Facebook is the new black...

It's no secret that Facebook is the way to let everybody everywhere know everything there is to know about you... am I right or am I right? Over the past few months, since becoming a mom, my status updates have cracked me up. If not for other's enjoyment, at least, they make myself and Cory laugh. So, to save a few of them for posterity and just good ole fashion giggles, I'm adding some here so that we can always look back at the first 11 weeks of my right of passage into motherhood...

5/2/2011 - I'm a mommy and I love her so much!!!

5/4/2011 -We get to take our baby girl Alessandra home today!!!

We are home, (sorta) settled, but def exhausted, with our baby girl Alessandra/Alex/Hollywood. We wanted to thank everyone from the bottom of our baby filled hearts and say that we love and appreciate all of you and your Congratulations, well wishes, and words of encouragement. We are in for a crazy ride with this little girl!

5/6/2011 - One of the most precious things that I've witnessed since giving birth to Alex, is watching how smitten Cory is with his baby girl, seeing the "Daddy's girl" bond develop and grow... and watching all of the "girlie rules" that Cory tried so hard to implement, slip away with every pout of her bottom lip...

5/8/2011 - It's hard to believe that my baby girl Alessandra was due today... So happy she was early!
Happy Mommy's Day to me and to all the beautiful and wonderful mommies out there! Enjoy the weekend, enjoy your children and families!

I'm proud to announce that at only 5 days old, we have our first projectile poop explosion! Luckily, daddy was quick with the wipey, so the only casualty was the changing pad cover. After all was said and done and clean, she peed.

5/11/2011 - First, she wakes me up at 2:45am, acting ravenous to feed, only to pass out after barely a minute. Then on diaper duty, she decides that a little poo redecorating is in order for the walls. Of course, as I attempt to feed her again, she looks up at me, smiles, and grabs my finger... I'm in love.
I love hearing Cory sing to Alessandra to calm her down for sleepy time... Especially when it's our wedding song. :)

5/20/2011 - Wow they weren't kidding about breast feeding and weight loss. Two and a half weeks since my daughter was born and I'm below my pre-prego weight! Now if only breast feeding could lift and tighten everything up again...

5/28/2011 - My babygirl graduated out of her newborn sleepers and newborn diapers... Happy that she's thriving, but getting bigger already???

6/2/2011 - Happy One Month to our baby girl Alessandra - (aka Alex; aka Hollywood) love of my life!!! and...Happy first Birthday to our little Winnie - the cutest and toughest little Yorkie girl ever!!!

6/4/2011 - Excited and nervous for date night tonight... First extended time away from Alex... I'd like to say that I'll just get really tipsy to make the anxiety go away, but...

6/7/2011 - My kid has this thing where she grunts, then throws her fist in the air while jutting out her bottom jaw when she really wants something (like to eat)... Am I a totally bad mommy for letting this go a few extra seconds because it makes me giggle? I mean, isn't this why we have kids in the first place? :)

6/11/2011 - This is how tired my husband is... I'm holding the baby trying to get her to go to sleep. He calls the dogs to go for a potty break. "Alessandra and Gizmo, let's go potty!" The other dog's name is Winnie...

6/12/2011 - Cory woke up this morning, looked at Alessandra, who has Smith cheeks and sorta looks like him, and said..."I'd be cute as a Filipino girl."
I die...

6/14/2011 - Hollywood was being particularly fussy the other night. I sat her up against me while I was looking at the new Victoria's Secret summer SHOE sale catalog that had just arrived in the mail. All of a sudden, she quieted down. Cory and I looked down at the baby to see her staring at the catalog, mesmerized by all the shoes.
She IS her Mother's daughter... Cory is very worried.

Alex woke up from her afternoon nap to see that her daddy had just come home from work. When she heard his voice, she had this huge smile on her face and started to laugh. It's moments like these where I wish we had a camera crew...

6/19/2011 - To all the Daddys out there, to my wonderful daddy, and of course, to my amazing husband and baby daddy, Cory, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!! Hope all of your children/grandchildren smother you with lots of love, hugs, kisses, and tee times!!! :)

6/20/2011 - Cory came up with a new "ethnic background checkbox" for Alessandra...
Fili-Polish American ... Hahaha!

6/25/2011 - At almost 7 weeks old, Miss Alessandra (aka Hollywood) is 12.3 lbs and 23.5 in long. 90th percentile for both. Her pediatrician said that she'll be a tall girl... Taller than mommy is all I can ask for, which isn't much. I expect nothing less from her Smith genes! :)

6/29/2011 - Why does my baby girl like to grab her hair while she's eating? She's gonna turn into a hair twirler, isn't she?

6/30/2011 - HOLY EIGHT HOURS OF SLEEP BATMAN, LIL MISS ALEX SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT!!! (now everybody please hope and pray that it happens again...)

7/2/2011 - Happy Two Months to my precious baby girl!!! (...and she slept through the night again!!!)

7/7/2011 - Lolo was over to visit Alex... He was holding her as she stared at him and flashed one of her heartwarming smiles... And my dad said, "How can you not fall in love with her?"
I can't disagree... :)

7/8/2011 - I loved you the minute I heard you were coming. I loved you the minute you were born. Then I saw your face and fell in love some more. You were only a minute old, but I knew I would die for you & to this day I still would. When you choose to have a child, you make a conscious decision to allow your heart to walk around outside of your body. Put this on your status if you have children you love more than life itself.

7/9/2011 - I'm listening to Cory and Alessandra have their morning "conversation" about how she loves to wait for the clean diaper before unleashing another round... He opens the diaper, I hear the baby laugh, and Cory says, "Oh my... That is Juicy Couture! At least that's what I think of those clothes."

7/10/2011 - I put a 3mo onesie on Alessandra today, and noticed that it was a little snug. So I'll be putting all the 6mo stuff into the rotation... My kid is only 10 weeks old (tomorrow). ;)

7/11/2011 - Oh... AND my kid has resorted to shoving her whole fist into her mouth to tell me that she's hungry. I guess that's better than that blood curdling scream she has perfected over the last 10 weeks.

7/13/2011 - So it has been almost two full weeks of Alex sleeping 8+ hours through the night... Hallelujah! We have yet to move her to her nursery. Call me crazy, but I am having difficulties "cutting the cord". Any other mommies go through this?

7/15/2011 - So Lolo came to pick up Alessandra to babysit her for the rest of the day while we do Round #2 of Disneyland with the rest of the Smith clan... They just left, and I started to cry... Really? :(

7/20/2011 - Lolo just made Alex laugh for the first time... And I mean a real legitimate baby laugh! It was so precious! (too bad I didn't catch it on video)

So, I was never a singer growing up... it's probably better for everyone if they don't hear my attempts at singing. But now that I am a mommy, I find myself doing whatever I can to calm my babygirl down when it's time to sleep... like singing anything from Disney movie soundtracks to Broadway musicals to the latest Britney Spears single (which I get in trouble for)... but hey, whatever works, right?

7/21/2011 - So... Major POOTASTROPHE this morning. The little one had a wee early morning poop in her sleep. Since it was still a few hours before her normal wake up time, I decided to change her in her bassinet so she wouldn't wake up. Can you see where this is going? Just as I was about to pull the dirty diaper out, BOOM, all over the bassinet. Oh and she woke up...at least she woke up laughing. And then...now in the nursery in the changing pad, as I'm about to close up the new clean diaper, she pees, all over me and the changing pad. And then... As I was about to close the next new diaper, she decided to empty her bowels one more time, all over my hand, all over the changing pad. All before 6am... At least she was smiling the whole time.

That's all for now... will add more in a few months!

It's A Girl!!!

Breast feeding and typing... how's that for Mommy of the Year? Everybody has been asking about how it all happened, and I finally have a chance to get to the computer. So here it goes:

So I was determined to have this child before Mother's Day. Her due date was Saturday, May 7th, Mother's Day was Sunday, the 8th... It was the weekend before, which happened to be our 2nd wedding anniversary (May 1st). We went out to a beautiful, delicious dinner at the Stonehill Tavern in the St. Regis Hotel to celebrate. It was a great Saturday night. The next day, which was our actual anniversary, we had planned to run a ton of errands and I was going to bounce like there was no tomorrow on my yoga ball to get this labor started. I thought it would be perfect to have our anniversary together for one last time, then some time that evening, go into labor, and have her the next day... so, I walked and bounced like CRAZY! We ran errands, we even made it to Golfsmith to buy Cory's anniversary present to himself - a new set of irons. (poor thing, he has yet to try them out).. came home, while Cory cleaned out the garage, I bounced...all the while having irregular Braxton Hicks contractions. They seemed to get more and more painful as the day progressed, but still with no consistency. Later that evening we stopped by Target to pick up some things for the house. We ran into BJ and Davis. I should have known that my wish was coming true, since the entire time that we were talking to them, I was having contractions every 10 minutes or so. In the middle of Target, of course, every 10 minutes, I was doubled over, hanging onto Cory in pain... After a handful of those, we decided to go home and rest. We didn't think she was coming, so it was time to give up for the day. When we got home, I sadly put the yoga ball away, sat on the couch and relaxed, watched the Angels game, contractions had stopped... I think I even started to panic a little about the upcoming week and all of those final discomforts of being pregnant. Not sleeping, not being able to breath, heartburn like no other... you name it, I had it, and I was just READY to have this baby and meet the love of my life. We decided to get ready for bed, Cory set his alarm clock to wake up for work the next morning and fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. I was still up for another couple of hours, putting me to sleep finally, around 12:30am.

Around 2:00am, I woke up to pee, since I peed like 50 times a day towards the end of my pregnancy... and as I was getting back into bed, I felt this strange pain in my back that eventually radiated to the front. I laid down, didn't think much of it, thought it was just the normal back pain I had been feeling for 9 months. Then, I felt another one. Since, I could never fall back asleep, and I was curious, I decided to download a contraction timer app onto my Droid and start timing these "pains". I was convinced that they were just Braxton Hicks, but still wanted to time them for fun. All of a sudden, it was an hour later, the pain was getting worse, and the contraction timer was showing that the "pains" were coming steadily every 4-5 minutes. I was practicing some of that crap breathing they tried to teach us at the childbirthing class. Apparently, I was breathing loud enough to wake Cory up. At this point, it was 3:00am. I told him that I was having pains, that I had timed them, but for whatever dumb reason, I wasn't sure that they were real contractions. Then I showed him the contraction timer app that I had been staring at for the past hour. He said that if he didn't see it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed me, and he would have made me go back to bed. Sweet! Haha! But, seeing that they were perfectly timed every 4-5 minutes, and that's the magic number for when you should call the hospital to come in, we decided to call. We called, the on-call doctor said to head on in. I wanted to take a shower, you know, at least try to be presentable for the nurses. The contractions started to come 3-4 minutes, so we got moving. Cory called my mom, my mom called my dad at work, Cory text his parents to be on the look out for a potential email later in the day... everybody was on alert.

We got to Saddleback Memorial around 4:00am. They brought me into the admitting room where they checked to see my progress. Would you believe that there were FOUR of us that came in within 5 minutes of each other... it was busy. At my last OB appt a few days prior, I was 50% effaced, and only 1cm dilated. At the hospital, I was 100% effaced, 3cm dilated. They don't admit anyone until they are at least 4cm dilated. The nurse said that she did not want me to go home, so she was going to make me walk the halls for an hour. Great! One of the things I didn't want was to be one of those moms you see roaming the halls, leaning up against the walls in agony, moaning and groaning. But, alas, it had to be done. So, in my fabulous backless gown, my husband and I roamed the halls of the labor and delivery unit at Saddleback hospital. My family had already arrived, so they were waiting in the waiting room at the end of the hall. I felt bad, I didn't want to see them while I was in so much pain. So, I steered clear of that portion of the hall. Every 4-5 minutes or so, a contraction would hit, and the nurse advised me to lean up against the wall and rock my hips to get the baby moving down to make me dilate more and more. Oh, did I mention that I was having back labor. YOWZA! She told Cory to pretty much shove his elbow into my back to alleviate the pain... it really did help. So, for the next hour, there we were, walking the halls, rocking my hips, elbow in my back, drinking lots of water and juice, since that would be the last time I could have any fluids until after the baby was born. It was difficult. A few times, I caught myself saying that there was no way I could go through with this. The pain was crazy. And why the hell would I EVER think that I could do this naturally???? No drugs, what??? An hour later, they checked me, I was at 4-4.5cm dilated, and I was going to be admitted. Whoo hooo! By the time I got to my room, I was 5cm dilated, and YES, I wanted the epidural. The cool thing about being admitted so early in the morning is that it was the shift change. And with the timing of how I came in, I was the first in line to get the epidural for the anesthesiologist that was just coming on duty. FABULOUS, I didn't have to wait.

The epidural was wonderful! Of course, I was freaked out about it. I actually had a mini panic attack as the anesthesiologist had me hunched over and prepping my back. Cory was holding my hands, I calmed down... all I felt was the prick of the local, and that was it. I didn't even know when the epidural was administered. I just felt this lovely sensation in my legs, the doctor told me that I would feel the effects of the epidural in 15 minutes... nah, I was feeling them right then and there. THANK GOODNESS! After that, it was all a waiting game. I dilated 1cm every hour. In the middle of it all, I don't know how, but I managed to fall asleep for a couple of hours, while my family all ate Mickey D's for breakfast. Thank god I was sleeping, I would have been jealous. At 7cm, they woke me up to break my water. Eeuw is all I have to say about that. Around noon, I was dilated to 9... then to 9.5cm. For whatever reason, it took a couple of hours to get to the full 10cm. It was in these next couple of hours that I felt (down there) what nobody likes to talk about when in labor. The PRESSURE. At first, I thought that my epidural was turned down or something. I mean, I felt no abdominal pain, but the pain of the pressure down below was starting to get unbearable, and it HURT. I had always heard of the "uncontrollable urge to push", but not this type of pressure. Without getting too graphic, Tina said that when it felt like I had to "sh*t out a car", then it was time to start pushing. NO DOUBT! When I did finally reach 10, the nurse (her name was Tina, and we LOVED her) asked if I wanted to do a trial push. ANYTHING to get rid of this pressure. PLEASE! So, we did a trial push. With the legs up and everything. Apparently, I was pushing all the right ways, so they called in Dr. Han (my OB). I did a couple of pushes when she arrived, and she said that the baby still had some way to go, so to keep going and she would be back later. WHAT? So, I kept pushing. I swear, I felt like it was HOURS. At one point, I was so exhausted, that they made me push every other contraction, which, btw, were coming every 2 minutes. After a while, I was freaking out thinking that I was pushing and getting nowhere, so I asked for the mirror. I wanted to see my progress. As gross as it may have been, figured it would be a good idea. It was kind of amazing, to be honest. Gross too, but amazing all in the same. It did help to see this FULL HEAD OF HAIR getting closer and closer. Finally, after what still felt like HOURS of pushing, they called Dr. Han back in, they called the neonatal nurse, and Alessandra was almost here. It was gnarly. All I can remember is seeing her crown, then seeing her entire head, her shoulders, then her whole body, and ohhh the pressure. Before she was born, I thought that I would be grossed out by them putting this slimy, bloody baby on me right after delivery. Weird, I know, but it's what I thought. NO. As soon as she was out, they put her on my chest, Cory cut the umbilical cord, we were all in tears. After what felt like forever and a day, our little baby girl was here. Like I said, it felt like I was pushing FOREVER... would you believe it was only 45 minutes? HA! And she was here... Alessandra Victoria Smith, born Monday, May 2, 2011, 3:43pm, 7lbs 6oz, 18.5in.

They took her to clean her up and do all of those newborn tests they do. Cory busted out the camera to take all of her "first" pictures. She had the cutest little dainty girly cry. It was everything I had imagined in my baby girl's cry. Shortly after, it was skin to skin time and our first attempt at breast feeding. I am proud to say that she latched on with no problem on the first try! I thought that breast feeding would be this weird sensation, weird experience that I wasn't really sure I'd be into. I mean, I knew that I had to do, but just wasn't sure about it. As soon as she latched on, I was sold. After she fed, she got her first bath, Daddy did his first diaper duty, we learned how to swaddle...and now we are a family of 3. Ok, well, 5 if you count the dogs...

Before, my days were filled with Cory, work work work, going out with friends, drinking it up, having a blast, shopping for whatever I wanted, date night whenever we pleased, planning our next big vacation, nonstop concerts and Angels games, did I mention work work work? Then I got pregnant, and it was all about slowing down to prepare for this baby. Then I became a stay at home mom a little earlier than expected, but at the perfect time. Still trying to slow down, rest, and prepare for this whirlwind life of becoming a parent. And now she is here. Our lives have completely changed. We are sleep deprived, we rarely go out, we rarely see anybody, our conversations revolve around when the last time she was fed or changed, diapers are our most exciting purchase, and the muscles in my left arm are getting quite the workout, as this is the arm that I carry her with. Half of my clothes smell like breast milk or spit up, the house is a mess, showers have become a luxury, and cooking dinner consists of take out or frozen pizza. We are told that it will all get easier, and we have no doubt about that. Despite it all, we have an amazing, healthy, not to mention, absolutely stunning baby girl. Such a glamorous life…haha… and we would change it for nothing.

In the home stretch...

Again, sorry it has been a while since I have been here... keep reading, it's been a crazy couple of months!

According to babycenter.com, Lil Miss Alessandra Victoria Smith (aka - Alex or Hollywood) is 46 days away from gracing us with her presence. WHOA. We have reached the point where mommy-to-be has prenatal appointments every two weeks. Fun. The nursery is almost done. After many back and forth conversations about should we paint the room, shouldn't we... we have decided to. And since Baby Daddy Cory has been traveling so much, I am beyond thankful that he is working a short week, is taking Thursday and Friday off to help me finish the nursery (ie - paint), and of course, to spend some quality time with me.

I know that it has been a couple of months since I've been here, so lemme catch you up...

Ever since my last post (the visit to the ER), I've since become a Stay-at-Home-Mommy. Without getting into too much detail, although, most of you who know me already know, work was becoming more of a stressful nightmare than a fulfilling career. It came to the point where, after certain incidences and many many tears, baby Alessandra decided to let me know how she felt about my work-related stress, and decided to send me contractions in the middle of a work day. I immediately went to Cory's office to let him know, and we had made the decision right then and there that our daughter means a helluva lot more to us than anything... the next week, I put in my resignation. I'm not gonna lie. It has been bitter sweet. More sweet, of course. But having worked in this industry almost my entire career, it was a bit of transition for me, mentally. I wasn't ready to put my career on hold just yet, so I was concerned about how the lack of interaction and a sense of every day purpose was going to affect me. Luckily, I've been able to stay busy with getting the house organized, setting up the nursery, getting little Miss Winnie trained so that she's not an unruly puppy when the baby arrives. And also, taking some ME time to just relax and "let go" of all the unhappiness that was consuming me at my job. I'm still adjusting, I miss the girls at work and my actual job... just not the other stuff.

So, here I am... it's been almost 2 months since my last day at work. I am told that I am looking very relaxed and that I do have that pregnancy glow - WHICH I hope to bottle up and save after delivery... Can I? Alessandra is doing well. We had a glucose test about a month and a half ago. I do not have gestational diabetes, which is great. But, I was on the high side. So, my obgyn advised me to lay off the sugars and starches... WHAT??? Only like my two FAVORITE things ever, especially in this third trimester. At our last appt, the baby measured about 2 1/2 lbs, and if I stay on track, she will be about a 7lb bundle of joy... please no bigger! :)

We just had the last of the two baby showers in honor of this lucky little girl. The first one was on March 5th. It was a gorgeous shower! My mom and Jenn did a WONDERFUL job. THANK YOU THANK YOU. And of course, Mama Eckert, Rachel and Danielle helped and were FABULOUS as usual! The food was incredible, the desserts were to DIE for... wish I had more. I will have to post pics here later. The second shower was just this past weekend at Cat's house. Again, fabulous food, wonderful people! THANK YOU CAT for hosting an amazing shower! AND THANK YOU TO EVERYBODY! The showers, the gifts, the love and support mean so much to Cory and I!

As we hit the home stretch, I've definitely been experiencing some of those wonderful third trimester pregnancy symptoms that nobody likes to talk about. Let's just say that the hormones relax certain muscles that allow me to clear a room faster than the speeding bullet...sleepless nights make for a pleasant wife in the morning. Which, I guess, makes me extremely lucky that I am not working at this time since I can sleep in once Cory leaves for work... all of these websites and books tell you about crazy dreams, but wow, crazy is not the word I would use. More like psychotic, make me not want to fall asleep every type dreams...and of course, physically, my belly is getting bigger, so I run into everything. And let's just say that, although I have been lucky enough to be "all-belly" and not swell everywhere else, like my feet, ankles, face, etc., I have managed to get puffy in other areas. I'll leave it at that. But the ones I have cried too - you're probably laughing your asses off right now. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, as this IS the miracle of life. I'm just not understanding those women who say "I LOVED being pregnant." Seriously? There's this huge belly in front of you that doesn't allow you to do mundane tasks, such as, putting on your socks and shoes or sometimes even putting on your pants, so your poor husband has to dress you. I guess that's good practice for the baby, right? Should I kick and cry in the process? :)

Anyhoo, I just keep counting down the days until we get to meet this beautiful baby girl. It is super exciting, but also just as nerve wrecking. Those of you who know me know that I am a control freak. And here we are, about to embark on this journey where I get absolutely NO control. How am I supposed to comprehend that? Still, I'm here to be humbled and fall in love with this little creation. It's endearing to see how excited Cory gets... btw, he has already predicted that #2 is going to be a girl. Anyone wanna take that bet? He is ecstatic at the fact that he will not only be a DADDY soon, but that he will have this little girl that will melt his heart, which in turn will allow her to break every rule he attempts to set out. (Some rules have ALREADY been broken) To all my dads out there, am I right or am I right? He looks at her closet and is overwhelmed with the amount of pink that has taken over, and is over the moon when he sees purple or yellow or green. Haha! He talks to her every night before going to bed. He even sings his crazy songs to her. She kicks back. Although it's difficult to tell if she is kicking in excitement or just trying to get her dad to pipe down.

Ok, so that's all for now. We have our first of the prenatal classes tonight. Infant Safety and CPR. Makes me nervous to hear about all the possibilities of things that can happen, nevertheless, it has to be done. We have the tour and childbirthing class next month. We are taking it with BJ and Davis so that should be fun!

Until next time...

"How does it feel to know that she is now in control?"

So, Cory had to travel to the FedEx facility in Memphis, TN this week for work. Although it was only for three days, we still feel like we are newlyweds, and are sad to be apart. It was a fairly uneventful week, work-wise. I would come home, make dinner, and relax with the doggies and Hollywood. With the exception of my Tiyng Fely's passing last weekend, everything was pretty quiet... which is nice.

This past Wednesday, I woke up, got my normal "good morning" kick from Hollywood around 7:00am, continued to get ready for work, and move on with my day. It was a busy day, but nothing too crazy. I wasn't running around at work, but I was busy at my desk. That evening, my parents and Christopher came overto bring me some sinigang... I had requested some while Cory was gone because I was craving it. :) Had dinner with my family, my mom made some yummy fruit smoothies for dessert, we watched tv, talked a little bit about the baby and the dogs, and called it a night. A couple of hours later, I was sitting on the bed with the dogs, crocheting Hollywood's hot pink & black rock star blankie, and I realized that I hadn't felt her move... in fact, I hadn't felt her move all day. And when my mom was over making dinner, she had actually asked how she was moving, and it didn't dawn on me that it had been pretty calm in my belly. So, of course, in true Annaliza fashion, I started to panic. I text Cory, who was out on a business dinner in Memphis. He called back immediately, I told him what was going on. We decided that it would be best to call the doctor... Better safe than sorry, right? So, I called the on-call physician at Saddleback Memorial. Not a millisecond after I said the words, "I don't think I've felt the baby move since this morning..." did Dr. O'dell instruct me to come to the ER and up to Labor and Delivery. I called my mom to come pick me up, I called Cory to let him know, and I proceeded to ball my eyes out. I was like, "Are you serious? Am I having complications while my husband is out of town? I can't do this again..." I balled and balled and balled, then finally stopped, got myself together to get dressed, and told the baby that I loved her and would not let anything happen to her.

It's amazing how quickly they take you up to Labor and Delivery when you are having potential complications. Typically, my experience in the Emergency Room has included a 2-3 hour wait just to get triaged. As soon as I arrived, I told them my name, the on-call doctor had already told them to expect me, and a wheelchair was there in less than 5 minutes.

In Labor and Delivery, they had me in a room that had about 5 beds in it. I'm guessing this is where they process you before deciding to admit you or make you go home. I had to change into one of those backless gowns (sexxay), and they strapped on a fetal heart rate monitor and some other monitor for contractions, and then the list of questions began. When was the last time you felt her move? What did you do today? What did you eat today? Did you fall? etc etc etc... I started to cry. Before I could literally lose it, the nurse turned on the monitor and turned up the volume, and the sound of a galloping horse came through the speakers. It was the baby's heartbeat at a fluctuating 150-180 bpm, which I'm told is a good sign. And not 5-10 minutes later after I was laying in the hospital bed, Hollywood started to let me know that she was doing just fine... punching and kicking with intention. That's my girl. The nurse and physician continued to check her heart rate and movement and they said that she is an extremely active little one. They asked if her kicks were always THAT strong... I said YES. And the reassured me that it was a good sign to come in. If I wasn't feeling THAT all day long, then it could have been a sign of distress... so better safe than sorry. "She must have been taking a really long nap." They kept giggling at how much she was moving now. As if she knew that she was being "watched"...

They monitored me for a couple of hours before discharging baby and me, and telling us to take it easy. The nurse handed me some informative handouts and my discharge papers to sign, and said that she hoped to see me back at 39 weeks. I was like, "Why 39 weeks?" She said, "so you don't go over too much"... I thought that was cute. She reminded me to ALWAYS call if I had questions of concerns... better to keep baby safe. And, while I was getting ready to leave, she said the words that will ring in my ears forever...

"How does it feel to know that she is now in control?"

PUNK...

My mom laughed... she's been telling me since I was a little punk myself, that she can't wait until I have a little girl to cause my hair to turn white and my heart to race at all times of the night. Haha!

Anyhoo, we are all doing well. After pretty much having a heart attack in Memphis, Daddy is home, protecting mommy and belly... and dogs too.

Before I go, I do want to send love, hugs and prayers to all of my family during this difficult time. Tiyong Fely was a loving and influential individual in all of our lives, and he will be missed.

First comes love… then comes marriage… then comes a baby in a baby carriage…

HELLO!

It has been WAY too long, I know. And I’m sorry. I’ve been asked by several people to start this blog up again now that the news of our future baby girl is out in the open! I had intended to keep it going, but, you know life… it took over.

A quick update on Cory and I… Marriage has been bliss. I can’t imagine my life without him. He would totally die without me. J We still live in RSM, we have made some home improvements to the condo to get ready for the baby – new hardwood flooring, new living room and dining room furniture to make space for the baby. Right before we found out that we were pregnant, we added a new family member. Her name is Winnie. She is a spunky little Yorkshire Terrier… just like her older brother Gizmo. She is a punk, she terrorizes Gizmo, she ADORES her Daddy, and is just the cutest bundle of 6lb energy that we could have hoped to add to our Smith brood. Other than that, life has been pleasantly the same… still working at Endologix (ok, maybe that is not so pleasant), still loving my ANGELS, I am growing to love the Pittsburgh Steelers, still addicted to snowboarding even though I am unable to participate this season, and loving the life we have created together and looking forward to the life that is about to become.

A quick update on baby girl Smitty… I peed on a stick the day before Cory’s birthday, August 25th. I very faint line popped into the screen, which led to tears of joy, but still some apprehension. We had just miscarried only a few months prior, so getting excited wasn’t really in our wheelhouse quite yet. Still, every day, Cory encouraged me to stay positive. We took it easy. We laid low. Our 8 week ultrasound came along, things looked good, heartbeat was strong. Due date was set for May 7, 2011. But even Dr. Han was a little apprehensive and didn’t want to get too excited. Our 12 week ultrasound came, apparently I was stiff as a board in the room. The technician had to tell me to relax… and there was baby… doing what looked like sit ups and karate kicks on the screen. We finally started to take a deep breath and believe that this pregnancy was going to be just fine. The technician asked if we were going to find out the sex. And before the word “yes” could escape our mouths, she said that it looked like a girl. Which made sense… all the old wives tales about how girls suck the life out of you. The first trimester was taxing on me… I got the morning sickness, the dry heaving, the extreme exhaustion, the mood swings… no crazy cravings, and there was a point where all I wanted to eat were smoothies from Juice It Up. So I guess that’s good that I always wanted fruit. A few weeks into my 2nd trimester, the yucky prego symptoms went away, and the fun part has begun… and here we are.

We just past 22 weeks. I feel great. Cory claims that I am now glowing. I think I’m just sweating profusely. My tummy has popped a little bit, so now I actually look pregnant, and not like I just ate an entire side of beef to myself. We confirmed at 20 weeks that we are in fact having a girl. Well, 90% sure. During the ultrasound, the little brat was practically sitting with her knees into her chest, they couldn’t get a clear read, but were positive that there were no “boy parts”… The technician and obgyn said that we can do another ultrasound at 24 weeks to confirm again, but it’s a girl. And since we had been thinking that it was a girl since 12 weeks, we were happy. I, for one, am petrified of the teenage years… especially remembering what I was like… but hopefully Cory can deal with her then. Haha! And now, walking around Target or the mall, seeing teenage girls in short shorts, mini skirts, hanging all over boys… I’m getting heart palpitations just thinking about it. See, this is what happens when you actually put out into the world “I only want boys”… my bad.

Anyhoo, with only 4 months left til d-day, we have a lot to do. We will start the nursery… moving furniture out, painting, picking out baby furniture (damn that stuff is expensive). We just started on the baby shower plans, so I’m excited for that! The theme for the room is obvious if you know me… in case you don’t… it’s WINNIE THE POOH!

As the next months whiz past us, I want to thank my Baby Daddy for being so patient and so kind… And so adorable. He is so excited at the thought of having a daughter… a Daddy’s Girl. He talks to my belly every morning and every night. Her kicks have reached the point where they are strong enough for him to feel. That is a whole other wonderment to me. Feeling your baby kick… to think that once there was nothing there, and now there is… and it’s kicking you. There are daily soccer matches between 1:30pm and 3:30pm and again between 10:00pm and into the night… sometimes it’s not just a kick, she just stretches those legs, right into my bladder. OH BOY… or should I say GIRL!

Alright, so I got the first blog out… I will def try to keep up on this so you can all enjoy and experience our first lil bundle of Smitty joy.

Love and Miss you all… Happy 2011!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND HAPPY 2010!!!

So here we are...it's the holiday season... I am finally off of work and TRYING to start packing. We are heading back east for Christmas, to visit Cory's family. I'm a little sad that this will be my first official Christmas away from my family, but it's all good. We had Christmas with my family on Sunday, and I made out like a bandit!! I mean, thank you mom and dad for the wonderful gifts... =)

Beyond being excited to see the the Smith's, I'm horrified by the potential snowstorm that is Northeastern Pennsylvania in the winter time. I come from So Cal, the OC, where it was just in the mid-70 last weekend. I mean, right now, it's in the 60s, yet windy, and my fingers are struggling to type. I'm told that there will be lots of snow waiting for me when we arrive tomorrow night... this should be interesting. Do you think they'll make me shovel the cars out of the snow as some sort of "Smith initiation hazing"... hm.

Speaking of Smith hazing, I made the irreparably stupid mistake of being gullible last night. I don't even remember what I did, I've worked real hard on "forgetting"... but I'm told that gullibility is like blood in the water for the Smith's... so I'm in for some heckling! Can't wait!

All in all... I'm very excited for the holidays! We're excited to head back east to see Cory's family and to hopefully see some of mine in NY.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OF YOU!!!

WE LOVE YOU!!!

It's been a while...

It has been a WHILE since I've been here... I just wanted to stop by and say hi to anybody who is still listening...

Married life is still as wonderful as they say it is! Cory and I just celebrated our one year anniversary of getting ENGAGED! Cory surprised me and set up a dinner and a show to celebrate what was the start of our blissful lives together. We ate at Scott's Seafood (DELISH) and saw Spam-A-Lot at the Orange Country Performing Arts. It was a wonderful evening, we had the BEST time... and then, we saw the end of the Angels game in extra innings... 13 innings, you all saw it... Nuff said.

TODAY is Game 3 of the ALCS... Angels vs. Yankees... It is the first home game of the series. Angels are down 2-0. We have tickets... it's a day game, so Cory and I got into work early so that we could leave at 11:00am and head to Angels Stadium. I'm not gonna lie... I couldn't sleep last night. I'm not sure if it was the bear sawing logs next to me in bed... OR... the fact that I can't get the last 3 or 4 Angels errors out of my mind... OR... some morbid combination of the two. Either way... I did not get good sleep last night. SO, it would be in the Angels best interest, and any Yankee fan in a arms reach of me, that the Angels BLOW the Spankees out of the park for the next FOUR games!

Please Rally Monkey, don't let our boys commit any more RIDONKULOUS errors!!!