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?

if you keep using that as a dinglehopper, i'm taking it away

this lovely laughable came out of my dear hubby's mouth at dinner the other night. levi's using his own fork now, mostly. but it mostly is used to comb his hair and nearly poke eyes out. it's pretty funny, really. but he's getting more independent every day. and so smart. when i ask if he wants to go outside, he goes into his room and brings me his shoes. he listens really well most of the time and is, of course, so fun. he hates flip flops and hats; he's loving my sunglasses right now, even though they don't stay on his face. he is phasing out his morning nap, which will take more adjusting for me than for him!! last week my grandparents and uncle and cousin visited for 5 days. it was so much fun. levi spent lots of time with gg pat and papa bob, as well as playing and snuggling with brittany and spent most of the trip to the zoo in uncle rob's arms. it was so fun, he really warmed up to them quickly and would readily go to them whenever they came in the door. we went to the zoo, lots of shopping, and lots of good eating. uncle rob, brittany, mat and i went to a nuggets game one night too, it was SO NICE to have a kidless night, without having to get up every thirty seconds to walk around, keeping wiggly fingers from pulling strangers hair or put his fingers in our beer. it was lovely. mat, brittany and i were supposed to run in a 7k that sunday, but i came down with a stubborn cough, cold and sore throat, so everyone decided i should just skip it and relax. which was better for me, i know. i just felt like i was whimping out. i'll make up for it, soon hopefully. it was a fantastic long weekend with family. we miss them already. mat's leaving on friday for indianapolis until wednesday, which makes me sad. i'm just hoping i feel better by then, that'll make the time much more enjoyable and easier on this mama.

clumsy

"i fell on my ear, i fell on my face
i fell on myself all over the place"

this is the story of this house lately. i broke my baby pinky toe, have an inch-long gash on my hand, and i've been struggling with this stinky cold for a week. levi is walking, spinning circles, trying to run and tumble. he's so busy that he's smacking his face and head on everything. lots of bruises and tear around here. though i'd expect nothing less with a toddler. he keeps us on our toes, that's for sure. he's awesome

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.

{mostly} wordless thursday

determination defined by a 13 month old. precious

wordless wednesday

pictures from our summer

just a few of my favorite pictures from the summer. i can't understand why blogger can't put them into my post in the order i upload them in, and i don't have the time to reorganize them, so they are a little random...... but still cute ;)

first camping trip, with cousin cayla.

first four wheeler ride....a HIT!

first bath in the sink..... he only liked it a little bit ;)

me and levi enjoying the yard

levi and papa

yellowstone national park

monkey at the zoo

4th of july with nattie

colorado springs zoo....full size sophies!!

end of two long days of sod laying

our memorial day adventure to red rocks and dinosaur ridge

it was a hot summer

toes taste so good

heckuva

wow. where the heck has time gone? and where the heck have i been? i've been debating whether i wanted to post-post and pretend i haven't been MIA all summer......but the longer i thought about doing that, the longer i delayed in actually posting. SO....... i've decided to actually be honest and post from the real date. there'd be too much to update, and it's too hard for me to write as if i'm living in the past. ya know?
here's our summer in a nutshell:
* our lawn is now landscaped, and wonderful. our water bill increased by over 200% which was a little shocking, but it's fantastic. we didn't do the fence this summer, but we have a wonderful underground sprinkler system and nice green grass. ah-MAZ-ing
* mat played another season of baseball. it was a dismal season, not much winning by his team. and, honestly, he's getting sick of losing. the jury is still out as to whether or not he'll play again next summer.
* several rockies games, levi does so good considering most of them happen right during his naptime. same to be said for levi in the nursery at church. he does great, but falls asleep in the car before we are out of the parking lot. he just loves playing with the other kiddos.
* several trips down to colorado springs to see our friends, the mcclungs. they are moving in a few days, so we tried to soak up as much time with them as we could. we spent the kid's first 4th of july together, taking fun pictures and laughing. it was amazing. i'm going to miss them.
* a week long visit with auntie katie. rockies games, shopping, and the zoo. just lots of fun times together. her trip was nicely bookended with a road trip up to montana!
* a monthlong vacation in montana (two weeks for mat, a month for me and beezus.) a trip to yellowstone national park, mat and i running another 5k, an ear infection for levi, a sinus infection for me, a 4 day family reunion in big sky, a four wheeler ride.....our trip was jam packed. levi and i flew home, and he did fantastic! i was so nervous, since he was still recovering from his ear infection, but he did great! played with the barf bag the first half of the flight, and slept the second half. wonderful!
* levi's first college football game. we went down to the springs to see AF play...crap i can't remember who they played. it was a HOT, windless, sunny, HOT day, but the kids did really good. nicole and i sat under the bleachers (the only place there was any shade to speak of) for most of the game, but we still had fun.

whew........NOW do you see where i've been? it's been a busy summer, but so much fun. and we've got lots of stuff to look forward to:
* spending some more time with the mcclungs before they move! :(
* a long weekend trip to texas for levi and i to visit my dear friend joy. she's preggo and her hubby was just deployed to iraq for a year. i can't wait for her to meet levi, to spend some good girl time with her, and help her in any way we can!
* planning levi's birthday parties. we will have one in montana and one in colorado......what a spoiled little boy! and on that note,
* we are going back to montana for thanksgiving, so that's something else to be looking forward to! i can't believe that levi's almost one. what a whirlwind of a year, but so amazing. wow.

friday five

top five things i'm looking forward to for the summer
1) getting our yard landscaped!!!! omg, i'm so excited to get it done!! it's been a wish list project since we bought the house. "ground breaking" is on friday. our whole yard will be torn up, sprinkler system installed and we'll lay sod. hopefully we have some friends we can count on to help us instal the sod so we can save some moolah!

2) HeavenFest at the end of july! it'll be the third year we'll go. it's always such a fun time, great bands and amazing music in the colorado sunshine. we are still debating on bringing levi or not, but either way it should be fun.

3) alberda family reunion in montana in august. it's always so good to see our huge extended family, relax in the sunshine and get to introduce levi to everyone. that will also be our third trip up to montana, and probably our longest one. it'll be another long drive through wyoming, but we'll probably be up there for a couple weeks, and levi and i will be up their longer and just fly home (probably) so we'll get to spend lots of good time with all the people we have to see up there. good family and friend time, for sure!

4) more rockies games, camping (hopefully!), bike rides, concerts, fireworks, my birthday, swimming, picnics, laying in the grass, iced tea, flip flops, sunshine, green grass, blue skies and bbqs.

5) JUNE 14th. not only is that my sisters birthday (and i'm hoping she'll come visit around there) but i have a BIG announcement to make..... and that'll be the day i make it. please stay tuned to my blog for more information and the upcoming announcement..... i'm counting on all of my followers and friends to make this project a success!!!

montana

we took another trip to montana, we just got back this evening. both boys are in bed (levi for good, mat to prepare for his audit shift tonight) and i'm snuggly on the couch, catching up on the online world (aka: facebook and blogs :) i am amazed at what a good traveller levi is. we drove for 12 hours to get up to bozeman on wednesday, then three hours up to missoula on friday, back to bozeman on sunday and back home today. we spent over 26 hours of our trip in the car, and he rocked it! he had a few moments, but overall he does so good. the sooner we get him used to it, the better i figure! we'll be coming back probably twice more this year....he'll be an old pro in no time!

all the grandparents loved seeing him, and he got to meet his great grandma nancy and great bumpa (mat's dad's parents) which was great! auntie katie graduated from U of M, he was a trooper spending most of saturday out in the sun being passed from relative to relative. he did take a snuggly little nap on me during most of the ceremony, which was wonderful, but a little toasty roasty and sweaty :)

CONGRATULATIONS AUNT KATIE!!!!!

dear levi: month 5

Dear Levi,
Where did my baby boy go? I have a little boy on my hands now. Your dad and I were just talking about how much you have changed over the last month. You are now holding up your head so good, so aware of everything and everyone around you. You are starting to get a little stranger/seperation anxiety....which means we'll start putting you in the nursery at church soon. You are the sweetest little nugget when you are in my arms and you look up at me in surprise, like you forgot I was holding you. And the noises you are making are amazing. You screech and squeal and shriek in delight, sometimes even closing your eyes to get that extra oomph of energy. Even when you are in the back of the car all by yourself, you still chatter up a storm to your Sophie. You are an amazing little boy, and I'm so lucky to be your mom. I can't wait to start feeding you "real" food soon, helping you learn to sit up, and hearing you use your voice even more. I pray for you every day, that you will be a healthy little boy with strong muscles and a loud voice.
You are amazing. Thanks for letting me be your mom. I love you,
Momma

first friday five

in an effort to post more often, i want to write some regular posts with somewhat of a theme. introducing, friday five. it'll be a short way to give anyone who reads this a little peek into my head on any given week. and one list that's been bouncing around in my head this week is.....

5 moms i NEVER thought i'd be:

1) i vowed i would NEVER be the mom of a thumb sucker. as someone who sucked her thumb until second grade, and had the jacked up teeth to prove it, i swore i would never let my child suck his (or her) thumb. i tried my darndest to get levi to take a pluggie.....but to no avail. last week i just finally gave up. he had reached the point that he would pull it out seconds after i stuffed it into his yapper, and stare at it like "what the heck mom?" then little thumbkin would once again reside in his mouth. and.......he's so stinking cute when he sucks it, especially when his pointer hooks over his nose

2) i honestly never anticipated being a stay at home mom. until i got pregnant and the possibility was looming, i just kinda had in the back of my mind that i'd still work, if even part time. especially with me going to school and pursuing my "career", i just thought i'd keep working. but, at the same time i knew day care wasn't really something for us. not sure how i thought that would work, but that's what was in my mind. NOW.....i can't imagine not spending all day with levi. some days are a little crazy and long and even a little frustrating, but, as my last post illustrated, he's capable of melting my heart and putting everything into perspective with just a simple giggle or slobbery formula-breath kiss. man alive i love that little boy.

3) i NEVER thought i would be a cloth diapering mom. NEVER. EVER EVER. but now, i love it. i'm so sick of the part time disposable diapering we've been doing. it seems like every time i put levi in a disposable, his little bummy gets all rashy and red.......it's ridiculous! i'm even giving nighttime diapering another try tonight (hopefully the punky doesn't wake up in a puddle again....) i don't mind washing them, drying them..... and every time we don't use a disposable it saves us that many cents :)

4) i NEVER thought i'd be a mom who's favorite smell is formula breath. is that gross? i love his little slobbery kisses, and his sweet milky breath. i feel like it will all change when he starts eating real food, so i'll enjoy every whiff while i can

5) i NEVER thought i'd be a creeper mom who hovers over his crib as he sleeps, who bends over backwards to make him happy, who doesn't mind picking noses or being slobbered or drooled on, washing the afforementioned cloth diapers, cuddling his little naked self even if it means being peed on, who is working so hard to make mommy friends so that he'll have friends when he gets older. i guess that's what it means to be a mom. i can't believe how much room i had in my heart, how much i would love him after even 5 short minutes, let alone 5 months. amazing

melty

i had the best afternoon with this little boy. it wasn't even the whole afternoon.....i had the best 20 minutes snuggling with him. i was reclining on our chairs upstairs, with my feet on the ottoman and he was sitting on my lap. we sang "itsy bitsy spider" and "patty cake" and snuggled and giggled. then he got a little "ready for nap" acting, so i put him on his tummy on my chest. he would burrow his head down into my chest, then pop his head up as if to say "peek-a-boo" (another new favorite). he would giggle and smile and generally melt my heart.

those tender moments before his nap made me realize how lucky i am to get to spend all day with him. even the rough days, his little giggle and smile helps me through them. it also makes me realize how much time i spend wasting and NOT playing with him throughout the day. it's so easy to just lay him on his playmat and let him do his own thing, especially when he's this little. but these moments are so fleeting....he's already growing up so fast, that i now know i need to work at making more of an effort to really spend time WITH him, not just next to him or in the same room.... but WITH him.

so many things need to change.... it's intimidating to make a million changes all at once, so i'll start making small changes. less online time. more real life time.

{not} wordless wednesday

i can't NOT write anything about this picture...... WHERE did my baby go?

for crying out loud, he's drinking out of a sippy cup {mostly}, he's eating rice cereal, he's sleeping through the night {again}, he's wearing tennis shoes..... yesterday i dressed him in a polo shirt and his little brown pants. he looked like such a little boy it took my breath away.

he's amazing. i love watching him grow up, although it's already happening too fast!!!!

wordless wednesday

some days i wish i had a boss

i need someone supervising me, making sure i'm doing a good job with this little one. telling me when to take him to the doctor, what's wrong with him, why he has diaper rash, why his eye is gunky and he's coughing and snotty and cranky...... it's hard for me to spend the whole day being my own boss, making the decisions and hoping i'm doing what is best for him. i begin to doubt what i'm doing and how i'm doing it, worried i'm doing him a disservice or something that isn't the best for him. it's a life i'm in charge of now....it's intimidating

wordless wednesday