Welcome Home Smith Family!

One of our favorite pictures, he is such a thinker.
This is a picture of him on our way home from the hospital...nice and cozy in his carseat.
His first nap in his crib! Usually he naps in his "nap nanny" with us in the living room or bedroom (he LOVES that thing). I highly recommend one to all moms! This day I just decided to try him out in the crib for a bit. It lasted an hour, not bad!

Finally, we are home with little Tripp. The staff at St. Vincent's is second to none and we had a fantastic experience there. However, being home has been so nice. It has been much easier than I thought it was going to be. He sleeps like a champ and is not much of a crier. He is, however, a little piglet when it comes to eating...he wants to eat ALL the time. He wears me out when it comes to the feeding department. I am so glad that he likes to eat a lot though, we need him to pack on the p0unds. He had a doctor appointment a couple days ago and the doc says that he looks great! We are so thankful and blessed to have such a happy and healthy baby boy. AND, our dog Saban has done a fabulous job of adjusting and they are just like peas in a pod. She gave him a couple of curious sniffs when we brought him home and that was the end of it. She just keeps to herself and walks over and sniffs him to check on him every now and then. Being home has been wonderful...I love my little family. Hope you enjoy the pics of Tripp in his new home. Welcome home Smith family, welcome home!

Tripp Smith's Birthday Bash!

Today July 25, 2011 at approximately 1:20 pm CST, we welcomed our precious baby boy, Randy Joe Smith III (Tripp) into the world. We were scheduled to begin the induction process and arrived at St. Vincents Sunday night at 8pm. Ferris began IV treatment and throughout the night continued with medication to enhance the labor process. This morning she received her doses of meds that initiated the dilation process. This process went extremely smooth and even surprised our physician. Around 12:15 we were given the go ahead to begin pushing. After almost less than an hours time the doc was called in to complete the delivery. Ferris did so well I think she surprised herself. It is now 9 o clock and I apologize for just now getting around to posting, but as you can imagine its been quite a hectic, but gratifying day. I am attaching a few pics of Tripp that I hope you will enjoy. For those of you whom we have not seen or had the chance to talk to, thank you for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. We cant wait for Tripp to meet all of our friends and family.

Love,

RJ and Fer

Last Night

Well, here we go! It's our last night as just "R.J. and Ferris". We just went out to a nice dinner, just the two of us, to celebrate our anniversary and Tripp's arrival. How blessed we are to have each other and the precious baby that we will meet Monday. We are both incredibly excited, however, I am nervous as well. I know that everything is going to go smoothly and the doctors and nurses have done this hundreds of times, but not knowing exactly what will happen gives me anxiety. I know that doesn't surprise anyone who knows me. HA! I know I have not posted any pictures of my pregnant self on the blog like I promised, so I had R.J. take a final night picture of me to put on the blog.

Tomorrow night we are headed to St. Vincent's to check in, and they will begin the induction process. So, by Monday afternoon, one way or another we are going to have our baby boy. We will post details and pics of little Tripp on the blog as soon as we can, so check every now and then. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers through Monday. AND, the next time you here from us we'll be a mom and dad!! YAY, finally!

Baby Update

So...I went to the doctor this morning for my weekly checkup and received great news. I am going to be induced Monday, July 25th. My original due date is the 30th, but having a scheduled delivery is right up my alley. Being the the obsessive planner that I am, R.J. and I will be able to get our affairs in order and let family and friends know, and everyone can make plans way ahead of time. YAY! There is always the possibility of me going into labor before then, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that we can make it until the 25th.

She told us this morning that I am not dilated or effaced or anything, but he is head down and VERY low, in the perfect position to come on out. So, basically he is ready, but my body is not. We are going to get an ultrasound next Thursday and check on his growth and make sure we are ready to go, but the official date will probably be the 25th. This is also our wedding anniversary. What a wonderful anniversary gift!!! We are so excited, however, anxious at the same time. Knowing the date makes it really REAL, we are going to meet our precious baby so soon! I can't wait!

Here are some pictures of the nursery. R.J. worked so hard to get it finished last week. We are officially ready. Everything has been organized, washed, and put away. I am so happy with how it looks. Thank you R.J.!

We are still waiting on the letters "T-R-I-P-P" that we are going to hang above the crib, but they should be ready soon! We are having them painted. After that, I cant think of anything else that we will need. Mom, insists that I am going to need a chair in there, and I know she is right. But, I think that we will wait on that until he is here or right before he comes. The good news is we DO have room for one if needed. I have to say that my absolute favorite part of the room is the chandelier. I love it, and I tied the little blue ribbons to them. It turned out great.

I promise I am going to post a belly picture soon. I just need to get a good one first! In the meantime, here are some updates:

I had my big baby shower! It was beautiful! Thank you to all who hosted and all who came. It was perfect! I got so many things that I needed and also many extras that I wanted. We were able to stock the nursery with all sorts of baby stuff. We got our carseat as well! Once we get that installed in the car, I'm sure reality will set in and I'll understand how soon he'll be here. I only have a month left. YAY!

I have also started my "once a week" appointments at the doctor. I went last week and she said I look great and Tripp is measuring right on track. This Friday she, my doctor, is going to let us do an ultrasound to check him out and see his exact measurements! I cant wait to see him! I have told her repeatedly that if this baby boy wants to come out a little early, I am all about it. It is just so hot outside, and I get uncomfortable too easily. The good news is, is that she said ok to this and as long as she sees that there is a good window for him to come on, then she is happy to let him come a little early. I'll probably end up being that girl that is 2 weeks OVER the due date. HAHA! Let's just hope not! Lastly, he is rolling around like crazy and I'm able to tell how much he is growing and how strong he is getting. Only 5 more weeks until he is actually here. I cant believe it. Time has flown by.

Meet Randy Joe Smith III! We will call him Tripp! Is he not the most beautiful thing ever!? We love him so much, we just ooh and ahh over these 4D pictures all the time. The ultrasound lady said that he was very photogenic (not sure on that spelling). We got so many great pictures. This one was one of my favorites because he is smiling. At the same appointment as my 4D, I had my gestational diabetes test and passed that! Thank goodness! The doctor says that everything is looking good and Tripp and I are measuring right on track. Things are just moving right along. Sweet R.J. has already painted the nursery, and it looks so good. We have all the furniture...everything from dresser and crib to the chandelier and rug. Soon we will be moving it all up to the room. I can't wait to see how it looks all put together.

I have gotten a lot of "how are you feeling?" lately, so here is the answer:
Between my maternity leave at school and getting ready for baby, my anxiety level rises everyday. If you know me at all, I'm sure you are not surprised about that. I have really been praying about it though because I know its not good for me OR TRIPP! I am trying to aviod being stressed out or worrisome at all. I know everything will fall into place....just trying to relax and breathe. I have had such an easy pregnancy its hard for me to complain about anything. However, if I could pick something...here in the last week or so, I have started to get VERY uncomfortable. Mostly in the afternoons and nights. My stomach muscles are just stretched to the max at the end of the day. R.J. asked what it felt like and I told him, you know when someone is stretching you and you reach the point where whatever you are stretching cant go any farther...well, its like that, but the stretch feeling doesnt stop. That may not make much sense, but that is how it feels. It just means that he is growing and growing which makes me so thankful, however, uncomfortable. Other than those things and being tired ALL THE TIME, I am doing GREAT! I can't wait until school is out so that I can just hang out and rest until Tripp gets here.

Well, I really am trying to keep up with this blog! So here's whats been going on lately. I have had 2 baby showers since my last post. One was thrown by the second grade teachers that I work with and the other was thrown by my sweet class! There were both wonderful and I got so many precious baby things. Tripp is already getting spoiled and he's not even here yet!


I can tell that he is getting big because the little taps that I was feeling have turned into punches and actual rolling motions. He is running out of room in there! I am 28 weeks tomorrow and can't believe its getting so close to the big day. I am starting to have anxiety about the process that is going to unfold at the hospital. Having been through absolutely no surgeries in my life and no overnight stays in a hospital, it makes me nervous...plus the fact that my pain tolerance is pretty LOW! Anyway, once I get to the point where it is time for Tripp to be here, Im sure it will only be excitement that I am feeling. I love him so much already!!! I go to the doctor this coming Wednesday for my gestational diabetes test and we'll get his 4D picture from the ultrasound, that I am dying to see!