WHEEEEEE!

Kelsey absolutely loves the swings! Our neighbors have a swingset, and as soon as we head to the backyard she makes a beeline for it! Today we went to the park for the first time this spring. She of course spotted the swings. If you read my sister-in-law Stacey's blog, you have seen that the boys like the show Umizoomi. Today when Kelsey was getting into the swing she kept saying zoomi, zoomi. Apparently she likes it, too! (We actually taped an episode and were shocked to hear her singing along!) Anyway, apparently she associates the show and the swings. As soon as she was in the swing, the giggles began. It was so easy to take her picture because she smiles and laughs nonstop. Plus, when the camera came out she did throw in a big "cheese" for me, too. If you want to see the polar opposite of our happy girl, you should see her face when it is time to go inside or get off the swings. Not so happy. I think I'll stick with showing you the smiley ones :)

Leia's Baptism

We celebrated my niece Leia's baptism this weekend. My dad and Chris came to Minnesota, which meant a Smith family weekend. We spent the afternoon at my sister's house. We watched the NCAA tournament, spent time catching up, and had dinner together. Sunday morning we went to church and welcomed Leia into her faith. Following the service we went back to my sister's and had lunch. By the time we got home, we were all pretty tired. It seems we were busy and running somewhere all weekend. These kind of weekends are fun because we do so much and see so many people. However, they make the time go that much quicker. Plus, Mattey starts baseball again tomorrow, so life is about to get a little crazier again for awhile. But again, these are all good things and we are lucky and blessed to have all these great things in our life.

Here is Leia sleeping by Grandpa.

Swimming Lessons

Kelsey started swimming lessons on Saturday. She has always done well with water, but we were still unsure how it would all go. Matt went in the water with her and I watched from behind a glass window. People could probably tell this was our first time because I had the video camera and camera out and felt the need to document every second of this experience. Kelsey seemed to take to the pool right away and did awesome! The instructor had said how this was going to be a pretty light class to get the kids comfortable with the water. However, we thought they did a lot! They had her floating on her back and belly with Matt holding on of course. They also tried to get the kids to make a C shape with their hands and push away the water as they were on their bellies. They used a floating board and floating weights and ended with going underwater. I have to say, I was a very proud Mom watching Kelsey. She seemed to enjoy her time in the water and did great. Let's hope it continues throughout the program.

B-E-A-U-TIFUL!

The past few days have been leading me to believe that spring has officially arrived. Today was gorgeous out! When I got home from school I found Matt and Kelsey outside playing. She absolutely loved being outside and made it very clear she wanted nothing to do with going in! When Matt left for baseball camp, she and I went for our first walk of the year! I only intended to go out for a short walk, but ended up being gone for an hour. Kelsey ate her snack, asked to have her blankie, and of course, sang as we walked. Only 15 more years until she can try out for American Idol...hehe

Here she is all ready for our walk:


Fell asleep about 5 minutes from home:

Lucas's Baptism

Mattey and I were honored today to be Lucas's godparents and participate in his baptism. We feel very special to have been chosen! Thank you for asking us Matt and Stacey. Both Mattey and I and Nate and Diane were able to share the privilege of godparents. We started the day by attending mass and welcoming Lucas into the Catholic faith. I have said this before, but it feels so good to be part of a family who all practices their faith together. The baptism went well. Father basically gave Lucas a full bath with the amount of water he used. Most of it went on Lucas's face, and although it looked like he would cry, he was a tough little man and didn't make a fuss. Afterward, we went back to Matt and Stacey's for a small gathering to celebrate Lucas's special day. It was a very nice way to spend a Sunday.

The rest of our weekend was pretty low key for Kelsey and I. Mattey on the otherhand has been going nonstop since Friday. He left Friday after school for a baseball clinic and didn't return until Saturday just in time to go to the boy's basketball game. The game was at 7:00 which is close to Kelsey's bedtime, so we weren't sure if she would last too long. However, she surprised us and did very well! She stared at the cheerleaders and clapped with them. She even yelled "Go Huskies!" It wasn't until the last few minutes that she got antsy. Not bad! Following all the baptism stuff today, Mattey had to run a baseball clinic for elementary students. Throw in a change of the clocks to spring ahead, and I think I am going to have one tired hubby who still has master's work to do tonight.
On a side note, the weather here today was beautiful! A lot of our snow melted and we can see grass in most of our yard. Bring on spring! I think we are all SO ready!

Talking Machine

Kelsey has started to put 3 words together. Tonight she said Daddy read it and handed Matt a book. She will also say Daddy do ____ and fill in the blank with something Matt is doing. For example, she said Daddy do jump when Matt said the word jump in a book he was reading. She has been saying thank you mommy and thank you daddy for a little while now, but it is neat to see how her language development is moving along.
Kelsey likes to go on Matt's shoulders and will say Daddy's head. Matt has also started this game with her where he says excuse me and squirts her with water in the bath. Kelsey will literally yell "scuse me." So cute :)
The latest song Kelsey sings is Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star. She likes to play the piano (more like pound on the piano keys) and sing at the same time. She usually serenades us with e,i,e,i,o. To top it off, she sometimes closes her eyes and tilts her head back while she is doing this to make it so unbelievably adorable.
We love how much she is communicating with us!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

Yesterday we celebrated Grandpa's birthday. Kelsey had to get the second dose of her H1N1 shot before we headed to Grandpa's house. Mattey had high school registration so he was unable to go with us. As you know from reading the blog, I have a hard time watching Kelsey get shots because she always looks so sad. She was a trooper and did well though. To keep her mind off the shot when we got in the car, we practiced saying happy birthday, grandpa. She can say happy and then could get out something that sounded like birthday, but not say them together. So when we got to their house she said Hi Papa, birthday. Close enough, right? I am glad we were able to get together to celebrate. Happy Birthday, Dave! We love you!