Memorial Day Memories

We had a somewhat relaxing Memorial Day weekend! We cooked all weekend and spent most of our time outside grilling, working in the yard, and playing with Jonah. Our friends John and Susan came over for a barbeque and then we went to a concert and fireworks show in Adriatica Village which was fun. We only had one trip to the Acute Care Clinic for Kids which was pretty good for us! Poor Jonah, he took his shoes off while we were outside working in the yard and somehow managed to step on the hedgetrimmer laying in the grass! One cut to his foot, a lot of blood, some dermabond, and one cool pair of purple surgical gloves later he was back in full swing! I'm just glad he didn't need stitches! He was very proud of his "owie" and had to show everyone.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Showering Christian

Yes, I am a little behind on my blog posts. So behind that I didn't even get a chance to post the pictures of the shower I hosted for Amy before she had Christian! We held the shower one week before he decided to make his arrival into the world so we barely made it!! I was so worried she was going to go into labor during the shower! I guess if she had, Christian would have had a lot of guests visiting him in the hospital! Anyway, we had a great time with family and friends and Christian received a lot of wonderful gifts!

I love the sandals and hat! Everything's so cute when it's this small!


Their little "Aggie" will stay nice and warm with this blanket!


This was our gift! Isn't it so cute?? You can have one for your very own from www.wordsindesign.com. She writes out the name using a nursery rhyme or bible verse. I chose Twinkle Twinkle Little Star for Christian. Then Amy can place her own picture of him behind the name! I just love this idea.


Yummy cupcakes from Tart


Jonah enjoying one of the yummy cupcakes


Cute picture of Jonah and Kayla in the bathtub after devouring yummy cupcakes

The Golden Anniversary

My parents celebrate 50 years of marriage today! That's a milestone that is rarely heard of today and that most couples never reach!

My parents met in 1957 and married one year later in 1958! My dad had just finished college and serving his time in the Marines. They moved around all over the country from city to city since my dad worked in the oil and gas industry. My oldest brother was born in 1959 and then they had their second son in 1965. I came into the picture a little later in 1976 :) That's when my mom decided they would settle down in our small hometown. My dad has always traveled for work while my mom stayed home with the kids! My mom is an excellent cook and was completely devoted to raising her children and taking care of our household affairs while my dad worked away for months at a time. I recall a memory from my childhood of my mom putting on my dad's wader's, grabbing a shotgun, and taking care of a water moccasin that had made it's way up to our front porch from the pond in front of our house! As kids we loved it when our dad traveled because then we would take vacations to see him and it gave us a lot of exposure to traveling while we were young. My dad put in a lot of hard work and finally started his own company while I was in High School so he could be home but then he eventually sold it. My dad loves to travel (I think I inherited those genes) so he went back to work as a contractor for another company and back to traveling when I was in college! I'm not sure he will ever retire! He is the strong father figure type with a tender heart especially when it comes to his little girl (Yes, I am still a daddy's girl!) He has been a dedicated father and husband. My parents have been through good times, great times, and even their fair share of struggles but the fact remains that they love each other very much, were and still are 100% devoted to their marriage. Even if you ask them today if they would do all over again without changing a thing, both of them reply with the same answer "Yes, definitely!"

Happy Anniversary to my parents! I love you very much and I hope you know you are an inspiration!

Oh Baby!

Josh and I welcomed a new nephew and Jonah welcomed a new cousin this week! Christian Blake Schneider made his arrival on Monday weighing in at 9lbs 3 ounces! We are so excited to have a new baby in the Schneider family! We can't wait to see him next weekend! Christian joins the House of Schneider with his sister, Kayla, mom, Amy, and dad, Jon!

I'll post pictures after I get some from Amy! I mean I don't know what's taking so long. It's not like they are busy or anything! ;) j/k

The Art of Persuasion

He may only be two but I have taught Jonah well in mastering the art of persuasion. The family was at the mall and I was walking through the boys section at Nordstrom’s eyeing all the cute new summer clothes. Jonah pulls a brown vintage t-shirt off the rack and proceeds to put it on as he announces to everyone “My shirt”. I pay no attention to him and keep thumbing through the racks. As I’m strolling along I overhear a conversation emerging between Josh and Jonah.

Josh – “Jonah, that’s not your shirt. You need to take it off and put it back on the hanger so we can put it back on the rack.”

Jonah – “My shirt.”

Josh – “Jonah, take off the shirt.”

Jonah - “My shirt. I want it.”

Josh – “Take it off now.”

Jonah – “I like it. My shirt.”

Josh – “Fine, take it off so we can pay for it.”

Jonah takes off the shirt and hands it back to Josh. I watch him as he walks up to the counter to pay with Jonah. It is then that I casually walk up to the counter and ask, “What are you doing?”

Josh replies with a slight tinge of frustration in his voice. “Buying Jonah this shirt” Forty dollars and some change and one vintage t-shirt later Josh is walking Jonah back to the dressing room to change into his new shirt (Jonah is so smart he even picked up the correct size - 2T) Josh smiles at me as he walks by and says “I decided to choose my battles today.” (a comment I use often during outings with Jonah these days)

While they are changing Jonah’s shirt I walk over to the Shoe Department and pick up a cute pair Dolce and Gabbana heels. Josh walks up and says “What are you doing?”

I reply – “My shoes.”

A Mother's instinct....

Tonight Jonah decided to take a tumble off the back of our couch head first onto our wood floor! It was like I was watching it happen in slow motion and couldn't get there fast enough to catch him and break the fall! That clip is engraved in my memory forever. As he was falling visions of the ER flashed before my eyes and there was a dead silence in the air as if my Mommy radar had kicked in and blocked all other sounds to listen for the breaking of a bone. But luckily he hit just right and the only injury he suffered was scraping his little foot on the corner of the desk as he was falling. At first he was in shock and then the wailing began. After a bag of ice, an examination with a flashlight for dilation of the pupils, making him sing his ABC's, and several kisses to his "ouchie" I concluded that he was okay and we did not need to bother his pediatrician at home.

After Jonah calmed down he asked me to "put the couch in time out!" I tried to explain to him that the couch did not have to go to time out because the couch did not do anything wrong. The couch did not make him stand up on the back of the cushion and fall. Jonah did that on his own even though Mommy has asked him several times not to stand on the couch. I hate that he had to fall and I'm so thankful that he is okay but I hope that this little tumble taught him a lesson and he will sit instead of stand on the couch from now on!

Fast forward an hour or so and we are in Jonah's bathroom running his bath. As I am testing the water to make sure it's not too hot, Jonah opens his drawer and finds his new big boy toothpaste. The toothpaste with fluoride in it. The toothpaste that the pediatric dentist recommended we start using but that came with strict instructions to only use a rice size amount for each brushing. Well, when I turned around to put Jonah in the tub I see the tube of toothpaste stuffed in his mouth as he is squeezing yummy berry sparkle flavored toothpaste into his chubby little cheeks. Did I mention that I am so ready for Josh to come home??

I snatch the toothpaste out of his hands and pry his mouth open only to see a blue berry sparkle colored tongue. When I ask him how much toothpaste he swallowed he replies with a "huh" I don't know what kind of response I was expecting from a two year old. So, I made a call to Poison Control and Suzanne and I (we are on a first name basis) had a nice chat about the effects of fluoride on a two year old. Just a tip for all the moms out there - The only way toothpaste will harm a child is if they swallow an entire regular size tube of toothpaste and that's a lot of berry sparkle! She instructed me to give him a glass of milk because the calcium would bond with the flouride and he would pass it. Good info to know but I think I'll keep a very close eye on him tonight while he his sleeping! I'll make sure to turn the monitor up extra loud and listen for any unusual bodily noises or movement.

I'm building quite the repertoire with Poison Control these days! If you need to know the effects Comet will have on a 1 1/2 year old give me a call and we can talk.

Referring to yesterday's post, was my instinct right? Is this the life I have to look foward to with a boy..... Tumbles and falls and Poison Control calls??

A fear of the things to come...

I fear this is the beginning of the things to come with having a boy.

You see this is a picture of my once sweet innocent precious baby boy turned hyper uncontrollable 2 year old that has just stripped off his diaper and threw it at me over the balcony in our foyer as I was walking out of my study with my camera in my hands!

Oh yes, this is the beginning of things to come with having a boy!

But seriously how can I get mad at the cute little face and adorable smile???

Butterfly Festival

Last week Jonah and Isabelle went on a date to the Butterfly Festival. I think they enjoyed checking out all the butterflies and the flowers. Then they rode on all the rides and they even took a tour of the Firetruck sitting outside. Afterwards they had lunch at Peter Piper Pizza! They are just too cute together! Jonah really loves his "Belle" as he calls her!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

One Lucky Mama

Thank you to my very sweet husband and my precious little boy for helping me have a fabulous Mother's Day! I slept in late which was wonderful and then I got up and took a very long time to get dressed with no interruptions - something I don't get to do often! Afterwards, Josh and Jonah cooked me breakfast which was very yummy! Then, we all headed to the mall and did a little shopping and picked up one of my Mother's Day gifts. After shopping we went out to dinner. Then to finish off the day we came home and went on a long walk with Riley! It was a great day! No horrible temper tantrums from Jonah and I don't think I had to raise my voice with him all day at the mall or least if I did I chose to block it out!

I'm still only 2 years into life as a Mommy and while it is as wonderful and life changing as everyone said it would be it is also hard work! We all strive to be the perfect mom and there are days were you feel defeated and days you feel like you've won the grand prize! You really have to learn to change yourself to adjust being completely responsible for someone else. You constantly question every action you take with your little one and when you go to sleep each night you pray that you have made the right decisions to help them grow into happy loving adults! I notice I cry a lot more since becoming a mom - tears of joy, tears of frustration, tears of happiness and even tears of sheer exhaustion. But in the end you know it's all worth it when your little one comes up to you on Mother's Day and grabs your cheeks with those chubby little hands and says "Mommy, I love you!" That's when you know you are one lucky mama and that maybe you're doing something right!

I hope my Mom realizes how lucky I am to have her in my life! She is a wonderful woman and I hope she had a fabulous day! And to Josh's Mom and to Jonah's Nana, Grandma, Mimi, and Oma we hope that they also had a wondeful day! We are so lucky to have them in our lives! They enrich our family with their kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity! We love you all!

Cinco de Mayo

It was fiesta time at Shannon's house on Monday as we celebrated Cinco de Mayo with her moms group. We had lots of good Mexican food and the kids made maracas as a craft project! Jonah had fun playing with Ryan and the other boys there. He was also very intrigued with watching all of the babies. Maybe he's trying to tell me he's ready for a sibling! I was kinda the odd mom out since all the other moms there had two children and Shannon has her second baby on the way!

Celebrating Josh's birthday

Last week was Josh's birthday! Since it was during the week we celebrated at home Tuesday night with take out and gifts and then went out over the weekend! Josh and I went to dinner and then out for drinks afterwards. We had a great time! Josh also celebrated with his brothers Jon and Jerod by going out to dinner on Thursday night while I was out of town. Josh and Jon share the same birthday since they are twins! :)

Ranson Ranch

Last week Jonah and I went to visit my parents. Jonah had so much fun at my parent's ranch seeing all the animals including the chickens, turkeys, cows, guineas and ducks. He even held one of the baby chicks that had just hatched. My dad took him through the garden and showed him how vegetables grow. Jonah then drove my dad's tractor! That was quite an adventure. Me, my dad, Riley and Jonah all piled into the tractor and we took it out to one of the big hay fields. My dad controlled the gas and then gave the wheel over to Jonah to drive! We went in circles for about 10 minutes but he loved it! My mom said she saw us going around in circles and figured Jonah must be driving! LOL!

We had a great time at the 5R Ranch! Thanks Nana and Papa!

Signs of Spring

We were in Georgetown last weekend and Jonah and Kayla spent a lot of time outside playing since the weather was so great! I love spring time in Texas! I wish it would stay like this all summer long! I'm not looking forward to the 100 degree weather this summer! Ugh! We finally decided to let them have a lot of fun and we stripped them down to their diapers and let them play with squirt bottles in the sandbox and on the swing. We had a bathtub full of sand that night but it was worth it because they had a blast and were both asleep by 8:30pm!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Trip to Grisham Farm

Last week we visited Grisham Farm. Jonah loved petting and feeding all of the animals!

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

Busy Bees

Things have been really busy around here and I have been neglecting my blog! Out of town trips, weddings, play dates, Junior League and birthdays have been occupying our weeks and weekends! Instead of taking a nap with Jonah today, I decided I should probably spend some time with updates! So, here we go.....

Since Jonah has been home with me he has been a little social butterfly busy with play dates and with his new obsession - Soccer! I enrolled him in a soccer class a few weeks ago and he loves his "soccer ball class" (as he calls it)! I haven't attempted to take pictures yet but don't worry before the class ends I will be sure to snap a few pics of our little soccer fanatic!

Play date with Ryan at the park



Our friends Jenn and Vince's wedding




Play date at the Mall - Jonah's favorite - the Carousel!




Trip to Georgetown to see Kayla
Painting with water - (Note to Moms: no mess and provides hours of fun outside!)



Jonah's weekend with Jerod (aka JJ) while Josh was in Arizona and I was volunteering with Junior League!


JJ lets me eat the good stuff - PIZZA!



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We had a play date with Jonah's friend Isabelle and her Mom, Erica, at the McKinney Library for storytime and then we had lunch at Chick-fil-A! Jonah has really missed his "Belle"! He asks about her all the time and when he finally saw her at the library he ran around dancing! It was so cute! I'm just mad at myself for not taking any pictures of the two of them together! We'll have to get together again soon!

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Visit from Grandma




Play date at the park with Ashton and Reese
I had to use a couple of Sarah's pictures of Reese and Jonah because they were just SO cute!

Our friend John's 30th Birthday party!

Earth Day - The Schneider Footprint

Happy Earth Day! In honor of Earth Day here are some of the things we do and use around our house to help protect and save our planet and make our house more organic and healthier for our family!



* We only use Organic Cleaning products. I love the Green Works products and the Method products they sell at Target.
* To protect Riley, we only use soap and water to clean the floors in our house. There have been studies that show that chemicals in wood floor cleaners and tile cleaners can cause serious problems in animals that may lick the floor and ingest the chemical residue over time.
* We try to purchase as many organic food items as we can - especially when it comes to Jonah's food. Organic peanut butter, juices, milk, fruit, meat, etc.
* We recycle!
* We use energy saving light bulbs.
* We try to remember to always turn off the lights when we leave a room (it's a work in progress!)
* We stopped using bath products full of chemicals. Now we use all natural organic products for ourselves and Jonah.
* Josh traded in his Jaguar for a more fuel efficient vehicle. He didn't purchase a hybrid but it does use less gas.

I know it's not much but hopefully it will have some sort of impact and at least we are teaching Jonah the importance of being "Green"!

Here is my favorite new website with lots of tips on living a "Gorgeously Green" life without having to give up your Manolos for tofu and hemp! www.gorgeouslygreen.com

Now I'm off to buy some reusable totes for shopping!!

Best Friends!

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture!

Jonah was asleep on the couch in the gameroom so Riley jumped up and laid down beside him. After he fell asleep I covered both of them up and they slept this way for over an hour! Too Cute!!!

Feeling Left Out

Mine and Josh's conversation a few days ago.

Monda - "So, did you happen to check out our blog today?"

Josh - "It's not "our" blog!"

Monda - "What do you mean it's not "our" blog?"

Josh - "When was the last time you put anything on there about me or something I did?"

Monda - "I always put pictures of you on the blog!"

Josh - "Yes, but they are pictures of you and me or me and Jonah. There's never anything on there about what I've been doing."

I started thinking about Josh's comment and you know...technically, he's right! I usually only put updates on the blog that include me and/or Jonah and Josh. I really never thought about the fact that I don't blog about what's going on with Josh!

So Sweetie, I'm sorry! I promise to start including more posts about your activities and achievements! With that being said, here's a post to let everyone know what you have been up to over the last couple of years when you are not busy at work! Josh spends a lot of time with us but when he's not busy with a family event, he works out, he's also very involved with the Alumni chapter of his fraternity, and when he's not doing one of those activities, he's playing tennis! Josh is a phenomenal tennis player and here are the awards to prove it. For the last two years he has been the Champion in the Allen League in Men's 4.0 Singles as well as the Champion in the Men's 4.0 Singles with the Fretz Tennis Center in Dallas! (We haven't picked up the last Trophy from Allen yet!)

A Day out with Thomas the Train

Last Friday we went to see Thomas the Train in Grapevine. Jonah had fun on his first train ride and enjoyed seeing the large model train set and other Thomas activity areas.

Playdate with Ryan

Jonah's good friend Ryan came over the other day for a playdate. The boys had a great time playing with the dinosaurs, riding the roller coaster and bouncing in the bounce house.