10 months later

Well, I can't believe it has been 9 months since I last posted, okay really I can! Life since Emmerson has been wonderful, fast paced, changing minute by minute, new and exciting and so much more.

When I last posted in December I was busy preparing for my finals for school and beginning my final semester of my nursing program. Well I am happy to say that has all passed and I am officially as of June 24 a Registered Nurse in the State of Minnesota! I am so glad that school is behind me (most days) and that I am working full time for Mayo Clinic Health System. 9 months ago Emmerson was weighing in at a whopping 8lbs, eating every 2 hours, crying to express himself, and waking up ALL the time leaving mom and dad with little to no sleep each night.

Yes over 9 months life has gotten better and much more exciting for all of us. I can't explain the joy and happiness it brings to myself and Hans to watch Emmerson change minute by minute day by day. He wakes up now happily screeching and banging around his crib, screaming happily "ma,ma,ma" or "da,da,da,da!" It is such a blessing to hear his voice, to see his emotions, and be able to interact with him on all levels. I quite frequently thank God for how blessed not only we are to have a healthy and happy baby, but how LUCKY we are to see, hear, taste, and smell all these wonderful treats Emmerson surprises us with daily. I can't imagine not being able to SEE and HEAR his smile. He is anything but quiet these days! I can't imagine not getting to "share" his slimmy, salty gold fish snacks these are all things that so many parents don't get to experience for one reason or another and it breaks my heart.

Emmerson is now crawling, pulling up, and starting to "cruise" along items! It is super duper fun, encouraging, and yes even depressing all at the same time to see his new tricks but to realize he won't be my little baby forever. He is growing up way to fast and I am realizing all to quickly he isn't always going to want to be rocked, cuddled, and kissed and that is so difficult to accept but with that comes so many other wonderful blessings and needs. However, change is hard but I am learning to adapt.

Other changes in 9 months as I stated is that I have graduated with my bachelors degree, passed national nursing boards, and am working full time for the Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont, Minnesota. I absolutely love my job, my co-workers, and the patients I care for. It is so wonderful to have a job and for that I am thankful!

So many things over the past 9 months to be thankful and the list just keeps growing! Here is Emmerson today:

 

Baby Schafer has ARRIVED

Well Baby Schafer has arrived!

Emmerson Diederich Schafer arrived on Friday November 19, 2010 at 2:33pm
weighing 7lbs 6oz and 19.5 inches long!

Life has been incredibly busy since he arrived which is why I have not posted any updates. Here are some pictures of our precious baby boy and when I have more time and done with the semester I will get back to blogging....

Emmerson just a few hours old

First night at home.....our little glow worm....wow I really need to lose that roll!

Great Grandma Doris (Gi Gi) and Emmerson - Thanksgiving 2010

Baby Clothes

The week is off to a fabulous start! Yesterday we had our 38 week (yes 38 weeks) OB check up and well there is no news...it will most likely be after Thanksgiving that baby Schafer decides to join all of us which is fine by both of us. Given the current situation we will be having a baby December 1st sometime at least that is my guess! OB appointments really don't take that long anymore so that left us with time to take Emmet to the dog park which he desperately needs to go to each day otherwise he ends up with way to much energy come midnight (bedtime)!

Today....well I babysit two adorable boys who are 14 months and 4 years old. Of course they keep a 9month pregnant lady hoping non-stop but boy am I exhausted tonight. Hans had a very productive day with Emmet by his side. The two of them cleaned out the entire garden, mowed and bagged leaves from the entire yard and put everything in the compost. The yard looks fabulous and tomorrow we will take our wild flower fencing and garden fencing down for the winter and put away in the shed and that means CHRISTMAS LIGHT TIME!! I LOVE Christmas lights, NO we will not turn them on until AFTER Thanksgiving but it is always fun to go through and pick out what we want to put up this year..yes I said pick out....I am a bit of an extremist when it comes to Christmas lights. I LOVE THEM. They are second in line to Hallmark Christmas Ornaments! So tonight I am completely exhausted but I know if I go to bed now (8pm) I will be wide awake at midnight or 1am then be even MORE tired tomorrow. So I chose to try and attempt to organize the baby's clothing.

Who knew....seriously....that babies would have so much STUFF? I mean seriously...it is insane I know they need it, and they use it but it is just insane how much there is when you sit down and try to organize it. I think the worst part is knowing that they only wear half the stuff a few times and then it is time to box it away...depressing to even think about. Oh well....we have managed to not buy a whole bunch of 0-3 month clothing for that reason....baby Schafer is going to wear and re-wear lots of the same because they spend such a short amount of time in that size. We have a good amount of 3-6 month clothing which they spend a lot of time in so that is nice. I am trying to find a way to organize so that Hans understands what is more appropriate for daytime versus night time. As long as the baby is clothed is all that really matters but he has asked lots of questions and I am trying my best to explain everything. Like why a baby needs a onsie and a sleeper....needless to say this is going to be quite the journey but as long as we are in it together we will do just fine and hopefully survive.

If anyone as suggestions on clothing organization I would love to hear about it!
I will post pictures once the clothes are all put away and organized....soon I hope!

Anna!!

So I must dedicate this blog post to Anna Otto! I am not sure what I would do without her! Oh where do I begin! First of all she is a fellow Hormel wife, and not just any Hormel wife, but a fellow shipping Hormel Wife!! She is a great gal, and a mom of two amazingly cute girls!

I guess the best part is she just "gets me!" She gets all my little frustrations about being a Hormel wife, she understands my complaining about pregnancy and men because she too has been there TWICE! She is just awesome. She always welcomes me over and cooks for me, and makes me comfortable and takes an interest in who I am! I always call to give her my "OB weekly Update" and well Anna you always seem so excited to hear them hopefully you really are... :)

The best part though is she is part of a couple Bible study groups and a ladies group that I have inquired about and she has told me I could join in on...so this Thursday I am going to attempt to go to ladies night. It is SO SO nice to finally have a group of people to "hang out" with and have some connections. Hans and I moved here not knowing anyone and it has taken over 2 years to really start to get to know people and develop a group of friends....I guess that's what happens when you get pregnant you start to "mommy network" but it is a blessing, truly a blessing.

So again, I just have to thank Anna for being there for me these past for months that our friendship has developed! I am not sure where I would be without her....she is a great friend, a great support person, and best of all a great mom and wife! Thank you Anna for being there for me!

Together Time with Emmet!

What a beautiful day out today and I was lucky enough to spend 3/4 of it inside an old moldy building...sound like fun? Not so much, but at the end of the day I got to come home to an amazing man - my husband!! I was so giddy on the way home from school today simply because my hubby was going to be waiting for me and it was such a great feeling. He got our budget done, the baby room is 100% completed and looks fabulous, and he even had the house picked up minus the kitchen! I was so happy!!


Tonight after I took a 20minute catnap we took Emmet to the official unofficial dog park up the street from our house and when we got there, there were 5 other dogs HIS size! We opened the door and let Emmet run and it was so funny to watch Emmet immediately become submissive to 5 female dogs! However after they warmed up to each other they tore around the park and it was so fun to watch. Emmet is like lightning when he runs and he has never gotten to play with other dogs his size so it was a great first experience! Normally he plays with all dogs that are smaller than him simply because he is a big dog but finally we found other dogs that are his size and nice to play with!!

After the other dogs all left then Hans and I played fetch with Emmet for an hour in an attempt to wear him out because he was simply psychotic aka wound for sound! We always have so much fun the two of us with Emmet, it has become something we both look forward to doing with our dog which is really nice!

Hope you enjoy the cute pictures of our little family and the video of Emmet running around!

After we got home we cleaned up and Hans took me out for supper which was really really nice.....nice to not have a dog begging for food or in our face wanting to play the entire time. It was nice to have adult conversation in an adult environment and apparently everyone in Albert Lea was born Nov.5. At Applebees tonight there were 5 birthdays...5 absolutely insane!! Oh well it was fun!

Well now we are off to watch Mythbusters and Ghost Adventures our weekly TV time together!!

Baby Room

Well the baby room is complete minus the shelving! Today we got the bedding ready, the dresser put together and our new rocking chair and ottoman arrived! Hans was the first to sit in the rocking chair and nearly fell asleep...I guess that is a good thing since he gets to be Mr. Dad next semester.

Tomorrow Hans should get the closet finished which will be great because that means I can start putting clothes and blankets and books away and getting organized. However we are still waiting on the woodwork so we have to leave the floor clear and any extra floor space will be needed to navigate furniture around the room as they install everything!

As I mentioned above Hans is going to be Mr. Dad next semester which he says he is looking forward to. Not sure if he realizes quite yet how many hours a week he will have baby all to himself. Between leadership clinical and Adult Health II clinical and in - class time I am not going to be home in the mornings or afternoons much! Thank goodness we have an awesome daycare provider who is willing to keep baby Schafer from 3pm - 1am! God Bless her! She is one of two in our county that is registered for night time day care which is a huge blessing! I hope Hans is up to the challenge...I just wish I was going to be around more but once May arrives I will have lots of time with baby Schafer and lots of studying to do for boards!

Update

Well fellow bloggers I am back and hopefully this time to stay! Hopefully I will have a couple people who will hold me accountable for blogging on a regular basis but we shall see!

Life in the Schafer house has been crazy! Quick monthly update since March 2010:


March: We cruised away to the Easter Caribbean on our wonderful honeymoon. While cruising we have decided to try and make this a yearly adventure for the two of us, again a goal but we will see how that goes with baby on the way!

I almost forgot - found out I was 6 weeks pregnant around the middle of the month. We were told in December that in order for us to have children we would have to depend on infertility treatments and well I was pregnant about 6 weeks after that appointment! Amazing how God works in such mysterious ways!


April: Celebrated Easter and a crazy month in school for me as I completed my junior year of nursing school!

May: Junior year complete - light at the end of the tunnel with nursing school! We were able to celebrate 2 years in our house this May which just seems crazy, absolutely crazy how fast time flies! We started to remodel the entire upstairs as well in preparation for baby.

June/July/August - I was a nanny this summer for two families and busy preparing for our little ones arrival. The summer months were extremely hot and some days down right excruciating on this pregnant lady but I survived! Hans and I also got a new heating and cooling system this summer with whole house air and water purification and whole house humidification which is absolutely amazing! June 27, 2010 we celebrated our first year of marriage which was really fun. We went out for Sushi (me), Pizza (Hans) and did lots of baby shopping and furniture shopping. We bought the rest of bedroom set as our anniversary/birthday present which was awesome and it looks stellar!

September: The light is at the end of the tunnel although many days with all this school work it seems quite dim! Pregnancy is going well and the house is in total disarray due to Hans crappy work schedule but it will all get done eventually! Oh and the house is still a disaster at this point.....the entire upstairs!! This month we had 3 weddings, and we made it to one in Madison, WI for one of Hans best friends! It was a great trip, great wedding, and a great weekend for the two of us to spend some alone time together!
 

October: BIRTHDAY MONTH! Hans celebrated his 29th birthday on the 9th by going to Ames and having dinner with my mom and Bill at his favorite pizza place! I celebrated my 27th birthday on the 15th with a nice sushi dinner and buffalo wild wings....I know what a combination! Then Emmet the most important birthday of all - - He had his 1st birthday on October 28th! If you can't tell we are very proud parents to such a wonderful puppy! Yes, he is still a puppy! Goldendoodles are considered puppies until about the age of 3 even though he weighs 80+ lbs! At least he is cute!! This month we had our contractor come and we got all new wood trim, jam boards, and doors ordered for the entire upper half of our house! We went with all solid oak and a beautiful sahara color. Our bedroom is complete now with our new furniture all here and in its place all we need now is the woodwork to be installed and to hang some pictures. My mom and Bill came this month and sanded and primed walls in the upstairs and painted ceilings! Praise God for wonderful parents! Hans mother also made a whole bunch of baby blankets and burp cloths to put in the nursery which is very helpful and we look forward to using them!

Baby month is finally here! NOVEMBER!!! - Wow it is only the second of the month and so much has already happened! We had our 37 week appointment yesterday and things are going well. Well in the sense that everyone is healthy. However.....I am no where near ready to have this baby. I am due on November 21 but the doctor is guessing by how things look right now we wont be meeting our little bundle of joy until AFTER Thanksgiving! Which seems like forever, but if they try to induce and my body is not ready it will only lead us straight to having a C-Section and of course we want to avoid that if at all possible. The baby room is now almost complete. We have the paint up, crib up, and dresser almost completely built. The rocker and ottoman is coming tomorrow and the closet shelving should be installed by Friday! Hopefully the contractor will be calling soon that our doors and woodwork are all in and ready to be installed! I have 99% of the baby laundry done....just a load of blankets to wash and then it will be complete! I can't wait to start hanging everything and filling the drawers! We have lots and lots of diapers to try and find places for too which yes I know we will need lots of, but we have about 15 boxes of them right now! Trying to find a place to store them all should be quite interesting! The living room is nearing completion as well. We have two walls with their first round of paint up and two walls left to sand and paint. Hopefully by 13th the entire upstairs will be complete - painting and furniture that is! It would be great if all the woodwork was done but if not we wait until it is ready. School is going well this month, I worked extremely hard in the early months to get all my clinical hours done doing two and three days a week and it paid off - I finished 3 weeks early which is amazing. I now have time to put my feet up and relax which I need to do because I have LOTS of swelling! The light at the end of the tunnel for both pregnancy and school is getting brighter every day which is encouraging, there are still days when the light gets dim but that is normal and we get through it!

Hans has been very busy between running with Emmet on a near daily basis 5 miles, working on the house, and of course working LOTS! Hormel works their employees until they are near death but I guess that's what happens when you are salaried! However it is paying off his 60-80 hours a week that he puts in because he is getting 2 weeks off when the baby comes!


Well I believe that is all for now! That is quite a bit though! Hope you enjoy the pictures!