Ryan, Tess and little Graham

I'm a big kid now...

2012-01-20T13:41:00.000-08:00

Well almost. Graham is our little potty training champ! We are no where near complete with this task but he has been so cooperative. (Knock on wood) knock, knock, knock.

His favorite thing to do is play basketball while he waits. And unwrap foil chocolate balls left over from his stocking. But don't ask him if he wants to eat the chocolate, he doesn't, and will be borderline offended that you asked. (Note the chocolate balls on the counter).

Hats and counting

2011-12-22T14:13:00.000-08:00

Graham has really taken to wearing hats when we go outside to play. For which I am grateful since it is freezing outside. The trick is it must be a "state" hat, meaning Boise State colors. Who knew 2 year olds were so particular.

G also loves counting lately. Sometimes when he is playing I can hear him counting things. I've heard him count to 8 without skipping any numbers. I know I have a genius on my hands.

Christmas trees and puppy love

2011-12-22T14:05:00.000-08:00

Graham loves the Christmas tree. Especially the lights.

He was a great helper putting the ornaments on.

Most days Graham smells like a puppy. I've stopped wondering why...

Halloween

2011-11-30T14:34:00.000-08:00

On the Friday before Halloween Graham got to trick or treat at Ryan's work (Scentsy). Graham was Rod from the movie Hot Rod or a stunt man if you don't know what I'm talking about. He got to bring his bike to the office, however he refused to ride it the whole time we were there.

I'd say they look pretty similar.

The theme for Ryan's department was Tim Burton movies and the theme for his "team" was The Nightmare before Christmas. He was Dr. Finkelstein. But he was also The Most Interesting Man in the World.

To say the least Graham was pretty nervous when we were around the Nightmare before Christmas group. With good reason.

Ryan nailed his Most Interesting Man costume.

Graham was nervous trick or treating for a little while but when he saw that he could get candy he warmed right up.

And last but not least I was a Christmas tree. My ornament earrings fell off and rolled under the car next to me in the parking lot before we got inside but I rocked my tree skirt.

Best friends

2011-11-17T11:57:00.001-08:00

Sorry for all the lack of posts. Scrolling on the computer makes me a little sick, and why does it make me sick? Cause I'm gonna have a baby! I am 19 weeks, due April 11th.

I'm having a hard time choosing which Halloween pictures to post so for now I am posting about today. But don't worry Halloween will be posted.

Graham and Lars are best friends. They are best friends because they both love to play tackle, they both love eating rocks, they both do things they aren't supposed to just to see my reaction, they both like to run and they both like to sniff dog poop. gross! I'm so glad they have each other to play with.

They both have rocks in their mouths. What am I going to do with them?!

Another rock in the mouth picture.

Graham the Great turns 2

2011-10-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today Graham turned 2 years old. We started off the day with a bike ride then picked up his cousin Landon and headed to Powell's Sweet Shoppe. WARNING: This post contains a lot of pictures.

Graham got his first bike!

Bring on the sweets!!!

After the the sweets the boys were ready to ride their bikes along the greenbelt.

Then on to lunch at McDonald's. You could tell it was almost nap time because these boys got pretty goofy as lunch continued.

And you can't end a play date without a good sword fight.

After Graham's nap the rest of his evening was filled with sharpening his bike riding skills.

And finally cupcakes shaped like a "2", I know Graham's mom is really creative.

Day of birth

1st Birthday

2nd Birthday

We love you Graham!!!!

The Coast

2011-09-26T12:01:00.000-07:00

While visiting my family in Oregon last month Ryan, Graham and I decided to take a mini family trip to Lincoln City. We enjoyed the little shops and restaurants and of course the beach.

The first day was really sunny but really windy. We stayed on the beach just long enough to feel the warm sand on our feet and scoop a few buckets full of sand.

The second day was really cloudy but it almost felt warmer than the first because it wasn't as windy. We decided to go for an early morning beach walk.

Graham giving me one of his sideways looks. This sideways look is saying "I'm going to run in the ocean, let's see if you can catch me."

Not only did Graham love running in the sand, he loved running in the water. Can you even tell he is wearing shoes in the picture below? Nope, it just looks like he has sand feet.

After the beach walk Graham kicked back and made himself cozy while watching some PBS kids.

Attention Attention!!!

2011-09-16T14:21:00.000-07:00

So you know my husband Ryan, of course you do. Currently he is battling a strong addiction to Mt. Dew but with enough help we can help him kick the habit. The best part is that he is motivated and that it would be helping other people. Check out his new blog for more details.

http://nodewforyou.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/nodewforyou/

The Dirty Dash

2011-09-09T12:12:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I ran The Dirty Dash 10k the last weekend of August. We ran it with a group of Ryan's co-workers. I figured the race would be hard since I didn't train at all for it, but I wasn't expecting the whole first half of the race to be uphill. We faced giant hay bails, muddy pipes to crawl through, climbing walls, a tire course, a root beer (or real beer) chug, a few different mud pits, and then finally the big slide and final mud pit. The experience was awesome, we will be doing it again!

Here we are before the race, so clean!

Pretty quick into the race we all concluded that cutoffs were a bad choice.

And here we are after the race, so dirty!

This is us right after the final mud pit along with Brooke, one of Ryan's co-workers.

At the end we went down this huge slide. This was my favorite part.

Then into this huge mud pit. Ryan cannon balled into the mud pit and then started swimming so fast as if he was going to win the Olympics. The crowd went wild when he started swimming. I didn't swim, I just trudged. While I trudged little kids sitting on the banks of the pit started chucking mud at me. It was one of the funniest things of my life.

Classic Graham

2011-08-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of Graham doing his daily routine.

Eat rocks, check. Make mom mad because I'm eating rocks, check.

Oops it wasn't a rock it was a huge dirt clod mess, but I'll eat it anyway.

Look sweet and make mom forget she was mad, check.

Put rocks through the fence into the neighbor's yard check, make mom mad again double check.

And lastly wear my awesome shoes without socks because I'm Graham Wesley and that's what I do, check, check, check.

Zoo Boise

2011-08-04T14:16:00.001-07:00

This morning my sister Jandi, who has been visiting all week, and I took our kids to Zoo Boise. We had a great time. The weather was nice and cool it even rained for a little bit. But I have concluded that Zoo Boise has a terrible lay out. There are dead ends everywhere!!! But the kids did really well for which we were incredibly grateful.

The giraffes took forever to find but were probably the favorite of the day.

Myles, Jandi and Wyn with the "Jeep" which ended up being an extremely disappointing form of transportation.

G and I coming down the monkey slide.

Myles and Graham checking out the giraffes.

Graham growling at the lion.

Poor Zoo Boise was compared to the Portland, Denver and San Diego Zoo all day. But overall the trip was a success.

July wrap up

2011-07-26T14:27:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures to wrap up our fun month.

Playing at the park.

Getting cleaned up.

Going to the water park. Graham and I went to Roaring Springs with my sister in-laws, Jamie and Megan and their kids and of course Grandma came to help too.

Graham loves water! And apparently he also really likes popcorn chicken from the snack shack.

Ellie, Jamie, Megan, Landon, Graham and Brayden. Livi, Brooklyn and Grandma managed to sneak out of this picture.

Megan and Landon catching some sun.

Exploring the river.

Extended Smith Family Reunion

2011-07-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the month we went down to Utah for Ryan's Smith family reunion.

Grandpa and Grandma Smith. #1 and #2 at the reunion. We all got #s at the reunion according to when we joined the family, either by birth or marriage. Ryan was #40, I was #99 and G was #120.

G sitting by his great grandpa Smith.

Grandpa Smith sporting his Boise State hat.

Huge family picture. We are in the bottom left corner.

We had a family 5k. We took 2nd in the stroller division (I won't mention out of how many strollers).

Graham showing his dad how to start a race.

Don't ask me why we look so fierce in this picture. I guess it is just our nature.

On the last night we had a family luau. Which wouldn't be complete without dancing. Which wouldn't be complete without fake tattoos.

Ryan (2nd from the right) showing his chanting and dancing skills.

Bill my father in-law (3rd from right) also showing his chanting and dancing skills.

By the end of each night G barely had any clothes on and was literally starting to climb the walls, or me.

Lagoon Part 2

2011-07-25T12:38:00.000-07:00

Back to Lagoon (which was now almost a month ago).

So I really love carousels. I was so excited to take Graham on the carousel because he actually seemed interested in it when we walked by. So we got all strapped on this bird (above). Then, problem #1, the carousel woman walks by and says "one per seat." Are you kidding? So we had to ditch the bird because now I would have to hold Graham on the seat while he rode and I didn't want to hold him on one that went up and down. So we found this lovely giraffe that stood still.

Problem #2 he wouldn't sit on it unless I was sitting on it. Which led to us both standing on the carousel. You may ask "Tess why didn't you just sit in one of those booth/bench things?" My answer because those are lame if you are on a carousel. But I also always thought it was lame to just stand by an animal on a carousel. Now I feel bad for always thinking parents were so lame who just stood on carousels. I always thought saddle up already! Little did I know they had to stand by their child so they didn't fall off.

Though the rides at Lagoon were a flop for Graham he loved Lagoon-a-beach.

At the end of the day we went home and put Graham to bed (with gma and gpa listening for him) then went back for some big rides. We liked Wicked, the Colossus, and the Rocket the best. (Even though I blacked out on Colossus the first time.) Wooo hooo for Lagoon!

A puppy named Lars

2011-07-20T13:07:00.000-07:00

For Father's Day I gave Ryan a dog of his choosing. And on Friday July 15th our puppy was old enough to leave his momma.

We named him Lars. He is a gold retriever.

Though he can be a chomper things are going well. Lars and Graham bug each other just how brothers should. Lars bites Graham and Graham sprays Lars with the hose.

Lagoon part 1

2011-07-11T14:11:00.001-07:00

Recently we took a trip down to Utah. We decided to hit up Lagoon while we were there.

As you can see G wore a harness and leash. And no it wasn't one made for a child it was one made for a small dog that we picked up at the dollar store. I always thought it was weird to see kids on leashes until I had a kid who could outrun me. He loved having that 5 foot radius to roam around.

G's first juice experience. It went over well of course. I'm pretty pleased that we held out on juice for this long. He was a big drinker while at Lagoon.

And the boat ride...

Apparently the steering wheel and the bell were not enough to convince him that the boats were cool.

But his pacifier and softy were enough to settle the mood, along with cousin Brooklyn who comforted him and kept him from going overboard.

I know a ton of boat pictures! But it was seriously the cutest thing ever!

G is thinking: "Here is mom, better let her know how traumatizing the boat ride was."

Some cuddles after lots of excitement.

More on Lagoon coming soon...

Happy 4th of July

2011-07-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

This year for the 4th we went to the "We the People" parade downtown. In the evening we went to the neighborhood block party. And finally we went down to the park for fireworks. We love this country and are so thankful to all those who serve and have served to protect it.

Our parade spot, right in front of the Capital building.

Doing some pre parade wandering.

Are they coming yet?

Graham held a flag the whole day. Minus nap time.

We walked in the park and the fireworks started. Talk about cutting it close.

Needless to say G slept in and is pushing a 4 hour nap as we speak.

Let the festivals begin! Part 3

2011-06-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we went to the Boise Rec Fest with our friends Lindsey and Thomas. Yoga in the park this week was at the Rec Fest so it worked out perfect for us. While Lindsey and I were doing yoga Ryan, Graham and Thomas, walked around the booths and displays. Nothing like two guys and a baby hanging out in the park, they are such troopers.

Ryan's claim to fame was setting the penny stacking record after holding his hand in ice water for 30 seconds. The only downside was afterwards when they gave him a towel to dry his hand and told him not to rub it or his skin might rub off!

Here we are watching some little karate kids perform. They were really awesome.

Graham testing his skills on the rope wall.

Lindsey rockin' the hula hoop booth.

You can't go down to the park without playing in the fountain.

And feeding the ducks and angry geese.

I was freaking out the whole time. I thought those geese were going to attack Graham.

Of course G was cool and collected the whole time.

Let the festivals begin! Part 2

2011-06-27T13:37:00.001-07:00

The same weekend as Meridian Dairy Days was the Emmett Cherry Festival. We almost didn't head out to Emmett because it was pouring down rain but we made the trip anyways. The rain stopped when the parade started, perfect timing.

G mooching some chicken nuggets from his Aunt Jamie. He traded his corn dog for a chicken nugget straight across.

Tough crowd.

Me explaining to Graham that the water is yuck, "No touching". Our parade spot was almost perfect, almost. Only about 10% of the candy ended up in the water.

Let the parade begin.

The sirens make G nervous and he turns into a snuggle monster.

Thankfully we weren't in the "Soak Zone", but we were close enough to get a good look.

Cousin Landon needs to give Graham a few lessons on what to do when you hear sirens.

Let the festivals begin! Part 1

2011-06-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

Here in the Treasure Valley June is packed full of fun events. I'm beginning to think the rest of the summer will be really boring since they are cramming everything into June. But I'm sure we will find something fun to do for the rest of these warm months.

First up was Eagle Fun days. Here G is happily clapping for a local band while he occasionally sips on a chocolate shake, which ruined his white polo by the way.

Next up, Meridian Dairy Days. We went to the parade and Old McDonald's Farm, and the speedway but I'll post those pictures later.

G looking less than impressed with the Dairy Days parade. We decided we are small town parade type people. Forget all the businessy type floats, let's see some horses and kids pulling their dogs in wagons. But we did enjoy the chocolate milk, string cheese and frozen yogurt that was tossed to us.

He wouldn't pet the cow until I told him it was a big dog.

Camel's Back Hike

2011-06-23T19:25:00.000-07:00

Earlier this month we did some hiking and it was a success!

Graham was excited to walk around by himself once we got to the top.

There will definitely be more hiking for us this summer.

Field of Honor

2011-06-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

Around Memorial Day we went to Merrill Park in Eagle to see the Field of Honor display. There were 600 flags in the display recognizing Idaho Veterans. It was really amazing. We are so grateful to live in the United States and thankful to all those who serve and have served our country.

We took a lot of pictures, by the end G was done with the camera, hence the scowl.

Skinny jams

2011-06-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

I bought some jammies for G and apparently he is growing cause they fit very snuggly. Without his coat on the jams really show off his skinniness. They are footy ones but we wanted to play outside in the morning so I just put his shoes on over the jams. Let the exploring begin.

A kid in a candy store...literally

2011-06-02T12:18:00.001-07:00

I love candy stores!!! We took Graham to Powell's Sweet Shoppe on Memorial Day. And like mother like son, G loves candy stores too!

He did an excellent job resorting the candy. And in honor of Memorial Day he got some awesome green, gummy soldiers.

Boise Idaho Temple

2011-05-25T12:15:00.001-07:00

This morning Graham and I went to the Boise Idaho Temple to walk around. It was Graham's first trip to the temple. He loved it, to say the least. They were just getting ready to plant a bunch of new flowers, Graham really wanted to help.

It was a little chilly and super windy but as you can see Graham didn't seem to mind.

I love Saturdays!

2011-05-14T13:57:00.000-07:00

Today has been awesome so far. First I went to hot yoga and it was so hot (102*). I loved it! Then Ryan, Graham and I went down to the Eagle Farmer's Market and walked by the river near the flooded greenbelt. Graham loved the water until he walked into it and realized it was super cold. What a beautiful day!!!

5 years

2011-05-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

It was our 5th Wedding Anniversary yesterday. The years are starting to fly by. I love being married to Ryan, he is still totally awesome and my most favorite person in the world.

We have gotten in the habit of taking an Anniversary picture. Obviously nothing fancy but I think it will be fun at our 75th Anniversary to look back on us through the years.

1st Anniversary

2nd Anniversary

3rd Anniversary

4th Anniversary

5th Anniversary!!!!!

Race for the Cure 2011

2011-05-07T20:16:00.000-07:00

Today we did the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure here in Boise. We did it last year too but this year we brought Graham. Since we had G with us we didn't run, we strolled.

Our friends Lindsey and Thomas came with us too. For those of you who don't know Lindsey and I were roommates 100 years ago as mere freshmen in college (ok it was only 6 1/2 years ago). They just moved here about a month ago.

Lindsey and Thomas getting ready to run!

G enjoying the after snack.

And yes, there is a little girl growing out of the top of Ryan's head.

G lookin classy

2011-04-29T11:32:00.000-07:00

Yep, I am one of those moms who puts her kids back into their Easter outfits for no reason other than to take pictures because it's nice outside.

Easter

2011-04-25T13:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday Graham found his Easter basket in the yard and gathered a few eggs.

On Sunday we had Stake conference. G wanted nothing to do with taking Easter pictures. Even though he looked absolutely dashing in his vest and tie.

Then it was off to Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house for a treasure hunt, a nap, lunch and dinner.

Who says you have to wear pants while you are on a treasure hunt with your cousins?

The numbers are in...

2011-04-25T13:18:00.000-07:00

G had his 18 month check up today. Here is how he measured up:

Weight: 19lbs. 6 oz. (2.37%)
Height: 31 1/4 in. (13.39%)
Head: 18.5 in. (38.48%)

So proud of our little growing guy!

18 months old

2011-04-22T11:23:00.000-07:00

It's hard for me to believe but G is already 18 months old. Hooray for being able to go to nursery by himself! He has his check up on Monday but at his unofficial weigh in last night was 19lbs 11oz. Hopefully we can get a few more ounces on there by Monday. Graham has 10 teeth. He loves dogs and baths. He can say, "sit", "dog", "trash" ,"mama", "dada", "shoe", "cheese" and a few others. One of his favorite things to do is watch for Ryan to come home and then take Ryan's lunch bag and water bottle and put them away. We love our little monkey man!

G hanging out on the stairs eating a cracker after church. (Check out the awesome tie I made.)

A little camera shy lately.

He loves to play outside. Especially with all the rocks and with the rain water pot.

We have had better days...

2011-04-02T14:48:00.000-07:00

As if having an ear infection, croup and laryngitis isn't enough last night G fell out the back door onto the cement patio, forehead first.

You can see the mark in the middle of his forehead where his hairline starts. Despite all of this calamity in his life he still manages to smile.

Best life ever!

2011-03-22T20:21:00.000-07:00

I get to be his mom!

I get to be his wife!

St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T15:21:00.001-07:00

I love this day! Green is my favorite color, so to have a day when everything can be green is so awesome. Ryan didn't wear green today, I pinched him. I bet he got pinched at work too.

We started off the day with Lucky Charms, of course. Graham got a handful, then had a bowl of Wheat Chex, one of his favorites. (Don't mind the Christmas jammies, they still fit so he still wears them.)

When I was growing up I had leprechauns that would bring me things days and days before St. Patrick's Day. Graham has two leprechauns that bring him things, their names are Lilly and Lenny.

This year...Gold coins and Hot Wheels.

Graham got very sad when I put the pot of gold away so we could eat lunch.

Poor guy.

Time for an after lunch treat.

Pistachio pudding, yum...

Does he like it?

Yes, yes he does.

My boys

2011-03-04T14:24:00.000-08:00

Life is moving right along. Nothing very new to report, just that I love having Ryan home and Graham is the cutest little guy ever!

Graham did a great job filling Ryan's shoes while he was away! And believe me that is not an easy thing to do.

The very essence of Graham captured in a picture (he was giving me a taunting smile because he had been hitting his car into the window.)

Graham up to his armpit in the "Goldfish Grahams" bag. Can you blame him? No, no you can't.

Surprise

2011-02-23T11:08:00.000-08:00

I cut bangs! This is so unlike me. If you know me, you know that I rarely change anything. The last time I had bangs I was 6 years old and my sister paid me a dollar so she could cut them. I would have had her cut these ones too but we just live too far away from each other :(

Bangs and I are still getting to know one another and figuring out what to do with ourselves now that we are spending so much time together. I think we will get the hang of things eventually.

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T21:46:00.000-08:00

For the second year in a row Ryan is in Memphis for work. Luckily I have had Graham to keep me company both years. Graham and I had a wonderful day together. We went to lunch at Red Robin and Graham was an angel. He sat in his high chair the whole time (usually he wiggles out and ends up on my lap) he ate his lunch and only tried to eat his crayons and coaster a couple times. To top it all off the little man fell asleep in the car on the way home and took a 3 hour nap after that!

Valentine's Day 2010 and Valentines Day 2011

Of course the best part of the day was talking to my Ryan tonight! Friday is almost here!

Cupid? No, it's Santa

2011-02-14T14:16:00.000-08:00

I am such a holiday mixer. Yes, I know it is Valentine's day and a Valentine's post will be made later. But let me just sneak Christmas in first.

Graham Claus.

Christmas morning. Oatmeal before presents.

G opening his stocking with daddy.

Graham with his twin cousin Chloe, having a party in the play pen.

Christmas family picture.

Birthdays!

2011-02-11T10:18:00.000-08:00

In the last two months Ryan and I have both had our Birthdays. Why I haven't blogged about them yet, I'm not quite sure. We both had great days filled with fun, family and awesome gifts. Ryan turned 27 and I turned 25.

Here we are 5 years ago to the day taking our engagement pictures.

And here we are on my Birthday. I'd say we are aging fairly gracefully.

Probably the highlight of Ryan's gifts was the 6 pack belt his sister Terri Anne made. I can't think of anything that screams Ryan louder than a 6 pack belt. Plus, as you can see it is filled with Mt. Dew. Terri Anne gets 5 gold stars for this gift.

What would a birthday be without a huge tub of cheese balls?

My birthday fruit pizza.

And finally here I am opening my awesome new yellow jacket with all my present helpers.

Outside

2011-02-08T22:02:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we had some nice weather so I took Graham outside to play in the backyard, for really the first time in his walking life. We also went to the big park just down the road.

Pacifier smile.

Here we are in the car after the park. Pink cheeks and all. He is watching some dogs and a kite out the window.

G in a drawer

2011-02-08T11:35:00.001-08:00

While mom had her back turned I got in the drawer. It seemed like my best option. That's what she gets for turning her back on me.
-GW

After this picture was taken I stood up and started bouncing.

Day 1 of 15

2011-02-03T21:19:00.000-08:00

Ryan left today for his long business road trip. He starts in Detroit, then goes to Allentown, PA, Fredericksburg, VA, Hilton Head Island, SC, Memphis, and ends in St. Louis. So he will be really busy to say the least. For our first day without Ryan we managed to keep ourselves entertained. It was so sweet/sad to see Graham look out the window and yell "da" as he looked at Ryan's car in the driveway.

Graham discovered sunglasses.

Graham learned to text.

Ryan took the camera we usually use so Graham didn't know that what I was holding was also a camera so he actually held still for pictures! Hooray!! We love you babe! Have fun on your trip!

Pizza lover

2011-01-22T20:20:00.000-08:00

Ryan and I love pizza, how thankful we are that Graham loves pizza too.

Snow Day...a month or so ago

2011-01-21T10:34:00.001-08:00

At the beginning of December we got a ton of snow. So we took Graham out for some snow exposure. He looked so cute all bundled up!

Graham looks a little skeptical of the baby snowman I made earlier that day.

He didn't like being set down in the snow and according to this after picture it wasn't a very exciting snow adventure. Yep, that is GW mid yawn.

Dogs

2011-01-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

Graham loves dogs. And I mean he loves them. He watches out the window for them, sleeps with 3 stuffed animal dogs in his crib and adores any real dog he can get his paws on. Dog was even his first word! Back in November we went to Oregon and stayed with my sister Krystal. She has a very sweet lab named Daisy. Graham loved getting acquainted with her. Sorry the pictures are a little bright but be assured that Graham had a big smile on his face.

GW's red hat

2011-01-12T15:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas hat 2009 was also enjoyed during Christmas 2010.

2009

2010

First Haircut

2011-01-01T19:06:00.001-08:00

Graham had his first haircut just after his birthday in October (he just had another one yesterday) but we only took pictures of the first one. I love his long locks but often times it gets unruly so a cut is necessary.

Before.

During.

After. Apparently sitting still isn't what it's cracked up to be.

Halloween 2010

2011-01-01T13:43:00.000-08:00

If you read my last post you know I am playing catch up.

Graham was a garden gnome for Halloween. Many people thought he was Santa or one of the seven dwarfs but to set the record straight he was a garden gnome.

On Friday we went to a trick or treat at Scentsy and got to see where Ryan works. Ryan's department had an Area 51 theme.

Ryan was a "men in black guy" and I was a ladybug.

Graham, holding nerds and relaxing in daddy's chair after a rigorous round of trick or treating.

(Ellie as a ghost, Brooklyn as super girl, Landon as superman, Livi as a ghost, Brayden as a zombie, and GW as a garden gnome.)

On Sunday we had a little party at Ryan's parents and the kids got to trick or treat to the rooms throughout the house.

Pumpkin fun

2011-01-01T13:21:00.000-08:00

I know it is January 1st 2011. But we are very behind on blogging. So here are some pumpkin pictures from October. I know pumpkins don't seem fun and magical since the Fall is over but just go with it.

GW picking his pumpkin.

Almost time to carve.

Pumpkin guts, yum!

A baby in a pumpkin.

Beardvember

2010-11-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

Beardvember is in full swing and my beard is beginning to develop the maturity and sophistication one might expect from a pageantry caliber beard. For those who haven't heard, I am heading up a beard growing contest at work during the month of November. Myself and 12 of my co-workers are vying for the title of Mr. Beardvember 2010. We have been taking weekly photos to track our progress. On Nov. 30th, we will take our final photos. The women in our department are then going to judge the submissions and crown the winner. Since only one man will be lucky enough to bear the title of Mr. Beardvember 2010, we have also created honorable mention categories. The categories include:

Most likely to have a restraining order
Most likely to be flagged for additional screening at airport security
Most likely to be asked to eat in the other room at Thanksgiving
Most likely to make children cry
Most likely to be asked by HR to shave

...etc

I'll keep you posted on how the pageant goes and where I place.

Finally some birthday pictures

2010-11-14T16:01:00.000-08:00

The turtle cake.

The birthday boy with his turtle cake, though he doesn't look very impressed.

The messy birthday boy.

The messy birthday boy getting cleaned up.

Happy Birthday to Graham

2010-10-21T21:15:00.001-07:00

Our little Graham turned 1 year old today. I'll save birthday details for another post. Here is Graham month by month over the past year. We sure love our little guy.

Hours old and today at 12 months.

1 month.

2 months.

3 months.

4 months.

5 months.

6 months.

7 months.

8 months.

9 months.

10 months.

11 months.

Mid week getaway

2010-10-10T13:30:00.001-07:00

This week Graham and I traveled to the not so far away land of Walla Walla, WA. Considering that GW had a cold he did great on the car ride. My sweet sister, Jandi, is having a baby in a couple weeks and I just had to see her one more time before the baby came and be there for the baby shower.

No matter how many times we took this picture we both felt like we looked sleepy, maybe it was because we had been chasing boys all day.

Cousin Myles and Graham in the tub. Graham doesn't quite understand personal space yet and was up in Myles's face all the time, which understandably made Myles a little uneasy. But in the tub all the barriers came down and they shared cars and crawled all over and had a great time. Who knew a tub would be where his personal bubble would pop?

Boise State Fever

2010-10-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

The season has started! (Okay it started over a month ago but we are just getting to blogging about it now.) Graham has been delighted to dress up for Boise State games with his mom and dad.

Watching football is one of Graham's favorite things to do with his daddy.

Graham doesn't like...

2010-08-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

A few things Graham doesn't like....

Cold water at parks in Eagle, ID.
(He actually loves water...just not when we drop him
into the middle of a bunch of fountains coming out
of the ground)

Mud...I thought he'd love it. He didn't.

Eating.

Firetrucks...or parades, we're not sure which. Maybe both.

Laying on the couch with dad.

Zoos. (He actually likes zoos,
but the elephants were a little
boring for him.)

Projects

2010-07-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since we posted. We've been busy traveling and working on projects at our new house. We've been putting up a fence in our backyard and getting ready to install a sprinkler system and grass. Here's a few pics so you can see our progress:

View from back patio (pre-fence project)

If you look closely, you can see me behind the machine.

Getting ready to set the posts.

Finished.

Fence, before stain.

Fence, after stain.

In other news, Graham likes to pull himself up on whatever he can. Among his favorite things to pull himself up on are: the couch, tv stand, tv dinner stands, any pair of stationary human legs.

Our New House

2010-05-14T22:22:00.000-07:00

We will be making the move from Boise, the "city of trees", to Meridian, the "land of the rising sun" this weekend. (Meridian's nickname is made up, but who wouldn't want to live in a city with that nickname?) We closed on our house on Thursday and have been moving stuff over the last few nights. Tomorrow we'll make it official and move in completely. We're excited to move in to our new place.

So as not to leave our family, friends, and strangers out of it, we have decided to give you the opportunity to become a part of our home. For the first 36 months only, we will allow anyone to pay our monthly mortgage. Donors will get a special homemade plaque with their name on it hung on the wall in our coat closet. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity...don't leave yourself open to regrets.

Front of the house

Sale is no longer pending. It's ours.

You can't quite see it from here, but I'm actually
just holding Graham up with my pinky.

Our backyard. Not much to look at right now. We're
on a corner so we don't have neighbors to one side
and we've got a pretty decent sized area for yard on
that side of the house. Hard to tell from the pic
though.

Unicorn Killer

2010-05-14T21:59:00.000-07:00

You may remember a post from Christmas showing Graham's new "Unicorn Killer" shirt. His destiny was fulfilled on Cinco de Mayo.

Due to the graphic nature of this video, viewer discretion is advised.

Race for the Cure

2010-05-14T10:24:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I did the Race for the Cure last Saturday. We had a lot of fun. We didn't even get too exhausted, despite our lack of training. We were on the Scentsy team, which made up at huge number of the participants. The Scentsy team was the biggest team they have ever had in the Race, I think there were like 2,500 on our team and about 15,000 total in the Race.

Me before.

Both of us before.

Ryan in 50 years.

Both of us after.

Ryan after.

Meeting baby cousin Chloe

2010-05-14T10:20:00.000-07:00

Graham and Chloe finally got to meet. I think they had a good time together. They even held hands, so what if Graham was trying to eat Chloe's hand, I think they will be great buddies growing up together.

Rainbow

2010-04-29T11:39:00.001-07:00

I am 6 months old!!

2010-04-29T11:26:00.000-07:00

Yes. It's true. I am 6 months, 1 week and 1 day old now. My life has gone pretty fast so far. Lots of things have been happening the last few weeks. I had a doctor's appointment, I got shots, and I started eating "real" food. I weigh 15lbs. and I am 26 1/2 inches tall. One of my favorite things to do is to smash my face into the ground, then push up on my toes and slowly inch forward. I don't sleep through the night because that is highly overrated, but I do take good naps during the day, usually. As you can see my top skill is typing, however, it's nap time and I have nothing else to say.

Just a few more, Oregon Trip part three

2010-04-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

All in all it was a great trip. Graham slept on the plane both ways and was very adaptable despite the changes in his schedule. And since we have been home he has done great getting right back on schedule.

Graham and I got to be there for my nephew Derek's baptism. It was so great to be there, even though it was probably 90 degrees in the chapel. We love you Dare!

Pederson Family picture. This one is for you Krystal!

Cousins, Oregon Trip Part Two

2010-04-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

Graham got to meet 10 cousins on the Oregon trip plus one cousin in the oven. We almost got documented pictures of him meeting all of them. I think cousin Etta is the only one we missed, she is just too quick to capture on camera.

My sister Jandi with Myles and a bun in the oven, my sister Krystal with Kurt, me with Graham, and my sister-in-law Tyra with Pheobe and Neddie.

Graham with cousins Nicole (12), Nate (10) and Lliam (5).

Graham with cousin Myles.

Birthday boys. Derek (8) and Nate (10) with their new wheels.

Stroller boys. Graham with cousin Kurt (2) watching the other kids ride bikes.

Graham with his cousin Lauren (5). Lauren was watching Graham suck on his pacifier and she started laughing and said that he looked like a jaguar. Then Graham started sucking on her fingers and she said it felt like a jaguar too. I didn't know that Graham was a jaguar but now I do.

Foot in Mouth

2010-04-23T20:01:00.000-07:00

Are most babies this flexible, or should I be worried that my son is destined to follow in his Uncle Billy's footsteps and become a male cheerleader?

Oregon Trip Part One

2010-04-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

Graham and I got to go to Oregon for a few days. Graham got to meet tons of family. Including many cousins that loved to hug and kiss and cuddle him. Not to mention meeting Grandpa Baird for the first time.

Graham and I in the front yard with the flowers.

Graham with Grandpa Baird.

Graham with Grandma Baird.

Graham in a tree.

Easter

2010-04-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter. Graham loved the bath toys the Easter bunny brought him. The only down side for me was that I couldn't eat my Easter candy as fast as I wanted to, I got my wisdom teeth out on Friday and it has made for some slow chewing and small smiling.

No smiles for Easter pictures.

Ok maybe a little smile if you give me my Easter basket.

Video of Gdub

2010-03-28T20:32:00.000-07:00

Here's a little video of Graham for all of our family and friends who don't live close enough to get to see him. He doesn't do anything amazing in the video (except the part where he recites the Pledge of Allegiance), but we didn't have anything else to post and didn't feel like writing much.

St. Patrick's Day!!!

2010-03-22T15:32:00.000-07:00

St. Patrick's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. When I was growing up three wonderful leprechauns would bring me treats and leave me notes. It's only right that Graham should have some very special leprechauns as well. Lily and Lenny (G's leprechauns) left Graham a note and a little Hershey bar, don't worry he only sucked on the outside, I finished it off for him.

St. Patrick's Day is tough work, time for a nap.

Never underestimate...

2010-03-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

the power of Mustache March.

This is how I roll

2010-02-26T14:20:00.000-08:00

Graham has now rolled from his back to his tummy and from his tummy to his back. He usually does tummy to back but sometimes he rolls onto his tummy and just lays on the arm that he can't get out. He is pretty fun. We love having him around.

Graham laying on his arm.

Video of Graham rolling tummy to back.

Naked Sunday

2010-02-26T13:59:00.000-08:00

Relaxing on my blanket.

Hanging out with daddy.

Getting dressed.

Momma's new chair

2010-02-25T17:18:00.000-08:00

Ryan got me a glider a couple weeks ago and so far we love it! Three cheers for Kmart and looking around and being patient.

Tough guy

2010-02-11T17:55:00.000-08:00

Graham got his shots today. He did really well. He screamed of course but he calmed down pretty quick. Right now he is taking the longest nap ever. Here is a picture of him showing off his battle wounds or cute band aids.

This morning we took Ryan to the airport. He will be in Florida for work till Saturday night. Graham just gave him tons of smiles even though it was only 5am. I think he is a morning person. This is his new favorite trick to do with daddy. Airplane on daddy's stomach.

I had a Birthday!

2010-02-11T17:44:00.000-08:00

I turned 24 on January 31st! I think it's about time I posted about it. It was a great day. Family came over for dinner and cake and presents. Graham gave me the best gift, he slept through the night for two nights in a row. Thanks to everyone that came over and for all the wonderful gifts. And thanks to Ryan for being so great all the time!

My cake!

My wonderful present helpers. I love Brayden's mischievous face.

My surprised face. Yes, a Jillian Micheal's Wii game! Let the workout begin.

Chomping at the Bit

2010-01-27T18:59:00.000-08:00

Graham is getting anxious to start eating real food. So anxious, in fact, that he has begun to practice by chewing on his hands. He especially likes to do this around dinner time. (If you listen closely, you'll even hear his Grandma say "dinner time" in the background).

January updates

2010-01-24T17:30:00.000-08:00

Notes from January

Graham is getting bigger. On his most recent unofficial weigh-in he was 12 lbs 6 ounces. His mustache has nearly filled in completely, giving Ron Burgandy's stache a run for its money.

Tess had her first taste of what it'd be like to be a single mom. I left her alone from Dec. 31st til January 3rd as I went down to Lake Tahoe for a friend's wedding. I felt bad because the days just prior to me leaving Graham was crying more than he ever has and wasn't sleeping very well. He must have just wanted me gone though because he behaved for his mom while I was gone. I missed them a lot and was excited to get back.

I got a job promotion. I've worked for Scentsy Sucess, an entity of Scentsy Inc, for the last three months as a consultant support rep. My new title is System Administator for Scentsy Success. I will manage our website (scentsysuccess.com) and make sure everything is up to date (i.e. ads, product descriptions, inventory, etc). I'm excited to finally be leaving the customer service/call center field, which I've been stuck in since college. Scentsy has been the best company I've ever worked for and I'm excited to work in a field more related to my degree. I start on Feb. 1st.

That's basically it. And since no blog post is complete without pics, here are a few:

Top Gifts of '09

2009-12-27T12:09:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have followed our blog for a while, you may remember our post last Christmas of our favorite prank gifts of 2008. In a variation of that post, here are a few of our favorite gifts from Christmas 2009, pictures included. Some were prank gifts, some were just funny, and others were just plain awesome (see Sam's Star Trek gift):

OUR LITTLE OUTDOORSMAN:

This one was not a prank gift. We didn't think it'd be healthy for us to prank our 2 month old son on his first Christmas. I suppose this is falls under the "awesome-cute" category. We got him this little hunters outfit with matching cap. He loves the hat.

GRAHAMS HOMEMADE SHIRTS:

For those who know me well, you know I like to make my own iron on t-shirts every once in a while. Some of my personal favorites have been my "Iraq First, Canada Next" shirt and my "Managua: Spanglish for Manwater" shirts. I decided to pass this wildly immature hobby of mine down to my son by giving him a few homemade shirts of his own...

As you can tell from his facial expression, this shirt isn't so much funny as it is serious and disconcerting. I can't take credit for this idea, it actually comes from The Colbert Report on Comedy Central.

This one I did come up with on my own...not sure if I should be proud of that or not. I wanted to somehow epitomize my sons hardcoredness in shirt form. Naturally, the most hardcore thing I could think of was someone who hunts unicorns. And thus the shirt was born. Tess wasn't as impressed with this shirt as Graham and I. One of her favorite movies is "The Last Unicorn." It's somewhat unsettling for her to know that her son may actually slay the last unicorn someday.

I'M ON A BOAT:

My brother Adam got me this sweet shirt. Honestly, I never thought I'd be on a boat. But with this shirt, I think my chances have gotten better. For those of you who don't watch Saturday Night Live and are scratching your heads right now, click on the link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8 F3UE9qFsg

MANCOW

Our niece Macey loves animals. One of her favorite animals in the mancow (an imaginery animal that her dad made up). So I made her this mancow turtleneck shirt. I'd venture to say it was one of her top five gifts this Christmas.

STAR TREK, WINGS, & MAN DIAPERS

Tess and I saved the tokens from Kellogs Cereal boxes religously so that we could get our brother-in-law Sam this awesome Star Trek T-shirt. All the hard work paid off, as you can tell by the reaction on his face when he opened it:

He appears to be in an almost child-like euphoria.

The fun didn't end there. He and Terri Anne got me a shirt with angel wings on the back of it and man diapers for my birthday a few days earlier. If only you could have seen the joy in our faces as we put our shirts/diapers on and frolicked around the house...

Sam couldn't contain himself. He kept setting his phaser to stun and barging into the room. A-d-o-r-a-b-l-e-!

STAR WARS

We'll end where we started, with another awesome-cute gift. Even though I (this is Ryan writing, if you hadn't gathered that already) have never watched any of the Star Wars movies all the way through (I've seen bits and pieces on tv, but have never been that interested in watching them), I decided if Graham is going to have any chance of hanging with his older boy cousins on either side of our family, he's going to need to watch & love Star Wars. What better way to start than by dressing in Star Wars garb?

And that was our Christmas. We had a great time and enjoyed spending time with family. To our Oregon relatives, we're sorry we couldn't make it out this year! With a new baby, new job, and me leaving for my friend's wedding in Lake Tahoe this week, we couldn't find a way to make it work. We'll make it out there as soon as all the snow melts! I hope you enjoyed this post.

Happy New Year!

Ryan, Tess, and Graham.

Graham's 1st Christmas!

2009-12-26T15:20:00.000-08:00

Here we are Christmas Eve. Graham loves watching the Christmas tree lights.

Graham wore his 'Naughty' pjs to bed but they got pooped on and didn't make it to Christmas morning.

On Christmas Graham woke up to open his stocking but then went back to sleep for the rest of the present opening. He loved his fuzzy red hat.

Fuzzy red hat!

Santa's lap and Christmas outfits!

2009-12-24T14:23:00.000-08:00

Santa came to our ward Christmas party! We couldn't pass up sitting on Santa's lap for the first time.

It's amazing the resemblance Santa has to the chicken man that came on Halloween.

Family picture with Santa.

Graham has gotten some really fun Christmas outfits, thanks to his aunt Megan and aunt Terri Anne.

Reindeer baby!

Ho Ho Ho! Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday Ryan!!

2009-12-24T14:13:00.000-08:00

Ryan is 26! His birthday was on the 21st but we had everyone over the day before for presents and cake.

There is no reason for the umbrellas other than the fact that we found them and thought they would be fun in the cake. One candle and 26 umbrellas, that makes sense right?

The nieces and nephews were great helpers opening presents. Especially since Ryan got so many 2 liters of Mtn. Dew, it would have taken him all night to open them by himself.

Blowing out the candle!

Hedgehog Party!!

2009-12-24T14:08:00.000-08:00

My sister Ylfe got Graham a hedgehog outfit, blanket and stuffed animal. He loves his blanket, it is a sad day when the blanket is dirty and needs to be washed. He is now big enough for the outfit! We love our little hedgehog.

Graham's Blessing

2009-12-14T16:23:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of this month Ryan blessed Graham. Thank you to everyone that was able to come and thank you Auntie Tyra for the cute, cute blessing outfit and thank you Grammie for the blessing blanket. It was a great day.

Graham goes to church and other fun things

2009-11-30T20:44:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was Graham's first Sunday at church. He did great! This is him after church, judging by the look on his face I don't know if he was very impressed.

Bath time!!!

For the most part Graham does pretty well taking baths.

This is Graham realizing just what he got himself into having us as parents.

Graham saying his prayers, just kidding, he was trying out his tummy time surf board.

Grandmas and Grandpas

2009-11-15T12:40:00.000-08:00

Graham is lucky to have so many grandmas and grandpas that love him.

Graham in the hospital with Ryan's parents, Grandma and Grandpa Smith.

Graham and Grandma Baird. My mom was able to come and stay for a week after Graham was born. They had lots of fun together especially hanging out at night while I slept.

Graham with his great Grammie.

Graham with great Grandma Smith.

Four generations of Smith boys. Graham's middle name Wesley is after his great Grandpa Smith whose middle name is also Wesley.

We love grandmas and grandpas!

Future referee?

2009-11-09T21:35:00.000-08:00

Graham's favorite way to sleep is with both hands above his head. I can only surmise that he is practicing to be a football referee and is working on perfecting his touchdown signal. He also carries around a little yellow flag which he throws whenever we do something wrong, which further substantiates my suspicions.

Swine Flu, Chicken Man, and Cereal

2009-10-31T21:07:00.000-07:00

Graham's first Halloween was an eventful one. To start, we were minding our own business watching the Boise State football game on TV when all of the sudden someone in a Chicken Costume comes running into our backyard and starts dancing around. My natural instinct was to grab my gun and shoot him for dinner, but unfortunately I do not own a gun. So I grabbed my camera instead. (See pictures below). Turns out it was my friend Logan. He had won a gift card a while back and used it to purchase the costume...a wise investment indeed.

Later on in the day, we got a call from my mom & sister who told us that there were Swine Flu vaccines still available at one of the local clinics and there was no line. They only offer it on Saturdays from 10 am -6pm. Last Saturday thousands of people showed up and waited hours in line. The vaccine ran out after 2 hours. We had given up hope on even trying, even though we're in one of the top priority groups since we have a child less than six months old in our house. After getting the call at 5pm, we scrambled and got there as fast as we could. Sure enough, NO LINE. Word must have gotten out though, cause as we walked out 15 mins. later a line of around 30-50 people had formed.

Finally, we wrapped up Graham's first Halloween by dressing him up in his first ever Halloween costume. Originally he had requested we dress him up as Graham Harrel, last year's starting Quarterback for Texas Tech. However, given the recent controversy with Texas Tech's coach calling his player's significant others "fat little girlfriends", Graham just didn't feel comfortable donning a Texas Tech jersey. So we went with plan B and dressed him up as a box of Golden Grahams. He lasted about 5 mins in it, which is impressive.

Here are some of our Halloween pics:

And from henceforth, the manchild shall be called....

2009-10-22T14:03:00.000-07:00

We have finally picked a name. We had narrowed it down to either Max or Graham, but we decided to take some time to get to know him before making the decision.

But before we make the reveal, I'd like to pay tribute to some of the names suggested to us by friends and family. One of the blessings of facebook, text messaging, etc is that friends and family who otherwise might not get a say in a decision such as this are able to make their voices heard. And now, in no particular order, here are some of our favorite suggestions:

Maximus Decimus Meridius
King Adam
Sister (suggested by our soon to be 2 yr. old niece Macey)
Jesus (with a Spanish pronunciation)
King MJ (presumably meaning King Maximus Jesus, with Spanish pronunciation on Jesus)
Bronco
Ryan the Second Smith
Jordan Jordan Smith
Travis Poopface

Despite all the wonderful suggestions, almost all of which we gave serious consideration to, we have chosen to name him Graham Wesley Smith.

MORE BIG NEWS!!!

2009-10-21T19:19:00.000-07:00

Tess won sheepdog regionals!!! Just kidding. Our little munchkin was born today at 10:38 am. He is 7 lbs 8 ounces and 19 inches tall. Everything went relatively well. Tess's water broke at 1:30am, we got to the hospital around 2:15 am, she started having contractions around 4 am, got an epidural, and pushed from 7:15am til 10:38 am. We don't have an official name yet. Unfortunately our prayers that his name would be tattoed on his arm went unanswered. We're pretty sure we're going to name him Graham...now we're mostly just working on a middle name. Here are a few pics...

BIG NEWS!!!

2009-10-18T19:36:00.000-07:00

After nearly 9 months of training, Tess was finally named Idaho's Top Sheepdog! She's even ranked 4th Nationally. See link below for full story.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/woodward/story/940125.html

Oddly enough, this isn't the first dog named Tess that we've known. When I was younger, my best friend Josh had a border collie named Tess. I loved that dog. Maybe that's why I fell for the human Tess so easily.

Watermelon and pumpkin time!

2009-10-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we picked all of our pumpkins and watermelons. We ended the season with eight pumpkins of varying sizes and twelve watermelons, also of varying sizes.

We even made a cute corn stock bundle from our old corn stocks. Then we hauled everything up to the house and made a cute Fall arrangement.

Then we got really creative and decided to carve some of the watermelons.

The finished products.

A baby shower surprise

2009-09-27T17:58:00.001-07:00

The morning of my baby shower the doorbell rang and I found this note sitting on top of a car seat with a baby in it.

Here is little Zac my nephew that came all the way from California with his momma, my sister, Ylfe for the baby shower. We were really excited because we hadn't met Zac yet since he was born in April and we hadn't seen Ylfe in a long time either.

My sister Jandi and her 9month old Myles, me and my belly, Ylfe and her 6month old Zac.

I have to give a big thanks to Ylfe and Jandi for coming out for the shower. And a big thanks to my sisters in law Megan and Jamie for putting on the baby shower. It was a ton of fun!

Garden update

2009-09-27T17:34:00.000-07:00

The garden is coming to a close. For our first year we felt like we had pretty good success. Our best growers were the tomatoes by far. We still have peppers, pumpkins, tomatoes, watermelon, and cantaloupe growing. Even though that sounds like a lot to me the garden looks really bare without the corn. We took out the corn and a lot of unnecessary pumpkin vines this week. These picture are from a few weeks ago so you can still see the full and complete look of the garden. We loved working in the garden this summer but it has gotten a little more exhausting for me the last few weeks watering, so I'm glad it's winding down.

Our harvest: tomatoes, banana peppers, corn and watermelon. The watermelon was still really white inside and only a little pink but we still have many in the garden yet to try.

Our tiny cantaloupe. It smelled like a cantaloupe but there wasn't much melon to eat to even tell if it tasted like a cantaloupe. But it was still so cute and little.

Oregon in a day

2009-09-27T17:02:00.000-07:00

After the wedding in Washington we were able to swing down to Oregon for a day and a half. It was so fun to see the family. My sister Krystal didn't know we were coming so it was extra fun to surprise her on her doorstep. We also got to be there for our niece Etta's 2nd birthday. Even though it was a short trip it was lots of fun, we love seeing family!

Mom and dad Baird looking so cute at the birthday party.

The Pederson family
Back row: Derek, Dave, Krystal, Nicole, Nate, Front row: Lauren, and Kurt.

Pederson pileup, Ryan and I with the Pederson kids.

The Baird family
Brigham, Lliam, Tyra, Pheobe, Etta, Neddie

My sister Krystal and I, and my belly of course.

Ryan and baby Pheobe playing the piano.

A wonderful wedding!

2009-09-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I were able to go to the wedding of my first roommate ever and wonderful friend Lindsey Clement, now Lindsey Giles in the Columbia River Temple. Lindsey and Thomas looked so happy, I was so glad we got to be there.

Lindsey, Brittani and I hadn't all been together since my bridal shower three and a half years ago. Since then I have gotten super pregnant and they have both gone on missions. These girls are my best college friends. I loved seeing them and being in the temple with them and seeing how happy and fun their lives are.

Let the football season begin

2009-09-27T16:32:00.000-07:00

Well the Boise State football season is in full swing. Here is a picture of Ryan and I compliments of Brooklyn before the Boise State Oregon game. Ryan had a great time spending the afternoon, evening and night in line to get in the stadium and finally getting in to watch the game. And I had a great time watching the game at home and sewing the binding on a quilt.

Brooklyn spent most of the morning following Ryan around helping him get ready. She was totally convinced that she was going to the game with him. She even said, "Well, it looks like we are ready to go." But in the end she was content to wave with me on the sidewalk as Ryan drove away.

Our Private Air Show

2009-09-01T11:55:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I met a few guys from the Oregon Air Guard while working a booth for The Blue Mag at Boise Beerfest. They are great guys and they're temporarily stationed in Boise with their F-15's while their base in Klamath Falls, OR is undergoing repairs. They invited me to come out with a few people and take a tour of the hanger and watch
the jets take off. It was awesome. We got to stand on the taxi runway and watch as the jets took off only a few hundred feet away! Afterwards we got to tour the hanger where they repair the jets. There were a few jets inside and we even got to walk around on top of one. It was a once in a lifetime experience.

They also got us special clearance to take pics, so here's a few of the pictures and videos we took. Enjoy!

Tess and I on the flightline.

Brayden did a quick mechanical check and then gave them the go ahead.

We were told not to cross the red line. There were security trucks on both sides of the runway
just waiting to shoot us if we did.

Two jets taking off simultaneously

Brooklyn loved it.

Tess on top of the jet.

30 weeks already!

2009-08-16T16:08:00.000-07:00

Here I am at 30 weeks. Besides still getting sick once or twice a week things are going great. At our last ultrasound they told us/showed us that our little guy has hair! We are excited for him to come in just a little over two months!

The garden is in full swing

2009-08-10T20:27:00.000-07:00

We are still having so much fun taking care of our garden. Our sunflowers are starting to bloom, our corn are getting ears, and the vines are taking over everything. These are a few recent shots of how the garden is looking these days.

You don't have to say it, I know I look like a pregnant caveman in this picture.

Even though we only took this picture a week ago the pumpkin has doubled in size.

This is a picture of one of our baby watermelon, so tiny, so cute.