in the land of hundreds of little pieces

the land of lego... we have entered and may never return.  hundreds of little pieces not a mommy favorite with a baby in the house who just turned one.  however you boys sure do love them and spend hours imagining, building and dreaming.  so i allow it with the ever constant reminder to keep them on the table and check the floor for little pieces. to my amazement you boys are doing a wonderful job of just that.  i love how "big" both of you have become lately.... melts my heart.

in this brief and unusually quiet moment in my house

 

we have few quiet moments here.  a house of three busy boys all 5 and under.  i sit here in this unusual brief quiet moment, your older brothers have gone to hockey practice it's just you and me little man.  i can hear you opening and shutting the kitchen cabinet door.  a few seconds later another ping of metal or plastic hitting the wood floor.  another cookie cutter down followed by the sound of cookie sprinkles shaking in their plastic container.  an occasional giggle or two and a few quiet as a mouse shreels.  then i hear the slow and unsteady thud of your little feet as you make your way over to me to play your new favorite game of passing.  my heart is full with happiness, yet sadness at the same time.  this is the last time i will hear these sounds and cherish these little baby moments.  soon you will be grown, loud and fast as a fox on those feet just like your big brothers.

Star Wars Wall Art

 

My boys are into everything Star Wars these days.  I am redoing their room again and making it more a big boy room.  I really wanted these star wars prints from Pottery Barn Kids.  They are $29 for four of them and simply needed more art for their room to cover the walls.  Plus $29 for four small prints was irritating but it is Pottery Barn.  I went shopping with Logan looking for Star Wars posters and he spotted something even better.....

 

 

This calendar.  It was $9.99 and had the same exact prints in it as above but instead of 4 prints it had 13!

We bought it!

 

 

A few ikea frames and now I have plenty of art for my kiddos walls and it looks great!  The total project cost me just a little over $30!  Frames and all!  The boys are so excited they can't wait to hang them all!

 

 

A ONE YEAR OLD PARTY FOR OUR LITTLE COWBOY

 

A little man was wanted by all for hugs and birthday kisses.  The reward was a good one.

 

His older brother Brady made this picture for him the night before his party.  I absolutely love it and will have it framed in him room really soon.

 

Fun little cups at the watering hole to wet your whistle.

 

A whole lot of sugar and cowboy fun.

Yummy cupcakes to celebrate our our little cowboy's first birthday.

 



 

My sweet boy was a little unsure of the candle and all the people singing to him.

 

After he had the opportunity to taste it's goodness.

 

His true personality came out in nothing but laughter, smiles and lots of funny faces.

 

Happy birthday little cowboy Tyler.  We love you so very much!

 

Daddy, Mommy, Brady and Logan.

Happy 1st Birthday Tyler

 

Happy Birthday my sweet Tyler Bear!  I cannot believe a year has gone by so quickly.  It seems like just yesterday we were welcoming you into this world earlier than we expected to.  You are the sweetest little man that I know. You play so quietly with your toys that sometimes I forget you are around.  You love your big brothers and want to be just like them.  You sometimes don't understand that you are not 5 or 4 yet.  We love your constant smiles and ability to light up the room when you come in.  You are quiet as a mouse most of the time.  You love your pacifier, you never leave home with out it.  You have only cut your two bottom front teeth.  You cut them around 11 months of age and have been struggling to get those top two teeth in.  You eat whatever we eat and love graham crackers with a passion.  You started walking a couple of weeks before your 1st birthday and are really getting the hang of it now.  You put your hands up high in the air to balance and then get to walking.  Applauding yourself as you go.  I cannot tell you how much joy you have brought into all of our lives and we are so blessed to have you here with us.  We cannot wait to see what the next year holds.  We love you.

First day of preschool 2012

 

You little man are growing so fast.  I cannot believe how quickly the time is going.  You were very excited for pre-school this year.  Something to fill your time.  You miss Brady so much now that he is in school all day.  You are enjoying your time at pre-school making new friends and even wowing the ladies.  You have a little admirer this year.  Her name is Lexi and she is super cute and sweet.  The first of many I am sure.

 

Love you Logey Roo!

 

xoxo

Mom

First Day of Kindergarten for Brady

 

I sit and stare at this photo and wonder how we got here so quickly.  The last five years have flown by.

 

Logan took the job of walking you to school on this day very seriously.

 

This is you outside of your classroom.  Your teacher Mrs. Skanderbeg is one cool lady.

 

I worried about you all day, wondered what you were doing and how it was going.  It is a big change from 1/2 day preschool to full day kindergarten but......

 

When I picked you up this was your smile and you said you had a great day.  Love you Brady you are growing up to quickly.

 

xoxo

Mom

 

Three boys in a tub... rub a dub dub

This was one of my most favorite memories of you guys.  This was your first bath together.  Tyler was so excited to be one of the big boys. You guys did a great job playing  with him in the tub.  I know this will be one of many pictures of the three of you together smiling.  Love you boys!

TYLER AND THE SHRINKING COWBOY TEDDY

 

Sweet Tyler Bear.  Life with three has been a challenge for your mommy.  Two to Three kiddos was a lot more challenging than I thought it would be.  Here I sit typing about the last 5 months of your sweet life.  I have missed some of the shrinking teddy pics and for that I am sorry.  It is so fun to see you change from month to month.

 

You are one of the most easy going babies I have ever known.  You go with the flow and never complain about anything.  The picture below is your 6 month pic.  You are always smiling by the way.

 

Below is you around 7 months.  You started pulling up on everything.  This was your first accomplishment.  Our magazine holder and you thought you were big stuff.

 

 

It wasn't long after that you started couch walking.  I am sure walking without help is righ around the corner.

 

This is you at 9 months.  You are the fastest crawler out of any of my babies.  One minute you are there the next you are at the top of the stairs.  You aren't afraid of much.  You love you pacifier.  Harldy ever do you part ways with it.  Sometimes you even put it in between bites at dinner time.  We won't talk about your sleeping habits.  You are falling right in line with how your brothers were.  I know eventually you will be a great sleeper they finally are.  Besides I do love to snuggle with you at night. You love to wrestle with your brothers.  Leading with your head and laughing the whole time you guys roll on the floor.  You finally cut your first tooth and 9 and 1/2 months.  It was one of your bottom front teeth.  You don't like baby food and prefer to eat whatever we are eating.  You always check your highchair tray to our plates.  There is no fooling you.  You love to feed the dogs and often just sit and laugh at them.  Our dog Kenzie appears to be your favorite at the moment.  You put a smile on Daddy, Mommy, Brady's and Logan's face everyday.  We are so glad you are here with us.  We couldn't imagine our family with out you.  Love you Ty, Ty.

Tyler reminds us somedays we just need to look in the mirror and laugh at ourselves.

summer is almost here!

a little brotherly ride through the sprinklers...

Tyler and the Shrinking Teddy 3 months

you are growing up so fast.  you are one of the happiest babies i have ever known.  you wake up with a smile every morning and it carries through the whole day.  the only time you cry is when you need a diaper change or are hungry.  how did i get so lucky?  you are trying to roll over turning your head as hard as you can.  you love to chew on my fingers and have really found your voice.  you might give brady a run for his money in a couple of years.  you are sleeping pretty well as long as it is between mommy and daddy.  you love to watch your brothers and the dogs run around.  you aren't a big fan of tummy time, but i promise you, you will love it some day.  you have taken notice to your hands this month, sucking on them and staring at them all the time.  keep growing and smiling we are so lucky to have you in our life little bit.  much love, mommy and daddy, brady and logan.

Tyler and the Shrinking Cowboy Teddy 2 months

sweet baby boy.  you are growing like a weed.  never thought i would be tossing clothes that you have outgrown into the give away bin so early and no they are not newborn size either.  you have been so much fun this month.  starting to coo and smile.  you are certainly a snuggler and i soak up as much of this as i can.  you are holding up your head really well and those legs, while it doesn't surprise me since you were in my tummy, they are super strong little kickers.  you watch your brothers in pure amazement and wonder.  don't worry buddy you will be running around with them in no time.  you still wake up a lot at night, but this is nothing new to us for the smith boys have never been good sleepers.  you are by far one of my more mellow children, i can only hope that will continue throughout the rest of your life. we love you a whole lot little man keep growing and smiling.

tyler and the shrinking cowboy teddy - 1 month

it is hard to believe a month has gone by since you entered this big world.  it seems like just yesterday i heard your tiny cries in the operating room.  we finally got you back up to birth weight after 3 weeks.  you are a slow eater but are getting the hang of it now.  you do a lot of sleeping during the day and a little less than i would like at night.  i know we will get you turned around.  you are a snuggle bug.  you prefer to be close to your mama all the time.  in fact as i type this post right now you are in your bjorn snuggled against my chest.  last night you loved having your older brother brady sing to you.  you stared up at him and even cracked a couple of smiles.  we can't wait to see what this next month holds as you continue to grow.  we love you little bit.

we welcome tyler jacob

we waited so patiently for these little shoes to be filled with adorable little wrinkly feet.

this would finally make our family complete.

we welcome the newest member of our family: tyler jacob.

the sweetest little face you have ever seen, and as quiet as quiet could be.  i know in time this all will change once your older brothers have the opportunity to show you their ways.  until then we will snuggle you and love every minute of your new life.  what a blessing we have been given.  we love you little ty.

Happy 3rd Birthday Logan!

i can hardly believe you are three.  it seems like just yesterday we welcomed you into our arms.  this past year we have watched you blossom.  your personality is one of a kind and often reminds your mommy of herself at times.  you are an ipad wiz and talk our ears off, a welcome noise to my ears.  you love to rhyme especially with peoples names.  your favorite is,  "mommy, fomey, domey." your one dimpled smile and big blue eyes charm everyone in the room every time.  your shy yet devious ways will surely make all who meet you remember you for the great young man you are becoming.  we can't wait to see what the next year holds.  we love you very much logey roo!

single blades

just when you had your skating legs all figured out, he threw you for a loop.  santa brought you single blade skates, you asked for them anyway....  a little less sturdy than those double blades you learned on.

watching you two move slowly around the ice was one of the most heart warming things i have seen.

your daddy's strong arms, patience and steady legs helped you to get around.

you are so lucky to have him as your daddy and in no time you will be floating around on the ice with grace and speed while both of us watch proudly from the bleachers.

memories of christmas past and present

what you can't see in this picture very well is the two carrots in the grass and the bag of magic reindeer food in brady's hands.  the anticipation and constant reminders for the last week about making sure to feed the reindeer have been rather cute.  so as soon as we arrived home tonight daddy trampled the snow and the boys headed out to the front lawn to make sure the reindeer knew just where to land and had plenty of food to keep them occupied while santa delivered the presents.

for brian and i every christmas is a new experience as we map our way through traditions old and what to continue on with as well as what to create new for our family.

as a child i have many fond memories of christmas eve and christmas morning.  there was something about walking into my grandma betty's house on christmas morning.  she would be sitting in her chair sipping her tea.  a christmas record would be playing out in the family room and the crackle and glow from the fire and christmas tree would add to the ambiance of the morning.  i still remember the smell of her house around every holiday, one of comfort, warmth and homemade rolls.

the year i started to not believe in mr. c, he landed on the roof of our home, sleigh bells came from right outside my window.  i even heard a "ho, ho, ho, merry christmas."  a sign for me it was definitely time to get to bed so mr c. could come to do his job.  the next morning their were reindeer hoof prints in my front yard along with a bag of half eaten hay.  i am pretty sure that renewed my belief for another couple of years, maybe even a lifetime.

the point is,  the magic of the season doesn't have to be complicated or over thought.  sometimes you can even follow the lead of your children.  as this year comes to an end i sit here feeling completely blessed by all that i have.  i look forward to the new year and all that it holds for myself and my growing family.  it's a great life.

merry christmas to all and to all a good night.

diy wrapping paper wreath

my front room was looking a little bare. i decided it needed a little something since we would be eating christmas day dinner in there. i read about this diy paper wreath here what a great idea! it took me sometime to find some paper i liked. i ended up using what you see below. i chose it because it looked christmas enough but also looked like something i could leave up for a while after the holidays. after going to all the work this late i didn't want to take it down right away.

i originally wanted to wreath to be twice this size, however after cutting out several leaf shapes i decided i didn't have it in me to double the size and after doing this if i don't cut out another leaf shape for a while i will be happy. the wreath is made completely out of paper. the wreath itself is simply poster board cut into a wreath shape. you then cut out the leaves and start arranging a stapling them on. i made mine a little fuller than the one on the red thread blog. i also would suggest using a higher quality wrapping paper. i paid $5 for my roll as opposed to a $1 or $2.50. the higher quality paper is much easier to work with. overall the entire wreath cost me $5.69 and i still have wrapping paper left over to wrap gifts with.

the chalkboard looked a little bare after hanging my wreath so i decided to add a little something below and overall i am happy with my simple christmas flare in the front room. it is a whole lot better than what was there before which was nothing!

merry christmas!

THANKFUL

I have been meaning to get this post out since Thanksgiving.  I have been a little tired and a little overwhelmed with all my nesting duties lately.  However, I am so thankful to be pregnant and welcoming a new life into this great big world.  I am thankful for these two adorable boys pictured above and all the joy, frustration, laughter and tears they bring to my life.  I am thankful for my husband who is also my best friend.  I am thankful to have such a loving and supporting family who will drop anything to come help me in a moment of need no matter how last minute the notice.  I am thankful for all my sweet, sweet friends.

It is so easy to forget all that we have to be thankful for in life.  We get caught up in all the craziness that surrounds us daily.  But here in this peaceful moment on my couch at 4 am (thank you sweet baby for making it less than comfortable to get some z's.)  I have a moment to reflect on all my blessings.  A moment to be thankful for God and all that he has provided me in my life.

Tanks to my sweet friend Meghan for taking some beautiful photos of my family.  One of those is the one pictured above. It is undoubtedly one of my favorites on the disc. xoxo