Half Birthday Party

December 19th, 2009, marked the halfway point between age 3 and age 4 for little miss Brighton. She is now officially three and a half. We had a special tea party to celebrate. We wore our finest hats (Brighton - Strawberry Shortcake, Mom - gray elephant)and had our finest drinks (cranberry juice with cream, and even some eggnog!). Brighton has been very sweet lately, possibly exiting the sassy stage that kicked in at the beginning of age 3. I know all you parents of teenagers are laughing at the thought of a child "exiting" the sassy stage...but a mom can dream, right?

Berkeley's First Pigtails!

Berkeley is growing up! This is a picture of her with her first pigtails! The back of her head still barely has hair, but the top has enough to squeeze it into pigtails.
This week I saw some definite use of sign language to tell me she wanted to eat, and that she wanted more. We are so proud of our sweet little girl.
Many people have asked about Berkeley's health. We are happy to say that she has been doing wonderfully! The cardiologist gave her a great report this month - he doesn't foresee any future problems or need for any more surgeries. Praise God for all the wonderful care she has received, and for keeping her healthy!
Thank you to everyone who keeps up with the blog. It means a lot to us to know that so many people care about our little gals.

Say it into the air!

Disturbed that she had forgotten her offering for church, Brighton was making plans for saving up her money to take to church next week. She was very adament about "giving her money to God."
I told her, "That's great! The bible says that God loves a cheerful giver!"
She said, "I love God!" I told her that He loves her, too. Then Brighton asked, "Can God hear the stuff we're saying?"
I said yes.
With that information, she quickly said, "Then I'll just say it into the air...I love you, God!"

Buddy Walk

Our first try at the Buddy Walk was a success! We showed up...we walked...so, I guess we accomplished our goal. :)
It was nice to see so many other kids with Down Syndrome - like a little sneak peak into the future for Berks. On top of all the family fun, the adult Smiths got to get a little exercise. Of course, following the walk with mexican food at Chuy's kind of defeats that purpose...but boy, was it good!

See why we love these girls???

Brighton proclaims her love for the Smith family!

Berkeley's laugh is contagious! Watch out, you might catch it, too!

N-O!

Update on Brighton - Sassy!!!
She is getting pretty sassy these days...and too clever for her own good. Last night she proclaimed loudly, "I...WANT...SOME...ICE...CREAM!!!" So, following her lead, I said emphatically, "N....O!" to which she quickly replied, "N...O... minute!" She didn't know what I had spelled, but used it to figure out how to get that ice cream "in a minute."

Update on Berkeley - Roly Poly!
Gone are the days where I can leave Berkeley and expect her to be there when I return. She's rolling, twisting, turning, and "craw-fishing" to get around. She's not quite crawling, but she is making progress! Sean took her for another hearing test yesterday, and it looks like she'll probably have tubes put in within the next few months. Other than that, her health is great! She is constantly charming us with that famous grin. Oh, and she's finally accumulating some of those cute little baby fat rolls!

Sean and I are so thankful for these girls!
For more pictures and videos, visit
http://picasaweb.google.com/seanjuliesmith/200910October?authkey=Gv1sRgCPrNiZy08uaxtQE

GEAUX SMITHS!

I'm posting this video, knowing that my family in Hog-country (Arkansas) will probably disown this branch of the family tree after seeing this. Yes, even I (Julie) was wearing an LSU shirt on this particular evening.

Last night we had our first family tailgaiting event of the year at the Smith house. Sean was so excited about the LSU season starting that he bought LSU t-shirts for everyone, and even made a 1 1/2 hour roundtrip journey to pick up "Raising Cane's" chicken (a restaurant chain that was born on LSU campus and has now spread to Texas). We had our little tailgaiting picnic in the light of the TV as we watched the Tigers play the Washington Huskies. If any of you keep up with football, you might already know that this game didn't start until 9:30pm! Sean made sure that the girls had a long, late nap so they wouldn't miss this all important event! Geaux Smiths!