HA HA HO..... BERRY KISSMISS!!

Oh, what fun it is..... preparing for the Holidays with a two year old in the house! This is our third Christmas w/ Jaydan in our lives, and while the first two were fun...... mostly for Jeff and I, Jaydan is having a ball this year.
As per usual, we decorated our tree the weekend of Thanksgiving...... I had the "trunk" up and the very top section installed before Jaydan proclaimed it "boomiful". It just much easier to justify all the work it takes to make the house "boomiful" when there is someone around who appreciates it!!! Santa was a no-go last year...... Jaydan would shriek and hide and bawl if he so much as SAW him..... this year, he's pretty much down, as long as he gets a candy cane out of it, he calls him "Kissmiss" and thinks pretty much EVERY old man is "Kissmiss". I still don't know that he REALLY gets it..... they wrote letters to Santa at daycare and apparently all my child wants is candy and fruit snacks. He has enjoyed it all this year, the lights, Santa, the treats and even the corny Christmas specials on TV. He's a big "helper" and has to be right in the middle of anything going on but its fun anyway.
As for our upcoming new addition, things are going well. We had a check up last week and everything seems to be going great! I feel markedly better, this go round and with the exception of exhaustion, am enjoying the experience. Jaydan is excited.... he talks to my tummy and kisses his "sistah" and thinks every small baby he sees is "her". We'll see how excited he is when new baby comes home to stay!

"Tiny Baby" Little

So here is our new addition..... note how "it" stood clear up at one point during the ultrasound as if to say "WHAT?". A little frightening for a Mama who is hoping for a very laid back baby this go-round!

Big News at the Little House

Baby #2 will be joining our family around the end of June! Having some rough days, but over all I feel better, more than I did w/ Jaydan. Hopefully that is a good sign! Jeff is convinced that he only produces boys (you know, based on the ONE boy that he has) and Jaydan is sure its a "Sista". Any takers out there?

Halloween!

Oh, Halloween was fun around our house this year! Jaydan's mind was blown that merely saying "Trick or Treat" inspired people all around him to give him handfuls of candy! My boss and her husband live in a fantastic neighborhood in midtown Atlanta and she had been telling us for years that we need to bring our kids for Halloween. Well they decided to host a little party for the staff w/ young kids..... and they were right! Their neighborhood is just like a movie..... first of all its gorgoeus ..... all beautiuful homes built up high with stone steps. And then they "DO" them some Halloween.... they shut down the streets for several blocks and EVERYONE has their home decorated. They have police patrolling and if you can get them to pull over, they have candy in their saddle bags for the kids. So. Much. Fun. After the kids got their fill of Trick or Treating, they grilled hot dogs. Our neighborhood is Lame-O, so it was great to go somewhere that people were really into it. Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Barnes for having us and I hope you meant it when you said we were welcome to come every year. Ahem ;)

Pumpkin Patch 2009

I've resigned myself that the only way to ever get "caught up" with my blog is just to start with the present and work backwards?!? Will that work? I don't know..... but it seems like more fun, anyway!
Jill and Gavin came for a visit over the weekend and we decided it would be fun to take the boys for our annual visit to the Pumpkin Patch. Jaydan had a blast and was able participate a lot more this year. He seemed to enjoy everything but was particularly excited by the animals.


They also do a cow train ride and he got to ride in his own "cow" this year and entertained his Mama with cries of "Whoa Horse" and "Giddyup". Apparently there is a little cowboy laying dormant in my city kid! The boys played great together and Jill and I always do, so fun was had by all! There impending trip to Japan is looming near so we are trying to squeeze out as much time together as possible!


And of course.... it's the now famous Annual Pumpkin Yard Stick Photo Comparison!

The Great Flood!

Wow, what a week for Georgians!! Sunday evening the bottom positively dropped out of the sky and our area got between 10-15 inches of rain, essentially over night, after about a week of steady rainfall. If you've ever been around Georgia clay, you know that once its saturated, there is just simply no where for the water to go and by Monday morning, most of the metro area was on its way to being underwater. My drive to work is normally about 1 1/2 - 2 hours..... Monday morning it took us THREE hours. There was much talk in the carpool about turning around and calling it quits, but we had court that day and it is a cardinal sin to miss work on a court day so we soldiered on! It rained ALL day and by the time I drove home from work that night the sweet little creek that runs along the road to our house was swollen and angry, crossing the road in several places and encroaching on some of our neighbor's front porches! I have always cursed the two large drainage ditches that run down the length of our property..... but on that day, they earned a place in our hearts! The road in front of our house literally looked like a muddy little river! All in all, we were very lucky.....10 people in Georgia lost their lives and countless hundreds lost their homes, belongings, cars, etc. We've had a few days of sunshine now, but are expecting more rain as we go into the weekend. Please pray that we are able to stay high and dry this time!

Chuck E.Cheese

So. We had a couple of REALLY rough weeks at the babysitters. It does NOT make your day, when after an already long day you hear "He was AW-FUL". In fact, our dear, sweet Kate actually resorted to spanking him...... twice (yes, we asked her to if the need arose). You see, he decided at some point that HE should be in charge and that he could spank other kids who were not following the rules. Some of the rules he was enforcing were Kate's.... some where his own. At around this same time, he started to really demonstrate some Smith behavior and began to just swing on however was closest any time he fell down or was otherwise embarrassed. So I resorted to bribes. I read somewhere that "we bribe them cuz we love them" so I figure this doesn't make me a terrible mom..... or if it does, at least I'm not alone! We told him that if went a whole week without getting a spaking at school we would take him to Chuck E. Cheese. Well, judge me if you must but IT WORKED!
This was the first time we'd been to CEC for a good while. We were gonna go when Granny was here, but that didn't pan out (LONG, heartbreaking story..... for Granny and I at least). It was a VERY different experience this time. Jaydan freaked out when I would try to put him in the toddler rides.... you know the ones with Chuck E. or Barney, or whoever. I thought "Oh, great.... here we go with this stage" but soon discovered that his only real issue was the he wanted to ride the big kid rides...... you know the ones that make your mother hold you by the back of the shirt and cover her mouth in horror. This is what he likes, apparently.

Note the full size horse that actually "jumps" and the mud bog thing (I don't even know what to call it) but I'm pretty sure I saw it in the Dukes of Hazzard when I was little. My little thrill seeker is growing up.... no more baby rides for this kid!
As a side note: I am actually writing this blog some time later..... STILL no more spankings at Kates! BRIBE YOUR KIDS.... it works. I'm starting to think that the "anti-bribing" people are part of a large conspiracy to make you AND your children miserable!

Jaydan-isms, Part II

"Binosaur" = Dinosaur

"Mickey Monkey" = Mikey Mouse

"Pickabus" (as is "I wike pickabus") = asparagus

"I wanna wop the yoop" = I wan to walk the loop.

"No talk Me" - when he is getting in trouble. This can also be altered to "No talk Mama" or "No talk Daddy" if he thinks we are arguing.

And this is more of a short story but sooooo sweet. The other night when I got home from work he ran up and said "I give Mama hug and kiss" and then he did. Then he stepped back and said, "Now Daddy give Mama hug and kiss", so Jeff did. Jaydan gave a nod of approval and said "Good Job". Geez, who's child is this?!?

He also this week ventured out of his bed at midnight and into our room where he proceeded tap my should and ask "Mama...... what doon-in?"! Well, son I WAS sleeping! And so the fun begins.... I'm thinking baby gate or possibly a dead bolt?!?

Labor Day

Labor Day this year brought a much needed long weekend for all of the Littles! We spent the weekend at Nana and Pop's lake house, enjoying fantastic weather! The kids all swam and fished and the adults ate and drank and fun was had by all. Of course, another thing that comes with Labor Day every year is the kick off of college football, so a good bit of time was spend in front of the Florida and Georgia football games (don't worry Pop, that is ALL I'm going to say about that)! Jaydan and cousin Lindsey played particularly well and Jaydan loves his Aunts and all of the attention that they direct his way and of course, he strives to imitate the big boys. These pics are courtesy of my sister-in-law Burgundy, who was the ONLY one who remembered her camera!

Fall is in the Air!

I want to start by saying that I have no idea how the summer got by us so fast!!! We've been super busy and it seems like we've just turned around and here we are closing in on the Holiday's again.
Our biggest event in August was a 10 day visit from Granny! Jaydan was able to anticipate it this time, so that was fun. We all acquired webcams and have been enjoying chatting via Skype, so when we picked her up at the airport he ran to meet her with hugs and flowers and no reservations! God bless technology! I was able to get a few days off, which we packed full of visits to the Children's Museum of Atlanta, Helen, GA and the winery and pottery shops and lots of shopping. If you have a children's museum in your area, I HIGHLY recommend it..... for two hours Jaydan was able to do pretty much whatever he wanted without once hearing the word "NO"! I'm pretty sure it was his idea of heaven (and maybe mine too). The rest of the time, Granny was in charge while Daddy and I worked...... who knows what kind of mischief the two of them got into with no supervision! I essentially held Mom hostage until my birthday had passed, so we had an extra special celebration before she had to return home to get ready for school. We enjoyed having her so much as as per usual, lots of tears were shed when the time came to say goodbye (OK, so it usually is just me and her). It always helps to have the plans for the next trip on the books, so I've already booked flights for Jaydan and I to come home just after Christmas..... maybe we'll see some of you then?!?
Pictures of our summer adventures to follow soon!!

Welcome Friends and Family

Hopefully some of you are seeing this for the first time, as a result of the email I sent out from the Baby Website! All of this media stuff just got to be too much and I enjoy the blog the most, so I decided it would be the thing that I do! So Welcome.... and I hope you enjoy!
For those of you who have been following all along, I promise to update very soon! As you can imagine, our lives are pretty crazy these days! The good news is, there is LOTS to blog about.... now if I can just find them time ;) "See" you soon!

Jaydan-isms

Our Little man keeps us in stitches these days. Almost everyday he surprises (or horrifies us) with something new coming out of that little mouth. Here are some of our recent faves:

* He now knows that Daddy is "Jeff" and Mama is "Towee" and his name is either "Boogis, Jaydan or ME". The other day, I picked him up from the sitter's and he said "Where is Jeff?"

*He IS two. Some of his favorites are: "I go first", "my turn", "I do it myself", "I go again".

*He is convinced he is "Pu-pow" (purple).

*When he wants either his Daddy or I, he'll say "I need to hold Daddy" or me...... usually Daddy these days.

*Uh-Hi (ok, he's pretty much grown out of this already, but it was so cute I listed it anyway).

*"I fall down"

*Miss Kate had a talk w/ me when I picked him up the other day..... apparently he's calling all the little girls "Sweet hawt".

He also seems to be pretty smart (I know, I know all Moms think their kids are gifted), but on our way to Florida the other day, we say an airplane and he said "Air-pane goin to Granny and Grampa's"! See, I told you!

Ah, the Sea Air

Jeff, Jaydan and I took our first family trip in about 8 months this weekend to visit Jeff's Grandparents in Port St. Joe, FL. We got a phone call at about 4 on Friday that their A/C had gone out, and any of you who have ever been to Florida know that the Gulf Coast is NOT the place to be in July with no A/C. We decided to take our chances, despite all of that..... weekends off are hard to come by in world of Publix and we figured we had better go while we had the chance. We got a late start on Friday and had to take Zoe (our dog) b/c our usual pet sitters weren't available. We didn't end up getting into Port St. Joe until about 3:00 a.m. on Saturday..... needless to say THAT was a long night!
I was determined to get Jaydan (and myself) to the beach this trip.....the last several trips, we just haven't had the time. So early Saturday we loaded up and went to a favorite spot of ours, Stump Hole @ Cape San Blas. This beach was seriously damaged by hurricane Ivan and last time we were there it was U-G-L-Y.... the sand had washed out sufficiently that the stumps for which the beach was named were some 20 feet tall and all kinds of nasty stuff had washed up. I'm happy to report that it has been restored to even better condition than original. The waves were gentle, there was a nice breeze and it was pretty much heavenly! Jaydan loved the sand, wasn't so sure about the water (Jeff too for that matter), and Zoe and I pretty much loved it all! I could have easily sat on that beach all day, but a two year old's attention span can only handle so much so we headed home for lunch. Durning Jaydan's nap Jeff and I headed over to the bay and went crabbing and pretty much just enjoyed the area's bountiful beauty. Its funny how while we lived there, we took it for granted. Now we are just like all the other tourists and are a little blown away by it all! We now realize just how lucky we are to have access to the "last of the greatest" as Grandaddy says!

NO PEANUTS PLEASE!

We have long suspected a food allergy in our little man..... peanuts have always seemed to be a no-go. So, on the advice of our new Pediatrician, we took Jaydan in for allergy testing. Turns out peanuts are the biggie, but he also exhibited reactions to cashews and eggs (?). When we first starte eating solids, he reacted to eggs twice, but has never had trouble since, but Doc says no. This was one of those visits that makes you go home and cry as a Mom..... is this because of something I did wrong while I was pregnant or nursing? Or, is it just my crazy allergic genes surfacing in a new way? I suppose its always difficult to get a diagnosis that there isn't a treatment for.....we just have to keep him as far away from nuts as possible and carry and Epi-pen just in case.

All things considered, Jaydan handled all of the pokes better than Mama did..... after about the third round, he arched his back and said "OUCH", but that was about it. It was a looooonnnngg appointment but they gave him some bubbles and he was able to figure out how to do it himself, which was exciting for us both!

Welcome Baby Monkey!

Welcome Laila Lavon Smith to the family! This is her in the dress that I wore home from the hospital 30+ years ago! Her's cute, huh? Looks like her Auntie, I think ;)

Idaho Vacation

I am the worst blogger EVER! I'm telling you, I don't know what they did to me in Idaho this last time, but I can't get my head screwed back on straight since!
Jaydan and I had a wonderful time visiting our family and friends, as usual. My cousin Shell (a/k/a Nack "snack" to Jaydan) was home too, so we got to spend lots of QT with her and my Mom's parents who are "snowbirds" and had just "flown North" for the summer. Jaydan had not one but TWO birthday parties..... one with each side of my family, so he spent some time getting to know his "Grandma Soup" and Papa Smith, too. He got spoiled, as always but it was fun to see him sort of "get it" this year. Tyson, Priscilla and Jaz came for a few days and again, it was fun to watch the babies play. "Baby Monkey", as she has come to be lovingly known by the whole family will be here very soon and we are looking forward to another addition to the family. I got to golf w/ my Mom and Rashell which was a blast..... they really are not THAT much better than me and a few beers into it, that hardly even mattered. These pics are ones I've pirated from family member, I haven't even had time to download mine yet! Its so weird! I guess its to be expected between having a two-year-old, a new job and a serious case of jet-lag, but seriously I am ready to be myself again!
We hope to see Mom, at least this summer sometime. It seems like it gets harder and harder to say goodbye each time, so we'll need to start planning that next trip very soon!
NOTE: Check out Jaydan's shoes that are present in TOO many of these pictures. They originally belonged to our dear friend Sunny and were passed down to me, and then have spent about 25 years in storage! My son was OBSESSED with them..... even wearing them OVER his footie pajamas. He was convinced they made him run fast and somehow he WAS able to run w/out breaking his neck.... but oh boy, were they dorky!

First Dentist Visit!

Monday, April 27, was a "holiday" here in the South, known as Confederate Memorial Day (I think it may only be a "holiday" to Georgia State Employees, in fact). Trust me, no one is more shocked and horrified by that than me....... BUT it is a paid day of.....and virtually EVERYONE else is working so its a good time to do things like Dr's appointments, bank errands, etc. I scheduled a dental appointment for Jaydan a few months back, because he's a finger-sucker and he's got some staining on his front teeth and well, they say you should. I have to say, I've been dreading it......the melt-down potential is through the roof and given the fact that brushing his teeth is like WWF smackdown every single day I didn't have a lot of hope that things would go smoothly. Those of you who know me well, know that I'm a big subsciber to the "when in doubt, look in a book" school-of-thought so my fist plan of attack was to check out every single kids book on going to the dentist I could find and you know what? IT WORKED! Jaydan was a champ! When we first got there the receptionist was like "you know we usually don't start actually cleaning their teeth until they are at least three because they just won't usually tolerate it much before then". He not only let them clean his teeth and count them, check for cavities and look closer with the mirror, but he did most of it with a smile on his face! He introduced himself to the dentist and was such a good boy!
Naturally, as a reward I took him to McDonalds to play. Apparently he can handle a stranger's hand in his mouth better than he can handle being told that No, he may not take his juice box down the slide. He pitched his first ever public tantrum and had to be carried to the car (where he got spanked) kicking and screaming. Apparently his good behavior was taxed completely at that point!

Quick Trip to Boise

Jaydan and I were truly Jet-Setters this past weekend, flying to Boise on Friday and back on Sunday. My beautiful God-Daughter, Amya was baptized on Saturday and I was blessed to be able to attend. I hadn't seen her in about 4 years..... she has grown into such a lovely young lady and I am very proud of her!
Of course, Granny and Grandpa couldn't resist the opportuntity to spend some time with J while we were in the "neighborhood" so they drove down and kept him busy on Saturday while I was busy with baptism stuff. My sister-in-law Priscilla and darling neice, Jazmyn also ventured down to spend some time with us. Jaz and Jaydan are only 6 months apart and they have a very special relationship and it gets more and more fun to watch them together as they grow! Jazzy is very nurturing and protective.......which is good since she is about to become a Big Sis, but Jaydan gives the poor little thing a run for her money! Granny and Grandpa took the babies to the zoo and all of those fun things and fun was had by all.
We stayed at my oldest and dearest friend Sunny's house in Boise, but sadly she and her new hubby Darrin were out of town! Their house is wonderfully cozy and welcoming and it was very easy to make ourselves at home...... the only thing missing was them! We were also able to catch up with our old friends the Wilsons (Cindy and Zack, anyway) for dinner on Friday and my Aunt Sherie and Uncle Aaron and cousin Angela on Saturday. It was wonderful to see everyone and as always, the trip went way too fast! We are in recovery mode this week...... it takes a lot out of you to travel that far with an almost-two-year old for just a few days, but wonderful memories were made and it was well worth the jet-lag!

Happy Birthday Gavin!

Jaydan and I took a trip to Montgomery this weekend to celebrate Gavin's birthday. Those of you who are regular followers may remember me telling you that my best friend Jill and her family were moving to Japan last fall. Well, shortly after their arrival, the got the news that her hubby Matt was being sent to Iraq...... did I mention that just BEFORE they left, she discovered that she's expecting baby #2. Babies and Iraq seem to go hand-in-hand for them..... Matt was there for most of her first pregnancy too! So, long story short, she decided that she would come home, rather than trying to manage having a new baby and juggling a two year old in a foreign country..... by herself. So, they are back! We had a wonderful time, and the boys played great, just like they'd never been apart.
Please keep their little family in your prayers. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to go throught any of these things, one at a time.....but all at once...... thats a lot. I'm so glad that she decided to come home so that her friends and family can better support her, but I know its got to be really tough. Happy Birthday, G-Unit, we love you and it was so good to see you and get to play with you!