carter's 2

carter turned two in january. we had cake on his actual birthday (sunday) and then on monday we had some friends over for dinner and more cake. i always take his shirt off so he can be free to get dirty...but he is the cleanest eater. i am grateful for this skill 364 days of the year, but it is no fun on his birthday:) this little guy is so FULL of gusto and we love him!! he gets SO excited about the littlest things and i can't help but smile! he loves anything with wheels, being chased and mauled, and 'helping' his mom and dad do chores and projects. he loves to 'talk' on the phone and jabbers all day long (i am sure one day he will speak english:) he is a good big brother and we are so glad he's ours. happy birthday CADO!!!

ok, so this was my first attempt at a decorative cake and also with fondant. it went.......as you can see...just ok. but for me, the truth is, this is pretty good. i am not skilled in the ways of arts and crafts but i thought i would give it a whirl. a few problems i had consisted of: frosting the cake too close to the oven and crock pot which lead to melted frosting, the cake was not cut well and was lumpy, the fondant was rolled too thin and did not cover up the lumpiness like i had hoped, and the longer the decorating frosting bag was in my hand... the uglier the cake got. but it's the thought that counts right?

and i couldn't help but post a few pictures of the cutest boys i know:)

ps

and we got family pictures while we were all together!

pss. why am i having such a problem getting the words and pictures to look good on this blog. when i type them up they don't look like they do when they are published. what's the deal?

december

catching up:

this christmas we were in SJ. the first time we have been at my parents house for christmas in the 3 years we have been married. it was a special christmas too because andrew came home from his mission just weeks before. it was so great to get to see him and have him around again.

christmas eve was where the festivities began. we had a delicious meal (thanks mom) and grandama lee joined us. then afterward the kids put on the christmas nativity. it was a four star performance as you can imagine...max was baby Jesus and 'no crying he made', mary took her part very seriously, joseph wasn't wearing pants, there were some disgruntled wise men and angles, and if this picture had sound, you would be able to hear carter screaming the whole time andrew read the account from the bible. classic:)

after the nativity and a few talents, santa showed up. carter was willing to take the present from this stranger, but not willing to sit on his lap.

we all got up early christmas morning and opened presents. carter got trucks and tools and he LOVES them.
true to tradition we all got together and had toast and gravy with breakfast steaks christmas morning. we got together with extended family, and as always it was great to see everyone!

the sunday after christmas andrew reported his mission and we blessed baby max. ty did a great job but forgot to mention the priesthood. so after sacrament meeting he had to go to the bishop's office and bless him again. except that time, he forgot to give him a name. but don't worry, the third time was the charm:)

and of all the christmas activities, i would say that just dance on the wii, was one of the funnest!

we left our camera in sj so unfortunatly the rest of the trip has no pictures. but we traveled all over az. first we went to mesa to see collette and steve (the weather was beautiful and we enjoyed a day at the park). we stayed with them and also got to see my grandpa smith in phoenix (who took us to lunch at chipotle....delicious). then we went down to tucson to see melanie and shawn (where tyrell and shawn had a very heated game of monopoly). then over to pima for the new year (thanks andy and michelle for feeding us, and luke and tianna for the new years party, and of course leroy and suzie for housing us and babysitting so we could play). i got to go up the mountain for the first time after it had snowed and it was a battle to see who could make it the furthest. tyrell claims he was the winner, but brian might tell a different story.

it was really great to see everyone and we are grateful to everyone for their hospitality. but it was a lot of traveling. our boys did pretty well considering the circumstances (ie sleeping at a new house every night). they liked seeing cousins and grandparents and we came away with only mild illnesses. so all in ,it was a very successful trip to az. and we even made it home in one piece.

novembers happenings

well it has been a pretty busy few months for the smith family. starting with max's arrival on november 13th...four days early. i could not have been more grateful for not having to hold our those extra four days!! we went in at 9pm on the 12th and had max at 3:42 in the morning. this labor was much more layed back and relaxed since it seemed like we, and our nurse, were the only people in the hospital, and the epidural worked until the end. which i appreciated:)


he was 8 pounds even (just like carter) and 20 inches long. he is behaving normally and growing well. we couldn't decide/agree on a name until the last minute before we left the hospital, due to my lack of alternate names, tyrell got the names he wanted. we named him maxwell flynt smith. we will just call him max, and the name seems to fit him quite nicely! tyrell reasoning was that, max smith, would look great on the back of a football jersey. i can't bring myself to tell him that usually, only the last name makes it on the jersey. sorry ty:)


in regards to his ultra sound findings... we just need to keep an eye on him to make sure he continues to meet his milestones. so far he seems to be a perfectly healthy baby boy. we are so thankful to everyone for their prayers! he is two months now and smiles a lot, which shows off his dimple. he is pretty mellow and usually only complains when he is hungry. he is a great baby and we LOVE having him. tyrell is in love and, days after max was born, declared that he would like to have another one. WHAT!! for me.... it's just too soon to be discussing such matters.











































my mom came the day he was born and stayed to help us for two weeks. which included the week of thanksgiving. so my dad and spencer drove up and we had thanksgiving at our house. we made 7 pies for 5 adults...it was delicious!




































suzie came for the next two weeks, and was tons of help. during which time tyrell completed taking/giving all his finals, and was able to wrap up the semester with straight A's!



































tyrell had four weeks off of work and we spent two of those weeks in az. the other two weeks, tyrell spent in the garage fixing this ?#$% car :) i vaguely remember him saying he had to change head gaskets, pull the motor, replace ball joints, and a lot of other terms that mean little to me:) at least i have a few terms to throw around if i need them.

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