The Smith Family Adventures

I got a call from Kim’s brother and his wife: they needed another person for coed softball today. I answered that call.

Keep in mind that I haven’t so much as swung a bat in several years. And it has been much longer since I last played organized ball. But this wall slow pitch, and the balls were large and neon, so it was not so bad. I got two at bats, and managed to get an RBI single. I also over-zealously ran over the opposing pitcher in a close play at home and got called out (the ball came loose, so I would’ve scored in baseball!). Oh well, I’ll try to use my head more next time. I found I am also pretty rusty at defense, and the coed rules definitely keep you on your toes at first.

Elias and Kimberly got to come watch along with Grandpa and Grandma Bartle. I am pretty sure I had the largest cheering section of any player at the game.

Here are a couple of pictures of Elias swimming at Lake Shasta that I just couldn’t resist posting. He really had fun in the water and I’m so thankful we were able to keep him safe. Tomorrow we start our second baby and me class of the summer at the Aloha swim center. It should be fun!

Last week we went to beautiful Shasta Lake with my parents, my two brothers, and sister-in-law. Shasta used to be somewhat of a tradition for my family, but we hadn’t been for a long time. Nathan had been with us a couple times, but it was Elias and Kristy’s first time. I was especially nervous to take Elias because he is mobile now, and there was danger with so much water around. The pediatrician also seemed extra cautious so that made me even more nervous. It turned out to be very fun (although not a very relaxing vacation) It was so fun for Elias to go swimming, boating, and have so many people to pay attention to him all the time. I think I’ll tell the story of Shasta in pictures:

I realized my camera does not have any pictures of Elias swimming! I’ll have to post some of those later after I get the images from Auntie Kristy. We were thankful that everything went well and that we were able to keep Elias safe and free from sunburn!

Elias and Grandma pose with Takoda the black bear in the tree behind them.

Elias and I wanted to spend some time with Grandma Smith because she will be leaving for New York next week so she can see her other grandchildren. She will be gone for about three weeks. We decided to go to the zoo because even though Elias is sick, he seemed to be a little better and still had lots of energy.

We packed up our lunches and took Elias on his first MAX ride ever! I texted Nathan a picture message of Elias on the MAX for the first time since he is a Tri-Met veteran. Needless to say, he was quite excited to see the picture.

It was a beautiful day to go to the zoo. We got to see the sea lions swimming a lot and doing flips in the water. We got to see a polar bear giving “CPR” to a big white water barrel. We got to see some giraffes kissing, and a small cat with pointy ears drinking some water and making a weird meow sound. We saw lots of animals napping. But the highlight was seeing Takoda the black bear climbing and eating in a tree! I’ve always wanted to see that because they have signs everywhere about it.

Overall it was a fun trip! Elias is still pretty congested, but seems to not be getting any worse so that is good. When we got home, it was pretty hot so I turned on the air conditioner. Elias liked the cool air so much that he stood right in front of it to play. He’d stand right where the air would blow on his face, then turn to look at me and laugh. What a cute little guy!

Poor Elias has caught the second cold of his life. I guess with a Dad who works in a hospital, and a Mom who was working in a school, the little guy didn’t stand a chance at staying healthy. I’ve felt like I was coming down with something for a few days now….but my body is fighting it off. I’m still hanging on to being healthy by a thread! Yesterday Elias woke up with a runny nose/cough. He has trouble sleeping because he can’t breathe well. I feel bad that it is him and not me. Hopefully this nice warm weather will help him to heal faster.

Elias, Nathan, and me. Elias' first time on the boat (outside of the womb of course)

Today we had a fun family day at Hagg Lake. We decided to go because we wanted to test out Elias’ new life jacket, it was finally sunny, and I am now finished with the summer school program I was teaching so we wanted to celebrate.

When we got to the lake, it was super crowded. We expected there to be a lot of people….but there were so many that we couldn’t find a parking spot! My parents had to wait about an hour just to get their boat into the lake! Nathan and I drove around for awhile in a couple different parking lots. Then we decided to just park on the road and walk. All of the road spots near the boat ramp said no parking…so we had to go near a picnic area. Since we would be walking on the road, and we had a bunch of bags due to having a baby along with us, we decided to use the stroller. There was a marked trail which we thought would lead us where we needed to go. However, we soon found out that it was not paved. I ended up having to carry Elias as Nathan carried the stroller and all the bags as we hiked on a muddy trail through the forest. Once we finally made it out of that, we tested out the life jacket in a swimming hole close to shore, then met up with my parents to get on their boat.

Carol, Greg, Nathan, and Mom on the tube! Nathan and Greg are acting as if they are still being towed.....

My parents bought a very large innertube with spots for four people. We got to try that out for awhile. It is more stable than other tubes so you don’t really have to worry about falling out. It provided a thrill without a good possibility of wiping out!

After that, we went off to the 5mph or less zone to swim from the boat. Although the air was warm, the water was still freezing! Poor Elias did not like it at all. He even bit Nathan’s finger either out of fright or anger….we don’t know which. We tried putting him in a little floaty and in the life jacket, but ended up having to take him back into the boat after only a few minutes. It was too cold!

Elias and Nathan warming up

Nathan warmed Elias up in the sun, and we gave him a little teething cracker and some water to keep him happy. My brother Greg and his girlfriend Carol played peek-a-boo with Elias over the side of the boat. Overall it was a very fun trip to Hagg lake, but Nathan and I learned a very important lesson: Always bring more food for the baby than you think you’ll need. We felt bad because we were gone longer than we had expected, and Elias got pretty hungry by the drive home. Luckily I have ready made food for him so he didn’t have to wait once we got home!

After he filled his tummy, Elias was so tuckered from the day that he fell asleep and stayed that way no matter what I did with him. (Walked around, held him, laid him down, danced around…etc) Hopefully we’ll be able to get some warmer water for him in the future!

Elias was very tired after a fun day at the lake.

Elias and Grandpa on the boat.

Playing peek-a-boo

Elias bites Daddy when the water is too cold.

Uncle greg looks on as Elias helps unwrap presents. Elias likes bows the best.

Nathan and I were born only 9 days apart. Every July we get to celebrate our birthdays together. We are now both 27….which I don’t think is old by any means….but we definitely are in our late 20’s….not mid 20’s any more. We got to have lots of fun celebrations. On my birthday, Nathan and Elias took me to get a birthday burger at Red Robins. Then we went to swimming class in the evening. Unfortunately I was gone most of the day at work so I didn’t get to see Elias much. But it was still a good day.

On the weekend between our birthdays, we got to celebrate with Nathan’s mom. She cooked us a nice meal and we even had some cupcakes with candles to blow out!

On Nathan’s birthday I cooked him one of his favorite meals, and he got to go to our last swimming class with Elias. They had a free day on the last day so he just got to play in the pool.

Grandpa Bartle reads a card and Elias tastes one of Daddy's packages.

However, when we celebrated with my family (which was actually a triple birthday celebration because my Aunt’s birthday is also in July) Elias decided he’d better start getting in some practice on present opening skills. After all, his first birthday is not too long away in September. He mostly took an interest in bows…but also got some extra fiber by eating some of the paper too. Bags were easy obstacles for him as well. He’ll be quite ready when it is his turn.

Elias playing at the park.

There is nothing like being overwhelmed to get you to enjoy the small things in life. I’m now embarking on my fourth week of being a working mom. The summer school program I’m working for is only five weeks long so I’m coming into the home stretch. Overall I’m really glad that I am still in the teaching game (even if it is only for five weeks), but it makes me wonder how people can do it all year round. Not only do I feel majorly behind on things like housework, but I just miss my son! So…I’ve had to really focus on enjoying the small moments which bring joy into my life.

One of the things I love most is when the wind blows Elias’ hair. When we go on evening family walks, this happens quite often. I don’t know why seeing his hair blow in the wind makes my heart overflow with such love. Pretty much every other time I’ve seen someone’s hair blow in the wind I’ve either laughed or not cared. But when it is Elias…it is something special. I think sometimes with babies it is easy to forget that they are real people. Elias will grow up and become a boy…an adolescent….a man….and an old man. Maybe now that his hair is growing in I am being reminded of that a little bit.

I love watching Elias studying his toys. He turns them around, feels them, tastes them, and bangs them together to see what they sound like. I just can’t imagine what is going on in his little brain. He is piecing the world together day by day.

Here we are in Sunriver over Fourth of July Weekend.

I love listening to Nathan and Elias together. Nathan does this thing called “strong boys”. It is like the stereotypical macho man behavior. He takes Elias in front of the mirror and flexes his muscles and says “strong boys” in a real loud, deep voice. Elias thinks it is so much fun. (I have been banned from doing this….it’s a daddy-son thing). Elias still also loves to watch for his daddy to walk home from work. They have such a good bond together.

Nathan is a blessing to me in so many ways too. He is a very involved Daddy and changes many diapers on nights and weekends. I love that he wants to spend time with Elias, and fights me for chances to be in the pool with him for baby and me class. Although there are now three dads who come to the class with their sons, Nathan didn’t care when he was the only man. He is a proud father.

I am blessed, too, to have parents who are so loving, and who are so excited to be grandparents. Elias is genuinely excited to see them. When I drop him off in the morning before work he smiles when they open the front door and lets out an excited squeal. I never have to worry if he will be cared for while I am gone.

Elias is crawling through a tunnel at Fort Rock Park in Sunriver.

I could go on and on. I love when Elias “talks” to the cats, and when he smiles at me, so proud to have stood up on his own. I loved it when my students mixed up the words “perseverance” and “patience” and a hilarious discussion ensued. I love it that there is actually a tomato growing on our plant.

Even though things are overwhelming, if I just stop for a few moments I can see how richly God has blessed me in this life. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I can pass this on. How can I make the world a better place? When my son grows up, I want to be able to tell him what I’ve done, and what I’ll hopefully still be doing. I want our family to be serving our community from the time Elias begins having memories. I want him to understand that he is blessed and that even he can make a difference in the life of someone else if he puts his mind to it.

Things have been pretty hectic around here because I am working. (I am h0ping to write more about that later.) But I wanted to take a few minutes to acknowledge that Elias reached the 9 month age mark! He is trying to stand up everywhere these days.

We weighed in at an even 20.0 pounds at his doctor’s appointment today. He is now 28.5 inches tall (we’ll say tall instead of long due to his standing). His growth prompted Nathan to go and install the bigger car seat this evening.

Elias has now nearly lived longer outside of the womb than inside.