The Smith Family

SIMPLE PLEASURES

2010-02-03T10:17:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite blogs, Kelly's Korner, had a post about her simple pleasures and the little things that make her happy. I love this idea, so here are my simple pleasures:

1. Fresh sheets on the bed - Being able to crawl into a freshly changed bed on Sunday nights makes my Monday mornings more bearable.

2. Weekly celebrity smut - US Weekly and People (much to my Mother's dismay)

3. Having a garage to park my car in - I love that the temperature in my car is always comfortable and that I don't get rained on while trying to strap Grady in his car seat.

4. Getting out of the shower after spending all day on the beach. I feel fresh, clean, relaxed, tan and I love slathering myself in lotion, going without makeup and just wearing my hair wet for the rest of the day.

5. Driving with my sunroof open on a beautiful day.

6. Having a husband who is "handy" - he can fix anything!

7. Grady's laugh - my gosh, there is just nothing better than his laugh!

8. Pedicures

9. A sparkling clean kitchen

10. Baking - the process, the smell, and the eating!

11. Date nights and weekends away with Andy

12. Heated seats in my car

13. Kate Spade (that's simple, right?)

14. Sleeping late

15. A beautifully made bed

16. Girlfriends

17. Every moment with this sweet boy:

P.S. How 'bout the "boo-boo" on Grady's eyebrow?! That was his first real injury that caused blood. He was dancing in the living room (he's a dancing machine) and fell and knocked his head on the coffee table. We thought it was okay until we saw blood running down his face and then we flipped out. Fortunately, Mrs. G fixed it up for us so that we didn't have to visit the ER.

5 MONTHS LATER. . . . . . .

2010-01-26T19:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, huh!?!?!? Life has gotten a little crazy in the Smith house. Fall brought football season and a couple trips to Atlanta to cheer on the Yellow Jackets, visit old friends, and hang out with Aunt Jenny. We went to Asheville to hang out with my side of the family for Thanksgiving, traveled to Tampa for the ACC Championship (where the Yellow Jackets won!!!), visited Richmond Hill for birthday celebrations, and traveled to Atlanta to celebrate Christmas at Aunt Jenny's house. We had a wonderful Christmas and Grady made out like a bandit! We had the Yukon packed full of toys, and couple of things for me and Andy. : ) Things are calming down a little bit, but we still seem to be filling up our weekends.

In order to jumpstart our blog back to life, I'll start with some pictures of the light of our life. Our boy is growing like a weed! He's tall and skinny - don't know who he gets that from! And he doesn't stop moving or talking unless he's sleeping. He is such a sweet kid - he gives lots of hugs and loves being held, but he is very tight with kisses. So, without further ado. . .

GO JACKETS

2009-09-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

After the big win today, I thought I would show you guys the biggest GT fan ever. When we yell "Yellow", He says "Yac-kets". It is the cutest thing ever.

We are winning. HaHaHa.
"Why is there trash everywhere. I think I will pick up some trash. "

Touchdown Jackets!!!!

First walk on GT Campus.

Biggest Fan.

AUGUST

2009-08-23T12:29:00.001-07:00

We don't have many August pictures. He is running too fast for the camera to catch him. We are having so much fun watching him grow before our eyes.

Fun at the James Island County Park.

Bath night with Cooper.

JUNE AND JULY PICTURES

2009-08-23T12:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some June/July Pictures. He is getting big.

Hanging out in his pool at the river.
All the girls got together in Atlanta.

Grady loves to slide into the pool. He has no fear.

I am going to be a civil engineer.

Guilty!!!

First plane flight.

Getting some work done in the airport.

Always connected.....

Spaghetti night.

Hanging with Uncle Brian.

Scoping the neighborhood for chicks.

Found one!!!!

MAY PICTURES

2009-08-23T11:39:00.001-07:00

I know we have been very slack, but here are some pictures from May.

I love bath time.
Me and Miss Kayce
I need a better looking hat.

Fun in the sun.

I am going to be a surfer.

Ladies like mohawks.

Bath night?

Fun at the childrens museum.

Went to the water park with the Petersons.

I am going to be a water bug.

Daddy and I in our matching sear sucker shorts.

Playing hide and seek with the dogs.

1ST BIRTHDAY

2009-05-17T18:32:00.000-07:00

Our baby turned 1 on April 14 and it was very bittersweet! We're having so much fun watching him grow and learn new things, and of course we love sleeping through the night, but it has definitely hit us that he's going to be graduating from college before we know it. It really seems like yesterday that we met him for the first time. I tell him every day that I will still rock him like a baby even when he's 20! : ) No, I'm not kidding. Anyway, Grady's 1st birthday party was April 11, 2009 and it was a blast! The boy is such a social butterfly that it didn't even occur to him that it was odd that over 40 people were piled into his living room. He played and laughed and ate and dug into his cake and then took a long nap! Lots of friends and family came to celebrate with us and spoiled him rotten - we're going to have to buy a bigger house because people were so generous and he got tons of fun toys. Enjoy the pictures!

2 DAYS IN A ROW!!!!

2009-05-11T17:17:00.000-07:00

That's right, I'm updating the blog two days in a row - I know, you can't believe it!! Pick your chin up off the floor and look at our ADORABLE child in the following pictures!

Our friend and Grady's "Aunt" Kayce came over and took these family and 12 month pictures. Kayce is just starting with her photography business and she always seems to capture Grady's personality perfectly. I think that you can tell how much he loves her in the pictures she takes of him because he's always smiling and laughing at her. You can check out more of her pictures at www.kdsphotography.blogspot.com. Apparently Grady got his Mommy's sweet tooth because he stuffed his little cheeks full of cupcake for the pictures! Birthday party pictures to come later this week!

I KNOW, I KNOW. . .

2009-04-30T11:35:00.001-07:00

Apparently we took a blog vacation because it's been so long since we've posted a new blog. We've stayed so busy and so much has happened since our last post that I don't even know where to start! We visited Grady's new Godbrother Max in Seneca, Andy went to Jamaica for work, Nana came to have fun with Grady while we went to the Carolina Cup in Camden, Grady went to his first Easter Egg Hunt, Grady turned ONE!, we had lots and lots and lots of visitors, I turned THIRTY, on top of our regular working, playing and sleeping schedule. Grady is crawling about 30 mph, pulling up on anything he can get his little hands on, and laughing hysterically any chance he can get. We have more pictures from the past month than we know what to do with, so I'm going to start slowly - here are just a couple cute ones of Grady. I'll do his birthday, his 12 month pictures and my birthday pictures separately.

FEB WAS BUSY

2009-03-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

We have had a very hectic February, but it has all been fun. Grady started crawling and he has gotten into everything. Mimi and Granddaddy came for a visit and got to spend some good quality time with Grady. Grandaddy and I got to slip out and do a little bottom fishing. I have been trying to get him on the boat for years and it finally worked out. I hope we have as much fun in March as we did in Feb. Enjoy the miscellaneous of pictures from the month.

Jason tries so hard to make Grady a Gamecock fan, but Grady just laughs at him.

Kayce came over to hang out and before we knew it she had Grady in the tub splashing around. Thank you for being such a good friend.

Getting the boys ready for football season.

Grady loves to be outside and he really likes his swing.

Mimi took Grady for a ride around the neighborhood while Granddaddy cleaned the fish.

Grady was a little nervous about the bearded Granddaddy at first, but as you can see they ended up being friends.

Mimi, Grady wants to do this every year on his birthday.

10 month chair picture. Chillin on the back porch.

Grady got busted streaking across the living room. Hannah Pulaski gave Grady her slide since she got a bigger one and Grady loves it.

Mr. Craig went fishing with us and got to have some Grady time. Look at all the fish fillets in the background.

Craig, Granddaddy, and I ran out about 40 miles southeast of Charleston and bottom fished. The weather was perfect although it was a little cold. We had a wonderful day on the water and it was so clam on the way in we sat down and drove with our feet. Can't wait to do it again. This is Grandaddy with a White Grunt.

Granddaddy explaining to Grady how Daddy caught all of the big ones and all he caught was bait.
Half day of bottom fishing in Charleston. White Grunts, Large Black Sea Bass, Vermilion Snapper, and Porgies.

GRADY LEARNS HOW TO DRIVE

2009-02-15T07:07:00.001-08:00

Grady has decided that he likes convertable cars and he is ready to drive.

BULLDOZER BOOK

2009-02-14T05:09:00.000-08:00

Nana, he sure does like his bull dozer book.

NEW CAR

2009-02-09T15:54:00.000-08:00

We decided to trade in both of our Tahoes (since I have a company truck. Thank you Malphrus) and get Morgan a new car. We are doing our part to stimulate the economy. It actually saved us about $800 per month with insurance and payments, so it was kind of a downsizing. As you can tell, Morgan was pretty happy with her new toy. It was supposed to be her Birthday present, but she got it early. If you call her on her cell and she is driving, she can actually talk to you through the cars speakers.

BATH TIME VIDEOS

2009-02-09T15:48:00.001-08:00

I know Grady is going to hate us in 10 years for publishing these videos, but they are too cute not to share.

FEB WITH GRADY

2009-02-09T15:30:00.000-08:00

Mama gave Grady a Mohawk to make Mrs. G smile when she came to babysit.
Profile View

Grady just found out that his Grandparents are getting together to buy him his first car.

I think we are going to have to get a swing set.

AQUARIUM VIDEO 2

2009-02-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

AQUARIUM VIDEO

2009-02-01T14:39:00.000-08:00

SWING VIDEO

2009-02-01T14:25:00.000-08:00

We are trying to upload video on our blog. This one should make you dizzy. Please let us know if it works.

ONE FISH, TWO FISH, RED FISH, BLUE FISH

2009-02-01T13:49:00.000-08:00

We all went to Atlanta this weekend to see old friends and visit Aunt Jenny. Aunt Jenny took Grady to the Atlanta Aquarium 0n Saturday and he absolutely loved it. He came home with a souvenir that fits his fish room perfectly. Thank you Aunt Jenny for such a wonderful day.

"I am not leaving without this whale shark!"

" One day I will catch that Grouper."

"Thank you Aunt Jenny."

Not so sure about this guy."Hey it is the Urtle off my wall."

"One day I will catch you."

JUST A FEW

2009-01-25T18:04:00.000-08:00

First, Andy and Grady had their first all-boys weekend last weekend while I traveled to Memphis for a girls' weekend. They went to Savannah for part of the time while I was gone to get spoiled by D-Daddy and Grandma.

Grady has started doing the one armed army crawl - it's so cute and so funny!! We put him on the kitchen floor while we were unloading groceries and he army crawled to the dog bowl and started chewing - on ceramic. . . Then he grabbed the legs of one of the stools and started moving it around. I think we're in for it!

Of course most exciting for me, "Mama" is now in Grady's vocabulary. Yay!! Once he started saying it, he hasn't stopped. I think he actually knows that I'm "Mama" because Andy was holding him and he reached for me and said "Mama". It was more wonderful than I thought it would be to hear him say that!

CATCHING UP

2008-12-30T18:49:00.000-08:00

Christmas morning - as you can see, Santa was very good to us!!

The only thing that could possibly be cuter would be this picture without Paci in his mouth.

Laughing with Daddy.

Playing with some new toys on Christmas afternoon.

Brushing his teeth with his first tooth brush from Mimi.

His new trick is sticking out his tongue - he does it all the time and it's adorable!

Making the rounds through the neighborhood on Christmas day.

Riding his new truck.

Playing on the living room floor with his tongue sticking out.

Relaxing in his chair.

On our way to the Pulaski's for our annual Friendship Dinner.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! As I'm sure you can tell from our lack of blogging, life around here has been a little nuts. We had Christmas parties, Christmas dinners, getting sick, Christmas shopping, wrapping, decorating, etc. We celebrated Andy's birthday, D-Daddy's 60th birthday, Grandma's birthday, Jesus' birthday, our 6th anniversary, had tons of family in town for Christmas, went back to work for a few days, celebrated New Years Eve with friends, then Andy and I went on a short vacation while Nana and Aunt Lou Lou came to Charleston to hang out with Grady. That's the short story. We had a great Christmas and loved the time we got to spend with our family, but it wore us out! Andy got me a camcorder for Christmas so I'm going to figure out how to get video on here so that everyone can see Grady in action, but it's not gonna happen on this blog, so enjoy the pictures for now.

I walked into Grady's room at school to pick him up a few weeks ago and realized that I was no longer picking up a baby, but a little boy. He's not quite crawling, but he's so close. He watches everything and everyone so intently and tries to mimic sounds and movements. He babbles and talks nonstop and never stops moving. He's got 2 teeth now and he feeds himself puffs and yogurt melts. As you can see, he is definitely a paci baby - I'm not sure how we are ever going to wean him off of the pacifier because he will go to sleep just about anywhere as long as he has his Paci and Maggie the Monkey. He just lights up our life and there's nothing more wonderful than hearing him laugh and seeing his huge smile.

Things have finally seemed to slow down a little bit, but we still have a busy January! We can't wait for Mimi and Granddaddy to visit, I'm headed to Memphis for a girls weekend, and Grady's Godparents, Patrick and Lindsay, are due to give birth to their son Max mid-January so we're hoping to be traveling to Seneca for that. We promise to keep posting pictures though! We hope you have a wonderful new year!

SO BUSY

2008-12-07T12:54:00.000-08:00

Having a 8 month old boy during the holidays keeps us very busy. We have been trying to finish our christmas shopping, get the tree up, wrap presents, make travel plans, get the house ready for guests, and attend a bunch of Christmas parties. So please forgive us for not posting lately. Here are a few pictures of our boy. I am sure we will have more as it gets closer to Christmas.

Grady eating his first "Puff".

Watching the Jackets play on Saturday.

His 8 month picture in his chair.

Grady eating naked and demanding more food.

"Thank you for my outfit Aunt Jen, but I am going to Georgia Tech."

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!

And you wonder why he is so cute.

Hangin with Aunt Lou Lou.

Grady's first Thanksgiving in Asheville.

"C'mon Mom, enough with the camera already."

"Pop, I want a BMW too."

"Hey wait, this is not my tub."

Grady got to me his Aunt Jeannie while in Asheville.

GT BEAT GEORGIA. Grady's first in a long line of wins against the Dogs.

We went and picked out our tree. Grady wore a silly hat. (Thanks Mom)

Grady hung out on the floor and played while we decorated the tree.

He has so much fun in the bath.

The finished product.

KDS Photography

2008-11-21T07:07:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows how much I love the pictures that my friends Natalie
(http://s-portraits.squarespace.com/blog) & Heather (www.hdportraitsonline.com) take, but unfortunately they live in Atlanta and it's hard to get together with either of them to get updated pictures of Grady. I've been on a hunt to find someone in Charleston who takes pictures like Natalie and Heather and have had a hard time finding someone. But now my problem has been solved! Our sweet friend Kayce has always been interested in photography and has decided to take some classes and slowly build a photography business. Fortunately for us, she wants lots of practice and we are more than willing to offer up Grady as practice material. She got a new flash and wanted to play with it and figure it out so she came over last night and took these pictures. I love them!! Her website is http://kdsphotography.blogspot.com/ and I think she's off to a really great start!

JUST A CUTE PICTURE

2008-11-09T18:15:00.001-08:00

First time wearing shoes!

FIRST HALLOWEEN

2008-11-04T17:48:00.000-08:00

Despite an ear infection, Grady was a trooper for his first Halloween! He had an extra special Halloween because he got to stay home and play with D-Daddy and Grandma all day. They rushed into town Thursday night to take care of a sick baby so that Andy and I could both be at work on Friday. After a fun day with Grady we convinced them to stay Halloween night. We put Grady in his little Pumpkin costume (and the most adorable pumpkin shoes that I've ever seen from the Pulaskis) and headed to our church for the Fall Festival. We didn't stay long because it was chilly outside, but we were glad we went because Grady seemed to love seeing everyone all dressed up. We went to Ryan and Gillians after the festival and played Wii, ate roasted pumpkin seeds and hung out for a little while before bringing the little man home and getting him in bed.

VEGAS BABY!!!

2008-10-30T16:31:00.000-07:00

We went on our first vacation since before I was pregnant - it was much needed and a great time even though we REALLY missed our boy - thanks to Grandma and D-Daddy for taking such good care of Grady and letting us go have fun without ever having to worry. We went back to Vegas and spent a portion of our trip with the Pulaskis and another portion of our trip with the Jen and Paul celebrating Paul's 30th Birthday - (Jen pulled off the trip as a surprise birthday present!). We had a lot of fun gambling, eating, shopping and just relaxing with friends.

I'VE BEEN TAGGED. . .

2008-10-27T19:24:00.000-07:00

8 things I did yesterday (I did this portion on Monday):
1. Went to the Pumpkin Patch with Grady, Andy, Kayce, Jason and the Petersons.
2. Straightened up the house.
3. Gave Grady a sponge bath on my lap while I was fully clothed - yes, I got soaked.
4. Talked to Mom on the phone.
5. Ate biscuits with honey for dinner.
6. Almost bought a new playgym for Grady, but I was a good girl and put it back on the shelf (I went and bought it today instead : ))
7. Organized and reframed some pictures.
8. Searched Craigs List for black patent Danskos.

8 favorite places to eat:
1. Ippolitos!! My favorite hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant in Atlanta.
2. Tommy Bahama Restaurant in Hawaii.
3. Tao in Las Vegas.
4. Chick-fil-a - favorite fast food.
5. Juanita Greenbergs - best margaritas in town.
6. Jim n' Nicks
7. My kitchen table when Andy is cooking.
8. Longhorn.

8 favorite TV shows:
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Private Practice
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Barefoot Contessa
5. CSI
6. Friends
7. King of Queens
8. Giada at Home

8 things I'm looking forward to:
1. Grady's first Christmas
2. Celebrating our 6th anniversary
3. Thanksgiving in Asheville
4. New Years trip with Andy
5. Cooper to arrive - I copied Elissa!
6. Girls weekend with Jen and Nat in January
7. Crawling into bed and snuggling with my husband tonight
8. Any time that I get to spend with Grady

8 things on my wish list:
1. To stay home with Grady again one day - even part time would be wonderful
2. Enough time and energy to do the things I need to do and the things I want to do
3. That Grady would feel better - he has a bad ear infection and high fever. : (
4. A remodeled kitchen
5. An improved economy
6. A family vacation to the beach with Grady this summer and a vacation somewhere tropical for just me and Andy
7. A few more hours in the day
8. That I would have better business sense so that I could actually make one of my crazy crafty creative ideas profitable

GO JACKETS!!

2008-10-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

The Jackets didn't win against VA, but Grady sure looked cute cheering for them! Our good friends the Dahlbys gave us this outfit for one of our showers and I have been counting down the days for Grady to be able to wear it - there's also an adorable jacket that goes with the outfit, but it was a little too warm for that (yes, I know it's October but we live in Charleston!). The hat that's on backwards is also a GT hat. I'm going to have to ask Heather where she got it so that we can buy it in the next size up for the coming years because I love it that much!! Thank you Jim, Heather, Meg and Kate!

HAPPY FALL Y'ALL

2008-10-25T21:23:00.000-07:00

We took Grady to the pumpkin patch to get our pumpkin family for the front porch. Our little pumpkin head loved sitting among the pumpkins and he was such a little ham that everyone in the pumpkin patch came over to watch him and talk to him. We're headed to the another pumpkin patch at Legare Farms on Johns Island tomorrow. They have a corn maze and hay ride and I'm sure Grady will love it. We'll post more pictures from tomorrow.

FIXED

2008-10-25T19:37:00.000-07:00

I FIXED THE PROBLEM. ALL IT TOOK WAS GT LOOSING TO VA SO THAT I HAD FREE TIME.

LOOK BELOW FOR NEW PICTURES AND POST.

LOTS TO CELEBRATE

2008-10-02T12:49:00.000-07:00

We've had a very busy last few weeks. I think we're all finally feeling better - everyone in our household has been sick in the last month - and after many Dr. visits for both Grady and myself, we're finally feeling good!

The weekend of September 19 we took Grady to Atlanta for the first time. We made our usual reservation at the Perry house where we always love to stay. Their daughter Hadley was sweet enough to give up her bed to Grady and her room to Andy and me. While Andy and I headed down to the GT campus to tailgate before the game, Grady stayed with Aunt Jenny. They read lots of books, finger painted (his first piece of art is hanging on our refrigerator!), played with her dogs and took a bath. We had a great time tailgating and an even better time at the game, thanks to our friend Mark who gave us tickets. The weather couldn't have been more beautiful and the game was a great game to watch. After the game we headed back to Aunt Jenny's to hang out with her for a little while.

Saturday night was spent at our good friends, the Dahlby's house, where they hosted everyone from our old supper club - 12 adults and 8 kids. Times have definitely changed - we used to sit around and drink beer and wine and watch football all night - this time we were all chasing kids and leaving around 8 because it was bedtime. It was great to see everyone and the Dahlby's house was perfect for getting so many people together - they have a beautiful basement with a playroom and media room so that we were all comfortable and entertained.

On Sunday morning we headed to my friend Lauren's house. She and her husband Robin are newlyweds and have a beautiful old house in the Collier Hills area of Atlanta. Lauren and Robin hosted us, Natalie and her family, and Jen and Paul for brunch. The food was delicious and it was so good to be able to spend time with everyone and see how much Natalie's son Alex had grown and of course show off Grady. Grady was a rock star the entire weekend - he was in a good mood, slept great, travelled great and was just a really good baby and charmed everyone he met.

The last weekend of September was a crazy one also. Grady had his dedication at church on Sunday morning and we had everyone in town to celebrate. Nana came from Asheville on Friday, on Saturday Mimi and Granddaddy arrived from Arkansas, Aunt Jenny came from Atlanta and Aunt Lou Lou came from Charlotte, and then Pop showed up Sunday morning. The church service was really good and the dedication was very special. The Pulaski's, Sampsons and Kayce and Jason also attended the dedication which made it even more special. After church we all headed over to Mimi's Creekside - an adorable restaurant that sits on the water on James Island - for brunch. We had a big table outside on the deck, under trees so that we stayed cool and right next to a really good band. The weather was beautiful, the music was great and the food was delicious!

We all rushed home to get ready for a baptism at the beach on Sunday night. D-Daddy and Grandma showed up Sunday afternoon so that they could attend Andy's and my baptism that evening. We got to Folly Beach around 3:30 and had so much fun watching Grady on the beach and taking pictures. The baptism started at 5:00 and I can't think of a better place to be baptized than in the ocean. It was a really wonderful ceremony and the whole church celebrated afterward with dinner.

A LITTLE DOSE OF ADORABLENESS

2008-09-17T18:40:00.000-07:00

I really don't have time to blog right now - we've had a crazy last few weeks - croup, ear infections, me sick, Andy sick, and all while starting a new job and daycare. Needless to say, we're all pretty exhausted. Some good news is that Grady loves daycare - the teachers tell me he plays all day long and talks to everyone who comes in the door and they also tell me how smart he is, seriously. I did want to post a few pictures to get you all by until I have time to do more. This is one of my favorites - guess what Grady will probably be getting for Christmas or Birthday. . .

He's a little confused this football season. . . thanks to Mr. Jason!

FINALLY. . .

2008-08-28T21:05:00.000-07:00

I know I've been horrible about keeping this updated, but there's been so much going on that it just exhausts and overwhelms me to keep it all updated, but I'll try.

First thing, Grady had his 4 month appointment this past Tuesday and he weighs 16 pounds and is 26 inches long - the doctor said he thinks he's going to be a tall football player. The doctor said he looked great, seemed very happy and healthy and was very proud that we're still breastfeeding. I asked him if he could tell if Grady was teething - he's been showing signs - fussiness, drooling, gnawing on everything in sight - and the doctor said that he felt a ridge on his bottom front gums. No teeth yet, but they're working on it! He's also been cleared to start eating baby food - I've tried twice and it's not going so well, as you can see. . .

He prefers this kind of meal!

Second, and very very important, our boy finally slept through the night!! We went to a "yard golf tournament" last Saturday and Grady charmed everyone and spent the night being passed from lap to lap - he was so good! Grady and I came home after I nursed him at 8 pm and I gave him a bath and read him some books and put him to sleep. Around 11:30 I got him out of bed and gave him his bottle with a little bit of rice cereal in it and he ate while sleeping and was back in bed asleep at midnight and he slept until 7:30 am!! I fed him at 7:30, played with him for a little while and then he fell back asleep. Since then he hasn't gone quite as long, but he's doing so much better!

Thank goodness Grady is sleeping better because his Mamma is about to head back to work tomorrow. I finally just decided that if things fell into place with me going back to work then I would do so, and if they didn't, then I would continue to stay home. I interviewed at 2 firms and the second firm really emphasized family first - this was one of the most important criteria to me because I don't want to miss my time with Grady and Andy because I'm working late. Everything about the firm sounded great - they gave me the choice between being a workers compensation paralegal or litigation paralegal (they do insurance defense)- I chose workers comp - they also offered me more money than I asked for - who does that!? The same day I decided to go to one of the daycares where we were on the waitlist just to check out the facilities and teachers, etc. When I walked in the Director told me that they had moved 3 babies out of the baby room and one baby left so they had an immediate opening if I was interested. I went to the baby room to check it out and there were 3 grandmother-like ladies sitting around on the floor and in rocking chairs playing with babies - all of the babies seemed happy and content. I've been back several times and have seen the same thing. So, it pretty much all fell together. It's kind of bittersweet - I'm excited and sad all at the same time. Hopefully I'll get a chance to stay home with him again once the economy straightens out and we aren't as nervous about money and jobs. I'm definitely looking forward to putting on my high heels again! : )

I know there are a million other things I've forgotten to update about, but here are some pictures to keep you all happy until next time!

UPDATE

2008-08-25T10:16:00.000-07:00

THE READING AUDIENCE WANTS AN UPDATE. WE WILL HIGHJACK YOUR PAGE AND POST MEAN THINGS ABOUT YOU UNTIL YOU UPDATE THE BLOG. AND WE BETTER GET PICTURES. YOU HAVE 24 HOURS BEFORE THE INSULTS BEGIN.

WHAT TO DO

2008-08-09T20:28:00.000-07:00

I told Andy last week that I wanted to go back to work. I don't really want to go back to work. I have had a permanent stomach ache at the thought of leaving Grady with someone else, and the thought of not spending as much time as possible with him. I feel like we waited so long and went through so much to get pregnant and have a baby and now he's here and I just want to savor every moment. BUT as we all know the economy sucks, the real estate market really sucks and that really affects Andy's job - his job is NOT in jeopardy - he actually just got took over the Charleston market and everything north for his company (we're very proud and excited that he won't be traveling quite as much!) - but it all just makes me nervous. I feel like me going back to work for even just a year would make a huge difference in our finances for now and for the future. I think me going back to work until Grady is 18 months, or until a second baby comes along, would give me a better chance at being able to stay home with both children and would really help with paying off student loans, putting money in Grady's education fund and bulking up our savings account so that if anything does happen in this crappy economy, that we would be okay. I realize that I'm so lucky and blessed to even have the opportunity to choose what I should do, but I'm losing sleep over this decision. I've been praying about it and talking about it and thinking about it and basically being obsessed over it and I'm still struggling. I also realize that I probably shouldn't be going into this thinking that it's temporary, but just a year would make a huge difference. Obviously, if we can't find great childcare, I will continue to stay home. I keep trying to think about the schedule I will have and realize that I'll be getting less than 3 hours a day with Grady during the week and that breaks my heart. I have some interviews set up for next week, and I've been looking around for childcare, so please keep us in your prayers as we try to make the best decision for our family.

REMEMBERING

2008-08-07T21:11:00.001-07:00

I'm sure that other Moms can relate to this, but one of my biggest fears is forgetting the way things feel. I know I have pictures and we can take videos, but I'm so afraid that I'm going to forget how it feels to hold Grady when he's this age, and how I feel when he smiles up at me in the middle nursing, or how I feel when I hear him giggle and grunt and growl and squeal. I don't ever want to forget all of these changes, the lack of sleep, the sneaking into his room at night just to look at him sleeping and just being a new mom flying by the seat of my pants. It's already going too fast and he's growing so quickly and I'm trying to take it all in the best I can and enjoy it, but I still have this fear of forgetting my feelings during this time.

BUSY BEES

2008-08-07T14:54:00.000-07:00

It's been pretty busy around here lately! Last weekend I took Grady to Charlotte to visit Aunt Lou Lou, and our wonderful friend Elissa came with us. It wasn't quite the relaxing, fun weekend I had hoped for. Laurel was stressed because she was still in the process of moving and starting a new job (so proud of her!) and I was stressed because Grady and I didn't get much sleep Friday night. Thank goodness Elissa was there because after having a breakdown in the middle of Southpark Mall because my child was so tired that he couldn't stop crying, Elissa reminded me that this kind of thing happens to every mother and that I wasn't a horrible mother, etc., etc., etc. I felt like a horrible mother because I felt that I was being selfish for wanting to shop in a mall that is actually nice - usually Grady does so well when we're out and he goes right to sleep when he's tired, but he just couldn't get to sleep. It's been hard for me to figure out a balance between doing something that I want to do for myself and doing what I need to do for him. Anyway, Saturday night turned out to be much more restful, but I think I'm going to stay close to home for a little longer!

Andy had a boys weekend while we were gone - he played poker Friday night at our house and then went camping on an island (yuck!) on Saturday night with a group of guys from our church. Grady and I were ready to come home to Daddy and I think Andy was ready for us to get home.

Anyway, this weekend should be a nice relaxing weekend at home.

Here are some new pictures - I don't know how Andy and I made such an adorable baby! He's so vocal and he loves standing (with a little help from us for balance), he loves grunting and growling, and he loves licking his toes!

Daddy and Grady playing Wii - this is "Daddy Day Care" in our home.

Yellow Jacket Baby

2008-07-24T12:51:00.000-07:00

I think Grady's ready for his first trip to Atlanta.

A FEW MORE

2008-07-23T19:23:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures. These are of Grady playing in his new toy - a gift from Scott and Anne. He isn't quite big or old enough to fully enjoy the toy, but he bangs around on the little piano and seems to really like it!

POOL DAY

2008-07-23T14:23:00.000-07:00

We went to the pool this past Sunday for another day in the sun. We went with the Pulaski's and Ryan. The pool was a little colder this time, but Grady seemed to love it! We got some pretty cute pictures. I know his hat is too big for him and he isn't supposed to be wearing a shirt in the pool, but I'm so afraid he'll get burnt!

ALMOST CAUGHT UP

2008-07-21T12:56:00.000-07:00

I'm finally starting to catch up with the blog! This past weekend we went to Richmond Hill for cousin Macey's 3rd birthday party and for Grady to meet his Great Gran and some of Andy's extended family. Once again, we had a great time and Grady charmed them all!!

CRYING IT OUT

2008-07-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

I hate it! Every night that we let Grady cry it out before going to sleep breaks our hearts. We'd been putting it off forever and we know we probably should've done it earlier, but we just couldn't stomach it. We finally started the cry it out process last Monday - everyone has said it would only take 3 to 7 days. Well, we're on day 8 and I just put him down for a nap - I rocked him until he could barely keep his eyes open, turned on his mobile and the sound machine, gave him a pacie, told him how much I love him and he still cried/screamed/squalled for 10 minutes. Some days the crying takes a shorter amount of time so we think he's getting the hang of it, and then the next day it seems to take 30 minutes again. Andy and I have to force each other to stay out of his room. The only good thing that seems to be coming from it is that he's sleeping for longer stretches of time at night, although he's still not sleeping through the night - but I don't even know that the sleeping for longer stretches is because we're torturing him and not responding to his cries or if it's just that he's not getting hungry as quickly. I know he's so smart, but he just doesn't seem to be learning from all the crying!

NANA'S BIRTHDAY TRIP

2008-07-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

My Mom turned 60 this year and Laurel and I decided to throw her a 60th Birthday Bash - it also happened to be Grady's first trip in the car that was more than 2 hours. My Mom's party turned out great with around 40 people there to celebrate with us - she said it was the best birthday she'd ever had! Unfortunately, our camera, my sister's camera, and my Mom's cameras all died and we hardly have any pictures of the actual party. The only good picture we have is one where Mom is holding up one of her gag gifts and she would probably kill me if I posted it!

Grady did great on the car ride to Asheville and back - he slept about 3 hours each way. He was the hit of the party and he was so good the entire weekend. We were so proud of him and of course proud to show him off to so many family friends.

FOURTH OF JULY

2008-07-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, I realize it's almost the end of July and that I'm just posting about July 4th - I promise I'm going to get better at posting more often! Anyway, we had a great July 4th! Nana (my Mom) came into town to visit with Grady and "babysit" him the evening of the 4th. We took the boat out and parked it outside of the Riverdogs Stadium where the Dave Matthews band was playing - the Pulaskis, Sampsons, and Smoak/Dawsons joined us on the boat. We had so much fun being out on the water with our friends, and Nana and Grady had fun hanging out also.

WEEKEND WITH MIMI AND AUNT JENNY. FIRST POOL TRIP!!!

2008-06-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

Taking a nap.....
This is the only time we get to trim his nails.

Daddy's fishing buddy.

Chillin' with Mimi.

Hangin' with Aunt Jenny.

Scotch is getting run out of every seat in the house.

Grady was not the main course. But his sugar's were dessert.

Already learning to swim. Scuba lessons are next week.

Learning to trust Daddy.

Good thing they did not have the red dye in this pool.

Getting all lotioned up.

Daddy's First Father's Day

2008-06-16T12:18:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day to all of you daddy's out there. We were very excited to celebrate Andy's first father's day - Grady and I are very lucky to have him and are so thankful that we won the Daddy jackpot! Grady is entranced by Andy, especially when he's talking (which most of you know, is a lot!) - when he's around he just stares and smiles at him. Seeing Andy in his new role as Daddy has made me fall even more in love with him. We started the day by taking Grady to church for the first time. He slept through our Sunday school class and through about half of the service, then he started getting hungry so we came home to feed him. For his first church visit, we were really proud and thought he did really well! Then we went to lunch at McAllister's and came back so Daddy and Grady could watch their Sunday fishing shows. I got my embroidery machine so we've been playing with that - Andy even embroidered something! We just have to figure out where to set everything up. . . Anyway, we had a relaxing weekend and are looking forward to going to the beach next weekend.
Watching Sunday morning fishing shows.

I just couldn't resist - he looked so cute in his church clothes!

GROWING BOY

2008-06-14T05:35:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures of the growing boy. D-Daddy and Grandma came in Friday morning and spent the day with Grady. The also watched him while Morgan and I went on a date Friday night. It is nice having grandparents close by to give us a break once in a while. Mimi is flying in on the 23rd to spend a week and all three of us are looking forward to seeing her.

Look what happens when we leave Grady alone with the Grandparents.
Passed out on Grandma's stomach.Do you think they are going to spoil him?

Mrs G. practicing for Cooper's arrival.

Already fascinated with the women.

I asked him to mow the lawn, but we could not get him out of bed.

Aunt Lou Lou bonding with Grady.

Morgan drying Grady after a bath.

Bath time has started to become fun.

Splish Splash I was taking a bath.

Jen and Paul making sure that Scotch does not feel left out.

Paul doing his best to avoid the hot potato. I think Grady is working on one based on his facial expression.

Aunt Jen teaching Grady how to mix a vodka tonic with line.

For Mimi

2008-06-04T15:50:00.000-07:00

Now that Grady's smiling, I'm desperate to get a picture of it so that his Mimi can see his adorable smile since she lives far away and hasn't seen it in person yet. Margarita, this is the best I've got so far, but I'll keep trying!

Workin' for a Living

2008-06-04T15:38:00.000-07:00

I am officially a stay-at-home Mom. As most of you know, I had been planning to work from home part time doing the same thing I was doing before Grady arrived - I had every intention of doing this and had it all planned out in my head and every time my boss told me that I didn't know what I was getting into I would laugh and tell him that I had no doubt that I would be back to work. Well, that was all before Grady came. At first I was just so overwhelmed, stressed out, unrested and unfunctioning so I put off my going back to work date. I was also struggling with the idea of leaving Grady with someone that I didn't know and with someone who didn't love him. I thought that it would be easier once he was less "fragile". Then came the smiles and the cooing and the noises and my heart broke thinking about someone else getting all of his smiles.

After much discussion and thought and prayer, Andy and I decided that it would be best to go ahead and turn in my notice, which brought a whole other problem. It must be my Catholic upbringing, but the guilt set in and I was scared to death to call my boss and tell him that I wouldn't be coming back. But my boss is awesome and has always gone to bat for me and always been supportive of any idea I've ever had (like creating my position/job because I wanted to work part time and then convincing the other partners in the firm that it was a great idea to work from home) and once again he was totally supportive and didn't yell at me. He told me that if I had the opportunity to stay home with Grady that I should take it and that it would probably be the best year of my life. He also said he'd been expecting to hear that I wouldn't be coming back. . . Anyway, I'm a tiny bit sad that I won't be doing the job that I've actually really enjoyed for the last 1 1/2 years, but I'm super excited about spending my days with my sweet little boy.

Now on to the next project - I'm getting an embroidery machine and starting a monogramming and embroidery business! I'm so excited b/c this will allow me to be creative and hopefully make a little bit of money. Of course I've got some practicing to do on the machine, but I'm hoping that it won't be too long before I'm in business!

How could I leave this everyday!?

Memorial Day

2008-05-27T19:42:00.001-07:00

We had a very busy Memorial Day Weekend. Patrick and Lindsay came into town to meet Grady and visit us. We had Ryan, Gillian, Brian, Elissa, Ron, Christy and Craig over for dinner on Saturday night and had a great time eating and playing Wii.

On Sunday, we headed to Savannah for Andy and I to have our first night away from Grady. We dropped him off at Grandma and D-Daddy's - Aunt Jenny was also there - and headed to the Savannah Hilton for the evening. We knew his hiney would never touch the ground with those three spoiling them. We had a great time - we ate at the City Market, took a Rickshaw ride, and got a full night of sleep (although I did have to wake up in the middle of the night to pump, but I didn't have to put the pump back to sleep!). The Grandparents and Aunt said that Grady also had a great night and they seemed to love taking care of him. Andy and I had so much fun together, but we missed our boy! We couldn't get back to their house quick enough on Monday afternoon. We hung out and ate dinner and headed back to Charleston Monday evening. Thank you Dave, Wanda and Jenny for taking care of our sweet boy and letting us have a night away.

This is how we found Aunt Jenny and Grady after our night away. Andy immediately grabbed him and woke him up so they could start playing.

Play Time

2008-05-27T19:23:00.000-07:00

Grady has really started to be more interactive and playful. We've done a lot of playing in our Baby Einstein Gym and he bats at toys that you hold above him. He also kicks like crazy - the kid is going to be one great soccer player! Best of all though, he's really started smiling and "talking". I love hearing all the funny noises he makes and nothing is better than seeing his huge grin.

Scotch has started to realize where Mommy and Daddy direct their attention.

He's starting to get so big, which makes me sad that he won't always be a baby, but I'm so excited to see him grow and develop and become more interactive. Each day brings new surprises.

FIRST BEACH TRIP AND MISC PICTURES

2008-05-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

Grady has been such a blessing. We are having fun learning the ins and outs of parenthood and when we think we have it figured out, he changes his pattern. Thank goodness that we have such a great support group around us. Our friends and family seem to know when we need a little helping hand or time off. Morgan and I actually got to go on our first date Friday night since we had Grady. It was very relaxing, but we were ready to get home to our son. Thank you for all the well wishes and prayers.

Scotch was looking for some attention. He will sit in just about anyone's lap these days. Grady chillin' in his recliner.

Hangin' with Aunt Jen.

Grandma has this voice that just soothes Grady.

First and Third generation bonding.

First family beach trip. It was blowing so hard that we only stayed for 15 minutes, but Grady got to see the ocean.

Of course mom had him dressed for the occasion.
Alexis, Thank you for the beach bed. He has just started recognizing colors in front of him so it was a great thing to take to the beach.

GRADY'S FIRST PORTRAITS

2008-05-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

I could not pick out my favorites so I posted them all. Sorry it is so many, but he is so cute.

MORE PICTURES 5-11-08

2008-05-11T13:10:00.002-07:00

I appreciate everyone understanding how busy we are and not having the time to upload more photos. So I am going to upload a bunch at one time. Enjoy them as I do not know when I will get the chance to do it again. Our boy is growing and kind of getting into a routine. We are so blessed to have him and look forward to every minute we get to spend with him.

Mrs Gillian showing us a new technique on gas removal. If you look really closely you can see Grady reaching out for his girlfriend in Mrs G's belly.

Aunt Karen reading the best kids book ever to her daughter Macey. It is a shame that she had to come all the way to Charleston to get such good reading material. (For those of you who do not know, Karen has an ugly read "G" on the front of her car.)

Karen and Macey chillin with Grady.

This shirt is SO TRUE.....................

Daddy's first feeding. What a cool experieince to see your son looking into your eyes while you feed him. I handed him as soon as the formula had time to make its way through the system. Don't worry people, Morgan is still breast feeding. We are doing one bottle every night to give Morgan a chance to relax and take a break. It is working well.

Aunt Lou Lou came to spend some time while Daddy was out of town. Thank you so much for covering for me.

Aunt Jenny and Suzy try to talk some non-sense about bulldogs into my son's ears.

Aunt Natalie came to spend the weekend with us and take some professional pictures of Grady. I will post them soon. What am I thinking, the order of the posts will let you see those first. Aren't they so good. Thanks Nat. WWW.NATALIESHIVERS.COM

Aunt Nicole came to see the little stud that I call mini-me. He sure does have some good looking aunts.

The skin tone comparison proves it. He is definitly my child. Grady got his first Bible and has already started reading it.

SETTLING IN.

2008-04-24T17:10:00.000-07:00

Ok people. Here are some more pictures. Mom and Baby are doing great.

Morgan and her two Moma's Boys.

Already thinking about his days in Atlanta.

Aunt Jenny finally showed up to meet her nephew.

The boy's time.

Proud Grandparents.

Grady says hello to everyone.

I don't know if the neighborhood can handle this much cuteness.

First walk around the neighborhood.

My beautiful wife and son.

The first bath. He is not happy.

A FEW MORE PICTURES....

2008-04-18T11:47:00.000-07:00

I promise that I will not be the dad that shoves pictures down everyones throats, but here are a few more. He is getting cuter everyday.

COMING HOME & MORE PICTURES

2008-04-16T13:22:00.003-07:00

We got to bring our son home today. We have attached pictures of the arrival and some good pictures from other cameras. Mom and Baby are doing great.

THIS IS FOR YOU NAT!!!

2008-04-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

FINALLY PICTURES

2008-04-15T07:34:00.001-07:00

We are both exhausted but I wanted to add pictures before I crashed.

GRADY IS HERE!!!!

2008-04-14T20:22:00.000-07:00

8:04 PM on April 14th, 2008. He is 7 lbs 15 oz and 21 inches long. Morgan had to have a c-section, but is recovering well with the drugs. Stay tuned for pictures tomorrow.

BLOG FROM THE L&D ROOM

2008-04-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

Just to give you an update. Our phones do not work at the hospital, but I have my laptop and can check e-mail every once in a while.

Morgan was started on Patocin at 8 this morning. Her water broke at 9 and she has been having strong contractions ever since. She has the epidural in and is very comfortable right now. The only problem is that her cervix is not dilating. They are keeping an eye on her and up-ing the Patocin on regular intervals. I will let you know when I have more to report.

As I am typing they just upped her Patocin from 26 milli-units per minute to 28 milli-units per minute. Stay tuned…

STILL WAITING

2008-04-12T12:09:00.000-07:00

Still no baby. I hope that this is not a sign of what's to come. For those of you who know me, I am very punctual and Grady is going to have to learn to be on time. Morgan is generally tired, but has short spurts of energy followed by long power naps. We are getting excited about Monday morning and the arrival of our first creation together. Morgan is getting nervous about the labor part of this adventure, but knows that there will be a happy ending.

The rest of the family is heading into town tomorrow, except for one person (My Sister). She decided to go see a boy in California instead of coming here to witness the birth of her first and only nephew. Does she not realize that I am not going to let her date a boy in California?

We will post pictures just as soon as we get back from the hospital.

APRIL 9, 2008

2008-04-09T06:26:00.001-07:00

So today is the day that Grady is due to make his entrance into the world, and he's showing no signs of doing so. As of Monday, 4/7, the Dr. said that I showed no more progression from last week. I have an inducement appointment set for Monday, April 14 at 6:30 a.m. - so they say. . . We have to call the hospital around 5:45 Monday morning to make sure they have a bed - if there are no beds available b/c other people have come in with emergencies, then we're put off another day.

One of my friends sent me an article about Scallini's (a restaurant in Atlanta that Andy and I had gone to a few times while we lived there) guaranteeing that their eggplant parmesan would bring labor on - if the mother did not go into labor within 36 hours, her next meal was free - they had over 300 pictures of babies who were born after their mother's ate eggplant parmesan. It would obviously have been very difficult to make it to Atlanta, but my friend seemed to think that I could probably eat eggplant parmesan anywhere since she had a friend who ate it homemade and went into labor. So, we headed to this little Italian restaurant for me to eat something I hate. Sure enough, I still think it's disgusting, but I went ahead and ate it. Guess what, I'm still pregnant.

Everybody kept telling me that walking would help bring on labor - I walked for 4 days straight last week and nothing happened except that I was totally worn out. I told my Dr. this and she said that if any of these things actually worked, she would never induce anyone - so for all you pregnant people, don't believe all the stories you hear about certain things and activities bringing on labor!

I'm trying to keep myself as distracted as possible, so I'm finishing up working this week and I've been making these cute little door plaques - if you have a kid, you may be getting one in the mail b/c they are providing a great distraction for me and they are fun to make and I doubt Andy will let me put a door plaque on every door in the house. Above is the one that I made for Grady's door.

Hopefully the next post will include a picture of a baby. . .

OFFICE MATES

2008-04-03T08:58:00.000-07:00

Now that I've started working from home, I've acquired some new office mates. Although they don't offer quite as much interesting conversation as my previous office mates, they sure are cuter! I took these pictures while sitting at my computer working - as long as I'm in my office working, they are in these exact positions.

39 WEEK UPDATE

2008-04-01T14:47:00.001-07:00

I went back with very high hopes that I would get to be induced tomorrow and was told that it wasn't going to happen. I cried for 2 hours. Next appointment is next Monday, April 7.

38 1/2 WEEK UPDATE

2008-03-30T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well, we had our 38 week update last Wednesday and thought we were going to be setting our inducement appointment for this Wednesday April 2, but once the doctor checked me, she said that unless I showed more progression that she wouldn't induce me. : ( I almost started crying. She said that if my cervix will soften more, then she will induce, but that if she felt there was any greater chance of having to perform a c-section on me because she induced me when my body wasn't ready that she wouldn't do it. Of course I am very appreciative that the health of me and Grady are her top priority, but it was definitely not what I wanted to hear!! So, our next appointment is on Tuesday, April 1 and we will see where we are and whether or not she will induce me on Wednesday - I would hate for Grady to already be grounded and in trouble for not obeying his mother and not getting here before he is 10 pounds!!

I'm still rolling around like a bowling ball, but I'm not doing a whole lot of sleeping and it takes very little to make me feel like I need a 4 hour nap. I thought I might get through the pregnancy without my back ever hurting, but it's definitely started hurting now. I'm more and more useless around the house, but thankfully I have a husband who picks up right where I left off and makes sure everything gets done without ever complaining that he's working 14 hour days and then coming home and doing house stuff that I don't have the energy to do. He's quite a catch!

Andy's mother, Margarita, came into town on Thursday from Arkansas to help us finish preparing for Grady's arrival and try to hurry him up. Although she hasn't been very successful in getting him here any quicker, she has been very helpful in helping us do household tasks, and of course we've had some time for fun as well!

Monday will be my first day to be working from home, so let's hope that goes well - I'll be working part-time from home until Grady gets here, and then I'll take 4-6 weeks off and start working part-time from home again once I have a little time off. I'm a little nervous about it, but I think it is going to work well!

We will of course keep you updated about our appointment on Tuesday!

38 WEEK PICTURES

2008-03-23T16:02:00.001-07:00

We had some of the Grandparents in town this weekend and they were praying for an early arrival of Grady, but it did not happen. We had awesome weather and spent the day playing on Johns Island and Kiawah. Here are some of the pictures. The tree in the pictures is the Angel Oak. It is 1200 years old and owned/maintained by the city. I used it to give a reference of how big Grady is in Morgan's belly. Natalie/Heather, I know that I am no where near the photographers you are, so feel free to critique the shots.

FULL MOON

2008-03-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

Grady did not come on the full moon. Maybe Easter Sunday.....

37 WEEK UPDATE

2008-03-20T10:15:00.000-07:00

I went in for my 37 week update and had another good report. This week I am 80% effaced and still 1 centimeter dilated. The doctor was shocked at how much I'd dropped. She said I was progressing perfectly and she felt like my body is doing exactly what it should be doing for an easy delivery - let's hope she's right!! I'm pretty much at the miserable point - I'm not sleeping well, I can't get comfortable, I'm constantly exhausted, and I feel like there's not enough room for me to sit up, eat, move, etc., but I keep having to remind myself that I've had a very easy pregnancy compared to many people. So despite my moaning, I have been very lucky that we haven't had any problems or scares. However, we're ready for Grady to be here!! My Mom thinks that he's going to come tomorrow, Friday, March 21 because it's a full moon - I would love for her to be right about that! Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend! Maybe Grady will be an Easter baby. . .

Grady also got his first sunburn last weekend. We had a beautiful Sunday last week and I decided to blow up our air mattress and prop myself up with about 5 pillows and sit on the back porch and read my book. The sun felt so good and the dogs kept me company and I was so excited to get a little bit of color since I look like a ghost right now, but I didn't realize quite how much sun my baby belly was getting. Good thing our neighbors don't have a clear view into our backyard because it would've been a little frightening to see my huge white stomach on display. I didn't get too burned, just a little pink, but it was worth it because the weather was too beautiful to be inside.

36 WEEKS

2008-03-13T12:02:00.001-07:00

We are having Grady arrival check ups every week now. Morgan went in on Wed and had a great report. Her weight is great, Grady's heartbeat was strong, she is 20% affaced(if you know what that means), and she is dialated to 1 cm. So now you gamblers have all the inside information you need to place your bets. Next appointment is 3-18-08 and you will get the full update.

BABY POOL

2008-03-04T13:26:00.000-08:00

All of you who know me well, know that I will put odds on just about anything. I have created a web page to see who can guess the closest Weight, Height, Birthday, and Gender for our new Smith Addition. Everything is based on points and the web site calculates the winner. I have it set up so that the gender is worth so many points that if you get it wrong you will never win. Morgan and I will not play as we have inside information. There is no cost to guess of course. BUT... if you want to throw in five dollars per guess, I am keeping a running tally of people who pay and the closest person(that paid) gets the whole pot. So guess as much as you want, but if you don't pay to play you will not get the riches. The link to the site is below.

http://www.expectnet.com/games/GUESS-GRADY

35 WEEKS

2008-03-04T13:00:00.000-08:00

We are getting very close and very excited. We had a doctors appointment this morning and Morgan and Grady are moving along perfectly. The doctor said that Morgan is the picture perfect pregnancy. She is in line with the weight charts, doing everything the doctors ask her to do, and self-educating enough that she is not calling the doctors at four in the morning for every little bump and movement. The nurse even came in and said how much they love her, because she is so easy to deal with. (They should live with her and that may change their opinion)

Grady has turned completely over and his head is pointing south. This is a good thing as he is getting in the right position to make his grand entrance. The doctor took Morgan's hands and placed them in the right position to feel both sides of Grady's head so she could judge the size. It was grapefruit size and still 4 weeks to go.

I will keep you posted....

FINISHED NURSERY

2008-03-02T09:05:00.000-08:00

I am back. I was going to put a poll on the site that asked which blog master you preferred, but I thought I would only get one vote from my mother. Here are the latest pictures from Grady's Nursery. 30 days and counting....

DOGS UP FOR ADOPTION

2008-02-29T13:17:00.001-08:00

Anybody looking for 2 adorable dogs? I have some you can adopt. : )

Today I had the pleasure of a frantic neighborhood tour. I was getting ready to go run errands this morning when I heard our maid yelling my name (by the way, she speaks about as much English as I speak Spanish). I come out of my room and see her ushering Scotch into the house via the front door. I had put the dogs in the back yard so she could clean the house so I didn't understand why Scotch was in the front yard. I went out back and noticed that our gate was wide open and that Brandy was nowhere in sight. At this point, I am almost in tears b/c I'm afraid she would run down to Hwy. 17 and get run over, or that somebody would find her and think that she was so pretty and sweet that they would want to keep her. After running around the neighborhood in my flipflops and then driving around in my car calling her name, I realized that the phone number on her dog tag was mine and that I had forgotten my phone at the house. Thankfully, I had a message from some nice man who had found her and put her in his back yard.

After retrieving Brandy I realized that both of my dogs were completely covered in dog poop and smelled horrible. Scotch is very easy to bathe because he jumps in and out of the tub on his own and stays very still and knows when he needs to put his front feet up so I can clean his tummy. Brandy, on the other hand, is horrible to bathe. She's too scared to jump in and out of the tub, so there I am, 34 weeks pregnant, lifting a 75 pound lab covered in poop in and out of my bathtub. So after cleaning my dogs I realized that I was going to have to clean myself again. All the energy that I had for the day had been used by 11:30 this morning. At least everyone is clean now. . . I think they're preparing me for my upcoming poop-filled days!

CRAZY HORMONES

2008-02-28T07:13:00.000-08:00

Look at me - 2 posts in 2 days - I'm already off to a good start with this whole blogging thing!! No pictures or anything fun like that, but I thought my crazy hormones might be entertaining to you. As many of you know, my temper has become as short as a pinky toe since I've been pregnant, with much of it being taken out on our poor neighbor - he seems to know all the wrong buttons to push. But it has officially gotten worse. I took a call at work today from a lady that made me so mad I almost had to take my clothes off because my whole body was so hot and sweating from fury - normally she would have irritated me, but I was so mad that I started throwing papers and staplers off my desk and my boss had to come in and try to calm me down - good thing he has a good sense of humor. The whole time this is going on, I knew that I was totally overreacting, but for some reason I just couldn't stop. I'm not sure that I've ever had a tantrum like that in my whole life, especially not over something as insignificant as a lady who was disputing money she owed.

On to my emotions. . . On Monday a friend from work brought in a piece of dutch apple pie that she made - she let me have a couple bites and it was the most delicious apple pie I have ever had in my life. She told me she had one more piece at home and that she would bring it on Tuesday and split it with me. I saw it in the refrigerator Tuesday morning and couldn't get it off my mind for the rest of the day, but of course I didn't want to bug her about it. I went to get a drink out of the refrigerator around 2:30 and noticed that it was no longer in there. I asked her why there was apple pie in the morning and no apple pie in the afternoon - she had shared it with one of the other people at work instead of me!! At this point, I literally had tears in my eyes and went into this other person's office and yelled at him for eating my portion of the apple pie - by the way he's fairly new to our firm and I really don't know him and I'm sure that he thinks I'm a lunatic. I then went downstairs to my office and actually cried because I didn't have any apple pie to eat - not sobbing crying, but definitely a few tears shed. So this wonderful friend who made the apple pie called me at 8:00 this morning and told me that she had made an entire apple pie for me and brought it to work today. That apple pie for breakfast made my day - at least until the phone call from the lady that made me throw a temper tantrum.

I think it's time for Andy to lock me in the house and stop letting me out because it's past the point of being funny, it's actually kind of scary.

MORE MATERNITY PICTURES

2008-02-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

Now that Andy is staying so busy with work, I will have to take over some of the blogging. I'll do my best to keep it updated!

A few weekends ago our friends Jim and Heather were in town from Atlanta. Heather is a photographer and her pictures are always beautiful, so I asked if she minded taking a couple of maternity pictures of Andy and I together. The pictures turned out beautiful!! If you want to see more of her work, please go visit her website at http://www.hdportraitsonline.com/. Of course, if you are anywhere near Atlanta, we have now given you two very highly recommended photographers that you will have to use for your next pictures! If only we could convince them to move to Charleston...

I will try to take some pictures of Grady's nursery very soon - it's turned out so cute and has become one of my favorite places to hang out - the dogs and I can often be found "playing" in the nursery. : )

SPELLING

2008-02-25T19:21:00.000-08:00

I eavh bene todl htat theer eavh neeb mayn msidellep sordw ni ym logb. Ehert aer oot yanm rteaches geadinr teh glob, btu I lliw tyr ot od retteb ni teh fewture. I tenw to Geogria Tehc nad wee laerned numbesr nad ont wodrs. Btu juts two proev a poitn, I teb uoy cuold raed htis parargahp.

33 WEEK BELLY PICTURE

2008-02-21T10:01:00.001-08:00

OK Jen, here are more belly pictures. Quit whining would ya. Look at Morgan's first baby in the background.

CHARLESTON SHOWER

2008-02-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

Our Charleston friends gave us a couples baby shower. It was awesome to get to see everyone and to be able to share the shower experience with the husbands. The shower was catered and the food was awesome. The stack of gifts almost took up half the living room and the shower gifts were one of a kind. I have attached pictures for those of you that could not make it. Thank you to everyone that could come and a special thanks to Jim and Heather for coming all the way from Atlanta to spend the weekend with us.

Heather took some great pictures of Morgan and I while she was down. I will post them as soon as we get the final version from Heather.

Thank you Brian, Ryan, Jason, Elissa, Gillian, Kayce for such an awesome night and for being such good friends to both Morgan and I. You guys are going to make great baby sitters.

MATERNITY PICTURES

2008-01-29T17:54:00.000-08:00

We just got the maternity pictures from Natalie. They are awesome so I thought I would share a few of our favorites with you. I could not put them all up here because it would crash my computer.

Natalie rocks, so please check out her webpage at www.natalieshivers.com.

On a side note: We are taking Child Birth Preparation Classes all day Saturday. So I am sure we will both be a little freaked out. I will take my baseball glove in case they want me to practice catching the baby if the doctor can't make it in time.

28 WEEK BELLY PICTURE

2008-01-21T16:08:00.000-08:00

I know I have been slack and I apologize. I have been busy with work and trying to get ready for Grady's arrival. We had a doctors appointment on Friday and both baby and mom were healthy. Morgan passed her glucose test and we were both really excited she did not have to take the extended exam(Good Job Honey). I will try to be more diligent about posting. Here is the 28 week belly. Enjoy.....

ASHEVILLE SHOWER

2008-01-20T17:07:00.000-08:00

Morgan just got back from a shower in Asheville. We thought she may get stuck in the mountains due to the snow storm that passed through the night before. The lady that hosted the shower for Morgan also had a shower for Morgan's mom when she was pregnant with Morgan. How cool is that!!! Morgan almost had to rent a U-Haul to get all of the loot back to Charleston.

Mary, THANK YOU for opening your house, for all the love, and for adding a tour date on Morgan's multi-state baby shower tour. Thank you to everyone who came and made it such a special day for Morgan.

BAD INFLUENCE

2008-01-14T17:24:00.000-08:00

Morgan gave Grady his first and hopefully last brush with the law. He was not drinking and driving, but he could not say his alphabet backwards or hold his head up. It was a close one, but they got out with just a speeding ticket.

NOT A VERY GOOD INFLUENCE MOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ATLANTA SHOWER

2008-01-13T16:16:00.000-08:00

Ha Ha. Blog Masters can back date things and people thing I am current on my posting. Here are some pictures of Morgan's baby shower from Atlanta. The other Aunt Jen got to participate from Germany via the Internet, which was really cool even though she looked really dorky with that headset on. (HA HA) Morgan had a blast and came home with lots of cool things for Grady.

THANK YOU SO MUCH Jenny for putting all of this together and for putting so much thought and love into the shower. Thank you Grandma for all of the last minute help. Thank you to everyone that came and made it so special for Morgan.

COMPLETED NURSERY

2007-12-29T13:57:00.000-08:00

Well after 5 weeks of moving furniture, building toy boxes, hanging chair rail, caulking, painting walls, bringing in a world renowned artist, putting together furniture, building a closet organizer, and rearranging everything 12 times, Grady's room is complete. Morgan still has to add all of her finishing touches, but the major things are done. I have added some pictures so that you can see how the furniture interacts with the wall art. We are still looking for the right rocker to go in the room, so the space between the crib and the closet will eventually have a rocker. Now all we need is a baby. 101 days to go.

GRADY'S FIRST CHRISTMAS

2007-12-26T06:04:00.000-08:00

Grady had fun with his first Christmas. He kept his head warm with a little baby cap and the Ralph Lauren shoes that he got from the Pulaskis fit perfectly. He could not quite get his little hands around the teddy bear but he enjoyed snuggling with it. Can't wait until next year when I can enjoy playing with all his toys.

THE NURSEY WALLS

2007-12-25T17:43:00.000-08:00

We have added pictures of the nursery art work. I know there are a lot of pictures, but we wanted to show all of the detail. My sister was the artist and she did an amazing job. I am now her agent, so if you want any work done contact me for pricing. We will add some more pictures when we add the furniture and pictures. Have a good Christmas.

FULL BODY SHOT

2007-12-18T15:45:00.000-08:00

Here is a full body shot of the Mom-To-Be for those of you that want to see how beautiful Morgan looks with the pregnancy glow. We have also started on Grady's room, so stay tuned and we will post pictures soon.

DADDY'S BELLY PICTURE

2007-12-18T14:00:00.000-08:00

In response to Natalie's comment, I thought I would post a picture of Daddy's Belly. No fan mail please.....

22 WEEK BELLY

2007-12-07T09:18:00.000-08:00

I think this is going to be a big boy. I was able to zoom out and take a 22 week belly picture. I don't know how much longer she is going to allow me to take these shots, so enjoy them while you can.

Morgan is doing great. She has gained the right amount of weight and she is taking all of the required vitamins. She does have to pee every ten minutes and sometimes she forgets what she is doing in the middle of doing it. I still love her and we are excited to meet Grady. Have a good weekend.....

3 GENERATIONS OF SMITH MEN

2007-12-03T08:20:00.001-08:00

Grady is already fitting in well with the last two generations of Smith men.

ANOUTHER PROFILE PICTURE

2007-12-03T08:04:00.001-08:00

I just thought this profile was really cool.... It is a picture of the TV that they had in the room for the peanut gallery to view the ultrasound.

CROWDED ULTRASOUND ROOM

2007-12-03T07:49:00.000-08:00

We took some pictures at the doctors office of the crowd that joined us for the ultrasound. Look at the permanent smiles on the newest Grandparents. It was fun to share that experience.....

NAME ANNOUNCEMENT

2007-11-28T13:30:00.000-08:00

I forgot to add the name we have chosen...

WILLIAM GRADY SMITH

He will go by GRADY.

IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2007-11-28T13:12:00.001-08:00

Ha Ha Ha.... All of you friends and family that have been giving me hell about having a girl. I have a boy on the way.
Mom and baby are perfectly healthy. All the measurements were perfect and their were no problems with the baby. I have attached the pictures from the ultrasound and I know there are a ton of them. (There is white text on every picture that decribes what the picture is. Keep your eye out for the "Whitehead" toes (most people won't know what this is) and the one picture that says "It's a Boy".

I know the jokes will be starting very soon, but I think the baby was turned the wrong way at the 17 week ultrasound because there was no doubt on this ultrasound that it is a boy. Enjoy the pictures.

GIRL OR BOY

2007-11-26T08:19:00.001-08:00

We find out on Wednesday what the future balance of my bank account will be. Right now the voting shows we are having a girl by a narrow margin. PLEASE keep voting.

20 WEEK BELLY PICTURE

2007-11-20T18:52:00.000-08:00

I know it has been a long time since we posted. Our camera was stolen and we have been very busy preparing for the Holidays. We just got a new camera, so expect some more posting soon. Here is the latest belly picture for all of those that won't quit asking. Morgan and baby are doing fine and we find out if we have to buy a little football or cheerleading uniform on the 28th of this month. Keep checking back for updates....

A PREVIEW OF 9-MONTH BELLY

2007-11-06T07:08:00.000-08:00

Morgan went to a costume party in Maryland last year and dressed up as a pregnant women. The host of the party, Aunt Jen, sent me this picture to show everyone what Morgan's 9-month belly would look like. Enjoy.

17 WEEK CHECKUP

2007-11-01T15:39:00.000-07:00

Morgan and I went for our 17 week checkup and the little yellow jacket and mommy are both very healthy. Morgan begged the doctor to do an ultrasound to see if the sex could be determined this early. The doctor resisted because she is not normally the one that does the "sex determination" and told us that if she was wrong she would not come and repaint our nursery. After more begging and a promise to not go start buying clothes, the machine was brought into the room. The pictures are not that great because it took alot of poking a proding to get the baby to spread its legs for a good picture(Daddy trained it well). The doctor finally agreed with the pencil test and Morgan's gut feeling and guessed that it would be a girl. I am in big trouble if the doctor was right. So here are the ultrasounds and you can decide for yourself. Let the voting begin..... We find out for sure in three weeks!!!

17 WEEK BABY BUMP PICTURE

2007-11-01T15:23:00.000-07:00

For all of you out there that are begging for a belly picture, here it is. This is the best that I can do. More to come...