It's Huzzah Time Again!

Okay, for all those who have been wanting to see the costumes that we have been working on for the last year, here are the photos (courtesy of our neighbor Liam). Yes, we wore them to the Renaissance Festival and Tim even went into the gas station. I hope to write an update later about our exciting(not really) lives. But for now, "Huzzah!"


Kristin

Summer is Finally Here

As we begin this summer, we are looking forward to many things. We just had a new concrete patio and carport slab installed. We are already using both to their full extent and enjoying the warm weather and the outdoors. Both of the boys are loving having the extra room to run around in the yard. It has even been warm enough to put the wading pool up once or twice so far.

Not much new to share and at the same time, lots to share. I wanted to get some new photos up on the web site so here they are! God Bless All!

Kristin





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A Trip to the ER

I suppose every parent dreads the day when they have to take their child to the Emergency Room. Well this past Tuesday was our first experience with one of the boys, although it was not William's first trip to an ER. When he was 2 1/2 weeks old, he went with me to the ER, to have the worst migraine I have ever experienced treated. It was however, his first experience as a patient.

We have the baby toys separated from the other toys in an oval wicker basket on the living room floor so that William has easy access to toys that are his speed. He is also at the stage in his young life where he is experiencing the world through his mouth. Translation, he puts everything in his mouth! I mean everything!

This particular wicker basket survived David's babyhood, but met its end when part of it ended up in William's mouth and presumably his stomach. I noticed him chewing on something and went to fish it out of his mouth. It was about a 1 inch piece of the basket. I tried to get him to spit it out, but he fought me and I am pretty sure he swallowed it. After calling our clinic, they called our primary care physician at home, who then called me and strongly recommended I take William in for evaluation.

My next call was to Tim at work and then a friend who could watch David. We only spent 90 minutes at the hospital, which is very brief for an ER visit. The docs looked at William and the basket sample I brought in and said what I figured they might, "It will pass." It was definitely a relief that they didn't rush him off for x-rays or worse but it did give us a good scare. Now all we have to do is wait and see what happens.

Waiting is a constant theme in my life..... I will write more on that later. For now, William is just fine and currently napping. The wicker basket is in the trash and the toys are in a good old blue plastic basket. Not as fancy, but not as deadly. It will all come out right in the end;-).

2009 Here we come!

When I started this blog I though I had better pace myself so I would not write something every day and drive everyone nuts trying to keep up with it. Well, that is a thing I really shouldn't have worried my pretty little head about. So now I will update the blog.

Advent, Christmas have gone by so fast and now the New Year is about to be ushered in just a few hours from now. What can I say about 2008? It was a year of joy and struggles. The biggest joy is of course the birth of William Patrick Schindler in March. The struggles were numerous and I don't honestly feel like writing about them right now so I won't.

For Christmas we packed up the van and headed south to St. Louis. It was a fairly uneventful trip with only a few weather related stresses. We hit some slick spots on the way down and dense fog on the way back. Fortunately we were able to stay at Tim's parent's house as soon as it got too dark to drive. All ended well and the kids traveled amazingly well. We couldn't have asked for better behavior from our 3 year old and our 9 month old on a 10 hour drive. They were real troopers!

My favourite part of the trip was in all honesty being in a car with my little family. There was nothing else to be done, like dishes or laundry, just talking, cuddling and looking out the window. David likes to "hold arm" to comfort himself. Tim and I took turns climbing in the way back of our minivan to accommodate his need. It gives us a chance to enjoy cuddling with our 3 year old big boy knowing that, after long, the cuddle time will be gone and he will not need or want to "hold arm".

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!

All I want for Christmas is...........

I know, I know. It is way too early to be talking about Christmas. Although, I am about half way finished with my Christmas shopping. The reason I titled this "All I want for Christmas...." is because William just got his top two front teeth.

Both top teeth have broken through this past week. Still, the kid is hardly ever crabby. So far it looks like his top two teeth will be like my top two. I had to 'grow' into my teeth as a child. Either way, William is as cute as they come. Did I mention what his first word appears to be? We think it is David or "Dadid". I can't imagine why he chose that as his first word. It might be because that is the word he hears the most, other than 'NO'.

David has had some really cute moments lately. He is such a loving boy and simply wants to help with whatever the task is. If we forget or don't include him in things like washing the dishes or vacuuming or cooking, he gets truly upset that he was not allowed to help. Sometimes I think that I can just get the task finished quickly if he doesn't help. After 15 or 30 minutes of consoling David I realize that it might have been faster to just let him help.

We recently put out the humidifiers for the winter. We have baseboard heat in our house and the air gets so dry, especially at night. David calls them "humidityfires". It is one of his jobs each night to make sure that they have enough water in them to run properly. With DaddyO's help, he fills them up and gets them ready. He is a hard worker.

So now about Christmas....I know that it is still 5 weeks away, but I am looking forward to getting the shopping accomplished so that I can just enjoy Advent and preparing for Christmas this year. Last year because we needed to have all our gifts purchased by Thanksgiving we were finished before the official shopping season had even started. It made the season so much more enjoyable and less stressful. I am hoping for a similar start to this year as well. (Hint, Hint. If you have not given me some gift ideas yet, now would be a good time:-)

All Through the Night

Good news! William has slept all the way through the night for the last two nights. He went to sleep at 9pm and slept till 7ish both mornings! I forgot what it was like to sleep all night long. Wow!

My mother will get a kick out of this. David locked me out of the house the other day for the second time. The reason she will get a kick out of it is that I did the same thing to her when I was about 2 years old. I actually locked her in the basement in her pajamas. She had to go outside around the front and break the chain lock on the front door of the house to get back into the house.

When I got locked out, I actually had my keys on my belt loop. Unfortunately, David also locked the screen door. He is able to unlock the inside door and open it, but there is child proof doorknob spinny thingy that prevents him from going outside without my knowledge. It also prevents him from opening the door to unlock the screen door. The first time he did it, I was able to tear the screen on the door and reach in to unlock the door.

The second time, unfortunately I had not replaced the screen and had closed the glass window on the door. It was, however, about 70 degrees outside and had opened the windows in the kitchen for some fresh air. I went to a neighbors for help because I had William in my arms. (One of my neighbors works from home and was home at that time of day.) We tried to gently pry the screen door open with a crowbar, but were unable. Finally, I took a car key and ripped one of the window screens. I really did not want to do it, because I knew that it would be a pain to replace. My very tall neighbor was able to then reach inside and open the back door and David unlocked the screen door.
I am very grateful that my neighbor was home and willing to help me. Since this second incident, I have removed the locking mechanism from the screen door. We never lock it anyway. David was at no times in real danger because our house is pretty well childproof. I was worried about my M&M stash. I left one of the kitchen chairs down and David knows where the M&M's are located. He did help himself.

Ahhh motherhood...... Fatherhood however.....

Gone Apple Pickin'

We spent the last 75 degree Saturday at Afton Apple Orchard. We ate, um, I mean picked raspberries, apples and took photos with the pumpkins. The weather was absolutely beautiful and I think I even got a bit of a sunburn.

David had a blast helping to pick the fruit and took great delight in eating just as many of the raspberries that he picked. William enjoyed the stroller ride and the fresh air.

William is starting to crawl and we have taken to calling him Bulldog lately. No, it is not his looks or even personality. He growls a lot. As I type this, he is playing in the living room with David and I can hear him growl as he moves around the floor. It is very cute and it makes us laugh.

Tim is off tonight at a meeting with his nephew Andrew. Tim will serve as Andrew's confirmation sponsor. We are going to have pancakes for dinner.

Well, another exciting day at the Schindler household. Hope you all had more fun.