Introducing

Levi David Smith

After 34 hours of labor, 12+ hours of pitocin, very very low blood pressure, few hours of sleep, 2 cups of jello, one epidural, one failed vaccuum attempt......

Our 7 lb 11 oz 21 inch long little boy makes his appearance to a cold cold Denver. It was difficult and tiring and lasted forever, but it was also amazing. Can't believe how much I love this little boy already

completed monkey paradise

I was able to finish the baby's room this weekend, finally. I'm so glad to be done and have the room ready for him to be living in it. I think we just need to pack the hospital bag and get the car seats installed and we'll be fully ready for his arrival :) Can't believe my due date is 22 days away...... this 9 months really flew by, and we are beyond ready to have an outside baby!!!

Also, i'm not sure why these are all so little.....I even changed the setting to large and they were still tiny :( ENJOY

Here is the view from the door

(sorry these pictures are a little blurry, the camera is being stupid!)

changing table/dresser my mom and i put together. i want to make some labels for the baskets, but we need to fully decide what will be in each one, once we are "using" the table :)

floppy, the garage sale find of the summer. (one of his ears is floppy...thus the name :)

DIY mobile above the changing table

view of the crib. I can't quite decide how I feel about the lanterns above the crib, we'll see what hubby says when he gets home tonight :)

closer pic of the crib, and the DIY verse above

corner shelves

end table with the lamp and toy box underneath..... i'm sure this box will be outgrown soon!

close up of DIY blocks. i might put his name on this too, haven't decided yet.

ready to rock...and rock....and rock :)

(the two canvases on the wall were painted by Auntie Con)

DIY clock, customized hand and footprint frames, framed picture drawn by cousin Chloe

DIY monkey sign

exploding closet :)

DIY hooks behind the door, DIY canvas painted by Aunt Con (his name will go in the center, once he arrives), build-a-monkey and frame that says "my little monkey"

bookcase with his ever expanding collection of stories :)

peek-a-boo

refurbished end table before.......

.........and after.

perfect size for a few story books, some burp rags, a bottle of water for mom or dad.....

won one of these, but the code expires at the end of the year. i wanted to put buckwheat's pictures in it, but i'm not sure i'll have enough time, energy and remember-y to get it done before it expires. any one have any ideas for what i could do? the two ideas i was thinking of was either a family book (pictures of the family so that he can learn them from far away) or an animal book, maybe animals to go with the alphabet?
i need some ideas!!!! HELP please!

WICKED friday

tonight is finally the night...... we get to go see the musical Wicked tonight. we bought tickets forever ago, i think in april as soon as they went on sale. i'm so excited i can hardly stand it. i wish it was 8:00 already so that we could just see it. we are going with a girl from work and her daughter...it'll be a great time!! i don't think Mat know's what's in store for him..... he does love musicals though, but i'm not sure he knows that the book is SciFi.....we'll see how it goes. Regardless it'll be a great night. I think this may be our last "date night" before the baby....at least our last BIG EVENT before he comes. hopefully we'll have another one or two dates....depending on when he makes his appearance.

on the baby front, nothing new to report. we finished class 2 of 3 in our childbirth series, it was VERY interesting. i'm hoping to post a longer story about it this weekend. it was so interesting, gave me a lot to think about in regards to pain meds and labor. more on that to come. other than that, he's good. doctor appointment on the 6th, everything looks fine. he's pressing hard on my sides, running out of room, but he's still movin' and a groovin' in there.

46ish days left.

i should have started these sooner.....

How far along? 32 Weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I think I've gained about 30 lbs..... not happy about that, but it's all for the little Buckwheat

Maternity clothes? Yupper. The pants are so much more comfortable....now the trick is finding long enough shirts and not stretching out my not-maternity things!

Stretch marks? not yet ::knocking on wood with fingers crossed::

Sleep: lately, pretty good ::knocking on wood with fingers crossed::

Best moment this week: feeling him have hiccups. so sweet. and starting our child birth class....hee hee hee hooooooooo

Movement: slowing down from earlier.... less kicking and punching and more fighting for room and stretching out

Food cravings: jello, mexican, crunchy things

Gender: boy

Labor Signs: i think i've had some braxton hicks, but nothing else

Belly Button in or out? in, but definitely getting less shallow, i doubt it will ever be a full fledged outie.

What I am looking forward to: having an [outside] baby!!!!!

Milestones: starting child birth class, getting closer to finishing the nursery, buying a stroller....these aren't really milestones, but they are big things that we worked on this week...

worth it all

i'm trying really hard not to complain, but i have to vent a bit...... to get things off my chest. i take it back, not really complaining, but more observations about being pregnant.... here goes

• there are ten chubby sausages where my toes used to be
• i can no longer wear my wedding rings. last night i had to take it off and i thought my poor finger was going to explode. on the plus side, i just read this morning about women who had to have their ring cut off....at least it didn't get that bad!!
• i barely got my toe nail polish removed before i realized how uncomfortable i was, stretching and struggling. i guess i get a pedicure this weekend!
• i can't concentrate on anything for longer than 8 seconds......
• .......what was i doing again?
• very few things fit me anymore....and i don't want to spend much $$ on maternity clothes that i won't wear after december....
• i can't remember a day i didn't look up cribs, diapers, or car seats online at least once
• it takes me a month to get comfortable at night, only to wake up and either move downstairs or go to the bathroom.....

BUT, you know what? i wouldn't trade it for anything. every time this little monkey kicks, rolls, rattles, dances or punches inside of me, it still brings tears to my eyes and a smile to my face. i can't believe that i'm growing a little man....that i've been entrusted to grow and nurture this little life inside of me. really, the other stuff doesn't even matter. i'm over it. he's all worth it.

mama loves you, buckwheat

tomorrow

Tomorrow is the day for HeavenFest. We went last year, and are looking forward to this year even more. We now know what to expect (lots of people, very dusty, hot, sunny, awesome!) and what to bring (contact solution and glasses, lunch, lawn chairs). It'll be great to hear what Buckwheat thinks of all the music; he's been moving and shaking like crazy lately. Mat's most excited to see Kutless, I'm excited to see them again, as well as Skillet again. It'll be a great time in the sunshine, with even more people than last year!

HERE WE GO!!!!

follow through

as promised, here's a new blog post. i've been procrastinating and putting this off, not because i don't want to keep things updated, but because my accelerated A&P class i'm taking this summer is very demanding, and by the time i'm done with homework, it's time for bed. and it's about a million degrees in our upstairs, and the computer revolts when it's that hot... but, i'm seizing the moment and actually updating this, with photos.

i had some beautiful tulips bloom this spring, they were beautiful. they've since died, and are being moved this fall, so they are no longer there, but they sure brightened things up for a bit :)

this may, one of my best friends, Joy, a "very special friend" from YWAM got married. i was her maid of honor, and i helped with all the crafty stuff that she didn't want to have to deal with. :) she came out for our wedding and i made her be crafty, and she always vowed to get me back. well.....she did :) we did all the invitations, programs, favors, prayer cards.....it was a lot of work, but it was so much fun. i feel so blessed to be such a part of her and her new hubby's day, it was such a beautiful and special wedding. they have since moved to kentucky (russ is in the army) which was hard, but i know that that is where God wants them to be for this season. plus, almost 4 years of our friendship was long distance (montana to texas) so we know we can keep in touch and stay close despite the miles between us. plus, i told her she has to come back in the spring to meet the baby....so......

yupper, more news. mat and i are expecting a little bundle of joy, due to arrive december first. we found out the day before my parent's wedding anniversary, so we were able to share the news on the anniversary. it was so cool. we told mat's mom soon after, and we told mat's dad on his birthday. we went home for mother's day to break the news to the rest of our family and friends, which was great. we almost gave my grandma a heart attack, it was so funny (funny because she didn't have a heart attack....haha) we are set to find out on monday the gender, that way we can be that must more prepared for the baby's arrival (if it's even possible to be "prepared") in between classes and homework, i've been reading anything and everything, from what kind of crib or car seat to buy, to breast feeding how-to's, and everything in between. my head is going to explode.... yikes! :) i finish with class next wednesday. i plan on spending the first weekend doing big fat nothing, just relaxing and not thinking....getting a massage, maybe a pedicure, fun stuff. after that, we can dive into registering, painting the nursery, reading even more about preparing and life after baby, etc. i'm also looking for creative DIY decorating ideas (or websites) for the nursery. if you have any, please pass them along.

that's the biggest news of the past little while. i'm hoping once class is over, my free time will be oozing out everywhere (haha!) and i can keep this more up to date.... fingers are crossed on that one.