She's still sleeping!

Viv went to bed last night at 8:30...woke up at 6:00, Adam fed her....went back to sleep.... it is now 8:15 and the little bugger is still sleeping! It would be great except I have a doctor's appt. at 9:00.

She's such a little cutie patootie!

Long Time..No Post...

It's been awhile since the last post. We've been extremely busy lately....

Let's see...Adam started back up at school this month. He says the classes are fairly large and he doesn't like the new start time (8:30 instead of 7:30), but other than that, he likes his job!

Viv and I went to Crystal Lake, IL to visit my dad, Rose, Laura, Olivia and Marc...oh, Lizzy too! We had a great time and enjoyed catching up/reminiscing/shopping/eating/swimming. Yep, Vivian LOVES the water---she kicks and wiggles like crazy in her little floatie and doesn't mind (much) if water gets in her face.

Milestones this month: She likes her nuk a little more now and is starting to eat more at a crack. Smiling is a way of life. She likes TV and peoples' faces. She knows how to blow bubbles and yesterday learned how to spit. No, not spit up, just spit. She thinks it is hilarious. Vivian is growing like a weed....somewhere around 15 lbs and 26 inches long. We'll find out for sure when we go to see the doctor for her 4 month checkup.

Other than that, we're finally settling into somewhat of a routine and I'm really starting to enjoy my mommy status. Adam is an amazing father and husband--I couldn't have gone through these last few months without him....love you, Adam!

XOXO to all! Call/write and let me know what's new with you!

She ROLLS!

The Vivster rolled over! Ahh! So big!

Fun at Gatorland!

If you are a grandma or grandpa....DON'T freak! But.....your little granddaughter sat on a REAL LIVE 8 foot gator today!!

Another Crocodile Hunter in the making?!?!?!

True Love...

When you find true love, your life is complete. All the hard stuff becomes easier, all the fun stuff becomes more fun, food tastes better, nature is prettier and the "mountains" of life seem easier to climb. When you find the love of your life, hold on tight and don't let go!

Congratulations to MY BROTHER and his new FIANCEE as they prepare to exchange marriage vows!

Marc, Adam and I couldn't be happier for you! We're so excited for Melanie and Jacqueline (sp?) to join our family and to get to know them better. When it's right, it's right... and we could hear it in your voice 2,000 miles away---you've never been happier, grinned larger from ear to ear or been more at peace in your life.

God bless you both as you plan your day and begin the wonderful journey of marriage together! We love you!

We're Baaacccck!

We had an absolutely wonderful time in Alaska/Seattle/Vancouver. It was so fun seeing our friends who moved out to Seattle (they also went on the cruise with us). Some other friends and family (John and Peg too...) went as well. My favorite things were seeing Hubbard Glacier and the "To the Summit" excursion in Skagway. We saw a harbor seal, whales, dolphins, mountain goats, a porcupine and an otter. You can view all of the trip pictures on our shutterfly site. (Email me if you don't have that address, but want it!)

Congratulations to Pat, Carol and Josie as they welcomed baby girl Genevieve (Eve) to the world on Monday, July 17 at 9:45 pm. She weighed 7lbs. 5 oz. and is 19.5 inches long! So excited for you and can't wait to meet her!

Vivian is doing well--she's found a voice that does something besides crying and cooing....YELLING! She will randomly yell out...just because she can. She can roll over on her side and back again. She now opens up her hand and sucks on her fingers...what she has yet to realize is that sticking her fingers too far back makes her gag and it is nothing that we have done to her! What a silly girl!

She is officially in all 3-6 month clothes...can't believe we have to pack up the 0-3 mos. already! Daycare is all set up---she'll be in a home daycare with other teachers' kids starting Sept. 25 :(

Hope all are doing well!

If You can Dodge a Wrench...

...You can dodge a ball!

Adam, Kreg, John and Roel's dodgeball team are the ship's champions. They won "gold" medals and everything!

I'm Sailing...Ahoy!

We are sailing along the coast of Alaska right now. It is a bit chilly (60 degrees) and windy because the ship is traveling at a very brisk 23 knots in order to get us to Hubbard Glacier by tomorrow. The food is FANTASTIC--the ship is AMAZING--we're having a great time! I continue to be awed by all of the Earth's wonders.....

Tomorrow-Hubbard Glacier/Glacier Bay
Wed--Skagway
Thurs.--Juneau
Friday--sailing
Sat.--Victoria
Sun--back at port :(

Greetings from Washington!

Hello all! We're here in the BEAUTIFUL Pacific northwest. The weather is great--mid 70s during the day and cool sleeping weather at night. We arrived in Seattle around 3:00pm on Thurs. Vivian was an absolute angel on the flights---2.5 hours to Chicago and then 4 hours to Seattle...whew. Once in the city, we went to the City Center and went up in the Space Needle. It really is a fun city. We had dinner with everyone at a tiny little bistro called Michaelangelos. Yummy! Pike's Fish Market was closed for the day, but we may go next Sunday after we return.

Today, Friday, we all went to see Pirates of the Caribbean for Jeremy's birthday. After that, we went to Deception Pass, which was breathtaking. We had an incredible view of the sound and of Mt. Baker. We continued our journey into Anacortes and onto Washington State Park. We walked down to the beach there where the kids loved exploring. The scenery here is amazing. Just as we were about to leave, we saw a sea lion (seal?--we have to look at the picture more closely) fishing and we also saw a deer and fawn. On the way home, we saw Mt. Rainer---awesome!

Oh, and one more thing....on the flight, I took some incredible pictures of Mt. St. Helen's ABOVE the clouds. Very cool. I'll post when we get back!

You may be subject to some audioblogs with my icky voice....but, I need to remember what we did each day!



Saturday morning we are off to Vancouver...

2 month checkup

Vivian's stats:

weight: 12.5 lbs (80th percentile)
length: 24 in. (95th percentile)
head: 40 cm (80th percentile)

Doc says she is beautiful and healthy and made a good recovery from her rough start, weight wise. He said she's nice and tall (and must take after the husband's side of the family...ha ha). Vivian had her first big round of shots today. I think they hurt me more than her. She got REALLY mad, but settled down fairly quickly. She seems to be in good spirits, so hopefully no major reactions!

She is starting to like her swing a bit more...it went a little fast for her in the beginning so we had to rig some extra weight on it to slow it down. She also likes: Nuks, milk, laying on daddy, going for walks in her stroller, rides in the car (but not stop lights!), her green froggy blanket and her little pink lamb (that appropriately plays Mary Had a Little Lamb).

Viv Wanted to Post on the Blog...

John...Jacob...

Jingleheimer Schmidt....his name is my name too....whenever we go out....the people always shout....John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt...dah dah dah dah dah dah dah...

This is Mooshy's new favorite song. Maybe she's just entertained by the way I sing it or how I move her hands to "dance" to the song. Gotta love that it keeps repeating, and repeating.

Her highness's 2 month checkup is on Wednesday. I was laughing as I read Allison's blog and she said her daughter is 16lbs., 26in. I can't wait to hear the "official" word, but Viv is at least 24 in. and 13/14 lbs. already. She healthy, what can we say?

We're not sure what we are doing for the 4th of July. We'd like to go see fireworks, but I'm worried about the noise. So, I'm not sure yet. Sea World does a special Patriotic Shamu show and then they have the orchestra and stuff, so we may go do that for a few hours. Wish there was a BBQ to go to, but everyone is out of town this week....shucks!

Here's a new (and sort of smiling) picture of the Vivster at 2 months (well, almost)!

Changes in latitude, Changes in attitude....

Since we've had so many changes lately with the baby, I decided to do a little something for myself. I had to get my haircut (didn't want to look like a shaggy dog anymore)....while I was there, I decided to COLOR MY HAIR! Lots of fun--it's called "cherry cola" and is a darker, auburn color.

Here's new pics...the white and pink outfit was mine when I was little!

She Likes It!

Ahhhh....the life of a baby!

All of a sudden, the Nuk is great! (Of course, it has to be THIS Nuk, which they were out of at the store the other day.) Vivian has found that not only does she like to suck on it (as long as her tummy is full), but that if she puts her hand up it stays in her mouth better. She is so coordinated! Of course, sometimes she tries to hold it but doesn't quite get it...but we're workin' on it!

Happy Birthday to Meg and Pat---Hope the Twins/Cubs game was fun. We watched the series on TV.

Not much else is going on. I started Her Highness's scrapbook which has been fun! I was comparing pictures and am amazed at how different she looks already. She has a lot of facial expressions, which are so hard to capture with the digital...but I'm working on it! I think her hair is starting to fall out a little. Adam thinks it will come back in blonde, but I'm hoping for the darker hair still. (I guess most babies have the blonde hair though).

We're getting ready for the Alaska cruise, coming up soon... I have NO IDEA what to pack! The weather will probably be in the mid-sixties to mid-seventies which is pretty chilly for us. We've been in 90 degree weather for 3 months now!

Baptism

We will send out invitations as the date gets closer, but we wanted people to be able to plan in advance (in case of travel).

Vivian's baptism will be on Sunday, October 15, 2006 at Lord of Life Lutheran Church in Schaumburg, IL. I believe it will be at the 9:30 service.

I think this is the same time as NEA, so the kids shouldn't have school that Thurs. or Fri., which might work out for traveling.

Vivian's next Dr. appt. is on Wed., July 5. It is her 2 month checkup and includes the dreaded shots.... As far as we can tell, she weighs about 12 lbs. and is at least 23 inches long. She is on the cusp of growing out of her 0-3 month clothes (especially her sleepers). Today she has a little bit of a stuffy nose, which is making her mad more than anything! We'll give more details after her appointment.....good thing we have LOTS of 3-6 month clothes though!

Things People Don't Like to Talk About

I haven't really done an indepth update in awhile. Lots of stuff has been going on in our lives lately, however. First of all, my brother came to town this weekend and we had a lot of fun catching up. Vivian was enthralled with Uncle Marc and I believe he felt the same way!








As for me, I've been up and down. When we were here in FL after Viv's birth and when we were in MN, I just didn't feel good. I was crying all the time and really not enjoying Vivian at all. In fact, I was convinced that she was a really hard baby who fussed all the time for me. (For everyone else, she was pretty good...but fussed a lot with me). Anyways, when we came back to FL a couple of weeks ago, I went in to my doctor. Sure enough, she diagnosed me with post-partum depression and was very glad that I called/came in right away. SO, here I am, 2.5 weeks later---taking Ativan when I feel anxiety and Zoloft every morning. Unfortunately, that means that I can no longer breastfeed---medicine would go to baby. But, the doctor said that since I was having so many issues with the milk, stopping was probably less stressful for me. Well, she got 5 weeks of the best food in the world, so I'm happy for that. I'm not crying anymore...in fact, Vivian has suddenly become very fun for me. She is starting to smile and loves to cuddle. She doesn't cry all the time with me. Probably just did that because I was so anxious and crying everytime she was with me. I feel a lot better about being a mom and I feel like I am able to handle things and roll with the punches again.

We're looking forward to our Alaska trip---cooler weather, here we come! (Whew!)
We're also looking forward to doing a little sightseeing in Seattle and Vancouver beforehand.

Happy Father's Day!

To all the fathers out there, have a wonderful day and know that your kids love you very much!

New Pics....

Not much new to report...Adam and I are just completely enveloped in trying to figure out parenthood. I guess you never REALLY figure it out, but at least get to a point where you feel you have a good handle on it. I think we've actually figured out a pattern...which is a little helpful.

6:30-8:30am---awake...occasionally dosing off
8:30-10:30---actively awake
10:30-1:30/2---nap...if we're lucky
2:00-5:00---fun time! awake, happy
5:00-8:00---Yikes! Don't make plans. Could be an angel, could be a fussbuster.
8/8:30-2:30am-sleep
2:30-3:15am--awake and very hungry
3:15-6:00am--sleep

Of course, just when we think we have her figured out, she throws us for a loop. But hey, it is a start! (Notice that Little Miss Newborn only takes one nap a day). Maybe that means she'll continue to sleep longer and longer through the night!