Sunny 9 for 2008 June

My precious niece was born today. Molly LeJeune Matkin. She was 8 lbs 2 oz and 21 1/2 in. She has a beautiful head of thick chestnut hair, and I can't wait to meet her. Aly said that when the boys were at the hospital, Samuel asked, "Do we get to take her home with us?" She will have such awesome brothers to take care of her. Congrats you guys! Love you!!

I cannot believe how much laundry my family generates. I do 2 or more loads a day and still I feel I am making no headway. Seriously, I am so sick of having piles of laundry in my room. I want a clean room! I am tired of piles to be folded and piles to be washed and piles to be put away, but I can't put away yet with a sleeping baby in that room, and when the sleeping baby is not in that room, that baby wants to be held 24/7. I don't even have twins and I still can't keep up. What is wrong with this picture?

We had a great time in Utah. So much fun that I am still recovering from it. If it has taken this long to recover with just a week long trip, I am frightened for the aftermath of my 10 day trip coming up in a week. I am going to NYC with my sister Julie (SWEET!). I thought about going with Aaron, but who else is better company shopping Canal St and seeing Wicked on Broadway than my sis, Julie?! and then to be with my sister and new niece in Tallahassee for a week for much baby love and hopefully a lot of bathroom cleaning, oven scrapping, and anything else I can get my hands on to clean for Alyson. (It better be dirty when I get there!)

It may seem selfish to be going off sans kids and husband to party on my own, but I figure what better time than now when I am not pregnant or nursing? I guess this year is my turn to do a "sisters trip" since Aaron's "annual brothers backpacking trip" was not held this year. And I've paid my dues being home alone there. Plus, Aaron is taking the kids to visit his parents in AZ, so I am sure they will have their fair share of fun.

Here is a summation of what we did in UT:

-The kids got spoiled by Dad and Jan

-We got to do lots of fun things with my Dad and Jan (Cafe Rio and Indiana Jones)

-Good Wood, Cafe Rio, Wingers, and The Greenery in Odgen

-Down East Outfitters and Shade shopping

-Trip down memory lane driving around the valley

-Breakfast with John, Susie, and Maggie and some great catching up

-Cousins, cousins, cousins...the kids got to play with their cousins that they've missed, and Aaron and I got to catch up with our cousins too.

-Werewolf till 2AM!

-Reprieve from the TX heat (We were wearing sweaters and jackets!)

-Smith Reunion in general. It was a big success and lots of fun.

-Utah scenery...I didn't know how much I missed the mountains until I saw them again.

-Seven bedroom house for all the Rick Smiths to stay in. I really liked how there was living space as opposed to a hotel room. When the kids nap you have to be around but you can't really do anything because you will wake them up. Problem solved in a house.

-When we got to UT and were renting our car, they bumped us up from a full size sedan to an SUV for free. I about died when we filled up the tank for $90 but at least it was a comfy, spacious ride with all our crap.

-The kids were really good on the flights there and back despite us getting in to UT at midnight and our flight leaving at 6:30AM.

That's about all I can think of. It is going to be at Wolf Creek Ski Resort again next year so we are looking forward to another trip to Utah soon.

There are so many June birthdays in my family, I am just going to give a shout out to everyone at once.

5th-Molly!

7th-Erin

10th-Booner

11th-Atticus

12th-Julie (today)

13th-Chuck-or it might be the 11th, I know it is the day before Julie's or the day after.

14th-Austin

16th-Luke (and Julie and Chuck's wedding anniversary)

28th-Dave

Happy Birthday everyone!!

A. Attached or Single – Attached to Aaron and usually throughout the day I also have a little monkey attached to my hip.

B. Best Friend – Aaron, duh! And also my mom and sisters. We are all such great friends.

C. Cake or Pie –Definitely chocolate cake and then pie, but only if it is chocolate too or lemon cream cheese. Cake is easier to make so I usually go with that.

D. Day – Saturdays because Aaron is home and usually no strict time schedule we have to go by.

E. Essential Item – My bed and pillow. I hate having to sleep in anything smaller than a king. When you have a husband that is 6’3 and likes to sleep diagonally you will know why.

F. Favorite Color – Brown with gold. I can’t get enough of brown clothes with gold jewelry lately.

G. Gummy bear or Worms – Either, but only if they are Haribo.

H. Hometown - San Antonio, Texas, giddy-up

I. Indulgences - Clothes... Dining out, same as Julie

J. January or July – January in TX, July in Pacific NW

K. Kids- two

L. Life is incomplete without - Family, they just understand you, no explaining and tip toeing around. It is so amazing to have such a big family! (I’ll stick with your answer, Julie.)

M. Marriage Date – Jan 19, 2002

N. Number of siblings - 6, 2 brothers and 4 beautiful sisters

O. Oranges or Apples – Apples. I’m too lazy to peel anything.

P. Phobias or Fears – Premature death of a loved one. I’m not really scared of a lot of things. My list of pet peeves is longer.

Q. Quote – “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

R. Reason to Smile – Last Comic Standing. Seriously, free comedy. Can it get any better than that?

S. Season – Winter, as long as there were some brisk fall days, I could live without it being cold for 3 months.

T. Tag – Everyone

U. Unknown fact about me – I have a shampoo and conditioner fetish. I only use salon quality, and any given day I will have at least 4 different brands in my shower to alternate between days. Also, I used to put on scented lotion (Bath and Body Works) EVERY SINGLE DAY since I was a freshman till I had Lily. I had no time to pamper myself after kids were born.

V. Favorite vegetable- All of them. I love vegetables.

W. Worst Habit – Not hanging up my clothes. I am always too tired to want to do that. Maybe the worst habit should be pushing myself to the last minute before I go to bed. I just love having time to myself I guess.

X. X-rays or Ultrasounds – I’ve had both, but Ultrasounds are more rewarding. I love getting to see the babies.

Y. Your favorite food – I can always enjoy a good salad. My mom makes the best salads of all kinds.

Z. Zodiac Sign –Virgo

So today we got our little packet in the mail from the Air Force. It is the packet where you request where it is you want to be stationed. It has you list your top 11 places for General Dentistry, and if Aaron is accepted and he in turn accepts an AEGD, it has us number 1-14 the cities where an AEGD is offered. We pretty much have our list figured out...

This means we will know in a few months where we will be heading off too. It really is pretty crazy that we just got here, but we're already going to leave again. I am looking forward to the change even though I will be leaving much family. Here we are, 4th years, and it feels like just yesterday we were attending our first year students and family BBQ in the sweltering heat. I am glad we went through those years but I am really glad they are over. Last year, 3rd year, was pretty stressful. Gunnar is the same age Lily was when I got pregnant with him. I can't even imagine having another one yet...I am still recovering. Lily seemed so much older back then than Gunnar is now.

Anyways, this sappy post is even making me roll my eyes, so I will update when we get more info on the project: relocation. I'll warn you...we are going for fun and crazy!!!

We celebrated father's day by making one of Aaron's favorite meals. I dug out my deep fryer that I got from Dad for Christmas a couple years ago and we made fried chicken (with bones and all). It is so much work to clean up, but it is a must when you are frying anything. It makes the food perfect. We used a Paula Dean recipe so you know it was good (and not good for you). We also made cream corn, pure fat and sugar, red skin mashed potatoes, homemade biscuits, and country gravy. Aaron's kind of meal. Happy Father's Day!

Today, Aaron and I got to go to Sea World alone. We are in a play group thing for the month of June so we switched turns watching everyone's kids. We took the opportunity to go without the kids while we rode roller coasters. It was sweet! I still got it...roller coasters were my favorite in HS, but after my last experience with a roller coaster I thought the mom thing ended all my chances of liking them. I rode Superman at Fiesta Texas and then we walked to Poltergeist. I didn't even ride that one, just waited for everyone, and when we were walking away my vision faded to black, I literally couldn't see anything and I had to hold on to Aaron because I was going to pass out. Luckily, I took a seat and I laid my head down, but it was a close call. I was about 10 weeks along. Such a small little baby but it makes a big deal.

It seems I am back to normal though, and we got to ride Steel Eel, Great White, and Rico Loco. We then went to lunch at a sandwich shop. It was fun to go on a date during the day. I'm off to NY first thing in the morning, and then to FL to see my niece and take care of my sis!