James Update

I need to post some pictures of James getting fatter and smiling more for my family who don't live in Washington. I love this new stage. It's nice to feel some reciprocation for all of the attention I am giving him. I also want to give a little plug for the Moby wrap. Oh my word it has been awesome in the afternoons. I love my bjorn and I still use that a lot for when I am shopping, but for little babies, the Moby wrap is great. It just holds them so tight to your body. Love it.

Thanks Aunt JaLynne for the Southern Virginia University shirt. Love it.




Donny loves his brother.

He likes playing and looking at toys more. It's nice because it buys me some time to make dinner.

I had to throw this picture in because we do have other children that demand our time and energy. This picture makes me laugh because seriously, how many costumes can you have on at one time? I count six.

2012 Snow Storm

Yes, there was a crazy snowstorm in Washington, which dumped about a foot of snow and left us without power for three full days. Thankfully, my Mom doesn't live too far away and one treacherous drive later, we were able to make it to her house, where she did have power. The last hill going up to my parents was probably the scariest. My Dad and Stephen insisted that we could make it up, however, so while the boys and I just walked to the house, my Dad shoveled the hill. Yes, our poor minivan did make it.

We definitely overestimated our ability to drive in snow. We have lived in Philly and Detroit during some pretty bad winters and had no problems driving around. We thought we were invicible. So on day one of the storm we drove the short distance to our friend's house to go innertubing behind their four wheeler. This, by the way, was totally awesome and I actually wanted to go for multiple rides. On the way home we had to drop our friend off down the street. We got stuck really good on their driveway and the only way we got home was because they had a nice truck that basically pulled us out to the main street. So there you go. We are officially Washington wimpy drivers. There is no reason to venture out. The roads are not plowed, salted, or gravelled (if that's a word). Seriously, treacherous.

So here are a few of the lessons we learned in preparedness. First, have a few extra five gallon tanks of gas. We ran out of our extra three gallons for the generator within seven hours. Every gas station was down within thirty miles so we couldn't buy gas anywhere especially with the roads being so bad that first and second day. The line at the Indian reservation was about two hours long on the third day without power. If this would have been a real emergency, we wouldn't have been able to use our generator at all after a day or so because we would have had no gas. Second, thank heavens for our wood stove which kept the house heated and was fun to cook on. I think we will need to make sure we have one of those in our next house. They are invaluable here. And then third, I probably should start building my long term food storage. We probably could only comfortably last a week. I really hope we can make it up to my parents in a real emergency so that we could live off their foresight and planning.

Overall, it was a good to be reminded why we need to be prepared. Here are some pictures from the fun. The snow was not very good for playing in after the first day, because then the snow just turned to freezing rain and ice. Here are some pictures from day one. I didn't take any pictures at my parents because we were totally fine and just played a lot of Kinnect and IPad games like Plants vs. Zombies. I am glad I don't own any of those electronics because my boys were obsessed.

Watching the snow come down.


Building a snow fort



Probably about 10 inches in this picture

Boys Christmas Picture

The boys in their Christmas outfits was so cute. It didn't last long as James spit up everywhere on his and Donny spilled milk on his vest, but oh well. Too bad they weren't this obedient at church...

Blowouts

I just had to take a picture of one of James's recent blowouts. Holy cow. It was like a serious explosion. How do they have the muscles to shoot the yellow stuff that high up the back? Thankfully, Steve was home so that we could give it proper documentation.



ALL CLEAN!

Citiblocs

Thanks to my cousin Ellice who bought these for our family for Christmas, I have to give a toy recommendation called Citiblocs. As a family of four boys, we do a lot of building with cardboard blocks, multicolored blocks, duplos, legos, etc. These blocks have no crazy design and are actually the same size block over and over, but for some reason they are awesome. We have spent hours playing and building with these things. They don't really come with any form of directions, just amazing ideas of what other people build. I spent twenty minutes trying to figure out how to build this spider, which when I completed made me really happy. (Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture.) I also made my brother Ben try to figure it out. It took him longer. ha Here are some pictures of our block creation. Thanks again Wirthlin family.

James Warren

I guess it's been awhile since I last posted. Ha. In the past six months, Thomas started second grade, Hewitt started kindergarten, Donny started preschool, and we had a new baby--James Warren Smith born in October. Like my other babies, he came a week early. I had a crazy Saturday and then went over to my friend's house to watch a movie that night. The contractions started just as the movie began and after an hour, I realized that this might be the real thing. At my friend's insistence, we stopped the movie and they graciously agreed to stay with the boys while I went into the hospital which is about a 45 minute drive. Steve and I got there a little after midnight and had James at 2:42 am so things went pretty quickly. I did manage to get the epidural though. Bless that man.

The first two months were an absolute blur. I don't think I remember anything specific that happened. I didn't realize how sleep deprived I really was until the fog gradually started lifting after Christmas and I felt more and more like myself. I still can't get a whole lot done in the afternoon as he tends to like to be held during his afternoon nap. But at least I get a productive morning so I can't complain.

I really love newborns and how much they sleep and how little they are, etc. But I also love the next stage--pre crawl, super smiley, and post Mom recovery. James is quick to smile and is starting to figure out his hands and arms, which still flail wildly, but have begun to hit a target once and awhile. He will also will completely turn his head to look at you when you talk. I feel like these little advances help make mothering all the more worthwhile.

So here are a few pictures as he has grown up these past few months. He basically lives in the baby bjorn and now moby wrap (thanks Kallie). This might be setting him up for bad habits of always having to be held, but it seriously is a protection against his older brothers who mean well, but can't stop touching and poking him. James's hair is seriously matted down with drool by the end of the day. Gross. He is definitely one of the few newborns who really does need a bath everyday. I don't know how much he weighs now, but he started at 6 pounds, 10 oz., the lightest of my babies. And I can't believe how fast he has already grown. He has cheeks and the beginnings of chunky thighs. I love chubby babies, but it is bittersweet to start putting away his newborn and 0-3 month clothes. They are out of them so quickly, which actually has been nice for me because I get to use some of the same things that Thomas, Hewitt, and Donny wore. It's hard not to picture them when I put the outfit on James. Well, here are some pictures of the little guy. Welcome to the family.

Donny fell asleep while holding James. I told him he could hold him, but wasn't allowed to move because I was cooking and couldn't watch. He definitely didn't move. He just fell asleep.

His favorite position!

Steve started reading the Inheritance Series (Eragon...) when James was born. It was perfect because he could just hold him and read. Nice for me!

Now he is getting fatter and smiling. Love this cute baby.

Camping in Washington

We had been planning for our big summer camping trip since the beginning of January when Steve arranged some time off. We did a ton of research (well I did) about possible campgrounds, locations, and nearby hikes. I even bought a book that showcased different areas of Washington St. Well, we finally decided on two different campgrounds in the Olympic Peninsula, one on the east side and one on the west. Unfortunately, all of my planning was for no use because the forecast seemed to get worse and worse the closer we got. The Olympic Peninsula was going to be rainy all four days and fairly cold. So we changed plans at 9 pm the night before we left and decided to head east over the Cascades to the warmer part of the state. After an hour of quick research we decided on Glacier View campground on the shores of Lake Wenatchee. It looked beautiful, had water and bathrooms, and most importantly was first come first served, which was good for us because we were leaving on a Wednesday and wouldn't have to compete with weekend crowds.

The drive east took us a little over three hours. It was a long haul, but well worth it when we found an amazing campsite on the lake complete with climbing log and cool bridge traversing a small stream running through the site. The boys were in heaven. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that swarms of mosquitos also came with the campground (and all campgrounds in the area.) The boys were literally eaten alive. I couldn't even count the number of bites on Donny's forehead and Hewitt's left leg. Our cousin Jacob and my brothers Ben and Tim and sister Sarah also faced their wrath. We applied more Off than anyone should be allowed and still managed to get bit. Much to Steve's delight and boasting, he continued his streak of never being bit by a mosquito. He claimed to be a super hero and have "cat like reflexes" that would kill a mosquito upon landing on his super sensitive skin. It really is disgusting how naive he is to the agonies of an itchy mosquito bite, but that is for another post.

After we figured out some tricks to warding off those dang beasts, which went away with the fire smoke and with the coming of evening, we did manage to go on some great hikes. The first was up to Hidden Lake and the second to Twin Lakes although we didn't make it all the way to the summit of the second. Donny proved to be a bit harder to manage. Last year we could carry him, but he has grown in a year and although he did well for about a mile, he got crabby and didn't want to walk again. My fat pregnant self didn't want to carry him too far and Steve certainly didn't want to carry him up every hill so we decided to turn around much to my siblings approval who definitely dislike hiking. How we came from the same family is amazing. I love hiking. Hewitt and Thomas seemed to have Steve and my hiking enthusiasm though and powered through every hill like champs.

So camping was great. We ate tons of smores complete with peanut butter, which is the secret ingredient to a good smore, got amazingly dirty, and bonded in ways you can only do without a shower. Thanks family for coming with us. Good times.

Yes, I am fat especially in a white shirt. Why I was wearing a white shirt while camping is definitely the question everyone should have been asking me.

We walked on numerous logs over rushing rivers and waterfalls. In the past, this would not have phased me. Now, however, whenever my boys would walk over holding Tim, Steve, or Ben's hand I would have to look away and hold my breath. Everyone called me a wimp, but it was seriously scary. I have suddenly become my mother.

The boys all fell asleep exhaused on the way home. They are wearing cuter clothes than normal because we stopped in Leavenworth and I made them change. People seem to treat you better when you are dressed nicer and with three crazy boys I need the small advantages that this might give me.