Bringing in 2010

We brought the new year in with the Smith family this year. The kids ate, played, danced...

Here they are with their big mess playing together..
These are Presley's new Cabbage Patch dolls that Bubba got her. They are her first dolls that have a little color just like Bubba!!
Just lounging together...
Pizza time!

...and here are Presley and Trey dancing to bring in 2010! Happy New Year!

AAAAAALVIN!!!!

To the movies we went....

Yesterday was Preston's day off so we decided to take the kids to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. Jaggar loved it...just kidding...he didn't care. Presley though, thought she was the biggest girl. She can now sit on the seat and hold it down. The last movie, Preston and I had to hold the seat so that she didn't get folded up in it..ha!

So here are a few pictures of our movie experience with our BIG girl.

She was so excited she got to hold the popcorn!

Presley and Mama...

Presley and her Daddy...

Theodore is Presley's favorite one!... She was so excited to hug him!

Hugging Alvin...

She so proud...

Standing next to Theodore...

Christmas

This year was a lot of fun. Presley understands more and she also appreciates the gifts and likes opening them! Although Jaggar didn't do a whole lot, it was so fun having him this year! We started out the morning opening gifts and then my parents came over to have lunch with us. This was the first year that we did Christmas at our house alone in the morning. Now that we have kids (and they are starting to understand about Christmas) we wanted to start our own traditions and let Pres open her gifts here with us.

Then, we ended the day at Preston's Uncle Brad and Aunt Ester's house for dinner and just some time to hang out and relax. It was a really relaxing day and we completely enjoyed ourselves!

Presley opening her skates on Christmas morning...
Our Christmas tree...

Jaggar opened his present from Aunt Sheri and Uncle Craig...

Pres and Logan opening gifts at Nana and Papa's house...

Mommy and Presley on Christmas..

SANTA!

Today we went to San Tan Mall to see Santa! I was SOO excited to go take both kids. Presley actually likes Santa now and she was so good. Santa was outside when we got in line and then as we stood there the rain started to fall and we were quickly wisked inside to sit on his lap there. So, here are a few pics from the day.

Preston and his mini him....


Cousin Logan holding Jaggar
Presley and her cousin Logan
Preston and my chubby self 6 weeks after having Jaggar. Can't wait for the holidays to be over and to get into a routine to LOSE THIS WEIGHT!

CHRISTMAS FUN WITH OUR FAMILY

LOOK AT THIS!! It's our very own train station!
Since Jaggar was born, I have not gone out much. I wanted to keep him in close to 6 weeks just to keep him away from all of the flu crap for a little bit. SO, he's 5 1/2 weeks old and we decided that it was time to take him out. Not just for my sanity or to get him out, but because I wanted to be able to take his big sister to see Christmas lights and have some fun for Christmas.

We went to a park in Scottsdale to see lights and ride a train and here are a few pictures.

Our little family....Jaggar is on me in the Moby but you can't see him since he was so bundled up.


Daddy and Presley riding the train! She could have stayed on that thing ALL NIGHT!

I was CRACKING up (no pun intended...ha) at this when I saw it. Someone had a cold crack that night =)

It was a super fun night and Presley really did have a blast. This made it feel a little more like Christmas this year. It's going to be a fun Christmas with our family of 4!!

Pictures of my kids...

I have not gotten professional pictures of the kids taken yet since Jaggar was born so I decided to take some myself for our Christmas cards. Although they are far from professional pictures, I think that they turned out cute. I am extremely proud of my kids and don't think it takes much to get some cute pictures of them. Here are a few that are not on the card.

Presley

I thought I should devote one whole blog to our Girl, Presley. She has been so amazing with the adjustment of having a new little brother and sharing mom and dad's time with him. She has been so fun and SUCH a huge helper. It's nice that she is so independent in certain ways so that when I am nursing, she is able to do things on her own. Such as...she has quickly learned how to get on and off the potty and wipe all by herself...she can now open the refrigerator and get her milk and water out when she wants it...she gets diapers, wipes, nail clippers, burp rags, etc for me whenever I need them and I actually think that this makes her feel like a big girl because she is in the phase of liking to help..(I am totally taking advantage of that right now).

So, here are some pictures of my big girl whom I call "Baby Girl".

Adjusting...

I have NOTHING bad to say about adjusting with 2 children. I LOVE having both of them. I always wondered (as bad as it sounds) how I could love another child as much as I love Presley. Well now I know how I can...it just happens. It's amazing how fast you get attached to your new baby and boy am I.

Here are just a few pictures of the kids.



Presley's first time "holding" Jaggar..
She loves him so much..

Our Jaundice Boy

It’s been quite a challenge since Jaggar was born. Not because we now have 2 kids or that Presley is acting out, but because I have been to the doctor for Jaggar 4 times in the last 3 weeks and back at the hospital 4 times as well.

Jaggar and I have different blood types which is called Coombes. Because of this, and because of being 2 ½ weeks early, he had Jaundice quite bad. When we left the hospital on the 13th, his bilirueben levels were good (6.7), but 3 days later they had jumped significantly, nearing a dangerous level (20.0).

Because of this, we were re admitted to the hospital on the 16th and stayed there until the 18th. Being a typical mother, I was so sad to hear that he was going to be re admitted and scared of the unknown. Although others may tell you that there child had the same thing, this is now MY child and it just makes it that much harder.

We were given a private room in the pediatric unit of Mercy Gilbert. The minute that we walked in the door my mind was put at ease. The staff was wonderful and took such good care of Jaggar and Preston and I. (Presley was once again over at Nana and Papa's house, which is a HUGE blessing!)He was put under the bili light for those days and his level dropped to 11.6. This was good since they wanted it under 14.0. This past week, I had his 2 week appt (at 3 weeks)and his level was checked again and had raised slightly to 12.1. The doctor advised that I put him on formula for 2 days to see if the levels were not dropping due to breaking down the breast milk. So, we did this.

On Monday, December 7th, his levels were checked once again and they had dropped all the way down to 6.5. Here are a few pictures of our second stay at the hospital and our good little boy sleeping under the bili light.

Our Boy....

As most of you should know, we welcomed our baby Jaggar Edward into this world on November 11th, 2009 at 11:55pm. He weighed in at 6lbs 12oz and was 19 inches long. This day was very special due to the fact that it was Veterans’ Day and that Preston is a Veteran. He was hoping and praying that Jaggar would decide to come on this day. With 5 minutes to spare, he did.

On Monday the 9th, I went into the doctor for our regular check up and at that time, she stripped my membranes.

Wednesday the 11th started like any other day. Presley and I got ready to meet up with my parents. Before leaving the house, around 11am, I felt like I was leaking (sorry for any men reading this). BUT, because I had the world’s weakest bladder EVER while pregnant and seemed to pee my pants AT LEAST once a day, I didn’t think too much of this. As I went about my business, this kept happening and I really started to wonder. My water did not break with Presley so this was a new thing for me. SO, I got everyone’s things together and called who I needed to call and headed for the hospital. My biggest fear through both pregnancies is that I would go to the hospital and call everyone and then it would end up being a false alarm. So when we got into triage, they did a test on me to see if it was infact my water breaking and it was. So this started the 12 hour process.

All went well and like I said, with 5 minutes to spare, our baby boy was born at 11:55pm.

Here is Jaggar all ready for the ride home!

Jaggar sitting with Daddy only 2 days old...

Jaggar having is blood taken at just a few hours old...

I will have more hospital pictures to post after getting them from my best friend, Kristi.