Our life in Oklahoma

Hot In... Hot In....

2009-07-12T20:25:00.002-05:00

It's been over a hundred now for a week. It's a dry heat... but 110 is hot no matter how you slice it. The Falcones have been here since Monday and the poor dogs don't know what to do with themselves. A new baby is a big adjustment.... then let's add a 2 year old on top of that! B would rather be outside in the 110 degree heat than inside with screaming toddler and screaming infant.

I have taken some pictures but haven't had a chance to upload anything. I will definitely get to that soon.... I hope. Last night was LONG. Caroline is not fond of weekends. That is her worst sleep and in turn, our worst nights too.

We tried to take pictures in Caroline's cute 4th of July outfit. But since it was on a Saturday, you can just guess her mood. To add to that barrel of fun, our power went out at 7:30 pm. It didn't come back on until 2:20 am. Right as T was getting Caroline quiet, everything powers back up and wakes her up again and she remembered she was mad. Oh and did I mention that it sounded like we were in a war zone with all the fireworks. No electricity... screaming babies... sounds of explosions... we could have been in Fallujah.

I can't believe she's over a month old. I didn't think she had grown any but when I look back at her first pictures, I can tell she has. She is still freakishly long. She tends to have T's serious facial expressions. She's normally pretty content unless she has gas. However, she has gas a lot. We are slowly developing a routine. At least she is now sleeping in her bassinet. We can normally get pretty good stretches at night. It normally just doesn't start until 11 pm or so. About 9, I'm ready for the bed. But we are doing ok.

We are headed to Baton Rouge this week. I should have lots of pictures after that. So we'll see how a 10 hour road trip, broken up into 2 days goes with a one month old and a 2 year old!

Imagine that

2009-07-02T19:54:00.001-05:00

It's amazing how much easier the day goes when you're able to sleep, eat and go to the bathroom.

Learning to do things with one hand

2009-06-30T14:33:00.008-05:00

Two nights ago was Caroline's first bath. As you can see, she wasn't all that crazy about it.

Best Comment Ever!

2009-06-27T18:03:00.003-05:00

While the baby is sleeping, I'm online reading about LSU's Baseball National Championship. I don't normally read comments on articles but there was only one on this particular article. It's the best thing I've ever read.

"I wish Jared Mitchell or Chad Jones had been a Saban recruit. Maybe he'd get credit for the baseball national title too!"

LOVE IT!

So alike yet so different

2009-06-25T10:25:00.003-05:00

Picture it - Baton Rouge, June 17, 2000. We were one week removed from Julie and B's wedding. I decided I was getting a dog. It was a big step for single me. Leslie and I got up early Saturday morning and came home with Copper. (Can you believe that was 9 years ago?) A little later that afternoon, Leslie stayed at my apartment watching Copper while I headed out to meet Addie at The Tiger to watch LSU play Stanford for the National Championship in baseball.

LSU won that day.... We celebrated... The dog jumped around in the air to celebrate with us. It did start a new phase for me. Let's just say that Copper came with some "issues" that had to be worked out with patience and love. She was a rescue dog, so I expected something - maybe not everything I got, but we worked through it.

Picture it - Oklahoma City, June 24, 2009. We are two weeks removed from the birth of our first child. It's been a big change for us, especially the dogs. We started the day early with feedings and changings. We settled in after dinner to watch LSU play Texas for the National Championship in baseball.

LSU won that day.... We celebrated... The baby slept. We are definitely in a new phase of our lives.

Two championships. So alike, yet so different. This year we were supposed to go to Omaha. We made plans while watching last year. When we found out in October we were pregnant, we were overjoyed. About a week later, T said "you know what this means though, don't you?" I didn't know what he was talking about. He said "you're due in June. Omaha is June. This means they will win it all for sure!"

So since October, we started saying they were going to win it all. We also said they baby will spend her first birthday in Omaha. Dad says if something derails our plans for next year, Manieri will probably guarantee scholarships for all our children to LSU. HA!

Geaux Tigers!

Slowly Returning to a New Normal

2009-06-23T16:35:00.006-05:00

Yesterday was my check up at the doctor. I am happy to report that not only is my blood pressure normal (120/86), but I've also lost 40 lbs. I still have a little fluid in me, but it's nothing like it was. I can actually see the muscles in my foot. They aren't 100% back to normal, but at least they aren't bruised anymore.

So the doctor will keep me on the BP medicine for another 6 weeks, just to make sure I'm normal. But other than that, I'm doing well. Oh yeah, and my lungs sounded clear. So there's no fluid there either. That's a big thing.

Aunt Betty, Nanny and Jolie got here yesterday. They have been very helpful. Not sure how long they are staying, but I can't believe it's been 2 weeks already!

We will be cheering on LSU tonight! That's really about it.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T21:34:00.005-05:00

Our 300th post just happens to coincide with T's first Father's Day. So I'm finally putting up a few more pictures. I hope all the fathers enjoyed their day!

It figures

2009-06-20T19:20:00.002-05:00

After a night where we couldn't get the baby to sleep, let alone stop crying, anywhere other than our arms in the rocking chair, she's been a perfect angel today. In fact, we had to run some errands and decided to try lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings. You know, a nice, calm, quiet place to bring a baby (total sarcasm).

She laid in her car seat, calmly watching US Open coverage on the big screen. And with all the tranquility, she just dozed off.

Promises, Promises...

2009-06-17T21:34:00.002-05:00

We've heard a lot about the lack of baby pictures. Well, by we, I mean T. Keep in mind that we've only had basically a day and a half at home. So yes, there will be pictures - lots and lots of pictures. We just don't have them at the moment.

Tomorrow is the baby's first doctor's appointment. So maybe by the weekend we'll have some more pictures posted. I promise.

Oh what a week!

2009-06-16T11:47:00.003-05:00

Caroline is one week old today and unfortunately I'm sure she thinks the hospital is her home. We were released to go home on Friday after a tiny meltdown from her mother and the doctor finally got back in touch with us to review her blood work and confirm what we already knew - her levels were fine and she could go home. The only catch is that we had to come back to the hospital on Saturday to redo the blood work again and confirm that things were still good.

So we got home about 5 or so on Friday and just enjoyed being at home a while. The first night at home was alright and we all got some sleep - not a lot, but some. The baby only cries when she has gas or wants to eat, so for now, it's pretty easy to figure out what's wrong.

Saturday morning, we got up and headed back to the hospital about 8 am, hoping that we wouldn't have to wait forever in the emergency room (where we were directed to go) to have the blood work done. We got there, parked right next to the door and strolled into the admission area. A nurse came back and took us back before the admission process was even done. Imagine that!

Two hours later, we were in the car on our way back home. We had envisioned being gone all day long! So when we got home, I decided to take a nap. I will still full of a lot of fluid and wanted to prop up my feet. I slept for a couple of hours and woke up when she started crying for food. I felt really bad but since I was woken out of a dead sleep and had just given birth, I didn't think much of it.

T's parents came up for the weekend and once they got to the house, we had 2 more permanent baby holding volunteers. So I was just hanging out in the recliner and was having a hard time catching my breath. I could tell my blood pressure was a little elevated but it was the breathing thing that had my attention.

I had T call the doctor and they told us to get to the hospital right then. So T packed up stuff for the baby and we headed back to the hospital for the second time that day. Naturally, it was right before the LSU baseball game was supposed to start. But we knew from previous visits there was a tv in the urgent care rooms.

They took my blood pressure and it was very high... they didn't say right away what it was, but they started hopping. They took an xray of my lungs. And once again, didn't say anything right away but pace was picking up. So the doctor came in and said they were admitting me, which made me flip out. Having only been home for 20 hours since we were last in the hospital, it was just defeating.

They moved us to the critical care wing (always fun to hear that's where you're going, right?). My blood pressure was 190/110 and my lungs were full of fluid - thus the not being able to breathe thing. So for the next 4 hours they pumped me full of more drugs that I know how to describe. They would tell me names beforehand but really? I wasn't even remotely in a place to remember that stuff.

I think I was hooked up to at least 5 different machines. T was pacing. Mom was holding the baby and I was trying to watch the baseball game on the tv. Turns out morphine makes me chatty. I think I slept for a total of 30 minutes on Saturday night. And yes, I was continuing to nurse the baby while all this was going on.

Sunday T's parents came up to the hospital and visited for a while. Not having any windows in the room, I really didn't know what day or time it was. T had to go back to work on Monday, so I made him go home on Sunday night so he could sleep. He didn't want to, but I insisted. We finally got moved to a regular room at 2:30 am on Monday morning. And once I was in a comfortable bed, I slept. I slept so soundly the nurse had to shake me to wake me up.

I had just given up hope that I was going home anytime soon. My blood pressure was down but I think they were looking for something specific in my lab work in regards to kidney and liver functions. I'm not sure what. I was full of drugs. But about 1:30 Monday afternoon, the doctor came in and asked if I wanted to go home. I said yes excitedly and then told her I loved her. Yes, I was that happy to go home.

Prognosis - I should return to normal in about a week to 10 days. I have something known as pre-eclampsia and it typically seen prior to delivery. It caused my blood pressure spike that led to the induction last week and typically runs its course after birth. In some instances (although not common), it can continue after delivery. It's a disease of the placenta and I will return to normal once hormones have cycled out of my body.

You had to know this medical textbook normal pregnancy was too good to be true. Something uncommon had to happen. But I'm fine. T's fine. The baby's fine.

Now we just have to adjust to a newborn at home!

Live from...

2009-06-11T12:19:00.002-05:00

OKC... it's Thursday afternoon!

At least I think it's Thursday afternoon, anyway. I left the house on Monday for a doctor's appointment and then had a list of errands to run. I haven't been out of the OU Medical complex since 8:45 Monday morning. So no, I didn't make it to the store or the bank.

The doctor informed me that I had made progress but my blood pressure was just too high and I was having a baby today. I didn't really have a choice. So I called T and he met me at the hospital. They started the induction drugs at about 10 am and it wasn't until 10 pm that I was ready to push.

After an hour of pushing and making NO progress, the doctor said that I could keep pushing for hours if I desired, but the baby's head wasn't moving at all. The plus side was the baby was in no sign of distress and I could just push all day if I chose. But realities were that I was giving birth to ginormo-baby and she just wasn't going to go any further.

So c-section it was. Had there not been 2 others going on at that exact moment, she would have been born on Monday. But with the delay, Dad got here in time for the delivery. Mom had flown in earlier in the evening.

There are not a lot of pictures of me the first night with the baby because I was as high as a kite! It was a local epidural and not general anesthesia, but given that Tylenol puts me to sleep, I was having issues keeping my eyes opened.

Once Caroline was born, T was able to carry her back to the room where mom and dad were waiting and I came wheeling in shortly there after. Tuesday and Wednesday are kind of a blur.

We expected to go home today and I was cleared, but turns out Caroline has jaundice, so we are here for one more day. What's a treatment for jaundice, you ask? She's underneath this horrible light box while wearing this foam mask over her eyes. And she has to be like this all day long.

I'm quite certain it's harder on me than it is on her. She's just chillin. But it is quite a change from the 2 days she's spent curled up with Mommy & Daddy! So we'll check her again at 4 and know if we can go home - maybe late today, but more than likely tomorrow.

The staff here has been incredibly nice, from housekeeping to nurses to doctors. I think I've taken more pain medicine in the last 4 days than I have in my entire life. The thought of my own bed is heavenly.

Oh and for the record, we were right. Caroline does have her Aunt Leslie's crazy long monkey toes! I'm going to take a nap now while she's sleeping. Thanks for all the well-wishes. They are much appreciated!

Sugar and spice....and EVERYTHING nice!

2009-06-10T14:55:00.016-05:00

As promised, here are some photos of the adorable
Caroline Frances Smith....

SHE'S HERE!!!

2009-06-09T11:18:00.004-05:00

IT IS MY DEEPEST HONOR TO ANNOUNCE THE BIRTH OF

CAROLINE FRANCES SMITH

Born JUNE 9, 2009
At 12:33 AM

8 lbs. 1 oz.
22 inches long
FULL head of dark hair!

Nothing yet....

2009-06-09T09:42:00.002-05:00

Well, I haven't gotten any update from Nicole or T yet, but I'm figuring they're a little busy having a baby and all!

I know people are waiting to hear, so I just wanted you all to know that there's nothing to know....yet!

I'll update as soon as I hear anything!

And so it begins...

2009-06-08T12:12:00.005-05:00

Hello to everyone in Nicole's blogging circle! This is Claudia! And as you probably guessed, the fact that I'M the one writing means something good...

At 10:55 AM CDT, I received a text from Nicole:

"At the hospital...Will have a baby today...Will keep you posted..."

So, as promised, when I have more info, I'll let you know!

In the meantime, please send love and good vibes to Nicole and T as they wait for their little bundle of joy to arrive!

Killing Time

2009-06-06T15:47:00.003-05:00

No, I haven't had the baby yet. I figured I'd throw that out there before anyone asked me, although I'm sure someone will ask me in the next 30 seconds or so. Yesterday marked my last day of work till August. Now, we're just waiting.

I've started knitting again to kill the time. At least it keeps my mind occupied and I've got tangible things as a result.

And on the plus side, I've been able to watch LSU baseball on tv this weekend. So we're just killing time.

The countdown begins

2009-06-01T09:10:00.002-05:00

Today is June 1st. My due date is June 15th. Considering we made a trip to the hospital on Thursday night because I thought I was in labor, I'm not sure if we'll make it all the way to the 15th. If we do, I'll be in tears by then.

In the meantime, we were able to watch the baseball games this weekends thanks to the handy internet. Thank you, internet.

I have assigned blog update duties to Claudia, so even if I'm not able to post, things will be posted here.

More loose change

2009-05-27T13:14:00.002-05:00

It's a little early for football talk, especially considering Regionals are getting ready to start. But this article was brought to my attention today and I just thought I'd chime in my two cents.

I'll give you a minute to read the article... go ahead... it's not long... I'll wait....

(Jeopardy theme playing)

Do I think Miles is underrated? Well, I don't know. I'm no football expert. But what I do believe is that he does his best to make people think he's not a threat.

The stupid hat? The silly sideline microphones? Pronouncing it "R-Kansas"?

I wouldn't take the guy seriously... and sometimes I don't. But give him a month to win a game and he will. He's got the post-season hardware to prove it - including the crystal football. I think he likes being underrated by other teams and fans. I think he strives to be underrated by them.

I have no real opinion on his x's and o's of football. I admit I don't know enough about that to give an opinion. But I do think he's certainly more shrewed than he gets credit for. So I'm sure he doesn't care where he is on the list of top coaches in the country. It's easier to have that opinion while polishing the crystal football.

Being an LSU fan, I'm critical of my football coach. I think any fan should be of their own team - to a degree. Coming of age during the Archer/Hallman/Dinardo era lends me a certain amount of cynicism towards a football coach. I never viewed Saban as the deity so many did. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop (as it always had before). And it did - he left. I don't care for whom. It doesn't matter the team or the league - simply, he left.

I know, you're wondering my point in all this. My point is that while I may think Miles has a screw loose and constantly doubt some of his decisions, it's his butt on the line, not mine. I think he's smarter than he lets on and wants to be underrated - it's easier to move around than if you had a bulls eye on your back.

But mark my words - if the defense isn't "fixed" this year, it will mark the beginning of the end of the Miles era at LSU. LSU fans can rationalize losses, but a bad defense won't be tolerated by the masses.

It's about time, huh?

2009-05-26T10:07:00.005-05:00

So I finally finished fiddling in the nursery last night. And by "I", I completely mean T. But he was kind enough to help me do what I wanted. So I took some pictures late last night. The only thing not in place is the changing table, which is on back order. It will be in front of the window where the current basket of diapers is at.

And yes, those are the curtains from hell in the top picture. Notice they are way too long. Oh well, they serve their purpose.

Smith luck strikes again

2009-05-23T14:46:00.003-05:00

Imagine my great joy this morning when I was scanning through the program guide on the TV and found the SEC baseball tournament... and not just the first game of the day, but the LSU game was going to be on TV too... IN OKLAHOMA!

Football - no problem.

Basketball - available occasionally.

Baseball - not a chance... nope... don't even think it!

So I watched parts of the Vandy/Arkansas game to make sure we were still on track for the LSU game time of 1:30. It looked overcast but I never heard them mention rain. There was a filler program between games - something about the Astros. I had it on just simply so I didn't miss the start of the game. We all know tournaments don't start at the listed times.

So here comes the game! It's raining but the announcers say they are playing through it unless something happens. That something being lightning, etc. Well, something happened all right and I'm not sure it qualifies as delaying the game, but they did. LSU came out and scored 7 runs in the top of the first with no real signs of slowing down.

The next thing I know the field crew is called out and we are in a rain delay. Funny thing is that it is now not raining as hard as it was. So I sit through the stupid 15 minute program they put on waiting for news on the rain delay. When they return to the game, the tarp is on the field and the teams have headed back to their hotels. Two hours at least....

Guess what will be airing on my TV channel in two hours - a PAC 10 track meet. So my window for watching LSU baseball is gone.... thanks to the rain.... another fine example of Smith Luck!

Because Leslie Doesn't...

2009-05-19T15:31:00.004-05:00

I was reading blogs the other day and went to Leslie's blog again to see it's still Shroves Day (which was in Feb). Now granted, she's got a lot going on, so I've said nothing to her. Moving, travelling, weddings, toddlers, oh and that thing called work seem to zap time, so I understand.

But I figured while I had some time, I'd post some pictures of Navarre. Why deprive everyone of her cute little face? There is no need.... so without further adieu, enjoy this sweet little face!

Two Kinds of Anniversaries

2009-05-11T21:11:00.002-05:00

We celebrated our 3rd anniversary just under two weeks ago. We had a nice dinner and that was really about it.

We have another 3rd anniversary coming up tomorrow. Tomorrow marks 3 years that we arrived in Oklahoma. I'm sure we won't be doing anything special. I just can't believe it's been three years already.

Time sure flies, right?

Be smarter than what you're working with

2009-05-10T17:11:00.003-05:00

That's what T tells me.... be smarter than what you're working with. So I had to remember that yesterday as I had a day long battle with a pile of fabric that I was trying to wrangle into curtains.

The first panel took me ENTIRELY too long. Want to know why? Well, I managed to make them upside down. So instead of ripping everything out and starting over, I tried to figure a way to "solve" the problem. I'm sure I spent a lot more time "solving" the problem than I would have had I ripped out and started over. Yes, the fabric is just an embossed pattern, that is white on white, but there is a direction to it. Which I realized AFTER I was trying to hem the bottom of what turns out to be the top.

So the first panel basically sucks. I've "hidden" it on the less visible side of the window. And no, there isn't really a less visible side of the window, but let me think I've done well. The second panel I zoomed through, having made all my mistakes on the first one.

We could probably use the term overkill on these curtains. They are not only lined, but have an interlining as well. I would have paid a fortune for them if I'd had them made. I also would have perfect curtains, not what I've got hanging in the nursery. You get what you pay for, right?

I spent all day yesterday hauling this huge pile of heavy fabric from the ironing board back to the dining room table, back to the ironing board... all the wile not dragging it through the dog hair in the floor. So I got quite a workout.

We hung the curtain rod today. As in we, I mean T. I was the assistant handing screws, etc. The curtains were put in place and you know what? They are about a foot too long. So I've got a puddling effect going on that I hadn't planned on. I forgot to take into account that the curtains wouldn't hang as high as we mounted the curtain rod. So we'll pretend I was going for the puddling look.

T even said... "wow, these are some heavy duty curtains!" My reply, "now you know why they were kicking my ass."

My 2 cents

2009-05-04T12:09:00.002-05:00

Let me start this mini-rant off by saying, I love Brett Favre! I love what he's done in his career and I love what he's done for football. But really? Coming out of retirement again? After reading this article on Fox Sports, I just feel sad for him.

I love Brett as a Packer. Him in shorts in December in Green Bay? That's the epitome of Favre. Not in New York... and certainly not in a dome.

It saddens me to watch him continue to play. He does still have the magic Favre quality, but more time than not, it's excruciating to watch him. It's hard to leave when you're still having fun, but I think it's time to just stay retired.

You know, Addie and I had a rule in our younger days. We called it the 1:45 rule. The gist of it was basically that you left the club/bar/party at 1:45 no matter what fun you were having. No one wants to lose track of time and get caught when the lights come on. It's not flattering for anyone. We walked away from many a good time.... but the rule was always the same, at 1:45 we were gone.

Brett, it's 1:59. Don't get caught with the lights on.

What a long trip it's been!

2009-04-28T09:02:00.003-05:00

6 days, 1532 miles, countless bathroom stops! I left last Wednesday headed for Galveston. The drive down was not as bad as I expected. I stopped just north of Houston to visit a friend I hadn't seen in a lot of years. It was like we just picked up right where we left off. After dinner, I made the last hour of my journey. Once I got to the hotel, I settled in for 3 full days of meeting planning.

T flew down on Friday afternoon and met me. There was lots to do other than meeting stuff, but we just took the opportunity to rest during free time. My meeting finished Saturday night and we got all our stuff together to leave early on Sunday morning. We planned to be on the road for 6 am, but with a baby intent on being awake earlier than that, I couldn't sleep. So I got up when my alarm went off and was ready to go earlier than anticipated. We left the hotel at 5:30 am.

Traffic isn't bad at 6 am on a Sunday morning, so that combined with my heavy foot (obviously it's heavy from retaining water) got us into Baton Rouge about 10 am. When I got to Dad's I was surprised to find Leslie there waiting on me! And apparently I threw everyone off by leaving Texas early. She had just gotten to the house when we got there!

We chatted for a little while and the guys made plans for their day. They were headed out to LSU for a baseball game. I got dressed, picked up T's mom, and headed out to my aunt's for the baby shower. Everything was so pretty at the shower! It was so nice to see everyone. I also found out that I no longer have a lap. I couldn't hold a gift in my lap while trying to open it. It kept sliding off. That was a new discovery for me.

We didn't leave my aunt's until late that evening. We had dinner and I fell asleep on the sofa. So I got up and went to bed. Monday, I got up just in time to tell Leslie goodbye - she had to get to New Orleans to catch her flight. We had breakfast with T's parents and then we hit the road too.

After a week of heat and humidity it was kind of cool last night when we got home. I was surprised to be honest. We unloaded the car, sorted mail, did laundry for today and got in bed.

Tonight we have a childbirth class, so I think we'll use tomorrow as our rest day. At least at that point, it's Wednesday and the week is almost over.

Thanks to everyone for everything!