Happily growing (from Niki)

Everyone has such exciting news these days! Congrats all around! We certainly won't have a shortage of things to talk about at the family picnic in June, that's for sure.

Life in pregnancy land continues to cruise along happily. I always tell people that "I reserve the right to change my mind at any moment, but so far I'm doing great" when they ask how I feel. I definitely look and feel quite pregnant, but I'm still running a bit and walking with Matt in the evenings, so that's helped.

We've had a busy last couple of months with loads of family and friends. We split Easter weekend between Aurora and Yutan managing to eat lemon pie at every stop. Here's Matt listening to the boys digest all that sugar.

As Kelly mentioned, she was kind enough to host a wonderful Mother's Day lunch in Lincoln with most of the Stamp family. My mom and I were in charge of the fruit bouquet. We spent the day before assembling with me doing chocolate quality control. Someone had to do it, and my handy shelf and I happily volunteered.

Mother's Day was an excellent time with good food and great family. Pretty crazy to think that there will be FOUR of us next year though.

As for the twins, they continue to do great. They're almost 2 and a half pounds each and quickly running out of room. (No idea where they'll fit during the next 8 weeks.) Both are kicking and punching up a storm and occasionally get into fights around the middle. I've been assured they won't hurt each other, but it's very amusing to watch and feel them go at it like that.

Like all the other rooms in our house, Matt is in charge of designing the nursery. I call myself the Assistant Project Manager to all the decorating. Since I can't really climb, paint, or move things, my duties include refilling his glass of water, running to Home Depot for extra supplies, and marveling at the progress he makes. I'm clearly very helpful. We have some minor detail left and should be done in the next week or so. That makes it seem pretty real, that's for sure.

I'm also visiting the doctor frequently for ultrasounds, updates, and various other twin-standard precautions. Getting to see the boys so much has been a real treat. I did learn at last week's ultrasound that the spot where I thought A had been kicking for the last month was both of their heads instead of one's feet. Oops. I felt pretty bad for poking their tiny face all day every day thinking we had a little kicking game going.

Below are some pictures from the latest round. Ever since they were the size of apple seeds, A has happily posed and B has wanted nothing to do with the camera. The hand was all we got since the little guy is ready for the paparazzi!



Matt and I are both so very excited to see everyone in June. Enjoy spring, and we'll see you soon!

Mother's Day, Marathons and More...

Hi All,

It's been awhile since I've contributed to the blog. It's so great keeping up with everyone this way. Mary Jo, I'm glad all went well with surgery. Debbie, what exciting news for your clan!

Paul and I have had a busy spring so far. Paul spent much of the grueling winter months in training for the Lincoln Marathon. It was his first marathon and he did great! Paul finished in 3 hours and 48 minutes which met his goal of under 4 hours. He's not sure if another full marathon is in his future, but you never know. I thought I might see Nancy or Debbie at the race as well, but with 8,000 racers, no such luck. Congrats to Nancy on another half-marathon finish! I thought it was pretty neat this year that they put the finish line on the 50-yard line of the stadium. It was a beautiful day and I enjoyed sitting in the stands watching the finishers on the big screen. It's the first year they've had it set up like that and could use a little more organization getting all the supporters in and out of the stadium, but overall, very cool.

I've spent some of these nice spring days out in the yard trying to spruce things up. I planted a few potted flowers, transplanted some irises from a friend's yard and planted two hydrangea bushes in the front of our house. They should continue to bloom and look nice all summer long, at least that's what I'm hoping.

We hosted many guests for a Mother's Day weekend celebration. We had Mom and Dad, Elissa, Matt and Taylor (along with their dog Sampson) and Paul's mom, Karen (and her dog Winnie) staying with us for the weekend. We had tons of fun, and having the 3 dogs in the house certainly kept the pups entertained and worn out. Thankfully, Paul and Grandpa finished the fence in our backyard last summer so the dogs were able to romp freely and do most of their wrestling outside.

It was so fun to have everyone in the house and Taylor seemed to really enjoy herself. There were dogs to boss around and many adults to give her hugs and attention! We spent Saturday with some friends in Beatrice who recently built a gazebo in which Taylor enjoyed running around in circles.

On Sunday, we added Grandma and Grandpa, Steve and Suki and Niki and Matt to the crew for a Mother's Day lunch. Between Paul and Matt on the grill, Grandma's deviled eggs, veggies and sides from Mom and myself, and Suki and Niki's amazing fruit creation, we had a great meal!

We also had some milestone birthdays to celebrate. This May, my dad turned 60 and Paul turned 30! We got some tortes from Annette's Catering, like the kind we had at our wedding, as our cake selections. Paul chose a raspberry torte and Dad went for a bavarian cream chocolate torte. Both were delicious and we were able to have those for dessert on Mother's day and sing Happy Birthday to both Paul and Dad!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful spring. We'll see you all in June at the Bull Family Picnic!

Love,

Kelly

News from Debbie for once!

Dear Everybody who has been much better about posting regularly than I have!!
After a very long absence from contributing to this wonderful missive it's time I sent along first of all, congratulations: to Nicki and Elissa for their impending additions to the family, to Nicki for her marathon and triathlon achievements, belatedly to Joe and Suzanne for their graduations, and to whoever I've missed that has deserved a pat on the back. I was happy to see your post today, Mary Jo. I've been thinking about you and was hoping your procedure went well. It definitely sounds like something to be glad is behind you. I'll keep hoping for further good reports from your doctors.
It seems that for a long time our family (I mean the Schmidt's) hasn't had much noteworthy news and I think that's one reason (plus being duly impressed by the posts of more regular contributors) that I haven't written in so long. However, we finally have a number of new items to pass along. First, Michael and Renee are getting married!! They became engaged about a week before Easter and have set the date for August 7, this year!! So here's your save the date notice. The wedding will be at St. John's in Yutan (Grandma & Grandpa are very touched) with the reception at the Yutan Country Club. I don't know many details (just being the mother of the groom after all) but will to talk to Michael and Renee this weekend to get filled in to see how we can best help out. Renee's mom lives in Connecticut and her dad in Florida but she does have a grandma in Omaha and a grandpa & grandma in Aurora. M & R are also in the process of buying a small house near 49th & Blondo, the location of which causes some consternation but it was the nicest house they found for what they can afford. Also, they like the location because it's near UNMC and Michael will begin attending Pharmacy School there this fall! He's worked at Streck since Dec 2003 and came to realize he wanted to pursue something else and decided on Pharmacy. He applied to a number of schools, got accepted for interviews at 6 of them, went to 4 interviews, and was accepted by each of those 4 schools! We are proud of him! He's been very busy still working and taking a number of classes required by UNMC. Of course he will quit his job when he officially starts the Pharmacy classes which I think will seem like a break to him. Renee finished the Methodist accelerated nursing program in March and now has a job at Methodist Hospital (working nights, but it pays more and she's okay with that.) So that's their story.
Wyatt is also making a big change. He's been in Newton, Iowa for three years (already) working at an environmental lab as a chemist. He knew all along he didn't want to stay at that position (or in Newton) and he finally decided being a Physician's Assistant would suit him. He also applied to a bunch of schools, got accepted for interviews at 6 (I think), went to 5 of the interviews and was accepted by 4 of the schools. He considered his options and will be heading to Ft. Lauderdale (sounds better than Milwaukee doesn't it?) the end of May to start school June 1. He is excited about this new adventure, but will miss his work environment and the wonderfully kind, helpful, and just plain nice people in Newton. Maybe he'll surprise himself and end up there later!
Owen has been on an adventure of his own this spring semester. He declared History and Spanish as his majors at Wesleyan so needed to spend a semester abroad in a Spanish speaking country. He ended up in Queretaro, Mexico which is in central Mexico a couple hours northwest of Mexico City. He tells us there is an agreement (for what reason I don't know) among the drug gangs to not bring their violence to that city. (It seems weird to me to even write a sentence like that.) He is living with a local family, managed to travel to Acapulco and Cancun, has taken Salsa dance lessons, is teaching English to 6th graders, seems to have a Mexican girlfriend, and is taking a full load of classes at "the Tech" (what he calls the university there.) He will return the end of May, will not have graduated yet (he has yet to finish his senior thesis for his history major, but he will or else!!) What he thinks is next on his agenda I don't know. It seems to us he's made the most of his time as a student and maybe it's time to work!
As for Jim and I it's mostly the same old, same old. Our church group did not go to Honduras this year because of the political unrest there, but if it improves I am certainly ready to go back again. Mary Jo wondered about Nancy & I and the marathon this year. Well, Nancy walked the 13.1 miles and I took pictures of her and her walking buddy. For one thing, I didn't get registered in time and for another, I think my body would have objected too much. I'm not out of shape, a friend and I go to "LifePointe" to work out 5 or 6 times a week, but I do have some aches and pains that wouldn't like 13 miles of walking. Speaking of working out, I need to close so I can go to "Spinning"class. That's not my favorite, I like "Body Combat" better, but it's a good hard aerobic workout that gives my feet a break.

Take care everybody. Love, Debbie

From Mary Jo POST Surgery!!

Dear Family,

One week ago at this time, I was being wheeled into the operating room for my date with the DaVinci Robot and my human surgeon. BOY, am I glad that's a week behind me! The surgery went fine, despite being postponed for 4 hours and taking 4 1/2 hrs to complete, during which time I was laying head down at a 30 degree angle while my insides were being rearranged by the robot. My main difficulty (as it was during the hip surgery) was trouble coming out of the anesthetic. (I was aware of nothing in the recovery room and only really knew where I was at about 9 pm.) That was followed by 12 hrs of vomiting. Narcotic pain killers and I don't get along well, either, and although I came with a complete report of all the anesthetic information from the hip operation, and they assured me they would try different things, the results were exactly the same. By late afternoon on Wednesday I felt better and tried a little solid food. It stayed down and I was released the next morning. The trip home was tolerated well, and I am feeling better every day. The biggest surprise was the swelling and bruising in the abdominal and pelvic areas, but advil and heat are helping that. I have not received word about the pathology report, but the surgeon/ gyn/ oncologist who did the surgery thinks things were contained and removed by the surgery. That's what I'm counting on until I hear differently. I have an appointment with her next Wednesday. All in all, I'm glad I didn't ignore the rather minor symptoms I had, I'm thankful for the seemingly optimistic outlook, and I am so glad the surgery is over. I don't believe I'll be planning any elective face lifts in the near future!

Our friends, of course, have brought in lots of food, which Paul appreciates, even though my appetite hasn't exactly come roaring back yet. We are blessed to have some long-time and dear friends, and I don't know how one gets through something like this without some kind of support. Three weeks ago, the wife of one set of friends had a hysterectomy here in town and Paul went and sat with him during the procedure. Last week, he drove to Omaha and sat with Paul during that long day. I was very touched. We never expected him to take an entire day to be with Paul, but I know it helped.

Now, how are the rest of you? I imagine those twins are making themselves more apparent all of the time. Of course, we hope Elissa's pregnancy is going well, too. I wondered if Debbie and Nancy ran in the Lincoln Marathon. Suzanne and her cat have moved into an apartment here in Hastings. She decided if she wasn't having any luck finding a different job, she would at least try a different address. I am pleased to say she seems to be really enjoying it. Not so sure about the cat. She doesn't have a computer now, so don't know if she will be posting much soon about her adventure.

Take care, all of you dear ones, and write back.