Another video

iphone kids from Justin Schmidt on Vimeo.


It's been a rough afternoon.  We went over to the Smith's for Donny's 30th birthday party.  Owen did a little male bonding with Grady.  Olivia played pretty hard too.  But that did not translate into a good nap at all.  Maybe it's time to adjust nap schedule.

Crawling Video

Crawling from Justin Schmidt on Vimeo.

Early riser

It's early and I'm up.  Nothing new about that.

I'm really starting to wish these babies enjoyed sleeping as much as Lindsay and I do.  Especially on a Sunday morning.  I'm not sure why they feel like 6 am is the time to get up, but they do.  At least they slept pretty well until then.

Olivia is starting to think about trying to crawl.  I believe this is mostly out of frustration.  Owen will crawl right past her, usually right over her, about every 5 minutes.  She'll be knocked to the ground and be very unhappy about it.  So I'm guessing once she learns how, she'll crawl right out of his way.  The other possibility of course, is that she'll charge at him at full speed, just for payback.  Either way, I'm hoping Olivia crawling will result in fewer tantrums because she'll be able to go get whatever she's been whining about wanting for the past few months.

On the health front, Olivia's cold has finally gone away.  She's generally back to her old self.  No teeth yet, although I'm pretty sure they've both been teething for several months.

We all went out for lunch yesterday and a family stopped by our table.  There were three kids, two of whom were boy-girl twins about 10 years old.  The mom asked when we were going to have another kid.  I laughed because I can't possibly imagine adding another into the mix yet.  But this mother insisted that once you've had twins, the third is a breeze.  She said we've got to try it just to see how different it is.  I'm still not sold.  Seems like I've changed enough diapers and lost enough sleep to last me a while.  But we'll see.

We also bought the first of the next round of carseats.  We'll need four of them once they hit their first birthday, but they were on sale, so we thought we'd get one, make sure it fits, then go back for more later.  I can't wait until they can ride front facing.  It'll be nice to keep an eye on them, but mostly I want the legroom back.  I'm tired of driving a clown car.

Testing the new carseat:

As I'm writing, this is what's going on:

Shortly after I took this picture, Owen crawled over towards the couch.  He hit is head or something, which made him angry and he started screaming.  This made Olivia start screaming as she has recently discovered compassion.  This is what I call the wailing spiral of death. Picking them up is about the only thing that calms one from screaming. But when you're alone, only one of them can be picked up and comforted. So once one becomes calm, he or she gets upset again because the other one is still screaming.  It's fun.  It takes a good distraction like music or a happy toy to get out of the wailing spiral of death.  Today it was the music table.
That's all for now.

Justin

9 Month Stats

Owen and Olivia had a great 9-month pediatrician visit this morning.  Both are healthy and happy.  Plus they only got one shot!  Our suspicions that Owen had a major growth spurt were confirmed:

Owen
Weight - 19 lbs 11 oz (35%)
Height - 27 1/4 inches (17% - up from the 2% previously!)


Olivia
Weight - 17 lbs 11 oz (29%)
Height - 26 3/4 inches (23%)

Justin and the O's are off to Sams Club to stock up before the upcoming snow storm!  Maybe Olivia will get her chance for some snow play time this time around. 

Watching the News

Last night, we were watching the 6:00 news.  When this story came on.....

http://www.kctv5.com/sports/26529023/detail.html

Owen and Olivia got so excited!  Owen was jumping up and down in my arms and giggling.  I could tell that Olivia knew exactly who it was, but she couldn't quite figure out why he was on tv!  Usually, Justin is on the late news so we don't catch him randomly (dvr'd of course), so this was a fun surprise.  I wish I would have gotten video of their reaction.  Maybe I'll make them watch it all afternoon so I can video then!

In the meantime, here is Owen when he woke up from nap yesterday.  I can't believe they are getting so big!  We are off to their 9 month doctors appointment in a few hours!

Everday Pictures

Sharing the exersaucer

Olivia modeling the bike helmet she got for Christmas (perfect for riding in the new bike trailer!)

Olivia chewing on her lips

Busy boy Owen.  This is what he usually looks like after a diaper change.  One sock, no pants, and his onesie isn't even snapped!

Sick and Cranky

The doctor said Olivia probably just has a cold.  I think Owen just has the "Olivia's getting too much attention" disease.  But either way, we've had two cranky cranky kids this week.  Thank goodness I can see the weekend up ahead.  We need a break!

Owen's first snowstorm

Owen got to go out in the snow today. So at least we used his little snowsuit.
Olivia had to stay inside, because she's sick, don't want pneumonia.

Side note, his eyes are closed because it's still snowing, not because we let him take a nap in the snow.  I heard some concerns about poor parenting choices, just wanted to clarify.  

Sick

I actually can't believe we made it almost 9 months without a sick baby.  Olivia's had a fever for the last day or so, but has mostly just been so sad.  Hopefully she'll wake up refreshed and happy today! 

Exploring