February 2009

Cherished Moments of Motherhood

Submitted by Jen Smith on Mon, 02/16/2009 - 19:46

imageI love the talk Elder Ballard gave in the April 2008 General Conference session titled Daughters of God . His counsel seemed to be specifically for me. He asks, “What can you do, as a young mother, to reduce the pressure and enjoy your family more?” and then goes on to say the following:

… “ recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction.”

I’m hoping that this blog will help me focus on those many small moments of joy a little more and the frustrations a little less. continue reading...

Falling in Love Again

Submitted by Jen Smith on Mon, 02/16/2009 - 19:35

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Last week Audrey Lewis sent me proofs of the pictures she took of Ian when he was just 12 days old…they are so adorable! 

We’ve also started to catch a few glimpses of Ian’s smile.  Somehow waking up at night, getting spit up on regularly, and changing many, many diapers is a small sacrifice when I get to witness his sweet innocent smile.  We love you, Ian! continue reading...

What’s in a name?

Submitted by Jen Smith on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 20:05

So whyIan Christopher Ian Christopher…as many of you know we have struggled coming up with a name for this little guy right up until the week before he was born. We had a hard time agreeing on a name we liked that had significance. We always try to choose a name with meaning for each of our kids.

My sister, Lori, has been calling throughout my pregnancy with suggestions and ideas. Shortly after Christmas, she called with a new selection of names…among them was Gideon. It struck something with both Corey and I. continue reading...

Welcome Addition

Submitted by Jen Smith on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 19:55

Ian ChristopherIan Christopher has arrived! He was born in St. Luke’s Hospital in downtown Boise, Idaho on Friday, January 16 at 2:02pm. He weighed 7 pounds 9 ounces and was 20 inches long. YEAH! (Don’t read on unless you want the details of labor.)

After being dilated to almost 4 cm and over 80% effaced for a week I decided to be induced before the holiday weekend so my doctor (Bryan Hodges) would be available to deliver him. My due date was just four days later.

He broke my water first to see if we could get labor started, but after a couple hours of walking, standing, hot tubbing, and sitting on the birthing ball in different positions, nothing happened so at 11:00am the nurse started a Pitocin drip. I was feeling contractions within 15 minutes and 3 hours later he was born. With Corey’s help as an amazing Labor coach I was able to do it again un-medicated.

The last part was really tough, but when Dr. Hodges let me finish pulling Ian out and rest his warm body on my stomach, it was all worth it. Being allowed to partner with God to give birth is such an amazing experience. When you consider all of the things that could go wrong, but don’t...it truly is a miracle. continue reading...

Give Me Five!

Submitted by Jen Smith on Wed, 02/11/2009 - 19:46

fivekidsAre we crazy? I know many have thought that we might be when we told them we were expecting another little one. We already have four other healthy, beautiful, amazing children (okay I’m a little biased) that are still fairly young and close in age. After all, isn’t four kids the new Mormon eight? But for some reason, for us it was the right thing to do. As much as I wanted to be done having kids after Jenna, I couldn’t make myself give things away or completely close that door. I determined that we couldn’t make an unbiased decision until Jenna was at least two years old. continue reading...