The Cousins Come

Before I start in on our time with my sister's kids, I had to post this cutie picture of Jason.  This was the day he had his first smile- June 8th.  This was one of the first- I love his big ole' eyes!

 My sister and brother-in-law went on a cruise in June, so my parents packed up all four of their children and took a road trip out to Utah.  We had lots of fun!

We spent lots of time playing in our backyard and newly acquired swingset (from one of our neighbors).

 We also went to a place called Wheeler Farm, a still functioning farm where you can visit and see the animals for free! 

Audrey, Tyler, and Mikayla in a little playhouse that had been converted from a chicken coop. Don't worry, it's clean inside!

 Cute little Lucy!

 All the kids (except Jason!)

 Playing on a tractor

 Jenna came up with this all on her own- she's pretending to be a duck!

 Group picture after FHE

 We had cookies for our Family Night treat. 

 Then my parents loaded up all the kids, including my two girls and headed up to Layton for some fun at some relatives' house.  I have no pictures of that of course! They left Dan and I to enjoy this little guy:

 He's darn cute, I know!

They all came back alive, I don't know how my parents survived it! We had some fun in the sprinklers in out backyard when they got back though.

 Soaking wet

We love getting to see family and wish they were closer.  Jenna and Lucy (and probably Jason too) love their cousins! It was so nice to have you guys visit, we miss you all!

Jason's Blessing and some pictures for Dan

We sent Dan back to Salt Lake on Tuesday while I stay here in Reno for 3 more weeks.  I miss him so much already! So over the next couple weeks, I'm going to try to update for Dan, so that he can see our growing children, especially Jason, since 3 weeks will be a third of his life!!

Anyways, it was great to come out and be with family.  We chose to bless Jason at Daniel's parent's house with most of our immediate family there- Aunica the exception on Dan's side, and the newlyweds, Brian and Heidi on my side.  Dan's mom saved his blessing outfit, and we were lucky enough to use it for Jason- how special!  I have more pictures on another camera, but I'll have to access those at another time.  It was a great day and I feel so lucky to have this little spirit in our lives.

 Think we look tired? On top of having a newborn, it was a very busy weekend! My brother Brian FINALLY got married to his sweetheart, Heidi.  They were married in the Sacramento Temple for time and all eternity.  Congratulations you two!  On the way back, the girls fell asleep. 

First I looked back to see them with their heads tilted just the same-

 I then looked back not 30 seconds later, and they had both switched directions! Funny little girls.

 What did it look like at the top of the pass? That's snow you see, not rain... happy almost June, right?!!

I have more pictures on the other camera of the happy day, but again, for another post, I suppose.

These next few are for Dan in particular, just the everyday things...

Lucy literally fell asleep sitting up one day.  She was all propped up in a corner, her head resting on her lambie.  By the time I got the camera, she had started to fall over, and this is what she looked like.  Sleep comes when it does, I guess. :)

Using the wall for a pillow

 Here's a few of Jason one day.  I put him in overalls and he just looked so big and grown up!

Lastly, the girls had waffles the first day grandpa came into town.  We also made princess crowns that day, so it was a little Princess breakfast party!

More pictures to come soon!

Our Sweet Boy

He's here, he's here! Okay, actually he's been here for a month.  Our sweet baby boy was born April 22, 2011 at 10:00 a.m.  His name is Jason Daniel Smith and he was 6 lbs 15 oz, our smallest baby so far ( I don't mind, I like small, healthy babies).  It was a nice normal labor and delivery, nothing too exciting.  We are so happy to have this sweet spirit in our lives and home.  Here are some pictures from his first couple days of life...

Anxiously awaiting baby Jason's arrival...

There he is!

 His lungs- yeah, they work pretty darn well!

Getting his hair washed- this is always my favorite part of getting my hair done at the salon, Jason seems to enjoy it too!

Just hanging out after his bath...

Baby burrito!

 Love our boy! I don't know if you can tell, but his forehead was all bruised because the doctor was trying to turn him to face-down.  Poor guy!

 Mommy and baby. Dan seriously took this picture at least 5 times. He kept saying, "Your eyes look funny in the pictures. Like you're stoned or something." Okay... how about up all night in labor and then pushing out a baby?!!  We finally got one that looked decent... :) 

 A good friend of ours took the girls for the day, and she brought them by later.  Jenna thought the window was awesome, and Lucy... well, she slept the entire time they were there!

 Our first family picture as a family of FIVE!! As you can see, Lucy is sleeping away.

 Lucy met Jason the next day when they came to take us home.

 Daddy loves his boy!

 Leaving the hospital

 Holy cow, we have a full backseat!

 Relaxing on the couch

 Jenna and Lucy LOVE Jason so much. Sometimes a little too much even! But here is a sweet moment of Lu and Jason- she loves to hold him and give him hugs and kisses.

 Although Jason was cleared at the hospital, at his 2 day check up he had a little bit of jaundice. He had to spend about 4 days on lights at home.  It wasn't fun, because we couldn't really hold him, which is all you want to do when you bring home your new baby!

 Grandma and Grandpa Orrell were able to come out and help that first week. We are sooo grateful for their help with baby Jason and the girls!

 We love Jason so much.  I feel like this time around I have really learned to cherish this time of sleepless nights.  It is for such a short time and I realized that we don't really know how many more times we'll be going through that stage.  I love to cuddle Jason in the middle of the night as he eats.  It may not be wonderful to get up at 3 in the morning, but I love the time just me and him! It's these times that we must remember and drink in as they happen.  Sleeping through the night will come soon enough, and before we know it, he'll be a toddler, running around.  For now, I just want to enjoy this wonderful time with our sweet tiny baby boy!