A SMASHING Day!!

Lainey had a "Smashing" Good time at her birthday party! About 4 dozen of our friends and family came out to the park to help Lainey celebrate her first birthday. We were fortunate to have really nice weather ~ not too hot, not too cold, and NOT raining!


Lainey sported her new birthday dress I made her and enjoyed being passed from one guest to another! Everyone enjoyed a meal of BBQ sandwiches, chips, salsa, and birthday cake. Lainey just REALLY enjoyed the cake!!

Although I am still working on getting all of the birthday donations in, so far Lainey has raised $475 for her Great Strides walk in October. Everyone was very generous with their donations and the cute gifts they gave her. All I can say is that she will be one "stylin" chick this summer!!

Presents and donations galore! Thank you everyone for being so generous!

Lainey's friend Reagan.

Campbell and her mommy, Josie!

Dawson

Josie and Campbell, Lainey and I ~ I am not feeling too well in this picture since I had a 103 temperature!!

Lainey opening presents.

Lainey wearing her new Life is Good hat! Thanks Aunt Dayna, Uncle Brad, and Lilly Anne!

Lainey playing with her new little baby doll!

We had a great time and are thankful for the many friends and family that came out to celebrate with our sweet princess. A year ago we were unsure what this year may bring in relation to Lainey's Cystic Fibrosis. We are happy to report that this year, aside from the "normal" milestones, has been quite an uneventful year with Lainey's health. Although having a child with CF is a never ending job that requires a lot of demanding routines and practices, we are appreciative of everything she has taught us. We hope that she has many more uneventful years in relation to her health.

Thank you to everyone who made a donation to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation! With your help, we are going to beat CF!! Your donations have added years to Lainey's life, and for that we are forever grateful!

Love,

DeAnn

PS ~ For anyone who wondered if I was going to live to see another day since I looked so awful at the party, I did live and I feel much better! Mom took me to the ER on Sunday....103.1 fever, Strep Throat, Urinary Tract Infection, IV fluids, IV Antibiotics, a couple hours of resting on the gurney, Prescription antibiotics 4 times per day for 10 days, and Wa La! I am feeling like a person again.......a person that will live to see another day!! I truly appreciate every one's help at the party since I wasn't quite myself!!

HOLDING!!!!!

Yesterday was my 29th birthday and I am holding on! I am not sure what this last year of my 20's will bring, but I think I am ready! There are too many awesome things I have accomplished, participated in, tried, experienced, and lived in my lifetime to list them all.....but here are a few of my favorite things and people!

Mexican Food

Margaritas

Family

My Children

My Friends

Mexican Food (did I say that already?)

El Sombrero

Me, after a LARGE frozen Texas margarita!!

Lainey was so hungry, she was eating the spoon!
(yes, this is Rudolph......she fell off the bed and got a carpet burned nose.....she was under her daddy's care!)

My silly mom (aka: Gigi)!

Dawson, Logan, and my dad (aka: Papa) eating!

Lilly Anne watching everyone eat!

Logan James celebrating Cinco de Mayo and his mommy's birthday!

Liam Scott with a spoon on his head?? You never know what this kid is thinking!!

Lainey was a little self-conscious about her nose, so she covered up the carpet burn with a little piece of cheese quesadilla!

I had an awesome birthday! Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes and wonderful gifts!!

DeAnn

Hoppy Easter!

On Thursday I took the children to the mall for a picture with the Easter Bunny. By the time I had all of the kids dressed and we were walking out the door, Sid drove up. He was suppose to be completing his 12 hour clinical at our local Immediate Care, but was sent home due to illness. He complained about having a really bad headache on Wednesday, but it was so bad that it caused him to get sick. We left him to sleep in a quiet house while visiting with the Easter Bunny.

Even though the line was not very long, we had to wait FOREVER while the mother in front of us required at least 15 photos to be taken of her 1 child...his shirt was crooked, his hair was sticking up, his smile wasn't as big as she thought it should be, the bunny's bow was not formed properly, Blah, Blah, Blah! My kids were great even though we had to wait forever. When my kids were finally on the Easter Bunny's lap, Liam was not up for having his picture taken. Unlike the mother in front of me, I chose one of the first pictures taken and we were out of there!

Waiting in line to see the Easter Bunny.

The Smithson Children with the Easter Bunny 2009

At 3:30 am on Friday, Sid drove himself to the ER. My parents were out of town and I did not want to drag the kids to the ER at that time of day. I hated that he had to take himself, but I think Sid enjoyed the peace and quiet at the ER versus our house! After giving him a lot of fluids, a CT scan, morphine, and numerous other drugs, Sid was diagnosed with a "really bad" sinus infection! My friend Jenn came over to watch the children at 10:30 so that I could pick Sid up from the ER! We are glad to have him feeling better.......because when he is sick, it is like having 4 kids!

On Saturday Lainey began to sound very congested. You could feel the rattling by putting your hand over her chest. She was already on her second week of Bactrim and she sounded worse than before taking any additional medications. After calling Dr. Caplan, he called in another, much stronger prescription....Problem: too late to get the new medication because the pharmacy was closed! Needless to say, Lainey coughed ALL night! I barely slept because I was so worried about her. Lainey NEVER coughs and if she does, she is either faking (mocking my mom) or she is choking on food or formula. I caught myself checking her video baby monitor off and on every half an hour to an hour. After some intense chest physio therapy, she sounded much better.

Logan and Liam decided that their Easter Baskets should go on the rug in front of the door. This picture is after the Easter Bunny visited our house! The Easter Bunny knows that the boys do not need a bunch of candy and would rather have a few new toys! Lainey got some baby food and a movie...Logan decided the movie was really for the whole family, Lainey just had more room in her basket! Sid also got some goodies from Mrs. Bunny.....a huge jar of Gourmet Jelly Beans and some chocolate candies!

The boys were so excited about their Easter basket goodies! They played for a while before we got ready for church! We were actually on time for church! Getting three kids dressed and fed, myself dressed and fed, loaded into the car, and to church on time by myself is a HUGE deal! It felt great to sit down once I got settled into the pew....although we were practically sitting on top of each other! Lainey loved being in church with all of the music as well as sitting next to her Gigi and Papa! After church, my parents, my sister and her family, and the kids and I went to IHOP to eat. YUMMY!

Lilly Anne eying some sausage!


Lainey waiting on her food.

Logan sporting his shark necklace (no he did not wear a t-shirt to church, I made him change before going to eat strawberry syrup!)

Lainey scarfing up egg and pancake!

After eating a yummy brunch at IHOP we all went back to Gigi and Papa's house. The Easter Bunny brought a gift to their house.....another movie for the boys! The boys watched movies while the rest of us hung out and took a few pictures!

Brad, Dayna, and Lilly Anne

Lainey and Gigi

The Girls!

Lainey, me, Gigi, Lilly Anne, and Dayna

(This is a good DIET picture....it gives me even more motivation!)

Liam found Gigi's jelly beans!

We had a great day celebrating Jesus' life and his forgiving of our sins. Now it is back to work and school for the kids and I. Only 29 days left of school! Woo Hoo!!!

Lainey sporting her Baby Leg tights!

Well, That's ALL Folks! Have a good week! :)

DeAnn

Spring Fun!

It is that time of year again....Spring Break! Only, this kind of weather is not that of Spring! Yes, rain, 60 degree weather, pollen, and a week out of school is an indication that spring is here, but SNOW and freezing temperatures?

Our plan to camp at Stone Mountain park during part of our Spring Break was with hopes of good weather. When we left town on Thursday, we were far from having good weather! With thunderstorms, flooding, and tornado warnings, our vacation had an interesting start. Thanks to my dad, our camper was already set up in our camping spot when my parents, the kids, and I arrived at Stone Mountain around 9:00 Thursday evening. Sid was scheduled to work on Friday, therefore we left him at home!

It was rainy all day on Friday and I was stuck in the camper with 3 kids...one which was feeling less than par. Lainey looked as if she had pink eye and was running a low grade fever which caused her to be very sleepy. After a call to her CF doctor, Dr. Caplan, we had a prescription for eye drops and Bactrim. Sid finally made it to Stone Mountain around 8:45 and boy was I happy to see him!

On Saturday we had beautiful weather. Our friends Cindy and Sean, along with their kids Dawson and Kaylah joined us for a day of fun at Stone Mountain. We had a blast meeting Bob and Larry from the Veggietales, making bugs, riding the train, picnicing, shopping, watching the Back Yard Circus, grilling out, and viewing the Laser Show. The best part was when we tried to fit 11 people into my Ford Expedition EL! It is designed to seat 8 people...we managed to fit 11 and we could have fit more! We had about a 2 mile drive within the park to get from our camp site to the Laser Show lawn, so we were not cramped for long. Yes, we could have driven 2 cars, but it is VERY hard to park...plus my mother has a handicap pass, making parking a breeze! Sid and Sean sat in the front, Papa, Lainey, and Liam sat in the middle, Gigi, Dawson, Cindy, Kaylah, Logan, and I sat in the last row, and we filled the back with a wagon, double stroller, and a gazillion blankets! I think it took us loner to get in and out of the car than it did for the 30 minute Laser Show, but we had a ball!

Sunday was much colder, but the sun was out for most of the day. We took my parents over to Stone Mountain park and did a little shopping and playing. Everyone started breaking down around 1:00 because they were cold and hungry, so we went back to our campers. Shortly after we ate lunch Lainey began acting sick again. She started throwing up and was running a fever. Needless to say, she did not hold down much and was very lethargic. Sid watched Lainey and the boys during their nap time, while mom and I went to Target! We rarely get to go shopping without kids and it was so much fun to get out by ourselves!

Monday Lainey was still feeling crummy, but not throwing up. We had to call Eileen, our Littlest Heroes Project photographer, to cancel our session. I really wanted to have our pictures taken, but I wanted Lainey to feel up to it, plus it was super cold outside. The wind was blowing 45 miles per hour and it was 42 degrees! My sister and her husband had dropped Lilly Anne off at mom and dad's motor home around 9:00 while they went to Brad's pre-op. We all ate dinner together and I got some cute pictures of the girls, Gigi and Papa, and all the grandkids! I also managed to fit in a trip to Hobby Lobby, Marshalls, and T.J. Maxx(of course this was when the kids were taking a nap.)

Brad and Dayna left around 5:00 Tuesday morning for his surgery. Sid left for school shortly afterwards. The kids and I were in for the morning due to extremely cold weather and SNOW! Snow on Spring Break is wrong! I packed up the camper while the kids played, watched movies, and ate, and ate, and ate! Sid finally got back from school around 2:15. He worked on hitching the camper to the Expedition, putting away hoses, and preparing to leave while I took the boys to roast marshmallows and make smores. The boys had a bunch of firey, sticky, chocolaty, sugar high of a time! We hated to leave, but Sid had to be back for his 12 hour clinical on Wednesday and Thursday, and work again on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. BLAH!

Brad's surgery went well. The doctor pulled 4 teeth and removed a large portion of his lower jaw bone. He was lucky in that the tumor was contained to one area. For two weeks he will be out of work and they will begin looking into options for replacement teeth. Dayna and Brad are very glad to have this tumor removed and the surgery out of the way. He is doing well and hanging out at home while vegging on ice cream and pain meds!

Well, just a few more days left of my Spring Break and then back to the grind! I had so many pictures from our Stone Mountain trip, that I made a slide show. Enjoy the pictures!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

DeAnn

Christmas in the life of a Smithson

The red and green paper countdown chain, shopping, wrapping, hiding presents, anticipation, excitement, family, friends, church, Santa, food, traveling, and LOVE..... are just a few of the things we Smithsons enjoy about Christmas. We got everything we wanted and MORE!! Sid and I are blessed to have the ability to provide traditions and memories for our children to remember and continue for many years to come. We are also blessed to be able to share the traditions we so fondly remember as children with our own children.

Our Christmas actually began on Monday the 21st by exchanging gifts with my birth mother and her husband, David. Although I have only known Carolyn since 1999, our bond is one of 29 years! She has always made me feel so welcomed into her life and into her family. This year she and David gave us numerous gifts, but the best and most anticipated gift of all is a Disney Cruise to the Bahamian Islands...in October 2009! I am not sure if Sid and I are more excited or if the kids are! Thanks a bunch Carolyn and David!

Carolyn and Lainey

Christmas eve we went to the 9:00 pm service to accommodate Sid's work schedule, and it was wonderful. Mom, dad, Dayna, Brad, and Lilly Anne joined us for church. Lainey was very well behaved and sang nicely throughout the Christmas hymns! We thought going to church would make the boys extremely tired....not so much! They were up until 11:45!

The Snug Bug at the Christmas Eve church service.

Christmas morning Logan came into our room around 9:00. It was still as quiet as a mouse around our house! Everyone was worn out from our late night Christmas Eve! When it finally dawned on Logan that it was Christmas morning, the morning he had been counting down to for 364 days, he was down the stairs in a flash! He came back upstairs to report that Santa left a lot of presents, but he only saw gifts for Liam, Lainey, and dad. After convincing him to wake up his brother and going back downstairs to look for his name on the presents, he finally found "more than I asked for!"

Our tree after Santa visited!

We all got what we asked for plus a few things we needed! It was so much fun to see the children open their gifts. Logan stacked all of his gifts in nice, orderly stacks. Liam opened the gifts as soon as they were passed out to him! Lainey did extremely well opening her gifts, then playing with the paper! Logan got the Handy Manny Transform Tool Truck he asked for as well as a Nintendo DS, Aqua Globes, Life Is Good shirts, a Georgia Bulldog jersey and hat, a digital camera, Nerf shooters, flat screen Lite Brite, and tons of movies. Liam got the Handy Manny talking tool box, Handy Manny TV repair, a Handy Manny shirt, shoes, Hot Wheels, Triple Tower race track, a Lite Saver, and movies. Lainey got a push toy, a baby doll, some clothes, some movies, and some toys to chew on! Sid got socks, undershirts, Life Is Good shirts and p.j. pants, movies, Crocs, New Balance shoes, flashlights, workout equipment, and more. I got perfume, an iPOD shuffle, electric scissors, a homemade peg board for all of my crafts, and more! Not only was our house full of children, poopy diapers, wrapping paper, and presents, but it was also full of LOVE! All of the times I had wished for a nap or the children to take a nap and all the times my husband was acting like the children, the mess in my clean house was a reminder of how short life really is and how much I truly enjoy being a mom and wife. It was the best Christmas I can recall.

Logan's organized stacks of presents. I wonder where he gets that from?

Logan with food for the kitchen set.

"Aqua Globes will water plants for two weeks and you don't even have to lift a finger!"
Logan has memorized many infomercials, but this is the one thing "we have to get!"

Liam also got food for the kitchen set.

Liam opening the Handy Manny TV repair.

Logan with the ONE toy he asked Santa to bring for Christmas, a Handy Manny Transform Tool Truck.

Lainey opening some clothes she got from Santa.

Logan with his surprise gift ~ Nintendo DS!

Lainey and daddy looking at her Newborn Cabbage Patch Doll.

Several hours after opening gifts from Santa, grandma Barbara (Sid's mom) dropped in for a little while with a lot of gifts. It also happened to be meltdown time for Liam and Lainey, also known as "I need a nap, NOW" time! Our visit with grandma Barbara was short lived, but the candy she left is being devoured as I type!

After the children took their nap and I finished cooking, we went to my parent's house. Our 4:30 meal turned into a 6:30 meal, but I was prepared! I made several snack dips to munch on while we finished preparing dinner. Dinner was awesome, with Honey Baked Ham, sweet potato souffle, German potato salad, green beans, rolls, and coconut cream pie and Dayna's triple chocolate cheesecake for dessert! Papa Dan(Sid's ex step-dad) and Rachel came to join us for dinner and the exchanging of gifts. It is always great to hang with Dan!

With full tummies, it was time to open presents! Logan helped Gigi pass out the gifts, and boy were there a lot of gifts! My parents always spoil us with wonderful gifts. Sid and I, as well as Dayna and Brad, scored a new laptop! This was awesome since the last laptops they gave us had quit working this summer. There were so many gifts given by all, I couldn't possibly list each one of them! It was an awesome evening and everyone was happy, well rested, and FULL! Dayna and I are so lucky to have been chosen by two wonderful people! We couldn't have picked better parents ~ maybe healthier, but not better!! :)

Gigi and Logan handing out presents.

Sid and Liam waiting for their presents.

Logan opening presents at Gigi and Papa's house.

The day after Christmas we got up early to begin our trip to South Georgia. First we went to my dad's parents house in Perry. Grandma D had tons of yummy food prepared as she always does. We opened gifts and lucked up with some money. It was great hanging out with Grandma D and Pop. Our visits are always so short.

Great Pop and Lainey hanging out.

The great grandchildren with Grandma D and Pop.

Lainey, Liam, Logan, and Lilly Anne

Warner Robins was our next stop. Grandma Lil and Grandpa Bob had a house full! This is the one time of year we get to see almost all of our family. With mom having 4 brothers, whom are all married, and almost all of them have 2 or more children, whom may also have a spouse, and many live in Florida ~ to get everyone together in one spot at the same time would be a miracle! Although everyone was not there, we still had a blast hanging out with the people we do not get to see very often. Opening gifts with the Rodenroths is always a production because there are so many of us. This year we said we were not exchanging gifts. Grandma said she was only doing gifts for the kids. YEAH RIGHT! Almost everyone left with a gift and the kids really racked up! Not only are the gifts a production, but the food is like going to a gourmet buffet. Everything tasted so good (when I finally got to eat...I was on Liam duty!) It was so much fun, but we had to leave due to Sid's work schedule requiring him to be at work by 6:30 the next morning. It was around 11:00 when we got home and we were beat! Today we are just hanging out in our p.j.s all day and not leaving the house...well unless we feel the need for some DQ ice cream!

Grandma Lil with Dayna's baby, Lilly Anne.

As always, we missed Sid's dad Noel, whom Lainey carries his name as her middle name. He sent us a very nice monetary gift, but to have him here would be better than anything we could dream of! Maybe soon it will be in our schedule and budget to take a trip to Texas to visit Sid's relatives!

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas. Our Christmas was the best thanks to our friends and family. Thank you for all of the prayers that allowed us to be here together and have a safe and healthy holiday. If you did not get a Smithson Family Christmas card and would like a copy, please send us your address! We love you all!

At CHRISTmas with love,

The Smithson Family