The Schmidt Family

We were hanging out with Nana and Pops the other night when we heard a knock at the door....

His face lit up with happiness when he saw his visitor!




He gave Santa a high-five.



He gave Santa a huge hug and wasn't shy at all!




"Tell me what you want for Christmas, young man!"
"Spiderman. And Batman. And Cars!"
"Well, I hear you have been a good boy!"




Hanging with Santa



He and Riley had a little chat about Christmas. She just gazed at him so sweetly.



Sweet Baby



My Kids



Santa Claus was so sweet. He didn't spend his time warning Ivey to be a good boy. He just told him that Santa loved him very much. It was so special. It was so neat to watch- I could just see the love in this man's eyes for children and I feel so blessed to have met him. I know it is something I will always remember.


Thank you, Nana and Pops, for such an amazing memory! You got me in the Christmas spirit!





"

Well, our bootylicious little girl is 4 months old (almost 5 months since I am so late posting this)!!! She is such a sweetie. As long as you are holding her she is so happy. Riley loves to be held and I love to hold her....but sometimes I have to put her down to do other things and she does NOT like that one bit. She is super healthy- 17.8 pounds (97th percentile) and I can't remember her height. She has rolls to spare and I love it. She is rolling over tummy to back and eating cereal ok. I am officially done nursing :( but she seems to be so much happier now that she is on formula. Her reflux was just so bad that breastfeeding didn't work well for us. She has the sweetest laugh and she loves to watch her brother play. With the way she is drooling I think we'll be seeing some teeth any day now!!!

Well, Ali has done it once again. She took family portraits of us this weekend and I just love them. That girl is awesome. She is beautiful, talented and so very sweet. I am so blessed to have her in my family!

my heart is so full.
there are no words to say how happy i am.
thank you lord.

The new fun thing to do around here is play "Get You on the Bed".
It goes a little something like this:
"Daddy, I wanna get you on the bed!"


"Please??????"


"Please??????"


"Aaaaaaargh!!" (That is the noise Frank makes every time Ivey jumps right on top of his belly. Then they both laugh hysterically.)











"Let's hide from Momma." They cover up with the blanket and giggle.

Pause. Then they scream!!!

The party was a blast. I have never seen my son sweat so much. I think that, for boys, the more sweat they produce is equivalent to the amount of fun they are having! Once we got home from the party I eagerly turned on my camera to look at all the pictures....and I was pretty disappointed by the lack of awesomely "scrapbook-worthy" shots I had taken. But then I realized that the blurry pics of my little man zooming by were the perfect illustration of what a 3-year old's party should be! Who wants to slow down for a pic when there is so much fun to be had, friends to play with, presents to open and cake to eat!!!

Sweet Riley Beth is growing so fast! She is our smiley little lady. This girl loves to talk already. She coos and laughs all the time. She loves to stick things in her mouth. She can't quite keep her binky in her mouth all the time but she is getting pretty attached. We aren't sleeping through the night yet but I hope and pray it is going to happen soon. She hit a mega-growth spurt over the past 10 days or so and has woken up 2 or 3 times a night! Thank goodness I have an AMAZING husband who is taking turns getting up with her. She is 3 months old already and I cannot believe it. I also can't believe the amount of nicknames she has accumulated since August 2, 2010!!!
Riley Bug
The Bug
Lil' Lady Bug
Arby (from her initials)
Sweet cheeks
Fatty Patty
Stinker
Momma (got this one from work. For some reason we all call anything female "momma". I know it's weird)
Princess
Girlfriend
Wiwee (from Ivey who has trouble with R's and L's)
Sissy
Sister
Chubs
I just love my baby girl!

We had a quiet little family partay tonight.
Lots of cake.
Lots of laughs.
Lots of love.
Can't wait to Jump for Joy tomorrow!!!!