Top Heavy

Luke recently had his 15 month appointment. All is well. He was a little anemic at his one year appointment so we've been giving him iron drops, and he is now is the "normal" zone. But, he must continue taking the drops just to be on the safe side. Brian tasted the drops and said they were disgusting, but Luke feels differently. He loves them. Opens his mouth and says "Aaaaa" and everything.

We also got an update on his stats, which confirmed what we suspected - Luke is a little guy. Much smaller than our other two were at his age. He weighed in at 21 lbs, putting him in the 10th percentile for weight. He is also a shorty (must have my genes), at only 6th percentile for height. His head size came in at 50%, which is very average, but when you have such a small body, it's like a watermelon on a toothpick. Ashlyn and Trent had the same problem. While they have always had very average heights and weights, their head size was always in the 90th percentile. I guess that's just how we grow 'em.

The problem with having such large heads (Brian's genes) is that they are top heavy. Luke is at the stage right now where he always has a bruise on his forehead. Always. The kid is constantly falling down and cracking that melon of his. As soon as one bruise heals, another appears. Ashlyn and Trent went through the same phase. But, last night's fall was a doozy. Ouch!

We didn't actually see it happen, but apparently, Trent "accidentally" pushed him. He went down hard and whacked his head on the driveway.

I tried applying ice, but he didn't want a thing to do with it. So, I gave him some tylenol instead. Can you imagine the headache you'd have if you fell that hard? A few hours later, before going to bed, it had swelled up even more and looked even worse. But, Luke was back to his happy self and didn't seem to care.

He looks better today, but there is still a lump. Poor guy. Hopefully he phases out of this phase soon. I don't think his head can take much more!

Final Fourth

This is not "new" news to most people. Word got out early on, thanks to a of couple people (namely Ashlyn) and the fact that once again I was unable to keep my pregnancy from my family due to sickness. So, yes, we are in fact having another child. That will make 4 in 6 years - yikes! But, it was a planned pregnancy and we are very happy.

This will be our final baby, which causes me to sigh with relief. I've said it before and I'll say it again - pregnancy stinks. Not my favorite thing in life, but the end result is definitely worth it. I just don't want to hear from anyone who has easy, carefree, heartburn-free, no puking involved pregnancies. I don't mean to have such a poor attitude and I usually keep it to myself. If you ask Brian, I really don't complain that much when I am pregnant (at least that is what he better say!)

Even though I am excited that this is my last pregnancy, there have been moments of sadness. When I took my pregnancy test and realized that I would never again be able to experience watching that blue line appear, it made me get all teary-eyed. The same thing happened when I got to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Those are priceless moments.

I had my first appointment last week and everything is A okay. Baby was measuring at 14 weeks, which makes me 15 weeks now and that means only 25 weeks to go!! Due date is somewhere around March 18th - give or take. I have been feeling lots of little flutters, which does bring some needed joy in the midst of all the yuckiness. And, luckily I am now into my second trimester which is, by far, the best of the trimesters.

First Day of School!

Last week was an exciting time in the Smiley household with our two eldest starting school. On Tuesday Trent started preschool and on Wednesday Ashlyn started kindergarten. On Monday night we had a special FHE about school. We read a book, talked about rules and manners, and then Brian gave both Ashlyn and Trent a blessing.

Trent goes to Imagine Preschool which happens to be at the end of our circle - quite convenient. He also gets to go to preschool with his favorite cousin, Maya.

That is one cute girl and one handsome little guy. I just hope this duo doesn't give Miss Amy a run for her money!

I love that Trent didn't even bat an eye about me leaving him there. He was excited and ready for this new adventure!

Ashlyn was equally excited about her first day of school. We spent the morning getting her ready: bubble bath, nail polish, and a curly hair do. She looked adorable.

When we got to the school, I was excited to see our friends Jon and Becky with their son Payton. It is hard believe these two are five!

After snapping a few more photos, it was time to line up and say goodbye.

I got a little choked up, but no tears were shed as I watched her confidently walk into her classroom. She made me proud!

And while I do hate seeing my kids grow up, it does have its advantages. Now on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons after I put Luke down for a nap, I will be enjoying a little bit of peace and quiet. For a couple hours anyway ;o)

Toothless

On August 12, Ashlyn lost her first tooth. Sigh.It may seem like a fairly insignificant event, but for me it meant her taking one more step away from childhood.

The tooth had been wiggling for awhile, and earlier that day she told me that it hurt when she tried to eat an apple slice. I felt it and it was hanging on by a thread! I told her that we would pull it out when Daddy came home, then I immediately called Brian and told him to stop at the bank on the way home from work to get a roll of gold dollars.

When Brian got home, he talked to Ashlyn about how she wanted the tooth pulled and a plan was set into motion. The plan of attack was to tie a string to her tooth, with the other end tied to Trent's bike.

Before:
Trent was pretty excited to be in on the action and was ready and raring to go!

And just so you know, getting your big fingers into a little mouth to tie a string around a tiny tooth is harder than you think.

We had several retakes, because the string kept slipping off Ashlyn's tooth as soon as Trent took off.

But Ashlyn was a champ and let us try again and again until we finally got it.

Luke thought the whole thing was hilarious.

Finally on the fourth try, we had success!


After:The tooth actually flew off the string it had been attached to, and so for a minute or two we were anxiously searching the sidewalk and grass. Ashlyn was the one who found the lost tooth.

After snapping a couple pictures, Ashlyn immediately went inside the house and to the bathroom so she could look at herself in the mirror. The blood was a bit concerning to her, but she quickly got over it.

That night she placed the tooth inside a small blue velvet bag and put it under her pillow. The next morning, she came running into our bedroom with her prize of two gold dollars and a note from the tooth fairy.

Ashlyn has another loose tooth, and she and Brian have already come up with an extraction plan involving a football :o)

Island Park

Due to circumstance, our family did not get to take an annual family vacation last summer. Luckily, the stars aligned this year and the whole clan was able to meet up in Island Park for five days and four nights of family togetherness.

A big thanks to these two for their generosity and coordination of the whole deal. My dad, being the awesome man that he is, even put together a road book for us to read on the way up, showcasing points of interest, historical facts, and activities to keep the kids busy.

Like usual, there was an abundance of good, I mean, great food.

Brian took the kids on a couple of nature walks, complete with an impromptu and necessary lesson on what to do if you 'gotta go' in the wilderness. (It was the kids that had to go, not Brian!)

We went into Yellowstone - some went one day and some went two. Our little family went two. I don't think there is anything more beautiful than Yellowstone at 6:0o am. Breathtaking.

We saw a lot of wildlife. Bear, buffalo, elk, and big-horn sheep were the highlights. No moose this year.

We planned on stopping at Mammoth to eat breakfast, but the picnic area was infested with elk. Lots and lots of elk. And babies too.

Before we left for our vacation, Ashlyn asked if there really were yellow stones in Yellowstone. It seems like she has asked the same question on our last two trips to Yellowstone. So, I came up with the idea to make a game out of it. We took a rock from our backyard and painted it bright yellow. Then we went to the store and got a bucket full of prizes. While we were hanging out at the cabin, the rock would be hidden and then I would yell, "Come find the yellow stone!" Whoever found the rock would hold it in the air and yell, "I found the yellow stone" and then they got to pick a prize from the bucket and the process was repeated.

Mindy also brought up stuff for the kids to make bracelets.

I think it is safe to say that the kids did not suffer from boredom. But, if you ask any of them, their favorite part of the whole vacation was likely the raft ride. This is one of our favorite activities to do in Island Park. Unfortunately, no pictures. I didn't trust myself to bring my camera on the water. But trust me when I say that it was a lot of fun.

If you ask me, I'd have a hard time picking a favorite part. The whole thing was great. It was so nice having the whole family together - a rare thing these days since we no longer all live within 10 minutes of each other. It is always a little crazy when we are all together, but who doesn't like a little crazy?

Just a few final photos:

Until next year!