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!

Why We Invite Our In-Laws...

I had to tease my mother-in-law, Karen, and tell her that the only reason we invited them for Christmas was because she makes all the food and Carl watches all the kids! ;) (Which is exactly where Georgia was while I was snapping pictures of other people cooking in my kitchen.)

In my defense, I made the mashed potatoes.

Say Cheese

A week before Christmas we invited Andy's family to our home to celebrate with us. One of the most fun things for me to watch now that Georgia is older is how she interacts with her cousins. She loved playing with all of them...especially Claire and Ella. They spent a lot of time together in Georgia's room playing with new toys.

We found Claire and Georgia sitting in there together, so Annie and I decided we need a cousin pic. We stood there for a few minutes, both of us calling out to the girls, "Say cheese! Come on...smile! Look at Mommy...smile! Say cheese!" This is what we got: