My lovely Ella

I just wanted to say a few words about my beautiful Ella. She is a shining light. I have never seen a baby who can light up a room with a smile like Ella can. Her whole face sparkles. She loves to play, love to make noise and loves to attack anything within her reach. Everything goes strait to her mouth and there is usually an audible grunt as she tries to stuff it in. She is a hardheaded as Scott and I combined but is so sweet and cuddly as well. She is never content to just sit. She always has to be exploring something. This could explain why she rolled over front to back and back to front all of the sudden on the same day. She is eating cereal now, which breaks my heart. I am not ready for her to be getting bigger yet. She needs to stay my little snuggle bug, but there's not much I can do about that I guess. Oh, and she suddenly stopped taking a bottle this week so if anyone has suggestions, send them my way.
Anyway, I just had her on my mind.

Columbus, Ohio

Our back yard

Well, greetings from Columbus, Ohio. We have been here a week and are finally feeling settled. We got most of our stuff up on the walls last night. It is a bitter sweet feeling for me. It has really made it final, that we are here for at least the next year, which is a little hard to wrap my mind around at times, but it has also made it feel like home a little more.

We live in community called Clintonville that is about a mile north of OSU and about 10 minutes from downtown Columbus. The neighborhood is friendly and we live by a great park and biking path. About a 3 minute walk away there is also a park that we visited several times already. It really is an ideal location for us. We are deffinatley not in Idaho anymore though. As you drive down our street you will see Ohio for Obama signs proudly displayed in every other yard. The one McCain sign is safely displayed in someones front window. That may just be coincidence! There are mostly single people and their dogs!! which go by our house every evening around 5:30 to the big green space next door. We have seen more big dogs in a one week then the whole of Rexburg contains I swear. Scott and I are more and more convinced we will never own a big dog unless it has a place to go to the bathroom that we won't step in it and don't have to pick it up. The comedian Brian Regan hit it on the head when he said something to the effect of, "If aliens come to this planet they would think dogs were the ruling species, they have schedules excercise, lots of toys and someone who picks up their poop!" We see it everyday.

As we talk to people in the neighborhood we get little glimpses of what Clintonville is culturally like. It is very green friendly, excepting of all lifestyles, and very left wing. Today we went to the farmers market, which was fantastic, and really got a feel for the community. We felt a bit out of place but comfortable. On the corner driving home there were groups on each side of the street. One holding Bush War Crimes signs and on the other side of the street was a man with a sign that said, "the left hates America. Honk if you love America". Scott and I took a lap around the block to be the only ones who honked at his sign while a long line of cars kept honking at the other. As if the Idaho liscense plate wasn't a dead give away, we honked. It was a great day!

Last Thursday we went to the Columbus Zoo which was a lot of fun. It is a huge zoo. We were there for 5 hours and still didn't see the whole thing. We bought a pass so we can go back whenever we want. The animals were great. They were all very active. Kayt especially loved watching the Manitee's. They are huge, in the words of Kayt. She even donated some of her potty money to help save them. Another highlight of the day was the gorillas. We though this one resembled our little Ella just a bit, now that she has found her toes, it is a position we find her in often.

All in all, things are going well. We are anxious to get started in school and get more involved in our ward. We went to dinner at a ward members house Thursday night. They live a couple of blocks away. It was a lot of fun. I have to admit, it was nice to get out of the house and socialize some. They were the Curtis's and he is getting a PHD in exotic languages.

The biggest highlight of the week however is Kayt's potty training success. We have only had two accidents since Tuesday morning. Glorious Day!!! We never though it would happen but here we are. Thanks to my cousin Lisa for her potty training advice.

Hope all is well with everyone, we love you all.

moving

Well, I just want to give a little update. I don't have enough time to write all that is on my mind, but I wanted to get something up because I am sure you are all just dieing to know how we are doing? And...I need something to distract me while Scott tries out all the photo templates on his cell phone. So far I have been a pirate, clown, googly glasses girl and floozy mermaid. Wonderful isn't it?
We have officially moved. I never thought is would actually happen but we have successfully gotten through one full day on our own. Scott's parents left yesterday afternoon. It was hard to watch our connection to the 'Burg drive away and realize "this is it". So far though things are good.
We live in a nice neighborhood right by a park and bike path. It's nice to be so close to it and we can get in some good people watching if we really want to. Columbus seems like a pretty great place. The traffic isn't too bad, the noise level is good and the weather is not too hot. We hear we are hitting it at about the right time as far as weather goes. Oh and the grocery store people are friendly. What more could you ask for?
We have started to potty train Kayt also which is a post in and of itself. But lets just say things are getting better.
Well, I have a running date with a few ladies in my ward so I need to get to bed but...we are alive and well and so far enjoying ourselves. Love to all.

Moving On

It has been an interesint couple of weeks for me. The reality of really growing up is starting to set in. It has been hard to watch a chapter of our lives close, especially since it has been full of so much joy. Scott and I have come to realize that we are no longer an appendage of our families but rather our own family. I know this probably sounds retarded but hear me out. For the last four years our families have functioned as they always did when we were growing up. We continued to go to our siblings sporting events, we stopped in a hung out whenever we felt like it, we went on all expense paid family vacations, we went and visited grandparents ect. ect. Life has been wonderful. But, this summer major things are happening in both of our families, Jared is getting married (which makes the married couples outnumber the non, sorry jake and sar), Brad and Traci are moving off to medical school, Jake and Jeffrey are going to college and preparing for missions, Hayley is still on her mission, Emily and Will had their first baby, we added our second and are moving across the country. Everybody is growing up and life is moving on. It is all very exciting but making the transition has been difficult. It is hard to see the chapter of growing up life end and move into the time of Family Reunions and more scheduled get togethers. Everybody now has something going all the time and family time is getting more difficult to come by. We are all in different spots in life with different restraints. It has been hard to take others limitation into consideration as we have tried to keep things with the status quo. We have finally decided that, like i mentioned before, the status quo has changed.
As everyone's lives have gotten busier we have had to redefine family time and take advantage of the weekends we can all be together just hanging out at mom and dad's. It doesn't involve the fan fair of a huge family vacation but the time spent together is and should be as enjoyable. I hope this is all making sense.
That being said, we had a fantastic time with my family over the fourth of July. Jake and Will made a good showing at the local tennis tournament and Kevin and Jessica's party was great. And, after I had herded everyone out the door we all enjoyed water skiing as well.

We also had a great time up in Linvingston with Scott's fam. Kayt continues to talk about going to her new house in the mountains. It was beautiful and very relaxing. Ella also had her first taste of rice cereal!!!

We are so sad to be watching Brad and Traci leave. They are off on their medical school journey. We are glad we have been able to spend so much time with them the last year. I know it is probably selfish to say but we're glad they didn't get in last year. We would have missed the whole Laini experience! Good Luck to them.
The countdown to Jared and Cassi's wedding is on. The more detials I get the more excited I am to see the finished product. It is going to be spectacular. We are also very excited to be heading to California and get in alittle site seeing while we are better gone then around. Jared and Cassi are so fun to be around and we are so excited for them!! It's nice to have someone to keep Jared in line. We never thought it would come.
Finally, the moving adventure continues. Scott has all of our ulitilities set up at our new home. 215 W. Weber Rd. It is official. I have started the first round of dejunking. I have several boxes to take to DI already. Hopefully in the next three weeks the pile will grow. I can't believe how much accumulating we have done in four years. I guess it takes that long to getting emotionally unattached to your junk.
Well, back to the packing my quiet hour is over. Good Luck and Love to All!!

Days of Diapering

My Girls....Aren't they adorable!!!!

I was sitting with Scott the other night and we figured out how many diapers I had changed since becoming a mother. It was one of those days were it didn't seem to stop. Kayt and Ella, Ella then Kayt. It caused me to stop and count. We concluded that I had changed roughly 5,000 diapers in 2.5 years. That is a lot of diapers I tell you what. I don't even want to calculate the cost on those. I wish I could be one of those really eco-friendly people that use the cloth diapers but I think my days of changing those as a child traumatized me enough that the convenience of disposable far out weighs the cost.

But...enough about diapers. How about something a little more exciting...we got a new sprinkler and mini shop vac so I can clean out my car. I know you are all amazed at the excitement in the Smith house but this was major. My life was just made ten hundred times easier and that is definitely worth making note of.

Other big news, we found a place to live in Columbus!!! I am very excited about it. It is right by a park and a walking/jogging/biking path. It is in a very good neighborhood and is not costing us a fortune. It makes me a little more excited to be heading out there. WE still haven't nailed down the logistics of actually getting out there but we have a few months.

The biggest news however was that we blessed Ella. It was very crazy once again to think that I was responsible for doing the whole family dinner after the baby blessing thing but there I was. I got really creative and did the same thing I did for Kayt's. I know I know. I did however throw in a different kind of filling for the stuffed french toast. (if you have never had stuffed french toast with homemade butter pecan dressing you are missing out on the finer things in life and should consider attending the blessing of the next Smith baby!!) I have to give props to my Aunt Traci for turning us onto the stuffed french toast. I really can't take any credit for it. Anyway, Ella was very lucky to be able to have all grandpas and great grandpas there for her blessing. I guess that is one of the perks to being an older child in a family. Your children get to know their great grandparents. There are so many things they can teach them, even when they are still little. Scott and I felt so loved on Ella's special day. We so appreciated the support of our families. That is what it's all about.

Kayt and Ella are getting cuter and cuter everyday. Kayt is such a little mommy. She comes running whenever Ella cries, gets her blankets and binkies and picks out stories to read to her. The other day she found a picture of Jesus and started telling Ella all that she knew about him. It was so precious. It was fun to be a fly on the wall and hear the truth about Jesus from a two year old. It is all just so simple for her. I learn from her every day.

I love being a mom. It's not the easiest thing but definitely the most worthwhile for me.

It's been awhile

Alright- I am back. I realized just how pathetic my updating has been when my grandma called me out. Grandparents are always so kind and understanding but I guess one blog every 10 months is not exceptable even to them. So here it goes. The update on the Smith family.

Life has been one big whirlwind. Scott was so crazy busy with school his last two semesters I was lucky to be coherent enough to give him a grunt when he came to bed in the early hours of the morning. He was usually up and out the door before I was up. It was nuts. All the while I was busy being pregnant and raising a two year old. For 9 long months we looked forward to April. I have to admit the birth of our daughter this month was not the complete reason for excitement. April meant the end of Scotts school at BYU-Idaho. He graduated Cum Laude with two bachelors degrees, one in Accounting and one in Business Management. We started our marraige with 12 credits and he graduated with 167. It has been a busy four years but if anyone could do it, Scott is the one.

April also meant acceptance and scholarship offers to graduate schools. We finally found out where we are going to be the next year of our lives. For those who don't know, we are moving to Columbus, Ohio. Scott was offered a fellowship there for the Masters of Accounting program. As hard as it will be to move almost completely across the country, we know it is the right decision and are excited for our adventure. (As I try to keep this more updated, I may have to read that last sentence to remind myself why we are so far away?!)

April also meant The END OF TAX SEASON!!!!!!! If I could shoot off fireworks with this sentence I would. Kayt and I did what we could to keep ourselves occupied. And looking back, it was probably good Scott wasn't home so much. I had nesting instincts like I never had before...Scott described it best, "you couldn't even finish dinner before she was cleaning up your plate."

Which brings us to the last of our big events, Ella K. Smith. Our beautiful baby girl. What would we do without her. Ella was due on the 25th of April but mad her appearance on the 18th. After she was here and health I just kept saying to everybody in the room, "its' over, it's done, our baby is here. That's it. I'm finished." I know that sounds crazy but with how crazy everything was, the baby growing in my belly was really an afterthought. I don't think I ever really had time to process that reality of the event and then she was here. Thank goodness though. Ella has truly been a blessing in our home.

I was afraid, like most moms I think, that I wouldn't have the bond with her like I did with Kayt. But that was not the case. From the minute I held her I wondered what we ever did without her. She was a missing peice to a puzzle. We have spent the last two months getting to know each other and readjusting our family dynamics.

Being a mother of two is definately harder than I imagined but more worth it than I imagined as well. As the end of the day I evaluate the ups and downs of the day and commit to doing better the next. It is a constant challenge to be the mom that I feel like my girls deserve. But, nothing worthwhile is easy.

Kayt and Ella are the greatest joy. I laugh outloud all the time as Kayt becomes easier to converse with. She is such a smart little girl and has the best timing. She picks up on everything, good and bad. THe other day she was helping Scott with the dishes and saw the stuff for my pump. She started lifting up her shirt and Scott quickly asked what she was doing. Kayt anounced that she needed to "milk her elbows" There is never a dull moment! Ella began smiling the other day and there is nothing better. She coos and smiles all the time. Her whole face lights up. I am one lucky mamma.

My little brother Jared got engaged a couple weeks ago. We are super excited for him. The wedding is August and then we head out.

We are now planning out the rest of our summer, hoping that the weather cooperates. What a crazy summer so far?! I will keep you posted.