We will always remember

Today was a tough day to get out of bed. We would have been due today, if our first pregnancy had not ended in a miscarriage. I have been dreading this time coming, however, I kept myself busy today which made it easier. Our little angel left us at only 6 weeks, but we will never forget. I am happy that we are awaiting our next miracle, but feel sad at the loss that we had to experience to get to this point. Although I know that God has plans for our lives that we will never understand or comprehend.

Today I pray for all of my friends, family and strangers who have went through such tragedy and sadness. Many of these people living through this pain multiple times. I pray that each of these people, whom are special to me, will have their prayers answered in the new year ahead of us. May they start with a clean slate and have a healthy addition to their family this coming year that is approaching us. Please give each of them the strength to get over this sadness and the feelings of failure. Give them the strength to move forward, but never forget the angel that they have lost. May we remember all of the little ones we have lost - each child from conception on. I pray for those families within my profession that have lost their children to cancer or other complications. May they be able to celebrate the holidays with minimal sadness in their hearts - remembering their children for the special people they were.

We feel very blessed to be experiencing the miracle that is growing inside of me. I hope that others are able to enjoy this moment without going thru many months or years with empty arms. We pray that our lil' miracle is a healthy baby boy, ready to take on the world!

I was able to spend my day with Whitney and Tahisha - all wrapping up our christmas shopping (at the last minute). :) It was a good day to be surrounded by my friends and spending time with them doing something fun! We went to breakfast, shopped, shopped some more, went to lunch and then our seperate ways! It turned out to be a day much better than I had expected. Thanks girls .... I had a great time!!!

Finally - the little bean kicks his Daddy!

Earlier this week, as I was in the doctors office patiently waiting, I was able to see our lil' bean kick hard enough to move my stomach! This was soooo exciting and later that night, I was lying down while Jason sat on the floor beside me so that my stomach was at eye level. He was able to see the little flicker of his feet; however, we were unable to feel him kick by touch.

But tonight was an exciting night .... he finally kicked his daddy! Jason and I were laying in bed and he was kicking with a little more power. I put Jason's hand on my belly and then he kicked! Jason was sooo excited and I was thrilled that he was finally able to feel a piece of what I feel inside. I cannot imagine how difficult it is for a man to watch his wife go thru so many changes, without being able to feel those changes or experience the changes to the body. This made it possible for Jason to try and comprehend that our lil' guy is really in there - although it is still extremely hard for me to wrap my brain around. I am just happy to be experiencing this special time in my life with a person that is just as excited as I am. He will talk to the lil' fella and is taking very well to all the changes! Now that I am feeling 100% better and have more energy, I am also much more excited with all the changes.

The nursery transformation will be happening within the next couple of weeks. The furniture will be the last purchase. We will get the room completely ready and then add the furniture last! I cannot wait to get things started - making it a little easier for me to comprehend!

Dr Appointment Update

Today I went in for my 22 week appointment - everything looking great! My lil' man is as feisty as his father and would not let us listen to his heartbeat. He was kicking like crazy and I warned the nurse beforehand. She took about 5 minutes to get a close to accurate heart rate - we are beating around 160 bpm. Therefore, the theory that a boys heart rate is 140 and below went out the window!

My excitement in the room was waiting for the Dr to see me. I was leaning back on the table, watching my belly and I actually saw my belly move when he kicked. It was great! Funny how those little things make you sooo excited! So we are going to see if Jason can feel him kick tonight during his routine workout around 10:00pm.

With the excitement came the downer of having to get straight cathed to get an accurate urine specimen that was not contaminated. I explained that I wanted to refuse having it, but she stated that it was important to get at least one good sample and I haven't given them any they could use up to this point. So, with the excitement came the discomfort of having that done. I will know the results once they run the tests.

Lastly, they decided to change my due date for the 3rd time. I am now said to be due on April 21st, instead of April 19th. As if it is going to make any difference when it is only 2 days! The perinatologist stated that I was 1 week ahead, so we will see how all of that plays out. However, the doctor was very pleased with my weight. I have only gained 4lbs since my first appointment. I was a little concerned about this, however, she says that I am at an excellent growing rate! I am just wondering how I have only gained 4lbs with this huge growth protruding from my abdomen! :)

So overall everything looked great, we are just waiting to hear the urine results!

22 weeks and counting ...

Well today is the 22 week mark for Baby Smith! Life has gotten much easier for me - less 'morning' sickness and more energy. I have started taking Flinstone vitamins since I am unable to take prenatal vitamins due to sickness. I have felt much better and am enjoying the pregnancy much more at this point (although I am ready to hold my baby in my arms). He kicks all the time now, but you still cannot feel the kick from the outside of my belly. I am really looking forward to the first time that Jason gets to feel that lil' foot kick!

At 22 weeks, he is about 8 inches long and has reached the 1 lb. mark! He now has a sense of touch and is able to grasp onto things - maybe mommy's bladder! ha ha He is able to sense light and dark much better, even with fused together eyelids. Eyelashes and eyebrows have formed, however they have no pigment so all his hair is white. He is able to sense sound, therefore he is able to hear our voices, my heartbeat, my stomach gurgling, and the swoosh of blood circulating through my body. Funny to think - how does the child ever relax and sleep with all that noise?

So the ongoing joke now is that we are going to name our son Cornelius, with a nickname of Corny. Jason and I do not agree on names at this point, so we are referring to him as Cornelius - just another one of Jason's funny nicknames. Our plan has been to come up with two names to take into delivery and name his once we see his sweet face; however, we cannot even find one name at this point. We have four more months to go, so I think we are still in the clear for now! :)

I have another appointment on Thursday so I will keep everyone updated, as usual!

The BIG news revealed!

Grandma Heiman, Grandma Smith and Great-Grandma McCloud with their gifts!!!

The frames we gave our parents - It's A BOY!

The photo inside the frame ... here is the belly pic for all of you asking!!!

As promised, here are the photos from the BIG reveal of baby Smith! This will be a memory I will never forget. 1) It was a very exciting day for everyone, 2) The smile on Jason's face lit up my world, and 3) Seeing our families as excited as we are. I have know my whole life that I had special parents and a wonderful grandmother, but I have added another great family into my own. I couldn't ask for better in-laws, truely! The person I was most excited to see the reaction of was Jason's dad. I envision him having so much fun with a little one, especially a boy to teach everything to. Maybe grandpa can teach baby Smith, who can then teach his own dad!!! :) The excitement that night was priceless and it will always be a special day for us. The reaction was even better because I think most of us thought it was going to be a little girl - I may have had part in that convincing! What can I say?

Today is a special day for a friend and co-worker of mine. She is finding out the sex of baby Steinhauser today! She has been through a long road, although our paths were different, we both struggled to get to where we are today. It is nice to have a friend going thru this special time with me. Both are truely a miracle and I cannot wait to have little playdates!!! We are rooting for Team Blue!!!! :) Good luck Whit! We are thinking about you today!!!!


**** UPDATE ****
The Steinhauser's will also be adding a lil' man to their family!!! Congrats Whitney and Dustin!

Christmas with the Smith's

The MU tree - with a slight lean!!! :)

MU tiger paw ornaments ...

Did you actually think I wouldn't use polka dots somewhere?

Hard to see - these are the MIZZOU ornaments

Here are the family stockings - can't wait to add one for baby boy Smith!!!

As I am typing this post, I have Franklin sitting at my side trying to bite at the cursor and crawl on the laptop. I have little wet spots on the screen from him putting his little wet nose on the screen. This is what I have to deal with when trying to play on the computer! :) Anyhow, I thought I would post a few pics of our MU tree and christmas decorations. I didn't decorate as much as usual because I just don't feel like putting all of it away again. I have another tree in our living room upstairs that needs to be put up and decorated, but we will see if that happens!

The MU tree turned out way better than I thought, in fact, I love the black and gold. But black is my favorite color, so that is not so surprising. My favorite thing about christmas is all the decorations that light up and sitting in the living room watching TV with the dim light of the christmas tree. Once the lights are turned on for the first time, they are never off until we take the tree down! I was hoping for some christmas lights on the house this year, but I am in a state to be climbing on the ladder and on the roof. But we have plenty of years to go ...

The Smith Family

One of my favorite pictures of us together!

The crazy Smith family - Franklin wanted to give mommy kisses!!

Mark added some cool graphics!

Jason and I saying "stinky feet" for the camera!

We decided that it would be a good idea to get some family pictures this year, since we would be adding to our family soon. A friend came over and took some really good pictures, impressing both Jason and I. We took a few in front of our MU christmas tree and then some outside. We attempted to get a picture including our furbabies - Franklin and Daysia. That in itself was a little stressful, but Mark was extremely patient, giving us one funny picture of our complete family. Jason and I really liked the photos of us outside. We have 3 younger boys in the neighborhood that always stop and talk to Jason and I, if we are outside. They happened to be outside playing while we were taking pictures, which led to us having a crowd of 3 little boys sitting on the curb across the street to watch! It was cute! We plan on sending out (which I need to start making) but I thought I would share them with everyone. I hope everyone has a happy holiday and enjoys all the cheer that comes with the season!

IT'S A .....

BOY! We most definitely got to see the lil' hotdog yesterday! It was one of the best moments in my life. Jason and I both teared up - Jason later admitting to biting his lip so that he didn't have a big cheesy grin the whole time. At first glance, the sonographer could not tell what we were working with, but after going back to take a closer look .... there it was - as obvious as could be!

We are excited to add a future MU football player to the family! :) Jason is already talking about all the Nike shoes and Polo shirts that are going to be bought. I'm pretty sure that the smile hasn't left his face - even while he was sleeping. It's amazing how much more prepared you instantly feel in knowing the sex of the baby. We are excited to get started on the MU nursery theme and start getting more prepared to meet our lil' guy!

We told our parents, along with my grandmother, the news last night! Both of our mom's and my grandma were super excited - even screaming out loud! I think most of us girls were caught off guard, thinking it was a girl. However, we all couldn't be more excited! April and Christina got their wish, along with us getting ours. I cannot wait until we meet the lil' guy and we are just hoping to have a healthy baby boy!

PS. Amy, sorry for the delayed reveal - yesterday was a tiring day! But now you can enjoy the news!!!!

Finally .. the day has come!

Well today is the big day we find out if our lil' peanut has a hotdog or a hamburger! :) I couldn't go to sleep last night because of the excitement. This whole process is so sureal - even with a growing belly and nausea. I feel like I'm living in a dream and am going to wake up at any moment!

I already know that I am going to cry when they tell me what our peanut is. The thing I am most excited about is to see Jason's reaction. I am also really excited to see the baby, since we haven't seen it in over a month!

We are going to dinner with our parents and my grandmother tonight. Our appointment is late in the afternoon, but I am not going to reveal the results until we tell our parents. I want our parents and my grandmother to be the first to know, after us. After dinner, I will update the blog and send out text messages to everyone. Wish us luck .... I cannot wait until this afternoon!!!!