I have been held captive since June 15th...really!

"So where the heck have you been.... " that seems to be the question of the summer. I have started receiving death threats, hate mail and other mean, mean thing from faithful blog followers that are not happy with my updating skills.

So what could possibly happen to a family in a few short week...ok months!

Lets see....

June was pretty much spent in the bathroom... Jed was busy finishing the remodel and I was busy hunched over the beautiful new Kohler toilet. Morning sickness had definitely set in. Yes, for those of you really out of the loop...we are preggo!! Smith number 3 will be joining us in January. I am just about 20 weeks pregnant and we are sooooo excited about the new little bundle that will be joining us. The bathroom as far as Jeds responsiblities go is done. My list however is not... The shower curtain, empty frames and less then appealing heap of towel on the floor due to my lack of ability to make a decision due to "placenta brain" are holding us back. I will give you real photos of the bathroom in thenear future when my desire to spend time in the bathroom returns. Right now t has to many bad memories...give me a month or so of non-puking and I should be ok to continue.

We have spent much time away from home this summer....much of which I did not document because I was to sick to think about packing my kids in the car let alone the camera. In July we were in Minnesota in the middle of the Arctic freeze. I think the high the whole time we were there was 75. uugghh. Really messes up my tan thing... but it was fun and relaxing. We got Madison a wetsuit and she was a great sport in the freezing water!










In July I also spent 2 weeks with the girls in Ohio at Ted and Danielle's house taking care of my sweet niece Teagan. Danielle had a major surgery and me, mom and the girls headed to their place to help out. It was awful to see Danielle so miserable but so fun to have Miss Teag! What a doll.

seriously...could I bottle her up???

Late July my pregnant sniffer kicked into high gear and I decided our house stinks and is making me sick. I have spent weeks cleaning, re-cleaning, having carpets shampooed, dogs shampooed and kids shampooed. I have washed every piece of upholstery, scrubbed every surface and am still nauseated at the smell of our home. I tried the FreshWave and it seemed to work for a day or so but the nastiness has returned. I just got a wiff a few minutes ago as I was typing and wiped my nose across every last square inch of the table sure it must be close by and CAN NOT find the offender. I am at a loss. I think I will next paint the entire first floor and have the vents cleaned. Really, Jed is ready to kill me. It is starting to get expensive! What could it be. It is a very distinct odor. One that I can not describe or explain. I need another pregnant woman to come and help me figure it out. I am ready to move to the playhouse in the back yard which leads to the next paragraph.

smelling every last inch of my house.....

In August we decided the kids needed a play set so we found one that we loved, bought it and got trapped right in the middle of a fraud. That is a whole different entry but here is the synopsis.


Bought playset online, paid for playset, waited for the semi to pull up on Aug 10th, semi never showed, called and found out that the site had been stolen and our money was in Beijing and my playset was non existent. Tears, sobs, yelling, throwing(remember I am pregnant and emotional) and several calls to visa laterand there is hope that the money will be returned. However, in the mean time we had to go to plan B to get the poor, sad, heartbroken kids a new set. So we bought a used set that needed a lot of TLC. It is coming along nicely. Power washing and staining have become a daily activity and Jed is in true engineering style remaking this massive playhouse that will be far better then the original figment of our imagination , nonexistent Beijing play set!

Before

During...

Much thanks to bridget and Claire who came and stayed at our house in the midst of the drama and helped a ton!!

And then there is first days of school, church and home commitments and my overwhelming need for sleep and clean air that keep me busy all day every day!

So we are back. I promise this time. I will never leave you waiting in suspense this long again. It was wrong of me...please forgive me!

First day of school....

The cutest locker at school... sporting all her cousins and family!

Sob, weep....

Madison started first grade today. My system has been in shock all day and I am counting down the minutes until I get to pick her up. I have stressed about this day for the last 2 years. FULL DAY school, in big girl undies, with a meal at school and new (hopefully not mean) kids. I have run through all of the "what if" scenarios in my head. What if she has an accident, what if she has to go in a pull-up, what if kids laugh at her if either of the above happen. UUGGHHH... being a parent is miserably complicated.

So I will just trust and pray. Mostly pray!

This morning Madison was so excited. She came bounding down the stairs saying "first day of school, first day of school" in true NEMO fashion! I think the locker thing is what she is most excited about. We opted to put her in the public school this year as we felt that it would be a better fit for her. Having a school nurse seemed necessary at this point as I can not be available 24/7 in case there is a problem. She is a huge music and sports buff and we feel that she needed that exposure as these are areas that we can really help her boost her self esteem as it is lacking in other areas due to her health issues and lastly ...the teacher seemed to be a GREAT fit!!

What a big girl she is. I am so proud of her I could burst! What a difference a few years can make. I really question last year if this moment would ever be possible for her.

A FEW HOURS LATER: OK she is home. She survived. Nothing horrible happened, no one shoved her in a locker or tripped her in the lunch room. The teacher did not swim off with her to the "drop-of" (again, true NEMO style!) There was no first grade bully and she actually said it was so much fun she can't remember what she did??? A comment like this in high school would have made my car do u-turn to the closest clinic for a blood draw and drug test, but as a first grader I will believe that pure excitement has left her memory a little foggy. I got a few details out of her on the way home. I told her I was worried about her all day and she asked "why" ( for all of you thinking, "well that's great make her think there is something to be worried about"...shut-up. This was hard for me!) I told her that it was just really hard to have her gone all day and I missed her. To that she answered " mom, your just gonna have to get over it. I'm big now" I thought about grounding her for being so mean and heartless...but then I realized she is right, I need to grow up because she has. This is a huge milestone and I will except it and be happy!

As we walked in the door I suggested that we go get dad in his office and talk about her first day of school... she replied "mom, I just need to watch one cartoon. I am so exhausted"! So she is watching a cartoon, coming out of schoolcoma. I will keep you posted as the days continue! Thanks for your prayers!!!