Lexie's Life

Yup, you heard right! I am pregnant with baby #4!!! We found out on March 25th, 2010. It was something that Aaron and I discussed very thoroughly because it is #4! That is a lot of kiddos. Especially since it will be another C-Section. We are pretty sure this is our last baby, but we know that God has the final say in that! LOL. The kids were so excited when we told them that mommy has a baby in my tummy. Asher told the baby, “Welcome to our family!” and Haylee tells me all the time, “Mom, I love your baby!” then hugs and kisses my belly. Since we don’t know if it is a boy or girl, we have agreed to call it “Batman.” Don’t really know why, but it works for now until we find out for sure what we are expecting. I have been feeling really good so far. I think I am only about 6 or 7 weeks. I have been SUPER tired and have all day nausea, not just morning sickness! Aaron has been so supportive and lets me take naps when he gets home from work, even though he wakes up at 4:45 every morning! He is so amazing! I have my first doctors appointment on April 20th. I am hoping that Aaron can come with me so we both make sure we are comfortable with the doctor. I am hoping we can find someone to watch the kids, but since everyone works, and my appointment is at 2:30 in the afternoon, I don’t know if that will be possible, so I may be going alone. I am excited to hear the heartbeat for the first time. Even though I have seen the positive pregnancy tests, it is still hard for me to believe. I think once I have an ultrasound and see the baby moving in my belly, it will be more of a reality! I did one of those “due date predictors” online, and it gave me the date of 12\5\2010. That is Asher’s birthday!!!! I will have the baby one week before the actual due date though so I don’t go into labor. I am really going to try to update this every week so I have a record of my pregnancy, and so all of you that read this can keep updated as well. I hope to get pictures on here, but I need to figure out how to again!
I hope you all have a safe week! God bless!

Today is Saturday. It is usually a fun day for our family. We sleep in a bit, get showered late, go to the mall, eat some lunch, stop by the in-laws house, go home and watch a movie. Well, not this week. Aaron is on a different schedule for 3 weeks. His usual schedule has him working from 5am to 2pm Mon-Fri, but they have them training on some more stuff, so now he is working 9-6 Tue-Sat. It is a tough transition! We really thought the 5-2 schedule was rough because he wasn’t getting enough sleep, and it seemed as though when he was home, he was sleeping! Now, we get up, eat a quick breakfast after he is done feeding all the dogs, then he is out the door. It is hard because by the time he gets home, we eat dinner, he spends about an hour with the kids, then we do prayers and the kids are off to bed. I have noticed this new schedule taking a toll on the kiddos as well. Haylee doesn’t understand why daddy is home in the morning and why he isn’t coming home while it is light outside. I am glad it is only 3 weeks though. He told me the schedule is about to change again in about a month or so. I hope he gets first bid so he can get the 5-2 shift again. As long as he is happy I guess!! He started doing LifeTeen at church. I am really excited because the Youth Minister here is all about letting spouses and children help out as well. There is a retreat for core members coming up and I am invited!! It is going to be awesome having that time with my hubby in a retreat setting. That is something we have never done. He is also doing the Community Band here. It is a Concert style band. He is happy doing it because it gets him playing his trombone again. I can’t wait for his first concert because the kids LOVE to see him play. His sisters Amber and Tiffany were going to join, but Tiffany joined a soccer team instead. Haylee really wants to see her play her game. We want her to join a soccer team this Spring, but she is too young. We did find a rec center out here that does a soccer group for younger kids that teaches them all about soccer. It isn’t a team where you play games, they just teach you the skills they need to play. At the end of the season they have a little scrimmage against eachother. It is such a good idea! The class starts in April. Asher is pretty much just interested in guitars, drums and cars! He got a small guitar from Santa this year, as did Haylee, and he just loves it! He will find any toy and use it as drums. He is really good a keeping a beat also. I watch him in the car when we play music and he does sooo good! He loves to play Rock Band when we go to Grammy and Papas house. He does all of the parts; drums, guitar and microphone! He wants to start playing some sort of sport, he just can’t pick one. He isn’t old enough to play one on a league yet anyways, so I am thinking of putting him in swimming lessons? And little Audrina is starting to talk so much better. She is saying a lot more stuff, but still doing a lot of grunting when she wants something. I can tell when she is upset with me because she says “Mom.” She says it really short and grumpy. Then she looks at me and says “Mommmmyyyyy!!” She is such a baby still. It is weird for me because my older two were not like this. They were so independent at this age. They were talking and wanting to do things by themselves. Audrina is just wanting to be the baby!
So, since Aaron is working today, I think I might go with my mom and the kiddos to visit our friends new baby. She had a little girl last Tuesday. I love little babies! Our neighbors had twin girls the beginning of January, but they are still in the hospital. They were born at 34 weeks! They already have 9 of their own children and are in the process of adopting their grandson. Their youngest child and their grandson look like twins! They are 4 months apart. They are amazing people. The mom remindes me a lot of the mom from the Dugger family! They babies got released from the NICU and put in the regular nursery this week, so hopefully they will be home soon!!! I can’t wait to meet them. My best friend in Wyoming had her son not too long ago and another friend here had her baby in December. It is really giving me baby fever, but then I remember that we can’t have another baby right now because we don’t have a car big enough for us all! We would have to take 2 cars everywhere! We are hoping to get a used van sometime soon if we can find one. I am getting my baby fix for now though. My friend asked me to watch her 6 month old son for her once a week. I watch him every Wednesday from 6:30AM to 4:30PM. I love it and so do the kiddos! The only thing is I help teach Chatechism on Wednesdays. Class starts at 4:30, but I always get there by 4 so I can set up the classroom and get everything ready for the kiddos. I am just an assistant as is Amber, and Aarons mom Roseann teaches them. Sister Alma has asked me if I would be willing to teach my own class next year. I am so excited to have my very own class. I am curious as to what grade I am going to get. I help out with 2nd graders, but substituted a 6th grade class last week. I am content with any grade, as long as I get to teach them!!
Anyways, I think that is all for now. I am not making any promises as to when I will write again, but I will try to make it sooner than later! I hope all is well with everyone reading this. Have a wonderful weekend and GOD BLESS!

We all knew this day way coming…we were all waiting for that phone call…we knew what to expect, and today it finally happened. 5:55 PM my Grandpa Smith *AKA* Grandpa Magic, passed away. He was so strong, but finally God let him come home! He is resting peacefully now with all the angels. I try not to be sad, which is so hard, but being a Christian, I know I should be rejoicing that he is finally back home with his Father, where he can rest, be healthy, strong, and I’m sure he is tinkering around in Heaven’s garage keeping himself busy!! He always amazed me at how strong he was, he replaced the carpet in his house at an old age, he pulled an engine out of a truck in his old age, he always kept himself busy. I can’t imagine what life will be like without him. What an amazing man he was. I know that he is watching over my little family from Heaven. I will be making the trip up to Soda Springs for his funeral. I am leaving tomorrow morning to Albuquerque to drop off Haylee and Asher to stay with Aaron’s parents, then Wednesday morning I will pick up my sister Erica and we will leave to Idaho. Audrina will be coming with me since she is still breast-feeding and no one up there has met her yet. Aaron will be staying up here since he has to work. It is going to be hard not having my husband and all my kids with me for support!! I am excited to see all my extended family, but I wish it was under better circumstances. It really makes you think about family when someone passes away. I am going to miss Grandpa with all my heart, but I rejoice that he is no longer suffering. Thank God. Love you Grandpa!!!!

Man, I really stink at this! I have a journal that has been sitting in my bedside table and I haven’t written in that in months!! I am terrible at this.
I am having a rough few months. I think my Endometriosis is coming back. I was in the ER about 2 months ago because I thought I had appendicitis, but it turned out to be a cyst on my ovary that either leaked or burst. Either way I was in terrible pain! They determined that it is part of the endometriosis. I feel like God is calling us to have more children, even though we already have a 3, 2, and 1 year old at home. I feel like we are so blessed with everything in our lives, why not bring more children into the world?! We both love kids. We watched a video of Audrina when she first learned how to crawl and it really made us realize how fun it would be to have another baby around here. Call us crazy! We are ready for it! We kinda think that our reasoning for not wanting anymore kids, like going on vacation, travelling when we get older, Aaron can retire earlier, were all very selfish of us. We are most happy when we are together as a family. We are willing to have as many kids as God allows us to have.
It has been a hard few weeks now that Grandpa Smith is not doing well. I am so heartbroken. I love Grandpa so much. I don’t have a very good memory, but I always remember going to their house, watching him eat his oatmeal, some orange juice, and Grandmas homemade toast! I would sit on his lap and we would talk about the Braves, talk about his days in the War, or he would just listen to me ramble on about school or my rock collection. (I still say they have the best collection in their own front yard!) Grandpa is going to missed so very much, but NEVER forgotten! His faith is amazing, his love for his wife, his love for his kids and his love for us grandchildren was amazing. He is an amazing man of God and I am so blessed an honored to say that he is MY GRANDPA! I love you Grandpa.

I am so terribly sorry for not keeping everyone posted on our family!! We recently got the internet again, which will definately help me to keep you all more updated! Ok, here goes nothin’.
Let’s start with the man of the house, Aaron. He is working his butt off! This is the hardest part of the year, working the biggest book. He has been super stressed out and really tired, but he still manages to come home and play with the kids and put up with my grumpy butt! LOL. He was going to the gym for a while and gained about 15 pounds. He looks so good! I can tell he feels a lot better also. He has a lot more energy and he seems to have more confidence. There are 2 boys that are my friends brothers that love to play basketball with him, so the other day he offered to play with them and he hurt his knee. I think he has a lateral sprain or something like that. He is wearing a brace and resting it when he can. It is starting to feel better, but I think he should keep it braced for a few more days just to be safe. He is just the most amazing father to our kids! He is always wanting to play with them, tease them and he is so involved with everything! At night we have our routine where we each dress one kid, I read them a story and we all say our prayers together. He hasn’t missed a night of it. That is so special and I know that is something the kids will always remember. He just had his 24th birthday on Father’s Day, so he got pretty spoiled! He got a watch, 2 pairs of shoes, a robe, a light for the grill, new grilling utensils, a gift certificate for a one hour massage, and a door gym. He totally deserved everything though! I love him so much and I couldn’t be more blessed to have him in my life.
Now Haylee! She is 33 months already, closer to 3 than 2 now! It makes me so sad. She is an amazing child though. She never ceases to amaze me. Her speech is incredible. I am able to have a conversation with her now. She loves to help me with everything!! She loves the baby in mommy’s tummy. We are still working with her on potty training which has so far been a complete failure. I am getting really frustrated because she is such an intelligent person but she will not go in the potty!! No matter what we have tried with her, nothing works! I am getting so far in my pregnancy now that it is really hard to keep trying all the time, I am so tired! Other than that, she LOVES to sing and dance. There are a few songs from the radio that she claims are hers, such as; “Handlebars” by the Flobots, “No One” by Alicia Keys and “Umbrella” by Rhianna. She sings the Our Father prayer at night and says her prayers. She has gotten Asher to love singing and dancing too! She loves to play with Asher. They share a room, so during nap time and before bed they love to play! She shares her books with him and likes to pretend to read to him. She has started pretending to cook as well. I love to bake and try out recipes, so we watch the Food Network a lot. She asks me all the time if we can watch Rachel Ray! I hope I can instill a love of cooking in her!
As for Little Mister Asher, he is growing like a weed. He has recently started to pick up on tons of words and sentences and even songs. He is 19 months already! He loves going to church, when we pull up he gets really excited and yells “YAY! Jesus’ house!!!!” He sings the Hallelulia at church and cheers after every song that is sung! He is such a charismatic boy. He is always so happy! He is teething right now, so he has been a little more grumpy than usual, but it’s ok, I know it’s only a phase. He has learned how to sing Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle, and he tries to sing the Our Father also! He loves to sing to the baby. Haylee will sit on one side, Asher on the other and they will sing to her. It is the most adorable thing I have ever seen! I know it is going to be hard for them for a little while when she comes, but I also know they are going to be amazing! They are my little helpers. They clean up their messes, they like to help me make the bed, take dirty laundry to the laudry room and they give me hugs when I need them! I couldn’t have asked for better kids!
As for me, I am hanging in there! I am going to be 36 weeks tomorrow!! I can hardly believe that in 18 days, I am going to be a mother of 3 children under the age of 3. I look back at when Aaron and I met 7 years ago, and I never would have imagined we would be married for 3 1/2 years, live in an amazing home in Tucson, have 2 beautiful children and be expecting another! I love proving people wrong! So many people tried to get me to break up with him and questioned our marriage, but look at us now!! Being a stay at home mommy is so hard sometimes, but when I see how much my childern have learned, to see how social they are and how much they love Jesus, it makes it so worth it! I am going to see the “baby doctor” as Haylee calls her, tomorrow to make sure everything is ok. I have been having a lot of lower abdomen pain and a lot of pelvic pain. I need to be sure I am not dialating because we are having another C-Section. I am already having her 10 days earlier than her due date, so I don’t want to go into labor any earlier! She is such a good kicker! She makes herself known, especially when Daddy gets home! She has the hiccups A LOT! Haylee is always asking me if she has them because she always has hiccups! We are already scheduled for July 12th at noon! I am so nervous and excited. Aaron’s parents are coming to help out. They will be here the 11th so when we leave for the hospital the next day, someone will be home with the kids. They are staying for a week, then my mom is coming out for a week after that. Aaron is going to be off the week we have her so he can be at the hospital with me. I will be there for up to 4 days! I have a really good friend out here named Renise and I know she will be there everyday to help me out too! She is such an amazing friend to me. I just love her so much and I don’t know what I would do without her. She has such an amazing love for our church and she isn’t afraid to share it with everyone! The kids just love her so much. She is our babysitter for them, so when we leave, they really don’t care cause “Nay Nay” is there to watch them. We tease Asher and tell him his girlfriend is coming over! He gets so happy when she is around!
So, other than that, we are just trying to stay out of the heat as much as possible. It has been around 108 degrees lately! Monsoon season is supposed to be starting soon and I can’t wait. That is my favorite part of the year. I hope all is well with all of you. I miss you all and love you more! God Bless!