Fun Run

The big fundraiser for Clayton's school is a fun run. The kids get sponsors and then spend an hour stretching, running, cooling down, and eating a popsicle. It's insanely successful (I don't know the numbers for this year, but I remember that last year they raised something like $15,000). It's pretty much the only fundraiser they do all year. I LOVE it! My kid isn't expected to go door to door selling stuff (which I'm not a fan of) and it's something that we can call family and get sponsors - a.k.a. it's EASY! Of all the fundraisers that I've ever been a part of (and I've done my fair share), this one is my favorite. I love that it gets the kids out exersicing as well as raising money for their school!

Families are encouraged to attend the fun run to watch their kids run and even run with them. Last year Justin was off on the day of the fun run so we were all able to go. This year was a little different. Justin was working but I still really wanted to go. However, I was nervous of taking Noah, Josie, and Sammie to the fun run. Okay, I'll be honest, I was nervous about taking Josie. That girl never stays put and I didn't think I'd be able to cheer for Clayton the way I wanted to if I had to chase her all over the school. Fortunately a friend of mine said that she would watch Josie (and ultimately Noah) while I went to cheer Clayton on. So Sammie and I went.
Stretching (Clayton is in the yellow shirt with the yellow pom)

The first lap.

Last year I was impressed with how well Clayton ran. This year I was even more impressed. He was one of the only kids who ran the whole time. He's not very fast but that's okay. Slow and steady. Just like his momma.

Love these action shots!

Sammie and I actually ran a lap with Clayton. Because I had Sammie strapped to me in the sling we had to go slow. After one lap, Clayton asked if Sammie and I would go back to the sidelines so he could run fast again. We were happy to oblige (it's kind of ackward running with a baby strapped to your front).

Clayton with his "team" (his class). Clayton was so hot and sweaty that it was work just to get him to look up from his popsicle! I love that he ran so hard!

The fun run is one of the events at his school that I definitely look forward to every year. It's just fun. Next year it will be double the fun because (hopefully) Noah will be doing it too!

Frogger

I have so much to catch up on! For weeks we had nothing going on and over the past week and a half so many things have happened that I'm behind again.

A couple of weeks ago I was inside getting dinner ready while Noah and Josie played out back. Suddenly, Noah burst through the door calling, "Look Mom! Look!" I turned around and almost jumped out of my skin! I thought he was holding a handful of poop. Upon closer inspection, I realized that what he was really holding was the largest toad we've ever seen in our backyard!

My boys frequently find toads in the backyard and it's not uncommon for me to check on them and find them holding toads. When they first started finding toads we looked them up on the internet to learn more about the type of toads that were inhabiting our backyard. They are Spadefoot Toads (so named because they dig holes to live in) and they are all over our yard. I've made the mistake of asking the boys about the frogs they find in the backyard only to have them instantly correct me, "Mom" (dramatic eye roll) "We don't find frogs. We find toads!"

The reason this one was noteworthy was it's size. Toads are kind of cute when they're little, but not so much when they're bigger and you can see all their bumps and nastiness. I immediately insisted that Noah take his new friend outside. Which he did. Gladly. When Clayton came home shortly afterward, Noah recruited him to the backyard to play with the toad. When I looked in the backyard I found them pushing him on the swing. I told them that toads don't swing. A few minutes later, Toad was taking turns going down the slide. I told them that toads don't slide. A few minutes after that, I found them putting Toad in a plastic cup, and slingshotting him around the yard. I told them that Toad missed his family and needed to be put back in the woods so he could go home. The boys set Toad free. I hope he didn't have a tiny toad heart attack.

**I realize that the title of this post is 'Frogger' when we've already established that my boys catch toads but, in my defense, there is no game called 'Toader'.**

Sammie

My sister in law took some super cute pictures of Sammie last week. I just thought I'd share a few of them. She's gorgeous (I'm totally unbiased) and a super good baby. I keep saying that when you're the fourth kid you kind of have to be a good baby because there really is no other option, but she's amazing. She sleeps from 12-5 and 6-8:30 pretty consistently and is pretty mellow during the day. I'm obsessed with this little girl! (We all are!)

I love this little dress that she's wearing. Josie got pretty mad about it though. She kept trying to grab it off of her sister. Apparently if someone is going to be dressed like a princess, it'd better be Josie!

She has changed so much in the past three weeks it's crazy! I love her skinny little frog legs, but I can't wait for them to chunk up (I know it's coming).

We're still adjusting to life with four kids but Sammie is definitely making it as easy for me as she possibly can. Now that we have her, I can't possibly imagine our family without her! I love this little girl!

The Boys

Since we brought Sammie home, we haven't been too adventurous. This drives the boys up the wall. Literally.

In other news, Noah learned how to ride a bike without training wheels! Clayton learned how to do this at the beginning of the summer and I knew it was only a matter of time before Noah would want to do it too! A few weeks ago, Justin was outside doing yardwork while the boys rode their bikes. Noah kept insisting that he could ride a two-wheeler. So Justin had him sit on Clayton's bike to try it out. He said that Noah just took off! He didn't need any help or instruction from Justin at all! We were both super impressed. Good job Noah!

He's so proud of himself, and so are we! Clayton was probably the most excited about Noah learning to ride a two-wheeler. Now they can cruise around the neighborhood together.

My parents come this week to hang out with us and meet Sammie. We can't wait. I know the kids are dying for some 'grand adventures' (as Grammy likes to say). I know that the boys are going a little stir crazy, but I have to say, I kind of like seeing how they keep themselves entertained. They've become such best friends. It couldn't make me happier! Love these boys!

Two Weeks

It's been two weeks since our darling Sammie was born and life has definitely been different. As far as babies go, Sammie rocks. She sleeps really well at night (last night she went to bed at 11:45 and didn't wake up until 6:30), eats really well (I nurse as well as bottle feed and she does equally well with both), is awake in big chunks during the day, and is (mostly) content when she is awake. We all adore this sweet baby girl. Clayton and Noah love sitting next to her, holding her, and kissing her goodnight. Josie isn't as enthralled with her as the boys are but she will frequently tell us, "Inna hode it!" (I want to hold it) and "I wike it!" (I like it). Justin and I think it's pretty funny that she calls Sammie 'it', but hopefully eventually she'll catch on. I was fortunate enough to have Justin home all week last week and it was glorious! Four kids is hectic and, since one of them is an infant, we're hanging on one day at a time right now but having Justin home last week gave me confidence that we can get through this! Today we're doing a picture overload of some pictures I've taken over the past two weeks. Nothing spectacular (we haven't gone anywhere or done anything) but Sammie has changed so much so I'm going to throw in all my pictures. She's thinned out a bit (she's still a big baby, but not as chunky as she was at birth) and has lost that 'fresh out of the oven' look. You can make your own judgements, but I think she looks more like Josie than the boys. Especially when she's sad.
I know that eventually she'll figure out which one of these fingers is her thumb and she'll suck that one exclusively, but until then, she likes to use the 'rock star' approach to self soothing.

In the bouncy seat. This seat was gifted to us when Clayton was a baby and it has saved our sanity countless times since. Sammie is the fourth Smith baby to love it!

Josie making a stink face. She looks a little beat up, but it was self inflicted (she got her fingernails clipped right after this picture was taken). I put it in because it's cute!

Sad Sammie. I really think she looks like Josie when she's crying. Poor baby. She is so sad, but her mom insists on taking pictures.

I love her little face!

Sweet little profile.

I tried to take a good shot of her face, but she's not super cooperative yet. I do think these 3/4 shots are pretty cute though.

This picture cracks me up! The boys love holding Sammie and I try to take good pictures of them holding her, but this was the best I could get. I do love it though! Clayton's face makes me laugh and Noah's smile looks so happy.

Josie wanted to hold 'it'. I love her crazy facial expression and you can finally see Sammie's face full on! I love these two cute sisters!

Josie loved Sammie's shirt. More specifically, she loved the pink on Sammie's shirt. It's a bit early for clothes sharing though Jos!

She does love holding Sammie, but she lets you know when she's had enough (she usually doesn't last long). She'll say, "Mama turn to hode it!"

Clayton was at school when I was taking these pictures. I need to get a shot of all four of them together.

Here's a cute one of Noah and Sammie.

I love this cute face!

Sleepy Sammie.

On a different note, today was Noah's first day of preschool. He was so excited. From the time he woke up he asked me every five minutes if it was time to go yet.

He was too excited to give me a genuine smile (and I tried all my tricks to get one), but I love these cheesy grins!

I didn't take any pictures when I dropped him off. It was a little hectic, so I figured I'd take pictures when I picked him up. As you can see. He was not thrilled to be picked up. He wanted to stay at school. His teacher at one point said, "Well, you don't want to sleep here do you?". He did.

Noah and his teacher, Mrs. M. I got to know her a little bit last year because Noah's class was across the hall and I love her! I'm really excited that Noah gets to be in her class this year. I know he's going to have a super fun year. (Again, this was after school, so he's refusing to cooperate with me. Perhaps my boys love school a little too much??)

Noah wasn't the only one who loved school today! When we went to pick Noah up, Josie ran into the classroom and began to play like she owned the place. It was fun to watch her for a second, but it stopped being fun the moment I told her it was time to go. Picture me exiting the building: Carseat in one hand, screaming two year old in the other, diaper bag and purse draped around my shoulders. Oh I was a sight to be seen!

Fortunately, Sammie decided that she'd cut me a break and slept through the whole thing. One mopey four year old and a screaming two year old were about all I was emotionally prepared to handle this afternoon. Good girl Sammie!

All in all it's been a good two weeks. I'm pretty fortunate that I got to have Justin home. I'm also fortunate that Justin goes in late enough right now that he's able to get Clayton off to school before he leaves for work. Right now life with four seems doable. Certainly not easy, but doable. Although I'll admit, I've got pretty good kids, and there's no other group of people I'd rather be tired and frazzled for!

Delivering Sammie

My delivery with Sammie was, I think, the most unique of all of my deliveries. I believe this has to do with the fact that I'd decided months ago to deliver her naturally and I actually stuck to it (yes, I'm super surprised about that too). I guess it all started over two years ago with my delivery of Josie. I delivered her naturally. Not on purpose, but because the epidural wasn't administered early enough to be effective. Because of how fast things went, Justin suggested that for our next baby I could probably go natural because it was so fast. I'd thought about that for a while and shortly after we found out we were pregnant with Sammie, I made up my mind. I was going to do it. Natural childbirth.

I spent months preparing. Justin and I talked in depth about what I did and did not want to happen in the delivery room, I made a long playlist that I hoped would last the length of my labor, and I packed one of my own robes to labor in. I was pretty scared (I remembered how much it hurt with Josie), but I felt ready.

About a month before delivery, I was dialated to a 3 and about 75% effaced. This is pretty normal for me. However, when I was checked again on my due date and there was no change, I was pretty discouraged. I'd been having contractions for weeks and had hoped that things would have changed by my due date. Nope. I did, however, learn my new least favorite word: ballotable. Ballotable basically means that the baby's head hasn't entered the birth canal. The doc can still move the baby's head around. This is not a good sign. Obviously the baby needs to be in the birth canal before birth can take place. So I waited. And waited. I know four days overdue isn't a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but when you're already the size of a small planet, every additional day that you have to spend with your girth seems like an eternity.

Saturday the 27th - I'd been having some pretty strong contractions and I was hoping and praying that this meant that she was coming soon. Justin and I took the kids to a church activity where I intentionally spent as much time as possible chasing the kids around and carrying Josie.

9:30 p.m. the 27th - I started timing my contractions. Every 3-4 minutes apart and pretty hard. I can still walk/talk through most of them though.

10:30 p.m. the 27th - My contractions are still 3-4 minutes apart and haven't gotten any harder. I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if we should go to the hospital or not (I didn't think I could emotionally handle being told I wasn't really in labor).

11:00 p.m. the 27th - We call my brother and sister in law to come over. We figured it would probably be better to have them come over at 11 as opposed to deciding we needed them at 3 a.m.

12:00 a.m. on the 28th - My S.I.L. comes over to spend the night and Justin and I head to the hospital.

12:30 a.m. the 28th - I'm in triage. My contractions are staying consistent. The nurse checks me and I'm a 4 and the baby is still ballotable (grrrrr). The resident that was on that night was an intern (first year resident) who was doing his first ever night on OB. I don't know if it's just professional courtesy or if he just felt sorry for me, but he called my doctor and convinced her that I needed to be admitted. YAY!

1:00 - 3:00 a.m. - get admitted to my delivery suite and meet my nurse Karin. She is delightful and I'm really glad that she's my nurse. Justin discusses with her my wants/demands and we go over my birth plan. No drugs. Scary. I labor in the delivery room for a couple of hours. Nothing changes.

3:00 a.m. - My doctor appears. She didn't have to come, but she figured that I wouldn't want the resident in the room and so she came in just for me. Have I mentioned that I love my doctor? Well, I do. She checks me again. Still a four. Still ballotable. I want to cry. She asks if she can break my water to see if that will get things going. I know from past experience that once my water breaks it's pretty much game over, so I agree.

3:00 - 5:00 a.m. - After my water is broken I notice immediate changes. My contractions are much harder (I can no longer walk/talk through them). I realize though that they are going to get MUCH worse before they get better so I try to just suck it up and deal with it. We start my L&D playlist and I try to focus on the songs instead of my body (I had a lot of hard, upbeat songs on the playlist so they were easier to get lost in). I try laboring in several different positions: laying in the bed, sitting upright in the bed, standing and bracing myself against Justin, the exercise ball, a rocking chair, etc. Obviously when you're in that kind of pain nothing is super comfortable, but it helped to be able to mix things up.

5:00 a.m. - I told Justin that I was starting to feel some pressure and that I wanted to be checked again. He got Karin and she checked me. I'm at a 5 (WHAT!?!?!) but the baby is no longer ballotable!!!! I feel like cheering. She's still pretty high up in the birth canal though. Things aren't looking good. I tell Justin that I want to have the baby by 7:00 and if that doesn't happen then we might just need the drugs.

5:00-6:00 a.m. - Karin suggests that I might like laboring in the jetted bathtub. I figure it can't hurt any worse to give it a try. Karin's a genius. It feels REALLY good. I am able to relax for the first time in hours. Justin is able to doze on and off. I have my music behind me and, for the first time in a couple of hours, start to feel again like I can do this.

6:00ish a.m. - I'm still in the tub, but no longer relaxed. I tell Justin that I feel like I'm going to throw up. He grabs me a bucket and holds it for me while I take turns vomiting and contracting. I've never in my life felt so trapped. I literally didn't know what to do. I was in too much pain to get out of the bathtub, but in too much pain to stay in the bathtub. Once the vomiting subsides, Justin tells me that I have to get out of the tub and back to the bed. What I didn't know until later is that vomiting during labor is a sign that a woman's body is progressing rapidly. Justin knew this though and he knew that I needed to get back to the bed. Once I was back in the bed, I ask Karin to check me again. I'm desperate now. I feel so hot that I almost can't stand it and I'm in so much pain that I just want to die. Karin checks me. A 7. I start to break down. I tell Justin that I can't do this. He was AMAZING throughout my whole labor. He assures me it's almost over and that I can do this, I AM doing this.

6:15ish-6:19 a.m. - **Things from here on out all happen so fast and all at once that I'm surprised I can remember it so well.** I tell Justin and Karin that I feel like pushing. Karin checks me again. A 9, but the baby is still higher up than she is supposed to be. I cry and swear (yep, I wasn't able to keep it clean, sorry). Karin does, however, page my doctor and tell her to come to the delivery room. As soon as Karin does this she and Justin tell me that if I feel like I need to push a little, I can. I go for broke. I give a big push and she crowns. No one is prepared for this. Karin only has one glove on and calls out for Justin to get her another glove. Justin says no way, and gloves himself up instead (have I mentioned how lucky I am to be married to someone who has done this a bunch of times? I am.). They both are telling me to stop, but that's just not going to happen. I don't feel mentally in control of my body anymore. It's all instinct now. Justin makes it down to the war zone just in time to make the catch. Sammie has the umbilical cord wrapped tightly around her neck twice but there isn't time for Justin to remove it before the rest of her body delivers. Once she's out, he unwraps the cord and they lay my sweet new baby on my chest. This is the point where my doctor walks into the room. **Note: She was literally across the hall when she was paged. That's how fast this happened. Sammie was delivered in the amount of time it takes a person to walk across the hall.**

6:20a.m. - I feel SOOOOO much better. I'm so happy, and not as hot anymore. Everyone in the room is in shock at how fast this all happened. I did it. Natural child birth. I'm insanely proud of myself. I'm also really happy that I'm not hooked up to anything. I feel better than I've ever felt post-delivery. I don't think my baby is any more alert (I think that is a wives tale, truthfully), but I feel great! I honestly could have walked to my recovery room if they'd let me. I'm high on adrenaline. I will admit, it's a pretty intense feeling.

In conclusion: Would I do this again? Would I recommend it? Well, since this is my absolutely LAST baby I can say that I probably would do this again, but only because I know that I deliver so fast. If it had taken much longer, I probably wouldn't - I'm way too wussy. As far as recommending it, I honestly believe that there is no right way or best way to deliver a baby. Every woman has the right to choose for herself how she wants her experience to be. At the end of the day, whether you have had drugs or not, everyone gets a baby. There aren't any prizes for doing it without drugs. My recovery has been AMAZING though, so that's definitely something to consider.

One final fact: In all the chaos, I made a mental note to pay attention to the song that was playing when Sammie was born. "Raise Your Glass" by Pink. Interestingly, this is Josie's favorite dance tune. It's a happy song for our family. I'm weirdly happy that it was playing when she was born.
Here are a few pictures of what Sammie's been doing lately:
On her way to her first doctor's appointment:Going to the doctor is quite tiring.Awake and alert.I do love the big bows!I'm so amazed at how quickly they change. It's only been 5 days and she looks so much bigger to me already. We are loving this sweet little lady. I'm glad that she was able to get here when and how she did!