6 months

Okay, I realize that Abby turns 7 months in 6 days and I still haven't did the 6 month post. So sorry! I've been busy!

This has been a very eventful month for you, baby girl!

You can now sit up all by yourself! No help needed!

You can put your paci in your mouth, and you love playing with it.

You have both of your middle bottom teeth in. They are too cute when you smile :) I think the top middle ones are coming next!

You are now eating cereal, vegetables, and fruit. You LOVE to eat!

You weigh 18.4 pounds and are 26 inches long. (75 percentile in weight, 50th in height)

You are still sleeping through the night. You would rather sleep in your bed than in Mommy's arms. I'm so proud of your independence, but it makes me a smidge sad too :)

You give the sweetest hugs I've ever received!

When we are riding in the car, you like to sing along with the radio!

You now know how to wave hi and bye! A few times I promise it has sounded like you are saying hi!

You now refuse to breastfeed. You are much too interested in everything going on around you to be bothered with laying down to eat, haha. Mommy still pumps breastmilk for you, so you are still getting the nutrient you need. Formula is too expensive anyway!

We got your Christmas pictures taken, and you were such a HAM! I think we've got an entertainer on our hands :)

Your 1st Thanksgiving was really fun! Everyone was so excited to see you, and you were such a charmer, as always! :)

Some Piknik fun below :)

5 Months

Wow, time is seriously flying!

You are doing so many new things this month!

• You have started saying "mamamama." You do this when you are hungry, and when you want Mommy to hold you.


• You have fun playing in your Exersaucer.


• You reach for Mommy and prefer to have her holding you over anyone else :)


• You now arch your back and throw yourself backwards when you are mad. We have to be very careful when holding you.


• You have moved past rice cereal onto oatmeal and barley. You hate the rice cereal now. Vegetables are next!!


• You take two naps during the day. Usually around 9:30 - 10:00 am and noon until 3pm. I can't tell you how happy this makes me!


• You've started sleeping through the night. Anywhere between 7 and 10 hours a night! I'm trying not to get too excited about this, because I know it could change at any moment.


• You are so intrigued by faces. You love to touch, slap, and grab them. You especially love to touch Daddy's beard.


• You like to sit on the counter in your bumbo while Mommy does the dishes.
• You love to pull/touch hair. Maybe one day you'll be a hairdresser? :)


• You reach for things and will move your whole body to touch something.


• You still haven't rolled over, but you can turn yourself in a complete circle. I'm starting to think you may just skip rolling over and start crawling instead.
• You got your first tooth October 28th!


• You love to "pet" Lily. Which really consists of grabbing a handful of her hair. She is very accomodating, though, and loves to give you kisses. I think you two will be good friends in the very near future :)

My sweetest memories of you this month are the nights when you wake up in middle of the night and just want to be held and rocked back to sleep. Everytime this happens, I focus on remembering just how small you are, how perfectly you fit in my arms, how you smell, and how you change from upset to peaceful the instant I pick you up. I will cherish these moments as long as I live. I pray that I can always be someone you can find comfort and calm in.

I love you soooo much, Baby Girl!!!

You've Got A Smile That Could Light Up This Whole Town

Oh Baby Girl... You get sweeter and sweeter every day!

4. Months. Old.

How can it be??

What have you been up to this month?

• You can now grab your feet and even stick them in your mouth.
• You can sit up in the corner of the couch and not fall over.
• You have started reaching for things.
• Your hand/eye coordination is really improving!
• You started rice cereal and you LOVE it.
• You have started to suck your thumb. It may be the cutest thing ever!
• You talk, talk, talk.
• You said the word WOW twice! Daddy and I say this is your unofficial 1st word :)
• You still hate tummy time.
• You still don't sleep through the night, but we're working on it.
• You now weigh 15 pounds and are 24.5 inches long. Big girl!!

I can't believe how big you are!

Let's see how you've grown.

2 months.3 months.

4 months.

I get weepy thinking about how fast you're growing, but I'm so excited for all of the fun, new things that are coming. I love you Abigail Rose :)

Three Months Already??

Dear Abby Rose,

I can't believe it that today you are 3 months old! It feels like just yesterday that we were bringing you home from the hospital. You are so different than you were back then!

You have started to develop a sweet little personality. You charm basically everyone you meet! You are happy most of the time and laugh alot. You "talk" to us constantly. You are a morning person, and you are slowly turning Mommy into one too.

Your favorite thing to do right now is suck/bite on your hands and fingers. Really, you will put anything you can in your mouth. Other people's fingers, blankets, toys...Doesn't matter. You drool so much we might have to start keeping a bib on you. Your favorite toy is your giraffe lovie. You also love to put him in your mouth :) You love to sit your Bumbo. You have just started discovering your feet.

You have already had an ear infection and been on an airplane. You have already stayed the night with Grandma and Papa Iles. They kept you so Mommy and Daddy could go out for their wedding anniversary.

You are growing and changing so much every single day.

You bring me more joy than they I've ever imagined! I can't imagine my life without you now and have a hard time remembering what it was like before you came.

Introducing Abigail Rose Smith....

She's here!!!! Abigail Rose arrived Wednesday night at 7:04. She weighed 8 pounds and 3.5 ounces. She is 20 3/4 inches long. She's a big girl!

I was undecided about getting an epidural, but after a few really intense contractions, I decided I needed one :) I'm so glad I got one! It made the delivery an actually enjoyable experience. Here are a few pics of our precious new one:

She's Coming!!!!!

So my water broke this morning at 4:30! We are now at the hospital and things are progressing nicely. I was at 3 cm when i got here at around 6, and now, at 10:45 I'm almost at a 5. They just started me on a low dose of pitocin, so we'll see how it goes! I've been walking around and enjoying my time here so far! Please pray for baby because there is some meconium coming out with the water, which means that she has already had a bowel movement in there. Probably nothing to worry about, but is potentially a problem. We'll update again when she gets here!!!

D Day

Welp, today is my due date, and the baby still isn't here... I go to a midwife, and she said they won't even consider inducing me until 42 weeks. I hope Little Miss Smith decides to come before then! I'm already going crazy :) We'll keep you updated! Here is a pic of me at 39.5 weeks.

Less than 3 weeks left!

Can you believe it??? I can't. In less than 3 weeks I will be holding a precious baby that belongs to ME! It seems so weird to think about.

I've been freaking out this entire pregnancy about actually giving birth, but now I just want to get it over with! I want to stop being uncomfortable and HUGE, and I just want to meet this little girl. I want to see this tiny baby that has already stolen my heart. And I want to know if her personality really is as I suspect. Fiesty and independent, but so sweet and loving at the same time. How I can predict that while she is still in the womb can only be a mother's intuition :)

I've also been freaking out about being a mom at all. Questioning whether God was really sure that I am capable of being a good mom. The kind of mom that I want to be and that I know He wants me to be. But in the past few weeks I've began to feel a peace about it. God's timing is perfect, and he knows what I can handle and what I can't. Even though I'm still a little nervous (baby's aren't exactly my forte), I know that I can do it! Especially with God's help! (And help from family and friends :))

Anyways, I know some of you are wondering, but, no, we have not picked out a name yet. And we aren't going to until we see her little face. We have it narrowed down to 3 names, but they are a secret! We don't want to name her something, and then think we should've named her something different. It will all be clear when we see her! :)

I will leave you with a picture of me at 35 weeks. Yes, that really is my stomach. I'm not hiding a basketball in there.

11 Weeks To Go!

I'm at 29 weeks and counting!


Here is a pic of me at 28 weeks:

The baby continues to move around alot! Yesterday I was laying on the couch and Stephen and I could see my stomach move where she was kicking/hitting it! It was so weird and so cool at the same time!

This weekend is the baby shower my mom, sister, and Aunt Tiff are throwing for me! Steve's parents are en route to Cincy right now, so they could be here for it. There will be LOTS people, and it will for sure be a good time! I just hope I don't cry like I did at my wedding shower, haha :)

2 Down, 1 To Go

I'm now offically in the 3rd trimester! Steadily growing bigger every day :)

Here is a pic of me at 24 weeks.

This is how we know she's a girl!

Cute little profile view.

This baby is a wiggle worm :) She moves so much! I've now started my 2 week appointments! That means we're getting close! I'm measuring exactly where I'm supposed to be. And my due date is still May 12th. We'll see if that's when I really go into labor :)

Hope everyone has a FABULOUS Valentine's Day!

IT'S A GIRL!!!

Baby Smith is a girl! :) We are both very excited!!! She's an active little thing, and all of the ultrasound pictures came out blurry...I will post them once I have a chance to scan them to the computer. I'm finally starting to look pregnant and not just like I went on a Burger King binge. Although I do get people every single day telling me I don't look pregnant...I'm not really sure what they're looking at? Maybe they just think I look fat ;)

We haven't figured out what her name will be just yet. We know her middle name will definitely be Rose in honor of the favorite flowers of Steve's grandma who recently passed away. We can't pick just one name we like right now, so it's going to be a while. She'll probably be Baby Rose Smith until she is born :)

We went to Pennsylvania to be with Steve's family for Christmas. It was busy and lots of fun! But it's not a trip that we will be making again any time soon. A 9 hour drive didn't work so well with my achy, pregnant body. Two sick dogs didn't help the situation either, haha.

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Baby Smith

Today we find out whether we're having a girl or a boy!!!!!

The baby will look much different than this! Hopefully a little more human and a little less alien. :)

After all of the parents and siblings have been notified, I will post on here for all to see!!!

Girls Weekend 2008

So my 3 best friends from college (Tucky, Cheryl and Rhino) and I get together once a year for a girls weekend. None of us live in the same city, so it's hard to get together on a regular basis. Rhino is in the process of moving from Louisiana back up North, so we met in Danville, IN while she and her family were stopping at her parents house. Good times were had by all! We ate at a pretty little Italian restaurant, went shopping, ate pizza and watched movies in our sweatpants, braved the cold to soak in the hot tub, told secrets, took silly pictures, and laughed until we cried. It was just like we were in college again. I'm so thankful for good friends that are constant even though our lives are ever changing! We'll be having girls weekends until we are old ladies :)

Rhino and I are both pregnant right now. She is only a week ahead of me! She is due on May 6th and I'm due on the 12th. I hope we have our babies on the same day! It's so nice having a friend who is going through the same things I am at the same time. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

The 2 pregos.

Showing off our sexy stomaches.
Flashing our gang signs. Tucky looks like she's I Dream of Jeannie, haha.

Hot tub!

This is our "I'm freezing" face.
A recreation of one of our favorite pictures from college.

Hairspray and Halloween

My good friend, Lisa Vitucci, scored tickets to Hairspray on Broadway and so very kindly took me with her. This was my view of the stage. We were in the 2nd row!!! It was a really good show! (Check out the guy in the background, haha)

We had a costume party at work on Halloween. This is everyone that dressed up. I won the Most Creative Costume prize :)

Thanksgiving is just about a week away, and I'm soooo excited! I love seeing both sides of my family in one day! And then shopping the day after Thanksgiving is always so much fun.

In baby news, I've lost 10 pounds since I found out I'm pregnant, because I've been so sick. Everyone says it gets easier in the 2nd trimester, but I'm in week 15 and the sickness still shows no signs of stopping. Oh well, c'est la vie...

We find out what sex the baby is on December 23rd!!!! As long as the baby is healthy, I don't care what sex it is. I'm dying to find out though!!

Let's Go Phillies!!!

The Phillies are in the World Series which starts tomorrow!!! Steve and I are both rooting for them. To show our support for the team, we even carved our pumpkin in the shape of a Phillies "P." We got 1st place in the pumpkin carving contest we were competing in!

Let The Countdown Begin!

I think all of you know this already, but I wanted to formally announce that I'M PREGNANT! I am currently at 11 weeks, and the baby is due on May 12th. I've had "pregnancy" sickness for about a month now, and I can't wait to get to the 2nd Trimester. I hear I'll feel much better then! I'm not showing at all yet, so if you see me, please don't touch my stomach. There's nothing to feel! :) Here is a picture of the ultrasound I had taken at 8 weeks. You can also track the size of the baby by the tracker on the side of the page.My parents are over-the-moon excited about having a grandchild! I know they are going to make awesome grandparents!! :)

I thought summer was supposed to be relaxing...

So I really thought this summer I would have more time to keep up with this thing. Alas, life keeps getting in the way. Here's what we've been up to:

Stephen resigned as youth pastor at Amelia Nazarene. His last day was June 1st. We were very sad to go, but it was time to move on. We prayed about it a ton, and felt God leading us away from there. We are trying to wait very patiently to see what is the next chapter in our lives. We miss the kids there a lot. It seems weird not seeing them at least twice a week.

I think we're going to send Lexi to Hogwarts in a couple of years. Who knew there was a witch in our family?! We're all so proud! (Isn't it cool what you can do with sparklers and a camera on the 4th of July?)

Holly got married! Isn't she gorgeous? I got in a fight with Betsy. Weddings are so dramatic! We eventually made up and took this adorable picture. Can you believe that on Tuesday it will be 2 years since this happened? Time flies when you're having fun!

Kitty the Cripple

So the long and short of it is: I have a sever stress fracture in my fibula on my right leg. I've had this boot on for 6 weeks, and hopefully only have one more to go. I don't know the specific incident that the fracture happened. But I do know that I was still running/rolling blading/playing kickball on it about a month after it started hurting. That didn't help at all...I have to wear a walking boot and it is hot, smelly, and an absolute murderer of fashion. BUT I do get ride around on the motorized carts at the grocery store :)
I'm in a wedding tomorrow, and I refuse to wear the boot!

Happy Birthday!

Happy 27th Birthday to my Guitar Hero!!!

Long Time, No Talk

I have some pics to show everyone, but I can't find the cord thingy that plugs into my camera and the computer. Until then, please be patient with me.

Things have been rough around here lately. The short of it is: Lily hurt her OTHER leg, and will probably have to have surgery, and we have having some financial issues and church issues. We could really use your prayers right now!

My sister, my cousin Nic, and I are headed to Louisiana tonight. We are going to see my mom's side of the family and I get to see Rhino Roles!!! This is the first time I've been in Louisiana in about 15 years. The last time was when my Grandpa Johnson passed away. We will be there for a week!

I'm sad to be leaving Stephen for a whole week...A week seems like a year to me right now ;)

I love you all, and I promise to post pictures when I find that cord thingy!