Family Photos

In June (yes June - I know it's been a while) we had some new family photos taken as the girls reminded me we did not have a family photo with Emma in it on the wall.  We utilized Laura again at True Life Images (and her wonderful Groupon) and had a beautiful outdoor sitting.  The pictures of the girls are amazing, it is crazy how quickly they are growing up.

I know it's a short update - but at least there are photos!  I'm still way behind on Emma's first birthday.....

A quick shout out to my friend Kelly Reiter (now Rover) who will be celebrating her wedding reception this weekend.  All the best to you and Nathan!

Apologies

Yes I know I have been absent for a LONG time....
A few things have happened along the way.

• Sadly, I was laid off in May.  Trying to find a new job has been challenging and unsuccessful so far.  With that has been added stress, anxiety, and sleepless nights.  So adjustments to our new situation, and new plans for the future are coming together.  It was our choice to not relocate to Atlanta and we are happy with that decision...I'm just happier with a paycheck. :)
• Secondly - we put our house on the market.  That is a lot of cleaning if you have seen our toy stash!  So the rest of May/June has been filled with boxing up items for garage sales, goodwill, and storage.  The house is still for sale - so if you know anyone looking for a great family home let me know!
• When the house sells we will be moving to Auxvasse to live in the "shouse".  Accepting that reality has been a challenge for me.  However it's the best decision financially to get us in a position to build a house which is the ultimate goal.  We have a lot a great plans for the farm and being out there will help us spend more time making them happen.  Plus having the opportunity to be more active in the school district will be nice and get to know our Auxvasse neighbors better.

• We took a family vacation.  Well the girls and I did, Tim met up with us later as he was fishing in WI.  Survival mode was in full effect with 3 weeks of quality girl time with our babysitter going on vacation, our vacation, and then vacation bible school.  It actually went very smoothly and we had a lot of fun in all of our adventures.

So now it's back to business and hopefully updating you with all the wonderful family photos we have that I finally downloaded from my phone.....smartphones could be the end of computers.....

So I promise to catch you up on things, and get back to blogging more regularly.  Probably not as much as our lives are in transit to a new beginning but I'll keep you posted.....
 

Team Spirit Day at School

This week has been a celebration of how well Auxvasse Elementary did on their state testing scores.
Monday was pajama day.
Tuesday was crazy socks day.
Wednesday was hat day.
Thursday was camo day (yes, the majority of the school has camo - Emma even wore camo).
 Friday is team spirit day and you get to wear you favorite team gear.  You can guess what my girls are....CHEERLEADERS!  Emma is participating today as well.

Emma wasn't that happy because I made Abby hold her because she kept crawling out of the picture.
Had to put on some pants though - it was snowing this morning!  Just flurries for a little while, but not what we expected to see.
Happy Friday!

Sometimes the kids are just too cute.....

We had a long evening out on the farm and they ran and played with neighbors while we got some tasks done.  Emma had to survive in the stroller:

and just watch us plant trees and work on a compressor.  Thankfully she loves the outdoors and the day was warm and lovely.  We are very lucky to have these 3 kiddos!

Emma is 9 Months

Ms. Emma is now 9 months and is into everything!  But it's a good thing as it's forcing us to baby proof a little bit more and for her sisters to clean up after themselves or she will get into their stuff.  I'll admit - I am secretly a little happy when Emma destroys something and I get to throw it away and it's a "lesson learned".

So on to our milestones from last month:

• CRAWLING FORWARDS is our biggest change from last month.  Not that she couldn't get everywhere, now she doesn't get stuck underneath things (as much).  
• Hits her head on things more since she is crawling forwards - not sure how she doesn't see these things coming.
• Looks for an audience before she starts to cry if she falls over now
• Has started pulling up to her knees a couple of times on her activity table
• Still just 8 teeth but I think we are close for some molars this month, she is chewing on everything
• Gives open mouthed/slobbery kisses if you pucker up for her
• Waves at you a little bit if you wave to her
• Hair puller!
• Still not a big fan of bananas.  
• Has tried chicken, working on some new meats to add in to the mix.
• Lowered her crib so she is now in "baby jail" as the girls call it.
• Still eats, naps, and sleeps like a champ.
• Is still very content to play and sit on her own, looking for more interaction from her sisters
• Went (halfway) down a slide at the park for the first time
• Lots of babbling, but still no "Mama" even though I say it to her all the time, still determined that will be her first word.
• Got "promoted" into the big kid room at daycare so she can play with the other kids.  So far so good.

That's about all I can think of for now.  She is a wonderful baby and we can't get enough of her.

Happy Easter

The Schmidt Easter celebration was pretty laid back this year.  We did not travel, and no one traveled to us - I know, a first!  We decided to just relax (we tried) and just enjoy the weekend.  Then we had a faucet explode on Saturday.  Seriously, the cold faucet handle burst up and water came shooting up out of it, just like in the movies....it can really happen!  Another bathroom faucet was in need of repair due to the stopper breaking as well.  So Tim got to replace 3 bathroom faucets on Saturday/Sunday, 2 due to necessity, and 1 just because he couldn't handle them not matching.  Thankfully we had 2 faucets (a project from 5 years ago that never happened) so we only had to buy one for the girls bathroom.  As our home is a little over 10 years old now we are experiencing some new surprises.....

So beyond our plumbing experiences we had a nice Easter.  The Easter Bunny found our house and delivered a couple movies and of course there was an Easter egg hunt, and all eggs are accounted for.  All girls were happy, that was until we made them get up this morning.

The Great Baby Comparison

Many people have given their opinion on which sister looks like which sister so here are the results from our latest photo update.

Emma and Abby definitely have the same Schmidt ears although Abby's face is a little rounder.  All three have the same cowlick that I have, but I think Emma and Abby will have the same hair color.  Megan will be our only bleach blonde. The Papke nose is on all 3 of them as well.  There is no doubt that they are all my daughters.

St. Pat's Survived

This past weekend was our annual St. Pat's party.  We are officially outnumbered by children now with everyone who stays at our house.  It's loud, it's messy - and that's just Pollard....but the kids overall did very good and played downstairs most of the time.  I still need to put it all back together but since it's downstairs - I don't see the mess so it doesn't bother me as much.  We also had spring break that week so I got some quality time with the kids and we tried a few projects and ran a lot of errands.

Every post should start with Emma's cuteness and her great smile.  We got her picture taken so I'm waiting for those to be ready.  She is the best baby for photos in terms of getting a smile out of her.  Our photos were done and paid for in less than 15 minutes.

Emma was due for some meat in her diet so I put together a little chicken, sweet potatoes, and apples for her.

It was pretty simple and quick to put together.

You just saute the chicken a little in some butter (non salted of course) then add the apples and sweet potatoes.  The recipe says to add a chicken stock (if you ever had time to make one) but I just went with a cup of plain water.  Bring it to a boil and then let simmer for 15 minutes.  I was a little concerned that the chicken wouldn't blend well but it was just fine.  Has the same consistency of sweet potatoes, but you can smell the chicken for sure.  The apples I think really just added some more liquid to it.  Emma likes it though.  I have more to work on this weekend as our frozen stashes are running low.

So the next thing was something I saw on Pinterest that I thought would be so cute for St. Pat's.....

Basically you make shamrocks out of pretzels and coat them with melted candiquik that you have dyed green and added a peppermint flavoring too.......and I have never used Candiquik before.

So I had the girls lay out the shamrocks with the pretzels.  At this time I think it's all going well and they will turn out so cute.

And there was some pretzel eating of course too.  We actually ran out of pretzels....but little did I know I would not need them all.

So - Candiquik - if you have not used it ever before I recommend just melting one block at a time.  Once you have over cooked it, it's a done deal.  Microwaving it for even longer does not melt it.  I ended up wasting a block and a half before I finally figured it all out.

And this was our sad attempt at the shamrocks.  I used a frosting dispenser I had but didn't know the spring was broken so we had some issues controlling the Candiquik coming out.  It still tasted good though which was nice. Maybe next year we will try again.  I at least understand the Candiquik a little bit better now and would probably invest in a pastry bag as was recommended.  We had fun trying though.

Overall St. Pat's was pretty laid back.  Late nights and early mornings make for laid back parents for most of the day. 

A little bit of catch up.....

Well the Schmidt family has been busy with travel and spring break.  Mostly me traveling and getting to spend time with the kiddos for spring break.  We did actually get quite a bit done during spring break despite being outnumbered 3 to 1 and still needing to do homework for my class.

Emma has discovered her activity table and as you can see has a lot of help with learning to stand.
She is still only crawling backwards but is very effective at it at least.  We hope she shifts into first gear and starts going forwards soon.

We survived another St. Pat's with minimal sleep and minimal damages so that is good.  More photos to come on that later......

Snow Day(s)!

The second snow storm has arrived - and may or may not be done.  I couldn't tell you, our cable is out and the wireless we mooch from our neighbors is sketchy at best (so I'm typing really fast).  Plus the power surges from the heavy snow that is taking out power lines throughout town are not helping.  I'm hoping we keep our heat!  My DC is actually closed due to the snow and ice that we have gotten and it's me plus 3 as Tim is planning to escape from to work once we dig out.

So here are a couple of photos from the first snow day.

Abigail and Megan after multiple snow angels and snow ball fights

Getting the sled working.  Had to make a path for it.

The Bovee family came out on Sunday since we had a little more snow than them and Betsy, BJ, Abby, Megan, and Theo made a nice snow family and did some sledding.  They went out to the farm and also did some 4-wheeling and tractor rides.  Owen, Emma, and I stayed home to nap, play, and cook.

Theo and Megan were the dedicated ones.  Theo REALLY likes to eat snow.  Megan was making snow babies, they are her favorite.

No photos from the snow day today as all we have done is shoveled.

Thank goodness, the cable just came back on.....

The Megan Celebration

Birthdays never seem to be a one day event with our family - they are more like a 4 day extravaganza with multiple celebrations, at least 3 cakes, and lots of FUN.

After their 3rd birthday I do not throw any organized parties anymore.  Just my decision and they are handling it.  So Megan got to pick a friend to have over for a sleepover on Saturday night.  She chose "Emma my best friend."

In addition to going out to eat for pizza at Shakespears and playing at Bonker's we did some crafts and made friendship bracelets.  The girls were all good at church and at brunch so the crafts were an extra special treat.

The girls had a good time with it - and I probably only have about 15 beads on the floor that rolled away that I can't find.

Emma feeding Emma - we thought that was a little funny.
Unfortunately we had to return "Emma my best friend" on Sunday.  Everyone wanted to keep playing but naps were very much in order.  After sleepovers, everyone is tired, including the parents!

Then the actual birthday day was upon us.

The distribution of cupcakes for preschool and daycare.  Hello Kitty was our choice this time.

Then there were finally presents after dinner at Lone Star (Megan's choice because she likes the "rollies").  Belle, Minnie Mouse, and Tinkerbell items were all in the mix.  There was a happy 4 year old who didn't want to go to bed.

Just chewing on a plate (that should be in the kitchen downstairs) watching Megan open presents.

Frank trying to be sneaky and get a bottle in.  Emma was too distracted by all the activity so he eventually had to pick her up.

Megan had a wonderful day and didn't want to go to bed since we had to open all of her toys.  Finally at 9:30 we booted them both to bed.  She received some wonderful gifts and cards and is going to start working on her thank you cards tonight......after she picks up her toys.

Happy Birthday Megan

Four years ago our family of 3 became Schmidt, party of 4.
Megan Rae joined us, looking much like her sister.....

Then the spiky bleach blonde hair came in, her need for her "paci", and many new things for us to adjust to that we didn't get with the first.  To say Megan keeps us on our toes is an understatement.  She is fearless in almost all aspects - and we have to keep an eye on her.  She will be that sneaky middle child - but we love her all the more for it.  She is still one of my best snugglers.

All she wanted for her birthday (and has for the last year) is this polka dot ice cream cake purse.  We celebrated a little early on the weekend (and will again tonight).  Of course, she didn't like the cake, she's not my sweet tooth kid.

She also keeps us entertained with her "Meganisms" - and this morning her quote was:
"Mom, yesterday I was so tired of being 3, it's a good thing I am 4 today."
She just tells it like it is.

Happy Birthday Meggers!

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines Day from the Schmidt girls.

This was my morning photo from Tim as I am traveling for work.  Miss these girls!!

Emma's first Valentines Day.

Avocad-No

Avocados were my next attempt at baby food for Emma.  Something fresh you could just smush up sounded like a good plan to me.

We only bought 2 of them and I only cut one open not knowing how Emma would appreciate them.  She didn't like bananas so I was anticipating some issues.  So I removed the seed and scraped out the goods and smushed it up in a bowl.

It wasn't that smooth so I put it in the Magic Bullet and added some water/formula to smooth it out and it looked better.

Survey:
Emma:  Took about 3-4 bites and wasn't sure, then wouldn't eat any more
Megan:  NOOOOO!
Abby: Can we plant the seed?
Tim:  I think we should give the other one away.
Ann:  I'm glad we only bought two.

But we tried it and that is the point of it.
Anyone want an extra avocado??

Corn Smoothie and Other Tidbits

Friday night included another dip into the baby food making process.  Corn.  First of all - for any of you that know me corn is by far my favorite vegetable and pretty much the only one I eat (apparently you can't count Ketchup as a vegetable).  So I was happy to finally make it for Emma.

I just cooked the corn normally like it says on the package.  This was a bag of frozen Great Value corn ($.98!!).

Dumped the whole thing into the blender (water and all) and blended it to the liquify button and got this lovely yellow smoothie.  I might add that it smelled good too.

1 bag of corn made all this goodness for $.98!  So almost a savings of $13!  Penny pinching happiness for me.  I quickly made up the other bag (for some daycare supply) and called it a night.  Clean up and all it took probably 30 minutes.

And yes, Emma is smiling while she was eating the corn.  Mouth was wide open ready for more so I think she liked it.  If Tim didn't feed her fast enough (because he was trying to eat his own dinner) she would smack the top of the high chair demanding more.  Mixed it up with sweet potatoes too and she loved it.
Survey says:
Emma:  more, more, more!  She either really loves it, or just likes eating in general - toss up there.
Megan:  "Um, no thank you.  Can I have regular corn?"
Abigail:  "Smells good."
Tim:  "Tastes like corn."
Ann:  I love corn, but it definitely is a weird texture as a smoothie!

Unfortunately I will be out of town for Valentine's Day so I am working to get all the kids stuff in line and ready to go for Tim to handle on his own (first time ever with 3, keep your fingers crossed).  At Abigail's school you can actually still bring in homemade baked goods so she asked and I said yes - Valentine's Day molasses cookies - why not?  I can't take credit for helping with the decorating.  Abby and Megan did this with their babysitter last night while Tim and I had an early Valentine's Day date since I'll be out of town.  They did a great job, and yes, they have been sampled and taste very good.

And my Emma - 7 months already and growing so quickly!

• Sits up and plays without any issues now.  Still will tumble over every now and then, but no crying now.
• Crawling backwards, and will rock and act like she'll go forwards, but not yet.
• Is starting to sleep on her stomach every now and then.  First kid that doesn't do that regularly as a baby.
• 7 teeth (4 on the top and 3 on the bottom)
• Chews everything!
• Bites and pulls on clothes (sleeves)
• Loves to pull hair - be ware!
• Hates socks, will pull them off and chew them.
• Still shoving her in some 6-9 month clothes, but is pretty much in 9-12 month
• 20 pounds
• Drinks water out of a sippy cup really well!
• Is very mobile now and getting into her sisters things that they leave on the ground - future destruction near....
• Smiles every time she sees Tim, still loves his beard
• I have no beard, but she still grabs at my chin
• Loves to be around her sisters and laughs at them all the time
• Still takes 2 naps a day
• Sleeps from 830-630 during the week - longer on weekends.
• Still looks like Abby 2.0

It amazes me how quickly she grows and learns things.  Even though she is the 3rd, it's new every time.

Making Pears

After fighting the funk for a couple of days I decided it was time to get off my butt and do something with those pears that have been sitting in my fridge for over a week...

This was 5 of the 10 I used.  Not knowing how large of a batch it would make I thought I would start with just half.

I had Googled to see if you could use an Apple Peeler/Corer on pears and it said you could - and they were mistaken.  That did not work out at all.  Pears don't fit that well to start with, then once it reaches the peeler it just falls off the prongs.  Never made it to the corer part.  So I reverted back to the good ol' potatoe peeler and apple corer.

Note to self next time:  peeled pears are slippery!  Gracie ended up getting a few slices.
Then I just cut them up and put them in the pot (no water added) and cooked them on med low (4 on the dial) for about 15-20 minutes and stirred every now and then.  They eventually came to a boil and had accumulated a lot of liquid when cooking.  Dumped the whole thing in the blender and it blended up smoothly.

Survey says:
Ann:  sweeter than apples and smoother
Abby:  "Can I have some too?"
Megan:  "I just want some applesauce."
Emma:  Mouth was open wide for all the bites, I think she likes it better than apples
Tim:  "You didn't leave any more met to try?"

So a bad of 10 pears made about 50 1 oz servings in addition to 3 2 oz serving containers.  I have misplaced the receipt in all my organization - which means it's probably been shredded but I think it was less than $6 for the bag, it came from Sam's Club.

Now that we have gotten through the main starters I will be adding Avocado, Corn, and Zucchini to the mix.  Plus have to bring back some favorites.   Tim has a request for more butternut squash and that mixes well with everything.

Currently February

Currently February

Watching: Last Man Standing - LOVE THAT SHOW!

Reading:  So Easy Baby Food: A Personalized Guide to Making Baby Food At Home, 2nd Edition - Joan Ahlers

Listening:  Nothing...Silence is golden

Making:  Baby Pears

Feeling: Exhausted - catching up from being sick.  Who knew sleeping all day could make you more tired.

Planing:  Megan birthday sleepover, and Valentines treats

Loving:  Watching Emma learn how to crawl - just goes in reverse for now.

The Tooth Fairy Must Have Us On Speed dial....

Another day and another lost tooth at the Schmidt house.  Abigail has now lost her 6th tooth!  Both on the top are gone and we now refer to her as "Toothless".

Megan also says she is a vampire now since she just has her incisors - and this picture doesn't really help much.  She's getting used to eating on the sides.  Unfortunately I don't see the new teeth yet.....

The story of the lost tooth goes something like this......"Mom, I was wrestling with Carter and he headbutted my tooth out.  I thought I swallowed it because we couldn't find it.  Blood tastes funny.  Then we found it by the TV."

Nonetheless the Tooth Fairy delivered yet another $1 gold coin.  Both the her Tooth Fairy Pillow and her coins are going to Show and Tell today for Kindergarten.

At least she won't show me how wiggly it is anymore....gives me the creeps.