Bless You Nana!

Max likes to "bless you" when you sneeze, cough, clear your throat, burp, sniffle, and, as my mom found out this morning, when you gag. Max gave her particularly pleasant diaper to change and true to form Max declared, "Bless you Nana" after each gag she endured.

Self-motivated Manners

I was cleaning up the table after lunch and without prompting Max saddled up next to me, grabbed my hand, looked me in the eyes with those sparkling blues and said, "Thank you Mommy for cleaning up my mess." So simple, but so sweet.

NC Vacation & 1st Tooth

Mason's first tooth broke through the skin yesterday!  You would barely notice he is teething because of his calm demeanor; however, he has been drooling a lot!  He now eats solid foods regularly including: rice with formula, bananas, sweet potatoes, & apples.  We will be adding carrots & pears in the next few days.  Mason continues to roll back and forth from his back to his tummy.  He is VERY eager to get moving.  He still loves bouncing in the jumperoo.  He is now able to flip himself out of his swing and car seat so we put the swing away & have to be very careful when he is in his car seat.  He is already looking up to his big brother; he loves watching him in action.  He has endless smiles & giggles, & is ALWAYS in a good mood.  He is now growing out of diapers faster than we can use them, having some leaks in the crib during sleeping periods.  He is a fabulous sleeper.  He has started to enjoy bath time too! 

On another note, Mason traveled with me to North Carolina to visit Aunt Kaycie about 2 weeks ago (May 11-18, 2010).  He was an excellent traveler.  He only cried on one leg of the trip going to Raleigh from our layover in Boston.  He fussed due to exhaustion, not having his own seat, & being crammed into a tiny little plane on my lap.  He loved visiting auntie Kaycie & Uncle Ken.  He slept in the guest room full bed with me very well.  He enjoyed the doggy Philip & the late kitty Albert (who died at the paws of a cougar just 2 days after we left).  Everyone we met loved Mason.  He went to Wal-mart & met Kaycie's co-workers, to Gail & Carlyle's house for dinner, to 2 church services, and to 2 restaurant visits.  It was an amazing trip for all!

Family Moments from Facebook

March 26, 2010
On our way up to Bend this morning we nearly got stuck in the snow and had to turn around in Detroit. If ever I had doubts about letting Lars get the big king cab 4x4 truck he's been wanting, they are now put to rest. Isn't it sping break? I must have forgotten I don't live in Las Vegas anymore! I am certianly not thinking like a native Oregonian!

March 22, 2010
So glad Daddy is home from his annual March Madness trip in Las Vegas!! I have a new found respect for single mothers! Now onto 4 days of potty training boot camp! Wish us luck!

March 5, 2010
Max had a BLAST yesterday playing with his new friends Seven and Michael! Seven and Michael are expert boys who did a great job inducting Max onto a new level of high quality horseplay. I just love little boys! Also, I got to catch up with my long-time friend Haley. She just became a LMT and I was lucky enough to get a fabulous in-home massage last night. Who knew Lars' theater could moonlight as a massage parlor?

Mason Moments from Facebook

April 14, 2010
1 super sick Schin-little = 2 less on the plane traveling to North Carolina today. I am in desperate need of a dislike button. Please pray for our little Mason.

Maxwell Moments from Facebook

May 1, 2010
Max's fears of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny should have clued me into what his reaction might be when confronted with giant Sesame Street characters. We only forced the people around us to endure 20 minutes of him screaming bloody murder before we decided to eat the $90 we spent on the "best available" seats. My poor baby was actually trembling... See More he was so scared. He has started doing this more lately with fear objects: the jet-tub, the shower, the heater, and large characters. We try our best to reassure him, reason with him, remove him from the situations, but I'm not sure how else to deal with it. :(

May 1, 2010
Watch out Elmo, you're about to meet Maxwell Schindler! "Sesame Street Live" here we come!!

April 29, 2010
Max: "Mommy I got poop!" Me: "Do you want to go to the toilet?" Max: "ALL DONE toilet!" Me: "Well, do you want me to change your diaper or do you want to walk around with poop?" Max: "I walk in my poop."

April 20, 2010
Max just locked me in his room with him. :/ I had to jump out his window barefoot (which is almost 10 ft down) to escape. I realized as I landed on the bark dust that he & Mason will have no trouble navigating that jump as teenagers. *~shudder~* But alas, disaster diverted; lesson learned (hopefully only on my part). ...It is quite humbling to be schooled by a 2 year old a daily basis.

April 12, 2010
Schindler Success . . . Max has used the toilet every morning after breakfast and every evening before bath for a week straight, on his own accord. I am SO proud of my son!

April 8, 2010

More proof that Max will do ANYTHING to get to my cell phone. He actually crawled onto the bar stool, over the counter & into the dishwasher all in under 10 seconds to snag it. I think Mason was quite impressed with his big bro's ingenuity! Note to self . . . do not put dishes away while unloading them. Any suggestions on how to do that?

April 2, 2010
On another “Max” note... We had our 2nd visit at the baby gym today.With myriad apparatuses to choose from, Max decides on the walker/seat of a little handicapped boy. After spotting it, he headed over and promptly took a seat all the while telling the owner,“Want drive, I drive, you share, don’t take!” Fortunately, the... little boy’s mother was not offended and actually found Max quite charming. Yes, this is my child.

April 2, 2010
Easter Bunny verdict: we will officially forgo our holiday character visits until further notice.

March 29, 2010
BTW- Max is NOT, I repeat, NOT potty trained. This boy will do AMAZING things in life! I hope using the toilet is one of them.

March 24, 2010
Is it bad I am single-handedly responsible for Max saying, "What heck!?" every time he is frustrated or irritated? My little "pitcher" definitely has ears!

March 18, 2010
This week Max was babysat by a fabulous 7th grader, Madi. Last night when he heard the doorbell he ran to the door exclaiming, "Madi's here, Madi's here!!" Opening the door he discovered it was not Madi; it was my dad. Bursting into tears he yelled disdainfully, "Want Madi, want Madi, all done Papa, all done Papa!!" It seems even our legendary BIG PAPA can't compete with the magnetic powers of a middle school girl!

March 9, 2010
Catherine Keeton says . . . Max is the life of the party!! Why cooperate when there is so many cell phones waiting to have their codes cracked. He is a diamond in the rough. You go Max!!!!

March 8, 2010
Went to a local moms group music class today. There were approx. 18 glowing moms each paired with an angelic child, or two (mostly girls), all cooperating, participating, and showing respect (which ironically are the rules of my classroom) . . . and then there was Max. Let's just say I was one of "those" moms and Max was "that" kid. ~Sigh~

March 1, 2010
We attended our first baby gym class for toddlers today. Max bulldozes a little girl out of turn in line to use the uneven bars exclaiming, "You share, you share!" I don't think he's quite got the whole "sharing" idea yet. However, I can always count on him to impress everyone with his linguistic abilities! :o) Oh... yeah, Mason slept 9 hours straight last night!! Sleep is such a luxury these days!

Lars Moments from Facebook

May 3, 2010
It is a bittersweet day in the Schindler home. It is the end of an era. It is the end of a tradition my dear husband hoped to pass onto our children. It is the end of those treasured moments visiting the video store and renting movies. Goodbye Hollywood Video; it was nice to know you! SchindlerVision III will now be showing Netflix.

April 25, 2010
I ♥ my husband! He is an amazing man!

March 9, 2010
Just had my lessons interrupted by Lars rapping Wyclef Jean "We Trying to Stay Alive." He was so loud I had to ask him to go to another room and shut the door. Who knew I married my own Vanilla Ice?

March 7, 2010
Great surprise birthday weekend for Lars . . . Birthday cake from The Lovin' Oven, dinner and cocktails at Red Robin with the family, Alice in Wonderland at the theater with friends, and a McMenamins Kennedy School over-nighter for the two of us (special thanks to my wonderful parents for watching our babies). Good times; fantastic memories!

March 5, 2010
Happy 37th Birthday to my wonderful husband Lars! Fun *surprise* weekend planned; stay tuned for the review! I love Pisceans!

Vomit at Dairy Queen

Yesterday, my sweet husband was nice enough to take care of our boys so I could go out to happy hour with a good friend. While I was gone he took the boys for a walk, to the grocery store, and then over to my parent's house. The boys visited with my parents and then Lars and my dad took another walk over to Dairy Queen for dinner. Max was a very good boy, eating all of his dinner, which he rarely does. After he finished eating he started the ever dreaded coughing fit. Max does not understand how to cough without causing himself to gag; every time he has a coughing fit he pukes. Well, Lars got to experience Max's first coughing fit, gagging, and puke in a public restaurant, without me to help. Thankfully the vomit was contained in the tray on the table and my dad was very helpful. What a wonderful husband I have!

Sugar Cookies

Wednesday was buttermilk biscuits and today was sugar cookies! Max and I are learning to be bakers! Sugar cookies are a little harder than the biscuits because of the frosting. Max helped pat out the dough, name the cookie cutter shapes, put on the frosting, sprinkle the sprinkles, and eat the first two cookies. Notice the dollop of green frosting in the corner of his mouth. It was very challenging to keep him from coughing all over the cookies. I'm trying hard to teach him to cough away from people and things into the inside of his elbow.  Teaching a 2 year old to cough correctly is very difficult.  We’re all sick so we won't be sharing this batch with anyone who is healthy. Fun times baking with Max!

My Second Born

Mason is a wonderful baby boy!  He was born on Tuesday, December 8, 2009.  He gave us his first smile on Saturday, January 16, 2010.  He began sleeping through the night during his second month of life.  He rolled over from tummy to back on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010.  He rolled from back to tummy on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22, 2010.  He has gotten sick once per month since his second month of life, and was his sickest during the month of April when he caught RSV from Max. 

Mason loves smiling, giggling, cooing, kicking, bouncing, and grabbing.  He used to hate taking baths and screamed bloody murder, but in the last week he has not cried once during any of his baths.  He rarely cries, though he cried the first four hours straight after he was born because he had gas.  We have discovered he usually only cries when he has gas.  He does voice some displeasure (though not through crying) when he is sick, tired, or lonely.  He does not spit up as much as Max did.  He is very laid back and has an extremely sweet countenance. 

Mason has another cold right now, but despite being sick he's been rolling all morning long, tummy to back and back to tummy.  Max has been encouraging him to roll because they spend a lot of time playing on the floor with Mason's toys.  Max is very sweet to him and they already really like each other.  Mason also enjoys sitting in his BUMBO even though he has started playing with his feet more which causes him to fall forward in it.  He likes jumping in his jumperoo, watching the lights on his floor mat, and looking in mirrors.  He sucks his right thumb, just like big brother, and has started drooling a lot!  I'm sure his first teeth with pop in soon.  When he was born he loved tummy time, but since about his third month, he does quite a bit of protesting during tummy time. 

I love my little Mason!

Dirty Diapers

We've always taken dirty diapers out to the garage for disposing because they stink up the bedrooms too much. Sometimes in a rush they are left on the hallway floor before they make it to the garage diaper genies. When this happens, Max loves to throw the dirty diapers out the cat door into the garage. Today while changing Mason I noticed there was quite a stench in his room. Since we don't dispose of dirty diapers in the bedrooms, I was perplexed. I then discovered Max's other favorite place to throw dirty diapers . . . Mason's crib! YUCK!

Stilettos

I was awoken this morning to Lars apologizing for turning on the shower. Why? Unbeknownst to us, Max put two pairs of my most expensive stilettos in the shower yesterday. Lars discovered them 5 minutes & a few hundred dollars too late. If the broken toe I incurred the last time I wore a pair was not enough; this is final confirmation they should be retired.

Buttermilk Biscuits

I wanted to use up the buttermilk in the fridge before it went bad SO Max and I made "from scratch" buttermilk biscuits. He helped pat out the dough, he picked out all the shapes (including a triangle, 2 squares, 2 rectangles, a pentagon, 2 hearts, an umbrella, 2 eighth-notes, 2 stars, & 3 circles), he cut out all of the biscuits with the cookie cutter shapes, & he helped put them on the cookie sheet. We baked them up and he ate them for brunch with butter & jam. He is very excited to share them with his daddy when he gets home. He is quite the little baker! 

Sickness visits the Schindler House

2 sneezy, snotty, stuffy, sick Schindler boys . . . AGAIN, and a very sad Mommy. :( Will my boys ever stay healthy for more than a week?

The end of an era

Yesterday was a sad day for my dear husband.  He went to Hollywood Video to rent his weekly blu ray videos, only to find out they are going out of business!  I've been trying to get him to agree to join Netflix for some time now and I never really understood why he resisted so fervently.  Apparently, he loves going to the video store, browsing the movies, & taking his treasures home to watch.  This is a tradition he has loved since he was a young boy.  He says he feels an era has ended and he is disappointed he doesn't get to share his visits to a video store with his sons.  He's right, I don't understand, but I am very excited to join Netflix and participate in 2010! 

Sickness Strikes the Schindler House AGAIN!

We had a wonderful morning planned with new friends which had to be canceled because our Maxarooni woke up with a runny nose & congestion. Didn't we just get well around here?! I am praying Mason stays healthy and our new trip to NC (the one re-scheduled from April due to RSV) doesn't have to be canceled again!