Smith Family

Horsey

2011-08-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

This kid is a cowboy through and through. When he watched the entire length of Man from Snowy River at 18 months, and repeatedly thereafter, it became pretty obvious that he was going to be a horse lover just like his dad and Papa Bruce. It has only been lately that his horse obsession has become a reality. Check out how lucky this little guy is! He gets to ride Spud every Friday morning and he is currently on his 8th week and has made tons of great strides. He is getting closer to walking every day!

Not a fan of the helmet. You have to wear a helmet to ride the horse, so he seems to get over it pretty fast.

Bird's nest

2011-08-09T22:41:00.000-07:00

What is it about mothers and their inability to cut their baby's hair? I think when it was referred to as a bird's nest, I finally realized it was time to go. So here are some glamour shots before it was chopped.
I loved that little tuft of baby hair that also doubled as a comb-over, hari krishna, and alfalfa.

July 4

2011-07-05T22:21:00.000-07:00

Best day of the summer. I love July 4th. This year was another great one. Although apparently if you are a "good mom" you are supposed to dress your kids in matching stars and stripes outfits. I am learning. Next year they will be adorable.

It started out with our hometown parade and with these two, we cleaned house on the candy and free stuff.

What celebration is complete without a pony ride?
We had a great BBQ at a friends house and then headed over to the firework show on Fort Lewis military base. We had a sweet spot and cozy bed in the back of Stirling's truck. Even with all of that, both of our kids kept looking at us like "so why did we have to stay up for this?"

We are making memories kids!

O Canada

2011-03-30T21:51:00.000-07:00

I love Whistler. Whenever I visit, I dream of becoming a Canadian citizen, skiing by day and watching hockey by night while eating Wonder bars (think Snickers, but Canadianly enhanced) for the remainder of my happy life.

Stirling has some friends that have a house at the base at Blackcomb. You can literally ski off the mountain to their front door. It is even more amazing than it sounds and we were lucky enough to stay there for a few days again this year.

The drive from Seattle to Whistler is one of the most scenic drives. And it only gets better from there. Here are a few pictures of the drive and a fun park we visited on the way.

The first day we arrived the weather was perfect and we took the kids on a hike. I forgot my camera BOO! But we had a great time hiking and attempting to sled with a 2 year old and a 6 month old. Fun times. The second day we split a lift ticket and it was great, but it is a lot more fun to ski together without kids. So the next day we looked into babysitting services so we could ditch the little ones. The cheap place was $15/hour/kid + $30 booking fee...YIKES! But, we got lucky and ran into a friend of the family that owns the place who has a teenage daughter that charged$10/hour. Still ridiculous, but totally worth it.

Words do little justice to the amazing terrain and scenery. I need to go back and take more pictures.

The pictures below are actually taken from a google image search of "whistler blackcomb" Good job whoever took these pictures.

Tubes (again) and Adenoids

2011-02-24T15:20:00.001-08:00

Since heart surgery, Stockton hasn't had any serious medical issues to speak of. But, last summer he failed a routine hearing test and had his first set of ear tubes. Last Wednesday he went under the knife yet again.

After the first set of tubes, things went great for a few months and then winter came and brought with it a nasty case of the "never-ending boogers." So back to the ENT we went. After a bunch of medical yadda-yadda and another hearing test that showed "mild hearing loss" we were back in the operating room, this time with a plan to take out his adenoids.

Stirling was away with the Army for some military training and my parents were looking for a good excuse to see their grandkids, so luckily Stockton and I didn't have to brave the procedure alone. It took longer than expected and in the words of the surgeon, his ears were a "mess." The first set of tubes were still there, the only problem is they were filled with fluid and weren't doing their job. Everything was cleaned out and replaced and he is now hearing normal in both ears! He woke up cranky but had a sweet cuddle with Grandma and a long nap and was back to his normal self later that day. Thank you for all the thoughts and prayers and especially the love and support from my parents.

These two are trouble!!

He had to have a scalp IV which he was not happy about. He also had a little reaction to all the tape on his head. Obviously you can tell he was not a fan of that either.

Glasses

2011-02-19T23:16:00.000-08:00

The boy hates his glasses. We have tried everything...movies, food, songs, books about glasses, dolls with glasses. BAHHH! He is not drinking the kool-aid. The only time he will wear them is when dad holds him in his lap and they hold hands while watching his favorite movie (Man from Snowy River) 20 minutes is the record so far. Once you let those hands go, the glasses get pitched across the room. Initially when the Dr. gave Stockton a prescription he warned me that kids this age usually don't tolerate their glasses very well, but I thought Stockton would be the exception. He actually isn't near/far sighted but he does have a significant astigmatism. Basically he sees everything taller and skinnier than it is in reality. After a few months of failure, I went back to the Dr. and he told us not to stress. He guessed that Stockton was seeing enough to thrive in his environment and to try again in 6 months. Until then here are some cute shots of the new specs.

Getting ready to throw em.

8 wonderful years

2011-02-02T22:49:00.000-08:00

This year for our anniversary I planned a quaint little getaway to the Bavarian village of Leavenworth Washington. I found an amazing rental cabin online and we packed up both kids (kind of sad for an anniversary trip) and took off. The first night we arrived and Stirling cooked some amazing steaks on the grill. We put the kids to bed and busted out the first season of Modern Family. That show is so great. It is impossible for me to decide who I love more, Phil or Cameron.

The next day, we snowshoed around the bank of Lake Wenatchee. We love the outdoors. We love camping and hiking and all of that good stuff and we have really tried to continue to foster that love even after having children. But that day was super windy and super cold. Sometimes with 2 little ones and a dog it is a GIANT PAIN to find the desire to get out the door. However, after a sufficient amount of whining on my part, we bundled up the kids and braved the torrential wind. The hike turned out great. We found some protection in the trees and it was beautiful. So lesson learned, we will continue to bundle up the kids and do the things we love.

Later that evening, we trolled around town looking for somewhere to eat. Leavenworth in January is not exactly a happening place and we had terrible luck with finding good food. We finally decided to eat at some restaurant that resembled the Bavarian version of Denny's. Sadly, it only got worse. While we were ordering my cell phone rang. It was the owner of the rental cabin calling to tell me that the alarm had gone off and the police were on their way. UH OH. I accidentally armed the system and then left our dog to roam free in the house. So, Stockton and I enjoyed our Grand Slam while Stirling rushed back to our place to take care of business. Love you hun!
The next morning we woke up and took a sleigh ride. It is one of those things that I have never done and I knew it was either going to be a really lame total waste of money or fabulous. It was fabulous! Stockton loved the horses and there was something magical about literally going over the river and through the woods on a horse-drawn sleigh.

Not sure how Hazel's hat made it over her entire head. It makes me laugh really hard. Who is that girls mother?

The rest of the trip consisted of hot tubbing, napping and shopping.

I am amazed at what we have shared together over the last 8 years. We have seen eachother at our absolute highest high and lowest low. That is what makes our relationship so perfect. Love this man. I am so blessed to have him as my husband and father to our children.

Hazel

2011-01-16T13:18:00.000-08:00

There is something so wonderfully perfect about a newborn baby. The way they smell, those sleeping smiles, and the soft fuzz all over their bodies. Hazel is not exempt from any of those things. Her little bum fits perfectly in the palm of my hand and I know there will be a day when I will look back at this time with longing, but as for now being a mother of 2 has really challenged me.

This girl can cry. And she did just that for the first 3 months of her life. She was consolable, for the most part, but it took constant effort from both Stirling and I. Swaddling, walking, bouncing...bouncing, swaddling and walking. Argh!! Lets just say that we were 2 very tired parents.

As she approaches 4 months, something has changed and I think she is going to be ok living in this world. I also realized that I am going to be ok as a mom to 2 of the most amazing and perfect little souls that anyone could ask for. I have thought a lot about how much you have to sacrifice as a mother. The list is endless really...I mean I am lucky if I even get to take a shower once a day. And at times when days are tough, I find myself resenting that long list of sacrifices, wondering why...why am I doing this? Then I am blessed with those special and tender moments with my children that are worth the sacrifices ten times over. I really think that is the key...to cherish those moments. So in 2011, that is my goal, to cherish the moments when Stockton leans over to give Hazel a big wet kiss like only an older brother can.

Christmas recap

2011-01-15T20:45:00.000-08:00

Since it still feels like winter in Washington, I figured it would be the perfect time to finally update my blog with some Christmas pictures. We spent Christmas at home in Salt Lake City. As our family grows, I wonder when we will celebrate Christmas in our own home. I am sure it will be soon, but this trip was SO perfect that I think we may have to do it again next year.

The festivities started out with a trip to the mall of course. I think I took a nap, and so did Hazel, but Stockton had a great time on the train and the carousel.

We had a great visit with Stirling's grandparents

Hazel played baby Jesus in the family nativity

Santa came!!

Stockton practiced standing up

Cornhole tourney. Stirling built these for all of our family members and I can honestly say it has been the worst idea ever thus far in our marriage, ever. Ever ever. However, after all the late nights and numerous profanities, it actually turned out super cool, so props to my genius husband.

Snowshoeing with my brother and sister with NO KIDS...it was great!

And here is my favorite picture of 2 very happy grandparents. It was a Merry Christmas for everyone.

Hazel's blessing day

2010-12-10T14:51:00.000-08:00

At the beginning of December we had a house full of visitors for Hazel's baby blessing. It was a great time eating tons of great food, having lots of laughs and mostly freezing our hineys off at each various adventure we decided to take. Earlier that summer, my parents and I took a drive to Mount St. Helens and loved it. I thought it would be a great idea for a little adventure for the rest of the family to enjoy. The only problem is I didn't check to see if the visitor center was open in December. Yeah, it was closed. Luckily we still had a great view of the volcano and a picnic. It also made some time for a stop at the outlet malls on the way home, so it wasn't a total flop.

Freezing after our picnic

Both Grandma Helen's with Hazel Helen at Mount St Helens. Awww!
As if we weren't cold enough at Mount St Helens we decided to take a walk along the Puget Sound at Chambers Bay Golf course. The sun was out but so was the WIND and it was miserable. Thanks everyone for putting up with our weekend of cold.

Sunday was perfect and I feel so blessed to have so many family members witness Hazel's baby blessing. My biggest concern was Hazel would spit-up on the beautiful dress that my mom made for her. My second concern was that Hazel would cry through the whole thing, but Hazel was perfectly content and the dress was untouched. In typical fashion, Stirling gave the most beautiful blessing to our little fireball. I want her to remember a few of the things he said and I will add that after I print my blog-book for 2010.

Isn't she beautiful??

The Big 2

2010-11-23T21:16:00.001-08:00

My little Stockton turned 2 in September and what a great year it has been. It has been amazing to watch Stockton change and grow over this last year. So many milestones have been achieved and celebrated. Here are some amazing things that I want to remember about my 2 year old Stockton.

Everywhere we go he finds a friend. His smile and wave can attract just about anyone, but his personal favorites seem to be those with gray hair.
Costco cheese pizza is a little slice of heaven for this kid. Do not attempt to leave Costco without a slice.
He knows and uses about 50 signs and has recently started saying "mom" "book" and "ruff-ruff"
He loves music and has some great dance moves to accompany all of his favorite songs.
You can quickly make a bad day good by giving Stockton one of the following...cheetos, watermelon or a ride in his swing.
He will gladly go to strangers as long as they are men. If you have a beard you are golden in Stockton's book.

We feel so blessed to have this little man in our home and can't wait for what another year will bring. Here are a few pics looking back

Oct 2009

Nov 2009

Dec 2009

Jan 2010

Feb 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

July 2010

Aug 2010

Happy Birthday September 2010

Halloween

2010-11-14T21:24:00.000-08:00

I love Halloween, but this year was pretty pathetic...borderline worst halloween ever. It is really sad because we have become quite a phenomenon in the neighborhood over the last few years. We always have awesome pumpkins, Jude is dressed up to great the trick or treaters, and last year we even gave away some full size candy bars to a few lucky kids.

Anyway, this year we didn’t carve a single pumpkin, Jude refused to wear his Yoda ears, which is obviously the most important part of his costume, and Stirling threw a small fit when I came home with 2 huge bags of candy from Costco. I tried to see his point of view and did my darndest to avoid opening that 2^nd bag, but after giving away multiple hot chocolate packets from my cupboard, a bag of dum-dums, and 2 expired diet cokes, I couldn’t TAKE IT ANYMORE! After the 2nd bag was opened, we only had about a dozen more trick-or-treaters and ended our night with way too much leftover candy. At least everyone looked cute right?

Grandparents

2010-10-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

I am flying solo for the next few days until my sister arrives on Monday and it is INSANE. Kids are needy...remind me to remind myself of that when I think its a good idea to have #3.

Today I unsuccessfully searched through the freezer for a loaf of bread and thought long and hard about packing up 2 kids to go to Costco. Actually, I didn't have to think for long to realize that staying home and making a loaf of bread was going to be WAY easier.

For now, I will remember easier times when my parents or Miss Helen were here helping me cart 2 kids up and down the stairs, cook, clean, read stories, sing songs and handle bath and bedtime. Those were good days...anyone want to come back for a few weeks?

Lesson of the day

2010-10-08T16:52:00.000-07:00

Never, ever, answer the door unless you are expecting someone. 9 times of 10 you'll wish you didn't interrupt the good book you are reading while nursing to put on a bra, only to greet the Kirby vacuum salesman for the 3rd time in 4 weeks. Seriously?? I will not let the Kirby guy ruin my day one more time!!

SHE is here!

2010-09-21T12:53:00.000-07:00

On Sunday September 12th at 4:38 pm we welcomed a beautiful little GIRL into our family. My labor and delivery were very routine and uneventful (thank goodness) and we were discharged to come home 24 hours after she was born. We feel so blessed to have this sweet little lady! I was hoping for a girl but preparing myself for a boy so you can imagine my delight when Stirling announced that we had a girl! Here are a few pictures of Hazel and I have some funny video to follow of when Stockton meets her for the first time.

Here baby baby baby

2010-09-08T21:08:00.001-07:00

Soon we will welcome another child into our family...it should be any day now. It should've been yesterday!! ARGHH! We don't know if its a boy or a girl which has made my pregnancy pretty boring. However, I am sure that the delivery day will be all the more sweet when our new addition is a complete surprise. I think its a girl. Stirling thinks its a boy.

I am beyond excited to have a sweet newborn in our home, but also a little apprehensive. As my due date approaches every time I put Stockton down for a nap or bedtime, I can't help but squeeze him a little tighter and hold him a little longer, knowing that the time that its just "us" is coming to an end. Deep down I wonder how I could ever love another child as much as I love Stockton. I honestly can't imagine how that is going to be possible.

There are so many things about this little boy that have totally captured my heart and soul! And its not just me...If I would have known just how much joy he was going to add to our family, extended family, friends, and even perfect strangers, I would've cried fewer tears when he was born.

For now, I am just trying to cherish the last few moments that I have with my little man and his large personality!

23rd Grade

2010-08-01T15:35:00.000-07:00

Recently Stirling was working at a children's hospital and had a conversation with a 7 year old boy. It went a little something like this...

Stirling: "Hello, I'm Dr. Smith I'll be helping you guys out tonight. What brings you to the ER?"

Kid: "Are you a real doctor or are you a resident like on T.V.?"

Stirling: "Well I'm a resident, but it's not like you see on t.v., the people I work with aren't that good looking."

Kid: "What does it mean to be a resident anyway?"

Stirling: "I guess it means I'm still in school to learn how to be an ER doctor."

Kid: "Cool. So what grade are you in?"

Stirling "23rd."

Kid: "Whoa, I'm only in 2nd grade, I think its crazy to be in

school that long."

Stirling: "I would have to agree with you. Now where does it hurt?"

This June our family celebrated the graduation of our husband and dad from 23rd grade. What a long road it has been and I couldn't be more proud! I would have quit after 18th grade for sure... So here is a little tribute to my hubby who has accomplished something completely amazing!! The hours in the classroom, led to hours of studying, followed by hours in the hospital which led to a few wrinkles and a dozen gray hairs. And through it all, he has still been able to be an amazing husband and a fantastic father. I am so proud of this HUGE accomplishment. Way to go Doctor Smith!

Where have we been?

2010-06-24T18:55:00.001-07:00

Over the last few weeks, we have been doing a whole lot of vacationing/traveling. I have so much catching up to do...I think the frequency (or lack thereof) of my blog posts is a good argument that it is time for me to get a laptop...a macbook... for my birthday.... which is in August... Are you reading this Stirling? :)

Anyway, now that we are home and situated (kind of) I thought I would take some time to record a few memories. For the entire month of May, we temporarily relocated to my hometown of Sandy, Utah for 4 wonderful weeks. I can say wonderful because I was completely and totally in vacation-mode. My parents loved being with Stockton and I had a nice break from bedtime routines and poopy diapers...thanks mom and dad! Stirling was working a full schedule in the ER at IMC hospital in Murray to finish out his residency, but he did get in a few family parties and rounds of golf, so I think we can both say we had a great time. Most of our days were pretty ordinary which was actually a much needed break. Sometimes at home, Stockton and I can get pretty bogged down with his 6-7 hours of therapy each week. So, it was a good change to have therapy replaced with grandparents, playing in the dirt, wagon rides, and lots of family outings. Here are a few pictures from the month of May.

Brown = Delicious

2010-05-01T21:27:00.000-07:00

Stockton has really started to voice his opinion when it comes to the things he eats. Last month I could easily give him steamed broccoli and green beans and he would think they were just as tasty as a brownie. He always accepted what was offered and I became a boastful and proud mother of a "vegetable eater."

However, over the last two weeks, I have noticed him paying close attention to exactly what goes into his mouth. With that observation, he has quickly realized that if you have a choice between something green or something brown...always, always chose brown.

P.S. Vanilla ice cream, although tasty, does not fall into the brown category and will subsequently be rejected. Don't even try.

Our car

2010-04-20T21:08:00.000-07:00

We have been dragging our feet on deciding what to do with this car due to our undying affection for it. It is the first car we bought as a married couple and at a price of $5,000 it has paid for itself many times over. It has patrolled the mean streets of Chicago, Seattle, Portland and Salt Lake City with many trips in-between without a hitch. In true Smith fashion, we punished that car and drove it into the ground with very little maintenance required. Actually it still drives pretty nice as long as you don't go faster than 65 mph.

The registration came due at the end of March and we figured it was time to say goodbye. After watching craigslist and doing a little research online, I thought we could get at least $1500 for it. Stirling had his doubts...very valid doubts considering two missing hubcaps, a front turn signal gone, a cracked windshield, and small bits of rust throughout...oh yeah and the front seat refuses to budge so the buyer needed to have long legs. Needless to say, he would've been thrilled to get $800 for it.

But I was confident, so I listed it on craigslist for $1600 and not ten minutes later we had a phone call inquiring about the car. For the next 24 hours our phone was ringing off the hook. Multiple people came and left as fast as they came, so I loosened up on the price a bit. Finally we sold it to some guy who didn't speak a whole lot of English, but he did have 15 crisp $100 dollar bills. We were sad to see her go, but we just didn’t need three cars for two drivers.

Happy Heart Day

2010-04-20T20:51:00.001-07:00

On January 29 we celebrated one year since Stockton had his open heart surgery. Time has passed, but as a parent it is hard to erase the fear, stress, sadness and worry that go along with turning your child over to a team of medical professionals. We will just say that I am very grateful it is behind us.

However, I tend to remember the special moments in the hospital following Stockton's surgery. At that time it was all about him. Our lives completely shut down...but in a good way. It was miraculous to watch his little body struggle and then begin to recover as we spent every moment for 7 days by his bedside. He amazed us then and hasn't stopped since. Here is a picture of him just 15 days after surgery. Pretty incredible, right?

Haircut

2010-04-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

Although this wasn't Stockton's first haircut it was his first that was WAY PAST DUE. As I am sure every mother can attest, 18 month old children aren't huge fans of the clippers, but with the magic of the bumbo chair to keep him still and M&M's to bribe him between buzzes, I think we did pretty well.
BEFORE

AFTER

Anniversary

2010-04-03T21:55:00.000-07:00

Obviously I should win some sort of blogger award for being the "worst blogger ever" seeing as how it has been 3 months since my last post, BUT that is just because we have been busy having too much fun. This is going to take a long time to catch up so I will just start with January 24, 2010. Stirling and I celebrated our 7th anniversary. I need to scan in a cheesy picture of us and write a really sappy post about how much I love him...which I will totally do, so stay tuned. But for now I will just record the wonderful day we had together.

As much as I love Stockton, I was craving a day without having to worry about snacks and sippy cups, diapers and nap times. Thanks to a dear friend, we were able to drop him off and enjoy our day sans munchkin. Stirling knows me well as we started off the day by eating out for breakfast. I love breakfast food so much I could eat it for dinner, and having someone else cook it for me is even better. We split an omelet and a belgian waffle, drank some tasty hot chocolate and then drove to the mountains east of Seattle and spent the morning snowshoeing. Jude got to come which I kinda felt a little guilty about, but he doesn't cry, wear diapers or need to be dressed in 4 layers to play in the snow. Hence he was invited.

We had a great time walking through the forest together. I love how snow makes your surroundings audibly quiet. We had a picnic and although I can't remember what we talked about, I do remember how much I love being near him, with him, by him. Stirling is my best friend who makes me feel so special and always makes me laugh like no one else can. I feel so blessed and can't wait to celebrate years of anniversarys to come.

Christmas Morning

2010-01-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

Well I can't believe that the season has come and gone again. I took down the Christmas tree today and wondered where the last 4 weeks have gone. What a great Christmas it has been. Stirling had a fair amount of days off over the last week which was very nice. He even had Christmas eve night and Christmas day off. It was so fun to have a quiet Christmas at home together. According to Stirling, the Christmas presents this year were flat out lame. But I was totally thrilled to open a dutch oven (I have a slight obsession with them) and a bunch of other fun things including a food dehydrator. I was skeptical at first but it makes some mean homemade fruit leather and the dried fruit is superb. I think we have consumed 8 lbs of banans in the last week. I have yet to dry jerky, which I know will be tasty. The gifts I had for him were lacking in excitement as well, but it looks like he and Stockton enjoyed all the things Santa brought.

Christmas morning

Stirling was excited about one gift for Stockton. I was surprised to see them open 2 giant snow tubes. Apparently these are not just ANY snow tubes. Much time and research went into finding the perfect, high tech tube worthy of the Smith family. Needless to say after that effort Stirling was pretty anxious to try them out, so on Dec 29th we went to Mt. Rainier. The Paradise visitor center has a fun sledding hill with an absolutely gorgeous backdrop. Stirling put Stockton in our Kelty pack that you can put on your chest and headed up the mountain. I decided to test it out first to see how dangerous it was before I let my husband cascade down a mountain with my 15 month old child on his chest. I went a total of 50 feet, hit a small piece of snow/ice and the tube popped. Not a small hole with a repairable air leak pop, we’re talking a loud stuck a balloon with a needle pop. I tried to yell at Stirling and tell him not to proceed, but he figured that it was the “sharp” ice that punctured my tube so he and Stockton should be OK. They sat down and made it a couple hundred feet down the run when POP went the other tube. After I realized that they were free of any serious injury, we gathered our tube pieces and went back to the truck. The final tally was $45 for tubes, two maiden voyages, two totally destroyed non-repairable tubes and a lot of laughs from me. I seriously could not stop laughing (Stirling didn’t think it was very funny, he can smile about it now, but it’s still too painful for him to truly laugh about.) Fortunately we had a feeling that this would totally flop so we brought our snowshoes just in case. We spent the rest of the day snowshoeing around the mountain with Stockton and having a great time, so thankfully the two hour drive was not a total waste.

BEFORE

AFTER

All is well

The Tree

2009-12-30T21:36:00.000-08:00

Forgot to post a picture of the tree. Its a beauty.

Christmas Traditions

2009-12-23T13:40:00.000-08:00

This is one of the few years that we haven't traveled to Utah to be with our families over Christmas. It is sad to miss out on all the fun Christmas parties and traditions. If you know me, you know I HATE missing out on stuff!

However this year is exciting because it gives us a chance to make some traditions of our own. One year when I was young we went to the forest to cut down and bring home a Christmas tree. It was a very memorable childhood moment for me. We drove on a snowy road, hiked to find our tree, and ate boiled hot dogs (nasty now...good then) So officially, starting the year of 2009, this activity is, and has become, and will be a Smith family tradition.

The first inaugural tree hunt was a success. Stirling was happy because he got to put his truck in four wheel drive, Jude was happy because he got to run around in the snow with no leash, Stockton was happy riding in the backpack with his dad, and I...I am always happy when we are all together.

Smiles

2009-12-17T22:27:00.000-08:00

I mentioned that Stockton has been waving and lately he is loving showing off his new trick in public. I thought he got a lot of attention before, but now it is really crazy how much attention he is getting. Gone are the days that I can just run to the store in my pajamas without makeup hoping to blend into the crowd unnoticed. Thanks for keeping me presentable little guy!

Yesterday at Barnes and Noble I was checking out so I set him up on the counter to fumble through my wallet. Anyway he loved the new perspective so he happily gave his new found audience a giant wave, including a lady who I had noticed earlier and assumed to be kinda crabby. The moment she saw him, she returned his wave with a big smile and Stockton flashed her his winning grin. Then she said, "Oh that smile will make whatever bad day you ever have go right away"

Boy is she right

Giving thanks

2009-12-13T21:31:00.001-08:00

We were so blessed to have a very memorable Thanksgiving at the Smith household this year. For the 3rd year in a row I have hosted Thanksgiving to various bits and pieces of our family. I know...I am so grown up! But this year almost my entire family made the trip to Washington. After everyone arrived, we had 11 adults and 4 kids (under the age of 3) in our 1900 sq ft house. Everyone was allowed to have one melt-down except for Stirling who was allotted two...possibly three depending on how things went. What I expected to be a stressful and crowded few days turned into a perfect weekend.
While everyone was here Stockton learned so many new things. He started to wave (thanks to grandma and grandpa), clap his hands, and he is even putting things in a container. Now that I write it out those things don't seem that cool, but let me tell you, THEY ARE! Here are a few pictures from a great week! Thanks everyone for sleeping on air mattresses, couches, and whatever other soft surface we were able to find!

Tired

2009-12-06T16:08:00.000-08:00

November has been a crazy month...I can't believe its already December. I have lots to write down but we are still recovering after hosting Thanksgiving for almost my entire family. For now this picture shows how tired we are after a few weeks of WAY too much fun and not enough sleep

Best husband ever

2009-11-02T19:21:00.001-08:00

Why? Because he carved this for Halloween night. The tween girls loved it...oh yeah and so did I!

A little history

2009-11-02T18:59:00.000-08:00

When we lived in Chicago, my work had a pumpkin carving competition and I am positive the flyer said the prize was going to be $100. Nothing like a little competition coupled with a monetary reward to encourage the Smith household. I carved the pumpkin below and ended up winning $100 worth of chocolate. Pffftt
That is when the insanity began and since that Halloween we have spent hours and hours trying to take our pumpkin carving to the next "level". It is ridiculous really, but we can't seem to get rid of the tradition. Here is a look back at the many hours spent creating our masterpieces.

Stirling Gollum 2005

Rachel 2006

Stirling Mummy 2006

Rachel 2007

Stirling 2007

Rachel 2008

Stirling 2008

Rachel 2009

Halloween Party

2009-11-01T19:45:00.001-08:00

Last week Stockton's teacher had a huge Halloween party for all the kids enrolled at their center in early intervention. There were tons of kids and all the festivities you could imagine including a pony ride. Stirling is a huge horse lover and has been since he was a kid. He once asked for "horse manure" for his birthday to complete his horse collection, but that is another blog entry! Anyway, I think we were a bit hopeful that it would be something Stockton would instantly love. But as you can see...maybe we will stick to the plastic horses for another year.

P.S.

2009-10-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

It was cold today.

Hay is for Horses

2009-10-28T22:06:00.000-07:00

This year we haven't made time to go to the pumpkin patch as a family so I am severely lacking cute pumpkin pictures of Stockton. I did make a quick stop with some friends, but this is the only picture I took while we were there. It is pretty darn cute though and might just have to work for pumpkin patch '09.

Portland is the jam

2009-10-28T21:02:00.000-07:00

Last month Stirling had to work at a hospital in Portland, Oregon. His work schedule was ridiculous for the whole month so he lived there in a little apartment hotel. He did have one day off so we took advantage of it and headed south. First off, Portland rocks. I totally fell in love with the earthy charm and laid back crowds. Although I have my heart set on eventually returning to Salt Lake City, this is one of those areas that I could see myself happily raising my family.

Anyway, day 1... Stirling had to work so the rest of us (me, Stockton and Jude) went to the Hoyt Arboretum to enjoy some fall foliage. The arboretum is this gigantic protected forest right in the middle of the city with tons of trails for walking and running so we spent a few hours walking around. Then, for dinner we went to this adorable little delicatessen where Stockton and I shared some wood fire baked mac n cheese. Sounds fancy right? Here's the kicker... there was bacon mixed in it! Honestly, why have I never thought of that? Good day.

Day 2 was Stirling's day off, so we drove to the Oregon coast. Our first stop was the Tillamook cheese factory. It was kinda overrated, but I do love cheese and you can't really complain when there are 50 different flavors of ice cream to chose from at the cafe. For those two reasons, I am sure I will go back. We continued on our way... The drive was beautiful and so were the beaches. Here we are enjoying the scenery.

Day 3 We went for a morning walk and then the rain decided to show up. We made an effort to go the Portland farmers market before Stirling had to go back to work but after about 20 minutes we were soaked and decided to head home. Overall it was a great trip and I for sure will visit Portland again.

Cardiologist

2009-10-19T20:56:00.001-07:00

Not really much to report...life is good. Stockton is healthy and growing great...almost too great. He is 13 months and 21.5 lbs. Needless to say, the man enjoys his food.

We went to the cardiologist today. I actually was a little nervous for our appointment. I feel so very blessed that since Stockton's surgery everything has looked good, and fortunately it still does. It is nice to hear the Dr. say that his heart is completely repaired, free of any residual complications, and our next appointment will be in a year. Modern medicine is such a miracle.

Enough jibber jabber...here he is.

Chatter box

2009-10-13T15:00:00.000-07:00

Recently I have been asked when Stockton will crawl, walk, talk and all that other good baby stuff. I never knew that it takes babies with Down syndrome longer to do all those things. I have learned so much about child development in the last year and it has been amazing to watch Stockton learn new skills even though it is at a slower pace than other children his age. Which brings me to how smart and fantastic he is....naturally, that is what this blog is all about!

He isn't crawling yet (average for babies with Down syndrome is 15 months), so of course he isn't walking (24 months), but listen to this little guy talk.

Looks fun but its not

2009-10-05T11:23:00.000-07:00

A lot of my family members and friends that have recently canned fresh peaches. They all have access to a family orchard that produces the most amazing fruit. It looked to be all sorts of fun and I decided I was going to do the same. I was excited at the idea of being such an industrious woman so I went to the local farm that sells peaches at a pretty decent price. I will spare you all the details but I did learn that canning peaches is honestly not that much fun.

This...

turns into this ....

And after a hard days work we get this...

I am sure I will say it was all worth it in January when I am eating some tasty fruit, but for now I think you should all know that Del Monte makes a tasty jarred peach. They sell it at Costco and I think it might even be cheaper than peaches currently in my pantry.

Utah man am I

2009-10-04T22:29:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago we had a great visit from Grandma Helen, Papa Bruce, Lindsay and Stephen. The trip was centered around the University of Utah football game in Eugene Oregon which is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from our house. Stirling and his family are die hard Utah fans (for the record I officially declare my allegiance to my alma mater BYU...go cougars) But I will admit, the enthusiasm of the Smith family is starting to wear off on me. They almost have me convinced to cheer for the Utes....almost. It might have something to do with the fact that I am severely outnumbered, even my own son may be a Utah man.

We are going to have to have little talk.

Summers end

2009-10-04T21:46:00.000-07:00

I want to record some fun things we have done over the last few weeks. At summer's end we always go with Stirling's family to Bear Lake. It is a weekend that we anticipate every year and this was Stockton's first time! One of the things that I didn't know before Stockton was born, is that children with Down syndrome often have sensory issues. Basically the skin is either too sensitive or not sensitive enough to temperature, texture, pressure, etc. So plopping Stockton down in a mound of sand gave me just a bit of anxiety. After the initial shock of all that grit he assured us that we had no need to worry.

It was a great weekend filled with family, games, water skiing, and way too much junk food!

Buddy Walk

2009-10-03T19:46:00.000-07:00

Our first ever buddy walk was this morning. It happens all over the country, in every community where people get together and celebrate and support their "buddy" (kid, grandkid, cousin, etc) who has Down syndrome. October is Down syndrome awareness month and up to this point I haven't posted a whole lot about the ins and outs of having a child with special needs. I think its because most of the stuff we do on a day to day basis is pretty boring...also, I want to stress that although Down syndrome is a big part of our life and Stockton's, it is not the primary thing that defines who he is. I want people to see him and his personality outside of his diagnosis. However this month, I am realizing the opportunity I have to educate my friends and family about the many great things that come from having a child with Down syndrome, so be prepared for some boring blog entries. Here we are this morning...

Birthday Boy

2009-09-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

This little charmer is a year old!No other year has been as eventful as this last. I can't help but reflect on the day he was born last year. It was an amazing day...obviously the birth of a child is one of those days that sticks with you. But, it was also a hard day when we found out the Stockton was born with Down syndrome. I just remember feeling so sad, and so confused and worried, lost, angry, forgotten....the list goes on. Now looking back, I wish at that moment my mind was able to flash forward to today and see all the joy, happiness, love, compassion, understanding, acceptance, and patience that Stockton has brought to me, to my husband and everyone else that knows and loves him. He is absolutely perfect don't you think? Heres to another great year.

2 days

1 week

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

9 months

10 months

11 months

ONE YEAR!!

Grandpa's wagon

2009-08-27T22:55:00.000-07:00

We recently returned from a trip to visit Grandma and Grandpa which I will write about later. But for now, here is one of my favorite pictures of Stockton riding in Grandpa's wagon. Does life get better than this?

Sticky Buns

2009-08-02T22:43:00.000-07:00

This about sums up our week

Last Sunday and Monday we had temperatures around 100 degrees in the Seattle area. It was BEYOND hot in our house. When I saw the weather report projecting 7 more days of record heat, I started my hunt for a portable air conditioner bright and early Tuesday morning. Apparently everyone else had the same idea because there were NO a/c units within a 45 mile radius of my home. Around 9 am I called Costco and thought I got lucky when they told me they had received a shipment last night and they opened at 10. They, however, failed to tell me that there were 50 people waiting outside to rush the doors once the store opened. So when I arrived at 10:05 all I could see were people loading their shiny new air conditioners into their trucks and I was left with nothing.

So Tuesday passed....hot hot. Wednesday offered no relief. Can you tell we are miserable?

Once Stirling saw this pathetic display of discomfort by all three members of his family, he was up bright and early Thursday morning sitting outside Costco 2 hours before they opened to ensure that we would not be skunked again. He successfully fought the crowd and came home with a portable air conditioner that works perfectly. Stockton is wearing clothes again and things are much more pleasant at home...500 points to an awesome husband.

Future Skier

2009-07-28T16:13:00.000-07:00

Last week we were able to go to Midway Utah and spend a week with almost my entire family celebrating the 60th birthday and retirement of my mom as a 5th grade elementary school teacher... including an honorable mention to my dad, Mr Maddux (her dutiful assistant) It was a celebration indeed and much needed party to launch the beginning of great years to come for both of my parents. We had SO MUCH FUN!!

Each day, every minute, was packed with some sort of adventure and with Stockton in tow, by the end of the week I was exhausted and so was he. Little sleep and lots of activity made for one tired Rachel...I am totally getting old. But memories were made and we all loved being surrounded by our family.

Here are a few highlights from the week o' fun.

Stockton's first boat ride....The life vest makes a pretty nice pillow from what I can tell. Next year he is going to be on a tube and skis shortly thereafter.

Fun with his cousins

Swimming in the pool

Splashing in the pool

Wearing Grandpa's hat

Too tired for any more fun

Its what we do...

2009-07-06T19:09:00.001-07:00

On the 4th of July our little community puts on a pretty good parade from what I have heard. The last few years we haven't made the effort to attend, probably because it was way more fun to sleep in than go to a cheesy parade. But now that we have a little one it is just one of those things that you do. It took some encouragement to get my better half out of bed but once we were there it was worth it to see this face.....

and this face....
Even though 15 minutes later it was this face. Happy 4th!

Something about a dad

2009-06-21T21:44:00.000-07:00

I love seeing Stirling as a dad. Stockton lights up when he comes home and laughs the loudest when he is getting kissed by a face that could use a shave. Sometimes when I see them together, my mind flashes forward a few years and I can see the 2 of them getting in some real trouble. Dads are way more fun than moms. Here is the perfect example of something only a dad would do...that water is COLD!

Slim Jim

2009-06-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

Lately we have been working on teaching Stockton that he can feed himself. During playtime, he is great at picking up toys and bringing them to his mouth, but somehow that skill doesn't transfer over to when he is in his high chair at meal time. I have put a huge collection of tantalizing things in front of him but he is more interested in eating from a spoon than attempting to pick up anything off his tray. Bananas are too big and slippery, graham crackers are too flat, cheerios are too small. I started to get a little worried so after discussing it with our speech/language pathologist and she suggested I try a beef stick...eww nasty huh?

On the next trip to the grocery store I picked out a mild flavor of the delicacy otherwise known as a Slim Jim. I took it home and presented it to Stockton and it took about 3 seconds for that thing to make it to his mouth. It makes me smile to see him successfully learning a new skill. And Jude thinks the new addition to Stockton's diet is pretty great too...they do smell a lot like dog treats. Yuck!

Camping

2009-05-27T22:27:00.000-07:00

We just returned from Stockton's first camping trip. Stirling didn't have to work for 5 whole days (which is unheard of since he started his residency) so we packed up the truck and spent 4 days in the Olympic National Park. Originally I was a little hesitant about tent camping with an 8 month old, but the weather turned out to be perfect and I figured if he had a meltdown we could just drive home after the first night. Here is his smiling face after night number 1! And he stayed that way... even on day 4 when his hair was so greasy it would not stay down.

I should've known that he would LOVE being outside, sleeping in a tent, hiking with his dad, swimming, and smelling like campfire. This little guy is such a great traveler and never ceases to surprise me. Look at these handsome and happy boys.

The park is amazing and we saw beaches, rain forests and incredible mountains all within an hour drive of eachother. Here are some of the beautiful things we were able to see.

A long time coming

2009-05-09T17:25:00.000-07:00

Finally we have a working computer again! Our loyal trusty pc that we have had since we were first married (6 years ago) gave out on us a few weeks ago. It had been running extremely slow and eventually stopped running at all...thank goodness we had all of our files, photos and music on an external hard drive...So, besides the cost to buy a new computer, losing our old one was pretty painless. After much debate and diligent research we decided to replace our pc with a mac. We have owned it for less than 24 hours and already I am obsessed with this thing. Taking down our old Dell took forever with all the cords to unwind and unplug...which made me all the more excited when I opened the box with my mac to find a screen, keyboard, mouse and one cord. Hallelujah! So 5 minutes later I was up and running. Love it.

So since we've been computerless, Stirling has been working hard as usual, but the other day he had a day off and we took advantage of the beautiful weather and mini-road tripped up to the Skagit county tulip festival. We have been living in Washington for almost 2 years and I have always wanted to check out the tulips but never made time for the 2 hour drive, until last week. The tulip fields were very impressive and I am glad we were able to see such a beautiful place just an hour north of Seattle. Here are some sweet pictures and my first attempt at a family portrait....it is impossible to get babies to look at the camera. But they are sweet nonetheless.

Tender heart

2009-04-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

I think I have finally settled back into my groove after being in "vacation mode" for the last couple of weeks. My own personal spring break in Utah was prompted by Stirling's extended absence in the month of March. He lived down in Portland and worked at the hospital 6 days a week 12 hours a day so I had the bright idea of driving from Seattle to Salt Lake with a 6 month old baby and our yellow lab, Jude. I can be a little oblivious at times and shortly realized that the trip would be impossible alone. So I called my dad and asked him if he would be interested in a road trip. He was so willing to help out and flew to Seattle and the following day he was back in the car to drive back home. Aren't dads great? I couldn't have done it without him!

While we were home my mom celebrated her 60th birthday and my sister and her husband and their one year old daughter came into town as a big surprise. Along with my other 3 siblings, my parents house was full and noisy and I was a little concerned how Stockton would handle all of the action. Stockton did well with the chaos and all of the new faces until he heard my niece cry. I never knew he had such a tender heart! He would go from kicking, smiling, cooing to a big giant frown in 2 seconds. The poor little guy couldn't stop pouting. Every single time she cried he would frown and it made us all laugh. Here is a picture of his winning pout. Doesn't it break your heart and make you smile at the same time. What a sweetheart!

He's a carrot man

2009-03-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

Today Stockton had his first official experience with solid foods. He has had occasional tastes of things off of my finger over the last few weeks, but today was the big day to introduce the spoon. I have been anticipating this day with both excitement and fear for quite a while.

Kids who have Down syndrome sometimes have issues with new tastes and textures which can be attributed to a multitude of different things including low muscle tone in and around their mouth, so obviously I was nervous that he might not be able to figure this stuff out. Not to mention the fact that I have no idea what I am doing. I bought about 5 different types of baby spoons, called my mom, over-analyzed how thick or thin to make the rice cereal and did some reading online to try and prepare myself as much as possible. Just a side note...I found a great article online about introducing solids to your child by ability rather than by age which helped a lot (here is the link in case anyone is interested http://www.disabilitysolutions.org/pdf/3-3.pdf )

Anyway after all that worry, Stockton and I drove to the therapy center to meet with our oral-motor development therapist and we began the session with a graham cracker...and here I was worrying about making his rice cereal too thick! He licked the cracker at first and when it started to melt in his mouth his eyes lit up and he opened wide and started chomping away. It was so sweet! After the graham cracker warm up, he took to the spoon like it was nothing. Our therapist loaded it up with pureed carrots and Stockton was in heaven. It is amazing to get such a thrill from seeing him open his mouth and lean toward a spoon. I love that Stockton reminds me to appreciate and cherish the small things and celebrate in every triumph great and small. I love this kid to pieces!

I videotaped the whole session but didn't think to bring my camera, so we drove home and ate some more for documenting purposes. He is still a little unsure when he takes that first bite, but gets over it really fast as you can see. Here are some sweet pictures of our little carrot man.

Career change

2009-03-10T17:26:00.001-07:00

My mother-in-law sent me this cute picture. Look at these adorable boys and their twinner hair-dos. Stockton is the most easy going happy baby and today he was a great sport when we locked ourselves out of the house. I went out for a jog around 12:30 and when I got back I opened up the garage door and soon realized that I had locked the door from the garage to the house for some random reason. Hidden key...nope. Neighbor key...nope.

Luckily I had my cell phone and I called my dad to help me hunt down a locksmith since Stirling was unavailable. The sun was shining and Stockton was great company wrapped in 2 blankets enjoying the fresh air. He actually napped for the last hour which was a huge relief and I hope his easy going nature is here to stay. I can't imagine sitting outside for that long with a crying baby! Finally after numerous phone calls and almost 3 hours I just about gave the guy that finally showed up a great big hug. But in three 3 short minutes I was $142 bucks poorer and wasn't in such a huggy mood anymore. If my math is right, that is around $1200/hour...I think it might be time to consider a career change.

Beach Bums

2009-03-06T11:04:00.000-08:00

I have yet to write about our weekend with Grandma Helen. Helen was sweet enough to watch Stockton the first night she arrived while Stirling and I went downtown to see the Lion King musical. We had a great time on our first "real date" since Stockton's birth. It was so nice to get out for a few hours and the show was really entertaining...almost as entertaining as the guy sitting next to Stirling who was singing along during the opening number. It was hilarious. I think Stockton had a great time hanging out with Grandma too.

The rest of the time we spent staying up way too late, eating way too much, mixed in with a picnic adventure to Anderson Island and a day at Twin Harbors State Beach. We have been to the beach more this winter than the last 2 summers we have lived here. I think it is because when the sun makes its occassional appearance during the winter months we drop everything and hop in the car to enjoy the day. It is a great day trip and a fun place to fly a kite and eat the local catch at the One Eyed Crab in Westport. Here are a few fun pictures of our recent adventures....Thanks for a great weekend Helen!

Sleep when your baby sleeps

2009-02-25T09:13:00.000-08:00

Stockton is a little over 5 months old today and I still can't believe how the last 5 months have been a total time warp for me. My family was here in October and most of Stirling's family came to Washington for Thanksgiving and I keep referring to that time like it was just a few weeks ago. Is it really almost March 2009? I am still writing 2008 on my checkbook!

Stockton is napping right now which means I should be napping too but I just checked on him and saw the sweetest little face that I need to blog about! Motherhood is one of the most amazing things I have experienced and I am still thanking Heavenly Father every day for that blessing. Sometimes I feel like I was born to be a mom. There is nothing I don't love about Stockton, I even smile when he cries because he makes the cutest face when he gets mad. See below picture with Grandma :) It seems so natural to talk baby-talk and easy to start my day at 7 and end it at 11. Then other times I think I will never have any more kids because it seems impossible to fit one more individual into my already packed day. Mom how did you have 6 kids and remain such an amazing and sane lady? You inspire me! For now I will enjoy the peace and quiet offerred by one napping child. Love this little man!

More pictures

2009-02-20T10:55:00.000-08:00

I had to post a few more pictures of our fun times with Grandma and Grandpa....This was the first and only time Stockton cried in Grandma's arms over the last 10 days. He must've been sick of his mom sticking her big black camera in his face.

Life goes on

2009-02-20T10:23:00.000-08:00

I forgot to post the picture of Stockton's incision...here it is. He looks so great! We had an appointment with his cardiologist a few days ago and his heart is completely repaired and perfectly beating away just like nothing ever happened. I am still overwhelmed and amazed at the technology that goes into fixing the defects that existed with Stockton's heart and more amazed at how well he has done over the last few weeks. What a champ. The sun came out yesterday (FINALLY) and we had a photo shoot before Grandpa and Grandma had to fly back home. Look at these cute cute pictures....do I have a little redhead??

Recovering well

2009-02-16T18:07:00.000-08:00

Stockton has bounced back so quickly from his surgery. Here is a picture of his incision after his dermal glue finally flaked off. It looks great and it seems he is totally free from any pain and discomfort. What a resiliant little boy. He has been having so much fun with Grandpa and Grandma Maddux since they have been here. We have been busy mostly gooing and cooing at Stockton, but the other day the sun finally came out and we headed out for Stockton's first trip to the beach. We drove a little over an hour to Twin Peaks State Beach and listened to the ocean roar. Stirling flew a kite until the string broke and a good time was had by all.

Good news and bad news

2009-02-08T22:59:00.000-08:00

The bad news is that Sprinkles the cupcake place was closed on our last night in San Francisco. I was totally bummed! When a woman, specifically me, gets an idea of a big delicious cupcake in her mind, there is nothing worse than coming upon a bakery that has locked its doors for the night. Now I will never know the goodness of Sprinkles. So sad!

The good news is we are home in Seattle safe and sound and Stockton is doing great. Grandma and Grandpa Maddux are coming for a visit tomorrow which will be loads of fun. The non-stop attention that Stockton will receive is going to be great. Now that I am home I can post all the pictures from the surgery and recovery, which I will do tomorrow because I finally got Stockton put to bed and I am exhausted.

What a week

2009-02-05T10:42:00.000-08:00

Good news! Stockton was discharged from the hospital yesterday. I can't believe how quickly he has recovered. I know it is the prayers of all of our family and friends that have helped him on his way.

What a week it has been...he has been through so much physically and we have been through so much emotionally. But we made it...and he is healing better than we could have ever hoped for. I think the superbowl did him some good because he went off oxygen shortly after the game and since then he has improved so quickly.

Monday night was the last night Stirling spent with him and I walked in Tuesday morning to a hilarious sight. After being up in the night for 2 night feedings, Stirling was sound asleep on the luxurious hospital daybed and Stockton was wide awake laying sideways in his bed watching baby einstein. He is on a pink medication which explained the multiple pink covered burpclothes with him in his crib. When I walked in he gave me a huge smile and I knew he had a great night with his dad, but it was obvious they were both ready to go home.

It has been nice to see his personality return and we were talking last night... with his clothes on and his big smile it is easy to forget the events of the last week. He is back to smiling and cooing, especially when Stirling sings to him and he even slept for 8 hours last night which made his mom very happy. We fly back to Seattle tomorrow so we are killing time today together as a family. All of the nurses have been talking about this cupcake place called "sprinkles" that I have been dying to check out. Cupcakes, movies, and no hospital bed sounds like a little bit of heaven to me.

Super Bowl party

2009-02-01T17:33:00.000-08:00

Day three after surgery and things are well. We're having a Super Bowl party here in Stockton's room with pizza, soda, red vines, and pretzels. We've had a couple of nurses over to watch parts of the game. Things are going well with Stockton. We had a minor set back last night. They had to put Stockton back on a little of supplemental oxygen because his saturations kept dropping. I think it had to do more with Stockton's dad getting annoyed with the monitor going off every couple of minutes. Sometimes I wonder what my oxygen levels would be when I'm asleep, especially with my best friend Ambien. Anyway other than that he's doing well. He's eating much better and the nurse and I agree that he smiled at me before Rachel. On a funny note. Rachel and I were all excited to eat San Francisco sourdough pizza and asked the nurses where the best sourdough pizza was. After some confused look and a quick look on Google, apparently it doesn't exist except for some made up places in Utah and Idaho. Pizza dough exists, Sourdough exists, sourdough pizza dough, not so much. Love all of you

Stirling

Moving up

2009-01-31T16:41:00.000-08:00

Stockton came out of the ICU today. He is now on a general pediatric floor, off supplemental oxygen and doing well. This is of course exciting for a number of reasons including being able to use the cell phone at the bedside and TV's with on demand cable. Of course the best reason is that Stockton is slowly getting better. They pulled another one of his IV's today. We are down to one chest tube, one central IV and a peripheral IV. He's still a little stubborn when it comes to eating, but hopefully that will come around. In fact the doctor mentioned maybe Wednesday as a goal to go home. With my plane ticket non-refundable for Friday I asked if Alcatraz would be OK for the family. I think the doctor thought I was kidding, I'm not. We of course are not holding our breath but are grateful for the little man and his quick healing. I think its due to all the prayers from our friends and family. Thanks again for all your support.

Dad

My 2am post

2009-01-31T01:36:00.000-08:00

I guess there is something about being by your sons bedside at 2 am that prompts some special feelings that are worth recording. I will warn you....this is the first time I have stayed up past 2 in the morning in about 10 years so I will make an effort to be coherent.

Stirling mentioned he is anti-blog and it took me a while to come around also. Its a fine line when you share personal experiences and thoughts in such a public forum, but there are so many things that I want to remember and I want Stockton to read about someday too.

Tonight I can't help but reflect on the last 4 months. It has been such an incredibly exciting time for our family. The birth of our first son was a much anticipated event. We had waited a long time to welcome this special guy into our family and there wasn't a happier day for us than the day he was born. At my 20 week ultrasound, we were told by the Doctors that he was going to be born with a serious heart defect called Tetralogy of Fallot and were advised at that time of the possibilty of a chromosomal disorder. It was easy to decline the additional testing and its additional risks, knowing that no matter his chromosomal make-up, we were going to love and adore this child. After experiencing the loss of our first pregnancy, it was easier to accept and appreciate the miracle of life that Stockton is and I was just grateful that I would be able to give birth to a baby boy and be able to love and squeeze him to pieces. But the thought of raising a child with special needs still lingered in the back of our minds through out the remainder of my pregnancy. On the day of his birth one of the many things we were anxious about was knowing if he was going to be "normal" It was very apparent after his birth that he was not "normal" which was heartbreaking to us as a mom and dad. You just think it is going to happen to someone else. A 27 year old woman doesn't have kids with Down syndrome...especially when that 27 year old woman is me.

The tide of emotions that a parent experiences at that particular moment is impossible to completely describe, but now here I am 4 months later looking at this perfect little person in the bed next to me who has overcome so much already, has taught me so much already....I am truly amazed. I hope to read this to him someday and let him know how proud I am of him as his mother. I can't wait to see what lies ahead for him. I can't wait to see the things that he will learn and accomplish. I can't wait to see what he is going to teach Stirling and I and all those that come in contact with him. He melts my heart and tonight I could not be more grateful for a more perfect son who has changed my life for the better. Stockton I love you!

Breathing on his own

2009-01-30T16:42:00.000-08:00

Stockton is doing great today. Still a ways to go but the breathing tube came out this morning around 9 am and he is holding his own really well with some oxygen. We had our first exchange this afternoon where he looked at me like he recognized me. I wish I could say it was with a big smile on his face, but it was more a look of "when am I going to get some food??!!" mixed with some "why do I hurt so bad" He was pretty mad but he should be able to eat in the next little while...they usually wait 6-8 hours after extubation before he is able to eat. The medications he is on help him rest through any pain and hunger so he only has moments where it is really hard to watch him through his discomfort. Luckily I was able to get some rest last night while Stirling was the one witnessing the hardest time. Another line was pulled from his arm so things are starting to disappear which is a good thing. The doctors think we will be able to move upstairs to the pediatric floor tomorrow or the next day which I am super excited about because the therapy dog visits the rooms upstairs, plus Stirling was a little concerned that there were no TV's in the ICU rooms and the Super Bowl on sunday. We are excited to be here. Thank you for all your support and prayers, Stockton is doing well.

Early morning

2009-01-30T01:52:00.000-08:00

It's about 2:00 am and I'm trying to find stuff to keep me awake. When Rachel and I were figuring out who would stay up with Stockton tonight I asked her when the last time she stayed up all night was. Needless to say it is I who has the priveledge of watching my little son fight tonight. I am still anti-blog which is a story in itself that Rachel can explain at a later time. But I feel it important for those people who aren't here to witness such an act of courage, strength and determination by Stockton to understand a little about what a blessing it is to sit by my son in this early morning. I can only imagine the physical pain that comes with having your sternum cracked open, your heart stopped, cut open and sewn back together, your sternum wired shut and fnally your skin sutured in place. The Doctors are currently in the process of trying to wean Stockton off his breathing tube and in order to do this they have taken him off his sedation and want to keep him on minimal amounts of pain meds to keep him comfortable and still breathing on his own. Seeing him in the bed I can tell that he is in pain. I have already snuck to the other side of his bed and pushed his pain pump several times tonight. The computer records the amount of medications distributed and when the nurse checks her notes against the computer I'm pretty sure that I'll be kicked out of the ICU for the second time. But I don't really care. It is hard for me to watch Stockton in pain moving and thrashing about. When I stroke his hair, hold his hand and whisper in his ear about how proud I am of him, how strong he is and that Dad is here for him, it just makes him thrash and move more. And here I thought he didn't know my voice.

What a strong little boy. He inspires me to work harder, stay strong and be a better person. What a pleasure and priveledge it is to be with him tonight.

Dad

Sweet little man

2009-01-29T18:04:00.000-08:00

I feel like there is no way to explain in a blog all the emotions that our little family has experienced over the last 24 hours, but the important thing is Stockton is out of surgery and doing well! The surgeon was pleased with the outcome and Stockton is slowly waking up and well on his way to recovering fully. I want to write more about the details and post some pictures later but the military laptop will encrypt any non-authorized equipment, so you're stuck with me.
I knew that today would be difficult, but it's hard to describe the feelings as I watched the Anesthesiologist walk away with Stockton. Stirling in particular had a rough time. Six hours took forever and it was quite a relief to see him in the ICU, even though he was intubated with lines and tubes in every arm, leg and body cavitiy. We're still not out of the woods yet, but there were a number of potential things that could've gone wrong with the surgery (Stirling had a long list) that have gone smoothly. That's why we came here to Stanford, Dr. Hanley is the man when it comes to putting little hearts back together, plus he's got great hair.

We are off!

2009-01-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

Things have been so crazy the last few days but I wanted to post something really quick before we are hospital bound preparing for Stockton's surgery. We are flying out tomorrow morning to San Francisco and Stockton is looking good and has remained healthy so hopefully everything will go as planned. Travel tomorrow, Wednesday is a big pre-op day and Thursday morning at 7:30 surgery will begin. I don't have a lot of details right now but I will post more over the next few days. Yesterday I was feeling really good about everything, but today has been really hard. I guess the reality of it all and typical motherly feelings have kicked in. But I know he is in good hands and has the strength necessary to overcome the physical challenge that he is about to endure...me on the other hand, yikes I might be a bit of a mess. But Stockton continues to make me smile everyday, all day and I don't anticipate that stopping anytime soon. His little spirit and personality are so perfect so I know things are going to be great. Until tomorrow...or maybe the next day.

Taking the plunge

2009-01-25T13:39:00.001-08:00

I have been meaning to get a blog started over the last year, but haven't really put it on the top of my priority list. Finally, with Stockton's surgery coming up I figured this would be a good place to keep everyone updated on things, as well as begin journaling about our little family, specifically Stockton.

I hope not to bore you all as I use this medium to share pictures and experiences about the goings on of the Smith Family.