Smith Family: Valentine's Day

Cool guy Calvin. Our Christmas present to Mike & Chris was that we bought them Christmas lights and said we would put them up and take them down for them each year. Well, January got a little crazy with painting our house and Hallie being born and everything...so once February hit, Curt finally took the time to go down with Calvin and take the lights down. Hopefully we can get them down sooner next year. ;)

All the kids were lined up eating, and Curt & I looked at each other and commented on how many of them there were! So he took a picture to document it, haha:

Not sure where they were going, but Curt took Hudson on an errand with him, and he was so excited!! (made even better by the fact that we finally turned his car seat around once Hallie was born)

Curt getting Hudson dressed is always a fun adventure, haha:

I don't think I've posted this picture before--just a cute picture of Hallie in front of her name board we made:

Cute Hudson:

This was the anniversary of getting engaged--15 years!!! (Feb 3rd) We celebrated by eating cookies from Arby's at home, with Hallie in the background. :)

Mom & Hallie selfie:

Love that little face:

Both asleep--I kind of miss these days of not feeling guilty for just sleeping with Hallie whenever I could:

Baby boy holding baby girl:

Hudson was obsessed with putting on the boys' soccer cleats for a few days:

This picture is to represent the first time I drove with all five kids in the car--and it was terrible. The three big boys all sat across the back together for the first time and would NOT leave each other alone. They were literally kicking, punching, hitting, and yelling at each other the entire time. (And it was just taking Tucker to soccer practice.) It was terrible. I actually took a video of them fighting to show Curt...but that's not really something the rest of the world needs to see. ;) The whole issue of the three boys having to share that back bench has continued to be a problem whenever we drive--STILL! Even months later. So it's kind of ironic that as I'm typing this up Curt is in the process of installing a bench seat in the middle and taking out the two captain chairs, so we can have one of the boys from the back move forward. Hoping that helps...!!

My mom and Allie and Rachel threw me a baby shower (that was originally scheduled for the day after Hallie ended up being born, so they postponed it three weeks)--it was so kind of them! I talked a little bit more about the shower in THIS post. I'm so grateful to have my mom close and to have two amazing sisters-in-law!!

Then after the baby shower, we all came together at my house to eat cake and celebrate Cory's birthday. It was simple and no big deal, but good to all get together.

Another mom & Hallie picture--love this sweet girl!!

These were some mutual activities Tucker got to participate in--visiting a car factory (can't remember which one, but apparently it was pretty famous and awesome), and then going axe throwing. He is loving being in Young Men's!

My friend Brooke was so kind to bring me (& Hudson) lunch one day and just stay and visit--it was good for my soul! And this was right during the time of Curt's big conference at work that his department was in charge of, so he had spent the night up in SLC and was working crazy hours. (thankfully it only lasted a few days)

Here's a picture of Curt driving a giant moving truck for Xactware's conference--he was in charge of getting all the supplies up to the conference center and getting it all set up and taken down (as well as being in charge of all the other behind-the-scenes work that the marketing team did)

This was a huge tender mercy. With Hallie only being three weeks old, and having Valentine's Day and the three boys' birthdays coming up, (and Curt being super busy at work) I was not able to get out and shop like I usually do, so I had to rely on online shopping. Something all the boys wanted was their own nice sherpa blanket, so I ordered some off amazon, but they ended up being super thin and terrible quality (that was my fault for trying to buy cheaper ones...!). I really didn't want to break the bank, but I was having the hard time trying to find some, especially when I couldn't see or feel them in person. Curt's parents kept asking what they could do to help after Hallie was born, and I finally gave in and asked for their help in finding some blankets--since I thought Costco might have some (my mom had gotten one for Curt & I for Christmas from Costco, and she said it was a good deal). Anyway, so Mike & Chris made a special trip to Costco, bless their hearts, and found these super thick sherpa blankets on sale for only $9.99 each!!! (they were selling for $30+ online) Such a huge help and tender mercy that they were able to find and buy them for me!!

VALENTINE'S DAY

Tucker & Calvin's Valentine's boxes--Baby Yoda themed. (Remember how I said they were all in a Baby Yoda phase for about two weeks and then haven't mentioned him again since?! hahaha)

All the boys did these Baby Yoda vinyl stickers for the classroom valentines:

Bronco's special Valentine's hat he made at school:

Hallie and I trying to do a little Valentine's Day photoshoot--love her pose (please, no more pictures haha)

Oh, her little face is just the sweetest!!

This was the best Valentine's Day present from Curt--a screenshot saying he was officially leaving on his paternity leave! (talked more about in THIS post)

Curt was in charge of Tucker's soccer practice on Valentine's night, so he picked up some pizzas on their way home, and we had a nice low-key family dinner. (I tried to have us write on some heart shapes what we love about each other, but it didn't go over as well as I was hoping.) The secret mailman FINALLY came after dinner, and the boys were SUPER excited to get their very own blankets!

And Hudson thoroughly enjoyed the bubbles he got :)

Curt & I made up for our lack of a Valentine's date by getting Chip cookies a few nights later.

(Our first--and probably last--time getting Chip, haha)

Here was my Valentine's Day entry table decor:

February was the month characterized by being super worried about Hallie's weight gain and weighing her on our kitchen scale every few days. This picture is so sad--she looked almost sickly with how skinny she was! I'm so grateful my milk supply finally increased and she finally started gaining weight! (Again, talked about more in THIS post)

This picture was to document that Tucker got dressed and ready for church BEFORE eating breakfast, just like we'd asked him to do!! (A rare occurrence--he despises getting dressed for church...)

Crazy hair day at school:

It was my idea to do Calvin's hair like this at the last second, and it took SO long! And made me realize I have a lot of practice to do before I can do Hallie's hair haha.

Tucker's "wave" with a dolphin, haha:

And Bronco was so excited about his crazy hair that afternoon for kindergarten:

Crazy hat day a few days later:

Chad turned 40 this year, and since Curt was on paternity leave, he was able to dedicate more time to making his birthday special, haha. He started by going to Chad's work and filling his office with 40 black balloons before Chad got in. (And he tried to surprise Chad by filling two balloons with glitter so it would make a mess when Chad popped the balloons, but Chad saw it coming and somehow avoided the glitter altogether.) ;) Curt also sent Chad 40 Happy Birthday messages throughout the day--some texts, some instagram messages, some videos, some pictures, etc. We got together with everyone at Mobettahs for dinner, and Curt gave Chad a giant jar of jelly bellies--Chad's favorite.

Bronco & Hudson holding Hallie (or maybe it was Bronco holding Hudson & Hudson holding Hallie...?)

Hudson was OBSESSED with this train track for the longest time--he played with it all day, every day, and he wanted the train on and running ALL the time, even if he left the room. If we ever tried to turn the train off, he would freak out and come turn it back on, haha:

Another mom & Hallie picture--oh how I love this little girl!!

One of Curt & Tucker's temple trips together--I miss them being able to do this!

One of Bronco's birthday presents was a certificate to go to a movie with Curt. They went to the new Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and they said it was fun! It was so nice that Curt was able to do these one-on-one things with the boys during his paternity leave.

Mike & Chris surprised Tucker one Friday and checked him out of school and took him to the aquarium for the day--just him and them--and he LOVED it! It's so nice that they live close and are retired and able to do things like this.