get used to not hearing that bark of his when the doorbell goes off..... Time will help heal, I'm sure.

We have something to celebrate this month!! Trey and I celebrated 10 years of marriage! Wooohooo!! His mom asked to come up on the weekend of our anniversary to give us a break, so we got a night off. Of course, if you would've asked me 10 years ago what I would be doing on our day off to celebrate, I'm sure I wouldn't have said that I was so glad it started off with a three hour nap!

Oh, how times have changed. Ten years ago, when we thought we were "busy", we weren't. When we thought we knew what stress was, we didn't. When we seemed to know lots of answers to everything, well, we've lost some intelligence because the older we get, the less we know. But ten years later, life is so much sweeter than we could have ever imagined. We have been given the blessing of three little healthy girls to raise. We still thoroughly enjoy spending time together (even without kids too!), we laugh at each other, joke around together, lean on one another, and tell each other every single day that we love each other very much and that we are blessed to be best friends.....and he always tells me he thinks I'm beautiful. I love that about him because when I'm in the midst of laundry, cooking, and cleaning...beautiful isn't a word that I would use to describe myself. Even though marriage and life may not always be easy, it is absolutely a direct gift from God and we never forget that.

This is one of my favorite pictures of us. It was taken when we first started dating.

Ten down and we pray that we've got many, many, many more decades to go together!!!

Landry's Decided...

She's way too mature to be in a highchair.


So, she did this all by herself....shoved the highchair aside, went into the bedroom to find her stool, retrieved it and decided to continue dinner happy as can be. The word I would use to describe her is....sassy. She knows what she likes and doesn't like and she's not afraid to show it!

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Check Her Out

Fresh haircut-check!
Coordinating outfit sunglasses-check!
Sassy new attitude-double check!






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Change, Change, Change

As I make my last post for this year (and start my next blog book!), I think the word "change" is appropriate when describing how Trey and I feel about this past year and about heading into 2011.

We have been through much this year, including experiencing many blessings and ups within our family, but we have also been tested.

As we start the new year, we will begin it without our Jake. That's tough stuff and going to take time to adjust.

Trey will also start a new job next week. We absolutely and completely did not foresee nor plan for this move, but know it is right for our family.

We had our Hailey start kindergarten this year. And for as much as I dreaded it, it has been wonderful for her and she's thriving.

But mainly, the change has taken place within ourselves. Trey and I both feel like we have grown as people....as real life adults. One thing I know for sure, I had waaaaaaay more things figured out at 23 than I do at 33. And when I told a trusted friend that this year, she responded by saying, "that's what I call MATURITY." We've experienced separate lessons that we will both apply for the rest of our lives....some tough lessons, but ones which have made us both more compassionate and have given us a vision for where we want to be heading. It seems like we have spent hours upon hours talking about all of these growths together.

And though we have had some tough times, we are proud to say that we made it through them together. Prayer has become so important to us. Our faith in God has grown. And we truly feel blessed to have each other, as best friends, and to have our three precious girls. We do not take this for granted.

Here's looking forward the blessings of 2011 and the great year that I certainly hope it's going to be :).

Jake The Wonder Dog

This post is tough for me. Really, really, really tough. The only way I can describe it when I talk to Trey is that I feel 100% pure heartbreak. And I know Trey knows....because he, too, has felt our loss big time. Today, we had to say goodbye to our golden boy, Jake. Want to know why it was so tough?

Well, over 8 1/2 years ago, I BEGGED Trey for a golden retriever. BEGGED. We got a newspaper one Saturday (I now know that isn't the way to get a dog,but hey, we were young) and we decided to go and check some out.....ONLY looking. The puppies....adorable. There was one in particular who wasn't going crazy, stood off from the rest and just watched. A little girl who lived at the house said she called him Sweetie because he was her favorite and so gentle. That Sweetie....became our Jake. Forget looking, I found my boy!

He was totally innocent....didn't get into a thing. Okay maybe shoes, and anything leather....and anything that made cool noises....or anything he could drag. "Sweetie" quickly developed a personality.

After we moved into a house, we decided to get Jakey a friend. We adopted Rocky. These two had completely opposite personalities, but, in time, bonded and became the best of friends.

Then came the babies. Many people told us they thought we'd get rid of the dogs when the kids came. My response, "did you get rid of your kids when you had more?" They were awesome.

Hailey and Jakey bonding.

And bonding some more :). I love this picture.

They even made some Christmas cards together!

And when Reese came along....well, the more the merrier! She, especially, loved Jakey. She has a passion for animals and thought he was so great.

So great, that she imitated him often.

The crew.

He had a multitude of passions....(not all listed here)

His floppy disk

Playing ball

Playing in the snow.

Napping on the couch.

And people watching....and people greeting....and making sure people knew that they would love to pet him.

Today wasn't his first run-in with the vet. Oh no, Jakey tore both of his ACL's in his knees and he tried to poison himself by eating a cigarette butt once. Oh, and the vet called us once because he had escaped from my friend's fence and was wandering the streets enjoying his day when someone saw his vet tags. Was treating him each time worth the time, money and rehab? You betcha.

His soul was full of unconditional love, loyalty, compassion, love-for-life, and a desire to please people with a bit of orneriness that made him a perfect fit for us.

I love him whole heartedly.

So when Jake started feeling ill again, we took him to his vet. The vet told us yesterday that we had done everything possible for him, but that his cancer had returned, was very aggressive, and that he was about to get incredibly sick and possibly encounter immense pain......we knew what we had to do. Well, actually, he told me what I needed to do. I don't think I would have ever known when to do that. I talked to three vets to see if they all agreed....secretly hoping there was something to make him feel better. But, there was not.

So, today we spent the morning at one of his favorite places. The lake. And we have let him eat as much people food as he wanted. And we have been loving him up like he has done for us for over 8 1/2 years. And we have cried and sobbed and cried and sobbed some more.

But we knew that letting him experience a traumatic pain would not be fair to a dog who has only given the best to us. I pray that I will see him again someday and that he's with my Rocky and that they're cuddling and chewing on each other's legs again. He has forever made myself and all the members in this family better people.

Thank you so much Jakey. We love you.

Christmas 2010

Christmas was relaxing this year. We decided to stay home. It was so nice that none of us left the house, that we just hung out, played together and shared Christmas dinner with Trey's aunt, uncle and cousins.

Reese with her new microphone!

Trey assembling a bed for Hailey's new doll. Can you believe this was the ONLY thing we had to assemble! A Christmas miracle!!!

Hailey hanging out with her new doll, Felicity Merriman.

And sporting one of her new outfits. This one was from Granni. Sparkles-check. Bit of leopard print-check. Hot pink somewhere in the outfit-check. Chances of Hailey liking this outfit- 100%.

FYI

In case you were wondering whether or not Reese is still in her knot tying phase....


This is the gift she left me today in response to her feelings on having her bedroom door closed on her when she can't seem to stay in bed....

However, she is on my good side right now. During family movie night last evening, she announced that she thinks I look like Belle. Princess Belle that is from Beauty and the Beast. And she thought I resembled her most when Belle was all dressed up in her gown dancing with the beast. NOT while she was in her day-to-day wear of the blue and white dress. Therefore she can tie as many knots as she would like today....as long as they aren't around herself, her sisters, or the dog :).

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Sleeping Reese Waking Landry

This is how Reese sleeps during naps. She runs and runs and runs during the day and even when it's nap time, she plays and talks and sings and refuses to sleep until at one moment, flat on her back, she falls into a deep slumber. You can even hear her snoring. And since it took Reese so long to fall asleep, Landry was already up from her nap. She has no problem just hanging out in her crib until someone comes to check on her!