The Schmit Family

2011-02-06T22:31:00.003-06:00

These are pictures from Chrismas.

Braydo in time out. He wasn't happy.

Ashy playing with her Sing-a-ma-jig.

After the tree went up we had to block it off because Bray would pull on the orniments and pull the tree down. Little stinker.

Putting the angle on the tree. They all weren't happy about it.

Crabby children.

Mom and dad.

All the girls. This is the best picture we got.

The boys.

Our sweet children: )

2011-02-06T22:04:00.004-06:00

More pictures from Halloween.

Alana and Skyler got their hair cut off last month.

We actually got some snow around here this winter. The girls were throwing snowballs at me:)

Daddy fell asleep during movie night.

Ashy learning to move around.

2011-02-06T21:38:00.005-06:00

Finally! A post from the Schmits! Here are some pictures from Halloween and other random stuff from this past fall and winter. Enjoy!

Decorating pumpkins.

The trick-o-treaters.

Ashtyn chewing on her toes.

Sweet baby: )

Having fun an Chuck-e Cheese.

Alana posed with Chucky but Skyler didn't want to.

2010-10-27T21:29:00.004-05:00

We are having a wonderful start to fall so far. I turned 30 on October 9th and Chris turned 32 on October 16th. Chris went to the Titans Broncos game for his birthday present and I went to the Chihuly glass exhibit and The Cheesecake Factory with my mom for my present. It was a great time for the both of us.

The kids are doing great. Alana is doing so well in school. Skyler seems to be getting past her behavior issues.....some days anyways. Brayden is such a mischievous little stinker. He loves to climb and get into EVERYTHING! Oh well, he's a boy and we have gotten used to it. He keeps us entertained to say the least. Ashtyn is also doing so well. She is four months old now and weighs 15 pounds. She is still sleeping through the night, which is wonderful! She just got over her first ear infection and seems to being doing really well now.

We went to Oktoberfest in Nashville and the only pictures I got were of Alana and Skyler on the ponies. They really enjoyed that. They also played in a bounce house, went through a petting zoo, got balloon animals and ate an okay lunch. The meal wasn't great but we had a funnel cake for dessert and that totally made up for it.

Ashtyn can now get her feet in her mouth!

Silly Braydo!

The kids played in some shaving cream the other day and they had a blast. Skyler made the biggest mess by far, but it was easy to clean up.

My mom came to town last weekend and we went to see a Chihuly glass exhibit at Cheekwood Botanical Garden. They have his pieces lit up at night and we thought it would be neat to go at night. Well.....so did every body else. It took us an hour to drive the last half mile into Cheekwood. The line of cars was ridiculous and we just had to wait our turn to get in. Then we had four kids and two or three of them were in two strollers we brought with. We didn't realize that it was going to be so packed with people or that it was going to be so dark in between the pieces. It was really hard to drive strollers on the paths with all the people and in the dark. BUT....his stuff was very beautiful and I'm so glad we went. I didn't take too many pictures while we were there, but these are the best ones we got. His glass pieces were incorporated into the gardens with the plants and they were in the water and they also just stood alone in the grass. Very beautiful!

My favorite....but not such a great picture. The boat is on water, if you can't tell.

We also went to a pumpkin patch and had a hay ride and pet some farm animals. Here's grandma and our kids.

They set up hay bales and turned them into a tractor. Pretty cool!

Skyler on the hay ride.

My boys: ) Ashtyn slept the whole time.

2010-09-19T20:31:00.004-05:00

The Schmit family is doing well. Everyone is healthy and happy....most of the time. Skyler is still being a stinker for us half the time. She can be such a sweetie on second and then a screaming mess the next. She's very dramatic. I thought Alana was dramatic, but Skyler has got her beat. But she is having more good days than bad lately, so hopefully this may be the slow turning point in this nasty phase she has been in......we hope.

Alana is doing great in school and is loving it! She is such a social butterfly and loves being around everyone. Her 2nd grade teacher is Mrs. McWhirter. I've spoken to her a few times and she really seems great. Alana likes her, so that is what really matters: )

Brayden is such a sweet little boy but he can be such a punk some times! He's different from the girls at this age. He acts so much like a boy and does such boy stuff and loves daddy's things. Especially tools. He loves tools! Any time we may leave a screw driver around, he finds it fast and then fixes stuff. He seems so smart for his age, too.......compared to what we can remember with the girls. He is such a talker now, too. No surprise since his daddy and big sisters are such talkers. He doesn't say many words when he talks, but he just babbles on and tells you all about whatever it is. So cute!

Ashtyn is a sweet girl. She has been sleeping through the night for about 3 or 4 weeks now. Most nights anyway....she has woken up a few times in the middle of the night to eat, but she goes right back to sleep. She gets a bit crabby during the day, but it's nothing we can't handle. She likes to be held and we just can't hold her all the time!! She just has to wait some times and she just doesn't always want to wait. She's gonna be just like her sisters!

Chris and I are doing well. Our lives consist of working and keeping up with the kids. They sure keep us busy! Here are some pictures from the last month. Enjoy!

Sweet baby Ashtyn - 3 months old

Silly Brayden!

Alana is part of a group at school called Reading, Running, Responsibility. She meets once a week for an hour and a half after school and she jogs, reads and learns to be responsible. Once a month they meet at a walking trail down the road from us and run a mile. They all run a half mile down and turn around and come back. Dad ran with them and pushed Skyler and Brayden for the first half mile and then Skyler got out and ran the second half non stop! We couldn't believe she could do it but she sure did. Alana also ran the mile non stop. So did Chris: ) Alana is the one in the middle with the white shirt and purple shorts.

Skyler has a captive audience while she eats her snack.

Just woke up!

Bray likes to chew on the corners of his blankies. He shares corners sometimes, too: )

Ashtyn has followed in her sibling's footsteps and loves her blankies from Gramma. She loves to chew on them.....and she loves the really old swing just like her siblings.

Bray got stuck in the stroller: ) Yes, I paused to take a picture before I got him out. Terrible, I know.

Bray loves to wear this mask. He's so funny!

Sleepy baby.

Big sister Alana and Bray chewing on his blankie: )

These small pictures were taken with Chris' new phone. We couldn't enlarge them but we are still working on it.

Sweet baby Ashtyn.

Bray moved from the crib to a toddler bad tonight! It took him a while to stay in his bed and fall asleep, but he did. Hope the rest of the night goes well.

Ashy's new bed: ) Loves the mobile already.

2010-08-13T21:45:00.005-05:00

Happy Birthday Alana! She is 7 years old today! I say this every year, but time has sure flown by. She started 2nd grade yesterday, too! She is such a big girl! It is amazing to watch her grow up and see how she has changed over the years. Brings tears to my eyes....happy tears of course: )

Things are going well here for us. It's hot and humid, which is to be expected for August, but it doesn't make playtime outside fun. We sure can't wait for the cooler months ahead.

Below are some pictures from the last month or so. Enjoy!

Sweet Ashtyn after a tubby: )

Brayden likes to ride the Barbie jeep. Silly boy: )

He loves this mask!

He also loves chewing on the corners of his blankies made by gramma.

Water time!

Alana's birthday breakfast. Pancakes with fruit and Reddi-Wip.

Lazy day.

She did this all on her own. Too cute: )

We can get her to smile quite a bit now. I finally got a picture of her smile: )

Alana's Barbie cake.

Rainbow cake.

Opening gifts.

Ashtyn was memorized by the table cloth. Lots of bright colors.

2010-07-11T20:28:00.007-05:00

Ashtyn Erica Schmit was born on June 17, 2010 at 12:54 p.m. She weighed 8 lbs and 10 ounces and was 19.5 inches long. The labor and delivery went great. Grama Robin and Lindsey stayed at home with the three older kids, which was wonderful! Thank you guys so much!

Ashtyn is a very good baby and doesn't cry too often. She is a great nurser and a great sleeper. She only wakes up once in the middle of the night to eat! Her older siblings have adjusted really well to their younger sister. Brayden has gotten a little rough with her, but he is mostly a very good to her.

On June 20, 2010, my father passed away from cancer. On June 21, 2010, we started the trip to MN for the funeral. We drove through the night and got to MN on the 22nd. It was a 17 hour drive. Our pit stops were about an hour long due to feeding the baby and potty breaks. It went really well, though. The kids slept through the night. We also picked up our niece Alex before we left, who is spending the summer with her dad in TN. She was a big help with the kids at the pit stops. Thanks Alex!

All my siblings were home, which was wonderful. We rarely get everyone home at the same time. And I know we are a big reason for that because we don't make it home that often. The wake was on the 24th and the funeral was on the 25th. We started back to TN on the 28th. We didn't drive through the night this time so we didn't get home until the 29th. Again, the kids did so great on the way home.

Here are some pictures from the past month or so. Enjoy!

Just born Ashtyn Erica Schmit (named after my sister Erica)

Grama Robin with Ashtyn

Big sis Skyler with Ashtyn

Our four kids: )

Robin, Alana & Ashtyn

Going home!

Sweet new baby: )

The three older kids with the visors they made with grama.

Playing in the pool after we got home from the hospital.

We saw all kinds of animals in MN. Here is a lamb that Chris had to dive to catch. He was only a few days old.

We went to Nick and Erica's and we got to see lots of cows and calves.

L to R - Skyler, Brayden, Alana, Sophie and Katie. Sophie and Katie are Nick and Erica's girls. They were pretty proud to show our city kids around the farm.

This is Mr. Chewy. He is Sophie and Katie's favorite calf.

This is Sophie feeding the calves gummies. In simple terms, Nick feeds his calves corn. Gummies are made of corn syrup, which is a byproduct of corn. He gets the gummies from a gummy factory near by. They are the end of the line gummies that the factory will just throw away, so they sell them to farmers as feed for animals. They come in large cases or barrels and are an inexpensive energy source for the animals. Our kids thought it was pretty cool to feed gummies to cows.

Skyler feeding gummies to cows.

Grandkids having lunch. L to R - Lauryn, Alana, Sophie, Katie, Brayden, Grama, Zach & Skyler

Alana and Skyler shared a bed in MN. This is how they ended up sleeping at one point during the night.

Brayden on the rings. Poor boy grabbed on to an electric fence and couldn't let go. Chris went to pull Brayden's hand off and his hand got zapped away so he just grabbed Brayden around the waist and fell backwards, which pulled Brayden off of the fence. Needless to say, they both got the shock of a life time: (

Me rocking my two sleeping babies: )

Erica and Nick also had baby Zach two weeks prior to Ashtyn's birth. This is the only picture we got of the two of us and our new babies. Don't we look lovely?: )

Zach and Ashtyn. Love this picture: )

Stretching out while sleeping: )

Ashtyn sucking her thumb.

When we got home from MN, these were our surprises from our garden. Yum!

Checking on his baby sister.

Brayden and some toy goggles:

The girls and their new goggles and nose plugs: )

2010-06-13T21:26:00.005-05:00

We've had all kinds of stuff going on around here since we last updated. I guess about a month ago I went to the dentist to get a broken tooth/filling fixed. The dentist said I needed a crown on the tooth, which I expected. I had to go back the next business day and they would fix it for me. I did and they tried numbing me up and the tooth still hurt. The dentist decided I needed a root canal, but she couldn't do it in her office so she had to send me to a specialist. I went to this other office across town and they took x-rays before they started and they told me that I'm sure my dentist told me that since the filling broke so low and the cavity below it was right at my gum line, I would need crown lengthening before I could get a crown put on. I said they didn't mention a thing about it either time I was in the office, but I would deal with that after I got the root canal. They did the root canal and I went back to the original dentist and I told them what the other dentist said about needing crown lengthening. The dentist didn't have a clue that I would need it. I even knew I needed it after the second dentist showed me the x-rays. Anyway, I was referred to a periodontal surgeon for the crown lengthening. Crown lengthening consists of the gum tissue and some bone being removed from around the tooth that needs a crown. You need to have some tooth all the way around to be able to put a crown on and for it to stay on long term. They did the procedure and it was incredibly painful that evening and I very limited on what I could eat for several days. Not fun at all. But it has healed and I have since been back to see them 3 times for check-ups and to get the stitches removed. At the last visit they said some of the tissue has rebounded and I have to go back on Wednesday and they will laser the tissue down. Once that has healed, I will be able to get the crown. I will definitely not be going back to my original dentist.....she doesn't seem to have a clue.

Not long after the whole tooth thing started, I ended up getting a severe case of poison ivy. I have an idea when I ran into it and I know I didn't touch much of it, but my body had a secondary response to it. It started all over my thighs and some on the bottom part of my legs and on my upper arm. I did take some pictures, but I think I will spare you all. It wasn't pretty. After about a week and a half of it continuing to spread to both arms and more on my legs, stomach, chest, neck and up on to my face, I saw a doc for a second time and she prescribed some steroids to take for a couple of weeks. I also started taking Zyrtec for the TERRIBLE itching. The meds helped and it has mostly gone away now. My skin is still discolored where it was the worst on my legs and arms. I'm afraid it is permanently scarred. Let's hope it goes away in the next few months. It also still itches some and I continue to take Zyrtec, which does help. Anyway, Chris and the kids will tell you I was pretty miserable for quite a while. Not fun at all.

Okay, on to some good stuff. We bought a minivan a couple of weeks ago. Love it!!! Chris has the Pathfinder now and we are working on selling his Explorer. It was time for us to get a second vehicle that will seat four children. Our fourth child is scheduled to arrive on Thursday, June 17, 2010! We are soooooo very excited and I am soooooo ready not to be prego anymore. I have had some terrible aches and pains this pregnancy and now I am just exhausted. This has definitely been the worst pregnancy on my body. I am just really ready for this little one to be on the outside. Chris' aunt Robin is flying in on Wednesday and will be here for a week to help with the kids. So excited for her to arrive! I know Chris is going to love to have the help with the kids while he is going back and forth from the hospital. Chris' sister has also been staying with us for the last couple of weeks and she will be moving to Colorado to live with Rich and Robin in the next week or two. We've had a full house here for a while and it will just continue to fill up this week! Chris is off of work for the next two weeks, which is wonderful! He knows I'm not physically capable of doing as much as I was and he has really picked up the slack. It's been great. Only a few more things to do and we will be ready for baby! Yeah!

They kids have been doing well and they are very ready for baby to arrive and for grama Robin to arrive. They love to play in the water outside. It's been been a good summer so far.

Enjoy the pictures! We won't update again until Thursday after baby arrives! Yeah!

Brayden peeking out the window of the playhouse.

Skyler: )

Water play.

The kid and the hose.

The new minivan!

Playing in the pool

Our sweet children: )

38 weeks prego today!

2010-05-09T23:05:00.001-05:00

Brayden figured out how to climb up the ladder to the play house this past week. He can climb up really well, but he can't get down at all. He thinks and he tries to get down on his own. He will go to the ladder or the rock wall and try to climb down like he climbs down the couple of steps to the deck. He doesn't understand that the play house is much higher and a lot different to get down than just a couple of regular steps. Oh well...we knew this would happen at some point. It just happened sooner than we thought. Silly boy: )

2010-05-09T20:27:00.012-05:00

Yeah for Mother's Day and being 33 weeks prego!!! It has been a wonderful day. I was served breakfast in bed today and we went out to lunch at Logan's and then I got a nap and ate another great meal for supper and then had dessert, which was a warm brownie under ice cream, Ready Whip and caramel and chocolate syrup. It's been a very good, relaxing day: )

We are 33 weeks along today. Baby is doing great....I, on the other hand, am getting more and more uncomfortable as the days go by. Besides the fact that I am sleeping like crap, I have been having terrible hip pain for quite some time now. I had this kind of pain while prego with Skyler and Brayden, but this time it is much worse and lasts for most of the day. My doc prescribed me some good pain pills that help tremendously because Tylenol does not work at all. I'm not a fan of taking prescription drugs so I have only been taking a pill a couple times per week when the pain is really bad or when I know that I will be physically working harder that day and I need to get stuff done. I just don't like the thought of the baby getting the drugs so I just try to avoid them as much as I can. Because of how uncomfortable I am now, we will be inducing by 39 weeks, which will be by June 21st. That is only 6 weeks away! We are so very excited! We are pretty much ready now. We need to do some washing of some baby stuff, but other than that, I think we are prepared. We even narrowed the name pool down today for the baby. We are pretty sure we have picked out a name for a boy or a girl. We may change our minds in the next 6 weeks, but at least we have it narrowed down big time and we agree on the names.

The kids are doing really well. Alana was out of school last week due to terrible flooding around middle TN. A lot of schools in our county were flooded along with roads that were destroyed and washed away. Buses would not be able to travel around to pick up children. They are scheduled to open back up tomorrow, but we still don't know if they will have to extend the school year to make up these missed days. If they don't have to make the days up, Alana will be done with school in 2 weeks. I can't believe she is almost done with first grade and will be going into the second grade. Blows my mind how time has flown by over the years.

Skyler and Brayden are doing really well. Skyler has been a little stinker now for several months and has been pretty nasty to Brayden at times. She gets really mad at him if he plays with her stuff. Many times she has smacked him. And now Brayden has even done that to her a few times. Monkey see monkey do. Let's hope this behavior stops before the next baby arrives. We don't need Brayden smacking him/her. Other than that, Skyler is such a sweet little girl. She can be very polite and very kind to us all. Brayden is also such a sweet little boy. He is so different from the girls. He is just much more laid back than they have ever been. The girls are just much more dramatic than he is. Let's hope he doesn't pick up on that.

Chris is doing well, too. Same old, same old. He's working and being a daddy and a husband. Nothing else too exciting, which is good.

Below are some pictures from the last month. Enjoy!

30 Weeks

Alana wanted to pose like me.

This was a picture of the Target a couple of miles away from our house. What a mess is will be to clean up.

Brayden has moved from our bedroom into his new bedroom. We painted it a few weeks ago. We really like the color. It is a very bright blue. The new baby will move in with him at some point. Our babies always stay in our bedroom after they are born. It is a very bare room right now. Only the crib and his dresser and some toys are in it now. We are storing some other diapers and baby stuff in the closet, but that is it. We will work on decorating as the days go by.

So Brayden got past Chris' child proof (I used that term very loosely) barricade he had in front of the door and decided he would play in some of the white paint. Chris automatically started laughing and screaming "Get the camera!" I came running and didn't think it was as funny because I saw the paint was all around his eye....but I still took a quick picture. We threw him in the tub and washed him up. Thankfully, the paint never got into his eye.

Skyler decided to put some baby butt cream all over Teddy. I had to get my phone for this one and take a picture

We planted a garden several weeks ago and the kids decided to play in a bucket of water we had sitting next to it for watering.

Alana and Brayden love the water. Skyler is not as big of a fan as them.

Brayden crawling under the changing table.

I had to take a picture of this too. We were outside playing and somehow Brayden got caught up on this bar on the swing set. He couldn't seem to get himself stood up or flipped over the other side. It was pretty funny....not for him....he cried until I saved him. I know, terrible of me to pause and take a picture before I help him.

Skyler was helping me fold clothes and decided to try on one of Chris' shirts.

Silly boy.

He has figured out how to unlock the dog cages and he loves to play in the water and dog food. This is the first time that he actually crawled inside. Silly boy.

Skyler showing me her birthday cake with the stick candles. The girls LOVE to dig in the dirt and find worms and other little creepy, crawly creatures.

Silly kids pushing Brayden in the baby stroller.

Sweet Skyler: )

Brayden has always loved the dishwasher. He now loves to climb in it. Again, silly boy.

Sweet kids: )

Riding in the car.

33 weeks prego!

Mother's Day pictures with my kiddos. This was the best one we got. It is hard to make three kids sit still and smile at the same time.

2010-04-04T21:17:00.006-05:00

We had a great Easter. We had a great time coloring eggs on Saturday and then we went for a bike ride Sunday morning. We had a good Easter lunch and then a nap and then we had an egg hunt. We hid about 160 eggs. They were all filled with candy and other goodies. The kids had a great time. It was a great weekend with wonderful weather. I wish it would last a few more days. Anyway, back to work, school and life!

Enjoy the pictures!

Alana coloring eggs.

Skyler coloring eggs.

Daddy coloring eggs.

Brayden watching all the action.

Momma on the bike pulling Brayden. Momma is out of shape and didn't last too long. But it was really fun while it lasted: )

Alana and Skyler in Daddy's trailer.

Brayden: )

Egg hunting.

Brayden just sat around and watched the egg hunters.

Sweet boy: )

Skyler and Alana got polish in the eggs so Skyler took it upon herself to pain her toes.

This is the wonderful job she did.

Thankfully daddy helped finish the job for her.

2010-03-28T19:24:00.004-05:00

Happy third birthday Skyler........two days ago! She's so big now! It is so weird to see pictures of her way back when she was born to now. Brayden looks so much like her! They could have been twins! Anyway, for her birthday, I attempted to make a Barbie cake for her and.........it actually turned out pretty good! I made it with four layers of white cake, which I colored four different colors, and vanilla icing with purple food coloring. The cake was a bit off and not real symmetrical all the way around, but it still turned out pretty well and the kids thought it was awesome! She got lots of great toys that she has thoroughly enjoyed playing with. She even has let Alana and Brayden play with them this weekend! Here are the pictures from her party with the family on Friday. It was a good time. Enjoy the pictures!

The camera was sitting on the table and I just thought it was a neat angle.

Alana helping open presents.

Modeling her princess jewelry.

2010-03-21T21:10:00.008-05:00

Big things have been going on around here. Our little Brayden turned one year old on March 19, 2010! Can't believe it has been one year since he was born! Below are some pictures of his party we had with the fam at home on Friday. I made some rainbow cupcakes that Erica told me about. They were pretty awesome and turned out really pretty.

Alana has been on Spring break all week and Chris also took the week off. We had a big "honey-do" list but we didn't get nearly as much done as we wanted because we bought the kids a new swing set/playhouse early in the week. It took about 35 man/woman hours to build. It is pretty awesome and the kids love it! We've had great weather and have spent most of the week outside. But today it has been raining like crazy and we have been couped up inside. Chris and I have had lots of aches and pains this week from all the work we have done so it was good that we did relax our bodies today. We did also get our garage cleaned out, which was way over due, and we got a bunch of miscellaneous stuff pressure washed. It has been a busy week, but we did get quite a bit done. We are very sad that it is over, but Alana has more to learn in school and Chris has got to make the money!

Enjoy the pictures!

We were singing to Brayden and he was crying. We think he got a bit spooked because we turned out the lights and were singing to him.

First taste of the cake.

He likes it!

Not too messy.

Rainbow cupcake with white frosting and sprinkles.

A couple of little truck he got from grama and grampa.

He has a thing for brooms so we got him his very own broom that plays songs. He loves it!

Birthday kisses from daddy.

The start of the building of the swing set/playhouse. Our friend Steve was kind enough to come over and help us for a while. It was a big help!

Day two of the build. Brayden is supervising.

Me doing my part with my girls watching intently.

Eating dirt.

Alana helping daddy.

Brayden loves the drill.

Helping daddy.

First climb up the rock wall.

Skyler actually made this huge step up the wall.

Loving the swings.

Brayden helping dig the hole for the pole for the slide.

Digging the hole with the girls and Jake watching.

Brayden in the hole.

Skyler in the hole.

The finished product. Pretty awesome.

We've had a few picnics outside with all the warm weather we have had lately. And yes, Chris and I squeeze into the little picnic table with the girls.

Brayden being silly.

Alana's teeth. She has lost a total of six teeth so far. The bottom two teeth that are just now coming in are way crooked. We definitely see braces in her future.

This was Skyler tonight. She put ointment on Teddy because she said he had boo boos. Too funny. You can see a belt is hanging from his collar. She hooks him up and leads him around. Don't think he likes it too much but he goes along with it.

2010-02-14T20:30:00.006-06:00

We have had a pretty productive week/weekend. I made Chris pressure wash the house on Friday. I think it was about 38 degrees. He was frozen by the time he was done. But it was great to get the dirt and yucky stuff off of the house. It had really been bothering me lately. Thanks honey! He also did some minor home improvement things this weekend that were way over due. It feels good to get them done and out of the way.

We had some friends, Jason and Ashley, over on Saturday night. They have a one year old boy named Jase. We can already tell that Jase and Brayden will be the best of friends: ) They were too cute.

That's about all for now. Happy Valentines Day!

Silly daddy and sweet Skyler.

Best friends in the making. Soooooo cute: )

They almost had their first fight over Jason's phone. Still too cute.

So cute: )

Brayden was very tired and ready for bed.

2010-02-06T21:39:00.003-06:00

Not too much going on around here lately. The kids are doing well and the baby is doing great. Our dogs, Jake and Teddy, have had an interesting week. We took them to the vet on Friday to get their nails trimmed, get their shots and poor Jake had to get neutered: ( Jake did well with his procedure but he managed to rip his stitches out that night. So now he has to wear a lovely collar until it heals a little more.

We haven't taken many pictures lately. Here is one of the mess Skyler and Brayden made. Skyler sure didn't have fun cleaning it up.

Poor Jake: (

Chris and I about died laughing at this one. So funny and so cute. Poor Jake: (

20 weks

2010-01-31T20:56:00.003-06:00

We've had a good past couple of weeks around here. The kids are doing great and the pregnancy is going great. We had our formal ultrasound this past week and the baby looks great! We did not find out the sex of the baby but we are taking guesses. I think it is a girl and Chris thinks it is a boy. It was really hard during the ultrasound for me not to find out. I figured it would be difficult, but it was way harder knowing we were in the middle of it and the doctor could just look and tell us what it was. But we were strong and we are just going to be surprised when the baby arrives! That will be so fun.

We had about 5 inches of snow here last Friday. We have had a blast playing in the snow with the girls. We only lasted about 30 minutes because we do not have snow pants, boots or appropriate gloves for the girls. The snow leaks through fairly quickly and the girls were frozen so we had to come in. Alana's school was closed on Friday due to the weather and she is off tomorrow as well. The roads still are not great. It hasn't been above freezing so the snow has actually stuck around for a bit this time!

Chris is doing good. His work schedule has changed AGAIN. He is back to Monday through Friday, which is great, but it may change again soon. CCA needs to get their act straight and figure this stuff out.

Enjoy the pictures!

Baby face. We didn't get any good full body pictures, so we just picked a few of the other ones we got.

Baby is flexing. He or she is going to be tough: )

Baby leg.

Brayden falls asleep most days while eating lunch.

Princess Skyler.

Very messy Brayden.

Yeah!!! All clean!

Chris pulling Alana on a toy rocking horse. It was funny.

Snow angel.

We didn't have a sled so we had to improvise with a wreath box. The girls loved it and Chris got a work out in.

Eating snow. They loved it.

2010-01-10T10:28:00.003-06:00

We actually got some snow last week and it is still here! The girls have had some fun playing in it. They thought it was great to throw the snow at mom. But they also thought it was fun for me to throw it at them, too! Fun times: )

Chris' days off have changed again. He now has Friday and Saturday off permanently. We think this is better than having Thursday and Fridays off. We are just trying to get used to him not being here on the weekends. We like being lazy on Sunday, and the kids and I are still upholding that tradition: )

These first two pictures are of Brayden and the vacuum cleaner. He has such a fascination with it. It is really funny to watch him watch it move around the floor. He loves climbing on it and just playing with it. Silly boy: )

The girls playing in the snow.

Throwing snow at mom.

Sweeping up piles of snow to throw at mom.

Silly kids: )

We love this picture. He loves the tub! So cute!

2010-01-08T15:02:00.004-06:00

We finally got the pictures off of Chris' phone from Christmas at our house. We had a great time and we all got wonderful gifts. The kids especially got a good haul this year: ) Thanks to everyone for your generosity!

Chris, Alana and Skyler putting the angle on the tree after it was all set up.

This the the gingerbread house we made. Isn't it just lovely? The kids had a great time decorating it, but I think Chris had the most fun: )

Brayden was just nuts about the tree when we first put it up. He went crazy trying to grab at the branches and lights. It was really funny. Thankfully, after a while he got bored with it.

Brayden and Alana under the tree.

This is what Santa brought the kids. They got to basically look at these gifts and pick out one to take with us on the plane to Colorado. But it was fun for them to come home to some unopened gifts.

Chris and Brayden playing with some new toys Christmas Eve.

Brayden's first tractor toy: )

Alana is holding up Brayden's new dinosaur jammies.

The girls opening gifts.

More gifts.

Alana and Skyler in their new robes and playing their new keyboard.

Our sweet children: )

2010-01-03T10:05:00.023-06:00

Okay, once again we are way behind on updating the blog. Better late than never, I guess! So first off we need to announce that we are expecting another baby in June! We are very happy and so excited. And yes, this was planned. We have had to tell people that it was a planned pregnancy because some people just can't believe that we would want to have another child so soon after having Brayden. We want to have our children close together in age and we just don't want there to be a 3 1/2 year gap like with Alana and Skyler. Anyway, the pregnancy is going well and I am feeling great. I'll be sure to update more as the due date gets closer.

We had a great Christmas and New Year this year. We flew out to Colorado over Christmas to spend it with Chris' side of the family. We had a great time and the kids did pretty good on the plane. But of course, we caught some bug from the plan and now illnesses are flowing through the house. Since I have become a stay at home mom, my children and I are not exposed to many people like they were when they were in daycare. Therefore, Brayden ended up with a fever on Tuesday the 29th and we think it finally broke yesterday the 4th. I took him to the doctor on the 29th and they said it was a virus and it just had to run its course, which could last 7 to 9 days. His lasted 7 days. Poor little guy. We fought it with Motrin, but not Tylenol. I swear, our children's fevers do not respond to Tylenol at all. It's like we are giving them a glass of water. But thankfully the Motrin took the edge off during the week so Brayden wasn't miserable the whole time. But of course he and I also ended up with a cold at the end of last week. Brayden also got a nasty cough with his cold. The colds still have not passed and now Skyler and I are getting the cough. So much fun. Some days I do wish my kids would be exposed to a daycare setting so they can grow some kind of immunity to these yucky bugs. Anyway, no fever yet today for Brayden, so we hope that part has passed. We just need to handle the colds now.

Another new development around here is that Chris has new days off during the week. He used to always work Monday through Friday and have the weekends off but they have changed his schedule. He will be working Saturday through Wednesday for the next three months and then back to Monday through Friday for three months and continue switching off ever three months. We are not too thrilled about it, but at least he has a job! It just sucks because it will be another 3 months before all five of us will have a day off together again. Kind of sad when I think about it. We really enjoy our weekends together.

Anyway, here are some pictures from our trip. We took a bunch of pictures on Chris' phone from Christmas Eve that we wanted to post, but we are having trouble e-mailing the pictures to the computer to post them on the blog. If we get that working, we will post them another time. Happy New Year!!!!

Arriving at the Denver airport.

Opening gifts at Kerri and Ryan's Aurora.

Eddy and Alana coloring. Eddy is Josh and Erin's child. They flew in from Hawaii for the holidays. It was great to see them.

Erin. Nice pose: )

This is Kerri and Ryan's dog, Pongo. He is a Merle Great Dane. He is huge!!! Seriously the size of a small horse! As you can see, he is standing and his head is way above the kitchen table. The the kids loved him. He is a sweety: )

Skyler and Alana and Joshua opening gifts with Grama Robin. We stayed with Rich and Robin who live near Colorado Springs.

Breakfast. L to R - Skyler, Joshua, Alana, Brayden and Eddy.

Our family.

Grama and Grampa with the grand kids. L to R - Alana, Haylie, Robin, Brayden, Skyler, Rich, Eddy and Joshua.

Rich's mom, Mary Ann (GG) was also there. She flew in from near Deadwood, South Dakota. She went home to 54" of snow! At least she went home after the snow had fallen and the roads were plowed.

Mommy and Brayden. He loved my necklace.

Alana and Skyler all bundled up to go play in the snow.

Alana and Skyler in the sled
.

Rich and Robin pulling the kids. They definitely got a workout: )

Joshua and Alana pulling Haylie and Eddy in the sled.

Eddy, Haylie, Skyler and Alana.

Eddy: ) She's too cute. We almost took her home with us.

Alana and Skyler.

Sweet little Brayden: )

This was too funny. You strap the Donkey (from Shrek) to your leg and put a kid on it and you just bounce him around. Too cute. Donkey talks, too.

2009-11-06T12:16:00.003-06:00

I forgot to add these pictures in my last post. Chris did an excellent job carving the pumpkins this year. The top one is Blues Clues and the bottom one is Sponge Bob. They turned out great! He will have to work hard to top these next year!

This is Brayden getting into the pots and pans. He is such a little stinker some times! When he wants something, he goes for it no matter what. I'll be holding him and I will walk by something that he finds interesting and he will reach and lean way over to try to get it and I will almost drop him! He is different than the girls were at this age. He seems way more determined and curious. I'm afraid he is going to be a handful for Chris and I. Oh well....we will manage: )

2009-11-05T13:50:00.018-06:00

Okay, so we lost our camera over a month ago and we still have not found it. We think some little hands in the house ran off with it. We don't care about the camera so much as the memory card with all the pictures on it! We really need to find it. Anyway, we have been taking these pictures with our phones since then. They are not as good of quality, but at least we can capture some memories.

Things are great. We are busy with school and work and life in general. Halloween was great. Alana was a bride, Skyler was Super Girl and Brayden was a pumpkin. We had a great time trick-or-treating. Chris missed it because he was in KY at drill. That was disappointing, but he'll be here next year.

Alana is doing great in school and actually behaving really well every day! She gets in trouble a lot because she likes to talk. Surprising, I know: ) Skyler is doing great. She stays home with me and Brayden and we have a lot of fun during the day. Brayden has two bottom teeth and two top teeth now and two more top teeth coming in. He has figured out how to Army crawl and he can get places pretty quick if he is determined. He is 7 1/2 months old and weighs about 20 lbs now. All the kids are healthy at this point. No sickness has run through our house yet! We are keeping our fingers crossed that it stays that way.

Enjoy the pictures! We will try to get better about posting them.

Chris and his kids all decked out in Broncos gear!

Tough girls!

Brayden loves to kneel in his bed and chew on the railing. We have had this crib for all the kids and all of them have sat like this and chewed on the railing. We've got the bite marks to prove it: )

Brayden playing with a Barbie: )

Brayden checking Jake out.

Checking Teddy out.

I know this was terrible of me, but I gave Brayden a sucker on Halloween. He loved it! He only had it for maybe a minute before I took it away. He was pretty mad at me.

Brayden rode in his car seat in the stroller while we trick-or-treated.

The bride the Super Girl and the pumpkin.

Just a cute picture I took of Brayden when we were outside playing.

This is Chris and I on our date night a couple of weeks ago. We went out to eat and to a movie. It was wonderful and WAY over due. We won't let it go that long next time.

2009-08-24T13:42:00.050-05:00

We have had a very busy summer so far. Two of my sisters (Erica and Sena) and their children (Sophie, Katie and Alex) came to visit at he end of July and then the kids and I followed them back to MN and stayed up there for a week. It was all so much fun. The kids did really well on the ride up there and back, which was great. Chris flew up to meet us in MN and drove back down to TN with us. I know I couldn't have done it by myself.

A lot of other stuff has been happening around the Schmit household. Alana lost her second tooth, she turned 6 years old and she started 1st grade. She has not been getting good remarks from her teacher because she seems to be talking too much in class. She sure is like her daddy. Let's hope she learns to be quiet soon.

Skyler has been enjoying more time at home without Alana. She gets to play with all the toys by herself! We have also started potty training this week. It seems to be going pretty well. Only a couple of accidents so far.

Brayden is such a character. He is very ticklish on his back and he just loves to smile and laugh. He started rolling back to tummy and now he can roll tummy to back. He started eating rice cereal and he will start on some veggies next week. He is also suffering from his first cold right now. Poor little guy. Let's hope it passes soon. Nursing doesn't work so well when he can't breath out of his nose.

Here are some pictures from the last month. Enjoy!

Alana, Skyler, Katie & Sophie in the pool.

Erica and Sara watching Katie, Sophie, Alana, Skyler and Lauryn in the pool at grama and grampa's.

Sena and Brayden chillin' outside.

Grama threw a tea party for the little girls while we were in MN. Of course we all had to dress up. Grama, me, Brayden, Alex and Erica.

This was not the best picture of the little girls. I wasn't positioned right in front of them. Alana, Brayden, Skyler, Sophie, Katie and Lauryn. You can't tell but Brayden dressed up too. He has a shirt with a tie on it and grama gave him that hat. Too cute.

Alana and her signature pose. All the girls had dresses, hats, beads and dress up shoes shoes to wear.

Skyler

Lauryn

Katie. I didn't get a picture of her sister Sophie.

Grama and her signature pose.

Alex looking lovely in one of my old prom dresses.

And this is Erica in a lovely yellow dress she found at the Salvation Army. I think she paid $15.00 for the dress. That is way to expensive for me.

I paid $0.99 for mine at the Good Will. I'm sure it was a very stylish dress 20 years ago......

Here was the table. Very lovely. We ate little little sandwiches shaped like stars, circles and hearts. I'm sure we will laugh for years about the holey bread, meat and cheese. Funny times. You just had to be there.

Lauryn's great grama and Sophie and Katie's grama and great grama's also came to the party.

And then the girls got to beat on a pinata. Skyler was first since she was the youngest besides Brayden.

Katie

Lauryn

Sophie

Alana

The little girls couldn't get it so Alex got a try. She got the head off but grampa had to cut it open to get the candy out.

Alana, Lauryn and Skyler relaxing and watching a movie.

Grama and Brayden.

Sophie and Katie were great and bringing Brayden toys.

The kids had so much fun on the zip line. The little ones rode in a big tub. It was a lot of fun.

The had animal overload at grama and grampas. The girls helped grampa work some dogs on the sheep.

Alana petting the sheep.

Petting the sheep.

Trying to pet the big cows.

Trying to pet the baby cows.

Petting the kitty.

Back home in TN and chillin' in the Bumbo.

Brayden's first bites of cereal.

He wants to grab the spoon a lot.

Alana's 6th birthday cake that I made all by myself. It was pretty good. It had a lot of frosting on it.

Huge Hannah Montana card that played her favorite Hannah Montana song.

She got lots of Barbie stuff.

Alana's first day of the 1st grade.

Foot in the mouth!

2009-07-20T19:27:00.004-05:00

Brayden is now 4 months old. We can hardly believe it. Time has flown by! He had his 4 month check up today and he weighs 16 pounds and 4 ounces and he is 23 1/2 inches long. He is doing great and he gets to start on some cereal. I hope that goes well. As you can see, he has figured out how to put his foot in his mouth. Too cute!

The girls are doing great. We have a lot of fun playing outside in the yard and in the pool. Not sure what we are going to do when it gets too cold to play in the water. I think Alana will go through withdrawals during the winter. She loves the water.

Chris should be home in a couple of days. We are very excited for him to come home. He's got a honey-do list to take care of: )

Enjoy the pictures!

Summer Fun!

2009-07-08T20:19:00.041-05:00

Summer is just flying by! We can hardly believe that it is half over! We have been busy with the kids and visitors. Grama O'Reilly came for a visit in May and we had fun at the park and zoo and in the pool. My friend Jessi and her family came to visit in June and had a blast. Good company makes for some good times.

Chris is doing his two weeks Guard training in Pennsylvania right now. He will be back on the 22nd and then more family is coming to town on the 29th and they will stay until August 1st and then the kids and I are following them back to MN and we will stay for a week. We should get back around the 9th and then Alana starts school on August 14th! Time is just flying by!!!

Here are some pictures we've taken since the end of May. We hope everyone is also having a wonderful summer. Enjoy it while it lasts!

Fun times at the park.

Fun times at the zoo.

Fun times in the pool.

Fun times out on the town with Jessi and Susan.

Jessi singing.

Brayden and Brennan.

Finally caught Brayden smiling.: )

2009-05-18T19:51:00.040-05:00

OMG! I know that it has been a very long time since we updated the blog. We have been busy with the kids. It is hard to get the every day stuff done, let alone update the blog. But, here are some pictures of the kids. The top ones start out at about Easter and the last ones were from a couple of days ago. Brayden is doing great. At his one month check up, he was 11 lbs and 7 oz. His two month check up was today and he weighs 13 lbs and 9 oz. He is a very happy and healthy baby boy.

Enjoy the pictures!

Coloring eggs at Easter.

Brayden loves his car seat buddy.

Alana lost her first tooth! She was so excited! The Tooth Fairy left her $5.00.

Brayden sucking his thumb. I catch him sucking on it a couple of times a day. The doc said today that we need to put a stop to it sooner rather than later. Getting a baby to stop sucking his thumb is way easier than getting a toddler to stop sucking his thumb. It is still so cute when he does it!

Silly girls.

Alana and one of her signature poses. That is paint on her face. Her last day of school is tomorrow. We are all pretty excited.

We got Brayden a nice, new swing before he was born. He doesn't like it, but he likes this 12 year old swing we got used before Alana was born. Go figure. Oh well.

The three kids outside swinging.

Almost got a picture of him smiling here. Just a little too slow.

More thumb sucking. Too cute!

The boys.

2009-04-08T16:32:00.013-05:00

We are doing great down here in Tennessee. We are enjoying the Spring weather. The kids love to play outside. Brayden is doing great. He is getting big! He fits into his 0-3 months clothes now! I don't think it will be long before he outgrows them. Chris and I laugh because when you hold him under his armpits, you can feel his "fat back" as we call it. It will be interesting to see how much weight he has gained at his 1 month check up.

Alana is doing great with Brayden but Skyler has not done so well with him. She is not adjusting well to having him around all the time. She is also not in daycare anymore, so she is stuck with me and Brayden all day. That is also a big adjustment for her. She has been acting out a lot lately. She hits, bites, kicks and back-talks a lot. Last week was terrible, but this week seems a little better. Let's hope it continues to get better as the days go by. Let me tell you, it has been a hard learning experience for Chris and I. Parenting sure can be tough sometimes.

Here are some recent pictures of the kids. We went to a duck pond the other day and the girls got to feed the ducks. They had a great time. It was fun for all of us.

Happy Birthday Skyler!

2009-03-28T10:24:00.017-05:00

Skyler turned two years old on March 26th. Chris decided on cupcakes for the big day. It was a great choice. We all loved them! It was a fun evening of eating good food and watching Skyler open her gifts. She had a great time. Here are some pictures from her big day.

Trying to blow out her candle.

Alana had to help blow it out.

Brayden took a nap while we partied.

All the gifts.

Opening gifts.

Alana got a couple of gifts too. She was pretty happy about that.

Thanks for all the gifts! The girls just loved them. It was a fun birthday.

2009-03-24T12:39:00.014-05:00

Brayden Christopher Schmit was born on March 19, 2009 at 6:49 a.m. He was 21 inches long and weighed 10 lbs and 2 oz. I was scheduled to be induced on the morning of the 19th, but I went into labor in the evening of the 18th. We got to the hospital at about 1:00 a.m. and when they checked me at 1:30, I was 7 cm dilated. I got my epidural and started to feel no pain. The epidural made my blood pressure drop a little, which made me nauseous and I ended up vomiting a couple of times. Not fun. But it did pass and things progressed as they were supposed to. At about 6:15 a.m. I was fully dilated and I started pushing. It went well and Brayden was born at 6:49 a.m. All the nurses and the doctor said he was a big baby and they said he was going to be 9 lbs for sure. We were all shocked when we found out he was over 10 lbs. We have no idea how we ended up with a 10 pound baby, but we did. I only gained 30 pounds with this pregnancy and I only gained 1/2 a pound during the last month of the pregnancy. The pediatrician said he just must have been well nourished in the womb.

We got to keep him with us for an hour before he had to go to the nursery to get a bath and get weighed. I didn't feel too well for that hour. I was nauseous and the epidural had made my arms a bit numb. I couldn't hold Brayden for very long because of this and I couldn't sit up all the way because I felt sick. The epidural did wear off and I started to feel better later on that morning.

We got home from the hospital on Saturday, March 21, 2009. Things have gone very well since then. We are just enjoying every minute of this little boy. He is such a blessing to our family. The girls just love to hold him. They think he is just great and are so sweet to him. For now anyways.

Below are some pictures we have taken since his birth last Thursday. We will post more as the days go on.

Chubby cheeks.

At home getting some sun.

Big sisters watching over their little brother.

His first bath. He didn't like it at all.

His second car ride. He slept in his car seat for 3 hours. He must have been warm and cozy.

Have a great week!

2009-03-17T21:04:00.009-05:00

It has been too long since we updated the blog. We've been doing great down here and are anxiously awaiting the birth of our little boy. We are inducing labor on Thursday of this week. We are all very ready to meet him and I am very ready to get rid of the aches and pains of pregnancy. We will be sure to update the blog after he is born.

Below are some pictures we have taken recently. Just the girls being silly.

We got the girls a bean bad and they have had a blast with it. We should have gotten two, though. Maybe another one will come soon.

Alana is such a city girl. She picked up and played with her first worm today. She was pretty freaked out at first but after she figured out that it wouldn't bite her, she loved it. She just laughed and laughed at how it wiggled. We just had to take a picture.

This is me at 39 weeks and 5 days. Doesn't it look like my belly is just going to snap off??? And doesn't it look like my back hurts, because it sure does.

Chris and I both have the day off tomorrow and we are going to just relax and prepare for our little man to join us. I'm sure it will be the last time we will have a day like it for a very long time.

Have a great week!

2009-02-11T04:46:00.009-06:00

We know that it has been a while since we updated the blog. We just can't seem to do it on a regular basis now. Anyway, we are doing good down here. Chris has been in Kentucky since the end of January with the National Guard. He has been knocking on doors and cutting up fallen trees in roads from the ice storm that went through Kentucky a couple of weeks ago. He will be home today. It will be great to have him back because I need some back up with Skyler. She is going through her "terrible twos" now and she can be such a bear sometimes. She can be so argumentative and so fussy. It will be nice to have Chris back so I am not the only one trying to calm down an irritated toddler.

We have had great weather for about a week now. It has been in the 60s and 70s. We have been having alot of fun playing outside. It is so nice this time of year. It is not too cold and not too hot and the bugs aren't out yet. We will enjoy it while it lasts.

We are 34 1/2 weeks pregnant now. We are not ready for him to come into this world yet, but we don't have much to do to be ready. We basically need to wash the baby stuff around the house. We will get started on that this weekend.

Here are some pictures of the kids from our adventures outside recently. Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

Cute piggy tails.

Alana dressed herself. She can be very creative putting outfits together.

Lots of fun times in the sand box.

And lots of fun in the swings.

Just being silly sisters.

2009-01-18T20:52:00.005-06:00

We have been doing pretty well around here lately. Keeping busy with work, school and just hanging around the house. I feel and look like I am big as a house these days. Baby boy Schmit is due to arrive on March 20, 2009. I feel like he will be here on March 15, 2009. We'll see if my prediction comes true. It is still a boy. Our last three ultra sounds showed his boy stuff. It is fun to see all the boy stuff since all we have seen is all the girl stuff for so many years. We still need to get some more boy clothes and wash things, but that is about all we need to do before he arrives. Shouldn't be too hard.

Here are some pictures that we have taken over the last few weeks. The girls were watching TV with daddy.

Silly girls playing in the toy closet. Can you find them?

Here are two pictures with Skyler and a pony tail in. I have tried so hard to get her to keep pony tails or barrettes in, but she takes them out after 10 seconds. So last night we had to cut her bangs because they were hanging in her eyes.

This is Alana and KiKi. That cat loves to sleep with Alana. She also loves sleeping on pillows. Alana loves it, too. Her and that cat have a weird relationship. They are best friends one minute and enemies the next. They are both very moody.

2008-12-28T13:56:00.003-06:00

Skyler has been moved to her big girl bed! We got the girls new beds and mattresses. It took about an hour for Skyler to settle down and actually fall asleep in her new bed. Hopefully, she will enjoy the new bed and not miss her crib. Let's hope for more successful naps and bedtimes.

This is her asleep in her new bed.

2008-12-27T22:11:00.002-06:00

I almost forgot, it is mine and Chris' 6 year anniversary today. We had plans to go to the Melting Pot to eat, which is our favorite place to eat, but Skyler burned her hand about 20 minutes before we were going to leave. We had to cancel and will hopefully reschedule soon. Anyway, Happy Anniversary honey. We've been through alot during these last 6 years and I know we will have many more great years to come.

Have a great weekend everybody!

2008-12-27T20:54:00.013-06:00

It has been too long since we last updated the blog. We have been doing pretty well around here. My ankle feels much better. It is still not perfect, but I can at least walk on it. Alana has been great. She is enjoying her Christmas break from school. Skyler has been okay. She got a fever at the end of last week that got up to 105. We took her to the doc and they said she had a UTI. She has been on antibiotics and is much better. This was her second UTI in about he last 8 months or so. Because of this, the doc thought she may have an issue with her urine going from her bladder back up to her kidneys. Her pediatrician set her up with an appointment on Friday at a radiology department at a different hospital. They did an ultrasound on her kidney's and bladder and then they put in a catheter and injected dye into her bladder and took a moving x-ray to see if the dye would go back up from her bladder to her kidneys. Thankfully, the doc's initial review of the x-rays and ultra sound showed that everything looked fine. The dye did not go back up to the kidneys. It was a terrible experience for Skyler and for us. She cried the whole time and we couldn't do anything to make her feel better. About 10 minutes after it was over, she did start to settle down. By the time we left, she was feeling much better.

Then tonight, I had turned on the iron and Skyler reached up and grabbed it. She burned her left hand pretty bad. She cried and I cried for quite a while. We put ointment on it and bandaged it all up. She settled down after a while and she was back to normal in about an hour and a half. We cut apart an old sock and made it into a glove to cover her bandage. In the last couple of pictures you can see her hand. Let's hope she has a good night and it heals quickly.

Anyway, here are some pictures from Christmas. The girls had a blast. They got all kinds of gifts from family and friends and of course Santa. Hope everyone else had a great Christmas and I hope everyone as a great New Year.

2008-11-30T20:17:00.007-06:00

I did a stupid thing this weekend. I tripped and fell and twisted my ankle. We went to the emergency room shortly afterwards. The baby is just fine but the doc said I should stay off my foot for 3 weeks! That is just not going to happen. I've done really well at staying off of it since it happened and I will be home by myself all day tomorrow to give it more time to be elevated and heal. It has greatly improved since it happened yesterday. I can't walk on it yet, but hopefully in the next day or two I will be able to take a step. Below are a couple of pictures. It is still pretty swollen and black and blue.

A few days ago I was checking on the kids because I hadn't heard them for a while. I came into the living room and saw them like this watching TV. They were so cute.

Nice butt crack Alana.

2008-11-22T12:11:00.011-06:00

We've been busy enjoying life down here in Tennessee. It has gotten chilly over the past month. I already can't wait until spring comes around again.

Alana has all next week off of school for Thanksgiving vacation. We are headed to Steve and Jenae's - http://fundingslandfamily.blogspot.com - for Thanksgiving. Steve is on his way home from Afghanistan right now for 18 days. Chris is just itching for him to come home. He can't wait to play with his buddy again. We should have a great time and eat some great food.

Here are some recent pictures we have taken of the girls. They have been doing great except that Alana has a cold right now. Hopefully it will pass quickly and the rest of us don't catch it. Anyway, enjoy the pictures.

Dare devil.

Just watching some TV.

Alana made this Pilgrim bonnet at school.

Silly girl.

Just pickin'.

Outside play time.

HAVE A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

Halloween!

2008-11-01T21:16:00.013-05:00

We've had a good Halloween week. We started last Sunday looking for a couple of pumpkins. The girls each picked out one. It sure was a tough decision for them.

Then we cleaned out the pumpkin. Alana thought it was too icky and only helped for a bit.

Dad cleaned the rest of it out for the girls.

We carved Alana's pumpkin on one side and Alana colored the other side. They kinda went nuts with the markers.

Alana was a Fairy Princess and Skyler just wore a pumpkin shirt.

It's a boy!

2008-10-23T18:15:00.002-05:00

We had our doctor's visit today and we found out we are expecting a boy! We are very excited. He is right on track with his development. The doctor actually said he is measuring a week longer than the rest of his body measurements. She said he will probably be a long baby. I will try to put up some pictures of the ultra sound pictures. I need to scan them at work and I won't be back to work until Monday because Skyler has diarrhea and she can't go to daycare tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

2008-10-22T20:04:00.008-05:00

I know it has been a month since we have updated the blog. We have been busy and we haven't taken many pictures lately. Here are a few from earlier this month when we went to Minnesota for Jamie's funeral. The girls loved being on the farm.

Here is a picture of all the youngest grand kids. L to R - Lauryn, Alana, Sophie, Katie and Erica and Skyler.

Chris cleaned out the closet under the stairs and it has become the toy closet. The girls love it. He got some big brownie points from me for that move. Now I have a list of other stuff he can do to make our house less cluttered with stuff.

And of course a good picture of tubby time. If you can't tell, they both have soap beards on.

The pregnancy is going great. We go to the doctor tomorrow to find out if we are having a boy or girl! We are so excited to finally know. We will update the blog once we find out.

Have a great rest of the week!

2008-09-21T19:50:00.007-05:00

Here are some fun pictures we have taken recently. The girls were pretending to be wiggly worms.

They both squeeze into the car. And yes, it does eventually end up in a fight.

Skyler passed out after lunch one day. She was very tired.

2008-09-09T20:12:00.009-05:00

I know it has been awhile since we have posted. We've been busy and we haven't taken many pictures lately. Here are a few from this weekend. Alana helped give the dogs a bath. She really enjoyed it and so did Jake and Teddy.

We styled Jake's hair all pretty, but he shook before we got the picture.

No, we didn't give Skyler a bath right after the dogs. This was later in the week. Skyler got to have a bath all by herself. She just loved it! I don't think she has ever had a bath by herself. At least not any time lately. She got to play with all of the toys all by herself.

And she got to spread out all by herself. She has never gotten to do that before.

And of course Alana had to squeeze in one of the pictures.

2008-08-25T20:27:00.012-05:00

We had another good weekend. Skyler finally started to feel better on Thursday but then Alana got a fever on Friday and had diarrhea over the weekend. We think the virus has run its course in the house. It's so nice to have kids that feel good.

Below are some pictures from our water play this weekend. The girls had a ball with the hose. It was so funny and we all just laughed and laughed.

School is going well for Alana. She is getting used to her daily schedule. She is having big issues with talking when she is supposed to be quite during class. Almost every day we have gotten a note from her teacher about her talking when she was not supposed to. We are trying to make her understand that she can't talk all the time. Hopefully, she will learn soon.

Hope everyone has a good week!

2008-08-18T20:04:00.009-05:00

We had a pretty good weekend. We went to the lake and had a blast. Unfortunately, Skyler ended up with a virus. The doc thinks she ingested some of the lake water and got something icky and her body just couldn't handle it. Hopefully it will pass in the next day or two.

Alana started school last week and it started out great, but it ended pretty rough. She pushed a couple of kids down at the YMCA Fun Company because she wanted to be the line leader. Of course that didn't fly with us. We also noticed that she was crabby at night and in the morning. We figure she is tired because she has always taken a 1 1/2 to 2 hour nap every day and now she only gets 30 minutes of rest time in Kindergarten. This transition will be rough for her, but we are hoping she will get through it soon.

Last Friday we got a note from the principal saying that they have low enrollment in the Kindergarten classes and they need to turn the four Kindergarten classes into three. Of course Alana's class was the class that was split up and put into the other three classes. Her new teacher is Mrs. Stuart-Jasper. I've only heard great things about her and I know she has been a Kindergarten teacher for many years, but she doesn't come off as a very friendly person. Alana says she likes her, and that is what matters.

Let's hope the rest of the week goes well.

Check out Skyler's diaper. It burst from taking on so much water. She waddled like a duck. It was cute.

We thought this was hilarious. Alana would put a ball in a hole in the top and it would go around on the yellow part and then come out in one of the four holes on the bottom. Skyler would get down low and peek in the hole to see the ball come out. It was too funny.

2008-08-13T21:25:00.007-05:00

Here are some pictures of Alana and her party tonight. It was a fun time. The cake was great and Alana loved the gifts.

See Skyler in the background playing with the balloons? She loved them. It was cute.

Thanks for the scooter Erica.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY ALANA!!!!

2008-08-13T19:22:00.018-05:00

It's a big day around the Schmit household. Alana is five years old today! She was born around 10:00 p.m. on August 13, 2003. It is just amazing to us that five years have passed since the day she was born. She sure changed our lives forever and we thank her very much for that. Chris and I dug up some old pictures of her when she was a baby. It was just wonderful seeing them all again. It brought tears to my eyes for sure. Enjoy them because we sure did!

This one is from the day after she came home from the hospital.

Don't I look lovely????? At least Alana looks adorable.

These were the grand kids at the time of Erica's wedding. L to R - Alex, Kala, Jessica & Shane. Alana was not happy during pictures.

Alana and I spent the evening in the kitchen of the Hall because the music was so loud at the dance for Erica's wedding.

Alana and Grama.

Alana and Grampa.

Just some random cute pictures.

I don't know what it is with dishwashers, but Alana and Skyler both loved them. And you can see Alana's ponytail we put on top of her head. She wore that all the time. So cute!

She passed out on the back of our couch. Not sure how that happened but it must have been comfortable.

She was always a messy baby when it came to eating.

This is one of our favorite pictures of her. She just looks so darn sweet and innocent. We wish it was in better focus, but it still looks cute.

2008-08-12T19:45:00.005-05:00

Alana had her first day of school yesterday and it went great. We got there at about 7:45 and we put away her supplies. She went to the bathroom and then sat down at a table with a couple of other kids. I told her I would have to leave in about 15 minutes. She then got up and grabbed my hand and walked me to the door and then literally pushed me out the door. So I asked her if she wanted me to leave and she said yes. I gave her a hug and said good bye. I picked her up at 11:30 and she said she had a great day. She also had another half day today. I dropped her off again and picked her up at 11:30. She had fun today, too. She had gym class today. That sounded like a fun experience for her.

It's so fun to hear how excited she is about Kindergarten. Her teacher is wonderful! Her name is Mrs. Ryan. She only has 10 other kids in her class! That is just great. Tomorrow she starts full days from 8:00 to 3:00. She will go to a before and after school care program called YMCA Fun Company. It is right in the school. It worked out great and is very convenient.

Below are some pictures of Alana all dressed up for her first day. Hope the rest of the week goes just as great as the first two days. I'm sure we will post more info about her new adventures she will be having at Kindergarten.

Her second day.

2008-08-10T10:55:00.004-05:00

Another great weekend with the girls. Nothing else new going on besides all the excitement with the new baby on the way. Alana loves to talk to the baby and touch my stomach. It's pretty cute. Below are some pictures from this morning. Alana was pushing Skyler in the swing. It was a lot of fun. We laughed alot. We are getting ready for Alana's first day of school tomorrow. We will have more up after her first day. Have a great weekend!

2008-08-06T18:59:00.008-05:00

Yes, we are adding another little one to our family. We are due March of 2009. We had an ultrasound today and we have a great heartbeat and the growth is right on track. We are all very excited. Alana wants a boy. She said I already had a girl so I don't need to have another girl. We'll just have to wait and see what we get.

Alana also had her five year checkup today. She got five shots. She was very brave and only started crying when the nurse pinned down her legs and we held down her arms. She screamed bloody murder after that. I can assure you that any more shots that she may have in the future are going to be tough. She will definitely remember these for along time to come. Oh well, she needs to get them.

The doc also said that she needs to see an eye doctor. He wants her to see the doc before she starts school next week. We are trying to fit that in. We are guessing she will have to get glasses like her daddy. Chris is just about blind, so we kind of expected that our kids may have eye issues. Oh well, it is just one more thing that she will need to deal with in life.

Anyway, we will keep you updated on the new addition to our family as time goes by. Have a great week!

2008-08-04T06:30:00.007-05:00

Another great weekend at the Schmit household. We bought all of Alana's school supplies and school clothes for Kindergarten. She loves her backpack and had to model it for me. Skyler had to try it out too. Her first day is next Monday. She is ready but I am not. I just can't quite get into the mindset that she will be in Kindergarten already. Oh well, this is just the first step of our baby girl growing. We just have to suck it up and deal with it.

Have a great week!

2008-07-27T20:55:00.006-05:00

We had a great time this weekend. It was hot, so we got out the sprinkler. We bought the girls a new sprinkler this weekend. It is hard to see in the pictures but it is basically a hose with a bunch of little flexible hoses coming out of it. When the water comes out of the hoses it sprays in every direction. It was a new experience for us all because when you go up to it to try and fill up something with water, you constantly get sprayed in the eye. There were about a dozen little hoses coming out of it, so you couldn't grab them all and aim them where ever you wanted. You could grab a couple, and that was about it. All the other ones hit you in the face. It was fun, though. We had a fun time.

Alana doing to her signature pose.

This was just a cute picture of Skyler sleeping. She has a death grip on her blankie.

Have a great week!

2008-07-21T19:36:00.010-05:00

Alana had her Pre-K graduation at her daycare on Friday. It started out fine when they were walking in, but she got freaked out and started crying after she sat down. She wouldn't sing or say any of the things that the class had practiced. After half way through the ceremony, she did stop crying but she still did not say anything or participate in any way. She said she was scared of all the people, which is so not like her. All of you that know her know that she is a very outgoing person who doesn't know a stranger. We will be walking through Walmart and she just starts talking to people that are walking by. We were pretty shocked by her reaction. Below are some pictures that we got. You can see all faces throughout the ceremony.

This is her walking in.

This is just after she sat down and she started crying.

And here is some more crying.

This is when she stopped crying, but wouldn't say anything.

Still not talking.

This is when she got her award for being the most outspoken person in the class. Go figure.

This is when she was getting her diploma from Miss Darlene (the owner/director of the daycare). She is still not happy.

And this is afterward. She finally cheered up when she got around us.

And this is Skyler on our way home. She was pooped and she fell asleep with the duck's foot in her mouth.

Hope everyone has a great week!

2008-07-13T18:10:00.003-05:00

Skyler decided to relax in one of her chairs while watching some cartoons. I thought she looked pretty cute and then Alana posed her for a picture with her. And then Alana decided to join her in another chair. Talk about a relaxing Sunday afternoon.

2008-07-13T08:49:00.006-05:00

It's been a rainy weekend so far. We haven't gotten to go outside and play much. But we have had fun inside instead. Alana was pushing Skyler around in the baby doll stroller. She is just about getting too big to ride in it. Of course Alana is too big but that doesn't stop her.

Skyler has learned a new trick this weekend. She has learned how to say "mine" which comes out sounding like "my". For example, if Alana tries to take a toy away from her, she pulls it to herself and says mine. It is pretty cute until she started to get a hold of my things and she said "mine" when I tried to take them away. She wasn't happy when I did take them away. Oh well, it is all a learning process for her.

Below are just a few pictures from this weekend. Enjoy!

4th of July Weekend

2008-07-06T19:01:00.017-05:00

We had a fun 4th of July weekend. We went to a friends house on the 4th and watched them set off some fireworks. It was a good time. But the girls favorite part was the little animals they had. They had two chihuahua and two little kitties that were very friendly. Alana and Skyler loved them. They were just the right size.

On Saturday we got out in the sprinkler. It was a fun time had by all.

Skyler got sprayed in the face and she didn't like it too much.

2008-06-22T20:32:00.003-05:00

Ever since we got back from MN, Chris has been talking about building a swing set just like the one my dad built for the grandkids. So, he did it. It's a much smaller version of it, but it works great and the kids love it. It's a nice upgrade for the girls. Great job Chris! We all thank you very much.

Minnesota Vacation

2008-06-18T19:12:00.034-05:00

We went to MN on June 12th and came back to TN on June 17th. We had a fantastic time!!! It was so great to see everyone and just hang out. We spent a lot of time in the yard with the kids. Grama and Grampa had a lot of activities for us to do. We never got bored.

Skyler and Katie showing off their butts.

Skyler getting kisses from Max (the McDonald's dog).

The kids checking out some loot they got.

Hunting for some eggs.

We spent a lot of time playing in the sandbox.

And we had a lot of fun on the zip line. RUN ERICA RUN!!!!

RUN QUINNY RUN!!!

Grampa had one baby kitty that we had to visit every day.

And Grampa had some lambs, too.

We swung a lot all weekend.

The four youngest grandkids. L to R - Skyler, Lauryn, Katie & Sophie.

Tractor rides for the grandkids.

The little ones had fun in the wagon.

I think you need someone else to teeter-totter with.

Riding the horsey.

Some random pictures.

This is my favorite picture from the weekend. Erica and her girls. So cute and so typical of Erica!

2008-06-11T18:27:00.003-05:00

A magician came to Alana's daycare today. She got to be his assistant and he made her a special wand. All the kids got balloon hats. She had a great time.

We are all packed up to go to Minnesota tomorrow! We sure can't wait to see everyone!

Hope everyone has a great week!

2008-06-07T20:39:00.006-05:00

We got the sprinkler out for the first time this weekend. Alana had a blast. Skyler wasn't too sure about the water, but she got used to it after a bit. We need to go find her a cute swimsuit. I can't believe we don't have one for her yet.

Alana liked sticking her butt in the water.

SO FUNNY!!!

2008-06-04T18:56:00.006-05:00

Skyler pulled out a couple of pairs of Alana's underwear out of a clothes basket and she was wearing them on her head. It was hilarious! It went on for about 15 minutes. I think she thought they were headbands. She is going to regret these pictures when she grows up.

2008-06-01T16:38:00.002-05:00

This video was taken right after nap time today. Alana climbed into Skyler's crib and was teaching her a bad habit of jumping in the bed. Skyler thought it was hilarious. The picture is kind of dark because I still had not turned on the lights in the bedroom. You can at least hear the fun they are having.

2008-06-01T16:25:00.005-05:00

Here are some pictures of the girls from this weekend. Enjoy!

2008-05-28T18:43:00.002-05:00

Chris left today for two weeks of Guard training. I took these pictures this morning before he left. After he gets back we are headed to Minnesota for a visit! Can't wait for him to get back!

2008-05-26T21:59:00.014-05:00

Gramma and grampa Eddy came for a visit this weekend. We had a great time going to the zoo and playing in the back yard. Here are some pictures from over the weekend.

Chris and Rich trying to fix Chris' prize possession.....his riding mower. Isn't is just lovely with all the black spray paint?

Time to do our hair.

Sleepy time.

Chug-a-lug!

Dress up

2008-05-17T10:47:00.009-05:00

Alana was playing dress up today so I decided Skyler would want to be dressed up too. Alana is a fairy princess and Skyler is in a Snow White outfit.

Here's that belly again.

The skirt works as a dress too.

She passed out on the floor while playing.

2008-05-11T18:47:00.005-05:00

We had a great Mother's Day weekend. Chris and the girls really took care of me and they gave me great gifts. Below is a picture of when Alana and I were playing hide and seek. She was hiding and Skyler kept finding her. Skyler wouldn't let Alana keep the door shut. She got pretty mad. It was funny to watch because once again, I can see Erica and I going through the same thing. I can totally see me picking on her when we were little. I think it just made her stronger as a person and she should thank me for it. Just like Alana will have to thank Skyler later on in life.

This is Skyler and two of her blankies (made by gramma) she was hauling around today. It is very hard to separate her from these blankets.

Alana helping carry in some groceries.

Look at her fat tummy. She gets that from her daddy: ) Of course not from her mom: )

2008-05-10T12:07:00.006-05:00

Alana got her first professional hair cut today. I usually cut her hair. She was very excited about it. She was a perfect little girl sitting in the chair. I was very impressed.

2008-05-05T08:18:00.007-05:00

This is what is left of the tree. Chris and Alana got it all chopped up yesterday and hauled it to the curb. Every few months, the city goes around and picks up piles of branches like this. Hopefully it won't be there too long.

My girls are at the age where they are fighting over toys. Skyler was trying to take the shopping cart and baby dolls from Alana and Alana wouldn't let her. It was funny watching it because I can totally see Erica and I doing that when we were younger.

Alana posing with her teddy bear blankie made by gramma.

Skyler passed out on her foam chair on Saturday night. It was so cute. She played hard that day and just crashed.

2008-05-03T10:09:00.004-05:00

We came home from work on Thursday and found this tree down in our back yard. Not sure what we are going to do with it. I'm sure it won't be easy or cheap.

2008-04-27T21:03:00.004-05:00

We've been busy this weekend with some painting and laundry and shampooing the carpets. Nothing fun, but it has to be done. Throughout the weekend, Alana got a bunch of tattoos. She looks pretty tough in her wife-beater and her tattoos.

Don't they both look so tough?

Alana likes to jump in Skyler's crib and play. The laugh constantly. It's very entertaining.

Skyler got ahold of a box of plastic bags and decided that they were better off on the floor rather than in the box.

Have a great week!

2008-04-24T18:33:00.003-05:00

Alana had Kindergarten Registration this morning. It went really well..........until we left. Alana wanted to stay there, but she had to go back to daycare. As soon as we got back to the car, she started crying. It was very upsetting for her. As you can see below, she is fine now.

Skyler had her first Happy Meal yesterday. She has had fries before, but this time she actually got a cheeseburger and fries. She loved it and ate it all up. Don't worry, this is not something that is regularly on the menu. We get McDonalds when I don't feel like cooking at night.

Have a great day!

2008-04-21T06:45:00.002-05:00

Here is another picture of Skyler and her blankie made by gramma. She has to haul it out of her crib and bring it downstairs whenever she wakes up. This morning I put it in the chair while she ate and she got very mad at me and I had to give it to her. Yes, I know, I caved. But she was so cute trying to reach for it. If it is out of sight, she doesn't think about it.

Have a great Monday!

2008-04-20T20:23:00.007-05:00

We've had a good weekend. We painted one of our bathrooms and it turned out pretty good. It looks better than before, so that is a plus. Here are a few pictures of the girls. Well, mostly Skyler. I don't know how it turned out that way but it did.

She loves her baby dolls.

These two pictures are of Skyler and her blankie made by gramma. There is just something about things made by grammas. They put an extra dose of love into it and the grandbabies can sense it.

Chris mowed the lawn today and Skyler watched him for at least half of the time. She kept banging on the door staying da da da da.

Skyler loves playing with balls. She gets a kick out of playing catch.

So cute in piggy tails.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

It's about time!

2008-04-17T18:32:00.000-05:00

We have finally created a blog for our family. We have been meaning to create one for quite some time now, and we just hadn't done it. We plan to update it periodically on how life is going for us in Tennessee. Enjoy the pictures!

Here are our precious litte girls. Skyler came home from daycare early today due to a fever. She is smiling because the Tylenol has kicked in. She has not had a great day.

Silly girls.

Me and my daddy.

This is Alana getting ready for Kindergarten. Only four more months until she starts. We are kind of freaking out. Well........Chris and I are......Alana's not. She is very excited, which helps calm our nerves.

Have a great day!