Afton at 3 Months!

It's amazing how fast time flies, yet how I can't hardly remember what it was like to NOT have an Afton! My sweet little girl is three months already!


She is doing a fabulous job at tummy time, getting a little drool time in too.


Afton loves her brothers! And they love her! Weston says Afton is his favorite person of all because she always smiles at him. :) (Look at her cheek! I love it!)

I didn't get a super smiley picture on this day, Sept. 17th, which is tragic because she really is the biggest smiler around. She also babbles and giggles and laughs right out loud! The first couple times her laugh popped out unexpected and startled her more than anyone. It is the cutest thing to hear, even if she gets hiccups EVERY time she laughs!

She's such a little person already, which is silly because she is still so tiny. But she has a big personality!

But she is getting bigger! See those chunky legs?

Here's a little sample of a smile. Not the real thing. Poor girl has the trademark Smith one-eye-bigger-than-the-other-in-pictures syndrom. Refer to pictures of me and Robby... Still, she's pretty cute.
For those wondering, her hives did finally go away after about five weeks and I've been getting good at sticking to the no dairy thing. But, she still has the runs and I haven't figured out exactly what's causing it. She has also had a stuffy/runny nose pretty much since the time she was born and that hasn't cleared up with the Claritin or the no dairy. A doctor visit is coming soon, I'm afraid. Too many questions! You'd think by the third that I'd be more of a pro at this mom thing but NO. Oh, well...

Here's a little bit of Afton:

Hyrum's first race!

Usually, Hyrum is not the competitive type- I can't talk him into doing soccer, T-ball, even Karate class. He'd rather just do it on his own (Pretty sure he got that from me...) But, he finally agreed (with much persuasion) to do the BYU cross country Triple Crown 1 mile race!

It was kind of last minute, so it's not like he trained or anything. We didn't even think to bring water or have him wear shorts. But despite this lack, he actually did pretty well! He ran the whole mile in 10 minutes and 11 seconds, well, jogged, then sprinted, then walked then sprinted... But he finished in high style at the end! It was a great experience for him, I think.

Maybe just maybe this video will work and you can see him run on to the track and pass kids in his moment of sprinting- the video ends before he starts to walk again so just pretend like he ran the whole thing. :) Good job Hyrum!

2 month old Afton

This is my sweet little girl at 2 months! She is oh, so pretty, at least I think she is. :)



At her two month appointment she was 22 inches long and 11.3 lbs- that's 40% for weight and height AND head size. A perfectly proportioned little girl!



She is such a good smiler- it makes me feel appreciated and she's such a good sleeper that it makes me feel happy! I get up before her almost every morning. I'm pretty sure that has NEVER happened with my boys yet!

On a strange medical note: Right after her two month appointment, Afton started getting hives on her face and her arms. Everyday they would get a little worse and spread a little farther. Never really in the same place or the same time and they always disappeared after 20-30 minutes. I finally took her to the doctor who sat and watched them change and then called in ANOTHER doctor who sat and watched them fade and grow for a while, neither of whom had any idea what was causing it. So, they had me start giving her Claritin, which has helped some what with the hives but still didn't not help me figure out what was going on. After 3 weeks, I ruled out virus because they only last a short while. After 2 weeks of me not eating dairy or nuts, I ruled those out too, because it didn't seem to have any effect. So I started not using dryer sheets to see if THAT would help...BUT, two days after eating a delicious lasagna dinner on Sunday night- the first dairy after the test- I decided it probably IS dairy after all. BLAH. So, for Afton, that means nothing, she just eats like usual. For me, that means I can't eat pretty much all of my favorite foods: milk, smoothies, yogurt, cheese, chicken enchiladas, pizza, sour cream, , granola, even lots of breads and crackers have milk protein in them! Luckily, my sister in law is an expert on NOT eating things and she knows the good stuff- like Almond milk (the chocolate milk is yummy!) So, I'll try this out and hopefully it will help Afton's hives and the stomach issues and maybe we can work the dairy in again at a later date- sooner rather than later I hope!

Hyrum's First day of SCHOOL and the BRACES

So Hyrum turned seven and then started SECOND grade!

The first day of School! He's looking pretty spiffy!


Weston and Afton walked with us to school in the double stroller...

But Hyrum walked with his New Tennis shoes and his Heroes shirt!
AND the next adventure is.....

BRACES!!!
The poor kid went in a couple weeks ago to get a retainer BUT his front teeth were SO crooked and far apart that we had to change the plan of attack and go for braces and an expander instead... Here's the before picture:

Notice the teeth!

Here's the expander- not so comfy but he's getting better at swallowing and talking.

He thought the braces were pretty cool, though.

Already his teeth have straightened up a lot and hopefully they will be done soon rather than later! Hyrum is one brave kid!

Hyrum's #7!

My little Hyrum, who is not so little anymore, turned 7 years old! Daddy got the privilage of taking the boys to Lagoon this year (he didn't get to go last year)So that was the beginning of the birthday celebrating. We're pretty good at making birthdays last as long as possible!
He decided he wanted a math party (who DOES that?) So we made an equation cake:

Decorated with numbers and equations...

And then celebrated!

Hrum woke up early to open presents and eat breakfast burritos.

We went to Applebees for lunch where he ate TWO hamburgers.

And then we had the party! All the older cousins came to party with us- we had math T-shirts with everyone's ages for their number, except Hyrum- he was #1 of course!

We played an addition game and then sorted, estimated, measured, and created patterns with our ice cream toppings before having cake!
He and Daddy went to see Shrek 3 that night and then Sunday we had a family party with everyone else... Just party all the time!

Hyrum is 52 in tall, 56 lbs and oh so silly! He is still great at driving Weston crazy but he is the best of big brothers to Afton! He is such a good student, loves to figure things out, read about animals, dinosaurs and space, ride his scooter, and run really fast! We love our Hyrum!