The Schmidgalls

This last Sunday, we had Ella’s baby dedication in church! When she is older, Ella will decide for herself whether she wants to be baptized to show her faith in Christ. For now, as her parents, we dedicate her back to God and commit to teaching her about the Lord. Joel and I take this responsibility very seriously so it was a very special experience for our family!

Of course, we did an advance photo shoot in her little outfit.

At church, our family stood with us as Ellie’s Uncle (Pastor) Mark dedicated Eloise Kimberly to the Lord. He prayed that we would find great joy as a family and that God’s blessing would pass on to another generation. Ditto!

We had a celebration party at our house afterwards. Of course there was yummy food. We even made little cupcakes with an “E” for Ella.

Celebrating with Daddy!

Ellie with her friends! Taylor and Kylee were also dedicated at our church a while back!

Ella is so loved and supported. Thank you to all of you that pray for our daughter. We know God has so many good things in store for her.

Our hopes and prayers for our daughter: We pray that God will bless Ella with favor, meeting all the desires of her heart. We hope He will bless her with friendships that support and encourage…and teach her to be that kind of friend in return. We pray that she will know the joy of serving others and giving of herself and that she will always experience the fun and adventure of a life following Him! We pray that she will discover her unique gifts and use them to honor God and others. Most of all, we hope that Ella will truly, deeply, and personally know Christ. That she will trust Him, hope in Him, and accept His delight in her. She is so loved!

(If you want to comment to share a message, hope, or prayer for Ella, I will print them for her baby book.)

I can’t believe Ella is already seven months old! What an incredible blessing she has been to us.

Since getting back from Uganda I’ve had such intense feelings of love towards my girls. I think it’s from my experience rafting in the white waters of the Nile. We got flipped on a class 5 rapid and I got stuck under our boat in one of the undertow rapids. Every time I came up for air my mouth would bump against the raft. I actually thought I was going to drown to death! I slid around the divider and got to an air pocket under the boat and got a breath before getting submerged again. Struggling, you know what popped into my head? My little girl! Ella. I’m thinking, she’s going to end up in Watoto (the orphanage I just built :)! Again I got to the air pocket and got a few breaths this time and yelled something. I regained my wits and pushed off from the boat and swam out from under it as we were escaping the rapids. Freaky! Of course, 10 seconds later I’m ready to take on another rapid, but the reality of intense love for my family hasn’t left me. I can’t imagine not having my girls in my life. I am continually thanking God each day for what he has given to me. Here’s a few of the little things I’ve grown to love since getting back:

*When Ella wakes up, she nestles into your shoulder for a few minutes for cuddle time.

*She gives the biggest target in the world when you feed her. Like her Dad, she’s a very aggressive eater and has the size mouth you need for big bites!

*Her kissable cheeks!

*She loves her Mom more than anyone in the world!

*She reaches her arms out now when she wants to get up.

*If you haven’t seen her in five minutes, she gives you the “I’ve missed you so much” smile when you come back in the room.

*She’s a Cubs fan and predicts they will win their division and ultimately the world series!

Happy seven months to Ella!

Joel and I have been married three years today! To celebrate, we took a night away to Annapolis yesterday. It was my first night away from Ella. We ate dinner right on the water, walked around town, and we even went to our first movie since Ella was one month old!

Each year on our anniversary we write down all of our best memories from the last year. As you can imagine, our memories from this last year were particularly sweet since we became a family - Eloise Kimberly came into our lives! I am so thankful to have a husband who loves and supports me. But this year, we have been unified in even a deeper way. I am overwhelmed at the father Joel is to Ella. They love and enjoy each other so much! Our marriage is even sweeter now that we are raising her together.

Happy Anniversary babe! I look forward to many more memories together!

While my daddy was in Uganda, I went on a mini vacation with my mommy, Aunt Amy, and Grandma Mimmy. Want to see all the things we did?

On our drive to the beach, we stopped at a produce market. I got to drive the wagon! I am such a big girl!

There were lots of yummy things at the market. Mmmm, watermelon!

The bad news was that the weather was yucky at the beach. The good news is we are good shoppers. We visited all the little beach shops. I like to push my own stroller!

Since it was rainy, we spent lot of time relaxing. I like to read magazines with Mimmy! I turn the pages for her.

One day it was nice enough to take a walk on the boardwalk! We walked so far looking for fish and chips to eat! My family says the boardwalk food must be different on the east coast. They are from California and the boardwalk has corndogs and fish-n-chips everywhere! Here, they have custard and crabcakes. What do I know though? All I get to eat is baby biscuits.

One of our goals for the week was to give me my first ride on a carousel! It was cloudy and misty but we did it! I got my tickets…

…and rode with Mimmy! I loved the shiny brass pole! Once we started moving, there was so much to see!

We had to stop on the beach just to touch the sand but it was cold! We had to wear our sweatshirts!

I didn’t care! I love the water and wanted to get in!

I managed to get some fists full of sand though!

After the beach, we drove to Philadelphia to take Aunt Amy back to college. I finally got to put my swimsuit on to go in the pool. I love to splash!

I tried my first lemon. I didn’t think it was sour at all!

I helped her move into her apartment. I loved to bang things on her hardwood floors! Bang, bang, bang!

I am a helper!

We left Aunt Amy for her junior year of college. I miss her. She makes me laugh a lot. (Though she makes me promise to not spit up on her!)

Well, it was a fun trip. But I was glad to get home and see dadda! I tried to impress him by saying my first word. Mommy has been trying to teach me to lift my arms when I want to be picked up. She says, “Up Ella? Up?” When daddy went to pick me up, he said, “Up Ella?”

I said “Up!” I did it twice last night but I don’t feel like doing it today. Those grownups are silly. They like us to do tricks all the time.

Yesterday, baby Go-Go (Giovanny) came to play at our house while his Mommy and Daddy went to work. We had so much fun going on a walk and playing toys!

Ella loves her buddy! Mwah!

Look at how they’ve grown! Here they are when Giovanny was just born. Ella was three months.

Now - Ella (6 1/2 mos) and Giovanny (3 1/2 mos)! He is gaining on her!

Such a handsome boy!

Ella makes him laugh!

Joel and his team leave today for Uganda. You can follow along on his trip at: http://theaterchurch.com/missions/uganda

Please be praying for the team! They are going to Uganda to build an orphanage. Joel spearheaded a project called 30,000 steps for 30,000 dollars and we have been walking to earn money for the project. We had no idea whether we would reach the goal but, as of this morning, we have all earned $34,125!

So, Joel is on the plane…poor Ella will miss her Daddy!  She helped him pack last night…

“Where is dadda going?”

“Without me??”

“No, seriously, I can’t go?”

Hurry back babe and be safe! We love, love you!

Our baby girl is getting so big!

Here she is on her first day of church! Two weeks old!

And here she is going to church this last Sunday. Six months!

“Yum, I like to try new foods!”

Ella got a package from Mimmy today! We needed some cheering up because the last two days have been sad for baby. I think she might be teething or something because she hasn’t felt well. To make matters worse, she got her sixth month shots and was a sad little camper. Poor thing has been waking up all night the past two nights (note: that means poor mama too!). She screams out and then whimpers. When I go to check on her (again, again, and…again) she is still half asleep, eyes closed, rolling around in her crib. It is so sad!

She was doing so much better tonight and LOVED getting a package. She helped open it and pull everything out. One of the best parts - a bunch of bows made by Aunt Karen! Of course, she had to try them ALL on!

(Before auntie can comment that she is undressed AGAIN, I will point out that 1) it was 100 degrees here today and 2) I took off her pretty dress to eat dinner. Note the evidence of carrots on her nose.)

We took Ella to the doctor this week and got her most recent stats.

At 17lbs 1oz, she is in the 65-70th percentile in weight. At 27 1/2 inches, she is in the 95th percentile in length! She managed to destroy the exam table while we were waiting. The paper is just so crinkly and fun! Dr. Kelly said that Ella’s motor skills and language are impressive! She almost ripped the stethoscope off her neck during the exam. When the doc asked if Ella could sit up yet, Ella decided to show off by sitting and reaching for another handful of crinkle paper, ripped it off and waved it at her. “Uh, yeah, she can play pretty independently doc.”

I really love Ella’s doctor. She is really easy going and encouraging. At Ella’s four month appointment, she proceeded to spit up (okay, to be honest, it was a full throw up…) on the floor. The nurse in the room: “Uh….Your baby just did THAT…” (look of disgust and disapproval on her face). However, nothing seems to phase the doctor. I told her Ella didn’t like peas. She said, “Ew, I don’t like peas either…” Ha. She was chief pediatric resident at Georgetown and we couldn’t be happier with her.

Darn, I should have taken their picture together…next time.