Veterans Day

As everyone knows, today is Veteran's Day. As a military wife, I feel the need to say THANK YOU to all of our service men and women, past and present. And a special thanks to my husband who is not only a wonderful husband but also a wonderful soldier and father! Your girls love you!!

Autumn's Veteran's Day outfit

"If you love your freedom, thank MY DAD"

Autumn, at 3 months old, Charles and I in front of a 105mm Howitzer

9 MONTHS!

Miss Autumn had her 9 month check-up last week. She now weighs 18lbs 3oz (55%) and is 27 3/4 (65%) inches long! As usual, the Dr said she looks perfect :) She received her first of two flu shots. She goes back in a month for her 'booster'.

Her two bottom teeth are a little more than halfway in. Luckily for us, there wasnt much fussing during the teething process and hopefully that's how they all are. She pulls up on the couch and entertainment center all the time. She is starting to chew on the side of her crib so I have to find some protectors so she doesnt completely destroy it! She's eating more finger foods these days. She usually gets something that we are having for dinner, green beans, sweet potatoes, a tator tot the other night:) She absolutely loves being independent and doing things for herself!

We are working on clapping and waving 'bye' right now. Its not working very well. She would much rather 'brush' her hands together, but we'll get there! :)

Autumn's first Halloween!

After a bidding war with another woman on ebay and winning at the last minute, I finally found Autumn a Halloween costume:) She didnt seem to really enjoy the whole process of trick-or-treating but she did love watching all the other people. She lasted about 3 hours in her costume before she was ready for bed!

In other Autumn news: She is constantly on the move! She loves crawling. She has learned how to sit up from crawling and is pulling up. We find her standing her crib often these days. Her two bottom teeth are also trying to make their grand appearance. Should be any day now!

On the move

Autumn is officially crawling!

She started off a little over a month ago getting up on her hands and knees and rocking back and forth. A little over a week ago, she started moving forward a little bit at a time then would fall back onto her belly. As of a few days ago, she is all over the place! The baby gates are in place, the floor is constantly clean and im not getting much done around the house! :) Its so awesome to watch her grow and learn all kinds of new things. I love every minute of it!

Photo Update

Autumn with the beautiful bride, Betsy!

September 26, 2009

First time in the Gulf of Mexico

Destin, FL

September 30, 2009

On the drive to Dallas, TX

October 9, 2009

Autumn's first ECU football game!

ECU v SMU

Dallas, TX

October 10, 2009

Hanging out in front of the house, eating a leaf!

October 16, 2009

Im a Slacker!

So, I have been such a slacker with this lately! We have just been so busy with all of our travels, I havnt had much down time to update! We are finally home, with NOTHING to do for quite a while and I am very excited! I think Autumn is really enjoying being back in her bed, with her toys and out of her carseat!!

Here's a quick run down of the last month in the Smith home...

September 24-28 we were in NC to visit family and attend a wedding.

September 28 we flew to Birmingham, AL then the 29th we headed down to Destin, FL.

October 4 we flew back to Oklahoma.

October 8th my mother and sister-in-law flew in to town.

October 9th we drove down to Dallas, TX and on the 10th we went to the ECU vs SMU football game.

October 11th my mother and sister-in-law flew out of Dallas and we made our way back to Oklahoma.

This last week has been filled with laundry and getting the house back in order!

So, needless to say, I have a lot of updating to do so stick around and ill get some pictures up! :)

Many Firsts!!

I know ive been slacking at this lately but Ive been very busy visiting family all over! Autumn and I are finally back at home before we head out again in about 3 weeks! Over the last 2 weeks or so, Autumn has had some firsts....

First Highchair: About 2 weeks ago, I decided to see if Autumn could sit in a restaurant highchair. A dear friend of mine gave me her old highchair/grocery cart cover. Autumn did fairly well. This particular highchair seemed to be a tad wider than most so she would slide down some but she did great and loved being able to play with the table and the things on it! We're still working on sitting in the grocery cart! She's not quite big enough for that yet!

First Flight: On Thurday, September 27, Autumn and I flew from Lawton to Knoxville to visit my parents and attend a friends wedding. Autumn did really well flying for the first time! She fussed for about the last 5 minutes of our first flight until she fell asleep and did the same at the beginning of our second flight.

Waiting in the Dallas airport for our connecting flight

First Wedding: On Saturday, September 29, my mom, Autumn and I drove down to Cartersville, GA to attend a friends wedding. We were seated in the sanctuary about 20 minutes before the ceremony and Autumn was doing great. About 5 minutes before the bride walked down the aisle, she started to fuss. She fussed while the bridesmaids walked down the aisle so because I was sitting on the aisle, I was easily able to jump up real quick and move to the back. But of course, as soon as the bride started walking down the aisle, she started fussing even more. So, I quickly moved out into the foyer of the church and watched the ceremony through the glass doors. She did behave very well during the reception though!

With Mary Beth at the reception!

First Runny Nose: The morning we flew to Knoxville, Autumn woke up with her first runny nose. It wasnt anything real bad, just really runny when she sneezed or after she woke up. She still has her cold or allergies now but it seems to almost be gone.

First College Football Game: On September 5, my parents, Charles, his friend, Autumn and I went to the OSU v UGA football game in Stillwater, OK. Once again, Autumn did great! It was very hot out yet she somehow managed to sleep, twice, during the game. We had to take her under the bleachers for a while to keep her cool and I also gave her a cool, wet washcloth to put on her head and to play with. I cant wait to take her to an ECU game this season! :)

Asleep at the game!

Her very first UGA outfit!

First "words": About a week ago, Autumn started saying "mamamamama" all the time. As of yesterday and today, "babababa" and what sounds like "dadadada" have been added to her vocabulary. I love hearing all the new sounds and words shes coming up with and cant wait to hear more!!!

6 month check-up!

Autumn had her 6 month check-up yesterday. And as usual, the Dr said she looks fantastic! :) She is now 26 inches (65th percentile) and 14 lbs 10oz (20th percentile). She gained over a pound in 2 weeks! I guess thats what fruits and veggies will do to you! So far we've learned that she LOVES sweet potatoes, applesauce and bananas. She is NOT a fan of peaches! She's starting to sit alone but when she reaches forward for something, she falls over. But we're getting there! She's getting so big! She's talking up a storm and every tells me she's going to be an early talker. I guess we'll see!

Eating Peaches for the first time!

Our little talker!

Apple Juice AND a Sippy Cup!

Autumn tried both last night and it went great! We've been giving her a "training" sippy cup where the spout is the shape of a nipple, not the typical sippy cup spout, and we would give her some water. She was doing well with that. We decided to try her out with a real sippy cup and put some apple juice in there. She LOVED the juice and took the cup without hesitation!

She's growing up WAY to fast!

6 MONTHS!

My baby girl is 6 months old today! Hard to believe! She doesnt have her check up for another few weeks but she's as happy and healthy as she can be! She's eating vegetables now and we'll start fruits in the next week! She talks to stuffed animals, her rubber ducks, Major and just about anything else all the time. She's rolling over all the time now and we almost always find her rolled over after her naps We're working on sitting alone but still have a little ways to go!

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY Baby Girl!!

The POOL!

We took Autumn to the pool for the first time on Saturday. She did FANTASTIC!! We had a blow up turtle for her to sit in. She stayed in there for almost an hour without a single sound! She didnt fuss until Charles took her out of the turtle to get out of the pool! 

Autumn and Ethan in their floaties!

Major the guard dog??

This picture is funny to me. If you notice, Major has his paws over his "slinky dog" (as we call it). While Autumn was playing on the floor he didnt pay any attention to her. As soon as he heard her playing with HIS toy, he came running. A few minutes later I noticed that he was "guarding" his toy! Silly dog!

Happy Birthday Charles!

Not a whole lot has been going on around our house.  The most exciting thing to happen recently was Charles' birthday on July 17. He's the big 24!! I baked him a cake, made his favorite dinner, deviled eggs and bran muffins. I was in the kitchen almost all day (but he's worth it!). When he came home from work he had his cake and candles waiting for him then opened his presents. He got ALL tools. That's all he's been asking for since Christmas!

Here are some pictures of his day! :)

With his "Super Dad" sticker from Autumn

Helping Daddy open his presents

She was mad at me because I moved the presents away from her and she couldn't play with them anymore!

5 Months Old!

Autumn turned 5 months old a few days ago! I still cant believe its been that long since she was born! She changes and does something new everyday and I love it! She's not rolling over a whole lot yet or sitting up alone yet but we're getting there. She has however, learned to spit and does it when she's mad. Hopefully we can nip that in the butt! She's sleeping 10-12 hours a night and is taking 3-4 naps a day. She is still only eating rice cereal but will probably start on vegetables in a few weeks. She hasn't quite figured out how to move the rice cereal from the front of her tongue to the back but she's getting better at it! She has also recently found her feet. She doesn't play with them all the time but when she finds them, she sure does love them!

On July 4th, a good friend of mine came and took pictures of Autumn. They turned out great! Here are a few of my favorites! :)

New Pool and New Bathing Suit

After searching the internet and every store in this town, I finally found Autumn a bathing suit at the PX. The smallest size they had was 12 months and after holding them up to 0-3 month and 3-6 month outfits I realized that childrens bathing suits run small. I ended up getting her an 18 month one. Its a tad big but it'll definitely last her all summer! While out shopping for a bathing suit, I also bought her a little blow up pool. We put her in it last night while Charles grilled out. She really seemed to like it, even though the water was a little cold.