Road Trip!

June - at two weeks old - went on her first road trip. We were all feeling antsy in our pantsy and needed to get out of here. So, we gathered together a few things and took off to Seattle. Its only a 3 hour drive - totally doable with a newborn! My brother Darin and his wife, Charla live there. We arrived Saturday afternoon and went straight the the Children's Museum. That was a lot of fun for the kids. Especially June...who slept the entire time. Am I crazy to take a 2 week old baby on a trip and out to a museum? Maybe. But we were bored and stir crazy and needed to get out of here!
We had an enjoyable time. Of course the kids could have stayed at the museum for a lot longer, but the boring, lazy adults were tired. Thanks to Darin and Charla for coming with us - to help out with the kids. And for letting us stay at their house. We are so glad to live as close as we do. And next time we head up there, we hope it is without at least the 3 older Smith faces.
Oh, and June had a great time...sleeping. She is such a delightful baby. Fits right in.
Thanks to our kids for being so great in the car. They love road trips (even without movies!!) Where should we go next?!

Nora playing in the water

The only pictures I got of Uncle Darin and Aunt Charla



See, I'm big enough!



About half way through our visit, a dance party erupted in the middle of the museum. Complete with instruments! Our kids showed no shyness and danced crazy. After we left, the party was over - seriously! Awesome!

For the record

I have heard this quiet a few times.
"June Allison. Wasn't that the name of a famous actress?"
Yes, I know. Well, I didn't know. But now I know.

Those of you who know me, know of my obsession - absolute - no changing my mind - of having a 4 letter first name and 7 letter middle name for our kids. Is it silly? Of course it is! I am fully aware of that. But I also have to finish something I start. OK, not always, but in this case absolutely! There is a song I sing to my babies. It only works if their names are the certain numbers. I'm not going to have 3 babies have this song and not the last one. That's so unfair. Well, given the requirements, what were we going to name this baby? I came across the name June (Honestly I think someone mentioned Jane and Jane Smith just can not be allowed! So I changed it to June and thought that sounded cool...or something.) Then came the 7 letter middle name. I will give credit to Pat for that one. When he was in Spain (at least I think it was Spain) he sent me an email from some baby naming site, a list of 7 letter girl names. We both liked Allison without debating or convincing. So there it was...decided...June Allison.
It was only AFTER we had decided on the name and fell in love with it that we started hearing about this famous actress. Oh well. Does it really matter anyway. Apparently she was someone lovely and adored. As we hope our June Allison will be. I'm not offended by the remarks - I just wanted to tell my story. That's all

I think its real cute how my boys call her (and themselves) by both of their names. Cause really, what's the point of a middle name if its never used? Whenever they are asked what their names are - or they volunteer the information - its always both names. Probably because I call them by both names...often. And this song that they each have, of course.

Since we didn't know whether this was a pink baby or a blue baby we had to have two names picked out. Well, if it had been a boy, I think it would have been our first argument. But it doesn't matter - I had known for a while that we were having a girl. I just didn't express those feelings cause I didn't want to be disappointed or have to admit I was WRONG! Never!

We love our stinky rotten babies : )

Cupcake 4

Here's our littlest cupcake!

And this is what she mostly does...so far!

We are so glad that she has been such a good baby! After Kyle and his reflux and Nora and all of her special issues...its about time. And what do we like best? Maybe not best, but we really appreciate? She takes a pacifier! Thank Goodness. Our 2 middle babies - with the special issues - did not take pacifiers until they were 7 and 8 months old and on bottles.
Speaking of our other babies, they LOVE their "new baby June". So much that they are always asking to hold her and kiss her. So that's really fun to see. I was worried about Nora being a Jealous Jan but so far she isn't. We can hope that it continues this way. She adores June and wants to love on her as much as she can. As soon as she sees her in the morning she squeals with delight and wants to get as close as possible. Sadly, June doesn't always appreciate all of the showered attention. She better get used to it. This was the dinner conversation this evening:
"I want to hold new baby June."
"I would love for you to hold her after you eat your dinner."
"I don't want to eat my dinner."
"You need to eat your dinner before you can hold her."
Etc...
Seriously, we are having to use threats like that? How long will that last? They are young, true, but I'm sure it will wear off all too soon.
Here are pictures of each of her siblings holding her for the first time. As you can see, by the time it was Nora's turn, June was done being loved.


We were so lucky to have Grandma Suzanne here again. And terribly saddened when she left this morning. We would love for her to move in. She is so much fun! We might actually have to go out and make friends now. The kids are going to be so bored without her around. Its amazing how quickly my mom can brighten a room, a situation, a life. Because of her we are now friends with some of our neighbors. In fact we had our across the street neighbors stop by last night with a little gift for the baby. We hardly know them but my mom has visited with them a couple of times and went over to their house to borrow sugar once. (Ask Lane, he'll tell you all about it) Anyway, they came over last night because they knew my mom was leaving today and wanted to be able to say goodbye. I truly hope someday to be like her. I am so blessed to be her daughter. Thanks mom, again and again.

June in September

Today we welcomed the newest member of our family into this world.

June Allison Smith was born at 3am weighing 7lbs 5oz and stretching out to 19 1/4" long. Everything went great and Jessica was amazing again. Baby June arrived without any assistance from pitocin or other drugs, which is a first for our kids.

The other kids all came to visit the new baby and Mommy and they were all very excited. We'll see how excited they are once she comes home. :)

More details to follow, but here are a couple of early pictures.

Just new

All Cleaned Up

Blizzard in June!

One thing I never blogged about but want to always remember is this...a blizzard in June! On our drive to Vancouver - through the Blue Mountains - in Oregon - a BLIZZARD in JUNE!

I notice that its starting to get cold. Then I notice that it starts to rain. Its getting colder. We see a sign that says "Use chains when lights are flashing." The lights are flashing, surely that's a mistake. The signs must be going through a test. WAIT, is that SNOW? Does the thermostat really say 34 degrees? Then down to 30? Are those Semi's really pulled over to get chains on their tires? YES - they are. And we were glad that they did have chains so that we were able to drive behind them and have a somewhat clearer road. Can't believe that we just saw a snow plow going the other direction. Poor guy in the smart car trying to make it through. Hate to be those motorcyclists. Oops!

It didn't last too long, but man was it crazy. I have never witnessed anything like that in my life. Probably won't again. As soon as the next exit came we got off to stop for some lunch. The entire place was a buzz with talk of the blizzard. All the truckers in shock of having to use chains and hearing of even more crazy weather to come (in another direction of where we were going - thank goodness.) Then comes the craziest part of the day...

I was sitting with the boys getting them situated with lunch while Pat was searching the car for the GPS that we thought we had left behind at the hotel in Boise...he found it...phew! Anyway, there was a real nice trucker guy talking to a couple who also drive a truck together. I wasn't really listening but noticed the guy by himself smile at us a few times. Their conversation didn't last much longer and he got up and left. The next thing I know, he was back and had his hand outstretched to me in a fist (like we wanted to give me something that he didn't want anyone else to see.) I thought maybe he was handing me some candy for the kids or something like that. So I open my hand to accept his offer. In my hand he puts a hundred dollar bill and then blots away, never looking back! Are you kidding me? $100?! In shock I look up at the couple he had been talking to, of course they are staring at my shocked face so I tell them what happened. They said that obviously he didn't want me to go talk to him so I should just take it and be grateful. Of course I wonder why he would do this. Do we look like we need it? Maybe. But they explained to me that as a trucker, you usually don't have a family and if you do, you don't often see them. So he probably saw us, making the sacrifice to have a large family (in todays world) and wanted to show his support and appreciation to us. Or maybe we did look desperate. Told to me by a so called windshield repair man - maybe for another post. I don't know and I never will. But I will always be grateful and try harder to be more mindful of the needs of others. Show more gratitude. Do kind deeds. That night and several nights after, I prayed that that man was happy. That he feels blessed. I'm sure that he does. His face told me.

Lane...catching up

So, we're here in our new house. Oh, did we move in two weeks ago and not tell anyone about it? Huh, that's too bad. Why am I so uninspired to share all that we have been up too? Not sure. But Pat has been nagging me about it enough that either I need to reach deep down and find some inspiration or I should just have him do it!

Anyway, we have a deck in the back yard - off the kitchen. Nice cause I can watch the kids play while I do other things (or while I should be doing other things but don't cause most of the time I feel and move like a beached whale!) This deck is only two steps down into the grass. Not a big deal, right? Except that they are like asphalt. The boys are having a great time riding their tricycles. Lane decides to ride his trike backwards. Being the enormous whale that I am, can't get to him in time to stop him from going backwards down the stairs. Three hours and 3 stitches later, he has now caught up to Kyle in the stitches count. Not my idea of good competition. Should I post a picture? I could, but probably won't.

Only one more week until this baby comes...better work on getting caught up! Or better yet, let Pat do it! : )

Shout out to Mom!

Pat was only supposed to be in Spain for 2 weeks. Yes, that's a long time, its stressful and crazy, but I can do two weeks. A couple of days before he was scheduled to come home, he called and gave me the story of how they really need him. It wasn't, "Software needs to stay in Spain for another week for this project to happen." It was, "Pat Smith needs to stay in Spain, etc..." How am I going to say no to that. Good for him! He works so hard and gives so much that I can only feel happy for him that he's receiving recognition for his work. Of course he would rather come home and be with us. Its just as hard for him to be gone knowing what I have to juggle and he can't help, except to hear me complain and vent when we get a few minutes to talk. *Side note - I always feel a little guilty afterwards cause he never complains about anything. That's just not normal. How can you not ever let it out?! He should every now and then just so I don't feel bad when I do, right?*
Anyway, here was my favorite part about them asking him to stay an extra week. "We know you have young kids and a pregnant wife and you're trying to move into a house that needs some repairs first, but what is there that you HAVE to be home for?" Are you serious? 3 young kids ages 3,2 and 1 and a wife who's 8 months pregnant who still doesn't even know anyone in this new state. And who is now going to have to pick out counter tops and other things for the house on her own. Are you kidding me? No, there's no need to be home anytime soon. Good Grief!
So what did I do? I did what any girl would do. I called my mom and got her on a flight over here to be with me. And she did what any mother would do - she dropped everything and came! Grateful is not enough! I would not have made it without her. Well, I probably would've but not well. 6 out of the last 8 weeks he's had to be away from us. Doing it all on my own even longer? I think that the kids would have spent a good deal of time strapped in their car seat in the garage (they don't know how to get out of their straps!!) while I took a lot of long, hot showers. *KIDDING!* NEVER EVEN CONSIDERED IT UNTIL WRITING THIS! But maybe not such a bad idea. Ha Ha Ha
It was so wonderful to have my mom here. The days flew by so fast. We both couldn't believe it when it was over. The last two summers I've had the joy of staying with her for quite a while, but not this summer. So, it was even better having her with us. We didn't do much, but we had so much fun. And thanks to her sewing, I put her to work and she made cushions for the seat bench Pat's dad built in the kitchen of our new house. As well as other sewing projects I sent her home with.
As we were driving away from the airport, the boys were saying, "we miss Grandma Suzanne already!" Its true - we do! Thanks mom! We love you!

And yes, Pat will be home in a couple of hours and shouldn't have to travel again until after cupcake #4 comes. Phew! Now we can mve into that big, empty house!