You ROCK!!

Yesterday was the last day for Jump Rope for Heart. As of last night you helped Graisi raise $305!!!! What an awesome birthday gift for her. Last night her Mamaw and Papaw came to see her and have dinner and cake for her big day. When she opened her cards and saw she'd received money, she immediately said..."YEA, Jump Rope for Heart money!!!!" She was so excited. I know one day we'll be able to prevent heart anomalies in infants and children. Thank you to everyone who donated to this wonderful organization in Grant's memory!!! What a legacy he left us!

Graisi will be jumping rope Wednesday (tomorrow) and I will be sure to update you on her activities! She is so excited :o)

Happy Birthday to My Beautiful Baby Girl Graisi!!

My baby girl is 7 years old today!! I cannot believe she has been ours for 7 whole years! One of my first memories of our 9lb 10oz girl was when she first came out. I remember crying uncontrollably on the operating table and the anesthesiologist asking me if I was ok. I couldn't believe we had a healthy baby girl and we were going to be able to take her home with us. We wanted her to cry as long as possible because we knew if she did that, she was going to be alright. Only 10 short months prior to that day we had baby Grant, who wasn't able to come home or be held like a baby should be and he only cried for a few seconds after he was born. So for us to be able to hear Graisi cry, hold and love her was a blessing to us all. She is such a beautiful little girl with a zest for life. Everyone who meets her can see the spark in her eyes just like we did when we first held her. She is a special child with an illuminated future ahead of her. Watch out world...here comes Graisi!

We love you baby girl!!
Mommy and Daddy


On a second note... My sister, Suzanne, and two of her girls, Shelby and Kathryn came over Friday night and spent the night with us. We had a great visit with them. But, it sounded like a circus at midnight that night. We had Kathryn standing at the top of the stairs crying. We don't know why she was crying... just was. Then we got her back downstairs to lay down on the pallet we'd made for Shelby, but Shelby wouldn't let her lay down. Suzanne was hollering at her to move over to let Kathryn lay down. IT WAS FUNNY!! You really had to be there. Suzanne and Shelby stayed with Alli Claire while we took everyone else to the birthday party. Can I just tell you, that going somewhere other than your house for a birthday part is NUMBER 1! We had it at a pottery place in Vestavia Hills where the kids can paint pottery and they'll fire it for them and I'll pick it up in a week. The party was over in about an hour. We ran out of stuff for them to do (the parent left)and we had the room for 2 hours. So we started playing games like Simon Says and Heads Up Seven UP.... It was fun and the kids had a great time too!

So after Suzanne and the girls left, our neighbor Mallory spent the night Saturday night and went to church with Graisi yesterday morning. She had a blast!! She said she wants to go with us every Sunday, now!:o) What a blessing!! Thank you Jesus for living in the hearts of children!!!

Having the past two weekends of estrogen, Martin is ready for Friday night. We're having an All Sports Dinner at church. They'll eat manly food and have lots of sports conversation I suppose. I think John Croyle (former Alabama QB and father of Brodie Croyle) is supposed to be there too. I know Martin is looking forward to a room filled with testosterone! I love you honey!!

Jumping Rope for Heart

Graisi is jumping rope for the American Heart Association this year. She will be jumping in memory of her brother, Grant. For those who may not know, we had a little boy almost eight years ago (where has the time gone??) who died from 3 severe congenital heart defects. He died in surgery trying to repair one of the problems. This year Graisi would like your help to raise money to help prevent birth defects in infants. New breatkthoughs are happening, but with more funding, technology can do so much more. Please consider helping Graisi and make a donation in Grant's memory.

Please copy and paste the below link into your browser and it will take you directly to Graisi's webpage. The online donations can only be made with a minimum of $25. We will take any amount you would like to donate. If you wish to donate less, please let me know and I'll forward you our home address.

https://www.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=201326&lis=0&kntae201326=49DE5665F2D44AB2ACFBC3A627E8524F&supId=165759578

Thank you again for your support!!
Martin, Shelli, Graisi and Alli Claire
and our beautiful baby boy, Grant

Wednesday Morning

Graisi had skating last night and is getting better and better every week. She is so confident on the ice now. I've also met a friend from Australia while waiting on our girls to finish. Tanya is very interesting, but has a bit of a potty mouth. Luckily, with her acscent, the words aren't easily heard by little ears. But, I do enjoy hearing her speak.

Alli Claire is pretty much eating table foods. She discovered watermelon last night and loved it. She ate squash at school Monday and Jessica said she did very well, but ran into the same problem we have at home...she doesn't like to open her mouth to eat off of a spoon. She does very well if you finger-feed her, though. We'll just keep working with her.

Happy Birthday Popa!

First, I want to wish Vinnie (AKA Popa) a very happy birthday!!
We love you very much!!

Our home was filled with 7 females (including Heidi and Lucy the cats) this weekend. I want to apologize to Martin!! Morgan, Graisi's friend from pre-school,
had plans of spending the night Friday evening. Well.... when Graisi got off the school bus, Mallory (neighbor) rode home with us from the bus stop. So, I politely invited her to spend the night too :o) It was very interesting to say the least. I, bravely, took them to Zaxby's to eat dinner. What was I thinking?? There was so much giggling going on, everyone was looking at me like I'd lost my mind. And I enjoyed every minute of it! Then we had to go to Publix to return our 5 jars of Peter Pan peanut butter. (It was buy one get one free). When we got to the register, they informed the male cashier that they were triplets. Then he looked to me for confirmation. I just smiled at him. I claimed all three :o) They were GREAT girls! Then I took all three ice-skating Saturday morning while Martin kept Alli Claire at home.

Mallory and Morgan just loved Alli Claire. Somehow they knew every time I changed her diaper. They just showed up. I would take her diaper off they they would start asking me to let her roll over. I thought they just wanted to see her perform her "trick", but I discovered they just wanted to look at her little baby derriere. Then they wanted to touch it!!!! LOL!! Alli Claire loved watching them and would smile each time they walked into the room. We enjoyed them both being there.

Martin is off work today, so he and Graisi have gone to the McWane Center to enjoy some "Graisi/Daddy" time. He'll pick Alli Claire up from pre-school on his way back home and all three can spend the afternoon together.

6 Month Pictures!

Aren't our girls BEAUTIFUL!!!?? I am so thrilled with them. They were taken last week (2/6/07) at JC Penney's.

Alli Claire is getting more mobile and can "swim" across the living room floor. Her pediatrician said to go ahead and start her on table foods if she won't eat the baby food. The texture of the table food doesn't bother her, it's the baby food that makes her gag. So here we go....

Graisi has had her conduct folder sent home twice this week for talking and playing at the centers. Hummm...wonder where she gets it from?? Even got a note sent home with it yesterday :o) I guess it could be worse, huh? She could be taking my bras to school!! (Yes I took my mothers to school in kindergarten...It was one of the inch thick padded ones too!! :o) Sorry, Mom!! But that thar was funny! I guess all in all, she's a very good kid. I think we'll keep her!

Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as we do!

Drs appt today

Well, we learned today what we already knew... we have a LARGE baby!! She weighed
19lbs 9oz naked. She's in the 95% for her age in height and weight and 50% in head size. She only got one shot today and was so sleepy she didn't even flinch, cry or whimper. She was such a good baby girl.

Last night I suggested to Martin to get the girls on the same bath night so they could bathe together. When Graisi overheard us talking about it, she piped in and said, "Mama, I can't fit in that baby bath tub." DUH!!! Here's her sign....

Happy Valentine's Day!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!
Martin, I love you!! And I want to thank you for loving me and taking care of me each day of the year. I love it that you don't have to make it up to me in one day. I don't need flowers, candy, cards or gifts. As long as I've got you, I am a blessed woman!

Last night was supposed to be evaluation night at skating. Miss Pam wants Graisi to work on her one-foot glides and her posture before she evaluates her. So it looks like Level 2 for another term.... She was a little bummed, but she'll make it.

So last night on our way back from skating Graisi and I had the following conversation...

Graisi: WHY is the "C" in CVS ALWAYS blinking when we come by?
Shelli: I don't know...
Graisi: Well, it always is.
Shelli: Well, maybe it has a short in the wiring.
Shelli: Graisi, I love you.
Graisi: HUH?
Shelli: I said I LOVE YOU
Graisi: HUH??
Shelli: Graisi...I said I LOVE YOU!
Graisi: That don't make no sense... What does that have to
do with the blinking letter?.... But I love you too.

Oh, she makes me tired!! But I love her beyond belief!

Alli Clarie decided to sleep last night! YEA!! AND she ate her first crackers last night. We ate at Pizza Hut after skating and I gave her a couple of club crackers. I think she actually enjoyed the taste of them. She also drank about half of my glass of ice water. No shiver shakes this time! Looks like we're going to go straight to table food....

Skinned Knees and Night Owls

Sorry, I didn't have time to blog yesterday...work has provided me with lots to do. So, today will be short.

The weekend was good. We didn't do very much other than the usual stuff. Ice-skating Saturday morning. Playing all afternoon...you know the usual. Sunday we went to church and then had a Sunday School social at a local eating establishment. Boy..have we multiplied!! We had a great time visiting with everyone and their children. We aren't able to get together like that nearly enough now that everyone is being pulled in different directions.

Oh yea, forgot to mention, Graisi wasn't wearing her arm/knee pads while out playing on her scooter/bike/roller blades Saturday. Needless to say she fell and skinned her knees and elbow. We got her cleaned up but told her there was no sympathy for her because she didn't do what she was supposed to do (ie: wearing her pads). So, Sunday, she was out playing again and fell scraping one of the same knees. Ms. Kerri told her to go home and have her Mommy clean it up. She said Graisi just looked at her as if to say, "I can't go home with this AGAIN." So, Mallory helped her out and said, "Mom, I think she wants you to do it." Graisi shook her head in agreement. When Kerri told me that she understood WHY Graisi didn't want to go home :o)

Alli Claire (AKA Night Owl) has not been sleeping well. She's woken up the past two nights at 4:15 and 3:45 AM! This morning I got up and found Martin on the couch with Alli Claire asleep on his chest. I love these mental pictures!! What a great Daddy my girls have!!

A Long Night...

Yesterday, I got a call from Graisi's school nurse saying she wasn't feeling well. Her throat, head and stomach hurt. She said there were a couple of kids from her class out with strep throat, so I feared the worse. Her teacher also emailed me and said she let her stay in the class and rest at recess. She said Graisi wanted to stay for the remainder of school but she'd probably need some medication when she got home. So, what would you expect to see when she got off the bus...a sickly child who didn't feel well??? NOPE...she bounced (literally) off the bus steps, ready to play with the neighborhood kids. She said while she was resting all of her symptoms disappeared. Can you say, "DRAMA QUEEN"??

Well, Martin and I had been asleep for about 10 minutes when our door opened. It was Graisi holding her shirt. She had gotten sick in her bed and needed our help to get cleaned up. She wasn't sick...just started coughing really hard and made herself sick. OH....the drama!

We tried feeding Alli Claire AGAIN last night with no success. She just isn't ready and wants NO part of it. So we're going to wait a month or two and see what she wants to do then. She's certainly NOT starving with her 20lb self! Her stuffy nose is also getting much better.

Roller Skating Mama!

Let me give you a picture....

Graisi and Mallory (next door neighbor friend) riding up the street on their bikes. Shelli and Alli Claire not far behind...only Shelli is on roller skates pushing Alli Claire in the stroller on a beautiful, sunny afternoon! It was a picture to behold!

I found my roller skates at the local thrift store for $2.50. Now, HOW could anyone pass up that deal?? They are sneaker-type skates...not roller blades... roller skates! And I LOVE them!! I haven't had a chance to get them out on the road until yesterday because it's been too cold to get Alli Claire outside for any length of time. I'm not saying my legs weren't shaking when I got them off, but they were FUN!! It had been years since I'd dawned a pair of these rolling beauties. I figured they would get me outside to play with Graisi and get some exercise at the same time. If you haven't roller skated either in a long time, I would highly recommend it. It brought back feelings of youthfulness.

Yesterday, I forgot to blog a big HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY to Hunter and Riley! Hunter's b'day was yesterday and Riley's is today. Hunter and Riley were born 3 weeks before Graisi. Needless to say, Graisi was playing with Thomas the Tank Engine and Hot Wheels along side of Baby Apple when she was little. Bless her heart, there were NO girls born around her when she arrived...only stinkin' little boys!

Houston We Have A Tooth!!

I didn't get a chance to blog yesterday, but there's always something going on at the Smith's!

Yesterday, I picked Alli Claire up early from school, went home and picked out clothes, ironed, picked Graisi up from the bus stop and headed to JC Penney's for 6 month pictures. Can I just say how beautiful my babies are!!?? The pictures turned out amazing!! I'm sooo excited.

But on the way to the studio, Graisi piped up from the backseat and said the words I've been waiting on for TWO YEARS!!!! "Mommy, my front tooth is coming in." As I was driving (thank goodness I was at a red light), I reached back there and stuck my finger in her mouth. Heck, who cares if it was clean or not... I had to feel that tooth for myself!! Low and behold, there was a tiny white point of a tooth that had just broken through. She said she had felt it yesterday morning. So what does any good mama do?? She called people!! I don't remember what Graisi looked like with teeth, it's going to take some adjusting, but she's very excited. She said now she can eat corn on the cob without it getting so messy :-) My baby has her priorities in order!! She LOVES corn!

Also, while at the portrait studio, Alli Claire touched something and she had an allergic reation. It turned her hands BRIGHT red as if they were burned. They were still red this morning, but looked much better. Bless her heart, she has some of the most sensitive skin of any baby I know. We are still washing ALL of our clothes in Dreft just for her. I'm hoping she'll grow out of it.

Oh yea, Graisi didn't get evaluated for the next level in figure skaing last night. Her teacher was out sick, so hopefully she'll be evaluated next week. Hope Miss Pam gets to feeling better soon!

Gotta get some work done. Talk to you tomorrow.

Winter Cleaning

You know it's really bad when you start cleaning and you're 6 yr old asks, "Who's coming to visit?" Needless to say our house is now clean! And I feel MUCH better. The only time it gets organized is when someone comes for a sit down. Sad isn't it.

Friday night we had a "family veg night". After the rough week we had, we all piled up in the bed and watched "Man vs Wild" with Bear Grylls. It's a good show all of us can watch and not have to worry about language. And if we're ever stranded in Africa, we'll know how to avoid the elephants and lions and follow the water up stream instead of the typical down... Good into the know :o)

Saturday we cleaned ALL day...from about 9am til 5pm. And it took that time too.
It was worth it. Chris and Stacy came for dinner and we had a great time catching up on each others happenings. We really enjoy the time we get to spend with them now that they're back home.

Sunday, we were heathens! We were both exhausted from the previous day's cleaning so we elected to stay in bed. It wasn't really hard to twist Martin's arm. In fact, our normal conversation didn't even happen. It usually goes something like this:

Alarm clock goes off..
Martin hits snooze twice
Martin: Are we going?
Shelli: Uh huh.....
Click..that's the sound of the alarm clock being turned off...

Yesterday the alarm clock went off and then was turned off! Anyway, I finished Alli Claire's dust ruffle for her crib. I'll have to take a picture and post it. It and the bumper pad turned out REALLY cute!! Now, all I've got to do is finish Graisi's quilt. That's next on my agenda.

Bits N Pieces

Here are a few things I forgot to mention with all the fevers and "goings on" at the Smith house this week....

When I took Alli Claire to the doctor Monday they weighed her... 19lb 6oz!! 6 months old!!!

Graisi did GREAT at skating practice Tuesday night. I was so proud of her. Next Tuesday they will test her for level 3 or possibly 4! I cannot stress enough how well she did :-)

We went to Family Reading night at Graisi's school last night. We ran into her teacher coming in with her son. Might I mention her teacher reminds Martin and I of a friend back home who is VERY loud and energetic! She's perfect for a first grade teacher!! Anyway, she stopped us and was telling us all about Miss Graisi. She really thinks she'll test and pass into the gifted program next year. She also had her teacher crying one day this week. Seems they were talking about their favorite place to visit in the state of Alabama. Most of the other kids picked places like the beach, rocket center in H'ville, McWane Ctr, etc. Graisi picked the B'ham Botanical Gardens. When her teacher asked her why, she said because that's where her brother, Grant's, bench is.... They have a Little Ones Memory Garden out there with some benches leading up to it. She has "claimed" one of them to be Grant's even though it's not particularly his. Leave it to my Graisi to make her teacher cry...

Alli Claire is feeling much better. She is back at school with her teachers and was happy when I dropped her off this morning. I'm so glad and hope she starts sleeping again this weekend. She woke up yesterday morning at 3am and this morning at 4am.

"Uncle" Chris and "Aunt" Stacy will be joining us for dinner tomorrow night. We haven't seen Stacy in FOREVER!! So we're excited they're coming. It should make for an enjoyable evening :-) I always enjoy a good dose of LOVE! They've just recently moved back from South Carolina, so we've missed them tremendously.