Kansas Celebrations

Well, we're back from a WONDERFUL time in Kansas visiting my family. I've got some great pics and a scintillating video to show you guys!

First of all the Kansas celebrations was a shower for us to celebrate baby Noah. We got a lot of great things and, more importantly, felt loved and cherished for this shower in the midst of all the busy-ness of Christmas.

My favorite present dates back a bit...here it is! It's a giant giraffe for Noah's nursery. I have to tell you guys the story. When I was little my Grannie and I were walking around the Dallas Galleria waiting for my aunt and grandfather to get done at market (for their shop). I saw a HUGE giraffe that was also made by one of the most expensive toy makers at the time (anyone ever heard of Steiff). I've heard different versions of this part, but the giraffe was apparently anywhere between $800 and $4,000! I begged my Grannie for it, and I think that was the only time she ever told me no! Hearing it now, I feel really bad and selfish, but at the time I sure didn't know how much money it was or I never would have asked! So for this shower, the huge surprise was a huge giraffe for Noah's nursery! I love it and I can't wait until we can put him up and until Noah is big enough to name him!It's really that tall! I think that it's got to be about 5 feet because it comes up to my shoulder, and I'm 5'6"! I am so pumped! Justin and I also got some other great gifts, including a man bag for Justin (thanks for the term, Seinfeld) and LOTS of cute clothes, as well as a Little People Noah's Ark!

Justin's Man Bag

Next was my dad's 60th birthday celebration. I've made a slide show for all these pics. It's hilarious, and, for the family, if you want any of these, email me and I'll send them to you!

And, here's the scintillating video I was telling you about. My uncle Tony is a great sport, so I don't think he'll mind this. He's my uncle by marriage, and he's married to my Aunt Kris (shown below).

And, last but not least, a few pics of our Christmas celebration. There were some strange gifts and a lot of meaningful ones, too! Thanks to all our family for all the gifts, and I'm sure John is thankful for Kelley's, as well as Sara finally being able to accomplish her life's dream with her new Easy Bake Lab.

I hope you all had a great holiday, and pardon me for leaving the Christmas theme up for just a few more days!

-Rachel

Happy Birthday, Justin!

Today is Jutin's birthday! It's an exciting day, complete with a card from Noah to his #1 Dad and SEVERAL voicemails full of birthday wishes. This Friday we went to our unofficial Sunday School Christmas party and they let me bring a cake to celebrate! Here's Justin blowing out his candles!

It was a great party and really great to catch up with these chics...and their husbands!

In the pic: Charmoin, Alison, Brandy, Me, Carissa

Oh, and for those of you who can't tell, I'm the girl who looks like I swallowed a basketball! It's crazy; I've really popped out! Melissa at work really did tell me today that I looked like I swallowed a basketball. My doctor says that I'm perfectly on target for weight, so it seems like all that weight is right there!

This weekend we're going to Austin and San Marcos for a conference for Justin and to watch the Hightower Hurricane play in the state semi-finals! Woo hoo! Go 'Canes!

Oh, and if you haven't checked out Justin's blog, you really should! There's a whole lot of stuff about Noah that's really interesting to read!

-Rachel

Diaper Poll!

Ok, I forgot this earlier today, but I need a lot of opinions! Girls who have just had boys (within the last year or two), I need your vote! Here are my questions:
1) What's the best diaper?
2) What's the best wipe?
Now, I need a lot of help here! We went to register today and I can't believe I forgot to take this poll before we did that! I didn't register for a single diaper or wipe today, so I need all your voices, and share with your friends, too! The more new mommies' votes I have, the better! Aunts, godmothers and grandmothers, share your voices, too!
Thanks! :)
-Rachel

21 Weeks!

Well, for all of you out there in blog land that wanted to see a picture of me pregnant, here's the first one I've taken.

It's been hard to see some of the changes in my body, but Noah's been moving a LOT this week, and it makes it all worth it. Yesterday, I actually SAW some sort of a limb moving on the left side of my abdomen. It's kind of weird to think that what's inside of me growing right now is a child that we'll soon be able to hold and love! There was a time three weeks ago where I thought I first felt him move, but after feeling him this week, I'm not so sure. The first time I was sure that Noah moved was November 15 in Tennessee. I went to see our nephew, Kory, in a horse show. Here's a picture of him from that exciting day!

Anyway, I hope things are well with all of you guys! Justin and I are off to register! Oh, and I hope you enjoy my festive new blog header and music! It will only be up for a month, so enjoy!

-Rachel

Baby Smith is a Boy!

Well, we found out yesterday that we'll be having a boy sometime around April 13! I'm so excited! He wasn't shy at all, and it's VERY CLEAR that we're having a boy. However, since I'm a modest Mommy, I'm not going to post pictures of my baby's stuff all over the internet, but I do have some video files to show you! We decided on the name Noah Ray Smith, and I hope you guys will pray for us as we prepare for our little boy. We've been shopping for beds and bedding, and we'll register later on this month. This is all so exciting, and I hope you guys enjoy the video and pictures as much as we did!

In the first video, Noah is almost sucking his right thumb and saying hello with his left hand. It's so cute! If I were a bragging Mommy, I'd tell you guys to look at how smart he is, waving already...from the WOMB!

Here's a good profile picture.

And, last but not least, here is Noah's little heart beating!

I hope you guys like this just as much (well, not as much, but like it a lot) as we do!

I've been tagged

Some of our friends back in the Dallas/Fort Worth area tagged me to find the sixth photo in the sixth file of my computer and post it here. Ashley, I can't tell you how well-timed this is! So, here it is!!! Aunt Kelley, this is what you get for saying bad things about NKOTB!

To give the rest of you a little background, this is my family Christmas in 2006. My family is not konwn for doing ordinary things for our Christmas celebration. About seven years ago, we had a spam-sculpting contest. For Justin's first Christmas with the Dickerson clan, we decorated our men in shaving cream to see who could look the most like Santa. Because Justin is a trim, lean, great-looking tennis machine without a 'belly like a bowl full of jelly', he lost but got a bloodied nose for his efforts! I'm not sure what we were doing this Christmas, but in the background of this picture my Uncle James (or Jim) is getting ready to have a Nerf shotgun war with his favorite present that year, which was given to him and my Uncle Tony by who knows whom and they had a battle right there in the living room, too small vests and all. Just to further illustrate this point, here's another picture of him, pre-battle.

We're a fun group (nope, I didn't say normal), and I can't wait to see what Christmas brings this year. Justin's going to be able to go with me, and I just can't wait! Maybe a draw our baby out of jello cubes contest or something?!

Goodbye Houston

Although Justin has yet to sign a contract, I wanted to let you all know that in July of 2009 we will be leaving Houston. Justin made a very difficult decision (I don't envy him, but I am SO proud of him) to let someone else take over for him as Chief Resident next year and take a position as a pediatrician in Abilene, Texas.

For those of you who have never left Houston (or Dallas), Abilene is in West Texas, about halfway between Lubbock and Fort Worth. There are no floods there, and there are lots of horses and wide open spaces for us to grow in to.

Abilene is where I went to college, about 30 minutes from where Justin grew up and where we fell in love. As a matter of fact, we got engaged at the Starbucks (yep, there was just one there at that time) in Abilene. Abilene is a smaller town, but there are lots of little bitty towns all around, so the doctors in Abilene serve quite an area with lots of great kids that need great doctors, which I'm happy to provide! So, after delievering a baby in April, I'll pack up our house and move in to a new house with a great nursery (thanks to my mom, who has some great ideas already).

Feel free to leave us posts if you have any questions, call or email us. We'd love to hear from you guys. This is a pretty big change, but I can't wait to finally settle down and dig deep roots in to the soil that will grow our future and our family.

On another note, I go back to the doctor for a routine check up on October 24, and then we're supposed to find out the gender of the baby on November 4. I'm voting for a boy! Get it... November 4 is election day!

Drama Queen...

Ok you guys! This baby is going to be traumatized if it's a boy with all your drama queen comments!!! Just remember this when I have a dramatic boy in April!

Really, we won't know what we're having for another 6 weeks, but I've been thinking that it was a boy all this time. It just feels like a boy, but we'll see! I've heard first-time moms are horrible at predicting!

We have a baby in there!

I went to the doctor on Thursday and heard the heartbeat! It was amazing, and it was in the 160s. I still don't feel great, but I'm starting to show a little bit and my clothes are tight. When I wear a dress, you can really tell!

Anyway, on Friday morning I went back for a triple screening and ultrasound. Justin wasn't able to come with me on Thursday to hear the heartbeat, but he was able to come on Friday. However, because the ultrasound was a "test", he couldn't join me in the room. I've uploaded some pictures, but they don't really do what I saw justice. I saw fingers and toes, witnessed a hiccup (though I still can't feel the baby move) and saw the profile of our baby. It was wonderful and, yes, I cried through most of the time that I could see the screen. The technician was excellent and showed me so much! I was sad that Justin missed it, but glad that I have pictures.

Right now, the baby has arms, hands, feet, a profile that you can see clearly and a big belly! So, I don't think I can call it a Lima Bean anymore 'cause it's a real baby in there! The pics below show that the baby has it's left hand draped over the forehead, and another picture shows it's legs are crossed at the ankles, but it wasn't clear so I didn't upload that one. Enjoy, and let us know what you think!!!

We've got power!

A quick update:

My school was cancelled all week, so we stayed with Justin's parents thorugh Tuesday night and made the long journey home in Justin's new truck (see below) to discover that our house still didn't have power. My school doesn't have power as of today, but we're slated to start school again on Monday.

Manly, huh?

We're blessed to have friends that live near the front of our development that let us come eat and hang out at their house since they got power on Sunday. Thanks to Melissa, Neal and Abbie for letting us invade!

Well, who would have thought that one could be SO HAPPY to have such a simple thing as electricity? Our power came back on at 8:00 pm last night, and I was so happy! I washed all the shelves in my fridge and went bee-bopping through the aisles of a far away Wal-Mart that is stocked with wonderful goodies, like milk, cheese, eggs and meat! I have to say that we're blessed beyond belief that our house is intact, but it's so nice to have power.

Other than that, I caught a few pictures of some of the weird things that happen during a hurricane. Here are three for your viewing pleasure.

1) I don't know if you can see it very well, but that Outback sign is precariously perched on it's original stand. The Outback was open, and there were people standing below this sign!!! I couldn't believe it. I would have been so nervous!

2) It's far in the background (although that sign is supposed to have something in it), but you can see that four sections of Reliant Stadium were ripped off the top of this monstrosity. What else is there to say? It's just plain weird!

3) Finally, this is on our street. Our fence is leaning a little bit, but these people certainly took the brunt of the fence destruction.

Our neigborhood has a lot of trees down, but most of us got power at the same time last night. There is a lot of fixing up that has to take place, but many people didn't have to go to work this week and have been home, fixing up and camping out. Overall, I praise God that we're safe, that our house has no damage and that He's provided wonderful weather to make this week so much more than tolerable. It's been fun to see how people come through times like this, and we've definitely seen the best in so many of our friends!

Philippians 4:19 states: "And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. " We have definitely seen God abundantly supplying our needs, and even giving us our desires. Praise God for His mercy and His lavish love.

We're

Thanks so much to all of you who have called, sent text messages and emails to see if we're safe. We did arrive at my parents' house safe and sound. Justin had to go back for a shift (don't worry, he's essential medical personnel so he didn't get pulled over because of the curfew) and we're going to meet in Abilene tomorrow to get him a new truck. Did we tell you his car woes? Well, if you don't know, we'll save you the sob story, but we're getting him a new car! A truck, to be exact! My school was cancelled Monday and Tuesday so we're using the time to go get his truck from a dealership in Ballinger, where his parents live. He's getting a new black 2008 GMC Sierra crew cab (he's got to have a door to put Beanie in his/her seat). We're really excited, but please pray that we'll have a safe trip.

Justin was able to spend the night in our house for two nights, but our neighborhood still does not have power. Praise God that there is no damage to our house, just a slightly leaning fence, but Justin says it's REALLY hot there. He's going to try to update his blog from the hospital before his shift ends, as that's the only place he has power to do so.

Other than that, things are really good. I'm feeling good in my air-conditioned parents' house, and we've got plans to see the rest of the family and get a new car! What could be better?

Goodbye Summer and Hurricane Ike

Well, summer seems to be officially over. :( To celebrate the end, Justin and I went to the Texas A&M versus Arkansas game. Although they lost, we did have a great time!

We stayed with Lindsay and Timothy, and we so enjoyed getting to spend time with them. I love what Lindsay has done with her house; it feels so much like a home, and we appreciated their hospitality!

Lots of you have called and emailed wondering about Hurricane Ike. My school is closed tomorrow and Justin will get off work about 7:00 am tomorrow (Friday, September 12), and then we're headed to see my folks in Fort Worth. I can't wait to see them, and hopefully we'll be guaranteed electricity (and we'll get some REALLY good food). Thanks for all your concern. Justin and I talked and can't remember what kind of hurricane insurance we have, so we'd appreciate your prayers for the safety of our house!
I went to Target today to get non-perishable food for our drive tomorrow, and it was boarded up! The city we live in is out of gas, so it's really weird to drive around. There aren't many people that are boarding up their houses, but I couldn't resist taking a picture of Target. Take a peek!


WEIRD, HUH?!?! Anyway, we'll post again when we know more about the weather and let you all know when we get somewhere safe!

First week of school down!

Thanks so much to all of you who prayed for me this week that I'd feel well. I felt great on Monday and good on Tuesday, so I really appreciated your prayers. Please keep them coming!
The last time I went to the doctor, she gave me some nausea medicine and I've been using that when I need it. I only had to run out of my classroom once, and there was a teacher walking down the hall when I did so who watched my class! What timing!
Other than that, things are great. We're very excited and I still can't believe I have a little lima bean growing inside of me!

Just a quick note...

Justin started a blog that will track the baby's development each week. I knew I wasn't the only one who wanted to have blogging fun! There's a link to it on the right under my favorite blogs. It's called Knit Together. Check it out!

Our Little Lima Bean!

Click on this picture to see the words!


Well, here's the latest! We're calling it our little lima bean, since we heard peanut was already taken!

We went to the doctor yesterday and she said that everything looks perfect. We got to SEE, but not hear, the heartbeat. It's beating at 126 beats per minute, which is great! We're very excited and couldn't wait to share these pictures with you all. She said that our estimated due date is April 13, 2009. That's just one week after I turn 27, so that's very exciting to us.

Several of you have asked how I'm feeling, and I'll tell you, it's not great all the time! However, I got some medicine so hopefully I'll be able to start school on Monday nausea free. You can pray for that, too!

Thanks for all your comments and prayers! Keep both coming. We're praying that it will be healthy and whole.

Love you all,
Rachel (and Justin)

It's time to start a blog...

I always told Justin that I would start a blog when I had something noteworthy to blog about. Well, that time has come! In mid-April, we're going to have a new addition to our home. Yep, I'm pregnant! Justin and I go to our first doctor appointment on Friday, August 22 at 4:00 pm. You can look for posts here about how that goes!

I know, for many of you this is a real shock! It wasn't very long ago that I didn't think that I'd be ready, and now here I am, hopeful about our future family and still a little nervous about actually HAVING the baby. I know that God is faithful and will prepare me, just as He prepared me for this step! We've told our families and are now ready to share our news with our friends. We're so excited to share this with you all, and can't wait for your words of wisdom! Post away, and we'll be updating as we get more news!