Emma's GOLDEN birthday!

This year was Emma Grace's {GOLDEN} birthday!!  That means that she turned 11 on the 11th :)  She is sweet, creative, sensitive, helpful and kind!  She stands 4'10" and Dr. D estimates that she will soon be taller than me!  We can already share size 8.5 shoes and I'm so excited that my collection has grown!

She enjoys volleyball, softball, creating short videos, writing stories and roller skating!  She still takes piano, is involved with the church children's choir and is looking forward to auditioning for the annual Spring musical soon!  She performed in an ensemble in her recent school program and did a great job!  She won first place in her class spelling bee and looks forward to competing in the school-wide bee in mid February!  

Emma cares deeply for the small circle of friends who bring out her very best!  She enjoys family game night and is hard to beat at SkipBo!  

Intermediate school has been great but has been an interesting mix of girl drama, learning responsibility, more challenging academia and questioning why "so and so" can watch/do but she cannot....!!

It isn't often that the two of us get away alone but when we do we have lots of fun!  Emma especially loves shopping at Target, eating at Olive Garden and getting a pedicure (my kind of day)!

Emma has a heart of gold.  She loves fiercely, thinks of others before herself and is a joy to parent. 

If I haven't mentioned lately that she is a WONDERFUL big sister, she IS!!  Her brothers adore her and I love to watch them grow up together.  In a few years we will have our very own babysitter :)

We celebrated at the local skating rink with lots of her favorite friends!!

Current favorites:

Color: turquoise

Day of the week: Saturday

Hobby: creating movies

Friend: Hallie

TV Show: Andy Mack
Movie: Wonder

Book: Wonder

Outfit: Jeans, boots & cute top

Food: pretzels

What do you want to be when you grow up? movie director or actor

Owen is EIGHT!!

Owen is EIGHT and we think he's really GREAT!!  He now weighs 65 lbs (79th percentile) and stands 4'4" tall (7th perc).  He wears size 8 clothes and size 3 shoes.  He is energetic, inquisitive, hilarious, persistent and entertaining!  He is the life of the party and constantly keeps us on our toes!

We celebrated with friends a week early with a video game party!

He enjoys playing football, baseball, basketball and golf.  He likes spending time in the backyard and playing Xbox.

This past year Owen lost his front four teeth, caught his first shark and started piano lessons.  We are looking forward to his first Christmas recital!

He is enjoying second grade and is keeping very busy with tons of math and spelling homework.  He recently finished speech therapy and won second place in the pumpkin storybook contest!

"Little boys should never be sent to bed.  For they always wake up a day older!!"

FAVORITES
    Day of the week: Saturday

TV Show: Dallas Cowboy games

Movie: Descendants II 

Song: White Stripes

Color: blue

Hobbby: play football

Food: Ramen noodles

Friend: Chase

Book: The History of the Dallas Cowboys

Hudson's busy September

Hudson has had a busy month and we want to share all about his many adventures!  We are still waiting for cooler temps ;)

Speech is going well.  His vocabulary is expanding and his newest words include shoes, bear, avocado, drink and please (when prompted!)  His favorite thing right now is "carrrrrs".  Anything with wheels is a car to him and his therapist is encouraging us to work on deciphering among car/truck/bus/boat/etc.  So far it's just "carrrrr"!

He has had several medical appointments this month.  His routine ophthalmology follow up went well.  His vision is still great and there have been no big changes.  For now we will continue to monitor and we will patch his left eye two hours per day in hopes of forcing his non dominant (right) eye to strengthen.

We visited Scottish Rite Hospital for the first time.  The primary referral was for orthopedics.  This Spring we confirmed that his left hip is dislocated which causes there to be a significant leg length discrepancy.  The doctor says that nothing will be done about that but that they will keep an eye on the dorsiflexion in his right foot.   We also met with a developmental pediatrician as well as several sweet therapists who fell in love with him :)  After their brief examination they gifted him with a new teddy bear and toy "carrrrr"!  Before we left they encouraged us to visit their orthotics department who graciously allowed us to rent this stander for a year.  He already has the hang of it and it allows him so much freedom and independence!  We also have stationary stander ordered which will allow us the convenience of keeping one stander to school next Fall.

He was molded for a new set of AFOs!  Sure Step seems like the most quality brand so we requested those this time!  We chose a dinosaur pattern since he is really into "dinos" these days!

We met our friend Oliver at the zoo one morning.  These two enjoyed rolling around together!

He has attended numerous football games and does so well!  Here is our sweet little bear cub cheering on the Baylor bears!

One afternoon we visited the Magnolia Silos to grab cupcakes.  He enjoyed swinging with his favorite brother and sister.  What a lucky guy :)

Hudson is 2.5!

Hudman is two-and-a-half and is sweet as can be :)  He now weighs 27 lbs 4 oz, measures 30.62" long and has a head circumference of 19.12".  He wears size 5 diapers, size 3T clothes and just got his 20th pearly white! 

On 8/13 he enjoyed his first skate!  Our church children's program hosted a 'back to school' night at the local skating rink and he had his own wheels in which to participate! 

He still does PT and OT weekly and works hard to accomplish new goals and skills.  He also recently started speech twice a week.  He loves to stop and visit the fish ("nosh") on the way out each time.

He is a lucky dude to have two helpful siblings who love him like crazy!  They are both his favorites :)  Soon after this photo was taken we found our own similar train table at a garage sale bargain price!  It is a great height for his chair. 

Once upon a time a friendly Starbucks employee offered him whipped cream in a tiny sample cup.  From then on he expects one each time I get a drink at the Target Starbucks.  Silly boy!

Our guy is a great eater and sleeper!  He loves life and brings joy to many.  He especially likes hats, fish, "carrrrrs", books, baths, and dancing. 

He is doing a great job at using his wheelchair.  So far we have taken it to church, medical appointments and the children's museum.  He enjoys exploring on a new level!  He makes new friends everywhere we go.  Many people are impressed to see such a cute little guy maneuvering around so well.  

He loves playing with tracks and automobiles.  He is becoming more vocal and his little personality is coming out!

SBANT Walk-n-Roll 2017

Thanks to the overwhelming love and support of friends and family (aka "Hudson's Heroes") our first SBANT "Walk-N-Roll" was a huge success!!  We sold 187 team shirts, donated over $1,300 and participated to raise awareness of the Spina Bifida community.

Smith super kids :)

"Sometimes, real superheroes live in the hearts of small children fighting big battles."

Smith party of 5!

We are honored that so many family members joined us to walk.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts :) 

"A HERO is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." -Christopher Reeve

First day of school 2017

Happy first day of school to the big kids!! 

Emma is in 5th grade!!  She rotates classes this year and is enjoying music class this first six weeks.  We decorated her first locker!  She is really enjoying the new level of independence that comes with intermediate school.  Her teachers are wonderful and we are anticipating a wonderful year :)

Dad and Owen are helping her set the lock ;)

Mrs Kimmel is Emma's homeroom teacher and seems wonderful!  She is also her Science teacher and of course E was super excited to discover that she has turtles as classroom pets :)  

Treats for our wonderful teachers!

Our silly second grader did not make early morning photos easy!  He was so ready to get back to school and start a routine. 

Little brother had to get in on the action!  Next Fall he will start Preschool!

Ms Wilton is Owen's homeroom teacher and seems great!  She called the day before "Meet the Teacher" and introduced herself to him.  She loves the kiddos :)

Praying for an amazing school year full of learning, growing and sharing Jesus through our actions!

A morning at the Mayborn museum

Before the big kids headed off to school we visited the Mayborn museum.  They enjoyed visiting the traveling Speed (science in motion) exhibit.  This was really the first place with wide open spaces that we brought Hudson's wheels along.  He was such a big boy and zoomed around making new little friends and exploring!

The train was definitely a favorite and he enjoyed watching it go around the track!

Owen especially enjoyed the Science room upstairs.

Hudson loves magnets!

Giddyup!

Hello pretty girl!  She loved this mirror!

Hudson has such a love/hate relationship with this buffalo!  He has been scared of it in the past but wheeled full speed toward it.  As soon as he got close he freaked out (but soon made friends with it and seemed so interested in it). 

Making music!

Since this day Hudson has been very interested in "carrrrrrs"!  He has since inherited Owen's old set of wooden tracks and automobiles.

These two enjoyed racing at the Speed exhibit!  They were both so helpful and impressed that Hudson wheeled around so independently :)