Lake House

Even though we’ve been MIA on the blog for the last few months, life went on for the Smileys.  We’re going to move the clock back a bit and fill you in on what we were up to. 

In September we enjoyed the last days of summer in northern Indiana with our house church at Tony’s family lake house.  It was definitely interesting with two two months old babies and two toddlers in the group but well worth all the work.  Eliza was able to experience many new things which was a blast to watch.

The sunset the first night was just gorgeous!

There is nothing like some girl time featuring wine and hair cuts.

We loved being able to sit and share meals with everyone.

The mornings started off cool but eventually warmed up enough for us to get the suits on.

The girls enjoyed some time on the boat…what the picture doesn’t show is that the boat is still on the lift.  Hey, it still felt that we were on the water.

Matilda slept most of the weekend.

Eliza wasn’t too sure about the sea-doo.Kirk had his first rafting experience as well!

Matilda’s Birth Story

I can’t believe that it has been over five months since Matilda was born.  I wanted to put it all down in writing so that the memories would not leave us. 
Even though it was my second time around, I was a bit anxious while we headed to the hospital.  We took a minute before we headed out the door to take a few last belly shots.   Since my experience with Eliza’s birth was so great, I worried that it couldn’t go that well again.  This time around I had been having contractions for three weeks and was still only one centimeter and 50% effaced.   My doctor said that some women just don’t go into full labor on their own and I might be one of them.   So, Thursday evening, July 21st, Kirk and I checked into the hospital and after all the paper work, getting an IV, and getting hooked up to the monitor, we saw that I was having contractions about every 7 minutes.  The cirvadil was placed at 5:45pm, and at this stage with Eliza I went into labor on my own within two hours.  I was hoping that this would happen again once I got some dinner!  They wanted to monitor me for two hours before I could eat and I was really hungry after only being able to have a light lunch.  Two hours later I was still at the same place with the contractions not getting closer or stronger so I called room service and ate.
After a night of little sleep (and in a bed that has countless positions you would think that I could find one that was comfortable) I was getting frustrated with the lack of progress.  I was checked again at 5:40 AM on Friday the 22nd, and I was 3 centimeters and 75% effaced.  At 6:40 AM I was given pitocin to get contractions that were closer together, stronger, and in a more regular pattern.  Nothing really changed though, and since the pitocin was through a drip they upped it a few times.  Around 8:00 AM we talked with the nurse about Kirk leaving for a while to go home and take Otis outside.  The nurse said that nothing would be happening and that would be fine.  I remember being in the room alone and feeling some strong contractions start.  I paged the nurse during the second round, and within two minutes they were really painful and there nurse still wasn’t there.  I started crying at some point because everyone had left!  Right about then the nurses came in and checked me again.  I was somewhere around 5 centimeters and they decided to call my doctor to get the epidural started.  The next twenty minutes were long, and I was having the most painful contractions.  Some of them were back-to-back but then there would be a long break in between.   I asked the nurse to call Kirk so he could get back as soon as possible.  She was kind enough to talk to him since I knew that I would just start crying and he wouldn’t be able to understand me anyway. 
By 9:00 AM the epidural was placed and Kirk walked in near the end of it.  I was able to hug one of the nurses until he got there and I was so thankful for her.  The epidural helped but I continued to feel pain (beyond normal discomfort).  At 10 AM while watching the Today show my water broke.  I was checked at 10:10 AM and I was 8 centimeters.  My contractions were still uncomfortable and they never got into a pattern until the very end.  The nurse said that some women don’t have consistent contractions but the body still knows what it is doing, and I was still making progress.  By 10:50 AM my contractions were getting very uncomfortable.  My doctor was there and she asked if I would like to push or sit in an upright position for a while since the baby was still a bit high and needed to come down.  The same thing happened with Eliza and I sat for 30 minutes and let her drop, but this time around we all thought that pushing gave me something to do through the pain.  The anesthesiologist came back in at some point and upped my epidural because the pain was still really bad on my right side.  With Eliza I couldn’t feel anything, but this time around some areas were completely numb and others not very numb at all!  Pushing was much more painful then it had been previously as well.  Kirk said my face got redder and I don’t think I opened my eyes much.  After nine long pushing cycles Matilda was born at 11:33 AM!   She was perfect and weighed 6 lbs. 13 oz. and was 20.25 inches long.
 
The pain was definitely worse this time around but I feel like since her birth most things have been easier than with Eliza.  My recovery was much less painful, and at the hospital I didn’t need as much medication and that made a huge difference in being able to feel more like myself.  I brought two of my own hospital gowns with me, and that helped me not feel so sick (and if you had seen the nasty hospital gown that was provided for me you would have felt the same way)!  It was just so much more comforting knowing what to expect your second time around.  We also felt like we had a date night at the hospital the night of my induction, since we were able to watch a bunch of movies for my entire stay.  A friend told me right before we checked in that she always loved her time at the hospital and I remember thinking that it was an odd statement, but now I totally agree!  I loved just being with Kirk and Matilda and not feeling guilty to start splitting my time between two kids immediately.  I knew that once we got home things would change. 
Eliza came to visit us the evening after Matilda was born.  We had some other friends in the room when she got there with Papa and Gram.  I could hear her outside the room calling “Mommy,” but as soon as she walked into the room she said, “Where is my baby sister?”  It was so cute but unfortunately everything happened so fast that we didn’t get the video camera out in time.  Eliza loved Matilda immediately and those moments will be a sweet memory.  It made coming home exciting for Kirk and I.  I wanted nothing more then to get back into our own schedule with our new little addition!  In the end Matilda has her own birth story that is different from Eliza but I feel so blessed to have had two healthy deliveries, my doctor to be able to be at both, and for Kirk and his support through it all. 

For a family picture I had packed outfits that were coordinating for Matilda and Eliza, but I didn’t end up using what I had packed because we all matched anyway! My mom dressed Eliza and the nursery had to dress Matilda after she spit up during her hearing test in one of their gowns.  Kirk was on his own, so it was kind of crazy that we all matched!

Matilda in the puffy hat that Eliza wore home from the hospital.  There is a big difference between April and July temperatures in Indiana.  Matilda had 100 degree weather for the first few weeks of her life so this hat only stayed on for a minute.

Going home…splendid!

Still Around

We are still here and doing well.  I can keep food on the table, the house clean, and laundry put away, but that doesn’t leave much time for blogging.  I’ve kept up pretty well on pictures of the girls (I’m trying not to let Matilda feel like the second child), so we have a lot of catching up to do with new posts.  Hang in there with us!

Having Fun at Work

My most recent trip to New York turned out to be a bit disappointing. Sure, I had a fantastic time with my colleagues, ate great food, and (most importantly) got some important work done to provide support for high poverty schools across the nation. But the let down was all weather-related. I had planned to attend the US Open with friends from work one night, but for both full days I was in NYC, rain caused all matches to be completely cancelled. No Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic for me (heck, I would have been happy just for a Roddick or Fish!), so hopefully I’ll get another chance next year to see my second of the four major tournaments (remember my post about the French Open last summer?).

The previous week I was in Dallas for a satellite media tour kicking off our Limeades for Learning partnership with SONIC Drive-In. The tour included filming 25 (mostly live) TV and radio interviews in a 6 hour span for news stations across the country. I wasn't a big fan of the 4:30am call time, but it was a great experience (no, I'm not linking to any video footage, but if you Google hard enough you can find it). The extra perks of being in Dallas meant seeing one of my former colleagues and hanging out, an amazing dinner at Tom Colicchio's Craft (sorry, their main site is down), and delicious lunch at the Meddlesome Moth.

To top it all off, two of my colleagues were in town last week for a conference and invited me out on the town for their festivities. It’s nice to see an Indianapolis company put on a great show to impress its attendees and clients (mostly coming from the coasts). The first night was a fantastic gala at the Eiteljorg Museum, complete with delicious food and drink. The second night featured special VIP passes to the Katy Perry concert and a post-concert private midnight concert by Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears.

Not being a big fan of pop music, I honestly didn’t know too much about Katy Perry other than she’s married to hilarious comedian/actor. I definitely recognized a handful of her songs and expected a show with high production value and lots of young screaming girls. Both were definitely in full effect, and fortunately the conference had prepared a great pre-concert setup on the Pacer’s practice court (complete with twenty-foot elevated DJ) so that we could hang out somewhere a little more “our age” before the show started (no idea who the opening act was, but I doubt we missed much). For a 30-year-old, the concert was hilarious – I seriously had so much fun being ridiculous and sporting the light-up sunglasses they gave us to wear. What bothered me was how inappropriate Perry’s songs were for such a young audience. There were lots of pre-teens/tweens there (accompanied by a begrudging parent, of course), and the song lyrics, gesturing, and even spoken audience banter were far too mature. Just chalk up another reason to lock Eliza and Matilda in the house once they turn 14 (or sooner? :).

The after-concert concert (confusing, yes) was at the Indiana Roof Ballroom (my first time there), and was an even better show. If you’ve never heard of Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears, go check them out right now. I’ll wait. … Awesome, right? A great rock/blues/jam band complete with a baritone and tenor saxophone and trumpet. It was a lot more fun to be right in front of the band, too, and later that night between sets I snuck backstage to meet them all, and they were happy to chat.

Thanks to my awesome colleagues for setting me up with passes to these events. We had a lot of fun, and it was great to see them enjoy Indianapolis!

Welcome Home

After a fantastic two week paternity leave, it was time to head to New York for the first time since Matilda was born.  Lynne handled both kids like a champ, and I was so excited to get home to see my girls.  I was only gone 3 1/2 days, but the garden also welcomed me back with lots of surprises.

Not pictured – more and more raspberries (yum!) as well as a few cantaloupes growing from seeds that were in our compost!)

In New York, I was able to spend some great time with my team, have productive meetings, and enjoy good eats:

• Momofuku Noodle Bar – decent ramen, but amazing pork and shrimp buns
• Red Hook Lobster Truck – not cheap, but the most delicious thing I ate on the trip were their lobster rolls (both the Maine and Connecticut style)
• Asiadog – hot dogs with a variety of tasty Asian toppings, the Sidney was the best (I hit up a lot of food trucks this trip)
• Bon Chon Chicken – still the best wings and fried chicken I’ve ever had (as well as scallion pancakes, zucchini fries, and fried tofu
• Kickball in Central Park! – we lost (DC.org went winless this summer), but it was so much fun and made me feel like a local
• Great New York beers, including
  • Brooklyn Brewery’s Highline Elevated Wheat (made exclusively for The Lot)
  • Captain Lawrence Liquid Gold
  • Ommegang Rare Vos
  • Southern Tier Crème Brûlée Imperial Stout

Sisters

Introducing Matilda Edith Smiley!

On Friday, July 22, Matilda Edith Smiley was born at 11:33am.  She weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces (the same size as Eliza) and was 20.25 inches long.  It has been so wonderful finally getting to meet her and having her home with us.  Eliza’s thrilled to be a big sister, and we love our two little girls.

Time to Cook

As Lynne shared previously, she was able to spend some time before the baby’s arrival making a bunch of meals we could freeze.  Having two weeks of paternity leave also freed up my time to watch Eliza, work in the basement, and get back in the kitchen, too.  Below are some fun dishes I was able to make this week using up some of our vegetables from the garden.  If you don’t keep up with the high yields, you end up wasting produce, and no one likes that!

Lamb pitas with Greek salad

Since we had a lot of cucumbers and cherry tomatoes ready to eat in the garden so I found this great recipe for a Greek salad (I love recipes that have a “100% would make again” score!).  Of course, some delicious veggies in a pita weren’t going to make a filling meal, so I thought it would be nice to add some lamb.  I found this recipe for some lamb patties to add to the pitas, using a bunch of spices my parents brought us from Turkey.  We tweaked the recipe using Turkish coriander, cumin, and oregano, as well as mint from the garden (and nixed some things like the allspice and the sauce), and the patties turned out delicious and crispy (ala falafel).

This may be one of my favorite meals I’ve had at home recently, since it’s definitely something I’d order at the local Mediterranean sandwich shop.  I was also really excited to use the cherry tomatoes, since they are growing so well and I didn’t even plant them this year.  Last year I had tried planting some cherry tomatoes from seed (and two years ago I had tried planting some Roma tomatoes from seed), and neither ever took until this year they all started growing randomly in different areas of my garden!

Tilapia with mango salsa and roasted beet salad with oranges

As I mentioned before, Lynne asked me to grow beets in the garden this year.  She enjoys them but I have bad childhood memories of disgusting sickly-smelling canned beets.  Well, they grew very easily and now we have lots of beets to eat!  I knew I had to find a recipe that got me excited, or else I wouldn’t want to try them again. I found a roasted beet salad that featured oranges and made use of the beet greens (they’re kind of like chard).

Overall, I was pretty happy with it.  The oil and vinegar took away some of that “beet smell” that I didn’t find appetizing and left them a bit sweet and sour, and the oranges were a very nice touch.

My parents’ neighbors brought them some large mangoes from Miami, which they were kind enough to share with us, so why not make some mango salsa?  These were hands down the best mangoes I’ve ever eaten in this country (almost as good as Thailand!).  I also added some mint to the salsa, which I think made it even better.  If you like your sweets spicy, you could also add some minced jalapenos or cayenne.  The salsa went great with some simple grilled tilapia.

 Homemade quiche with kale, onions, and toasted garlic

We’ve eaten a lot of Lynne’s delicious homemade quiche (the best crust in the world! Just ask Eliza), and since we have a plethora of kale in the garden (that didn’t make it into the quiche), I figured the two would go well together.  I simply sautéed the kale with some onions, but the fancy touch (and bit of a mistake-turned-awesome) is the toasted garlic.  

Corn – Raw(r)!

This one definitely doesn’t qualify as a recipe or anything I cooked.  The garden is full of corn, and on a whim I decided to pick a smaller ear for Eliza, since she loves eating corn on the cob.  Since the kernels were a bit smaller, we both enjoyed it raw about 30 seconds after it had been picked.  This was amazing!  I had never eaten corn on the cob that wasn’t boiled, grilled, or microwaved, but it was even better fresh and raw.  I’m not sure if store-bought corn would taste the same uncooked, but now it’s the only way we’ve been eating it, big and little ears alike – talk about easy!