Spaghetti, stairs, & dancing away!

It's summer, but the excitement never ends around here. The kids are having fun together, especially now that Ryan is such a mover. It seems there's something happeneing here all the time. Justin & a friend of ours are beginning a fine chocolate making business, and production will start soon. You can check out his progress on his blog & facebook (Potomac Chocolater Co.. )

Ryan had his first experience with spaghetti, and man was he good at getting it EVERYWHERE! Hair, ears, eyes...it was awesome, and the LDS missionaries in our area got to experience it all since they were over for dinner.


Sophie, our little dancer & swimmer, has taken off as well. She really has great form for her age, and we're looking hard for dance classes for her, which is tricky during summer.

Ryan also started climbing stairs. He went all the way up 1/2 a flight yesturday. Yikes!

Ooh! This is cool! I'm so big! (yes, Ryan, we're in for it!))

Group Beach pics

We got back some group pics from the beach. One of the kiddies & one of everybody. Loads of fun!

Our determined crawler!

While at the beach, Ryan learned how to crawl on his hands & knees. form then on, he was unstoppable! Within a week, he learned to pull to stand, cruise, & say "Mama" (I sure loved that since I literally had no name or sound for a long time with Sophie!). I've never seen a more determined kid. He would sweat some days from working so hard to do these things. he tries to let go of the furniture to walk, but of course he's not there yet. I think he's just trying to catch up with his big sister! Although his curiosity & new found movement gets him into everything, he is such a little sweetheart. Wait, did I say little? After a bout of croop took us to the Dr.'s office, we found out he's alrighty 21 1/2/ pounds. Talk about a chunker! SO, here's a video of one of his frist crawls. It's at the beach on the sand.

Beach Fun 2010!

We went back to the Outer Banks in North Carolina this year for a week of fun. We shared a house again with several other young families that we're friends with in the ward at church. It was lots of fun, esp. for the kids. We spent our days at the pool or the beach (or both!) & stayed up late playing games. Here are a bunch of pictures to show you some of the fun we had.

We're now back in the groove, enjoying our slightly more laid back summer at home. We hope to fill this summer with afternoons at the pool, attending the occassional baseball game, having friends over to play, camps, BBQ's, swim lessons, & maybe checking out a local lake. The beach trip, however, was a great kick off to summer, and we hope to end it with a great trip from Oma & Papa. Hope this finds all our family & friends well!

The access to the beach. I just thought it was wonderful.

Our cute kiddos.

Playing with friends.

Feeling the ocean for the first time.

Our sweet girl.

Whoops!

Our first dip in the ocean. First time for little Ryan, & Sophie proved to be much more brave this time.

Figuring out this sand stuff.

Splashing around at the house pool.

After some hunting, we had a pet for the afternoon.

Checkin' out the crab.

This was also the first time for Ryan in the pool. He did great, and the heated pool at the house made for a house favorite hang out spot.

Corolla beach ona busy day...love it!

Sophie got to try out boogie boarding. She had one good run, one crash & burn, & she was done. :)

The girls loved chasing/running away from teh waves.

The happiest beach baby! He loved the sand.

Crab hunting.

The little guy taking some snoozes at the beach. We're so glad he can sleep a little on our shoulders.

Such good pals.

The crew at the beach.

After a full day of playing hard, Sophie crashed every afternoon/evening before dinner.

The house we stayed in was great & so close to the beach & the stores. The week went by too fast!

Sophie's preschool graduation

A couple weeks ago, Sophie had her Preschool graduation (from her 1st year, anyways) :). We enjoyed it, and it was a nice ending to the fun year she's had. She loved her teachers & is excited to go back in the fall.

This is one of her best pre-school friends, Patricia. We're sad that she's leaving for Kindergarten this fall, but she has other friends that'll be in her class.

Ryan couldn't last. He's such a cute li'l bug!

Here's Sophie's teacher telling about how sweet Sophie is, how she's active, & is a "great soccer player!" We love Ms. Maureen & glad she'll be Sophie's teacher again next year.

The class sang their favorite songs, and it was pretty cute.

here's the procession. It was humorous & cute, for sure! Little 3 & 4 year olds in cap & gown-too funny!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day. It was nice to have a healthy husband this year who allowed me to nap & do my own thing while he took care of dinner & cleanup. Thanks hun! Justin rocks! I never relized just how difficult motherhood is until I became one. So shout out to the moms who raised us! Seeing my weaknesses as a mom, & a person for that matter, I wonder how I can possibly do it all right. I am certainly blessed to be the mother of 2 such sweet, amazing children. Although being a mom is tough at times, these prescious children bring so much sweet joy into my life, "I scarce can take it in."

A week of firsts for all!

We still can't believe it's May! Where'd this year go?? Here's a snapshot of the kids' bath. They love to bathe together. It ends up being quite the splash fest!

A lot has happened in a super short time, here in the Smith home....

Our sweet Sophie gave her first Primary talk in church yesturday. She practised all week, and she was amazing! She told about the story of Jesus' baptism all by herself (with the rare prompt from Mama). Just in the past couple weeks she has opened up in her church class & come to really understand Jesus. She now says the sweetest, most heartfelt prayers that we so love to hear, whether they're about how grateful she is that she can "feel Jesus even though [she] can't feel him," or if she's asking to be able to go the "new playground" with her friend, KennaDee "later." We love it!

Couldn't resist sharing a pic of Ryan's Sumo wrestler legs. This doesn't do it justice, but they are so chubby!

Ryan has had a week of many firsts. He got his first TWO teeth in, began army crawling one day, followed by rocking on his hands & knees with one crawl step the next, then going from tummy to sitting position all on his own! He is ridiculously curious about everything (we're talking, this guy has to touch the wall or post you are next to, just so he can touch it & explore!), which has motivated him to move! Here's a video of when he started army crawling. He's going to be crawling around this place non-stop any day now, so, needless to say, we're on the hunt for a baby gate.

We're all keeping busy & preparing for summer & pre-summer activities: swim lessons, YW's activities galore, beach trip preparations, etc.