.My Life.

.A merry, happy, snowy, lovely, rrrappy, simple day.

2011-02-25T12:56:00.001-08:00

HOLY CRAP SHE LIVES!

Has it really been four months since my last update? why yes... yes it has.
And the reasons are 1. I am back in school 2. Danny is out of town 15 days out of the month. 3. I received a new calling as 2nd counselor in our primary and 4. I am doing another play. I'm not complaining in the slightest because I absolutely LOVE being this busy. However, I write enough papers to drain any thought of writing for actual pleasure and every spare second I have is usually spent cleaning my atrocious house or playing with my babies. (usually the latter) but in case you were wondering, we had a VERY....

MERRY CHRISTMAS,

A MOST HAPPY OF NEW YEARS,

Mascaraed party!

SOME SERIOUS SNOW DAYS,

A LOVELY VALENTINES DAY,

Valentines dance, aren't his parents adorable?

A RRRAPPY RIFDAY!

Scooby doo party, the $2 party favors were a hit. We had a houseful of Scooby's!

Cake, pinata's and a NEW BIKE!

WITH A FEW SIMPLE SUNDAYS IN BETWEEN.

studs.

We hope you are having as much fun as we are....

.Amnesia.

2010-11-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

As humans, I believe we all experience bouts of amnesia of different events and happenings in our life. The one that stands out foremost to me, and perhaps all mothers for that matter, would be the entire process of child bearing...

I'm quite certain it must be a part of our genetic make- up. Other wise the world would be full of families with one child. Unless you were lucky enough for twins (lucky, unlucky?) ... You see, if we didn't forget the back-aches, the Middle of the night charlie horses, the never-ending vomiting and nausea. We would never opt to do it again. If the image of our expanding belly's and misshapen bodies was not somehow erased from our memories, the baby count would remain at ONE.

It happens almost instantly, when they place that baby in your arms... They say one look at bundle of joy makes it all worth it, I think its actually all part of the conspiracy. Something chemical happens when your eyes lock, and the amnesia sets in...

anywho... no, I'm not pregnant. Toddlers are the quickest cure of this amnesia. Its not that I don't want to be pregnant or give birth again, no. I just know babies turn into these creatures that now inhabit my home. THAT is enough deterrent for a few years.

The entire reason behind my theory here is to illustrate another amnesia that I seem to have developed.

SEWING AMNESIA

I really don't like to sew. I haven't done it all that often. Made a few baby blankets when Campbell was born, sewed Danny a jean quilt for fathers day last year... A few other projects here and there. But every time I do I swear I will NEVER do it again. I swear it as I'm picking out a 3 foot seam I mistakenly put in the wrong place... I swear it as I'm returning to the fabric store for the umpteenth time after running out of fabric, AGAIN. I swear it as I'm bandaging up my bloody fingers, sliced open from pins and scissors. But, as with the baby bundled into my bosom, as soon as I lay out my bundle of fabric to reveal the end result, that amnesia sets in and I think... "well lookie what I did!" All of the blood, cursing and tears, instantly forgotten.

There is one point during child birth where the amnesia is lifted. Its when they're wheeling you into the delivery room, your feet up in the stirrups when the first REAL labor contraction hits. Your body doubles over in pain. The contraction contorts you into positions you didn't even think your pregnant body could manage. you wish you could scream but you didn't catch enough breath. It all comes rushing back in an instant. There is a moment of absolute panic and remembering. "Oh my gosh this hurts as bad as the first time... WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING!?!?! LET ME OFF THIS TRAIN, I CHANGE MY MIND. I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE!"

but by then its too late.

There's a moment similar to this in a sewing project, too. After you've spent way to much money on fabric, taken 17 hours to cut out all of the patterns, your fingers are pricked and bleeding from pinning all the pieces in the right place, and your feeding your piece through the machine when, your needle breaks! or you realize you've been sewing for 20 minutes without the bobbin thread. At this point, remembering that you promised yourself to never do this again, you curse the heavens and say "WHY AM I DOING THIS?!?! I HATE SEWING!!!"
but now you have too much invested in the project and now all that you can do is PUSH through the pain until the end... when your zipping up your pink princess peach dress, and it fits perfectly.

When you put the coordinating Mario and Luigi hat on your husband and son and watch them fight off an imaginary Bowser together...

...with a baby Toad trailing behind.

And suddenly it's all worth it...

I'm already planning next years costumes.

.The Sound Of Music.

2010-10-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

I had a midlife crisis

at 21.

I have two beautiful babies. An amazing husband. An incredible life... But not my life.

I've said before... man plans, god laughs. (well, I didn't say it first but I use it enough) And When god through me a curve ball and completely demolished the plans I had laid out for my life, I tried to make new ones. I completely obliterated my bucket list and started anew.

word to the wise...

it doesn't work. it wasn't me. I lost myself.

You see, my life outline before I met Mr. perfect did not include a husband, and definitely not children. So when that was suddenly my life I could not fathom how the two could fit together. So I rewrote plans. made new goals. Became the best little Suzy homemaker you'd ever laid eyes on. I can get blood out of a white shirt, bake bread from scratch, sew on a button, feed a family of four on a budget, make dinner one handedly with a baby on my hip, change a diaper in my sleep (literally, whilst sleeping.... sleepchanging... its like sleepwalking) starch a dress shirt just as good as one hour cleaners. You name it, I perfected this stay at home mommy thing.

But I wasn't happy. And I hated that I wasn't. I couldn't understand why... I had it all! So I hated myself for it. What was wrong with me?

Like I said. a midlife crisis at 21. Which makes sense... When I was little it was always, "she's 13, going on 21" so now that I'm here Its 21 going on 32.... right? haha. Anyways...

Its a horrible thing, depression. a lonely, miserable thing. I can look back and say that's what it was. Postpartum? I dont know, but I have a very unhealthy habit of when I feel my worst I act my best. fake it till you make it. It usually works but ummm.... things just kind of imploded. Well, not things. Me.

Anyways this is a really weird post, and I'm kind of having a hard time with it. Its hard to broadcast your weakness in the intraweb. I think I've had about enough of that...

So lets get to the meat of this shall we. The fun stuff.

I tried out for a musical. I used to love that stuff... only problem was my resume had a big gap on it. The last play I did was in the 9th grade, Mrs. Hannigan in my Jr. Highs production of Annie. hmmmm. Being able to sing a lullabye that could lul a colliky baby to snoozery doesn't go far on a actors resume.

But I needed something. I heard about tryouts for the sound of music the week before. Decided to go for it the Day of... ha. I grabbed a song from another play I did in Jr. High "As long as he needs me" from oliver rehearsed a couple times that day. grabbed my outdated resume, a wedding picture to pass as a headshot, and I went for it.

I thought It would be fun to be in the onsamble... A nun, perhaps. Maybe I could dress down for the part of Liesel?

Well I made it to callbacks. Not the part I had written down, or even dreamed of. no. You can imagine my surprise when I searched the callback list to find my name under

MARIA

I almost threw up. And the list of women I was posted with? I didn't even qualify to have my name next to that talent.

But after a long, grusome callback with rediculously talented women all the while asking myself "what am i doing here?"
I somehow landed the part...

and got back my life.

sounds dramatic, but its true. I descovered I can still have my dreams and be a great mom. In fact, doing this play has made me a better mom. Made me love my husband more. Made me love life again.

at the risk of sounding discustingly cheesy...

The Sound of Music saved my life.

"The Hills are Alive!"

"How do you hold a moonbeam in your hand?"

"These are a few of my favorite things!"

In the movie my favorite things is sung by Maria and the children, In the play she and Mother Abess sing it before Maria leaves the Nunnery...

"bless you, my child"

"I have confidence!"

meeting the captain...

and the children!

"Do Re Mi!"

"16 going on 17"
these two were adoreable

No puppet show in the play... we sing "the Lonely Goatherd" in the bedroom during the thunderstorm.

Little Gretle was sickeningly cute.

also different in the play from the movie... Uncle Max and the Baroness have two songs with the Captain!

The outfits made out of curtains...

The captain breaks into song!

"the dance" that changed it all....

... and the hardest part of the entire play :)

"Climb Every Mountain"

Maria returns!!!

The infamous kiss...
we seriously had to pay this guy to kiss me.
it was kind of ridiculous...
ask me about it, I'll tell you the story sometime.

The wedding.
5 ft train. AMAZING.

"16 going on 17 reprise"
love this girl.

The Nazi's come to take captain away...

The festival where we make our escape.

climbing every mountain!

.wherejago.

2010-09-29T12:24:00.000-07:00

I'm sure you all must be asking the same questions incessantly over the past few months.

What ever happened to that Marcie girl?
and what of her cute husband?
those adoreable babies?

well....
Never fear! it's posting time!

my children did return from their G-BA's. Hands healed... blood sugar levels reaching record breaking heights... new toys and jammy's in hand... Sufficiently spoiled.

Aunt Jo Jo, G-BA and two grouchy boys

With the GG's!

I'd say this summer was a success. No gardening. However we did do a lot of....

Camping

We love roasting weiners! Riggdon, Mr. Independent insists on roasting his own and just about has a come apart every time I have to "help" him.

Campbell is quite inventive, like his father. He fixed the problem of not having enough hands... my little Einstein :)

CJ had a blast with his cousins up at the cabin this year. It was so much fun to watch him join in with the older boys...

"alright boys I want a picture of you two"

"smile!"

"Campbell, smile you goofball. Logan, put your hands down"

"Logan, look at me! Campell don't smile like a big dork."

"bahahaha she called you a dork, we're so funny, bahahaha"

I enjoyed the scenery.....

(ignore the mustard and mallows on this cute little face.)

Frontier Day Business

for those of you that dont know, Cheyenne hosts the biggest rodeo in America once a year.

"The Daddy of them all"
or
"Frontier Days"

This does not just entail bull riding and cow roping. basically the whole town is shut down for a week and everyone's lives are put on hold until the madness subsides.

This year, the boys were old enough to enjoy some of the festivities...

like the parades!!!

please notice riggdon collapsed on the ground... I'm not sure whats going on with that. kinda funny though.

hangin out.

another first for the boys brought to you courtesy of frontier days... THE CARNIVAL

I was so excited to take the boys and ride some good old fashioned carny rides. We went straight to the farris wheel to be certain we didn't use all of the tickets before we rode this classic.

we found out two things.

Riggdon loves rides.

and campbell doesn't.

My son is deathly afraid of heights. Screamed bloody murder for the entire ride and clung to me like a gust of wind might throw him over the edge at any given moment

Riggdon, however... is quite the thrill seeker.

at the top.

So we opted for a nice, calm, close to the ground, train ride next.

Campbell loved it.

Riggdon was bored.

We figured the prior tramatic experiance granted campbell the remainder of our tickets to ride his favorite thing right now...

"I ride the MOTEY-CYCLE mommy!"

Which was fine until the thing jump started and he started screaming "GET ME OFF! GET ME OFF! I NOT WANT TO RIDE THE MOTEY-CYCLE!" and crying histarically.

Einstien, maybe. Evil Kanival, nope.

and of course....Park Going

Campbell LOVES the park. he knows where to spot them while were driving around town and always asks if we can stop.

He doesn't like the swings this year. In fact, he's terrified.

but riggdon LOVES THEM!

Campbell sticks to the slides...

It's been a little chaotic this summer... for more reasons than I care to explain but I shall indulge you with my biggest under taking of the summer..... NEXT POST. when I have more pictures.

Its pretty cool, but definitely not as exciting as pictures of my babies.

STAY TUNED!

.owie.

2010-07-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

I am bored.

My house, is not clean.

My lawn, is not mowed.

All the things I said I'd do whilst my children were away, I have not done.

I sleep in until ten.
And then wonder what to do with myself for the rest of the day.

I kinda miss those little boogers.

I shall use this time to document a first in the Smith family.

I was at work when this horrendous mishap occurred. I had forgotten my phone at home. When I arrived at the homestead, I found a note in my husbands hurried chicken scratch:

At the hospital.
Riggdon cut his hand.
Campbells asleep.
feed the bird.

First, and probably not the one you are most worried about, I will explain the bird portion of this note: My sister in law found a newly hatched baby bird that had fallen from its nest. When she found it it was near death. She looked up how to take the place of its mamma and had been nursing the creature back to health. When they went on vacation we became its makeshift mamma. This entailed keeping it in a warm room, replacing the shredded paper in its replacement birds nest (a black storage crate) and feeding it wet dog food every two hours.

"awwwww. how cute." is what you are saying in your heads right now, arn't you? that and, "who cares about the baby bird, what about Riggs?" We'll get to him but right now I want to explain that this bird was not cute. It was, as I said before, a creature. A creature that stunk. badly. A creature that had to be fed once ever two hours, much like a newborn baby but without the cute toes, warm snuggles and sweet baby smell.

by the way, Mary, I am in no way complaining about having to watch your baby bird, It was...... an adventure. Just wanted to emphasize that I will probably not be adding Bird rehabilitation to my list of hobbies. Or acts of service. I'll stick to making baby blankets for the hospital.

ANYWAYS. So this baby bird was screeching and making such a racket I don't know how anyone could sleep through it. Which brings me to the next part of this note I am going to cover. (the suspense is killing you, I know)

Yes, my husband left my 2 year old son home. alone. alseep. With no way of knowing when I would return. But before you go calling DFS, I need to explain our arrangement. You are all aware we live in a mod. home, on my in laws property. one of the great conveniences of this arrangement is the beauty of the baby moniter. Many nights we put the children to bed and take the 24 steps over to "the big house" and entertain ourselves with a variety of different activities. i.e. dominoes, movie watching, or my personal favorite... relative watching. 12 kids, 50 some odd grandkids...theres a lot of us, remember? And we can do this while the wee ones slumber by turning on the baby moniter that is permanantly stationed on my in laws kitchen counter.

so thats that.

which brings us to.... "riggdon cut his hand" wich by itself is nothing to fret about. I am raising two very active boys on a ranch. Neosporin and bandaids are a staple in our household. Its the first line in addition to this that made my stomach flip.

We are at the hospital.

the hospital is the absolute last option. once you check into a hospital there's no telling how long until your out of there. hours. days. weeks. If danny rushed my son to the hospital for a cut that means it was way beyond butterfly bandages and yes, even superglue.

I find my phone and call danny. While shoving pieces of mushy dog food into the pterodactyl's screeching beak he tells me riggdon sliced his hand. bad. get over here with a diaper bag and a new set of clothes for riggs.

"is there blood all over them?"

"that and puke. he's in so much pain the poor little guy threw up all over on our way in"
I slammed down the phone, grabbed a diaper bag and a onsie, and rushed to the hospital.

my baby needed me.
or i needed to see my baby?

long story short... haha yeah I'm not so good at that.... the plastic piece covering the dryer door fell off a couple weeks ago leaving a sharp metal edge. Riggdon was holding onto it, lost his balance and it sliced into his pudgy little baby fat like butter.

He was a champ at the hospital, climbing up the docters tray, smacking his head on the concrete floor and almost falling off the hospital bed resulting in numerous comments about how this wouldn't be the last time they'd be seeing this one. He's a busy little bee, that one.

The nurses were great and also commented on his supernatural strength that they had never heard such a scream in their life. It took, me, danny, two nurses and 45 minutes to put in 8 stiches in his little hand.

It's all over now. We even took the stitches out last sunday. But boy, just telling the story is draining.

In my haste, I forgot to grab a camera to take to the hospital.

okay, thats a lie. I forgot the memory card. so the camera was useless.

but this is the end result.
I know its not a great picture but it wasn't exactly an easy thing to capture.

you get the picture.
yummy.

it is...

2010-07-06T16:04:00.000-07:00

SUMMER!

My boys are visiting their G-BA (my mom) in Idaho falls.
I miss there squishy cheeks.

we've been having so much fun in the sun.

so much, in fact, I haven't had much time for blogging.

but if my boys have been absent for 4 days and I am going crazy missing them, I can't even imagine the grief you all are feeling.

you havn't seen them in months!

so....... a summer picture update.

your welcome.

now get off the computer and go outside.

Its summa time.

.success.

2010-05-12T21:10:00.000-07:00

I am not judged by the number of times I fail,

But by the number of times I succeed.
And the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion
To the number of times I can fail
And keep trying

.waking up.

2010-05-05T16:58:00.000-07:00

"on the wrong side of the bed"

Have a fabulous weekend, all. I'm off to Vegas :)

.birthdays and unbirthdays.

2010-05-02T14:16:00.000-07:00

This is a birthday post.
(Where did i find a shirt profiling riggdon as a self portrait? Wal-Mart, of course.)

For Riggdon's first birthday I asked Danny what kind of cake I should make.

He insisted that Riggdons favorite cake was angel food cake with cherry frosting.

funny how that's Danny's favorite cake as well....

he didn't like the candle.

Just for future reference... Riggdon, you can blame daddy for a pink birthday cake :)

YAY! TOYS!

Happy birthday RIGGY!

Now, for this next chapter....

I have a confession.

I contemplated lying to the world about this next bit.
I seriously thought about it.

but.... its Sunday. And I just received much spiritual enlightenment at my stake conference. And I would feel guilty forever.

so..............

These pictures are not from February.
I did not throw a party for my eldest son on his birthday,
February 5. I have not been meaning to post these pictures for over 3 months.

In fact I was planning on letting it go this year.

On Campbell's real birthday, we opened a few presents and whatnot.

whatnot meaning we opened 4 presents from his grandparents.
no cake.
no candles.
no "happy birthday to you"

you see, a lot of.......life was happening.
life has a tendency of doing that, ya know...
happening.

And I kept telling myself I'd throw his party next weekend.
and next weekend got pushed to the next.
and the next.
and the next.

until suddenly it was the end of March and i decided we would just do something FABULOUS for his third birthday.

And then Campbell learned his first song.

"happy birthday to you"
I don't know where he learned it. I don't know when. but he started singing it ALLLLLL the time.

And every time we sang to a cousin at Sunday dinner (which is practically every Sunday with 50 some odd grand kids) he'd look up at me and ask "My birthday?" and my heart would break.

"no, honey. not your birthday."

SO i decided it wasn't too late.
I threw Campbell a party.

in April.

an Unbirthday party.

We opened presents....

He got his very own ELMO.
(notice the "back off, he's mine" glare.)

And mommy baked a special cake....

He kinda liked it.

This is CJ's "Smile for the camera!"

Happy Birthday, boys!

Mommy loves you.

.toad.

2010-04-08T11:18:00.000-07:00

can you believe those scrumptious thighs in the previous post belong to this little thing!?

I can't.

but they do.

one year ago today they placed this precious bundle on my chest.
as i gazed upon the miracle that just came from my body, overwhelmed with emotion, I kissed his soft cheek and said.

"he looks like a toad."

because he did.
and he still kinda does.

Happy birthday, toad.

I love you, little one.

.thunder thighs.

2010-04-06T13:15:00.000-07:00

I call this sequence......

Thunderstruck
(no, those are not rubber bands placed around my sons ankles. that would be his adorable baby fat, simply delicious.)

Don't we wish enormous thighs were this cute at any age?

oh man I could just eat this little boy right up.

.easter.

2010-04-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

HAPPY EASTER!!!

Easter began at our house last night at approx. 8:30pm (one half hour past scheduled bedtime)....

We had a rousing game of Easter memory...

And some serious egg dyeing at 9:00pm.

(if I look exhausted its because I am. Past bedtime, remember?)

whose bright idea was it to dye eggs with 4 boys under the age of 4 at 9:30pm?

mine. :)

But we survived and made it to bed before the Easter bunny could pass us by.

Campbell was stoked about the idea of candy for breakfast.

Riggdon wasn't too terribly upset about it either.

And the search begins... (notice the "moneys" taped to the egg. I thought everybody's Easter bunny's did this... turns out its a kindred family original tradition. who knew? Danny thought it very odd.)

Riggdon wasn't exactly into the egg hunt. He did, however, LOVE the bubbles in his Easter basket.

This morning Easter session concludes with an early showing of of "Here comes Peter Cotton Tail"

That's a wrap!

*Post edit... I have been informed putting money's on eggs actually originated from my grandpa Campbell(my mothers father). So that makes it a Campbell family original tradition. When my mom first did it, my dad thought it was weird too. That is all.

.Laundry Day.

2010-03-29T21:49:00.001-07:00

the saying "put myself through the ringer" comes to mind.

but what does that really even mean?

ringer: the mechanical part of the first electrical washers that squeezed the water out of the clothes.

no, that's not quite right.

I feel more like i've been put through the dryer. on high, "cotton towel" setting.

thoroughly heated and tossed around. bumping my head repeatedly. dizzy, not knowing what was up... what was down.

yeah, that's more like it.

But I'm better for it.

like the cotton shirt all fluffed and yummy smelling after its hot beating from the modern houshold appliance.

life has a way of shaking you up to remind you what matters.

i'm back. and I'll be blogging soon. I have lots of pictures.

I blame the lame metaphor on laundry day.

Tis the season...

2009-12-26T21:47:00.000-08:00

This holiday season not only friend my brain.

It fried my camera.

well, thats not entirely true. Campbell fried my camera.

(note, it takes aprox. 2.4 seconds to completely destroy a camera in a microwave.)

hence my lack of posting.

good news, though.

I GOT A CAMERA FOR CHRISTMAS! yay

You wouldn't guess from these pictures but....

Christmas was a success. (they looked thrilled, no?)

My camera is FABULOUS.

Just like my life :)

But, if you'll excuse me. My sister leaves in the morning and we have some serious girly sisterly stuff to attend to...

hope it was a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

.Playing Cowboys and...

2009-11-20T14:38:00.000-08:00

EVERY

COWBOY

NEEDS

A....

HORSE!!!

Yes, it's a month late, but...

Happy Halloween!

We've been a little busy.

.snow day.

2009-10-30T21:15:00.000-07:00

Outside, its been doing a lot of this...

Inside we've been doing a lot of this...

we havn't left the house in 72 hours.

we're bored.
going crazy.
like caged animals.

Riggs fell asleep after that little tantrum.
Campbell and I played in the sandbox...

okay, its a rice box. (cakepan+rice)
but it was awesome.

And this is how my day...

ENDED

love my life.

.you know you're a mom.

2009-10-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

You know your a mother when...

you spend your TWENTY-FIRST birthday at the hospital with your 19 month old son who may or may not have just ingested lethal amounts of Iron.

True story.

and the answer to your question is no, he did not ingest the Iron.

.a masterpiece.

2009-10-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

I'm not very crafty.

I blog instead of scrapbook...

tie flannel blankets instead of quilting...

you get the picture.

which is why I'm so proud of this little project.

I did it all by myself

I finished it a while back but I've been sitting here admiring my handy work and I must admit,

I'm pretty proud of myself.

It took me about 8 months but...

You can't rush perfection.

Riggdon: A masterpiece.

okay so danny helped. a little.

.a boy and his dog. (with pictures)

2009-10-19T14:00:00.000-07:00

As a mother, there are many "firsts" you get to witness in your child's life

First tooth.
First haircut.
First steps.

These events are exciting and fun, however each first you share with your baby brings a pang of impending sadness. These milestones serve as reminder that they are, despite your efforts, growing up. Each step brings them further away from the completely dependent baby you brought from the hospital. From baby, to toddler; toddler to child and child to, (shudder) teen.

these first "first's" bring you closer and closer to the firsts you do not get to experience with your baby.

first day of school.
first kiss.
first love.

Today I was given a gift. A treasure. Today I was able witness one of Campbell's firsts. One that I normally would not be a part of.

The First Adventure.

Now, I'm not talking first trip to the zoo kind of adventure. I'm talking bona-fide (how the heck do you spell that anyways?) lions and tigers and bears (oh my) adventure. The kind of adventure I think all boys should experience several times in their childhood. Remember the movie Stand By Me? (have you seen it? you should.)

Growing up in a family of only two girls I marvel at the difference between Danny and my childhoods. Mine was full barbie dolls and playing "house". At 6 years old Danny used to walk out the back door with a loaded rifle to shoot rabbits. (can you imagine sending your six year old out to play with a RIFLE? "don't shoot your eye out, kid" What am I going to do!?!)

He and his brothers can go on for hours telling stories of their adventures. I'll have to write them all down for him someday for posterity.

ANYWAYS.

Today Campbell went on his first adventure.

Without his mommy.

The Snow had melted from wyomings latest season hiccough, and we were blessed with a rare showing of an authentic autumn day. Campbell had been cooped up in the house for about 3 days (snow, remember?) and so I gladly shoved him out the door to play. It kinda freaks me out that I have a baby old enough to "shove" outside to entertain himself

After changing a load of laundry I went to the window to check on him.

He wasn't in the back yard.

I rushed out side to find the little twirp, thinking I had somehow left the front gate open and he was on his way to grandmas across the way.

The front gate was closed.

Hm. The only other exit is a heavy wooden gate in the very back corner of the yard. One I thought campbell was much to small to open. Turns out I was wrong. As I wander over to the gate I hear giggles from the other side of the fence. I peer over to find CJ and Aslan (the golden doodle) about 30 feet away near the far fence of the horse corral. Campbell is throwing dirt clods at Aslan and Aslan, thinking they're balls for fetching is slaming his face into the ground, desparatly trying to grab them. And campbell thinks its hillarious. Quite frankly, so do I.

I decide to watch.

Campbell periodically glances back to the gate, waiting for me to burst through, no doubt, screaming his name. Once he realizes I am not coming he decides to venture further away from the yard. I follow him along the back fence in silence. The further away he gets, I notice, the more confident he becomes. His walk became a full fledged strut! He felt pretty dang cool being this far away from home, without his mom.

But the best part of the story, was Aslan. He's the real reason I wanted to write this down. I want Campbell to be able to come back to this story and read about another first that happened today, The day campbell made his first best friend.

Aslan never left his side. He pranced alongside him, always within arms reach, as they crawled under the horse corral down towards the barn. Campbell jabbered to him (he still doesn't say many words) and Aslan perked his ears and cocked his head as if to listen intently. Campbell laughed when a cat jumped out of a bush Aslan was sniffing. Aslan rushed over to sniff Campbell when he fell from a block of wood he was trying to balance on.

It was wonderful to watch.

They were inseparable from the moment they left the corral, as they explored the barn, the chicken coop, down to the garden and back up the barn where I, sadly, had to pull the mommy card. Campbell was on the edge of a very large mud puddle Aslan had just jumped into. It was up to Aslan's knees and, being laundry day, I decided that was just part of the adventure he'd have to save for another day.

My baby is not a baby.

He's a boy.

A boy and his dog.

.ode to summer, cont.

2009-10-12T20:27:00.001-07:00

Okay one last summer post. Just because the mom in me thinks everyone is just dying to see pictures of my boys...

Summer lovin'

gimme gimme "summer" lovin'

I call this sequence...
LIFE'S A PEACH

And this one?

Shootin' the Breeze.

As Campbell likes to say....

"BuBye" summer. Thanks for the memories!

And as for you, winter?
Bring it on. I'm ready.

.ode to summer.

2009-10-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

I've been really....blah.

I think it's the weather. Did I mention there is about 8 inches of snow atop my mod.home? (please notice my oh so modern and hip reference to the trailer.) Yeah it's cold. And I haven't left the house in 6 days... When it snows out in the country, it's really difficult to get into town.

But I gotta suck it up, winter is here. To stay. So my next posts will be documenting the many wonders of winter. I'm going to find every positive thing about this season that I can. If it kills me. And it just might ;)

BUT FIRST. One last tribute to, I'll say it again,
THE BEST SUMMER OF MY LIFE.

During the summer I look for every possible chance to stay out of doors. Last year Danny and I started new venture..

mmm, I miss it already.

okay I got sick of labeling the picture. There was also butternut and acorn squash, zucchini, pumpkins and lettuce. Oh and eggplant. oh and a bunch of different peppers.

I'm hungry.

PEPPERS!!

Basket O' Goodies

.Every Day.

mmmm tastes like summer.

oh and just in case you were wondering how we accomplish such tasks whilst chasing a 19 month old and tending to a wee baby...

we do like the indians do, baby

Strap em' to your back!
genius.

.i've got sunshine on a windy day.

2009-10-01T21:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday and Today the wind blew around 60mph.

all day.

I'm not griping, I promise.

However, I am a wee little bit bummed about the effects of this sudden wind storm...

First........
I live in a modular home. (ie TRAILER.) When Danny and I were first dating he asked if I would ever live in a trailer. I laughed. Little did I know it was NOT a rhetorical question.

It could almost be called a right of passage in Danny's family. All couples or families starting out usually occupy one of the 4 tailors scattered about his parents ranch for a few years. And when tough times hit... many return for a few months. or years... or so. Remember, Danny is the youngest of 12. So there are always plenty of Smiths to fill them. That is why his parents property has become so lovingly referred to as (by the family, the community, pretty much everyone who's been there)

THE SMITH COMPOUND.

lots of laughs. lots of fun. and lots of drama. We honestly could have a reality show, you wouldn't believe some of my stories. Forget you, john and kate.

Needless to say after some major coaxing on Danny's part we now call trailer number 3 home sweet home. And honestly Its quite nice. Danny's dad has the inside completely redone... tile floor, nice carpeting, big kitchen. Did i mention its a double wide? (hahahaha wow , did I really just say that?)

But Danny's dad has the INSIDE completely redone.... Not the outside. And so, sadly, when you arrive on my front steps you are welcomed by the classic, grey panelling that is usually adorned with a beer drinking, wife beater wearin, curse word sayin, mullet man. So I do my best to try and make it.... pretty?

ANYWAYS BACK TO THE WIND STORM. Sorry for the tangent.

Take a gander at these beauties....

My beloved sunflower.

They are planted outside of my double wide.

along with these...

but these are nowhere near as fantastic as

THESE!!!!!

(by the way, this is a mutant SF. It has no center... WEIRD but kinda cool)

Well when 60 mph winds get ahold of my little pretties,

It's not pretty.

It was a sunflower masacre.

So now my trailer is looking.... very trailory.

Yet another thing to add to my list of why I dislike winter.

okay, I am griping.

But can you really blame me?

.Ollie.

2009-09-28T12:04:00.000-07:00

Ollie was Danny's Christmas present last year.

Isn't she just the cutest little thing? She made an appearance in my last post as part of my jogging entourage.

She drives me crazy.

She has so much energy, it's really not her fault. She just cannot contain herself. She jumps, she licks, she barks. She sheds coarse black hair everywhere. She is also rather large. And did I mention? She sheds.

Yesterday I kicked her. She was mauling me, begging for attention but I was holding both of my children and had no option but to kick her down lest she clawed one of my precious babies, scarring them for life. I called her a dumb dog and told her to go lie down. She didn't. She continued to jump and lick and nibble so I kicked her again, harder and screamed at her in a most unattractive manner.

I think people sound.... uneducated.... redneck... ugly when yelling at their dogs. Same goes for the 300lb sweats clad, frizzy haired, toothless mother who yells "you sit down before I smack you upside the head" at the dirty children spilling out of her shopping cart in the wal-mart check out line. But that's not just because she's yelling.

That's beside the point. I yelled at her (I was actually standing outside my modular home at this moment so that just makes this story that much better, right?) And she finally took the hint, cowered over to Danny's truck, and crawled under it to pout. She really is just a big ol' softy...

That was the last time I saw her.

Ollie got hit by a car last night. It was terribly sad. Danny teared up when he told me he finally found her ( we had been searching for about an hour) on the side of Horse Creek road. And when my man cries, I cry. Because what's more heartbreaking than that? I've felt horrible all day because I cannot get that little face out of my head, sulking beneath the truck. All she wanted was a love...

Makes me think... Who just needs a love today? Cookies brought to them? A phone call? A hug?

Who just needs to hear that I care? I need to do it today, no matter the inconvenience. Because... tomorrow might be to late.

Rest in peace Ollie....

And even though you chewed my favorite pair of white peaky toed heels...

You will be missed.

P.S. Aslan is very depressed. It is, well, depressing.

.a tribute.

2009-09-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

Well, folks.

Summer is officially over. And I'm not just saying that in regards to that horrendous weather mishap we encountered yesterday. Today is the "Autumnal Equinox"(or so my calander claims), I think Cheyenne missed that memo... because it feels more like "Winter Solstice"

Whatev.

I'm not going to gripe about it any longer, "People are as happy as they make their mind to be" Says good ol' honest Abe. And I'm going to take it to heart. I'm going to enjoy this Wintall (winter+fall, hehe) season.

But first.... For the next few posts I'm going to pay tribute to THE BEST summer of my life.

I've always loved running. Not jogging, but running. Not sprinting, just running. A good 3 mile + run just does something to for my soul (sounds cheesy, but I'm quite serious) there's just something about that burn in your chest, the fatigued muscles forcing you to dig down to the deepest recesses of your brain for that last ounce of endurance. "just one more mile" "just one more hill." "one more curve". I've heard the endorphins your body releases after a good, hard run are the same as the ones released when your high on Ecstasy. I wouldn't know :) But I seriously feel like I could conquer the world after I'm done.

In St George I had my special little place to go for these runs... Snow Canyon State Park. GORGEOUS It was right down the road from my home in Ivins. When we were living in Salt Lake, after I had campbell, I really tried to start running again. But it just wasn't the same. And although I did it enough to lose the baby weight, I never really got to the point where I enjoyed it again. Well, after Riggs I decided to really commit to running again. I knew it would never happen If I didn't find my "special place" Luckily, I found one. Right behind my little home....

I usually try to go before the kids and Danny wake up... But little Campbell is an early riser (like his mamma) so I often left him in front of the T.V. with a Sing-a-long. That is UNTIL.........

This little beauty arrived. $15!!!!! Don't you love garage sales? Not only does it allow Mr. Kister to join my on my morning jaunts, It also kicks my butt!!! Literally, THE BEST BOOTY WORK OUT!

And, we're off.....

That's Ollie, She and Aslan LOVE the morning run....

My cheerleader...

My "Special Place"

The hilly dirt road behind the Ranch...

I dont know how long I will brave the chilly morn's... But Campby cannot accompany me any more :( Its just a little to nippy. We'll just have to a different morning work out for me and cam. tae bo anyone?

.Sigh.

2009-09-21T13:08:00.000-07:00

It's sleeting/snowing.

A repost of .Summer Afternoon.

2009-09-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Okay so I'm trying to figure out this photobucket dealio... It's not for the faint of heart. So for those of you who havn't read, read on... For those that have, you can scroll to the pictures, or don't. whatever.

Yesterday.

The sunshine from my window warmly welcomed me to the day. Usually I might lay and enjoy the silence of the morning, soak up the suns rays, thankful to have awaken all on my own. peaceful, quiet, free from hungry screams (riggdon) or a book landing square on my face, demanding to be read. (campbell).

But not this morning.

I quickly jumped out of bed and threw on my jogging gear. An unsettling feeling of anxiety was slowly growing in the pit of my stomach. I had to go. I had to start my day. now.

I wasn't quite sure what the underlying cause for my urgency was. No doctors apts.... No early engagments. but for some reason, I just felt the need to get up and moving. Turbo time.

Campbell was just stretching the sleep from his limbs, when I crept into the boys room. I scooped him up in his little feeted pajamas and loaded him into the jogging stroller (I'll have to tell you about my newest toy later).

It was perfect. Perfect temperature. Perfect light breeze. Perfect running compainion. Perfect Morning.

When we returned from little jaunt, Daddy and Riggdon were awake, eating breakfast. My anxiety seemed to have diminished, a little. The house, however, was a mess. Last nights dishes were in the sink, bits of zucchini casserole littered the floor beneath CJ's booster seat. Sand from the sandbox toys campbell insisted on bringing in the house yesterday crunched beneath my running shoes. The bed was unmade. Laundry to be done. Bathrooms to clean... and yet....

"We're going to the spray park." I announced

Danny looked up from the gob of grey, cement looking baby gloop he was about to shove into Rigg's hungry, open mouth with a puzzled look on his face,

"This morning?" He questioned

"yes, the morning session starts in a half hour. Get ready."

Danny's expression turned to one of surprise. Raised eyebrows. big eyes, you know the look.

"what?" I asked.

He waved his feeding hand towards the kitchen mess, causing the disgusting mass of mush to fall from the baby spoon and fall with a sick splat to the tile floor.

"Yes, I know it's shocking but I'm going to leave this mess and go to the spray park. Go get your swimsuite"

20 minutes later we were loaded up in the car ready for a fun filled morning of water frolicking. When we pulled into the parking lot, I knew something was wrong. The lot was empty. No minivans with sticky handprints decorating the back windows. No suburbans with "I'm proud of my cubscout" stickers on the bumper. No station wagons with soccerballs stuffed in the back window. Just one lone, yellow 80's Toyota Corrolla, the back seat totally free of carseats.

My anxiety level began to rise.

As we walked past the municipal pool, behind wich the spray park is located, my feeling of dread steadily increased as the echoing sound of childrens laughter muffled by the walls of the indoor swimming pool filled my ears. This only emphasised the lack of giggles, free of the restraint and constriction of cement walls, that should have been filling the mid morning air.

When we reached the spray park gates, I knew where my morning anxieties had come from. There, posted in ugly teenage lifeguard scribbles on a white sheet of printer paper, was this note...

Spray park closed for Fall Season.

Summer is almost over.
And I am in mourning.

I'm terrified of letting any of these last few beautiful summer days go to waste. I'm trying to squeeze every last drop of warmth out of every last ray of sunshine. I've been trying to ignore the cooling evenings. The crisp mornings... but it was inevitable. This short, cool summer is about to turn to a long miserable winter. (I'm not so found of the colder weather, can you tell?)

So for these last few weeks, maybe even days, of summer I am going to live outside. I've contemplated pitching a tent. The laundry will remain undone. The dishes, dirty. My floor, filthy.
And i'm going to take a lot of pictures. to get me through these next 6 months. to remind me it won't last forever. (okay, maybe I'm being a little dramatic but I really love sunshine.)

In loving memory...

The Spray Park 2009

We were a little shy the first few visits...

But we warmed up rather quickly (with a little help from dad)

And Riggs, as usual, was fat and happy.

CJ and Helena Beana.

Until next year, spray park...you will be missed.

.magic brownies.

2009-08-29T09:49:00.001-07:00

Today I made brownies...

From scratch, thank you very much...

With peanut butter frosting...

Oh but these aren't just any little brownie...

They're "special" brownies...

I put something magic in them...

It's green.

It grows outside.

It makes you forget.

Forget about the thousand of calories you just consumed after devouring the entire pan.

I don't even feel...

guilty.

And some of you may scoff...

You may laugh....

It sure does make me giggle...

I like to feed them to unsuspecting people.

Let them eat a few,

and then tell them whats in them.

Oh man, the look on their faces!

Today I made brownies...

Magic brownies...

I puts something special in them...

My secret ingredient???

ZUCCHINI!!!!

Mwahaha. Had you worried, didn't I?
Yes, I'm so hilarious, I know.

Okay, so we planted two zucchini plants and they are thriving... maybe a little too much so. We have zucchini coming out our ears.

Todays menu....

Breakfast
Zucchini pancakes (pretty good, actually)

Lunch
Veggies pizza's with peppers, onions, tomatoes and SHREDDED ZUCCHINI.

Dinner
Lemon chicken on the grill served with lemon peppered, grilled (you guessed it) zucchini.

Oh, and don't forget the brownies. You can eat like three and get a full serving of veggies! Like we need that right now. Can you eat too many vegetables? I have made probably 8 loaves of zucchini bread over the past few weeks and I have three Ziploc baggies of shredded zucchini in my freezer.

Help.

The zucchini are taking over.

.ZzZzZzZ.

2009-08-06T13:35:00.000-07:00

I love naptime.....

I can complete an entire task (i.e. mopping the floor, folding a load of laundry, updating a blog ect.) without interruption.

And when babies awake from said naps they're oh-so-happy, at least until they realize that gnawing pain in their belly.

our BIG RIGG.
such a smiley boy.

.July 4th.

2009-07-04T14:30:00.000-07:00

I've decided the Fourth of July is my favorite holiday.

Summer love.
+
Family love.
+
Hamburger love.
+
Little boys loving Firetrucks and Floats in the parade love.
+
Watching little boys love Fireworks love.
+
American Pride Love.
+
Patriotic Music Love
=
I love the 4th!

If I was home I would bake an apple pie.

Happy Fourth, Everyone!

love it.

.Picture Time.

2009-07-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

While Danny is home, slaving away, the boys and I are livin the life, visiting Grammy and the GG's (great grandparents) In Idaho Falls.

My uncle John, master photographer extraordinaire, was oh so nice enough to take some INCREDIBLE pictures of my boys and I while we are up here.

I only wish Daddy was here so we could have gotten some family photo's. But what we did capture was fantastic....

Here are a few of the 300 pictures we took during the 3 hour photo session... (the perks of being related to your photographer)

At first Campbell was a little camera shy and wouldn't show his chompers for the cam.
don't you even think about smiling cj,

Riggdon, however, quickly struck a model pose.

It really didn't take long for CJ to warm up though.

Warm and cozy...

Hang loose, dude.

now, with both of the boys it was a little difficult to get good ones with mommy.
But we managed to get a few...

We got Campbell to sit still long enough for the camera to focus with this cat toy...

yes... a cat toy...in my mouth.

Whatever it takes to get the shot, right?

It was quite hilarious.

After Riggs fell asleep things got easier.

We got some very classy photo's

I love love love them all. (Thanks Uncle John!) I wish I could post them all but it takes for-freakin-ever to load.

Intoducing....

2009-06-16T15:01:00.000-07:00

So, all of my hard work finally paid off...

And, despite you're doubts on his existence, I really did bring a son forth into the world the 8th of April, 2008 (sorry it took me so long to post pictures)

we're happy to report the labor was a cakewalk, and the little rug rat arrived intact with

10 fingers and 10 toes.

Without further ado, I bring you RIGGDON SCOTT SMITH!

aww, Isn't he just adorable?

Campbell even approves.

And we haven't stopped running since the second he was born. We've been SOOOOO busy! Trips to St. George and Salt Lake. Planting a garden. Changing about 80,000 diapers a day. Primerica business is BOOMING, I'm seriously a single mother at the moment. Danny is working so hard to win for our family, he works twelve hour shifts and goes out on appointments everynight. He's a S-T-U-D.

Our life is a little hectic at the moment but I'm enjoying the ride.

Life is good.

.yes, we are alive.

2009-05-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

Hello, Kids!!!

My internet is out indefinitely... We know what needs to be fixed but its quite the job involving many hours of manual labor and Danny's work schedule (he's started his ambulance job) may make it difficult to complete.

so...... this is really quite mean of me to do for I have no pictures but...

RIGGDON SCOTT SMITH

arrived April 8th at 4:15 pm. 6lbs 5oz 19inches long. Labor was ridiculously easy. He's perfect in every way, ten fingers ten toes. All that jazz. He looks a lot like his brother did. I promise to post pictures ASAP!!!!

I've been kind of crazy busy with finals and new baby and everything... Danny's been working quite a bit as well. But I thought i'd just give a little update and let y'all know we hadn't dropped off the face of the earth.

.Yum.

2009-03-24T21:14:00.000-07:00

Snack Time!!!

Please note, I had just mopped the floor oh.... 45 prior to the catastrophe.

Its a good thing he's cute.

.Happy Days.

2009-03-21T20:36:00.000-07:00

SMILE!!!

The internet is back up and running.
Now I must catch up with school.

Joy.

.Down.

2009-03-16T12:27:00.000-07:00

Our internet is down...

No one knows when it will be back up and running.

Its making "ONLINE" schooling very difficult.

Not to mention I have many cute photos of my bubba to share with the blogging world.

sigh.

well....until the next time I find a few minutes to steal the computer at grandmas....

Have a fabulous life. Love,

Marcie.

.Be Mine.

2009-02-19T08:09:00.000-08:00

Nothing says Valentines day like red roses...

My hubby gave a dozen red roses this Valentines.

of which I got six......

But don't worry... three went to my sister, three to my mother.

Which is pretty much adorable.

They all ended up staying on my table in Wyoming when Karlee and my mother went back to Idaho anyways.

And I got an orchid.

Which will last long after the roses have wilted.

If I can keep it alive.

Since grandma Shelley was here, Danny and I got to go to the sweethearts dance at the church. Alone.

Which was actually quite fun.
Did you know my husband could swing dance?

good thing one of us can.

And I promised a belly picture soooooo......

29weeks.

Almost there. Well, not really. There's still plenty of time to accomplish my goal of becoming the first human blimp...

.Sundays.

2009-02-09T11:45:00.000-08:00

Ah, Sundays.

It's such a cute day.

.CJ's BDay.

2009-02-06T14:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday to you.
Happy Birthday dear, CJ.
Happy Birthday to you.

We sang.

We ate cake.

Lots of cake.

We opened the gifts.

And we were spoiled rotten.

Campbell made off like a bandit this year. (and Isn't that the way it's supposed to be for the big 1st?) Don't you love his battery powered ATV machine?! It actually works, and he's finally figured out you have to push the button to make it go.

I have to brag about the wagon full of giant Legos on the right... and this may label me as cheapo mom of the year but... it was a whole 5 dollars at the good will! It's seriously in mint condition without the $40 price tag.

Campbell's other new mess makers include: a set of classic, old fashioned, wooden alphabet blocks (my personal favorite). Big, blue, rubber, bouncy ball (not featured in photo), A set of toy rings, 2 sets of Tonka cars, a "little people" truck, 4 outfits, those blocks where they try and put a square one into the triangle hole and whatnot, and two adoreable books.

good work, kiddo.

This morning in his first act of one year old rebelion, Campbell found this binkie (the frightening thought is... where?) and has decided to revert back to 6 months ago when he weaned himself and refused (to my dismay) to take it anylonger. He now will not give it back.

Campbell, I know it's tough growing up.
The first birthday is always a big one!
And I know you want to stay my little bug forever.

But seriously? Give it up.

.The Crash.

2009-01-30T21:35:00.001-08:00

I was living in beautiful, sunny St. George Utah when I finally reached the milestone year of 16... Beautiful, sunny St. George is where I learned to drive. Beautiful, sunny St. George and its clear, dry roads. Never any ice! Only problem.... I moved to cold, windy, Cheyenne Wyoming. Cold, windy, Cheyenne, Wyoming with horribly Icy, slick, nasty roads. After living in beautiful, sunny St. George the entirety of my driving career has caused a horrible dilemma. I am 20 years old and I have no idea how to drive on snowy, winter roads.

All winter Danny has pounded into my head what to do should I happen upon any slick roads whilst driving.

"Take your foot off the gas. Keep your wheel straight. And whatever you do DONT touch your brake."

He's taken every opportunity to give me all sorts of pointers.

I've still had a hard time working up the courage to drive after one of Wyoming's famous storms. I usually just wait until Danny needs to go into town for something and ride along with him.

Until last Friday.

I had agreed to help my niece, Charlie with her testing for hair school. She needed a model for her "facial" test. She really had to talk me into it.

I had to be there at 9:30am. So... at 9:00 I stepped out the door to head out to the hair college. one problem... A storm had moved in overnight. The roads were covered with about an inch of snow. The plows had not yet made it out to the "boonies" where we live. Danny was still sitting in the house in his gundies, having agreed to watching Campbell while I went to pamper myself. I didn't have time for him to get ready, load up CJ and have him drive me into town.

And to be honest with you, I didn't want him to know what a pansy I really am about these roads.

So I put on my big girl pants and got into my trustee Isuzu Trooper. I made it down our country road without too much of an incident. It was a little slick and I was sliding around on the road a little bit. But I was handling it like a champ! I was actually pretty excited to get home and brag to Danny about how well I handled myself.

And then I got on the interstate.

I hadn't made it 1/2 mile down the highway when I hit a particularly slick spot. I was going about 50mph when I had my first experience of all four tires loosing their grip to the road. Danny's voice boomed in my head.

"Take your foot of the gas. Keep your wheels straight. Don't touch the brake. Ride it out."

I began to drift off of the highway to the side of road, taking out about 3 reflector posts. BAM BAM BAM. Great, there goes my bumper. So much for bragging about how well I handled the roads.

Now, this next part.... I don't even know how to explain what happened. I was watching the reflector posts disappear beneath my car when I felt my front tires catch on a patch of dirt. I began my wrestle with the wheel to keep it straight as my rear tires continued to slide all over the place.

And then I was suddenly facing the interstate.

It all happened in slow motion. I had so much time to think so many different things. This isn't happening. Holy $h!% I'm gonna roll! I can't recall every thought, but I do remember my last panic stricken one as I looked to my right, hugged my stomach, and watched the snow covered ground rapidly approach my passenger window.

My baby.

I blinked. That's all it felt like, a nano second. When I opened my eyes a little Mexican man was kicking in my windshield and screaming in his heavy accent

"Miss, Miss? You hear me!?" My car was on its side, the drivers side window gone and I was laying in the snow.

"My baby" I groaned

"baby?" the mans voice took on another level of panic.

"oh, my baby" was all I could say. The little man disappeared. It's so cold. I remember thinking.

More voices.

"There's a baby?" A slow Wyoming drawl, questioned. I'm so cold "Ma'am is there a baby in the car?" the same drawl repeated.

Nothing made sense. My voice wouldn't work. And I was so cold.

"He's kicking in the back window... the car seat IS back there but I don't see a baby" Wyoming man called out to someone. I suddenly understood the Mexican's risen state of panic.

"No, no. Baby's in my stomach. There's no one else in the car" I managed to get out. my baby. please move. move baby. kick me, please.

"They want to talk to you, ma'am" The Wyoming man handed a phone through the windshield. damn, its cold. I've got to get out of this car.

"Who?" I asked

"The paramedics. Ambulance is on its way."

I took the phone with one hand and unbuckled my seat belt with the other. Ive got to get out of this car. get warm. The woman on the phone tells me to stay in the car. I'm not staying in this car. I need to get warm.

"Ma'am I need you to stay where you are. paramedics are on their way."

"I'm not staying in this car, I'm cold. " I practically screamed at the woman and hung up the phone. I crawled through the broken windshield, not even aware of the glass shards being pushed into my palms. A little Mexican woman helped me to my feet. I looked at her, she looked absolutly terrified.

"I'm freezing" I told her. I couldn't stop shaking. shock does crazy things to ya.

"My car" she offered. She led me to a large white truck and helped me inside. "okay? you, okay?" she asked in her heavy accent.

"I'm fine. It's my baby. I'm pregnant. My baby" please baby, kick me. She's was still looking at me in horror. I didn't know how much she understood

"You bleeding" she said pointing to the side of my head.

"What?" I raised my own glass covered hand to the left side of my head where she motioned. It was warm, wet. I brought my hand back in front of my face, drenched in blood.

Everything went black.

"Marcie, Marcie I need you to wake up for me, okay?"

I open my eyes. I'm in a small, dark room. Everything's bouncing. Sirens. I'm in the ambulance.

"Marcie, you were in a car accident"

"I know, my baby"

"I know your pregnant Marcie, we're getting you to the hospital so they can check on that baby. but I need you to answer a few questions for me, Marcie"

"Okay"

"I'm George with American Medical Response" AMR, thats where danny's been training to get his EMT. Danny. I want Danny. I need Danny. George is asking me questions about allergies to medications and pains in my stomach. I can't think of anything but Danny.

"Do you know my husband?" I ask

"Marcie I need you to answer these questions for me"

"He's training with AMR for his EMT. His name is Dan."

"Dan? Your Dan's wife?"

"Yes... can you call him." I choke back a sob. "Please"

So Danny gets the dreaded phone call saying "your wife's been in an accident" not from the hospital, but from his buddy George. Which, I guess is better than the hospital. He gave him the lowdown and told him to get his butt to the hospital.

At the hospital there are a ton of nurses and doctors poking and prodding me me a million questions. I do my best at answering them... all the while repeating:

"My baby, check the baby"

And everyone is ignoring me. I'm getting angry. please baby move, kick baby, kick.

"Marcie when was your last tetanus shot?"

"I DONT KNOW! I DONT FREAKIN CARE! SOMEONE CHECK ON MY BABY DAMNIT!"

A few minutes later a tiny nurse with a kind voice bends to my ear level and says.
"Hi, Marcie. I'm the OB nurse. Lets get a monitor on that tummy of yours"

I takes a few minutes to get the monitor turned on and the goop on my belly. I can't breathe. But the moment she puts the monitor on my stomach that familiar weoweoweoweow of babies heart beat sounds from the speaker. I don't even notice the tetanus shot being pushed into my arm, the I.V. being shoved into my vein. Tears of relief burned at my eyes.

Danny is suddenly at my side. "oh, baby" he whispers. (I'm sure I looked a fright) "Oh baby, I'm so sorry" He keeps repeating, gripping my hand.

And then baby kicked.

The tears came.
and wouldn't stop.

This is what your car looks like after rolling two and a half times.

The part that's bashed in? Yeah, that's where I was sitting.

How was I not crushed?

My escape route, the shattered windshield.

Wrecks that leave less damage kill people.

I walked away with a concussion and a sliced ear.

It went all the way through, (hence all the blood) not quite sure what did it. But the doc did such a nice job stitching it up, I don't think there will even be much of a scar

Sorry for such a long post. It's not very well written, I know. Please excuse all the grammatical errors.

I just wanted to tell my story.

I feel lucky to be alive.
I feel blessed.

Every day is a blessing.
a gift.

Since the accident I've been a little emotional, yes. But I've been incredibly happy. When my son wakes up at 7:30 in the morning I don't wish for another few minutes of sleep . I jump out of bed, excited for those morning snuggles and giggles. I treasure every second of every day. Every kiss from my son, every "I love you" from my husband, every kick from my baby.
speaking of baby....

during ultrasounds to check on the little one after all the commotion we found a little something.

a little something that baby girls don't have.

BABY IS A BOY! haha. funny eh?

BIG Thank you's to:
the nurses.
the doctors.
the Mexican family.
the Wyoming man.
George, the paramedic.

I wish I knew all of their names

Everyone's prayers. phone calls. meals from the relief society.

And to my heavenly father, for giving me a a while longer before calling me back home.

There's still much I need to do down here.

.Haircut.

2009-01-18T15:27:00.001-08:00

I have been waiting. praying. wishing. dreaming Campbells hair would start showing signs of those adoreable curls.

It never happened.

Poor kid's got some frizzy, fine hair...
and it was starting to mullet-ize. and the mullet would constantly have these horrendous knots in it.

so I gave up.

meet baldy. he's the cutest bald man you've ever seen, right?

I think so.

I about cried because it makes him look like a little man, all growed up. sniffle.

And for those of you who wonder what mothers of little one year old boys do all day....

They clean.

messes like such as this.

several times a day.

This is cambpell dismantling the dvd's from their rack. His other favorite disassembling messes include: the pots an pans cupboard. The bookshelf. the bathroom cupboards. His bottom drawers.

He also enjoys unrolling the toilet paper. He's not satisfied until the entire roll is unraveled.

.Goodbye.

2009-01-18T15:09:00.000-08:00

Well ladies and gentlemen...

This may be a goodbye of sorts for a while. You may not see me for a few months.

like a semester.

You see, I did something a little crazy. I decided to sign up for a full semester of online schooling. My thought process was something like

"Well, I'll just get a whole semester done before the baby comes, then I can just take a few classes here and there"

Which is a good thought, right?

I think I may have forgotten for just a moment that I ALREADY HAVE ONE LITTLE MONSTER.

So, In other words ALL of the time that I have to myself, (ie when I'm not cleaning up poop, feeding a screaming one year old, or trying to maintain somewhat of a clean home) will be spent on the computer... not blogging... but studying.

psych. english. and algebra.

I do have one class at the college. Pilates. Yay for being forced to staying active in some way throughout my entire pregnancy.

I'm actually really excited about it. School's always been important to me.

Just don't expect much blogging on my part.

WISH ME LUCK!

.Merry LATE Christmas.

2009-01-06T06:25:00.000-08:00

Okay, so I know I am WAY late with this posting.

We're in the process of moving so things have been a little crazy.

Spent Christmas in Idaho with my fam.
It was great.

but please, remind me NOT to travel for Christmas next year.

Anywho, I don't have much time so I will just give you all what you want anyways...

PICTURES of my adorable child.

and stuff.

Campbell loved finally being able to tear into the pretty boxes I've been keeping him away from for a month or so...

This is probably his favorite toy. Balls pop out of the middle and fly into the air like magic.
It's really incredible.
Where does grandma Shelley find such things?

Okay so this one is tied for favorite toy. The bear rug. Grandpa Kindred didn't do to bad. Campbell loves to bury his face in the soft fur.

My son looks thrilled, no? He went to bed at 12 and woke up at 6. Traveling really messes up the schedule.

Notice the mountain manish appearance? Danny decided he was NOT shaving until he received his beard trimmer for Christmas. Thank goodness that's whats in the box.

You've already seen the cradle, And here is my other half of Christmas. MY ROCKING CHAIR. We didn't actually bring it but my adoreable husband took a picture and put it in a card. I seriously had no idea.

Unwraping all those boxes was pretty overwhelming. He crashed for about 3 hours. It was a wonderful Christmas peasant. Thanks CJ!

And here is Danny's Preasant. Meet Ollie the baby German Shephard. She's the sweetest thing you've ever met. She's such a good little puppy, already knows not to doo doo in the house and doesn't chew on anything except the toys we give her.

So that's about it.
hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a happy new year.
much love,

Marcie.

.The Results.

2008-12-19T14:24:00.000-08:00

Hey kids!

The results are in... The Smiths are having a little........

sososo excited! A little girly girl. yay!

.Colder Than a Tin Toilet Seat on the Shady Side of an Iceburg.

2008-12-14T07:40:00.000-08:00

SEVENTEEN.
NEGATIVE
SEVENTEEN.

That was the temperature (with windchill) last night when I went to bed.

We had brought Campbell into our room before we fell asleep and put him in the baby cradle because
A. His room is the coldest room in the house
B. The wind was shaking our house so bad I thought we might pull a Dorothy and blow away to somewhere over the rainbow. Plus it was loud and making him restless.

I awoke at four o'clock this morning to find my house at the roasting temperature of 52 degrees. The furnace couldn't keep up.

It was cold.
I had to pee.

Campbell woke up to the flush of the toilet .

After taking in his surroundings he began to giggle. It was cute, but it was four in the morning, so I fixed him a bottle hoping he would fall back asleep.

no such luck.
He thought we were having a fun little sleepover.

Neither Danny nor I wanted to get up and rock him back to sleep(52 degrees, remember?), so I tried the -lay him on my tummy, pat his bum- trick for a minute but he was squashing his younger sibling so I made Danny take over.

After 45 minutes of jabbering and singing to us, Campbell began clawing at Daddy's beard. And by clawing I mean pinching and scratching with his razor sharp baby talons. He thought it was hilarious. Quite frankly so did I. It went something like this

Claw
Danny: "OUCH!"
Campbell: a mischievous "Giggle"
Claw
Danny: "OUCH!" and a firm "No"
Campbell: a delayed "giggle"

I couldn't contain my own laughter. Danny did not think it was so funny. After a while of this, Mine and Campbells giggles growing increasingly loud, Danny stood up abruptly, marched to Campbell's room, and put him in his crib.

party's over, folks.

He cried for about 2 minutes, realized the sleepover was over, and fell asleep.

The whole thing lasted until 6:30
CJ woke up at 7:45

we are not going to church.

.Rockabye Baby.

2008-12-12T17:24:00.000-08:00

Danny and I are leaving for Idaho Wednesday for Christmas

+

One of my presents was to big to fit in the car.

=

Santa came early!

My darling husband has been slaving away in the shop the past few weeks.... I have been DYING to know what he has been up to.

I bring you.........

THE CRADLE!!!

Ahh I love love love it. It's an antique cradle that was in pretty bad shape when he found it. He fixed her up and isn't she oh so beautiful?!?!

I can't wait to find out what this new little bundle of joy is so I can pick some colors and make a blanket!

Thank you Danny dear.
Your so thoughtful.
I love you.
Muah!

.Mr. and Mrs. Gingy Bread.

2008-12-11T15:24:00.000-08:00

Meet Mr. And Mrs. Gingy Bread.

See their beautiful new home.

Notice the paved walkway...

and shingled roof.

Their decorator is fabulous.
They even have stained glass windows.

They're really quite an agreeable couple.

Stop in for tea sometime.

.So This Is Christmas.

2008-12-04T20:38:00.000-08:00

Today I shall take you on a grand tour of THE SMITHS CHRISTMAS HOUSE!

Danny and I originally thought we were going to be moving across the lane (and by across the lane I mean around the corner to the back trailer, more room in there) before Christmas so I reluctantly agreed to forgo the Christmas decorative this year. Well, those plans changed and we will not be moving till after the holidays. So... my agreement of nixing the "decking of my hall" was nixed.

Mr Scrooge. (aka my delightful hubby) still liked the idea of forgetting the yuletide. I'm pretty sure his reasoning was it was now too cold to brave hanging the Christmas lights.

So I did it.
All by myself.

yes, I am a little proud .

And not 10 minutes after the last string was strung a light snow began to fall. And not 10 minutes after that I experienced my first Wyoming blizzard.

Great timing, eh?

Moving right along.... The first Christmas decoration this year is my poinsettia. It is a must for Christmas every year.

The mantle is adorned with a string of red Christmas lights and other nic nacks.

And here is my prized NATIVITY SCENE. My oh so talented mother made this for my Christmas peasant last year. I had to restrain myself from putting it up last January.

It is from the book "The best Christmas pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson.

It's children putting on a Nativity pageant... so cute, right?

*note peaking out from under his donkey costume.

I'm going to go down to the barn....if this wind ever stops threatening to blow me away... and get some straw to put down around it. I think it will add a nice touch, no?

And here is our fabulous Christmas tree. Coming in at a whopping 4.5 ft tall, this little beauty was decorated for a grand total of

$3.00

brought to you by le dollar store.

Yes, the star is made of tinfoil.

The tree itself (I usually opt for a real one, there's nothing like the smell of a fresh christmas tree) was "borrowed" from my mother in law who has about 27 around her house. She wont notice its missing...

just kidding, of course, I asked her permission:)

Here is a close up of Campbell's favorite new play toy. The Bulbs.

His not so favorite play toy is this santa hat....

It's a little big.

I'm so very excited for Christmas this year... I think it might have something to do with this little stinker.

Someone better tell him that santa clause is watching...

I don't think he got the memo.

This is Christmas.
This is love.
This is my life.

.Monopoly Marathon.

2008-11-30T16:15:00.000-08:00

I have discovered three things this Thanksgiving weekend.

1. I am horrible at Monopoly.
2. My husband kicks butt at Monopoly
3. If we played Monopoly every day, our marriage would not last very long.

Thank goodness for Scrabble.

.Smooches.

2008-11-06T06:45:00.000-08:00

Gus Gus giving CJ a big, nasty, wet smooch.

Good dog!

After that smooch CJ needed a bath.

He loves the water!

.Photo Shoot.

2008-10-31T18:46:00.000-07:00

Tonight Danny is doing his first "ride-along" for his EMT training. It should be an exciting night, being Halloween and all. But with Daddy gone Campbell and Mamma are having a not-so-exciting night. We decided to take some pictures with my new camera. Here are the results...

Ignore the boogers, please.

and this is his Zoolander pose

Up close and personal

Giggle monster

k, I kinda look stoned.

aww, Campbell kisses.

.Utah Trip.Halloween.

2008-10-27T10:12:00.000-07:00

We returned from our Utah trip Friday.... I thought going home for a week or so would make me a little less homesick but the trip had the opposite effect. I would really love to move back to St. George. It could have something to do with the fact that it was close to 80 degrees the whole time we were there and then we returned to um.... 20 FREAKIN DEGREES. haha. But it's all good, we enjoyed the sunshine while we were there. Here are some pictures from the trip

12 Hours in the car was exhausting... Campbell cried almost the ENTIRE way. Here was one of the blissful moments that he wasn't.

We took Campbell swimming for the first time. He loved it!

He and Pappa had a blast splashin in the pool.

Karianne's wedding was beautiful. It was so good to see all the girls... Cass and Renee's bellys are adorable.

On Saturday our Stake put on a Candy Corn Festival so we dressed up little CJ in his giraffe costume...

He wasn't quite sure what to make of the costume the ride there. He kept trying to pull off the head.

The sweet lion is his cousin teagan, 2 weeks younger than campbell. And no, those cute little glasses arn't part of his costume he needs to wear them. I absolutely love them, I think campbell needs a pair :)...

I dont think he ever really figured this Halloween thing out but he did love the candy!!

.No.

2008-10-16T22:26:00.000-07:00

Campbell has recently acquired a new skill. His first form of communication, in fact. (aside from crying, of course) Campbell can shake his head "no". Cute, right? I'm sure the cuteness will wear off fast as he learns to use it more, but as of right now its the most adorable thing any baby has ever done. I'm sure of it ;).

Today we were in the Wal-Mart check out line and Campbell was shaking his head non-stop. He loves the attention he gets from everyone when he does it. A young Hispanic man was standing behind him, laughing. The man says

"well, what are you disagreeing with, little one?"

At the sound of his deep voice CJ stopped mid head shake and stared. There's something about a manly voice that puts him into a trance. He was staring so intently at the man that I joked,

"Campbell, its impolite to stare!"

The man laughed and said

"It's okay, he's just thinking "I've never seen such a handsome Mexican before""

and right on cue Campbell started shaking his head no, no, no. Like he was saying "uhhh yeah right, dude" I'm sure you had to be there to fully appreciate it, but the whole line was laughing hysterically.

.Jack Frost BITES.

2008-10-11T12:27:00.000-07:00

I do not like fall.

I do not like fall because it means winter is near. The leaves turn beautiful oranges, browns, even reds... this is not a bad thing. I rather enjoy the lovely collaboration of colors. However, a chill begins to take to the air. Sweaters and jackets begin to replace t-shirts and capris. An evening stroll becomes less a desirable activity. An ominous feeling of dread hovers over the last few warm afternoons. The only good thing I can say about fall is that it somewhat eases us into the most horrible of seasons. Winter

There is a reason why I love St.George so much. Fall is about as bad as it gets. No snow. No Ice. No bone chilling winds.

And here is the reason I am hating Wyoming so bad as of now. This morning I awoke to, not a chilly fall morning, no. This morning I awoke to LEAFCICLES. Yes. leafcicles. You see, here in Wyoming this year, mother nature has decided to forgo the whole "falling" into winter and leap straight from summer into FREEZING MY BUNS OFF. The trees have not had a chance to transform in to beautiful masterpieces. No, they have not even shed some of their leaves. But this morning I was hit in the head with falling leafcicles. Frozen leafs. frost covered the ground, Icicles hang from the roof. And to top it all off, Wyoming has decided to show off its famous wind, making it about a thousand degrees colder.

I think I'm going to go into hibernation.

.Pictures.

2008-10-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

My mom just sent me these pictures via E-mail...

He loves his pappa!

Campbell and Grandpa Campbell reading Dr. Seuss.

Grandma Shelley bought him this way cool piano, which he LOVES. His mamma's happy about that one :)
Natalie's wedding.

.I.

2008-09-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

I am...PREGGO AGAIN! YAY!

I think...before I speak.

I know...without my family, I would be lost.

I want...to move someplace warm (st. george? please?)

I have...an incredible husband.

I wish ...for summer.

I hate...being cold

I miss...my mommy.

I fear...the current economic situation.

I feel...SICK. morning sickness. more like all day sickness.

I hear...Naa Naa Naa Naa. Campbells new babble.

I smell...nothing, my nose is stuffy.

I crave...dairy queen resses blizzard. Well, at least at the moment. These things change all the time lately.

I cry...more when i'm pregnant. I'm not all that emotional otherwise.

I wonder...if its a boy or a girl.

I regret...chances not taken.

I love...Campbells open mouth kisses.

I always...kiss my hubby goodnight.

I am not...the best driver in the world.

I believe...my family is forever.

I don't always...remember important dates. I forgot fathers day and my best friends birthday this year :(

I win...or I'm irritated. Even if its a stupid little board game. I'm a little competitive.

I lose...EVERYTHING. I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached.

I never...have had a cavity.

I listen...intently. Need to talk? I'm right here.

I am scared...of driving on icy roads.

I read...a lot. Jodi Piccoult is my favorite right now.

I am happy...when my little C.J. giggles.

.103.3.

2008-09-22T10:49:00.000-07:00

My little booger was so very sick last night. He's been battling this cold for a few days and he's had a little bit of a fever for the past week or so because he's cutting his first toof (so cute). But yesterday evening he woke up from a nap BURNING up. I took his temperature and it was 103.3. I, of course, had a little bit of a panic attack. We called the doc, and over Campbell's screams he told us to immediately put him in a cool bath. Let, me tell ya..... that was fun. I've never heard him scream so loud. We gave him some Motrin and Tylenol and within the hour the fever broke. After that he slept ALLLL night, something he doesn't usually do. And today he is perfect again! yay.

Cambino is now pulling himself up on chairs and whatnot and walking along couches. He will be walking within two months, guaranteed. SCARY! He'll be a maniac.

My mommy and sister just left. They stayed the weekend with us to see our little family sealed for time and all eternity, which was INCREDIBLE! We loved having them here and hate to see them go :( I don't think we will get to see them until thanksgiving.

We're going to be in St. George for my good friend Karianne's wedding in October. I'm ridiculously excited, been a bit homesick lately. It will be a nice birthday present for me

The Denver Temple

.Camping.

2008-09-05T18:49:00.000-07:00

We just got back from camping up at Rob Roy resevoir. Had TONS of fun. I would love to tell you all about it but I really just never make time to make these blogs incredibly descriptive. They do say a picture is worth a thousand words so..... PICTURE TIME!

First off... I asked CJ if he was up for a camping trip. He was pretty excited.

Then, we went to Sam's to load up on supplies

Campbell had fun with some of his cousins....

and his dad.

Who needs a campfire? Roast marshmallows on the stove!!!

My boys love the great outdoors.

Cj went on his first fishing trip... sadly no fish were captured

But we had fun!

Okay so he didn't exactly like the life jacket...

but it was adoreable.

Found out Camby Pamby loves pickles

And camping really wears us out.

Obviously, we had a fantastic time. It did, however take me 4 washes to get the campfire smell out of my hair.

In other news... Campbell can officially crawl. He's a holy terror getting into everything and anything. It's so fun!

.Grandma's Visit.

2008-07-30T11:36:00.000-07:00

Ah, the first post. Where oh where do I begin? So much is happening in our lives right now and I dont have enough time to elaborate on all of our happenings soooo.... heres a little picture update of my mom and sister's trip out to the ranch.

Grandma Shelley had fun feeding our little Cambino his breakfast...

Almost as much fun as she had riding horses!

We even talked Karlee into getting up on ol' Casey

We took my history buff of a mom to the capitol...

And no, I dont think I'm supposed to be up there.

They Helped us get our food storage into buckets....
I struggled with the lids.

And while Karlee...

and the kids babysat...

Danny and I took a much needed break.

Grandma got her Campbell fix.

And they even experienced a few Cheyenne sunsets.

All in all I think they had a good time. We were sad when they had to leave. But now were up here in Idaho Falls visiting for a week and going to the temple...

I'll hopefully be able to update more when we get back to Cheyenne!