The Kids had outside time in their pjs before the rain came 

Stopping for a drink.  All of that driving is hard work!

We still did Krispy Kreme

I love watching Mak and CB eat doughnuts- this is serious business for them!

The Bible Study Pool Party turned into supper at Chuck E Cheese.  We still had fun, but we really missed spending the afternoon in your pool, Heidi and Jason!

Abby may have been a bit overwhelmed by the chaos!

CB and I have just a tad bit of hair envy for Callie- she gets 4 pig tails and we can’t even get 1!:)

Mak took Mommy on the “kiddie coaster”

I LOVE Luke’s expression!  They are riding the “kiddie coaster.”

Clara Beth stole some loves from Luke

Anna loved the carousel!

It took Makgill a minute to warm up to the water

Love that dirty tooshie!

Tallon wanted Gabbi to come out and play

Tal gave Clara Beth a faceful of water!  Aunt Rebecca came running to the rescue!

Clara Beth’s response to us laughing

Mmmmm…..tasty water

The kids had so much Fun!  We love playing (and eating!) at Lili and Boom-Boom’s!

The day after Clara Beth’s birthday party, we took Makgill back to the doctor because his arm was still bothering him and he wasn’t using it.  They x-rayed it again and decided to go ahead and cast the arm for a couple of weeks to be on the safe side.  Mak chose a camo cast (or Army Man as he calls it), and we have been living with it for the past week and a half.  It has not been easy.  Sleeping was difficult for the first few nights, it itched, bath time was quite a challenge, and we constantly had to remind him to keep it out of the water at the beach.  It did not, however, slow him down.  He ran, climbed, and did everything as he normally would.  In fact, he kind of enjoyed using it for climbing because he could hook his arm around things to give him leverage.  It was amazing to watch him.  Boys are just so adventurous.  He doesn’t seem to have a cautious bone in him! 

Anyway, the cast was scheduled to come off today, so Collin took some pictures of Makgill in his cast this morning.  He played in the bushes in his “army man” shorts and no shirt.  Such a cutie-pie!  Sorry…Big Tough Man!  We wrapped things up by having a lollipop for breakfast.  When I was 3 I also broke my arm, and we have a picture of me in a cast eating a lollipop just like the one Mak has.  (By the way, my children do eat healthy breakfasts normally.  It seems that I am always blogging about eating cake or something sugary.  This is usually just a special treat!)  Clara Beth woke up and wanted in on that lollipop action, so we stripped her down and let her at it.  I love the pics that Collin got!

Poor Skinny kid can’t keep his shorts up!

Here’s a slideshow of all of our morning fun:

www.cmsmithportraits.com/slideshows/cast

The cast did come off.  It was not a fun experience, but he is doing well now.  Hopefully this will be his only experience in a cast!

I just love her in a bikini!

Can I interest you in a sandy pacifier?

They play so well together

Daddy is so fun on the beach!

This cup was VERY important to Parson- we didn’t realize just how important until it was lost in the ocean

I love my beach boy so much!

And my girl!

 I also love her in ruffles!

There was plenty of “friendly” fighting over sand toys

Such a pretty girl!

They were amazed that you were actually allowed to write on the walls!

And the kids had clearly HAD ENOUGH by the end of the day- just check out these videos!

The Meltdown- Warning: This video is LOUD!

 http://my.videoegg.com/video/dhpEeZ

30 seconds later…All is well…We love the portable DVD player

http://my.videoegg.com/video/dhpEeC

Watching in awe- it wasn’t so bad at first!

We took the kids to May Fly this afternoon.  Makgill has been talking about it for two days and was so excited about going.  He wanted to see the airplanes that “spell” ( he’s seen them writing in the sky all weekend).  He quickly changed his mind once we got there.  Turns out he is not a huge fan of the noise.  Oops.  I’m sure that the fact that he was extremely over-tired did not help any.  Clara Beth on the other hand had a great time.  She laughed as the jets flew by and then blew rasberries to imitate the sound that they made.  It was so cute.  I wish we had gotten a video of it.

Enjoying some refreshments

Mak tried to point, but his cast wouldn’t let him

Mmmm….potato chips

Ear plugs couldn’t even help!

Anna hiding from the noise

Parson hiding from the noise

We ran into Muscle-Man Owen on our way out

It is always such a treat to work with young children.  Babies are always exciting to work with because you never know what to expect.  Grant was one of those rare babies that did everything right.  Pretty much unheard of.  We were able to create some beautiful family portraits, baby portraits, mother baby and father baby.  View their session at www.cmsmithportraits.com/slideshows/0552

What an exciting couple and beautiful wedding day!  This album was so much fun to create.  Working with Kristen and Chad leading up to the ceremony, it was easy to see how much they love each other.  They are an amazing couple, and we are excited to share their storybook with you.  Enjoy the slide-show!

 www.cmsmithportraits.com/albums/0481album

We had to wake sleepyhead up at 9:00!

Early morning loves for her babydoll

Cupcake for breakfast!

Video of her eating (sorry- it’s kind of long):http://my.videoegg.com/video/dhtUyX

Playing with her pals

Birthday kisses from Daddy

Supper at Chili’s with the Granger’s

Clara Beth today!

We celebrated her birthday on Sunday, but Clara Beth’s actual birthday is today.  I can’t believe it’s been a year since this precious, darling baby girl came into our family!  She has changed the dynamics of our world so much!  Collin and I were talking about what it was like a year ago.  We were amazed from the beginning at how different she was from Makgill.  I guess I always thought a newborn was a newborn, but she seemed so much more fragile and….girly.  I have never in my life touched anything as soft as my baby girl’s cheeks on the day she was born.  For some reason, that alone sticks out more to me than anything else from those precious first days with her in the hospital.  We would touch her cheeks and it was as if we could not even tell we were touching anything- she was so delicate.  The most beautiful girl we had ever seen!  Introducing Clara Beth to Makgill was another memory from the hospital that really stands out.  He was so proud of his new baby sister!  He strutted into the hospital room wearing his big brother tee shirt, and in that moment he completely changed from a baby to a big boy in my “mommy” eyes.  He hopped up onto the bed with me, clutching the “bundy” rabbit he made for his sister, and gave me the best hug.  He felt so much bigger in my arms.  It was so sad and so completely perfect all at the same time.  He peered at his new sister with a huge smile on his face.  He was so impressed that she had eyes!  Clara Beth was a very smart baby from the beginning, and she had brought her big brother a present when she came into this world.  This definitely helped boost Mak’s feelings toward her!

She has eyes!!!                                                       

This year has gone by so fast.  Clara Beth is just so much fun to be around.  Her personality is hilarious!  She seems to have grown up so much faster than Makgill did.  This was completely not my plan.  She is our last baby, so I imagined that she would stay a baby much longer.  She has different plans.  Clara Beth has specific interests.  She is in love with baby dolls.  She actually screams for them when she sees them in a store and has huge crocodile tears if she doesn’t get what she wants.  Mak was 20 months old before we hit this stage with him!  She also loves shoes.  Typical girl!  She knows where they go and can amuse herself for short periods by trying to put them on.  She then gets frustrated and brings them to me to put on.  She doesn’t like wearing two of the same shoes, though.  And she doesn’t like wearing them when I want her to wear them.  Strong willed child?  She is also a daredevil.  The girl can climb, and is really good at it.  She loves climbing in chairs, standing in chairs…she can even climb on top of the Art table if we let her.  She definitely keeps me on my toes!  Clara Beth has learned to blow her nose.  It’s so cute and funny to watch!  Her favorite words are still Da-da and uh-oh, but she has added no no no and dat(that?) to the list.  She can say Ma-ma, bye, and hey, but she doesn’t do it very often.  She has taken as many as 5 steps, but is still much more interested in crawling, which is fine with me.  She is so amazing and beautiful, and I can not imagine life without this sweet little one!  We are so thankful to God for our precious family.  His blessings are so mighty and wonderful!

Here is a slideshow of her year in review:  www.cmsmithportraits.com/slideshows/cb1styear

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21

Saturday I had the pleasure of working with Kristen and Chad, again.  Their engagement session was one of my favorites that I have done for quite a while.  They were so relaxed in front of the camera that I was able to capture true feeling and emotion from them.  These two have so much energy, it almost wears me out.

Most of the guests were from out of town, so I was able to meet a lot of new people.  Being able to meet new people is one of my favorite things about photographing weddings.  Enjoy the slideshow.

www.cmsmithportraits.com/slideshows/0481 

Makgill has had a pretty lousy week.  It all started Monday night.  We had a wonderful girl from our church come watch the kids while we went to Bible study.  Just as things were wrapping up Collin’s phone rang.  Of course we suspected to hear screaming from Clara Beth on the other end.  We were shocked when she said that Makgill was having a rough time.  She said that he got so upset that he threw up when she told him it was time for bed.  This is so not Makgill.  This kid loves babysitters and has NEVER cried for us to come home.  Now his sister is another story.  I don’t think she has ever NOT cried for a babysitter that wasn’t family.  So naturally we were shocked to hear that Clara Beth was sleeping peacefully in her crib and our baby-sitter loving boy was having issues.  We jumped in the car and rushed home.  He was okay but quiet when we got there.  We thanked the sitter and saw her out, and then Mak started complaining about his wrist hurting.  He said he didn’t want to go to sleep without us because his arm hurt.  We were a little concerned, but it was late and he was clearly tired, so we gave him motrin and put him to bed.  He slept well- all night long- but when he woke the next morning he immediately started complaining about the arm.  Collin was able to rearrange his schedule so he could take Mak to the doctor (I had Anna).  They were sent over for x-rays, were told there was no break and to go home.  I wasn’t crazy about this advice, so I called the doctor.  He encouraged me to continue the motrin and have him rest the arm.  And to call back if the pain continued.  THE PAIN CONTINUED.  He completely stopped using the hand and it started swelling.  Luckily, my mom was working on Wednesday and our pediatrician was doing rounds, so she was able to talk to him for us.  He explained that a hairline fracture may not show up for a few days.  We went  back to the office that afternoon and were referred to a pediatric orthapedist.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t get us in until the following morning.  So they sent us home with Tylenol with codeine.  Turns out he’s allergic to codeine because he developed hives.  He slept really well until about 3:30, when we heard cries from his room.  The poor baby was having an asthma attack!  So now we have to do a breathing treatment that he is thoroughly opposed to.  He slept in our bed the rest of the night.  His breathing was still not right in the morning so we had to do another treatment.  We made it to the orthapedist, and this is where the worst thing I’ve ever experienced with Makgill occurred.  After another x-ray where it was again determined that there was no break, the doctor concluded that Makgill had displaced a ligament in his elbow.  This is the really horrible part.  The doc has me sit Mak in my lap and says- very quickly- This is going to hurt he will cry you may cry but it has to be done- POP!  And he twists my baby’s arm back into place.  OH MY GOODNESS!  My poor baby was in tears, I was in tears (which I quickly wiped away so he would not be scared), and the doctor was directing us to the playroom so they could observe Makgill.  Don’t get me wrong- the doctor was great.  He fixed my baby quickly and was very good with him.  And Makgill was so brave!  I was seriously proud of my baby.  He played and was still favoring the hand so they wrapped it in a splint and told us we could take it off on Sunday.  Of course when we left the doctor we told him he could have anything he wanted and do anything he wanted for the rest of the day.  He got some new Thomas engines and toys, some books, and a Nerf launcher thing from Li-Li.  He has been so sweet all day.  Giving hugs with his new “hugging arm,” saying “I love you” constantly…Oh, I love that boy so much!  If you see him, let him know how brave you think he is, or leave him a comment.  Seeing your baby in pain is the hardest thing in the world.  We are so thankful that he is sleeping peacefully in his room tonight. 

 A funny Mak movie:

www.cmsmithportraits.com/movies/makarm

Sweet Baby was so happy to have her favorite playmate back