The Schmidgalls

Ella is such a chatterbox and keeps us laughing all the time!  Lately, she wants us to watch her all the time.  “Mom!  Watch this!”…and then she proceeds to do something captivating like take a bite of her sandwich.

Here are a few more fun stories:

Baseball: Tonight, as I was putting her to bed, she asked me to tell her a story (as usual).  So, I said, “Okay, I am going to tell you the story of Adam and Eve.”  And she says (actually shouts), “Yeah…Ad-am Duuuunnn!!! (Adam Dunn)”  I died laughing!  We went to watch our Cubbies play the Washington Nationals last week and, at the game, her cousins were having her repeat after the announcer.

My name: In the car today she was driving me nuts saying, “Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy…” over and over AND OVER.  I would answer her and then she would start it again.  Finally, I said, “Ellie.  My name is not Mommy anymore.”  Without skipping a beat, she starts saying, “Nina, Nina, Nina, Nina, Nina…“  Joel thought it was HILARIOUS!

Tissue: A few days ago, she finally asked the question I knew would come.  She always helps me give Zeke a bath and change his diaper but has never seemed to notice what is different about him that makes him a boy.  Finally, last week at bath time she points “down there” and says, “Mommy!  Zekey has a boo-boo!”  I held back my giggle and simply explained what it was.  Now, every few days she will randomly exclaim, “Boys have a kleenex!”

Older Folks: At church on Sunday, there was a group of “older folks” waiting in the lobby for the service.  Our church is mostly young professionals so they must have stood out to Ella.  As we passed them, she said to me, “Mommy, where’s Grandma?”  They must have made her think of Grandma!  (Grandma goes to one of our other locations.)  Well, as we passed them again later, they were smiling at Ella so I told them what she had said.  Immediately, three of the ladies raised their hands and rushed forward saying, “Here I am!”  Once a gramma, it must be universal!

Miss Neighbor: Ella is famous in our neighborhood - everyone loves her.  She meets and greets everyone, saying, “What’s your name?”  We have one neighbor a few doors down who she adores.  Except…she thinks her name is Neighbor.  Whever she see her she shouts, “Hi Neighbor!”  “Neighbor, watch me!”  “Neighbor, I went to dance class!”  Funny enough, everyone in the neighborhood calls her sister Princess.  So, we live next to Princess and Neighbor!

I love this girl!

Our little man is four months old already (okay, ten days ago)!  I enjoy him so much!  He is a really good little baby, happy to go with the flow.

His little laugh is such a little boy’s!  It is this deep chuckle, and sometimes like a hiccup.

Things he loves:  People, milk - lots!, chewing on his hands, holding a blankie to his face, kicking!, giving big smiles, his mamma, being outside, watching big kids, hugging tight.

Height - 26.25 (91%), Weight - 13lbs, 9 ounces (24%)

As usual, my kids are long and thin.  Actually, we are shocked that one of them is “only” the 91st percentile.

I think we have about recovered from vacation.  We went to the lake with our friends again and, with six kids three years and under, it was quite an adventure! The kids had a great time!

We ate our favorite ice-cream at the Creamery (mmm…gravel!), each couple enjoyed a date night, we played cards, traded off making yummy dinners, did some waterskiing…and just enjoyed some play time together!

The house was right on the lake so we did a LOT of dock time.

The favorite activity of the week was rock throwing of course!

Each morning was a little hectic in the house.  I started taking the older kids on morning walks to get them out of the house.

Who needs to take the time to get dressed?  We can hike in pajamas!  One morning, we didn’t even bother to get dressed first!

The girls did some “fishin”…

We even found a great spot with swings!

But Go-Go had a one track mind - rock throwing ALL the time! He would shout, “Big one!,” throw the rock, and then get SO excited!

My favorite part of the week is the hike we take at the waterfalls!  I love it!  We hike along the water and stop a bunch of times to play and splash.  We eat lunch on the rocks.  We can’t let the kids get away from us for even a second so we are all exhausted after a few hours!

And, of course, the lake is best enjoyed…from the BOAT!  The kids LOVED tubing behind the boat!

We gave them some practice, playing in the tube off the dock.

Then it was time for the real deal!

“Faster, faster!”

Little man was not very impressed with the life jacket.  Since he couldn’t move and the sun was too bright to open his eyes much, he would basically just close his eyes and go to sleep whenever we were on the boat.

Our crew of little people!

Soooo, unless someone has an announcement, I don’t think we will have any more kids with us next year.  We should be the same sleep-deprived crew!

I haven’t written about this because…well, I just didn’t want to be sad about it anymore!  Thank goodness we are able to trust that the Lord has a plan for all twists and turns in life.  So…deep breath…some of our best friends have moved away.  Laura and Trevor are the kind of friends that you ask God for and thank Him for often! Their kids, Taylor and Bo, are the kind of kids with whom you want your little ones to grow up.

Trevor got a job transfer…so now our friendship is just going to have to look a little different.  Poo, stink, yucky, ew. This is one of those situations you accept, trusting the Lord but frowning at Him.  Booooooo!

Laura and I went to college together.  We are California girls at heart and shared what we both would agree was a magical college experience.  God thrust both of us into the fear of moving across the country to take jobs in the big, bad world of our United States Congress.  We grasped on to each other, clinging for familiarity in our scary new life.  We liked sunshine, ate avocados, wore flip flops without toenail polish!

Both of us had a plan to stay in the city for one year until we escaped back to the land of warmth.  Nine years later, I am saying good-bye to my friend.  We came to really enjoy our surprise careers.  And then, we both fell in love!  With mid-westerners…what?!

We were able to share some of the most pivotal moments of our lives!

We shared some of the most precious moments of our lives.

Laura is such an encourager, a supporter.  Whenever I have had a victory in my life she has cheered…loudly!  She is also very gifted - creative, hospitable, thoughtful, fun!

Trevor and Joel have a pretty tight bond as well.  They share a love for sports, meat, golf…all things manly.  They have a depth to their relationship, one of support and accountability.

And our kids…they are the best of friends.  To be honest, this is the part I grieve the most.  I know Joel and I will remain connected with Laura and Trevor.  But our kids are so young.  They are changing so much and are used to every day life with each other.

My sister asked me, “Are you sad that they are moving?” Wow, sad doesn’t really describe it.  I have wrestled with God about the idea of community.  Since they left, I have found myself feeling a little…detached.  BUT I keep telling the Lord that I trust Him and accept his plan for our families.

I hope they realize how loved they are!

It is no secret that dancing is my love.  So, of course, I enrolled Ella as early as possible.  I can’t even tell you the joy it has brought me to see my little girl get so excited about it!  All the two year old classes are mommy-and-me (uh, lame) but the studio allowed me to put Ella in the three year old class.  She LOVES it and it doing awesome!

Joel and I both went to watch her first class and we were cracking up and she would twirl and skip.  They sit down and wave hello and good-bye to their toes as they point and flex.  At one point Joel jokingly asked, “Um, what are we paying for this?”  It is certainly elementary but I am just glad she is developing a love for dance!

First day of class!

Picture taking is not allowed but I was able to sneak one from the door!

Living on Capitol Hill has its downsides but there is no better place to watch the fireworks than blocks from our house in front of our nation’s Capitol!  This year we took a picnic to the concert on the Mall.  Big Bird and Elmo were performing and Ella went crazy for them!  We all agreed that the weather this year was the best we have EVER had on the Fourth of July!

Picnic love from sister

Best buds - always up for family time!  My sis-in-law, Lora, and I LOVE love picnics!  I think this is our fourth or fifth this summer!

Seriously the BEST view for fireworks!

Our crew every year! We always head home for the homemade fireworks display by our nephews. Perfect holiday!

It is Zeke’s first Fourth of July!  Ellie sang him “Happy Birthday to America” this morning.  It is no secret that I am a HUGE fan of parades.  So we made our annual visit to the Capitol Hill family parade.  We didn’t walk this year, just watched.

Mama’s boy loves parades too!

Waiting on the show (Note - Ella insisted on wearing her tap shoes.  I am not the kind of mom to deny that request!)

Yay, the Marine Corp band!  Our favorite!  (Zeke FREAKED at the loud drums.)

Happy Fourth of July!!

Each year, our church staff does a short get-away to refresh and reconnect.  We call it “Play and Pray”.  We probably do more playin’ than prayin’ but both are awesome!  When you have two kids, there isn’t much time for reflection but we still had a great time!  We took some time as a family, taking walks.

This little girl is not related to me at all.

Okay, okay…she is otherwise a spitting image of her daddy.  But, in certain moments, there is no denying she is mine.

“No mom! Stop! No. take. my. picture!”  (For those of you that know Ella, you can hear her saying it just like that.)  Sigh…

And, also like her mama, she can turn in a moment.  Cheese!

She came up with this little sassy pose all on her own!

Despite that minor moment (okay, and maybe a few others), we had a very fun and peaceful time.  God has been saying a lot to us lately.  We just wanted to soak it all in.

We have spent time at Rehobeth together a few times over the years.  Here is looking back at beach time with the Battersons!  We have taken our picture at the same spot!

2007 - Baby Ella!

2003 -Yep, that is Josiah in the stroller!  Joel and I were still dating!