Maryn: The First Year

Can you believe that I finally made a baby book for Maryn?  I figured I needed to get it done before I have another baby to document, too!  It ended up being really fun and easy to make, so I don't know why I put it off so long.  Thanks, Groupon, for giving me the motivation.

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

21 Months Old

It's time for Maryn's 21 month old update! I can't believe we have less than 3 months before she turns 2 years old!  Not too much has changed since her 18 month post.  She remains a very verbal, people-oriented little person.  She hasn't grown much (23.4 lbs last week) so she's still wearing size 18 month clothes.  Health-wise, we still haven't figured out her anemia, but I'll do a separate post on that soon.  She is learning new words and phrases constantly.  My favorites are "thanks!", "Maryn silly!", "hmm, let's see", "arm pits!" (she's a strange child),  and adding the word "too" to phrases like "Momma cereal too? Dadda outside too?" She has developed quite the maternal instinct lately.  She loves babies of friends - always bringing them their pacifier or giving them a kiss, and she also loves playing with her babies and dollhouse figures.  She is going to be a great big sister.  She loves her ABCs - she can recognize several letters, and she loves counting to 5.  She also loves serving us pretend food and tea - she mostly loves when we pretend we hate it and spit it out.  And she has just recently started playing more on her own and developing those pretending skills.  I'm pretty sure that we read every book she owns at least once each day.  She really loves it when the weather is warm enough to go outside.  We are looking forward to lots of outdoor activities once summer is here - zoo trips, baby pool and water table on the deck, walks, visits to the park, and lots of bubbles!   Of course we think she is the cutest, sweetest, smartest, funniest, most wonderful little person ever - every day becoming more and more of a big girl and less of a baby.  We are so thankful and blessed!

19 Months

20 Months

21 Months

Easter 2012

Easter was really great at the Smith house this year.  We observed Lent for the first time, and it really motivated us to mediate more on the death and resurrection of Christ, and we were able to really anticipate the coming of Easter Sunday.  It was also fun because Maryn was actually able to enjoy the festivities of the day.  We started out the morning with an Easter basket for her, which she loved.  Then of course church, where we had a wonderful service and time of worship and celebration. That afternoon, we hosted an Easter party and egg hunt at our house.  So much fun! We dyed eggs, had lots of yummy food, and just enjoyed the kiddos.  Have we mentioned how thankful we are for our small group?  They are our family away from home!!!  And let me tell you, Maryn totally got into the egg hunt.  She squealed with delight at every egg she spotted and was quite a miser with them.  The funny thing was she didn't even realize there was anything in the eggs!  Ah, the innocence of youth.  Here are a slew of Easter pics for your enjoyment:

Easter Bucket

Hungry Bunny 

Sharing

Easter dress 

Ready for church

Dyeing eggs!

Waiting... 

Blue! 

Green! 

Watching the guys "hide" the eggs

Counting

Got one! 

Here's another! 

I see even more!!! 

Family pic

Esteps! 

BFFs 

Discovering their loot 

Yummy and adorable treats that Erica made!

Goldfish Giggles

All of this just because apparently the way I eat goldfish crackers is hilarious.

Spring Break Suprises

We had a wonderful Spring Break that actually in a way lasted two weeks.  Billy had a week off and we got to enjoy some fun family time together doing things like having a picnic in the park, shopping and lots of time spent outside.  Surprise number one was the gorgeous weather we had in March - 70s and 80s - which I believe was record breaking.  Last year it snowed until April!  The following week, we had tentatively planned to have my siblings come up for their Spring Break but we were never sure who and if they were going to be able to come until the last minute.  So surprise number two was that not only did both my brother Scott and my sister Hannah get to come, my mom also got to come with them!  We spent such a wonderful (although too brief) time with them.  Maryn had a blast - she always had someone to play with - and she got to know my siblings much better.  She is still talking about Nona, Scott, and Hannah.

Playing with Scott

Hannah taught Maryn how to play Zelda

Picking up sticks and finding bunnies with Nona

Hannah also got to take a few super sweet pics of Maryn while she was here:

This picture just makes me laugh everytime

Our final and third surprise was one that we actually knew in February, but didn't share with family until that week we had family visiting...(drumroll please)....we're going to have another baby!!!  We are so excited and can't wait to meet our precious little one sometime around November 1st!  Right now, I'm about 11.5 weeks along (and showing! amazing how much quicker that happens the second time around) and looking forward to entering the second trimester.  I'm ready to feel more like myself.  I'm doing well and we got a quick peek at baby on an ultrasound last week and everything looks good so far.  We've decided to go with a midwife again since we had such a good experience with Maryn's birth.  And, yes, we do plan on finding out the gender - that will be in June sometime.  Of course we'll keep you posted!

5 weeks pregnant - I'll do another pic at 15 wks

Maryn's announcement

18 Months Old

So, technically Maryn is soon to be 19 months old.  I'm finding it's really difficult to sum up the developments in Maryn's life since her 15 month update.  She is transforming from baby to kid and everyday there's something new.  I guess I'll start by giving you her latest stats, since she's had issues with her growth chart curve in the past.  I'm happy to report that she is now 22.6 lbs (22nd percentile) and 30.5 in tall (15th percentile) - she has had a huge growth spurt! She's finally fitting into some size 18 month clothes.  For a while there, she was also eating like crazy, but that has slowed down some.  I think the most amazing development in the last 3 to 4 months has been her vocabulary; I can't even count how many words she knows.  She is really becoming quite the communicator.  I just keep waiting for the moment when she starts putting things together in sentences. Also, we got her a little potty chair and she has actually peed in it twice!  She isn't nearly ready to start potty training officially, but she is definitely curious and loves to talk about her potty.  There's a light at the end of the diaper tunnel!  Here are a few other tid bits about our sweet girl:

Favorite food: Banana, with french fries in close second
Favorite lovey: Curious George, with Baby in close second
Favorite toy: Dollhouse
Favorite song: A Little Squirrel Went Scampering
Favorite show: Sesame Street  (she knows all the characters by name)
Favorite pastime: Making up songs on the piano and singing
Favorite book: Please, Baby, Please
Favorite academic pursuit: Counting ("wah, wah, wah, DOO!")
Favorite artistic pursuit: Coloring
Favorite athletic pursuit: Jumping (she has a zero inch vertical)
Favorite outing: The library
Favorite games: Kick the ball and hide and seek with Dada
Favorite technology: Youtube, Skype, and the toddler channel on Pandora
Favorite word: Spatula ("at-chu-cha!")

16 Months

17 Months

18 Months

Why I haven't blogged lately

I've mentioned in my last couple of posts that we've been pretty busy lately.  Here's why:

Exhibit A: New car
Due to car issues, we decided to buy a new car.  Which is wonderful and stressful all at the same time.  I do love it, though, and am so thankful.  It's a Subaru Outback, and the all wheel drive sure is great in our Michiana winter!  The toasty heated seats are a nice bonus, too.

Exhibit B: New house
We've been living in an apartment since moving to South Bend.  It was okay, but we were ready for some more space and independence.  We wanted a yard and room for Maryn to play.  We really considered buying a house.  The market here is great for buyers, but not so great for sellers.  And we knew if we purchased a home we would be selling it in 3 to 4 years, which means we could be stuck if the housing market doesn't drastically improve.  But we have some friends from church who have had their house on the market for a while, wanting to move to Colorado for her to go to dental school.  And by the providence of God, we were able to make an arrangement that was great for both of us - we would rent their house for the remainder of our time here in South Bend!  We are so thankful for the change, and we have already enjoyed the house immensely. But moving with a toddler is just exhausting! Here is a picture of our new home, in the glory of spring (can't wait until it actually looks like this - right now everything outside is dead and grey and slushy):

And everything on the inside is slowing looking less like this chaos - it's a long process:

Exhibit C: Notre Dame

Billy just started his last semester of course work, which is very exciting.  But it doesn't make it any less crazy and time consuming yet!  Of course, he is doing incredibly well, but we are both very much looking forward to his courses being done!  Then on to exams and dissertation!

Exhibit D: Winter

So I guess winter doesn't really make me more busy, but it does decrease my motivation for doing lots of things, including blogging.  I just get the winter blues here, I think.  It's always overcast, and you just never know when a bunch of lake effect snow will be dumped upon you, ruining all your plans.  Granted, it has been a much milder winter than our first winter last year.  But I still don't like it.  Side note: Maryn loves to talk about snow, but she HATES to touch it.

Exhibit E: Toddler mood swings

Maryn has been wonderful, adorable, lovable, and entertaining as usual, but she has also shown that she does have a dark side, haha.  She can be downright exhausting sometimes.  We have entered the world of fits, complete emotional breakdowns, defiance, moodiness, and the word "NO!"  Oh dear.  Sometimes I feel like my time with her at home is completely consumed by her demands.  How do people do it with more than one kid?!  Thankfully, her amazing-ness outweighs any of her difficult moments.  And we love her more and more every day.

Okay, so have I successfully presented my case?  I really will try to be a better blogger from here on out.  :)