Remy is ALMOST 1

Before Remy turns 1, in like a week and a half, I thought I'd do another quick update!Some more cool things are going on in our lives, again, and we are so thankful for them. It's not very climatic, but here they go:

1. I've received a promotion at work, I'm now the Director of Operations for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Bloomington. I loved being Unit Director at the Crestmont Unit, but now I get to go on to the next challenge!

2. So Dan likes to surf homefinder.org, just for fun, and happened to find a potential dream home. Long story short we are moving June 21 (yes, a week after Remy's birthday)! We have an offer on our current place (thankfully :), and are currently looking for awesome friends who want to help us move the 20th and 21st! I'll share pictures of the new place when I can!

3. Dan and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. We had a night in Indy without Remy as she stayed at her BFF's for an overnight. I don't know who had more fun? We're thankful for the very roller coaster 5 years together, and can't imagine what the next 60+ hopefully holds.

4. As for Remy, who is almost one (do you hear me preparing for this), is so awesome and gets more awesome every day! Here are her updates:

• She says tickle in a really cute way
• She is a crawling maniac, trying to stand, is up on her feet when possible
• She likes to put things under to couch to then find them, it's hilarious
• Anything with two legs is "Dadadada" and anything with four is "doooooooh"
• She recognizes her family on Skype!
• She only wants to eat finger food, that she can feed herself . . . and Henry
• Her hair is long enough for a clip bow now, it's actually really cute
• She is talking up a storm, we are still translating, but she is nonstop communicating
• She drinks from a straw
• She gives the best kisses
• She loves animals, music, and being outside
• And is for the most part (knock on wood) sleeping from 8pm-7am

I'll update more after her birthday, eeeek, and share our new address with pictures when that time comes! Until then, here is her sweet face:

 

Family Vacation!

We just got back from our first almost real family vacation! I say almost real, because the whole reason we went where we did is because I had school work at Clemson (Clemson, South Carolina). HOWEVER, it was still mostly vacation! Pictures are below, but before we get to that I've got some updating to do:

On Thursday, April 18th my Grandpa McKibben passed away quickly and peacefully at home at the age of 78. He had a long life and he filled it by taking care of others, especially his family. While death and grief are something I don't deal with well, the unfortunate event brought family together which is always nice. We even had one last family meal at Ponderosa!

Dan is is keeping REALLY busy at work, but enjoying the challenge. On the 16th of April he organized a community event to bring awareness to child abuse and recognize the hard work and dedication of those individuals fighting on their behalf. There were about 50+ people and a ton of pinwheels :)

I'm enjoying work as usual, some stressful weeks in the past but isn't that ordinary? Class is going well and I'm excited to get into my Master's project : Examining Higher Education Opportunities in Youth Development in Indiana. That's all I'll go into, let me know if you want to know more! This past week I got the great honor of receiving the Clemson University YDL Professional Service Award for my efforts in academics and work! However there are a lot of people doing equally important things!

Remy, let's get to her! She is crawling like a crazy girl all over the place. She likes to pull herself up and stand, and then fall! It's great. Happy as always. She now says dog and duck, and lots of dadadadada of course. I am baba, the mmmm hasn't clicked in yet. She's still small but extrememly mighty. She did a GREAT job on the road and on vacation and she doesn't stop amazing us! We are SO thankful for our little joy maker!

Below are some pictures from our vacation, my battery died so they run short!

The Greenville Zoo! Her favorites included the ducks, pig, giraffes, and monkey!


We were outside as much as possible. This was on of our day trips hiking around at Cham Ram Park outside of Clemson.

 

 

Swinging, her favorite!

Go Tigers!

At the Georgia Aquarium with Great Godmother Melody in Atlanta, GA. This was one of the best days of my life, seeing Remy filled with so much excitement! She squealed and kicked non-stop at all the creatures! It was SO cool as an adult too! The whale sharks, beluga whales, coarl reef, and other fish were just incredible. This is such a cool place, and massive too! We LOVED spending time with Melody too :)

 

 

 

Spring is coming . . . right?

It's been awhile. I'd apologize but I just really don't have time to! With my current availability I'll give you all a quick update on the Nieder-Meyer crew since you've been so patiently waiting!

January and February were dark, dreary, and cold for us here. I spent every available second studying and learning Masters Level Statistics . . . I don't want to go back to it, so I'll end with saying I succeeded! PHEW! I've moved onto my next class, with joy, and have started my Masters Project! I'm a whole lot closer to the end my friends! We also celebrate Judy's 60th birthday with a surprise party and family get together which was great! It was an exciting weekend in the Niderman household! Dan is enjoying is challenges at work and has some really cool side projects both professionally and at home that he is tackling including some gardening 101! I can't wait for good weather and tomatoes in the backyard!

This gross weather delayed our first family trip to Phoenix in February, but ended up working out quite fine when we arrived in 75 degree weather the following week. As always, we had a wonderful Meyer family gathering with Dad, Em, and the whole Thompson crew. Remy did GREAT on the plane and every grandparent within 100 yards came to talk to us. She's just a little joy maker.

Which leads me to what I know you really want to read about, REMY! She is awesome, so cute, and gets more fun every day! She isn't quite crawling, but she is moving fast with her little kick, scoot, wiggle, army crawl thing. She babbles all the time with "Da da da, bahhh, ba ba ba, oooo" and the such. I'm pretty sure she is saying "I'm so happy! I love you!" We're trying to soak up every second and enjoy her. She weighed in just under 17 pounds (10 percentile) and over 28 inches (90 percentile). She stands, dances, plays with Henry (he is doing fine by the way and getting loved), laughs, reads, and LOVES bath time.

That's all for now folks, I'll update with some more photos later! Hopefully the next time I post, spring will actually be here and I'll be in flip-flops!


 

This will make you smile on a snowy spring day

 

Eat - Drink - Remember

It's been 5 years since we've been able to sing happy birthday to my momma, and it doesn't get any easier. As a means to cope, remember, persevere, and continue on I like to try and celebrate the 23 years I got with her and in her honor enjoy two of her favorite things, chocolate and coffee. Each year, I find a picture that captures her essence, as a way to recognize that somehow she is still with me. Next to her family and friends, my mom LOVED chocolate and coffee and I inherently do too! Take a moment and do the same remembering the joy she brought you. I found this quote in a magazine I was reading, which I find important for anyone dealing with someone who is grieving should understand: "This is a moment for your friends and family to practice compassion. True sympathy means respecting the grieving process, selflessly and without expectation."

 

Remy Dancing!

Remy Rue shakin it (I'm ok with this now by the way . . . )

 

 

Nieder-Meyer 2012 Recap

We brought the new year in with two buns in the oven, with sparkling cider, and 12:05 bed time!

January we got to see baby Poppy, healthy and looking good! January I also started Graduate School at Clemson University (pursuing a Masters in Youth Development Leadership), with an orientation and vacation to South Carolina.

We also got the nursery together as we awaited baby Poppy with excitement! We also began our 12 week baby/birth class. We chose to learn the Bradley Method of Father Coached Natural Birthing. We learned so much, made some great friends, and met our doula. It was worth everything!

February we got a quick trip from Jamie, Molly, and baby Emily! We ate, hung out, and just spent some time together joyfully!

 

February we also welcomed sweet baby Annalyn Eddie, pseudo niece! A few months later in April the Thompson's welcomed Emily Jo and we couldn't be more excited for Jamie, Dusty, and Molly. All these baby girls coming into our lives we were anticipating a boy :) Or I was!

 

March I had a beautiful baby shower with so many friends and family. It was incredible to see how loved our baby was, without even being met yet. My mother in law and sisters in law did a fantastic job and brought so much joy to us!

We also had a little Babymoon in a cabin near Gatlinburg, TN. We were able to spend time together alone, explore, and enjoy the great outdoors.

In April, Poppy and I were lucky enough to have another fantastic baby shower with even more friends to help celebrate! It was a social craft hour with some of my favorite people! It was wonderful and even closer to due date!!!

May was a busy month: May 5th, Dan ran his first mini-marathon in Indy. He had a great experience and enjoyed every step of the way. He also surprised us, and himself, but running it under 2 hours! It was awesome for all!

Baby Poppy surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for my first Mother's Day which we celebrated with my two favorite dads! Dan also got a great start to his garden, and Henry well is just being Henry!

We also celebrated our 4th anniversary with a delicious and beautiful dinner at the Scenic View. I spent most of May cooking and freezing some meals for our future, cleaning, studying, and trying to keep myself busy!

Look at the progress and growth of my pregnancy! Woah! Not shown here, week 41 (I was NOT excited about the camera). Every minute past my due date was hard, so if you know a Momma with a "late" baby please don't remind her of that fact!



Bennett, Henry, and Baby Poppy - I miss you Benny!

It was a Wednesday morning around 11:00 when my contractions began, 1 week post due date. Things progressed quickly and my labor and natural delivery were greatly supported by Dan and our doula Barbara. At 8:10 P.M. baby was put on my chest and Dan announced shortly there after, "Shawna, it's a girl! It's a girl, it's Remy!!!"  I said "I love her, and I want to but her something pretty!" I was in shock for about two weeks that we had a daughter, but oh were we in love! So many people came to visit and we were so excited to show off our beautiful creation!

At a young age of 3 weeks, this little girl had so much personality. But mostly, she was happy! One happy, sweet, beautiful girl!

We had lots more visitors and fun in the first few weeks! Dan was able to stay at home too the first 3.5 weeks which was awesome! When he went back to work, he went back to a promotion!

And even more visitors! I still had class too, so I quickly became a pro at multi-tasking!

Wearing the sweater Grandmomma Connie made for Jamie's future baby! Glad she got to wear something she made!

Our first big outing, an Eddie (Emily & Aaron) wedding! We got to spend time with family and our BFF's (Mike, Ashley, and Annalyn)!

In August, for the first time in over 2 years, we got the whole Meyer Family together! We spent a week together doing what we do best, NOTHING! We ate, we explored, but mostly we just enjoyed the fact that we were all together as a family. Something that we unfortunately don't get to do so often. PawPaw got to be with all of his girls and grandgirls, the guys enjoyed beer fest, and cousins got to meet!

 We also had a BLAST at the incredible Ft. Wayne Children's Zoo!!!

 We had a great summer with more friends to visit, going to our awesome Farmer's Market, a neighborhood block party, and concerts in the park. My maternity leave was going to quickly!

 Look at this girl? Remy was getting more amazing every day and we are so thankful for exactly who she is. So far she is long and thin, but ooh soo sweet!

 In September I went back to work part-time and Remy started daycare. We love where she is at, and I'm so thankful for a supportive job that I truly enjoy! We also went on our first camping trip since baby was born! We enjoyed the campfire, cool nights, and fire cooked meals!

October and November were exciting but very busy, hence no photos really! We enjoyed Halloween, Thanksgiving, and honestly I don't know what else happened!

We spent Christmas in Bloomington and loved it. As always, good food and family was involved!

 Later in the month we went to Huntington for Niederman Christmas and enjoyed more gifts, more food, and more sweet smiles from Remy! Jessie and Levi are growing up so fast too!

 December 30th Remy was baptized at Grace Episcopal Church in the dress both myself and my mother were baptized in. Our long time friend and third component of  the DJS, Jon Ross, became her Godfather. We also got to spend some time with other friends visiting in town that we hadn't seen in awhile which was so much fun!

 Like always, the way we leave a year is the same way we welcome the next with the Eddie's. Except this year, we are a group of 6 instead of 4! Our two little girls are 4 months apart and so much fun! I've declared NYE as my new favorite holiday: guaranteed good food, people, and drinks!

REMY UPDATE: She is about 15 pounds, eating homemade solids, has two bottom teeth, can sit on her own, and is a little joy maker wherever she goes. She likes to stand, jump in her jumper, smile, and look at other people! She sleeps almost through the night, and loves to play on her tummy!

For the most part I love my classes and the time and money we are investing into this is worth it and important to us. We might be sacrificing some now, but the pay off will be sweet. I still have 12 months of school left, but I graduate December 19th from Clemson University! I'm closer to the end than the beginning!

We've got two trips to Clemson, 1 to Phoenix, and hopefully some other adventures too! We don't know what else to expect, but we will continue to enjoy our baby, each other, and try to maintain sanity as we juggle all of our commitments. But, if you don't see much of us know that you are still important!

May good things happen, and may we make good things happen, this year!