Merry Christmas!

Bella hates bows, so she was not happy with me for taking this picture :)


We hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday!! Ours was eventful to say the least. We got about 2 inches of snow here in Atlanta! It was unbelieveable! The adventerous part was that we spent Christmas Eve up in Blue Ridge at the Sharkey's cabin. It started snowing around 8AM and was accumlating at about an inch an hour. It made for a very scary ride off the mountain, but thankfully we made it home safe :) It was great to FINALLY have a WHITE CHRISTMAS! YAY!!

It's official!

We're having a BOY!!! :)

Here is our little guy at our 15 week sonogram (5 weeks ago):

It's amazing to watch him grow! I've started to feel him kick too which has been super fun, and a little weird :) The 2nd trimester has been a breeze so far, knock on wood. No more headaches and my energy level is back to normal (ok, some what back to normal). Sleeping has started to get a bit difficult, even with the body pillow that feels like a 3rd person in our bed! Bella has even been spending most of the night on Tim's side because of my tossing and turning. Although I'm pretty sure she thinks the new big pillow is just for her! Man, she is in for one big surprise come May!

Belly pictures to come, I promise!

Usher Christmas

Here are a few highlights from the Usher family Christmas from a few weeks ago. We have two weddings plus a baby next year, our family is growing like a weed!!

The fam (minus a few remote relatives)

Megan & Josh's Engagement party was part of our weekend celebration

Very sleepy by this point, its tough growing a human!

The Gobble Jog

Every Thanksgiving we participate in the MUST Ministries Gobble Jog charity 5/10K. This year they raised over $1 Million dollars!

Erin & I getting ready for the 5K

We had to carry Bella though the crowd so she wouldn't get stepped on :)

Erin with Bella

The crowd!!!

Kristen & Michael's Wedding

Last weekend our good friends, Kristen & Michael, got married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony! Here are some of the highlights from the weekend. My pictures are out of order (for some reason I can't reorganize them after they are uploaded...errr). ENJOY!

Cutting the cake


The big moment~

Me and the Bride!

Me, Kristen & Leanne

Kristen with her bridesmaids

Tim & I

With my parents :)

At the rehearsal dinner with Johnny & Leanne

3rd time's a charm

On Tuesday night, Erin, Matt, Tim and I went to see the Dave Matthews Bank at Philips Arena. This was the 3rd time Tim and I saw him this year, but it was still just as great. It was different seeing him inside an arena, and one thing is for sure...drunk people are so much more annoying when you are pregnant!! But it made for some great people watching :)

Waiting for the concert to start


So glad we didn't get general admission tickets!


Taking a nap with my sweet fur child (I love this picture!)

Sharkey - Party of THREE!

Tim and I are thrilled to finally share our news...we are expecting a BABY in May!! We are beyond excited, and, ok a little freaked out! We are officially past the 12 week mark and due on Friday May 13th. I think its a little ironic that the world's most superstitous person (aka ME) is due on Friday the 13th. I'm hoping that our little one decides to grace us with her or his presence a day early or late. And in true Smith fashion we are fitting as much as we possibly can into a short amount of time; my cousin, Max, is getting married on April 30th and my other cousin, Megan, is getting married on May 21st. Talk about timing! We will definitely have a lot to celebrate in this 3 week time span :)

The past few months have been interesting for Tim and I. We found out that we were pregnant on Labor Day weekend, and basically spent the rest of September hiding out for two reasons: 1) people would have immediately suspected something once they saw me turn down a glass of wine and 2) I haven't been feeling the greatest. I've been beyond tired (I'm pretty sure I may have fallen asleep at my desk once or twice), I've also been a bit nauseous and have had a few headaches. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel now that we have passed that 12 week mark.

We've had two incredibly memorable doctor's appointments that I don't think we will ever forget. The first one was at 7 weeks when we heard the heartbeat for the first time. I was so overcome by emotion that I started crying and couldn't stop! It was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard! The next one was at 11 weeks when we saw our little one move for the first time. This was the first time "it" started to look like a real baby, it was amazing what had happened in just 3 weeks! My doctor uses 4D during most of our ultrasounds so he was able to zoom in on the facial features as well. We got to see the beginnings of the eyes, ears, nose and mouth forming. Technology is an amazing thing!

Anyway, so now that you have all been brought up to speed with what has been new with our lives, I'm sure you can understand why my blog posts have been few and far between lately. I promise to keep you all posted on our progress and any new ultrasound pictures. Please keep us in your prayers that we welcome a healthy baby in May! Love you all!

Our 11 week 4D Ultrasound picture:

Hands on Atlanta

This past Saturday Tim & I volunteered for Hands on Atlanta with my company. We had over 100 Radiant employees, friends and family helping at the Georgia Citizens Coalition on Hunger. We painted offices, hallways, a kitchen and a library. We harvested peppers and okra, we cleared entire fields, we planted fall crops (carrots, turnips and more), we drastically improved the demonstration area with a newly built table and cleaned up planting areas, we organized a supply closet, we ironed and folded hundreds of costumes for the Youth Ensemble and cleaned out a room to store them, and we landscaped the front entrance with new flowers, shrubs and rock border.

Here is a picture of our group (I circled Tim & I :):

Another Trip to Wine Country :)

The day after Allison & Trey's wedding, I had to travel to San Francisco for work. Tim flew out on Tuesday to join me and we ended the week with an extended stay in northern wine country. When we went in March we went to Napa & Sonoma Valley, this trip we went to Russian River, Alexander and Dry Creek Valley, which are known for chardonnay, pinot noir and zinfandel. It was HEAVENLY! We started the trip on Wednesday by seeing Dave Matthews in concert. On Thursday we went to Chateau St. Jean, where we are wine club members. We had a reserve tasting that lasted 2 1/2 hours on their porch. We absolutely love Chateau St. Jean, it is a BEAUTIFUL winery and they make some fantastic wines. Then we did a food and wine pairing at Kendall Jackson, we almost didn't go there because we really don't like going to the commercial wineries. KJ was anything but, I was so glad we went and did the pairing. They had some amazing food (the dessert popcorn is to die for!), with ingredients fresh from their garden, and the wine we tasted was not the kind they carry at home. After that we finished up at Rodney Strong, which is one of Kim & Larry's favorites.

On Thursday we started the day in northern Russian River Valley at Clos du Bois. If you know Tim & I at all, you know that we love Clos du Bois chardonnay. I am pretty sure that with the amount of wine we consume we definitely employ someone at their winery annually. On Thursday we had a chance to meet that someone, his name was George :) We did the barrel tasting and tour - nothing like starting to drink wine at 10AM! That is exactly what we did for the next 3 days - wine tasting and more wine tasting. We went to nearly 18 wineries in 4 days. It was an amazing time!

The pictures are a little backwards, so start from the bottom up if you want to go in order :)


Downtown Healdsburg - we absolutely fell in love with this town!

Gary Farrell = Amazing pinot noir!!

At Sterling Vineyards in Calistoga (Napa). This winery was very over-rated!

But it was fun because you ride this small tram to the top of the mountain to the winery. Hence why its an over-rated tourist trap with beautiful views :)

The vines were much more lush this trip!

Beautiful view at Ferrari Carnero

I think we'll go RIGHT!

At Clos Du Bois

Barrell tasting at Clos

Wine Barrells at Rodney Strong

Kendall Jackson

Enjoying our extensive wine tasting at Chateau St. Jean

The beautiful picnic grounds at Chateau St. Jean

Ready for the Dave Matthews Band concert! :)

It was a bit foggy this time, but still an awesome view

The painted ladies

Smogg Wedding

On August 21st, our good friends Allison & Trey got married. Allison and I have been close friends since 7th grade, so needless to say I was honored when she asked me to stand next to her and be a bridesmaid. She was a STUNNING bride, complete with a vintage veil. Even with the rain it was a fabulous wedding weekend. Here are a few highlights:

Sedona & The Grand Canyon

It just dawned on me that I have not yet posted the pictures from our trip to Sedona and the Grand Canyon. After Katrina & John's wedding, we made the six hour drive to Arizona. We stopped at Petrified National Forest on the way there, then drove through Oak Creek Canyon to Sedona. The next day we drove another two hours north to the Grand Canyon and hiked part of the north rim. Once we got back to Sedona we decided to go for one more hike at Cathedral Rock. Hike was a loose term, it was more like climb. straight up! But it was well worth it, Cathedral Rock was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been!

Enjoy the pictures!

Tim dangling from the Grand Canyon

Photo op at the GC

The petroglyphs at Petrified National Forest (look closely at the writtings on the rock)

Petrified Wood

View from Cathedral Rock - almost to the top

Cathedral Rock

Finally to the top of Cathedral Rock

Photo op at the half way point

The Grand Canyon

The Painted Desert at Petrified National Forest