Carter had his first photo shoot this week! He spent the day the day with Jenny and Stephanie and they surprised us with a photo shoot at their house. They said that Carter did so good; he loves trying on new outfits! He was such a trooper through the whole session, and the pictures turned out so cute!

Carter in the Pumpkin Patch

Good thing that pumpkin is there to hold him up!

Such a handsome smile

Gonna be a charmer like his Daddy

I love my new overalls!

Cardinal's fan, just like his Daddy!

Ready to watch the big game!

What channel is it on?

"Put me in coach!"

Oh no, we lost...

Taking all those pictures wore him out!

3 Generations of Love

Grandma, Mom, and Baby... 3 generations of Love!!!

Ok, I am so excited about this...

When my mom was born, her mom was 29 years old.
When I was born, my mom was 29 years old.
Guess what? I'm 29 years old!

My mom and I just think this is so great! Here are some pics of baby Carter, me, and grandma Sandy- all 29 years apart!

Visitors

Carter had some visitors Thursday and Friday, so I thought I'd post some of the pics that came out of visiting time.

Carter got to meet his Great-Grandma! Here's Grandma Cheever holding the handsome little man.

Carter also got to hang out with his aunt Star and his cousins, Gunner, Monet, Eden, and a little one on the way!

Here's some pics of Julie and Carter with Cathy and April.

Mike, Jen, and baby Vyla, who will be making her grand entrance into the world soon.

Julie has been working on breastfeeding, and so far Carter is doing very well. Until today. During the pregnancy, Carter slept all day and was active at night. Apparently, he's still on this schedule! It was time to feed today, and he would not wake up. We tried every trick we knew (wet rag, blowing on face, stripping him down, and even "dancing baby"). He was so cute- no matter what we did to try and wake him, he would just cover his face with his hands and try to hide his face from us. We got some of it on video (see below). We finally gave in and decided to let the little man sleep a little longer. I'm just curious: I wonder where he gets this stubborness from- mom or dad?

Carter has arrived!

Carter Jason Smith

born August 3, 2010 at 6:27 am

8 pounds 15.4 ounces

blonde hair, blue eyes

He's here! The c-section went smoothly and Carter is beautiful! Julie did have some minor complications that they are going to keep an eye on, so please keep her in your prayers; but for now mommy and baby are doing great. Will post more later; but for now, here are some pics of the handsome boy!

Oh what a night

Where do I begin?
Things did not quite go the way we planned. After 35 hours of attempted-inducing (3 rounds of pitocin), Julie has been taken in for a c-section. It was a very rough night. The epidural worked great- Julie was able to relax and get some rest. However, it started to wear off around 3:00 am and it took about an hour and a half to get the pain under control. Julie started to throw up due to the rush of meds they were giving her and her blood pressure dropped. While this was happening, my mom, who was helping Julie, sat on the floor and told me she wasn't feeling good and I needed to get a nurse. I didnt know what she meant- then she started throwing up too! One piece of advice for all future visitors- do not eat the vegetable soup from the cafeteria- it will make a second appearance! I'm sorry I wasn't able to get pictures during this time- I hope you will understand. :-)

Anyways, they were finally able to get the pain under control around 4:30 and said they were out of options in terms of the induction and a c-section would be needed. We were all able to get some rest and then they came to get her at 6:00. Carter will be here soon! Jason and Julie are in right now; updates and pictures to follow shortly!

I will keep you posted on how Julie and baby are doing. I know she will be excited to start receiving visitors, but because she has been feeling so poorly she may need a day or two before feeling up to having visitors.

Feel free to text me or comment on this blog if you'd like more info; otherwise I'll let you whatever I know whenever I know it!

Yours truly,

Jenny

Progress! The finish Line is Getting Closer!

It's been 24 hours since the induction process began, and I'm excited to say things are starting to happen! The doctor came in to do an exam and decided to break her water. That was a few hours ago, and now she is dilated to 3. The contractions have started getting closer together and more intense, so needless to say, the pain has increased as well. She just got an epidural about 30 minutes ago, and is sleeping for the first time since she's been here! Delivery is still a few hours off, at the earliest. Right now everyone is sleeping and getting rested up for the big event. Except for me; I just had my second Starbucks of the day. Brilliant, huh? Well, I guess that means I'll be here to bring you the latest and greatest on baby Carter's entrance into the world!

Jenny

And.... still waiting

Still waiting. That's all. Waiting. Still.

Still Waiting

Well, it was a long night with not a whole lot to report. Julie has gone from being dilated from a 1 to a 2, which mean she still has a long way to go. So far according to Julie, the worst part is being stuck in bed. She does not do bedrest well! Around 9:00 this morning, she finally talked the nurses into letting her off the monitors for an hour to walk around, grab some breakfast,
and take a shower. She was so happy, I thought she was going to run down the hallways yelling "Freeeeeedom!!!!!!!!"

This is Julie negotiating with us to get permission for the walk, breakfast, and shower. According to her, "I'm in a hospital, what could really happen to me?"

"Oh yeah, I'm bustin outta here!"

Well, now that her little adventure is over, she is back on the pitocin, iv, and monitors and is finally resting for the first time since she arrived last night. We are hoping the pitocin will work its magic while she sleeps so she can wake up rested and ready to start pushing! Here are a few more pics for you.

Jenny

Aww, the cute couple!

Whatta Man!

Julie and her Mom

Baby Time!

Hi everyone! This is Jenny. I am here at the hospital with Julie and Jason. I will post updates as often as I can to let you know what's going on. Julie has been on the waiting list for the past few days. Weird concept: the hospital says, "Go home; get some rest; and when we have a bed and a nurse available we'll call you". So Julie has been waiting and trying every old wive's tale imaginable to get this kid to come out on his own. I think she has disproved every myth there is!
Anyways, the hospital called her around 7:30 tonight and told her to come on in. They have started her on pitocin and are optimistic on her progress so far. Not much to report yet, baby Carter will probably not make an appearance until tomorrow or Tuesday, but I'll post updates as they happen!

Jenny

Honeymoon