12 Days of Snickmas

On the twelfth day of Snickmas my true love gave to me:

12 Gummy smiles

11 nights of teething

10 TJ Maxx Trips

9 days of sitting up

8 loads of laundry

7 cupcake outfits

6 pounds of cheek chub

5 nasty blowouts!

4 law school finals

3 grabs at the camera

2 blue eyes

And a chubby Christmas baby!

A Small, Snow Covered Tree

My Dad wrote an article that was published in the Ensign a few years ago. I read it this morning and felt that it was too inspiring not to share.

Click HERE to read it.

Just scroll down to the second story.

The Clothes Horse's Dilemma

Before I had the Evster, my favorite thing in the world was picking out my outfits each day.

Then I got pregnant and suddenly getting dressed made me irritable, depressed, and slightly hysterical.

Disclaimer: For those of you who have never been pregnant, I hate to put a raincloud over your disillusions, but "pregnancy glow" DOES NOT EXIST, at least not for me anyway. The only "glow" I exhibited during my entire pregnancy was the habitual sweat on my upper lip from daily hot flashes. I wasn't a skinny girl with a cute belly, I was a blob with a triple chin. Nobody asked me if I was pregnant until I was seven months along because I just looked fat until then.

Wow, can you tell I'm bitter?

Anyway, I found myself wondering if I'd ever love getting dressed again.

Then I had a baby and I went from being slightly hysterical to completely and utterly distraught. I didn't feel like me. I looked in the mirror and saw Kirstie Alley - gahhhhhhhhh!

Everyone said I would feel like me again, just give it time, blah blah blah! I wanted my body back NOW. I didn't believe anyone (sorry Darc) when they told me that I'd ever be myself again.

*Insert epiphany about how dramatic I am*

7 1/2 months later I finally feel like me and I love getting dressed again. I love opening my closet and saying hello to long lost tops and jeans that have waited patiently for me to make them look oh-so-good! And it's not about being "skinny" for me. Its about feeling good. And I feel good when I exercise, eat healthy, and fit into my clothes because I LOVE CLOTHES.

I can't help it. I've tried.

I. cannot. deny. it.

And do you know what's better than dressing yourself?

Dressing your baby.

Its like Christmas EVERYDAY! A cute, chubby Christmas that just keeps on givin'.

Each day after our shared bowl of oatmeal, Evster and I go into her room and pick out her outfit for the day. In my mind I'm usually hoping for a minor blowout so that I can pick out two outfits for that day. (emphasis on the minor)

Sometimes Ev rocks the jeggings.

Work it girl. Your diaper bum is so lush!

Classic bootcut.

Trendy leggings in chic black.

Comfy and cute!

Casual boyfriend jean.

Disclaimer: While Evie does in fact wear the boyfriend jeans, she DOES NOT have any boyfriends. (lots of suitors though)

So there you have it. I loved getting dressed, got sad when I got pregnant because getting dressed was poo, had my baby, realized that having a baby was the best thing that happened to me, and now I want seven baby girls to dress up.

Please don't quote me on the seven girls thing.

Flashback Friday: Bad Family Photos Part One

We all take them. There is no shame in admitting that horrible family photos are part of your past and most likely future, if you are the Smart family.

This is part one of let's say, an infinite part series, of bad Smart family photos.

And who doesn't love a cheesy Christmas card photo?

As a chubby prepubescent girl of about 12, my mom should have saved me the embarrassment and told me "NO," when I asked her if I could borrow the sister to her heinous Christmas sweater. Mom, I'm totally blaming you for my lack of friends in middle school. Granted, my "tattoo" necklace from Claire's and awesomely bad hairstyle aren't doing me any favors either, but STILL! Help a daughter out...

Lil' D however, would be quite adorable in her awkward Christmas sweater if it weren't for the super distracting polar bear headband with faux santa hat and jingle bells. Was this before or after we went caroling to Sister Byree's?

Disclaimer: Sister Byree is a sweet old woman my dad home taught for a gazillion years. She was blind and deaf, but every year at Christmas we would pack our suburban dressed in HIDEOUS christmas hats and headbands and go caroling to her house. My dad always said we were going to bring some holiday cheer to Sister Byree, but I know that deep down, he just wanted to bust his harmonica in the vicinity of someone who was nearly completely deaf.

Speaking of Clark Griswald, ahem, I mean my dad, how come he is the only person that gets to dress like a normal human being in this picture? It's quite misleading...

Does this seem normal to you?

Growing up Griswald does have it's perks though - we always had the "hap, hap happiest" Christmas of any family I knew.

Back to our bad family photo. Let's focus on Shea for a sec. I don't blame him for his scared/awkward expression. I might have made that face too if I was forced to wear yet another UnionBay sweater for family pictures.

And Chels and Darc! Kim and Kourt would be so disappointed in your lack of originality in choice of ugly Christmas sweaters. The Kardashians would however, approve of your slightly matching manly haircuts. Tucked behind both ears and flipped out with a 2-inch curling iron? Nice work guys!

And Mom. Its hard to poke fun at such a beautiful woman, but the Christmas sweater is too much. I'm pretty sure it has a switch that turns the Christmas lights around the collar on and off. I'm pretty sure I saw an episode of What Not to Wear where Stacy and Clinton outlawed those forever.

The worst part of this photo?

We actually used it for our Christmas card. We sent it out to seventy-five friends and relatives exclaiming, "Look how weird and ugly the Smarts got this year!"

I'm sure people especially looked at me and thought, "Who is that? Is she 40 or 12? Poor thing." And I say "thing," because most people probably weren't sure if I was a man or woman, boy or girl. Hey, I can't blame them can I?

Unfortunately, you can't look at a really bad family photo and know how totally awesome the people in it are. Unless you are focusing on me, then you would have a clear indication of how "awesome" I was.

Luckily the Griswald's/Smart's have been through enough together that the heinous family photos seem not so bad after all.

I hope you all have the "hap, hap happiest Christmas since Bing Crosby tap danced with Danny-bleeping-Kaye!"

Before and During

Since I probably won't finish our living room/family room/den/playroom/reading nook until our last year of law school, I thought I would post Before and During pictures instead of Before and After.

Before.

During

As Cher Horowitz would say, "Not a total betty, but a vast improvement."

I still have so much I want to do. Curtains in a plum purple on either side of the fireplace, a comfy chair where the lamp is for a reading nook, figure out what I'm actually doing with the fireplace and put some stuff up there, etc.

Things I hate about our apartment:

1. ALUMINUM BLINDS. Seriously? Gag, gag, gag!

2. A fireplace with no mantle = boo.

3. Windows that don't open = double boo.

4. White walls and beige trim. (no contrast makes finding a paint color difficult)

So normally I wouldn't lie in bed at night and think, "Wow, I'd love to paint my apartment the weirdest color of purple ever seen," BUT, when your landlord gives you such strict criteria (beige or pastel), you've gotta roll with it. I would have simply done a beige, tan, or light grey wall but the trim is beige and that just doesn't work.

So there it is. I found a tutorial on Pinterest for a ruffled curtain. I'd love this one from Urban Outfitters, but I think given a few months and some painkillers I could bust out a sloppy version for half the price. I definitely want to go with a plum though. I'm obsessed with plum lately.

Speaking of plum, I have worn these everyday since my Mom gave them to me for my birthday.

They are so fab. I always tell Nick that I have three babies. Now I have four.

My babies

1. Evster (Duh! She is numero uno for a reason)

2. My red kitchen aid

3. My dijon-colored Le Creuset dutch oven

4. My rain boots.

That all sounds so vain of me (except for the first one), but I can't help but love 'em.

And what's a blogpost without my favorite baby of all time?

Suddenly my other babies seem so lame...