Balancing Act

Useless tip for the day:
#1 How to balance a cup on your foot

New Hiding Spot!

So Jonah has decided that our entry table is his new hiding spot! Everyday he takes a blanket or some toy to the table and crawls onto it and hangs out for awhile. He also likes to take his toys and books to the corner beside the table and play. I don't know why he loves this table and corner so much! I swear I've never put him under the table or in the corner as a timeout for misbehaving so I'm not sure what this is all about! At least he will sit there long enough for me to take some pictures and he seems happy so I'm all for it!

Domestic God

I guess from always watching me always clean up after his meals, Jonah has become very intrigued with the broom! So now after he finishes eating he tries to sweep up his own mess. If I could just train his father to do the same! ;) haha!

Our Little Picasso

Last Saturday morning I got out the finger paint for Jonah and instead of painting on the paper he decided to use his tummy as his canvas! It turned out to be quite a masterpiece!

15 months going on 15 years!

Jonah turned 15 months old on June 21st! I'm still in shock that he's already this old! He has changed so much since his first birthday! He's hearing the word "no" a lot these days and has learned to say it back to me! Temper Tantrums are a daily occurrence and I hear that lasts pretty much until they are 21 so I guess I better get used to them! He will sit in a highchair for about 10 minutes at a restaurant before he has a meltdown which means we get a lot of food to go! But aside from those little nuances he is still such a little charmer and really has a wonderful, sweet personality! It seems like everyday he is doing something new! He loves to be around people and he loves to explore! He still amazes us everyday and I think I've finally realized that never stops!


Favorite New Words and Actions:
1. Stinky (taught to us by Shannon)
2. Ri Ri (Riley)
3. Buh Bye
4. Teeth (He loves to brush his teeth!)
5. Mommy and Daddy
6. Nah Nah Nah! (No! No! No!)
7. Turkey (accompained by hand under the chin saying Gobble! Gobble!)
8. Cheese
9. Juice
10. Baby

Favorite New Foods:
1. Popcorn
2. Mandarin Oranges
3. Edamame
4. Waffles
5. Turkey

Dog Days of Summer!

My friend Jenn came over a couple of weeks ago and hung out for a little while before we went out for lunch! So, while we chatted in my study, Riley decided to kick back and relax in the big chair with Jenn! It was so cute that I had to take a picture!

Toilet Paper Bandit

I went to iron a shirt for the day and when I came out of our closet this is what I found outside of our bathroom. Apparently the Toilet Paper Bandit had hit our bathroom but he left a conspicuous trail behind him so he was easy to catch!!

Father's Day 2007

Yes, I know Father's Day was a while back but I'm a little behind on my blog updates! We were in Austin celebrating Kayla's Birthday on Father's Day weekend. On Sunday, Jon grilled out for all of us and we had fun hanging out while Jonah and Kayla played. Jonah gave Josh his father's day gift (Sunglasses) on Friday before we left so he could wear them on the drive down there and on Saturday during the party! I think he liked them!

Jonah and I both are so thankful to have Josh in our life! He is a wonderful husband and father!

Kayla's First Birthday

A few weeks ago we celebrated our niece's first birthday in Austin! She had a Hawaiian Luau. Jonah had a great time!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Entering Unfamiliar Territory

Well, tomorrow is my last day with my company! Yes, I resigned from my position as a Project Manager with 3M! Working from home and no travel was wonderful but the stress of my project load was wearing me down so it felt like the right thing to do! This means that I'm exploring two new unfamiliar territories. The first being the unfamiliar territory of the unemployed! Oh wait..actually I've been there and done that several years ago when one of the companies I worked for filed for bankruptcy and closed! But it was okay because it was during the telecom crash of Dallas and everyone was unemployed! So, the real new unfamiliar territory is that of being a stay-at-home mom (aka SAHM) Side note - it took me forever to realize what that acronym meant when I started reading posted comments on baby websites!! I may look at doing some part-time work or if another remote position becomes available I may take it because if you know me you know that I love to spend money which means I spend all of my own money and most of Josh's too! Wish me luck and I'll keep everyone posted on how it's going! I've been having this recurring nightmare that Jonah wakes up one morning and goes "What?!?! I have to play with you all day again?!?! Geez...When do I get to go back and play with my friends at school?!?!"

Visit from Mary and Gus

My good friends Mary and Gus from California were in town visiting so Jonah and I met up with them for lunch. I used to work with Mary at Perot Systems and she was our "road mother" when we traveled and always took care of us! I just love her to death and we always had the best time hanging out! She is orginally from Scotland and like me loves wine so what better place to live than near Napa Valley in California. She has since retired and her and Gus are traveling around visiting friends and enjoying retirement! I'm already looking forward to retirement. Is 30 too young to retire?? Anyway, this was the first time they had met Jonah and of course he loved them too! Within a few minutes he and Gus were hanging out checking out the bread selection at the restaurant! It was great to see them and I'm looking forward to their next trip back to Texas! Or who knows..we may just have to make a trip out to California!

I scream, you scream, even dogs scream for ice cream!

Playing Catch Up!

Okay, I've slacked a little in the last few weeks on updating our blog and let me tell you have I heard about it from the Fam! So, here's a quick recap of what we've been up to:

1) Jonah attended his first birthday party for his friend Reese who just turned 1! He had so much fun playing that I had to post the picture of him after we got in the car and started heading back home! He was worn out.
















2) It rained off and on all weekend during Memorial Day weekend so we didn't get a lot outdoor time but we finally managed to make it to the park for about an hour so Jonah could swing and play outside! He had so much fun! He loves being outside and throws a little temper tantrum when you bring him back in!














3) Uncle Jerod and Lauren came over to visit












4) Lounging Around in the Laundry Room












It's almost embarrassing to show this picture but I was sitting at the kitchen table on my laptop and noticed Jonah had gone into the Laudry Room and shut the door. After about 30 seconds I didn't hear anything coming from the laundry room so I decided to go check on Mr. J and when I opened the door this is how I found him! Glad to know that our very large pile of dirty clothes looked comfy enough to take a nap on!

6) Our very good friends Bryce and Shannon and their son Ryan finally left Las Vegas and moved back to Texas and guess where they moved to?? McKinney!!:) We are very excited that they are here! So this weekend Shannon brought Ryan over for a playdate with Jonah! They had fun playing cars and blowing bubbles and trying to escape out the window!













7) Wet Wipes Scandal













Hey Mom - I'm out of wipes. Could you get some more???

Well, that's it for now but we have a busy month of June ahead of us and I promise I will make more timely updates to the blog!

Sunny Sunday

Hope you all had a good weekend! Since the weather was so nice yesterday, Jonah and I took our blanket and toys outside and played for a couple of hours!


Kisses from Riley!

More Kisses from Riley!












Afterwards we came in and Jonah had his favorite snack! Mac N Cheese!

Old McJonah had a farm...E-I-E-I-O

A couple of weekends ago I took Jonah to my parent's ranch for the day in Fairfield! He had the best time feeding the cows, riding on the mule, feeding the fish, watching the peacocks, feeding the chickens, and riding on my dad's tractor and bulldozer! Jonah roamed all over the place and was covered in dirt! He's definately all boy! He even managed to fall right in the middle of a cow patty right before dinner! It was actually pretty funny! After we cleaned him up, we had an outdoor picnic with my family to celebrate my Dad's 70th birthday! Mama Sue cooked up an excellent Southern meal of fried fish, hush puppies, and all the fixins'! We had a great time hanging out with my family and look forward to our next trip to the 5R Ranch! Enjoy the pics!

Fun in the Sprinklers!

When we were little there wasn't a Lifetime Indoor pool or Mommy and Me Swim classes. We had the city park pool but no one ever went there because there was that one boy sitting in the corner of the pool and the water by him was always warm! Yuck! We had the country club but that meant that our parents had to get dressed, drive us there, and then we always ended up running up a huge bill on my parent's tab. In our defense swimming makes you very hungry and thirsty!

So, when all of those options were out we resorted to throwing on our swimsuits and turning on the sprinklers. We had more fun and spent hours jumping over the water, running through the water with your eyes closed, with your eyes open, your mouth open. We made up a ton of games with that water hose and that sprinkler! I firmly believed we learned a lot of critical thinking skills playing in that water! It was a blast!

Well, on Sunday at Jon and Amy's we turned on the sprinklers and let Kayla and Jonah loose. They had so much fun! Enjoy the photos!

Weekend Warriors

Josh and I took last Thursday and Friday off. Thursday we had tickets to the Byron Nelson but after we took Jonah to school that morning we ended up crawling back in bed to take a little nap and woke up at 3pm!! We couldn't believe we slept so long but it was much needed rest! We went out to a late lunch and that was pretty much our day! Friday we packed and headed down to Austin and stayed with Jon, Amy and Kayla on Friday night and then went to San Marcos on Saturday for Josh's fraternity reunion. At the Delt House while the guys were having their meeting Jonah and I had a picnic outside with our friend Kristin Deitch and her 6 month old son Cooper and 4 year old daughter Madison. After that most of the guys headed to the Tap Room for drinks. The Deitch Family and the Schneider family headed to the Outlet Mall and did a little shopping! Afterwards we all met back up at Outback Steakhouse for dinner. When we got back to the hotel Jonah and I crashed and Josh went back out with some of the guys!

Sunday was Josh's birthday! We went out for lunch and then unfortunately he had to go to San Antonio for a conference so he left to go down there and Jonah and I went back to Jon and Amy's. I decided that I wasn't going to try driving back to Dallas with a 1 year old without any help. So, I waited until Jonah fell asleep at 8:30pm! That way he would sleep the whole way home. I'm surprised he never woke up even with me singing my heart out to Josh Groban!! He must have been really tired! LOL. We finally made it home around Midnight! It was a long and tiring weekend but we had a good time!

The Fluke Invasion

Our good friends Jeff and Sarah Flukinger came up from Houston to visit and we had a great time! We are very excited because they are having a baby boy in August! So, Jonah will have a new friend to play with! While Josh and Jeff headed to the gym to pump some iron and I had access to a babysitter (aka Gran), Sarah and I headed out and had lunch at La Madeline's (love the tomato basil soup!), did a little shopping at the outlet mall and then treated ourselves to a spa pedicure! We all ended the day by going over to Johnny and Sarah's house for a few cocktails and dinner! We had a lot of fun! Now if we could just talk Jeff and Sarah into moving to Dallas ;)

New Addition

We have a new addition to the Schneider family!

Meet Bob!














Bob is a goldfish that Jonah won at school. We brought him home and Lauren was nice enough to bring over a fish bowl, rocks, fish bowl decorative accessories, water stabilizer, and a fish net! Then Jonah and I went to Walgreens and bought Goldfish food! So, looks like we have a new pet. When we first asked Jonah was his goldfish's name was he said "Ball" but that seemed to confusing so we decided that his name would be Bob!

Spring Fling

These are pictures from the Spring Fling at Jonah's school. Josh, Uncle Jerod and Gran were all able to attend! It was fun playing outside and seeing all the activities!