Life Lately

Happy Monday!  Weather, health, and attitudes have been all over the place recently in our little world.  When we had the county wide sick days at school a few weeks ago, the Smithson clan was healthy and I was feeling a bit cocky about that.  Well, it's caught up with us now and we're just hanging on for dear life, hoping nobody else gets sick!  Here's a little look at life lately with my little family!

• Cooper was diagnosed with pneumonia about a week and a half ago.  I took him to the doctor thinking he had the flu, and I was shocked when it was that.  He was put on a strong antibiotic that's made him ill as a hornet, but it's worked.  He finished up basketball and decided to sign up for soccer, so we've got a tiny break before that starts up.  He's doing great in school, but is starting to get a bit of spring fever, along with his momma.  He asks me every morning when he gets up if it's going to be warm outside, and he gets so disappointed when it's cooler.  He loves to play outside.
• Clark has remained healthy so far in this little bout of sickness we're having, and I'm desperately hoping he'll stay healthy.  Ever since he had his seizure back in August, I worry myself sick over him if he gets slightly warm.  Don't get me wrong, I keep the other boys pumped full of Tylenol and ibuprofen if they have fevers because of that health scare (siblings are more likely to have one if another sibling has had one), but Clark is much more susceptible to febrile seizures now.  Anyways, he's signed up for soccer and can't wait!  Our schedules are going to be slammed once they start, but I know Clark will love it.  We're trying to wean him off his pacifier (yes, I know he should've been off of it a long time ago), and it's been awful.  He will whine and cry all day for it, and he's very persistent.  It's exhausting.
• Abel went to the doctor last Monday for his 1 year checkup and vaccines.  We were told he could run a fever from them about a week later, but he started running one on Friday.  I held off taking him to the doctor until yesterday.  His breathing was terrible, but he didn't have a cough or runny nose.  I honestly thought he was going to have pneumonia, but he ended up the the flu type B, and I was shocked by that, too.  He's pitiful!  He feels so bad, and I just feel terrible for him.  He's on Tamaflu and an inhaler, but he hates both of those.  I'm hoping it won't last as long or be as severe since he had a flu vaccine, but we'll be staying out of public as much as possible this week with him.  In other Abel news, he's walking about 90% of the time!  He still looks like a little zombie, but he's almost a pro at it now.
• The weather here has been crazy and all over the place.  Friday is was 80° and Saturday it was around 55°... no wonder everyone is sick!  We're trying to take advantage of the nice weather when we have it, and have been on a long bike ride, to the playground, and the zoo.  Our bike ride was a family bike ride along the river.  I pulled the big boys behind me, and about died, but we all loved it.  I'm looking forward to riding more when it's warm and dry again.  We also want to go play golf and take the boys.  I'm sure we'll regret it, but Andy and I have both been wanting to play.  I've been watching a lot of golf every weekend, and it's got me itching to play.
• I signed up for an indoor triathlon at the Y and it's a little less than 2 weeks away!  Yes, I know that's crazy, but it's not a typical triathlon.  It's a 10 minute swim, 30 minute bike ride, and 20 minutes on the treadmill.  It's all indoors, and you don't have to do certain distances, just times.  If it had been a certain distance for each one, I wouldn't have done it.  Some of my friends are doing it with me, so it should be fun.  This past week I've started to buckle down on trying to lose the last few baby pounds I've got, and I forgot how miserable it is to lose weight.  I'm hungry all the time, and just want chocolate!  I've always loved chocolate, but it's been so much worse since I had Abe.  I'm down about 5 pounds though, so it's working... I'm just very unhappy in the process!
• I'm two episodes into the final season of Parenthood.  I've said it all along, but I'm already dreading the ending.  If some certain situations on the show don't work out the way I want them to, I'm going to be so upset!  I've got 11 episodes to go, and then I've got to find something else to watch.  
• I'm dying for a trip with this warmer weather.  We're all lined up for Daytona this summer, and we've narrowed our Disney trip down to two different times next year.  We're just waiting to find some logistics out before we nail down a date.  I'm definitely ready for summer break!

Alright, I hope everyone has a good week!  Here are some pictures of our life lately!

Sring Bucket List 2017

If you've read my blog for any amount of time, you know I love a good bucket list.  I usually don't do one for spring, but I thought I'd shake things up a bit this year.  I'm counting "spring" from now until the end of the school year, so we've got a nice amount of time to complete our list.  A lot of these things we'll do regardless, but it's fun to mark things off as we go.  I love making memories with the boys, and this keeps me somewhat intentional about it.

• Go to the zoo
• Family bike ride
• Dye Easter eggs
• Easter egg hunt
• Make s'mores and sit by the fire pit
• Spring pictures
• Family hike
• Family picnic
• Get ice cream downtown
• Walk on the walking bridge
• Play at a playground/park
• Go to the Aquarium
• Visit a farm

Abel's 1st Birthday Party

This past Friday we had Abel's birthday party.  It was a very low key affair.  Cooper was diagnosed with pneumonia that morning, so we tried to not let that put a damper on Abe's big day.  I've learned this year that the less stress of birthday party planning there is, the better.  2016 was kind of the year of small birthday celebrations for the boys (we did Clark's for free at a park and Coop's for free at McDonald's), so I kept that theme for Abel's.  We invited family only, some of which couldn't come, so we had a pretty small crowd at the house.  We ate pizza, opened presents, sang, and ate cake, and Abel absolutely loved it.  He loved being the center of attention, and he loved his gifts and cake.  I think from here on out, or at least until the boys get older and request friends to come, we'll keep birthday parties simple and to family member guests.  The boys always have fun no matter who is there or where we go, and Abel was no exception!

Abel Lee is 1!

Abel Lee Smithson is 1 today!  I could go through and write a sappy post about how sad I am that he's one, because I am, but I thought I'd write a post about what he's like as a one year old.  Abel has changed our lives so much, and we're so thankfully he's with us.  God blessed me so abundantly with these three boys, and Abel is just the icing on top of a really sweet cake!  He makes our family complete in every single way.  Happy birthday, baby boy!  

Personality:  Abel has the best personality!  He rarely ever cries for no reason, and he's so laid back.  He loves to play and loves attention.  He gives the sweetest kisses and loves to cuddle.  He's definitely 100% boy and is as wild as ever.  He already tries to wrestle with his brothers, and it wont' be long before he can whip them.  For the most part, he only gets fussy if he's tired, hungry, or if he doesn't feel well.  He loves to play peek-a-boo and loves to have be really silly and make you laugh.  He's been forced to go with the flow since he was born, so he does great in whatever situation we're in... he's just along for the ride.  He's starting to babble and talk more, which is lots of fun.  He consistently says dada, mama, bye-bye, bite bite, uh oh, all done, peek-a-boo, hot, and a few other things I can't think of right now.  He also started walking about two weeks ago.  He still prefers crawling as his method of transportation, but he's slowly getting a little more confident with his steps.  He can get sassy if you tell him no, but he really is just an all around great baby.
 
Sleeping:  Abe's a good sleeper!  He typically wakes up around 6am every day, a little earlier than I'd prefer, but he always wakes up happy.  On a normal day he takes a morning and afternoon nap, but I don't think it'll be long before he cuts out his morning nap.  He's usually in bed between 7:30 and 8:30 every night, and doesn't like to be rocked to sleep.  For naps and bedtime he just lays down in his crib awake and falls right to sleep.  Unless he's sick or teething, he sleeps through the night.  He likes to catnap in the car and then he wakes up thinking he's done napping for the day. 

Eating:  Abel's a great eater!  He's by far the best eater out of our three, but I know that'll probably change at some point in time.  He prefers table food to baby food, but will still eat baby food when we need him to.  He's still nursing and was completely formula free!  He only nurses two or three times a day, and he does great at taking whole milk bottles.  On average, he nurses/takes a bottle 5-6 times a day.  He eats three solid meals a day and snacks in between... he's definitely an eater!  I weighed him last night and he weight 22.14 pounds... Cooper and Clark were both 16 pounds when they turned 1!  We can always find him food off the menu when we eat out, and he loves Susan's pancakes!  He loves sweets too, like his momma.  We're starting to use sippy cups more, but I think it'll be a few months before we're bottle free.  His two bottom teeth are all the way through, and his two top teeth are making their way down.

Likes:  Abel loves his momma, daddy, brothers, Granna, and his granddad (and other family members, too).  He's really taken to my dad here recently, and anytime he comes around, Abel makes a nosedive for him.  He loves playing outside, and makes a mad dash for the door anytime I open it.  He loves playing with balls, swinging, bouncing gently on the trampoline, playing in the toilet when we forget to shut it, bath time, and knocking over anything his big brothers build.  He loves playing "rough" with his daddy and brothers, and loves to be tickled.  He loves attention and loves to be held.  He loves to play peek-a-boo.  I can't wait to start letting him do more outside once it warms up some more... he loves the outdoors!  He still loves his pacifier, but doesn't have any security items he's attached to because I haven't let him sleep with a blanket, stuffed animals, or pillow yet.  He loves to "help" me unload the dishwasher, even though I try to move him the whole time.  He loves to bang Clark's pots and pans together, and if we make the mistake of leaving the boys' door open, he destroys their kitchen area in no time.  When he's really tired or wanting some mommy time, he still loves to nurse.  I don't know how much longer he'll keep it up, but I'm holding on as long as he'll let me.  

Dislikes: Abel hates the grass.  I guess it's a texture thing, but he can't stand for his feet to touch it.  He doesn't like being rocked when he's ready for bed, doesn't like having his diaper changed and having to be still on the changing table, and once he's decided he's done eating, he doesn't want you to try and force feed him.  He tolerates the car and his car seat, but if he's the slightest bit ill or sleepy, he'll cry the whole time we're driving.  He's not a big fan of his brothers getting in his face, which they do frequently, and he's started squirming away or pushing them away when he's annoyed.  There isn't a whole lot that comes to mind that Abel doesn't like because, like I said, he's a really good baby. Ok, I'll leave you with some birthday pictures of this sweet boy!