Well, I'll just come right out and say it. Why? Because it bothers me that more people aren't more honest about things that really matter. So, here it goes... the last couple weeks have been awful. Little Lyla Bird has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia - read more about that story and see photos of the little darling on my sister's blog -
www.threeaustins.blogspot.com We're are so sad that life has thrown our Three Austins a major curveball, but comforted by the fact that they are equipped to handle it with so much love, poise, honesty, courage, and wisdom.
In other sad news, I had a miscarriage last week. I know this isn't the standard, sit-back-and-smile blog post, but I figure if you're one of our loyal readers that is here for more than the pictures, than you deserve to know. Plus, I think one of the hardest things about having a miscarriage is that it's such a taboo subject in our culture. And, everyone is different of course...but I'm the type of person who handles things better when I can talk about them openly. So, there it is. We were pregnant, it was early on, and things weren't developing properly. Everything happnes for a reason. Everything. And we are confident that Josie will get her brother or sister as soon as the time is right. And perhaps that's a reason I decided to share this with everyone - as a sort of defense mechanism - because we're getting a lot of "It's time for #2" from people and my response from now on is just going to be "Trust me; We're trying."
Well, the last two weeks haven't been all bad. Lucky for the former Johnson girls, our little ones have kept us smiling and have acted as a constant reminder of just how fortunate we already are. Josie has been extra cuddly lately, which makes everything easier. Oh - and my hair is brown...
Check out Josie wearing my sunglasses that she helped herself to from the kitchen table...
She has also decided that she hates the highchair, which oddly broke within days of her decision. Here she is sitting at the big table, which is crazy...
She is getting a little more used to the idea of sharing, although we're not there yet. Here are the girls taking turns (can you believe it) on Andrew's bus...
And here are two photos from a collection we could call "You know you have a toddler if..."
After she put the animals on the potty, they of course needed a bath...
There really are at least a dozen more photos from this series of shots where I followed her around the house silently photographing what she did with these three little animals. What an imagination!
And...she's getting her second set of molars! Already! Accordingly, this is the new official Josie pose...
I'll leave you with a quick video that recreates what happened on the street the other day. We were walking past the newspaper stand and Josie pointed to our President (wow, I'll never get tired of saying that) and said "Obama." So, I thought I'd share that joy with all of you. Enjoy!
Then, we walked a couple of blocks to the parade. Just check out our crew -
I'll spare you all the details of the total breakdown that occurred between the previous picture and this one. Suffice it to say, it was 2pm our time when we got to the parade, Josie hates her stroller, and Josie hadn't had a nap. Lots of tears later - she finally passed out and here is what Lyla and Josie saw of the St. Patrick's Day parade. (Lyla was in our UppaBaby testing it out & that's Josie's little Uggs poking out from under the MSU blanket.)
It wasn't quite as warm as we thought it was, but there were certainly some memorable moments. And, it's always fun to hang out in a different city. And I always enjoy spending time with my sister & Michael's friends. It makes me feel better about them living so far away. I miss my sissy...
Here are Louie &I pretending that we weren't about to kill each other over the no-napping-Josie, no-go-with the Moby wrap fiasco. ;)
All in all, it was a great way to spend a sunny Chicago day but boy were we pooped and ready to hang around Chez Austin the rest of the day. 
I wonder where she gets it?
Here she is running up to total strangers after shooting out the bottom yelling "slide, slide"...
One last shot before heading home for dinner after a perfect day in the city...
Josie getting as close as she could to the bongos...
Josie refusing to turn her head for even a second to pose for a photo because she was obsessed with going "
A weary Josie ready to be carried on her dad's shoulders....
Josie cracking herself up in the backseat on the way home. For no reason and totally unprovoked, she just started shouting "Happy Birthday" over and over again. My birthday was over a month ago, and we were just amazed and laughing hysterically at the fact that his resurfaced out of nowhere.
DURING.....
That last one is the end of a wink. ;)
It started simply enough - I wanted to capture Josephine's sheer determination in trying to master her new puzzle. But, the afternoon's good lighting, Josie's good mood, and my great new portrait lens turned into a full-scale photo shoot. So, here it is - an hour in the life of your Three Schneiders. Enjoy! 
