Merry Christmas!!

Cooper opening his present for Mommy

He thinks the box is just a drum... haha

Looks like he loves Christmas presents!!!

Our first Christmas as a little family!! And our first Christmas in Washington!

We had a great Christmas! On Christmas Eve we went to Blaine's sister's, Deb, house. We had a really wonderful dinner with everything you could think of, she does lots of hosting (she did all the food for our wedding) so everything was really good and we over ate. After dinner we sang Christmas carols and then read the story of Christ out of the Bible. Cooper loved the Christmas music. When ever anyone was singing he listened and rocked back and forth to the music, it was so cute. Blaine and I were Mary and Joseph and Cooper was baby Jesus. Haha. It was fun and the kids loved being the wise men, angel, shepherds, and camel. Cooper was very well behaved. After we left Deb's house we made some presents deliveries to people we didn't think we would get to see on Christmas day, including the secret Santa we did! Blaine and I both agree that was our favorite part of Christmas. Then it was off to Grandma's house to spend the night!!

Christmas morning we got up when we heard Boyd (Blaine's brother) and his 3 boys going through there stockings. Blaine and I got up and even though i hate to wake a sleeping baby we just couldn't stand it and woke Cooper up! Cooper enjoyed opening his presents or at least ripping paper and trying to eat it. I got him a little "race track" type present and Blaine got him so cool balls, of course he liked Blaine's present more than mine but only because mine was in a box and requires batteries. Grandma got him a duck pillow pet. Cooper also got another little toy, movie, book, and some clothes. I got Blaine a hunting knife and some camo clothes and he got me a Pandora charm bracelet that i absolutely love!! I got three charms one that is a heart that is for Blaine and I falling in love, a garnet for Cooper's birth (his birthstone) and a Christmas tree!! And as if that wasn't enough I also got a pink bike!! :) I couldn't believe it! After opening presents we went back over to Deb's house for a big breakfast and stockings. I was pretty anxious to talk to all my family in VA so we headed home and turned on the webcam to talk to everyone. We talked to my Dad and the entire family that was at his house for Christmas dinner and thanks to technology I even got to see my step mom and mamaw open the presents i sent home for them. After talking with them I got to web chat with my mom, step dad, and little sisters. Talking and seeing everyone with the web cam made me feel like i got to be home for the holidays too! Man I love technology.

Blaine and Cooper took a nap while I made my first ever broccoli casserole (everything from scratch, it was actually pretty involved) I think it turned out pretty good. Then we headed back to to Grandma's for Christmas dinner with most all of the family. It was delicious and so fun. While we were there Jacob called and I got to talk to him for a long time. I am so excited for him to come home!! Can't believe he only has till May left on his mission. After dinner Blaine took everyone sledding, he pulled the sleds behind his four wheeler, they loved it. We then decided to go see Blaine's other sister Debbie and her kids to give them their gifts. It was nice that we got to see almost everyone on Christmas day. After a nice visit there we were pretty tired and went back to Grandma's and gathered up all our goodies and brought them home. Blaine, Cooper, and I all changed into our pjs and watched the movie Wyatt Erp (Cooper got it for Blaine for Christmas) before bed.

It was such a great day!! We had a wonderful Christmas.

side note: on Christmas day Cooper learned how to clap his hands and now does it all the time that we will say "Yay good job" and clap too. And he was standing holding on to the couch and totally walked down it to get to me. When I realized what happened I almost fell over

Loves the balls that Daddy got him

Loved all the faces that he made all Christmas Day

not sure what this face was for, don't take my

picture or don't take my presents

Merry Christmas everyone!!

Blaine giving rides!!

Dannah was here!!

Pictures First:


Cooper asleep after opening gifts!!


Blaine so excited about his presents!!



Cooper helping Dannah with her presents!




What could be in it?..





Dannah!!

So my sister Dannah got to come see me for a few days before she headed home for Christmas. It was so fun to have her, but it was such a short visit. I already miss.






I got some winter pictures made of Cooper. I ordered some copies for everyone that I will send in late Christmas cards. Sorry! But here is the link to see all the pictures and if you want to you can order more or other poses. Just call or email me. myonlineportriats.com/viewsession.aspx?id=88ee207ababcd761b447bb58






She got here on friday, she found a ride right to Wenatchee from someone she knows at BYU-I. We met right after our ward Christmas party (which I made scalloped potatoes for that were amazing!) I had been counting down the days till Dannah came to visit. I always have a count down going on in my head, like right now it is count down to Christmas, then Cooper's first birthday, ect ect ect.






Oh by the way, after a year of talking about it Blaine and i bought a new computer. I love it, it has a huge monitor and is super fast. We picked it up on friday on the way to meet Dannah.






After we got Dannah we came home and talked and caught up on how her first semester of college was. She loved it! :)






Then saturday we got up and did Zumba of course and went to the craft store and did a little Christmas shopping. I finished up some crafts that I had started with a lot of help from Dannah. We made dinner and rented two movies, "Inception" and "The Other Guys" loved them both! Dannah couldn't stay awake through both of them haha.






Sunday of course we went to church and then to Blaine's parent's for dinner. When we got home we talked to Dad on the web cam!! It was so fun and now that he knows how to do it i hope we will do it often! After our chat with dad we went to my sister in law Debbie's for scones to celebrate all the december birthdays! She makes the best scones. It was fun to be with the whole family and for them to see Dannah. They all love her and have really gotten to know her from all of her visits.






When we got home we watched a little tube and made smoothies. Blaine has a vitamix and we dug it out of the basement and made smoothies with all kinds of good greens and fruits! Then we played video games. Dannah played Call of Duty with Blaine and was a natural. I put Cooper to bed. Speaking of Cooper - He is still fighting a nasty nasty little cold. It seems like it will never go away and he has a terrible cough. I feel so bad for him. it doesn't affect his mood too bad but he has better days than others and you can tell when his throat hurts and he just need some cuddle time. The cold and cough have also taken away his little voice!! But with Dannah here he got completely spoiled!






Also.... drum roll please!!.... I have a crawler! Thats right, Dannah put here computer on the ground with Cooper's favorite video on and he army crawled straight for it. I captured the video on my phone and will have to figure out how to load it on my new computer so I can post it. Cooper's other new thing is that he can throw a fit, for example; he is currently sitting on my lap and got a hold of a pen and tried to eat it. I took it away and he yelled and arched his back in anger! lucky me.






Monday Dannah and i did a little more shopping and wrapping and then went back up to Deb's to make christmas treats. Dannah did some crafts while we were up there. she is making some neat christmas presents. Cooper wasn't having as good a day. After we left Deb's we came home and made dinner - fried rice, shrimp, and stirfry veggies. Then Blaine's brother, parents, and a dear family friend came over for card night! We had a good time eating, making more smoothies and of course playing cards. We worked a little bit more on Dannah's crafts and i messed them up!! uh oh. hopefully she can fix them. After everyone left Dannah, Blaine, Cooper and I sat around the tree and exchanged Christmas presents! So fun!! Unfortuately Dannah left this morning even though I begged her to stay! But we had a great time while she was here.

I promise to take lots of pictures and videos on Christmas and post them right away.
Love you all!!

My Birthday and such...

So Christmas came early at the Smith house. After great debate of whether or not to get one, we welcomed a Playstation 3 and Call of Duty into our home on Tuesday night. Needless to say it has not gotten much rest since it got here. Blaine is quickly becoming a forced to be reckoned with in the game. He enjoys his “man cave time.”

Wednesday was my birthday! For the past two years we have gone out and cut down Christmas tree for my birthday and we thought it would be a fun tradition. We have not cared too much what it looked like in the past since we have been in VA the past two years for Christmas. This year however, since we will be home I really wanted to find the perfect tree no matter how long it took. Blaine and I remember this place we had seen last year that appeared to have lots of good trees. So we piled into the truck and headed up the canyon nearest our house. I brought the camera and Cooper’s snow clothes with me I thought I could get some good pictures. We did not make it up the Canyon thanks to a fresh snow!! It was very frustrating. He headed back to the house and scouted our own property for a tree but they were all real Charlie Brown trees. We had plans to go to dinner at Olive Garden but I really wanted a tree so Blaine knew another place were we could go. We went up Mission Creek and finally after a long drive I thought I spotted a good one but it looked impossible to get to. Cooper was asleep so I left him in the truck and went to help Blaine. The tree was impossible to get to, I fell at least 12 times on the way up and back. I only made it 2/3rds of the way up but Blaine got all the way and cut the tree down, he also found another one for our friend Ghilberto and one for his parents. They were not the best but after the rough start and the time crunch to get to dinner we just took what we could and headed out. We at Olive Garden, my favorite, and it was wonderful as always. Cooper is fun to take out because he can entertain himself more. When he was tiny he was easy to take out to eat because he just slept through it but then he got a little older and wanted to be held, got hungry and tried to reach for the plates. But now he can sit up in a high chair, eat snacks, play with toys, and then we usually take turns feeding him dinner while we eat. Cooper eats food twice a day now, breakfast and dinner. After dinner Blaine went to scouts (he is the 11 year old scout leader) and I went to his parents house to visit. Then it was home again.

Today I put up the Christmas tree and decorated it. I think in the future we will get it earlier so that there will not be so much snow, all the good trees won’t be gone and so I can have my decorations out longer.

The tree

Panoramic view of my living room

Panoramic view of my living room

Cooper and Blaine by the tree

Some Videos

daddy giving us a little concert

Cooper tried to eat Eve's face all the time. when we pulled the camera out he got distracted

nativity

Cooper has not adjusted to the time change. He wakes up at 5am. Lucky me.
Yesterday we had dinner with Jared and Christine and their family and then we all went to "Journey to Bethlehem" the Seventh Day Adventist put on. It was not exactly a nativity it was more about what Bethlehem was like at the Christ was born. They had put a lot of time and money into it. It was not my favorite but I have been spoiled by the one in Richmond VA (blaine and i both prefer that one) I would probably go again if they have it next year. It was good to see the community coming together. Cooper got to wear his new winter coat and pants that his Granny Annie got him

.

He loves the camera!!

Trip to VA

Blaine, Cooper and I were able to go back to VA for Thanksgiving! It was so fun because a large portion of my family had yet to meet Cooper. I was very nervous for the flight I way over packed for him, I would rather have too much than too little for a baby on a plane, but Cooper was seriously the best baby ever. He slept for all the take offs and just played on our laps it was great. The flights went by pretty quickly. When we landed Mom and Patrick were there waiting for us. When we got to the house Patrick held Cooper for a long time and Cooper didn't mind at all he enjoyed playing with Patrick's beard.

We stayed with Mom and Patrick wednesday-sunday. It was so fun to be with family. i loved watching everyone interact with Cooper. Ceara got to hold Cooper for a long time while he slept. and Nana came over twice to see him. We went over to Dad's on thursday night to get the car he was letting us borrow and for him to see his grandson. he was so excited he met us at the car!

Sunday after church we went to Grandma Conner's for "thanksgiving" dinner and then over to dad's to stay the week. When we got to Dad's he cried! It was so funny and sweet. He was listening to John Denver and then we walked in with his first grandchild and it just all got to him. Monday Dad took us to Hollywood Cemetery where 2 Presidents are buried, President of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis and over 18,000 confederate soldiers. It was neat to see a little history while we were there. We hung with dad. he went hunting with Blaine and Ransom. We went out to see my grandparents and thursday we had thanksgiving dinner with my grandparents. Blaine shot two deer right before dinner so it was the fastest thanksgiving dinner of my life. the women hung out and talked inside while all the mean cleaned and cut up the deer outside. Cooper took a nice long nap with Eve. Afterwards we did some midnight black friday shopping it was fun and insane with baby!

Friday was Anne's only day off so we hung out with here and while Blaine and slept in Anne took care of Cooper and he rolled off the bed. She felt so bad. But he was fine!! :) :)

Saturday we went back over to my mom's house and had a family dinner with my nana and uncle and his family. I think we actually had like 3 of those. On saturday my mom gave me a surprise birthday party and i as actually surprised and didn't ruin it or figure it out even tho when i got there my little sister Caoilainn said "we didnt bake a cake" we spent the night with nana and watched some good movies then back to mom's for the rest of the week!! we all hung out and had fun and its getting late and i can't remember what else we did and Cooper is telling me to wrap this up. Cooper got a little fussy on the way home and Blaine and I had to take turns standing and holding him but he still wasn't even that bad! We are so lucky. But I can now tell that he was spoiled while we were home because now when i put him down or walk away he yells at me!!

But to sum up we had a great time and here are a few pictures!!

Patrick, Coop, and Mom

Anne, Dad, Coop, papaw, Mamaw

Cooper was kinda fussy so Dad played a little guitar

and we didn't hear another peep

Ceara is such a wonderful little aunt

so good on the plane rides!!

FAMILY!!!!

So Eve and Niki were her from July 3rd through the 19th. It was so much fun having them. I was so excited because they hadn't met Cooper yet. We picked them up July 3rd at midnight (they had been traveling all day there time so they were exhausted). Cooper was great on the way there. He slept the entire drive thank goodness. On the way back the girls gave him a bottle. When Eve and Niki got here we showed Niki around the house because she had never been here before and then they went to bed, but they didn't get very much sleep because we had church the next morning at 9am. Sunday night we went and saw fireworks. It was fun but we were all way tired and it was cold outside we were all bundled up in hoodies and blankets. Monday morning we got up really early to go fishing. Niki caught her first fish.

The girls were so helpful while they were here, doing laundry and dishes and helping me around the house. And they were really helpful with Cooper in fact he is totally spoiled now, because while Eve and Niki were here he was held constantly and now he expects to be held all day long.

On thursday Blaine decided he wanted to go camping and fishing so we quickly packed everything up and drove to Lake Roosevelt and spent two nights camping. Blaine brought his dad along, so friday morning they got up early and went fishing. The girls and I slept in and hung out and talked back at camp. When it got hot we put our swimming suits on and headed down to the water for a nice refreshing dip in the lake but the lake was FREEZING!! so we did not get in. We decided to set up an awning that Blaine and I bought instead. It was quite the chore for three girls but we finally figured it out. It had bug netting and a wind shield that made it more complicated but next time we will be able to get it up no problem. When Blaine and Bruce got back we all went out on the boat for some wakeboarding and tubing. It was a lot of fun I even got to wakeboard and the water wasn't so bad once you got used to it. After we ate dinner we all went back out on the boat for more fishing. I have found I prefer fishing in the evenings to the mornings. We stayed another night and while the men fished the women packed up camp.

The next week we went to Leavenworth, were Niki has decided she wants to move to. After walking around Leavenworth we went down to the river and took pictures in front of the water and on an old bridge.

We went and toured the Candy factory in Cashmere and went to the museum which has a little pioneer town.

The girls went to the Young Men/Young Women's activity and got to do some more boating; they did a lot of tubing. and Eve jumped off the old bridge.

We went back to Leavenworth and found a neat little store where everything was $12.99 and the girls got Leavenworth hoodies.

On thursday night we went to the drive in movies. We took our big flat bed truck and took air mattress and made some stadium seating a whole lot of the family came with us. we had a lot of fun but everyone fell asleep during the second movie.

Saturday we went boating again and my sister in law Jamie came to take pictures she is a photographer. Sunday we had church again and hung out with family. Monday morning we got up and went to Denny's for a girls out breakfast with all the girls from the family. Then we came home and packed a lunch and headed for Snoqualmie falls. When we got to the falls we walked to the look out point that over looks the falls and then we headed over to the path to hike down to the bottom of the falls. We were planning on this all week and Blaine said it was really pretty down there and a fun/ but slightly difficult hike but when we found the path that led to it, it was closed for construction! What a let down!! We still ate our lunch there, which I really enjoyed. The girls made delicious sandwiches. Then it was off to Seattle to see Pike's Place Market. We arrived in Seattle at 6pm and walked up to Pike's only to find out it closes at 6pm!!!! It was so disappointing! I felt bad for the girls. We walked around for a little bit and then headed over to the airport. We ended up dropping the girls off at 8pm, three hours before their flight left. It was sad to say goodbye and we already miss them. But we had a lot fun while they were here!! :)

niki jumping off the bridge

touring the candy factory

fishing on our camping trip

photo shoot fun

In Leavenworth

Ask me about my morning.

Cooper woke up at about 2:45am this morning with a big poopy diaper. I got up and changed him and he acted like he was wanted to be awake and happy for a little while! Luckily by the time I had finished changing him he started to rub his eyes and act hungry. We climbed back into bed until about 7am when he woke up happy and smiling, I was still exhausted so I went to hand him to his dad when I realized that he was soaked his upper half with milk and his lower half/up his side with pee! Great, now I have to get up. I got up and gave him a bath and changed him into a cute onesie my friend Charity sent him. I thought for sure he would want to be up now but as my luck would have it he acted hungry! We got back into bed again! Blaine left to go work. I drew the blinds and fed Cooper till he fell asleep! I fell back asleep. I woke up at 9:30am ready to be up for the day. I called Dora, she had called while I was sleeping in this morning. She wanted to make sure we were still planning on the drivein tonight. My talking woke Cooper but he was happy so it was no big deal. I put him in his swing and took a shower. When I got out I figured Cooper could use some tummy time so I put him down on a blanket fresh from the wash and started to get ready. Cooper was really enjoying tummy time! Then I heard him fill his diaper, but it didn’t sound too bad so I continued to get ready. Finally he got fussy. I figured it was because he was over tummy time so I went over to roll him over while I finished my hair and make up. When I rolled him over I got quite a surprise!... He had pooped up through the front of his diaper. Yay, he had already had a bath. I started to change him and it was much worse than I thought. How on earth was I going to get the onesie over his head with out getting poop everywhere? Let me mention that Cooper thought my efforts where hilarious and helped me out by kicking and swinging his arms as much as possible. So there was now poop on this arms, tummy, legs, not to mention everywhere down there. I did manage to keep it off his head and face. The wiping process took a very long time as my hands were often dirty and once I got one part of him clean and moved on to another he found a way to dirty himself up again. In the back of my head was a timer, counting down. You see it took so long to clean him up I just knew that he would pee on me. FINALLY 100 wipes later he was all clean. I quickly got a diaper on him. He did not pee on me either. I then got him dressed in a little outfit I had kind of been saving for a time when people would actually see him. It is very cute and has been hanging on my closet the past few days. While putting it on him I realized that it is size 3-6mo. Apparently my brain is so fried from not getting enough sleep that I have lost my ability to read and comprehend. Oh well it isn’t even that big so he is wearing it for the rest of the day. Now I have to go brush my teeth in the bath tub because there is a poopy onesie soaking in my sink. And forget getting my hair and make up done its 11am, the hair will be in a pony tail.

Side note: Yesterday Cooper woke up a 4am for playtime and then spend the rest of the morning having a tummy ache.

This picture does it no justice! I wish you could see how brown it really looks.

Surprise Mommy!!

You know that your day did not start out with this much fun!!

Father's Day!!

I just copied this straight out of my journal:

Father’s Day! Cooper and I woke up at seven to make Blaine breakfast in bed. I started breakfast and then woke up the girls to get them fed. I made Blaine bacon egg and cheese biscuits and I also made him a delicious berry smoothie. Cooper, the girls and I took Blaine his breakfast. Cooper was wearing some special pjs that said I love Dad. I got the girls through the bath and ready for church. I put them at the kitchen table with crayons to make a card for their dad and then went upstairs to get myself ready. I had planned on trying to look especially nice so that we could take pictures after church, but I was running out of time. When I got out of the shower my eye itched really bad, I looked in the mirror and my eye was all blood shot red and swollen, I couldn’t wear my contacts and its no use trying to look good in my old, broken glasses, so I pulled my hair back and just put on a little mascara. Blaine got Cooper dressed for me in a little shirt that said “I love Dad” and little plaid pants! Finally we were all ready and headed out the door. We got to church just a few minutes early. I decided not to go to Relief Society because I would have to leave early, at 9:30 we were going to go to the other Sacrament meeting to see Brody, Cooper’s cousin born 3 weeks after him be blessed. I figured I would go to the classroom where Blaine and I teach the 14 year olds and get everything set up for the game we were going to play. Blaine took Cooper to Priesthood opening exercises and was then going to bring him to me. So I could get a quick feeding in before going to see Brody be blessed and having to teach. But only a few short minutes later I could hear Cooper crying in the hall way and then what sounded like Blaine telling someone to please go get me out of Relief Society. Cooper’s crying got worse so I went into the hallway to see what was the matter. Cooper had pooped through is diaper, through his shirt, through his pants and on to Blaine’s suit pants and jacket. This was the first time Blaine had ever been pooped on. Cooper decided to really break him in good on Father’s Day. Blaine went to go change him in the bathroom. I could hear poor Cooper cry the whole time. I took Cooper to feed him and get his clothes changed, into the white suit he was wearing for his blessing. I prayed he was done pooping and wouldn’t spit up to bad. At 9:30 we went to the other sacrament meeting to hear Brody’s blessing it was very nice. As soon as it was over Blaine and I slipped out to go teach our lesson. I was teaching as a little gift for Blaine for Father’s Day so of course a member of the bishopric asked if he could come to our class. As soon as I sat down to teach Cooper started to cry. I took him to feed him again and told Blaine to just do a review of last weeks lesson. Cooper fell asleep quickly so I was able to get back just as Blaine was finishing the review. I think the lesson went well I was able to keep everyone’s attention and keep them involved in the lesson with the game that I used. Then it was time for Sacrament. Cooper woke up and just started to fuss as we sang the opening hymn. I put his pacifier in and bounced him vigorously to try and comfort him. He stopped crying but he was awake and he wouldn’t keep the pacifier in. I just knew that he would scream through his blessing and I wouldn’t be able to hear it. Blaine took him up to bless him. Cooper was quiet for the entire thing. I wrote down Cooper’s blessing as well as Christine Potter, and Sister Selecta, so hopefully between the three of us we got the entire thing. He was blessed to love this family and friends, serve others, serve a mission, and marry a virtous woman. It was a beautiful blessing. Blaine sat down and asked me how it was and I said great. He asked if it was too short and I told him that it was perfect for Cooper. Cooper started to cry so it was off the Mother’s room for the rest of church. After church Blaine I went home and changed. Cooper wore his little tiny cute jeans for the very first time. Then we went over to Jared and Christine’s for a BBQ. Cooper got passed around so I was able to eat with both hands. Cori held him for a long time and she got him to sleep, which was a miracle because normally he likes to nurse to sleep. I think she held him almost the whole time we were there. After the BBQ we went over to Bruce and Sharon’s to spend some time with Bruce, since it was Father’s Day and all. Sharon got out Blaine’s baby book for me and Cooper looks JUST LIKE Blaine. I gave birth to Blaine, no joke. I am going to try to scan Blaine’s baby pictures into the computer and post them online so everyone can see. The only difference in Cooper and Blaine is Cooper’s lips and that is all! We watched a movie and Cooper and Blaine took a nap on the couch. They sleep in the same positions. It started to rain, and then pour, so we headed home. Went to bed late as usual but it was a really good day.

Cooper giving Daddy his breakfast, and showing him his special pjs.

Cooper and Dad all ready for church.

Taking a Sunday afternoon nap.

Sleeping in the same position.

They must have been tired.

Cooper in his blessing outfit. His GreatGran made him the blanket he is lying on. She made it after she had gone blind and way before I was ever married. But she made us each one for our children. GreatGran passed away when I was a teenager.

Looking good in his suit!

These pictures are in opposite order, they go most recent pictures to oldest pictures.

Cousin Brody Reed Potter

Cute little yawn!!

Showing off his cute church clothes. They are still too big for him but I just love putting them on him. Its brown pants, a white polo, and a man sweater.

Meeting his cousin Brody Reed Potter for the first time. Brody was born three weeks after Cooper. How fun is it going to be for those two growing up! I can't wait.

Its always fun when Grandma comes. My mom came a week after Cooper was born and stayed for a week and a half. It was great, she was so helpful! We loved having her out here. We got to celebrate Mother's Day and her birthday with her! She is a wonderful grandmother!

My First Mother's Day

Blaine has been very very busy lately so I assumed he had totally forgotten Mother's Day (kind of like how he forgot Valentine's Day). So Saturday night he was supposed to take the night off, it was the night my mom got here, but of course, and as usual he had to go to work but he assured me it wouldn't take too long. I told my mom I figured he forgot Mother's Day and maybe I had better call and remind him but then I thought no because when he forgets and has to make it up to me I usually get more... haha!!! He worked until after 10 o-clock and I was a little irritated because we have spent very little time together since the baby has been born (our schedules don't really mesh yet). I called him and he told me he would be home soon. Well by the time he got home Mom and I had gone to bed. He came up and I was feeding Cooper so he turned on the t.v. a commercial for Mother's Day came on and I said "what holiday were they just talking about?" Blaine looked at me in horror, "oh no!" he said. I asked him, do you need to go to the store? haha" he asked do I want to go with him. ha yeah right take a baby out in the middle of the night to buy my own Mother's Day present. He started apologizing and I gave him a little bit of a hard time. this was a big Mother's Day you know, my first, my mom is here helping us, and his mom has been here helping us. But I told him it wasn't a big deal I knew he was very busy and that in the future he would work at being better about it because he knew that those kind of things meant a lot to me. But I also told him he could make it up to me! ;-)

So Sunday I woke up and came downstairs to give Cooper to my Mom so I could get ready for church. There was a balloon that said I love You Grandma, and big homemade card and flowers on the couch. I was so confused, how on earth did Mom get this Mother's Day present, did she bring it with her?... no and then I read her card and it was signed by Blaine! I was so confused then she finally told me to look in the kitchen. There was another HUGE balloon that said I Love You Mom, a big heart shaped homemade card, and a beautiful pink azalea topiary! I couldn't believe it. Blaine remembered Mother's Day!!! He had fooled me good. And he hadn't been working the night before he had been doing my Mother's Day present. What a GREAT husband I have! I will have to give him more credit in the future :-)

Mom and I missed part of church to talk to my brother Jacob who is serving a mission. We went to church and then we went to Blaine's Mom's house for a big Mother's Day dinner with the whole family. Cooper slept for almost 4 hours because he was being held the entire time! I am pretty sure I have a little spoiled baby on my hands. We had a great day tho!

Welcome Cooper Grant Smith!!!

And now all the details you have been waiting for... and I do mean all the details!!

O.k. to start off, for those of you who don't know at 20 weeks pregnant I was diagnosed with partial placenta previa - meaning that my placenta was covering the birth canal at least partially. This meant that the placenta could try and deliver before baby which is very dangerous because the placenta provides oxygen and blood to the baby and if it detached from the uterus and delivered first baby would be in a lot of danger, also it would cause hemorrhaging for me which would be dangerous as well. So what you do in that situation is get ultrasounds all the time to check the location of the placenta (since it was a partial previa there was a chance that as my uterus grew and stretched that it would move the placenta) because if it moved I would be able to have a normal vaginal delivery and if it did not move I would have to have a C-section.

Three weeks before my due date I had a bleed and went in to the hospital, lucky for me it stopped and I was able to go home. About a week after that I had another ultrasound that showed that the baby's head had dropped below the placenta and I would be able to attempt a normal delivery. Blaine and I were very relieved when we found this out because the hospital here.. thats right there is only one hospital here, does not allow VBACs (vaginal birth after c-section) which means all of my deliveries would have to be c-sections which is very hard on the body.

So Sunday May 2nd I wake up, its my DUE DATE!! but it just feels like any other day I figure I will be like my mom and go past my due date. I get up get ready and go to church. I didn't feel very well that day but I was nine months pregnant there is no such thing as feeling good. After church we had some family over and ate and I was pretty tired when they left. Blaine told me he needed to get ready for work and I decided to take a nap. I went to the bathroom and thats when I saw the blood (a lot of blood) I immediately got pretty nervous. I called Blaine and I asked him to come inside because I was bleeding and we needed to go to the hospital right away. Then I called my doctor and he said he would meet me at labor and delivery. I got my stuff together and tried to remain calm. Blaine came back and got me and we headed off to the hospital (in a bee truck with a trailer and forklift). On the way there Blaine asked me how I was doing and I said I was ok but I was kinda scared. I made a lot of phone calls on the way because I figured once we got to the hospital things would happen rather quickly.

When we got to the hospital Blaine dropped me off at the door and there was a nurse waiting for me with a wheel chair to take me straight to Labor and Delivery. My doctor was already there and they took me too my room where it seemed that every nurse on the floor was waiting for me to hook me up to monitors start and i.v. and draw blood. when they were all done my doctor came in to check me. I was having a few very minor contractions (I couldnt even feel them) and figured they just started from all the excitement. The doctor gave me a quick exam and determined that I was very very far from a natural delivery and that my bleeding was pretty heavy. He told me that he would wait with me at the hospital for a little while but he expected that my bleeding would continue and that even if it did stop it would start again and potentially be more dangerous and his recommendation was that I have a c-section as soon as possible. Blaine and I told him we wanted a few minutes to talk about it and for me to calm down and take it all in.

After about half an hour Blaine and I decided that a c-section was the best decision. I was quickly prepped for the surgery and everything was explained to me. I was extremely scared but if i remember correctly i held back the tears.

I was taken to the O.R. and Blaine was taken to another room to get dressed. I really didnt like being away from him. I received a spinal block, my nurse was great she made me tell her the whole story of how Blaine and I met while they did my spinal to keep me distracted getting the spinal wasnt too bad except at one point I got a kind of shooting first down my left side then down my right. It was as my legs started to fall asleep that things got bad for me. First my legs got real warm and kinda heavy/stiff feeling then they rolled me over to insert my cathader, thank goodness I was already pretty numb my legs were were slightly bent for this and they began to really tingle and feel funny and then I knew because i could see them that they lay my legs flat but it still felt like they were bent up and it just caused the weirdest sensation and I started to get really upset and faint feeling. I started asking for Blaine a lot and started to tell the doctors that I couldn't do it!!! and then Blaine came in. I felt so much better when he came in. He kept me really distracted talking to me and telling me how much and loved and appreciated me and how excited he was to meet our baby. He also told me that after bee season we could go on vacation where ever I wanted, I warned him not to say things like that... then I started to feel real funny and sick and said I couldn't keep going and they told me that they were almost done that the baby was almost out. I didnt even know that they had started!! Blaine told me later that they had already started by the time he got in there. The doctor told me that they were discrete on purpose for my sake. When they pulled the baby out it was the most awful (and wonderful of course) thing I have ever been thru the pressure was horrible. It wasn't painful but it felt like a grown man was sitting my chest and I couldnt breathe and the pressure down my stomach is impossible to describe I started crying pretty hard and then I heard Cooper cry and the pressure was gone. They brought him by me and I started crying some more because I was so happy to see him - and so glad it was finally all over. He was beautiful!! They kept saying how big he was and he was pink and he cried, he looked so good. I had to watch him from across the room because the doctors he to check him out for a while because he was a c-section baby. They bought him over to me and took my oxygen mask off so I was able to kiss him. He was 8lbs 3ozs and was 20.5 inches long. Then they took him down to the nursery they asked if Blaine wanted to go and at first I said I didn't care and he could go but then I felt pressure again (I think when they delivered the placenta) and I changed my mind and said Blaine had to stay with me. The rest of the surgery went by pretty fast. Blaine and I just talked and I actually don't remember that much of it.

I was wheeled back to recovery and Blaine went down to be with Cooper. I had the shakes so bad that they couldnt get a read on my blood pressure so they gave me medicine to keep me from shaking.

It took a long time (at least it felt that way) for them to bring me Cooper, Blaine stayed with Cooper and the family in the hall (i didn't know the family had come) pretty much the whole time. It didnt take long for the feeling in my legs to start to come back the nurse asked me to try and wiggle my toes - yeah right!! It was weird to know you have legs that should work and not be able to move them. but i started to feel like something was squeezing my left leg every few minutes and sure enough there was a little machine thingy on my legs to keep blood flowing and prevent clots. my left side came back and then my right. the feeling returning to my legs wasn't bad at all.

Finally they brought me Cooper I couldn't really hold him because I was hooked up to so much stuff and still felt pretty weak and shakey but Blaine set him in my arms and went and got the family - he was so excited. The family came in for a quick hello and then I was taken to my recovery room. Blaine held Cooper and txt family and friends to let them know what had happened I was a little jealous that Blaine was getting so much time with Cooper he even slept with him that night!

We were in the hospital for just monday and tuesday, we were able to leave by 10am on wednesday. Cooper is practically perfect in every way.

My recovery has definitely been more difficult than I thought I really do have to sleep when the baby sleeps even tho i can think of 100 things i need to get done. I have had lots of great help tho from family and friends!