Friday, April 29, 2011

A Royal Day

My mom and Teresa dressed up for the Royal Wedding

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Truth for Your Mind, Love for Your Heart

Tough day in a lot of ways BUT my wife found my Easter present that she lost in Lent.  "Truth for Your Mind, Love for Your Heart: Satisfying Your Hunger for God" by Father McBride. 

My wife... too cool!

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Baby's got threads!

Thanks for all the cute outfits!  Very cool especially since he went through all the clothes we had for him after the first day we came home! 

Good on you!

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Keep truckin'

What can I say?  I'm sleep deprived... but it's time to make the donuts.

Monday, April 25, 2011

Burn out

Well, it didn't take long.  I've officially burned out.  But Neil Young always said, it's better to burn out than it is to rust.  He also named an album Rust Never Sleeps so maybe it's lose-lose.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Tell me somethin' good!

Today is all about good news. Tell me somethin' good!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Easter Vigil for Jon-John

Hey, Daily D fans, happy Easter! 

I'm writing this with my son Levi nestled in my left arm.  He's wide awake and listening to me as I write and read this entry aloud.  What a wonderful week to welcome him into our family.

Tonight we also welcomed new members into our Church family including the guy I had the honor to sponsor, Jon.  He chose John the Evangelist for his confirmation name... so either way you spell it, it's correct. 

Happy E from the Daily D!

Friday, April 22, 2011

Goodnight, Moon - Goodbye, sleep

Rough first night at home for Levi... and his mom and dad. Lots of diapers, changes, feedings... But he's doing just fine.

When you have a baby, you develop a keen interest in poop. Levi's is already a golden brown. Okay, I'm going to buy more clothes for'm now.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Another miss!

The baby made me do it.

Been so tired... I wasn't even sure what day it was. But I missed the Daily D today. Fortunately I was the first one to email in the phrase that pays!

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

And the winner is...

And the winner of the baby pool is... me!  I picked April 19, 2011 at 10:31am... just seven minutes off! (10:38 am) -- I'd like to pass the Certificate of Greatness on to my wife for she so truly deserves a certificate of that name.

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Birth Day

4:38 pmEverything is going really well... Daddy time to hold Levi as Tracy Lyn takes a snooze.

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10:38am Levi Francis Xavier Schmitt is born!  9 pounds 1 ounce, 21.5", mother and baby doing wonderful!  Daddy overjoyed!  Teresa was right -- a brother!

That was amazing!  Praise God for the grace of a happy birth!

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9:47am  Getting close!  REALLY close!  (Prayers appreciated!)  See ya later! 

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9:29am Just got back from a walk.  Finished paperwork.  Things are progressing quickly.  Contractions are coming quite consistently.  Last one I timed was 3 minutes apart!

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8:12am  The doc was in... H2O broken.  Going to try sans oxytocin.  Tracy Lyn is feeling really good.  5 cm!  Half way there! Had a discussion about Star Trek medical technology... beaming a baby out - placenta and all?  And also about Star Wars... the torture droid fin Episode IV

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7:43am  Pretty cool!  She's really feeling the contractions with no inducing medication.  On a scale of one to ten, they've been a three.

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7:28am - We're checked in!  Tracy Lyn is feeling much better and is just gorgeous!  I'm timing the contractions - "Don't"  "Shouldn't"  "Can't"  She's using contractions all the time!  Not sure why I have to time them.

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6:12 am --Well, today is the big day!  We hit the bed around 1am and I woke up well before my 5:30am alarm.  Tracy Lyn got up shortly thereafter and has one of her famous stomach aches and is asking for an epidural already.  She also has a headache and, well, isn't in the best of moods to start and says "Aren't you lucky to spend the whole day with me?"

We're due at the hospital at 7am.  See ya there! (Well, not literally... no visitors yet, please)
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Monday, April 18, 2011

T-minus 8 hours

Getting down to crunch time!  We just had a last supper before the inducing tomorrow.  A very nice treat at the Olive Garden by Tracy Lyn's parents who are in town for the birth this week.

I need to tie up a few loose ends at work.  These last few weeks have been pretty hectic and it seems like Murphy's Law is the new gravity... today the internet went down before we could get a big eblast off.  It's hard to eblast without the e... then you're just blasting and nobody like that.

I don't want to stay up too late.  Gotta be there for my baby and... my baby.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

I, Barabbas

Hey?  Is the Daily D still doing Lent?  Yeah, just not the little icons, those were getting to be too much of a cross to bear. 

Well, today is Palm Sunday and you know what that means... palms!  But besides that comes the Passion of the Christ at Mass.  As a kid I hated being the crowd yelling "Crucify him!"  Under my breath I'd say, "Let him go." 

Year s later my wife told me one of the scenes that really got to her watching Mel's Passion was the scene with Jesus and Barabbas.  She said we were really like Barabbas -- just plain guilty and yet we were let go because of Jesus...

Deep. 

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Sumpings Happening Here

It was a tough day/night of trying to fix the old sump pumps... getting repeatedly splashed with cold sump water... setting alarms to wake me up and manually make the switch on the quirky sump pump work and then racing to Walmart, Fleet Farm, Home Depot and Menards to price compare a new pump.  (Walmart only has them online, Menards won)

I gotta tell you there's nothing so sweet sounding as a properly functioning pump.  I almost wish it was louder.

Friday, April 15, 2011

The Sump Pump(s)

Well, a trying day and night for yours truly and his better half.  Got a bad case of the sump pump blues.  Yep, this afternoon Tracy Lyn discovered flooding in the basement.  Our old pump gave out.  It was a bizarre day and I tried many fixes with our spare and switched back and forth with the old one and the newer old one -- I went back and forth to Home Depot and finally around 9:30pm I got the thing pretty well fixed... well, until it stopped working... but now it's working again... for now.  I mopped up most of the water, showered and now I'm beat.  Haven't decided if I should just go out and buy a new one and cut the risks of another fail on the pump.  I'll sleep on it and check every two hours... it's raining again.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

The best laid plans...

We had a bit of a disaster today.  My wife left the garlic bread in the oven today just a little too long.  And it was fine... maybe a little crispy but definitely not a little too crispy.  Teresa and I both said we preferred it that way anyway but Tracy Lyn was upset since garlic bread is more of a luxury item and it would never be as good as it could have been.

I think this statement may have been influenced by the bun in the oven that's been a bit overdue as well... Not that the baby will be crispy but that if he/she were born a bit earlier, it things would have worked out better for me taking time off to help Tracy Lyn recover and adjust to two little ones.

But tonight, just a few seconds ago after she did her nightly Bible reading, my wife said "It's nice to know God is still in control".  Amen to that.  There's an old saying that if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans.  Actually, my friend Joe who has a masters in theology, would say we're merely anthropomorphising God by that saying.  But what the gist of that saying is is that God's plans aren't necessarily our plans... He's got a better plan.  You can take that to the bank... and they might even give you a toaster.  Which might be good for garlic bread.

Problem solved.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

My little artist

One of many picture Teresa drew at Culver's today.  My parents took us out for burgers and ice cream.  Teresa drew pictures for one of the friendly workers there and was rewarded with a pencil and ice cream cone and burger erasers.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Bring Simple Back

Bring simple back.  In the words of Stan Lee, "'Nuff said!"

Monday, April 11, 2011

April 11, 2011

Today was our official due date but so far it hasn't been Labor Day. 

It's not really all that surprising.  Teresa was a week late.  So really this baby is right on time for us.

I think I'm closer to being prepped for when we're ready to go.  Every day I get a little more ready.  I keep on adding things to my "go bag".  

Okay, gonna get the dishes done because they don't do themselves.  Trust me, I've waited long enough.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Tornado Sunday

A perfectly good Sunday ends up in the basement! Tracy Lyn is reading to Teresa in a tent we have set up down here. We also have three years worth of comic books just in case. Teresa is really enjoying this. I can't help but think how my dad never went into the basement for these things.

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Getting my to-do list did

Can I ask you to do me a favor, sweetheart?  I hear that a second before my to-do list gets longer.  And that just happened again a second ago.  It's hard to keep up.

But I am glad to say I'm making some real progress on the old to-do list... actually my new to-do app. 

Got the dresser that was covered all over with stickers pretty well stripped.

Downloads downloaded for the next 48 hours! (for work)

Cleaned the grill and got a new tank of propane... first grilling of the season!

Medical check-out for insurance.

Printed out Groupon for Botanical Garden family pass.

Worked on cleaning out office.

Getting "go bag" ready for hospital.

And now I'm going to go put some stuff on the top shelf of my wife's closet... Gotta keep the list under control.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Have a fun day with my daughter

I got a really cool to-do list thing app on my iPod... last night I typed in for my goal today to have a really fun day with Teresa.  Got that checked off!

Baby update:  Wow! The Pumpkin is really moving around tonight! 

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Messes can wait

Well, I'm cleaning out my studio.  That's a perpetual kinda thing because I'm on the messy side.  And the messy side is messy because I'm on it.

Anyway as much fun as it is to make the mess, it's no fun cleaning it up.  So, you know me, I try to Mary Poppins it up... so I salvaged our old TV and DVD player from the sister mess in the basement.   Then I popped in Hotel Rwanda to watch as I cleaned.

Not really a spoon full of sugar but one of my favorite films.  It's the kind of movie that can really put things in perspective.

It is a haunting film, no doubt.  What spooks me is how I could see how easily our society could crumble into chaos -- especially since our moral fabric is so thread bare.  What would it take?  Gas going up?  Water going down?  It doesn't take much.

But in the worst of times, we can discover what's best in us.  What's really important.  Money?  Stuff? Having a clean office?  No, none of that.  It's family.  So I stopped cleaning and spent the rest of the night with my girls.

Don't worry.  From experience I've learned that messes have one virtue and that's they they can wait.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

A Post-PC Post

This is kind of a filler since I'm beat but also an experiment and at the same time an homage to Steve Jobs. My first blog post from my iPod.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

There's something about Yoda

What if...
What is it about Yoda that is so wise and respected while Grover from Sesame Street seems like such a goof?  They're both voiced by Frank Oz and... it's basically the same voice.  Grover even has better grammar than Yoda.  Both are... muppets.  But there's something very real about Yoda.  And by Yoda I'm talking about Episode V & VI... something more real than the CGI in the prequels.

Now if Yoda were to ever train Grover to be a Jedi, well, I'd love to see that...  Love to see it would I.

Monday, April 4, 2011

Even Superman needed a day off -- The Challenge of Disciplining Kids in a Well-Intentioned World

Hey, a double-feature tonight, folks!  Enjoy!

Even Superman needed a day off

Okay, so to start out with, I'm not comparing myself to Superman... I do get Vitamin D from this yellow sun of ours... but it does nothing for my leaping over tall buildings in a single bound... that takes me multiple bounds and an elevator pass.

Superman is obviously a super man.  I mean, you talk about speed!  He's faster than a speeding bullet!  More powerful than a locomotive... whatever that is!  I bet he's stronger than a train, too.  Sure, he's fictional... but even given that, Superman needs a Fortress of Solitude just to get away from it all. 

I may not be the man of steel or even aluminum* (unless you count my deodorant), but all of us need a little solitude every now and then... and some Vitamin D.


The Challenge of Disciplining Kids in a Well-Intentioned World

Disciplinin' ain't easy but it's necessary.  It doesn't help that this sun is yellow and the skies are filled with chem trails... but even worse -- the best intentions of bystanders.  I think they mean well... I know they mean well but you know the old saying about the road to hell being paved with good intentions?

Well, there is no lack of pavement.

I remember at the doctor's office when I tried to get Teresa to stop singing so loudly and interrupting the conversation.  The doctor told me not to worry that it was perfectly fine. Basically go ahead and sing away!

Tonight I was taking Teresa aside and telling her it was not okay to yodel at the top of her lungs in church.  Then a sweet old lady came up to me and said, "Oh, that was precious!  Soooo beautiful!  I loved how her voice filled the church for Jesus!"

Sigh.

"That's true.  Her voice is beautiful but she has to learn when she has to be quiet and respectful."

Kids need boundaries.  They need discipline.   They don't need being told that no matter what they do, it's okay.  Hence the naughty step is a necessity.  And therefore also a Fortress of Solitude or at least a Man Cave (I keep seeing more and more guys getting these -- didn't we used to call them studies or dens?)... and giving your brides time alone or letting them have a nap or the female equivalent of a Man Cave... a mall?

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Parish Mission

Just got back from the first night of our Parish Mission at SFX.  Pretty inspiring!  Looking forward to using my Confession app this week.  Click the link above if you're in my neck of the Diocese for more details! 

Saturday, April 2, 2011

I best go to bed

Sometimes the best thing to do is rest.  Today was an exciting day for The Daily D.  We "launched" into the general public with the Baby Pool post.  But now it's pretty late.  I best go to bed.  You too.

Friday, April 1, 2011

The Official Schmitt Baby Pool!

Okay, folks... it's April 1st -- no foolin'!  It's time for an official baby pool to begin.  And by that I'm not advocating putting babies in pools -- that would be far too dangerous.  So what you need to do is make a comment on this post giving me the GENDER, DATE BORN, and TIME BORN

To make things fair, I'll give you all the facts.  Tracy Lyn is 38.5 weeks pregnant.  The official due date was originally April 10... that was changed to April 11.  While Teresa was pretty quite in the womb, this baby makes us believe we may have a potential drummer.  Teresa was one week past her due date.  We are not scheduled for any inducement as of today.  We usually see our doctor on Tuesdays. Our doctor likes to let the baby come naturally but doesn't like going a week past due.

I originally thought naming rights would be an awesome prize for the winner of the pool but that was turned down by upper management.  So the winner will get The Daily Damien Certificate of Greatness! 


Legal stuff: No purchase necessary, guess must be placed by April 3, 2011 or before baby is born (which ever comes first).  In case of a tie, the guess posted first will win.  Judge's ruling is final.