Danielle

Danielle Denise Schramm

Born December 19, 2011 ~ 8:12am

7 lbs 5oz ~ 18 1/2" long

Big Sister Gabby

Big Sister Charley

There isn't any crazy story that goes along with the birth. Dani was a scheduled C-section. There was a point when we thought she would come early, I was having pre-labor pains, but then they went away around 37 weeks. But things went about the same as the other two c-sections. We were scheduled for 7:30am, so we had to be there at 6:15am. They were running a little late, and didn't leave for the surgery room until 7:45am, and we started shortly after that. Ben decided that he wanted to film this one. He even streamed it over his phone through a web cam and some of that family that wanted to was able to see it. Yes, I reluctantly agreed to letting him do this...as long as no one saw anything personal and it was just family! I am fully covered except my belly. Apparently I had a LOT of scar tissue from my previous c-sections, and it took a few minutes to actually get through it. But Dani was born at 8:12am! And she is perfect! She looks just like her sisters did when they were born, with lots of dark hair!

*For my own note: Dani was a very healthy baby. Most c-section babies have to have help with oxygen and have to be pumped of the fluids right after birth. And some times they wont cry right away because of it. But Dani didn't need any of it!

Because my body just ain't what it used to be, the recovery is a little bit more than the other births. I can already tell it will be a while before I am back to my normal self.

Schramma & Schrammpa were here to help with the girls, and brought them to the hospital to meet there new baby sister later that day. A few days after that, my family arrived. By the time I came home we had 8 extra people in our house. Some thought we were crazy, but it was actually fun. It was great to have so much help. But now every one is gone except my little sister. And I may keep her around for a few more days to help me get adjusted with 3 kids!

Today we were all kinda ready by 11:30am. I just have a few more days before school starts again where I need to have us all ready by 9am to get Charley to school on time....things are going to be interesting!

The Craziness that is Gabby

Woke up one morning to find Gabby wearing this little outfit over her PJ's. She's kind of a crazy little girl!

Potty Training.... Again!....

That is right folks, we are on our second try at getting Gabby potty trained. She beat me last time, but this time, I am winning! It took me a few days to not be frustrated with her. She was still having accidents, and not willing to go poo in the toilet. I didn't want to buy pull-ups this time, we went straight to panties.

The last few days have been great. She's been in panties all day and no accidents expect #2...which only happened every other day. However tonight we made a break through!! If you do not have kids yourself and have gone through the potty training process you will not understand the excitement I am feeling right now!....Gabby just went poo in the toilet!!!!!!!!!! We had already put them to bed, and Gabby came running in our room panicking and told us she needed to go potty. Sure enough, she went! #1 & #2

Oh Happy Day!!!

Count Down

Today we worked on a few craft projects....some can not be shown because they are Christmas presents. But here is one I can show you. It is our count down chain. We have listed on each link birthdays, who's coming that day, when baby sister comes, all the way to Christmas! There were just a few links that didn't have anything written on it. We are going to have a busy next few weeks. But we are all excited for everything that is happening, and we can't wait for all of our family to get here!

In other news, we started potty training Gabby again. I took a break a month or so back, and bought a big box of diapers from Costco. We only have a few more left, so we decided to try again. And things seem to be going slightly better. We only had one accident today!! We have 9 days until Danielle comes, I'm hoping she will be about done by then. ....crossing my fingers!

Christmas Decorations

I think Charley looks so old in this picture. But she will be 5 in a few weeks.....crazy!!

My wreath I made!...I think it turned out so cute! ...Thank you dollar store! It cost me $7 for the ribbon, ornaments and flowers at the dollar store and $3.50 for the actual wreath. It literally cost me just over $10 to make!!! and I LOVE IT!

The day after Thanksgiving....after we slept in from shopping the night before....we broke out the Christmas decorations. We had our siblings over to help us put them all up. Our new tree is so pretty. A guy at Ben's office moved into a smaller house a few months back, and his huge 9ft tree wouldn't fit. He tried to sell it at a garage sale, but couldn't. He found out we had a 7ft tree and wanted to trade. I told them our tree wasn't as cool, but they didn't seem to mind. So we traded.....We had to use a ladder to get the ornaments on the top!

Thanksgiving is done

Decorations up

Christmas shopping 90% done

Bring on Baby!!!!.....3 weeks left!

Turkey Day!

Ben's first Turkey! It was actually really YUMMY!!! It was perfectly seasoned, and really moist...no gravy needed! He did a great job!
The girls couldn't wait for the food....they were really excited to eat!
After dinner we ate so much, we just needed to lay down!.....we all crashed in our living room!

And of course we had to go through the Black Friday ads to map out where we were going!

Thanksgiving was soooo much fun! We had 10 people at our house. My sister and her friend, Calvin & Courtney, Kristen, Aunt Kay and us 4. We divided up dinner, and everyone made delicious foods!! After dinner Charlene & Jared came to stay the night, so the girls could all go shopping. And since stores seem to open up earlier and earlier every year....we headed out at 10pm on Thursday to Walmart, then 12am at Kohls. It was Char's, Courtney's and Lexi's first time going black Friday shopping. I had to break in the rookies!

We loved having so much family over! And we have so much to be grateful for!

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Let it Snow

It was Fr-EE-Zing outside that day, but the girls didn't seem to mind. They LOVED the snow! And yes, that would be Gabby in a tutu! This was our first measurable snow fall. Since then it has melted...but I'm sure we will be getting plenty more!

Crunch Time

Okay people, I know I have been MIA lately with the blog. I'll try and get photos up later, but for now here is a quick update on what we've been doing.

*Charley's been loving school. She has school 4 days a week, Tues.-Fri., and every time Tuesday rolls around, it seems like the week flies by. And she is making a ton of new little friends here in our neighborhood. She is invited to friends house at least twice a week. It is fun to see her growing up and being so independent. It is a good thing we are having another baby, because otherwise I would be sad about Charley growing up so fast.

*Gabby changed her name for a day. I was teaching her a while back what her whole name was. But she somehow just remembered her middle name, so one day....a few weeks after I told her her name. She goes on this rampage on how her name is Sofia Schramm. And when we tried to tell her it was Gabby, she yelled at us and said "No! I'm Sofia Schramm." So for the whole day I called her Sofia, and she answered to it. But by the end of the day she told me she wanted to be Gabby again.

*We decided on Danielle Denise for our 3rd baby girls name. We'll call her Dani, and Denise is after my aunt who passed a way over 4 years ago. We thought it sounded pretty together, and plus we love our aunt! We have already scheduled her delivery for December 19th around 7 am. However, the little stinker is really wanting to come early! I started having signs of pre-term labor, and even started contracting last week. I was sent to Labor and Delivery twice last week. Not to actually deliver, but to check on the baby to make sure she was okay. I am not completely on bed rest, but I am almost useless....I can't exercise, lift, or do anything that may induce labor. It is a little bit stressful b/c I still have a lot to do before baby comes. I am just glad that I have about 75% of Christmas shopping done!! I knew I wasn't crazy for starting 2 months ago!

*This week we are having Thanksgiving at our house! We are kinda excited! Just because it will be the first in our new house.

The past few weeks really have been a blur, and plus with my pregnancy brain, I can't remember a whole lot. So once I get the pictures off my camera I'll post some more. But until then, we hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving holiday....and we wish we could spend it with more of our family!

Halloween Festivities!

Charley wanted to be a witch and Repunzel for Halloween. So she was a witch for her school party. That is my shirt....with pins in the back. And my Christmas socks!!!...pulled up to her thighs!! But that was the best we could do last minute! She only has school Tuesday-Friday, so her class party was on Friday (which I got to help with....so fun!), and then the school parade was on Monday, on Halloween. It was an optional activity that Charley wanted to go to, so that time she was Repunzel.

Our pretty princesses! Repunzel and Sleeping Beauty!

Then Friday night we went to our ward/church Halloween Party/Trunk or Treat.

Monday, after the School costume parade, we had a neighborhood trick or treating kick-off!...Hosted by our little cul-de-sac. It was really fun....everyone brought food to share, and we had a few games. After we all cleaned off, the kids were off trick or treating. Calvin and Courtney came over to spend the night with us....Courtney went with me and the girls trick or treating. Calving stayed back with Ben to pass out candy....or to scare kids. Ben dressed up as a scare crow on the porch, and pretended he was fake....and scared kids and their parents.....and Calvin took videos of it! They had a fun nigh!
Last Sunday, after church, I came down the stairs and found Charley reading to Gabby. It was so cute....both girls have their arms around each other. I promise I didn't tell them to do it.

On a side note, I am so grateful/lucky to have such great jobs. I just came home from a meeting with one of my jobs. I am the certified teacher for a private school that has an independent study program. I created the curriculum, and now the students finish the packet, it gets emailed to me and I grade it....I've done it for the last 5 years, and now I can grade them super fast. For the past 5 years we have had a "provisional" accreditation....and have been working toward full accreditation. Tonight was our meeting with the National Accreditation team, and it went great! It was fun to hear all the good things that they saw we were doing....and it made me feel good as a teacher. Since I have been out of the actual school system for a few years, sometimes I feel out of it. But after tonight, I felt like I really am a good teacher. The team was really impressed with my curriculum!! Pat on the back to me!

I heart my crib

I believe this crib was originally bought for my sister-in-law, Char. I'm not sure who else used this crib, but when I was pregnant with Charley, my mother-in-law gave it to us. With Charley and Gabby, I left it a dark brown color. But since I painted the nursery, I felt I needed to have the crib match. It was a pain to paint....b/c of all the detail....it isn't just flat...it's rounded ALL OVER!!! However, I LOVE how it turned out. Now that we have the crib up, I can start hanging curtains and wall stuff! I'm so excited for it to be done.

Above Gabby is in the crib. And below Gabby is at the doctor waiting to get her cast off from her surgery. And above Gabby has on a light wrap after her cast is off. She still isn't allowed to move her thumb very much, but at least now she can move her wrist.

School Pictures

Charley had school pictures a few weeks ago. However, Ben just bought a nice new camera. Plus I am just cheap, and couldn't spend $20 on 5 photos. So I decided to take my own. ....and a Bonus I could take some of both girls as well. They are not professional, I am still learning how to work the camera, and figuring out what looks best in editing, but I think they'll work for documenting her school years.

Charley, 4 years, Preschool

Gabby, 2 years

The Mole

When Gabby was about 1 I noticed a small black dot on her right thumb. At first I thought she wrote on herself with a pen. But after a few months, that black dot grew into what you see above. It was raised and dark and fast growing. Every time she would go in for a check-up or when she was sick to the doctors, they all told me the same thing....it had to come off. After her 2 year check up, we finally decided that it needed to be done, especially before the baby. We scheduled it for Sept. 8, 2011. The surgery went great. However, when they had it tested, they found it was called a Spitz Nevus. And this particular kind of nevus had little tentacle things under the skin that could become cancerous. Which meant that they needed to do a second surgery to take more skin out around the original mole. But since Gabby's thumb was so small, and her skin was already stretched, they would have to do a skin graft from her tummy. The second surgery was done on Oct. 14, 2011.
Gabby was really attached to her mole. Even when we went in for her check-up after her 1st surgery, she kept asking the doctor to find her mole. I'm not sure if she thinks that this second one was to put it back on? Right now she has a cast on to help keep her not move her thumb...I'm afraid to see what she thinks when it comes off and the mole is still gone!
I was an emotional wreck going into both surgeries. But I knew she was in good hands. It wasn't a major surgery, but they had to put her under, and it was just sad....she is my baby.
She has been recovering great. That day she slept a lot, and slept off all of the drugs. But after that, she has been herself. She is having issues trying to do things with her left hand, since she is right handed. She has a plastic cast on over her whole arm. They don't want her to move her thumb for a week, so I am anxious to see what her thumb, looks like. But I'm just hoping we have no more hospital visits for a long while at least!....except the baby of course!

Cornbellys

Next to Christmas, Halloween is my favorite holiday. I'm not sure why, maybe it's all the fun things to do! Tonight we went with some friends to Cornbelly's! It is a corn maze, kids play ground, pumpkin patch, rides, and random stuff place! Either way, the girls loved it! ....we came home and they crashed!....mission accomplished!



I think it is funny how if you tilt your head for a picture, Gabby has to do the same thing, even though you are tilting to get to her level...she just goes smaller!

My princesses in Cinderellas carriage.

The kids corn maze.

Look what I've been cooking....

....and no, I'm not talking about the baby!...

But for those who really know me, and all my cooking disasters, you will understand why I had to post about this! for example, in 7th grade I failed my home economics final. We were supposed to make cookies. The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of flour, and I guess I didn't see the 1 in front of the 1/2, because I only added the 1/2 cup. Needless to say, the dough was too runny and the cookies just ran off the side of the pan....ergo, I didn't pass. ....but 7th grade teacher, look at me now!!! If you click on the picture, you can actually see the fluffy-ness in the cookies....and they even taste good.

I have a friend that makes the best looking cookies (they taste good too, but her's look like she always buys them). And I've make cookies before, but they always come out looking like little pancakes. Even with her recipe, they never came out fluffy...or they did, but would fall 10 seconds later. But tonight I did it! I think I need an award!

And here is just a little extra. We can't have a post without the girls! Friday night we rented "Rio." Our couches are in the middle of our living room, Ben is still working on our moldings. So we decided to just completely push the couches together and make one big bed....and watched the movie. The girls loved it! ....they normally can't eat in the living room, but I layed down the blanket, and they each have a no-spill sippy cup, and they only got pretzels. But they were happy!

Preschool

Today was the first day of preschool! I seriously can't get over how big Charley is...and how pretty. She is such a great girl. She is going to do great in school this year!
We had to get a few traditional shots of her by the front door. Ben wasn't able to stay long enough to actually see her off before he went to work. But he wanted me to make sure I got a picture of her by the front door, facing the side....just like he had to do every school year!
We were a little too excited and got to school really early....so we took a few pictures in the front of the school. Gabby was excited to go to school with Charley until she realized that she didn't get to stay. She cried, and all morning kept asking me where Charley was. It was kinda nice to have just one kid at home....and Gabby who is normally loud and crazy, was actually calm, and quiet. .....then we picked Charley up and Gabby was back to her normal self, trying to out talk Charley!
Outside her classroom....her name on the door!
There is a 10 minute drop off window, the teacher has puzzles and games for the kids to play while they all wait for everyone to get there. This is Charley with the other kids who have over excited mom's who got them their really early! But she did great and loved every minute. And she can't wait to go back!