Monday, January 31, 2011

BIG sister KATE AKA: "Elmira"
Kate can not contain her love for her new baby sister. It is sweet, but at times...well, downright dangerous! I found the perfect cartoon from my childhood that depicts Kate with Noel! Click on "Elmira" for a good laugh!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Happy Birthday, Ethan!

Our fun started when we brought this giant birthday cookie and Happy Meals for Ethan's class at school for lunch (it is fun when there are only 5 kids).



Then I rushed home to put the cake together (in between nursing sweet Noel). This year's request was a pirate ship!

a closer look:


the canons

the captain

the fish in the water

When Ethan got home from school, we headed out the "The Ninja Place" aka: Japanese Steak House...mmmmm!


Ethan's birthday dessert!

Then we came home for cake and presents!

lighting the canons

and blowing them out

mmmm!

-just thought I would document that Noel was indeed there and we did not forget her at the restaurant!

GAME TIME
pin the treasure chest on the map!

Then for a present treasure hunt!
-the map-

treasure #1 -
Batman Lego video game

treasure #2
Dragon toy

treasure #3
fishing pole

treasure #4
"X" marks the spot

bow and arrow
Now all we have to do is go through all the toys we already have the PURGE to make room for all the new loot!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ETHAN!!

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Look -a -Like
Noel has brought controversy to all who see her - who does she look like?? Most say she looks "just like LUKE". I agree that when she is:

CRYING
Noel


Luke

SLEEPING
Noel


Luke

and...PROFILE
Noel


Luke


BUT... When she is awake, she looks just like Ethan!!
Noel


Ethan


Where does KATE fit in?? Well, she was her own sweet little self!


Thursday, January 06, 2011

IMPOSTORS!

Monday, January 03, 2011

Noel Taylor Smith
born December 20, 2010
6 lbs. 14 oz 20 1/2"
It was a Sunday night, an hour or so after we all got home from Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Our teens were singing for a Christmas program there and just after they arrived that afternoon, they realized that they had forgotten their music! Ben called wondering if I could think of anyone who could make the trip and bring it to them. No one wants to do that drive, so I decided that the kids and I would go. It was great to see the teens minister and I felt good...for a ticking time bomb! Needless to say, we were very thankful that I made it home and got the kids into bed before my water BROKE...again. It was 10:30 and I was having NO contractions, but what do you do? At 10:30, we can get someone to come over, but if we wait for contractions to kick in, we may end up in big trouble in the middle of the night, so we called Nicole to the rescue! With the other 3 it just took a few hours for the fun to start, so off we went!
Nicole snapped a quick preggo picture before we left since I didn't have one yet!


Feeling good with time to spare so, we stopped to shop... at the only store open at 11:30!

then a stop for a smoothie

all tucked in and waiting for something to happen...


...8 1/2 hours later
This was going to be my first labor without an IV!! I have always been Beta Strep POSITIVE and had to have anti-biotics via IV. Side Note: The IV is the most terrible thing they do to a woman in travail!! I hate it with all my being!! Well, my idea of a IV-less labor went out the window when they hooked up the pitocin to kick start some contractions.
(Do you see that honkin' needle and the bulging vein that stung and pinched... I could go on and on! It hurt for a week!!)

...5 hours later

This was taken that evening when Ben brought the kids up to meet their new sister! They were so excited!
(still hooked up to that dumb IV and thus still no shower...ewww)

4 kids!? When did this happen?

My reward!

dressed and ready to go home!



We were welcomed by a banner that made me cry!

HOME and welcomed with MUCH love!


Grandpa and Grandma Smith arrived the next day for Christmas!
Sooo wonderful to have 2 of me after having a baby!


Christmas Day


Luke's turn for a snuggle!


1st bath!!
I could not believe how fast her cord dried up and fell off!
she fits in the sink!!!


praying hands


Noel loves to be swaddled and no blanket swaddles like those hospital blankets! My mother-in-law was drying the dishes and had this great idea to use these muslin like dish cloths that my grandmother had made me! I happened to have 3 that I had never used before, so now we swaddle her in dish cloths!! They work like a charm!

Snuggles with big brother Ethan





Kate jumps in to steal a kiss!


SWEET!