Lexie's Life

Where to begin?? I guess I can start with updating everyone on the kiddos and the hubby! Aaron is doing great. He is working like crazy. His schedule changes often, so we can never get too comfy with his work times. He gets the weirdest times and days off! LOL He has a dog kennel that also keeps us busy. We have 4 dogs right now. Chuy, our 2 year old male, Lulu, our 1 year old female, and CC and Luke are both about 4 months old. Lulu is about to have a litter of pups in the begining of November. I have never been much of a dog person, but these dogs have really grown on me. I LOVE Lulu and Chuy to death and have decided that they are going to be our dogs forever! I laugh cause everyone loves puppies, but I have learned how hard they are to have. They are cute to look at, but not fun at all to take care of. You have to clean up after them, teach them to potty outside, crate train them so they don’t whine when they are in their crates at night and feed them all the time! Dogs are a lot of work, but now that it is more like a job to us, it is harder! I have to make sure I don’t get too attatched to the dogs because it is a business, they all can’t stay with us! It is a happy moment for us when we do find the pups a good home. Especially when we see kids that get the dogs! Kids and puppies go together so well! They love eachother so much. I am not really looking forward to Lulu having her puppies this time because I will be having my baby 2 weeks after she has hers! The puppies need care just like human babies, although not as much. We just need to make sure they are warm, make sure Lulu isn’t neglecting them, and make sure they are all getting a chance to nurse. Once they are 6 weeks, they we are able to sell them. It is going to be hardest on Aaron though. He is going to be checking on puppies, taking care of our 3 kiddos, taking care of me for a while since I will be having another c-section and helping with the baby. He is going to be a very tired man! LOL I hope the 6 weeks goes by very fast so we can get our lives back to somewhat normal!
Haylee is doing wonderful as well. She just turned 5 yesterday. I cannot believe how fast she is growing. She is such a smart girl. She is mature for her age, I think! She loves Barbies, Dora, Princess stuff and clothes! She is such a girly-girl, but also loves to do stuff with the boys. She loves to be the center of attention. She will sing and dance and act silly just to make someone smile. She loves to help with things too. She is like a little mommy. She is always willing to help unload the dishwasher, fold laundry, put hers and Audrina’s clothes away, and she loves to help clean the bathroom! She always gets to clean the counter and mirrors. I love it, there is no way I am going to tell her no! Sometimes she amazes me! We are getting ready to enroll her in preschool for the spring semester. We didn’t want her to do a whole year because she doesn’t need a whole year! I know she is going to be amazing at school, we are just trying to get her used to being away from home and sitting for extended periods of time. She did really great with vacation bible school over the summer, so I know she will do great in preschool as well. She will start kindergarten Fall 2011. She got sad on her birthday because she thought that the minute she turned 5 she was going to school! I had to explain to her that she would be going after Christmas. She wasn’t too happy about that and almost cried! I am so proud of the girl I have, she is beautiful, smart, funny, loving and most of all, she has such a deep love for God. She always says the sign of the cross when we pass our church, says prayers for the people that might be hurt when she sees or hears an ambulance, prays for the souls of the people that have passed away when we pass a cemetary and ALWAYS says all of her prayers before eating food and before bed! What an amazing little lady!
Asher is quite the funny boy! He is going to be 4 in December, but people often ask me if he and Haylee are twins. They weigh the same amount, but Haylee is tall and skinny, Asher is shorter and stalky. He is just like his daddy. He LOVES the dogs. He tells us all the time that he is a real dog man because he helps feed them, he puts them in their crates and outside! He loves all the dogs! He is also a little entertainer! He is always playing the drums with whatever he can find! He likes to pretend to play the guitar and sing also! He has a favorite band called RED. They are a christian rock band. I can’t lie, they are one of my favorite bands also! He knows so many of their songs by heart and sings them all the time. He and Haylee will put on little concerts for eachother! He will sing RED songs and she will sing Matt Maher songs! It is so adorable. I think we are going to get him a drum set for either Christmas or his birthday. Either way, it is going in the garage! Asher is a very smart boy. He counts to 10 in English and Spanish, can say his alphabet and is always asking how things work. He is not shy about asking questions at all! He amazes me with how much he already knows and with the questions he thinks to ask! The other day, we were in the car when he asked me this, “Mom, why is Jesus in our hearts?” I responded, “He is there to guide us in the right direction, to be a good example to others and to remind us that He loves us.” He then asks, “Well, is He always there?” I said, “Yes son. He is always with us. But sometimes, when people aren’t good, they have a harder time hearing what He has to say.” I began to walk to the door and as I turned around to get him inside, I saw him with his head down towards his heart asking, “Jesus, are you there? Can you hear me?” I smiled and walked inside only to have Asher rush to me in a panic and say, “MOM! I CAN’T HEAR JESUS!! Am I being bad?! Did He go away?!” I had to try the best I could to explain to him that we can’t hear Jesus with our ears, but with our hearts. Try explaining that to a 3 year old! He finally calmed down and now understands how Jesus talks to us! It was one of those moments where I was so proud of him. He has always said the best prayers at bed time, thanking Jesus not only for his family, but for Mary and Joseph and for dying for us! He is such an inspiration to me to think about more when I pray, not just say the same thing everytime!
And little Audrina. She is one hilarious little lady! She turned 2 in July. She is by far the funniest kid at this age. She still loves to be held and cuddled like a baby, but she also loves to play by herself. I think she has gotten used to playing alone because Asher and Haylee do everything together. She is totally content being by herself. I am wondering if that is going to be a good thing or a bad thing when the baby is born. I don’t know if she will be happy to have someone to play with or upset because someone else is taking the baby role away from her. I am concerned with her not liking her brother because she has been the baby for the longest amount of time. I really am going to have to make special time for her so she doesn’t feel like she has gotten replaced! She says some funny stuff too. For a while, I was really concerned about her speech. She was saying Mommy, Daddy and dog, but then stopped talking alltogether. I took her to her dr and he said to keep working with her on it and now it seems sometimes we can’t get her to stop!! She is a very smart kiddos as well. She finally said her name for the first time the other day. She would say everyone elses name, but not her own. She won’t say Audrina, but Dreena, which is fine with me! She is a fun little girl to have around and is also a little entertainer. She is in baby doll mode big time. She carries around her baby doll everywhere. She feeds her baby, changes her diaper, gives her bottles, sings her to sleep and makes sure that she says Hi to Jesus when we pass by the church! She is going to be a good sister once she adjusts to having him around.
And me…..where to start?! I am now 35 weeks pregnant. We are having a little boy. We haven’t come to a final conclusion as to what his name will be, but it will consist of Lyric, Brody and Aaron! I think he is going to be small. Everyone that sees my belly thinks I am small for being as far along as I am. When I was pregnant with Asher, I was the same way. With my girls, I was HUGE! They stuck out sooo far! My boys seem so like to stay tucked inside. My back is agreeing with that! I have been having terrible back pain these past few days. I can hear my tailbone grinding. My hips have been hurting as well. He has definitely dropped in the last week. I can breathe much easier now and have been having more pain in my lower back and pelvis. My previous c-section scars have been hurting quite a bit as well. They don’t stretch! Everything else around the scars is stretching fine, but man, sometimes I feel like if he grows anymore, he is going to tear through those scars! We will be having another c-section with him as well. We were really hoping to have him on Aaron’s fathers birthday, which is November 20th, but that is a Saturday and apparently they dont perform “elective” surgeries on weekends. So, we are planning on November 19th instead. I am waiting for the people that schedule the surgeries to call me and confirm a time and date. I am really excited. But more than that, I am terrified. I already know it is going to be painful. My fear comes from knowing that I have 3 kids and a husband that need me, and I need them. With every surgery comes a risk, I get that. I am so nervous though. I just keep praying that everything will go as normal and I can get back to my family and my home quickly. The Thursday after I have the baby is Thanksgiving! It is going to be a little hecktic! My mom, mother-in-law and neighbor threw me a baby shower 2 weekends ago. I was so excited to have people to celebrate with. I had given almost all of my baby stuff away after I had Audrina because we weren’t really planning on having another baby! All the clothes I had were from Audrina since she was they last baby. I had given all my boy clothes away to other moms who needed them. All I can say is how blessed I am to have the turnout I did. This baby is fully dressed until he is 2! Same with the diapers. We have between 7-9 boxes\bags of diapers from newborn to size 2! He is sooo set! I am so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives that are willing to help out and to make sure this baby is taken care of! I am so anxious to meet him. I love the fact that I get these special 9 months with him. It is truly a miracle to see this little human growing inside me for 9 months then I get to hold him! It amazes me! The kiddos already love him too. They are always coming up to hug him and kiss him. Haylee and Asher sing to him all the time. Asher was singing “Twinkle Twinkle” to him the other day and the baby started to kick in response and Asher was in awe. He thought it was so cool that his brother could hear him and respond to his voice already. He is so excited to share his toys with him. I have to keep reminding them that for the first few months, he is going to eat, sleep, poop and cry and that’s about it! I think they’ll get the idea once he is here. I am just so blessed to have such an incredible husband and amazing children. God has blessed me beyond what I deserve!
Anywho, I hope all is going well with whoever is reading this. I am not going to promise to update in a week or anything because that never seems to work! I promise to get on here in the future, hopefully sooner than later! I am going to go put the heat on my back now and get some rest! God bless!!!!!

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.