Indulging Mommy

This poor guy has to endure having a mom who likes to take pictures. That means having clothes changed three times in an hour, put into gravity defying poses (for a newborn) and even going commando at times. (No accidents! Yay!) Someday he may be embarrassed about some of my oh-so-adorable shots, but for now, he can't complain!

Jamison's 1st week!

Jamison is exactly 1 week old today! More amazing is that his mom and dad are still functioning after a veeerry hectic week. Poor guy had to have his little heel poked 3 times for a bili test to make sure he didn't have to go under lights for jaundice. After the first test they said we had to come back for a second, after the second his bili counts went up and they said we had to come back for a third, which would determine if he needed lights or not. Thankfully his levels had dropped by the third test and he is doing fine! Mom is still recovering from having to watch those three times though. Not fun!

Its funny that before you have your baby, everyone looks at you and says (almost gleefully, I think) "Oh, life as you know it is going to change." (Then they rub their hands together, salivating over the chance to watch these newcomers try to tackle something waaaay above their level.) Well, the truth is, things have changed, and things are hard, (witness Keaton's doodle on our menu board, above) but I don't think there could be a sweeter reward. I mean, really...just look at this little guy! He is gorgeous!

Jamison Lee Smith

The night before: one last profile pic!Jamison Lee Smith, born October 15th, 2008 at 3:27 pm. He weighed in at a whopping 8 lbs 15 oz and 21 inches...not far off the 9 lb estimate my doctor gave me at 33 weeks. And if we hadn't gotten started a week early from his due date, he might have broken the 9 lb mark no problem! He's my big boy.








Home at last! 2 days old:



So I guess I should give a little bit of our story. The night before he was born we wanted to spend one last night together and went to get some hot chocolate and watch a movie, but we only made it halfway through before we got too tired and went to bed. I guess the "parent" thing just hit us early! We woke up early Wednesday morning, got dressed and ready, and drove to the hospital. After a leisurely check in, we got situated in our delivery room and by 9 my OB came and broke my water. We waited for another few hours, and before my conractions even got out of the "ow" range, they decided to get me my epidural. After that, I couldn't feel a thing and we just napped and relaxed until around three, when I was dilated to a 9+. My dr. came in and before I knew it i was pushing for all i was worth! The little guy crowned really fast but after that kinda got stuck. I was told he had hair but after several more contractions we hadn't gotten much further. Keaton was a trooper, right by my side every minute, helping the nurses hold back my legs and encouraging me to keep pushing when i thought every blood vessel in my body my burst from the exertion. And then, he was here! They placed him on my chest and he was so beautiful! Keaton stayed with our baby as they took him to be cleaned and checked and weighed, watching him every second while they cleaned and stitched me up (unfortunately, I had a bad last-minute tear. It had looked like I was going to stretch with him, but he was just too big!)

The rest of the day was spent in awe--and a little bit of shock, we are actually parents!--of our sturdy little fella. He has great chubby cheeks and these charming eyes (when he decides to open them) and a dimple in his right cheek (my contribution, thank you!). Simply stated, he is gorgeous and amazing. It is absolutely stunning how you can love somebody instantaneously. I carried him for nine months, but this is so entirely different. He is ours, Keaton's and mine, a manifestation of our marriage, our unity...yet a separate, complete, beautiful little human being.

Welcome to our family, Jamison! We love you!

Ready for takeoff

So it is a quarter to six, only an hour or so before we have to be at the hospital to meet our little squirt. We've spent months preparing for this, but can you ever really be prepared? All I know is that by the end of this day, we will have our baby in our arms. He may be entering a tumultous world, but he was created in love and he is going to be born into love, with two parents who not only adore him but love each other very very much. And in this day and age, that counts for a lot.

See you soon, little Squirt.

My Husby

Keaton has been known to mutter a thing or two in his sleep, which is quite entertaining to me since I lived with Carolanne for most of my life and consider listening to sleep-talk a kind of a sport. (The key is to question them, make them repeat what they said. You get some real gems that way.) For instance, the other night Keaton woke me up out of a near-dead sleep with a very loud exclamation of "What the heck?!" in the dead of the night. When I tried to get him to explain what had startled him (Did you hear something? See something? Is someone trying to get into the house?) All I got was a half-mumbled answer about an undead army. Someone has been playing too many video games.

So last night I couldn't sleep at all. My head just kept racing, thinking about a mile a minute about worrisome things... what's with this economy? Can we make ends meet? Should I have spent that extra twenty bucks on that picture frame I had to have? Will my work be able to cut my hours to what they should be when I come back from maternity, if not, how will I take care of my baby? Will I have to find another job? Will I be able to find another job, part time with benefits? What would happen if Keaton's temporary job doesn't get renewed? Will we be able to keep our house? What about school? Will I be able to finish? How will we get Keaton through? And for heavens sake, I'm going to have a baby in like, TWENTY FOUR HOURS!!!....will he be healthy? Will I be a good mom?.... and on, and on and on. I can't turn my brain off to get some of the rest I desperately need.

Then my sleeping husband stirs a little, rolls over and wraps his arms around me. (Not an easy feat at the moment.) Then he sleepily whispers into my hair, "Don't worry, your husby has got you."

It wasn't long before I drifted away with that reassurance, sleep-talk or not. I shouldn't worry. My husby has got me.

I love my husby.

Sexy? Saturday

So tonight we had our annual (sometimes semi annual) sexy saturday, though it was more of a low-key baby shower type of affair than the usual glamour-fest. The girls got back together to go out to eat and have a co-shower for me and Tia, who is due in December. It was so fun to see everyone, though the "sexy" part doesn't really fit too well into my current description. :)

Sorry, Nancy! You have to be in this, too!
Better!


And lastly, my personal souvenir from a long day on my feet. Yeah. Sexy.

Keaton's Birthday

Snowbasin, September 27, 2008

(Happy Birthday, Elder Campbell)

Me and Lil Squirt

On Saturday after a very last-minute photo shoot, Keaton and I were able to go up to Needles Lodge at Snowbasin with his family for his birthday dinner. What a beautiful day! We got to take the Gondola up to the top of the mountain, and the fall colors were stunning. There was just the tiniest bite to the air, it was fresh and crisp and wonderful. Its been a long time since I've been able to relax and just have fun, but my stress levels seemed to just dissipate into the mountain air. It was a lovely place, too. From the windows next to our table we watched the sun go down over the mountain.

Sunday was Keaton's acutal birthday, and its a good thing we celebrated it the day before because it turned out to be a sad day for the whole family. Belle, the dog their family got for Christmas when Keaton was sixteen (she was already three years old at the time) has been sick for a while, she's had a harder and harder time getting around...and on Sunday, it became obvious that her time had come. It was a very sad thing that they had to put her down on Keaton's birthday, but the whole family still tried to make the best of it and he got to open a few presents and blow out the candles on one of his mom's always fabulous cakes.


My guy is 25!

Ceremonial first bite--a Smith family tradition!

Baby didn't end up coming that day (I don't know if we all could have handled one more thing! Probably for the best) so he doesn't get to share Dad's birthday. :) Guess he's holding out for one of his own. Today is 37 weeks so we're almost there... Though I could be ready right now!