3 days PAST!!

We are still waiting on Miss Bella who seems quite content where she's at. So, i've had some time to think. Sunday at church we sang a song called "This is Love" and I was reminded that as much as I love this little girl and Mike, it doesn't compare to God's love for me or any of us. It was truly a reminder of what Love is and the "depth, height, width of this Love" (Ephesians 3). What an overwhelming, incomprehensible, and beautifully simple truth. Here are some of the other things I've done these last few days of "waiting": Cleaning underneath the sink three times (how many ways can you organize cleaning supplies and paper towels), reading 2 books (I would highly recommend John Wood's book "Leaving Microsoft to change the world" and "Deep River" by Shusaku Endo). Also, writing 2.5 publications for work, finishing thank you notes, installing the carseat in our car, running and swimming in the mornings, enjoying the fall weather while cleaning out the leaves from the front bed, etc. etc. etc... I am officially ready! Well, as ready as you can be. (Can you really ever be ready?)
Here is an updated picture of me 40 weeks plus 3 days. And, since we have a new camera I played around with taking pictures of our soon-to-be-here sweet baby's room. Take care everyone!!

Due date today!

Today is Bella's due date and we still have about 8 hours left. So, she could still make her entrance today! But, she seems pretty content right where she's at. And, although we are beyond excited to see her, i'm still enjoying the "you're-pregnant" looks when we go out. woohoo! Maybe God knew I needed some more of that since I seemed to not get much at the beginning. I'm feeling great too, which brings me back to being thankful of running on a treadmill. If I were outside, I would probably lose track of time and keep going. This meandering of my thoughts leads me to the newest fun development in the Smith household...we have a new car! Miss Daisy, the car that Allison and I grew up in since 1994, was lovingly given to us by my parents since our former Dodge Ram did not have a backseat for Bella. It was fun riding in it again, but a little nostalgic not being in the backseat reading a book while we drove to California or driving to Hobbs to go to to church. Now, it was me and my family in it. Driving it away from Lovington, listening to KZOR, and chatting with Allison on the phone was a moment that brought back a ton of memories! After a little while with precious Miss Daisy (my dad named her), we started having a little bit of steering fluid leaking problems (notice this in the picture). And, the fix would be worth more than the car so we decided to start looking. We went to Austin yesterday and traded Miss Daisy in for our new fun-lovin' Miss ______. (I'm taking requests for the new name.)

Now, maybe Bella will really know that she has everything she needs out here...her room is done, her bag is packed, she has a brand new car waiting for her, she has a jogging stroller to see the outside with mommy, and two overly-excited, giddy, and a little distracted (because of her) parents. We'll keep you updated!

3 days to go!!

We are due on Saturday! Sometimes we still can't believe that in the matter of a couple of days, she will be here. It's an exciting time right now and Miss Bella seems quite content where she's at. On Sunday, my 6'4 husband and I went on a 5 mile walk at a park here in Temple...which I was having to keep up with him. yay! We had heard that worked for other couples. After our great walk we were laughing because she's used to mommy running 4-5 miles a day so walking 5 miles just probably rocked her to sleep. Oh well, we tried. But, obviously it didn't work since we're still in our waiting period. I've been having more braxton hicks lately but nothing more than that. She's still very active and let's us rub her feet when she stretches. So cute! To display our waiting with patience (or our best attempt at it), we took some pictures which we lovingly entitled "Bella, Come Out!!!". Poor girl. This is her mommy and very excited daddy documenting our conversations with her. We also bought a new camera, a Nikon D40 so we've had fun breaking it in before we take pictures of our center of attention! Hope you enjoy!

38-39!! Final week!!

Hi all,
We are in the final week and are waiting for baby Bella to say hello to the world.... and trying to do it patiently!! Her room is ready, her bag is packed, her daddy is really, really ready! This week has mainly been filled with working and waiting and resting. Here's the updated picture of what we look like now. Stay tuned for future updates and hopefully a picture of her precious face this next week. 6 more days!

On another note, fall is my favorite season! With the colors changing, smells, cool mornings and evenings, pumpkins, spices, warm banana bread, yummy coffee, wind, I could go on and on about the beauty of fall. And, it's been beautiful here lately. Mike and I are going to go walking this afternoon and it makes me want to take out her fun green, earthy jogging stroller. But, it would probably look funny for a prego woman to be pushing a stroller without a baby inside. Maybe I could put a stuffed animal in there to be a "sleeping baby". No, i'll just wait. But, for fun here's a pic of her neato jogging stoller (that works as a travel system too).

Top 10 things

Since i've been being nostalgic lately (and, cleaning out every drawer, closet, and room possible, including cleaning thoroughly underneath the kitchen sink - can I get a 'what what') I thought i'd reflect on the top things I've loved about pregnancy and top things I haven't so much enjoyed during pregnancy. So, here goes the yucky ones first.

Top 10 things i've not enjoyed about pregnancy:
1. Waking up in the first trimester SICK and walking around my neighborhood at 2am to fend off the nausea.
2. Pregnancy jeans with the new secret belly fit....uhm, not comfortable because they slide down all the time.
3. Swollen feet...I guess I can't really complain about that since i've only had it a couple of times lately. But, still no fun!
4. No coffee...except decaf. But, it's not the same when the placebo-effect doesn't work for that day.
5. Your boss saying your color has come back in your face after the nausea-part is over! (I really enjoy my boss so this was comical!)
6. Having to get off of the treadmill 6 times during my 4-5 mile run to go to the bathroom...oh the joy of a little one on the bladder.
7. The "freak out" moments when I call my mom or talk to Gayla and they reassure me that i'm ok and i'll be ok.
8. Not having a pregnant belly for a while. That's part of the fun of pregnancy, right!
9. Taking naps. I'm usually not a nap taker but this has taught me to become one!
10. Not being able to eat as much because there's no more room.

Top 10 things i've loved during pregnancy:
1. Excited grandparents: Hearing my mom giggle every time I've called her on the phone. She'll ask about Bella and i'll say she's doing fine. And, mom will just giggle for a while! Hearing dad giggle and say "awe" and seeing him feel her move for the first time! Hearing Susy say "I just can't believe it" over and over when she first found out. When Tommy introduced me as "This is our daughter-in-law. She's carrying our grandbaby" at Christie's wedding. The no-name phase has begun!
2. Feeling her reach up to touch Mike's hand and keep it there for a while. Already holding her daddy's hand.
3. Showing off the belly!!!!!!!!!! And, having a little more color in my face...this is a big deal from a very blonde, pasty, non-tanned girl.
4. Being introduced to meat! I've never been much of a meat eater until pregnancy and i'm actually enjoying it now. Before, I could live off of hummus and cucumbers. Now, I've craved meat and cheese the most throughout pregnancy...this little girl is going to be an athlete. I do have to say that this is one of Mike's favorite parts of pregnancy too! When we were in our childbirth classes, the teacher asked all the fathers what there favorite part of pregnancy was. The other dads said "the excitement of feeling her" or "knowing i'll see the baby soon"...you know, the sweet daddy things. What did my honest hubby say? "My wife likes meat!" One of the funniest moments so far!
5. Being able to spend a LONG time doing nothing except laughing while we are playing with her.
6. Getting the belly looks at Walmart or at work!!! I think I may have mentioned that before!
7. Laughing while i'm running when she moves around. Maybe she is running too! I'm glad i'm on a treadmill though because I get excited about having a baby and can't go any faster. Yay for a steady pace that I have to follow!
8. Did I mention how fun it is to have the belly!!!
9. Waddling a little bit lately!
10. The sheer joy, amazement, blessing, and privilege of our Itty Bitty Smithy. Thank you Lord for entrusting her to Mike and I.

Nostalgia....

I thought i'd devote a post to my nostalgic phase of pregnancy i'm in. I was sitting in the waiting room the other day with little Bella moving and rolling. I heard a girl go up to the counter and ask for a pregnancy test and I remember doing that. I remember I was about to jump out of my skin from excitement when I asked for a test. I could not quit smiling. And, when I get excited I can't talk, I just have to laugh and squeal before any real words come out. So, I kindof did that and finally got the test. I hadn't told Mike yet either so it was a bit surreal to truly find out if we truly were pregnant. I remember giving the test to the lady in the lab and wanting to hug her and make sure she took care of it and didn't lose it. But, she seemed to not care that I took the little baggie to her in all smiles. I think I looked like this for a while! This is right after I found out about Bella.

Back to now: Also in the waiting room were women at all stages of their pregnancy. Some looked like they were in the first trimester, with the green faces, others were barely showing, and others could barely get out of their chairs. I remembered waiting in that room when I was sick at the beginning and calling my phone in a panic about being a mother. Thanks mom for encouraging me through those 2 phone calls...ok, so it was more like 10 freak-out phone calls which included me crying and saying "I don't know how to be a mom", "I'm going to get fat", "Oh my goodness, labor what???", "I don't want to be sick forever", and other first-time-mommy freak out statements. My mom was awesome during those times!!! And, then when I was 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 months along and "pooching" out a little so people would know I was pregnant. Yes, I did want to show Bella off and let everyone know. So, I stood with my back arched a little every time I waited for the doctor until I finally started showing!

Back to now: It was a bittersweet moment while I was sitting because in less than 3 weeks Bella will enter the world and no longer be in me. I know that the fun has ONLY barely begun but it sure has been fun to be pregnant. Especially now that i'm finally showing and am getting the pregnant-belly stares in Wal-mart (can I get a what-what!) and waddling a little bit. I'm LOVING this part of showing off our little girl. What a joy it is to carry this precious (and very active) little baby. She's more responsive right now to Mike than ever. I'm just soaking it all in...from the beginning test, to the 2am walks/run to fend off nausea, to the "Woohoo for the belly" thoughts, to feeling her hold her foot up when Mike puts his hand on my stomach. Thank you Lord for precious life!

36-37 weeks...a shower....and a sister

I am now 24 days until our due date - about 3 weeks to go! We had our second weekly visit and everything looks great for Bella and I. So, now it's just the waiting game. Over the past few weeks, my great friends at our church threw me a FANTABULOUS baby shower, complete with baby food tasting, "decorate-your-angel-food-cake-something-baby", and try to measure Emily's stomach with a piece of string. The baby food tasting was, uhm, gross at times. Poor kiddos for having to eat some of that stuff. I'll definitely have to try the flavors out or make my own for little Bella. I decorated my angel food cake like a face with a really big smile. However, the icing was a little droopy so it looks like a lot of slobber instead of a big smile. Maybe Bella will smile really big and drool a lot!! The next game was so much fun. The girls had to guess my waistline with a piece of string. And, now my bestess friend, Christina, guessed the closest. Gotta love a girl who doesn't overestimate a prego stomach. But, some others who will remain semi unnamed (aka. Holly and Allison) guessed way, way over what my size is. Uhm, depressing prego moment. Just kidding! It caused a lot of laughs!!



My sister was so sweet in coming for the shower and it was great to have her here. We had some nostalgic moments throughout the weekend. When we were little, we used to make Peewee specials with our cousin Cybil at our grandmother's house. So, on a whim we decided to go get ice cream and Oreos and introduce the fantastic creation to Mike. It was fun doing that again with her. All in all, it's been great so far! And, we are super excited for the wee one to join our family.

35 weeks and counting....

Well, I can't believe it's five weeks away! Here are some more prego pictures from my mom. And Bella's room update again. The Bert, Ernie, and Big Bird were mine when I was born so those are neat to now put in her room. I had a bad dream the other night that I went into labor and went to the hospital where they told me I had about 2-5 hours to go. And, I realized I hadn't cleaned for company or put her room completely together. So, I rushed home to clean and put the dresser together and decorate and then went back to the hospital. ha! I'm not sure that would really happen but it was funny. And, it made me decide to finish her room. It's still a work in progress but I thought i'd post some more pictures anyways. Bella and I are doing great. We have our weekly checkups starting on the 15th!! Here we go!!!

8.5 months photo shoot and trip to New Mexico!

We went to my mom's to do maternity pictures. And, as you can tell by looking at them she did a fantastic job! She is still working on some of them but I thought i'd go ahead and post what we have so far. Great job mom and thanks for doing these!! We had a great time in Lovington outside in the backyard. And, it was great to run in the cool, New Mexico breeze!

8 months and Bella's room update numero 2!

Hi everyone,
Sorry about the late posting. August has been busy! I traveled again to California to present our project to the National Alzheimer's Conference, Mike started school, and we traveled to see both of our parents. So, I apologize for the delay in updates. Here's the 32 week picture and an update on Bella's room. We decided to repaint her room green...the yellow was not working for us. Mike repainted, set up all the furniture, put up the wanescoating, and I made her curtains and pillows. Remember, it's still a work in progress. This little girl is moving more and more these days and now we can feel her little feet 'rollin' across my belly. Surreal moments!! I think she really like to stretch or is running like her mommy...maybe both! She seems to run with me sometimes these days!!







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