celebrating the people that i love!

auntie sugar and her boy.

grandmama b

aunt tina and elizabeth

little cheryl

• little cheryl's surprise 30th birthday party saturday night. her family went all out - big italian spread, firefly sweet tea vodka, amazing cake by her sister lee. . . she was very surprised. we took the wee one and he danced and laughed and smiled at the pretty girls. AND he slept so good after partying so hard!


• ms dority's birthday yesterday. a surprise visit from dave and the girls and lunch with them and dinner with tom and wendy and the girls and tommy and ms dority and us at the olive garden last night. haven't been there in a while - it was good!


• saturday at the ripley beachhouse. uncle john and aunt tina's seafood night. spending time with rip and corey.
• chandler's perspective.


• nathaniel being so sweet at the restaurant and loving on daddy after his mini-meltdown (the baby's - not david's)


• nathaniel's 8 week birthday.


• michelle and craig coming on saturday - i cannot stand myself i'm so excited.


• dad and chris putting an offer on the house in beaufort.


• new formula and 3 poops all by himself in 2 days!!!!! poop is joyous!!!!


• good sleep last night.


• nathaniel's new awareness to his surroundings and smiling and giggling.


• eye contact with an 8 week old.


• mom's willingness to keep him saturday night so craig, michelle, david and i can get into some trouble.


• loving people who just want to get their hands on this child!


• dr kline.


• you, my 3 a day pooper, you!

9 lbs 8 ozs!

nana and baby
in the water with daddy
our morning nap
is that a smile?
the first family portrait

• the turtle tot eating well and gaining weight!
• smiles that aren't connected to poots.
• smiles that are connected to poots.
• the hummmn hummmn hummmn when he eats.
• poop
• snuggles
• morning naps
• my weekend sleep - a lot last night!!!
• gas drops to ease his belly.
• thank you notes going in the mail.
• getting announcements started.
• nathaniel and i planning our afternoon outing to see mamma mia this week.
• the visit last week from grandpa and grandma chris.
• saturday with grandma and pa pa.
• sunday with nana and big dad.
  

another week 'pon top edisto

aunt vivian

uncle boober

hippie baby

cousin whitman

on the beach with nana


sigh. . . another year's vacation over. . . edisto. . . sigh. . .

• the beach house with a hammock, outdoor shower and literally 60 feet from the beach.


• big d and shelbs sharing it with us.


• shelbs taking care of nathaniel so that i could spend a few minutes each day on the beach.


• david spending more time than usual.


• nathaniel's first dip in the ocean. he liked it!


• nathaniel's first bath in the kitchen sink - he liked that even more!


• dr kline and his insight to nathaniel's poop problem and the help getting weight on this child! 8lbs 11ozs as of last tuesday!


• nathaniel's colonoscopy showing nothing wrong - just needed a bigger poop hole.


• the treatment for mrsa - staph infection that somehow he came up with. thank god for no symptoms - just a random test showed it.


• the nurses at st francis - everytime for being so loving and caring and educated about how to handle such a little squirt.


• being on the right path of nathaniel's weight gain. dr kline being supportive of my desire to breastfeed and his encouragement that all will be alright.


• kozy shack chocolate pudding for taking medication. it rocks.


• weaving our way through the medical treatment of nathaniel - trusting my gut and going with it.


• diapers and onsies that finally fit!


• tie-dye wrap shirts from denise and the kids that he rocked at the beach.


• a much too big bathing suit so that he felt like he wasn't a little redneck baby swimming in his diaper.


• denise and the kids and all their help while they were here. i miss having them in the house.


• confirmed plans that craig and michelle will be here for a week.


• plans that cindy is coming.


• dad and chris coming this tuesday for a week for them to meet nathaniel.


• excitement in my dad's and chris's voices each time i speak with them about the baby.


• 'burp the baby,' 'naked baby!' 'mama's got her boobs out,' 'wake up baby nate!' - all songs we sing to him constantly.


• a trip to the edisto piggly wiggly with just david for a quick date and he wanted to find diapers that fit - i wanted to shop for beer.


• really really good health insurance.


• aunt vivian and uncle boober coming last week and spending time with turtle tot.


• turtle tot, turtle bug, bug, bo bo - all the nicknames we're coming up with.


• deadliest catch at 2 in the morning.


• a baby that sleeps at night when he's not eating - which is only about every 3 hours.


• parenting models of what to do and what not to do.


• trusting my gut.


• sleep deprivation not feeling like a hangover - always thought it would!


• girls night out this thursday. chandler picked a good place - hominy grill.


• getting the announcements and thank you cards ordered.


• a new barstool/step stool for the kitchen 5 finger discounted at mom and poppie's garage sale this morning.


• new picture frames.


• more organization of all the new stuff.


• tomato pie


• brownies


• banana sandwiches for breakfast
• tomato sandwiches for lunch.


• the routine nathaniel and i have gotten into.


• david looking me deep in the eyes and telling me he loves me.


• work missing me.


• another year 100+ club membership earned and another diamond in the watch.


• you, my little hammock napper, you!

eat sleep poop

he's just finished munching under the 'hooter hider'

this is pretty much our day
aunt denise as the recipient of the first blowout diaper!


yoga baby

notes from the universe

'Dang, bridget, just because you're a supernatural, unstoppable, manifesting machine, doesn't mean you can't ask for help. A lot of help. And fully expect to receive it.
That was part of "the deal" - The Universe'

did i need this today.... we've had quite a weekend of just unhappy baby and that's right up there as one of the most heartwrenching feelings of my life. just helpless.

but enter stageright - denise. who last night insisted that i get the pump set up and actually use it so she could stay up all night with nathaniel and david and i could get some sleep. he actually slept - only woke up to eat. which he happily did and went back to sleep. we slept and i have to say, i felt comfortable enough not to even roll over or wake up for that matter. i got him from her about 6 and he was just bundled so sweetly - i had david change him so i wouldn't be the bad mommy! he's been smiling and alert and happy this morning - when he's been awake. so today i am most grateful for:

• denise denise denise!
• her taking time from her life and her husband and being here for just last night. her wisdom and guidance.
• wesley and amelia who are just ok with being uprooted and enrolled in camps and thrown into situations with kids they don't know and having fun. a week with them in the house feels like they have always been here.
• aunt keena's swaddling lessons which i have yet to master - i need her back - but i'm trying.
• nathaniel's social security card coming already! i think he's ready to go to work and start earning his keep.
• my sweet little boy - who coos and smiles and poops. he's strong and stubborn already like his daddy.
• father's day with big d and poppie yesterday.
• david's father's day with nathaniel. his father's days without carson were always so emotional and hard and although yesterday he felt the loss of carson, nathaniel was here to love on.
• david.
• 'mama's got her boobs out. . .' ringing in my ears as i start breastfeeding.
• breastfeeding going well.
• the pump not hurting!!! weird? absolutely. hurty? not at all.
• "david's" new recliner! he's sat in it for about 3 minutes because i discovered it was perfect to feed nathaniel in.
• a date with david on friday night for sushi.
• and on a totally different note, mark IV and his commitment to his family. he will be missed.
• nathaniel's cheeks
• you, my little social security card carrying worker bee, you!

the little turtle tot!

rasta baby

• 'little turtle swimmin' in the pond, little turtle waggin' his wiggle, wiggin' his waggle' - david sings this to our turtle tot.


• naked baby!!!!


• baby elvis sideburns

nathaniel david smoak

in no particular order. . .

abbie's just not too sure. . .

dr hargrove and david




holy cow. let me just say that this ride has been incredible. everyone says that they just sit and stare at their babies all day and i just thought, yeah. but i could just stare at him all day long. in fact, saturday 3am, we just had to stare and play with him and missed sleep because he was just so content to stare back so we exhaustedly fell back asleep after 6am. totally worth the sleepiness.
so in no particular order due to my in and out of baby love sweet haze, today i am so grateful for:

• nathaniel david smoak, june 2, 12:37am, 8lbs 2oz, 20.5in
• his amazing daddy who watched the entire c-section and didn't faint or throw-up!
• dr hargrove
• mia, the or nurse who prepped me and held me while i did the ugly oprah cry in fear of the spinal block
• dr phelps, the anesthiologist (sp), who promised me that i would walk afterward and was right but not only that, held my hand and told me he was crying when i couldn't hear because everyone else was cheering that he was crying. she encouraged david to watch and thank god she did. he got to see my uterus, tubes and ovaries!
• dr akom who assisted dr hargrove and laughed when i asked if something was burning and hargrove said, 'yeah - you.' his laughter was much appreciated.
• mia staying with me in the recovery room and helping me feed nathaniel for the first time when he was only an hour old. her gentleness with both - actually all 3 of us.
• all the people that were there to be of support to us.
• debbie being my nurse again. she was my nurse when i had carson and she was nathaniel's nurse for 2 days and mine for the last. it was a relief to have her there. she helped so much with our learning to breastfeed and answer every question my overworked percocetted brain could come up with.
• mom bringing me real food on wednesday.
• seeing david in scrubs!! wow - we brought them home so we can play doctor!!!
• percocet, anaprox, spinal blocks, morphine and all the other drugs i was able to enjoy while someone else took care of us.
• rabbit poop ice.
• kozy shack pudding i got with medication. wonderful.
• the little man, turtle tot, tootie, turtle, tot, nate, natedog, baby nathaniel
• poopie diapers
• purelan 100 for my boobs
• nathaniel's patience with me
• miss peabody's excitement meeting him and giving him his first bath.
• big blue eyes
• big 'ole fat cheeks! i chew on them all the time.
• answered prayers
• nathaniel biting dr. hargrove before he was a minute old!!!
• the two sets of twins born after nathaniel.
• the nursery nurses taking such good care of him.
• visits, flowers, food, balloons and cards that have shown up.
• keena putting up an 'it's a boy' banner on the front window.
• pants fitting better today than on thursday when we left the hospital.
• david cooking for me and feeding me fried green tomatoes while i'm feeding nathaniel.
• late night, early morning giggling with david.
• nathaniel sleeping.
• learning that when he's grumpy he just needs to be burped, changed or fed.
• nathaniel nathaniel nathaniel
• and you, my little 'it's a boy' banner, you!