Hanging out

Sawyer's not playing with dolls. This is his girlfriend, Aurora.

Sometimes Sawyer is serious.

Usually he is happy.

Movie Day

Sawyer is REALLY interested in food. I like to peel the apple and let him suck the juice out.

My Old Navy babies.

Beachin' it...

A bunch of us moms got together and went to the beach for the day. It was a real adventure.

Jane has finally decided that smiling for the camera might not be such a bad thing.

Wearing Daddy's hat. She really missed him that day. He works hard for the money. So hard for it honey.

Shadows are interesting; they inspire serious conversations.

Sawyer slept a large portion of the day. He didn't like the wind so I wrapped him up in this blanket with only a hole to breathe through.

Finally remembered to share

Okay, as a tribute to all of you mothers out there who feel like you've messed up with your kids today or yesterday or whenever I'm going to share an experience that made me cringe a little with embarassment.

For starters, I should tell all of you that don't live near me that I am a nap nazi. Seriously.
I don't go anywhere or do anything if it is going to conflict with nap/bed time.

A couple of months ago, somehow, the clocks in our house got all screwed up. I don't know if the power went out or if I accidentally messed the time up while I was setting an alarm but that clocks were an hour fast.

One day Jane was having a pretty bad day and I had decided that she would go to bed a little early (she was acting really tired). Normally Jane goes to bed between 6:30 and 7:00pm. Well, we went through our routine; I read stories, brushed teeth, said prayers, sang songs. When I told Jane that it was time to go to sleep she started screaming. So I left and let her have her emotions. When she finally quieted down and went to sleep, an hour later, I realized that instead of putting her down at 6:30, I had put her down at 5:30pm!

The poor girl really wasn't ready for bed and I was a mean mommy for letting her cry for that long without realizing my mistake.

Luckily for me, she didn't even remember crying the night before when she woke up in the morning after a nice long night of rest... :)

Off the wagon

I've completely fallen off the blog band wagon! I haven't even thought about my blog in a couple of weeks. I haven't looked at anyone's blog in a couple of weeks. Let me see if I can give a relatively decent recap of the last few weeks.

-Jake has one week of FTO left and then he'll be in the car on his own. Hooray! That means he can do off duty work and we can really start to make some moola.

- We're Dave Ramseying it up. We've called and cancelled our credit cards. We're on a budget and we'll be debt free before we know it.

- Jane refuses to use the potty. When we ask her to she says "I won't". There is no "I can't" about the situation, only "I won't".

- Sawyer seems to be suffering from early onset separation anxiety. Jane and I tried to walk out the front door this morning to walk around the porch and each time we took one step away from him he started whining. If we stepped toward him, he stopped. Can you believe that stinker?

- The clocks our apartment got mixed up one day and I didn't know what time it was. I thought it was 6:30 at night so I started putting Jane to bed and it was really 5:30! It was a long night. I felt so badly because I didn't realize my mistake until AFTER she cried for an hour and put herself to sleep!!

- Florida winters are a dream.

- We're making new friends.

- I'm learning how to keep the house clean. (Hallelujah!)

More to come later. I'll try to stay on the wagon this time. Let me know what you have all been up to!

Update!

Hello All!
I've realized that my goal of having a blog post a day for the whole year was a little unrealistic. I'm back though! My internet was "down" and I finally have it connected again.
Lately we have been hanging out around the house, thinking about cleaning, making new friends and trying to sleep train.
I tried to potty-train Jane for half a day and after she peed on the carpet 4 times I decided it wasn't worth it to me yet. I just don't feel like fighting about it or cleaning up pee all day.
I thought I was failing in my attempts to sleep train Sawyer but he only woke up one time during the night yesterday and he has been napping regularly today! My kids are so different from each other! It is hard to try to figure a new kid out when it doesn't respond to the methods that your older child responded to. I almost feel like I am re-inventing the wheel. Sawyer is such a little joy though. He laughs and smiles all the time. He is alert and strong and so masculine! He is such a little man; he even looks like a little man when he gets his little scowley face going.
I have Carpel Tunnel. My doctor says it is really common for new moms to get it so I am confined to a write brace for the next couple of months. Anyways, I've got to run! I'll post more later... :)

Baby Sawyer

Christmas Holidays!

The ICE Exhibit: Orlando

Well, here I am again. It might appear as though I am falling off the bandwagon but I assure you I am not. Yesterday was kind of hectic. I’m still trying to unpack my house but I am finding that nothing is ever easy to do with two kids. I’ve been feeling a little dizzy with fatigue but I haven’t been able to take a nap because as soon as I get one of the kids down, the other one wakes up!
Jake got home from work two hours late yesterday. He had a load of fun stories to tell us. He got to participate in his first arrest yesterday. A man drove his car UNDER a semi! Can you believe it? I’m not sure what the detail sharing protocol is so I’ll err on the side of caution and not say more than that. I’m so proud of Jake for getting this job. We have spent so many hours talking about where we are going and what our goals are. It feels so good to finally have our foot in the door.
So after my last two posts I realized that I need to make a real attempt to document something of value over the next year. Writing something every day just to meet my quota isn’t going to be valuable in 20 years outside of simply knowing what went on day to day. I would prefer to leave something on this blog that will help my children have a better idea of who I was as a young woman. Do any of you moms ever think about that? We know our children so well. They will learn who we are on a deeper level eventually but that will be after years and years of motherhood and 20 or so years of marriage. We won’t even be remotely close to the same people that we are today!
That is my goal for this blog; to give my children a snapshot of who I am today when my children are 2/3 and less than 1.

I’ve been saying one thing that makes me lucky or blessed every day. I have to say that today’s blessing is a little silly.

I am so blessed to live in a city with warm temps and high humidity because I can never get my act together and put the top back on Jane’s stamps when she is done using them on the porch. Lately we have been starting our day with a healthy dose of “Super Why”, “Clifford”, and “Curious George”. After our shows we turn the T.V. off for the day and play on the porch and in the living room and bedroom for the rest of the morning. Well, for the last few days Jane and I have been making buggies with stickers and markers and using our stamp pads a LOT! The only problem is that I get busy and leave Jane to her art in the middle of the project and forget to go back to help her pick it up. That means that it stays out over night! Well, because the humidity is high, the stamp pads don’t dry up! Isn’t that great?!
Some differences Jake and I have noticed about Jane and Sawyer:
1) Sawyer has WAY more hair than Jane had at this age. He still doesn’t have a lot by most standards but he does have this cute little swirl of hair at the top of his head. It reminds me of the top of a dairy queen ice cream cone.

2) Jane spent a lot of time looking around and a decent amount of time looking into my eyes. Sawyer spendsa lot more time looking into my eyes or studying my face than Jane did. Isn’t that an interesting difference?

On another topic,
We talked about food storage at church on Sunday. This lesson kind of inspired me to get a better idea of where I stand with my food storage and to learn how to use what I do have better. We have a little less than three months of the basic food storage the the church advises us to have. That said, I make all my own bread, we eat a lot of rice and if necessary we could drink powdered milk until the situation allowed us to drink regular milk again. In my studies I found this great blog with a ton of recipes for food storage. You guys need to check it out.

Foodstorage911.blogspot.com

Since I stumbled across this site, I have made wheat berries, rice pudding, an awesome rice ad beans salad and I still plan on making a pasta chicken salad, chili, and potato soup. All of the ingredients for these six meals cost me only $38! I have almost everything I need stocked in my pantry or included in my food storage.

Well, that is enough from me for the morning. My kids are antsy and Jane needs a new diaper!
Later.

Happy Birthday to me!

Hi All,
It's my birthday! I'm 24. Wee haw.
Today was such a blissfully quiet day. Jane was a little upset when she woke up and Jake was already at work but she was quickly consoled when I told her that Daddy would be home after her nap. After that, we ate breakfast, made art and played together. It was pretty fun.
Jane kept telling me that it was HER happy birthday.
Today, I'm really lucky that Jake chose an unconventional white cake with rasberry filling instead of my usual choice of chocolate. That cake was DANG good. In fact, I'm going to have another piece right now...

A post a day...

Hello again, to all my friends.

I'm still feeling quite chipper and enthusiastic about the new year. In large part because Jake was blessed with an EXTRA day off before he starts work. He went to a meeting the day after Christmas last week and we thought it was going to just be extra vacation time to use later. Well, as it turns out, his training officer is on vacation until Monday so Jake CAN"T start until Monday so we get an extra day off PLUS we are being paid for it (on top of the last two weeks he has been home with out working AND with pay).

So anyways, the year is going well.

(note to reader: I wrote the opening of this post two days ago.)

I've never been one for new year resolutions but this year, in order to stave off insanity, I've decided to set a couple of goals for myself.

1. Keep a clean house. I want to be able to have people over and not worry if they wander towards my room or need to use the bathroom in my room because the kiddos are napping in the other rooms. I want people to be able to drop by without me worrying that they'll judge my by the state of my house (I would judge me...).

2. Be presentable. This could mean a number of things. For me, this means making the effort to shower every day ( I know that it sounds gross for all of you empty Nester's but when you have kids you'll understand), blow-dry my hair and put on a little bit of make-up. No Sweats!

3. Potty train Jane.

4. Rebuild our savings account

5. Train for a triathlon. I've already started running. When it warms up I'll start swimming and when we start making a LITTLE bit more money, I'll buy a bike. I should point out though that it is completely ridiculous that I think it is too cold to swim right now in Florida. If I lived in any other part of the country I would be dying for a dip in the pool at the temperatures we've been having lately. In my defence, I've lived in south Georgia/north Florida for going on six years now. I'm officially acclimated to the climate (even though it is hotter than hell here in the summer) and that means that 77 degrees with no humidity just isn't hot enough to justify a dip in the pool.

6. Post an entry a day on my blog. I'm laughing at myself a little bit too. I've been horrible about posting to this blog but I really want to make an effort to post a little something every day. In every post I'm going to try to note one way that I have been blessed. Since I've already missed two days I'm going to post three ways that I a lucky today.

Jan 2: I was lucky to have Jake home for one extra day.
Jan 3: We had a great day with Jake's parents, Manga and PopPop, at the Natural History Museum here in Gainesville. I'm lucky to have in-laws that I like and to live in a city that has cool museums.
Jan 4: I'm blessed (hallelujah) with 9:00am church.

SO anyways, tomorrow is my birthday. I'll be 24. I can't believe it.
Until then, keep on truckin'.

Off to a great start.

Welcome, welcome 2009!
Our new year has started off nicely.
Our day yesterday consisted of hanging out around the house. Talking to a great friend on the phone and having some new friends over for a movie and conversation. The new year is looking like it is going to be our (my and Jake's) best year ever. We've got a decent job, two great kids, a nice place to live, we're making new friends and keeping in touch with old friends, and the vacations that we are talking about today aren't just a dream hanging up high on the ladder of "someday".
I hope everyone's new year is as great as ours is going to be! To all our family and friends, we love you dearly and hope that this new year brings you all the happiness and joy you deserve.

A bientot 2008!

Hello friends,
Another year has managed to slip by and it has certainly been a big one! I don't think I;ve ever felt so completely blessed and cursed at the same time before. Most of you know what we have been up to this year but for the sake of posterity I'll give a recap.

January: Jake and I had a feeling the economy was about to take a down-turn and started the hiring process with the Florida Highway Patrol. I should note that we had begun the walk down this road two times before it never ended up being the right road for us... until now.

February: I found out that I was pregnant on Valentines Day which also happens to be the anniversary of our meeting.

March, April, May: Work and school consumed our time. We also said good-bye to some really great friends that made their way to our nations capital.

June: Jake started the academy for the Florida Highway Patrol. Jane and I got to spend a LOT of quality time together from Sunday nights to Friday afternoon. Jane and I took a vacation and hosted some visitors.

July: Jane turned 2! We had a princess party and invited one of Jane's very best friends.

August: We got health insurance. This may not sound like a great big deal to most of you but... Jake and I had been living on the edge for nearly four years without health insurance. We have dental too!

September: Passed without consequence.

October: We found out that we were going to be stationed in Gainesville, Fl and welcomed Sawyer Rutger Smith into the world on 10/25/2008. He weighed 8lbs. 1 oz. and was about 21 inches long.

November: Gramma (my mom) came to visit, Jake turned 26 and we packed like mad.

December: Moved to Gainesville, Jake graduated from the academy, Gramma came to visit, and finally, the year is over.

On paper it doesn't look like such a hard year. In reality it was as hard to go through it as it feels to look back on it. After Jake's graduation I practically cried for an hour and a half because it was over and I didn't know how to process it. This whole year had been about surviving and I have done it well, with a relatively convincing smile on my face. The Lord lifted me up and bore the brunt of my burdens throughout the last year. I should have struggled way more than I did but the Spirit was so strong and so constant in my life; it was almost as though I was walking around wrapped in bubble wrap. I am so grateful for that bubble wrap.

So we are on to a new year. I'll post pictures from our Christmas season in a little bit. I've decided that this new year is going to be devoted to completing projects that will help me really get into the Christmas spirit next year. I'm also training for a triathlon and struggling like crazy to get my pre-pregnancy body back.

I have to apologize if this post seems less than optimistic about 2008. I've done my best to take everything as it comes but, as of right now, I've never been more glad to see a new year come. Cheers to you all! I hope that your new year allows you to walk comfortably through your lives without the help of spiritual bubble wrap!

I'm Back!

Hello All!

It's been a little while since I last posted and as most of you know, a lot has changed!

Sawyer Rutger Smith was born on October 25, 2008 at 1:47a.m.

I had been grumpy all day to the point of Jake literally kicking me out of the house and telling me to go get a facial. It was blissful. I felt so at peace; and then about an hour later I remembered that I was pregnant still and got grumpy again!

Anyways, the contractions started at about 8:30pm Friday night. We got to triage between 9:30pm and 10:00pm and I was in pain! I was already six cm so they admitted me right away (according to hospital standards anyways).

One shot of stadol and an epidural later and I had the baby.

Everything went SO FAST! I told my nurse I didn't want to push very much so she wasn't even going to check me for a little while. I asked her to anyways, just so we knew what the status was, and while she told me I was 9 cm she started pulling out all the tools and scrubs for the doctor. My Dr. came in half an hour later, broke my water, and five minutes after that Sawyer was here.

For the past week we have been hanging out around the house, watching movies, not doing dishes or picking up after ourselves. Jane has been passed around to friends, neighbors and family. She is starting to refuse to leave. Sawyer sleeps really well so far; I've been getting up to 6 hours of sleep at night (not at one time but compared to the sleep that I got with Jane I'm resting well).

The best news is...I haven't needed to medicate myself for PPD yet! My doctor and I talked about and we're waiting to see if I backslide at all. I feel awesome though! All the anxieties that I had with Jane are non-existent. I won't go into dirty specifics of what I went through with Jane but things are MUCH better this time.

So now, I feel good. My body is bouncing back. I'm officially sick of the television. The weather is great and we'll be moving in about a month. I've got my time and my hands full until then! If anyone wants to come over and hang out, help me pack, play with my kids, all of the above you are move than welcome! Just call first!!

Update!!

I wish I could write to tell you that I have had the baby and he is big and healthy and handsome...but I can't. I'm still pregnant and pretty huge (have I mentioned that yet?).

Anyways, I am writing to tell you all that Jake and I finally, FINALLY, got his assignment for the Florida Highway Patrol. We're going to Gainesville, FL. Which is amazing and perfect because it is exactly where we said we wanted to go when we started the whole application, interview, training process about a year ago. We have about 5-6 weeks left in Tallahassee and then we'll be in the swamp!

Also, I must mention that the little floating baby is pretty cute on the side of my blog but I never noticed the little umbilical cord until about a day ago. It kind of creeps me out...

Fabulous Fall

Okay, ladies, here's a post for you that doesn't have to do with pregnancy and toddlers.

Today, I ate dinner in heaven.
I'm not kidding. I sat down at a cumulus table and dined with angels today. This kind of dinner only happens in one season every year... Fall.
For dinner we had butternut squash and apple soup. It is the most amazing soup that I have ever had/made and you can only make it in the fall.
It's creamy (though not made with cream) and sweet and spicy and it has the most amazing melt-in-your-mouth flavor that is the.... I don't know what it is.
Anyways, if you want toe recipe go to foodnetwork.com and type butternut squash and apple soup in the recipe finder section at the top of the page. The recipe I use is from the Barefoot Contessa.

Alright. After that wonderful dinner I started thinking about my ideal menu for the different holidays that are coming up.
Here is what I was thinking:
Thanksgiving would consist of the aforementioned butternut squash and apple soup as a starter. Turkey (made using a recipe by Bobby Flay--I can't think of what it is called but it uses apples as well) with cranberry orange relish, fresh green beans sauteed with olive oil and fresh cracked pepper, mashed potatoes and home-made dinner roles would be the main course and dessert would be choice between apple-cranberry crist or pineapple-coconut tart.

If you can't tell, I'm a big fan of apples in the fall...I think it is because I'm from Washington State.

Christmas hasn't been decided as specifically as Thanksgiving has but Jake and I want to do a big Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve instead of Christmas Day. In the morning on Christmas Day I'm making this great Breakfast Sausage Casserole recipe that I got from the Cooking Light website. It is AMAZING!! It is so rich you couldn't eat it even once a month but it would be perfect for a Christmas tradition. The best part is that it is made with ingredients that keep it pretty healthy.
Christmas Eve Dinner would for SURE include a Honey-Glazed Ham and fresh green beans. I'm not sure what else. Dessert would probably consist of chocolate mousse with cherries.

What are your family traditions? I'm trying to figure out what we can do to create our OWN family traditions. Fill me in!!

I just CAN"T decide...

So, I've gone back again to the idea of going into labor on my own.
The longer I am pregnant (really, the closer I get to my due date) the more I realize that I would rather be pregnant and spend more time with Jane than throw myself into the frying pan with two kids and a husband that is gone 5 days a week.
Plus, I'm pretty scared about having two kids...
This is where I need all my veteren mom friends to swoop in to the rescue to remind me that it isn't going to be as hard as it sounds and I'll love the little baby as much as I love Jane because there seems to be a disconnect with me and those topics right now...
I hate to admit it but I really DON"T know what to do with a boy. I'm a little terrified by the thought of it. I'm not a huge fan of change that I can't control though...
What do you think??

I'm also a little nervous about the whole "going into labor" thing. In that respect I feel like a first time mom because I didn't go naturally with Jane. I don't know what to expect other than contractions that don't go away. I thought for sure that I would have the baby by now because of nesting and pressure and contractions...but, my doctor says he is still pretty high. Who knew?
So anyways, I'm still pregnant and I'm pretty happy about it.

This one's for you...

So I just had my baby shower for Sawyer this weekend and it was a LOT of fun! Jake's mom and sister really outdid themselves by throwing this shower for me and it was extremely appreciated. More so than they will probably ever know.
So anyways, I've been thinking about the parallels between this pregnancy and the last. How life is going to change. What I know now that I didn't know then and blah blah blah...
I've also been talking to a lot of soon-to-be first time mothers about different things they'll need or what would be helpful. So that is what this post is about. All the veteran mom readers, let's pool our resources and experiences and make a BIG list of things that we wish we would have known or had or registered for with our first babies...
I'll start us off.

1. You're baby isn't going to die or be permanently neurologically damaged if it gets jaundice.
-let the baby sleep in front of a window that gets lots of sunlight and if you get really desperate and you are nursing, supplement with a formula bottle once or twice a day.

2. Don't try to breastfeed until you have a lactation consultant in the room helping you.
-It will feel very awkward to have a strange woman feeling you up and shoving your baby's
head onto your bosom but you will thank me for this when you don't have bleeding and
cracked nipples. Lansinoh is your friend.

3. Register for Infant Motrin, Infant Tylenol, Gas Drops, Teething Gel and Lansinoh.
- These are expensive necessities (almost as important as diapers) and you will be grateful
to your friends for helping you stock up.

4. Buy an eye mask (for sleeping).
-Everyone tells you to sleep when the baby sleeps. DO THIS!! However, if you have a hard time sleeping during the day, you'll definitely get your three dollars worth.

5. Don't feel pressure to let people help you but ALSO, don't be afraid to ask for help.
-I'm really not the best person to give advice on the whole family help issue. I have independence problems and I am hard headed. I can tell you though that you should never feel pressured to do something you are not comfortable with. If that means saying no to a well-intentioned offer for babysitting or calling someone up and begging them to give you a break: Do what works for you and DON"T let anyone make you feel inadequate for not doing it their way.

6. Three days of meals from the ward is WONDERFUL... but it isn't enough.
-Stock up on freezer meals or canned soup or microwave dinners. Horde as much of whatever makes you feel good when you eat it and doesn't leave you feeling guilty for not making it yourself. Lately, I have been making casseroles in 9x13 in. pans and packing half of it up and freezing it for later. I have between one and two weeks worth of food in the freezer for when the baby comes plus some frozen bread, homemade freezer burritos and pancakes.

7. Chances are your baby won't die of SIDS.
- Again, I'm not the best person to talk to about this. I had post-partum depression and was certifiably crazy for about 10 months. BUT, if you find yourself consumed with the fear of your babies death, if movies of the worst-case scenario keep playing behind your eye-lids, you should probably talk to your doctor and make sure that you don't have PPD also. No woman should have to suffer the way I did... Get yourself checked out if you just don't feel like yourself.

Okay, This is what I can think of at the moment. If I come up with something else, I'll write another post. Ladies, help out. Let's educate the new moms in ways that we weren't. Welcome to the club. It is an exciting, scary, AMAZING ride. You'll love most minutes of it, hate some of them but you'll never regret any of them.

A mighty change of heart...

So it would appear as though I have a tendency of going into "labor" a couple of weeks early while I am pregnant. When I was pregnant with Jane I labored hard enough to get admitted to labor and delivery and then sent home when the contractions stopped. With this pregnancy I only had to endure two hours in the triage area before I convinced them that the contractions would go away as soon as I was able to rest and relax at home.
I kept telling myself after I actually had Jane that I wanted to know what it was like to go into labor naturally. Well... I change my mind. Going to labor and delivery with close contractions, hip pain, no husband and being only 35 weeks pregnant was so stressful! My dear mother-in-law was nice enough to go with me and walk the halls and offer to sing to me when I was on the verge of tears. I don't want to go into labor naturally. That is crazy! I want to be able to check my schedule, pick a day, get a good nights rest and have a baby the next day.
I mother Jane using a method that I learned to use on myself to help curb my anxiety. We talk about events that will be coming up, I explain what is going to happen and what it is going to be like and then I tell her that it is going to be okay. Going into labor naturally completely disregards the method that I use to keep MYSELF calm! I can't go into labor naturally.

Change of Subject:
I've been doing a lot of preparing and planning for this baby because of the circumstance of our life right now. I've got about two weeks worth of freezer meals already prepared and in the freezer. I'm planning on renting a steam cleaner and cleaning the carpets and couch. I am having a hard time thinking of all the spring cleaning type tasks that need to be completed before the baby comes. Not just because I'm crazy for thinking about cleaning the house from top to bottom before the baby comes but also so I don't have to do it before we move with a toddler AND a baby in the house.
Do you guys have any suggestions??
Do you have any great, easy freezer meal recipes? I'd like to have 30 days worth of freezer meals when I deliver so I can focus on resting, finding a new place to live and packing.

The newest maroon house on the block.

The countdown begins...

Being pregnant is the one of the most maddening things you can do to yourself. At the end you are big and uncomfortable and ready to have your body back. I swear to you, I have dreamt about my pre-pregnancy body every night so far this week. You know what I do in all my dreams? I squish my hard (flat) runners stomach and feel the blissful sensation of NOTHING pushing back! It's crazy, I know, but I can't wait to stretch my legs again and feel the wind of a 12 minute mile in my hair... :) I can't wait to lay down on my side and not feel my muscles stretch and ache to accomodate the weight of my huge baby unsupported... I can't wait to go get that carribean salt or seaweed wrap that I read about from a local spa as a reward for making it through one more pregnancy without tearing my hair out or ripping my clothes in half with my teeth.
Okay, okay, so maybe I'm being a little dramatic. This pregnancy has actually be very good. I haven't had ANY of the problems that I had with Jane. I've been perfect physically throughout. I'm actually starting to wonder if people are right when they say that girls are easier...
Anyways, foward I march. The most maddening thing about this pregnancy to me is the end. Only in the sense that I am desperate to not be pregnant anymore (as previously mentioned) but, at the same time, I don't want the baby to come until I"M ready (which isn't until Jake is ready...). So what do you do when you are ready for something to happen, but not just yet, while at the same time, you don't want to wait too long...?
You just keep living life and try as hard as you can to not think about the when's, how's and where's of the matter. As an update for all you rabid readers (yes, for both of you) I'm going to try to post some pictures so you can see how big I actually am. On a personal note, Jane and I are doing great. We are past the half-way mark with the academy and once we have the baby things will be over and done before we know it.

Call me crazy...

Okay,
First of all, I have to say that I think I may be the only person in the state of Florida who enjoyed Tropical Storm Fay. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I would be willing to say that tropical storms are the BEST things that Florida summers have to offer. It did rain for about three days but it was also 20 degrees cooler than normal...with a nice breeze.
Plus, it is nice to turn on the news and not hear the weather man going on and on about our water deficit anymore. We officially have a surplus now. Yee Haw!

Second, I really think that the weather hates me sometimes. My car stinks like must from all of the moisture so I made plans today to steam clean it at my in-laws. Well...my plans are no more because of the huge lines of thunderstorms that are coming through right now. We are under a tornado watch so instead of cleaning my car and getting rid of the smell, the smell will probably just get thicker. Ew.

Other than that life is swimming along. Time is ticking away and even though it seems like it is going slow presently I keep waking up on Friday wondering where the week went.

It's my obsession...

I'm obessessed with the new Neutrogena Wave.

This cute little product is more than a great accessory for your bathroom. It is an AMAZING tool to use on your face! Usually I am more than skeptical about these little fad face washing gadgets that come out but I decided to take the leap and try it out this time. I was not dissapointed. My skin is so much smoother. The amount of small little blackheads that were on my chin has been cut in half. If I do break out, the whole rising, popping and healing process is so much faster than with a regular cleanser.

Seriously, get this product. Even if you don't think you have a problem with your skin it feels amazing to use. Your face gets tingly and fresh. The feeling is comparable to your mouth after a good tooth-brushing.

I love it!

Blogger Loser...

Hi All,
I'm a blogger loser.
I keep making mental notes in my brain of things I want to blog about and I keep not making time to blog about them. Here is a basic recap of the last couple of weeks.

1. I'm addicted to baking soda and vinegar as a household cleaner. I scrubbed both of the rings around Jane's tub (the ring from where I fill the water and the ring from where Jake fills the water) off in THREE minutes. It may not have even taking that long.

2. I'm dying to get my hands on a kitchen aid stand mixer. I would almost consider donating a spare kidney for one of the professional grade machines (I'm sure I use the kidney less than I would use the mixer... right?!).

3. The cost of "Positive Discipline: Birth to Three Years" should be written into the cost of every woman's hospital stay. We should also be tested on it periodically to make sure that the book is being read. If every parent would read this book I think we would see a DRASTIC change in our society 20 years from now. I love this book so much I want to invite the authors to Tallahassee so I can kiss their feet.

4. I've been keeping track of all the fun words that Jane pronounces incorrectly. Here is a list:
-"Eleflu" or Elephant
-"copcorn" or popcorn
-"manga" or gramma
-"monka" is monkey
-"tire" is tiger
-"night" is snow white
-"a roar" is aurora
-"la" is cinderella
-"daiyu" is Jasmin
and a bunch more.

5. I am so far into my pregnancy that I am going MORE than once a month. I can't believe it has all gone by so quickly. I'm at the point now where I can push my stomach and actually feel body parts. That is such a fun stage because when the baby sleeps close to the skin (as opposed to the spine) I can push little legs and arms around while he sleeps. I used to do this with Jane all the time. It wakes the baby up pretty much every time you do it.

6. Jane turned TWO!! I can't believe it! We had such a fun birthday party. She asked for a Princess party so that is what she got. One of her friends came over and they fingerpainted together. Then she ate cake and opened presents with the family. Almost everything she got had Disney Princesses on it.

7. AND FINALLY, I've been thinking about getting my kids a standard investment gift every year but I don't know which would be better: stocks, bonds, mutual funds or a deposit into a high yield savings account.

What do you guys think???

Recall...

I'm starting the food diary again.
'Nuf said...

Yay for weekends!

1. Two logs have been discontinued... I can't possibly keep a realistic track of my time and I refuse to keep track of my diet. I'll just work out more.

2. Jake is home for a LONG three day weekend. Yay! Tonight, instead of fireworks and throngs of people, we put Jane to bed at her normal bedtime and we are making bread, balancing our checkbook (this log is so nice, being accountable for the money on paper makes me spend less in general... who would have thought?!) and picking out different recipes to try on his weekends at home. I love my husband.

I was sitting in a restaurant last night, watching Jane and Jake walk away to the bathroom (she had a DIIIIRRRRTTTTYYY diaper) and I couldn't help but just smile. I have the best little family. Jane sat by Jake at dinner and kept reaching over and hugging and kissing him. I kept cathing the woman behind us staring at Jane and smiling. She is such a sweet little girl. I knew Jake was the right man for me when I married him and I have never second guessed my decision but going through the weeks by myself and having him home on the weekend just reaffirms my feelings and lets me KNOW that I NEVER want to be a single mother. It not as hard to do everything with a child on your own as it is lonely. I want to badly to put Jane into bed every night and feel relieved that she is down but most of the time I want to just get her back up so I have someone to sit with me and talk to me (she can actually TALK now and tell me what she likes and dislikes...it is amazing!)

Anyways, I'm not going to be a downer.

I love my family so much!

Electric Knives...

I got an electric knife!
I use it to cut the two loaves of freshbaked, whole wheat bread I have made in the last week. I also used it to cut Jane's frenchbread pizza last night. It was great! I'm pretty much addicted to it.

Usually when I try something new, I try other new things at the same time. Here is a brief recap of the new routines I am trying to establish:

1. A food Diary. Normally I am AGAINST these with a passion that is unrivaled but... I keep gaining weight with this pregnancy and I can't figure out where I am eating enough to gain eight pounds in one month and 6 pounds in the next. I'm thinking it might have something to do with the miniature chocolates I buy on the weekend when Jake is home...

2. An activity log. Again, this is something that I am normally very much opposed to but if I'm going to monitor my physical weight I should probably monitor all the junk time activities I have been filling my days with lately. So far I have half a page worth of entries and nothing really substantial to report... I've done the dishes, run to the bank, checked the mail, paid the rent...

3. and finally, a spending log! This is nothing more than a sheet of lined paper that tracks every single penny that I spend but this is big!! I hate keeping the balance of my bank on paper but with all the new money coming in and all of my lofty saving goals, I've got to figure out where I can "trim the fat."

It's interesting though, all of my new activities revolve around losing some kind of weight or another. I blame my friend, you know who you are, for filling my mind with 3 years worth of a minimalists perspective. Maybe I'll finally get it right this time...
Until then, I'm drinking a lot of water, hanging out with Jane and working while she naps. We're bored!! Call us for playdates!!!

I Know...

If you haven't already heard, Jane is obsessed with Sleeping Beauty. Most days she asks to watch the movie first thing in the morning and then asks over and over again for me to dance with her while I sing her favorite song from the movie. It is one of the great joys that I have in my life. Lately she has been readjusting our hand positions if my hand isn't in the correct leading position. I have no idea where she picked that up!

When I saw this Sleeping Beauty doll I HAD to get it for her. She has been carrying that doll everywhere. She sleeps with it. She sings to it, brushes its' hair and dances with it. She is such a smart little girl!!

In a matter of months Jane will be two years old. It is weird to think that my sweet little baby isn't a little baby anymore. I worry sometimes because I feel so close to her, I feel so drawn and hypnotized by her. How can I possibly feel this way for little baby Sawyer? (Surprise, that is the name we chose for Smith baby #2) But then, with every kick and wiggle I feel a little more bonded to him as well. Everyone that I have ever met says "of course a mother has enough love for two. A mother's heart just expands" but one of my great friends also said that you begin to love the children in relation to one another. I already feel that. Every time Jane pats my stomach and says "Hi baby soyee" my heart melts a little and I think "this child is so lucky to have such a great family waiting for him". Maybe that is a little arrogant but....oh well.

So in honor of Jane and for posterities' sake, here is a list of all of my favorite things she does.

The stink eye, her princess obsession, playing night night, walking dogs, swinging, sliding, eating as much fruit as she can get her hands on, telling other kids "no take" when they get too close to her toy, kissing me randomly, calling for "Jacob! Jacob! Honey! Honey!" instead of just asking for Daddy, grasping enough of the concept of someone being gone to say "miss Daddy" or "miss Holly", playing back and forth with me by saying "you rock!" "no, you rock!", wiggling in behind me on the couch and "hold, Mommy", screaming anytime she sees bubbles, using her fingers to close her eyes, pretending to snore when she plays night night, and a thousand other things!

I can't even begin to name all the things I love about her. The list is so long and ever evolving. I couldn't have gotten a daughter that is more wonderful if I would have written up a checklist and sent it to Heavenly Father. Jane Elizabeth Smith is one of the great loves of my life and I can't wait to see where we all go from here.

Beauty Sleep

Jane and I dropped Jake off at the Florida Highway Patrol Training Academy today. So far my experiences with being a single parent are pretty good. We went to the grandparents house from the academy and they not only ran Jane ragged but stuffed her full of food that will keep her tummy happy for the whole night. She fell asleep at 6:00pm on the way home and is looking like she is going to sleep the rest of the evening. I've watched T.V., eaten a cupcake and two leftover maple sausage links from breakfast and now I am getting ready to brush my teeth and read for an hour or two before going to bed.

I tend to have dark circles around my eyes naturally but when I am pregnant they arrive in darker shades than I have ever seen before! So here is my question for you guys; aside from getting more sleep and wearing obscene amounts of makeup, what can I do to make these pseudo-black eyes go away? Have you found any products that effectively get rid of them? Do cucumbers actually work? Tell me!!

Also, I have to say, Jake was so cute in his suit today when I dropped him off. I love my husband so much and my daughter is such a joy. I can't wait until we finish this training period (30 weeks!!) and can be a complete family again.

Fancy fancy

So I cruise all the blogs that are linked to my friends pages and I have noticed that my blog is pretty basic.
How do you add all the links at the side and make columns on the side. I even saw a blog with a little floating baby and a timer predicting its' arrival...

Tantrums...

Jane is officially, OFFICIALLY two years old.

I know, technically, we are about 6 weeks away from the big day but she is wearing me out!

She cried for two hours two days ago because we had no juice in the house. We put her in her room; she came back out and cried. Finally, after sitting in her room for the better part of two hours she decided pitching a fit wasn't going to work and turned into the most loving and playful little girl...

What has happened to my child?!

The Stink Eye...

Have you ever had a neighbor that moved in and decided, in a matter of seconds, that they just didn't like something about you??

I think I am having my first encounter with this phenomenon. And it is really getting on my nerves.

A new family moved into our complex and every attempt Jake and I have made to wave, smile or say "hello" to them has been met with a dirty look!

One of these days I'm going to... well, I haven't actually decided what I'm going to do one of these days but I'm annoyed!!

And the verdict is...

Hi All!
So, most of you know by now that I am pregnant. I haven't really posted anything about it so if you didn't already know... Surprise!

The news of the hour is that we are having a BOY!! We are so excited to have a little boy in the family. We are like a perfectly balancing teeter-totter right now and I can safely say that I'd be perfectly happy with my little family for the rest of my life if we decided to not have any more children.

Our little guy is pretty much the complete opposite of Jane (as far as being in the womb is concerned).
Jane measured a week small.
Baby Sawyer (surprise! That's his name!) measures a week big.
Jane never slept at night and I couldn't get her to wake up before 10:00AM
Baby Sawyer sleeps at night and hops around all morning.
Jane was asleep and sucking her hand in every ultrasound we had.
Baby Sawyer looks like he is the main attraction at the circus. We get flips and turns and HOPS!! When the doctor did an ultrasound on Sawyer a month ago he was hopping around so much that we could hear a sound coming across the heartbeat detecting machine. I thought he had hiccups but the Doctor set me straight and informed me that the baby was jumping.

I don't think Jane quite understands what she is in for but she likes to hold my slowly growing tummy and kiss my belly button. She at least knows that the baby is not in HER belly. In fact, if I ask her if she is "mommy's baby" she points at my tummy and says "Baby".

Anyways, we are so happy. We can't wait to share our new little baby with the rest of you.

St. Simons Island

Hi All!! I'm BAaaaaaaaaCK!
We went to St. Simons Island for the weekend to meet my mom a couple of weeks ago and I just had to share our adventures. St. Simons Island is on the Ga. Coast about an hour north of Jacksonville and it is one of the best kept secrets in the South. Above is the bridge that we took into town. It was so high off the ground you could see the water and marshlands for miles.

Little Jane loved swinging at the waterfront park by the pier but she was so tired before we left on Sunday that she was falling asleep in the swing.

The women on the beach after arriving Friday evening. It rained the whole way up to St. Simons and magically cleared when we got to our condo.

Jane was so excited when she saw a pool after the long drive that she just couldn't wait to go swimming until the morning. She is realizing the pool is a little cold in this picture. She was so cute though. We just let her plop right in the water with her diaper and t-shirt on.

Jane and Mommy at the top of the lighthouse I carried two babies all the way to the top... ;)

Well, We've missed you all. If you happen to stumble across this in passing feel free to make a comment so I know your there. Sarah, you've been so great with your harrassment for me to keep writing. You can officially begin pestering me about it again!!

Salut!

Starleigh

New Year! New me?

Hello to all of my faithful readers!
(So far I only have evidence of ONE!!) I'm back on board the blogspot train. Hopefully this year I will be able to keep up with this thing. Every year I make the resolution to start writing in a journal and every year I fail miserable at following through with that goal.
Things at home are going well. Jane is full-gear into the "terrible two's" even though she is only 18 months old. She is so smart and talks so much. I read a book today that said children at 18 months should know about 20 single words and be minimally communicative. She is so far passed that! We are working on "please" and "thank you". She says "I love you" and asks to go "Bye bye"; she says "all done" when she has completed a task or finished eating and so many other things. Honestly I would have to sit down and write a list of all the words she says. Her favorites of course are "No" and "mine."
Life isn't all bad with a crazy almost-two-year-old though. She is so affectionate and loving. She kisses all the babies that she sees and pretty much anyone that comes within arm distance of her. She is so wonderful.
Jake and I are planning on trying for our second child soon. We wanted to wait until Jane turns two in July but when the Spirit moves, well, all you can do is get out of the way.
Seriously though, last Sunday, at church, I felt like someone was missing. I almost kept looking around for someone that I knew wasn't there. It is the first time I have ever felt that way before. Usually I am so content and relaxed with just a family of three. Last Sunday I felt very strongly like it was time for a new member to join our family. We haven't started trying YET though so don't hold your breath waiting for the big news. We'll tell you when we tell you.
Other than that life has picked its' pace up a little bit. Jake is participating in the ROTC program at FSU and will hopefully be contracted next week. I am still working with LSI doing research but have been given a small promotion. It is a lot of work but it's good experience and I should get a good recommendation from this. I'll also get the 1-2 years experience that everyone in the world asks of their job applicants. (Hopefully I won't have to use it after Jake is commissioned.) The clock is tickin' folks. Jake is close to being done with school and then we never really have to worry about school again.

Hooray!!

The poet in me.

I am not a poet.

However, I was compelled to write a poem for a class. This is the one that I love best.

It is inspired by my family.

Hibiscus

Through the doorway of the room
the painted Hibiscus can be seen
the soft rounded petals are as flat as the wall
the babies cries can be heard
from the hall to the master bedroom
to the screen on the open window
the father is reading his book
hundreds of pages turning to one.
He is content
and loved by all the world.

Betty is the lady...

Betty Crocker is the lady.
When I was a little girl I used to go to my grandparents' house every spring break and eat loaves upon loaves of crunchy home-made bread.
(okay, so I didn't really like the crunchy bread back then but my how the times have changed.)
As I grew older and ultimately more mature ( I am quite charming and mature these days...) I developed a desire to have the basic skill of bread making passed down to me.

The time finally came last week.
My grandparents visited me in the great state of Florida (their first visit ever!!) and graciously took the time to show me how to bake bread.
Apparently I was cooking blind in the kitchen because my Grandmother bought me a "Betty Crocker" cook book and my world has changed.
THAT BOOK IS FREAKIN AWESOME!!

Seriously, If you don't own a copy, go out and buy one RIGHT now. (Wal-Mart is open 24-hours; there are no excuses for not having one by this time tomorrow...)

Absent.

So I guess at least two people read my blog.
Sorry I have been absent. In the last few weeks the Smith Family has driven at least 1200 miles round trip. We have gone south (to Orlando) then north (to Chattanooga) and south again (home). Our trips were great. We had a great time reconnecting with most of the different branches of our families (the only branch missing is the one my dad sits on).

When we were in Orlando we went non-stop all day. It was great. Jane had a wonderful time at the theme parks and Jake and I were able to relax a little bit too. Grandparents are great.

Chattanooga was a visual feast for the eyes. The fall colors were present in full effect. There was a national rowing competion on the Tennessee river the weekend we were there and the temperature was cool enough for a light jacket but not cool enough for hats and gloves.

Now we are all tired from our travels. Jane is finally figuring out how to sleep through the night again (Only because we make her cry in her bed if she wakes up or refuses to go to sleep). She does have a mystery virus though so we are pretty muched locked in for the next week.

I've got a lot of pictures to post from our different trips but no energy to post them right now. For those faithful readers that notice if I don't repost for three weeks, I promise I won't make you wait that long.

For everyone else...
you won't notice anyways.

Ciao!
Je suis une flame parmi des femmes.