Bits & Pieces from 2010

As we wrap up the blog for 2010, here are some photos and videos that never made it off of my hard drive and onto the blog...until now. Enjoy!

If you know much about us, you know Josie has had massive sleep issues straight out of the gate (which all started with reflux and not being able to sleep on her back but I digress). Add to this that we are not and never will be advocates for "Cry It Out" methods or really any form of regimented sleep training (and here's why in case you think we're nuts) and it has come to be just a part of life as one of the Three Schneiders to never ever get an uninterrupted night of sleep. Just recently, in the last couple of months, things have finally started to get better. She still doesn't sleep through the night, but now she usually only wakes up once and frequently makes it to 2-3am before she wants to come to our bed or have one of us sleep with her. There have even been a few moments, like this one pictured below, when we were actually ready to get up before her! This picture was kind of a big deal because it was probably the third or fourth time in her whole life that we actually had to wake her up in the morning. Is there anything more precious than a sleeping child (besides a child that never sleeps)?!

Here is Josie playing with my Droid phone.  It's hilarious how proficient she is (and other kids in her generation are) with technology. This picture is funny because I took it of Josie as I was writing the part of the Governor's report focused on the possibilities of mobile learning. I used it in a powerpoint presentation that made it in front of state leaders.  :)

 This is another great reminder of Josie's generous spirit. She loves making necklaces for her little friends.  One morning she decided she wanted to make a necklace for me. Lou brought down the materials to work together on the necklace. Here is the wrapping paper where she wrote "Mommy" and the necklace is in the background. It's the sweetest thing ever.  It says exactly what she wanted it to say - "Mommy Love You Too."

 This is from a trip to the Aquarium one morning before I was put on bedrest.  Josie had been working on a "fish book" off and on for weeks and wanted to take it to the Aquarium to show to the fish. Here she is holding up one of the pages in front of the tank. She was so excited!

 Josie loves reading to herself, to us & to her dolls. Here is she reading the Frosty Book to "Moeey Louie."

 Thank goodness the changes we've made around here have already warmed up the house. You know it's cold when even the cat sleeps with her face buried in the covers!

 Oh these are so out of order, but oh well. Here's Josie the day we got home from Christmas in Xenia. She wanted to wear all of her new hairclips at once. She totally looks like Bjork.

 This was our last day at Owls Nest Park in 2010. It was one of the unseasonably warm days before winter really set in.

 Here's Josie feeling quite proud of her "tattoo" from Makayla's birthday party.

 

The realities of the last year have prevented us from getting Josie signed up for ballet class, but the good news is that she's going to be starting pretty soon.  One of our favorite things to do around here is to put on dance clothes, find the classical music station on the TV and move to the music.  A friend of ours that Lou works with handed down some of her daughter's old ballet clothes & Josie was SO excited! She loves prancing around in time to the music. Here's one of her trademark moves. (I cannot wait until she actually starts class!)

Here's Josie's most recent haircut. The weekly dreadlock battles finally came to an end when she agreed to have five inches taken off. SOOOO glad she finally reached this decision, because it's made life a lot easier around here. And it's darn cute!

I painted Josie's fingernails with glitter polish as a special treat one day after Christmas.  You can't really see her nails in the photo, but you can see just how happy she was with herself! (When did my little girl get so grown-up?!)

Here are some photos that Josie's teachers sent me from her school (the best little school ever if I do say so myself).
Working with one of her montessori work mats:

Pattern bears:

Sewing: (She made three scarves all by herself during the final weeks of December.  Her teacher said that she literally spent hours focused on the projects and didn't want to do anything else until she was finished. Since she was very young, she's shown this kind of focused intensity if she's really into something. It's a trait in Miss Josie that we've really come to appreciate and admire!)

And here's the result of that montessori education...one day over break we heard her messing around in the kitchen. Here's how I found her - up on a stool, preparing her own snack of cheese and crackers. She got everything by herself  - the knife, the cutting board, the food, the plate, etc.  It's no coincidence that her favorite work station at school is "Food Prep."  So if the "Project Runway" fashion design career doesn't work out despite her awesome sewing skills, she'll always have "Top Chef" to fall back on. :)

Last but not least, I'll leave you with a video from 2010 that never made it to the blog.

You might recognize this song from several other videos over the past three years. Josie has been dancing with Lou to this song since the week she came home from the hospital. One of these days I'll put together a montage of all the clips.  In the meantime, here's Josie & Lou getting down to Old Crow Medicine Show a few months back.





Well, I think that's it as far as bits and pieces of 2010 go. I'm putting together a review of all of the defining moments of 2010 that I'll likely post tomorrow. And I also have a few surprises up my sleeve for later this week. Stay tuned...

Holly, Jolly Christmas in Xtown

We drove to Xenia on Christmas Eve & pretty much stayed there for the next five days.  Christmas Morning was a blast and actually spilled over into the afternoon because there were so many presents. And really, we just spent the next several days hanging out, laughing at the girls, playing with new toys, watching Christmas specials on TV and dancing to Frosty the Snowman. Oh and there was also sledding, drinking "bingo coffee," eating our weight in green bean casserole & chocolate pie, playing in the snow and a long-overdue Photography 101 class from DD.  Here are some of my favorite pictures out of the more-than-I-can-count total:

SLEDDING, at Shawnee Park - which just makes me smile because it's exactly where my sister & I used to go sledding. DD even found our old sled. (I couldn't go - dang bedrest - but thankfully Tia took some awesome pictures so we can all re-live it together.)

Go DD Go!

Love the facial expressions in these two!

Not only is this an adorable picture of Lyla & Tia, but check out the action in the background. Looks like Josie had her first snowy face-plant (but apparently recovered just fine).

Two tired girls getting a ride home from Tio -

Later, back at the house, it was all fun & games...

...until it was time for the special Christmas Eve jammies (Thanks Tia) to continue a Johnson holiday tradition.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds...

Here are some scenes from Christmas Morning. Enjoy!

Even the girls didn't know where to start...

 Santa brought Josie "Starbirds" and boy was she thrilled...

 Checking for names...

 Working hard on unwrapping...

 Really excited about her Marble Run Racetrack...

 Don't look so guilty Josie, it's Christmas - a cookie for breakfast is perfectly acceptable...

 A big thank-you hug & smooch for DD. The girls loved their Zoobie "pillow pets"!

Excuse the not-so-great picture of Josie but I wanted some evidence I was actually there on Christmas morning...

 New apron for Grandma...

 Josie & Lyla in their new art smocks...

 Getting in the first new teddy bear hug...

 SUPER-DD...

 A Snoopy Snow Cone (which has lots of meaning for the Johnson family)...

 And turns out it's just as hard to grind the ice as it was 25 years ago (but so worth it) -

 My favorite - 

 Lou & Jack (Sidebar: Lou has been SOOO ready for a new baby for so long now. He adores babies & it makes me absolutely giddy to see scenes like this one!)

 Those silly (and adorable) Austins...

Hanging out on Christmas Day - Most of us never got out of our pajamas (and a certain blogger never even brushed her teeth) but the kids sure looked adorable...and spent most of the day dancing and giggling!

And in case you didn't gather from those pictures that it was one dance party after another, here's a video to see the girls in action. This one is dedicated to Tio. We wanted to make sure there was a recording of Frosty's song so he could play it every day between now and next Christmas.



Here are some photos from the rest of the weekend. 

 I should mention it wasn't all fun & games with Josie, Lyla & Frosty. There was a little jealousy there from time to time - as is obvious from the look on Josie's face here. (But all-in-all both girls should be commended overall. There were definitely times when we all had to remember they are just 2 and 3.)

 Josie loves Jack & talks about him all the time. She is going to be the best big sister ever!!!

 Movie...

 ...and a snack...

 And all 3 of them on one picture together!

 Our last night together - one last time on the DD swing for each girl before bed...

 Bedtime...almost...

And we'll end with two little monkeys jumping on the bed... (and pretend like that last tear-filled morning together never happened)....

So, Christmas 2010 - That's a wrap!!!!  (I could lay awake all night dreaming up the visions for Christmas 2011...)

I hope your holiday season was just as merry and bright!!!