Good Times

1998 ~ 10 year class reunion, November 22, 2008.

Sid and I with one of my 8th grade boyfriends, Skipper Brown, and his wife Karley.

This weekend Sid and I attended my 10 year high school reunion. After months of planning the reunion with several of my classmates, it finally all came together! It was great seeing some of my classmates that I haven't seen in 10 years! Many still looked the same, while others had changed dramatically!

Our D.J. was awesome, bearing lottery tickets as prizes for the categories game. Sid and I happened to win 2 categories! We have been married the longest (6 1/2 years) and we have the most children! These are not exactly what I thought my winning categories would be as I graduated 10 years ago, but I am proud of these accomplishments.

Sid was especially excited to meet several of my past boyfriends! While adorning my picture on his name tag, Sid was approached by two of my eighth grade boyfriends. Wow, talk about awkward...especially since Sid works with one of them at the hospital and neither of them knew they had me as a connection!

We thoroughly enjoyed our child-free evening at the reunion. At this point, our ideal child-free evening would be getting in bed by 9:00 and sleeping in until 8:00! This MAY happen in about 18 years! As for my parents, AKA the babysitters, they were glad to offer their services. Next time they would prefer their hot water heater was working! They had to bring the kids to our house so they could all have a warm bath. In addition, they would probably prefer the kids' bedtime to be before we left for the evening! Watching the three of them is not an easy task!

As for mom, her visit to Emory on Wednesday went well. She will begin her breathing treatments again soon. She has been instructed to begin slowly and work her way back up to a comfortable dosage. Although the doctors do no think this is the solution to mom's problems, this is what she will need to do until science has more to offer. The pains in her arms and chest are just occurrences due to pulmonary hypertension. They have also prescribed an inhaler to assist in her breathing. She will go back again next month for a follow up.

Dayna, Brad, and Lilly Anne were discharged from the hospital on Thursday. On Friday Lilly Anne went to the doctor for a checkup only to find out that her bilirubin was elevated. She had a bili bed in front of the window for the weekend. This allowed her to microwave enough to lower her levels dramatically. With a little supplementing of formula mixed with some breast milk, she is well on her way to sleeping in her own bed (rather than the bili bed.)

As many already know, I love teaching. The love for kids and teaching them skills for life runs in our family. Today I was nominated for teacher of the year along with 2 other teachers. This is a great honor. This is only my 3rd year at Fair Street, 7th year of teaching, and to know others are aware of my love for the children at our school humbles me. Although I was not ultimately chosen as our teacher of the year, I feel as though I am one step closer to my personal goal. Sharing my love for teaching through my actions toward the students as well as my coworkers is truly my calling. One day I hope to follow in my mother's footsteps, becoming teacher of the year for my school and possibly for the entire system. My mom has always been an inspiration. I have big shoes to fill and many footsteps to catch up with, but I look forward to the day I can walk along with my mom. She is an amazing woman!

I received a letter from my endocrinologist, only to find out that my Prolacin levels (lactating when I am no longer nursing) are still elevated! I am instructed to continue taking the medications I have been taking for a month and a half. No other test results have been presented, therefore either of two things could have happened. One, she may not have had the blood run for anything other than my prolactin levels, or she has not had the time to look at the other results in order to let me know what to continue or discontinue. I see a second opinion in my near future!

For Thanksgiving our family will be at Stone Mountain. We are taking our camper and meeting up with mom and dad, grandpa Bob and grandma Lil, Uncle Donn and Aunt Jenny and their 4 kids. Mom and dad left on Sunday and took Lainey Bug along! When the babysitters leave, you have no choice but to send the baby with them! I am not sure dad was prepared for the amount of things I packed for Lainey, but he grinned and loaded them up! It is amazing how the smallest person in the house requires the most stuff! We love camping and this will give Sid and I some much needed rest from our everyday hustle and bustle. The kids think the "Big Mountain" is awesome and have been ready to go since we mentioned it last week. On Thursday, Dayna, Brad, and Lilly Anne will join us for our Thanksgiving meal at our campsite. Mom and dad will be leaving Stone Mountain on Friday to go to Athens for the UGA vs. Georgia Tech game!

This year we have so much to be Thankful for. We are thankful for all of our friends, family, and people who follow our story with loving hearts and prayerful minds. We are thankful for our health. We are thankful for our two amazing little boys! We are thankful for the arrival of our little girl and to have her in our lives and our hearts. We are thankful for the numerous nurses and doctors that took care of Lainey in her most critical times. We are continuously thankful for the doctors who take care of Lainey on a regular basis. We are thankful for an overall healthy year for mom and dad. We are thankful to have parents that are able to care for our baby while we work and attend school. We are thankful for the safe arrival of many new babies in our lives, especially Lilly Anne! We are thankful for stability in our jobs and the ability to make it through the financially difficult time in our lives and in the country. Most of all we are Thankful to have God in our lives, for He is the reason we have everything else to be thankful for! Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

Love Always,

The Smithsons