8-8-08 = Brandon Place Smith Babies X 2!!

I have anxiously awaited the go ahead on sharing this news, and I finally got it! Our super cute neighbors, Justin and Amy are having their first baby and guess what the due date is...that's right...we are due the same day! And, did I mention we are both Smiths (no relation). How fun will it be to have two Smith Babies this summer!! Of course, I immediately discussed names with Amy. We can't have children born on the same day with the same first and last name that live in the same neighborhood. Can you imagine the confusion that would cause in elementary school! Luckily none of our girl or boy names were the same. Yeah! Smith's Rule!!

In other pregnancy news...Gwen is also pregnant with number two at the same time I am. You know Gwen...as in Stefani. If you know me, you know I am obsessed with her! Anderson and Kingston were born just three weeks apart and now we are pregnant together again. I need to call and invite little Kingston over for a playdate soon... Ha! :-)

So pretty....??

So put this down in the books under the ever growing heading of...Did He Really Just Say That?? This morning as I was getting dressed I decided to try on a dress that I was planning on wearing for an upcoming Mardi Gras Ball. I needed to make sure I could still wear it and breathe with my newly thickening waist line. Anyway, Anderson was in the floor playing and looked up at me in the dress and said..."SOOOO pretty!" With his shoulders drawn up and his hands folded in his lap in that sweet, but shy expression that I LOVE! I said..."what?" to which he said..."Mommy, so pretty". MELT MY HEART!

Vote...Boy or Girl??

As you can see I have added a "poll" to the right side of the blog. This blogger stuff is so easy it's scary!! Anyone can vote, so PLEASE do so. I am curious to see what everyone else thinks this bambino is. You don't have to have a blogger account or anything ...just simply select your answer! Happy voting...

Who could resist??

I saw these today and had to have them. I am so excited that we are keeping the sex a secret until the birth!! I am really enjoying buying a few small things for "boy" and "girl" for the first few days after the baby's birth (until I can unpack all of Anderson's things or my mom goes and buys every single pink thing in the greater Tuscaloosa and Birmingham area...)

Ode to Pickles...and their juice

My dearest pickles,

Words can not express the appreciation I have had for you these last 12 weeks. When my pregnancy freakishly made my mouth tastes like pennies...only you could really help. You were there for me every night and never failed to make my mouth taste better! I am FINALLY feeling better now and many (the sucking on pennies symptom being one) of my yucky pregnancy quirks are slowly going away. I just wanted to thank you for your service in my time of need!

Sincerely,

Momma Smith

*** The picture above is how Jeff brought them to me one night when I was feeling really bad. The hubs definitely gets 4 stars for presentation!

A Father's Heart

Those of you that live in the Tuscaloosa or surrounding area are aware of this because it has been in the news so much lately, but I thought I'd post it for the benefit of those that read the blog from other areas. Last Saturday radio personality Rick Burgess from the Rick and Bubba show (actually nationally aired, but most popular in the southern states) lost his 2 1/2 year old son, William Bronner Burgess. The show is not a favorite of mine, but is extremely popular for its "Good Old Boy" humor. One thing that I have always respected about it though is that both hosts make no secret of their walk with God. How easy it would be for them not to get into such a "controversial" topic...but they did it nearly daily.

Rick was speaking at a youth conference in Tennessee when his wife and 5 children were at home in Birmingham enjoying the newly fallen snow. Later that night as the children settled in to watch a movie mom Sherri decided to go and take a shower. When she came out Bronner was missing. Her worst nightmare was realized as she ran to their backyard pool. Somehow Bronner slipped out without anyone noticing and either found a door unlocked or was able to unlock it himself. Perhaps he wanted to go back outside to see the snow, but for whatever reason he drowned in their pool only to be found by his sweet and devastated mother, Sherri.

Rick was immediately told of the news and his best friend Scott Dawson, who was running the youth conference in Tennessee wanted to travel back with him. Rick thought about it for a split second and then asked him to stay behind to keep fighting the good fight for all of those teenagers. What an unselfish act on his part. Three days later Rick did something I don't think I could ever do...he spoke at his own son's funeral. The result was truly amazing. We may never know how many lives Bronner saved in his time of death. The church was open to the public and was packed out on a weekday...everyone having taken off work to attend the funeral of a little boy that most of them had never even met. Rick says in this service that he felt God calling him to speak at the funeral, to use his place of high visibility with the media to draw people near to God and challenge them to strengthen their connection with him. He said to Rick something along the lines of "I want them to see you and be perplexed and know that you could not do this without me."

The service is in three parts and I am telling you it is one of the most powerful things Jeff and I have ever heard. If you can't take time to listen to all of it I would say at least try to listen to the 3rd part. You will not be sorry that you did. Rick never cried...not once because as he said- Bronner is with the only person who could love him more than me... WOW!

www.rickandbubba.com or
http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rick+burgess

Big Boy Cups...

Anderson has become obsessed with all things "Big Boy". He is now refusing to sit in a highchair, and most of the time refuses to sit in his booster as well. He wants to eat with us in a regular chair! He's a little short, but he gets so determined to get up in the chair and then looks so proud of himself afterwards that I don't have the heart to move him.

He is also refusing sippy cups most of the time. He is always after mine and Jeff's glasses of whatever. He of course tilts them up and immediately spills the contents all down the front of his shirt usually before we even knows he has it in his hands.

This is captured beautifully in the pictures below. And it had to be my cup of Hot Chocolate from earlier in the night...couldn't be water....no something nice dark and stain worthy is much better!

Snow Pictures...Blizzard '08!

Well over the weekend Tuscaloosa and the surrounding areas got a little snow! Of course people around here were acting like it was a blizzard, but it actually ended up being a little over an inch. Of course, by the time I got out to take the pictures a lot of it had melted. Anderson was with my mom for the weekend, so some of these pics are at our house and some are ones she took at hers. I especially love the ones taken from our back deck of the woods behind our house. We love that we have so many trees to look at during all the seasons! It makes you feel like you aren't even really in a neighborhood! Enjoy...Brrr!

Now the ones of little man from Mom's House...

Our Weekend...the good, the bad and the UGLY!!

The "good" was a ton of good food...the "bad" was a sick baby and the "UGLY" would be WALGREENS!!! AGGHHHH!!!

The plan for this weekend was to let GiGi (my mom) have some quality time with Anderson while Jeff and I finished up some projects around the house...cleaning out the garage and cleaning out closets. Jeff had an attic door installed for the space above our garage for extra storage in order to make room for his manly garage. I will be sure to post pics when he finishes it. He is painting, installing metal cabinets, staining the floor, etc...an all out man cave type room for my hubby the handyman is the goal!

Well Anderson came down with the croup Wednesday night, but after a trip to the pediatrician and a couple of strong prescriptions later he was feeling better and we decided he was OK to spend the weekend with GiGi...my mom was not going to give up on her time with the little man easily! She is also an RN so he was probably better off with her in the first place! HA! So, mom came down to Tuscaloosa Friday morning and we went to lunch at the Yacht Club, since we NEVER use our minimum in the winter months. The club has tons of animal statues due to the owners love of art. It was a feast for Anderson's eyes. He even said a new word as we walked out the door and past a pair of statues by the door...COUGAR. Yep, it was just that... a statue of a cougar. He also said strawberry while at lunch. They are his favorite food, but he hasn't ever actually called them by name! After lunch mom loaded him up and was off to her house for the weekend with me, of course, calling about 5 times a day!

Meanwhile, Jeff and decided to head out for dinner Friday night since we never get to do that alone anymore! We had an excellent dinner at Chuck's Fish. I ordered a steak and managed to eat all of it and hold it down! Miracle of all Miracles!! The next day we woke up to snow, which made me sort of sad. It was Anderson's first snow and we missed him, but my mom took lots of pictures of him playing in the white stuff at her house! Jeff and I began work on our projects and although we tried we really didn't manage to get all that much actually completed...but progress is progress, right? Saturday night we headed out for dinner again...what a treat! Twice in one weekend! This time we hit up one of my favorites... DePalma's Italian!! They have incredible salad and pasta. We ate until we were stuffed and yes my friends...I managed to enjoy and keep my meal...again!!!

Sunday we headed up to Birmingham to attend The Church of the Highlands. Jeff and I joined the church back in September because they opened a Tuscaloosa campus. This was a church that I attended when I lived in Birmingham, so when I heard they were opening a campus in t-town I begged Jeff to go and visit. We were in a church already, but once we visited C of H we knew it was where we were supposed to be. We both committed to helping with the church plant in Tuscaloosa and it has blessed us immeasurably. We LOVE our new church home! Since we have been going in Tuscaloosa we have been wanting to visit the "big" parent church in Birmingham to check out their new facility. We went and were really wowed by how big it was. Last Sunday they had 8200 people in attendance during 3 services. AMAZING!!

And to keep with the gluttony...we went to lunch at my Birmingham favorite SURIN!! Thai food is the best and I swear I could have eaten a gallon of the coconut shrimp soup! Afterwards, we headed to mom's to pick up Anderson. We got there a little before he woke up from his nap...and when he woke up from his nap it was clear that something was wrong. He was feverish, raspy and VERY cranky! My poor mom kept saying I swear he wasn't like this all weekend...I swear I would have told you he was this sick....Please let him come back...poor thing, she was so scared we were mad at her. We loaded him up and called the after hours pediatrician. As we drove home we waited for a returned call...and waited...and waited. After reaching Tuscaloosa an hour and 20 minutes later we decided to go to Med Center North instead of braving the emergency room and its millions of germs and shady characters. Of course the returned phone call came as we pulled into the clinic...thanks for the prompt service!

So we are there for two hours all said and done and turns out Anderson's croup developed into a severe head cold/sinus infection. With two prescriptions in hand we head to walgreens the only remotely close 24 hour pharmacy (it is now 7:00 on a Sunday night). They were so busy that we waited for 30 minutes in line just to drop off the prescription. We headed home to get Anderson in a steamy shower to get the funk out of his head and then I was going to go back and pick up the medicine. At 8:00 just as I was about to leave they called to tell us they were out of BOTH medications! Are you kidding me??? I was so ticked...how do you run out of the most commonly prescribed antibiotic on the face of the earth! So at 8:30, an hour past his bedtime, we finally put the monkey to bed and prayed that I could get the prescription to our pharmacy to be filled first thing Monday morning. He tossed and turned all night. At one point I went in and held him and rocked him, which seemed to help a little, but it was still a restless night for all of us.

So now at 10:00 am, 14 hours later, my baby is finally medicated and sleeping...what a weekend!

Just a quick note...

Really it is more of a pity party for me! I would never have believed that this pregnancy would be kicking my butt like it is right now. I think the first trimester is like childbirth...you block the memory or else everyone would be an only child! Symptoms...well let's see...there is the morning sickness that seems to last ALL DAY. I was able for a couple of weeks to at least count a few hours in the morning as "good", but now not even that is sacred. I have officially lost weight instead of gaining (not something I would ever have imagined to be a "bad" thing...except in pregnancy).

There is also this weird thing that no one really talks about, but it actually has a name- Dysgeusia. It is the odd and very gross metallic taste that most women experience in the first trimester. I feel like I have been walking around sucking on pennies. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck.

The exhaustion is still pretty bad. I remember being pregnant with Anderson and teaching until 3:00 only to come home and completely crash. Somehow, Anderson never leaves at 3:00! HA!! ..and I thought 12th graders wore me out. On most nights I could go to bed at 7:30, but the few times I have actually done that have sort of backfired. I then wake up at around 3:00 and feel like it's time to start my day...so I try to stick it out until at least 8:30 or 9:00.

The food thing is completely strange to me. With Anderson all I craved was red sauce, pastas, tomatoes, and starches. This baby has its own little preferences... SWEETS! I have never been a sweet eater. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-sweets. However, I have always chosen to spend my extra calorie splurges on things involving bread and cheese. I dare say...gulp...I don't even like chocolate. That's right, I said it...I don't. My husband thinks this qualifies me as unamerican and certainly un-girl! All I want lately is sweets and chocolate. I rarely keep sweets in the house, so Jeff laughed uncontrollably when I made a Britney-esque pit stop at a gas station yesterday during an errand and came back with rice krispie treats and strawberry iced pop-tarts. He thought I was kidding when I told him that was what I was going in for! It is so bizarre for my body to crave something so desperately that wasn't all that appealing just a couple of months ago. And yes...I have been told that this means we are having a girl. I'll believe it when I see it!

I am so ready to rejoin the land of the living. Hopefully in 2 more weeks with the end of my first trimester some of these nasty side effects will begin to subside! I do have to give a little shout out to my hubby. He has been such a help these last few weeks with dishes, dinner, laundry, Anderson, etc... and as always he does it with a cheerful heart. I am lucky to have him!

Yummy!

Anderson is really starting to master eating with utensils. He still makes a little bit of a mess, but does manage to get most food securely in his mouth! He LOVES the act of "stabbing" things with his fork. It can sometimes make mealtime a little on the long side, but he's got to learn somehow, right??

The following pictures are a lovely little series...Anderson now thinks that ANYTHING light in color and round is a cookie...why? I haven't a clue. Anyway, one morning he made his way into the pantry with no one looking and grabbed a bag of tortillas and gleefully announced "cooookeeee". Before I could grab him he had taken a bite out of the tortilla. The look on his face as he realized it didn't taste quite as good as a cookie was priceless and kept us laughing for the rest of the day. The last picture is my favorite. He kept looking at it with this confused little stare as if he could "will" it into a sugar cookie!

We also gave Anderson his very first frozen treat. Yes, I know he is almost 19 months and has never had ice cream. I just wanted to develop some healthy eating habits before introducing him to sweets. I still flaked out on the ice cream and gave him yogurt instead...I know... I am THAT mom. :-) He loved it though as seen in these pics! Of course, he also had to have a taste of mommy's too!

And lastly, a completely off topic picture...This was from a couple of Saturdays ago when my morning (all day) sickness was really at its worse. Jeff was having to be Mr. Mom because I could barley lift my head without getting sick. I am sort of feeling better, but am far from my normal self. I did manage to get the Christmas decorations down...finally, but our house is a wreck. Ms. Karen the housekeeper comes tomorrow and let's just say I hope she doesn't quit! Anyway check out Anderson as dressed by daddy...

The Day Mommy's Heart Nearly Stopped...

Yesterday was one of those days that I know (no matter how hard I try) I will not be able to get out of my head. My precious angel fell almost 5 feet off of our deck and into our backyard. Before I go on I will gladly let you know that he is fine. In fact, I think he is doing better than his mommy!


Yesterday morning was a relatively warm one here in Tuscaloosa, and Anderson has been stir crazy being stuck inside with the freakishly cold temperatures the two weeks before...so I knew we would be spending most of our day outside. For those of you that haven't ever been on our home, let me set the scene for you. Our kitchen and living room sort of open up to our deck. There is a door in the living room leading to the deck and a big bay window in the kitchen that basically views the deck and backyard. Last summer as Anderson became more mobile, Jeff and I wanted to make sure the deck was safe for him. We made sure there wasn't any splinters and Jeff re-nailed every single spindle railing to make sure they were all good and sturdy. We got a baby gate for the top of the deck stairs and pulled any and all furniture away from the edges so that he couldn't climb on something and fall over the side. After all of this we finally considered it a safe space for Anderson to play. We set up a sandbox and some trucks and balls and let him rip. We never left him unattended, but would occasionally run into the kitchen to answer the phone, but even then we would be watching him through the bay window. In 9 months there has never been a problem...until yesterday.


Apparently over the winter the wood on our deck settled, expanded, etc.. and there was one spindle that was loose on the bottom (which of course we had no clue about). My child yesterday managed to lean on that one particular spindle while I was in the doorway talking to Jeff on the phone. One second he was there and then I looked up and he was gone. In the split second before he cried out I glanced the deck over realizing he wasn't on the deck. Then I heard him scream...it was the worst moment of my life! I tore through the babygate screaming hysterically and flew down the steps to the yard completely scared of what I was about to see. I just knew he would have a broken bone or worse...I scooped him up immediately and didn't see any blood. I grabbed him and took him back inside and stripped his clothes off while singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, as not to scare him further and as an effort to force us both to calm down. I scrutinized his naked little body looking for blood, scratches or bruises. The child had not a single scratch on him except a small goose egg on his noggin. I gave him some juice and a banana to help calm him down and he wolfed it down, wrapped his arm around my neck and began singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Five minutes later he was begging to go outside again...ummm...yeah he may not leave the house again until he's 50!


The drop was huge and led directly into a flower bed with a wooden border...he could have hit that or the spindle could have fallen with him...there was a nail in it...and the torturing thoughts of what could have happened go on and on and on. All I know is that there was an angel watching over Anderson yesterday, and I am so thankful. I know boys are rough and tumble. Jeff even pointed out that one day I will hear that scream and run out and there will be a broken leg or arm...and for those reasons I hope beyond reason that this baby growing in my tummy is a girl! I don't think I can handle two boys after yesterday!!

I hesitated about putting this story on here because I was afraid someone in cyber space would consider me a bad mommy, but after thinking it over for a while I decided to put it on here anyway. After talking to two friends with older children they had stories very similar to our situation yesterday and it made me feel better...like it happens to lots of people. They just don't say much about it because they don't want anyone thinking they are being a bad mommy. So, for anyone reading this in cyberspace, when your child does have one of these weird accidents, take heart. It isn't just you! Try as we may, we can't protect our children from everything...which for me is a little hard to swallow!

What a Miracle

I was always in awe of the human body during my pregnancy with Anderson, but that feeling seems to be even more heightened this time around. Anyone who experiences or even researches the development of a baby must know there is a God. Otherwise, how in the world could you explain all of the millions of miraculous changes that the body experiences that must be perfectly timed in order to sustain and grow a little person!

I love reading developmental websites to see what is going on with our little one. This website is one of my favorites http://www.ehd.org/dev_article_unit10.php It has little movie clips that inform you about different stages of the babies development.

Another website I love is http://www.i-am-pregnant.com/pregnancy/calendar/week/9 This week's page had an amazing picture of an actual baby at 9 weeks in utero.

Many of you have been asking how I am feeling and unfortunately I can't say anything poitive! I have been much more sick than I was with Anderson. The morning sickness is more like "All-day" sickness and is especially bad in the afternoon and at night. With Anderson I had rough afternoons for about 2 weeks or so, but then it was gone and I felt great. The exhaustion is also a factor that is making me pretty miserable. Anderson starts back to Mom's Morning Out again on Wednesday, so hopefully I can get some rest. Pregnancy doesn't lend itself to chasing after an 18 month, and I am praying that these nasty symptoms only last for a couple of more weeks...maybe by then I can muster up the energy to take down my Christmas decorations...and no, sadly, I am not kidding!

Happy New Year...with a new Baby!!!!!

We got quite the surprise the first weekend in December...Check it out!

Baby Smith #2 is due August 13, but due to a repeat C-section they want to take this baby one week early, so we are asking for a scheduled section on August 8th. If I make it that long, which is a BIG if, then the baby's bday would be 8-8-08!

We were going to start trying in Feb/ March, but looks like God had other plans for us! We were so shocked that all in all we took 10 pregnancy tests before we really believed it! ha!! Since the little bambino was such a surprise we have decided to stick with that theme and keep the sex a surprise until the birth.

I am starting my ninth week and even though it was earlier than we planned we are excited to share our "little" secret!!

Here is baby's first picture!

More Christmas Pics...

Christmas day after getting our visit from Santa we headed up to Birmingham to have dinner with GiGi and Pop (my mom and step-dad). It was a ton of fun as it usually is, with a completely packed house! My step-brother Todd and his wife Susan were there. Both of my sisters made it home from Nashville and Tampa. Jennifer celebrated her first "married" Christmas this year with hubby Jeff...and yes it is very confusing to have to sisters married to Jeff's that both happen to be lawyers! We had a great time opening gifts and eating a yummy dinner! Mom and Mike

Auntie M and Aunt Jenn with wee man!

Christmas Maddness...

The Newlyweds...

Mommy and Anderson

Mom's present from Anderson



Tiffany's.... :-)


Mom getting her yearly calendar of pics from the three of us.

Daddy and Anderson

Last, but certainly not least!! Todd and Susan gave Anderson this PUMA tracksuit as a joke...Mom gave him a gold chain and he was big pimpin' the rest of the night. We laughed until we cried. Priceless!!

Finally some Christmas pictures...sorry they are late!

Jeff has FINALLY returned home from his 5 day trip to duck hunt in Arkansas with his friend Greg. Anderson and I really missed him, but knew he was having a blast! He really helps out so much around here that I encourage him to go do something like that for fun any chance he gets, which with his long hours at work isn't often! He left bright and early the morning after Christmas and returned home late Sunday night. Since then we have been sleeping a lot! Waking up at three every morning for several days can make you a little on the tired side, as can chasing after an 18 month old by yourself!!

The weekend before Christmas we traveled to Tennessee to visit with Jeff's parents and his brother and his family.