The Other Smiths

What is Up

2010-06-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Well, I have not written in awhile because of laziness and busy-ness. I am currently getting ready to go back to teaching full time. I am not super excited about it but I am working on it. Preston will be passed around from babysitter to babysitter for a couple of months and end up with my sister Jenny when she returns from her mission.
Dallin has been busy with work, window cleaning and taking care of the yard. It seems that every free moment, and there is not a lot, he ends up in the yard, doing something. He is really starting to enjoy it and is excited for the possibility of green grass. Dallin is also full force in boy scouts, in fact, he is camping right now. Summer is a busy season for scouts.
Preston is walk/running all the time. He never stops moving or talking and loves to be outside. Sometimes, I just leave the back door open and he will go in and out as he pleases and cruises on adventures in the yard. Preston is no longer afraid of the grass and will even go out without shoes on. He loves to be in the pool and has even gotten in with his regular clothes on.
Dallin and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary yesterday. We went out to the rodeo and had a grand time. We ate tri-tip sandwiches, cotton candy, funnel cake, lemonade and much more. We also got a wrist band for all the rides. It was fun to get out and enjoy an evening to ourselves. We loved the rodeo performance and the best part, as always, is the little kids mutton-bustin. So cute. We wanted to get Preston some cowboy boots but they were way to expensive, especially since he changes shoe sizes so often. Oh well, maybe when he slows down on the growing thing.
We are living life and trying to keep track of all that is going on around us. We are happy and hope more adventures come our way.

We have a walker

2010-05-23T21:06:00.000-07:00

We have been trying and trying to get Preston to walk. We knew he could do it but for fear or whatever reason, it was a no go. He would walk holding on to things or touching things, like the couch or the wall. Just 2 days ago, he decided he was ready and started walking. Now, it is not a full time thing yet but he is doing his part and doing it well. We are proud of our sweet little guy. Preston is more adventurous now are is even willing to walk in the middle of the kitchen, if he thinks no one is watching. Good work buddy.

It is what it is

2010-05-07T21:40:00.000-07:00

So, Preston had a second birthday party, this one was just for friends. Dallin created a fiesta for the little guy. It was fun to have all the friends over in the middle of the day for tacos and friendship. We created a 'Pin the mustache on the hombre" game and Preston looked pretty cute in his sombrero and poncho.

Dallin has been playing church ball the last little bit and enjoys the team but somehow always find a reason why he was the one that made them lose or did poorly even if they won. It is crazy but the tourney starts tomorrow and it will all be over soon enough. He is doing great, making the baskets and losing weight.

We have been working on the yard as the weather warms up but with Reno weather it warms for a day or two then becomes cold again. Hopefully Spring decides to stay before Summer shows up. I wish the best for the flowers I planted last weekend.

Well, my mind has been going CRAZY lately. I was called to Primary President last week and my mind has been thinking and thinking about Primary and all that goes with it. I am glad I have good councilors to help me out.

Oh, so we finally made it to Preston's neurosurgeon appointment this week...he says that everything look fine and the flat head is from the fact that he laid one one side all the time (like I thought). Anyway, he said it will be completely normal by the time he is 5 or 6.

Preston is finally getting his top teeth, good for him but bad for the attitude. AND to top it all off, he woke up with hives yesterday morning, poor little guy is suffering and taking mom and dad along for the ride. That is all that is going on in our lives, we are not exciting but here we are anyway.

Look who's turning UNO!

2010-04-19T15:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend we had a birthday party for Preston and Zoey. The theme of the party was UNO or Look who is turning UNO. We had a lot of fun. Here are just some of the pictures of the big event. I did not want to bore you with all of them. We had fun and the babies loved it, boy was it a lot of work. It was worth it for sure.
Zoey loves her cake, especially the frosting.

Preston destroyed his entire cake and loved every second of it.

The after cake bath, also blackmail pictures for when they are older.

Preston opening presents, he got some fun toys, books and cute clothes.

Thank goodness for the warm weather or the house would feel a bit small with 26 people in it.

The fathers

Preston is not happy to be with uncle Mike but we wanted a picture of his UNO shirt.

Our color scheme for the party.

Pin the 1 on the UNO card. Ethan was the big winner, but he shared his prize.

Streamers made from UNO cards.

Our latest adventures in film...

2010-04-09T12:00:00.000-07:00

Here I am in the snow, the goggles were part of my Christmas gifts, aren't they hip.

Here is Dallin, the weather will not get him down.

Here we are playing in the snow, Henry was having the best time out of everyone.

Here are the boys, All Henry wants to do is play.

Preston is not so sure about the snow thing. Preston was so warm that he was falling asleep out there, in our backyard.

We just visited Utah and Wyoming over Easter and overall we had a good time. This is Preston and Dallin's official Utah picture in the historic downtown Provo. It was a very exciting moment that needed to be captured on film.

This is Preston on his first Easter Egg Hunt at grandma's house. He and Zoey found eggs that were spread out all over the floor and had a jelly bean prize inside. Yum!

Here is Zoey on her firsr Easter Egg hunt. She had a great time finding the eggs.

Preston's head

2010-03-19T11:55:00.000-07:00

Well, it turns out that Preston has a misshapen head. It is not something new but it is finally being resolved. We noticed that Preston's head was flat on the left side when he was 3 or 4 months old. We asked Dr. J about it and he said that we need to wait it out and see if it fixes itself once he becomes more mobile. We think it is because he has had a tendency to lay on that side of his head for everything, sleeping, eating, hangout... Well, we waited it out as instructed and it has gotten better but is still pretty flat on the left side. So, at Preston's 9 month appointment we got a referral to Dr. Rodriguez, the only child neurologist in town. I called to make an appointment and was told, in a not so friendly way, "you don't call us, we call you." So, I called Dr. J's office so they can send the proper paper work so that I can get an appointment for my kid. A month later I still heard nothing back and so I called both doctor's offices again. Dr. J said that they had sent the paper work and Dr. R said that they hadn't got it. Well, eventually Dr. Rodriguez's office called us and we had our appointment yesterday. Only 2 months after the referral was given.
I told Dallin to dress decent because they seemed like snobby people and I didn't want them to get the wrong impression of us. Pathetic, I know but whatever. We got to the office, and everyone was real nice. The doctor was funny and smart and he didn't freak Preston out by being up in his business. As you may know, Preston doesn't do well with strangers or even people he doesn't see that often. So, Dr. Rodriguez gave him space but was still able to look at everything he needed to. The doctor told us that it was one of two things. Either his head growth plates had grown together, and that would mean surgery to fix it OR his skull had not grown together, like they are suppose to be and a helmet would most likely fix the flatness.
The doctor said that he didn't know which one it was and would need more information, he requested a Cat scan to see what is going on in Preston's head. The poor little guy is going to have to be sedated because like any almost 1 year old, he never stops moving. We have to wait a couple days before we get the appointment at the hospital but I am glad we are finally getting things worked out and figured out so that we can move on. This is only part one...part 2 will be what happens with the CT Scan and the results. Stayed tuned...

That fateful night

2010-03-03T22:35:00.000-08:00

So, on Tuesday nights I go to kickboxing at the little hell hole, Achieve Fitness. Anyway, I get into the room and we are warming up as usual and I started to feel sick to my stomach. I thought that this was just a case of eating too fast before I left. So, I just brushed off the feeling and was still working hard. Then a few minutes later my throat started to itch and I was like, what is going on here? Then I look in the mirror and my eyes were super red, like I had been crying, but no tears were coming out. I made a mention of my eye situation to the girl I was working with and she asked if I was OK, of course I blew it off saying I was fine. It just kept on getting worse, now my tongue was starting to swell and my breathing was slightly labored, so I excused my self from the room to see if the front desk had Benadryll. They didn't. I said that I was going to go home and take care of it.
Anyway, on my 15 minute drive home, my right eye started to swell. It was not like I couldn't see or anything it was just uncomfortable. I got home and Dallin had set out 2 Benadryll and water for me on the counter, I took that hoping that this would all be over. Fortunately, the medicine didn't let the symptoms get worse but they did not get any better either. So, after 40 minutes of being at home, Dallin forced us to go to the hospital.
We waited 30 minutes just to see the EMT, that checked my vital signs. It was now 8:30. That is when we called Jonathon. He is the real hero in this story because he took Preston home and got him in bed a reasonable hour. We were still going to be at the hospital for at least another 1 1/2 more hours.
Anyway, I finally got some prescription strength Benadryll directly into my vain and I felt like I was floating. Now, I never have had alcohol but this is what I think it would be like if I were tipsy except for I was extremely tired. Thankfully, the medicine worked and slowly my body was getting back to normal. After being checked out and $50 later, we were on our way home where I went directly to bed. I did not hear Dallin come to bed or anything. This morning when I woke, I felt a whole lot better and was ready for that never happen again. I am not sure what cause this all to happen and I will probably never find out but I am sure happy it is over and Preston got to bed close to his bedtime.

2010-02-21T08:46:00.000-08:00

From wild screams to sweet snuggles, Preston is growing up. Today, Preston turns 10 months. Oh, how the time flies by and at the same time stands still. This little boy is crawling everywhere, especially towards his puppy. Preston loves Henry more that anyone else and Henry tolerates him decent. Preston has just learned to climb up the stairs in the last week or so. He is not super stable yet but does a pretty good job. This also means the purchase of baby gates, mostly for safety reasons. The one at the bottom of the stairs opens so we don't have to move it from the wall everytime we want to go up the stairs. That is also nice for Henry, so he doesn't have to do acrobats evertime he wants to go up and down the stairs.

We are also discovering the voice of Preston. He is even more loud and vocal than before. This boy loves to talk, he just haven't learned volume control yet. We are working on it but he just likes to hear himself speak.

We have also introduced a special word, that we love and Preston hates. the work is "NO." When he hears the word, he looks at us at usually starts a pretty fake and short cry. For instance, Preston was heading towards Henry's water bowl the other day and so I said, "Preston, no." He looks at me and kept going towards the forbidden object, so i said it again. This times he sits where he was and just starts crying. then he looks at the bowl, looks at me and cries some more. It was pretty pathetic and cute at the same time.

Preston has also started taking all his baths in the big boy bath. Oh how he loves the bath. I think he loves being naked but then add water and toys in the mix and you have got a little piece of heaven. My favorite part is getting him out and wrapping him a towel. He loves to snuggle and be warm in the towel after a fun bathtime experience.

Henry has been in a world of hurt for quite awhile now. his allergies are so bad that we had to get a blood test done on him. the only problem was that the test cost $350 so we had to wait for our tax return to be able to afford the test. Well, we got the results back this week and it turns out that Henry is allergic to 18 things and is borderline allergic to 3 more. We are going to try a food change and benadril to see if that will help him. unfortunately, Henry is allregic to beef, corn, oats, alfalfa and carrots which happen to be in 95% of all dog foods and the foods that don't have those things cost a ton of money. The one food at the pet store that I found that would work costs $40 on sale for a 35 pound bag, normally $50 per bag. It is quite different than the 50 pould bag we were getting for $20 at sam's club. If the food switch doesn't work than we are going to have to get serums specially made for henry that will be another $200-$300 more. good thing we love our dog or I don't know if this would be worth it.

Well, Preston is ready to eat breakfast, until next time....

The teeth are coming...

2010-01-22T22:15:00.000-08:00

This week has been an exciting week for Preston, he just doesn't know it yet. He is finally getting teeth. All Preston realizes is that he doesn't feel good. He is a trooper and hanging in there. Preston is currently getting his bottom teeth. Preston also turned 9 months this week. That means that in 9 more months he gets to go to nursery, time sures flies. I am excited for that prospect just because he will be such a big boy, I don't even take him on Sundays because Preston and Primary do not mix well. The other moms and their babies are testament to that. All the loudness from the babies detracts from the reverence or the attempt at reverence we are trying to get in primary. So, Dallin or Vicki graciously take him for me. I can't believe that 9 months has flown by so quickly. Anyway, Preston is not on the move yet but is still trying hard.
Funny story...This happened at Sunday dinner at my parent's house. Preston and Hailey (cousins) were playing on the floor together nicely and having a great time. All of the sudden, Preston decides to pull Hailey's hair. Just reached up, grabbed a handful and yanked on it. Of course Hailey started to cry and so Papa picked her up. Well, Hailey still had the toys she was playing with in her hands. It turns out, a couple seconds later Hailey dropped those toys right on Preston's head. And the tears start from him as well. I said, "well buddy, that is called payback"
Moral: Be nice to people and they will be nice back or at least not drop stuff on your head.

The puzzle

2010-01-16T10:11:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the puzzle I just finished, exciting I know...

Living Life

2010-01-16T09:51:00.001-08:00

Well, this week has been pretty normal for us. We have just been living life...Preston is still working hard to crawl but is not there yet. He loves practicing. He has also discovered throwing balls and laughs every time he does it. If Dallin gets the chance, he will put the video up today. Preston is a chatter box that always has something to say but in what language he is talking, we are not sure.
Dallin has been kinda stressed about work because people got laid off this week. I think that we will be OK but who knows with this city council of ours. I know, no matter what that things will work out the way that they are suppose to. He is getting pumped up for basketball season that should be starting soon for the stake.
I have just been tutoring and teaching flute lessons. Next year, I am going back to work, which is not that exciting to me but it will help us when Dallin gets another pay cut. We have to do it so that we can be more financially secure in the future. I also finished the puzzle I have been working on this week, it was a 1000 piece puzzle of zebras. It was one of the hardest puzzles I have ever done.
Henry is doing decent, his feet are healing up good from our walk last week where he got destroyed by the ice. He is still allergic to life but we are trying to save up to get him an allergy test. He is still my sweet baby who loves to cuddle his momma.
I guess I am lucky in that way because all of my boys love to cuddle.
There are your random thoughts of the week.

San Fran pics

2010-01-08T12:27:00.000-08:00

at the pier

Japanese Tea Garden

at the pier

Preston Dalli ride the merry-go-round

our adventures at KfC

San Fran 2009

2010-01-08T11:54:00.000-08:00

Well, for our last trip for the decade, we headed west to town of San Fransisco. We made this journey with Martha and Jonathon. On this trip, we made a variety of stops along the way to make this more than a trip but with an adventure. After leaving, we soon realized two things, we forgot the play pen for Preston to sleep in and we brought along tour guide Martha. The first thing was not so bad because Preston could just sleep in the bed with us, it worked out because Preston ended up being sick and needed the extra comfort because he was up most of the night anyway. The second thing, tour guide Martha, had its perks as well as a fascinating way of making Jonathon crazy.
As the pictures will indicate, we stop for lunch at KFC which happened to have a Col. Sanders there, I knew that was a sign to the beginning of a great trip. Soon, after we left KFC, we made it to the Jelly Belly factory, which apparently so did the rest of California. The place was packed so we decided, to forgo the tour for now. More about that later.
We arrived to San Fran, 5 1/2 hours after we left Reno and found our Motel. It was a bit scummy but cheap. All 5 of us made our way to room 216 at the Surf Motel Inn and found that the reason why the room was so small was because the bathroom was huge.
We went to the SFMOMA which is the Museum of Modern Art. It was cool but I didn't find it as interesting as the NY version. That night we hit Chevy's for dinner. We could have tried a local joint but with an 8 month old, you have got to go where you know whey will have high chairs. You can't mess around with that in a city that has horrible parking and traffic, especially when the driver gets road rage. Anyway, it was a successful first day.
the 2nd day of our adventure was jam packed full of fun. We started out by going to the pier and fisherman's wharf. We we to the aquarium which everyone loved. I got a bit unnerved in the underground tubes of fish and things. I had to make it quickly to the other side so I would not pass out or throw up. Fish and water are not my favorite things. Preston did love looking at all the fish, he stayed with Dallin in the tubes.
We also went to the exploratorium, where I learned many things. First, a lot of interesting science. sSecond, that kids in San Francisco and surrounding areas are brats and should be slapped. Third, I learned some valuable lessons that I will teach my kid about manners.
We also made it to the Japanese Tea Gardens that day, We thankfully got there right before closing so we did not have to pay to get in. That saved us $5 each, not much but still I am grateful. It was a very pretty garden and we enjoyed looking around there. We hit the IHOP next to motel for dinner, again convenient and kid friendly and had an enjoyable night playing games in our room.
We left pretty early the next morning so that we could get to the Jelly Belly factory before the rest of the world. This worked out in the end because there was not much of a wait when we got there but by the time we left it was completely full. Unfortunately, because we went on new Year's Eve, the factory workers were not working but at home with their families. Boo for me, good for them. I had never gone to the factory before this time and so had to use my imagination through the whole tour. We got delicious Jelly Belly's on the way out and headed home safely. we did make a pit stop on the way into town because Preston was sick and had ear infections but he is fine and is a champion.
I am getting this all out now so that when testimony meeting comes around,I won't feel the need to share it over the pulpit. Our next big adventure, the Redwood trip April 2010.

Here at Christmas

2009-12-23T11:50:00.001-08:00

Well, this is my third attempt at creating this blog posting, so here is hoping that it actually works.
This Christmas we are staying Reno, that has to do with Dallin working on Christmas. We are not too upset about Dallin working because someone has to and we can still enjoy Christmas even if it is at the firestation. This Christmas we did something different, we got everything done as soon as possible sothat we are able to just enjoy the Christmas season. For instance, Christmas cards were sent out at the beginning of December. Also, shopping was done quickly and effectively so I would not be stressed out and do any lst minute rushing around. I think that it helped that i made a list so I was not walking around aimlessly through crowded stores.
The biggest project that I encountered was trying to get pictures of all the grand kids on both sides. I asked everyone in September to give me 1 or 2 wallet size photos (depending on the person) of their kids. Not a hard task especially because they could of sent them to me on email or got them printed, as I did, at Wal-Mart for $0.63 for 2. Anyway, I finally got the last one 2 days ago. I took these compilation of photos and made brag books for all the grandmas and Jenny, who is on her mission. They are cute and the grandma's will love having a picture of all their grand kids with them at all times.
We are looking forward to talking to Jenny and to see Grandma Jean for the Christmas holiday.
We also, as we try to do every year, did some anonymous service. We hope this person really enjoys the service that we gave to them because we had a fun time doing it. Giving service has been a great way to really keep the holiday spirit and not think so much about ourselves.
We hope everyone has a great holiday season and we promise to be better at blogging next year.

Family Pics november 2009

2009-12-23T11:09:00.000-08:00

Here are some of family pictures. We got them taken at Rancho San Rafeal in November. Evan Zinser of Zinser Photography took these shots plus many more. They were all great and we had a fun time. Thanks Evan.

We Suck at Blogging

2009-10-14T12:19:00.001-07:00

Well, it's apparent that we're no good at keeping and updating a blog. Dangitall! A lot's been going on lately. October 3rd was the day Kristen and I ran the St. George Marathon. It was pretty tough but we finished together at 5:07:00. We stayed together the whole run, and had a few minor setbacks (Kristen had to wait 5 minutes to get into a bathroom at mile five(ish?)). Being a big oaf, it was pretty hard on me but I kept a pretty positive attitude throughout the run. Anyone who talked to me during my training would know that my positivity was a miracle. Training for me was a time to ask questions like: Why am I doing this? How did I get talked into this? Am I stupid? Do I hate myself? Is this even good for me? etc... I got pretty discouraged multiple times, but luckily my pride and ego got me to the race. We ran the whole thing, with the exception of Kristen's bathroom stop, and me needing to work some cramps out at miles 16 and 19. We did walk through the water stops. I'm not sure if drinking and running can be compared to sneezing with your eyes open, but it doesn't work for me. Drinking and running is just code for choking. We were both so sore for the next 2 days that walking, standing, sitting, and carrying around our man-child became pretty daunting tasks. Luckily my Mom and Mason came down to watch Preston while we ran/recovered. Sometime I'll tell you the story of how it took my Mom and Mason 13-15 hours to make a 6-8 hour drive, resulting in us leaving our kid with a complete stranger. Another day. All in all it was a fun trip, and I'm glad the whole thing is over.

Preston is growing up very quickly. We've hit major milestones such as rolling, sleeping for 11 hours at night, sitting up (at least trying really hard), laughing, holding his own bottle(huge), and being an all around good kid. He's developing some personality, and it's pretty hilarious. He talks incessantly (not sure what language), and he can shriek higher and louder than can be heard by humans, dogs, or dolphins. He is really fun and he loves his Mommy and Daddy. He wakes up with a smile on his face (opposite of me), and goes to bed angry. He is a joy, and we've decided to keep him around for a while longer. I'll post some pictures soon hopefully. Our camera isn't working correctly, so I'll have to figure something out. Well... until next time...

PRESTON!

2009-04-24T11:59:00.000-07:00

Young Preston came home yesterday from the hospital. It was an exciting experience for everyone... especially Henry. I'll get to that in a minute. Preston was born on April 21st at 1:21pm. He weighed 9 pounds 5.8 ounces and was 21 inches long. He has a full head of strawberry blond hair. Preston was larger than anyone had anticipated, and so Kristen battled to get him out. She started pushing at 9:30am and he didn't come out for 4 more hours. On his way out he did some good damage to his Mommy. 10 stitches later she is still very tender, but well medicated. Kristen handled the whole thing like a champ. She was exhausted by the time Preston made his way out. For those who know Kristen well they will appreciate that at the height of the pain she was screaming at the top of her lungs etc... As soon as Preston got all the way out she said in a normal voice, "Sorry everyone, that was a bit dramatic.". All the doctors and nurses started laughing. I'm sure not many people who pass 9 pound babies apologize for screaming. After his birth Preston was very calm and cried very little. The hospital stay was extremely tiring, but it wasn't his fault. The staff at our hospital made good work of popping in periodically to wake us up for random crap. Apparently the time to get your morning blood work done is 2:30am. Overall the staff was very helpful and did a great job of trying to keep Kristen and Preston Comfortable.

Arriving home yesterday was an interesting experience. Henry was very excited to see his mama, so Kristen went in and gave him all sorts of attention before we brought in Preston. When I did bring him in, Henry was using all of his strength (which is a lot) to find out what was in that car seat. I literally had to drag him away and give him a chance to look for a minute before he crushed our kid. He has responded very well to having this little guy in our home. The only problem we've had is that he is a little overprotective. He goes nuts barking when cars drive by, or the neighbors come home etc... Thankfully Preston sleeps through the barking well. He gets very concerned when Preston cries and always goes into his room to see whats going on. He also "needs" to be in the room when Kristen is feeding the little monster. When Preston is in his crib sleeping, Henry goes into the room and watches the crib. After a while he starts crying and whimpering(Henry does), so I lift him up so he can see that Preston is still there. I think they are going to be great friends. There is a video clip of Preston at the bottom of this page.

Henry and the sickness

2009-03-14T16:57:00.000-07:00

Poor little Henry has been really sick today. He threw up this morning on the bed and then outside. We even went to the park this morning for about an hour. I thought he was feeling better but then again this afternoon he was at it again. I feel bad for him because I don't know what is wrong. It is not anything he ate because he has not eaten anything, it is just stomach juices or something. The worst part about it is that Dallin can't handle throw up very well and so I am the one on my hands and knees trying to get yellow bile out of our tan carpets. Dallin is down stairs trying not to throw up himself. Thanks Dal. Anyway, that is the most interesting thing that has happened to us all day.
Oh, we went to the doctor yesterday and he said that the baby is head down, ready to go. I have 6 weeks (or less) and I am ready to go when the baby is.

Video Clip

2009-03-04T18:00:00.000-08:00

Just added the video clip. I didn't realise it, but when I uploaded it to youtube I accidentally added on a nice prego shot of Kristen. Hang on til the end for a special treat!

The Beginning

2009-03-04T15:15:00.000-08:00

Well I guess we're gonna try this blog thing. We're kinda new to it but we'll do our best to update it regularly. I think Kristen and I will try to switch off typing. She is a much faster typer than me. As far as what's new in our lives right now, Kristen is 33 weeks pregnant, and getting big. We're looking forward to a little boy in the end of April if he doesn't come sooner. We've decided on the name Preston Spencer Smith. The last name was easy to decide. I'm still working for the Reno Fire Department, and unless Preston comes early Kristen will go back and teach the first 2 weeks of April, and then she will be done until further notice. The plan is for her to be a stay at home Mom. Henry is as sweet as ever, but he's about to recieve a huge shock when Preston comes along. He will already be devastated when Kristen's sister Jenny leaves on her mission. Then when there's a new baby sucking up all of his attention, life is gonna be hard. Gonna have to think of some more stuff to write. Any Ideas? Let us know.