The Family Smith

Updates

2012-01-23T21:31:00.001-08:00

My it has been a while. Charlotte will be a year this week. She has been walking since about 8 mos. She has over 8 teeth already. Kairi is smart as a whistle. She is doing letter and writing at a 4 year old level. Her newest thing is listening (usually making me sing it) to something over and over again until she can sing a song herself. We joined the YMCA again so they are getting to get back in the pool a lot. I am taking 2 Zumba classes and if I can go to bed to get up early, a water aerobics class. Edgar is still working out more at work so he can be Mr. Muscle there and then Mr. Supportive when he is working out with me. We should be ready to start adding onto the house soon! That's where we are! Well, here are some updated photos and a video. If you want to see a picture larger, just click on it, but they are big so it might take a little while to load.

Some recent picts of Char, Kairi and fam

2011-07-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

4th of July weekend picts - Smith house

2011-07-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

4th of July weekend picts - Palmer house

2011-07-03T21:49:00.000-07:00

Picts of the two of them:

Picts to enjoy:

Charlotte's Latest Escapades

2011-04-21T21:14:00.000-07:00

Here are a few picts of the precious Char-Char: Char-Char talking to momma:

Addition

2011-01-10T12:47:00.000-08:00

Well, we will have another little girl in about 2 weeks so I better start blogging again. I will keep you posted but we are scheduled to have Charlotte Anne on Jan 26 around noon. I will post more later. No, really, I will!

Dancing Kairi

2010-04-01T22:19:00.000-07:00

Enjoy a couple of videos of Kairi dancing. She is so cute!

Kairi is 1!!!

2010-03-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

For the video, go to the next post.

Here is the Birthday girl on her Birthday morning:

And here are the birthday party picts:

She is 1!

2010-03-02T08:50:00.001-08:00

Baby girl is now 1 year old. How time flies! Here is a video of her birthday morning. 3 picts in the beginning with no sound, then 2 videos. Enjoy!

Kairi is almost 1

2010-02-20T14:24:00.000-08:00

A few updated pictures. I can't believe in a week and a half I am going to be the mom of a toddler. What happened? Where did the time go? Yikes!

December Picts

2009-12-08T22:46:00.001-08:00

Our first Santa Picture!

Snowing in Texas? That's right. All due to Global Warming! Take that Al Gore!

Kairi's First SNOW!!

Hangin' out with the Fam!

Helping Momma with the Tree decorations!

Focus helped too!

Portrait Innovation picts

2009-12-08T22:36:00.000-08:00

These are picts we had done and I loved them (I spent way too much money, but they all looked so cute!!!!)
This would be showing 2 teeth, but she now has 3 and a 4th peeping.

Such a lovely lady:

Cousin Cassie - lost a bunch of weight and looks GREAT!

Tori and Robert

Tori and Kairi

Family

Family

Family

Rub a dub dub, there's a Kairi in the tub!

Twinkle Toes

Lookin' like her Great grandma!

The Best Christmas Present!

Another Family one!

Updated picts

2009-12-08T22:23:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I know I haven't updated in a long time. I forget what I upload to Facebook and here and then only do one . . . sorry anyways. Here are some normal picts:

She's not hamming up the camera or anything . . .

These are from her first school pictures (we took them at my work!)

2009-11-15T23:08:00.000-08:00

I made this bow holder out of an old bulletin board I had lying around the house and about $3 worth of material. Pretty excited that I could make something crafty and cute!
Here it is just plain.

Here it is in action!

Here are some more updated photos of Kairi:

Rain!

2009-11-01T08:39:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of picts from the recent rain that all but flooded our creeks. Well, maybe some were flooded!

Halloween Photos - oh and pumpkin patch!

2009-11-01T08:29:00.001-08:00

Black Friday 2009, are you ready?

2009-10-17T20:15:00.001-07:00

Are you ready for Black Friday? I just ordered my shirt and saw the 1st ad released. Whoo hoo!

Kairi in the shower

2009-10-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

She is drinking the water from the shower. This is hilarious and then after this, she gets it in her nose and down her throat and it is so sad how red her face gets and she is coughing. But still, everytime we get in the shower she does this.

Updated pictures

2009-09-29T21:09:00.000-07:00

Kairi working on Edgar's pullup bar. She wasn't into it this day but some days she will pull up on it.

Edgar and Kairi and Dogman (Teddy Bear)

Edgar and Kairi

Kairi at our visit with Ward and Julia:

Look at that hair!

Just can't go any higher!

Donald Trump anyone?

Pulling at her diaper

You can actually hear it ripping at the very beginning. You go, Kairi, show off those fine motor skills!

And I was Run-ning

2009-09-23T10:37:00.001-07:00

Thought you would enjoy seeing Kairi running, making sure you are watching her, and then making her excitement noise. Enjoy!

Video of us

2009-08-16T19:59:00.000-07:00

I am trying out my new movie maker software. I like all the transitions and effects, I know this one has too many different ones, but it works pretty well I think. Let me know.

Picts and updates.

2009-05-29T22:07:00.000-07:00

So we bought a Johnny Jump Up for Kairi. Problem is, she is too small for it, and our doors are too big for it. There is only one door, from the green room into the Jack and Jill bathroom, that it would fit and let her get anywhere close to the ground. She is about 2 and a half feet off the ground there.

Well, I can gum it at least. (Note: her arms are SUPPOSED to be over that thing.)

Ok, one picture and then I can start crying.

Poppa thinks that if he props the bottle up in my hands that I will figure it out on my own. Not quite.

More photos

2009-05-25T20:43:00.000-07:00

Morning Picture

Sleeping with Poppa pictures

Teething in church pictures

My advanced little miss

2009-05-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

1st Mother's Day for Lysbeth! 1st G-ma's Mother's Day for Norma and Deb!

Kairi after a nursing session on my lunch break from work.

Edgar and Kairi in the front pack.

I had to buy this outfit because it said I {heart} Mommy and I {heart} Daddy on it. Most companies assume there might be only one parent in the picture so they figure if there are both they can double dip and have them buy separate ones. But this one has it together and I love, {heart} that.

This is Kairi teething, instead of listening to Pastor David like a good little girl.

And these last 2 are of right now. Edgar and Kairi sleeping; I have the house to myself!

Update: All is well, Kairi is almost 12 weeks, and almost 3 months. She is loving tummy time when she is not on the floor. She is standing up holding the majority of her weight on her legs; she just cannot stabalize, yet. She pushes over the boppy and pillows during tummy time so we think she will be an early crawler and she is teething which means I think that she will cut teeth early. We bought some teethers and they are all too big for her mouth. EVERYONE, including her doctor are very impressed with her ability to hold her head up. At her 2 month appt, her dr said "wow, you're holding your head up like a 4 month old!" Word for word! So I can say, with a doctor's note of proof, that my child is advanced. But I won't let it go to our heads. Well, more updating later!

Photographic Kairi

2009-05-13T08:31:00.000-07:00

Ok, she went back to sleep for a minute. Here is a sample of the picts we took with my friend Holly who is a photographer:

More picts of Baby Kairi and update

2009-05-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

Little Miss is doing great. She is sleeping a lot lately - I think she is in a another growth spurt. She is wearing 0-3 mos and some 3 mos outfits at 2 1/2 months. Most all but a couple of dresses had to be put in the attic because she was too big for them, along with all the premie outfits we bought for the first few weeks. She is talking a lot more (coos, gurgles, some ooohhs) and she is working her feet and legs and arms much more. Her favorite thing, I think, is when she is happy and sitting up (either in bed or in the shower) and she will get her legs moving like a bicycle back and forth alternating and then get her arms going the other way and then she gets the PROUDEST look on her face like "Look, mom. Look what I can do. I am moving!" That is one of my favorite times as well.

Mother's Day went okay. I got a belated present from Edgar. He asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day, because like most men he is clueless sometimes. I told him I just feel like I have no time lately. I am working on about 3 things at my current job, 1 on a side job, having a 2 month old and still trying to balance my type A personality in my house and keep things clean and neat. So he was working on Sunday, Monday we moved a mobile home and had to work on that and Tuesday was his day off. He spent the morning with Kairi (got a 2 1/2 hour taste of what moms do all day long) and decided to spend the afternoon cleaning the house so that I would have more time when I got home to just . . . sit. To just be for a while. Little Miss is stirring so I will post the picts and get back to work. TTYL.

Poppa and Little Miss making Turkey Burgers

Bathtime is SO MUCH FUN!!!

I suprised her!

Kairi, me, g-ma and g-pa shopping at Sam's. Shopping can be exhausting!

Sleeping baby

Its a little burry but a cute smile nonetheless.

The famouse comb-forward, exceeded only by the comb-over.

A beautiful pose

Ok, this one is just funny because it looks like Kairi should have a cigarette in her two fingers. NO SMOKING KAIRI!

I Spy with my Little Eyes

2009-05-09T12:32:00.000-07:00

A beautiful, happy baby.

Bath Fun!

2009-04-30T13:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, just so no one freaks, let me start with the fact that this is a whirpool bath, NOT a hot tub. The water was fine for her. Kairi loves the bath and really enjoys spending time with me in it. So we had a good time last night.

This one makes her look like an elf with my hands behind her head. Oh well.

Here she leaned forward before I could stop her and got bubbles all over!

Kairi is 8 weeks, almost 2 months

2009-04-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

Here is me talking to Kairi and she talks a bit in the end. Hee, hee. I love it!

One quick picture update:

2009-04-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

We love our Wubba-nub from Misti.

Tummy time on the Boppy is great fun.

Until we realize that we can't get back if we push our legs out too far.

All is better now!

Kairi's Easter and Smiling Pictures

2009-04-12T19:26:00.000-07:00

Kairi's Smiles Revealed on Camera

Sleeping in the cutest outfit (Kairi's poppa loves this one)

Easter Pictures

Kairi's First Easter Basket

Milky Goodness

Updated pictures

2009-04-06T16:20:00.000-07:00

Baby's First Garage Sale Outing

Grandpa Ed with Kairi

Momma and baby

Just Kairi hangin out

Bath Time Fun!

Baby's First Bed Head

Palm Sunday Outfit

Little Miss

2009-03-30T14:44:00.000-07:00

Little Miss. That is what I have been calling her. It lets me put whatever I want afterwards: Little Miss messy, Little Miss snorty, Little Miss cutie-pie. But mostly, I just call her Little Miss. Here is a pict of her smirking. She does this most often after nursing when she is in a good mood. Life has been somewhat hectic, as we have work things that keep coming up and we are looking for a nice new car. So we stay busy. The worst part is when we are out all day and Little Miss sleeps the whole time in her carseat and then she is up all night. Learned that lesson the hard way. She definatly needs to have up and down time. But other than that, very good baby. If we feed on both sides around 11 PM then she will let us sleep almost until 6AM. That is a good 7 hours. Great for a newborn. Oh and she is finally out of newborn diapers and out of premie clothes. A lot of the newborn ones still fall off of her, but she can fit the onesies pretty well. Her focus is good and her alertness is doing well. She lifts her head up more than I would like at inopportune times but she is doing better about lifting it up and then falling sideways. We are all doing pretty well.

I only have time for picts right now

2009-03-28T23:20:00.000-07:00

2009-03-26T23:13:00.000-07:00

Some more picts of my sweet Little Miss

Updated pictures of Kairi

2009-03-23T19:30:00.000-07:00

Just a few picts that I took of Kairi today. We are becoming more and more of a wiggle worm and needing momma and poppa to hold her more and more. But we don't mind!

New picts and update for the fam.

2009-03-16T23:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, so now that I have a big girl (I mean come on, she is already 2 weeks old!) I have been feeling a little down. It isn't serious, just feeling sad that everytime something happens, it won't happen again. There won't ever be another time where she has an umbilicle cord. There won't be another first cry or a time where she was only one week old. I know I am a bit sappy but I am told this is all very normal and okay. So, in reflection, here are a few more picts:

Her rat-tail of a hairdo.

Here is a newborn outfit that is still too big for her.

Sleeping picture.

Laughing with poppa.

Sleeping again. These moments are fleeting and few and far between, so I take many sleeping pictures - to remind me that she does sleep on those nights when she doesn't.

Update

2009-03-12T21:32:00.000-07:00

So Kairi's umbilicle cord already fell off. I can't believe how big she is getting. I mean, she is still in premie outfits and all, but the time is just flying by. I already feel old. How am I gonna manage for the future like a blubbering idiot? Ok, enough of that already. Dry those tears - it is just left over preggo hormones. So we went out to the mall for a walk and that was really nice. Edgar is needing some extra hubby time, but Kairi is doing her best to convince him that she should be an only child. I barely got a shower in and that is only because I took her in with me.

We also went to Brack yesterday. I have never been so paranoid about people getting germs on her as I did there. I just kind-of sheilded her and kept walking fast as I could without more pain pills. We went to get my arm evaluated and to pre-register for my surgery. Next Friday, I will have the hardware in my arms removed. That is left over from my accident - there are 2 plates and some screws. It should only take a few hours, about half a day. So then that will be done and I can start repairing my arm and getting in shape. So that is an update on us, here are a few picts:

I hate that onesie, but it was one of the only premie ones we could find at walmart on such short notice.

New pictures of Kairi

2009-03-06T16:01:00.000-08:00

Sorry its been so long . . .

2009-03-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

Ok, so there was a lot of stuff going on. First, the birth story, minus any gorey or graphic details.

Ok, so here is how labor and delivery went:
We were tryin to get my cousin's house completed before I had baby and we were doing anything to send me into labor naturally. So all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I was working on fencing, plumbing, yard work, anything that would send me into labor. Nothing helped and all I got was a sunburn.

We checked into the hotel . . . hospital . . . around 5:30 on Sunday night. I was supposed to get a cervical ripening drug put in to help the cervix dialate since I had been 1 cm. since just over 8 months along. So, we checked in, got settled and they put this medincine in. It was pretty gross, but I survived. So off to sleep we went after mom and dad left and didn't get too much sleep before the nurse came and took the medicine out around 5:30 AM.

Pitocin started around 6:05 after about 10 minutes of eating cereal, not alot since I wanted to make sure my stomach was empty for the pushing phase. Pitocin brought on regular contractions right away. They were small but were about 2-3 minutes apart. They got worse and worse after a while and REALLY strong after doc broke my water. The contractions weren't showing up propertly so they had to monitor internally. All of those things combined with the strong contractions, consistently going above the line for an extended period of time. So I decided to go ahead and get an epidura. I REALLY like epidurals. Not so much going in, but afterwards, that was great.

So around 2:00 they checked my progress and I was about 4 cm and somewhat efaced. I stayed that way until around 4:45 when I was completely efaced and still only 4.5 cm. The doc and nurse noticed that after each of my contractions, which I had medicine to keep me calm, Kairi's heartrate would drop. Nothing too dangerous, but noticable and not encouraging. So we gave it another 45 minutes and doc, Edgar and I decided that a c-section was the best option for baby to get out.

So we went and had the c-section - that was . . . an experience. I cried a lot of the time because of the way everything was done, but when all was said and done, it was best done that way I am sure. My doc, who is also pregnant and due in the next month, stayed all day and delivered Kairi. Edgar got some gross pictures of her coming out. Then he went to stay with her in the room while they closed me all up. Edgar finally thinks everything will be okay. She was so quiet the whole time they were examining her and cleaning her; I really think that helped him take it in slower.

Here's a pict of her cute wrinkly feet.

Here's smily/gasy baby.

She came in at 7 pounds almost even, 20.5 inches long, a good amount of hair, good health, good reflexes - she's doing pretty well.

She is now 2 days old and is jaundice. She's in baby's first tanning bed next to my bed and has these little goggles on. She is doing well overall, and is only 10% jaundice, but they want to nip it in the butt before we leave tomorrow. I will stay the night one more night, and get my staples out tomorrow. Then, we get to go home. Thank goodness. I am SO looking forward to my own bed. Last night I got to wear my own night gown, my own shoes, my own underwear - it was great. I felt 10 times better.

In labor update

2009-03-02T12:20:00.000-08:00

4 cm and still going strong. However, I have an epidural now, so I am not feeling anything below my chest. How weird to sneeze and not be able to have ab muscles to use.

Just a regular update

2009-02-27T21:36:00.001-08:00

Here is a picture of me . . . 40 and a half weeks pregnant . . . still.

So, unless Kairi decides to come between now and Sunday night (*please*) then we check into the hospital Sunday night to do a small procedure, and then Monday morning, they start pitocin. She should be here by Monday night. Holy cow! Only 2 more nights in my house alone with Edgar . . . I have things to do. Later!

Texas My Texas

2009-02-22T22:02:00.000-08:00

Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Look at Texas with me just for a second. That picture, with the Panhandle and the Gulf Coast, and the Red River and the Rio Grande is as much a part of you as anything ever will be. As soon as anyone anywhere in the world looks at it they know what it is. It's Texas. Pick any kid off the street in Japan and draw him a picture of Texas in the dirt and he'll know what it is. What happens if I show you a picture of any other state? You'll get it maybe after a second, but who else would? And even if you do, does it ever stir any feelings in you?

In every man, woman and child on this little rock the Good Lord put us on, there is a person who wishes just once he could be a real live Texan and get up on a horse or ride in a pickup. There is some bit of Texas in everyone. Did you ever hear anyone in a bar go, Wow...so you're from Iowa? Cool, tell me about it. No. Do you know why? Because there's no place like Texas.

Texas is the Alamo. Texas is 183 men standing in a church, facing thousands of Mexican nationals, fighting for freedom, who had the chance to walk out and save themselves, but stayed instead to fight and die for the cause of freedom.
We send our kids to schools named William B. Travis and James Bowie and Crockett and do you know why? Because those men saw a line in the sand and they decided to cross it and be heroes. John Wayne paid to do the movie himself. That is the Spirit of Texas.

Texas is Sam Houston capturing Santa Anna at San Jacinto. Texas is Juneteenth and Texas Independence Day. Texas is huge forests of Piney Woods like the Davy Crockett National Forest. Texas is breathtaking mountains in Big Bend. Texas is shiny skyscrapers in Houston and Dallas.

Texas is world record bass from places like Lake Fork. Texas is Mexican food like nowhere in the world, even Mexico. Texas is the Fort Worth Stockyards, Bass Hall, and the Astrodome. Texas is larger-than-life legends like Willie Nelson, Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Janis Joplin, ZZ Top, Eric Dickerson, Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan, Denton Cooley and Michael DeBakey, Sam Rayburn, George Bush, Lyndon B. Johnson, and George W. Bush.

Texas is great companies like Dell Computer, Texas Instruments and Compaq.

Texas is huge herds of cattle and miles of crops. Texas is skies blackened with doves and fields full of deer. Texas is a place where cities shut down for the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, and NIOSA River Parade in San Antonio. Texas is ocean beaches, deserts, lakes and rivers, forests, mountains, prairies, and modern cities. If it isn't in Texas, you don't need it.

No one does anything bigger or better than it's done in Texas. By federal law, Texas is the only state in the US that can fly its flag at the same height as the US flag. Think about that for a second. You fly the Stars and Stripes at 20 feet in Maryland, or California, or Maine, and your state flag, whatever it is, goes at 17. You fly the Stars and Stripes in front of Pine Tree High in Longview at 20 feet, the Lone Star flies at the same height - 20 feet. Do you know why? Because we place being a Texan as high as being an American down here. Texas is the only state that was a Republic.

Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the capitol building in Washington, DC and we can divide our state into five states if we want to! We included these things in as part of the deal when we came on. That's the best part right there.

So America, if this is how you want it . . . well, I would rather be a Texan than an American any day.

Just so you know . . .

2009-02-16T16:01:00.000-08:00

Ok, so there has been some hype in the news about a flying saucer, UFO, metero, debris, etc that flew through the sky. Edgar and I both got to see it together. How romantic! Even better than a shooting star! However, I thought it must be debris from the satellites that crashed. But when we went back to look at how bright the shooting stars are and how bright the Columbia shuttle was when it broke apart, we think it must be bigger than just debris. The "fire ball" was just that, it was a huge ball of what looked like fire. It was awesome. In light of that being in the news, I just wanted to share that Edgar and I shared that moment together.

Kairi still hasn't decided to come out. Actually she hasn't done much of anything except hurting my pelvis bone - I feel like I have been riding a horse or a banana-boat bike seat all day. And that is how I feel in the morning! So, nothing has changed, but if this continues, doctor will induce on March 2nd. I hope she is here before that, but I have heard you can't tell a woman what to do. Well, I will give her a little bit of credit, she does have a week to go before her due date. So we will see!

Update on Kairi

2009-02-11T21:12:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I went back to the Dr today (weekly appt and all) and got an update. Last week, it was all "any day after next week!" Today, doc says it could be after the 23rd. YUCK! So, we have tentatively set March 2 as the day to induce if she isn't here by then. Pray she comes by then. Doc says she is probably around 7 1/2 - 8 lbs. She is ready, I am ready, but apparently my body isn't ready. Anyways, so that is where we are at. Hopefully she will come this weekend and all will be good and happy. If not, no BIG deal but it would be nice.

My dresser was broken when it came in again last week. So they have another one that was supposed to be on the truck that shipped on the 10th. So hopefully that one will be here this weekend.

Edgar is ready for baby . . . well, I say that, but I mean he is ready for me not to be pregnant anymore. Can't say I blame him, I am ready to not be pregnant also - sleeping alone is hard work, but when you sleep with someone in the bed, when just going to bed is a chore, it gets real old real fast. Well, it is my bedtime. As long as it takes me to get ready for bed these days, I need to start now. More later!

Update

2009-02-03T20:50:00.000-08:00

It has been a little while, but here is an update. I had my shower this past weekend - SO GREAT!!!! It was a Christmas theme - what do I love most? Christmas. Lysha did a great job - thanks honey!!! I got to see a lot of my friends from work and have a great time hanging out at Shana's with them all. It was just great!! I did get a lot of things to help me prepare for baby - all of which I REALLY appreciate. Thank you to anyone reading this for their gifts - thank you cards are being written now, pending my wrist acting up.

Apparently I have decided to wait until 3 weeks before being due to have my first pregnancy side-effect. I have developed some kind of terrible wrist pain in my right wrist. After figuring out where I can and cannot move it, we have determined, in Edgar and my expert opinion, that I either have carpal tunnel syndrome common in pregnancy, a pinched nerve, or some kind of inflamation. So I will have to go see that doctor now. I was going to have the plates taken out of my left side since they give me so much trouble, but I can't have a baby and be out both of my arms for any amount of time.

So that is one thing. The dr. said at my last appt that she thought Kairi was almost 7 pounds already. So I am thinking she might come a little early. We'll see. I am ready for her to be out; I think I am just impatient, though. I put together the stroller/car seat/carriage together on my own while watching the super bowl and have almost everything cleaned and washed. I just need a baby now. And a dresser. Stupid baby furniture company put it on backorder again. Now it isn't coming in until the 10th. I ordered in in the beginning of December. Grrrrrrrrr.

More later, sleepy time now.

Dr. appt update

2009-01-29T14:11:00.000-08:00

Dr. appt checkup went well.

Kairi is almost 7 lbs now. I am one finger width dialated, which means nothing really since it isn't changing. When she checked, Dr. Hart said "and her head is in the right spot." I said "you can feel her head?" I secretly was thinking (oh thank God she has a head, despite actually seeing her in the photos, it was an odd releif.)

Here is her baby stuff:

Crib and aquarium with Mush Lounger in front:

Crib and aquarium:

Crib and aquarium with bedding:

Crib bedding:

My baby shower is this weekend and I am so uber-excited!!! More later.

Rush on Obama

2009-01-25T10:14:00.000-08:00

Quote by Rush Limbaugh about the polarization and the complete one-sidedness of Obama - and this is only day 5 of his presidency!

Obama was angry that Merrill Lynch used $1.2 million of TARP money to remodel an executive suite. Excuse me, but didn't Merrill have to hire a decorator and contractor? Didn't they have to buy the new furnishings? What's the difference in that and Merrill loaning that money to a decorator, contractor and goods supplier to remodel Warren Buffet's office? Either way, stimulus in the private sector occurs. Are we really at the point where the bad PR of Merrill getting a redecorated office in the process is reason to smear them? How much money will the Obamas spend redecorating the White House residence? Whose money will be spent? I have no problem with the Obamas redoing the place. It is tradition. 600 private jets flown by rich Democrats flew into the Inauguration. That's fine but the auto execs using theirs is a crime? In both instances, the people on those jets arrived in Washington wanting something from Washington, not just good will.

Go on Rush, we are still listening.

Well, it is happening

2009-01-21T20:44:00.000-08:00

Well, at my appt I am one finger width dialated already. I am on my way. I started having a bit of back pain - a sign of my body getting ready for labor. There is no medical indication that she will come early, but my body is getting ready for it. We talked about the birth plan. I'm sure you all know what that is - the plan A for awesome and according to plan and plan B for back up. Plan C usually is reserved for Cesarean - get it? Plan C for cesarean? Hee, hee.

This is a cuter, zoomed in pict of Kairi:

So anyways, now that I have all that going on, I can say I officially feel pregnant and the terror has started to sink in. Am I frightened? No. But I am now, fully aware that this is happening, and happening soon. I only have 4 and a half weeks until the 40 week benchmark. I'm like, holy cow - when did this happen? I was a little pudgy, now I am huge. I used to feel Kairi like I felt a bit of gas moving through space, now she does somersaults around midnight to make sure I am paying attention to her. I used to have to pee all the time . . . well, even that one got worse. I know, those that know me well are thinking, is that possible. Yes, it is. And yes, it is sad.

So it is now happening soon. Stupid consignment store that I ordered my furniture from, promised it would be in and the parent company put everything on backorder until the 27th of Jan. I have my mini-crib and my changing table, but no dresser. So my changing table is full of clothes since I have no place for the clothes. Luckily, since I haven't had my baby shower, I don't have a bunch of diapers yet to store in there.

Finances are going well. We have virtually no debt - Kairi will change that. Did you know that as soon as they cut the umbilicle cord, she has her own $1000 deductible? All the shots and check ups they do, even in the hospital with me at delivery, are all charged at the full price and applied to her deductible. I couldn't believe it. I thought it would cover the delivery and post-op stuff. Nope, nothing after she is out. Dammit. (sorry, mom) Plus, since Edgar is realizing his mortality and his inability to pick up his daughter on his motorcycle, we will be looking at the prospect of another car soon also. So there is another small bill for us to be on the watch for.

We did have an awesome vacation at Christmas seeing family in Vegas and spending time with Lysha and Patrick. I wrote a long blog about it and our internet went down. I will have to reblog about it later, but for now let me just say, we had a great time and a word of advice - NEVER go to the Strip in Las Vegas for New Year's when you are 8 months pregnant. Trust me on this one.

More later. Oh, and my baby shower is next Saturday. I am so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Off to another appointment

2009-01-21T06:37:00.000-08:00

I am on a weekly appointment schedule now. So off I go. Kairi is really moving around and it feels like she is swimming somersaults in me. I have been feeling nauseous because of it, but it goes away after a while. All else is good, I have maternity leave lined up properly I think - I should be off until Easter. So detail, details, details. Edgar has instructions on which car seat to go buy, shuold I go into labor early. But I am not thinking that is going to happen now. She seems too content in there. Pict from the last sonogram turned out cute - scroll down to see them. Just trucking along. See you all later.

Baby update

2009-01-10T20:23:00.000-08:00

So, I got in trouble for not drinking enough water - I have enough for baby to be healthy, but not enough to get a great picture. She wanted to keep her hands (and toes) in her mouth and in front of her face also. We got a few good ones, but she likes to be in a cramped little corner and doesn't like to come out that much. Typical - she'll be a little snuggler. Good thing I already have a swaddler blanket ready for her! We also went and bought the baby bedding. I know, why am I buying things before my shower? Because of where we want her to be in proximity to our bedroom for the first 12-18 months, we bought a mini-crib. So you have to buy special bedding for that size and they only have it at certain places. One of those, Once Upon a Child, doesn't have a registry option (being a consignment store) so I bought it with a coupon. So now, not out of the actual hormones but out of the realization that I haven't really cleaned my house (like under the bed, in the corners, etc) since before I got pregnant, I am working on cleaning. Here are the picts from today:

Smiling baby.

Stretching out - yep, I felt that.

Put em' up, put em' up.

And a cute little yawn.

Baby Update

2009-01-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

Kairi is doing well, weight for me is good (says the doc,) and I am progressing well. Anytime I drink anything, I have to pee, but the size of my bladder is like 1/10 the normal size and if any of you know me, you know how sensitive my bladder was to begin with. I have actually started to feel distinct movements now. The other day, she pushed what I think is her arm/elbow or leg up into my rib area. I have been lucky in that she has stayed relatively low so far, but this one, you could put your hands on my belly and push in a bit and feel her moving around. It happened again this morning.

So that is kinda cool - well, really cool. Edgar will come over and put his hands on my belly every once in a while, but when anyone (including me) puts a hand or the doppler or something on my belly, Kairi goes all deer-in-the-headlights and is still for a while. So Edgar gets tired of waiting or thinks she doesn't like him or something, and then as soon as he leaves, she is moving again. Little twerp!

So I have another 3D ultrasound on Saturday and hopefully her picts will turn out a little better. Click my Flickr page for the picts of her looking like some Dawn of the Dead freaky thing. (Hope she takes better picts when she comes out!) And I only have 7 weeks until my due date, which means 3 weeks until I'm eligible to deliver.

Yikes, I am not sure I am 100% ready for delivery. After that I think I am fine: lots of pain in the THAT area and the whole taking-care-of-a-baby thing I have got. But the actual delivery . . . keep me in your prayers. I have had such a GREAT pregnancy, that I keep waiting for something to go wrong. I am hoping against it, but it just keeps popping in my head. (Satan be gone!) So, all is well. I will post new picts on Sat/Sun.

I will post more about our Vegas vacation later. Let me just say - great vacation away from here. Not to say I don't LOVE it here, but it is good to get away for a bit.

Vegas so far

2009-01-01T11:27:00.001-08:00

Ok, so no where else can you find this many people wearing less clothes. I mean come on, it is like 30 degrees outside and you are wearing a miniskirt and sandal heels. Really.

Ok, now that the venting is done . . . vegas is going well. We went to see Wayne Brady and also got to see Usher about 20 feet away in the audience with us. It was awesome!! I bought his first musical CD and it is really good.

We went to the Strip last night - WAY TOO PACKED. The highlight was this girl who wore clothes WAY too small and short - you could see more than the lower part of her butt cheeks. You would have been able to see the tag of her underwear . . . if she was wearing any, which she wasn't.

It was packed and my baby belly was feeling very full. So of course walking down the strip would have been a challenge anyways. But add lots of people to that (some guy was jumping the Arc de Triumph at the Paris hotel) and you have a problem. So we stopped at several hotels to go to the potty. We went to Mandalay Bay to go to the Shark reef, Bellagio to see the fountains, and a couple of places just to see the hotels.

We went to Walgreens to go to the potty and they told me that it was closed. Normally, Edgar would not play the preggo card, but he asked the guy if there was a pregnancy exception. The cop was like, "Oh yeah, no problem, just go on back." Then the woman in the back asked where I was going and I turned around and she said oh, I didn't see the belly, go ahead. Had I not been pregnant, that would have been insulting. Yet at 8 months pregnant, I actually felt good about not being huge. However, walking all that time, was very painful on my back. That butt bone area is incredibly sore and I was in a lot of pain last night. But I am good now. Edgar was so sweet to me last night, rubbing my back and my feet and such. He is such a good husband - vacationing has done us both well.

Lysha and Patrick are here and that is going well. We have been able to take further away picts with anyother pair of hands and we got to do some cute couple things. Tonight we are going to see O', a Cirque de Solei show. I am sure I spelled that wrong, but I am okay with that.

Edgar's grandma had a little health trouble so she was in the hospital for a little bit, but we think everything is okay now. We will check up with her more later.

Freemont Street was great. We gambled a bit, I let Edgar play with some of my money, well it is all our money, but I put in 50$ and was up by a little bit, so I let him play with some of my chips. He lost it all. And was causing me to lose a bit. So, I sent him to get something to eat and won it all back to break even. Yay.

So, at 11:30 we just got back from the hotel and are at Helenanne and Greg's house getting some breakfast. Edgar and I will probably go to some souvenier shops in a little while and then come back to nap before our shows tonight.

So long 2008!!!

2008-12-25T12:41:00.000-08:00

Ok, it has been one heck of a year. I thought I would share how stressful this year has been and update you all through the end of the year.

January - found that my grandma has gastric cancer.
February - I was in a car accident. Not terrible, but a 3 day hospital stay is nothing small.
March - grandma has surgery to remove 3/4 of her stomach with 3 of 4 samples having a tumor in it.
April - (this was good) my mom was diagnosed with Wegener's Granulomatosis. It is a disease that acts like cancer and you treat it like you do cancer, but it isn't a cancer. There is no known cure, but you can put it in remission and they have no idea of the cause of it. She has basically had bronchitis and a bad sinus infection for about 10 years. So, actually getting a diagnosis was good and having something to do about it is good.
May - I had a very stressful time at work this month getting ready for my first summer in charge of the CWM program.
June - summer CWM had started and I was sick all the time (vomiting and sinus infections) also found out I was pregnant via pee stick
July - got confirmation that I was pregnant and Grandma had a stroke 3-4 days later on my sister's birthday
August - end of summer, start of school year at CWM, stresses related to that.
September - my birthday, one of the less crazy months of the year.
October - work is strenuous getting ready for Christmas, bazaar, setting the budget, etc.
November - grandma has an insulin related seizure which sets her back quite a bit in recovering, gestational diabetes screening comes back and I have to do a 3 hour test, which luckily came back good, 3D ultrasound, gender confirmation
December - settlement reached in auto accident lawsuit, grandma passed away, funeral, no one's house decorated but mine so we had Christmas at our house this year.

So, as you can see it has been a stressful year here at Gopher Hill. I think all of us are ready for a break from the chaos. I know it sounds funny, but I am looking forward to slowing down and having a baby. At least with a baby, I somewhat know what to expect. So, come on 2009! We're ready and we're waiting.

Update: we will be flying out Sunday and back on Saturday. We are going back to Vegas, where Edgar has family, with Lysha and Patrick and Edgar's side. This will be the last non-parental hoo-rah without baby. I am sure we will take plenty of other vacations, but this one, we only have ourselves to think about. I am cleared for take off from my Dr. and have taken the child birth class and hospital tour.

Some of you may not know that my dad was switched at birth for a little while. Everything was worked out, but because of that, I am a freak about being paranoid about that kind of thing. The hospital that we plan to birth Kairi has a room-in policy - they only have a nursery for sick babies, so baby is with you the whole time. I know some of you have heard that it is the best policy to have baby stay in the nursery the first night so you can get some sleep. I would just not be okay with that. I would freak out that someone was taking her or that the bands were switched and I wouldn't sleep at all. So hearing that was a GREAT releif for me. So, baby is well, I am well (besides allergies, etc) Edgar is well, we are all doing great. So long 08!

Family Pictures

2008-12-23T20:41:00.000-08:00

It is church directory time, which to LifeTouch means time to take advantage of the holidays by conning people into buying way too many pictures. Well, most of the time I believe that, but this year, we actually liked several photos and bought 5 of them. So here they are for all to enjoy!

Our directory photo

Good family picture

This one was just for fun. Wow, I look yellow. I need more iron.

Here is our picture of our family with Kairi.

This is the picture Edgar wanted because he said he just looked that good. (I must admit, he does look pretty sexy.)

Grandma will be having Christmas with Jesus this year.

2008-12-11T23:18:00.000-08:00

Grandma passed away peacefully today. She was ready - we all know this. The last 4 months (to the day) since she had the stroke were getting us ready for this day, preparing us for her return home to her heavenly father. Services will probably be sometime next week.

We have a very matriarical family - grandma was the queen bee. We were close, lived next door for 27 years, she helped build our house, and she was a very real part of our day-to-day family. This is hard on everyone for different reasons, but hard nonetheless.

Thank you all for your prayers and please keep them up for a little while for the family. Even though we are sad, it is for our loss, not hers. We will miss her for but a short time until we join her up with the rest of the family.

Grandma will be joining the Lord soon.

2008-12-10T22:23:00.000-08:00

Grandma's system has begun to shut down. They don't expect her to make it until Saturday, and that is seeming very generous at this point. Please keep the family in your prayers, especially the out of town family that isn't here.

Remniscing . . .

2008-11-29T10:04:00.000-08:00

I bought 2 digital photo frames yesterday on Black Friday. so, today I was going through some picts from day gone by and looking at them to see which ones to put on the frame. Here are a couple of friend ones from the late 80s.

Black Friday and Dr update

2008-11-28T13:27:00.000-08:00

Well, I wasn't trampled to death like the guy in New York, or hospitalized like the 28 year old (same as me) prego in the same store that was trampled and hospitalized, so I count this as a successful Black Friday!

We went to Ink Stop and Sears and got some very good deals, including a (pending) set of a front loading washer and dryer for 600$, a present here and there, a DVD for the car to replace the broken one that it came with, and a digital photo frame for only 30$ (actually I bought two of those.) Then we went to several stores and bought things that we had on our list and some happened to be on sale, and some didn't. But we did get some good things, we had some good laughs and some good times, and nobody got hurt. The economy has definatly had some impact as there were fewer people to deal with in the aisles, but it was a lot more fun not having people push their way around/through you.

As for my Dr. appt update: I managed to deal with the shot in my butt. It was actually more link the hip area, but I managed. I also did good with the glucose test. They sent my blood to also get tested for anemia since I have been looking a little pale. Since I don't eat red meat and baby is taking all that she wants, I can totally understand if I am. But I am a little worried about the gestational diabetes. If I don't here anything by the end of the day on Monday, I think I am cleared. Oh, and in February of this year, my doc told me she was leaving to have a baby. So I finally go comfortable with this doc and she is due one month after I am. Babies EVERYWHERE. At least she is saying that she will be continuing to by a doc so I don't have to find yet another doc. And she still says I can fly at 31-32 weeks, so Vegas: here we come!!!!!

I have to brag on my husband for a sec. Yesterday I went to bed around 12:30. I had to be up at 4:00 so we could get to the stores at the right time. Well, I love putting up the Christmas tree and decorating the house and all and he got everything down for me from the attic, but I wasn't going to have time to do anything between the Thanksgiving at my g-ma's house, one at the police dept, making the pudding for those, and planning for Black Friday (a several hour project.) So while I went to bed to prep, he put up the tree with just a few lights. He even made a slightly vulgar Christmas card, which I am now required to post, as I do with all Christmas cards. But it was such a sweet gesture. I told my mom and dad and they were so impressed. I will have to thing of SOME way to repay him for his kindness.

Just a boring update with some picts

2008-11-25T09:03:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I had my first prego symptoms last night. Apparently my body is getting ready for breastfeeding already. I am almost 7 months. Why is this happening so early. It makes me reminiscent of that Roseanne episode where Jackie gets married while she's pregnant and she lactating all over her wedding dress.

Side note: we are planning on doing some sort of renewing of the vows in vegas at an Elvis chapel. but they are very expensive, so we may end up paying some impersonater to just stand and take a picture with us. We'll see.

So other than that, I have to go get a shot in my butt tomorrow since I have stupid negative type blood. NOT LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT!!! And I have my glucose test. Yay, what a fun day. On the plus size (pun totaly intended) I am looking more pregnant so I am not feeling so fat anymore. Yay - a reason to be large!

A little sick today. I actually had to use my inhaler. Usually around this time of year I will have had to use it several times. Luckily I have been able to curb anything from getting to be too terrible with antibiotics. They are all they safe-while-pregnant ones.

Here are some more picts of Kairi: (grandma Helen and anyone else who needs it: it is pronounced Kigh-ree)

The one above shows her hands and foot in the front and her face a bit.

The one above shows her with my nose (that thing in the front is part of the umbilicle cord.)

This above one shows Edgar's family's more prominent nose. I guess we'll have to see what she comes out with.

Well, better get back to work. I'm only working two days this week and have to get prepped for Black Friday. I already feel like a lazy slacker. God I love WINTER!!!!

Kairi Elizabeth Smith

2008-11-14T14:54:00.000-08:00

Ok, it is a little creepy since she opened her eyes quite a few times. That was weird. However, it was pretty cool to see it in real time. She was moving the whole time. Luckily, she wasn't covering her little area. Unfortunatly, she was covering her face almost the whole time. Sadly. However, my parents talked me into putting a little extra money into getting the 2 visit package. So I will go back on January 10th for some pictures when she will have some more baby fat on her.

This one is where she is saying, "Woe is me. God what family did you put me with? These guys are nuts."

This is just a good shot of her.

This one is particularly funny because she looks like she is giving the camera the bird. This was taken at almost the exact same time as the one before.

And here our sweet little girl is already trying to suck her thumb.

See? Eyes open is so odd.

So, there are some previews of Kairi Elizabeth Smith. She should be making her debut in February and have another photo opp on January 10th. All family are welcome, VERY close friends are welcome. Other than that I will post the picts soon after.

Emmaus Walk was great

2008-11-13T11:32:00.001-08:00

I will blog more about it later.

Mourning and crying for our nation and our future

2008-11-04T20:39:00.000-08:00

I am deeply saddened for our country. The future looks dim for Americans, should Obama do any of the things he has campaigned to do. I am concerned for my child, who will be born under Obama's presidency. All of these socialist ideas, these "plans" of his that take the money out of my hands and give it to someone else, that take ANY control I had over my own life out of my hands and put it in his hands, all of that has taken the light out of America for me.

My only solace is that there should be some lawsuits coming that challenge Obama's citizenship; they have already begun. Should they win, I think every vote for Obama would be a vote for an invalid team, all Obama/Biden tickets would be thrown out, and McCain/Palin would take over as the president as the majority winner. There is so much about Obama's campaign that is questionable: his contacts with Ayers, his association with Wright, his socialist policies, his refusal to make his birth certificate public, and his youth records being sealed. There is so much about him that we are being "suprised" about, I think we are just beginning to see the ugly serpent that is Obama.

Please continue to pray for our country. It will need it with Obama as president.

Pumpkin Patch Prego

2008-10-29T15:23:00.000-07:00

These are all pretty much the same, but here is me at the pumpkin patch. We took all of the afterschoolers today and it went really well.
Lysbeth

Good to know . . .

2008-10-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

It is good to know that in this day and age you can charge ANYTHING. I went to my dr. apt and went to pay on my baby payment plan. With insurance, it is about 250$ per month until I give birth. I have made one or two payments.

Anyways, I get up there and get out my checkbook. I say to the woman behind the counter, "I assume I will have to pay this by check or cash?" She says, "no, we accept all major credit cards." I said, "I know but this is paying to have a baby; don't I have to pay some secure method?" "No, you can charge it." It is good to know that I can actually put my child's life on a credit card. That is refreshing to know; that actually, ANYTHING can be charged.

So, since we get reward points for every purchase we make, we charged the little tyke. (little tip to you guys: simply by paying your bills with a rewards credit card and writing a check to the Credit Card Company for those bills like electricity, phone, gym membership, insurance, etc. we get reward points and get gift cards to pretty much anywhere we want to: Chilis, Home Depot, trips, luggage, anything.)

Let this baby start working for us even before birth, I say. Hoo-rah!!

Prego Picts

2008-10-18T21:38:00.000-07:00

(Scroll down for my latest political post and comments.)

Here's a few prego picts for the lookers. I am now almost 22 weeks and am now showing enough to take picts and not look just extra fat. I went to buy new underwear because the ones I have sit in the hipster position. Well, that is the perfect position to hit my bladder when I lay down to go to bed. Plus, now the Kairi has decided to make her presence known, I have to pee more often than ever. (All those who have ever ridden in a car on a trip with me all just asked themselves if that was possible.) So, I hit the sale rack and racked up some cute clothes.

The Ant and the Grasshopper play into politics

2008-10-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

The Ant and the Grasshopper

OLD VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed.
The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

MODERN VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The grasshopper thinks he's a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
CBS, NBC, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper, and everybody cries when they sing, "It's Not Easy Being Green."
Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, "We shall overcome." Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake.
Tom Daschle & John Kerry exclaim in an interview with Peter Jennings that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his "fair share."
Finally, the EEOC drafts the "Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act," retroactive to the beginning of the summer. The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government.
Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients.
The ant loses the case.
The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it.
The ant has disappeared in the snow.
The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.
MORAL OF THE STORY: Vote Republican

This is made all the more true after last night's debate where Obama was asked about his TAX PLAN. He said I don't think it is too much to ask for people who make a lot of money to give some to the Americans that are looking to put their kids through college. It isn't my job to help them. I paid my way through college, let their kids learn how to hand debt. Give the children the responsibiltiy that they need to learn how to be responsible for it. They need to work hard just as much as I did and then maybe they can support their children the way they want to. If they are unable to do that, that is their problem, not mine. I worked my ass off to get where I am and what do I have to show for it? The possiblity for being taxed at a HUGE rate if I am successful. No way. Not with my vote!

Doc says 90% chance it is a GIRL!

2008-10-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

So of course Edgar is telling everyone that there is a 10% chance that it is a boy still, but I think he is just trying to push my buttons now that he knows it is a girl. He is very nervous - he didn't even have any sisters or girl cousins growing up nearby. I told him it would be easier to have a girl in the early years. They don't get to be real pains until they start dating in middle school :) So we are VERY excited. Sure there is still a chance that it might be a boy, but it is a small chance. So yay! Now I get to wash all the girl clothes that I have bought and get the girly blankets down. Thank you to everyone for all the well prayers. Obviously they worked and the Dr, threw in the ultrasound real quick, but thoroughly. Thanks all - I will update more later.

3D appt is November 14th so I should have some better pictures then.

Just to explain: the circles on the right are the hip/butt bones. The legs go out from right to left from there. There should be something sticking out but there isn't. That is what tells them it is a girl.

Its a . . . . Smartass!

2008-10-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so my kid is already getting on my nerves. This is the last "scheduled" ultrasound. I have to fully pay for all the other ones unless there is a problem. My smartass kid decided it was time to follow directions and sit indian style (yes, for all you PC people, that is criss-cross-applesauce.) So the whole time the technician was looking for the baby's unmentionables while measureing the arms and head and such. When it finally came time to look at the "area" the baby simply wouldn't help us out. Oh, well, when it was time to take the pict of the foot, it kicked it out towards us so we could get a freaking clear shot, but for the FIVE WHOLE minutes that we looked for a penis or not, no. Kairi/Quad would not cooperate. That makes me certain it is a manipulative little girl and make Edgar certain it is a stubborn little boy. So we are still at odds.

Since there is absolutely nothing wrong with the baby, there is no reason to do another ultrasound. So I either have to wait until November 14th or pay $250 to have another one done. Grrrrr. Pain in the ass! Well, I know what you're thinking, but still. I can't complain too much because despite lifting God-knows how much before I knew I was pregnant and given the eating habits I have, it is a miracle that the baby has no problems. So blessings for that.

So we will wait for at least 2 weeks. I am NOT waiting until it comes out. That is just not okay with me. But for now, we still just do not know.

So here are the picts. Some have words to explain. Some need no explanation. In the face picture, I swear I didn't sleep with Skelator from He-Man. JK But Edgar did think that the baby has my nose. Edgar has a bit of a honker compared to mine, so that is one thing we can already see.

Yeah, above, can you see that baby sitting indian style? Grrrr.

My mom thought this was a cool picture, but you can't see it as well as in the real one. So, I just decided to focus it a bit so you can see the hands better. Don't they look like little prayer hands?

I must speak out!

2008-09-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

I tried to respectfully tell people my views. I have my Fair Tax.org sticker on my car and the sign in my yard and I tell people my views when they ask. However, I cannot be a passive supporter anymore. This country needs people like me to speak out and speak their mind. It is ridiculous what is happening and just how big the government is getting.

The job of the governement is to make global policies and to run the country with as little hands on as possible. The governemnt wasn't made to bail out Mr. and Ms. Jones because they bought a house they couldn't afford. The government's job isn't to bail out a company that gave Mr. and Mrs. Jones a loan they couldn't afford either. And just where is this $700 billion coming from? Our taxes. If they needed it for defense or if we had an attack on our country, where would we get it? I have already paid way too much in taxes and seen my taxes go to bail out people who conducted shotty business practices. Why should I support a government that I don't? The main difference between conservatives and liberals (not necessarily the same as republicans and democrats) is that republicans and conservatives let me do what I want to with my money. If I earn it, I should get to spend it. Why I am being taxed on things multiple times? Why am I being taxed when I die? The democrats see what they think Americans are doing with their money and think that we don't know what we are doing and they think that the government can do a better job at peying my retirement and social security and telling me what to do. If I used to work in a business and now I'm a teacher, obviously I cannot handle 2 retirement accounts. Do I get the money I already put in back out? No. Do I get the same benefit as someone who worked part time their whole life or put hardly anything in? No. I get less, simply because I happened to think that teaching our children is an important job and because in order to reach the uneducated, I had to work for the government and get screwed. Just ask any retired teacher. They will tell you how it really is.

The government wasn't made to dictate person choices. If I was my dog to marry my neighbor's dog, that is my decision. If gay people want to marry it is none of the government's business except for to do the paperwork. Their job isn't to tell anyone that they can or can't fill out the paperwork.

Vouchers - here is another point I cannot understand. Why should my taxes pay for someone in a crappy neighborhood to be able to go to a great school? If I can't afford to live in a district that has a great school, then my kids need to either go to school and excel, or they need to go to a private school. Why should I pay for someone else to get something that I can't afford myself? This applies to so many programs: headstart, homeless advocates, pet saving companies, etc. If I have money and I want to support it, that is fine. Why should my money go to support something that is not the government's business?

One comment on religion - some people have the impression that simply because you are a Christian that you believe that God is in control of everything and that nothing will go wrong unless God wants it to. The best way I can think of to explain this is from the movie "Love Comes Softly." The dad's wife died, this new woman married him to have a home for the winter and to teach his tomgirl of a daughter how to be womanly. When the woman is doubting everything and she asks the man how he can have such strong faith when all these bad things happen. He says I can be walking down the road with Missy and she can fall down and scrape her arms and legs, it doesn't mean I let it happen, it doesn't mean I don't love her any less. But I was there. God doesn't promise nothing bad will happen to you. He just promises to be there to help pick you up. I have a real problem with people who either don't beleive in God or believe that God has already decided everything in their life and they just have to do it. God hasn't decided all of this - there is still free will. However, He knows what you will decide to to and how you will act. He knows if you will stray and He knows when you will come back, if you do. I wish people could understand that, but I do understand that everyone has to learn this on their own and that I can't teach them that. so my only want out of this paragraph is that you understand the difference between living for God and living God's life. My goal is to live for God, to please Him and to fulfill His will in my life. But I still have to make the decision to do so.

Lastly, my political rant. I will probably be voting for McCain/Palin. The reasons are many but I will keep it short. Obama is a non-vote. He says a lot without really saying anything. There is no substance to his platform. The things he says he can do on his website, he can't without Congress. Now, the same can be said for the McCain ticket, but McCain has much more history of getting things done and has a more extensive Legislative history Palin has more Executive experience (well, Obama and Biden really have no executive experience). Obama's ticket lacks so much substance and is just we need change. Well, hell in a hand basket is change. It doesn't mean it is a good change. Anyone who says the government needs to do more X or even take out the X. Anyone who says the government needs to do more is an idiot. If anything the government needs to be less involved. And the McCain ticket is the only option I see that is viable to acomplish that.

Well, that is my rant. I have had so many of my friends and fellow bloggers on here and Myspace that voiced their opinions. Some I agreed with, some I just want to shoot and some I want to shake and say "Read your own stuff and listen to what you are actually saying. Is this really what you think?" So here is my views, I'm sure all of you have yours and have your own opinions. And I'm sure I will hear about them. But this is my blog and I needed to at least voice my opinon where I could hear it.

PS If you watched Bill Clinton on The View and know anything about body language, he doesn't want Obama to win either. And I doubt he is mad that his wife didn't get to be president. I think he will be voting for the McCain ticket as well.

New In-the-wall-aquarium built for baby

2008-09-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

Edgar built the cabinet and I decorated the aquarium with plants and fish. What do you think? Baby's crib sits right in front of the cabinet doors in the yellow room. The other side in our living room.

My latest appt - Sept 17

2008-09-17T12:29:00.000-07:00

So I went to the Dr. today and have lost about 5 pounds since prepregnancy. She wasn't happy and told me to EAT, EAT, EAT! I was kinda happy about that, but I hardly ever get hungry. So I am working on it.
Then we had measured the heartbeat: still 160s. Very good. She measured my uterus and it is very good sized. She felt the baby bump from the outside, which I can now feel. Doing good. I can't feel it move yet, but I can at least feel the baby bump. I am just doing well.
Oh, I finally know my blood type. I am B-negative. Yes, that means I get to get a nice big shot in my hip/butt. NOT looking forward to that. I get one at 28 weeks and one after delivery.
We did what is called a quad-screen which tests for 4 lines of problems that babies can have. Edgar is sure that is a sign that I will be having a Quad baby, instead of Kairi. Grrr. We will see in 2 weeks!!!!!
So all in all everything is fine. I am just feeling very blah. I am told this is supposed to be my best part of pregnancy and that if I am feeling down, it is my body's way of telling me that I am doing too much. But I still feel so lazy all the time. I don't want to work at my job, I don't want to work at the house (don't ask me how many spoons I have, I just keep washing the last one I used.) I just don't really want to do anything except lay down all the time. I am just BLAH!

Updates: clothes, g-ma furniture, etc

2008-09-16T14:50:00.002-07:00

So most of you know, but if you don't . . . I like to be prepared before anything happens. I have already watched several birthing videos . . . don't do that on an empty stomach. Actually, don't do that at all. Unless you are paranoid like me and must know what is going to happen, just avoid it all together.

On a light great note, when I told my grandma that I watched these videos and never needed to do that again, I got the biggest smile I had seen on her. My mom got to see it also, so that made it that much better. Quick update on G-ma: she is making huge stides in recovery, she stood up the other day and almost made it to a chair, she is trying to talk but since she has the trache line in she can't, and all the therapists are extremely optimistic. God works such miracles.

So most of you have seen the clothes I have. We must find out the gender ahead of the birth simply to weed out all the clothes. JK. But I do have about 350 sets, yes I said sets of clothes, not pieces. So I do have to clean that out. But we are waiting until after Oct 1st since I will then know the sex. I told the Dr.s when I made the appt that I wanted to wait until 22 weeks if I could so that I could be sure the sex was right. She said, "well, honey, your doctor is sending you to us because we are specialists. We don't really get these things wrong." So we went ahead and made it for 19 weeks and we should get something good. I will be making baby's first photo opp appt for about 3 weeks after that. I have heard anything after 21 weeks will get you a good picture. We will be going to Clearview Ultrasound Specialists. So I will have those picts to post after that.

We also picked out our nursery furniture. If you go to: http://www.milliondollarbaby.com/MDB_anabelcoll.html we are getting that set in the Expresso color. We are getting the 6 drawer dresser, 3 drawer changing table and the mini-crib. By the time the baby will be big enough to need a full size space, we will upgrade him/her to a toddler bed and have 2 maybe. So we are just getting the mini-crib. Also since they will be in the office which is next to our bedroom, there isn't enough space for all that and the office in the office. Oh, and I got the best chair in the world for 25$ at a garage sale (talked them down from 35) - it is so comfy and perfect for this room. It is great. And I can sit there now and watch Edgar working. (Am I 5 months yet? You girls know what I am talking about ;), right?)

Right now Edgar is making the aquarium that going in between the living room and the office. Baby's mini-crib goes right under that so that they have the water sounds to sooth them to sleep. If they don't like the sound of water, tough (but we also have a plan for that.)

Oh, sidenote to all those who hated the name Quad like I did at first. It is better than the alternatives: another Ed or Edgar in our family (there are 4 Eds, 3 are Edgars,) it is better that IV for 4, and it is better than Edgar's new favorite: Ragde. Oh yes, there is a story. That is Edgar spelled backwards. It is also Edgar's name on the brewing network (did you all know that Edgar got the award of Drunk of the week last December and earned the high prestige of being Drunk of the Year 2007 for the brewing network?) So, you can all see that among those alternative, if I have to go with ELS (Edgar Lawrence Smith IV) that Quad actually starts to grow on you.

So that is my mondo-uber-update. I will write more after my next appt hopefully, but in 2 weeks we get to find out if I am having a Quad or a Kairi.

God sent us a dog. Yes, a dog.

2008-09-16T14:50:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to update you on how great God is and how much He is moving in my life.

You all know the accident and if I was pregnant when I had the accident it would have been much worse and all the details from the actual accident. If not, I will blog again about it, but that is not this blog.

So that was the most recent OBVIOUS God-is-here moment . . . until night before last. Rocky is a dog that had adopted us.
1. Teddy Bear loves all other animals, except other dogs. He likes to fight with them. He and Rocky got along great.
2. Any stray usually had worms, hearworm, something wrong. All that was wrong with Rocky was that he had fleas and bad teeth. Big whoop. I can feed him soft food easily enough.
3. AND THIS IS THE BIG ONE - Rocky has this annoying bark. But not as bad as Teddy Bear's. However, he usually only barks at dog noises, like my parents or g-ma's, or deer. But it is a distinct bark. Night before last it was different. It was an incessant, distressed bark. When I went out to check on him, being alone and pregnant, I heard what sounded like a sprinkler or a water pipe under pressure that had a leak. Like what you would hear if you dropped a soda can on a rock. I called my mom and asked how soon my dad could get down here because I thought it might be a snake. Oh yeah, it was a rattlesnake. 27 years of living here and we have walked around barefoot and never seen more than a hognose or a chicken snake. We had to get dad's 22 because I couldn't find my gun safe key. It had dropped in a box - we all know where it is now. Scared me so much. Never have I seen something so . . . scary. It was about 3 1/2 feet long and had about 6 rattles on it.

Oh yeah, what was Teddy Bear doing? Sitting on the other side of the yard looking at it, looking at me, looked at it, looked at me. I believe God sent us Rocky to give Teddy Bear a friend for when my attention goes to baby and now to protect us in this instance. Teddy Bear wasn't doing anything. But he will bark at strangers. So now we have our own warning system of dogs and each has an independent purpose. Thank God that He sent us this protection.

Appt for Sex . . .

2008-09-03T14:31:00.000-07:00

On October 1st I will have my Dr. appointment that will determine the gender of my child.. I am uber-excited. I told everyone at work - we are like a family here. One of them asked if there would be a banner on the playground with the results the next day. I said maybe. Hee, hee. So after that I will actually go through the boxes of clothes. I already have the sorted by 150ish girls, 125ish boys and about 70 unisex ones. I say ish because I have bought more since but haven't put them in the attic yet. So that is when I will go through everything and begin assembling a room. You know me, must be prepared. What will I register for?

It has a heart!

2008-08-20T14:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I went to 2 Dr. apts today. Not apartments, appointments. The first was at 9 AM. Nothing like that kind of foreplay to wake you up in the morning. So I weighed in and had actually lost weight. Edgar was happy; Dr. was not. But it was not too much to worry about. Then we got to hear the heartbeat. Now, I must confess that aside from being a little nauseous and sick and tired, I really don't feel pregnant at all. I can't feel anything, obviously he/she isn't kicking yet, but I really can't tell I am even pregnant. (Oh, except all the maternity clothes I am wearing because the are just so comfy.) So when she went fishing on top of my bladder for the heartbeat and couldn't find it for a while, I started to worry. Then she found it! Joy of joy . . . lost it. Wait, found it again . . . and lost it again. This little bugger played chase 4-6 times before the nurse could keep track long enough to actually count the heartbeats. Twerp.

So he/she has a little heartbeat of 160ish. Edgar was excited - not because it has a hearbeat, but that it is in the target heart range and therefore must be in training mode with his/her father. Typical man. So there it is. I won't find out the sex/gender until my 19-21 week appointment.

On the name front, I am slowly losing the naming battle if it is a boy. Edgar is pushing my buttons for Edgar Lawrence Smith IV. Oh and the best part? We will be calling him Quad to avoid having another Ed in the family. Yes, I said it. Quad. After a while it grows on you . . . just like foot fungus. Let's all hope it will be Kairi and not Quad just yet.

My other apt was my bone dr. from my car accident. It went well. I had to meet with the other dr. for some reason - group practice, I guess. I have great ROM (range of motion) but I have several dead nerves so my arm for about 2 inches constantly is like it is asleep. I have been having a lot of pain on the plate that is right next to my bone. I know, they are both screwed into my bone, but one is under muscle and I can't even feel it anymore. The other one is right between the bone and the top layer of skin. So it is incredibly painful and quite a nuisance. So it will have to come out, but it will have to wait until Kairi/Quad is born. So hopefully that will get settled and I won't have to deal with the drs and the hospital bills and all that mess that takes up so much mental space for my brain.

Well, that is about all I can update on. So, TTFN.

Places I have visited

2008-08-13T15:57:00.000-07:00

So I need to visit some more countries huh? At least I have the US covered.

visited 46 states (92%)
Create your own visited map of The United States

visited 8 states (3.55%)
Create your own visited map of The World

Prego Update

2008-08-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

So I haven't updated as much as I wanted to through the pregnancy, but here is a bit of one. I have stomach acrobatics all day long - sometimes I throw up, sometimes I just feel dizzy or nauseous and sometimes I am fine. I still don't feel pregnant, even though I am wearing the clothes. I bought this shirt about 2 years ago with Budda on it and it says Rub my Belly for Good Luck. I don't feel kicking or heartbeat or anything other than being sick. Before you all write back that you don't feel that yet, I just mean there is nothing real evident that I am pregnant. I am overweight so right now you can't even tell.
So I am just blah about that. I am trying not to stress out but my g-ma had a stroke 4 days after my pregnancy confirmation appointment and then Sunday night my cousin decided that while not wearing a helmet he would get in a motorcycle accident and fight with the cops when they revived him. So now I have 2 family members in ICU and only 2 weeks left of my first summer as "director" and I am not able to sleep very well. I sleep a long time, but when I wake up I don't feel less stressed at all or rested. So that is my update and I will try to keep up more often. We now have high-speed internet, so it should be easier to update more often. TTFN.

Finally!!!!

2008-07-17T15:11:00.000-07:00

Ok, so finally I get to see a glimpse of God's plan. Always, I am trying to read into His signs. If I'm not pregnant, why? Should I not have kids and just work with them my whole life? Should I adopt kids? What am I not doing that is following His plan? So, finally I see.

We went off the pill in August. Edgar got really sick in December when we went on vacation. My G-ma got cancern. My mom got diagnosed with a rare disease, treatable, but deadly if not treated. And then the whole business with the car accident. If I had been pregnant during all this, the accident might have caused damage to the baby, or the stress could have caused a miscarriage. All of these detrimental things could have happened. However, since I am not in charge, all is better.

I am now 8 1/2 weeks pregnant. This baby has been with me since the beginning of the summer, through all the stress and work. I have a due date of Feb 23 which is good since My MIL's birthday is Feb 20 and my Mom's is March 7. Right in the middle.

We are pretty sure it is a girl based on the pattern in my mom's family (who cares about science and the boy's genes anyways.) Plus we used the Chinese lunar calendar the other day and it said it would be a girl. So Kairi will be on her way soon. But if it is a boy, you all know we will be happy. Hey, we have 5 so if the first one is a boy or a girl, there are plenty of options for the other ones.

So, thank you all for your prayers and well thoughts and I will keep you all updated more often now that I have something to update about. More soon!!

Lysbeth Lou

New Addition to the Family

2008-07-02T16:24:00.000-07:00

This is Rocky. He adopted us by beginning to live under my car. We decided to keep him based on several factors. He wasn't sick, had no worms or heartworms and he gets along with Teddy Bear GREAT. So now we have 2 dogs and a cat - ALL spoiled.

Cute picts

2008-07-02T16:04:00.000-07:00

My cute poppa and hubby. Being all cute in the Party store. Hee, Hee.

This is us at my aunt's wedding!

So you think you know me?

2008-06-25T17:11:00.000-07:00

I don't really have much to say. I think I am over the problems from my accident - I still don't have enough money to pay for my hospital bill, but apparently they are used to that. We have started lifting more weight to try to strengthen my arm a bit, and in the meantime, Edgar decided I needed to do a buttload of squats and lunges, so that area is in pain. I had to start wearing a brace to lift the weight because I hurt myself once and don't want to do that again. I don't have those times of utter sadness as much. The majority is pretty terrible. If you want to read it you can read the next paragraph, but if not, skip one down.

I really have never had anything bad happen to me. Even in my car accident, God put his sturdy hand on my car, lifted it out of danger and guided me to safety. I should be so grateful. My head is, my heart wants so badly to be. It is like those people with alcohol problems or abuse, people look at them differently in a more positivie outlook because they have been to this dark place and come back from that. Where have I been? What did I do that was so great? I go to work and do my job. That's it. Sure I have a husband and family that I love, but those have always been there. Maybe I take for granted that they will always be there, but that is what they are there for, to always be there. So what have I done that is so great? Nothing. I went to school; boring. I went to college; boring. I have a job; while crazy, it ultimatly is like white noise: I know it is there, but it will always be like that, nothing I do will change that. So I have led a happy, but very boring life. Then I look at some of my friends who have struggled so much in their life and they are still moving forward and they look so appreciative at their lives. And I think, I would be so appreciative and grateful if I had that. Not exactly that, but the similar in my life (just so you know I am not coveting my neighbor's goods!) My head knows this is wrong of me and again, I should be so grateful in my life that nothing has gone wrong, and it isn't like I want something to go wrong, I just want some more excitement every now and again. All of my excitement was in high school and now it is over. I am not ready to admit that yet. I want more excitement. I want to LIVE!!!!!!

So the rest of this if that I keep hearing about people from my high school, friends that I loved, that are pregnant or getting married and are doing these awesome things. I feel bad that I feel bad about it. That probably doesn't make sense. I want to be happy for them, all of them, but I just don't. All I can think about is how I have done everything in the right order and how I am supposed to and now I am stagnant, non-mobile. Then I feel bad for feeling that way. I think, "wow, you are so selfish Lysbeth. What is wrong with you?"

Work is hard, but should be getting easier as the next month starts. Who knows, maybe I will even take a few days off. We'll see. Every time I take a field trip I have a small panic attack that someone or something will be lost. We have several special needs in our program and each one is different so we are constatly checking up on them and I am constatly worrying about them. So far, so good, but still worrysome. I feel like this is my mission from God, to make this summer program great. But then there is the human aspect that wants it to be better that it ever has been and that it is great because God used me in that way and mot someone else, because I have unique talents. But then 10 problems a day come up and I am thinking "what is wrong with you? Why can't you just do a good job and be happy about it?" I think some of it could be that I am just at the church way too much. 1st week average day: 7:30AM-10:30 PM. 2nd week 8:00AM - 9:00PM. So we will see what the average for this week is later. Another thing is, I miss seeing my cousin here ever day. I don't know how to get ahold of her, but if she ever reads this, I miss seeing you here. It was so nice to have someone I got along so well with. We even talked about trading siblings: giving Angela and Willie and Aren and Clint to one family and me and her being in the other family. We could rotate to make sure we had adequate visitation, but we got so close over the last 2 years and then she was just gone, with no way to get ahold of her. That did make me sad, well, it still does.

Well, there is a stomach bug going around the church and I am almost 6 days late, so maybe there is a light at the end of this tunnel . . . or maybe it is just the lightbulb I swallowed earlier coming back up from the stomach bug. Just kidding, I just thought this was turning into a dreary blog and it needed some life. We'll find out more I guess at the end of the week.

Lookie there, I did have something to say. I wonder if anyone looks at me and can see all of that going on in my head?

Life is work no more

2008-06-13T17:31:00.000-07:00

Well, today was the conclusion of my first week as Assistant Director as Children's Weekday Ministries, who is basically acting as director for the summer program.

Lessons learned:

Never, ever do a water day and field trip to the pool on the first day.
Field trips are not as intimidating as the moment the bus pulls away from the church.
All children are capable of love and show it in different ways.
Arriving at 7:00 AM and leaving at 10:30 PM will eventually take its toll on you.
Back massagers are the greatest invention - second only to my husband.
Children are always better behaved on field trips than in their own classrooms.
Teachers are more capable than I give them credit for.
I can ask for help - I can pray for help.

So it went really well. We have 95 on the roster, around 50-60 each day. We have more activities and structure that ever and it works really well with children who really need structure. So I have had 16 hour days for the whole week and I think I am ready to relax and let go for a while. I think I am going to go have lunch with Edgar at his work. Pray for me to continue to do God's work and that He shows me the way to do it and get it across to these kids. In the words of Eric Cartmenez: "how do I reach deez kidz?"

Update includes babies, relationship, work, and workout:

2008-04-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

So I go to the OB/GYN to have everything checked out from the accident. I think I am back normal, but I missed 2 so I just want to be safe. We almost have our new-to-us car paid off, we just paid off Edgar's bike so now we can pay down the debt we still own from the house loan. Mind you, this is not the Mortgage, but the stuff that they forgot to include in the mortgage. We still owe about 6,000 on that. Thank God for 0% credit cards!

We are doing good relationship wise, despite his crummy work schedule. Thing are good. We, us and both of our parents, are going to the San Antonio Zoo for Memorial Day. I am so blessed to have family that gets along like this. (*smile*)

I am getting ready for my first summer at DSUMC as Assistant Director. I am in charge of the entire summer program and I am psyched!! I have most of the staff, almost the enrollment done and everything is almost done being planned. Yay!

Workout is going great. I will begin doing the P90X again with Edgar, but I will be doing the schedule he did. I started with the lean one and it killed me. So that will start soon. As for now and up-to now, here is my workout schedule:

25 minutes on the eliptical - breaking only for a brief water break, while staying on the machine

Arms:

37.5 lbs - 2 sets of 25 horizontal rows
37.5 lbs - 2 sets of 25 vertical rows
Usually I do a set of lat pull downs, but we started with free weights last night and I did 2 sets of about 24 on my biceps, lats, and deep swimmers.

Legs:

100 lbs - 2 sets of 18-24 innner thigh "squenches"
100 lbs - 2 sets of 24 butt blasters
87.5 lbs - 2 sets of 18 outer thigh "squenches"

Legs - Squats and Lunges:

2 sets of 20 forward lunges
2 sets of 24 at shoulder and wide leg
10 left leg only, 10 right leg only

Abs:

20 Scissors
20 In and outs
20 Up an dover V's
60 Mason twists

And then I do some ball exercises on my butt, legs, and abs.

So as you can see I am working out quite a bit and actually enjoying it. Well, off to write paychecks. I'll update more later. Thanks for reading!

My accident photos and car eulogy

2008-03-18T11:06:00.000-07:00

Here lies my car. 1999-2008 She is happily survived by her grateful owner, Lysbeth Smith, who lived through her demise. While she was a work-horse, she loved to get a baths, new seat covers, and long vacumes at the car wash. She will be sorely missed.

My head was back here:

My new-to-me car

2008-03-05T14:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I am not giving out any details on the accident, but I will show you the new-to-me car. Yukon rocks!!! After the accident, I don't think I could drive another car and the mid-size SUVs looked so small every time I test-drove one. So we found a GREAT deal on this used one, very nice on the inside and very well taken care of, but extremely used.

Silver lining anyone?

2008-02-15T19:12:00.001-08:00

Ok, so work is decently looking up. Today I spent the morning with Edgar going to field trip places for summer. We were pleasantly suprised by one, severely disappointed by the other. We went to the glass bottom boats and Aquarena Springs Aquarium. SEVERELY disappointed by the decline in the appearace and appeal about the place. It was run down and sections boarded up. Disappointment extreme!

Elvis has left the building and I will be fighting like you-know-what to keep him away for a LONG time. Romance is on the rise in the Smith house :)

GREAT news about my grandma. Prayer WORKS!! There is absolutely no cancer in her tummy. They checked the biopsies and the CAT scans and it is just not there. God is good. All the time. This is also cool because the same thing happened to my uncle on Edgar's side. They gave Jeff 12 months to live with cancer and within the next month when he went to the MD Anderson clinic - nothing. Blessings ABOUND!!!

Work opportunity - Edgar and I are working on being owners of the first co-op owned brewery/bar in Austin. I go for our induction meeting tomorrow night. Yay! PS - Edgar was awarded Drunk of the Year by the Brewing Network 2007. Yay for him.

So that is my update. Nothing too exciting, just lots of stuff going on. Keeping me busy. Life.

Crappy Day

2008-02-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

Today has not been good. Elvis is here, my grandma found out she has gastric cancer, I had a problem at work that didn't get resloved like I had hoped it would, and I didn't get a whole lot of work done because I was doing tedious work that doesn't feel like a whole lot of accomplishment. So today was not good.

5-7 days late, but still negative

2008-02-09T22:27:00.000-08:00

Ok, so everyone who should be reading this knows Edgar and I have been trying to get pregnant since August. So, hopefully details about such will not bother you. Family, you may want to proceed with caution . . . just kidding. Ok, so my cycle is normally 28-30. I have a variance in that because it has been weird ever since going off birth control - not really normal. But then again, what is normal when you have been on the pill for 9 years. Wow, that makes me feel old.

So, this month, Elvis (that is our modern term for Aunt Flow) hasn't shown up. Today is day 35 of my cycle and still - no Elvis. So, happily I took the test, waited the 3 minutes and went to check the every lovely pee-stick. Line. Negative. Still.

Frustration, loneliness, sadness follows all day. Edgar tried to cheer me up with a bunch of pregnant t-shirt ideas like, Arnold saying "It's not a tumor" or a beer mug and saying "I didn't order a side of pregnancy with 8 beers!" It works for a bit, but when it is just me, sadness imsumes. I'm not quite sure why. Most people are happy with it just being them. Then there are those who are happy with their spouses and all is fine. I don't think I will feel complete until I have several kids and the fact that I am almost 28 without having started on that journey just loomes over me. (my chest just got really tight with a sad fear)

I know 28 is young. I'm not worried that I am too old to have kids. I am worried that I will be too old to have the amount of kids I want and that I messed everything up by doing it all the "right way," in order of necessity. Marriage, job, house, kids. That's how it is supposed to be right?

Well, that is my vent for the day. For now, pray that my pregnancy is like 1 week and it is not registering on the lovely pee-stick because the hormone levels are too low. Maybe I am pregnant. That would be awesome! But wouldn't I feel different? Wouldn't a mom know she was pregnant? Would I know - should I know? I would think so. I always thought, "you know, when it happens, I will know right away." I guess I will wait another few days and take another test if Elvis hasn't shown up yet. Pray for Elvis to have left the building for at least 9 months.

Baby Clothes

2008-02-04T22:43:00.000-08:00

Ok, so most of you know how baby-crazy I am. I can't wait to have a handful of kids. I mean it, like 5. So I buy clothes for future baby in the attempt to spend money on something useful rather than something I just want. So I buy baby clothes - how bad could that be? Well, I found out just how bad it gets. After some of my cardboard office boxes were bending and I was cleaning them out to put them in a plastic tub, I decided to count them.
I have a tub of girl clothes totaling 125 outfits; not individual clothes, but 2-3 peice single outfits.
I have a tub of boy clothes totaling 95 outfits, same rules.
And I have about half of a tub of unisex oufits totaling about 52 outfits.
There are a few maternity shirts I just had to have. Like a tee shirt with Budda that says Rub my Belly. Hee, hee. It's funny because Budda has a belly and when I am pregnant I would have one too. Hee, hee.
So I just thought you might want to share in laughing at me a bit. And this way you can share in my narocsis.

So these are the unisex clothes:
These are the girl clothes
And these are the boy clothes.

Note: NONE of these are duplicated. Some might see it as sad. I just see it as good planning, right?

Spike with picts

2008-02-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

This is Spike in his ball and out and about. We have had great fun at the church and it seems that this guy was made for this place. I am so excited. The kids have just fallen in love. I even have a mother hen in our after school program. It is so cute.

This is what he looks like when he is scared or nervous. He balls up and make his spkies very rigid. Cool, huh? So that is him. We are all so pleased.

Spike

2008-01-30T18:27:00.000-08:00

I got a very cool african pygmy cinnamon hedgehog today and I love him. He is supposed to be nocturnal but he wakes us and is so active as soon as you wake him up. I will post more later. Yay!!!!!!

Pushing it hard!

2008-01-27T22:17:00.000-08:00

Ok, so today I pushed it. Hard. Here is what I did and at what weights:

18 minutes of Elliptical @ about 120 - 150 revolving
Abs: 12 touch back sit ups, 2 reps of 16 sit-ups
3 reps of 16 for all these:
Arm pull downs at wide length @ 62.5 lbs
Arm pull downs at center of bar @ 62.5 lbs
Arm presses (dumbbells above shoulder and raise them alternately above head) 10 lbs each
Butt Blaster (weight under knee and push it back behind you) @ 75 lbs
Hip Felxers (same as above, but push it forward and up to chest) @ 75 lbs
Outer Thigh weighted leg lifts @ 75 lbs

So, I felt really good about doing it hard, but I felt sick to my stomach a bit. Then Edgar and I had a mini-blow up in the car on the way home. He just broke the ice by announcing that I should go look because he can actually touch the floor with his hands while his legs are straight. Just to show him up one, I went in, stood in front of him and bent over so far I grabbed his ankles. He proceeded to spank me and say "show off!" Hee, hee.

I was feeling a little pained when I was doing the 75 lbs leg workouts. Edgar was urging me on but I was having a bit of trouble still. I said "you better really love Kairi." He said "well, if she is mine I have no choice but to love her do I?" That was what I needed. I pushed through and kept on going. I keep looking at all of this hard word as the key to getting pregnant.

Edgar was trying to figure out what supplements I could add to my diet and asked what I ate on an average day. I think it kind of scared and shocked him at what I really do eat. Here is an average day:
4 glasses of 2% white milk throughout the day
12 oz V8 strawberry banana juice
4-8 oz apple juice
chocolate milk from oak farms
mini-pepsi
sometimes and snack

That's it. Kinda sounds bad, huh? So, Edgar is looking basically for a product called "Pills for a day" or "Live on a Pill" or something like that. I am taking prenatal vitamins now so that when I get pregnant then I have all the nutrients baby Kari or Douw or Auron will need. So I am trying desperately to remember to take them everyday. Why was it so easy to remember to take my birth control, but so hard to remember vitamins. Must be the time of day. Oh well, I am sleepy, so I will continue on later.

Flexibility

2008-01-24T15:53:00.000-08:00

Flexibility: the popular term for the ability to easily bend an object or the ability to adapt to different circumstances.

Physical fitness: I have always prided myself on my physical flexibility. Up until a couple of years ago, I could still do the splits. This has left me in the past couple of years and I missed it. So as we have been working out, I push my stretching a little harder than my workouts, so that I can get that back. Tuesday night after my workout, I was so close that it hurt Edgar to look at it. It is kind of nice being able to do something better than him physically. As out of shape as we both are, I know I am much more worse off than he is in the physically fit department. So having this one area that I can rejoice in being better actually gives me satisfaction. I feel better and it makes me more comfortable working out with him. When I feel like I am not as good as him, I just stop and stretch a little bit. Then, I get my butt up and get back to working out. Maybe I will post later on my mental flexibility.

Workout Day 2

2008-01-22T23:59:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I didn't do so hot on my P90x. I have decided that I am not ready. Note that I didn't say I wasn't doing it, just that I am not ready. Today, when we went to the gym, I did a kick-ass work-out. I did 20 minutes of cardio Elliptical-style, and a rotation of abs, arms, and legs.

~ 16 sit-ups on an exercise ball, 12 full sit-ups where you go back, reach your hands over your head to the ground behind you, lift your arms up with your core tight, and then sit up with your arms up using only your core.
~ 16 of outer legs, 16 inner legs, and 16 butt-blasters.
~ 16 reverse lateral arm press (I think that is what it is called - pull a bar with weight down from above your head to your chest)
~ 12 of the same as above but bringing it behind your head instead of in front
~ and then I repeated it 3 times, stretching in between.

I stretched so much I am almost able to do the splits again. Yay!!!!!!
So even though I feel like a bit of a failure in not completing the workout I started, I am proud that I didn't quit all together. More later.

Working out, catching up with life

2008-01-21T23:03:00.000-08:00

Ok, so all the below postings are from Myspace, previous posts that I want to archive. I will be blogging about trying to lose weight, trying to get pregnant, and life.

First, trying to lose weight. I am trying to lose about 60-80 pounds. It sounds like I lot, but I am quite short and carry the weight I have pretty well. I want to get healthier to get my body ready to have a baby and I want Edgar to have someone he can be proud to be with. I know he already is, but I want it more.

Second, trying to get pregnant. So, I am thinking that if you want to get pregnant, you should stand by me or hang out with me. Teenagers who are trying to not get pregnant get pregnant just by being around me. Cousins and friends freshly married are pregnant. Friends' whose husbands aren't around, divorced, or don't care, they get pregnant. My animals get pregnant. So, today, for another reason, I went to my ob/gyn and was going to ask about fertility testing and how long we need to try before we go down that road. In she walks . . . 7 months pregnant. I just wanted to yell, WHAT? I don't want to take anything away from them; bless them for the happiness they are about to receive. I am so happy for all of my friends that are pregnant and happily expecting. But in the vacume that is my life, where I can be a little selfish, when is it my turn? Well, deep breath, I guess I will just have to wait for God to either tell me it is time, or a definate sign that it isn't because what I'm doing isn't working.

Finally about my life. I love my husband. We both agree that we have the best relationship with our in-laws (me with his parents, him with mine.) We finished and love our house and home. We have a wonderfully spoiled dog and cat. We have great friends and I love my job. Other than being impatient, I love my life.

I tried to do Edgar and Ward's P90X workout and I couldn't do it. So I am going to start a bit slower and then catch up hopefully. Kudos to Ward and Edgar for keeping it up and working so hard. I have links to their pages if you want to check them out.

Well, write more and add picts soon!

New Year's Resolutions 2008

2008-01-21T23:02:00.000-08:00

Here they are in order of most importance:

I would like to read the bible and take a bible class. I am pretty firm in what I believe, but I would like to know more about the background and life of Jesus and the explanation of the Revelations book.

This year I am looking for my family to increase. I want to have a baby. I know, I know. Where did this come from, Lysbeth? You never mentioned wanting kids. But, alas, I do. At least by one. Perhaps by November if we don't see any results, we can look into adoption. I have looked into one company that is Christian based, but that is the only one I have seriously looked into. As happy as I am about Edgar and my relationship, there is still something missing. It's like when you look at some great painting. Sure it looks good, but until you add another layer of paint, you never know that it could be that much better.

I also want to come up with the business plan for my own day care. Staying with Helen Anne and Greg made us realize the potential we have here in DS. We need to take the risk when the time is right. Before, I didn't have the experience I thought I needed. I may have been a bit arrogant in thinking I could do everything at that time. But now that I am in a Director role, I am learning what I didn't know. I am learning the books behind the business, the parent relations and staff/boss relations all the more. I can't wait. Seeing the kind of living they have, made us want that for ourselves, not in an anti-commandment kind of way, but successful in the same way. So that is in the works.

I want to expand our house. I know, we just finished our current house, but I want to make sure that by the time our kids are old enough to enjoy it, it is done. We can have one kid and then maybe the second before our house will be past ready for expansion and since we have laid out the floor plan to be able to expand quite easily. The current living room will become the dining room and the dining room will lead to the new living room. The current dining room will become a more informal dining room and we will expand our bathroom as well. So that would complete the house, save the garage apartment and brewery and craft house/shed.

So in a large, rather shapely nutshell, that is what I want to work on/towards next year. Prayers for our continued happiness is appreciated and we are so pleased with our life right now. My hope is that all of your lives are as happy as ours. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Best Wishes!!!

Vegas and Colorado Trip 2007 Christmas Break

2008-01-21T23:00:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it is less than 20 degrees with a wind chill of -20. For those of you from Texas, that little sign in front is a negative sign as in NEGATIVE 20 degrees. There are several roads closed and the store in our little town is closed. Edgar has a fever of at least 101 maybe 102. I am staying awake to watch over him as he tries to break it. So here is the rundown of all that happened on our trip:Vegas:

We got there late, slept in. Then we went to Helen Anne and Greg's mountain house to play in the snow. There is a pict or two in the photo ablum from there. It was so cool and then it started snowing on our way home. It was so cool, Vegas dessert, one hour away, snow cabin. So cool. So then we went to dinner at this fabulous Itallian restaurant called Il Cortina. Wonderful food. Great conversation. Great family time. Then we went to the Golden Gate and gambled a bit at the Craps table and Roulette, but where my fave was is the Blackjack table. I made money there and they had $3 tables that we played at for a long time.

The next night we went to Walmart and had our photos taken at Smitty and Helen's house. Norma had a photographer come to the house to take photos. We then went to dinner which was catered at Helen Anne and Greg's house. Mostly seafood. I had a pizza. We had Christmas gifts and then us kids and Greg and his friend Brian went out back to the Golden Gate and the strip to gamble. We went to Treasure Island to see the pirate show, which is now basically women dressed in stripper clothes under the guise of a Siren show from Homer's, the Illyiad. It was awful. Kristen and I tried to go to a ladies club, but they were closed. So we met back up with the boys and went back to Golden Gate. I think we got done at 5:30 the next morning. Everyone else was drunk and no help, and since I didn't know where I was, much less where I was going. I called OnStar. Genius idea. I said, I am in my uncles car, my name is XXX, his name is XXX. I want to call home to wake him, but I don't even know where he lives and I don't know how to get there anyways. Can you help me? They gave me turn-by-turn directions and even recorded it for when I got closer to the next area so I could play it as I went. The next night we went to all the free shows. We hit the Bellagio 3 times to watch the water show: once from the car due to traffic, one from the top level and then once from walking down the strip since it took too long to walk around it. That was awesome. We took picts, check out the album. We walked to the Mirage to watch the volcano. Ever since corporate America started taking over casinos, the quality of the free street shows has diminished 200%. It is almost depressing. Kudos to the Bellagio to remembering that is takes quality shows to get people in the hotels and equally quality shows once you get there, and that good press and word of mouth is much better that any advertising could do. We then went to the Forum shops where I wanted to know just how much those things on Sex and the City cost. I went to Versace, Fendi, Dolce and Cabana, and all these other shops that were way to expensive. A small purse, smaller than a clutch was $400 and a regular size purse was around $1200. I saw a jacket, non insulated, for $2300 and a $5000 men's jacket. It was all too much for me to handle. So Edgar and I went to buy me some "genuine" pearl necklaces for $20 each. We then had to leave to take everyone to the airport and Edgar and I went back home to pack.

On to Colorado. The plane ride sucked. There was so much turbulance that I almost womitted several times. I couldn't even make it through the airport without stopping to catch my balance. We get here and it is so cold. We get my pokadotted bags - see my album for explanation - and headed to the hotel. There was so much wind and snow that we had to drive 40 the whole way. The hotel is nice, old, but nice. Today we got up late and headed off to the ski resort. They were out of skiis at the top so we had to walk down to get them from the next shop down the road and then walk up to the lifts and such. It cost us over a hundred dollars for us to ride 1/2 way to a lift and look at each other, laugh and say "this is painful, I guess we are just not a skiing family anymore." It was sad but true. I used to love skiing and I know Edgar did also. What changed? Are we that out of shape? Is the oxygen that different for us that we just couldn't adjust? Whatever it is, we are far more likely to go to a beach than a ski resort anytime soon. So what are we doing the next few days? Sledding, sleigh ride, snowmobile, and breweries. Oh my! I am trying to get Edgar and us an earlier flight home. I think his fever is around 102 and his whole body is hot. Yes, he's cute, but this is different.

So if we can get home sooner, I can get him to a doctor for a check up. Well, that is my update from Snowed in Fairplay, Colorado. I'll try to take some more picts soon and post them with another blog. Hopefully not this long. Well, this is our first vacation in several-10 years so I figured I could write about it as long as I wanted to. OH!!!!!! And the best part is Edgar and I celebrated 9 long years together on Friday. Eat that DS. (that does out to all the haters out there.)

Update: Dec. 31. Edgar's been throwing up all night and morning. He's taking a steam bath now.

Update 2: Edgar has altitude sickness. Yes it is a real disease. So we are coming home a little early. He has been in bed since yesterday.

1st Stogie

2008-01-21T22:59:00.002-08:00

Ok, so I know all of you think you know me. But alas, I have tried something new. I had my first cigar today. It was vanilla. I don't think I will have too many more that the one, but I thought I would share my experience.

Now that most of my family is over 21, or close to it with their parents present, we all came to my house after Christmas was over at my grandma's, drank Edgar's homebrew and other adult beverages, some of us smoked cigars on the porch, and we watched Team America and played Guitar Hero. It was awesome. I felt at home in a way that I never had. You know that feeling that you usually get when you go to the inlaws's house or the family's house where you are putting an act on and never act like yourself because you think "they will judge me and think bad of me if I do ____ " fill in the blank with whatever? I usually have that. Well, last year we told everyone that we would have Christmas Underground, since our house is down the hill and road from my parent's and grandma's. Well, we did! It was great. Edgar was awesome, cousins and aunt and uncles were awesome. It was so much fun to just be relaxed and enjoy hanging out. We laughed, met my cousin's fiance', another cousin got their engagement ring and are getting married in March, we caught up on all that was going on in our life and it was like a bunch of friends hanging out. I loved every minute of it.

Back to the suprising part - I smoked a cigar. Let me explain:

I am allergic to ciggarette smoke. It makes me sick and I want to vomit, my eyes hurt, nose runs, etc. However, cigars don't have the same effect on me. I think they smell okay. So I have bought the Sex and the City SERIES on DVD. I started watching it and several of the DVDs were messed up. I took them back and was determined to watch them all before we left for the trip in order to make sure that I had an entire working set. Sidenote: I still have to return one of the new ones, but that is much better that the last one that I had to return 5 DVDs of. So, Mr. Big and Carrie smoke cigarettes and cigars all the time and Edgar thinks it is so sexy. So I decided I would try one. I went to Specs and talked to the girl in the cigar section and we decided to pick a vanilla and cherry cigars. That way I could taste 2 very different flavors. Well, for some reason tonight seemed like the night. I asked my aunt Necie to show me how and tried it. It was not so great, but I did it right and didn't inhale, like they said. I felt pretty cool, but there was no great relaxing feeling, no euforia that came with each puff. It was just a little bit of smoke that happened to be in my mouth. But Edgar thought it was hot. Now, when I want to do something to suprise him, I have something else in my aresenal. Yay for me for trying something new. If you want to leave comments, please do, but this was just for me to share a part of my life with you.

Nascar update

2008-01-21T22:59:00.001-08:00

Ok, so this is day 4 with NO SODA. That's right. No pepsi, no sprite, no diet, no nothing. We have also be trying this excercise method called the Tabata or Tabada method. You do an excercise for 20 sec. then rest for 10 sec. and do this 8 times. I tell you what, I am EXHASTED by the time we get done with some. It sounds so easy, but no.

So we get back from NASCAR, I go off sodas, and I start excercising a bunch more. That is a lot of changes in one time. But I have only had 2 days of shakes from the withdrawl and I only wanted to kill Edgar once. I think I'm doing good now.

On the baby front, I am not pregnant yet. I am really wanting to be, though. We aren't trying hard core or anything until after our next vacation at Christmas. Then I may start charting and such. Right now we are just not doing anything to get in the way of getting pregnant. I went through all the baby clothes I bought and I have at least, not kidding, bare minimuim, 6 office boxes full to the top of various boy/girl, 0-24 months, mostly in 3-12, but still. I love buying baby clothes. I have cute ones, and hand-me-down looking ones. To those of you thinking how do you know what to buy - you can't by spring clothes for a baby born in the summer. Oh yes you can if it is cute enough, it withstands all seasons.

So, even though it hasn't happened, I can still feel God's hands moving me and I can see all that He has put before me. If He wanted me pregnant by now, He would have done it, despite my efforts. So now that I am ready, I guess He wants me to know that He is the one in control. Thank God for that, because if I was in charge - well, let's not go there. Talk to you more later. I must get some sleep now that I am finally caught up with landry.