Everyday Life

Fall Update

2009-11-07T11:04:00.009-10:00

Can you believe another 3 months have flown by?! It is funny to look back at my last post and see the summer getting ready to start while we were waiting for Nathan to walk... Now our little Nathan is 18 months old and walks, spins, runs, and climbs everywhere!! He says new words everyday and calls for Erin the whole way home from dropping her off at school. Erin loves princesses, the computer, school and ballet class - probably in that order!! Dennis has been training and training and training for his 50 mile race on November 21. Wish him well and pray we get a sunny, warmish fall day.

Our summer in a nutshell...
We spent lots of time at the neighborhood pools in Columbia (there are 21 but we only tried out a handful). By the end of the summer Erin was jumping off the side of the pool by herself, doing cannonballs, and even attempting to float. Nathan had no fear and would walk at the beach front entry of the pool until it was over his head. I would then bring him back to the start and we would repeat. We also spent some time in Ocean City, MD with Dennis's mom once she recovered from back surgery. She is doing great and can chase the kids around better than she had been able to in years!! As you can also see from the photos Nathan loved being Stan's first mate.

Kure Beach
We went on vacation with my sister, her family and my mom to Kure Beach, NC. We had a great time! Nathan was not walking yet but loved to hang out in his baby pool on the beach. Erin LOVED spending time with her cousins, Natalia and Jeremy - I swear we did not see her all week.

Ohio Trip
We went to Ohio for the Akron Marathon and had a great time visting with my family. Erin had a sleep over with Lauryn, Nathan loved to swing, and Dennis had a great cheering section for his run! Dennis completed the Baltimore Marathon (his 10th marathon) two weeks later with a PR (personal record for you non-runners).

Fall Outings
We went to two pumpkin patches this Fall. The first one was not "officially" opened yet so we had the whole farm to ourselves. The second one was in the parking lot of a church in Atlanta but we had to get a photo of the kids in their pumpkin shirts! Erin was so excited to be Snow White for Halloween and Nathan was the happiest chocolate bar eating spider you ever saw.

Erin and Nathan
As I said before Erin loves all things princess and wants to be a painter (one that paints walls so she can go on a ladder) when she grows up. She loves Nathan so much - sometimes too much! I never quite understood when people would talk about their younger kid watching their older sibling all of the time until I see the two of them. If we go out and Erin is playing with other kids Nathan just follows her like a puppy. Pretty cute.

Summer Update

2009-07-10T09:54:00.020-10:00

Nathan's News
No more photos of Nathan with the bear! The first year went so fast it is funny to think last summer he lived in the Baby Bjorn and this summer he is an active little man. His big story is that he is an official walker. He took his first steps right around 13 months and took the next few weeks practicing. He says a few words (mama, dada, uh-hum (yes), bye bye) and signs a bunch more (all done, milk, more, dog, help, please, thank you). We are blessed to have two happy kids but he has much more of a strong opinion than Erin ever did!

Erin's News
She finished her first year of preschool and learned more than I would have thought with all of the play and snack time they have :) She would tell me she did not want to go and then not even want to take a second to give me a kiss before she was off and playing. She loves princesses almost more than I can stomach! Of course I always have to be the evil character but she promises "next time" I will get to play the part of the princess. She loves the swimming pool and is getting good at putting her face in the water.

Carlson Visit
My sister, Judi, and her family and my parents came to visit us in early April. As you can see from all of the photos we had a great time showing them the greater Baltimore/Washington DC area. On their last visit we saw Mary Pickersgill's house, she is the woman that sewed the American Flag that flew over Ft. McHenry and inspired the National Anthem. This visit we saw that flag at the Smithsonian Museum and toured Ft. McHenry - a full circle history tour!! Book your trip soon :) We also had an amazing tour of the Supreme Court (we saw the Justices spitoons, exercise room and my nephew tried a case with my dad!).

Aunt Kathy Visit
My sister, Kathy, came for a visit we had another trip to Washington DC and a tour of Camden Yards. You will see some photos of Nathan's first photo on the field -one day when he is a famous ball player we can share this photo with ESPN.

Trip to Ohio
We went to Ohio for Dennis's annual golf outing and my mom's birthday. Erin and Nathan had so much fun playing with everyone and both loved the big swing in my parent's backyard. We went to the Akron Zoo which used to house deer and raccoons - no lie - but now is a perfect little day trip. Erin had a blast at her first sleepover and we were lucky to have lots of people to care for our kids when Dennis and I both got sick.

Erin and Nathan
Nathan is almost 15 months old so he has gone to bed and taken naps at least 1,000 times. I think Erin has NOT been the first person in his room about 5 of those times and boy was she sad those 5 times. She just wants to be the first person to see him each day. He is getting more and more interested in her stuff but she is a good problem solver "that is ok if he knocks over my tower, we can just build another one." The day after Dennis put the gate at the bottom of the steps they had his tools out trying to chop it down. I hope they are always such good buddies.

Happy Spring!

2009-04-28T09:36:00.018-10:00

I think Mother Nature has been confused this month! We had lots of cold, rainy Spring days; some 90 degree summer days and tomorrow is back to cold and wet. Wherever you are I hope you are making the best of these crazy days.

Nathan

Our little man celebrated his first birthday in April. To say time flies just does not do the sentiment justice. He is well off the charts for height (the doctor even re-measured him because she did not think he could have grown that much), and 70% for weight. He is not walking yet but he gets himself in plenty mischief crawling all around the house.

Erin
Our little girl celebrated her 4th birthday in April also. She is in the 90% for height so it is funny to see her towering over the boys in her class. She loves to play on the computer (she calls it the 'putier' and I do not correct her!), pretend she is a princess, and draw. She is a very independent spirit as you can see from the ballet photos - she is the only one doing her own thing!

First Haircut
Nathan had his first haircut in February. He was great! I did pretty well considering she changed my baby to a little boy.

Birthdays
Anyone that knows me knows I LOVE my birthday. Well, I think the kids are going to follow in my footsteps! Erin had a practice birthday when Dennis'mom was here, a celebration when my mom, dad, and sister were here, a party at school, cake at home, I took the kids swimming on her birthday, she had a pool party with her friends and then we had a great day with Nathan on his birthday. Her birthday is on April Fools and she would tell people "I am 12 today" and she kept getting older as the day went on - by the end of the month it felt like she should have been turning 12 we celebrated so much.

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More Spring Fun
Here are some shots from Easter, the park, the farm, and proof that kids can sleep anywhere!!
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A little note about the parents of these kids!!
So, I ran a 10K in April. It was a lot of fun and neat to have Dennis and the kids out cheering for me for a change! Dennis is doing a 10 mile run in June and I have a 5K in May. Go Smiths!

Winter Photos

2009-02-12T11:01:00.006-10:00

Nathan is off the charts for height and head size :) He loves to eat everything from steak to veggies and Cheerios. In one weekend he started crawling, clapping, pulling up and now even signs "more." I think the most frustrated Nathan ever gets is when he is smiling at someone and can not get their attention.

Christmas
I know it seems like a long time ago but here are some photos from our holidays. When I was a kid we were not allowed to go downstairs until everyone was lined up on the steps (this was really bad when my Aunt Lori lived with us and she had to get all "done up" for the Christmas morning photos!). Here is a photo from our family line up, one of Erin and Nathan playing, him blowing raspberries, and his cross stitched Christmas card.

Let it Snow
I mostly have these photos here so our Ohio friends and family can see our pathetic snowfalls. I was going to take a picture of Erin next to our snowman but she stepped on it before I could take it and there was not enough snow to scoop together another one. That is my kind of winter!

Visitors
My brother, Mike, came for a short visit in December and Nathan enjoyed watching the train go around our tree with him. My mom came for a visit and we all stuffed ourselves with chocolate chip cookies, cut out cookies, meatballs, spaghetti sauce- only Erin had the will to eat the gingerbread house. Nathan warmed right up and was soon the 11th of her grandchildren to munch on her necklace.

Family
When my mom was here we went to the conservatory and pretended like we lived in the desert for a few hours. We also have a few photos from our trip to the Aquarium - look at all of the fun stuff we have here in Baltimore! If you want to come visit we may even throw in a trip to the Dental Museum :)

Erin
Erin is taking a Princess Ballet class and loves the anticipation of who they will dance like next. They had a "Desserts with Dads" program at school this week and she was so excited to take Dennis to school. On her "All about my Dad" paper she said that her dad "works hard to make the bacon so he can buy us stuff." She also mentioned how much she loves to go to Franks Diner with him each Saturday.

Nathan
I already bragged about his latest accomplishments so I will just leave you with some photos of our handsome prince.

Fall and early Winter update

2008-12-20T05:31:00.013-10:00

This is my favorite part of the blog - it is just amazing to see how quickly Nathan has grown! He is almost 8 months now and his favorite things are eating (esp. black beans), crashing towers, bouncing on our leg (he loves "The Grand Old Duke of York"), and his big sister.

Fall Marathons
Dennis completed 2 marathons in 14 days this fall. He did the Akron Marathon and the Baltimore Marathon. I lost the camera so we have no Akron photos but here are some of Dennis and our friend, Travis, after the Baltimore run. As you can see Erin and Nathan loved it - her for the snacks and him for the nap.

Fall Photos
A Halloween photo (yes, that is Dennis in a Speedo!), the kids in their pumpkin hats (one of my favorite thing),

Atlanta Trip
Erin, Nathan and I went to Atlanta to visit my sister, Judi, and her family. We had a great time and some of the things we did included picking cotton, a rope course (check out Erin on the rip line!), Natalia taught Nathan how to sit, visited the Cabbage Patch, and pretty much just wore out the kids!!

Florida Trip
The whole family went to Florida to visit Dennis' mom and Stan for Thanksgiving (I booked our tickets for the week before Thanksgiving on accident but we said we were glad to avoid the crowds!). The weather was chilly - see Erin bundled up at the beach but then it warmed up for us to have some fun in the pool!

Erin and Nathan
The love affair continues. I hope it is not just because Nathan is not on the move to get her things! Erin is just so good with him. She loves to put food on his tray, she translates what his "talking" is, and she even shared some of her Icy with him. Her new nickname for him is "Nathy" or "Little Bugger."
Erin loves ballet. It does not seem odd now to be listening to the Nutcracker but that is only because it is back in season - we have been listening to it since last Christmas. She tells anyone that will listen her name is Ariel and calls herself Cinderella when I ask her to clean.

Getting ready for Christmas
We have been busy here in Columbia getting ready for the man in the red suit. Our elf, Sophie, keeps an eye on everyone and goes back to the North Pole each night with a full report.

Random Photos
It is just hard to narrow down the photos to share so I am putting them all out there! Dennis' first groupie, a night in front of the fire, and Erin tells us she is going to be a artist ballerina.

Random Stories
Grant (boy in Erin's class): Erin
Grant: Erin
Grant: Erin
Grant: Ariel
Erin: Hi Grant!

Pam: Grandpa sent you an email.
Erin: Is that the boy or the girl?
Pam: It's the boy.
Erin: Oh, GrandPA!

Leaves are falling... Kids are growing

2008-10-07T09:15:00.015-10:00

The boy just keeps getting bigger!!!
So Nathan is now off the charts for height. He is as long at 4 months as Erin was at 9 months! He is ONLY the 85% for weight so I guess he is proportional?! These 6 photos are when he is 2 weeks, 6 weeks, 2.5 months, 3.5 months, 4.5 months and 5.5 months. Maybe by the next one he will be sitting by himself!

Smith Family Vacation
This was the summer of family! We had the Dies vacation to start the summer and went to Ocean City, MD with the Smith's to finish the summer out. Erin had so much fun with Robbie and Emma - we went to the Baltimore Aquarium, on Pop Pop's boat, and to see the ponies on Assateague island.

Erin's First Days of School
She has done great at her first days of school! She gets a little teary when I leave but then she is mothering the other kids in her class telling them not to cry because "Mommies ALWAYS come back." She, like every other preschooler, has nothing to tell me when I pick her up but she runs to me with the biggest hug and shouts of glee! She goes to school with her best friend, Andrew, but they are not in the same class. They love to giggle together after school.

Erin and Nathan's Bedrooms
I realized that Dennis has put all of this work into their bedrooms and most of you have not seen them! Erin's room is a outdoor garden - with clouds painted on the ceiling and her light is a sun on the wall. Nathan sleeps under water with stingray, an octopus, and a deep sea diver.

Fall Fun!
Like every other red blooded American family we went to the pumpkin patch! Erin liked to feed the goats and Nathan liked to bump around on the hay ride. It did not seem like we should be picking pumpkins because it was 80 (and we were not dressed for such a warm fall day!).

Random Shots
We will leave you with some shots of Erin reading to Nathan (she is reading him The Nutcracker - of course!), Erin dressed as Daddy, and one of Dennis and me in DC (we went for a night to celebrate both of our birthdays!!).

Summer 2008

2008-08-08T09:46:00.006-10:00

Time Flies!
I thought it would be fun to take a picture of Nathan each month in the same spot next to one of Erin's bears (this is "Little Bear" if you had not met him yet). It is AMAZING to see how much he has grown! These 3 photos are when he is 2 weeks, 6 weeks, and 2.5 months. I can't wait to take the next one.

Erin and Nathan
We have been so lucky with how much Erin loves Nathan. I heard her tell him the other day "Nathan, I love you and you will always be in my life." Then she told me I did not have to take care of him because she would! What a nice break for me!
She loves when he comes to lay in bed with her in the morning and is ALWAYS giving him his 'chuppie' (aka pacifier).

Outer Banks
Nathan met most of his family on our Outer Banks, NC trip. It was so nice to have so many hands to help! He slept great in the laundry room and Erin enjoyed her first big cousin slumber parties with Natalia and Lauryn.
We also went to the Wright Brother's Memorial Museum and saw an Osprey - how cool!

Ocean City
We have made 2 trips to Ocean City, MD this year and will make another one with Dennis's brother and his family late in August. It is not the 5 weeks we were able to spend there last summer, but Dennis's mom has made countless trips to Columbia to help out. What will we do when they fly south for the winter?!

Other Summer Fun
We were so lucky that my brother, Jeep and his family were able to come for a visit. We went to the science center for 6 hours and all of the kids had a great time.
The photos of us on the lawn chairs are from a summer concert. I figured if I was worried about posting a photo of me with slobber or spit up on my shirt I would never get a photo posted of myself!

Quotes
Erin is starting pre-school this fall and the first day is on my birthday. I told her that she had to make me a card and she told me that "The teacher will have to show me how to make 2 M's because I already know how to make an O."
When they put the cape on her to cut her hair she said "I'm a head! I'm a head!"
She told our neighbor "Me and Dennis got our hair cut short for a nice summer style."

Presenting - Nathan Olden Smith . . .

2008-04-24T14:54:00.007-10:00

. . . as of April 24, 2008 the Smith family is hence forth known as the Fantastic Four! At 3:13 AM Pam awoke to contractions and started noticing a pattern - 3:13, 3:17, 3:21 . . . at this point she wakes me and says simply - 'I think it's time.' So we count out a few more (3:29, 3:32, 3:39, 3:42 - yes, I actually started writing them down). So a phone call to the doctor and counting a few more contractions (3:49, 3:52, 3:56 and 3:58) and off we go to Howard County General Hospital. We are checked in at 4:30 AM and from there its a lot of waiting. Just hanging at about 6 cm for what seems like forever. After 10 AM the drugs are applied to help the process, 10:50 the doctor breaks her water, 11:30 she is fully dilated and ready to push . . . .

. . . . barely even 15 minutes of pushing and out the little bugger comes. Everything goes swimmingly, mom and baby both doing great (mom was a trooper just like last time - pushes and breathes like a champ). Before we get on to the pictures, here are the standard vitals:

Time of birth: 11:45 AM

Weight: 7 lbs and 11.6 ounces

Length/Height: 21 & 1/4 inches

Hair: Red

Eyes: Blue

And now, on to the pictures!!!

Here is Pam and Nathan minutes after he makes his grand entrance. Also a bit of a close-up of the handsome devil and the obligatory smiling family (minus Erin - she was at the neighbor's house [Thanks Sarah!] during the main event).

Here is a nice full-body shot of Nate chilling on the scale.

Then after everyone has a chance to get themselves cleaned up and composed it is time for the big sister/little brother sitdown. This event was quite successful, Erin was excited to see her little 'brudder' and hold him. Very anxious and eager to help out with everything going on (I see a lot of meltdowns on the way over this particular point regarding distribution of labor in the house).

Here are a few final shots for now, more happy family, daddy and the little dude and beaming mom (doesn't she look great just 6 hours later???).

One last image - after a tough day of meeting the competition Erin decides to relax reviewing the weekly ad insert to scour deals for diapers and baby rattles:

Winter Update

2008-03-24T12:40:00.012-10:00

The countdown has begun! We have 5 weeks to go till my due date (if you are keeping track Erin was 2 weeks early!). I have been feeling great - just some creaky hips but I have to have some reason for Dennis to have to get up and get me sweet treats! I have been feeling the same as I did with Erin, I look the same, but Erin has said all along that it is a boy. Let us know what you think!

Visitors
Dennis's Mom and Stan came to get their winter dose of Erin in early February. When Dennis and I went on a date Erin told them it was "fun when Mommy and Daddy were not home." This hurt a bit and then we realized they let her eat cookies, licorice, watch TV and stay up 1 hour past her bedtime - that is MUCH more fun than Mommy and Daddy!

Some friends from PA came for a visit and Macy and Erin hit it off as if it had been days not months since we last saw them. We took our turn and went for a visit to the Lehigh Valley and had fun catching up with our friends and seeing how big all the kids are!

Holidays
It has been so fun getting ready for holidays this year! Erin loved to use her stamp made from an apple to create Valentines Cards for her grandparents. We had friends over for Valentines Day and the first day of Spring and, as you can see, she loved to lick the icing both off plastic knives or beaters. For St. Patrick's Day we made shamrock trees but the most fun was Easter. We went on an Easter Egg Hunt and Erin was so excited to tell the Bunny she went on the potty. She would run forward a few steps and backwards a few steps - he was exciting and scary at the same time! She did tell him but that excitement wore off so I guess we have to think of another plan because she has to be out of diapers before Santa comes!

Performer

Erin loves to get dressed up in her fancy clothes and ballet dance all around the living room! She is quite the ham. She also loves to sing from behind the curtain of her puppet theater and watch Dennis play the guitar.

Random

The first shot is just a family photo but the second one is special because it was taken at Franks Diner. Dennis takes Erin to "Franks" every Saturday. Laurie is their favorite waitress and Erin orders either grits and a bagel or pancakes and eggs. We all look forward to this weekend ritual!

News from Columbia

2008-01-26T05:46:00.000-10:00

So this is our attempt to get you all caught back up on the ever growing Smith family. Our last update was at the end of the summer and with this cold, wet weather that seems a lifetime ago!

October
When we asked Erin what she wanted to be for Halloween she replied "Spiderman! Ta Da!" So we got her the costume and thought she was one of the cutest blond pigtailed Spidermans that ever fought crime! When she would run from house to house she always said "Thank you" first and "Trick or Treat" as she was running away. We also had a nice visit to Hot-lanta (it was 90 there) where Erin was dotted on by the Carlson clan.

Visits
We went to Ohio for the Akron Marathon in October where Dennis broke his 4 hour marathon goal - he finished in 3 hours 59 minutes and 58 seconds! When we would get to my mom's house Erin would ask "Are there any cousins in there?" She just loved to play in the basement with everyone. We spent another week there for Thanksgiving and Erin loved to build towers with Grandma and eat grits with Grandpa.
The Carlson's came to visit us over the New Year's holiday. They all loved to put on performances and had a BLAST at the Flag Museum.

Christmas
Erin was so excited for Santa to come but was scared to death of the man in the big red suit. I was so proud that she sat on his lap and told him that she wanted a baby with a bottle. Dennis' mom and Stan came up to spend Christmas with us and we all had a great time watching Erin open her gifts.
We went to see the Nutcracker and started an obsession I never saw coming! She now refers to herself as Clara (she said we can name the baby Erin if it is a girl because she is Clara) and if I call her Erin she corrects me. Dennis has not been called Daddy for about a month, he is Drosselmeyer and I have been promoted to the Sugar Plum Fairy. I was the Mouse King for a while! We listen to the CD in the car over and over and dance around the living room day and night. Thank goodness for You Tube because we can watch clips of Nutcracker performances!

Airplanes
When the Carlson's came to visit Jeremy taught Erin a lot about airplanes. We went to the airport a bit early so we could watch the airplanes take off - very cool! The following weekend we went to the Airport Museum where Erin and Drosselmeyer dressed up like pilots and I was with her for her first time at the controls.

Random Shots
The first photo is from when we went to see Sesame Street Live. Erin was so excited to see the characters on stage and jumped for the whole performance. She also loved to build a snowman with Dennis (I stayed inside to make the hot chocolate!) and is always putting her "guys" to bed. I think she is going to be a huge help with the baby - as long as all s/he wants to do is go to bed!

The Dog Days of Summer . . . Woof

2007-09-12T14:22:00.001-10:00

Well, some big developments occurred between the time we started working on this post and it got published! Erin is going to be a big sister! The official due date is May 10 and she is very excited to tell everyone about her "brodder." We are not going to find out if we are having a boy or a girl so look to a future blog to place your votes. When the votes were tallied for Erin it was 80% boy so we have no faith in your guessing ability!

Summer is gone and yet its still rather warm here. Many days this summer were spent at the pool and the beach. Erin loved going to the pool and 'swimming' in the water. Still working on going underwater but she loves playing Humpty-Dumpty along the edge of the pool. Of course, who wouldn't love being pulled in a comfortable wagon for a quarter-mile with drink, snacks and toys. Its like a rickshaw service has come to Columbia.

1.) Here's Erin at a fruit farm diligently working on tiling the soil, gathering the crop and doing her part to pay the bills at the Smith house. 2.) In the middle is Erin with her first ponytail. You can't see it, but she was quite exicited about it. 3.) On the right she is being the diva of the playground.

That playground is at the Thomas E. Dixon Airport Observation Park. It sits at the top of some of the landing strips at BWI and you can watch planes come in all day. They get a lot closer than the picture shows, its pretty cool. Erin was quite enthralled.

Here are a couple of photo's from our vacation with some friends, the Illums'.

Here is the beach bum family . . . we were fortunate to spend plenty of time in Ocean City, MD visiting with Menna & Pop-pop. Erin was bit timid with the water (which is fine with us for now, it was rough). She was content for Dad to dig a 3 x 3 hole in the ground and just play in it all day.

Below she is having fun in the sun with her friend Macy (friends from Center Valley, PA that were also vacationing in the OC). On the right her Menna is introducing her to the glamour of jewelry.

On the left you can see that Erin is all grown-up and moved into her own place. She is quite 'green' friendly as this house is 100% biodegradable. On the right she is the busy tyke doing some networking in the privacy of her home. Might sound something like this - "Let's get together for sippy cups and goldfish - meet me at the tot lot on the corner of Tamar and Old Montgomery, say 10:30 AM, that will give me time to finish building my block tower and review at least one Clifford Puppy Days story."

Enough of the lengthy narratives . . . here are some more cute pics.

It's hard to see, but Erin was not exactly loving this moment.

Been a long time, been a long time . . .

2007-05-03T16:28:00.000-10:00

Well it's been a bit too long since we last posted an update on our family. Since October (last posting) we have settled in to the city of Columbia, MD (well, its not technically a city. It's actually a combination of 10 villages. To read more about that click here).

Now on to the real reason you are here . . . to see the little Monkey in action.

Erin loves to bounce, hop, gallop and generally be in motion. Two of her current favorite things are games she calls 'push you game' and 'upside down'. 'Push you game' involves her standing on the couch and me (Pam is waiting for an injury to occur) pushing her over so she fully lays herself out on the couch and bounces. 'Upside down' usually follows wherein I grab her feet and flip her in the air so she comes back down flat on the couch either on her back or her face. It sounds brutual, I know, but rest assured she is giggling the whole time. Daddy typically has to beg off the game. Below is a nice shot of her love of bodily bouncing.

We recently visited the Rawling Conservatory in Baltimore. Its a delightful conservatory with tastefully arranged floral displays of various climates. They have a beautiful orchard room. Unfortunately to get there you drive through what must be locations used to film The Wire (if you don't know what The Wire is, check it out here. It's the best thing on TV.)

Here you can see the sensible yet uncaged artistic fervor that Erin is working herself into. This kid loves to draw (or "color" as she calls it). Give her a crayon and paper and she can work herself into a zen-like focus drawing.

This is just a cute picture of her looking rather coy. She's digging herself out from the couch cushions as her 'house' (read couch cushion fort) just toppled over.

Recently Pam and Erin took a brief trip out to La Grange Park, IL to visit family. They visited with Aunt Judi (Pam's sister) and cousins Natalia and Jeremy. Erin is well on the way to worshiping her cousin Natalia. She is also mesmerized by the fact that Natalia goes to school. If you mention Natalia' name to Erin she will get a far away look in her eye and say 'school' (this if often followed by 'slide' - apparently a highlight of the schoolyard).

Another nice photo from the trip to the land of Lincoln.

Recent gathering at a neighbors backyard (spot the kiddy pool in lower lefthand side of picture). As the sun was setting and Erin was starting to get cold Daddy managed to get in a quick snuggle.

Same day, just prior to the festivities. Not sure if she looks like a young movie star or Elton John.

Erin loves to help doing just about anything around the house. Here she is helping Mommy plant flowers in the front yard. She was quite good at following instructions and trying to actually plant the flowers (and not just dig in the dirt).

The weekend of Erin's 2nd birthday (April 1st for those keeping score) her grandparents (Ken and Carol Dies) were visiting. We were fortunate enough to have an opportunity to meet up with Pam's Aunt Katherine and Uncle Richard (Katherine is Carol's sister) in our nation's capital. Beautiful day on the mall, really got the patriotic sentiment stirring.

They don't call it 'Charm City' for nothing . . .

2006-10-30T15:20:00.000-10:00

They don't call it 'Charm City' for nothing . . .

That's right, we are moving to Baltimore, MD. Well, not Baltimore exactly, but somewhere near Baltimore - Columbia, MD. I've recently accepted an opportunity with my current employer (Chubb Insurance) in the Baltimore Office. Pending start date is Nov. 27th but this is subject to change [I'm in the middle of serving on jury duty for a 4 week trial].

At any rate, we anticipate being moved to MD by the end of 2006. So you know what that means - start planning your trip to visit us and see the famed Inner Harbor. Here's a picture of the home we are buying - if you want to see more pictures come visit!

This past Labor Day we spent in Ocean City Maryland with Grandma Menna and Pop-pop Stan. Erin loves the beach and loved going out on Stan's boat. She is happy and content spending her summer days on the beach, much like Mom and Dad. Erin also got her first baby doll and stroller and loves taking her baby for walks.

Here we are at the Salisbury Zoo. Erin loves looking at the animals and everything on four legs with a tail is a 'puppy'.

She also got her first exposure to the boardwalk. Not exactly the best spot to chase a toddler around.

Anytime spent at the park makes her happy.

And as all good children know, daily hygiene and teeth cleansing rituals are a must.

Summertime, Summertime, sum, sum, Summertime . . .

2006-06-25T01:36:00.000-10:00

Time for fun in the sun!

Erin recently had her first boat experience. It was probably the only 30 minutes where she was awake but not walking to and fro. She was quite uncertain and cautious on the boat but enjoyed it by the end.

She was especially happy when her Pop-pop Stan let her drive.

She's quite the ham for the camera.

We recently got around to painting Erin's room. To keep with the Curious George theme we not only went with yellow walls (actual color name is 'Chickery Chick') but decided to bring George and the forest to her room . . .

Below are a couple additional photos of Erin's recent activities. Erin got to spend quality time in Chicago, IL and Akron, OH with a multitude of members from the Dies family:

Discovering new and exciting lands

2006-05-15T07:48:00.000-10:00

Time certainly flies when your having fun. Erin is growing by leaps and bounds in terms of personality, ability, physical characteristics . . . everything. She turned 1 on April 1st. Recent developments are:

2 teeth - front bottom
Walking - this past weekend she started walking all over the place. She is a very determined baby when putting her mind to a task
Pointing - she isn't right all the time but will always try and point to objects you mention

Erin's first Easter Egg Hunt!

Here is a cute little clip of Erin getting a visit from the Easter Bunny.
FYI for those with blogs and curious about posting your own video - its quite easy. Just create a free account at www.YouTube.com and you can upload a video in a few minutes.

In April Erin got a visit from her cousins Natalia and Jeremy (and Aunt Judi!). Here she is spending some quality time with Natalia.

This picture is a bit older than the rest. Its from Erin's first social networking experience - Gymboree! Please note the Gymbo the Clown doll behind held by the instructor. This doll has undergone pyscho/social experiments to ilicit maximum response from children. Erin's first reaction when seeing Gymbo was biting his face.

One of Erin's favorite spots - the highchair. She has a healthy appetite, loves vegetables and is generally willing to try any food we give her. As you can see on the picture to the left she is looking for a summer job. If you know of any good landscaping or construction opportunities please call her.

Here are some final pictures of Erin enjoying her Curious George doll (birthday present), hanging with mom at Bake Oven's Knob and getting jiggy in the swing.

2006 . . . what happened to 2005??

2006-02-04T14:54:00.000-10:00

Frankly I've been focused on many other projects, quite lax in updating the blog. Here is an attempt to make up for the lack of updates since November. Of course if you want to see more of the Smith Family just click on any photo below to be directed to flickr.com where you can see these and many more photo's.

In December Pam & Erin made a trip down to old-oid land (Florida). Erin enjoyed her time in the sun and playing in the sand with Grandma Smith.

First encounter with the big man. Not so snuggly with Santa in 2005, let's hope 2006 is better.

Nice picture of Pam and her sister Judi, taken at Thanksgiving. Its a bit eerie how similar they look, given they are years apart in age.

Nice composite of the various children who ran amok at the Dies house on Thanksgiving.

Erin loves her time in the high chair!

The remaining photos are from X-mas in Minnesota. Spent it with my brother and his family. Erin absolutely loved playing with her cousins Robbie & Emma. She was quite enthralled with Emma by the end of the trip.

Summer into Fall into Summer??

2005-11-15T02:47:00.000-10:00

I imagine everyone reading this is having the same freakish extension of summer that we are experiencing on the East coast. The weather remains to be beautiful, especially on the weekends. I'm sure the winter nip is waiting to spring forth and descend us into the snow.

In the meantime Erin has thoroughly enjoyed her first fall and first Halloween:

We've been a bit delinquent in getting out 'change of address' cards to everyone. For those of you who don't have our new information, here it is:

4122 Lalique Lane
Center Valley, PA 18034
610-282-6087

Erin and Pam were able to spend 2 weeks in Chicago visiting Pam's sister Judi and her family. There was plenty of quality time between Erin and her cousin Natalia:

Erin continues to develop into her own personality. She is always quick with a smile and happy to see mom or dad anytime we re-enter a room. Below is a nice picture Pam captured of Erin's daily reaction when I get home from work. Also Erin is trying to be like us. Pam caught her trying to wear her glasses.

All around things are progressing wonderfully with Erin. She is now eating baby food and seems to be loving it. Her sleeping is very solid and very routine to the point that mom and dad can have time to themselves back after she goes to bed. She is also turning out to be a superstar napper. We're slowly making progress on bathtime. Here is a bath episode from a few weeks ago:

Fortunately this week we seem to have turned the corner and she enjoyed her bath on Tuesday.

Well, that's all for now. Next month I hope to post new pictures from Thanksgiving in Ohio. On that note we'll leave you with a nice shot of our happy family and one from October of Erin with her Aunt Janet .

Back from the void of cyberspace

2005-09-27T02:29:00.000-10:00

Hello,

Sorry its been quite awhile since our last posting. Quite a few developments have occurred, all positive in the end. The last you knew we were getting ready to move. Here's one last glance back at NJ . . .

[Note - if you click on any pictures on this site it will take you to a new site - www.flickr.com. I've started using this for storing all photo's on-line. Check it out - you might want to start your own account, its very cool.]

The Move
As of September 6th we have a new home! But scratch what you knew about us building a townhouse in South Whitehall. That fell through. Not literally, the place is still being built but will be occupied by someone else at some future date. I'm sure you picked up the implied message - 'still being built.' As mentioned in the last post my Aunt Mary Jane helped us in a pinch for temporary housing letting us stay in her home in PA. At that point in time we thought it would be about 5 weeks or so until our new home was done. A few days after we moved in the builder informs me that the earliest they will be able to deliver is looking like late October. That's right - 'looking' and 'late October.' Not good.

To make a long story short it began sounding like November was a possibility and so on and so forth.
So, within the span of 10 days we did the following:
- cancelled the contract
- went through 12 homes, with Erin in tow, in one day
- did 2nd visits
- made an offer
- sealed up a deal

We ended up better for the experience by finding a townhouse that we both immediately fell in love with that is closer to my work. All in all, it worked out fine. Little bit of uncertainty and transience but we are better for the experience. Our new contact information is the following:

4122 Lalique Lane
Center Valley, PA 18034
(610) 849-0480 [FYI - this number won't be working until next week]

Other developments on a grander scale . . .
Erin is undergoing so many changes this last couple of weeks its hard to keep up!
- She is now sleeping through the night. Solid sleep form 8 PM - 6:30 AM. Yeah!
- She is now taking naps in her crib. Anywhere from 2-3 naps of 1-2 hours in length. Yeah!
- We've started introducing food other than expressed milk. Had her first cereal last week and some squash a few days ago. She seems to like it, but not all the time just yet. I think she is just holding out for a steak. Here she is chomping on some delicious rice cereal:

- Sitting up on her own. She went from being a live Weeble-Wabble to sitting and balancing herself. She looks so proud and smiles when she does this. Here's a nice shot of her sitting up, hanging out with Grandma Menna:

Here are a variety of pictures of Erin with Mom, Dad, etc.

Smiles, rollovers and townhouses . . .

2005-07-26T03:09:00.000-10:00

Hello all,

It's been almost two months since the last posting. Don't know where the time has gone. Actually, that's not true - its all been spent enjoying our daughter! The new regiment and daily routine has left little time for updating this blog. To make up for it there will be more pictures below than usual. But first . . .

Moving? You just got here?

Some of you know and some of you don't know . . . we are moving. Erin coming into our life has created many shifts in priorities and plans. One of those was our decision for Pam to stay at home full-time with Erin. To that end we decided to jump across the state line to a much more reasonable cost of living. We are actually moving back to the area where I grew up - Allentown, PA (aka The Lehigh Valley). This process started last fall but for Pam's work considerations we kept it under wraps - sorry to all those Krafties reading this, didn't mean to keep you out of the loop!

We are moving out of our house this Thursday, July 28th. We are in the process of having a townhouse built. Yes, that's right, I said in the process. As anyone out there involved with new home construction already knows, they are late. We are looking at closing sometime late September. In the meantime, below are some images (exterior) of what the townhouse will look like:

It's an end-unit so we have a nice little piece of side and backyard. 3 Bedrooms so there is a place for guests to come visit. Its located in South Whitehall which is the next town west of Allentown.

As noted in the e-mail with link to our site, our temporary housing is courtesy of my Aunt Mary Jane's generousity. We will be staying at her townhouse located at 344 Village Walk Drive, Macungie, PA 18062. You can still reach us through our cellphones (please note, I listed and incorrect number for Pam in the e-mail, correct number is below).
Dennis 201.602.9007
Pam 201.602.9009

A very special thanks to Aunt Mary Jane for saving the day!! We greatly appreciate her help in our time of need.

And now, something completely different . . .

The real reason you all visit this site, the kid. Erin will be 4 months old next Monday. Can't believe how big she is getting. She is very interactive and often quick with a smile for us as well as strangers. She loves when we try and stand her up. Her pudgy little legs are getting stronger, kicking toys and standing on her Dad's chest.

Sometimes she likes sitting up like this. As you can see in the last picture sometimes she doesn't.

She also loves sitting on the couch. We call it her Baby Bob seat (as in the Quizno's commercials with Baby Bob for those who have seen them).

She also loves playing Superman:

Here neck strength is very good, she has no problems keeping that nugget in the air:

And sometimes she likes to pretend she is a big girl sitting in our bed:

But mostly she is just too cute for words:

2 Months go by in the snap of a finger

2005-06-03T00:56:00.000-10:00

Time Flies
As those of you with children know, time flies with a little one. Two months have gone by and Erin is growing every day. Sometimes late at night if I'm rocking her I swear I can see her grow!

She is becoming very alert and starting to interact more with her environment and, much to our delight, us! Smiles are becoming frequent and the nights have found their own rhythm/pattern. Not perfect but 110% improvement from week one.

Now, the reason you all clicked the link to begin with . . . pictures of Erin! Move your moues over the picture to see a description.

First few weeks at home

2005-04-22T02:31:00.000-10:00

Hello all,

We've been home with Erin now rounding out 3 weeks. Everything is going great. Sleep is the only thing we could probably ask for more of, other than that we are great. Below are a variety of pictures from the last few weeks. My mother stayed with us the 2nd week home. This was a tremendous help having a third set of hands at night as we get adjusted. Pam's parents are coming out on 4/30 so we look forward to having double coverage!

Erin has been doing well. Her sleeping is not too bad. She is tending toward 3 hour intervals for feeding. At night we seem to get at least one solid block of 4-5 hours from about 8 PM - 2 AM, but after that she tends to feed almost every hour. Pam is doing fantastic handling all of this.

Now, without further blather from me, the pictures:

Erin's first visitor - Kristi Illum.

Pam & Erin enjoying the visit from Kristi.

Here's the Town Crier

Erin and Grandma Marilyn

The calm before the storm

First day in the park with Pops

Being pacified by Grandma

Picture time in the front yard with Mommy

Proud papa

The mysterious levitating baby . . .

The moment of truth has arrived . . .

2005-04-03T15:32:00.000-10:00

The moment we have been waiting for finally arrived at 3:04 AM on Friday, April 1, 2005. It was a wonderful experience for both mom and dad. Labor was not a pro-longed and painful experience (although I guess that's relative since I didn't go through it) and everything went great. Before I tell you the story I'll throw out a little sneak peek:

Here's how it happened:

Thursday evening, March 31, 2005, approx. 8:45 PM. Pam and I are sitting in our office working on a few things. Just as Pam finishes her last task she stands up, says 'uh-oh' and scurries down the hall to the bathroom. At that moment I knew what happened. A few minutes later she came out of the bathroom and says to me 'I guess we're going to be parents!'. The water broke.

Call the doctor and its off to Morristown Hospital. Pam is admitted and the nurses and resident verify that her water did indeed break. Our doctor arrives shortly after and all signs are pointing forward and positive for mom and baby. Its about 10:30 PM and she is approx. 4 centimeters dilated. Around 11:30 PM the epideral kicks-in and the main pain from contractions subsides. By 12:30 AM our doctor says goodnight and will be back to wake us at 5 AM to see where things are. I unfold the rollaway bed and climb in to get a few hours of sleep before showtime. Guess again.

1 AM and Pam is ramping up. By 2 AM contractions are getting stronger and more frequent. At about 2:15 AM the nurse has her try a couple practice pushes to see what's going on. Tells Pam she is 'all the way.' We aren't quite getting it at that point and ask how many centimeters is she. Nurse says 'all the way means all the way - 10 cm!'. Doctor is in our room within the next minute or so and by 2:20 AM we are off and pushing.

And one . . . count to ten, and two . . . count to ten, and three . . . count to ten. Nurses are doing their thing, doctor is all set up for work and Pam is doing beautiful. I do what little I can to contribute by keeping her focused on me and counting with her. Every contraction she pushes all through the ten count. She is wonderful through the whole process. Along the way the doctor is saying 'your doing great, progressing, progressing.' I think he is just being very supportive and encouraging as any good doctor would be. I rethink my shoe choice thinking this could take hours.

Approx. 44 minutes after Pam started pushing our newfound bundle of joy arrives. Earlier in the evening we told the doctor about our website and that 75% of the votes were indicating boy. Her pulls our child out and says 'I guess the other 25% were correct.'

Welcome to the world Erin Hatton Smith. Born at 3:04 AM on Friday, April 1st. She weighed 6 pounds and 15 ounces. Length of 19 & 3/4 inches, with big blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair (at least for now!).

And now of course, what you've all been waiting for . . . pictures!!!!

1st picture with Mom, just after everyone has been cleaned up:

Meet Erin:

Check out my profile! Is this the cutest thing ever?

Here is a doomed man, at the mercy of Daddy's Little Girl:

As far as the predictions went, sometimes the majority was close and other times not. Here is the breakdown (with the actual turnout in bold):
Boy/Girl: 77% for boy and 23% for girl
Hair Color: 64% for red, 16% for brown, 12% for blonde and 8% for black
Family Resembelance: 37% for Dies, 59% for Smith, 4% for Hatton and 0% for Schellheimer - what do you think? We are both saying as of now she looks like a Smith.
Arrival: 50% for early, 19% for on-time and 31% for late.

Not only early but quick. Our doctor said that when we go for number two we should really discuss logistics given how quick this little peanut popped out!

Well, that is all for now. More pictures will come in the following week or so. Need a bit of time to recuperate and focus on my priorities now - my little girl and my wife. They both did wonderful through this entire process and having them at home with me is an incredible feeling of contentment and joy.

Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock . . . 1 month to go!

2005-03-01T04:21:00.000-10:00

Hello all,

We are quickly approaching go time. Pam continues to look great and the baby is almost ready for showtime.

Click below to take a gander at my mamasita, ella es muy grande . . .
My Growing Belly

What will Baby Smith look like?
As you may know, we haven't found out the sex of the baby. Here is your opportunity to tell us what you think we will have and when.

Click here to take the survey.

We'll post the results on next month's update.

More fun than a barrel full of . . .

A wonderful shower was thrown for the baby, in February, by an assortment of family and friends. Thanks to everyone who helped put this together, who attended, and for Janet & family for hosting at her house! The above pictured cake was on full display, right in line with our Curious George theme for the nursery. Speaking of, here are some updated photos, all the furniture is in and we are ready to decorate:

We had a great time in Ohio the weekend of the shower. Fortunately I was able to get some practice for reading bedtime stories:

Winter slumber, yet Spring is right around the corner . . .

2005-02-13T13:05:00.000-10:00

Hello all,

Hope your winter is going as smooth as ours. Northern New Jersey is experiencing a relatively mild winter. No bitter, biting days of wind and ice. Very few snow entrenched roads backing up the highways.

Within the last month our family experienced a significant loss. My father (Robert E. Smith) recently passed away. On January 27, 2005 Dad passed away in his sleep in the company of his family.

As many of you know, he dealt with Multiple Sclerosis for a majority of his life. Within the last few years the effects of this disease made him more susceptible to various infections. This January the infections proved to be too much for his system to handle any longer.

While this isn't an easy time for any of us I feel an underlying comfort that he can now rest. I think that almost all who are reading this never had the opportunity to meet him. That being the case I am posting some images from the best years of his life, when he was young, healthy and newly married. His legacy is apparent in not just the physical resemblance we share but also the daily optimism and love of laughter that I hope you all know me for.

Senior Year, Pingry High School, 1962

Lt. Smith, US Army, 1966

Looking toward the future
The little lady has really popped since the last photos. Check it out!!

My Growing Belly

In the past month we've been busy getting things ready for Baby Smith. The first activity of note is getting the nursery painted. Below are some pictures of the finished product (painting that is):

Not sure if you can really get a feel for the color. The official name is 'Ribbon Yellow.' As many of you know we are going with a Curious George theme. Not sure if that means I need a big yellow hat or not . . .

Also, in getting the nursery together we are getting organized for the furniture (crib, dresser/changing table and bookcase) that will arrive in a week or so. Keeping in fashion with our generally anal retentive planning habits we actually graphed the layout of the room. Below are some pictures of this exercise in obsessive compulsive behaviour:

Happy New Year

2005-01-16T14:31:00.000-10:00

Happy New Year to everyone! We hope your holidays were filled time spent among family and friends.

We have now entered the 27th week of pregnancy! April 14th (est. due date) will be here in due time.

Pam is doing well and feeling good. Click the link below to check out Pam's latest development:

My Growing Belly

As usual our trip to Akron, OH was a good time. We were able to catch up with some friends, in particular a few we haven't seen in quite awhile:

(Pictured above: Jen [Miller] Gruelich, Anne [Fricke] Herbert, Pam and Bree [Madison] Silski.)

That photo was on our first day in to town after the 7 hour drive from NJ. Easy drive, came in after the snow and snow removal occured. Bree was nice enough to host this get together at her house in Green.

Christmas Day
Beautiful Christmas Day in Akron, OH, the temperature reading was around 5 degrees. Great start on a snow-covered day. We spent the entire day with Pam's family enjoying a variety of yuletide activities. Of course the most important family tradition was witnessed, the Carol Shake:

Folks, if you haven't seen it . . . well it's not a pretty sight.

Spreading Yuletide Cheer

2004-12-19T08:23:00.000-10:00

Greetings Family & Friends,

Hope your holiday season is bringing all you wish as we close out 2004. Added a new picture of Pam (December photo) for our pregnancy watch:

My Growing Belly

I recently felt and saw the baby move. Pam has been feeling the baby move for a couple weeks now but just this past week I was finally able to feel it. And just a few nights ago got to see her stomach 'popping' a little bit where the baby must've been kicking. Very cool.

In addition to the monthly update on Pam & Baby Smith growing development I'm also posting some pictures from our recent Thanksgiving vacation in Florida:

Florida Vacation 2004

Everything is moving along just fine with the baby. We don't know the sex and aren't going to find out. Some people find this stressful. I think we like the challenge of figuring out how to prepare everything without buying pink or blue items!

Also, here are some photo's from back in October. I was on a relay team for the Akron Marathon. Team consisted of 3 of my friends from college and Pam's brother Jeep. Unfortunately my photo's of the full-team didn't come out very good. Instead I've posted a partial-team photo, missing Jeep. Who by the way ran approx. 5 miles of a 6 mile leg of the race with a sprained ankle! Pretty impressive. The other photo shows off the nice shirt Kathy gave Pam which was a great to tell family and friends about our pregnancy.

Florida Vacation 2004

2004-12-18T08:29:00.000-10:00

For Thanksgiving this year we trekked to Sebastian, Florida - a.k.a. Barefoot Bay. Nice community located on the East Coast of FL, in between Cocoa Beach and Vero Beach. This is the new winter home of Dennis' mother and her boyfriend. Here's a photo of the four of us one night after dinner:

During our trip we were able to spend plenty of time at the beach. Water was a bit cold and there were other 'deterrents' keeping us out of the water:

And yes, it was really that close. I'm standing approx. 7-8 feet away from this shark. It was pretty amazing watching him cut through the water eating fish. Every once in awhile we would see 10 - 15 fish literally jump out of the water trying to avoid being eaten. There were some dogs on the beach trying to get out into the water at the shark. Didn't get to see any of them get eaten though.

Here are some other pictures from vacation, just a nice little assortment from our brief time in the sun before returning to the bleak NE winter landscape:

And as far as the shark experience went, there was a close encounter. Don't worry, I escaped unscathed by this brute:

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Greetings and Salutations

2004-11-29T03:19:00.000-10:00

We are going to use this site to share photo's and information of our journey during the pregnancy, photo's of our child and more. To get you started we have a backlog of Pam getting 'adjusted' to the pregnancy. Each month we'll post the latest picture so you can see her development. Click below to see Pam!

My Growing Belly

And here are two images from our ultrasound:
Picture A
Picture B

And since I'm child-like and need some attention I've included a nice picture of me with my nephew Robbie:

Cute kid.

My Growing Belly

2004-11-28T04:00:00.000-10:00

Check it out, here is Pam's progression:

Sept. 2004 Oct. 2004

Nov. 2004 Dec. 2004

Jan. 2005 Feb. 2005

Mar. 2005

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