Twins!

When I was growing up, my sister and I dressed as twins quite often. I'm not sure if my mom thought it would prevents fights over clothes, or if maybe she just thought it looked cute, but frequently, my sister and I were dressed the same, or at least in similar outfits. So today, Tayler and I thought it would be fun for her and Carson were to dress as twins. Quite frankly, I'd dress them alike every day if I could! I think they look so cute!

Toofs

It's official. Tayler has ZERO front teeth. The second one finally came out and now she has a beautiful, toothless smile! The second of the two front teeth proved to be a little bit of a problem. For some reason, Tayler was scared to have it pulled...so she wiggled it, and pushed it for weeks! It was barely hanging on, and most of the time, spent it's days in the middle of her smile so it looked like she only had one front tooth, smack in th center of her upper jaw. It was pretty cute at times, but I worried she'd swollow it while eating. So, the other morning, after a little pep talk from mom....she worked up the courage to let me "gently" pull on it....and of course, out it came! Such a relief! The tooth fairy came, and all is well again in the Schienbei house!!! And, her smile couldn't be cuter!

Lately, Brian has been dead set on getting Carson a baseball hat. He's browsed online quite bit, trying to find the perfect hat for him. Today, while Carson was playing around with Brian's hat, Brian went into our room and found a hat that belonged to his dad. He cinched the fastener down as small as it would go, and voila! Carson has a hat! Something tells me there will still be a hat purchase for our little guy, but for now...he's sporting a hat that belonged to his namesake!

Fun with Cousins

Two little drooling sweet hearts!

My cousin Allison and her kids came by today to drop off the Girl Scout cookies we ordered (YUM!). It had been quite awhile since Carson and her little guy Zach, and Tayler and her daughter Maddy, had been together. Zach is about 3 weeks older than Carson, and Maddy is about a year older than Tayler. It's just perfect, except for the fact that she also has a little guy, Logan who is a year and a half...and sadly, I don't have a child for him to play with....but, he had a pretty good time running between the girls and the boys!

Carson and Zach both had to be reminded to be careful with eachothers hair!

Theses two together are quite a pair! Reminds me of two cousins I know when they were young! ......Me & Ally!

It was nice to visit with my cousin. I hadn't seen her in a few months. We're hoping to get together during spring break sometime. Our kids have such a good time together!

In this post I'm also putting up one of the pics of Carson with Papa Doug from when he and Grandma Betty were here about a week ago. They love spending time with the kids while they are here...and I'm not sure what it is, but I just love watching Carson with Papa Doug. The way he stares at him, and plays with the buttons on his shirt...it just makes me so happy. And Papa Doug could just hold him all day long.

Yes indeed. That is Scott's prized bear skin rug...such a lovely backdrop =/

"Like Family" by Paula McLain

Like Family: Growing Up in Other People's Houses, is a memoir written by Paula McLain. It's the story of her childhood where she and her sisters were shipped from foster home to foster home. The author is most known for her poetry. The way she uses words in his book are beautiful. Her poetic voice frequently shines through in her writing.

This story was really sad at times. It amazes me the things that happen to children in "the system". It's terrible that selfish, cruel people are allowed to take children into their homes. The author does mention (in the back of the book there is a Q & A section) that there are several books that have been published about the positive side of foster homes, but it really didn't seem like the author of this book experienced anyone that could be described as positive.

This book made me remember how lucky I am for the parents that I have, and the childhood I had growing up.

Photo found here

Seven Months

I can't believe it either. Carson is seven months old. My mom said yesterday "he's almost been alive as long as he was in your tummy!" That is so mind blowing to me! This seems to be going by so much faster!!! He's turning into a little boy. Brian and I are amazed daily at things he does. He had his 6 months check up a little while ago and our doctor said "whoa, he's long isn't he!" He's in the 79th percentile for length...but only the 35th for weight! He's a little string bean like his dad was! The doctor said that his weight is pretty normal...and that it may even go down a little bit more due to his rising physical activity level.

He's taken to rolling himself all over the house...getting where he wants to go. He continues to reach and grab for everything. We're pretty sure crawling is just around the corner. He'll get up on his knees a little...so it seems like he knows there's gotta be a better way to get around, he just hasn't quite figured out what it is. He's even started throwing little fits when anything is taken from him, or when he can't get something he wants. It's pretty cute...but we're hoping he grows out of it! Still NO TEETH! But that certainly hasn't stopped him from trying new foods. He's a great eater! Sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peas...he's yet to find anything he does NOT like! And, in his mom's humble little opinion, the greatest thing he's begun doing is what she'd like to think is his way of giving kisses. When he gets excited, he'll grab your ear, hair, neck, or face (whatever is most convenient) open his mouth, pull you toward him and put his open mouth on your cheek. It is so stinkin' cute.

The other day, he, Tayler and I were playing her room. She has a car for her doll house that has a radio that really plays music. He was sitting up in her room, and every time we'd push the radio, he'd begin "dancing". He'd rock back and forth to the beat...then stop when the music stopped. We were laughing so hard! He's also decided that he LOVES the computer. Even when our lap top is closed...he reaches for it and taps on the top of it like he's typing. We let him play with Tayler's barbie laptop the other day too, which he really enjoyed.

We're still couldn't be happier with our little guy....and can't wait to see what new things he has in store for us!

Strike a pose!

Tayler's school did school pictures for the second time this year. Each student got to do a fun pose. Tayler did her signature, hand on the hip, diva pose. Gotta love this girl!

Wanna see a stud muffin?