naughty or nice

carter smith

age: 23 months

presents or coal?

naughty: screaming and kicking EVERY SINGLE time his diaper is changed

nice: delivering dirty nappies to the proper waste receptical (saving his mother a trip)

naughty: escaping from the house, wandering down the street, and then running from his mother during her rescue attempt (this was done while mother was 9 months pregnant and barefoot... and of course, there were spectators)

nice: kneeling and folding his arms when it's time to say prayers

naughty: trying to sit on baby max while max is eating, because HE wants to be on his mother's lap

nice: willing to give max hugs and kisses

naughty: throwing food on the floor (this is often followed by him pointing and shaking his finger at the mess while saying 'no,no,no')

nice: running to get a towel after a spill and singing "clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere" while he wipes up the mess. he also gets the broom to clean up crums (which then becomes a bigger mess as he scatters it around in his attempt to "kee, up". it's the thought that counts)

naughty: yelling "no", "mine", and "let go" at his mother

nice: saying "please moma" when he wants something (we'll count this as nice even though the tone used is often identical to that of "no", "mine", and "let go" :)

naughty or nice?

it's going to be a close call this year :)

are all two year olds this cooperative?

brothers

the boys all ready for church
an outing

welcome baby max!

happy halloween!

what's been going on

TYRELL: well ty is sad as always, to see summer go. but he did get the chance to play on the lake a lot this summer and they finally called it quits in october. he and his friend have been working on their wake boarding skills and tyrell got pretty dang good at doing wake to wake 180's and such. he finally got all of the jet skis working and shortly there after, out of necessity(freeze warnings) had to winterize them. which is exciting because we might actually get to put the cars back in the garage soon. i think the look on his face in this picture expresses both of our frustration with these things :) although... now that they are all working... it might be a little harder to sell them come next summer. they are pretty fun (but don't get me wrong... if you or someone you know finds themselves in need of some jet skis, let us know:). i am always amazed at what tyrell can fix with little or no prior experience. school, teaching, and church callings are keeping tyrell REALLY busy and i know he can't wait to have a break.






CARTER: he is learning more words, and saying short phrases. he can say 'i love you' which is so cute, but when i tell him to say 'i love you mama', he ALWAYS says 'i wu-oo dada!" dada?... come on, i mean he is nice and all, but i am the one changing all the poopy diapers :)

he loves to wear our shoes and hats. he puts them on often and has kept my closet in a continual state of disarray. he has also learned some new skills like opening and unlocking doors. this has been going on for weeks now, but it reached a new level when he learned to open the front door. one day he escaped and this picture captures what i found. diaper, mom's shoes and dad's hat. everything one might need for a public appearance:)




and this may give you a glimpse of how cool he thinks he is:)













ME: and what have i been up to? well here is a picture of me at 35 weeks and the belly tells the tale. i am waiting, and not very patiently, for the arrival of baby boy smith. i am pretty anxious about him getting here! i just realized the other day that i am complaining a lot more this time around. "tyrell... i am so uncomfortable, my back hurts, my legs are restless, everyone is having their baby before me, time is going so slowly, my skin can't possibly stretch any more, i can't sleep...etc":) tyrell confirmed this realization, and i need to be grateful that all in all, i have had really good pregnancies. i know i am a little more anxious than normal because we have had some scares along the way. i just want the baby to be here safe, sound and healthy. only time will tell. three more weeks!!!

if you can ride or drive it....he will come.

and i am pretty sure it's all his fault :)

the reunion

we drove to az to see family during tyrell's two week break. here are a few recaps from the reunion.

one day it rained pretty hard and we decided it was time to corral all the kids to keep them out of the mud. we put on a movie via lap-top but the sound was not loud enough. so while it was being fixed, kristen was keeping the rioting at bay by reading them all a story.










a new game called 'washers' was introduced and the guys had fun playing. carter of course was always in the way and really excelled and picking up all the washers before, during and after each persons turn.










the boys (plus nicki and me) went shooting one afternoon (off homestead land of course :)











sat and talked around the camp fire.
















'got acquainted' (as my grandma would say)

and of course tyrell set up his zip line, which involved him scaling up this tree (which was impressive). all the kids LOVED it.

ty even offered rides in the rain :)

we helped out at the chicken coop showing the kids chickens and letting them pet and feed them. ty looks a little more frightened than carter.

who is completely unaware that his face is TOO CLOSE to the beak.





it was our first reunion without our favorite grandma smith, and it just wasn't the same. she loved being at the homestead and of course being surrounded by family!! you are loved and missed!