Life as a mother of three

My life changed four weeks ago when Stephen was born. Although Stephen is a relatively easy baby (compared to the twins) -- he rarely cries and he loves to eat and sleep -- suddenly being the mom of three kids has transformed my life. Going anywhere with three kids (who are under the age of two) is especially challenging and keeping them all happy all day long adds to the complexity. Imagine me heading out the door with Luke and Thomas in their twin stroller and Stephen in a car seat which I have to carry (and seems to become increasingly heavy the longer I carry it). It is quite a sight to behold. Then add in making sure the house is clean and tidy and laundry is done and dinner is on the table at a reasonable hour all on five or less hours of sleep a night...there is never a dull moment around here.

Over the past week the twins have been dreadfully ill (fever, constant runny nose, cough, sore throat) and then Stephen got ill (which is the saddest thing to see because the congestion makes it very difficult for him to breathe as he doesn't yet breathe out his mouth) and now Rob and I are ill. So we've had even less sleep this past week because the twins will wake up crying and need attention and Stephen struggles to breathe and we've taken turns holding him upright all night so he doesn't die. We're hoping that we all get better soon.

We also found out that the dog (Charlie or as I call him: Lord Charles) has scabies which he got from being in the pound for 24 hours (where we got him from) and so we've had to sanitize ourselves and the entire house. It has been more than a nightmare!

So this is part of the reason I have been slacking in my blogging lately. These recent challenges have kept my attention diverted.

On a more positive note I recently purchased some photographic studio equipment: backdrops, lights, and so on. I'm so excited about it. In my ward I was recently called to be the ward photographer (so I have to take photographs of every ward member for the ward directory and all activities for the ward history) and perhaps I will end up getting more business this way. Anyway, I am going to use my new equipment to take photographs of the members of my ward. At some point I want to get a flash and a new lens but I need to earn some more money first. I have also changed my company name to Nicky Smith Photography because I wanted to buy the domain name so I can have a proper URL for my website and Paragon Photography was already taken. So, now my website is at: http://nickysmithphotography.com.

Our most exciting news is that Rob and I have purchased our tickets for Hawaii. We go in April for a week and Rob's mom is coming to Provo to look after the three children. I am very excited to have a break and to visit the island of Oahu. My second mission president is the President of BYU-Hawaii and so we will be staying with him in Laie. I am excited to explore all the beaches and snorkling sites, Pearl Harbor, Waikiki, Honolulu, and more. It is going to be awesome! Oahu is home to the famous North Shore where all the big surfing spots are. Fortunately we have it planned so that we will miss all the BIG waves and we will actually be able to swim in the ocean and not just watch the surfers.

Stephen is now 4 and a half weeks old. It is insane how quickly time passes. Here are some pictures I took today. He is wearing a sweater knitted by my dearest grandmother. I received it in the mail yesterday and was absolutely ecstatic about it. They fit perfectly and he looks so cute in it. Rob is a little jealous he doesn't have such a cute sweater. :D

Summary of the last 2 months: MARYLAND

Luke, Mary, Thomas

In May we drove out to Maryland. Rob had 2 weeks of army training in Virginia and so I stayed with Greg and Kristin. The trip out there was a bit of a nightmare because the boys just wanted to get out of their car seats all of the time. At least we stopped for 36 hours in Michigan to see Rob's grandfather. The boys enjoyed not being in the car for a while.

Seeing all the cousins together was fun, although kind of exhausting at the same time. Kristin helped out so much with the twins and gave me a nice break which I REALLY appreciated.

At Vaccarro's

Rob came up to Maryland on the Friday and we went out. That was probably one of my best dates ever. We went to Vaccarro's in Little Italy, in downtown Baltimore. All I can say is YUM! We ordered a large Belgian waffle, topped with 8 scoops of gelato, smothered in cream, chocolate fudge sauce, and nuts. It was too large for both Rob and I to finish, although we definitely tried.

We then walked around Little Italy and took photos. At one point Rob was a few yards in front of me and two men started talking to me. They asked where I was from and when I said South Africa, they started asking tons of questions about it. Rob then walked over and pretended to have a South African accent and they were totally fooled thinking we were just some tourists. It was really funny. Rob and I then walked up to Federal Hill and sat on a bench looking out at the pretty view of Baltimore, all lit up. It was a really fun night.

Baltimore

At the BBQ

The next day we drove out to Shrewbury Pennsylvania and had a barbeque with Rob's family. Sunday we just hung out at Greg and Kirstin's home. In the evening Rob headed back to Virginia.


The following week was a bit crazy because Kristin got a stomach bug, I got some crazy sinus infection and had go on antibiotics and then I think I got the stomach bug for 24 hours. So, for most of the week Kristin and I lay on the couches and felt so sick. My morning sickness had also just begun so I just felt terrible.

Mary, Luke, Thomas, and Seth

Thursday afternoon Rob returned and early Friday morning we headed out to Ocean City and spent the day on the beach. Lots of fun. We then left for Utah on Sunday morning and traveled for 36 hours to get back to Provo. The boys were out of control and I vowed not to drive across the country with them for a LONG time.

Thomas and Luke in Seth's Jeep

Thomas, Seth, and Luke

South Africa

On the day before Thanksgiving we drove from Utah to Cassopolis, Michigan where Rob's grandfather and wife live. We arrived about 20 hours later, exhausted. Rob did all the driving and I looked after the kids. When we got to the house we just relaxed and then hit the sack pretty early. Then early on the Saturday morning we left and drove to Baltimore and arrived at Greg and Kristin's house after about 12 hours. It was so good to see them again. By the time we arrived though Thomas has croup. I was really worried about him, but luckily with Greg being a doctor we had a professional keeping an eye on him. Over the next few days we visited with them as well as Rob's family. Sometime while we were in Baltimore, Thomas developed conjunctivitis. Then Luke got sick with a cold and conjunctivitis and Rob and I got the adult version on croup. Anyway, we flew to South Africa and the boys cried for about 13 of the 16 hours. Fortunately we had one extra seat beside us and so either Luke or Thomas would lie down for part of the way while the other cried. I think that they were tired and struggled to sleep while not lying down and their sicknesses probably made them feel worse. So after that hellish flight we eventually landed in Johannesburg.

The next day was Sunday and because we were all sick we just went to Sacrament Meeting. It was so strange being back but cool to see people I hadn't seen in a long time. Over the next few days we mostly just relaxed by the pool and took care of some errands, such as closing my bank account, and so on. It was really nice and relaxing. I loved seeing my mom and grandparents again. I loved the heat! Sometime while we were there I got conjunctivitis too and I had developed a bad chest infection, so I went to the doctor and got onto a couple antibiotics. Rob, Gramps, and I did go to the Rhino and Lion park and that was fun too.

Springboks

About to be bitten by the little critter!

Some friendly Zebras

I love the African grasslands

On the Thursday we headed down to Cape Town and Andrew and my dad picked us up from the airport. Some of the things we did: went to Llandudno beach a few times, went to Camps Bay beach, sat on Hout Bay beach eating Thai food, went to Moyo and ate in a tree house, saw a few friends (sadly not all of them due to lack of time), swam in my dad's pool, spent a few days in the Cederberg, Rob hiked up Table mountain, walked around Groot Constantia, ate at the Waterfront, and went to Chris' graduation. There are tons of other things I wish we could have done/seen, but it is hard travelling with 7 month old babies who don't sleep just anywhere and get so grumpy without their naps.

Luke at Llandudno Beach

Thomas as Llandudno Beach

Thomas and Luke

At the Waterfront with Table Mountain in the background

Thomas copying my father

What to do when you don't have your stroller at the grocery store

At Groot Constantia

Chris and Luke

Andrew

After two weeks we headed back to Johannesburg and spent Christmas there. Christmas eve we had a wonderful dinner at Martin and Cicely's place and then on Christmas mom made a delicious Christmas lunch. In the afternoon we headed back home. I hate saying goodbye! The plane ride home was awesome though because it was almost empty and we had 4 seats each - so we slept most of the way home.

We then had a big Christmas meal at Rob's mom's place and all of his family came round. That was nice. After spending the next day with Greg and Kristin and the day after that with some of Rob's family, we headed home. Rob again drove all the way. We were so grateful to be home. Travelling is fun, but it is also nice to be in your own home again afterwards.

Southern California

Rob, Thomas, Luke, Nicky is front of the San Clemente beach

On the evening of June 20th, Rob, Luke, Thomas, and I drove to Southern California to a little town called San Clemente. It is about halfway between San Diego and LA. The drive was long - Rob drove the whole way while I was in the back looking after Luke and Thomas. It's a really nice little beach town which not much there (we were looking for a Burger King but it seems they didn't have one!).

It was really nice to get away from Provo for a while and so good to see the ocean and hear the waves crashing. Living in Utah I don't get to do that too often. So we spent a lot of time at the beach and in the hot tub at the hotel. Very relaxing! They also had a pool which was supposedly heated but it was FREEZING. We jumped in once and got out really quickly!

The weather was nice the whole time we were there. It made me really wish we lived in Southern California!!!

Luke and Thomas were really good the whole trip. They slept most of the way in the car and when we were there, we spent most of the time outside and so they liked that. I imagine in a year it might be a little harder to take such a trip, but we'll see.

Trip to Baltimore

Last Thursday Rob and I flew to Baltimore for five days to see family.

It really was a lot of fun! We spent the first while at Greg and Kristin. It was great seeing them and Seth again. Since we arrived in the middle of the night we first saw Seth when he woke up Friday morning. We gave him his presents but he was much more interested in giving me presents! These presents consisted of random toys he had. We also read books together and he and Rob had a sword fight. He really is fond of Rob!

The funniest thing happened though. The whole time Seth was stinking up the place and I repeatedly asked him if he needed to use the bathroom. He kept saying no. At one point while we were sitting reading a few of his books, he jumped up and yelled, "I need the potty!" He ran downstairs, where his potty is usually kept, but it had been moved because that is where Rob and I were staying. He ran back upstairs and screamed, "Where's my potty?" I told him it's in the bathroom and once he went into the bathroom we didn't hear a sound for a while. After about 2 minutes we hear, "Rob, can you come wipe me?" I started to laugh so hard. Rob didn't mind at all though. But, as soon as Seth was clean, he ran out the bathroom. Rob was dying from the smell and so asked Seth what was to be done with the potty deposits. Seth shrugged and ran off. So, Rob tried to figure out how to remove the bottom part but in his attempt spilled poo and wee all over his arm. So funny!!!

Around 4pm Rob's paternal grandmother, known as Mawmaw, came to pick us up. We had the most delicious pot roast for dinner - it was incredible! That night it began to snow. Usually Baltimore doesn't get too much snow. Well, the next morning there was about a foot of snow on the ground. Jesse's family Christmas party was planned for Saturday but it got moved to Sunday afternoon. The blizzard continued and so we just hung out with Mawmaw - everyone was encouraged to stay at home and off the roads. By the evening there was 2,5 feet of snow on the ground. Rob went out in the middle of the afternoon and began shoveling the snow around his grandmother's car.

Finally on Sunday morning it had stopped snowing. Church throughout Maryland had been cancelled. So we went to Jesse's house to help out prepare for her Christmas party. I also looked after Anthony (Jesse's 3 month old baby) Between 1 and 2pm everyone started arriving. We had a delicious lunch (pork loin and stuffing) and then everyone handed out gifts. I continued to play with Anthony. What a good baby!! He didn't cry once.

That evening (Sunday night) we drove to Shrewsbury, PA

to stay the night with Mommom, Rob's maternal grandmother. That was fun. I was really quite tired though! The next day (Monday) we drove back to Maryland and visited with the mother of one of Rob's high school friends. His friend didn't make it from Connecticut because of the snow. We then went to Greg and Kristin's house. We chatted to Kristin and played with Seth. Greg came home from work around 6pm and we then went out to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory - I'd been wanting to go there for forever and finally we got to go. It was yummy! That night Mary (Kristin's mom) came over and brought us a gift for the baby, which was very kind of her.

Then on Tuesday morning we just hung out at the house, playing with Seth and chatting to Kristin. We did scripture study together. We waited for Rob to get out of the shower. When he came through to the living room Kristin said to Seth, who was sitting next to me: "Why don't you let Rob sit next to Nicky?" He said no. So Rob jokingly said, "That's ok, in a couple hours when we leave she'll be all mine." Seth then said, "No, she's mine!" Rob then replied, "She's mine!" Seth continued to say, "No! She is mine!" This went back and forth for a while which was amusing to all - even Seth thought it was funny. He then looked at Rob and said, "I'm going to keep her!!" We all started laughing. He is such a cute little boy! After scripture study he pretended to read and made up various verses in the scriptures which was really cute.

We then left and arrived back in Utah around 8pm. It was snowing....AGAIN! Rob hadn't shaved since we left Utah last week and was growing a beard. But, this morning he felt it was too irritating so he shaved it off.

North Carolina (May 2009)

After my trip to NYC I flew straight to Raleigh, North Carolina to meet Rob who had been there for 2 months. It was so wonderful seeing him again. During the month of May we stayed with his uncle and aunt in Wake Forest. It is such a beautiful area. There is a large lake (although man-made, you'd never guess) and thousands of trees everywhere. My first day there we went to the beach in Wilmington, about a 2 hour drive from Wake Forest. We got there really early, hoping to catch the sunrise, but the sun had risen just before we got there. It was really windy and the water was cold, although I did run in - it had been too long since I'd been at the beach.

It was a pretty relaxing month though - we cycled, we went to the gym, we helped in the garden, I worked on family history, we watched movies, we went swimming in the nearby lake, we went running, and we took a trip to Baltimore so I could meet Rob's family and see Greg, Kristin, and Seth. While in Baltimore, we went to the zoo which was fun and also went for a nice walk with Greg and family. It was a delight seeing Seth again. We also spent a couple days in Pennsylvania, visiting some of Rob's family. I don't recall doing much else. Just relaxing and enjoying time with Rob.

Just before I arrived in NC, Rob began to realize he didn't want to be in roofing and we began talking about options. He did some research into various careers and decided it would be good for him to get a masters and perhaps a doctorate as well. He has always loved the idea of teaching computer science, but teaching at a high school would not allow him to earn enough to support a family. But, he realized that if he became a university professor he could still teach and earn more. So, he applied to BYU and we began looking into moving back to Provo. I was happy about that because Provo was the place I felt most at home. I could also continue my studies at BYU which would be easier than doing them from a distance.

New York City (April 2009)

So in April, Rachel McDonald, who was my roommate, and I went for 7 days to NYC. It was marvelous! We saw just about everything one would want to see there - the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Staten Island, Central Park, Rockefeller Center, Empire State Building, the Brooklyn Bridge, the World Trade Center site, Coney Island, Times Square, NYC Public Library, Central Station, Wall Street, the Chrysler Building, the Manhattan Temple, Madison Square Garden, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Little Italy, and so on. We also found this great Thai restaurant which we went to a couple times because their lunches were fairly inexpensive.

It was a great holiday and I loved being in NYC although by the end I was ready to move on. We stayed in a really cheap hotel on the West End. Rachel fell in love with one of the Belgians staying there, which was funny. But, I was looking forward to sleeping in a proper bed after a week there.

Welcome to Las Vegas, baby!!!

So, a group of us girls - Candice, Rachel, Marj, and Kirstan (Marj's friend) - have come to Las Vegas for the weekend. We arrived late in the afternoon on Friday and went to a BYU basketball game - we lost by 2 points. Rachel was so heartbroken. :) We then walked down the Strip (Las Vegas Blvd) and took random photos and had random people talk to us. It was hilarious. We're staying in the Marriot Residence Inn - $20 for the entire weekend. What a deal!

Saturday we relaxed in the Jacuzzi, had lunch at In-and-Out (although I have decided if I am going to have fastfood - which I prefer not to - then my favourite is a Whopper from Burger King), had a nap, went and took more photos on the strip. We then went for a gondola ride at the Venetian, which was fun. What is cool here is the parking at all these resorts and hotels is free. The only thing is, you have to walk through the hotel and casino to get out. This caused two problems the whole weekend: (1) you have to walk for what seems like miles to get out to Las Vegas Blvdl and (2) it is like a maze in there and we're often get lost. We realised that they make it really difficult to get out so that you are more likely to stay there and gamble. Yesterday we parked at the MGM Grand and we walked in there trying to find an exit for ages. Finally I found someone who worked there and said: "I am looking for an exit - this place is like a maze and we're lost." She laughed and said: "That is because it is a maze." So, it turned out there was only one exit and it was about a 20 minute walk away. I was so happy when I finally was able to see the sky. :) In the evening we went to dinner at Macaroni Grill. I'd actually been wanting to go there for a while because I had heard good things about it. Anyway, the food was really good.






On the Sunday after church, we met up with Amber (Kohntopp) Waldron from the ELM. I just LOVE meeting up with people from my mission. It reminds me of the wonderful time I had there and the special people I met and experiences I had. Amber is doing well, has three children and a really southern accent. :) We then drove back to Utah.