Better Late Then Never… Cape Cod 2011

As I’ve been reminded by more then a few of my family members, I usually get my Cape Cod  photos up right before Thanksgiving.  But as I was working on getting the images processed and uploaded I had a catastrophic hard drive failure.  Not only did I lose all of the work I had completed, but I thought I had lost over 3 years of files from my computer… including the photos of Camryn’s first 3 months.  I was devestated.

Luckily, after some forensic magic that would make the folks over at CSI a little jealous, we were able to restore many of my files.  The only problem is the data and details from the images were lost.  So I have tens of thousands of files I need to sort through, but at least I was able to get back these memories.

It’s going to take me a while to get the entire trip uploaded and sorted, but I was able to cherry pick some of the best pics of the bunch to help warm you up this winter.  Enjoy!

A Bronx Tale

It was an historic day in New York on Monday, Sept. 22, 2011.  Not just because it was the day that Mariano Rivera threw his 602nd save, becoming baseball’s best reliever of all-time, but it was also the day that the Schrager Family visited the new Yankee Stadium for the first time.

It was quite an experience for everyone involved.  From the long trek across Central Park to catch the only subway line running to the stadium that day, to Laney’s first Nathan’s corn dog and Carvel helmet treat,  to realizing we could be witnesses to history as Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” started blaring over the stadium speakers, it wan an exhausting and memorable adventure.

I hope Fenway Park is ready to provide an equally memorable experience when we take the girls there in the future.

 

 

(That’s Mariano Rivera over Laney’s shoulder!)

 

 

Camryn Goes Home

After a couple of days at Presbyterian Hospital under the watchful eye of “The Tiger Nurse” the Schragers were more then ready to head home on Saturday.

Flashback: Delaney Goes Home – Part 1 | Part 2

The Schrager Sisters… Together Again For The First Time

Delaney couldn’t wait to meet Baby Sister.  She’d been practicing with Molly the Dolly for weeks after taking her Big Sister Class.  She showed us how you hold the baby, change the baby, feed the baby and push the baby around in the stroller.  She had her Big Sister shirt and her “magic soap” to make sure the baby didn’t get any germs.  She was ready for everything!

…except the crying.  See, Laney’s dolls don’t cry like real babies.

Nana and Uncle Jason brought Laney to the hospital to meet Camryn for the first time.  She wasn’t expecting to see Mommy in a hospital bed with all of the equipment around, but once she saw Camryn she came running over to say hi.

She sat next to me and couldn’t wait to hold her.  Laney talked to her a bit and rubbed her head asking, “why doesn’t she have girl hair!?”

I placed Camryn in Delaney’s lap as per her instructions.  A few seconds later Delaney heard something she hadn’t heard before, but will be hearing for years to come… her sister cried.  That was enough for her.  “I don’t like it when she cries!”

I held Camryn for Laney the rest of the visit, but it was obvious that she loved having her baby sister here.  She also loved the Disney Princess Scooter Camryn got for her as well.  Bribery will get you everywhere.

Introducing Camryn Josephine Schrager

On June 2, 2011 at 9:04 PM ET Camryn Josephine Schrager was born.  She was 8 lbs. 6 oz. and measured 21 3/4 inches and as you might well expect, she was born with a full head of hair.

Camryn is named after Samantha’s grandfather Charlie and my Aunt Judy and shares a birthday with Cousin Julia!  Our girls love to steal the thunder away from other people’s birthdays.  I’m sorry for that.

Samantha made it look easy.  The only way I ever knew she was having a contraction was to look at the monitor.  At one point, she was smiling for a picture and didn’t tell me she was having a contraction until after I was done!  I’m really going to have to get her trained for mixed martial arts.  We could make a killing in the UFC with her pain tolerance.  Obviously being married to me prepared her for this sort of pain.

Like Delaney, Camryn loves the drama and couldn’t just pop herself out and enjoy the moment.  She had to make it all about her.  It was a tense few minutes when the nurses had to take her away to get her color from blue to pink because the cord was around her neck.  Thankfully, she composed herself quickly and rejoined us for a few hours of intense snugglin’.

Laney’s First Baseball Game Is A Good Knight

The flowers are blooming, the pollen is floating and the baseball bats are cracking.  It must be Spring!  Time for Laney to experience her first professional baseball game.

Because Laney is the product of a mixed marriage – Yankees and Red Sox fans – baseball season can be tricky.  Luckily Charlotte is home to the Knights, a Triple-A Minor League team that we can all cheer for.  Sure, they’re affiliated with the White Sox, but they’re mostly harmless.

This Sunday, Laney’s friend Ben invited us to join him and his family at one of the Knight’s first games of the year.  It was also Laney’s first real baseball game so we had to make sure she had the full experience.

After hitting the team store to purchase the requisite hats, balls and bats we took in the last few pitches of the first game of a double header before hitting the kid’s park.  That’s where Laney and Ben enjoyed the traditional riding of the merry-go-round.

Then, as the second game started, we all found a nice spot on the hill in right field to eat peanuts, bunny cookies and ice cream from a helmet.  Later, Laney met the Knights’ mascots and got her first autograph from Sweet Caroline the dragon.  It was a very emotional moment for me.

All-in-all, the day was a big success.  Good weather, good friends, good peanuts and the Knights won both games.

Later that night when I asked Laney what her favorite part of the day was, she responded, “I think today my favorite part was sitting next to Ben.”

Thank you and good Knights!

Laney’s 3rd Birthday Blowout

Believe it or not Delaney turned 3 last week!  Although the celebration has been going on Mickey Mouse style for over a month now, starting with Laney’s big bash at My Gym for her friends, the house was filled for the grand-finale this weekend.

It truly was March Madness at Casa del Schrager as Papa, Bumpa, Nana, Uncle Jason and Aunt Laurie were all under one roof causing mayhem and mischief and drinking all of my Diet Cherry Coke.

From dinner at the Pewter Rose to brunch at the Ballantyne Hotel, no meal went uneaten, no gift went unopened and no opportunity to annoy Bailey went untaken.

This will be Laney’s last birthday before her little sister joins us and she enjoyed every minute of it.

 

It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Schrager-mas

One of our favorite places in Charlotte is the Ballantyne Hotel and one of the things they do best is celebrate the holidays.  Laney has been coming here to see (and sometimes run from) Santa since she was 9 months old.

Although Santa and Laney had a falling out last year, we were hoping they could let bygones be bygones.  The only problem, Santa’s nemesis, The Grinch, showed up and as you know, the enemy of Laney’s enemy is Laney’s friend.

Laney was much more interested in “The Grouch” then Santa, but she did do a lot better with the Jolly Old Elf this time around.  There was a lot less screaming and crying… but that’s because Sam was betterrested this year. (You really don’t want to be around her when she hasn’t had her 12 hours of sleep.)

– FlashBack: Laney vs. Santa 2008

– FlashBack 2: Laney vs. Santa 2008 – Part 2

Road Trip: Meeting Baby Becca

We took to the road and headed back to NoVa for the first time in 3 years to meet the newest member of the Schrager family, Baby Becca.  Although the drive was 7 hours of sheer bliss, the only thing we heard more from the back seat than the Dora theme song was “I want to go to Diana’s house!”

Laney Heads Back 2 School

Holy poop on a stick!  Laney just got back into town after a whirl-wind trip to the homeland of the East Coast Liberal Elites and a day later she’s starting her second year at CJP.  She’s very excited to see all of her old friends and can’t wait to make some new ones in her 2’s class, named the Kangaroos.