Last "Firsts"

First time asleep on her belly....shhh! Don't tell the doctors!!

Watching football with Daddy!

Her first bath in the tub...night #2 at home!

We previously thought we had done a number of 'lasts' with Kamdyn...well Kali really is our last so we will again truely enjoy some of those 'firsts' for the last time!!

First Night Home

We came home in less than 48 hours...a very exciting, unexpected suprise for all of us. Kali and I did great and it was sure nice to be home with the rest of our family. We were definately lonely all alone in the hospital.

Brothers and Sister

Everyone gets a turn to hold the newest little sister.

Kali Christina Schiess

September 15 2009

7:16 PM

5 lbs. 14 oz. * 18 1/2 inches

Count Down

Sorry but I have to share that we are counting down to family member number 8!! Or maybe just I am. But we made a fun calendar on the fridge that Matthew colors daily to count down to the events of the next two weeks. Not sure if he is more excited for the baby or going to the dentist tomorrow. But none the less...today is September 3rd...so only 13 more days!!!!

Nap Time

So our almost two year old is quite the spicy little one. She frequents time out and knows the drill. She is quite loving when she says "sorry" to whomever she has chosen to direct her spiciness at though. So for nap time and bed time we have now started putting up the gate at her room, so she is not 'free' to come out at any moment. It has helped a little bit but we are still working on the whole sleeping all night thing as well as the normal 2 hour nap she was previously taking before the big girl bed freedom was discovered. So anyways, long story short, this is how I found her one day during nap time!

Caught Up!!!

Think I am now all caught up. Will have one more to add of the kids first days of school. But other than that, all done...next up Kamdyn's bday here in two weeks and then this new and last baby on the 16th of September!

VInewood Elementary's Annual Jog A Thon

The final count of the gang!
This was literally Matthew all morning...pulling his sleeves up to show off all his markings. I have 3 or 4 pictures of him like this at different times throughout the event. Too funny!

And they walked...but enjoyed themselves. Was happy to see them talking and having fun together.

This was a time that these two just went out to run laps alone. No big brothers or friends taking them around. Just the two of them, in a large sea of kids. They held hands much of the way...I like Kamdyn's tongue sticking out! Shows she really was working!

Andrew didn't run...he walked and carried Kamdyn.

Matthew in full run...at the end of the lap, coming in to get his arm marked!

Triston's first lap...he looks done...he on he trekked!

Josh doing great! Still running after a full lap!

Every year Vinewood has a jog a thon. Most years it has fallen on a Friday that either Triston doesn't have school or hasn't started yet. Which was the case again this year. Everyone knows him anyways so he fits right in. All the kids had a great time. You can see by the number of lines on their arms how many laps they ran. Matthew and Kamdyn definately won the prize! They ran so many all morning long. Triston ran with both Andrew and Joshua's grade levels as well as with another one of our friends. They got lots of water and popsicles too off set the hot sunshine. Matthew, Kamdyn and Triston also were lucky to have donuts that were for the adults only, but since they were there with me, they enjoyed that part of the morning as well.

The 'Girls' Room

Valance that I made.

Just a little paint and moving of the furniture and bingo...got a totally different look!

Kamdyn's bed. Joshua's green hawaiin shirt from our wedding matched the green color great.

Book shelf given to us yesterday by a great friend. Eventually we'd (I'd) love to have white furniture in here for the girls, so it will be perfect at tha point. Til then it's a little of white a little of wood color!

Baby's spot. Same stuff used for Kamdyn's crib...made a pillow out of left over fabric and made two new blankets for the baby to go as well. Oh I did make the crib skirt too. Used part of the sheets that are on Kamdyn's bed...just can't tell that I cut them up!!

So...with having baby number 6 being another little girl, we finally get to have a real girls room!! With our small 3 bedroom home it worked out perfect to have a boys room and a girls room. Matthew moved into the big brothers room about 6 months ago, we figured at that point, not knowing what this next baby was, that he should go there anyways. He loves being in there with them. Needless to say, now when babysitters come over he'll go to bed in his own bed. Before we'd come home to find him in bed with one of the big boys! Well in doing our 'girls' room we got to paint pink. Something neither of us had done before. It's really pink, but Kamdyn loves it and so do we. All the boys in the family placed hand prints on the walls for the little girls. We did this all on a very low cost budget, redoing most of what we already had. We could have been on one of those shows where they remodel for under $50 bucks or something! Was a very fun project.

Summer Swimming

Matthew still has a great swim-float-swim. He uses it to swim the length of our pool (40ft.) in 'one breath' like the big brothers do!

She finally mastered her swim-float-swim, self rescue swimming technique. All without formal lessons from mom. Mom didn't take the time nor have the energy of daily lessons, so we made our own scheduled, played and played and got it anyways...just took a lot longer. But she's a pro now. No question about that.

Kamdyn's 'dive'...again she copies all that she sees the big brothers do.

Playin' around!

Kamdyn saying 'good job' with a thumbs up!

We do a lot of swimming at our home. This summer has been unusually cool, so honestly our swimming has greatly lacked. Could also be attributed to my laziness during this pregnancy. But overall we really didn't swim hours on end everyday like we have in years past. But despite that everyone's swimming has remained strong. Matthew has greatly improved as has Kamdyn.

Matthew's Element

Anything Dad or the big brothers do or for that matter that he see's on tv is something he's gotta try. Well since about a month ago or maybe longer now, when the X Games were on tv that has been his thing. He watches the recordings of the X Games over and over and over. He knows the names of every athlete. He knows when they 'land it' and when they 'biff it'. He knows when 'they had that one' and when they win. We love it when he tells us who is going to win. We ask him why or question it and his reply is simple, "he wins every time"!! This kid is just too much. Oh and he takes charge of the remote and has to 'skip' the commercials. He has to do it because he knows when they are coming and when they will be over.

AND THEN THERE IS DAD...

Makin' videos of himself!

"Happy Valley"

Looks like Josh is walkin on water...but he's jumping!

Even Suzi jumped!!

Sam made his own raft!

Hannah was the daredevil for sure!

Pretty girlies!

Patrick

The gang!

Our 'big' boys!

Dad and Matthew

Matthew and Georgia

Dad jumpin!

Andrew's first jump of the day!

Joshua's first of the day!

Triston's first of the day!

Oh the chips and guacamole!! Girl after my own heart!

We took a day trip with our friends, the Kelly's for Suzi's birthday to a place called Happy Valley up near Sacramento. We hiked in along a small river/stream to a place with small pools, waterfalls and large rocks to jump in from. Everyone loved it. Joshua can't stop thinking of reasons why we need to go back. All the boys jumped off the rocks, swam and had a great time. The water was perfect. Kamdyn loved swimming in the small little pools, sliding down the rocks into the water and the chips and guacamole!! We all went to In and Out on the way home for dinner. Was one of those fantastic days that are so fun to think about.