Surprise Surprise!

Surprise, Surprise! The Smith family is expecting baby number two! After you've picked your jaws up off the floor, here are the answers to some of the questions you may have.

Will Jarrod be able to be at the birth?
- No and hopefully yes - Jarrod will be in Afghanistan when this baby is born. We have already spoken to my doctor about using Freedom Calls (check http://www.freedomcalls.org/ for more info) as long as the hospital can accommodate it. Now we just have to wait for Jarrod to talk to his command to see if they will okay it. Freedom Calls centers are located all over Iraq and Afghanistan so that service members can be in live contact with their family for major events.

When is the baby due?
- The due date is April 10, 2010, but since Jarrod will be in Afghanistan, the doctors are going to induce labor so that family can be out here to take care of Trenton. The doctors at the practice try to wait until 39 weeks to induce unless there is a medical reason to induce sooner. Because I had Trenton at 38 weeks, they aren't setting an induction date just yet. They are going to wait until I'm into my third trimester to see how things are progressing, and then they'll decide on an induction date from there.

How far apart in age will Trenton and the new baby be?
- They will probably be about 14 1/2 months apart depending on when the induction actually happens.

Are you going to find out the sex of the baby?
- Yes, but that won't happen until a few weeks after we return from our trip to Texas.

How long have you guys known that you were pregnant?
- We found out a few days after returning from our Outer Banks vacation, so we've known for about 7 weeks.

Now for the fun part....PICTURES!!!

6 Weeks

9 Weeks

9 Weeks #2

12 Weeks
12 Weeks - Am I carrying a baby or a primate?

Baby Smith #2 in 3D at 12 weeks

Howl-O-Scream

After a pretty nasty weekend, the sun decided to come out this afternoon. As soon as the sun came out, we knew we were going somewhere. We decided to check out Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens Europe.

We started out at Sesame Street's Enchanted Forest to watch Count Dracula's Spooktacular Adventure. Before the show started, Jarrod took Trenton on a little water ride. I was browsing around the Sesame Street store though and didn't snap any pictures. Trenton enjoyed the show and paid attention to the whole thing. His favorite part was after the show when the characters came out to meet the kids. Trenton's favorites were Bert and Ernie!

Next, Trenton and Mommy went to check out the Grey Wolves while Daddy went through a haunted house. We met up with Daddy at the wolf show after he finished the haunted house, and then went to find some dinner in Italy.

After dinner we split up again so that Daddy could take advantage of the short lines at the roller coasters and so that he could go through more haunted houses and mazes. Trenton and Mommy headed over to Ireland to watch the Jack is Back show. We got there plenty early so that we could get front row seats. Trenton LOVED the show! It was a bunch of singing and dancing, and he was smiling and giggling the whole time. We had people come up to us after the show to say how much they enjoyed watching Trenton during the show!

Just as Jack is Back was ending, they started letting people in the theater for Monster Stomp, so we decided to go in since we still had a while before we needed to meet up with Daddy. The show was full of singing and dancing monsters and vampires and also some "Stomp" like beats. My favorite was when the guys made music with knives and a butcher block.

We met up with Daddy after Monster Stomp was over. He had been through six haunted houses and mazes, and rode three roller coasters (two of them twice)!. We all had a great time, but it was time to head home for the night! We can't wait to go back to Howl-O-Scream next year!

(Click on the picture below to take you to a Picasa Web Album of more pictures and videos.)

2009-09-27 Howl-O-Scream

Gap Casting Call

We entered Trenton in Gap's Casting Call. You can vote for him to be the "Fan Favorite" at http://family.go.com/gapcastingcall/. Scroll down to "Search Entries" and type my member name, navywife1014, into the search. You will be taken to a gallery where you can vote on Trenton's photos. You can vote on each photo once a day, every day through November 17th. Let's see how well Trenton can do!!!

Bradley & Courtney's Trip to Virginia

My brother, Bradley, and his fiancee, Courtney, flew out here to stay with us for an extended weekend. We had a great time showing them around the area, and Trenton enjoyed being spoiled by his Uncle Bradley and Aunt Courtney.

Here is a quick rundown of all of our sight seeing:

Saturday - We spent the afternoon at Historic Jamestowne. Jarrod and I had been to the re-created settlement with costumed interpreters, but we hadn't ever been to the National Park on the island where the first permanent settlement in the United States began. We toured the grounds, walked around the museum to take a look at all of the archaeological findings, and went to the glasshouse. That evening we met up in Williamsburg for dinner with family from Richmond.

Sunday - What a beautiful day! We went by Virginia Beach in the morning so that Bradley and Courtney could see the Atlantic Ocean. Next we headed up to Fort Story Army Base to tour the Cape Henry Lighthouse. We took turns watching Trenton because children under 42 inches were not allowed in the lighthouse due to some ladder climbing. On August 7, 1789, the lighthouse became the first federal building authorized by the United States government under the Constitution. The lighthouse was completed in 1791 at a cost of $17,600. The lighthouse was damaged in Civil War fighting and was repaired as best as it could be. 1881 was the last time the lighthouse shined. At that time, a new lighthouse a couple hundred yards away came into service. Another interesting fact about Cape Henry is that it was named by the Jamestowne settlers. They landed at Cape Henry and briefly explored the area before moving on to Jamestowne. We spent the afternoon at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens. Trenton really enjoyed the World of Wonders Children's Garden. The other kid (Bradley) had fun chasing geese. There is a lookout at the gardens where you can sit and watch the planes takeoff and land at the Norfolk International Airport. They also have speakers set up so that everyone can hear Air Traffic Control and the pilots.

Monday - Trenton and I took Bradley and Courtney around the Yorktown Battlefield. We spent the morning at the museum, met up with Jarrod for lunch at Yorktown Beach, toured the downtown area, and then toured the actual battlefields. Bradley has always been a huge history buff, so this was right up his alley.

Here is a link to a Picasa Web Album I put together with pictures from the weekend. Click on the picture, and it will take you to the album.

Bradley and Courtney's Virginia Visit 9-18-09 - 9-22-09

Charles City County Fair

We traveled up to north of Williamsburg this afternoon for the Charles City County Fair. Even though I knew not to expect it to be like the Wharton County Youth Fair, it was a total letdown. Everything (farm exhibits, arts & crafts, and the midway) would have all fit in the Ammann Barn...easily. I was expecting Trenton to be able to see cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, etc., but the farm exhibits only consisted of vegetables people brought in from their gardens to be judged. There wasn't even a petting zoo. :(

The one saving grace was the fall scene that was set up outside the exhibit hall. We were able to take some fun pictures with it!

Check out Mommy's shirt that she made last week with her new sewing machine!

Labor Day Weekend

We took a trip up to Washington DC for the weekend. Jarrod, Trenton, Bailey, and I stayed with our friends Tim and Stacy, their 1 year old daughter Ella, and their dogs, Cameron and Katie.

Day 1

We spent our first day in town at the National Zoo. Trenton got to see pandas, tigers, lions, chimps, a moo cow, a hippo, and snakes. The highlight of the zoo was the baby gorilla, Kibibi. Kibibi is eight days older than Trenton. Kibibi enjoys climbing all over her mom just like Trenton enjoys climbing all over his mommy and daddy!

Tian Tian

Baby Kibibi and her mom, Mandara

Mommy and Trenton with the gorilla daddy, Baraka, in the background

Trenton's listening to the zoo volunteer talk about chimpanzee hands.

Daddy and Trenton are looking at the snakes!

Trenton was much more interested in trying to climb over the fence than petting the moo cow!

Day 2

The second day of our trip we went to Paloma Koemp's baptism in Arlington. She was baptized at the same church where they do all of the funerals for Arlington National Cemetery. Paloma's mommy and daddy, Ray and Kellyanne, and big brother, Chris lived down the road from us in Guam. Ray and Jarrod were also roommates on the sub. The baptism was like a mini Guam reunion! We had so much fun catching up with everyone at the reception following the baptism that we forgot to take pictures of everyone!

Real men wear pink!!!

Since we weren't able to use a flash during Mass and Trenton was wanting to explore, this is the only picture of the baptism I got that didn't turn out blurry.

Day 3

We went up to Baltimore, Maryland with Tim, Stacy, and Ella on the third day of our trip. Our plan was to take the kiddos to the aquarium, but we didn't realize that it would be so crowded. When we got there, the next available entry time was 4:15. The aquarium closed at 5:00. Luckily we were able find a phone number to Camden Yards to see if the Baltimore Orioles happened to be playing in an afternoon game at home. We were lucky because they were, and the game had started five minutes before we called. We all walked down to the park and bought our tickets. Daddy was very happy to find out that the Orioles were playing the Texas Rangers!

Ella and Trenton are wondering when they're getting some food!

The Smith family at the Baltimore inner harbor

We had some awesome seats in center field!

It was a nice breezy day....outside of the park. The babies stayed cool by holding on to the guys' cold drinks.

Matt Albers pitched the eighth inning of the game for the Orioles. Matt's grandmother lives across the road from my parents.

The Johnston Family

Trenton was too hot to care about taking a family picture. This was the best we could do!

We had a great time on our Labor Day weekend trip! Thanks to the Johnston's for letting us stay with you! Trenton misses crawling around after Ella, and Bailey misses chasing Katie all over the house.