We had a few visitors at the hospital, but not many. I wasn't much in the mood to be sociable. It's been two weeks almost and I'm just now feeling up to answering the phone. Diana and Tamber and Rob's boss were pretty much the only non-family to make it in. It was good to see everyone and soon maybe we will be up to some visits from home.

Such a sweet little guy.

Aunt "Lola", Laura, came and stayed the weekend. She even spent a few of the rough nights with me at the hospital. I'm so grateful for your presence, Laura! Thank you so much for being such a great big sister!
Grammy has been very helpful as well and she even stayed a night with me in the hospital. Can you tell she might just think this little guy is a cutie pie?
A little father-son moment.
Rob's Godmother and Carol's best friend, Ramona, made a quick trip in to see her new little grand-god son.

The Big Day

Andy's entrance to the world was much less eventful than Suzy's. It was a thankful thing. :) My blood pressure started to eeek up slowly and so I was put on bed rest on Friday and my sister flew down for the Monday evening C-section. The worst part was the fasting while being diabetic. It really messed with my system, even though Laura convinced the nurses to give me some IV fluid sugar. It still made the anesthesia not so fun. I got really sick the night of the surgery and did a little straining on my incision. But, thankfully things are healing well now, just very slowly. Andy's birth was sure a lot easier, but the recovery has been way harder than I remember. I am very grateful for all of the good friends and family who have pitched in to help out and I am SOOOO grateful that Rob has allowed for us to have some neighborhood girls helping out with Suzy for a few weeks until school starts. :)

Here's proud papa as he gets ready to go into surgery with me.

Here's my first view of our new little man.

This picture reminds me of the movie, "Look who's talking" when the little guy says, "PUT ME BACK IN!"
7 lbs, 11.6 oz. If it weren't for the rounding up, we would have had a convenience store baby!

Proud Grammy and Paw Pop as he comes out of the surgery room and into his bath.
A very proud papa indeed! I love how Seton does the little footprints on the Daddy after the birth certificate.

Welcome Baby Andy!
Suzy has a new baby brother!
Robert Andrew Smith (Andy) was born on July 21, 2008. 7 lb 12 oz, 19".
I had some trouble with the anesthesia, so I'll post more when I feel better! Until then, I hope you enjoy our new little Smith!

"Suzy Makes a Mess"

I may have posted this phrase already, but I still get a chuckle out of it. One of Suzy's best little friends, Josh (J-Man), once made a statement to his Mommy, "I make a mess like Suzy!" Yes, my little one is known by her friends as the one most likely to be covered in goo and glop. I don't mind it, and being an OT, I often encourage it. Suzy continues to be a hesitant eater and all my training says let them play with their food. If they will touch it, they will eventually eat it. So far, it seems to be a working philosophy around here. So, tonight we set out peanut butter and apple. The peanut butter quickly found it's way to her hands and then body. She did, however, eat quite a bit in the process and I was able to get some apple in this child as well. So, success! As a reward, for eating her "new foods" she got chocolate pudding. Around here, anything with sugar is like gold and she was THRILLED! I am so proud of her, though. She will share anything, even her coveted pudding. Oh, how I wish I could have taken her up on that offer.... Soon!
I was laughing at her silliness and got the camera out. Then, the show began. Man, does this little girl know how to work a camera and ham it up. It was hysterical to be a part of the process.
I made the possible mistake of laughing really hard and saying things like, "Daddy, are you seeing your messy little girl?" Well, it just egged her on. Soon, it was in the hair.
Then the entire cup when on the head.
And got smeared through all of her hair.
She did her best to clean herself up and I must admit she did a fairly good job unassisted.
However, she still required a full body bath after this night at the dinner table! Sweet Suzy, I hope you keep your spunk for the rest of your life. Your zest for fun is contagious and such a blast to be a part of!

4th of July

We celebrated the 4th (on the 9th) with our bible study this year and the girls really seemed to have a blast. We did sparklers (with little adapted Popsicle holders to keep little fingers safe), black snacks, those little white snappers, and little cone things that didn't make much noise. Suzy's favorite was the snakes and all the girls really liked the smoke bombs.
The cones were a lot of fun to watch their reactions. Katie was pretty much "all in" from the beginning. Adeline and Suzy were a little more cautious. Their little eyes were glued, but they were a little on the "oh my goodness..." side of things.
I just love this pic of Katie and had to include it since I'm doing my little blog to book experiment. I normally try not to post pictures of other people than our family, but I'm going to start branching out! :) Besides, our bible study is family....




I was in charge of photos and Chris was in charge of pyrotechnics. Ashley was in charge of safety and I just think it was so sweet how all the little girls just huddled around her. I must admit I was a little shocked that Suzy was the one in her lap the entire time. Suzy is usually so independent and "risky". I had imagined her being the one trying to run up the the fireworks or catch them or something.
I think this is such a tender shot of Suzy and Ashley.
After all the fire, we did the poppers. Then, we let the kids collect all the "ribbon" and I think I am still finding remnants all around my house. Suzy played with this stuff for HOURS. It was food for babies, hair ribbon for babies, things to stuff in her pockets.... She really loved it.

Feedback?

So, I'm considering making my blog into an annual book. I've been trying to catch up on the scrap booking and well, this just seems like it may be an overwhelming process with two little ones. Plus, I find myself doing the journaling on-line and most of my favorite photos usually make it to the blog anyhow. My good friend, Jen, recommended the site blurb.com and it looks pretty reasonably priced and simple. Ah, simple.... I especailly like the thought of that. Like I could do this from the hospital bed.....

Have any of you considered this and have any opinion? Vickie, I thought you did this type of thing at one point.... what do you think?

In my manic mode right now I have visions of doing an annual book quickly and easily and then putting all my videos on DVD for the kids as additional yearbooks as they get older. I'm probably being over-ambitious, but it sure does sound like a great idea! The biggest downfall I see at this point is that I try and not overwhelm cyberfolk with all the photos I would include in my annual albums. For example, when I print 15, I will maybe post 5. But, I can't help it I LOVE pictures! So, would it be completely annoying if there were more photos on the blog????

I'm manic right now, but can't make a decision on anything.... I guess it's time to go pretend to sleep. :)

If you give a Suzy a sucker.......


So, today was the weekly photo session for Baby Andy. Suzy loves looking at the ultrasounds at Dr. Berry's so we took her along. Today, the receptionist gave Suzy a sucker. She was on cloud nine. But....

If you give a Suzy a sucker,
She's gonna drool all over herself.
If she drools all over herself, she's gonna need a wet wipe.
The wet wipe won't be enough, so you'll have to take her to the bathroom.
After she washes her hands, she'll want to use the potty.
Using the potty at Dr. Berry's reminds her that Mommy has to pee in the cup here.
So, she'll have to pee in the little cup.
You'll have to put her name on the cup and put it in the little door.
If she touches anything, you'll have to wash her hands again.
After her hands are dry, you'll get to leave the bathroom.
As you leave the bathroom, you'll have to tell the nurse that "Suzy Smith" is not pregnant, so she doesn't have to test her urine.
After you talk to the nurse, you have to give the billing slip to the receptionist.
And when you give the slip to the receptionist, chances are.......

Suzy will want another sucker. :)

And I wonder why simple things take FOREVER with a two year old.....

Maternity Pics from Baby Andy
It's just amazing to me the difference lighting, poses, and clothing can make. We had some fun playing "photographer" this morning and our neighbor "Daddy Joe" even came over to help out for a while. Unfortunately, Suzy wasn't very interested today, but we did manage to bribe her into a few shots with some M&Ms and Tic Tacs. :) I was amazed how "huge" I look in this blue shirt, yet the black one is more like a little basketball.
Such a silly little Suzy.
This is Rob's favorite. He loves the loving little cuddle. This really does the best to capture how Suzy feels about Baby Andy. She gives him "loves" every night before bed and loves to hug and kiss my belly. She keeps telling us how she can't wait to change his diaper and hold him.

The mandatory "Parental shot".
Of course, you gotta do the heart on the belly.....
As bad as it is, this was the one and only family shot we could get. By this time, she was just way to squirmy.

One of my favorite recent Suzy quotes is "My baby brother is taking up my Mommy's lap". Here we are taking a break from pictures to read a little book.