Choo-Choo I'm 2!!

Here we go on the Smith updates :-)

Our little duder turned two back in November and we had the best time celebrating!! 

Thomas the Tank Engine Tent!

Presents!

Opening presents is the best!

Remote control choo-choo!

Thomas the Tank Engine Birthday book!

My very own desk!  (The Lightning McQueen suitcase was an early present ;-)  I couldn't resist!!!)

Exploring Thomas

Conductor!

No such thing as too many choo-choos

Learning to drive our choo choo!

 Duder got a late night visit from our friends the Freemans, who came to visit for the weekend.  Elijah and Avery have so much fun together, so it's a treat for all of us, but a super birthday present for him

I'm still here!

So my New Year's resolution was to be better about my blogging.  You can see how well that has been going.  I really do plan to start updating this week though!!  :-)

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes!

Because quitting my job, becoming a stay at home mom and leaving all our friends to move to another state wasn't enough of a change, we decided it would be a great idea to get pregnant at the same time!  I know this post comes a little late because we've told most of you, but for posterity's sake I figured I should make a blog post too :-)

We were incredibly excited (and surprised) to find out on our 6 year anniversary that we are expecting Smith baby #2!  It had taken so long to get pregnant with Elijah, that we really did not expect to get pregnant so quickly with number two.  Looking back though, I think after my miscarriage I was so emotional and stressed out and was putting so, so, so much pressure on myself to get pregnant again right away, that I really think that was a huge part of why it took awhile with Elijah.  This time I really didn't think about it too much.  We were really more not-not trying.  No stressing over my ovulation calendar, no lying on my back for 30 minutes after you know what.  (Sorry if this is TMI Dad!).  I really just figured it would take awhile and I was totally ok with that, so I just let nature take it's course.  And it did!  To be completely honest, I was a little shell-shocked at first.  I couldn't quite believe it and of course questioned whether we were ready for another baby, but really, are you ever completely ready for another baby?  Especially since number 1 is such a "spirited" child ;-)  I've been doing lots of reading on high energy kids and "spirited" is our new term for the duder. :-)

So needless to say, we are VERY excited, and of course a little nervous.  The first trimester was pretty difficult for me this time.  I had heard from several friends that morning sickness tended to be worse with the second one, and that was definitely true for me.  I was sick pretty much from the time I woke up to the time I went to bed, which was pretty early, because not only was I completely exhausted, but I had no desire to be awake any longer than I had to be.  You could also say that I may possible have had a few mood swings ;-)  For example, there was a sale on babysteals.com for a Boppy, which we already have.  I mentioned to Jason what a good deal it was and maybe it would be nice to have two.  He said "Why do we need another one?"  I then proceeded to sob hysterically for 15 minutes followed by a transition of crying while laughing, and concluding in some hysterical laughing.  I have never felt like more of a crazy person in my life!  The good news is that now that I'm fully in the second trimester, I'm feeling much more like myself and able to feel even more excited!

And I'm not the only one :)

Halloween

I know I'm totally late on this, but better late than never right?  I mean, let's be honest.  Anyone who know me doesn't really expect me to be on time anyway.  :-)


Halloween this year was absolutely  wonderful.  It was a great opportunity to jump right in to our new neighborhood.  It was so fun to see all the kiddos running around.

We met at a neighbors house and had dinner with friends while the kiddos ran around outside before we headed out to trick-or-treat.  Or "tri-tree" as Elijah would say :-)

We love the costume that his Auntie Stacey gave him last year, so much that we decided to recycle it :-)  It actually still fit for the most part.  I just had to expand the headpiece a little for our darling son's giant noggin'.

Can we go already??

 

Elijah and his buddy Jena (aka Minnie Mouse)

Let me make sure your costume is on straight.

Why are we still sitting here people??

We're not kidding.

One of the kids we went with was a "headless guy"  Love it when the kids get creative!

E was a little shy at first.

It took him a little bit to warm up, but before you knew it, he didn't even want to ride in the wagon.  He was running right along with the big kids!

Trying to eat the candy through the wrapper.

Ellie wants to help him open it :-)

"I just want to make sure it's safe for you little buddy"

Come on thing!  Open up!

Trying to figure out how to blow our new whistle.

Wow!

Getting the hang of it!

I think I'm gonna go back to the candy Mama

Here Mama, you try.

First Haircut

So I finally caved and made an appointment to have the Duder's hair cut.  To be honest, I was pretty nervous.  He's not the type of kid to sit still for more than 5 seconds and is pretty vocal when he doesn't want something, so I was picturing having to sit on him or bear hug him while the stylist cut his hair.  I couldn't have been more wrong!  He did AMAZING!  I swear it was more traumatic for me than for him!

We took him to a kid-only salon here in Reno called Snipits.  I am so glad that we did, because the whole experience was amazing.  They really are kid focused.  When we checked in with the receptionist she handed him a card that he could use for a prize after he got his haircut.  The had little statues with spinning wheels and a video playing in the waiting area, all of which were great to keep him occupied.  He even kept giving one of the statues a high-five.

When the stylist came over to get us, she immediately started to talking to Elijah and asked him what he liked.  She brought out two toy dinosaurs that not only kept his hands busy, but kept his mind off of what she was doing.  They also had a little cartoon on about getting your haircut.

First snip

Even bending his head forward like a pro.

Starting to realize that something else is going on....

He started to realize that she was doing something to his head and would try and turn his head to look at her.  The he started to hold his hand up and tell her "Dahp.  Dahp" (Stop.  Stop) :-)  That's when the lollipops came out.  She literally had a bowl of them at her station.

Got his lolli, and his paci on standby.

Not so sure about this, but I'll tolerate it for now.

"Dahp"

Thank goodness for lollis.

Starting to take shape.  Who's that big boy?

 The only time that he really started to freak out, was when she tried to use the trimmer on him.  It's actually a trimmer designed specifically for kids - it's quieter and smaller. She was really gentle and even tried to show it to him and have him feel it before she used it, but I think it was just too new an experience.

Showing him the trimmers

Not having it.

Finished product!  Such a handsome little man!