Brookie

A few more pics

Who's who?

Mackenzie is on top. We think they look similar but Brooklyn had her by an inch and 4 oz coming in at 21 inches and 7 lbs 4 oz. Brooklyn came Wednesday morning November 21st at 11:25 a.m. We got to the hospital about 9:30 am and I was about ready (an 8 for those of you who care) and she came just 2 hours later. It would have been even sooner if it weren't for the delay of Daddy passing out and causing quite a stir! We were just glad that he came to quickly so he didn't miss Brooklyn's grand entrance!

Mackenzie is liking the new baby for the most part. She is surprisingly gentle and loving but gets annoyed at little things like when Brooklyn uses her sheep blankie or when we don't let her throw the ball at the baby.

Brooklyn Taylor Smith

Here's the pretty new baby. More to come soon!

Mount Rushmore

On our long drive from South Dakota to Utah, Robert and I took a quick minute to check out Mount Rushmore. We thought it was a really cool place...totally worth our time. Mostly though we're just glad that we can say we've seen it since we lived in South Dakota and all. The reason Mackenzie is missing from this picture is that Robert's mom Carol and sister Liz saved us by flying back with her!

Now would be a good time to announce that we've moved to Utah. Robert got a job working for Sorenson Development here in Salt Lake. Our choices were to hurray and move as fast as we could or wait until after the baby and try to do it then. We opted to go for it while we still at least had one child that doesn't require too much attention --if you've ever seen Mackenzie you can guess which is which :)
So now we are living with Carol while we look for a house...and wait for a baby.

Nov 25th is now less than 3 weeks away. I'm ready any day this little girl is ready to come however!

Elmo

Is this supposed to be fun?

Just give me the candy, buddy.

I've been tagged...several times

4 places I've lived:
1. Fallon, NV [home :)]
2. Provo, UT
3. Laie, HW
4. Everett, WA
5. West Des Moines, IA
6. Sioux Falls, SD
7. Soon...Murray, UT

4 jobs I've had:
1. Jeff's Office Supply/Spring Valley helper
2. Costco slave
3. BYU Concessions/ Sandwich labeler
4. Rumbii's cashier, server

4 things I'd like to do before I die:
1. Have patience
2. Spoil grandkids
3. Travel the world
4. Serve a mission with my husband

4 favorite desserts:
1. chocolate anything
2. chocolate
3. hot chocolate
4. apple crisp (ala mode of course)

4 interesting facts about me:
1. I don't like to shop
2. I'm about to move for the 2nd time while 8 months pregnant
3. If I get into a book, I cannot put it down for the life of me
4. I love Food network but don't like cooking

4 favorite tv shows:
1. Wheel of Fortune
2. The Office
3. the weather
4. Semi Homemade, Everyday Italian, Barefoot Contessa, etc

Playin at the Park!

Two To GO

As today is September 25, I officially have 2 more months until my due date of November 25. I thought the world would like to know this. Hopefully then you can all meet the baby who's name we are 99.9% sure on (to be announced when we see her).

Deep Thought

Isn't it amazing the mess 1 child can make with 1 chocolate chip?! (That's as deep as they get folks)

Calling All Fans of The Office

Season 5 of the office begins very soon-- September 27th. Here's a link that'll take you to a recap of last season (I think you'll have to copy and paste the website sorry). Finally...

http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/#mea=148437

B-Y-U

The 2 highlights of the game were chanting B-Y-U (weeee-aaahh-eeee) and the frozen lemonade.

Vacation

We've had a wonderful vacation! We've been to Twin Lakes where we got to see lots of family. We got to relax in Fallon. And last but not least we got to see BYU play UCLA in LA. The outcome could have been better but the most important part for mom was that Mackenzie was a very good girl!
Mackenzie hugging Whopper. She cried every time Shelley had to leave and take the dog with her.


Alanna, Mackenzie and Baby Kate in the dirt at Twin. This was snapped in between grabbing each others' buckets.



This is why Sally hides when we come to town.

Church Assignments

Isn't he cute in his scouting outfit! Robert's new calling here in Sioux Falls is in Young Men's. Our ward is very good about doing scouting every week. Robert got his Eagle when he was 14 and hasn't thought about it since then so he's trying to get back into the spirit. He enjoys meeting with the young men every Sunday.

As for me, I get to join Mackenzie in nursery every Sunday...As I did in Des Moines. There seems to be about 30 kids in nursery but I think there are really only 9 or so.

Pig and Box Fun

Little pig little pig let me in...Here's Mackenzie's best pig face with help from the sliding glass door.

Peek-A-Boo at its best. Actually so far she just has down "boo" but it's the most important part, right.

Good Books?

Has anyone read any good books lately or have any old favorites to recommend? I've just been picking up Newberry winners from the kid's section at the library (which are great) but I wouldn't mind an adult selection every now and again.

Baby and Baby Bump

Mackenzie and me before church in our not purposely matching outfits. Don't let the smile and cute wave fool you... She was a rascal all through church :)

Dizzy

Here's a link to Robert steamrolling Mackenzie or you could just press play button on their picture. Sorry this post went wacky.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6267771980770542754

Pickle Eater

Yes, our 18 month old loves to snack on pickles. And yes, I do offer her normal snacks such as bananas, crackers, and cheese.

Ode to Muffins

Anyone who has ever lived with me knows that my favorite thing in the world to make is muffins. It is impossible to mess them up and they are fast. Emeril and Giada may not believe this but basically you can dump all the ingredients in the bowl, give it a quick stir, and you're good to go. Plus they're yummy- like eating a healthy cookie. Here's a link to the latest muffin recipe I've tried.

Jam Muffins
http://jas.familyfun.go.com/recipefinder/display?id=50409

Mackenzie loves to help mom in the kitchen. She has her own carton of oats that she dumps all over the place, making sure to not get any in the real bowl, and then we just scoop them back into the carton for next time.

Today's Exercise

1. Pretend your waist is 5 inches higher than it currently is.
2. Oops, your toddler dropped her cup of juice on the carpet. Hurray and bend over to pick it up.
3. How did it feel?
4. How fast did you execute the motion?
5. Did you grunt?

Aaahhh, the joys of pregnancy!

Hello Everybody!

Reading my favorite book before church


I love playing outside

Rude Reminders

I hate these rude reminders that we are now grown-ups... expected to pay our own bills, clean our own homes, be Santa Clause, etc, etc. And apparently as adults Robert and I are also expected to speak in Sacrament Meeting and take up the entire time - not even a youth speaker to take up a minute or two. Heck, I still expect to be the youth speaker! I think Sacrament meeting only got over about 2 minutes early. Not bad for two very short-winded people!

Kenzie Coloring

Sitting outside at the picnic table with crayons and a coloring book is one of Mackenzie's favorite activities--mostly so she can push the book out of the way, scribble all over the table, and eat the crayons.

Harry Potter 7

I am several chapters into the final Harry Potter book and so far it has my approval. Mackenzie on the other hand is not a fan. When we are playing and I think she won't notice if I try to slip in a few paragraphs she slams the book shut or just sits right down on it and says "NNNO" (one of her few words).

Miracle on 93rd Street

Mackenzie routinely wakes up at 6am sharp. On Wednesday she did just that, but then she came into bed with me and slept until 9:30am. It was truly a miracle. I had to make a permanent record of the event.

Canton, SD

Sorry, this is a long one. Here's the short version if you'd rather: Do to my own stupidity, I had a bad experience registering our cars in South Dakota.

Today I had my first, and hopefully last, experience with Canton, South Dakota. It is a very small town about 20 miles south of Sioux Falls. The Lincoln County Treasurers office is there so I had to make the trip out to get our cars registered with SD plates. Everything seemed to be going rather smoothly until they could only take credit cards over the phone and with a 4% fee. Of course I wasn't smart enough to make sure I had my check book. My cell phone had no service so the lady told me I'd have to go down to the gas station and use the pay phone to call her with the credit card number. I can't even remember how to use a pay phone and I really didn't want to drag Mackenzie down there. This nice lady let me use her fancy flip phone and Mackenzie threw a fit when we had to give it back (those are sooo fun). But at least we were done. I thought.

As I'm trying to unlock the car and put the tantrumming child in the car and hold the license plates and paperwork, I carelessly put the last things on top of the car. Never a good move. We were almost home when I realized my fatal error. I pull over- obviously it's not where I left it. I back track (remember this is 20 miles away and I have an 17 month old). No luck. No one had turned it in yet. So I go back home hoping that somebody will call us. When I got home we had a message from Napa Auto Parts (which came up as Bubbas Garage on the caller ID) saying somebody found our stuff outside their place and brought it in to them. Yippee. I made yet another trip out to Canton and recovered all my things that I never should have lost in the first place. Thanks to the good folks of Canton who let me use their phones and return my lost items, but I hope I never have to visit your town again.

Back porch view

Here is the view from our back porch looking out (not from our front porch looking in). Now you all know what South Dakota looks like, or at least one field of it.

Here kitty kitty

Mackenzie 17 months

Mackenzie is leaving baby-hood and entering toddler-hood. It's fun to see her grow and develop these strong opinions she has. Yes, she wants to go outside. No, she doesn't want to get clothes on. And yes, she wants to play with the kitty.