Baby Brother Alden

Have I mentioned that I have a new baby brother?  That's right - my dad and his wife, Heidi, had a precious baby boy on August 29th! Introducing John Alden Sherrill - aka Alden:

And yes, because I know you're wondering, I do think it's weird. I'm 28 years older than a baby brother that I have never even met! He will be an uncle to my children.  And I have no idea what kind of relationship I will be able to have with him, being separated so greatly by age and distance.  It's weird, but on the other hand, it's really great.  He is such a cutie! And babies have a way of making hard things in life good.

Alden, your big sister loves you very much.  And I can't wait to hold you, and kiss your little face for the first time in December!

Summer Travels, Part 2

Oh, Oklahoma.  It already seems like July was years ago.  We had a wonderful two weeks spending time with family and friends.  Our only complaint was the heat: 100 plus degree temps every single day, often closer to 110 degrees.  But it gave us a good excuse to enjoy some of the things about Oklahoma that we miss the most - like Braums ice cream, sno cones, and il Dolce gelato.  And somehow we ended up eating Mexican at Ted's a lot too, haha.  We split our time between Norman, where Billy and I went to college and lived for the first 4 years of our marriage, and Marlow, where we grew up and where a lot of our family still lives.

Unfortunately, I was too lazy to pull out my real camera, so all my photos are from my iPhone and are poor quality, so I apologize.

In Norman, we took Maryn to "our" pond - a special place where Billy and I used to spend lots of quality time together.  We also got to spend time with several sweet friends - all of whom have new babies! 

At "the pond"

With "Uncle" Tristan and baby Aftyn

Maryn and Jordan

Katherine and I - preggo buddies!

My mom, who is going to PA school in Oklahoma City, lives in Norman, so we spent a lot of time at her place.  We got to spend time with my brother and sister there too, since they live nearby.

Because Maryn's birthday was during the trip, she had multiple birthday parties, cakes, and presents.  It almost got to the point where she expected the birthday song, sweet treats, and gifts every new place we went.  It was fun for the grandparents. 

I love my momma!

Maryn and "Nona"

Maryn developed a new obsession with baby dolls on the trip.  My mom (Maryn calls her Nona) got her a doll for her birthday, and Billy's grandparents had a couple of dolls at their house.  She played with them non-stop.

Feeding the baby

Me with my sister Hannah

Maryn and Aunt Hannah

My dad lives in Duncan, just a few minutes away from Marlow, and we got to spend time at his new house there.  My grandparents - Gramps and Grammy, and Grandad and Mamaw, also came down to my dad's from Tulsa to see us, which was great!

My dad ("Grandad"), Heidi ("Gran"), and Maryn

Maryn and Uncle Scott

All of Billy's family lives in Marlow.  Maryn had lots of fun running around and receiving lots of attention, and we were pampered with rest and lots of good food - in the air conditioning, of course!

Lounging on the porch with Papaw 

The usual "5 generation" pic with Grandma Deane,
Mamaw,  Nana, Billy and Maryn

Maryn with Mamaw and Papaw

We had so much fun and can't wait until we can return to Oklahoma!  Next time, we'll be traveling with two kids - yikes! Until then, we hope as much of Oklahoma as possible will come see us! :)

Fall Fun!

Fall is beautiful here in Michiana.  The colors of the trees are breathtaking, and it's impossible to get a good photo that captures the glory of the season.  It's a wonderful time of year - everything is cool and crisp.  But then the leaves start to fall, and fall, and fall some more.  Until there is a massive sea of leaves in the yard. Thankfully, our house came with a leaf blower, and the city comes by a few times with this really cool truck that sucks up the leaves you have raked to the curb into this giant vacuum thing.  We had lots of fun watching that.

Our area is known for the apples grown here.  Because of the unusually hot summer and drought, the crops weren't as plentiful this year, but the Niles Apple Festival was just as fun! A large fair ground with arts and crafts, carnival rides, face painting, food, and free fudge samples? Yes, please!

First taste of cotton candy

First carousel ride - she had a blast!

And no festival is complete without a parade - Maryn's first! Here we are waiting under the awesome shady trees where we watched the fun.

Where else can a toddler enjoy the sights of military vehicles, beauty queens, McGruff the crime fighting dog, loud firetrucks, marching drum lines, tractors, horses, and Maryn's favorite, a man dressed like a trash can?! All the while chasing after candy thrown right to you!  Maryn was in heaven.

We had a fall surprise a couple of weeks ago - my Gramps and Grammy came to visit! They were driving home from a vacation on the east coast and decided to stop by.  We enjoyed spending the evening with them and eating at our favorite Mexican restaurant!

The clinic I work for hosted a fall family festival for employees and their families.  There were all kinds of fun games, pony rides, pumpkin painting and other crafts, and of course good food. Maryn's favorite was the little puppy she got to chase after.

Another fall favorite in the Smith household is football, of course.  We love cheering on our Sooners.  It's been fun to try to pass on this tradition to Maryn - she loves yelling OU! and Boomer Sooner!  Unfortunately, our latest game against Notre Dame didn't go so well.  But it has been fun to be here at Notre Dame when they are doing so well. Gotta love college football in a college town.  And we hope that ND goes all the way!

Our season zoo pass got us free entrance to their annual Zoo Boo, which was a lot of fun.  Maryn loved getting to dress up - Minnie Mouse was her costume choice.  They had a huge area to walk through and get candy from local vendors.  Although getting candy directly from the animals would have been more fun, haha.

Trick or treat, Lion! 

Our friends the Esteps joined us.  The next two pics of Maryn and Elliott crack me up.  Classic.  I could totally make up about 20 different conversations to go along with their facial expressions.

And finally, we enjoyed Halloween evening at home.  Maryn was quite pleased to be able to dress up a second time.  And I must say she was the cutest Minnie that ever there was.  We trick-or-treated at the 6 houses surrounding ours, and then came back home to greet the other neighborhood kids.  I think Maryn thought answering the door and passing out candy was just as fun as going door to door herself.  This is the first time that Billy and I have lived in a neighborhood rather than an apartment since we have been married.  It was lots of fun to have trick-or-treaters, but we were shocked at how much candy we went through! We thought we had more than enough but those kiddos cleaned us out!  It was lots of fun!

Whew! Sorry for so many pictures! But we've had such a fun fall so far! Now if Hudson would just decide to let us have a birthday party for our fall finale!  We'll keep you updated, of course!  Happy Fall to our family and friends!

Pregnancy Update

Yep, I'm still pregnant. Yesterday was my official due date, and it was also officially my first day off work for maternity leave.  So we're just waiting...and waiting.  I've had lots of contractions off and on, but they never turn into real labor, which is always disappointing.  I went to nearly 42 weeks with Maryn, and I'm just really praying I don't have to wait so long to meet our sweet Hudson!

30 weeks

38 weeks

Maryn has had lots of fun helping us get ready for baby.  She loves seeing all the little baby clothes and gear, and to hear about how she used them when she was a baby.  Every day she asks, "Baby Hudson come see me today?" It's so sweet to hear her talk about him excitedly, and throughout the day there are always lots of hugs and kisses for my tummy.

My church friends threw a super sweet baby shower for me a couple of weeks ago.  I'll add pics from that when I get them from Erica.  She made the cute little banner that we now have hanging on our mantle, ready to welcome our son home!