Great Expectations

As a precursor to my sister Syd's wedding festivities, Brent and I decided to take a family vacay to San Diego. We had high hopes for the boys at the beach and especially for Sea World.

The first night at the beach, the boys cried every time we tried to get them to walk on the sand in bare feet. At least by the 3rd day, they were running all over the beach and having a blast. We couldn't get them off the beach or keep them from tasting the sand.




Sea World didn't exactly thrill the boys like we anticipated. They love animals, especially sharks, turtles and fish, so we thought it would be a perfect way to spend a vacation day. Well, after dropping $200 for entrance fees, parking and lunch, the animals that excited the boys the most were the seagulls in the parking lot and the ducks eating the lunch leftovers under the picnic table. I'm confident we could have managed those thrills for free, but at least Brent and I had fun.






The pinnacle of our day, the Shamu show, "Believe" was sure to be a crowd pleaser. Sadly, Cole fell asleep and Keith was mostly unimpressed with jumping, splashing killer whales.

At least it was fun to have some family time before we met up with everyone for Snick's wedding. I didn't get any pictures because Brent and I were literally running ragged for 3 days of festivities. We came home thoroughly exhausted from chasing the boys around fancy restaurants, the temple grounds and the reception hall. But everything was perfectly beautiful and I can't wait to round up and post some pics!

Monkey See, Monkey Do

Grandma and Grandpa Smart came down for an extended weekend stay to spoil Keith and Cole. The first major outing was to the Zoo. C and K LOVE animals and LOVE to make animal sounds. It was especially exciting for them to see some of their favorites in the flesh. The growling, pointing, wrestling and ooohing wore them out.
I was pretty tired, too, so I was glad to have Aunt Darel and G and G to help entertain all weekend.

Even Great-Grandma and Grandpa Hague came down for a night.

Grandpa H was nice enough to read stories and even lend his cane to the boys. The cane was put right to use as a weapon, complete with machine-gun sound effects. I seriously don't know where they get this stuff. I guess boys are genetically engineered for combat. Shouldn't I know that by now?

3 under 2

As in 3 children under the age of 2.

As in 3 children in diapers for at least 1 year.

As in my future--my very near future, apparently.

Funny story...

3 weeks ago I went in for an ultrasound to determine my due date. Sadly, I honestly had no idea when this little miracle might be making an appearance. I had recently discovered I was pregnant (yikes!) and assumed that I was at most 12 weeks along. The ultrasound tech laughed when I told her how far along I thought I was. The conversation went like this...

Me: Wow! That baby looks big.

Tech: You said you thought you were how far along?

Me: I think about 12 weeks.

Tech: (laughs) Hmmmm...you're a little further than that.

Silence...

Me: Really? Like how far along? How far is 'a little further'?

More silence while Tech calculates the measurements. After what seems like FOREVER...

Tech: (more chuckles) You're almost 17 weeks. Would you like to know the gender?

Me: (In my head: WHAT?!! How could I not have known?!!! I must be some type of serious bonehead.) Outloud: Uhhh. You can tell me that already? Right now?

................................

Obviously, I was dying to know but Brent wasn't with me since I had no idea we would be able to find out the gender. So, like a good wife I decided to wait until my next ultrasound so the father of our baby could witness such a momentous event.

Yeah, right.

The thought of waiting for him flitted through my brain, but honestly, I had to know! Plus, Brent is really good about stuff like that and I knew he would have wanted me to find out. So, we're having a girl! She should be here sometime in mid-August.

Surprise!

While, we obviously did not plan this, we couldn't feel more blessed. When life is a little hectic these next few months (and years), I must remember that at one point we weren't sure we would have any children. So, we're incredibly grateful to be able to have 3 (even if they are all under age 2.)

.................................
Introducing (in no particular order)...
Big Brother #1


Big Brother #2


Dedicated Father:


Cool, Calm and Collected Expectant Mother:


HELP!!!!!

Glory Days

I received a phone call a few Fridays ago from one of my very best friends in the whole world. Alison and I have been friends since 1st grade and we played basketball together from 3rd grade through our Senior year. We talk often and get together when we can. Well, Al called me with a proposition this particular Friday morning and within 2 hours I had packed my car, twins in tow, and was headed to Yakima for a historic event.
We were going to attend the final game in our beloved West Valley High School gym. They are building a new high school and gym that will be up and running this fall. We have several memories in that gym. The picture above is the two of us our Senior year, the night we won the District Championship. We continued that season undefeated until the semi-finals in state. We were upset, suffered a heartbreaking loss and came back the next day to take 3rd for our final game together. Alison went on to run track and play basketball at Washington State University.

Our memories are endless with most of them revolving around our "glory days" during basketball season. It just wouldn't have been right if we had not attended the final game in the WVHS gym together (even if we both felt a little lame for going). We spent most of the night catching up with each other and visiting with a few people we recognized. The highlight was being asked for my student I.D. (Obviously Mrs. H. has sold one too many tickets and is basically senile, but I'm taking the compliment at face value.) The low-light was not receiving the commemorative t-shirts we ordered. They ran out. Bummer.
Oh well, we had fun reminiscing and pretending we were cool again.



Our team's final photo in the gym. If you look closely, we're holding pieces of the net we cut down. It seems silly now, but it was a big deal then.


My parents and me on Senior night. My parents NEVER missed a game. Well, unless you count the time that my Dad chose to attend Brent's Regional wrestling match over my game our Junior year. Don't worry, Dad. I'm not holding a grudge for that one...

I Heart Red Robin

Where else can a mom and her kids eat for under $10 and get balloons?

Where else do "extra" fries translate into 3 take-out boxes for FREE?

Where else has a smiling staff no matter how many children you bring through the door?

Seriously, Red Robin is fast, fun and friendly. And did I mention delicious? Their fries are the best in the business. I will have no problem finishing up 3 boxes of fries. I guess I might share with my boys. If I don't teach them how to share, who will?

The O'Smarts

I got to celebrate my "Irish" heritage this weekend with family I hadn't seen since we moved from Happy Valley 4 years ago. Ricker and Cher put on an amazing Irish festivity complete with authentic grub, green party favors, and songs and games worthy of the O'Smart family name. Hot ticket prize items included Ghostbusters 1 and 2, Shrek playing cards and a light-up Irish Pub.

I sort of surprised Sydney for her bridal shower (the original purpose of my trip). Somehow my family has a handicap when it comes to secret-keeping. It was still fun to join in the festivities of the upcoming big day. We missed you Chels!

It was nice to have Brent support me in a weekend away even if he cheated and called in reinforcements at home. His parents came to the rescue to help him for the two days and two nights I was away. I called twice on Saturday to check in. Brent was skiing the first time and shopping at REI the second. Hmmm... He obviously had a rough weekend holding down the fort. At least I have a great mother-in-law who is responsible for my children! She even cut Cole's mad-scientist hair. He now looks like a respectable little boy again. (Not to be confused with "respectful" little boy as he glares at me through the camera.)

I'm also happy to report that after a 7 day battle with vomiting and diarrhea, both Keith and Cole have fully recovered from suffering couch potatoes to their usual havoc-wreaking of anything under 36 inches high.

The Big Monkey

G and G Burnett came down last weekend for a very quick visit so Brent could have a skiing buddy. Grandma B and I took the boys to the mall for some really exciting finds like panty hoes and frying pans. While shopping, Cole leaned forward out of the stroller and snaked a large stuffed monkey off a display table. I initially thought it was adorable how he caressed and clutched his new friend. After allowing the boys to play with some of the various squeaky and cuddly animals, Grandma wanted to treat them to a creature of their choice. I told the boys they could choose one of the smaller animals. (The less clutter in our house the better and besides, how long would the novelty of a new toy really last?) Well, Cole decided he had to have this enormous monkey. He had a kung-fu death grip on it and kept trying to hide it (unsuccessfully) under the stroller tray. After much of my coaxing, his screaming and eventually through force of a death grip of my own, he finally opted for a stuffed lion, which he initially threw to the floor. But when he realized that he would rather have something rather than nothing, he treated his feline friend appropriately. (I must add that Grandma was all good and ready to spring for the monkey but I decided that I had to draw the line now before he's tagging buildings and smashing pumpkins. It was hard to say no, but it's good practice for me.)
Keith is typically very easy-going and easily chose a little monkey.
The boys continue to love their little treasures and even dragged them to church yesterday. They love making lion and monkey noises as they carry them around.

Recent pics:

Cole pounding some much needed chocolate (read: energy) before our big walk.
Keith helping me paint the trim. He's a really good painter and he works for Reese's Puffs cereal which is a pretty reasonable painting rate in my opinion.

Yes, I let my children play in the dryer. This is not a usual occurrence, just a rare treat for outstanding behavior.
Flashlights turn out to be fantastic toys, especially when they're used to blind the unsuspecting.