Breathing is a Good Thing

Here is my cute Zachary right before his surgery on June 1st. He had a Septoplasty/ Adenoidectomy so he could finally breathe out of his left nostril. He had a deviated septum, which usually happens by breaking the nose, even though we have no recollection of him ever hurting his nose. Personally, I think he was born with it because as a baby he was ALWAYS congested and I just blamed it on the desert! The surgery went great, except that he did not come out of the anesthesia very well at all. They ended up having to give him demerol to calm him down (he was screaming and trying to "climb" me). It was so hard to see him like that. I also hated to see him laying on the couch for the first few days and eating nothing, besides water and milkshakes. It was the worst week, but I'm grateful that he has recovered soooo quickly and that he can breathe!!!

Christmas Traditions

So, we stayed home for Christmas this past year which allowed us to start some of own holiday traditions. It really was a lot of fun spending Christmas with just our little family, although we love being with our extended family as well. My cooking isn't nearly as yummy as grandma's (both of them) Here are a few pics from Christmas.
(above) So, growing up Santa always came to Ron's house Christmas Eve and brought everyone a little gift before they went to bed. So we decided to start that same tradition. The kids loved him, except Kyle. Not too thrilled.

Here are the kids wearing their Christmas pj's. Another tradition...always open 1 gift under the tree that mom chooses and ALWAYS happens to be PJ's! How does that happen? Maddie was smart this year and called it ahead a time. "Aww man, do we have to open pajama's??"

Ron has some really cool traditions. Table Presents is another Christmas Eve tradition. You pass around the presents on the table and each person has to guess which one is theirs. If you guess it correctly, you get a little prize. We had so much fun!!! Oh, and it wouldn't be tradition if you didn't have poppers to open and little paper hats to wear.

Do you like our centerpiece? Oh the Bumbo...didn't get much use out that thing. His thighs really never fit. Poor kid. Anyone need a Bumbo?

It wouldn't be the holidays without the annual trip to the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory to see all the lights and sip some extremely overpriced hot cocoa.

Fall 09 in California

Maddie and her cousin Jordan found baby kittens on Grandma's property! Gotta love living in the country!

Jill and her besties- Julie and Karlie. We love getting together when we are all in town! Kyle didn't care too much, however.

We love going to Apple Hill and eating caramel apples!

Look at that face! Kyle at 4 months.

St. George

A couple of weeks ago we were lucky enough to see and spend time with Ron's parents! Ron's dad played softball in the Huntsman World's Senior Games in St. George and these are some pics we took while we were there. Brad and Grandpa Smith



Happy Zachy!

Maddie and the tank (Kyle)

Where does the time go?

It really is amazing how fast babies grow. These pictures are when Kyle is 2-3 weeks old. Now he's 2 months and looks totally different. He is the best baby. We love him to pieces. He fits in with the family perfectly :)

Grandma Smith came to visit when Kyle was 2 weeks old. Here she is with all 4 kids.
This is Kyle's first "real" bath and he practically slept through it all. Not so much anymore. He just barely stopped crying through bath-time. He's finally getting to enjoy them.

Getting so strong holding his head up!

Grandma Griffitts was kind enough to stay with us for 2 whole weeks to help us adjust to 4 kids. Thank you so much!!! Time flies when you don't want Mom to leave!

The day my mom flew home, Ron's mom flew in! Yay for Mother's!!! I was totally spoiled by having so much help at home. Ron had a very flexible schedule too, so he was able to come home at noon and take the kids swimming, park, bowling,etc. It's tough on the kids to be inside all summer long, especially when their mother is recovering from birthing their 4th sibling.

Kyle Axley Smith 07.08.09 8lbs. 8oz.

On our way to the hospital! I'm nice and cozy. They started the pitocin at around 8am. I started feeling contractions right away. They got increasingly stronger, but wasn't ready for the epidural yet (bad idea). I apparently progressed to 8cm in a few minutes and was begging for the epidural, which was still 30 minutes away...uh oh! So, basically when the "candy man" arrived I was ready to push. And
5 minutes later Kyle arrived!

Sweet baby Kyle Axley weighing in at 8lbs. 8oz. 19in. long. Red hair like his sister and brother.

Sooo precious and such a good baby!!! We are so blessed to have him in our family. The kids absolutely adore him and want to be near him all the time. And so do I :)

Forgive my brief blog, but I'm running on little sleep and can't quite think straight. More to come when sleep has returned.

Baby Kyle

Big sister and Kyle

Bigger Brother and Kyle

Happy kids meeting Kyle!

Happy Canada Day

Here are the kids with their Canadian visors and flags! Thanks for the goody package auntie Angie! The kids have devoured all of the chocolate bars (notice I didn't write "candy"bars, cuz that just doesn't make sense up North). I think there's only one box of smarties left and Brad finished off the Cheezies for breakfast...yes, breakfast. Gotta love summer vacation!

It didn't take long for Zach to find the "chocolate" bars.

Hope all ya'll Canadians have a great one! Oh Canada!

Golfing and 3 other posts! (I'm trying to catch up before the big event!)

Yesterday(for Father's Day) Maddie and Brad took Ron golfing...to the driving range. They went early in the morning to escape the heat and had such a great time together. Brad was also able to try out his new driver. We didn't think Maddie would be able to use his driver, since he's left-handed, but she never ceases to amaze us in her athletic abilities and seems to swing great with both hands! (she writes left, but swings right...or so we thought) I'd be scared to be THAT ball! He's got a mean swing!

Loving life doing what he does best- a sport. Doesn't matter what kind, he can handle anything. He's been begging us to play hockey lately...in Vegas??? Grandpa Smith, Uncle Tyler, we're flying him up to Canada so you can teach him :)

What a cutie! Pretty soon she's gonna be able to golf better than me- wait, she probably already does. This is NOT a sport I can say I particularly enjoy (because I'm not good at it). Maybe someday. Ron comes from a golfing family...all of them. His parents golf all summer long and as long as there's no snow on the greens, you can still find them on the course. I think it's the cutest thing that they golf together!

Flag Football '09

Football has been over now for a few weeks, but here is our little flagfootball player. He absolutely LOVED playing on the Patriots this season. He had great coaches and great friends to play with. He scored (we think) 6 touchdowns and was great at pulling flags. I was secretly hoping that he wouldn't love it so much- he'll have to hang up the flags sooner or later in exchange for pads...I'd rather he stuck with shinguards and played soccer for the rest of his life. :)

Look at the smirk on his face! He's having the time of his life!
We're proud of our little man- all 6 years of him (sometimes I can't believe he's only 6. He acts sooo much older)

Earth Day/ Activity Days

I found my camera after 1 1/2 months of being MIA! I'm so happy that I can finally post some pics now. So the story is...I have a habit of misplacing my tiny little camera. I lost it over spring break/Easter when we went to California (borrowed mom's) and then "found" it on the way home in my purse...seriously I checked my purse a million times! Then I lost it again and have no pics of end of school festivities, Zach's swim lessons, and more random stuff. So I finally broke down and went to Costco to get another camera (we need one for baby!)
So the other night when R and I were on a date I was, yes, rummaging through my purse...and there it was! I couldn't stop laughing! Ron knew right away too- he's like, "you found your camera didn't you!" Personally, I think a little elf takes it away, hides it, makes me think I've lost my mind and then puts it right back where I thought it was all along.
That being said, here are some pictures of the kids planting our new Peach Tree, Lemon Tree, and Pomegranate Tree. It was a lot of fun and Zach had the best part- watering them.

Ron and Maddie on their way to a Daddy/Daughter activity last week themed "1950's Sock Hop". They had so much fun hula-hooping, learning 3 dances, bubble-blowing contests, and enjoying rootbeer floats. Thanks Dad!

Maddie has had some great activities for Activity Days. This was a Mother/Daughter night and all the mom's brought their wedding albums and memorabilia and then got to talk to the girls about how special their wedding day was and how important it is to marry in the temple. It was a beautiful night.

Happy Anniversary!!!

Ron and I were married 11 years ago...can't believe how fast time flies! We're glad we celebrated in Mexico last year and not this year :) We had a blast and have NO pictures to show. Our camera broke the day before we left and had to use a disposable camera. We didn't get ONE decent picture! I couldn't believe it. I just figured we'd have to go back and do it all again.
But really, we've accomplished a lot in 11 years- Graduation from BYU, a baby girl, a baby boy, 3 years of PT school in Omaha NE, 9 months of rotations in 3 different areas, moving 9 times, moving to Las Vegas which I hated the first 2 years, another baby boy, a billion roadtrips to Canada (some in complete silence due to my stubborness and anxiety of driving), moving into our first home, and another baby boy in 8 weeks...this will be the true test!
We have truly been blessed our entired married life...there's not one thing to complain about. I married the best husband in the whole world. He spoils me rotten and still treats me like his new bride. He will do anything and everything for me and always puts my needs before his. I don't know what I ever did to deserve him, but I know I would be lost without him. Here's to an infinity more happy years together!!!