Is Santa Coming to Town?

To do Santa or not to do Santa? That is the question.

Brad and I have struggled with how we would handle Santa with our children pretty much since we first got married and first started talking about it. We know families who we love and respect on both sides of the Santa argument. The reasons we've heard for not doing it have ranged from not wanting to lie to their kids, not wanting kids to confuse the myth of Santa with the truth of Jesus, ect. ect. ect.

We both grew up doing Santa and loved it, so we definitely don't see anything wrong with it. But the question is, what is right for our family and what do we want our own Christmas traditions to look like? In asking ourselves that question, we both admit that in general, there is a strong focus on presents, decorating, shopping, ect, when it comes to Christmas. And maybe even for us (people who know and celebrate Christmas because of the birth of Christ), that the real meaning of Christmas gets a little overshadowed by these other things. So, the one thing we're sure of is that we really want Christmas to be about CHRIST for us and our children. So, the question is, how do we do that?

So, we've tried really hard to make sure everything we do points back to Jesus. For example, this year, as we decorated our house with Christmas lights, we talked with Grayson about how Jesus is the light the world. And every time he receives a present, we talk with him about how Christmas is Jesus' birthday and that's why we give and receive gifts. And how Jesus is God's gift to us!!!

Grayson is all about Christmas this year, which has made it a very special Christmas so far to watch it all through is eyes. He just lights up at the tree and the lights and it is so fun to watch his amazement of it all. And he is very aware of Santa (which is why this year, we've had to actually make a decision). I mean, Santa is everywhere! TV, store windows, in front of our neighbor's house, and every waiter and store clerk asks Grayson what Santa is bringing him. We certainly are not trying to eliminate Santa from Christmas, and we couldn't even if we tried. But, we're trying not to focus on him. Every time Santa comes up, just like everything else, we try and point him back to Jesus. Who does Santa love? "Jesus!" And why did Santa give presents to boys and girls who didn't have anything? "Because he loves Jesus!" With every question Grayson has about Santa, we try and answer with the truth of who Saint Nicholas really was (a generous man who loved the Lord and should be recognized). Now, lucky for us, a three-year-old doesn't know the difference between past and present tense nor really the difference between pretend and reality, so we're not too worried about him going to church or pre-school and blabbing to his friends about how Santa isn't real. And we're not sitting down and having a heart to heart with him about how he's just a myth. But like everything else, we're trying to emphasize Jesus and point everything back to him!

I for one questioned if by not "doing the whole Santa thing" if we were in some way taking away some of the magic of Christmas from our children. But, as I've sat and read book after book this year about the birth of Jesus to Grayson, I've been reminded of the magic of the REAL Christmas story. To see his eyes light up every time he sees the stable with all the animals who watched as Mary and Joseph brought a baby into this world, who came to this world to save it. In telling him THAT story, and seeing the magic of that story through his eyes, I wonder if for the first time, if a story I've heard my whole life is penetrating my heart in a new way. And I realize how silly it might have been for me to wonder if the real meaning of Christmas in and of itself wasn't enough. Because Jesus is always enough! And I find myself praying that my children cling to that truth all the days of their life!

Merry Christmas from The Smith's!

We didn't get around to doing Christmas cards this year (our new addition along with our very active three-year-old is keeping us busy), so please enjoy a little online Christmas spirit from The Smith's! :)

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Grayson Greatness & Camdyn Cuteness

Just a couple Grayson Funnies...

Grayson just finished up his first season of soccer, which he really wasn't all about. He was the youngest on his team, and after about the second game, Brad and I were seriously questioning our parental judgement in starting him so early. Brad was also the coach, which mostly entailed keeping the children on the field and making sure they were kicking the ball towards the right goal :) Despite the fact that it took some coaxing to keep Grayson on the field during play time, he had a great time rough housing with the other kids and pulling their jerseys whether they wanted him to or not. The one time he really took off with the ball, he kicked it past the goal and was headed into the soccer game playing in the adjacent field. He did get pretty excited about snack time each week though. Here are a few photos that I think capture the season.






During the final game, one of his teammates tripped over the ball and fell down on his hands and knees. Grayson thought it would be a good idea to go ride the kid. Brad had to pull him off his teammate which he was sitting on like a horse before the game could continue.

Speaking of horses...

Tonight we asked Grayson what we should get Camdyn for Christmas and after much thought he said, "a horse." After we explained that we would have no where to keep a horse, he settled for a play horse for his little sister.

The third and my personal favorite:

Our wonderful friends the Williams kept Grayson and Camdyn the other day for me while I went to an event for the non-profit I write for. Grayson was playing with some toy skate boards and little people. They were lining them all up and counting them when Grayson asked, "Why are the boarders all white?" When they asked him what he meant, he pointed to their skin. I think he gave Jonathan and Carrie quite a laugh. (Good to know our child is aware of racial diversity :)

Now, for some Camdyn Cuteness. I call this photo, "The Epitome of Girlyness." Our neighbor made Camdyn this outfit and she hadn't had a chance to wear it yet, and since it's about to get and stay cold, I put her in it for church on Sunday. Brad thought it was completely over the top ridiculous, but I know from experience with Grayson that I only have a short window of time before she gets an opinion of of her own on what she should wear...and for things to fit.

This one is for the grandparents....

And Aunts and Uncles of course! Since our Camdyn is growing up so fast, just thought I'd share a little video of her (Please forgive my baby talk voice)

Halloween....and such

Since I'm averaging a blog about every two months right now, I thought I'd just throw out a couple cute stories and photos of our kiddos taken since Camdyn was born (along with our Halloween pics.)

Grayson entered his "why" phase early in the summer which has made for some pretty interesting conversations. We've also been realizing that 3 must be a lot like raising a teenager with the exception that he's still somewhat snugly and we can still put him over our knee and spank him. But, he recently learned the phrase, "It's not fair" (which we have no idea where he picked that up) and he's quick to grunt as he reluctantly walks off to follow whatever instructions we give him. And when I ask him about his day after pre-school, after answering a question or two, he is quick to say, "Okay, Mommy, I'm not going to answer any more questions." (3 going on 13....Lord help us!)

The other day we were at Chick-Fil-A and Brad said...

Brad: "Okay, buddy, I need you to eat two more chicken nuggets before you go play."

(Grayson then slams his head on the table in defeat)

Gray: "I have no choices!" (in the saddest, most pathetic voice you've ever heard)

Another day, I was changing Camdyn's diaper when Grayson said...

Gray: "I'm going to teach her to go potty on the big "boy" potty when she gets bigger."

Me: "That's a great idea buddy. Mommy would love for you to teach her that."

Gray: "I'm going to teach her to push her "tee tee" down so she doesn't spray."

Me: "Actually, buddy, she doesn't have a "tee tee" because she's a girl."

Gray: "She's going to grow a "tee tee" tomorrow???" (Oh my, I hope not)

Me: "No buddy, only boys have "tee tees." (Thankfully, that was the end of that conversation.)

And some cute pics of our kiddos....

Introducing....

Camdyn McLaine Smith, Born Monday, 8/22/11 at 10:11am, 6lbs 12 oz, 19 1/4 inches long

Her Birth Story...

Everyone (including my doctor) told me I couldn't expect my labor and delivery to be anything like Grayson's since he was a preemie, and my water spontaneously breaking and my dilating so quickly was most likely unique to his birth. But, in reality, our experience with Camdyn couldn't have been more similar.

I saw my doctor the Thursday before she was born and I was dilated three cm. My doctor told me she expected me to deliver within the week. She sent me to the hospital that day for them to monitor me for a little bit just to make sure I wasn't having contractions and didn't know it. At that point, we called my mom to come in Sunday night, as we wanted to savor one last weekend as a family, just the three of us. At approximately 7:11am Monday morning (my water broke with Grayson at 7:15am on a Sunday morning), I felt a pop. About the time it occurred to me that it could have been my water breaking, I felt a little trickle down my leg as I climbed out of bed. Of course, with my experience with Grayson and being the obsessive planner that I am, I had already been driving around with a packed suit case for at least three weeks, and all our toiletries were laid out on the counter. I yelled to Brad that my water broke and we started throwing last minute items into a plastic bag. About that time, Grayson walked into our room, and Brad said, "Guess what buddy, your little sister is going to be born today!" and Grayson then yelled, "YAY!!!" Of course, once we got out the video camera, he refused to repeat his reaction. We were calm and out the door within 10 minutes of my announcement.

We then were quickly on the road right in the middle of Houston rush hour traffic on the first day of school. Luckily, we could hop in the HOV lane, which they had just extended to our exit literally the week before. As we made calls to family, I still was feeling no contractions. It took us about 45 min to get to the hospital (record time for that time of day), and I finally started having contractions about 20 min before we arrived. And at that point, they came on strong and were about 2/3 minutes apart. At that point, I told Brad, "Oh my gosh, this is going to be just like last time, you watch. This is happening really fast. I'm going to be 8cm by the time we get to the hospital."

On the way to the hospital, we passed a Camden Estate Apartments (Camden/Camdyn had been our front runner name for the few months leading up to her birth, although we disagreed on the spelling) at the exact same time we were behind an 18 wheeler with McLaine across the back (one of three possible favorites for a middle name), which I quickly claimed as a "sign" that that was to be her name.

Once we got up to the L&D floor, the nurses were taking their time with paperwork. I'm pretty sure they thought I was just being a wuss with all my screams. In fact, my nurse even apologized to me afterwards ("I knew you were in pain, I just didn't realize you were in that much pain"). Originally when she checked me, she said she didn't think my water had broken, but a few minutes later the OBGYN assured her that it had and that I was already dilated to 8cm (this is where I turned to Brad and said, "I told you so.") At one point, I even had Brad go into the hall and hurry everyone up because I knew I wasn't going to get an epidural if they didn't hurry (which being the nice guy that he is, I'm sure he walked out there politely and calmly and asked if they could please hurry it up a bit...unlike his wife who was in a panic at this point.) After what felt like an eternity of pain, the anesthesiologist was in my room and the on-call OBGYN informed me that I was 9/9.5cm dilated. She and the nurse asked me one more time if I was sure I wanted an epidural (that it might go faster without one). About the time I was ready to agree to do it naturally, the OBGYN asked me how long I pushed with my first child. When I told her an hour and five minutes, she responded, "You pushed an hour and five minutes with a less than five pound baby??!!!?" "Get her the epidural, she is probably going to need it!" At that point, they asked Brad to leave the room and gave me the epidural. I then said a silent prayer asking God to protect me from being one of those extremely rare cases of paralysis from the epidural because I was too big of a wuss to do it naturally (an irrational prayer I know, but at that point, I don't know if any of my thoughts were all that rational).

Brad later told me that I was like a different person once I got the epidural. And if I had to do it again, I would get it again because I was actually able to enjoy the experience after that. I told Brad natural child birth was kind of like running a marathon to me. While I'd love to say that I did it, I'm not really willing to go through the pain it takes to do it. Although I then pushed for only 20 minutes, I was fully aware then of what was going on and I actually got to see my daughter being born with a sane mind.

And our sweet Camdyn (even though we didn't finalize her name until the end of the day) made her arrival at 10:11am (Grayson was born at 10:43am), exactly three hours after my water broke. And I will never forget the sound of her sweet cry and how she felt and sounded when they placed her on my chest...the sweetest feeling in the whole world and something I longer for ever since I didn't get to experience that with Grayson.

Afterwards, the OBGYN congratulated me for nearly doing it all naturally and commented that the worst thing I screamed was "shoot" which she thought was pretty funny (although it was pretty obvious to everyone that the vowel in that word was changed only at the very last possible second). Overall, it was a pretty smooth delivery minus the fact that the nurse missed my vein in both arms, so the pitocin was just going into my tissue, leaving my arms swelled up like Popeye, which later forced her to shove with all her might on my stomach to get out all the blood clots (which was about as painful as the contractions).

Grayson got to meet his little sister later that evening and was reluctant to let anyone else hold her. In fact, he kept saying, "two more minutes Grandma, and then I get her back." So far, he absolutely adores her! If anything, he is just a little too loving, and wants to hug and kiss all over her all the time. We have been thankful to have alot of help from family and friends so far. And we are loving being a family of four! We praise God for his perfect timing and for growing our family with this beautiful baby girl!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We are so thankful that you were born 28 years ago so we could have the most wonderful husband and father in the world! Love you!

Grayson Greatness

Grayson to Brad: "Daddy, you ate the last pop tart, and I wanted it. You made a mean choice to eat my pop tart!"

Grayson to me: "Mommy, stop arguing with me!" (It's scary when your child says something in the exact tone that you say it in.)

Grayson to me: "Mommy, you going to go tee tee in a cup today?" (In the doctor's office waiting room at the top of his lungs)

Grayson to Brad and me: "You okay, baby?" and "I love you baby!"
(He has quickly picked this one up from hearing us say it to one another and to him, and he doesn't understand that it's inappropriate to call his Mommy and Daddy 'baby.')

Me: Grayson, what would you think if we named the baby X? (No, I'm not putting the name here until we know for sure, which probably won't be until she's born.)
Grayson: "No, I like Jecca" (the special name he came up with for his baby sister, which he insists is her name). "You can name another baby that."

It's Official - 32 Weeks

As of today, I am officially the most pregnant I've ever been! After delivering Grayson at 31 1/3 weeks, 32 weeks is actually a pretty big milestone for us.Brad keeps saying that he feels like we're just living on borrowed time now.

Despite sporadic moments of paranoia where I convince myself I'm in labor and random anxiety attacks where I wake up insistent that we take a birthing class despite the fact that I've already given birth but feel like I learned nothing, I really am loving being pregnant, just as much as I did the first time around. Yes, I have my back pain, heart burn and restless nights, but its not enough to take away from the thankfulness I feel every day I am still pregnant.

I get asked the question alot why I delivered early with Grayson, and medically speaking, no one knows for sure. While spotting through my first 14 weeks with Grayson, and thinking for sure I was miscarrying at 11 weeks after waking up gushing blood (sorry if this is TMI, but welcome to pregnancy!), a sonogram showed a clot on my placenta. At that time, my doctor said that most women who have clots on their placenta (which is apparently more common than you think) go on to have completely normal pregnancies, which is what we all assumed was the case when I stopped spotting. He said a very small percentage end up having late miscarriages (we will forever be thankful that God spared us from that) and a small percentage deliver early. Of course, this conversation came quickly rushing back when my water spontaneously broke at 31 weeks, and 3 1/2 hours later our precious angel entered the world (although despite his early arrival, his NICU stay was the longest six weeks of our lives).

Because of Gray's early arrival, we have done certain things a little early this time around. For starters, the nursery for the most part is already complete. And, believe it or not, I've actually already packed a bag for the hospital (surprisingly by my husband's request). Because of how quickly Grayson came and because I have occasional visions of delivering on the side of the highway tying to make it to the hospital, I'm actually researching private ambulance companies that I could call if worse came to worse and I couldn't make it in time :) (Don't laugh, if you were in my shoes, you might be doing the same thing)

Despite the anxiety of it all, we are so excited to meet our little girl (even though we don't really want to meet her for at least another 5 weeks) and I have a feeling it's going to be totally different than having a little boy! As we've already discovered just through marriage, boys and girls are each wonderfully unique in their own ways and each have their own set of issues! :)

Pregnancy Pics

We had plans to take maternity photos when I was pregnant with Grayson, but that obviously got scrapped when he made his early arrival (along with the birthing, breast feeding and child care class :) so we took advantage of the opportunity to take them this time around!

A Nursery & Shower for our Little Girl

Her nursery...so far. The big space above the crib will be where letters for her name will go once we have one :)








A special thanks to Carrie for sewing the beautiful chair covers and helping me make the mobile! I can't wait to see her bed skirt!

Just a few from her baby shower...Melissa has the really good ones on her camera, but for now, just a few from my sister's camera.

Family, Friends & Grayson Greatness

Amy -- how did we not take any pictures while you were here? :(

Our out of town friends...The Hargroves & as Brad likes to call her "Les is More"




Nana, Pops & Uncle Blake (and our trip to Galveston)








Miranda & Pete...Love you girls!



Memorial Day with our friends the Shearers