Smith is MIGHTY!

Joel wanted to name Smith, "MIGHTY". Really, no joke! He thought that if you have a name like "MIGHTY" then you will go on to do "MIGHTY" things in life. I am glad we didn't name him that, but I think that he would have fit the name, if we had. When Smith was 4 days old, he had to be re-admitted because of Jaundice. I stayed with him over night to nurse him. It was very emotional, and scary for me. It was totally routine, and happens all the time, but I was still a wreck! I wanted to be at HOME with my baby. When he left the hospital the first time, his belirubin score was 11, normal. When he was admitted 4 days later is was 22, WAY above normal. Our goal was to get the score back to 11, 12, 13ish. In order to test the score, every 4 hours he had to have his foot pricked, and then squished to fill a vile of blood. It was traumatic for him and I both! Every 4 hours, I had to go visit the snack bar, or vending machines. I couldn't be in ear shot, or I would attack like a momma bear! By the next morning his score was 13. He is mighty! His poor poor little tiny foot!



His first day at church, Joel was able to administer Smiths blessing. Something all babies receive in our church. It is where he was given his name, and a few other blessings daddy thought were appropriate for him. It was no surprise that the word "MIGHTY" was used, but not for his name, phew! Smith looked precious on his blessing day, so I had to steal a few shots!




Lulu and Papa made it down for the special event, and to meet their new grandson! Papa participated in the blessing too. Thank you dad! And we caught our first family of four photo. The big bags under my eyes, say it all! I really try to look put together, but at times, there is not enough concealer in the world! It's ok... you can judge me!

Los dulces

... means "candy" in Spanish. Our friends vacationed in Mexico over the holidays, and brought us back some los dulces. It's an acquired taste! Lots of hot chile. We tried it all though, and enjoyed Noras discussed reaction. It's the thought that counts, and we are so glad you thought of us... Thanks Cisneros!

REAL men wear pink!

While at Target last night, I found a bargin! I love bargins, but this one had to be approved by daddy. You see, when I had Nora, I made sure to get mostly gender neutral "stuff". My sister in law let me borrow a bouncy seat for Nora, so we didn't have one for Smith. So when I found this deal at Target, and it was pink... I weighed the pros and cons, called Joel, and he said what every wife wants to hear during this phone call, "Whatever makes you happy."So we bought it, and set it up for our little man. Even though it's pink, we still think he looks good in it, although... he may think otherwise.

Noraism: Wishing on a Star

Last night Nora and I had a "girls night out". She got to stay up late, and was able to tell us where to go, and what to do. She chose to go to Target, (that's my girl), and wanted to get Princess and Frog panties. With Princess Frog on the brain: we left the house, and it was dark out. Very VERY rarely does my child exist outside when it is dark. She usually turns into a pumpkin around 7pm. But last night she saw some stars in the sky, and was EXCITED.

Nora: Mommy, what do you wish for?
Mommy: I wish for a happy daughter, who listens to her mommy! Nora, what do you wish for?
Nora: I wish for curly hair! A ring from my prince, and Princess and Frog panties.

I really thought the princess thing was a phase, and maybe it is... but will this phase go away before she thinks she really truly is a princess? Please?

Lets call it... UNTITLED

Pay it forward...

How sad, that I haven't blogged in a really long time. We will see how long my favorite little boy gives me, before he beckons me, aka... my yumminess!!!

I had to blog about something that brought tears to my eyes, and I couldn't wait another moment.

Last night, we went to dinner with some very dear friends of ours. We were celebrating Joe's birthday! Yay... Happy Birthday JOE!!! We love you!!! Anyways, we went to his favorite place. I local/trendy/happening place that we have never been before, but we loved. Five 01 City Grill. We have Lulu and papa in town, so we left them home with Nora, which they loved, but the birthday boy was less in love with! (Nora and Joe are like BFFs, or something!!!) Smith made his first public appearance! So, Saturday night, three couples, new baby, fun restraint. While our friend Dana was holding, googling over Smith, the table next to ours, was also admiring/googling over him. They were 2 beautiful women in their early-mid 60s (was my guess), they looked like they could be sisters, but also best friends. They asked about Smith, how old, how big, the usual... and then one of the women proceeded to tell us about her 42year old baby, who is 240 lbs, and 6ft 2. I could tell that she was either an amazing grandma, or had a BIG mommas boy somewhere. She left to use the restroom, and stopped to talk personally to me about her baby, and how beautiful she thought Smith was. She went out of her way to make me feel very special. I was touched. As they left, they again stopped to talk to us, and gave a little bit of mommy advice, which I always think is precious. I kept thinking what a sweet lady she was, and that she really made me feel warm and fuzzy with her special comments. If I could adopt a local grammy... she is who I would look for! =) After the women were long and gone, our waitress came to our table, and said, "The women at the table, were so impressed with your party, and they thought you were all so happy, and such beautiful families, they picked up your bill." Now, I have heard of these sort of things happening, but never has it ever happened to me. I felt like the poor distraught waitress that was left $100.00 tip. Our whole party was so ecstatic. It was such a nice gesture. It was nice that we got out of having to pay, but what was even nicer, was that she made it a point to make me feel good. She could have left without paying our bill, and I would have been just as impressed with her generosity.

So, sometime this week, I will pay it forward, and I would encourage anyone else to do the same. It doesn't have to cost any money, or it could cost as much as you can afford. Just the fact, that you can make someone else feel good about themselves in such a simple way. These are just a few pictures. The guys... The girls... and the booth of 2 special ladies!

Christmas Eve...

Yes, the day we were sent home from the hospital was Christmas Eve. It was such an exciting time for us all. Not only was Santa coming over, but so was the baby brother. When we left the hospital, Smith checked out perfect. His tests all came back great, and his levels were all normal. His billirubin level was at 11, which is normal. (More later) Nora was ecstatic to see Smith and I both. Because of the swine flu, there is a ban on anyone under 18 entering the hospital, including siblings of newborns. So it was really sad for me not to see her for a few days. She was excited to see us both, but I think she was more happy to see Smith, or as she says, "Scooby Doo and Smith". She thinks we should all have two names. I am "Mommy, and Kirstynn", she is, "Nora and Moo Child" (some name Joel came up with, don't ask...)


Nora loved the baby Jesus story. We talked about it every night, and she had her own little figurines that she played with. Sometimes the princess would make an appearance at the stable, but we tried to keep it as reverent as possible.


On Christmas Eve our great friends Candice and Joe brought over Christmas dinner. And not just any dinner... this was a special dinner, and I was honored, that they chose us to share it with. Candices "Nana" is a very old Mexican woman living in SanDiego, and although I have never met Nana, Candice speaks of her very highly, and I can't help to think if we ever met, that I would love her as well. She makes tamales. It is a very labor intensive project, but every year for Christmas she spends hours making hundreds of these yummy mexican food. Because she loves her _______ so much, she shipped several dozen to Candice here in Virginia. And yup... you guessed it, they shared some with us. They were incredibly delicious, and I could have not asked for a better dinner my first night home. WAIT... the only thing that wold have made it better would have been some of my Nana's labor intensive apple cookies, or maybe a few cannolis, or oohh... maybe- stop... I can't eat like I used to be able to. I have to focus on getting this belly in shape... but if I could have just one more tamale, and one cannoli, then I would be the luckiest gal there is!

Before Nora went to sleep on Christmas eve, she opened a pair of jammies from her lulu and papa. And we set out a treat for the Jolly man himself, and his reindeer. I was so tickled at how smart my kid can be sometimes. We asked her what we should leave for the reindeer. She said, "Breakfast". I thought... well, that's silly, and asked her, "What kind of breakfast?" She said, "Oatmeal". Oh, well I guess reindeer do eat oats... so we left the reindeer a dish of rolled oats. They are messier than carrots, but I think they enjoyed the grainy break.

Calling all angels...

As I sit here on Christmas Eve,I have a hard time not reflecting on the Angel Gabriel that warned Mary and Joseph that they would bring a Savior into the world. And that his name would be Jesus. From that warning, world changing events continued to take place.

When I married the love of my life, my world changed. It changed once again, when we brought a darling daughter into it. And again, our world changed when we delivered our boy on Tuesday evening. To say that angels were present, would be a total and complete understatement.

As we went to bed on Monday night, we knew the events that were to transpire the next day. We had a plan. With very little sleep that night, morning came. We received a phone call at 6ish am, that slightly dampened our plans for Nora. We had 15 minutes to come up with a new plan for her day. That new plan came in the form an angel named Kathy. Kathy (a teenager from church) received a phone call VERY early, asking if she could spend the day with Nora, so we could deliver the baby. We rushed to pick her up, and left her with our sleeping daughter. Already, my heart started to break. Knowing that Nora would be fine, I felt sad that her day had changed already, and I didn't even have the chance to explain it to her. Oh well, I couldn't worry about that right now. I had other things to think about... PUSH!

Joel and I arrived at the hospital, checked in, and met my nurse. She wasn't the angel that my grandma was when I was in labor the first time, but she was the next best angel in line. I know my grandma sent her to me. This angels name was Janice. Janices daughter had a baby the day before, so she was in grandma mode. Around 9am, Janice and the attending, broke my water. They were seemingly surprised by the amount of water that was released. "Much much more water then usual." All that meant to me, was maybe a smaller baby? Less weight to lose later? PUSH!!! It was another hour until they checked me. I had dilated another cm, but hadn't felt any contractions. They started the petocin at a very low dosage. Another hour went by, and NOTHING. So they upped the petocin. OH WOW! OW! I have a very low tolerance for pain, so as soon as there was a contraction that made me cry, I ordered my epidural. Am I glad that I did! Meet angel number 3... Kevin. Kevin was the anestesis. When he showed up, I wanted to kiss him. Then I explained to him my epidural story from my first delivery. I felt that it didn't take the first time, and the deliver was way more painful then it could have been. So, he was aware of my desires. LITTLE TO NO PAIN! Kevin was happy to oblige, and was so excited to make all my painless dreams come true. While he was administering the epidural, he received 3 more orders from other patients. So, I was glad that I called when I did. PHEW! The drugs did its job... for a little while. When the labor increased, so did the pain. Janice was not comfortable with how heavy I had to breath through the contractions. So, she called Kevin, and asked him to come back. He came back, and administered some more of something WONDERFUL! With no pain at all, we were preparing to start pushing. The babies heart rate was very low when I laid on my left side, so they were very cautious of the numbers on the monitor. Around 4pm, my angel friend Candice arrived. I had invited her to be a part of our day, and she arrived at the perfect time. Her and her husband are celebrities in our house but today, they were both angles. Nora loves her husband Joe. It made me so happy that I would have a friend there during this event. She was in charge of the camera, which was another reason I needed her there. I had a midwife that had been checking up on me, and when it was time to push, at 4:30pm, she was right there. She told me that the baby was in position, and that position was... FACE UP. She had a fancy term for it... O.P. or P.O. one of those. I guess I wasn't too concerned, because I had no feeling whatsoever. I started pushing, or what I thought was pushing... it is an odd feeling, when you are told to push, and you can't really feel it. Again, this was new for me. This sort of painless, "feeless" pushing went on for a good hour. I was told, "You're doing so good! You're great! Good job!" All the things that an amazing angel-like husband is supposed to say. Janice also helped to motivate me during this process. After pushing for what seemed like FOREVER! I asked them to... are you ready for this... I asked them to take the epidural off. I was worried that I would continue pushing for hours and hours, and I just wanted to get this over with! So, they took me off the epidural. Then I started screaming, and maybe cursing a couple of times. The doctor came in to check on us. He was the jolliest, roundest, cutest, ob I have ever seen in my life! Such a doll! Or should I say, such an angel! My only fear was how big his hands and arms were. Especially when they said, he was going to flip the baby. I guess that newer/younger doctors don't like to "flip" the baby, they just take the mom in for a c-section. So, I am so blessed that it worked out the way it did. So, now it was just a matter of pushing my brains out, without eyeballs popping out of my head! At some point, Dr. Big hands Jolly, decided we needed to use the vacuum. At that time, I didn't even care, what they did, this kid had to get out! Dr. Jolly used the vacuum with all his strength, twice, and on the third try, he was out. When I delivered Nora the experience was beautiful, spiritual, emotional, less physical, and I was so happy the first minute of her life. With this delivery... I was exhausted, angry, in pain, it was a totally different experience. It took a few minutes, but once I had processed with just happened, I was a new person, and I had just brought a new person into this world. Smith David Evans was born at 6:30pm on Tuesday December 22nd, 2009. He weighed 7lbs and 3oz. He was really 7lbs and 2.8oz... bit I am taking credit for 3oz. Here are some pictures from the day. I am quite behind in posting this, and since I see the light at the end of the blogging tunnel, I am going to quickly put the pictures up.

The angles that were present on that day, made it possible to bring Smith in this world with more ease and comfort. Had it not been for the numerous prayers and support throughout the country, a few angels may have not shown up. The most amazing angel of the day, was my brand new baby boy. He only sleeps, eats, and poops, but he does it cuter than any other baby I know! He has brought so much joy in our home. His older sister is so protective of him. She wears hand sanitizer around her neck, and uses it often, and offers it to all who come visit. She has her grandparents in town for the week, so I am a little more forgiving of her sudden hearing disorder. Maybe next week she will be able to listen better. For this week, I will admit... I feel a little guilty sticking her in a deserved time out. So, thank you for all the many thoughts and prayers that our friends and family pour out to us. We are sooo blessed.


This is the last picture of my tummy before it disappears! (And by disappears, I mean babyless... by no means did it disappear... YET!)

Breathing through contractions... I still had a sense of humor!
I had the greatest coach. He was awesome, and continues to be dad, cook, mom, cleaner, and Prince Naveen. I love him!
Breathing through contractions... steady as a rock! OH BOY! No sense of humor... I didn't know I had veins in my forehead that made me look so tough!
Well, this was my first reaction when they put Smith on me. It is a very honest photo!
Like I said... 7lbs 3oz sounds so much tougher.
Collecting foot prints.
Dr. Jolly... do you see the size of those HANDS!
Me yelling... "KELLY CLARKSON!!!" Ripping off my epidural felt like a back wax would feel. But it felt so much better than what I had just done, so it wasn't so bad.
Janice. Super awesome wonderful nurse. She will for sure be in heaven.
I think Daddy cried. He didn't cry the first time, so I think he was emotional and happy for both of us.
Candice... she is amazing, and what she just witnessed made us even better friends. I hope I didn't scare her out of having children.
And Joe... if my kids ever show up missing, we will send the police there first. Of course they will kick and scream that they have to come back home. Joe is way more fun than mom and dad.
Our little bundle. Our Christmas miracle. Our newest addition in our family.

Boy was I wrong!

I haven't left the house for three days now! I have just been home prepping my "nest"!!! There have been reports of snow, but I though, nah... not here. Tonight I felt like I should take a walk on the beach to maybe get some fresh air, and hopefully feel some stronger contractions. When I opened the door, I almost cried!!!!

WHHHYYY??? From what I hear, people down here do not know how to drive in the snow, and although I would like to think I am a seasoned pro, I don't want to risk getting in a wreck with some local driver! That would be bad!

Random GOING ons...

Lets hope this is my last post "with child"! I am not due for two more weeks, but I will be demanding induction this week! Last week I was diagnosed with pruritus. Basically a kidney problem that allows salts to pass through, and cause my skin to itch. I have been itching so bad, that I am getting sores. The prescribed me a steroid, and some prescription strength antihistamine. The steriods are only a week long prescription, and have not helped at all. And The antihistamines knock me out cold, so I can only take them at night when I am not needed in any other capacity. The only real solution is to deliver the baby. While watching A Baby Story, there was a girl that had the same condition, and they induced her two weeks early. So... here's to hoping. Wish me luck!

Other happenings...

I have done a couple more craft projects. I have to say as of lately, it is really nice, to sit.... and just work on a project. It is my way of relaxing!




Last weekend the three and a half of us went to the aquarium. They had some fun things going on, and Joel rarely gets to go with us, so it was fun to show him all the new things there!





The other day, Joel and Nora were playing, while I was crafting, and Joel was singing sooo loud. I had Joel grab the camera, and take a shot of Nora's reaction. Then Nora started singing, using my pump apparatus as a megaphone. The two of them... crack me up! I am sure the neighbors think we are nuts, but I would much rather my house be filled with LOUD SONG, then loud unfriendliness.


I let Joel take some pictures of me. He is practicing, because while I am delivering, he is going to have to coach me, update my FB, and take pictures. So, he will be pretty busy.


Other than that, the only real thing going on is CHRISTMAS. We haven't really planned anything. We are so excited to have our family from Michigan come. We went to meet Santa. Since Jesus received 3 presents on Christmas, Santa will be bringing 3 presents for our kids each year. This year, Nora asked him for, "1)Princess and Frog toy, with the prince 2) Walking Sleeping Beauty, (no idea what that is???) 3) A babeeee brutter."

Thats about it. I made myself a treat today, that will hopefully bring me the luck that I need this week. So, I better start in on it!

YES mom... I will probably eat most of it, and of course I will share with Joel.