K-Vegas Kouple

Brady Smith

2011-08-22T16:42:00.000-07:00

Brady Smith

Hey everyone! Click on the link to see some beautiful pictures of Brady. Adam's mom won a gift certificate to this PB&J Photography so she had some pictures made of her and Brady. I think he is a natural born model!

2010 Mud Run

2011-06-11T13:02:00.000-07:00

This morning team "Suck It Up Princess" completed a 5K United States Marine Corps. Mud Run in Pinnacle, North Carolina. I will have to say it was SO fun! It was filled with mud pits, walls, hills you could only climb if you used a rope, and a final mud pit to swim through to the finish. It is definately something I will do again next year. I'm so proud of my teammates!

How long has it been?

2011-06-04T11:51:00.000-07:00

It's been so long, that I have so much to catch you up on. This will be a blog of many titles.

Happy Easter!

For Easter, Brady and I made the long trip to Jacksonville FL to see Erin, Mike and their new sweet baby girl Lilah (FYI: she is Brady's future wife, he already asked Mike for permission). It was a long drive, but with the help of a portable DVD player strapped to the back of the front seat headrest and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, the trip was flawless. It was a short stay, but we spent most of it at the beach. The weather was perfect and Brady had a great time running in the waves. Lilah was pretty lazy and slept the whole time which left all the castle building up to all the adults and sometimes Brady. We also got to spend Easter Morning there as well. Brady and Lilah both received a visit from the Easter Bunny.

Future Mr. and Mrs. Brady Smith

Proud father with beautiful baby girl!

I don't think they made a sand castle...I think it was a sand-snowman or something. I guess that would be called a sand-man.

We are now goat herders!

Adam and I have acquired a small herd of 8 goats. 2 nannies and 6 kids. Actually they are just rentals so they will not be staying with us. One of Adam's friends raises goats and offered us a few to help clean up the pasture. We are getting it ready to clear the timber, but with all the undergrowth, it was going to be quite a job. With the goats back there, problem solved. Adam turned into quite a handy farmer as he spent an entire weekend mending fences. We are planning on getting a goat or two to keep Icy company when she comes out here without any other horse friends. I wanted two little nanny goats, but I have absolutely fallen in love with a little buck named Jerry (which is the little goat Brady is petting). He is the only one to seek out affection and he loves a good neck rub.

Brady gets his first haircut:

Ok, so I was finally tired of Brady's hair sticking about 7 inches away from the side of his head. If you every wanted to know what someone looked like after sticking their finger in a light socket, you just needed to take one look at my son. We took him to our family hair-stylist early this morning. We had been talking it up all week. Adam even got his hair cut first so that Brady could see what it was all about. While we waited Brady sat in one of the other chairs and he practiced sitting still while I pumped him up and down. He was quite disappointed the chair couldn't go all the way to the ceiling. When it was his turn he did a beautiful job. He cringed every now and then, and would shoot Suzie some dirty looks hear and there, but I think he really had a good time. And now we have taken control back over Brady's hair, at least contained it a little.

Barn renovation update:

Adam's dad has been coming every week and working a little at a time on turning the Super Chicken Facility, into a quaint little horse barn. Two doors have been cut into the side. One will be accessible from the pasture and will lead into a run-in stall. The other door will be fit with a sliding barn door and will lead into the "lobby" if you will. I will also have a separate tack and feed room that will be accessible from an already existing front door. We are hoping to be finished with it by the end of the summer. I get so excited every time I go down there. I also have to laugh as something Adam says always runs through my head. "Everything that I told you that I would never do, we are doing". Perhaps he is talking about mending fences, feeding goats and clearing trees for a horse pasture to contain a horse at our residence. Love can do powerful things...but so can threats and guilt trips. Just kidding! Nothing but Love here!

Greetings from Wallburg!

2011-04-03T19:35:00.000-07:00

Well, Adam, Brady and I have enjoyed our first week at the new house. We are absolutely in love with it. Brady asks constantly on the way home, "Are we going to the new house," as if we had anywhere else to go. If you ever come to visit, he actually gives a pretty good tour, starting and ending with his new room. Our new home package includes: 3 bed room 2.5 bath, full basement, walk up attic, 3 car garage attached to house, 4 car garage detached, barn, pasture, dog lot, and a bigger house payment. The house is completely unpacked, and after this weekend, the garage is cleaned out and everything is in storage. Now, don't get me wrong, we still have a very long "to-do" list. However we have made quite a bit of progress. I have included some pictures, but would love all our friends and family to come out for a visit. Just call first. Here she is.

This is actually the part of the basement up under the front porch. Perfect for storage...or bowling.

Brady's new room. He loves showing everyone this place.

The basement. Brady loves coming down here so we moved all of his big ride-on toys down here. Perfect play place on rainy or cold days!

Our bed room....I love how fresh and bright this room turned out!

Front door and Adam on the phone.

Nice big foyer with coat closet and half bath.

We acquired a very nice wood stove. We cranked this baby up the first few nights during the cold weather. Our room is the farthest from the Living Room, and I woke in a sweat in the middle of the night. This thing works! There are also hook ups for wood stoves in the basement and in the detached garage (Man Cave).

Beautiful wood molding. We are also retrieving an old leather chair of Adam's that we couldn't fit in the old house with the big couch. It will look perfect between the windows!

Living Room

Kitchen...and the best part is....I have a dishwasher!!!!!!!!!

We have a very bright eating area.

The bar over looks the Living Room.

Dog woods are blooming right outside my window.

The barn comes fully loaded with ( chicken poo) an attached goat pasture. It will be a while before we can get Icy out here because we will need to clear the pasture. We will also be extending the pasture up towards the house.

View from the back of the house. You can also see Brady's new play set. Thank you so much to Stephani for giving this to us! Brady is so excited about it.

The old chicken barn will soon be a horse barn. We already have the plans. We just first have to get out all the chicken cages that line both sides of the wall. I hope the chicken smell comes out with them, because I hate chickens. I will hopefully start on the barn this summer.

A lovely front porch. We have a porch swing that needs to be put up, and I have so many plans for this place. It will be the perfect chill-ax place when I'm done with it.

My car finally has a real garage to live in. This is the main garage from the side of the house.

Beau's new pen.

The detached garage, AKA, the man cave. It can fit about 4 cars in it. It also has a back storage room that expands the length of the garage. This is Adam's favorite place! He already has a stove, a sink, and a wood stove hook up going in his favor. Note: to Adam's friends and family...If you see smoke rising from this structure...he's in there.

House Update

2011-03-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

We are in the final stretch. We found out the closing date for our house was bumped up from the 20th to the 11th, as in this Friday. We have been packing like crazy but things have started to slow down. If everything goes as planned we will close on our new house on the 16th. Once that happens I'm going into over drive to try and paint before we move the furniture in there. I'm hiring my volunteer paint crew, so let me know if you are interested. Once we get in there I'll start working on all the before/after pictures to post.

Brady, gets it and is so excited about his new house. He talks about it all the time and is always asking if we need to pack more the new house. He is as excited as we are.

NEWS FLASH!!!!

2011-02-17T09:03:00.000-08:00

Ok so all within a 2 week period of time, this has happened:
We sold our house by owner
We looked at 8 homes
We picked 1 of the 8
We have signed all papers and the new house is contract pending

Yes, it's a lot to take in! So many changes are happening in a very short period of time. We are scheduled to close on our house March 20th. Then we are scheduled to close on the new house March 31st (hopefully sooner). We will now be living in Davidson County off Old Thomasville Rd. We will have almost 5 acres, a barn, a pasture, a shop for Adam and lots of room to run for Brady and the pets. We are so excited to move in even though we will have a lot of work to do before we everything just as we want it. I will be posting (in theory) all of the before/after shots as we work on this new house.

Christmas/New Year/ Birthday...so much fun packed into one!

2011-02-06T17:48:00.000-08:00

So yet again, I have fallen behind in my blog posts. One would think with the winter break and then all the snow days I would have had time to blog a bit...but no. So instead, you are getting several big events all at once. Let's start with the most recent and work ourselves back.

January 31st, Brady entered his terrible two's...just one year away from the terrifying threes so I hear. His actual birthday was pretty low key. Adam and I took Brady to Chucky Cheese for the first time. Yes, we rode every single ride imaginable..sometimes twice, three, four or even five times. It's been a week and he is still talking about all the rides he went on. Looks like at least one day out of the week during the summer is planned!

We didn't have his actual birthday party until Super Bowl Sunday. We again rented the Doe Run club house as we did last year. This year Mickey Mouse was the guest of honor as every time you turned around his big ears were staring you in the face from balloons, stuffed animals and even the cake. After the pizza had been cleaned out, we hit the gifts; which after just finding places for all his Christmas presents, every time wrapping paper was flung through the air, I was racking my brain for where on Earth would we find a place for one more thing, because it sure as heck wasn't fitting in our little house.

OK...no, Brady did not get a case of beer for his birthday. His helmet for his 4-wheeler was in it...come on, give us some credit!

The Grand Finale came when Brady received his first 4-wheeler. I can't really explain the scene...you will just have to watch.

And yes...I am still trying to figure out where to put all this stuff!

Christmas:

We had a typical holiday this year. We spent the entire holiday travelling between 6 different celebrations. Eating and sleeping in beds that we didn't fit in together, or in the same room with Brady, which means, limited sleep. But between all the road rage/missed turn arguments and sleepless nights, this Christmas was an exciting time as this year, Brady understood that a man named Santa Clause would be leaving presents under his Christmas tree.

Brady became very ill the day after Christmas and sadly he did not get to enjoy the snow that covered our area. You may notice in some of the pictures he doesn't seem to be feeling well. However, he was quite the little trooper and stayed jsut as sweet as ever, even with the fever that woudl eventually turn into a nasty double ear infection. He of course is clear of it now and recently had a great 24 month check up. He is even barely on the weight curve..which is the first time in about 20 months!

Happy Belated Halloween from the Smith Family!!!

2010-11-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

This was finally the year that Brady would get to have his first Trick or Treating experience. We tried and tried to get him to say "Trick or Treat" on our way there that evening, and he repeatedly refused to say this phrase...my son, that talks non-stop and no vocabulary boundaries, would not say a phrase. Adam and I figured his cuteness alone would be enough with out the "Trick or Treat".

We met up with our friends and hit the first house. The door was opened and we gave the bigger kids first choice so that Brady would not feel overwhelmed at the first house. The doorway cleared and we stepped up for the big moment. I squatted next to him and told him what to say. With absolute confidence and zeal, Brady blurts out, "TICK OR TEAT"!!! I thought the lady might dump the whole bowl into his small green bucket. He even ended with his modest "Tank Too".

Brady rocked the first house, unfortunately he did not spread the absolute adorableness to the rest of the stops as this was the one and only time he was able to get his words out. We made it through about 5 more houses before only a Kit Kat could sooth him on the way back to the car. We were not out too late, and we didn't come home with tons of candy that we didn't need around the house tempting us. Not bad for a first Halloween on the town.

The Best Hookie Day Ever!

2010-10-31T11:23:00.000-07:00

As Adam and I reached the end of a highly stressful week, we made the decision that we needed a family day together. Some would say, "well you can have family days on the weekends." But with everything that has to be done in a short period of time, our weekends fly by without us doing one thing together as a family. I needed it, Adam needed it, and even Brady needed it. Adam and I took Friday off and took Brady to the Chidren's Museum in Greensboro. Adam nor Brady had ever been there before. As soon as we walked in the door, both boys were immediately gone from my sight. I at least slowed down enough to pay and get our wrist bands. I found the boys again and we quickly began exploring. Adam was running one direction playing with something, while Brady ran the other direction to climb onto something. I figured the bigger Smith could take care of himself so I opted to stick with the smaller Smith.

The only issue we had was the almost meltdown we had when we had to stop Brady from walking out with a shopping cart, full of goodies he found along the way. He asked me if we could take all these things home, and he was quite disappointed but understanding when I told him these things were not ours and we could not take them home with us. That did not stop him from still trying to wheel the cart out the door.

Another late update

2010-09-26T16:07:00.001-07:00

OK, so it turns out I did not have as much time as I thought I had this summer to keep everyone up to date on the Smith family comings and goings this summer. Between keeping a 1 and a half year old entertained during a summer where outside activity was very limited and being gone almost every weekend, it just never got done. Needless to say, yet again, there is a lot of catching up to do. I think I will start with the most recent and work my way back. It will be like a journey though time. Enjoy!!

I am back in school of course and relived that this year's class will be the complete opposite of last year. I really enjoy my kids so I may actually make it through 180 days of them. I could not have done another year like last year.

Brady is so excited about his first Halloween where he will get to participate. OK, so maybe he still won't know what is going on, but mommy is supper stoked about Brady getting to dress up and go trick or treating for the first time. As I was shopping for a baby shower I stumbled upon the newest Halloween costumes for this year. As I flipped through the usual candidates of doggies, bears, cows and lions, I knew exactly what Brady was going to be as soon as I saw it. A 3 eyed, 4 armed monster would be the perfect choice for Brady's first Halloween. I scooped it up and quickly purchased it with my other items. Upon returning home, I showed Brady his new costume. I asked Brady if he knew what it was. He quietly replied "monster". I was so excited that he recognized the blue creature and he was showing interest. My heart sank briefly as his next comment, also spoken quietly was "mommy, scared monster". Oh no, how would he wear the costume if he was afraid of it? This had to be remedied right away! I told Brady how nice this blue monster was and that he likes to give kisses. Brady then asked me, in a little braver octave, "Cookie Monster"? I saw my way in. "Yes Brady! This is the Cookie Monster. Do you want to try it on?" He shook his head yes and we quickly got him dressed. OMG! Too cute for words is all I can say. Unfortunately, it was a little too small and I knew I would have to exchange it for a different size. Upon returning back to the store, I was disappointed that there were no more sizes of this particular costume. I would have to choose another critter for Brady to be this year. Luckily I found a somewhat equal replacement. Though it is no where near as cool as the blue monster, Brady will be a green alligator this year.

Some of you may have heard of the passing of Rusty, my best bud for 15 years. He passed the day before school started. I had to make the difficult decision to put him to sleep after several days of not eating. He was skin and bones and he was beginning to become disoriented and weak, constantly falling over. It was so hard to carry him through those doors when I knew I would not be coming back out with him. Because, this was Rusty, he went everywhere with me, but I knew I would be going on with out him. He was with me through middle school, high school, he went with me to college, he saw me married off and he let my first born lay on him. He had been in my life longer than he had not. He cuddled with me during those trying teenage years, he went to the barn with me every day, he pulled all nighters with me in Raleigh, he co-hosted "get togethers" in my apartment in Greensboro, he protested having to coexist in the same house with Adam because he was a jealous dog, and accepted Brady even though I thought he wouldn't. He wasn't just a dog, but a piece of me. No dog will ever replace him.

For our final hoorah this summer, Brady, Dad, Jill and myself spent a lovely weekend at Ben and Amanda's new house at the beach. Brady and Johnathan had a great time together. We went to the beach, the pool, and we spent a morning at the aquarium. This was the highlight of the trip. Watching the boys was quite an experience. They were both mesmerized by all the sea life they got to see. The main attraction was the huge shark tank, where a diver went in and talked to us about the animals in the tank. As soon as Brady saw him, he immediately turned to me and said "Mommy! Diver!" He recognized this man from a first words book that he reads constantly, and because Adam and I brought him back a wind up diver for the bath tub on our own visit to the same aquarium weeks before. He told me about the diver every day and even on the ride home. He was also able to tell daddy about it when he got home with little help from mommy.

Brady continues to out talk his peers. At his day care he is the only child his age that talks as much as he does and Ms. Shannon says how she has conversations with him all day long while the other kids just sit and listen.

The moral of this picture:
Parents should always watch where they are walking, because their children are following right behind them.

Summer Adventures!

2010-07-27T17:28:00.000-07:00

we are coming to the end of July, thus the end of my summer vacation. As I was browsing for Adam's anniversary gift someone asked how old Brady was. His size still throw a lot of people off. I guess I would be more than amazed too if I saw a child who looked 6 months old was talking like a 2 year old. It was then that it hit me-he is almost 18 months old! I went through these pictures and realized how much older he is starting to look. I credit it to his mouth-full of teeth.

Brady has been quite the little traveller this summer. We spent a little over a week vacationing from the Atlantic coast to the Blue Ridge Mountains. The beach trip was a very special one for my mom, myself and some of the cousins. We revisited a place of our childhood summers, Ocean Anna Hotel. Growing up, this run down beachfront hotel was the highlight of our summer. What a perfect place for kids! Going again as an adult was a totally different experience for me, but we whole-heartedly enjoyed watching the kids fall in love with the same Ocean Anna that we remember from our own childhood.

After a quick regrouping at home, Brady and I ventured back out the door and headed to the mountains to stay a few days with Dad and Jill. We were even able to stop near Ashville and pick up my niece, Peyton. It was a relaxing trip spent by the lake, the playground and on the back porch.

Our favorite time was meal time with lots of fresh veggies from Dad and Jill's garden. Any time corn was presented, it was quite a gruesome scene. Viewer discretion is advised.

Brady has had a fab summer, and I have had just as fun working on the house and spending time with my boys. Soon there will be a home make-over post once I have finished a few other things. Until then, Brady is at Poppy and Dee Dee's and Adam and I are heading out Wednesday for the beach to enjoy our 3 year anniversary!!! Whoot Whoot!

Little moments with an angel

2010-06-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

Moment #1: I was on my hands and knees, scrubbing the kitchen floor. I was getting so frustrated because our floor is so scratched and knicked up that no matter how hard you clean, it still looks dirty and grungy. I reached around to retrieve my scrubbing brush only to find it was not where I placed it. I looked over my shoulder to see Brady about a foot away from me crouched down. He had the brush in his hand and he was scrubbing back and fourth. He stopped and looked at me and said "help....mommy".

Moment #2: Brady and I were playing on the floor this week with his new Little People's Garage. Very suddenly he stopped playing with the blue car. He looked at me, and then charged. He wrapped his tiny arms around my neck and squeezed as hard as he could manage. He quietly said "hug" in my ear. After our hug he released me and smiled his perfect smile.

Moment #3: Last week mom and I took Brady to spend the night at Marcie's or "Marney" as Brady calls her. About an hour after arriving Brady was doing another inspection of Marcie's den. He found Pop B's photo on her table. Marcie sat next to him and explained that he was holding a photo of Pop B and how Pop B would have loved to have known him. Brady looked very carefully at the picture and then exclaimed "Pot B....hug". Then he took the photo to his cheek and gave his great-grandfather a big Brady hug.

A much needed update!

2010-06-22T17:11:00.000-07:00

I sincerely apologize for waiting this long to get an update on the site. It was a rough last few months and weeks of school and EOG's were my priority. But school is out for summer...how do we feel about that???

AND momma has time to blog all she wants...yeah baby!

Speaking of baby, perhaps you are wondering about our 16 month old Brady. He is doing so well and he is the best part of every part of my day. I have already enjoyed my little bit of summer with him. Our day consists of reading, going outside (he LOVES to be outside) reading, eating, reading, going outside, nap time, reading, playing with cars and then waiting for daddy to come home.

We just spent a fantastic weekend at Smith Mountain Lake. Brady was not much for swimming in the lake, but he really liked the boat and the swimming pool. The older folks had an absolute blast tubing, wake boarding, and "cliff jumping" if you can call it that. While we were out playing on the lake, Brady was learning how to jump into the water off the side of the pool into Poppy's arms. Sometimes, his fearlessness can make me feel proud, but then very nervous. He's definitely not one you can let out of your sight, as he will be cliff diving the first chance he gets.

Brady loves to read more than he loves anything. He wakes up in the morning asking for his books. He will read as long as you will sit there. He impresses everyone for his repertoire of words he uses on a daily basis. This is because he loves to be read to. He can identify so many pictures and he is slowly beginning to use 2-3 word phrases to tell you what is going on around him. He continues to dictate very well and it is very seldom that you can't understand what he is trying to tell you.

His favorite animal right now is a doggy and he is getting very much into trucks. He can even identify fire trucks, vans, tractors, bulldozers, and I think he's even figured out monster trucks ( I know, random). He even saw "Cars" for the first time. It was the first time he stayed engaged in the TV. It was only about 10 minutes, but he still watched it. He was very aware that the character he was seeing was the same "Lightning McQueen" from his books and his ride on car. He has been more interested in Lightning (Sightning) since the movie viewing.

Brady is slowly weaning off the nap time bottle. Today was the best day yet and he only whined for about 5 minutes before just sitting in his bed and saying "mommy" all the different ways he could think of. But after about 10 minutes of that he was out like a light. We are on the way for a bottle-less nap and night time.

So as I close this blog out (since I will be blogging more often during the summer) here are my thoughts about Brady and where certain behaviors come from:

His impatience and whiney behavior: Adam all the way

His ability to remember anything you tell him or that is read to him: my dad (Grandpa) and Uncle Ben

His love for laughter: Adam's dad (Poppy)

His love for reading: my mom (B), myself and Nana Tex

His love for trucks: Adam

His love for animals: me

His attention to those around him: Adam's mom (Nanny)

His snuggle-ness: Uncle Andrew

His laid back attitude: Grand daddy

Brady is not just a mix of Adam and myself. I see so many of those who raised us or those we grew up with within this small child. Right now I feel he got the best part of each of us. What a cool kid to be around!!!! He will do great things in his life and I hope as he gets older he remembers why he is so great...because of the great people before him.

The Dead Bunny Book

2010-04-18T17:07:00.000-07:00

For any recent parents out there, you will remember the lovable and interactive children's book Pat the Bunny. Brady has really gotten into books lately. He will pull every book off the shelf until he finds the one he is looking for. He became very interested in Pat the Bunny when he discovered the little boy will play peek-a-boo with you. He will smile and laugh at the book until you get page where Janie lets you read her book with her which is a small little book within Pat the Bunny. He begins looking concerned as Pat eats his dinner because he knows what the next page will reveal. The page reads "Shhhhhh, the bunny is sleeping" and it shows a picture of the stuffed bunny lying on the floor. When Brady sees the lifeless bunny his bottom lip pokes out and he begins to wail. As much as I try to reassure him that the bunny is just sleeping, Brady still gets upset every time he sees it.

14 Months and Happy Easter!!!

2010-04-04T17:01:00.000-07:00

Since it has been so long since the last post, I will only be able to give you a glimpse of all the cool things going on at the Smith household. I figure a good place to start would be the words in Brady's vocabulary that continues to grow daily. Here are the words Brady has learned since the last post:

Otter=Oscar the cat
bumba or boon =balloon

tortu=turtle

wadur=water

duice=juice

doggy=dog

deener=dinner

bas=bath

sh=shoe

nat nat=night night

book

cheese

beans!!!

yuck-eeeee

daw=doll

nos=nose

eye

tar=star

ham (with a British accent)

baby=any child, himself included

hano=hello

Bath time is learning time!

Brady has also increased his horse back riding skills. As the days are getting nicer, I will be trying to spend more time with Icy. Brady and I set out one afternoon to help her shed her winter coat. As you may remember Brady has been up on her before. But this day after we posed for pictures...I had Icy walk around slowly with mom walking right next to us. Brady loved every minute of it. He smiled and patted her as we cruised around the ring. However, every time we passed the gator he would point and say vroom vroom...which makes me think he will be more into motorized things rather than horses.

Rusty continues to hang with us. He recently turned 15 this past March. Other than still being deaf and blind he seems happy just chilling out. Brady thinks that "Rubby" is his best pal. Rusty may not agree, but he puts up with it for the most part.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!

Today was such a fun day. Brady participated in his first egg hunt at Grammy and Grampa's house with cousins Anna and Kylie. Of course he thought he was going on a "ball" hunt. He found quite a few and soon realized what he was supposed to do with them. On his outing he also enjoyed his first glass of lemonade and experienced his first scraped knee.

Brady's First Birthday (a week after the fact)

2010-02-28T16:38:00.000-08:00

Due to the weather on Brady's actual birthday weekend, we made the decision to push his party to the very next weekend. We held our breath all week long as more winter weather was coming for the second weekend in a row. Either way, we decided we would have the party, no matter the weather. We did in fact recieve the icy storm, but luckily it was beautiful and travel worthy by Sunday.

The party was a total success. We had rented a club house in a neighborhood where some friends of ours lived. It was decorated in the Super Bowl spirit. Everyone that I can recall made it and of course Brady was the star of the show...or so I heard. Adam and I really didn't see that much of him other than present-opening time.

All the as-to-be-expected moments occured. He got more presents than we had room for, Brady ate up all the attention, and of course he smashed his face into his birthday cupcake.

Apparently we made off with a few extra bills too. I need to find where he stashed that!

As each month comes to a close, I like to look back at all the changes that have occured. Some months end with more changes and new acheivements than others. February so far has been the mac-daddy of new discoveries. As of the last day of February, these are all the things Brady can say and do:

Movements:

-Stand up in the middle of the room with no help

-Walk almost through the entire house without falling as long as he is paying attention

-Carry various objects while walking in control

-Bend down and pick up things from the floor and rise with them

Words

-mommy: mother

-daddy: father

-nanny:grandmother

-Deedee: a grandmother

-Poppy: a grandfather

-Rubby: Rusy

-Ditee: kitty

-Beau: Beau

-Baw: ball

-Uh-oh: I dropped something

-Buh-bye: See ya later

-vroom vroom: Car, truck, anything with wheels

-Hot: That's hot!

-Bobble: bottle

-Bah: bath

He tries to say most words that you try to teach him. He wants to talk so bad he can't stand it. He talks most of the day but of course you can only understand the few words. But that doesn't stop him. I can only imagine the non stop talk that is coming our way. As far as the walking, I woudn't be surprised if he was running circles through the house by next week. It just goes to show you can't not pay attention...there is so much you will miss in no time.

1st Birthday

2010-02-01T13:38:00.001-08:00

The day finally came! Brady is now the big 1. It was hard to beleive that a year ago that day we had not even met Brady.

Due to the snow we had to cancel Brady's 1st birthday party which was a pretty big bummer. I figured it would have to be cancelled so on Friday after our early release, I headed to the grocery store to stock our kitchen for what we would need to fare the winter storm. I went ahead and bought Brady some brownie mix and ice cream. Even though he would not be getting cake with all his friends, he would get a Brownie Sundae with his mom and dad.

The weather men again made a good call as we recieved amost 8 inches of snow by Saturday afternoon. Brady's birthday was sure enough cancelled and postponed to Super Bowl Sunday. Luckily Brady won't know the difference.

So we snuggled up this weekend and enjoyed the snow.

That's One Small Step for Brady....

2010-01-24T15:53:00.000-08:00

With Brady's 1st birthday just around the corner, I have found myself making a Brady timeline in my head. I think about the day he was born, the day we brought him home, his first bath, the first time he smiled, rolled over and laughed. For only being on this earth a short time, he sure has many accomplishments under his belt, and while they are small to most, they are those which I will never forget.

Now, I know many people think their child is a regular Einstein, as you here them say, "You should see Little Johnny do this", or "Little Suzie just catches on so quickly". You always find yourself just nodding your head usually thinking "I saw your child eating his own boogers yesterday". Well I am now one of those parents, but this time it's really true. Brady is a work of pure genius for his age. He does very well to make connections. As you will soon see, Brady does this trick where he will "love the baby". You tell him to do this and he will find the closest stuffed animal and snuggle up to it. I videoed him doing this. I then showed him the video. He watched carefully and saw himself loving the bear. He watched the camera, and then looked for the same bear in the room, and again, went to love on it. Not because I told him too, but because he made the connection between the video and the bear on the floor. Pure genius!!!! In the bathtub he has identified several of his bath toys by name, such as "Brady find the boat" or "find the turtle" in which he will usually stop what he is doing and find that toy and hand it too you. Need I say more...and that is not even all of it. What I'm trying to say is that my baby is intelligent, but please, if you see him eating his own boogers, call him out on it.

Now the moment you have all been waiting for...Brady's first steps!

Brady's First Christmas

2010-01-10T09:25:00.000-08:00

Well, Brady survived his first Christmas as our child. He is still not old enough to realize what all a Christmas in our family consists of. It consists of moving from place to place every day for a series of at least 4 days or more.

Now Adam and I never once thought of ourselves as Christmas professionals (we may never achieve that), however we were accustomed to the hectic schedule and to the fact that we need at least 2 days to re cooperate from the travelling, food, and family stimulation (no offense to anyone). Now that we had an almost 1 year old to tote around, this was an entire different ball game all together.

For all of the different places he had to go, and meals he had to eat, Brady I feel did better than we did. Brady's first Christmas schedule was as follows:

Day 1: First Brady and I drove to McLeansville for a small get together with my brothers, their families and mom. After a few hours we all headed to Greensboro for lunch at Dad and Jill's. There Adam joined us after having to work a few hours that morning. All the cousins had a great time together which caused adorable chaos.

From there Adam, Brady, and I continued driving to Burlington to spend the night at Adam's Dad's house. On the way though we stopped back at Mom's house to visit with all of the Arnolds that had congregated there for their Christmas bash. Once in Burlington we had a wonderful meal at Ma's house before finally hitting the sack Christmas Eve at Ronnie and Denise's house.

Day 2: There, Brady woke up to his first Christmas morning. He enjoyed all of his gifts, but not as much as the Christmas trees.

Later that day, we headed off to Yancyville to Denise's mom's house (Adam's step grandmother). From there it was back to our own little house to regain our second wind. Christmas for us, was only halfway over.

Day 3: The next day we headed to Roxboro, for Christmas with the Bradshers (my Mom's side of the family). There, all six little cousins were all together for the first time. Again, there was much excitement as the little ones ran around, soaking up all the attention. Brady took a fancy to Jade and they spent a good bit of time on the fire engine together. Jade who is over a year old, let her 11 month old cousin push her around. Brady, who has just been learning how to walk behind something, was more than happy to push her around.

Jade has a brand new, 5 week old baby sister. Adam was dying to get his hands on her and she quickly fell asleep in his arms. Now, last time he held one of my cousins brand new babies (Jade to be in fact) I became pregnant with Brady. As wonderful as that was, I'm hoping this will not have the same effect as of yet.

After a long but good day, we headed back to our home, to prepare it for the final day. On Sunday all of the Hortons (Adam's Mom's side) would be coming for lunch. Why our one bedroom, one bathroom house got chosen to seat 14 people, I will never know, however it was absolutely wonderful, and I'm just glad everyone gets along. Katie and Deboranell were wonderful cooks and there was much entertainment with Izzy, Brady and Cy and Kristina's new puppy. Joe, was kind enough to come over and take a photo of our handsome crew. Unbeknown st to half the people in this photo, most of them were standing in dog poo.

Our Christmas was finally technically over (Brady and I had one more casual stop on Monday night). We survived our first Christmas with a baby. Although we were very tired and our pants felt a little tighter, we loved every minute with every person. Just maybe perhaps, we will host more Christmases at our house especially since Santa will come to see Brady next year. Until then we will rest and prepare ourselves for it...I have a feeling Christmas for us, will not be getting any easier. Happy New Year everyone!

10 months and 2 weeks

2009-12-13T12:26:00.000-08:00

Hold on to your butts viewers, you have a lot of catching up to do. This by all means it not a result of you not checking the blog out...it has been my hectic schedule that has prevented from posting regularly. However, I am about to fill you in on everything...this may be a long one, but here we go!

The most obvious fact, is that Brady is now 10 months and two weeks. His size still makes hime look about 4 months, but he is doing everything a 10 month old is supposed to be doing. He is crawling, pulling up, taking steps while holding onto something, eating just about everything, he has two teeth, he is clapping his hands, loves playing hide and seek, and learning things he is and is not allowed to do.

He is now pointing to things he wants such as toys, noise makers, food, and this morning he woke up to a decorated Christmas tree. Most of his waffles ended up on the floor as he was continuously pointing to the ornaments on the tree.

Brady really enjoys crawling over anything he can get too. If you sit on the floor with him, he is going to want to crawl over your legs. If you leave something on the floor, it is just his newest challenge of something he must scale. And as Beau learned the other weekend, he will even climb 113 pound animals. I thought the video would not be postable when he face plants on the the kitchen floor, but he got up and was good to go. Parents, beware of "agressive" dog breeds. This may be disturbing to some...viewer discrestion is advised.

Brady is working to become a softball legacy. Adam has never been more proud of the child. I know where I will be spending my Saturday afternoons every fall and spring!

Vroom, vroom!!!! We are all boy. Brady has discovered he can make things roll. He will roll or slide just about anything across the floor. Cars, remotes, cell phones, pots, boxes, or books are all a possibility for a short game.

For a physical update, Brady is still under the wait norms for a 10 month old. He will be going again next week for his H1N1 booster and a weight check. If he has not gained enough weight, he will have a few tests done. However, we are not concerned as Adam was exactly the same when he was this age. If you have seen Adam before, you can assume Brady will be a bigg-un as well.

We are preparing for Brady's first Christmas. We are glad that he does not yet know what the mass chaos is all about since we are not doing much big for him this year. I was not even going to do much decorating. Much to my surprise, I came home one afternoon and Ma and Poppy had decorated the back porch for us. It was quite a site and it got me into the Christmas spirit. We broke out the decorations and got the house ready for Brady's first Chrismas...even if he won't remember it.

Brady is good at sharing!

2009-11-08T10:19:00.000-08:00

So now that Brady is eating real people food, he realizes that this is something everyone likes. His mommy eats it, his daddy eats it, he eats it, and all those around him eat it.

He is already getting the concept of sharing. He will take a bite of his cracker or bagel, and then offer it out to you for a small bite. Sometimes he is serious about it, other times it's more of a sike game.

Some of the animals (mostly Rusty as he is the most resourceful begger of the bunch) have also realized he has real food and that small morcels sometimes rain down from the baby above. Brady has also taken notice of Rusty, voluntarily hanging around him during feeding times, which was a new concept as Rusty does his best to be anywhere BUT close to Brady.

As Brady was eating some fruits and some bagel bits the other morning, he as usual, noticed Rusty circling us. I could almost see the wheels clicking inside his head...."if I like it, and mommy and daddy like it, why wouldn't doggy like it?" And with that, he learned how to share with the dog, and the dog learned Brady isn't such a bad idea after all...but only during meal times.

9 Months

2009-11-01T10:47:00.000-08:00

As of October 31st, Brady is now 9 months old. What an enjoyable month! Brady has done it...he is now crawling. He is also eating real food and not just baby goop, and pulling up on furniture. He is actually only good at pulling up on his crib. He greets us every morning, peering from over his crib railing. Adam had to adjust the mattress height due to our fear of Brady peering over a little too far and toppling onto the floor. He is a little top heavy with his large head.
Since Brady is now enjoying freedom of mobility, we had to break out the baby gates. He is no longer a free range baby. This was decided after an incident this weekend in which over at time frame of about 30 seconds, Brady was able to crawl from his bedroom to the kitchen, where he helped himself to Jetta's breakfast. He is a little frustrated at the moment about the barred doors placed is stratigic locations, but he will get over it.

Rusty and Jetta are not as excited about the crawling as Brady is. They have figured out that they are more accessible, and are considered fair game. Nothing can stop him from approaching them, if they are within sight. Jetta has been pretty good about getting herself to safety...however Rusty's inability to hear and see well make him a prime target.

Blogging has been rather difficult as I am trying to learn a new computer. We have downsized and gotten a lap top. I have been very excited about this, however learning some new programs and how this one works, has made it difficult to perform my usual tasks. I think I'm going to need some help to get everything just the way I like it. Thank goodness Ben is coming in December (Ben if you read this, just a heads up, you are going to come and work on this thing).

This blog is dedicated to Adam's Granny who passed away peacefully earlier this month. We are glad she was able to meet Brady, and even spend an entire Saturday with him the weekend before she passed. She was a special lady who has been missed.

Happy Halloween!!!

2009-11-01T09:42:00.001-08:00

8 months old

2009-10-11T08:35:00.000-07:00

Oh how time does fly. Brady is now 8 months old. It is easy to believe because of all the things he is learning and trying to do. Last month he had just began to keep himself in a sitting position. Well, he is leaps and bounds past that! A little tooth is even starting to pop out. Here is an update on Brady's new tricks and what he likes or dislikes.

Trick#1
Brady can now get on all fours. He is still not quite crawling, but he is moving backwards and rocking back and forth. He is not far from success!

Trick #2
The steamroll. Though not a new trick, I just thought you would want to see Brady's primary mode of transportation.

Trick #3
Brady can get himself into a sitting position from his belly.

New Sounds:
So you have heard him saying mom mom if you have kept up with all of the blogs...well he is finally learned some other consonants such as ah-dah...dah dah dah dah DAH DAH DAH DAH DAH dah dah (all capitols emphasizes volume). All his sounds include: mah, yah, dah, bah, and nah.

Like #1
Brady loves to play with his spoon after meal time. He is also experimenting with gravity. Little plastic spoons and baby food cover our floor by the end of meal time.

Like #2
For some reason, Brady has taken up head butting. Watch your face! Your nose is his primary target. Also good targets: a window, the table leg, toys, the cat.

Dislike #1
Being left alone. Yes, he is finally getting into that clingy phase. Luckily he's not that bad as of yet, and usually he gets over it pretty quickly.

Dislike #2
Having cell phones and TV remotes yanked away from him. Call him a boy, he loves anything with buttons. To help us out, we have provided him with a sterilized old cordless phone. He seems satisfied with it now, but I have a feeling he will soon realize it is a decoy from the real deal.

Dislike #3
Having anything near his face that could be possibly used to wipe something off of it.

All in all, Brady continues to be the best baby ever. He sleeps well, travels well, chills out well and plays well. He is the hit wherever he goes and we continue to be proud parents!

7 Months old and a Birthday Celebration with all the cousins!

2009-09-20T14:43:00.000-07:00

Now that I am back in the classroom, you can probably tell that I have not had a chance to update the blog in the past few weeks. Well folks, you can get off the edge of your seat and stop wondering what Brady Smith has been doing. I am about to answer all of your questions!
Brady is now 7 months old and here are the things he can add to his lists of tricks:
-Brady can now sit up on his own. He still needs help getting up, but once he is up, he can keep himself in check. Once he figured how to stay a little forward and to keep his large cranium from going too far backwards or forwards he was in the money

-He is no longer nursing except for right before going to sleep. He has replaced mommy milk with formula, fruits and veggies (I have not felt this free since the day I moved to college). His favorites are all fruits, sweet potatoes, squash and carrots. We are working on green foods.
-He has mastered the roll
-He can go from sitting position to belly without face-planting
-He can almost hold his own bottle
-Don't turn around because he can roll out of a room before you have even realized he is no longer there

His favorite new evening activity is sitting up and going through his basket of toys.

Along with Brady learning new skills (because chicks dig guys with all kinds of skills) Brady has also spent some time with his cousins the past few weeks.

Last weekend he finally came face to face with his outgoing Californian cousin Johnathan. They had a good first meeting, but I don't think Brady's eyes can move fast enough to keep watch on Johnathan. He also had a visit from his second cousin, Jade. The objective was to have all the little darlings in one space in at the same time. I was not entirely successful...at least to have them all smiling in the same place at the same time. I set the bar too high, but did manage to get them all in the same frame. Not even a fraction of a second later, they had all split in 4 different directions...even though there was only 3 of them.

This past weekend was Dad's birthday. We got together for a fine lunch and had all of the grand-babies together. Anna, Johnathan, Kylie Peyton, and Brady all had their pictures taken by a photographer that awaited us at the house. She got some good individual shots and some shots of the kids playing. But when it came time for all the grand-kids and the grand-parents to have their picture taken together on the ground...I had never seen such semi-controlled chaos in my life. Two would be screaming while one was crawling away and two others were giving the perfect cheese. Every 3 seconds, the rolls would switch. When it was all said and done, the photographer had several shots that could make the scene to have looked like perfect harmony the whole time. I don't know how she did it.

Even without naps, all the kids had a great time. They enjoyed cake (except for Brady, who enjoyed some Gerber fruit mixture), ice cream and balloons. I don't know about the other kids, but I know mine came home and totally crashed!

Brady's personality comes out more and more every month, but some things stay the same. He continues to be one laid back, happy guy. He has his moments of course, but for the most part his favorite look is a smile on his face and a "go-with the flow" mentality on the busy weekend run arounds his mommy and daddy get him into.

All things considered

2009-08-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

OK, so it has definitely been a little too long since our last post. You have a lot of catching up to do. To make things easier, I just decided to post everything I have, In one combined "mega" post of all the happenings with the Smith family.

Adam and I had our 2 year anniversary. It was so nice because this time I wasn't pregnant! I was able to go out and enjoy myself as much as Adam did...and boy did I!
We had a very nice small weekend getaway. Nana Nell took over the Smith house, including our son and our small pack/pride of dogs and cats. We didn't go far, just to Greensboro, but where we went was very special. We were staying at the Greensboro Biltmore Hotel. That's the same hotel that we stayed at the night we were married. We even stayed in the same honeymoon suite. We also had reservations to dine at 223 S. Elm, which is where our Rehearsal Dinner was held.

As soon as we checked in, around 3:30 that afternoon, we hit up the town. First we visited McCouls for some cocktails, then we skipped over to Natty Greene's for Happy Hour and a snack. We were wondering what we were going to do after supper later that night. At Natty's we learned of a block party that was going to be held just outside. Sam Bush would be performing. We had no idea who Sam Bush was, but we decided an evening concert would be perfect. We went back to the hotel, got ready for supper and made our way down the block. As soon as we walked in at 223 S. Elm, we ran into Mike, the head chef from the Rehearsal Dinner. No sooner had we sat that complimentary champagne was sent our way. This is also after we had enjoyed our complementary bottle of white wine that came with our room, our warm up drinks from McCouls and Natty's and after we had already ordered a bottle of wine for our table. We didn't waste a drop. Dinner was so romantic!

Afterwards we walked down the block towards the concert which was phenominal! If you have never heard of Sam Bush, you need to get some of his music. We had a fabulous time until we just couldn't do it anymore. We slowly walked back to the hotel and crashed. I was hoping to sleep in the next morning with no Brady getting me up, but I just couldn't do it. Our little honeymoon was over and it was time to head home.

So this anniversary was much different from my last where I was allowed a sip of wine every night, and during the day I dug a small hole in the sand for my baby bump so I could lay on my tummy at the beach. Both very special, and tons of fun in different ways!

This segment of the blog is brought to you by the letter "M"
What will Brady's first word be?

The Smith's at Smith Mountain Lake
Ronnie, Denise, Brady and I, being the only ones not working through the summer, were able to spend 2 quiet days at the lake. Brady did his usual things such as playing in the pool, driving the golf cart and learning new tricks (taking people's glasses off their face). He also experienced his first boat ride. I don't think he remembers ever being on the boat, as he slept peacefully the entire time.

A visit from Auntie Erin
Erin was able to come up from Florida to visit her bestest and Brady. We had a great visit and I told Brady that he had to be on his best behavior if Erin was going to go home with baby on the brain so he could have a little friend. Unfortunately Brady was teething and not all went as planned. But I have to remind myself that Brady is not a fussy baby, and what would appear very fussy to me, is nothing compared to a normal day of other babies.

Erin and I even hit up Greensboro for old times sake. I figured for sure that since I am used to getting in the bed between 9 and 10 every night that there would be no way I could hang with her like the good ole days. Much to my surprise, we were the last people to walk out of the door at 3am. I knew I would pay dearly as Brady would probably wake up around 7 or earlier. He did wake up super early, but then took a very long nap later that morning, and we caught up on all the sleep we missed out on.

Brady's 1st pony

I'm 6 months old!

This is what I can do:
Eat solid food 3 times a day
Babble constantly
Better hand/eye coordination
Grab Rusty's hair and Jetta's tail
I'm Teething
Almost crawling

The Traveling Baby

2009-07-27T14:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been quite a busy 2 weeks with all of our travels. Brady has been from North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains in the west, to North Carolina's coastline in the east.

We spent some relaxing days at Dad and Jill's time share in Sapphire Valley. We came as close to becoming vegetables as you possibly can without actually turning into one...but we all know that's just silly. We took a lot of naps, read a lot of books/newspapers, and Brady spent a lot of time in the indoor pool. It was way too cold for any outdoor pool experience. He liked it all the same and I am now thinking of getting him enrolled in some kind of swimming lessons. This boy has no fear of water!

On the way home, we were lucky enough to be passing through during my niece, Peyton's, 1 year birthday. It was good to see Andrew and it was so much fun watching Peyton run around.

The beach was quite the opposite pace we experienced in the mountains. This was a rather large family reunion on Adam's side and there were many fun loving cousins that came to visit from Texas. There were a lot of people to meet and I thought Brady did very well as he continued to flash that innocent boyish smile as he was passed from person to person well into the night.

There was much fun to be had as cousins were reunited after many years. I like to think I met many new friends and I enjoyed watching old friends spend quality time together.

It was also good for Brady and Adam as they get to see a lot of each other. I feel privileged that I get to spend so much time with Brady, and I know that Adam wants to do the same. Brady loves his daddy so much, that I think Brady's time with his daddy was better than any pool.

Much to my surprise, Brady did not take to the ocean the way he took to the pool. I suppose it can seem rather intimidating and loud compared to a calm pool where water does not rush towards you with a roar. I guess that could seem scary to a baby. Nonetheless, Brady found himself a pool and was so wore out by his introduction to the ocean, that he fell asleep in his float.

After a long 2 weeks abroad the state, Brady, Adam and I were happy to get home.

5 months old

2009-07-09T17:20:00.000-07:00

Brady is now 5 months old. Every day he amazes me as more and more of his personality blossoms. He is a little person with wants and needs and ways to express them to you. He is rolling over both directions, blowing bubbles, screaming, laughing, babbling, eating cereal, has an obsession with kicking his legs and every item that makes it into his hands deserves a taste test.

The boy smiles non stop but especially at women. I wonder who he gets that from? He hasn't met a stranger yet and he continues to be an easy keeper.

Things he wants to do so badly but he can't are:
stand
walk
talk
play with the pets
fly

Things he is working on:
The next Michael Phelps

A Cowboy

Next week he plans on trying out surfing and sand castle construction/destruction while at the beach.

First day at the pool

2009-06-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

Well, Brady had his first summer adventure today. I figured that since Brady now loves bath time so much, that he would love the pool...since it would seem as a very large bath tub for him.

I joined Nana Tex, Deboranell, and Cynthia for a short day at the pool. As I figured, Brady took to the pool like a duck to water. He wore is brand new, very expensive Swimmer Diapers, and his fishing cap. He kicked and splashed and stayed happily in the water until he was almost pruny.

We will definitely be returning to the pool!

Look at what I can do!

2009-06-25T17:52:00.000-07:00

I want to talk so bad!!!

2009-06-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-23T07:59:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day Father's Day turned out to be. It was quiet, low key, and the weather was very nice. Adam and I went about our normal routines of a Sunday morning. Get up, feed Brady, shower, and get ready for church. We had a lovely Father's Day message at church and we headed home to start cooking for our guests. Grandpa Bud and Grammy Jill joined us for a delicious lunch at the house. Adam did all the cooking (like most always) and I got to have some playtime with Brady. Perhaps since it was Father's Day, it should have been the other way around...I don't know.

Dad and Jill came and we all had a very nice visit. Brady bounced in his door jumper as we all ate and laughed as he kept sliding down into the seat. We were very thankful he let us get almost completely done with lunch before he decided he had enough of the jumper.

After lunch, Adam went out and enjoyed 9 holes of golf for Father's Day before spending a quiet evening with Brady and myself.

It was a very low-event day, but nonetheless, very special as Adam's first Father's Day. Well deserved for such a wonderful, loving father!

Brady and I love you dearly, Adam! I hope that I show you how much you mean to me every day. Brady can't tell you how much he loves you yet, but I hope you see it every time he smiles when you walk into the room. He knows you're his daddy and he can't wait to do all the wonderful things with you that I know the two of you will do.

What does a mommy look like her first night away from baby?

2009-06-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

So many people wondered how I would make it through a weekend away from Brady. I thought it would also be a little difficult but I figured I would not be one of those moms that calls every hour and does not have a good time due to wondering if the baby is asleep, eating well or is in route to the emergency room.

Well it was going to be my first night out (Adam's best friend was getting married) and I was determined to enjoy my first REAL night out since before I was pregnant.

I dropped Brady off with Grandpa Bud and Grammy Jill Saturday afternoon. It would have been an easy departure as Brady was in a great mood. However, I forgot all the nipples that go with his bottles. Immediately I went into mother panic mode. How will he eat? Ok, Dad and Jill can go get a nipple from the store. But what if it is not the right kind? What if he won't eat from it? What if my baby starves over night?

After I called to be sure they found a nipple for the bottle, Dad put my mind at ease and I continued on my way to Pilot Mountain.

The wedding was a success and we only called two times that night and not until after 10am the next morning. And no, my child did not starve over night nor did he visit the emergency room. He actually had a fabulous night, eating well and sleeping through the night in a strange bed. I was so proud of him and thankful for such wonderful grandparents.

Adam and I were able to enjoy the night out (a little too much) and will feel OK about leaving Brady for more sleep overs.

On another note, Brady experienced the Door Jumper this week. He can't jump yet, but he likes to just spin himself around and watch what you are doing. Brady is also getting better control of his massive Smith head. He can actually pick that big melon up. I have no idea how other than I may possibly have a super baby.

We also tried some solid foods, however he decided to pass on that idea. We have put it away and will try again in a week. Brady had his 4 month check up and all is looking well.

Brady is four months old...and so much more!!

2009-05-31T17:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend, Brady turned 4 months old. I am so amazed of all the new things he is now doing. It is so exciting, and bittersweet at the same time. It is exciting because it is so much fun to see him show us something or learn something new. Every day is an adventure. At the same time, it is bittersweet because that just means he is growing fast and changing every day.

This month Brady can squeal, grab his toes (his ultimate goal is to get them into his mouth, which he is almost there), wiggle himself in a 360, coo, and best of all, he is experimenting with his laugh. The video does not do it justice how precious of sound comes from this little boy. Also, please excuse me in the background. In order for Brady to share his laugh, I have to make myself sound like a moron.

I believe Brady has started figuring out the camera...or I'm just reading into it, and he just likes the way it looks. Whenever the camera comes out, all of his attention focuses on it. This is when he is going to show off the most by kicking, squealing, laughing and smiling.

Brady has settled nicely into a good routine. He is not a big napper, but he is still a wonderful sleeper. He goes down around 8:00 and wakes up around 8:00 the next morning if I don't have to wake him up before I go to work. He goes for another check up June 5th, where I am sure he will be starting some solid foods. I fear Adam's tolerance for changing diapers will soon decrease once those solid foods start making their way into Brady's daily diet.

Brady had his first visit to the ball field to see his daddy play ball. He didn't catch any fly/foul balls.

Work update:
Last Friday was Spring Fling at my school. Adam was such a good sport and came along for the fiasco. Actually I wanted him to come so I could show off our son. Brady was such a hit. He smiled at everyone that walked up to him. I heard he was even smiling as I was being submerged in the dunking tank. Yes, that's right, I was a poor soul at the dunking booth. It was actually pretty fun and the water was warm. I am hoping that was not a cruel and disgusting result of those that were dunked before me.

I am looking forward to the last day of school...June 15th!

Pet update:
Rusty is still getting along. He is enjoying someone being at home with him all the time. He still has not accepted that he is not my only baby, and continues to be miffed at the fact that Brady takes a lot of my time and attention. I give him as much attention as I can, but it does not quite meet up to his expectations.

Beau and Oscar were caught in the act. I finally figured out why the big orange cat was sometimes soggy wet. I knew Beau was my prime suspect...but what I witnessed showed that Oscar was the instigator of these "cuddle" sessions. Unfortunately I started taping it towards the end.

*Video will be posted soon.

Jetta is still raging in the Battle for the Lap. She no longer pretends to notice that Brady has already occupied the lap. She just plunges right in. I have to stop her from actually laying on top of him. She doesn't have much longer before Brady will be out of my lap...however, I have a feeling she will be in my lap less, as I will be sitting down less.

I am back in the saddle and loving it whenever I can. I posted a picture of Icy just because she is pretty.

What a wonderful weekend to remember!

2009-05-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

As you have probably figured out, I have been so busy with work and mommy duties, that I have not had the time I have needed to update the blog. I apologize I don't have any pictures to share this time, but I promise, more are coming. The little guy just keeps growing!

So this Sunday was my first mother's day...and what a mother's day to remember! Our day started at 6:45 as Adam brought me Brady in bed. Yes, you read that right...I did not get breakfast in bed, I got Brady...who got his breakfast in bed. But Adam made up for that as I opened my mother's day cards and unwrapped the beautiful earrings that go with Brady's birthstone bracelet.

After that we were scurrying around getting ourselves, our baby, and our house ready for the big cookout that was to take place after church that day. Today was not just any day at church. Today, many of our friends and family would be attending with us to see Brady dedicated. It was such as memorable experience to stand on stage with all those who love and care for us looking on, as we pledged to bring Brady up in the eyes of God. As our lead pastor asked Brady's friends and family to stand, I realized that we had almost an entire section just of our family. The pastor joked that we were having a family reunion. He was not far off, as everyone journeyed down the road to our house after church. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and we had a wonderful time mingling with all the family.

The cookout was a hit! We were so exhausted afterwards that we cleaned up what we could, and then crashed. It will be a mother's day I will never forget and was truly honored to be a part of.

Grow up!!

2009-04-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

"Grow up"?, you say. Well let me explain. It seems that my sweet little child things that toots are funny. So it reminded me how some people believe that no matter how old you are, or who does it and where, toots will always be funny. Brady has picked up on this as whenever you make toot noises with your mouth, he grins ear to ear and even sometimes chuckles. I thought about how his father also chuckles at poots and how I always think, "Adam, grow up" (even though we are both guilty of uncontrollable giggles when the guy beside us let one rip in the middle of child birthing classes). So, not that I want Brady to grow up any faster than he already is...Brady is just already showing the inevitable boyish immaturities that he will use along side his father to make me just sigh and shake my head.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

2009-04-13T06:05:00.001-07:00

GO HEELS!!!

2009-04-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

No, I am not the Tar Heel super-fan that my husband and his family are. However, I can't help but want the championship to come back to NC. Don't get any ideas Smiths and Hortons. And Dad, don't worry, I am not converted as you so fear will happen to me. I stand strong in the Statehood.

Update

2009-04-06T18:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know I have't posted in a while, but what can I say...I am a working mom. Yes, it is true. I am back at work. Never would I have been ready to go, however, knowing Brady was at home in the very capable hands of family, it made it easier.

Brady has been on many adventures and has met many people. He even made an appearance in my classroom a few days before I was scheduled to return. They were so excited to meet him and ask about him every day. They also keep talking about how Brady used to be in my tummy and they love to point out that I am not "fat" anymore and can bend over to pick up things. Nice observation kids.

Brady had is 2 month check up. All is looking well and he is still gaining a ton of weight.

I was allowed a day away from home and finally got a chance to scratch the itch. I am back in the saddle. I had a fabulous ride on my trusty steed, Icy. I was very worried that since she has not really been ridden in months, that Brady may grow up without a mother. But she did wonderful and the only tragedy of the day is that I got sunburn.

Only a few more days and then I am out for Spring Break. After that, only 40 days left of school! I can't wait for the summer.

Here's the "Bebe"!

2009-03-16T11:24:00.000-07:00

This weekend was no exception to any of our last few weekends...extremely busy of running around and introducing Brady to more friends and family.

Adam's cousin Hannah and her daughter, Isabelle, came up from Atlanta this weekend to spend the night and spend time with their new cousin Brady. Isabelle has been awaiting Brady's arrival for quite a while. It was not long ago when she would kiss my belly and say "Hello Bebe". Cute, I know! Towards the end she began to get a little impatient as she would lift up my shirt and try to find him that way.

When Isabelle finally met Brady, the initial meeting was not what I expected. Isabelle was more interested in playing with the jewelry that Nana Tex had pulled out for her to play with. As our visit went on, she finally showed the reaction that I had hoped for. She wanted to hold Brady and have her picture made with him. Of course, she would only allow you to take the picture if she could take the next picture. She was so sweet! I loved how she knew Brady's name, and was very eager to be around him...if she was not playing with jewelry or telling someone what they should be doing. They will be good playmates when Brady gets older.

Brady also attended his first birthday party, went to the church nursery for the first time, met my great aunt Helen, and Adam's great grandmother, Granny.

Unfortunately our Sunday evening was rather unpleasant as Brady was very fussy and running a small fever. He is feeling slightly better today, but he better regain his strength, as he will be attending the Smith Family Reunion in Burlington this coming weekend. It will be another grand adventure!

Viva La Resistance

2009-03-12T17:59:00.000-07:00

Jetta: Ok, so I have let everyone know of my displeasure of the new pet taking over my mother's lap. Since the day I was brought into this house, that has been my spot, and my spot only. Now that squirmy excuse for a homo sapian is always in the spot that is rightfully mine. I have tried other areas in the house, but none are as peaceful as mother's lap.

I have had it, and it is time to reclaim my favorite sleeping place. The other night, I attempted my most daring act of protest since the new pet has made himself comfortable in my lap. From now on, an occupied, or a non-occupied lap, I WILL be on it!! Granted, the lap did get a little crowded and I did not have the space to roll around and curl up as I used too, but that is not the point. The point was to show the new pet, that was here first, and I refuse to give the lap up so easily to sack of potatoes. I think I proved my point.

Another busy weekend

2009-03-09T08:06:00.000-07:00

Our weekend began quite special on Saturday morning. Here is a little lesson on cause and effect...it must be the teacher in me and the fact that I have been out of work for a month now.
Cause: an event that happens
Effect: what happens as a result of said event
O.K. now that is out of the way and everyone is following along:
Cause: Brady gets a tickle under his chin while sitting in the bed with Adam
Effect: Brady gives his first smile as a reaction to something we did, and not just smiling as a result of gas or good milk.

Brady is starting to interact more. It still takes a lot to get him to smile, and so far it usually takes the chin tickle. I have been trying to get him to smile at faces that I make, but that seems to make him look a bit worried at his mom's distorted face. He has no sense of humor.

Later on Saturday we got a visit from Poppy and Dee Dee (Ronnie and Denise). We had a nice visit and I'm glad that Denise was able to see him as this was only the second time she had seen him since the hospital. After a few hours, we all loaded up and headed to McLeansville to see Mama B, Paw Paw and to finally meet the horses. Icy was quite curious about him, smelling him carefully. Brady cried. I am going to pass that off that he was hungry and not that he was scared...because then I would be worried if we brought the right child home from the hospital.

Sunday Brady, Beau, and I loaded up once more to take a walk in the park. Only this time, Grandpa Bud, or as Johnathan calls him, Pa Pa, joined us for a fine day at Country Park. The weather was perfect! Before heading home, we then stopped at Nana Nell's house where Adam was already waiting and the Carolina/Duke game was already underway. I have to say, Adam behaved himself quite well and I only heard 5 death treats to Coach K.

Our busy weekend was over and we finally headed home. Now we are looking forward to next weekend where Brady will meet his cousin Isabelle. There should be a good story next weekend!

Brady is giving mommy gray hairs!

2009-03-07T09:09:00.000-08:00

Since Brady has been born, he has been trying to worry his parents constantly with medical problems. We were worried before we ever met him as the doctor shared concerns about his ability to handle the labor due to an irregular heartbeat. The irregular heartbeat continued for his first few days of life. Even though the doctors were certain the condition would fix itself, it still left Adam and I worried about our new son. Of course the doctors were right, and soon the problem fixed itself.

Next was Brady's thyroid test. It had come back borderline, and we would have to take blood again. Like the first time, the doctors were confident everything would come back fine, which it did.

Most recently, we were sent back to Brenners Children's Hospital for an upper GI test. Brady has had a lot of spit up, and the night before we were going in for a routine doctor's visit, Brady had some yellow in his spit up. This made the doctor a little concerned that possibly something from his intestines or liver was backing up into his stomach. They sent me and Brady to the hospital that afternoon. Luckily Adam was able to get off work and join me.

Once there, Brady experienced and awful procedure. First they had to insert a tube through his nose and to his stomach to inject the barium. He was strapped to a board, stretched out with his arms above his head. Once he was ready, the X-ray machine stopped working. The young doctor (whom I believe to have been on his first day) had no idea what to do. I stood there with my screaming child as they tried to re-boot the system. It was clear that it was not coming back on. They had to take the tube out, move us to another room, strap him down again, and insert the tube a second time. It was almost too much for me watching him go through that a second time. Finally they had things rolling. The rocked the board back and forth while taking a syringe that looks like it was for an elephant, filled it with air and pushed it in and out of his stomach. I was allowed to stay at his head. All I could do is put my fingers in his little hands that were strapped above his head. He held on for dear life. The procedure felt like it took forever. In the end, it was decided that Brady has problems with reflux. Luckily it is not bad enough to need treatment, and there is really not much I can do for it.

Brady has put us through enough scares in his first month of life, then some children give their parents in several years. I don't think I can keep taking such a little body being poked and prodded on. At least every time it comes out to be nothing. Better safe than sorry, but it sure is hard on mommy!

Snow day

2009-03-02T09:00:00.001-08:00

Today, our family woke up to the most beautiful snow we have seen in several years. We got around 5-7 inches. I went out briefly (without Brady of course) to play with the dogs. Rusty of course remembers several great snows and seemed happy that it was there. Being almost 14 years old, he still remembers that he loves for me to kick the snow at him. He did his best to jump at it and bark as he used to, however, he is not as flexible as he used to be.

Beau on the other hand, has never seen anything other than a dusting. He thought that snow was absolutely great, but also a little cold. He immediately tried to find all of this buried toys under the cold blanket. He ran circles so quickly that snow blew up behind him. I wish I could spend more time with him out there, but I get uncomfortable leaving Brady in the house, even if he is asleep. Hopefully he will get some good play time out there when Adam gets home.

Brady's first sleep over

2009-03-02T08:50:00.001-08:00

This past weekend, Brady had his first night away from home and daddy. Mom and I took Brady to meet Marcie. It had been a long awaited meeting for myself and of course for Marcie. She was so excited to see us pull up to the driveway. She opened the door to meet us as I'm sure she was waiting our late arrival (which of course my mom was responsible for, haha).

Brady did very well being in a new place and enjoyed his visit with Marcie. Like most other babies, he found her very comforting. Her magic fingers that I so fondly remember soothing me, went to work when he was fussy. Her steady rock in the chair that I know from experience to be lulling put him to sleep. I believe he found Marcie to be just as wonderful as the rest of us have always known her. Maybe it was not coincidence that he began flashing his handsome smile more often after his trip to meet his great grandmother.

First day at the park

2009-03-02T08:34:00.000-08:00

Thursday was so nice, that I took Beau and Brady to the park for a much needed day out. I have been getting rather stir crazy since it has been too cold to take the little man out. Beau has been feeling the same as we can't get out with him as often as we should lately. So I packed up the car and headed off for Brady's first adventure. The car was loaded to the max with baby, stroller, diaper bag and monster dog in tow.

I was kind of worried as to how I was going to be able to control a stroller and such a large, excitable dog. However, once we were walking, Beau proved to be such a gentleman, that our walk was very enjoyable. So enjoyable that I didn't want to stop. We walked almost 5 miles!! Brady slept the entire time. It will still be a while yet before he will be aware of what is going on while he is in the stroller. However, Beau and I took it all in and were so happy to be out of the house. I can't wait for our next day out!!

Mr. Popular

2009-02-26T07:02:00.001-08:00

Last night we had a very nice visit from Andrew, Ashley, and Peyton. This was the first time they had seen Brady since the hospital. We had a nice supper and were also happy to have Mama B and Paw Paw here as well. Peyton has learned a lot of new tricks. She is rolling around the room and trying to crawl. Brady and Peyton did not have much interest in each other last night as Peyton could not be still and Brady slept most of the time. Peyton is all smiles and I can't wait until Brady is able to interact like that. It was good to see my baby brother and his family.

My BFF, Erin, came to visit for my birthday this past weekend. Actually I think she was just using my birthday as an excuse to come and meet Brady. Of course, I was just happy to have her. Her visit was short but I loved seeing her. I am hoping her visit with the little guy will push her into joining the motherhood club sooner than expected. Brady needs a girlfriend!!

Speaking of girlfriends, Brady did meet his first friend close to his age. I got a visit from Kelly and Sophia this week. Kelly is a friend of mine from work. We were due around the same time. However she came early and I came late. I could not believe the difference in sizes of these two. Sophia is about 1 month older. It's hard to believe Brady will get that big, and of course bigger as time goes by. Like his time with Peyton, he did not want to have much to do with Sophia. We are still at the stage where we just sleep, eat, and ruin diapers. Not much else matters as long as we got all those into our day.

What do they think about the new "pet"?

2009-02-20T08:49:00.000-08:00

Jetta: I have mixed feelings about the new pet. I am rather curious. I like to stare at it as it sleeps in a swing. I follow mother everywhere, trying to see what she will do next with the new pet. I am also quite jealous of it. It gets to sit in mother's lap WAY TO MUCH. Apparently no one told the new pet that mother's lap is my favorite spot. I am starting to let my displeasure known. I try to squeeze myself onto mother's lap next to the wiggling pet. Sometimes it works, other times, there is just not enough room. I even don't get to sleep with mother in the bed anymore. That pet sleeps on my side of the bed in a little basket so that mother can easliy get it into her lap during the night. That would for sure ruin my sleep. I have tried sleeping with father, but it is just not the same. I just wish mother and father would have talked to me about this first before they brought home a new pet.

Rusty: To tell the truth, I really don't give two wags about the new pet. However, I beleive I am thankful that I am mostly deaf, as it seems that it sometimes makes a lot of loud noise. I like that mommy is at home with me all day now. I don't mind that the new pet is with us too, because it sleeps as much as I do. The days are nice of course until that guy comes home. He likes the new pet more than he likes me, and I have been here longer. But I don't care for him either so I guess it's fair. I still dream about the old days though, when it was just me and mommy. That guy sure has made things more difficult for it to be just me and mommy. I guess I better get used to it.

Beau: I love the new pet! I love mamma, and diddy, and Rusty, and Jetta, and Oscar, and everyone who has come to visit me and the new pet. I love the noises it makes. I just want to lick all over its face when he makes noises. I want to play with all of its sqirmy legs!!! New pet is kinds boring though, because it just kinda lays there. mamma and diddy have to pick it up for it to move. Maybe one day they will let me carry it around. Maybe one day it will play with me and not get angry with me like Rusty does.

Icy: I guess I'll have to carry it around too. People are so lazy!

Oscar: There's a new pet?

Waterboy....not so much

2009-02-19T14:12:00.000-08:00

We finally lost our umbilical cord yesterday, which meant we could finally give the stinky boy a real bath. He fared just as I would have expected...he cried and ranted the entire time. As of now, we are not a fan of bath time. Luckily for us, at this point he only needs about 2 baths a week. We were finally rid of that "spit up" smell that had been driving us crazy for days. Unfortunately we were only rid of it for a few minutes. He upset himself to the point of spitting up all over everything as soon as he was dry and in fresh clothes.

A long day

2009-02-17T10:35:00.001-08:00

Brady and I visited the doctor's office again today. He had an excellent check up. He has passed his birth weight as he tipped the scales at 8 pounds, 3 ounces. All other check ups where great as well. Since we are still a little yellow, they did a heel prick to test his bilirubens. Unfortunately this was a long and terrible process. They had to take three different viles of blood. The poor kid screamed his head off the entire time. Mom almost felt like crying too. Needless to say, he came home and totally crashed. All that crying wore the little guy out.

We are taking our first trip to visit mommy's work today. I have to drop off lesson plans and am ready to get out of the house and start showing off my little man. I know he will be a big hit. I am not introducing him to my kids just yet. I'm too early in my maternity leave to want to see my little darlings yet!

Presents!!

2009-02-13T06:58:00.001-08:00

Brady received his first wrapped present on our doorstop yesterday. Needless to say he had no idea what was going on as we unwrapped it, however he thought the wrapping paper was pretty cool. Thanks Susan, Sarah, and Jim for the gift!

Favorite sleep postition

2009-02-10T08:34:00.001-08:00

Of course we have all heard how babies loved to be swaddled. This is of course because they feel secure as they did in the womb. However, Brady has decided he enjoys his space. He tolerates being swaddled, but would much rather sleep with his arms stretched out or with his fists balled up beside his ears.

Welcome Baby Brady!!!!

2009-02-05T12:49:00.001-08:00

Adam and I welcomed Brady William Smith into the world on January 31st 2009. He was born at 10:00am via C-section. He weighed in at 8 pounds 1.4 ounces and measured 21 inches long.

Brady meets some of the LARGE family.

2009-02-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

Brady has spent his first two weeks meeting some of the family. He still has many more to meet but so far he has been a huge hit!! He has been good for all of his visitors, usually sleeping soundly in their arms.

At home

2009-02-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

Now that the Smith family is home, Brady enjoys time in his swing. It has become one of my favorite items as well since it allows time to get things done around the house and to catch up on some much needed sleep. Brady is a good sleeper and Adam is a great help at night. He has become a professional diaper changer! I have been taking time to heal from surgery and keeping the little guy fed. He has been eating very well and we are almost back up to birth weight. Brady went to Brenners Childrens' Hospital yesterday to get a heart checkup. I am happy to say that the doctors believe that whatever arrhythmias they heard during the labor and during his first days, has healed itself. Brady has a healthy heart!