Nathaniel at Four Months

We took Nathaniel to the doctor for his four month check-up and here at the stats:

We have a wonderfully happy and calm baby boy. Nathaniel is truly a gift to our family. 

Christmas Classic

Today was the first time our kids met Santa. 

Matthew was sure to Santa what his stocking looks like so that Santa would know right where to put his requested toys!

We also bought our Christmas tree today. And then we unexpectedly bought another one that Thea had her heart set on. 

You can't always get what you want, but...

When we started this blog in February 2011, we had dreams of keeping up with it for many years to come, chronicling the love, laughter, joy, and even sadness of being a growing family.  At first, we could not blog enough.  But as time has gone on, we have blogged less and less, and it has made us very sad, and often times, regretful.  How could we neglect something so important?  How could we not archive every moment that means so much to us?

Because we are too busy actually loving the miraculous blessing of a family that we have.  We don't have time for everything.  In the choice between loving, laughing, and blogging, blogging always loses.  But that's ok.  It's why we have camera phones.

If you try sometimes... you get what you need.

How are our kids adapting to their baby brother?

Matthew and his classmates at their school had a Thanksgiving feast and show!  Right before the curtains open, Matthew told his teacher, "I love singing!"

When everyone starts to clap, Matthew loudly says, "I'M HUNGRY!"

This past Sunday, we went to a fantastic Advent workshop.  We created an advent calendar with sweet gifts and the Bible story of Christmas to span the 24 days till Christmas, decorated and ate cookies, and saw a show.

The two heads you seeing popping up to see the show better?  Yep, Thea and Matthew.  They were so engaged.

We have been having a lot of pretend picnics lately.  This particular one was in Nathaniel's room:

Each day, Matthew will excitedly say, "let's do a craft!"  If only I always had great ideas.  Two days ago, we made a Matthew and Thea, and grass, and snow gear, and boots, and moons, and beanstalks, and...

And if Thea were to tell you what we've been doing the last month she'd say Play Doh.  Always Play Doh.

But we also made it to a new indoor playground:

And tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  We are thankful for all of this and more.

Our Kids are Getting Older and Bigger

Matthew stats:

Height: 45 in (99th %ile)

Weight: 41 lbs (84th %ile)

Head: 53 cm

Thea stats:

Height: 35 in (50th %ile)

Weight: 29 lbs (31st %ile)

Head: 50 1/4 cm

Nathaniel stats:

Height: 22 1/2 in (15th %ile)

Weight: 12 lbs, 4 oz (38th %ile)

Head: 40cm (66th %ile)

Kids Quotes! XXX

Matthew is excitedly opening a present

Daddy: "What is it?!"

Matthew: "It's mine!"

Balls!

Now, with us having two little boys, with a title of balls, you'd think this was going to be a cute post about someone chasing a ball. Uh uh. 

Matthew: (points) These are my balls. 

Mommy: Yep. 

Matthew: Daddy has really BIG (shows with his hands) balls, right Mom?

Mommy: (laughing) Yes, he does. 

Matthew: And Thea doesn't have balls. I wish I didn't have balls. And Nathaniel has really tiny balls (demonstrates with hands). 

First Day of School

September 15th marked the first day of school for Matthew and Thea, both of whom were super excited.  Despite the excitement, Thea put on a crying show for the hours prior to school.  Thank you, molars. Thank you, ibuprofen, even more. 

9/15/15; Favorite colors: red and orange; When I grow up I want to be: a firefighter;
Favorite toy: paw patrollers; Favorite game: Minions

9/15/15; Favorite colors: pink and purple; When I grow up I want to be: a princess; 
Favorite toy: Floppy; Favorite game: Chase

Matthew with his best friend

So enthused about her cubby!

While Thea had a rough morning at home, when she got to school she was so happy it was her turn!  She's been eyeing that classroom for two years!  She gave me a hug and kiss goodbye and then literally ran into the room (arms lifted behind her like they were wings) and said "BYE!"  When I picked her up she was so happy and told me all the things she did that day.  She was so proud and excited.

And this is the note I got from her teacher at the end of the week:

"Yeah!!  This was so exciting to have Thea in the class and what a sweetie pie!  She had a great first day.  No hiccups at all!  She played with nearly everything and everyone and was so cheerful and easy going the whole time.  Hmmm...what did Thea do..cooking in the kitchen, reading books, build with blocks.  Cover and mold over an entire black bunny with blue playdough, hang out with new friends, puzzles, but most of all she seemed to really like scooping the water in the water table.  She spent a long time there with her new buddy Julianna.  Thea was very good about sharing, taking turns, and cleaning up.  Her big brother did a good job being a role-model!  (I heard he was a TERRIFIC leader upstairs today -a little bird told me so!)  I am so so so excited and thankful to you and so very very glad that the Schwartz family is part of my life.  So glad to now get to know Thea."

Matthew had an incredible time at school.  When asked about his first day he said it was "GREAT!" and proceeded to tell me all about his time.  At prayer time before bed, he talked about being grateful for school and stated that "Everything!" was the best part.  His teacher was very positive about him calling him "a leader", "very social" and "ready for the next level." That was day one.  Day two she told me that she has picked up on some ways to challenge him as he is curious and ready for more.  Day three she was encouraging me to sign him up for what is called "lunch bunch" in order to challenge him more and allow him to be even more social.  

One of the things we are most grateful for is this school.  The children love it and the teachers are bright, positive, and loving.  Praising God for good things and for the school year!

Nathaniel at 1 Month

Stats:

Height: 21.5 in

Weight: 9 lbs, 6 oz

Head: 38cm

Nathaniel has been a gift and a joyful part of our family. He sleeps well (4 hour shifts at night), eats well (obviously, he gained 4 lbs in a month), and cries very little. 

Our older kiddos continue to love on him and have been great with the transition to having a baby around. 

Nathaniel has the cutest chubby cheeks. At night, when I should lay him down in his crib and go to bed, I find myself kissing those cheeks and holding him a little longer. We're tired but are oh so aware of how quickly this time passes. 

Newborn Photo Shoot

We got some pictures taken a couple weeks ago and you are welcome to take a peek! Go to:

www.studiowest.smugmug.com 

View Your Images

Portrait Sessions

Schwartz 9-19-15

Password is "michael" in lower case letters

Enjoy!

2:18am

Things have been going remarkably well, particularly in the night. The kids have had great timing in their wake-ups (twice Thea has woken up as I'm coming up the stairs from being with Nathaniel). It has made things manageable and less tiring (I imagined nights of waking up every 30 minutes for one kid or another).

Alas, last night ALL of the kids woke up at the same exact minute. Nathaniel needed to eat, Thea wanted to snuggle/watch tv/have a snack and Matthew wanted to know if it was morning time. Passing one another in the very dark hallway, Mike and I just laugh because what else can you do?

Maybe you could cry, because both Thea and Nathaniel were then awake for 2 hours. 

Good thing we went to bed at 8:30 last night. 

Read Nathaniel a Story

Thea asked if she could tell Nathaniel a story.

Thea: God loves you. 

Mommy: That's a wonderful story to tell Nathaniel. Do you want to tell him another one?

Thea: Yeah. God is soooo good. 

Mommy: I hope you always remind him of these great stories, Thea. And one day, I hope he will remind you of these stories. 

Nathaniel Benjamin

Nathaniel Benjamin Schwartz came two weeks early and like lightening, THANKFULLY, three weeks ago. I had seen my OB just two days before and she said "I think we've got some time..."  Nope.  Not so much.

I had been having contractions but they were in my lower abdomen which was different than what I had experienced during my prior pregnancies. Thus, I didn't see them as warning signs of his imminent arrival.  In fact, I was concerned that maybe something was wrong.  

I woke up at 5:40 on Saturday, August 22nd, and was having these same contractions only they hurt. A lot.  Thirty minutes later after no more than 5 contractions, I came down to Mike and the kids (who had just woken up) and said, "I think I'm in labor."  We live 45 minutes from the hospital and Thea had come within 3 1/2 hours of the onset of labor so I knew we had to leave pretty quickly but I still wasn't totally sure I was in labor or if they would stop after I walked around and/or woke up a little.  I called the doctor and told her we were on our way.

It was a good thing we did.  The first time I was checked by a doctor I was 9cm and Nathaniel was born 55 minutes after we arrived at the hospital and not by my doctor or the on call doctor but a resident who was extraordinary.   

I am so relieved and grateful this little guy came two weeks early as my pregnancy was very difficult. It was the pregnancy to end all of our pregnancy.  We are savoring these first weeks so much despite the challenges with disrupted sleep.  We are in love with our little baby boy and our BIG kids are dreamlike with Nathaniel.  They sing to him, kiss him and look for him when they wake up in the morning.  

Nathaniel Benjamin born 8-22-15 weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces with a length of 19.5 inches.

Mike ran back into the house right before we left for the hospital.
He came back out wearing these pants. 3 for 3 on the births of our children.

 

Thea was apprehensive but excited as she is with all new people
 and Matthew was gentle, curious and excited.

Heading home in the infamous outfit (my brothers and I came
home in this as well as Paul's kids and our kids).

Gender Reveal

We're 32 weeks pregnant.  Probably should have announced our pregnancy two seasons ago.

Three months ago, we found out the gender.  We wanted to do something different than the first two times, which were both pretty standard fare--the ultrasound tech told us Matthew was a boy, and we found out Thea Bean was a girl upon her delivery.  So, this time, we went with a gender reveal party.  We bought one cake pop for everyone in E's family, including the kids, and told everyone to dig in at the same time.  Whoever was the lucky one to get the blue or pink cake would make the announcement.

So we tricked them and got them all a cake pop with blue inside.  And then we had the kids play...

We had initially planned to be surprised ourselves at this party but then chose to find out yet a different way.  We took a sealed envelope with the gender written on a piece of paper to an ice cream parlor and asked them to give us a scoop of blue or pink ice cream.  The man sealed it in a paper bag and we took it to the car.  Blue it was.  My surprising response, "YES! YES! YES!"

Thea's Art Class

This spring, Thea and I did a music class together that she loved. I searched for a summer dance class per her request but was unable to find one for her age. Art class was the perfect next choice. Here are some pictures from her adventures:

Matthew came the last two weeks because his camp had ended so he got to participate too and had fun with hair coloring!

While some kids spent seven seconds on their sticker projects or paintings, Thea never wanted to stop. She simply loved it and was daily asking if she had "Thea's class" to look forward to going to. I loved our 1:1 time together and seeing her so happy.

Minions Movie

While Mike's parents were in town, we went to our first movie.

The kids have watched the movies Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2 hundreds of times. Totally enthralled every time we watch either of them. So when we found out the movie Minions was coming out, we knew it couldn't get better than this for a first movie theater experience. 

They were both beyond excited to go and were so different in how they showed it. When we got situated in our huge, leather, reclining chairs, Thea dug right into her popcorn and soda. Just. Like. Daddy. 

Matthew, on the other hand, excitedly refused to touch his snack during the previews. He had to wait until Minions began. 

And he did not recline for most of the movie. He was focused. And so happy. 

Mike and I thought the movie was terrible but the kids loved it and it was such a special experience. 

Kids Quotes XVIV

At random, while driving...

Matthew: Mommy, when you smooch me, your heart goes to your face. 

Sweet Boy

While reading a book together, Matthew said, "Mommy, I'm your angel. And you're my heart."

Little One's Help

Thea was so thoughtful today, I had to make note of it. I was folding her laundry and without being asked she ran it to her room to put it away. 

I guess that's helpful. 

Trip to Cincinnati

This year's Fourth of July weekend was spent visiting our best friends in Cincinnati. So great to be with great friends. Here are some pics from the trip:

Without first asking Mike if he wanted to take a dip in the really cold water, I asked the kids if they wanted to see Daddy cannon ball. You know what the answer was. 

I continued to ask them if they wanted to see Daddy do it again. Like ten more times. 

Parade time: 

Matthew has his hand on his heart. Such a good American citizen. ❤️💙🇺🇸

The kids were amazing on the drive with no complaining, even when our trip was extended by 2 hours because of construction traffic. 

All the kiddos got along so well throughout the visit we all agreed we may be willing to do it again sometime. Which is good because it's nice to not say see you never to friends you like.