What we've been up to lately

For Labor Day weekend we went to my parent's house. It was really nice. It's amazing that I could forget how beautiful my hometown of Pinetop-Lakeside really is, especially this time of year. I was just in awe driving around at how beautiful everything was. Luke loved being spoiled by Grandma, and Grandma loved spoiling Luke. There are definite perks to being the 1st grandchild! We went to the swimming pool where my sister Emily works as a lifeguard. It was Grady's first time swimming. I can't say that he enjoyed it. He did stay calm if I held him close, but after about 15 minutes he was done. Luke really enjoyed it though.

I convinced my mom and little sister to file Grady's nails for me. There aren't many things I hate more than filing nails. It's like fingernails on a chalk board to me. Thanks mom and Em!

I enjoyed doing a couple laps around Woodland Lake with my mom and Grady in the stroller while Luke played with his dad and Emily at the park. The weekend went by way too fast. We'll have to go up again soon.!

On a different note, I got to take pictures of my friend's little girl. A couple weeks ago she was telling me how she was going to take her little girl to get her pictures taken for her 2nd birthday. I said it was a good idea to take her little girl where she was planning for pictures, but then I basically begged her to let me try for free to take a few pictures of her little girl! She agreed, so last week we went and took these pictures. This was my first time ever taking pictures of someone else's kid, and I learned a lot. It was so much fun, and as you can see she is an exceptionally cute little girl! Here's a few of my favorites.

It's that time of year again!!!

FOOTBALL SEASON!!!

I do love watching football. Not nearly as much as Ty, but I do love it. Maybe the love comes from my days at Blue Ridge, watching the team go undefeated during the regular season from the time I was in 2nd grade till after I graduated high school. Winning isn't everything though. I loved going to the Eastern Arizona College football games with my roommates when I went to school there even though they didn't win a single game those whole 2 years!

Ty and I became big ASU Football fans while we were students there. We sat in great front row seats for cheap in the student's section in our own little corner away from all the drunk, crazy, and half-naked students. During one of the seasons while we were there ASU started this wristband policy. In addition to having a student ticket we had to show up at a certain time and place a few days before a game and stand in line and get a wristband that told us what section we had to sit in. The big home game vs. USC that year was completely sold out, and we were unable to get wristbands for the section we loved. I can't believe we actually did this, but to get into the section we wanted we scanned our old wristbands into the computer, photoshoped them so they looked like they were for the USC game, printed them out and wore them to the game!!! We were so stressed that someone would realize they were fake and kick us out of the stadium, but it actually worked! We got there super early, got to sit on the third row, and didn't move from our seats til the game was over! (I don't think anyone would be able to get away with making their own wristbands now. We were only able to get away with it because the policy was so new.)

Anyways, we are still Sun Devil fans. Ty took Luke to a scrimmage at the stadium last Saturday. All week he's been talking about how he wants to go to a stadium and see big TVs. Ty took these amazing pictures with his phone. After the scrimmage was over, Ty was able to let Luke run around on the actual Sun Devil Stadium grass!

I had fun doing my own little photo shoot with the boys in their Sun Devil gear.

I have such a hard time getting Luke to ever smile for a picture, but he does these great model-like pout faces all the time! Oh well!

A little bit of everything

First, I know this is kind of gross, but I've realized that I like the smell of spit-up. Last night Grady spit-up on my shoulder, and from then on every time I turned my head to that side I smelt it and liked it. Luke was quite the spitter-upper as a baby. All day long both of us were covered in spit-up. Grady isn't nearly as bad. I definitely don't miss being covered in spit-up all day long. I do really like the occasional whiff of it just because it reminds me of my babies. Please tell me I'm not the only crazy mom out there!

Anyways, Grady is now 2 months old. He's quite a big boy weighing 13 lbs. even (90th percentile) and is 22.75 inches (50th percentile) long. His head is in the 70th percentile. At his doctor's visit today the doctor said to me, "Now I don't want to make you feel bad or anything, but he's the 3rd baby I've seen today for his 2 month check-up and he's the only one not sleeping through the night." At this point, I would do just about anything for a good night's sleep! He still sleeps like a newborn waking up 2-3 times a night and rarely sleeping longer than 3.5hrs. in a strech. My biggest challenge is not taking out my lack of sleep on Luke. Other than the lack of sleep, he really is a very calm and happy baby. I shouldn't complain, because I know a lot of mom's who have had even worse sleeping problems.

There's nothing I love more than taking pictures of my boys (except for maybe eating a good dessert)! I had so much fun taking and editing these 2 month pictures of Grady. Having a new computer makes all the difference in the world, because now I can run my editing program without it freezing up or taking forever to edit 1 picture. Sorry there are so many pictures that look almost exactly alike. I was pretty disappointed that I only managed to get one picture of him smiling, because he's doing it all the time now. I still had a hard time choosing my favorites.

Ever since Grady has been born, Luke has been spending a lot more time with his dad especially in the evenings. My boys are so lucky to have such a great dad who truly loves spending time with them and is so excited to see them when he comes home from work. Here are a few pics of what they've been up to lately.

Daddy brought home a big box from work and turned it into a fort. What could be cooler than that?!

Luke and Dad spending some quality time relaxing, playing soccer, and looking at the stars outside.

Anniversary and Blessing

First, just let me apologize for my long absence from blogging. Our computer had been out of commission, and we just got a new one. Yeah!!!

This weekend Ty and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. I can't believe we've been married that long! We had a great reminiscing. So much has happened in these 5 years. We've made so many great memories, and I can't wait to see what the next years will bring! I'm so glad I married such a great man and father who is also my best friend. Here's a few pictures from the past 5 years.

On Sunday we blessed Grady with his cousins Brecklynn and Darrek in a quite large family ceremony. It was fun doing it all together. I'm glad that my kids have so many great cousins so close in age to grow up with.

I just loved this picture I snapped of Ty's sister Sara with her husband and baby.

Grady's the big one. He's a month older than the other two.

We both graduated from ASU in May 2006.

Us at the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Us in Prague.

Us at a castle in Germany.

Us and our feet at Delicate Arch in Utah.

Just for Laughs

I just thought this was hilarious.

Grady is 1 month old!!!

We made it through the 1st month, and we're doing great! Grady is doing a great job eating, sleeping and pooping, because now he weighs 10lb 14oz and is 21.5 in. It amazes me how fast they grow. That was over 3 lbs and 2.5 inches he gained in just 1 month. I'm so happy that his clothes fit him now. All too soon, I'm sure I'll be packing them again because he's outgrown them. I think I read somewhere that once they reach 11lbs. they're capable of sleeping for 6 straight hours. Somebody needs to tell Grady that, because he still only sleeps for an average of 3 hours in a row at night between feedings. He's really a great baby, and I'm so blessed to have him here.



One of those elusive newborn sleep smiles. I'm glad I caught one on camera.

I'll leave it to you to guess what he is doing in this picture.

Our 1st Trip as a Family of Four

This last week we took our little family up to Moab, UT for my Smith Family Reunion. I worried that I might be crazy taking a two-year-old and a two-week-old on a 10 hour car trip, but they both did surprisingly well in the car. How many 2-week-olds can say they've been to 4 different states? This year's reunion was a little more tame, because we were missing my cousins Jessie and Lauren and their husbands and I had 2 kids to take care of. I'll just tell the story of our trip with pictures.

This year we celebrated my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. They treated all of us to dinner at a nice restaurant. They are such a good example to me with the way they have lived their lives. They are devoted to each other, active in the community, they take good care of themselves, and have strong testimonies. They take advantage of every opportunity to teach us the things they have learned in their lives.

It made my grandparents so happy to see Grady. He's only their 2nd great-grandchild. They loved tending him. One morning everyone went out river rafting and it was only my grandma, me, and my two little boys at the hotel. I got sick, and my grandma was so wonderful. Even though she's in her 70's, she walked Luke and Grady to McDonalds for a Happy Meal, so I could sleep.

2007

2009

In 2007, when Luke was 2 months old, we were in Moab for another Smith Family Reunion. It was fun to relive everything again with Grady and to take some updated family pictures.

Luke at Sand Dune Arch at 2 months in 2007.

Grady at Sand Dune Arch at 2 weeks.

Reading is very important to my grandparents. They have given me a book for almost every Christmas and birthday growing up. They are continuing that tradition with Luke by trying to instill a love of reading in him already. Close to half of all of Luke's books have been given to him by my grandparents.

My dad got to meet Grady for the 1st time on the trip.

Watching the 4th of July fireworks from the hotel parking lot.

Luke swimming at the hotel pool. My sister Emily is a lifeguard, and she had fun trying to teach him a few things about swimming.



My beautiful little sister Emily. It is really nice to take a picture of someone who'll look at the camera and smile when you ask them too (unlike Luke)!

My beautiful Aunt Trudy. This one's for you Lauren and Jessie!!!

Grady's 1st photo shoot

Check out erinhouseholderphotography.blogspot.com to see some really cute pictures of Grady.
Thanks you Chantel for the photo shoot!