Total Package

I'm a little late with this post...we only have a little bit going on around here...see previous post. We had our "sneak peak" dr's appointment a little over a week ago and got to find out the sex of baby #2! Much sooner than my previous doctor let me find out (4 weeks earlier to be exact!) and as all you mommies who like to find out the sex, one of the most exciting pre-natal appointments you have. Except, of course, when you find out you're pregnant, you hear the first heartbeat, you see the baby is healthy, etc...who am I kidding?! it's all exciting!

it's a BOY...we'll now have the total package! (iPhone pic, but still you get the picture!)

What I always wanted! A girl and a boy! But really, although, I kinda hoped Ruby Belle would get to have the sister I never had, we're SO blessed to be having a healthy (so far) baby boy!!! We are a little nervous about a boy because we've gotten so used to our little girl and girlie things and pink things! Now Justin will get to do "boy things" while Ruby Belle and I have girl time, though! And we'll have a little more testosterone in the house...good for Justin, of course...the jury's still out on whether it's good for Ruby Belle, Maggie and I!

So, now that we know ... Let the naming begin!!! Of course, I started the naming LONG ago, but now we can narrow it down to boys and now Justin will participate! - he refuses until we know the sex...no fun! (not that he's been sitting around doing nothing lately. he IS off in New Orleans taking the last day of the Louisiana Bar Exam as I type and has been studying for the last 3-4 months! Prayers welcome!)

will keep you posted on names!!

RE: "Talk about a To Do List"

After reading this blog post by my sweet sister-in-law i feel like i must respond.

so here it goes:

1. I am so thankful that my brother and sister-in-law agreed to let my family and i occupy their mother-in-law suite for a couple of months. I LOVE living so close, but am always terribly afraid that we're driving them crazy...you know, the feeling you get when you have house guests...you love them, but sometimes they make you feel uncomfortable in your own home. that's how I think we make them feel sometimes. (ok, maybe i'm just this way sometimes...and with certain house guests!...but it makes sense to me). Anyway, this living arrangement has made our life a lot less complicated during this "transition process" and we're so thankful for them opening their home to us!

2. that picture of Stephanie and I is terrible of me!!! She's a blushing bride and i look like a pretty p.o'd bridesmaid! I swear, I'm NOT. I loved every minute of being her bridesmaid and it's that darn half smile that comes out sometimes (especially when squinting for pictures in the sun) that makes me look like i hate life. I DON'T and the picture just didn't capture me at my best :-).

3. I am 17 week pregnant as Steph stated...(post on the sex of the baby to come VERY soon!) and my clothing choices are getting smaller and smaller. I have a select few pairs of pants I can fit in. The maternity pants will be coming out SO soon...like today! also, i'll be posting belly pics soon...so sorry if my bare belly offends some of you! just close your eyes. you know, like your parents use to make you do!

4. Overwhelmed is an understatement! I am SO there with this to-do list!!!

On a serious note, though, I'm so blessed and happy to be back in Shreveport and close to my family!! they make all of this transition a lot easier!!!

moving day #2...

We sold our house!!! yippee!!! such a relief! well, really the relief comes Feb 25th when we actually close and the deal is done!

but for now, we have to move! ... the rest of our stuff. we only moved the necessities when we moved to Shreveport so we had to move the rest. and it was a lot. well, it seems like a lot while you're packing and moving, but when you see your life packed into a 22 ft moving van, it does seem a little sad maybe. First though, we had to get through the snow! NWA got 20-24" of snow in various sections of the area just 2 days before we headed up there. I believe the last time they got anywhere close to that much (I think it was 15-18") was back in 1968. crazy stuff!! we only got to see the remnants when we arrived on Friday and here are some pics from Saturday...melting was well underway, but still there was SO much snow!! we got stuck a couple of times, but made it out alive :)

actually the packing went very smoothly....thanks to my wonderful packer of a husband and our amazing friends who helped us get the entire house packed in less than 12 hours (excluding sleeping time!). special thanks to my friends who came over to help me with the final packing and Justin with the moving since i'm pregnant and couldn't be a whole lot of help! i can't believe we did it! exhausting!

Another on the way!

Yep, you guessed it! we're having another baby! (in case you didn't catch it in my previous post 15 weeks). We are super excited! I am 12.5 weeks along now and can no longer kinda keep a secret. Most folks know, but i haven't "officially" announced it to the world! (i know, everyone is waiting on their seats) so, officially, it's announced...i'm pregnant!!

so far, things have been fairly par for the course with the pregnancy. I thought i was further along, but went to have an ultrasound right before we left Arkansas and the doc moved my due date back 2 weeks! from July 15th to Aug 2nd! kinda of a bummer, but really, it's all ok. it's just that when you're pregnant, nauseated 24/7 and have the usual 1st trimester jitters, you get excited when you think you're almost out of the 1st trimester. so, when he told me i was 8 weeks 5 days instead of 11 weeks, i was slightly bummed. but now, i'm back (well, past) that point and will officially be out of the first trimester next week. the nausea is mostly gone, but i'm stil pretty tired a lot. either way I'm so thankful that all is still well and baby smith #2 is looking good!! next step, can't wait to find out the sex! (Feb 16th!!)

Here is one of the ultrasound pics from my new doctor here in Louisiana. I love her by the way, so thanks to all the gals who recommended her (thank goodness my brother has LOTS of friends who have babies or are with child and can give great recommendations!) Baby Smith was moving around like crazy this day! Looks like we've got another busy bee on our hands!!! Ruby Belle will be so excited (after she gets over the jealousy part!) to have a full time playmate!!

And this is how we broke the news to my parents! We weren't living here yet, so i made this silly shirt and texted it to them...now, they're getting old, so even on their fancy iPhones they had a hard time seeing the shirt, but finally caught on and were so excited!! Now they'll have 2 to spoil!!

(again, sorry for the iPhone picture quality!)

The Perks of Work

if any of you have read any of my previous posts, you may know how much i LOVED my job in Bentonville, AR. and how i was SO excited to be moving home to Shreveport, but SO, SO, SO sad to leave my job that i loved so much! it was like leaving family.

but, i was hoping to find something of the same sort (though i knew it would take years to match what i left) in my new job! I know, some of you are thinking...foodservice is foodservice...it's all kinda crappy and lunch lady-like. well, in NW Arkansas it wasn't quite like that. yes, still lunch ladies, but a different world from deep south foodservice. just drive through McDonald's in Shreveport and then in Bentonville...you're in for a treat!I knew it would take a while to get adjusted, and that going from working in a nice, newer hospital foodservice in NW Arkansas to an older nursing home (somewhat in the sketchy part of town) foodservice department in Shreveport, LA would be a drastic change.

but i had NO idea...

my new kitchen (i SO wish i had pics of my "old" kitchen in AR so you all could see the differences...my "new" kitchen in LA meets EVERY stereotype you can imagine...continue on with the pics to see!)

This is the chair I had to find and make myself for the 1st 2 days.

And the desk that was being shared by 2 people (Also, I didn't get a pic...because I quickly killed them...but I was also greeted by a spider and a roach in the first 2 minutes I was there!)

On the 3rd day, I was granted these 2 fine pieces of furniture.

My new chair!...

and my desk...yes, there is a scary looking Jesus (i love some Jesus, but this one is posted on several walls in the kitchen and throughout the nursing home...apparently a resident drew him. yes, pretty good drawing, but i can't help but think it's a bit creepy! guess I will constantly be reminded that he's always looking over me!)

and a typical lunch.

The ladies so proudly serve this to you! and actually after the first few days (which also included liver and onions for an entree one day!...who still eats that?!?) the food has been decent on most days. you have to give it to the African-American cooks who have worked there 20 years...they know how to cook soul food...it's just not always what i'm hoping to have...especially after seeing the roaches! (4 in the first week! the pest control has come since then, and i haven't seen one since...but there's always tomorrow!!)

OH, how i miss Northwest Medical Center - Bentonville foodservice! I LOVE being here in Shreveport, but me trying to improve this kitchen is, as my boss called it, like polishing a terd!

now if that doesn't inspire you, i don't know what will!!

our 2nd Christmas!!

and Ruby Belle's 1st Christmas in Shreveport!!

Since we weren't able to celebrate Christmas with my family on Christmas, we celebrated on New Year's day. the day after we moved in. it was small, sweet, and fun! I think we all had fun, but as you can see...Uncle Ty and Aunt Stephanie stole the show (and this little one's heart!) with this great present!! (and how precious is that cute little crown from Aunt Stephanie!!!)

Road warrior!!!

Yes, that's my daughter...texting while driving and carrying a baby in the front seat!!

Overall it was a great 2nd Christmas!!! and better that we were all setteled into our new place!...now to adjust to our new life!!!

Moving day

Moving day has come and gone, but now we're all setteled in, so i thought i'd catch up on blogging. SO much has happened in the last few weeks and it's been a bit crazy.

really though, i can't think of much to say. we moved. it was fun, crazy, busy, hectic, not fun, etc. like moving always is. it was pretty successful...except the grill flew out of Justin's truck on the way down, but otherwise, successful. My parents came up to help us pack and move. they were a ton of help! we (my mom and I) packed the first day while my dad played w/Ruby Belle all day, then justin, my dad, and mom all moved the stuff into the appropriate truck. We borrowed a motorcycle trailer, had my dad's truck, justin's truck and my car, loaded them all up to the top and headed south! that's pretty much how it went.

(sorry for the picture quality...iPhones only do so much!)
My little packing warrior...yes, that bow has only been worn once and here it is!

playing in the empty (and no longer child-proof) cabinets!

then we immediately unloaded all we had...which was a much quicker process especially since we had Ty and Stephanie to help unload.

and we only had so much to unload since we're staying in Ty and Stephanie's mother-in-law suite. we'll now call it the Smith's Suites.

it's actually pretty cozy! it's 2 rooms...one for us and one for Ruby Belle. our room contains the living room, bedroom, and kitchen complete with a mini fridge. then there's also a nice size bathroom. really, it's cozy...but not in a terrible way. i have only been here a week officially, but i really do enjoy it. it's SUPER easy to clean such a small space (and also easy to destroy just by walking in the door) and it's kinda nice to walk down stairs to see my brother and sister-in-law. they have already entertained twice since we've been here and i think we have the best room in the house! we can come down for the fun, and then go back up when we're done! no driving, no clean-up (yes, Stephanie, i promise one day i'll stay up long enough to help you clean up!!), no packing the kid up to go somewhere and even better, we can just put her to bed upstairs and head to the fun downstairs!! oh, and to top it off, they cook often...and we have reaped the benefits a few times!! i must say it's a pretty nice treat for folks who rarely cook!! ;) we're gonna have to take them out to dinner soon!