Lame

We are so lame. John told me tonight that we forgot to post a picture of William when he was 20 months old. I think I have a perfectly good excuse in that I am currently growing a whole new person inside of me. What is his excuse?

Pictures and more coming soon....

Busy, Busy Weekend

It seems like everything was happening this weekend. We had more stuff to do this weekend than we usually do in a month! On Friday, one of our friends from Seattle came to visit. John has known Kristin since they went to the U of M together in Minneapolis and I got to know her when we lived in Seattle. We had a great time showing her our favorite little boy, around our house, neighborhood and some of our favorite St Louis sights.

One of our first stops was the Gateway Park (the Arch). Here is William and Daddy holding hands walking into the park.
Holding hands and holding a stick. Sticks are fun.
The arch. This would be picture 45687651321968484 we have of the arch.
One of my favorite new pictures
One of the few ways he'll tolerate being carried these days for any length of time.
Kristin and William's first time touching the arch
Walking with Mama to our favorite picture spot by a reflecting pool.
See? So pretty!
Unfortunately, once William saw the water, all he wanted to do was swim. Not great when the water is yucky and there is no guard rail. Mama had a lot of work to do to keep everyone dry!
William and the arch
Mama and William

After the arch, we all went to dinner at PF Changs to try something new. Turns out Kristin has been there a few times and we weren't taking her anywhere new! Oh well... After dinner we went back to our house and put the baby to bed and visited for awhile. The other big news is Kristin was the first person to use our new basement bathroom to shower - no complaints!

Saturday was a full day. My club from the middle school I taught at was having a fundraiser and there was a huge garage sale I have had on my calendar for the last 3 months. So, I got up early to hit the sale early on and checked in with my kiddos. When I got home everyone was up and ready so we went to one of our favorite places to hang out - down town St Charles. We enjoyed the people watching (it just so happens there was an Oktoberfest happening - yes, in September, so there was a lot of good people watching going on). After wandering around downtown, we ate lunch at the Little Hills Winery and then checked out Oktoberfest.

William is always a fan of the choo-choos near downtown. The choo choos are in the background and there is a plane in the sky. Notice the shirts? We sure liked Newport!
Still checking out the airplane and holding hands with Daddy.
Trying funnel cake for the first time - he thought it was okay. He liked the German polka music a lot more though - he was dancing until we dragged him away!

We brought William home for his nap and offered to take Kristin to see some other interesting sights. However, we all were feeling a little tired and everyone opted for a nap instead. Kristin had to be back at the airport before dinner time. Which worked out great for us because we were invited to our neighbors wedding and then a birthday party that evening. We sure know how to pack it in!


PS Hey look mom and dad - we didn't even make her work while she was visiting! Amazing - it can be done!

This Kid Cracks me Up

We've had a good weekend. Busy, but good. I have some random pictures that I've been meaning to post and then a weekend update to post. I'm working my way through this new book so it will probably be quiet for the next few days or so.

I can't remember where we were going...but I turned around to find Mr Cool hanging around in our backseat.

William rarely picks up anything to take a bite using his front teeth. So, I've been trying to encourage him to start biting things more by giving him very soft foods in larger pieces. Here he is working a banana like it is corn on the cob.

And he still isn't taking a bite- he is trying to suck on the piece of banana until it comes off of the larger piece.
With all the moving and shifting of everything in our house that is going on, we are unearthing quite a few items from the past - for example the list of things I wanted to get done the first summer we moved into our house. Interesting enough, five years later most of the stuff is done.

Warning: It must be in the water

A whole lotta congratulations all around for so many people!

1. Our neighbors had a baby girl either yesterday or today. I knew it was going to happen, just not sure when it actually did. They are kind of busy right now or I would call and ask 'em how it's going.

2. My high school friend Robyn with baby #2 in February!

3. My other high school friend Jessica with baby #1 in December (she is lame without a blog...)

4. Our St Louis friends: Jenn, Chris, and big sister Charlotte are due at the beginning of March

5. My second cousin Kayleigh who is due any day now....

6. And then I guess there is me...


So, who else? Anyone else want to confess?


PS The only person who actually guessed my secret after the first set of clues was my WMS friend Sundi! Go Sundi - you win a....big hug!

Why it is Awesome to be Married To Me

We all have our flaws, including me (I know, GASP!). However this week, I take the cake. Here is just a sampling of why it is totally awesome to be married to me:


1. I call you frantically at work to remind you about a doctors appointment you are almost late for. A whole 24 hours before you need to worry about leaving.

2. Nothing you suggest sounds good to eat. Ever. I don't want anything to eat, at all. Except for maybe a big brownie. With chocolate chips. Do you have any of those?

3. Although you have cooked 17 different things for me in the last week with a 19 month old underfoot the whole time, none of those things are appetizing any longer. For this reason we have in our refrigerator currently: half of a lasagna, a noodle hotdish, beans and rice, grilled chicken, and a huge pack of tortillas I talked you into last week at the store.

4. That huge Sam's club bag of lemons you tried to talk me out of last week at the store. Ummm...yeah, I won't be using any of them anytime soon.

5. I call you at work to tell you something important and can't remember what it is as soon as you answer.

6. Both loading the dishwasher and washing baby diapers make me gag. You inherit two new chores. YAY! (garbage and catboxes are still yours too. I'm not taking on anything new)

7. More than once lately, we've had to make a second trip to the store for the one item I went for. What do you mean we only needed milk? I didn't buy milk...

I'm sure there are more...but this is all I can come up with. Off to bed...

Sleep Talk

Last night, I turned my light off after reading. It was late. Each night before I fall asleep, I always check the baby monitor and am lulled into relaxation my William (and usually John's) heavy sleepy dreaming. William is a wild man in his sleep and so it isn't unusual for there to be banging and rolling going on over the monitor either. However, last night William breathed a deep sigh and then in a very satisfied manner said "ahhh...trucks" very clearly in his sleep.

I had to giggle...and then I went to sleep.

Hold my Hand?

William is growing and growing. Usually when we go somewhere, I take William out of his car seat and carry him into the store. As quickly as possible, I try to stow him in a cart before he either wiggles away of becomes so heavy I start paring my list down to the bare essentials (1 loaf of bread in any condition and a container of milk of any variety or size). In conjunction with the heaviness, he has also begun to entirely loath the riding in the cart. It is rare that he will park his behind in the kid section of the cart and allow himself to be buckled in without a sweet bribe to distract him (crackers anyone?). And there better be plenty of the bribe to make it through the store because otherwise he will choose an inopportune time to wiggle out of the safety belt and try to stand up almost falling over onto his head. Somehow over the last few weeks, he has become so much more heavy (I don't think it is all him. Part of it is me - I'm tired) that even that walk to the store is becoming a challenge. So, I'm letting him walk more - as long as he holds my hand. So far, so good. The cutest part is that he will stop and wait for me (I know that this waiting stuff is only going to last so long) with his hand outstretched. He'll say "Hold hand mama?". Very sweet - how can I refuse?

On Friday night, it was cool and we were looking to get out of the house for a little while. We elected to take a short walk through the neighborhood. We rolled the stroller out and locked up the house. William entertained us by attempting to put the brakes on the stroller while using his feet. Quite difficult when the brakes are at the same level as your armpits. We put William in the stroller where he proceeded to do his slippery fish/stiff as a board routine. After a few minutes of the neighbors discreetly checking on us, we gave up on buckling him in and started walking. He was thrilled to be holding John's hands and kept commenting as we walked "Hold hand Dada?" Even more cute was that when other walkers/bikers/scooterers needed to come through, John would move over to the grass to let them through. William would have none of it. If Daddy was going to walk on the grass, so was William. If Daddy slowed to look at a tree/car/something, William would need to stop to examine it carefully as well. I decided to push the stroller for the walk as I was certain he wasn't going to be able to walk the whole way. He sure proved me wrong! He walked the whole time - it probably took us an hour to do a 15 minute walk, but he walked it all without complaint, holding John's hand the entire time...