Cy interjection

Look at this cute face. I just want to eat his chunky cheeks. That sweet smile just melts my heart. I love it! I catch myself bearing my nose in his neck and just smelling him. I love the smell of my little Cy.
As of late, Cy has become too strong to be swaddled. We would wrap him up and within a few minutes he was out and fussing. So one night we just put him to bed without being swaddled. It took a few night for him to get used to it. But now he loves it and sleeps his usually 12 hours at night.

Now that he is more mobile, he now rolls onto his stomach in his sleep. I don't know if it's a bad thing, but he seems to enjoy it. And I'm not going to wake him up to roll him over.

Continuing...

Amongst all the chaos, we actually got a chance to hang out in our back yard as a family. We usually are in our yard alot in the summers. I don't know what it is about this summer, but we have been so busy with work, church callings and camps, wedding planning, two boys...etc, etc, etc. It was really nice to lay down on the grass and all be together. It was reminding me of a time when we were hanging out with Ryker 3 summers ago. So I decided to compare Ryker and Cy at this age. When I pulled up the pictures of Ryker at 6 months old, I was totally shocked. I had forgotten what he looked like. And sure enough they definitely look like brothers, if not twins. Ryker is on the left, and Cy is on the right. It's amazing how they look like the same person.

Busiest Month Ever Continued

Whenever we have gone boating, Ryker always tells us that the water is 'too dangerous'. He won't ever get in, unless he is on the tube. On this occasion, I don't know what Jesse said to persuade Ryker to get in the water, but he did and Jesse got Ryker to agree to go ski with Jesse. And Ryker loved it. haha I was so proud of him for being so brave.

Busiest Month Ever

You guys are in for a real doozy. This past month hasn't given me any spare time to sit down and write about all that has happened. I'm going to post each event on their own post. That way it doesn't become the longest post in the history of the Smith Saga.

It all started back in June. My sister Alexa finally got to see her missionary come home. It was Tuesday; June 28th and she was oober excited. That weekend she went to his family's Ranch for the 4th of July celebration. Then the whole week afterwards she went to New York with his family. Well on Sunday; July 9th I got a phone call from Alexa while she was still in New York to tell me that her and Craig were engaged. The wedding was planned for Tuesday; Aug 16th. Yes of this year. So a 5 week engagement. So this explains why I haven't had any time to blog about everything. I have been helping Alexa and my mom put a few things together. (more to be posted later).

Originally my family was going to go to Lake Powell the middle of July. But my parents had to cancel it because they couldn't afford to go to Powell and pay for a wedding. Plus that would have been 1 week less of planning.

Manda and Jon already had their flights booked to come to Utah, but now no Powell Trip. So instead we stuck around here. Manda and Jon flew in on Saturday; July 16th. During that day Jesse and Jon went on a bike ride, then that night we all got together as a family and went to Benihana's for Jon's 29th birthday celebration. The cute little waitress ladies sang Happy Birthday to him. I couldn't help but laugh because they were all in a different key. It was quite lovly. haha. For Jon's gift we all went in on a JetBoil and 2 mess kits.

Continuing with out 'trip'... Monday morning all the girls got together to go wedding dress shopping with Alexa. While the boys all went golfing. We spent several hours searching for the right dress for Lex. She finally found 'The ONE' at Kathleen's in Kaysville. It's Beautiful! (pics still to come).

That night we all drove up to Pineview Reservoir, set up camp and cooked dinner. It was great to have everyone there. (Ty was in Alaska still, he couldn't get the time off to come down).

The next day was spent on the boat. Just having the time of our lives!!!!!

Update Time

I can't believe it's been almost 3 weeks since I have posted last. It's amazing how life flies by and the time I have to blog has become so little. So prepare for an extra long post this time, because I need to update you on the last three weeks.

June 20, Ryker and I were playing with each other. I lost track of time and remembered that I needed to pump. So I tell Ryker... 'Oh I need to pump'... and he said 'OK'. Before I know it he goes over to my station, picks up the shields and 'starts pumping'. I couldn't help but laugh and take a picture...


..but as he's pretending to pump he says 'oh I forgot somefing'...then goes onto lifting up his shirt and says 'there that's better'.

I was laughing so hard. And because he thought he was funny he continued to put them on his eyes, mouth and ears. Man I love this kid. He's so full of character and has a big personality.

Onto Cy...June 24, I started him on solid foods. Even though he was a week shy of being 4 months old, I decided he was ready. He could down a 9oz bottle of breast milk easy...and there is no way I could keep up with that demand.

He wasn't really sure about it at first, but now he's getting the hang of opening his mouth when the spoon comes near it. So far he's had carrots, butternut squash, sweet potato and rice cereal.

I also decided that I'd like to make my own baby food. I read alot of good things about it. It's more affordable, you know exactly what your baby is eating, and it makes them less of a picky eater when you can give them foods you already make for the rest of the family.

So my first step was steaming some carrots until they were soft. Putting them in a blender with a bit of water. Blend.

Then pouring them into an ice cube tray to freeze individual sized meals. After they have frozen I pop them out and put them in a freezer bag. Then all I have to do is get one out, throw it in the microwave for 30 seconds, and walaa a meal served for baby.

I also made my own rice cereal by grinding up brown rice into a fine powder. Then cook it with some water for 10 mins. Add a little breast milk to thin it out. This has been Cy's favorite. I can't seem to get it in his mouth fast enough.

Father Day! Can't thank Jesse enough for being the great dad that he is to our boys. They have a great example to follow. I feel blessed to have such a good man helping me raise our boys. I can only hope and pray our boys can be good men like their daddy!

For his gift we (Mike, Heidi, Ryker, Cy and I) gave him a bike trailer. Jesse enjoys his bike riding, but no way of bringing the boys along with him. Heidi found this one on KSL and then I was able to purchase the baby supporter for Cyrus. So now both of the boys can enjoy a bike ride with their daddy.

One night for FHE all of us were able to go on a little bike ride together down to our friends (Hutchings) house for dinner and back. I really enjoyed having that time together.

Sat; July 2, we rode our bikes over to Centerville for the Parade. We met up with my grandparents and we all celebrated together.

Ryker was having a BLAST picking up all the candy that was being thrown. We now have a grocery bag full of salt water taffy. Not really sure what to do with it all. haha.

During the parade this huge truck drove by, and I have never seen Ryker so happy to see it. He gets excited about trains, buses and trucks... but not this excited. He was jumping up and down and yelling at me 'look at that HUGE truck'. haha, then he just stared at it as it drove by.

Continuing with last year's Smith Family tradition we all set up our tents in Mike and Heidi's backyard Sunday night and had a little campout. So then on the 4th we could all be together first thing in the morning and through out the rest of the day. (Tyson and Tayler have moved to California, so they couldn't be there with us.)

First thing that morning we ran a Smith Family 5K. Heidi was so sweet to put this together. I need to get my miles in while I am training for this half marathon that is coming up. Mike, Andrew and I ran it while Heidi and Emily walked with the boys. (Jesse had left that morning to put plastic down on a newly torn off roof he had started that weekend. The weather was looking kinda rainy, so he thought he'd better be safe than sorry.)

Once we finished our 5K we went back and had a yummy breakfast all ready for us (compliments to Heidi). After we were all fed and Jesse made it back, we all went over to the pool for a little swim. It was kind of a bummer because it was overcast and surprisingly chilly for the 4th of July. So our swim was short lived. Ryker certainly loved it. Even though he was shivering and his teeth were chattering he refused to get out of the pool.

It was Cy's first time in the pool. Not really sure what he thought about it. He just looked deep int thought. He didn't cry or smile. Just whatever.

When the sun went down is when we pulled out the fireworks. Jesse was the lighter man and he gave us a nice firework show. It was rather nice to sit back in our chairs all wrapped up in a blanket watching him do all the work. He does a fine job.

Ryker loved the Sparklers. He thought it was cool that you could 'write' with them. haha. He's such a boy! I love it!

I love this time of year! Celebrating Holidays and spending time with your family. What more could you ask for?

Family Photos

Another great photoshoot by my dear friend Courtney... Enjoy!

This Past Week

Friday, June 10th I'm at work and I get a picture text from Jesse. His way of telling me that he did something dumb was with a picture message. Classic. I couldn't exactly tell what had happened to his finger from my phone...I just had to call. When he answers he tells me he's at the InstaCare (right then I knew it couldn't be good)... he proceeded to tell me the he shot a staple in his finger.

At the InstaCare he had quite a few people working there go up to him and asked to see his finger. It's not everyday a guy comes in with a staple in his finger. To get it out they had one guy holding his finger down, while the doctor was pulling on it with pliers. I'm pretty sure Jesse was glad they numbed his finger for that part. The doctor was really surprise how hard it was to get out.
I'm shocked the staple didn't break through on the other side. Just made his finger look like a little tent.

They took an x-ray and the staple didn't even hit his bone. Talk about lucky. This could have been so much worse than it was. Jesse jokes that he has Wolverine bones and the staple bent when it hit his bone. haha

Well you are probably wondering how the heck he did this. I'll try and tell it the best I can, I think Jesse would do a much better job, but he's not home, so you're left with me to tell it....He was stapling saufet at work, and apparently the staples weren't going in all the way. So I guess he was trying to adjust the safety on it so they would go all the way into the saufet. Well he pressed his finger against the safety, something happened with the trigger and boom. He didn't realize at first what had happened, until he looked at his gloved hand and saw a staple in his finger. He took all his fingers out of his glove and tried to pull the staple out with the glove. But when the glove tore away from the staple he knew he was in trouble. I guess he also tried to pull it out with pliers by himself, but that wasn't working either. He would have had his boss help him, but he was out of town for his anniversary. So with no one to help him, Jesse drove himself to InstaCare.

Now I know this is going out of order, but I had to catch your attention with Jesse's event this week...now on to the other boys...

Monday June 6th, Ryker started swimming lessons at the Bountiful Rec Center. He was really eager and excited to go. After meeting his teacher, Ryker and his class all lined up, joined hands and followed their teacher to their spot in the pool. His class is everyday at 11am Monday through Friday for 2 weeks. Then he'll move on to the next level. It blows my mind that he is big enough to be in swim lessons. I can't believe how big he is. I love it though. It's such a fun stage to see him in.

As a little side note I have to share the cute thing he said to me today... He said 'Mom? I love you.' So of course I say back 'I love you too'... Then he said... 'I love you one' :) haha This last week Cy decided he doesn't want to nurse anymore. :( It breaks my heart. I have noticed the past few weeks he'd get fussy when he'd nurse, even to the point that he wouldn't finish because it would get to hard. Well Tuesday night for his last feeding before bedtime, he wouldn't even latch on. He just screamed. Feeling determined to keep him nursing, I kept calming him down hoping he'd latch on. Well each time he calmed down I'd lay him back in my arms to nurse, but then he'd go right back to screaming. This went on for more than a half hour. Feeling defeated I warmed up some breast milk from the freezer and gave it to him in a bottle. Then he was happy as a clam. The little man is just plain lazy, doesn't want to work for his food. I feel like its my fault for working as much as I have. He'd get a bottle all the while I was gone, then I expected him to nurse when I was around. But he wasn't having that. So my options now are to pump all the time, or go with formula. I don't want to pay for formula, so I've been pumping all the time. It's going to complicate things if I ever want to go somewhere, like boating, or our trip to California in August. I'll just have to cross that bridge when it comes. So for now I'm a milk machine and don't ever get to enjoy that bonding time with Cyrus anymore. :( I guess it's still a way that I can sacrifice for him, so he can have the best.

3 Months

Little Cy has turned 3 months old. Some characteristics we have noticed so far are...
-music calms him down when he is upset
-loves playing patty cakes...smiles ear to ear
-he loves his brother but winces every time Ryker comes close to him
-we've gotten a few little laughs out of him
-he enjoys tummy time
-he's a big eater... (not happy if he eats less than 5 oz)
-so handsome
-doesn't like to be left in a room by himself
-starting to prefer a bottle over his mama :(

-bath time has become enjoyable for him

I certainly can't leave Ryker out of this post. He has been enjoying playing outside in the back yard as of late. I think it's so great to let him go play on his own. On occasion I like to sit back quietly and watch him play and use his imagination. I think it's so great that he can do that. It makes me kinda anxious for the future to see both the boys play together. Just about everyday Ryker is asking me to go play outside. I love that question far more than him asking to play on the computer.

Just Because

Like my last post, our everyday life is the same as the day before. The boys are the only thing that change it up for us.

Cyrus is super close to laughing. I got a little giggle out of him a few days ago. He smiles so big and it looks like a giggle should come out, but nothing does. Soon.

I'm trying to soak up every little thing that he does because he seems to be growing up faster than Ryker did (Maybe because I have so much to do, each day just flies by). On my days off where I get to be with him all day, I try to make mental notes of his features, the way he smells and how big he is getting. I miss him so much while I'm at work that I'm sad that I miss him mile stones. Kids change so much in the first 2 years that when you blink it's like you have missed months.

You're probably looking at these pictures of Cyrus and Jesse and thinking that I must be crazy for letting Jesse do this. Strangely it doesn't even make me nervous. I guess I have full trust in Jesse that he wouldn't drop Cy.
This was Ryker's doing. He was saying 'Look at Cyrus mama'... and when I did I giggled and had to take a picture. Ryker likes to put things on Cy's face (like the 4T sticker from earlier posts)...I have a feeling there are going to be many more just like these.

I couldn't help but let my heart swell when I saw my two boys interacting with each other. It was probably one of the first times that Cy was smiling at Ryker. Ryker likes to be in Cy's face, and usually Cy's got a look on his face wondering what's going on. But this time Cy was enjoying Ryker being silly with him.

Ryker comes up with the funniest things to say sometimes. One morning he came downstairs to where I was feeding Cyrus and said to me "The sky turned blue...that means it's wake up time."

Jesse has taken Ryker to the pool a couple of nights, and one time there was a little girl there that Ryker was playing with. Well he went up to Jesse and introduced the girl as his 'girlfriend'. Jesse asked Ryker what her name was, but shrugged his shoulders and said "I can't know...what is it dad?" Then Jesse was teasing Ryker about his unknown named girlfriend.

These 2 boys are my world... well I lied...these 3 boys are my world, and I certainly wouldn't have it any other way. I just LOVE them all so much. I am one blessed girl.

The Latest

Ya know how life can feel like its on a track that is repeating its self everyday? Well, that's how I mine has been as of late. It's not a bad thing, just there's nothing really to report quite as often as I'd like. The repeat cycle is super busy too. I wake up go to the gym, come home, shower, get ready, get the boys to my mom's, go to work, come home make dinner, get the boys in bed, fall asleep on the couch, get ready for bed, go to bed and repeat. Occasionally add in cleaning, laundry, pumping, going to young women's. And in all that still find time for myself and my family. Phew, I don't think I have enough to do.

Amongst the crazy business I still get to enjoy the two greatest boys. Ryker is still an awesome big brother. And Cy is growing and developing so well. It cracks me up when Ryker lays next to Cy and says 'Ahh, mom look at us'...and then poses for me after I've grabbed my camera. He's a ham, and a darn cute one. It'll be fun when Cyrus can return the same enthusiasm for Ryker.


Even though a few weekends ago Jesse and I went out together for our anniversary, but I thought it was time to do a group date night. So over the weekend we went to Fat Cats and Pizza Factory with our friends Dave, Cassie, Justin and Heidi. It had been so long since we had done a date night with them that we all thought it was due time we got together.

They say you still need to go on dates with your spouse after having kids, just so when you are empty-nesters you aren't wondering who this person you are living with is. And I can totally see why. Being out and having fun with other adults and interacting with Jesse in a playful way was invigorating. It made me realize even more that I really do love my husband and want to be with him. It's not like I didn't know that I loved him, it was just an extra assurance that he's my man and we belong together.

I mentioned to Jesse that we need to make it a habit to go on a date or group date about once a month. Keep our fingers crossed that it happens. Like I said earlier, our lives are super busy and it's hard to take time for each other.

I've really loved having Cy around. He's just been a joy....

...I mean look at the smile... doesn't that just brighten your day? It does mine. He's so freakin' cute!

2 Months

Last week I bought a bunch of new clothes for Ryker since he has outgrown just about everything he owns. After getting the boys dressed on May 2, I left the room for a minute and when I came back I found Cyrus like this... Ryker thought Cyrus would like his sticker from his new shirt. Haha it made me laugh. Cy was just hanging out not even bothered there was a big 4T sticker stuck to his forehead. I love how Ryker wants to share everything with his little brother. :)

Not only is Ryker growing out of his clothes, so is Cy. I had to pull out the 3-6 month clothes. He's growing so fast it's amazing. I took him to his 2 month check up yesterday and he has grown 2 1/2 inches since he was born. That's crazy. 2 1/2 inches in 2 months. Can you imagine if he kept that rate up? He'd be so tall.

He weighed in at 12 lbs which puts him in the 50th percentile for his age. Measuring 23 1/2 inches long-64th percentile, and his head circumference is 40.6 cm- 59th percentile. So he's a pretty big boy. Not quite as big as his big brother, but still a big boy. They both take after their daddy!

A little side note; Cy has been a really good sleeper. For the past three nights he has slept from about 9 ish clear till 7:30am!!! Can you believe it? And if he does wake up it's because he's escaped from his swaddle or he needs a binki. Once those two things are back in order he falls right back to sleep.

Quite the Weekend

Saturday May 7th, a few girls from the salon as a team ran the Race for the Cure in honor of Tracy and Emily. Tracy has recently finished Chemo after finding our she had breast cancer in October. She has been a fighter and we are all proud of her. Emily had cancer a few years back. I"m not entirely sure what kind of cancer, but she is a survivor as well.

Once we got downtown we were all amazed by the amount of people there. We heard the announcers say there were 16,000 people registered beforehand, and there were still plenty more registering that morning.

During the race I would see men who had a paper pinned to their shirt that said 'I'm racing for my wife...or my sister...or my Aunt...Daughter'. I couldn't help but get choked up to see them there supporting their loved ones. It was amazing to me to see all these people there supporting the cause. What a fun and great way to raise money. After the race Jesse and I got to celebrate our 6th anniversary together. We were lucky to have his mom come and watch our boys while we went and enjoyed the rest of the day together. We first went to the new movie 'THOR'. It was actually pretty good.

Then for dinner we drove up Weber Canyon to eat at Taggart's Grill. I had been there once with a few girls from the salon and loved it, so I wanted to take Jesse there. It turned out to be a really nice day, so we were able to sit outside for dinner. The restaurant is right inside a little canyon. So we were eating among the trees and mountains. They also have peacocks wondering around. It was a really nice evening to be together. I highly enjoyed it.

Over dinner, Jesse and I were talking about life and where it has taken us so far. We both agree that we are pleased with where we are. We have 2 wonderful boys whom we love and adore, our marriage is growing stronger each day, and we make a great team. It has been a great 6 years. I'm rather blown away that it's been that long because is certainly doesn't feel like it. I can't ever blink or I am going to miss something.

I can confidently say that I LOVE Jesse more today than I did the day that I married him. Didn't think that could be possible, but it happened. I can't imagine what another 6 years will do.

For my anniversary gift and Mother's Day gift Jesse bought me flowers. I have been asking for years to have hanging flower baskets... and whaa-laa. The big pink one is absolutely BEA-U-TI-FUL!!! I have never seen one like it. Oh I just love it! He also bought hooks to go on the house, so I have one on each side of the front window as well.

He also got me two pallets of flowers to plant in my flower bed. As soon as it stops raining (which is has since Sunday), I'll be planting these.

After Sacrament Meeting all the women were given a flower to plant, so I picked a Geranium plant. Well we were hanging out a little bit afterwards because I was paying tithing and needed to hand in some receipts, and apparently they had a bunch of left over flowers so the man in charge gave me and a few other girls a whole pallet of Zinnia's. SWEET! So now I have even MORE flowers to put in my flower bed. Oh its going to look so pretty. Can't wait to get my hands in that dirt and get planting

That night we went to Jesse's parents house for dinner. Mike assigned his boys things to bring for dinner. They cooked so the women wouldn't have to. (Just a side note, Jesse was suppose to bring garlic bread but forgot, so I made bread for him. Haha. What would he do without me?)

What would we do without our Mothers? I am so blessed to have been raised by my mother. She is truly a remarkable woman. I can only hope that I can be a small portion of who she is when I grow up.

I also feel blessed to have a wonderful Mother-in-Law. She is so strong. I can't thank her enough for raising Jesse to be the good man that he is. She gives me strength and hope that my boys will turn out as good as hers have.

I had the opportunity to teach the Mother's Day Lesson on Sunday and it gave me a new found light on Motherhood. A mother's work is God's work! The most important thing a mother can do will happen within the walls of her home. What Mothers do... Matters!