A Schmidt Life

Fresh Fish

2010-09-10T13:50:00.005-06:00

SO! I took almost a year off...
I never finished the Hawaii pictures, but we did put together a photo album of the trip, if that counts for anything.

Ava is 5 now

...and in all day Kindergarden

Ava & her friend Leona at the park party

.....AND with that I've gotta cut it short!

Three Weeks of Hawaii

2009-10-08T18:40:00.078-06:00

Indefinitely Under Construction - updated 11/7/09
With so many photos, the format is being converted to slideshows...

10/06 Day 1: Aloha CO!

10/07 Day 2 at Lagoon #4:
Ava & Aunt Jenn in the water at center

10/08 Day 3 at Ko Olina with Sea Turtles:

These guys just swim by - no worries!
Thanks Uncle Kenn for the underwater camera housing!!

10/09 Day 4 One lap of the island:
Tide pools on the North Shore:

Byodo-In Temple:

A view of the spectacular Windward side of the Ko'olau Mountain Range:

Typical roadside scene near Ka'a'awa:

Chinaman's Hat in the distance:

Lookout above Makapu'u Beach (looking North):

10/10 Day 5 On the North Shore at a "Lost" beach:

Ava helping to bury Quentin:
L'il sand crab:
For those who watch the show "Lost", The Other's Barracks, AKA the DHARMA housing complex is actually YMCA cabins. They are just across the road from the beach (photos above) .

10/11 Day 6 Waikiki Aquarium:
Video worked out better than stills in the Aquarium, but they take forever to upload and you can't see much once Blogger "processes" them...

Leafy Sea Dragons:

Clam tank:

Just outside the Aquarium at "The War Memorial" with Honolulu backdrop:

In the city:

Some fountain with Diamond Head in the background:

10/12 Day 7 We Hike Diamond Head:

10/13 Day 8 Wandering around Ho'omaluhia Botanical Garden:

10/14 Day 9 Vacation Rest Day!

The Hallquist's 1 y.o. lab., Indie, needs serious exercise to burn off energy so in an effort to efficiently expedite this, Jenn runs her alongside the car. She LOVES it and can go 25 mph when fresh.

flat out:

If she's lucky, she'll also get to go play fetch in the ocean!

getin' a swell ride back in:

10/15 Day 10 Honolulu Zoo!

10/16 Day 11 Ko Olina Lagoons snorkeling

10/17 Day 12 Waikiki Scene

10/18 Day 13 Pearl Harbor USS Arizona Memorial

10/19 Day 14 Makapu'u Lighthouse

Indefinitely Under Construction:
10/20 Day 15 Hittin' All the Waikiki ABC Stores
10/21 Day 16 Hanauma Bay snorkeling
10/22 Day 17 Ko Olina Lagoons snorkeling
10/23 Day 18 North Shore Beaches & the 'Lost' camp
10/24 Day 19 Dragons Nostrils / Nuuanu Pali
10/25 Day 20 Forbidden Haiku Stairs aka The Stairway To Heaven

fresh meat

2009-04-13T15:28:00.020-06:00

Merely days following our past entry, Alex went in for Anterior Cervical Spinal Fusion Surgery. A disc in her neck had extruded it's way into the spinal cord and was causing her left arm to go numb. The procedure called for the offending disc to be removed and replaced with bone, fusing the two adjacent vertebrae together. Both the operation and recovery went very well and she was back to normal about a month later.

Going in...

Before:

After:

Nine days after:

Without surprise, Ava has been keeping us busy. These days she is deep into all things princess, the word "why", "MY SHOWS", and attempting to defy gravity.
Check out that lump!

Our winter has been weak by my standards, but we did manage to get one snowman made this season.

The past few months Ava has attended an introductory ballet class. She did relatively well considering the attention span of a three year old.

Ava is also interested in any art project. Markers, crayons, glue, glitter, scissors all bring a smile to her face. In school she gets plenty of opportunity to get her fix. One day she came home with this:

Here we are coloring Easter eggs:

Grandpa invited us out to the ranch for a horse ride a few weeks ago and contrary to what I thought Ava might think of sitting on a large moving animal, five feet off the ground, she ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT.

I'll conclude with our most recent news. Ava has a brand new cousin! Zoie was born at 00:00:01 on April 11th, surely the #1 kid born on this day. Ava has naturally been highly anticipating this day and participated in Dr. appointments and baby showers.

...without further delay, & at the risk of breaking the news to the internet before the parents, here she is:

And, as a parting shot, here's some Ava video from about 10 days ago.

Quarterly Updates

2009-01-05T11:55:00.018-07:00

Happy New Year!

Our last entry in September seemed not so long ago. Here's a brief rundown of what's gone on!

Ava turned 3:
We took another vacation in a Yurt:

...with Aunt Kelly this time:

... & hiked up to the Ruby Jewel (elev. 11,200ft)

Ava got a new big girl bed (which has the trundle feature for sleepovers!)

Ava & Dillon at the zoo:

Ava wanted to be a princess for halloween:

...more halloween princesses & the token dinosaur:

She's very much into dressing herself these days. This is a typical outift even if it's freezing outside.

"My doll is this tall"

A meeting with Santa:

Rudolph face paint courtesy of Coors:

Another successful visit to Aunt Kelly's dental chair:

As usual, Ava cleaned up at Christmas:

Preschool

2008-09-03T08:16:00.005-06:00

Ava starts preschool today!
In case you are wondering, the puppy is Michelle's (Alex's sister). He's a cairn terrier.

...On our way to school, about a 10min walk

Ava's preschool class

Wheeler Geologic Area

2008-07-24T17:30:00.004-06:00

A backpacking trip into the LaGarita mountains

Dental Hygiene

2008-07-19T09:39:00.011-06:00

Back in June while I was away, Ava had her first [successful] dental appointment with none other than our beloved family dental hygienist, aunt Kelly. Since I was not present, you'll be spared of my usual long winded drivel of the account. Alex, Ava, & Kelly all agreed that she was a "very good girl" in the chair.

Uh-oh, look what followed me home

2008-06-24T17:10:00.013-06:00

A telephone call from our single loyal reader reminded me that I have grossly neglected to post any aschmidtlife updates in quite some time. My alibi of course is, and remains, an overage of work resulting in a shortage of free time. I know, SSDD.

Until recently, not much has changed around here from my perspective. We're adjusting nicely to the new kitchen space, Ava continues to grow uncontrollably, spring has sprung and Alex has made sure many of last years perennials returned. She's even coaxed our aspen tree to shoot up tens of new trees across the front yard - all of which we will let grow to maximize shade in the summer heat. In the back yard, Ava has a new playhouse, courtesy of our neighbor, Jay. We've actually had it on the property for a bit over a year now, but it needed lots of cosmetic rehabilitation, a new roof, and a good permanent parking spot in the yard. Incrementally, with the help of the Aunts, Mic & Kelly, we managed to get 'er done.

For a change of pace, I spent half of June in Washington DC at "the office" supervising the construction of various equipment I've been toiling over since January. While I was away, with Alex's encouragement Ava began to have regular success taking care of business in the water closet rather than in a diaper. At this point, we are actually out of diapers, and into pull-ups or standard issue underwear, whichever is appropriate for the situation.

Also while I was away, a stray car followed me home. Actually, I orchestrated the purchase in early May to be synchronous with my business trip. The plan was to fly to DC, work, and make my return trip to Detroit where I'd take ownership and drive her home. Three-quarters through my stay in DC, I was invited to return for an additional week to help keep construction on track. Naturally, being the exceptional employee that I am, I accepted. Because my non-refundable company paid airfare was taking me to Detroit regardless, I proposed that I drive the new purchase back to DC, and when my stay there concluded, drive home. In exchange for my above-and-beyond-the-call flexibility all my fuel costs were paid from Detroit to DC to Denver :)

The new car is to be the current family wagon's replacement. No, it's not a minivan, but another Audi wagon. The significance of the upgrade may not be apparent to those not familiar with the brand, but I assure you, it is a giant leap forward in nearly all measurable categories. Enough beating around the bush, it's a 2002 S6 Avant. One of roughly 1120 in the US built only in 2002-2003. (Data cited from a recent Audi of America inquiry). The S is for SPORT and Avant = wagon in Audi-speak.

Unlike monikers casually thrown onto the backs of other cars like "GT", or the word "Sport", zee Germans mean business when they slap an "S" badge onto an everyday production car. To avoid further belaboring my new car joy, I'll let you read the published Car & Driver review.

Here's just about the only picture I've got of the new car - taken about 30 minutes after returning from my cross country drive, bugs & all.

We took a Colorado day trip last week - here we are on Hoosier Pass

Out & about in CO

99.9%

2008-04-16T17:59:00.012-06:00

Today, finally, our total kitchen remodel is 99.9% complete, with only a few final details to address. Now we desperately need to get some stuff up on the walls!

Yes, the tablecloth is temporary [necessary]

We've been patiently waiting for the 3 pieces on the left. They were installed today.

Desk area

The command center

Here's a look back at what we had to work with when we
moved in (from the same perspective as above)

G is for...

2008-03-21T20:36:00.005-06:00

Countertops went in today!

Ava

2008-03-20T18:02:00.006-06:00

We've had a little too much kitchen coverage lately - here's what Ava was up to last night.

Day 4

2008-03-13T15:21:00.000-06:00

Things are beginning to take shape

Day 2

2008-03-11T22:02:00.002-06:00

Day 1

2008-03-10T19:27:00.002-06:00

T minus 15...

2008-02-24T20:12:00.004-07:00

...and counting.

One year into our kitchen remodel.

note: Ava's impression of "EnchanteD"

Meet Oscar

2008-02-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

Somehow it seems that Ava's fish has slipped under the blog radar. I suppose he might deserve honorable mention since he joined the family several months ago.

Meet Oscar, a Betta, given to Ava by Aunt Mic.

a shocking new look

2008-02-07T10:48:00.000-07:00

Mini-update:
After 3 years, it was time for a change of scenery.

FYI: The 2008 Formula 1 season starts in Melbourne, Australia next month! I know my Mom will be watching!

busi·ness leads to bus·y·ness

2008-02-06T16:53:00.000-07:00

Not much time has been taken for a proper blog update due to elevated busyness. This of course, was precipitated by significantly elevated business. My group at work won two big contracts, both with ridiculous deadlines. Throw our epic kitchen remodel in and you get the "time flies" idiom.

New kitchen cabinet installation and subsequent project completion is scheduled to begin March 10. Until then our focus has been to tie up all related loose ends and shop for new appliances.

As you will see in the following pictures, Ava is growing by leaps & bounds. She's interested in you name it, understands everything we say, has a huge vocabulary, and terrible pronunciation. She's content to repeat anything as many times as it takes to get her message across.

I regret that I've not been able to take more pictures, but at this stage I think I could make a second career out of capturing Ava's finer moments. Amazing, and amazingly hilarious things happen daily here at aschmidtlife.

Recently, Aunt Mic took Ava for a ride to the carwash in the "vixen"

A typical scene

This was taken on January 6,
Note the height & date on the wall

Another typical scene - midmorning, in my office.

:)

Dishwasher in training

"Oh my gosh"

2008-01-01T11:59:00.001-07:00

...just a typical gift opening reaction...enjoy!

the model - part 2

2007-12-06T08:04:00.000-07:00

Here's the actual advertisement! Clicking on the image will show it to full size ya know ;)

Meet Ava "the model"

2007-11-29T12:03:00.000-07:00

Out of the blue Ava got a modeling job thanks to her cousin B.
Imagine, if you will, trying to direct a two-year-old at a photo shoot. Ava pretty much did as she pleased, occasionally listening....
The ice block is real, and so is the fur. The snow is not.
So far, this is the shot picked for the ad.

More fun in the snow

2007-11-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

November 21, 2007

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T16:46:00.000-06:00

Schnee!

2007-10-22T08:05:00.000-06:00

Sunday October 21, 2007. Winter has arrived once again.

Ava cautiously watching her step on the foreign terrain:

Perfect consistency for a snowman!

randoms

2007-10-03T15:48:00.000-06:00

The "Moomb", as Ava calls it. You've seen it 12,000 times or so. Here it is September 28th @ 21:31 shot through my 10 year employment anniversary gift - A 60mm telescope.

Our punk rock girl sportin' her new Chucks.

"the hole" has finally been rocked in.

"Barsh"

2007-09-25T09:35:00.001-06:00

It was bound to happen sooner or later. Ava's perfect health record came to an end on Friday, Sept. 21. Ava had retired to the cozy media room while Alex & I were cleaning up the kitchen when we heard the familiar sound of liquid splattering onto tile. No, she did not spill a drink, it was dinner. We went four additional rounds that night wiping out the day's outfit, a rug, a dog bed, a blanket, pajamas, a pillow, the Dora bed, mom's outfit, and nearly caused a cascade effect with dad.

In the days following, she has appeared to recover nicely, keeping food down & spirits up only to surprise us with more spontaneous barf, or "barsh" as she calls it. Two and one half days after the initial episode, we took her to the doctors office. Of course, she managed to blow again right as we were pulling into the parking lot. As expected, we were instructed to keep her hydrated and just let it run it's course.

In other news throughout Ava's health trial, I've managed to make marked progress on the kitchen. Four and one half months after moving the plumbing, I pulled the sink & cabinets away from the wall so I could drywall over the job and prepare for the next phase of remodel - The cabinets (reface/replace?, countertops, new sink, & new dishwasher).

DIY drywall job after a coat of mud:

busy n'stuff

2007-09-03T16:49:00.000-06:00

Ava's 2nd birthday was a spectacular event with all local relatives in attendance.

She got a metric ton of top-notch goods, but the one that provoked the best reaction was the Barbie Cruzin' Tunes Jeep from her cousin Brianna. We all love the Jeep, but Daddy couldn't deal with the pink.

I'm anticipating yet another look of approval when she sees the new bodywork.

In other news, we Schmidt's actually took a "vacation" to the Colorado State Forest State Park near Gould, CO. We stayed in a Yurt for 3 days & 2 nights and even brought the dogs. The scenery was off-the-hook and the dawn & dusk moose sightings in the yard made it off-the-chain.

The whole family hiked up to Kelly Lake at 10000 ft. - an 11 mile round trip hike through the woods. Surprisingly enough, Ava enjoyed the 6 hours ride the backpack.

There goes July!

2007-08-06T17:31:00.000-06:00

The 4th from our back yard:

Ava spent many days at the pool:
With Raelyn:

With Brianna:

With Christian:

Our kitchen project marches on. It's been a long road but steady progress is being made. I can't yet say I see the light at the end of the tunnel though.
To date, we've managed to move all cabinets, take out the wall, relocate electrical & plumbing, remove the low clearance fluorescent light fixtures and replace with recessed "can" lighting and get some paint on the walls.

I was also nominated to change the timing belt and waterpump in this 1996 Acura NSX.

The job near the 50% complete mark:

New Roof

2007-06-29T18:23:00.000-06:00

We finally got a new roof put on the house. A process that takes two months of waiting followed by two days of installation.

Our house June 2005 ---> Today

And so it goes

2007-06-13T20:36:00.000-06:00

Following our anti-climatic arrival back home, we were granted the use of a rental car by The Hartford Insurance Co. Our beloved German luxory wagon had been substituted with a Jeep Patriot for an entire two weeks.

The week they didn't cover was spent in our 88 Honda Civic hatchback. We eased the trasitional pain by getting a new refridgerator. Our do-it-yourself kitchen remodel has been underway since mid-February and is taking shape nicely.

The car saga was wrapped up this week when I flew out to Phoenix to pick up our new Audi. We replaced the old one with the EXACT same car. Year, model, trim, color (click on the green station wagon to the left!). The only differences are that the new car has only 62,000 miles, is equipped with a small rear facing 3rd row seat, and did not come equipped with the brick-sized antique analog cell phone in the armrest.

I helped myself to some ranch property in the high Arizona desert and camped out on the way home with the new car.

Never a dull moment, right?

2007-06-02T22:16:00.000-06:00

RIP 1999 Audi A6 Avant.

A woman, age 67 with two dogs in a late model silver Ford Taurus failed to acknowledge a steady red light and plowed into the Schmidt family at a law enforcement estimated 45MPH on May 21, 2007 at 6:30PM. Sister Michelle was also with us and took an ambulance ride for back pain. Ava suffered a minor seatbelt abrasion along her neck. Alex suffered some muscle strains & bruising, I took a pretty good shot against the door panel and my right side in general feels jarred. No one was seriously injured thanks to solid German engineering. We were 5 minutes from home after a 9 hour drive from Topeka, KS. Our assailant admitted 100% fault and we are currently awaiting the initial settlement offer. We're looking towards the Audi lineup for a replacement.

Struck in the right front corner.
Had Alex not braked hard, the hit may have been in my door.

March already, spring forward

2007-03-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

"Smile!"

Despite the lack of a February entry, members of A Schmidt Life are doing well. February is a short month anyway, plus there were two January entries, and our Blog was/is identified as a spam-blog so this post won't show up until the powers at Blogger review our page and unlock it. Ok, that's a lot of excuses.

Ava's 18 month appointment went well as usual. Her percentages remain nearly the same 75/20/40 (height/weight/head dia). She impressed the Dr. with a 2 word sentence uttered in his presence, and also with the list we brought of words she knows. These days she tries her best to repeat just about anything said...
She got yet another immunization shot - Hep. "A" I believe, and didn't even cry. What a trooper!

We love snow

2007-01-21T15:43:00.000-07:00

If we did not like snow, life would not be so great around here. It's Sunday, January 21 and we are getting significant snowfall again for the 5th consecutive weekend. I believe by now the stage is set for a top record winter here in the Denver area.

In case there was any question, yes I've spent time every weekend splitting firewood and shoveling snow.

Happy New Year

2007-01-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I'm 4 days late with the well-wishing. We have enjoyed 2 major snowstorms in 2 weeks, but that news is soooo 2006. 2007's news is that it's supposed to snow again starting tonight.

Loyal readers browsing this page with Microsoft's Internet Explorer might notice that you don't have to scroll so far down to see this most recent posting. I'm not sure how long that anomaly has been happening because I use Mozilla Firefox and there was no layout issue. Thanks to Kenn for pointing it out. Do yourselves a favor, click on that link, and start a whole new internet experience using Firefox. We all know Bill Gates has enough money, and the folks at Mozilla provide their superior product for FREE.

Parenting has been treating us well here at A Schmidt Life, but all the newness & novelty has worn off a bit. Ava continues to exhibit perfect growth, health, development, & behavior so there's really no "news" to report.

Since Alex is retired from the dental field and we've reported on Ava's teeth previously, here's where she is currently at:

You may notice that #9 is in a new location. This is because when her first lower molars were coming in, #9 looked like an incisor when, in fact, it turned out to be a molar. Sorry for the mixup. However, she is currently cutting those lower incisors! Oh what fun...right Alex?

Digressing back to the snow, which we still have plenty of, here's a family portrait in the snowcave I dug Christmas Eve into the pile made from shoveling the driveway.

...And another of Ava checking it out for the first time:

In other news, Uncle Randy was finally released from the hospital after a 4 month stay. He & Aunt Marsha returned to their home in Kansas the day after Christmas. He has regained most of his mobility & cognitive abilities, but still faces another 2 years of classes & therapy. Before they left we spent an evening with them at Marsha's on-campus apartment.

Christmas Blizzard 2006

2006-12-20T19:11:00.000-07:00

December 20, 2006:
We're having a blizzard! Last time we had snow like this around the holidays it was 1982!

In anticipation of the weather forecasters optimism, I set the yardstick up at 7:30AM when there was about 1" of snow already on the ground.
The black ziptie around the yardstick closest to the ground is at 6".
The next black ziptie up is at 16", then 24" & 33".

The storm hasn't really impacted us here at A Schmidt Life. In fact, as the rest of the population was scrambling to get back home & subsequently creating immobile gridlock on the highways, roads, & streets, Alex was watching Frosty the Snowman with Ava and I was practicing business as usual. It's been very entertaining for us to watch the occasional motorist try to impose their vehicular will over the piled snow. As was the case during the last blizzard, all but the very high clearance 4x4's find our street impassable.

Following the yardstick sequence on the morning of day 2, Rusty & I ventured out to survey the landscape.

After things tapered off around noon or so, a snowplow went by and we got to the task of shoveling out. Late in the afternoon when we finally cleared one lane of the driveway all the way down to the sidewalk, a neighbor offered their snowblower so we could make short work of what the plow left us and get out to the street.

Looks like it'll definately be a white Christmas!!

Happy Merry!
-The Schmidts

Hovering the mouse over the slideshow will give you some options...

"whats up slacker....its been a month"

2006-10-28T08:39:00.000-06:00

That's right, one of our two loyal subscribers had to remind me that I'm overdue on another riveting installment of this blog. It doesn't seem like it's been that long though. Time has accelerated since Ava's birthday and not exactly for good reason.

For the anonymous readers who may not be "in the loop", we received a sobering and frantic phone call late on the evening of September the 1st. Uncle Randy from Kansas had been in a motorcycle accident near Delta, Colorado. He suffered a serious brain injury and spend a little over 2 weeks in the Grand Junction ICU. He was then transferred to Swedish Medical Center in Denver and subsequently to Craig Hospital where he continues his miraculous recovery.

Aunt Marsha has been staying with us throughout and has been a welcome help in our home.

Randy, Marsha and Ava last year:

Ava has spent most of October cutting two of her lower molars which has caused a few sleepless nights:

As anyone might expect, with her increased mobility comes increased curiosity which knows no limits.

A fine fall day in the back yard...

...and then a stroll over to the lake

A hike up to The Three Sisters in Evergreen

Happy Halloween!

Keeping up with TEETH

2006-09-25T15:47:00.000-06:00

I've been a little lax on the subject. I've also been more than a little busy...

Road Trip

2006-09-20T13:29:00.000-06:00

Having never been to the northwest, we decided to take advantage of the Hallquist's offer to visit anytime. In typical Schmidt fashion, we made a roadtrip out of it rather than fly to Portland, Oregon. The Columbia river gorge has some spectacular scenery, as well as some unexpected landscape through eastern Oregon. Alex and Ava might argue that driving probably wasn't the best way, but I sure enjoyed seeing some new countryside. The trip was an honest 1300 miles one way, which we covered over 3 days in the Audi.

The weather was beautiful the entire week we were there with minimal rain and pleasent temperatures. Good thing because Kenn had plenty for us to do which kept us on the go.

Fortunately, my procrastination in practice paid off and Kenn has already posted a full trip report as well as a bunch of pictures of our various destinations on thier blog, here:
kjqhallquist.blogspot.com

I'll just post a few more pictures!

Inside Ape Cave near Mount St. Helens
(It's technically a lava tube, not a cave)

The Pacific Ocean at Newport, OR

Ice Cream at Tillamook Cheese

Contents of the "touch pool" at the Oregon Coast Aquarium

Silver Falls State Park

Industrial Decay at Lime, Oregon
(Shot this out the window, while driving at highway speed around a corner, and passing a semi truck. Impressive, eh?)

Happy Birthday Ava

2006-09-01T10:51:00.000-06:00

Ava had her 1 year check-up today and all systems still remain normal as expected. She is still in the 80th-percentile in the height category and the 20th-percentile in the weight category. Her cranial circumferance is still average - 45th-percentile. She also got a couple vaccination shots, this time I brought the camera! Happy Birthday!

One year ago:

Today:

Biped

2006-08-16T11:01:00.000-06:00

Ava has taken her first steps. This actually started about a week-or-so-ago, but real distance without stopping or dabbing (steadying herself on something) was covered on Monday the 14th. Since then she continues to improve on distance and upright complex manuvering.

Speaking of steps, for about the past 2 weeks she has been able to ascend our staircase unassisted.

Sorry, no picture this time!

24 Yards of Curb Appeal

2006-07-31T10:23:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend we had our new concrete poured. We replaced about 1600 sq.ft. in the front of our house, or in terms of volume, we poured 24 cubic yards. It's been 3 weeks without a garage, driveway, front porch, & sidewalk. The finished product looks great though, so it was worth it. I've got some pictures of the whole process posted up on Snapfish, anyone that's interested let me know and I'll send an "album invite".

It's Official

2006-07-10T13:32:00.001-06:00

The company I work for has once again been "acquired". I started with ISI just about 9 years ago. A co-worker who has been with the company as long as I have summed it up with this graphic when the potential sale of Anteon was announced this past January.

Snapfish

2006-06-25T15:13:00.000-06:00

Just a reminder that there are lots more photos of Ava at Snapfish dot com. If you haven't received an "invite" to view our album, just ask!

I've uploaded all the "good ones" from her birth through today and they are all arranged in chronological order. Usually, like this Blog, I update about once a month.

Actual screenshot of our snapfish account:

9 1/2 Months

2006-06-17T10:39:00.000-06:00

At 9 1/2 months, Ava weighs 17 lbs 1 oz and she's 28.5" long. Those statistics are in the 20th percentile and the 80th percentile respectively. Translation: Long & lean. She's also got 6 teeth showing. At her recent routine Dr. visit, all systems continue to be normal and we couldn't ask for a better baby. She continues to become increasingly mobile and curious exploring anything she possibly can.

We've also returned from a quick road trip to Minnesota where Ava met several relatives for the first time and warmed up to all the new faces in very little time. We didn't have much time in the Gopher State and we split our visit between St. Cloud at Ava's Great Grandparents and Lakeville at her Grandparents POSH country club digs with a welcome impromptu afternoon stop at Great Aunt & Uncle Jerry's house in between.

Ava with her Great Grandparents John & Marie Schmidt:

She's Mobile

2006-05-28T16:16:00.000-06:00

Ava is crawling. It started happening last week. It's not a full-on hands and knees effort; More like a modified scoot and sometimes a monkey walk where she tries to get around on her hands & feet. Regardless, she can make her way across a room destined for trouble in no time now. Ava is also becoming an expert at standing up if she has something to climb on.

2006-05-19T17:38:00.000-06:00

We picked up Ava's winnings from Ultimate Electronics Corporate Offices today. Wow! Not bad for free!!

A Sony DSC-T7. 5.1 megapixel ultra compact digital camera:
(that's actual size)

And, a Sony DPP-FP50 standalone dye sublimation printer. No PC required & can print directly from Memory Stick, Compact Flash, and SD memory. It makes 4x5's and 3.5x5's.

Keep up the good work Ava!

Spring Cleaning

2006-05-10T08:41:00.000-06:00

With the girls away on vacation and a small window in between work projects, I've siezed the opportunity to make major progress with my total shop re-arrangement. I'm moving the machine shop area (West shop) into what was the car shop area (East shop), and vice versa.

Why would I bother? Well, in short the 40-year-old concrete slab on the West side is sinking. Every year it gets worse and the slab has settled so that any wet or melting car runoff collects in the front corner right where I would stand to operate the lathe. Not such a big deal for the casual machine tool hobbyist, but my equipment is used almost daily. I'm a big fan parking cars inside if at all possible, especially in the winter. Frustrated with having to leave the car out or mop up a pond, two months ago I moved the lathe and decided it was time to re-arrange, organize, & replace the sunken slab.

I've spent the past four days alone relocating the milling machine which probably weighs close to 1500 lbs. I put together the animation below documenting the move using only a crow bar and lengths of gas pipe as rollers.

If the mill isn't on the move in the image below, reload your browser. If that doesn't work for you, close your eyes and imagine the ancient Egyptians moving those huge blocks of stone...

We have a WINNER!

2006-04-29T13:33:00.000-06:00

A few weeks ago Alex entered a photo of Ava (the one from the March 2006 Blog update of Ava on the swingset) into KWGN Denver's WB2 Ultimate Digipix Contest. Much to our surprise, she won! The prize is a digital camera and printer, so now we should be able to take twice as many pictures!

In other April news, Ava is on the verge of crawling. She just hasn't quite put all the coordination together yet for forward mobility. She is getting quite good at flipping over and she can sit up on her own (from laying on her back) though.

Eye Boogers

2006-03-29T17:57:00.000-07:00

Where do I begin!?!
For starters Ava had her 6 month appointment. on March 3 and all is well. She weighed 14lbs 15oz and her length was 25 3/4 inches long. Ava developed her very first "health issue" this week - eye boogers. I had to take her to the doctor the other day because she had a clogged tear duct. TJ and I have to put eye drops in 4 times a day for 5 days and let me tell you it is a challenge but we manage to get the drops in!! She now weighs 15lbs 12oz. I just wish she would stop growing up on us:(

Ava and I have been very busy. We see Raelyn and Renee at least once a week, if not more. We go for walks, shop and have a Mommy and Baby play day with other babies that were born in September. We will also be enrolling in Mommy and Baby swim lessons soon.

Ava went swinging for the first time yesterday. She just loved it. Is she just adorable or what!?

As for TJ and I; TJ has been very busy with work, building another one of his card reading machines. He always amazes me with the odd shiny parts he makes out in the garage. I am very proud of my man!!! When he does get a chance to relax he and his good friend Dave will go on long bike rides across the city. Of course, he loves spending time with his little Angel Ava and me too!

We had our first date in 6 months a few weeks ago. We went to the Cheese Cake Factory in Denver And had a wonderful time. It was very nice to have some away time together.

I have started working on losing my baby fat. I am working out at home doing The FIRM DVD's (step aerobics) and weights. I have also started Weight Watchers with my friend Renee, it is going very well :)

Talk to you all next month. Stay Healthy and have a Happy Easter!!!!!!!!!!

Ava's first visit to the zoo

2006-02-23T11:30:00.000-07:00

HI everyone! It is hard to believe that February is almost over. Almost harder to believe for TJ that Alex wrote this! It seems like yesterday that we welcomed our beautiful little Ava into the world and now she is going to the ZOO with her friend Raelyn Stark who is just one month younger than Ava.

Ava, Raelyn, her mom Renee and I went to the ZOO on Valentines day. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time. The girls slept most of the time but it was very nice for Renee and I to be out in the fresh air. Ava and I have been spending a lot of time with Raelyn and Renee. I have to tell you it is very nice to have a “mommy friend”.

Ava is sitting up now and starting on solids. She really enjoys eating carrots.
On February 2 Ava’s first tooth broke through - lower anterior tooth and then nineteen days later her second lower anterior tooth cut thru. Our little girl just keeps growing up on us:(

Poked & Pierced

2006-01-06T10:30:00.000-07:00

This week Ava had her 4 month well baby appointment and she checked out a-ok. She's weighs 13.5 lbs, but is tall for her age. Another inch and she will have outgrown the infant carseat! At this appointment she also got another round of vaccinations, again 2 in each leg. She did not enjoy that at all.

The next afternoon, Oma and Alex took Ava to get her ears pierced. She didn't much like that either, but now she's extra cute.

Almost 4 months

2005-12-27T12:32:00.000-07:00

With all the holiday activity around here, which has been pretty much non-stop since Thanksgiving, I've been a little slack on updating this blog. Not to mention that I spent 2 non-consecutive weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas at "the office" which happens to be in the Washington DC area.

Ava spent her first turkey day up at Oma & Opa's, followed by another delicious meal 2 days later with Grandma Diane & Grampa Dom at the Perrizo's. A week later the Christmas' began with Great Aunt & Uncle Marsha & Randy visiting. In between business trips I managed to squeeze in a backpacking trip with my good friends Dave & Kenn. Then before we knew it, we were hosting Christmas Eve at our house with Alex's family and Christmas Day out with Grampa John & Grandma Pat. Whew! I sure am glad the holiday's are over!

In the past 6 weeks we have noticed that Ava has been much more alert, smiling all the time, trying to sit up on her own, and still not sleeping through the night.

In other news, while I was spending the 2nd week at the office, it was announced that the multi-billion dollar company,General Dynamics, was going to buy my employer. This will be the second buyout I have survived...fingers crossed.

Ava enthusiastically models her first Christmas outfit that our neighbor gave her.

A 15-second exposure taken at night of our campsite near the "Behind the Rocks" area. This photo was not altered at all.

12 Pounds

2005-11-19T09:49:00.000-07:00

Ava had her "2 month well baby" checkup on the 16th of November. She's doubled her birthweight which the Dr. was pleased to see. At this visit she got her first course of preventative maintenance shots - two needle-full's of vaccine in each leg, OWW! She didn't cry for long, but it was the most she's ever cried in her life so far.

Yesterday her custom made high fashion winter hat was hand delivered by Ky of Peacock Arts.

Happy Halloween

2005-10-31T08:09:00.000-07:00

Eight Weeks

2005-10-26T20:51:00.000-06:00

And she's filled out nicely to ~10lbs.

Scabs

2005-09-28T10:44:00.000-06:00

Ava is growing like a weed, as expected and all is well with everyone! The past month (almost) has flown by and we've had tons of visitors. I proposed an idea to Alex that we should start charging admission to visitors - a pack of diapers, or a homecooked meal buys you x-amount of visitation! Haha...

The only real significant thing that has happened is on the 16th of Sept, Ava's umbilical cord stump came off. I found it stuck to the inside of her onesie. I'd like to post a picture (of course I took one), but I don't think our loyal viewers would care to see it.

Speaking of images most would not care to see, my good friend Dave has recently been dragging me out for mountain bike rides. Neither of us have been out regularly in years so we've tried to go once a week. On our second ride, a successful summit of Bergen Peak via the Elk Meadow trail, I managed to forcefully drive the interior of my lower right leg into the teeth of the front chainring while trying to clip my foot into the pedal through a rocky technical section. The chainring did a superb job of removing flesh, and it looked (still looks) a lot worse than it felt. Perhaps chain oil has some anesthesia properties?

Moving on to less graphic subjects, Alex, Ava, & myself decided to load up in the Audi the day before my leg trauma and take a daytrip through the Colorado high country to see the magical fall colors of the changing aspen trees. Ava slept the entire trip which was to Aspen via Independence Pass and back home on I-70 through Glenwood Canyon. Here are a couple select pictures:

I've been back to work for the past 2 weeks so I have not been able to take as many pictures as I'd like. Here's one with Ava propped in my new shop chair:

On an administrative note, I've had to enable the word verification feature for adding comments. Sorry for the extra step, but I'd rather not see automated comments added to our page for free iPods and "work at home" BS. Don't these hax0r3rs know I already work from home?!

We're home

2005-09-06T08:46:00.000-06:00

Everyone came home on Monday, Labor Day. All is well with Alex & Ava. I don't have much time for lengthy updates, so I'm going to try and squeeze in a sentence & picture more frequently...

Here we are loading up in front of the hospital.

Ava & Alex ready to go home:

Happy Birthday Ava

2005-09-03T20:33:00.000-06:00

Thursday, September 1 was just like any other day.

Hurricane Katrina had just decimated the south, fuel prices jumped again - now nearly $3.00/gallon, and I was sitting in my home office methodically dimensioning another part I was going to machine that day. All was normal until I got a call from my wife's office mid-morning. Judy informed me that I needed to pick Alex up immediately as she was bleeding. No further information was given, and at just about 36 weeks pregnant, none was required.

However, this day was Alex's last day on the job, and since she had been there over 8 years, a good part of my reaction to the phone call was that I was being baited to share in the festivities that were surely going to happen once I arrived.

WRONG.

Once at the hospital, Alex was wired up to a monitor, perforated with needles and IV's and we waited about 2 hours for a doctor from her OB's office to arrive (from the next building over, literally) and tell us everything was OK and we could go home.

WRONG.

The doctor arrived about 45 minutes later than promised. She promptly performed an ultrasound and then left for a moment to look over all the graphs & figures. Upon her return, instead telling us to go home and take it easy, she informed us that we'd be parents within the hour. I was also handed my scrubs for the operation at that time. Our new life to be shared with our baby girl was about to begin.

At 3:42pm Ava was born via cesarean. Because she was about 3 weeks early, she (and I) spent a few hours in the well baby nursery under an oxygen hood so her lungs could receive maximum developmental benefit. Alex got to spend that time in the recovery area loaded up with today's finest pain medication. Unfortunately, I didn't get to share Ava's oxygen hood or any of the medication given to Alex. Equally as unfortunate, we came to the hospital with NONE of the gear we had packed weeks earlier including the cameras. However, I did have sense enough to run down to the hospital gift shop in my new scrubs prior to delivery and purchase a disposable camera for the event.

Ava took the oxygen treatment very well and was able to function as a normal, healthy newborn. She weighed in at exactly 6lbs and measured 19 inches long. Alex is also recovering nicely.

Not much going on...

2005-08-25T13:42:00.000-06:00

So it's been a month since the last entry - not much to report. Alex is getting bigger day by day, and only has 3 working days left until her retirement from the dental field. All is well inside the womb. We go in for another checkup tomorrow.

I was fortunate enough to attend 2 major motorsport events the past 2 weekends for FREE. The first was the annual Denver Grand Prix. My father in law, John, had free tickets through Coors for the Saturday show - Champ Car qualifying, TransAm race, and the Speed World Challenge Touring Car race. Plus, the tickets came with 2 free beers each!
Lap 1 Turn 1 of the SWC Touring Car race:

The second free motorsport event was the IRL Honda 225 at PPIR, free courtesy of Marlboro. The cigarette giant apparently sent out vouchers for 2 free seats to smokers in Colorado (I assume). My sister in law, Michelle received the vouchers even though she doesn't smoke. We had pretty decent seats not far off the track and near the start/finish.
Pit Road at PPIR:

Do it yourself, big $aving$

2005-07-21T11:48:00.000-06:00

Our Audi was approaching the widely accepted & recommended timing belt interval of 60-80K. Audi's published interval is 105K, but paranoia and peace of mind dictate the shorter interval with owners across the US. I wasn't taking any chances either.

Those Germans really know how to intimidate the average do-it-yourselfer. After spending 12 hours on the hottest 2-1/2 days of the year (one of which beat the record high of 103°), I am convinced that Audi engineers design scheduled maintenance items to be intentionally difficult. Nevermind all the task-specific special tools required to pull off the job. Of course, this increased difficulty level only lends itself to profits for the dealer network. What average "luxury car" owner would want to even think of dirtying thier hands when they could just pay $1500 to have it taken care of?

That's a bit steep if you ask me, but I've never paid for any automotive repair or maintenance either, so why start now?

If you are up for the challenge, here's what the job looks like at the midway point. Yes, for maximum access, you swing the entire front end open...

Twenty Four week update

2005-07-06T09:04:00.000-06:00

All is well with the pregnancy. Alex had her 24 week comprehensive ultrasound as well as the Glucose test. The results are not in from that test, but here's how our little girl is looking.

CRX header followup

2005-07-02T09:26:00.000-06:00

The fabricated downpipe turned out so well (thanks mostly to dad for the expert TIG welding), I thought it necessary to post a picture.

That's not black paint, it's a 2200° ceramic coating. The ceramic acts as an insulator so the heat stays in the pipe, which promotes better cylinder scavenging = more power!

Baby Room Phase I

2005-06-23T12:44:00.000-06:00

Three years ago, we decided this house needed new windows. However, at a cost of $$,$$$ we decided not to do all of them at once. Back then, our guest bedroom got no use at all, so it got no new windows. I told Alex I'd put windows in there myself someday...

Since then, that room became my office, and now it's going to be Ava's room. When it was my office, I thought when I replaced the windows (I'm an excellent procrastinator) I'd make them larger since I was not impressed with the diminished glass area of the "modern" windows we got throughout the rest of the house.

After pricing the job with a couple window companies, I was discussing the project (as well as complaining about the cost to have it done) with my dad and he suggested calling Don - an 83 year old carpenter with 70 years of experience. Highly recommended.

Don has come over twice this week, putting in only half days, and guided me through the project. Today we got window #2 roughed in. Here's the progress, before & now, followed by a photo of my expert:

Background news May '05

2005-06-11T17:41:00.000-06:00

May 6, 2005 while I was in Chesapeake, VA on business, Alex found out we were having a girl!

Also this month, Dave, Kenn and myself (TJ) hiked through the longest slot canyon in the world - Buckskin Gulch, UT. Nearly 13 miles of "convertable cave" with only one exit point midway. Pictures should be up on our Hellsditch webpage soon.

The home office also got moved in May, as well as some badly needed new furnishings upstairs. Here's the new sofa, we also got a matching chair and ottoman.

Background news April '05

2005-06-10T17:19:00.000-06:00

April proved to be nearly as uneventful as March. We did get surprised by a Colorado spring snowstorm though, dumping 17" of the white stuff on us over 30 hours. Pictured below, Rusty enjoyed it by porpoising at top speed through the backyard.

On the never ending home improvement front, work began in the upstairs living room preparing for my office to move in - some new paint and replacement of all the baseboard trim...

Background news March '05

2005-06-10T17:03:00.000-06:00

Nothing much out of the ordinary happened in the month of March.

Plans were laid out for a couple home improvement projects; The office relocation v2.0 and front porch renovation. However, no actual work took place.

Out in the shop I built this downpipe to fit onto my RS*R header for my ongoing 1986 CRX Si restoration project...

Background news February '05

2005-06-08T09:35:00.000-06:00

Consequences of early pregnancy take thier toll on Alex.
It was "morning" for about 6 straight weeks with one overnight stay in the hospital for severe dehydration.

She was able to soldier through and is very well now.

Background news January '05

2005-06-08T09:25:00.000-06:00

01/05 - Do I really need to say anything more?

We found out we're having a baby! Now you know the real reason behind the subject of the 12/04 news.

Background news December '04

2005-06-07T10:09:00.000-06:00

12/04 - Alexandra and I make a near impluse decision and buy a STATION WAGON. That would be a radical departure from the vehicle types we have had in the past and present. Look to the left under "other family members" and you see what I mean. Alex and I have been talking about buying "something else" for a long time (2+ years) but settling in on exactly what took some time.

We were looking pretty hard at the Honda Element, but they just didn't add up in the value-per-dollar department. The new vehicle would also have to double as Alex's daily driver, so our vehicle criteria included three elements (pun):

All wheel drive
Interior cargo space (for the dogs)
A back seat large enough for American adults

A typical SUV was out of the question. That means no Suburban, Explorer, Pathfinder...I dispise SUV's no matter what argument can be made in their favor.

What we found was a 1999 Audi A6 Avant Quattro. Avant = Wagon in Audi-speak and Quattro = all wheel drive. Not only does this car satisfy all the criteria, it's got some bonus factors!

My historic weak spot for Quattro performance in snow
Loaded Luxury Wagon
Value-per-dollar is "off the hook"
Factory Bose 8 speaker audio with subwoofer standard

I could go on with that bonus list for a while...needless to say, at the time I discovered just how affordable these cars are used, we did not hesitate to purchase. I found this one outside of Chicago, flew up there and drove it home for about $2K less than you could buy one locally for.

Schmidt [we]blog

2005-06-03T16:34:00.000-06:00

Interested in what's going on in this Schmidt family? Well, if we can keep up with it, this blog is the place to find out. Of course, you can also just give us a call...