The Smole Family

Back to school!

2011-09-07T10:28:00.000-04:00

Samantha on her first day of Kindergarten!

The whole crew getting ready for the walk to school!

The time has come for our oldest to head off to school! Shocking, but it was only 6 years ago when I started this blog and Sam was just starting to kick in my belly. Although my posts have slowed down to a snails pace, I am still "thinking" about all the posts I should do and how nice it would be to update everyone more. It is the thought that counts...right?!

Run, Run, Run!

Anyway, last Tuesday brought Samantha's first day of school. She was excited, but nervous, and she did a great job getting ready in the morning. We all walked to school together and the weather was beautiful. Sam and Sean mainly ran the whole way there, they were both so excited.

When we got to school they had a chance to play on the playground and then it was time to head on in. Sam had a moment of not wanting to go....a few tears and legs wrapped around mine, but after she was pealed off me by the teacher, all was well!:)

I was concerned I would get a call from the school a bit later in the morning, but she ended up having a great day. She was all smiles when I picked her up that afternoon. She is really tired when she gets home (full day is really long! 9:10-3:55pm) and wants some "quiet time" in her room, which is a bummer for Sean who has been waiting all day for her to get home.

Sean and his new Fireman Umbrella...Thanks Bubby!

While Sam has been at school, Sean has had more "Mommy" time with me and Sydney. We have mainly been keeping to our regular routine....Gym while I teach, the library and errands. This Thursday marks Sean's first day (orientation) of Preschool. He will go to the same school that Sam went to and he is very excited. He will soon be starting Swim lessons again and we are looking into a sports program for him as well. Sean still likes to wear lots of jewerly and is more than willing to play Barbies if it means his sister will play with him. He is a sweet boy who just never stops talking......never stops.

Chillin with my cousin!

Syd and Vincent

Sydney has been doing great as well. She is crawling all over the place, but still is not walking. She is going to take her time, I think she likes being carried everywhere! She is all smiles and really funny. She makes the best faces and likes to play peek-a-boo and chase her sister around the dining room. Sydney just wants to be with her brother and sister as well as her cousin Vincent.

Big news with my cousin....Lori is engaged! Lori and her great boyfriend, Nick, are getting married in July! We are so excited for them and can't wait to party it up with them next summer. I am also looking forward to a girls weekend away!

I am center with the pink tank and black shorts!

Overall, life has been good. Kevin is doing great at his new office in Annapolis and I am still enjoying the Pilates classes I teach as well as take. I had a great experience at a fitness convention in Virginia last month and found myself in many new and interesting positions:)

Keep us updated on all the exciting things going on with all of you! We love to hear from everyone, remember we love visitors.....our door is always open.

Happy Birthday Sydney!

2011-08-14T17:04:00.004-04:00

Our baby girl is 1! Shocking how time has flown this last year. To think, a year ago we were wondering if we were going to have a boy or a girl and now we are blessed with this amazing little lady who is just makes our life even better every day. She had a wonderful Birthday, celebrating with her Bubby, Nana, Grandpa, Aunt Liz, Cousin Vincent, Sam, Sean, Uncle Brian, Aunt Di, Uncle Keith and cousins Blake and Courtney. We had a great dinner, even better wine, and a cake that made everyone go back for seconds....some even sneaking a piece when no one thought anyone was looking!:)

Sydney is now starting to almost walk, she yells "MOM" whenever she wants me and is starting to stand on her own. She had a great time with her cake, even going face first into it to get a good taste.

February brought a case of RSV, Croup, Conjunctivitis and Double Ear Infections for Sydney. We had the pleasure of spending 3 nights and 4 days in the Howard County Hospital getting her better. It was a rocky road but she made it through. She is such a happy girl, that the doctor told us she could not go home until she smiled and it took her 4 days to do so. We have been dealing with a number of ear infections since then, but they are clearing up quickly.

Click below for a link to Sydney's Birthday Cake! Check out the 1:20 second mark:)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7lgUAMidTI

Christmas, Birthdays and More!

2011-01-23T07:26:00.008-05:00

Ok, ok, ok....it has been way too long since our last post. Just because I have not gotten around to this since Halloween doesn't mean I have not been thinking about it:) So, when we last posted we had celebrated a wonderful Halloween with all of the kids and our neighbors. Since then, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Bubbies Birthday, Sean's Birthday, Glasses, Surgeries and more have happened.

We were so happy to have my cousin Lori and her boyfriend Nick come visit us this fall. They came for 3 days and we had a great time picking pumpkins with the kids and exploring Annapolis. We took them to "Chick-N-Ruths" in downtown Annapolis for lunch and they were treated to a loud speaker welcome from the owner. He announced that there was a beautiful girl in the restaurant and she wasn't wearing a ring, so any single guys should go and get her number:) Of course, Lori turned bright red and Nick, Kevin and I were falling off our chairs laughing so hard. We ended our visit with Lori, Nick and I going to the Raven's Football game. Thanks to Nicks cousin we had awsome seats and we had a great time having a few beers and watching the game. It was like we were in college again, except we were much more controlled:)

We all had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Ohio this year. Turkey, family, and cards (yes, the girls whomped the boys again) made for a great family get together. A few short weeks after Thanksgiving we were back in Ohio (with just Sydney) for my Grandmother's 90th Birthday celebration. It was awsome! We had a delicious lunch at Jefferson Country Club with an OSU theme. Bubby loves the buckeyes and her friends do to, so we had to go with an OSU theme. The lunch was so special with all of Bubbies friends and family gathered together. The icing on the cake was the arrival of the OSU alumni marching band! We surprised her with the actual 16 piece marching band to play "Happy Birthday" for her. She was so surprised, check out the video I have tried to link to this posting.

Christmas followed and the kids, of course, had a great time. Our annual Christmas Eve dinner at our house just gets better every year. We always have so much fun. Dinner was delicious and the kids had a great time opening gifts after we ate. Christmas morning was a blast, with the kids and Sydney covered in wrapping paper. It was the year of the Barbie Doll and Fire Engines:)

A few days after Christmas, I went back to the hospital for my hernia operation. This was a long time coming....being pregnant with Sam started it and Sydney finished me off:) Kevin was "Mr. Mom" for a few days, taking care of all the kids and bringing me all my meals in bed. I have to be honest, I thought about staying in bed for a few days longer, just for the special treatment, but I just couldn't stay put once I got my strength back. I am now recovered and I look forward to getting back to the gym this week!

Sean and Sam have both started swim lessons this January. They are in a class where just the two of them and an instructor work together. They are thriving in it. Sam is now progressing to level 4, she mastered her front and back float at the last class. And Sean is working on level 2, but he has mastered putting the back of his head in the water when he floats on his back. Both the kids will start a Preschool art class this week and they are really looking forward to it.

Sean took another trip to see Dr. Gary Rogers in Columbus a couple of weeks ago to double check his vision. We had 3 Docs look at him and all said different things, so we went back to the expert and had his eyes checked again. Well, our little boy is getting glasses:( He looks really cute in them, we ordered them last week. He will get them this week and I just hope he doesn't fight too much about wearing them. We are calling them "Papa Glasses" because my Dad wears glasses and was with him for his appointment, I just hope that works. His Uncle Brian will help out as well, showing him that glasses are "cool". Update: Sean got the glasses and he loves them! He always wears them....no reminding, he just puts them on!

Sydney is doing great. At her 4 month check-up she came in at 18 Pounds. She is over 20 now and certainly testing out my Hernia:) She is rolling over, front to back, and is almost sitting up. She eats solids (veggies and fruit) and we have not found a single food she doesn't like yet. She is following in her sibling footsteps and growing like a weed. It is amazing to see how much she looks like Sam. She is a really happy baby and will only cry when something is really wrong. We are back-in-forth with her about sleeping through the night. Somedays she will go a whole week sleeping through and other she is up every night. There is no rhyme or reason to it right now. Update: Sydney is now sitting up and she rolls back to front:)

January brought another addition to our family, Vincent Rudy Sandridge was born on the 11th. Kevin's sister Elizabeth is doing great and the baby is adorable. We had a chance to visit last weekend when we were home for a few days. Liz is doing great and she has become an amazing mother!

January 14th marked the official day of Sean turning 3 and my Bubby turning 90. They had a joint birthday party at my parents house with the cake sporting a dump truck full of flowers. How else were we going to get the truck for Sean and flowers for Bubby?! We followed up Sean's Ohio Birthday with a Birthday party at our house in MD last night. Kevin's Dad and Brother as well as close family friends came over for Sean's favorite food...pizza! We all had a great time and Sean is now up to his eyeballs in trucks!

Overall, life has been crazy, in a good way. We are enjoying everyday, every visit from friends and family, and all the chaos 3 kids bring us. We are looking forward to more visits from our friends and family this new year....come visit! Our door is always open.

xoxo, Barbi and Family

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-02T10:43:00.004-04:00

Happy Halloween Everyone!
We had a great Halloween, with Sam as Belle and Sean as a Fireman. Sydney sported the Baby Buckeye costume that I made for Samantha when she was just a few months old. Kevin broke out the sumo wrestler costume, but the battery pack decided that it was done. When Kevins big tush (on the inflatable costume, not really kevin's tush:)) started to smoke we had to take the costume off and discovered that the battery pack was melting! We got a good 4-5 years out of the costume, so it was worth it! The kids had fun at the annual halloween party, hosted by our neighbors down the street. Lots of kids, pizza and fun was had by all. They really got into the trick or treat spirit, Sam was still a bit shy, but Sean was more than willing to go up to the doors and say Trick-or-Treat and Thank You. Very cute. We think they had more fun handing out candy on our front porch with Kevin and their Uncle Brian than they did walking around. Sean now carries his bag of candy around the house waiting for lunch when he can pick one out. I did find him yesterday with a mouth full of chocolate at 9am, temptation was too great! Sam, Sean and Kevin spent this last weekend raking leaves, sliding into them and perfecting their "fort" in the backyard. We also had a chance to carve a pumpkin (Sam requested eyelashes and hair on hers) and roast the seeds.

Sam is doing great in school and Sean is loving going to the daycare at the Gym. Good thing, because I really love going to do Pilates and try to get some strength back! Sydney is growing like a weed....14pound 7 ounces at her 11 week check-up (she is 3 months old today!). She is continueing the tradition of big Smole babies, but she is still the smallest out of all of them. She has been sleeping through the night for about 2 weeks now:)!!!!! Thank goodness. She is a great sleeper, just like Sam. Sean on the other hand......

We hope all is well with all of you and that we hear from you soon. I will link up some more pictures through Snapfish in a bit!

xoxo, Barbi

Sept. 2010 Storm at the Beach, by Barbara Smole

2010-10-04T20:53:00.001-04:00

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Pav's visit, Smole Kids sept., by Barbara Smole

2010-09-23T12:43:00.001-04:00

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

Sept. Update

2010-09-23T12:40:00.002-04:00

Sydney is 6 weeks old today! Time flies...although we aren't really thinking that at 4am:) Everything is going really well here. Sam and Sean are still adjusting to life with a baby in the house. They are constantly "testing" me and Kevin to see how far they can push things, but for the most part they are doing really well. They are great with Sydney and really do love her and want to take care of her. They are gentle and think her noises and smiles are really funny.

We recently had a great visit from our friends the Pavlovcaks and their time with the kids and meeting Sydney went great. It was just wonderful having them around for a weekend. We always miss them.

Sydney and I just took a quick trip to Ohio to surprise my Grandmother. She had no idea we were coming in town and after the shock and tears wore off she was able to spend the afternoon holding her. Sydney had plenty of smiles ready for her, which made her day:) Sydney's first plane ride went great. She slept the whole way in her sling and didn't wake up until we arrived at my Grandmother's house. Perfect.

We are enjoying the end of summer and the start of fall. Trips to the beach, school and playgrounds as well as planned trips to the apple farm are keeping us all busy. Enjoy these pictures as well as the snapfish pictures I have linked up to the blog.

xoxo, Barbi

Sydney Grace Smole 8.14.10, by Barbara Smole

2010-08-14T16:18:00.001-04:00

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

2010-08-13T10:24:00.004-04:00

Sydney Grace Smole

has arrived!

August 12, 2010

7 pounds 13 ounces

21 inches

1:21pm

Mom and baby are doing great and everyone is happy! xoxo, The Smole Family, Barbi, Kevin, Samantha, Sean and Sydney

Summer Days....

2010-08-02T13:20:00.013-04:00

As the first of August has arrived I realized that there have not been many updates from our end. Baby #3 is set to arrive soon so I wanted to get a last update posted before life get any crazier:)

Sean and my Dad loved all the rides at the zoo during our wonderful 2 week visit earlier in the summer.

The 4th of July was perfect! Parade by our house in the morning and then the afternoon at the beach house. The kids had a great time and sean loved all the fire trucks, police officers and of course CANDY. There has never been so much candy in our house before!

Sam has found many new positions and clothing (or lack of clothing) to sleep in this summer:)

This summer has been wonderful. I can honestly say that Kevin, the kids and I have been having a great time together. Sam and Sean are at such a fun and "easier" age and that has made for a summer full of fun "family fun days" as Kevin likes to call them. Trips on the boat, a few to the beach and lots of pool time has kept us all busy.

June was a celebration around here....Sam turned 4! We celebrated with a princess themed birthday party in our back yard. Sam was joined by her girlfriends from school, cousins Ryan, Ben, Kylie and Maddie, as well as our neighborhood friends. The kids all suited up and spent the afternoon playing in the pools, slip-n-sliding, and making necklaces. Princess cupcakes and Barbie goodie bag rounded out a great day for her. My parents as well as my sister Kari and her family all made the trip in and the full house, as well as the extra help for the party, made the weekend wonderful.

Throughout the summer we have spent many mornings and evenings at our local pool. The kids are really comfortable in the water and Sam is progressing with her swimming skills really fast. She floats, "doggie paddles" and loves jumping in all by herself. They are both "water dogs"and love going to the pool as much as possible.

Our family spent the first part of June on a trip to Ocean City. This was the second time we went to the Hilton (the last time was when Sean was 6 months old) and again we had a great time. We split our time between the beach and the pools and as you can imagine the kids were very happy to be there. Sam and Sean spent much of their time going down the slides, Sam by herself (of course) and Sean insisting on Daddy going with him most of the time. I was left out of that responsibility due to the enormous size of my belly. When you have no lap left, there really isn't a place to put a kid:) The 4 days we spent in Ocean City were also a bit of a celebration. Kevin celebrated his birthday the night we arrived and the morning we left we celebrated my birthday (with breakfast in bed:)).

So, here we are in August and we are trying to get the house and kids ready for our newest arrival, due to make an appearance on the 12th. Cleaning, moving furniture, setting up bouncy seats and swings are all a part of our days now. We are looking forward to this weekend, with the kids spending the day and night with Kevin's parents while Kevin and I have a night out in Baltimore. We will be attending the wedding of one of our good friends daughter and are really looking forward to a great dinner and dancing.

We plan on keeping everyone updated on the baby as the days go on, including the big announcement on whether or not we have a girl or boy on our hand:) Take care, enjoy the rest of your summers and we would love to see you all when the baby arrives.

All Our Love,

Barbi, Kevin, Sam and Sean

Spring 2010

2010-05-08T07:39:00.009-04:00

The last few months have been busy, busy, busy! We started off January with a bang. Sean turned 2 on the 14th and we celebrated with a small party with some friends and family at our house. A truck filled party is what made him smile, with trucks filled with food and of course his favorite food....pizza! According to Sean he "LOVES PIZZA!" We all had a great time and still can't believe he is 2. Sean continues to amaze us everyday with his development. He is talking up a storm, full conversations, but what he likes to do the most is tease us, especially his dad. He is really funny, sometimes saying things over and over again just to make us all laugh. Sam thinks he is the funniest thing she has ever seen. I love watching her laugh at him while he clowns around. Sean just recently had his first eye exam and he now sports an eye patch, we call it the "pirate patch", in the mornings to strengthen his right eye. He seems to be farsighted in both eyes, but the right eye is much worse then the other. He will have a follow-up appointment with our good friend and old neighbor, Dr. Rodgers, in Ohio when we visit later this summer. That appointment will most likely result in glasses and longer patch wearing, but we are hoping for the best.

Samantha started off January with Ballet lessons and loved every minute of it. She dances around the house in her red glitter tutu and princess dresses and calls herself the ballerina princess. She really is all girl. Glitter, heals, anything from my closet, crowns, you name it she has it on. She has started to come down in the mornings fully dressed in a princess dress, jewelry and heels...she knows how to make an entrance. Sam continues to go to school, only a week left, and she is thriving there. (the picture above is Sam and her teachers at her school) She has mastered her letters and numbers and is now starting to read the early reader books. Between the memorization and word recognition she is doing really well. She is also starting to write different words, simple like "love, Mom, Dad, From, To, Stop, etc." and everyday she seems to add to that list. February brought along the realization that Sam needed to see a hand surgeon for her bent thumb that has been bent since birth (and helped along with a fall off a bar stool). After a trip to Johns Hopkins her surgery was set for March 10th. She had her "trigger finger" fixed as well as a torn tendon that separated from the bone when she fell off the stool. The surgery was about 1 and a half hours and she did really great. When she woke up she was in a full arm cast, but her thumb was straight. Since the surgery she has had a red cast, purple cast and custom splint. As of last week we had her final appointment and her doctor was very pleased with her recovery. She is out of the splint and we are just taking it easy, but she looks great, her range of motion is great and the scars are minimal.

Kevin and I have been busy around our new house. Gardening, cleaning, organizing and soon painting is keeping our hands full. We will soon start painting the first floor....I mean, Kevin will soon be painting:) Baby number 3 is doing really well. We had a bit of a scare 8 weeks ago with the babies brain development, but 2 weeks ago we got the good news that things are looking great and the baby is healthy and happy. Now that we have the good news we are planning our summer and looking forward to all the exciting things going on...trips to Ohio, Sam's 4th birthday, our birthdays, and of course the babies arrival in August. Lucky for our family there will be 2 more babies born on Kevin's side of the family, Kimberly, his cousin, is due 2 weeks after us and Eileen, his other cousin, is due shortly after Kimberly. It will be great for the 3 kids to grow up so close in age!

That is just a glimpse into our lives over the last few months, but many other things have been happening. Visits from friends, Easter egg hunts, trips to the beach, boat rides, trips to Florida to visit Kevin's Grandfather and more. Life continues to be a rollor coaster and thankfully we are enjoying the ride! Take care, stay in touch and we look forward to hearing from all of you soon.

xoxo, The Smoles

Spring Awakening!

2010-05-07T20:05:00.003-04:00

Our baby is doing great! After 6 weeks of being worried about the brain development (long story), we got word today that the baby has developed perfectly and we were given a clean bill of health. We were treated to a number of pictures including this 3D version. We think the baby looks like Sean, so maybe another boy is on the way. Only time will tell.

Thank you to all our friends and family who offered their support to us over the last 6 weeks. This journey of worry and waiting would have been 10 times as worse if we didn't have all of you in our lives. We truely thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

I promise, that now that this ordeal is over I will get back to blogging and give you another update soon. I plan on starting it tomorrow:) More pictures and stories to follow....

xoxo,

Barbi, Kevin, Sam and Sean

Baby Smole Picture

2010-01-15T16:50:00.004-05:00

There is only 1 baby Smole growing this time around! NO TWINS! Everything looks great, strong heart beat, great measurements. We are exactly 9 weeks along. The last and final chance for twins from the Sorensen girls and none of us could make it happen.....whewwww! Sending you our love and excitement! xoxo, The Smoles

News News News!

2010-01-11T14:12:00.007-05:00

When last I posted it was Halloween and we had only been in the house for one week. Well, we are now unpacked and we made it through the holidays just fine...we are a bit tired though. The last couple of months have been busy, but great with Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and New Years all happening at once (at least it seemed to all happen at once!).

The holidays were all wonderful. We went to Kevin's Aunt Di's house for Thanksgiving and the spread was perfect. Plenty of food and lots of fun. We took a trip to Ohio for Haunkkah for a long weekend and got our fill of Latkas and Applesauce. Yummmmm. While there we had the pleasure of telling our family (in person this time) that Baby Smole #3 is on its way! Kevin and I are now 8 weeks pregnant and expecting in August. We are really excited that there will be the third and FINAL Smole baby joining us and we are happy that our timing allows this child to have his/hers own room in the new house. We left the last bedroom empty for a nusery and now we will have to start filling it up! I am feeling good, although really tired, and we look forward to our first sonogram this Friday morning. Sam keeps asking when the baby will come out and seems to be really excited about it, she wants a sister.....go figure.

After Hanukkah we had a great time hosting Christmas Eve dinner with Kevin's family and having the kids open presents in the morning. It really was a lot of fun. New Years was spent with a visit from our good friends the Pavlovcaks. I would lie and tell you that we rang in the new year with Champagne toasts at midnight, but Karen was asleep on the couch by 9 and I was in bed by 9:30. Not exactly the celebration we were hoping for, but we were with good friends so that was all that mattered.

January has continued to be really busy for us with at trip to PA for Kate Pavlocaks 5th Birthday party and our annual Cousins after Christmas Christmas party. Both were a lot of fun and we all had a great time. This week we celebrate Sean's 2nd Birthday on Thursday! Our baby boy is going to be 2!!! I just can't believe it.

Sam has continued to go to school and she LOVES every minute of it. She plays dress-up everyday and you can usually find her in her Tinker Bell Costume or now with my Mom's bridal veil on. She is very funny. Sam also continues to take Ballet lessions and she is turning into quite the dancer.

Sean is as talkative as ever. He will have conversations with you about anything and loves to tell a joke or tease his father. Sean started his swim lessons last week and jumped right in without any problems. He still hates floating on his back, but that will come with time.

Our winter this year has been filled with a ton of snow. The weekend of our open house we ended up with just over 6 inches of great packing snow. The kids had a great time sledding and making snow men. The 2 weeks before Christmas came our worst snow of the season with just over 18 inches. Not good packing snow and when we went to play in it we all got stuck!

Overall, life is good! The house has been a wonderful blessing for our family and we look forward to many more years here. The kids are doing great and Kevins job continues to keep him busy and happy. Pilates continues to be great for me and is keeping me in shape through this pregnancy. We will keep you all updated on Baby #3 as the months go by. We look forward to visits from all of you, we now have the room to have you stay!!!

xoxo,

Barbi, Kevin, Sam, Sean and #3!

Happy Halloween!

2009-11-02T14:40:00.002-05:00

A few pictures of our tricks and treats! We were able to attend a party down the street with all the neighborhood kids. We all had a great time and our Giraffe and Sean Monster loved every minute of it.

A New House for Our Family

2009-10-30T05:53:00.009-04:00

We did it! We have moved into our new home! We are the proud owners of a beautiful new home that boasts a cotton candy pink room for Sam and a Kermit the frog green playroom for both the kids. It was official a week ago today, we signed on the dotted line and started moving in. Kevin and I spent the weekend painting and cleaning getting everything ready for the big move on Monday. Thanks to help from Keith and Zack, we were able to get all the painting done and most of the main cleaning taken care of. The kids are so happy to be settled and so am I . I actually have room for all our beautiful things from our wedding! Crazy, but a lot of it has been in our old basement waiting for the day when I had some decent storage in our kitchen.

When Sam saw her playroom for the first time it was like Christmas, Hanukkah and her Birthday all rolled into one. She was so excited to see all her toys (many that had been packed up since June) that she kept thanking us for her new house. Sean just ran around and screamed...sounds about right for him.

The last 3 weeks flew by, thanks to being able to stay at Kevin's parents house. The kids had a great time playing with their grandparents every night and spending time with Grandpa jumping in leaves. Sean was obsessed with Bart and his lawn mower and Sam was always happy to read for hours and then fall asleep with books all around her:) There were many nights when I found her covered in books, but only one when the camera was close by.

Our family has been busy the last few weeks....our annual apple picking trip (this year we were joined by our good friends the Christys), a long awaited visit to our friends the LaCrosses, and Halloween events at Sam's new school.

Apple picking this year was great. Uncle Brian joined us again as well as Sue, Mike and Nicole Christy. We took a hayride, picked a ton of apples and of course made sure to get some pictures of the kids in their costumes. Sam was a giraffe this year and Sean a "Sean Monster". Whenever Sean chases Sam we scream, "Oh No.....the Sean Monster is going to get you!". It was fitting that he be a monster this year. Sean discovered that when you fall in a mud puddle it can be really funny and a pain to clean up. Overall, we had a great time and can't wait for next year.

Sam and Kevin went on their first ever Daddy/Daughter Date Night. I made reservations for them and off they went. When the walked in Chick-Fil-A they walked down a red carpet and were greeted by a "host". They were taken to a special table and Sam was given a long stem pink rose and a box of hersey kisses. They ordered off their "menu" and were served their dinner on plates and even got dessert. They also had their picture taken and of course played on the playground. When they left Sam was given a tote bag filled with toys, candy and the picture of her and Kevin at their table. It was wonderful! They both had a great time and loved every minute of it.

Sam started school this fall and LOVES it. She goes twice a week, but she would love to be there all week long. Yesterday was her Storybook Halloween Parade. She was Goldilocks and the Three Bears. She was greeted by Sean as soon as she came out of school and he immediately took her "3 Bears" from her costume. After the parade, she got to decorate a spider cupcake, but Sean ate most of hers:) Tonight we are going to a community trick-or-treat party and Saturday night we will visit our neighbors homes for the real trick-or-treating.

We love our neighborhood. Many of the neighbors have stopped by to welcome us and offer babysitting services! We are surrounded by girls and boys who are all babysitting age. It is perfect! One of the best things about our new home is how close it is to my Pilates class. I am officially teaching a pilates class on Tuesday nights at the River Hill Community Center. The response has been great and I will continue it in the new year. I will also be teaching at Synergy Pilates and Yoga studio starting in November.

So, there you have it! The Smole Family update, I left out a bunch of stuff (oh, like our trip to PA to see the Pavlovcak Family) but I don't know which way is up right now, let alone what we did 5 weeks ago! We hope you all have a chance to visit us in our new home and we also wish you a Happy Halloween, Thanksgiving and more!

All Our Love,

The Smole Family

At Last......

2009-08-10T13:39:00.011-04:00

Hello to all our Friends and Family!

This has been a long time in the making, but I am finally getting around to taking the time to update this crazy blog of ours. It has been about 7 months since I last made a post and so much has happened with us. Here we gooooooooooooooooo......

We last left you with Sean's 1st Birthday party. Well, the little stinker is now 19 months old and doing great. He has grown to 27.4 pounds and he is still in the 120% for height. Sam is now 3 years old and the funniest thing to be around.

Over the winter months we were dealing with both kids getting really sick, especially Sean, so we didn't get to do too many things. Samantha continued with her swimming lessons. She is now in Level 2 group class, so she is on her own with the instructor. We have taken a break from the lessons for the summer, but she will start back up in the Fall. We were able to take a few trips back to Ohio over the last year and of course, they were all wonderful. All our nieces and nephews are growing up great and Sam just loves to play with Ryan and Connor. Maddie is beautiful and I think Sean is just starting to figure out Ben. Our next visit will be even better for the kids, seeing how much Sean has developed in the last month.

The month of April brought many exciting things for our family. I was able to take a trip with my Mom and Sisters to Las Vegas. We celebrated my Mom's birthday in style with an all girls vacation to Sin City. We had a great time and decided to continue the tradition, hopefully every year. April also marked the start of my new career as a Pilates Instructor. I rediscovered Pilates when Sean was about 3 months old and loved it. After a year, I decided to go for it and take the course to become a certified Pilates Instructor. Well.........5 months later, over 100 hours of practice/teaching/observations.........I did it! This last weekend I tested out and I am 99.9% sure I passed with flying colors. I will get the official word from Peak Pilates in a few weeks, but I am feeling really good about it. Throughout the course I started teaching a Pilates Mat class in Olney, MD and that has been going great. 4 women (all family:)) signed up and you should see them after their first 10 weeks! I am so proud of the changes you can see in their bodies and how great they are doing. We start our next 10 week session Sept. 1 and still have room for 2 more to join. If anyone is interested let me know! So, pilates is now a major part of my life, but family still comes first. I plan on continuing to teach in Olney as well as add a class in our new home (if only we find a new house).

Speaking of, Kevin and I sold our house 2 weeks ago! We are still working out all the contract "stuff", but it looks ok so far. The buyers aren't being easy to deal with, but that seems to be what you get with first time home buyers these days. They actually asked for $2,000 for "fresh interior paint". I think they assume they are moving into an apartment where the landlord has everything cleaned up and painted before they arrive. As you can imagine, asking for $ for paint is not legal, so that was easy to get off the contract. The plan is to close on October 2nd, if all goes well, we hope to have a new house by then. If not, we will be moving the whole gang into Kevin's parents house (we heard they like long term tenants:). I know the kids would love every minute of living there, but we do hope that we only need to move once and we find something soon. Nothing new has come on the market that we really like, so we are just waiting for now.

May continued with more Pilates training, another trip to Ohio for Connor's birthday party and a trip to Texas for our friend Eric's wedding. June was an exciting month with Sam turning 3! She had a wonderful "fireman" birthday with some of her friends as well as the local fire department. We were lucky enough to have a ton of friends and family come into town to help us celebrate. My parents, my Aunt Karen and Uncle Skip from Chicago, Jori, Rory and Babies, and the Pavlovcaks from PA. We had a full house, but it was wonderful. Sam had so much fun and she still talks about her Birthday, she actually asks for another party every couple of weeks.

July 4th came around quickly this year and we celebrated in style at the Bergmann Family Reunion at the beach house. Only 400 of our closest family members attended! It was amazing to see such a wonderful family all come together and celebrate the 4th and the Bergmannville Beach property. Sam, Sean and I finally made "the book". We are now on the family tree!

The week of Kevin and my birthday was spent partially in Ohio and then we left the kids and ran as fast as we could to the airport! The Atlantis, Bahamas was our destination and we had a great time. Fun in the sun for 4 days without the kids! Awesome!!!!!! My parents picked up the slack for us and had their hands full with them, but they did great and I just know they are looking forward to the next long term babysitting "gig":)

That brings us to August! I tested out last weekend and hope to hear the final results soon. Kevin is still doing great at work, even with the financial crisis that has hit our economy. The kids are growing like weeds and they are too funny. Sean is now saying about 45 words and small sentences like "I do!" "Let's Go!" "thanks Mom". The kids have just started to realize that they have a playmate in each other and that has been nice watching. Samantha is a riot. She says things to make you laugh and loves to "tease". She is going off to Preschool in the Fall and she thinks that is the coolest thing ever. She will continue with her ballet class in the Fall as well. She started with a new teacher and it is going wonderful.

I think I have covered a lot of the summer, but I know I missed a lot as well. We will be going back to Ohio in September for my cousin Michelle's wedding and the OSU/NAVY game. Does anyone have access to tickets? We are looking for some! Let us know! We hope you are all doing great and we can't wait to catch up with all of you soon. We will keep you updated on where we are living come October......lets hope all goes will with the sale of our house.

Love,
Barbi and Family

Happy Birthday!

2009-01-19T18:37:00.008-05:00

Happy Birthday to Sean! Our big boy has turned 1 in style! He had a wonderful birthday surrounded by great friends and family. His actual birthday was quiet, with just Kevin, Sam, Sean and I singing and eating cupcakes that Sam and I made. He loved his cupcake. It ended up all over him and the floor, but it was fun to watch. On Saturday we celebrated with my parents, Kevin’s parents and brother and the Keeton family. Sean ate all his dinner and then with singing and Sam blowing out his candle he dug into the best cake we have ever eaten. I am not exaggerating….the cake was amazing. Judy Schwartz, you would have been in heaven. Dinner was good, but nothing compared to the cake! Sean ate all of it and made sure to throw a bunch around the room. Overall, it was a wonderful 1st birthday celebration for Sean.

The holidays were perfect for us this year. We spent Christmas here in Maryland with a beautiful Christmas Eve dinner at our house. Sam and Sean had a great time opening gifts with Bart, MT and Brian. The next morning Sam woke to lots a presents and had a overwhelming time opening them all. The kids got some great toys and the day was filled with playing with everything and trying to get all the packages open without injuring ourselves….so many ties, tape and glue holding those toys in their boxes! Christmas day ended with Chinese food at Brian’s house and a ride through the Symphony of Lights in Columbia. We all had a great time.

Saturday after Christmas we piled in the car once again to spend a week with my parents in Ohio. The first order of business when we arrived was seeing the newest addition to our family. Madelynn Lea Hindley arrived on the 14th and Jori and Rory are doing great. Jori had a great delivery and recovered really quickly. Connor has adjusted really well to his new sister and their family is beautiful with Maddie in it. She is a beautiful baby girl and I know that Sam is really happy to have another girl cousin in the family! Sean had his first haircut in Ohio and he did great. He looks so handsome now.

Our week was spent going to COSI (Columbus Science Center) where the kids had a great time with the water tables and toys, and playing cards when the kids were sleeping. Our euchre tournament lasted the whole week and here are the final results from that week……GIRLS: 13 BOYS: 5 Yes my Mom and I CRUSHED my Dad and Kevin. It was WONDERFUL!

We continued our tournament when my parents came in last Thursday for Sean’s Birthday and here are the final results from this weekend (This includes the Ohio Score)….. GIRLS: 20 BOYS: 10 They are slowly catching up, but it will be an grueling uphill battle for them!
Sam has been very busy these last few weeks. She is now potty trained (except for when she sleeps) and she is now sleeping in her big girl bed! She is doing great and we are really proud of her. With some help from my parents I was able to make her headboard this weekend and I took most of the day today to make her duvet cover (thanks to Kevin being home). It all turned out great and she loves it all. She is very excited to go to bed now:)
We are looking forward to this weekend, we will be visiting our great friends the Pavlovcaks, in PA. Another great night of cards and great food await us and we can’t wait. The kids have really missed each other, it will be fun having them back together again.

So much more has happened over the last few weeks that I can't even remember...Oh....we had a great cousin's Christmas party at our house a couple of weeks ago and we had a wonderful Hanukkah party with my family. I just can't remember it all:)

We all hope that everything is going well with everyone and we hope to see you all soon! All Our Love, Barbi, Kevin, Sam and Sean

Happy Holidays!

2008-12-09T15:37:00.007-05:00

Happy Holidays!

Our post will be short and sweet today, Sean is crawling around the basement as I write this so I don't think I have much time. Anyway, our family just returned home from a CRAZY trip to Ohio. We had a great Thanksgiving and a fun time with all our Nephews and as you may have heard a great time at the Children's urgent care center:)

Sam was sliding down a "tube" slide at the playground, put her foot up, got it stuck on the roof of the slide and fractured her Tibia. We had a terrible day dealing with x-rays and a terrible night with a 2 year old in a full leg cast...hot pink! She is now doing great. She has rebounded well and is so proud of how well she "crawls". She gets frustrated and keeps asking when it will come off, but other than that we are really proud of her. She had a check-up and new x-rays taken today and we were told that she is healing great and will be able to get her cast off 2 weeks earlier then expected, Dec. 26th.

Sean is crazy. That's all I can say about him. He will soon turn 1 and I am in for it with this one. He is a sweetheart who loves his MaMa and is nothing like his usually calm sister. We are having fun with him.

Anyway, a short update, but as you can tell nothing is ever boring in our household. We hope you all have wonderful Christmases, Hanukkahs and New Years and we will be in touch in 2009!

xoxo, The Smoles

Fall is here!

2008-10-22T19:40:00.009-04:00

Welcome Fall!

The leaves are falling and the air is getting crisp! That means our annual trip to the pumpkin patch and lots of apples. We have been a very busy family with lots of ups and downs over the last month.

We started out the month with a contract to buy a beautiful new house…..a few days later…..the stock market “threw-up all over itself”as Kevin puts it. Who would think that in one day our financial situation would change so drastically, ours and everyone else? We found ourselves in a position that wasn’t perfect. We had our house on the market to sell, we had committed ourselves to a new house…..ahhhhhhhh! This process hasn’t been easy, but Kevin and I have learned so much from it, good and bad. We plan to stay in our town house and try to look for a new house late spring/summer of next year.

On to more fun things……the kids are doing great. Sam is talking like a 5 year old, it is really scary. She understands everything and knows the words for anything that comes her way…..she surprises us every day. Sam is also now potty trained (kind of) She still needs a diaper when she is sleeping, naps and at night, but the rest of the time she goes right to the potty (she does have some accidents on occacion). She is taking ballet again and loves it and she continues to see her friends at playgroup and the library. Sam has had a great fall at the beach. We spent a week at the beach house in September (the coldest, wettest week of the whole month) and she ran around throwing rocks in the water and taking boat rides when the rain stopped.

Sean is starting to catch up to Sam and drive her crazy. He loves to pull her hair and climb on top of her. At 9 months our BIG boy is topping the charts again…..
26.8 pounds and 31.25 inches
He is still over the 100% mark for boys his age. He is huge, a typical Sorensen baby. He has 3 teeth now, all on the lower gums and as you can imagine, he is eating everything in site. He was eating all baby food imaginable, but he really likes to feed himself, pasta, cheese, carrots, crackers and cheerios, he loves it all. He is still really serious, but his personality is starting to come out more. When he is tickled he laughs and laughs. He would rather crawl all over you then play with any toys but he has started to play with more toys instead of eating them. Sean is crawling and pulling himself up to standing and he has started to cruise around the couch. He is still a Mamma’s boy and any little bump he gets means he needs a cuddle from me. I call him my “cling-on”, he never lets go of me.

I mentioned our trip to the beach….we had a great time. MT stayed with us for the first half of the week and my Dad came to stay for the second half. They had a great time with the kids and my Dad enjoyed the time on the water. My girlfriend Julie and her husband and daughter, Olivia, came for the weekend and we had a great time. Although cold, it was nice to catch up with them and share some time without a phone ringing or other interferences.

We are looking forward to a trip to Ohio in a few weeks. We will be there for 2 weeks, including Thanksgiving. We will be celebrating my Nephew, Ben’s 1st Birthday as well as throwing Jori a small baby shower for the little girl she is expecting in December.

The end of the month our good friends the Pavlovcak’s are coming to visit. The kids really miss each other and I need to beat Jon in Texas Hold'em and continue my crushing streak. Can’t wait!

We hope everyone is healthy and happy and we hope to see you all soon!
Love,
The Smoles

Summer Fun!

2008-09-07T15:21:00.016-04:00

Happy Summer! Time has flown by this summer with vacations, dips in the pool and fun times with the kids. We just returned from Long Beach Island, NJ after a wonderful trip with our great friends Jon and Karen Pavlovcak. This was the 3rd annual trip to their beach house and we had a great time. Kate and Sam (best friends...only when they aren't deciding who gets to play with the baby doll) obviously missed each other. There were big hugs all around when we arrived and Sam and Kate played so well together. It is wonderful that Sam is older now and will now play with Kate instead of playing alongside her. Jack and Sean had a great time too. I have never seen a kid eat as much as Jack does and still be so little. Sean is 6 months younger, but much much much bigger!

Sean is now at least 25 pounds and yes, he is only 8 months old. Our big boy is growing stronger everyday now that he is eating small pieces of fruit, rice cakes (thank you Asian market), puffs and every kind of baby food available. He is also drinking water from a sippy cup like a champ, although we still have to hold it. He just started saying "da da" yesterday and is almost crawling. He can get up on all fours and rock back-in-forth but he still can't move across the room.

Samantha is doing great. She is a crazy little girl who continues to get into everything and make life a lot of fun. She will start her ballet lessons again next week and she still loves story time at the library. She dances all the time at home and loves to read to her babies. She has started to use the potty more often, at least once a day and she hasn't been fighting it. It is crazy to think that just a few months ago she was talking gibberish and now you can have a full conversation with her. She loves to count (we have now reached 20) and she recognizes most letters of the alphabet (her favorites are S A M, no surprise there). She speaks a bit of Spanish, which shocked us, for she just randomly uses the words at odd times, but she is always right. I think we have Dora to thank for her new found language.

A few weeks ago my Mom came for a great visit. She was here for almost a week and we had a wonderful time. The kids LOVED every minute of the time she spent with them. We had a chance to take the kids to a local petting zoo where Samantha had her first pony ride and she was able to feed the goats and ducks. Sean only had eyes for his Bubby all week long....he was mesmerized by her. If I carried him out of the room he would look around me to see her. It was really cute and No, I didn't pay him off to do that! Not only did she get to spend a lot of time with the kids, but when they were sleeping on Saturday the two of us escaped to the mall for some shopping. It was like the good old days of finding bargains and laughing the whole time.

Kevin and I are doing great. We have started looking for a new house and I think we may have found "the one". It is a single family home located about 10 minutes away. It would be a home we could stay in for a really long time. We will be writing an offer tomorrow night as well as listing our house for sale. We have spent the day decluttering and getting it ready for some pictures and we hope that our offer is accepted and our house sells quickly. If you know of anyone who needs a great townhouse in Columbia, MD let us know! The idea of moving and figuring out our finances has kept us up at night, but Kevin is in financial heaven right now....I am actually talking numbers with him without falling asleep! Keep your fingers crossed for us that things go smoothly, hopefully we will be having a party in a new house for all of you to visit!

We have one more vacation planned in a few weeks. We will be taking the kids back to our families beach house for a week. My parents and our friends, the LaCrosses, will be joining us for part of the week and we will also be hosting our Weds. playgroup there. We can't wait!
As always, we hope all is well with our friends and family and you enjoy the last few weeks of summer! Sending you our love, The Smoles

Hello Summer!

2008-07-08T14:16:00.004-04:00

Hello to all our friends and family! We have had a busy summer and finding the time, with 2 kids, to sit down and write has been difficult. We are all doing really well and enjoying every minute of these warm summer days.

When we last made a blog post Sean was 4 months old and BIG. Well….things haven’t changed much except for his age. Sean is now 5 months and 3 weeks old (his 6 month check-up is on the 19th) and he weighs at least 23 pounds. He wears an 18-24 month in clothing and everyday I am “retiring” his small clothes to a bin in the bottom of his closet. He is now rolling over, both back to tummy and just this morning tummy to back. He loves his excersaucer and his jumperoo. He laughs all the time and is always a really happy baby. He is still putting up with his crazy sister, she really doesn’t bother him much except for her high pitch screams which send him into a crying fit. He does get startled easily from any loud unexpected noise. We blame Sam for this. Two weeks ago he started sleeping through the night, in bed by 8pm and up around 7ish. Yipeeeeeee! I am a much happier person now, as you can imagine!

Samantha has had an exciting summer! She is still in the 95% for height and the 75% for weight. She just turned 2 on June 26th and we celebrated with a party at Jump Zone (an indoor inflatable playground….moon bounce, slides, etc.). She LOVED it! That evening we had a nice cookout at our house and enjoyed the time with my parents as well as Kevin’s parents, brother and good friends the Keetons and the Pavlovcaks. Sam has started taking a ballet class once a week and she is doing really well (I wouldn’t expect anything less from my daughter!). She is the youngest in the class, but she listens well and follows all the directions given to her. She remains interested in the whole 45 minute class, surprising for a young 2 year old. She looks adorable in her ballet shoes, pink tights, and leotard with skirt. I had tears in my eyes when I watched her in her first class….oh the memories of my childhood!

Kevin is doing great at work. Fidelity has kept him busy and with the stock market going up and down and down and down this summer, he is never without work or clients who need his help. Kevin turned 30 yesterday! We celebrated by spending 8 hours in the car driving home from Ohio. What a birthday! We actually celebrated his birthday a few weeks ago with a family trip to Ocean City, MD. We staid in the Hilton (of course) and had a wonderful time. Kevin’s parents and brother joined us and it was so much fun with the kids. Sam loved the beach and the kid’s pool with water slides and fountains. Kevin and I even had a chance to have dinner together, thanks to our “babysitters” who we brought with us!

I am being kept busy with the kids this summer. Sam loves our pool in the backyard, so we spend most mornings there while Sean is sleeping. Besides the pool we get to the library for story time and just recently I take them to the daycare at a gym I joined. They stay in the room for about 45 minutes and play (Sean usually sleeps) and I get a chance to take Pilates or aerobics (a good thing since right now I am eating peanut butter cups while writing this!). I am loving the time to work on myself and tone my post baby body up. I will turn 29 this Friday and we have no plans, maybe a dinner date with Kevin, but it hasn’t been decided yet.

If our good friends and neighbors, the Pavlovcaks, hadn’t moved away this summer, I know that we would be much busier then we are. We were sad to see them move to their new house in PA, but we have been lucky to see them every few weeks for different celebrations. Their son, Jack, turned 1 in June so we had a chance to see their new house and when Sam turned 2 they made the trip to celebrate with us. The days aren’t the same around here without them, but we have been good about making plans to get together. We hope to see them at their beach house later this summer and that they make the trip to our beach house in September.

Last Thursday we packed up the kids and drove to Kevin’s sister’s house in Ohio. We spent the 4th of July with Elizabeth and Jordan and had a great time. Sam, of course, loved their dogs and playing in their big yard and running on their driveway. We had a great cookout and then I stayed with the kids and the family and friends all went to set off fireworks (huge fireworks!). Kevin had a great time playing golf with Jordan, his dad and cousin. Elizabeth and I had a great time shopping and hanging out with the kids. Saturday morning we got back in the car and went to visit my parents. We had a great weekend with them and had a chance to see my sister, Jori’s new house. Jori and Rory have sold (yipeeeee!)!) their old house and bought a new, larger, fixer around the corner from my parents. They will be moving at the end of the month, but are busy painting and taking care of the flooring before they move in. They have a lot to get done before their BABY is born in December! Yes, a baby! We can’t wait for the new addition. Can you believe….6 Grandkids under the age of 3! My parents don’t know which way is up anymore!

As much as I have written, I know I have left out a lot of fun things that have been happening with us and our family. Please have a wonderful summer and we hope to see and hear from all of you soon!

Xoxo,
Barbi and Family

Our Chunky Monkey

2008-03-29T07:07:00.005-04:00

Sean's 2 month check-up went perfectly.....for a Sorensen baby! He is HUGE! Here are his stats......

WEIGHT: 16 pounds 110%

HEIGHT: 24 1/2 inches 95%

At this rate he will certainly make any football team he chooses! xoxo, The Smoles

Hello Big Boy!

2008-02-24T16:13:00.003-05:00

“Hello Big Boy!” So was our greeting from our pediatrician last Friday. Sean had his 1 month check-up (really 5 weeks) and here are our stats…..no surprise here…..

Weight: 12 pounds 9 ounces
Height: 23 ½ inches

Over 100% for height and weight!

It is not surprising that he is just like his sister. The Smole family, (as well as all the Sorensen girls) really know how to make big babies.

This winter has kept our family indoors most of the time with one illness after another. Sam ended up having an inner ear infection, the last time I wrote, but after 10 days of antibiotics she is doing great. Sean has been plagued with cold after cold after cold. The poor guy has been sick for 4 out of his 5 weeks of life! He is suffering from severe nasal congestion that is making sleep very difficult. Amazingly he has figured out how to eat with his nose all stuffed up, which explains the weight gain.

Besides the illnesses in our house things have been going really well. My sister, Kari, came for a wonderful visit a couple of weeks ago and thanks to her I was able to get out of the house and get some errands done. It was so nice being able to get out a bit and to have someone to go with. Her visit was short, but sweet and we can’t wait to see her and the kids in April.

Sam has been doing really well with Sean. We have had a few jealous moments, but overall she is really good with him. Sam is enjoying her time "helping" in the kitchen with me and Kevin. Her way of helping is to eat any batter or cookies we happen to be making at the time. When Kevin asks her to help him in the evening now she says, "cookie?" We have a little baker on our hands!

We will be making a 2 week trip home in the middle of April. We can’t wait, it will be the longest visit we have ever had. It will be nice not to be rushed and to really enjoy our time there. We hope you are all having better winters then ours and that you are all healthy and happy! Keep in touch!

Love, Barbi

Sean Pearson Smole!

2008-01-25T08:06:00.000-05:00

Our newest arrival! Sean Pearson Smole joined our family on Monday, January 14th 2008! He arrived at 5:27pm weighing in at 8 pounds 2 ounces and 21 ½ inches long! Another big baby for the Smole family!

Monday around lunch, Kevin and I packed the car and after saying goodbye to Sam, my Mom and Jori we headed to the hospital. Our C-Section was scheduled for 2pm, but because of some emergency surgeries and other babies being born we were bumped to later in the day. It was a bit surreal going to the hospital for an appointment to pick up our baby. Much different this time around compared to Samantha’s birth. After getting checked in and hooked up to the IV we read books and magazines to pass the time. Around 4:30 the doctor came to get me and I was taken into the operating room for my epidural and surgical prep. Before I knew what was happening the surgery had started….and they forgot to bring Kevin in! I quickly asked if someone could get my husband and after we all had a little laugh he was brought in. Kevin was getting a bit worried waiting outside and I don’t blame him, they were halfway through the surgery before he came in!

It was a fast surgery and Sean was born at 5:27pm. He immediately peed all over me and the doctors and was taken to the warming table to be examined. He came with a great set of lungs and all fingers and toes. After the surgery, in the recovery room, Kevin brought Sean to me so I could hold him and he could try to nurse. After about 10 minutes of trying he latched on and it seems like he hasn’t let go since!

Of course, I was very sore after the surgery and the following days (I still am today, but the recovery is going well) but having Sean with us and not in the NICU for any reason was a real treat and blessing. We were in the hospital for 4 days and Samantha had a chance to visit a couple of times. When she first saw the baby, the night he was born she pointed to him and said, “A Baby!” Then she wanted to run up and down the hallways.

Samantha is very indifferent to Sean, thank goodness. She asks for him when she doesn’t see him in the room, but she isn’t jealous or needy of my attention. She likes to tell us all his body parts, eyes, nose, ears, etc. We are trying to keep her from poking him in all those places when she tells us. Sam is growing up before our eyes as well. She is now sitting at the table when she eats, no more high chair. And, she has started using a fork and spoon to eat her meals. She really looks older, now that we have a baby in the house again. Sam will be getting her first haircut this coming week, she is very uneven and in dire need of a "Mullet" removal procedure!

Kevin, Sam and I have all come down with terrible colds this week. I am working on an appointment for Sam today, I am worried it has traveled to her chest. All of our coughs are horrible, we are just keeping our fingers crossed that Sean’s immune system is built up enough from breast feeding so he won’t get sick.

We have had a ton of help over the last couple of weeks, from my mom and sister to Kevin’s Mom this last week, we have been well taken care of. My Mom returns on Sunday, seeing as I still can not lift Sam up, to help me out when Kevin goes back to work full time. She will be here for a week and I am really looking forward to a quiet week with her and the babies.

Overall, things are going really well. Sean is growing like a weed (he weighed in at 8.3 pounds on Monday….past his birth weight and well past his weight when he left the hospital) and we hope to get Samantha on the road to recovery soon. Thank you all for your kind letters and emails, we can’t wait for you to all meet Sean Pearson!

All Our Love,
Barbi, Kevin, Samantha and Sean!

Happy Holidays!

2007-12-30T15:47:00.001-05:00

Happy Holidays! We hope you all had a wonderful Hanukkah and Christmas and you are all going to enjoy a great New Year’s Eve! Things have been great at the Smole household and we are scurrying around trying to get everything ready for Baby #2!

December started with a perfect trip to Ohio. Hanukkah and snow! Sam loved every minute of it. She still loves my parents dogs and whenever she woke up or came into the house she would start to pant “ahhh ahhh ahhh” just like a dog does. Seriously, when we went to get her from her nap or in the morning she would look at us and pant for the dogs. It was too funny. My parents had a great time with her as well. There house is full of toys for all their grandkids and Sam was constantly entertained.

We were able to meet our newest nephew, Benjamin Michael Perman. He is adorable. Kari, Matt and Ryan all seem to be adjusting to their newest family member really well. He looks just like Ryan at that age; it will be interesting to see how he changes as he grows up.

Jori, Rory and Connor are all doing well and Connor and Sam played really well together. I think it helped that Connor is younger than Sam; she finally had someone to boss around! Just kidding, but being with Connor did help us continue the lesson of sharing we are trying to teach Samantha.

A week after returning from Ohio we celebrated “Kids Christmas” with Kevin’s whole family. All 35 of us and Santa! Sam cried for about 10 seconds when she saw Santa and then the presents started and she was as happy as can be! She loves to open presents, regardless if they are for her or not. Jordan and Elizabeth were in town that weekend and we had a great dinner with them and I know they enjoyed their time with Sam as much as she did (their dog helped with Sam’s excitement!).

Christmas Eve was spent at our house for the second year in a row. A small gathering, Mom, Dad, Brian and the 3 of us, and a wonderful dinner. We opened presents and Samantha got a brand new trike from her grandparents. She loved it. We assembled it that night and when she woke up Christmas morning it was in the living room. The first thing she said was, “I want that” and pointed to the bike. She really knows what she wants! Opening presents and hanging out at the house with her was great Christmas day. We didn’t have to rush out of the house so we had a lazy day, taking a walk with the new bike, and then a typical Jewish Christmas…..Chinese food at Uncle Brian’s house! It was a great day and we wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Sam, Kevin and I just spent the afternoon at the B&O Railroad Museum in Ellicott City. She is really into trains right now, otherwise known as “Choo Choos” in our house. She kept asking for “more” by saying it and signing more after each exhibit. She really had a great time and I know it is something we will do in the future.

Samantha continues to grow like a weed and amaze us every day. She is running very well now and will eat ANYTHING. However, there is one thing she still won’t eat, eggs. She actually shook from head-to-toe when we gave her some the other day. She then proceeded to spit them all out. Other than eggs, she loves everything….including brussel sprouts. She loves to "elp" or help me in the kitchen now. She climbs on the step ladder and wants to see everything I am doing. This picture is her helping to measure sour cream. As you can tell she likes to eat sour cream as well! She has her 18 month check-up on Wednesday and we will have her new stats then. She is at least 25 pounds by my guess.

Baby #2 is getting ready to make is big debut in two weeks! He is moving all over the place and is certainly running out of room in my belly. I am officially not sleeping anymore, a wonderful bonus of being pregnant, but I guess it is good preparation for the next 3 months of our lives. We think Sam has a good idea that something big is going to happen, but she won’t understand until the baby comes home. We still haven’t finalized a name yet, but we did narrow it down to a few. We will decide once we meet him.

This will most likely be our last posting before the baby arrives unless something amazing happens in the next two weeks. Keep your fingers crossed that I don’t go into labor before the 14th and pray for a smooth C-Section! Take care and we will be in touch in 2008!

All Our Love,
Barbi, Kevin and Samantha

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-23T15:24:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope that you all had a wonderful holiday filled with lots of great turkey, stuffing and pie. We certainly had our share of turkey and treats this year. Kevin, Sam and I enjoyed a wonderful day at Kevin’s parent’s house with 30 of Kevin’s relatives. It was a full house, but everyone kept Sam entertained and as always, the food was wonderful. We missed my family this year, but next year my parents will have a full house with all their girls and babies there.

We enjoyed a great visit from my parents about a month ago. It was so nice for them to finally see Sam and see how she has grown. We were able to go apple picking and Mom made us a wonderful apple pie. I still can't replicate it, but that is the thing about your Mom's baking...it never tastes the same!

Things have been going really well for all of us this fall. Samantha continues to amaze us everyday. Halloween was a lot of fun for us this year. Our little scarecrow had a great time trick-or-treating. She had a Halloween party with all her playgroup friends and we were able to get some great shots of our neighbors Kate and Jack with Sam. Her vocabulary is increasing by leaps and bounds and she understands everything you say to her. She follows simple instructions and loves to run and “hop hop hop” down the street. She is 26 pounds and 33 inches now and has survived her first virus (rash included) and her runny nose that has been present this week. Kevin taught her how to blow her nose two days ago, making our life much easier as well as hers. She is a little girl that shows no fear when it comes to trying new things. She will easily walk off a curb or roll down a slide if you aren’t keeping an eye on her. She certainly keeps us on our toes.

As she continues to grow, so do I. I am now 32 weeks pregnant and getting big! This baby boy is moving a lot more than Sam did and he is really low, which is making my bladder a bit tired. We have scheduled the C-Section for January 14th, so unless I go into labor early, he will be born on my Grandmothers birthday. It will be a great day if it all goes as planned.

Big news on the Sorensen side of the family….Kari and Matt welcomed their little boy, Benjamin Michael last Thursday. He is just beautiful and we can’t wait to meet him in a week. Kari did really well with the labor and it seems like she is recovering nicely and they are all settling in at home well. From what I hear, Ryan is adjusting well with the new addition and overall things are great.

Just last night (Thanksgiving) I received a call from my good friends Julie and Cory LaCrosse letting us know that Julie had gone into labor. She ended up delivering a healthy baby girl just after 11pm last night. She ended up with a C-Section, but when I talked to her this morning it sounded like she was doing really well. Cory just sent out pictures of Olivia and she is beautiful. We are so happy for them and can’t wait to see them later this winter. It is nice to know that our Sons future wife has been born into a wonderful family. We couldn’t ask for better in-laws! I hope she likes younger men…..

Kevin, Sam and I are looking forward to our trip home to Ohio for Hanukkah. Sam and I will be spending the week with my parents and Kevin will join us for a long weekend. Not only will we celebrate with our new nephew but we will finally have all the grandkids together in one room! My parents now have 3 boys and a girl but not for long….their 4th boy is on his way in a few short weeks! Who would have thought the Sorensen girls would have so many boys?!

We hope that you all have great holidays and enjoy the time you all get to spend with your families. I hope to send out another blog around the Christmas holiday and then we will be back to new baby pictures!

All our love,
Barbi, Kevin & Samantha

End of Summer....

2007-09-24T10:19:00.001-04:00

Although we are still seeing 80+ degree temperatures around here, it is certainly the end of summer for us. We had a great time this year, on the Chesapeake, the Atlantic and trips to PA. Our beach week at our beach house, south of Annapolis, was perfect. Beautiful weather, great boat rides and only a few mishaps with Samantha. We started out the week with a jellyfish sting on Sam’s legs. A few tears and cuddles and she was back to normal. It was a bit scary for us, but she is a strong little girl and made it without any lasting marks. She ended the week with a morning of vomiting, in the house as well as the boat, and we both spent a quiet day inside while the rest of the crew went to St. Michaels. Bumpa, Kevin’s Grandfather, spent the week with us and we all had a great time together. Sam loved riding “horsie” on Bumpa’s leg and listening to him sing. By the end of the week, Sam had figured out that we were sleeping in the same room as her and that the Pack-N-Play isn’t that comfortable for a whole week. Saturday morning we were packed and ready to go so she could have a great nap at home and I could as well.

A few weeks later we all climbed into the car and drove to DuBois, PA to visit with our good friends the LaCrosses. Julie and Cory are expecting a baby girl in November/Dec. and we went to celebrate at her baby shower. Julie looks great and it was so nice seeing all of their family together. With the amount of things she got at the shower, this baby will not go without anything. To think…there is another shower in Ohio! Cory will have to do some organizing to store everything they have gotten. (Kevin can give him some pointers!)

The very next weekend we were back in the car and heading up to Long Beach Island, NJ for our annual beach weekend with the Pavlovcaks. They have a beautiful beach house, 3 blocks from the Atlantic and 1 block for the bay. Again, perfect weather. We spent the days on the beach and the nights around the card table. It was our perfect vacation. No stress, great food, and lots of cards. The girls (Kate and Sam) played so well together. It was like they finally realized that they had a play partner around. They ran all over, got soaking wet in buckets on the porch and dug to China on the beach. Sam was the perfect age for discovering the beach. She loved the sand as well as the water and was content to spend her days in and out of the beach chairs.

Samantha is continuing to grow by leaps and bounds. Her vocabulary has drastically increased (20+ words and animal sounds) and she understands everything you say to her. She loves to dance and take walks to the playground. Her “no fear” mentality has her climbing up all the playground equipment and quickly learning how to slide down the slides. She plays peak-a-boo and thinks she is the funniest thing to ever live. Her books are still her favorite thing to look at, especially the animal book. “Koala” or “Kowawa” is her newest animal word.

New Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i77zPaESf8o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHDfcrih9IU

Our good friends Violet and Chad Green, in Ohio, just welcomed their new identical twin boys! She now has 4 boys under the age of 5! She is a very strong woman and we wish them the best of luck and lots of sleep!

Next week we are off to PA, for Jack Pavlovcak’s Baptism….as well as a few Philly Cheese steaks. In a couple of weeks my parents are coming to visit. They haven’t seen Sam since the 4th of July and I am excited for them to see the changes in her. We have her 15 month check-up on Weds. So we will know her height and weight then. We will keep you all updated. Baby #2 is doing really well. We had a check-up last Friday and the doctor said everything looks good and his heartbeat is strong.

We hope you have all enjoyed your summers as much as we have and hope to have you all visit as soon as possible. All our love,

xoxo,
Barbi, Kevin & Samantha

IT"S A..........

2007-08-27T09:47:00.001-04:00

It's a BOY!!!!!!

Baby Smole #2 is looking good. Everything looked great on the ultrasound and he was bouncing off the walls! It was hard to get really great pictures, but the ones we did get turned out perfectly. January 22nd is our new due date, but we will have a C-Section the week before. Crazy!

Enjoying The Summer

2007-08-06T13:49:00.001-04:00

This week marks Baby Smole #2 16th week. We are feeling great and so far the heat hasn't gotten to us too badly. We have spent a ton of time at the pool over the last couple of weeks and enjoyed a very fun morning at the library last week. Sam was dancing to the music all over the place and couldn't get enough of the bells. She was so funny I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard!

Samantha is walking everywhere and her vocabulary continues to amaze us every day. She now says the following.....banana (nana), bus, ball, eye, sock, and "what's that". She understands most everything that you say to her and she loves to read all of her books (she likes to lay down and have you read over her, see picture). Sam eats everything! No surprise here, but anything we give her she will always try and she has yet to find something she doesn't like.

Speaking of eating, she loves blueberries! So, we decided to take her blueberry picking on Saturday. She ate more then we could pick, but we all had fun. We ended up getting a ton of peaches instead of the blueberries (they are much easier to pick!). Saturday night we had a play date with our cousin June and her daughter Kylie who has just turned 1. They are only 5 weeks apart so they are the perfect age to play with each other.

We are off to the beach house next week. Jori, Rory and Connor are joining us for a few days there as well as Karen, Jon, Kate & Jack. We will have a full house, including Kevin's Grandfather, Bumpa, from Florida. Can't wait!

Hope you are all having a wonderful summer and enjoying the last few weeks before school starts and the leaves begin to change!

Love,

Barbi, Kevin & Sam

2007-07-20T14:06:00.001-04:00

I'M WALKING!!!!!!!!

Check it out at YouTube! http://www.youtube.com/v/dVUl4ndlh7w

My 1 year stats:

Height: 32 1/4 inches 100%

Weight: 23.3 pounds 82%

Back From Ohio & Baby Smole #2!

2007-07-10T13:04:00.000-04:00

Kevin, Sam and I are all back from a wonderful trip to Ohio. We left last Monday and spent the week celebrating Ryan and Kevin's Birthday's as well as attending our class reunion. The 4th of July was spent at the Bexley parade, we were able to see our class float and visit with my grandmother and all of her friends while they watched the parade. We also took a trip over to my old school with Uncle Stuart and Aunt Fran to watch the end of the parade and look around the school. That afternoon we went to Ryan's second birthday party (Dora the Explorer theme) and had tacos and cake. The party was great and Ryan and Sam had a wonderful time. Friday morning Kevin, Sam and I piled in the car and drove to Westfield Center, Ohio to visit Kevin's sister, Elizabeth and her husband Jordan. They have a beautiful farm house, with barn, and the improvements they have done to it are wonderful. You can tell they have both been very busy with home improvement projects. We were also able to visit with Jordan's parents and as always our time with them is so special. After a very quick visit to Elizabeth's we headed back to Columbus on Saturday. Saturday evening marked our 10 year class reunion. We had a great time visiting with all our old classmates. It is really strange to see all these people you grew up with, but never see anymore. Many people looked different, but most were the same. It was a great night and a late one for Jori, Rory, Kevin and I. I was about 5 hours past my bedtime when we got home!

This morning, Tuesday, we went to the doctors office for our first sonogram of Baby Smole #2! It was a quick one, they just checked the heartbeat as well as the size of the baby. We are technically due January 21st, but we will be scheduled for a C-Section the week before. Nothing is on the calender yet, but you can plan on January 16th or around then sometime. Oh, even though my Mom thought we would be.....we are only having ONE baby! NO TWINS!!!! I have popped much sooner with this baby, but I think it has a lot to do with just having a baby 1 year ago.

Congratulations to our cousins Bobby and Nikki, they welcomed there 3rd child, Connor Joseph Messick this last Sunday. We wish you all the best and we can't wait to meet him!

Sam is now very close to walking, she took 6 steps on her own and will walk to Kevin and I if we are close by. She is saying a couple of words, "Ball" and "Bus". You can point to a ball and ask her what it is and she will tell you. A school bus went by today and I said bus a few times. All of a sudden she said, "Buuussss" really slow. She then went on to repeat a couple of times. Samantha has also started to use her sign language. She will now sign for "more" when she is eating and this comes in handy for her when she is eating her blueberries, which she can't get enough of!

Overall, everything is going really well. Our summer has been wonderful and we are looking forward to beach week in August and many visits from our friends and family. All our love!

Barbi, Kevin, Samantha & Baby #2!

Happy Birthday.......

2007-06-25T08:44:00.000-04:00

Samantha Ann celebrated her first Birthday this weekend with our close friends and family. She turns 1 on the 26th (tomorrow), but the beautiful weather this weekend made her party perfect. As you can tell from the picture Sam wore her "World's Best Big Sister" shirt and everyone was let in on our little secret......WE ARE PREGNANT!!!!!!!!! (Already her brother or sister is stealing her spotlight!) It was wonderful telling everyone this way and I think the shock has worn off for most people. Yes, they will be very close in age.....18 months apart, and Yes, I realize we will have 2 kids under the age of 2! Kevin and I always wanted our kids to be close in age, like Jori and I and Kevin and his Brother, Brian. So, here we are 10 weeks pregnant and looking forward to a January baby.

Samantha had a great birthday and celebrated some wonderful milestones this last week. She is now drinking whole milk, no more formula! She also took 6 steps all by herself. Look out! We have a walker on our hands. She really is such a happy baby, nothing fazes her too much, but she has become a "MaMa's girl". She loves her Mom soooo much right now. Da Da is a bit bummed about that, but he has gotten over it very easily.

My parents were able to make it in for Samantha's Birthday and we are looking forward to spending the 4th of July week with them in Ohio. We will also be visiting Liz and Jordan for a night and attending my 10 year class reunion.

My girlfriend Heidi York delivered a beautiful baby girl on the 19th of June. Lily was born after a long but I am assured easy labor. We are so happy for them.

Not sure if I mentioned it, but my girlfriend Karen delivered a very handsome baby boy, Jonathan "Jack" Pavlovcak 3 weeks ago. He is doing very well and so is Mom. Not surprising after her 8 minute delivery! I am not kidding!

I just received news that my college roommates and I are all having babies within a couple months of each other. Julie is due in December and Chrissy is due in January! We are hoping to plan a trip so we can compare bellies in November!

Overall, everything is wonderful with our family and friends. We are enjoying the summer and our trips to the pool. We can't wait for our vacations to the beach house and Ohio and we hope to see you all sometime this summer.

Keep in touch,

Barbi, Kevin and Samantha

An Update At Last!!!!!

2007-06-04T12:07:00.001-04:00

Picture Info: #1: The Sorensen Girls and their babies

#2: The Smole Family with Connor William Hindley

#3-5: Samantha Ann Smole

#6-7: Jonathan Joseph Pavolvcak

#8: Connor William Hindley and his big smile!

Our busy summer has started with a bang! Jori and Rory welcomed their new baby boy on May 18th, 2007. Sam and I got the call that they were headed to the hospital at 5:30am on Friday morning. We packed up the car.....our bags had been packed for two weeks....and Sam and I were on the road by 6:30am. 7 hours later we made it to the hospital and Jori still had not given berth to her baby. She was progressing very nicely and the epidural was working like a charm. The day went on and the Hindley's and Sorensen's took up half the waiting room with our books and naps. By 10pm the doctor decided that this baby wasn't going to come out on his own.....so surprise.....she ended up with a c-section. (we are much more alike then we thought!) CONNOR WILLIAM HINDLEY weighed in at 9 pounds 10 ounces and 20 inches long! He was huge! It was like she birthed a 3 month old! Jori is recovering really well from the surgery and Connor and Rory are doing just as well. They are all home now and getting used to the dirty diapers and nighttime feedings. We wish them all the best and I know that they are already enjoying their little bundle of joy!

I am not sure if I have told everyone yet....I think I already posted it.....but my sister, Kari, will be expecting her second child this coming Thanksgiving. She seems to be getting over the first trimester nausea and is looking forward to the next 6 months without tummy aches. The arrival of Connor is going to be a big help to get Ryan ready for a new brother or sister. He is very used to having his Mommy and Aunt Jori to himself, but Connor is breaking him in nicely!

Speaking of babies 3 of my good friends are also expecting! My bridesmaid, Julie LaCrosse, is expecting her first December 1st, my college roommate, Heidi Gerkin, is due in on Samantha's birthday June 26th and my girlfriend Violet Green just found out she is not only having her 3rd child but also her 4th! Twins!!!!!! And, they already know they are identical! It is going to be a very busy year with all these babies.

Lets continue with the baby talk......my girlfriend and neighbor just welcomed their 2nd child, a baby boy, last Friday afternoon, June 1st. Jonathan Joseph Pavlovcak was born at 1:33pm, weighing 8 pounds 4 ounces and measuring 19 inches long. Jon and Karen arrived at the hospital at 1:13pm and he was born at 1:33pm....lets just say her request for an epidural was denied! Mom, Dad and baby are all doing great and are settling in at home nicely. The big sister, Kate, has been great with the new baby. She loves giving him lots of attention and telling everyone what he is doing, which is usually taking a nap.

This last weekend, our good friends Brian and Courtney Keeton were married and they had a wonderful wedding. Courtney was gorgeous and Brian was very handsome. The wedding and reception turned out perfect and they are now off on their honeymoon in Hawaii! Yes, we are very jealous!

This month marks a big celebration in our household, Samantha is turning 1! We can't believe how time has gone by so quickly. She is now cruising, very close to walking, and can easily say "Mom" and "DaDa" We get "dog" and "gentle" out of her every once in awhile. She now mimics what we say, it is very funny. She is still a very happy little girl with a big smile. She loves the pool as well as boat rides with her Mom and Dad on the Chesapeake. Beach week on the Bay will be fun this year with her walking and swimming. She will have her 1 year check-up soon so I will give you her growth stats, but she must be close to 24 pounds. She eats whatever we give her, and plenty of it. She always like to try new things and she loves being outside. If she could only walk, playing outside would be a lot more fun.

July marks lots of celebrations for our family....Kevin will turn 29 on the 7th and I will be 28 on the 11th. My 10 year class reunion is on the 7th and this August Kevin and I will celebrate our 5 year anniversary. Lots of fun things going on this summer!

We hope that everything is going well with all our friends and family. I am sure I have left out a ton on info, but what do you expect when I haven't posted in sooooooo long! Our love you all of you. Keep in touch,

Barbi, Kevin & Samantha

9 Month Stats

2007-03-28T09:54:00.000-04:00

Samantha had her 9 Month checkup on Monday and here is the report. She measures 30 inches tall and weighs 20 pounds 12 ounces. Sam is in the 95% for height and 83% for weight. She is very healthy and growing perfectly. She is learning so many new skills so fast that we have now installed the baby gates and we are starting to install the cabinet locks. She now crawls, pulls to standing, climbs the stairs, and is starting to "cruise" on the furniture. It is all happening too fast!

Vacation Baby!

2007-03-23T12:01:00.000-04:00

I am writing to you all after a crazy couple of weeks. Sam and I left last Weds. for Ohio to visit with my family. While there Kari, my Mom, Bubby and I hosted a baby shower for Jori. She is getting really big and she is carrying the baby very high. I don't know how she is breathing with her belly so big and so high up. The shower was wonderful. The centerpieces were really cute (thanks to my Mom and Kari's creativity) and the food wonderful. I know that Jori had a wonderful time and Rory was a bit overwhelmed with all the gifts. I think he is now considering a bigger house to keep everything under control. The gifts are overflowing from each room, but I think they are finding a place for everything.

After the shower I came back to my parents house and got myself packed for Puerto Rico. Sunday morning came and I left around 4am for the airport. I took the first leg of my flight (Columbus to Pittsburgh) and upon arriving in Pittsburgh I found out that my connecting flight to Puerto Rico was cancelled. We had a plane, but no crew. US Airways had completely fallen apart. I ended up standing in the ticket line for 8 hours only to find out that I wouldn't be leaving until the following morning. US Airways did make a reservation for me at the Hampton Inn and gave me my voucher. When I arrived at the Hampton Inn I was informed that they didn't accept vouchers and I had to go to the Embassy Suites. So, 16 hours after I started I was in bed in Pittsburgh. Kevin had already made it to Puerto Rico and was enjoying the sun (he was smart enough to not tell me how nice it was). I started all over again on Monday morning and caught a flight on United to Dulles (I made it home all over again) and then a flight direct to Puerto Rico. I was the only Fidelity person to get sooooooo delayed. I am planning on writing to US Air and thanking them for my complementary bottle of water they provided me while waiting in their line for 8 hours.

So I finally arrived in Puerto Rico and was rushed off to the resort. I was greeted by the Fidelity planner and Kevin. Of course I "lost it" emotionally when I saw Kevin but it didn't take me long to get settled and into my bikini. Fidelity left me a box of Godiva chocolate and a really nice note welcoming me to the resort. That helped. The facial I enjoyed that evening also helped. We spent a couple of hours on the beach and enjoying the sun. The resort was beautiful and the beach wonderful. After my facial I meet Kevin in the ballroom for the formal dinner and dance. Kevin received his award and we danced the night away. We were cutting up the dance floor with all our smooth moves when we started talking to another couple who were great dancers. When another swing song came on I took the gentleman by the hand and we were the only ones dancing. We ended the dance with a dip and applause from the rest of the guests. After the party Kevin informed me that I was dancing with the President of Fidelity Investments! I didn't even realize since I missed his welcome speech the night before. We really know how to get Kevin ahead in the company! Whatever it takes! That night we returned to our room to find Kevin's award and a necklace from Tiffany's for me! What a nice surprise and a nice end to a long couple of days. On Tuesday I spent the morning by the pool and then meet up with Kevin after his meetings. We both went to the beach in the afternoon and then enjoyed the "Latin Lovers" couple massage at 5pm. It was Kevin's first massage and I think I have officially converted him to the world of spas and massages. Tuesday evening we were off the the "Revealing Rain forest" for dinner. We walked down a torch lit path and arrived to cocktail hour with African dancers and flame throwers. We grabbed a drink and then got in line for the rope swing. We were harnessed up and swung over a large river and back again. I was the first women to do it and I think I started a movement because women were lining up behind me afterward. Dinner was in a large tent and then we were headed back to the hotel to go to bed. Yes, I only had a day and a half in Puerto Rico. We woke up early the next day and took flights (on time and not cancelled) back to Baltimore and Columbus. Overall, once in Puerto Rico we had a great time but I will NEVER go through anything like that again.

Sam has been growing and developing by leaps and bounds over the last week. The first day we arrived in Ohio she decided to crawl for the first time. Since then she has been moving all over the house and getting into everything. She also pulled herself up to a standing position for the first time on Thursday night. She is now waving with her right hand when she eats and sees the dogs. She loves the dogs! She laughs and laughs when Abby walks by her. I know Kevin had a hard time being away from her for so long and I made it through the 4 days without her as well. Leaving her is not fun, but I know that my parents loved every minute of their time with her.

Samantha has her 9 month checkup on Monday and we will be getting new carpet installed on Friday (just in time for our very mobile child). We will keep you posted on her growth and development as the time goes on. All our love,

The Smoles

8 Months and Counting!

2007-03-08T19:41:00.000-05:00

Goodmorning!

As you can see from the picture, Samantha is getting into all sorts of new activities. She is moving all over the place and starting to figure out that our house is bigger then the 10x11 room she now plays in. She is still always smiling and really is a very happy baby. We haven't seen any teeth yet, but she continues to chew on anything including her fingers and all her toys. She has started to eat more solid foods, soft bagels, cheese, chicken, cottage cheese, and her favorite, saltine crackers. She drinks water from her sippy cups and cups with straws and she is getting more vocal about which foods she likes and doesn't like. As of last night she indicated that she really doesn't like the turkey and rice dinner. I tasted it as well and it really is bland. Sam is now able to get herself to a sitting position by herself which has led us to lower her bed all the way down. She can pull herself up to a standing position in her crib so we had to take certain measures to make sure she doesn't topple over the side. The lowering of the bed had her a bit confused for a couple of days, but she is back to normal and sleeping great. Sam and I are still going to the library for story time and attending our play group on Weds. We try to get out as much as possible, but it has been so cold here we really don't want to go anywhere.

Next week Sam and I leave for Ohio. We are really excited to be celebrating my sister, Jori's, baby shower while we are there. Our family from Chicago is coming in and some of our old high school friends will be there as well. It will be great seeing everyone. The following Sunday, Kevin and I are off to Puerto Rico! Sam will be staying with my parents (I know she is in good hands, but it doesn't make it any easier) and we will be gone for a quick 4 days. Kevin and I are looking forward to a few days away full of pampering and sunshine.

I last left our blog posting with the heart attack of Kevin's Grandfather, Bumpa. He is doing great! His recovery has gone very smooth and he seems to be taking good care of himself. Our cousin Dana will be the next to visit him and I know he is really looking forward to it. There are plans in the works for him to visit us during our beach week this summer and we can't wait for that as well.

Overall, things are going really well. Sam is happy and healthy, Kevin is doing great at work and I am loving every minute of taking care of Sam. Life is good!

All our love,

Barbi, Kevin and Samantha

Happy Valentine's Day and......

2007-02-14T10:22:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day to all my friends and family! And, Congratulations to my Dad on earning the Fidelity President's Circle Award for the second year in a row! Mom and I are so proud of you! Mom is already packing for the awards trip to Puerto Rico in March! She can't wait! xoxo, Samantha

Bahamas Vacation Photos

2007-02-13T11:02:00.000-05:00

More Photos

2007-02-13T10:41:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!

2007-02-12T13:35:00.000-05:00

Hello Everyone!

The New Year has come and gone and I still can't seem to get to the computer enough to check email, let alone write a blog posting. I keep telling myself that I was waiting for our trip to the Bahamas before I made another posting, but honestly that was just a silly excuse to put off writing and posting pictures. As you can tell from the smiling photo above, Sam is as happy and healthy as can be. She continues to smile every time we hold the camera up, so you can see why we have sooooooo many pictures of her. Today is Monday, February the 12th and just yesterday we returned from a wonderful trip to the Bahamas. I will get to that in a bit.....here is what has been happening since the last time I wrote.

January was a bit quiet, a nice break from the busy holidays. We celebrated Sam's best friend, Kate's 2nd Birthday with balloons and party hats. Kate’s parents threw a wonderful birthday party and Sam loved every minute of it.

By the middle of January we were ready for a visit/vacation. Kevin, Sam and I all packed up and headed to Florida to visit with Kevin's grandfather, Bumpa/Rudy. As soon as we arrived, Bumpa was ready and waiting to get Kevin's advice on all of his finances. Kevin took a couple of days and got him all straightened out and Bumpa was much more confident with the "books" once Kevin was done with him. We enjoyed the sunshine and Kevin's old hometown with his sister Elizabeth and Jordan's Mom, Rhonda who were also in Florida to test a new car of Jordan’s. Jordan is starting to race again, so they were at the track getting all the kinks worked out of their new car. Our visit was wonderful. We ate great food and I was able to make and freeze a bunch of dinners for Bumpa (Chili and Meatloaf!). Samantha loved visiting with Bumpa and seeing his beautiful house and watching all the birds he has attracted with his daily feedings. Kevin and I loved having Sam in Florida; she was able to wear all her cute summer outfits that she would have grown out of before she ever wore them. Seeing her squishy legs and belly in all her outfits was adorable....see pictures to see what I mean!

I made it my personal mission to implement "operation Jewish guilt" in the month of January. My parents were busy making plans for trips to Las Vegas and busy weekends, but they seemed to have forgotten a trip east to visit their only Granddaughter. So, I started calling every day and asking them what I should tell Sam....they won't visit because they want to gamble? They just don't want to see you? They love Taffy and Abby more?. I just didn't know what to tell Sam. This went on for a couple of weeks and then.......our doorbell rang a couple of weeks ago and who was at the door? Bubby and Papa! Such a surprise! They spent the whole weekend with us, playing and making us dinner! What a treat. Sam had a wonderful time and she learned her first lesson on Jewish guilt....it works!

January closed quietly and February started off just how I like it...vacation! Kevin, Samantha and I just returned from a wonderful trip to Nassau, Bahamas. We stayed at The Atlantis Resort and had a great time. We spent the days by the pools and on the beach. Sam loved all the water (especially the lazy river ride) and loved watching all the fish/sharks in the many aquariums they have on property. Kevin and I continued our luck at the casino by losing instead of winning, but we had fun trying! We had great meals and we both had a chance to ride the water slides through the shark tanks. Traveling with Sam was really easy. She slept well, ate well and had a smile on her face the whole time. She was a bit wiggly on our laps on the flights to and from the Bahamas, but who can blame her?! Overall it was a wonderful vacation and we can't wait for our next getaway.

Sam has continued to grow like a weed. She is almost crawling (she gets her tush up and her arms up, but she pushes herself backward), drinking from a sippy cup and using a straw. She is eating a lot more solid food and we are just starting to wean her to formula. She is over 20 pounds and is still causing problems for me with my back. She is just too big for me to handle without a couple of Tylenol! We continue to go to the library for story time and music and we also spend every Wednesday with our playgroup. She loves watching other children play and I can see it in her eyes that she really wants to "get moving" and catch up with the other kids.

Ok, so it is Tuesday the 13th and I am just getting back to writing. We received a phone call yesterday letting us know that Kevin's Grandfather (Rudy in Florida) suffered a heart attack yesterday and went in for an operation to repair 95% blockage in one of his arteries. He seems to be doing alright as of this morning; MT flew down to Florida this morning to be with him, so we should know more information later today. Please keep him in your thoughts a prayers and hope for a healthy, speedy recovery.

We will keep everyone posted on Rudy and I promise to be better about updating everyone! We hope you are all doing well, please keep in touch. All our love,

Barbi, Kevin & Samantha

6 Month Stats

2006-12-31T16:50:00.000-05:00

Here are my 6 month stats after my appointment on Friday....

Length: 28 inches
Weight: 18 pounds 14 ounces

And more good news........Jori and Rory are having a.......BOY!
We can't wait for May 18th!!!!!!! She had a 3D ultrasound on Friday....what will they come up with next? The pictures are really neat, I can't believe how much you can see. The picture I am posting is a face picture with his arm and hand up to his mouth....too cool!

Happy New Year!
The Smole's

At Last!

2006-12-26T15:12:00.000-05:00

Well, chalk it up to being a Mom, or just plain out of time, but getting around to this blogging thing this time of year has been very hard for me. We have been a very busy family and have lots to fill you all in on. Where to start...

We enjoyed a visit to Ohio (our first of two this holiday season) over Thanksgiving. My parents hosted a wonderful dinner in their new home that really is beautiful. They have done a great job on it and we all love staying there. Sam also likes the mounds of toys my Mom keeps on hand for Ryan and Sam. Thanksgiving was shared with the whole family including my Aunt Anita who came all the way from Florida for the holiday. The week was spent hanging out and also hearing the heart beat of our much anticipated niece or nephew that will be making its big debut in May of 2007. Jori and Rory are PREGNANT!!! Most of you already know this, but we are soooo excited. We should find out on Friday if it is a girl or a boy. My money is on a girl, but knowing my guessing skills it will probably be a boy! We can't wait for Sam to meet her new cousin and we are happy they will only be 11 months apart in age.

Two weeks later our family got back on a Southwest plane and made Sam's 6th plane ride back to Ohio. She is such a traveler! We joined my family once again for latkas, presents and candy for a wonderful Hanukkah. I havn't been home for Hanukkah for about 3 years, so we were so excited to make it. Sam and I went earlier in the week and Kevin came towards the end. Sam and her cousin Ryan were able to finally show off their swimming skills at the local pool and Sam also got some last minute shopping done with her Aunt Jori and Bubby Sorensen. Her Aunt Kari graced us with a box full of the best doughnuts I have ever had. They were sooo good but I was certainly on a sugar high after the 2 ½ that I ate in one sitting.

When we returned home from Ohio we raced right over to our Aunt Chris's house for our kids christmas with Santa Clause! We had a great time, but I think Sam was a little overwhelmed with the amount of people and the man in the big red suit!

Around Haunkkah is when Samantha tipped the scales at 20 pounds. She has gotten so heavy for me to carry that my back ended up with a muscle spazem and we were off to see Dr. Steve. A manipulation and cortizon shot later and I was able to lift my left arm and hold Sam again. Thank goodness for the Doctor!

Speeking of Samantha...around 4 months of age she started eating solid food! She started with cereal and carrots and away she went. She has since enjoyed peas, sweet potatoes, green beans, bananas, pears, squash, prunes and many more. The green beans have been her least favorite and the pears have been her favorite (my father wouldn't have it any other way). She eats solid food twice a day (lunch and dinner) but has stuck to the breast milk as her main meals for the day. She has continued to sleep through the night!!!!!!! An we have been getting plenty of sleep. Some nights she has a tough time, but 95% of the time she sleeps through.

Sam has now rolled over (tummy to back) and just this weekend she started to sit up on her own for the first time. It couldn't have come at a better time, she can now play with all her new toys without lying down or us holding her on our laps.

We all spent Christmas here with Kevin's side of the family. On Christmas eve the Smoles attended church and Sam and I stayed home (her for a nap and me to cook dinner!). We had a wonderful dinner of beef tenderloin, potatoes and green beans as well as a over the top chocolate cake. The night ended with the opening of wonderful presents and great conversation well into the night. We awoke on Christmas morning to open presents with Samantha. She really loved the wrapping paper as well as the best gift of the year, a giant "bottle" from her Papa Sorensen. Who else would write her a letter about making sure she didn't run out of milk, but just in case she did she would have this giant bottle to keep her fed! Samantha's Christmas gift to me was her midday nap lying on my chest. She hasn't done that for about 3 months and it was wonderful!!!!!! After a day of laying around we headed off to our cousin Corene's house for Christmas dinner. As always, everything was perfect and the food outstanding. It was great seeing everyone and enjoy the holdiays together.

We are going to be every busy over the next few months. We are going to visit Kevin's grandfather (Bumpa) in January for a long weekend of cards and the beach (Florida). I left our last blog telling everyone that Kevin's Grandmother, Gerry, wasn't doing well, unfortunatly we lost her this year to complications for her hip surgery as well as other problems. We will miss her greatly and loved her so much.

In February the three of us are off to The Atlantis in the Bahamas. We will spend 4 days in the pools and on the beach enjoying the warm weather. Can't wait!

Samantha has her 6 month check-up on Friday, so by then we will know her stats. I will try to get back on the ball with the whole blog thing, and keep everyone much more connected then I have been. We hope you have all had great holdiays and that you all have a Happy New Year!

Love,
Barbi, Kevin & Sam

New Video

2006-11-13T18:36:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDSS_Nd7l3I Hello All, We have finally found out how to post videos on the web and so here is the one we have been wanting to share for some time. This was taken when Sam was first born, some of you have seen it and some of you have not. I will have to warn you, this includes one of Samantha's bowel movements, so if you are squimish or will be offended, let this serve as your official warning. We have never laughed so hard in all our lives and continue to every time we see this video. Enjoy! The Smoles

Photos

2006-11-05T09:21:00.000-05:00

An Exciting Couple of Weeks!

2006-11-05T08:13:00.000-05:00

The last couple of weeks have been very exciting for the Smole Household. We celebrated Halloween with our neighbors and friends by handing out candy to the 10 kids that actually went trick-or-treating on our street. Needless to say, we had a ton of candy left and I quickly handed it out to our neighbors so it didn't end up in the house. Sam happily wore her buckeye costume for most of the night and we did get one "GO BUCKS" from a mother of a trick-or-treater. Being in Maryland, we did have to explain what a Buckeye was and awful lot.

Halloween was not only a day for costumes and candy but also for the discovery of Sam's first TOOTH! You read right.....she is cutting her first tooth. She had a rough night Sunday and Monday when we tried to put her to sleep, I never imagined looking in her mouth to see about a tooth, but on Tuesday morning when I was changing her I caught a glimpse of white! Sure enough, there was her first tooth. She has been drooling a ton and nawing on her fingers whenever she doesn't have her pacifier.

The last 4 days Samantha has started to wake up around 4-5am for a morning feeding and she has started to focus in on us when we are eating our meals around her. After talking to the doctor for her 4 month check-up we got the green light to start her on some rice cereal. Last night was the first big night! All the books and articles I read talked about how she may refuse to eat with the spoon, how not to be disappointed if it doesn't go well and to try try try again until the baby starts to eat. Well, that was not the case with my hunk-of-chunk. She eagerly ate her rice cereal and we couldn't get it in her mouth fast enough. She wanted as much as possible and couldn't wait for the next bite! I couldn't believe how well she did. Her Uncle Brian and her Dad had a fun time feeding her and her girlfriend Kate certainly enjoyed the show.

Samantha has continued to enjoy her swimming lessons and her visits with her family and friends. She had a fun time at her Nana's house watching her mom learn CPR with their friend Jenny Koppel and her cousin Blake. We are all hoping for a great recovery for our Grandmother, Gerry Smole, in Florida. She recently broke her hip and also suffered a heart attack. Bart has gone to visit her and we are praying that she gets better. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

Love,
Barbi, Kevin and Samantha

4 Months

2006-10-28T13:04:00.000-04:00

Fall is finally here! Samantha has continued to grow and develop into an amazing little girl. She laughs and giggles and makes a new sound every day. She loves her "boppy" seat, she now has a whole new perspective on the world around her. She is playing in her excersaucer everyday and all that movement seems to make her very ready for her afternoon naps.

Last Tuesday she had her very first swim lesson. She was very observant at first, just taking it all in. She loved the warm water and floating in the pool with her dad. She had her first "dunk" and was shocked but had a good reaction. By the third dunk she was ready to go home! She thought we were crazy! I took some pictures on an underwater camera, when I get them developed I will post them here.

This morning we took her to the doctors for her 4 month checkup and shots. She is still tipping the scales and now weights 16 pounds 10 ounces and she is 25 1/2 inches tall. She is in the 95% for weight and the 90% for height. She had 4 shots and went bezerk! She is sleeping now and has been ever since we left the doctors office. I wouldn't be surprised if she slept all day.

Samantha continues to sleep through the night, she goes down around 8:30 and will wake around 6am to be fed. At that point she will either go back to sleep for a couple of hours or she will play for and hour and then go down for a nap. We really are lucky with this one, I am actually getting some sleep now!

We are looking forward to the holidays this year. Since I am not working we will be able to really spend quality time with our family unlike the last few years. We will be in Ohio for Thanksgiving and Hanukkah and back in Maryland for Christmas. It is going to be so much fun celebrating this year with Sam.

We hope all is well with everyone and you all have a wonderful Halloween.

Love,
Barbi, Kevin & Samantha

Samantha 3 1/2 Months

2006-10-10T14:53:00.000-04:00

The time has gone by so quickly again, it has been too long since our last post. Lots of fun things have been going on as we have enjoyed the last few days of summer and the beginning of crisp fall days. Samantha has grown considerably (shocker) and she has reached some wonderful milestones.

We spent a long weekend with our friends Jon, Karen & Kate at their beach house in Long Beach Island, NJ. They have a beautiful house just blocks from the Atlantic Ocean and nearby bay. We spent the days playing poker, enjoying the surf and eating way too much. Kevin said it best when he told us to let him know when he stopped eating! Sam enjoyed her first trip to the beach, a trip up the local lighthouse, and the famous roast beef sandwiches and fries. She topped off her weekend with lots of WaWa chocolate shakes (her mother's favorite).

The week before the beach Samantha and I spent 5 days in Ohio visiting my family. We spent the days hanging out and playing with my Mom and Grandmother. We took our first trip to the zoo with my sister Kari, my nephew Ryan and my mom. I took Samantha to BalletMet for an open house. BalletMet is the studio where I grew up dancing. I haven't been back since high school. We saw some of my old teachers as well as some of my old classmates who are now in the professional company. After running into them we made plans to meet up that evening. After putting Sam to bed I joined the old ballet gang downtown to catch up. It was really nice talking to them and seeing what everyone is up to.

My Mom came into town last weekend to babysit for us. Our cousin Kimberly got married and since all the family was attending the wedding we were left with no babysitters. We really had to twist my Mom's arm to come in and see Samantha. The wedding was located on the shore of the Rhodes River and overlooked our beach houses. It couldn't have been a more perfect setting. Kimberly looked so beautiful and we are so happy to welcome another "outlaw" to the family. We need all the "outlaws" we can get!!!!

Just this last weekend both my Mom and Dad came in for a wonderful visit. It is so nice having them here to play with Sam and to see all the developments in her life. She started to make much louder sounds then she has ever made before. She seems to like screaming while smiling and she sits up really well. She is supporting her head and neck on her own and still loves tummy time. The biggest deal is....she is officially SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT!!!! The last time I wrote was just the start of her nightly gifts to me. After that day she still had a few crazy nights, but for the last week and a half she has gone all night (9-10 hours) and last night she slept the whole night and I never got out of bed once (no pacifier patrol!). She really is a blessing, I just can't believe we have gotten to this milestone, 2 months ago I never thought this would happen.

Samantha came down with a cold last week and at her visit to the doctors we found out that she weighs 15 pounds! WOW!!!!

That is all for now, I will post more pictures later (I tried to post more but the website wouldn't let me) and I will send some out through snapfish. Love to you all...

Barbi, Kevin & Samantha

Still Sleeping #2

2006-09-27T06:56:00.000-04:00

It is now 6:50am and she is still sleeping! I should have stayed in bed! xoxo, Barbi

BIG NEWS!!!!

2006-09-27T06:07:00.000-04:00

It is now 6am on Weds. morning. I am awake, but Samantha is STILL sleeping. She went to bed at 8:30pm last night and she is just starting to stir. She squeaked at 2am and I gave her a pacifier and she went right back to bed. She is just now waking up. I just can't believe it! 3 months old on Monday and her gift to me was a full 7.5 hours sleep (I went to bed later!). I am off to get her now, I was just too excited to not share the news ASAP.
Love, Barbi

Sleepy Friday

2006-09-08T12:15:00.000-04:00

Sleeping the day away...I am so cute!
Happy Friday everyone!
xoxo, Samantha

2 Month Stats

2006-09-06T12:40:00.000-04:00

How time has flown by! Sam is already 9 weeks old and she continues to amaze us. She just had her 2 month check-up on Tuesday and here are the stats... Height: 24.5 inches Weight: 13 pounds 14 ounces... She is in the 95% for both her height and weight. She is holding her head up really well and is responding to people very quickly. She "grrrrs" and "ahhhhs" and even has shown the start of some giggles. When we were at the doctors her pediatrician kept telling me how advanced she was...4 month behavior...I asked the doctor if she was just telling me that to make me feel good, but she insisted that we have a very advanced little girl. She had 4 shots, 2 in each thigh, and the rest of the day she was not a happy camper. I ended up holding her all day so she could sleep peacefully. It was a small price to pay for her comfort.

The following pictures are as follows... Sam outside our house taking pictures with Karen and Kate our neighbors...I will make another post with more pictures of that day...
This is Sam in her new yellow sleeper. She has gotten so big she is now in her 3-6month sleeper and some clothes! I am glad the weather has turned a bit cooler because we are running out of summer outfits that are long enough for her. This is our visit with Bobby (Kevin's Cousin) and his new daughter Ella. We had a great time getting all the kids together. It will be so nice to see all the new girls grow up together. Ella is 3 months older then Sam and Sam's Cousin Kylie (June's Daughter) is 5 weeks younger then Sam. Summers at the beach are going to be so much fun now that there is a new crew to run around.
As always we hope that everyone is doing really well and you have all enjoyed your summers.
Love to you all,
Barbi, Kevin & Sam

2 Month Update!

2006-08-27T10:29:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone! It has been way to long since I last made a posting, but time is limited. I snuck away this morning while Kevin is playing with Sam on her tummy time mat! Well, Sam has been growing like a weed! Her next appointment is this week so we will see just how big she has gotten, but I think she is well over 12 pounds, maybe 13. She is smiling all the time now and the giggles have started also. I love that fact that she will smile when I talk to her and sing different songs. The smiles are no longer "gas" smiles.

Sam and I have joined a Play group that meets every Weds. Afternoon. Right now I am getting more out of it then she is, but it gets us out of the house and she loves watching the other kids play. There are 7 moms and the kids range in age from 2 months to 18 months. We rotate houses each week and each playgroup lasts about an hour, or whenever the kids start to get fussy.

Saturday morning Kevin, Sam and I all went to a trial Kindermusic class at the community college down the street. It was a lot of fun and Sam actually kept her eyes open for the whole class. The infant/toddler class meets once a week for 15 weeks and I think we are going to join. The teacher has been teaching Kindermusic for 12 years and seems to work well with the kids. We will start the first week of September.

Kevin and I are also looking forward to her swim lessons which start in October. Those classes go for 6 weeks and we are attending a pool that specializes in swim lessons. It is an indoor pool that is kept at 90 degrees so the kids never get cold and get the goosebumps. The pool is close to Kevin's office so once a week we will drive north to see Kev and get in the pool. We are taking the evening classes so Kevin can join us after work.

Kevin and I celebrated our 4 year anniversary last Thursday with a really nice dinner in Ellicott City. MT, Bart and Brian all came over and babysat for us while we had a great evening out.

We had a big night last night....7 hours of sleep!!!!!!!! She stirred a couple of times, but with a little bit of adjustment and her pacifier she continued to sleep. After the 7 hours she ate and went right back to sleep and ended up getting about 13 hours last night. We couldn't believe it!

Well, the little one is hungry so that is all for now. I will update everyone with her height and weight later this week.
Love,
Barbi, Kevin and Samantha

Elizabeth and Jordan's Wedding!

2006-08-17T19:36:00.001-04:00

What a wedding! It has been just over a week since we were all dancing the night away and celebrating the marriage of Liz and Jordan, and we are still all talking about it! As you can see from the pictures Liz was beautiful! I have never seen her look so elegant and radiant. We had a wonderful weekend, from pedicures Friday morning, to a wonderful rehearsal dinner, everything was perfect. We owe a big thanks to the Sandridge family for hosting such a perfect rehearsal dinner at Ruth Chris. The flowers and pictures were such nice touches and the slide-show just topped off the night. We had a great time Saturday morning getting out hair done at the Smole's house and just hanging out with all the girls. The ceremony and reception were amazing. Liz looked beautiful as she walked down the aisle and Dad's singing at the reception just made the party. Overall, it was a great weekend that we will all be talking about for years to come.

1 Month Check-Up

2006-08-07T10:26:00.000-04:00

Samantha saw the doctor last Thursday for her one month check-up. She did really well and the doctor is very pleased with her progress. She is tracking well with her eyes (which the doctor told us will turn blue) and she is cooing and making all the wonderful sounds she is supposed to at this time. The doctor told us she is acting like a 2 month old when is comes to her neck strength, eyes and her hearing. We are very proud parents! She is growing like a weed...
Weight: 11 pound 11 ounces 95%
Height: 23 inches 94%
She is a big girl, but seeing as she eats really well it is no surprise she has grown so much. She now has more "meat" on her...more rolls to squish and kiss. She really is beautiful (yes I am very biased). For those of you who have met her you will be surprised to see how she has grown and for those of you who she hasn't met, she can't wait to meet you!

Love, Barbi

Long Awaited Update!

2006-08-01T08:47:00.000-04:00

After many requests for and update to the blog, I have finally found a moment to write and post some pictures. Motherhood has "set-in" and I have discovered that time is not my own and no matter what people with children tell you, you never quit realize how life will change. Before I could write to all of you with ease, but now it will probably take all day to write a few simple paragraphs!

We have been a very busy family. Everyday something new is going on, we either have visitors, we are going on road trips or we are just figuring out our new bundle of joy. The last post talked about Sam's spot on her arm. We are happy to report that the area is now clear of everything. She no longer has an infection and she was never sick from it...We were very lucky. Sam had her one week visit with her doctor on the 6th of July and everything went very well. She weighed in at 8.13 ounces and measured 21 1/2 inches long. By now she must be well over 9 pounds...she is growing like a weed! On July 7th we celebrated Kevin's 28th birthday, but we also learned that Kevin's Aunt Karen passed away that evening. We mourned her loss and Kevin attended the funeral in Sydney, Ohio the following week.

On the 19th of July we packed up the car (thank goodness we bought a bigger car) and drove to Ohio to visit all of my family that Sam had yet to meet. She slept the first leg of the trip, 3 hours, and fed at our half-way point (Morgantown and her father's goal destination). Another 3 hours of her sleeping and we were at my parents house. I couldn't believe she made it the whole way sleeping. Our visit in Ohio was wonderful, but very busy. We visited all of our family and my Grandmother had the chance to see Sam for the first time. On Saturday night my parents held an open house and we had the chance to see all of our family and friends in one spot. Sam loved all the attention and kisses. That Sunday we packed up again and made our way to Westfield Center, Ohio (close to Medina) to visit with Kevin's sister, Elizabeth, and her new in-laws, the Sandridges. Her family threw her a beautiful bridal shower and we had the chance to stay at the Sandridge's house for the night. They were so wonderful to us and we can't wait to visit in the future.

It is official...I have resigned from Reliable-Churchill as a wine rep. to be a Mom full time. Last Friday Sam and I made the trip into the office to hand in my computer and say my official good-byes to some of the staff and team members. Everyone was so wonderful and supportive. One day I will return to the business and I will not go anywhere else but Churchill, they really were great to us. I will certainly miss my team members, but knowing the way our team liked to party and get together I am sure I will see them soon.

That leads us to this last weekend. Elizabeth (Kevin's sister) and I spent the weekend going over all her wedding details. She is getting married this Saturday and we are all so excited for her and Jordan. We can't wait to see Jordan's family again and party all weekend long. My parents and Jori and Rory will be coming in for the wedding as well, although I know they are excited to see Sam (and babysit Friday night!). I will post pictures of Elizabeth's wedding sometime in the future...when I get a chance!

This week Sam has grown tremendously and she is doing really well holding up her head during tummy-time. She has now started to focus in on objects for about 4 seconds and she will follow the sound of my voice. Her smiles come more often, and not only because of gas. She has her one month check-up on Thursday and we can't wait to see how big she really is. Can you believe she is already 5 weeks old?!

I have new pictures on Snapfish and will be emailing all of you the link to see them. Enjoy!

That is all for now. It was a condensed version of our activities, but it allows you all to see what we have been up to. It was wonderful seeing everyone in Ohio and seeing all of our family and friends when they have come to visit us. Thank you all for the gifts and your phone calls of support. We love you guys.

Love,
Barbi, Kevin and Samantha

Sam's Doctor Visit

2006-07-03T17:58:00.000-04:00

Hello All,
Here is the latest on Sam....
We went to see a pediactric surgeon this morning and he took a look at the mark on her arm that we have been so concerned about over the weekend. He feels that it is an isolated infection that seems to be getting better with the antibiotics she is on. We are not to worry, but to watch the area to see if it gets any better or worse. We will see the doctor next Monday morning for a follow-up appointment, but we all feel that she will be fine and we may even be able to cancel that appointment if the mark disappears.
So, overall very good news for her and us.
Love,
Barbi

Baby Samantha Has Arrived!!!!

2006-07-02T18:04:00.000-04:00

After 10 long months... she has arrived! Here is the story...

On Monday morning at 2:05am my water broke and we were off to the hospital. We were checked in and settled in our room and the whole process began. To make a very long story short, after 21 hours of labor, 2 epidurals, 4 additional shots to the epidural, and only making it to 9 centimeters, it was determined that Sam was going to be born via C-Section. She was born 6-26-2006 at 11:12pm and weighed in at 8 pounds 5 ounces and measured 21 inches long.

Kevin was able to cut the cord and then was able to film her first few moments of life. She had a hard time breathing due to fluid in her lungs so she was whisked off to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for observation. Once there it was determined that she had a problem with her gluclose levels and because of that she was kept in the NIC Unit for 2 days. This made it difficult for Kevin and I since we were kept on the other side of the hospital and had to spend our days and nights traveling back and forth to feed her and just to hold her. It was a hard thing to see her hooked up to all the tubes, IV's, and monitors but she was being well watched and taken care of by the nurses and doctors. Sam was released from the unit on Weds. evening and was able to spend the rest of her time in our room, which was wonderful and made visits from family and friends that much better because the NIC Unit only allowed 1 visitor, besides the parent, to visit with the baby. (They did make some exceptions when my family arrived from Ohio)

We were released from the hospital on Friday afternoon, but not before Sam and I were asked to pose for pictures for the hospital's new brochure and booklet. We were able to take beautiful portraits with just the two of us and with Kevin as well. We will be receiving all the pictures in a couple of weeks, but we saw some on the photographers camera and they look amazing.

Friday night was very interesting. She was figuring us out and we were trying to figure her out, so sleep did not come easily. Saturday morning she took her first sponge bath and then we were off to her doctors office for her first check-up. At the doctors everything was going well until the doctor noticed a red mark, sort of like a bruise, on her left arm. We thought it was a mark from everything she was hooked up to in the NIC Unit because she is covered in bruises and marks from all the IV's and tests they had to run. However, when you touch this mark on her arm it is very firm and seems to have some mass to it. The doctor didn't want to take any chances so we were told to head to the Emergency Room to have it looked at. We were headed back to the hospital not 24 hours after being released!

At the hospital she was again hooked up to an IV and was started on Antibiotics as a percaution just in case she had an infection of some kind. We were there for 6 hours and here is where we stand today... the doctors think it is either a very bad bruise or an abscess of some kind. We are headed to The University of Maryland tomorrow to have a pediactric surgeon look at it and decide if it needs to be drained/removed with surgery. It hasn't changed in color or shape over the last 24 hours and she is eating and filling her diapers like a champ, so we were told that she is not a critical patient and by waiting until Monday would be fine for her. She is taking an oral antibiotic until then.

Overall, we are so happy, concerned and excited to have her in our lives. Our family has grown by one precious member who has had a bumpy road into our lives, but she will get through it. We will keep you all updated on her status and continue to send pictures of her. For this first post on her I will post one picture and send you to a snapfish account that has all the other pictures we have taken over the last week. Although we are very biased I think she is beautiful and everyday gets prettier and prettier!

Try this link to see all the pictures of Sam... http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=45759016/a=5457925/t_=5457925
if you have a problem opening this link I will send another message to you directly from snapfish, just email me and let me know there is a problem.

Thank you for all your phone calls, letters and support over the last week. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful family and friends in our lives. Love to you all,

Barbi, Kevin & Samantha Smole

Baby News

2006-06-23T16:40:00.000-04:00

Ok, so no big news to report. We had our 40 Week checkup this morning and things have started to progress a bit, but not much. The OB is still going off the 29th as the due date, so that is when I will have my next appointment. I am officially not sleeping much at all, but I guess that is natures cruel way of getting me ready for all the nightly feedings that are headed our way. Kevin took the day off today and we enjoyed a day of running errands and finally a nice afternoon nap. I have dilated a bit, but it is just the start. She could still come today or a week from today...who knows, but we are excited to meet her and introduce her to all of you.

Just as a heads-up for all the Ohio family and friends...Kevin, Sam and I will be home the weekend of the 20th of July for a visit and to attend Elizabeth's Bridal Shower up north on Sunday. We would love to see everyone that weekend and will keep you updated on our schedule for the weekend.

Keep your fingers crossed that she arrives soon..we sure can't wait!

Love,
Barbi & Kevin

Updated Baby News

2006-06-16T10:17:00.000-04:00

Hello Everybody,
We hope all is well with everyone and you are all enjoying the start of summer. We wanted to let everyone know the latest update about baby Smole. I went for my 38-39 week check-up yesterday and everything looks good. Her heartbeat is still very strong and she is continuing to grow at a normal rate. They estimate that she is just over 7 pounds, but we still have no idea on when she will be arriving. I have not started to dilate, but even the doctor told me that doesn't mean much, she could still arrive any time, maybe today, maybe 2 weeks from now. We just have to wait and see. The OB is using June 29th as our due date so no major decisions about inducing will be made until then. I am feeling great, just a bit of swelling, but I am getting anxious about when she will arrive. That is all for now......I will fill everyone in next Friday (our 40 week check-up) and let you all know how things are going. Take care,
Love,
Barbi & Kevin

Baby Update

2006-06-08T20:33:00.000-04:00

Tonight is Thursday the 8th of June and we just wanted to give everyone an update on the pregnancy. Tuesday afternoon I started having very small contractions, called Braxton Hicks. Not really a sign of anything except my body "getting ready" for the real thing. These have continued off and on over the last few days. This morning myself and my neighbor Karen noticed that I seemed to have "dropped" a bit. This is sometimes a sign of the labor getting closer and closer. We have an appointment tomorrow afternoon and we will see what the doctor has to say about these changes in my body. We will keep you all updated on the progress as we get closer to the big day!
Love,
Barbi

Baby Smole 9 Months!

2006-06-03T17:52:00.000-04:00

We made it to the nine month mark! She can come any time now and if she starts to come early the doctors will not stop the delivery. I had my 36-37 week check-up on Friday and according to the doctors everything looks really good and she seems to be very healthy and growing at a "text-book rate". She has not seemed to have "dropped" yet, but you never know when she might make her grand entrance! We will keep you all updated and aware of the progress as June goes on! Love to you all, Barbi & Kevin

Samantha's Nursery!

2006-05-31T10:55:00.000-04:00

We are all set and ready to go! Her room turned out really cute and seems to be organized...for now. You can see over her bed the mobile of the balloons...that was my mobile when I was born. My Mom surprised me a few weeks back when she mailed it to me. I didn't even know she had kept it all these years. The balloons reference the pictures on the wall of hot air balloons. I guess my tastes haven't changed much over the years. The crib was a gift from my parents and the rocker was a gift from Kevin's parents. You can see that her closet is full of clothes....mainly pink, and her bookshelf is slowly being filled with books, toys and stuffed animals. I love the way the room turned out and I know that Sam will feel right at home when she arrives. Love to you all, Barbi

Assorted Pictures from the last few weeks

2006-05-28T12:43:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I was finally able to figure out the picture aspect of this blog, however, I still couldn't get Sams new picture to post. You will all just have to wait the next few weeks until she arrives for real. The pictures are from June and Greg's wedding and Elizabeth's Bridal Shower at the beach. I am going to take pictures of the nursery next and send those to the blog as well. Hope everything is going well with everyone and we can't wait to see you over the summer when Sam arrives! Love, Barbi & Kevin

Smole Update

2006-05-23T18:19:00.000-04:00

Well, I have tried and tried and I seem to be having problems uploading pictures to the blog. I will have to research the problem and figure out what is wrong. Anyway, here is an update on the Smole family......

A few weeks ago my parents came to visit and we had our 32 week check-up with the OB. I was hoping that they would be able to hear Samantha's heart beat, but after about 3 minutes of trying to find her heart-beat (and all of us getting very nervous) the OB decided to order and ultrasound. Usually, you don't receive and ultrasound after the 2nd trimester, unless something is wrong. We went right into the next room and after about 10 seconds the technician found her heart beat and we were able to see her once again. Because she has gotten so big, she doesn't fit onto the whole screen so we were treated to many facial views. We saw that she has a full set of hair, full lips and we think my Mom and I's chin. Her hands were moving and we also saw her "practice" breathing. It was just amazing. The whole experience was made so much more special with my parents being there to see it. Before we left we asked to confirm the sex of the baby one more time and YES it is certainly a girl. We did receive new pictures of her face, but I hope to post those in the future.

The same weekend we celebrated the future wedding of Kimberly and Jeremy with a Surprise Bridal Shower at Corene's house. Everything went off without a hitch and she was so surprised. The following weekend we all gathered again to celebrate the wedding of June and Greg. She looked beautiful, like a little doll, and the wedding was just perfect.

This last weekend Kevin and I woke early on Saturday to set up for our garage sale. We had a pretty decent turnout and sold a bunch of stuff that we had been sitting on for awhile. Later that morning I left Kevin to run the sale and I went down to the beach to set up for Elizabeth's Bridal Shower. I finally met Jordan's mother Rhonda and his Aunt and Cousin, Beth and Kelsey. They were wonderful to be with and we now realize how lucky Elizabeth is to be joining such a wonderful family. The shower turned out to be wonderful. The weather was perfect the cake too good and the friends and family that came were just a blast to be around. After this weekend we just can't wait for August 5th to continue the party!

I had my 34 week checkup last week, although based on our due date I may be closer the 35 weeks, which would put us 4 weeks away until the baby is extremely full term. The OB informed me that if she were to come now they wouldn't stop the delivery and she would be very healthy and weight about 5 pounds. We can't wait for her to join our family and make her big entrance into the world. We hope that she is healthy at birth and that the delivery is complication free. I go back to the OB next Friday and then every week after that. The countdown has begun!

I will try to add some pictures later this week when I figure this thing out!
Love, Barbi & Kevin

Fidelity President's Circle Awards Trip

2006-04-30T10:17:00.000-04:00

We just arrived back from our trip to the St. Regis resort in California and we had a wonderful time. Upon arrival at the resort, last Wednesday, we were escorted to the reception lounge where we "shopped" with a personal shopper. We picked out a tote bag, watches, travel jewlery boxes, Tommy Bahamma shirts, hats, t-shirts, and sailing jackets. We couldn't believe the "royal treatment" that didn't stop the whole weekend. That evening there was a welcome reception and dinner and that night we returned to our room to find gifts on our bed. A crystal wine stopper, fidelity corkscrew and beautiful note cards all with a note of welcome and congratulations from the President of Fidelity Personal Investments, Jeff Carney. Thursday we awoke to a beautiful breakfast and then Kevin was off to morning meetings and golf and I was off to the spa for my Maternity Massage and a dip in the pool. That evening we meet up for dinner and dancing. (The pictures above are from that evening) The first picture is Kevin with the rest of the Mid-Atlantic winners and the president, Jeff, on the left and Ellyn (The president of all Fidelity) in the middle. After dancing all night we returned to our room to find a chocolate sculpture, rose and note from Ellyn congratulating Kevin again. That night Kevin also received his award. Friday brought more morning meetings for Kevin and then he was off sailing for the afternoon and I returned to the spa for another massage and a facial. One more night of a great dinner out on the resort lawn (beach-boy themed) and another gift in our room, a Fidelity frame with our picture taken the night before. We left in the afternoon on Saturday and still can't believe how wonderful the weekend was. Kevin did an amazing job to get to this point in his career and I am very proud of him. We hope we get the chance to go again next year and enjoy all the royal treatment.

Updated News from the Smole's

2006-04-20T16:08:00.000-04:00

Well, time has flown by! We are now 30 weeks pregnant (the picture is me at 28 weeks) and things are going really well. My Mom and sisters came to visit us a couple of weeks ago and they joined us at Aunt Chris's for a baby shower for me and Samantha. We had a wonderful time and everything was perfect. Aunt Chris really went above and beyond for us and we really appreciated everything that she did. We got wonderful gifts, there isn't much more we need to buy to get started, and the food and cake were perfect.

Kevin and I have been keeping busy with house projects. We had a bit of a flood a few weeks ago and all 3 floors of our house were damaged. Next week we will start the repair work and hopefully soon our house will be put back together. We are also in the process of replacing our skylight in the master bath and finishing the babies room (which is much more fun then the other stuff!)

Next Wednesday Kevin and I are off to California for the Fidelity President's Awards Trip. We will be staying in Laguna Beach and can't wait for a little bit of a vacation. We will fill you all in next week on all the fun details of the trip.

Hope all is well with everyone!

25th Week Update

2006-03-16T18:46:00.000-05:00

Today is our 25th week! One of the major changes that has occurred, besides my belly button getting ready to pop out, is the babies movement. I can feel her move all the time, more so when I am relaxing or reading in bed. She is all over the place and moves with quick punches and ripples. Not only can Kevin feel her kick more and more, but we can now both see my belly move each time she moves. Very alien-like! It is so neat to see an arm punch out on one side of the belly and right after or at the same time a foot punch on the other side. Each day is a new day of discovery and amazement. I just can't believe it is really happening!

Growing Belly!

2006-03-05T17:12:00.000-05:00

Growing Belly!
Here is the latest picture of my belly! Sam is certainly getting bigger (please ignore the hair, I just woke up from a lazy Sunday nap!) and I am still feeling great. She is moving all over the place. I can feel her constantly, and Kevin can feel her at night before bed. She lets us know she is there and growing.

Surprise Shower in Ohio!

2006-02-23T09:18:00.000-05:00

BABY SHOWER MANIA!
This last weekend my sisters, mom and grandmother all got together and pulled one over on me! What a surprise! Kevin and I had been planning a trip home for a long time (we hadn't been home since last August) and we were looking forward to a weekend spent with our family and lots of extra time with our new nephew, Ryan.
Everything was normal about the weekend until Mom and I met Kari and Jori for lunch on Saturday. We were supposed to be checking out a "Tea House" for my Mom's friend Susan Soden, who is planning a bridal brunch for her daughter. We were supposed to be attending an "open house/lunch" to see if it would be nice for a wedding brunch. Well, we walked in and the first person I see is Jenny, my cousin from Chicago! Ok, so as everyone knows....The hormones kicked in and the tears started flowing. I couldn't believe my eyes! All of my Chicago family was there, my Columbus family, friends (Julie from Pennsylvania, Betsey from New York, Violet and Brie from Ohio), Kari's inlaws, and many more.
The room was beautiful and the presents were overflowing from the corners! We had a really nice tea and lunch and then it was onto presents. Throughout the whole event I just couldn't get over how everyone pulled it off without me ever knowing. Usually I would be the one planning these things, but they certainly got me. We got some of the cutest clothes, blankets and toys. Very overwhelming!
The whole event was just beautiful and it was very clear that a lot of hard work and planning went into such a memorable day. Thanks to everyone who attended and especially Kari, Jori, Mom and Bubby for making the day so wonderful.

Sam's Profile

2006-02-21T16:47:00.000-05:00

Welcome to the first profile of Samantha Ann Smole! What an experience this ultrasound was. Kevin and I were both so excited to see her on screen and we certainly did. The ultrasound lasted about 45 minutes, so we had a nice show of her moving around and playing with her umbilical cord. The technician started at her head and measured everything, from her size (a healthy 12 ounces) to the rate of blood flow (both her blood and mine), and gave us a great view of our baby. After about 30 minutes the technician tried to tell us the sex, but she had her legs crossed for the entire procedure. With a little bit of prodding, she uncrossed her legs and we had the proof...a little girl! The whole experience was just amazing. Seeing her move on screen, just made it that more real for us. After the ultrasound, Kevin and I had the fun job of calling all our friends and family and spreading the wonderful news. We had so much fun and can't wait to see what comes next!

Welcome to the Smole Family Website!

2006-02-21T16:29:00.000-05:00

Hello Friends and Family,
Kevin and I thought that the best way to keep in touch with everyone, and keep you all updated on our pregnancy and lives would be through our own website/blog. This is new to us so we will try to figure all the technology out as we go. Here we hope to post pictures, stories, and news about the development of Sam. Because we don't get to see many of you that often we hope that this will keep us all informed and connected. Thanks and Enjoy!
Barbi & Kevin