Zoo Lights!

Despite the cold weather, I was determined to make it to Zoo Lights this year. How fun are holiday lights and the zoo! The boys thought it was very cool, especially when they got to pet the little goat named "George."

Christmas 2012

Christmas morning becomes more exciting each year as I get to watch the boys have a better understating of the holiday. Seriously, their excitement is contagious! We are lucky to celebrate the holiday with so much family and to watch as our families grow. We just wish we were closer to all of our family! Here are some of the highlights of our day!

Christmas morning

The best gift I got this year--a frame made by Stephen with a wonderful picture.  He even wrote his name on the outside.  He was excited to give this to me for over a week and very proud of his work!

A tradition at Christmas, Stephen and his santa costume.

The tree!

Cousins opening gifts

The Brooks Family crew

Christmas Eve Dinner

We spent Christmas Eve dinner with some dear friends and family this year. The snow threw a bit of a wrench in the works as much of our family were not able to join us. We ended up having a blast and the boys, along with their cousins, got to leave some reindeer food for Santa's reindeers.

Christopher and Benjamin

Dinner

Excited for Santa

Reindeer Food

Holiday Visitors!

We were lucky to have some special holiday visitors this year--Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Nancy. We had a blast visiting with them, exchanging some early Christmas gifts, and visiting the Natural History Museum, complete with the boys' first carousel ride. What a special visit and a wonderful time of the year to see our family. We only wish we were a bit closer so that we could spend Christmas day with all of those we love.

Christmas gifts

Someone wants to be like Grandpa.

Aunt Nancy and Georgie being silly.

The boys and Grandma and Grandpa.

First carousel ride.

Blogger :(

Recently, I was trying to update my blog when I discovered that I had reached the capacity for pictures and could not upload any of our adventures.  I am trying to work this out and when I do we will be back up and running!  Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving Party!

Today, I got to join Stephen in his class for a little Thanksgiving Party.  Honestly, I think I was more excited about it than Stephen.  I loved being in the classroom and the kids were so cute.  Poor little George felt left out and was very confused about why Stephen was having a party.  Stephen's teachers were so sweet and encouraged me to get Georgie, so that he could join Stephen for lunch.  George was so good and sat in his seat the whole time eating his lunch.  What a fun little morning for us!!!

The kids helped cut and put together the flower arrangements.

Countdown to Tierney and Joe's wedding!

This past Sunday we celebrated Tierney and Joe's engagement with family and friends.  During my bad blogging days this past June my sister and Joe got engaged.  It is hard to believe that in less than a year Tierney and Joe will be tying the knot.  The party was lovely, and while I co-hosted, I have to admit that our dear friend, Emily, did most of the work and really put together a lovely celebration for Tierney and Joe!  It was a beautiful setting in Meridian Hill Park in downtown DC along with musicians!  Special guests included Joe's mom, who was here visiting from CA ,and Tierney's roommate from college who made the trip from NJ to be here!

Musicians.

Me and Georgie.

The guests mingling.

Tierney playing the violin.

Christopher.

The boys playing boce with Elizabeth.  Stephen most most of the afternoon with Elizabeth and has been talking about her ever since!

Georgie did the pinata with help from Joe.

This was the first time seeing my family since we found out we were having a little girl so they had some pink gifts for us!

GG

Cute little girl outfit!

We had a blast at the party.  Thanks so much to Emily, Elizabeth, and Lauren for all their work setting up.  We can't wait to celebrate with you, Tierney and Joe!

And it's a .......!!!!!

I have been waiting very patiently to find out if baby Schatz # 3 would be a boy or a girl.  I don't know how people wait until birth to find out the sex of their baby.  I admire their ability to wait, but for me the anticipation would be too much to bear.  Stephen took the day off of work so that we could make it really special.  We hired a sitter for Georgie, dropped Stephen at school, and headed toward Fairfax to find out the sex of baby # 3.

Prior to the ultrasound, Stephen declared he thought it was a girl.  During most of my pregnancy, the boys had said they were going to have a sister.  I decided that we must be having a baby boy but somewhere I suspected that given how different this pregnancy had been that it might be a girl.

At the beginning of the ultrasound the tech shared that the baby was positioned in such a way that she could not determine sex.  Luckily, the baby is such a mover that after a few minutes we learned that we were having a baby girl!!!!!  We were so shocked and thrilled that neither of us said much until after a few minutes Stephen said "I am going to have to pay for a wedding!"

We left to pick up Georgie and Stephen and went to lunch where we had some small gifts for them about babies and being big brothers.  At lunch we shared with them that they would be having a little sister and then started the calls to our family to share the news!

Georgie has been very interested in the baby and is always asking to see the baby!  He loved the pictures.

Stephen was adamant that it was a baby girl.

Opening their gifts.

Stephen

Me

After naps I asked Steve if we could do what any mom, who just found out she would be having a little girl, would want to do and asked if we could head to the mall to buy some girl things.  Unfortunately, I had the hardest time picking out things and figuring out sizes so I just bought a pink and white pjs.  It was funny because I kept being drawn to all the little boy clothes!

We spent some time in the play area where the boys got to ride the train with daddy!

We are thrilled about our news and still a bit in disbelief.  Prior to finding out that we would be having a baby girl I was all set to go through the boys clothes and start to give some things away.  Now the thought is just terrible and I find myself sad to think that none of our babies will wear the cute clothes that the boys spent the last three and half years wearing!!!!

Thanks to all our friends and family for their excitement.  We can't wait to meet you little girl!

Georgie turns TWO!

We got to spend Georgie's 2nd birthday in New York City!  We took Georgie and Stephen to the Central Park Zoo and explored the city.  The boys loved the animals and we luckily got to check it out before the rain started.

Waiting to see the Dora 4D show.  Both boys were absolutely terrified of the movie.  Luckily for us there were no other kids in the show and it was very short! (not fun)

Happy Birthday Boy!

Our friend, Colleen, made Georgie this special shirt for his birthday.  Thank you so much!

Feeding the animals was a big hit for both the boys.

Happy Stephen!

Daddy and the birthday boy!

After the zoo we spent some time at Grandma and Grandpa's for a special birthday dinner and cake!

We had a blast spending the day in NYC and taking the boys to the zoo.  They loved Central Park and spending time with their grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  Thanks to all who helped make Georgie feel so special.  It's hard to believe that it has been two years since you entered our lives, little man.  Thank you for all the special memories and all your energy.  We love you!!!

Harry gets baptised!

We headed up to New York City to spend the weekend and joined the Schatz family to celebrate Harry's baptism.  In July, we became an aunt and uncle again with the birth of Harry Hellmann.  Harry is a special little man and the first of Steve's sisters to have a baby.  His name is also special because he was named after his great grandfathers and a paternal uncle.  This trip was even more special because just three weeks after Harry joined the family another nephew, Kellen, was born.  This was the first time all the Schatz grandchildren were together--five boys, three and a half and under!  Something tells me that family functions moving forward will be very BUSY!

Stephen and Georgie with grandma and grandpa and their cousins!

Stephen and Grady.

All the Schatz/Hellmann boys!

Georgie and Aunt Kristina playing ball.

The boys had a blast running around with all the kids at the party.  Unfortunately for us, Stephen and Georgie and several of the other children at the party came down with a terrible case of Hand, Foot, and Mouth, later that week.  Here's to lots more family functions...minus the germs!