5 Months

Luke is five months old now. And he is even more adorable than he was at four months.

He has completed one milestone - he rolled over for the first time on Sunday night, and has done it a couple times since then.

He would probably do it more if he spent more time on the floor....anyway, just look at that smile. It makes my heart happy.

He has also upgraded his diet to include rice cereal, which consequently means stinkier diapers. Dang it.

Ashlyn got to feed him his very first cereal, which was quite exciting for her and something that she took quite seriously.

She even instinctively opened her mouth, because we all know that helps. I actually think it is humanly impossible to feed a baby without opening your own mouth.

And after she had fed him the entire bowl, she grabbed the washcloth and cleaned his face. What a good helper.

Luke is really starting to babble, which is cute, although it usually sounds like he is chewing you out. He also continues to gain weight - which is killing my arms - despite the fact that I swear he spits up more than he eats.

Overall I think Luke is a very happy baby, but he does have fair share of "unhappy" times. There are times when even I can't console him and I have yet to decide why. I sometimes think it's gas and sometimes think it's acid reflux. Maybe it's both. But we'll keep him; gas, acid and all.

A Cars Party!

Ever since Ashlyn's Backyardigans birthday party back in March, and every party we have attended since then, Trent has been talking about having a Cars party. To put it lightly, Trent loves cars, particularly "Cars" cars, and more specifically, "Lightning McQueen." He eats, drinks and sleeps cars...literally. I can't imagine that they are very comfortable to cuddle up with, but he takes at least 1 car to bed with him every night. And he takes at least 1 car with him wherever he goes - the store, grandma's house, church, the dinner table, you get the idea. Trent even lines up his cars, so they can watch "Cars" with him.

Since Ashlyn's birthday, Trent has endured princess, polk-a-dot, and Hello Kitty themes (to name a few), all the while talking about having a "boy party" or a "Cars party." So, the anticipation for this event was eight months in the making, and I knew I better make it good. There are a LOT of photos here, and I am going to mainly let them do the talking, so lets get started!

The invitations:
The decorations:

The food:
For dinner at Flo's V8 Cafe - a salad bar, homemade breadsticks, and fruit.
Trent approved of this menu, but for the kids who don't like salad, there was a back-up plan - chicken nuggets.
To drink - apple juice, aka:
For the sweet tooth - rice krispie stop lights, cozy ice cream cones, and a variety of candy which included Trent's favorite - tootsie rolls.
The activities:
Brian started things off with a "Who Said It?" game.
Here's a sample, see if you can name a few -
"I'm happier than a tornado in a trailer park."
"No, not me, you rock and you know that"
"Respect the classics man, it's Hendricks."
"I create feelings in others they themselves don't understand."

We then moved on to our craft -
candy race cars.
And finally, we held our very own piston cup race!

We have a perfect "track"/loop on our main level and the kids took turns racing Lightning McQueen as Brian timed them. They each got two chances to get the best time. The winning time of 8.8 seconds and the winner of the piston cup was Landon!

The presents:

Trent got absolutely spoiled with gifts. Trent is lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive family. We truly missed those who couldn't attend - Aaron, Monica, Ben, Maggie, Stacey, Patrick, Ako, and Libby.

The cake:

The favor bags:

Decals for the boys and touch-up paint for the girls.(a ding dong)
And that is all! Whew! I was absolutely exhausted when it was over (and all the next day), but it was totally worth it. It was a very memorable evening. Trent soaked up the whole thing and was the happiest little boy in Carburetor County!

Trent is 3

Three years ago today Trent James Smiley, aka "Trenters", joined our family. We celebrated his third year last night with a super fun Lightning McQueen/Cars party (more on that later). Trent has filled our home and my heart with so much joy. I am getting teary-eyed just writing this because he is so darn special, and I can't adequately express with words how much I love this little guy.

I love everything about him. Everything. Even his stinky morning breath.

One of my very favorite things about him is that he is a very loving boy and has always, since he was a baby, given the best hugs and kisses. I am dreading the day when it will no longer be "cool" for him to kiss his mom. Trent also loves to be loved. He absolutely hates it when he thinks you are mad at him. If he gets in the tinniest bit of trouble, he will inevitably start crying, look at you with those big blue eyes, and very emphatically say, "I don't want you to be mad at me!" Which does make it really hard to stay mad at him for any reason.

He also feels quite badly if he accidentally hurts his big sister. And he still adores his little brother. Ashlyn and Luke are both extremely lucky to have Trent for a brother.

And here are some other random facts about my three-year-old:

• Besides "Trenters", he also goes by Chooch, Choo-Choo, and Choochy Pooch.
• His loves Cars (hence the Cars party) and Buzz & Woody.
  
• Some of his favorite foods include: salad (believe it or not), nuts, pretzels, cheese, yogurt, apples, bananas, beans, peas, eggs, cereal, oatmeal, graham crackers, PB&J, spaghetti, and my baked goods.
• Tootsie rolls are his favorite candy.
  
• He is potty trained! Has been for a couple months now.
• He will, from time to time, flex his muscles and ask, "Where's the gun show?!"
  
• He loves, loves, loves going to nursery. In fact, there have been a couple Sundays, like Luke's blessing day, that we didn't stay for the full block, and he was devastated to the point of tears.
  
• If he doesn't get what he wants, he will threaten you with,"I won't be your best friend anymore."
• He still loves to cuddle.
• He has an adorable smile and an incredibly infectious laugh.
• Wrestling with his dad is his favorite pastime.
  
• He has his own language which consists of words like: 'klink', 'klank', klook', and 'klonk', which he will string together to form long sentences.
• He is a great singer. We have been told on more than one occasion that he is the best in his nursery class. He will also "belt it out" in the van with his sister.
  

I think that just about covers it. I love you Trent. Thanks for being you.