Schweigert Ramblings

4 Years Old!

2011-07-07T00:16:00.000-05:00

My dear sweet baby boy. You don't care for me calling you that anymore. You would prefer that I used "big boy" instead. Ha, ha.

So much has changed in the last year. You have just become such a sweet boy! I was sitting here tonight editing pictures and you just poked your head around the corner. It's 11:45pm. You were thirsty and wanted a cup to bring to bed. You crawled on my lap, and gave me a kiss, then looked at me and smiled. telling me you love me. You must have been dreaming in bed about pow-pow's (guns) because you told me about the neighbor boy who has a gun that you lay on the ground with and shoot. The last 2 times you have played with him, he wouldn't give you a turn and this apparently has wrecked your sleep :).

To say you are slightly obsessed with pow-pow's, is an understatement! You have your sister picking up TV remotes and saying "peeechew, peeechew" like she's firing a gun.

Speaking of sharing, you are such an amazing big brother! You sing to her when she's crying. You can't wait to get in her room, in the morning. You are always talking for her, telling me what she needs/wants. The love you have for her and everyone really shocks me. Although to be fair, when you get angry, it's just as shocking. You do everything with your whole heart. Your new favorite game is to lay on the ground and Elsie will come run and sit/tackle you and you guys laugh and laugh. Elise has taken to caring for you too. She will bring you your blanket, cups, food, snacks or the toy you were just playing with. She still can't say your name and you have noticed this. She just makes the "L" sound. Just about 10 times a day, Elsie will walk up to you and lean into you for a hug. She then goes from saying "awww" to "arughhhghh" because you have squeezed her too tightly.

You asked me one evening when I was going to be done being married to Daddy because you wanted to marry me. After I explained that we can't get married, you sighed and then said "ok, I guess I'll just marry Elsie". Ha, ha. Can't do that either! Sorry bud!

You will talk to anyone at anytime. You definitely have my personality when it comes to wanting to meet new people and have friends. It takes you all of 10 seconds to make a friend at a park. If someone were to steal you, I would never know, because you love everyone. At the sprinkler park, you were shooting a mom, who was reading, with your water gun. After I explained that she is not dressed to get wet and that it wasn't nice, you went over and apologized to her.

You love to ride your bike. This is one of the things that is new this year. You can peddle a 2 wheel bike with training wheels. You are really good at it too! You started to get yourself dressed too. All the way to putting shoes on. You get yourself breakfast every morning. You usually don't come upstairs to get me until after you're done eating. This is really nice and I would like to tell you, I love it! Although, when Daddy is home on the weekend, you just can't wait for him to wake up. My favorite mornings are when I don't realize you're next to me, and when I wake up, you're laying there quietly waiting for me to wake up.

You're first time bowling was just in May. Grandma helped you the whole time and you got pretty frustrated when you're ball didn't go where you wanted it to. All-in-all, you liked it though.

I took these pictures on the 4th of July. I realized that I hadn't taken you're 4 year pictures and since we were going to watch fireworks, you took a late nap. It was the perfect time to get you out of the house with just Mommy to snap a few pictures. You have realized that if you cooperate quickly, we are done in 5 minutes and that is all it takes!

Last but not least, I don't think I could love you anymore than I already do. But somehow, tomorrow, I will. Everyone that you are around tells us how smart you are. Daddy and I love listening to your talks and watching you figure something out. We just love YOU! I can't believe you are 4 years old. This time is just flying by. I love you! I love you! I love you! Mommy

A Hard Day in the Office

2011-05-31T23:41:00.001-05:00

A half hour of my day... trying to make lunch

2011-02-07T13:15:00.000-06:00

It's only 12:45... TWELVE FORTY FIVE... how is this possible?

Here's just a teeny tiny look at what lunch looks like for me today (11:30 am):

Me: Making lunch
Lee: Watching TV
LC: Nipping at my ankles

I put LC in her high chair and Lee's show ends.
I turn on a different show for him.
Go back to getting lunch together for both kids.
LC signals to me in sign that she wants milk.
I give her milk but she throws it on the floor.
Apparently she wanted something else.
I get out a cracker, but she not only wanted one cracker, she wanted the whole sleeve.
There's only 6 crackers left in the sleeve, so I let her have the wrapper.
Go back towards the kitchen and I hear Lee yell out that he pooped.
I go and help him with that situation and fight him to wash his hands.
He has decided that washing of hands is optional.
I get him washed up and out of the bathroom and LC is staring at the floor.
She dumped all her crackers out and they are now all on the floor.
I pick them up and give them back to her
(yes, I'm that kind of mom, sorry),
she takes a bite out of one and throws it on the floor.
It's a fun game.
I suggest everyone tonight at dinner try it!
I look at her and decide to ignore it.
Whatever she wants to do is fine with me.
Go back to making lunch.
Lee comes in he's thirsty.
He gets his milk but it's empty.
Fill that up.
Back to lunch.
LC saw Lee drinking and wanted her milk.
Go over and give her, her cup.
She drinks it and throws it back on the floor.
I know you're shocked... me too.
Lee asks if he can "cup up paper".
I tell him I'm almost done with lunch and that he can cut paper after.
He get his scissors to "put" them where the paper is.
Me not paying attention didn't see he went after my crocheted hat like Edward Scissorhands.
Fan-fricken-tastic.
Have Lee clean that up and get lunch on the table.
I sit down to eat with the kids and LC starts turning red in the face.
She's now pooping.
I say a quick prayer that 1:30 (nap time) comes quick so I can sit and stare at the wall.

I might need to run 97 errands when Steve gets home.

My Dear Sweet Baby Boy,

2011-02-05T00:24:00.000-06:00

I absolutely love that when you want to talk to God, you will walk over to a window or door and look up at the sky. It must have clicked that we have told you God is in Heaven and Heaven is in the sky. I love the little boy you are becoming... well, most days ;)~

Love Them!

2011-01-26T23:44:00.000-06:00

I love them when they get along and play together. Lee has always been amazing with LC and playing with, sharing with and helping her. I know my days are numbered before the bickering and fighting starts, so I'm enjoying every moment right now.

The other day they had a bath together. I took lots of sweet pictures of them like this...

Oh and then there was this picture... ;)

Happy Birthday Elsie!

2011-01-19T23:25:00.000-06:00

You are officially 1 year old now.

You point to everything and say "this". You started saying "kiyee ka" (kitty cat) when we were in Las Vegas over Christmas. Aunt Amy and Uncle Matt have 2 cats and you found them highly amusing. You are quite the drama queen. You do not like to be told "no". Just saying the word "no" to you will usually end up with you crying.

You like to clap your hands.

You love to cluck your tongue. You always are following what other people are doing. You watch everything. You also like to imitate everyone. The other night at dinner, Papa went "mmm" after taking a bite of food, and next thing we know you are saying "mmm" to everything. If I clap, you will clap. If I squeal, you'll squeal. If Lee laughs, you laugh too.

You love looking at pictures and point to all the people saying "this?" meaning "who's this?" and we go through all the people.

You will lay down and snuggle on any blanket on any floor. You will then follow it up with a "aww" in your cute teeny tiny voice.

Dr. update: 19.4lb 30" tall

We love you so much and can't believe it's already been a year. Happy birthday El's.

Visiting Santa

2011-01-08T01:04:00.000-06:00

Ha, ha, ha! I love this picture. There's a good story to this. We were visiting Steve's family in Las Vegas (we stayed with Matt and Amy) and went to Mandalay Bay's Shark Reef one morning. Santa just happened to be there, so we payed a visit. Here's where the story begins.

For the whole month of December all Lee asked for was "star wars toys". That's all he wanted from Santa. Everyday was "star wars toys". We go to see Santa, who happened to be at the shark reef, and Lee tells him "I want a telescope". WHAT?? Santa = failed, because he brought... (drum roll) ... Star Wars toys. Has not mentioned a telescope since visiting Santa however, so that worked out good!

Fast forward to this week (2 weeks after Christmas). We're at a friends house that has a "red airplane". Insert 3 continuous days of how Lee "has to have" this red airplane. Steve and I are not buying anymore toys... for a long... long... time. Lee then said he was going to ask the next person that came to our house for a gift card so he could buy the red airplane. NO! <-- our response. Lee then was throwing a little fit over this "red airplane" and said "why couldn't Santa have brought me a red airplane?"

Me: Because you wanted Santa to bring you Star Wars toys.
Lee: ACTUALLY... I asked Santa for a telescope and HE didn't bring me one.
Me: Um... ahhh... ya.

Elsie is walking!

2011-01-07T23:52:00.000-06:00

Look what my baby girl can do! She start to officially walk more than 3 steps on January 5th. She just gets so proud of herself, I love it! I love her smile. She is such a sweetheart.

Happy almost 1st birthday. Only 12 more days!

Our Christmas Tree...

2010-12-05T02:14:00.000-06:00

Lasted 2 days. TWO WHOLE DAYS! I'm not going to name names on who did this awesome-ness to our tree, but his/her name rhymes with "Schlee".

The first picture is the day we set it up. You can see his "awe" of the tree. You can see how he is plotting and planning to take it out. You can also see, the lights did at some point work!

The second picture is what it looks like now.

Merry Christmas :) Good thing we're spending the holidays with the M* family. Any bets on how long it takes "Schlee" to take down theirs??

10 Months Old

2010-11-19T23:36:00.000-06:00

I cannot for the life of me think where the last 10 months have gone. Where on earth could they have gone? Today for the 2nd time, you said "all done". It sounds like this "ahh do". But your hands are straight up in the air and you are kicking your feet ready to get down.

You still have no teeth... not a one.

You hate having your diapers changed. It is a battle every.single.time.

There are lots of first these past few weeks. I'm not sure how much I've documented everything so let me start a few weeks ago:

Oct 11: Started saying "mama"
Oct 22: Growled at us for the first time (something you still love to do)
Oct 26: 9 month check up
Oct 27: Climbed the stairs for the first time. This is something you are now scared to do, thank goodness.
Nov 4: Said "dada" for the first time
Nov 8: Clapped your hands for the first time
Nov 17: Waived for the first time

You really like to give Daddy a hard time in the evenings. For the first few months I put you to bed every night because Lee wanted Steve. Ever since then, you have been a Mama's girl. Daddy has the hardest time getting you to eat, sleep or to change you. Maybe you can work on this a little bit. He tries really super hard and does love you lots! I feel bad for him.

You can cruise now crawling and walking along furniture. You let go all the time now and just stand there clapping. You love to stand by yourself. Your pretty good at it too, but I don't think walking is in your near future, but I do think you will walk before Lee.

You have started stranger anxiety too. You don't really scream when people come up to you, but you don't want to go to them either.

Where ever I'm at, you follow me around. If I'm sitting on the couch, you are right at me feet. When I'm cooking dinner, you are right at my feet. When I'm walking somewhere, you are usually right behind me. It's pretty cute, but I am so scared I'm going to step on you sometime.

You love to feed yourself. You love finger foods that you can gnaw on and to lay down by yourself to drink your bottle.

That's about all I can think of for right now. This month was just a blurr, I'm not really sure where it went to. I love you and though I can wait to see what you are like as a little girl, I do wonder somedays what you are going to be like.

2010-11-18T15:50:00.003-06:00

Lee is learning his days of the week. So far we have:

Sunday

Monsday

Threesday

Friday

Saturday

DOWN! Everyone's favorite days of the week has to be Threesday! It's not Twosday (Tuesday)... It's Threesday!!

Also, he know the difference between "yesterday" and "tomorrow" however, anything in the past is "jesterday" (yesterday). Ex: Mommy, remember jesterday when we had Halloween and it was so fun?

No more binks...

2010-11-16T01:58:00.000-06:00

I know these pictures are old. They are from last year when we moved your room around and you got your new "blue" room before LC was born, but they show you with your bink. It has been one week since you have stopped taking it. November 9th was your last day with your bink and you gave it up.

why I don't take my kids pictures...

2010-11-16T00:30:00.000-06:00

Lets recap my recent attempt at taking my wonderfully sweet little angel faces pictures. Just look at all that adorableness that couldn't sit still for one... stinkin... picture. I mean, there are just so many options to choose from, however will I decide???

Picture 1: Lee being cheesy, LC watching Lee to see what the heck he's doing.
Me: Lee, smile normal... LC... look at me!
Picture 2: Now THERE'S the smile I was hoping for (rolls eyes).
Me: Lee, um, not that smile. LC, look at me, look a stick!
Lee: Ugh are we done yet?
LC: looking at stick.
Picture 3: Lee sees 2 little kids running to the park that is 20 feet away. This was his reward for taking a good picture.
Picture 4: ... (do I really need to recap what Lee is thinking in this picture?? Or LC for that matter...)
Picture 5 & 6: Lee telling me how unfair it is that he can't go to the park NOW and take pictures LATER. He just doesn't understand. Why we can't play first. Blah, blah, blah... LC is really enjoying those fingers.
Picture 7 & 8: Lee giving LC a hug and squishing the daylights out of her... awesome!
Picture 9: (this is about 4 minutes in taking pictures) Lee was just watching the 2 kids at the park, and now LC wants nothing to do with Lee after the hug... she crawled away.

END.OF.SESSION!!

My Dear Sweet Baby Boy,

2010-11-16T00:17:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure this is what God is looking for when we pray for dinner.

Lee: Dear God..
(insert giggle)
Me: (getting Lee back on track) Thank you...
Lee: for Daddies tools, that I broke
Me: (getting him back on track again) and for our food
Lee: and for our food, and for my star wars space ship and for blasters and for all the (making sounds) pichoo, cachow, bams and boooms!
Me: (thinking that I should probably review with Lee what God really wants us to be grateful for) (cutting Lee off) AMEN!

Lee asked the other night if God was his friend. I told him that God is everyone's friend. Lee then said "ya, I know. I love him."

Lee goes to Daycare!

2010-11-06T01:37:00.002-05:00

A few months ago my friends Crystal and Steph told me about this book "Raising Your Spirited Child" and said that a lot of my frustrations with Lee are addressed in this book. I kinda brushed it off and stayed frustrated for awhile till one day they had had enough and Steph said that I just needed to read it. I don't have a lot of time these days, so although I haven't finished the book (I'm on chapter 4 I think), I noticed right away that this book didn't just describe Lee a LITTLE, but this book was written about my child! All except, he's not a major temper tantrum thrower. He doesn't really have long meltdowns. They are 5 minutes tops and I can usually stop them pretty quickly.

This book helped me realize that although I knew Lee was a social butterfly, I didn't realize the importance of him getting out of the house multiple times a week so he could "socialize" with other people besides me.

When we're at the grocery store, he will say hello to just about everyone we pass. He asks random people what they are making for dinner. He asks them what they are buying. He.is.a.people.person!

So, one evening I am out to dinner with two other friends (this is after I started reading this book) and I am explaining to them what it said and my frustrations and they suggested bringing Lee by their daycare. They both work for daycare/preschools. That next night I talked to Steve about it. I had him read the chapter about a extroverted child and ways to help them. He completely agreed with me 100%. This was something we needed to look into.

Over the summer I put him in swimming and tumbling. They were both horrible. He hated doing both. He also derailed both classes and goofed off so much that other kids were not listening too. I was scared to start another thing that he could potentially influence other kids to misbehave. However, after visiting the daycare and talking with Lee, Steve and I thought it was worth a shot.

The first day wasn't so good. I had to fight him to get dressed. Fight him to brush his teeth. Fight him to eat. Fight him to get in the car. Fight him to go into the building. I explained to his teacher that this was his 1st time ever in a daycare setting, just so she had some background. When I went to pick him up, his teacher said "he doesn't like to follow rules does he?" Ya, exactly why we're here. Not a good start.

Day 2: Not as bad to get him dressed and ready. I talked so much about how we follow rules and listen and we have to do projects and listen to stories too. Yes, you get time to play, but you have to follow the rules as well. He actually rolled his eyes at me. I talked that much. Teacher notes when I picked up, "today was better".

Day 3: Lee was excited to go to school. Excited about his friends. Didn't roll his eyes as much as we talked about learning and following rules. And his teacher said "this was his best day yet! He did really, really good!"

So, today was Lee's 4th day at daycare. Today I was told that Lee is the most polite boy. Today he was able to pick a "prize" for being such a good boy and listening so well. I could not be more proud of him. He loves his school! He loves his teacher! He loves tattling on the one boy who doesn't listen and gets in trouble all the time and how he's (Lee) not naughty, the OTHER boy is naughty.

He just goes part-time (8am-noon), 2 days a week. That's just enough so that he can get out of the house and away from me and be a big kid by himself. Steve and I were talking tonight because we have noticed a pretty big difference in Lee already. He listens SO much better, it's pretty crazy how only 4 days at school can make a difference. But it did and I am so thankful to have such amazing friends that read great books.

Thank you Steph, Crystal, Emmy & Katie!!

A little unsure...

2010-11-06T01:16:00.002-05:00

I am taking this picture of LC. However, what you don't see, is for Halloween I painted my face to look like a kitty cat to match LC and she now doesn't recognize who I am. This is her "Oh I completely trust you" face. Ya... this is what look most people get when she first sees you.

Happy Halloween!

2010-11-05T02:07:00.000-05:00

Happy Halloween everyone!

We had a lot of fun trick-or-treating with Grandma, Papa, Aunt Kelly & Aunt Jackie! A few houses tried to scare Lee, but he didn't really get too scared. It was a bit chilly, so Elsie and I came home earlier and Lee stayed out with everyone else treating. It was a great night and lots of fun!

I'll post more pictures soon.

How to feed your baby doll!

2010-11-05T02:00:00.000-05:00

Please refer to the picture above.

Box 1: Seems like a perfectly normal situation. Elsie chewing on a toy. That happens to be a baby bottle.

Box 2: Elsie trying to feed the baby doll.

Box 3: When baby starts drinking, poke her in the eye.

Box 4: Hmm, I wonder what this baby's milk tastes like.

Box 5: Let's try it.

Box 6: I'm not getting anything, poke baby in the eye again.

Box 7: Still drinking, what did you get out of this bottle?

Box 8: Still nothing...

Box 9: That's it, I'm leaving. I'm taking the milk with me!

Elsie, I could watch you play all day long. You are usually so quiet that I forget that you're there. Then, you start "talking" and you are SO loud. You have two volume's. Loud and silent.

Today you were playing with Lee's baby doll. This is the baby doll that you got him when you were born. Do you remember it? You were fascinated with feeding her today. See this baby doll will make drinking sounds when you put the bottle up by its lips. It will also giggle when you touch her belly. You liked both these features.

However, I'm not sure stealing other babies milk and poking them in the eye is the way to make friends. You might want to reconsidering this.

Love,

Mommy

LC is 9 Months Old!

2010-10-20T00:33:00.001-05:00

El's you're 9 months old now. How fast the time is flying by. You have brought so much sunshine and laughter to our house, I am so thankful every day to have you. You and Lee get along so well together. He is starting to realize you're growing up and is not put up with you as much anymore. However, he is still the first person you see every morning because he loves going into your room to "wake" you up.

I haven't written in here for awhile, so I'm going to catch everything up to date hopefully.

August 4th - Sat up for the first time by yourself. You really didn't know how to "sit", but you could sit yourself up, try balancing for a few moments and then finally topple over to do it all over again.

August 22nd - Start army crawling. You have the perfect army crawl down! You are fast too. You can get across a room in just a few seconds.

You officially started crawling just last week. Now that is mostly what you use to get from point A to point B.

August 31st - Started eating puffs and got the hang of it. You would put a puff in your mouth and spit it out because it was different. This day, you really started taking them in your mouth and chewing them.

Although as of today, you still don't have any teeth. You can eat quite a bit of food though. You tried cottage cheese today for the first time and loved it!

September 6th - crawled 4 crawls on your hands and knees for the first time.

Shortly after this is when you started pulling up on furniture. I don't have the exact date :(

September 27th - Started walking along the couch.

Your first word was "Mama". You started whining quite a bit when we were feeding you. So I started teaching you sign language so you could maybe start telling us what you want. It took only a few times and you got "more" and "all done" down. So now when you want more of something, you will sign "more". When it's not the right thing, you will shake your head "no" at us until we get it right. When you're done and ready to get down, you'll throw your hands in the air and sign "all done". I'm shocked that at 8 months old, you had this concept down. The whining while eating has for the most part, stopped.

During meal times, you will drink from a sippy cup. You haven't really started giving kisses yet. However, M'Liz taught you how to do bonks, so you ever so gently bonk us on occasion and start laughing. You think it's hysterical.

Dr. Update:
Height 28 1/4" Weight 18lb 4oz Head 44cm

Happy 9 month birthday my sweet beautiful girl. I love you :)

First 3-D Movie

2010-06-25T23:31:00.001-05:00

Lee and I went and saw Shrek 4 last night. We were waiting for our power to come back on and got tired of the heat. Steve and Elsie joined us for dinner, but Elsie was being a crab, so Steve took her home. The best part about this was it was 3-D. I recommend seeing all movies this way if you can!

I wasn't sure if 3-D was a good idea because Lee keeps sunglasses on for all of 3 minutes, but he did awesome! He kept the glasses on the whole time and was shocked when stuff started popping off the screen. I was laughing when he would reach out to try to touch something or look to his left/right when things would fly off the screen and then they disappeared. He kept asking "where'd it go?" He was so cute.

He also looked like a miniature Buddy Holly in his 3-D glasses ;) SO FUN!

Next up: Steve is going to take Lee to see Toy Story 3. He really wants to take him to see that movie himself. So they might be going in a few weeks.

3 Years Old!

2010-06-25T00:46:00.000-05:00

Lee from June 2009 to June 2010.

June 2009

July 2009

August 2009

September 2009

October 2009

November 2009

December 2009

January 2010

February 2010

March 2010

April 2010

May 2010

June 2010

I'll do his actual party post soon. I can't believe how much you've changed in one year. M'Liz says years 2 to 3 are the biggest change and I have to agree with her. You just seem HUGE from one year ago. I love you buddy!

5 Months Old

2010-06-23T16:17:00.000-05:00

5 Months Old

You have been such a happy baby (unless we are around a crowd of people or a stranger talks to you, then you scream like your legs are being ripped off).

You have the cutest little smile and laugh. I love making you smile, so I'm pretty sure you think I'm the biggest dork on the planet. Lee and Daddy do it too, Lee is actually pretty good at getting you to smile. You follow him with your eyes where ever he goes. You took a toy away from him the other day (you've been very big on rolling to where you want to go) and I was cringing waiting for the backlash, but he just laughed at you and "petted" your head and said, "ok, I share with you Elsie". It was really super cute and endearing.

(My sister Kelly and Elsie)

Remember before when I mentioned that you like to scream when a stranger comes near you? Well, we were at Target and a nice elderly lady just wanted to say hi to you and you screamed your head off. Next thing I know, Lee is crying too. I had 2 kids, crying like crazy. I asked Lee why he was crying and he said "I don't know, but why is Elsie crying?" So we had a small talk about how you don't know how to react with strangers and that Lee should be a good example and not cry. Well see how that goes.

The other day Lee was sitting next to you playing with a toy and it fell over and hit you on the head. You started to cry and I came over to console you. I looked down at Lee and he had these huge tears in his eyes and then started crying because he hurt you. I want to document 2 things right now... 1. I know for sure this will not last forever and you two will be fighting over toys soon enough. So here's proof that your brother does love you! 2. If Lee turns out to have a soft/gentle heart ever, I owe it all to you. You have that little boy wrapped around your fingers. He was yelling at me this morning because we were going to a movie and he wanted to leave earlier than when we needed to, he looked at you, smiled and gave you a kiss. I get screamed at and you get kisses.

You have started to ~~dislike~~ hate your bottles. You will drink a little bit of milk and then hold out until you get baby food. You are ~~liking~~ LOVING your baby food. You will eat oatmeal and sometimes 2 jars of baby food in one sitting. It's crazy to me how much you can eat of that stuff, but refuse your bottle. The very first time we started feeding you with a spoon, you had it down pretty good about the 5th spoonful.

(Your first day eating oatmeal - May 27, 2010)

(These were taken her 1st time eating with a spoon - May 27, 2010)

We went to your first movie in the movie theater today. You didn't really care for it. It wasn't a big deal, but I did have to stand with you for most of it. We saw Kung Fu Panda. Or Panda Chinese Food as Lee calls it. Whichever.

We set up your jumper and you LOVE it! You can be in there hours at a time! You can jump pretty high now too!

You are a rolling fool and sitting up is starting to get better. You rolled over to the DVD player the other day and started playing with the buttons. Lee came over to ~~gently help you~~ remove you from this situation as you were about to turn off his show and picked you up and then just dropped you to the side. He was sitting and you didn't cry, just so you know. There was no damage done. Although, Lee got a talking to about picking you up.

You started playing with your feet too! It's so cute to see you stare at your hands and feet. I love it!

You can bring home dogs from Alaska with your high, ear-piercing squeaking you do. I'm serious when I say that it's ear-piercing. Lee holds his hands over his ears and screams for you to stop. I just laugh, because you're only doing it when you're at your happiest. He pretty much hates it though and it's funny to watch him sit next to you with his hands over his ears, pleading with me to make you stop.

Did I mention your two favorite things right now are eating anything but bananas with a spoon and rolling around on the floor?

Happy 5 month birthday baby girl. We all love you SO much!

Happy 3rd Birthday

2010-06-11T23:58:00.002-05:00

How is it you went from this just a year ago...

to this...

Happy 3rd Birthday my sweet, sweet boy! I am so proud of you, I don't think I could love you anymore. I will post more about you, I just wanted to make this quick picture comparison and I still can't believe you're 3.

Ms. Elsie - 4 Months Old

2010-06-02T00:38:00.001-05:00

The time is flying by... you can now roll over from back to front and front to back. You are loving being on your belly though and it almost seems like you're scared to roll onto your back sometimes. Ms. Liz watched you today and she checked on you 2 different times while you were sleeping and you were sleeping on your stomach. You are just loving your belly.

You've also taken up a new found interest in your knees. See the picture above. You can't get to your feet yet, although you know they are there... you can get to your knees. They are pretty scratched up.

This past week we started you on baby oatmeal. With your pooping issues we've had, I skipped rice cereal all together. You are not a big fan of oatmeal yet. Tonight I gave up the good fight with you and just opened green beans. You ate half the jar. It's pretty funny how you eat... I wedge the spoon in your mouth and you kinda slurp what's on it and eat it that way. We'll have to teach you to open your mouth all the way.

You grab everything in sight now. You have very, very slow, but meticulous still the same. You do not give up, that's for sure. You'll be laying under your play mat on the floor scooting and scooting to get to the toy that rattles. You can get from point "A" to point "B" if you need to.

You are still perfectly content to be left alone on the floor by yourself. You prefer to hang out down there actually. You love to sit in your car seat too and watch everything going on. You are just a very laid back baby girl.

M'Liz too this picture of you the other day. I think she's taken more pictures of you than I have. I'll try and get better about that. Thank goodness we have her! This picture just melts my heart when I see it! Thank you so much again Liz!!!

I have a video of you rolling over ... i'll try to post it soon!

4 Months Old

2010-05-20T15:23:00.000-05:00

I can't believe you are 4 months old already, time is sure flying by. You are just the sweetest baby girl. You hardly ever cry and just lay back and take things in. You grab at everything now and when I hold you, you hang onto my shirt. You helped me flash everyone at the mall the other day! That was fun!

I started cloth diapering you this month. You don't care either way. Your little legs are getting so chubby ;)

4 Month Dr. Update:

13lb 15.5oz (75%)

25.5 " long (95%)

41.2 head cir (average)

The Dr. said you are doing great and sleeping REALLY well. He emphasized the "really". He said I can start you on solids anytime now. I just don't know if I want you to be that big yet. I think you're really going to like it though and maybe I should give it a shot. With your brother, I was always pushing him to the next level (although as independent as he is, it doesn't take much pushing) ... I think for you, I'm going to be holding you back because I want to keep you my baby forever.

Swaddling

2010-05-14T23:03:00.000-05:00

Last night was the last night that you were swaddled. You are no longer liking it as much and prefer to chew/suck on your hands and fingers while trying to fall asleep. You are also becoming very good at self soothing and putting yourself to sleep. Your bottom 2 teeth are just about to pop threw. We'll see how long they take to come in. You are just the sweetest, most content baby. You lay on your blanket and just watch the world around you. Very seldom do you cry. Mostly when you are tired or poopy. Good-ness you cry when you have pooped. WOW! It's ear piercing! Ha, ha.

You also started this week rubbing your eyes when you get tired.

How to make Lee feel better...

2010-05-14T22:58:00.000-05:00

Tonight we went over to the neighbors house for dinner to celebrate Jon's birthday. We all had fun and when it was time to go, Lee was pretty upset. He was having too much fun. As he was getting his shoes on, he asked "Mommy, can you sing me a song to make me feel better?". So I asked him what song he would like me to sing... he said "spiderman can do it, nobody can". So I sang it and he started laughing with tears in his eyes. That boy melts my heart! He is just too sweet sometimes!

Sidenote: I can't believe that "spiderman" is the song he chooses to make himself feel better...

Another reason I could give Lee a big smack-a-roo kiss on his cheek is because last night was the 2nd night in a row that he woke up at 1am to use the potty all by himself. He is staying dry during the day and nap now 100% of the time. Nighttime seems to be getting closer and closer everyday! I am SO proud of him! SO proud!

Winner vs. Loser

2010-05-14T01:13:00.000-05:00

Have you ever played the original Super Mario Bros Cart video game? Then you know what Luigi says when you select to be him to race in the game.

Here was a conversation between Lee and Steve!
Steve: Lee, lets race to the fire hydrant.
Lee: Ok.
Steve: Who do you think will win? Daddy or Lee?
Lee: (In the most perfect Luigi voice ever) I'mma gonna weeeeeein!

A-ha, ha, ha, ha!

My Dear Sweet Baby Boy - The Green Bean Story

2010-05-13T01:14:00.003-05:00

A few afternoons ago, you decided that you no longer wanted to eat green beans. You have loved them 1,462 time prior to this afternoon, but all of a sudden you no longer like green beans. Here's how our afternoon went:
Lee: I'm all done.
Mommy: No Lee, please eat your green beans, then you can get down.
Lee: No, I want a treat!
Mommy: You can have a treat after you finish your green beans.
Lee: NOOOOOOO!!!!!
Me: YEESSSS!
Lee: I'm too tired to eat my green beans.
Me: Well, just eat them quickly and you can go take a nap. (this is usually his nap time after lunch).
Lee: No, I can't do it. I'm toooooo tired.
Steve: Well, then you'll have to eat your green beans after your nap. (This was a mistake that we will never do again).
Lee: Ok! (Gets down and goes upstairs).
Steve: Lee, remember after your nap, you have to finish your green beans before anything else to eat.
Lee: Yep, ok Dad. Yep, Uh huh. Ok.
Steve: (phone rings, he gets a call and leaves for work).
Lee goes down for nap. 12:30pm

3:30pm - Lee wakes up from nap.
Lee: I'm hungry. I want a snack.
Me: (remembering what Steve said...) you have to finish your green beans before you can have anything else.
Lee: NOOOOO... I no like green beans.
Me: Lee, there's only (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6... 7) 7 green beans to eat. Just eat them quick and you can have something else.
Lee: (sits in his chair and starts throwing them on the floor).
Me: ( buckle him in his chair realizing there's a battle up ahead)
Me: (then picks up his green beans off the floor and puts them back on his plate).
*side note: Lee licks and eats everything and I'm pretty sure at that point and time my floor was fairly clean.*
Lee: NOOOOOOOO

Fast forward to 6pm. Steve is back from work. Lee is .. dum-ditty-dum .. still in his chair. He finally gets hungry enough to eat the 7 green beans and then gets a full plate of dinner, which he devours.

Now, this story is not over yet. Fast forward some more with me to last night grocery shopping. We are in the vegetable isle. Lee is in the grocery cart. I am pushing the cart. Elsie is asleep in her car seat. I have my list. I'm not paying much attention to Lee, just focusing on the things I need, and trying to get out of the store. We happen to pass the "green bean" section of canned items.

Lee: Mommy, look, my favorite beans!
Me: (staring at him in complete and udder shock)
Lee: can we buy some green beans?
Me: No, you wouldn't eat them last time.
Lee: No, I love green beans.
Me: (still staring at this human form of a boy that resembles my son, not really knowing what to say)
Lee: (SCREECHING as loudly as he can) I WANT MY GREEN BEANS, please Mommy!
I bought him 2 cans. Then ran home so I could reassemble my jaw correctly. It seems the bottom portion fell off.

Last note: I was never planning on giving Lee green beans ever again, to avoid the above scenario from happening, ever again.

Naughty Boy!

2010-05-06T20:28:00.000-05:00

Apparently it was fun today for Lee to run away from me through the parking lot while I chased after him screaming... that was fun! Thank goodness I was with my friend Amy and she stayed by Elsie while this happened, because otherwise, she would have been left alone on the sidewalk. I was just telling someone how he's so good about not going in the street... guess I spoke too soon. Ouy. Parenting Lee might kill me............

A New Game!

2010-05-04T23:17:00.000-05:00

Today you played a new game... you started repeating everything I said. We laughed and laughed so hard! You also are loving baseball. You're getting pretty good at hitting and throwing too! We had such a fun evening tonight! Love you ;)

I forgot something..

2010-05-04T00:40:00.000-05:00

Lee ate GRAPES for the first time yesterday! I give Steve all the credit!! He's the man! He made it happen! Lee TRIED them and he LIKED them! Although today I couldn't get him to eat them again... but hey, he tried them yesterday and that's all that matters!!

Whooo-wee!

2010-05-03T23:46:00.001-05:00

I am so proud of you going on the toilet. You are completely trained during the day... nighttime will take a few years I'm afraid. You are just such a sound sleeper. When Daddy or I go in to have you go potty, you stay almost completely asleep. Although last night you attacked me and started kicking. I think this is why you've been such a challenge lately... you are not sleeping nearly as much as you should. You wake up from nap when you have to go potty. It's been about a week now since you've had an accident during nap time. But you're 3 hour nap has become 2 hours. Then at night, I wake you up around 11pm when I go to bed, then Daddy wakes you up at 4:30am when he goes to work. So that's two times during the night that you're being disturbed. So, hopefully you'll start getting used to less sleep and not so crabby during the day ;D PLEASE...

We have gone everywhere though, 2 hour car trips, grocery shopping, to the park and you have told me every time that you have to go potty. You really are such a good sport about it! I'm so proud of you!

The picture above was taken at a local park where you played hard for about 4 hours. You can see the proof all over your face, how much fun you were having. You were loving the dirt, water, sand and grime!

Blog Change

2010-05-03T23:23:00.001-05:00

I decided that I just want to maintain one blog... so I included everything from Elsie's blog altogether, because she only had 11 posts... and from Lee's blog, I added in all from 2010. So... please just visit this blog to see ALL Schweig news :)

Thanks!!

Sara

Laughing...

2010-04-30T23:34:00.000-05:00

Elsie Started laughing today! She has the cutest most adorable laugh ever!!

Here are the things that make her laugh...
- peek-a-boo
- pretend sneezing
- scaring her (BOO)
- Lee laughing
- Steve making her dance
- Liz and Spencer talking to her
- Shaking your head saying "no,no,no"

El's you are just way, WAY, way too cute!

We're almost there... potty training!

2010-04-23T22:06:00.001-05:00

I hope I'm not shooting myself in the foot, but Lee is almost potty trained! He is a really deep sleeper, so he probably won't be trained at night for a while, but during the day he's 100% trained. I'm SO proud of him!

We started this task a year ago, because he was really interested right before his 2nd birthday. He wore underwear and loved it for about a month with hardly any accidents. Then independence set in and he wasn't interested anymore. So we gave up. Then over the last year about 7 times we would have "spells" where he would play around with the idea of going potty and underwear and then it would fade away... back to diapers.

I was telling my friend Stephanie B. about it and she printed this book for me about "throwing out all diapers" not having that option and then to teach Lee to recognize his body signs. He was pretty much trained after the first day. He definitely knew what he was doing.

He cried when we threw the diapers away... and he asked one time for them saying "mommy I want my diapers back". After I told him that they were all gone and that he was a big boy, he got a huge smile and said "oh yay". I'm just so proud of him!

He wears underwear to nap and nighttime. Naptime he's usually pretty good. He has very little accidents. Nighttime is going to be awhile. but I wake him up before I go to bed around 10-11ish. Steve them wakes him up to go at 4:30am. So he'll learn eventually.

One down... one to go in a few years :)

3 Months Old

2010-04-19T21:58:00.000-05:00

My sweet baby girl. You are just so, so sweet. I love going to get you in the morning because you are all smiles. You smile all day long. You are quiet and watch everything to take in. You love your big brother. I can already see you following right behind him in all his mischief ;)

You're starting to teeth. I can feel your two bottom teeth right below your gums. They are RIGHT THERE. It's made you pretty crabby though. Not crabby all the time, but just more crabby when you get tired. Tylenol cures that pretty good though.

You are sleeping 12-13 hours every night now, straight through. You do amazing! Every 4th night you wake up in the middle of the night for a catch up feeding. You still have 3 naps a day, but your wake time is just about 2 hours now. You are also eating about 6 oz at every feeding too. Sometimes though you like to do 3 oz and confuse us, but mostly you're doing 5-6 oz every feed.

I'm still swaddling you and I'm wondering when you're going to give that up. You really do love it though... so probably not anytime soon.

I love you my little Elles Bells. Please don't grow up too fast. Ok? Thanks!

Something I don't want to forget...

2010-04-12T22:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, the family (Me, Steve, Lee and El) all went to Morris to walk by the river. Something Steve had seen and wanted to show us. Plus, what 2 year old doesn't like throwing rocks into water? Or mud? Anyways, Steve thought that this particular area had a park. Lee perspective of a "park" is swings, slides and something to hang on.

So, we're all in the car and Lee has asked 34 times how much longer. Steve announced proudly that he did remember where the park was and that we were there. Lee then announces "sorry Daddy, there's no park here!" What 2 year old that had his hopes up for 30+ minutes just matter-of-factly explains that Steve was wrong? No crying, no fit. Just along for the ride.

To that Steve said... "yes, but there's rocks and tunnels that we can go and see". So the adventure began.

A few days ago I wanted to take a few pictures of Lee, because I don't have enough, and I asked if he would take a few. He said "no". So I said "how about if your playing something and you don't know I'm taking your picture". Lee said "How about a bath". Ugh, Ok, but that's more work for me though. Humph. At least he's clean, and I did get pictures of him. This was picture number 7 that I took. As you can see, when Lee agrees to pictures, that means 7.He's still pretty cute though ;)

2 Months Old

2010-03-26T22:38:00.001-05:00

I can't believe you are 2 months old already. You are growing by leaps and bounds but I'm thankful that you're not growing as fast as your brother. You went to the Dr. on Monday and you weighed in at 11lb 8oz. You were 23" tall. You are the sweetest baby I have ever met. You love to be cuddled for a bit and then you love to lay down and look around. You also sleep and nap amazingly! You're still a bit fussy in the evenings, but nothing that's too bad. During the day you are all smiles and completely content.

Here's a few things that went on this month:
- Eating 4-5oz at almost every feeding.
- Sleeping 11 hours straight through the night.
- You still love to be swaddled.
- You love watching TV
- Mommy took you and Lee out by herself for the first time this month.

Lee loves you so much and is always looking out for you. He always runs in your room in the morning when you wake up. He will walk by and give you a kiss on the head. You and Lee were watching Snow White and Lee came over and told you "it's ok baby sister, it's not scary" when the evil witch was casting her spell. When you cry he will find you a bink and give it to you. He has tried jumping over you, but was stopped by Papa just in time. He still isn't really into holding you but at this moment, that's ok with Mommy.

Your schedule now (and it's been this way for over a month now) is:
8am - Wake up, drink bottle
9:30-10:30am - Nap
Noon - Wake up, bottle
1:30pm - Nap
4pm - Wake up, bottle
5:30pm - Nap
6:30pm - Wake up, bottle
8pm - bottle
9pm - Bedtime
*You fall asleep almost 1.5hours on the dot from when you woke up from nap.

Look what Lee can do!

2010-03-03T19:54:00.003-06:00

Tonight Steve and I were talking about how Lee doesn't have an attention span. It's about 15 seconds. I was telling Steve that I bet Lee could sing his ABC's if he could focus long enough. If I sing the ABC's and stop at any point, Lee would tell me what letter came next. After that, Steve asked Lee to sing the ABC's and Lee did the whole thing from beginning to end. I then bribed him with 2 vitamins if he would do it again so we could tape it. So here's a good example of that 15 second attention span, as well as most of his ABC's. They are in bits and pieces but they are mostly there.

A Smile is Worth...

2010-03-03T17:35:00.000-06:00

Everything!! You started smiling yesterday! I went to get you out of your crib and you gave Mommy this HUGE smile. I fed you your bottle and another smile. Than last night as I was getting you ready for bed... like 10 more smiles ;) I love it! My heart just melts everytime.

Belly Button

2010-02-21T22:47:00.000-06:00

You lost your belly button tonight while Mommy was changing your diaper. YEAH! Now you can officially have your first bath and not just a sponge bath.

Two and a Half Years Old

2010-02-20T21:06:00.001-06:00

Lately you have been SO much fun to be around. I have loved every stage for the most part, but I have to say that you have really impressed me with how big you are getting and understanding things. Here's a few things that have happened in the last few months.

You are a big brother now. You have been such a big helper with Elsie and you love her so much. You still won't hold her, but you ask me all the time where she is and if she's ok. In the mornings you will practically climb into her crib and tell her "it's ok, no crying" and then you tell me "It's ok, I took care of it". You have stopped referring to Elsie as "it" as well. The first couple weeks you would tell me, "Mommy, put it in here" or "Mommy, it wants a binky". Also, the first week Elsie was home, you would come downstairs and say "Who's that?"

Here's a few other updates from the past few months:
Today, you were telling me that you were flying to space and this was your rocket ship, etc. etc. I asked then, what a piece of your rocket ship did and you told me it was your horn. Then you told me it was to do "the horn-ie things".

You wanted to try Elsie's formula so I let you. At first you were like "yumm... good" then you really started to taste it and you started to gag. You then told me it was "disgusting".

You that same day also wanted to try dog food, so I let you. You gagged on that as well and spit it out in the garbage can. I had to then give you strong juice because you wouldn't stop gagging.

One morning after you woke up, you told me "Mommy, I need a cup of sugar in my milk". I had no clue where this came from. After awhile I was making your oatmeal, I turned around and there were eggs and peaches out on the counter. When I asked you what those were for, you told me "Oh, I want eggs and peaches in my oatmeal". Turns out Blue's Clues is to blame for this one. They did an episode about cooking and "seeing what's in the fridge". Another morning you wanted "a little bit of ketchup in my oatmeal". That didn't happen either, just so you know.

Speaking of Ketchup, when we were at the grocery store last weekend, you pointed to this massive big jug of ketchup and said "oh, there's the ketchup". It didn't look like the ketchup bottle at all, it was just the label you recognized.

You sing your ABC's like this: A,B,C,D,E,F,G, now I know my ABC's. However if I sing with you and stop anywhere in the alphabet, you know what letter comes next.

You can count all the way to 13 without mistakes if your not being silly.

You absolutely love, I mean, L.O.V.E. pow-pows. You turn everything and anything into a pow-pow. If we're playing with Legos, you build one... if we're playing with blocks, you use a gun to knock them down. You have even turned my Ziplock baggie wand into a pow-pow as well. This all started at Christmas when Grandma and Papa bought you your first Nerf gun.

You have turned into a little negotiator. I always give you warnings... "One more minute until bed". "Five more minutes until we leave". Etc. Now you will say to me "One more minute Mommy and we leave". Sometimes it's after I said we need to leave, other times it's randomly placed in our day when we're not leaving at all.

You also will put yourself in time-out which makes me second guess the whole "time-outs for punishment" thing. We use a little mat that Crystal gave us it's a tiger. If I see you sitting there, I will ask you "why are you in time-out" and you will tell me "oh, I touched Daddy games" or "I not listening to you". It's like you weigh the option before hand and decide it's worth the punishment.

Daddy has become obsessed with our furnace that clicks in the basement. So obsessed, that you now will tell people that their basement clicks too. I really appreciate this!!

You can draw a capital letter "E" all by yourself. It might have more than 3 lines coming out of it, but it's a start.

If someone asks you your name, you will tell them "Lee Schweigert". You told me the other day that the dogs name was "Teal'cers Lee Schweigert" and "Kota Lee Schweigert".

If someone asks you how old you are, you will say "2, but Mason's 5". You want to be just like Mason, it's so cute. Mason (and Spencer his brother) are the neighbor boys who are really good friends with Lee.

You have been requesting peanut and butter sandwiches for lunch more and more. Before this year started, you wouldn't touch peanut butter with a 10-ft pole.

You can do summer-salts all by yourself.

That's pretty much all I have for right now. If I think of anymore I'll try and note them all down.

One Month Old

2010-02-19T22:39:00.000-06:00

You are one month old and I can't believe how fast time is going. I try to hold you as much as I can because I know tomorrow, you are one day bigger.

This month has been pretty good, although we are finally figuring out your pooping issues. I've called the Dr. 3 times because you just seem like you're in so much pain. But as of 4 days ago, I think we have it all figured out. Who knew that a little bit of syrup could make a baby poop so much.

At 3 weeks we went to the Dr. and you weighed in at 9 pounds, 8 ounces. You were 19 inches still.

You have figured out your days from your nights. (Yeah!!). Last night was the first night of sleeping 7 hours straight through the night. You were up for an hour to eat and look around, and then slept for another 4 hours. Yeah for sleep!!

Swaddling is so-so. You sometimes love it, other times scream until we have unswaddled you.

You love to sleep on your tummy, but it makes Mommy nervous, so it doesn't happen very often.

We've had so much fun having you in our family! I can't wait to see what you're like as a toddler. I can wait... don't get me wrong... I can wait. I'm just saying, I look forward to that period, far, far from now ;)

1 Week Old

2010-01-26T23:11:00.000-06:00

You are one week old today and I'm not sure where the time went. Although you've only been home for 4 days now, it feels like one. Daddy took you to your first Dr. appointment today and you weighed in at 8 pounds, 13 ounces. You are back to your birth weight. We asked the Dr. about your sleeping so much and he didn't seem concerned at all. He said that if you were eating good, that you should be fine. YEAH! He was very happy with how much weight you have gained and how good you are doing.

Tomorrow we go and see the Cardiologist at St. Joseph to just get a check-up. Hopefully everything goes well and you get a clean bill of health. Right now you're sleeping in the pack-n-play in the living room and I'm just waiting till 11:30pm to wake you up to feed you before bed. I have to wake you up to feed you, that's how much you sleep.

Big brother Lee is still getting used to you. He'll occasionally ask who you are and kiss your head. Today he wanted to give you a hug, so he hugged the life out of you and you grunted. He thought that was funny. Other than that he pretty much keeps to himself and goes about his business.

We love you and hope you don't grow up too fast.
Love,
Mommy and Daddy

My Baby Girl is HERE!

2010-01-21T05:32:00.000-06:00

Elsie Rose

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
6:10am
8 pounds, 13 ounces

Monday we had a Dr. appointment to check her size and make sure everything was going good in the pregnancy since she was over due. Had a ultrasound and the fluid around her was pretty low. So the Dr. decided to induce labor. We arrived at the hospital around 5pm. Checked in and meet with our Dr. again. He said that he was going to give me a little pill for the first 12-hours that would start moving along my cervix because I still hadn't progressed at all. Then the pitocin would start at 6am to start the contractions.

At 6pm I received my first dose of Cervidol I believe is what it's called (not sure). About 15 minutes later I was having contractions about 3 minutes apart. At Midnight, I received my second dose and my contractions were a little more than a minute apart. At this point I was in a lot of pain and asked for meds. I was only dilated to 2cm so they couldn't do epidural yet. Gave me something in my IV that took the edge off for about an hour. At about 3:30am, got my epidural. 5:45am I was 10cm dilated and started pushing. 6:10am Elsie was born. Everything went way better than expected and we were alone and recovering an hour later! I never ended up getting the pitocin.

Wednesday morning we were getting ready to be discharged, both my Dr. and Elsie's Dr. had signed off on our release papers, we just had to wait for Elsie to get her last blood draw and they check her stats one last time. As they were checking her oxygen levels, they realized that she was only at an 82 where they like to see her as close to 100 as possible. So away to the nursery she went to get that checked out. In the nursery they do a oxygen check on her hands and feet and they were coming up 2 different numbers. Hands were in the mid-high 90's, where her feet were in the low 80's still.

At this point, Steve and I were waiting in our room, when the nurse comes in and tells us what's taking so long. She said that they just wanted to monitor her a little longer and that she would be back as soon as they heard anything. About an hour later, the nurse and a Neo-natal Dr. came in and explained that they wanted to do an ECCO to find out if there was a blockage anywhere in her arteries because of the two different oxygen level readings.

We were able to go see her for a minute before the test and she was happy and content. After the test results were back, they weren't 100% sure if there was a problem, but the Dr. at Rush in Chicago looked over the scans and wanted to transport her so they could have a better look. So we signed the papers to have her transported. However, here's where it gets tricky. Because they weren't sure if there was blockage, they wanted to put her on this medicine that keeps a vessel open that is only used while I was pregnant with her. This vessel within 24-hours of birth, twists and closes, because she doesn't need it any longer. So they wanted to put her on this medicine to keep that vessel open, so there wouldn't be any complications during transport. A side effect to this medicine is apnea however, so at the time, they wanted to sedate and tube her so if she were to stop breathing during transport, they would have ways to help her without having to pull over. Side note: they didn't end up having to do this because she did fine with the medicine on her own and they were able to monitor her long enough in the nursery.

They had a really hard time getting an IV hooked up to her, they tried her belly button, hands and then found a spot in her foot where they were able to put in a line.

Transport arrived around 6pm and she was taken to Rush in Chicago. We met with the Neonatal Cardiologist at Rush and she had run the same ECCO again and looked it over. Here we got great news that she looked over both scans, and although this connecting vessel was still open, she didn't see any blockage anywhere. However, they want to take Elsie off the medicine and run another ECCO and see after it closes. So that was great news! Hopefully after today, when they take her fully off the medicine they won't see anything again.

She did see however a valve in her 4th ventricle in her heart that was misshaped, but at this time nothing needs to be done. Just monitoring. So that was good news as well.

This morning they are going to take Elsie off the medicine and repeat the ECCO. We will have more information later this afternoon and we will try our best to keep everyone updated as to what is going on.

Thank you for all your prayers, thoughts and comments! They are greatly appreciated and mean so much to Steve and me!! It is so hard having a 8lb+ baby in a nursery full of babies that don't weigh more than 2lb. You look around and see all these teeny tiny hands and feet kicking and it really puts everything into perspective. It's so sad that they have to fight so hard for their lives. So if you can, say prayers for them as well. They are just so tiny and helpless. Thank you so much again for your prayers, we have the best friends and family in the world!!

3 Days Till Due Date...

2010-01-10T01:07:00.000-06:00

Any day now, you can just come right on out! I won't mind one bit!! You're 39-week appointment went really well. You are doing great in Mommy's belly, infact so great that I have not progressed at all and will most likely be back at the Dr. for my 40-week appointment. We'll see what he says that day. Hopefully that I have progressed and that he can strip my membranes. I really would prefer to not be induced... but if it comes down to that, I'm not opposed too, too much.

38 Week Update

2010-01-02T10:40:00.000-06:00

My neighbor and friend Liz took some belly pictures for me and I absolutely LOVE THEM!! Here's a few ;)

38 weeks along and still nothing really to mention. I went to the Dr. last Wednesday and I still haven't progressed any. Lee was the same way. Hopefully this week Wednesday they "stretch" me like they did with Lee and move things along. I can't wait to meet Elsie and hold her!! Everything is going good though, we had a little bit of a scare this weekend. She stopped moving and no matter what I drank or ate, she still didn't move. So we had it checked out and everything is good. She's back to her normal self now, little tiny jabs and kicks. Mostly I feel hiccups 3 times a day. Her heart rate is right around 140BPM and she is definitely head down. However I have not started to dialate yet.

Time to come out baby girl!! We want to meet you!!

37 Week Update

2009-12-25T00:50:00.001-06:00

I went to my 37 week appointment and everything looked good! I have lost 2lb which the Dr. wasn't too concerned about considering I have run out of room to put the food. Heart rate was 147BPM and Elsie was right on track as far as size. I think she's still running a little small, but we'll see. She doesn't feel that small... lol.

Internal exam again, and although my cervix is "very, very soft" I'm still not dilated at all, and no where near. So hopefully, Elsie follows in her brothers foot steps and I go into labor without actually dilating at all.

Merry Christmas

2009-12-25T00:41:00.001-06:00

We ran out of Christmas cards this year to send everyone, so in case you did not receive yours in the mail, here is what they looked like. We would like to wish everyone a very, very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in 2010!

36 Week Update

2009-12-17T21:59:00.004-06:00

I had my 36 week appointment yesterday and everything looked good! Heart rate was 149BPM. I was measuring a little small again, but nothing to be worried about. I also had my first internal exam. Those are fun!! (<-- sarcastic). It's not that bad, but you get crampy after wards and that's the part that I don't look forward to. Anyways, the Dr. said that my cervix was "very, very, VERY soft" but I was still have not progressed. He reviewed my chart from when I had Lee and he said that I should be able to cut my labor in half with Elsie (yahoo!!). He also said that I should progress a lot faster with Elsie because of how soft my cervix was. So that's good enough news for me!! Today I started feeling like she was dropping more. She was pretty high up until today and now I have more room to eat and more room to breath!! So that's good as well!!

I'll try to get Steve to take a picture tomorrow so I can post a belly picture. I feel like such a slacker because I had one for every couple weeks with Lee and poor Elsie only has 2.

Christmas Card Rejects...

2009-12-13T21:51:00.000-06:00

With all the pictures I took of Lee for our Christmas Card this year, I couldn't help but post the reject ones that didn't make the cut. As you remember last years fiasco with trying to get Lee to sit still and take a picture, this year went MUCH better ;)

I tried a session before lunch and Lee just wasn't into it and wanted to play. Here's an example of the pictures I got.

Card would of said: "Merry Frick'n Christmas"

So... I got Lee undressed, fed him lunch, we had our neighbors over at the time and played for awhile and after they left I thought I would try one more time to get a smiley - sortof picture for our card before naptime. Although I did get some cute ones, here's some that didn't make the cut.

Please note: Although I could get Lee to put his button down shirt on, I could not get him to put his jeans back on. So the following pictures were taken with Lee in a nice shirt and no pants!

Christmas Card: "You don't need pants to have a great Christmas"

Christmas Card: "Just peeking in to wish you a Merry Christmas"

Christmas Card: "Hamming it up for Christmas so my Mommy stops torturing me, I mean taking my picture"

There you go! I have mailed out the cards and if you haven't received yours, I apologize, I have run out, so I will post the card here in a few days so you can see it. I'm sorry again we couldn't mail them out to everyone, we do want to wish you the Merriest of Christmas' and Happiest of New Years in 2010!

Snowy

2009-12-13T21:36:00.001-06:00

There's something about little boys and playing in the snow. The first morning we woke up to snow on the ground this is the conversation Lee and I had.
Me: Lee, look outside, there's snow on the ground.
Lee: Know?
Me: Yeah, look out the back window.
Lee: Oh KNOW! I need my glubs (gloves)
Me: Why do you need your gloves?
Lee: To play in the know (snow)

He was so good about wearing them and keeping them on too! I was very proud of Lee!! He had so much fun and when we came inside he told me that he was "so tired" and took a good 3 hour nap that day. I had so much fun watching him run around and stomp in the "know".

Decorating the Tree

2009-12-13T20:58:00.001-06:00

I never would have imagined decorating the tree would have been this fun! For some reason I envisioned Lee not being too into it, or vice versa, being a little too into and breaking something. We have lots of ornaments that are either paper, wood or metal all of which are unbreakable, so we dove in and started decorating.

Lee remembered that at the bottom of the tree went the "polar express" train. Papa and Grandma Shoes gave us a tree train last year that was put away almost immediately because we were afraid he would break it. This year is a different story. He was SO excited to get the train set up that it was up before any of the ornaments were on the tree. He just laid there and watched it go round and round. It was so neat to see him so excited.

It took about an hour for the train to wear off and then we started putting on ornaments. He was so excited for his "polar express" train, that I got out the official Polar Express bell and gave that to Lee to hang on the tree first. He kept shaking it by his ear to hear the bell. It was so sweet and such a great memory that I will cherish. He loves the movie and I'm so glad he has the train and the bell for the season.

Lastly, we put the angel on top, Lee again was a huge helper. He clung to Steve as if Steve would throw him up there and let go. We got it up and turned off the lights and Lee said "oh SO beautiful". As you can see, Lee put all... I mean A.L.L... of his ornaments in one teeny, tiny section of the tree. For the first week, he would take off a few and redecorate, but he always put them back in that one section!

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you enjoyed decorating your tree as much as we did. It really makes me want Christmas to come that much sooner!!!

30 Week Appointment

2009-11-08T20:38:00.001-06:00

Went to the OB last Tuesday and everything looked good. I'm measuring right on. I only gained 2lb (woo-hoo). Elsie's heartbeat was 138. Lastly, my glucose test came back perfect so I don't have to do the 3-hour one this time. YEAH! I'll try to post a picture later this week. Only 10 more weeks to go. I can't believe how fast time if flying!

Pumpkin Art Project

2009-10-04T23:36:00.001-05:00

Lee has been obsessed with pumpkins since everyone in our neighborhood has been decorating. We spent the past week slowly getting out all our fall stuff and today I thought I would do an art project with Lee. He made his first pumpkin out of construction paper. I cut out all the pieces but he glued them all and put them where they go. I think he did a great job! We've also been working on tracing lines and patterns. As you can see I dotted his name out and he did a pretty good job following it. He had a lot of patience for the "L" and first "E" however we lost him on his last "E". I guess that's a two year old for ya ;)

24 Week Update

2009-09-29T20:30:00.000-05:00

Sorry about the background. All the computer stuff is downstairs now in the basement and that is where this was taken. As you can see, my belly is getting bigger and rounder. I feel a whole lot bigger than that, lol. I am getting braxton hicks contractions pretty much every night, but they are few and far between, so I'm not too worried about them. Also, having a lot of pressure "down". Other than that feeling great!!

22 Week Appointment

2009-09-11T19:09:00.000-05:00

If you haven't already heard through Facebook, we're having a GIRL! The Dr. gave us a 90% chance it's a girl, because she didn't see any "parts". However, "parts" can hide and surprise you at delivery. So we'll have to see. HB was 137 on the ultrasound and 152 on the monitor. Baby was also measuring a full week behind schedule which is fine, she'll just be on the small side I guess. We'll see.

We have also come up with a name! It was a lot easier this time around than with Lee. Elsie Rose will be her name. Elsie is another form of Elizabeth (which there are a lot of on both Steve and my side) and Rose is after my Grandma Schumacher.

I was so excited today that I went out and started shopping. I got some of Elsie's bedding and two blankets. I also got about 5 outfits. It's SO fun shopping for a girl, I love it!

I'll post ultrasound and belly pictures soon. I have to get better about that! Sorry.

20 Week Update

2009-08-28T20:47:00.000-05:00

I had my 20 week appointment yesterday and it went really well. So far I've gained 16lb which is right where I'm supposed to be (YEAH). With Lee I was starving all the time, plus I wasn't on thyroid medicine. This time around I'm being much more cautious and eating smaller meals, more often.

The baby is right where they would like it to be. Heart rate was 150BPM. My heart rate was a little high, but nothing to worry about. My thyroid Dr. (who I see every month as well) ran more tests and called me back today saying that I can stop taking the PTU, because my levels have now dropped. So we'll see what they say after next month.

That's all I have for now. I will take a picture soon of my belly and post it.

2 more weeks until the ultrasound to find out what we're having! YEAH! I can't wait!

16 Weeks

2009-07-30T20:09:00.001-05:00

I am 16 weeks today and had my OB appointment. Everything looks really good. HB was 150 and the Dr. said I'm carrying pretty low still, so that is why I have so much pressure "down there". In 6 weeks we go to find out the sex of the baby so stay tuned to see what it is.

Any guesses?

Dino World, KY

2009-07-29T22:32:00.000-05:00

15 Weeks

2009-07-28T13:59:00.001-05:00

15 Weeks along now and nothing really new. I'm not feeling light headed or queasy anymore and I have more energy back. We've been working on Lee's new room so we can move the baby into Lee's old room. We're almost finished and will be moving Lee very, very soon!

I haven't started feeling the baby kick yet, but I will get lumps to the left or right of my lower stomach and it will be a hard ball. That feels very weird. I'm looking forward to feeling the baby start moving and kicking!

Here's a belly picture that I took today.

A Camping We Did Go...

2009-07-26T22:20:00.001-05:00

Hi-ho the dairy'o, A camping we did go!

I have about 300 pictures just like this one. They are all the same. Steve and Lee. Lee and Steve. Those two are like two peas in a pod! He wants nothing to do with me at all. Putting shoes on "daddy do it". Make breakfast "daddy do it". Buckle him in his car seat "daddy do it". Change diaper "daddy do it". Wash hands "daddy do it". Go potty "daddy do it". Are you getting the picture yet? This whole trip (4 days), was all about Steve and Lee. I loved sitting back with my camera and watching every minute of it. Lee is turning into a miniature Steve right before our eyes.

We went to dino world. We pet kangaroos. We climbed in caves. We played putt-putt golf. We played at parks. We walked/ran trails. We ate lots of yummy food. We did something new... camping.

It was so nice to get out of the house for a few days and away from our normal everyday living. Lee did way beyond either of our expectations. He was thrilled to do everything. We didn't need the stroller but for about 5 minutes. He was climbing and walking right along with the big kids and adults. The adults would get tired, and Lee kept on going. Lucky for us, no breaks :) He napped and slept wonderfully and even enjoyed the car ride.

Lee helped Steve: build a campfire, take out garbage, cook hot dogs, clean up outside, sweep, unpack the car, repack the car, look for sticks, read maps and kill bugs.

He's just turning into a little man. More pictures to come soon!

Names

2009-07-10T22:06:00.001-05:00

We went with a family name when we named Lee and this time around we are most likely going to pick a name just for the heck of it. No rhyme or reason. I really like Makenna for a girl. Now all I have to do is convince Steve!

For a boy, Steve really loves Cole. I liked Griffin for awhile, but now Cole is started to grow on me too. We'll see!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-09T21:20:00.001-05:00

We had a great 4th of July. Parade, food, family, friends and fireworks. What more could you ask for? This year was the 1st time Steve didn't have to work, so we were all able to go to the parade together. The rain held off too, so that was nice.

It was nice seeing my family, although we missed my Grandma and Grandpa, we had to leave before they were able to make it to my Aunts house. I didn't think Lee would do good with the fireworks being so loud, so we opted out and headed home so everyone could get a nap in. My neighbor Liz has two little boys and she knows of some areas where you can watch fireworks but not hear them, so she invited us over for dinner and convinced us to go and I'm so glad we did. It was a lot of fun! Next year I think he'll be ready to handle them full blown! It worked perfect though because in Naperville, there's an area where you can sit in a well lit parking lot and see them pretty clearly. So we just parked and stayed right by the car! Lee was interested in them for all of 1 minute and then wanted to get down to run around.

Waiting for the parade to start.

Wanting to run up and down the hill like big kids, but was too scared.

My cousin Megans brand new baby girl! She was so sweet and cuddly!

My Aunt Kathy, Uncle Milan and their two girls, Steph and Lisa.

My cousin Megan, her husband Brent and their newest addition Lucia. They have a 4 year old as well you'll see in other pictures. Beth and Lee got along really well together and had a lot of fun playing!

Beth helping Lee too run up and down the hill!

Steve's new trick. Jumping over Lee!

Climbing!

Grandma and Lee waiting for the parade to start!

Waiting...

Beth and her Daddy Brent

Here it comes! The sirens were really loud!

Getting and grabbing candy. Grandma was helping Lee and showing him what to do!

Beth and Lee had a lot of fun grabbing up the candy!

The clowns. They are so fun!

Cheery girls.

Thats my Grandma. She was on the old people float and Jackie tells it! She was throwing us candy.

Steve, Lee and my Dad. My Dad and Jackie were in the Elgin parade and weren't able to make it to the Rolling Meadows one. So we saw them later on at my Aunts house.

Asleep in the car. It took all of 2 minutes before he was asleep. Too much excitement!

Naperville fireworks show! These are all the boys! They are also our neighbors.

Lee with his flag!

Sitting in the back of the car.

Letting off some poppie thingies. Spencer is eating Lee's snack. That boy just might eat anything you put infront of him, lol. Lee was totally not into eating a snack, so I'm glad someone ate it!

Happy 4th of July!

12 Week Ultrasound

2009-07-02T22:23:00.001-05:00

I've been feeling really, really good. No morning sickness at all and I'm starting to get my energy back. I'm not asleep by 7pm anymore. The only bump in the road that we have hit is that my thyroid isn't working again. It did this with Lee, but they decided not to put me on any medication. However this time around, I'm taking a 25mg pill 3 times a day to keep it in check. The Endocronologist is pretty certain that I have Graves Disease. It's really not that big of deal and he says that it can go into remission at anytime. So we'll see what happens after the baby si born. The only problem with it being pregnant, is the medicine can make you Hypo-thyroidism and that is really bad for the babies brain function. Hyper (which is what I am right now) can cause miscarriage. Hypo - brain damage. Their monitoring me closely though so I'm not worried. Just trusting God and saying lots of prayers!

Today was the 12 week check up. Everything looked great and I was so proud of myself for only gaining 2lb. YEAH! The babys heartbeat was 162 and is 2" long already. The Dr. tried to find the heart beat with his little microphone, but because I'm taller, the baby has more room to hide and couldn't find it. The ultrasound was able to detect it though. Speaking of ultrasounds, here are the pictures from today.

Arms and rump.

Front view of the baby. Looks like an alien. Their arm is also up by his head. The head is on the right and body/bottom is on the left.

Here's a profile shot of the baby. It was pretty tough because the little booger was pretty active in there. Arms were flailing all over the place.

And last but not least, the 3D ultrasound. How cool are these? I'm so glad my Dr. office has started doing them for free! It's neat to see their little nubs for arms and legs. The eyes, nose, ears and mouth have not fully developed yet, so they are just sockets. You can also see the umblical cord which is neat too.

Steve and Lee came with and were able to stay for the whole thing. We were sure how Lee was going to do, which he could have really cared less, but at least he was part of the family. He kept asking for more "movies". LOL.

Happy Father's Day 2009!

2009-06-21T16:47:00.000-05:00

When I asked Steve what he wanted for Father's Day he said that he just wanted to rest and relax. He had been working some long hours the week before and was out of town the whole week. So we stayed home and chilled. Here's what a 2 year old looks like when Momma lets him paint however he wants.

We decided to make Steve a card for Father's Day and Lee wasn't too sure about the paint on his hands at first.

Thinking "hmm, maybe this will be ok"?

Getting the hang of painting and putting handprints on paper.

Wondering what the paint tastes like. Can you see the blue in his teeth?

He didn't like the taste, so he rubbed it all over his arm like lotion.

Here's a birds eye view of what a mess he can make in 5 minutes.

Father's Day morning. Lee was explaining to Steve in great detail how he made his card for him.

Lee sneezing and Steve imitating him. I just thought this picture was funny!

Lee was so proud of his card. It was cute!

This is the cheesy smile I get when I asked him to show me the card and smile. He just too cute and funny!

Oswego Fest

2009-06-20T16:12:00.000-05:00

What a fun time we had at the Oswego Fest with our neighbors. It was hot, but a lot of fun! We enjoyed the rides, food and free petting zoo. Here are some pictures of our day.

The fun slide!

Mason went down first and wasn't quite heavy enough so he stopped at all the bumps.

Steve and Lee went after Mason. They were a lot heavier than Mason and still had stops at the hills.

Tim and Spencer were the lasts one to go down the slide and had the same problem as first two, so the ticket guy gave us 2 tickets back.

Mason and Lee wanted to ride the "race cars". We weren't paying attention before hand and just sent these two in a car together.

I watched it go around the first time and the boys had the time of their life. As you can see from their faces. It whips you around the corners SUPER fast.

Here I tried to get a picture of them going through the corner. Lee's hat fell over his eyes they were going so fast. They both laughed harder than I have ever heard them. So fun!

The Petting Zoo

Liz showing Spencer that you can pet the animals. He wasn't too sure about them at first, but had fun chasing them after awhile.

Mason loved feeding all the animals! He was like a kid in a candy store.

Lee did OK petting them too. He wasn't too sure at first, but eventually went up and petted a lot of them. Steve was a good teacher!

This was the first animal Steve was trying to get Lee to pet on his own. Steve was asking Lee if he could find the donkey's ears. He just stared. So Steve asked Lee, "where's your ears?" and Lee pointed.

He then went and found the donkey's ears.

Lots of fun at our first carnival!

Applesauce Pancakes!

2009-02-14T12:54:00.000-06:00

I made these pancakes this morning and they were SO good! I found the recipe on http://www.allrecipes.com/. They had a light cinnamon/sugar taste, but still very pancake-y.

2 cups dry pancake mix
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup milk (I did add a little extra milk in the end, just so it was a tad runnier)

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, stir together pancake mix and cinnamon. Make a well in the center of the pancake mix. Add the eggs, applesauce, lemon juice and milk; stir until smooth.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

Weather Update

2009-02-05T00:42:00.001-06:00

As you can see, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! Come on Spring!!!

Playing with actions in Photoshop

2009-02-03T14:15:00.002-06:00

I've recently acquired Photoshop and I have been playing around with some actions. If you've never been over to see Pioneer Woman, than you must stop by and read. She has many sections on her site and I love all of them. Cooking, home and garden, photography or just plain old daily life. On her site, in the photos section, you will find 2 different collections of actions. I downloaded those and have been playing with them. Here's one picture of Lee that I was just playing with. Each picture has had a different "action" applied to it.

It's fun ot play around with the different settings!

One more thing...

2009-01-18T00:11:00.001-06:00

You know you're a bad Mom when you would rather take a picture than catch your toddler as he's coming down the slide. This is what happens when you don't catch him. See the post before this of a Lee getting ready to slide.

( I swear the first 2 slides he did well and stopped before hitting the dirt.)

PS - Is it summer yet?

Where oh where are you?

2009-01-18T00:08:00.001-06:00

It feels like it's going to be forever before we can go and do this again. I'm sick of being stuck inside with Lee and I'm sick of Lee being sick.

Miss you summer!

Aunt Jackie

2009-01-05T14:08:00.000-06:00

Dear Aunt Jackie,
I miss you SO much! I can't wait to see you this week. I hope you are having fun with Aunt Kelly today. I love you and I will see you soon.

Love, Lee

Merry Christmas

2008-12-27T11:39:00.000-06:00

Christmas Afternoon at my Dad's house. We all opened presents and enjoyed a wonderful lasagne dinner. Here are some pictures of us opening presents and then going to my Aunt Kathy's after to see family.

Waiting for presents to be passed out.

Dad is very patient too.

Steve playing with Lee's Mr. Potato head pieces!

Lee was super excited for his ball pit car! He even put the balls to good use!

See, boobs!

Family picture at Aunt Kathy's. Where's Grandma Graetz?

Oh, there she is, behind my Dad's head!

Dad and Grandpa Graetz!

Jacqui and Lee

Me and fussy Lee.

Grandma Graetz plays the piano beautifully while we all sing.. er... not so beautifully! It was a great Christmas and it was really good to see everyone. I hope you all had a good Christmas too!

Schumacher Christmas Party

2008-12-24T22:48:00.000-06:00

Schumacher Christmas party was last weekend and we had SO much fun! See below for a bunch of pictures!

Lee and Aiden, they are about a year and half apart.

Anna, my step-mom Janet and my God-mom Tani

Kelly and Ramon!

Cousin Rachel and Uncle Carl

Basketball! Wheee!

Lee helping himself and Grandma jumping in to save the table.

Presents!

Lee got the hang of it really fast!

New truck and hard hat! Vrroom!

Bob the Builder Steve!

Lee.. eerrr.. sharing... after this picture Lee had a meltdown which we ignored but then had to hug Melina.

Melina knows what to do!

Ok, good boy. See, he can be kind!

White elephant gifts.

'Twas the Night Jesus Came

2008-12-19T19:49:00.000-06:00

'Twas the night Jesus came and all through the house,
not a person was praying, not one in the house..

The Bible was left on the shelf without care,
for no one thought Jesus would come there..

The children were dressing to crawl into bed,
not once ever kneeling or bowing their head..

The children were dressing to crawl into bed,
not once ever kneeling or bowing their head..

And Mom in the rocking chair with babe on her lap,
was watching the Late Show as I took a nap..

When out of the east there rose such a clatter,
I sprang to my feet to see what was the matter..

Away to the window I flew like a flash,
tore open the shutters and lifted the sash..

When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but Angels proclaiming that Jesus was here..

The light of His face made me cover my head...
was Jesus returning just like He'd said?

And though I possessed worldly wisdom and wealth,
I cried when I saw Him in spite of myself..

In the Book of Life which he held in his hand,
was written the name of every saved man..

He spoke not a word as he searched for my name,
when He said "it's not here" My head hung in shame..

The people whose names had been written with love,
He gathered to take to his Father above..

With those who were ready He rose without sound,
while all of the others were left standing around...

I fell to my kneesbut it was too late,
I'd waited too longAnd thus sealed my fate.

I stood and I cried as they rose out of sight,
Oh if only I'd knownthat this was the night.

In the words of this poem the meaning is clear
the coming of Jesus is now drawing near...

There's only one life and when comes the last call,
We'll find out that the Bible was true after all..
JESUS LOVES YOU!!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS
-Anonymous

Elf Yourself

2008-12-18T15:49:00.000-06:00

Steve sister Amy created some elves and I am copying. Pretty funny!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-17T19:24:00.000-06:00

We were finishing up some last minute shopping today and decided to go see Santa. No fits or tears, just walked right up to Santa, said "hi" and climbed on his lap. He was very curious about his beard, but that was about it. If you ask Lee what Santa says he will tell you "shh.." ha, ha. We'll get there before Christmas, he says "ho, ho, ho" but only after you tell him first.

Friday Night Lights Episode

2008-12-07T15:44:00.000-06:00

My uncle, William Akey, was in a episode of Friday Night Lights (Season 3, Episode 9). He's the newsreporter at 4:34. FNL is such a great show, I can't wait for it to air in January! Here's a part of the show he's in.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T23:23:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T19:43:00.000-05:00

We had a beautiful day today, it was about 75 degrees outside and sunny. It was the perfect halloween!! Lee was a elephant this year and loved going to all the doors, getting candy from everyone. He would take one piece and then run back to the wagon where his bucket was and put it away. It really confused him when he got more than one piece of candy. He would try to give back one piece. I can't get over how fast he caught on to trick-or-treating and how well he did. Lee walked almost all the way around the block and we have a big block! Here are the pictures I took from today.

Pumpkin Farm 2008

2008-10-11T22:43:00.000-05:00

On Friday we (Steve, Lee and I) went to the pumpkin farm in Crest Hill. It was one of the best pumpkin farms we have ever been to. It's not the same as Goeberts, because that has history, but it was a close 2nd. Here are the pictures from the farm.

Army Wives

2008-09-25T12:29:00.001-05:00

I love the show Army Wives. On lasts nights episode Joan (the woman all the way on the right) had a baby. Guess what they named their little girl? Anyone... anyone... that's right. She named her after ME!!! Hha, ha, ha. Sara Elizabeth! Just kidding on the naming her after me, but she does have the same name as me!!!

If you haven't watched this show yet, you should watch and get caught up to date here. It's a good one!

Kayleigh's Play!

2008-06-29T11:05:00.000-05:00

Last night we went to Freeport to visit with Kayleigh and Rich (her Dad) and to see her play! It was SO CUTE! She did an amazing job and I wish you all could have seen it.

Remember Kayleigh, that little shy girl, she's all grown up now and just a sweetie. Many of you haven't seen her in a long while.

She lives in Las Vegas with her Mom, Amy, and spends her summers in Freeport with her Dad. It was neat going and seeing them and hanging out for a little bit. We went to lunch/dinner and then to Krape park before she had to go for rehearsal.

The theatre had no electricity for about 2 hours so there was a bit of a delay, I guess it's a violation of some sort to put on a play without power. So we waited until it came back on. There were 2 plays that night that the kids put on. The first was An Adventure of Tom Sawyer, which we didn't see much of because Lee projectile vomitting all over everywhere 3x (he's seriously never thrown up like that before, ever!). It was terrible. But the good thing was, Kayleigh wasn't in that play. After we got Lee changed and Steve cleaned up (he was the one holding Lee) we went back in during the intermission for the 2nd play which was The Fairy-Tale Detectives: The Sisters Grimm, and Lee did awesome. He sat there perfectly quiet and watched the play. Kayleigh did an awesome job (well all the kids did a really good job), they were so funny. I loved it and I can't wait for next year.

Here are some pictures from the day.

PS - Amy, I know that you said you wanted us to try to take video and we couldn't. They wouldn't allow it. Something to do with if a kid falls or messes up and then it getting posted on Youtube they could sue. So they were only allowing video taken at the dress rehearsal. Sorry :(

Organizing

2008-05-17T12:16:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I feel like I'm never organized enough. I think this drives Steve nuts. I just want to walk into my house one day and know that everything is put where it's supposed to go. For instance, if you were to walk into my computer room right now, you would see a room full of crap (sorry that's the only word I can think of to use right at the moment), because it doesn't have a place. Today I am going to throw anything that I haven't used in the last year away and I'm going to keep it that way too.

See what happens when I get bored ;)

Random 10!

2008-04-24T22:59:00.001-05:00

I have 10 random... random thoughts!

1) 80's and early 90's music is the best ever?? I could listen to it everyday, all day and not get sick of it. One bit!

2) I believe they have simply run out of good ideas to make movies with. Nothing looks "sooooo good" anymore.

3) Bears, Lions and Tigers EAT PEOPLE!! We are simply their food. That is why we should leave them out in the wild and not tame them so we can all gawk and watch them "preform". They don't like that. They want to be left alone, they told me so!

4) Laundry never ends. There is always something to wash, no matter how many loads you do.

5) Flip flops were the best thing ever invented. Right after the epidural.

6) I wish I could cook better. I want to learn new recipes, but I want them to be easy. I don't like complicated cooking.

7) I would like a clear explination, in lamen terms (which I'm not sure what that means), as to why gas prices are so stinkin high. Everyone is shocked that they are "record high" but don't offer an explination that I can understand. Maybe it's meant to be that I don't understand.

8) I believe Spring has finally showed up. I'm so excited! Mother nature didn't let us down afterall. Thank you!! ;)

9) Why is it no matter who Lee is with I am always looking for him. Wherever I go without Lee, I still panic when he's not there behind me, like I lost him. It's the strangest feeling ever. I panicked tonight when I got my hair done because he wasn't in the back seat. Just for a second, but this still did cross my mind "oh my gosh, Lee's not in the car, where is he?". I'm loosing it, it's ok, you can admit it. No arguments here.

10) I have officially become one of those people who's whole life has come to a complete stop, unless you want to talk about babies. Then I have plenty to talk about. It's sad... I hope to get my life back soon :)

New Floor

2008-04-08T15:57:00.000-05:00

Steve was able to do more work on our dining room floor. It is SO awesome.

Happy Easter!

2008-04-01T22:35:00.000-05:00

Happy Easter everyone!

We had a low-key Easter here at the house. Steve's Mom and Jim were in town and staying with us (kinda) and they had been driving quite a bit to get here, so we decided to not travel any further and just spend it here. It was so nice and relaxing. Jim made a awesome ham in the crock-pot (with raisins) and Steve made the rest of the dressings. While we were waiting for everything to cook, we decided to take some pictures (I wanted to get Lee's 9 month pictures done) and I wanted to get some pictures of Steve's Mom and Jim together too. Here's how it turned out.

Pam and Racheal were over the day before Easter to visit. This was taken inside Mom's new fancy-schmancy 38' RV.

Me and Lee. This is also my new hair do!

Steven Lee and Lee. Hee, hee. Man they look so much alike.

Isn't he SO CUTE? I love him!!!

I was testing my lense when I took this picture, but it turned out SO CUTE!

Jim... look over here!

Yoo-hoo, Jim, over by the person with the camera...

Ah, the trick to get Jim to look at the camera is to get rid of the kid! Aren't they sweet??

Lee is currently sitting on his easter basket from my parents.

Still sitting on the basket. Hmmm... I tried to get him to hold it, which he did... in his mouth. I then tried to take that stinkin egg away so I could get a picture with his easter basket, he then crawled away after me to get the egg back.

Oh well, maybe next year you get to see his easter basket, when it's not crushed by his ogre sized body

Happy easter everyone! We missed you ;)

Kim & Ross's Wedding

2008-03-17T23:56:00.000-05:00

Kim and Ross were married this past weekend. It was a lot of fun and very beautiful! Kim looked absolutely beautiful. Here are the pictures that I was able to get.

Winter, Winter, GO AWAY

2008-02-25T16:00:00.002-06:00

To whom it may concern,
Whoever ticked off Mother Nature, could you please go and apologize so we can begin spring? That would be greatly appreciated :) We are supposed to get 4-7" of snow tonight and I don't think I can take anymore winter. It's just too depressing and cold.

Thank you very much!
Sincerely,
Sara

BPA Chemical - Plastic Warning

2008-02-07T23:00:00.000-06:00

My Grandma Billings always talked about how plastic is bad. She said that one day you will hear reports come out how it's not good for you. Well, I've heard speculation about this and that. I watched the news tonight (which I shouldn't do, because it always freaks me out) and it was said that some plastic baby bottles (most name brand ones), water cooler bottles, and canned food contain a chemical called BPA that is linked to infertility, hyperactive, and cancer amoung other things. Here is an article of "safer" plastics and how to tell if they are better than some others. Here's the thing about plastic, you shouldn't let it get hot. No heating it up in the microwave, don't put hot left overs in it, don't wash with hot water or put through the dishwasher, because it leaks this chemical 20-40 times more than what is normally leaked.

click here.

Here are some of the videos I have seen after doing some research.
Here's the short of what this paper is talking about.

Here's a lengthy video about how they have known about this chemical for years, but have not let it known to the public. I also liked how the Dr. on the interview says that when he occasionally uses a bottle to feed his infant, he uses a chemical free bottle.

Dessert: Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chunk Cookies

2008-02-07T21:37:00.000-06:00

After the flop of dinner I made these! I have made these before and are one of Steve's favorite cookies. Here's the recipe.

Prep Time:15 min
Total Time:28 min

Makes:About 2-1/2 doz. or 30 servings, one cookie each

1 cup flour
1 cup old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. CALUMET Baking Powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
1-1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 package of Semi-sweet chunk chocolates

PREHEAT oven to 375°F. Mix flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside. Beat butter, sugars and peanut butter in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla; mix well. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until well blended after each addition. Stir in chocolate.

DROP heaping tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto ungreased baking sheets.

BAKE 10 to 12 min. or until lightly browned. Cool 1 min.; remove from baking sheets to wire racks. Cool completely.

New Recipe: Salmon

2008-02-07T21:16:00.000-06:00

I tried this recipe tonight and it was a big fat flop! I'm not a huge salmon fan to begin with. However I thought I would try cooking this to be a little bit more healthy. Plus, I'm sick of everyting that I already know how to make, so I'm broading my cooking skills. This was not one that I will be adding. However, if you are a big fish fan, you might like it. It was super easy too. Here's what I did.

1/4 cup KRAFT Mayo Real Mayonnaise
2 Tbsp. KRAFT 100% Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/8 tsp. ground red pepper (cayenne)
4 salmon fillets (1 lb.), skin removed
2 tsp. lemon juice
10 RITZ Crackers, crushed (about 1/2 cup crumbs)

PREHEAT oven to 400°F. Mix mayo, cheese and pepper until well blended; set aside.

PLACE salmon on foil-lined shallow baking pan. Drizzle evenly with lemon juice. Top with cheese mixture; spread to evenly cover salmon. Sprinkle with cracker crumbs.

BAKE 12 to 15 min. or until salmon flakes easily with fork.

Steak Fajitas

2008-02-06T21:34:00.000-06:00

I'm going to start posting more recipes that I have tried. Good and bad!

I tried making steak fajitas tonight for the first time, they have always intimidated me. I'm weird, I know, I just can't help it. So here is what I did (I took the easy way out), however, I didn't follow the directions on the package.

1.5lb Steak

1 Package Fajitas mix

2 Green Peppers

1 Red Pepper

1 Medium Onion

2 T Oil

I heated the 2T vegetable oil in a pan. While that was heating I thinly sliced the steak, cutting all the fat off. Browned the steak, about 3-4 minutes on each side. Drain. Add 1/2 cup water and package of fajita mix. Mix well, over medium heat (basically so this gets to a boil). Once mixed well, add in all your veggies. Cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes on a low/low-med heat, stirring occasionally.

It was a little runny after the 20 minutes, so I cooked another 5 minutes uncovered and that helped a lot. Serve on flour tortilla with sour cream, cheese, salsa and/or guacamole. They turned out great!

Catching Up!

2008-01-18T23:10:00.000-06:00

Wow! I've missed a few events, here are the past few months in the Schweigert family ;0)

Merry Christmas!
We had the Schumacher Christmas Party the Saturday before Christmas. It was at the church like every year and our group just keeps getting bigger and bigger. It's so awesome to see everyone and catch up! Steve wasn't able to go because he was on-call, but Lee and I did end up driving up.

Christmas Eve we spent with my Mom & my cousin Everopej. We saw Rick for a little bit before hand, but he had made other plans and had drinks later after dinner. We went to Willow Creek Christian Church for the "Imagine" service. WOW, it was AMAZING!! We were all in tears. Lee did really well in the baby drop off. After service we went to Reza's in Chicago for dinner. It was really nice, although, not food that we are really accustomed to. It was a great evening with family and we had tons of fun!

After dropping my Mom and Everopej off to have drinks at her house with Desi & Rick, we went to my Dad's to spend the night. We all opened tons of presents and had a wonderful breakfast! Took a nap and then got ready to head over to my Aunt Kathy's for Christmas dinner. We were laughing because it seemed like whenever Lee would fall asleep, he would wake up in a new place. LOL.

Our trip to Las Vegas! It was so nice to see everyone and hang out! I feel like it was a 2 day vacation... although we were there for 6 days. If you spoke to me you know that I was dreading the flight with Lee. I have to say that it was awesome and he couldn't have done better. We did a lot when we were there and still didn't get to do everything we had wanted, there was just no way we could have fitted it all in. Next time for sure though!! Thanks Amy, Matt & Kayleigh for opening up your home and making us feel us welcome.

Happy Thanksgiving!
Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving. My Dad hosted Thanksgiving and we went over there to eat. Tons of fun and GREAT food ;0)

Family Picture!

2007-11-26T01:08:00.000-06:00

We had some family pictures taken a few weeks ago. My Grandpa and Grandma Graetz had their 60th wedding anniversary and we all got together and took a family picture. After the pictures there was a big party, that was SO fun!! Here are a few pictures to share.

Group Shot - All the family, minus Cousin Danni and her husband Steve.

All the cousins.

My Dad & Family.

My Grandma & Grandpa.

My Parents.
Our Little Family.

Jackie & Kelly.

Lee & Kelly.

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T15:13:00.000-05:00

Lee was a pumpkin for Halloween. Here are a few pictures :)

Last week Lee & I went to Malachy's & Madison's Birthday party. Lee needed to wear his costume. We stopped by Grandma & Grandpa Shoes house and took a few pictures with them. Here they are.

Something new...

2007-10-23T00:19:00.000-05:00

We finally bought a new COUCH!!! I have wanted a new couch for over 2 years now. We waited to move back to IL. Then, we bought our house, so we finally saved up enough to buy it. There is a picture below.

It's a black feaux-leather on the bottom/sides/back. Then it's micro-fiber on the top & pillows. I really like that you can unzip all the seats and pillows to throw in the wash. Also, each section is moveable. There are 4 couch sections and 2 ottomen's. We did get the dark brown and black. I think we might be regretting our choice with all the dog hair, but I will feel better for dirt purposes. I'm so excited, it's coming Thursday ;)

Warner Family Reunion 2007

2007-10-22T00:26:00.001-05:00

The Warner Family Reunion was over labor day weekend. I was going to post these earlier but I was waiting for the group picture. It's not posted yet, so I'm just going to post these and add that later. I think about 150 people came this year. Here is the website you can go to so you can see the past years pictures. Click HERE to see it.

Here are some pictures from the weekend. Lee did pretty good. He was cranky at some points and really good at some others. We all had a blast!!

My sister Jackie & my Aunt Ruth

Card game :) This is my Aunt Laura, her daughter Kayla and some of her friends.

My sister Kelly, My Dad's brother Karl, Sister Jackie & Me!

My Uncle Karl is in the middle and then on the right is my cousin Adam & on the left is my cousin Rachel.

Brothers! my Uncle Matt & my Dad (Kurt)

Golf Cart ride!! Lee LOVED it!! Grandma Shoes (Janet) & Grandpa Shoes (Kurt)

Aunt Kelly & Lee

My and my cousin Mary with our babies Lee & Melina. Melina is 2 weeks older than Lee. Yes, Lee is screaming his head off ;)

Lee & Melina :)

Me holding Lee.

Me, my cousin Hannah & my Dad.

Waiting to play a game of bags.

The only picture I have of Steve. My sister Kelly is the cutie next to him :) Steve was very busy entering every tournament there was.

Lee