Mr & Mrs Smith

The top of my stomach hurts as I sit here to type. I have to sit up straight to be comfortable, yet that isn't comfortable, but my house is silent. SILENT. which must be weird because I keep thinking about how quiet it is. No TV. No Lexi crawling up my leg. No Mr Smith asking me when I'm getting off the computer. No dirty kitchen mocking me. No neighbors. <Just silence> The silence is broken , the heater just turned on. Perhaps a little Thanksgiving indigestion is keeping me awake while my two loves sleep.  For the first time ever I didn't even think about nap time as we headed to my brother's house for the Thanksgiving meal. So when Lexi was getting on my nerves I realized crap, she is tired. And now it seems my loves will be staying up all night since nap time is passing through 6PM. Mr Smith joined her as I pealed apart the leftover turkey meat from the bones.  My parents flew in for the week, so we've been enjoying this holiday with them. This was...

Glucose Update: The following week I took the torture glucose test on an 8 hour fast. The pros, my mom was in town to watch Lexi and it turns out you only have to drink the crap once. The cons, that one drink is TORTURE to swallow. Like my tongue was going numb, throat was burning, I was starting to fly in the clouds, and my insides were curdling. The nurse said some people like it, (whaaaaat????!?!). I mean I was dripping it on my shirt, shaking… it was awful. After they drew some initial blood and I drank the torture, I had to wait around for 3 hours and get my blood drawn every hour, which was also SO painful because there are basically two spots to get my blood. My right arm, where the vein is small and wiggles or my right hand. For some reason my left side is dead. So imagine getting pricked in the same place over and over. Only a skilled nurse can get it in my arm, but I didn't get a skilled nurse the first time. So the second nurse pierces a bruise. Any way, all that to...

I will probably fast next time even though they don't say to the first time around and I will probably not eat skittles the night before. I will most likely do a bit more walking as well. Drinking the glucose wasn't even that bad (get the orange) but it makes you lightheaded for sure. I chugged it in 2 minutes and followed it up with eggs & toast. I went in thinking the best. That I would be completely normal.  Then immediately after the test she told me at 143 I needed to take the 3 hr test and I wanted to die. I thought surely she was kidding, but she wasn't really the kidding type. Because 1. I hate spending extra money 2. I hate thinking my fetus is at risk 3. I hate having to find a sitter, especially for 3 hours 4. I HATE thinking about being in a doctor's office for 3 hours 5. I hate thinking of drinking the "not so terrible drink" THREE more times 5. I hate thinking I have to get my blood drawn THREE more times since that is always sucky fo...

I know I don't take enough video of Lexi because I am going to miss this phase so so much once it is gone.  All her cute sayings are way too enjoyable.  "Mommy, I love it" It may always surprise me how quickly they learn and what they choose to remember. She is in the phase of "what's that called?" and she always responds with "oh, ok" and I just eat it up.  There was that tough phase where she tested limits, and she still will for new things, but she is fairly obedient once scolded the first time, so I feel like she is finally starting to understand that limits keep her safe and everyone happy. She has definitely developed a sense of guilt, for better or worse. I know she wants us to be happy too. Just the threat of a spanking is enough to move her along. Again, for better or worse, but we appreciate that it works… She tells us to be careful in the kitchen or by cars. Sometimes she learns by experience, e.g. she knows no longer to touch the tree...

I'd be okay with not documenting anniversary #4 with a photo or at least we should have kept Lexi to herself. Oh well, we aren't always beautiful, but it was a good evening as a family of three at the Brick Oven. We were finally able to sit through a restaurant meal without having to worry about making sure she stayed there. Mr Smith found all you can eat pizza he enjoyed, so ya know, that was a success. This year was definitely better than our position last year, so I'll give us that. In many ways four years doesn't seem like enough time for how far we have come, but that's what moving several times does to you I guess. It's weird to think about all the places we've lived and friends we've made along the way in four short years. Maybe I will call chapter 4: "change of plans" or "adjustment" as I felt uprooted and we began again somewhere completely different, but I think we've begun to settle and find our place.  I sti...

Our best attempt at a fall photoshoot this year (our backyard with noon sun). Uncle Rand got some good ones of her real smile.  She has been a dream child as of late. We still have the occasional frustration meltdown, but even then she is really good at understanding that she is choosing to be sad or happy. That concept has been great at helping us get through the emotional highs and lows of a 2 year old. She knows the goal is to be happy and that sometimes she is just sad and that's ok too. She is just so loving to everyone and easy going that this next child has some big shoes to fill when it comes to expectations.    BTW - I was just hoping Mr Smith would come out of the shower in time to get a family photo. I did not pick out his outfit so please forgive the auburn overload.   {22 weeks}

Technically it's 22 weeks although let's pretend it's my 20 week photo, cause 22 weeks is a little random and I matched the outfit to my first 20 week photo. December 4 2012 vs November 4 2015 Fairly close (although I tried a slight slimming angle that first time around didn't I…)? Probably bigger the second time at least in the legs… because I definitely will not be wearing those pants again. I really hope that all my maternity that I still kept wearing over the last 2 years shrank some because it's a little disturbing how much tighter and shorter things are this time around, lesson learned . However, these days, 2 weeks does make a difference AND I LOVE ALL FOOD. And I love my doctor since they don't even mention my weight, unlike the last one . . . I still think I feel little baby every time he is awake since they sleep a lot and I feel him a lot, but again he probably hates all the tight clothes too. Dad's definitely felt him; we...

"ARGHHHH" How many times last night did you hear parents telling their young children "what do you say?" "Trick or Treat!" - Did you say thank you? "Thank you!" She was so cute. This was her first time going out to trick or treat. And although going house to house was a slow moving process (probably an hour for 2 streets moving past most homes), she loved being a pirate and asking for candy.  We aren't big Halloween people so it works out when grandma mails a costume that she loves. We talked about what to be and she seemed most excited about the pirate and loves putting things over her eye and acting as such so we figured that was fitting for this year. I think grandma's combination is "princess pirate". We did the trunk or treat the night before and got some practice with a few cars before freezing and heading home.  She loved that so we thought we would head to grandma's street for some house to house pr...