Random Pics of My Girls

The top pictures are ones taken at the time of Jalaina's blessing at JC Penny. The next picture represents all the times Jocelyn wanted to lay down next to her sister. (They love each other so much. It's gratifying for a mother to know how much her kids love each other. I know it won't last for too long, but I'm relishing it while I can.) The last two are obviously Halloween pics. We went as a "Fifties" family. So much fun! Jalaina was a poodle (like on a poodle skirt), in case you thought she was a ghost.

July 2010

The day after Jalaina and I came home from the hospital was the annual Fourth of July parade in Provo. This is the only holiday I can count on all the Smith's getting together, so naturally, I didn't want to miss it. Okay, so I also wanted to show off Jalaina. Anyway, despite still feeling a little weak and tired, I woke up at seven that morning and made it to the parade, accompanied by Thane, Jocelyn, my mom and Caitlin. It was a lot of fun. Caitlin and Jocelyn met Cinderella, which they were both excited about. Although I think Caitlin's favorite part was seeing all the princesses (the winners of the beauty contest for each city in the area). From there, we went home, had a nap and went to my sister-in-law Jeanne's house for dinner. It was a fun Fourth of July, and as you can see--pictures!!!

A few days later, everyone in the condo, excluding Jalaina and myself became sick. Not really sure with what, but the sickness pretty much lasted for a day, then was gone. It was at the end of this that my sister, Deirdre, made a surprise trip to Utah to visit Caitlin for her 4th birthday. Caitlin was surprised, and happy, to see her mother! Of course, later that day, she wanted to know what her surprise was! Silly girl! Thankfully, Caitlin was feeling better for her birthday and we made a small cake for her since she would be getting a bigger party over the weekend. The next day we had a 'Big Sister' party for Jocelyn. She was the only girl that week not to have a party--Jalaina's blessing was the following Sunday. We made cupcakes from the leftover cake batter from Caitlin's cake. Mya made sure everyone knew whose day it was!

Saturday brought Dad, Kyle and Danielle into town, with Jock in tow. That night was Caitlin's big party celebrating her 4th birthday. Shortly after cake was served, preparations for the next day's celebration was underway. Sunday, July 11 was Jalaina's blessing day. Overall it was a good day, with a small bit of rain overshadowing the festivities. G.G. and Aunt Penny came all the way from Wyoming. Well, G.G. was visiting Aunt Penny from Houston, but you get the idea. Thane gave Jalaina her blessing at church and afterwards we had a family gathering outside the playground in front of the complex where we were living. Thane's sisters and their families were there along with all my family, my aunt Jenni and uncle Brian, and as listed above, G.G. and Aunt Penny. I am very grateful for everyone who came. I am also grateful for everyone who weren't able to be there and kept us in their thoughts that day.

Jalaina Dawn Part Deux

Jalaina Dawn

Happy Family (plus one--We love Caitlin!)

Sisters

Cousins

Jalaina Dawn

Yea!! We made it to June/July, my favorite time in 2010. And I bet you can guess why! I had talked to my OB/GYN earlier that year and told him I wanted to be induced. He agreed and we set a date-June 30. Well, life went on and as time progressed, I decided the 30th wasn't soon enough. I wanted to see my baby girl. So, on June 25, I called my doctor and said that I wanted to have the baby earlier, like that weekend. Yeah, I know it was only a matter of days, but when it comes to my babies, I am just not very patient. The girl in charge of scheduling inductions and ultrasounds called me back and told me that my hospital of choice didn't do inductions over the weekend. She said she'd try to get me in on Monday. Monday came and went. Tuesday arrived and I picked up my mom and niece from the airport. By Tuesday afternoon, when there still wasn't a phone call from the hospital saying they were ready, I was on edge. I was supposed to have the baby the next day. Tuesday night came along and I finally received a call. The hospital had an influx of expecting mothers over the weekend and the past two days, so there were no beds. I was told that if I didn't receive a phone call from them by six a.m. to call the hospital. Well, at six-thirty (can you believe it? I waited a whole half-hour!) I called the hospital; still no bed. I was then told to call back at ten. Ten o'clock, same answer--call back at noon. Noon, same answer--call back at two. By this point, we were at the mall, just for something to do. I was going crazy sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring. At two, I was in a scrapbooking store, when the hospital called and said that it would take about another hour but if I still didn't hear from them, not to worry because my doctor had called in and said to get me in ASAP. (I LOVE my doctor!!) Three o'clock, the hospital called. Get here in fifteen minutes and we'll be ready for you. So, I sat around for ten minutes, bag packed, twiddling my thumbs because the hospital was across the street from where we were living at the time. Finally the moment arrived and all of a sudden, I was in a hospital bed, getting hooked up to various machines. The nurse shot my IV with Pitocin and I started my contractions. Everything was going very well until a couple of hours later when it was time for my epidural. When I had the epidural put in with Jocelyn, there was one poke and it was in. Not so this time. The anesthesiologist poked and poked and poked. I felt like a pincushion. Finally, it was in. I laid down on the bed and got the biggest scare of my life. The nurse couldn't find the baby's heartbeat! I was frantic, sobbing, saying, "Please save my baby" over and over. A whole team of nurses entered the room and they started to prep me for an emergency C-section. The head nurse shot my IV with something (I can't remember what it was called) to increase my blood pressure and after what seemed like an eternity, there was the heartbeat thumping steadily. After that excitement, the rest of the night was fairly uneventful. At around nine forty-five, my aunt Jenni stopped by the condo where Mom was with the two girls. She offered to take Caitlin and Jocelyn so Mom could come to the hospital to be with me. (Grateful shout out to Aunt Jenni!!) Mom arrived just as the baby crowned, so she was able to watch as Jalaina Dawn entered the world. It was one of the greatest moments of my life. It would the greatest, but I do have an older daughter, and to watch her being born was awesome! So, I will end this story for now and post some pics. More to follow. Love to all!

Spring 2010

Spring didn't bring a whole lot. There was Easter and I do have pics for that holiday. Jocelyn's paternal grandparents (my in-laws) had an Easter egg hunt inside and she had fun trying to find all the eggs. She had decided that day after church that she really wanted to wear two different colored flowers in her hair. She looks adorable, but you might say I'm biased. We had a family picture taken that day, although Thane and I were not really dressed up.

Late Winter/Early Spring 2010

In February 2010, Jocelyn celebrated her third birthday! Due to technical difficulties, we lost the pictures we took and don't have any from the actual day. Boo. A few days after her birthday, we went to Houston to visit Mya and Papa (my parents). She had a small birthday party with her cousin, aunt, and grandparents. We do have pictures of that day (thank you, Mya). Well, I have them somewhere, I will look for them and post them when I find them. Mya made blue and pink cupcakes and the girls frosted them with blue and pink icing. They both had fun. Also during that trip was G.G.'s (my paternal grandmother) 75th birthday party. EVERYBODY showed up for that and it was fun to see all the little girls playing with each other. It was fun to see family I hadn't seen for years as well. It was a great time; I most enjoyed listening to all the stories from when my dad and his siblings were growing up. I think that was all the excitement for that trip. The pictures for that event were sent to me already printed out, so I have to scan them into my computer first, then I will post them. Sorry.

Sorry to all those wanting pics and updates

First of all, I must apologize to all my wonderfully patient family. I have been remiss in updating my blog. Life has been a little hectic for me and I have had little to no time to get on the computer, much less update my blog. I hope you all will be a little more patient with me over the next few days. I hope to have the blog updated and complete with pictures by the end of the week. Love to all!