Nouveau Mom

Nouveau (adj) : new and different, often fashionably so
Mom (noun): me, for example

Nouveau Mom: not me, for example...

Just yesterday I was unknowingly watching an episode of TMZ - sometimes channels just come across my screen for 50 minutes and I can't seem to change the channel if my life depended on it! Weird, I know. In any case, Kerri Russell was strutting her Nouveau Hollywood Mom-ness amongst the crowds of the "lower lifes", chatting it up with the co-op checker, than piling she and her reusable grocery bags full of organic foods into her Toyota Prius... SHE, for example, is nouveau and I realized that I am NOT nouveau... although a large part of me wishes I was. But I wouldn't want to work at it. I would just want it to be natural for me... and its not.

For example, I wish I could NATURALLY be excited about these things: no TV, no cable, no internet, no processed foods or preservatives, no plastic toys - only wooden and sold in small boutique shops, organic cotton clothing and reusable diapers such as Fuzzy Buns, exclusively breast milk and no drinking or soft cheeses during pregnancy, artistic dance classes that teach my child flexibility and coordination...

But instead I'm excited about these things: TV - LCD and HD, to be exact, cable where Curious George teaches my children to speak "monkey" and Maya and Miguel teaches them to speak Spanish, and how would I process thoughts without being able to get online and blog, "meals in a box" and other processed foods, preservatives and although I'm not excited about plastic toys I have nothing against them, organic clothing is expensive and hard to find and though reusable diapers could be my contribution to the "green" movement they sure take a lot more work and not to mention the stains that I would never be able to get out so why not poop and throw, when do I leave the house without my newborn or needing the forethought to pull the frozen pumped breast milk from the freezer, Italian babies are beautiful and a glass of red wine is nutritional, and last but not least, my children wrestle all the time as well as have taken rolls down the stairs, head dives off the couch and other awfully painful landings and I honestly believe they're better off than any of those kids I see dancing and stretching on Sesame Street. With a couple black eyes, broken teeth and welts, they walk straighter and are more careful with their bodies than any nouveau children I've seen... you should see them body slam each other - there is so much thought put into how and when to let go. Its quite impressive.

So, in short, I do wish I was excited about being "nouveau" -- but I'm not. I guess I just don't care as much as some... about a lot of things. But I care a lot about a few things... and that's where I put all my energy. My children's love for the Lord, my close circle of girlfriends, time away with my husband and the time to be at home as a family... I'll toast an Eggo or whip up a box of Macaroni and Cheese if it means I get to invest in what matters to me.

Cheers to all you nouveau and non-nouveau Moms out there -- I hope you love what you do.

What are the odds...

I had a good friend make the comment one time, "You're not THAT great! Stop having kids!" about people who have too many children of their own. Now based on his convictions he was speaking of anyone who had more than 2 children and then chose to have more biologically as opposed to adopting...

So when Kyle and I decided to have another baby after our 2nd had turned a year, I thought back to that comment... and I thought to myself "am I really arrogant and conceited enough to think that its a BETTER idea to populate the world with more Schei children as opposed to consider adopting?" I can't really say, truthfully, because I didn't give it much more thought... but I can guarantee you that if this next one comes out making me smile the way these two do than I will consider doing it again... and again...

He is risen!

Today, Christ is free from death.
Today, Earth will be a new creation.
Today, I am free from a life of my own sin.

So, what is your image of freedom? I myself like to think of the taking the family on the open road. Happy Easter!

Harold the Spider

We've been moved now for over a month but I just ran across this photo that I took while organizing all our closets in the old house... Harold had been living behind a pile of Kyle's jeans in our closet for close to two years, according to Harold that is. We made great conversation after getting used to each other... he was around until Kyle arrived home from work that evening - all 3x3 inches of him.

Everything new...

Sometimes I wake up wishing I had just been dreaming... and in all actuality, I'm in my old 1200 square foot rambler with all my old "issues" such as picking up after the dogs or walking into a packed and unorganized garage sans my van because that's what garages are for, right? or wishing that my trim was all finished and the nail holes weren't still waiting to be puttied or even dealing with the annoyance of the 40 year old burn marks on my fantastic 60s era counter top... sometimes I wake up wishing that I could go back in time and not have to learn anything new.

Right now I'm learning how to clean granite counter tops, take out stains from lovely cream colored carpets, look at the FIRST ever oily hand mark on a freshly painted wall (emotionally exhausting for a perfectionist), walk up a flight of stairs only to realize that what you came up for is still sitting on the kitchen counter so I stay just long enough to justify the trek- fold some clothes in the dryer... make a bed... tidy the playroom... use the restroom, etc. I think I've just uncovered the answer as to why my upstairs is often so tidy. Yep, I'm constantly learning new things...

Right now I'm learning that my 3 and a half year old daughter is something to tame and my son of almost 2 years is one of the funniest individuals I've ever met... I'm learning that although I'm currently 9 months pregnant with 2 children I'm already excited to be 9 months pregnant with 3! ... I'm learning that I'm almost 30 and I still feel like I just graduated high school... I'm learning that it hurts to not get second glances from high school boys who drive too fast and are completely unaware of life outside their... bodies. I'm learning that I shouldn't have driven as fast as I did past a Mom and her kids when I was in high school... I'm learning that I'm becoming more and more attracted to my husband and it has less and less to do with his physical good looks and more to do with the fact that we love life in the same way... I'm learning that picking up babysitters makes you feel old and when you're taking her home you want her to think you're really hip and young and just when you feel good you're dropping her off and handing her the money you owe her... I'm learning that all these new things are just part of the adventure of this life and the adventure is well worth it...

I'm learning that I'm being built more and more in the character of God and all the things that mattered in the past are slowing and I'm finding the things that will last...

- clean walls won't last...
- when I'm 40 I can guarantee I'll just be a Mom to some high school boy's friend...
- when my 3 and a half year old is 40 hopefully she'll be less dramatic and have a family of her own to learn from...
- soon my body will go south and Kyle will still think I'm beautiful for reasons that haven't fully developed yet!

... and some day I'll be able to blog until I'm not able to think of anything more to say... but as for right now I need to go tend to my children before they eat through one of my nice new walls in a fit of impatience for my attention.

It feels good to blog again... its "old hat" to me.