California!!!!!!!

Tomorrow my husband and I will awake to our alarm going off at 3:30 in the morning to get up and make the dark drive to O'Hare for our flight to CALIFORNIA!!!!!!  We have been planning this trip for months, packing for days, and have had about three doctor's appointment to confirm that my 33-week pregnant self is safe to make the cross-country trip.  My sister-in-law, Leah, is marrying her love, Danny, in Napa Valley this Friday and Zach and I are getting to take a trip for FIVE days without our kiddos...

We have never left our kids more than two nights before, and we have only ever left them to either go to the hospital to have a baby or to go to Lake Geneva (45 minutes away) for a weekend getaway.  SO, the fact that we are getting on a plane and leaving our kids for so many days is a BIG DEAL for us.  I will, of course, miss them like crazy, but I am so super excited for this fun adventure with my hubby.

I really love being a stay-at-home mama, and I can tend to want everything "just so" when it comes to my kids, but I also really really believe in the value of building into your marriage and having time with JUST the two of you....therefore, I am SO beyond thankful for family and friends who are willing to watch our kiddos while we are gone.  I know that they will be in excellent hands, and I know that it is so fun for them to have adventures out of the norm, too.  The kids will be in four different homes while we are gone, but they will be well loved and cared for.  How blessed are we to have so many hands to love on our kiddos!!!!

I am so excited about all of the little things...summer dresses, Starbucks at the airport, sunshine, uninterrupted conversations, staying at a hotel, getting all dressed up for the wedding, girl time, taking walks, In and Out Burger, city buses, and sleeping THROUGH THE NIGHT.

More importantly, I love weddings so much, especially because I do believe so much in the value and beauty of marriage, so I am thrilled beyond thrilled to be able to witness Leah and Danny commit their lives to one another.  One of the most beautiful things that can ever be witnessed.

Zach and I have a full few days of wedding festivities taking place in Napa, and then, on the last night of our trip, we will head to San Francisco for a date day.  Cannot.  Wait.

So here is to "letting go" of control and entrusting others to watch out for my littles while we are gone...

Here is to the beauty of weddings and marriage...

Here is to grown-up time with my husband...

Here is to going to CALIFORNIA!!!!!

FIVE!

Oh, my sweet Samuel Alan, you are FIVE!  I feel like five graduates you from whatever trace of toddlerhood was left to "big boy."  You are such a big boy now, and it has been a joy watching you come into your boyhood even more lately.  You are sweet and sensitive and silly and smart!!!  Your smile melts my heart - MELTS it completely.  Your blue eyes twinkle and your genuine smile speaks that all is well with your world.  I LOOOVE when you smile.  And you smile a lot, thank goodness!!!  Your brighten our home and our family and others' lives with that winning smile, my son!!!  Thank you for that.

You are also SO silly.  We call you the "class clown" of the family, always doing goofy things to make us laugh.  You tell knock-knock jokes.  You make silly faces and noises and come up with funny moments that couldn't have been better if they were scripted.  You keep us laughing, Sammy!!

You still are in love with superheroes and Mario.  You also like Jake and the Neverland Pirates, Monsters, Inc, Despicable Me, and Toy Story.  You play Despicable Me with Ella and Sophia often.  You love hearing all about Harry Potter from Micah.  Even though you are too young for the stories, you know all the characters and the titles of the books and even the number of pages that most of the books have.  You love it all.  You also love Legos and are currently super into the Youtube video of "Everything is Awesome" from the Lego Movie.  

You LOVE books and are reading now!!  I love it so much!  You read a book to me every day, and the ease with which you are reading is increasing daily!  So proud!  You still love maps and know the location of all of the United States and most of their capitals.  You enjoy playing map games on the computer for fun.  You definitely get this from the Schmidt side of the family.  Your brilliance lies in numbers and math.  You seem to understand the world in numbers, from the number of days in each month, to telling time, to knowing everyone's birthdays, to remembering the calendar and specific dates that events that took place on months ago.  You love doing your math, and you are doing so great with all your addition facts you are learning this year!

This past year, you played t-ball and took swim lessons.  You did a gymnastics class with Ella, and you did your first karate class this winter.  Now you just started your first Spotlight class with Micah last week, and you are SO excited to do this.  I love watching you have so much fun in your activities!  You shine!!!

You adore your siblings.  You and Micah are pretty inseparable.  Even when you get your "screen time" to play videogames on the weekends, you and Micah sit with the laptops on your laps, shoulder to shoulder on the couch while you play your respective games.  Daddy and I love this.  So precious.  You guys are in a constant world of pretend, and I love that, too.  You and Ella play all the time, as well, and Sophia joins in a lot lately, when she is not busy making mischief.  You are probably the most excited of all the kids for your new baby sister.  You have tracked her size from the very first week and have loved watching her grow from the size of a poppyseed, to a blueberry, a mango, and now, a honeydew melon.  You love giving her kisses on my belly and feeling her kicks and movements.  So sweet.  You are still rooting for her name to be Olivia.  We shall see!  I love what a kind and sweet big brother you are, and the adoring, loyal little brother you are, too.  Your siblings are so blessed to have you.

You love the Bible so much, and you remind us every morning to get out our Bibles for our daily reading time.  You know exactly what story or chapter we are on every day.  You love to pray and you love knowing God's Word.  I pray that his word would stay alive in your heart always, Samuel, that it would be a lamp unto your feet and a light unto your path.  I pray that you would always know the depth of our great God's love for YOU and the way he celebrates and sings over you, just like Daddy and I do, too.

We love you SO very much, exactly the way God made you.  You are wonderful beyond words, and I feel so blessed to get to be your mama.

Happy 5th Birthday, Sammy!!! 

I hope you LOVE being five!!!

Love always,

Mommy

Some of my favorite pictures from your year of being four...

Love you, Samuel Alan Schmidt!

TWO!

Our sweet baby girl is TWO.  She has changed so much lately, from baby to toddler, little to big.  But we continue to have the same sentiments about this daughter of ours - we are completely smitten, head-over-heels in love with her and her precious presence in our family.  This girl is so full of joy and smiles and silliness and endless energy.  She never stops!  Her siblings adore her and dote on her constantly, upset with Zach or me when we have to discipline her.  She really is SO DARN CUTE - scurrying around the house with such purpose, her little legs hurrying to take her on whatever mission is next.  She is also our MOST challenging toddler so far - with such non-stop energy and busyness that gets her into mischief or precarious situations constantly (and which wakes her up at 4:30 in the morning!!).  She moves chairs to climb where she wants to get.  She is an escape artist getting expertly out of her crib.  She has a radar for wherever our phones might be and tries to capture them and run away.  She goes into the fridge like its nobody's business, and she loves to go behind cushions, behind furniture, and on top of beds.  I try to speak positively about this - affirming that she will MOVE MOUNTAINS someday and will get things DONE in life with all this energy that this girl contains.  Even though there are days when I can't wait for her to nap so I can have a little break, I really, really, really want to embrace and speak LIFE over her amazing personality.  This girl is something else.  Can't wait to see what God has in store for her and her charisma!  

Sophia loves to sing and dance.  She belts out "Let it Go" and sings "Happy Birthday" all the time.  She also loves worship songs from church.  She talks constantly, and has been speaking in full sentences for quite some time.  My favorite things she says are...."Can I help you, Mommy??  Can I help you?"  "Sorry!  Sorry!"  "Love you!"  "Can I see the baby?"  "Are you okay, Ella?" "Thank you."  "Welcome."  Her voice is so precious.  We love when she talks.

Sophia colors ALL the time, but only likes markers.  She has recently started loving books more and more, which is a blessing, as she will sometimes sit still and flip through a few!!!  Amazing!  She loves Minnie Mouse and Dora and princesses, and she is SO INTO BABIES.  This girl pushes her babies around in strollers, changes their diapers, and covers them with blankets for nappies.  She is such a little mama, and I know she will just adore her baby sister when she arrives.  She loves the iPad (such a child of the 2000's) and the concept of movies, although she doesn't really sit still to watch one.  Every single morning, she asks for an orange and a piece of cheese when she first wakes up (vegan cheese, as she is still off dairy for now).  Her favorite food is Mexican - beans, rice, guacamole, salsa, tacos.  But she also loves noodles, chicken, pizza, yogurt, hummus, tomatoes, and most fruit, especially strawberries and raspberries.  Her favorite thing of ALL TIME, though, is her family.  She talks about us constantly and needs to know where each of us are at all times.  When it is nap or bedtime, she MUST say good night to each of her siblings.  Precious.  And when she wakes up, they are the first on her mind.  She loves them so very much.  I am constantly thankful for the love that my children have for each other.  Not that they never fight over toys or yell at each other and hit each other, but all in all, they are each other's biggest fans, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Oh, Sophia Elaine, we love you SO MUCH.  You are our crazy, amazing, full-of-joy girl.  We adore you and can't imagine life without you.  You bring so much love and laughter into our home.  Seeing you concerned about your siblings and comforting them when they need it just speaks volumes of your sweet, sweet personality, and we love the EXACT way God created you.  May you love being TWO.  

Happy Birthday, Soph!!!!

As usual, I seem unable to post a birthday post without a gazillion pictures.  And I love how bloggers weave in pictures throughout their text so beautifully, but I don't seem to do this as seamlessly, so here are ALL my favorite pics of Sophia from her first birthday until now...

WE LOVE YOU, SOPHIA!!!

Saturdays

Many Saturdays, if we don't already have specific plans, I feel so torn on how to use our time.  There is always so much to be done.  Cleaning chores, house projects, errands, piles waiting to be organized...the list could go on and on and on.  But then I also want family time to just play and read books and take out board games and bake treats and just be together.  And THEN, I also crave rest time, too.  A nap, a novel, some tea, a movie.  I often feel conflicted on how to best use our empty time (which is a rare thing) when there are so many different directions we could go with it.

This morning, friends, I feel quite content exactly where we are at this sweet Saturday morning.  Zach just got back last night from a six day trip to Washington, D.C., which he does every several months.  As most of you know (or have read), I feel complete once again with him home.  The week went quickly and smoothly, but it is admittedly NOT my favorite thing when he travels.  I love doing life together.  I much prefer it that way.  So this morning, with him home and with the smell of bacon lingering from a yummy breakfast he cooked for us, we bundled up our four kiddos for a trip to the beautiful snow.  It is a winter wonderland this morning, with fresh, thick blankets of gorgeous, white snow everywhere.  And, finally, the temperatures are warm enough to venture outside!  I went outside to watch them sled and to snap some snowy pictures and to eat some snow myself.  

And when I came inside, and looked around at the books strewn across the floor and the baby dolls spilled out of the basket, when I see the piles of hats and gloves and the wet, snowy boots dripping on the rug, the unmade beds and the crumbs on the floor under the table from breakfast, I smile big and think that this is exactly how I want this Saturday to be.  The chores will get done.  The books will get put back in their place, the blankets will get folded, the rug will dry, the dishes will get done, and showers will eventually be taken.  But right now, to stop and play in the snow and slide down the hill and laugh with Ella at how she can SIT in the snow and marvel over Sophia's sweet voice and how excited she is to have Daddy home from, "D.C.!" - that is the perfect way to spend a Saturday.  The projects can wait.  The piles can sit.  But the children?  I long to soak them up as long as possible.  To hug and snuggle and laugh and just be.

The boys are off to the sledding hill with Daddy, and I am off to throw a casserole together to put in the oven later for dinner.  We have an afternoon birthday party for a friend from church, and a certain three year old is asking for me to paint her nails.

So here's to the BEST kind of Saturday.  Here's to being present in the moment, whatever that moment is.  Here's to choosing relationships over chores.  To choosing "present over perfect," as Shauna Niequist often says.  

Enjoy today to the fullest, friends!

Happy Saturday!