Troy and Melanie (dot com)

Another day in the books. No funny stories or happenings today… just a regular day. We read for a bit, listened to music (including a best of CD from the Land of Nod… thanks Jen!), did a bit of tummy time, and managed to get in a walk. Today did have a first… this was the first night that I spent with Cole by myself… he’s not a very happy camper in the evenings and true-to-form he had a meltdown and then passed out around 8:30. Tomorrow’s weather looks really crappy (90% chance of rain and a high of 48) so it will likely be an inside day for us.

Today’s photos

And a little video

Mommy’s Little Monster from Troy Schneider on Vimeo.

‘Twas a lazy Sunday. We hung around the house, watched the Eagles manhandle barely beat the Redskins, grabbed an early dinner at Rudy’s, and did a little more shopping at Babies-R-Us (it never fails that we forget something when we go there). The weather today wasn’t the greatest, but luckily we were able to avoid most of the more drenching rain during our outing. On the way out to dinner I did have a run in with a snake in our garage… I won… you can see a photo here: http://img390.yfrog.com/i/l4rz.jpg/. Tomorrow’s weather looks worse so I don’t know if Cole will be making his first appearance at my office. We’ll see.

Today’s photos

As has become a tradition around our house, the weekend after Thanksgiving is when we begin decorating for Christmas. Today’s goal was to get the Christmas tree setup and decorated. We decided to go with a blue theme in honor of Cole turning 3 months old today (time is just flying!) and added in some silver and white to get some variety.

We also managed to sneak away for a date night tonight thanks to Melanie’s friend, Fran, who’s visiting from New York. Thanks Fran! We saw The Blind Side (really good movie) and had dinner at TXLC.

Today’s photos

The normal post-turkey-day hangover takes on a different feel when you have a newborn. No longer can you sleep in, enjoy a day full of leftovers, and sit on the couch watching whatever sports happen to be on (did you see the Alabama/Auburn football game? Auburn almost pulled out the upset). Since we were up fairly early this morning we decided to take Cole out for his first Black Friday shopping trip… to none other than Babies-R-Us (parents, if you are looking for a store to take your newborn to where they can holler and scream all they want and people don’t stare you down because of it, BrUs is the place to go). We picked up a few things for Cole including a Santa hat and a Christmas outfit (you’ll have to wait until near Christmas to see photos of them) and then high tailed it out of there.

Black Friday shopping isn’t my idea of fun… though I did hit up Old Navy for some cheap clothes tonight (that place looked like it was hit by a tornado… the employees all looked worn out and they still had almost 4 hours to go until closing). I’m not sure why Americans go bonkers for Black Friday shopping (waiting in line at 10pm for Old Navy to open at 3am makes you certifiably nuts), but I can explain why it’s important to go to Best Buy at midnight to pick up the new Guitar Hero game (don’t ask).

I hope y’all had a great day regardless of whether you were out braving the crowds at 4am or were camped out on the sofa for a day of post gluttony recuperation.

Today’s photos

(we got Cole the whale hanging toy a couple of days ago and he started grabbing it today)

Melanie: “Maybe we should co-blog today.”
Troy: (look of disbelief) “Are you in my head??”
Melanie: “Sixteen years, babe…sixteen years.” (how long we’ve been together)

Every year we celebrate Thanksgiving we have many, many things to be thankful for. This year, in particular, we’ve been blessed with a growing family and feel more thankful than ever. To commemorate our first Thanksgiving together as a family, Melanie and I decided we would write a blog post together and share our lists of things we are most thankful for.

Melanie’s List:

• That God was so good to me and helped me find the love of my life early in life
• That He was also so good to me and brought me the second love of my life this past August
• That I was raised in a family filled with love, with parents that helped me to be the best “me” I could be
• That I have a fur-baby that, after five years, still greets me (when I emerge from the bathroom, no less) with kisses and butt shakes like I’ve been away for months
• That I have a job that I find fulfilling, challenging, and enjoyable for an organization whose mission I respect and support
• That we have good health, a roof over our heads, food in our bellies, and even perks like a dvr and an iMac.
• That we have friends and family who are there for us and want for our best, who we can have tons of fun with, and who care enough to read this list…

Troy’s List

• my wife… 16 years? seriously? every day still feels new
• my son… words can’t express how he’s lit up my life
• my family… both near and far… I love you and miss you dearly
• my health (the worst thing to happen to me this year was nearly breaking my toe)
• our dog Bella who makes me smile everyday, no matter how bad my day has been
• my job… the people, the mission, my manager… who approved my 7 week paternity leave

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We hope you and your family had a great day celebrating all that you are thankful for.

Today’s photos

Morning bath time (Cole had an unexpected diaper blow out that necessitated the bath)

Bath time = splash time from Troy Schneider on Vimeo.

(the Longhorns are playing the Aggies tonight… which team do you think we’re cheering for?)

Cole was definitely in a rare mood today. It seemed like nothing would make him happy. Not sure what that was all about (growing pains?). In any event I survived. We read a bit this morning, tummy time was a flop (he screamed the entire time), we did go for a nice long walk around lunchtime, and we visited Mommy.

Today’s Photo

And a couple of movies that were shot today…
Happy Cole

Unhappy Cole

Today was a strange day, for some reason. We got a late start and I think that threw Cole off of his schedule (what little schedule there is) because he didn’t nap this morning, got really cranky around 2, napped from 2:30 to 3:15, woke up screaming, got soothed by Mommy (he was having none of it from Daddy), then fell asleep on Mommy and then Daddy for almost 2 hours. We’ve decided that we are going to try going out to dinner (noisy steakhouse) so we’re hoping he is a bit happier this evening. Wish us luck!

Today’s photos

Last night’s trip to the ER ended with me finding out that I did not break my toe *whew*. I left the hospital with a pain reliever prescription in case the pain got worse and a diagnosis of a severely sprained toe that will heal in a couple of weeks. Cole was happy to hear that because our little drool monkey does not like to sit still for more than a few minutes and since he can’t move around himself he relies on Mommy and me to walk him all over the house. It’s a bit tiring, but fun to see him being so inquisitive at just over 12 weeks old.

Today Cole was in an unusually nappy mood. He napped 3 times between 9am and 4:30pm. No complaints from me . We managed to get in some reading time, music time, and tummy time before his second nap. After his that nap we took a ride to see Mommy at work and then we went for a short walk (ouchy toe) to get the mail… followed by a bottle and another nap. We think he might be going through a growth spurt… expending most of his energy growing and needing the extra sleep to re-energize. Keep it up little man… grow, grow, grow

Today’s photos

(he had a small diaper blowout in the morning so he required 2 outfits today)

And on the seventh day it was decreed that all should watch football… and so we did.

Apparently it was also decreed that I should find a way to hurt myself today . After deciding to take Cole and Bella for a walk I was running up the stairs to change when I stubbed my toe harder than I’ve ever stubbed a toe before. I’m having a very hard time walking on it (so Mel took the kids for a walk by herself while I iced my foot) and after I go downstairs to grab a bite to eat I’m going to drive myself over to the ER to get it x-rayed. Boooo.

Photos will make us happier

(Eagles game tonight… go E-A-G-L-E-S!!)

Not much going on at our house today. The weather is pretty dreary (not raining, but gray and chilly) so we decided to stay inside and just hang out. The ‘Horns play Kansas tonight so we’re looking forward to watching the game. Cole was must more agreeable today… he’s napped a few times and did an awesome job with tummy time (see the photos).

I don’t have much more to add so we’ll just keep this short.

Today’s photos

(yes, those are scratches on his face. even though we trim his nails he finds ways to mark himself up)