Confucious Says...

For those of you who follow Chris's blog, you've already heard the story of Aiden's finger (for those just catching up click here). Why, you ask, has it taken me this long to catch up with my blog? The short answer is - it took ME that long to recover from the whole incident.

For all of the moms out there that have gotten "that call", you know what I mean. The second my phone rang at work from school I knew something was wrong. I can't describe anything other than shock that hit me like a brick when our after school care program director told me about what happened...but all I really remember from that conversation was the part where she told me part of Aiden's finger was missing. I can tell you, for the many speeding tickets I got in high school, none would compare to that which I would have gotten if I was pulled over that afternoon. I couldn't seem to get to school fast enough.

Without documenting all of the crazy details from the incident, I can tell you, as a mom, I learned several things from this experience:

1 - Your children can often teach you more than you are able to teach them if you let them.

Before this happened, I could have told you Aiden was a tough kid. He's always picked himself back up quickly and doesn't come to tears often. But, throughout everything that happened, I just keep replaying how all of the doctors and nurses kept saying how brave he was and how well he was handling everything that happened. Today - Aiden is drawing pictures of his finger so that everyone knows what it looks like (it's still wrapped up in bandages). It didn't slow him down a beat - he jumped right back into things, playing outside with his friends and playing basketball at school. He recalls the incident as "the time that he chopped his finger off". He doesn't wince or worry that it might permanently look different, like his mother does. In fact, I'm pretty certain that throughout his lifetime he will carry this as one of his "battle wounds" to be proud of. All I can say is that the strength and resilience of that kid amazes me. I was always proud to be his mom, but even more so after watching him persevere through hardship.

2 - C Smith is about as good as it gets.

I am a tough girl myself...that is until I had kids. I figured that out quickly the first time Aiden clipped his chin on our wooden stairs and there was blood everywhere. All I could think was blood, BLOOD! I couldn't even think a rationale thought. The same panic overcame me when picking Aiden up from school that afternoon. Silence was about all I could do to keep it together...and lots and lots of hugs. I figured the best thing I could do for Aiden was try to hide my fear and sadness - if I was strong he would be strong. However, my boy scout husband met us at the hospital with stories ready to roll. He talked a lot with Aiden and put him at ease. Later when the docs were cleaning the wound, Chris thought to get out his phone to play Star Wars clips...I'm pretty sure Aiden wasn't thinking anything but lightsaber battles at this point! Then Chris was the trooper and took Aiden downtown for surgery (more on that below) and was out until 2:00 that morning, putting up with a very hungry and tired son...no dinner since they knew they would have to give Aiden local anesthesia to fix his finger. Even since then, Chris is more tolerable of cleaning the wound than I and fixing up Aiden's bandages. I mean I always knew that I was married to a good man, but I'm not sure I can actually put into words what it meant to realize the deep levels of compassion I saw in this man. I can only hope that my two boys grow into as good of a father as he is some day.

3 - Good friends and family are what life boils down to.

When all of this happened, it was right at the end of a work day. Kieran was still at daycare. We called upon our good friend Stef to pick up Kieran so that we both could be with Aiden at the hospital. Stef, with three kids of her own (including a 9 mth old), picked up Kieran and took all four kids to gymnastics and dinner all by herself. What can I say - she is the woman! Her husband then tucked her kids into bed while she went to my house to tuck in Kieran that night. I finally left the hospital around 9:30 when the two boys were headed downtown for Aiden's surgery. While I have some of the best friends in the world, I also didn't want to make her to have to settle in at my house for the night! So, I went home and waited anxiously for the phone call that would eventually tell me everything went just fine.

The day after the accident I was at home with Aiden when he had a basket of fruit sent by the people at my office...Aiden LOVES fruit. When Aiden saw the basket, his actual words were "Mom, this is the best day EVER!". Oh, to be able to see the world through the eyes of a kid again! Given the night before, Aiden spent much of that day sleeping. However, I tried to keep him on his normal schedule, so at 8 o'clock off to bed we went. As we were saying our nighttime prayers, Aiden asked me how I was able to fall asleep every night. My response was that I like to think about all of the happy things that happened to me during the day, so Aiden said "ok, I'm going to think about my fruit!" The things that 5 yr olds say...

Throughout the next week, our family stepped up helping to take care of Aiden while we kept him out of school. I'm pretty sure by the end of it he was plenty spoiled by all of his relatives!

Although we didn't do the greatest job of reaching out to people...the love and prayers we got from all of our friends and family reminded me that this is the important stuff in life. We were all put on earth to create relationships and experience life fully. To me - that is time spent slowing down and really making the most of the time I have with all of the wonderful people in my life.

Here is a quote by Confucious that I found that summarizes it best:
By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.

On my Thanksgiving this year, I was much more thankful of the beautiful family I have been blessed with and the honor of friendship I have received from all of the good people that surround me. My hope for you is that we don't have to experience these moments to realize the best in those around us.

All Hallow's Eve and Then Some!

Does anyone else feel like certain holidays get celebrated ad nauseam? We certainly celebrated and celebrated and CELEBRATED Halloween this year!

It all began with the boys' school parties. On Wednesday, all the kids from Aiden's school had a parade behind the school with all the parents capturing photo ops. They followed up in their classroom with games and a craft, and food of course! Aiden was dressed as Boba Fett - a bounty hunter from Clone Wars (a cartoon spin-off from Star Wars). You can see from the pic that it's all about Star Wars in his classroom!

A huge thanks to Gram who came and spent the day with Aiden while he was out of school on Thursday and Friday. She also got bonus party duty for Kieran's school Halloween party where it's all about the FOOD!! Even Aiden got to enjoy some of the treats, and Kieran enjoyed having his big brother to play with during school time!

Then on Saturday our neighborhood hosted it's annual Haunted Hayride. We got on the earliest shift (the event gets progressively scarier as the night goes on), and rode on hay-filled trailer throughout our neighborhood. We ended at one house where the kids cooked smores over the fire followed up by a "scary" tale told by JoHo, the professional storyteller, about the Runaway Pumpkin. It had the kids laughing and interacting - and was a great time as usual.


And, THEN, we finally got to Halloween. All day Aiden was anxiously awaiting getting into his costume - the wait was almost unbearable! Following the very exciting Chiefs game, Gram and Papa made their way to the Smith house with the tradition of pizza prior to trick-or-treating. As soon as it was barely dusk you could hear the bustle of kids anxiously outside ready to start the mass collection of candy! We got the boys dressed in their attire, which Kieran actually complied (for a short while) to wear his full monkey costume. He was quick to join in the fun once he got a look at all the kids outside in costumes running around. We still couldn't get him to say "trick-or-treat", but with his charming personality he still got the goods and filled his bag full of candy regardless. The boys made their way around the neighborhood, pulling Kieran in the wagon, and hitting as many houses as they could before AB finally decided it was TOO cold!

I think someone's either got a little too much candy or he's seen a ghost!...

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Last weekend was a first for our family - and a first for me, in particular. The Smith family carved pumpkins!

I quickly learned why my parents likely did not embark on this tradition during my childhood days. Simply put - carving pumpkins is gross! I required latex gloves to protect my hands to do the dirty work. But looking inside of a pumpkin - seriously, how is there ever anything worth making pumpkin pies out of...there is nothing inside of there except a ton of seeds and pumpkin mush - yuck! AND...Chris and I quickly learned that this "family activity" is really the parents carving the pumpkins while the kids run around outside and play to their hearts content!

I took the easy way out and used the drill to put different sized holes throughout my pumpkin (very Pottery-Barn"esque"). It was interesting once the candles were burning inside (and definitely less labor intensive!) Chris, however, got the super dad award as he agreed to carve Aiden's choice of Boba Fett (the Clone Wars character Aiden was dressing up for Halloween). I'm not sure he was still enjoying it two nights later while he was STILL putting the finishing touches on Aiden's pumpkin! However, all the pumpkins turned out great! Now we'll just see if this was a one-time occurrence or a tradition to be continued as the years go on...



We couldn't leave the littlest Smith out, so we decorated his pumpkin with Halloween stickers!


And, finally, the GREAT PUMPKIN...


On the night of Halloween we checked for toys left from the Great Pumpkin, but all we got was a bowl full of overflowing Halloween candy! Maybe next year...

Just another day?

A cute Aidenism...yesterday Mrs. Cline's classroom got to wear pajamas to school because they had been rewarded for exhibiting the schools virtues. Aiden was SO excited...of course picked out his favorite Star Wars pajamas to wear to school.

At the end of the day I asked him how his day went and if he thought it was cool that he got to wear his pjs all day long. His response, "It was ok, but it wasn't so cool because we still had to do work and stuff."

Bye Bye Binkies!!

The Smith household has been full of change over the past several weeks! The weekend of Kieran's birthday - our little man decided he was to become an escape artist and pole vaulted himself out of his crib. Of course this would happen...with Aiden, we moved to our new house and I remember wanting to get him settled into his own room, so we set up a with a big boy bed at 18 mos. and never looked back. Aiden was such a sleepy boy...you would just tell him to get to bed, in he would crawl, and with a book and a snuggle he was off to lala land!

Wild man Kieran, on the other hand, I think both Chris & I could've been satisfied not moving him out of his crib until he was like - FIVE! But, as our little man has often proven to us just how quickly he likes to keep up with his older brother, he found his way to freedom much earlier than his parents would have liked. So...we made the decision to forge ahead and move Kieran into his toddler bed.

This transition has not been without its bumps. On most nights Kieran finds himself out of his room 2-3 times before settling in. Moreso, it's the random four a.m. visits that are much less appreciated - especially when Kieran is convinced that since he has awoken and is feeling full of energy it MUST be morning!! At least we have gotten him back to sleep on most of these nights, but the best way to describe is...we are surviving!

And...because Chris & I are gluttons for punishment, we made the discovery shortly thereafter that Kieran had bitten through 1/2 of each of his binkies. With the fear of him biting them off completely and choking on them in the middle of the night - we had two choices: (1) replace the binkies or (2) endure a visit from the binkie fairy. Again, we decided to jump feet first and removed all binkies from the house. Honestly, it was not as bad as I had feared. Kieran really didn't cry for his binkies - and anytime he asked for them we simply replied "all gone". In fact, I haven't even heard the word binkie for several days until we were going through pictures this past weekend and a picture of Kieran with a binkie appeared. All of a sudden he was on a quest for binkies again, but it quickly subsided.

In short...our little man has made some BIG strides over the past few weeks in this phase of him growing up. He is still my little boy, and in some ways, I hate watching him grow up so fast as there is a small part of me that would love to keep him as my little baby forever. However, it is fun to hear his conversations develop...and to watch his understanding of the world grow. We think he is so much fun and he brings a lot of laughter into our household. Now...if we could just find a way to tame that wild instinct in him, we would be golden!

The Little Engine That Could

September 12, 2010 - We celebrated the smallest little Smith turning a BIG TWO YEARS OLD!! Where did the time go? Given that Kieran is completely crazy for anything cars, we decided to host a party with all of our immediate family at a local restaurant, Fritz's Railroad Restaurant. It was such a great venue, plus it went along with the super cute invitations that I found online...
Fritz's is great...the first restaurant was opened in KCK back in the 1960's. We went to a new location out in Shawnee. The restaurant has a railroad track built around the top exterior of the restaurant. You dial up your order at a phone that is at each table...then a train actually comes out of the kitchen and "drops" your order onto a lift that lowers it to your table. It is SO cool. Kieran was in complete amazement as that was his first experience at Fritz's.

The presents were ok too :)...although I think big brother, Aiden, did most of the unwrapping. Kieran got into it closer to the end. He got lots of choo choo trains as presents, which he is still fascinated with. The cutest part of it all - I ended up making a train birthday cake for him. Even now when he sees pictures of his cake, he starts singing "Happy Birthday to you"...

Thanks to everyone that helped us to celebrate Kieran's big day! What a memorable event. Check out the pics to see the fun that we had.

What Part of NO Don't You Understand?

So while Aiden is getting accustomed to life as a kindergartner, Kieran is blazing fire into the terrible twos. Don't get me wrong - he is CUTE, and he knows it, which makes it a deadly combination. He can often get away with many antics at the Smith household just by flashing those pearly whites. Perfect example...here is Kieran's idea of keeping busy while at the ball fields this summer...(mommy sigh, at least his shirt appropriately said Mud Monster!)



However, the latest development is his discovery of the word NO. Pretty much from morning to night, any question asked of him is responded to in this soft quiet almost shy...no.

"Kieran - are you cute?" "NO!"
"Kieran - do you love mommy?" "NO!"
"Kieran - are you excited to play with your friends at school?" "NO!"
"Kieran - do you love your binkies?" "NO!" (now we know THAT isn't true!)

He mostly is sweet and almost funny when he says it, though as time has gone on the NO's are getting louder and more firm - like, "I may be the littlest person in this house, but let's not get confused who is the boss here!"

Here is a quick video of Kieran on his latest NO rant:

From movies