Blowouts

I just had to take a picture of one of James's recent blowouts. Holy cow. It was like a serious explosion. How do they have the muscles to shoot the yellow stuff that high up the back? Thankfully, Steve was home so that we could give it proper documentation.



ALL CLEAN!

Citiblocs

Thanks to my cousin Ellice who bought these for our family for Christmas, I have to give a toy recommendation called Citiblocs. As a family of four boys, we do a lot of building with cardboard blocks, multicolored blocks, duplos, legos, etc. These blocks have no crazy design and are actually the same size block over and over, but for some reason they are awesome. We have spent hours playing and building with these things. They don't really come with any form of directions, just amazing ideas of what other people build. I spent twenty minutes trying to figure out how to build this spider, which when I completed made me really happy. (Unfortunately, I didn't take a picture.) I also made my brother Ben try to figure it out. It took him longer. ha Here are some pictures of our block creation. Thanks again Wirthlin family.

James Warren

I guess it's been awhile since I last posted. Ha. In the past six months, Thomas started second grade, Hewitt started kindergarten, Donny started preschool, and we had a new baby--James Warren Smith born in October. Like my other babies, he came a week early. I had a crazy Saturday and then went over to my friend's house to watch a movie that night. The contractions started just as the movie began and after an hour, I realized that this might be the real thing. At my friend's insistence, we stopped the movie and they graciously agreed to stay with the boys while I went into the hospital which is about a 45 minute drive. Steve and I got there a little after midnight and had James at 2:42 am so things went pretty quickly. I did manage to get the epidural though. Bless that man.

The first two months were an absolute blur. I don't think I remember anything specific that happened. I didn't realize how sleep deprived I really was until the fog gradually started lifting after Christmas and I felt more and more like myself. I still can't get a whole lot done in the afternoon as he tends to like to be held during his afternoon nap. But at least I get a productive morning so I can't complain.

I really love newborns and how much they sleep and how little they are, etc. But I also love the next stage--pre crawl, super smiley, and post Mom recovery. James is quick to smile and is starting to figure out his hands and arms, which still flail wildly, but have begun to hit a target once and awhile. He will also will completely turn his head to look at you when you talk. I feel like these little advances help make mothering all the more worthwhile.

So here are a few pictures as he has grown up these past few months. He basically lives in the baby bjorn and now moby wrap (thanks Kallie). This might be setting him up for bad habits of always having to be held, but it seriously is a protection against his older brothers who mean well, but can't stop touching and poking him. James's hair is seriously matted down with drool by the end of the day. Gross. He is definitely one of the few newborns who really does need a bath everyday. I don't know how much he weighs now, but he started at 6 pounds, 10 oz., the lightest of my babies. And I can't believe how fast he has already grown. He has cheeks and the beginnings of chunky thighs. I love chubby babies, but it is bittersweet to start putting away his newborn and 0-3 month clothes. They are out of them so quickly, which actually has been nice for me because I get to use some of the same things that Thomas, Hewitt, and Donny wore. It's hard not to picture them when I put the outfit on James. Well, here are some pictures of the little guy. Welcome to the family.

Donny fell asleep while holding James. I told him he could hold him, but wasn't allowed to move because I was cooking and couldn't watch. He definitely didn't move. He just fell asleep.

His favorite position!

Steve started reading the Inheritance Series (Eragon...) when James was born. It was perfect because he could just hold him and read. Nice for me!

Now he is getting fatter and smiling. Love this cute baby.

Camping in Washington

We had been planning for our big summer camping trip since the beginning of January when Steve arranged some time off. We did a ton of research (well I did) about possible campgrounds, locations, and nearby hikes. I even bought a book that showcased different areas of Washington St. Well, we finally decided on two different campgrounds in the Olympic Peninsula, one on the east side and one on the west. Unfortunately, all of my planning was for no use because the forecast seemed to get worse and worse the closer we got. The Olympic Peninsula was going to be rainy all four days and fairly cold. So we changed plans at 9 pm the night before we left and decided to head east over the Cascades to the warmer part of the state. After an hour of quick research we decided on Glacier View campground on the shores of Lake Wenatchee. It looked beautiful, had water and bathrooms, and most importantly was first come first served, which was good for us because we were leaving on a Wednesday and wouldn't have to compete with weekend crowds.

The drive east took us a little over three hours. It was a long haul, but well worth it when we found an amazing campsite on the lake complete with climbing log and cool bridge traversing a small stream running through the site. The boys were in heaven. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that swarms of mosquitos also came with the campground (and all campgrounds in the area.) The boys were literally eaten alive. I couldn't even count the number of bites on Donny's forehead and Hewitt's left leg. Our cousin Jacob and my brothers Ben and Tim and sister Sarah also faced their wrath. We applied more Off than anyone should be allowed and still managed to get bit. Much to Steve's delight and boasting, he continued his streak of never being bit by a mosquito. He claimed to be a super hero and have "cat like reflexes" that would kill a mosquito upon landing on his super sensitive skin. It really is disgusting how naive he is to the agonies of an itchy mosquito bite, but that is for another post.

After we figured out some tricks to warding off those dang beasts, which went away with the fire smoke and with the coming of evening, we did manage to go on some great hikes. The first was up to Hidden Lake and the second to Twin Lakes although we didn't make it all the way to the summit of the second. Donny proved to be a bit harder to manage. Last year we could carry him, but he has grown in a year and although he did well for about a mile, he got crabby and didn't want to walk again. My fat pregnant self didn't want to carry him too far and Steve certainly didn't want to carry him up every hill so we decided to turn around much to my siblings approval who definitely dislike hiking. How we came from the same family is amazing. I love hiking. Hewitt and Thomas seemed to have Steve and my hiking enthusiasm though and powered through every hill like champs.

So camping was great. We ate tons of smores complete with peanut butter, which is the secret ingredient to a good smore, got amazingly dirty, and bonded in ways you can only do without a shower. Thanks family for coming with us. Good times.

Yes, I am fat especially in a white shirt. Why I was wearing a white shirt while camping is definitely the question everyone should have been asking me.

We walked on numerous logs over rushing rivers and waterfalls. In the past, this would not have phased me. Now, however, whenever my boys would walk over holding Tim, Steve, or Ben's hand I would have to look away and hold my breath. Everyone called me a wimp, but it was seriously scary. I have suddenly become my mother.

The boys all fell asleep exhaused on the way home. They are wearing cuter clothes than normal because we stopped in Leavenworth and I made them change. People seem to treat you better when you are dressed nicer and with three crazy boys I need the small advantages that this might give me.

Only more more for a Basketball team

Steve and I found out yesterday that we are having boy number four this October. And for the first time, my Mom joined us for the ultrasound. She was so excited for everything that it made this even more special for me. Apparently, ultrasounds have improved in quality. She didn't receive an ultrasound until her last two and even then it was a 5-10 minute procedure. Now, they are looking at every organ, bone, body part, etc. I don't have the infamous "it's a boy" ultrasound picture, but it was pretty obvious to all of us in the room. We are excited for October.

Sunday Dress

I love the boys all dressed up in their Sunday clothes. Unfortunately, this moment doesn't last long as clothes soon become scattered throughout our car and church. Donny is the biggest culprit. He wants no tie, no sweater vest, no shoes, etc. We usually have a brief moment when everyone is properly dressed and I guess I can be happy with that. What I should do is document the after church attire. I think that would be more telling.

Disneyland

This past Spring Break we took our family vacation on the west coast to Disneyland. We got the boys excited with a paper chain countdown and youtube videos so that they would get into it. The buildup is definitely part of the fun. Well, we drove the 19 hours through the night to Steve sisters house in Temecula. The boys were pretty good although they all woke up around 4 am and wouldn't go back to sleep. My brother and sister's ITouches came in handy though and we didn't mind as long as they were quiet. I don't know how families used to travel, but it really isn't so bad with all the technology that's available. A portable DVD player for them and one for us made the drive bearable although I was a little cramped in the back. We spent the weekend in Temecula swimming with cousins, driving around the beautiful vineyards, and enjoying the beautiful weather. We were also extremely spoiled by Steve's sister Kirsten and brother-in-law Ryan. Kirsten cooked us every meal and Ryan took my kids joy riding on four wheelers and scooters. They were really in heaven. My first bad mom moment came when I didn't put sunblock on Donny until lunchtime the first day we arrived. He was fried the rest of the trip. Poor kid.

We then spent the next three days at Disneyland. Bad mother moment number two came the first day at Disneyland when I lost Hewitt. We were with our cousins and split into two groups when walking from Tower of Tower to California Screaming which for those of you who know California Adventure is like a ten minute walk. Well, when my group met back up with Steve's we suddenly realized that no one had him. It was the worst possible moment. The park was crowded, it was middle of the afternoon, and I had no idea where he could be. After running very quickly back to Tower of Terror though, I was lucky enough to find that Hewitt had just sat down on a curb and continued to stare up at the ride. When I found him he just said, "you lost me right Mom." And then, "I love Tower of Terror." I praised him endlessly for not wandering. Thomas and Donny would have been long gone. Hewitt still talks about Tower of Terror.

So Disneyland really is magical. We got up early every morning to arrive just as the park opened. We would go on all of our favorite rides multiple times before lunch and then would take a nap in the afternoon at our hotel. We would go back for all the shows and other fast pass rides in the evening. There were a few disgruntled moments of miscommunication because it was hard to keep all of our cell phones charged, but we all had a wonderful time. It was nice to have my brother and sister there too who gave us extra sets of hands.

We are already planning our next California vacation!

Disneyland/California Adventure