SCHAP

My dear friend Nichelle has helped started a non profit organization to help underdeveloped communities. I have put some of their information found on there website below. They need to raise $20,000 to create a school for the upcoming school year. If you can, check out the website and help them out. Buy a block,donate or purchase a necklace or t-shirt to help.


SCHAP stands for: sustainable, comprehensive, humanitarian, assistance & planning.
Mission Statement: "To bring sustainable solutions to humans living with extreme disadvantages in an effort to empower them with tools, resources, information & vision requisite for development & an increased quality of life, while also teaching the correct principles of sustainable & comprehensive humanitarian work to aspiring philanthropists."

It is a really great organization and I would love to see them be able to go back out there and build the school.

If you have any questions, you should email Nichelle here.

♥ Michelle

It's officially official

And the verdict is. . . . .. . . .. . . It's a GIRL!!!
Yes, little Chloe Darling Schmitz is to be the cutest little lady ever. Seriously, it's a scientific fact. The ultrasound gave Michelle and I great shots of her - and we'll have to put them on here soon to show you!
Now that we know what we're having, the excitement for this baby has just increased like 10 fold. Time to make this nursery come to life! Watch out Ikea and...other places too...here we come!!!

Ooh and other exciting news too! I felt her kick for the first time!!! I know Michelle gets to feel her all the time like inside the oven and everything, but I'm always missing out on all that action. This was a very monumental experience for me as a first time daddy. Thank goodness it was just my hand on her belly and not my face...shoot probably would have broke my nose.
Can't wait to meet her!!!


-James

Baby Bump Fridays - Week 18

Okay, so FOR SURE finding out the gender tomorrow. So excited!






♥ Michelle

A Little Delay

We went to our appointment yesterday and not a single question was answered. The doctor said the machine she had was of poor quality, so the pictures were fuzzy. She couldn't get a clear picture to find out the baby's gender. On top of it, when I talked to her about our due date, she said that we would have to wait until our fancy schmancy ultrasound in a month to see the for sure date. So we left the appointment feeling empty handed and bummed.
We decided to go ahead and have a 4-d ultrasound, but only to find out the gender. I don't want pictures of the baby looking all alien like. That appointment is tomorrow at 5. We are so excited because they said that this will FOR SURE TELL US THE GENDER! We can't wait!!!!

James decided that we had to have this pedal car/truck. It is adorable and totally our style. It is a replica of a 1932 Roadster. It is metal and has white walled wheels, a fancy grill and a trunk! We found it on GILT.COM. James wishes they had one in his size.





♥ Michelle

to cloth or not to cloth

James and I are seriously considering cloth diapering. The only downfall is that we don't have our own washer or dryer (oh the joys of apartment living) and the laundry facilities at our place are pretty expensive. We just found this diapering service in San Diego for $23/week. They drop off about 80 cloth diapers, then once a week they pick up the soiled diapers and replace them with new, fresh clean ones. You just leave them in a bag they provide on your doorstep at night and in the morning, voile, you have a new clean set. It's like magic. And we all know how much I LOVE MAGIC! Not to mention they have the most adorable diaper covers!

Anyone have any experience with cloth diapering vs. disposable diapers? Do you have any insight, suggestions or preferences? I am still doing research and would love to get others opinions.

I am so happy that we are trying to go more green with things like this.

♥ Michelle

Baby Bump Fridays - Week 17

I feel baby bird fluttering around so much lately!



♥ Michelle

When the husbands away, the wife will say

Boy, do I have a lot to say tonight. Since James is enjoying a beautiful day at six flags with his sister who is visiting from Oregon, that gives me a lot of time to think and a lot of time to ramble. lucky you. (I KNOW IT'S LONG, SO IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ IT ALL, JUST JUMP TO THE END AND WATCH THE VIDEO. TRUST ME, YOU'LL LOVE IT.)

Can I just say that I am so proud of my amazing husband. I know I am not the easiest to deal with, especially during my hormonal pregnancy. However, he loves me through it anyway. He never complains or loses his patience. Something very handy for when we have our baby bird. We have been doing a book study with our small group on the book called Sacred Marriage. This book is AMAZING! It shows us how becoming the best spouse you can be is more about serving God and what he has called you to do in loving your spouse and family. As a by-product of serving the Lord your marriage will be happier and more fulfilling. It has not only brought us closer together as a couple, but closer to God individually and in union. The more I read and notice how James is serving God simply by serving (aka sweetly putting up with) me makes me appreciate him all the more. He is not always doing it for me (which I am sure he is happy to do for most of the time), but he is doing it mainly for God. I respect him for all that he does and the Godly man he is. That makes me so happy and as I realize all these things, I am falling more and more madly in love with him.

Quick note - I have been CRAVING JACK CHEESE QUESADILLA's for over a week now. And I couldn't find a taco shop around here that makes them. Until Tonight. I think I have died and gone to heaven. Thank you Santanas taco shop, you have no idea how much I needed that.

In exactly ONE WEEK we will not only find out our new official due date, but we will find out the sex of baby bird too! I seriously cannot wait. It is killing me not knowing whether the little miracle growing inside of me is a he or a she. I don't like calling the baby "it". I would love to try and picture a mini me or mini James and I would love to start calling our baby by his/her name. speaking of which, we are trying to come up with some cute ways to announce the sex and name. If you have any ideas, let me know. If our baby suddenly becomes shy during the ultrasound and we don't come away from the appointment knowing what baby bird is, I think we have decided to do the 3D ultrasound. I know that I have always said I would not do it, but I seriously can't another full month to find out. I am still a bit wary about the 3D because I have seen them done before and the baby looks like a creepy alien, and I don't want that to be the picture I have in my head of my little one. Also, the technology hasn't been around long enough to see if there are any long-term effects on the baby. SO I am going to start researching more before we see. And keep praying that June 30th will be the day we find out. I am encouraging you all to pray to. It would make me very very happy to find out, and why wouldn't you want to make a preggo lady happy???

I finally broke down last night and bought some maternity jeans. I dragged Crystal and James around to 3 other stores before we hit up my last and unfortunately, only other option - motherhood maternity. Why do most clothing stores hate preggo people? I mean, we want to look cute too, okay. Especially at a time when we are getting fatter by the day and there is nothing we can really do about it. AND, I just don't see why people pay a ton of money for clothes they are only going to wear for about a year and most of the time, a lot less. I guess trying to look cute no matter what stage your body is in comes at a price. I had to bite the bullet and pay that price. Although, I am very disappointed when the sales woman said that motherhood maternity does not sell skinny jeans with the secret fit full belly. I don't like boot cut or flare pants on me. I look like I am wearing my mom's 1980's Navy sailor uniform. NO thank you. Not only was I bummed at the options available to me, but I went online today only to find they DO sell the skinny jeans just the way I want them online and for only $30!!! Where was this information last night when I needed it the most because I was in dire desperation for some pants to get me through the rest of the week? You best believe I bought those suckers online and can't wait until they are here. I will wear them out like no bodies business. I also purchased some maternity black shorts and leggings. I can't wait to start feeling comfy and cute again.

I have just recently started reading the I Rock So What blog. Not only is it a good read about that shares about being a mom, but I find her hilarious! She posted this video and I wanted to share it with you, I almost peed my pants watching it.



I should leave it at that before I make your brain explode.
♥ Michelle

oh no!

Does anyone know where I can get fabric that looks similar to the Stixx sheet/duvet set from CB2? I have been drooling over them for months and just when I was going to get them online today, they are sold out! I know when I looked at them yesterday, they were still available. Talk about bad timing! I wanted the material to make the baby bedding out of. It was the only material James and I both LOVED{tear}. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!






♥ Michelle

Spread the Word

If you have not heard of these 2 causes, you need to. I am posting links and quotes from their sites regarding their mission and purpose. Both of these sites depend on us to spread the word of what is going on in our world and the children who have to suffer.

Invisible Children - "There is an invisible war in Africa (Uganda)... It is the longest running conflict on the continent, and the soldiers are children abducted from their homes and forced to fight. We are a movement seeking to end this conflict and bring them home.We seek to rebuild schools, educate future leaders, and provide jobs in northern Uganda. We are the motivated misfits and masses redefining what it means to be an activist."


Falling Whistles - "Falling Whistles gives a small window into our world’s largest war. Originally just a journal written about boys sent to the front lines of war armed with only a whistle readers forwarded it with the same kind of urgency in which it was written and demanded to know – what can we do? The Falling Whistles campaign launched with a simple response - make their weapon your voice and be a whistle blower for peace in Congo."

I was explaining to my co workers about Invisible Children and one of them told me about Falling Whistles. It breaks my heart. The least I could do was spread the word and share the sites.


♥ Michelle

Baby Bump Fridays - Week 16

Let me tell you a little secret: We think we are much farther along than what we were originally told. Details on why later, once we discuss with the doc. Anyway - here is my belly it all its glory.








♥ Michelle