Thursday, October 29, 2009
Pumpkin Patch Family Fun
George and I took Ava to pick pumpkins a couple of weeks ago from a farm off of Douglas road in Mishawaka. We have been there the last couple years to get our fall decorating supplies but knew this year would be a lot of fun with Ava. Every year seems to get better. They have the most diverse colors, sizes, and types of pumpkins and gourds I've ever seen. They also have mums, Indian corn, corn stalks, and hay bales for sale. They have everything decorated in a fall theme and have several places set up for family photo opportunities. They also have a corn maze, an antique tractor for kids/adults to get on, wagons to gather your pumpkins/kids and a they added ponies and pygmy goats this year.
Needless to say it is a smorgasbord of fall festivities. Ava was so happy and she loved everything!! We spent a better part of our afternoon there and took lots of photos. Great day for the Schmidt's!
OX Bow County Park- Fall Fun
George, Ava, and I went hiking at Ox Bow County Park last Sunday afternoon with the Curtis's and I am embarrassed to say that I live 15 minutes from this beautiful park with hiking trails and never had been there before. The park is very nice and has lots of trails, waterways, pavilions, etc. Butch knew of a nice scenic route that didn't take us too far out since Terri Curtis and I are both pregnant and we had the kiddos to think about also. The trails were so pretty and the kids had a great time. George and I plan on taking advantage of our county parks more often for family fun and I recommend it to others that have have ignored our fine county parks, like me.
AMAZING MIRACLE
Our good friend Larry Best woke up on the morning of October 15th feeling lousy and starting coughing up blood and told his wife Lori to call an ambulance. Withing 12 hours of this, Larry's organs had completely shut down and he was on full life support. The Doctor's ran many tests and they were perplexed at what was causing his body to shut down. He tested negative for swine flu and all other tests came back negative as well. As if being on life support wasn't bad enough, he took a turn for the worse and he went into septic shock and they prepared Lori for the worst, and told her he may not make it. We as friends, who love them both dearly, were devastated at this news. The Doctor's told Lori to pray for a miracle. We started praying day and night and spread the word among those we consider prayer warriors. His family, friends, co-workers, and people he has never even met, all in unison prayed and petitioned God for Larry's life and recovery. The first 48 to 72 hours were tenuous to say the least, and it look bleak by all medical standards. However, then there started to be small signs of improvement each day after and by October 24th, the MIRACLE HAPPENED! Larry was taken off of life support and started talking. He asked his wife what happened to him? A MIRACLE HAPPENED! What a testimony Lori and Larry now have. The power of prayer works and we are so thankful for God's Amazing Grace. Larry still has some hurdles to overcome before he can be released from the hospital but we are still praying for a full recovery, restoration, and revelation of how great God's love is!
Hiring a Nanny
Our Doctor's, along with other Mother's of multiples have been telling George and I that we will definitely need some help during the last few months of my pregnancy and also after the twins are born. So...with me slowing down and already not able to keep up, it was time to start looking and interviewing. We started by joining a web-site called Care.com where people can post their profiles, experience, references, and background checks for child care, and other home services such as elderly care, housekeeping services, pet and house sitting. It's a pretty good site and you can refine your search to be pretty specific and even post your own ad. We looked through 100 profiles and narrowed it to 15 and then interviewed about half of them. We also placed an ad in an Amish newspaper called the People's Exchange and were completely overwhelmed by the responses!! I received well over 100 calls and tried my best to return most of them, but by the end, I just gave up. We did end up interviewing quite a few Amish girls and we learned a lot about their culture and community. We paid for their drivers to bring them to the interviews and they usually brought there parents along with them. In essence, we were being interviewed also. It was actually great to see such strong family ties and the respect that these young women had for their parents. One family invited us to dinner in Topeka so that we could meet their family and interview their daughter. It was a great dinner and the family was very nice and made us feel right at home. In the end, we ended up hiring someone from the Care.com web-site mostly due to the difficulties of getting an Amish girl to our house everyday. We first hired a teacher from Grand Rapids that was moving here for a boyfriend. However, after a week of her boyfriend causing all sorts of problems we moved on to our second pick and she accepted. Our new nanny is Crystal Thomas and started on October 19th and will work for us up through the beginning of spring. So far, things are going pretty well and I'm getting the rest and the help that I need, and Ava seems to like her. Glad the process of hiring is over!!
Ava has a Big Girl Bed
Since we have been finalizing the babies room, we have moved Ava's crib into the twin's room and bought Ava a big girl bed. We took her shopping with us and she was SO excited about the whole process. We bought her a full size bed with a twin trundle underneath. She Loves her new bed and can get up and down from it pretty easily. However, sleeping has not occured yet in the new bed. Right now she is enjoying looking through books and playing on her new bed, but sleep is not part of her agenda. We have not pushed the point as she is still very young (17 months) and she can sleep in her crib until the babies arrive.
Update on Twin Pregnancy
Although we have known for awhile that we were having TWINS, we didn't know what the sexes were. On September 28th during my ultrasound, we found out that we are having a BOY and a GIRL! We are very excited about this and have been busy buying clothing, cribs, swings, etc. to get ready for these two precious babies. We are in the final phases of finishing the twins room and are so happy that they are both very healthy and active. I, on the other hand have had a somewhat difficult time of it and At times I feel like a old automobile that needs a lot of repairs. Long bouts of nausea and exhaustion marked my first 16 weeks and my last four weeks have transitioned to back pain, a groin hernia, and varicose veins in unmentionable spots! Ugly stuff... but what a GIFT to be pregnant again, and to top it off, we are so blessed to be having TWINS. God has been so good to us! Thank you to all of you that have kept us in your prayers.
George is 40!!!
George turned 40 this year on September 12th and although he went to Alaska in June for his birthday present from me, I couldn't resist having a little surprise get together for him at our favorite breakfast place, Uptown Kitchen. I planned the surprise rather last minute and for once I was glad he was out of town the week before so I could call people, order balloons, and have a poster size picture blown up of his face (see above). He was VERY SURPRISED and enjoyed the breakfast birthday very much. It was great to see so many friends and family on such short notice. We are sorry that we missed many of you that couldn't make it, but I'm sure this won't be the last surprise B-day party for George. It was actually better this way... He couldn't say no, he couldn't give me a budget, and best of all he kissed me and thanked me for a great party.
Summer Fun In Indianapolis
Went to Indianapolis in August to visit family and Ava and Malin had some good times outside! They are only three weeks apart so it's fun to see them grow up together. It's always great to see Brooke and Corey and we enjoy the company, hospitality, and the food!
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