BABY ELSIE has ARRIVED!!

Monday, Dec 17, at my Dr's appointment he told me that I was dilated to a 3. We decided that if I had not had the baby by Sunday that we were going to induce labor. WOOHOO. But I didn't really want to wait. I wanted to have her as soon as possible to not be so close to Christmas. So I started to try home remedies to try and get it started. Over the next few days I would start to have contractions but they wouldnt last as long as they were supposed to or they werent as close together as they needed to be. It was getting very frustrating. Finally on Wednesday they were 5 minutes apart lasting 1 minute each time. Jordan and I went to lunch and the whole time they were consistent and then went home to wait til they had been like that for a while... but we got home and they stopped. So we tried some more things to get the contractions to start up again.

At 9pm we decided that it was time to go to the hospital. They were the same distance they were that morning, but I was in back labor so they were pretty painful and I had not practiced any coping skilling for the pain. I am not sure that they would have kept me at the hospital when I arrived because I hadnt dilated any more that I was on Monday but my blood pressure was 170 so they needed to have my stay and try to speed up the labor.

I got the epidural as soon as the offered it to me because if she was going to continue to face the wrong direction I did not want to keep feeling it. I was more scared to get that than to actual give birth, at least that's what I thought at that point. But it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. Its just a scary thought to have someone put a needle in your spine. After that I just wanted to take a nap for a little before she came. I thought of it like a plane ride, or a long car ride. If you fall asleep time goes by faster and then the anticipated event will happen. It wasn't that restful though. And right before they started to have me push I was able to feel my contractions on my left side. Not that fun!

A little after 1 am on December 20 the nurse finally had me start pushing. It was just her and Jordan. We both had not planned on watching the birth but Jordan wasn't really given a choice and after the 2nd push I asked to watch with the mirror because they were insisting that they could see the head and I didn't believe them. It was a lot easier pushing while watching because then I was able to see the progress. After the 4th push the nurse had me wait for the Dr to arrive because she was ready to come out. Fortunately, he was there in the next couple of minutes and I was able to push again. That was the last time and our little girl was here. I didnt expect to get choked up and teary when she was there. I didnt expect to wish she was closer while they cleaned her up and be a little jealous that Jordan could be by her. I was trying not to cry because I felt stupid crying about it, but I couldnt help but let a few tears slide down my face. It was a very special moment and I assume that most mothers feel that way when they give birth to their children. I couldnt wait for the nurse to bring Elsie to me to hold. I was tired, emotional, excited, and a little scared to meet my little girl. But it was perfect. She is beautiful and perfect. It's weird loving someone so much the moment you meet.

I have always heard that giving birth is a beautiful thing and I never really understood it. How could something so gross sounding be beautiful? But thinking about my experience I can see how it can be beautiful, not the actual birth part-which was not as disgusting as I expected it to be-but the spirit that was there and the meeting of our little girl. Those were beautiful, touching, perfect moments.

Elsie Marie Smith

born Dec 20, 2012

5 lbs 8 oz, 18.5 in

arrived 1:32 am

It's Beginning To Look Alot Like Christmas

Over the last few years living with roommates, I have accumulated a little bit of Christmas decorations but not too much because I have always gone home for the holiday. This year is our first year being married and since we are due so close to Christmas we can not travel for the holiday. Bummer. So I wanted to make some decorations to make the holiday a little bit more special our little family.

One of our FHE's we went and picked out a tree, decorated it, made hot chocolate, and I copied Dawn and made a wreath out of the trimmings. Love it!

I saw several burlap tree skirts and I thought that I would give it a try. Will not use burlap ever again. HATE IT! so itchy! and it was not an easy fabric to work with. But for this year this tree skirt will do and it does it job nicely.

I had some extra burlap....

and of course everyone needs some stockings.

Another FHE Jordan and I and a couple of other couples from our ward went to the Zoo Lights. It was nice spending time with them but it was FREEZING!!

Getting Ready for Baby

A couple things that I did to get ready for Elsie to get here.

I saw a similar dresser on pinterest and I just fell in love with it. Christiana's sister gave us a dresser that was all black and I wanted to redo it for Elsie. When I started stripping it though I realized there was like 5 different layers of paint on it. It took 2 coats of stripper and A LOT of standing to get the paint off and start with a smooth surface. Dont look too closely though because the gray border does not match up on the edges because i cut them with a kitchen knife. ;) I love how it turned out though.

I got a little swollen while I was pregnant.

I saw a tutorial of a faux chenille blanket on pinterest and so I decided to give it a shot. This is the finished product. It took forever to cut all those lines and almost 3 spools of thread to sew them all

The car seat cover that I made from another tutorial that was on pinterest. It doesnt fit exactly so I need to remake it a little.

Katt was nice enough to give us a bassinet but it was not that cute and I stored my shoes in it when we were moving so it was dirty. This is the before and after of it.

all of the wonderful things that I received from my baby showers. I will have to buy a few things but I think that we were set up pretty good.

October :)

I figured it was time for a blog update... not that most people will see it because I only have 4 followers since I switched to this blog.... Oh well. This has been October so far. :)

I really wanted some crepes one night and fortunately they are so simple that we had all the stuff for them. I was really excited about it. While I was making them Jordan asked, skeptically, if I even knew how to make them. He does not have faith in my cooking skills apparently. But I think that they turned out pretty good.

I bought this window to use for our reception decorations. I wanted to put jordan and my time line in each of the window panes...

Oct 9.. He first laid eyes on her

Oct 26 He had her with his dance moves

Nov 5 First kiss

Dec 31 he confessed that he loved her

April 7 She said yes

June 31 Started our lives together

But I just didnt have time for that so during conference I painted this onto the window. I like how it turned out. I am going to put pictures in the other panes eventually but for now this will do.

I used to have a show organizer on the back of my closet but our new place has folding doors so my old one just wouldn't work anymore. So for a few months now our closet has been a mess on the floor and half or jordans shoes were still packed. So FINALLY while Jordan was gone (Because he is picky) I went and picked one out and now i feel so much better about my closet!

27 weeks :)

Our little girl is not shy about showing that she is in fact a girl but she is very shy about showing her face. It is probably a good thing though because those 3D pictures can look pretty creepy. Check out that bicep though!!!

Since Jordan started working nights he was having a hard time sleeping during the day because our bedroom window faced east, making it extra bright in the morning. So these are the blackout drapes that I made. I wish that I had taken pictures of tabling them on the floor by taping them down. It was very creative.

I was craving biscuits and gravy one morning and this is how Jordan and I entertained ourselves while waiting for our food at IHOP. Straight syrup is not that delicious.

Got my biscuits and gravy!!

Since starting Lele Sweets with Christiana I needed a bigger space for my crafts. Presenting my craft wall! Beautiful ain't it!

Savannah and Logan came to visit last weekend and a bunch of us friends got together to go to dinner. It's so hard to find married friends that want to hang out. Jordan was at training so he was not able to make it but we were all able to get together for breakfast before sav and log drove back to AZ.

29 weeks. A little update.... my pre pregnancy clothes dont really fit anymore, a few things like cardigans but mostly I wear the maternity clothes that I was so generously blessed with. I have gained a total of 15 pounds so far and my belly button is still an inny... i dont think that it will be that way for much longer though. Most days I feel pretty good but every once in a while I have blah days where I just feel big and gross and uncomfortable. So far so good though.

Jordan talking to the baby. He likes to tell her what a good athlete she is gonna be. I guess because he isn't getting a boy first he gonna make her a tom-boy. We'll see how that goes.

Our Random Trip to Idaho

Several of Jordans siblings planned on going up to Idaho to visit some family up there for Memorial Day weekend. We were not planning on going because Jordan was supposed to go to Florida that weekend for 2 weeks but the night before they told him that he could stay and do a make up so he can attend school. So we ended up going up there. Here are a few pictures from the trip.

Yes this is the man that I married.

He is very silly

A slide at the girls camp.

Check out that preggo belly!

These were dangerous.

Jordan and Beck

Since being married to Jordan I have heard a lot about huckleberry shakes and how they have the best ones in Driggs Idaho. So of course we had to get some while we were there.

Jackson Hole, Wyoming

We went shooting for a little.

The Sister-in-Laws. I think that the smith boys have very similar taste in women.

San Francisco

Afrer Jordan and I got married we had some traveling to do to finish up wedding activities including spending some time in california for an open house there. We were able to go out a few days earlier than the open house so that I could go to San Francisco because I never have been there before.

A view of the forrest that we drove through

We stopped by the Temple in San Fran and they have a garden on the roof. Jordan quite sneekily made sure that this was the first time that I was able to see the bay area.

The Japanese Gardens in San Fran. I saw a picture of this bridge on pinterest where someone said they wanted to go there but didnt know where it was except somewhere in san fran. It was quite a surprise to see it in the gardens.

When I first met Jordan I thought that he kinda looked like a turtle. I dont think that anymore though.

The Next morning there we took a tandum bike ride across the golden gate bridge. It was a little chilly. I had to wear 2 sweaters and my hoodie pulled way tight over my head when we were riding.

The Golden Gate Bridge.

and of course we had to go see a giants game while we were there.

We got some pretty good seats and we won the game. I spent the last 2 inning throwing up in the bathroom. Everyone was eating these garlic fries. That and the smell of beer made me nauseous the whole time.

I really liked San Francisco. I loved the hills and all the buildings. It was very cool. We were also able to go to Pier 39 and get the best icecream in the city there. At least thats what we were told. And the first night we went to the science museum because they have a "night life" where it turns into a kinda night club where its only 21 and older but all the exhibits are still open. I dont have any pictures from the actual open house but it was good and I am so grateful for all the work that everyone did to put it on for us!