Archive for February, 2008

addendum…

So as you all can see, Rich has been working on an Extreme Blog Makeover (why should the people on T.V. have all the fun?) and you will see some major and minor changes on the Smith Family Blog. It’s a new year, and we wanted a new look. We will keep you updated as we add some cool new features!

For now, I just wanted to post a few additional photos from Alana’s Six Week Session. The amazing Amber Holritz completed her post-processing on these images and there were a few that I just got to see for the first time that I had to share with you!

Amber never ceases to amaze us with her photojournalistic brilliance!

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Fun family mirror time! Alana and I do this everyday while we are walking through the kitchen together!

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I love love love this photo of Rich holding Alana is his hand. Beautiful.

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On a side note, Alana and I will be leaving Sunday morning for Fort Lauderdale to hang out with my family, while Rich takes off for Asheville, N.C. to attend a week-long photography workshop! So, there may not be too much blogging going on next week, but we will be sure to fill you in on our adventures when we get back!

Love to all!

alana’s video debut!

I have a little catching up to do…

Early in the week, Kellie and I had a fun girls day together.

Pre-Alana, Kellie and I used to hang out every Thursday, but things got a little, well, busy later on in my pregnancy (while I was nesting and getting ready for the little one), and since then, we haven’t seen much of each other. Not nearly enough.

So, we decided to get intentional again and see each other as many Tuesdays as possible!

So, last Tuesday Alana and I drove to Kellie’s house and had a fun day. We went to a super cute little burger joint called “The Spot” which has been there for 70 years!

Here we are enjoying lunch…

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And then we headed back to Kellie’s while she worked on some cards (remember her amazing products from her Etsy store? Keep checking back, because she is always creating new incredibly cute things!). I attempted to get some scrapbooking done, but rather, I ended up getting this adorable video of Alana.

Is it just me, or is she hilarious?

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This is Alana about five minutes after the video! I re-swaddled, and voila! A slumbering babe!

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Then, on Valentines Day, Rich and I went to the launch of a new marriage series at church! Our pastors are fabulously brilliant to come up with this idea. They got their hands on an awesome DVD series by Emerson Eggerichs called “Love and Respect.” Some of you may have read the book.

Knowing they wanted to offer the series to married couples churchwide, they decided on a once-a-month “date night” to gather for the videos. And so, on Valentines Day, they launched our new series that will run through this summer. Childcare is provided, and Rich and I decided it was time for our first date night, and hey, what better time than on Valentines Day!

We dropped Alana at the nursery and I am wearing my very first “nursery bracelet” in this photo:

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Then we proceeded across the street into the room where we would all meet for the videos. The church staff had set it up so beautifully with round tables, white linen tablecloths, candles, tea, coffee, desserts, and discussion cards. It really felt like a romantic restaurant!

Rich and I paused to enjoy our freedom:

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And then realized that we’d just left Alana for the first time.

Fully knowing she might be a handful for the nursery workers, we gave our best nervous faces:

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And sure enough, I was called to the nursery about halfway through our evening! I ran across to the nursery, where a sweet nursery worker was trying to calm a screaming Alana. She was just really tired, so when I held her in my (very effective) “go-to-sleep-alana” position and talked to her for a minute, she fell right asleep! I always feel bad when people are holding her and she cries, because it’s hard not to take a crying baby personally. I just try to explain that she gets really fussy when she is tired, or hungry, or her tummy hurts. thankfully, it usually passes very quickly.

So, with a sleeping alana, I decided to head back over to finish up our date night. We really enjoyed the evening, even though it would have been really nice if Alana had cooperated, but I really enjoy holding her. We had great group discussion and are very much looking forward to the next session in March!

Then on Saturday, I had the priviledge of going to my sister-in-law, Jackie’s, baby shower! Jeff and Jackie are expecting their first little one, Adeline Elizabeth, in April, and we are all very excited to meet her!

Here is the fun little basket I put together for her:

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And a gorgeous arrangement that my other sister-in-law, Susan, made for the shower:

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Sweet, beautiful Jackie!

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I got a quick picture with her before I left…

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It was a beautiful shower, and we are eagerly awaiting the next little Smith! Alana needs a little playmate!

that was nothing compared to this…

Okay, so you all remember my post from a few days ago about the failed girls night out? I had to leave Bri’s house before getting to enjoy chocolate cake and peanut butter pie?

Ya, well, that piece of forfeited dessert was nothing compared to this.

On Alana’s twelve-week birthday (Monday), I got a call from the Pediatrician. Alana had some tests run, and well, one of them came back positive. I waited with baited breath to hear what was wrong. I was informed that Alana tested positive for a milk protein allergy.

Now, I didn’t know what milk proteins were, but I assure you, hearing the work “milk” and “allergy” in the same sentence sent me into immediate food-deprivation panic. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that I was about to be told to cut DAIRY products from their diet.

Cheese, wonderful cheese. And my skim milk with cereal. And my once-daily yogurt. And ice cream. And…

And…

Cutting dairy products was just the tip of the iceberg.

I had no idea, until doing some research over the past few days, how many products for American consumption actually contain milk proteins, either in trace amounts or in abundance.

I was explained that, different from lactose intolerance (in which the body cannot fully digest the sugars in milk), a milk protein allergy is actually an immune system response; an intolerance to either whey, or casein, or both.

Whey is in almost everything, I have since learned.

I can eat fresh fruits and vegetables. I can eat salads (without any type of cheese, of course). I can eat unprocessed meats. And…oh wait…that’s about it. Rich found this incredibly helpful article for me, so if any of you have the same issue, or are just interested about the topic, check it out!

The Pediatrician (whom I loved prior to this phone call ;) ) sighed, and said, “Well, if you continue to breastfeed, it is going to be a labor of love.” And with that, we hung up.

And for those of you wondering, yes, I am going to stick it out! I will learn a ton, and for a short time, at least, be one of those high-maintenance people who have to know all of the ingredients in everything they eat! Alana may outgrow her allergy soon, but we will have to wait and see!

And now, I am off to Starbucks to comfort myself with a decaf Caramel Macchiato made with Soy Milk. :)

the love post

Happy Valentines Day, everyone! Be sure to hug and kiss each other today!

I thought it might be fun to post some love pics of some of our favorite people! (We don’t have current photos of all of our favorite people, of course! These are just some who have had Rich do a session for them in the past year!)

It always brings me so much joy to see people loving each other well, and below are many examples that have brought smiles to my face! Love on, people!

I will start with a “love picture” of Rich and I…and then post some of my favorites of all of you fabulous friends and family that we have been blessed with!

Enjoy!

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Jason and Kellie!

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Chris and Jennifer!

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Randy, Charlotte, and Baby Ryan!

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Tim and Steph!

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Sean and Sarah!

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Blackiston Feet! :)

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Mikie, Naomi, Nathan, and Ethan!

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Lee and Kami!

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Kyle, Heidi, and Avery!

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Jerad and Calen!

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David and Brooke!

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Kristy, Laini, Lyssa, and Lily!

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Dan and Becky!

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Nathan and Amber!

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Dad Smith and little Ben!

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Mom and Dad Lashbrook and little Alana!

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Jeff and Jackie!

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Tony, Rhonda, Abby, and Bethany!

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We love you all and wish you a love-filled Valentines Day!

Heather and Alana Mini Shoot!

Sunday was a perfectly beautiful day so the three of us decided to take advantage of the warm sunlight.

Alana was napping when we got home from church, so I patiently waited for her to wake up while Rich took this shot of her sleeping in her car seat:

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When she woke up, I grabbed Alana and Rich grabbed his camera and we headed out to our front yard to have some fun. Here are the resulting images, and I love them!

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Alana is twelve weeks old, and getting cuter and more interactive everyday. She smiles at us and gets so tickled that she actually squeaks and gurgles. The tricky part is that we haven’t caught it on camera yet! So even though we get to see the smiles everyday, they remain elusive to the camera!

Oh, well…here is her serious, contemplative side!

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Here I have to mention this adorable outfit from our dear friends Ben and Lynn. Oh, man, I wish it was going to continue to fit her in the coming months, but we are enjoying it while we can!

Thank you for the best little baby ensemble ever, Ben and Lynn!!!

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Thank you to my honey for his awesome photos! We are blessed!

And as always, to see more of Rich’s latest work, visit Rich Smith Photography!!!

girls night out gone bad…

Well, last night was a bomb.

I mean, not in the modern context in which something referred to as “the bomb” is actually a good, or cool, thing.

But in the age old sense that something just completely bombed. As in, it didn’t work out at all.

We (we being Bri, Bethany, Heidi, and I) had talked recently about the need for a girls night out…so we settled on P.F. Changs and then back to Bri’s house for some Pampered Chef molten chocolate cake and peanut butter pie. We invited a couple of other girlfriends, and made reservations for some yummy food and fun times.

Rich agreed to stay home with Alana while I ate dinner with the girls, and that part of the evening went just fine. I took this shot of Kellie and I at dinner, and we had a great time talking and laughing the way girlfriends do.

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As dinner wound down, I called Rich to meet me at the restaurant so that I could feed Alana before taking her with me to Bri’s house. Once Alana was fed (parking lots are just not my favorite place to feed! I find the car fairly uncomfortable for these purposes), I realized that she’d had a blowout, so back into the restaurant we went for diaper and outfit change. Extra clothes are an indispensable fixture in the diaper bag. :)

On the way back out, she spit up all over her fresh outfit. It never fails. Apparently, two outfits should be a permanent fixture in the diaper bag! I’m starting that today. But this part of the evening was all still okay with me. It’s the new normal; it’s just part of being a mommy and struggling through a girls night out with a baby.

Kellie and I drove to Bri’s house, excited for the night out and a chance to relax and enjoy the estrogen-fest.

Complete with chocolate. And peanut butter pie. Mmmm.

About two minutes after we got there, Alana woke up and started crying. It was common crying at first, and I was pretty sure it was a “tired cry.” But then it got more intense and became incessant.

I walked all over the house with her. I bounced, swayed, shushed, and sang. I attempted to feed her again, thinking she might still be hungry. To no avail. I checked her diaper. I put her across my lap for pressure on her tummy. Still she wailed.

Now I was flustered, because even though she is a fairly fussy baby (I like to call it “passionate.” Rich calls it “dramatic”) she doesn’t ever scream inconsolably. I could only take about a half hour of this, knowing that it was out of character for her, and I began to worry.

I sweat when she screams. I was reading about the cries of babies the other day. The book I read talked about the actual physiological effect on adults that a crying baby has. Blood pressure, anxiety, etc. It’s really very fascinating.

So, I gave my best “I’m-really-sorry-to-ruin-your-evening” look to Kellie, and told her that I thought we needed to go. She was very kind and understanding, and we headed out…after a half hour of wondering what it would be like to have an enjoyable evening out with the girls. ;)

So we said goodbye. To Bri, Bethany, and Heidi.

And to the aforementioned chocolate cake and peanut butter pie.

I put Alana in her car seat and the torturous cries persisted. I called Rich to ask him to pray for my nerves, which were, at this point, shot. I’m such a newbie. Oddly enough, when Kellie and I got situated in the car for our half hour drive home, Alana calmed and began to do a quiet little whimper that indicated she was okay but exhausted from her meltdown.

I’m not so sure I will ever know what caused the red-faced screaming-so-hard-she-ceased-to-breathe episode.

Don’t get me wrong. This is not a pity party or a lament on the pains of being a parent. Rather, I thoroughly enjoy blogging my life, both the fun and the not-so-fun…for posterity. I love that when Alana is older, she will be able to look back at ancient blog postings and scrapbook pages and know what her mom was thinking and feeling when she made her grand entrance into the world.

I just hope that above all, she knows that she was worth every ounce of the sacrifice. And even every forfeited piece of dessert.

I love you, my silly little crying baby girl.

Jeminah!

Today I had the pleasure of celebrating Rob and Jeminah’s upcoming wedding! ‘Tis the month for showers! I have one each Saturday this month! Babies and weddings! The best things in life!

Jeminah chose to have a Pampered Chef bridal shower, and it was a blast! Pam is an incredible consultant, and she made this unbelievable raspberry white chocolate trifle…it was dangerous.

Rob and Jeminah are an awesome couple, and I know that God will do very cool things in and through their life together! Congratulations, you two!

And may your kitchen be stocked with many a Pampered Chef product!

The Gamba girls! Robin and her four girls: Naomi, Jeminah, Lauren, and Natalie!

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The whole group!

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Beth and Valerie, thanks for being such fabulous hostesses!

busy weekend…

Jennifer is simply one of the most incredible people, and I am not alone in my respect and appreciation for her. Numerous people have been blessed by her, so you can imagine all of our joy when we found out she was pregnant!

Due in April, we gathered on Saturday to celebrate this new little life that Chris and Jennifer will soon bring into this world.

It’s a boy, and we are thinking pre-arranged marriage ;)

I grabbed this shot of Jamie and Becca, two (of the four) gals who threw the shower for Jennifer. They are both super sweet, longtime friends of hers, and they were excited to be able to shower her with lots of love and planning!

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Jennifer, Alana, and I…

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Me and my girl…

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Alli and Alana…she is amazing with kids, and is going to make an incredible mom someday!

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Jennifer opening one of her many gifts. Among Jennifer’s talents is a keen eye for all things fashionable, cute, and trendy. Her nursery will be black and white polka dots with sage accents. So fun!

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Details…

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The cutest and most delicious cookies ever!!!

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Chocolate!

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A place for all of us to jot down some encouraging tidbits and let Jennifer know how much we appreciate her!

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Then on Saturday night, Rich and I joined Timmy and Bethany, Trevor and Briana, and Kyle and Heidi (and little Avery) to celebrate Timmy’s birthday.

We relaxed and had a great time, eating scrumptious cheese bread and pizza, and talked of a much-needed girls night; which will happen on Friday night :)

Mellow Mushroom was so crowded that there really wasn’t a place to take a group picture, and it was yucky and rainy outside, which also was not conducive…which I am very sad about!

I did grab this funny shot of Bri and Trevor, but somehow I failed to get even one picture of the birthday boy!

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Then on Sunday night, we joined Keith and Becca, Liz and Terry, Nathan and Amber and some other friends for a Super Bowl get together! Becca and Jessica made some incredible panini sandwiches and we munched on all kinds of goodies.

Since it was Alana’s first Super Bowl, I didn’t want the occasion to slip past without a few photos…

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(She was rooting for the Giants)

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I still can’t believe I’m a mom. Wow.

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Chillin’ with daddy…

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Keith and Becca…

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With Amber…

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