So I have seen a lot of different posts about home births and I just wanted to put in my two cents. When Lauren was born she had breathed in her meconium during the birth, and spent 3 days in the N.I.C.U. If she had been born at home the time it would have taken to get her to the hospital would have probably resulted in brain damage. My sister who works in the N.I. has babies all the time that need attention immediately. Fifteen minutes is the difference between life and death, or brain damage. These are babies who had perfect sonograms, but things happen all the time that are unexpected. If these babies are born in the hospital they can be healthy with no ill effects. My sister after seeing everything she's seen wouldn't deliver in a hospital without an N.I. I know some of you are saying my baby would have been perfectly healthy. But that's not the point. Some babies are not, and you cannot predict meconium or any other complication before hand. The percentage is small by why risk it.
I know that some people will say that women have been having babies for thousands of years. This is true, but childbirth used to be the biggest killer of women. And it was common for mothers to have one or more of their children die due to complications from birth. Just look at Afghanistan today, the percentage of women dying in childbirth is alarming. I agree that c-sections and pitosin are used more than necessary, but take a step back. Women all over the world would love to have that problem. In Africa women walk hundreds of miles to give birth in a hospital. The rise of c-sections is two-fold- One dr.s have to show they took some sort of action if they are sued. And O.B.'s are sued the most. So doctors are going to fault on that side. People expect perfect babies and sue if they don't get one. Second women want c-sections so it can be scheduled, they don't want natural childbirth, and they want to have the baby early to avoid stretch marks.
We are so spoiled in America to complain about c-sections, pitosin, heart monitors. All these things were invented to save lives, and they do. The thing is, it is easy to blame dr.s and not take any responsibility for ourselves. Your heath care is a partnership, you need to be informed and make your choices be know. You don't have to have a c-section, or pitosin, or a heart monitor, or even an I.V. If you don't like your nurse ask for a new one. Who cares if they think your a b****.
Find a dr. or mid-wife who understands your wishes. But even the most trained dr. cannot help your baby if you are not at the hospital. I think that we have a long way to go, to get childbirth were it should be. But it should be a positive dialogues, because we are blessed to give birth in the U.S.
The second thing I want to comment on is that dr.s give women c-section to make more money. Or the only reason you are treated well at the hospital is because you know someone who works there. That is so offensive to me. Most people have no idea what it takes to be a dr. The time and money is staggering. When people express this idea that dr.s are just in it for money, you are questioning my husbands ethics. I know a lot of drs,some are very arrogant, have horrible bed-side manner, but I know of only 2 who are in it for money, and even they wouldn't do anything to hurt someone to make more money. My husband devoted almost his entire adult life to becoming a dr. And when people make these statements they are disregarding everything he has done, and all the sacrifice our family has made
he can serve his patients, and be a wonderful dr. The amount of time and money it takes to be a dr. pretty much weeds out the incompetent(there are still some) and the money hungry. The H.M.O.'s are really the ones making the money. I'm not going to say that Kyle doesn't make good money but we aren't rich.
And finally I want to say that I had wonderful nurses who treated me great because they are professionals and care about their patients. So thank you Barbara and Jen, and all the nurses in the N.I. who took care of Lauren. I know your not perfect but I will defend your integrity and care for your patients.
I know it was long but I had to get it off my chest.

These are pictures from the Flipside Christmas musical. It was a lot of fun, and both Lauren and Gracie had solos. Gracie took hers very seriously. She told me she couldn't smile when she sang. Isabel was a kitty during the manger scene. The 3 and 4's were supposed to be sheep, but they all decided to be different animals, but with sheep ears. They also sang Jingle Bells and Away in a Manger. Isabel cannot wait till she gets to sing her solo, in about 2 years.

We got to go the Cancun again this year in Nov. It was so much fun. My parents and Kyles parents came and it was great for the girls to share the fun. We learned how to find Sharks teeth, we went to Excaret, we put baby turtles into the ocean, and we went zip-lining in the jungle. It was a great family time, and the girls can't wait to go again! (Me too!)

So I know it has been a long time, but life is crazy with 4 girls. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking with it. So here is a snap shot of the last little bit of our lives. We moved in to our new house! We are so happy, and love all of the space. Lauren and Gracie each have their own rooms (pink and red), and Izzie and Soph share. It is so beautiful nestled up next to the mountains, and it is actually colder here. We are hoping it will snow here at least once. Now on to soccer. That was almost a full-time job for me. Mon. and Wed. for Lauren, Wed. and Fri. for Grace. The girls had a lot of fun playing. Gracie loved practice and being with her team. Lauren loved the competition and really came into her own. The highlight of the season for Lauren, was scoring goals, for Grace was getting her trophy.

A NEW PARK!

We had a very special visitor at Lauren's soccer game this weekend. Great-grandma Margaret came a watched the Wildcats in action! She is 89 years old!

Hi everybody, I know it's been a long time. Life is just so crazy with 4 girls, and our camera broke. So our big news is this is our new house!. We should be moving in about 2 weeks. So with school and soccer for Gracie and Lauren, now I also have to pack. We our really excited, it is a beautiful area, right up against the foothills. The development actually backs to the National Forrest. Kyle's sister Kendra and her husband Nick, are buying a house 20 houses down that will be done in Dec., and the Reynolds will be moving in above us in Oct. It's going to be a lot of fun. Kyle's partner Rhami and his wife our also looking to buy there. So it will be even more crazy around here for the next couple of weeks. When we are in we will have everyone over for a party.!

There is this new thing called a meme that is basically a chain letter for blogs. I have to write 8 random facts about myself and then tag 8 more people to write about themselves.

The rules
1. I have to list the rules first.
2. They need to be 8 random facts
3. I need to tag 8 people at the end.
4. Each person I tag needs to blog 8 facts about themselves.
5. Don't forget to let the tagged people know they have been tagged.

So here goes 8 random facts about us.

Fact 1- When Kyle was younger he got in a lot of trouble for playing show and show. My favorite story is when he called all his friends into the bathroom at school. He then put on quite a show for them. He stood behind the stall door and stuck his penis out so that was all you could see. He got called to the principles office on that one. When he was in 5th grade he drew a picture of ninja's fighting, apparently it looked like instead of hands punching the bad ninja's face that he intended, the adults thought that it was the good ninja's penis. So I guess it's good we have all girls.

Fact 2- Kyle is the only person I have ever kissed. When we first started dating I was terrified. Kyle had quite a reputation as a ladies man at our church. In fact my Mom was warned he would break my heart by a couple of people while we were still in Hungary.(That's were we started dating.)

Fact 3- When my sister Dawn was pregnant with her daughter Devon I suggested they name her Sophia. I thought it was a beautiful italian name that would go with their very italian last name, Verlingieri. My brother-in-law said no way. He thought it was an old lady name.

Fact 4- When I was younger I wanted to marry someone who could sing and play guitar, because I thought that was so romantic. The funny thing is, I don't really care for music, I don't like concerts that much at all. Then when I met Kyle he had just learned how to play the guitar and started leading worship. I really thought he was going to be a worship minister and not a doctor. On the subject of music, Kyle and I shared one C.D. in common(I only owned like 4, and he had like 100). I bet you can't even guess. It was They Might be Giants. Our girls now have their abc video they made for kids.

Fact 5- When we got married we thought we would probably have only 2 kids. Then it was just so addicting. We love having kids. If we had unlimited time and money we would have more.

Fact 6- When I had my bridal shower we played a game where I had to match Kyle's answers. I hardly got any of them right. I found out later that Kyle wanted to make it hard for me! So all those people who came where probably thinking "Wow she doesn't know him at all." I felt like such a dork. One of the only questions I got right was what animal would Kyle be. I said dolphin and so did he at first. But after Kevin and Ryan made fun of him he changed it to tiger.

Fact 7 -My biggest pet peeve, when someone asks if we are going to keep trying for a boy. WE WERE TRYING FOR A BABY, AND NO WE ARE NOT GOING TO TRY FOR A BOY. WE ARE THRILLED TO HAVE FOUR BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTERS! Thanks for asking.

Fact 8- I sing to my girls all the time. I just make up songs. Funny because I don't like people to sing to me.

Now I'm going to tag:
Darlene- you have a blog use it
Dawn- this is a great way to start
Debbie- I can't leave you out
Jen R-I figure if I tag you too then you have to do it.
Darby- this is a great way to start too.
Evan- I know you read this
Pikes- can't wait to see what you have to say
Armstrongs- see Darlene

Lauren is almost through with 1st grade. She is my star. She is super competative like her parents. She reads everything, (Junie B. is her favorite) we can't spell anything out loud any more. She loves Hannah Montana, Zack and Cody, and High School Musical. She loves to draw and color. She loves the outdoors, swimming and monkey bars. She is always leading her sisters on new adventures. She is very sensative and a perfectionist. She has nicer hand-writing then I do. She loves fashion and clothes. She will try anything once, any kind of food or anything her Dad can think up. She loves Disneyland, mostly the rides only she is tall enough for. Her favorite places are Cancun and Yosemite. She is still BFF's with Devon, Kenna, and Lizzie. She can ride her bike without training wheels, and is a little dare-devil.(She scares Kyle and I all the time.) She is getting so big, it seems like only yesterday that we found our we were having a girl. She will be 7 in August, time just goes by so fast. We love her and our so thankful for her.(Hopefully I will post pictures from her last day of school soon.)

These are pictures from Isabels last day of her 2's class. She is getting so big. She is my ball of fire. She answers everything with "I know it", no matter what you just told her. She finishes singing the abc's with "next time you will sing with me" It makes me laugh everytime I hear it, because that is how she thinks. She lives to chase the boys, and play in the dirt. But she also loves make-up and dresses. She thinks she's as big as her sisters and sings Hannah Tanna(Hannah Montana) songs at the top of her lungs. We love her and she always keeps us on our toes.

It was Gracie's last day of pre-school this week. They had a waterballon fight with 4,000 waterballons. One Mom spent 6 hrs. filling 2500. It was pretty crazy. Gracie loved it, but Isabel just wanted to watch. The pictures are of Gracie's teachers Miss Cari and Miss Heather. They were great, they are also Isabels teachers this year and next year. I can't believe my little Gracie is going to start real school next year. She is my little sunshine. She loves to take care of Sophia and always has a smile and hug for everyone. Her favorite word is "actually". She is a free spirit who just does her own thing. She loves to wear bright colors and boots. She will just lose herself in the moment. She laughs easily and often. She loves fast rides at disneyland, and only eats chicken. We adore her and are so glad she is a part of our family. That's just a little bit about her.

Sophia turned 1. We had her party on her actual birthday. We rented the bouncer-slide again, and it was a big hit with all the kids. I can't believe she is one already. The year has just flown by. I'm trying to cherish all the baby moments because I know it would last very much longer. She is standing up by herself but will not take a step. When she does stand up she expects everyone to clap for her. She has become quite the little diva. She has her three different crawls that she uses to get around, and she seems happy with that. She says "Mama, Dada, Uh-oh(her favorite), Thank you(dah- do), and what. We are working on bye-bye. She loves to give hi-fives, and raspberries. She is such a blessing to our family. We are so thankful for all our beautiful girls.

For the girls birthday we took them to Libby-Lu's as a present from us. Gracie was a rock star, Isabel was a dancing queen, and Lauren was Hannah Montana. Too cute! Soph already looks like a little princess so no makeover was needed. Gracie also got choosen to do some Jedi training. Which she took very seriously, and carried her certificate everywhere for about 3 weeks. It was a lot of fun and we topped it off with dinner at the Blue Bayou. It was a great family celebration!

I know it has been a long time, but we have been busy! It was birthday season for the Smarts, 3 in 3 weeks. First up was Gracie's, she turned 5. She had a dog party, and we rented a bouncer-slide combo. As you can see from the pictures the kids had a blast. Isabel turned 3 two days later and she had her party at the Sawdust Factory. She got to put her hand print on the wall. It is so special to know it will be there for a long time. All the kids got to make a dog house or barn and choose an animal to go in it. As you can see all the creations turned out so cute. The best part no clean-up. More birthday posts next.

Here are the Easter pictures. Paul took them for me this week. I can't decide which one of Sophia I like better. So if anyone still reads this blog, help me out and vote for your favorite.

On saturday we had the Glitter Glam at Flipside. Lauren was a rock star, Gracie was a movie star and Isabel was a princess. They had so much fun. 107 girls came, only 30 had signed up, it was crazy. Lauren and Gracie are both with their friends named Madeline. After they got all made up, all the girls got to walk the runway. The picture of Lauren is her rock star pose. It was a great night, the girls loved it, and I loved watching them have so much fun.

I know it has been a long time, 4 girls keep you really busy. This is a picture from CBC's winter camp. Kyle was the speaker. Sophia, Isabel and I only lasted a night. Sophia decided see really didn't feel like sleeping in the cabin. She wasn't cranky, she just wouldn't sleep. Normally we would just let her cry, but we were all in one room so we had to keep her quiet or it would have been 4 girls not sleeping. Kyle, Gracie and Lauren stayed up at Camp Care while we came home. They had a great time playing capture the flag and all the other fun camp games. Kyle also helped with the music, so it was a busy weekend for him.

Happy Valentine's Day. Kyle worked till almost 10 on Valentine's day so we didn't do anything. I can't really complain because he gave me a beautiful mother's ring right before we went to New York, and we spent the whole weekend togeather. I did get to help the girls make their Valentines, and give them each a little something. We celebrated by getting McDonalds, which I think they liked much more then some romantic dinner. The pictures are from Gracie's pre-school party, which Isabel and I had a fun time visiting. It was a nice day, and I was very grateful to spend it with my girls.