We're still here

The blog wants to die but I will not let it!

I cannot tell you how many times I have planned to blog at night after the kids are in bed, but it just doesn't happen.  Too busy living life to write about it.  But I don't want to forget the little things.  And I do forget.  Marc always reminds me of little things from our past almost TEN years together (ten years, wow!) and I have no recollection.  This scares me.  I can kill in some Teen Jeopardy tournaments...key word "Teen"...but I don't remember moments from my own life.  Sometimes at the end of the day, I yearn to just sit and stare.  Stare my friends.  Who stares anymore?  Maybe I'll just call it meditating so I won't scare my friends away.

 

This is so me.  I love this movie. 

 

Look at our lil 'Lil!  Now almost eight months old.

 

 

Numerous nicknames, as is custom being half Schroeder:

Ol' Lil

Lillers

Monkey

Goober

Spit Up Girl

Lil' Missy

Happy Happy

Quick to laugh, easy to please, a joy.  She played the other day with a bag of croutons for an hour.  Like her brother, she enjoys to suck on a cool, wet rag occasionally.  Unlike her brother, she considers solid food unpalatable and acts insulted if I insist she eats more than three bites.  She got one laugh by spitting out her food ONE time, and now she does it EVERY time trying to get laughs.  No worries, at her 6 month appointment she was 18lbs, 80% percentile in weight and 70% in height with a 50% head.  I think this is as dainty as my babies can get.  I will be booking a massage right after I get done writing this. 

 

Lily is not the hugest fan of schedules.  This is not her fault, since birth we have been in the car running her brother around so she flows with it.  Night sleeping is still not very consistent.  As soon as we get a week of regular sleeping, it will be something...a cold, teething, hunger....that will wake her up for a week or so.  It doesn't bother me too much anymore, since she's been falling asleep on her own for so long and she's quick to get back to sleep.  I guess she's got a legit reason to wake up!

I am still nursing.  My goal was six months, but now I think I'll just go for a year.  It's so easy now and it's helping me lose weight.  And it's my only time to sit down in the day.  That's the real reason.

She has finally outgrown the spit-up stage.  Hallelujah!  Some of my clothes will never be the same.  And no I haven't been eating fried chicken and dropping it all over my shirts.  That is the stain it leaves, my friends.  A lovely grease stain.  Excuse for a shopping spree.

 

She's been sitting up since six and a half months and I have caught her on video crawling once but she hasn't done it again YET.  And she has already pulled up to standing on the learning table. 

Like everything in her life so far, she is a fast learner and ready to go!  And I am scared and curled up in the fetal position in the corner fearing for my future.

 

I am sort of obsessed with her.  We played dress up one Saturday when we were bored.

Her hair has gotten quite a bit lighter from when she was born, but it's still a pretty dark brown shade with some blond highlights.  Her cowlicks are insane.  Her best style is either the old man combover or the faux hawk.  Her eyes are a beautiful blue color and have gotten lighter too....very similar to big bro.  And she has one Henry eyebrow!  She now has her two bottom teeth and such a beautiful smile, if you can get her to stop sticking out her tongue!

 

Watching Toy Story.  Henry is obsessed with all three of the movies.  And I am too actually...I find myself laughing out loud at them. 

And she loves to swing!!  I sound like a total goof in this video because I was so surprised she liked it.  Henry would just hang there and give me this look like, "This is supposed to be fun?"  As soon as she got in there, she was in heaven.  

 

 

 Baths too!  And she wants to swim.  I have to hold her back.

 

 He hung out in her Exersaucer for thirty minutes one day, just playing.  Don't knock the baby toys.

 

Oh, how could I forget about Christmas?  Well actually I could since we were all drugged up most of it.  I got sick about four days before we were supposed to leave for Texas.  I still think I had some sort of flu.  Body aches, fever, cough.  I felt horrible!  And both kids caught it the day before we left.  You want to see panic?  The faces of the other first class passengers on the plane when we came on holding a toddler and a baby.  Merry Christmas fools!  No, seriously, I drugged both of them up pretty good.  And not just because we were flying.  They were both seriously ill!  Marc was the only one that emerged unscathed.  Even my mom and dad got it.  So...we didn't get many pictures this year.

 

 

Henry had his first preschool Christmas program.  It was hilarious!

 I can't figure out this kid sometimes.  His facial expressions....sigh.  This was the face he made during the whole thing.  THIS FACE.  I call it his Frankenstein face.  No singing.  Just Frankenstein.  I swear he has a built-it bullshit detector.  So many things that normal children seem to enjoy, he seems to already be beyond it and react like a fifteen year old teenager.  Like a preschool program?!  That's so lame.

 Not amused. 

 

Sweet girl

 

 Henry was so excited about Christmas this year.  Santa brought him a ride-on excavator and a Radio Flyer wagon.  I'll never forget him coming down the stairs and into the living room, getting a look at his excavator for the first time and saying, "It's fancy.  It's a fancy excavator."

 

He continues to crack us up with his expressions. 

These are actual things he's said the past couple weeks.

 

"C'mon mom.  Take a chance."

 

"20 years ago, Gramps was a construction worker."

 

"You are the best mommy in my whole world!"

 

"Gee-maw's on the phone?  Put her on speaker."

 

"Mom, you are a sweet man."

 

"Lily is the best brother."

 

"Romeo, oh romeo.  Wherefore art thou Romeo?"

(For a split second I thought he could be a genius.  Then I realized it's in a clip in Toy Story 3)

 

I made him a special cookie for Valentines, in the shape of a heart with sprinkles on it.  He loves sprinkles and cookies, so I thought he would love it of course.  He takes one bite and says, "Mom, I don't like it.  Don't worry, it's not your fault."

 

At least he's polite.  Bullshit detector.

 

 

Love,  Lyndsey

Paparrazi

I am the first to admit I know absolutely nothing about photography. 

I usually get my friends and family to take the pictures and then send them to me.

We bought a fancy camera last Christmas and I have yet to read the instructions or learn the basics.  I do use it.....I just don't really know what I'm doing.  Then I use Picasa and make it all "instagramy" and that's good enough for me!

Call it lack of patience.  Call it lack of initiative.  Frankly, it's not something that interests me.  I would rather leave that time to things I enjoy.  Re-arranging my house, reading blogs, eating.  Oh, and taking care of children.  That too.

 

I have enjoyed having these little photo shoots with Lil at each of her monthly birthdays.

All these pictures below were taken right after she turned 5 months old.

And I will tell you something, she loves having her pictures taken!  We probably played around with clothes and accessories for an hour and she smiled for me right on cue everytime. 

 

 

Look what Santa brought me!

 

 

 

 

She is such a joy!  Who does she look like?? 

 

This is one of my baby pictures and I don't think we look anything alike.  My head was huge.  I looked at Marc's baby pictures and she doesn't look like him either.

 

 

 

Wait!  I know.  She looks like Harper Beckham!  Is there resemblance not uncanny?!  I hate to break it to Marc this way, but David Beckham's soccer team might have been in town last October...so....



 

 



And it's not creepy at all that I have celebrity baby pictures on my blog?  Nah, not creepy at all.

 

Love,

Lynds



Trick or treat!

Here are some pics, again courtesy of Kellye Arning, of our awesome time at her Halloween party.

Henry enjoyed Halloween so much this year!  We had fun making smores and playing with his buds, Charlie, Chase, Colby, and Max before we headed out trick or treating.

 

He has been playing with (and eating) his candy for three weeks now.  He takes the bucket everywhere and is so proud of all his loot.

 

Henry was a construction worker.  The hard hat lasted about a minute.  Lily wore a cute little Halloween tutu outfit and I was a cowgirl wearing an Australian tuxedo (denim on denim).

Cutie!

 

Lily soaking up all the activity around her.  She loves to observe all the kids!

 

                                                                     Me and my girl

Baby's first Halloween

Mummy wrapping game with toilet paper. 

This is not my best look.  Looks like cowgirl couldn't find a bathroom.

 



 

They were so eager!  It was so fun to watch them trick or treat!  Best Halloween yet.

 

Love,

Lynds



Catching up

I am not sure if I will ever blog regularly again.

By the end of the day, I either collapse in bed or mindlessly surf the interwebs. 
Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest.  Oh Pinterest, how I love thee.  But the uncontrollable crafting urges are hard to control.
"Cover your whole house in burlap!" 
"If not burlap, chalkboard paint!"
"Everything is better dipped in nutella!"
"Make anything in a crockpot!"
Great for inspiration, but now I don't have any time to complete anything.  And sometimes I get a little too ambitious.
I decided to make my own curtains for our entryway windows.  You know, considering we're on a busy street and I seem to always be in a state of stripping off spit-up stained tshirts. 

It's like the old skit with the angel on one shoulder and the devil on another.

Devil- You don't know how to sew.  Angel- You can use fabric glue!
Devil- You have a 4 month old baby.  Angel- You can do it while she's sleeping!
Devil- You have a 3 year old who likes to "help".  Angel- You can do it while he's sleeping!

Always so enthusiastic that angel.
Well, the curtains are actually done and I'm happy with them.  They took three months but they're done!

I digress.  Back to the blogging conundrum.  Even when I do have an idea, I am not able to translate it to the page. 
My thoughts are actually quite complex.  But when I write it down, it comes out like caveman language.

"Me Lyndsey.  You reader.  My son Henry.  My daughter Lily.  They do funny stuff.  The End."

My 4th grade teacher actually thought I would become a writer when I grew up.  I thought about it for about thirty minutes before the model/actress/singer/comedian quadruple threat dream took hold.
That really worked out according to plan.

We have had such a fun fall this year!
Here it is in a nutshell...TBD...maybe (see post above).  I might get to it in 2 years.

Henry turned 3 and had a little birthday party while we were at Folly Beach.
I might need to do another whole blog post about our beach trip and his birthday.  What a great time! 

 

We've been to lots of birthday parties!  Here's some pics from his friend Chase's birthday party.  Chase's mom and my friend, Kellye, is an amazing photographer.  I am so lazy that I don't even take pictures when she's around.  She's so much better at it! 

 

 

We visited our favorite pumpkin patch, Hodges Farm.  Henry's favorite part was the hayride!  Lily's favorite part was wearing her pumpkin dress and sporting really spiky hair.

 

Lily is now 4 months old and in the 95% weight and 75% height percentiles  Big girl with the exact same stats as her big bro!  She's still such a sweetie and is starting to laugh and roll over. 
And by starting to laugh, I mean laughing maybe twice at random things.  I can get everybody to laugh but my own daughter.  She's a tough crowd.
She loves to be in the middle of the action now and is starting to grab and bang at everything.  Including my face.  I awoke yesterday to her giving me some playful slaps in the face.
No longer is she the infant that likes to sleep all day.  It's getting a little harder to be out and about with her and Henry at the same time since she's becoming more active. 

She has become a lot more vocal just this past week, cooing and making spit bubbles and screaming.  Like she's gotten tired of Henry making all the noise and she's ready to join. 

Latest Henry funnies:

Halloween thoughts

He wanted to eat all his candy, but Marc told him he only needed to eat one piece a day so his teeth wouldn't rot.
His reply.  "Daddy, I want to be dangerous."

His response after eating a mini Snickers.
"Mom, I love chocolate all day long."

More updates coming soon, I promise!
I must go to bed now :)

Love,

Lyndsey

The Story of L

Our little girl, Lily Isabelle Maldoff, was born nearly 2 weeks early on Saturday June 23rd 2012 at 4:05am.
She weighed 8lbs, 3oz and measured 20" long.

The day started out like any other day, but ended up being one of the best days of my life.

My doctor's appointment earlier in the week had given me a clue that I might be having the baby very soon.  At 2.5cm dilated and 75% effaced, she told me to go ahead and get that bag packed!  Since the fam lives so far away, I started calling all my neighbors and friends and scheduling times they could come over and watch Henry if I went into labor.  That was really what worried me most.  The unpredictability of it and who would be watching Henry. 

Of course I called my mama and we debated back and forth if she should go ahead and get on a plane.  We decided against it, since Henry was a week late....maybe this one would be late too. 

WRONG!

The Friday I went into labor I felt particularly tired and worn out.  I decided a glass of wine...or maybe a glass and a half was needed and deserved this late in the game.  I then promptly passed out on the couch at about 8pm.  Lovely. Keeping it classy my friends.

After I awoke from my drunken stupor, for whatever reason, I thought packing my bag might be a good idea.  You know, since I was about to have a baby at some point.
After that, I thought a shower sounded nice.

And this is when it starts to get interesting.  When Marc scared the baby out of me.

Let me set the scene.  I'm in the shower and Marc is at his vanity, like shaving or something. 
We're keeping things light and romantic as always by discussing the Jerry Sandusky trial.  You know, real pillow talk. 

So while we're talking, I think he's standing over at the vanity.  I'm washing my hair, so my eyes are closed.  I open my eyes and he's standing right beside the shower!  I screamed like a maniac!  Every horror movie seems to have an awful shower scene where you open your eyes and there's a killer right outside waiting for you.  What in the world was he thinking, creeping up on me like that? 
And then I couldn't stop laughing.   Scared to death and then non-stop laughter.  I'm no stranger to hormonal mood swings.

Shortly after the freakout, my water breaks as we're settling into bed around midnight.  I called the doctor and she told us to go ahead and get moving even though I hadn't had any contractions yet.  Right after I got off the phone with her, contractions started.  And boy, did they start.
We called our friends Brian and Amy to come over and spend the night with Henry and we didn't even wait till they pulled in the driveway. 

When we called them, they were 10 min apart.  When we left, they were 7 min apart.  By the time we got to the hospital, they were 5 min apart.  I called my mom, my dad, and my brother on the way to the hospital but nobody was picking up their phone.  It was so bizarre because they usually always pick up.  The roads were empty, the hospital was deserted.  I remember thinking that it felt like me and Marc were the only two people in the world, driving into the dark night about to welcome our little girl into the world. 

I was 4cm when we arrived, so they were able to go ahead and get the epidural cranking.  Except you have to wait till you get 2 iv bags of fluid in you before you can get it.  Boy, did that take forever!  I kept asking Marc, "How's my bag?  How's my bag?!"  Because it hurt so much worse than with Henry.

And I soon knew why.  The epidural was in a whopping 10 minutes and I felt this EXTREME contraction.  I remember actually saying, "Whoa" like in slow motion and asking the nurse to see what was going on.  Basically....it was already time to push.  10 minutes of drugs.  That's it!  So, I consider that I did most of the work natural.

And then she was here!  My girl.  And we were overwhelmed.  How could it be?  The girl that I had wished for, hoped for, prayed for.  My future best friend, shopping partner, and confidante.  All my wildest dreams had come true. 
Having a baby is truly a miracle.  I will never forget that day and the absolute pure joy of ushering our sweet Lily Belle into the world.  My life changed in an instant, for the better, forever.

First pic of me and my girl

3 minutes old

3 months old

 

 

 

 

Love, Lyndsey

Almost 3

I know I said in my last post that I would write about L's birth story next.

But first I must vent about H being almost three. As in THE Terrible Three's.

He's killing me y'all. I swear he is Jekyll and Hyde. His mood swings could rival those of any teenager. I'm not sure what happened to the boy that thought I hung the moon and agreed with everything I said. He comes back every once in a while to tease me with a hug and then follows it up with a "No mama!!!" and a fart noise to top it off.

Aw, hell no.

I've tried time outs, spankings, taking toys away, really limiting the juice (thinking it could be too much sugar) and then I realized.......he is almost 3. This is how he's supposed to be right? Some things work some of the time. There's no real logic to it.

I think before this I thought my child was perfect. I'll go ahead and admit it.
Now, oh man, that is coming back to bite me in the arse. Sometimes I get so angry at his behavior it takes all I can to just take a deep breath and reign myself back in.

I'm trying to take a more humorous approach and that seems to be working.
And letting him do more things by himself. Because now he ONLY wants to do things by himself.

I taught him how to fill up his water cup from the fridge tap to encourage water drinking instead of so much juice.
Me- "Henry, can you go get me some water?"
H- "Ok mommy!!"
Marc- "Henry, watch out. Don't step on your truck."
H- "Daddy, I'm going to get some water. That's how it is."

We made cookies together the other day since he loves to help in the kitchen so much.
I had left the chair by the island the night before not thinking.
When Henry wakes up in the morning, he either comes to our bed or will usually go down in his playroom and play trucks. Usually being the key word.
I come downstairs to the kitchen island and the surrounding wood floor covered in baking soda. He had filled up the two kitchen stones and sprinkled a bunch more around for good measure.
In my sleep-deprived stupor, I actually wondered if I had left it like that the night before. It is totally possible.
No.....so then I thought Marc had done something with it.

Me- "Did you pour a bunch of baking soda out on the counter this morning for some reason?"
Marc- "No. I saw that. I was wondering what that was about."

And then I see it. The shovel. His trusty shovel sitting there on the counter. Caught red handed. That boy had just helped himself to the Arm & Hammer out of the fridge.

Me- "Angel, what were you doing this morning in kitchen?"
H- "Mommy, I was trying to make soup."

Well, there you have it.

And can I get an amen that kids seem to act a million times worse when the grandparents visit?
What's the deal with that?!

Vent over. Ahhhhh......

And then he gives me the biggest hug ever and tells me I'm the best mommy in the world and all is good again.
Love you Hyde. That was the good one right?

Love,
Lyndsey


First day of preschool

Helped put in her paci in and extremely happy about it.

Big guy and little lady!

Mid fart noise with first shiner.  Gotten by running into coffee table.  Not by being punched by Will Ferrell in The Campaign.

House divided reunited by the love of thumb sucking.

Miss Lily Belle is here!

Wow, having a baby sure does throw off your blog writing!  I'm currently sitting here in a spit-up stained tshirt and no pants.  I don't remember why I'm not wearing pants but this is how it goes these days.  I'm trying to roll with it.  My babies are bathed though!  Needless to say, the most crucial decision of my day is whether to shower or nap, so the blog has been on hiatus.  The nap ALWAYS wins.  I need to make sure and write things down or I know I'll forget.  Hence the pants.

Miss Lily Belle Maldoff is 2 months old and I'm just now getting around to writing about her.  She is such a joy!  Lily is starting to smile and coo and her little personality is starting to show, so it's been very rewarding for me.  For a while, I was only getting pooped on so I deserve some smiles!
I'm not sure how I got so lucky (don't want to jinx it) but she is so chill.  And I'm not sure if that's because we're so much more relaxed this go round or if she is just that good.  Maybe it's also having her in the summertime....I swear I was taking her out with Henry when she was just 2 weeks old. 

She does love to be held.  My baby carrier has been put to use, especially when it's just me with Henry and Lily out and about.  She loves to snuggle with me in bed (I was too nervous to bring Henry in the bed), so maybe that's another reason why she's so happy! 
I have never seen a baby enjoy a bath so much too.  What a girl!  Loves to be clean and wear pretty outfits. 
At her 2 month check up, she was in the 50th percentile for height and 90th for weight.  A little chunker! 
Lily has the most beautiful blue eyes and crazy black mohawk hair.  Where in the world did that come from?  Oh wait, me.  I dye my hair to match my son's.  As my sister put it, "The Schroeder is strong in that one."  She looks exactly like Henry did at this age, but her features are more delicate and she's got her daddy's small head.  I think she looks more like her Marc right now overall, but she changes everyday.

Henry has adjusted fairly well.  The first two weeks, he ignored her and didn't want anything to do with her.  Not in a mean way.  He's just a boy and didn't really care.  He finally asked to hold her one day and he has loved her ever since!  He lavishes her with his blankies (sometimes over her head...I can't leave them alone together) and shows her his toys and tries to pick her up (again, I have to watch him).

Having two home with me at the same time has definitely been an adjustment.  It is so much harder than I thought it would be!  But very rewarding.  And full.  When I lay my head down at night, I definitely feel like I've put in a full day!
But I am learning and gradually we're getting into a routine.  As much of a routine as you can with two little ones. 

• I have learned the art of surviving the witching hour from 4 to 6pm.  Coffee, beer, or wine depending on how the day has been.
• It's best not to need to be anywhere in the morning at a certain time. 
• Now is not the time to be potty training.  I knew it was time to stop when I grabbed a squatting Henry out of his room and made a beeline for the bathroom only to have him poop in mid-air.  I was in mid-stride, so yes I did kick the poop with my bare foot.  And yes, it did explode into pieces and splatter all over the bathroom floor.  And yes, my immediate thought was that I was glad I was on the tile floor.  Not for concern over my foot.  Yes, time to stop.  Do these things only happen to me?
• The crockpot is my friend.
• Tantrums are best worked out in their own good time with no interference from me.
• When both of the kids take a nap at the same time, the heavens are shining down from above.  LAY DOWN.
• Calling friends to chat, even if it's just for 5 minutes, helps so much.  Staying at home with two littles that can't have adult conversation can be isolating.  I can only talk about construction equipment so much.
• Meeting up with friends and kids is even better.  We've had a lot of play dates.
• Going to try on clothes when you are not your ideal size is not a good idea when you do get that rare hour to yourself.  But I can't wait to get some colored jeans!  And I only have 8lbs to lose.  YES!!  Ok, that was my bragging moment.
• The dishes can always wait till morning. 
• Taking care of one kid at a time in the easiest thing in the world.  Why did I think having only Henry was hard? 

And it is now my bedtime of 9pm and I must stop.  Next post, I'll write about Miss L's birth story.  This might be when she's a year old but it will happen.  Please excuse if this writing is poor quality.  I fear my brain may be gone forever!  And I'm finally reading Fifty Shades, which is not helping.  Ha!

Love,
Lyndsey