The best birthday present ever

August 15th was Boston's birthday and this is what he got...

A new brother!  That's right, Boston and his new little brother Carter share the same birthday.

And what a cute big brother Boston is to him.  He just loves and kisses him all day long and it's so cute cause sometimes I will catch him just talking and giggling at him.  I love it!

So what a crazy crazy day that was.  Here we are just right before delivery.  My whole pregnancy I said over and over again that I didn't want this baby to be born on Boston's birthday so that they could have their own special days.  But apparently Carter had plans of his own! 

The story for those that care to read....

 So I woke up around 2 in the morning with contractions that were coming every 10 min.  They were painful, but still somewhat tolerable and they stayed that way every 10 minutes until like 8 in the morning.  We were about to go to the hospital when they started to slow down to about every 30 minutes.  Since I didn't get any sleep that night, Ryan took Boston to the grocery store while I slept.  I continued to have contractions every 30 minutes but the pain got worse and worse.  Then they started coming about every 10 again after I made Boston's birthday cupcakes. Ryan would push on my back to help relieve the pain and it really did.  But Boston would see Ryan and run over and touch my belly or back trying to copy his dad.  He really was trying to help, but it was just bugging me.  So we had my mom come get Boston and as soon as she got to the house, my contractions started coming like every 5 minutes and the pain by now was pretty unbearable.  So we decided to get in the car and go to the hospital.  Ryan was driving like 70 mph the whole way to the hospital cause by now my contractions were just one right after another.  I was dying.  We rushed to the emergency room and they wheeled me upstairs.  When I finally got dressed and in a bed, the nurse checked me to see how dilated I was.  She didn't say anything at first, and then when I asked her, she told me I couldn't freak out if she told me.  I said ok and she told me I was at an 8.  So I freaked out for a second.  She had to talk me through every contraction and asked if I was planning on having an epidural.  I asked her if it was too late and she said not if we do it right now.  So they rushed me to my room and the anesthesiologist was there waiting for me.  He got it in really fast and 15 minutes later I had finally got some pain relief.  Now I could finally start enjoying the whole birthing experience.  then about a half hour later, the Dr. came in and broke my water and about 20 min after that out sweet baby boy was born.  From the time we got to the hospital to the time Carter was born was only two hours.  It just happened all so fast!

The proud new daddy.  Carter Jeffrey Smith was born August 15 at 4:44 in the afternoon weighing 6 lbs 12 oz and 19 1/2 in long.

Holding my little boy for the first time.

My mom and sister were in the delivery room with us when Carter was born.

First family picture.

Smith family

Randall family

My sister recently got a job as a CNA on the OB floor at the hospital.  She wasn't working that day, but she was still able to give Carter his first bath.  She did work one of the nights we were there though.  It was nice because she took Carter to the nursery all night long so I could get some rest and I wasn't stressing because I knew who had him all night long.  It was fun having her as my CNA that night!

Proud Grandma and Grandpa

I love this picture because of how wide-eyed Carter is.

Two days before, Boston came down with croup and got pretty sick.  This was the only time he actually kept the mask on.  It didn't last long.  So we just tried to keep Boston away as much as possible until he wasn't contagious anymore.  Thanks to all who helped watch him.

My friend Shauna told me this was the best thing she got for Ian when she had her baby.  So I got this little baby for Boston and he was so cute with it.  He loved feeding it the bottle.  It was hilarious!

Proud daddy getting ready to go home.  We had the hardest time naming little Carter.  We could not think of a name forever!  We finally named him as we were walking out of the hospital.  But he definitely is a Carter!  It fits him really well.

I absolutely LOVE my boys!  

Two brothers just admiring each other

This was hilarious.  The other day, Boston got into the floss and was trying to floss his teeth acting like a big boy.  Well next thing I know he walks up to Carter and starts trying to floss Carter's teeth.  I tried to explain to him that Carter doesn't have teeth yet, but I don't think he quite understood.  What a good big brother!

I guess when Ryan was a little boy he had a rocking horse that he would ride for hours.  So Boston got this cute rocking horse for his birthday with a basketball hoop to shoot hoops with his dad.

Carter

Boston

Do you think they look alike?

Randall Camping Trip- John Schmidt

My family loves camping, but it seems like the past few summers we just haven't had the time to plan a trip.  So this year we put it on the calendar and up to North Fork we went.  We decided to stay close just in case we needed a hospital close.  The first night we got there, it was so windy.  You can't tell in the picture, but we had to hold our tents down so they wouldn't blow away.  It was terrible!  We contemplated going home actually.  But we decided to wait till after dinner and then make a decision.  I think a few of us said a little prayer that the wind would go away so we could have a fun little trip.  Well after dinner, the wind was gone.  We were all amazed cause really it was SO windy all day long.  So we stayed and camped.  

It was so much fun!  I was a little worried though of how I would sleep in the tent.  My parents are such thoughtful people.  They actually went up that morning and pitched the tents to reserve our spot but they brought up a bed mattress for me to sleep on too!  How sweet is that?  That made all the difference!  I don't think I would have slept at all the whole trip.  Thanks mom and dad for thinking of me :)

So Friday morning, my sister gets up early to go to the bathroom.  I hear her walk away, then a minute or so later, I hear someone running as fast as they can back to camp.  Suddenly my sister jumps back in the tent and said there were moose on the way to the bathroom and she got freaked so she ran back.  I couldn't stop laughing.  It was hilarious.  So I got up and we drove the car to the bathroom and sure enough, there were these two moose just right next to our camp sight!  It was kinda cool, but it would be freaky if you just suddenly walked upon one!

All day Friday, Ryan's parents were kind enough to let us borrow their boat and we boated all day up at Pineview.  It was a perfect boating day.  I didn't think I would be able to stay on the boat the whole time because of the heat and bumps and stuff, but it never got too hot, and the water was actually really smooth.  This is Eric jumping the wake.  He got up there!

Dustin's first time jumping the wake.  

My parents also rented a Sea Doo for the day.  It was a blast.  Eric took Boston on a ride and taught him how to push the button to make it go.  It was so funny, cause Eric drove by and we all looked up and Eric had both of his hands in the air, and Boston was just driving the Sea Doo all by himself like he was a pro.  It was so cute!

I was bound and determined to go into labor!  My sister and I took the Sea Doo out for a little bit too.  I didn't dare go too fast, but it was really fun!

Travis on the knee board.  He loved this the most I think.

Here is our handsome boat driver!  You did a great job honey!

My dad got really good on the knee board too.  He learned how to do a 360 and he was pretty proud of himself!  I didn't know you still had it in ya dad!  Ha ha Just Kidding!  You were great!

The whole family at the end of the day.  We camped again on Friday night, and we did get rained on a little bit.  But we all stayed dry in the tents.  So it wasn't bad.  We woke up on Saturday, packed up and headed home for the day.  

Later that night, my parents had tickets to go to the John Schmidt concert up at Wolf Mountain.  It was so fun!  I love John Schmidt and could only wish that I could play the piano as well as he does.  And he's just a nice, fun guy to watch.  It was a charity concert and there were a ton of people there.  Boston was loving dancing to all the music.

He plays so many good songs.  One of my favorite is Love Story meets Viva La Vida.  I have it playing on my playlist.  It is such a neat arrangement that he did.  But he said due to copyright, this may have been the last live performance they were able to do of that arrangement because Cold Play's record company said they didn't want them to use the song and that they would need personal permission from the band.  Taylor Swift said it was fine to use her song, so it's too bad they can't get a hold of the band cause it really is an awesome arrangement.

After the concert, Dustin, Ashlie and Boston waited in line to get his autograph and a picture.  What a fun night.  Listening to John Schmidt makes me want to become a better piano player.  His music is such feel good music, I love it.

So thanks mom and dad for planning such a fun weekend for the family!  It was such a blast!  We were hoping that by doing all that, I would be in labor by now!  I am hurting a little more, a lot more uncomfortable and a few contractions, but nothing regular.  So everybody send baby vibes my way so we can get this little guy here!  Hopefully our next post will be about our new little baby!

Proud Mommy Moment

Boston is such a cute little guy and last night he did probably the cutest thing he's ever done.  And I just had to share...

We got him ready for bed and made his bottle.  It was pretty late so he REALLY wanted it.  Normally we would say prayers before we gave him the bottle but last night, he just wanted his bottle.  So we gave him his bottle and Ryan and I knelt down next to him and said our family prayers while he drank his bottle.  Well that was that and Ryan left the room and I stayed lying next to him while he finished his bottle.  We always have to lay down next to him while he falls asleep or he won't go to sleep.  We spoiled this little guy in the sleeping department way too much and now he doesn't fall asleep on his own and he always ends up in our bed at the end of the night.  So those of you with little ones...teach them how to sleep early before it's too late!  Anyways, so Boston finished drinking his bottle and we were laying there in silence for a good 5 minutes at least and suddenly he turns toward me and says, "prayer mom? prayer?"  and then he gets up rolls over to his hands and knees like he's ready to say a prayer.  So I asked him, "You want to say a prayer?" and he said yes so I proceeded to help him say a prayer and he rolled over when we were done and laid his head on the pillow and started to fall asleep again.  

It kind of brought a tear to my eye just thinking of how much my little boy is growing.  He is learning so much on a daily basis.  Even just going to nursery once a week, he learns so many things in there.  At first I thought how much does he really notice by us just going through the actions everyday.  But he really does learn from everything we do.  He's always saying things we say and doing things we do.  I can't believe he is almost 2!  I love you Boston!