Smith Family Portraits, Part I

While everyone was together for Christmas, we had Lindsay Rowe come and do family portraits again, this time for Craig's family. As usual, she got some wonderful pictures. I'm putting half of them up right now and will do the rest tomorrow-- they take FOREVER to load! Enjoy the first batch!

The whole gang

Grandma and Grandpa play with all their grandkids

Grandma Heaven, right here

The Houston Smiths

Lindsy

Eli

Jason & Jeni

Colton

Colton looking like a duck (he pulls this face a lot, actually-- it makes me laugh!)

Maya

Kamryn

I love this shot

Our little family (coming soon on a New Year's card to YOU)

Donna and her sister Lynda together, with their respective husbands

Many more to follow-- these are just the shots we got at our house.  There are plenty more from the battle field!

Hobnobbing with Real Bloggers (not really)

I recently finished reading Let's Pretend This Never Happened by Jenny Lawson, known on her blog as The Bloggess (tagline: Like Mother Theresa, Only Better).  She's a super funny lady, but I should warn you that she is in no way Mormon.  Her favorite word is probably the f-word (followed closely by "vagina" and "taxidermy," although those three are rarely used together, thank goodness!), and she talks about drinking, doing drugs, and once giving herself a concussion when trying to arch her back like a porn star during sex.  So, um, don't read her book unless you're prepared for all that.

But, having said all that, can I just add that you really should read her book because she will make you laugh.  So hard.  But it's more than that.  She's quirky and strange, but she's also open and honest and vulnerable.  And at times, even insightful.  She's like a female, Texas-raised, edgy version of Dave Barry, if you can imagine such a thing.  (And that's high praise, in my book.)

Anyway, because of her combination of edgy and vulnerable, I feel this weirdly protective loyalty towards her.  I worry that she's exactly the sort of person who people like me would write off at the first f-word, without ever realizing how great she is.  Or, in this day of people being so mean to each other, that these people might tell her that, or try to make her feel bad for not being who she isn't.  This worried me enough that I decided to write her an email.  This is what I said:

Hi, Jenny,

I don't usually send emails to the authors of books that I read.  But this time I have to.  I want you to know that I am about as conservative as they come-- both politically and socially and probably any other way you could define it.  I don't swear or drink or do drugs.  And I'm Mormon, so I've never done any of that stuff.  And my husband might even be more conservative than I am.

And man, I loved your book so much.  I laughed so hard and was constantly reading entire paragraphs to my husband or my sister or anyone who was around.

But that's not why I'm emailing you.

I'm emailing you because last night, after I finished reading your book, I was flipping through it trying to explain your (brilliant) humor to my husband, and I finally just handed it over so he could read the whole cow vagina story for himself.  And I have NEVER seen him laugh so hard.  He turned all red and literally had tears streaming down his face and neck.  He was laughing so hard he was having a hard time seeing the words on the page.  It was fabulous watching him laugh like that, it made me so happy.
 
I just wanted you to know that even weird religious and conservative people love you.  And if anyone says otherwise, they're dumb and probably don't have a sense of humor.  (And shouldn't be telling you anyway, because that's so rude.  Didn't their mothers teach them any manners?)
 
I hope you're having a great day because you deserve great days.  And if you're not, I hope it got better knowing how much I loved watching my husband laugh until he cried.

Alanna


And here's the COOLEST THING EVER-- she wrote back to me!!!!!  This is what The Bloggess said to me:

I am sending such love to you and your husband right now.  You both TOTALLY ROCK!

  

I was giddy and star struck after that.  I love this lady.  Go read her book, right now.  Just skip over the swear words.

Tender Mercy

About a month ago, Bentley got invited to the birthday party of his friend Liam, whose mother was Bentley's soccer coach.  We adore their family and I am excited to (hopefully) become family friends with these people.  So my heart fell when I saw that the party was being held on a Sunday.  And it was being held at some sort of Urban Exercise place that sounded particularly unSunday-ish to me.  I pointed this fact out to Bentley quickly (no sense in letting him get his hopes up) and said that I wasn't sure this was something we could do, but that Daddy and I would discuss it later.

I wasn't 100% set on telling Bentley he couldn't go.  We've never had to deal with this before, and I wanted time to figure out my thoughts on the matter.

But before I could do that (or discuss it with Craig, as promised), we all talked as a family about what it meant to keep the Sabbath day holy.  And Bentley announced, sadly, that he wouldn't go.  I felt sorry for him, and also proud of him for making a hard decision like that.  To make it up to him, we promised that we would take him and Liam to one of those bounce houses some other day.

So that was done.  I sent Liam's mother, Marie, an email explaining that we wouldn't be able to make it.  (I didn't bother saying why.  I know that they're Catholic, and figured I didn't need to act like I was trying to out-righteous them or something.)  But even without me saying a word, Marie called me and explained how sorry they'd been to schedule the party on a Sunday!  She said they wouldn't normally have done that, but the venue was booked through January except on that particular Sunday and they'd hated to wait so long.  But she was regretting that decision.

That Sunday came.  And it began snowing.  And it snowed a lot.  And lo and behold, we got an email from Marie saying that due to the weather, the party was postponed until Saturday, January 11th!

So Bentley is very excited to go to the party today.

And I'm very thankful that my little boy was willing to make a hard decision like that.  And I'm also very thankful that he'll get to go to the party after all.  I know that the reward for making the right choice doesn't usually bring exactly what you thought you were giving up like this, but for a 7-year-old, it sure is nice when it does.

I guess I'll have to still take him to that bounce house, too, huh?

On Napping

In case you hadn't already picked up on the fact-- or perhaps you thought I was exaggerating?-- I am going to admit right here and now that I am an avid napper.  And I'm not ashamed of that fact.

I never EVER took naps when I was a kid.  The very idea of taking a nap seemed preposterous.  It wasn't until I hit college that they even became appealing.  And then I might occasionally indulge.  After my mission, I began enjoying a Sunday afternoon nap (mostly because I couldn't that whole mission, except on P-day...).

But it was once I became pregnant that I REALLY embraced the napping lifestyle.  And I don't think I've ever gone back.  I have high hopes that one day all my kids will sleep through the night at the same time and I can get a straight eight hours of sleep.  And if that happy day ever arrives, perhaps I'll be able to get by without napping.  But I don't see that happening any time soon.  Or if it does, I'll probably be pregnant and first-trimester-tired by then, knowing how I seem to manage my life.  My friend with older kids assures me that by the time they're all sleeping well, they'll probably be teenagers and I'll be so stressed out by them that I still won't be able to sleep.  (I find this very worrisome because her kids are all really good kids!  How much less will I sleep if one of mine decides to be a rebel???)

Occasionally I worry that someone will think I'm lazy.  But the fact is that between all the little ones vying for my attention and the several interruptions to my sleep each night, I am frequently exhausted.  And when I'm exhausted I am an unreasonable nightmare to deal with.  I will feel angry and put-upon over the stupidest things when I get too tired.  But I can usually handle them, and maybe even see the humor in them, when I've had a nap.  So the way I see it, napping is just a way to make me a better mother, wife, and person in general.  Some people pray and read their scriptures to be better people.  (I do that, too, actually.)  But in the middle of the afternoon, nothing helps me be a better person like a quick nap.

The funny thing was one time when I was pregnant with Bentley.  I'd lain down, and Craig was on the bed next to me reading.  I slept for twenty minutes, woke up, mumbled, "I just need to get the other side..."  Rolled over, and proceeded to sleep for another twenty minutes.

Craig seemed to think that was hilarious, but it made perfect sense to me.  In fact, I think it was years later that it occurred to me that the notion that I would need to nap on "both sides" was preposterous.  What am I, a pancake that needs flipping?  There's no logic there at all.

But still, even now, I sometimes find myself waking just enough to roll over and get the other side.  And it feels great.  Even if it's ridiculous!

Phenomenal Speeches. By Ryder.

Sorry it's been a while.  I told you I would be busy with Craig's family during the break!

Anyway, here's a quick video of Ryder and his cousin Eli jumping in the love sac.  At the end, Ryder gives quite the orders to Eli (who, being used to his three older sisters bossing him around, takes everything beautifully in stride).  It cracks me up.


I think Ryder is lining up to be the next General Patton or something.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

We get really excited for Christmas around here.  Craig begins playing those special tunes and decorating as soon as he possibly can.  We love it.  But I don't usually manage to blog a single thing about it until the middle of January.  So for what is probably the first time ever, here are a few pictures of our pre-holiday celebrating!!!  There will be many more to come as Craig's family rolls into town and we REALLY begin partying Smith do-stuff-every-single-day style!

But here's what we've already been up to:

Ryder climbs into the Christmas tree box, making it now look like a coffin.  Happy Holidays!

Colton's first look at a Christmas tree: absolute magic.  Baby's first Christmas is special no matter how old that baby is, but there is something fun about having a baby old enough to get excited about a glowing, ornamented tree!

Followed quickly by Colton's first try at grabbing ornaments off the tree.  They've all been moved to higher ground now.

Then Colton proceeded to get into a wrestling match with the tree skirt.

It was touch and go for a while

Yes, he actually did this to himself.  We did not pose him.

I think he finally beat it, fair and square!

Peace, good will towards men.

And women.

The finished product!

Let it snow!  And let school be cancelled!

I love that the kids put an extra carrot in his stick arms, looking like a fat cigar or something.  But if you start to really think about it, it gets weirder and weirder: he's holding an extra nose????  Creepy...

And what's Christmas without a white elephant gift exchange?  I got this treasure.  The kids are afraid of it.  I'm kind of afraid of it, too, actually.  Craig took it to school and plans to make a sign that reads, "Unruly students will be fed to Lenee."

We busted out our soft and cozy jammies.  And napped in them.

{Sigh}

Bentley got to ride the Santa Train with his friend Liam (and Liam's big sisters)

Craig did a heck of a lot of baking.  Featured here: spritz cookies, bark, triple chunk cookies, gingerbread man, fudge, and salted caramel Rice Krispie treats.  Most recipes can be found on my recipe blog!

We had moments of brotherly love (and notice all the snowflakes in the background!)

Colton turned 9 months old, and got to have his portrait done!

I was beyond excited when I found this outfit for him-- he looks like he could be in Newsies!

Rocking the backwards hat look, even as a Newsie.

And just because I can't resist...

We also attended the Cub Scout Christmas party.  Here Grandma helps Ryder with a sticker nativity set

Kendra is hard at work on hers, too.

And Bentley and Peter, of course!

I was experimenting with holding Colton in the Ergo on my hip.  I think I may need to watch the video again, though...

Grandpa also helps out

Three of the four went to see Santa.  Unfortunately, I couldn't get that dumb scout out of the background!

Afterwards, Kendra wanted to have a few words with Santa without those pesky brothers around

Too precious.

Colton clapping his hands and other general merriment.

And no Christmas is complete without a trip to see the temple lights (and the Capitol Clarion Bell Choir!!!)

It actually was super warm; they didn't need those coats at all.

The whole gang

Merry Christmas, everyone!  I hope your holidays are jolly and full of fun and a few moments of peace and goodwill!