Grandpa's Birthday

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday today with a little party complete with tacos and cake.

 Of course they all wanted to help blow out the candles.

 The birthday Grandpa with his party animal grandkids.

Happy birthday Grandpa!

Catholic School Week

Chesney's school takes part in Catholic school week every year.  It is such a fun week of school assemblies, snacks and no uniforms.

Monday was school spirit day (red, black and white).  Chesney was all decked out. Good golly I love this precious girl!

Tropical Tuesday was next.  She was excited to wear a dress to school.

 Wednesday was Wacky Wednesday and she wanted to wear her Tangled dress.  So we gave her crazy hair.

 

She also decided to wear mismatched socks and her water shoes. And she had to wear her crazy glasses from cousin Allie and Ryan's birthday party (which were the perfect addition to the outfit!) The kids got to do a conga line at school which she thought was a blast.

 Thursday was pajama day.  This is kind of an easy day so we spiced it up with some crazy bedhead.

 

 We went all out on the hair to make it look like a rough night.  And she had to take a serious bath that night to wash out all the hairspray. The kids had movie day at school.

 Flashback Friday was the end of the week.  She demanded a bright outfit, so we came up with this rockin work out warrior outfit. Sweatin to the oldies baby!

Catholic School Week was exhausting to get outfits coordinated (especially Chesney approved outfits ie dresses and pink), but it was so worth the excitement she had everyday.

Baby #3 Bumpdate {22 Weeks}

I'm starting to feel more like a house, and I have a long way to go. I'm looking forward to warmer weather so we can paint some rooms and start decorating.  Until then, we are cleaning house and getting rid of what we don't need (which seems to be a lot).

  22 Weeks Pregnant

• How far along: 22 weeks
• Size of baby: measures about 11 inches— about the size of a spaghetti squash and weighs about 1 pound.
• Maternity Clothes: I wear my one pair of regular jeans that fit and occasionally leggings.  To work it is all dresses at this point.
• Gender: Boy
• Sleep: Sleeping really well.
• Cravings: Meat, beef in general,salty food, homemade granola bars, fruit
• Anything making you queasy or sick? Sweets are not my favorite. I still can't handle strong smells. Old Spice body wash may mysteriously disappear from our house if I have my way.
• Best moment this week: Spending lots of time with the big kids. Narrowing a name list down.  Although it seems to get longer and then narrowed down again on a regular basis.
• What I miss most: Wearing my regular dresses to work.
• Symptoms: Sensitivity to smell
• What I'm looking forward to: Spring cleaning has come early at our house in the form of de-cluttering.  I am tossing stuff left and right.
• Movement: I feel the kicks multiple times daily now. 

Baby #3 Bumpdate {21 Weeks}

I was thinking the other day how pregnancy 3 is so much different than pregnancy 1.  In your first pregnancy, you have your appointments scheduled to the day, look forward to them and plan for the next appointment. In pregnancy 3 at 20 weeks you think you should probably schedule your 20 week appointment.  When you show up for your 20 week appointment, at nearly 22 weeks, you ask your OB if you should just call when you are in labor or if she needs to see you again before that.

  21 Weeks Pregnant

• How far along: 21 weeks
• Size of baby: measures about 10.5 inches— about the size of a carrot and weighs about 12 oz.
• Maternity Clothes: I wear my one pair of regular jeans that fit and occasionally leggings.  To work it is all dresses at this point.
• Gender: Boy
• Sleep: Sleeping really well.
• Cravings: Meat, beef in general,salty food, homemade granola bars, fruit
• Anything making you queasy or sick? Sweets are not my favorite. I still can't handle strong smells. Old Spice body wash may be the most nauseating smell ever.
• Best moment this week: Spending lots of time with the big kids.
• What I miss most: nothing
• Symptoms: Sensitivity to smell
• What I'm looking forward to: Decorating the kid's rooms and looking at new blue stuff
• Movement: I feel the kicks multiple times daily now. 

Baby #3 Bumpdate {20 Weeks}

We are at the halfway mark.  The first half of the pregnancy went incredible fast.  We can now spend the second half rearranging kid's rooms to get ready for our new little guy.

  20 Weeks Pregnant

• How far along: 20 weeks
• Size of baby: measures about 6.5 inches— about the size of a banana and weighs about 10.5 oz.
• Maternity Clothes: Regular clothes still fit well. Work clothes are more of an issue but I've switched to mainly dresses.  I'm so ready for maxi dress and maxi skirt season.
• Gender: Boy, daddy's got another golfing buddy
• Sleep: Sleeping well aside from using the bathroom a couple times at night.
• Cravings: Meat, beef in general,salty food, homemade granola bars
• Anything making you queasy or sick? Sweets are not my favorite. I still can't handle strong smells.
• Best moment this week: Finding out we are having a boy
• What I miss most: nothing
• Symptoms: Sensitivity to smell
• What I'm looking forward to: Decorating the kid's rooms and looking at new blue stuff
• Movement: I feel the kicks multiple times daily now.  Chesney and Daddy felt baby kick on January 17.  Chesney is so excited to be able to feel the baby move.

Brecken {2 years old}

Brecken had has 2 year check up recently so I can finally post his 2 year post.

• Weight: 22 lbs(1st percentile)
• Length:  32 inches (8th percentile)
• Clothes: You are wearing 12-18 or 18-24 month bottoms and 18-24 month shirts. You are wearing your 24 month sleepers.
• Shoes: You wear a size 6 shoe
• Diapers: Cloth diapers with Pampers (size 3) occasionally.  WE are back to a size 3 at night because you aren't wetting so much.  You go on the potty 3-4 times a day and are usually dry after naps. You pee on the potty before bath.
• Food: You are becoming a better eater and are less afraid to try new things. You will finally eat applesauce, blueberries and grapes. Regular meals are still a struggle.  You like chicken strips, noodles and quesadillas and that's about it. You drink milk and water.
• Development:  You know all your body parts and a lot of animals.You can do somersaults and have been known to jump from the beanbag to the cough while doing a somersault.
• Words: You are finally starting to talk.  You love to say ahoy because you love Jake and the Neverland Pirates. My favorite words you say right now are oval which is "aval" and ahoy which is "hoy".  You also like to say "I want..." (fill in the blank with daddy, that, more).
• Teeth: No new ones this month.
• Sleep:  You go to bed around 7:00 pm and wake up at 7 am. You take one afternoon nap which can be 2-3+ hours. 
• What I love about you: You are such a happy boy but are learning how to hold your own ground.  You love to pick on Chesney and know what things driver her crazy (you tend to pick on her when you know she is annoyed by you).  You have no sense of fear and love to be a daredevil.  We just love this little munchkin so much!

Sunny Sunday

Today was a beautiful day outside so we decided to make the most out of it and spend the early afternoon outside.

 The snow was the perfect consistency for making a snowman and for a snowball fight.

 

 

 And we tried to do some sledding but the snow was melting and patchy which made it difficult.

 But it was nice enough to play on the swing set.

 

 And we made a giant snowman (which tipped over within 15 minutes of us finishing it).

 

It's nice to have a little sun in the middle of winter, and we had a blast playing outside.

Baby #3 Gender

We are so excited to be adding a baby

 

BOY!

Brecken's 2nd Birthday

Our tiny tough guy is 2 today.  I love to make the kid's birthdays fun from the time they wake up until the time they go to bed.  Brecken woke up to birthday pancakes (with a candle of course).

 Chesney wanted a candle on her pancake too.  I like to let her take part in the fun because she will only enjoy things like this for a short time longer.

 

 Brecken has 3 loves, diggers, tools and golf.  So we decided to make a golf cake.  From the second he saw the finished product, he wanted to get his hands on it.

 

 We went to Red Robin for dinner and then came home to eat the cake.

 Then Brecken opened a few gifts.

 

 

 He loved his new digger. (And it's even more fun when you get to use tools to help Daddy get it out of the box).

 Boys and their toys.

 Brecken, we are so blessed to have such and amazing little boy, and we look forward to all the next year has in store for you and us. 
Happy 2nd birthday Brecken! We love you so much!

One

It is hard to believe that 2 years ago we were getting ready to welcome a little boy into our family.  We were beyond nervous knowing the energy level that little boys comes with.  But Brecken has proved that no matter how much energy boys have, they have even more cuddles and snuggles.  Nothing really compares to the cuddles of a boy, nothing! And nothing really makes you relax as a parent more than being a boy parent.  The things that made use cringe with Chesney just make us shrug our shoulders with Brecken.

 You are such a happy and smiley little guy and love to be picked up and cuddled close. And best of all, you are a momma's boy!

 You love your big sister like crazy. That is when you're not busy picking on her. You watch everything she does and try your best to copy her every move.

 We have enjoyed every minute of the past 2 years and look forward to all the years ahead. Today we are enjoying every last thing the one year old you does.  We are going to steal lots of hugs and kisses, and we are going to celebrate all you have given us.

 Happy last day of one sweet boy!  We love you beyond words!

Baby #3 Bumpdate {19 Weeks}

It is still surreal that we have another baby on the way.  I am so excited to get out the teeny tiny clothes and decorate.  That madness will promptly begin the second we know the gender.

19 Weeks Pregnant

• How far along: 19 weeks
• Size of baby: measures about 6 inches— about the size of a tomato and weighs about 8.5 oz.
• Maternity Clothes: Regular clothes still fit well. Work clothes are getting a little tricky because I'm in that awkward "is she gaining weight or pregnant" stage.
• Gender: Finding out later this week!  EEEKKKKK!
• Sleep: Sleeping well aside from using the bathroom a couple times at night.
• Cravings: Meat, beef in general, and salt. This week I have been craving dry oatmeal (straight out of the tub).
• Anything making you queasy or sick? Sweets are not my favorite. I still can't handle strong smells.
• Best moment this week: Feeling more kicks. I can feel them on the outside now too.
• What I miss most: nothing
• Symptoms: Sensitivity to smell
• What I'm looking forward to: Finding out if we are having a boy or girl. I'm still guessing boy.
• Movement:The kicks are getting stronger all the time.

Schneider Christmas

We celebrated Christmas with my side of the family the first weekend in January. We were only able to spend a couple days, but we fit a lot of fun into those days.  The cousins played on the swingset and then did some sledding. 

 Brecken loved shoveling the snow. 

 Then he decided to throw a scoop on Grampy.

And of course there were presents.

 Brecken helped pull the presents from under the tree.

 Brecken was the most excited about the chainsaw he received.   And as soon as I got it out of the box, he started "cutting" down the Christmas tree.  I guess he was paying attention when we trimmed the bushes in the fall.

 And Grampy got a matching real deal chainsaw.

 Grammy needed a new blender so we got her a nice one for Christmas. My sister later heard that the blender is in the top 5 worst Christmas gifts to give.  Oops, oh well, Grammy liked it and needed it.

 And that marks the end of Christmas celebrations for another year.  We had a wonderful holiday season.