Hawaii

We were able to take a DREAM trip to Hawaii over the summer.  Rees and KayLynn were celebrating their 40th Wedding Anniversary and gathered the entire family in Oahu.  We stayed at a beautiful home right on the beach, on the north shore in Haleiwa.  It was so beautiful!  Highlights of the week included Stand Up Paddle surfing, a trip to BYU-H (where I spent my freshman year!), unlimited beach access AND tons of great family time.  Many thanks to Rees and KayLynn for a beautiful week in paradise!

An Update

I'm finally sitting down to update this blog!  Just a quick word on 'new baby Smith' before I go on to report on other major events of the last months.  I am now 24 weeks pregnant, and we know now that we are expecting a BOY.  We are thrilled!  This has been a very challenging pregnancy for my body, but everything is going perfectly with his growth and development- and that's the most important thing so we are so grateful for that!  I'm so happy to feel him moving and growing inside of me.  I already feel I am getting an idea of who he is, and coming to know his personality and spirit.  It's truly a miracle.  Even with all the stress of this pregnancy, I already know it's SO WORTH IT.  We're getting very excited for him to be in our arms.  I'm currently having lots of trouble with my back which has inhibited my ability to walk, at times, and has made it very difficult to lift and bend (which causes great complications when trying to care for a toddler!).  We have been received so much help from both sides of our families.  I recently spent a lot of time in Idaho while my parents helped care for me and Eloise, and I am now back in California where Rhonda and Jasmine have come to stay with us.  They have been a tremendous help.  What would we do without family?! 

The Best Excuse Ever!

I have really been neglecting this blog!  I have so much to write about... a dream trip to Hawaii we took in July and many Eloise updates.  So, why have I been so negligent?

Well, here's my excuse:

I am in my 13th week of pregnancy with this sweet little beauty.  We are so happy.  Due Date: February 17, 2012.  I've had a rough 1st trimester, but things are looking up now!  Hopefully I'll get my other updates posted soon!

Mother's Day

This is also a catch-up post.  I had a really lovely Mother's Day.  Hansen and Eloise greeted me in the morning with a beautiful present-- a delicate, gold necklace with a tiny "E" as the pendant.  I was so touched!  The "E" (obviously) is for my Little Eloise, who made me a mom!  It was such a sweet, unexpected gift.  I will treasure it always (you can kind of see it in the picture below)!  We had a lovely time at church, and then (after a GREAT mother's day nap) we headed over to Rees and KayLynn's for dinner.  We didn't get many pictures, but I thought the one below was perfect for the day.  Eloise would clearly rather be eating than posing for a picture, but we'll excuse her grimace.

2nd 1st Birthday

This post is egregiously late.  As stated in a previous (and timely) post, Eloise turned 1 on April 26th!  This lucky lady had TWO birthday parties: one in Idaho, and one at Grandma KayLynn and Grandpa Rees's home.  Here are the pictures of our sweetie's 2nd, 1st Birthday Party!

I made raspberry cupcakes, and KayLynn gave her a bouquet of sweetpeas.

The Happy Birthday Girl!

The family, enjoying birthday dinner

Birthday swim!

Birthday Jacuzzi!

And finally, the cupcakes!  Singing the traditional birthday song.  Poor Anders!  We were celebrating his birthday too, but I'm afraid the little one got most of the attention!

Not quite sure what to do with that flame...

Touch it?   

Naw, bad idea. 

Mommy finally helped with the blowing out of the candle, so the cake could be enjoyed!

Happy Birthday, Eloise!  We love you!

Easter

We had a lovely Easter at Rees and KayLynn's home.  We love spending time there, and I was particularly grateful for the invitation to their feast, as Eloise and I were recently off a plane from Idaho and not feeling much like cooking!  Eloise enjoyed unloading her first Easter basket of goodies, and we all enjoyed one another's company.

Here are some pictures of Eloise in her Easter Dress and a few highlights of the day:

Eloise hates the feeling of grass.  Notice she's doing everything in her power to keep her legs from touching.