Easton turned 1 on Oct. 26, 2009

His one year stats:

Weight: 24 lbs 6.5 oz (75%)
Length: 31 in. (95%)
Head size: 19.25 (90%)

Easton is growing up so fast!! He is is so aware and active. He just wants to be part of the groups doing what they are doing. He LOVES animals and tries to imitate the sounds of them. He definitely has the "Ruff Ruff" down! He is so loving and gives great hugs and kisses to even his brothers and sister. He is quick to catch on to things, after a few trial and errors and bit of a frustrated tantrum, but he gets it. Another he loves is cars, just like his brother Ayden. He started pushing them around at about 10 months and has never lost interest, he loves them. He started walking right before he turned 13 months and has loved every minute of it!

He started sleeping through the night when he turned one(seriously on the date!) but I am still really struggling with his nap. He only gets one nap, he stopped taking his morning nap around 10 months, he just wouldn't have it. But his one afternoon nap is a killer for me, so any advice is welcomed. I will rock him in the beginning lay him down he wakes right up and freaks out, I have let him cry up to an hour and nothing, he keeps going. I think he cries so long that it eventually makes him poop, so i always have to go in at about an hour to change him and then rock him and lay him down. But then it has to be on my bed or else he won't stay down. At night he wakes up when we lay him down and he cries for like 2 seconds and then stops and goes to sleep. i have even tried laying him down without rocking him. At his nap he just cried like he always does and never goes to sleep. At night he cried for 15 minutes then went to sleep. Seriously, i don't know what to do with him. The only way he stays down for his nap is if I lay by him the entire time, which most of t he time I can't do because I am dealing with my boys who are fighting there nap or trying, key word trying to get dinner done. It is killing me for a number of reasons, but the biggest one is I need a break, and him doing this gives me no break. And I let him cry, but it doesn't make for a relaxing break that is for sure. Any advice?!?

Other than his nap, he is a happy baby who loves to play, especially outside. He reminds me a lot of Ayden and Gavin when they were his age. He has been a pretty good eater for the most part. In the morning he has to have eggs and yogurt, that seems to be what fills him up the best. Then he continues to eat what everyone else is having through out the morning. He has 4 teeth on the bottom and two on the top. Just recently I saw in his mouth he now has a set of molars on the bottom as well, I had no idea. I guess that explains his sudden loss of appetite these last few weeks.

He is great at letting us know what he wants. He points or walks up to it, but my favorite is he has a way of fluctuating the sound of his voice to tell us different things. So even though he can't talk, he is definitely learning to communicate!

We love this smiley little boy so much and we are grateful to have him in our family.

Smith News

So Wow, we have a lot of going on right now!! First of all, I am pregnant. I guess that is what happeneds when you have been away from your husband for 5 weeks.

It's a boy and I am about 18 1/2 weeks along. I have so many emotions that come with this. I am worried for my others kids, hoping they will be able to know and feel the love I have for all of them, wondering how I am going to do this, and hating walking any where, having a thousands stares and thinking seriously if they only knew I had another one coming. And when they do find out feeling a little judged with people wondering what is she doing.

So, this is supposed to be an exciting time for us, and it is really a blessing. All of our Children are. My friend said this in her blog talking about her pregnancy and it was something I felt, but just needed to hear.

"I never actually asked “How did this happen?” because it seems so obvious, but let me just say it isn’t always obvious. It’s just the will of the Lord." (Thanks Jo)

This news may come as a shock to some and maybe not to others, but I haven't really been talking about it much because it has been so much easier to enjoy it privately. I don't know what to expect, or how I'm going to do it. But what I do know is that the Lord has constantly wrapped his arms around our family and has carried us from one point to the next. I feel so undeserving of ALL the Lord has blessed me and my family with and I am so humbled by the love he shows me every single day. I truly believe the Lord has a plan for me, and its up to me to get my self together to feel deserving of all of this. So yes I am terrified, but I am excited for all that life has for our future. I am so grateful for my family and for how we have all come together.

Our second bit of exciting news is we are moving to Utah in a couple of weeks!!! This has been a huge blessing. We have been so far away from family and I am so excited to be close to them again. Heavenly Father knows I need them even if they are about 4 hours away and he got us closer to them then I ever thought we would be at this point.

Everything has all happened so fast. He just found out last Friday that we need to be out there so he can start work with in the 2010 period so we seriously feel like I have no time to think, just act! So we now have a place to rent, and hopefully w can get everything set with the movers so we won't be traveling during Christmas,but i am feeling like we will be.

We are excited for all that we have coming our way and count our blessings everyday.

Trip to Boise Continued...

Jordan was taking an extra class, which made him gone most of the week. So with that and studying, I would never see him in the month of July, so, I decided to go to Boise for 5 weeks. It was the longest I have ever been away from Jordan. I was worried about it because A) I was totally putting my sister out and she rearranged a lot of her house to fit us, I was so grateful for her and all she did for us to stay there! And B) Jordan really is an awesome husband and great Dad and does so much for me and the kids. The times he is home in the evenings and taking turns with me at night when the kids wake up is really helpful. It is nice to have someone to cut the cleaning time in half. The messes in our home can be made in seriously 5 minutes of not watching my kidsand it can be overwhelming. Easton was waking up quit a bit still at this point and although I am sure a lot of moms do it by themselves, and I say good for you, but it kills me and makes me a grump, so Jordan, when I am not nursing, usually gets up 50/50 with me.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, pretty similar to home, not really leaving the house and sitting by Easton's side or holding him all day ( he has been a pretty needy baby) and playing with my kids (not because I am such a great Mom, but becaue if I don't I have whiny bored kids at my side) , and then leaving the night to clean up. The difference was they had other kids to keep them busy during the day, so it wasn't just Mom they latched on to and my poor sister did a lot more up keep of toys and food then I am sue she does without my kids there. I really felt bad about that and would tell her I would get to it after I got my kids down, but I know it was a mess and if she had a moment she would just do it.

While we were there the first couple of weeks, my kids all got pretty crappy colds, which turned into fevers, and then ear infections so we were more home bound than usual and all a little crabby. It made it hard to see friends, so I didn't really see many while I was out there.

It was a lot of fun staying there and being able to sit and talk with my sister during the day. Her kids were so good with my kids, it was a lot of fun to see them all playing and nice to be able to spend more time with my nieces and nephews. We were really sad to go.

My sister that lives in Idaho falls came down for a week while we were there. We did two outings, the first we went to a public pool. Let me tell you, it was awful. All of my kids were crying and afraid of the water, but they love it a home. Easton and Ava were both having melt downs and only wanted me. But my family was great, and really tried to help. They got Ayden and Gavin to go into the pool while I sat by Ava and Easton on the side of the pool after walking around with one on my back and one in my arms to calm them down. I think my family got the first taste of why I don't go out much.

The second one we did, we went to the zoo. I was pretty worried about this one. Again Ava and Easton both were having melt downs. I think Ava was just over whelmed with all of her cousins that wanted to love her and play with her which made her cling to me. We had been at Michelle's house for a few days, so she would go to her and calm down when I disappeared, but Michelle has a baby of her own, so Brytan (her cousin) tried holding her with the back pack on her back and did great. Her and Jonah really did a good job of making her laugh that day.

One of the things that made her happy on this particular day..Chips, a healthy and nutritious meal

I was glad we got this picture. It is something Easton has done for a while. When he is in the sling he likes his foot out so he could play with it and sometimes would stick his big toe in his mouth.

Ayden showing everyone how not to sit in a stroller

Michelle testing out the slings, finally giving them a try, I think they were a sucess!

I was shocked they let Bryton go ont he carousel with Ava on her back, but they did and it worked.

All the other kids on the carousel, of course Ayden and Gavin just wanted to watch, that's ok, it gave us a chance to eat our lunch

After the Zoo we went to the park to celebrate Hadley's second Birthday (my niece)

Ava sure loves her blanket, and was especially clingy to it on this trip

She will hold it close to her head and saw Awe. She does that with her dolls and animals too, it is very loving.

Kaylie was like a little mother, I was very impressed. She was so loving to my kids and would hold them and let them climb all over them. On top of that, she was the cleanest little girl I have ever met. She was happy and willing to clean her messes up and help put things in the right place from other people's messes.

Ayden LOVES to help and watch people cook, I swear one day he's going to be a Master Chef

Ava's first time eating yogurt. I know it's a little late, but she has used her utencils with other things, mostly her fork, but she never wanted to do things like yogurt or cereal, but this time she wanted to do it herself. With both Ava and Easton teething and having fevers and ear infections, it was a struggle to get them to eat anything it seemed like. I feel like it is like that every time I go out of town.

Kaylie, Braxton, and sweet baby crew. They all love their little brother crew and were such great helpers with him.

So this is one reason why I am sure my sister is glad we are gone. I have my battles and eating snacks in the kitchen has been oneI have given up on for a number of reasons. The muddy buddies mess they are making here, I did not know they were doing this until they had already done it, I wouldn't have let them do this. But because I am not as stricked with keeping my kids in the kitchen, I kept having to catch my kids and tell them to go back in the kitchen, but I would forget sometimes and I know this drove her nuts.

Eating ice cream cones, Gavin is getting his feet all warmed up for it

Michell with a load of kids!

Ella and Ava playing

Grandma Simmons and Easton

Michelle had a birthday while I was there, the big 31!

I made a couple of blankets while I was there for some friends, I loved the fabric I found!

Grandma reading to Ava

These boys sure look innocent, but they were all trouble!

Ava saying cheese at the camera, she loves the camera!

Gavin loves babies. He is holding his baby cousin crew

My sister and I did a few projects together while we were there. I love learning new things and getting ideas from my sisters.

My sister tells me that Ella loves to hold other kids and they typically don't want to be held. One time she was holding one of my kids and she was so happy they weren't trying to get away

Grandpa Simmons with Ava and Easton

Easton learned to crawl while we were there, I made sure to catch it on video for Jordan to see

He loves pushing cars around, it is one of his favorite things to do, he is a lot like Ayden that way

Kohen crashed on his bike and is showing his wound. It's kind of hard to see in this pick, but he was tough!

Gavin stuck his nose in my blush

The kids all had a lot of fun outside. Michelle had this really cool blow up slide. When it was up the kids around her neighborhood could see it and would stop by to see if her kids could play while in their swimsuits.

Here the boys are eating ice cream by the little blow up pool

They loved playing in the water all hours of the day, I probably never should have dressed my kids. They would be cold come in and be done, so I would get them changed and next thing I knew they would be it he water again. I guess their water filled diapers didn't bother them. We actually just started taking their diapers off and hoped for no poop!

Little Easton loves the water! Ella did a good job keeping him steady in the pool. It's slippery!

Jordan flew out to come get us and to go to my high school reunion with me

I didn't see a lot of friends while I was ther, but did see a few, i wish I would have remembered to get picks with all of them. But it was so good to see the ones that I saw! It really has been a long time and it is so fun to get back in touch.

The last night in Boise...It was bitter sweet. Sad to leave my family, but nice to get home to our beds. It was a long time, and I don't know if I would go for that long again, but I am glad that I did, it was well needed. I love you Michelle, thanks for everything!!