Tuesday, December 23, 2014

A Pre K Christmas week

Owen had a busy and fun filled week before Christmas.  He has such a great group of Pre K friends who invited us to participate in an array of holiday activities!  On Wednesday we decorated gingerbread houses at Hartley's house.  Her sweet mama April did was such a creative hostess!  I'm pretty sure Owen enjoyed eating frosting out of the tub more than decorating!



On Thursday evening JK's family organized a Christmas caroling hayride.  We visited a Huntsville nursing facility and enjoyed bring some cheer to those residents.


On Friday their class performed in the annual Discovery Days Christmas pageant.  Owen was so excited and counted down the weeks until the big day.  They sang "Away in a Manger" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas".  Owen was the cutest shepherd ever and the Pre K kids did such a wonderful job!  I forgot to bring Kleenex along but did a good job of holding in the mama tears.  I'm already getting sad that his Pre K year is half way done and next year this sweet group of kids will have to part ways for Kindergarten....



Angel Sarah with shepherd buddies Owen and JK :)


We were so thankful that Lita made the quick trip to watch the program and to be at the kids' class parties.  Owen specifically asked her to come and to "dress nice"!


Our family of four after the pageant

Saturday, December 20, 2014

Bumpdate - 28 weeks


How Far Along?  28 weeks {officially in the third trimester!  Yay!}

Baby size?  About the size of an eggplant - Dr D mentioned that Hudson is now close to 2 lbs!?

Maternity Clothes?   Absolutely!

Weight Gain?  #

Stretch Marks?  None  

Gender?  Oh BOY!  

Sleep?  Other than more frequent restroom trips it is great!

Food cravings?  None whatsoever!  So strange!

What I Miss?  abs

What I am loving?  finally feeling him move more

Symptoms?  Feeling really great right now but I'm occasionally bothered by my sciatic nerve and ligament pains {usually late in the day}

Best moment of the week? ultrasound

**************************************************************************

The photos below are at approximately 8, 20 and 25 weeks along :)

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Santa's Wonderland 2014

We welcomed the holiday season with a trip to Santa's Wonderland.  It has become quite a Smith tradition and we look forward to it every year!


The newest addition to the park are these giant nutcrackers!  


We beat the crowd and parked almost an hour before it opened.  Upon entrance we went straight to the hayride and it was fabulous to skip the long line!  The light displays are always top notch and are super impressive!


The kids just had to get a photo by this large snow globe.  Owen wished we could have gone inside :)


Marshall Frostbite is always entertaining and the kids enjoyed saying hello!


Our annual family photo on the stage!


Pony rides



Petting zoo



The kids enjoyed listening to the live music.  Owen even asked the guest musician if he could play White Stripes ;)


Highlight of our visit included dutch oven peach cobbler, the pretend "snow" and a visit with Santa himself!

EIGHT is GREAT!

Emma thinks it's GREAT to be EIGHT!!  It's so hard to believe that she is half way to the legal driving age {and, as Big Daddy pointed out, only a short decade away from heading to college}!  How can that be?!  She is attentive, creative, beautiful, athletic, mature, less gullible by the day, playful, always  busy, rather stubborn and particular and has a heart of gold.  She has lost four teeth to date and has two loose ones!


She weighs 74 pounds {95th percentile} and stands 4' 3" tall {75th perc}.  She is quickly outgrowing size 8/10 clothes and has women's size 3 foot.  It won't be long before we can share a shoe collection :)  We no longer see eye to eye on her wardrobe.  She rebels against 'cute' outfits and hair bows.  We do compromise with headbands!  I gave her this shirt with an '8' on it on the morning of her birthday and she said "I can't believe you actually picked out something I like".  {Seriously?!}


Recently a sweet classmate approached me and said that Emma is a "great friend to have".  Mrs Reddick commented that she wishes she had eighteen Emmas in class.  Those are definitely some of the best compliments a mama can receive!!  She rarely ever has to be disciplined or told to correct her behavior.  She definitely makes this parenting gig easy!


Our girl is downright terrified of shots, bugs and sleeping in the dark.  She has incredible physical strength for her age.  She is still a great eater but has become a bit more choosy over the past year.  She enjoys playing Barbies, American Girl dolls, riding her bike, writing, drawing and reading.


School is going well for her.  She is quite the book worm and currently leads the second grade with reading counts points.  Junie B Jones books are among her favorites!  She often worries about math tests and then makes 100s on them.  She rarely has to study much for weekly spelling and vocabulary tests and math also comes relatively easy for her.  She is becoming the type of student I never was!  She has developed some mild anxiety about her routine.  She takes things very seriously and prefers for things to come easy to her.  She was one of three students selected for the UIL creative writing team and placed sixth in district competition earlier this month.  She occasionally returns home from school disappointed that her fellow classmates repetitively use 'bad' words: stupid, dumb, dang and the phrase 'oh my gosh'.  Little does she know it will only get worse, but for now I'm okay with her naivety.  


Favorites (her responses in orange!)

Color: aqua
Best friend: Rebecca, Alexis, Ashanti, Katelynn and Marisol
TV show: Jesse
Day of the week: Wednesday {because it's hump day!}
Month:  December 
Holiday:  Christmas
Outfit:  'Believe in your selfie' shirt with matching jacket and black tights/boots
Restaurant: Sonic
Food: pineapples
Drink: Dr Pepper
Store: Target
Thing about school: reading
What are you good at?: writing 
Where do you want to attend college?: A&M and Baylor (smart girl!)
What do you want to be when you grow up?: teacher

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Frozen Party

There was no question, Emma was set on a Disney Frozen party!!  The hype has overtaken little girls around the globe - ours included!  Chances are you have seen it.  Otherwise, do so quickly!


One of my favorite displays to assemble was Olaf's Summer table!  In the midst of all of the snowflakes and icicles was this fun spot!  In the movie the popular and adorable Snowman, Olaf, dreams of all things warm and sunny.  Guests enjoyed ocean water {blue kool aid}, inner tubes {peach O's}, pool noodles {twizzlers} and Summer fresh fruit.  Do you want to build a snowman!?  The kids enjoyed building their very own snowmen with marshmallows {body}, candy eyeballs, orange tic tacs {noses}, chocolate chips {buttons} and pretzels {arms}.  It was a hit!


The kiddos played four games: toilet paper wrapped snowman {equipped with a corn cob nose and buttons}, "FREEZE" dance {get it?!}, snowball toss and Olaf's beach ball pass {hot potato}.  They seemed to have a great time :)


Everyone seemed to love the hot chocolate bar!  It included mini candy canes, chocolate chips, marshmallows and whipped cream.  It was the perfect treat for this time of year.  Yum!


The food table was fun and followed the movie theme!  We enjoyed cheesy snowballs, Olaf's noses {carrots}, Kisses {to melt a frozen heart} and sandwiches.  The cake was made by Red Barn Bakery and the printables were designed by Meghily's on etsy.  


All smiles about turning EIGHT :)


Last family birthday party as a family of four {hello little brother!}


A special thanks to Grandpa and Grandma Bailey for making the day trip and for helping!!  We couldn't have done it without them.


Second grade homeroom besties {Ashanti, Katelyn, Emma, Marisol & Alexis}


The whole gang!


Emma says she loved her party and was so thankful for all of the fun friends who came to help her celebrate.  We are blessed!!


* HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET GIRL! *

Friday, November 28, 2014

Football Playoffs 2014

Our mighty Trinity Tigers finished as 3A Division II District 12 tri-district champions for the first time since 1988!  Words cannot express how proud I am of Coach Smith, his coaching staff and the wonderful athletes and all the time, sweat, blood and tears {literally!} they have put in this season.  We really enjoyed following them each Friday night to cheer them on loud and proud!

Our bi district playoff game was on Friday Nov 14.  The day started with a pep rally - Owen was coaxed into talking into the microphone for the team captains!  His short and sweet message was "Go Tigers"!


Owen is fortunate to have so many great young men to look up to.  They are kind enough to let him walk through the tunnel and sit with them during pep rallies!


Manuel{#77} even lets the coaches' kids sleep on him on the bus ride after the game :)


Some of the team moms made spirit signs and displayed them so that the team could see on their way out of town.  Three of the cutest coaches' kids I know:


The team was escorted out of town by the police and fire department.  The community supported the Tigers!


:)


My handsome coach husband pre game :)


Out of the tunnel and ready to play!


Our boys of Fall - ready to take on the Crockett Bulldogs


Jaxon, D'Andre and Owen - their coaching daddies' biggest fans!  {Notice the hats - it was freezing!!}


Head sets on, ready to roll...


The Tigers came out strong and well prepared to play.  The game was back and forth until the Bulldogs pulled ahead at the very end of the fourth quarter.


"The game of life is a lot like football.  
You have to tackle your problems, block your fears 
and score your points when you get the opportunity. "
-Lewis Grizzard  

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Owen's first ER trip

They say that there is a first time for everything.  I'm honestly surprised {and very thankful} it took over five years for Owen's first trip to the ER!  After all, he has always been rough, tough and ALL boy!!  After dinner on Thursday evening I told Owen to follow me so that I could start his bath water.  He wasn't being rambunctious per say but began to run down the semi lit hallway just a few steps behind me.  All of a sudden I heard  a terribly loud "THUD!!"  His head had collided with the wall corner.  Without looking back yet I knew this wouldn't be pretty.  He never cried; just rubbed his head.  As soon as we entered into better light in the nearby bathroom I discovered that there was blood coming from an open wound.  I was completely shocked that it wasn't bleeding much more profusely.  I should probably mention at this point that Daddy Coach was scouting a game out of town and that he is much better at keeping calm in these situations :)


I panicked a little but couldn't decide whether or not I should take him to the ER.  I put Owen in the tub and then proceeded to call every nurse I know including my Aunt Kay, my fellow coach's wife, Melissa, and one of my best friends, Mandy.  I spoke with Mandy briefly.  I then called Dr Dewbre, our favorite central Texas pediatrician.  I am SO blessed that she is always just a phone call away and is always so willing to help!  She gave me her best advice and asked me to send her a picture.  In the meantime I texted with Jarrod but he was adamant that no medical treatment was necessary.  

Facebook is often a brilliant tool for quick information!  Our fabulous school athletic trainer, Chelsea, saw a photo and we started instant messaging.  She could definitely sense my anxiety and called right away.  She selflessly offered to drive to our house {after 9pm} to take a look and to offer her expertise.  Upon arrival and one quick glance she stated that it needed treatment.  She was so sweet to accompany us to the Huntsville hospital ER.  The triage nurse wrapped Owen's head like a "mummy" and asked him how it happened.  After that we waited a few hours before being seen again.  Little man got in a cat nap!


Once we were finally taken back he continued his nap until the doctor appeared.  She was super gentle and kid friendly.  She gave him two staples.  Owen was such a brave boy and didn't cry once.  After it was over he was rewarded with tons of fun stickers and two full size candy bars {and even enjoyed one for breakfast the next morning}.


On Friday he was excited to show the football players his staples!  Next week he will have them removed.