Sniffy is 4 months old and we are just in LOVE with him. His chubby cheeks, cutest smile and pouty lips. He is my little dream baby and it just seems like he has always been around. He is so big and so active. He already rolls over and is trying to crawl! He is in the 95 percentile for height and 75 for weight. Whenever he is in his carrier he kicks his legs to rock himself on the ground, it is hilarious. We love you Mr. Dude.

My little Sniff is coming up on 3 months old this week. He is still sleeping great at night - wakes up once or not at all usually. So cliche but the time is flying and he is absolutely HUGE! He looks like he is 5 months old and just wants to eat allllllll the time. Not joking. His dimples just melt me and he smiles and laughs all the time. He decided he hated binki's this week so that is the only thing that is driving me crazy about my handsome little mr. He makes 3 kids not too tough because he is my little (big) angel. Love you Mr. Sniff!

Now that my little guy is 6 weeks old - I am finally getting around to writing his birth story. For some reason my pregnancy with Smith was really rough on my body. I carried him seriously like straight out - torpedo style. This caused me some serious back & hip pain, an umbilical hernia, made it so I couldn't sleep. Long story short, I was miserable there at the end. I had been having contractions pretty regularly from 37 weeks on and was dialated to a 3-4, so my doc set me up for an induction on the 28th of March. I was terrified of him being enormous because Lucy was barely 7 pounds, and then Ruby was 8.13! If I kept that growth chart going I would have been in real trouble. Anyway, I was counting down the MINUTES until I could have this baby. They told me to call on the 28th at 6:30 a.m. to make sure they had room for me. My doctor reassured me that people get bumped less than 2% of the time.

OF COURSE. I called in that morning, and they were swamped. They told me to call back at 9:30. I was dying but still hopeful. I couldn't sleep so I watched Reign and ate some cereal. I got a call back at about 7:45 and I was soooo excited, except - they were giving me more bad news. Turns out they were so busy they weren't even sure they could get me in that day or when they could.

Cue the ultimate meltdown freakout. I had that mental clock ticking down and I NEEDED to have this baby. Trent went to work, I layed in my bed and had an emotional meltdown. I called my mom and said - you need to come down here and distract me or I will die. I didn't want to see anyone, talk to anyone or text anyone who was asking me where is baby?

I called my dr's office and told them no matter what that I wanted the next induction spot. They were sympathetic and said they were in contact with the hospital and were trying to get me in there today. My dr was going out of town and I really wanted him to deliver Smith so that was another factor in my freak out. Trent walked over from the Moran to Labor and Delivery and talked to the admit nurse, I gave him full permission to flirt and get me in there by any means necessary. He ran into my doc and they promised they would try to get me in that evening.

Trent got home from work early - and my mom came down - we decided to go to the mall so I could at least not think about how I should have had a baby by then. We wandered around for a while and then around 3:30 I got the blessed call! Jamie, can you come now! I honestly screamed out loud in Nordstrom - dropped whatever I was holding and my mom and I ran (or waddled in my case) out to the car. Rushed home -  jumped in the car with Trent and made our way to the U. I was hauling because I just had this fear that an emergency would come in and bump me out of my room.

The labor & delivery department was crazy! They told me they had NEVER had so many emergencies or ladies come in in active labor. I got into my room and my nurse told me if I wanted an epidural at all that night I had to order it now or it might not get there because it was so busy. I was like bring it on, and they told me it would be about 2 hours before they could get there. 5 minutes later, I just had my IV put in and in walks the anesthesiologists. So I got my epidural before they took my medical history, checked how far dilated I was or anything. I thought it was hilarious. They were like rate your pain. ZERO.

My doctor called and was awesome - he was like lets have this baby fast. We speak the same language. I got started on some pitocin and they broke my water.  A couple hours later I was a 7 and getting pretty uncomfortable. I always get the shakes and get freezing cold. I also can always feel my contractions at the end. I don't know if my body doesn't take the epidural as well or what, but it is fine with me because I like being able to move my legs and walk etc.

Anyway about 45 minutes later I pushed about 3 times and Smith was born! My mom and Trent were with me and it was the most amazing experience. They put him right on my chest for skin to skin. Apparently the longer they hang out on mom after coming out it helps to regulate their temperature and also makes them nurse better? I don't know if that is why, but he was a champion nurser from the start. Latched right on with no problems at all. I held him on my chest for a good 30 minutes before they even weighed or measured him. It was so special I wish I would have done that with all of my kids. I will always remember him looking at me. I thought he was so beautiful and I had that amazing feeling of NOT being pregnant anymore. The best feeling on earth. I was so thrilled to have a beautiful, healthy son. So I got to the hospital at about 5 p.m. and he was born at 10:02. Best birth ever. The worst part was a student nurse doing my iv and stabbing me to the point where I bled all over the floor.

Trent's parents and my parents came to see baby. I got really itchy so they gave me some Benadryl which literally made me so loopy! When we got up to the room - I had the worst nurse of all time. She refused to take Smith to the nursery. I was like listen lady - I just had a baby plus the Benadryl and I don't trust myself to take care of him - I'm exhausted and couldn't even keep my eyes open. She brought him to my room EVERY HOUR to feed him. She would WAKE HIM UP to bring him to me. Finally at around 4 a.m. I kept him in the room with me and he slept until 7:30. That was probably the worst part of the whole thing, was crazy nurse in maternity. Luckily the next night I had a sane nurse who said the most important part of my recovery was sleep because I was going home to two crazy kids.

It was fun to be in the hospital where family could come and see the baby. The girls were beyond excited and just died when they saw him. Ruby kept saying - Oh he's soooo cute in this high-pitched voice. She also said - hey mom, I thought your belly was going to go away! Thanks for the boost Rubes! It was also so nice to have family around to take the girls so Trent I got to spend those days together in the hospital with Smith.

We had a hard time with a boy name! I had always liked the name Smith and I went to the hospital 80% sure I wanted to name him that. Trent was on board too. Our other name was Isaac. For some reason in the hospital we just couldn't decide, I knew Isaac was out, but suddenly was thinking we should name him Tommy. I will never go to the hospital without a name again, for me it just didn't work.  We finally settled on Smith Thomas, and filling out paperwork was the last thing we did before leaving to go home. I love his name so much and it just fits him.

Smith has been an angel of a baby. He is seriously so good. He slept pretty well from the beginning usually always giving me a 4 hour stretch. My delivery was so quick I felt amazing, and started walking when he was less than a week old. He is such a cuddler and just arches his back, tucks his bum and sleeps on our chests. It is a dream come true. We couldn't love him any more. So blessed with this little nugget. He wants to eat constantly, apparently that's a boy thing?? Just writing this I feel such a rush of love for my little guy. What a beautiful boy. He is also the noisiest sleeper I have ever heard. So many funny noises sometimes I just lay in bed and laugh because I can't believe he is asleep.

Unfortunately my umbilical hernia didn't go away after I had Sniff. (Ruby can't say his name - so sniff it is, and it kind of stuck). I wanted to have the surgery to get it fixed quickly, because I would have hated to ramp back up into working out, etc, and then have to slow down again.

I had the surgery last week, and it was pretty awful and painful. I'm feeling much better now but can't lift anything heavier than Smith. Which is a pain. If I want to go anywhere I have to pull him in and out of the carrier. I can't carry him in it. I can't lift Ruby up, etc. I just want to feel better so I can feel more like myself again and be as active as I like to be. Good thing he is a little angel or it would be worse.

Through this experience of having my 3rd baby and then surgery in the first few weeks of his life I needed a lot of help. I am super self-sufficient and have a hard time admitting let alone asking anyone for help. I was shocked by the amount of love I felt from the people in our neighborhood, friends and family. They saved and are still saving me. I learned so much about how I want to be and how I need to be. People who wouldn't ask me if I needed anything, they just showed up. Or texted hey I'm taking your girls, Hey I'm taking Lucy to school, Hey I'm bringing you a 44. It meant so much to me and I couldn't have done it without those angels.

Especially my mom. After my surgery she came to my house for 3 full days. Cooked, cleaned, did laundry, played with my kids, provided emotional support, worried about me and just basically kept me sane. She is unbelievable and I want to be just like her. I couldn't do anything, and that is not a position I like to be in. I learned to accept help and that it is ok to need help sometimes. I also learned to try not to be so hard on myself and that having a healthy body that is not in pain is more important than baby weight, or being skinny or anything else like that. Those few days of not being able to move well made me appreciate the blessing of health. So I guess I needed a few lessons - thanks Sniffy for teaching me so much already.

Also need to write that Trent is another superstar. Stressful job, so many hours, useless wife. Comes home and takes the kids, helps with cleanup, does the laundry, plants the garden, etc, etc, etc. The man can not stand still and he does whatever he can to help me. I won the husband jackpot. This is a novel - but next time I have to write about the boulder/curb/car incident and the text he sent me when I told him our new car was in bad shape.

Family pics by Shannon Garber.

I've really been one one lately. This pregnancy has been kicking my butt - especially now that I'm at the point where everyone just stares at me with a look of pity. Also, can I ask why complete strangers feel the need to comment on my belly? How exactly does the checker at DollarTree know if I've dropped or not? She has never seen me before this very second. Kills me. Only a few more weeks. only a few more weeks.

Anyway I want to get back into blogging just to remember the weeks and days as they are. So here are some #momlife stories from this week.

I'll Call This One... The Yellow Foot

I woke up yesterday and my foot was slightly tinged yellow. Super weird. Of course all things pregnancy are weird so I start googling Pregnant - yellow skin, and finding out all about how I may have liver disease. Since my eyes and face weren't yellow I tried to remember if I had dropped something on it - maybe it was a bruise? But it didn't hurt. I went about my day and then a couple of hours later decided to send Trent a pic to see if he had any ideas.  Right as I'm snapping a yellow foot pic with my phone - it dawns on me that Saturday morning I spray painted Lucy's boxcar for kindergarten YELLOW.  Like I can really scrub the tops of my feet at this point!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH. Talk about one for the books. I didn't even realize that I had painted my own foot until two days later, and then I thought I had jaundice or hepatitis.

Speaking of Lucy's boxcar - the big event for the year in her kindergarten class is the Cross Country tour. Everyone draws a state and then makes a cardboard box car representing facts about it. Then they spend the day going from place to place around the school in their cars and learning about different states in the nation. Lucy has been talking about it for WEEKS. Her CAR, the PLAN. Everything. If you know Lucy she tells me every detail OVER AND OVER just to make sure I don't mess it up. We finally got her car done over the weekend, hence the painted foot - and today was the big day.

I get the girls in the car and then hit the garage door opener. Goes up halfway and then STOPS. OH NO, not today. NOT CROSS COUNTRY DAY!!!!!!!!!! Try again and again. Nothing. Great. Stuck in the garage and with my SUV I can't reach the rope to get it off the track. I'm swearing and calling friends to come grab Lucy. It's raining so I can't walk her to school or the box car will be ruined. I'm climbing on the tires and pulling the chord trying to get it off the track. Lucy is bawling about missing even a minute of Cross Country Day. And I quote "THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE" After about ten minutes of trying everything I can think of nothing is working. Finally as a last resort I grab a bar stool and climb on TOP of my SUV in my garage with my 9 months pregnant belly. I throw my leg up and roll my giant self on top. I honestly wish I was making this up and/or had a video. I smash the actual opener a few times because what else am I going to to do at that point. Climb down. Try it and miracle of miracles - it opens. Shout out to my sis-in-law who was going to come and get her before I tried my last hail mary. #momlife is all I have to say. On the way back from school I thought. Oh, I hope that I didn't stress out the baby. Luckily he gave me a few kicks to say hey mom, no worries - I get it, It's cross-country day. I am an idiot and now my back is kiiiilling me.

Also - just so Ruby reads this when she is a teenager and is super embarrassed. YOU FLAT OUT REFUSE TO BE POTTY TRAINED. You told me it's boring to pee and poop in the potty and that you are going to wear diapers forever.

I really hope that isn't the case when I read this in a couple of years. What is my life sometimes??

J

Just a few things I have got to remember about my two little girlies.

RUBY:
Oh boy, where to even start. Well a few days ago she named her feet. One is Alyssa and one is Ballerina. She ran around all day saying, Come on Alyssa, come on Ballerina. She literally kills me she is such a character. She is also 100 percent convinced that she is a boy. Not sure how to handle that one.

I tried potty training this week for exactly 1 day. She told me it was boring and that she would NEVER EVER POOP in the potty. She is SO stubborn. Its got to be her idea, so we will see when that ever ends up happening. I also have to remember how amazing she is at saying hello. For example when she goes to nursery, and then comes and sees me or Trent, she FLIPS OUT! Running up screaming MOM or DAD  or LUCY and gives such a big hug it almost knocks you over. She does the same thing with most of our family, and I'll tell you what nothing makes you feel better or more special than a freak out Ruby hello. She also likes to tell us that we are killing her. Wonder where she heard that. :) She was Supergirl for Halloween and was SO GROUCHY all day until she figured out trick or treating got her so much candy. Then she didn't want to come home. She is terrified of dogs, and will not go to sleep without marching to her room singing, Daddy did you take my purpley binks. WEIRD. But it works so I won't complain.

LUCY:
Lucy, Lucy, Lucy. You are my angel. Your 6th birthday was a week and a half ago and we had a blast. I have been helping out in your classroom and its so fun to see you loving school. You were a scary, darling mummy for Halloween and loved every minute of it. We had a pajamas and pizza party with 13 of your friends and it was so much fun. I'm so proud of what a good girl you are, who makes good choices and cares about everyone's feelings. You love the monkey bars and are really into reading the Magic Treehouse books right now. One of your favorite things to do is tumbling and you are always practicing anywhere and everywhere.Your teacher finally tested your reading level and said that you can read and figure out any word, so now we are working on analyzing the stories instead of just reading them. I love hearing you laugh out loud at a story and just get so into a book and love to read just like me. It makes me so so happy.  We had our primary program on Sunday and you knew every word to the songs. I was so proud of you.

BABY:
IT'S A BOY!!!
Well we are having a baby boy and are so excited. It seems so weird to me sometimes its like I don't even know how to buy boy clothes. I go into that side of the store and just feel out of place! Lucy and Ruby will be such good big sisters, now just to come up with a name! This pregnancy hasn't been the easiest. I've got a terrible herniated belly-button that can be really painful if I do too much. I've heard every pregnancy gets a bit harder and I'm finding that to be the  case for sure. Maybe its just me in my old age. Luckily I get a lot of help from Lucy and Trent. And am halfway done and SUPER glad.

We are looking forward to the holiday season and spending time together as a family. Sometimes life is hard, but I am so lucky because at least once a day I look around at my family and just think how blessed I am and how much I love being with my husband and kids. They are the light of my life and there would be no meaning to anything I do without them. Cheesy but true.

Until next time.

 Insomnia has plagued me a bit as an adult. I just know the nights when my brain won't stop working. It's about ten times worse when I'm pregnant. I can't believe its time for baby #3! We are so excited to add another crazy to our little family. I'm 16 weeks and finally feeling better. We should find out if it is a boy or a girl in the next week or so and I can't wait. I'm so impatient. I want to put this insomnia to good use and make sure I'm keeping a better update on all of us. Lucy has a week to week update of her baby years, and sorry Ruby you got kind of hosed.

This week was fall break and we spent it trying to have as much fun as possible. Thursday I took the girls to Cornbelly's with Erin and her kids and Jord and Sam. We had a fantastic time and ended up staying most of the day. It is one of my favorite things to do with my kids in the fall, there is so much to do and they think it is Disneyland! Ruby had so much fun playing with Sam and June and Lucy was loving life too. Erin and I accidentally let Macy, Owen and Lucy go through a haunted house (in our defense the girl said it was not scary) on their own while we stayed with the littles. Long story short, all 3 of them came out hysterically bawling. Parents of the year. We tried not to laugh, but it was just too embarrassing and hilarious. #parentfail. Of course now Lucy has been telling everyone ALL about it.

Friday I took the girls up to meet Leah at our fav Mcd's play place in Centerville. We don't get together often enough and its crazy to me to think that we have been friends since Lucy was born. The kids are getting so grown up too fast. That night I was driving home from my parents and of course my pregnant self had to veer off to grab some Mandarin food. I'd been craving it forever and it did not disappoint. Saturday Trent ended up working all day and most of the night so the girls and I did Parks, Slurpees and some cleaning. We had fun but man, this was the 3rd Saturday in a row with no husband and it wears on you!!

Lucy's birthday is in a couple of weeks and she wants a PJ and Pizza party, so we are in the middle of planning that and Halloween and all of my favorite fall things. She loves kindergarten and her teacher Mrs. Greene. I get a full report every day of all the things that happened, who got tickets, who got warnings, who didn't wait their turn on the monkey bars. :) I will take the info as long as I can. She is reading like crazy and right now is loving the Littles series and the American Girl doll books. She does reading testing in the next few weeks and I'm anxious to see what level she is. I just want to keep challenging her because she is definitely ahead of the game. I'm so glad she loves to read like I do, it makes me so happy. She has some cute friends and is loving tumbling and soccer. She is an angel daughter and so sweet and tenderhearted. She lost her first tooth and learned to ride her bike the same week kindergarten started. I cried so hard - it was too many firsts for this mom. She loves writing in a journal, any kind of art or craft and making lists. Ruby loves to play with her and when I hear them laugh I feel like I am in heaven. She told me a few weeks ago that she was a member of the church of Saturday Laints and I just about died. She is my sleeper and honestly does not ever wake up before 9 - usually later like 9:30 or 10. She is a full on teenager and first grade is going to rock her world next year getting up so early.

Ruby Jane is my up and down baby.. She goes from the funniest, cutest most hilarious toddler to an absolute nightmare in 1 second. No middle ground with this one. She is teaching me patience and making me realize that I had it easy the first time around. I love the way she is saying so many new words - this week her tea party was and I quote pretty scrumptious and she found an "accuvum" (vacuum) in her book. Her latest trick is telling me she CAN'T do something. Anything and everything. I CAN'T take a nap. I CAN'T be nice. I CAN'T be reverent when we are at church. It is like what do you say to that? Hahaha she has the most mischievous little face and loves to smile at me while she does something that she knows she isn't supposed to. She also love playing ball catch - and would do it all day long if I had the patience for it. She loves to sing, and is obsessed with her softies, blue blanks, and purpley binks. She sings to her binky when she takes naps and goes to bed. She is an expert on the Ipad thanks to a mom who needs breaks from her drama, and also is totally afraid of dogs and animals. This is coming in VERY handy for me now that Lucy is constantly asking me for a pet. Ruby loves to color and draw and usually is drawing rocket ships. She also loves to play magic wand and turn people into T-Rex.

2:36 - should try and get some sleep....