Smith Family Blog

"He took MY baby WHERE?"

2012-02-14T18:51:00.001-06:00

(Sorry Poppa, but I HAVE to document this story!!!)

Oh Poppa. Poppa, Poppa, Poppa...
Poppa knew he was in trouble with his daughter-in-law after this one!...
Here's what happened:
Jason's parents watched Kohen for a couple of days when I was recovering from my broken nose. Jason was talking to his dad and Kohen on FaceTime one night when Kohen was staying with them. I had just gotten out of the shower and walked in the kitchen and heard Kohen tell his Daddy that he went in the airplane, high up in the sky. I stopped dead in my tracks. Keep in mind, I was out of view from FaceTime. So, Jason was looking at me and reacting to my reaction all while his dad watched! I think Poppa knew right then that he was in trouble! They quickly got off the phone and Jason knew that he was about to face the wrath of his wife.

I started off, calmly saying "it is not ok to take my baby in an airplane". Jason became very defensive. He didn't really understand why I was upset. He grew up with his dad (and his brother) flying. He told me several of the grandkids have been flying with dad and that his dad is a wonderful pilot. I told him that there was no doubt in my mind that his dad was a great pilot and that if I ever HAD to fly in a very small aircraft then his dad would be the first person I would contact!

As my argument and statistics unfolded, Jason understood why I was freaking out. I'm not saying he agreed with me, I'm just saying he understood.
Did you know... there have been about 52 single-engine plane crashes in ARKANSAS within the last 10 years... just sayin'.
I worry. I worry about EVERYTHING. Seriously. I have to take medicine because of how much I worry. I worry about the weather, driving on the interstate, trees falling on my house, my house catching on fire, doors being locked, etc. One thing I really worry about is flying. When I fly, I have a certain "ritual" I have to do. I HAVE to touch the right side of the doorway with my right hand before I step onto the plane. I have to count at least 3 of the yellow/black signs beside the runway, and I have to watch the white lines on the runway as we take off. I have to. I do it every time. Soooo, I'm pretty scared of flying... maybe that's why I reacted the way I did.
Now that you think I'm crazy, let me continue...

Now. I do have to say that it was not Poppa's intention to take Kohen flying that day. He said that they went to the Fordyce airport to check on his plane and the airport. He showed Kohen his plane and decided to taxi around the runway with him. It was a beautiful day, no wind, no cloud in the sky. As he made the turn, he took it up to speed and lifted off. A total spontaneous decision.

He made a few circles around the airport then made a safe (and I'm sure perfect) landing.

BUT. That is STILL my BABY in that airplane..."high up in the sky".

This picture takes my breath away. Makes me SO nervous. I'm pretty positive Kohen didn't do the "flying ritual" before they took off.

Kohen is still talking about his adventure. Every time he sees a plane it reminds him of this day with his Poppa.

Now that it's all over (and Poppa apologized to me, lol), a part of me is happy that Kohen got to experience this with his Poppa. What kid wouldn't want to go fly in their grandpa's airplane?! Thank you Nana for taking these priceless pictures.

Poppa, I know you never in a million years would want to upset me. I appreciate everything you and Nana do for us and our kids. Yall were such a HUGE help when you watched Kohen while I was hurt. He had the time of his life and loves yall so much. Sorry you have a crazy, over protective daughter-in-law... but know that I love you both very much and of course I forgive you ;)
(just don't ever do it again. HA!)

(FYI: Jason and my first date was flying from Arkadelphia to Hot Springs and going to dinner. I told my mom AFTER we landed what I had just done. She about died.
I would like to publicly apologize to MY mom....because now I know how it feels!!!!)

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My Babies

2012-01-25T16:05:00.002-06:00

Yes... These pictures show my broken, but healing, nose and yes, you can still see my black eyes, and Saylor is in a mix-matched outfit and Kohen has on a size 24 month shirt at 3 years old, BUT.... These are some of my favorite pictures ever!

These are MY babies. And we are having FUN, and laughing so hard and just enjoying being together.

My sweet babies won't be little (or probably sweet! LOL) for long...

I just wanted to catch a few moments of our "Wednesday around 4:00pm"...

All we need now is Daddy!

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My Girl

2012-01-21T21:09:00.000-06:00

Nose Surgery

2012-01-16T21:57:00.001-06:00

I had my surgery this morning. Here is a pic after surgery. Kinda crazy...I've had this blog for 3 years and I've documented 4 surgeries I've had within those 3 years! I think I'm done with hospitals for awhile! Hopefully.

The surgery today was to reconstruct the inside of my nose. Cosmetic surgery will be in 2-3 months. According to the surgeon, it was a very rare break...well, break(s).
I'm worried about what I'm going to look like the next two days...it's supposed to get worse before it gets better.
On a side note... It was so hard checking in for surgery since I had no photo ID, no insurance card and no debit or credit cards to pay the co-pay since my wallet was stolen! Ugh.

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When it rains, it pours

2012-01-11T14:22:00.000-06:00

We just can't catch a break around here. It's been a terrible week. It started with both kids getting sick. We made a doctor appointment for both of them. They tested Saylor for RSV and of course, it came back positive. He said we would assume Kohen had the same thing. Saylor also had an ear infection.

So we left with antibiotics and Albuterol for both kids.They were both just pitiful. We felt so sorry for them :(

YouTube Video

On Saturday I went to one of my friends birthday parties. It was for the whole family but Jason had to stay home with our kids since they were still sick. We didn't want to get the other kids sick.

Well, at the party, I got the bright idea to go jump on the trampoline with about 8 of the kids. We were taking turns doing a "trick" and then we would go around the circle and each "kid" (including me) would have to do it. So, when it was my turn I thought I would show out a little... I decided to do a back flip as my trick. I knew I had limited space because the kids were sitting around the perimeter of the trampoline. (I wasn't worried about messing the flip up because I have done it several times on our trampoline recently). I guess the thought of landing on someone entered my mind during the flip and I undercut extremely. I landed on my face. I think I even caught a spring. My first thought was "oh my gosh, I just made a complete fool out of myself in front of all these kids". Then I realized I was bleeding. I wasn't in pain, yet. I quickly got up and started looking for the zipper to get out of the fenced trampoline. I remember hearing Audrey and Chloe say "Ms. Stephanie! Are you ok???!". I said "How do I get out?". They guided me to the zipper and I was finally out. I was bleeding so much I knew Sherri would kill me if I went in her house. Plus by this time I was starting to feel a little light headed. I sat down in the grass surrounded by all the poor kids just looking at me. The girls were being so sweet and were really trying to help me. I just kept saying "it's ok, I'm fine!". I told Audrey and Chloe to go get their moms.

Next thing I knew, I was in the bathroom with a washcloth and ice on my nose. Tori said "Stephanie, I think it's broken". I was in disbelief. No way was it broken! It didn't hurt bad enough!

Tori, Rick and their kids drove me home. They came in for about an hour and we were going back and forth on wether I should go to the ER or not. It had now been a couple of hours and I was still bleeding. We decided that yes, we needed to go to the ER. Rick walked into our garage first and quickly came back in to get Jason. We walked out and saw that the passenger side window of our Escalade was busted with a golf club. Glass was everywhere. Rick went to his vehicle and saw that his keys and phone were stolen. Jason called 911.

Meanwhile, I realized that my purse was in the escalade and now it was gone. My drivers license, debit cards, credit cards and about $300 cash were all gone. I had to tell the cop everything I was missing while bleeding like a stuck hog. After we gave our statement, we left for the ER.

Here is a picture of my face while we were in the ER. They immediately took me for a CT. By this time I was starting to hurt BAD. The nurse said my adrenaline had finally run out and I was starting to feel the pain. The results came back from the CT and yes, my nose was broken. They gave me some injections for my pain. We didn't get home until about 5am from the ER. Thank you Tori for staying with my babies while we were gone.

My face the next day...

and my face the day after that...absolutely horrible. I could barely see this day.

I went to the doctor and he looked at my CT scans... My nose is broken in 3 spots. I go back to the doctor again tomorrow and I will have surgery on Monday.
We've been in contact with the police about my purse and our vehicle. Turns out, there were about 8 break ins in our neighborhood that night... We do have some leads... hopefully we will get to the bottom of it soon. But for now, I can't go anywhere because of what my face looks like, can't drive my vehicle because there is still glass everywhere and I can't shop online because all my cards and money were stolen! Like I said.... When it rains, it pours.

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Christmas 2011

2012-01-05T10:02:00.000-06:00

I love to decorate for Christmas. I especially love to decorate Christmas trees.

Here is Saylor's tree...

Kohen's Christmas tree...

Our family Christmas tree...

More Christmas decorations...

Kohen had his very first Christmas Program at school. We were gone to NY the week they practiced so I was VERY nervous about how it would go.

Kohen didn't know Jason and I were there to watch him.

Here he is walking out with his teacher...

And of course... he was very shy and sat in her lap pretty much the whole time!

Jason stood up to take this picture and Kohen spotted him. You can see him telling Ms. Angie that he sees his Daddy!

And in this picture he spots our neighbor, Adam...

So... he decides to leave the stage and go sit with him!

I decided to sneak down front to try and get him to go back on stage, but then he just wanted to sit with me...

Kohen, Ms. Angie, Ashton

****

CHRISTMAS MORNING 2011

Here is Kohen's "Santa pile":

Plasma car, Fire truck, Train, Grocery store with food

Saylor's Santa pile:

Pink walker, Cabbage Patch doll, Jack in the box, Beauty & the Beast DVD, Pink Nutcracker

On Christmas morning last year, I found out I was pregnant... and this Christmas morning I have a Santa pile for a little GIRL! Crazy how 1 year can change everything!

Max's Santa pile:

Maddie's Santa pile:

Asa's Santa pile:

Our stockings

Santa left LOTS of fruit and candy on Christmas morning! Santa did this for Jason's family when he was a little boy :)

The living room before the kids came in to see what Santa brought them...

More fruit and candy on the coffee table!

and even more in the kitchen!

Kohen did NOT want to wake up!

The kiddos running down the stairs to see what Santa brought!!!

(Maddie, Kohen, Max, Asa & Shelley)

Kohen took his time...

My sweet Saylor was sleeping and missed the excitement

My sweet little family :)

Saylor loves her new ride!

Mimi helping Kohen put together his train

My blue eyed baby girl

Kohen loved his new guitar! Now he can be just like Scott!

reading a book

Maddie's hair salon...

Kohen's turn!

We packed the kids up and headed to Fordyce on Christmas afternoon...

more gifts to open!

Julianne and Kohen

our family photo... yes, kohen has his finger up his nose...

We forgot to take family pics before everyone left, but we managed to get Jason's sister's family:

AnnaGrace, Michael, Christian, Julianne and Julie

Nana and Poppa

NYC 2011

2012-01-01T16:19:00.000-06:00

We took a trip to NYC December 5-10. Jason had a continuing education Botox & Juvederm course.
I did laundry for 3 straight days before we left. It is SO hard packing for a family of 4! Especially when one is a baby and needs multiple burp rags and bibs AND when 2 of them are in diapers! I packed SIXTY burp rags and SIXTY bibs! My mom thought I was crazy until she saw how fast we were going through them once we were there! NYC is NOT like our Florida trips where we have a washer and dryer in the condo! The worse part was traveling HOME with all the DIRTY burp rags and bibs, lol!

We started our journey by picking up my parents in Maumelle on our way to the Little Rock Airport. We got to the airport an hour and 15 minutes before our flight. We even did valet parking to give us extra time. There was no line at the check in counter. BUT we had 10 bags, 2 car seats and 2 strollers... The US Airways lady took FOREVER to check everything in. Once our luggage was on it's way to board the plane, we realized the lady messed up my mom's ticket. By this time we were getting a little worried. We FINALLY got moms ticket and headed to security. It was SUCH a long line. Once it was our turn, they decided to take an extra look at Dad's carry on so once again, we were held up. We finally got to the gate and the door was closed. We stood with several other passengers waiting on them to OPEN that door. GET THIS: the lady who checked us in and ALL of our luggage was the one who would NOT let us through the door! So, we stood there looking out the window at our plane. We watched it back away, and take off... without us.

We were soooo mad. The other passengers who missed the flight were also very upset. I wanted to scream and cry. I told my mom I had a feeling in my stomach I had never had before. It was such a strange, helpless, panicked, clueless feeling. THEN it hit me that ALL of our luggage was on that flight- car seats, strollers and 10 bags...

The next flight to NYC didn't leave until 5 hours later.

SO, we spent 5 hours in the Little Rock Airport- the smallest airport ever- With a 3 year old and a 3 month old.

Kohen got some really neat airport toys that kept him busy...

for a little bit...

It was FINALLY time to get on the airplane mommy had been telling Kohen about all day.

Oh, one other thing. None of our seats were together. Not even Kohen's. His assigned seat was between two strangers. Luckily, the airline worked with us and fixed it. We even got to sit in first class!

Jason was in charge of Saylor (aka the baby who slept the whole time, on EVERY flight).

I, on the other hand, was in charge of a very active but very tired little boy.

Have I mentioned that having to "turn off electronic devices" while we were taking off and landing also meant "having a 3 year old scream, cry, thrust his body back and forth kicking the seat in front of him"?

We were supposed to be in NYC by 4pm. We did not get there until 11pm. A VERY long day.

When we finally did make it to NY, all 10 bags were there waiting on us. AND a man holding a sign that said "Jason Smith" was also waiting on us... to our surprise we rode in a limo to our hotel! (Thanks Jason!)

Times Square

The view of Times Square from our hotel room

When we woke up the next morning, Kohen looked out the window. I said "Kohen, where are we?" He said "A castle!".

We thought it would work out better to get two double beds in mine and Jason's room, that way we would each sleep with one of our kids... well it turned out that the days Jason had to leave early for his course... BOTH kids ended up with me in my double bed... next time we'll stick to the King!

I have to say that Jason and I both loved every minute of sleeping next to our kiddos :)

Can you see my sweet girl?

Here was my lunch date... we ordered room service while Daddy was gone for the day.

I was so mad... I forgot ALL of Saylor's headbands and bows :(

Mom and Dad watched the kids several times while Jason and I went out on the town. One night, we ate at an Italian restaurant and were told we needed to share... so glad we did... Look at ALL that food!

You can barely see it, but we even made it onto the big screen in Times Square!

(We're above the "R" in FOREVER... Jason has on a red jacket and I'm holding a white bag)

One of the days that Jason and my parents were gone, I got stir crazy and attempted to take both kids into Times Square... It was also raining.

I tried to get a pic of both of them together. You can barely see Saylor in the stroller.

No, she doesn't have red hair... just looks that way in pictures :)

Kohen is checking out all the lights...

My parents and I went to see the Christmas tree and ice skaters at Rockefeller Center

Kohen chose this Elmo hat and gloves to buy

It was so funny because right after we bought them, we were walking back to our hotel and ran into big Elmo! Kohen couldn't believe it!

So... Mom and I discussed how in the world I would blog about this next part and get across to the people reading it how BAD our outing in the rain was... I'll try to explain it...
We were headed to a kid friendly restaurant that I read about online. Simple right? Wrong.4 adults, 2 kids, 1 stroller.

We decided not to take a taxi, but to ride the subway. I followed the directions the restaurant provided online if you were traveling on a the subway. We reached our subway stop no problem. Well, the trouble started when the rain started to get heavier...

We searched and searched for that damn restaurant. We asked people on the street and they would point us in the "right" direction, just to have the next person tell us we came the wrong way. Harder and Harder the rain fell. So we decided to go into the next restaurant we saw. It just happened to be TGI Fridays. Ugh. There is a TGI Fridays right across from our hotel! So we went in and ate. When it was time to leave, it was raining SOOOOOOOOO hard. It was diagonal rain. Wind blowing very strong. We ALL agreed we would HAVE to take a taxi back to the hotel. So my Dad braved the elements and headed outside to hail a taxi. No luck. A million were driving by but they all had people in them. His umbrella started turning inside out from the wind and rain. I decided to go help. Dad and I were just standing in puddles of water (it's freezing cold by the way) getting soaking wet. By this time Dads umbrella had totally bit the dust. It wasn't going to happen. There was no way we were getting a taxi. I spotted an entrance to the subway down the street. We wrapped Saylor up in her blanket. I carried her and my umbrella, Jason carried Kohen and his umbrella, my Mom carried her purse, the diaper bag and her umbrella and Dad pushed the stroller and carried his dilapidated umbrella. We all ran for our lives through the freezing heavy rain and strong wind. We made it to the subway, got on and headed towards Times Square. You would think our adventure was over right? No. We came out of the subway station and realized we had exited the wrong street. It was still near Times Square, but our hotel was much further down. So once again, we braced ourselves for the freezing rain and wind. Kohen was screaming crying and wanted me. So, Jason took Saylor this time and I took Kohen. We headed out. Everybody loaded down with bags and kids. Jason was the fastest. He had Saylor and I said "just go". So he took off with the baby. I was holding Kohen and trying to go fast while holding the umbrella over him. Umbrellas in diagonal rain don't really work... Kohen started to get sooo heavy. By this time I was running with Kohen sliding down my body. I turned around to see if I could see Mom and Dad. I will never forget the image of them coming through that rain. Dad, soaking wet, had the completely folded out stroller UP in the air, not pushing it, holding it up in the air running. By this time Kohen was so heavy I had to put him down and have him walk. So, I was completely bent over to where I was at his height, trying to hold the umbrella over his head, and also trying to hold back tears. I kept saying over and over "I'm so sorry baby, I'm so sorry". Kohen was just crying.

We finally made it into the hotel lobby. I just looked at my parents. We were hysterical.

Moving on. We went to the big Toys R Us along with everyone else in NYC.

Jason, Kohen and I rode the ferris wheel.

You're not allowed to choose what car you want. Kohen kept saying "I want the firetruck Mommy". humm. I was just hoping we would get a somewhat "boy" themed car.

When it was our turn to get on, we couldn't believe it...

We got the FIRETRUCK!!!!

Saylor hung out with Mom while we rode the ferris wheel.

We had a good trip. We didn't take many pictures... we always had our hands full! So most of the pics are from our iphones.

Thanks for going with us Mom and Dad. Yall were SO much help. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you!

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Family Pictures

2011-12-30T10:54:00.000-06:00

Saylor 3 months old, Kohen 3 years old

(for the record, I'm 31 and Jason is 34 in these pictures)

Christmas Pictures 2011

IPhone random pics

2011-12-16T21:27:00.000-06:00

Jason's office party was last night. It was a "Tacky Christmas Sweater" theme. LOL

This pic was at the Hullabaloo Christmas Party

Sharing a "Chocolate Mess"

The sweetest girl in the world

Saylor trying to wake Kohen up from his nap

Tummy Time!

Sneaky little boy

This is the first time she saw her Baby Be Blessed doll :)

I'm trying to find the time and energy to blog about our New York trip... Hopefully I'll get to it this weekend!
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Amazing Baby Gift!

2011-12-11T18:48:00.000-06:00

This was a baby gift from SCOTTY CAMERON & his staff! Jason could NOT believe it when he got it! Scotty made it himself, especially for Saylor! We could not be more excited!

Click "HERE" to see when Kohen got his first putter!

Who's who?

2011-12-04T16:30:00.000-06:00

Which picture is Saylor & which one is ME?! lol

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Story behind the Picture

2011-12-04T10:38:00.000-06:00

We were having family/Christmas pictures made at a studio here in Conway... It was at the end of our session and the photographer was getting some close up shots of Jason and I. Saylor was exhausted from her pictures and Kohen was OVER taking pictures and wouldn't cooperate any more. As she was taking our close ups, I asked her if she could step back and capture our family in a more candid shot... It turned out to be one of my favorites!

Kidney Ultrasound

2011-12-02T11:15:00.001-06:00

Saylor slept through her ultrasound of her kidneys this morning. We'll hear from the doctor in a couple of days.

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Vaccines & 3 month stats

2011-12-01T11:12:00.000-06:00

My poor, poor baby girl got some of her vaccines yesterday for her "2" month wellness check up (yes, I'm a month behind...). I was a month behind on all of Kohen's vaccines too, so I'm not too worried about it. I am PRO vaccinations. Jason always asks a million questions about them and "what if's" and what about modifications... But in the end, we both decided to go ahead with all of them at once (or at least the ones they give at two months).

Saylor was perfect at the doctor... of course...

Her 3 month stats:
Weight: 12 lbs, 25%Head: 16", 55%Length: 24", 60%

Waiting for her shots :( She's getting nervous!

Some love from her big brother helps :)

Her shots :( We told Kohen that Saylor was getting shots... He said "No, I want shots..."

Oral vaccine first...

Poor baby :(. Kohen changed his mind about wanting shots too after he saw this!

Taking care of my sweet girl

Little band- aids

Kohen got the Flu mist after this and he was TERRIFIED that it was going to hurt! I wish we would have done his first!
On another note, the doctor was very concerned about Saylor's kidneys. Not because he thinks something is wrong... but because of my history of kidney problems. (I had surgery when I was 2 because of reflux, hospitalized many times throughout my 20's, then had surgery again when I was 27... Hopefully I'm done with surgeries concerning my kidneys, only time will tell!).One contributing factor to my kidney problems is that I have double ureters... Saylor is scheduled to have an ultrasound of her kidneys tomorrow morning. Double ureters are rare but with it being more likely in girls, the doctor is trying to be proactive. I will be so relieved to see only ONE set of ureters on the ultrasound... NOT TWO sets!
(Funny story... when Jason was in dental school they were viewing a cadaver... the professor asked if anyone knew what was unique about the cadaver... no one raised their hand except Jason... He answered "the cadaver has double ureters!". The professor was impressed! lol... Now, I'm not real sure what all that had to do with "dental" students, but at least he knew the answer- thanks to ME! LOL)

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"Thank you God for baby Jesus!"

2011-11-29T14:40:00.001-06:00

I was listening and watching Kohen on the video monitor before his afternoon nap....

YouTube Video

"Thank you God for baby Jesus!"

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My Babies

2011-11-23T12:40:00.001-06:00

YouTube Video

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3 months old and Preschool Pic

2011-11-17T15:37:00.000-06:00

I really can't believe it's been 3 months since I had my baby girl. For the record... time did NOT fly with Kohen. I was so scared and confused about what to do with him that it seemed like time stood still. Not with Saylor! I'm in the groove of having two kids and on the go constantly. So Saylor seems to be growing soooo fast! :( Even though she's gotten much bigger, she was so small when she was born that she hasn't grown out of a single outfit yet. I will be an emotional wreck the day one of her outfits doesn't fit her.

Have I mentioned how much I'm in love with this little girl???

A new "first" to add to the list... she can SMILE now! Yay! I love it!

Saylor 3 months old

Kohen 3 months old

And no, (Sherri), I haven't forgotten the other love of my life! Kohen had his very first preschool pictures....

PERFECT!!! (Except for his outfit... I didn't know it was picture day).

Yes, I know what you're thinking... I have THE cutest kids ever :)... I can read minds.

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Bath x2

2011-11-08T20:36:00.001-06:00

2 kiddos taking a bath! Mommy is multi tasking!

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It Happened...

2011-11-06T09:41:00.001-06:00

I always knew it would happen.... I just didn't know when it would happen... Or where.

I've never told Kohen not to color on cabinets/walls/furniture because I didn't want to even put the idea in his head. When I found this in my laundry room I was shocked at first. I took Kohen to the cabinet and had a very calm conversation about how we only draw on paper. He seemed to understand and that was that. I looked at the scribbles again and smiled.
I didn't wash the cabinet. I kinda like the "art". I think I'm going to leave it. :)

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Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T21:54:00.000-05:00

Kohen had Fall Festival at his preschool on Halloween morning...

I failed to buy costumes again this year... Kohen wore a fireman outfit he already had and I came up with Saylor's "costume" right before we left for the Halloween event. Maybe next year I'll be on top of things!

I have to say... She makes a pretty cute "Peabra".... that's a peacock and zebra combined... ;)

Look closely at her sweet little face in this picture :)

There's my fireman!

My sweet boy and girl

We went trick or treating with our neighbors... this is Kohen, Samantha and Ashton

Kohen wouldn't look at the camera so I told him to "look at my nose" and this is what he did...

seriously... God KNEW I needed a girl...

Ashton and Kohen towards the end of trick or treating. Kohen would say "Next house Mommy!".

This little boy has had more candy that any child I know these past two days! Can you tell?

We went to the Centennial Valley Country Club Halloween event before we trick or treated (pics out of order).

Just look at my beautiful babies!

This is when Saylor was in front of the judges for her age group for best costume.... yes, she won :)

This is Jason trying to get Kohen to go in front of the judges for his age group... he wasn't having it. He just wanted to eat sweets at the table instead.

Saylor is 2 months old!

2011-10-25T15:26:00.001-05:00

I can't believe my sweet girl is already two months old! She is still perfect :) Here are some things about her:

- wears a size 1 diaper
- drinks up to 4 oz. of formula
- takes a great morning nap and lots of little naps throughout the day.
- Sleeps between 8-10 hours about 95% of the time at night (Did I mention she's perfect?)
- still wears little bitty newborn clothes, but is starting to fill them out more
- has huge blue eyes
- has her momma's hairline, lol
- has the longest little fingers
- has the smallest little tootsies I've ever seen
- gives the sweetest open mouth kisses, lol
- is the most gassy, stinky little girl ever
- loves listening and watching her brother play
- hardly ever cries (just when her tummy hurts or she's hungry)
- looks just like a "Wood" (Kohen looks like a Smith!) But then again... Kohen's baby pics look a lot like Saylor...
- has a mommy who absolutely ADORES her ;)

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Pumpkin Patch 2011

2011-10-18T12:00:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday I went with Kohen on his first field trip! His class went to the Pumpkin Patch! I was SOOOO nervous about how Kohen would behave (there's been some issue's lately), but he was PERFECT. It was just what he needed, his mommy ALL to himself (plus it was good for me to to spend time with just my baby boy). :)

Kohen with his teacher, Mrs. Angie

Kohen with his BFF, Ashton

Kohen 2009

Kohen 2011

Kohen and Ashton

I LOVE this picture of our feet during the hay ride :)

This is THE funniest video EVER! Make sure and listen really close at the end :)

YouTube Video

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Sunday Afternoon

2011-10-09T14:19:00.001-05:00

YouTube Video

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Sister Love & Broken Collar Bone

2011-10-04T20:16:00.000-05:00

This video was taken the day we got home from the hospital...

YouTube Video

Jason had both kids asleep in his arms :)

Two days after we brought Saylor home from the hospital we were all in the kitchen. Jason was holding Saylor and sitting on one of our bar stools. I was across the bar area talking to them. Kohen crawled into Jason's lap too. When he tried to go from Jason's lap to the stool next to them, he slipped and fell. Jason tried to catch him but couldn't because he was holding Saylor. Kohen hit the tile floor and starting screaming/crying. I quickly ran around to where he was and Jason passed Saylor to me like she was a football so he could get to Kohen. I just knew his head was going to be busted open and blood was going to be everywhere....There was no blood and he just had a small bump on his head. I couldn't believe how lucky we were that it was just a small bump! WELL... Kohen stopped crying and complained about his shoulder throughout the night. He would hold it and say "hurt" or "hurting". Mom and I both thought that if his collar bone were broken, then he would be crying uncontrollably. Jason thought it was broken. The next morning, the first thing Kohen said when he woke up was "hurting" while holding his shoulder. I called and got a doctor appointment for that morning. I was still "out of order" from having a baby so my mom took Kohen to the doctor and Jason met her there. When they got home and told me the xray showed his collar bone was broken, I lost it. I remember hugging my mom and just crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying and crying. Words can not express how HORRIBLE and HELPLESS I felt for Kohen. Not only had his world just been flipped upside down by having to share HIS Mommy and HIS Daddy with a BABY... but now he was hurt and Mommy couldn't fix it by kissing it. I only stopped crying when my mom told me that it could have been worse... at least we were not at Children's Hospital with a head injury.
Kohen was re-x-rayed about 2 weeks ago and it had still not healed. They said to keep the brace on for two more weeks.

Soon after this accident, he had another accident. I was in the shower when this one happened. Jason walked into the bathroom holding Kohen with blood everywhere. I was screaming "What the H*!!". Jason said Kohen was climbing on the side of our bed and fell and hit his face on the side board. He chipped his front tooth and tore that little piece of skin in your mouth above your front teeth (the frenum). So he basically did his own frenectomy. There was also a big cut from his lip up to his nose.... You would think the accidents were over right??? No. Two days after this Kohen was walking up our brick steps and fell and hit his face on the corner of the bricks. I seriously panicked. I thought it got his eye. It was dark in our garage so I couldn't see him very well. I took him into the light and saw he was cut under his eye. Poor baby. I called my neighbor Adam to come help me because I saw his SUV was home but he texted me he was in a meeting. I took a deep breath and said to myself "I can handle this". I carried Kohen in one arm and Saylor's car seat in the other and somehow managed my way inside.

My sweet baby's face looks pitiful. His top lip was so swollen he looked like he had lip injections! Keep in mind he started preschool with a broken collar bone, the next day he had the busted lip, then the next day he had the cut cheek.... Not a very good first impression as parents...

I'm REALLY trying to blog more often. I have tons to blog about... I'm mostly wanting to just document but I have some things going on that I'm hoping other bloggers can help me with. hopefully it won't be too long before I blog again.

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Saylor Hadley Smith

2011-09-22T18:05:00.000-05:00

"It's been a crazy couple of weeks" is the understatement of the century... FINALLY, I have a few minutes to blog about the birth of my baby girl. Here's the story:

On Wednesday, August 24th I had my last doctors appointment. Everything looked great, I was feeling fine and the c-section was scheduled for the next Wednesday at 9am. Simple, right?! I've been saying all along how I like how it's all "planned" out and I know exactly what to expect. I was WRONG.

The very next day, August 25, 2011:

8:00am: I woke up with a horrible headache. (I've been dealing with migraines this whole pregnancy.) I was hurting so bad, I didn't know how I was going to take care of Kohen. I loaded him up in the vehicle and just drove. I ended up parking at Jason's office and I called one of the front desk girls and let her know that I was in the parking lot (hurting) and could she let Jason know I was there asap. Jason was with patients and couldn't break away, so I laid my seat back in the car while Kohen watched a movie in his car seat. We stayed like this for what seemed like hours. Luckily, Kohen was content with his apple wedges, granola bar and Toy Story 3 movie. When Jason got off at lunch, he saw how much pain I was in and called my friend Tori to come get Kohen and watch him until Jason got off work.

1:00pm: By this time, Tori had picked Kohen up and I was in bed with 3 ice packs on my head. I couldn't move. I just had. to. stay. still. It hurt to move my eyeballs. I stayed this way until Jason got home at 5.

5:00pm: Jason got home from work and saw how much pain I was still in. Medicine had not touched my headache. He said at one point I told him I felt like I was going to die. Jason called Dr. Cole's nurse, who called Dr. Cole and told him what was going on. He said to take me to the ER...

6:00-7:00pm: While in the ER my blood pressure was 159/111. The nurse quickly called Dr. Cole and he said to take me to Labor and Delivery. I started to FREAK OUT. I remember calling my Dad while they pushed me in a wheelchair through the hospital to Labor & Delivery. I couldn't even talk. I just cried. He said "Is there going to be a baby?" I said "yes".

7:00pm: Labor & Delivery triage. My doctor was out of town so we saw the doctor on duty. My headache was so extreme. I didn't want to have my baby while feeling so horrible.

This wasn't how I "planned" it! I didn't have anything! Luckily I had started getting Saylor's stuff together the night before, and I had started putting things in a pile on my dresser for me to take to the hospital.

My friend Sherri was at the hospital by this time and Jason left to go get our stuff. They gave us about a two hour time frame until my c-section.

Sherri with me ...I wasn't hiding from the camera... my head just hurt so bad I couldn't stand to see any light :(

Dr. Cole was driving in from out of town to do my c-section so Jason started calling and texting family and friends to let them know that we were about to have a baby!

As you can see on the clock in this picture, it was about 10 till 9 when they started to roll me back to the operating room...

Jason following me...

I guess this is kinda gross, but to get the full effect... here's a picture during(or maybe after) the operation... you can't "see" anything... just thought my mom might want to see where her "baby girl" was when I was having my baby girl since she couldn't be in there with me. Kind of a scary place to be without your mom...

So here's my head... I was pretty much frozen like this during the whole operation. I remember trying to move my toes and I couldn't, which I guess is a good thing since my belly was completely open. This may sound strange, but my head was hurting so bad that I remember thinking it was ok if I accidentally died. During my last c-section I remember talking during it. I even freaked out thinking I couldn't breath at one point and Dr. Cole told me if I was talking, then I was breathing. This time, I didn't talk. I couldn't. My head hurt too bad to talk. The only way I got answers to my questions was by watching Jason's eyes. I don't think I took my eyes off his eyeballs the whole time. I don't think I blinked. I could tell if everything was going ok, just by watching his eyes.

After what seemed like a VERY long time (remember, I was no ordinary c-section patient... read previous blog entries if you don't remember!) at one point Dr. Cole asked me how I was doing... I thought for a second and then I said (remember, my belly is completely wide open on an operating table...) "This is the best I've felt all day"... The nurses, Dr. Cole, the anesthesiologist, Jason and whoever else was in that room laughed and took a big sigh of relief because they knew how badly I had been hurting all day. So I don't know if it was God or my spinal epidural, but my migraine was FINALLY going away!!!!

Within a few minutes our sweet baby girl was born!!! My first thought was SHE LOOKS JUST LIKE KOHEN!!!

This is when Jason was bringing her to show me b/c I was still strapped to the table being sewn up :)

Absolutely LOVE at first sight

I can't tell you how bad I wanted to rip my arms from those restraints and hold my baby girl!

MEANWHILE... in the waiting room!

Mom and Dad (Mom had to leave work from Baptist in a HURRY!)

A few of my friends

Kohen arrives with his pink shirt!

Kohen ran straight to Lauren!

Kohen didn't know what to think about all these people he knows in one place!

My baby girl getting ready to meet the family!

Jason walking out to introduce Saylor to the family (of course he took a video camera! lol)

Saylor's view...

Kohen see's his baby sister!

Jaosn and Dr. Cole

Jason's pink shirt :)

back in our hospital room

Seeing Kohen for the first time after having Saylor... I didn't get to see him before since it was so rushed. (I'm actually kind of glad I didn't have to go through the whole emotional conversation with Kohen about leaving to go have a baby!)

First Baby Saylor kiss :) (there have been LOTS since this one! lol)

I was SOOOOOOO happy to see my baby boy. I love him so much.

Sweet tootsies

my Dad

My brother

Kohen's present he got for being a new big brother

my father in law

Kohen and one of his best friends :)

Kohen and Shelley (Shelley took most of these pictures, that's why she's not in a whole lot of them!)

Daddy and Saylor

Saylor's hospital bag :) It was packed with lots of cute outfits and tons of bows ;)

Mimi and Baby Saylor

My mom stayed with us a whole week when Saylor was born.

FINALLY, I get to play dress up with my baby girl! I love her blanket... my sister gave it to me. It has little pink sail boats on it :)

Poppa and Kohen with the t-shirt Nana bought him :)

Kohen went with Jason's parents and stayed in Fordyce while we were in the hospital for 3 days.

Thank you Nana and Poppa!!!! As you can tell, Kohen LOVES you!

Maddie was SOOOO excited to hold Saylor

Sweet Max

Me and my baby girl

Me with Sherri and her boys. Sherri was awesome. She brought me Sonic Diet Cokes while I was in the hospital :)

Seriously... could my baby be any cuter? :)

Mommy and Daddy with Saylor

Mom

Going Home!

This was the first time I saw Kohen since he got back from Fordyce (longest we've been apart).

I balled when I saw him...

Kohen wondering what "she's" doing in our car...

gotta love this look...

family photo... Kohen's still not so sure...

Home sweet Home!

sneak peak of the nursery... STILL not finished...

our parents with Saylor

First bath...

I'm the luckiest person (besides Jason) in the whole world to have these two kids!

The day after Saylor turned one week old, I started feeling really bad. I had another horrible headache, just like the one I had the day I had her. Not only did I have a horrible headache again, I also had a horrible neck ache. I couldn't move my neck at all. I once again was in so much pain. I went to the doctor and my blood pressure was sky high. They put me on blood pressure meds and some other meds for my head and neck. My pain was absolutely unbearable and I ended up in the ER that night. For 5 hours they tried to get my blood pressure down and me some relief for my head and neck ache through IV meds but could only get the edge off. After a normal CT scan & urinalysis, they released me but my BP was still very high at 196/99.

The next day my parents took Kohen to Asa's birthday party so I could rest. Jason bought a blood pressure cuff so he could monitor me throughout the day and night. My brother in law, Michael, who is a chiropractor, even came to adjust me to see if he could get me any relief. Jason sat by me on the couch for hours monitoring my BP. When it reached 205/125 he called the doctor because he was worried about me having a seizure or stroke. The doctor told Jason to skip the ER and to instead go straight to Labor & Delivery to be admitted.

To make a long story shorter... I was in the hospital for 2 more days dealing with postpartum hypertension. Luckily they let Saylor stay in the room with us so I was able to be with my new baby girl.

Jason took this picture one night while I was in the hospital. It seriously makes me want to cry...

It has been quite a ride. I haven't even mentioned the part where my baby spit up clotted blood one night or the part where my right foot didn't move for 2 days... Oh, or the part where my breasts were so engorged because the breast milk had no passageway to the nipple because I had the bright idea to have breast reduction surgery BEFORE I was finished having kids. I haven't mentioned how that was completely devastating and THE reason for the blood my baby was spitting up. I also haven't mentioned that Kohen broke his collar bone (I'll blog about this later) 2 days after Saylor was born & started preschool soon after that... Luckily my foot started working again... just took the spinal epidural that long to wear off I guess... It's just been crazy.

It's almost been 4 weeks now and I'm finally starting to feel better. Saylor has been the absolute best baby. She is perfect. She eats and sleeps. She hardly ever cries. I would go through everything again, EVERYTHING. If it meant I would get the same result.

I love this little girl and her brother with all my heart.

Saylor Hadley Smith

August 25, 2011

7 lbs 8 oz

18 3/4"

9:29pm

Backyard Surprise

2011-08-23T16:27:00.000-05:00

My backyard has pretty much been neglected for about 2 months now. I hardly ever go back there. Even getting in the pool is too hot and too much work. Jason and I noticed this "weed" that was growing in one of the flower beds but never got around to pulling it. It kept growing and growing. It has even covered the sidewalk leading to the pool house. One day Jason came in from the backyard and told me I had to come look at something....

THIS is what we found!!!!!

It's a watermelon vine!!!

We think at one of our pool parties earlier in the summer the kids must have spit watermelon seeds into the flower bed and this is what happened! Right now we have 4 really big watermelons growing!

Time with Daddy and Friends

2011-08-23T10:35:00.000-05:00

I know I've mentioned Jason and our neighbor Adam several times throughout this blog... But they seriously are such good Daddy's. Just about every Saturday they take the kids and do something fun with them. Last Saturday they took the kids to Play Time Pizza in Little Rock.

Ashton, Samantha and Kohen

Samantha is soooo sweet to Kohen :)

Samantha, Ashton and Adam

Daddy and Kohen

These sweet boys are about to start preschool together!

Thank you so much Jason and Adam! You are such wonderful, fun Daddy's!!!

Worry and Stress

2011-08-21T22:37:00.000-05:00

I'm pretty much freaking out these days. I have so much on my mind and so many emotions. So many worries and so much stress. I'm bringing a lot of it on myself, I know. I finally cracked and cried my eyes out, first to Jason, then to my mom, about what all is on my mind...

1. My baby's about to not be the baby anymore...

Our family of 3 is about to be 4 and Kohen will have to share the spotlight.

2. Surgery. I've had many surgeries in my 31 years. But it's different, I think, after being a mom. You have that extra "what if" worry. What I'm most concerned about with this c-section is that it will be the THIRD time this same scar will be cut into. The first time it literally about killed me. In 2002 when the original incision was made for my emergency abdominal surgery, it got pretty intense. My doctor decided in 2008 to go through the same vertical scar to do my c-section with Kohen. During the surgery he was verbally very surprised to find that my anatomy was/is "different" than the normal woman and said something like "I'm glad I didn't start there!". I think Jason has reminded him every single doctor's appointment about my different anatomy and keeps reminding him about how something almost went wrong during my surgery last time. My doctor has told Jason to remind him again when we're in the operating room.

3. Hospital Stay. After Kohen meets his new baby sister, he will be going to Jason's parents house to stay for a few days until we're released from the hospital. Last time I was in the hospital for 4 days. I have never been away from Kohen for this long. It completely and totally stresses me out. Not because I will be worried about him, but because I will miss him SO much it breaks my heart to even think about it. I'm hoping I will only be in the hospital 2-3 days this time :) and I KNOW that Kohen will have SO much fun with Nana and Poppa.

4. Kohen is starting preschool. He starts only 1 week after Saylor is born. It makes me SO sad that he will not be home with me everyday...but, I'm also very happy that he will be making friends, learning and hopefully have a good experience this time.

5. Recovery. I'm so worried about the healing process with my belly after the c-section. I'm going to have staples for the first week after I have Saylor, then after that I will be all taped up. I won't be able to lift for quite some time. I don't know what I'm going to do when Kohen wants me to hold him or rock him or get him in and out of the car seat. When I had my breast reduction surgery, I busted open part of my scar because I picked Kohen up one day... Kohen is heavier now and this scar will be much bigger than that one, so it worries me.

One thing I'm not worried about is that I know Kohen will be a great big brother.

He knows that Baby Saylor will be here very soon and he's excited about it.

9 more days for Kohen to be an only child...

I sure do love this little boy more than he will ever know.

Mobile Pics

2011-08-11T20:36:00.001-05:00

These are just some random pics I have on my phone....

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Drab to Fab!

2011-08-02T11:52:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of Kohen's old car seat...

And here it is now! Ready for Baby Saylor!!!

I bought the car seat cover from www.smallsprouts.com

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Kohen and Daddy

2011-07-30T11:45:00.001-05:00

YouTube Video

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35 Weeks + Baby Shower

2011-07-27T20:39:00.000-05:00

I'm seriously about to pop... and I have 5 weeks to go.

For the first time I've experienced contractions. I never had them with Kohen. I had really horrible back labor with him. But the past 3 nights I've had irregular Braxton Hicks (sp?) contractions. I've also made it to the completely, 100% miserable stage... at least I'm going to get a sweet baby girl out of all of this pain!

This past Sunday, my sister and friends gave me an awesome baby shower! The BEST part about it was it was PINK CRAB themed! You probably didn't know that I'm completely obsessed with crabs... I love them. And yes, my love of crabs did play a part in her name. I love crab fishing and my FAVORITE show is Deadliest Catch. I'll never forget watching the show one night and seeing the word "Sailor" on the boat and thinking that was a sign to name my baby "Saylor"...Anyway, back to the subject... Here are some pics from the shower...

Saylor's "CRAB CAKE"! lol

This was my favorite part of the whole decor. It was a bulletin board with clippings and photos printed from my blog!!! It included the story about when I found out I was pregnant, telling Jason, our first ultrasound, feeling her kick for the first time, and much more.

Seeing this board literally brought me to tears...

They even had a bib painting station at the shower!!!

Here are a few bibs that were painted...

My mom

Time to open gifts!

My friend Tori made this tutu! (That's Tori sitting next to me)

I LOVED opening baby girl gifts :)

Jason even stopped by at the end of the shower :)

This picture makes me laugh... I have no idea what we were doing!

When we got home we had even more gifts to open!

This is my "Awww" face... My cousin Laura made fun of how many times I said it at the shower, lol!

Jason with his momma and his sisters

Nana and Kohen

Kohen loves his cousins!

Thank you Shelley, Sherri, Tori, Ashley, Amy, Brooke and Angie for such a great shower!!! I hate that I didn't get a picture of all of us together :(

Pee

2011-07-19T09:56:00.001-05:00

I hadn't planned on starting to potty train today, but when Kohen woke up with a dry diaper I quickly told him that he could have an m&m if he would t.t. in the potty. We went to his bathroom and he moved back and forth between sitting on the big potty and his training potty. After about 5 minutes of nothing, I went and got his milk. About 3 minutes after that I told him I was going to get a book for him and I would be right back. He decided he would rather have his iPod touch so he ran and grabbed it. As soon as he got back to the bathroom he peed in the training potty!!!! I was SO excited!!!

Kohen got his m&m(s)!!!

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Play-Doh

2011-07-18T11:43:00.001-05:00

YouTube Video

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4th of July 2011 plus more

2011-07-12T10:35:00.000-05:00

Last year we had a 4th of July party with my family, but this year the Smith's were S.I.C.K. Jason brought home a nasty bug from work (I guess) and he was in bed sick most of the weekend. Kohen got sick too. I thought I was in the clear until Sunday night and then it hit me. Thank goodness by that time Jason and Kohen were feeling better!

The ONLY thing we did to celebrate the 4th of July was, at dark, we stepped outside and watched our neighborhood fireworks from hole #9. Here are a few pictures...

Our neighbor, Adam with Kohen

***

A few weeks ago, Jason played in the KLife Golf Tournament.

Adam, Jason, Paul and Scotty

Team Dental Designs!

Jason and Paul

Jason was a sponsor for the tournament...

***

Jason and Kohen let me sleep in one Saturday morning and they went swimming at our neighbors house. Ashton, Kohen and Adam

***

Continuing this random post....

I found a few more Destin pictures that were left out of the Destin post, so here they are...

We went to eat at McGuire's Irish Pub

Kohen was really excited about this airplane hanging above our table!

Scott, Mom, Dad

Mimi, Kohen and Poppy

***

I'm hoping to do a post very soon on Saylor's nursery! We FINALLY started on it!

Hell Froze Over

2011-07-04T18:48:00.000-05:00

Yes. You heard me right. Hell has frozen over... Here's why: About 2 months ago, one of my BFF's asked if she could have her son's birthday party at our house (pool party). I said sure- no big deal, right? WELL... she showed up to decorate with 2 huge boxes of decorations and guess what the theme was.....

TEXAS FREAKING LONGHORNS. OMG. I think my heart just about stopped beating. She said "Please don't hate me, but I couldn't tell you or you wouldn't let us do the party here!". I was in COMPLETE shock. (I don't know if you remember, but ALL of my best friends here in Conway are from Texas and are Longhorn fans. I didn't know this until AFTER we became friends.) So, I picked my chin up off the floor and said Ok...I guess we're having a Texas Longhorn party at MY house!

Just looking at this orange and white makes me want to vomit. Why me??? Even my college roommate (Delta) was a Longhorn fan.

My poor dining room...

After I learned of the theme, I immediately sent out a text to the rest of my Texas friends and their husbands and said a few "creative" words about EVERYONE keeping the theme a secret from me. A few of them thought I was really upset about it, so, to show them I was a GOOD sport, I made Longhorn cookies. Yes. I love my friends THAT much.

But don't worry, this one was my favorite...

Upside down Longhorn that says Go Hogs!

I got a huge laugh when two of my friends brought me "peace offering" gifts! lol

Sherri gave me a beach towel and Tori gave me this Hog Wild necklace :)

We had a double birthday party that day. We set Casen's Longhorn party up inside and had my BFF's (Ashley) Luau birthday party set up outside. Here is Ashley's party set up...

I made Ashley Palm Tree cookies!

I saw this card board cut out at Party City and I just HAD to have it! lol

Tiki torches...

Some of the kiddos taking a break from the pool...

Some of the husbands

Rick at the grill

Michael teaching my poor son how to do/say "Hook 'em Horns". blah.

Time for cake!

My crazy friend Sherri and her son Travis. I love these two!

Casen opened a RAZORBACK hat! (I do need to add that ALL of my friends have grown to become Razorback fans too, otherwise, I'd find new friends :)

Some of the girls

Rick and his "Godson", Kohen (yes, Kohen is wearing girl sunglasses)

Casen and Kohen

31 Weeks

2011-07-03T22:56:00.000-05:00

I had a doctor appointment last Friday and I'm SO happy to say that Saylor Hadley Smith will be arriving on August 31, 2011! I'm scheduled to have a c-section on that morning (11:30am).

This has been THE longest, sickest, most exhausting 31 weeks of my life. I feel like I can't catch a break. I went to see a neurologist last Tuesday for all of my migraines. I didn't find out much. He just listened, took notes and then told me he wanted to see me back 6 weeks after the baby was born for testing.
My sister developed migraines when she was pregnant with her second child and she was my same age... I guess it runs in the family!

Destin, FL 2011

2011-06-27T20:08:00.000-05:00

We just got back from a 7 day vacation in Destin, FL! Next time we're staying longer (and flying, lol)! We left Conway Saturday morning and headed to Maumelle to pick up my parents and my brother. We all rode together on the 12 hour trip and I must say, the best traveler of us all was Kohen! He did great. Between the iphones, ipads and the DVD player, he was a very happy boy. We had to stop several times on the way and way back (10 to be exact) because I'm at a point in my pregnancy where blood clots are a risk. My mom did a very good job of reminding me to move my feet and legs around as much as possible. Plus I had to pee all the time so the stops were very necessary!

Kohen LOVED the ocean, beach, playing in the sand, swimming pool, condo and going out to eat. He was seriously perfect (most of the time :). I, on the other hand, had a harder time than I thought I would. Being 30 weeks pregnant presents quite a challenge when walking through the sand, while carrying a beach bag and holding an anxious 2 1/2 year olds hand! Luckily I had Jason, Scott, Mom and Dad to help carry the ice chest, rafts, boogie boards, beach toys, chairs, and towels!

My little beach baby!

He loved running in the sand :)

Eating breakfast on the balcony watching the boats

He loved the waves. He especially loved when Jason or Scott would pick him up right before the wave hit. He would have swam all the way out to the middle of the ocean if we would have let him! He kept pointing out further saying "That Way!".

Jason and Kohen

Taking a break from the water

Everyday after leaving the ocean, we would stop at the pool to swim. Kohen became a little dare devil here!

Going to eat. I was feeling a little anxious because Kohen is usually HORRIBLE at restaurants. But he did great EVERY time we went out to eat!

Scott and Mom

Kohen was too busy to look at the camera. This is the best shot we got of our family of 3.

Mom and Dad

Another day on the beach!

We had 4 lounge chairs and 2 umbrella's reserved everyday, but I preferred to sit closer to the water :)

Mom is going to kill me for posting this but I think it's hilarious...

She got very sunburned on the tops of her feet the first day, so the next day she wore SOCKS! HA!

Jason and Scott snuck away to play golf one morning...

Jason

Scott

Dad and Kohen (we did not plan the matching outfits, lol)

Kohen and Daddy

Scott, Kohen, Jason

Jason playing a little golf game at Harbor Town

Kohen and Poppy!

Having fun on the beach with Poppy

Sweet boy

I love this picture...

can you see the airplane?

Mimi and Kohen

Scott took a picture of us from the balcony. You can see Dad and Jason in the chairs by the water and Kohen and I walking to the right of them.

Jumping off the steps

Scott holding Kohen behind the waterfall. Yes, Kohen liked this too ;)

Eating a banana...

My handsome little boy

Kohen looks EXACTLY like his daddy when Jason was this age!

Beach pictures of our family. No, I didn't post many because I hated most of them (of me)! It's hard having a "photo shoot" when I know how big my belly is! We also should have waited a little later into the evening to take them because the sun was so bright... Kohen was squinting in most of them...

Kohen kissing baby Saylor :)

Our camera fogged up and we didn't know it :(

Scott and Kohen

Playing in the sand

I already miss Destin! I would drive 12 hours tomorrow if it meant we were going back again! Can't wait till next summer :)

A few things to remember:

*On the way home Kohen kept saying that he wanted to see his kitty cats and his kitchen.

*When we woke up at home the next morning, Kohen looked out at our pool and asked where the ocean and the boats were!

It's a Train!!!

2011-06-17T09:16:00.001-05:00

YouTube Video

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All Boy

2011-06-16T13:45:00.001-05:00

That's my boy!

YouTube Video

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Mini Weekend Trip

2011-06-13T12:06:00.000-05:00

This past weekend we had reservations at the Treehouses in Eureka Springs. About an hour before we left I was reading the VERY fine print online and read "NO CHILDREN". Jason called the Treehouse people immediately and they confirmed that no children were allowed. So we had to cancel. I was so disappointed because I had been looking forward to our mini weekend trip. So, we decided to head up to Branson instead.

We only wanted to stay one night. That way we would get back on Saturday and still have all day Sunday to hang around our pool and relax before Jason started his work week again.

We stayed at Chateau on the Lake Resort and Spa. This was our second time to stay here and I honestly don't see us staying anywhere else every time we take a trip to Branson. We are completely spoiled to it now! You could seriously stay your whole weekend at the Resort and not run out of things to do.

We were all about RELAXING on this little stay. We didn't even go out to eat! We ordered room service for all of our meals and I'm so happy we did. (Kohen is TERRIBLE these days at restaurants). Jason and I were able to eat together for once (one of us is usually tending to Kohen while the other one eats, then we switch). Kohen ate then got to play with his toys while we ate.

Our view from the balcony...

We visited the Butterfly Palace

Kohen hated when the butterflies would fly right in front of him!

We got to the Palace as soon as it opened so we were the first (and only) people there! It was great having it all to ourselves!

This picture makes me laugh because Kohen was wanting us to hold him so he could get away from the butterflies! He looks so worried!

He DID love the Butterfly Palace...just not when they got so close!

We went shopping at the outlets too. It was a fun little trip. Now I'm ready for our week long trip to Destin!!!!

Biggest Fears

2011-06-10T10:57:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday one of my biggest fears came true.
Kohen fell in the pool.

I was about to go to the grocery store and Kohen and Jason were playing outside. I looked through the window and saw them. I had this feeling come over me and I knew I didn't need to leave. I thought about Oprah and how she has done so many shows about a mother's intuition. I remember thinking, "Is that what this feeling is?". I walked outside and told Jason that he really needed to watch Kohen. Jason said that he knew that and for me to go. I went back inside and looked out the window again. I still had that same feeling. I walked back outside and that's when Kohen fell in the pool. Jason immediately threw down his phone and jumped in the pool and got Kohen. I flew down the stairs and was screaming SH*T!!!! Please excuse my language, but my kid was at the bottom of the swimming pool. When Jason pulled Kohen above the surface, Kohen's eyes were closed and he was gasping for air. He started coughing. The next couple of minutes were a blur. I just remember Jason patting him on the back really hard and telling him (and me) that it was going to be okay. They were both fully clothed. I also remember saying that I KNEW I didn't need to leave for the grocery store!

I'm SOOOO thankful that Jason was able to jump in so fast. It could have been so much worse. For those of you who don't know, Jason lost his 2 1/2 year old nephew to drowning in a swimming pool. Same age that Kohen is now. And Kohen looks just like Jason's nephew TREY. This weighed EXTRA heavy on my heart as I laid awake thinking and crying about Kohen falling in the pool that night.

Kohen has not been in our backyard without a life jacket on since this happened. I do need to say that Kohen did not mean to fall in the pool... he was by the edge playing with the water hose and tripped over his shoes. He tried to catch his balance before falling in the water but wasn't able to. He hasn't acted scared around the water, but I can tell he's a little more cautious.

Memorial Day 2011

2011-06-07T12:45:00.000-05:00

We were invited to two BBQ's in the neighborhood so we decided to do it at our house and combine the two parties!

I was so happy that my sister and her kids came :)

And I couldn't believe it when my brother came too! He didn't even tell me he was coming!

I love this picture of Scott with Maddie and Max.

Jason and Kohen

My friend Amy and her daughter Madison

My baby boy

Rick is lovin on some babies!

Kohen's BFF, Ashton

Shelley and Asa

Scott and Asa

The Boys (Kohen was taking a nap)

The Girls

Kohen's BFF

2011-06-02T13:26:00.000-05:00

Our next door neighbor, Ashton, is 2! He's also Kohen's best friend :) His party was at Jump Zone in Conway.

Kohen is checking out the wheels

This is Ashton's Daddy, Adam, who is also one of Jason's best friends.

Kohen was trying to tell Adam what to do!

Adam being a kid :)

Here goes Kohen and Daddy!

Weeeeeeee!

Ashton's cupcakes

Kohen was NOT happy when we woke him up from his nap to go to the party....

He was a "little" fussy...

Best Friends...

This picture cracks me up. Look at how he's looking at the dinosaur...

WHOA Daddy!

Daddy's Girl

2011-05-19T10:13:00.000-05:00

At 3:28 a.m. I woke Jason up and told him to give me his hand. I put it on my belly and he felt his little girl kick for the first time :)

Just get it off...

2011-05-15T14:57:00.000-05:00

I haven't taken my wedding ring(s) off since I was pregnant with Kohen. I waited WAY too late this pregnancy to take them off. It finally got to the point where they were hurting me. When I decided to try and take them off, they wouldn't budge. I tried lotion, baby oil, windex, dental floss, soaking my hand in cold water, twisting, pulling...EVERYTHING. Nothing worked. Nothing even worked a little bit. I started to panic. This went on for 3 days. By the third day of not being able to get it off, I started to really panic and I was getting very claustrophobic. I went to Jason's office during his lunch hour and said "just get it off". I don't care how. Just get them OFF! We ended up going to a local jewelry store (Fletcher Smith's Jewelers) and I got them CUT OFF.

BEFORE:

During:

After:

My poor rings!

I have to say that I DO NOT regret having them cut off. I'm positive that was the ONLY solution. I am sad that it messed up the engraving on the inside of the band though. I'm sure I will always be able to see where my ring was cut. Not sure how well platinum goes back together!? BUT, I do know that it will add character to my ring and I'll always be able to show my little girl where her momma had to cut off my wedding rings when I was pregnant with her :)

Stormy Weather

2011-05-08T12:37:00.000-05:00

I'm scared of bad weather. I'm even scared of not-so-bad weather. I guess I can blame it on the tornado that hit Arkadelphia on March 1, 1997... ever since that day, I have been terrified. Ask any of my friends or family. They will tell you that I am NOT the person you want to be around when there is a cloud in the sky. My sister is the same way. She's the ONLY one that understands me when it comes to weather.

About a week an a half ago we had some really bad weather come through Faulkner County. Ned called me multiple times telling me to take cover immediately (channel 7 weather call). The first time he called it was about 5pm and Jason was driving home from work. I was completely freaking out. I grabbed Kohen, Dentin and Peyton and put them in the storage room beneath our staircase. I put a baby gate up so none of them could get out. I grabbed both lap tops and my cell phone. I had the door cracked so I could see/hear the tv (until the satellite went out). I could hear the tornado sirens going off outside. Kohen was throwing crayons at the cats and the cats were trying their best to jump over me and over the baby gate to get away from him. It was JUST ABOUT to much for me to handle. I was crying and trying to explain to Kohen that everything was ok.

Jason finally made it home and joined us under the stairs. We kept getting texts from people asking if we were ok because they heard "it was headed for Centennial Valley" on the news... After about 40 minutes of intense weather drama we were in the clear (until the sirens went on again about an hour later). Luckily, Conway was not hit by a tornado. The only damage we had was to our pool liner and turned over outdoor furniture. Our neighboring town, Vilonia, was not so lucky...

Kohen and the cats in our storage room under the stairs...

The sky from our backyard...

Sky from the front yard...

Sky from my sisters house in Bryant... (yes, she texted me a picture of "her" sky)

We found out on the news that Vilonia had been hit by a tornado. 2 days later, I went with Jason to take supplies (toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, etc) to one of the places in Vilonia that were taking donations. I took some pictures of the town...

I don't know if you can see all the tarps on all the houses....

We saw this PEACOCK (yes, a peacock) walking around all the damage...

Supplies that we took to Vilonia...

(toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, etc)

The next night the news let us know that this is what was in store for us the following day....

Conway was in the "Moderate" zone but Bryant (where my brother and sister's family live) was in the "High" risk zone. I called them and told them to come stay at my house for the night. I was so happy when my brother, sister, Adam, Max, Maddie and Asa came to stay the night.

Conway still got some really bad weather, but we were very prepared :)

Here's a picture of our very own weather center...