2010 a year in review

January- had our visit to "the cabin" (Thundering Waters) near Helen, GA in the north GA mountains. We fell in love at first site and have been visiting ever since!

February- we had our "Snowmagedon", and lots of learning about what toddler-hood was going to be like!

March- one of the hardest months of our lives. We lost my oldest sister Shauna and made the long cross country drive in our little CRV to Utah for her funeral. The reason for the drive was not thrilling of course, but being with family to say goodbye to her and seeing our beautiful country was awesome. We celebrated lots of birthdays and (oops) forgot about our 3 year anniversary!

April- (end of March) we went to the cabin again, and celebrated Easter with the Smith side of the family. Ben and his cousins had fun doing their Easter egg hunt!

May-had a baby shower for Hillary, photographed a wedding, went camping and got rained out, heard news of the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico as well as some other catastrophic environmental events like the volcano eruption in Iceland. Also, my big sister Delinda graduated with her PhD from Emory and had visits from her and my brother Greg to celebrate!
June- Ryan's birthday! Had a week of "staycation" and went to the zoo, swimming, saw Little Hunter E. at the hospital, made a blanket fort in the family room, and lots of other fun things! Planted our first (vegetable) garden and were oh so proud of it's development!
July- we had a SUPER fun 4th of July with lots of fun activities like watching fireworks with friends and going to a parade with Nana. Lots of swimming and playing. We spent the day with Nana & Poppy at White Water. They were kind and treated us to a FUN day of water slides and pools! Watching our garden progress and produce the first signs of veggies! Ryan and I had our visit whole weekend away to St. Simon Island to do wedding photos for the Kranendonk family. Had a little stop at the beach and enjoyed the beautiful scenery there.
August- Ben started really changing a lot and growing up including using the potty more often than not. We traveled to South, south, south Atlanta area to pick out a Lhasa Apso puppy for Nana and Poppy and ended up with this cutie that we all named Sofie. She's not even a year old and is much bigger than our Lhasa! We think Ally must be a "miniature" Lhasa... and Sofie is not.

September-went to the cabin, again... and had SOOOOO much fun swimming and tubing in the Hooch. Went to the Sesame Street show at Philips Arena, our A/C went out for a whole weekend, saw some old friends.
October- Ben FINALLY has finished getting teeth. For the love of all that's holy that took forever. The Chilean miners were rescued, there was a TORNADO in my hometown of Flagstaff, AZ (which is so weird still...), we went to the pumpkin patch, Ben sleeps in a big boy bed (The "school bus"), Ben is a pirate for Halloween. We went to the ward Trunk-or-Treat, trick-or-treated in the neighborhood and at the Terry's house. Ryan and I went to the Weezer concert and got like FIVE ROWS away from Rivers Como! ACK! (jumping up and down screaming like a teenage girl!) Had a baby shower for Ashley!
November- my cousin Laura and her two kids came for a quick and fun weekend visit, we spent another COLD Thanksgiving with Delinda in Chicago and had a blast. We got a fun new little point and shoot camera.
December- well, you know... full of holiday fun! We had a very fun Christmas time with our little guy who really seemed to be "in" to Christmas this year! Little Savannah was born!
We had such a wonderful and busy year. A lot of good things to help drown out some of the bummer things. This year taught us more to love our families and friends and to cherish them and every minute we get the privilege of spending time with them. Hopefully 2011 will bring us lots of fun new adventures!

My Dream Man

I'm so grateful that the Lord has sent me the perfect man for me. I am so grateful to have someone who makes me LAUGH on a daily basis. Like the kind of laugh that makes you happy all over. He's a terrifically FUN daddy and has the best sense of humor. I love my man. I am so happy I have him.That face he's making is one of my favorites... isn't he so silly? I told him that was Ben's towel and no he couldn't have it, as cool as it is...

Merry Christmas!

So, I should be in bed. It's 11:00pm. BUT... I had an amazing nap and well, not quite tired yet. The boys are asleep though and we've got the computer in the family room tonight so that we could chat with my family in UT through out the day. SO, it's nice because I'm watching Iron Chef while typing this. I kinda like having the computer in here!

We had a fun/strange day. Not bad strange, just different strange. I had to work during the day Christmas Eve, well until 12:30. It sucked. It was boring and quiet and I missed my boys. That night we drove to Jonesboro with Ryan's parents to Ryan's Aunt Vickie's house and got to see some other family there. It's a family tradition and we missed it last year, so it was good to see everyone again this year. They always make lots of yummy food like lasagna and chili and Uncle Lanny's famous wings. So yummy. After dinner the kids (Ben and his second cousins) opened some gifts, and then we played Dirty Santa. Except for no one was dirty, except for Ryan and I... but it was still fun and we ended up with a $50 Outback gift card! Ben got lots of nice presents from Aunt Vickie and Uncle Tony who were very generous. We enjoyed chatting and enjoying each other's company. Ryan's cousin was a Falcons (the Atlanta football team) cheerleader... I say "was" but I'm not sure if she is going to be again or is or what. Anyway, she's a ball of fun and we watched a little of some shows she was on the local cable stations. Again, it's so great to be around Ryan's family since I don't know them all to well. And they are awesome and kind and generous and welcoming and AWESOME! Ben had a fall while we were there. He was standing on a chair next to the counter and me and of course in the one second I turned away... it tipped back and fell on the ground. He bumped his head but more than anything I think he got scared and my reaction scared him too. He shrieked out in tears and everyone was so worried about him and asking him if he was okay. I put ice on it and Ryan's cousin Jason is a doctor so he made sure he was good, and with in seconds he was back to playing and jumping down stairs! It was also a bit of a struggle to get him to eat, which was incredibly annoying. He's SO fickle when it comes to food. One night he'll pig out- the next he wont eat. And I mean, I get that he's human and maybe he's not in the mood for whatever we're eating- but in our house, you don't really have that option. You eat what we make and if you don't... you go with out. I hate to see him "starve" but I am not going to be a made to order restaurant. Overall, he was well behaved. I had to put him in time out a couple times, but he was pretty good. The threat of no Santa worked! hahaChristmas morning I woke up realizing it was after 8am, and that Ben must be awake and just waiting in his room for us like he normally does on the weekend. But when I went to check in on him he was still sound asleep and I had forgotten that he didn't go to bed until after 10pm the night prior and he was probably still way tired. Ryan was asleep too, so I left Ben to sleep and woke Ryan up and we got everything ready to go for our Christmas morning. He's still young enough that he wasn't SO excited that he couldn't sleep anymore, in fact I don't think he will even be that way next year- but probably the next. I tell you what though, that boy really loves his sleep, so we'll see! We took him to the family room first to do our stockings and to see if he would eat a waffle... the waffle was just an afterthought though- he was TOO excited to do anything but look at all the cool stuff in his stocking. Then we decided to let him go ahead and see what Santa brought him. He was SOOOOOO excited! I'll try and attach video. His face and expression was priceless. He got a motorcycle, a Buzz Lightyear and Woody doll from Santa, movies and clothes from Grandma & Grandpa, a Woody towel from his cousins, books, a puzzle, Lincoln Logs (my choice since I loved those when I was a kid) and some other small things. Ryan got a remote control helicopter and I got a nifty cute camera strap for my camera! We were supposed to have gone over to Nana & Poppy's house after we did our present thing, but Poppy called and said that Nana had been up all night sick. SO... we decided to stay home and hang tight until we heard anything about going over there. We put a movie on after presents and ate a little lunch. We did a chat with my parents and tried to chat with my brother Greg, but to no avail. And then around noon... is starting SNOWING! The last time there was measurable snowfall on Christmas Day in Atlanta was in 1881, when 1.6 inches of snow fell on the city. Amazing! It was so peaceful and pretty and well, it made my heart warm. That was an awesome Christmas present! It was like God knew that I was home sick and that was the best way to comfort me. :) We all took glorious naps... and then quickly realized it wasn't going to be a day with extended family, which... well, was pretty weird. Neither Ryan or I have ever NOT been with family (even if it was with mine or his) for Christmas. It wasn't bad, just different and weird. And, we didn't really have much to eat (that Ryan wanted anyway) so we had to venture out in the snow to find any open restaurants and settled on TGIFridays. Not my idea of a Christmas dinner, but... oh well. It worked and we were together and we had fun. After dinner we came back home and just hung out. Ben played with his toys and we all watched one of his new movies he got from Ashley, "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs". Cute movie. And that brings me back to the beginning. And now I should go to bed. Hope your Christmas was wonderful!

He's Making a List... checking it twice

I should write a quick note while the rice krispie treats are cooling down. Ryan's out home teaching and Ben's in bed. I'm exhausted. It's 2 and a 1/4 days until Christmas... finishing up some last minute goodies... and then- visits tomorrow night with friends and then Christmas Eve with Ryan's family in Jonesboro, GA. I honestly am the most excited to just do NOTHING but be with family and sit around and be happy on Christmas day. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the holidays... but they also wear me out! So does my two year old. He's so sassy these days. [That's weird... a big gust of wind just blew by and it's been a fairly quiet night weather-wise.] Anyway, back to Ben. He's also been SO excited about Christmas this year. He's learned (parts of) Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snowman and it's A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!!! We've actually been able to threaten him this year with "okay... I'm going to call Santa right now and tell him not to come!" when he cries and IT REALLY WORKS! He even got to SEE Santa at the Ward (Church) Christmas party Saturday night! He was a little scared at first... but he agreed to sit with him. He, in his true nature, was shy but wanted to show him his mac and cheese t-shirt. He might've even quietly told him he wanted a Woody Doll and a Buzz Doll. He loved going to Church on Sunday and I had a migraine and we almost left, but decided to stay because Ben wanted to go to Nursery SO bad. :) It's cute. He asks if he can go to Church just about every night. We bought him a book about what the real meaning of Christmas is, and that's been nice and a little challenging to make sure we tie that in to our festivities.I am working all this week which stinks... I have NO motivation. But am trying... My boys are going to come and visit me tomorrow so that gives me something to look forward to.
I had a photo shoot last weekend I haven't even been able to touch. And I miss my family. I keep seeing little reminders of Shauna every where I look. I miss her lots, and wish I could send her a gift or call her so she can hear Ben singing his Christmas songs. But I know she's up there watching and smiling. I will miss my parents this year, and hope that they have a wonderful Christmas and that my siblings do as well.
Side Note... not really having anything to do with Christmas- Ben's been using the potty a little more. I don't feel like we've made progress, but we took a few steps back there for a little while and now he's starting to get excited again because of a new trick we came up with... "Potty Pills". (Otherwise known as M&M's!) I've mentioned before we don't give him a lot of candy and so this is definitely a treat for him. He gets three if he goes one or the other, and 6 if he does both. I think he's figuring out that "going" means candy and I am trying to let him know when to think about when he needs to go. Not sure if it'll work or when it will or what... but we're just trying...
I am telling you what, I'm sick of changing a big kid's diaper. There's definitely a difference between a baby's poops and a kids. Ugh.
Well, on that special note- I am going to bed! Overall, I am grateful for this time of year because it truly has brought the Spirit of Christ in to our home. The Lord has been working very SMALL miracles to some, but so important and wonderful to me. Merry Christmas EVERYONE! I probably wont have the chance to post anything until after Christmas, so I hope it is wonderful!

How Neat is that?

ksl.com - Provo firefighters still fighting tabernacle fire (Gallery Viewer)
Obviously, this was a SAD SAD thing to happen. But look at what the firefighters found and how beautiful and miraculous a thing. Whether or not your are LDS like me, I think you'd still find this pretty awesome! Check out these photographs of a painting of Christ that were found in the rubble of the burnt down Provo Tabernacle in UT.

Hey everyone, just a heads-up... it looks like my days of selling Scentsy are possibly over after this month. It's been a little over a year and while I love the product A LOT, I am not producing enough sales for me to keep "active". Hopefully I will be able to sell again in the near future, but for now I just can't manage the time that needs to be put in to it. So with that being said, if you need anything from my Scentsy site, order now because as of the first of the year it may no longer work! (You can also use the site to buy even if you are out of state.) Also, if you need a Scentsy product for a Christmas gift, get your orders in before Saturday the 18th in order for it to get to you in time! Thanks for you support!
Click here to shop!

A pirate Ship

This is Ben's pirate song he still sings. When my cousin and her kids came to visit, Gracie made up the song and Ben has sang it ever since. ("Yo ho ho, going on a pirate ship repeated)

Sunday Decorating

We got a lovely and inexpensive tree from Home Depot this year, gotta love Promos. We got it on Saturday and then decorated it on Sunday. Sunday was a FUN day of decorating the house and getting it ready for Christmas. We turned the TV off and the radio station that plays Christmas music all month long on, and got to work! Well, I mostly did- but that's the way I like it. As Ben says "that's Mommy's tree". Ryan set up the nativities with care and exactly as they showed on the box. Ben help hang an ornament or two... and touch another one or two! He was SO excited all morning long. He and Ryan ate popcorn and sat on the floor with blankets and watched me decorate and we talked about Santa and Jesus and sang to the music. Ben helped me hang the stockings, and when I said "Do you want to help me hang stockings?" he quickly sat down and started to take his sock off all the while saying "yes, yes I help". I told him not THOSE stockings, and thought it was extremely adorable.

I really love each and every one of my ornaments, most if not all have a special place in my heart and special meaning.That night the crew came over. Ryan made a fire in the fire place (for the first time since we've lived in the house in almost 4 years) and I made Wassail and were able to watch the Christmas Devotional. There was reindeer brownies and hot cocoa too! It was a lovely and Christmassy day! I loved EVERY bit of it! Happy Holidays friends and family!

much needed update

I have a lot to catch up on:

-The week before Thanksgiving
The week before Thanksgiving, Ben and I weren't feeling so hot. Ben had a tight cough and wasn't eating much and just wasn't a happy kid. And the cough wasn't getting better. Tuesday I woke up with a sore throat but didn't think anything of it until Wednesday when I woke up and my throat was super swollen and I was talking weird and couldn't really swallow. Despite the cost of our copay we decided both me and Ben needed to go to the doc. Too bad it's not the same one, because that meant $80 in copays for the day. Yikes! Well, turns out Ben had Bronchiolitis and a touch of Pneumonia and I had strep... random! I haven't had strep in YEARS. That was a LONG day of doc's visits and running to the pharmacy twice, not fun by any means. Luckily antibiotics are free at Publix! Poor Ben's temp rose from 101 to 102 in the doc's office and I got really worried about it. After some Tylenol, animal crackers and a breathing treatment he was good to go and had plenty of energy. One of the saddest things I've ever seen. He did SO good with the breathing treatment though. It makes me wonder if Ben will be prone to asthma. A lot of people in my family have it. I sure hope not. Anyway, we vegged out what was left of the day Wednesday and then Thursday and I had to go back to work on Friday. I was glad we were able to find out BEFORE our Thanksgiving trip and not during.

I just have to note, that the following Saturday we needed to get some yard work done. This was before it started getting very cold and there were A LOT of leaves that needed to be cleaned up. I have to say that's one thing about Georgia that I love/hate. It's cute and all Fall-like, but a pain in the butt to clean up those darn leaves. BETTER though than having to pick up pine needles like we had to in Flag where I grew up. Putting them in trash bags was like putting well... real needles in! Anyway, it was a fun day and it just really felt like FALL which is one of my fav seasons. It was one of those days where I was in a place and world where it seemed like what I pictured life as a family woman to be like. Raking leaves in my front yard with my husband, while my son drove his tractors down the driveway... watching Ryan set a board up at the end of the driveway so that the tractors wouldn't go in the street since our drive way is a tad bit uphill. It was just a neat surreal moment and I loved it. (End scene. hahaha)

-CHRISTMAS!
Well, Christmas season is in full swing. Our trip to Chicago seemed to give us a jump start on feeling the Christmas Cheer. And this year Ben is SOOOOO excited about it. Just all of it; the lights, the decorations, the music, Santa, Snowmen, anything that remotely resembles Christmas time usually follows with "mommy! Look at that Christmas!” It's freaking ADORABLE. He keeps telling people "Santa bring me toys and books!" He's missing the part of the deal where he's supposed to be using the potty completely by then- but oh well, it's still really cute. We put up the decorations this weekend and he was just in heaven. I am so glad, I hope his Christmas Spirit continues because it really does bring it in the home and makes us that much more excited for it as well. Saturday we bought our awesome $20 tree from Home Depot and didn't get to decorate it until Sunday. I had to run errands for quite some time Saturday and left Ben home with daddy, and much to my surprise Ryan had put up the lights out on the house and after Ben's nap Ryan took him out to see and Ryan said he had a look of utter amazement.

Sunday we let him help hang some ornaments. (Another post to come about our FABULOUS Christmas filled Sunday!) I taught him that if he felt like he wanted to touch that he needed to put his hands behind his back. He remembers at first, and then forgets... but I only put ornaments on the bottom that I don't really care about. I just want him to learn to treat things nice and that Mommy's tree is HANDS OFF! Hahaha. Ryan said "Ben, those are mommy's prized possessions... don't touch". That's about right! After his nap Sunday the tree was all decorated and lit and again, utter amazement. Then jumping up and down and clapping, which I've mentioned before doesn't happen from that kid very often, so that's when you know he is IN LOVE. Even last night when we got home we plugged it in and got the same reaction. Too cute. I love it and am so happy he's in to it. Next challenge, keeping wrapped gifts under the tree. I'll keep you updated. He's also really in to Christmas movies too, particularly Elf. The other night I had him sitting on the potty and out of no where he quoted the movie. The part where he burps for a long time and says "Did you hear that?!" He does an impressive burping impersonation. I have yet to get him to do it on video well, but what I do have is still cute. He's starting to memorize more lines from it, probably because we watch it like everyday.

-Baby Savannah

Well, last Thursday December 2nd, Ashley and Jacob welcomed their beautiful little girl in to their family. She was 8lbs 9oz and 20 inches long. Of course, she is beautiful and adorable and cute and all other things good. We, the Smiths, are super excited to have her as our "niece". We got to go visit her lots and they are home now getting used to their new life with a child of their own. They are both completely in love and head over heels for her. This is how it should be of course. Jacob is just adorable with her and Ashley already has the mom thing down and is amazing. We couldn’t be happier for them and I just can’t even wait to see that cute little thing again!

-I am a camera. C amera, camera.
We finally got a new little camera. I know another one? Well, our little point and shoot that we’ve had for years has had it. It still works…ju st not well. I would say a good 75% of the pictures are blurry and it’s just been dropped too many times. We’ll probably end up letting Ben play with it. We got a Canon SD1400 and it’s awesome. It has so many cool features and it’s nice to have a nice SMALL camera that can just fit in my purse as opposed to lugging around my big one everywhere we go.