Ask and you shall receive...

At the request of Aunt Manda, here are some more videos!

Click here for a special shout out to Aunt M.

Click here for a video of Josie & Louie hanging out & being adorable (both of them).

Click here to see Josie chillin' after her bath.

Enjoy!

Around the house

As Josie is getting more and more responsive to play, we're having more and more fun. It's only fair that since I witnessed the first smile that Louie got to be the one to hear the first giggle. But, as we all know, Lou is hysterical so I'm not surprised he was the first one to get her to laugh. Anyway, this first photo shows us being silly. There's been a lot of that going on lately.
And, as proven by this photo, Venus is finally starting to get used to the idea of having Josephine around. Yesterday I found myself in this position on the couch for over an hour while Josie slept on my chest and Venus snuggled up on Josie's tush. I'm still not convinced that Venus realized what she was doing. I think she just saw the snuggly blanket and went for it. All in all, it was pretty funny and a pretty cozy way to spend the first chilly afternoon.
Lucky for my poor abs, I've finally figured out how to get in an afternoon yoga workout. It looks something like the photo above. Sure the whole process takes about 2 hours by the time I get everything set up and take a few breaks to shake a rattle or give Josie a kiss, but it's nice to squeeze in some time to relax every couple of days. I think Josie picks up on the zen mood because she usually sleeps through at least half of the workout. Ohm...

It's hard to believe that November is just around the corner and that our little mama will be three months old in a couple of weeks! You all know that I'll be sure to keep you updated on every little thing. :)

Oh, and I've added a new section to the column on the left. As it turns out, this baby blog thing is really catching on. If interested, check out the links to many of my fellow mama's blogs.

Coming Soon...

Hi all, Sorry I haven't posted yet this week. It's been a bit hectic. I have taken some more videos and as soon as Google Video decides to cooperate, I'll get them posted here. In the meantime, life with Josie continues to be a laugh a minute. Gotta run... I need to do some research on 12 steps programs to combat "Nuk addiction."

Ten Years Together!

Today marked 10 years of Louie & I being together!

So, we decided to commemorate the occasion with a trip to Miami to revisit where it all began. It was an absolutely perfect fall day in Oxford. Those of you who went there know it well. We really couldn't believe it. When we stepped out of the car, it just looked, smelled, and felt like Miami. There's just something in the air there. And to make it even more perfect - it was fall break so we got all the joys of Mother Miami without any of the hassle - I think we only saw about 4 students all day! We were amazed at how much has stayed the same, despite all of the obvious changes. It was odd to see University Ave running the opposite direction & the doors of the Fiji house all boarded up, but was comforting so still be able to walk across the slant walk & eat a steamy bagel from Bagel & Deli. (I should probably mention here that my freshman dorm - Reid Hall - has been destroyed in order to build the new Business College. Oddly, I didn't feel as bummed about that as I probably should. That place was just weird & the only good things to come out of that place - Molly & Cat - aren't going anywhere.)

There are lots of photos from the Oxford trip & many other Josie photos from this past week in the latest album in the Shutterfly collection - http://www.josiemarie.shutterfly.com/

The photos I've included above are our first two homes - the place where Lou & I fell in love 10 years ago (Above Bagel & Deli) and our first "house" (above a garage). We've definitely come a long way in just 10 years. :) The top photo is Lou & Josie headed down the slant walk.

That's our girl!

Okay, so this first picture of Josie is not at all flattering. But, it is hysterical. Note the ring around her mouth from sucking the heck out of her pacifier.

Here's a cute photo of our little lady to make up for the not so cute one above. YEA - WE FINALLY CAUGHT THAT SMILE ON FILM! :)

(There are even more smily photos on the new album in the Shutterfly collection.)

Baby Got Back!

Big news on the baby front - Josephine is in Stage 2 diapers now!
This seems strange since the baby on the front of the Stage 1 package is this tiny little baby laying down & the baby on the Stage 2 diaper looks about 6 months old and is sitting up!

At this rate, we'll need to buy Depends Adult Diapers by her first birthday. :)

Pediatrician Cont'd

I forgot to mention these two additional things from Josie's 2 month pedi visit yesterday:

1) She is now weighing in at 13 lbs. 8 oz. and stretches to 24 inches long. That's almost 5 pounds heavier and 4 inches longer than birth. No wonder her clothes don't fit. She's in the 99th percentile for height & weight. We're hoping this is just an indication of the percentile she will be in on the SATs in 17 years. :)

2) Our doctor is not only hot but also funny. When he came in & saw Josie sucking the heck out of her new best friend (the Nuk), he told us we should tie a string to the end of it just in case she sucked the whole thing down her throat. She really does go to town on that thing. In fact, she has now taken to sucking on her own bottom lip if she doesn't have the Nuk. We're trying to use it sparingly so she doesn't become a total addict. She's also starting to figure out how to get her hands into her mouth. Note: starting to figure it out means she still punches herself in the eye more often that she finds her mouth, although her aim is improving.

Have a good day everyone!

OUCH....ZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzz!

Poking tiny baby girls with needles is no fun! Josephine had some immunizations today. (Thankfully, she only had to have one shot because we're following Dr. Sears' new alternative vaccination schedule which spreads them out.) So, she had the DTap shot and the Rotavirus oral vaccine and she definitely isn't feeling quite right. She passed out for about 3 hours without a peep (see photo) and then woke up screaming at exactly 3:30. Oddly enough, this was exactly four hours after her first dose of Tylenol which supposedly only last four hours. Strange. With that, she's fussing again so I gotta run.

Exciting Weekend

Just as we anticipated, it was an exciting (and exhausting) first weekend away from home. If you would've seen us packing the car, you would've thought we were going to be gone for a week. Turns out, it was only about 24 hours & I still forgot some pretty crucial things (like the important half of the breast pump). All in all, it was a great trip to X-town. Josie finally got to meet some of her biggest supporters from GCCHD; she took a bottle for her Grandma; I got a couple of really delicious glasses of rum apple cider; Mad Dog & the Basement Dwellers brought the house down; and we all successfully survived our first night in a different place. So, the Bengals lost (Boo Dey!) but Josie still looked adorable in her Orange & Black cheerleading outfit courtesy of Grandma. Additional photos from the weekend are up in the Shutterfly collection - http://www.josiemarie.shutterfly.com/

Two months already?!

Josephine hit the two month mark yesterday and we can hardly believe it.

Every day I get more confident as a parent and more settled into my new life as a mom. Just this week I feel like I'm finally able to accomplish things in addition to taking care of the baby. I'm getting laundry done, starting back up with yoga, doing work again on the book project, and slowly but surely re-establishing contact with the outside world. More and more I'm beginning to wonder what I ever did before Josie came along. It's just a good feeling that things are starting to seem "back to normal." (A new "normal" for sure.)

Josie continues to change every day. Her eyes have gotten so big and bright. I hope they stay blue like this forever. These two photos are some of my favorite of her "baby blues." Of course you have to see them in person to truly appreciate them. :)

In other news, Josie and "the Nuk" are now best friends. (My breasts are jealous.) I swear that thing is like baby crack. When she sucks on it, her eyes roll back in her head. It's hysterical. We've been working with her for several weeks now & she finally caught on to it (thanks mom). And, at the risk of jinxing myself...she is also starting to get the hang of the Nuk bottle. (I tricked her by putting the bottle in her mouth when she dropped the pacifier and it worked.) She's not a huge fan of the bottle yet, but at least we know now that she can do it. I continue to work with her on it every day. So far, she's up to almost a full ounce from the bottle which is a long way from the few drops she would tolerate a couple of weeks ago. We'll keep trying.

And, she continues to smile like crazy. It's the sweetest thing in the world. There are lots of photos in the new album in her Shutterfly collection of me trying to capture the smile on film. Check them out - www.josiemarie.shutterfly.com

I hope you're all doing well. It's a big weekend for us - another trip to Xenia for a Roundtree blowout & the Bengals game on Grandmama & Granddaddy's big screen on Sunday. Who Dey!Of course, I'll be sure to take plenty of photos.

Comments

Hello everyone,
I (think I) just changed the settings on our blog so that people can leave comments without having to sign up for a google account. So, give it a shot. Try to leave a comment on this post or any of the others. I enjoy reading them & like knowing that folks are stopping in.
Thanks!
Carri

Looking Ahead...

Now that we've had Josephine, many people have starting asking if and when we want to have more kids. For the past several weeks, I've been telling most people that it's too soon to know. But, I took a big step today that I think answered the question. I just reserved "fourschneiders.blogspot.com" :)

8 weeks old!

Our little Josephine is officially 8 weeks old. It's amazing that she will hit the two month mark this week. Even more amazing is how much she has grown, changed & learned in these 8 weeks. Come to think of it, it's also pretty amazing how much Louie and I have grown, changed & learned as well.

Josie has hit many little milestones lately. She is bearing weight on her legs, smiling often, beginning to giggle & almost fully controlling her head. She's gotten much more interested in her toys and is very attentive. She even has a favorite book already! All in all, we're excited for the progress but also sad that it's all going by so quickly.

Louie & I also hit a major milestone this week -- we left Josie with my parents for our first date night. We went to dinner at Jean Ro & pulled out all the stops - even champagne & pot de creme. It was delicious and really nice to eat a meal out without the baby in the sling in front of me. The picture on the left shows us just before we went out. (I had an even bigger smile after the glass of champagne!)

On Saturday we headed up to Ault Park for a picnic and some fresh air. The picnic park went well, but the fresh air part did not. Turns out it was almost 90 degrees by noon & there wasn't much shade. We did manage to snap a few family photos before we returned to the comfort of the air conditioned car & headed to DSW. Thanks to my mom's skills on Friday night, Josie finally took a pacifier so the Nuk bought us almost an hour of shoe shopping. The photo above is from the park.

So, all is well. No true success on the bottle just yet, but we're getting there. With that, I gotta run. My little lady has just woken up from her nap & has requested lunch. :)

Favorite Photo Ever!

Here is a picture from our recent trip to Indiana to celebrate my Nana's Birthday. My cousin Evelyn took a lot of photos & used a special computer program to do cool effects like the one above. This is definitely my favorite photo of Josie so far. She's holding onto her great gradmother's hand. She just looks so calm & so peaceful.
(See the rest of Evelyn's photos to the Shutterfly collection - www.josiemarie.shutterfly.com)

My How She's Grown!

Here's a picture of Josie the day after she was born. This was taken just a few minutes before we were leaving to go home.
Here's a picture of Josie in the SAME outfit a few days ago (7 weeks old). Notice how much shorter the outfit is in her arms & legs. Her face also looks completely different. People always say, "they change so quickly" & they truly do. I swear there are days when she changes from the time she wakes up to the time she goes to bed. Oh & she's not wearing the cute little hat in the second photo b/c it was too small. She never could fit the booties that matched the outfit. Not with those monster feet. :)

SMILE!

Yesterday was a big moment - Josie had her first big, intentional smile!

She had just woken up from her nap & started making her "I'm awake, so come and get me" noises. I walked over and bent down to pick her up and started talking to her. She smiled the biggest smile & let out a big "coo"! So, I of course smiled right back at her and she did it again! Another huge, toothless grin! We just sat there smiling back and forth at each other & then I started crying (tears of joy of course). That probably confused the heck out of her, but she just kept cooing. It was a really special moment - confirmation that she knows who I am & is happy to see me. I imagine she'll have a big smile for her daddy very soon.

Happy Birthday!

Josie is 7 weeks old!
And Louie is 1612 weeks old!

(HAPPY 31st BIRTHDAY LOUIE.)

I've also added some new photos to the Shutterfly collection -

http://josiemarie.shutterfly.com/ Enjoy!