what an arm!

i'm sad how long it's been since i've updated this thing. i got sick, then healthy, then sick again. mat's taken three business trips, my sister came to visit, levi's been sick for almost a month and we took a vacation to seattle (levi and i met mat out there on the tale end of one business trip). it's been a whirlwind few weeks, and now the littlest smith has an ear infection, cold virus, faucet for a nose and a wicked cough. but he's still fun. and he still offers kisses......which i readily accept even when there is snot in them. all too soon, the day will come that he won't want to kiss his mama anymore.
his newest thing is chucking EVERYTHING. he walks up to me with a toy. i cringe, worrying he's going to throw it in my face. he sucked down a sippy cup of water at hobby lobby today, and promptly rocketed it to the lady standing behind us in line. then he smiled. little stinker.
our vacation was amazing. it was our first not-montana vacation in 3 years (i think)......our first 3 member family vacation EVER. we spent thursday through tuesday in seattle, staying on lake union. we rode the elevator, watched the sea planes land from our room, ate lots of seafood, walked a lot and cuddled in our king size bed. levi did good, all except for the first night. but don't we all cry and wail in our first night in a strange hotel bed? we visited family, met lots of new friends, saw some dear old friends, took a trip up the space needle, to the children's museum, the waterfront.....it was excellent. we have lots and lots of pictures, i'll put them in the next post. i'm a lucky lady, with some great friends and two boys in my life whom i love very very much.
blessed.

here's a link to the vacation pictures. hope it works!

stop chewing on aunt katie

for some reason there are tons of school pictures of aunt katie floaing around our basement, and levi loves carrying her around with him :) and he's getting more teeth, so everything is going in the mouth again. and he's a slobber monster. and he's napping in the morning again. these teeth are really taking a lot out of him. poor goober. other than his mouth hurting, he's doing great. we survived mat being gone for 5 days in indianapolis, now we are looking forward to our seattle trip next month. :) levi has lots of new friends to meet in seattle, and we have lots of family time to look forward to! and aunt connie is visiting between now and then! yay! i'm reading a lot in this great book called "you matter more than you think" and it's really stretching me. i'm trying to get better about doing a devotional, thoughtful, just-me reading every day, but not beating myself up when it doesn't happen every day. i want to work on being more real in this blog, putting more of myself out there and seeing what i get back. trying to be a better wife, a more diligent mom, a more thoughtful friend, a more intentional child of God, a more genuine person all around. lots of growing and tugging and work, but it'll be worth it in the end. i've also been working out more, or at least trying to....and it's an interesting parallel to my relationship with Jesus. both are hard work, but both are SO worth the hard work, one obviously more so than the other. but if i make time for the crazies on my work out dvds, who don't know me from adam......why not more so should i make time for the lover of my soul?

don't put batman in the dishwasher

every day i say things that i've never thought i'd say. today, this is what it was :) levi is enamored with this tiny batman our neighbors gave him. it goes with him a lot of places, just the latest was being hucked into the dishwasher. he's figuring out that whenever the door opens, mom puts things in there, so now he hustles over to the dishwasher to make his deposit: tupperware lids (that are clean) sippy cups full of juice, and.....batman.

no worries, no superheros were harmed in the making of this funny.

he's a sweet boy, walking the majority of the time. he's teaching me to slow down. no longer can we hustle in and out of the stores. he likes to walk everywhere, holding my hand, getting distracted and spinning cookies, stopping in his tracks, dragging his feet. i'm trying to translate this lesson into other areas of my life..... as much as i want him to grow up "can't you just start talking so you can tell me what you want?" "you have to walk.... i'm sick of carrying you!" i just can't believe that he's already walking and signing and developing his personality. he's amazing and i love him to death, it's just hard to believe he's getting so big and old and...... not baby. he's a little boy. i'm working hard at remembering and relishing the every day moments we have together.

"enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things"
--robert brault

where i've been

we've been trying to enjoy the sunny days when they come, cuz winter can come back without warning. today we spent most of the morning outside, and levi's been sleeping for 2 1/2 hours so far :)

i got this inflatable car at target for $5, and i'm working on a homemade ball pit (i definitely need more balls for the pit)
and levi found where his bath toy bin is. think he has enough?

practicing standing, eating and playing with papa at the same time. he's a busy monkey.

brewery tour on valentine's day. my parents were in town, so we went to the brewery, then mat and i went to the batting cage, and then all of us went out for bbq dinner. what a great valentines day that man got!!!

at levi's dedication with great grandma ev

at levi's dedication with nana and papa

valentine's day smoothie.........yum!

he definitely has got the hang of a straw. he drank half of my smoothie!

i finally let him open his barn from his birthday; and he promptly tried to ride it. does that mean he has too many ride-on toys? haha

chili dogs and cole slaw. can you see how close he got to eating any cole slaw??

doesn't that smile just melt your heart?

and this is the most adorable thing i've ever seen! the zoo with nana and papa.

oh yeah, and i've been doing a little working at nap times :) i have 5 sets of closet dividers to be made, and a whole batch of lovees to deliver to the children's hospital. i am so blessed to be able to create, and work in my own home. it's definitely not a gold mine, or enough for mat to stay home, but it's an amazing outlet for me, and gratifying to know that i can bless others with my creativity. thanks all :)

snow days

we have had a lot of self imposed snow days around here lately. i say self imposed since i don't really have to go anywhere to get to work........and it's not like levi's preschool is going to be cancelled. we just decide not to go anywhere, enjoy snuggling, playing and drinking lots of hot tea. (i'm drinking so much of it, whenever levi sees my coffee mug he says "hhhhhhhot") here's a peek into our days the last couple weeks. :)we stand :)
we read LOTS and LOTS of books (big red barn 3 times today!)

we do a little blackberry-ing ;)

we stand in the chair and watch it snow.

we practice flushing the toilet (and turning on the dishwasher....little goober)

we finally figured out "touchdown" during the superbowl :)

we figured out how to open the cereal cupboard and help ourselves to kix

we chill

we play in the magazine rack

i love this littel goober. he makes me laugh all the time. and sometimes i laugh so loud, he starts laughing. so funny.

exciting

i have been prayerfully considering and thinking a lot about giving back, doing something more with my time, and blessing others. at christmas our pastor talked about "C.O.A.L.- Christmas On Another Level" which he expanded to simply be LIFE on another level. Meaning Christmas shouldn't just be a day or a week in our year, but a way of life, a manner of living, and state of mind in which we constantly think outside of ourselves and to others. he handed out stickers, 12 of them, to put on our calendar every month to remind us of our "COAL" commitment. he suggested putting them on the 25th of each month......you know, like Christmas. well......that's tomorrow. since Christmas, i've been thinking about what i can do to make a different and do something more. my first thought was children's hospital. i SO take levi's health for granted, i am so greatful that he is a happy, healthy, developing toddler who, thus far, as escaped any serious health issues. i know that not every family is so lucky. and i want to do something to help those families, and those babies. i know what i can do won't make much of a difference, it won't help pay their medical bills, won't heal the kids, and won't make the things they are going through any easier, but i want to at least provide a little blessing, a small ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark and scary time. i have been prompted and lead to make and donate one lovee blanket for every sale in my shop. that's right, for every sale that i've had or will have in the weeks and months to come, one infant in the NICU will have a snuggly, cuddly lovee blanket to help in whatever small way it might help. i pray that God will do something bigger with these blankets than i can do. i pray that God will use these blankets in a monumental way, to speak words of life, peace and comfort into the scared minds and hearts of the parents, and that he will use the simple gift of a lovee to........ i don't know, just bring a little joy into their hearts. i know that God can do bigger and better things through just a simple act. i humbly ask you to be with me in this, to be praying for the families that will get the blankets, and for the kids who will be fighting for their lives.
thank you in advance for your prayers, support and encouragement. if you want to donate a lovee, pick something out of my shop, or email me to donate one without a purchase!

happy valentines day

Happy Valentine's Day from my monkey. Levi and I were going to try to get to church, but we have about 5 inches of snow on the ground, and it's still snowing. So we are going to have another snuggly, pj snow day watching the Olympics, Daytona 500 and then Amazing Race. Nice lazy day with the two boys I love the most. Hope you all have a great day!