Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from the Smith Family! I hope your day is great!

Pink Marshmallow

Doesn't Camy look like a little pink marshmallow here? Well she turned 8 months this week! 2/3 of a year! Ah! I'm starting to realize that she's going to be walking before I know it! She learned how to pull herself up to standing this week. Just all by herself crawled over to our table toy, stood up, and started playing with it. I heard the toy going and was like, "Oh! I guess you did it!" She also learned how to crawl up the first step of the stairs onto the landing. Ah! Trouble's a-brewing!

A few other things:
- She still only has the one bottom tooth she got 5 weeks ago. It looks so funny!
- She learned how to say dadada. Not on cue or anything- just whenever she feels like it.
- She does raspberries ALL THE TIME! Especially when she's got a mouthful of baby food. Messy and rather annoying. But who can resist these beautiful eyes?

Baseball Party

Avery and I decided awhile ago that Merrick wasn't too old to have a themed birthday party and so we decided he would have a "Baseball party" - since he watched a lot of the Milwaukee Brewers games plus the fact that he was on a softball team this summer. Ever since this decision was made Avery has been rattling off the list of components of his party - "baseball cake, baseball crown, baseball presents, baseball balloons..." She was very enthusiastic so we complied. Thus:

I made a triple decker carrot cake from scratch with a really yummy cream cheese frosting that was full of walnuts and coconut! It was goooood.

And the whole "baseball crown" idea originated from several cartoons depicting birthday parties with crowns. Avery helped me decorate a crown for Merrick to wear while he opened his presents. I think it will make a fun tradition.

Seasons May Change

Well this fall has been a beautiful one in Wisconsin. We've enjoyed the changing of the colors on the leaves and, of course, are bracing ourselves for another bad winter. Last year was like the worst one in 150 years and this year is supposed to be worse? And I thought we had the worst one out of the way first. Oh well. Despite the impending doom, we took some fun pictures outside while it was still nice weather last week.

We actually haven't had any snow to play in yet but we know that there will be plenty to spread around very soon!

Happy Birthday Merrick!

Five things I love about Merrick:

1. He's easily embarrassed. In fact, he'll even change the channel on the TV if the characters get in uncomfortable situations. That's why I chose this picture of him eating - he'll try to get me to change it. :)

2. He's almost always reading a fantasy novel. Right now he has six thick hardcover books checked out from the library. And he told me to remind him to go pick up another one that's on hold for him!

3. He's very into shoes right now, primarily because he's surrounded by shoes all day working in the Mens Athletic Shoes buying office at Kohl's.

4. He's the 11-yr old scout leader and even asked to keep his calling when we moved to another ward, since they combine for scouts. He does a good job inspiring the boys to participate in the scouting program (and he's an Eagle Scout himself!).

5. He's a great dad and a great husband. He loves making the girls laugh and always gives them lots of attention when he gets home from work. He also puts Avery to bed every night!

Our Little Lamb

So we thought it was kind of fitting today that the first word of our little "Cam-Lamb" was baa baa baa. :)

She also got to the sitting position from her tummy for the first time all by herself today!

Updated: I finally got a little video clip of her saying it for me. :)

Halloween isn't over in Sussex

Ever heard of trick-or-treating on Saturday, November 1st? That's the day the Village of Sussex is celebrating Halloween this year. Don't ask me why. We're not the only ones either. Some cities in Wisconsin had theirs last Sunday, October 26 from 1-3pm. That's even crazier. And some did it last weekend. Anyways, we'll just be passing out candy tonight because we cheated and went trick-or-treating last night in Menomonee Falls- a neighboring town.
We met up with our friends the Anthony's and Avery and Lizzie got quite a haul of candy. Thankfully it was the warmest day today that it's been in weeks so the kids didn't have to wear winter coats over their costumes. We had a fun little time and our little pumpkin Camryn was a great little trooper too.