Joshua Clayton Smith

Joshua... our oldest, the one we test everything on, the "leader of the pack", the 3rd parent, entertainer, sometimes shy, cook, artist, tv addict, computer person, air soft player, singer, actor, "man of the house" when Brian is gone. He has been through a lot and will be through even more before he leaves for college. He's on his 3rd high school and is supposed to move again for his senior year. Although he tends to be a little more on the shy side he's done well with this move. He started acting lessons a few weeks ago and has made some good friends there.

He's a talented guy and I can't wait to see what the Lord has in store for him! He loves to listen to contemporary christian music and he loves to read the comics. He's more mature than most 16 year olds and I enjoy being able to spend time with him. He has his permit and is looking forward to being able to drive (so am I). He's a big help and I'm thankful to have him!

Nathan Ian

Well, I did a whole blog on Ellie so I thought I should do the same for the boys. I'll start with Ian.

Where do I start? He's a sweet boy with a strong will. He's funny, frustrating, stubborn, sometimes short tempered, likes to enforce the rules with others but not always with himself, loves the Lord, lots of energy, up early, all boy, loves his siblings, daddy's boy, likes to go on dates with Mom, loves to play, does well in school, loves sports, likes to help, likes to get people band-aids, and loves to be outside.

He's a good mix of his mommy and daddy or at least enough to frustrate both of us at different times! He adds a lot to our lives and things are definitely quiet when he's not around.

This is Ian being funny at the pumpkin patch!

Ellie has her first solid!

I had planned to wait until she was a little older before I gave her solid food but Ellie has been showing such an interest in eating I decided we should go ahead and get her started. So, last night we put her in her high chair for the first time and gave her some oatmeal cereal. It was only a tablespoon of cereal but she ate all of it.

Busy Weekend

I can't believe it's already Monday again! The weekends go by way to fast!! Friday night we just had a casual dinner. Josh finished up baseball tryouts that night and, unfortunately, didn't make the team so we were ready for a quiet night at home. After Ian went to bed Brian, Josh and I watched the first Bourne movie and we have the 2nd one to watch, too. That way, when we get the newest one (it's on our Blockbuster online list) we will remember the story line.

Anyway, Saturday was busy. Ian had his last soccer game (see photos) and Josh had his acting classes but was able to get a ride with our neighbor. I was supposed to go to a baby shower but by the time we got home from soccer and got breakfast ready, I realized I would be late and I wasn't even dressed yet so I made the last minute decision not to go. So, we got some things done around the house and then had Brian's ACSC fall festival that evening. Those who put it together did a great job and it was a lot of fun. Ellie did great - she seems to really enjoy when there's lots of activity and gets bored when there isn't. She is a chili pepper for Halloween - it's something I had wanted Ian to be when he was a baby and it didn't happen so Brian insisted I had to do it this year for Ellie. She looks pretty cute. Ian is a soldier this year or GI Joe as he calls himself. I would attach pictures of them in their costumes from that night but because Halloween is coming up and I'll be taking more then, I'll wait to post them for that!!

Sunday we visited yet another church. This one was one our friend Pat from Ohio goes to so although we hadn't talked to her since we'd gotten here, we thought we would show up and surprise her! It's a pretty small church but it's a close group and Brian said it reminded him of a true "Acts" church. It was pastor appreciation Sunday so they'd arranged a pot luck after the service and asked us to stay, so we did. It was very enjoyable and the people were all very friendly. We are still undecided about going back, though. We're praying about it and trying to see where the Lord leads us this Sunday! It was good to see Pat, though, and catch up with her.

After church we got home, changed and left again for a social for Brian's GOE group. It was at the instructor whose in charge home and he lives in a BEAUTIFUL neighborhood. I'll be honest in saying that I was a bit envious driving through that neighborhood. WOW! Anyway, he has a lovely home and the cookout was on his back covered patio and he has a pool, a trampoline, a playground, a soccer goal and another little game similar to what I used to play in junior high - oh, tetherball, that's it!! Anyway, it was a lot of fun getting to meet all the families of this group Brian's in. In fact, it turns out that one of the wives and I were at Ramstein at the same time. She's a year behind me in school and we would have only overlapped for my freshman year but I thought that was pretty cool! We stayed at the cookout until about 6:30pm and then came on home.

We ended up staying up late watching the last game of the world series. I kind of feel bad for the Rockies. I was hoping they would win at least one game. Oh, well, that's me - I like to cheer for the underdog!!

Eliana Noel

I thought it appropriate to take time to tell Eliana's story. Ian actually started praying for a little sister years ago (and Josh had prayed for one a long time ago but got Ian instead! :)) Well, in September of 2006 I went to Oklahoma for my dad's retirement from the Air Force. While I was there, Brian took the boys to visit his parents in New Hampshire. During that time, Brian and I both had the thought that we should have another child. So, needless to say in October I found out I was pregnant! I spent a lot of time negotiating with God and really praying that this little one would be a girl. Plus, I had a lot of friends who were praying, too! We were finally able to find out the sex of our baby in January and boy was I nervous!! Well, the tech finally said it looked like we were getting our wish - the baby was a girl!! Brian and I went to lunch and bought a couple of girl outfits while we were out.

For the next few months I was still nervous - what if the tech was wrong? Plus, I had lots of people saying, Oh, are you having a boy? Or, you look like you're carrying a boy - that sure didn't make me happy! Our due date came and went and still no baby. Finally four days past her due date, Eliana Noel made her appearance! My labor was different from all the others. This time I woke up because my water broke - normally my water hasn't broken until time for the baby to come so because of that trend, Brian and I rushed to the hospital! (Plus, my labors have lasted 3 1/2 hours or less!) I still wasn't really having strong contractions, though, and was only 1cm dialated. I finally had a good contraction about an hour later and decided that although I'd had the others naturally, I thought an epidural might be okay for this one! So, despite my fear of needles in my back, I took the plunge and had an epidural. BOY what a different experience! Brian and I were able to essentially sleep through most of my labor. I finally started feeling some pain and talked to the nurse and she was going to get the guys to give me more stuff but the doc decided to check my progression. Well, it turns out I was 10cm dialated and ready to push that's why I was having pains! Brian finally woke up about that time! :) After 6 3/4 hours of labor, Eliana Noel was born! It really was a girl. Eliana is Hebrew and it means "God answers prayers". I thought she looked so tiny but it turns out she is my biggest baby weighing in at 8lb5.5oz! She was 20 3/4 inches long. She was a little blue and they wanted to watch her for a little bit because her blood sugar level was low but otherwise she was healthy. I didn't get to try and nurse her until after they sewed me up and let her come out of the nursery. She took right to it but, unfortunately, I had a lot of the same problems nursing her in the beginning as I did with Ian. Thankfully, though, things improved after about 7 weeks and she is nursing fine.

This sweet picture was taken by my friend Andrea - she got a new digital camera and
took some great pictures of Ellie for me!

I do believe she may have had a touch of colic or reflux. Not really sure which all I know is for about the first 2 months if she wasn't eating or sleeping she seemed to be screaming. She is a sweetie now although this week has been a little harder because she has a little cold and hasn't been feeling that great. I have so enjoyed having a little girl and getting to do little girl stuff for her - we got her ears pierced a couple of weeks ago and I have little hair bows I put in her hair just about everyday. It's funny because now that it's a little colder out I'm not sure how to dress her! With Ian I never had to worry about that so it's funny having to worry about if she'll be warm or not.

I love this picture of Ellie and her new baby doll -

she smiles so big when she sees her!

Brian and I are really enjoying her. She is still sleeping in our room for a couple of reasons: 1. We dont' have her crib yet although it's on order & 2. We don't have a monitor yet and her room is on the other side of the house & 3. She is still getting up around 5am to eat and it's just easier to not have to walk across the house to get her!

All of this to say that we feel so blessed that the Lord

answered our prayers with this sweet baby girl!

This picture was taken this week

in an outfit our friend Lisa

gave us when we

found out we were having a girl -

thank you, Lisa!

She is getting SO BIG!!

Our Open House

When we moved to Ohio from Singapore we decided that since we'd found that people aren't always good about inviting you over if you're new, etc. that we would do the work for them. So, our first year in Ohio we had our first family open house. People were surprised that we were the ones having them over and we enjoyed having people into our home. Well, for the next two years we didn't have one but when we arrived in Virginia we held one again. During our time there we had one every year. This year in Alabama was no exception!

We had our open house on October 20th and invited just about everyone we've met and know here in Alabama. The weather was perfect and I'd worked pretty hard to get ready for it. We had about 50 people attend (that number includes kiddos) and although it was supposed to run from 3-5pm the last person left around 10pm after helping us clean the kitchen and all. WOW! That's the longest 2 hour open house we've ever had. We loved that people had time to stick around and visit. There was plenty of food and drinks so we didn't mind at all.

Our menu consisted of: Artichoke dip, Brunswick stew, a caramel apple dessert duo, cheese and meat platter, chili, chinese chestnuts, chocolate covered strawberries, cornbread, ham and cheese rolls, hooter roll-ups, hot apple cider, hot wings, mushrooms bourguignon, onion dip and chips, pigs in a blanket, port wine cheese and crackers, pumpkin bars, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, rice krispy treats, rum balls, s'mores, sushi, sweet and sour meatballs and veggies and dip.

Everyone had nothing but good things to say and quite a few asked for the brunswick stew recipe - it's my grandma Billie's recipe and it's the only way I like Brunswick stew and, apparently, others agree! It really was a good time and I finally got to meet the Phillipino family in Brian's flight plus Collins, a guy in Brian's class from the African country Cameroon, brought two of his boys (he has ELEVEN) who are with him while he's here. His wife that's with him in the States (he has two) was visiting a relative in Atlanta so she didn't come. He's a very nice man and he's very taken with Ellie.

Ian had lots of friends to play with during the open house and Josh was really good about talking with the boys from Cameroon as well as the boy from the Phillipines. Plus, he had a friend from his acting class come hang out with him until later that evening.

All-in-all I believe it was a success and I'm resting up for next year's!

Our Home, God's Provision

I am continually amazed by God's provision for our family. This time He blessed us with an amazing home and I want to share the story.

We found out in October 2006 that we would be moving to Alabama. I immediately started looking at militarybyowner.com for a home. It seemed that every house I looked at was already taken plus we didn't know about schools for Josh. I found a magnet school that offered a graphics program similar to what he was in and I asked Josh if he would like to apply for that program or go to a "regular" high school. He decided to apply for the program. The catch was we wouldn't know until April whether or not he had been accepted! So, we patiently waited all the while seeing house after house disappear!

We got word in April that Josh was accepted into the program so we definitely needed to live in the city the school was in. At least we were able to narrow down our search. I was on the website everyday and I knew immediately if a new house was listed or not but nothing seemed to be "it". We did find an acceptable house and even had the person send us the lease but then for some reason never felt like we should sign it! So, we continued to wait.

Brian finally got a print out from base of available houses and we went through it and came to a house that was 2800 square feet, below our housing allowance and was built in 2000. We tried to find something wrong because it seemed too good to be true! We talked with the landlord and heard his story - his tax bracket was higher this year due to taking an early out incentive from the Air Force and he needed to try to lower it so he was offering his home below his actual mortgage. We had our friend, Joe, go by the house to see it and we gave him the code so he could actually enter the house and take pictures. He had nothing but good things to say about it. So, we had the person send us the lease and we signed it! It's in a beautiful neighborhood and it is a lovely house but there is more to the story!

While we were moving in, Ian went to the neighbor's houses and asked if they had kids. Most of them have older kids but one lady mentioned that there was a house a few houses up that had a younger boy. Ian was so excited so he and Brian went up to the house to check it out. Sure enough, they had a 7 year old boy and had been praying that a boy would move into the neighborhood for him! To make a long story short on that point, their son Reed and Ian hit it off and love having each other to play with. They are a lot alike so it's a lot like a love/hate relationship but we are so thankful to have Reed for Ian and we, too, had been praying for a playmate for Ian! Reed's family are Christians and have become good friends that we are thankful to have.

Now, another part of this story only developed in the last two days. Brian and I saw that a house around the corner was having an open house on Sunday (brand new, no one lives there) so we decided for fun to take a look. It's a BEAUTIFUL house that is 3700 square feet and $460,000!! There was another open house right around the corner so we went to that one, too. Another beautiful home slightly smaller for $420,000! That got us to thinking about our house - we always knew we got a great deal but we weren't how sure how great a deal. Well, there's a chance that we may try to stay here an extra year for Josh to graduate so Brian called our landlord yesterday to ask him about the possibility of staying here for an extra year. Well, he would prefer to sell but if we did rent again, we would have to rent at his mortgage price and that would be $400 more than what we are paying right now which, to be honest, would be more than we could afford! So, GOD truly gave us this house as a gift and we are interested to see what will happen in the next few months.

Thank you, Lord, for your wonderful gift to us!

Monday, Monday

Today has definitely been a MONDAY! I so didn't want to get out of bed this morning! We stayed up late watching game 7 of the Red Sox and Indians game. Thankfully Ellie went until 6am before getting up to eat again (it's normally right at 4:45am) BUT that meant I only fell back asleep for about 20 minutes before I had to be up! Ellie did well in the car this morning taking the boys to school and of course fell asleep which allowed me to get a couple of things done before she woke up. I had a physical therapy appointment this morning so we had to pretty much get ready and go. Brian meets me at the clinic so he can watch Ellie while I have my appointment but I was a little earlier than Brian today but they let me take Ellie back with me and the two techs watched Ellie for me. After a while Brian still wasn't there and I thought he'd either had a later class than he thought or he'd forgotten. Well, it turns out he'd forgotten. The girls were great about it, though, and it all worked out but probably not the best way to do things! She was so sleepy after leaving there she fell asleep in the car and stayed asleep until we picked Ian up at 2:50pm! While she was sleeping, I ended up falling asleep on the couch until time to get Ian so I definitely need to get to bed at a decent time tonight! This afternoon was pretty uneventful. Ian had soccer so Brian and I walked during that - we actually walked for almost 40 minutes. After soccer we had to pick Josh up - he has baseball tryouts all this week. I don't think he was physically ready for all the running but he said he gave it his all. We'll see if he can keep it up all week! Then, we came home and had leftovers from our open house we had on Saturday (I'll write a blog on that at another time). Ellie had a tough time going to sleep tonight even though she was so sleepy. I'm not sure if it's because she's not feeling well or what. She has sneezed a lot today (more than usual anyway) and her nose was even a little runny. I hope she's not coming down with something. She normally goes to bed so well. Brian has been doing his reading - philosophy - apparantly he's not a big fan! And here I sit - wow, exciting, huh? That's a Monday!

Entering the world of blogging

Okay, I've kept up with friend's blogs and have enjoyed reading and being "part" of their lives so I thought I would try my hand at the whole thing. As I do so, though, I must be honest in saying Brian isn't a big fan. He thinks he must not be providing me with a sufficient outlet to share things so I need to create an online diary others can read. That's not really the case. I am fortunate to be married to my best friend and am so thankful I get to spend the rest of my life with him but, really, I just think this looks like fun. In fact, I've been creating "blogs" in my head for a couple of days now! I guess we'll see how I feel about this after a while and having people comment on my "diary!" My thoughts are also that if people really want to know what's going on in our lives, they can read this and I don't always have to send out a mass email to everyone! The ones who really want to know can come read for themselves. I must say upfront that my grammar is probably horrible and I'm going to write as I think so it may not always make sense but those who know me will understand. Besides, isn't this supposed to be for me and my family, not necessarily for everyone else?! OKAY enough of all that. Let's begin at today and I may go back and start at the beginning another time...