Easter

We had the Allen's over for easter last week, and it was a lot of fun. Other than the extraordinary amount of tornado warnings and rain, it was a typical easter weekend.

Jennie tried to explain to Harvey and Owen the true reason we celebrate easter, and how it relates to candy. She did a great job actually, but the boys really didn't pay any attention. They were much too excited to be in the "off limits" room.
Both Harvey and Owen received the same baskets they had from the previous years. They were high on little toys and low on candy. BOTH little guys devoured their cadbury cream eggs as soon as thy found them. We may have taken the rest of the candy away at that point to try and have some normalcy for church.
After church and well needed naps, we all went and had an easter BBQ at the Baers. We had an impromptu egg hunt that went over so well the boys kept throwing the eggs back out so they could "find" them again.

FYI Easter BBQ is SOOOO much simpler than an Easter ham. This may become a tradition here in the Smith house.

Fashions of a 2 Year Old.

Harvey is pretty easy going when it comes to his clothes. For the most part, if it has a truck on it he will wear it. Sometimes though. he wants to do his own thing. These are somethings I've learned from my fashion bubbie.

Blankets go with everything.

Shoes should never match.

All you need is a good accessory.

Headbands are manly.

Long Day

Some days I feel just like this.


Harvey played long and hard at the Gulbrandson's this morning. This was even AFTER his 2 hour nap.

Prepping for Plants

We've been wanting to plant strawberries for a while now, but for one reason or another this year is the first one we've actually put them in the ground. Monday I picked up some random ones from Walmart. They were generic, and the package said 'strawberries.' I have no idea how they will turn out, but i figured for the price it was worth trying. Today however, I found the ever bearing variety that I have been looking for. I like the idea of having strawberries all summer rather than just in June. It is SO exciting!

Anyways, after I planted them, we tried out our new hose nozzle for the first time. Harvey thought it was amazing.

Harvey also liked that he didn't have to go inside to get a drink.

Spring Zoo

The last week of March, we went up to St Louis to visit with the Allen's and go to the zoo. The week leading up to our visit was in the 70's. Saturday, however, was much colder. How cold do you ask? Lemme put it this way. Inside the penguin house was warmer than walking outside.

Regardless, we had a nice time visiting and to be truthful the zoo is more fun in the cold due to the fact that it is much less crowded. The only thing we missed out on was riding the carousel.

We started off by letting Harvey park the car. Or, at least letting him think he was parking the car while we waited for the zoo to open. I always forget that Captain arrives a half hour sooner when driving than I do.

Our first stop is always the penguins as they are everyone's favorite.

Captain wante to take these foxes home with us. They were tiny! About the same size as a small cat.
The red pandas are my personal favorite. I love the stripy tails. For some reason though, the zoo does not make a magnet with these adorable animals on them.

After the Allens joined up with us, Harvey and Owen scrieked with delight that to see their best buddy. They spend all day holding hands and racing strollers.

The jeep in the children's zoo is Harvey and Owen's favorite thing. They would spend ALL DAY LONG in that thing. Seriously there were many tears shed when we told them it was time to let some other kiddo play in it.

We wound up staying the night due to a snow storm. (See I told you it was cold!) Harvey and Owen went to nursery together, and then showed us how to fold our arms for prayers.

Harvey may not have the whole concept down yet, but he gets an A for trying. While we were watching general conference, I told Harvey to fold his arms for the prayer. He did, but he continued to jump off the chairs while doing so.

Toddlers are a constant work in progress.

Diaper Rash Part 2

I heard a thump followed by some crying. Not your every day tantrum crying, or painful screaming, but more like the dreadful moaning of the end of the world. So I went to investigate.

You may remember Harvey's horrible diaper rash. Well it has cleared up for the most part again. In case you were wondering the doc has no idea what it is since the cultures came back negative.

We have found, however, the best way to fight this rash is to prevent Harvey's sensitive bottom from getting the more ordinary kinds of rashes. Doing so requires lots of naked time, patience with accidents, but mostly a but load of diaper rash ointment. The best kind for Harvey so far has been A&D ointment, which is primary made out of petroleum jelly.

You may be wondering at this point how this all relates to the screaming. Tuesday I made the executive decision to try the generic petroleum jelly and save us a few bucks. It is about $.75 per ounce cheaper than A&D Ointment. So far it has been working fine and I was happy with my frugality.

That is, until I went to check on my poor moaning toddler. I was all ready to tell him to go back to bed and in doing so pick him up gently and set him on the bed. I wasn't prepared for what happened next.

Harvey was sticky, and not just on his face, but over his entire body.

That's right you guessed it. He had covered himself in the petroleum jelly. The generic stuff comes in a tub, which makes it easier for me to use, and apparently easier for Harvey to get into. He had covered himself in it and when I came in he was trying to remove it with his blankie.

For the record Harvey has no problem with dirt, food, or most other foreign objects on his body, but for some reason he can't stand being sticky. I think it has to do with how much cat hair we have floating around the house.

So Harvey happily took a bath, delaying his nap time while I went and cleaned up the room. Luckily for me, he didn't get any petroleum jelly on the carpet, so it was fairly easy to clean up. FYI if you are trying to remove petroleum jelly from a red Book of Mormon with spray degreaser the color will bleed off onto your rag. But other than that everything was fine.

Except for Harvey. After his bath was over he had to go back to taking a nap, only this time without his special blankie.

So the question for you all is, Do you think that if I picked up another jar of petroleum jelly, that Harvey will have learned his lesson and leave well enough alone? Or will this disaster just repeat itself? Honestly, I'm not sure it's worth saving $3 to tempt fate.