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.
