A Smith Story

Ahhhhhhhhh.....

So I finally finished updating the blog. I never thought it would happen. Granted it literally took me all day, but it is done. I'm just going to finish up by updating on some other things that don't really have pictures to go with.

Bella is now almost 21 months. I can hardly believe it. As I said before, she finally started walking for good about mid June and graduated therapy. She has started talking a lot more all of a sudden. She can say mama, papa, dada, plane, cheese, belly, no, buder (brother), Rob, bread, pepi (pepsi), bowl, bye-bye, baby, ni-ni (night-night), ball, and I'm sure there are more but that's all I can think of for now. Her hair has gotten really long. When it is wet, it goes down to the middle of her back. It is all curly too. I love it. All I have to do it spray some detangler on it, comb it, and scrunch it with some gel and she is good to go. I do have to put the front up or else it is in her eyes. She still has the one lock of hair on the top of her head that is longer than the rest and red. So cute. Now that she is moving she has slimmed down a lot. It's sad that she has lost the cute baby chubby rolls but oh well. She loves to clean and will get the broom out and try to sweep. She also likes to take wipes and wipe off stuff. She is definitely almost 2 as she is very stubborn. She can scream soooo loud when she wants something now and is not getting it. She loves to dance to music and has recently gotten into books. We love our little girl so much.

Rob is almost 3. He will be 3 in 2 weeks. Where has the time gone? He is really into Toy Story and the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory right now. The second Tot Story is his favorite of the two and we are going to take him to see the 3rd one for his birthday. He still loves Curious George, Thomas the Train, and Cars though. He is still in speech therapy but now he goes to a group (class) instead of having in home visits. He learns a new sound 3 times a month. He likes to "go play with Mandy and my friends" as he says. Mandy is the therapist. They tested him for preschool to see if he would qualify through Early Intervention. We don't know the results yet but they said he would probably qualify and they would put him in a 3 year old class where everyone is 3. They also cap it at 8 kids so that is nice. His speech has really gotten a lot better. I am the one that understands him the most though. We still can't seem to get rid of his binky. I don't know what we are going to do about that. He has started sleeping through the night a lot better. He likes to sleep on the big bed (a queen size) in his room instead of his own but that's ok. He moves around so much when he sleeps that at least now he doesn't hit the wall or fall out of bed. He had to get tubes put back in his ears but that's pretty normal with kids who had cleft palates. For those who don't know, he was born with a soft palate cleft and had it repaired as well as tubes put in his ears at 8 months old. It has helped out in his speech and sleeping so we are happy. He is still attached to his kitty. He loves to go to nursery so much that he hates sitting through sacrament meeting. We haven't started potty training him yet but we do read books about it to him and we do have a potty. He won't sit on it at all, not even with clothes on. One of these days we will get around to it. He still loves books. His new thing now is to give us hugs and kisses. I just love that. He is just our fun loving little boy and we love him so much.

Nate has had to take the BOC exam 3 times this year. We are still awaiting the results of this last time. We really want him to pass so he can get a job and we can get out of living in limbo. It's not fun. He had another case study accepted for the annual NATA conference and got to go to Philly to present it. It got published in their journal too. That is 2 case studies he has done that got published and that he got to present. We are so proud of him. He is still working graveyards at the group home for boys. It will be nice when he can leave that and start working in his field of study.

Nancy (me) is still a stay at home mom. I have really gotten into reading again. I think in the span of 2 months I have read about 16 books. I can't wait to get Mockingjay (last book in the Hunger Games series) and read it. I still do my card group and love it. I am going back to Chicago in September with the kids and am very excited about it. My best friend, Lisa, is also getting married in November so we are planning a week long vacation to Phoenix for that. Other than that I am just trying to keep my sanity while raising 2 toddlers. It is fun but very tiring.

That's all for now. I really will try to be better about keeping this updated. Thanks for reading.

Sum Sum Summertime

I think these are the last pictures to finally update the blog. Thank you to those who have been patient with me. The pictures are just of the kids from this summer. Bella has finally discovered her dolls and LOVES them. She has to go to bed with one and one has to go with us when we leave the house. She has even tried to take all 4 to bed with her a few times. I couldn't believe she could hold all of them at once. I think her favorite one is her American Girl Bitty Baby. She likes to give her dolls hugs and kisses. It's really cute to watch. She has also discovered the vacuum, as in she loves to ride on it. I guess Shannon used to ride on it when she was a little girl so one day Vicki put Bella on for a ride and she was hooked. You can't get the vacuum out without Bella running to get on. Rob and Bella sure have become good friends lately. They love to play together and get into trouble. It's a lot nicer than them fighting (which does happen daily). I hope their friendship continues through the years.

Bella's new ride

She is so funny

Faster daddy

Rob in my sunglasses

Rob in Nate's hat

Combo

Bella playing with her bitty baby

Patty cake patty cake

Laying with her baby

Love my baby

Add caption

Giving her loves

Rob wanted to know what it was like to walk in grandma's shoes

Cool dude

Laying together on the couch

Hello grandma and grandpa.....I can't wait to visit

Playing together outside

Sam and Bella playing. Just look at those curls

Looking at Aunt Shannon

Boise

Over the 4th of July we took a trip up to Boise, ID. Nate's grandparents and some aunts live up there. We stayed with Aunt Patty and it was a lot of fun. It was probably one of the most relaxing trips we have had up there. We rode bikes along the green belt one day. We had a big family BBQ one night. We went mini golfing. We went to a children's museum. I think the kids liked the museum the best. They had a little grocery store where they could shop and check out. It was fun to watch them push the little carts around and get groceries. I think Rob liked checking people out the most. Bella liked to shop. They also had this chair/sling that you sit in and you can pull a rope and raise yourself up. The kids liked that too. We really enjoyed ourselves and I am glad we took the time to go up and see grandma and grandpa. They really enjoyed seeing the kids too. Bella had never been up there and the last time Rob went he was still a baby. The first picture is of Bella and her Physical Therapist. It was her last appointment before we left for Boise. She started really walking about mid June. It was bittersweet because it meant she was all done with therapy but I loved her therapist and was sad to no longer be needing her. She is amazing. She helped Bella learn to roll over, go from laying to sitting, crawl, pull herself up, go from sit to stand, and eventually walk. We love Maryanne!

Bella and Maryanne

Bella shopping

Rob shopping

Getting some fruits and veggies

Here I go

Yummy carrots

Checking kids out

This is so much fun

Playing with toys

Bella on the chair/sling

Rob on the chair/sling

After lunch at a Mexican place

Aunt Patty's house

Running

So cute

Rob with great-grandpa Murphy

Bella with great-grandpa Murphy

Bella with one of Patty's dogs

Rob singing

Love brother

Cousins!

My parents came for a visit in June and my sister Julie and her family were out here too. We got together for dinner at my brother Paul's house. It was a lot of fun and the cousins loved playing together. It was nice to see my parents and sister. We went to a Bees game with Paul and his family too.