Boy, that boy is growing!

Happy two month birthday, Myles!  (I love that he was born on the 15 - the middle of the month seems so easy to remember!)

Oct 14.

I forgot to mention this in the last post, but Myles has a new cousin! Annalise Kennedy Smith was born on October 4. She looks a lot like her mama. It's amazing to see the size difference for just one and a half months age difference!

Smith cousins - Annalise and Myles. Oct 11.

We had our doctor's visit on Tuesday. Man oh man is he growing! He now weighs 14lbs and 4oz, which puts him in the 94 percentile for his age group. He is also 24" long, puts him at 85%. Technically we're out of 0-3M size clothes (which go up to 12.5lbs) and into the 3-6M size. However, he still fits into several of his 3M clothes, so I'll keep putting them on him.  He also got his 2-month vaccines. He did a great job - only took about 5 minutes to get him calmed down afterward!

My big, big boy! Oct 13.

We are loving the cooler fall weather. Myles and I go for a walk every day, maybe even more than one. (I did promise Mom I would beat her in Fitbit steps this week. It's quite a challenge!)

Out for a walk! He spends more and more time awake and looking around. Oct 13. 

For Chase's birthday last week I got him a piano book of Zelda songs, so I've been trying to teach him to play the piano a little bit. He's getting the hang of it pretty quickly, considering he's never learned to read music before. It made me thankful that I took piano lessons as a kid (even if I didn't practice very well) and renewed my determination that our children will have music lessons.

Myles and I spent some good time at Kara'a on Saturday. He came to the nail salon with us, where he woke up in his car seat after ten minutes, which made me and Kara nervous that he would start screaming and we wouldn't be able to pick him up. But he just sat there, content as could be, and watch all the action. He also got to play with Dexter, who has apparently decided that he does like this little wiggly human. It'll be so fun to watch them grow up together!

Becoming friends. Oct 10.

Dexter really didn't seem to mind being kicked in the face. Oct 10.

Oct 10. 

I love playing with Myles. He's so happy and smiley most of the time. He still loves wiggling and kicking. I caught him sucking his thumb the other day, but it was mostly an accident, I think. He hasn't really learned to separate his thumb from his fist (which he does like to suck and gnaw on).
His new trick is sticking his tongue out. It's adorable.

Playing "stick out your tongue" with Mommy. Oct 15.

Practicing tummy time - we're getting better! Oct 13.  

A Fun Weekend

We've had such a fun weekend! Mindy and Jeran and Allison came down to visit us and to celebrate my birthday (and take advantage of the three-day weekend). We spent a lot of time hanging out, playing with our cute babies, and playing Sporcle quizzes.
"We're really good at useless trivia!"
"That sounds like the Briscoe family motto."

She's been showing off the Briscoe tongue all weekend.

It was so crazy seeing how big and chunky and interactive six-month Allison is compared to our three-week Myles. Their lengths are not that dissimilar, but the girth of the thighs is an impressive difference. It was like a peak into the future. She can keep her head up (and arms and legs, like Superman or a boat) when on her stomach. She laughs and smiles in response to playing and specific songs. It will be so fun watching for those developments in Myles' future.

Other weekend highlights included walking on a nice trail not too far from our house - I've been wanting to check it out, and we finally had a good opportunity. Lots of wildlife there, too. Two deer, tons of butterflies, squirrels, and oh yeah, the copperhead snake Chase almost ran over with the stroller. That was fun.
We went to Kara's house for dinner on my birthday. The vegetable risotto was delicious! Kara got me a rocking camp chair for my birthday gift. Yay! I can't wait to sit on the deck and relax in my rocking chair. And cheesecake for my cake - could anything be better?
Kara also purchased a gigantic teddy bear for baby pictures - continual size comparison through the years kind of thing. We had lots of fun with that photo session!

Three weeks old!

So done with this. 

It was a super fun weekend, and I'm so glad to live near enough to one of my siblings to allow for these weekend visits. Thanks, Mindy and Jeran!

Oh, and we took lots of pictures of our babies. :)

There are two ways to love books - through reading or through eating!

One Week Old!

Myles is a week old now! It has been the best week of my life. First of all, he's an angel of a baby - eats well, sleeps well, poops and pees well (for those of you who don't have babies, just know this is a very good thing). He has a cute tiny cry, not too loud or high pitched. I love his little ears and his huge little feet.

My recovery has also been very smooth and relatively easy, so that made the week go by easier. We've even been on a couple of walks. It's nice to have some of the pregnancy discomfort gone. I can bend over again! And lay on my stomach!

Also making this week great is having my mom here. She has helped us with the baby, lending her experience, which makes the whole first week much less scary. She has helped organize and clean the house, putting up pictures and mirrors on the walls - which had previously been bare. She sewed a quilt! which I've been meaning to do forever (as in, I've had the kit for at least 7 years). Curtains were hemmed and sewed, hooks for towels put up, and a hundred other little things that make our house much more homey. And she made minestrone soup for us - I LOVE Mom's minestrone soup! I'll sure miss having her around when she flies back to Utah tomorrow. Love you, Mom!

Without further ado,
the part of the blog you've all been waiting for,
the very reason you even came to the blog today...

Myles! One week old!

His "one week old" photo shoot. 

His cute big feet! I think the line across the big toe is interesting.
Featured on both feet. 

He loves to chill out in the sitting burp position.
He's happy to just sit there and look around.

Checking out Grandma and Grandpa Briscoe.
Dad managed to have a long layover on his way home from a business
trip so he could meet his newest grandson. 

Just cute. Alert and skeptical, apparently. 

Some more one week photo shoot.

Cooperating for the camera - for the moment. 

Introducing Myles Thatcher Smith

What an amazing day it's been! That doesn't even come close to describing how I feel today but I don't know that there are any adequate words. Besides exhausted and thrilled. 

And of course, everything was worth it because we ended up with an absolutely beautiful little boy. 8 lbs flat, 21 and 1/4 inches long.  

Here's a bunch of pictures!

A big weekend

This was a pretty eventful weekend. On Saturday, Chase and I attended a childbirth class from the hospital. It was ALL day long, from 9am-4pm. I felt like I didn't learn too much that I didn't know already, but it was good to hear it from a more dependable source than blogs from pinterest. I did learn that I actually have felt a few contractions already. My doctor has been asking at the last several appointments if I'd experienced any contractions yet, and my answer was always no. But the class instructor explained that a contraction may just feel like my whole stomach is hard, instead of just where the baby's back or bottom is. Nothing painful or serious, it's just interesting.

My dad flew into Atlanta on Saturday also, so we got to spend some time with him on Saturday evening and Sunday. We spent our time going to Ikea (Chase had never been to any Ikea before), eating dinner at the cafeteria, and buying a daybed. We had a lot of fun trying to fit it into our Nissan. Chase and Dad had some nice bonding time putting it together.

Obviously we're still working on the nursery. At least I got the gifts and clothes sorted. 

Brothers and Baby Showers

It was a pretty exciting week for us - a returned missionary and the baby shower (and a bunch of less exciting stuff, too).

Chase's brother Jordan came home from San Bernadino, California on Wednesday. We had planned to meet his family at the airport to welcome him home, but we got hung up in traffic. Fortunately we made it just in time for me to drop Chase off at the terminal to see Jordan come out. Then we all went up to our church building where the member of the stake presidency released Jordan as a full time missionary. Chase was SO happy to have his brother home, he was bouncing around like an excited puppy!
We also got to hear Jordan talk in church today, and he had some pretty amazing stories to tell about being led by the Spirit and the power of the priesthood. My favorite was about how they randomly knocked on the door of a woman who "no hable ingles!" Well, luckily these were the Spanish speaking elders! When they asked if she had heard of the missionaries, the Mormons, she responded, "oh yeah! My brother is a 70!" Wait, what?

After dinner on Sunday.

 On Saturday morning, my friend Kara Harward (from my old ward - Paper Mill) threw a baby shower for me! We had a really good mix of people there - ward members and family and friends of Chase's family, and my friends, and a co-worker of Chase's. It was really fun and I was gifted with lots of really adorable baby clothes and a diaper bag and some blankets.

I can't believe I'm almost 37 weeks pregnant! I'm feeling rather huge, but lots of people tell me that I still look (relatively) small. That's good, I guess. Good for my vanity, anyways. My newest development is swollen ankles. Not so good for the vanity. But all things considered, I'm feeling great and looking good!

Last week - 35 weeks, 6 days!

July 19 - 36 weeks, 5 days!

Camping Weekend

This last weekend we had a fun, adventurous camping trip with Mindy and Jeran to the North Carolina highlands. Friday night we arrived at a nice little campground called Blue Bear Mountain Camp. Mindy and Jeran were nice enough to arrive earlier and get a fire going.

It's an exciting life.

On Saturday morning, we headed over to Grandfather Mountain. On the way up to the top, we stopped by the nature museum and the wildlife habitats. We had a lot of fun watching the bears and otters. There were eagles and deer as well, but those were slightly less exciting. The cougars weren’t visible at all.  The black bears were funny. One really liked yawning and sticking her very long tongue out. The biggest one liked to sit and clean his paws, walk through the pond, sit back down in his exact spot, and clean all his paws again. Over and over.

We drove up to the parking lot for hikers and got ready for our crazy hike up to the “Mile-high swinging bridge”. The hike was pretty steep with lots of switchbacks, and the path was mostly big rocks like steps. The bridge was AWESOME! Its total elevation was 5,280 feet, but it’s suspended only 80 feet above the gorge. It was pretty swingy though. The bridge takes you out to a rock outcropping, where you can look over the valleys below. Except that one side of the valley was completely covered with some low clouds. My phone lost power pretty quick, but luckily Mindy and Jeran were being good photographers.

We then decided to hike back on a different path, but then decided to keep going to Macrae Peak. There was some pretty crazy hiking, with ladders tethered onto stone walls and cables to help people up steep areas. Also, once we hit the ridge of the mountain, it got kind of windy and pretty chilly. We kept going to the peak. And it was stunning. Awe inspiring. And quite cold.

When we finally made it back to the car, my FitBit said we’d gone 5 miles and 129 floors!

We spent most of the evening hanging out around the campfire and chatting. Mostly because we were really tired and it was downright chilly. Like, 35 degrees with 20 mph winds. Chase even conceded to sleep in the tent that night, instead of in hammocks like we did the first night. (FYI – I find sleeping in the hammock very comfortable, and Chase knows the secrets to making it not so cold).

Our camp with hammocks. 

Sunday morning we packed up and headed our separate ways. We headed towards Asheville via the Blue Ridge Parkway. It was a bit crowded, being a nice sunny Sunday with beautiful fall colors, but it was definitely worth the extra time. We paused in Asheville to visit Grove Park Inn (amazing!) and eat lunch and headed home. It was such a fun trip filled with gorgeous sights and some crazy adventures. Let’s do it again!

Fall colors on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Crazy, Wonderful Life

So, most of you know I got married this summer. Yay! I've been meaning to write posts about the bridal showers, the dinner in Utah, the wedding and reception in Atlanta, and the honeymoon. Yeah, hasn't happened.
Mostly, I'm just crazy busy with work and work and married life and spending time with Chase's family (his brother just left on his mission - quality time was required before that sad day!) and making food and trying to get to bed at a decent time (Chase does not share my views on appropriate bedtimes). When I do get a few minutes to sit down and write, I usually figure Thank you notes are more important. But I don't want to work on them today, so here's a tidbit of a blog instead.

Aunt Kara hosted a bridal shower for me on May 11, 2013. Mindy even came down to celebrate!

Chase and I flew out to Utah on May 30. I went through the Logan temple to take out my endowments on June 1, and that was followed by a big family/friends dutch oven dinner. (For which the food was fabulous and the decorations just amazing).

All of my loving and supportive family and friends at the temple.

The wedding was on June 21, 2013 at the Atlanta, GA temple. We had a wonderful photographer, Holly Jones. I loved her work!

My wonderful bridesmaids: Kalie Larkin, Erilyn Heintz,
Alyna Briscoe (MoH), and Sarah Hafen

The reception that evening was at a historic park nearby, Heritage Sandy Springs. (Did we get pictures?)

We went on our honeymoon to a cabin belonging to a Smith family friend in the North Carolina mountains, near Cashiers. It was beautiful and cooler and had lots of waterfalls nearby!