It's been a very insane set of days around here - with a pretty significant sewage back-up, the stomach flu, and ice storm and Lou getting a big case settled in Lexington. Not fun for anyone to say the least.
HOWEVER - in happier news - today is my birthday, I hit the 36 week pregnant mark and I AM NO LONGER ON BEDREST. I have lots to say about the past six weeks and hope to get a good update post together soon. But, for today, I'm dealing with some strange stomach flu relapse after feeling better yesterday and still trying to rehydrate and rest. Thanks for all the birthday wishes!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Saturday, January 29, 2011
a little practice...
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Friday, January 28, 2011
Three Little Birds
This post as been simmering for quite awhile. I've made references to our three little birds many times before, and I'm finally ready to tell the whole story. It goes something like this...
As most of you know by now, we have lost three babies on our journey from Carri & Lou to "Four Schneiders." We had two early, first trimester losses - one before Josie and one after. And then we lost Camille in the second trimester after a year of trying to conceive, and that just about broke us. The morning after we said goodbye to Camille, there were three little birds on the ledge of our condo downtown. This was unusual because, while we had our fair share of pigeons in the city, three random birds on the ledge was a rarity. Instantly, these three little birds became the way we symbolized and remembered our three little babies.
To add to that, we are huge Elizabeth Mitchell fans. No strangers to Bob Marley either, we've always loved Elizabeth's rendition of "Three Little Birds" on the first CD of hers that we bought. The thing is, that CD ("You Are My Little Bird") was the only thing that calmed sweet Josie and that song has always had special meaning. The first time I heard it, with teeny tiny Josie in her carseat behind me, I just sobbed. I was so grateful (and so hormonal) and Elizabeth's daughter is singing along with this little tiny sweet voice, and I just cried and cried. We listened to that CD more times that I can seriously count and every time it got to that track, I always got a big lump in my throat. I'd think about that first day in the car when Josie was so small and I'd think about the day when she would eventually add her own little voice to the track. And then, one afternoon, it happened. Josie was old enough to sing along and her tiny "Don't worry about a thing, Cuz Every little thing is gonna be alright..." came floating from the backseat. And I wept again. The distance between the first time we heard the song and that moment had passed all too quickly. By then, we had started having trouble conceiving and I took great solace in hearing sweet little Josephine remind me that everything would in fact be alright.
There have been other "three little bird" moments as well. For example, after each loss we looked for a way to memorialize the tiny life. After the third loss, I was shopping on etsy for a way to remember the three babies and found this "three little birds" necklace that instantly felt right. I emailed the seller to buy it, explaining the significance to me and our losses and she shared her own personal story of infertility and loss and we remain friends to this day. Here's the necklace. The crystal is a peridot for Josie's birthstone. And we will add another one for the new baby. :)
Yes, those three little birds have provided me comfort lots of times - and in the strangest of ways. When we developed a bloodclot in the placenta at 13 weeks with this pregnancy and faced a threatened miscarriage, we were sent to specialists at Good Samaritan Hospital. We sat in the waiting room, extremely nervous to find out if we were losing our fourth baby. I went into the bathroom and would you believe - of all things - someone had put three little bird stickers right on the "specimen cabinet." I had to laugh at how funny of a coincidence it was, and just how hilarious that those little birds showed up in such a silly spot. And, in that moment, I knew everything was gonna be alright.
And it all came full circle later when we went to Chicago for Lyla's birthday. Elizabeth Mitchell and her daughter hit the opening notes of "Three Little Birds" at the concert, where we were sitting with The Austins in the front row. And here were the tears again, as I sat there and rubbed by pregnant belly and held my big girl Josie and looked over at my sister with Lyla and Michael with tiny baby Jack. And again, I knew it would all be alright.
In fact, it's become somewhat of a mantra around here. In the darkest moments of this pregnancy, I had to remind myself: "There are only three little birds." I have no doubt that these little birds will continue to make appearances to all of us for the rest of our lives - in one way or another. And for that, I am grateful.
As most of you know by now, we have lost three babies on our journey from Carri & Lou to "Four Schneiders." We had two early, first trimester losses - one before Josie and one after. And then we lost Camille in the second trimester after a year of trying to conceive, and that just about broke us. The morning after we said goodbye to Camille, there were three little birds on the ledge of our condo downtown. This was unusual because, while we had our fair share of pigeons in the city, three random birds on the ledge was a rarity. Instantly, these three little birds became the way we symbolized and remembered our three little babies.
To add to that, we are huge Elizabeth Mitchell fans. No strangers to Bob Marley either, we've always loved Elizabeth's rendition of "Three Little Birds" on the first CD of hers that we bought. The thing is, that CD ("You Are My Little Bird") was the only thing that calmed sweet Josie and that song has always had special meaning. The first time I heard it, with teeny tiny Josie in her carseat behind me, I just sobbed. I was so grateful (and so hormonal) and Elizabeth's daughter is singing along with this little tiny sweet voice, and I just cried and cried. We listened to that CD more times that I can seriously count and every time it got to that track, I always got a big lump in my throat. I'd think about that first day in the car when Josie was so small and I'd think about the day when she would eventually add her own little voice to the track. And then, one afternoon, it happened. Josie was old enough to sing along and her tiny "Don't worry about a thing, Cuz Every little thing is gonna be alright..." came floating from the backseat. And I wept again. The distance between the first time we heard the song and that moment had passed all too quickly. By then, we had started having trouble conceiving and I took great solace in hearing sweet little Josephine remind me that everything would in fact be alright.
There have been other "three little bird" moments as well. For example, after each loss we looked for a way to memorialize the tiny life. After the third loss, I was shopping on etsy for a way to remember the three babies and found this "three little birds" necklace that instantly felt right. I emailed the seller to buy it, explaining the significance to me and our losses and she shared her own personal story of infertility and loss and we remain friends to this day. Here's the necklace. The crystal is a peridot for Josie's birthstone. And we will add another one for the new baby. :)
Yes, those three little birds have provided me comfort lots of times - and in the strangest of ways. When we developed a bloodclot in the placenta at 13 weeks with this pregnancy and faced a threatened miscarriage, we were sent to specialists at Good Samaritan Hospital. We sat in the waiting room, extremely nervous to find out if we were losing our fourth baby. I went into the bathroom and would you believe - of all things - someone had put three little bird stickers right on the "specimen cabinet." I had to laugh at how funny of a coincidence it was, and just how hilarious that those little birds showed up in such a silly spot. And, in that moment, I knew everything was gonna be alright.
And it all came full circle later when we went to Chicago for Lyla's birthday. Elizabeth Mitchell and her daughter hit the opening notes of "Three Little Birds" at the concert, where we were sitting with The Austins in the front row. And here were the tears again, as I sat there and rubbed by pregnant belly and held my big girl Josie and looked over at my sister with Lyla and Michael with tiny baby Jack. And again, I knew it would all be alright.
In fact, it's become somewhat of a mantra around here. In the darkest moments of this pregnancy, I had to remind myself: "There are only three little birds." I have no doubt that these little birds will continue to make appearances to all of us for the rest of our lives - in one way or another. And for that, I am grateful.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Two sweet snaps
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| Josie checking herself out in my Grandma Mimi's antique mirror that we just added to our bathroom. (Thanks Mom & Dad for hanging on to stuff like this.) |
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| Josie's new petticoat courtesy of www.kidsteals.com |
Friendly Neighbors
We have the most beautiful birds in our yard. The cardinals are our favorites. They are so bright and brilliant against the backdrop of all this snow. These two guys were in our giant catalpa tree. Josie loves watching them. We have a feeder right outside the dining room window and we love to peek out the window and watch all the birds in town take a turn.
(And the squirrels are pretty hysterical too.)
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Quick Quote
Tonight Louie and I were reading Josephine bedtime stories. She didn't sleep well last night and was very over-tired so I was trying to get through the story quickly. I asked Lou to stop with the additional commentary a couple of times, but he kept it up (he couldn't see her heavy eyelids from his angle). After my third "Louie Shhhhhh," Josie says to him: "Yea Daddy. SHHHH! You should listen to your mother!"
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Monday, January 24, 2011
Blog Books!
When I recently posted on Facebook how excited I was about ordering the 2010 Blog Book for "Three Schneiders," I was surprised to hear how few people knew that such a thing was possible.
Don't get me wrong- I enjoy blogging. BUT...the main reason I blog is to create a record for our family. The blog is equal parts photo album, baby book and family journal. At the end of every year, we use this great service: www.blog2print.com to convert our blog into book form. And, personally, they are even more fun in the book form than the blog.
Here are the 2007, 2008 & 2009 books. 2010 is on its way!
Here's what the inside looks like. I turned to a random page - this is from a trip we took to NYC just before Josie's first birthday. (Wow Molly - haven't things changed a lot since then?!)
Don't get me wrong- I enjoy blogging. BUT...the main reason I blog is to create a record for our family. The blog is equal parts photo album, baby book and family journal. At the end of every year, we use this great service: www.blog2print.com to convert our blog into book form. And, personally, they are even more fun in the book form than the blog.
Here are the 2007, 2008 & 2009 books. 2010 is on its way!
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Single Digit Sledding
Yesterday, despite having a fever in the morning and complaining of her ears aching, Josie *insisted* that her daddy take her sledding. They played in the front yard for about a half an hour. I heard them coming inside and was so relieved because it was only 7 degrees outside. Oh - silly me. They were actually just coming in to get some sunglasses to help with the glare and make their way through the house and out the backdoor to the car so they could go sledding at the park near our house. Braving those temps was worth it. It's pretty obvious here that they had the time of their lives!
(And I still have no idea how Lou managed to sled and film this video all bundled up as well as he did!)
And - for what it's worth - we've spent a lot of time at Owl's Nest Park since we moved to this neighborhood. This particular hill is right by the little swings. I can actually remember pushing Josie on the swing and thinking, too bad that hill is so steep and heads straight for the trees, otherwise it would be a pretty good sledding hill. Suffice it to say, if Mama Schneider would've been with these two at Owl's Nest, ain't no way my baby girl would've headed down this hill. Good thing her daddy is a little more daring! And Josephine was beyond proud of herself!
(And I still have no idea how Lou managed to sled and film this video all bundled up as well as he did!)
And - for what it's worth - we've spent a lot of time at Owl's Nest Park since we moved to this neighborhood. This particular hill is right by the little swings. I can actually remember pushing Josie on the swing and thinking, too bad that hill is so steep and heads straight for the trees, otherwise it would be a pretty good sledding hill. Suffice it to say, if Mama Schneider would've been with these two at Owl's Nest, ain't no way my baby girl would've headed down this hill. Good thing her daddy is a little more daring! And Josephine was beyond proud of herself!
Saturday, January 22, 2011
A Snowy Week
Here are just a few shots from what has been a very snowy home-bound week for the Schneiders.
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| "Mom, Can we read some books?" |
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| Cuddle Time on the Couch |
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| Smiling in the glow of a very snowy day |
Friday, January 21, 2011
Two Best Friends & One Big Bare Belly
One of the most memorable parts of my pregnancy with Josephine was my Mother Blessing Ceremony. My friend Kristen hosted many of my close girlfriends at her house and we all celebrated my entrance into motherhood by doing a bellycast and henna tattoos and sharing our stories/hopes/fears with one another. I knew I wouldn't be able to have another BlessingWay this time, due to the bedrest. And I was bummed.
Sooo...enter two very, very special people in my life. Kelly & Suzie. Oddly enough, within just a few days of each other, both of them offered to come over and help to do the belly cast and have our own little blessing. I was touched when both of them used precious time off of work to come spend the afternoon with me to make this little dream a reality. (And as much as I know they would've gladly done it, I'm glad it wasn't Louie and my Daddy-O who had to make it happen.)
Here's how the belly cast turned out. Just PERFECT!
And here are two of the most wonderful friends a girl could have. I love you both more than you know!
And - just for fun - here are some pics from my BlessingWay with Josie.
My henna tattoo (and very round tummy)...
Josie's Belly Cast (after being painted)...
And I'll leave you with a some more "Birth Art" courtesy of Josie. Her explanations of her "masterpieces" are even more special than the artwork itself. When I prompted "Tell me about this picture Josie," she answered: "This is you with Roly Poly in your big belly. Those are your legs. And there's your vagina." Excellent Josie Excellent.
Sooo...enter two very, very special people in my life. Kelly & Suzie. Oddly enough, within just a few days of each other, both of them offered to come over and help to do the belly cast and have our own little blessing. I was touched when both of them used precious time off of work to come spend the afternoon with me to make this little dream a reality. (And as much as I know they would've gladly done it, I'm glad it wasn't Louie and my Daddy-O who had to make it happen.)
Here's how the belly cast turned out. Just PERFECT!
And here are two of the most wonderful friends a girl could have. I love you both more than you know!
And - just for fun - here are some pics from my BlessingWay with Josie.
My henna tattoo (and very round tummy)...
Quick Quote
This morning Josie had an hour snow delay from school. She gave me two kisses and headed for the door. Then, she turned around, looked at me and said: "Mommy, I'm going to keep your kisses forever. I'll put them in my heart."
Seriously, she is the most amazing, perfect little girl and Lou & I are absolutely over-the-moon that we will soon have another amazing, perfect little girl just like her to love!
Seriously, she is the most amazing, perfect little girl and Lou & I are absolutely over-the-moon that we will soon have another amazing, perfect little girl just like her to love!
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