BOO! At the Zoo

This week Mitch had to go to Iowa. He is working on a collaboration that would require them to use this specific technology that is being done and so he went to check it out with a few co-workers. At least, I think that is what he was doing. Most of his scientist work is over my head, LOL! So I attempted to be super mom. Okay, well maybe not super mom...but I did somehow find enough "gusto" to get all three kids out of the house for a fun night on the town by myself. Yes, I take all three out a lot on my own, but it's usually doctors appointments, school drop-off or pick-up, and other daily errands. This was for Fun! I had my doubts going into it. I was nervous, but they were SO good! I got lucky with this bunch, ha!

It was such a gorgeous Indian Summer day. Seriously, I had all the windows open and it was a balmy 78 degrees. The big girls were playing outside while I fed Hattie and got her in her "white rabbit" costume. I called them in a little after 5 and we started getting ready to go. I knew that once the sun went down it would get chilly...but I had no idea! As we pulled into Scovill Zoo parking lot it started to rain. For Real! I thought Leah was going to lose it. But I looked at the weather map and could tell it was going to pass quickly, so I told her we were just going to wait in the car for a few minutes. The event was supposed to start at 5:30 and there was a LONG line...even in the rain. And as I unloaded them from the car I glanced at my phone to see that the temp had dropped in 15 minutes from 78 to 63, YIKES! And I didn't have a jacket. We had to wait in line for 15 minutes before getting into the zoo. I figured it was best to do the carousel right off the bat since there wasn't a long line. And of course they loved it. I had to have a volunteer sit with Hattie in her stroller since Leah and Kiersten are too short/small to ride on their own. I felt okay about it though because I could see her at all times. And of course she was an angel and didn't make a peep the entire time. 

After that we started our walk through the zoo. It was getting dark quickly so we didn't really see any animals. But the girls LOVED all the Halloween decorations and the amazing carved pumpkins that they had along the path. Seriously...some really cool pumpkins. They were especially fond of The Grinch, Horton the Elephant, Beast from Beauty and the Beast. I loved the Abraham Lincoln and Professor Snape from Harry Potter. They were amazing. Along the route they had different treat stands set up. Each kid had 10 tickets to hand in at each stand. The girls favorite by far was #10, Caramel Apples from Del's...but who wouldn't love that, right?!?!? It was awesome. they were awesome and it is definitely something we will do again in the years to come. 

Throwback Thursday: Gigi and her 1st grandbaby, Aunt Laura & Papa too!

So I had my C-section on Friday, May 9th. My mom flew into Philadelphia (just over an hours drive) on Saturday the 10th in the early afternoon. Mitch went to get my mom...leaving me alone...recovering from major surgery, with a newborn. Ha, it really was fine...and besides, I just wanted my mom. I had sent pictures from my phone, but mom even commented that it was really hard for her not to be there on the day Leah came into the world. I bet that drive from the airport to the hospital was the longest drive EVER!

My memory seems to recall that mom and Mitch arrived back at the hospital around 4 pm, and I could tell it was love at first sight! Did I mention that Leah is named after my mom. My mother's name is Carol Lee, so we just flipped them around and got Leah Carol. And there was an attachment between the two from the start. Even today, Leah is very close to her Gigi and asks to see her all the time.

Mom had plans to stay with us the first week or so to help me get used to being a mom, and also because she knew I would need the help since I was recovering from surgery. My dad had plans to come out and meet Leah on Thursday, May 15th and then he and mom would drive home together but that didn't happen. Papa came down with pneumonia so there was no way we were letting him near the baby. Mom booked a flight home on Monday, May 19th. I wasn't ready for her to go. Her flight was in the evening, so Mitch didn't have to take the time off of work. We left a little early because we didn't want to risk having to deal with Philly's rush hour traffic. Dropped mom off at the airport and then I cried almost the whole way home. I didn't want to be so far away. But mom had no intentions of staying away for long.

My sister Laura decided to come and visit on May 31st and had plans to leave on June 4th. Mom decided that she wanted to come back out then too. So we had them schedule flights close enough that we only had to make one trip to the airport. I still remember seeing Laura walking through the airport and her first time holding Leah. She couldn't get over how little she was...which really she was almost 10 lbs by then! It was clear that Laura hadn't had much practice holding a baby...but she was a wonderful aunt. She wanted to spoil her with hugs and kisses and clothes and toys too!

On June 2nd, we went over to Freehold mall. Mom wanted to take me shopping and out to lunch at Cheesecake Factory for my birthday. While Mom and Laura spent the day shopping at Nordstroms I spent most of the day in the nursing room, trying to feed Leah. Nursing Leah was extremely difficult. She had trouble latching, she would fall asleep at the breast and she would nurse every two hours and it usually took her 40 minutes to eat. We were exhausted! I can remember at night Leah would eat, but then would cry and cry for more and my mom begged us to give her a bottle and when we did she would eat it so quickly we knew she had to be hungry. This was when we started to realize that breastfeeding wasn't going to be enough. We had to start supplementing with formula. It was so hard!!!

On June 3rd my dad finally arrived to meet little Leah. He isn't one to oooh and aaah over babies but she sure made him smile.  Mitch made us a wonderful dinner for my birthday, and we had ice cream cake...my favorite! On June 4th, they all had to head home. Mom and Dad were driving and were taking Laura to the airport on their way back to Illinois. Again, I stood on the porch and cried as they drove away. Mom cried too, she didn't want to leave since Leah was having so much trouble sleeping. And was overall pretty fussy. All attributed to her being hungry...sorry baby! But Gigi promised she would be back soon. And within days of getting home she booked a trip to come out June 30-July 3rd, YAY!

4 Months Old and Boo-tiful!

This past Sunday my little chick hit the four month mark. And since it is October and all, I figured this little skeleton sleeper was the perfect outfit. What a cute little bag of bones!!! I posted a while back that we were battling some sleep regression. Well, I think that could have been attributed to adjusting to her crib and sleeping in her own room. But I also think that she may actually be hungry. Ever since I started introducing cereal she seems to be sleeping a bit better. Right now she is taking the cereal two times a day by bowl and spoon and then a little bit in her bed time bottle. For now, she is waking once a night around 2AM...it's still an adjustment since she was sleeping through the night by 6 weeks, but she will get back to that in time.

 

Yesterday we had her four month well child check-up with Dr. Branham. And of course Dr. Branham and nurse Shelly oohed and aahed all over my sweet girl. She weighed in at 12 lbs 14 oz and she measured 25 and 7/8 inches. My girl is growing in length that's for sure, but she certainly isn't packing on the L-B's!!! She gained just over one pound since her last appointment and has dropped down into the 10th percentile. While she is still in the 90th percentile for height. I've been concerned about my breastfeeding and supply issues since Hattie has seemed so hungry, and this only confirmed my fears. I went through the same issues with Leah and Kiersten between 3-4 months. I try to pump and get nothing. But Hattie is so content I couldn't tell for sure. Dr. Branham isn't overly concerned. She said that I could continue to breastfeed and supplement her occasionally with a few ounces here and there. She also said that we could start the vegetables. I know I should...she has been eating the cereal for 10 days now, so I know she is probably ready, but I don't feel ready. Ahhh...something about my last baby is making me hold onto her baby-ness and I know I can't. But it's going much too fast already. Dr. Branham said that another reason for her slow weight gain could be her activity level. Hattie cakes has been rolling over for 6+ weeks and she doesn't just roll a little here and there. Several times throughout the day she really gets going back and forth. She sleeps on her tummy...don't even try to put her on her back and she has become a master thumb sucker.

 

She is becoming much more playful. She reaches for objects and holds onto them briefly. She wants to put everything in her mouth and is certainly leaving a trail of drool in her wake. In the past month she has become keenly aware of her hands and feet, and will watch them intently. And she LOVES attention. She can't get enough of her doting sisters and her daddy. Mommy seems like chopped liver most days, ha! We are noticing more and more coos and babbles. And she laughs, but daddy is the only one who can really get her going. In the past two weeks Leah has finally become interested in Hattie. Of course, at the beginning she wanted to hold her but it was infrequently. And she really never paid much attention to her. But now she wants to hold her and play with her all the time. In the morning, she likes to keep Hattie entertained and sings and plays with her while we are getting ready to head out for the day. It's cute...but I'm dreading the day when she thinks she can pick her up or feed her without me present. UGH, I know it's coming!

 



 

 

NLCS Game #4, 2012

Well it's not news to anyone that we are St. Louis Cardinals fans...I only talk about it every October! And since Mitch and I started dating in 2006 we have been to 6 postseason games. And we have seen 6 postseason WINS!!! I like to think that means I am the lucky charm ;)

In the past we have always sat in my dad's season ticket seats. But not this year. My dad actually was able to get a party suite. YES, SCORE!!! We were super excited. We actually got 4 tickets and were super excited to have our friends Tisha and Eric Gray come with us. For our first time attending the game from a party suite, we sure picked the right night to go. The weather was gorgeous. We got to St. Louis around 5:15'ish and spent the first hour or so outside listening to bands play on the soundstage. We headed into the stadium around 6:30 and wasted no time finding party suite #318. When you purchase a box you get 40 tickets and food and beverage is included. They were serving up nachos, hot dogs, brats, BBQ beef, coleslaw, cookies and brownies and of course Beer...good'old fashioned American Budweiser beer.  

There is a patio to the box that has 24 seats, but you can also sit at the bar in the suite to see the game. Most everyone was outside on the patio. The temperature was perfect. In the low 60's when things got started and dropped to the low 50's by the end of the game. I didn't even put my jacket on until the 7th inning. But the game was DEFINITELY the best part. We started off strong with two runs from the get go. The San Francisco Giants came back with one run. Over the course of the game there was some good pitching, some good hitting, and lots and lots of cheering. By the 9th inning the Cardinals were up 8-1...the Giants tried to stage a comeback but didn't quite get there. The final score was 8-3. On Friday night, the Cardinals took a 5-0 loss, and hit the road back to San Francisco to wrap up the series. Last night they didn't fare well either. the final score was 6-1. So here we are at game 7. It seems like we always make it come down to Game 7....maybe they just like to keep their fans on their toes. Hope they can pull off a big win tonight and we can be in the World Series going for 12 in "12 on Wednesday night. Let's Go Cardinals, Let's Go!!!

Throwback Thursday: Birth Day!



The perinatologists said I was measuring big!!! So after a follow up appointment with my Ob/Gyn on May 1st, it was decided that I should have a C-section at 39 weeks. The swore the baby would be approaching 10 lbs and felt it was safer. Our delivery day was May 9th. I called my mom, and let her know. Mitch called his family and we started counting down the days.

 

On May 8th I had to go to the hospital and do all the pre-admission paperwork and blood work. That night Mitch took me out to dinner. We wanted one last night to celebrate the journey we were about to take. We were still talking about names and it was probably around 11 PM that night when we officially decided she would be Leah Carol Schultz. That night neither one of us could sleep. How can anyone possibly get any sleep when you know the next morning your life is going to change forever. It was surreal. Somehow, we managed to get a little rest, and our alarm clock went off around 5:45 that morning. I showered and made sure that I had everything in my hospital bag one last time and we hit the road. We were living in East Windsor, NJ and the hospital was in Freehold (The home of Bruce Springsteen) and it was about a 20 minute drive. About halfway there, a song came on the radio that really caught my attention..."It's the end of the world as we know it" by REM... and I remember thinking "Ain't that the truth" and I actually teared up a bit. I was super excited but nervous at the same time.

After we arrived at Centrastate Hospital, things moved very slowly. They started IV's made me sign paper after paper. They put me on monitors and then we had to wait. Our C-section was supposed to be at 8:30, but we got bumped because a more urgent case had to go ahead of us. While we were waiting I gave Mitch a card I had stashed in my hospital bag. Just telling him how much I loved him, how excited I was to be there with HIM and what an amazing dad I knew he was going to be. Shortly before 10 they said it was time. They took me into the Operating Room and told Mitch he had to wait in the hall for a minute. The room was FREEZING, they told me why but I can't remember. They gave me my spinal and checked to make sure I was numb and strapped me to the table. Weird, then they let Mitch in. After a few minutes of tugging and pressure they said she was here. But I didn't get to see her. She was grunting and struggling to breathe so they took her out of the room, and Mitch went with her as they finished up. I started shaking badly, a side effect of the drugs. After about 10 minutes more, they got me ready to go see my baby girl. I started moving my legs before I was out of the OR and was in a lot of pain so they ended up giving me morphine. I don't know why but pain medication never works for me! A minute later they brought her over to me, she was laying in an open isolette. They wouldn't let me hold her. Something about her temperature needed to regulate.

 

After about 30 minutes of just looking at her, and knowing that she was the tiniest thing I would ever put my whole heart into I couldn't stand it anymore. We had texted and talked to quite a bit of our family by then...the nurse actually came over and told us to put our phones away so I could rest...Yeah, right!!! I asked when I could hold her, she said they were taking her away for a bath and would bring her right back. They actually worked pretty quickly. And about 45 minutes after she was born we were finally allowed to hold her for the first time. It was amazing! All 8 lbs, 5 oz of her was absolutely perfect. I was so grateful to have a beautiful, healthy baby girl...she looked so much like me and I couldn't get over all that hair. Her daddy was smitten with her from the get go. It took her all of 30 seconds to have him wrapped around her finger. I had never seen him smile so big or so much. He was in heaven. He had a daddy's girl for sure. About 2 hours after her arrival they got us settled in our post-partum room. We were a family, and we were happy. Now, I just needed my mom.

 



 



Hattie is SO big!

Big things are happening around here with my littlest girly girl! You may recall from a previous post that I tried to put Hattie to sleep in her crib about two weeks ago...yeah, that didn't work. She wasn't ready and neither was I. Well, she did finally start sleeping in her crib this past Thursday, October 11th. Of course she still doesn't sleep in it all night long...but we are getting there. We are going through a serious 4 month sleep regression. I've been doing some reading and it seems to be a common phenomenon. At first we chalked it up to a cold and congestion. She was struggling with breathing at night. But that has passed and she is sleeping worse than when she was a newborn, getting up two or three times a night (Sigh). I'm hoping it is a temporary phase and that she will be sleeping "like a baby" so to speak in no time.

I thought maybe the sleep regression might be a sign that she was ready for cereal. So I broke down and gave it a try on Saturday, October 13th. And, oh my...this little girl ate cereal like it's her job. She was a pro! She barely let any of it escape her and wanted more. She is quick to let you know if you haven't given her enough and will scream until you give her more. She will be 4 months old this Sunday, and has a pediatrician appointment on Monday so I will have the current stats for you then. Just love this little chicky. She makes my day, everyday!

Fall'ing in Love

It's October...and have I mentioned that I love fall?!?!? I think I do this same post sometime every Autumn. The weather is picture perfect, the kids can play outside, and not melt or freeze. Post-season baseball is in full swing and of course my Cardinals are playing. And  the leaves are changing. I love what I can see when I look out my front door...or my back door for that matter.

One of the few things I enjoyed about living in New Jersey was the fall foliage. If you haven't driven through through Pennsylvania/New Jersey in the Fall you don't know what you are missing. It's gorgeous!!! I adored all the red maples, and couldn't be happier to have my very own right smack dab in the middle of my backyard. I posted two pictures of it. One was taken Saturday morning and the other was Sunday morning...crazy that it can change that much overnight. And yes...I know the kids toys need to get picked up! We were going to try to make it to the pumpkin patch this weekend but the rain ruined our plans. Good thing we have two more weekends before Halloween. I love me some pumpkin patch fun!

So instead of the pumpkin patch Gigi brought Macy and Colby to Mt. Zion. We went to a matinee of Hotel Transylvania. And it was a super cute, fun movie. The kids were so good, they laughed and were dancing at the end. Mom and I enjoyed it too! And all night long they quoted Adam Sandler's Dracula "I do not say Blah, blah, blah." which was adorable. Then we had Macy and Colby come back to our house for a sleep over. They just love spending time together and we were so happy that we could help Aunt Cynthia out. Uncle Matt is gone for a whole month training for the new restaurant, and we figured she could use a break. I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of all four of them...oh well, always pictures of my kids to share at least. Happy Fall, Ya'll!

Insta-LOVE

So I have definitely become obsessed with an app on my phone...Instagram. I can take pictures, or use pictures I already have and edit them a tiny bit. Then I upload them to facebook so everyone can "oooh" and "aaah" over them as much as I do...obnoxious, I know. I can't help it, but I think my kids are just so sweet and cute and precious and blah, blah, blah. I know, everyone feels that way about their own kids. So anyway, here are a few of my favorites. I have to share here so they go in the blog book, YAY!

Throwback Thursday: "It's a Girl!!!"

So keeping up with my Throwback Thursday theme... I left off with telling our families the news. And once they all knew, they were just as excited as we were. But now we had to plan a new wedding. My sister recommended Lake Geneva, WI. She had been there for golf tournaments. It was somewhat of a halfway point for our families so mom and I went and checked it out. We fell in love with Bella Vista Suites, so we started planning. It all came together very quickly...in about 8 weeks and was perfect. If you have to get married in Wisconsin in December you want snow, Right?!?! Well, snow we got and lots of ice too. It was beautiful, really and we were so happy to have our families together. This was the first time they got to meet. And I bought a fur shrug to use over my beach dress and it worked out just fine. I loved my dress so I was happy to not have to make any changes. And can you tell I am 15 weeks along?!?!?

 

In late October of that year Mitch had accepted a position at Bristol Myers Squibb in New Brunswick, New Jersey. So after the wedding he was wrapping up his work at the U of I and getting ready to make the move. December 15th was his last day, and was also the day we had the ultrasound to find out if we were having a girl or a boy. I wanted to be surprised by the gender but Mitch just had to know. So we made a deal that if we found out for the first one, we would be surprised for the next one. But anyway, Mitch said he knew pretty quick off that it was a girl...I of course had no idea what I was looking at. We knew we would be happy either way, and we were over the moon. That night we went out to dinner to celebrate. We started talking names right away, and Mitch picked Leah right off the bat. I took some time to come around. I wanted Caroline Leeann, he wanted Leah Corrin...this was going to take some time. But we didn't really have time right then. The next morning Mitch packed up and hit the road for New Jersey. He flew back for the Holiday's. I stayed until January, and he flew back to Indianapolis on the first Friday night in January and we drove to New Jersey together that Saturday/Sunday. We still didn't have a house so we hunkered down in temp housing (an apartment in New Brunswick) while we searched for a place to call home.

 

We probably looked at 50+ houses and finally found one in East Windsor New Jersey. We moved in mid-February, right about the time I was heading into the third trimester. The house needed lots of work, I will post on that later. Mitch was a rockstar, gutting and remodeling the kitchen. Eventually he did both of the bathrooms, but we wanted to have our house turn-key ready when baby girl was ready to make her debut. At about the 32 week mark, they scheduled an ultrasound. I was in the room for a long time, and they wouldn't let Mitch in, I knew that something was wrong, but they wouldn't tell me anything. It was scary!!! I called my OBGYN right after and they made some calls and called me back the next morning. They had detected dialation of one of her kidney valves...it's called Renal Hydronephrosis. Sounds scary, we met with a pediatric urologist and it's not...and she actually outgrew it by the time she was three months old, which he predicted would happen. But I had to have lots of extra ultrasounds with a neonatalogists. It seemed I was having one every week towards the end. He said we were having a big baby...Uh Oh! To Be Continued...

 



 

 15 weeks on our Wedding Day, 12-01-07



almost 18 weeks

30 weeks

36 weeks

Bowling with Brooklyn!

Wow! What a fun busy weekend we had. Friday night I had a girls night out with Sidney and Ellen. Saturday Mitch and I enjoyed a rare date night, and on Sunday I took Leah and Kiersten to a birthday party. But not just any birthday party, Brooklyn's Barbie Bowling party, and boy was it fun! This was the first time the girls ever got to go bowling. They LOVED it! I have to admit, I neglected my motherly duties. I let Cynthia help the girls bowl, while I was snapping away with my camera and visiting with my own cousins. It was so fun to see my cousins and their kids, interacting with my kids. I love times like these. When Leah is doing imaginary play with her baby dolls, her stroller and/or her shopping cart, she is always going to Jameson's birthday party. So I think she especially enjoyed seeing him. Bug only "bowled" a few times. She was much to busy dancing to the music in her head. I love the picture of her and Colby shaking their groove things. Looking forward to all the fun times to come.