Food Calendar

Many folks local to our home have kindly volunteered to bring us meals over the next few weeks while we adjust to life with a new born. To facilitate the meal plan our friend Sherrie put together a Google Calendar for people to use so that there is not a lot of overlap. Click on the calendar icon below to access our Lil' Smock meal calendar if you are interested.

Friends come to visit

Many of daddy's friends stopped by to say hi to the big fella. Quin loves to be held by friends...

Quin has 100th diaper changed!

Lucky Grandma Pattie gets to do the doodoo with Quin!

Quin sleeps in the old Smith Family bassinet

Many a Hans Martin have slept in this bassinet, as well as numerous other Smiths and relatives. Quin is the latest to get to put his name under the mattress board as an official occupant.

Such a sweet guy

Quin makes his mom and dad very, very, happy...

Flying over the Cascades

Glacier Peak gave a good show during Quin's first flight.

1st Christmas with Great Grandmas is extra special

Bears on the Loose!

2 cuddly bears escaped from the zoo! Their names are Tommy and Quin. Have you seen them?

3rd day visit by our Midwife Blue

Making sure the "suckle" looks good.


Upon our first reunion there was a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Finally - Home Sweet Home

News Flash - Mom Gets Up and Walks Out of Hospital 36 Hours After Surgery!

Eyewitness photo of Quin's mom walking out of the hospital Sunday morning. When asked why she able to walk out under her own power so quickly she replied, "The staff was great, but the food was aweful. I was hungry, and besides, I had a Christmas tree at home that needed decorating."


The fearless duo leave their hospital room together for the first time.

Santa came Early this year

The jolly guy in red left us his favorite raindeer this Christmas... Thanks Santa

Grandparents Represent

Hospital Pics - Just after Birth

Momma holds Quin for first time



Birth is hard - its time to eat!


A very happy family!

Quin - a little background

To try and save us the effort of explaining this peculiar name, we're going to provide here a brief description of why H.M.S V is nicknamed "Quin".

The most direct answer is this: He is the fifth Hans Martin Smith in a row. His dad is the fourth (IV), and was the first HMS to actually go by the name Hans. All others used nicknames in common life.

Our reasoning for the name is this: the last thing we want is the confusion of 2 trouble-makers with the same name running around in the same house. When we decided to name the new-one Hans the V, we knew he needed a quality nickname to distinguish him from the other 4 Hanses. Since being #5 is pretty unique, we thought a play on words would be fitting.

According to Wikepedia - "Common nicknames for a junior or II include "Chip" (as in "chip off the old block") and "Bud" (predominantly in the American South). Likewise, a common nickname for a III is "Trey" which denotes that the nameholder is the third in a line."

Unfortunately, Wikepedia doesn't provide the nickname for a V - so we went with "Quin" because that is a latin root for 5 (Quinque). Y'all have heard of a quintuplet or a quintet... You get the point.

So feel free to call this little one Quin or Hans. Either one is correct. Just don't call him "Quinn" - because that is some Irish or Scottish dude named as a "Descendent of Con" (although it also infers wisdom - so Quinn is not all that bad. But it is not really correct...).

For those that know - You ain't seen nothin' like the Mighty Quin(n)!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quinn_the_Eskimo_(The_Mighty_Quinn)

It's a Boy (a big big big boy)!!!

After 43 hours of labor - most of that at home - Lil' Smock emerged bravely into the new world as Hans Martin Smith V (going by the nickname "Quin"). Quin was born at 9:19 p.m. on December 19th. He was 9 lbs 4.5 ounces. Quin ended up being born cesarean due the fact that he was huge and occiput posterior in the uterus (facing backwords - but still head down). After 40+ hours of labor at home, we packed our bags and headed to the hospital to see what was going on. Upon arrival, our doctors advised us that they didn't like Quin's heart rate reduction and the presence of muconium. We quickly came to the conclusion that the best thing for Quin was to get him out ASAP - so momma Smock selflessly, and without hesitation, gave up her aspirations for a natural home birth and decided to go into surgery.

All of our birth team (doula, midwife + assistant, and our parents) came to the hospital, and everyone but the parents joined us in the operating room. The medical team was brilliant and truly tender and caring, and they brought our little bundle of joy to us healthy and safe. Needless to say, we are exceptionally please with the results, and we're deeply touched by all the hard work and devotion put forth by our birth team, parents, and hosptial staff in getting Quin to us in wonderful condition. Everyone did their part perfectly!

Soon to follow: lot's of pics of Quin and the happy family! Stay tuned....

8 a.m. Friday Morning - Still in Labor

They don't call it "labor" for nothing. We are going for a record long labor here, but things are still positive and everyone is healthy. There is a strong possibility that we'll head to the hospital later today if we don't progress much more this morning. Momma Smock has displayed incredible courage and strength throughout yesterday and today. She is truly my hero and has earned her right to motherhood. Our birth team is working tirelessly with us. We are so blessed to have these souls here helping, and your thoughts and prayers guiding us. We cannot wait to meet this stubborn child!

Love to all....

Update

Tis almost 10 p.m., and we're still working on it. There has been lot's of activity, but it looks like we've got farther still to go. Our night may be long, but we're ready for the long haul. Keep us on your minds and in your prayers. We know you are - we can feel it!

We're Having a Baby Today!!!

We are currently at 2 cm dialation. Things are progessing. The snow is a beautiful backdrop outside for our special day. Soon to be found out... Boy or Girl?

Snowing again - but still no Smock

We're supposed to get 4 - 8 inches today and tonight. Finally!

The H2O event on Monday was not the bag of waters, but we did get an ultrasound yesterday that showed the baby is low in the birth canal and there are small contractions taking place. Everything is healthy and normal - just 2 weeks behind schedule.

Looks like the kiddo could be 8.8 lbs according to the ultrasound. That is a rough estimate, but there is no doubt we've got a big baby on our hands.

Lets see if this weeks snow can get things going...

Lil' Smock in a few years (Get Morphed!)

+ =


Well, nothing to report - except some possible H2O leakage - but somehow we're not so sure about that. To pass the time - here is a possible outlook on what lil'Smock might look like thanks to MorphThing.com. Hopefully nature is kinder to the kid than the MorphThing image combiner program...

We Have Snow! (but no baby yet)

Back yard looking white and beautiful.




Labor induction Methow style - we'll see if it works!

Still Waiting - but feeling close!

We took a walk this afternoon to the hill nearest our house. Cold but beautiful outside!