Opus 158 - So Close!

Lissa is getting better at standing each day - she stood unassisted for at least a full minute today. You go girl!

Joshua, not about to have Lissa get more attention, took his first steps today! It was only two unsteady, small steps, but that's progress. Go Joshie!

Opus 157 - Piano Playing

Aren't they amazing?? I especially like Lissa's percussion part.

Obviously, Lissa and Joshua aren't playing the stuff that you hear (although if you listen closely, you can hear their "parts"). That's one of the many things I love about my piano.* Since it's digital you can set it on demo and it'll just play. The kids can come up and "play," but it's not easily heard so all you hear is great piano music :)


*Other things I love about my piano:
-The fact that the keys are real, full length, piano keys (which isn't common with digital pianos) that still have the hammer action - they just strike a computer board instead of strings
-It sounds exactly like a non-digital piano; another uncommon feature (I usually forget it's digital because it sounds so amazing)
-The casing is beautiful
-LOVE the volume switch
-Because of a wonderful friend and the generosity of the owner of a local music store we were able to get it for a very good price

Opus 156 - Our Royal Children

Lately Lissa and Joshua won't eat unless they have something to entertain them. They're latest favorite entertainment are the bubble books that Uncle Steve, Aunt Joni, Aydon, and Erneke gave them. I think it's funny to watch them "read" their books while we feed them. It's like they're royalty and we're their servants feeding them their grapes :)

Opus 155 - I Will Survive

This went around the email circuit several years ago. I remember watching it many times and laughing away. It still cracks me up :)

Opus 154 - Going Cold

When Lissa and Joshua were in the NICU the nurses always warmed up their bottles. I assume this is because many/most babies in the NICU are so small that retaining body heat is an issue. When the kids came home they would not drink a bottle unless it was warm. Since they were so small getting them to eat enough was a huge issue, so we warmed their bottles for them. Eventually, I was able to get them to drink formula made straight from the tap. It really felt good to put the bottle warmers away.

Then they switched to milk. Although they were fine with room temperature bottles, they would not drink the milk cold (no matter how much we tried). So we dusted off the bottle warmers and started warming their milk. Every few days I made the milk just a little colder so I could ease them into cold milk. We had a few set backs... RSV, colds, etc., but we are FINALLY done with the bottle warmers again. As of today, we have gone four days with cold milk.

And there was much rejoicing in the Smith Household.

Now we're gonna have to get them drinking from sippies*...



*They can drink from them, but they get the water ALL over themselves. I'm just not quite ready to have that much milk end up on them so I guess patience is the name of the game :)

Opus 153 - Moving, Moving, Moving

Joshua is so close to walking. He walks all over with his little push walker and hardly holds on to it. He has also become expert at turning the walker around when he hits a wall. I think he's just afraid to completely let go and do it on his on (very understandable).

Part of me really wants him to walk - it would be so much better on my back and arms. The kid is huge. But, there's another part of me that would like him to hold off for a little while. It's not because I want him to stay a baby forever or because I know everything will change (as far as what he can get to) when he's walking. No, it's because of Lissa. During the months that Joshua was crawling and Lissa wasn't, there was a lot of frustration on the part of Lissa which caused quite the drama. Who can blame her? Her brother was getting around and she was stuck right where she was! I just know that we'll have a similar problem when Joshua starts walking and Lissa isn't doing it yet.

So, my buddy Joshie, I know you'll start walking whenever you're ready but I wouldn't mind if you held off a little while... or maybe you could help your "little" sis out :)

BTW, Lissa is starting to stand unassisted for a few seconds at a time. Joshua started that just a few weeks ago, so maybe she won't take as long to walk as she did to crawl?? I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Opus 152 - That Lissa Is So Funny, Isn't She Joshua?

Opus 151 - The Rest of Easter

We had our annual Smith Family Easter Egg Hunt last Saturday. The kids played with the eggs a little, but I think their favorite part was crawling around Grandma and Grandpa's house :)











The morning after the Easter egg hunt, I attempted to take pictures of the kids in their Easter outfits (since I didn't the last week due to our sicknesses), but they weren't too interested in sitting still :)

Opus 150 - Nap Time

The other day Joshua and Lissa chose to play/talk/giggle in their cribs rather than sleep during their afternoon nap time. This was the result:

Opus 149 - When It's Springtime in the Rockies...

Opus 148 - A Little More Easter

Despite Jason and the kids being sick, I did manage to make some of our traditional Easter treats (cupcake Easter baskets and chocolate covered peanut butter eggs) before I got sick so we could give them to our family. Yummy stuff!

Opus 147 - Look What I Can Do!

Opus 146 - Easter Baskets

Jason's family has a tradition of giving the kids Easter baskets. We decided to carry on the tradition, but in honor of my family's tradition of doing the non-religious Easter stuff on the Saturday before, we gave the kids their baskets on Saturday. It was quite the task to find stuff to give them since they don't eat chocolate or chewy stuff yet, but I did manage to come up with stuff they like (and that fit our budget):

I bet you'll never guess which one is Jason's :)

My little bookworm...

I'm afraid our Sunday didn't feel too "Eastery." Despite the fact that all four of us weren't feeling well, we did manage to get to Sacrament Meeting and enjoy two great speakers (okay, Jason and Lissa enjoyed the speakers. I heard some of it while I was in the hall with Joshua). We also had a wonderful Easter dinner with Jason's family. I always enjoy getting together with them. Unfortunately, I was in pretty bad shape by the time the evening ended. I thought I had woken up with a cold, but by the end of the night I had a fever and a massive migraine. Here's hoping we're all feeling better by this Saturday when we have the Smith Easter egg hunt!

Opus 145 - Easter Bunnies

Last Easter Lissa and Joshua were still in the NICU. The parent support group gave them little bunnies so we took a picture with the kids and their bunnies. The nurse told us we should take a picture the next Easter so we can see how much they've grown. So I attempted to get them to pose with their bunnies for a picture. Note to self: Not a good idea to try to get two one year olds to pose for a picture by yourself; get help next time.

It is amazing to see how much they've grown in the past year (and a little more since Easter was in March last year). I actually cried when I saw the two pictures - they seem so helpless and tiny in their 2008 picture and so big and strong in their year's picture. I say this a lot, but I'm very proud of my kiddos. They are my little miracles and I love them so much!

(they're obviously a lot more interested in the cell phone than the bunnies - so technology driven - LOL)

Opus 144 - Very Funny

My friend Sarah shared this on Facebook* and thought I'd share it here. I found it very funny - it really hit home for me!



A few weeks ago Peter Segal, the host of NPR's "Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me" said this quote during his show. I think the little interjection was Tom Bodett. It could have been PJ O'Rourke, I'm not sure.

They were just talking about a law change somewhere in Europe that allows elementary music teachers to wear ear plugs because of the potential damaging decibel levels in the class. One of the last comments was:

"An elementary school music teacher is someone who loves music, who has devoted their life to it [and hears it ruined all day long]. . .It's like an animal lover who works in a slaughter house."

This quote was from the Jan 25, 2009 show.


*If you're not on Facebook yet, what's keeping ya? :) It's great! Come on... everyone else is doing it... LOL! In all seriousness though, I could do a whole post on why I love Facebook - it's a great way to reconnect and stay connected with friends.

Opus 143 - Advantages

Being a twin does have some advantages:

There's never a shortage of sippy cups!

Opus 142 - Come Thou Fount

A month ago I went to a local junior high to work with some French horns. A friend of mine, who is an amazing musician and band director, just started teaching there this year and asked me to help out. Of course I was happy to do it. I love working with young students and I'd do anything for Connie - she did so much to help me when I was teaching.

I wasn't expecting anything in return. This is what we band directors do for each other; we help each other out whenever and however we can. But, I got a very pleasant surprise in the mail the other day. It was a very sweet card and the new Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD, "Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing."

I was so surprised and very happy at the same time. I have wanted to purchase this CD, but it's not something I feel I should spend money on right now, so I haven't. How wonderful to receive it as a gift!* I love Mack Wilberg's arrangements of folk hymns, he has amazing talent. Come, Thou Fount is one of my favorite of his arrangements.

I realize that some people feel Come, Thou Fount is over sung - it has become quite a standard for the MoTab. However, my love for Come, Thou Fount started long before the MoTab was singing it. It began approximately 13 years ago (really, 13 years ago?? I must be getting old) when I first started working as a secretary for the BYU Music Office. We had a copy of "A Thanksgiving of American Folk Hymns," which had been recorded fairly recently.

It's a wonderful CD, if you don't have it, I highly recommend it (tantararecords.com). For those of you who aren't familiar with Mack Wilberg and his work history, before he was hired by the MoTab in the late 90's, he directed the Concert Choir and Men's Chorus at BYU. Many of the arrangements you hear the MoTab sing today were originally performed by his BYU Choirs. "A Thanksgiving of American Folk Hymns" includes many of his arrangements.

The last song on the CD is Come, Thou Fount. We used to turn it up REALLY loud when it would get to that track - so loud that I'm sure it carried throughout the gallary of the HFAC (music building at BYU). What glorious music!!! I always get a chill when the horns hit the high note during the climax. As I try to write how this particular arrangment makes me feel I am at a loss of words. There just aren't words to describe how music makes you feel. That which cannot be expressed in words is best expressed in music. I admit that there are many songs that give me this glorious feeling - Come, Thou Fount is one of my favorites (my students will tell you that I have MANY favorites, but this is one of my favorite of my favorites**).

Now that I have expressed my love of Come, Thou Fount, I should mention that there are many great songs on the new MoTab CD. Come, Thou Fount just happens to be my favorite :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you Connie for this beautiful gift! I love the CD and will always enjoy listening to it!






*I should note that Connie is a member of the MoTab; what a terrific accomplishment!

**A few of the other songs that give me this incredible feeling - Jupiter from Holst's The Planets Suite; Sibilius's Finlandia; A Movement For Rosa by Mark Camphouse; Frank Ticheli's arrangement of Amazing Grace; Elegy for a Young American by Ronald Lo Presti; As Summer Was Just Beginning by Larry Daehn; Samuel Barber's Adigio for Strings.

Opus 141 - It's So Hard To Say Goodbye

I love little girls' shoes. They are just so darn cute! I'm always sad when Lissa outgrows her shoes. She has finally moved into size 3; I took a picture of my favorite size 2 shoes so I can remember how cute they are :)

Opus 140 - Joe the Plumber's Got Nothing On Me!

We have a particular sink in our house that gets clogged a lot. So much so that I have become quite the expert plumber. I usually have to unclog it every day. I have pulled numerous items from the sink's drain - everything from puzzle pieces to books to firemen to animals. My favorite is when I see the kids attempt to put a skillet or large toy ring down the drain. If you happen to own this particular brand of sink and ever need help getting something out, give me a call - I'd be glad to help!

Opus 139 - Happy Anniversary!

It was one year ago today that our little Joshua came home from the hospital. What a wonderfully happy day that was! It was so amazing to finally have our entire family home! After Lissa left the hospital Joshua decided it was time to kick it in gear - he took his gavage tube out every time the nurses put it in. Eventually they gave up and quit putting it back in. Joshua proved that he knew what he was doing - he never needed a gavage feeding again; he just drank and drank from his bottle. He hasn't stopped pigging out since then :)

Happy Anniversary Joshua - I love you so much! I'm so glad you're my little boy!

Opus 138 - Happy Anniversary!

As of today, it has been exactly one year since Lissa came home from the hospital. It was a wonderful and sad day. We were so excited to have our little Lissa come home, yet so sad that Joshua wasn't coming with her. Lissa was sad to leave her Joshua too - it was only during those two days they were apart that she made Joshua's "sheep" noise. She would do it, wait a few seconds, then whimper. We could only assume that she was calling out for Joshua, then whimpering upon realizing that he wasn't there :( It was sad, yet so cute at the same time!

Despite all of that, it was so wonderful to finally have Lissa-Boo home. Happy Anniversary Lissa! I love you!