Potty training, concerts and snow, oh my!

They are just way too cute for their own good!
I think Courtni is beautiful in red!
Brayden looks way too grown up!
He looks huge here, but still so stinkin cute!

This has been one busy week at the Smith house! To start it off, last Sunday Brayden (who is 3) got up Sunday morning and announced that he needed to go potty! I have been trying to convince him to try potty training for months, but of course it had to be his idea! (Just a piece of advice, when it comes to potty training don't waste your time trying to force your little ones to do it. Both of mine so far have done it so well and quickly when they decided on their own that it was time.) He made it through all 3 hours of church in big boy undies and has only had about 5 accidents all week! I would say that is pretty good. He is so proud of himself, and I am pretty dang proud too!
Courtni had her school Christmas program too. I didn't know that they did that in kindergarten, but this school does! It was insane in the little gym at the gradeschool with all of the other people there, but she was so cute! The kindergarten sang 3 songs and she just beamed the whole time! I was lucky enough to sit right in the front (because I forced my way and sat on the floor in a pile of other crazy parents) but the pictures still didn't turn out.
We got all ready for church today and I was a week ahead so I got the kids all dressed in their cute little Christmas outfits. I was saving them for next Sunday since it was the week before Christmas, but oh well! They all looked so cute. I had to take pictures because I don't know how many more times I will be able to get Bryson and Brayden to put their ties on! It was also our 1st snow of the season that actually stuck when it hit the ground. The kids were so cute watching it all morning to see how much more was sticking. They were so disappointed when it was beginning to melt when we left for church, but they ran through it and were very thankful to get to the church so we could go inside where it was warm. I thought that was funny since they begged me all morning to go play in it! I guess they must get their love for the outdoors from me:)!

On the Go

I can hardly believe how fast this past 6 months has gone! One day, I have this newborn baby who needs me for everything, and next thing you know he is crawling! Yes, he is crawling. I don't know how anything can be more enjoyable or entertaining then watching your kids go through their milestones. I seriously love it so much!
Bryson has been our little steamroller for several weeks now, but last night he actually crawled. I know in the pictures it doesn't really look like he has moved, but in person you could actually tell. (Don't you feel like you are looking at one of those flip books of him moving?) As the night progressed he ended up making it all the way to the Christmas tree. He does the cute little army crawl and sort of kicks off with his toes. So stinkin cute!!!!! He is so busy and I have a feeling that I will later regret my enthusiasm for him crawling, because he will be getting in to things and causing all kinds of mayhem, but for today I am reveling in my sweet, little guys newest accomplishment!

Just a little update

Hey everyone! I hope that you are enjoying the Christmas season, we are here! We got the tree and decorations up the day after Thanksgiving, the kids wouldn't let it go a minute longer, which was fine with me, because I love it too! It seems like we just get even more bogged down with things we have to do this time of year and don't take the time to sit back and smell the mistletoe! (ha!ha! I made that one up myself, can you tell?) I hate that, I want to be able to really focus on what matters most during Christmas! Oh well, I guess we take whatever spare few minutes life throws at us and hopefully use it wisely because I really think it makes it even more special when we try to keep the focus on Christ's birth.
I just wanted to take a minute because I haven't blogged about any of our goings on around here for a while now. I can't believe how fast Bryson is growing up! He is already 6 months old and doing so much! At his last well child check, his pediatrician told me to make sure that I had poison control's number handy, because I was going to need it with him! He is just so busy and won't settle down for anything, so she decided that meant he was going to be a troublemaker! He finally cut a tooth a couple of days ago and is working on another one. I hope it comes in soon, because he is miserable and I hate to see him not feeling well.

Here he is actually taking a tiny break from rolling all over the place to see what Brayden and Courtni are watching on tv. I thought it was cute the way he was laying. It didn't last long, soon enough he was off to get into something else!
We spent Thanksgiving over at Clayton's parent's house and while we were there he took some tiny crawling steps (is that what they are called when you crawl?). It was too funny because he looked like a caterpillar! He gets up on his tiptoes and then scooted his hands forward, went down on his belly and then stretched that way again. I have never seen anyone crawl like that before.
Brayden is just as onery as ever! He managed to bend his glasses all up and had to get them adjusted just to get them to sit on his face, not to mention that he popped the lens out at the same time. Poor kid got his coordination from his mom! He was trying to jump off the couch like Courtni, but seeing as he is my son, managed to hit his face on the coffee table instead! He had the tiniest of black eyes, but was fine thank goodness!
Courtni started the weekend off with a quick trip to the walk in clinic. She has an ear infection. I felt bad because I almost didn't take her in because she wasn't really acting sick, just an earache. In fact, while we were waiting for the doctor she couldn't remember which ear we were there to get checked! That had me really doubting, but it was infected! She is doing so good with school and loves every minute of it.
So, the Smith's are doing good, and since I am not sure how much I will get to blog between now and Christmas, I want to wish you all a Happy Holidays!

8 Things!

8 Favorite TV Shows:

1.Greys Anatomy
2. Extreme Makeover Home Edition
3. CSI New York
4. Ellen (when I get to watch it)
5. Cold Case
6. Super Nanny
7. Worst Week
8. Desperate Housewives


8 Things I Did Yesterday:
1. closed my pampered chef party
2. made dinner
3. showered
4. Laundry
5. picked up the #4 book to Twilight from my mom
6. talked to my mom on the phone
7. played at my sisters
8. got Courtni off to school


8 Things I Look Forward To:
1. spending time with my hubby
2. bedtime
3. Christmas
4. my kids' birthdays
5. having all my chores caught up (will that ever happen?)
6. seeing Twilight
7. being with my family forever
8.watching Bryson's firsts

8 Favorite Restaurants
1.Red Lobster
2. Chilis
3. Olive Garden
4. Golden Palace
5. Red Robin
6. Panda Express
7. Goodwood
8. Jack in the Box


8 Things On My Wish List:
1. To lose weight
2. be out of debt
3. have all my kids active in the church and married in the temple as adults
4. a big family vacation
5. no more migraines, or sicknesses in our home
6. buy a house
7. grow really old with my hubby and watch my kids and grandkids grow up
8. be a better mom

8 Things I am thankful for:
1.Being a mommy to the best kids in the world
2. Being married to my best friend who is also an amazing man!
3. Getting to stay home with my kids and not have to work
4. My sisters and Mom and Mom in law
5.Living in the USA
6. freedom
7. My family's health
8. This time of year because I take more time to reflect on what I am thankful for!


8 people I tag:
1. Betsy
2. Katee
3. Wendy
4. Emily
5. Stephanie
6. Kim Warren
7. Tory Jackson
8.Maryhelen

Courtni's school picture

I just wanted to post Courtni's 1st school picture ever! This is her kindergarten year, and she is loving it! She finally got her picture packet and brought it home today, so I had to share just how beautiful she is! I would kill for her curls!
Things are good here in the Smith household. We are finally recovering from our annoying colds and seem to be on the upside healthwise, until the next virus hits:)! Bryson is getting so grown up and is rocking on his knees now. I keep waiting for him to start crawling because you can tell he wants to so bad! He is the most active baby we have ever had. In fact, I lost him the other day! I left him on the living room floor to go make lunch for the kids and when I cam back he was missing. He had rolled underneath the coffee table! Crazy little guy! He is everywhere, and I am sure will soon enough be into everything as well! I love the stage that he is at, he is jabbering, and smiles so much! Just such a little doll, and I love watching him!
Brayden is good, just as onery as ever! I got to see Britnee this week, so he has been so happy! He is doing pretty good with his glasses, although I am not sure how he sees anything through all the gunk on them! I can't believe how dirty they get! He is learning so much and can now count to ten and is actually saying some of his alphabet. I love watching his reaction when he realizes that he figured something out. He gets so excited. One of my favorite things about him is how he shows so much on his face. When he is excited his whole face brightens up and you can just feel the excitement coming from him.
Courtni is doing so good in school! She just got her 1st report card and is doing excellent. The teacher says that she is her little helper any time they have a sub, she is the one who gets to explain to the sub what they are doing. I am sure that she loves that, because she loves to be in charge! Mrs Lords said she picked her because she is so smart and she knows that she will make sure it gets done the way it is supposed to be done! She is loving making new friends and it seems like she is constantly coming home with a story about someone new that she has played with that day.
So, that is the excitement in the Smith house this week! I hope you are all doing well and have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

A fox out our back door

Ok, the craziest thing happened today. We live in a small subdivision, nothing really fancy, just your typical cookie cutter subdivision. Behind us is a canal and an empty field. Sometimes we catch a glimpse of a cat searching for its next meal back there, but nothing too exciting. But today we saw a fox. Who would think, right between two subdivisions filled with people and hardly a decent sized tree anywhere to be found we would have a fox out our back door! It was kind of cool to see. The kids thought it was great and enjoyed watching it, Brayden kept trying to get its attention, which being a loud boy he did and it soon got spooked and left. I don't think that we would have the opportunity to see that while up in the mountains, let alone virtually in our backyard with so many houses around! Clayton got a picture, but the camera didn't zoom in too well, it makes it look farther away than it was, which was just across the canal. You have to look really closely, he blends in with the weeds that are there. I just thought it was such a bizarre thing to see so close to home that I had to share!

Halloween with the cutest kids in the world!

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So another Halloween has come and gone! Time to put the costumes and trick or treat buckets away for another year! We had a good time here, lots of candy, trick or treating and fun. Courtni dressed up as Hannah Montana, and I must say that she looked beautiful! Brayden was SpiderMan, but wouldn't let me paint his face because I accidentally called it makeup instead of face paint, oops! And Bryson was an absolutley adorable cow for his 1st Halloween. They all looked so cute and were so excited to get free candy! Courtni had her 1st school party and I was so excited that I was able to go help. She had so much fun, it is so nice to watch the excitement of all of these little things through their eyes. I don't remember ever having as much fun on Halloween as I have had this year. Having the kids get older and begin to really understand what is going on just adds a completley new spin to it. Now it is time to focus on Thanksgiving and Christmas, I love this time of year and can't wait to watch my cute little kids enjoy it!

Brayden shooting a web at the camera
Courtni striking a pose which she picked herself. Isn't she beautiful?
Bryson is the cutest little cow I have ever seen!