Hi

I am sitting in our guest room. Oliver and Wendel are asleep and I will be joining them soon. I am thinking about how much is going to change in the next couple of months. Only four weeks until I go on FMLA at work and six weeks until this baby's due date. I am starting to hear sporadic Christmas songs on the radio, which is another reminder that this baby is coming soon (not that I need a reminder - my large belly and constant state of discomfort keep me pretty aware of his upcoming due date).

I am nervous to have two. I am nervous to go through the newborn stage again. I am nervous to stay home and not be working in the capacity I have been working in. Being a mom is a lot of work and it's very different to do that full time than go to an 8-5 job, especially one as crazy as mine. As difficult as my job is, I think staying home will be very hard too. I am nervous about filling the days, being able to entertain Oliver and give enough attention to him while taking care of the baby, and not going stir-crazy. I think this will be the biggest adjustment for me in the coming months. I feel it is important to be at home with our children and part of me is looking forward to it but I also think it will be really hard for me. I think I need to get into a good routine with them. If any of you stay-at-home moms have any tips for me, I would love to hear them.

This baby is moving around so much. I watch my stomach move up and down and feel my belly button being pushed out. Another thing I am worried about is what to name this little guy. I have a name picked out that I love but Wendel is not a fan. He likes the names Bolt and Moose (still - he liked them for Oliver too) and I am not a fan of those. So we have another name dilemma. I need to start thinking of other names since I don't think my first pick is going to make the cut but I am drawing a blank. I think I just love the name I have in mind so much, it is difficult to think of him being named anything else. So...any name ideas for me? I really like classic, old-fashioned names with no weird spellings. Help me out.

Maternity Shoot

I had a little maternity shoot the other day. I am six months along and wanted a shoot now before I get too huge (the third trimester gets a bit scary for me, especially toward the end). Wendel took the photos of me and my friend, Autumn, took the shots of Wendel and I together. We went out to a grove of trees here in Maricopa. It was a beautiful setting and the light was perfect. Other than being eaten alive by mosquitoes and the humidity in the air making it feel like a tropical jungle, I think the shoot turned out pretty well. Here are some of my favorites. (I just can't share the family photos yet since I will likely use one of them for our Christmas card this year.)

These pictures are so precious to me. I value photos that capture emotion between me and my family more than almost anything. I'm getting excited for our second little boy to join us. My mom and sister are coming into town this weekend to help me paint his nursery. I'm so excited to put it together and get ready for him. And now...I am so tired, I am about to fall asleep while I am typing. Goodnight!

parenthood

Wow, my life has been a complete whirlwind these past six weeks. Here are a few things I've learned:

* Not all diapers are the same (don't ever buy the Babies R' Us brand).
* Nursing is so much harder than I thought it would be.
* A side effect of Fenugreek is hives. And they itch. A lot.
* Reglan is horrible, horrible stuff.
* I have no idea how stay-at-home moms get anything done (or any moms, for that matter). I start the day with a whole list of stuff to do and maybe get "make the bed" crossed off.
* I can only tell what day of the week it is by what tv show comes on that night.
* It is not uncommon to go through two diapers in ten minutes or less.
* Formula is expensive.
* Somehow baby boys can get their backs or stomachs wet but their diaper is pretty much dry. I just don't get it.
* I am in a time warp. I will feed Oliver and then pump and then he is crying and I wonder why. Then I realize that it has been two hours since I fed him last. If I didn't keep a log of feeding times, I would be lost. Time is so weird these days.
* There is no sense in really getting "dressed" because I will just get milk and likely throw up on my clothes, and I might as well be comfortable, right?
* Everything looks so much worse when you add lack of sleep to the mix.
* Post Pardum Depression sucks.
* The Biology mess turned out to be a blessing. I'm so glad I have school off this quarter. I really could not be in school right now, going to class at night. (What was I thinking?!? I am still trying to finish up course work from last quarter, plus the Biology class, and it's a challenge to say the least).
* Calming my son down after he has been crying is such a sweet feeling.
* Having him snuggle up to me and fall asleep is the best.
* The little noises he makes while he sleeps and eats melt my heart.
* Gripe Water is amazing!
* Nothing prepared me more for motherhood than my mission. I have drawn on my experience as a missionary for strength several times in the past six weeks.
* I was reading through one of my past journals and came across a quote I wrote in there from a General Conference address that said that to sacrifice means to make something sacred: Elder M. Russell Ballard has taught that “the word sacrifice means literally ‘to make sacred,’ or ‘to render sacred’ ” (“The Law of Sacrifice,” Ensign, Oct. 1998, 8; Liahona, Mar. 2002, 13). The words sacred and sacrifice come from the same root. One may not have the sacred without first sacrificing something for it. There can be no sacredness without personal sacrifice. Sacrifice sanctifies the sacred. (The full talk is here.) I think this is so applicable to motherhood, as it is to many aspects of our lives. It really hit home for me right now.
* It is not possible to take too many pictures.
* It is amazing how long it takes to get ourselves together and get out of the house.
* I have no idea what I'm doing. I'm just taking it one day at a time and feeling grateful that I am at this place in my life.

Our computer crashed a couple of weeks after Oliver was born (of course), so that is why I haven't shared many pictures. It is killing me! But I'm taking plenty and hope to share some soon.

P.S. Speaking of parenthood, have you seen the new tv show Parenthood? It is our new favorite.

*introducing oliver*

Samuel Oliver Schultz was born on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 at 4:26 am. He weighed 6 pounds, 11 ounces and was 19 1/2 inches long. We are completely in love with him and we're so excited that he is a part of our little family.

makes me smile

I am getting so excited to meet this little guy.

[Ultrasound from last week at 37 weeks to confirm that he turned. Yay!]

*freaking out*

[Picture taken a little over two weeks ago, at 34 weeks]

I can't believe our baby is due so soon. Only 3 1/2 weeks! I am kind of freaking out. I am so not ready and have about a million things to do before then. Hopefully the stress of it all won't cause early labor. Oh my goodness. Seriously. 3 1/2 weeks.

Utah Baby Shower

My mom and sister threw me a shower in Utah so my extended family there could get together and see my big pregnant belly and shower me with gifts (as well as a few friends who live in Utah). It was really fun. Here are some of the decorations (this is at my mom's house - isn't it so cute?)

Cute little treat bags for guests to take.

Yummy food.

Prizes for the winners of the games. We played the one where everyone is given a little blue clothes pin to wear and if someone hears you say the words "baby" or "cute" they can take away your pin, and whoever has the most at the end wins (I lost right away...how could I not say the word cute when opening baby clothes?). We also played the one where everyone has to cut off how much string they think will measure my belly and the closest one wins.

I am in love with this blanket my mom made for him. It's perfect.

Grandma and Grandpa Roberts. They both gave very touching advice at my shower (yes, my grandpa came to the shower and stayed the whole time, actively participating in the games and everything. It was really cute).

Heidi and me. We have been friends since 6th grade. I'm so glad she could come to my shower. It was really good to see her.

Lindsey and me

My Grandma and Grandpa Herzog

My mom and me with the blanket she made for our little guy. I absolutely love it! These are going to be the colors of his nursery - green and white with accents of chocolate brown and light blue. I love the fabric that she chose and how it all looks together. This blanket makes me so excited to start putting his nursery together.

I wish I could have gotten more pictures of everyone else who came to the shower but I was a little preoccupied.

Before opening a gift, the person who gave the gift was supposed to give me advice. Here is the advice I got from everyone:

*Don't forget Wendel - Grandma H.
*Sleep when the baby sleeps - Bethaney
*Be flexible with your goals - Taryn
*Have patience. It's okay if you have a fussy baby. Roll with it. -Jenna & Kristi
*Let others spoil you - Krystell
*Don't try to please / impress the neighbors. Stay close to him in the hard times. - Grandma R.
*Use the drugs - Britney
*Don't hesitate to ask for help. - Lindsey
*Plan on giving him (the baby) time. - Diane
*Don't get offended by other people. - Mom
*Pray about things and then do them. - Heidi
*Take time for yourself - Shaunie
*Start using a swing early on. Start FHE before he knows what it is rather than randomly starting it one day when he's older. - Syd
*Remember that there is a time and season for everything. - Neesha
*Stay close to your kids. Teach them about the government and the importance of how it is run. Kids these days don't know about it and don't appreciate it. - Grandpa R.
*It's okay to let them cry...just put in some earplugs and hold them. "Kids are like fruit, they aren't ripe yet." - Kass

Thanks Mom and Linds for the fun shower!

It's a...

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are very excited! I didn't mention this before because I didn't want to sway your decisions when voting, but I thought we were having a boy. I even had a dream when I was 7 1/2 weeks, while we were in Utah, the night we told our families. It was a very vivid dream - I saw a baby boy and I knew he was ours. I can still picture his face. [Not that dreams are always accurate. I am thankful for that, as I have had some crazy dreams during this pregnancy...the kind where I wake up and say "WHAT?!?" Every night I dream about random people in my life who are not likely to show up in my dreams, but there they are.] The little guy was very active today. I could feel him moving around before the appointment, which I was hoping was a good sign. I had 1/2 cup of orange juice to get him going, but then I asked the tech if that is a myth or if it really works and she said it doesn't really work but that some babies are just more active and cooperative than others.

You can see that his most recent photo is blurry - that's because he was moving around so much. It's cool how you can see his spine in this one. I also liked how we could see his little heart beating during the ultra sound. We're grateful for this happy news and especially to know that so far he is a healthy baby. What a great day!

brief baby update

Just stopping in to say that we get to find out the gender of our baby tomorrow morning (bright and early, at 7:45am)! We are pretty excited. Any tips for me? Drink juice? Caffeine? I'm so hoping this little baby is active in the morning! I added a poll to my sidebar. I'm a bit late in adding it but if you want to vote for boy or girl, please do. I would love to see what everyone thinks.

Also, some of you know this but for those who don't, I have a pregnancy blog where I keep track of my thoughts (and pictures of my growing belly) during this pregnancy. I have this blog private but if you want to read it, leave me a comment or email me and I will send you an invite (if I don't already have your email address, leave it for me). It's not too exciting but it's just a fun place to keep all of my baby thoughts together. (I also added a link to it on my sidebar under "My Stuff" for those who follow it and want to get there quickly from my blog.)

first ultrasound

I had my first ultrasound last week. Ultrasounds are amazing! Seeing an image of our baby appear on the screen was incredible. I was surprised by how much I loved it. The tech I had wasn't too enthusiastic or talkative and W couldn't be there but I decided to just be excited by myself anyway. The baby raised his/her arm up and then brought it down to his/her face and it looked like he/she was sucking on his/her thumb. He/she also extended and bended his/her legs and seemed pretty active the whole time. (I can't wait until we know the sex so I can just say he or she.) I know people always wonder what they're looking at when they see these scans but I think it's pretty amazing.

i couldn't resist...

Remember the cute little dress in this post? Even though I have no idea if we are having a boy or a girl, and who knows if we will ever have a girl, I finally broke down and bought it. It's just so cute! It arrived today and I'm in love. Someday I want to learn how to sew but until then I will adore the handiwork of others.