The Smiths

2 Weeks Old!

2012-01-30T13:59:00.000-08:00

Zach is 2 weeks old today and it is my first day alone with all 3 kids...yikes! It must not be too bad because here I am blogging about it.

Xander and Ryan are completely in love with the little guy. Zach sort of has his days and nights mixed up, and they say you should let the other kids be loud during the day because it will help the baby know that it's time to be awake. I don't think it's helping. Xander and Ryan make noise non-stop and it just lulls the little man to sleep.

The week Zach was born, my in-laws stayed with the other two kids while Tyler stayed with me in the hospital. Last week my mom stayed at our house to take care of me and the kids. She cooked dinner every night, entertained/bathed/dressed/fed/read to/played games with the older kids, let me sleep in every morning, did my shopping, cleaned my house and countless other things. Maybe I'll have 10 more kids if it means getting spoiled for a full week every couple of years :) I feel pretty lucky to have such an awesome mom and wonderful in-laws, as well.

Uncle Jake, who is on a mission in Brazil, sent Zach these little baby booties (thanks, Jake!):

Do you know how hard it is to get 3 kids to look at the camera and/or smile at the same time?

I should probably go check on that screaming coming from upstairs now :)

Zachary William

2012-01-20T13:21:00.000-08:00

He's here! Zachary William was born Monday January 16th at 12:30 pm. He was 7 lbs 13 oz and 20 inches long. He's about as docile as they come. Even in the delivery room, he just quietly looked around, taking it all in - which was freaking Tyler out because he was expecting screaming. So far, when the little man needs something, he just gives a few squeaks. He'll have to learn to speak up around his loud siblings, but for now, I'm not going to complain about his sweet little squawks.

Flexing his muscles:

Ryan and Xander are simply enamored with the little guy. Both want to hold him every second of the day and when it's Xander's turn, Ryan will stand next to him and shriek, "That's MY baby Zach!!" until Xander relinquishes:

Me, Ryan and Zach at the hospital. Yes, I am wearing the super attractive and flattering hospital gown for our first family pictures:

Coming home from the hospital:

Hanging out with daddy:

We are so excited for this little guy to be part of our family!

Scary Santa

2011-12-08T13:01:00.000-08:00

Of all the babies in the world, I figured Ryan would be the least likely to run screaming from Santa, but due to some poor nap-time planning on our part, she was extremely cranky when we went to our Ward Christmas party last week. Oh well, I always enjoyed these types of Santa pictures more than the ones with kids sitting happily on some strange old man's lap...

And here is Xander's first letter to Santa. He spouted off an extra 10 or 12 things that he wanted to write but since he was running out of room, I just had him sign it and call it good. Like he'll ever know.

Translation: "Dear Santa, SpongeBob SquarePants, Monster Truck, Spiderman. Thanks, Xander.

When I asked Ryan what she wanted to write for her Christmas list, she just repeated "Candy" over and over. Easy enough.

AND we have our c-section date set! Baby #3 will be here January 16th, YAY!! Just waiting for that whole nesting myth to kick in...my house could really use it.

Obligatory Halloween Post

2011-10-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

Here is my required Halloween post. Xander chose to be Spiderman and Ryan got to use a recycled frog costume (See Xander 2 years ago).

This was our first year in our house so for the very first time in the 7 years we've been married, we actually had trick-or-treaters! The only drawback was that I wasn't able to tag along with the babies and watch them trick-or-treat. Tyler took them out and was in charge of taking pictures...I was able to salvage 2. Photography is not one of his many talents (sorry, honey).

These are some spider cupcakes I made for a Halloween party we went to a few days ago:

Even baby and I dressed up:

Happy Halloween everyone!

Another couple of months...

2011-10-21T17:32:00.001-07:00

Another couple of months have gone by without me updating my blog. It is what it is.

We were able to go to Idaho in September to welcome home Tyler's brother who had been in Chile for the last 2 years. Ty's mom booked a photographer so we could get some updated pictures...

And here are pictures of my baby bellies from each of my 3 pregnancies (Xander on the left, Ryan in the middle and baby #3 on the right). I'm just starting my 3rd trimester in each of them. I appear to be ahead of the curve so I'm expecting an especially fat baby (but will probably end up with just an especially fat me).

Right after our trip to Idaho, I woke up with some excruciating pain and had to go to the ER. I was diagnosed with kidney stones. They gave me some pain meds, told me to drink, drink, drink and then drink some more, and sent me on my merry way. I won't go into the details, but just know that kidney stones are pure evil. It took me an entire month to pass these puppies...

If I ever get another kidney stone, I'll kindly ask the doctor to just remove my kidneys.

A Birthday, a Blessing, & a Farewell

2011-08-23T14:34:00.000-07:00

Last week we had the opportunity to go down to Klamath for the weekend, and the entire Guest clan was there!

These pictures are not in chronological order...

We snapped some family pictures in the park. Xander was less than cooperative (as usual), and I still can't believe I have a blonde haired, blue eyed baby:

My lovely parents with all 6 of their grandkids (which will be outdated in January).

I got to meet Josh and Susan's little Ginny for the first time this trip (she was also blessed this weekend). She's so sweet and adorable, but had more diaper blowouts in those 3 days than both of my kids have had in their lives.

All 6 grandkids at church:

My little brother Jake also had his mission farewell at church on Sunday. He gave a wonderful talk on missionary work, and the people of Brazil will be lucky to have him around! (Thanks Susan for letting me steal this picture off your blog)

My adorable mom, pulling the grandbabies:

3 days ago, we celebrated Xander's 4th birthday. We told him that he couldn't open his birthday presents until his cousins came over in the afternoon. Within 45 seconds of the door ringing, I turned around and found this...a tornado of wrapping paper and one happy little boy:

Birthday cake with their cousins:

And just for fun:

And a little pregnancy update: Thursday is our big ultrasound! I haven't decided if we're going to find out the baby's sex or keep it a surprise until birth. I'm sure I'll cave, so stay tuned :)

Oh boy!

2011-07-08T17:26:00.000-07:00

Or girl :)

Wasting Food

2011-05-24T08:29:00.000-07:00

We don't waste food in our house.

If one of the babies leaves the dinner table with an empty stomach and a full plate of food, I wrap it up and their next breakfast is ready.

If one of the babies asks for a banana and 5 minutes later I find it mutilated and smashed into the living room rug, I bag the slimy little pieces and their afternoon snack will wait for them in the fridge.

This is Xander's next meal. An entire plate of shredded cheese, collected from the kitchen table, chairs and floor. Bon appétit!

Spring/Easter

2011-05-03T18:43:00.001-07:00

The weather in Portland has finally started warming up so we've been able to do more than just sit inside and watch the rain, yay!

On Easter weekend, we took the kids to a local Easter Egg hunt. The sponsors and the volunteers were great. The parents of the other kids? Not so great. Ryan waited patiently for over an hour for the 2 year old and under egg hunt (they announced over the intercom repeatedly that parents were not allowed to help). When they finally yelled, "Go!" swarms of parents ran to the center and the eggs were literally gone within 10 seconds (not an exaggeration).

Xander's age group was up next. Before the announcer could even announce "Go" parents and children ran into the middle. It was a nightmare, but I shoved Xander in and he was able to get about 10 eggs.

After Xander's egg hunt was over, we took some of his eggs out and threw them around the grass for Ryan to hunt for.

Xander, excited about coloring Easter eggs (Ryan's contribution was those 3 white eggs up front...all cracked):

Egg hunting on Easter morning. Score: Xander (0), Ryan (18)

I took pictures of them in the bath for the sole purpose of using them later in life to blackmail them:

No such thing as a picture where they are both smiling and looking at the camera. I take what I can get:

Must have been an exciting moment in the video game:

We have been trying to go on family bike rides lately. As you can see, both babies love their helmets:

I tried and tried to get them to sit in the bike carrier so I could get a picture. They could not get out of this thing fast enough whenever the bike stopped, so this was the best I could do:

Update on us...

2011-03-14T10:39:00.000-07:00

You would think that a 5 month blogging dry spell would mean I have lots of news and millions of pictures, but you'd be wrong. Here's my sad attempt at an update:

We moved into our new house in November and we absolutely love it! Xander made himself right at home by trashing his room:

In December, we got some pictures of the babies taken for Christmas:

Xander was less-than-cooperative...

Also in December, Ryan turned 1. While most babies love the fact that they get to dig into a slice of cake on their birthday, Ryan found it traumatizing:

Opening presents helped ease the pain:

In January, Xander purchased a $1,000 accordion through my eBay account. He's getting pretty good at playing Kool & the Gang's "Celebration"

And literally nothing has happened since then. Not a single picture on my camera. Here's to hoping I do better at taking pictures and blogging in the next 5 months.

Buying a House!

2010-10-09T22:18:00.001-07:00

We are officially in escrow for our house! So excited!!

Disneyland & a Birthday

2010-09-01T12:24:00.001-07:00

GGG treated us with a trip to the happiest place on earth - Disneyland! I must say that being an adult (if you can call me that) in Disneyland is a lot less exciting than being a kid, but I'm starting to think that's the story of life.

Some of the longest lines in DL are the lines to take pictures with the characters. Here we are with Mickey:

Xander driving a Toon Town car (it was nearly impossible to pry him out of this):

Ryan, doing what she does best:

Strong man Xan:

Yes, he's eating popcorn off the dirty, disgusting, Disneyland sidewalk. I figured I'd save the $15 it would have cost me to get him a Disneyland corndog for dinner:

Tyler and Ryan at the condo pool:

A family portrait where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling? Never.

After we got back from a week in Southern California, Tyler had to work out of town so I stayed with my parents for a week to eat their food and drive my dad crazy.

We celebrated Xander's 3rd birthday:

Xander tried and tried to blow out the candles. I'm sure it's stressful when a bunch of adults are staring at you. After 50+ blows and a quarter cup of spit on the cake, we had Katie help the little guy out:

Xan opening presents with GG. He now owns an additional 5 monster trucks and a Disney's Cars matching game. We're prepping him to be a redneck:

Thanks for the vacation, GGG. We had a blast!

Bedtime Story

2010-07-30T12:46:00.001-07:00

Recently, Xander decided that mom and dad weren't doing justice to his nightly bedtime stories, so he took over the job. Every night, the whole family snuggles into Xander's bed (tight squeeze) and Xander reads us a story.

Last night, he was doing a wonderful job reading this animal book that has textures on each page. Apparently, Tyler and I have failed to teach him the word "tail." When he got to this page, he thought for a moment and said, "This bunny has furry poop."

That's one sick bunny.

2 week vacation

2010-07-12T17:33:00.001-07:00

We spent the 4th of July (and the weeks before and after it) visiting Tyler's family in Idaho.

Xander earned his keep by doing yard work:

Me, the babies and my mother-in-law before the 4th of July parade (it was FREEZING):

As the parade started, I realized just how bad a small town parade can be. I asked Ty to take pictures of the worst entries, and, well, he pretty much took pictures of all of them. A few of my favorites:

A plain blue car...

...scratches and all:

A truck with a piece of paper on the side that said, "ENTER 2 WIN A FREE OIL." Not sure what they meant:

And a septic/sewer cleaning truck. No decorations. No red, white & blue. Just free advertising:

After the parade, they had a party in the park. Xander quickly spotted the train and was thrilled when it was finally his turn:

But then the ride was over, and this little boy couldn't understand why he wasn't riding a train anymore:

Screaming, grass pulling, shoe throwing followed. I begged Ty to keep snapping pictures of the tantrum, to which he asked, "Is this some form of child abuse?"

Playing memory with grandma and dad:

Playing Scrabble with the adults:

Grandpa took Xander fishing:

Ryan's fishing experience:

A family friend let us fish on their private property. We could have just stuck our net in the stream and pulled out fish. It only took about 15 seconds of having the pole in the water before a 15-18 inch trout was chomping on the other end. My kind of fishing.

These cows came over and watched us fish until Xander ran towards them and scared them off.

Mom and the little lady:

One of Ryan's go-to moves to get attention is to give us a big cheesy smile and throw her head back laughing. She's such a ham:

Klamath

2010-06-11T10:26:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm really bad at updating my blog. Plus, my camera stopped working so until I get a new camera, I can't really put updated pictures up.

A couple weeks ago, Tyler had to work on a company in Bend so the munchkins and I dropped him off on our way down to Klamath to hang out with my family.

Shannon Crain was nice enough to take some beautiful pictures of my baby (well, technically she took pictures of both of my babies but Xander would not look at her or smile the entire time. Stubborn little thing):

The millions of fortune cookies we dipped for Josh's wedding reception:

Ryan getting some love from grandma:

We decided to give Ryan her first taste of real food while we were there so my parents could watch. Ryan was less than thrilled with the entire experience. Technically, she spit everything out so even though she 'tasted' the cereal, she didn't 'eat' any.

Josh's Wedding

2010-05-06T10:11:00.001-07:00

Josh and my lovely new sister-in-law got married last week in Oakland. Who knows how many times Susan had to hear, "Now you're stuck with him." She was nice enough to politely laugh each time.

All the Guest kids (unfortunately I don't have full family pictures yet because only the actual photographer has those).

White boy (Jake) can't jump. Come on, Jake, even Bill got off the ground:

Josh, his bride, and all the grandbabies:

Chillin' (aka, bored):

Didn't take long for Xander to find the huge water fountain in front of the temple. He was completely soaked by the time everyone was done taking pictures:

Baby Ryan:

Recently, Xander created an alter-ego named Super Xander. It was too cute to ignore, so I ordered him a cape from The Dress-up Drawer and he absolutely LOVES it! Unfortunately I can't get a decent picture, because as soon as the cape is ON - Super Xander is OFF!

A big fat flower for a big fat head :)

Two Week Vacation

2010-04-13T11:40:00.000-07:00

Tyler finally decided to use his paternity leave so we've been visiting family for the last 2 weeks.

First, we drove to Idaho and spent a couple days with Ty's family. Grandma Smith & Ryan:

Then Ty was scheduled to go to a recruiting event at BYU for his company so we packed up and headed down to Provo. My parents happened to be going to Utah for my dad's mission reunion so the entire Guest clan was able to hang out together for a few days:

Ryan and Grandma Guest coloring Easter Eggs:

Aunt Bekah and cousin Jessica:

Aunt Susan and cousin Bradlei:

More egg coloring and 2 thrilled children:

The finished product:

Xander on a good day:

On Easter morning, we went to Uncle Bill's house to open Easter baskets with grandma and grandpa and the cousins. Xander found his Easter Monster Trucks first and didn't bother with the rest of his basket until several hours later (Tyler took him to a Monster Truck show a month or two ago and that's all he talks about):

Ryan enjoying her loot:

Still playing with the Monster Trucks:

A picture with G3 (Grandma and Grandpa Guest) and all 5 of their grandbabies. Xander took the opportunity to show off his Monster Trucks.

Grandpa and his 2 newest granddaughters:

After 5 days in Provo, we drove back up to Idaho to hang out with Ty's family for another week. Xander got into grandma's mascara (yes, you've seen similar pictures).

"No pictures, please.":

G&G Smith took Xander to a park with their puppy (and Xander spent a half an hour crying when they had to leave):

3 generations of Smith boys and not one of them had the decency to look at the camera or smile normal. Oh well.

An ER Trip & a Baby Blessing

2010-03-08T10:18:00.000-08:00

It's been a long week at the Smith house.

Last Monday, I was sitting at my computer when all of a sudden I felt the most excruciating pain I'd ever experienced in my life. It felt like I was being crushed in a vice, making it difficult to move or even breathe - let alone take care of my 2 babies. Tyler came home from work and we packed up and headed to the ER. We had both kids with us, but I figured they were going to tell me I had some bad clams and send me home with a $2,000 bill and a bottle of Advil.

Long story short, they admitted me to the hospital around 4:30 AM (we got there around 6:00 PM Monday) for appendicitis. One thing I do like about being sick and in the hospital is that I can sit back and relax and everything is taken care of. I don't mean to brag or anything, but I think I would have made a great Princess or Queen because I like being waited on and I like for people to do what I say.

Anyway, my mom took the train up to take care of me and the babies. Without her, my spleen probably would have burst from stress. She took the babies overnight so Tyler could stay with me at the hospital, she cooked our meals all week, did dishes, entertained Xander, ran my errands, changed diapers and even kept Ryan in bed with her the night I got home to let me sleep better. Thanks again, mom - you're the best!

Even though I asked to see my appendix, the doctor ignored my request. I hate having a post with no picture so here's a picture of an appendix that I found online. Pretty gross, huh? Sure glad I don't have to live with that inside me.

After all the hospital hullabaloo, my dad came up Saturday so that we could bless Ryan on Sunday. My dad has been asking to take Xander to Chuck'E'Cheese for months, and all the adults groan at the thought of cardboard pizza and 4,579 screaming kids. My dad got his way and we spent an afternoon at the germ-infested playground.

We took about 20 pictures of Xander and he was smiling in 0 of them. He really did have a good time though, as evidenced by the picture of us trying to leave.

We had our little Bald Beauty blessed on Sunday. I was told she was smiling/cooing/laughing through the whole thing.

Back to me being responsible for the unclean house, uncooked meals and unbathed children :(

Amazon baby

2010-02-24T14:28:00.000-08:00

I frequently call Ryan "Little Lady" but after her 2 month appointment last week, my dad suggested we start calling her "Amazon baby." She's 95th percentile in weight, 90th percentile in height and 80th percentile in head (Quite a change from Xander who was always average in height and weight and had a 99th-100th percentile head - like an orange on a toothpick).

Ryan is a very snuggly baby and loves to coo and smile at her brother. We are so lucky to have her in our family :)

Today, I was going to the bathroom when Xander opened the door, walked straight over to me, patted me on the back and said, "Good job, mommy. Now you get a treat." I hope it's Skittles.

Mess Maker

2010-02-13T12:32:00.000-08:00

You know that song from Fiddler on the Roof? "Mess-maker, mess-maker, make me a mess..." Well, those are the lyrics in my head anyway. I'm really hoping that we are reaching the pinnacle of his Terrible Twos because I don't know how much more cleaning product I can afford.

Usually, I'm too angry to snap a picture of the mess but I did catch a couple.

This is when he got into my mascara. I don't know what he's more upset about: the fact that he's in trouble or that terrible haircut:

I gave him a yogurt and left him unsupervised to eat it (there were also yogurt hand-prints all over our couch and Xan's Cookie Monster puppet had a few bites as well):

Pen markings on his canvas bins:

Took a crayon to the top of his toy chest:

We've had countless bottles of water dumped onto the carpet, toys, books and my keyboard. Xan emptied a tube of toothpaste on the carpet in our room and a bottle of mouthwash in our bed. He got into a bag of dirty diapers and tracked poop all over our living room. Lotions, liquid soaps and sunscreens have all made appearances on our couches.

To make up for the messes, I get to embarrass him with this picture:

Our little smilin' lady:

And a couple of videos:

As I've sat here typing this post, I realized I haven't heard Xander for a while. Off to see what I get to clean up next...

Look Alikes

2010-01-31T12:05:00.001-08:00

Ever since Xander was born, I've been told that he looks like Tyler. I think I did a better job making this kid look like me. Whaddaya think?

Me:

Ryan:

Tyler:

Xander:

Also, she started smiling recently! She is such a wonderful addition to our little family :)

1 Month Old

2010-01-19T21:18:00.000-08:00

The little lady is one month old today! She is such a sweet and beautiful little baby, even if she is much more high maintenance than her brother (I'm having a hard time typing this because she wants me to hold her with both hands so she can look at me while I juggle a set of knives and pull a rabbit out of a hat). She has her days and nights mixed up so I might have to start keeping Xander up til 5:00 am so that I can catch some Zzz's during the day.

But how can you not love this gorgeous little face?

Giving me some attitude, already:

Xander is such a sweet big brother (I even trust him to be alone in a room with her...for a couple minutes). Whenever she cries, he runs to her rescue - assuring her that, "She's ok" while stuffing her pacifier back in her mouth. Here he is making sure she's warm enough:

Xander helping to burp her:

This one made me laugh. He went through his summer drawer of clothes and got himself ready for the beach. Too bad it's 40 degrees here. Sorry buddy.

Happy Poo Year!

2010-01-03T16:24:00.001-08:00

Well, the last 2 weeks have been chock-full of new baby goodness and family fun (I'm very sad and a little terrified for Tyler to go back to work and leave me with both babies).

I'll start with "Happy Poo Year". Here's the picture, no explanation necessary:

Xander looking snazzy in Grandma Guest's old lady glasses:

Our beautiful little girl:

Xander and Ryan showing off their new Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve (sorry this post is out of order):

Christmas morning, Xander got a brand new tricycle. Tyler took him outside for a test run and Xan biffed it pretty bad (we actually got it on video but the video uploader is being crappy).

Once the presents were all open, Xan thrashed around in the wrapping paper for 20-30 minutes. He was dripping with sweat, but that didn't stop him from enjoying his favorite "present" that morning.

Mom and baby napping:

Xander is such a good big brother. As soon as he wakes up, every morning, he finds Ryan and greets her with a kiss and a "Hi Sister!" Let's hope he stays this sweet :)

My family and Ty's family all came to town on the 29th. We had a very full apartment, but it was still a lot of fun. Here's uncle Jake holding Ryan for the first time:

Uncle Andy:

Aunt Katie:

Josh's fiance, Aunt Susan:

Uncle Josh (could he look any more awkward and disgusted?):

Grandpa Guest (not his first time holding her, though):

And what the boys did for 90% of their time spent here (video games):

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and New Year!

Home from the Hospital!

2009-12-22T10:50:00.001-08:00

We were able to come home from the hospital Monday afternoon. For those who don't know, we named the little lady Ryan Olivia - despite my dad's best efforts to persuade us into a girlier name.

Here are a couple of her hospital photos (yes, I realize they have the watermark on them but I have to wait 5-7 days for my real copies and couldn't wait to post them):

Just chillin':

First car ride:

Because it's flu season, children under 18 weren't allowed to visit in the hospital - so Xander didn't get to meet his sister until we came home.

He was pretty apathetic at first. He sat there staring at her, eating his orange slices:

Warming up a little... maybe even considering touching her:

First time holding her:

And realizing she isn't so scary after all:

After the initial meeting, he's paid little attention to her. He is a very helpful big brother, though - always willing to get diapers, "yipes" (wipes) and blankets for his little sister.

Stay tuned for the jealousy temper tantrums :)

It's a Girl!

2009-12-19T17:21:00.000-08:00

7 lbs, 11 oz - We're in love!!

Thanksgiving Break

2009-12-09T17:22:00.000-08:00

We ventured down to Klamath for Thanksgiving break. Andy got back from Paraguay the day before turkey-day so all 6 Guest children were there (barrels of fun, as you can probably imagine!)

Elder Guest, fresh off the plane:

The whole family at Thanksgiving dinner:

Xander getting some loves from his oldest cousin (don't be fooled, they weren't always this nice to each other. It's possible he clocked her in the face with that pink golf ball right after the picture was taken):

You might have to click on the picture to see it more clearly but this is when Xander got into a packet or two of hot chocolate powder. He seems pretty pleased with himself. (This was certainly not the only mess he made at G&G's house):

Playing Guitar Hero:

Singing for Guitar Hero:

Last night we put up our Charlie Brown Christmas tree (first time in the 6 Christmases Ty and I have been married). Xander is having a heck of a time resisting the temptation to pull off the ornaments:

AND...Only 10 more days til our baby girl will be here!!

I'm Ready

2009-11-22T22:11:00.001-08:00

Ok, I'm ready for the little lady to make her appearance now.

Xander got a big boy bed. He won't sleep in it. I'm too tired from existing to write more (see above picture)...

Happy Froggin' Halloween

2009-11-01T09:00:00.000-08:00

This year the little man was a frog - which he pronounced, "F$&@#" (hence the title of this post). If it had been up to me, we wouldn't have taken him Trick-or-Treating but Tyler wanted to take him so I went along (so glad I did, Xan had a blast).

Kind of confused at first:

Eventually he figured out what was going on and wanted to knock on the doors himself. He never got the hang of saying, "Trick or Treat." He would knock on the door and when someone would answer with a bowl of candy - he'd just go for it. Once he picked a piece (or two or three or four) he'd say, "Bye!" and go on his froggin' way.

Between houses, he'd take a break from wearing his froggin' hat and holding that heavy bucket of candy:

Upset that we wouldn't let him take a break and eat everything in his froggin' bucket:

Finally home and able to enjoy the fruits of his froggin' labor:

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween!

Fall Fun

2009-10-14T12:46:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we went to Baggenstos Farm with a group of Tyler's coworkers. There were lots of fun activities for the little ones - corn maze, petting zoo, pumpkin bowling, and a hay ride where you go out to the pumpkin patch and pick your own pumpkin (which, we missed out on because Xander wanted to play on the swing set).

First we went through the corn maze (Xander walked the entire way, I was pretty impressed):

After the corn maze, Xander (somehow) had tons of energy bottled up so he spent half an hour going down the slide. There was only 1 small setback when he got to the bottom of the slide and fell right onto his butt. A bit shaken, he just sat there as more kids slid down, hitting him in the back when they reached the bottom (of course he was crying by now). I wish I had taken a picture but it probably wouldn't look good for a little kid's pregnant mom to be laughing and snapping pictures as her toddler is crying and getting kicked at the bottom of the slide.

This little girl was getting quite frustrated with Xander's cautiousness while climbing the stairs to the slide. She pushed him aside to cut in front of him a couple times, but Xander eventually figured out how to stand up for himself:

Xander picked out this mini pumpkin and Ty and I picked out a big one for carving. We opted not to grab one of these little pumpkin carts so Xander chased this family through the parking lot trying to put his pumpkin in their cart:

After the pumpkin patch, we went to a co-worker's house and carved our pumpkins and ate pizza. Xander spent a good chunk of the afternoon torturing this little kid by stealing his Elmo backpack (anybody know where I can pick one of those up?):

Since we were with Ty's co-workers, he was peer pressured into carving a pumpkin and couldn't wiggle his way out of it (those of you who know Ty, know that he loves this kind of stuff *sarcasm*):

X's Birthday & Stuff

2009-09-10T22:29:00.000-07:00

The little man turned 2 on August 20th, and G & G Guest were able to come up and celebrate with us. We thought about taking Xan to Chuck E Cheese but 4 grown-ups trump 1 toddler so we went to Macaroni Grill downtown (sorry, Xander).

See how happy the Birthday Boy was, enjoying his broccoli?

G&G spoiled him with LOTS of gifts!

He doesn't get much sugar so it was hard to snap a picture without him shoveling cake into his mouth:

After all that cake, he was looking a little lumpy (maybe you should try hitting the gym, Xan):

Here's me looking a little lumpy (or 25 weeks pregnant):

Xan has been doing this a lot lately. He is so sweet, making sure his buddies are always by his side (notice that these weren't all in one sitting - as he is sporting different onesies):

It's a...

2009-08-13T13:32:00.001-07:00

Beautiful, healthy baby GIRL!

I am still in shock. I thought it was a boy, for sure.

Now I have to figure out what the heck to do with a little girl!

Oregon Coast

2009-08-08T10:23:00.001-07:00

This week we tagged along with G&G Guest to the Oregon coast. The whole Guest clan was there - minus Andy, and we even had a few Smiths there for part of the week.

Xander watching Uncle Josh and Daddy play ping pong:

Cousin Bradlei watching Xander drum on a tree:

Which was all fun and games until someone got poked in the eye:

Xander probably ate his weight in blueberries this week but I didn't get any pictures. Here he is making a mess with watermelon:

Daddy and Xander petting the sting rays at the Newport Aquarium:

Uncle Jake and Xan Man in the shark's mouth (sadly, this is the best shot we got of Xan in there):

G&G Guest, the Guest kids (minus Andy) and the grandbabies:

One night we were all playing games and we hadn't heard Xander for a while. We went looking for him and found him getting a little shut-eye in this closet (he had even closed the door):

Thanks for inviting us Granny and Gramps! We had a ton of fun!

Health Care Bill

2009-07-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

This video was just too good to tuck away in my political blog.

Can you imagine? People actually expecting congress to read the laws they are making before they impose them on us?

That's ok, Obama doesn't really know what he's going to sign either.

The Many Faces of Xander

2009-07-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to get these faces on video but the video camera cord is missing and it's out of batteries. So here are some of our favorite Xander faces:

"Cute":

"Intense" (since you can't tell, he's clenching his fists and shaking):

"Funny face":

"Sad" (he might have done this face on his own when mom didn't get the previous bribe to him fast enough):

And my personal favorite, Obama:

By request, a belly picture. The one on the left is me now at 17 weeks and the picture on the right is when I was pregnant with Xander at 18 weeks:

And because I'm a mean mom, here's a picture of Xander being fancy:

Liberal Mormons

2009-06-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

President Harold B. Lee asked one of the Church educational leaders how he would define a liberal in the LDS Church. He answered in one sentence:

“A liberal in the Church is merely one who does not have a testimony.”

I had to pass this gem along.

Park City

2009-06-27T15:32:00.000-07:00

This week, Xander and I flew to Park City to hang out (being pregnant and flying alone with a toddler = tons of fun).

At the zoo:

Xander being Chinese (is that even right?)

Enjoying some ice cream:

Xan went on 2 carousels this week. Every single time a ride ended, he screamed bloody murder.

Xander concerned about the train ride:

Grandpa Guest and all 3 of his grandchildren:

Have you ever seen a boy so happy to be in a swing (perhaps here)?

Thanks for letting us tag along, mom and dad. We had a lot of fun!

Idaho, Part 2

2009-06-06T17:39:00.000-07:00

When I made the first post about our Idaho trip, I completely left out all the exciting things that happened simply because I neglected to take pictures of those things.

But I have remedied the problem, so here is part 2.

Within the first hour of being in Buhl, Xander was running down a gravel sidewalk and fell flat on his face. He got a nasty bruise on his forehead and skinned his knees up pretty bad (if you think this looks bad, you should see what that big head did to the gravel):

A couple days later, the family was playing a board game when Xander walked up to me holding a bottle of dish soap and blowing bubbles through his mouth. It was my first experience calling poison control, but the little guy was just fine.

Last, but certainly not least...

The entire week, we begged and pleaded with people to close the doors when they left a room. Much to our chagrin (and Xander's delight), nobody cared to listen, so I spent many hours walking around closing doors and turning off lights in an effort to keep Xander out of places that would invite trouble.

The day before we left, Ty and I wanted to read, so I went around, closed all doors and sat down in the living room with my book. Xander wandered around, playing with his toys, making messes, the usual. After a while, I realized I hadn't heard Xander in a while so I went searching for him.

Grandma Smith had so graciously left her bathroom door open and Xander showed his appreciation for the gesture by taking all her jewelry and washing it in the toilet.

Trip to Idaho

2009-06-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

Last week we took a trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa Smith.

On Memorial Day, the big kids took a bike ride down to a local swimming pool/hot spring. Xander tried to convince us to let him ride by putting on this helmet and acting all adorable but unfortunately, he had to ride in the car with mom behind the bikers.

Daddy and Xander cooling off after the bike ride (this is the cheesy smile he makes 90% of the time when I get the camera out):

He thought that if he put the inner tube on, we'd let him back in the pool (it didn't work):

Feeding Aunt Josie his second-hand licorice:

Getting walked by their dog:

Hanging out with Old Man Guest the day before we left for Idaho:

OMSI and...

2009-05-06T20:08:00.001-07:00

Today Xander and his girlfriend went on a date to OMSI. He had a blast, so much so that I couldn't even get him to look away from the excitement long enough to take a decent picture. So here are some pictures of the side of his face and the back of his head...

After OMSI, we went to the doctor and got to see...

BABY #2!!

I don't know how some of you keep your pregnancies secret for so long. I've known for 3 weeks and can't hold it in any longer.

I'm due on Christmas Day :)

What we've been up to

2009-04-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some recent pictures:

Coloring Easter eggs:

Xan was only interested in throwing the eggs in the dye (breaking several):

What happens when you leave Daddy alone with stickers:

Reading and not wanting mom to take pictures of it:

Mocking mom and dad after escaping from the tub:

Playing with rocks in his new outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Smith:

How could you not love this face?

Aww, fell and scraped his knee for the first time (after falling, he stood up, assessed the damage, frowned, and went on playing):

Posting

2009-04-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

I was going to make a post tonight, but I decided not to.

I don't know

2009-03-14T08:11:00.000-07:00

Ya know...

Xan's Backpack

2009-02-13T22:15:00.000-08:00

We got Xan a new backpack *cough*LEASH*cough*. We convinced him that it was cool to wear around the house so that he wouldn't freak out when we took him in public and put it on him.

Can you tell from this picture that his head is the widest part of his body? I thought babies were supposed to grow out of that...

Xan got his first visible 'owie' this week. He was trying to get on the computer to file his taxes (and possibly get some kind of stimulus check from Pres. Obama) and underestimated the distance from the chair to the computer desk, so he fell on his face. Poor little guy...

And sitting on a bouncy ball, which we all do at some point during the day:

The 10 Liberal Commandments

2009-01-29T13:32:00.000-08:00

I should put this on my political blog, but hardly anybody reads it. Ty and I wrote these 10 commandments that liberals live by. Enjoy :)

1. Thou shalt have no gods at all, including Me (God).

2. Thou shalt worship global warming or global cooling, whichever one the democrat party says is happening at the time. Oh yeah, and blame man for it. Man being George Bush, whom thou must blame for everything, including things that make no sense to blame him for.

3. Thou shalt pretend that Al Gore is not a hypocrit when he flies in his private jet around the world having rock concerts to tell you to conserve energy after paying his $30,000 electric bill.

4. Remember the Sabbath day, to be lazy and do nothing while waiting for your government assistance check like you did for the preceding 6 days.

5. Honor your father and your mother because you are probably still living in their basement.

6. Thou shalt not murder murderers, but thou shalt murder unborn babies.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery unless you are a democrat politician - in which case it is excusable.

8. If thou art elite and pay no income tax because your money comes from capital investments, which are taxed at the lower capital gains rate, then thou shalt steal from the middle class to give to the lazy in order to buy votes to win the next election.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor, unless you are John Edwards and want to make a career out of lying so you can afford infinity dollar haircuts.

10. Why bother coveting your neighbor's, wife, man-servant, and ass when you can just complain and take them for free?

Life is Boring

2009-01-27T14:59:00.000-08:00

Well, not much has been going on so I don't have anything to blog about. Being an accountant, Tyler is very busy this time of year so Xan and I have a lot of free time to sit around and do nothing. Here are a few new pictures:

I guess he decided he didn't want to eat the cheese:

Practicing his walking stick skills in case he ever goes blind:

He had quite a bit of fun playing in this plastic bin...

...until he couldn't figure out how to get out of it:

Real Housewives

2009-01-17T08:15:00.001-08:00

Ok, there is something that needs to be said, and it's been a long time coming, but I just can't hold it in any longer. I thought about keeping this to myself, but here it goes...

I don't like the Real Housewives of Orange County. There, I said it.

It has to be one of the trashiest shows ever aired. It is everything that is wrong with this country and I believe that Satan is the producer, director and writer for it. Anybody who watches it, or has watched it, is going straight to purgatory.

Now, don't get me wrong, I indulge in other things, myself. I'll admit that I have read a book where two teenagers overcome their natural human desires and wait until marriage to consummate their appetites (could it be any trashier?). I mean, surely none of us have ever been in a situation while dating or engaged where we had to do such a thing. I know that when Ty and I were dating, we sat in my apartment dining room every night playing Scrabble with my roommates and promptly said goodnight at 9:00 pm until the day we were married. Isn't that how most people court?

Anyway, I just wanted to make sure all of my friends knew how much I don't like that Housewives show, and I also wanted to make sure you all knew that I was passing judgement on any of you who watch it.

It's been a while...

2009-01-05T21:19:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to Klamath for Christmas vacation and Xan man kept grandma and grandpa on their toes for 2 whole weeks!

Xan is a climbing fool and I have basically given up on keeping my house clean (as he will trash it within 10 minutes anyway):

G&G Guest gave Xan this rocking horse for Christmas (he looks thrilled, doesn't he?):

Playing on his new laptop (he sees his mom and dad playing on computers all day so we figured we'd let him join in on our fun):

Xan kept locking himself in G&G's den and then knocking on the door for us to let him out:

Mean ol' uncle Josh wouldn't let Xan knock over the tower of blocks, so Xan came up with a plan...

...Establish trust, and pretend to help uncle Josh...

...Act nonchalant and make uncle Josh think that he wasn't interested in knocking the tower over anymore, and strike when Josh least expects it...

...and here's Xan, sitting back, revelling in his victory:

Helping grandma clean:

Helping grandma fold laundry (sort of):

Playing the drums (and yes, he's better than grandpa):

G&G keep the bowls in the bottom cupboards, which works out perfect for Xan when he wants to get them all out and spread them all over the kitchen floor (he's on the phone telling someone about his work):

And now we're back home, where Xan can sit back, watch the tube and call all his girlfriends:

Pictures with Grandpa

2008-12-10T23:12:00.000-08:00

Grandpa Guest was in town the past couple of days and Xan had lots of fun. We went to the zoo on Tuesday (hey Portlanders - did you know it's only $2 per person on the 2nd Tuesday of every month?!), and today grandpa wanted to get some nice pictures taken with his one and only grandson. We decided that since we were going to a picture studio, we might as well take a couple with our little family. Well, we started with everyone (gramps, Ty, me (Jen) and Xan). Then we took some pictures with Ty, me and Xan and we could tell that Xan Man's attention span was waning quickly. By the time it was grandpa's turn, there were no smiles left in the little guy. Sorry, dad.

Ok, this last picture wasn't exactly a keeper (because of Xan's face) but it makes me laugh. He looks so mischievous. Anybody got a good caption for him?

Aww crap

2008-12-06T09:29:00.000-08:00

Well, on Wednesday, I was walking by our bathtub when I noticed there was blue water pooling by the drain. Our toilet water is blue, so I knew something was up. I called maintenance at our apartment complex and someone came by after a couple hours to check things out. He worked in our bathroom for awhile then came out and told me that he'd have to call a real plumber.

Fantastic.

I closed the front door and while walking past the kitchen, glanced in and noticed that our kitchen was flooded...with sewage. I ran back outside to catch the maintenance guy, but he was already gone. After 10 minutes of crying, I started to clean up. We have a decent sized pantry and everything that was on the floor in the pantry was soaked with...well...you know.

A couple hours later, I was still working on removing everything from the pantry (after sopping up most of the crap) when the plumber showed up. I told him everything I knew about the toilet and shower and also told him that the kitchen flooded and that I assumed the flood came from the dishwasher, which I had been running at the time of the incident.

The plumber went to work in our bathroom, and I continued my work in the kitchen, when suddenly more crap started pouring out of the drain in our pantry. I yelled for the plumber to stop the water. He came to the kitchen to assess the situation and spent the next 2 hours snaking out the drain in my kitchen pantry.

The good news? Nobody else in my apartment complex was home at the time. If they had been home, every toilet flush would have ended up in my kitchen.

I've bleached the kitchen floor 5 or 6 times, Woolited my carpet, then had the carpet cleaners come (since the plumbers were walking through my kitchen and then walking around my apartment). Don't tell Tyler, but I also threw away the broom, mop, mop bucket and Swiffer Wet Jet and replaced them all with exact replicas.

I was too upset to take pictures, but this is basically what it looked like:

Trip to the Zoo

2008-11-21T16:23:00.001-08:00

We took Xan man to the Oregon Zoo this week. He was much more interested in all the people running around that were his size than he was in the animals. He also really likes his stroller so it was a struggle every time we'd try to take him out of the stroller to see a new animal so most of the pictures we took were either Xan man looking at other kids (instead of the animals) or crying because he wanted to go back into his stroller. Anyway, here were the best shots we managed:

Black bear:

Polar bear:

Leopard:

By the zebra cage (by the way, I've cut his hair since then):

Still by the zebras, but Xan is busy looking at the little girl:

And here he is holding the first thing he ever stole (well, he didn't really steal it, he threw it in the cart and I didn't find it til we got home, so it was paid for):

Messy Man

2008-11-15T14:16:00.000-08:00

Alright, I'm kind of lazy (surprise!) and so I usually feed Xander instead of letting him feed himself so that I don't have a mess to clean up. We were eating dinner the other day and Xander was taking forever so I decided to leave Xander his bowl of food and Tyler and I left the table. I got distracted by the computer and when I turned around, here's how I found him:

And see if you can guess whether or not Xan man liked the swing:

Yes, he can.

2008-11-04T23:35:00.000-08:00

Here are a list of things that I think Obama can do while serving as president:

- Yes he can increase the budget deficit.
- Yes he can ruin our health care system even further.
- Yes he can reward laziness.
- Yes he can punish innovation and hard work.
- Yes he can break the majority of his campaign promises.
- Yes he can start turning our country into a socialist one.
- Yes he can bankrupt our coal industry.
- Yes he can make our electricity rates skyrocket.
- Yes he can implement a tax system that has been proven to quash jobs.
- Yes he can pull out of Iraq and nullify everything our troops have worked for.
- Yes he can say he cares about helping the poor, and hypocritically turn around and give very little of his own money to charity.
- Yes he can continue his tradition of wasteful government spending.
- Yes he can steal from the rich to give their money to whomever he thinks deserves it.
- Yes he can lie to the American people and they won't care because they wanted "Hope" and "Change"

"The American people will never knowingly adopt socialism. But, under the name of 'liberalism,' they will adopt every fragment of the socialist program, until one day America will be a socialist nation, without knowing how it happened."
-- Norman Thomas, six times the Socialist Party candidate for President (1884-1968 )

Hoppy Halloween!

2008-11-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, the title was cheesy, but little Xan man was a kangaroo for Halloween. We took him to Tyler's office where kids went trick-or-treating around the cubicles. Xan was pretty confused with all the people offering him candy and all. He was very cautious when they'd offer him the bucket of candy and after careful consideration (about 1-2 minutes every time), he'd pick a piece of candy. Every couple of times, he'd take a piece out of his own bucket and give it to the person offering him candy. He's such a sweetheart!

I caught him in the act of throwing his candy on the floor:

Enjoying the fruits of his labor:

New pictures

2008-10-26T20:03:00.001-07:00

We took a trip to the park this week:

Can you believe how wild his hair is?

I call this one, "Executive Baby":

And, of course, within 30 minutes of my post last week about Xan Man not walking yet, he took his first steps. Little goofball...

My little weirdo

2008-10-19T20:59:00.000-07:00

So, the little man still refuses to walk. This is what he does instead:

Xander's favorite things to do:

2008-10-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

Help "organize" mommy's work things

Watch TV (I'm such a good mommy)

Pretend to be interested in walking (but still won't take the plunge)

Make messes

Climb on, and get into new things

Hang out with daddy

Did you notice he's smiling in every picture? He's such a happy baby!

And yes, he's almost always just wearing a onesie and nothing else. Boys are so easy.

Computer whiz

2008-09-17T23:36:00.000-07:00

Xander told me that he was going to update mommy's blog because she hasn't been doing a very good job. I'm not sure what he meant by that.

Who does he look like?

2008-08-23T23:17:00.001-07:00

I'm always getting differing opinions of who Xan man looks like. So here are pictures of me and Tyler when we were younger and a pic of Xander. Who does he look like?

Jenny:

Tyler:

Xander:

Happy 1st Birthday Xan Man!!

2008-08-20T21:16:00.000-07:00

If I write too much, I'll probably cry. My little man is growing up so fast!

2008-08-05T15:49:00.000-07:00

Well, now that Xan man is crawling around like CRAZY, he's getting into everything (of course). So he got into a can of his snacks and within 45 seconds or so, the entire can was all over the floor (see exhibit A). I moved the little guy, got the vacuum, and cleaned up the mess. I put the vacuum away and by the time I got back, he had made another mess with the goldfish (see exhibit B). Ahh, I love being a mommy!

Exhibit A (the treats sort of blend in with the carpet):

Exhibit B:

And just because I thought it was cute, a picture of him bathing in grandma's sink:

2008-07-13T13:02:00.000-07:00

We recently went on vacation (for 3 weeks...yikes!). I didn't take very many pictures, but Xander got to meet his cousins for the first time:

The night we got home, Xander wouldn't fall asleep. Being the bad mother that I am, I decided to let him cry it out. I put him in his crib, turned off the light and closed the door. After about 10 minutes, the crying stopped and I waited another 5 minutes before I went in and checked on him. Here's how I found him:

Will crawl for food

2008-06-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

9 months old!

2008-05-23T14:38:00.001-07:00

So Xander just turned 9 months and we wanted to get some pictures taken of him. We scheduled the appointment and it just happened to be on the day he got his first cold. He was tired, coughing and just all around sad. I felt really bad for the poor little guy, but as always, he was a little trooper. The pictures didn't turn out as well as I had hoped they would, but of course, I bought them all anyway.

NObama in 2008

2008-05-13T14:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm sorry if this makes some of my friends angry, but I just can't keep it bottled up any more. I don't want to turn my blog into a political rant, so I made a new blog that I can rant about political and social issues that are on my mind. Today I posted about how much I don't like pretty much anything that Obama stands for. If you're interested in politics, here it is: http://xtherightisrightx.blogspot.com/

A Model, Idiot.

2008-04-23T00:59:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok. I know everybody thinks their baby is the cutest in the world, but I just couldn't help myself. A friend of mine told me about a modeling agency up here in Portland so I had to snap some pictures of the Xan Man and send them in. I was only allowed to send 4 so I had a ridiculously hard time choosing, but I don't have to hold back here on the ol' blog. Here are a few of my favorites...

And one for the ladies...(in about 30 years when he's allowed to start dating)

Little Xan Man

2008-04-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

Here are some new pictures of the Xan Man and his uncontrollable hair. He's started doing this thing where he scrunches up his nose when he laughs or likes something. It's pretty cute, but let's hope it's not some weird habit that he'll be doing when he's 40.

We got Xan this balloon and he could not stop making this super cheesy/drunken man smile, he loved it! Oh, and he finally decided to stop being so lazy and started sitting up.

This is our new car, I LOVE IT!

Easter Weekend

2008-03-25T00:56:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from Easter, enjoy!

I asked Tyler to pretend like he was coloring eggs for a picture. This was what I got:

For your viewing pleasure...

2008-02-10T11:17:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures

2007-12-16T00:28:00.001-08:00

Don't expect me to be like Julie and make a thousand ridiculously cute posts. I do have some pictures though, so here you go (to the 3 people who will ever even see this blog)...

PS: His shirt says "Thug"... Don't hate the player, hate the game.

Xander's first encounter with the fat man

2007-12-15T20:25:00.001-08:00

Today Xander met Santa. I thought he would be scared and start crying but he's one tough kid and didn't seem to care that a strange old fat man was holding him.

Arrrrrgh Mateys

2007-11-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

So I couldn't choose just one costume for Xander this year, so in addition to being a Tootsie Roll, he was a pillaging, plundering and super cute pirate.

He was obviously not thrilled with the eye patch.

Happy Halloween

2007-10-30T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here is our little Tootsie Roll, dressed up for Halloween. He looks thrilled, doesn't he?