Christmas in Cincinnati

Christmas morning at our house (on the 24th) was just about as close to perfect as it could be. Josie got up at the normal hour (thank goodness) and was all smiles for the next several days!  Per her letter to Santa, he left a couple of presents under the tree in her bedroom and put the others under the big tree downstairs. Josie was SO excited to see that Santa, Mrs. Claus & all the reindeer gobbled up all of their cookies and chocolate milk. And Santa even left a note back to Josie thanking her for the three pictures she made him.  (Would you believe he even hung them up in his North Pole Bedroom just like Josie asked?!) 
Yep, it was all Christmas magic.  Josie skipped around the living room and had some great quotes along the way: "This is the best Christmas ever!" - "The elves made this in the toy machine just for ME!" - "Does Santa shop at TJ Maxx?" - "Thank you Santa!"
Here are some of our favorite photos from our Christmas morning.  Enjoy!

We tried really hard to emphasize that Christmas is about giving and not just getting, so we were both really proud when Josie wanted to wait for Lou to open his presents from her before she unwrapped a single thing.  And honestly - the satisfaction Josie got out of seeing Lou open his presents confirmed her generous and loving spirit.  She's just such a sweet, sweet girl. (I should mention she also insisted that Santa bring a couple of things for Roly Poly. Santa listened and left her two little rattles in her stocking.)

 It was really important to me to let Josie pick out whatever she wanted to get for her family. Her logic on picking presents was priceless. She wanted to get Lou yellow socks "because he doesn't have any yellow ones I don't think" but settled for white ones with the orange Puma symbol when yellow was too hard to find. Then she insisted on getting him two Lego guys "so Daddy can play Legos with me when Santa brings me mine."

 A little overwhelmed about where to start first -

 That Christmas morning smile -

 Legos! "Santa did get my letter!"

 Fun with "The Cuddle Chimp" (an electronic chimp that she saw downtown at TJ Maxx a couple of weeks ago and instantly added to her Christmas list) -

 Chimp Peek-a-boo -

 The new sled -

 Using her new stamps to spell her name -

 Testing out those Legos -

Other hits included: a set of spinning wooden tops, new dry erase easel & magnetic board, more Usborne sticker books, a shopping cart & cash register and lots of new books!  (And while it's an understatement to say that this Christmas was way more about gratitude for what we already have than anything else, I will add that I was beyond-surprised and extremely grateful to my dear sweet Lou who about knocked me off of the couch with the surprise "little blue box" tucked into my stocking.  What a beautiful gift - a shiny silver locket to hold the pictures of my two daughters! It will truly be something I treasure *forever*!!

Blog & Baby Updates!

Well, a couple of updates for you my friends...

1. Who knew you could actually run out of photo storage on a blog?! As it turns out, I did. Just moments ago as I was uploading the Christmas pictures. I decided to fork over the $5 annual upgrade for more storage (I'll have one less Venti Non-fat Vanilla Half-Caf Latte in 2011 to make up for it) BUT you all have to wait 24-48 more hours before google processes the change and allows me to post more photos. They are good photos, but I think you can manage...

2. In much more important news, after showing possible signs of preterm labor and having those signs confirmed by one of men I trust most on the planet (yep, right there behind my husband and my dad sits my OBGYN), I am now on full bedrest until this little Bunny decides to make her grand entrance. Blech!  The good news is that bedrest should work and keep this little bun cooking for the few more weeks she needs to stay in the oven long enough to be able to breathe on her own. (I'm 31 weeks now & have to get to at least 34 to avoid putting little Roly Poly through a long NICU stay and will be pretty much out of the woods if we get to 36.)  And, while the anxiety/shock/agony/panic/freak-out meltdowns are inevitable (and not always predictable) we are okay.  We'll get through this like we've gotten through everything else - the first trimester fears of a couple who has lost three babies, the insane nausea, the bloodclot & threatened miscarriage at 12 weeks, the incompetent cervix & threatened miscarriage at 20 weeks, the weekly ultrasounds & modified bedrest from 20-26 weeks, the high blood sugar diagnosis at 29 weeks (oh man, I think I forgot to ever mention that here on the blog but suffice it to say here that I literally only passed my glucose test by one point), the modified diet starting at 30 weeks, and the preterm labor signs and strict bedrest now at 31 weeks.  I'll post more about what this all means in the coming days/weeks. Trust me, I'll have plenty of time on my hands - especially since I've decided to follow doctor's orders and not return to work like I had planned on doing on Tuesday.  In the meantime, we gladly welcome your positive energy, good vibes, loving thoughts, well-wishes and prayers. Thanks.

Taking it back to October

These two photos were just posted on our neighborhood's Flickr page. Have I mentioned how much I love our neighborhood?

EWHHllwn10-0354, originally uploaded by EWH_Foto.life.

EWHHllwn10-0286, originally uploaded by EWH_Foto.life.

Grandma, DD & Co.

It was five fun-filled, kid-centered days in Xenia. Lots of pics coming as the week unfolds, but to hold you over, here's evidence of a Christmas miracle. All three grandkids cooperated for a quick photo shoot! Thanks for everything Grandma & Granddaddy!

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santa mail

Here's Josie mailing her three letters to Santa at Macys downtown on our Christmas Eve. The Santa line was closed because he had to go feed his reindeer but we snuck up to at least wave to him. When Josie waved, he blew her a kiss and she about exploded with joy then blew him one back. Special moment for sure!

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Feliz Navidad

I hope you all enjoy Josie's favorite Christmas song of 2010!  :)

Christmas Eve Eve

Tonight is "Christmas Eve" at the Schneider House.  Santa will be here tonight to drop off Josie's first round of presents that we'll open in the morning before heading to Xenia for another round of Christmas Eve and Christmas with Grandma, DD, Tia, Tio, Lyla & Jack.

Here are some of the festivities from our Christmas Eve!

This is the letter Josie had me write to Santa. Verbatim. I giggled the whole way through it.

Here is Josie making a picture "for Santa to hang on the wall of his North Pole bedroom."

The finished product - complete with traced "Santa" at the bottom. She was worried that he wouldn't be able to read it if she wrote it herself. (I think she was trying to impress him, which is adorable.)

 Making this year's batch of "Glitter Oats" for the reindeer. We almost forgot to make them and when Josie reminded us, she ran a loop around the house declaring "Josie Saved Christmas!!!"

 Sprinkling & spreading the oats around the yard...

 

 And now, my favorite thing! Of course Josie wanted to leave cookies and milk for Santa. She has been collecting bits of left over cookies and treats all week and leaving them out on a plate overnight "because Santa likes his cookies crunchy like toast." So tonight, we talked about setting the cookies & milk on the kitchen table. We set out one plate and one cup. Then, Josie took over. About ten minutes later, she had set up a plate and cup for Santa & Mrs. Claus and 9 other cups set up for the reindeer. Each cup was filled with chocolate milk (we did help with that) & she broke the cookies in pieces so each guest would have a piece.

Josie truly has the sweetest and most generous heart. Don't get me wrong - she's *thrilled* about getting presents for Christmas, but I *adore* the moments when she demonstrates to us that it's not all about her.

Christmas around the Casa

Here are a few photos of our favorite things around the house this holiday season.

Love our tree -  it feels like a "family tree" with its crazy assortment of beautiful old ornaments from Lou's family, ornaments Lou & I have collected over the years to mark occasions and vacations, homemade ornaments from Josie & ornaments that were ours as kids.  It just makes me smile, and I wish we could keep it up all year! (Not to mention the smell of a real tree in the house. Mmmm....)

Our stockings hung by the chimney with care...all four of them...above our main fireplace which roars from sunrise to bedtime every day. (Oh & one very happy cat who can be found sprawled out in front of one of them at any part of the day.)

The wreath Josie & I made together...

The "winter branch" Josie & I made out of foil and tissue paper out of one of her craft books...

Josie's collection of holiday pictures hanging on our side door...

Three of those homemade ornaments that make our tree so special -  the bread ornament, a glittering gingerbread boy from school & a "lucky tiger ornament" Josie made one morning.

A "happy coincidence" - Josie's ornament from school hanging next to the nest with three eggs we bought to represent the "three little birds" we've lost that will always be a part of our family.

There she grows!

Oddly enough, I'm now 30 weeks pregnant and these are the FIRST "bump" photos. I actually just pulled the trigger on our first official family photo shoot next weekend as well. Maybe it's because it really is just now sinking in that this.is.actually.happening!

(Oh dear sweet little baby, we'd go to the ends of the earth for you...)

Snowy Days

The last month has been absolutely bananas!  Cincinnati has set record temperatures for cold temperatures and snow totals. Winter has hit us like a ton of frozen bricks, and it's safe to say we were totally unprepared for the realities of this old house and single digit temperatures. It's been one costly home improvement after another, none of which was really too surprising. But, add to this the already jam-packed schedule and my massive Dec. 17th work deadline and um...yea...not pretty. (Oh & the bedrest.)
Anyway, with all the chaos, it's been a pretty amazing month so far.  We *LOVE* having our very own snowy yard to play in and it's been a blast decorating for Christmas and hanging out by the perpetual fire.  Simply put, life is good.
Here are all of the December moments I've managed to capture so far.  And I think we all know this is just the tip of the iceberg with Mr. Claus coming to town very soon.

OUR FIRST SNOW DAY:

 

 

 

 FIRST SNOWMAN (ALL 6 INCHES OF HIM):

 SCRAPS, SEEDS & SNOWBALLS FOR THE BACKYARD WILDLIFE:

 NEW CAMERA SETTING:

 

DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS:

WATCHING THE BIRDS & SQUIRRELS DINE ON ALL OUR SCRAPS & SEEDS:

 OUR SNOWY HOME:

 HOMEMADE ORNAMENTS (really fun, easy craft using stale bread):

 "THE BIG SNOW":

 TREKKING THROUGH THE YARD:

PRETENDING TO BE PETER FROM "THE SNOWY DAY" BY WHACKING A SNOW-COVERED BRANCH: (She has the book memorized, cover to cover and we play "Peter" every time we're outside in the snow.)

 OUR SMALL BUT PRETTY HOLIDAY LIGHTS:  (Next year they are going up at Thanksgiving. We bought so much stuff to decorate the house but only these lights on the bushes made it up before it got too cold & too snowy to add anything else.)

jolly little elves

ElfYourself by OfficeMax - Powered by JibJab

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ho ho ho

Thanks to grandma & dd for taking josie to see santa over the weekend.

And for your 'quick quote' enjoyment... when grandma fifi saw the picture and asked josie where she went to see santa, josie's reply: "the xenia north pole."

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caught red-handed...

...swiping a candy cane from the tree, in one heckuva sugar plum fairy get-up

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2010 "Gingerbread House"

Last year we decided to start an annual tradition of creating a family gingerbread house. Long story short, it ended up being way more complicated than we could've imagined, because *every* kit and mix across several stores was processed with peanuts. So, we had to make the whole darn thing from scratch. And it was a little bit of a disaster - a hilarious, memory-filled disaster.  Josie remembered making the gingerbread house from last year, and recently started asking when we were going to make the one for this year.  Needless to say, we were thrilled this weekend when Josie had the impromptu idea Sunday morning to use the leftover crackers from Thanksgiving to make the 2010 "gingerbread house." I was sitting on the couch and she brought over a bunch of boxes of crackers, some marshmallows, raisins and "pretzel sticks for a perfect chimney." She was ready to go!  We grabbed some glue, put some foil on a cutting board and made the perfect "gingerbread house."  Lou & I worked on the construction with her help & suggestions, but the decorating was all Josie.  I like the "marshmallow path" she made in the front.
And that chimney creation is just priceless.
Oh, and be sure to check out the Austin Family Gingerbread House.
These are some of their sweetest family photos yet!  :) 

tree preview

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the celebration

Carissa is staying with us for a couple of weeks - until she graduates and moves back to New York. (We are in denial, so not going to discuss that now.) It's been a really fun week so far. Yesterday was Carissa's birthday and Josie was hilarious about the whole thing. She kept asking about 'the celebration.' We had a great time celebrating at Teak for dinner and with Graeters ice cream cake for dessert. Happy Birthday Sisis! We love you!!!

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Dancing Josie Bonanza!

Fueled by way too many starbursts (or "starbirds" according to Josie), what started as a ballet show (in her 3rd birthday clothes that she dug out) quickly morphed into a pirate - snail - snake - treadmill - windmill - penguin dance show. My favorite line: "No, the audience doesn't get to do it!" Enjoy!

Baby Naming News!

According to multiple reports from Josie's teachers at school, her darling little sister's name has grown.  Drumroll please...

"Roly Poly Hamburger Helicopter"

Oh and when her teacher was telling me the big news - she said, "Did you know Roly Poly has a middle name now? It's Roly Poly Hamburger Helicopter." Josie added: "Actually, it's Roly Poly Hamburger Helicopter Schneider."  :)