Happy Noon Year's Party

Trenton and I went to a Happy Noon Year's party today at the home of a fellow MOMS Club member. It was great to get out and celebrate the beginning of a new year without having to stay out late or deal with drunk drivers on the road tonight. I was hoping to get some good pictures of Trenton, but he was on the go today! I don't think I have one picture of him from the front! He had a blast playing with the other kids and didn't seem to mind all of the noisemakers at noon. I was going to give him a taste of my sparkling grape juice, but he made a horrible face when I put the cup up to his mouth! I wish I could have gotten a picture of it! Our family wishes all of you a very happy and prosperous 2010!

A blurry picture of all of the moms at the party. I guess this is what happens when your photographer is 8 years old!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! Trenton had an exciting first Christmas and we were sure to get plenty of pictures and video for Daddy. We sure do miss him, but we are very glad that we were able to talk to him all the way from Kuwait. My parents drove up from Texas on Tuesday, and it is great having them here. Below is a link to a web album of pictures from yesterday and today.

Christmas 2009

Snow!!!

We were very excited to see snow this weekend! We didn't see as much as the areas north and west of here, but an inch and a half was plenty to get some pictures!

Baby Smith #2 Update & Unexpected Visitors

I had a doctor appointment and ultrasound yesterday. At my last ultrasound, my amniotic fluid level was pretty low, so they wanted to check it again to see if it had gotten better. Thanks to all of the water that my doctors had me drinking, my fluid levels had almost tripled! We were also hoping for a confirmation of the baby's gender. We didn't get that today. The baby had one hand up near its mouth and the other between its legs, so we still don't know anything for sure yet. Looks like I won't be able to hit up any after-Christmas sales for good deals on baby clothes! Since my fluid levels were back in the normal range, I don't need another ultrasound for medical reasons. The ultrasound tech told me to come find her when I have my 28-week appointment though, and if she's not too busy, she'll take me in the back for a quick peek to see if the baby is cooperating.

Soon after we got home from my appointment, I got a call that our friend Teri and her son Grady were stranded at the air terminal at Naval Station Norfolk unable to get back to Teri's husband and Grady's daddy, Scott in the Azores. Scott and Jarrod grew up together in Farmersville. I know what it's like to be stranded overnight in a military air terminal, so Trenton and I went down to Norfolk to pick Teri and Grady up and they came to our house to spend the night! Grady will be two tomorrow, and loves talking to Trenton in "Trenton language!" He also has a lot of fun playing with Bailey. Hopefully they will be able to get out on a flight tonight because I'm sure that Scott is ready for them to be home, and I know they're ready to see Scott!

Trenton, Grady, and Teri at County Grill before dinner last night

Mommapalooza Kids Christmas Party

Today the MOMS Club of Newport News & Yorktown hosted a Christmas party. I joined this club in the summer, and Trenton and I have had a blast on all of the MOMS Club outings and play dates that we've been to. At today's party, the kids had refreshments, made Christmas ornaments, and participated in a book exchange. As you can tell from the pictures below, it was hard to get a good picture of all of the kids at once! Trenton enjoyed the book exchange. It was his first time opening a gift, and he loved tearing the paper apart!

I tried out a new recipe for today's party, and it turned out great! Since it was so yummy, I thought that I'd share the recipe on here!

Peanut Butter Fudge Brownies

5 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 c. peanut butter
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg
1 Betty Crocker Supreme brownie mix w/ Hershey's Syrup
2 tbsp. water
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 c. mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom of a 13x9 inch pan.

2. In a small bowl beat cream cheese, peanut butter, sugar, and 1 egg. Beat on medium speed until smooth.

3. In a large bowl combine brownie mix, water, oil, and 2 eggs. Beat 50 strokes with wooden spoon.

4. Spread half of brownie batter in bottom of pan. Drop peanut butter filling on top of batter by the spoonfull. Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of peanut butter filling. Spread remaining brownie batter over filling.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into bars.

6. Enjoy!

Yorktown Toyland Parade

Trenton and I got to be in a parade yesterday! We met our friends, Jessica and Hayden, down at the riverfront for the Yorktown Toyland Parade. This wasn't a big huge parade with a bunch of floats, but a small parade that goes around the riverwalk a couple of times that the kids get to march in. The parade was led by Santa and Mrs. Claus, followed by the Fifes and Drums of Yorktown, and then all of the little kids. It was really cute. Trenton was getting tired by the end of our outing since it was a little past his normal nap time. We had a great time though and can't wait to march in the parade again next year!

Getting ready to take a stroll in the parade!

Trenton and his buddy, Hayden

Mommy & Trenton

Hayden and Jessica

Hayden & Santa after the parade

It was past Trenton's nap time, so I knew it wouldn't be a good idea to try to let Santa hold Trenton. Trenton wasn't even happy with Santa getting in his space though!

Yankee Candle Williamsburg

Williamsburg is home to one of Yankee Candle's flagship stores, so Trenton and I decided to venture up that way today with a couple of other moms and kiddos to check out the store and Christmas Village.

The store is HUGE. They have a whole Christmas village set up year-round where it snows every 20 minutes! There is also a Toyland, General Store, Fudge Shop, Popcorn Station, and Wax Works Station.

Santa came out for a visit while we were at the store. Trenton got to sit on his lap but was NOT very happy! I don't know if he was mad because he didn't like Santa, or if he was mad because sitting on Santa's lap meant he had to stop watching the huge mice puppets singing Hickory, Dickory, Dock (which he was really enjoying). After Trenton calmed down from his encounter with Santa, we were able to go to the Wax Works Station to dip some candles for our Christmas Tree (which is still in the garage waiting for me to put it up).

I think I'm going to have to hit up some after Christmas sales so that we can start our own mini Christmas Village. Trenton could have stood and looked at this thing all day!

Sitting with the bear in Santa's Workshop

The looks on Trenton's face are so funny that I couldn't pick just one pose, so I bought a CD with all of the pictures that they took!

Visiting Jarrod in South Carolina

Trenton and I ventured down to Columbia, South Carolina to meet up with Jarrod this weekend since it would be our last chance to see him before he leaves to Afghanistan. I was somewhat worried about making the drive with Trenton by myself because he is cutting his two front teeth (just in time for Christmas!). Trenton was a champ and gave Mommy a fairly quiet car ride. We had a great time getting to see Jarrod again even though he had to work half a day on Saturday and then again for a few hours on Sunday. We are already counting down the days until we get to see him again in July!

Trenton in front of the Christmas tree at our hotel.

Trenton and I found a nice little lake on base Sunday while Jarrod was working.

"Look what I found!"

We had to take Daddy back to the lake for some pictures. Trenton was only interested in the leaves and pine needles!

Trenton has become a master at sharing. He tries to give Bailey his bottles and sippy cups and he's feeding Daddy a chicken tender here.