Lions and Tigers and Bears!

A few Sundays ago we went to the Dallas Zoo for a fun filled day.  It has been FOREVER since we had been to the Dallas Zoo because Fort Worth is always our go to and it didn't disappoint.

A few more frame worthy shots of my family. (sigh)

 I got a lot of shots of people's backs...

 And finally decided to tell them to turn around. :)

Love this, love them.

 The giraffes were a highlight of the day.  The kids LOVED feeding them.  They must of been full when we got there because only one giraffe showed any interest in our $5 lettuce.

For some reason he was drawn to Benjamin and got a lot of feeding action.

 He was in heaven.

 Audrey finally was able to sneak a leaf in.

 Uncle Rett and Aunt Ashley joined in on the zoo fun.

 Audrey was loving this elephant, Benjamin not so much.

 Brian and his girls.

 And all the moms said 'amen!'

(it lasted 22 minutes)

 Sweet, sweet Birdie.

 The boys wanted to rest their legs and Audrey was not too sure about this...

 Uncle Will was quick to pick her up for an even better view!

 My ham.

 Benjamin talked and talked about seeing snakes all day long.  We finally made it to the reptile exhibit and he loved every minute.

 The day was so much fun!! The weather was gorgeous and not many people were there.  Thank you Tula for providing an amazing, yummy, 5-course picnic!! 

Looking back at Benjamin's first zoo trip I see how different our family is today.

The Old Gang.

The New Gang.

My Old Schmid Family.

My New Schmid family.

 My Guys Looking Like Babies.

 My Guys Looking Like Men.

 My heart has grown. 

My to-do lists are longer, my packing list more detailed, my body more tired but I am so grateful.

 These hands are full and they are so, so blessed!

"Our loved ones don't make our lives, but loving them sure does."

11 Months!

 I know Rebecca, I can't believe it either!!

11 months!

 An answered prayer. A joy. A bundle of love. 

We just love love our girl!

  This month Rebecca has really started to show her personality.  She is super easy to get to smile, hard to get a giggle out of.  She LOVES blankets and gets super excited to be cuddled with one during nap times.  Her "Memaw" doll is her favorite thing to sleep with and she ALWAYS falls asleep with it on top of her face.  Her favorite color is orange - for some reason she is drawn to anything in the room that is orange.  She LOVES to eat and is pretty solid.  I have yet to lay a food item down and it be rejected.  She can use a big girl cup like her brother during meal time.  I can tell she thinks she is so cool anytime she does something Benjamin is doing.  Rebecca says "dada" all day long, "mama" when she needs something, and "baba" "papa" randomly. She claps, waves, dances, and does "pee pie."  She has tons of personality but can get kind of shy at times.  We are hoping to get her helmet off in the upcoming weeks.

Rebecca still isn't a huge sleeper and I feel like she will continue to be like this. She sleeps 7ish-6ish, 9-9:30, 12:30-2, and 5:00-5:30.  She drinks 4 bottles a day and 3 solid meals. Yeah for this being her last month of formula! She wears size 4 diapers and is in 12/18 month clothes.  Rebecca has awesome fine motor skills and is starting to manipulate harder toys.  She is rolling and army crawling backwards. Like I said, you can not force this girl to do anything.  She moves at her own pace. :)

 Two kids = a crazy house

This is what was going on around her photo shoot.

  Rebecca is a dream come true!

 She melts our hearts.

 She is 'wonderfully made!'

Catch Up!

I am SO behind on blogging.  Two kids are keeping me busy, busy.

Time to catch up!

As I mentioned in my previous post Rebecca is behind in the motor skills area.  After a visit to the helmet lady (who also happens to be an OT) who helped me figure out some things I could do to get my girl motivated, we started a baby boot camp filled with lots of tummy exercises.

Rebecca before during tummy time. ha.  She was super motivated!

Day 1 of boot came she whined ALL day long and I went a little crazy.

Day 2 she got so mad she started pushing herself backwards.

Day 3 she was less fussy on her tummy and ended up traveling backwards all across the room.

By day 4 she was spinning on her belly anyway she wanted to go and moving backwards all over.

She was pretty proud of herself!

Since doing this she has been SOOO much happier! Bored no more!

I am hoping my next update on her will consist on some forward movement. :)

Boy Dinner.

Super heros unite.

First wagon ride together and they LOVED it!

He loves running up and down the golf course hills.

I guess all super heros need to rest every now and then.

 Slowly becoming buds.

A couple of weekends ago we went to the lake with my family.

We were so excited the lake was high enough to get the boat out!!

Pure.

Heaven.

 Kisses for Audrey Girl.

 Sweet moment with Pop.

 Probably my favorite picture to date of Audrey.  Precious!

She literally went from this....

...to this in two minutes.  I guess she didn't want the ride to end.

After going through my pictures I realized these two were joined at the hip the whole weekend.  

7 months apart and going through life side by side.

Rebecca LOVES to swing!

And all the people said Amen! Daddy is home!!

Into her one second...

tossing her away the next.

We have been eating lots of meals at the top of the fort.  Rebecca feels so cool when she gets to join.

Allergies, dang you allergies.

Two weeks ago I took Benjamin to get retested for allergies to see if he had outgrown his peanut allergy.  The nurse came in and told me we would be doing the testing on his arms.  I questioned her for a few minutes thinking we should stick to his back but she insisted.  40 pokes later and lotssss of tears she then tells me I have to keep my super strong 3 year old's arms straight for 30 minutes.  That lasted 4 seconds and he ended up wiping half of the tests on his shirt making the whole thing invalid.  We left the office with another retest scheduled for the following week.  I was SOOO mad and might of cried a little behind my shades making sure Benjamin didn't see me.  My poor baby.  I rewarded him with a massive ice cream the size of his head.

The next week we were back.... boo.  I was DREADING the retest. I promised him an ice cream the size of his body this go around.  Will had a final, my mom was in Paris, Amanda had Rebecca so I went solo again.  I was hoping to get someone to help me hold him down.  They really should give these kids gas or something.  He screamed and screamed but we successfully were able to finish the test.  Yeah!  After all the pricks he is basically allergic to everything. haha. Not really but kind of.

Peanuts. Soybeans. EVERY type of tree. EVERY type of grass.

He is on Zyrtec every morning and Benadryl as needed (especially when we are out at the lake!).  Next summer we will start the process of allergy shots to hopefully rid him of all these allergies in a few years!

Benjamin is a healthy, brilliant kid with a few annoying allergies.  I really can't imagine having a child that is actually sick.  I am so thankful God has given me healthy kids!

At home date night.

Newest member of Kiss.

These two...

have my heart.

Muffins with moms at Benjamin's school.

It really should of been called "Watch Benjamin Eat Your Muffins."

 

It is always special to have one-on-one time with the boy who made me a mama.

Thanks Aunt Amanda for watching Rebecca!

They are so cool.

He has logged a million hours playing with this car rug.  Thanks Luke for passing it on to him!

While my parents were away we invaded their house and used their pool.

They didn't seem to mind!

My parents were trying to take a picture that made them look like they were jumping off the tower.  My mom was super successful.  The awesome thing about this picture was the fact that she was actually trying! Ha!  They have such a fun marriage and are just two peas in a pod.

Will survived another semester of school!!! 

He has a whole week to relax before summer school starts. :)

Wow, that was quite the catch up!