The Nursery

Many people have requested to see what Cole's nursery looks like. Like most newborns, he is barely in his room at all, spending most of his time in our arms or in his bed in our room. But, he does have his own room all set up and it looks great!

Chris and I both new we didn't want too much of a "theme", but in general we have a color scheme (blue & brown) and some sports stuff. We compromised to make sure the room was enough "baby" for me and enough "little boy" for Chris! I think it worked out in the end!

My First Smile

The Chest Sleep

Cole loves to fall asleep on the chest of either Mommy or Daddy. He always passes out in what seems like the most uncomfortable pose, with his head thrown back...the best demonstration is in the last photo. No matter how hard we try to keep his neck and head in place, it always rolls to the side...

The Dr. is In!

Cole just loves his pediatrician, Dr. Seitter. When he came by to visit in the hospital, we had just changed his diapers and he was a little fussy. But, he immediately calmed down when Dr. Seitter examined him.

We had our first official check up on Friday and Cole did great. Not only did he not cry even once, he had gained back all but 1 oz of the weight he lost after birth! What a little success already.


Anyhow, Chris and I had been actively charting all Cole's feeding and wet diapers to make sure that Cole was eating enough....Dr. said not to worry about tracking it all...he is healthy and doing great!

Here are some photos from the big event.

On his way to the car with Daddy:

This one gives great perspecitve on how little he is!

Chillin' on the exam table

A few shots of Cole from this week!

So, I know we are his parents, so we think he is the cutest thing ever, but really,

can he be any sweeter??

Baby Cole and his peeps

Things we have learned this week....

Well, this first week has brought us a lot of joy! We have been relaxing at home and enjoying our time as a new family. Here is a list of things we have learned this week!

• Breastfeeding is hard and it can sometimes take a team to get the job done


• Knowing how to correctly swaddle a baby can save you from a lot of baby cries


• Patience is more than a virtue....it is a necessity!


• Every baby looks even cuter when you put a hat on them


• They are just so little.....


• A new mom can spend an hour in the dark watching to make sure the baby is still breathing


• Nothing calms a baby (or Daddy) like sleeping on Daddy's chest and hearing his heart beat


• Being a parent makes you make up songs to soothe your baby


• It is nice to have someone around to cook, clean and run errands for you

Baby Cole has arrived!

That's right! He is here....on Sunday, Jan. 10 at 11:18 p.m. little Cole Robert Schwartz entered the world. He weighed in at 6 lbs, 2 oz. and 20.25 inches long. We can't believe how little he is!

My water broke at 6:30 a.m., which was quite a surprise as I never thought that is how I would go into labor. But, little Cole decided it was time! Chris was a great coach throughout the whole day and my Mom helped out as well at "push time"!

Little Cole had a great cheering section, with his Grandma, his Nana and Papa who drove in from California for the delivery, his Aunt Lizzie from here in Phoenix, and his Aunt Alli flew in from San Diego to be there for the big day.

We spent all day Monday and most of the day Tuesday in the hospital, getting to know Cole and practicing feeding. We have been home since Tuesday night, and Cole has been such a good boy! He love to eat and sleep on his Daddy's chest.

We are truly blessed, and can't wait for you all to meet our little guy.

39 weeks....its time

Thought we would do a quick post to let everyone know how things are going in the final week.

I have been keeping busy with work, lots of meetings every day and training the girl who is filling in for me while I am out. I am starting to slow down, especially at the end of the day, but overall am feeling pretty good. I have been having a hard time sleeping the last couple of nights, but that is really my only complaint.

Our last Dr. appointment was Thursday and things are going well - I was 1 cm dialated, 50% effaced and Cole is "engaged" so to speak - head down and ready! The Dr. feels confident that I will be close to on time, and will induce if I get more than a week late. So, we will be having a baby in the next 2 weeks!!

Chris and I are both very excited and have done just about all we can to prepare. Now, we just have to wait. The good news is we both have work to keep us busy until the little guy decides to make his arrival.

That's all for now....hopefully we will be sharing baby photos this week!

Mom and me....

Mom came to visit over the holiday as well to get some quality time with her very pregnant daughter! We had a great time relaxing. She will be back for a week or more when the little one officially arrives.

Christmas in Arizona

We celebrated Christmas Day with our good friends Lizzie and Greg.....this is how they showed up at our house to celebrate. Can you believe these are actually sweaters that her mom owned? And yes, her mom was a teacher, so that explains a little of it!
We did a little gift exchange and made a wonderful dinner...then watched the Chargers kick some butt!

Christmas in California

We went early to California this year to celebrate Christmas! It was great to see the whole family. Travis was so cute, as he is old enough now to really get what an exciting time of year it is. Watching him open and play with gifts was a lot of fun. We, of course, got him a golf club so he can start practicing to hit the links with his dad and uncle. Here is the real star of the show these days though - Addison!!

Here is a photo of my sister-in-law Deena and I with our baby bumps meeting....she is around 22 weeks and I am around 35!

Trevor is very excited to be a dad soon! We are both having little boys, so it will be fun to have the cousins grow up together.

34 weeks!

You know you are close to having a baby when you can count the time in days rather than weeks. According to Chris we are about 40 days away....which makes me panic just a bit!!

We are prepared, but I still feel like we need more time. Maybe it is the car seat, pediatrician, child care, insurance, etc. that is overwhelming me - you know, all the "adult" stuff that goes along with having a baby!

Here is a photo Alli took of me this past weekend. She and Brian spent the weekend with us and we "decked the halls!"

Bad Blogger

So, I have not been the best blogger lately.....things have been very busy as I started with my new job and have been preparing for the baby.

My moms through me a great shower, then I headed to San Diego to stay with my friend Danielle, her husband Jamie and daughter Kate for a week while I trained at LEGOLAND and SEA LIFE Carlsbad for me new job.....at SEA LIFE Arizona. It was a lot of fun to be back in Cali for a whole week.

The next weekend before I left Danielle and Alli through me a baby shower with all my peeps in San Diego. It was awesome - we had a good time and all the ladies made onsies for our little boy.

Then, this last weekend, my sister Steph and friend Lizzie, and friend Brorlynn gave Chris and I a couples shower! How lucky are we?? Three showers in a month.

Aside from all the showers, friends, fun and new job not a lot has been going on. Chris and I are getting excited and I am getting bigger. I still feel 95% good...just a bit swollen and tired.

26 weeks - POP!

Well, a few people commented that my last baby bump photo didn't show the bump enough! So here is a shot from yesterday - somewhere past 26 weeks and on my way to 27. As you can see, I have definitely "popped" in the past couple of weeks. There is no denying the baby now.

Chris and I have been busy shopping for furniture, registering and trying to navigate next steps in the baby plan. By the way - if you happen to check the Babies R Us registry, Chris got a little excited with the scanner gun. Please ignore the "Baby on Board" sign. Unless you want to get it for him for his golf cart!

This is why we shouldn't live in the desert!

Well, some of you may have already heard about the frightful night we had last Thursday (a little over a week ago). I was restlessly sleeping in bed (a result of multiple mosquito bites had me tossing and turning), when all of a sudden a painful bite woke me. I jumped out of bed and ran into the bathroom to try to see what had happened - this was at 2 a.m. My hand was stinging, on fire, and generally feeling like something was very wrong.

I went back into the bedroom to wake Chris. I gave him the quick rundown after flipping on the light - something had bitten me, it hurt badly, and I thought we should find what it was in case it was poisonous. I started sifting through pillows on the floor, thinking whatever it was had likely gotten flung from the bed when I jumped out. Chris, still in bed, pulled the covers back on my side to look on the bed.

And there it was - a 2 inch long scorpion, still alive, chillin in bed with us!!! OMG! NOT what you want to wake up to, especially at 6 months prego. We immediately went into crisis mode - me jumping on the Internet to see how harmful the sting could be to me and the baby, Chris grabbing some kitchen utensils to go on a scorpion hunt in the bed.

Good news:

• The sting would not hurt the baby


• I was fine, just in some pain


• We got to "trial run" the 24-hour emergency answering service for my OB - and he called me back within 5 minutes - a complete success


• My OB gave me good advice that was supported by the ER staff

Bad news:

• We had to spend 2 hours in the ER at 3 a.m.


• My hand hurt (and I was still itchy from the mosquito bites)


• We are now petrified of a repeat performance and another late night visitor (although we both realize the likelihood of this happening again is slim)

Here is a picture of the creepy thing, outside our house the next day. After Chris killed it he left it on our sidewalk so I could capture a photo to remember him by.

So needless to say, we hope to never go through that again. The weird thing is, we have never even seen a bug inside the house before - no spiders, crickets (which scorpions eat), etc. So why this guy turned up is beyond me.

We now have a new nighttime routine - brush teeth, turn off light, get out blacklight and search the room - scorpions glow under a blacklight so this is a sure-fire way to catch them!

6 months...the baby bump!

Well, here it is! The much anticipated baby bump photo. This photo is from 24 weeks (almost to the day!). As you can see there is a definite bulge for the baby. My trusty guide to pregnancy says I should add 1/2 an inch to my belly every week moving forward. That is a lot more inches to go! The baby continues to be very active.

Aside from that not much new to report. We are getting ready to register - frightening prospect, especially for Chris. We also are thinking about the nursery, furniture, etc.

The only other major life update is that I officially have a mom-mobile. No, not a mini-van. I got a new Hyundai Santa Fe SUV!! I have already put more than 700 miles on it (in 10 days!).

23 Weeks and Kickin It!

Well, we are officially 23, almost 24 weeks. The little one is kickin' up a storm lately. His most active times are at night around 8 p.m. and then around 4 a.m. in the morning. Lucky me for the 4 a.m. boxing round. I think this is just training because we know we will be up all night anyway in a few months. In all seriousness, I like the kicking because I know he is there - it is comforting after months of knowing I was pregnant but never feeling like I was.

Aside from that there is not much new to report. I am feeling a lot better and generally all my sickness is behind me. There have been numerous requests for a baby bump photo, which I promise to post soon. I need to find the right outfit that actually makes me look prego and not just fat!!

Family in Town!!!

Chris and I were lucky enough to be host to my family when they all came into town at the very end of August. My youngest brother Matt was celebrating his birthday (the Big 25!) so he came down to party with his family, Riana and baby Kurtis, then my mom and my brother Trevor and his wife Deena came.

It was REALLY hot (115) but we still had a good time. Isn't Kurtis the cutest? He was such a good baby the whole time - I hope Chris and I are that lucky :)

So Cal Baby Tour

Over Labor Day Weekend I headed out to Southern California to see the two new babies in my life! My good friend Danielle and her husband just had a beautiful baby girl named Kate. Here Danielle and I are enjoying a little "girl time"!

Then I headed up to the LA area to see my newborn niece, Addison Kelly Smith! A namesake! I had a great visit with my family and got to see an old friend who didn't know I was pregnant - it is always fun to surprise people when you are 22 weeks along!!! Talk about shocking.