Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease...WHAT?!

 Say hello to our first preschool disease, Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. 

 Even Brecken wasn't thrilled about this look.

Jager was such a good big doggie brother he got ice cream as a treat.

Well, yes, Steve and I freaked out when B came down with this lovely mess all over his face.  Poor kid.  He was a trooper through the whole thing.  He got these sores on his face, in his mouth and all over his lower body.  We said "no, don't touch your face" so many times he started pointing to his ching saying, "no mama, no dada, no touching".  The preschool had a lovely outbreak of this fun childhood disease.  Luckily the doctor told me this was completely normal....she may have been able to tell I was about to come out of my skin with worry.  He is healing nicely and should hopefully be all cleared up in the next few days.

Next blog...pictures from our trip to Maui (the week before this loveliness showed up).

Brecken Goes to Preschool

Brecken's first day of Preschool, Feb. 7th 2012

We can't believe it, our little boy has started 2 day a week preschool.  He is going on Tuesday and Thursdays and seems to be loving it.  His teachers, Miss Tori and Miss Shannon are so sweet and he took right to them.  Lots of tears from mommy those first few days but he loves it so I have cheered up.  He is talking so much more and has definitely figured out his "2's".  We have been very fortunate that his tantrums are very minor and we really have our happy little boy still.  So proud of him.

New Years!!

We had a fun New Years party at our house this year.  We did a Kinect Dance Party and even the kids got in on it.  There was a shiny gold trophy up for grabs....and I won it from last years champion Noelle.  I can't find my pictures of this night but it was a great time with the kids and after the kids went to bed.  We were even surprised by a huge fireworks celebration by one of our neighbors.  Great way to ring in the New Year!

I will add pictures later.....

Christmas 2011

 As a Smith family tradition, my dad used to read us "Twas the Night Before Christmas before we went to bed on Christmas Eve.  Steve has now read this to Brecken each year and will continue to do so.  It is so fun to watch.

 Steve (with a little of my help) spent 3 hours on Christmas Eve putting together Brecken's train table.  It was a lot more complex than we had thought.  Once it was done, it really is quite cool and Brecken was so surprised and loves to play his "choo choo's".  We have video of him coming down the stairs and seeing his table for the first time.  Such a fun day Christmas was for us.

 B was so excited Christmas morning.

 Big Dog in a little dog bed!!!  We tried to get Jager a smaller dog bed but clearly went a bit extreme on the smaller size!  It was entertaining watching him try to get comfortable in it.  We had gotten a few different sizes so luckily he has a new dog bed that he loves and fits in.

 Brecken loved opening ALL of the presents!

 Yeah Presents

 More Presents!!!

We had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas with Beppe and Papa and Aunt Shelley.  Brecken was so spoiled by everyone.  It is amazing how much he understands compared to last year.  We can't wait until next year.  It is just so much fun to celebrate the holidays through a childs eye.  Decorations and lights take on a whole new meaning.  B still asks for lights sometimes.  I guess it is good that some people don't take them down for a long time after Christmas.  :)

Christmas Ships and Santa

Hello Santa's Workshop!!!

 We spent a fun filled evening in Seattle with Brecken's buddy Colton and little Cha Cha.  We went to a sushi dinner, where B at least tried some of the food!  Then, we took the kids to see Santa.  They all did a great job.  No tears and lots of smiles for Santa and all of the window watchers outside.  It was a great time.

We took Brecken to the Christmas ships with lots of friends.  We had a great time seeing all of the lighted ships go by and singing to the music.  Breckens favorite Christmas song is Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. This kid had a lot of the song down.  He knew when to add his little ad libs in.  We had so much fun getting ready for Christmas with him.  The lights on all of the houses really made all car rides fun.  He just kep asking for "more"!!!  I think it was a bit of a let down when the Christmas lights started coming down, but of course you can always count on some houses to keep them up for a long time.  It is difficult to explain to him when he wants "more" and I have to tell him he has to wait until next Christmas.

Thanksgiving 2011

 Brecken loved Thanksgiving food this year.  We did something a little different, we did a Thanksgiving breakfast.  We still had most of the classic Thanksgiving food, but we did turkey/egg/bacon breakfast sandwiches.  Clearly he is digging it!

Yaya, Beppe, Papa, and Aunt Shelley came over to enjoy the holiday and yummy food.  The best part for all of the adults is that it is over by early afternoon and you really have the rest of the day to relax.  I think we will be doing Thanksgiving Breakfast again.

California Part 2

Our second part of the California trip was to LA to visit Aunt Stephie, Uncle Dave, Katerina, Peyton and Lily.  Dave so kindly took me to the Breaking Dawn LA premiere.  I got to watch the movie with the stars and go to the premiere after party.  It was a Hollywood Junkies dream come true...plus I love Twilight.  If you have seen the movie, a bit uncomfortable to watch with your brother in law but we had a great time.

Stars I saw: Heather Locklear, Damon Wayans, Mike Chiklis, Ashley Tisdale, Danica Patrick, Seth Green, Case of Revenge, Cast of Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Cast of Pretty Little Liars, Cast of Twilight...so  many more!

Stars I met:  Taylor Lautner, Peter Facinelli, Bruno Mars

While I was having a mommy's night out, Brecken and Steve were at home hanging with the cousins and Aunt Stephie.  He just loved hanging out with these girls and they were so good and patient with him.  He gave lots of hugs and squeezes. 

Steve and I even had a surprise date night out in LA.  Our friends Sam and Kent surprised us with tickets to Cirque De Soleil.  It was SO GOOD.  The people are so freaking strong and make their bodies do amazing things.  So fun to watch.

The trip was great.  We miss our LA family.