Dan & Tara

14 Month Footage

2012-02-01T20:27:00.000-06:00

Charlie will be 14 months tomorrow! Sorry, I know it's been awhile. Life has been busy! Charlie has been busy! Here are a couple of new fun facts about his life as a 14 month old (with video proof):

* Charlie now chooses to walk most of the time rather than crawl, but it's still slow and wobbly. For some strange reason he does the sign for "milk" (opening and closing his fist) while walking, and Daddy observed that he looks kind of like Frankenstein the way he waddles with his arms out and a blank stare on his face. Haha! Here is a video (though I couldn't quite capture what Daddy was talking about):

* Charlie now weighs between 24 and 25 pounds and is 28.5 inches tall! Most of his clothes are 18 months but are a little long on him while being tight on his chubby tummy, arms, and legs!

* His hair is...well, crazy. Not sure how else to put it. Even after a nice bath as it dries curly and somewhat neatly, he takes a nap and POOF! It sticks out about 6 inches from his head in perfect Albert Einstein style.

* He loves his teddy bear, his glow worm (its face lights up and plays lullabies), and his little monkey, and as he passes them he picks them up for a quick hug (as we're about to say, "Aw, how sweet...") before hurling them out of sight in typical boy fashion.

* He loves reading his books and mimics the tone of our voices while "reading them" out loud to himself.

* He's really a very happy boy, which I never would have guessed he would be from birth to 9 months! God can do miracles! I will say, he can go from extreme bliss to devastating upset in a matter of two seconds, but I'm gonna assume that's somewhat normal for a 14 month old.

* Praise the LORD, Charlie stayed in nursery the WHOLE time last Saturday night at church! This is the first time since he was 5 months old! Here's the trick: I went in with him, sat and played with him near the other babies, and within 10 minutes he didn't even know I was there. Once he crawled away from me, I figured it was safe to leave. I could hardly believe I listened to the whole sermon baby-free! And he was even happy when I picked him up, exclaiming, "CLOCK!" while pointing at his favorite object (other than "CAAAR!") on the nursery wall.

* Every day Charlie spends a good amount of time standing on the couch looking out the window waiting for the cars to drive by so he can scream, "CAAAAR!" at them. He probably says it one hundred times a day.

* Charlie says, "Hi" now with a big cheesy smile when he sees us and when he looks in the mirror. So fun to have conversations! (Charlie: "Hiyeee!" Mama: "Hi!" Ok, so that's pretty much the extent of it, but it totally counts.)

* Oh, and Charlie likes to play indoor frisbee golf with Daddy...

Charlie Says...

2012-01-10T12:15:00.001-06:00

(*Note: this is an extremely boring post... one that is typed up solely for my memory.)

At 13 months, here are some words Charlie says:
Mama
Dada
All Done/Gone
Bye-bye
Cat ("Ca")
Car ("Cah")
Clock
Cheese
Tree
Bible ("Bie-buh")
Fan ("Fffffff")
Guitar ("Gita")
Owl

Some signs he knows and uses:
More
All Done
Milk
Sleepy

Words he understands/identifies:
Mama
Dada
Cat
Car
Clock
Tree
Star
Bible
Fan
Light
Window
Toys
Book
No
Button
Elephant
Lion
Giraffe
Bear
Fish
Bird
Dog
Frog
Walk
Hand
Nose
Ear
Hair
Eye
Lips
Fingers
Toes
Feet
Eat/Food
Tarzan (ha! and he pounds his chest)
Pacifier
Sleepy
All Done/Gone
More
Hook (random, I know)
Baby Charlie (points to his baby picture)
"The Lord is my Shepherd" (points to the wall art in his room with the verse and picture of a lamb)
Guitar
"Praise Jesus!" (puts his arms up in the air:))
Baby
Teddy Bear
Hat
Banana
Apple
Water
Bath
Piano
Outside
Puffs
Pray (and folds his hands)
Clap (and claps)
Duck
Flower
Ball
Owl (with sound effect: "whooo whoo")
Monkey
Balloon

Happy 1st Birthday, Charlie!

2011-12-04T22:28:00.000-06:00

My ~~baby~~ little boy is one now! Can it be? One year ago today we were bringing him home from the hospital and learning to take care of a newborn. Scary and sweet times. I can't believe this baby...

...is the same as this one...

Here is a little about Charlie, the one year old:

He is all of a sudden the happiest little boy ever! I am overjoyed at his contentedness & ability to entertain himself for hours playing with toys and reading books.
He weighs in at over 22 pounds (a 4 pound weight gain in a little over a month!) and measures about 29 inches tall. I love his potbelly and short, stubby legs.
He is incredibly cuddly. He is always hugging his teddy bear, and now every time he sees pictures of cats or dogs he lays his head on the picture to "hug" it :) He does this to us, too. So sweet!
He loves books... he even giggles when I reach for one to read before bedtime or naptime, and points to the ones he wants. His favorite one is about babies and every time I read the line that says, "Babies love to be hugged and cuddled and loved" he smiles, cocks his head and shrugs a shoulder. Adorable.
He now crawls normally most of the time, unless he needs to get somewhere quick. Then he reverts back to the army crawl.
He also stands without assistance for a few seconds at a time, but only when he doesn't realize it. He gets so frightened when he does and sits right down! He is still cruising around quickly while holding on to furniture.
He now says, "Bye bye" and "all gone/done" (with the sign language) and waves when people leave through our front door.
He naps twice a day for a total of 3-4 hours and sleeps uninterrupted for 12 hours at night, praise the Lord!
He eats a lot of our "adult" food now and enjoys all the new flavors and tastes. He loves chili!
He drinks goat's milk out of a sippy cup with a straw.
He turns everything into a "walker"...his high chair, his music toy on 4 legs, & his new rocking chair all get pushed around by Charlie while walking :)

Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy. We love you and are so thankful to God for you!

Homemade Recipes

2011-11-30T21:42:00.000-06:00

As a follow-up to my previous posts on frugal and natural living, I thought I'd post my homemade recipes for some of the items mentioned, since some of you have asked for them. I haven't broken down the costs yet, but I do know that they are all comparable to (if not much cheaper than) the typical store-bought items, not to mention all-natural and safe! By the way, I found this website, Skin Deep Database where you can type in a bath, body, or cosmetic product and it will tell you it's hazard rating based on it's ingredients. It also describes the ingredients/chemicals individually and rates them. Very helpful!

Toothpaste

5 TB Calcium powder (helps re-mineralize teeth)

3 TB Xylitol (adds sweetness and fights cavities)

2 TB Baking Soda (optional- I opted to not use it, because I read that baking soda is harsh on your gums and causes recession over time, but a small amount is probably fine for whitening)

2 tsp Liquid Castile Soap (unscented is best- I use Dr. Bronner’s brand)
3-5 TB Coconut Oil (antibacterial properties)

1 TB Sea Salt dissolved in water or finely blended (optional- antiseptic properites & reduces swelling in your gums)
10-20 drops Peppermint Essential Oil (helps freshen breath and cover up slight soapy taste)

* I just made this tonight for the first time and my teeth feel so clean! Does have a little bit of a soapy taste, so I changed the recipe to 2 tsp from 1 TB and I'd up the essential oils and/or xylitol (you can use Stevia for sweetening instead, but it doesn't have the cavity fighting properites that xylitol does) to cover that up a bit more. Love it!

Deodorant

1/4-1/2 cup Baking Soda

1/4-1/2 cup Arrowroot Powder (or Cornstarch)

6-10 TB Coconut Oil (antibacterial properties)

1/8-1/4 cup Shea Butter (optional- healing & soothing properties for sensitive skin)

5-10 drops Tea Tree Oil (optional- anti-bacterial & earthy scent)

5-10 drops Peppermint Oil (optional- scent)

* Here is a link to the original blog post/instructional video from Passionate Homemaking, where I found this recipe (I added Shea Butter as she suggests for those who have sensitive skin).

Shampoo

1/2-1 cup Liquid Castile Soap (Dr. Bronner’s)

1-1.5 cups Water

1.5 tsp Peppermint Oil (optional)

1.5 tsp Tea Tree Oil (optional- anti-bacterial properties)

*I tried the baking soda- water "No-poo" approach, but hated how oily my hair felt afterward. Supposedly it's the transition period where your body is adjusting to not having to produce as much oil due to commercial shampoos stripping the natural oils away, but I couldn't wait the 2 weeks to a month to see if it got better... my hair looked and felt terrible. Kudos to you if you'd like to try it for longer than me! I liked this recipe much better as it is soap, so it feels a lot like commercial shampoos, but it's all natural so it doesn't have the dangers of those creepy chemicals.

Conditioner

1 TB Apple Cider Vinegar

1 cup Water

Lip Balm/Hair Styling Pomade

1/2 cup Coconut Oil (melt in saucepan)

1 cup Shea Butter

Essential Oils (optional- for scent- Shea Butter has a really strong earthy scent)

*Whip ingredients together with hand or stand mixer for several minutes & store in a shallow tin or jar. It's pretty sticky, but really moisturizing and healing on lips, and Dan loves using it in his hair. You only need a tiny bit for a lot of hold!

Simple Handsoap (Thanks, Tina!)

1 TB Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castile Soap (any scent)

Water (enough to fill the rest of the dispenser)

* Fill foaming dispenser to make it last longer!

Cloth Diaper Detergent

1 cup Washing Soda

1 cup Borax

1/2 cup Oxiclean (Free, Baby, or Regular)

Or larger batch:

3 boxes Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (55 oz each)

2 boxes 20 Mule Team Borax (76 oz each)

1 large tub Oxiclean (96 oz)

* Use ½ TB per cycle directly in barrel for HE machine, 1 TB per cycle for a regular machine. This is incredibly cost-effective, and it works great!

Regular Clothing Detergent

1 cup Washing Soda (Arm & Hammer)

1 cup Borax (20 Mule Team)

1/2 cup Oxiclean (Free, Baby, or Regular)

1 bar Fels Naptha Soap (microwave for 90 sec & grate)

Or larger batch:

3 boxes Arm & Hammer Washing Soda (55 oz each)

2 boxes 20 Mule Team Borax (76 oz each)

1 large tub Oxiclean (96 oz)

24 bars of soap finely grated (Fels Naptha, Ivory, etc)

* I haven't made this yet because we still have a ton of some cheap kind Dan bought awhile ago, but as soon as it runs out, we're making this! Same recipe as the cloth diaper detergent but with added soap (that would cause buildup on the diapers). Use 1 TB per load for HE machine, 2 TB per load for a regular machine.

11.22 and Overdue

2011-11-22T10:19:00.000-06:00


11.22.10- 40 weeks

One year ago today, I was really pregnant. Well, not as pregnant as I would be TEN days later, but still. It was my due date. I found it funny at the time how friends, family, and complete strangers were almost more anxious for me to go into labor than I was. Don't get me wrong. I couldn't wait to meet my son, but I guess my mindset (thankfully) was that he would be "late." That, in itself, is a funny way to put it. I always knew that due dates were only estimates, and even though we knew for certain the exact "due date," we also knew that babies aren't really ever "due" to come on a certain day. They come when they are good and ready (and when God plans them to, even if we don't feel they, or we, are good and ready). I knew many first time moms went "overdue," and one study said on average 41.5 weeks (if they were not induced first). Hmm....exactly Charlie's gestation! So, I guess I just planned on him arriving fashionable "late."

So, while everyone kept asking me, "Aren't you just ready to be done!?" or "You're still pregnant!?" on my due date, I thought, "Well, sure, pregnancy has been rough, and I'm getting uncomfortable, but I'll only be pregnant so long. He won't stay in there forever, and I'll never get to be pregnant with him again. So, I'm going to try to enjoy the last moments of my marriage without children. I'm going to enjoy each last kick in the womb by my very active boy. I'm going to attempt to actually sleep for the last few times through the entire night without having to get up to feed or comfort a screaming baby. I'm going to enjoy decorating for Christmas. He'll be here soon enough and then I will have other concerns and struggles, and yes, joys as well!"

I'm so thankful for that mindset, because without it (and without the Lord), I would probably have gone crazy by 10 days "overdue"! It also helped to learn how much babies actually develop in the last few weeks and days of pregnancy. Their brains at 35 weeks are only 2/3 the weight of their brains at 39-40 weeks! They usually put on around a pound a week the last month. Their lungs are much stronger the longer they "bake," and breastfeeding is more likely to come easier. There are many more advantages that research is continually finding to babies staying in the womb until they are ready to come out (Just found this interesting article.). It's quite amazing. And...yes, God knows when it's time...as He does with everything. Patience is a fruit of the spirit we pray for, and then we are tested and tried in order to produce it within us.

Anyway, I'm thankful this year to get to enjoy a regular sized (and non-nauseous) stomach to eat Thanksgiving dinner with! (Oh, and an adorable almost-one-year-old!) What a year!

11 Months

2011-11-07T21:16:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I only have one more of these monthly updates before Charlie turns a year old! I have to say that Charlie just gets more fun, the older he gets. He makes us laugh so hard with his silly expressions, his growling boy-ish noises, and the funny way he crawls, cruises, and dances. Here is a snapshot look at 11 month old Charlie:

* Cruises around the house faster than ever, holding onto furniture and/or walls.

* Stands for a few seconds at a time without holding onto anything.

* Crawls on his hands and knees occasionally before reverting back to his old army crawling habits.

* Dances when he hears music...and by dancing, I mean really intense swaying back and forth that sometimes causes him to fall down when he's standing.

* Loves his solid food. Will pretty much eat anything we give him to eat, which is a blessing!

* Has started to wean/supplement nursing with goat's milk (plus added baby vitamins and soon to be added cod liver oil...yum, right?) as he has been biting a lot more recently and possibly not getting enough from nursing.

* Has started gaining weight much quicker since supplementing... now up to 20 lbs (almost 2 pound gain in a month!)

* Got his 6th tooth in (4 on top, 2 on bottom) finally!

* Does great at childcare for the weekly Bible study I'm in, but still hating the church nursery so far...baby steps.

* Hates napping and it's a huge struggle each day. Not sure what the deal is.

* Sleeps about 11 hours at night, wakes to nurse, and back to sleep for another 2 or 3 hours.

* Is really cuddly...I love this. Even if he can be clingy (and he is getting better at playing by himself!), there is no greater feeling than to have your little boy crawl to you and lay his head on your chest or simply "head butt" you and push his face up against yours (his version of a hug). So sweet!

* Loves cars! Real ones and toys! Rolls a ball back and forth with us and throws a frisbee (with the windup and everything!:)

* His hair is growing longer and even wilder. Oh fuzzy-headed, Charlie.

* Drinks from a straw sippy cup...perfect! So much better (less messy)and easier for him than the plain sippy cup route.

* May have been heard to say, "Mama" while crying in his crib...not sure. But I'll take it.

* Loves to point at everything/everyone. Points to the foods he wants to eat, objects he wants to hold, things he wants me to tell him about :)

* Somehow has his "all done" sign mixed up with his "more" sign...this can get frustrating for both of us!

* Hates wearing socks and pulls them off as soon as we put them on. Winter is coming, little boy...

Well, I could go on, but this is probably good for now. Love our little baby turning little boy! What a crazy, great 11 months!

Haha...gave him a mini frisbee and he bit it.

Frugal, Natural, and Healthy Changes Pt. 3

2011-10-25T19:47:00.000-05:00

Part 3: The Nursery (Baby) Changes

As I mentioned at the beginning of these posts, the reason we decided to move toward more natural living began with our pregnancy. We wanted our son to have a healthy start to life. So, as we learned more, here are some ways we began saving money while promoting his health at the same time.

Cloth Diapering.- I realize this is not for everyone. But perhaps it's for more of you than you think. At first, the thought of cloth diapering scared me, as I was already overwhelmed at the prospect of being a mom for the first time. There was so much I needed to learn before our baby arrived that this almost seemed too big a feat to attempt. Our parents were probably more likely to cloth diaper than our generation...with real cloth diapers. Many people still picture prefolds and safety pins. And while some people still use this method, if that overwhelms you, you should know how far cloth diapers have come and what other options you have. There are probably hundreds of brands of cloth diapers (inserts and covers combined) out there. We chose to mostly use Bumgenius diapers, one of the highest rated cloth diaper brands out there. We put them on our baby registry and then made an investment in purchasing the rest ourselves. We figured that it would save us at least $2,000 by the time Charlie would be out of his diapers...and that's only for one child. You can re-use these diapers for more children saving even more money. We liked the fact that he wouldn't have the chemicals from disposable diapers up next to his skin constantly as well as the fact that cloth diapers are just so cute nowadays! We started cloth diapering with Charlie when I was completely recovered from labor/delivery (it took awhile for me)...around 2 months postpartum. We've been using cloth diapers now for 9 months and have never regretted it. In fact, I actually enjoy it! They don't seem inconvenient in the least to us (except for maybe having to visit the creepy spider-infested side of the basement with the washer/dryer more often). We have a wet bag for when we are out and have to change diapers, and they are as quick to change as a disposable. Oh, and we had such problems with disposables for the first two months of Charlie's life! We had to change his outfit almost every single diaper change due to the leaks. And we tried different kinds, changed him more often, and tried different sizes. They just didn't work well for us. With the cloth diapers we hardly ever had leaks! If you've ever thought about it for a moment, maybe you should consider it again!
Cloth Wipes. - Have I gone mad, you might ask? Nope. Not yet, anyway. A couple of our friends were using cloth wipes that they had bought or made and loved them. Even though disposable wipes aren't too expensive, we thought it wouldn't be too much more difficult to wash wipes since we'd already be washing diapers. And again, we weren't thrilled with the chemicals in the wipes that can be harsh on baby's skin. So our friend made some for us (they are very easy to make!) out of terrycloth on one side and flannel on the other. We've only ever needed to use one at a time, and they never irritate Charlie's skin.
Natural Wipe Solution.- A friend gave us Honey Chunks to dissolve in water to make our own wipe solution. We love this! They are all natural honey and oils that aren't harsh on baby's skin but actually moisturize while cleaning. It smells so good, too! You can certainly make your own natural wipe solution, as well, but we found that this is pretty cheap.
Homemade Cloth Diaper Detergent.- When you cloth diaper, you need to use a special detergent to keep the diapers from being worn down by harsh ingredients in regular detergent. There are many options out there, and we found this chart really helpful in comparing costs and effectiveness. But after trying a few kinds that worked fine (but were expensive due to shipping), we found this recipe to make our own cloth diaper detergent that was extremely cheap and effective! I made one big batch costing us around $30, have given much of it away, have used it for 9 months now, and I still have at least half of it left. Amazing. And it really cleans our diapers. We've never had stink issues. Highly recommend!
Coconut oil for diaper rash ointment. - Can you tell we love our coconut oil? Because we are cloth diapering, we can't use ointments like Desitin for diaper rash. It isn't good for the diapers and doesn't wash out of them well. But again, we'd rather use a more natural ointment on our baby, anyway. So I found that coconut oil can also be used for a diaper rash and is safe to use with cloth diapers. Since it has anti-bacterial properties, it's doubly beneficial! Charlie has only had one or two good rashes in his 11 months of life and those each lasted less than 24 hours after applying coconut oil. We also use it for scrapes/scratches on Charlie's face, and we used it for cradle cap when he was a newborn. We used it for soap and lotion for him sometimes, too, and it worked great!
Natural and/or NO Baby wash/shampoo. - We started out with all the popular baby washes and shampoos until we learned more about the harmful chemicals that are actually in most of them. Check out this article for just a little info on that. We tried California Baby products which we were happy with, but they are more expensive. Then, when we bought our Norwex products (see Part #2), we also bought the baby cloths which allow you to use only water to wash your baby (and his/her hair!). We love that for traveling we only have to bring a small washcloth in place of bottles of baby wash and baby shampoo.
Homemade Baby Food. - So far, we've just made Charlie's baby food, which has saved us a ton of money. He eats about as much as I do in one sitting, so those little baby food jars would really add up! There are many websites that have recipes or ideas for making healthy baby food at home cheaply. Again, we try to follow the lists of which fruits and vegetables are most important to buy organically and then the rest we don't worry about. We make sure he has lots of good fats in his diet for his developing brain, so he eats a lot of coconut oil mixed in his food, avocados, and egg yolks. Yum (well, at least he thinks so)!
Natural/Homeopathic Teething Remedies.- We've had a lot of experience with teething, unfortunately. Charlie started getting teeth at 3 months old, and he definitely notices every little pain connected to teething, so we needed to get creative. We didn't like the idea of Charlie taking Tylenol and Ibuprofin all the time (because with him, it would be all the time), so we found out about homeopathic teething tablets. These have literally been a life saver for us. They haven't always worked perfectly, but they always help a good deal with his pain. They are all natural ingredients without any side effects. We also tried the ever popular Amber teething necklace. Many of our friends raved about it, so we looked into it. Amber has been shown (yes, scientifically) to release small amounts of succinic acid into the skin (when someone is wearing it in the form of a necklace, bracelet, anklet, etc) which acts as a natural pain reliever and anti-inflammatory. We haven't found the necklace to work for Charlie, though others have sworn by them, so it's definitely worth a try if you want to go the more natural route. On many days we end up having to break out the Tylenol or Ibuprofin for our poor teething baby, but it's nice to know we have other options to start with that are safe and worth trying!

So there you have it. These are just some of the ways we have chosen to save money and promote a healthier life for our child...and probably just some of the ways you think we're crazy. But that's ok :)

Frugal, Natural, and Healthy Changes Pt. 2

2011-10-21T14:28:00.000-05:00

Pt. 2: Changes in the Bathroom

Ok, so that doesn't sound like a very appealing title. Oh well. This is where I share what frugal, natural and healthy changes we have made for our family in the bathroom, or personal care/toiletry area. Again, we are still in progress here, figuring out how to frugally do this natural living thing. At first, we started buying all these expensive "natural and organic" products to replace our toiletries. But then it was just getting too pricey. So, I looked up how to make many of our toiletries. Here's what we have done so far:

Used coconut oil for body lotion and for face moisturizer. - You can also use it as face soap if you want, and then when you rinse it off, you will not need a moisturizer. I have dry, sensitive skin on my face, so I've always had a hard time finding a face moisturizer I liked that wasn't super expensive. You have to really rub it in and only use a little bit, but it won't clog your pores because it absorbs so well. It also has anti-bacterial properties, which is why it is great for cleaning your skin. I also use it on small scrapes and cuts and they always heal quickly and nicely.
Switched to an all-natural deodorant that doesn't have aluminum in it.- I found one I like fairly well online, but it was around $8. Not something I want to keep paying for. So, I found this recipe on one of my favorite natural living blogs, Passionate Homemaking. We have yet to try it, but it's so cheap, that we are planning on it as soon as the current one runs out. If you're not used to a natural deodorant without an anti-perspirant, your body will have to adjust a bit and you may have to apply the deodorant a couple times throughout the day if you are doing enough to make you sweat. But you know those gross yellow pit stains? Supposedly those are caused more by the deodorants/anti-perspirants and how they mix with your sweat, so when you stop using them, you shouldn't have that problem (even if you do sweat more than you're used to now, which is healthy for you!). You should stay away from putting aluminum on your skin. It is possibly linked to breast cancer and definitely linked to Alzheimer's.
Switched to all-natural toothpaste...that is, without fluoride. - Again, controversial, I know, but fluoride has been shown to be very harmful when ingested (or absorbed in our mouths), even in these "small" amounts. Read more here on the dangers of fluoride. We use Jason's toothpaste right now, but I'd like to try a kind with xylitol which is a natural and safe substitute for fluoride that helps resist cavities and build enamel.
Replaced our body wash and facewash with Norwex anti-bacterial micrfiber cloths that are threaded with silver to kill bacteria. No need to ever use soap again! We love our face cloths and body cloths! Save tons of money on soap and facewash and it's completely safe and healthy for your skin. (We also replaced our chemical cleaning supplies with Norwex all-purpose cleaning cloths so we only have to clean with water...so simple!) We hosted a Norwex party and got tons of free products, so it was really a frugal choice to switch! Here is a link to my friend's Norwex page if you are interested in learning more, hosting a party, or purchasing some for yourself!
Made our own shampoo and conditioner.- Now, having curly hair that needs a good product to keep it detangled, I was skeptical of making our own shampoo and conditioner. We are still in process with this. I haven't tried the shampoo yet, but I've made the conditioner and LOVE how it makes my hair look and feel. The shampoo is basically baking soda water, and the conditioner is apple cider vinegar water. Check out the recipes here.
I forgot to add this in part 1, so I'll add it here. We bought and installed a reverse-osmosis water purifier for drinking water in our kitchen sink. I can tell a huge difference in the taste and, since installing, have probably doubled my water intake throughout the day. It came with a water meter to tell how your water has improved. Our tap water is 99 parts per million (of icky things) and our filtered water is now 6 or 7 ppm. We bought an APEC system, but there are many others out there. We liked that it was a 5 filter system, that we could install it ourself, that we only change the filters a minimum of once a year, and we take it with us when we move.

We are pretty excited about how much we're saving in general to make the above changes, and we actually like the new products/replacements!
Next post: Changes for Baby

Frugal, Natural, and Healthy Changes Pt. 1

2011-10-20T16:38:00.000-05:00

Recently I've been thinking about how much our lives have really changed in the past (almost) two years. I'm not just talking about having a baby, which is a big change in and of itself. Since I became pregnant, I began being more careful about what I ate (when I could eat anything, that is), as well as avoiding being around chemicals or taking medications, for the baby's sake. Much of these changes came from what we were learned in our Bradley prenatal/childbirth class, as well as research I had done online and from books. It made sense to be careful while you were growing a new life. What I didn't realize until after Charlie came was how important many of these things are after you are done being pregnant or nursing. These more safe and natural ways of living are important for everyone! So, slowly we started changing our lives to be more frugal, natural, and healthy. I thought I'd break it down by rooms in the house to explain these changes in case they are informative or encouraging to you to make small, healthier changes. Again, these were gradual for us, not all at once...and we still have a long way to go and more to learn.

Part 1: Changes in the Kitchen

Drinking less cow's milk and eating less dairy in general. - I've never been a huge milk drinker, but I love cheese and ice cream. I learned more about cow's milk when Charlie was a newborn and struggling with digesting the dairy in my diet when he nursed. What a huge difference it made when I cut it out completely! While some people are more sensitive/allergic to cow's milk than others, it's not really easy for anyone to digest, because it's really designed to be digested by baby cows, just as human breastmilk is designed perfectly for baby humans. We still use cow's milk for cooking/baking, and we still eat cheese and ice cream, but we try to limit it to a smaller portion of our diets.
Cooking with coconut oil.- I never knew anything about coconut oil until this past year. Due to it being pretty much blacklisted by the U.S. because of it's supposed high saturated fat content and our obsession with "low-fat," most people don't use it for cooking. However, research has found that coconut oil is composed of medium chain fatty acids instead of long chain (which are the less healthy kind), and they actually help lower cholesterol. There are tons of health benefits to eating coconut oil. It amazingly has anti-bacterial properties, so it has many household uses other than eating (which I'll share in a later post...we love our coconut oil!). Some take it as a supplement to even lose weight. It is more stable than olive oil at high temperatures, so it's healthier to cook with at high heats. We also add it to Charlie's food as it is so important for him to have high good fats right now. Here is more information on how great coconut oil is: http://www.coconutresearchcenter.org/
Getting rid of our Teflon pans. - Teflon and most other non-stick surfaces for cooking/baking are toxic. They let out chemicals when heated up that escape into the air and leach into your food, as well. So, we've switched over to cast iron and stainless steel for the most part. We figured there's little point buying organic if the cooking process adds back in chemicals that we are ingesting.
Phasing out our plastic storage containers for glass.- Same concept as the Teflon. Plastics can leach their chemicals into your food. Yuck.
Limiting microwave use.- While we still use the microwave for certain things, if at all possible, we try to use the stove, over, or toaster oven to reheat foods or cook them to begin with. Microwaving food kills many of the beneficial nutrients and even changes the properties of the food in a harmful way to us.
Buying organic as possible with our budget (See "clean list" and "dirty dozen list"- these are what we mostly go by: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/health/the-dirty-dozen-and-clean-15-of-produce/616/). - We also recently purchased an 1/8 of a cow that should last us about a year- organic, grass-fed beef...yum!
Trying to stay away from boxed/processed foods as much as possible. We aren't super great at this yet, but it's a good goal.- We didn't realize how many preservatives and additives (not so healthy, and downright dangerous) are in packaged foods. It's crazy! So, as much as possible, we try to eat more whole, unprocessed foods.
Taking high dosages of vitamin D in addition to our multi-vitamins. - I realize that a couple of things on this list are perhaps against the norm or even possibly controversial. This might be one of those things. The current recommended daily amount of vitamin D is as low as a mere 200ius. On the other hand, when testing blood levels, the average person is severely vitamin D deficient. The main reason people are sicker in the winter is due to the lack of sun intensity and exposure that has Vitamin D in it. Being out in the sun for 20 minutes will give you up to 10,000ius. And most of the time, we don't catch colds or flu in the summer. There are many doctors who believe the Vitamin D dosage should be much higher, varying per person, but generally between 3,800 and 5,000 ius (for those who are deficient (MOST of us) daily for an adult and possibly higher (up to 10,000 ius daily) in the winter. For pregnant and breastfeeding moms, 6-8,000 ius daily is recommended so that the baby gets enough. Some are worried about overdose, but it has been shown that there are only potential side-effects after someone takes around 100,000 ius a day for years. It is recommended to have your levels checked periodically while supplementing to make sure you're taking the right dosage, but most likely if you are pale like me and living in the North, you could use a much higher dose than what you're getting now. Since I started taking 6-8,000 ius daily, I have hardly been sick at all. I used to get sick almost monthly, and now only about once a year, with a small cold. It's a great boost to your immune system, helps you absorb calcium, and it's pretty cheap! Here's some more info on the wonders of Vitamin D: http://www.vitamind3-cholecalciferol.com/vitamin-d-benefits.htm

I don't believe that we should make decisions based on fear, especially when we think that our choices will guarantee us healthier, longer lives. God is still the one in control over our lives and if it's our time to die, it's our time, regardless of how much we ate organically. Having said that, I believe it is important to be informed and be as healthy as you can (taking care of our "temples") while not making it an idol or breaking the bank. So, we do what we can and try not to worry or fret about the rest.
Next post: Changes in the Bathroom :)

10 Months!

2011-10-12T16:48:00.001-05:00

Today, Charlie is 10 months and 10 days old. I have to say this is my favorite age so far! It's so fun to see him grow in understanding of the world around him. I'm daily amazed at how quick he is to pick up on things, too. He's such a big boy!

Silly Charlie & his bird friend.

Charlie at 10 months:

*Weighs around 18.5 lbs, and is about 28 inches tall. Only in the 8th percentile, which is surprising considering how much he eats!

*Understands (and points to) the words: Charlie, kitty, doggy, ball, milk, hungry, outside, Daddy, Mama, nose, lips, sit, stand, clap, open, no (although still not well enough!), piano, light, fan, baby, & mirror.

*Loves playing the piano and sits on the bench by himself to play, smiling the whole time.

*Claps his hands anytime he hears clapping or the word "clap" (even when we watch tv with an audience clapping)

*Loves peekaboo and plays himself with a book or the curtain.

*New foods: chicken, broccoli (least favorite so far so we have to hide it in other foods), pumpkin, & squash.

*Thoroughly enjoys throwing objects...especially his pacifier, right before we're about to put him in his crib.Wonderful.

*Walks around the house using furniture or simply the walls to support himself.

*Knows how to get down from a standing position by falling backwards into a sitting position.

*We're working on separation anxiety...as he mostly hates being left with anyone else but us.

*Smiles at the camera with no prompting.

*Points and says, "Da-da" when Daddy comes home from work.

*Still crawling on his tummy. He's been doing this for 5 months now! Guess he figures he'll stick to what works.

*Still only has 5 teeth but a couple have been trying to come through for a while now!

*He definitely plays like a BOY. Grunting, throwing, crashing, bumbling around :)

He brings us so much joy and we love him so much!

180 Movie

2011-09-30T11:00:00.001-05:00

This movie has already changed a lot of people's minds about abortion. Whether you consider yourself pro-life or pro-choice, I urge you to watch the following documentary with an open mind. Feel free to send me a Facebook message or an email (listed on my Facebook profile: Tara 'Kent' Schmidt) if you have any questions or would like to further discuss anything related to this movie.

(Note: This movie contains some graphic content.)

Grilled Cheese, Please.

2011-09-22T20:33:00.000-05:00

Tonight, like many nights, it was beginning to get late and having no energy or an existing meal plan for the week, I decided I had to get up, go into the kitchen, and try to make something to eat out of nothing. Well, not out of nothing. But with limited food resources, shall we say. It also had to be quick because it was already past 7pm. Woops. Here's what I came up with:

"Tara's Italian-style Grilled Cheese w/Turkey & Tomato"
(ok, so this probably isn't original, but a big step for me...no recipe!)

Heat olive oil and coarse sea salt in a frying pan on medium heat
Fry bread with:
     Cheddar cheese
     Thin slice of tomato
     Dried basil
     Dried "Rosa Maria" herbs (basically Rosemary, Garlic, & Oregano)
     Turkey deli meat

Yep, that's it. You probably make this all the time. Just pretend you think I had a good and yummy sounding idea, okay?

(Oh, and I couldn't take a real picture of our food, because we ate it before I thought to.)

Pinterest Project: I Love You Because...

2011-09-09T13:02:00.000-05:00

In my last post, I mentioned my new time-waster, Pinterest. Although, so far, it's actually been less time-wasting than Facebook, because it's inspiring me to actually do/make things. I'm most interested (or should I say, pinterested?) in the DIYs, or Do It Yourself projects. I'm all about saving money (as is Dan). I'm also all about doing simple crafts. Sometimes I attempt a seemingly simple project and it turns into something much more involved and complicated. I'm sure you've probably been there, as well. This is the reason I won't mention my actual first Pinterest project attempted. It was, well, time consuming and unfruitful. But we won't talk about that.

So, here is my first successful DIY project, inspired by Pinterest.
I pinned it onto my "If I Were Crafty" board from some random person I'm following due to their impressive collection of neat craft ideas. If that last sentence made no sense whatsoever, you'll just have to check Pinterest out. Anyway, here is the original picture/idea from kikicreates.blogspot.com that inspired me:

How cute! An easy way to (verbally) show love to your spouse (or other family you live with)! I admit it caught my fancy because one of my love languages is "words of affirmation," though I can always use a friendly reminder to affirm my husband more often, as well! Dry erase markers make this fun to continually check what's written and write something new each day (ok, so it will probably wear off in a week or so, but it is fun for now).

It really wasn't listed as a DIY on this person's blog, but I thought it couldn't be too difficult to make. So, I created the printed words in Microsoft Word without much hassle. Dan found me a square frame from Target for about $10, though I'm sure you could find a cheaper one at a thrift store or garage sale. Then I bought a simple piece of cardstock to print it on. Since the cardstock I bought was 8 1/2" x 11" and the frame is around 12" x 12", I realized I'd have to trim it into a square and find some sort of matte or background for the extra space in the frame. First, I thought perhaps fabric would be fun, (this would still have worked, I think) but I don't have any fabric on hand right now. Then I thought, maybe tissue paper, but couldn't find any that wasn't bright pink for some reason. Finally, I stumbled upon some extra wedding prints that I had forgotten about that were just sitting in an envelope. I decided to make the background out of the black and white ones, and then just put the printed words in the center and added some paper flowers I had in my craft supplies. Voila! Here's the finished product now hanging in our living room:

Fall Cleaning and a Personality Disorder?

2011-09-08T15:15:00.000-05:00

We missed spring cleaning this year, so over this past Labor Day weekend, we had "fall cleaning." You have to understand that I'm kind of strange, in that I am a recovering perfectionist in most areas of my life, yet I am somehow also a quite messy person (my bedroom would scare you most days). The other (or I should probably say another) strange thing about me is that I really, really like organization. I'm just too lazy to be organized, I guess, and don't mind too much if clothes are covering the bedroom floor. Feels cozy to me. Dan thinks otherwise. However, when I do decide to clean/organize (mostly for my husband's sake), I go overboard and have to make everything perfectly clean/organized. I always forget how much I love it when our home is clean and tidy! Yes, I'm that person who likes to alphabetize, categorize, and sometimes even color code their cd/dvd/book collection - if I get that rare urge to clean or organize, that is. I guess what I'm saying is, I'm usually all or nothing when it comes to cleaning/organizing, and usually nothing. But watch out when I'm in that cleaning mode!

This past weekend is a perfect example of my crazy extremes. I should have taken "before" pictures, but they would have frightened you. We keep our bedroom door shut most of the time for a reason. Lately, we have had to create a path from the bed to the door. That should give you a good enough mental picture. Knowing we had a three day weekend and nothing planned gave the perfect opportunity to start. Actually, it started with a random desire to finish decorating Charlie's room, since he is 9 months old, after all. Once I got started (and almost finished!) with that, I realized we needed another bookcase, or two, to house all of the books I kept finding everywhere. Well, with two new bookcases/pieces of furniture comes reorganizing the small spaces that will hold the new furniture. So, our living room was next, following our bedroom (one bookcase in each), then our dining room, bathroom (yes, even the tiny bathroom), and Dan worked on the basement a bit, too! It's kind of like when you have to change your shirt because you spill something on it. Then you have to change your pants, then your socks, then your shoes, and so-on because they don't match anymore.

Oh, I have to also mention my new semi-obsession with Pinterest. It has quickly brought out the crafty side of me (more on this in another post). So, in addition to crazily cleaning our house like a nesting pregnant lady (which I'm not, just to clarify), I convinced Dan to let me buy a bunch of craft supplies to make decorations for the bare walls in Charlie's room and our room. It was a busy and productive weekend! I love when our house is so organized! Why don't I keep it that way? Hmm.... (Now, I know all of my former roommates in life are nodding their heads to this. My apologies for what you had to experience in being my roommate. If you know and love Jesus, you will be rewarded in Heaven, I'm sure.)

Here are some pictures of our newly rearranged living room. We're not completely finished with the other rooms yet, so you'll have to be patient! Don't you just love bookcases? It's always been my secret dream to have a library with those tall gliding ladders (like in Beauty and the Beast) in my home. This one (below) is far from that, but perhaps in Heaven.

More to come!

9 Months!

2011-09-02T18:34:00.000-05:00

Happy 9 months to my baby boy! Is time flying or is it just me? I love watching him learn and process things in that ~~little~~ big head of his. It's so much fun to be able to interact with him more as he matures. His personality (and facial expressions) crack us up every day, though we can tell he is going to be a bit of a challenge as he gets older, seeing how intense and strong-willed he already is at 9 months old.

At 9 months, Charlie weighs just under 18 pounds and is 28 inches long (or should I start saying tall?:)
He says, "dada" over and over again while talking to us, but doesn't seem to connect it with his "Dada" yet :)
Overall he loves his solid foods, but he is not a fan of anything green, it seems. Must take after his dad.
His tummy crawling has gotten even faster and a few moments here and there he's even gotten into an actual crawling stance (hands and knees) and taken a "step" or two.
His favorite activity is standing. He grabs our fingers constantly to pull himself up and stand or walk with our help.
He loves his kitties. Anytime he sees one of them he breaks out into a huge smile, points, crawls at them, and says, "Ca." Usually he says "dada" or "baba" for everything, so maybe he is actually calling them by name! :)
Teething continues to be a struggle for everyone, and there hasn't been many more teeth to show for it. He has five teeth all the way through and about 5 more that are trying to come through. Poor baby. The only thing that works (besides teething tablets) is frozen food he can eat (applesauce is a hit).
Sadly, he is going through a (quite long) phase of being very attached to me and not wanting anyone else to hold him or take care of him. We have tried multiple times to put him in the nursery at church and continually get called down to get him because they can't calm him down. Sad. Hope this phase ends soon!
His hair is growing faster than any other part of him, I'm convinced. The longer it gets, the curlier and wilder it gets!
Since I've cleaned up his room quite a bit, he's really enjoyed playing in there. He gets unending amount of joy from the door stopper behind his door (the kind that looks like a spring sticking out from the wall) as well as the air conditioning vent.
He has started clapping recently, which is so cute, and he is so proud of himself when he does it.
My favorite development this past month is something I have no term for (which drives me crazy). Maybe you can help. One day when he was super fussy, I decided to take my finger and brush it against his lips up and down while he was yelling. He thought it was so much fun! He quickly learned that whenever he felt my finger he would make noise and when I stopped, he would stop. Now we only have to do it to our own lips and he, in turn, will copy us. So cute! (Is there a name for this???) Anyway, below is a video that shows you what I'm talking about if this makes no sense.

Food for Thought

2011-08-15T13:33:00.004-05:00

While feeding my 8 month old, he cries with panic between every bite of food I give him, as if I'm not going to give him enough or as quickly as he needs it. I wondered, "Why don't you trust that I will give you your next bite (when you need it), just as I have given you food all along, up until now, since your birth? Don't you know I love you?" Much of the time I actually feed him before I have a chance to eat, and sometimes at the expense of my meal altogether. Doesn't he remember all the times I've fed him in the past?

Then it dawned on me. That's how God feels about us. Why do we panic and somehow irrationally think he won't give us our next bite of food (or insert any of our true needs here) as he has all along? Have we forgotten all he has done for us since our birth? Don't we trust him? Has he ever truly let us down? Don't we know how much he loves us?

Philippians 4:19
"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."

Matthew 7:9-11

"...Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"

8 Months!

2011-08-09T15:51:00.000-05:00

Wow. I see I am a bit behind in blogging. Haven't had a lot of extra time lately, though the few minutes here and there I do have are filled with catching up on Charlie's baby book! I'm having a blast with www.mixbook.com and highly recommend them for their picture books.

A little about 8 month old Charlie:
* He pulls himself into standing position with help of a chair or couch!
* He understands the words (and signs for): milk, hungry, kitty, & ball (if he understands "no," he sure is pretending not to)
* Eating everything in sight is still a favorite pastime...mostly tufts of cat hair, lint, spider webs, and other gross things we try to retrieve when we notice him chewing...
*Solid foods he eats: avocado, banana, blueberries, egg yolk, oatmeal, coconut milk, sweet potato, peas, carrots, and organic baby "puffs."
*Favorite "words": "baba" & "dada" (no associations yet with Daddy, though)
*He loves being held by Mommy and reaches for her whenever he sees her...inconvenient, but sweet :)
*He has 5 teeth (3 on top, 2 on bottom) and seems to STILL be working on more, never a break!
*He sleeps 10-11 hours at night (on a good night) and naps (briefly) about 2-3 times a day.
*He is still army crawling...wonder if he'll ever crawl normally?
*He loves when you kiss all over his neck crevices and blow on his tummy!
*He also likes playing "peek-a-boo" and laughs heartily when you appear.
*He's starting to wave at us!
*He's still not gaining weight lately, actually losing a bit! He is so active! Weighs about 17 pounds even now.
*He head bangs and flaps his arms when he's really happy :)
*His hair is really growing lately and is becoming quite curly!

Well, that's Charlie in a nutshell right now. He is getting to be such a big boy so quickly!

7 Months!

2011-07-13T14:36:00.001-05:00

Well, things have been busy lately, so this post is a bit late. Charlie is actually now closer to 7.5 months old! I can't believe he is getting this big, but it's so much fun! I love how he interacts with us more and more, his changing smile with added teeth, his mobility (even if not very convenient for us all the time), and watching him learn. Charlie weighs 17lbs 14 oz and is about 28 inches long. He hasn't gained much weight lately due to his high energy level and need to constantly be crawling (aka getting into everything!).

Here are some "milestones" at 7 months:
* Pulling himself into a standing position using (if you can believe it) a gliding chair! We didn't even encourage this or help him. I glanced over at him across the room and he was standing there holding on to the chair! Later we watched him pull himself up from the ground to his feet using only his arms and the chair...looked like he was doing a pull up! So strong!
* Reaching for Mommy most of the time...becoming very opinionated about when he is held (always) and when he is sat down (never).
* Still working on his 4th tooth (and perhaps others?)...you can see it bulging through his gums!!!
* Mad egg shaker skills with his left hand! Very rhythmic. Future drummer?? :)
* Smiling for pictures...stopping to pose for the camera :)
* Side-lying... he enjoys pausing in the middle of crawling to lay on his side, hold his leg for balance and just look at people. Again, looks like he's posing.
* Climbing on everything! He likes to climb over guitar cases, his changing pad, our laps up to our shoulders, etc.
* Adding more solid foods to his diet (though he's not entirely impressed lately): Steamed carrots, oatmeal, hard boiled egg yolks, avocados, & bananas.

Last weekend we traveled up to Cass Lake to spend time with Dan's family and stayed in cabins. Charlie got to meet many more relatives, and he loved all the attention :) He also got to go swimming in his new cloth swim diaper! We think he is starting to warm up to spending time in the water. Here are some pictures from the weekend up north!

Dawn & Regan (my sis-in-law & niece)

Over the 4th

2011-07-06T16:42:00.000-05:00

We drove to Chicago to visit my family this past weekend for the 4th. Lots of driving and craziness, but lots of fun! We realize now that having just one child will add about an hour onto a previous 7 hour drive to Chicago, and after that child gets past the sleepy newborn stage, will cry and fuss most of the trip, upset at being constrained in a car seat the whole way. We arrived late Friday night at my parents' house and left to go home on Tuesday afternoon. Since we didn't get enough car time, evidently, we spent Sunday driving to Lafayette, IN to visit my brother, sister-in-law, and nephews- including my newest nephew Graham (only one week old!). It was fun for Charlie to get to see all of his uncles and aunts (pronounced "ants," MN people) on my side, and his cousins from Indiana for only the second time of his life...a lot of change happens between 3 weeks and 7 months!

Auntie Ali & Charlie

Cousins: Liam, Charlie, Miles, Oliver, & Graham

Uncle Cory & Charlie

Meeting Graham!

Dan & Graham

We also went to Orland Park's fireworks display on the 4th and sat on a blanket in the grass holding Charlie close, just a bit scared for him of the loud fireworks, but he was fine the whole time! He stared at the sky the entire show, eyes wide open, and held onto my fingers tightly :) Last time he heard fireworks there, he was 20 weeks in utero and we had just found out he was a sweet little boy! Was that only one year ago?


Charlie's first fireworks show!

For a fun twist to the weekend, we brought this Himalayan beauty home with us (which made the car ride home even more interesting) to be a friend for Gus. Unfortunately, Gus sees her as the enemy presently, but hopefully they'll be friends soon... We are thinking of calling her "Cricket" due to the funny way she leaps into your petting :)

Lullabye Hymns

2011-06-09T14:14:00.001-05:00

I love music. I love listening to it, singing it, and playing it on the piano (and when I'm in the mood to be completely humbled- on the violin). I love using it to worship the Lord. I hope Charlie grows to love music, too. Since he was born, especially while trying to calm him or get him to sleep, I, like many mothers around the world do with their children, have often sang to him. Even loving music as much as I do, for some reason I have a hard time coming up with songs to sing from my head, like I have no repertoire to work with. Wish I had a system in my head to page through all the songs I want to remember to sing to Charlie. Anyway, because of my little dilemma, I often just sing the first song (usually a hymn) that comes to my head.

Here are a couple hymns/songs that I most often sing to Charlie:

'Tis So Sweet

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,
And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”

Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me
’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!

Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,
Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking
Life and rest, and joy and peace.

I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,
Wilt be with me to the end.

Great is Thy Faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Day by Day
Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,
I've no cause for worry or for fear.
He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,
Gives unto each day what He deems best,
Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,
Mingling toil with peace and rest.

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,
With a special mercy for each hour;
All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,
He whose name is Counsellor and Pow'r.
The protection of His child and treasure
Is a charge that on Himself He laid;
"As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,"
This the pledge to me He made.

Help me then, in every tribulation,
So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,
That I lose not faith's sweet consolation,
Offered me within Thy holy Word.
Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,
E'er to take, as from a father's hand,
One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,
Till with Christ the Lord I stand.

Cares Chorus
I cast all my cares upon you.
I lay all of my burdens down at your feet
And anytime I don’t know what to do
I will cast all my cares upon you.

I Love You Lord
I love you Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship you oh my soul, rejoice.
Take joy my king in what you hear.
May it be a sweet sweet sound in your ear.

Jesus Loves Me

Jesus loves me this I know,

For the Bible tells me so.

Little ones to Him belong.

They are weak but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me,

The Bible tells me so.

Sometimes singing these songs to Charlie helps ME remember these truths and calms my soul when I am worn out and feeling like a failure of a mom, as well. What a sweet, sweet graceful God we have!

What are songs/hymns you sing to/over your little ones? I'd love to add to my very limited repertoire :)

Happy Half Birthday, Charlie!

2011-06-05T12:31:00.020-05:00

Happy 6 months to sweet Charlie (as of the 2nd)! It's been half a year and he's grown in so many ways. Here are some words to describe Charlie at 6 months: strong, determined, intense, stubborn, skilled, vocal, easily frustrated, curious, & independent.

Everything he does is very intentional and focused. He is so strong that it sometimes literally takes me a good 30 seconds to force his hand open when he grabs my hair (or lips) and pulls...hard. He loves being held and paid attention to, and if he's cranky (especially from teething), if you turn your back on him and walk away, he will start bawling. Other times he is perfectly content to simply play in his jumper or exersaucer, or to crawl around on the floor by himself. That's right. He is crawling. He started trying a few weeks ago, and now he is doing it. Maybe it isn't technically crawling since he moves by pulling his entire body forward with his elbows/forearms and an occasional boost from his knees, but I consider it crawling since he is able to cover about 15 feet or so in under a minute. No joke. He lets out little grunts, showing just how hard he is working to pull that 17 lb, 8 oz body across the floor. Uh-oh. More work for Mama. He is very stubborn about crawling as fast as he can towards the power strip/cords from the tv to chew on them. Before you freak out, know that although we haven't completely baby-proofed yet, we watch him closely to make sure he doesn't electrocute himself and redirect him elsewhere (about 10 times before he gets distracted from his power cord idea to chase the cat).

Poor Charlie is still teething. He has been almost all of his ex-utero life, sadly. The only two months he wasn't teething he was dealing with acid reflux/gas from dairy. Someday our little "grumpy" Charlie will be happier...well, more often. Poor little guy has had two teeth since 3 months and has been working on who knows how many more since then. None have shown their face yet...but one of his top teeth is looking particularly eager to come out. Please, soon! Charlie has also sadly been biting Mommy while feeding lately which started around 4 months and has come and gone whenever his teeth are hurting. This is NOT fun. I've tried saying "no" firmly or even yelling "ouch" loudly when he does it (because it DOES hurt that bad), but he thinks it's hilarious. I don't even smile and he thinks it's so funny when I say no with a serious look on my face. Uh-oh, scared for the future. Any tips?

Charlie loves making lots of vocal noises! When he's not crying, he is either laughing, cooing, screaming (happily), or practicing words like, "mama" "baba, and "oh-kay" :) It's fun hearing his sweet noises!

Charlie sits up fairly well, now, though succumbs to the occasional topple every now and then. He thoroughly enjoys being in the standing position (jumper, exersaucer) as wells as the crawling position. This has made him less frustrated in general.

We fed Charlie his first solid food on his 6 month birthday the other day! Our big boy acted like he'd been eating solid food his whole life! He grabbed the spoon himself so tightly I couldn't take it away from him and shoved it in his mouth, eating the avocado in a gulp and biting on the spoon. As soon as the food was swallowed, though, he immediately started crying from impatience. He wanted more! We ended up feeding him half of an avocado! Yikes. He is going to eat us out of house and home! He's also tried banana and liked it equally well. So much fun. Rinsing off cloth diapers post-solid food not so fun. Cue hooking up diaper sprayer.

We are blessed that Charlie has always been a pretty good sleeper. When he's not teething (huh? when has that ever been a reality?) he has slept 12 hours in a row at night. Lately he's been sleeping at least 8 or 9 hours straight before waking around 5-7am. We are thankful. Now if only he'd take more than a 45 minute nap during the day!

Well, that's Charlie at 6 months in a nutshell. Favorite Charlie moments at this age? Hearty laughs out of nowhere, squeezing his oh-so-chunky thighs, and cuddling when he's tired (while holding tightly around my arm like a koala). Looking forward to the next 6 months! What a privilege it is to watch a new life grow...and so quickly!

Thankful for 3 Years

2011-05-25T13:14:00.004-05:00

Yesterday was our 3rd wedding anniversary and our 5th "So... I, um...really like you" anniversary. Both took place at Lutherdell Bible Camp up in Remer, MN. We have fond memories thinking back to both of those days. One full of awkwardness and giddiness, the other filled with joy and anticipation of starting a life together.The Lord has brought us a long way in 5 years (and even 3). We have been so blessed by his faithfulness when we both have failed and let each other down. I cannot be more thankful for a common bond in Christ and a shared desire to keep him the center of our marriage, or for a God who never fails to forgive and love us through our failures. We are not only looking forward to many more years of life together (God willing) but also for our marriage to the Lamb one day soon!

A Precious Photo

2011-05-20T13:59:00.002-05:00

About a month ago, Dan and I got new phones. I had only ever owned one phone and had it for the past 5 years...our flip phones had served us well, but it was time to say goodbye. Along with saying goodbye came transferring (or attempting to transfer) all the years of 2 megapixel pictures taken, contacts, etc. Not a big fan of this process. About a week after our old phones had been disconnected, Dan turns on his old phone and looks through the pictures he never bothered to transfer over. Now, here's where I have to tell you a side story...

When I was in labor with Charlie, we decided to have our doula videotape his birth. For the first part, she used our camera to take the video, until it died. So, because our camera battery was dead, we never got those first brand new pictures of Charlie like we had wanted (plus, due to the complications after he was born, we weren't thinking too much of picture taking). Since his birth, I've mentioned to Dan and others how I wish we would have had a picture of the first time I held him, and of when he was only a few moments old. Our first pictures of us as a family were taken with my dad's camera about 4 or 5 hours after he was born. Ok, back to the first story...

...So, as Dan is looking through his pictures on his phone, he says, "Oh, here's the picture I took of Charlie when they were weighing him for the first time in the hospital." WHAT?? I didn't even know this picture existed! I told him to email it to himself ASAP, but realized our phones had been disabled so we couldn't. So sad. Finally, in my desperation, I took pictures of the picture on Dan's phone! I'm glad we at least have a copy (albeit a poor one) of the first picture ever taken of Charlie. I treasure this photo.

On the Move

2011-05-19T14:45:00.000-05:00

I could tell from the crazy hyper kicks in utero, that Charlie would be an active little guy. Now, at 5 and a half months old, he is more eager than ever to move around and explore. About a month ago we purchased a used doorway jumper for Charlie- one of our best investments yet! He LOVES jumping, so much that he thinks he is always in the jumper, even when he's not. I tried to capture a video of his hyper jumping abilities, but caught this on tape instead (his newest obsession with Sophie the giraffe):

Yep...still teething. Now that he has two nice sized bottom teeth all the way through (from 3 months!), seems like he is working on 4 more on the bottom and possibly 2 on top! Time will tell, though, which teeth are the real culprits.

He has also recently started getting into the crawling position up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth until he scoots... backwards! If I leave him and turn around for a minute or so, when I turn back around he has moved several feet behind where he started (and is usually up against a wall frustrated that he can't go any farther)! He's suddenly becoming very mobile!

Charlie also rolled over from his back to his tummy for the first time last weekend! He's been rolling over from his tummy to his back since he was only a month or two, but we've been waiting for him to roll over the other way for months!

We love our active little chunker.

And the Winner is...

2011-05-03T10:24:00.000-05:00

...The Haust Family, reading from Milwaukee, Wisconsin!

Facebook me your desired giftcard and address so I can send it to you! :)

Charlie is 5 Months!

2011-05-02T16:15:00.005-05:00

Does time go by fast, or is it just me? I can still remember labor as if it were yesterday (unfortunately). Now my little chunk weighs 17 pounds (about doubled his birth weight!) and is about 26 1/2 inches long. He has new tricks by the day, lately including: sucking on his bottom lip, growing lots of teeth! (he's had two since 3 months and is working on more now!), making a funny purring sound, grabbing our faces, and doing the following...

*Charlie wants you to know that there are only 6 more hours to enter the "Carmen Sandiego Giveaway." Better get a move on it. We know you are reading... why not say hello? :) *

Charlie & Emery

2011-04-29T13:50:00.003-05:00

Had to share this cute video of Charlie interacting with his friend Emery a month ago...

*Oh, and there are 3 more days left to enter the giveaway in the previous post... you know you want to!*

The "Carmen Sandiego" Giveaway!

2011-04-25T17:38:00.002-05:00

Just because we're curious and our blog stats are intriguing (and because giveaways are fun!) ... we'd love to know who you all are and where you live! (Where in the world are our readers from... get it? ha.) Please comment here (not on facebook) for a chance to win a $10 gift card of your choice, by telling us:

1) Your first and last name.
2) Where you are reading from (state/country)
3) A specific post you have enjoyed reading in the past.

This giveaway will end at 10pm CT on Monday, May 2nd (one week from today). We will use www.random.org to choose the winner.

Thanks for reading!

(Note: If you don't have a specific account, you can choose Name/URL and just put your name. If you have trouble commenting here, facebook or email me and we'll figure it out :)

Going Global

2011-04-20T16:06:00.002-05:00

Dan and I love world maps. We love to stare at them, to study them, and to re-learn geography we've forgotten from high school. We also love traveling and have had the privilege of going quite a few places on our own as well as together. We love the beautiful landscapes of far off countries. We love learning about other cultures and experiencing life somewhere other than where we were born and what we're used to. We love meeting people from other places who speak other languages and look different from us. I think we love all these things so much because we get a glimpse into the amazing creativity of God in his incredible creation. It's a little taste of heaven in a way. One day, before the throne of God, knees from all nations will bow and tongues of all different languages will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Those who had treasured Christ here on Earth, though now separated by vast oceans will someday worship the Creator together for all eternity! I get so excited about this picture. It was amazing to experience this in part especially in India, while visiting the Christian churches there and worshiping with them even when we didn't understand the language they used to praise God at the time. Yet, we were one in Christ. They are our family! Even if we never get a chance to go to India again, one day we will again see many of those we met on the other side of the world in heaven.

We recently purchased the gigantic map above. When we look at this map, it reminds us not only of entire countries, but of specific people we met while visiting their countries. It reminds us to pray for specific people the Lord brought to us, whether in the seat next to us on an airplane or shopkeepers in the streets, or people we met in the homes we stayed in. There were many we shared the Gospel with who we wonder if we will worship with someday. We hope and pray so.

We have developed a little system of pins to show places we have each been (mine are blue and Dan's are red) and where we have both been (white). Having this map up on our wall is a reminder of us to pray for not only various countries around the world but also the specific people we met years ago, even for just a few moments. It is also a reminder to us of our brothers and sisters in Christ all around the world, many of whom are being persecuted for their faith at this moment, and who are far bolder in sharing their love for Jesus than we are.

"Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation ..." Revelation 5:9

"Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." Revelation 15:4

28 Years in Gulf Shores, AL

2011-04-18T16:25:00.000-05:00

Our traditional Sea 'n Suds family picture

People always ask me to repeat myself when I tell them where I'm headed for vacation. ALABAMA? Yep. For 28 years (once a year, almost every year) I have called Gulf Shores, AL my traditional family vacation. My parents started going there when my oldest brother was a baby, about 36 years ago. Only a few miles from the Florida border, it was always a lesser known vacation spot with white sand beaches and (fairly) warm ocean (Gulf of Mexico) water. For many years now we have stayed in the Phoenix condominiums on the beach and have many memories there. Swimming in the pools, jumping in and over ocean waves, getting up early to watch the sunrise on the beach, taking walks on the beach at night, and eating at Sea 'n Suds (a little shack of a restaurant that used to have a pier all the way out over the ocean- now still on stilts on the beach) have been some of our traditions there. It's always been one of my favorite places in the world. The sound of ocean waves from our balcony is one of my favorite sounds. Better yet when they are accompanied by a great thunderstorm! We usually go in the spring and have celebrated many an Easter there, waking up early for sunrise service on the beach.

When I started dating Dan, he too got to experience Gulf Shores, and we had our first kiss on a late night beach walk :) When we were engaged the following year, it was here that he played and sang for me the first song he wrote for me, in the racquetball courts where I would come and sing as a little girl (great acoustics!). We came the 2nd year we were married, and now this year with our 4 month old son. Maybe it will become our family's traditional vacation spot as well. Our family used to drive 18 hours from Chicago, but it's a bit far from Minnesota for that. We'll see...

It was a lot of fun to introduce Charlie to the ocean, to the beach, to swimming, to the sun!, and to a place I came myself when I was only a few months old. Charlie took it all in very seriously, and the waves scared him a bit, I think! But he enjoyed playing in his pack 'n play by the pool and on the beach.

"Walking" on our balcony

Off the dock at Sea 'n Suds

March: What You Missed

2011-04-01T19:11:00.000-05:00

I'm back! Ok, so I did occasionally google-search what to do with a 3 month old who's TEETHING, but mostly was offline for the month of March. In the previous post I explained why I decided to do this and listed some goals for my time. While this time has been fruitful, I sadly didn't accomplish as much as I would have liked. Mostly because of my extremely fussy, teething baby, mentioned above. So here's a crazy mega-post to cram in everything I have wanted to blog about during March. I'll break this post up into mini headings you can treat as mini blogs if this gets too long...

A Year's Worth of Change
One year ago last March, We were pretty discouraged as it had been 6 months and we still weren't pregnant. I know 6 months isn't that long in the scheme of things and that many people try much longer than this unable to ever conceive, so I hope this doesn't sound insensitive. That said, when you are hoping to start a family, I think most of us just assume it will happen as planned in our heads, and since we're so concerned we will get pregnant before we want to, we figure it will happen as soon as we do want it to. So, for us, for me especially, it was a very long 6 months wondering if we would ever be able to get pregnant. One year ago the first week of March, I remember getting more people involved in praying, for us to conceive, for our emotions/hearts, and for us to be content with whatever the Lord had for us. We attended a Parenting Conference by Russell Moore at church the first weekend in March, hoping and praying we would someday be parents. Early in the morning- 4am to be exact- on March 17 (St. Patrick's Day), I woke up and couldn't sleep. I was almost positive I wasn't pregnant, but couldn't wait any longer to find out. So, I sneaked off to the bathroom half asleep and took a pregnancy test. When I saw the two lines, my mouth actually hung open as wide as was possible, I got really lightheaded and shaky, and couldn't stop saying, "Oh my goodness...oh my goodness...oh my goodness..." I ran back into our bedroom where Dan was obliviously sleeping and shook him until he woke up. "Dan?? Are you awake?" "Yeah..." he said groggily. "Are you sure?" Dan took out his earplugs. "Yeah." "I'm pregnant!!!!" "Are you serious???" And we celebrated laughing, talking and hugging, taking pictures of us with the test...goofy things like that. By the way, those pictures will not be posted as it was 4am, as I said. Anyway, we were amazed to look back and see that in my darkest hours emotionally when I was ready to give up, even while we were praying with others, I was already pregnant. At the parenting conference, we were pregnant. Now a year later I look back and think, if only I had known what the Lord had been planning in his perfect timing. I can't believe it's been a whole year. Praise be to God! Below is a fun little video of when we told my parents we were expecting. They were visiting from Chicago, so we cut out letters and taped them to the wall in their guest room/future nursery that said, "Baby Schmidt's Room" and then led them on a tour of the house to show them all the updates since the last time they visited, ending up in their room/Charlie's future room.

March 2011 Online Break
Like I said, I didn't get as much as I wanted to accomplished, but I am glad I took a break, and now can't imagine how I had time to be online as much as I was! I was able to catch up in my Bible reading plan and keep up a daily quiet time, which has always been difficult for me. I really have enjoyed these times with the Lord and I love seeing how the Old Testament and New Testament confirm one another so amazingly. Our small group is going through Francis Chan's book Crazy Love, and I highly recommend it. It has really challenged me to take a good hard look at myself and make sure I'm not just an American church-goer, but am really in love with the Lord and committed to him above all else. It's so easy in our culture to think we are Christians because we simply attend church, have morals, and outwardly appear to be Christians to others. But that's just religion. Where is your heart? Where are your affections? Do you have a living breathing relationship with Christ? Would you sacrifice your life for Him? Do you count everything in your life worthless compared to Christ? Just some questions I asked myself that I think are good to ask yourself occasionally. I think this online break has also helped me prioritize a bit, and I'm hoping to be online a bit less in general.

Charlie is 4 Months Old Tomorrow!
Which means, he turned 3 months last month while I was offline. Here are a couple of his 3 month portraits from Penney's...

And here are some new milestones!
Charlie began getting pretty fussy around 2 1/2 months. This continued until...well, he's still really fussy. But we finally figured out WHY about 2 weeks ago. A tiny little white speck on the side of Charlie's gums...yep, a tooth at 3 1/2 months old! Weird thing is, it looks like it is his canine tooth on the bottom. That same day I spied another tooth on the other side on the bottom- possibly the other canine? Then again, before the day was over, one of his front middle teeth on the bottom starting coming through! That's right. 3 teeth in one day at 3 months old. No wonder he's been impossible to soothe for a month! I'm pretty sure his other front middle tooth will be coming in soon, as it is red and puffy looking, as well. Poor guy! Weird thing is, I had a dream the night before I saw these teeth, that Charlie got all his teeth in at once! Oh dear.

A few weeks ago I plopped Charlie down in the sitting position on the changing pad (on the floor) and let go. Amazingly he didn't fall over! He sat up for a good long time until we picked him up again! He doesn't sit up super straight, but he can support himself enough leaning forward to not fall over! He also grabs our fingers and pulls himself into a sitting position from laying on his back.

While Charlie's been mostly unhappy and fussy this past month, he's laughed a bunch of hearty laughs in between cries. It's so much fun to make him laugh! As soon as I can catch this on video, I'll post one...he is pretty camera shy, though.

Charlie has discovered his feet and they have developed a beautiful relationship this past month... he now grabs his feet while he's being changed and screams his head off when I try to put his clothes on (because he can't grab them anymore). I even caught him sucking on his foot the other day...gross!

Charlie started sleeping through the night on a regular basis at 3 months old, which we were very grateful for. However, since he has been teething, many nights are sad and painful for him now and he's not quite sleeping as well as he had been. We finally moved Charlie into his own room in his crib this past week, too, and he's mostly adjusting to the idea, with the exception of his teething issues waking him up frequently. Hooray!

As of today, Charlie weighs 16 pounds, 5 ounces, and is 26 1/2 inches long. Didn't gain as much this past month, so perhaps the crazy growth spurts are over for awhile!

Well, I think that's everything new for now... Happy 4 Months Charlie!

Brief Online Intermission

2011-02-25T19:25:00.000-06:00

So, after some prompting by the Holy Spirit (through Loving the Lord Ministries' encouragement), I have decided to take a break from the internet for the entire month of March (except for a short amount of email time each day). This is not because I believe facebook, blogs, and the internet as a whole are inherently evil or anything, but because I can choose to give them much more priority in my life than I should. I feel I need to step back and evaluate how much time I actually waste online each day, each week, each month, and put more of my energy and time into seeking the Lord with my whole heart. The very fact that I am more than hesitant to commit to this signals to me that I really need to! Here are some things I am really excited for during this "break":

1. Spending more time in the Lord's presence, not only reading the Word (and catching up in my daily reading plan!!!) and praying, but actually LISTENING to what the Holy Spirit might be speaking to my heart. I am anticipating sweet times of intimacy with Jesus that I would have otherwise ignored in pursuit of facebook news or interesting blogs.

2. Having more time to be a better helpmate to my husband and homemaker for our family. There are so many things that need to be done in our home, for instance, ORGANIZING. This alone could probably take all of my "free" time in between feeding, changing, and taking care of Charlie for the next month! Planning and cooking more regular meals would also be a goal under this heading. I would love to have a home that is clean enough and had enough prepared meals on hand to at any moment welcome company over for fellowship. I also want to use my time creatively to serve my husband so that he can come home and feel loved and valued after spending his weekdays in the corporate world providing for his family.

3. Playing the piano, singing, (possibly even writing?) and worshiping the Lord with music more often. This is something I really haven't done much in the past YEAR of pregnancy and with a new baby. I really miss it!

4. Reading. I used to read books constantly. Since marriage, I haven't really made the time for it, but would love to get back into the habit. There are literally PILES of books I have been meaning to read for YEARS.

Well, I'm sure there are other reasons, but these are just off the top of my head for now. Please pray with me for a sweet time with the Lord in the month of March, and that I can re-prioritize my life in a God-honoring way.. 1 Chronicles 16:11, "Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!"

*Side note: Since I won't be online to say this...happy 3 month birthday to my little boy (March 2) and praise God that one year ago (We found out March 17) He turned our weeping into rejoicing as we had prayed for a baby for a season uncertain if our prayers would be answered in this way. So, a happy early St. Patrick's Day...can't believe how much life has changed in one year! P.S. this post may be coming a little late... in April :)

12 Weeks

2011-02-23T10:55:00.000-06:00

Charlie is 12 weeks tomorrow. Here are some of his latest tricks:

*Pre-giggling. Can't prove it yet. But there have been a couple "was that a laugh!?" moments. The real thing is sure to happen soon.

*Grasping things in his hands. It began with the burp cloths, but now he even has a favorite toy (a crinkly, teething, textured lion) that he grips in his fist and wildly flails around. Definitely gross motor, but it is a start.

*Putting anything he can manage to grasp in his mouth. You'd think this kid was teething or something (My mom says that all of us kids had our first tooth by 3 months! Please, no.). He recently found his hand and fingers, and when he realizes he can't fit his entire hand in his mouth, he will settle for his index and middle fingers. He even seems to prefer them over his pacifier much of the time! P.S. A side effect to this new trick is great amounts of drool all over his hands and outfits.

*Changing his eye color. Yes, he is one talented baby. His eyes were close to navy blue when he was born, up until this past week. I think they are turning darker and more gray. Interesting... mysterious....maybe he will have mood eyes?

*Mimicking us. His favorite "words" are: "Ah-poo," "Ah-goo," and I swear he said, "Okay" today. So, we started saying these "words" back to him at random times throughout the day, and he almost always copies the tone of our voices and repeats the "words" that we say! Not only that, but we buzz our lips and he does the same back, raises an eyebrow, and gives us a side smile as if to say, "Yeah, I'm that cute." Love it.

*Sleeping through the night. Well, once. But I have high hopes for many more restful nights in the near future. Besides, he has always been a really good night-time baby, waking only once (or twice at most) to eat since birth. So, I can't really complain. He's such a big boy, he doesn't even care to be swaddled anymore!

*Outgrowing all of his newborn outfits and most 0-3 months outfits. He is just barely fitting into 3 month clothing, and most comfortably fitting into 6 month clothing now! At close to 15 pounds, Charlie is one hefty little 12 week old.

*Growing chins and leg rolls. I think he is up to 3 chins now? He likes to show them off by smiling big and pushing his them down against his neck. His legs get bigger every time I change a diaper. Yep, those are my genes.

*Sprouting some curly hair. Ahhh! The curse of curls. Sorry, Charlie. Those, too, are my genes.

We love you more each day, "little" Charlie.

Dedicating Charlie

2011-02-16T19:07:00.000-06:00

This Saturday evening at our church, we will be dedicating Charlie Jude to the Lord. We take this very seriously, as we will be making promises to the Lord and to our church family about how we will raise our son, as we also surrender his little life to the One who ultimately owns it anyway. It is a very exciting thing for us, and it also grips our hearts a bit as we not only ponder the seriousness and significance of making these promises but as we surrender Charlie to the Lord, knowing he does not ultimately belong to us. Here are the promises we will be making. Please pray with us that with the Lord's help, we can uphold them and that Charlie will come to know Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord by God's grace.

1. We recognize Charlie as a gift of God and give heartfelt thanks for God's blessing.

2. We now dedicate Charlie to the Lord who gave him to us, surrendering all worldly claims upon his life in the hope that he will belong wholly to Jesus Christ.

3. We pledge as parents that, with God's fatherly help, we will bring up Charlie in the discipline and instruction of the Lord, making every reasonable effort, with patience and love, to build the word of God, the character of Christ and the joy of the Lord into his life.

4. We promise to provide, through God's blessing, for the physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual needs of Charlie, looking to our own Heavenly Father for the wisdom, love and strength to serve Charlie and not use him.

5. We promise, God helping us, to make it our regular prayer that by God's grace Charlie will come to trust in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of his sins and for the fulfillment of all his promises to Charlie, even eternal life; and in this faith follow Jesus as Lord and obey his teachings.

I have watched many a dedication service with tears in my eyes as the parents promise to "surrender all worldly claims" upon their child's life, because there have been many families who have lost the very children they dedicated. Now as I dedicate my own child, it is not any less emotional for me to think about God's absolute authority over the days of Charlie's life. But I trust and love a GOOD God, and I have to surrender not only Charlie's life, but my own life into His hands, knowing He knows best and loves me radically.

You are all invited to come witness this dedication at 5:30pm on Saturday, February 19 if you happen to be in the area. We would love to see you! (Click here for directions/information).

Dancing!

2011-02-10T17:47:00.003-06:00

Always the entertainer...

Marriage Retreat: Love that Lasts

2011-02-08T14:58:00.002-06:00

This past weekend Dan and I attended our third Bethlehem marriage retreat at the Oak Ridge Hotel & Conference Center in Chaska, MN. We have always enjoyed this special time away to focus on each other and the One who is the center and foundation of our marriage. It is also always a great time to meet new couples and re-connect with other couples in our church family. This year we debated whether or not we should attend because we knew Charlie was too little to leave behind, but we decided it was important for us to put our marriage first, even if that meant bringing a 2 month old along. So, yes, the retreat looked a little different this year, but it was definitely still a blessing to our family.

In addition to having our little one with us and the challenge that brings, I slipped down some stairs and landed on my big toe the day before the retreat, hindering my mobility quite a bit, while Dan developed some sort of flu the first night and next morning of the retreat. What a mess we were! Dan is feverish while I'm hobbling around with a 2 month old in my arms. We sadly had to miss the first night's session as well as the next morning's session for Dan to rest and for Charlie to eat... but the Lord definitely restored us and made up for our lost first half of the retreat in the second half. Charlie did exceptionally well- happy most of the time, smiling and cooing at strangers, sleeping through sessions, and only waking once in the night to eat. He is definitely our little social baby and loves new people and places.


Speakers Gary & Betsy Ricucci

We were blessed to have speakers Gary & Betsy Ricucci from Covenant Life Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland (Betsy is C.J. Mahaney's sister), authors of Love that Lasts:When Marriage Meets Grace. While we were only able to attend the last two sessions, Gary & Betsy so impacted us through not only their talks, but through their obvious love for one another after 34 years of marriage. I haven't had time to really meditate on what we heard this past weekend, yet, but here are a few things and (re-phrased) quotes that stood out to me:

1. Romance is an expression of God's love. God is always showing his love for and mercy to his bride (us): God is always showing his love and mercy to us, even in the hardest times of life, because we always deserve worse- the very wrath of God.

2. Think outside the box of what "romance" means to you. "Romantic love is a pleasurable, learned response to the way your partner looks and feels, to the things your partner says and does, and to the emotional experiences you share. It is a keen desire to work for the beloved's happiness, no matter how much effort is required."- Ed Wheat

3. Some of the "not so little foxes that spoil the vine":
    a. ignorance- lack of training or example
    b. ingratitude- failure to appreciate goodness and mercy received, making comparisons
    c. spiritual neglect- breaking the first great commandment
    d. selfishness- indifference, laziness, pursuing romance to get rather than give
    e. busyness- failure to put first things first, showing love and mercy elsewhere
    f. bitterness- disappointment, resentment, resignation
    g. fear of man- pride, embarrassment, "self-consciousness"

4. "Marriage is death to privacy, independence, childhood's home and family, death to unilateral decisions and the notion that there is only one way of doing things, death to self. when these little deaths are gladly and wholeheartedly accepted, new life - the glory of sacrificial love which leads to perfect union- is inevitable." Elisabeth Elliott

5. No one else's sin against me (i.e. my spouse's) can ever compare to my sin against God. If He has forgiven us for our sin against Him, we can forgive others' sin against us.

I am so incredibly blessed by my husband and do not deserve him in the least. I praise God for our imperfect, yet growing marriage He has given us. We pray Charlie sees the Gospel in our marriage and in our family and grows up to have a Gospel-founded, Christ-centered marriage himself one day.

2 Months on 2/2!

2011-02-02T23:10:00.001-06:00

How is it possible? As much as I love seeing my baby grow up, I hate it. He's no longer tiny...ok, so he was never tiny but he's no longer an 8 lb 12 oz, 21.5 inch long newborn. Today he's a 2 month old who looks like a 3 or 4 month old. He is now 23.5 inches long (75%), weighs 13 lbs, 6 oz (90%), and has a head circumference of 16.5 inches (90%). Though he held his head up from day one, he now holds it up very strong and for very long periods of time. He smiles whenever we smile at him, sing to him, or play him music. He "talks" to us (coos) a lot with such facial expressions that it looks like he is really trying to communicate! For the past month and a half he keeps his legs so straight and strong and puts his weight on them like he is standing when we hold him. A couple weeks ago while placing him on his tummy, he rolled over to his back! This was around the same time he began making fish faces for our enjoyment :) He is finally getting better from his acid reflux/gas issues that started around 3 weeks, after cutting dairy out of my diet (so sad!), giving him some probiotic powder, and taking him to the chiropractor a couple times. Praise God he has improved! He is so much happier now and is back to practically sleeping through the night again in his moses basket in our room (6 hour stretch, up for feeding and then another 5 hour stretch!). He still loves being in his baby wrap, bath time in his washpod, and sitting up in his corner of the couch. He loves new people and places and is turning out to be quite the extrovert (not sure where he gets that from with two introverted parents!). He can see people across the room and follows them with his eyes. Daddy says he loves football already, since he seems mesmerized by the tv whenever colorful football is on (great, now I'm outnumbered). Day one of his cloth diapering experience went well...he likes how soft they are on him and no leaks overnight! Hooray! He's also learning about God and how He created him from nothing and how He loves him very much. Charlie is amazed. So are we.

"Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it ... For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed from me, when as yet there were none of them." Psalm 139:6, 13-16

Baby "Must Have" Items

2011-01-31T10:33:00.002-06:00

I say "must have" in quotes because I know it's pretty ridiculous what people say you "must have" for a baby. All you really need is food (which, unless you are using formula, is free), a place to sleep, and clothes/diapers. This list is, however, a list of baby items we have found particularly helpful in adjusting to parenthood with our newborn. I realize everyone is different and every baby is different, so these may not be helpful for the next person, but here are some items that have made our journey over the past two months much less stressful :)

My Brest Friend Nursing Pillow
LOVE this pillow. Had the ever popular "Boppy" pillow and found it really frustrating to use. After visiting the lactation consultant with some nursing issues in the first few weeks of Charlie's life, she introduced us to this pillow, which has been SO helpful. It wraps around you to support your back and provides a flat surface for your baby to lie on so that you are correctly aligned for feeding. It's about the same price as the "Boppy" so we exchanged ours for this. Highly recommended! (and it has a great name! :)

Prince Lionheart "WashPod"
I've already discussed this on a recent post, but just wanted to emphasize how awesome of a baby tub this is. Also, I recently learned that while the "Tummy Tub" (another bucket style baby tub) is more expensive than the WashPod, it can be used up to age 3! As much as I love the price and stability of the WashPod, I believe you can only use it up to age 6 months - 1 year. Both are great bathtubs!

"Moby" style Baby Wrap
I really wanted a Moby Wrap before Charlie was born since I'd heard such great things about it, but didn't think I could shell out the $40 for a piece of fabric. A couple of my friends had made their own and told me how to make a very similar wrap cheaply. So, I went to the fabric store, bought a 5 yard piece of jersey cotton fabric, cut it in half length wise, and voila!...TWO baby wraps for $5.00! And I got to pick out a cute pattern. I have used this wrap a lot in the newborn position and Charlie absolutely loves it. He falls asleep almost immediately after being placed in it and I have my arms free to do whatever I need to do. Perfect!

Halo Sleep Sack
When we were in the hospital, they put Charlie in one of these to sleep. It is a unique "swaddler" because he is zipped into a sack and can either be swaddled with his arms in or out. When we were leaving the hospital, they told us we could take two home with us (even though the tag explicitly said not to remove from the hospital :) Charlie loves just hanging out in these during the day propped up on the couch, as well. Kinda neat that the zipper is upside down for quick diaper changes at night. Sad that Charlie is outgrowing the newborn size!

Hyland's Colic Tablets
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU Dustin and Mallory for giving us these! This may actually be my favorite baby item right now. All natural, inexpensive, and a God send. These tiny tablets melt in your baby's mouth and almost immediately calm him down when he is crying (or screaming, in our case) from gas pains, acid reflux, colic, or for no apparent reason. I hear they work for teething as well, but hopefully we don't have to deal with that for a few more months...

Moses Basket
Not a particular one, but a moses basket in general has worked great for us in the past few weeks as we have transitioned Charlie out of our bed. Having him sleep in bed with us helped us get a lot of sleep the first 6 weeks, but we were ready to have him in his own bed, next to our bed. The moses basket is great because it's an affordable option for the in between stage, before he will sleep in his crib. It is portable, so he can fall asleep in it out in the living room with us, and then when we go to bed we can carry it to our bedroom. I really wanted a co-sleeper, but it was too much for us to spend after purchasing a crib, as well. This has been a great second choice!

Pacifier
Speaking of sleep...this little item has given our fingers a greatly needed break after the first few weeks of sticking them in Charlie's mouth to keep him happy. We didn't want to go the pacifier route, but it was the only thing that kept our sanity in the end. We're still searching for a good kind (so if you have any suggestions...), especially one that won't fall out of his mouth as much, but right now it does the job and helps our little one to sleep. Because of this item, we can also get some much needed rest!

Swing
Again, a generic item, but one that has been huge for us. We also didn't want to have a swing, worrying he would get used to being rocked to sleep and that we would over use it. This hasn't been the case yet, and we are very grateful Dan's brother and sister-in-law gave us theirs! Ours rocks from front to back OR side to side and has soothing ocean sounds. When I need to just put Charlie down and get stuff done or if he is really fussy and won't take a nap, this will usually do the trick.

Diaper Champ
This diaper pail is great. Ok, so it's the only one we've tried, but we still have no complaints. Many people swear by the "Diaper Genie," but we found that you have to use their special bags, which we weren't willing to buy constantly (you go through them so fast at first!). With the Diaper Champ, you can use any garbage bags you like. It also has a fun handle you lift up to expose a "pod" to place the diaper in, then put the handle down and your diaper disappears without you having to open the pail or smell anything! Genius.

Ergo Baby Carrier
Many many people love this carrier, so after many recommendations, we finally purchased one a few weeks ago. Since we didn't want to buy the infant insert that you are supposed to use until they are 15 pounds and can support their head fairly well, we will probably just wait to use it until that time. Charlie is already about 13 pounds and holding his head up constantly, so we may be able to use it a bit sooner than we think! I probably shouldn't say this is a "must have" item before I really use it, but I'm anticipating greatness from this. Will let you know... :)

Bebe Au Lait "Hooter Hiders" Nursing Cover
Gotta love the name. And the pretty designs! Finally got this and love using it over using a blanket! Good coverage, cute look, and a stiff collar at the top so you can see your baby while he is feeding. It also folds up in a little matching bag you can stick in the diaper bag. It is a little pricey, but I have really enjoyed mine so far. So, "must have"? No, maybe not. But I have found it really helpful!

Ukulele
And finally, I recommend purchasing a ukulele. Ok, just kidding, but it has been a life saver for us! :) First time we discovered this helpful tool, Charlie was screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night for a diaper change when Dan reached over, picked up his ukulele (ok, so we have random instruments all over the house), simply strummed the open strings, and Charlie was instantly silent! Not only is he silent when we play him any instrument (or sing to him), but he gives us a huge smile! He sure loves music! Not saying this will work for all babies, but hey, it's worth a try!

So, now you know the secrets to having a happy...well...Charlie. Your items are probably completely different from mine! Any favorites you'd care to share?

Bible in a Year

2011-01-27T10:49:00.001-06:00

I detest New Year's resolutions. It's probably because I can't seem to ever follow through, and I've decided in my old age (28 as of this week!) that I'd rather not "resolute" to do something if I'm not going to accomplish it. I realize this is a poor attitude to have, but it's part of my sinful perfectionist tendencies that say, "I'm either going to do something to the best of my ability, or I'm not going to do it at all."

That said, Dan and I have decided to start reading through the Bible in a year. We have not "resolved" to do this...nope. But we are planning on it with the Lord's help. Ok, ok, so it's basically a resolution. But this time Dan has initiated it and has been keeping me accountable, which has helped so much! Plus, it's so great to be reading the same things in our quiet times so we can discuss it later on in the day. Prayerfully, we hope to finish reading through the entire Bible by December 31, 2011.

We are using a plan that has you begin by reading a couple chapters of Genesis, a chapter in Psalms, a passage from Matthew, and a passage from Acts each day. I'm already in awe of how the Lord teaches me by confirming something in the New Testament with what the Old Testament passage said. It's pretty neat how all four passages work together. The Lord is so amazing in how he has woven everything together so intricately to his glory!

So, right now I am about five days behind...but that's ok, because there are some extra days at the end of each month to catch up... I like this, a forgiving resolution!

Do you have any "non-resolutions"? :)

Washpod

2011-01-22T14:00:00.001-06:00

While we were pregnant with Charlie, we were introduced to the European-style baby bathtub...basically, a bucket (with a padded bottom). But it's supposed to be "womb-like" and comforting for babies. We first heard about the "Tummy Tub" and thought we'd try it out until we learned of its price (plus the fact you have to buy a stand for it that was half again the price of the tub). After searching online for anything similar, I found the Prince Lionheart "Washpod" which was about half the price of the other and had a built-in stand for stability. For the first few weeks we used the sink to bathe Charlie in, and he pretty much hated it. Every time since then we have used his Washpod, and he loves it! Here's a video of Charlie reviewing his Washpod...

Comparing 1983 with 2011

2011-01-18T23:34:00.000-06:00

Been thinking lately that although Charlie definitely looks like his daddy, he really reminds me of some of my early baby pictures. So, I finally found these pictures of me and then compared them to a couple of Charlie and thought it was kinda striking! So strange how we can look so much like two people at once, isn't it?

1983

2011

1983

2011

Look Who's Talking...

2011-01-13T12:24:00.000-06:00

Charlie is 6 weeks today! Last week he started cooing and talking to us...so sweet! Here's a little clip...

Charlie's Birth Story

2011-01-11T20:43:00.001-06:00

Charlie is 6 weeks old as of tomorrow, and I finally sat down to write out what I remember from his birth. I apologize for the length of this, but it is mostly for me so that I don't forget. Some of you have asked me to post this...for those of you who would rather not hear all the details, well, no need to read! :)

Charlie's Birth Story (the extended version)

It was Wednesday, December 1^st around 5pm, and I was waiting for Dan to come home from a really busy day of work so we could eat dinner quickly and go to St. Joe’s Hospital. We had a biophysical profile ultrasound and non-stress test scheduled to make sure the baby was still doing ok at 9 days overdue. We were praying I would go into labor on my own soon, so I wouldn’t have to be induced. We only had a few more days before they would start talking induction, so we tried everything in the book to try to bring on labor. I was even seen bouncing around on an exercise ball, massaging acupressure points, and eating fresh pineapple (all supposed to induce labor)! A few days earlier I suddenly had extreme pain in my lower back and had a really hard time walking. I was so nervous that I wouldn’t be able to move during labor and prayed for relief. Thankfully, by Wednesday the pain was bearable enough that I could walk around. The baby was simply dropping lower and preparing for labor. I had been having Braxton hicks contractions like crazy for the past month, but nothing ever painful.

Around 5pm as I waited for Dan to come home, I had my first painful contraction. I’ve never been so excited for pain before! About 20 minutes later I had another one, and it lasted about 30-45 seconds. I figured this pattern would continue for hours. Well, 10 minutes later I had another one. And then they started coming every 5 minutes! I thought it was probably just false labor and that the contractions would stop or spread apart again before real labor started. When Dan got home around 5:30pm, I told him I thought I might possibly be in early labor, so he loaded all of our half-packed bags, strewn about in the living room, into the car just in case. As we drove to the hospital they seemed to be coming every 5-8 minutes and were lasting about a minute long, sometimes longer. They were completely tolerable, just uncomfortable enough for me to have to focus on my breathing and tell my body to relax. After the 20 minute ride, we arrived at the hospital and wound our way through the hallways trying to find the radiology department where my ultrasound was scheduled. Finally we found it and sat in the waiting room for about 15 more minutes before they called us back. I notified the technician that I might be in labor (thinking she would maybe do something about it, or at least be excited!), and without blinking an eye she said, “Oh. Ok,” and continued with the ultrasound. This lasted about 45 minutes or so while the contractions were getting so intense so that I couldn’t talk through them anymore, and they were much more painful while lying on my back during the ultrasound. Everything looked good, so she sent us on upstairs to maternity for my non-stress test.

Once we got there, I was hooked up to the machine that monitored the baby’s movements, his heartbeat, and my contractions. I told the nurse I might be in labor, and she too seemed unfazed by my announcement. She said she’d be back in the room in 20 minutes. So Dan would watch the paper and the squiggly lines showing my contractions peaking. About every 1 in 3 contractions was extremely painful, and the others were more tolerable. Once the nurse finally came back in, she looked at the results and said, “Wow. Your contractions are three minutes apart. I’m going to check to see how far along you are.” So she checked, and sure enough, I was already 4 centimeters dilated! The midwife on call wanted us to be admitted since it seemed to be progressing so quickly. We had planned on laboring at home as long as possible originally, but we figured it would be happening so soon, we might as well stay. I should have known it was too soon to be admitted, since I was still in an excited and optimistic mood. Since there are about 15 or so midwives in the practice we were seeing, we knew we would have whoever happened to be on call. We were really hoping for one particular midwife we loved, but knew the chances of getting her were pretty slim. Well, they had to call the back up midwife since the hospital was so busy, and it happened to be this midwife we had hoped for! This was just one of the many blessings the Lord provided throughout labor.

We were admitted around 8:30pm or so and Dan grabbed our bags from the car. I called my parents and texted a few friends to have them start praying. We loved our spacious room that we would stay in for labor, delivery, and recovery. The nurses brought in white Christmas lights and turned off all the others, and Dan turned on the music playlist I’d put together to create a peaceful atmosphere and perhaps allow me to sleep. Unfortunately, that never happened. The contractions were too close together and too painful for me to sleep. But I was so excited, I wasn’t tired. Yet. Three or four hours went by and they checked me again to see how far along I was. After contractions that were 2-3 minutes apart as intense as they were, I figured I had to be much farther along. Nope. Only at 5 centimeters. At that point, around midnight or so, we called our doula, Sarah Beth, to come to the hospital. When she arrived, we started working much harder. We walked the halls, and during each contraction I would stop and put my foot up on an end table to lean into the contraction. This was so painful, but was helping get the baby farther down in a good position and help dilate the cervix more.

Midnight- laboring in our room at St. Joe's

It must have been around 1am or so that things got a lot more intense. The nurse had originally told us that we’d for sure have a baby by the early morning. Why did she have to tell us that? We saw our night shift come and go, heard the phrase, “Hi, I’m your new nurse” more times than I can count, and no longer remembered anyone’s names. We also had to say goodbye to our beloved midwife as the next one came on duty at 6am. After about midnight I really lost track of time, so it’s all a bit foggy in my mind, but I know that each time they checked me I was discouraged at how slow I was progressing. It took hours and hours for each centimeter of progress. When I was around 7 centimeters, I started feeling like I wouldn’t be able to do it. I broke down and cried and told Dan and Sarah Beth this very thing. They assured me that I could, with the Lord’s help. My contractions were as strong as ever at 2 or 3 minutes apart and were lasting almost 2 minutes long. Sometimes I didn’t get a break in between them at all and had 3 peaks in a row. I was amazed at what my body could handle without simply passing out! The Lord really created us to be able to do this! I labored some in the bathtub in our room, which took the edge off the pain, somewhat. I was getting really exhausted by this point (sometime in the late morning, early afternoon, I believe) after having been awake for about 24 hours straight by then and having only eaten a granola bar and a couple jolly ranchers in the last 12 hours. Most of my labor pain was in my back, so with each contraction, Dan would jump up and push as hard as he could and massage my back. That was a huge help. Dan and Sarah Beth were very encouraging throughout. I’m not sure what I would have done without them. Dan read me some scripture passages during and in between contractions, and it helped to say them over and over again during a contraction as I rocked in a rocking chair, bounced on the birthing ball, or walked around in my room.

I was finally dilated to 9 centimeters and all of a sudden my contractions started to slow down and spread apart to every 15 minutes instead of every 3. A nice break, but I just wanted it to be over! The nurses and midwife came in and started talking about putting me on pitocin to speed things along because I was getting so tired and they were worried about me. I did not want pitocin if at all possible as I wanted a natural birth and knew the contractions would be even harder with the pitocin, so I prayed we wouldn’t have to go that route. We used some natural techniques to bring on the contractions, and they worked! So labor sped up again and was almost unbearable, mostly because I was so physically exhausted. My birth team encouraged me to get in the tub again to try to sleep, but it had already been 20 hours or so and I knew I was on the hospital’s time table now. I did not want to have a C-section after all the work I’d done and was determined to do this as naturally as possible. The midwife came in as I was in the tub and said, “Tara, I know your birth plan, but I also know your back is really hurting you and you are getting really tired. We could give you an epidural...” This frustrated me because I specifically wrote in my birth plan that I didn’t want to be offered pain meds but would ask for them if I wanted them. I told her no thank you. Then as the nurse and midwife left the room briefly, Sarah Beth told me that if I wanted to do this naturally I had to get out of the tub, try not to look so tired and start working hard again to speed things along before there was more talk of interventions.

Covered in heated blankets while laboring...3 hours before Charlie's birth

So, I worked hard through the contractions, leaning into each one and giving in to the pain. I was on the toilet for awhile and forced myself to lean forward during each contraction which was incredibly hard and painful, until I felt like I might have to push. Finally! However, the midwife had to check me during a contraction to make sure I was completely dilated before I could push. Not fun. I may or may not have been heard yelling loudly during this check, and then in between contractions heard saying over and over, “I’m so sorry I yelled in your face…” to the midwife. Dan laughed so hard. He said that was his favorite part. I pushed some with the next contraction while on the toilet and then moved to the bed in a couple different positions. This was the hardest and most painful part of the whole labor. Within what seemed to be only a few pushes, I heard them say that he was crowning and that he had dark hair! For some reason, though, (possibly the size of his head), he crowned for almost 2 hours before I pushed him out. Another amazing thing the Lord did was to keep my bag of water intact until Charlie crowned! This is a pretty rare occurrence, and it protected him from the group b strep I tested positive for earlier in my pregnancy which could cause serious complications if he were to become infected through the birth process. Pushing had to be the hardest part of all and the most painful. I remember so many people in the room either telling me how to push or seemingly waiting for me to push him out already so they could do their job. Funny, but I actually remember thinking, "Look at their faces, they are sooo bored waiting for me to push him out!" Haha.

As soon as he was born, they whisked him across the room to the NICU nurses who were there because there was meconium in the bag of water. They had to make sure he didn’t breathe it in when he took his first breath, so they cut the cord immediately, and suctioned him so it didn’t get into his lungs. I don’t remember him crying. I think he only cried once and then they handed him to Dan to hold right after they let him cut the cord…well, shorter than it had already been cut. I was surprised to still be in a great deal of pain after he was born, so I couldn’t really even think about the fact that I had a baby yet. Then I heard them say that I was hemorrhaging and everyone got really serious fast. My midwife acted quickly, though, and manually held my uterus shut until they could start pitocin on me to clamp it down and stop the bleeding. This was another blessing. We were told that the midwife who delivered Charlie was the most experienced with complications like this and was able to act quickly enough that I was ok. After this settled down, I was stitched up, and then after about 45 minutes I was finally able to see my baby! *Note: After watching Charlie's birth video about 2 months after originally writing this, I realize I had some facts wrong. After the NICU nurses made sure Charlie was ok, they brought him over to me and I actually held him for a few minutes before the hemorrhaging began and they gave him to Dan. Then I got to hold him longer and breastfeed about 45 minutes later.*

7 hours old

Charlie's first morning- 17 hours old

The first thing I noticed when I saw him was how big his hands were! I couldn’t believe how big he was! And he had a full head of beautiful dark hair. They put him on my chest and he immediately started breastfeeding. I couldn’t believe that he was mine and that I was a mom! I couldn’t believe that labor was finally over and that after 9 long months of carrying this little guy around, he was finally here, and I had a beautiful face to put to the name we had decided on (which he fit perfectly, I might add).

At 10 days overdue, Charlie Jude Schmidt was born on Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 4:09pm, weighing 8 lbs 12 oz and measuring 21 ¾ inches long. I praise God for His goodness through the hardest thing I have ever done, only by His strength and grace. I am thankful I was able to give birth naturally after almost 24 hours of labor. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it the same way. I am pretty confident that if Dan and our doula hadn’t been there encouraging me and supporting me, I would have ended up in a C-section. I am so thankful for the birth team that helped us. I am so thankful that I ended up being ok after the hemorrhaging. I am so thankful for a healthy baby! The Lord saw and planned every detail of my labor and delivery and was there every moment with me to enable me to do it. Although it didn’t look anything like I had expected, it was exactly as it was supposed to be and I praise God for it.

Just before leaving the hospital to go home

Charlie is One Month!

2011-01-02T12:35:00.000-06:00

I can't believe my baby is one month old! It has flown by.While this month has sure had its ups and downs, it has been an incredible month. I still look at Charlie and am amazed that he is a part of both of us and that God made him from nothing. I look back at the pregnancy charts that show you how big your baby is at different stages in awe that he began as small as a poppy seed! It is such a miracle.

Well, since it's been so busy around here I haven't had a chance to journal at all about the past 4 weeks. Here are little summaries of Charlie's first weeks in the outside world:

Week One: Charlie is born 10 days late after 24 hours of labor. His head was larger than average (the nurses actually gasped when they first measured it) and we no longer wonder why it took 2 hours to push him out! Due to complications right after he was born, I didn't get to hold him for about 45 minutes/1 hour, but they showed him to me briefly and then let Dan hold him until I could. First thing I remember was seeing his enormous "man hands" and his beautiful head of dark hair :) Charlie held his head up by himself on day 2 of life and scooted around so much he could propel himself from one side of his bassinet to the other in the hospital! Guess that's what 10 days overdue does to you. The first week was hard as new parents, but we were very thankful that our parents could be here to help out a lot! With breastfeeding challenges, postpartum recovery (and all the emotions that come with that!), and lots of crying (by all), the first week was a roller coaster of emotions. The Lord remained faithful and constant through it all. One easy thing was sleep... Charlie only woke one time in the night to eat the first week! Hallelujah! (This was about to change). Charlie came out of the womb needing to suck on something constantly so he owned our fingers during the first week. Charlie's signature face the first week with a furrowed brow was "grumpy." I seriously wondered if he might not ever smile. I pictured him as a grumpy child, grumpy teenager, grumpy adult, and grumpy old man. Then two weeks rolled around...

Week Two: Charlie started smiling! Melted my heart. At 2 weeks, we took Charlie on his first real outing to meet the Bethlehem staff and participate in the annual FDD Christmas caroling to the other departments. He did great! Since it went so well, the next day we went to the Mall of America to do some Christmas shopping. 2 hours in my baby wrap as content as can be...asleep the whole time! Strangers stopped to stare and even start conversation with us about our little 2 week old. We went to church that weekend for the first time with Charlie and made it through the worship...but missed the sermon. Maybe next time it will work out better :) Although we were told to hold off on the pacifier, our fingers could take it no longer...so at week 2 he was happily sucking on that instead of us. However, he has yet to learn how to keep it in his mouth! 2 week checkup: Charlie has gained back the weight he lost and is back to birth weight of 8 lbs 12 oz! He is in the 75-95% on all of his measurements! Big boy.

Week Three: Charlie's first roadtrip! He loves the car and falls asleep immediately. He slept the entire 8 hour drive to Chicago and we had to wake him up to feed him! He loved meeting all of his aunts and uncles, cousins, and great grandparents on my side! As successful a trip as it was, I think we seriously messed up his sleep schedule and now started having sleeping issues. It took Charlie hours to go to sleep. And having a pacifier is driving me batty- just as I fall asleep he wakes up because his pacifier has fallen out of his mouth (this happens about every 5 minutes for the first 2 hours).More breastfeeding issues and postpartum recovery issues= more trips to the lactation consultant, pediatrician, and midwife. Charlie weighs 8 lbs 14 oz at the beginning of week 3.

Week Four: Charlie meets Dan's side of the family-aunts, uncles, and cousins! Charlie, you are so blessed to have 7 cousins already! I don't have any! Sleep issues start to get worse as gas issues do as well. We spend our first entire night awake with a screaming baby. Sad! Charlie experiences his first New Year's Eve...asleep in his swing (finally!) as Mommy and Daddy watch the ball drop on tv.

We are so blessed to have little Charlie and it's worth all the ups and downs. It is teaching us to rely on the Lord so much more, knowing we are so weak and inadequate without Him!

Here is a sweet video of Daddy playing Charlie guitar :)

Baby Talk

2010-12-13T18:20:00.000-06:00

Charlie is now 11 days old! Every day we love him more and are still in awe that God would give us such a gift. It has definitely not been an easy 11 days with two brand new parents who hardly know anything about babies, but the Lord has been faithful and has given us strength to get through the nights (especially) and somehow stay at least partly sane during the days. We call Charlie our little grumpy baby because he almost always has a grumpy expression on his face. For the first week or so all he did was eat, sleep, and cry it seemed, but the last few days have been better with even a couple hours at a time where he is wide eyed and content. These moments make it all worth it! With postpartum recovery, little sleep at night, trouble nursing the first week, and lots of crying (by all), we wondered if it would ever get better. At the same time, I already don't want him to get any older! Stay just as you are, Charlie! :)

A couple nights ago when we were at our wits end with the inconsolable crying, we sat down and put in a dvd we had requested from the library months earlier during our childbirth class. Our instructor had recommended it and now we popped it in as I sat on the couch in tears wondering if little Charlie would go through his entire life crying.The dvd is called "Dunstan Baby Language" and teaches you five 'words' that babies say in their cries that help you know what they want. After watching, we tried them out that night and had our first night without any crying! Since then it has been a LOT easier to calm him down and he seems much happier in general. If you have a newborn to a 3 month old (that's the age range this works best with) I highly recommend checking these out from the library! Here's a clip of the dvd and the first word explanation below.

Thrilled to Announce...

2010-12-09T20:03:00.001-06:00

...the arrival of Charlie Jude Schmidt, born Thursday, December 2, 2010 at 4:09pm, weighing 8 pounds, 12 ounces, and measuring 21 and 3/4 inches long!

Charlie means “strong and free man.”
Jude means “praise” or “thanks.”

We named our little boy Charlie Jude because we pray that he would indeed grow into a strong man of God, a free man in Christ, and that he would praise the Lord all the days of his life. We are also honored to name him after his little cousin Jude who went to be with Jesus in November 2009.

After a long 24 hour natural labor and delivery (only by the grace of God), little Charlie has joined our family and we are absolutely in love with him! Charlie is now one week old (can't believe it!) and he is still learning to adjust to the outside world. He is already a strong little man and was able to lift and hold his head up by himself by day 2! Guess that's what happens when you cook for 10 extra days in the womb :) He also semi-crawls/scoots on his tummy...he sure is active! Right now it seems he only eats, sleeps, and cries, but occasionally we get a look at his beautiful (temporarily I'm sure) blue eyes simply looking around. Since birth he has had a need to suck on something 24/7, so our fingers are pretty much nerve-damaged by now. Pacifier, here we come. Charlie is so stinkin adorable when he sleeps and can pretty much sleep through any noise (definitely did NOT get that from Dan...). Here are some baby pictures of me and Dan so you can compare...I see us both in him, but definitely Dan. What do you think?

Tara

Charlie

Dan

We are so thankful for this new little life we've been entrusted with. Can't wait for you to meet him!

P.S. Announcing the winners of the guessing giveaway...
Mom is the winner of the closest birth date!
Sara Ettel is the winner of the closest birth weight!

Happy Distractions

2010-11-28T15:30:00.001-06:00

Today I am the least patient I have been so far and the most uncomfortable/in pain. I'm not sure what is so great about this little guy's womb (pun intended) that he doesn't want to come out and see the Christmas decorations we put up last night! While I was surprisingly able to sleep 11 hours last night, getting out of bed into the upright position was the most painful thing I have experienced this entire pregnancy. Since then, I have been in so much pain, from pressure and weird nerve things and hips and spine bones (real technical I know) feeling out of place, that I can hardly walk. It seriously takes everything in me to walk a few steps without collapsing in pain. Now I not only feel enormous but old, too.

At least we got to put up our Christmas tree last night while listening to Christmas music to distract me from the impatience. (Although I have to say when Dan played Neil Diamond's Christmas album I was pained again...) I'm thankful we got to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving dinner at Dan's parents' house on Thursday and then have the time to put up our Christmas decorations before our little one (or most likely 'big one') arrives. But now pretty much everything is done. Our bags are even 99% packed and sitting in the living room waiting to go. So now what to do when walking is pretty much out of the question? My only plan for the day is to take a bath and pray he comes REALLY soon.

Oh, here is something that was humorous to us today (and another happy distraction for me). We had a plastic bag/cover from a bath pillow we bought the other day and it had some loose suction cups left in the bag before we had assembled it. Gus decided he wanted to play with them, but he could not figure out why he could see them but not get to them (through the clear bag). Not the smartest cat in the world, but gave us a few laughs...

P.S. We have a winner for the "guess the date" contest... Mom, you win as you picked the last date (today)... you will most likely win the weight as well since you picked the heaviest one...ha.

40 Weeks and 5 Days

2010-11-27T10:50:00.000-06:00

Yep. Still here and still pregnant at 40 weeks and 5 days along. I was fully prepared to go past my due date because that's pretty typical for first time babies. I even read somewhere that 80% of first time moms give birth in the week after their due date (if allowed to). One article said the average was at 40 weeks and 5 days...today! So, praying hard about that one :) Many of you have asked how I'm feeling and up until now I've said, "pretty good!" but the past few days have been a bit more uncomfortable- to the point where if I have any pain in braxton hicks contractions I get really excited that labor may be coming. That's a weird thing to get excited when you feel pain. Not normal, and really gives you an idea of how ready pregnant women are to be done being pregnant by this point! I guess it's just more of an incentive to push your baby out when you are so uncomfortable and just want it to be over.

Had an appointment yesterday and was hooked up to a monitor that measured the baby's heartrate and any contractions (this is called a non-stress test). Was there for about an hour and a half because silly Baby was so stinkin' active his heartrate was up in the 180s! (Normally in the 150s). It was kind of humorous, because they gave me this little clicker to push everytime I felt him move or kick. Let's just say my thumb got sore and they ended up taking it away from me for the second half because they could tell he was active enough. They had me turn over to my other side to see if he calmed down any and he did somewhat. Finally they let me leave and said all looked good. We have an ultrasound on Wednesday to check amniotic fluid levels, etc and then another non-stress test appt. at the clinic next Friday (41 weeks, 4 days). Then they will talk induction by 2 weeks overdue, which I'm not excited about in the least. Please pray with us that Baby will come on his own before then (by Dec 6). Thanks!

*I wonder if there's something bigger than a watermelon that Baby should now be compared to at now almost 41 weeks... :)

Tara's Thanksgiving Memories

2010-11-24T11:35:00.002-06:00

While I'm thankful we're not traveling to Chicago today in the forecasted "snow storm," I do miss spending Thanksgiving with my family. Since getting married and moving to Minnesota we have spent our Thanksgivings here and Christmas in Chicago. Works well, and even though Thanksgiving traditions have changed in the house I grew up in, I still fondly remember and wish I could relive them! Here are a couple of my favorite memories:

1. Getting up early and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in our pjs while eating dutch coffee cake (yum!), monkey bread, fruit w/sauce, pineapple juice and grape juice. (I'm sure there was other food, but those are the traditional ones I remember looking forward to the most).

2. Going around the table during our Thanksgiving dinner and telling what we were each thankful for. I especially remember the year Cory and Ali announced they were thankful to be pregnant with my first nephew Miles!

3. Cranberry sauce...from a can. Yep, that used to be my favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. I especially liked it when it was left in the shape of the can with the ridges around the sides. Most years I ate about 75% of it myself. But don't try to feed me the real stuff...gross! :)

4. The traditional strawberry pretzel salad...a jello/pretzel/sweet cream cheese dessert, yet eaten with the meal and before the pies. For years now my sister Kirstin has taken over the task of making it and it sure is a family favorite!

5. Being forced to participate in the Kent Family Talent Show after dinner. One year Tyler and I dressed up as a pilgrim and an Indian (made of paper bags) and did a dance we learned from school. (This was when we were little, People). Most years we painfully played the instruments we were learning and forced everyone to listen. I think I sang, played violin, and played piano most of the time. These are all unfortunately on video tape...thankfully most people don't have VCRs anymore and the tapes will soon disintegrate anyway :) Even as painful as it was to participate sometimes and to remember the embarrassing performances, it's still somehow a happy memory :)

6. Singing worship music by the piano at night. After all the food was eaten and talents unleashed, usually Cory would sit down at the piano and the whole family would worship together. Best part of the day!

7. Ok, so this is the day after Thanksgiving memory, but it's associated with Thanksgiving, so I will proceed. Long long ago we used to go horseback riding the day after Thanksgiving (at least the girls did...I don't remember what the guys did). Then one year I suggested we get rid of our fake tree we'd been using forever and make it a tradition to cut down a real tree the day after Thanksgiving! So, that is currently the tradition (though I sadly don't get to enjoy it anymore living in MN). Going to the Christmas tree farm hours away, freezing our bums off walking in the cold, getting lost in the rows of trees, and waiting for mom to find the "perfect" Kent family Christmas tree (just like in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation) while I am frozen from the eyes down. One that is so wide, it takes all of us to reach around to hug it holding hands. Usually it is ridiculously fat and tall and Dad complains it's way too big. But in the end, he cuts off a couple feet on the bottom, and there we have a perfect Kent family Christmas tree. Fun times.

Dad prepares to cut down the "Kent Family Christmas Tree!"

(I really like when my lists happen to be 7 numbers :)

This year we may be trying something new...spending Thanksgiving in the hospital meeting our son! We'll see... we are so incredibly thankful for our families and that the Lord chose to rescue us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Happy Thanksgiving!

Our Little Turkey...

2010-11-22T21:49:00.000-06:00

...has decided to go with the 95% majority and not arrive on his due date. That's ok. Maybe he'll let us eat a nice Thanksgiving dinner before we have to go to the hospital! Still, it's exciting to have made it this far in what has seemed like a LONG pregnancy. Praise God! Today is day 3 of crazy purposeful walking in order to encourage Baby to come out soon. First it was at our church's Holiday Craft Boutique, then at the Mall of America (remind me to never go there around the holidays again), and tonight: Kohl's. I've been having lots of Braxton Hicks contractions and look pretty ridiculous when I walk now, but he'll be here soon enough. We're not in too much of a hurry yet, but are sure looking forward to meeting him! Here we are at 40 weeks!

Guess this Little Turkey just needs to cook some more!

Seven Simple Christmas Joys

2010-11-20T20:19:00.001-06:00

So, I'm usually one of those people who can't stand hearing Christmas music or seeing Christmas lights up before Thanksgiving and after December 25th, not because I don't love Christmas, but I guess because I want it to be special! I don't know what it is this year, but I'm sooo excited for Christmas, that I've completely skipped Thanksgiving in my mind! Perhaps it's because I'm due any day now and figure I won't get to enjoy Thanksgiving, so I should just look forward to Christmas (when my baby will for sure not be in my tummy anymore!). At any rate, here are a few things that have made me incredibly excited for Christmas and feel warm and fuzzy inside...

1. It all started a week or two ago when Dan bought some generic Target brand hand soap for our bathroom (which I'm not normally too thrilled about)...scent: Frosted Pine!!!! It is so scrumptious that I honestly wash my hands twice each time I use the bathroom so I can inhale the wonderful smell of Christmas tree one more time before leaving the room. It's a good thing I'm pregnant and have to (get to) pee every 15 minutes!

2. Christmas music! Yes, I've already created a Christmas playlist on www.grooveshark.com (a website for streaming music) and listened for hours. My favorite is still Russ Taff's "A Christmas Song" album because it reminds me of Christmases growing up.

3. My "winter pine" scented candle. Since it's once again a generic version (either Target or Walmart), I have to keep my face over it to smell it, but boy is it Christmas in a whiff. (Dan always makes fun of the way I smell my candles...but you have to waft it with your hand so you don't burn your nose hairs! At least that's what they always taught us in Chemistry class with the bunsen burners...anyone with me?)

4. My new "Home for Christmas" Yankee candle Dan bought me tonight! Hooray! Now I don't have to burn my nose hairs to try to smell it! This purchase was actually categorized under "labor" since I figure the smell of Christmas makes me so relaxed and happy it can't hurt to use it during labor, right?

5. Andes Mints. Best. Candy. Ever. Actually, I like to think of it as a breath mint instead of candy because then you can eat as many as you want and you aren't technically eating an amazing chocolatey, minty, sugary, not-good-for-you treat each time you grab one...or ten. (Second to Andes Mints are Mint M&Ms!)

6. Christmas movies like The Christmas Story (Dan hates it so I don't get to watch it with him), Christmas Vacation, and ELF.

7. Hot chocolate or other holiday drinks like eggnog, peppermint mochas, etc. These pair nicely with any of the numbers above to create a wonderful Christmas mood.

I have to be honest. I am not a big fan of winter (especially Minnesota winter) because of the cold. However, the seven things above make it bearable for me. Once Christmas is over, I'm pretty much ready for winter to be over. This year, though, I'm planning on cuddling up with my little baby inside and maybe hibernating until it's above 40 degrees. Feel free to come visit us! :)

*Apologies to Jill, Kristen, and Beth who are out of the running for baby's birthday...I even walked around the Mall of America tonight in the madness of Christmas shopping mobs to try to get things moving along!

Bump Progression

2010-11-19T11:17:00.000-06:00

From 12 weeks to 39 weeks (or from the size of a lime to the size of a watermelon!)

"For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there were none of them."
Psalm 139:13-16

What a Gift

2010-11-16T14:05:00.001-06:00

I have been thinking and praying a lot about this gift we're about to receive tangibly. The sermon this past weekend has only made me think about it more. I am dangerously walking on the edge of idolizing things, people, circumstances, you name it, over the Lord at any given moment. While "every good and every perfect gift is from above" (James 1:17), Jesus also said, "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:37).

I've been married to an amazing man for about 2 1/2 years now, and I know that I struggle with loving him more than Christ. How do I know this? Because the thought of him being taken away from me is too hard to even think about. The same goes for this little boy I haven't even met yet. Part of me feels like, "This is MY child- he belongs to me- and I deserve to be able to raise him." But I know the truth. The truth is, the Lord has given us this child (for the moment) and has entrusted him to us (for now), but he ultimately belongs to the Lord, and He has every right to decide how long we have with "our" son. That's really hard to think about, but I've been trying to think about every thing/person in my life with open hands and test my heart to see if I really treasure Christ above ALL else. I know I don't perfectly or even semi-perfectly, all of the time, or even most of the time do this. That's why I'm so thankful for God's grace. He loves us even when we love others more than Him. And WE are the ones who don't deserve to be loved! Anyway, just some random thoughts and what I've been praying about lately as we wait for this gift to arrive.

Guessing Giveaway!

2010-11-15T10:54:00.003-06:00

*NOTE: THIS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED...I MEAN, HEY, I COULD GO INTO LABOR AT ANY MINUTE (or not) AND THEN YOU'D HAVE A BETTER CHANCE AT GUESSING THAN THOSE WHO FOLLOWED THE RULES...SORRY, I AM PROGRAMMED TO BE MORE OF A RULE PERSON :)

I am 39 weeks today, and for those of you who are mathematically challenged or unaware of the typical length of gestation, that means my due date is one week from today (November 22)! Time to guess when Baby Schmidt will arrive and all those fun details! We've decided to make this a mini-contest with real live (mini) prizes for the winners, so listen up.

We invite you to leave a comment (by tonight at midnight) and guess the following:

1) Date he will arrive
2) Time he will arrive (this will only be used as a tie breaker if more than one person guess the correct date)
3) His weight
4) His length (this will be only be used as a tie breaker if more than one person guess the correct weight)

Here are the mini-prizes:

* For the person who guesses the closest correct arrival date:
$5 gift card to Target

* For the person who guesses the closest correct weight:
$5 gift card to Starbucks

*Note: if you are out of the country, you must come back and visit us to receive your prize! If you are out of state, we can mail you your card, but we would prefer a visit :)

Here are some possibly helpful clues to aid you in guessing:

*Tara was born 3 days early
*Dan was born 4 weeks late (yikes!)
*Tara weighed 9 lbs 10 oz (double yikes!)
*Dan weighed 8 lbs.

Happy Guessing!

*Note: You can leave a comment by choosing the drop down option "Anonymous" if you don't have a username/account. Simply leave us your name so we know who you are!

10 Days.

2010-11-12T13:51:00.001-06:00

Now, I realize that due dates are just approximations of when baby will arrive and I've completely accepted that. At the same time, since we don't know when he'll come, it's exciting to use my due date as a guess to how much time we may have left to meet him. And today I am 38 weeks, 4 days, so technically I only have 10 days to go! These past 9 months have seemed like an eternity (probably because of the sickness for the first 6 months), yet I still don't feel ready! I am (and we are) incredibly excited to meet him any time, though! We know that God will provide everything we need (physically, spiritually, & emotionally) regardless of how and when he arrives. Praise Him that I am feeling more and more excited and less and less nervous each day.

We went to St. Joe's Hospital (where we will give birth) Wed night to "Meet the Midwives" of our clinic. There are about 20 of them (4 different clinic locations) who deliver at St. Joes and Woodwinds Hospitals and since you get whoever happens to be on call for the delivery, we thought it would be nice to meet all of them beforehand. After the little meet and greet/ Q&A session we went on a second tour of the hospital. It's so different to see the rooms and maternity ward when you are 2 weeks from your due date vs. 11 weeks pregnant and on the verge of throwing up the whole tour. Both times I noticed how quiet and peaceful the maternity ward was. And they told us that the night we were there all but one of the rooms were full! Yikes. It was actually comforting to see a room again and picture us there in labor and with our new baby in our arms. We got even more excited after this helpful visualization. We love the hospital as well as the midwives we chose for our pregnancy (Healtheast midwives) and are so thankful for a place/medical staff who want to support us in natural childbirth. Here are some of the interesting (and amazing) statistics at St. Joe's:

C-Sections: 11% (the national average is around 32% or 1 in 3 births!)
Epidurals: 27% (the national average is between 75 and 90%)
Episiotomies: 2% (the national average is around 30%)
Waterbirths: 25%

Whatever kind of birth we end up having (we can make our plans, but the Lord determines what happens:) it is nice to know we will be surrounded by medical staff who will encourage us and support us and will use interventions when necessary and not simply routinely. If you haven't seen "The Business of Being Born" and are interested in the history of childbirth and how the U.S. differs from other countries in its child birthing, I highly recommend watching this (on youtube you have to watch it in about 10 parts, or you can get it at the library). It's an amazing documentary (though graphic, must warn you). Makes you in awe of how God created women to bear children...not sure how anyone could deny the existence of a God when you learn about pregnancy and childbirth!

Well, we covet your prayers in these last few days/weeks...can't wait to announce/introduce our little boy to you (currently the size of a watermelon!)!

Gus the Dragon

2010-11-08T10:40:00.000-06:00

Anyone see "How to Train Your Dragon" yet? We saw it a couple of weeks ago and thought it was really cute. A bonus for us was that the dragon, Toothless, reminded us so much of our cat, Gus, not only in looks but in facial and body expressions! So funny! Check it out... (you may just want to mute the sound...it was the only relatively short clip I could find :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cvrnf5tkS5U&feature=related

GUS

TOOTHLESS

Full Term!

2010-11-02T14:50:00.000-05:00

My dear friend, Megan Schaap offered to take some pictures of our little family while visiting from Iowa a month ago. She is a very gifted photographer and a sweet sister in Christ. Check out her blog to see our 33 week photos as a family! http://schaapphotography.blogspot.com/2010/11/d-baby-belly.html -Thanks, Megan!

As of yesterday, I am now 37 weeks along! I am technically full term now, even though my due date isn't for another 3 weeks, and I could go into labor at any time without Baby being considered premature anymore! Praise God! At my checkup on Thursday they told me Baby is head down at a station 0 (so fully engaged or "dropped"), I am 50% effaced, and about 1 cm dilated- in case that means anything to anyone :)

37 weeks!

Still on the "to do" list:
*PACK for the hospital...we keep putting this off.
*Install the carseat. It won't do much sitting in our living room like it has been for the past week!
*Go on lots of dates with Dan! :)
*Pray lots and continue to memorize scripture for birth!

Here are some verses I've been meditating on lately that are always applicable to life...

"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus."- Philippians 4:19

"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you."- Isaiah 26:3

"The Lord is at hand. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."- Philippians 4:5-7

Wedding Singers

2010-10-31T14:32:00.000-05:00

In September I had the privilege of singing at my brother Tyler & new sister-in-law Sara's wedding with my other sis-in-law Ali, while Dan accompanied us on guitar. One thing I've missed since becoming pregnant is singing! It's definitely been a challenge to sing for very long when a baby is pushing up on my lungs while I feel faint a lot at the same time. Thankfully the Lord gave me the strength to sing in the wedding at 7 months pregnant! I love any opportunity to sing with Ali's beautiful voice, and Dan's guitar skills never cease to amaze me! It was also so beautiful to witness Tyler and Sara lighting the unity candle and taking communion together for the first time as a married couple while we sang/played...

"Praise the Father, Praise the Son"

"Hallowed"

Thanks for letting us be a part of your day Tyler & Sara!

Just for Kicks...and Hiccups

2010-10-25T20:20:00.000-05:00

I've tried over and over to capture on video the crazy strength this little boy exerts in kicks, but he is camera shy (hence all the takes you'll see) and this is the best I could get! Here is just a glimpse of what we've gotten to experience since week 17...

P.S. At about 1:05 he gets the hiccups until the end of the video :)

Things I Will Miss. Things I Won't.

2010-10-11T13:53:00.004-05:00

Praise the Lord! I am 34 weeks today! I can't believe how fast it's going now. I can't believe we may only have 6 weeks left before meeting our baby boy face to face! I have told many friends that the first half of the pregnancy went by incredibly slow due to my sickness, but this second half has just been speeding by! As I think back on these past 8 months, here are some things I will and will NOT miss about pregnancy :

Will NOT Miss:

24/7 nausea from week 5 to week 25 or so.
Rarely having an appetite.
Feeling weak, faint, and lightheaded almost constantly (low blood pressure).
Being HOT. ALL. THE. TIME. (I have estimated my temp to be about 10 degrees higher than the average person at any given moment, since the first month of pregnancy.)
Sore ribs from baby kicks!
Constant feeling of needing to urinate regardless of the actual need...
Heartburn and Tums.
People saying how huge I look...err...thanks.
Not being able to sing for more than a song or two before almost passing out and having to sit down.
My ears strangely plugging and popping randomly, usually while singing.
Not being able to sleep on my back or stomach.
Swallowing multiple large pills daily.
Hearing horror stories of pregnancy and labor from others.

Will Miss:

Baby kicks beginning at 17 weeks...they never get old!
Visibly watching my stomach bulge and ripple with every baby movement and making others appreciate it as well :)
Rubbing my tummy.
Baby hiccups (now about twice a day!)
Wearing comfy maternity pants with stretchy waistbands! ha...was that out loud? I may just keep on wearing them...
Having an excuse for my poor memory.
Being a walking oven (I imagine will miss this when MN winter hits full force).
An instant conversation starter with strangers. "You're pregnant, aren't you!?" I have so wanted to say "no..." and see what they do, but haven't gotten up the courage to be this mean yet.
How easy it is to take care of baby and carry him around right now.
Getting a good night's sleep :) Yes, praise God I have been sleeping well the whole pregnancy

Here are some pictures from one of my baby showers this past weekend and of me at 34 weeks now. Thank you to all of you who showered me with your love, encouragement, and gifts!

My sister Kirstin flew up from Chicago to surprise me at one of my baby showers and Dan's mom came as well!

Bethlehem Girls

Bethel Girls

34 Weeks!

7 Weeks to Go (or so)???

2010-10-04T15:28:00.003-05:00

I am 33 weeks today and am getting a bit nervous as to the small amount of time left to prepare for baby's arrival (just 7 short weeks)! While I am so very thankful to be home full-time right now, it seems the days go by even quicker, and as my tummy grows bigger and bigger, I seem to be in need of more naps and 'breaks' from doing a lot of the things I had hoped to get done each day. Simple tasks such as washing dishes and picking up around the house seem to take all of the energy I have, and then I need to lie down immediately afterward.

I guess I just need to rest in the Lord and trust He will help us get the important things done before baby comes. Here are a couple of things on my list (have you noticed that I love lists?) that we need to do in the next 7 weeks or so:

1) Finish writing our birth plan & prepare for the birth. This is something we began in our Bradley method childbirth class months ago to determine which things are most important to us for our birth at the hospital. We know we would like as natural a birth as possible, Lord willing, and have prepared (and are preparing) for such a birth. I have certain prenatal exercises to do each day as well as relaxation exercises to practice with Dan. We're also excited about having the option to have a water birth at the hospital! We've chosen St. Joe's Hospital in St. Paul after hearing so many great things about it. They have one of the lowest cesarean section rates in the country (1 in 10, whereas the national rate is 1 in 3!) and are very natural friendly. St. Joe's was also the very first hospital in Minnesota. Finally, we need to meet with our doula at the end of this month to go over our birth plan and ask any final questions we may have. I can't believe it's so close!

2) Figure out what we still need for baby. The essentials: car seat, clothes, a place to sleep (we are deciding between using a Moses basket- portable bassinet with handles- initially, and co-sleeping with the crib pushed up against our bed without one of the sides), diapers (we're hoping to use disposables for about a month or two before switching to cloth), a baby carrier/sling (have heard great things about the Moby Wrap) and the like.

3) Figure out what to pack in our hospital bags. Yikes. Some of these lists I've seen are incredibly long and include items I've never even heard of. I will spare you.

4) Have a photo shoot with Dan, me, and my bump out in the beautiful fall weather :) I realized we haven't taken many pictures together since the pregnancy, so we'd really like to document this time together before our life and family changes dramatically!

5) Organize our bedroom! All my life, my bedroom has been the messiest and most unorganized part of my life, and I usually don't even mind. However, now that we will be bringing home a new baby, I don't want to lose him in the piles of clothing on our bedroom floor... so perhaps it's time to organize.

6) Memorize Scripture for the birth. I've heard from friends that it is helpful to memorize Scripture or have Scripture read to you during labor. I know that preaching to myself is always important, and imagine that during this crazy process of birth it will come in handy! I am compiling a list to memorize, so if you have any specific passages/verses dealing with peace, the Lord's strength, or the like, please feel free to share!

As anxiety has come over me at various times lately, it has helped to focus on the nature of the God I love and worship, who has complete control over my life and over the life of this little one. Today I read Ephesians 3 and was blown away by verses 14-20 especially. Paul is praying for the Ephesians here. He is praying for strength for them to comprehend the love of God and reminding them that if they are rooted in the love of Christ, they are filled with all the fullness of God! That phrase just blew me away. If we have the Spirit living in us, we are filled with all the fullness of God. So why do I worry about birth and about being a good parent, and about life in general? We have everything we need in Christ. We fail, but He does not. He is faithful when we are unfaithful, and He loves us more than we can comprehend. Oh Praise Him!

I Heart Pumpkin

2010-09-25T17:50:00.000-05:00

So, we've already established that I love fall. One yummy reason is all of the pumpkin-flavored treats I get to enjoy. Note: I am not particularly fond of regular old pumpkin pie, but cannot resist the following:

*Double Layer Pumpkin Cheesecake from allrecipes.com. It actually pains me slightly to make this public. It is THAT good. And though it is not my recipe, I like to pretend I'm the only one who knows about this. That said, I do tweak it a bit based on certain All Recipe reviews...but I'm not going to tell which ones :) This is quite possibly my favorite dessert ever.

*Pumpkin Pie Milkshake from ourbestbites.com. Quick and easy. I made this for the first time just minutes ago and finished gulping it down as I began typing this- that's how yummy it is!

*Melt In Your Mouth Pumpkin Bread from allrecipes.com. So we gave this to one of our neighbors as a "we are new to the neighborhood, don't you want to meet us?" gift last year and haven't seen them since. We're assuming this means it was so delicious they couldn't even put it into words to thank us...hmm... but seriously. It's GOOD.

*Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks. So, I don't make this. I just drink it. A lot. Of course I drink it decaf now, and it is one of my favorite treats during the fall season (when Dan lets me buy one!).

Any other good pumpkin treats anyone wants to share?

A Poem by Pastor Sam

2010-09-22T14:07:00.002-05:00

Just thought I'd share this witty poem that Pastor Sam Crabtree wrote for my farewell party at work :)

Our Tara Schmidt has been a hit;
There’s just no doubt about, um, it.
Among our staff she’s one good fit.
With little booties soon to knit,
And stretch pant waistbands to refit-
We see the time has come to quit…
We’re happy. We’re not in a snit
That Tara is about to split.
With nodding heads we all admit
She leaves for reasons quite legit.
We each would be a hypocrite –
Our claims of love so counterfeit –
If we denied the benefit
Of sending Tara to transmit
The claims of Christ – lickety-split –
To little newborn Baby Schmidt.

Time for Transition!

2010-09-21T13:33:00.001-05:00

So much has happened within about a week's time! Here are a couple of noteworthy transitions I am thankful for!

*Wednesday, September 15 was my last day working at Bethlehem Baptist Church!
I am still so thankful to the Lord for providing me with this job for the past 2 years. He gave me more than I could have asked for in a job, and it was such a blessing to work with such wonderful people on staff. I will so miss the daily fellowship, encouragement, and support!

*Thursday, September 16, I became a full-time stay-at-home mom-to-be!
What a gift not only to be able to stay home with my children, but also that I have 2 months before our first child is born to get settled and prepare for this life changing event! We are so blessed. Since we took a trip to Chicago last Thursday, today is actually my first official day at home and I'm realizing how much there is to do in two short months! (So I'm blogging instead...:) Here are some new baby bump pix at 30 and 31 weeks!

*Saturday, September 18, my little brother Tyler got married!

We drove to Chicago on Thursday and had a great time visiting with family and friends we haven't seen in a long time. I had the privilege of singing with my sister-in-law Ali in the wedding while Dan accompanied us on guitar. It was a beautiful ceremony and now I have a new sister-in-law! The happy newlyweds are celebrating in Jamaica...ok, a bit jealous.

*Monday, September 20, we started the long drive back to Minnesota with a new kitty!

We decided it was time to trade in Zelda because of her eccentric habits: chewing EVERYTHING, meowing constantly, needing attention every waking second, etc. With a new baby coming, we didn't really trust her but still wanted to have a cat. My sister Kirstin happily took Zelda and we happily took a cat from my parents otherwise known as "Black," "Bear," or now "Gus." He is incredibly sweet and reminds me of the fat mouse from Cinderella "Gus Gus" hence the new name :)

The Kind of Mom I Want to Be...

2010-09-11T11:41:00.000-05:00

Loved this article in our church's weekly STAR newsletter,
Mothering for the Sake of the Gospel. Check it out!

http://www.hopeingod.org/document/mothering-sake-gospel

Reasons to Look Forward to the Fall

2010-09-03T17:46:00.001-05:00

I love fall. It's always been my favorite season, and because it lasts for such a short time here in Minnesota, I never get sick of it, always looking forward to its return the next year. I know it's not fall yet, but the weather these past two days have certainly been fall-like. And I get so giddy when the temps drop to between 60-70 with a slight breeze (or even gusty winds like today!). I really think of autumn as God's gift to me. I love the changing of all the seasons and how He created the changes for our livelihood and enjoyment, but I secretly hope heaven has a never ending season of autumn. Dan would tell you differently. He starts getting cranky as fall comes around as he would like it to be as hot as possible, please. But I try to change his mind each year by listing off all the wonderful things about fall:

cool (or I would go as far as to say 'perfect') weather
sweatshirts
bundling up with a blanket at a baseball game
campfires
that clean, crisp smell in the air!
taking walks on top of crunchy leaves
pretty colors
apple picking and hayrides
the fall breeze
no humidity
my favorite dessert ever: double layer pumpkin cheesecake...
hot chocolate/hot coffee/hot apple cider
(Ok, had to add: Pumpkin Spice Lattes from Starbucks!!!! Fall in a cup. Yum!)

And specifically with this fall...the arrival of our first baby (if the end of Nov/ beginning of Dec still counts as fall in Minnesota- maybe not)! Day 200 today of pregnancy...only 80 more to go!

Dan the Comedian

2010-08-25T17:48:00.002-05:00

So the other day Dan emailed this comic to me at work. I usually don't find comic strips very funny, but somehow couldn't stop laughing at this one.

Mom, Baby, & Nursery at 27 Weeks

2010-08-23T18:18:00.000-05:00

I am 27 weeks today and have only 3 more weeks of work until I get to practice being a full-time stay-at-home mommy! Sure is going by fast now, and my clothes are getting tighter and tighter by the day. It’s interesting to have strangers comment now, “You’re expecting, aren’t you,” and to have random people reaching out to feel my tummy.

Baby Schmidt is now about 14 inches long (head to foot) and weighs about 2 pounds! He is starting to open his eyes now and supposedly will respond to a flashlight if pointed at my belly, with kicking. Not sure how I’d tell though, since he kicks me constantly!

The nursery is almost complete, minus wall décor and some organization, and I can’t help sitting in the rocking chair just staring at the room imagining life with our baby boy in a few short months. Here are some pictures of the nursery in progress:

And for those of you who have been asking for baby bump pix...here's one at 27 weeks!

Baby Outfits on a Budget

2010-07-31T17:25:00.000-05:00

We can hardly resist stopping at every garage sale we see nowadays. We only had a dollar in our pockets, but it was enough to buy these cute little outfits!

Zelda isn't so happy about this whole baby thing.

And Growing...

2010-07-22T21:26:00.001-05:00

Today I am 22 weeks and 3 days along. Over half way! Baby Schmidt has grown a lot since the last post (and so have I!). Here is a comparison of my tummy at 19 weeks, 3 days and today at 22 weeks, 3 days...

Since my last post we've had some exciting firsts!

I started feeling baby kick at 17 weeks!
We had our comprehensive ultrasound at 19 weeks, 3 days and got to see the little one do all sorts of tricks! (see video & pix below)
Dan felt the baby move at 21 weeks and now we can both SEE the kicks from the outside! Pretty neat.

Our ultrasound was incredible. The baby sure changed a lot since the first ultrasound at 10 weeks. We were told the baby is very healthy and measuring a week farther along! At almost 20 weeks, the baby weighed about 12 oz. (weight of 3 sticks of butter)! So despite all this sickness, baby is getting plenty to eat...what a miracle. Here is a video clip we took during the ultrasound...

And some pictures, too!


Sucking its thumb!


The round part on the left is the baby's tummy and the arms are up by the head on the right...baby is rubbing its eyes!


Baby's ribs are seen on the top left and baby's face (on right) is looking at us while yawning!


Hand waving!

Little foot! Well, actually big foot- 1 inch long already!

And if you made it down the post this far, I'll let you in on a little secret... it's a...

BOY!!!!

A Review of the 1st Trimester

2010-06-07T20:10:00.000-05:00

Today I am 16 weeks or about 4 months pregnant! Although the sickness made a few months seem like a year, it is a bit scary how little time is left! Only 24 more weeks to go...

I am happy to report that I am finally out of bed and have gained back a couple of the pounds I had lost in the first trimester! Starting at 5 weeks, all day nausea took over until about 14 weeks. Even now I have to keep taking my nausea medication, but it actually seems to somewhat work now. I still have trouble thinking of any real meals I can eat, but at least I can stomach more than yogurt and grapes now! I can honestly say that these have been the hardest 3 months of my life. God is faithful, though, and has been with me each day of sickness, loneliness, and anxiety as my body and emotions have adjusted to this crazy thing called pregnancy. It's funny how I used to think pregnancy would just be so much fun and was so 'cute.' It hasn't been very fun so far, and I definitely don't feel cute, but I guess that's not really what it's about, is it? :)

Today baby is about 4-5 inches long (about the size of an avocado!), weighs 3-5 ounces, and may be able to hear my voice! The baby can also suck its thumb, make faces, and has toenails! It really is a miracle.

I haven't been too faithful with taking tummy pictures, but here are two at 12 weeks and two now at 16...

Happy Mother's Day... (to me, too)!

2010-05-09T16:01:00.000-05:00

We're praising God today on Mother's Day as He continues to knit together this new little life pictured above! I am 12 weeks along now (due just in time for Thanksgiving), and the baby is about 2 inches long now! It's been a rough 1st trimester, but the Lord is faithful and good. We wanted to tell everyone in person, but since I haven't made it out of bed more than once or twice in the last few months due to "morning" sickness (yeah right...I would be SO happy to have only morning sickness!) this will have to do for now. Hopefully the sickness subsides soon so we can see many of you in real life!

I already have a new appreciation for my mother who was sick while pregnant with me for so long! Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you!

Tripp Quote

2010-03-19T14:51:00.000-05:00

In early February, Paul Tripp spoke at Bethlehem. The name of his session was, "If I Only Had..." It was such a good reminder to me that God should be the only one fulfilling my needs and desires and to trust Him with the story of my life. What is the one thing you consistently tell yourself you want or need out of life to make you happy? What do you often fill in that blank above? Often times, when we are disappointed with what God has appointed for us, we despair, not realizing that He is doing so for a greater purpose that we would agree with had we seen the whole picture. He is molding us to be more and more conformed to His Son. Praise Him for this glorious reality! "For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son..." Romans 8:29a.

"God will take you where you haven't intended to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own."- Paul Tripp

"Be Joyful in Hope"

2010-03-14T15:02:00.001-05:00

Do you know how to "be joyful in hope" as Romans 12:12 calls us to? I'm starting to realize how difficult this is for me. My joy too often comes from my circumstances...and I will point it all at Christ, but deep down I'm rejoicing in the temporally pleasant experience or situation; it's not that I am truly satisfied in Christ regardless of the circumstance. This really bothers me. I think the Lord is starting to teach me about being "joyful in hope" and that it's fitting to be expressively joyful one day and rightly sorrowful the next.

One of my fears is expressing my joy outwardly, especially to others, if I'm not certain of it's longevity. I'm afraid of enjoying something the Lord has given me, because I secretly think, "but what if He takes it away from me?" What if He does? Partly, it's a lack of trust in the character of my God. Deep down I don't always think He is looking out for my best interest or that He loves me that much to just let me be happy. Partly, it's my pride that's afraid of looking foolish to others by being joyful, only to be sorrowful the next day. I don't want to be seen as being emotionally unstable!

So, what needs to happen? I need to be free to rejoice in the temporal blessings the Lord has given me without a fear of losing them, because ultimately my joy is in a loving Father who gives us only good gifts. If He chooses to take temporal gifts away from me, it is for my good. His character and his personhood is what I have joyful hope in, knowing that He is so good and so loving, that regardless of the circumstance, He will never take away the greatest gift He has given me- His son Jesus Christ, and the salvation that He has granted me undeservedly. I have a hope in Christ and a hope for a future with Him in heaven that can never be taken away, and that will produce the greatest possible joy.

So, I'm excited that the Lord is teaching me this. One of the tools He used this morning was a short essay entitled, "Count it all Joy" in Andree Seu's book We Shall Have Spring Again. I highly recommend this little collection of essays. They are short, but profound. Check it out at the above link!

-Tara

Our Cat Zelda

2010-03-10T17:51:00.000-06:00

Yes, my husband named our cat after one of his favorite childhood video games. Yes, Zelda was actually the princess, and Link was actually the little green guy setting out to rescue her. I figured if I let Dan name the cat, maybe he would a) like the cat more and b) let me pick all of our children's names in the future.

Here is a little bio on our new cat from the shelter:
For the past 4 months we've had Zelda, she has meowed obnoxiously throughout the night due to loneliness or boredom. If we let her stay upstairs with us overnight she walks all over us, headbutts us in the face, or drops things on the bed for us to play with her with. If we do not respond appropriately, she howls loudly until we wake up and pet her. You may be wondering why we own such a cat. Well, here are a couple reasons...

1) While doing laundry in the basement last fall, a little mouse looked me right in the eye. Zelda arrived a few days later.
2) We discovered that she plays fetch like a dog! Seriously. She races after things we throw and she brings it back to us in her mouth until we throw it again.
3) Apparently her last owners were in the circus or something, because she climbs full size ladders to play with a string/toy, knocks it off with her paw, and then catches it in the air in her mouth while jumping down!

4) She plays with anything that moves. My eyelashes were once the object of her playfulness. Thankfully, we had her declawed a few days earlier!