100th Day of School

Today was the 100th Day of School and in kindergarten it's a pretty big deal. Rachel was pretty excited to head off to school this morning with her creation. She made a heart poster with 100 heart stickers on it:

After school Rachel came home proudly wearing her 100 crown. I think she had a fun day at school doing various activities to celebrate the 100th Day of School.

Ian's Birth Story

On Thursday, January 12th, I woke up around 12:15 am. It was time for the first potty break of the night... :) When I stood up, my water broke. I roused Andy, my friend Allie came over to sleep and take care of the girls in the morning, and we headed off to the hospital. We got to the hospital around 1 am and it was busy! We later found out that 14 births occurred on that day. A lot of ladies had scheduled inductions and c-sections in order to avoid Friday the 13th. It was dead at the hospital the next day!

Anyhow, by the time we got all checked in it was 3 am. I was only dilated to 3 cm and my doctor just wanted me to progress on my own for awhile. So, for several hours Andy and I both tried to get some sleep. Pretty impossible between contractions (which weren't that bad, but they were contractions) and vital checks every hour. So, by 8 am I was exhausted and asked for an epidural hoping then I could sleep for a bit. By 9 am I had my epidural and was only dilated to a 4... So, we still had a ways to go. My OB stopped by and we decided to get some pitocin going to move things along. But things were still slow going... Around noon I was a 4-5. So, not much progress. My nurse went off to attend to help deliver the baby next door. Around 2:30 pm she checked on me and I as at a 6 1/2. I figured I still had awhile...

Well, by 2:50 I was getting uncomfortable. The epidural had seemed to wear off a bit. I decided to let a few more contractions by. Then at 3:00 I paged the nurse. She pushed the epidural button, checked me, and informed me we were ready to go. She told me not to push and went to call the doctor. It was hard not to push. Luckily by 3:12 Dr. Nguyen arrived (I remember the exact time because I was told I could press the epidural button every 12 minutes and it was time to push it again) and then Ian arrived at 3:20 pm. We've decided our babies like the the 3 o'clock hour. Rachel was born at 3:19 pm and Audrey was born at 3:30 pm.

Ever since knowing the due date was 1/9/12, Andy was hoping for the baby to be born on the 8th or the 12th. You see, the girls and I already have the birth dates 9, 10, and 11. So, it's neat the way things turned out. And as many of you know, I am a numbers girl. I finally got a cool birth date for one of my kids - 1/12/12. I guess that means I'm done! :)

The hours after the birth went well. Ian took to nursing right away. The girls and my mom came to visit around 5 pm. (We called my mom around 6 am and she drove down to relieve my friend Allie and help us for about a week.) The girls were thrilled to meet their brother. We still hadn't decided on a name. On Friday, around 3 pm we finally made it official so we could have the hospital take care of the birth certificate and SS card. On Saturday morning Ian and I headed home. So, now we are a family of 5.

Here are a few pictures of our hospital adventures...

Only a few minutes old and getting all checked out:
Snuggling with Mommy and showing off his tongue:
Meeting Daddy:Meeting his sisters:
Meeting Grandma Michaelson:
Meeting Aunt Natalie:

Meeting Uncle Craig and Landon (it's amazing how much they grow in 4 months):

More snuggling with Mommy:
All ready to go home from the hospital:

I think they've fallen in love with him...

Introducing...

Ian Andrew Smith
January 12, 2012
at 3:20 pm
7 pounds, 11 ounces
21 inches

New Year's Day

We have been enjoying a mild winter here in Texas. Not that it ever gets that cold, but it's usually not in the mid-70s. On New Year's Day we decided to take advantage of the nice weather, so after naps we took advantage of what sunshine was left at a nearby park. Audrey chose to bring her stroller and baby. Rachel chose to bring her razor scooter. The girls also enjoyed playing soccer with their daddy. And I enjoyed sitting on a blanket taking pictures with our new camera. It was definitely an enjoyable hour!

Our Girls

Our girls make us smile. One of the many ways they make us smile is how they play and what they come up with. Here are a few of our favorites...

The girls love to set up camp, whether it's in the bathroom or the kitchen:

One Sunday afternoon they put on a dance performance for us. Here's one of the many pictures we took:

The girls enjoy dolling up their daddy every once in awhile:

For a few days Barbie and Ken dined with us:
Rachel loves to read to Audrey and also help her read:

The girls also enjoy playing school:

For the most part they play well together. The biggest problems arise when Audrey is tried of what Rachel wants to play and Rachel gets very sad and frustrated that Audrey doesn't want to play with her anymore. Overall they are good at sharing and taking different roles in their make-believe world. It's fun to watch and see them enjoy each other.

9 Months

Well, here I am in all my glory at 9 months pregnant and 19 pounds heavier. And I'm still smiling! :)

This baby boy's due date is today... There have been contractions on and off for the past week, but nothing to send us to hospital. For now we are just playing the waiting game. I do have another weekly doctor appointment on Thursday. If he hasn't arrived by then I'm assuming the OB will recommend an induction next week. We shall see... I'm tired, but I'm not totally miserable. You kind of get at that point where having a newborn might be a little bit easier than not being able to sleep comfortably. The girls are definitely anxious for their little brother to arrive. Rachel was just talking to me last night and said, "Maybe he'll come tomorrow Mom, because that's his due date". :) We are still undecided on a name, but the list has narrowed. I guess we'll probably just make the decision when needed. Due to nesting most of my spring cleaning has been completed. The nursery is ready and all the baby gear has been assembled. We will keep you all posted on when our baby boy decides to arrive!

Our Audrey

Audrey is now our big 3 year-old. She is a whooping 25 pounds and 35 inches tall. What Audrey lacks in size she makes up with personality. She loves to tease and gets us laughing with her many facial expressions. Audrey loves her sister and it's so much fun to watch and hear them play together. Even though she loves playing with Rachel, Audrey is also a very good independent player which I am grateful for. She loves to play dress-up. There are some days that that's all she wears all day long - is different dress-ups. She loves anything princess. She'll ask for a movie to be put on, but then she doesn't really watch it. She still has very little interest in TV. One thing she does enjoy doing for an extended period of time is going to youtube and watching princess sing-a-longs. Audrey is also my little shopper as she is the one that runs errands with me. She recognizes and knows all the stores we frequent. Audrey learns so much from her sister. She is constantly trying to keep up. Her latest thing is to ask me how to spell things or what letter things start with. She listens to her sister... Audrey has gotten more into playing with baby dolls the past couple of months. She often has to tell me to be quiet because her "sweetie" is sleeping. Every day Audrey is very anxious to pick up Rachel from school. And as we walk home from school it's so much fun to hear them talk about their days as Rachel walks beside the stroller. This past summer Audrey proved to be quite a fish. We are excited to put her in swim lessons this coming summer. She LOVES the water. When we have a somewhat warm day she asks if we can go to the pool. :) Audrey is quite the adventurous eater. She is usually willing to try something once. Recently we discovered she likes hummus and pomegranate seeds, which are two items we don't usually have stocked in our home. Audrey is also quite the little snacker. She is constantly asking for something to eat. Audrey is very excited to be a big sister and for her baby brother to arrive. We are so grateful for Audrey and all the joy, happiness, and laughter she brings to our home.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve we headed over to Sugar Land Town Center for a kid-friendly and early (7-9 PM) celebration. The girls enjoyed checking out the different performers There were jugglers, dancers, ice sculpture artists, Japanese candy-makers, and a trapeze artist. And the weather was absolutely perfect. We all took jackets and ended up taking them off... Here are a few pictures of our adventures:

After the kid-friendly celebration we enjoyed going over to a friend's house, putting all the kids to bed, and playing some games. 2011 has definitely been a good year for us and we are looking forward to the adventures that 2012 will hold. Happy New Year!

Jeff & Amy's Visit

A few days after Christmas Jeff and Amy drove down from my parents' to visit us. We enjoyed the time we got to spend with them! The girls were absolutely thrilled and it was like Christmas all over again with the presents that they brought down from them and others. We enjoyed just hanging out, eating good food, and playing games.