November 2009

Beau loves his little sister.
Before...
After!

Yep - Abby lost her first tooth! The tooth fairy came and left her a dollar and a quarter as she told us she thought she would. The Kingsport tooth fairy sent some loot down with Uncle Michael, too, so she is one happy camper!
Sisters
Abby posing in front of her classes wall mural of the first Thanksgiving at Turkey Tales.
Abby's blessings - so sweet could make me cry.
Pilgrim Beau at their school's Thanksgiving program.
Abby at the program, too.
Eating our Thanksgiving Feast (Roly Poly turkey and cheese sandwiches).
Daddy and Beau
Abby and Quinn in their matching outfits! Abby was so excited when she realized she had a dress in the same material as Quinn's outfit and ran to change into it as soon as they arrived in Shreveport.
Taking a break from the bike ride the daddies took the "big" kids on.
Michael pulled Beau and Will in the carriage behind him.
Trouble.
Abby rode on the tandem bicycle the whole way with her daddy. (And in those shoes...)
Riding the carousel at the Boardwalk
Chubby cousins in their matching little outfits (well, part of their little matching outfits) that Aunt Courtney got them. Aren't they cute? Those chubby legs and cheeks - yummy!
I think Lane may be trying to eat Quinn. Michael said Quinn looks like she ate the 3rd baby that was in the crib with them before the picture was taken. Ha!
Aunt Ann with Abby and her friend CeCe in the kitchen. We went ahead and had Abby's birthday party while all of my family was here at a paint your own pottery place. The night before Abby had a sleepover with her best buddy CeCe.
Sleepover magic! The boys got in on the action for a short time. Nothing compares to a pallet on the floor with movies and a snack and permission to stay up "all night long"!
Chillin' on the chair with Uncle Toby
More work to be done in the kitchen the next morning on the cute teapot cake. Aunt Ann let the girls decorate the cake and pick the colors. They had so much fun. Thanks so much Ann!
I can't believe my baby is 6!!!
Beau was so excited to paint his letter B.
Look at that concentration. Will chose a couple of cars to paint.
Mimi and Lane
Blowing out the candles.
So tired after a long day of partying and playing! Do you think Aunt Ann felt loved?
Trying for a picture of the two little ones.
Love this one. That boy just loves her to pieces...
A sword fight with Uncle Berry. Beau told Berry to give him a cut over his eye so he would look like Anikan. Nice.
Well...we tried. At any rate, they all looked so sweet in their matching little pumpkin outfits!
We love our baby. Lane is making the most hilarious face in this picture, though!
Eating Thanksgiving dinner - the kids' table.
Berry and Ann
Toby and I
Mimi and Aunt Ramona
Bathing beauty
An afternoon at the park
Higher!

I hope everyone had as wonderful of a Thanksgiving as we did. We were so blessed to have both of my brothers and their families, my mom and my aunt come all the way down to Shreveport to spend the holiday with us. We had so much fun and make so many wonderful memories. My kids were so excited! Thanks so much for being here guys! We miss you already!

(Sorry about the totally obnoxious amount of pictures...)

Halloween, San Diego and More

My three favorite kids! Aren't they sweet? Lane looks like she's not sure about all of this...
Beau colored this the first week or so of school. His teacher said he was the only one that refused the googly eyes, preferring to draw his own instead. He looks like a little blonde haired, blue eyed boy with dark skin~hilarious!
Lane and Daddy snoozing. We made the mistake of letting this one sleep with us at the beginning - which turned into 7 weeks of a baby between us every night. We just started "baby boot camp" since we have been back from our trip to California. It has been 2 nights, and she has slept in her crib all night both nights. There was lots of crying that first night...mostly from Lane, but some from Mommy (I can't stand to hear her cry - pretty weak, I know...). I didn't give in though - this baby has got to get out of our bed!!!
Toby bought this tandem bicycle to attach to his bike for the kids off of Craigslist. It is supposed to help teach them how to ride without training wheels. Whether it serves it's purpose or not remains to be seen, but the kids sure do love it either way!
Beau loves it as much or more than Abby.
Halloween 2009 - the only pictures I took. Toby was already in California, so I flying solo with 3 kids. I thought I did well to get pictures at all! No...I didn't dress Lane up. I know...party pooper.
Spiderman flexing his muscle. Worth noting are Beau's new RED shoes, which he LOVES. He insisted on me getting him a pair of red shoes.
Minnie Mouse posing without any prompting from her mommy.
Papaw meets Lane for the 1st time.
Toby and I on the rooftop of our hotel in beautiful San Diego. It had a pool, tons of these fire-pit thingees, and huge bar, etc - it was very pretty and lots of fun to have a little vacation. It was much needed time away for a tired mommy and daddy to get rejuvenated and spend some quality time together. Thanks to Papaw for watching the big kids while we were away!!!
Hotel Del Coronoda
The beach outside the hotel, which was beautiful. The water in the Pacific Ocean is sooooo cold!
Lane beat us all to the beach at 7 weeks old!
Toes in the sand
Walking the beach with Mommy
La Jolla - the beach there was awesome, too. There is a little cove where all of these seals come and swim and lay in the sand.
We were blessed with wonderful weather so we could sight see and spend most of our time outside.
We also visited a famous aircraft carrier called the Midway. What do you think - does she look ready for take off?
Top Gun
Huge statue made from the famous photo taken - thought that was really neat
And we made it home - just in time to watch the Vols beat up on Memphis, which was the perfect ending to a great week, of course!

Early Fall 2009

Toby helping Abby learn to ride her bike without training wheels.
Toby taught Beau how to steer his bike. He has been trying to teach him this for a while, but it finally clicked a few weeks ago. Notice Rocky following along behind, of course.
Proud big brother
The kids enjoying snow cones in a cup at Patriot Palooza, their fall carnival at school. Cece is Abby's best buddy at school that is sitting beside her.
Do you think Beau liked riding a horse?
Beau got his hair died red (although it really looked kind-of orange to me...)
Lane after her 2 week doctor's appointment
Fat and naked at 3 weeks
I was taking a shower the other morning, and the big kids decided it was time for Lane to learn something. Abby is reading her a book of nursery rhymes and Beau is teaching her the alphabet with flashcards. Poor Lane...
Enjoying a skeleton pancake compliments of Daddy.
Beau is still obsessed with his Cars cars. I had to take a picture of this after he called me into his room to come and take a look at what he had done.
My three precious babies
Proud big sister
Abby wrote her own story about a mummy and a spider on her dry erase board.

Who Does Lane Favor?

Lane 2 weeks

Beau 2 weeks

Abby about 6 weeks

One of the most frequently asked questions after you have a baby is, "Who does she look like?" I believe, in Lane's case, she looks a whole heck of a lot like her big sister and her daddy, but at times I catch glimpses and faces of Beau in there as well. I do believe, at least for now, that those eyes are going to be brown. I think we deserve a brown eyed girl by the third try!! After all, Toby and I both have them, as did her namesake Mimi Dorothy. Who do you think she looks like?

Things are going really well around here for the most part. Mommy and Daddy are tired a lot of the time, but our hearts are so utterly full with these kids and the joys that they bring to our lives, most of the time it isn't so hard to overlook the fatigue and just enjoy the moments. It can probably safely be said that Lane has us all wrapped around her tiny little fingers. She is already used to being held pretty much all of the time. She loves to look around, and her all time favorite thing to do by far is eat. (She gets that from her mommy...) She is on track so far to be the biggest Smith baby of all!

The kiddos are getting so excited about Halloween. There is lots of partying and trick-or-treating to be done in the next few weeks. Right after Halloween Papaw is coming down for a visit. He will be staying with the big kids while Toby, Lane and I sneak away to San Diego for a much needed get away! Lots of good pics to come!

Getting shampooed - ahhhh - I really like that part of my baths.
All snuggled up in my towel after my bath
Hanging out in my seat watching my big brother and sister.
Aunt Jody came for a visit this past weekend. Lane was so happy to meet her. She has a comfy lap - perfect for snoozing. Thanks for coming to visit us, Jody, especially on your birthday! We miss you already!
Mommy, Beau and Lane before her first trip to church. Lane had a rainy Sunday debut, but she didn't seem to mind a bit. Beau and Abby were so proud to have Lane with them.
Mommy and Lane before church.

Week 3 with 3 kids is going pretty good! Aunt Jody came for a visit this past weekend and it was soooo nice to have an extra pair of (adult) hands around. Her birthday was Friday, so we celebrated with some steaks and yummy cupcakes. Saturday was football and a birthday party for Abby, Sunday was church and a playdate for Abby, and Monday was back to school and a 2 week physical for Lane at the peds office. Lane got a fat and healthy report from the doctor - she weighed in at 9lbs 8oz (up from her 8lb 4oz birth weight). It is safe to say that this kid really likes to eat! I'll try to keep the pictures coming!

Dorothy Lane

Dorothy Lane arrived on September 17th, 2009 at 12:10pm. Weighing in at 8lbs 4.4oz and 20.5in long, she has a mass of thick black hair and dark eyes (right now, anyways). She looks mostly like her daddy and her big sister when she was born. Toby got to help deliver, which was really great. Mommy had a great delivery and is doing just great. She is a sweet baby, and we thank the Lord for her safe and healthy arrival! Proud big brother and sister are helping Mommy and Daddy lots as you can imagine! We will try to post more pictures soon.

Beau's Name

Beau brought this to me the other day on a card he made for his Aunt Jody. Sorry, Jody...but I have to keep it. Usually he just writes his name upside down and backwards, but this time he added some flair like he has seen Abby do a million times, I'm sure. I thought it was hilarious.