To Infinity and Beyond!!

Stephen's party was "Toy Story" themed. He got to see a prescreening of the Toy Story double feature in 3D that morning with Scott. They had a lot of fun and would have stayed for the second one but it was time to get home for the party. We invited the whole Smith clan, Quist clan, and some good friends. We had sub sandwiches and a Toy Story Alien Cake. Stephen had a great time playing with his cousins and, of course, opening his presents. He was so spoiled by both sets of Grandparents. (It's a good thing too with our tight budget...) He got a set of Toy Story figurines, clothes (yea!!!), a booster seat rated for "3 years and 30 lbs (yea!!! again), a "big" Buzz Lightyear toy, Mr. Potatoe Head, and a "Cars" play tent. LUCKY boy. Thanks Grandparents!!

The highlight of the party, (in my opinion) was watching Stephen blow out the candles on his cake. He had such a sweet look on his face as we sang to him and he blew out the candles on the first try. It was so much fun that we sang to him again after everyone went home and let him blow out the candles again. (A little background: this boy LOVES birthdays and the candles are always his favorite part. He likes to blow out candles for anyone that will let him. The night before his party he was practicing in the car. He kept singing "Happy Birthday" to himself and then blowing out imaginary candles. So sweet!)

Stephen never even tasted his cake!

The spread.

Handsome Uncle Dylan.

Stephen and his cousins,Talan and Atley.

We couldn't get Stephen to look at the camera for even a second while he was opening his gifts. (Notice Boston's adorable rolls in the background!)

Little Boy Blue

“Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” -Elizabeth Stone*

Stephen is three today! He is the apple of my eye and brings me joy in my life. At our house his nickname is "Little Boy Blue" or "Blue." Take a look at those eyes and you can see why. I love to look at his sweet little face as he sleeps and admire his profile (which I think is near perfection). It takes my breath away to see how fast he has grown and my prayer is that someday after I die I will be able to remember with perfection all of those sweet moments that slip through my fingers. The quote from Elizabeth Stone pretty much describes how I feel as a mother. That scary and great privilege of motherhood all started with the birth of my little Stephen.

My little man is incredibly independent and likes to be in charge. If it isn't his idea, it isn't good. He will say "NO!" and then turn around two seconds later and ask for the very same thing he just rejected. He also likes to be a little helper - he is my designated toilet paper and paper towel put-away-er. He loves to read books on his own and have books read to him. He LOVES to play outside but can also veg in front of a movie all day if I let him. He currently is into Superman and Buzz Lightyear. Another favorite activity is jumping off of the step stool while pretending to be Superman or while just being Stephen. He loves to build towers out of unexpected items - stacking markers, books, food items, or pillows and couch cushions. Stephen loves to wrestle with his daddy - no day is complete without a rough housing session. Usually it starts out with Stephen saying "I want to run with you daddy," and ends in a crazy throw-down. He is very sensitive to others' emotions and when I am frustrated or sad he will ask "are you okay mommy?" I love his sense of self - if you tell him that he is a cutie pie or a candy monster, or ask if he is your little baby or big boy he will often respond, "NO! I'm just Stephen!!" I am so glad that he is my Stephen!!!

* This quote was totally stolen from my friend Stacie's blog from a post about her son's 3rd birthday...I really liked it...they say imitation is the highest form of flattery! Thanks Stacie!

Be careful what you wish for...

...it might come true! In this case we wished that Boston would poop more often and...he is now a regular poopin' machine! He went from going poop once every 10-12 days with the help of a suppository to once or twice daily on his own. Why the sudden change? It's all the fault of that smarty pants pediatrician (we like him) who insisted that we feed him solid foods. I strongly resisted and drug my feet for awhile but when I finally started giving him rice cereal mixed with vegetables every day we were pleasantly surprised to find that it really did help! I am so glad that Boston is a "normal" pooper now. He is also a much more content baby as a result of not being so gassy.

Looking back I realize how much money we saved in diapers and wet wipes! I think we may have used 4 diapers a day for most of the last few months. As for wet wipes, we haven't even gone through a Costco box in the time since Boston was born! We get such a kick out of watching him make a bright red "pooping" face when he is trying to go. We have never seen that face on Boston until now! I do have to say that I could have done without the 2:30 AM diaper change we had the other night. I had to nurse him to get him to go back to sleep - haven't had to do that in the middle of the night since he was a month old. Ahhhh, I like being able to "complain" about this!

A Makeover Story

Adventure at the River

On Saturday last week Scott and I got to go on an "adventure" without the boys for a few hours. We met up with our friends Ashley and Rob and floated down the Salt River in inner-tubes. We had so much fun! We rented a tube for each of us and an extra one for the ice chest full of junk food and soda. After tying the tubes together (which you are not supposed to do) we began our float. It was so relaxing to be floating out in the river and we had a great time.

One of the highlights was passing through the "rapids" - not very long but a little intense for a while - you have to lift your bum up or risk getting it smacked on a rock. Scott didn't lift his bum high enough and he got a good spank. I don't remember the last time I laughed that hard.

Then, just when we thought all was calm it was time to take our "exit" to get off the river. We had to make our way across the river to the right side and we were fighting against the current.

In the midst of our determination to make it to the edge, we lost Rob off the back of our "raft" and his leg got temporarily tangled in the rope. He wasn't hurt really, just offended that we didn't stop to help him.

I sustained a shoulder "injury", caused by reaching back at an awkward angle multiple times to open the ice chest. It really hurts still!

I think that we need to keep doing these kinds of adventures so that we can continue to feel young. It took me back to high school and college days. You know, when everything in life is a great big opportunity for fun.

Ashley and Rob on the river.

Me and Scott on the river - see the ice chest? I was in the best position to reach it, hence the shoulder injury.

My Hero!

I was washing dishes tonight and as I glanced behind my shoulder I saw a cockroach running across the floor! I screamed. Twice. Upon hearing my screams, Stephen (who was in the next room) came running into the kitchen with a concerned look on his face. He looked at me and followed my disgusted (and probably horrified) gaze to the floor where he saw the roach. He let out a war cry (ok, maybe a squeak) and without any hesitation crushed it with his Converse sneaker. (Which he was fortunately still wearing from an earlier trip to Walmart). I was so proud!! I love my brave little boy. He obviously inherited his bug smashing trait from his father because he has only had a poor, wimpy example from me. Stephen truly was the hero of the evening! I was very grateful that he smashed the roach before it could hide somewhere, and Scott was proud that his son was so capable and calm in a "crisis." We rewarded Stephen with a kiss from Mommy and candy from Daddy along with lots of high fives and hugs.

Back to School

Scott started classes at ASU two weeks ago. It feels like months already because we miss him so much. In reality, he is not gone any more time than when he was working but it is so much more intense somehow! We are so blessed that he was able to arrange his work and school schedule so that he can get a fair number of hours in at work during the week. This picture is not so good, but it shows the guys in their ASU attire. (Ok, so only Scott's shirt is actually ASU, but when I found the boys' shirts at Children's Place I had to have them for the maroon and gold colors!)

The very image...

It is a good thing Scott is so good looking....

Boston - 5 months
Scott 7.5 months

b-b-Bentley!

As if having Travis come home last weekend wasn't enough excitement, we also welcomed a new Smith cousin to the family! Josh and Shea had their first baby on Sunday. His name is Bentley Joshua Smith and he weighs 6lbs 8oz. We got to go and meet him in the hospital on Monday afternoon and he is such a cute little man!

Stephen was so funny about the whole thing..."what is that baby's name again?...oh yeah, b-b-Bentley...it starts with a B...he is little like Boston...I growed bigger...my mommy has a baby in her tummy too (not true btw)..." He got to "hold" Bentley and kept cooing over him in a high pitched voice, "ooooohhhh! he is so sweet! ooooooh look how cute!" He must have heard those phrases a lot recently.

Then Boston and Bentley "met" for the first time. I will let the pictures do the talking...

Welcome Home Travis!!

Scott's brother, Travis, returned from his mission this past Friday. He served in Orsono, Chile, which is the southernmost part of Chile. He came from freezing cold temperatures in the dead of winter to our sweltering Arizona summer!


We are so glad to have Uncle Travis home. Stephen was a little shy of him at first but warmed up to him after a day or two. Boston, on the other hand, was delighted to have Travis hold him and was full of happy smiles for his Uncle. We spent most of the weekend with the Smith family so that we could stare at Travis and reconnect with him.



Having a missionary come home is so much fun. As my sister Celsea said on the subject: "I wish I had more brothers who could come home from missions - it is such a fun day when they return!"

The Smith boys in Chilain soccer jerseys including the photo-elusive Dad!

Travis, Dad, Scott, Josh, Dylan

Boston was smiling really big before...
Missed the picture of Scott hugging him, but he looks pretty happy Travis is home.

It LOOKS like I was the first one to get a hug but its not true.