Judah's First Ride

Yesterday, Judah had his first experience of riding in the bike trailer behind mommy. I decided to try loading up the boys in order to ride beside David while he ran. The boys may look happy here (before the ride even began) but soon they were more than a bit ready for the trip to be done and were both a sweaty mess by the end.

11 years and counting...

On Saturday, July 25th, David and I had the privilege of celebrating our 11th anniversary. Wow, I must be getting older because I constantly feel like I am thinking how quickly time flies. And I believe the older I get the faster I will feel like time moves. Generally, on our anniversary, David and I return to the location of our first date, Ivanhoe's (at Taylor U). It may sound informal, but I am a sucker for traditions. This anniversary was a bit different as some of our closest friends, Jeff and Sarah McLaughlin, were playing in Indy at a great restaurant called The Jazz Kitchen. We adore Jeff and Sarah as well as Sarah's music. She is an amazing artist and it was a great way to celebrate our anniversary. David and I strolled through Broadripple after the show enjoying one another's company. We capped off the experience with the best ice cream around..Cold Stone Creamery...Amazing!

What a privilege to be married to my best friend for 11 years! When I think about all that we have gone through together, I can confidently say that there is no other partner that I would choose. He has stood strongly beside me when I have needed him most. He dreams dreams with me and supports me as I move through the highs and lows of life. I not only get the privilege of living with him, raising our boys together, and experiencing life with him, but I also get to work with him in the same field and same location. This may be too much for some but it has been a really, really cool experience for us and I am truly thankful.

Cheers to the next 11years and counting....

Judah's Big Morning

David and I awoke at 5:45am. I felt like we were getting ready to go to the hospital to have a baby since that is the last memory I have of waking up that early to go to the hospital. However, there was no baby moving around in my belly when i awoke. Instead, the baby (who didn't look so much like a baby) was laying sound asleep in his crib. Today was Judah's scheduled surgery to have tubes put into his ears. He has had too many ear infections for his age and the doctor felt as if his ears are unable to drain properly on their own. Judah's surgery was scheduled for 7:30am and though they didn't begin until about 7:40, David and I were ushered back to the recovery room by about 7:50. Talk about speedy. Judah was screaming when we came into recovery. He was a bit disoriented and not quite awake. He calmed down as soon as I was able to get him to eat and then before I knew it he was back to his normal smiley self. What a trouper! And now he has been sleeping soundly for the past 3 hours.

A Night at the Fair

Jonah and his cousins love the fair. I think that the Delaware County Fair pales in comparison to the Van Wert County Fair. David thinks I'm pretty funny for talking about my hometown fair so much...but honestly, anyone who has been there and has also visited other county fairs knows how great it is=) Buckaw Smith decided that he wanted to take the kids to see the animals, ride rides, and then to Sally's Ice Cream shop. Jonah had fun petting the cows and seeing the pigs. Unfortunately, just after enjoying his time with the animals, Jonah took a spill and landed in their waste. He recovered pretty quickly but the stench on his clothes was difficult to avoid. Jonah chose to ride the Dinosaurs (go figure since it seems every little boy loves dinos) while Judah chose to ride the stroller...

A Big Boy Day

Today is a big day in the Smith House. David and I have been moving some things around in the house and sort of on a "spur of a moment" decision, we chose to move the single bed from the playroom to the boys room...which means that we moved Jonah's crib out! Maybe it wasn't the wisest decision, but we made the switch just before afternoon nap time. Yes, Jonah thought that it was pretty cool that he is significantly closer to Judah's crib and he took the first part of nap time to attempt to entertain Judah by jumping up and down on the big boy bed. Jonah also thought that it was his responsibility (as the oldest) to make Judah lay down when the poor thing was just popping his head up to see what all of the excited jumping was about. After about a 20 minute show, Judah had had enough and was really ready to sleep. I had a big boy talk with Jonah which seemed to work because he was asleep within just a few minutes after I left the room again. They have now been asleep for almost 2 hours!

I am not so sure how I feel about the evidence that my boys are growing up. Not only is there one less crib in the nursery, but i have even removed the swing and activity mat out of the house because Judah is officially too mobile for them. He is incredibly close to crawling. He is actually getting around quite quickly via the "army crawl" but he seems to be really working on his strength to accomplish the true crawl.

Too Cute

As of Saturday, Judah is 7 months old. In two days, Jonah will be 2 years and 8 months. I love these boys like CRAZY and adore how much they love each other. It is common for me to find Jonah sucking his finger on his right hand while holding Judah's hand with his left. It is like the are both his security blankets right now. Judah is so determined to crawl right now. I imagine he will be taking off in the next couple of weeks since I am guessing he isn't too fond of the face plants that he keeps doing into the floor once he is on all fours. It is simply amazing to me to witness a baby learning. Their desire to discover and feel a sense of accomplishment seems to be there even from the beginning. Too cool and Too cute!

A not-so-normal weekend

I feel extremely fortunate to have a great group of friends who are supportive in so many ways. David and I have been a part of a small group within our church for about 10 years now. We have gone through a WIDE variety of experiences together...many happy and many sad. It has been so wonderful to be a part of a growing circle of friends. Each month, one of the ways we support each other, is to rotate babysitting so that the other couples can have quality kid-free time. David and I (along with our friends Tim and Karen) provided the babysitting this past Friday. This picture is missing the three "babies" and three children from one of the families. Actually, at this very moment, two of the mothers are in Uganda spending time with their 5 daughters who they will soon be adopting and bringing back to Indiana. That should make the boy-girl ratio a bit more even! We have been waiting for their girls for WELL over a year now and are anticipating their arrival very soon!



After chasing several preschoolers for a few hours, David decided he would try and get to bed early due to the fact that he was competing in a Sprint Triathlon on Saturday morning. This is unfortunately the only picture I have of David. Ironically, I just realized that the number that was assigned to him for the race could also double for the time he ended up in bed...not quite so early when you are getting up the next morning at 6:00am to swim, bike and run! David finished well and I am extremely proud of him.

On Sunday Morning, David preached at church. We determined yesterday that he has not done this in over two years (since before he resigned). David preached on the unity the Christ calls us to...reminding us to be unified in our thoughts, our hearts, our actions, and our spirit. Though not included in the list of the 10 commandments, I see the unity described in Philippians 2 as a commandment that we are to strive towards as Christians. David reminded us of some of the things that can stand between us and unity...selfish wants, arrogant opinions, attitudes of being "better than", etc. It struck me in that moment that even those things can get in the way of being unified as parents and as a marriage partnership. Oops, I am guilty. Sometimes, I try to prove that I am better than in this or that area or here is the kicker...that I have had less sleep and am in need of more which of course can justify my cranky demeanor. Even those subtle ways can break down unity. Thanks for keeping me in check honey, especially when I know that outcome was not your goal!

Relaxing over July 4th

What a great weekend we had over July 4th! It was really relaxing and fun. Seeing that a week later, I am just now writing about it, is a good indication that the days following got pretty busy. On Friday the 3rd, we traveled to Dallas Lake where David's grandparents live and spent time visiting and riding around on their pontoon. Jonah had the special privilege of even "driving" the boat with Great Buckaw Smith...of course I didn't have my camera on that ride. Jonah loved cuddling with Memaw Wenger, riding the boat, and playing in the lake. He actually seemed more comfortable than ever in the water....he is not like his mommy since I rarely feel comfortable in lake water!

I love snuggling with my boys any chance I get. The boat rides were a perfect

opportunity for just that!

Four generations of Smith boys...Judah, David, Bill, Al, Jonah

On Friday night, we headed on to Ohio to spend the next day with my parents and extended family. Holidays are great in Van Wert since we often get to experience parades full of sirens, bands, animals, and old tractors...everything that Jonah adores right now. Judah slept through most of the parade so he didn't have the full experience. After the parade on Saturday, we went to Aunt Liz and Uncle Kerry's house for our regular July 4th cookout which was furnished with cornhole, wiffle ball, and more food than you can imagine. Though it rained pretty constantly on the 4th, it was actually light enough that we stayed outside during most of it. I blame my rain spotted glasses for my less than desirable cornhole performance!

On Saturday night, we drove back to Muncie thinking that we might get back just in time for the fireworks display. We pulled into town just ten minutes before the big start. We found a decent spot in the Marsh parking lot where we decided to watch the fireworks from our car. I feed Judah while David held Jonah and we all ate cheddar popcorn. In Muncie, the local radio station and the fireworks company work together to create "Set the night to music" in which the fireworks are let off with the patriotic songs being played. So, not only did we watch the fireworks and eat cheddar popcorn, but we also sang as loud as we could...especially to "I'm Proud to be an American". It was a wonderful weekend!