First Family Outing - Springridge Farm, Milton

Our first family outing was to Springridge Farm so "Mamoo" (as Matthew calls himself) could see the animals. Here is our family outing pic...though you can't see Anna :-)Paul, Lauren, and Nana came too and had lots of fun!

Matthew loves the animals - especially neigh neigh horses! So when we asked him if he wanted to ride the horse he didn't hesitate a bit. He got right on as if he had been riding for years and loved every moment of it!

From the neigh neigh horse to the goats!

Off to the bunny rabbits. We often have rabbits outside at the house and Matthew loves to watch for them! When he visited Anna at the hospital he said she was cute - then said baby rabbit cute too. So if Anna is ranked up with baby rabbits, she must be doing well in Matthew's books!

Welcome Baby Anna Marie Smith!

The final member of the Smith pack has finally arrived - Anna Marie Smith was born on August 27, 2008 at 8:38pm. She weighed in at 6lbs 9oz and was 20 inches long. So far it's hard to tell who she looks like, but she does have a resemblance to Matthew. She's sporting the Smith chicken legs and her Dad's mouth, but may have Mom's nose. Not much hair and so far it's light brown.

She was quite anxious to come into the world, with a pretty fast labour once things got going. I was feeling off on the morning of the 27th and warned Chad before lunch that he was on high alert. By lunch time I was having contractions about 30 minutes apart. This continued through the afternoon and I called Chad to boot err home. When the contractions were at 15 minutes, she started to skip some steps and things moved very quickly. We left for the hospital sometime around 6:30 pm and by the time I walked into to be assessed I was in loads of pain and was almost 7 cm along. I promptly requested the epidural; however, very soon after I got the IV (just a few minutes later) I felt the urge to push and was told it was too late (really really not happy about this). Like her brother, Anna did not come down the birth canal in the proper position and had her head coming out sidewise until the very end, which made it very difficult and painful for her poor Mom. Though it was discouraging to seemingly make no progress for a long time, once she turned the corner the doctor barely had time to walk through the door and catch her! So after less than 2 hours in the hospital she made her entrance and we were thrilled to meet her! Pictured above and below are Mom and Dad with baby Anna shortly after the delivery.

She looks even tinier next to her Dad's big hands!

The following morning Anna slept soundly on me for almost 3 hours - she was so peaceful.

More snuggling!

Matthew was so excited to see Baby Sissy - here he is giving her a kiss on the nose. So far he is very proud to be a big brother.

First family picture (minus Riley of coarse...).

More snuggling...Anna is very cuddly so far :-)

Getting ready to go home Thursday night. She is wearing the same outfit Matthew did when we brought him home. Where we didn't know if he was a boy or girl we packed two coming home outfits for him, plus many gender neutral shirts and sleepers for the hospital stay. However, after peeing on everything in the hospital, Matthew had to come home in his girl outfit! We thought it would be fitting for Anna to come home in the same outfit :-) Below is Matthew in it...do you see any resemblance??

Chudleigh's for Birthday Fun!

After we had cake and presents, we went to Chudleigh's to see the animals, play on the slide and in the sand, and have a nice lunch. Uncle Paul, Aunt Lauren, Nana, and Raimey all came too! It was really hot, but we had a great time. Matthew couldn't make up his mind which farm animals to see first. He ran from the cow, to the neigh neigh horse, to the rabbits, to the goats...and back again!

We have a picture like this from last year, so of coarse we needed another one. Giddy up Daddy!

Happy Birthday Matthew!!

Today is Matthew's 2nd birthday - wow, has the time flown by! It's hard to believe how much has changed in two years. Matthew has grown from a little newborn into a very big and independant boy! He can be quite specific about what shirts he wears and what he would like to eat and drink...though most days he will eat pretty much anything we put in front of him. He continues to be a great sleeper in his big boy bed and we hope we will be as lucky with baby girl! His favorite toys are balls, books, fire trucks, and animals. He also loves to play outside, whether it be running in the grass, going to the playground, or going for a wagon ride. We have always tried to go to parks and Matthew often asks to go the beach, a park, or to a waterfall.

He seems to understand now that a baby is coming and likes to visit the baby's room. He insists on helping with getting things out, putting things away, feeding Riley and getting his own (and Riley's) snacks. We hope that he will enjoy being Mama's big helper when Sissy arrives.

Happy Birthday big boy - we love you!Since the weather was nice yesterday and I wasn't in labour, we decided to have Matthew's party one day early. The only problem was the Matthew woke up a bit sick, which is very unusual. After a morning sleep, he seemed to come around so we went ahead with the party plans. Aunt "Neny" made this great jungle themed cake for Matthew that he loved. He took all the animals off of the cake right away for Uncle Paul to juggle!
Matthew got oodles of great gifts - a train set, art supplies, backpack, tricycle, picnic table, soccer net, balls, animals, books, and a fire truck. Thank you everyone!!

Here's Matthew playing with his train set.

After presents he and Lauren shared some cake - yummy!! Next stop - Chudleigh's Farm to see the animals!

Toronto Islands

This past weekend we actually had pretty nice weather. On Sunday we decided to go into the city to cheer for Spencer in the Toronto Islands Triathlon. We had never been to the islands, so we also thought it would be a great outing. Here are Chad and Matthew on the very early morning ferry over to Hanlon's Point.

Nice shot of the city from the boat.

All the way over on the boat Matthew kept asking for "Pa", Jenny, and Spencer. He seems to know that whenever we go to a race that they will be there. Matthew had a great time playing with "Pa" and Jenny!!

Go Spencer go! Matthew said that Spencer was running fast!

Mom and Matthew having an apple juice break :-)

After the race we walked to Centre Island, which was very tiring for the pregnant one, but worth it. We played in the splash pool, had a nice lunch, and the highlight for Matthew was going to the beach! We left shortly after lunch as I had run out of energy, but we really enjoyed the morning and would recommend the Toronto Islands as a great way to spend the day. When we go back we'll be sure to visit the amusement park and the gardens!!

Where is Matthew?

Matthew really enjoyed hiding behind his hoop the other day. It is so cute when he peeks around and says "boo"!

While this is not hide and seek, it is very cute. Matthew now likes all his animals to be in bed with him at naptime...this is how we found him the other day - only his little feet are sticking out :-)

Christie Lake Conservation Area

Since I am now off on maternity leave and am able to rest and lie down whenever I need to, my back pain has improved significantly and I find myself with pockets of energy that I haven't had for weeks! I'm still pacing myself, and nap almost every day, but am loving that I am actually motivated to do nearby activities instead of wanting to sleep all day on the weekends. Anyways, that said, today we went to Christie Lake Conservation Area to take Matthew to the "beach". He was so excited and talked about the beach the entire drive.

It's a nice park with a swimming area, small "beach", boat rentals, fishing, and oodles of picnicing sites. Here's a viewing from the water. Check out the double stroller that we just bought second hand this morning - it is practically brand new. We've been patiently tring to find a used double stroller and had almost given up when we lucked into this gem!!

Matthew got right down to business with his new bucket and shovel. He loved putting sand and water in the bucket and wading around the water. After playing in the water for a while, we stopped for a picnic lunch under a big tree.

After lunch we thought we'd pack up but Matthew had other ideas. He really wanted to go back to the beach. Thinking we'd only be a few minutes, we didn't bother taking his shirt off. Just before we went to leave, he calls out "Mama - bum, hehe" and would sit in the water, then laugh and say "wet". Finally we told him it was time to leave and he said "one more". Well, here's what we got for agreeing to "one more" :-)

He was well cooled off - that's for sure!

Matthew had a great time at the beach!!

Swimming!

Finally we've had a nice few days with no thunder! So Friday and Saturday afternoons were pretty much spent in the pool, which Matthew loved. Here are the boys all ready in t heir trucks!

Matthew loves the water and gets right in :-) Then he asks Dad for "one two three..." - I'm sure you can guess what he wants.

All done :-)