Blogg's a movin

So in realizing that this blog is a Smith/ Pena blog (it's in the name), I have made a new blog

http://mileyandmommysmith.blogspot.com/

please update your stuffs!

Love, Stephanie and Miley Smith

Let the Freedom begin!!

Ok, for the last oh, 7-8 weeks now Tony has decided to involve himself in alcohol and drugs and disappearing for days on end with girls again. From the moment I found out I was pregnant with Miley, several times a day I would warn him if he so much as went back to alcohol or drugs I would divorce him. So, Last Thursday I sent him the divorce papers as well as an order of protection (he gets very violent when intoxicated) and kicked him out of the house.

Finally, I am almost free! the evil tyrant who's been ruining my life is no more going to blame every single thing on me. he would even blame me for zits! Can you believe that? Any whom, i am so happy to be rid of him. this past week has been so refreshing. i really appreciate having Miley. with out her i don't think i would have ever been able to get a divorce. shes been the perfect motivator and distraction. I love that little girl more than anything.

I have had so much confidence come back to me. i have even started to cook! I'm so happy that i'm getting divorced!!!!!!!!

Miley is getting so cute! shes loving crawling around, and even scoots on one legs when shes on the tile to move faster- its so funny! Shes also wanting to start to stand. She will climb up on the couch and let go for a moment until she almost falls backwards. I cant believe it! shes only 7 months and she always wants to stand and walk!

Last night Sterling and I were at Aprils for dinner and one thing we had were sweet potato French fries and someone had dropped half of one on the living room floor and i noticed Miley was crawling towards it (i was in the kitchen eating) and put it in her moth. when i went to go take it from her- it was gone!! She had decided it was good enough to eat and ate it.

Miley's Loving embrace is all I need.

Miley is getting more and more mobile. Along with her mobility is her new ablility to hug, kiss, and reach up for me. She crawls to me all the time now and will start climbing up my legs. its so adorable! She now also says "Mama" which i taught her in one morning! She loves her Grandfather and Uncle Sterling. Her top teeth are comming in and she's going through an stage that I think every parent has trouble with. She is constantly grupy and wanting to be held. Today alone shes crawled to me like 50 times every time I would try and go to the bathroom or eat, but for some reason the only thing she wants more is electronics. What is it with babies and electronics? She would be on the floor and I would be watching her and if i turn around for a second she has my phone, camera, or the remote control in her mouth, and I think, where did she get that? I didnt even know where that was! Its almost as if she secretely walks and picks up said item and hides it to knaw on when my back is turned. Miley is so sneaky!
Miley has also developed a facination with feet- or toes. She chases them around, and I even caught her about to knaw on my sandle- GROSS. I cant wait till my shoe rack comes in from Poundex. It will be nice to have certain things out of her reach.

Reminder: if you dont do it already, throw your sandles in the washing machine or wipe them with disinfectant wipes weekly. More bacteria is on them from sweaty feet and dirty places.

same with your cell phones. make sure to wipe them with alcohol 70% or higher daily in order to remove dangerous bacteria...like fecal matter- EWWW.

Miley can pull herself up now!!!

When stayin at my parents house last Saturday, Miley woke up and crawled to the foot of the bed, and climbed up to the bedpost to examine and feel the different textures and designs in the wood. Amazed as I was, I didnt realize that she had pulled herself up on her knees. Since then she has pulled herself up on her knees with everything. I have also been propping her up so she is standing on our couch pillows to face the backyard where she loves to watch buddy and see what goes on in the daytime. Yesterday she decided she wanted to look out into the backyard so she went from playing with a book on the couch, to climbing up the pillows and faceing the backyard. I was astonished that she made the decision to look outside even though she couldnt see outside until she worked her way to the top of the coushins.
Amazing me even more, This morning I placed her on the floor in frount of the couch and she crawled to me and started to pull herself up the couch using the blanket on the couch as a rope. I could not beleive my eyes! She climbed into a stand and was reaching up for me to pick her up! She is getting so smart!
Yesterday eavning she also started to crawl to me whenever she was hungry and now she laies her head on my chest or on the bed when shes tired. Its soo cute to watch her become more and more loving and adorable. Its like now she goes and does whatever she feels and is more expressionate.
Like just now I went to get her from a nap and the second she saw me she turned herself around and craweled towards me. After nurshing she felt something ( a dryer ball) with her foot and turned around to get it. Im so amazed by this little girl!
Its halarious how she even eats now. When we are laying ont he bed and she feels snackish, she wasll crawl to me and start climbing my belly- even if im asleep. she will then look for my num nums and fest away face down on top of my tummy. its so funny!

I love my sweet little anfle who is watching me type, standing from the couch cushions. I love my Miley :)

Miley: What else is there to talk about??

Lots of stuffs been going on with my darling Miley. She now sits up on her own, crawls like crazy, enjoys baby food, and LOVES to go swimming. I am constantly amazed at how big she continue to gets. She is always examing objects and I can see her growing mind learning and takeing every detail in.
I can already tell that she is going to be artistic like me; I have been told that I amazed my uncle and parents by always being able to put together puzzles and visualize the complete picture at a very very young age. My uncle Virgil always tells me of how when I was a little baby (I'm guessing around 2ish) he and my dad were putting together a car motor in the living room (yeah, I dont know why the living room either) and I was so smart that I would hand them the exact tool that they needed. Uncle Virgil said I would also put together little cars like they were nothing (I have no idea what he refers to, but it really stuck with him). I have always been very good with puzzles and finding what things go to. Even when I last cleaned out my moms toy closet, I would hold a miscelanious peice of something and then its whole image would just hit me and I knew what it went to- even if I hadnt seen said toy in several long years. It was almost creepy how I knew what it would go to. I see Miley being like that, only hopefully she will be a little more book smart like her father.
Miley and I went to our ward for the first time together. She was so excited. She enjoyed seeing new people; especially all of the other babies. She was so calm and quiet and really paied attention. I could just see her little spirit soaking in all the love. I kept telling her that this was our ward which is a big family of families. On the wall were pictures of the recent girls camp trip, and I would point to the pictures and say "see, theyre all sisters, but theyre not related- is'nt that neat? Theyre your sisters too, and even though they dont know you yet, they all love you!" and she would just get so excited! Im so happy to be getting her into church again!

A message to Miley with love from her Mother

On monday i go in for surgery- not thats its a risky surgery, but theres always risk when going under anesthisia and i just want to make sure that Miley knows for a fact how much I love her.

Currently My little princess is 5 months, 1 week, and 3 days old. how exciting my time wiht her has been. im so thrilled to get to spend every waking moment with her- even if she is screaming her head off. I love her precious smile and her little laughs. i love it how she will knowingly play tricks on me and how she expresses her personality so openly. she will alwways make me laugh. she even goes out of her way to do things she knows will bring a smile to my face. a few days ago she ended up sucking on my cheek- first out of teething and wanting to suck on something- but when she realized it made me laugh to the point where i almost peed my pants, she kept doingit and laughed herself. since then, during a game of horse, she will rock all the way forward and suck on my cheek and laugh while shes doing it, knowing that it tickles me and so we laugh together. another game she plays with me is she will pull my hair or shirt or some part of me to her face and put it in her mouth- she gets this adorable "im going to do something silly" look on her face as she does it too. i love it how she always pulls me in for kisses- even if its just her sucking on my lips, she knows that it means affection and "i love you". sometimes she will even use the high pitched "i love you" tone i use with her when i tell her how i feel about her and she will say three silibals, as if she means to say "I love you!" to me. i love how she touches my cheek so tenderly when she talks to me. now i even get to wake up to her singing to me. she will tug on my shirt until i wake up, smile, say something sweet in a loving airy voice, then when i tell her "good morning my beautiful princess!" she will sing to me. she will take deep breaths and in that sweet airy voice do long tones of music. She always smiles and loves it when i sing to her, shes the best and biggest fan ive ever had. Miley will even try to duet with me every once and a while. I wil sing and she will join me, and if i stop, shell stop until i start again. its so cute! im amazed at how important this little girl means to me. even at less than 6 months, i feel as if ive known her my whole life and that she is the best friend i will ever have. shes so smart. she understands picking out her own clothes. i will lay several outfits in frount of her when she is on her tummy, and she will prop herself up on her arms, take a few glances at each outfit, then grab one, stick it in her mouth, roll over and play with it like a toy. when i ask if she wants to wear it, she will look at me and talk like "yeah, this is the one i want to wear today" and not give a second look at the other outfits as i take them away. i love her so much. i love it when she gets a huge and devious smile on her face then a second later you hear her rip a fart. i love it when she even fills her diapers, because she will roll over and put her legs up and becon you to check the diaper and change it. I love how she enjoys baby wipes. she always give a :ahh" sigh of releif when they touch her cute little butt (she has her daddys bottom :) I love how excited she gets when we do the "new pants dance". she will always smile and giggle, and if i forget to do the new pants dance, she will put her legs up and move them and her arms around and hollar at me like "wheres the dance, dont forget my dance!". even whenn we do the new pants dance afterwards she moves her arms and legs in excitement and give and exasperated sigh like "That was fun!". I love the sparkle of her pretty dark brown eyes and how wonderfully happy she is every morning. i love how when in bed trying to get her to sleep she just rolls over after or as im feeding her and be on her belly and turn her head to look at me and smile and say something to me or have her eyes closed and her mouth will suck the air and when she opens her eyes to notice im not right there feeding her shell wine like "get over here!". shes so spoiled. even my mom and april are amazed that i can feed miley while shes on her belly. so spoiled and adorable. i love how my baby turns heads. i love how people are drawn to her and know instantly that i love her more than anything- even enough to deck out her carseat with pink frill and toys everywhere. i love picking her up in the air and plauing airplane. i love how i can swing her around and chew (num num num) on her tummy or little legs in the air and she laughs and giggles. i love her smile and adoration. i love to watch her sleep and wonder what she dreams of. when she scowels in her sleep i will put my head to hers and sing while patting her belly or back and that usually makes it better. i love how i can feed her when shes aleep- i love it how she looks for my niple and always finds it. i love it how one time we were shopping and her little hair was staticy and clinging to the top of her car seat that she was in. it was so adorable! a few days ago we were playing horsey and miley stood up on her own without my help or me hoding her- TWICE! i was amazed. she even did it twice today too and tony was amazed! she is contantly amazing me. shes so strong! her little legs really hurt when they kick me in the face (which she loooooves). she supports herself so much with her legs and all i do is hold her hand. its like she already knows how to stand up! i just know shes going to walk before she crawls. even with sitting, she sat one time after a bath and didnt sit up until a week ago when we introduced a new toy to her and she just sat up instantly to play with it like shed been sitting all her life! on eo fmy favorite things is when were both on our sides on the bed facing eachother and shes in the fetal position hooked up to me and im in a somewhat fetal position surrounding her. i love feeling her little body curled into mine it gives me the most wonderful feeling like i have to protect her and the ultimate love for her. i love it when she looks up at me and smiles or talks to me with those big brown eyes soo sweetly like im the greatest thing in the world.

Miley,
I hope that grow up strong and are an active Latter Day Saint. I hope that you find a man worthy of you. I want you to know that you are more precious and special than anything or anyone else. For the man you marry, choose someone with the same belifes as you. Choose someone who loves you for you and is willing to give and serve you. Choose a giver- they may not be as 'adventerous' or 'dangerous' or maybe not as 'fun' as society may think, but they will love you unconditionally and always choose you over anthing. Choose someone smart, both in life and experience (this doesnt mean book smart necicarilly). As a woman, you should know that we mature mentally and physically much quicker than men. I know that first hand the 'fun, adventurous, dangerous' types dont always end up being the right type. even though its exciting, you mostoften find your heart broken and that can bring you down. dont ever let anyone tell you your worthless, ugly, boring, or any other negative names. These are all false and not true. Even if he apologises a million times, you dont let anyone talk to you or treat you like that and you find the strengthy to leave (I will even carry you if you need me to). You are the most beautiful creature that graced this Earth. You, Miley, Are the prettiest, smartest, funniest, talented, funest and strongest person i know- an so far you are only 5 months old! I can already tell you are talented and fun because you always come up with new ways to make me laugh. i know your a lover and giver because of how you always bring a smile to my face when im down (you littely smile and talk to me when im sad until i laugh and smile) and how you gracefully acknowlege me with loving words and tones. i know how smart you are because i can see you figure things out. in your first few days of birth, at the hospital you put your hand on mine and streached out your curled fingers and just stared, examining how much bigger i was than you. i could see your little mind thinking and figuring out that i was a giant; but one that would love you and take care of you more than another- including daddy! I hope that you are a creator and not a destroyer. in the time that you were born, there is so much hate, selfishness, destruction, and dishonesty. i pray that you will not take part in this. learn to love your parents (and grand parents) and honor them. learn to help others before yourself. yes, you are the most important person out there, but in service you learn to be humble and when you are humble by choice you become so much happier. Please choose a mate whom is humble. Watch out for your children as i have you. your family and children will be the most valuable thing you take from this life. Even if your child is unplanned, love them and take care of them. I will always help you. Since I can remember, I have prepared for you- long before i met your father, long before i went to high school, long before i was even old enough to date (which is 16 by the way)- i have prepared for you, My Miliey Liane Smith. You will one day experience the joy of being a mother. When that time comes you must throw away any selfish needs or wants. Your child will be the most important thing in your existance. No matter how theyve shamed or dammed you, you must always love them unconditionally. you must teach them love and forgiveness. do not hold anger. this is something ive had to deal with towards past and present offenders. do not blame. do not be afraid to take responsibility for your faults- instead be honest so you may learn from mistakes. "A wise man learns from his mistakes; a wiser man learns from the mistakes of others." 'when Thomas Edison was asked about his hundreds of failed attempts at making the lightbulb, he responded they werent failed attempts; just ideas of how not to make a lightbulb'. dont look at things you do as a failure. think of them as learning experiences. Uncle Michael always asks his children when they bump their heads jumping off a bed or falling down "What did you learn?" He does this not to offend his children, but to make them think about their actions and the consequences. even if we do something good we should ask what weve learned. we learn that sharing and service makes us happy and feel good inside. we learn from everything and when we learn- wether from life lessons, lessons of others, or by books- we gain knowlege and knowlege is a power that we will take into our next eternal life. I pray that you will be much like me when it comes to love, kindness, and patience. Your father is wonderful, but can be rash at some points. please excercise patience and love with him. He grew up very differently than how i will raise you and your furture siblings. His life was hard and full of blame and lies. Although he loves you almost as much as i do, he has a hard time expressing love and feelings. please, do not be afraid to say "I love you."
"I love you Miley! More than the sun, moon, stars and the heavens. I will always be there for you no matter what you do wether good or bad. I will always do my best to watch over and protect you with all of my being. Dont ever let anyone belittle you. you are the most precious, bautiful, intelegent, smart, adorable, georgous, loving, adoring, sweetest little girl God has had the pleasure of creating. I am so very very happy to be blessed and honored to be you mother. You were meant to come to this Earth and fufill a wonderful destiny and life- God has made sure to keep me here long enough to have you, and I hope he will have me stay on this Earth long enough to see you mature into a fine loving daughter, wife, and mother. I love you more than anything Miley and My love for you will never dwindle. I love you" ~*~ Mom (Stephanie Dawn Smith) Friday June 4, 2010

A childs laughter

For the past...forever Mi has been sick. Wether it be an eye infection, an ear infection, a cold, and ear infection again, or possible phnomia only a few things have stayed constant- her new ear peircing screams, only sleeping in 15 minute segaments (ugh), and her adorable laugh! I must admit, like every parent, so many times throughout the week I just want to put her down in her chair, walk outside, and scream at the top of my lungs in frustration and lack of sleep- but I dont. It seems like every time I am almost to my breaking point she stops screaming long enough to look at me and smile or laugh. Her adorable laugh just gets sweeter and sweeter. Miley is always trying to play games with me such as putting her hands, my hair, or my shirt in her mouth at feeding time and when I take them out and say "Thats not for eating" she laughs, or last night I was watching tv with her and I laughed at something on tv and she began to laugh; then we both laughed our heads off as I would tickle her or she would stuff my hair in her mouth, then shed pull me in for a kiss to tell me she loves me and it makes everything worth it. Today Tony was watching her and he was holding her up on the back of the couch and she would look at me on the computer and just start dancing (bouncing her legs up and down on the coushins) and had the hugest smile on her face! Shes soooo cute!!

Miley's Tutu

Last week Miley, Grandma and I accompianed the Goulds to a charity fundrasier thing for their ward. Apart from the $xx amount of money I donated (for two yummy apple fritters, some snickerdoodles, and a huge cupcake); I was lucky enough to win an adorable tutu for $8 complements of Lulu's Tutus (http://www.luluTutu09@etsy.com/ or lulustutus@gmail.com) and it is ADORABLE!! Yes, I know, I'm buying dress up clothes early, but it's just too danged cute to pass up (note I also purchased her halloween costume for when shes 3..or 4.. maybe 5 too, lol).

Miley has been really adorable lately. I'm so happy that Tony and I just purchased a NICE cammera (and 46 inch tv- YESSSS!! ^_^) and it takes georgous photographs. Im so excited that I can finally decorate my walls with Miley- Miley, Miley, Miley everywhere! She has finally started playing with her feet; im hopeing that she doesnt suck on them, but thats a later thing i guess. Miley also is laughing what seems constantly- for a 4 month old she has quite the personality. Miley is always taking blankets or my t-shirt and trying to stickthem in her mouth as shes feeding, and the entire time she has a devious lok on her face, then when i tel her "no, hands dont go in the mouth" she giggles and laughs and we have a good time. shes alsoreally liking tv. every time i put her in her chair in the tv room she looks up at tghe big screen, expecting elmo or kim possible or tewwty bird. even right now shes llaying down on the autamon on her belly, looking at the tv- watching the colors dance across the screen. Whenever we are sitting in the computer chair, she fusses and squirms until a youtube video of signing time, little einstines, or super simple songs. when they are on she just laughs and dances in total bliss. Shes also abig roller- meaning shes always rolling around- from one side of the bed to the other and even in her bathtub- she almost rolled out of her bathtub and onto the floor! shes a very wonderful joy to have at all times/ I love her soooooo much!!

Miley's Huge Miley-stone (milestone)

Last night as Tony and I were drying off Miley from a bath, I put her on the bed to give her a fresh diaper, but she did not want to lay down and she sat up on her own for a good minute; Tony and I were caught so off gaurd that we forgot to find a camera until the last minute when Miley decided she was done with her giant feat- but Tony managed to capture one little blurry picture of our little angles first sit! I am so happy that Tony was there to see it! I dont know if she decided to sit up earley because of her new interest in food, the constant "When you sit up all on your own, you can eat big girl food", because she noticed that we purchased baby food, or if it was just time for her to sit, but she's starting her stitting phase! I am so excited! I am also a little sad because my little girl is growing up too fast already- I mean, she needs to be cute and fully dependable on me for at least another...20 years! So, after she was dressed up and I had showered, I really chariesed her feeding and laied next to her as she drifted asleep and slept, knowing that very soon my perfect little angle wont rely on me %100 andbe more indipendent *tear*; but I knew it was going to happen sooner or later. I am so excited and proud of My Miley!!!!!!

Mischevious little thing- like 2 minutes after this picture was taken she super pooped like 5 loads for me...dripping everywhere it was horrible.

Mileys new kicks

Shs starting to find her feet- although she loves other people to play with them more

Little miss independent!

Miley sitting up on her own for the first time in this blue thingy! She loves it!

Mileys new carseat

So cute!

Me and Miley!

Miley and George the monkey

stinker.

First time sitting up without human help! This only works with Grandma's couch :)

Most of my pictures of her napping

She reminds me of a boxer in this picture- with the diaper and the robe. later that day i had her pink mittens off so it looked like she was going boxing

Shes got the prettiest eyes.

Miley's song:

I love you, yes I do.

Grandma and Grandpa, they love you too.

You're so cute, and so sweet!

You are lovely enough to eat! (munch, much, munch)

I love you!

Things have been getting very exciting with Miley lately. She just loves to talk to me about everything, and her smile grows bigger and brighter every day.
Miley has a stuffed monkey (approperately named curious Gerorge) and she just loves him to peices. Every time she sees George, she grabs him with both hands, pulls him close, and gives him an opened mouth kiss on the face. Miley then will hug him and tell him every little detail about her day so far. I even have to wait until she puts George down on her own because if I take him away from her she yells and screams and gives me an ear full of a lecture. Its amazing how much of a personality she has already devoloped.

Miley loves to also go outside. she loves all of the different colors, sights, and now smells. We were at the supermarket in the fruit isle and she was just extatic as to how many viberant colors there were. I went and showed her every single fruit and she would flail her arms and legs in excitement at each one. She even is starting to smell everything. Whenever we are about to eat something that smells good, Tony will put it up to her face and you can see Miley's little nostrils move followed by an expression at what we are about to eat. I know that she is getting more and more excited to eat different foods, and it feels like everytime I rub her gums, she tells me how she cant wait to have her teeth come in so she can eat food.

Miley's little front teeth are about to pop through- I can feel her bottom front left tooth about to pass through the surface of her gums. The next teeth will be almost her entire upper mouth; they feel lower and lower every day and I think "No wonder you complain so much about your teeth hurting you". I am pretty sure that she will have Tony's strong, healthy, "super star" teeth; Now only if she can get her biteing under control...

Miley also loves to go to different places and meet new people. I'm always told what a beautiful and calm baby I have (too bad they dont see the 'dark side' of 2am) and she will always smile and talk politely. She loves compliments and seeing new faces. We were at the chiropractor the other day and when I asked Richard if he could adjust her he said to just leave her alone because she looked so healthy and happy. He said 'most babies that come in just cry and scream, but Miley is so calm and happy that she doesnt need to be adjusted'. I had him check out her neck anyway- just in case. It then cracked me up when I went to lay down in a room with electrodes on my back and they turn off the lights and shut the door most of the way, that when Miley started to fuss (still doesnt like the dark..), one of the employess just picked her up and walked out with her. The employee then began to show Miley off to everyone and I could hear the girls all laughing and giggeling at how adorable Miley was (whom obviousely loved the attention and didnt mind that I wasnt in the same room).
Afterwards, we went to Garcias with my Mom, Sterling, Stefanie, Sara, and Ashley, and while I was waiting for our table, and older lady sat next to us and woud play with Miley's feet and told me how I had such a good litttle girl and how she looked so plump and healthy. Then when we were eating, Ashley, whom was sitting acrossed from us, would wave her hand and say "Hi" with a great big smile to Miley who in return would smile and kick back.
Then Mom and Sterling invited us to go to the dollar store with them and Steling was playing with Mileys feet and she laughed for him. Miley is really starting to laugh alot. When Tony tickles her she will smile and giggle.

Miley Liane Smith

Adorable!!
(taken a few days ago)
Pose!
Miley and Mommy
Miley has the prettiest eyes ever!
Family Photo
Miley and Tony just a few minutes old (look at how happy Tony is to be a daddy :) )
Miley: The perfect stocking stuffer!
"Santa's over rated"


We were blessed (and surprised) when on Christmas Day, 2009 we were given a healthy and beautiful baby girl weighing 6lbs 15ozs born at 5:40pm. Not even 2 hours old and what do we do? We stuffed her in an over sized stocking and Santa hat and took a billion pictures (to which she didn't even complain or whine to once). Tony is so happy to be a dad and loves to hold and cuddle with little Miley.

Miley is absolutely beautiful! She is always happy and when she is awake, she looks around at everything and coos and smiles. She is also a big mover and loves to kick, move her hands, roll over, and most recently, pull hair. Currently she weighs a little over 10lbs and I cant believe how fast she is growing up! So many times in the day I ask myself, "Where did my little Miley go?" already I see her being old enough to ride a bike, then in an instant she's off to college and getting married; so I am cherishing every little moment with her and am thankful that Tony's salary is getting us by so I don't have to work.

We have also been in the process of buying a house for the past 7 months and we finally finished signing all of the paperwork! Tuesday we find out if we have a new home for our little girl. My dad has been so excited because he loves to fix up houses (especially for his little grand baby) and he cant wait to "get all of my stuff out of their garage so he can have his house back." Yes; We haven't moved hardly anything out of the garage since it was put there 4+ years ago, but now we will have our own home to decorate as I see fit- I'm so excited!! I cant wait to decorate Miley's little room and make it all hers :)

Putting food storage in meal sized bags- Now why didnt we think of that before??

Mommy and I went to a really yummy seminar put on by her ward releif society (notice the new link to their blog). I thought it was going to be all about how to make your food storage work better for you by storing meals you like in pre-prepared one meal bags, but instead it focused mostly on how to make some extremely easy english muffins and tortias (flower, whole wheat and corn).

I was amazed at how simple the recepies were and how quickly they were done- even better they were the most AMAZINGLY DELICIOUS SCRUMPTIOUS muffins and tortillas I have ever had! so warm and moist; and I usually hate corn tortias- but WOW! I couldnt tell the difference between corn, whole wheat and flower! I must have eaten like 6 all by myself, and Sister Waring made the bestest homade salsa and beans (note: im salavating right now just thinking about it); the class really inspired me to learn to cook more often- I hope that when I attempt to make any of these recepies that it will go just as easily.

Onto the storage part of it-

What it basically is, is that you go through your food storage list and choose as many non-perishable, easy (or not so easy), favorite meals that your family will actually eat. You then gather all the ingredients needed for said meals and distribute them into individual or family sized servings (like 2 cups of flower with a tablespoon of salt can go into a ziploc). Then you print out or make a copy of said recepie and place that and all the pre-bagged ingredients into a 2 gallon ziploc and vola! You have a meal in a bag! Best part is that the ingredients last for years and because its meals your family likes, rotation is easy. Sister Smith brought up a good point that it also teaches your kids to cook meals for themselves in case your not home.

The examples that Sister Waring brought to show were as follows:
Meal 1: Spagetti, sauce, and bread ingredients (for breadsticks)
Meal 2: Pancake mix, syrup, canned meat
Meal 3: dehydrated beans, tortia mix

Sister Waring stated a third meal in a day is not as important because you will sometimes have leftovers or can find other things to snack on or can just last until dinner in case of emergency.

More information can be found at:

provident-living-today.com

They also stressed how important water storage is. They mentioned that in case of a disaster, the city would shut off all water supply to the pipes because that is pre-treated water and the only definate way to treat new water is with clorine (which is not a good idea to store because it's presence can become hazardous)- and unlike what our mothers were taught, bleach is not a way to treat water; it is highly hazardous (plus it only has a shelf life of 2 years)

When saving for water storage, make sure that you have at least 2 gallons per person per day. It is suggested that you invest in a water pump with filters and also water purification tablets (tablets or a water pump alone do not completely make water sanitary; you need bolth).

I am excited to learn more about food storage and will try to update on the subject more.

The ZOO!!!!!!!

Day at the Zoo:

While everyone else went to the super cool family reunion, I went to the Zoo with my dear husband, Tony. He had used his week paied vacation for the year, but unfortunately, he couldnt get the time off for the family reunion, and I wasnt about to leave him (not to mention that I got really, really sick around Thursday eavning and pretty much slept for 3 days, lol)

The Zoo was a blast (mostly because that day it was FREE if you showed them your FRY's card), but besides the giraffs, all the animals were sleeping in corners and under bushes because of the heat. One ant eater was even taking a bath in the sprinkler head and got water over EVERYONE! it was funny; I wish I had a good enough camera to take video and put it up on youtube. The whole experience was very pleasurable- minus the heat..and walking...and being sprayed by an anteater, but it was a blast because both of us hadnt been to the zoo for many many years (I think I was 9 when I last went). I didnt mind having to look for the animals either because it was like a "wheres Waldo" search book in real life. I couldnt beleive how much more child/ mother friendly the place had become. there was a spray play area where the water shoots up from the ground and jungle jyms and everything! It made us both very excited to take our little girl there one day when she is born and old enough to enjoy it.

Not much has changed as far as the pregancy goes. everything is running smoothly and my baby still insists on kicking me in the ribcage whenever I try to relax. My belly is also HUGE and some days I can litterly feel it growing in size. My little one also has definitive hiccups almost daily and it seems that she is always awake- especially when uncle Sterling is around and yells "Hi" to her lol. She still falls asleep or calms down whenever I sing to her which I know will come in handy when she is born, and she also recognizes Tony's voice because she moves alot whenever he talks or reads to her at night. He is so happy to be a daddy! He is constantly rubbing and kissing my belly, telling our little girl how much he loves her, and even if he is running late to work he always has time to come give his little lady a kiss and tell her he loves her :)

Tonight I ate dinner with my Mom, Dad, Sterling and uncle Ron and aunt Verna, and she was moving the entire time like she was just trying to listen in on our conversations. We also have determined that I have gained nearly 25 pounds since getting pregnant, so I am certain that she will be a pretty big baby (but hopefully not 10lbs like Sterling was).

I have been fortunate enough to find a copy of my birth certificate and Tony's original (which I thought was lost forever for some reason..) and I am just always thinking about what our baby is going to weigh and look like. Tony was 6 pounds 6 ounces while I was a whopping 7 pounds 13 ounces- a whopping 1 pound 7 ounce difference! She definately is taking up the Hubbard weight so far, and when Sterling looks at me and jokingly calls me "fat", I just laugh and say "That means my baby is healthy!!". I am very happy that she is a big growing girl :)

All in all, things are going awesome (minus the horrible back pain and lack of sleep, but I take multiple naps a day) and the doctors are all very happy with the baby's progress. Even my dog, Buddy, is learning to make changes and he doesnt seem to mind them (I know, its weird to say about a dog, but its true) He no longer goes on the couch and is very patient with me when I forget to get him food or take him potty and he is careful to stay out of my walking path and no longer begs for me to put him on my lap and baby him. ok Im going to stop now because its sounding weird...LOL!!!

Love you all, nighty night!

Feeling a little...ditzy

Look at the curves on that little girl! I have an outy belly button now :) I just got back from an OBGYN appointment and the thing on my arm is from where they drew blood for testing.

Since July, I have been busting my brain to figure out how to remove the "forth of July" background on my blog. Did I feel retarded when I finally took the time to see that the "edit" button in the layout give you the option to delete old wallpapers. FINALLY! A background that isnt fireworks! So as I sit here, watching my dog go to town on a T-bone from lastnights dinner at Texas Roadhouse, I wonder how many people have had that problem.

A quick update of the past few weeks:

We got rid of Cali the cat- mainly due to Tony's over worring about me getting Toxoplasmosis from her used litter (which I could no longer tolerate the smell of). She is with a nice family that loves calico cats and couldn't stop saying how cute she was.

Tony got bitten by a stray black kitten so to make sure it didn't have rabies, we were forced to take it in for 10 days... which somehow turned into 3 weeks. We didn't take it to the pound because they told us that after the 10 day holding period they would put it out for adoption only 1 day then put it to sleep, and like the overwhelming animal lovers we are, we took in yet another cat. We finally got rid of "Simba" by giving him away on the all famous craigslist.

The biggest project that has taken up- oh say the past 6+ months of my life, was our garage sale. I went through everything that I have obtained over the past 20+ years of my life and it was not fun. I had so much crap in my parents garage and attic that when we put everything in one pile, my stuff alone took up 3 of the 4 garages my parents have- and that is stacked bins one on the other. Now my poo only takes up maby half of one garage (I know, I know, thats still ALOT), it is mainly forgotten wedding presents (I had good silverware this entire time and I didn't even know it!), kitchen stuff up the yang, and several bins of makeup and easthetic stuff. So even though there is still alot, when we move into our new home (should be before the year is over and the baby is born), I will have yet anoter garage sale. The best part of all of this is that Mom and Dad now have an attic and 3 garage's plus a bedroom once again- something that they have not had for...since I went to Utah in 04. Now if only Sterling can learn to do the same...lol

:) :) I AM NO LONGER A PACK RAT!! :) :)

My baby update: My little girl (whom we still have no idea what to name her) is going to be a karatie teacher. She is constantly moving and kicking. Why, a few hours ago we tried to see if we could hear her heart beat with a stethascope and as soon as we placed it to my tummy, she kicked it and it actually hurt Tony's ears. She is constantly excersizing her muscles and every day I feel like she becomes more and more active. You can see her moving if I am laying down. It makes me giddy when I sing because she will always move- even if she was asleep. I really hope that she likes music as much as I do. So far I have gained about 18 pounds and now strangers are approaching me and rubbing my belly, so I must be showing pretty good. Tony and I are so happy to be parents and cant wait to see what our little girl is like.

If anyone has any good girl names, we would like to hear them. We are clueless when it comes to names!!

IT'S A......

Today was the day. We found out what our little infant is. Here are some of the ultrasound pictures. As you can see (and feel), our little one is a mover. The nurse had the hardest time trying to get any good pictures, so this is the best we have.

So what is our little infant?

IT'S A GIRL!!!!

Yep, another healthy baby Smith girl. She currently weighs 9 ounces and her fingers and toes are all there. I'm amazed at how much she has changed since her last utrasound. You can see all of her little bones, toes, and fingers; and her size is considerably larger. I personally love how you can see her little lips: perfect for bombarding with mommy kisses once shes out of the womb. Tony and I are so excited!!!

Cali the cat and Buddy the dog: two enemies forced to live with eachother

This is our little Cali (short for calico kittten- the other two were white and black). Shes and adventerous sweetheart and Buddy is just in love with her! Its so nice when everyone in the family gets along ^_^

Our Baby's First Pictures!

The first tri-mester ultrasound of our little baby:
(and yes, it is too early to tell if it's male or female)

Note: if you scroll up from the bottom one you can see him going to suck his thumb: so cute!

Update: I just remembered my password!!

Hi everyone! I totally forgot how to update this thing and the most exciting has happened since the last time I uptdated- Im Pregnant!! According to this week calculator thing, Im currently somewhere in my forth week. My estimated due date is January 1st; so baby Smith will hopefully be a new years baby!! Yay!! Even more exciting is that tomorrow is my first ultrasound and I am just bursting with excitement for this exciting event seeing this forien thing growing in me is going to be exciting! EXCITING EXCIDED EXCITEMENT!!!! WHOO!!

Other things going on, We have a little kitten, Cali, added to our small family. With hope, Buddy (our dog) will have a fun playmate-- if Cali learns to stop hissing at him every time he looks at her :) We got Cali from Sterling whoms cat Fuzz had kittens. Being the only girl in the litter, Tony wasnt give much choice on which kitten to choose from. One day when I learn how to upload pictures on this thing, I will be able to show her to everyone.

We are also house searching! This is a process taht feels long and argeous mainly because everything in our price range is slim pickings. Im excited though. Today I found the perfect little 2 bed 2 bath 2 car garage in a nice family neighborhood overlooking a small playgroung. Lets hope that we will be able to make a good enough offer and get it **Fingers crossed**

So in a nutshell, thats really all thats been goin on lately, at least on my end of things. I will try to keep this thing more updated.

Living life to the X-TREAME!

Yesterday Tony and I were breaking in my new motorcycle jacket (purchased just an hour beforehand) by driving down the canyon lake trail and eating at a little diner in what used to be a mining town. Not half a minute were back on the road to go home when the bike slid on some loose gravel (due to the roads deteriorating condition) and fell (skidded about 10- 15 feet). Man was I ever grateful i wore that jacket! it saved my arms and shoulder from really getting messed up. the only damage i got was a bruised and slightly cut left knee, a "flesh wounded" right knee and a small cut on my back. My husband however wasn't as lucky. both his knees are as cut up as my right knee and he has a few more scrapes and cuts, but were both thankful that his jacket, gloves, helmet, motor cycle boots, and surprisingly his cell phone took the majority of the damage. when i fell i skidded for a split second then rolled several times into the oncoming lane, but tony was being dragged by the bike. Thank heavens he had put his cellphone in his pocket (because we were taking pictures with it moments before departure) instead of back into his jacket pocket. when he was being dragged the bike took him with it and his cell was in his right pocket and if it wasn't there I'm and sure he would had to have been either air evacuated or ambulance evacuated because there would be bone damage and severe tissue damage. even with the phone there you can see a huge red bruise where it was sitting in his pocket. we are really lucky. there was another biker coming up behind us and he fell as well just trying to assist us. we are lucky that there was no real on-coming traffic because we would have been hit on either side. two oncoming bikers also saw us fall and they both helped us up. lol they were all amazed that the bike still started and that we were both acting as if nothing happened (note our pants were trashed with huge gaping holes and blood all over them).
As bad as this sounds I'm really thankful that it happened. Lately i have been facing a lot of hard tribulations and have even been considering getting back on antidepressants and seeing a suicide councilor, but this experience really could have been so much worse and the pain I'm feeling in my leg has really remedied me what real pain is. how there really is others less fortunate than i and that all the drama I'm facing right now will pass. its just funny to see how much worse it could have been and all I'm walking away with is a few scrapes, bruises and sore muscles. I am really, REALLY, happy this happened the way it did.