It's About Time!

Well, the day has finally come and my sister and Jared decided to tell the name of the newest Smith model before Christmas. Thank God! His name is James Hunter Smith. I do think it is fitting since I think he looks a lot like my dad's mother and my dad, who is also named James. Most of you know that Jared is an avid hunter as well, and James was born in the peak hunting season. Now I have to change all the tags on his Christmas gifts.

Our family is just keeping busy getting the final things in order for Christmas. We did our last shopping this evening, and I just finished wrapping the last of the gifts. Four more days of school and I get to have two weeks off to enjoy with Olivia and family and friends! We hope all of you have a truly blessed and wonderful Christmas. Oh, and a white Christmas too!

Zsolt's 2nd Birthday party

Olivia, Andy and I headed up to Portage on Sunday, December 9th for Zsolti's 2nd birthday party. I don't know who was looking forward to it more, Olivia or Andy. We started the party at Jungle Joe's, a large facility with indoor inflatables that you can climb, jump in, and slide down. Andy had checked it out online and couldn't wait to go because it was for children and adults! Or at least those adults with the child still inside of themselves. Olivia had a blast going down so many slides and jumping around. I think the Shark slide was by far her and daddy's favorite. She was also so excited to see Zsolt and had to find him whenever he disappeared from her sight.
As the pictures show she had a grand time playing with her daddy!
We went swimming as a family last night too.
We definitely have a swimmer in our midst. She loves to blow bubbles and "kick, kick, kick!" She would kick the entire length of the pool and back if we had our hand under her belly. She's even starting to use her arms real well.
At the moment she is sleeping on our bedroom floor. I got a message at work today (12/13/07) that she was running a temperature. I got a sub for the second half of the day and went and picked my little girl up. She was so hot and definitely wasn't herself. She had gotten sick once at Jackie's, but thankfully has been well since we've been home. She is perking up too. Hopefully it's just a 24 hour bug.
Oh, and for those of you who think I have forgot to tell you the name of my newest nephew, I have not. I have not been privileged with that information as of yet. They just officially decided his name on Monday, so they could get it on his birth certificate, but have decided not to tell anyone his name until Christmas. So I've decided to name him myself since they don't seem to care. I am calling him Elijah James. He can go by Eli or EJ.

Mommy was scared to death watching daddy carry Olivia up such high heights!

A Visit with the Dentist and Santa Claus

Well, it's been a while since our last entry. Our flash is not working on our camera so we haven't had much luck taking any cute photos lately. We took it in to be repaired and they said it wouldn't be fixed until after the holidays, so they advised we hang on to it until then. So in the meantime I can only take photos with a lot of natural light.
Olivia went to the dentist for the first time on Monday, November 19th. I noticed a discolored spot on the underside of one of her top teeth a month or so ago. I went to brush them one morning and saw that same tooth was chipped. I didn't know if she had just chipped it playing or it was decaying. I figured better safe than sorry, so we made an appointment. We weren't too sure how she would do, especially at 7:00 A.M., but she couldn't have been better. She lied back in the chair, let them look around in her mouth and didn't seem the least bit scared. Thankfully the dentist said her tooth is just discolored, no cavities, and she must have just chipped it. He didn't feel the need to do anything to the tooth as long as it wasn't bothering her. Olivia loved her first trip to the dentist. A new tooth brush, stickers, and some toys, what could be better?
Today we bundled up and walked up town with the snow blowing at us. Sturgis was having a Christmas in the City, and Santa and his reindeer landed at the Free Church Park. Olivia was so excited to get to go see Santa. The line actually wasn't real long when we got there, probably because of the cold and blowing snow. Even though the line wasn't long doesn't mean the wait wasn't. She was so good for the longest time, but then she started getting really cold. As you can see in the photos, she was trying to keep herself as warm as possible. She looked like a little turtle tucking her head in her coat. Visiting with the reindeer eased the bitter cold for a bit. I had thought of just taking her home, but her little heart was set on seeing Santa and we were getting so close. Finally, it was our turn and aunt Jen showed up to join us right when we were going in. She wanted to sit on Santa's lap (a change from last year!) She told him she wanted "a prize" and "Krek" (Shrek, her new favorite movie). A woman from the Sturgis Journal came in while we were in there and snapped a photo to put in the paper as well. Aunt Jen was kind enough to give us a ride home so we didn't have to walk in the cold anymore. She then had to tell everyone all day that she saw Santa!