Madeleine makes the paper, again!

Madeleine makes the local paper again! It's accessible at The Lake Highlands People website, but here's the photo (she's the one on the left).

Presents!!

A bounce house!!!

So many blessings!

Merry Christmas!

From the Smiths!

Santa!

We put Everett into the Santa suit today! Here's a photo of Everett and then one of Madeleine from Christmas 2004!

Here's Everett in 2007


Here's Madeleine in 2004

Christmas at Mi and Pap's

We celebrated Christmas today at Mi and Pap's (Lee's parents). We had a wonderful lunch made by Aunt Rosalie (Lee's aunt) and then the present opening began! Here are Madeleine's favorite presents: (a cell phone and a tinkerbell costume)

Madeleine's famous!

Madeleine was in our local paper, The Lake Highlands People. She is in the red dress with red socks, laughing at the entertainer at a Christmas party for LHAECPTA, which stands for Lake Highlands Area Early Childhood PTA. That's a mouthful!

How do their minds work?

This morning I was snoozing in the bed and Madeleine came to cuddle.
She asked me, "Mommy, when will your tummy be little again?"
I replied, "someday..."
Then Madeleine said, "Before you die?"
I replied, "I hope so, I sure do hope so..."

He's Done It!

Sleeping through the night in crib - achieved! Naps in crib - still short, but getting better... Kids are amazingly adaptable!

Transitioning to the crib

Oh, how painful!!! Everett occassionally slept in his crib but in the middle of the night it just became easier to put him in his vibrating chair that he LOVES! Before I knew it, I was putting him in his chair anytime that he went to sleep.

So, after his two month visit and his four shots we figured this was it! I put him down for a nap in his crib after his doctor's visit and he cried until it was time to feed him again. Just so you know that we're not that mean, we do go in and do a diaper check and try to calm him down every 15 minutes but picking him up is strictly forbidden or else he gets confused (these are the Smith family rules).

Madeleine didn't sleep through the night until her two month visit. We thought that just as the four shots had made Madeleine tired, they would do the same thing for Everett. Everett has been sleeping through the night for about 2 weeks now, so this transitioning to his crib would be easy, right? WRONG! He cried nearly the whole night. After putting him in his bed at 11pm, I fed him at 2am, 5am, and 8am. After a nearly sleepless night, he didn't nap well yesterday because I kept putting in the crib (we were going cold turkey out of his chair). He only slept during the two car errands we went on (maybe 2 hours total all day of sleep).

Then, last night, a miracle occurred! He was finally exhausted. After putting him in his bed at 10:30 pm, he cried for 13 minutes and went to sleep until 6am!! We'll see how his naps today go... Right now he's still asleep in his car seat after taking Madeleine to school!

Is that funny?

Madeleine's new thing is to notice two words that sound alike and to say them both and then ask, "Is that funny?" For example, (sorry, this is the only one that I can think of because Madeleine just said this)
"Mommy, Mary is the mother of Jesus and Mary had a little lamb, is that funny, Mommy?" I say that it is funny, but maybe it is more like the English language is funny?

Our Sunday School class

One of my tasks at Lovers Lane UMC is to begin new Sunday School classes. Since there is always a need for more Sunday School classes for parents with young children, I found an amazing woman named Kimberly Shults who wanted to join with me in starting a new class. We named it Real Family and it is indeed our family at Lovers Lane UMC. Lee is there every Sunday and with my duties in worship I try to be there as much as I can. This past Sunday we had our 2nd Annual Christmas party. It has been amazing to see how God has grown this Sunday School class. For the 2nd year the children put on a nativity play. Last year Madeleine was a wise man, but this year she wanted to be an angel and when the play was over she didn't want to take her costume off! There must have been 20 children there!

Two Month Pediatrician's Visit

Everett is up to 8 pounds, 14 ounces and he is 23 inches long. While he was being measured the nurse said, "His head can't be that big, let me measure it again." She measured it again and it was that big. He has large brains I guess... He is rolling onto his side and loves to move his arms and legs all about.

How it all works

At dinner tonight Madeleine shared that she was scared of Spiderman.
Lee said, "Spiderman? But he's nice, he helps people."
Madeleine said, "I'm a little scared of Spiderman (which sounds like Piderman in Madeleine language). And she made the little motion with her hands (thumb and pointer finger close together)
Then, Madeleine got an inquisitive look on her face and asked, "Does Jesus live with Piderman?"
Lee told her no, but he couldn't remember where Piderman lived. He said that he thought it was Metropolis.

Madeleine vs. Styrofoam

The styrofoam won.


We got a new TV and new TV stand today! The CyberMonday sales drew us in... While Lee assembled the TV stand, Madeleine found the styrofoam and proceeded to tear it into tiny, tiny pieces. Upon discovering the resulting mess, I decided to vacuum the girl and all of her clothes (with the hose attachment)! It worked surprising well... I even vacuumed her hair!

Beginning to Smile

He's starting to get the hang of it...

A Trip to the mall

We went to Town East mall today with my friend Erica and her beautiful little girl, Bailey. Here are some great pictures of our adventure! There's Madeleine on the car playground, Madeleine and me, and Erica and Everett. Thanks to Erica for the pictures!

I couldn't resist

Madeleine has been talking about Santa all day. She was in awe. She told Santa she wanted princess clothes and (I loved this one) the princess thing on the tv. I just love how it looks like she and Santa were having a conversation in the pictures.

A visit with Santa

Madeleine has never had her picture taken with Santa. I know, I know, I'm a negligent mother, but I decided this year was THE year. She understands about Santa, asks questions, wants to make sure the chimney is clear of debris, etc. So, this year I decided to try this visiting Santa thing out. Northpark mall has a story time with Santa everyday at 11am, so we went today. It was awesome. Santa came out and told two great stories with lots of hand motions. He was a great storyteller (as you would expect from Santa). By the end of it Madeleine wasn't scared at all and she wanted to sit in his lap and get her picture taken. And Everett woke up just as Madeleine was called up to sit in Santa's lap, so we got both kids. However, we might have to go back when the kids are dressed up!

More musings from a Three Year Old

We had lunch at the Pei Wei, it was delicious as always, on Forest near Preston Ln. There is an ice cream place next door and Madeleine has been there once before, so now she wants to go all the time. The High temperature today was 41 and the wind was blowing. Madeleine asked "Can we have ice cream now?"

"No, it is too cold" we replied.

"It's not cold" she retorted.

Cleverly, I explained its name "It's called ice cream because it is cold like ice."

She sat there for a few seconds and then asked "Then can we go to the yogurt store?"

Musings from a Three Year Old

Madeleine got out her Little People nativity set today. Grandma Phyllis also got her a nativity scene with finger puppets on Thanksgiving, so Madeleine has been talking about Jesus and asking lots of questions. Later in the day today Madeleine ran up to me and said, "Jesus was born with all the animals".
"Yes", I replied, "in the manger, where the animals slept".
Then, she asked, "Was Noah there?"
"Noah?", I inquired.
"There were animals with Noah in the boat and animals with Jesus."
"Ahh, maybe Noah was there Madeleine, I don't know!"

I love how the mind of a three year old puts things together!

Another attempt at a family photo

Apparently last time Lee had flowers coming out of his head! Here's our latest attempt...

It was cold on Thanksgiving!

How sweet!

This is what happens when you tell a three year old to smile! Daddy, Madeleine, and Everett

Everett Visits the Pediatrician

Everett went for his one month visit (although he's almost 6 weeks old) today. He weighs 8 pounds, 6 ounces and is 21 inches. At his last visit he was in the 10th percentile, but now he's in the 25th percentile in both height and weight. Grow, kid, grow!

Family photo!

What a great weekend!

This weekend we were blessed to hang out with my sister Kristin and her family a bunch, which was awesome! It is wonderful to see the 3 year old girl cousins playing together, and destroying their rooms together, picture below. Sydney is on the left, Madeleine is on the right.One day in the not too distant future, Austin (my sister's little boy) and Everett will be playing too! So, we decided to get their picture together, Austin is on the left, Everett is on the right.

I love him!

Everett Sumpter Smith

What a sweet baby face!

Of course he's sleeping, how else will he have enough energy to be awake from 3am on?

A Trip to the Zoo

Lee's work schedule has changed and he now has every other Friday off! So, we took our first family outing to the zoo! At the entrance of the zoo, that's Lee pushing the double stroller with Everett in his car seat. And then that's me holding a fussy, sleepy Everett with a proud sister Madeleine.

One Month Photos

Baby Everett had his one month photos today. He was born 4 weeks ago tomorrow. He was a laid back angel about the entire thing. Enjoy! For those wanting to compare Everett to Madeleine, I have included her one month photo at the bottom. The first two are of Everett and the last photo is Madeleine's. To see the other photos taken, click on the URL below
http://mystudio.kiddiekandids.com/viewshare.asp?c=513038660TFFEEI4W

So many blessings...

I turned 33 today! What a blessing to be serenaded by my 3 year old and to get to show off our new baby at the Halloween carnival! That's where Madeleine got her face painted. Lee took me out for lunch at Tillman's Roadhouse, I loved the smores for dessert with homemade marshmallows! A huge thank you to awesome Grandma Phyllis who babysat while Lee and I went on a birthday date!

My two kids!

I have two kids! Thanks to Charles Klein and Jessie Dirks who sent our October baby a Halloween welcome package. He is in a Halloween bib and a kitty hat.

And I took this photo of Madeleine in the bath last night. She loves to float! and play with bubbles.

Scrapbook Pages

My awesome aunt, Judith Nicholls, has gotten a new digital scrapbooking program and created some really cool scrapbook pages of Baby Everett. Enjoy!

http://nichollsfamily.us/family/everett/Baby.htm

A Trip to the Pediatrician

Today the whole family went to the pediatrician's office! It was time for Everett's 2 week weigh-in and Madeleine needed her flu shot. The pediatrician advised Lee and I to also get flu shots. Everett weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces (he was 6 lbs 5 oz at birth, and 6 lbs 1 oz when we left the hospital) and grew an inch! Now it was time for the flu shots. Madeleine had already discussed that mommy was to get the first shot, then daddy, then Madeleine. The parents did fine but when it was Madeleine's turn, Lee had to nearly hold her down. She did not want the shot! Next June when it is her 4 year check-up she will get 3 shots, I think that Lee will need to go with us because Madeleine was very strong and adamant in not wanting to get a shot!

Mommy and Me

Daddy and me

Brother and Sister

Pat Ewert at Lovers Lane UMC made Madeleine and Everett these adorable hats. When I took their photo today, they both decided to touch their nose!




And when they started to lean, they leaned together!