Welcome Kinleigh Annelise Smoak

Yesterday was an exciting day for the Smoak family, as we welcomed another baby girl into the "outside the womb" world! Kinleigh Annelise was born early Friday morning, weighing in at 10 pounds 2 ounces! That is definitely the biggest Smoak baby to date. ha In fact, Kinleigh was born weighing more than Jane does at this very moment! ha Neisha and Chris labored and delivered at home with two attending midwives. I can't wait to get all the details!!! Congratulations Chris, Neisha, Ethan, Lauralei, Gracelyn, and Lilliana! I love you all and can't wait to meet Kinleigh!

* Funny sidenote: Two years ago, Liliana was born ~8/9 weeks before Graeme; and this year Jane was born exactly 6 weeks before Kinleigh. We are just trying to make sure mom and dad have a hard time remembering birthdays! wink

Watch out Paula Deen!

Ceilidh and I decided to make an apple pie yesterday while G-man was napping, aka: out of the way! ha Ceilidh was a WONDERFUL assistant. I was quite impressed with how she could figure out the measurements to fit the recipe. I think her favorite part was making the crust b/c she got to play in the dough! ha

We refrigerated our dough for 30 minutes before we rolled it out

She was so proud of herself! I love this picture!

Learning to flute the edges

Watch Paula; here comes Ceilidh D!

October fun

Just documenting some of our fun October days!

My beautiful helper

A little rainy day fun! ha

Hilarious! Graeme begged to wear a raincoat b/c Ceilidh was wearing one that day. He doesn't have one, so he was determined to wear one of Ceilidhs'.

Graeme was preaching to us! ha

Story time at home is never complete without kettle corn!

Super Woman vs. Abiding Woman

I know I have posted before about the struggle I have to be "super woman/wife/mom", all the while making it look effortless. I think this is a struggle that is pretty rampant among women in general. Some of my closest friends are the ones that I am completely honest with my mess. And I am a big mess... most of the time! ha I found this at Ann VosKamp's blog, so I am sure many of you have seen it already. I need it tattooed to the back of my eyelids!

A month already?

I am actually a bit late posting this, so Jane is actually a month and 3 days old! wink Though it is hard to believe it has already been a month, it also feels as though she has always been around. I don't want to lose the "new-ness"/giddy feelings of having an infant, but I do enjoy the comfortableness we have experienced with her. I don't know if that is attributed to her being #3 (to bring home); or that we are physically, emotionally, and psychologically in a different place than we have ever been before.

Ceilidh really wanted to write out Jane's one month sign. She wrote it in the corner of the paper, but you couldn't see it that well. She then decided to write it in monster letters under the 1. HA

I think she was passing gas at this point, but it is still cute! HA See how light her hair is getting?! At least for a baby with Smoak blood.

Water Wheel extravaganza 2011!

We had such a great time even with Andrew's eye and heart issues last year, that we decided to make the "Clendenin" camping trip an annual event. Thanks for the early on organization Caitlin! The weather was BEAUTIFUL! I was a bit concerned (ok, a lot concerned) about the almost four hour drive one way to Celo; but the children were amazing. All three slept most of the way up to Linville on Thursday, and went to sleep like champs at Grappy and Granddaddy's mountain house. Jane slept the whole way home, but somehow, Graeme and Ceilidh stayed awake the entire trip back. G man finally gave in around Seagrove, but Ceilidh refused sleep until literally the Carthage city limits! ha

We had a hotdog and smore roast, hiked, drove to Mount Mitchell's new observation deck, drove on the Parkway, etc. It was a wonderfully laid back and fun few days. The highlight of Graeme's trip (maybe even the highlight of his life to this point! ha) was driving through the Twin Tunnels on the Parkway. Andrew rolled down the windows and beeped his horn like a train through the whole thing. The ENTIRE ride back to the house, Graeme did train sounds! It was adorable for the first 5 minutes. The last 25 minutes took a lot of unconditional love to make it back! HA

Ceilidh was in her element running around outside. She LOVES being "in nature" collecting rocks and leaves, climbing, playing in the river water, etc. I love this about her. I can't wait until it is a bit easier for our family to camp and hike together. Though I enjoy being outside as well, I don't mind "camping" in a house at night! HA Suzanne, Lauren, the babes, and I held down the fort in the warmth. It was wonderful to spend time with Lauren and Suzanne. I don't get to see Lauren very much, and when we do, it usually involves the whole family. Therefore our attention is divided. After the children were in bed this weekend, I had uninterrupted time with the two of them! One night we stayed up to 1:30! ha Thanks for being such great housemates you two! We should do it more often! I could go on and on, so I will just leave the rest to pictures.

Thought I would throw this one in b/c A. It is cute and B. To have a picture of Jane in this post. All the pictures she is in, you can't see her b/c she is wrapped up! ha

The first day they were already giving me the "stop taking pictures" look!

Love my men!

*Tear*

Our "Sus"

Buddies

Feeling the cold mountain water

Trying to skip rocks five feet from the water and a boulder of a rock! ha

Just beautiful

Daddy showing him how to do it!

Jackets wrapped around a Moby look weird, but I still love this picture!

Yummy goodness!

I think he ended up eating 6 or 7 marshmellows before the night was over

Got to get a picture of Pete! ha

Favorite of the weekend!

The rescued water wheel!

A trip in the Fall is never complete without leaf throwing!

My future rock climber

This is on the observation deck at Mount Mitchell. Too bad I'm a terrible photographer and can't center pictures! ha

Our hair in the next couple of shots is crazy, but still wanted to include them!

Great picture of the Thomas family

The ladies!

Hopefully next year's camping trip will coincide with peak week again!

I love nursing!

As much as I love/advocate natural childbirth; I also advocate breastfeeding. There are NUMEROUS reasons I love nursing and really encourage my family/friends to give it a try. It can be difficult for some mothers (especially first-time moms), but the majority of women and babies have worked out the "kinks" by four weeks. I encourage moms to try it for at least four weeks before giving up. I usually don't read Babycenter articles because a lot of their articles are common sense and redundant. For some reason, this article caught my eye though, and I'm glad it did. I know my hormones are still in a crazy post-delivery state, but I actually teared up reading this. It NEVER ceases to amaze me how intricately and phenomenally God created our bodies and how they function. Though none of the article was necessarily new information, to read this while currently nursing makes me smile and release even more oxytocin! ha

This is an article from Babycenter.com:

Breastfeeding is like a hike through the woods: Natural, but not always simple. In fact, it can be challenging, breathtaking, and full of the unexpected.

Here are the big breastfeeding surprises moms reported to us:

The hormones can be intense

It's the ultimate paradox. Here's this odd-looking creature sporting a belly-button stump, acne, and peeling skin. He can't even hold a decent conversation, let alone get you a cup of coffee – and yet whenever you nurse him, you're filled with head-over-heels devotion. What's up with that? We have one word for you – oxytocin.

This powerful hormone is responsible for breast milk "letting down," or moving to the front of the breasts. And it also happens to be the same chemical released in the brain when a person falls in love, says Laura Viehmann, assistant professor of pediatrics at Brown University and spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatricians. No wonder you couldn't care less about all that spit-up and poop! You're too busy swooning.

Another hormonal effect of nursing – particularly in the newborn period – is a feeling of deep relaxation, which can easily tip over into drowsiness. "It's the same kind of sleepiness people feel after a big meal," Viehmann says. And just like that post-Thanksgiving sedation, it's difficult to resist. "I can be wide awake and full of energy, but I sit down to breastfeed and I'm half passing out," says one mom.

Viehmann's advice? Recognize that the drowsiness has a purpose and give in to it, even if only for a ten-minute catnap. "Research shows that mothers who take advantage of these small naps will achieve an extra one to two hours of sleep per day," Viehmann says. Just make sure you nurse in a safe place where your baby can't fall or get trapped in a cushion if you doze off.

Unfortunately, not all the hormonal effects of nursing are positive. Some women report uncomfortable sensations before or during letdown, such as an uneasy feeling in the stomach, weakness, sweating, and even an odd sense of melancholy. These feelings are often temporary and can be replaced by more positive ones.

But if you're concerned about how you're feeling, or if you're having problems with breastfeeding, don't hesitate to check in with your doctor.

Breastfeeding helps (some) women lose their pregnancy weight

As your baby grows from a fragile-boned newborn into a delicious butterball, you may notice your own weight dropping. You can thank nursing for transferring those pounds.

"Breast milk is a high-fat, high-caloric food," says Robert Wool, associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Tufts University. "And the baby basically sucks those calories right out of the mother's body." Hence, the incredible shrinking mommy. As one mom says, "The weight just fell off."

However – and unfair as this seems – the nursing weight-loss plan doesn't work for everyone. Some moms find their metabolism slowing to a frustrating crawl. "I nursed my son for 27 months and it didn't help me lose weight. Then I lost 15 pounds within about two weeks after weaning," one mom reports.

In fact, in a poll of BabyCenter moms, 40 percent say breastfeeding didn't help them drop pounds while 60 percent say it did. Is there a physiological difference between the two groups?

Possibly, says Viehmann, although there's not a lot of research data in this area yet. "One of the breastfeeding hormones is also involved in digestion. For some nursing women, this hormone may become more efficient, so they don't need as many calories," she says.

Your breasts can leak – a lot

When it comes to leakage, your breasts may seem to have tiny minds of their own, particularly in those early postpartum weeks. Like an internal alarm clock, they may dribble – or spray – milk when it's time for a feeding, says nurse and lactation consultant Claudia Perry. They may also leak whenever you hear your baby cry or, for that matter, when you hear any baby cry. Photographs, videos, or just thoughts of your baby can get that dairy faucet pumping.

"Even baby animals and babies on television can set me off," one mom reports. Another says, "At first, I couldn't leave the house without nursing pads because I knew the second I saw or heard another baby, or even thought about my baby, I'd leak everywhere."

Once again, oxytocin – the hormone responsible for your letdown reflex – is the culprit. Like a good party host, your body knows that it's better to have too much food available than not enough. While those wet spots on your blouse can be a bit embarrassing, think of the leaking as nature's way of making sure your baby always has enough to eat.

Some women, says Perry, have occasional leaking long after they've weaned their babies – sometimes even a year later! It just goes to show that we should never underestimate the power of those hormones.

You can be lopsided

Feeling a little uneven? It's not your imagination. Many moms find that one breast consistently produces more milk than the other. If this is the case for you, you can chalk it up to the fact that you have a different number of milk-making ducts on each side. "Humans aren't perfectly symmetrical," says Perry. "Just as one foot can be bigger than the other, one breast can have more ducts than the other."

Of course, what this means is that the more productive breast may be bigger as well as fuller. Again, this is normal. "I am completely lopsided! Righty is way bigger than lefty – probably at least a cup size. I call the right side the workhorse," says one mom.

You can also cause uneven milk production if you feed your baby more from one breast than the other. (The breast you use more will produce more milk.) But if you're giving each breast equal time and still noticing a difference in output, it's likely a duct issue.

You can't change the number of ducts you have. The fuller side will probably remain more productive the entire time you nurse your baby – and it will likely be more productive for your next baby as well.

Your breast milk is perfectly tailored to your baby

Imagine if every single time you were hungry, you were served a delectable, satisfying meal that contained the perfect balance of electrolytes, fats, and nutrients for your body at that particular time. Welcome to your baby's world.

"The joke is that breast milk is a 'soup to nuts' meal," says Miriam Labbock, pediatrician and director of the Carolina Global Breastfeeding Institute at the UNC School of Public Health, meaning it's a full-course feast. "The first milk is more watery, so it addresses the baby's thirst. As the feeding continues, the milk becomes higher in fat. It's like starting with broth and ending with a hot fudge sundae." This setup allows your baby to get her electrolyte needs met at the beginning of the feeding and her energy needs met with the creamier milk at the end.

In addition, says Labbock, starting with the watery part is easier on the baby. "This allows the infant to avoid having to fight with the heavy cream right away," she says. "The cream comes only after the milk is flowing nicely."

Amazingly, your breast milk gives your baby exactly what she needs immunologically as well. "The components of the milk shift so that it always complements whatever antibodies the baby is low on at that particular time," Labbock says. This is why breastfeeding can actually keep your baby from getting sick.

As if this weren't enough, your breast milk changes throughout the day, with more sedating properties being released in the evening. It also changes as your baby grows older to meet her ever-changing nutritional needs. In short, it's the perfect food. And judging from the look of drunken satisfaction on a well-fed baby's face following a feeding, it tastes pretty good, too.

The big 3-0!

Andrew has entered another decade! I have so much I could/want to say, but we would never make it to church today if I did it right now! ha I will post later, but right now I will leave you with a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANDREW!!!!! I'm so thankful you stole my heart on a chilly February evening (in front of Lenior) at the beginning of this last decade. I can't imagine my life without you the last 9 years! I love you so much.

New beginnings

Before I reflect on some big changes for our family, I have to share a conversation Andrew, Ceilidh, and Graeme had this morning. Ceilidh has been telling Andrew he needed to shave his beard for a few days now. She started talking about it again this morning, and Graeme pipes up with, "No Ho Ho Dada, shave that beard!" Graeme was literally telling him that he wasn't Santa, therefore he didn't need a beard! haha Ceilidh was trying to boost his self-esteem when she said, "Yea, you don't have a Santa belly either Dada!" This is one of my favorite things about having children. You NEVER know what is going to come out of their mouth!

We have had quite a few "big life" decisions to make the last couple of years. Some of my favorite attributes that Andrew possesses, are his faithfulness and work ethic. He is one of the hardest workers I know, never shying away from responsibility. He has a loyalty to anything he is doing, almost to a fault. There have been many days in our past that I have been legitimately worried about his health, but he was determined to go to work or class.

I write all this to say how incredibly proud of him I am for having to make yet another "big life" decision that was really difficult. Andrew is 40 minutes into his last school day ever (unless God has plans we can not see AT ALL! ha) He recently accepted a position at Moore County's DSS starting in two weeks. Some might not think this is a big deal, as he did go to school to change professions. And that would be accurate. The big deal though, is this whole application/writing sample/interview process literally started back in May. He was really hoping to have made a clean break with the school and be working at DSS before the school year started. Obviously that didn't happen. Though he was completely transparent and fully disclosing with administration starting back in May, even keeping them updated throughout the summer; it goes against every grain in his body to "break" his commitment to the school after the school year has begun. (That was an awesome run-on sentence, btw! ha) We have had conversation after conversation about this, and whether he wanted to do this or not. And though a few of those conversations were "tense" at times and not always in agreement, I am completely in awe of his integrity and faithfulness. Many people wouldn't think twice about leaving a job for any reason, and definitely would not have informed administration months before it happening.

Though it was a difficult decision (commitment wise) to make, it was the right one for our family and his career. Andrew does work hard, and he is good at what he does. County level EC administration actually told him in a "check-out" meeting yesterday, that they hadn't seen paperwork like his in a long time. I hope DSS knows what they are getting. If they don't know now, they will soon. I love you Andrew, and I am so grateful for you and your willingness to make the "hard" decisions for our family!

Graeme has "chugged" into year two!

My sweet boy is two years old already! He is such a big boy all of the sudden, especially with little Jane around now. He continues to come up with some of the funniest things Andrew and I have ever heard, and he laughs and smiles ALL the time. Some how he got wind of the fact that two year olds are supposed to be moody and oppositional, so recently he has had his share of "moments." Other than that, he is a very happy and sweet child. My incredible sadness over Kenan is tempered many days by the thought of never knowing our Graeme. Obviously there would not have been a Graeme if Kenan had lived. We love you so much Graeme, aka G-man, Buddy, Buddy Graeme!

He LOVES trains, so we decided to make a train themed cake. There are quite a few cute train cake ideas out there, but I already had a round cake pan and thought this would be easier. And, if Graeme ever saw pictures of Zion's 3rd birthday party, he would totally feel jipped with any "train" cake that I could have done compared to Lydia's that year. ha It was amazing!

Mikayla meeting Jane for the first time

Waiting for the party to start

So sweet!

Caitlin meeting Jane for the first time. She surprised by coming home for Graeme's party and to meet Jane. Thanks Caitlin!!! We were so glad to see you!

The "little" boys!

We attempted a "train" ride down the road with all of our various riding toys.

Jack bailed! ha

Zion and Ceilidh shared the "caboose" role!

I know our neighbors were thinking, "What kind of strange family moved in next door!?" ha We literally had 23 adults and children meandering down our street with cameras and riding toys! ha That is just grandparents and siblings!

Sorry Cait, couldn't resist posting! wink

A great sibling shot.

Family photo (minus Jane who was inside avoiding the cool air) attempt #1

Family photo attempt #6 or so.... I spared you all the other attempts! Graeme was NOT going to look at the camera, much less smile. We gave up. ha

Everyone has been really great to make sure Ceilidh and Graeme have felt loved and special during this time of transition. Lauren and Randy brought a "big sister" book for Ceilidh. You know Ceilidh, it had to be read the second she opened it! ha