We’re in Cary, NC visiting Liam’s grandparents/my parents.

Monday was my birthday and it was quite different celebrating it with a newborn. We made it as special as we could, though dropping my husband off at the airport with a week+ trip was definitely difficult. Caring for a newborn with your hubs out of town is tough no matter how you slice it. We miss him.

I’ve been enjoying catching up with friends over delicious meals. I don’t mean to brag, but I have the awesomest of friends. I’m so proud of them.

I met up with my friend Camden in RTP for lunch at a place called Mez, it’s “upscale Mexican” as she put it. Delish. Camden has been working on a documentary film for the past 4 years called Abandoned Allies, she will be screening it soon, and I can’t wait to see it. I know a lot of blood sweat and tears has gone into it.

Today, I met up with Rebecca at Parker and Otis in downtown Durham, it’s a delicious little sandwhichy shop. They have a ginormo deck you can sit out on and enjoy your foodies. Rebecca moved to Carrboro 3 years ago and is teaching violin out of her home. She informed me today that she has 40 students, a completely full studio. Amazingly talented.

Yesterday we went to the Carter’s outlet and possibly bought it out… it’s so hard to resist such cute little clothes for the little bean. Here is one outfit we got yesterday…

Last night I grabbed dinner from Whole Foods and it was so delicious, I must say, it’s going to be dangerous having one just blocks away in a few months.

In the next few days I’ll hang with a few more friends, run more errands, and rest, yes, rest. I need it. Jer will be home from his Tuscaloosa trip Monday. Liam and I both are looking so forward to seeing him again.

This picture was taken on my birthday the airport, my most favorite family picture yet.

liam in the hospital, day 2 of life: photo by scott piner

oh liam, you’re here. you’re really here. out of the womb, in this ever-bright and stimulating world we live in. i’m happy you’re ours…we have sweet moments with you, cuddling with you while you sleep, seeing you stretch and your face turn all shades of red when you do. we love your little faces, your little smiles, your cute little coos.

lots of people say these moments are the best, and i guess in some ways they are. they are tiny moments. sweet moments. and some loud moments. and in all honesty, there are the hard moments, those that make me wonder where my life went, and what i did to it.

i look back at this month and remember very little about our first sleepless night together, you were so brand new. our time together started in the midst of hurricane irene, and will forever make our future children’s birth days pale in comparison. i look back at those first moments in the hospital, how amazed i was that your perfectly-little developed self was formed inside my body. such a miracle of life. i remember being amazed at your first ultrasound at you jumping and flipping all around, and oh, how you grew, how God made you, so wonderful.

you had lots of visitors in the hospital, you are so loved. you came home in the rain and winds of irene, we lost power for a good 16 hours, and i remember very little of that hurricane, or of lack of power. what i remember most was trying to feed you through the night every two hours. i remember the frustration we both experienced when it didn’t come so easy.

yesterday you cried almost the entire day and napped for less than two hours, your daddy and i realized this is the end of ourselves and the beginning of humility. i prayed hard for you before you were born, but these days, i pray even more, mostly for you to sleep, and for you to not develop colic.

you’ve peed on your daddy several times during diaper changes, and i am convinced this is where bathroom humor starts for guys. you think it’s so funny every time we talk about it.

you went to church for the first time 2 weeks ago, and oh wow, who knew they would open with bagpipes, in the loudest opener i can ever remember, but you survived, and from that moment on, i was so sure we could survive church with you.

and now, with your first month under our belts, i can say that we’re so glad you’re in our lives. your little smiles make it all so worth it. i know one day, in the not- so- distant future, you’ll think we’re lame, you’ll wonder why it was your lot in life to have dorks for parents, and we’ll smile and remember when we held you in our arms and you cooed in your sleep.

there is so much you have yet to experience, next week we’ll travel to cary to spend time with your grandparents. your first roadtrip! then we’ll go to the mountains in october (your second road trip), perhaps if only to see the leaves change and to eat really good food (which, you, too will get to experience, but in milk form).

we love you sweet liam, we are so glad you’re here. but please, please, let’s make it a goal to sleep through the night for this next month.

love,

your momma

I’m not gonna lie, babies get fussy and they get real fussy. As a new Momma all you want to do is calm your sweet little one back to a tranquil baby state that you dreamed of for 9 long months.

I rented The Happiest Baby on the Block from the library, if you are a new mom and you have not seen this (or read the book), you must see/read it! (the New Hanover County library has one copy) I’m thinking of investing in a copy for myself for the sheer amazement of the simple truths in this dvd.

The dvd itself is maybe cheesy at times (see DUDU) and makes you think this Harvey guy is some type of baby whisperer, if you see him swaddle these babies and instantly stop crying, your frustration level rises, when you are having to pause the video just to calm your screaming baby.

Somehow, someway Jeremy mastered the swaddle one morning at 3am when Liam refused to quiet down. It’s a tiny little miracle to see Liam sleeping so well and not awakened by his startled hand movements.

It’s been two weeks of full of baby. A glorious two weeks, sweet cuddles, coos, tiny smiles and plenty of diapers, sleepless nights, and cute onesies.

We’re so proud to welcome into the world Liam Cain Smith, who came into the world between an earthquake and a hurricane, on August 24th, 2011 at 11:41pm not a moment too soon. He weighed 7lbs and 13 oz at birth, and was 20.75 inches long.

At his two week check up, he’s 8lbs and 13 oz and 21.50 inches. It’s safe to say he loves milk and is growing like a little weed!

He loves the outdoors, in fact, it might be more effective than any other method of calming this baby, we think the traffic simulates womb sounds for him and he falls right into the deepest sleep.

Liam is well-loved by friends and family and has so many cute outfits to wear, some of which, he is already outgrowing. We’re already out of newborn diapers, and into size ones. They truly do grow up so fast.

In these first two weeks his mommy & daddy have not slowed down on the outings, Liam has already been to Costco, Chick-fil-a, and Small Group twice. Three of mom & dad’s favorite places.

I am still getting used to the every-three hour schedule, and I’m sure will still be adjusting over these next few weeks.

We can’t wait to share a surprise (one of mommy’s secret projects during that last week of overdueness). His birth announcements will (hopefully) go out next week.

We love him so much and can’t believe his is truly ours! What a gift!

Today a book a free book I requested from Gospel for Asia, called No Longer a Slumdog came in the mail, I started reading it and I couldn’t put it down. It seemed so timely because here I was all wrapped up in my due date, my life without AC, western inconveniences, and then I cracked the cover.

Chapter One, no lie, tells this story of a little boy named Mutu sold into slavery by his uncle (a drug and alcohol addict) and when Mutu didn’t make enough money begging on the streets in India, his mafia pimp poured gasoline over him and burned him. The next few lines read like this…

Even after Mutu regained consciousness he was unable to say a word for several weeks. For months he suffered excruciating pain.

Mutu did eventually recover, but he still lives in a state of fear. He says the worst part of the whole experience is the agony of not knowing what happened to his little sister.

And then… the kicker. Here I am 40 weeks and a day into this pregnancy, and reading this…

Let me ask you, what was your childhood like? Your parents probably started planning for you even before your conception. Your medical care began while you were still in your mother’s womb. In all likelihood, your mother gave birth to you in a sterile hospital room, surrounded by well trained doctors and nurses.

After a clean and safe delivery, you probably were taken home to a wallpapered nursery and brand new baby blankets. You were fed on demand and kept warm, clean and protected from harm. To prevent any serious illlnesses, you received all the required immunizations. As you grew into a healthy child, you were given clean clothes to wear and toys to play with.

When you reached school age, your parents took you to the store to buy your school supplies. If you were like most children your mom sent you off to school in bright new clothes with a nourishing lunch. Maybe she even drove you there herself.

Does this treatment of children sound strange or unusual? Not at all. It is completely normal in countries and homes of financial means. Even acknowledging that there are unfortunate exceptions, I doubt anyone reading this book would disagree that this kind of security, provision and education are a child’s birthright.

The reality for children born in developing countries is often a far cry from what I just described. The tragedy for untold millions of children living today is that they have never had even one of these childhood experiences.

(Chapter 1, No Longer a Slumdog, by K.P. Yohannan)

To say that I was balling my eyes out is an understatement. I know this baby will come when he’s ready. I’m not worried one bit about that.

Gaining perspective in the midst of our circumstances is something we all need to do. To say that we have “rich people problems” or “first world problems” is no joke, it is absolutely the truth.

If you want to read this book, you can request your free copy here. 

I can hardly put the book down. It’s eye opening. It’s reality.

Today was my due date. It was the day by which we were supposed to meet our precious baby boy. But like most things, this too, is unpredictable. It’s been a week of ups and downs, a bit of nausea and sickness, and some really great times too. Jeremy and I have really enjoyed our time together preparing for our baby boy’s arrival. This week we put together his pack and play. It’s an adorable little thing. I also bought a bumbo from craigslist, and got two $5 off coupons in the mail for babies r us. I’m thinking this calls for a shopping spree. (A $10 shopping spree.)

Our air conditioner has officially been out for a week, I am officially overdue, and I know that I’ll look back at this and laugh. So far though through all of this, I’ve experienced the pregnancy emotional roller coaster. I’ve tried to stay grounded, but it gets tough somewhere around week 38.

I can’t wait to share the rest of the photos taken by Eric Boneske photography, of our maternity session. Lots of them have baby’s name in them, so we’re keeping them a secret till his arrival.

Thanks for your encouragement, your prayers, and your generosity. It’s been an amazing journey. It’s hard to believe that we will soon be holding this little ninja in our arms. Can’t wait to give you that update.

I can’t wait to meet you. Today I am more excited than yesterday and I have a feeling it will progress like this until your sweet little arrival. I can’t wait to see what you look like, what your little personality will shape into, and how you will grow. I’m so thrilled I get to be your momma and experience your first breath of life in this world.

this is when we first saw you

I can’t wait to share you with others, to see friends and family surround you with love, as they already have! You should see all of the goodies in your room, just for you! You also have 3 piggie banks, don’t worry, we’ll walk you through that when the time comes.

Your daddy and I pray for you daily, and thank God for how He has formed you inside of me these past 39 weeks. I can’t wait to finally reveal your name that we’ve kept a secret for quite awhile now! People are so curious!

Your grandparents are excited to welcome the first grandbaby on both sides into the family! Your aunts and uncles are giddy, too! You will be a little celebrity, I think.

I am nervous about being your momma in some ways because I have never ever done it before. Thankfully, I was raised by wonderful parents who have taught me unconditional love and have great friends around me who have lots of experience in raising little ones, and I’m so glad.

You will be here soon sweet baby. Your daddy and I can’t wait to meet you.

love,

your Momma

Here it is, the moment you’ve all been waiting for… ha! (or maybe not…) the baby’s room, complete! (well, except for maybe, maybe some white globe lights we might hang, but we’ll see…) And of course, baby!

This what you’ll see if you’re looking at the room from the doorway:

This is the photo wall over the dresser.

The guest room side:

and from the other corner:

There is a whole photoset  dedicated on flickr to this room, and the progress since painting, or maybe it’s just easier to watch the slideshow:

We’ve come a long way baby! (Told ya, I’d say it!) I’ll take more pictures in the coming days in the day time and post those too!

I have no idea how it happened, but it’s already July 13th! I simply cannot believe how time is flying.

Around here we’ve been busy redoing two rooms in our home! Why I decided to do two at once, is beyond me! We’ve been having fun with it, though, which I think is key!

We decided, somehow, in the midst of baby coming (real soon now!) that we would make-over our bedroom, instead of taking a fancy vacation, that we ran out of time for (I don’t know how it happened, but the 3rd tri crept up, and cruising in the 3rd tri isn’t recommended) we decided we would re-do our bedroom instead. Which really means, I get to play with color and fabric (you might have noticed, I sorta like doing that!)

I have long-loved this bedroom, and it’s served as my inspiration for our bedroom-redo.

I just renewed my flickr pro license (for 2 years this time!) and now I’ve got the travel bug, BAD! I was looking at my photos from Venice in particular, such a beautiful, photogenic city, and this one, was so beautiful. It almost took my breath away (but that honestly could be be because I’m 34 weeks pregnant)!

It was taken on a gondola ride through the back canals of Venice. Oh my. So stunning.

I hope baby boy likes to travel, because he too, needs to experience this amazement of a place, full of art, culture, architecture, italian food! Jeremy needs to experience this place too, and so many more places in Europe that have a piece of my heart! Kosice, Prague, Krakow… to name a few.

Kosice, Slovakia

Prague, Czech Republic

Krakow, Poland