{The Face of a Guilty Man}

No need for commentary.... the picture speaks for itself.

We're in trouble with this one!

One Step Forward......Twenty Steps Back...

January was not the best of months for us.  Chris and Mikaela were involved in a pretty serious car accident.  A bad one!  When I came up on the scene I couldn't believe that A.) they walked away from that!  And B.) that was my car lying upside down in the 12 ft. water-filled ditch.  I'm not going to go through the details of the accident but will say that it was the seat belts that saved both their lives.  Seat belts allowed them to both walk away with only minimal injury.  It was a sad, scary, miracle of a day!

It is amazing how quickly things change in your life.  One minute we're getting ready for the big NFC Championship game...

And the next, we're riding in an ambulance to the ER.  Mikaela was so brave!  She didn't cry once, aside from the initial impact of the accident.  She was answered all of the paramedics questions like a pro.  And once she was assured that she wouldn't be getting any shots at the hospital, she was her giggly self again!  She hit her head pretty hard, or so we thought.  So we had a CT Scan done and the usual x-rays.  Everything checked out fine, thank god.  And we later concluded that her head injury was not from the impact, but from being freed from her seat belt and falling to the top/bottom of the upside down car.  No less scary for her I'm sure!

Chris was virtually unscathed, besides understandable soreness.  He recuperated at home for a few days with Motrin and heating pads.  I wish I could say the same about my beautiful car.  Our insurance informed us that she was a total loss.  We went to the storage yard to retrieve some personal items and say goodbye.  I really did love that car, but I love my family far more and am just happy and relieved that they're okay.  The car can be replaced.

Just not right now....... with the 2 ft. of snow we just got from that crazy Chicago blizzard!  It really is never a dull moment in the life of a Schelling.

Jonathan... toddler extraordinaire!

Busy winter.  Not. Much. Time. For. This blog.  Blah!

We reorganized the basement playroom and made it Jonathan-proof.  He loves it down there!

But even with all those great toys downstairs, he still really loves the living room for perfecting his tumbling. Accidents are commonplace here. He's a wild little man!

How could you not love this face?!?!?

~Christmas at the Schelling house~

Merry (belated) Christmas!  We had a great month and hope everyone else did as well.  Santa was very good to us this year, as usual, and my house is overflowing and cluttered with lots of new STUFF - it's time to get out the old to make room for the new!

Christmas Eve was spent at our house with Chris's side of the family.  I made a beef tenderloin with roasted shallots and it turned out pretty well I must say!

Bedtime went without a hitch and Santa was here before we knew it.  Christmas morning was crazy and lazy and perfect!  We took our time opening gifts and playing with the new toys.  I couldn't have asked for a better morning.

We headed to my Dad's for the usual family Christmas later that afternoon.  My Dad's house is on the market and it was a little bittersweet to think that could be our last gathering there.  Christmas just won't be the same :(

Chris was off work the week of Christmas as well as a few days around New Year's.  It was a perfect excuse for us to lock ourselves in the house, stay in our pajamas and do NOTHING!  It really was a great month.  School is back in session now, Chris is back to work, and life is back to normal!

Our Holiday Card for 2010

Pictures In Snow Christmas 5x7 folded card

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A Sick Halloween :(

I had so much planned for this weekend - Creatures of the Night at the Brookfield Zoo, haunted houses, trick-or-treating.... but, as with everything in our lives, the plans failed.  Mikaela came down with a horrible case of the flu, Jonathan had a cold and no one felt up to going out.  We made the best of it and carved our pumpkins on Friday night (well Chris and I carved them, mostly):

Not too bad, I must say!

On Saturday we mostly laid low.  Chris did some fixing of the wind-blown decorations in the yard and the little ones rested.  We really hoped Mikaela's fever would be gone by Sunday but it didn't look promising.  On Sunday  morning we realized that our poor baby wasn't going to feel better in time for trick-or-treating.  I took her to urgent care in the hopes of some quick cure - I got none.  She's on antibiotics but I don't think it's helping because this flu seems to be viral.  Her fever was up and down all day.  By the time 4 p.m. rolled around she was feeling pretty bad, but being the trooper that she is, she gladly put on her costume and posed for some pics.

We headed out to trick-or-treat....

but only made it to about 5 houses before Mikaela was asking to go home.  So home we went.  She was asleep on the couch within an hour.  Later that night she asked me if she could be Alice again next year since she didn't really get to be Alice this year.  Poor baby!

The house looked pretty good this year though!  I'm a little bummed that we didn't have too many trick-or-treaters after dark!

And here's a video of our house with flashing strobes and spooky sounds!

Today Mikaela is still fighting the fever, ugh! Hoping for some relief!

Just want to share...

Since Kings of Leon are my favorite band (saw them live this summer - AMAZING) and their 5th album was released today, I had to share the new single.....