It has been a busier than normal holiday season around the Schneider household this year and for good reason. We welcomed Nathan Dean into our lives last week and could not be happier that our family has grown by one. Big brother Cole has been awesome and really seems to love his little brother already. Nate’s stats: 8lbs 4oz and 21.5″ long. Both of our boys were long babies, but Nate has the definitive edge in birth weight… we’ll see if that holds up as he gets older. It took Cole almost 2 years to make it to the 50th percentile in weight.

Here are some photos of our time at the hospital as well as some photos of us at home. Enjoy!

It took 2 whole years, but Cole’s hair finally got to the point where he needed to get a cut so this morning we took him to the Pigtails and Crewcuts in Cedar Park where Linda gave him a spiffy new cut. P & C has a lot of fun toys for the kids to play with (which Cole took complete advantage of) and they have cool taxi, firetruck, and airplane chairs for the kids to sit in while they get their hair cut. Cole did awesome and didn’t cry at all (he was a little unsure at first, but with Mommy near by blowing bubbles he was a perfect gentleman). Mommy did well too . We have a lock of his curls for scrapbooking and a photo from P & C.

You can check out more photos on my Facebook page.

Watch out now… we have a 2 year old! It’s pretty amazing to think back over the past 2 years and realize how quickly they passed by. We’ve loved every second of the journey and get tremendous happiness from seeing how Cole is growing up. By this time next year we’ll be celebrating Cole’s 3rd birthday and he’ll have a 9 month old little brother. Crazy! Until then we’ll just love up on our little man. Happy Birthday Cole! We love you! (that was a lot of exclamation points from me)

Yesterday we celebrated Cole’s last day in his current room at school. On Monday he’ll be starting in a new room with a group of new kids (luckily for him he already has interacted with most of them… 3 from his current room, 3 from a previous room, and 2 from Gymboree). We celebrated with cookies, “diplomas”, toy buckets, and lots of laughs. We’re all going to miss his teachers, but we’re looking forward to seeing what this next year will bring (potty training among other things).

Here are some photos (taken with our iPhones) from the party.

For some reason he loved the taste of his diploma

Boy!

The flood of emotions was pretty strong when we found out today. Both happy and sad, but mostly happy. Cole is going to love having a little brother to play with and we’re fortunate that we already have a ton of boys clothes and toys so turkey will be all set when he arrives, but there is definitely a little part of us that wanted that all-American dream family (one boy and one girl). We’re pretty sure that this will be our last child (we ain’t no spring chickens), but who knows what the future will hold. For now we are in love with our two boys and are trying to grasp the fact that we are going to have two boys running around the house by the end of next year. Send well wishes and any extra energy you have… we’ll need it

PS. Turkey is completely healthy… 10 little fingers, ten little toes, button nose, and lots of energy (he was moving all around during the ultrasound)

PPS. Final tally for the poll was 15 votes girl, and 5 boy… most of us are bad guessers

We’re having our fetal anatomy review sonogram on Tuesday 7/12 where we’ll (hopefully) find out if Cole is going to have a little brother or sister. Now’s your opportunity to vote for what you think we are going to have. Here’s some information to help before voting.

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There’s nothing like it…motherhood. Nevermind the workday and whatever happened during it and nevermind meeting hubby for lunch, though that was very nice. The most memorable parts of my day inevitably revolve around my role as a mommy. It is what it is. Some people find that dull or just not their cup of tea. I get it. I am sometimes surprised or amused myself when I think of my brand of exciting these days. Nevertheless, it is my life and life is good.

So, what was the most memorable part of my day? Hmm. Maybe it was Cole waking up chipper and making sure we all got “dowstairs” for “breffest”…”go Bella.” Or maybe it was him putting on his own shoes, saying “daddy bathroom” and running over to knock on the bathroom door to tell daddy “all done.” Could it have been the sweet morning kiss goodbye or his enjoyment tonight of some purple slushie or his sudden announcement that he wanted to see his penguins followed by his dash to the stairs to go upstairs for his bath? Or the minute when he ran into his room in the buff, turned on his twilight turtle and marveled at the stars that were decorating his little legs? Perhaps it was when he had us laughing till there were tears when his repeated request for a frog sounded more like he had some bad potty mouth. But then again, there was the time soon after when he hugged and kissed some of his toys and requested we do the same…ah, the nightly routine. It may or may not be the part where he woke up a bit scared from a nightmare and called out for mommy and daddy in a heartbreaking way or the part where we had a nice, reassuring family hug. All said though, I think it was the part where I rocked little man for a little bit longer, soothing him whilst his tiny brother or sister tried diligently to kick him from within. Yep, there’s nothing like it and I feel blessed.

Baby #2 is on the way! Meet our little turkey. We expect to meet him/her on 11/22.

(not the greatest picture, but you can tell it’s an ultrasound)

Watermelon is pronounced “panama” for some reason and “blanket” is “beebee” but there are a good number of words Cole says pretty clearly. He also understands different concepts and says the words that go with them such as “up” and “down” and “inside” and “outside.” So, here are some of his latest favorite words:

Stars, moon, twinkle, lightning (Cars), Ramone (Cars), bear, monkey, all of the colors, one, two, three, helicopter, truck, car, bus, airplane, bike, hot, splash, water, hug, climb, Elmo, Big Bird, Ernie, Bert, Abby, Zoe, Eeyore, Tigger, Pooh, Piglet, rabbit, light, itchy, basketball, bird, all animal sounds, puppy, mouse, cheese, fruit, pizza, bee, baby, help, outside, slide, crib, penis (yes, he knows that word), spin, swing, hop, and bye-bye

There are plenty more, but those are some of the more commonly used ones right now, including, of course, mommy, daddy, and Bella.

He gives high fives and “knucks.” He jumps up and down well. He sleeps really well and the bedtime routine is pretty pleasant these days. He strips on occasion and takes his shoes off plenty. He likes to scoop out Bella’s food for her (of course, he does about ten tiny scoops as opposed to our two regular ones). He is quite the fan of animated films/tv and he is quite the couch snuggler. He gives excellent hugs and kisses and he’s just a pretty joyful character to be around, certainly willful at times, but a lot of sweetness and fun overall.

Cole is getting to such a fun age. He’s talking up a storm (though we can’t understand half of it), he’s climbing on everything (both fun and nerve wracking), and is beginning to get interested in cartoons (Cars is his absolute favorite right now). He’s also at the age where he can understand a bit about the Easter bunny (it’s funny hearing him say “rabbit”) and he had a blast today looking for all of the eggs that we hid around the house. In fact, he had so much fun that we re-filled them and re-hid them during his nap so he could find them again. All-in-all it was a great Easter. We hope that you and your family had a happy one as well.