Christmas Morning

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Of course, our best present came a week early, but Griffin did not disappoint. He loved opening his presents and our house is now full of more stuff than he can possibly play with and there is still more to come when Grandma and Grandpa come this week. If you ask Griffin what he got for Christmas, though, he will say "snacks". Maybe next year that is all Santa should bring...

My New Nephew Grant William

I just wanted to introduce my new nephew and the first child for my Brother Jason and his wife Traci. He was born Dec. 19th at around 7 pm. We were both set to induce on the same day but Tucker beat us to it and wanted to be first. I know these two boys are going to be good friends as they get older along with their 8 month old cousin Shelby and of course Griffin. The dog (Jax) was their first baby...I'm sure he is just loving that someone else is getting most of the attention.

Tucker Robert Smith

As promised...

Our Weekend

Well, we are now back at home and I thought it was time to update our blog and get some more pictures up. Here are a few pictures and the update first and then I will make a slide show later with more pictures.

Everything went so well and we could not feel more blessed. As Nathan said in the post below, Tucker Robert Smith was born at 1:23 on Thursday morning. We stayed in the hospital until Saturday- let's just say we were really ready to go by then. I am very grateful to all those who do the jobs of taking care of the new babies and moms, but it can get a little tiring and annoying after a while- you are just ready to go home and do it all on your own. My mom flew into town on Thursday afternoon and she took care of Griffin from then on. Griffin loves his "baby broder" and he gives LOTS of kisses...of course after a few minutes he is ready to get down and play. The hospital room was a little small for a two year old to play in (another reason we were ready to go home). We got home on Saturday afternoon and my mom cooked dinner, which was really nice. She and Griffin and Nathan went to church on Sunday morning and Nathan's parents came on Sunday afternoon. They had been in Houston with Nathan's brother and sister-in-law who were having there first child, a son Grant, born on Friday evening. Our family is so blessed! We even ventured out the half-mile to church on Sunday evening. Nathan smoked chicken for us last night and it was so yummy. We are looking forward to having family in town and Nathan home for the next two weeks before reality sets in. :)

Tucker is such a good boy. Of course, he has slept most of the time the past few days, but is starting to wake up a couple of times during the day now. He does not cry much, only when he is hungry or being changed- he doesn't like that at all! He is sleeping pretty good at night- he usually has one stretch where he goes right to sleep and sleeps 2-3 hours and the rest of the time he takes a little while to get settled after eating (Nathan gets the job of putting the pacifier back in his mouth) but then goes to sleep for an hour or two more. He is easily settled so at least one of us is able to get some sleep at all times. He does like to pee with his diaper off and has extended our nightime feeding/changing routine by about 15 minutes to change clothes, bed sheets, etc...

All-in-all we are doing great and loving our new addition to our family. Thanks for all those who came to visit and who have had us in your thoughts and prayers. We love you all and can't wait for everyone to meet Tucker.

HE IS HERE !!!

At 1:23am, Tucker Robert Smith was born. Katie and Tucker are doing great! I'm hanging in there too :) Katie began to feel something around 8:15, just as church was letting out. It is a good thing I had just called in sick about 5 minutes earlier...I guess thats what I get.

We are now starting what is sure to be a long night but I can't think of a better reason to loose sleep. Tucker is finishing up his first bath and is just loving it as you can imagine. I'm sure Katie will write much more in the next day or so...my job was just to get the word out. I do want to leave you with a few laughs that we had right before we set out for the hospital.

Just before we set out to take Griffin to the Walkers (thanks Tasha and Joseph), griffin noticed that mommy wasn't feeling very well...He is very observant like that. A couple times, as katie was leaning forward and gripping our footboard, grimacing in pain, Griffin crawled up underneith her and asked, "mommy, what are you doing with your eyes." Then, I was sharing some chocolate covered sunflower seeds with him to distract him and our sweet boy went up to his mommy with a handful and said, "here mommy, this will make your tummy feel better." We couldn't help but laugh.

What a great kid! We are so blessed to add another one to our home. We can't wait for you to meet him! We will see you all soon.

Love,
Nathan, Katie, Griffin and Tucker

Main Street Bethlehem

This past Saturday we took another Christmas trip up to Burnet, Texas to walk through an enclosed Bethlehem Village and witness what it might have been like on the night Jesus was born. If you have never been there and you live in the Austin area, I would highly recommend it. It is really amazing- I have never been to or heard of anything quite this elaborate. It is a full village complete with live animals, hundreds of people playing roles as different people who worked and lived back then, rooms with jewlery, beds, tables, pottery, breadmaking, a jail, an inn, and, of course, the stable with Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus. It is so detailed there is no way to do it justice- you just have to see it. This was our 2nd time to go- last year it was cold and rainy and we walked right in. This year...we got there and the line weaved in and out around the entire town square. We waited about 2 hours to get in and it was very crowded, but well worth it (even at 9 months pregnant, although I did have to sit a few times and rest my feet). Our pictures really do not do it justice- it is hard to get a picture of how big and realistic this event really is- and it is all free to anyone. Megan took many more pictures than we did and I am sure has some good ones of the village- I may have to get a few from her and add another post later. The picture of Griffin in a fire truck is not part of the village- it was there for the kids while we waited.

Breakfast with Santa

Brentwood does a Breakfast with Santa every year at Applebees. You buy a ticket for an All-You-Can_eat pancake breakfast and enjoy eating and visiting with friends, while Santa is there the whole time to meet and take pictures with your kids as many times as you like. It is a great family outing and Griffin really liked Santa this year, so it made it more fun.

Griffin the Shepherd

This was what Griffin made in Bible class last Wednesday. Of course, he is a shepherd (isn't it obvious:)). Thanks to Julie and Kaylee for such a cute and economic dress prop. Griffin learns SO much in his Bible class, it amazes me.

Trip to Gruene

Last weekend we went to Gruene, Texas with our friends, the Drennons. It was their Christmas town lighting and Market Days and we had heard Cowboy Kringle was stopping by. We had a great time shopping and tasting samples, eating the best sandwich in the world, watching Cowboy Kringle ride up on his horse and light the town, and just playing and visiting. It was a great trip and I am glad we were able to make it with such good friends.

Partnership Dinner

The Partnership Dinner is an annual fundraiser for Brentwood Christian School that we were fortunate enough ti be invited to again this year (thanks Vandygriffs!) It is a lot of fun to get dressed up, have a nice meal and evening out, although this year it was a little harder to find something to wear. Thanks to Megan for taking the picture and for making it a head shot :)

Getting ready for Christmas

This past weekend since we were here for Thanksgiving, we decided to go ahead and get our tree and decorate for Christmas. I figure I need to use every free moment I have now since my time to decorate, shop, etc..between Thanksgiving and Christmas could be cut short at any moment if this boy decides he's ready to join the outside world. We decorated the tree and watched the Polar Express, while drinking "hot coffee" (it is actually hot chocolate but that is what he liked to call it). We had a great time and can't wait for many more Christmas memories this year.