WOO HOO!

 
Berkeley celebrates her first birthday a few days early with her Arkansas crew. Next step, party hard on Saturday night after church with our Texas gang!

Just before her heart surgery in March, while anxiety was building, I had a dream. The dream was just a tiny little glimpse of Berkeley celebrating her first birthday. Usually, I have such bizarre dreams that I never take them seriously...but this one was so comforting, and at just the right time. Right then, I felt like everything would be fine. And it was. She has arrived at this landmark, and we are so proud of her! Praise God for taking care of little Berkeley this year...through heart defects and surgery, pneumonia x 2, hearing issues, trouble eating and gaining weight...He was right there with us, and we'll just keep entrusting her to Him.

"For this God is our God for ever and ever, and He will be our guide even to the end." Psalm 48:8

Feeling Silly (not a rare occurrence)

Brighton and I are sporting this year's latest fashion trend - wearing hats made of the leftover demin from my cut-off capris. We are very ahead of our times in the fashion world...so far, in fact, that the general public may actually never recognize this as fashionable during our lifetimes.
Anyway, this is my last week of total hang-out-with-the-girls-days. I will definitely miss it! Fortunately, Brighton and Berkeley will be spending their daytimes with our friend Tracey Rose. We're very excited about this, because Berkeley will get really individualized care and get to stay home. Brighton will get to benefit from Tracey's fun and loving personality 3 days a week, and will get her classroom fix by going twice a week to the same learning center that she's gone to since she was a baby. It's a pretty awesome situation, and we're very thankful to God for working it all out...and in a pretty random way. We had no idea we'd ever have a "nanny." Thank God for knowing WAY more than me!

A few random things

Berkeley with her Uncle Tim (Julie's brother)
Brighton and her cousin Carson (Sean's sister's daughter)

Brighton learning to be adventurous with Evie (Julie's best friend's daughter). They are up in a hayloft of a model barn at the Fayetteville Botanical Garden.


Grammy Donna (Sean's mom) thinks the girls are a real hoot.

Just a few pictures of family and friends.

Also, if any of you want to receive an e-mail when we update our blog, please leave a comment or send me an e-mail with your e-mail address. My e-mail is seanjuliesmith@tx.rr.com

Video of Berkeley Sitting

We are so proud of Berkeley! Here is a clip of her sitting all by herself. She's really getting good at it! She does fall at the end, but she's fine!

Berkeley's rodeo

8 Seconds -

Doesn't seem like long....

unless you're riding a bull...

or sitting up all by yourself for the first time.

In case you're not currently in the baby scence, most kids learn to sit unassisted around 6 months of age. At the very end of June, at age 10 months, Berkeley made it to this milestone. She sat by herself, on a flat surface, with nothing to hold on to or lean on, for 8 whole seconds! It was just as exciting as when any baby learns to sit, if not moreso, because she had worked so hard to get to this point! Yea Berkeley!

Brighton's two cents

A conversation with Brighton, who is now 3 and thinks she ought to help with the decisions.

Brighton: Mama, what are you doing?
Julie: Thinking about whether or not I need to swat you for what you just did.
Brighton: I don't think you need to swat me for everything I do.

Well, I didn't get around to swatting her. I was too busy trying to hide the fact that I was laughing.



For more pictures of the Smiths in July, click this link:
http://picasaweb.google.com/seanjuliesmith/20097July?authkey=Gv1sRgCOTU2NiMhZWXggE

History In the Making

I know this isn't about our girls, but I guess in a way, it is (you know...in a "future of our country" kind of way). I mostly wanted to share this picture with those of you who don't live in a racially diverse area like Dallas.
When was the last time you remember complete clothing and accessory lines being churned out that featured a political figure? I was slightly amused and surprised when my students in Oak Cliff (urban area in Dallas) started wearing T-shirts, jackets, and stocking caps with President Obama's face on them. When I told a student that he needed to take off his hat, he immediately got defensive, seemingly ready to fight for "his" new president. I laughed and told him, "No. Hats are out of dress code. Take it off."
Regardless of your political or personal opinion about the election of Obama, it is hard to deny that this event has inspired many young African Americans. Sure, most of them don't really know what his political stance actually is, and probably many of you reading this do not agree with it, but they do understand that he overcame the odds to reach his goal. Hopefully they will be inspired to do great things with their lives as well.
"By Obama being a black president and us being young black kids it makes us feel like if he can do it, we can do it," said one teenager.