Beach Love

My amazing friend Ainsley took some amazing pics of our family, and we just love them! Hope you enjoy :)

Schroeder Story 2010

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The Schroeder Story 2009

Click here to view this photo book larger

I hope you dance

Brielle was invited to her very first birthday party, and it was seriously the cutest party ever! All of the girls were given matching tutus and wands and then they participated in a dance class. Bri was probably the youngest girl, but she absolutely LOVED it! It was so adorable, and I just can't wait to be able to get her involved in dance or whatever she wants :)

Sorry the pics are poor quality - they were taken through a window with a major glare from the sun, I just couldn't resist

San Diego

Beautiful downtown view at the Padres game

love.

so bri has seen jake give colt blessings, and she thought she should do the same :)

We had a wonderful little get-away to San Diego over the weekend. Jake and I were able to go to the temple together while my cousin's family watched our kids. That temple is absolutely beautiful, and it was so nice to be able to go together and feel the spirit.

Saturday was packed full of fun from the San Diego Zoo, beautiful Coronado, and then the Padres game. The kids loved the zoo, and we really enjoyed the laid back feel of Coronado.

It was the perfect little family weekend, and we love creating memories together!

What a Year!

Brielle a year ago - still no hair


Brielle May '11 - notice a full head of hair!

So we have officially been living in California for a complete year. I am just blown away at how quickly that year flew by because so many changes happened to us in such a short amount of time. So, I'm writing this to reflect back on and count the bounteous blessings that we received this year in California!

- we moved to Palm Desert

- Jake started a great job at Merrill Lynch

- Brielle never crawled again

- we became Disneyland annual passholders

- Jake took way too many financial advisor tests

- we took a lot of beach excursions

- Jake was in the elder's quorum presidency and I was in the primary presidency

- we decided to join a team in the Riverside office

- we moved 3 months later to Corona

- Jake became the elder's quorum pres and I'm the miamaid advisor

- we welcomed little Colt into our family

- Jake got into two pretty major car accidents

- we took our first official family vacation to San Francisco

-we traveled to UT a lot...kids are troopers in the car

- I flew to UT twice - alone with the kiddos

- family came to visit us A LOT (we saw family 11 out of 12 months!)

- Jake has been hitting his work goals

- we are teaching a "golden" investigator

- and there is much more

I can't believe how much we have grown over this past year as we've gone out away from family (even though we saw them so often :). Our family has grown stronger and closer together because we are always just hanging out with each other. My best friends are my beautiful children. I've realized how amazing my husband is. He manages to balance a very demanding job, calling, and wife. I am so grateful for the Lord and his guidance in our lives. We would seriously be lost without His help. We are so grateful for the adventures we've had here in California, and look forward to another great...but maybe not as crazy...year!

Easter Weekend

Brielle was so excited because she got to do 3 easter egg hunts. There was a big city one that Becka and Brian did with us, and then both families did one as well. It took a little warming up, but she ended up loving it (especially when she found out there was candy inside!)

Utah Fun!

So, now that three months have flown by, I figured it's about time that I blog again. Looking back it's amazing how much can happen in a couple of months.

So, I'll just hopefully give the highlights.

This past month I had the insane idea to fly to UT.

Alone.

With two children under the age of 2.

CRAZY IDEA!!!

Picture a young, frantic mother, a crying baby in a frontal carrier, a backpack, an extremely heavy carseat, and a cute little toddler carrying her own backpack in the other hand.

Then think of what goes on during security checks, and boarding a small plane...anyway, I would not have survived if it wasn't for the help of very nice strangers who took pity on me :)

Well, the hours of insanity were all worth it when we turned the corner and there was my family waiting to greet me; as Brielle ran down into the outstretched arms of my little brother Dallin (to my mother's dismay ;)

I was in desperate need of a little break from my solitary, little apartment lifestyle, and going to UT was the perfect get-away. Not only did I have actual people to talk to, the kids were able to run around an actual house, and they loved spending time with family!

We went to Kangaroo Zoo with my Aunt Jenny and her family. Brielle and all the kids loved the bouncy toys. She would just throw herself around and love being able to go crazy without getting hurt at all.

The kids all loved going to the Bean Museum and seeing all of the animals. Brielle and her cousin Trey are quite the duo. They never left each other's sides, and they were constantly chasing each other all over the place.

We were able to see a lot of family because it was my cousin's wedding and Jake's mom's graduation. The kids loved spending time with their fun uncles Trent and Dallin. We love and miss our family!

We Miss those Smiley Eyes!

Last week Colt giggled! It was the cutest sound I've heard in a long time. He is full of smiles, and it makes every bad thing go away.

It has been over a week since my adorable little guy smiled :( The day after his first giggle he started making a terrible sound...a really bad cough. It continued to get deeper and worse for the next two days so I finally took him into the doctor. Well, it wasn't great news: Colt has Croup (he coughs so deep that it sounds like a bark).

Colt is too little to take the normal medicine that they use to treat Croup. So, the doctor perscribed a nebulizer, and then had me go and get x-rays taken of my 2 month old. I was really scared as a parent to hear that I had to get x-rays, but they were worried that there was something worse going on in his lungs.

The x-rays were no fun. I had to put protective coverings on and then hold my tiny baby down on a table while they took multiple x-rays. No baby should have a cough like Colt's or go through the tests that he endured. :( Thank goodness the results came back normal! The first good news we've had in awhile.

We have now been giving Colt breathing treatments at least twice a day. It's really hard to see his really watery, sad eyes look up at me as a fit of racking coughs take over his tiny body. He basically stopped eating, and would just cry all day with no way to calm him. I hate not being able to take the pain away from him; it's probably one of the hardest things you have to do as a parent. Well, we've been using the nebulizer for a week now and I think there is some improvement in his cough.

We miss our happy, smiley little guy, and pray that he'll come back to us soon.

Here's our cute little guy with extremely long lashes! :)

Love him!