Ryan completes his first year of pre-school

Congratulations to Ryan for finishing his first year of pre-school! He was in the Monday and Tuesday morning 2 year old program at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Lafayette Hill. His certificate was hand made with the hair and eye colors of each child in his class. They gave Ryan blonde hair and green eyes - it was one of the first times I had thought about his eye color in a while - my baby has green eyes! He will return to St. Peter's in September to start the 3 year old program on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings.

He is turning from a toddler to a little boy overnight and now he has yet another achievement to add to his list - potty trained! I waited until school was over and until I could function a bit more from the morning sickness and he has taken pretty well to it. He is 1.5 weeks into it and we are virtually accident free - he even got out of Grandma and Grandpa's pool several times to use the potty and went 3 times at a restaurant last night.

Ryan's speaking has also really impressed us recently, his sentence structure and vocabulary in particular.

Great job Ryan, you amaze us more and more each day!

22 weeks

Although I am feeling better than before, I still fight episodes of extreme nausea, acid reflux and now horrible allergies (headaches, sinus issues etc.) on top of everything. Mike continues to give me my 17P injections in which I end up with a week-long hive among other side-effects but we know it is completely worth it. Everything looks well at my weekly appointments and baby girl Schwarz is kicking more than ever now. Our families continue to be a huge help and Mike is my rock!

March for Babies 2011

We can't think of a better way to mark the half-way point of our pregnancy. The weather held up and we had another tremendously successful year raising an incredible $2,360. Your support is amazing and we can't thank everyone enough.

And whether you know it or not, this day is for you, Ryan, and all of the other preemies who have survived or not, as once again we renew our promise to give back a little for how very much we have been given with you...

It's a....

GIRL!!!! Most importantly, all measurements came back great from the 20 week ultrasound and baby girl Schwarz is healthy. We are *thrilled* that Ryan will be welcoming a little sister to the world!

18 weeks

Today is the 5th day in a row that I have felt better and we are crossing our fingers that my morning sickness is gone for good. I received my first injection of 17P/Makena (which is a medicine proven to prolong pregnancies in mommies with premature histories like me) last week. The nurse demonstrated it for Mike and so he will give me my injections weekly from tonight on. The medicine is a thick serum in sesame oil so it takes a while to fill the syringe and inject, but it is *nothing* compared to my last 3 months of misery and a baby in the NICU for 35 days....

Easter 2011

All "candied" up!

Can you believe it was this cold for an egg hunt?

Another Egg Hunt

One of several Ryan participated in this year - this one was pretty cold outside...

Ice Cream

Nap

I wish I took a picture every time I wake you up from your nap or in the morning because these moments are absolutely priceless. You were obviously exhausted since you were on your back and not waking up for me. You are always so go-go-go - it is nice to see you like this for a change!

The first time I've gotten "dressed" in over 2 months - Happy Birthday, Oma!

Ryan is going to be a...

Coming in September 2011

We are thrilled to announce the next addition to our family!

I want to thank my parents and Grandma, Mike's parents, friends and especially Mike for all of their extra support over the last seven of the sickest weeks of my life. I lost 3 lbs this first trimester but I am sure that is not going to last long :) I am still no where close to normal but can function again. I wasn't sick one minute with Ryan but they say that all pregnancies are different so let's hope that it stays that way.

We are so looking forward to meeting you, Baby #2!

Love,

Mommy, Daddy, and Ryan

Big boy bumper cars

We went to Arnold's Family Fun Center in Oaks and Ryan went on his first big boy ride with Daddy and although mommy was more scared than Ryan, we got through it!

Ryan's winter 2011 look

First trip to the Dentist

We survived - Ryan sat in the big boy chair all by himself (watching cartoons on his private tv of course!)

Blackmail

This is a typical morning in the Schwarz household. I just know these pictures will come in handy one day ;)

Ryan's 3rd birthday party

We held Ryan's 3rd birthday party at Superior Play Systems in Norristown. Superior Play is the sales warehouse for those big wooden swingsets you see in backyards. We managed to dodge the snow and Ryan and his friends had a great time bouncing, climbing, swinging, and sliding and eating pizza and cake!