Chirstmas is here!

I can't believe it is already Christmas and I don't even have my cards out yet :( Oh well, they will be New Year cards. AJ can hardly wait for Christmas day, he is getting so excited. I am really excited too, this is the first year he truly gets it! We have been teaching him about Jesus' birth as well, so when asked he says the most important thing about Christmas is baby Jesus' birthday, but the most fun thing about Christmas is the presents!


The boys are both doing wonderful, although John has his first cold and ear infection. But he is a trooper and still reasonably well mannered. John is now 6 months old and eating solids. His favorites so far are bananas, sweet potatoes and cereal mixed with applesauce. And he is a great eater, cannot get the spoon into his mouth fast enough. His big brother likes to help feed him sometimes too. He is starting to move around a little already. He gets up on his hands and feet or knees and rocks. He has pushed himself backwards few times, but nothing more then that. He rolls to whatever he wants. He is really starting to like his toys now and is "talking" all the time. He loves to scream and thinks it's a riot.


AJ is wonderful, our little smarty pants! He is in school 2 days a week and loves it. He is learning how to write his name is and is starting to recognize his letters and some three letter words. They had a Christmas program at school this year where the kids from all the classes sang 6 songs together and our little man was the star. He positioned himself in front of the microphone and made sure he was always in front of it, even if he had to move it! The audience got such a kick out of it and so did I. After everyone applauded, he would say "Thank you, thank you!" It was a stitch to watch. Joe and I took AJ for a special night out without John. We met Mike, Jessica and Benjamin in Lakeville at a train depot and didn't tell the boys what we were doing. When we pulled up we asked AJ if he knew where he was and he didn't quite get it until he heard the music from the movie. We took the boys on the "Polar Express" (it is his absolute favorite movie, he watches it all year). We all got to take a ride on the PE and have hot chocolate and cookies. The "elves" even read us the story. And towards the end of the ride, the big man himself even showed up! Santa and Mrs. Claus went around to everyone and asked the kids wanted they for Christmas and then each child received a bell, just like in the movie (and just like the movie our little man already lost his). To see the awe and wonder on the boys faces was priceless! They really thought they were on the PE. It was an amazing experience for us all!



I didn't think two little boys could bring such joy to my life and I am so grateful to have my little men, I wouldn't trade them for anything. And with all that is going on the world and all the hardship and trouble many families are experiencing, Joe and I are so thankful for all that are blessed with! Especially our healthy boys and wonderful family! OK, enough mushy stuff. We hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and that God blesses your lives today and next year as richly as he has blessed ours! Merry Christmas!

SO much new, so little time to type!

Well, where do I begin... I guess with the birth of John Warren Schmitt! All of you (I hope) have heard the news by now, but John Warren graced us with his birth on May 31st. After a failed induction and 22 hours of labor John was born via C-Section at 9:15 pm. He weighed in at a whopping 9 lbs 15 1/2 oz and was 22 1/2 inches long! He was so beautiful and came out screaming. But all it took was for Daddy to sing to him, Down in the Valley, and he quieted right down. I was able to see him for a few minutes and then they rushed him off to be cleaned up and weighed and measured. Daddy went with him to make sure he felt safe. They finished up with me and said everything went perfectly! I headed to my room to recover and was holding John 20 minutes after that. The grandparents knew he was here and were able to see him, but did not know he was a he! I made Joe promise to let me tell everyone if it was a boy or girl. So, Joe, John and I spent about a half an hour together and then we let the grandparents in. After all, they had all been waiting patiently all day to meet the newest Schmitt. When they all entered I announced, "We'd like you all to meet John Warren Schmitt!" Everyone was overjoyed! Here is a picture of the little man shortly after his birth.

AJ came up to see us the next day to meet his little brother. He was in awe of him! He climbed up on my lap and I helped him hold his new baby brother. And then he said the most amazing thing as John started to fuss, "It's O.K. John, I'm here!" As if I hadn't been crying enough just seeing my two boys together for the first time, the tears really started to fall! We had heard to make things easier on the older sibling to purchase a gift from the baby to give to the older Sib at the hospital. John decided he wanted to get his big brother a lawn mower. AJ was in heaven when Joe pulled that out of the closet and he was able to open it. The first thing he said was "Now I can mow like Daddy." John did a great job picking out just the right gift for his big brother! Here is a picture of the two of them shortly after they met!

We have all settled in nicely to life at home. AJ is adjusting as well as a 3 year old can and he LOVES his baby brother. He is a good helper and wants to love John up all the time. We have had a busy summer spending time with family and friends, playing outside and just enjoying being a bigger family. We spent 3 days over the 4th at Jellystone Park in Warrens, WI with the Schmitt clan. Benjamin and AJ had a blast together. And I think Godfather Mike had just as much fun holding John (and I know I appreciated the help)!!

We had John's baptism on July 20Th and had a great turn out. We asked Mike and Jessica to be John's Godparents and they graciously accepted! It was such a joy watching John become part of God's family! We are so blessed to have such a wonderful church family.

John is now 3 months old and is a joy! He is "talking" all the time and has had his first big belly laugh and it was so cute!! He also just realized he can scream and also blow bubbles, so that is really fun to watch. He started rolling over about 3 weeks ago and the nurse says that means he could be an early walker too. Looks like I am going to have my hands full. He is a good sleeper just like his big brother, 8 to 10 hours at night (knock on wood). It's amazing that 3 months has already past!

AJ is doing great. He started preschool last week and is there every Tuesday and Thursday. He loves it, it helps that his best friend, Carson is in his class. He is learning so many new things and it's hard to believe he is 3 years old already, although some days I think he sounds more like a 5 or 6 year old! He still loves his diggers but has now become very fascinated with Thomas the Tank Engine as well.

I am heading back to work in October to the YMCA. It will only be one night a week, just enough to get out of the house and get a discounted membership. Otherwise, not much is new with me, my two little men keep me very busy!

Joe is approaching his 1 year anniversary with US Bank this month. He seems to really be enjoying it and works less hours, so that make us all happy. He just started back this week with his Masters program and should finish up December 2009. With a new baby around, he hasn't had much time to train for anything or even get out on his bike much. But he loved spending so much time with his boys this summer.

We are off this weekend to celebrate our 7Th anniversary. Boy time sure flies. We are heading up to Duluth to stay in a little inn right on Lake Superior. This will be the first time away for me since John was born, but they boys are in capable hands and will have a BLAST at Grammy and Pa's (Joe's parents).

Well, that is about it for now. I will try and update this more often as we are finally settling into a routine. One last picture for you, this is the boys last month.

Busy weekend

We had a busy, but wonderful weekend. I was able to spend Saturday afternoon at the spa with a good friend. We had massages and pedicures and it was so nice to be pampered. Then Saturday evening our house was overrun with Schmitt's. We were finally (we have been planning this since before AJ's birth) able to ask Mike and Jessica to be the baby's Godparents and they accepted. Then Schmitt girls headed out for a nice dinner together leaving the big boys to watch the little boys! AJ and Benjamin had a blast together! We had an amazing meal at a place in Minneapolis called Solera. We are already talking about going back, the food was the best. Then the girls told me we were headed to the Hyatt to have drinks with Jessica' s parents, but to my delight my WONDERFUL sisters-in-law surprised me with a baby shower! They had the room decorated with baby clothes, balloons and streamers. Had my favorite snacks and drinks and Joe had even packed me an overnight bag. It was wonderful! Little Schmitt received some cute clothes and it was so nice to spend a whole evening with the girls! We do not get enough quality time together!

Then Sunday afternoon we headed back to our place where we brought lunch back for the boys. Hung out for a little while longer and then said goodbye to the Schmitt clan. Unfortunately, AJ ended up with some breathing problems, so he and I headed to urgent care while Joe worked on a paper. We knew everything would be fine, this has happened before, but we just wanted to be safe. He was given an oral steroid and we were sent home. We then spent the better part of the evening just relaxing in front of the TV so that AJ's asthma wouldn't be aggravated. By Monday morning he was feeling so much better and you would have never know anything was wrong the day before.

Today I am heading for a third ultrasound. They are worried I am carrying a giant and that the baby hasn't turned yet. I will update the blog later this week with whatever news I find out. Keep your fingers crossed that I don't have a giant floating around inside of me!

Time for an update

I thought I would put in a little update before the newest Schmitt member arrives, as I don't know when I will have time afterwards. We haven't had too many exciting things going on, just the day to day things.

I have about 5 weeks before this little one is set to arrive, but then again, who knows what kind of schedule he or she will be on! AJ is getting excited and we have his room almost finished (it's about time).

AJ is doing well. He loves school and playing with his diggers and he is really into board games right now. He still loves to sing and dance and spending time with Daddy is one of his favorite past times. The took a trip up to Duluth for the day and spent an amazing day at the train depot and the Children's Museum. AJ had SOOOO much fun looking at all of the trains and pretending to be an engineer. Here is a great picture of the two of them at the Children's Museum.

We had a visitor here for a few days in February, Benjamin stayed with us while his parents were in Hawaii. The boys had a blast and Joe took some great photos of them in the bath and with their Superhero Jammie's on. Here is my favorite.

We also have watched Gage a few times because Jess' daycare needed a few days off. AJ had a lot of fun helping out with Gage and showing him how to play with his toys. I took this great picture of the two of them in AJ's bed.

AJ turned 3 in April and we celebrated the Saturday before with a family party. All of his cousins were here (all 10 of them) to help him celebrate and he LOVED it! He was in seventh heaven to be the center of all the attention and really loved eating his blueberry pie his Daddy baked special for him!

Other then that, we are just anxiously awaiting our new arrival. I have my 35 week check up this week to see how things are going. I am getting really uncomfortable and my feet and legs are very swollen, but the end result will be totally worth it all. We will keep you all posted and let you know as soon as we know anything. I have updated our pictures and videos, so please check out the links at the right.

Wow, it has been a while!

It has been months since my last post, I REALLY need to get better about posting. I can just never seem to find the time to sit down and just post.

Christmas was a blast this year! AJ finally understood what all the fuse was about this year. And we even started teaching him about the true meaning, Jesus' birthday. They had a birthday party at school for him and he wished baby Jesus a Happy Birthday on Christmas morning! He had fun laying out milk and cookies for Santa the night before. And Santa has allergies just like AJ (at least that's what he thinks, makes him feel special to share his allergies with someone so important), so they were allergy free cookies and rice milk. Santa was good to all of us. AJ received the Geotrax train he asked for and mommy received a Kitchen Aid food processor and daddy received an MP3 player. We we able to see all three sides of our family and it was wonderful!

We spent a quiet evening at home for New Year's and I think Joe and I were even in bed before midnight! But the rest of the year has gone well. Our new niece Eva Jane arrived on January 10Th and shares her birthday with her cousin Lexi who turned 4 this year. Eva is so beautiful and it makes me even more excited for our new little one! We decided not to find out what we are having, but AJ is positive it's a baby brother (mommy is pretty sure he is right). We have names picked out for either gender, so we are all set. My first ultrasound looked great! We got some great pictures from it and AJ loves looking at them. He is getting really excited. I have another ultrasound next week, as they couldn't see a few things they wanted, the baby wasn't' cooperating!

AJ and I have both been pretty sick since Christmas, but I now think we are both finally past it (knock on wood). He is growing like crazy and learning even faster! I can't believe in a little over a month our little man is going to be 3. Where has the time gone? We have been keeping busy with school and play dates and just being buddies. We spend as much time with all the grandparents as possible and see the aunts and uncles and cousins as much as we can as well.

We are having a house guest for the next few days, Benjamin is coming to stay with us! Lucky Mike and Jessica are heading off to Hawaii on Thursday for 10 sun filled days. We are very jealous, but AJ is looking forward to having his best buddy here! Well I will try to update all our pictures and videos after Benjamin leaves, I am sure we will have some good ones of the two of them playing! That's all for now.