XY – It’s a BOY!

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2014 09 new brother
I am 13 1/2 weeks along in this 6th pregnancy. We did a fetal DNA test through the high-risk perinatologist. One of the benefits was finding out a solid XY BOY gender reveal! The other benefits were great peace of mind that despite my ADVANCED MATERNAL AGE (haha!), our baby does not have any chromosome disorders, something helpful for docs and us to know going into the latter part of this pregnancy and delivery/c-section.

I thought it was a girl. I really did. Would have really evened things up! But… the Smith boy strength came through so we’ll have the same as Stephen & Phillip… 4 boys & 2 girls. Life is always an adventure, isn’t it!

Hannah had a dream we had a boy. Liza kept saying the baby was a boy. Perhaps though girlies were more in tune than I was. Sigh…

We are excited to begin preparations for another boy to join our family in let’s say – oh – like 24 weeks. That sounds like forever away. Onward, ever onward!

Curly Cue

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Just wanted to capture Zuzu’s natural curls. So darling. Lately Liza has been posing and saying, “Tute, Ziza!” And we ask if she is “nice Liza” because being nice is more important than being cute. It’s hard to be humble when you have such glorious hair! We’ll hope we teach her to be kind and sincere as she grows up. Here she is enjoying some of Hannah’s old bracelets.
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Uno

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There is one game that Jimmy enjoys playing … it’s UNO.
One night this week when he got home from work,
he entertained Tru & Liza by playing a game with them.
They LOVED it!

February Book Reports

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02 feb 2014Miss Hannah read Little House on Rocky Ridge – a spinoff on Little House on the Prairie about Laura’s daughter Rose. She added ‘student inspiration’ for the additional points to get an ‘A’… fabric… extra drawings.

IMG_0492Abe made an origami puppet of Tyson, the cyclops from Percy Jackson Sea of Monsters. On Wednesday (two days before said project was due), Abe had read 5 of 20 chapters in this book. So we high-tailed it over to the school since he hadn’t brought the book home. He read like the wind on Wednesday & Thursday. He finished his oral report paragraphs and puppet… and finished the last 15 pages of the book at school on Friday. Talk about cutting it close sonny! To celebrate book reports being finished, we rented Sea of Monsters from RedBox. How would it be to be a cyclops?!

Little Liza Ruth

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03 march 2014Liza wanted to help make scrambled eggs for supper/snack tonight. She is most darling. Then we tried a moment or two or ten on the potty (see – most modest potty picture you’ll ever find thanks to her maxi dress. Don’t worry… we pulled it up in the back! haha).

Food & potty … in the same post. Awesome Heath.

So… in other news. I was so proud of myself for eating scrambled eggs (PROTEIN!) for supper. I’ve had bad experiences with eggs in past pregnancies. Then we were talking to Jimmy on Skype (just got to Las Vegas) and I swallowed weird and coughed and then quite lost my entire dinner. It was very unfortunate. It’s the saddest thing to eat good food… lose it… and then still have to eat again. My stomach is sad.

Wow – food, potty talk, and barfing in the same post. Rock on!
We’ll stop before this gets any worse.

Sunshine on my Shoulders & a Baby in my Belly

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announcement #6The past few days have been warm (as in high at 65!) and full of sunshine! Today when I was dozing at 5 a.m., I felt HOPE. Sunshine & warmth makes a huge difference in our life. So grateful that spring is coming. Our tulips are starting to poke their leaves out of the ground. So great!

In other news… yep, a baby! When the Spirit prompts, we try to listen & obey. The feeling that we had yet another little Spirit waiting to join our family didn’t go away, so despite my ripe ol’ age of 38, 6th c-section, etc, we are moving forward in FAITH! The docs are great and watchful. Dr. Bean makes me laugh, though I also know he is cautious. The high-risk perinatologist group at Utah Vally Hospital have been helpful.

Every time a nurse takes my blood pressure, they stare at the screen (while I hear it beeping alerts!). They say, “Find your Happy Place, and we’ll take it again.” I assure them it’s probably correct though higher than we’d all like. They aren’t going to give me meds until my blood pressure is 160/110. It’s sitting around 140/90. Anyhoo… let’s see… Placenta parked itself right up front. We’re all hopeful that as the uterus grows, that placenta will move up and out of the danger zone of 5 other incisions. Fun topics.

We finally told most of the kids. We’ve needed the oldest 2 to step it up a little as I’ve been quite under the weather… either so tired or trying not to barf. They have done well to help a bit more. Jimmy is the best husband ever and helps manage the home when I’m sinking. Hopefully in 5 more weeks, I’ll feel much, much better!

This will be a stressful and physically demanding year!
Yes, indeed it will.
But the blessings will exceed the trials.
So grateful for miracles and Tender Mercies!
Good thing we know that we can do hard things together as a family WITH GOD on our side!
we can do hard things with god

New Beginnings

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IMG_0448Tonight Hannah and I went to New Beginnings. Can you believe she turns 12 this October? Unfortunately she misses girl’s camp this year. Fortunately, she’s a good sport and will have fun going next year.

The YW Presidency did a great job with the evening. The theme was ‘oh, the places you’ll go’ with cute Dr. Seuss decorations in bright colors. The YW gave short talks and sang a Janice Kapp Perry Song. Hannah seemed to enjoy it. She apologized the next day for staying up late to write in her journal about her special evening. Cute girl!

Winter Dance Time

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Every day is all about dancing for Miss Liza. It’s a cute 2-year-old wintertime hobby for her. Hopefully soon she can enjoy some warm outside play! In the meantime, we’ll enjoy every bit of her cuteness.
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Creative Genius

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Eliza has been using her creative genes to experiment with photos in picasa. This ‘heat map’ setting seems to be her especial favorite!
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Strep Throat & Pneumonia

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photo (1)Quick update for the family record on Tru’s health.
2 weeks ago he got a fever, stopped eating, and was lethargic.
Strep Throat!
with the scarlet fever rash
(which is inconsequential though hearing it made me think of all the movies with people dying from scarlet fever …
Beth from Little Women, Gilbert in Anne of Green Gables, etc).

So grateful for antibiotics.
Thank you yummy tasting pink amoxicillin.

Then in the middle of his antibiotics for Strep, he got a cold.
Which turned into a cough.
Which turned into a non-stop cough/choke = not normal.
Slight case of pneumonia on his right side.
Augmentin. Bless you.

After 2 days, his cough is doing a hundred times better.
We’ve tried to load that kid with liquid and healthy food,
but he hardly eats anything.

Tru: 33 lbs
Liza: 29 lbs

He’s definitely a light-weight and always has been.
But Tru – let’s eat more fruits & veggies little man!

We love you too much to have you get sick all winter!
(p.s. maybe STOP biting your fingernails too… all those germs!!)