Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to all our special friends! We miss you! We hope this lovey-dovey day brings you closer to all the things you love. I will be giving my little bundles of sweetness extra hugs and kisses today.

The videos did not post in the order I had hoped. The first two are completely age appropriate humor and I apologize, but they thought they were really funny. Me, not so much. Please keep in mind, Maisy thought of both the heartfelt rhymes. Oh, my sweet girl!

Naked Knox

He will do anything Bubby does.

While my back was turned he colored his hands instead of the paper.

Now that Knox is mostly potty-trained he refuses to wear pants. He is very aware of his "body parts" and wants "lulu out". He removes his pants as soon as you get them on and throws huge fits when he has to leave the house in them. Luckily he likes being outside enough that I can usually bribe him into them to play outside. But, other than that he has managed to give our 3 neighbor girls quite a lesson in the male anatomy.

To complicate things, Jeremy was in charge of buying the last package of pull-ups for bedtime and he bought pink Dora ones. With Knox being the third kid, Jeremy being a miser and me wanting to avoid another errand I don't have time for, neither one of us have any issues with his pink pull-ups. Again, the last kid is treated different. So, at home Knox is either naked or in a pink pull-up sleeping. Do you think any of this will come back to haunt us?

Mr. Knox is talking all the time. You can understand most of it. He is a copy cat with a great sense of what is funny or naughty. He gets way too many laughs for his "mean-ness" and is sure to be a complete maniac in any structured setting. Right now we are all just loving every minute with those naked buns!

SURPRISE!

After some very guilt ridden "stories" and 3 weekends of previous celebrations, we finally pulled off Maisy's surprise party!

She requested a surprise party this year, along with a gymnastics membership for her birthday gift. "Your wish is my command, Your Highness" should be tattooed on my forehead. Pathetic, I know. But she got what she wanted...by the look on her face during and after the surprise you wouldn't know it though. She was like a deer in the headlights...confused, scared, completely unaware of what was happening. It was a priceless conversation afterwards though. She asked me if she was sleeping because she was so happy she thought she was dreaming. Sweet. I don't think she has enough worldly experience to understand the "pinch me" expression, but she was verbalizing it in her own way.

What I learned from this experience was that kids don't always need all the extravagance that we shower upon them. Not that we are living the high life on Legends Bluffs Court, but luckily our kids don't want for much. Since her party was late and in her mind not going to exist, after the initial conversation and tear I never heard another word about it. She was fine without a party. She wasn't emotionally scarred or rejected at school. She was absolutely completely fine. After further research I realized Carson didn't even remember his pool party I stressed over for his last birthday, so new official Smith rule...birthday parties on the even years only.

Sorry Knox! The baby does get the shaft sometimes, but you will be a better person because of it. (Or at least that is what we will tell you.)

Most importantly, my baby girl is getting older, wiser, and bigger by the day. There is nothing baby about her anymore. She is long and skinny with dimples that can melt your heart. She is officially six and trying out her sass whenever she can. She is thoughtful, loving, smart, creative, and funny. She is happy and terribly honest. She will confess her own mistakes so candidly you can't even get mad at her. She will also criticize your outfit choice, hair or belly fat openly too. While I love every ounce of that crazy kid, the thing I want to honor most about her right now is her ability to constantly surprise. So in that respect, the party was totally fitting. She continues to be a walking contradiction and surprises me all the time with her reactions, thoughts, and actions. She is a true individual. I love that strength I see in her. I pray it stays in her heart and mind forever. She is my Sister Belle and I cannot imagine this world without her.