The Schmidgalls

AMANDA and MATT are getting MARRIED! Ahhhhhhhhhh!

Oh my goodness, we are so excited we can hardly stand it! Amanda is Joel’s little sister and we are her biggest fans. She is the most wonderful person and it has been so neat to see how God brought the perfect person into her life. Matt will be such a great addition to our family! Most of all, he loves Amanda, makes her happy, and challenges her. We are truly impressed.

Two weeks ago Matt did the “family tour”, asking for blessing to marry lil’ Manda. Joel asked him for two cows and told him he could marry Amanda only if he could beat him in a game of basketball. Joel teased…and I cried. Sounds pretty typical huh?

Joel and his sis

“Ella, guess what! Auntie Manda is getting married!”

Doesn’t Matt look relieved? It is crazy that soon he will be Ella’s “Uncle Matt”! Yay!

We celebrated with our family and Amanda’s college BFFs.

Thanks for all of the prayers from everyone this week as I transitioned into “working mom.” I did it! I made it through my first week! Okay, it was really only three days but it was a big deal for me! I was pleasantly surprised at how happy I was to be back. There were tears in the days leading up to it but once I was there, I found myself having a really good time! Thank goodness that my momma came back into town to watch the baby and help me transition. (Seriously friends, my mom ROCKS!) I am so thankful to have a job that I really enjoy. And I am SUPER thankful for bosses that are committed to me and my family and were willing to work out a part time schedule so I could keep working.

I still don’t know if I have made all the right decisions but I feel a peace for now. We still have to make the final decision about a nanny (gosh, I guess my mom will have to go home at some point…) so keep praying for us.

At work this week, I actually found myself laughing…a lot! (I had forgotten that babies aren’t life’s only entertainment.) I really, really enjoy the people that I work with. Okay, they also drive me bonkers sometimes too but mostly they are so much fun! And I like what I DO. A friend asked me this week, “Is it like riding a bike?” Amazingly, yes, it really has been. This summer will mark seven YEARS working on Capitol Hill…so yes, I was right back in the swing of things without skipping much of a beat.

By today, I was ready for some QT (quality time) with my Ellie girl! But overall, I feel good about things. Whew.

Note: This post to be modified in a few weeks when the novelty has worn off. haha

Earlier this week, I was cleaning up around our room and I noticed this sad, sad sight.  This stuffed Eeyore was given to me for my 16th birthday (that would be 1994 folks) by a friend from high school.  Disney was really “in” back then, even for big kids.  Other than the occasional night away, I have slept with Eeyore every single night since then…twelve and a half years!  When Joel and I got married, I refused to force Eeyore out of my bed.  In fact, Joel even came to love him and we would fight over him.  In Joel’s defense, he doesn’t have any sort of affection for Eeyore, he just makes a really good neck pillow.

Apparently, when I came home with Ella, Eeyore got the boot from our bed.  When I happened to notice him, laying tossed aside on top of my dresser (so Velveteen Rabbit-like), I was shocked to realize that I hadn’t even really realized he had been gone.  Such a loyal and consistent friend, always there to offer comfort, and he had been tossed aside not to be thought of for THREE MONTHS?  I felt shame and pity wash over me.  Then, yes, I reminded myself that 1) uh, he is not real and has no feelings and 2) I am 28 years old.  I am married and now responsible for another person.  It is probably time my own “lovey” find a new home outside of our bed.  Right?

So, here is to Eeyore and his faithful years of companionship.  I wish you luck in your new home, somewhere on a shelf or in a keepsake box.  You served me well. 

Check out how excted Ella was to see the Nats first run of the year…

Our little Ellie is 12 weeks old today! Yay! She has learned so many things recently!

A couple of weeks ago, she learned how to make spit bubbles…which she does often, all over the front of whatever cute outfit she is wearing. It is different than drool, she is playing with her spit.

She can grab at things now. Well, it is more like she throws her arms at things…but she connects! She concentrates and tosses her hand right at the object. If she ever manages to grab it, she promptly forgets she has it and proceeds to wave it about, oblivious.

She is experimenting with the noises she can make. Most recently is a long, drawn out grunt. She makes this when she is happy and content, usually after just eating. “Uhhhhhhhh….pause….uhhhhhhhhhh….”

She is VERY good at pooting (that is baby for fart). However, she has been pretty good at this since birth. Joel and I look at each other often, “Was that YOU?” “Nope. Ella.” Last week, my BOSS was holding her and she was tootin away. Ella, that is NOT lady-like!

Just a couple of days ago, Ellie realized that she can bring her hands to her mouth! Before, she would chew on them when hungry but now she actually spits out her pacifier (Oh yeah, she learned that too! She pushes her tongue against me when I try to put it in.) and sticks her fingers in her mouth. I don’t really want her to be a thumb sucker because I imagine that is a hard habit to break since you can’t take thumbs away! But, it is okay since she hasn’t yet figured out how to stop making a fist and stick just the thumb in her mouth. She just chews and sucks and licks those little fingers. It is really cute! I caught a photo this morning! I am trying to enjoy it for now because soon enough I will be trying to keep her from putting everything in her mouth!

On Saturday, my friend Grace and I hosted a baby shower for our good friend Christina. Christina and I met when we studied abroad in college. It is kind of neat to have a best bud that you met in SWEDEN! Yep, we both studied on a international business program that took us to eleven different countries.

When she met me, Christina thought I was probably a stuck up, blonde California girl. We really connected when we both sat in the second row (that is where you sit when you are an over-achiever but don’t want everyone to know it!) during our extended study period in the Netherlands. We knew we would hit it off when we both wanted to go out dancing but didn’t want to participate in any other mischief that our peers might be up to. Though our program was with students from all Christian colleges, it was surprising how many of them would teeter home from the bars on their bicycles. (Yes, that was how we had to get around during our time there.)

So, Christina and I met abroad and, through the years, the Lord has allowed us the gift of doing life together. I prayed Christina through her time as a missionary in Ecuador, where she met and fell in love with her Columbian husband, Dairo. And she prayed me through my move to the east and my crush on my tall, handsome pastor. Now, we own homes around the corner from each other, work in ministry together, scrapbook, play, pray, and do life together.

Christina introduced me to her friend Grace when she and Brandon moved to our neighborhood a while back. (Christina and Grace had grown up together in Maryland.) Last year, they had a daughter, Violet. Now we are all buds and as soon as baby boy is born, we will all be mommies!

As you can tell by this drawn out post, I am VERY thankful for the women in my life…especially now that I am a mom. So, parties to celebrate new babies are a BLAST! Grace and I had a great time showering Christina this last weekend.

Sorry we checked out for a few days.  Ella and I have been enjoying every moment together before Mommy goes back to work.  Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Last week, Joel took a day off so we could all be together.  We went out to Grandma Schmidgall’s and stayed the night.  We have really tried to soak in the family time.

When my friend Laura had her daughter Taylor last year, she told me that, “…everyone says six weeks is a turning point.”  I had asked her during her maternity leave if she was loving being at home with baby.  We have both worked for Congress since moving to DC in 2000 so I was trying to imagine whether stepping away was difficult or whether baby time was worth it all.  Anyway, Laura told me it was more like eight weeks when everything seemed to click.  The baby had a sleeping and eating schedule and she was finally able to really enjoy Mommy-hood.

Well, it took Ella and me longer than six weeks and longer than eight.  :)  But, about week ten, we found it!  Ah, the sweet bliss of being at home with baby.  I think part of the delay was our battle to put some weight on Ella.  I couldn’t think about any other developmental milestones other than some meat on her bones!

I have loved every day of motherhood so far (though some more challenging than others) but these last couple of weeks with Ella have been so much FUN!  She has regular naptimes and the time in between, she PLAYS!  So, I am able to enjoy her…AND put a load of laundry in while she rests.  I have learned her cues and we have developed a routine that works for both of us.  With that and the warmer weather (FINALLY), we have both been having a great time.

And just as Laura said, as soon as that happens it is time to go back to work.  :(  Please Lord, tell me I am making the right decision!

So that I don’t leave you without a photo,  this was Ella during one of her bath times last week.   Aren’t her blue eyes just GORGEOUS?

My friend Shauna and her husband Joel are adopting from China!  We have all been waiting, hoping, and praying for them through this loooong process!  They travel in the beginning of May to meet Kylee Hope!  This last weekend we celebrated with Shauna with a baby shower at my house.  It was all pink and frilly, of course.  It was kind of funny because we did a “tea” but, because I don’t drink tea or coffee, I had to borrow everything…even a kettle to warm the water.  I thought it would be pretty cheesy to have people warming their tea in the microwave!  Luckily, I borrowed cute things and it turned out great!

Here is Shauna and the spread.

And, Ella’s future buddy, Kylee Hope.

Heather is one of my best girlfriends.  We were roommates in college, studied abroad together, and were RAs together.  She and her husband Chris are VERY good friends to us and they came DC to have some Ella time!  You know those friends that, as soon as you are together, it is like time never passed?  Well, that is Heather and Chris…except now I have a kid, haha! They helped with the baby, worked like crazy at the snowy egg hunt, and Heather washed a bazillion dishes at Easter dinner because my dishwasher stopped working (how does it KNOW when it is a bad time??).  Anyway, we miss them already…

Clearly Ella LOVED Heather and Chris.  Look at this picture.  Have you EVER seen anything cuter than this smile??

We hosted Easter dinner at our house for Ella’s FIRST Easter.  She had an Easter basket but most of it was from her grandmas!  We ate and ate and the niece and nephews had a blast running around.  It was a challenge to dress Ella in an Easter outfit with the cold weather.  She looked so cutie though!

This is the FIRST photo of all SIX kids!  They have all seen Ella a bunch of times but, oddly, never together.  So fun!

Summer was SO happy to have another girl in the family.  She is so loving with Ella and a big help!  Gorgeous girls!

The happy, but tired family.  It was a big weekend for us.