It's A Girl!!

Kaylee Annadell Schmidt

April 22, 2009 6:21am

8lbs 11 oz, 20.5 inches

I was scheduled for Sunday to be induced, but Kaylee had plans of her own. Wednesday morning at about 2 I started to have some heavy contractions. Patrick had just come to bed and asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital, since the contractions had somewhat subsided, I decided to just try and sleep. A couple hours later, I started again and decided to go take a shower. When I got out of the shower, I was having another contraction and woke Patrick to take me to the hospital. We got to the hospital at about 5:20am, I was contracting really quickly and was at a 6 when they admitted me. By the time I reached the birthing room and kept begging for meds, they pretty much told me it was too late, I was already at a 10. So after about 25-30 minutes of hard pushing out came Kaylee.

Of course since we didn't know ahead of time what we were having, the first things out of my mouth were "Well what is it? Is it a boy or a girl?" Their response was "We don't know yet." I was so confused, but later found out that the umbilical cord was in the way. Kaylee came so fast that her right shoulder got caught on my pelvic bone. As a result she has a hairline fracture which is preventing her from moving her right arm. The Dr.s say that this is really common and don't foresee any long term problems. We are set up with a physical therapist that will be able to evaluate her movements and determine if there is any long term nerve damage. Everyone that has examined her does not see any sign of that since she does try to move it occasionally.

Emma is loving being a big sister, she likes to help us feed Kaylee. She even helped me change one of her diapers. It is so fun to see how excited she gets when Kaylee wakes up. What a perfect little family I have been blessed with.

Still no news.....

So as many of you know we are expecting baby # 2 in April. We have had three Ultrasounds and still unable to find out the gender. So I guess this one is going to happen the old fashioned way. At first I was really disappointed not to know, but now the idea of a surprise is kind growing on me. Emma is super excited for her little brother/sister to come. I just hope that excitement continues even when she realizes that this baby will not be leaving.

So I am posting the two best Ultrasound pictures that we do have. One is a perfect profile picture taken in December. The second one (taken in February) is an excellent shot of just the face. Some people have had to study it a minute or two to see it. Just remember it is a zoomed in shot of mainly the face. You will see the eye sockets, nose and even the lips. If only we could tell gender from the face, lol.

More of Christmas 2008

We went with Uncle Jared, Aunt Breanne, cousins J.T. Lexie and Ridgey, along with Aunt Nanana and Matt to check out the Christmas lights in Rocklin, they were beautiful as always, but the streets were packed.

Christmam Eve we spent with Kendel's brothers and sisters doing her mom's annual party. There is always a DVD game exchange we do. Of course lots of finger foods to munch on and wonderful company. We played "Catch Phrase", and boy were we loud. It was so much fun playing that game with a huge group of people. Though it does get very chaotic it is enjoyable.

This Christmas was so much fun. Emma is old enough to grasp the concept of Santa and was a good girl this year. She got a lot of new clothes and toys. She especially loved her new "tap shoes", that is what she calls her pretty black dress shoes. We don't know where she came up with that, maybe because of the sound they make. It was so fun watching her walk out into the living room to see if Santa had come. He brought her a V-Smile console, she was really excited that it has a microphone and her own writing pad.

After our Christmas morning at home, we went to Papa Lynn's house to have breakfast and do our cousin gift exchange. That was a lot of fun. She got a ton of books, and a new movie and from cousin Timmy she got a Disney Princess tea set. That is the most played with toy she got this year. We set it up when we got back from Papa's and she has had more tea parties with Grandma Dory and Aunt "Maymee" (Amy) than I can count. Cousin Hadrian of course was not at all interested in playing tea with her. He was too interested in his new dump truck that Emma got for him.

We were supposed to go up to Great Grandma Pat's with Papa Marc, but Emma was not feeling well and Kendel decided it would be best if she stayed home. So when they got home we went and visited Papa's house where Emma got a new drum set from them. Now that and the tea set are her favorites. We have a video of her playing, it is so fun to watch.

Emma with her new "tap shoes" ~ Emma the rock star!

Playing tea party with Aunt "Maymee" ~ Hadrian playing with his new dump truck.

Kaelynn, Davin and Amanda at Lynn's for Christmas ~ Emma and Lexie bundled up warm to look at lights.

My Uncle Greg

I saw this post on my sister's site and wanted to put it on mine. My Uncle Greg was born with the severest form of Spina Bifida and my Grandparents were told he would not live very long. Now at 51 he has his own successful business that he has been doing for many years. He is such an inspiration to me, even with the hardships that he has had to endure he always looks at the brighter side of things.

Greg Eschler shines shoes at the Ogden Marriott here is a video of him, sorry there are a couple commercials in the beginning.

Grit & Polish / Spina bifida can't keep Greg Eschler from shining on, and on
Tuesday, December 16, 2008

By Scott Schwebke

Standard-Examiner Staff

OGDEN -- Each weekday before the crack of dawn, Greg Eschler dresses for success.
First he dons a pair of business slacks, a crisp white shirt, a natty black bow tie and suspenders.
Then at around 6:45 a.m. herolls his wheelchair out the front door of his Clinton home, down a handicap-accessible ramp and makes his way to the curb.
From there, a state-operated paratransit van whisks him away to Ogden's Marriott Hotel, at 247 24th St.
It's inside the hotel that Eschler, 51-- who suffers from spina bifida, a congenital birth defect involving the spine -- really shines.
For 18 years, he has helped hundreds of guests, first at the Ben Lomond Hotel and then at the Marriott, put their best foot forward at his shoeshine stand, dubbed The Polished Image.
Two customers at a time can get their battered boots and unsightly oxfords spiffed up at the stand, located off the Marriott's lobby. A shine costs $3 if a customer keeps his shoes on, $4 if he takes them off.
However, the chance to converse with the always affable Eschler is free.
"I'll ask where are you from?" said Eschler, revealing his favorite ice breaker to put patrons at ease. "I've had customers from France, California, Texas and England."
For some customers, a visit to Eschler's stand is a trip down memory lane.
"Sometimes I'll get a customer who will say, 'I remember back in the 1970s ... that shoeshines were 50 cents,' " said Eschler, who considers his occupation a lost art.
He established The Polished Image in the lobby of the Ben Lomond Hotel in 1990 at the urging of a job coach from Enable Industries, an Ogden nonprofit organization that helps disabled individuals obtain employment in the community.
"I thought it was great having my own business," Eschler said, recalling the elation he felt when the shoeshine stand opened.
However, his parents were initially less enthusiastic. "I went home and told my mom and dad and they asked, 'Are you crazy?' " he said. "They were afraid of what customers would think. They didn't think it would be a profitable business."
Eschler said his dad, who died in 1999, always remained somewhat skeptical of his occupation, but his 81-year-old mom, Ruth Eschler, with whom he lives, has become his biggest supporter.
"Mom was OK after I got started," said Eschler. "She said, 'You're doing fine.' "
Ruth Eschler said she's very proud of her son, adding that at birth doctors gave him only two years to live.
"I don't know that I could have the attitude he had, had I been in his shoes," she said. "He's done very well, and people seem to like him. He's pretty good at conversation and can talk the leg off somebody."
Eschler moved his shoe shine operation to the Marriott in 2003. A few months ago, Enable Industries built him a new stand to complement renovations at the hotel.
Brigit Pack, director of sales for the Marriott, described Eschler as the "heart of the hotel."
"He has a very loyal following from hotel guests as well as several local clients," she said. "He's just wonderfully pleasant and greets everyone with a smile. It's so warm and inviting to walk through the doors and see Greg, who is so happy and cheerfully willing to assist with anything."
Sometimes Eschler voluntarily takes on duties at the Marriott beyond his shoeshine responsibilities.
"I have seen him pick up trash, hold doors open for guests and carry luggage on his lap," Pack said.
Eschler is a big Brigham Young University football fan, so when the team stayed at the Marriott when it played Utah State University in October, it presented him with an apron and hat with the school's logo.
The gifts were a reward for the service he provided to the team the last time they visited the hotel, in 2006.
"He was very excited," Pack said.
Steven Hill, an Enable Industries job coach, said Eschler is a shining example of the positive contribution that disabled workers can make.
"I hope people in the community will see that people who are disabled are willing to work and can make some of the best employees," he said.
Hill is so impressed with Eschler's skills that he regularly pays him to polish his shoes. "He doesn't give me a discount," Hill chuckled.
Through trial and error, Eschler has managed to perfect his shoeshine technique.
The first step is to thoroughly clean the shoe with saddle soap. Then two layers of polish are applied and removed with a brush before the shoe is finally buffed to a high sheen with a shammy.
Eschler's stubby fingers are nimble, enabling him to polish a pair of shoes in about 5 minutes. He has shined as many as 19 pair in a day.
One of Eschler's biggest job challenges is maintaining a sharp appearance.
"My poor mom tries to figure out how to get black polish out of white shirts," he said with a chuckle. "If there is anybody out there who knows how to get black polish out of white clothes, please let us know."
Eschler is proud of his solid work ethic and that customers know when he misses a day at the Marriott. "They say, 'Where have you been?' " he recalled. "It makes me feel good."
Eschler doesn't mind talking about his disability and recounted an incident in an Ogden store in the early 1980s when he was still able to walk with the help of leg braces. He overheard a mother chastising her young son for asking why Eschler had such an unusual gait.
"I told the mother, 'Don't ever scold that child,' " Eschler said. "That little child asked a question and that little child is entitled to an answer. I turned to him and said, 'I was born this way.' "
Still, Eschler occasionally gets discouraged and questions why God allowed him to be born with a disability. But those dark moods never last long and soon his spirits are as bright as the sheen he puts on scuffed shoes.
"Sometimes I really feel that the guy somewhere up there (in heaven) doesn't like me," he said. "Then I will snap out of it. I've had a pretty good life."