Who is that in the Baby Monitor?

Tonight we put Tucker in his room for the first time. Nathan was getting his bed ready and hooking up the monitors and Griffin of course was getting stuff out of Tucker's room and generally making a mess. Nathan went into our room to test out the monitor. He spoke into it and said, "griffin, it is time for bed". Griffin came running out into the living room and said, "Daddy, that man on the toy chest (that is where the monitor was sitting) told me to go to bed." Being a Big Brother can be so confusing!

Robert David Fant

I just wanted to take a minute to honor my uncle David, who died this past week. He was diagnosed this past spring with an inoperable brain tumor. David was first and foremost a devoted follower of Christ, as well as a loving father, and a caring doctor. I wish we could have had more time with him here, but I know that he is at peace now with Our Father. Today was David's birthday and funeral and our thoughts and prayers are with my family in Kentucky- my dad (David's brother) and my mema, my Aunt Suzanne, and most especially my cousins and his daughters Charlie and Jessie. Nathan and I wish so much that we could be there to grieve with them and to honor David's life, but our current circumstances made that impossible. We are reminded at times like this of how short life is and how important it is to cherish our time with our family and friends. As we have been blessed with new life, I know that Charlie and Jessie have experienced a loss I cannot even comprehend. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away...blessed be the name of the Lord.

Christmas, part 2

Well, it is Friday, January 2nd, and now I can officially say that our Christmas is over. My Dad came down last weekend bringing presents from all of our family, including a basketball goal from them and a keyboard with microphone from my brother. He LOVES the microphone- whether he is clothed or not! They left on Monday and Nathan's parents came this past Tuesday and left this morning. As you can see from the pictures, Griffin's Christmas gifts just kept coming. I thought that we were keeping things simple this year and doing good by only getting Griffin one big gift from "Santa" and some stocking stuffers. Now I know that I could have skipped the gift all together and he would not have known the difference. He got so many games, books, candy, toys, etc... from both sides of the family...he is so spoiled but also so lucky. His favorite gift this go around- and mine as well- was his scooter. He looks so cute riding around with his helmet and pads and he is really pretty good. I just love it! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family that does spoil us every now and then.

Along with the end of "Christmas" comes the beginning of our "new normal" life as a family of 4. It will really hit home on Monday when Nathan goes back to work. Our little Tucker is doing so well. He had his 2 week check today and has already gained over a pound in a week and a half and has surpassed his birth weight by 11 ounces. So far he is very good-natured and easy going, hardly ever crying unless you take all his clothes off- the boy does not like to be naked (unlike his brother as you can see)! He is still keeping us up some at night. Good news...he has started stretching his first "nighttime sleep" to around 4-5 hours...only problem is getting that to start around 8 or 9 rather than 6. No matter how tired I am, I just can't go to bed at 6! The rest of the night he wakes up about every 2 1/2 to 3 hours and goes back to sleep MOST of the time. Around 3 or 4 he sometimes thinks it is time to get up and be awake for a while, so that is keeping us up some, but he still doesn't cry- just doesn't go to sleep. Now that everyone is gone, I think we will try to put him in his own bed and see if we can get into some sort of a routine that will help us both get some sleep. All-in-all we are doing great and we are as ready as we can be for the challenges ahead.

We hope that all who are reading this had a wonderful Christmas and a great holiday. Because of our busy season, we did not send out Christmas cards but plan to send a January letter and a birth announcement in the coming weeks

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.