Happy Birthday, Moose!

Today we celebrate three years of Amelia Joy Smittle!

My Mia has proven herself to be one of the sweetest children on the planet. She's quick to give compliments, tender hearted, and such a little mother with her baby brother(who she called HER baby up until about 3 months ago.). She's feisty, sassy, and opinionated-all traits she got from her mother, I'm sure.



She's got the most precious smile, and bright eyes that sparkle with excitement. When she smiles her whole face smiles with her. She has some of the cutest expressions. She reminds me so much of Olivia as a toddler.

She's silly, and loves to make us laugh. Although she was PAINFULLY shy this time last year, she's started to come out of that a lot since the big girls went to school.

She's a really fast runner, and gets away with being sneaky with her brothers and sisters because she can make a quick getaway. She loves being the baby girl, but is quick to add she's also a big girl.



Mia also has several nicknames: Moose is the most common name I call her, but I also started calling her Mia Jane or Janie or Jane Jane when she was a baby, and that has also stuck. Other names she'll answer to are Moo, Moo Moo, and Mooskie.

She loves her momma through and through. She's probably the one child out of the six that would be pick me over Manly. That's not to say she doesn't also love to wrestle with her daddy and brothers too though.



She loves her big sister, Olivia. They have a very special bond because since birth she's been Olivia's buddy. Olivia has helped to care for Mia, and in turn, Mia loves her fiercely.



She still hums or moans or whatever you want to call it when she eats. It's weird, but we've gotten mostly used to it. We still have to quiet her down sometimes when she starts getting loud at the table.

We are so glad the Lord decided to bless our family with our Mia Jane. She's brought so much JOY to us these last three years. We can't wait to see what God has ahead for her.

 

 

 

 

Happy Birthday, Sweet Sweet Mia!  

Her favorite things right now are Frozen, Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, All things princess, and...FROZEN. Did I mention FROZEN!? Seriously, Mia, LET IT GO ALREADY! It was only fitting that we had a "Frozen party." I say that loosely because if you know me, you know I LOVE to throw huge parties. I just wasn't able to do that this year because of some health related issues, but that was all well and good by Mia. Big crowds of people giving her undivided attention aren't exactly her thing anyway! We had my parents meet us at her favorite place, Larry's, and we had pizza and cake and lots of Frozen themed gifts! It was perfect for her and she didn't even cry when we sang, which was a huge step forward from last year.

Eating her birthday breakfast. She asked for chocolate syrup and biscuits. YUM!

 

The cake I slaved over picked up at Kroger! It looked great until Mia tried to pick it up to look at it right before we ate. It was still perfect and SO much easier than making our own!

Birthday Girl! Isaiah said, "Mom! I don't really think she turned THREE!!! She still looks TWO!" 

SO happy to get her beads from KK, and her Elsa dress and crown from mom and dad.

Checking out the gift Addison gave her.

Nana and Pop got her the Anna dress and doll! I couldn't get her to lay down for a nap without promising she could wear the dress the rest of the afternoon after she woke up. She's SO excited!

Listening to us sing to her she just looked down at her cake and half smiled.

After cake blue smile with Nana.

This little MESS after eating his cake. He's still laying up in his bed trembling and talking after all this sugar!!!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MIA JOY!!!!!!

Eli's Birthday Post

I can't believe it's already been a year since our Eli joined our family. He has brought joy to my heart in a way I can not explain. I have such deep deep joy that the Lord blessed us with another boy to complete our family. He's a cuddly, funny, sweet boy with a wild sense of adventure and fearlessness.

After we had Isaiah I never really understood what people were talking about when they'd say things like boys were so wild and how they were so disgusting and full of energy. Isaiah has always been pretty laid back and easy going. Eli, on the other hand is EXACTLY what they were talking about.

He's literally been on the go since he was a day old. He started crawling at 3.5 months old. He was going up the stairs by 4.5 months, and was walking by 9.5 months. Now he runs and climbs on anything he decides to. I find him in chairs, on tables, in beds, and on bookshelves. He'll just grin and laugh when I find him. It's like he's saying, "Yup. You just wait mom. It's just going to get better and better!"

Eli has also brought a whole new noise level to our home. He loves to sing, and holler. A LOT. He's a really happy baby, so he doesn't really cry much except when he's at the table and thinks there's something on our plates that he's missing out on. He says, "mama", "dada", "bubba", "ball", "this", and a lot of other things from time to time, but not on demand. He recently said "thank you" when we gave him his plate at dinner. So sweet.

He also REALLY loves for me to hold him and carry him around, so there's a whole lot of that going on too. Ha! He'll stand at my feet while I'm cooking and hold on to my legs and jump up and down saying, "mamamamamamaaa!" until I pick him up. Then he'll just put his cheek in my face for a kiss. Once he's got that he's good to get back down and play. He's still REALLY crazy about momma, but I know my time is coming. Soon he'll  go over to the other side and like daddy more. I'm OK with that as long as I still get squishes and kisses.

The poor boy has LOTS of nicknames. You know if you read my blog or hang out with me that I do nicknames for all the kids. Honestly, for some reason nicknames are easier to get right than real names. I mean, wouldn't you rather be "Shug" instead of "MiaEmmaAddiOLIVIA!" Anyway, we never call Elias by his real name. He's mostly Eli Jones, but also Jonesy, BubBub, Buster, Bum, Budah, and LeeLie. These aren't all mine. I came up with Jones, but the kids all have their names of choice, and Manly calls him Buster.

I'm in love with our latest edition and the completer of our family. I can't wait to see his personality bud, and his love for his family continue to grow. The Lord has big things for Eli Jones. I just know it! Happy First Birthday, Elias!

 

Now enjoy a walk down memory lane!!

Only a few moments old. So beautiful!

On his first day. He was such a GORGEOUS baby!

Smiling in his sleep.

One of my favorite pictures of him.

Smiling at the baby in the mirror.

This was when I thought his hair might end up being curly. Those CHEEKS!

This was his favorite spot. Right up on the counter with momma while she made dinner.

My word! Have you ever seen such a happy baby!

Hot baby.

 

Another of my favorites! Love that look of wonder!

His first fishing trip!

 

His hair in this one cracks me up! Ha!

 

Hahaha! I made Isaiah some "monster truck driver goggles" and tried them on Eli. Ha!

Indiana Eli Jones!

Super Woman Eli!

 

Sweet baby boy!

 

 

This was the first time I walked in on a STANDING baby!

Hysterical!!!

 

First chocolate chip cookie face. 

Love this one of him watching planes in the sky.

 

That hair! Oh that HAIR!!

 

Finding out what happens when you put things in the toilet.

 

Dress-up Eli

 

Gangsta drivin'.

After a MUCH needed hair cut! Ha!

 

This is his favorite spot. Standing at the table between my pretty chairs.

 

He LOVES to help me dust and clean.

 

 

Dirt faced Eli.

 

I call this one Chubby Cubby Bubby

Messy Eli.