Make a Smilebox greeting

I Voted!

Well at least my mommy and daddy did. Hope you all were able to be a part of history and vote today! Take Care!

Aria's 1st Holloween!

Babies 1st Holloween has arrived and the goblins and ghouls have managed to stay away. Grandma was able to come up from Miami and is staying with us for a while while I go back to work at my new job! Here are some pics in our front yard. We had nothing special planned since Aria is so little but thought we would show off her little outfit. We wish everyone a Happy Holloween!

More pics and video

When I go back to work I am sure there might be less time to take these so I am enjoying it while it lasts. Hope you do as well! She had her 2nd Dr. appt. today and all is well. She is now 23in. long and weighs 11 lbs. 7oz! Growing strong. We will go back in 1 month and that is when the dreaded shots begin. By the way, mommy and daddy are doing great!

Aria 5 weeks old

Check out our little mover. She is starting to pick her head up all by her little self. Can you believe we used to be this vulnerable? Enjoy!

Aria 1 month!

We cannot believe our baby is already 1 month old! It will always be true how fast time flies. Here is a short video of how much she is changing.

Here is a video I made for daddy. I am still getting the hang of the technology end so it is sideways but still cute. I cannot believe she is about 3 weeks old already. Enjoy!

So Far, So Great!

4 days old

We are doing wonderfully and adjusting to life as parents to our incredible new baby girl very well. We were fortunate that she did not have her days and nights mixed up and with each night that goes by she sleeps longer and longer and we should soon see her sleeping 8 hours straight! Funny story though: We thought our little one was fighting colic (gas and stomach discomfort). Now...she did have gas (and still puts daddy to shame sometimes :) ) but that was not the main problem. Matt and I made our first new parent mistake by underfeeding our big girl! Yes it is true although do not run to social services just yet we did figure it out and now have a happily satiated baby (and less crying so happy parents too). I still can't believe I was starving my baby but I am sure there will be many more mistakes to come so I had better learn to not beat myself up about it. I hope you all enjoy the pictures and visit often to watch her grow up. I know it will happen too quickly and will try to document as much as possible.

Aria's Debut!

Ok...this will be the initial introduction with the basic info and then much more details to come. Aria made her greatly anticipated debut on Thursday Sept. 18, 2008 at 7:13pm. It ended up being an emergency c-section due to her heartbeat picking up too much and being irregular. It turned out she had the chord around her neck and I was not progressing past 4cm and 80% thinned out (effaced). Not to mention take a look at the stats!: Marialicia (Aria) Ellen Smith; 10 lbs. 1/2 oz. 22 inches long! Never in my life would I have thought I would have had a 10 pounder! Nonetheless, we are doing great and are hoping to go home tomm. the 21st. The following pics are just teasers I know, but there will be plenty more, do not worry about that. Thank you to all of those who were sending us your blessing and good thoughts. We would not have wanted to share this moment of our lives without all of you that mean so much! Love, the Smith family Matt, Nicole and Aria

41 weeks and 2 days

9 days past due and still here with nothing to show other than being very uncomfortable. I am resorting to the fact that she is going to be forced out on the 17th. Hope there is better news to report over the next few days!

41 weeks

41 weeks today. No baby, no signs no nuthin! There is your update. Can you tell I am starting to get over it?

40 weeks and 6 days

We are almost at 41 weeks and I have an update from my doctors appt yesterday. After much discussion and analyzing we all decided to not induce this week although the official and final deadline will be next wed. the 17th. Instead they are going to let me go one more week to see if things will start on thier own. I could not be happier about this. I just did not feel right about the induction so soon. So here we are still waiting. The good news is that I am progressing. I am finally at 2cm and she is still moving down. Please keep us in your thoughts as the anxiety and sleepless nights are starting to get old. Most seem to think I will not make it another week. Hope not!

Our due date!

Here it is!!!! The day that since your first ultrasound you count down towards. The due date. Ours was Sept. 4th, 2008. Now that it is here it is apparant she will not be and we are waiting sitting on our hands until she decides what time is best for her. Let's hope she does not decided to go on past next tues. to avoid induction. Everything seems good though. She seems to still have plenty of room to move around and her heartbeat is still sounding great so at least all is well. I am sure the posts will continue until her arrival and then there will be plenty of opportunities to show her off.

Dr. appt update

I had what will hopefully be my last dr. appt. this morning. I am still 1cm but the baby has really moved down further. So...things ARE happening just not as quickly as my midwives would like. As of today they are giving us 1 more week for her to come on her own and then we are scheduled for an induction on Wed. the 10th in the evening. If she does not come before then we officially have an induction date. That is something I never thought would happen. I knew it was a possibility but you never really believe it could be you. We are all a little nervous about it but all that matters is that she is ok now and will be ok at the induction. Please be thinking of us.

39.5 weeks

Ok...we are 39.5 weeks along. I thought for sure something would have happened by now but nothing. I have been soooo uncomfortable. On top of that we just had to deal with hurricane Gustav coming through our area with tropical storm strength winds. Luckily everything is fine except for the fact that if we get well into our 40th week my midwives want to induce! So one way or another little aria will be here within the week! We can only hope it will happen naturally. All else is going well and I am just beginning to wonder when my last "pregnant" blog will be. Stay tuned.

38 WEEKS

Here we are in week 38 with 12 days until our due date. I feel I have been nesting stronger than ever and since we have this tropical storm Fay with a low pressure coming in maybe it will happen soon. I am not trying to get too excited though since it is first baby and waiting for it just makes it worse. So...instead I have been cleaning as much and trying to relax to get my mind off not knowing when everything will happen. I have'nt really grown much that I can tell and have stopped gaining anything so that usually means it is at the end. Stay tuned as things are beginning to get active.

Birmingham Shower

Kiki and Joe's daughter Lilliana playing with Bendi!




My Highschool voice teacher Mrs. Doss was an incredible surprise guest. I am so glad she could make it!
Shelly and me with the devoured food in the background.
Matt and Bendi after the big event. We were exhausted from having to drive up that morning.
The hosts: Ginny, Eric and Jackson

The Picketts: Lachlan, Kristy and Jeremy
The Rider's: Liliana, Joe and Kiki

The guest book at the entrance.

The cute baby decorations
The Little's: Carol and Ray

On Saturday August 9th our good friends and family threw us a baby shower in Birmingham. Matt and I had a great time and it was so wonderful to see everyone there which some we had not seen in years! It took me a while to blog this because we wanted to add pictures. I do not have them all but everything was wonderful. The cake, food and gifts were perfect. Now we are starting our 38th week and counting down 13 days till D-day if she is on time.

37 weeks

Well ladies and gentlemen we are officially at term. Basically this means any day now. There is no telling when Matt and I will become first time parents at this point. I am definitely starting to feel ready. Aria is squirming around like crazy in what little room she has. Discomfort is setting in and sleeping is already becoming non-existent. Our plan is in place and everyone is on standby. Stay tuned for any updates. I go for my next dr.s visit this tuesday to see if there are any changes and then it will be week to week from there until D-day.

36.5 weeks

I guess the countdown is officially on. We only have about 4 weeks to go if she is on time. I have stopped working now and am officially on maternity leave and going through a serious nesting phase. There is no square inch in the house that has a chance! We just had a shower in Birmingham and I will be posting on that soon. Matt is getting so excited and he is trying to take extra care of me now. The most difficult thing in the world to do once you get this pregnant is bend over for anything. It seems as though that is all I do nowadays. Take a moment one day and see how many times you bend for anything. I was surprised. Stay tuned for shower updates and any new news.

Dr. visit update

I had another ultrasound this week and everything looks fabulous. They estimate her weight now at 6 lbs. and 11 oz! We are in our 35th week which means 5 weeks to go till her due date "if" she is on time. My scanner is on the fritz right now or I would post some awesome pictures of her face. It looks like she may have my lips, nose and chin but of course we will have to wait and see. I am starting to feel like I am all belly and she gives me some good kicks now and again in my ribs. I still feel great and we are beginning to get anxious to see her soon. Things will never be the same in a good way. We are having another shower in B-ham next weekend so stay tuned.

Atlanta Shower

What a beautiful shower! Take a look at the food spread. One of the hosts Kate outdid herself. The gifts were amazing. There was a perfect mix of gifts that were off of our registry and those that were personalized. It was great seeing most of the girls again so soon after Kelly's wedding and some girls I have not seen since college! It is a great feeling to know that so many of your friends are very excited for you and supportive of a wonderful new phase in your life. My girls are the best!! Not to mention Aria's aunt's: Kate, Katie, Kelly and Claire. We Love Ya'll!

Week 32

We are officially counting down. 8 weeks to go. Matt seems to think Aria will come early but who knows. Had a Dr. visit with ultrasound yesterday and everything seems to be doing great. She is head down and already 5lbs. 11oz!!! We think she may weigh over 8lbs. by the time she arrives. I however have been gaining well and have not over done it. I am right where I need to be so I guess you can say it is all baby. The room is 95% done and we have all we need to bring her home and be supplied for about a week. Matt and I are looking forward to our first baby shower next Sat. the 19th in Atlanta with all of my college girlfriends. Stay tuned as things get closer there will be a lot more activity.

Getting Ready

Well...things are moving along quickly it seems. We are 31.5 weeks and have the basics necessary to bring baby home. Thank goodness! All is still going well with the pregnancy and other than the occasional back pain things could not be better. Aria's room is coming along perfectly and we cannot believe how good it all looks. Of course none of it could happen without the help of Matt's parents and the support of all of our family.

It is official!!!

Matt and I are having a girl!! We could not be more excited although already nervous about the string of dance and music recitals we will be going to. As wonderful as the little girl outfit options are there is too much pink and too many ruffles in the world!!! We are hoping to keep it simple. Everything went well at the appointment and things are looking great. So far so good and things are almost too easy I am beginning to wonder. Here are her pics!

Another exciting appointment!

Ok...another great doctors appointment! The baby's heartbeat was strong at 145 bpm and everything seems to be going along nicely. Dad is excited and we have our very important anatomy ultrasound appt. for 4/30! We cannot wait and I will probably not write again until then and things start picking up. We are planning on starting room renovations next weekend the 12th and have a garage sale all in one. Stay in tune for the big news on the 30th!

Moving Along

Things are moving along nicely. I am feeling great although there is still the occassional tiredness and this just seems like limbo time. About the end of April we will find out what it is. We hope! Spring and Summer is coming and I cannot wait!

First sounds!

For the first time matt and I were able to hear our baby's heartbeat! It took a while and the entire time I was holding my breath until finally, what seemed like forever, we heard it. Fast and strong. Things are progressing nicely and I am feeling great especially now that the exhaustion is subsiding. Matt and I are still reeling with excitement and we cannot believe how things are moving along. I look no different and matt is getting anxious to see a belly! Stay tuned.

New Blog!

Ok..so I have been hesitating on starting up a blog page and in researching other friends' pages I realized that for most of them they did not start a blog until AFTER a big event in thier life. So.. I decided to go ahead and get one started as a catalogue of exciting things toc ome and a memory bank where frinds and family can keep up with how things are going. Hope to see you here soon and often!