On Turning 30

It's true. Two days ago I turned 30. Turning 30 is a milestone. Some people were very worried about me, wondering how I was feeling about it and if I was okay or felt differently, and others took the 'what's the big deal?' stance.

I'll tell you that...I'm fine. There's something a little magical about your twenties, or maybe I should say delusional - you think you'll be in them forever. Trust me, they do come to an end. And because of that, turning 30 is just weird! But I am really loving this time in my life. I've been married to an amazing man for almost 7 years, we're growing our family and are loving parenthood. We enjoy our work/ministry and have great family and friends surrounding us.

In celebration of this event, Andy took me out the night before my birthday. It wasn't my birthday present, but a celebration of the end of my twenties. He sent me the following email on Thursday afternoon to prepare me:

I was thinking about you today,

And how this is your twenty’s last hooray.

I thought about how twenty-nine started for you so bad,

So I thought I’d help you end it feeling glad.

Tonight I’ve made plans

So be ready to leave

By five thirty five with our sweet daughter G.

She’ll need to be fed,

Or food ready to go

For I have someone to watch her until ten or so.

Don’t ask me what this night will entail

Or what we might do

This won’t be your birthday present, but it will be a clue.

As we go through the night

Pay attention to what we do

And when you put it all together, guess and I tell you “False or true.”

I love you completely

With all my heart and my mind

Tonight dress to match what I’m wearing

If wondering what to wear has crossed your mind.

You are the best wife

And the best mother of all

My love for you grows each winter, spring, summer and fall.

Enjoy tonight,

This night that’s the eve

Of you entering your thirties and becoming old like me.

I love you babe with all that I am,

Andy

So after we dropped off Georgia, we drove into Illinois and then back into Iowa for dinner and went to a movie. All clues to my actual birthday present: Illinois + dinner + theater= tickets to Circa 21, a dinner theater in Rock Island, for a show of my choosing. Hairspray is coming this June so I'm reserving my tickets for then.

On my birthday my girlfriends planned a surprise coffee date, pedicure and lunch out for me. The coffee and pedicure are postponed due to a friend's sickness, but we all had lunch and it was so fun to sit, talk, and laugh without kids. (Girls are just as giggly at 30 as they are at 17.) They gifted me with lunch, balloons, flowers, and 30 index cards entitled "30 Reasons You're So Wonderful."

I truly am blessed and I guess I wouldn't mind turning 30 every year until I'm at least 50.

Progress

Since we bought our house in 2005, there has been a room in the basement, colorfully painted with pictures from the Lion King movie. They were very nicely done, but not the way I would choose to decorate (even a kid's room).

Finally, after 5 1/2 years, we've said good-bye to the Lion King room! It use to function as a store room/work room. But now we've turned the space into a play room for our kids with a little workspace for me. I love it! It's much more inviting and organized, which to me is very peaceful. We've totally cleaned it out and put Georgia's toys and books in there and hope to add some shelves soon for more storage.

Good-bye, Mufasa!

Shelves will go here - one up high between those to 'boxes' hanging from the ceiling and then another set will run down the length of the wall to floor in the right corner.

Georgia and I have really enjoyed spending our time down here playing, coloring and reading. Now we just have to break the habit of calling it the 'Lion King room' and start calling it the play room!

Princess Rella Barbie Georgia

Georgia is IN LOVE with all things princess. Especially Cinderella, whom she lovingly calls, "Rella." She was thrilled to receive this beautiful, princess Barbie dress in the mail; a belated Christmas gift from her cousins. She has worn it all day.

She is Blessed Among Two-Year-Olds

Last weekend we got to spend some time with our fam in Iowa City. I was sitting at the table next to my two year old niece, Claire. Her mommy told her to look at my belly and explained that Auntie Lacey was going to have a baby soon. Claire looked and then told me, "I'm going to have a baby, too!"

"You are?" I said. "Let me see."

She patted her tummy and solemnly said, "It's Jesus."

Go Figure

Did you read my last post?

Today as I put on Georgia's socks I said, "Georgie, do you love your socks? They're pink!"

She pointed at them and said, "Red."

Colors

We can officially color pictures without eating the crayons.


Speaking of colors...Georgia's favorite is pink. Are you surprised? She's a very girly girl. In fact, she loves pink so much that she will argue adamantly with you if you say something is not pink. Not kidding!

Yesterday she pointed at her bowl:

G: Pink.
L: No, honey, your bowl is blue.
G: Pink.
L: No, it's blue.
G: Pink.
L: Blue.
G: PINK!!!

At this point I usually give up. She'll get it at some point, right?

Today's Lesson

I like to share things that I'm learning or that have spoken to me. Usually it's someone else's words and wisdom that I just copy down. It's my hope that whatever has lifted my heart might also lift yours.

Recently I've been struggling with whether or not I have what it takes to be a good mom. Don't all mom's feel that way at some point? I know I'm not alone here! But when I started getting down on myself, God really convicted and reassured me through this particular devotion.

Here was the mom's devotional attached to 1 Samuel 1:21-28:

Have you ever prayed Hannah's words as your own? I have. Several times. Eagerly I've asked for God to take charge of my children. Out of fear that I might "ruin" them, I hand them over to him.

But as I give my children to God, I often hear him ask, "Do you really trust me with your children? Do you trust me to get them to school safely?"

"Yes!" I respond.

"Do you believe that I can guide them through an illness?"

"Of course!"

"How about deciding if they will marry - and who?"

"Better you than I!" I say.

"Then do you trust me to select the very best mother for your children and for who I want them to become?"

We can be the mothers our children need because God divinely chose us for the job. Don't doubt it. He knows what he is doing. And aren't we glad!

I Love This Face

Merry Christmas to Me

I used a little of my Christmas money to get some things I've been wanting for awhile. New lamps. Look at these old ones. There's really nothing wrong with them, except they're so big for my end tables that I can't set anything else up.


So, I decided to gift myself with smaller ones. Muuuuuch better. Maybe this isn't blog-worthy material, but I'm just so dang excited to have some new ones!


Can I bless anyone with a 'new' set of old lamps?

10 Things NOT Found in Proverbs 31

This is a little blurb from an article I picked up at a recent MOPS meeting entitled, "10 Things NOT Found in Proverbs 31." I thought it was cute and thought provoking at the same time. Mainly because these are things that I do struggle with. I prefer tidiness and almost always at least attempt perfection. This is part of who I am, but I don't want it to overcome my mothering, my relationship with my husband, or my walk with Jesus. How important is a clean house compared to the nurturing my child receives when we read a book or play together or cuddle on the couch? Is it more important than date night or my quiet times?

Following is a list of the 10 verses not found in Proverbs 31:

1. Her coffee table never has dust on it.

2. Many have eaten off her kitchen floor.

3. Better Homes and Gardens just did a photo shoot in her living room.

4. She does all of the housework herself while the kids play Wii.

5. All of the words that flow from her children's mouths are blessed.

6. All of her children are straight A students, musical geniuses, and all-star athletes.

7. Her hair is always fixed perfectly and her make-up is artfully applied.

8. She does not touch make-up or hairspray because it is vain and the art of Satan.

9. She never makes a bad decision.

10. She is classroom mom, PTO President, the bearer of orange slices at soccer games, and the church committee queen.

It sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? But you know that you have added at least a few of these things on your list. Remember Martha and Mary? Which one do you think had a list like this in her pocket? Drop the scrub brush and grab a Bible. Sit at Jesus' feet and become a disciple. Let him give you his character, and you will have the one thing needed to carry out everything else. -Kelly Harbaugh

More Firsts

It's been a while since we've had a 'first' around here. But they do pop up every now and then and I'm a proud momma, so I love to share.

1. Georgia said her first sentence! She said it while her granny and aunt Ivy were here for a visit. We were sitting on the couch and Georgia was doing all her animal noises for our company and she looked right at my mom and said, "Puppy says, 'woof, woof.' " It was the first time she's put more than two words together. We have yet to hear her do it again.

2. Georgia went potty in her potty-chair. This is extremely exciting for me. We got the potty-chair out a couple of months ago, because Georgia had been giving us clues that she might be ready to start training. Not so. She only wanted to sit on it with her clothes on and cried if we tried to do otherwise. But out of the blue she asked me to sit on it the other day. I grabbed a couple of books for her thinking time on the chair would bring forth the potty. I gave up. While I was trying to dress her I looked into the chair and saw...potty! I didn't even realize she had gone. I praised her over and over, but was afraid too much time had passed. I made a big deal out of dumping it into the big toilet and letting her flush. She liked it, so I continued to ask throughout the day if she wanted to sit on the potty-chair and she just said no. I didn't push it. But the next day, we went through the whole ordeal again. She sat, I read, I gave up, then realized she really had gone potty. She was very excited to tell her daddy. I still ask her, but if she's not willing I don't push it. I'm just glad we're two for two.

Missing Daddy

Andy is in Chicago this week. The first couple of days are always okay. Georgia and I have fun and I get my projects done, but right about now is when we really start to miss him. I try to put one thing on our calendar for each day, and so far we've seen friends Monday, Tuesday, and today. Tomorrow we have MOPS and are making a special trip to Hobby Lobby (80% off Christmas items!!!) and then Friday Andy will be home.

I just have to say, thank goodness for Skype. Right before Andy left we used some Christmas gift money to purchase a webcam so that we could see each other each day. Georgia loves to see her daddy on the screen. It's interesting, though, because I know she doesn't fully understand seeing him on the computer. She always asks to kiss him and then after she kisses the screen she holds her little arms out to him for him to hold her. It's very sweet, but also a little heartbreaking. Probably more so for him than me!

We are very happy that Andy is blessed to take and attend these Moody classes and we are very proud of the great work he is doing. But we sure look forward to having him home!

Pics of the Season

Here are a few shots of Georgia to show how much she's changed in just one year.

Christmas 2009:


Christmas 2010:

Dedicated Parents

This year for Christmas, Andy and I bought Georgia a kitchen set. We were very excited to give it to her. The plan was to set it up on Christmas Eve after she had gone to bed so that she'd see it first thing in the morning. We couldn't wait to see the excitement on her face when she saw it for the first time.

We had a 9:00 service at church that evening and by the time we got home and put Georgia to bed, it was 11:00. Andy and I exchanged our gifts to one another and played a few rounds of cards. That took us till about 1:00 a.m. I told Andy to just pull the kitchen out of the box, I was going to run downstairs to get the rest of her gifts, and then we'd go to bed. The next thing I heard was Andy calling down to me, "Lacey, you better get up here right now." Oh, dear.

When I got upstairs I found that the kitchen was not pre-assembled as I thought. No...this was 100% assembly required:


Oh, yes. See all those pieces that have to be clipped apart to be assembled, not to mention all the little pots and pans, plates and silverware? We decided to give it a go. What good would it be on Christmas morning not assembled? And when would we find the time to do it anyway? We thought it would probably only take an hour and a half at the most...



Finally, at a little before 4:00 a.m., we finished! I set up the pans, dishware and food and snapped this last photo. We were both very pleased with our work. We dropped into bed right at 4:00 and Georgia allowed us to sleep until 9:00.


It was definitely worth all the trouble. She loved it!

Happy New Year

I can't believe it's 2011 already! A new year is a time of renewing and change. (Like this blog. It needed a little update.)

There are a few major changes coming about in the lives of the Schumachers that will shape our year and we are up for the challenge. The first and most obvious is the soon arrival of our second child. We are looking forward to adding another member to the family - sharing the love if you will - and watching how Georgia reacts to being a big sister. We've tried to prepare her as much as we can, but we have no idea if she understands what's about to happen at all. Grace, Lord, give us all grace!

Secondly will be the change in Andy's position at Grandview Church. At some point this spring he will leave behind his role as youth pastor and will become the Pastor of Children and Families. He is working both positions part-time right now, and we aren't sure yet when the full-time transition will be made. It will all be in God's timing as He brings us the right man to be our next youth pastor. Andy is currently taking a class at Moody Theological Seminary, Practice of Ministry, that will end sometime after the baby's due date. He's hoping to get all his classwork finished before our little he or she arrives. He'll then take a break from classes while we settle into life with a newborn and a new job.

I'm sure many other changes will pop up along the way in 2011, good and bad, and to that I say: Bring it on!