From the Hills of WV to the Zoo in St. Louie

Tobin and I went on our first road trip about a week or so ago now. It was to my Uncle Mike's house in WV. I was having nightmares before we left that he screamed the whole way. I was getting a little terrified...one of mom's clients sent a gift along. It was a sun that plays classical music and was chew toy ready. Tobin loved it. He did extremely well for the long drive there and home.

The trip to see my Uncle was bittersweet. My aunt recently passed away and we were there as some support for my uncle & cousin. The church where Nyla (my aunt) played the piano held a memorial service for her. It was a very nice and emotional service. Tobin & I missed the last bit, he was getting fussy we went downstairs.

My cousin John (13y) was incredibly sweet and gentle with Tobin. He said this was the closest he had ever really been to a baby and his first experience was a good one. Tobin was just as enamored with John.



Yesterday we spent in St. Louis. We finally had our appointment with the Shriner's. We agreed to let them do some DNA testing, they are doing research to help find the gene that causes clubfoot. They took blood form all three of us and as detailed family medical history as we could give them. We did learn some interesting stats though: 1 in 1,000 babies will be born with a club foot, more boys are affected then girls, and the right foot is affected more then the left. We hope our DNA helps them along with the research.

Overall we had a very positive experience at the Shriner's hospital. Tobin has new shoes and new braces on his feet. We learned that 1) the Denis Browne Splint (the bar) we were using was to short 2) his club foot wasn't at enough of an angle. His new brace isn't was I was expecting from Dr. Deppe's description, but better then what Tobin had. This Dobbs Brace keeps his feet in the correct positions, but allows for his feet to move independently from one another. We don't know yet if he will be able to crawl in them or not yet, we will just have to work on that.

The Good/Not-so-good news...Not-so-good, he has to wear the brace & shoes 23 hours out of the day. The one hour out is for bath times and stretching exercises on his foot and ankle. The good new...after three months of this he will be weened to wearing them only at nap times and bed time. That is like a 6m to a year earlier then we were expecting. We go back to the hospital in 3 months for a check up and the any adjustments.

We are adjusting yet again to the new braces and shoes. It always takes a few days to get in the groove of things. Here is a picture of what his brace looks like:



After all that, we took Tobin to the St. Louis Zoo. Three of his favorite things: people, outdoors, and animals. We were there about 3 hours and still had a lot to see.

Memorial Day Weekend

I was telling Chris the other day that I remember our first Memorial Day together. We had only been datinga month or so and at the time his grandfather had a house down at Eddycreek. We went down there for the day...it was a nice day warm but not hot...

Anyhoo, we went out on the boat for a little bit. While we were out Chris spotted some driftwood he wanted. So there I am hanging off the back of the boat to grab the driftwood for him and full of grace that I am...I slipped & fell in. This Memorial Day was just a memorable. We took Tobin swimming for the first time. he LOVED it. He was kicking and blowing bubbles and just loving it.



Summer vacation has started. Today we are going to the library to sign Bella up for a summer reading program after that we are going to the YMCA to sign her & Glo-Worm up for swimming lessons. Plus we have all sorts of other errands to run today.

My Sweet Baby

My sweet baby is starting to look like a little boy...makes a mommy sad.

I don't always recognize the changes in Tobin as much as other people since I am with him all day long. Recently one of Chris' uncle's passed away and we were getting ready for the funeral and after I got my little Glo-Worm dressed...I realized he was looking like a little boy and not a baby anymore.





He is growing so fast and doing things now. He can balance himself on his shoes just holding onto my thumbs (he has been adventurous enough to start letting go), he is so close to crawling, and he is so close to sitting on his own. All these things make me so glad I didn't have to go back to work. The idea of some stranger getting all of our firsts broke my heart, now we get to experience them.

Chris is getting lots of QT with Tobin. Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings I have working at the salon (little extra pocket money) leaving the boys to fend for themselves. Wednesday have been a little rough, Chris has been at work all day & is tired and Tobin is starting Crank Master T time. Saturday's I think have been pretty smooth. They are getting their rhythm with each down and are having a good time.

Glo-Worm loves being outside. While we wait for Bella to get out of school we go to park a lot. He loves to swing and walk around the park. All the old men stop their fishing to talk to him.

I am going to be watching my niece this summer. We are planning swim lessons for her and Tobin (she is very excited), a reading program at the library for both of them, we are going to try to spend as much time outside as we can. We want to paint some pictures (which reminds me, the painting I told you about is an earlier post...coming along nicely...just need to find time to finish it), maybe do some baking. I am real excited about spending the summer with her.

Okay...one more story...I completely forgot all about this. I have a history of being pulled over for speeding (yes I have a lead foot, think the Wolverine-ish chick in the X-men after he fills her all up with the metal goop). I have even been
pulled over for the window tint on my car. We recently got pulled over for laughing.

So here is what happened. We were driving North on Boeke in the right hand lane. Suddenly there is a cop right behind us (we were actually not speeding or anything)no biggie. Now, there are two kids on the sidewalk, one on the actual sidewalk and one walking on the curb playing with a ball. Chris swerves a little to the left hand lane because he thought the kid on the curb faltered. Just as he swerved the cop had tried to move into the left hand lane. Then as we moved back into the right hand lane the cop tried to pass us there. So, he gets in the left lane and passes us stops waits until we pass him then pulls us over.

He then comes up to Chris' window and asks how many kids we have in the car. Chris replies "2, did you see the kids on the sidewalk?" The cop asked for license, registration & insurance and says "I guess you thought that was funny." A rather cryptic comment. While I am getting the registration for Chris, Tobin is in the backseat screaming because he was starving Chris was talking to the cop and I hear him ask for the stuff again and says "this is the third time I have asked." We get him the info and walks off. Now we are analyzing what happened. We did indeed laugh about the cop not in the "ha ha look what we made him do", but in the "ha ha what is he doing? confused kind of laugh." Mr. Cop comes back to the car and says "I apologize for my attitude a moment ago, we are busy this weekend and lots of people are out." He then proceeds to explain that we are not to swerve unless something is actually in the street (which Chris thought there was). So that is how we got pulled over for laughing.

TBN Hasn't Scolded Me Yet...

...for the very long period between posts. It must be because she was to busy at work.

The last few weeks have been busy-ish. our nephew Forrest spent last weekend with us. We picked him up Friday and we spent the whole weekend outside. Okay little clarification...last weekend meaning the weekend before this dreadfully dreary weekend.

Sunday we went to Audubon Park and the Ranger had a hawk out, we also went to Papa Phil's to help get the pool ready. Tobin loved being a naked baby...i.e. no shoes.

Here are a few pictures from the lovely weekend:

Having Bella during the week has been a lot of fun. In fact i will have her until the end of the school year. She is such a good big cousin. She wants to help with Tobin all she can and she does, she loves to play with him. We want to more things then our schedule allows for us right now. She gets to my house between 8a&9a, at that time Glo-Worm has gone down for his first nap. After that we having feedings, tummy time, then Tobin's second nap & Bella's rest time, finally lunch then we are on the road to Boonville. After we drop her off at school, Glo-Worm & I have been hanging at City Park. I read or crochet while he sleeps, when he wakes up we take a walk or swing. We have also been going to the library and I have been reading to him. Then we pick Bella up, go back to E'ville, at this time guess who's ready for another nap (I wish it was me)? It is busy, but we still manage to have a good time.

This past weekend we were going to go to the new Menard's...didn't happen.. We pulled into the parking lot & kept going. It was sooooooo busy. We ended up going to Princeton to eat at Tim Allen's Awesome BBQ. Sunday, we went to the Giant Flea Market, TBN was there too...look what she found:



All-in-all we have been having some good times. I am ready for the warm weather to stick...all this rain is so blah...blah...blah...

Ahhhhh The Smell of Spring in the Air

I am sick of the rain, but there have been a few bright spots the last few weeks.

I loved being at my mom's Saturday and playing with my nieces & nephew with the hose.

I loved going to the park with Tobin, while Bella is in school.

I loved going to the playground with Bella after we got home from school.

I love that soon I can turn off the heater and open the windows and air the winter stink out of my house.

There hasn't been a lot going on lately.

We are going to a party this Friday for Chris' cousin and I think Forrest is going to spend the weekend with us.

Come On Get Down With The Sickness & Other Odds and Ends

So we have had our first round of family sickness. Chris came home not feeling so great. He had a stuffy nose and scratchy throat. Not long after that Glo-Worm started fussing and tossing his cookies every time he ate (still going on). Yesterday morning (like 3am) I woke up and my throat was scratchy. Luckily for Chris & I it is not lasting very long. I already feel a little better today. I can't wait for a real round of sickness to get us...okay yeah I can wait.

Tobin had a great first Easter. Grandma Cynthia got him an Easter basket with this duck that makes the greatest quacking noise (Glo-Worm loves it) and a movie and some sweets (mommy & daddy are helping him with those). Papa Phil got him a tiger shaped blanket, I think he will like it once it is washed. We went out to Chris' Aunt Mary's to visit with the Schneider's. Most of them hadn't seen Tobin yet, so he got loved on a lot. He didn't have his regular naps yesterday and he did really good for being over stimulted and tired. We wanted to get his picture taken with the Easter Bunny, but the smallest package was $25.00. So, we made our own Easter Pictures for your viewing pleasure:




Now here are two pictures, do you know who my kiddo looks just like?




The last three nights Tobin has been sleeping in 4-5 hour stretches! I LOVE IT! The first night I put him down at around 10p, I woke up at about 12:30a thinking he should wake up soon and went back to sleep, when he woke me up it was almost 3a. I can so get used to this. Hopefully this will go on and on...

This last week was mu first full week with Bella. This last week was also hectic, lots of doctors appointments and other errands and then getting Bella to Boonville for school. I am hoping this week is not so crazy.

I have a few more fun pictures of Tobin for you:





Now for your funny bone:





The middle picture, the first is Chris(4y) & Carrie(21m) on 8-14-1974, the second is Chris(8y) 11-1978, & the third is Chris(7m) 3-1971.

The look-a-like...Grandma Cynthia.

New Neice, Music, Time Management and the list goes on

First off: welcome to the family Kye'ana Nye Lakelyn-Marie Stott (that's her big brother Forrest holding her)



Second: Happy Birthday to Kaidyn



Third: Much to my excitement I as able to take a vinyl of children's songs from when TBN and I were little and a cassette tape from when Dubby was little and have them transferred to CD's. I have spent the last couple days getting the lyrics together for when I make copies for the family. The best was the vinyl, Barry Louis Polisar has a website that has all his lyrics and I could just copy and paste then. The album is called I Eat Kids & Other Songs for Rebellious Children. The Cassette I had transferred is call Bellybutton, by Heather Bishop. Big boos to her for making you pay to get her lyrics. Okay so the cassette wasn't a total wash on the lyrics. The cassette came with a copy of them, but was to large for me to just scan. Yes I am lazy and tried to take the easy way out, but I ended up typing them all in. Now all I have to is make CD copies for the family.

Fourth: Okay new mom's explain me this...how did you ever get anything done during the day with a new baby? I have been trying and trying and trying and...well you get the point. Just when I get something started or am right in the middle on something Tobin starts crying. He has been doing better this last week about laying down for a nap during the day (which is how I am getting this typed right now), so hopefully that will help. Any other tricks you can share?

Fifth: Woo Hoo! I get to spend the next six weeks with my fabulous niece Bella. Her daycare provider is going on maternity leave and TBN entrusted me with her daughter. This is exciting for a couple reasons: 1) Bella cracks me up and I love spending time with her 2) It let's me stay home a little longer with Tobin

Sixth: Okay so at some point I am going to have to get a job. We did our budget I really don't have to make to awful much on a weekly basis, so I looking for some part-time work. After some thought, it was decided I would need part-time of an evening so we would not have to pay for daycare. I am thinking about applying at the video store withing walking distance from our house.

Seventh (I told you the list goes on): I have decided to paint my own picture for my living room. With the completion of our basement and the rearrangement of the entertainment centers (love not having a TV in the living room), I have a blank wall. It's not a huge wall, it's a decent space between two windows, but it was covered up by the entertainment center so there was no need for art. I thought about it and have looked all over, but nothing was good enough or called to me enough or was just plain old too expensive if it did. So, for less then $20 I am going to paint my own picture. I will post a picture of the picture when it's completed.

I believe the list has been completed.

A Little Piece of Happiness

Happiness: Chris started a new schedule today, 7a-4p. This couldn't be more perfect with summer coming.

Happiness: Spending last Saturday with my family, even with a trip to the emergency room.

Happiness: This picture of my little man


And this picture of my nieces & nephew


Happiness: Watching Tobin try to figure out how to eat & suck his thumb at the same time

Happiness: Watching Chris & Tobin play together

Trees

Some pictures from the icy/snowy weather:









We got our power back about 6pm last night. Most of my family is still without power and stuck at home.

Schneider Family Christmas 12/13/2008

Turkey Day

I have so many things to be thankful for this year:

*A husband/partner that loves me no matter how insane I get sometimes and seems to have infinite patience with me when no one else would.
*A family and extended family that are just the best. I could not ask for more, they are always there when needed and love unconditionally.
*A beautiful pregnancy. I have been so lucky and blessed with a smooth and easy pregnancy and can't wait to bring Glo-Worm into our family.
*All the small things we take for granted, things like a roof over my head, food in my belly, running water...

Give your loved ones big hugs and kisses today and tell them how much you love an appreciate them.


MySpace Comments at GlitterBell.com

Isabella's 6th Birthday

WOW!

I didn't realize until just this moment...I am going to have a kid soon. Okay, I mean yes I have know for 29 weeks that we are going to have a child, but the reality just kinda hit me today. I, we, are going to be parents and have the amazing opportunity to help mold a person. This is such an awesome responsibility and am so glad that Chris & I have each other to learn how to do this together.

I am sure we will make mistakes along the way (as much as I would like to think we are perfect, I know that is far from the truth), but hopefully we won't make any huge ones.

We are truly excited to meet the little person in my belly. To know if we have a boy or a girl (which reminds me...the gap is closing on our poll - 11 boy & 9 girl), what our Glo-Worm's personality is going to be like (think I have an MMA winner in there), what will our kiddo look like????? We love not knowing almost as much as trying to guess.

Being pregnant has been one of the most exciting experiences of my life. I have enjoyed everything (some maybe a little less than other: sore hips yuck, heartburn like I have never experienced before). I love my big belly (that is the only time you will have hear me say that), I love feeling my kiddo move around, I love that the love of my life and I created something so special after all this time.

We love that our families are so excited to share this experience with us. We can't wait for Glo-Worm to meet the most loving of families and be surrounded for its entire life with that love.

Baby Shower

We had the best time at our baby shower yesterday. The Blog Nazi, Andi, and Paula did such a great job putting it all togeher. We had yumminess to much on: mini cheese cakes, mini cinnamon rolls, brownies, cookies, mints and nuts. We got to spend lots of time with our family and friends.

Edit: I got to wear a tiara...

Here are some pictures:

Glo-Worm and Birthday Party

We got some new pictures of Glo-Worm. i think my kid is pretty darn cute considering there are no real features yet...got a great black & white grainy profile. We went to the specialist this week. He did a pretty intense ultrasound and determined that Glo-Worm's right foot is slightly club footed. He said that there was nothing that we could have done to make this happen, nor could we have prevented it...pretty much luck of the DNA. The doctor was sure that it was very slight and nothing to be concerned about. He seemed to think Glo-Worm may have to wear some special shoes. We have a follow up appointment in September.

This past weekend was Sophia's 2nd Birthday. She is growing up so fast. Her birthday party was at the Boonville Spray park...it is a great place...all the kids got to run around in the water and on the play ground. There were cupcakes with Elmo on them and presents. Sophia spent a lot of time with her shopping cart and stuffed Elmo she received. We took Kaidyn with us and he would have stayed there all day if he could have.

We kinda forgot that Chris' birthday is this coming Monday (yeah tomorrow)so we have a busy but relaxing day ahead of us. We are going to spend the afternoon swimming at his dad's and then we are going out The Blog Nazi's for dinner with the family. My Uncle David is town from Iowa and it is always wonderful to see him.

Next weekend, Dubby graduates with Honours from the Police Academy. I am very excited about being able to. We are all so ver proud of him. He reminded me several times yesterday not to lose my ticket.

Have I Mentioned...

...I LOVE CHRISTMAS?

I do, I really do. I love the lights (which is a good things my honey drives most of the time I tend to get a bit distracted), the pretty paper, giving people gifts that they love, feeling all warm & fuzzy inside...Yeah, I totally love Christmas.

For Kaidyn we built him am awesome box fort (we had so much fun building it and he loved it):

Mom, Michelle & I built my brother a sewer out of boxes for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle themed birthday party one year. he and all his friends loved it.

We got Miss Bella (AKA: Miss Fashionista) a pink wig to play dress up in.

We got another niece and nephew the same blocks we got Sophia since they were such a hit for her.

For Sophia & Keegan we are going to contribute a little bit to their college funds (I know boring, but the Rosenmeier's don't have tons of space soooo...)

My Honey got me a fabu purse (I have been wanting a new one for ages), a gorgeous pearl necklace and blingy tennis bracelet (he did super good)

We also got one of those digital picture frames and some other fun stuff.

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!!!!!