More pics

Ya'll want some pics, here they are...

Sweetness is here!!

Real quick. Baby is good, dad is good, and mom.....has been better. She is having a hard time walking after separating some cartilage. Today she had a fever and went to the emergency and found out she has mastitis in one of two. She is on antibiotics and the fever has broken. I will post more later. God is Good!!!!

Just waitin'

All went well with the baby turning procedure. Thanks for all the prayers!! It was nice to be there, and kinda get the sense of what it will be like when "the lovely" comes. We half wanted her to come that day, but she just decided to chill out in her new position for a bit. It was a dreary, cold fall day, but we had fun spending the day together and blast out some baby related errands. Jeanne is such a beautiful mom to be. She tells me she doesn't feel that way, but to know that she is carrying our child, and in Gods timing, give birth, I just stand amazed at her. God is good!!!

T-Minus....

The time is quickly approaching. My lovely daughter will be here soon! It is crazy to think that in a couple of weeks, or when the Lord decides, our baby girl will be here. Some of you that know me might feel a bit nervous for her, being that I will have quite an influence on what she thinks, and who she will be loyal to. I know that she will be fine since her mom, Jeanne, can offset any "bad" ideas I might put in her head. I do know one thing, and brace yourselves, she will be a Michigan fan, and love the soon to be World Champion New York Yankees! I will give those of you, who fell over with these revelations, a second to compose yourself....... Alright, now to serious stuff. This Wed., Jeanne and baby girl are going to the hospital to see if Sweetness can be turned in preparation for coming into the world. There is a chance that baby might come that day if the doctors see any change in lovely's hart rate, or stress to her. J and I want her here, but not if it isn't the right time. Plus we don't have our mini-van yet. I thought that when you have a kid, the hospital just gives you one when you leave. I have found in my revealing that I will be a dad soon, that some people will say, "that your life won't be the same", followed by a funny smirk. I have been groomed by God for this time in my life, and I can't wait!! I know my/our life will change in ways I don't even know, but I welcome it. The Harley might be getting some more dust on it, but I will trade that for anything to have some sweet time with my daughter watching the Yankees charge onto the field after winning the World Series. Boom goes the dynamite!!! See you soon baby girl, your mom and I love you!

Um.. just a reminder

Just to let everyone know, October is comin'. Enough said. Boo Ya'!!

Summer, come back!!

Ok. I have been checking on our post, but not updating. I see by the comments left here, that our fans are upset with the lack of posts. Well, here is a small post to keep ya'll happy. I can't go into length on how insanely busy our summer has been. I might let the escapades of our fun trickle through out the next few months, so that the melancholy of winter is broken up with warm memories. We have traveled a great deal. Chi-town in July, North Carolina also in July. Wisconsin in August, and again this weekend, and on Labor Day, Silver Lake in Hart Mich. Even-though it was crazy, summer in Mi is sweet. Thanks to momz and dad for giving the Smith fam a sweet Labor Day weekend to end the summer with. Now J and I look towards Oct. 31, not holloween, that is the day when the sweetness comes. Our baby girl. Preparations are complete, the room is set, and now we wait. Jeanne is doing very well. School is good, and she gets nightly foot rubs. I will do better with the updates, and I will have some pics of our summer o' fun. Rollin' out, Craig

A bit harsh?

The last post was justified, but it might have been a bit harsh. They did make my wife cry, and that led to my post. Due to extenuating circumstances, we will be shopping at Target. The convenience of said store is hard to pass up. We will shop there, but in protest. Our nursery is coming along, spearheaded by my lovely wife, Jeanne. Our families have helped out tons. Thanks! We have celebrated our 1 yr. anniversary. We rolled to Chicago for a couple days. We love Chi-town. Jeanne lived there, and I just love the feel of it. Big city with a small town feel. While there we went to see Wicked. It was a sweet show. The weather was awesome, and we walked everywhere. Jeanne had some pals come and see us, and we ate out by Millennium Park. The next week we had family come in from Wisconsin for our nieces baptism. My brother-in-law rolled in on a new Honda VTX 1800. It is a sweet ride. My church, Corinth, had a car show, and bikes were welcomed. We had our bikes in the show, and I have to gloat a bit, I won best of show for motorcycles! Sorry Bill. After that though, we went for a ride to Grand Haven. There is nothing like riding!! Live to ride man! We are so happy to welcome the Osterink and Pazdur kids. Glad to hear all are doing well. Check their blogs for pics. Quick props. There is an amazing drummer out there that you must check out. He plays for Dream Theater, and Liquid Tension Experiment. Itune the later and listen to Paradigm Shift. It is sic!! Anyways, thanks for the time. Til the next post, I am out. Craig

Target Stinks

O.k , we just came back from Target to return a brand new boxed stroller for store credit. Wouldn't you know they would only give us $40 on a $200 stroller. ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!! We, (Jeanne especially), were very upset. J gave them the what for, and they wouldn't budge. We called the "customer satisfaction" (HA) line" and they just said how valued our opinion was, and that it would go through to the higher -ups because they value our opinion. If they valued it so much, they would do what they could to satisfy the customer!! This post is to boycott Target. Don't register for anything there. Go to BED BATH AND BEYOND.(at least for wedding stuff). They know how to treat their customers. Spread the word. Target is terrible. We hate Target, and will never go there agian!! Thanks for letting us vent. Enjoy the shopping at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Thank you

The past couple of days I had some thoughts rolling around in my head, and I just thought I would put them on the blog. This past weekend the Grand Rapids Police lost an officer in the line of duty. He was a young man with a little daughter. I didn't know this man, but I do know some people in jobs that potentially put themselves in harms way. I felt like I have been taking them, and their jobs for granted. They are people that are willing to do whatever it takes to keep every person safe. My brother-in-law, and good friend from school are police officers. There is always the jokes about doughnut shops, and hassling people for no reason but to just hassle people. Then you realize that when called, these men and women are called to protect us citizens, that they are willing to give up their lives for you. I am not limiting this post to just police, I feel the same for firefighters, EMT's, first responders, and of course our military. We owe all these people our thanks, and more!!! In the next few days, whenever you see a police car, fire truck, ambulance, or see news about our military, lift them up in prayer, all the men and women who swore an oath to protect us, whatever the cost. Thanks to all of you!!

Honey do list

To any of the men that might be reading this post, you already know of what I am going to speak. There is list that is composed shortly after marriage, or maybe it starts after the engagement. This list is the "honey-do list". I am not saying the list is a bad thing, but it is a weight on the man's shoulders. Some guys lists might be longer than others, but mine is manageable. One of the bigger things I checked off my list was basement shelves for all our moving boxes, and other things. I seized my opportunity to complete my task when my lovely wife ( and little girl ) went on an economic conference for work in Richmond Va. a few weeks ago. I had a week. The first day, Monday, was hot and draining at work. I got home and crashed. The next 2 evenings were spent at my parents, and my in-laws eating supper. Thanks for the awesome grub! So, that brought me to Thursday. I purchased the material, and proceeded to pour out massive amounts of testosterone. I was drilling in the cement walls, cutting wood, sweating, and lifting. I would start after work, 3:30p, and work until 9-10p with supper at 10:30ish. I did this Thur-Fri, and all day Sat. I finish it before my wife, who I missed terribly, came home at 8p on Sat. She loved the shelves, and understood why it took a bit to complete. I did surprise her with a magnetic-type picture frame thing also. Our friends Brenda and Bradi had these frames at their houses, and they had them made, and Jeanne loved them. So, I did earn a bit of a reprieve from the list, but soon the list will come up, and more tasks will need to be completed. But for now, I will enjoy the time off.

The new Smith baby is..........

Well, if you haven't heard yet, Jeanne and I are going to raise a .... . As I sit here composing my latest post, I am struck with the realization that I am really going to be a dad. This last ultrasound showed ( more clearly ) that there is a baby growing in my beautiful wife's stomach. I am so happy to see the little critter squirming around. We, I mean Jeanne, is set to deliver at the end of October. I think that is the same time my Yankees will be playing for their 20- something world championship. ( That is for Marc and Jag ). Our GIRL will be in our live just in time for the holidays. Yup, I said GIRL. Now comes the fun part, names. Is Harley a good girl name? Since Jeanne is at our friend Brenda's b-day party , I can ask this. If you, the readers, have any good girl name suggestions, let me know. There will be no prize, but you would know that your name would be attached to the might Smith legacy. We will keep you... posted. Excuse the pun. Until next time. Craig

What have I done!?

For those of you that don't know, I (Craig) own a motorcycle. It is not just any bike, it is a 2000 Harley Roadglide. It is sweeeeeet! There have been rumors that I might sell the bike. Now these rumors are not the product of my lovely wife, Jeanne, but from me. I was doing some soul searching this past winter/spring on how much I really was going to ride the bike once our bundle of joy comes. Riding is more fun with your spouse anyway. I know, I have been told you can get side cars for the squirt, but c'mon, really. So this spring, I decided I should sell the bike. This now leads me to the heart of my post. Today I went to my in-laws for supper. (Jeanne is in Richmond VA. for a conference for work). So, since the weather is tight, I thought I would roll out on the HOG and go to the in-laws to eat, and then a quick ride home. If you know anything about biking, or know someone that does, there are no quick rides. I was out for the better part of 2 hrs. As I am riding , I was wondering how hard it would be to put a sidecar on this thing. It is easy to say you will sell a bike in the winter, or when the weather sux in Michigan, but when you have a day like today, with the sun, cool air on your face, and the sound of a 1550 cc machine underneath you, it's a bit harder to let go. So why did I torchure myself tonight? Maybe it wasn't torchure, but just a nice night for a ride. Lvie to ride- Ride to Live. Geezerglide.

Summer Jeanne

I don't know how many of our readers out there are married to teachers, but there are two distinct persons that you live with. The one that you know in the fall is, well, focused. School is a very big part of their life for the next 9 months. Then, just before spring break, the teacher has summer break in the cross-hairs. After a lot of loose ends that are tied up for the last day, you can see the "summer" personality come out. It is a re-birth. The summer is like a release for the teacher. They are able to help out again. Housework is fun, laundry is almost a spiritual experience. I love my summer Jeanne. Don't get me wrong, fall Jeanne is awesome too, but she is a bit preoccupied with school. It is fun to see her get into summer mode. I am happy for her, she works very hard and aside from all my remarks on how many "vacation days" teachers get, I am very proud of her. Now she has the energy to mow the lawn, put up shelves in the basement, finish the bathroom downstairs. ( I had to throw that in there, I didn't want you to think I was getting all soft & stuff). Summer is sweet, spend it with your summer loved ones. Out, Craig

look at us now

Well, here we are. We have now entered the blog world. Just like our baby that will arrive in October, we are a bit blurried -eyed, confused and for some reason, covered in goo. So, since we have been married for almost a year, and have a kid on the way, and with the encouragement from friends and family, our blog is born. Jeanne and I will do our best to keep up on the updates, pix, and other info. we feel the world might need to know. The hardest thing is trying to think of a non-corny name. I think we (I mean me, Craig) did ok. Jeanne is sleeping, so I took creative license. Well, this ends our first blog post. Look us up for updates. Later, The Smiths