Merry Christmas!

Yes, we have been missing for quite some time, but it has been a crazy couple of weeks.

Here is a recap:

Mia catches a cold

Gabe catches cold

Gabe goes to Denver for a week

My mom comes to visit

Mom catches a cold

I catch a cold

Mom goes home

Mia gets ear infection

I get ear infection

Mia has high fever for 2 days

Mia and I sit in the Lazy Boy for 2 whole days

Mia doesn't sleep

We don't sleep

Two weeks = three trips to the dr = no sleep=no christmas shopping=no trip to see santa=no family pictures=no christmas cards=disappointment. Maybe next Christmas.

Presently, I am happy to report we are on the mend. Mia slept through the night the last two nights. Her cold seems to be gone and ear infection waning. Things look to be getting back to normal.
We head to Denver this week. A storm is coming through promising a white Christmas for all, but that also means our plans to leave Tuesday were postponed until Christmas Day. In any case, I won't be blogging until the new year, so from the Schnelle house to yours...


MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Crazy

Yea, things are crazy. Every year it seems they get crazier. This year, the normal craziness is coupled with an infant.

Super-crazy.

This week, I finished up final papers for school, am deep into a project for my "freelance" biz, Mom is here visiting and helping out while Gabe in Denver (that dog) for work, and Mia has her first cold. That I now have. That my mom is getting too. Oh, and Gabe has it too but he is in Denver so he doesn't count.

Uber-crazy.

And I still am trying to figure out how I am going to get the family christmas photo and write the yearly family newsletter for our christmas cards which I need to somehow mail before christmas....hmmmmm.

So please forgive (seems like I do this a lot?) me once again for my lack of blogging.

P.s. - Don't think I have forgotten about pic of the week even though its behind a few weeks. Again..it's crazy.

P.P.S - can you see Mia's new pearly whites?

Thanksgiving

Mia's first Thanksgiving was a bittersweet holiday for us. We were so excited to celebrate this milestone with her, but Gabe's Dad was never far from our minds. Also, a dear family member lost his battle with cancer a couple of weeks ago, so our Turkey Day started out with a short memorial service for him (which we ended up missing because we were running terribly late).

Nonetheless, we all enjoyed our day with family. This year, for logistical reasons around the memorial service, it was held in a ballroom at the Residence Inn in Springfield, MO. All the usual people brought all the usual food and it was fabulous. Between Bonnie's deviled eggs, Kathleen's sweet potato casserole, and Judy's sinful creamy corn, we were in heaven. Mia loved it too!

Of course, Mia stole the show looking so stinkin' cute in this outfit! (thanks Linda!)

Such a big girl eating at the big table!

My favorite picture of the day...

Of course, no holiday at the Schnelle house is complete without a little dress-up...

Having a little fun with Uncle Michael...

A fireside chat with Grandma B...

We have so much to be thankful for this year.

A day in the life...

Our normal day is pretty routine and pretty boring. Eat, play, and nap, go to Sonic, repeat. And usually, we will go for an afternoon walk. Walks are the highlights of our day. Mia loves to be outdoors and the whole family goes. Dogs, cats, and humans. Its great. But last week was a bit different. All week it was cloudy and gloomy and rained and rained and rained. We were house bound. Extra boring.


Finally, the sun came out and we could take our walk! We were so excited. We got dressed, loaded up in the stroller, and off we go! Well, that is until we ran into this in the front yard:

Press Play

Ok, maybe not.

Belated Halloween Fun

It is mid-November, and I am finally getting around to posting pictures of Mia's first Halloween. So if you are interested, read on...

For Mia's first Halloween, we were invited to her friend Sadie's 1st birthday party. It was great fun! Mia went as a little pumpkin. It wasn't a real costume, but I thought is came out really cute anyway. So fitting too since I like to call her my little "Punkin' Head".

She had fun helping little Sadie open presents...

Of all the picture taking I did that day, this was the best photo I got of her outfit {sigh}. I can't believe she didn't try taking the hat off.

She always smiles big with Daddy...

Stay tuned for more catch up photos!

My weekend in pictures

So, a couple of months ago, my BFF Kristi invited me to tag along with her to Las Vegas for a friend's birthday. After being on Mommy duty for 6+ months, it was an offer I couldn't refuse. I had the frequent flier miles and she had the hotel points for it to be very cost effective.

So this weekend, this Mama went to Las Vegas baby, yea!!!

We saw the sights...

Saw a fabulous show...

Put on a fabulous show...

And spent some quality time with the best of friends...

It was a great time. I came back rested and refreshed and happy to be home with my family. And even better, I won big at an airport slot machine so the whole trip ended up free!

*Thanks Kristi for the pictures

Pic of the week - Pooped Pooch

Apparently, having you face smashed against a shoe is pretty comfortable. I especially love the tongue.

Pic of the Week

Oh boy....

Fall Family Fun

Last week, my parents came out and spent a few days with us. We had a great time frolicking around in the fall-ness of Missouri. The best part was that last week was full of firsts for Mia and they were here to see it.

First, she is crawling! Ok, she isn't crawling like a pro yet, but she is getting from point A to point B with ease and swiftness.

Second, she has learned to drink from a sippy cup. Finally figuring out that you have to suck on the spout, not chew.

And finally, we took Mia to her first Pumpkin Patch at Johnson Farms.

They had a petting zoo with lots and lots of animals.

and a baby barn where there was a brand new litter of piglets....so cute!

This week, Auntie Cindy (Ninny) is here while Gabe is away for a few days....stay tuned!

Make-up Pic of the week.

I apologize for the lapse in blogging. I am enjoying some Colorado company this week. I promise to make up for it very soon.
In the meantime, a little something to tide you over:

Play time with Mia!

Yipee!!!!!

This is fun!!!!

Wait....what are we doing?

Pic of the week

Hmmm....maybe it is time to lower the mattress????

Birthday Dish

I love fall. October is the best month of the year, in my opinion. It unofficially kicks off the holiday season for me. I get to decorate with pumpkins and gourds. The weather changes from hot and humid to cool and crisp. The colors change from green to yellow, red and orange. October not only welcomes Indian Summer and football, it also kicks off with my hubby's birthday.

Our little family spent the weekend celebrating Gabe's birthday. Gabe's mom, Bonnie, came down and we had a bona fide FEAST on Friday for the Birthday Boy. I made Beef Burgundy and Broccoli Casserole (thanks Paula Deen!) and yellow cake with dark chocolate frosting (thanks Martha!). This was my first attempt at baking a cake from scratch. I have to say, while my decorating skills leave something to be desired, it came out pretty darn good!

Of course, no birthday party is complete without candles and a little Happy Birthday sing song. And while I won't give away his age, I will say that there wasn't enough room to fit all the candles on the cake. :-)

Saturday, Gabe and I stole away for a quick movie - Julie & Julia. GREAT movie. Sunday, Gabe's mom made her famous Chicken n' Dumplings. Gabe's brother Michael and his family came by and we spent the afternoon watching the Chiefs dig themselves into a deeper hole.

Sunday afternoon, the house was quiet again and we were left wishing we had one more day to celebrate life. Alas, we can't play forever.

For now, I leave you with a little Mia treat - trying on Grandma's glasses...

Pic of the Week

And so it begins...

Gotta love that

Pizza! Pizza!

Yesterday was one of those days you wish you had every day. Productive.

It started out with Mia's 6 month check-up which went really well. She is now 17lbs and 27 inches. A tall girl! The biggest surprise was when the Dr. said her bottom two front teeth were getting ready to pop out. Could be any time now. No wonder she is drooling like a bull dog! She also got her first flu shot which didn't make for a fun night.

Anyway, later in the day I tried my hand at my first homemade pizza with organic, whole wheat pizza dough. I was nervous about it, but it came out awesome!!!! We topped it with zucchini, red onions, green bell peppers and fresh mozzarella. yummmm!!!

Then I went to the gym for a Zumba class which was a BLAST!! Then I came home, watched The Biggest Loser and did a little homework.

While I was revelling in my productiveness, my poor husband was dealing with a very crabby child who was feeling the effects of her flu shot.

Today, Mia is still crabby and running a temperature. Guess it was too much to hope for 2 days in a row?

Super Hero

So last night, I was finishing up homework while Gabe was giving Mia her bath. Gabe appears in the office door with a bundle of wet baby and exasperated look on his face.

"Well, that was a nightmare", he said.

"What happened?" I replied.

Turns out a black wasp had somehow gotten in the house and as Gabe was preparing to wash her hair, this black wasp was gingerly walking up her arm and on to the top of her head.

In a panic, Gabe frantically tries to come up with a plan. Does he take her out of the room and risk giving her a chill, or worse, sending her into a full blown fit? He can't kill the wasp and keep a safe eye on her in the tub. What to do?

By now, the wasp has flown from her head to the light fixture. He takes a towel and swats it.

It falls into her bath water.

I can't remember the exact details of the next few minutes, but it something to do with her bath toy, the bathroom sink, cutting its head off with the bath toy and watching it wash down the sink, stinging away. All while Mia was happily and cluelessly playing in the water.

All I could say was Thank GOD it was him and not me.

Daddy is a super hero.

Meanwhile...

I spend all day with Mia. We have fun, we play, we frolic, we sing and dance. We sleep. Then Daddy comes home. She smiles and give him a baby hug. And the fun stops there.

Mia seems to be going through a "I only want mommy" phase. She freaks out when I hand her off, or when I walk out of the room, or when I walk into the room. She really knows how to work it too. Before we caught on to her sneaky ways, I thought she was sick, or gassy or something was seriously wrong with the horrible "I am gonna die" wails. Worried, I take her from him and she stops crying and is happy again.

So, Daddy's evening is spent enduring a very angry cries of a little girl while mommy disappears and tries to drown out those terrible wails.

Daddy is a super hero.

Pic of the Week

Guess I should'a saw that comin'