Thanksgiving came and went...

I can't believe that Thanksgiving came and went and I don't have one picture to show for it. We were at my parents in La Quinta all last week and we were all blessed with the nasty stomach flu. It was pretty awful, but definitely allowed for some R&R as we were forced to be stuck to the couch for a few days. I don't think moms should be allowed to be sick...it's way too hard to be sick and take care of your little ones at the same time. I was grateful to have my mom around to help out!

Although I wasn't able to enjoy the Thanksgiving feast, it was great to be with my family and think about all that we are blessed with. I hate that I always wait for this one day to actually express what I am thankful for, so I am going to try to be better at that throughout the rest of the year.

A few things I am especially grateful for this year....

1. I am so grateful to have such a loving family! I am mostly grateful this year to be a mommy!! I have waited for this time in my life for so long and I have not been disappointed one bit about the joys that parenthood brings. I love my little guy so much and I am reminded every day how blessed we are to have him in our lives! I love being a stay at home mom and am grateful that Jeremiah works so hard to allow that!

2. I am so grateful for my parents and Jeremiah's parents...they all do so much for us. It's funny how when you finally become a parent, you realize how much your parents actually did for you!

3. I can't help but be so grateful for our overall health. Other than the occassional colds and flu bugs that we have had lately, we are so lucky to be so healthy. I have seen too many people dealing with too many health issues lately...which makes me all the more grateful!

As sad as it is, I am already looking forward to next Thanksgiving (that is the OCD planner in me)! I'm so sad that I missed out on all the great food....I seriously look forward to that meal for at least a couple months before Thanksgiving! Hopefully next year, we won't be sick and will be able to enjoy the day a little more than we did this year!!

Future golf pro!!

The day after Thanksgiving, the boys went golfing and the girls went to the spa for facials and pedicures!! Since the "big" boys went golfing, the "little" boys wanted to have some fun golfing too. The guys took the kids over to the driving range and it was so cute to watch Ayden with the golf balls and clubs. He has never been around golf stuff before, but he looked like a complete natural! He picked up the golf club and stood there over the ball ready to hit it. He had so much fun and I know this will be something that he will look forward to doing again and again each time he visits Grammy and Grandpa! He really had fun driving in Grandpa's golf cart. I don't know...I think golf may be his thing!! I told Jeremiah to watch out....in a couple years Ayden may be golfing better than his daddy!!!

Ayden's Christmas Wish List

Here it is!!! Our families have been asking us what is on Ayden's list this year, so we finally sat down and came up with a few things! Even though he can't talk and tell us what he wants, we know that these would be some of his favorites! These are just some ideas, but he will love anything!! Happy shopping!! =)

http://www.target.com/Radio-Flyer-My-First-Scooter/dp/B000OWAZYU/sr=1-1/qid=1195442438/ref=sr_1_1/601-4889676-9155300?ie=UTF8&index=target&rh=k%3Ascooter&page=1

http://www.target.com/Go-Diego-Vehicle-Rescue-Set/dp/B000UOCT50/qid=1195444921/ref=br_1_10/601-4889676-9155300?ie=UTF8&node=197607011&frombrowse=1&rh=tgt%5F7%3A00050%7B2%20-%203%20years%7B&page=1

http://www.target.com/Silly-Sam-Talking-Broom-Dust/dp/B0001NE7KU/qid=1195446538/ref=br_1_4/601-4889676-9155300?ie=UTF8&node=371914011&frombrowse=1&index=tgt-mf-mv&field-browse=371914011&rank=pmrank&rh=&page=3

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2634534

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2312673

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2298865

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2711308

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2657954

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2657943

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2401593

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2308964

'Tis the Season!!

It is official...we are all ready for the holidays at the Smith house!! It all started on Nov 1st when I started listening to non-stop Chrismtas music! That is one of my favorite things about the holidays and I am truly sad after Christmas when they stop playing it! Last night for date night, Jeremiah and I went to dinner and then to Toys R Us! I thought we had an original idea since there are still more than 5 weeks to Christmas, but was I wrong!!! It was packed! That didn't take away from the fun of shopping for Ayden this year. It was so much more fun than last year since this year we actually had an idea of what he would want and what he would enjoy! We got a good start on his gifts (however I think some of the things that Jeremiah picked out are truly for him.....Jeremiah kept putting things like remote control airplanes and helicopters in the cart....I had to remind him that Ayden is only 1 1/2 and will most likely not be able to manuever an RC plane)!!!! It was hilarious, but that is what makes Jeremiah a great dad! He is a little kid in a big guy's body!!

Today I went along for the ride with my sister in laws, Kammie and Kristen, to get some Christmas decorations at Tai Pan Trading!! Yeah, that is a joke to say that I went along for the ride because I spent WAY more than both of them!!! I was starting to get a little embarressed in the store as people were staring at my overflowing cart as I walked by!! Ok, so afterwards we stuffed the trunk and backseat with all our goods and as we were driving away, Kammie asked "anyone want to get some cheesecake somewhere?" It was a random comment, but we all agreed it was a good one! Needless to say we were feeling a little guilty about the money we just spent and thought it was a good idea to eat away our guilt with some fried green beans, peanut butter cheesecake and a brownie obsession from TGIFridays! It was a nice outing with the girls and it was nice to see Ayden so content staying at home with his daddy and his uncle playing with airplanes and helicopters all day!!

As we were driving in the neighborhood, there were so many neighbors putting up Christmas lights....another one of my favorites about Christmas...I like to go all out (if it was up to me, we would have "Christmas Vacation" at our house)!! I tried painting a nasty picture to Jeremiah about what fun he would have in two weeks (when we get back from Cali) trying to put up the lights when its freezing and snowing and all!! But he still had no desire to do them today, so guess we will have them up right after Thanksgiving!!

So like I said, we are all ready for the holidays here....listening to Christmas music, spending gobs of money and eating to our heart's content! All we have left is a little more shopping and some decorating! Although I couldn't wait to put up one decoration. We got these darling stockings in the mail a few days ago that my mom surprised us with from Pottery Barn Kids. Jeremiah and I have never had our own stockings since we've been married, so it was fun to see our family's stockings hanging by the fireplace! Can't wait to see what Santa fills them with in a few weeks!

One of those days...

Our Sunday morning started out at 7:00 am as Ayden screamed in his bed to get out! We are pretty much late to church every week, so I guess it was a good head start! Ayden looked so cute at church today...I loved his outfit! =) I had a nice break during sacrament because I was sitting up on the stand for the primary program. It put a whole new perspective on our usual Sunday experiences. Ayden was a little angel for Jeremiah....sitting there so quietly, reading books, eating his snacks and "talking" to the kids around him! I didn't hear one peep out of him, so it made me realize that he is either better behaved when I am not around or nobody else notices the "maniac" that we thought we had sitting next to us every week! Probably the second one since there are so many other kids that are being noisy as well. Anyway, it was fun to watch him sit like a big boy & interact with his daddy! Only 6 more weeks until he can go to nursery, but who's counting?!?!?!

When we got home from church, we found our kitchen flooded in soap suds!!! Apparently, that is what happens when you run the dishwasher after a toddler puts dish soap in the dishwasher without you noticing! What a mess that was to clean up! =)

Ayden was so tired today...as he is on every Sunday because he misses his first nap! When we got home, we tried to feed him lunch before he went to bed. He was too tired to eat & just put his head on the counter for about 10 minutes....he could hardly keep his eyes open! Anyway, our Sunday was a little amusing & at least allowed for a few photo ops, so I had to take advantage of it!

hApPy HaLloWeEn!!!

Halloween was so much fun this year! My mom was here visiting all week (it is now our new tradition for her to be here the week of Halloween since she has been here 2 years in a row). Ayden was a monkey this year & he looked so cute in his costume! He learned what a monkey says. His costume had a banana sticking out of the pocket, but Ayden couldn't figure out why that banana didn't taste as good as the bananas that he normally eats! Thanks to my mom for offering to stay home & pass out candy, Jeremiah & I were able to take Ayden trick-or-treating together. It was so much fun to see Ayden in action! A couple houses into it, he started getting the hang of things & ran to the front doors with all the other kids. His newest addiction is suckers & the 2nd house we visited put a sucker into his basket. Before we knew it, he had taken it out, removed the wrapper & began eating the sucker as he looked on to the next house to visit that may possibly give him another sucker!

After our 30 minute trick-or-treating excursion (which is about all a 1 year old can take), we went home to help Grammy pass out candy! Ayden thought this was just as much fun as getting candy! He couldn't wait for the doorbell to ring so he could race to the door & look out the window to see who our next "customers" were! I think he just wanted the candy bowl close by because he couldn't keep his hands out of it! We caught him a couple times trying to eat candy through the wrappers! Needless to say, "candy" is now a new word in his limited vocabulary of first words! We got our first glimpse of what "hyper Ayden" looks like! It was a lot of fun though and we are already looking forward to next year!

My Mom's To-Do List....

My poor mom....every time she comes to visit, I put her to work! Usually about a week before she comes, I start creating my list. It contains things anywhere from painting a room, rearranging furniture, working in the yard, cleaning my shower, etc. This week, Ayden was most excited about his playroom finally being finished. He now loves to go in there & play! It's probably an awful thing to do to her....but she never complains about my "chores" that I save up for her visits! I guess that is what moms are for....and I realized for the first time this week...that in 20 years, I may be on my hands & knees cleaning out the cabinets in Ayden's kitchen or rearranging the linen closet...all with a smile on my face! I really do appreciate all that she does for me (and of course my dad for allowing her to leave home to come visit as often as she does)! But I just figure that I have to make the most of her help when she is here since I don't have her around for the day to day things!

My Birthday Surprise!!

Last week was my birthday....the one that I have been dreading for a whole year!!! It was the BIG 30!! I'm not sure why that is one that everyone is always dreading, but it was enough to scare me! I have to say...it wasn't as bad as I thought & I don't feel any different! It could have been because of the great surprises I got all week! On Tuesday night, Cara called me to see if I would be ok with her & the boys coming to Utah the next morning! Are you kidding??? I am always excited about having family come to visit! And I knew how ecstatic Ayden would be to have his cousins around! So they came on Wednesday, but Joe had to stay home & work. We had a great time...shopping, going to lunch, making cookies, and just hanging out! Well, on Friday (my actual birthday), Joe showed up at our front door! He had actually pulled off a surprise that I had no idea was coming! What a great surprise! That night, we had a babysitter, so the 4 of us went to dinner to celebrate my birthday! The BIG 30 actually turned out to be a great birthday!

Our trip to Cali!

Our trips to California are always busy to say the least! This trip in October was nothing short of that! We started out in Redondo Beach, went to San Diego, then La Quinta & back to Redondo....all in a matter of 10 days! It was a ton of fun to be with family. We had been planning this trip for at least a year. Each year, we miss Carter's birthday party at the air show. They tell us every year that Jeremiah would really enjoy the air show, so last year we decided we would go for his 5th birthday! The air show was pretty cool & Ayden loved to see all the airplanes so close up! I think he was a little confused though since the planes he normally sees are a lot smaller in the sky!

We also went to the pumpkin patch while we were there. Ayden went on his 1st carnival ride. Cooper was too sick to ride, so I had to keep telling Carter that he really needed to hold on to Ayden since the only thing keeping him in the ride was a very loose lap belt! Carter did a good job keeping Ayden on the ride (even though he had to keep him in a head lock the whole time)! Luckily they were the only ones on the ride because as Ayden began to slip down out of Carter's arms, I had to ask the carnival worker to stop the ride! I think Ayden was happy to be on solid ground! Carter really loves Ayden....I realized that when he told me that he wanted to name his new baby "Ayden"! I told him that would be a little confusing & how would we know the difference betweeen the 2 Aydens. He told me that they would just have to wear name tags!! =)

Ayden is so funny around Cooper....he is like his little puppy dog, following him around everywhere he goes! That is ok by Cooper though because he loves to just carry Ayden around everywhere! It's so cute to see Ayden let Cooper do whatever he wants to him.

One of the best things we did when we were there was go out to dinner with Jeremiah & I, Joe & Cara, and my mom & dad....no kids!!! I can't remember the last time we were able to have an uninterrupted adult conversation & it was really nice! The food was amazing....we went to Hash House A Go Go in downtown San Diego! If you are ever looking for a restaurant in San Diego, you have to go there....it's a lot of fun! =)

October '07 in California!!

Our first blog!!

So we decided it would be fun to start a blog for our family....a place for us to "report" the "Smith Family Happenings" to our family & friends...especially since so many of you live out of town! I'm not really sure how this works, so we will see what happens. However, I can already tell that this may be a new addiction of mine (as if I don't already have my hands full feeding my peanut M&M addiction as we speak)! October was such a busy, fun-filled month for us, so there will be a lot to talk about in the next few posts!