2008 at a glance

Happy New Year from Kota and Lily

I started our family blog the last week of January of 2008. Those who are avid readers to our blog have probably read all that this post contains. I was just thinking that as this year comes to close all that the Smith family had go on...everything from birthdays, surgery, weddings, Dr. appointments, oh! you get the picture. So let's see all that I can remember. If I get something wrong, which I probably will, I am going to blame it on my C.I.A.D.D. (Child Induced Attention Deficit Disorder)

January:

We celebrated Dakota's 2ND birthday (28Th) and Jed's 24Th birthday (1st). We also found out that Miss Lilyann~7 weeks old at the time~had a hole in her heart. January 22ND changed all our lives.

February:

Our family going to Corpus Christi for Matt and Sarah Duckett's wedding...we made a little vacation of it by taking in some sites around the city. (Texas Aquarium and U.S.S Lexington)

After our short vacation, it was back to Dr appointments, weigh ins, heart Dr visits, and keeping track of Lily's formula intake. February 20Th, Lilyann was admitted to the hospital for Failure to Thrive. She stayed just shy of 2 weeks. While there, Lilyann received the blessed feeding tube and RSV (which postponed her heart surgery date). But everything happens in good time...there is a season for everything.

March:

Lilyann came home from the hospital. Home is where the heart is. And we started the up and down weight roller coaster. Most was weight gain...thank God. It snowed this month...enough to stick for a little...which is not usual TX weather. Lilyann reached the long awaited 10 lbs mark!!

And we celebrated Easter with family and friends.

April:

This was the month of all months...You never knew what would happen next...Lilyann was the boss of this month. Lilyann had her open heart surgery on April 15Th. It was one long week for us all. The 5 hours that Lilyann was in surgery was the longest 5 hours of my life. Just waiting and praying and trying to stay upbeat for the sake of family and Dakota. Lilyann came home on April 22ND...one week after her surgery. Thanks for all your prayers.

May:

We celebrated my birthday (April 30Th) and Grandma's (1st) birthday and a late party for Andy (April 24Th, i think). Lilyann had a followup with the cardiologist and she got an excellent!! recovering nicely. And we ended the month with a trip to Temple, TX to visit Brittiany, Andy, and Alexis. While down that way, we went to San Antonio and spent the day at Sea World.

Also, Jed and I celebrated our 4Th wedding anniversary (28Th)

June:

Lilyann is up to 12 lbs!! and Dakota is loving the warm weather. It is swimming pool time. Dakota loved playing outside in the pool...making Shamu splashes. June 20Th was the day that my little brother, Phillip, got married. So, we went to FL for a long weekend. Spent some time at the beach, at the wedding, and with family. It was great seeing everyone that weekend.

July:

Lilyann is 13 lbs now!! She is doing great!! Dakota loved the fireworks and spending time with everyone during the 4Th of July. We also had our blueberry adventure. Picking blueberries and foraging through the "jungle" as Kota called it. More pool time and walks to the park.

August:

Lilyann is 8 months old...and receives the all clear from the heart Dr. All is well with Lilyann's heart. The hole has closed up. Thank you, God! We celebrate Samantha's 4Th birthday at the water park. Lots of fun in the sun this month.

September:

Labor Day was celebrated with friends and family swimming at Nana's pool. Lily and Dakota both loved it. Hurricane Ike made his presence made...blowing through East TX, knocking down trees and bringing the power lines with them. Fall is starting to show..the leaves are changing and cooler weather is coming.

October:

Lilyann is up to 17 lbs. Fall is in the air meaning the East Texas Yamboree is in town. Parades, rides, livestock shows, and more. This year, we took Pumpkin patch pictures at a local church. Everyone following the blog learned what Rhino poop is...lol...read the October archive to learn more. Memories.

November:

7X7...remember to pray for your children always. Obama was elected as President of the United States. Lilyann is still gaining weight, she just hasn't caught up with kids her age. Jed changes jobs. Now working for Safety-Kleen. We celebrated Lilyann's 1st birthday on Thanksgiving Day with the family.

December:

The Christmas tree was put up..and then decorated, and redecorated for the first week of December...thanks to Dakota and Lilyann. Christmas pictures are taken. Lilyann is at 17 lbs 4 oz...still below average but good given her 1st year of life. Dakota teaches mommy that everyone deserves a "Merry Christmas" no matter how mommy feels!! And Christmas with Family is priceless!

This is the end to our wonderful year. I pray that all reading had a wonderful year and will continue to have an amazing 2009.

Christmas with the Smiths

Make a Smilebox slideshow

**a note...I just started using this new site to do slideshows, postcards and whatnot...I didn't know that it would open another window to view slideshow...let me know if it doesn't work right. Thanks!**

Christmas time has come and gone. What a wonderful time. I felt like we were running from one thing to the next, but when I sit back and look at all the pictures, It was more than worthwhile. The kids had a wonderful time...and as a parent, I did too.

First off, we started Christmas Eve at our Christmas Eve service. It was nice. Singing Christmas carols and then Dr. Gray read the Christmas Story to all of the children. It was just what we all needed--> a time to sit back, forget about all the hustle and bustle and remember what Christmas is all about.

This year, we all (all includes Jed, myself, Dakota, Lilyann, Brittiany, Andy, and Alexis) spent Christmas Eve night at Grandma's. And Grandma made our Christmas Eve and Christmas morning so special. Grandma made Santa boot prints in the front entry way (ssshh!! don't tell the kids) and left Santa's bag where the boot prints end. The kids were eager to see what Santa had left for them. And then the present opening started...with a frenzy of wrapping paper.

Grandma knew exactly what everyone needed to make the day go on. I received a new coffee maker and Andy received a large container of coffee...EXCELLENT!! It was time to try out the coffeemaker and get our energy for the day! After presents, breakfast was started and we all started getting ready to go to Boo's house.

At Boo's house, it was time for Christmas dinner and of course, more presents. Christmas dinner was delicious...we all had our fill. Watching everyone open their presents is fun. You get to see the expressions on their faces and usually the excitement in their eyes. (Dakota was in one of those moods where I rarely saw the excitement...I think it was a mix between shyness, stubborness, and a tad bit of excitement...I guess you had to be there to get the picture--->it will be something we will work on this year with Kota Man.) After opening all the presents and snacking on Christmas dinner some more, everyone started to pack up and go their separate ways. Andy and Brittiany with Alexis headed off to Andy's family Christmas. Later, Aunt Samantha, Uncle Jerry, and the girls (Jerilyn, Katie, and Brooke) were off...after Kota played some baseball with Uncle Jerry.

It truly was a memorable Christmas. I think it makes it that much more exciting when you have little ones..and you get to experience Christmas morning not once but twice, through your eyes and through their eyes.

From the mouth of a child....

When a child sets you straight, it's quite humbling.

Tuesday was--how can i say it?--a day of all days. Things were just jumbling all together, the kids were underfoot, and it was cold and wet outside....and mommy is experiencing cabin fever. It was just one of those days. I called Marge to come pick up Lily since Dakota had an appointment at the WIC office (re certification). For me, this day couldn't get any worse. So Marge comes and gets Lily and Kota starts crying because he wants to go to Samantha and Cash's house. He doesn't want to go to the "Dr".

So we finally make it to the WIC office and Dakota turns a quick 20 min appointment into an hour appointment. For some reason, he didn't want to stand on the scale to be weighed and don't even try to get him to stand against the wall for height measurements. It was quite a hassle, so the WIC lady put Kota on the baby scale. Needless to say, the nutritionist was not happy with Dakota's stats...so she wanted to weigh and measure him again. It took awhile, but after a promise of his choice of 3 stickers, he was more than willing. This time, the weigh and measurements were correct and exactly what the nutritionist wanted to see. YAY!!

Kota is almost 3 yrs old (turns 3 on January 28Th) and weighs 29 lbs 4 oz. He is 38 inches tall.

Well, on to the reason of the post...what kids say!! We finally finish at the WIC office and now I am so ready for a nap and some quietness. I forgot that I had promised Dakota that we would stop by McDonald's for Cheeseburger and fries. So, now we are off to McDonald's. By this time, I'm stressed, not thinking about anyone else. I just want to get Kota his cheeseburger and fries and get to the house. I pull up to the pay window and hand the lady the money...and this is where is happens................. Dakota says, "Mommy, tell her Merry Christmas!" Just like that, I'm stuck in my own world thinking of what i will do when i get home, and Kota is thinking of others....wanting to make someone else's day bright. So, I tell the lady at the window, "Merry Christmas!!" You should have seen the smile on Kota's face not to mention the surprised look and smile on the lady's face. I truly think that that "Merry Christmas!!" was exactly what she needed to make it through the rest of her day. I sit and wonder...what might have not happened if Dakota wouldn't have set his mommy straight and told me to tell someone "Merry Christmas!!"

Lesson learned for me...and now I'm sharing with you.

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good afternoon."

Lily Lu update

It has been almost 3 weeks since Lilyann's 1 yr checkup. With all the goings on of the holidays, I completely forgot to post an update about Lily. Here are Lilyann's stats:

• 27.5 inches tall (8.83%)


• 17 lbs and 4 oz (2.97%)

The percentages are where Lilyann is compared to other kids her age. So she is still in the below average range. The Dr decided to keep Lilyann on formula for 6 more months to ensure that she is getting enough calories, and proper nutrients to continue growing. Lily has tried milk, but doesn't really care for it; though she will sneak sips from Dakota's cup. So we are now on a Next Step formula. The Dr also put Lilyann on Singulair. Lily has had an off and on runny nose for the last 3 months. The Singulair seems to be helping...and without the runny nose, Lilyann is eating like a pro. I am still shocked at how much that little girl can put away.

All in all...Lilyann is doing good, just a little behind growth wise.

The Joys of December

No! I'm not talking about me...lol...but I am talking about all the exciting things going on. The spending time with family, dressing the kids up, taking pictures, and just having fun.

With the weather getting cooler, I decided to go out to my sister's house (Marg) where we dressed the kids up and took Christmas pictures..As you can tell from some pictures, the kids were getting aggravated with us. Lilyann wasn't feeling too hot--she was cutting molars; molar #4 is working on cutting through now.

Samantha and Lilyann had a great time taking pictures. They loved getting dressed up and dancing around in their pretty dresses. The boys (Dakota and Cash) were another story. I guess Boys will be Boys.

It's beginning to look like Christmas

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

~Galatians 5:22,23~

Lilyann tasting the lightbulbs--i know, not a good thing, but it was a Kodak moment
Checking to see who was watching her~~she did manage to stand on tiptoes and grab that bell

Dakota putting the candycanes back on the tree and more than likely telling Lily, "No, sir!"

Lilyann tasting the candycane..she had to make sure that it WAS plastic

Dakota helping me put the ornaments on the tree

Christmas time is once again upon us. So, Let's all spread some joy and cheer.

Dakota and Lilyann are loving the Christmas tree and all the new things they think they can play with. This year, the tree has all plastic ornaments..so if the kids succeed in playing, nothing will get broken. All is child-proof..or so i think! Dakota was so excited to finally have a Christmas tree inside our house. When I first pulled the Christmas tree out of the shed, I put it together in the garage and plugged it in to see if the lights still worked. Only half of the bulbs worked; so as not to have to buy a new tree, I decided to take the strings of lights off. What a tedious job that was. I secretly think that you have to be all hyped up on coffee and sugar to be the one to put all the lights on those pre-lit artificial trees. Wowzers!! let me tell you, that took a better part of my morning unstringing lights. But I saved myself about $40 not having to go and buy another tree. This tree was/is our first Christmas tree we bought. I was pregnant with Dakota; and I got off work early to go to Walgreen's to find the last tree that they had on sale (this was a Black Friday sale item) A 6 ft pre-lit tree for $9.99...what a deal!! and this year, it proved to be a good deal as well. I'm all about good deals around here.

With the Holiday season in full swing, Dakota loves seeing all the lights on the way home. We are attempting to put up lights on the front of our house, but we still haven't gotten around to it..hopefully, soon.

It's beginning to look (and feel) alot like Christmas! Let's spread some cheer!