Flo Rida

Marcus, John, and I spent two weeks on vacation! Most of the time was spent with my family for the Smith Family Vacation 2011.

Our itinerary was as follows:

July 23rd-25th: Marcus, Brittany, Johnny and I went to Twin Falls to see Grandma and Grandpa Gilson.
July 26th: Johnny and I fly to North Carolina. I was worried to do 8 hours of traveling on planes by myself with Johnny but he did great! He barely cried and slept a lot of the time.

Johnny hanging out with Grandpa Smith

July 27th: Hung out with my family in NC. We took Johnny swimming for the first time and he enjoyed it!

Johnny's first time swimming

The Smith Grandchildren: Ashlynn, Madison, and Johnny

July 28th: I got to go to lunch with just my Dad. He and I use to go to lunch together all the time right after I graduated from high school and was working full time for my neighbor. It was definitely a highlight of the trip for me. Marcus also flew in on this day and it was wonderful to have him back with Johnny and me!

We love Grandpa Smith!

July 29th: We took family pictures! All 13 of us were there and it was so fun. It was insanely hot and humid outside but I can't wait to see what the pictures look like!

Johnny and Madison at Chick-fil-A after family pictures

July 30th: All of the family except Marcus, Johnny, and me drove down to Florida (and Leah flew into Florida to meet them). Marcus, Johnny, and I spent the day in Cary trying out some restaurants and getting ready to meet the family in Florida.

July 31st: Marcus, Johnny, and I fly to Tampa and we all go to the beach. The beach was beautiful but the weather was super hot and humid. We only lasted a few hours at the beach before we were all ready to be back in air conditioning. We went back to the hotel, cleaned up, and drove to Orlando.

Johnny trying to stay cool at the beach

August 1st: We go to Universal Studio's Islands of Adventures! We rode tons of rides and, most importantly, we went to Harry Potter World. Harry Potter World was so fun and so well done but so crowded! It really should just be it's own park. But the detail they put into the castle was amazing and so great to walk through.

Harry Potter World!

August 2nd: We had a rest day where we just stayed at the house, went swimming, and just enjoyed each others company. It was a needed rest for the busy rest of the week.

August 3rd: Marcus, Shelby, Jordan and I went to Disney World! It was the first time for all of us and we had lots of fun. We went on the Safari at the Animal Kingdom, rode the Tower of Terror and Aerosmith rides at Hollywood Studios, and then did the teacups, it's a small world, Peter Pan, Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Haunted Mansion in Magic Kingdom. We packed a lot in but it was so worth it and so fun. Marcus and I decided it would be great if it works out that we can take each of our kids individually for their 10th birthday!

A couple of the animals we saw on the Safari at Disney's Animal Kingdom

Magic Kingdom!

August 4th: We slept in a little and then headed over to Island's of Adventure to do all the water rides. It's a short day at the parks since everyone is exhausted and would rather just be at the house playing in the pool and relaxing. Mom, Leah, Jordan, Johnny, and I head back to the park later that night to watch the fireworks and walk along City Walk.

August 5th: We went to Islands of Adventure early to visit Harry Potter World one last time and then wemt over to Universal Studios and rode Rip Ride Rocket, Jaws, and saw Shrek 4D. Universal Studios also has a restaurant that has over 100 kids of soda. Marcus and I tried Raspberry Sprite, Cherry Vanilla Coke, Strawberry Sprite, and Cherry Sprite. Leah flew home and we all missed her terribly. THANK YOU Leah for coming and watching Johnny while we went to the parks! You are an amazing friend and I'm glad you're in my life!

August 6th: Jordan, Kendall, Marcus, and I go to Universal Studios one last time. We spent the afternoon swimming. (Swimming on this trip became synonymous with playing Marco Polo. We had so much fun!)

Johnny LOVES swimming!

August 7th: Marcus, Johnny, and I fly home and the rest of the family drives back up to North Carolina. We make it back to Utah in time to go to Trent's ordination as a Deacon- we are so proud of you Trent!

It was hot and humid and we did lots of walking but we all had a fabulous time! Now back to reality where Law School starts in 5 days...

THANK YOU MOM AND DAD SMITH for taking us on this fabulous vacation. We love you and are so grateful for all you do!

2 Months!

This little guy is 2 months old today! I can't believe he's been with us for two months already. And at the same time, I can't believe how much he has grown in just two months. He is seriously the greatest joy in my life (along with his dad, of course)! At two months old John:

-is our little socialite. He hates being in a room by himself. If he's in the living room and can hear that Marcus and I are in the kitchen, he'll cry until we bring him into the kitchen with us. We don't even need to hold him- we just stick him in his bumbo chair on the table and he's happy.

-doesn't like to stay in one position too long. We alternate every 10 or 15 minutes between being held, tummy time, bumbo, swing, or laying on his back.

-loves tummy time. Something about being on his stomach gets him to make noises- I love it!

-loves watching TV. He loves the bright colors and moving objects and will stare intently at the TV for a couple minutes at a time. It's so cute!

-takes a couple short morning naps, a long afternoon nap, and sleeps 9-10 hours at night. Yes, we do realize we are extremely lucky that he's been sleeping through the night since he was about 4 weeks old.

-is such a happy baby! He's starting to smile more and even chuckle. It's FANTASTIC!

-has redish hair. It's not fire red, but there is definitely a lot of red in there. We're hoping it doesn't change color.

Marcus and I love being parents to this little boy. We are so blessed to have him in our lives!

Happy Two Months, Johnny!

Oregon Coast!

Marcus, John, and I had the opportunity to go to the Oregon Coast with Marcus' parents for a week. It was so beautiful and relaxing. We had an amazing time and we're so grateful to his parents for inviting us!

The resort we stayed at was in Seaside. But we visited several other places in Oregon.

On the beach in Seaside

Pacific City

We also stopped in Lincoln City for some delicious seafood at Moe's. (sorry- no pic.)

The Sealions in Newport

And, of course, we stopped in Tillamook to tour the cheese factory and get some delicious ice cream.

(at this point- John was tired and sick of traveling)

While in Oregon we enjoyed collecting sand dollars on the beach (FREEZING ocean water even in June- unlike the NC beaches I'm use to), walking around the town, visiting neighboring towns, sitting in the hot tub, and just relaxing. It was a fabulous trip and we're so grateful for the time we were able to spend with his parents! And an extra special thanks to Grandma Gilson for her willingness to watch Johnny so I could participate in things like collecting sand dollars and sitting in the hot tub.

We love you, Mom and Dad Gilson!

I just want to say

Happy Father's Day!

I am so grateful for a wonderful husband, dad, father-in-law, and grandpas that truly bless my life! I love you all!

Birth Story

Congratulations flowers and balloon from my parents :)

When I first found out I was pregnant, I read TONS of birth stories online- I just found them so interesting. So I am posting my birth story online for those who are interested.

My whole pregnancy, I really thought I was going to have my baby early. At my 36 week appointment, I was 1cm dilated and 70% effaced so then I was really convinced the baby was going to come early. But days kept going by and I was still pregnant- and I was becoming a very unhappy pregnant woman.
A week before my due date I was 3cm dilated and 90% effaced. Then, 5 days before my due date I started having regular contractions. They weren't very painful but they were 5 minutes apart for over an hour so I called my doctor and he told me to go into the hospital since I was already at 3cm. Marcus and I were so excited! We called my Mom and headed over to the hospital. However, I was still only 3cm and 90% effaced so they said they would watch me for an hour and see if I progressed any. I had contractions 1-3 minutes apart for the whole hour I was there but when they checked me again, I hadn't progressed at all. The nurse told me they were sending me home and it was AWFUL!! That was probably the worst point in the pregnancy. I was super upset and depressed. It is a terrible experience to go to the hospital thinking the next time you go home you'll have your baby only to be told a couple hours later that nothing is going on and you just have to go home alone.
By the time I hit 40 weeks, Marcus was just as ready for me to have John as I was-- he was pretty sick of having a wife that cried constantly to deal with everyday. On May 16th, the day after I hit 40 weeks, I had a doctor's appointment. I was at 3.5cm and 90% effaced- so pretty much the same as I had been for over a week even though I was having contractions daily. We decided to have me be induced and I asked my doctor if they could induce me that day. (I told you- I was very ready to have this baby!) Thankfully, the hospital had some openings and could induce me later in the evening. We got to the hospital at 6pm and I was finally all hooked up to the IV and getting pitocin at 7pm. They increase pitocin by 4ml every half hour until you get to 20ml. I got up to 16ml of pitocin and my contractions still weren't painful to me. (Marcus and I think I have a high pain tolerance and I'm going to see how far I can go with the next baby before I get an epidural). It was 10pm by this time and I decided to get my epidural because my doctor was coming at 11pm to break my water and I didn't want to feel that. The epidural was great and it made it so I never actually experienced pain during my labor experience. While I'm glad I wasn't ever in severe pain, sometimes I feel like I didn't really experience labor since I didn't really have pain.
After the doctor broke my water, Marcus and I decided to try and get some sleep since it was going to be several hours before anything would really happen. The nurse came in to check me every hour and every hour I progressed 1cm. We were able to get some pretty good sleep from 1am-4am. At 4am, the nurse came in to check me and told me I was 9cm dilated and 100% effaced so I was thinking it would be another hour before we would start pushing. Almost immediately after she checked me, the baby's heartbeat dropped. The doctor came in and said that it's common for the baby's heartbeat to drop when the mom hits 10cm. He checked me again and I had indeed reached 10cm and it was time to start pushing! Hallelujah! I pushed for an hour and 15 minutes and John was born! It was so amazing! I was able to watch the delivery with the mirror and because I had the epidural, I felt no pain and I was just able to enjoy the miracle of watching John be born.
The cord was wrapped around Johnny's neck, not too tight, but enough that the doctor send him right over to the nursery people instead of putting him right on me after he was born. He cried for about a minute and then he was just very alert and content to hang out for about 2 hours.

He's an awesome baby and I feel so lucky to be his mom.

John Albert Gilson

John Albert Gilson
Born May 17, 2011 at 5:18 a.m.
6 lbs 13 oz 19 inches

We love him more than words can express!

Changes

Here I am at 37 weeks and 5 days.

Marcus and I are ready for this baby to come! We are ready to meet him, see what he looks like, and just cuddle and hold him. Also, I am ready to not be pregnant anymore. As of my doctor's appointment on Tuesday, I was 2cm dilated and 70% effaced and his head was very low. So here's to hoping that means the baby will be here soon!

The biggest change in our lives right now is our decision on where to go for law school. I can honestly say it was one of the hardest decisions Marcus and I have ever had to make. To be honest, it still is a hard decision for me. I feel at peace with our decision but I'm still really sad about some of the things we're going to be missing out on. So without further ado- Marcus and I have decided to go to:

Like I said, we both feel that BYU Law School is the right choice for us and that we will be happy going there. I am just having a REALLY hard time with the fact that this means at least 3 more years in Utah and that I don't get to be close to my parents. I know we have a lot of family in the area that are great but it's just not the same as being close to parents. But I have faith that it's what we're suppose to do and everything will work out.