So Small

I am not too into music videos but somehow I happened across this one of Carrie Underwood's "So Small." I think you should watch it. Then, you might want to show it to some of the people that you love. I tried my best and I could not get the video to show on my blog. If you are interested, check it out here: http://new.music.yahoo.com/videos/--49495368

I still think of this video and the message of the lyrics sometimes, though it might help if I thought of them more often. Isn't it interesting how often in our lives we tend to forget to look at the bigger picture of our lives? We get caught up in tiny, insignificant details and forget what life is all about. I definitely need that reminder to wake up and remember that hey, when I look at my life as a whole instead of focusing on the grains of sand, I am floored by how incredibly I've been blessed!

Marily

Buying a Home!!

So yes, we are finally buying a home of our very own! YEAH! We should close on the home in about two weeks and plan to be moved by the end of the month. Of course we are sad to leave all of our nearby friends, but we are looking forward to having our own home, and a backyard for our boys, a kitchen that has counterspace, and some room (if only a little) for company. Give us a couple of weeks into May then STOP BY (though I'm not bold enough to post the address here...you'll have to call)!

Here's a picture of my kitchen:

We actually went to see this home months and months ago, towards the end of last year. We saw it once and really loved it but it was a bit out of our price range. So, we hoped the price would go down and looked at other houses. After a few months we saw many more homes and nothing that we liked as much. The house was still on the market but the price hadn't dropped so we decided we'd be silly not to at least make an offer that we could afford, even if it was rejected. It was rejected. But, two days later the seller's agent called our agent and after a little negotiating, the rest is history!

By the time we had the inspection done we had only seen the house one time, and that was four months prior so I was actually a little worried that things were not going to be quite as great as I remembered. But, to my surprise, the house seemed even more beautiful than I remembered. After the inspector left and we were there with just our agent I remember laying on this counter you see in the front of the kitchen and stretching my arms out. I could not even reach the edges of the counter. I was so excited since the counter space in our townhome was divided into one to two foot portions around the kitchen.

Sweet Little Adam

Hopefully I am not branding my children for life. I find myself saying, "Dallin is the funny one and Adam is the sweet one." I probably should stop saying that before they get old enough to get it engrained into their consciousness. Because of course Dallin is often sweet and Adam is often funny and I don't want to lock them into an expected personality for their entire lives.
That being said, Adam does have a sweet side that sets him apart from his brother. He loves to carry an animal around with him and lately he has been SO into giving hugs and kisses. It is definitely every mother's dream. He'll give Dallin and I random hugs and kisses often throughout the day. We might be wrestling on the bed and just when you think you're getting a tackle, instead you get a hug and a smooch. So sweet. If a lady notices him at the store, Adam cocks his head and gives his shy, sweet little smile.

Our Funny Dallin

Ever since Dallin could make eye contact, he's been making people laugh. At 1 1/2 years old, he had a stand-up routine. He would take our microphone and babble, "bah buddah bah, buddah," pause, then laugh loudly, "Ah hah hah hah!" He is always making jokes. One of my favorites lately was this exchange:

Mom: Dallin, could you go upstairs and get me a diaper? No, could you get me two diapers?
Dallin: What's two diapers for?
Mom: One for Adam and one for the diaper bag.
Dallin (with a slight pause and a smirk on his face): The diaper bag needs changed?

I thought that was a pretty good joke for a three-year-old. Better than most of mine at least.

What would you do?

"What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?"

Mark and I were out on a date on night to the Mesa Arts Center. On the way there I was talking about how I had some aspirations for life, and would I ever actually put forth the effort to take the leap and actually do any of these things? How many of us in our lives spend our time daydreaming about doing great things and then let insecurity, doubts, laziness, or just the busy-ness of daily life get in the way of our dreams? That night at the Mesa Arts Center we went into the gift shop and I came across the above anonymous quote. This really struck me. I thought about the difference between those people that do notable things with their lives and those that don't and I believe that the difference is having the courage to fail. And then, the courage to try again after failing. SO, what would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?

I have a couple things in mind and I suppose I will write them down so as to make the commitment to doing these things sometime:

1. Write and publish a children's book
2. I have an art project in mind that I want to do and sell at boutique stores. Does anyone know anybody that I could hire to cut some wood into squares for me? :)

First, I know that the greatest thing I can do with my life is to raise my children well and devote my energy first to them. So, that's my first priority, but along the way we'll see what else I might make happen.

Marily

Random Pictures I Love

I feel so behind just now beginning to journal about our family. But, better late than never. Here are a few pictures of our family over the last few years. Enjoy! Dallin as a baby in Dad's arms, October 2004

Family pictures taken for Fourth of July letter, 2006

Dallin is 3 months from three and Adam is three months from well, being.

Adam Alan Smith

Born September 14th, 2006 Adam's uncle Danny is a great photographer. This is one shot he took of Adam.

November 2006

Dallin in front of Grandma Smith's Christmas tree 2006

(Taken by Aunt Shauna)

Uncle Danny took the above two shots of the boys. March 17th 2007

Another cute shot of Adam.

What to do when you're trying to get the laundry done and not one, but both of your little kids climbs into the basket that you need? Well, you take a picture. April 14th 2007


Adam, May 24th 2007

When my sister Dawn and her family came into town for cousin Daniel's baby blessing we all took a trip to Old Tucson Studios. Dallin had a lot of fun running around and riding the train especially. Here he is outside the Courthouse. Feb1st, 2007

We got the boys new Sunday clothes and wanted for months to take pictures of them in their cute outfits on a Sunday afternoon at Grandma and Grandpa Smiths' house. But, after wearing them to church and snacking in their nice clothes for three hours they weren't quite picture-perfect after church. This particular day we decided to put them in different clothes for church and dress them up to go to Grandma and Grandpas'. Dallin really hammed it up and was such a great little model. Adam was a little more stubborn and not so easy to get still. Dec 30th 2007

Well, that's all! Now we're somewhat caught up. Aren't they cute? We have a photo slideshow as our screen saver and I often find myself caught up in watching the pictures of my sweet boys although I haven't changed the pictures for probably 6 months. Somehow I can't grow tired of them.

Dallin's first drawing

Dallin surprised me recently when he showed me his small Magna Doodle and said, "Look Mom! I drew a picture of you!" Sure enough, there were two huge eyes and a line for a "smile." His first recognizable picture! And man, it wasn't even drawn on paper so I could frame it! Then, he erased it before I could take a picture with my camera. At least he was more than happy to draw me another one and I did actually get some photos of those. His little drawings are the sweetest things I have ever seen. I'm sure every parent understands.