How 'bout them Cowboys

For having lived in Texas for over 4 years, we haven't really adopted many Texas teams. No offense, but college teams in Texas aren't all that to us. Although my Cubs have historically had about as much success as the Rangers, at least Cub fans stick by their team year to year. I have adopted one new team since coming here, the Mavs, but this post is not for them.

The team of my childhood is back! How about those Cowboys!! 12-1, NFC East champs and headed towards a first round bye. I think I have a man-crush on Tony Romo. Marion the Barber-ian is a stud! I'm even starting to warm up to TO. It's been a fun season. And with the new stadium within sight of my office, there's only more buzz going around. So, while I was one of people that voted against the stadium coming to Arlington, I must say that I don't really regret it now - until we have to live with the Sunday traffic!

Maybe I need to try to find my old Cowboys t-shirt from high school with the Tazmanian devil wearing a helmet....hmmmm, maybe not.

Owen's Favorite Christmas Decoration

Of all the things at Christmastime that we thought Owen would be impressed with (lights, ornaments, the tree, nativity finger puppets) we never would have guessed that he would love snow globes! We had a snow globe train that we didn't know what to do with so we just stuck it on a shelf above his changing table. Every time we go into the room or he gets up from the changing table, he immediately wants to look at and touch the snow globes. It pretty funny...and awfully cute!

Greetings from Balmy Texas

For all of our friends in places that actually have 4 seasons, we thought we'd send a quick greeting from always warm Texas, where today, December 8, it is currently 77 degrees. This is after it hit 80 yesterday. Tara went for a walk yesterday and had all the old ladies saying "Isn't it lovely today?" Sure...for September!

Here are a few more pics from Thanksgiving in Louisiana.

Talking to Granny

Meeting Aunt Robbie and Dixie (the dog)

Sporting the tie bib that Larry and Laura gave him.

Catching Up

There's no way to go into detail about all that has happened since we stopped putting up posts regularly. So we're just going to throw up some pictures of what has happened.

Halloween with Daddy Luigi

The cutest picture ever

Underneath Anne's Christmas tree

What do you think this is????

Does anyone have a clue what this mess is?

Would you have guessed that it is - or was - two pacifiers?!

This is what happens when you sterlize pacifiers a little too much. Tara put them in the boiling water to be cleaned and then we got into our tv show and forgot about them. They were on the stove so long that this is all that was left in the pan! And talk about stink!! This was the night that the cold front came through and we had all the doors and windows open and the fans on. It was absolutely putrid. It took almost 2 days for the smell to leave the house. So, lesson learned...hopefully.

We emailed this to some family members to see if anyone knew what it was and everyone blamed this on Tozer. Poor Tozer - gets blamed for Tara's mess!

Happy Thanksgiving

We just wanted to say Happy Thanksgiving to all of our friends out there. We are thankful for all of you.

And a special thanks to Alicia who left a nice message on our machine yesterday. We know there are lots of people who come and check up on us occasionally, but Alicia made Owen's page her home page - now there's pressure to get new material up. Thanks for calling, Alicia. We miss you and will try to call in the next few days.

We're headed to Louisiana. We hope you have a grea time wherever you go. See you on the other side of the holiday.

Oh yeah...quick Owen update. He's eating cereal now and loves it. Here's a picture of him eating.

Breaking News...Ben's Getting Married!

We got the phone call last night that we've been waiting for the last several weeks - Ben and Katie are engaged! Apparently Ben had quite the plan, which included stringing Christmas lights all over a bridge and asking some random people if he could plug them in at their house! Ahhhh, love. Well, the end result is that she said yes and there's going to be a summer wedding. We'll keep you all informed.

Congratulations, guys! We're very happy for you. Welcome to the family, Katie!

Trip to Iowa:The Final Chapter

These are just a few more random pictures from our time in Iowa. It was a great trip!!!

Owen and Mommy ready to go to church. What a handsome young man!


Owen chilling with Grandpa and Willie. He loves being naked!


Playtime with Grandpa. Grandpa loves to sing to Owen and play games that make him laugh and laugh.


4 generations of Schmidts- What a special time together

Trip to Iowa Chapter 6: Ben and Katie come to visit

Ben and Katie came to see us the last weekend we were in Iowa. They hadn't seen Owen since he was 4 weeks old and just sleeping and pooping all of the time. Uncle Benner commented on how much more fun Owen is now that he is smiling and laughing. We had a great time with all of us together (we missed Ryan though). Here are a few pictures.

Owen is sporting his new stocking cap from Ben and Katie. He'll need it when he goes to Minnesota to visit them.

Uncle Benner and Owen watching the Iowa game together. Go Hawks!!!

Trip to Iowa Chapter 5: An afternoon at the Pool

Dad and I took Owen to the pool one afternoon. He had been to a few swim parties this summer, but this was the first time he really got in and played around. He loved it!!! He splashed and played for almost 45 minutes. I even dunked him under a few times and he didn't cry once. I think we have a little fish on our hands.

Owen got his first swim lesson from Grandpa.