Spring is in the Air

The weather has finally made it feel like it is spring this week. It was so nice that Kelsey and I were able to get out and go for a walk. For the first time, I put Kelsey in the stroller without the car seat. I almost got a little teary that she looked so big in the stroller. Here is Kelsey before we started our walk:

Here is Kelsey after the walk was over:

Kelsey and I have attended three of Daddy's baseball games now. She has done awesome at all of them. The first two she fell asleep before the third inning. The last one she sat on my lap and just watched. She made it to the fifth inning before falling asleep at that one. I am glad she enjoys them so far because there are a lot more to come! Here is Kelsey in her Owatonna baseball sweatshirt ready to cheer on Daddy!


On Saturday, Kelsey and I went to Eau Claire to visit my friend Liz and her new baby, Collin William. He is a doll! What a handsome little man.














Kelsey loves to play with the remote right now. Of course she tries to eat it, but does press buttons as well. The other day she changed the language to Spanish. One of these times she is going to press something and I will not know how to switch it back!

Here are a few more pictures of our smiley girl. She certainly has the Michael Jordan tongue look down. What a ham!


We tried getting a close up of her two bottom teeth because she rarely wants to show them. This is the best we could do!

Really?

Last night I put Kelsey down for bed. She was completely out when I laid her down. Or so I thought. About five minutes later, I hear her crying. I go in to check on her and she is standing up in her crib looking at me! REALLY!?! Can she be old enough to do that already? She has been crawling around like a maniac lately and trying to grab everything at her eye level. She will crawl to Matt or me and pull herself onto our laps if we are sitting on the ground with her. She can go from crawling to sitting to crawling again no problem. She even walks a little if we hold her arms up and stand behind her. But pulling up from laying to sitting to standing? YIKES! I was definitely not ready for that. She looked so big standing there waiting for me to come in and "rescue" her. Oh, and of course she started smiling as soon as she saw me walk into the room. Little stinker ;)

A few more

Here are a few pics of Tasha, Kelsey and I that I didn't get in the smilebox scrapbook.

Easter Weekend

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

It is Sunday night and I am exhausted after a great weekend in Pulaski filled with lots of news! We started our trip by stopping in Wausau to see my college roommate, Kristen's, apartment. We had lunch and tried to get as much talking in during the short time we had. Love you Buddy! We arrived in Pulaski later that afternoon and after getting settled spent some time at my dad's letting him see how Kelsey can crawl now. That evening we went to a fish fry dinner in Hofa Park, which is where my mom grew up. There is a very old bar that they renovated and made into an updated non-smoking bar and restaurant. I even ran into two girls I went to high school with that I had not seen since graduation! The food was really good and the company was great. Our dear friends the Chrisman's came with us, so we were able to catch up with them. Saturday morning, Soren, Annika and Kelsey played before heading to an egg hunt at the N.E.W. zoo. The kids had to find different color eggs and turn them into the color stations around the zoo for prizes. It was a little chilly, but we all bundled up and had a great time. Mommy and Daddy had fun finding eggs for Kelsey! When we got back home, it was time for Easter dinner! My mom's side of the family came to my dad's house for good food and good laughs. Thanks for teaching me to make the meringue for the pie, Chris! Sunday morning we went to church and then we were able to stop and see my best high school friend, Tasha. She looks wonderful and always brings a smile to my face. We headed back to my dad's for breakfast and then got on the road. We stopped at my brother's when we got to Minnesota to meet our new niece Korinne Sophia. She is a doll! Kelsey looked so big next to her! As we finished our drive home, I got a text message that my other college roommate, Liz, had her baby as well! She gave birth to a baby boy, Collin William, after a very long labor! Congrats Liz and Brian! Can't wait to meet him. To top it all off, my sister announced that she is pregnant again too and is due in November. We have a lot to be thankful for this Easter!

Korinne Sophia Smith

My brother and his wife, Molly had their third baby girl today! She was 7lbs. 5 oz. 20 inches. Both mom and baby are doing well. This makes grandbaby number 6 for my dad!( 5 girls, 1 boy) Congratulations Brian and Molly!

April 10

What a day! Seriously, I am not sure where to begin! Today is always a day that sticks out in my mind. It is the day my world was rocked to the core 8 years ago. On this day, I watched as my mother ended her 11 year battle with cancer and went home to be with Jesus. I was just 19 years old. It seems as though my mom was sick for most of my childhood. She got breast cancer when I was 9, which later spread to her bones and eventually brain. When she went in to have her brain tumor removed, I don't think I was truly prepared for her to leave. Afterall, that is just not the way it was supposed to work out. Now here I am, 8 years later blogging about this. I thought long and hard about what approach I wanted to take with this. Of course this day is always sad for me because I think about the what could have beens and what ifs and whys? But with today being Good Friday and Easter weekend, I thought I would share the last few moments of my mother's life with you because I truly believe that God was with us. My mother's surgery on her brain had major complications and after 11 hours in surgery, she came out in a coma. For days they monitored her and we stayed by her side hoping for some sign that she would be ok. When the doctors finally told us that there was nothing more they could do, we knew we had to make a decision. We decided that quality of life is what my mom wanted and let her go to be with God. Before they turned off the machines, we were able to have a prayer service with her. I remember I stood next to the bed and held her hand. It had been a very gray day, which matched the mood we were all in. However, when the machines were turned off and we stood around the bed, a beam of sunlight shown on the bed as if it were my mother's way of letting us know it would be ok. Being with my mother as her spirit left us is somethiing I will always remember. I share this with you not to make you sad, although it may. But instead, to reassure you that faith is real and God is real. I used to question him a lot (A LOT) because I didn't think it was fair how everything happened. But when I look into my daughter's eyes I know that prayers are answered and He is there. Today, my dad, Matt, Kelsey and I went to my mom's grave to put flowers on it. It is crazy how I can smile and cry at the same time thinking of her. She was incredible and I miss her very much. I wish she was here to watch Kelsey grow, but my faith reassures me that she is with me, even if I can't see her. Matka, I love you and miss you. Ja cie kocham.

Time for Easter

You wouldn't know it is almost time for Easter by the snow and cold weather we continue to have. Regardless, I have been waiting to dress Kelsey in her Easter dress for weeks. On Friday night, we had our family picture taken for our church directory. It was the perfect opportunity to get Kelsey all dolled up.

After our pictures, we went to Ginskeys to color eggs. Thanks for inviting us Stacey! Daddy did the coloring and Kelsey did the watching. She was more intrigued by trying to eat the egg rather than color it.



We have been trying to get Kelsey to drink out of her sippy cup. She likes to chew on it, but does not have the swing of it yet. She seems to be interested for a short time and then moves on.

Since we are going to Pulaski for Easter, I had to get Kelsey dressed up again for church today so she could get pictures with Grandma and Grandpa. I will take every chance I get to put her in a cute dress. Hopefully she doesn't mind!

Kelsey has also gone from scooting and pulling herself everywhere to resembling more of a crawl. She almost looks like she is hopping with her legs and then moves her arms. Whatever you call it, she is getting quicker and Mommy and Daddy have to keep their eyes on her every second.