Got to love the FAT!

June 28, 2009
Nick is the cutest baby boy! I love his fat! He is 18 pounds now!

When can I walk again?!

June 3, 2009
I waited my whole pregnancy to repair my knee and I've been on crutches for too long. Call me a whiner if you want, but this is ridiculous!

I can't walk for six weeks! My doctor says it will be a toss-up as to who runs first: Me or Nick...

Patrick's Birthday

Patrick had a birthday June 1st and he got a shirt and a baseball. The ball was signed by all his kids. He loved them!

Glasses?!?

April 30, 2009
My little guy needs glasses and he's not even two months old!

He's farsighted and that's why he doesn't look at anyone's face. He looks at the TV and out the window most of the time.

We knew to look because Spencer has the same problem. In his case, we didn't catch it until his eyes crossed when he was 2 and 1/2 years old. Poor baby saw everything blurry for his first years! He has since had eye surgery. We're hoping to avoid surgery in Nicholas' case.

My Singing Baby Boy

Nicholas loves it when his daddy sings to him. He makes long noises like he is singing along!

His favorite is "Goodnight Sweetheart."

After singing it a few times, Nicholas goes right to sleep!

Visiting the Twins

April 7, 2009
When Nicholas was 3 and 1/2 weeks old we hopped on a plane for his first airline flight. (It was my first airline flight, too!) We were off to see Katie and Matt and their new twins, Jackson and Kennedy. I wasn't able to be at their delivery in January because I was too high-risk to travel.


John and Beau came up with their kids. It was great to put all the babies together.

What a Cutie!

March 15, 2009
Patrick, Kimberly and Sarah were in the room for the delivery. It was a painful labor, I can still feel it!
Pitocin....yuck!



Nicholas was 9 pounds, 10 ounces and 21 and 1/2 inches long. Look at all that fat! What a cutie!


I am so glad he is here! I'm so glad to not be pregnant any more! I can't believe this big boy actually fit in my belly...





The two photos on top are from the first day. The pictures on the bottom are day two and day three. Patrick snapped a photo of Nicholas smiling in his sleep!

Nicholas is here!

March 10, 2009
We have been waiting for a long time...

I'd had a knee injury (torn ACL) since the beginning of my pregnancy and it was a very difficult nine months, aside from the five months of morning sickness, twelve hour shifts at the hospital and trying not to vomit on my patients. By the end I was walking very slowly and my knee brace wasn't doing much to prevent my knee pain. I'm grateful for pregnancy hormones that loosen my ligaments and joints for labor and delivery when it's time to push, but not when I have to walk on an unstable knee. Needless to say I was very tired of gimping around and very tired of being pregnant!

At 20 weeks we had a huge scare when I started bleeding and contracting. Five days in the hospital and six weeks of strict bedrest (feet at the level of my heart, sitting to shower, no getting up except to the bathroom) solved the problem. Luckily the baby was never affected. At every ultrasound he looked great to the doctors. His due date was March 15th and I knew he would be two weeks late just like Kimberly, Joshua and Spencer were. I also knew I wasn't strong enough to go two weeks overdue. At my OB appointment on March 9th I begged to be induced. My water was measuring at high levels and I knew Nicholas was no where close to joining us here in the real world. My doctor did an ultrasound complete with measurements of his bones and concluded he would be 8 pounds, 9 ounces.
He was wrong, very wrong!

Dr. Ostoya induced me the next day and Nicholas Michael Smart was born March 10th, 2009. He tipped the scales at 9 pounds 10 ounces! No wonder I was soooo huge! Patrick, Kimberly and Sarah were at the delivery.