Central Florida Zoo

Every new stage Carson has entered into, I always seem to say, "This is my favorite!" I'm convinced now that every stage my kids are going to go through will be my favorite because it's so awesome to see them accomplish new things and enjoy life! We took Carson to the zoo right before he turned 1, and visited again this week. Looks like we may be needing to get the annual pass because he had such a blast! Here's his first close encounter with a very fun looking lizard. Not Mommy's cup of tea, but I was excited he was interested in petting it! Then it was off to the splash park for some water fun. His other friends that went with us were not interested at all. In fact, they moved on to the animal exhibits while Carson and I stayed to play!
He wasn't so sure about those fountains at first:
But he thought the dumping water buckets were hilarious!
He climbed on all of the little animals and just enjoyed all of the water fun!
Then it was off to see the leopard.
He got out of his stroller and I told him "leopard" - he said "dog!" :)
After visiting the elephants, monkeys, ostriches, and other animals, we rode the choo-choo train before leaving. He said "choo choo" over and over and over while we rode the train!
What a fun day we had! He said "Bye, bye, choo choo" all the way home from the zoo! We can't wait for our next visit.

Sarah's Surprise Pool Party

My good friend Sarah had a birthday this week. One of her other friends threw a small surprise pool party for her and all of our kids. Aunt Mamie was her usual, amazing self, and volunteered to swim with Carson in the big pool. Carson was a little fish! We will definitely be checking out swimming lessons this summer. He had no fear of the water and kept Aunt Mamie on her toes!
After quite the tantrum getting him out of the pool, Carson moved on to something else fun. Ms. Jessica's piano! He climbed up onto the piano stool and was so excited to play his own little tune. He kept saying, "Mom! Mom!" like "Look at me Mom!" It was so cute! Maybe we'll have a little musician on our hands one of these days!

Laser Tag

Matt and I thoroughly enjoy our high school small group on Sunday nights. This month, our group outing was to Johnny Rockets and then to play laser tag at Wonderworks in Orlando. Our group consists of all girls (with the exception of one guy who comes occasionally with his girlfriend), but Matt has a blast with all of us, and was excited his suggestion to play laser tag was a hit with all of them!
Being 8 months pregnant, I couldn't participate, but I had fun listening to them go crazy in the laser tag room and then watching them come out all sweaty!
This was probably our last outing for awhile since our sweet baby boy is due to arrive soon, and summer will begin for the students, but Matt and I feel extremely blessed to have had such a wonderful group of kids to grow close with and get into God's word with. We will miss them, but hope to kick back up as high school sponsors again in the fall.

We love April in Florida!

It is still snowing in places around the U.S., but here in Florida, we've got 80 degree weather! For now, we are thrilled about the heat, but in a few months, we might be complaining! :) Carson had his best bud Landon over to swim in his new, bigger kid, swimming pool. They just love each other and have a blast playing together! Yummy cold popsicles to end a fun swimming day!

Fun at the Park

Carson loves the park. "Slide, slide, slide" he will repeat over and over when we pull into the parking lot of the playground. Yesterday we went with one of Carson's best buddies, Landon.
Here's a picture of Landon's new baby sister, Chandler.
Our happy Hannah Grace...even when she's just hanging out in the stroller, she loves to be outside.
Carsy and Landy (what they call each other) ready to slide!

A day at the beach

Matt's cousins, Nick, Matt, and Matt's wife Jessica, were in town last week from St. Louis. We planned a fun day at the beach on the West coast. We met up at our favorite restaurant, Crabby Bill's, for some lunch.
Then it was off to the beach for some fun! The weather was perfect, and the water was so beautiful. Carson had so much fun playing in the water.



Perfect ending to a fun day...ice cream!

Little Artist

Just some cute pictures of Carson coloring. He sits at his craft table or the kitchen table at least 3 times a day to color. He loves to "double" (how he says color). :)

32 weeks...and counting....

We are getting closer to the finish line! I am 32 weeks today and the belly is definitely expanding. We went to the Dr. today for our check-up. The baby is doing great! Unfortunately, we still do not have a name picked out. We are trying to decide, but can't commit to anything just yet. The baby's room is coming along. Matt cut all of the trim for the chair rail, and we bought the paint colors too. Now we just have to paint, and get the trim up, and then put all the little details together. I am starting to get a little anxious about the big day. I am sad to leave Carson while we are at the hospital, but we are super excited to meet our second baby boy, and know that Carson will be in good hands. Carson got to meet his best buddy Landon's baby sister today, and he was very interested in her. He kept going over and looking at her, and then running to me and saying "baby"! We are praying he adjusts well to his new baby brother. We are scheduled to have another ultrasound in a few weeks to see how big the baby is and make sure he is in position. We'll keep you posted!

Carson & Hannah's first "tiff" :)

Carson and Hannah are best buds! Now that Hannah is older, they are beginning to interact a little more. She watches everything Carson does, and gets really excited when he walks into the room. Carson is very protective over her, and loves to help me take care of her. A few mornings ago, we were having reading time (Carson and Hannah both LOVE books!), and it started off great, but then took a little turn. Check out this cute video. :)

Just fyi...the video shuts off quickly because Mommy made sure to teach Carson that we do not grab things from other people. :)

Grandpa Schmitz turns 100!

Matt's Grandpa turned 100 years old on Sunday! We had so much fun celebrating!
Matt's mom threw a wonderful party. There was an awesome slideshow of pictures of Grandpa's life, videos from family in St. Louis that weren't able to attend his party, wonderful food, dancing, and even a game of bingo! The great grandkids helped blow out the candles.

Here are some videos of Carson dancing.


Carson was exhausted after the party. When we got home, he grabbed his blanket and climbed right onto the couch all by himself!

Funny Toddler bed story

We had a babysitter the night we took Jamie out for her birthday. We called our babysitter half way through the evening to see how Carson did going to bed. She said he layed right down and went to sleep. We got home late, I took the babysitter home, then came home to get ready for bed myself. I opened Carson's door quietly to check on him before going to bed only to realize he was not in his crib! I immediately looked to his toddler bed to see him fast asleep like a big boy! I couldn't believe he was sleeping in his big boy bed! The next morning at church I saw our babysitter and asked her how she got him to sleep there? She told me she wasn't sure which bed he slept in when she went to put him to bed, and when they walked in his room, Carson climbed right into his toddler bed, so she figured that's where he slept. So funny! The next night, Matt and I decided we would try to get him to sleep in his toddler bed again since he had done so well the night before, but why would he want to do that for Mommy and Daddy? :) He hasn't slept in his toddler bed since, but we are hoping he will soon!

Aunt Mamie turns 30!

Jamie turned 30 this past week. We wanted to do something special for her, and knew she wouldn't be too into a surprise party, so we made reservations at Ohana at the Polynesian Resort at Disney for a special dinner celebration.
I bought hawaiian lei's to make the celebration even more fun. She was lucky we didn't make her stand up and do the hula! :) The food was awesome and we had a great night celebrating her birthday.
After dinner, we went out by the resort pool and watched the fireworks shoot off above the castle at the Magic Kingdom. Happy Birthday Aunt Mamie...we love you!

Mr. Richard

Last Friday we went with some friends to see Mr. Richard, a local musician who sings awesome kids songs! Here's Sarah and Eli.
Carson was clapping and dancing to the tunes. I was impressed he stayed in the area where Mr. Richard was performing. Normally he's a runner! :)
Afterwards we played in the kid section of the bookstore, and then went to lunch.
Here's a short video of our little performer himself!

Easter

We hope you and your families had a wonderful Easter holiday celebrating the resurrection of our Lord! We had fun with different activities, but can't wait until Carson is old enough to hear the Easter story and know the true meaning behind Easter. We visited the Millenia Mall with Hannah and Aunt Jamie to see the Easter bunny.
They both did great and there were no tears and no long lines!
Carson's first egg hunt was with his best bud Landon at a park in Wekiva. They both were not so sure about the hundreds of people crowded around. It was a bit overwhelming, even for the parents!
They tried to participate when the ropes were let down and the signal to start the hunt was given. Daddy tried to get Carson to pick up the eggs, but again, a little overwhelming.
After the craziness was over, we headed to the bounce house, much more their style!
The Saturday before Easter, we attempted to color Easter eggs with Carson. He was able to grasp the concept of dropping the eggs in the dye, but was quick to want to take them out or drop more and more in at the same time. Long story short, our morning turned into a few tantrums, but we managed to get a few eggs colored! :)
After egg coloring, it was off to Nana and Papa's for another fun egg hunt. This one was held at the Rock Springs Country Club.
It was well organized and age appropriate for Carson. He was so excited to see all the eggs spread out over the green.
Family photo!
Daddy and Carson.
The egg hunt begins! There were not as many kids at this egg hunt which made it much more relaxing for everyone. The kids were able to take their time and pick up the eggs one by one. Carson got the hang of it very quickly!
Afterwards, Carson found some flowers and had to stop and smell them.
Easter morning at church service.
Our growing family!
After church, we headed to Nana and Papa's for some lunch and fun.
Nana helps Carson open an egg he found.
Papa got out the tractor (aka "Choo Choo") and Carson had to be the first one to ride! Hannah got a ride too.
Afer fun at Nana and Papa's, we all headed up to the Villages to see more family, and visit Great Grandma. We had a wonderful Easter holiday!