"Just a smidgin!!!!"

Bring on the red carpet!!!

http://kdka.com/consumer/Pancake.Puffs.infomercial.2.995611.html

click on the video link for my big debut. Ellie is quite the star herself. I guess like mother like daughter. And don't you love all my amazing one-liners? (You know I am joking right?) Although Ellie really is pretty cute in this.

I was asked to do this little segment for one of the news stations here i Pittsburgh 2 weeks after Carson was born and although it took awhile to do, on my birthday, and I was sick, it was actually pretty fun. And hearing my say, "Just a smidgin' " made it all worth it. :)

Enjoy!!

Carson's Blessing & Easter

Ellie is screaming, "Cheese!!!"

Yesterday we blessed Carson. It was great, but weird not having much family there. Jason's mom came to see the baby on Saturday and so we were happy to have at least one person from our family here. The blessing went well, as in Carson slept the whole time. And Jason did a wonderful job. I feel so thankful to have little Carson in our family. He is such a sweet little baby. Already I feel sad to see him grow. But I will love it when he is grown enough to sleep through the night. :) It was also our last week in this ward. I am so sad to go. I have LOVED LOVED LOVED it here in Pittsburgh. There were times I thought 4 years couldn't pass fast enough, and now I would give almost anything to start all over just to do it all again.

And it was Easter!!!! All three of the older kids had a great time hunting for eggs and stuffing their mouths full of candy. It was so fun watching them search and find. They were hilarious. And Ellie was following her brother's lead. She didn't miss a thing. We hid eggs outside and inside and they each had to find their baskets. It was the best watching and listening to Noah find his. He was so enthusiastic. (anyone that knows Noah can imagine just what I am talking about).

We had a yummy dinner for Easter. . . roast and mashed potatoes. Thanks Pioneer Woman. Who doesn't just LOVE her?!!!! (I am checking her blog next). And we got to enjoy it with the Miracles. That always makes for lots of fun, mixed with drama with all our kids. I am REALLY going to miss our Sunday dinners. Especially the ones where I don't have to cook. :)

Jack, Jackson, Ellie, Noah, and Wellesley. (and Libby) :)

And then it was time for bed. Thankfully. I was tired. Why is it that Sunday's are my most exhausting day? I feel like I am standing on my feet all day and cooking. But I guess my family deserves at least one meal a week. :)

So, it was a perfect weekend. And on Wednesday my mother in law is taking Jackson, Noah and Ellie all back to Oregon for 1 1/2 weeks. Ahhhh, I am going to be so well rested. I do have to pack our entire house during that time and move to Ann Arbor, but with only one child, it will feel like I am playing house. It feels like I am playing house when I am only dealing with 2 kids. Each time I have a baby I say, "Oh, it was so easy when there was just one. . . .Or just two. . . " And I am totally saying it again. "It was so easy when there were only three." :)
Thanks to Judy for helping so much this weekend. Having an extra pair of hands is seriously the only way to do it!!!! :)

Can you stand it?!!

I can't take it!! Is he not just too cute?!!

Two of my good friends here in Pittsburgh take fabulous pictures. And since I just had a baby, I thought I would take them up on getting some shots of little Carson. And I am so glad I did. I absolutely love them!!

Libby took these pics and did a great job. I love all of them and am having a very hard time deciding which ones to frame. It was hard enough picking out only 5 to post on my blog. Is framing all of them a bit much? :)

Thanks Libby for taking the time and having the patience!!

Pleased to announce. . .

CARSON BRADLEY SMYTHE

Carson was born last Wednesday, March 18th at 9:01pm. He weighed 8lbs 4oz. My smallest BY FAR!! And was 20 inches long. I finally went to the hospital that afternoon around 1pm, thinking I wasn't actually going to get induced. But everything worked out great. Getting the IV was of course a total mess. You all know me and my pathetic attempt at not passing out. It did not work. As I knew it wouldn't. I warned the nurses, told them to wait and let me take the anti anxiety pill I had prescribed for me, but they are all the same. "Oh, trust me. You will be fine. I have been doing this for 30 years." Blah Blah Blah. I wanted to say, "Yeah, so have I." So, I passed out, one of the nurses almost called a "code" (how's that for special treatment?) and then I woke up.

Then the pitocin kicked in and I asked for the epidural. Mmmmm, who doesn't love modern medicine?!!!

After a couple of hours, my water broke, and I went from a 4 to a full blown 10 in an hour. Then it was time to get little Carson here. My mom arrived just in time. Literally, right for the moment. Everything went perfectly. I couldn't be happier.
For those that don't know, I use midwives. And I really do love it. I love all the meds, mixed with a really great midwife that is so helpful and understanding. This delivery was with Tanya and she was awesome. She was there for all of it. Just talking and helping.

Carson came fast. And he is perfect. I love every last inch of him. He has already added something to our family that I never knew we needed so bad. He helps make us feel complete. I say "helps" because you never know if I might just have more. Carson spent much of his first night in the NICU because of some blue coloring on his lips and had to have a blood work up done, but everything is fine. Thankfully. Poor little guy.

So, I am good. Just the normal recovery. We came home from the hospital yesterday and as I knew it would happen, last night was hard. He was up until 5am and nursing around the clock. Jason took him for me and I got to sleep from 5-7:30 this morning. Not like that is enough, but it felt good after holding him and nursing him from 11pm-4am. I knew it would happen, but I always hope it won't. :) Now I have to get adjusted to all sorts of new things. There are so many kids around now. :) Thank goodness my mom is here for another week and Jason doesn't have to go back to work until Thursday. Ahhhhh. . . . Plus, my dad came and helped with the kids while I was in labor and in the hospital. I don't know how I would have done it if my mom and dad didn't come before the birth. My poor friends would have had to take 3 extra kids and that is never ideal. :) Now that it is almost 2pm, I need to go take a shower. And then put my pj's right back on. Cute. The fair compensation for having babies would be to get super skinny right away. I mean, we had to get all huge over the course of a year and then we get to stay all juicy for practically another year. Where's the justice!?

Still waiting.

This is a quick little update. I keep getting calls and emails asking about the baby so this will be my way of letting everyone know that I think I might have imagined this pregnancy.

I am still pregnant. I am "supposed" to be induced today, but the hospital still hasn't called me to tell me what time to come in. They said it would be between 8-12, but no word yet. So things are not looking too promising for today.

I was due last Tuesday so needless to say, I am more than ready to have this baby and NOT be pregnant. I guess we will see what happens.

It's a done deal!!!

We put our house on the market almost 2 weeks ago to get ready for our move this June. And after a few days we got our first offer. It was a bad one. As in totally insulting. Needless to say, it didn't work out. Then last night we got our second offer and it wasn't much better than the first. We counter offered and they then countered back with us. Then we did it one more time to them and they decided to take the offer.

So, our house is sold and we are actually making a profit. Shocking as that is. I am so happy that it is over and that I can finally sit on my bum and watch TV all afternoon. (Because that is what us moms do all day. And eat bon bons). But just knowing I CAN sit down and not feel like I should be cleaning something in case someone wants to show our house makes me happier than I thought possible. I had really had it with the constant cleaning and showing. I am way too pregnant to be cleaning this much. It should have put me into labor by now. But no such luck. Speaking of. I went to the Dr (midwife) today and she did check me. I have nothing to report. Looks like this baby will be late like all the rest of mine. BOO!!!!

Now when my parents come to help with the baby, I won't have to constantly be harping on them to clean up their things when someone wants to see the house. I am sure my mom is most happy about that. :)

I actually feel a little sad to have closure to our house. Yes, it is small and old. But it was ours. And it was our first. There will always be special feelings for this little brick home. Feelings of love and hate. Many days of hate. :) So, farewell to our first. You were a good home, on the days you didn't make me crazy!!!!

(Just a little side note. Our agent was AWESOME!!! His name is John Adair with Coldwell Banker. He helped us a ton and gave us great advice and feedback. If anyone is selling their house soon, we highly recommend using him. If you live in Pittsburgh too :)).

He turned 5!!!

Jackson turned 5 years old on January 28th. I seriously can't believe that I have a 5 year old. And I love it. I mean, sort of scary that I have TWO kids in Primary now. CTR 5 and Sunbeams. And I am loving it!

In the morning when Jackson woke up he asked for chocolate chip pancakes and so we made a yummy breakfast together. I really should share my pancake recipe. It is my mom's and it the BEST pancakes ever. I never had pancakes from a mix. In fact, Jason is the one the introduced me to pancakes like that. And let me assure you. . . .there is no comparison! So, we all chowed and had a fun filled day, INDOORS. There was no school and the snow was relentless. (To put it lightly).

We let Jackson pick a favorite place to eat that night and he choose Red Robin. Unfortunately the weather was dangerously FREEZING (shocking) and so we couldn't leave. The roads were terrible and it was snowing non stop for hours on end. We decided to order pizza and stay home to be safe.Jackson got a Wii. He had asked for one since we visited Grandma and Grandpa Kohler during the summer. Then Grandma and Grandpa Smythe had one this last Christmas and they ever had Mario Kart. . . Jackson's new obsession. So, that is what he wanted for his birthday.
I wrapped everything in a big bag and after Jackson unwrapped all of the different parts, he said, "Is everything for the Wii?" Ummmm, yeah. (He also REALLY wanted a Scooby Do coloring book that he saw at Costco for $4.97. I went to get it and it was gone. He goes from one extreme to the other I guess. A Wii or a coloring book. He couldn't decide entirely which was better.
But seeing how much he begs to play the Wii, I would say we got the better gift for him. Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Smythe for Mario Kart. He LOVES LOVES LOVES it.

So, my little Jackson is 5. Where have the last 5 years gone? Oh, I remember. To having more babies. :)I love you Jackson. There is no way another little boy could take your place in my heart. Everything about you makes you special and perfect. . . for me. I know you are growing up to be someone amazing. We are so proud of you for all the good decisions you make every day. Jackson has a gift with being a peace maker. I have never seen anything like it. He saves me so many days from losing my mind. And he is the world's GREATEST big brother. Anyone that knows Jackson know just what I am talking about. I don't know what I would do without him. We love you very much!!!! Happy Birthday!