Christmas Weekend; Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

This will be one long post! Lots going on around here the past few days. After the exciting news we got on Thursday about having a baby sister - we went right into having a fun long weekend with Dad being HOME! Saturday we went to Monkey Joes - a big bounce house that the kids (including Matt) got to play and run and get really tired! They had a great time. Sometimes we forget to just stop and play and since we were staying home this holiday season I wanted to make sure we "played", especially with Dad.



Christmas Eve we were invited to a friends house with 4 other families for a nice Christmas Eve Dinner. The Merrill's did a great job with dinner - it was fantastic - and the best part was I didn't have to do a thing. Therefore, we spent the day baking the good stuff.





Michelle did a gift exchange for all the kids and they had a very nice time. We came home to early presents - Yes, PAJAMAS! The kids were thrilled.

The Merrill's adopted a little girl Chase this summer and of course Kiersten was all over being the babysitter. She just can't wait to be a big sister to a sister. Hope the ultrasound tech was right!!

This pictures shows the new PJ's as well as Christmas morning waiting to come downstairs. We didn't get up until about 6:30am. Not bad, Austin tried getting us up at 3:30 but we sent him back to bed!


Kiersten was thrilled to get Lily the Raccoon (Webkinz) however a little disappointed that the website was down most of the day. I guess lots of people got Webkinz for Christmas. My kids are obsessed!


Austin asked Santa for something different everyday - i think he was trying to confuse Santa this year. He ended up with an IPOD and many games and attachments for Wii. The Guitar Hero had been a hit with Dad and son!

Brandon was a hoot this year. He finally understands and was thrilled with opening presents. I think he wanted to keep going all day! The hit of the presents was the $1.50 flashlights on clearance after Halloween from Grandma Jody and Grandpa Bob. He loved the race track and airplanes he got also but he takes the flashlights everywhere!



Well I have spent two days cleaning out our house - we have too much stuff! I guess it is the nesting or the fact that every closet is packed. We now know it is a girl and will start preparing for her. Still don't know about a name! We are sorting through toys, clothes, blankets, etc and cleaning, cleaning, cleaning! We are going to have one major garage sale around here in a few months. My sister Tracy said she gets first dibs! I still have furniture that doesn't really fit this house. I guess that is what happens when you live in 3 houses in one year. We are slowly making the adjustments!

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and thank you for all of your Christmas Cards. That is my favorite time of the day. I love to get the Christmas cards from the mailbox and sit and read about all of our wonderful friends and family that live from east coast to west coast and Texas to Minnesota! We miss all of you and hope we can keep in touch! If you come to the Carolina's - please give us a call! I will make room, I promise!!

Love you all!
The Smith's

It's a GIRL!!

Before we told them...


We had our ultrasound Thursday afternoon - it had been a crazy week. Matt has been home with pink eye all week - yes MATT - not the kids! It was the last day of school before Christmas break and they scheduled my ultrasound for 2:00pm. I arranged for the kids to go to different houses because I wasn't sure I could deal with all the emotions. Kiersten wanted a sister really bad and of course the boys wanted a brother. I decided I could control the emotions better if I knew ahead of time. We had our ultrasound at 2:00pm and by 2:01 she was certain it was a girl. It didn't take her long at all to tell me it was a girl! I told her that I would rather be told she didn't know because if I told my six year old it was a girl - it needed to be a girl.

For those of you who don't know, my little sister was told her 2nd was a girl and she delivered a boy - SURPRISE! I didn't want that to happen to Kiersten!

We bought a present and had the kids open the pink clothes and you can see Kierstens cute face! I was proud of the boys, they are just as excited and now the family is "fair". You know how that goes at this age!





We are excited. The baby measured "big" for 18 weeks and has long legs and long arms. I was not surprised at all! We are so excited. A friend from the ward brought over 2 bags of the cutest baby girl clothes - Kiersten was in HEAVEN!! Now we have to figure out bedrooms and names! Any suggestions would be great! We are struggling with names...

Have a very Merry Christmas!

Marci and family

Holiday Parties and Traditions

journaling to come...

Wesley Oaks Holiday Party

Our neighborhood had a Holiday Party for the kids on Saturday. They had the "Little Blue Choo Choo" come and give the kids rides. They had hot chocolate and cookies. The funny part about the event was that it was 75 degrees outside on December 8th. Who would of known? It has been record breaking heat this weekend and it is supposed to get to 80 degrees today. The kids went to school in shorts and a t-shirt! Crazy! I don't mind the mild weather and the kids love it! I guess we may have to travel this year to see any snow!

Thanksgiving at Surf City, NC

This year for Thanksgiving my parents decided we should rent a beach house. We decided to try Surf City at Topsail Island. My parents, Tracy and her family and my family were there for 6 days. Franklin and Amber came up for Thanksgiving Day and Katherine and Glen were enjoying Thanksgiving at there new house in Logan. We missed having them there!

The first few days were really warm and the kids got to play on the beach. We walked to the pier and watched the Dolphins jump from the deck. Austin even got in the water on Wednesday although it was really cold. Grandma taught the kids Yoga - Tracy has some good pictures of that on her blog.


The last few days were cold but we had a great time. We went to a movie in Wilmington and watch lots of sports. UK Football, BYU football, BYU basketball, UNC Basketball, you get the idea! The men got to go golfing twice - it was the first time Matt has golfed since we moved to NC.


We knew we were going to the beach when it was cold so we brought lots in entertainment. The kids made beads, decorated gingerbread houses (girls vs. boys), decorated sugar cookies and played games. We enjoyed being together as a family ! Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Feast at Preschool - November 20th

Brandon had a Thanksgiving feast at his preschool just hours after Grandma flew in to Charlotte. Great timing! It was complete with chicken nuggets, mac n cheese, fruit salad and apple juice! Perfect lunch!

Brandon's Surgery - November 6th

Before - waiting for the doctor. He did not like the hospital gown.
He kept asking if he could take it off.

Brandon had surgery on Tuesday. The doctors decided to put tubes in his ears and take out his tonsils and his adenoids. He did really well overall. Today is Thursday and today has been the most uncomfortable day. He is complaining that his tongue hurts but it shouldn't take long. The doctor said that his adenoids were HUGE and he was glad to get them out!

He had been failing all of his hearing test and not sleeping well so hopefully he will be a new boy here in a few days. Last night he slept with his mouth closed for a few hours and he hasn't done that in a long time. He is also telling me that everything is too loud - the vacuum, the water in the tub, the music - so i guess he really can hear better!

Grandpa Dean got here yesterday and will stay for a few days before leaving on his adventures of North Carolina trip!

After - enjoying the pain medication, popsicles and ice!

Snapshot with Grandma and Grandpa

This picture was Sunday before church.

Kiersten's Art Showcase

Kiersten LOVES art. She has been taking a semi-private art class for the last 7 weeks. It is her favorite thing. We were lucky enough to have her showcase while Grandma and Grandpa were here to visit. We went to her teachers house and her art was on display for everyone to see.

She did a great job! I posted a few pictures that show her artwork.

Happy Halloween - 2007

We had an extra bonus on Halloween this year - Grandma Jody and Grandpa Bob came to town. We had TONS of kids come trick or treating - over 200! Above was our Halloween dessert.


We loved having them here and don't get to see them enough. They finished all their Christmas shopping for our family, helped Matt with some unfinished projects around the house and played lots of games with the kids! We also went to The BEE Movie - it was GREAT! I have not heard Matt laugh out loud that much in a long time.

Our Ward held the annual Trunk or Treat party, so we dressed the kids in their costumes and headed out. Brandon is Mario this year, Kiersten is a cat and Austin is a hobo. They had a great time with the other kids and getting candy from the other families.

It finally started to rain (yeah!!) so we moved the "Trunk" part in the building and walked from classroom to classroom. We also had a cake walk, haunted house and hotdogs! All in all, we had a good time. Neither Marci nor I had the energy to dress up, lame I know, but true. Maybe for Halloween we will find some costumes.

Grandma Jody and Grandpa Bob are coming to town next week and we are very excited. We have been scrubbing the house today (yes, it is Saturday and the Smiths blew the day cleaning) and are going to get treats and food. We'll get pictures up soon.

Happy Fall - hope to see your Halloween pictures in the coming days!

Fall Snapshot - October 21st

I snapped this pictures before church on Sunday - the kids are getting so grown up! I took all four of us to the dentist this week and we were cavity free!! YAH!

Austin's Basketball

Austin finished one basketball season just in time to start another. Matt was his coach in this league. He is really getting to be quite a little basketball player and seems to really enjoy it.

The picture with his friends is cute. This is a classmate from school (Tyler) and a neighbor(Neil). They didn't win the tournament but you can tell they really were upset about the situation...ha!

And one more makes FOUR!!

Well - we are going to have a family of four. I am expecting one more baby due in mid-May. This will be the last but we are excited! The kids are thrilled. They are starting to tell more people - at first Austin said that he wasn't going to tell anyone until the baby was born. I told him I thought people would figure it out before then - but now he is letting people know.

I can say that this has been by far the worst pregnancy yet. Not sure what is going on but I guess I saved the worst for last - or it is just that I am OLD. Matt and the kids are trying to adjust and hope that it doesn't last long.

We will keep you updated as things progress...

The Hunter Farm - 10/12/07

The kids were out of school on Friday and I decided it was a beautiful fall day and that we should go to the pumpkin patch. The Hunter Farm is close to our house so off we went. Let's face it, most of the trip to the pumpkin patch is for the pictures - right?

We went in the middle of the afternoon so the sun wasn't that great for pictures but we still got some good ones! They had a petting zoo, tractors to play on, and of course pumpkins.

Hope your weather is as beautiful as ours right now! We had 90 degree weather up until this week so we are thrilled to be in the 70's.