The Schmidgalls

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes yesterday! Ella didn’t exactly understand all the attention but we sure felt loved as a family!

Ellie’s Aunt Lora hosted her birthday dinner and it was a hit! She made every messy food and we let Ellie go to town with spaghetti and chocolate cake!

The happy birthday girl!

Opening presents with Mommy

More presents with Daddy

And the best part, “cake cake”! She was a little confused by the singing and the candle.

But not at all confused by the eating! Dainty bites at first.

Then she picked up speed! Cousin Parker made the mistake of sitting a little too close. When we finished her piece she grabbed a handful of his.

Praying to thank God for chocolate cake!

Mmmm…chocolate LOTION! (She kept smearing it around on her hands.)

One last time Ella, how old are you?

The party was a blast! Thank you to Uncle Mark and Aunt Lora for all the fun!

(Brace yourself for the sappy-Mommy part.) Yesterday morning, I set my alarm to wake up at 5:13am. I wanted to just pray and thank God for the gift he gave us last year. Joel wasn’t as big of fan of the early morning idea but he played along. We woke up and gave thanks for Eloise Kimberly and the joy of being her parents.

I knew I would love being a mom but, even though you try to prepare, the emotions you can feel toward this little person are a shock. God must give us kids so we can have the slightest understanding of how much He loves us.

It is funny to me that, as I grow older I still feel the same inside. I wonder if I will always be 19 inside my head and heart! Similarly, it is still strange to feel like a “mother”. It sounds foreign, even after a year, to say, “I have a daughter.” But I couldn’t be more proud than to call this little girl my own!

Eloise is so friendly! Since she was born, she has offered smiles generously. When I was pregnant, we had prayed for a smiley baby. Well, we got it! She makes people around her feel so good! She will make friends anywhere and with anyone. (I tell her she takes after her Mimmy who could make a best friend at the supermarket!) She doesn’t shy away from people but will play with anyone…even if they aren’t really interested! I just know she will have many friends! Her personality is so inviting!

Ellie is also such a fun little girl! She has lots of energy and is always up for an adventure. She is not easily intimidated and doesn’t show fear very often. (I can actually only think of one black sheep and the barking dog behind our house - but he IS scary.) She loves to dance and play…and climb stairs!

Ellie has such a sweet spirit. She offers to share her drink or snack. She has a song in her little heart - she hums when she eats and often sings herself to sleep.

We are biased but we know Ella is SO smart! She says so many words already and she watches our mouths intently, trying to see how we form each word. She points to objects when she reads and she can identify her favorite things in books when you call them out.

The opportunity to raise such a special little girl is such a gift. We get to wake up with the little person everyday! Her joyful little spirit fills our home. We laugh more, we play more…we cuddle more! It is also an overwhelming responsibility. This next year, as her independence emerges, we pray for the wisdom to lead and guide her well!

Eloise Kimberly we love you SO MUCH! Happy First Birthday!

This time last year I looked something like this…

Okay, maybe not exactly like that…thank goodness! This sure shows how big she has gotten!

We can’t believe our baby is going to be ONE! We have been in reflective mode recently. Tonight, I took some pictures of our little girl’s last night as our baby!…at least that is how it feels!

“Ella, how old are you?”

(We have been practicing this! Give it a try and ask her when you see her next!)

She is such a little monkey! This is her new favorite spot. She hangs on the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs.

“Ellie, just what are you doing?”

“What mom?”

“Awww…snuggling your baby?”

“Give baby a kiss.”

“Wait, I forget…how old are you turning tomorrow?”

“Show Mama!”

“Okay, night-night time. Blow everyone a birthday kiss!”

Since returning from California the second time, we have been trying to re-orient ourselves. Celebrating my grandma’s life was difficult but also a special time for my family. Thank you all for your prayers and kind words.

In our time away, Ella has been growing into a little toddler! She is learning new things at record speed and impressing us all the time!

The sweetest surprise was when, while she was playing recently, I noticed she kept stopping to twist back and forth and saying “danss…danss.” It took me a while to realize what she was doing but, friends, she says DANCE!! All of you that know me know how that won my heart! That little gift came when we were home for GG’s funeral…and I could not have asked for anything sweeter to lift my spirits. Now, I look for any opportunity to prompt my little dancer to give me a wiggle.

Ellie is also learning certain body parts. When we ask her, “Ella, where’s your belly?” - she pats her little tummy and grins. She can also point her little finger to Mommy or Daddy’s nose, teeth, tongue, or ears (I know, random). We can’t get her to point to her own however.

She has always been very social and, now that she is mobile, she makes MANY friends wherever we go. She goes up to new people and says “hi-eeee!” (Apparently, I raise the pitch of my voice when I prompt her to say hello because she now uses a little high-pitch voice whenever she says hi to someone…funny.)

Each time I change Ella’s diaper, I hand her something for a distraction. Recently, I have given her a Christmas card from a family friend that has a picture of their kids holding a puppy. Ella immediately pats her side (the sign for dog) and says “dot…dot!” while pointing to the doggy. I couldn’t believe she remembered the sign since it was months ago that her Aunt Lora taught her! My little smarty pants!

We will have to get a photo of our little monkey hanging on the baby gate at the bottom of the stairs. She is obsessed with stairs and climbing! She crawls up onto the first step (scary!) and shakes the gate with all her might - like a little prisoner. Tonight, I even found her standing on her little arm chair! Ahhh! Sit down!

Peekaboo is a favorite game and any time we say “Where’s Ella?”, she puts her hands over her…ears! Yes, she is a bit off but she cracks up anyway. She will also put her head down on the nearest pillow or blanket anytime we say, “Night, night Ella” - giggling the whole time, of course.

And her final little advancement - karaoke! For Christmas, Aunt Lora, Uncle Mark, and cousins gave her a keyboard with a little microphone. She LOVES the thing. It will probably stop working any day because of all the drool! She sticks it up into her mouth and talks and sings. American Idol, here she comes!

We will try to get some photos of the little squirt so you can all smile at all her antics! She has certainly given me comfort these past few weeks.

Signs Ella does at 11 months:

“more”

“dog”

“milk” (finally!)

“all done”

“drink”

Words Ella says at 11 months:

“da-da”

“na-na” (mama)

“dot” (dog)

“hi-eee”

“dants” (dance)

“dite” (light)

“uh-uh” (uh-oh)

Words Mommy seems to say a lot more often:

“Ella, this way…come with Mommy”

“Sit down please”

“Gentle, Ella, gentle”

“Say hi”

“No touch”

“Where’s your belly”

“Give Momma a kiss?”  (a girl can try)

On Thursday, January 3rd, 2008, Virginia Hightower (Nina’s Grandma) passed away. “GG” had an incredible influence on her family and on us. In fact I felt so connected with her, she let me call her “G”, because we were on a first name basis She’s going to be dearly missed. Here’s an excerpt from the eulogy I gave at the funeral about GG’s loves…

Last night we just sat around and talked about Virginia. It was very cathartic to hear about Ginny and everything she loved.

Virginia loved to cook. Fried chicken. Chicken and dumplins. Cobbler. Somebody say amen. Mark commented that we could all get rich if we started a restaurant and just used her old recipes. When I first met Nina I asked her what traditions the family had, and she said they all revolved around food. I said, I’m going to fit in this family. But we have GG to blame for that!

She loved to seed. To go out, buy some seed, plant it and watch it grow into beautiful flowers.

Virginia loved animals. All you have to do is go to her house for two minutes and you’ll realize you’re in animal kingdom. Birds chirpin, cats running, dogs snortin, fish living in the hot tub. It’s national geographic meets apple valley.

She loved jewelry. The girls were trying on some of her jewelry yesterday and it looked like a hip hop convention, bling flyin everywhere.

She loved life. Troy talked about how she was such an optimistic, positive person. Karen shared how all the nurses seemed to really enjoy her and even when she called 911, the firemen remembered Ginny by name. In all my time around her, with all her sickness, she wouldn’t complain. Maybe have a rough day here or there, but she wasn’t a complainer. She had spirit.

She loved QVC, butter sandwiches, jam, crafting, the people’s court, hats, she loved those scary little dolls called cupie. She loved to dress up.

But let me tell you about what she loved the most. You can’t think about Virginia without thinking about family. She loved her family.

Virginia loved her kids. Steve, Karen, Mark, & Kim. She was proud of her children. She loved the way you loved each other. One of the last conversations we had with Grandma she said I’m so proud that all the kids made it happen to come together and spend time as a family…

Virginia loved her grandkids. Sarah, Rachel, Chris, Nina, Amy, David. She invested in you and believed in you as people! She would light up around her Grandkids.

One of my favorite descriptions of Grandma by the family was that she was the best cook. I enjoyed hearing how after every meal, Grandpa always had kind words to say. He would say, “You did good Ginny.”. I can see Grandma walking into heaven and Grandpa there to meet her. They clasp hands and begin to walk together embracing. Not far off Jesus catches the eye of Grandpa and gives him the nod. Grandpa leans over and whispers in Grandma’s ear, this time about her life… “You did good Ginny”.

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