Reviving the blog..

Its been over a  year since I updated this blog, but I figured why not revive it as we have a new little baby to talk all about! 
So where do I start? Short recap of the last year....just kidding!  That would NOT be short!  I guess lets just start with July 2012!

July 2012-
Kara drove up from San Fran with Nala on July 4th.  It wasn't a planned trip but she got a couple days off work, Kirk was in Idaho training with his new team, and I always miss my sisters, so being the twins that we are we both had the idea for her to drive up for a very long weekend.  Sean BBQ'd some ribs and we had a great Fourth of July meal.  Our plan was to watch the neighborhood firework show later on in the evening.  We did this last year and had a blast because in WA, fireworks are legal and they are crazy and our neighborhood puts on the best show in town!  BUT, baby boy Schoonmaker had other plans.  About 3 hours after Kara arrived my water broke! In to labor I went, 26 hours later Griffin was born.  His birth story was pretty crazy and I am going to leave that for another post :)  We came home with him on Saturday July 8th.  The dogs were going a little crazy with us being gone all day for the last 3 days, so we came home to a mess!  They had gotten into the trash and it was sooo gross.  Kara, being the awesome person she is cleaned it up and got it nice for us while we got Griffin situated.  She had to leave the next morning to go back to work, it was so sad!  We all cried!   Luckily for us she came up a few weeks later for a nice long stay! 

Kara holding Griffin 3 days old!

The first couple days at home were great, although we were very sleep deprived!  Such a huge overnight change to have a tiny little baby to care for.  Sean is such a great dad and we make a great team.  We wanted to dive right into it all, so we went to the grocery store, and Costco the next day.  Its funny how you have to figure out how to do these things with a baby, like where do you put his car seat in the grocery cart?  Does it snap in?  Is it safe?  So we are literally googling these things in Costco.  So funny, but why not?

First time at the dog park!

A couple days later my Mom, Ally and Gabe all flew into town.  We had a wonderful time with them!  They were a tremendous help to us and allowed Sean and I to catch up on sleep and they got some great time with Griffin.  We took them to the Columbia River Gorge and the coast and toured around Portland.  It was really fun :)  They cooked and cleaned and took such great care of us!  We were so very lucky to have them. I miss them sooo much!  My Mom got to stay another week, which was great!  We cooked a ton of meals to freeze, celebrated her birthday and relaxed!  Such a great Grandma :) Bill came into town for work and stopped by for dinner.  It was really nice and couldn't have been better timing!  He got to hold Griffin and see his new nephew!  Wonderful! 



Ally and Gabe

Loving up Griff

My Dad and Debbie came in a couple days after my Mom left.  I was waiting in the airport for them to come off the plane when I realized that after you become a Mom, nothing is sacred.   This nice older gentlemen asked me how old Griffin was.  I told him, and then he asked me if I was breastfeeding.  Since when is it OK to ask a complete stranger what she is doing with her boobs?  He wasn't a weirdo or anything, it just goes to show that nothing is off limits.  He was not the last complete stranger to ask either...Anyway..back to our visitors...This was their first trip to OR/WA so we did lots of breweries, took them to the Gorge and the farmers market.  We had a really relaxing trip!  Debbie made us a wonderful dinner one night and I ate her famous mashed potatoes for leftovers for days!  It is really great to be able to share Griffin with family and really fun to see my Dad with a little baby :)  Debbie got in lots of kisses and hugs and it was great to talk with her about Griffin and hear her stories from when Katie and Amy were little.  Love it all!

Holding their new grandbaby!

To round out July, Kara came back up for a week.  We huge out at home most of the time, but managed to go to a bookstore, get lunch and do some walks.  It was nice because we both felt like it reminded us of when we used to live so close to each other.  I was really glad she got to come up and see Griffin, because last time she was here, he was being born and it was CRAZY!  She brought Nala with her, so Jake was in heaven for a whole week.  Love that yellow lab :)

Soaking up Griffin, round 2

Griffin has changed so much in 4 weeks, he is looking alot more like his mommy!  His hair is lightening up, its a true mix of Sean and I now.  His little personality is coming around each day and I love him more and more!  My favorite time with him is in the morning, he is so alert and content and makes the cutest sounds and faces!  I also love watching Sean with him, its adorable and makes my heart melt!  That's all for now!

One month old!