Beauty & Prince Charming

These 2 are sooo funny! Today was one of those days, when I had no energy whatsoever. I don't know what was wrong with me, but I woke up with a pounding head ache, & feeling like a train had run me over. I knew that I didn't have energy to take care of the kids, and felt bad that they just had to sit and watch movies, I knew I needed help, but the whole pride thing was getting in the way. Luckily Brian knows me well, and could tell that I needed someone to take the kids so I could sleep. ( I forgot what it's like not sleeping through the night) My sweet neighbor next door was so sweet to take the kids, and they were so excited to go to her house and play. I'm so grateful for the angels that help me, for Brian who constantly takes care of me and the kids, for my mom and mother-in-law, for my wonderful neighborhood friends & ward members who have helped me with the kids, and for the unseen angels who I know are constantly helping me. anyway, Morgan and Jackson had a blast at their friends house, and when they got home they went right down to take naps. Later when they woke up, and I had energy, Morgan decided she wanted to play dress up, and Jackson again wanted to be the prince. I was trying to find something masculine that Jackson could wear, and I found this outfit we bought for him last year in Cancun. He loved that it was "cool" and new to him, so away they went getting all dressed up for the ball. I was sitting in my room feeding Hallie when Morgan came in the room and said to me, "Cinderella, will you come and play with us, and teach us how to dance?" I thought it was so cute and funny. I thought, wow, I like being called Cinderella, of course sometimes I feel like Cinderella... cleaning, cooking, laundry, being a mom, etc... but I liked how to Morgan, I was a princess that was invited to play with her and the prince. It was so sweet, so I went to show them how to dance...

I started by showing Morgan how to put her hand on Jackson's shoulder, and Jackson's hand on her waist. They thought they were sooo cool, and so away they went dancing all over the house. They soon decided to go and dance in the kitchen, I think for the natural ballroom effect. They were so sweet, and I'm grateful for how well they get along with each other. Maybe tomorrow I'll teach Jackson how to twirl Morgan... we'll see how that goes. :)

The Joys in My Life

The kids have loved taking pictures lately, especially if it gets to be with Hallie. I love all 3 of them in this picture because it shows their personalities. They are such funny & cute little kids.

Hallie is soooo much fun to cuddle with. Morgan was taking a nap, and I wanted her to wake up. She starting the phase of not wanting to take naps anymore, so some days it's kind of a fight with her, especially when she wants to be with Hallie. Lately, she'll read in her room for a little bit, while I read, and then she'll come and lay on the bed with Hallie & I, and we all take a little nap. Jackson comes and lays by us too when he wakes up, and I love cuddling with all 3 of them. This picture was taken Sunday after church, and I didn't want Morgan to sleep too long, or she ends up going to bed at 10:00, so I woke her up by putting Hallie next to her. Morgan woke up and was so pleasant to be around. She LOVED cuddling with her little sister.

Here is my life-saver for yesterday, and other days last week. I have been so tired lately, which I'm not sure why? Maybe it's waking up every 2 or 3 hours in the night with Hallie. My mom has been so sweet to come and help with the kids. She takes them downstairs to play and watch movies while I sleep for a little bit. It has been a HUGE help, and I am so grateful for her. The kids have loved spending time with Grandma too. I am so glad that they live close to us.

This was yesterday. Jackson was sleeping for longer than usual, so I went in to make sure everything was okay. I laid Hallie next to him, for him to cuddle with, and he was so excited to be by her. She brings so much peace to our home & family. Jackson loves holding her & talking to her. I don't think she minds the attention from her siblings too much. They all seem to have a special bond.

A Shout out for all you Moms & Women

After talking to my sister the other day, and today, about our little kids, I thought of this song, which I consider my motto for being a mom, but then, when I listened to it again a couple of days later, I realized that it doesn't apply to just moms, but every woman, and the power that we have in influencing the lives of others. I heard this song about a year ago, and finally went and bought the CD after Christmas. I love this song, and the message that it sends across. I couldn't figure out how to put the song on here, so to hear it, you will have to find it on her website. The artists name is Hilary Weeks, and the song is titled "Who You Are"
" I know you wonder if you'll ever have a day
when the kids stay calm, the laundry's done, and the dishes are put away
and sometimes you feel like your days are spent and gone
and the question running through your mind is what have I gotten done?
and when you finally have a moment to slow down
and the end of your day
I know Father would say

Believe in what you're doing
Believe in who you are
Hold tight to the truth that you're a daughter of God
Believe in who you're becomming
Believe in who you are

It may seem simple, all the little things you do
But the lives you touch, matter so much
And there's no one else like you
And Father needs YOU to stand tall & faithful
To be all you can be
Oh, if you could see what He sees, you'd

Believe in what you're doing,
Believe in who you are
Hold tight to the truth that you're a daughter of God
Believe in what you're becomming
Believe in who you are.

When it's hard to believe in yourself,
And you feel like your beginning to doubt
Remember

He believes in what you're doing
He believes in who you are
Don't loose site of the truth that you're a daughter of God
That he believes in who you are becoming
He believes in who you are."

I love this song. The words are beautiful, but I love the music as well. I hope you can find a way to listen to it. I know that we all have a strong power to bless the lives of those around us, and that no one can affect someone the way that we can. I think the most powerful thing that I learned as a teenager was that I am a daughter of God! I am so grateful for that knowledge, and to know that when I'm frustrated or wonering if I'm being a good mom, or even a good person, that He is on my side, & cheering me on. I think not only do we bless the lives of our children & husband when we do these simple things, but we bless the lives of so many others that we may not notice. I am so grateful for life, & the responsibility I have. I love you all, and I'm so grateful for all of you girls (or women if that's what you would prefer :) who inspire me everyday. I love you all!

Enjoying Hallie

Who's baby is she? This has been the big question lately... Morgan absolutley LOVES baby Hallie, so much so, that she sometimes thinks that she is the mommy. If it was up to Morgan she would feed, hold, sleep with, cuddle with and play with Hallie all day. I don't know how she would feel about waking up in the middle of the night though. Morgan is such a huge help to me, and will do anything for Hallie. The other morning after Brian left for work Morgan was sitting on our bed in her teasing mood (which I have no idea where she got it from ) :) and gave me a look kind of which said "okay mom, I'm going to be difficult today, & what are you going to do about it?" Luckily my mom showed up to take care of the kids for the day, and my mom saw the same look in Morgan's eyes too. Then she asked how Morgan had been for the morning. Thankfully she was good for the rest of the day, and after spending some Mommy time with just the 2 of us yesterday, she has been great & has listened really well. Maybe it's something with almost being 4 that brings out the independence in little girls. I am grateful though, for how much she loves Hallie.

Morgan loves holding Hallie & asks me to take a picture of her and Hallie together. She does so well with her. Whenever I take a picture of them Morgan has to pose... as you can see in these 2 pictures. What a funny girl. Hallie seems to love it all, and rarely cries when Morgan or Jackson hold her, unless she is hungry. I love that Morgan & Hallie have each other for sisters. I love my sisters, and I feel that everyone needs a sister.

Jackson has done extremely well with Hallie. I was kind of a little worried about him because he is such a Mama's boy, but he has been wonderful. He comes & holds Hallie for a couple of minutes & then goes and plays, but still continues to cuddle with me. Lately if I'm feeding Hallie, he will go and cuddle with Brian, which Brian loves.

I love this picture. The kids said they wanted a picture of them with Hallie, so we took this. We told Jackson to put his arm around Morgan & when he did, he started tickling her neck. she was laughing so hard, & Jackson just kept doing it for her reaction. What little cuties! I'm so grateful for all 3 of them.

We are a Happy Family!

Morgan and Jackson love singing the Happy Family song, & now we get to sing "We love Hallie, she loves us ..." We had so much fun the other night. It was the night I have been dreaming about for the last 9 months. We were all in our room and just having fun with each other. I could tell that Hallie was loving it because she was kicking like crazy! It was almost like she was saying... "yeah, I'm finally here in person with my family!" I love our new little sweet one. She brings so much joy to our family. She has such a calm and sweet personality, and we all love to be around her and hold her.



We took a picture with the girls and Jackson wanted to be in it really badly, so we got this cute picture. I LOVE it! I love the expression on Hallie's face. We were finally able to get some pictures of her with her eyes open. It's amazing how big Jackson seems to me know, when he has seemed like such a little guy. They are all so sweet, and Heavenly Father has blessed us with amazing sweet little kids.

This is Hallie's usual look... one eye open, the other eye closed. :) I love Brian's relationship with each of the kids. He amazes me, and I am so grateful for his love, service, & friendship. He is my better half, and I am so grateful for who I am because of him. He is a great dad, and always makes the kids laugh. I love you!

Okay, I think this picture of me is a little goofy, but I LOVE it of Hallie. I think she looks beautiful in it. I am headed on the road of recovery after delivering a baby... wow I forgot the sleep schedule, body changes... which I won't go into too much detail because there are some guys that may read our blog & young chick-a-dees (like my sisters) and I don't think they really want to hear about the NICE new changes. :) ha ha ha and everything else that is new with a new baby, but I wouldn't change it for the world. I love being able to have these kids in my life, and I feel so much closer to heaven whenever I am near them.

Hallie Sage

Hallie Sage was born February 12 at 1:35 p.m. She weighed 8 lbs. 7 oz. She is beautiful! We are so excited to have her here. Everything at the hospital went wonderful. The labor was only 6 hours long, & the epidural made things even more enjoyable, other than the nice sharp needle going through my back. :) The nurse & doctor were really nice to work with though, and made the delivery easy & enjoyable. Originally we were going to name her Hallie Camille, we decided if she had blonde hair we would, but she has darker hair than both Morgan & Jackson did, and the 2nd day in the hospital, we didn't feel right about her middle name being Camille. I told Brian I was fine with anything that he wanted to use as her middle name, as long as it wasn't crazy. So, Brian thought about it for a while, and looked at a baby name book and saw the spanish name Saga, then he thought of Sage, but thought it wasn't even a name, so he felt kind of funny suggesting it to me. I loved it though, and told him that I knew of a little girl in our ward who's middle name is sage, and I had heard it other places too. Sage means "wise" and with her brown hair, we felt that it fit her perfectly. So Hallie Sage is here. I forgot how sweet & precious newborns are. I love how she cuddles & makes little noises, and how perfect she is. I love the whole miracle & blessing of newborns. I love that she just came from our Heavenly Father & how pure she is, and the calm spirit she brings to our home & family. We love having her here, and there will be many more pictures to come.

Here is Jackson when he was born. He weighed 7lbs 3 oz. It's amazing how much chubbier Hallie looks with weighing more than 1 lb than Jackson and Morgan. You can see it in her little face.
Hallie & Jackson have the same nose & mouth. I'm excited to see how much they look alike as they get older.

Here is Morgan when she was born. She weighed 7 lbs. 4 oz. I think that Hallie looks a lot like her, and I think its the eyes & the rounder face. Morgan had brown hair with a little bit of blonde in it. Hallie has all dark hair, so it will be neat to see if her hair goes lighter, or stays dark like Brian.

Our Little Valentine

Brian & I came home on Valentines day with Hallie. The kids had been over at some friends house, so we put Hallie in the crib in our room & had the kids come in and try to find her. Morgan & Jackson were so excited to see her.

They were kind of surprised to find her in the crib, and unlike Morgan's 5 baby dolls, this baby actually moves. They were fascinated with her!

I'm not sure if this is a cry or a yawn. She has so many funny & different facial expressions.

Morgan loves her new little sister. She put the pacifier in Hallie's mouth, and said, "Here you go little chick" it was the funniest thing. Morgan & Jackson have both been so sweet with her, and they love to hold her.

Visit to the Hospital

Morgan & Jackson went and stayed with grandpa & grandma smith. They were so excited to come and see baby Hallie. Jackson was a little nervous. I think because I still had the IV in, and he wasn't sure about the whole thing. They came in and saw me, and then we had the nurse bring baby Hallie in. Our first family photo with the 5 of us. It's crazy to think that we now have 3 little kids, and that our family is now 5. I love it!

Jackson wanted to hold the baby, but was a little shy. He did great though, and was so sweet.

The excited big brother & sister.

For Morgan, seeing baby Hallie was the best gift in the entire world. She couldn't get enough of her. Morgan kept wanting to hold her & kiss her & be by her. She had a hard time leaving, and couldn't wait to hold her again.

Welcome Little One

We went to the hospital at 7:00 Tuesday morning for me to be induced since NOTHING was happening... no contractions, no pain, nothing, except of course... tiredness, moodiness, etc. :) The induction was awesome! It was the easiest delivery out of all 3 kids. I was in labor for only 6 hours, and I didn't have to deal with any pain from contractions leading up to the point of the epidural. The only thing that hurt that day was the needle of the epidural, but I am so grateful for modern technology, & for not having to experience pain. Hallie was born at 1:35 p.m. Our doctor and nurse were wonderful, and I couldn't have asked for anything better.

Anxiously Waiting

Well, here I STILL am... Saturday afternoon, and still very pregnant. I've been trying to keep myself busy all week & all day, so I can keep my mind off of the fact that nothing is really happening. My actual due date isn't until tomorrow, and both Morgan & Jackson were born right on their due dates, so hopefully that's what will happen tomorrow. But I am anxious, especially because I'm not really feeling anything yet. The doctor that is on call today & tomorrow I have heard, is really good, although, we have never met him. That's always a scary kind of thought, but on Monday, if I deliver then, the doctor seems to be as young as me. Brian doesn't like the idea of someone our age being my doctor, especially a guy... I wonder why, of course I would probably feel the same way if Brian had a female doctor our age checking him out. :) so anyway, hopefully the baby comes tomorrow. Last night we decided to help move the contractions along by going to the mall and walking around, that worked a little bit, but then I got distracted at my favorite scrapbooking store-Archivers, and browsed for a while rather that fast walking. Brian says I'm kind of funny the last few days of pregnancy. I've had a couple of people from our ward call to see if I had had the baby yet, and I told Brian that I should just have our answering machine say, "No, she hasn't had the baby yet, if you have something else you would like to say please leave a message" isn't that so mean... Brian says that they are just "ANXIOUS" & excited for me, to which I told him that I'm anxious too, especially since I'm the one that's been pregnant. I would love to go to church tomorrow, but I don't want to go & have our ward ask why I am there, and when they baby is due. I hope I'm not offending anyone with this post, I'm a little moody right now. I feel that I could snap, laugh, or cry at any moment... so watch out!!!! :) Honestly we are soooo excited to have this new little girl in our life. I can't wait to see what she looks like, to give her a name, to see how the kids act with her, and to hold her. Babies are such a little miracle. I keep telling myself that if she is a little late, maybe she is saying goodbye & finishing things on the other side before she joins us here, either way, we are anxious. So for now, I hope all is well around the world with each of you, and I will let you know as soon as I know when the baby is here. :) Have a wonderful day, and I love all of you! Melissa

Hair Bow Instructions

Due to popular demand, I suppose I will tell you how to make the bows. Ha ha ha :) They are actually really easy once you get the hang of it. I bought some clips called "alligator clips" at a hair supply store. I was able to get a box of 80 clips for $4.50. I had lots of ribbon from scrapbooking, and just made bows from what I knew would match Morgan's clothes. The best kind of ribbon I found to use is the gross grain. Instead of using a glue gun, I used "Fabri-tac" a clear bottle of glue from walmart. I loved using it because it was easy and didn't burn my fingers. I also found instructions on a website called www.bowdesigns.50web.com
I followed the "pinwheel bow" instructions, but I used thin wire instead of sewing anything. I also think the "stacked hairbows" is really cute to, so that will be my next adventure after the baby is born. That is, if I have time & energy :) Anyway, good luck to you all.

Hair Bows

I am always looking for cute hair bows, but I can never find them, so I decided to make some myself. Morgan is so excited about them. When I was younger, I really wanted a little girl so that I could always do her hair cute EVERY day, well, as most of you know doing girls hair every day, isn't the easiest. Somedays Morgan looks like a little orphan with this blonde mop, & a stained t-shirt. I'm sure that none of your kids ever look that way. :) So anyway, I learned how to make these, and yesterday my sister-in-law came over, and we spend all day making them. I showed Morgan this morning all of the bows for her & the baby, and she got a huge grin on her face. Now, she's really excited about me doing her hair, and doesn't fight at all. :)




My favorite ones are the flower clips. They look so cute in her piggy tails today.












3 more of my favorites

Our Little Man

Can I just tell you what a joy it is to have a little boy! I was so nervous when I found I was going to have a baby boy, because I had no idea what to do with boys. Cameron is only 2 years younger than me, and I didn't have to take care of him growing up. I babysat 2 little boys a lot when I was younger, and they gave me some practice, but still, I was nervous. Jackson has been a blessing and a joy since day 1. He is so much fun and is so full of personality which is interesting, because that's what is name means. He is my little cuddle bug & is a big time Mama's boy. Morgan is a little sweetheart, but sometimes she can be so much like myself that I don't know what to do with her. Jackson is so much like Brian and is this calm easy going kid. The other day we were playing a game on the computer and I asked him to push the "j" key for his name. He pushed the H key instead and then he said, "Oh, why'd me do that?" It was so cute. He is always doing anything to please Morgan. He has been such a fun 2 year old. Both him & Morgan have been little angels until they reached 2 1/2, and that's when the little fits started to come out. Jackson's just starting this phase, but is so good at going into time out. He'll go in and sit on his bed, cry for a minute, and then say, "If I be nice, can I come out" now who could say no to that. :)


Cool kid


My friend gave me some of her little boys clothes for Jackson, and he was so excited about them. He wanted to try everything on. These are his favorite, and mine too. They are dinosaur pajamas that glow in the dark. We laid him down on the floor in his room under the light, and then turned the light off. Then we had him walk to Brian & I in the dark. It was the cutest thing watching this little glowing body moving around. What a fun kid!

Beauty & Prince Charming

Morgan & Jackson have soooo much energy lately! Part of me kind of wonders if it's their age, or if they can sense a change coming. Or, maybe they always have this much energy, and I've run out of energy. They are so funny to watch though. Brian & I just sit and watch them run with all of their energy... it's usually only 5:30 or 6:00 and we're ready to go to bed. Last night Morgan started putting on her princess stuff so she could look like Beauty. Of course Jackson wanted to play, and how do you tell him that it's only for girls, so since we don't have any boy dress up clothes, I let him dress up, and told him that he could be Prince Charming.


Morgan & Jackson were having so much fun dancing in the kitchen. They kept twirling around saying "We are like a family" It was so cute.
I asked Morgan if I could take their picture, so she got all ready, and said to Jackson, "Come on Prince Charming, let's take a picture" Jackson wasn't listening, so she said, "Come on Prince Charming!" They may be energetic, but they are so cute.
BEAUTY


PRINCE CHARMING