Overload

Our lives have been as crazy as this jumble of photo's.

*Taj turned 5!!! I'm in shock still.

We had a mellow family party- the big combined party is coming...

Taj chose to golf and play at Boondocks.

He smiled all day long, and is just starting to look up from all his new toys.

*Eden started Preschool! She was so proud that she could go by herself. I was too.

* We went boating on Jordanelle. Taj and Eden both surprised us by tubing. Eden also came on the surfboard with me.

Eden says I'm "regular" now so I can go in the water. I'm more excited about that than she is.

*Olivia is a peach. She is full of smiles and has been sleeping through the night for about a week now- GO BABYWISE!

*the zoo still rocks. Or so I'm told. Micah and the kids had a great time riding the train and visiting the new baby elephant.






*We bought our one way tickets to Hawaii~ October 21 can't come soon enough!!!

Progress

Gracias, Mahalo, and Thank you to my mothering brain trust. Your experiences comforted me a lot and after hearing what you had to say, I did some research on spit up. I've decided Olivia is getting too much too fast and not getting the burping attention she needs. It's pretty annoying, but doesn't seem to be bothering her and she's definitely got baby chubs so I'm not too worried about her weight gain. Thanks again everyone. You all help so much.

I'm in love with this van. We saw it on a colder day. Yup. Summer is officially over here already. It hurt a little to see it because it made me want to be that girl holding the surfboard again, but I can't complain since we'll be in HI next month. It made me re-realize how much I need to work on being happy in the moment instead of always looking forward to the next thing... Hawaii, the kids in preschool, Olivia eating solid food and sitting up instead of spitting up. Here's to living in the moment. Speaking of which, I better go get Taj and feed Olivia. Joy.

Oh boy

So Olivia has a spitting up problem. I think it's a problem, but my other two never spit up so... I'm needing comfort, info, insight of any kind. Can it be stopped? Am I doing something wrong here? Anyone? Beuller?

Motherhood a.k.a Learning Patience

Last week in church (made it for 2 of the 3 hours!!) we had a lesson on patience. The big P. We got talking about how when we're feeling impatient it's because things aren't on my schedule. That's motherhood in a nutshell. All week long I've been thinking about how impatient I can be, but also how much patience I've learned since becoming a mom almost 5 years ago. It starts with, "when will this baby come?" then, "when will this muffin top go away?". Don't forget the, "when will I get a good nights sleep?". It never ends. I went for a run a couple times this week and there was the new lesson my body is teaching me.... it'll be a while before it feels like my own again.

I can see a lot of growth in Micah and I, but am constantly reminded of how much I have to learn still. At least we're able to stop and take a breath and remember that these moments are fleeting (most of the time). Usually I realize there is really no reason to be stressed or pushy and I am humbled to see how patient our kids are with us as parents.
*Olivia knows and loves her Daddy already. She follows his voice around a room. She's smiling and cooing. She lifts her head during tummy time and is A-Dor-Able!

*The kids learned patience waiting for the ice cream truck. It's silly around here.

Oobleck

Despite my better judgement (this stuff is crazy messy) I made the kids a batch of Oobleck (1 1/4 C. cornstarch and 1/2 C-3/4 C water) and let them play while I nursed Olivia. It was messy, but they loved every second! They seriously played with the stuff for an hour, then went back for more later on, outside that time. This was one of the good days. Thank heavens for those.

Us Lately

4 weeks later...my arms are starting to get tired

we"re leaving the house a little more

I'm really missing my other 2 kids and our old routine

names are getting all mixed up- Olivia- I mean Eden

It's crazy around here, but wonderful. I remember how crazy it was when Eden was born and thinking we might have ruined everything. Those moments never lasted though and now Taj and Eden are the best of friends. Taj gets Eden her gummy vitamins in the morning. Eden gets Taj his toothbrush. They got their first tag team time out a couple days ago, and while it wasn't fun I was marking down in the book of Smith as a first and like that they have each other.

Only In Utah

August 8th is a big day around here. Among other things it marked Micah's 29th birthday and our 7th wedding anniversary. I was pretty much a bum this year. I did nothing for Micah. I didn't prepare ahead and buy anything. I didn't even help the kids make him anything. We're pretty low key about these things anyway, but I really let this one get away from me.

In a meager effort to celebrate we went out to dinner on Saturday. We left Taj and Eden with Nana and once Olivia was all fed we took off. At the end of dinner Liv started waking up. She was hungry. Olivia's only 2 weeks old so instead of letting her cry all the way home we pulled into a parking lot to feed her in the car. Being civilized Micah pulled off to a darker, deserted area of the parking lot. He went and got us some "Red Mango"- so good. While we were all eating a car pulled up next to us. Right next to us. This was strange since there were hundreds of other parking spots open and we weren't even parked by anything. We were curious and started watching. The dad got out of the minivan and went to the back seat where he got a baby out. He handed the baby to his wife who began feeding their baby. Classic. We laughed and thought, "only in Utah." Micah then said it's definitely time to move. I couldn't agree more.

Apricots a Plenty

Freezer jam
Fruit leather

We have more apricots than we should ever try to eat. Come and get it people!

Oh, yeah

Olivia Ola Smith I forgot to mention that yes, our little darling has a name. Well, not so little anymore. She was born 8 lb. 10 oz. , and is already out of newborn diapers. It's amazing what a little leche can do.

Side notes:

* I'm loving the "Belly Bandit". I totally recommend it.

* Having a baby is up there as one of the most humbling experiences. I feel so needy, but more so blessed. I have an amazing support system who have done more than I knew I needed. This has been a beautiful experience and all thanks to them.

* Babies in the summer are the way to go.

* I know I shouldn't watch Shark week, but so help me, it's so interesting.

* What are my preschool options in Hawaii? We're still hoping to be there soon (ish) so I need to get that figured out for Taj--- HELP!

She's Here!!

* Too many monkeys in the bed.

* Eden and Taj are as in love as Micah and I. They ask "where's my baby?" all the time. "Can I hold her?" They are so proud. I am too :)

It'll be a week tomorrow. Time couldn't go fast enough trying to get her here, but now that she is here time is going way too quickly. Day 4 she woke up and already looked different. the newborn phase is almost gone already. Maybe it's just me, her mommy, but she's definitely not the newborn I held just days ago. It's all part of the fun of the experience I suppose. It's been wonderful. We are so blessed.

Old and New

I kind of hate my infant car seat. It's the one we got with Taj almost FIVE YEARS AGO! That blows me away. It works fine. It's pretty ugly and beat up and heavy, but works. I can't really justify a new car seat to replace a perfectly functioning one.

I decided it's not a big deal, and then we got it out and put it in the car. Ugo's. I took matters into my own hands and made this "car seat canopy". That's what they call them here in Utah. I've been spotting them all over, and besides making a lot of sense it looks a lot better to me than the old car seat.

* Not too many tips on a "bounce back" recovery from pregnancy and labor online, but I was told about one thing that I'm going to try. It's called the "belly bandit". It's a thick elastic contraption you strap around your loose guts and it holds it all in place. It's supposed to help your uterus contract more effectively and let your tummy look flatter in the mean time. I got one, so we'll see.

Water Babies

Swim lessons, fountains, streams. We can't get enough water these days. This is my first summer being sidelined during swimming lessons. I'm a sweaty beast and besides loving watching the kids play it's torture to just sit on the side. I realized that once baby comes I won't be able to get in the water for all of August. Yikes. At least the kids can have fun still while I'm recovering and I won't have the 20 lbs of extra body heat on anymore. Well, slowly it'll come off.

Along with all the anticipation I have waiting for baby, I'm feeling overwhelming love for my little ones, and not so little ones. I know our world is about to be rocked, but in the meantime I'm bursting with love for my family. I feel so blessed and unworthy of these people.

My due date is in 2 weeks. I'm d0ing a little here and there to get ready. Tonight we put the car seat in after I had to have a non stress test because baby's heart beat was "low". Everything is fine and after napping to the sound of the little lady's heart beat I was cleared to go. I've been thinking though, all you moms that have been through labor, what are the secrets out there? Some of you seem to bounce back faster than others. Spill it. What am I missing? I'm running out of time so please tell.