Terry Fox Run

This year we did the Terry Fox Run in Milton again. Nana, Grammie, Paul and Lauren came with us too. The rain managed to hold off until later in the day and we had a great time!

Brotherly Love

Matthew really loves Anna - aka baby sissy. Today he got to hold her for the first time and was very proud :-)

Rockwood Conservation Area

For Matthew's birthday Mary sent him this very cool backpack. Chad was especially impressed! Today we used it to pack up Matthew's beach bag for Rockwood Conservation Area - way cooler than a diaper bag. Matthew is definitely a hiker in the making! Princess Anna stayed home with Nana and had a great afternoon too :-)
Matthew loves waterfalls - he asks everyday to go to the beach or to see a waterfall. Well, today we went to a park that had both! Rockwood is about a half hour away and is just a lovely park. As soon as Matthew saw the pack come out of the trunk he was beaming :-) He had a great day - a waterfall, the beach, playing ball...and he also saw ducks at the park, neigh neighs on the drive, and the squirrel and the rabbit once we got home. Life doesn't get much better for "Mamoo".

Mom and Matthew at the top of the dam.

Just past the waterfall was a short trail that lead to some caves.

These are the ruins of an old mill that burned down in 1967.

Come on Dad - I'm ready for the beach!

Matthew and Chad played ball in the water for a long time! Matthew had such a great time.

Waving hi to Mom - what a sweetie!!

Family Time!

Some random family pictures from the past few days...Riley and Matthew are still good buddies :-)

There's always room for one more in the pack as far as Riley is concerned!

The kids have been snuggling with Nana

Matthew and Anna with Neny and Paul.

Matthew loves to give Anna kisses...so far he has been very gentle. Here he is leaning in...

...and the plant! He loves to especially kiss her on the nose :-)

First Couple of Days Home

The past couple of days have gone pretty smoothly. Matthew has loved checking in on Anna and has been doing lots of wrestling with Dad and playing outside with Nana to keep busy. Anna is an angel who really only eats and sleeps, with a few very alert, but quiet awake times throughout the day. She loves to look at you when she's awake. Riley is thrilled to have a new baby around and has been on high alert - in protector mode once again.

Here is Matthew having "roni and cheese" while talking to Grampie Barker :-) He had just come in from playing ball outside with Nana, so he's a bit disheveled looking with his big mop!

Princess Anna asleep in her crib - she sleeps like a rock!

Looking pretty in purple and saying hi

Even though her arms and legs are quite skinny (that's a no win situation genes wise for her), she has nice plump cheeks!

Everyone is getting a drink with Dad on the couch!

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??