On the move

 Our four years in the piney woods of east Texas have come to an end and this season of our life was memorable.  This is where our oldest kids started school, Emma accepted Christ and was baptized, Jarrod led the football team to great victories and historic success, we lost our 12 year old beloved family dog, we endured personal heartache, we made such true friendships, Jarrod was ordained as a deacon and sweet Hudson joined our family.  We are so thankful to have had such loving and supportive church and coaching families and will miss them very much.

 

 We packed up the Uhaul and headed for central Texas on Christmas week (yes, it was rather strange taking our tree down before Christmas day!)  Jarrod has accepted an administrative position with Midway ISD in the Waco area.  It is a fantastic opportunity for our family and we look forward to having daddy around a lot more :)

Precious contents in this box!

 

"You get a strange feeling when you leave a place, like you'll not only miss the people you love, but you miss the person you are at this time and place because you'll never be this way ever again."-Azar Nafasi

Christmas 2015



Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Smiths! 

 

On Christmas morning the kiddos woke up crazy early to see what Santa brought!  :)  They were thrilled to see that he left Emma her own cell phone, Owen an Xbox One and Hudson a Learning Bear.  They were kind enough to allow me to snap a quick some pajama photos!

Hudson enjoyed his first Christmas festivities!

Our crew

 

Hudson at 9 months

Sweet Hudson is 9 months old!  He weighs 17 lbs 13.5 oz, measures 26 inches long and is the happiest baby we know!  He fits perfectly into size 9 month outfits and size 3 diapers. 

This next photo was taken just a matter of seconds after the one above.  His little hands have gotten very busy and he doesn't sit still for long!  He ripped the sticker off and put it straight to his mouth!

Bath time is still one of his favorite times of day.  It certainly has a calming effect on him.  He is mesmerized by the running water and loves to reach for water when it is poured on his tummy. 

 

He is a great eater!  He is still enjoying homemade baby food and we recently introduced green peas and carrots.  He was somewhat unsure about the green peas at first but quickly decided that he approved!  He doesn't seem picky at all and willingly eats any taste or texture!  His favorite snack is Gerber yogurt melts.  Dec 8th was the first time he reached for the spoon.  It made for a messy situation!

He is still such a catnapper!  He sleeps pretty well at night and doesn't snooze longer than fifteen minutes at a time during the day!  He loves to catch my hair in his hand and hold on to it while drifting to sleep.

Hudson was all smiles for his first Thanksgiving and enjoyed getting to visit with all of his grandparents and family members!  He even got to taste a tiny bit of turkey :)

 

Oh how sweet this bond is!  Hudson has really started belly laughing at her antics.  Whatever she does or says is hilarious to Hudson!  He has shown a lot more interest in reaching for toys!    Sometimes he even falls asleep while playing with the toy bar on his car seat :)

 

 

We love you sweet boy!  XOXO

 

Emma is NINE!

As wild as it sounds, our Emma is NINE!  She is technically half way to being an adult and heading off to college *tear*.  She currently weighs 90 lbs and stands 4 feet 5.5 inches tall.  She wears mostly size 10-12 clothes and women's size 4 shoe {we can share socks!}  She is beautiful, trustworthy, joyful, enthusiastic, clever, silly, smart, creative, strategic and caring.  She is the absolute perfect mix of child and young lady.  She is the best big sister and has lots of patience and love for her little brothers :)

 

 

She is flourishing in the 3rd grade and has been particularly busy at school this fall.  She represented her school and placed in all district UIL events she participated in including chess {4th}, ready writing {5th}, storytelling {4th} and spelling {1st!}.  She learned 600 new spelling words and devoted lots of time to it!  She made straight A's on her first two report cards and excels in the school reading program.  She has especially enjoyed science this fall and loves the experiments!

 

She enjoys riding her bike, playing Barbies, reading, writing, crafting and playing board/card games.  This fall she took piano lessons and participated in her first recital this month.  She performed four pieces and did a great job!  She also received awards for memorizing scales and chords.

To celebrate her last single digit birthday we hosted a slumber party with a dozen of her favorite friends!  The girls enjoyed pizza/cake, nail painting, a craft, freeze dance, games, a movie, ice cream at midnight and much more!  There was plenty of excitement and laughter!  The girls finally fell asleep around 1am! 

Photo booth shenanigans!

   
Each girl put a sweet birthday message on this pillow case which I know she will cherish forever :)

CURRENT FAVORITES:

Color: aqua

Best friend: Marisol, Katelynn, the Savannahs, Ashanti, Reba & Rainy
TV show: Bunk'd

Day of the week: Saturday

Month:  December {because of my birthday!}

Holiday:  Christmas

Outfit:  Anything from Justice!

Restaurant: Yummy Yummy

Food: pineapples & pizza

Drink: Dr Pepper

Thing about school: friends

What are you good at?: Making Hudson laugh :)

Where do you plan to attend college?: Baylor

What do you want to be when you grow up?: Author and/or Teacher

What's the most important thing in life? God &  family

Bible verse: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. ~Philippians 14:13