Camille makes her appearance!

On December 19 I had a doctor's appointment to discuss the possibility of an induction so that Camille and I could be home for Christmas. My due date was Christmas Day, so it was just a bit early. They said things were progressing, and I could be induced on December 21. Well Cami had her own plan because that afternoon I started having contractions while playing outside with he boys - first 10 minutes apart, then about 8. I continued playing (and built a volcano in the sandbox with Grady) but then decided to come inside where Nana was making dinner. After eating dinner with everyone and getting the kids put to bed, it was clear that we needed to head to the hospital. By the time we were checked in around 8 PM, contractions were 4-5 minutes apart. Everything moved pretty quickly after that, and after 2 pushes Camille Rose Schmidt entered the world - healthy and very pink! She weighed 6 pounds, 15 ounces and was 19 inches. So far she has been doing very well. At 2 weeks, when they should be back to birth weight, she was 7 pounds, 4.5 ounces. Her brothers adore her, even little Anson who didn't really know she was coming.

Here she is, right after birth





Her weight!



Meeting Momma









First sponge bath





First time meeting Grady!









Meeting Anson and Nana too!



Anson kept saying "baby... Hugs... Awwww...."







With Daddy






Second visit from the big brothers








Napping with Dada




Ready to come home






Home! Grady is singing "You are My Sunshine" to her.






Cami is such a sweet baby girl, and we are so lucky to have her in our lives. We can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for all of us - first smiles, first laughs, first words, and first crawls. I am so excited to get to know her and to see Grady and Anson get to know her. They are all going to have such fun together!

More pictures and video of Camille's first days home coming up next!

More Pre-Christmas Festivities

Grady's school Christmas party was lots of fun, and it was so great that Nana could go with him!

They made Christmas trees out of ice cream cones



Apparently Grady took it very seriously







He loves Mrs. Will and made her this crown



He has such a great class full of friends



Grady's second performance of the holiday season was when the children's choir sang "The First Noel". He practiced so much and did a really great job!






He's on the left side of the picture, in the front



This is a random photo from before Christmas, but it is too cute to miss - Anson loves the music box




He also loved Nana's sock monkey



Soon after these events Camille made her appearance - stay tuned for those pictures!

Festival of the Trees

The weekend before Camille arrived we fit in a bit more holiday fun. First, we went to see the Festival of the Trees at yet another hotel. This was the biggest display, and the kids loved it.

This tree had little mice on it representing the towns around Greenville. The Simpsonville mouse brought stuffing - so cute!



I love that the mouse named Eric brought (root) beer.



A nature-themed tree





Nana and Grady really liked this one



The sock monkey tree was a big hit too!



Anson looks like a gift under this tree!




Penguin tree!




It looks like he's waiting for a business meeting to start



Trying to get a shot of the boys together



After seeing the trees we headed to a park to run around

Ansy loved the xylophone





and the swing





Riding a choo choo





swinging with Daddy



G-Man barely slowed down long enough for a photo, but he had fun too!