Introducing...

Samantha A Smith
"Sammie"
August 28, 2011
6:19 a.m.
8lbs. 11oz. 22inchesShe is by far our biggest baby. I was able to have a natural child birth with her (planned this time). While I don't think it's for everyone, I'm glad I was able to have this experience. (I'll do a whole post on the labor and delivery later.)
We named her Samantha after me, believe it or not. When I was a little girl (probably 5 or so), I used to put a scarf around my head and talk in a really high-pitched voice, and tell my mom that my name was Samantha - an older woman who lived across the street (in the deserted lot) and had 10 kids. Justin got a kick out of that story and has loved the name ever since. I love the nickname "Sammie" so that was that. Her middle name is the letter A. No, it's not short for anything. I like middle names that mean something. When we were thinking about a middle name for this baby, we decided that we wanted to honor our sisters. Both of my sister's names start with A and Justin's sister's name starts with A, so it was as easy as that. Yes, she'll probably have to explain that to people her whole life, but we're okay with that! For the first time ever, none of our kids are sick when I've had a baby so they were all able to come to the hospital to visit us. They (especially the boys) were instantly smitten. I love how proud they look!One of my sweetest memories of this experience is going to be from Noah. They came to see the baby and were very excited to meet her. However, at one point Noah looked at me and asked, "Mom, are YOU okay?". His concern for me was so sweet. I love this kid (crazy expression and all)!Justin with his girls. Josie loves "baby Sammie". I'm hoping that doesn't change once she realizes that "baby Sammie" is here to stay.Our first photo as a family of 6 (yikes)! And probably the last photo you will see of me for a while.Getting ready to go home.She looks so tiny in her carseat. I have to remember that it won't stay that way long.In true Smith fashion, she's already sucking on those fingers!Home at last and taking up residence in the bouncy seat. We sure do love this little girl and are very happy to have her here at last!

Second Grade!

Today is Clayton's first day of second grade. I can't believe how big he is. We went to back to school night last night to meet his teacher and see his classroom. He has a few friends from his first grade class that are going to be in his class this year and he is really excited about that. Based on what I learned last night, I think he's going to have another great year!

As usual on the first day of school, Clayton bounced out of bed. He had asked me last night to help him remember the name of his teacher - just in case he forgot. However, when I woke him up this morning, his first words to me were, "I remember her name! Mrs. B---! Mrs. B---!" I could tell that he was relieved that he hadn't forgotten.

First order of business was breakfast. It has always worked out that Justin has been home to make Clayton a special breakfast on the first day of school (no one does breakfast like Justin). This morning was no different. Justin came through with chocolate chip pancakes! Clayton was so excited. I should have counted how many times he said, 'Thank you!', but I didn't. It was a lot though. (Doesn't that breakfast look delicious!?! I had some so I can say that it tasted as good as it looked.)

Clayton demolished his breakfast and then ran upstairs to get dressed. Justin and I sat at the table a little longer and talked and before we knew it Clayton had come back down, fully dressed. It was definitely a new record for him! I could tell that he was chomping at the bit to get to school. So I humored him and we brushed his teeth and fixed his hair and were still done with about 30 minutes to spare (which NEVER happens with him). He kept begging me to let him get his shoes on and go to the bus stop. I assured him that it wasn't time yet and that he wasn't going to be late. I let him pass some of the time with the iPad. Finally, FINALLY, it was time to go to the bus stop!His backpack was so full today. I thought it felt pretty heavy, but he assured me that he would have no problems carrying it, second graders are pretty strong! I also can't help but notice how much better his backpack fits him this year. Last year this backpack looked so big on him, this year it doesn't seem to dwarf him nearly as much. My boy's growing up.We got to the bus stop a little late. Remember last year when his bus was 30 minutes late on the first day of school? I was sort of counting on that same thing happening this year too so I wasn't too concerned with punctuality today. So we waited...and waited...and waited. We took some pictures to pass the time.Clayton wanted to take a picture of the baby. This is what overdue looks like.After waiting for about 15 minutes, Justin drove past on his way to work. He informed us that Noah was awake and watching cartoons in the house. I decided that, since the bus was showing no signs of appearing yet, I'd go get Noah and let him wait at the bus stop with us (the bus stop is only two houses down from us, so grabbing him didn't take long). He loved waiting with Clayton. He also loved hamming it up for the camera.Remember last year on Clayton's first day of first grade when Noah's face was swollen from mosquito bites? Well, to continue our theme of Noah's unfortunately sensitive skin, this year he is having an allergic reaction to something (we go to the allergist next week to figure out what). Poor Pootie, he just can't catch a break.These two did, however, provide me with my brand new favorite picture ever. I love it so much!To make a long story short(er), the bus never came. We waited for about 40 minutes. I tried calling the bus depot over and over but all I ever got was a busy signal. I ended up grabbing Josie, loading her up in the car, picking the boys up from the bus stop and driving Clayton to school. When we got there I thought we could just drop him off, but because we were so late by that point (which he didn't get penalized for, thank goodness) I had to physically take him into the school and sign him in. Noah was wearing his pajamas, Josie was also in her pajamas (the difference was that Noah had shoes on and Josie didn't), and I was wearing my ratty old sweats and a shirt that, while it completely covers my enormous stomach, is pretty threadbare. We were a sight to be seen for sure!

After we made it home, I made chocolate chip pancakes for Noah and Josie and finally got through to the bus depot. Trust me, they got an earful. They assured me that things would be much smoother and much more punctual tomorrow. They better be, you don't want to anger an overdue pregnant woman two days in a row.

I'm excited to see Clayton after school today. I know how much he loves school and I can't wait to hear how his day went. He's going to have a great year, I know it!

No It's Not

My pregnancy ticker says that it's go time. Don't be fooled, no one's going anywhere today. Despite having light to moderately hard contractions on and off for weeks, my body has made zero change. I'm still hanging out at 3 cm dilated, 75% effaced, just like I have been for the past month. Bummer. On the plus side, it looks like I'll be around to walk Clayton to the bus for his first day of second grade tomorrow!

Lacking Motivation

It's been a while since I've posted. Not necessarily because we haven't done anything post worthy (we've gone to the beach, gone to a gymnasium and watched the boys show off their tumbling, gone on countless picnics, gone to swimming pools and splash pads...you get the idea), I just don't take pictures. I bring my camera everywhere, but when we get where we're going, I just don't take it out. I really have no defense for that other than to say, I'm very pregnant and I don't feel like it. When my kids are having fun and I get to sit and watch, that's what I want to do...SIT and watch. When my kids are busy and require chasing, the last thing I want to do is chase after them AND remember to carry the camera. Lame right? Well, lame or not, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

So this is going to be a picture-less update.

Justin is currently on a non-call block. That means that he's home for dinner (usually) and on weekends. To say that I love this schedule would be an understatement. It's glorious to have him home and I'm afraid I've already gotten used to it. This is just going to make it that much harder in a couple months when he goes back to a call block. As usual, he is his impressive self. The attending that he's currently working with is the recruiter for the Memorial Medical Group. He's been trying pretty hard over the past few weeks to convince Justin to stay in South Bend and join up. He even met me and the kids and told us that we were "South Bend people" and we should just be ready to stay here. Obviously we have no clue where we're headed after residency yet, but it's nice to know that we have at least one option (although, knowing Justin, there will be no shortage of offers when he's done).

I'm still pregnant. My due date is less than a week away. We are FINALLY ready! Well, I still have two hospital bags to pack (mine and the baby's), but I'll get around to that...maybe. Everything else is ready though. The nursery is set up, the clothing has been washed and put away, diapers have been purchased, formula has been aquired (I'm not planning on doing much breastfeeding...if you don't know my history with breastfeeding you have no room to judge), and (dare I say) a name has been chosen. I'm not saying what it is, but it's a good one. Don't worry, you'll learn it soon enough - hopefully. I'm still planning on going natural this time, I created a playlist for the delivery room. Justin informs me that it's not really the "typical" delivery room playlist (it's not what you would call 'soothing' music), but I need to do what I need to do to focus, and I just don't think that soothing music will help me out.

Clayton is enjoying the last week of his summer vacation. He starts second grade next week! I can't believe he's starting second grade...weird. He's still obsessed with all things geography - specifically U.S. geography. He knows all his states and capitals, where they are located, and a whole host of interesting facts about each state. He has a large U.S. map in his bedroom that he studies daily. I'm impressed at how accute his focus is. He loves this stuff. I'm a little embarassed to admit that he knows more than I do. He's grown up so much this summer. He's becoming this little man. He is able to take on a lot of responsibilities around the house and I'm super grateful. He's been a big help getting ready for the baby. I'm actually a little sad that he starts school around the time that the baby comes. I'll be loosing my biggest asset! Clayton is such a happy-go-lucky kid. There have been a few times this summer when I've thought that the school year couldn't start soon enough, but for the most part, I enjoy having him home to help me out. Everyone should be so lucky to have a firstborn as wonderful as mine!

Noah is also enjoying the end of his summer vacation. He doesn't start school until after Labor Day, but he can't wait. He'll be doing three day/week preschool again this year. He already knows his teacher (her classroom was across the hall from his last year) and he can't wait to be in her class. Talk about a kid that has changed over the summer!! Noah is now reading. I remember the first time I realized that Clayton could read (he read the peanut butter jar to me) and I was so amazed. Well, Noah is at the exact same age that Clayton was when he started reading and it still shocked my socks off. He can sound out most three and four letter words and knows several sight words. Justin and I were both impressed, especially considering that I haven't been working with him as diligently as I'd hoped to this summer. He also shares Clayton's geography obsession. If you think people are impressed with Clayton's knowledge of the states (and it's extensive) you should see how people respond when Noah begins rattling off states and capitals. It's too bad that his birthday is after the cutoff, I really think he'd be ready for kindergarten this year.

Josie is a two year old girl. I think that sums it up. Her current interests are anything pink and anything princess. Justin and I really don't understand where it comes from. We've NEVER watched a princess movie/show and I don't have an overwhelming fondness for pink and I don't particularly dress her in a lot of pink. Lately however, she insists on picking out her own clothes and if I don't let her do it then we have a fight on our hands. Because I don't like fighting about clothing every morning, she wears a ton of pink these days. She also thinks that anything pink belongs to her. "My pink!" is not an uncommon phrase around our house these days. Oooh is she girly. She likes accessories (jewlery, shoes, bags, etc.), baby dolls, My Little Pony, anything princess, make-up, twirly dresses (although I will admit it's super cute to watch her big smile as she spins around in a big skirt), and cute little baby animals. She also does NOT like bugs or getting her hands dirty. I'm telling you, G.I.R.L.Y. It's actually pretty fun, but she's a diva for sure and we honestly don't know where it came from. One thing I do know, baby sister's gonna rock her little world!

That's our update. The next post I do will be next week and it WILL have pictures. It will either be a post saying "Hooray! We've had a baby!" or "Hooray! It's Clayton's first day of school!" but rest assured, it will be one of the two and it will involve photos. So for all of you who are starting to get a little frustrated at my lack of exciting postage, take heart, starting next week I'm sure there will be no shortage of exciting/frustrating/funny/strange/hectic/lovely/nostalgic things to post about and pictures to go with them!

37

(Photo courtesy of Clayton - the official photographer of this pregnancy.)
37 weeks down...3 to go! I'm in the homestretch of this pregnancy. While I'm definitely ready to be done with pregnancy (forever), I am not ready for a baby yet. I've been procrastinating unearthing all our baby gear, doing baby laundry, and setting up a nursery. I need to get on the ball. Poor 4th baby, I've done practically nothing to get ready for her! I have never had a baby early (well, Noah was 3 days early, but Josie cancelled that out by being three days late - I'm calling it a draw) so I probably have about three more weeks of pregnancy ahead of me. Let's face it, I'll probably need all that time to get ready.
I feel pretty great though. This has by far been my easiest pregnancy. All my pregnancies are pretty easy (compared to other women I know), but this one just sort of slid by. I have been able to exercise with relatively no pain throughout, I haven't had any sickness, I'm exhausted but nothing that can't be worked through, it's hot and humid but since I'm home with my AC most of the time it hasn't been as bad as people assume, and I haven't gained as much weight (which you can't really tell by looking at me, but it's true).
Oh I'm still getting the "are you sure it's not twins?" and "you'll never make it to your due date" and "oh you poor uncomfortable thing" comments, but I've adapted a zen attitude about it (well, zen for me anyway).
I can't believe how close we are to being a family of six. That seems like such a large family and it blows my mind. I am excited to meet this new little lady and discover what her name will be. For as upset as I was at the beginning of this pregnancy, that's how excited I am to meet my sweet baby now. I mean, let's face it, Justin and I have created some pretty amazing spawn and this one is bound to be just as awesome.
Come on little girl, get here soon...I promise we'll be ready (even if it means your daddy is doing laundry and rearranging bedrooms while we're in the hospital)!

Swimming!

The kids just finished another year of swimming lessons and I am so impressed and proud of how well all my kids did. Clayton and Noah learned how to swim! It's taken Clayton a while to figure this out (swimming gives him a little bit of anxiety), but once he got it, he was off and swimming! Noah, on the other hand, was chomping at the bit to get in the water and swim (whether he knew how to or not), so he needed the instruction for sure! He is still a little reckless and needs practice but he's becoming quite the fish! Josie took swim lessons for the first time this year too! We did a mommy and me class together and she really took to the water. She is so comfortable in the water and I'm excited to see how well she does next year in swimming lessons all by herself!

I only took my camera with me one of the days. Since I was in the water with Josie, I didn't get any pictures of her swimming but trust me, she was just as cute in the water as she was out of it!
Waiting for her lesson to start.
Relaxing poolside after her lesson while we watch our boys swim.
Josie and her cute friend Jace. I love seeing these two together. They get so excited to see each other. When I was a little girl, my best friend was a boy named Mikey. I think that Jace is Josie's "Mikey".
I don't have too many pictures of the boys swimming. I did take video that I should post at some point, but I'm not sure how to do that (you'd think I'd learn, right?). So I need Justin to do that for me. However, I will say that I'm super proud of Clayton and Noah and I'm so excited that they finally know how to swim!
Clayton:

They all got a chance to jump off the diving board. I'm so proud of the boys for accepting this challenge. Hopefully next year, they'll be able to do it without the swim noodles!
He's so proud of himself! Rightfully so!
Noah:

I didn't get a picture of him jumping off the diving board, but I love his face in this picture. You can just tell that he loved it!

I'd told the boys that if they could learn to swim, we'd go to the store and buy them their own pair of goggles. This was just the incentive they needed. They worked so hard and definitely earned their goggles.
Clayton loves to pose like this for pictures now.
Noah's goggles look like lizard eyes. He was so excited about that that he didn't even care that they're pink (the rubber strap that goes around the back is hot pink).
I wasn't planning on getting any for Josie, but she saw these Dora ones and held on to them with her kung-fu death grip. I caved and let her have them and she is in love with them. She got very mad at me when it was time to put the goggles away and take them out only for swimming. I did manage to get this picture though. I love it!
I'm trying to take the kids swimming at least once a week (until I have the baby) so that they can practice. I'm hoping that next year they'll be good enough that they can start learning some different strokes. As for this year, I'm just glad that they have the basics. I'm glad that Noah has learned to (sort of) reign in his enthusiasm and that Clayton has learned that he doesn't have to be so afraid of the water. They both beg me daily to go swimming and I'm glad! I'm so proud of all three of my little fish!

Seven!

On Sunday, Clayton celebrated his 7th birthday. It seems so weird to me that he's that old. Because his birthday fell on a Sunday, we decided to celebrate it on the Saturday before. It was actually a pretty low key day. I had told Clayton that he could decide what we would do that day. Although I gave him tons of suggestions (bowling, mini-golf, movies, etc.) he shot them all down. The only thing he really wanted to do was go swimming, but there was a threat of rain all day so that was the one thing we couldn't do (so sad).

We started out the day with our traditional birthday breakfast of blueberry muffins and scrambled eggs. This year, I made the muffins from scratch! They turned out pretty yummy, if I may say so. Then, Clayton got his first present...the traditional birthday shirt! I used a different technique to do the shirt this year. I mixed half parts bleach and half parts water and sprayed a seven on the shirt (I got this idea off of a crafty blog, but right now I cannot remember which one). Honestly, it didn't turn out exactly as I'd imagined, but I love the technique so I will be using it again!
After breakfast, Clayton wanted to open a present. We decided to let him open the gifts that Justin and I had gotten him. He's REALLY into a show called 'Hotwheels: Battle Force 5' and originally wanted Battle Force 5 bedding. Unfortunately there is no such thing so Justin and I scoured the internet and found some Battle Force 5 toys. We figured they'd be a hit and we were right! I love it when we choose just the right gift!
Once he opened that gift, all he wanted to do was play with it. Since it was his day, I let him. He was very good about sharing with Noah and we didn't hear from them all morning. For lunch he wanted a cheese sandwich (bread, miracle whip, mustard, and cheese - I think they're gross, but it was his birthday). After lunch he wanted to play Wii. So all three of my boys settled down on the couch and played MarioKart. Shortly after they finished Grandpa showed up (my dad was in town helping my brother buy a new car...but we told Clayton that he'd come just to celebrate his birthday). We took Grandpa with us and went out to dinner. Clayton got to choose the restraunt. He chose Max and Erma's. If you don't know what that is, it's like an Applebee's/TGI Fridays type restraunt. However, Clayton refers to it as a 'fancy' restraunt and apparently, when you're 7, you want to go out to classier establishments!
Grandpa's mouth is full in this picture, but I think it's super cute. He was so excited that Grandpa was there to share his birthday celebration with him!
Instead of ordering dessert at the restraunt, we headed home for cake and ice cream with my brother and his family. Clayton wanted chocolate cake with chocolate frosting with chocolate ice cream. It's a lot of chocolate, but he's chosen this cake/ice cream combo for three years in a row now. He loved being sung to. It's so fun that he's at an age where he loves his birthday!
Of course, there were presents! He got shoes and a keychain from Aunt Missy, Uncle Jared and Abby, a singing birthday card from the Smithersens, some Bionicles from Uncle Jared, Aunt Kerstin, and cousins, and a huge United States map from Grammy and Grandpa (he's VERY into US geography right now). He cleaned up and couldn't have been happier with his gifts.
The map came in a tube. Clayton guessed right away what was in it. Even so, he was estatic to discover the size and detail of the map. It now hangs in his bedroom and he's been studying it diligently ever since.




Once cake had been eaten, gifts had been opened, and our cousins had gone home, Justin and I took Clayton to Toys R Us (another tradition) to let him pick out something special. This year, because he's older and we're trying to teach him the value of a dollar, we gave him a $20 limit. We told him that he could get one $20 item or he could get several items totalling up to $20. I have to admit, I was impressed at how well he did with this. He was very good at looking at the prices of things he wanted and deciding if was worth using his $20 on. At one point he decided he wanted a TV. I pointed out the price ($200.00) and he just walked away. No complaining, no whining. Impressive.
In the end he chose three toys. He did not go over his budget. He was so proud of how well he'd spent his money (and so was I)!
Once we got home from shopping, we gave him some time to play with his new toys. He went to bed pretty late, but it was his day and I think he got exactly what he wanted! I'm pretty exhausted so I feel like this post doesn't do justice to my sweet firstborn and his special day, but I don't honestly think it will be different if I wait any longer to do it. Suffice it to say, I'm so grateful that he's in my life. I'm grateful that he's my firstborn. I can't imagine having a better oldest son. I'm blessed every day because I get to be his mom. I love him with all my heart and am so glad that we got to celebrate his special day exactly the way he wanted!