Don't Open the Door

Happy 4th Birthday

2011-11-25T18:30:00.001-06:00

For Preston's 4th birthday party we celebrated at Noodles, his favorite restaurant. The guests included Gaga Cheryl and Papa Norm, Yuri, Kye, Will, Eva, Alex, Kira, Alexa and Claire. Preston's Art Box has turned him into a regular Picasso since receiving that! ;) His many other gifts have been much loved and appreciated, as well! After lunch, gift opening and cake, the kids headed outside to play trains with Yuri as conductor. As always, it was nice to be able to visit with friends and watch the kids play.

Present Time...gather around

FOUR Candles

"Everyone in their seats!"

End of party silliness

Mommy Mind Sabotage

2011-11-25T15:32:00.001-06:00

I feel like a single mother. It's not throwing Kyle under the bus to say that because I understand his job requires that he work 80+ hours a week right now. This has allowed me to think a lot about how difficult it is to be a stay at home parent to a 4yr4mo old and and a 2yr11mo old. My children are extremely active, like probably bordering on hyperactive. They could walk/run literal miles in a day and still have energy to be wild. I appreciate this quality in them as an idea but day in and day out, it is...rough? They are also very inquisitive (okay, likely most kids this age are and that's normal and great) but "why, what, who, where, when and how" are often the only things I am answering all day and night. For some months now, they are also both DEMANDING. Demanding as in, it's a real problem coming up with different ways to teach them patience, especially when I don't feel I'm very much a model of that virtue when often running on three days in a row of kids not seeing their father or any other loving, responsible adult for that matter. Three days with just the three of us would be bearable here and there but we're talking weeks/months. Preston and Claire don't go to daycare or preschool or have a nanny and they don't nap, so for 12-13 hours a day, I'm ON. I sometimes feel like I've lost myself. That I am only a mother to Preston and Claire. No more working out (recovering from surgery partly to blame there) and I haven't been able to pursue personal training or photography, two things that help keep me sane as well as a person with interests other than being mom. I know I chose this and millions of other people have hard lives, too. It is my job, but most of the time, it's a pretty thankless job. Ah, yes, throwing out that platitude. Ha. It's true, though.

I promise this isn't a post just to say, my life is tough and I want to complain. I'm writing this with a bigger issue in mind. I think we parents often hurt each other. Why? Because not enough of us admit how difficult it is to be a mom/dad, at least some of the time. When someone asks, "How is it going?" referring to parenting, how many of us just simply say, "Oh, it's wonderful!" or "Everything has been awesome!"? Rare is the friend who will admit that little baby X woke up 8 times last night or toddler Z has been whining so much and I feel at my wits end and very alone and sometimes wonder if I was crazy to have another. These thoughts and feelings, even if fleeting aren't often said when asked about life with the wee one/s. Does it mean we don't love our children if we admit that sometimes life was easier with one OR none? Does it mean I would go back and not have had my lovies?...NO! It's not what I mean at all when I think the things I do. I love my children more than any other person. I'm doing it again...because when I say negative things, I feel like I have to explain or follow up with ten positive things to make sure the reader or friend or whatever understands fully that I love being a mom. This is it, though, I don't think I like that we have to do the follow up part. I KNOW that my friends love their kids and are happy and feel blessed and wouldn't change the fact that they had their little ones and I want it to just be understood without having to be said that I feel the same even if I admit to feeling crazy sometimes with my two.

I worry about whether or not I'm the only mom out there thinking these things from time to time because rare is the person who admits to the thoughts (at least in my experience). We all want to be calm and collected and look to have it all together...to be perfect moms with perfect children who never disobey us and who always say, please and thank you and smile at the nice stranger who is talking to us. Mine pretty much ignore the people they don't know well or hide behind my leg. My kids have taken to saying "no" a lot and I have taken to raising my voice more than I ever imagined I might. I feel like a bad bad mommy because I think I'm supposed to be perfect. Striving for this parenting perfection and always feeling like I'm falling way short, I think, is perpetuated by all of us when we never admit to the tough days or weeks. Is it really just me or am I onto something when I say I believe we might be hurting each other as parents by making things always seem like things are never very difficult?

Birthday 1

2011-10-14T16:08:00.001-05:00

On Preston's birthday, he chose to go to his favorite Chinese restaurant for dinner. Afterwards, Gaga Duckie and Papa Damon came over with a very cool birthday cake and gifts for the birthday boy.

On the way to eat dinner, Claire had a little fall and scraped her knees. As I was about to put on a band-aid, Preston came over with his toy doctor shot and told Claire he was going to make her feel better.

A Book In August

2011-10-14T15:29:00.004-05:00

One of Claire's favorite books is one called 'How High is the Sky?' Kyle is always happy to oblige her requests to read it, sometimes several times a day. I got a couple of pictures of the two of them reading together. It was a bit cramped so I didn't get any good shots with both of them in the frame.

"What does this sign say?"

Peek-a-boo??

Firecrackers and Parties

2011-09-09T15:31:00.000-05:00

On the 4th, we celebrated Kate's birthday with cake, family, friends and downtown fireworks (oh, and many hundreds of mosquitos that ate Claire and me to shreds...they never get Preston or Kyle). Preston informed us before we left that he would not be interested in watching "fireworks" because they do those at the Cardinals baseball games and they are too loud. He would, however, be alright with "firecrackers." So as we sat at the RV campground where Kate's parents were staying on their summer visit to St. Louis, I asked Preston if he liked the fireworks by the Arch. He said he did like the firecrackers very much.

We were all very excited to attend Yuri and Kye's circus themed birthday party at the City Museum. Claire loved getting her face painted. Her request...a green car! Preston loved the indoor skate park that wasn't really being used with skateboards.

A very hot, indoor time kind of month for us. No pool pass, and so humid and uncomfortable that even the kids wanted to stay and play in the basement or just in the house. Here they are lazin' around on one of our 100 degree days.

Stitch-Trip-Game-Drink

2011-08-25T18:05:00.000-05:00

June is so short on pictures. Probably not long on words here either, but the recap.

Before Kyle began residency, we took a weekend trip to visit family in B-town. The babies had so much fun playing with everyone and we were able to catch up some, too! I also got to eat from one of my favorite sandwich shops, POTBELLY'S! I forgot my camera! A VERY bad month for photography, indeed.

One night while I was working out, Kyle took the kids for a walk. On the way home, it was nearly dark and right before bedtime. Preston was running up some church steps when apparently he fell onto a wrought iron fence and hit the bottom of his chin. Saving the rest of the bloody details and of one very upset mommy, we waited until morning. Upon seeing the doctor, we were sent to Children's Hospital emergency room for stitches. Nightmare. Our child is absolutely terrified of being held down by doctors even though the physical pain wasn't there because of anesthesia, it was clear the psychological pain was fierce. I was crying, he was crying, and even Claire had a quivering lip. Kyle was working so he couldn't be there. My mom helped as much as she could but the little man only wanted his mommy. :( Glad it's over now.

Waiting with the numbing gel on his boo boo

We had four free tickets to the Cards game. It was a perfect night weather wise even though it was a Cardinals loss (no surprise now in August). The kids loved eating ballpark goodies, walking around and a small amount of actually watching the game.

A cheesing little boy named Preston.

Happy Hour with workout friends. Always some great laughs at those gatherings. Goodbye June.

The only picture I snapped all night. Hi EJ!

Hail the Graduate

2011-07-29T14:11:00.000-05:00

We had a nasty hail storm AND a very special graduation this 2011 May. Kyle finished his medical school studies and at long last, graduated. He is officially in his residency and with that is one mean year of erratic schedules and little family time starting at the end of June. But, before that, Kyle had 6 full weeks of time off between med school and residency. It flew by so quickly it feels a bit odd writing this a couple of months later as he is into the full swing of the previously mentioned ugly hours.

We got the biggest laugh out of the supposed band aid on the cake that looked a little too much like something else...

Weather...hail, the largest, most jagged hail I have ever seen in my life so far. It started out like pellets and rapidly increased to the size of golf balls and nearly baseballs. The sound was incredible banging on the roof and windows. We stood at our front door as our car took a beating. No broken windows but some very big dents.

Home from work after a long day.

April 2011

2011-07-15T17:10:00.000-05:00

The trouble with trying to recap entire months backed up as far as December when it's already mid-July, is that I sadly forget many of the details. There are things about the kids that I mean to make note of that I just forget to do. But, we have Easter and pictures of a few random days.

We dyed eggs the night before Easter. In the morning, the kids had a blast following the trail of jelly beans out of their rooms to find their baskets full of goodies from the Easter Bunny. Then they had an indoor Easter egg hunt because it was cold and rainy outside. In the afternoon, my dad came down with baskets for the kids. We had lunch together here at the house and the kids enjoyed playing with Funny Grandpa. After naps, we headed to my mom's for dinner and MORE baskets of treats.

Waiting for the dye tablets to dissolve (Preston already had to touch it)

Doing their work

Daddy checking out the progress

Jelly beans leading to their baskets

New shades from funny grandpa

cheesing with the short lived glasses from FG

More cool things from Gaga Ducky and Papa Damon

It's not a usual occurence that the kids "play" with their food and I indulge them with laughs and pictures, to boot! However, on this particular night, the three of us were sitting at their "tiny table" eating grilled cheese and applesauce. They were both being so goofy that I took out my camera and took some pictures of the moment.

Grilled cheese and hugs

Happy Girl

My silly boy

Then here we have Dr. Claire Jillian Eash going to take care of her guys. Preston is very likely going to take something of those instruments away from her because they always want what the other has. These two are growing up way fast.

March Match, etc.

2011-07-14T10:50:00.002-05:00

This month's recap...some moments have pictures and some I failed to snap even one! Lots of working out with Adam, April, and Kyle (no pics).

Parents night out with Kate and Joe. Adam and April babysat and it was a success! Went to Dinner at Pi in the CWE and then had dessert at Crepes Etc. (no pictures here, either!)

Dinner and cookie cake celebrating Kyle's match in dermatology at Wash U AND my mom's birthday.

On one of the nights of pouring down rain, April and I decided to get out for drinks at Absolutli Goosed.

Treat night with the kids and April when Kyle worked overnight...but we made them again the next night because they were soooo delish.

Oh yummy goodness...mini-Nilla wafers, banana slice, small toasted marshmallow, and Nutella.

Nerds...okay, I told them to do it!

And where were the kids?...Making a run for it!

I think Claire's giant cloth diaper kept her closer to the ground!

Claire's Birthday Part 2

2011-07-12T20:54:00.001-05:00

This birthday a few days after Christmas thing is really hard for me to get a party planned on time. So, the baby girl had three celebrations...her party with friends was late but fun nonetheless. February party on Superbowl Sunday for a December 30th birthday. Here are a bunch of photos from the day at Qdoba, one of Claire's favorite places to eat.

And just a gloomy random day in February. The kids were playing quite nicely.

January Days

2011-07-12T20:54:00.000-05:00

We had snow, and lots of indoor time in January. I was certified as a kettlebell trainer and have been doing some bootcamps and privates since then.

Girlie and Yippie snuggling. Preston had to get in the pic. Ha

Skin and fur babies out for snow play

The slide works!

Christmas 2010 Bloomington

2011-07-12T16:40:00.005-05:00

To go along with my horrible lack of blogging, I've been equally bad at taking pictures. We had an awesome time in Bloomington on Christmas Eve. Preston and Claire were spoiled with attention and gifts from Gaga, Papa, the great grandparents and their aunts/uncles! The drive home was a bit crazy because of the blizzard and our sub par tires...BUT, we made it home in time to leave out cookies and milk for Santa, carrots for the Reindeer and then off to bed for the kiddies.

Claire checking out the beautiful snow storm

Not finished snowing yet

Preston playing cars with aunt Kelsey

Grandpa Eash, Kaylyn, Kelsey, Kyle, and Grandma Eash

Christmas Day 2010

2011-07-12T16:40:00.004-05:00

This year the kids really got into the idea of Santa coming. They woke up and were so cute checking out the stocking full of goodies and presents left by Santa. They even received a note from Santa on their art easel. Preston was very amped about that note and drawing.

Preston helping Claire open the gift he "bought" for her

At lunch, Adam and dad came over and the kids opened more presents. Then dad made food and we all relaxed.

Didn't take any photos there. Ugh.

Dinner we headed over to my moms for another round of food, gifts, play and talk.

Checking out a new Thomas Train

Everyone watching the train go around the tree

Claire's Birthday Part 1

2011-07-12T16:40:00.003-05:00

Kyle made Claire pancakes for her 2nd birthday breakfast. He got a little creative too! :)

We went to get Chinese food with Gaga Duckie and Papa Damon for dinner. Claire shared her very delicious birthday cake with all of the people in the restaurant, too!

Smiling at the man who thanked her for sharing her birthday cake

The next day, we had our own little party here since I already made her a cake but Gaga bought the special bakery one. Who wouldn't like an extra cake on their birthday?!

Our little sweetie!

Hockey Game Adventure

2011-07-12T16:39:00.001-05:00

One day in late December, dad gave us 4 tickets to the Blues game. Kyle had to work overnight so Jaimie and I ventured out into the wicked cold and wind with the kids. When we first got there, Preston was a little worried about how loud it was. He covered his ears until he saw how fun it was. Claire was excited and kept clapping and saying "Go, Blues!!!" The guys behind us thought she was the cutest thing...so did I! It was actually a super fun night and the Blues even won the game!

Jaimie and Claire watching the game

Chicken tenders, popcorn and water

Early December 2010

2011-07-12T16:39:00.000-05:00

Just random snaps of the kids with their babies.

Claire with "pea pod" and "giraffie."

Preston taking care of his baby and George.

Pink Nails

2011-04-14T16:19:00.001-05:00

Who would've thought that after several months of no blogs, what sparked my mood to post was some ridiculous controversy over a J Crew ad? It features a mom (the company's creative director) and her little boy with his toenails painted pink. It apparently has people in an uproar. One person commented,..."I like my boys. I don't want them to be girls! ... Little boys with pink toes ... it's disgusting, so are their parents." I personally think this lady is over the top. Disgusting?!!! Really? Big freaking deal! Pink nails will not be the determining factor in whether a child is heterosexual or homosexual. If Preston or Claire want to paint their nails, the reason I say yes or no won't be because it'll make them girly or gay or whatever. I feel so sad there are such negative, judgemental people in the world. What do you think?

Perpetually Behind

2010-12-22T11:11:00.000-06:00

Love that I'm always at least a month behind on keeping up here. I need some external motivation to force me to keep better notes on the happenings in the happy Eash house! Really, though I want to have more in those blog books for my kiddos to look back at someday. Life kind of just swoops us up and before we know it our kids are like...3 1/2 and 2 (almost)! Haha (I know they are still young)! ; )

Okay, once again backtracking over a month to November 2010 and this is where pictures help paint the story of our days in my favorite month of the year.

Here is just a day in early November where the kids were being particularly independent. At one point they were both sitting at their table reading their books giving me a kind of glimpse into the future...my big kids reading their chapter books in lieu of picture books.

All about trucks

Ashley's wedding...great to see the family together doing one of their favorite things...having a party! The kids were awesome and we stayed past their bedtime so Preston could have some cake! By the way, who sent the memo to all kids that weddings are code for running around like wild maniacs?!

When someone else uses my camera...the photos are rarely in focus. Gah!

Claire cutting a rug

My birthday....While gone for my Wednesday night workout, the kids and Kyle decided it would be a perfect time to make me an early birthday present. They baked me my favorite...angel food cake AND even made some homemade whipped cream. When I walked in the door, all the lights were out and suddenly they were on with the kids/Kyle yelling "SURPRISE!!" Preston was so pumped about the candles on my cake as well as the fact that he made mommy's birthday cake he really belted out a super loud "surprise." I'm pretty sure I have the cutest kids and kindest husband. : ) On my actual birthday (which conveniently landed on a Saturday) we headed to Blueberry Hill for dinner, drinks and darts, then onto The Royale. We were joined by friends from St. Louis Self Defense and Fitness and also by Michael and Erin M. Had a very lovely evening out (sorry for flaking on kickboxing, Owen)!

Yummylicious!

Hey, Claire, can you ever be still for a photo? That's what I thought.

Next up...The Macy's Holiday Street Spectacular downtown. The mayor was joined by a huge crowd of onlookers to light the Kiener Plaza Holiday Tree of Lights. We headed down with Kyle's sister Karley to meet Kate, Joe and Kira for a quick dinner at TGI Fridays and then walked the couple of blocks over to the plaza. There were fireworks, a marching band and Santa in his sleigh. Preston, Claire and Kira were adorable enjoying all of the sights (Preston not so much the sounds of the fireworks). We followed the parade over to Macy's and went inside for popcorn, cake, cookies, rings with a flashing light and candy. Ran into Shanna, Darryl, Reese and Aidan, chatted it up with them and then headed home to watch the Blues hockey game. Once the kids were down...PNO November! Headed to Bar Louie in the Central West End for drinks and company with Kate and Joe. A perfect Friday night!

K, J and K

As Preston and Claire would say, "PRETTY TREE and lights!"

Surprising...a shot of all 4 of us.

On to the next one...Happy hour with friends from STLSD at Hacienda. It was our biggest group yet and let's just say, I only needed 2 drinks! Thanks to my friend for looking out for me by sucking that third one down while my back was turned. Good laughs, good conversation and well, good times overall. Wish I would have been better with the camera.

That crazy corn behind us!

Martha and Mike

Hello, it's blurry down there! ; )

Erin and Michael

Trains...Kyle, the kids and I spent one afternoon at the Botanical Gardens checking out the Gardenland Express Trains. Preston was particularly thrilled with trains and loved holding my hand to run back and forth following one of the faster trains. After they had their fill of trains, we went to fill our bellies at the cafe!

Kyle and Preston looking at trains...Claire...not sure!

Thanksgiving!!!...We had our first Thanksgiving in our very own home! Well, I guess it's technically our second because when I was ginormously pregnant with Claire everyone in the family pitched in and brought the food over here to have Thanksgiving. This year, I actually cooked everything with help on the Turkey from dear old dad. Kate, Joe, Kira, Adam, my dad, and of course the usual suspects in the Eash house were all part of the festivities. Kate brought her ridiculously delicious caramel corn, Joe made his corn bread, and Adam also saved my butt by bringing dessert (whoops...I forgot about that component)! It snowed here and the kids were so jazzed about it. We didn't get very much but when it was coming down Preston and Claire were running around screaming happily that they could see snow! Piggy back rides were going around all evening and overall, it was a wonderful, splendid day!

Our motley crew

Piggy Back rides with Funny Grandpa

Last days in the month. Just playing outside.

Miss Independent

A stick in one hand and George in the other.

And there you have it! November in a giant nutshell.

Zoo Animals?

2010-11-29T13:48:00.000-06:00

The other day, the kids were playing with their friend and they began singing a song. As I sat on the outside of their little circle, more an observer than participator, I started thinking about things we have our toddlers/preschoolers do. Things we think are so cute, things that ARE cute, but even if most of it is purely innocent, I felt like the kids were some sort of circus creatures performing their little "acts" just because they want to please us. Indeed, we often want them to recite "Old MacDonald" or "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and it is fun for them and for us...or fun at least for some of them. Surely there are good things to be learned/had from group activities or simply being part of a group. But as I sat there watching, being slightly amused at their performance, I noticed that my kids weren't really that excited about going into the circle to act "like a silly clown, shaking and dancing all around." I went back and forth between feeling a bit embarrassed that my two didn't want to participate to feeling slightly proud that my kids aren't followers. Later, I thought some more, hence this blog post.

Why, when I brought my kids to Little Gym, did they not like singing the songs or walking in the circle with the parachute, or sitting on the floor to clap along to some little ditty? Is it weird that I kind of didn't mind? Is it weird that I kind of didn't want them to follow the herd? They wanted to run around and play on the equipment, walk on the balance beam, jump over the pads lined up and grab onto the parallel bars. They weren't crazy out of control kids that people would look at and say, "whoa, get a hold of your wild children." They simply didn't want to do the things I mentioned. Preston wanted to do what the couple of older kids were doing rather than follow the main events.

As they grow older, I want Preston and Claire to think freely, and critically and ask questions more than I want them to feel the need to always please. Do I think there are times that they need to follow my directions or rules they need to follow, or people they need to show respect to? Absolutely. I also want to have a relationship with my children that nurtures mutual respect, especially as they grow older and more capable of true critical thinking. It's a little early now to say I can have an open discussion with Preston as to why it is best that he nap or get to bed at a reasonable hour, however I can see one day discussing why he should or shouldn't be able to stay out an hour later. I want to say if he has a good enough reason I'd be open to being persuaded. For now, I try not to say "no" to every little thing they do, and I try to let them follow their interests, whether those interests include singing with the group or not. I will do my best to engage them in things they might not love at first sight but flapping a parachute up in the air with 12 other 3 year olds probably won't be at the top of the list! ; )

Halloween 2010

2010-11-28T20:20:00.002-06:00

One week before...Pumpkin Carving. Oh, somehow it seemed like the kids would enjoy this activity so we took our two pumpkins and headed over to Kate, Joe and Kira's for dinner and carving. It was a perfect night for our outdoor carving party and we did have lots of fun. The kids were not so interested in the process of turning a pumpkin into a jack o lantern, though. P and C were much more interested in playing with the playground equipment in Kira's yard and were downright disinterested in touching the "pumpkin guts." I had fond memories of participating in the carving as a kid but I guess that was when I was quite a bit older. Joe was the master carver taking great care and using artistic skill to create a jack o lantern much more elegant than my hacked up job! Haha! Once we finished our creations we headed in for a yummy chili dinner and homemade cornbread cooked up by Joe. The kids played until past their bedtimes and we finally called it a night.

Work Joe, work!

Kids being silly

From left (Kyle's, Joe's, Marisa's, Kate's)

Halloween birthday party for miss Eva Malone complete with awesome decorations, festive handmade snacks and a scavenger hunt. A zoo keeper, several animals, a cowboy, a princess and Spiderman were all in attendance. After the party we headed back to our neighborhood to meet Gaga Duckie and Papa Damon. They stayed back at the house to give out candy so Preston, Claire and Kira could walk around the block for trick or treating. I couldn't believe how awesome our street was. There were droves of kids and parents and so many of the houses were decked out in Halloween decor. It was nice knowing the city can be just as great (or better) as some of the suburban neighborhoods I've heard about. Up and down one block and the kids were tuckered out so we headed to Qdoba for dinner. Halloween 2010, a success!

Can't ever get them in a photo together.

With Gina and her cute little baby belly.

Almost forgot! The day after we set out our jack o lanterns, we woke to have most of the face of Kyle's eaten. Preston was devastated. He cried and wanted to know what happened but we didn't know what ate it up. Every day, more of Kyle's went missing and nothing was touched on mine. Well, as we were loading up in the car to head to the birthday party, look what I saw right in front of me:

The nerve!!

PNO October

2010-11-24T16:32:00.000-06:00

For this months PNO (parent's night out) we were loving on our Groupon for tapas at Mojo just a few blocks away. By the way, tapas is not a cost effective way to eat out but hey, our reservations were early enough for happy hour specials on drinks! Not that I want giant portions, it's just that when four people are sharing each round, it adds up. Kate, Joe, Kyle and I enjoyed several rounds of ordering all varieties of the tapas on the menu. Each of us would choose one dish so that every time we were served, we'd get 4 different items to share. It's a really fun way to eat out with another couple and I like it much more than fondue (which I guess some say is another fun group meal) with the exception of dessert (how can anything rival melted chocolate with all kinds of goodies to dip? haha). I would definitely recommend Mojo...the "sexy grits" were hands down the best side dish and the scallops the best dish, we ordered two of each of those. Thanks to my mom for making another PNO a success on the babysitting front!

On our way out the door...the obligatory pic before a night out! Haha!

Our partners in crime, K & J

Why a picture of the drinks and not the food...hey, what was my priority?! : )

Homecoming

2010-11-23T14:13:00.000-06:00

In early October, we headed up to Bloomington for IWU's Homecoming. Not only did we get to see Papa Norm's team win, Preston and Claire were able to spend some quality time with Gaga Cheryl, Papa Norm AND four of their great grandparents' Doris, Cork, Norma and Merlin! Gaga Cheryl and Papa Norm also recently moved into their very awesome new house and Preston made sure to point out, "Gaga Cheryl has a new HOUSE and Gaga Duckie has a new CAR!" We ate lots of food and enjoyed visiting with our family members whom we don't get to see very often. I was able to indulge in one of my favorite sandwich shops of all time, Potbelly's. Ah, reminds me of visits to Chicago long ago. : )

One story I don't want to forget...

On Saturday afternoon, Grandma and Grandpa Welter arrived. Once they were settled in, we all sat around in the living room chatting as the kids played with all of the fun toys Gaga Cheryl has. Preston was going through a box of little replica airplanes that Kyle played with as a kid. At one point, he took them out one by one and went around the room handing each person one airplane so we could all play. On his last stop, he reached Great Grandpa Cork. Preston ran over to him, reached out to hand him the airplane only to see that he had dozed off. Preston was shocked and just spouted out in the most incredulous of tones, "WHOA! That guy is SLEEPING!!!"

Water break on a hot, fall day.

Post-game interview with Papa Norm

Gaga's yard is nice and big!

Time Keeps on Ticking...

2010-10-17T12:20:00.000-05:00

I had to post these two pictures.

Chubby cheeks standing on daddy's feet! Not quite 3 months old.

Just over 3 YEARS old!

Marathon Post

2010-10-12T15:47:00.000-05:00

September 2010, where did you go?! Everyday life seems to be flying by faster and faster. The trusty 50D has been collecting dust as I've been a terrible documentor of our daily lives. How many times have I told myself to snap a few pics of the kids just doing their thing? Guess I just get caught up in the living part! Recap of some of the notable moments in the month.

-The Greeks...they sure do have delicious food. Labor Day weekend we met up with friends Joe, Kate, Kira, Mike and Shira to enjoy the Greek Festival in the Central West End. We are grateful to Mike and Shira for waiting in the hour long line for the gyros, the kids would have been crazy! Kira, Claire and Preston enjoyed a weekend of food, music and dancing as we also made it to the Big Muddy Blues Festival downtown on The Landing.

Miss Kate enjoying some food

He is smiling with me for a picture!

-We went to Eckert's the last week of September for apple picking. Preston and Claire got to have a fun morning with their friends Gabe and Reese and we picked enough apples to bake two yummy pies! Preston was such a helpful sous chef! As a matter of fact, during our crisp, cool fall weather spell, we ended up baking several days in a row. Pies, cookies, and brownies...my boy is going to know how to bake and cook (he loves it)!

Tractor with Daddy

Really?! They are so big!

-Parents night out! Makes sense that most of our nights and weekends consist of staying home with the kiddos being parents and then reading books or watching t.v. once they go down. However, we were lucky enough to have one night this month to act like single couples hitting the town with Kate and Joe. We headed to the rooftop of the Four Seasons Hotel where we enjoyed cocktails at Cielo's outdoor patio. Beautiful view of the downtown skyline, tasty drinks, great company. Can't wait for next time!

The pose...inside joke (we're dorks, I know)

Say "cheese"

-I had a fun evening out with new friends from St. Louis Self Defense where I spend several hours a week working out! We met for happy hour...which turned into a few hours of happy! Good times and good laughs.

-Gorgeous weather and outside playtime. The kids have been loving to go outside to play in the back yard almost everyday. It's great that we are finally at a point where they can be out there entertaining themselves with their toys and such. They've been loving to eat lunches or snacks at their little table which helps cut down on the mess inside...the dogs enjoy it too!

Elmo crackers...yum

: )

Happy kids

High Five?

2010-10-11T15:44:00.000-05:00

How much does life change with 3? I've heard some say things change so much adding a second, but to me, it really wasn't a world turn around for me, maybe because they are so close in age. For some reason, I feel like having a third will make life crazy beyond belief.

Kyle and I have agreed that we want more babies...neither of us is ready to say, Preston and Claire are enough. Assuming things work out, we would be thrilled to add another to our family. I know I want to be pregnant one more time and as crazy as it sounds, I want to go through labor again and once more have that one of a kind feeling of being filled with hope and wonder about the new little being we created. I don't love being pregnant, yet I do. The point we are at in our lives, it makes sense to try now in that we want them close in age and Claire is coming up on her second birthday, plus I'm not getting younger! There are never any guarantees that when we try to have another baby it'll happen right away, but hopefully the Clomid will help. Four months ago we did a round of clomid and it didn't work and the following month, I took the meds again but I chickened out on the day of importance! That's right, I felt I wasn't 100% ready so we skipped trying.

So what was the problem? Honestly, it was for totally selfish reasons. First, I have finally gotten into a groove with working out. It has been a good 5 years since I've kept up any kind of exercise routine and finally, I'm loving it and doing it! I didn't work out when I was pregnant with Preston because of the bleeding and I was just paranoid especially after the mid-trimester miscarriage of my first pregnancy. With Claire, I was so out of shape that even normal everyday stuff was a challenge. I'm getting close to being in better shape than I was when I got pregnant with Preston and it feels really great. Another reason is that I haven't been lucky so far in avoiding pretty rough morning sickness. I HATE nausea and vomiting to the point of it nearly being a phobia. It scares me to think of feeling that way with two kids. Ugh! The last thing is that Kyle begins residency in July and that is one year of crazy work schedules logging close to 80 hour weeks and then 2 more additional years of residency with a slightly better schedule. I think I might feel a little bit like a single mom. I know things will work out even if it doesn't go exactly as planned and there never seems to be a time that is wholly perfect so at some point we just have to stop worrying.

As an aside, Claire and Preston are such awesome kids and all in all, they are wonderful playmates/siblings. We can only hope their relationship continues to grow as they do...so the crying spats become less frequent!
: ) There are few things in life better than seeing them play well together, entertaining one another, laughing together and loving one another. I know all of that sounds sappy and nerdy, but, well, it's pretty much truth and it just makes me want to try to make it to those four total kids we always talked about having in our home. I know, get number 3 here first, which will very likely be the last...I don't like being pregnant that much! So, we shall see what the future holds.

August 2010 Bullets

2010-09-20T14:03:00.000-05:00

Preston's 3rd birthday celebrations, yes plural. Instead of speech therapy, we went out for donuts with Julie for Krispy Kreme donuts. Found out when they have the "hot" sign on, you get a free donut if you go inside! Each person gets one...not sure how great that is for bringing in more money but I guess they are banking on the fatness and overeating for many people. First little celebration with a friend, check.

Gaga and Papa had us over for dinner, Cars birthday cake and presents. Preston loves all of his new gifts, especially the Hot Wheels track and view finder. It was so cute seeing his face light up when he saw his cake.

The actual birthday. Noodles & Company for lunch and grilled cheese for dinner (some of the boy's favorite foods). Gaga Duckie came over to celebrate with us that night. We had chocolate cake and Preston opened a couple gifts from mommy, daddy and Claire.

The party. All week Preston talked about his friends coming to his birthday party. He was so excited. On the big day, most of his favorite people were here to help make his day extra special. Rory, Finn, Will, Eva, Yuri, Kye, and Kira were all in attendance. It was a casual party with snacks, cupcakes, ice cream and cake. I don't know if I'm lazy or smart, but I just want to be able to enjoy my kids' birthdays without stressing myself out! Even though I am the photographer in the house, I didn't want to miss out on everything, so our friend Matt came over to capture images from the day. He did an awesome job and we're eternally grateful.

(The only picture I took of P on his bday)

We went to a couple of the zoo's Friday Night Jungle Boogies with the kids, Kate, Joe and Kira.

Took the kids to another Cardinals game with K, J and K, too. Preston ate nearly an entire box of popcorn himself. When I looked in the box and saw there was not even a third left, I worried he'd get an upset tummy. We shared some of what was left with everyone else and then we let him polish off the rest. All three of the kids were super well behaved. We stayed until the 8th and got Preston and Claire down just a few minutes later than usual. The Cards actually won, which is apparently a really hard thing to come by these days. It's terrible how many losses they've had lately.

We had more bunnies all through August. I took a few pictures of them all huddled together. The next day they were gone. I was so sad since we apparently have a hawk in the neighborhood who has been seen devouring baby bunnies. Poor little cuties. Or maybe they just went to the park...yeah, that's it!

Preston's 3 year check up was happily uneventful. Everything is completely normal. He weighed 29 pounds and was 37 inches tall.

Kyle has been on another crazy rotation. Waking at 4:45am for work and not getting home until 6:30 or 7:00. We are heading into some more normal hours next week, and I'm thankful since I get stressed when I don't think I can make my work outs! So selfish. Haha. Really though, it'll be good for everyone to have him around more. The kids can't get enough of their daddy plus it sure is nice to have two parents with these wild children.

August's visit from Gaga Cheryl was extra fun because aunt Karley came down, too. Kyle and I got to do another kettlebell class together since we had the extra help! It's too bad they don't live in St. Louis (for many reasons)!

Monthly book club was fun. We got an original member back who has been MIA for awhile. We read the Pearl Diver by Jeff Talarigo.

Good month but I'm happy to say goodbye to August. My least favorite month for weather.

Lots of Preston pictures, so here is one of Claire in August! :)

Gravity of the Situation

2010-08-20T13:42:00.000-05:00

A couple of nights ago, Kyle and I went to kettlebell class. Finally a chance to work out together since we pretty much have to split up for workouts because of childcare duties. There is a really nice guy in class who is quite overweight. Kettlebell is really tough and my heart is beating so fast at the end of just a five minute circuit, I kind of worried about the guy. At one point, he sat down and looked really overwhelmed (I thought he might pass out). Hopefully, he is in tune with his body enough to know when to stop. Good for him to be trying to get into shape, it's probably not easy doing a squat or push up when you are carrying around A LOT of extra weight.

This brings me to another thing that I couldn't stop thinking about. I was leaving Target yesterday and noticed an extremely overweight little girl. She was not just a bit chunky, I bet she weighed about 60 pounds at 4 years old. The problem is that seeing kids like this has become a pretty regular sighting. It wasn't that I just saw this one girl, I literally saw several children far from being slim during that outing. What are parents doing? I know the probably isn't a simple solution even though I often think it's just about not eating so much junk. It's societal and genetic and psychological, etc. What is going to happen to these kids lives? I feel awful for them. Not only are they going to have health problems, probably starting at a younger age, but maybe emotional problems, too. Kids in school aren't always the kindest and weight is just another thing they use to make fun of others. So sad. Is it just me or are there more kids who are heavier than they probably should be?

Links and Streams

2010-08-03T20:57:00.000-05:00

Well, stream of thought, maybe.

- Just read this very interesting article. Have thought sometimes how we commonly use words in everyday speech that we didn't use when I was younger. Not that I think it's bad, just something I've noticed.

- Also as many know, I have certain opinions on the over-medicalization of healthy women's birthing experiences. This TIME article is another reminder of the current state of affairs in the United States. At least there seems to be some hope given that the ACOG issued new guidelines for hospitals to allow more VBAC deliveries.

- Kyle and I spent a few minutes over the weekend laughing out butts off watching some people on TV dancing at some local country music bar/club. A radio station in town does a live show from there on Saturday nights. Reminds me of the days when Carla, Michael, Kyle and I used to come home from a night out and crack up watching people singing karaoke at some area casino nightclub that aired late nights on the weekend years ago.

-Had some fun play dates throughout the month of July that I hadn't blogged about. Bot Gardens, playground and lunches out with Erin, Yuri and Kye; a zoo trip with Chris, Gabe and Reese; and a zoo trip with Kate, Joe, and Kira. Also had Yuri and Kye's poolside birthday party where Preston was content staying where his feet were firmly planted on the ground in shin deep water and Claire kept venturing off to the deeper areas.

Yuri and Pre

In the children's zoo area

Friday night zoo "Jungle Boogie"

Watching Yuri open her gifts

- The weather is outrageous this summer. We have had way too many unbearably hot days to count. Today, it hit 101 degrees with a heat index of 112! When Preston was born 3 years ago, we also had a nasty year. I remember our house couldn't get any cooler than 80 degrees and our poor A/C was running non-stop. I sure hope that old thing keeps on going.

- My sister-in-law recently found a website that she wanted to share on Facebook. Actually, I had already seen this Awkward Family Photos page some time ago (as most others probably have)! It is still hilarious and she just reminded me of it again. In the same vein, please check out this ridiculously hilarious page Unhappy Hipsters. and finally, the apparently short lived page, Where's the Douche, that gave me some good laughs while it lasted.

- Last night in extreme conditioning, Erin and I partnered up to do some newfangled move Mike came up with that had us cracking up. We joked that our husbands would have loved to see that sight. One person bear crawled across the room with the other person hanging with arms around the "bear's" torso and legs wrapped around the "bear's" waist. After that hour of intense working out, we headed to another hour of exercise for cardio hip-hop. Good times. We are monsters! :) But, I hate that no matter how hard I work out, I'll never be rid of the stretch marks from being pregnant! Ugh...tummy tuck, please.

- Kyle's crazy schedule never ceases to amaze me. Even more amazing is that fact that he remains a functioning parent and spouse. Last week, he had two shifts where he had to be in the hospital at 7am and didn't leave until 1:00 in the afternoon the next day. He slept one and a half hours the first call day and 2.5 hours the second time which was only 4 days later. I think I'd be physically ill if I had to do that. It is crazy that they expect doctors in training to do this.

Walking in the door with a smile!

- Isn't it crazy that pay phones are nearly non-existent? I saw one on a corner the other day and wondered who uses them? It seems that even people you wouldn't think could afford cell phones, have them. When I was young, there was an urban myth that you should never reach into the coin return slot because people with diseases put dirty needles or razors in there. Haha!

- I missed a post for Claire's 18 month check up and she's already into her 19th month! She is in the 25% for weight, 50% for height and large headed! Kyle has coined her "The Hoarder" because when she wakes up in the morning and after naps, she insists that she bring her blankie, duckie, pea pod doll, and giraffe...she knows when you forget one, too! Claire has the loudest, shrillest scream imaginable. She screams when she is mad and sometimes she does it to have fun, in which case, Preston likes to join in and he is pretty loud, too (Kyle and I have to cover our ears when we're in the car). This girl loves "bluedeedees" and "greeps" and is actually a pretty good eater (not picky). She and Preston are best friends and great enemies. When he takes something away from her she will scream bloody murder. But when P tries to give it back to quiet her down, she swats at said item and pushes it away (she does that to mommy and daddy, too). Claire does NOT like any television shows and although I should be happy, sometimes I wish she would sit and watch just one twenty minute show. Our little princess is so active and I used to think Preston had a ton of energy...well she goes and goes and goes. I think she is going to be a sprinter when she grows up because she runs nearly as fast as her older brother. Final note about baby girl, she talks so much it freaks me out how many things she knows how to say. Sometimes I think she wouldn't have a clue about what a certain thing is and she just blurts out its name clear as day.

Back yard tromp

-Had a lovely visit with my mother in law, Cheryl last Tuesday (one of Kyle's long days/nights). The kids got to spend the whole day with their Gaga Cheryl and I got to spend their nap time having great talk time. It was nice being able to talk about all of the things going on in our lives and then some!

-OH! And lastly, I don't want to forget about "our" baby bunnies. For the month of June we had a nest of baby cotton tail bunnies in our yard. We covered it with the kids slide for protection and took the dogs for walks instead of allowing them to go into the yard. They were my babies for the month and I was obsessed. Preston really enjoyed looking at them too. Kyle accidentally scared them out of their hole once and we had to go find them all to put them back. Miss those little cuties. I did find out that domestic rabbits are not good for pets toddlers.

One of the little babies

Food...for thought

2010-07-20T22:13:00.000-05:00

For months, Kyle and I had been talking about wanting to watch Food Inc., a documentary about, well, food. So, we streamed it to our laptop from Netflix. Anyway, a bit more specifically, the film is about how we eat, what we eat, where it comes from, and how it impacts our lives and our world. I am at this very uncomfortable moment in my life regarding food, a little over a week after seeing the film. I think on the one hand, every person should watch this film since I'm not a big fan of people wanting to remain...I don't know, blissfully ignorant? On the other hand, I think many will find themselves in the same spot I am, a little lost.

So you see this documentary, you take in the information, you process, blah blah blah, and if you plan on remaining a meat eater (if you were one to start), it's (the knowledge gained from Food, Inc.) actually makes things quite difficult, at least for me...I feel anxious. Not that I only feel badly for the animals, I mean, I do feel really badly on some level but then I'm thankful that we are able to have them to eat. I feel terrible for the animals I eat that were "manufactured" by a mass producer. Recently, I read that to reduce your carbon footprint, try eating more chicken because they are smaller than cows (and pigs for that matter) thus saving our planet in a few different ways. Then I saw how commercial chickens are grown and I was utterly disgusted and saddened. One of my favorite fast food places to eat out is was a certain chicken place at the mall. A few days ago, I took the kids there and thought we'd share a meal. I couldn't eat it. Well, I did eat a few bites but I didn't feel well. I know I'm focused mostly on meat but corn, soy and even fresh produce are other issues considered.

I went to the grocery store the day after seeing the movie and came home with just a few essential items. I walked around the store feeling slightly sick to my stomach with concern about how to make the most responsible buying choices. Produce grown and shipped from other countries uses a lot of fuel, boxed goods, canned goods, frozen goods...nutrition, shipping, ahhhh! and then, the meat. There is just no easy answer. I wish I loved fish because I'd try to eat more of that (although a little scary from the oil leak) and I just don't think I could be completely vegetarian. I'm not going to remain this extreme because I can't. Right now, we don't have enough money available to do what I'd like to. Buy a share of a cow that has been grass fed by a small local farmer, buy into a CSA again, farmer's market shopping from organic growers, buy fresh chickens humanely raised and finally, grow a small garden in our backyard. Next year, we will definitely have our own garden, plus I think the kids will enjoy doing that but I hope to implement some of the other things, too. A bit of a rambling post, but I wanted to get my thoughts down.

Mike D.

2010-07-18T21:56:00.000-05:00

He's not the Mike D. of the Beastie Boys but he is kind of a beast! Haha! Mike Diamond is the insane kettlebell and fitness instructor I've had the pleasure and pain of working out with. I can't not give him a little shout out because I am being whipped into shape by his classes. Yesterday, we did 120 reps, yes, 120 of 12 different exercises in 10 sets of 12 and that was just the first 30 minutes of class. I also love/hate these workouts because I am sore every single time I go. I keep thinking, "I won't be too sore next time since I am so sore today." WRONG! Today, I can barely extend my arms to hold on to the steering wheel of my car because my upper body aches viciously. The regulars are so supportive and friendly, too, and for me it helps to have a little encouragement when I am quivering my way across the parallel bars or carrying a 170 pound guy across the room on my back! I'd love to have more suffering friends join me and your first class is free. Anyone game? :)

Let's Dance!

2010-07-18T21:43:00.000-05:00

Gina and I recently had two weekends full of dancing. Reggie, the owner of a dance studio where I take class, asked if I would be interested in dancing at a Bar and Bat Mitzvah. Come again? He has a dj business and at these occasions it seems that having a couple of dancers to help teach certain line dances and then to motivate the guests to get up and dance is quite a help. I thought it'd be more fun with another dancer and I got the all clear to bring my awesome dancer friend, G! So I get my dance classes paid for and Reggie gets the help he needs. Oh my goodness, we had so much fun! The kids were so sweet and most were willing to dance all night. We worked and danced and had a blast. It's crazy how tired you get from dancing. I am so bummed I didn't take video of the dj/dancer, Doc doing a number to a Michael Jackson song. It was absolutely amazing. Hopefully we'll be able to do it again sometime! And a few pics from the tropical themed Bat Mitzvah...

Reggie with his silly face

Doc deep in thought about which song to play next

G's silly

Hmmmm, not quite silly

Our awesome group

St Louis National Pizza Company (Natty's)

2010-07-18T16:12:00.002-05:00

Umm, Yum! This is a new pizza shop right in our very own neighborhood. I can not tell you how excited I am to have an independently owned pizza place that has absolutely delicious pie literally right up the street from us. You can dine in or carry out and the prices are actually quite reasonable which is key for our family. Also, if you want to order by the slice, you can do that, too. We've ordered from them 4 times, with last night being the most recent. When Kyle got the pizza home, I took a bite and noticed that the bottom of the crust was a bit charred and although Kyle thought is was still edible, I decided to let the owner, Brian Williams know (in a very friendly manner) that the pizza was not perfect. He was so nice and asked what we ordered. I told him what we had and without pause, he said, "I apologize. We will make you a new one right away." When Kyle went back to pick our new pizza, Brian told him he gave us the a large instead of a medium. The name of the restaurant is St Louis National Pizza Co. because they serve New York, Chicago and St. Louis style pizzas all in one place. Excellent customer service and food. Just a shout out to a well deserving new business owner and his tasty food. They even have a blog you can check out although I don't know how frequently they update.

Sneaking up...

2010-07-12T22:21:00.000-05:00

...and getting a picture of my kids doing this:

"Millions of monkeys drumming on drums"

See, Claire

I love them and I love that they enjoy reading books on their own accord. The page Preston is on...every time I read it to him, he is always concerned about the dog whose car is broken down. Looks like that is what he is pointing out to Claire, too. Just the everyday things I want to remember. :)

In and Out

2010-07-12T16:07:00.000-05:00

Kyle and I planned a last minute trip during his break to visit Gaga Cheryl and Papa Norm. It was a very short visit and we wished we had more time, but Kyle had to get back to St. Louis for work. While there, we went to see Gaga and Papa's new digs...although there is now a different, new digs we haven't seen! :) Dinner at a restaurant by the airport, quick visit with Jeff S., and then back for bedtime preparations. Gaga Cheryl gave the kids their bath and read their bedtime books and then into their separate rooms for sleep so the adults could visit. Preston slept pretty well, considering his performance on our other recent trip. Next day our first outing was a walk around IWU's campus to meet Papa Norm's friends. We then headed to the children's museum where Preston briefly sat in and played with a kid sized fire truck and then moved on to the train table where he stayed for the rest of our time there. Claire wandered the museum. We had lunch at Medici's and brought the kids back for naps. Preston played with Kyle's old tractors and grain carts filling and dumping them for a couple hours. It wasn't sand, just some bird "seedy" that apparently sprouted into an odd kind of grass in the backyard days later. We had an early bbq dinner and then got on the road back home. We had so much fun and Preston kept asking for days after, to go back to Gaga Cheryl's. He doesn't quite understand how 2.5 hours is much longer than, say 25 minutes to his Gaga Duckie's.

Outside of Papa's office

In papa's office playing

Truck

Water table

Train table

Watching Ni-Hao Kai-Lan

Playing with "seedies"

Kettlebell, what? Bootcamp?

2010-07-08T16:04:00.001-05:00

Last summer before I injured my ankle, I signed up for a free kettlebell class at a local self-defense and fitness studio. One year later, I finally got around to taking that free class and brought a friend along to suffer with me. This is one workout my body is not used to. Let's just say, I have absolutely NO upper body strength. I thought picking up and holding my kids would actually mean that my upper body would be decently strong, but as my friend put it, "you're not picking your kids up from the floor and pressing them with one arm over your head." Each person has one kettlebell, the instructor started me on a 10 kilo which is 22lbs. We were squating, lifting, heaving, rowing, tossing, and cleaning by the end of this boot camp class as well as doing various sit ups, push ups and legs work. I didn't quite get the clean down, that's where my weak upper body strength came into play. M and I enjoyed being tortured so much we decided we'd go back.

St. Louis Self Defense also offers extreme conditioning, which is another boot camp type class just without the kettlebell. I assumed it would be easier since we didn't have to add the weight portion and oh, was I so, so, wrong. It was 1 full hour of complete hell. There are no breaks and so you are continuously moving from one exercise to the next, if you need a water break, you get to look like the wimp (I was a wimp...haha). Mountain climbers, jumping jacks, traditional push ups, push ups with your feet on a chair, push ups with one hand on a medicine ball, , push ups-into plank-into downward dog, push ups with your legs on a partner's shoulders (who is holding a deep squat), triceps dips, lunges with the medicine ball, stationary lunges, alternating lunges, step ups onto a chair, kneeling to standing with medicine ball..repeat 40 times, supermans, crunches, lower ab kips, sit ups with medicine ball, obliques work with medicine ball, and tons of partner work....I feel sick remembering all of the stuff we did. The girl who was partnered with me must have been rolling her eyes to herself, I was so shaky and cashed that I couldn't even do half the stuff we were supposed to do and a lot of it was supposed to support your partner. The instructor does just the right amount of pushing you when he knows you can do more and supporting when you are doing good work. Kyle came with me to use his free class this time and as I expected, he put me to shame. He didn't stop once and did everything. His face was beet red afterwards though and he said he didn't want to talk or he might vomit. Yes, I'm going back even though I hurt everywhere.

Hot Day and Baseball

2010-07-07T22:29:00.001-05:00

On one of the days during Kyle's break, we went out to the gardens. It was during one of the ridiculous 99 degree days. I thought getting out in the morning might be more bearable, not so much, it was hot. We spent a good deal of our time watching a mother duck with her ducklings resting under some flowers, then as they swam around in one of the water fountains. The ducklings had three out of our four family members interested...miss Claire decided the tram was more interesting and in one split second, she was sprinting towards the moving thing. I looked behind me and realized she wasn't with us anymore, looked to my left and saw her running full speed (and the girl is VERY fast, no joke), the driver was not slowing down, as he clearly didn't notice her. I ran faster than I thought possible, yelling Claire's name. She didn't listen to me, and literally as she was about a foot away from running in front of the tram, I swooped her up, near tears myself. The driver looked at me upon realizing what could have happened and continued on his way. After that, we took a mandatory rest in some shade. The kids ate their Cheerios and drank their water. Just a little more walking and we were overheated and ready to head home for lunch.

Preston saying "HOT!"

Claire's expression in both pics tells you how it felt out that day

The Cardinals were playing on tv that night, so we told Preston and Claire they were on. Preston asked to watch a little and requested popcorn. It is so cute to me that ever since we went to the Cardinals game and bought popcorn, Preston always asks for popcorn when the game is on. We have to get back to another game...hmm, maybe for our little guy's upcoming 3rd birthday?

Relaxing, watching the game, eating some popcorn

Happy kids! (the dogs are waiting for the jackpot)

Family Vacation

2010-07-07T15:07:00.000-05:00

Kyle had a TWO week break in June between academic years, so we were able to take a few days and head to Branson with Gaga and Papa Damon. The condo was really great and everyone's favorite thing was the "island oasis pool." We spent all three days at the pool, after breakfast in the morning and then again in the late afternoon after the kids naps. This year, we didn't think the kids were quite old enough to appreciate the amusement park, Silver Dollar City, so we skipped that outing. We also considered renting a boat for one of the days but I was a little apprehensive with the kids not having been on a boat, plus, I don't particularly care for swimming in lakes/rivers/oceans...the creatures give me the heebie jeebies. :) Maybe next year.

Kyle, the kids and I shared one room and that was a bit of a challenge. The room wasn't as dark as the kids are used to, (we have blackout shades in their rooms...it really helps them sleep nice and long) and Preston was just revved to be in new place. They went to bed late and woke early, I just had to remind myself it was only vacation. Which brings me to another thought...

Vacation with kids is a totally different thing than the vacations I've taken the rest of my life! I know, duh! In ways, it is kind of life as usual just in a different place. The kids still need to have some semblance of a schedule or they'd be complete wrecks, they still needed to have their certain foods (Preston in particular) and Kyle and I still had to be parenting the whole time. No matter how different vacations may be from what I was used to, it was so wonderful having Kyle around guilt free for 14 days.

Storm clouds on first morning...thankfully cleared up in a couple hours

Checking out her shadow

That watering can and truck kept him busy all day

Claire still for a split second

Not from Georgia, despite Kyle's misleading hat from a bowl game

Quick family pic

In our pj's lounging after breakfast

Reading before bedtime

Make Daddy So Happy

2010-07-04T14:14:00.000-05:00

It is so sweet to see my little boy find pleasure in making others happy. At the end of May, Preston and I went shopping for Kyle's birthday present. I chose a couple of shirts and let Preston make the decision which to buy. Then we headed to Target to the find a birthday card. P decided the best card for daddy was the Monster Truck one with punch out trucks to drive on the fold out track. He said it would "make daddy so happy!" Later that day, we made chocolate cake with chocolate frosting...Preston reminded me that daddy likes brownies, unfortunately we only had boxed cake mix. It was a pretty low key birthday for Kyle but I hope he had a good day. We spent the day with the kids, had lunch at Qdoba and for the evening, my mom watched P and C so we could have dinner and drinks at Tucker's in Soulard. We allowed the kids to stay up late so they could sing happy birthday and watch daddy blow out his candles. Of course they got to have cake and ice cream, too. Everyone enjoyed the yummy cake (next time we'll do brownies). : )

The kids sat outside excited to give daddy his present.

Dinner date!

Daddy talking to gaga and Preston entranced by the candles

Make it a good wish!

BBQ, Swimming and CORN!

2010-07-01T22:17:00.000-05:00

One weekend night in May, we couldn't pass up having a cookout with friends given the perfect weather. The kids played in the blow up pools while the adults relaxed. Joe was the grill man for the evening. Purely delicious kabobs and grilled asparagus put our simple hot dogs to shame (the bagger at the store didn't put our brats in the bag!). Kyle and I were so glad Kate and Joe brought extra! Preston and Claire LOVE corn on the cob and they know how to eat it. It was Kira's first time eating one and she seemed to enjoy it just as much as our two.

The kids were absolutely adorable. P and K loved going down the slide into the pool and filling cups with water. Claire screamed at her brother when he splashed water on her. After dessert, grandma's chocolate cobbler, (thanks for the recipe, Evie), the kids played inside. Lot's of good practice sharing! :)

Showing the girls how to climb up

Can I assist you big guys with the grilling?

Look at me!

3 cuties

Chatting while waiting for the coals to be ready

Deliciousness on that grill

PICNIC!!

What Season

2010-06-28T15:53:00.000-05:00

And now for a barrage of photos...

How does this giant flower smell?

Mommy and kiddos!

Racing through the maze to find daddy

Spunky Girl

Checking out the koi fish and ducklings

Ugh! Why didn't I get him in focus, too?!

Sweet daddy wiping food off of P's face

It seems so long ago that we were able to wear clothes like this. However, it was just a bit over a month ago, mid-May, actually. Officially, St. Louis is now heated up and in the throes of humid summer temps. Lots of water play for us in the kiddie pool or else we are indoors until the sun is beginning to set. Next year, a pool pass is a must. Thought I'd post these to reminsce on cooler days.

Kyle's membership to the Botanical Gardens has really been awesome. I'm certainly thankful that the medical school gives them to the students, we use it frequently.

Pop Flash

2010-06-24T11:56:00.000-05:00

I rarely use the flash on my camera so on the occasions that I do, it always takes Clara Berra for a surprise. She thinks it is funny for some reason and gets all squinty eyed. And in catching up with sharing pics from the past months, here are examples of the squinty from May.

Ahhh, too bright, mommy!

Now she thinks it's funny...I think this was like the 10th take!

And one with slightly closed eyes but we think the girl is awfully cute...we're partial!

Grandparents

2010-06-16T16:08:00.000-05:00

In early May, we had a fun little visit from Gaga and Papa Eash. We went to the Missouri Botanical Garden on this particular visit. It happens to be our little family's favorite place to go in St. Louis especially during the summer. It probably helps that the location is just a couple minutes from our house. Of the many times we've gone, the tram ride was something we'd never done. What better time to try it out than with Gaga Cheryl and Papa? Preston loved the "choo-choo train" and I think we all rather enjoyed it, as well. The weather, however, was a bit on the cool side so we decided to have lunch at the cafe inside. Surprisingly, in a good way, the macaroni and cheese was up to Preston's discerning taste buds and got his stamp of approval...proof by the entire bowl being cleared out by the little man alone.

We cooked dinner at home instead of going out, which was a very nice change of pace, in my opinion. This way, the kids were able to run around more and play with their grandparents right up until dinner was on the table. The next morning, we were treated to our favorite weekend breakfast, bagels and cream cheese from Bread Co. Although the visit was short, it was so fun. Preston and Claire are wising up to the whole grandparents = spoiling through non-stop play and attention!

Awww! Papa Norm reading with Claire

Even though you can't see their faces, I though this was cute (they were acting like monkeys)

Good job looking at the camera, gaga Cheryl!

Maybe the point and shoot camera would have been better for the garden employee...focus?

our very charming and charismatic tour guide posing for the camera

They spotted one of the dinosaur statues

One Day

2010-06-13T20:19:00.000-05:00

Just a random day in May. When daddy's at work, we go out to play. When we don't have much going on and the kids are getting a little stir crazy inside, I let them out with some toys and suddenly life is beautiful. We've been blowing bubbles a lot and of course cars and trucks are always a part of the action. Thankfully, Claire likes playing trucks with Preston so it's a win, win. Preston has a playmate who likes what he does and mommy gets a break from playing trucks! Love it.

Silly face!

Somehow, the sewer lid was really fun on this day.

Getting things organized

(Look at those shins!)

Practice climbing up and down stairs

Privacy

2010-06-11T22:20:00.000-05:00

Why do people seem to be getting so freaked out about their information on Facebook being seen by others? I only put information on there about myself and my family that I wouldn't be afraid of most people seeing; not that I necessarily want anyone to see my page, but really there isn't much there I'm nervous about sharing. Does that mean I want to "friend" anyone? No, but I guess I just don't get why the privacy issue on Facebook has been big news lately. Suddenly it's like the masses are scared into blindly changing all of their privacy settings because their mom/brother/cousin did it. Maybe I don't know the nuances of Facebook or how they use my information. I don't want my information or pictures sold to companies but I also think it might be kind of paranoid to go into my profile and hand select which of my Facebook friends can see this that or the other about me. I'm not going to lock down my profile like Fort Knox. If I'm comfortable enough to be friends with someone on Facebook then I'm comfortable with them seeing all of the stuff I put on there. I don't think I'm that important that my profile information would become a hot enough commodity that someone would want to use it for something I wouldn't want them to. I feel like it's about common sense, if there is something so private you don't want people to know or see then why are you putting it on Facebook at all? Save those opinions, pictures, ideas, etc. for sharing in person with your inner circle of friends/family. If I'm willing to blog about something or put something on Facebook then it should be something I wouldn't freak out if a stranger saw or read it. These are, at best, semi-private places on the internet, so if it's something I don't want someone to know, then I probably shouldn't put it on there.

What do you think? If you have more information that I might be missing, I'd love to hear it. Am I not being paranoid enough? What is a realistic hypothetical OR real life worst case scenario that could happen with me not hiding everything in my profile? And why would I hide certain elements from some of my FB "friends?" If the answer is business/job related, that is, if you have stuff you don't want your employer to know or see (maybe you have half naked pictures of yourself drunkenly lying over a toilet) perhaps the issue goes back to the common sense thing...why would you put that on FB anyway? Have you changed your privacy settings?

Sidewalk Chalk With Gaga

2010-06-03T11:32:00.000-05:00

Preston and Claire had a couple visits from their Gaga Cheryl in April. She drove down to Saint Louis from Bloomington to have some nice quality time with them and boy did they have fun. Between bubbles, watering cans, books, sidewalk chalk, gelato, and playgrounds, Preston has been asking about Gaga Cheryl non-stop. He looks forward to her visits so much, it is adorable. We know Preston and Claire love having such an energetic Gaga and so do Kyle and I! Thanks for everything, Gaga!

Drawing a house...

...and of course the truck

snuggles and giggles

Easter 2010

2010-06-02T22:14:00.000-05:00

This was such a fun Easter. Preston was quite excited about hunting for eggs and loved opening them to find goodies inside (mostly the Match Box Cars). Claire was content to have big brother run around finding the eggs to bring back to the table where she promptly snatched up the jelly beans, Reece's pieces and cookies that fell out of the opened plastic eggs.

We had our first egg hunt in our own backyard. Once the kids finished with that, we all came inside for them to go through their baskets. There was a trail of jelly beans and Reece's pieces to each of the baskets. We told Preston the Easter Bunny must have dropped them on his way out and that he should follow the trail to find his basket. Preston saw the trail when we came in the front door and he was completely spooked. He did not want to have anything to do with following it back to his room. I asked him why and he said, "In there!" He thought the Easter Bunny was still in his room and he didn't want to see him! Haha, cute! Claire was so occupied with picking up and eating every last piece of candy that she cried when I tried to bring her to her room to find her basket. Once the baskets were out in the living room, both kids loved going through them. The stickers and hand held globe lights were big hits.

After naps, we headed to Gaga and Papa's for another egg hunt and two more baskets. By this hunt, Preston was an old pro and just zoomed around the yard, smiling when he opened an egg that contained cars. He also received a watch. He thought he was like daddy wearing it.

mouth full of jelly beans

"Oooh, a truck!"

enjoying a cookie on the picnic bench

Preston and Gaga playing with the giant balloons

From February

2010-05-20T15:58:00.000-05:00

Forgot posts on February...overall it was an uneventful month besides Kyle getting back to clinical work. It seems like forever ago that he started that. Worth noting was the visit from Papa and Gaga Eash. We played, went to dinner and just spend time. Unfortunately, we only took a few pictures.

Daddy, mommy and Clairey

Blurry but cute

Gaga Cheryl always comes prepared for outings...puzzle book this time

And two random pictures from the month...

Surprised by mommy

A little downward dog practice?

Blues, Birthdays and Books

2010-05-20T11:59:00.000-05:00

Still backlogged from March...

Kyle and I took the kids to a Blues hockey game for our 5-year anniversary. It was pouring down rain and we didn't even have tickets to the sold out game but we thought we'd do like we used to when it was just the two of us...find someone selling tickets. I drove around with the kids to look for parking while Kyle looked for tickets. Pretty quickly, he called and said there was a dad with his son who had two other tickets since his other two kids couldn't come. For close to half off the face value, we were set! I was a little nervous about how Preston and Claire would react to the loudness but they were both awesome. Preston was a bit reserved for a few minutes but after a pep talk and snuggle from mommy, he was good to go. It happened to be free food day so we got popcorn, hot dogs, chicken tenders and soda, what a steal...professional sports game and food for four at $50! Claire got a bit squirmy so we had to let her stand on the floor in front of Kyle but we made it though the entire game.

Mom's birthday was on St. Patrick's Day so Preston and I made her a cake. He would help me bake every day if he could (he loves holding the mixer with mommy). Preston knew it was Gaga's birthday but said it was his birthday, too. Even though I told him it was not indeed his birthday, I made him a little cupcake and put a candle in it. We had dinner with Papa, Gaga, Uncle Adam and Claire and then came back to our house for the sweet treat.

And finally, just a cute picture of a visit from Uncle Adam. Claire was on the couch by herself looking at a book. Adam thought is was so adorable that he sat down with her and read a little to her.

16 and 32

2010-05-11T16:09:00.001-05:00

Oh the kiddos. As should be expected, they are growing and changing and doing new things all the time. Preston and Claire are just great kids and I am so happy to have them both in my life. They have such different personalities/dispositions it's crazy they are from the same parents...that's sort of an exaggeration, of course they are different. What are they like right now...

Preston
-Loves Cars the movie and the actual toy cars you can buy that are the characters from the movie.
-Is slowly beginning to try new foods. Maybe the standbys are getting boring.
- New foods..my homemade chili with elbow macaroni, peanut butter and jelly
sandwich, and chicken nuggets from Chick Filet (not just McDonalds).
-Getting good at kicking the soccer ball around the yard and keeping up with it.
-Doesn't like big bugs or bees...hmm, wonder where he got that fear? Ugh, bad mommy.
-Likes planting flowers and is fascinated with watching them grow from seeds into plants.
-Climbs the big playground equipment like a pro (the big slide is his favorite)
-Talking more and more everyday and that makes us so happy. It's been a long road.
-Loves Julie, his speech therapist; Gaga Cheryl who blows bubbles; Gaga 'Duckie' plays hide and seek
-Tackles his sister on the couch and makes her mad
-Enjoys making Claire laugh by saying silly things
-Says he wants another baby! haha...hopefully in good time

Claire
-Loves saying 'no' to anything we ask her even if she wants it
-Dances when mommy practices her dance
-Eats mostly anything with a few picky moments
-Is fearless in most new situations. She marches onto the playground and 'talks' to lots of people
-Apparently has no fear of losing track of mom/dad...she takes off whenever she is free of the stroller
-Runs everywhere as opposed to walking
-Scraped bloody knees from falling are nothing to cry about if she is outside...
-BUT a bump from Preston or a "No Claire" from mom brings on the waterworks instantly
-Loves doing 'saults' (a.k.a. somersaults) on the couch and does them perfectly on her own
-She is a jokster, acts goofy and cracks Preston up especially during car rides
-Gives the best snuggles but then demands to be let loose to run around
-Is a daddy's girl...demands he hold her whenever he is home
-Walks/runs to the park and home with the family and still has energy to play.

A couple weekends back, Preston was sick with a fever and I was sick with a head cold. I decided to let him watch his first movie (Cars) and he loved it. I like that there aren't any scary themes/characters because he is pretty sensitive to that. What other animated movies are good for toddlers who don't like scary characters?

A Full Three Months

2010-05-07T15:40:00.001-05:00

How many times have I "decided" I would train for some race to motivate myself to run? It's just so time consuming and the times I tried to go out myself with the kids in the jogger, I just found it (the stroller) so cumbersome that I didn't enjoy the jog AT ALL. On the days that Kyle and I went out together, it wasn't so bad (he got to push the gigantic double jogger) and it was a little more fun doing it with him. But his work schedule just hasn't been conducive to training together and we were missing so many days. After coming to realize that running is just plain boring to me and too much time when considering training to run something decently long, I knew I had to find something for exercise. Something that would keep me motivated and coming back even on the days I don't quite feel like doing anything. In late January, I (re)found my love, dance! My friend Alice and I signed up for two beginner Hip-Hop classes at COCA and went to another studio for one additional class per week. During the first couple of weeks it was pitiful. We both looked terribly uncoordinated and it took us lots of practice just to remember a few 8-counts. But, we kept going and started loving it more and more. I've gone when I've been sick and can't get enough, it's just so much fun. The instructor at COCA has master classes at another studio a few times during the week. The classes are late night (9:30-11:30) and I decided to give it a try. Apparently, I want to hate myself because compared to these high level dancers, I look like a 4-year old but Redd (the instructor) encouraged me to keep coming. I'm going to get a video of one of the classes sometime soon and post it. I'm so happy I've been doing this consistently for a few months now. Oh, and groupon is so great; I snagged a deal for yoga classes at a nearby studio for a ridiculous price. We'll see how I like that.

Stormy Weather and A Tree Hugger Moment

2010-05-07T15:18:00.000-05:00

We had insane storms here twice in a week. The winds were so strong we even had a leak in our roof/ceiling (I don't even want to deal with that). During the first one, Preston and Claire were both napping and although I heard the sirens going, I opted to let them sleep, hoping there wouldn't be any tornadoes. There was indeed a tornado in a nearby suburb. That was the one where the winds were ridiculously fierce. The second storm we were driving home from dinner going about 20mph on the highway. Got home and the tornado sirens were wailing, rain was torrential, the radio told us there were tornadoes quite close so we each took a child and ran into the house and down to the basement. No leaks that night and everyone was safe and sound.

Driving down the highway today, I had a random thought. I noticed the trees, big and small, and felt amazed at how sturdy they are. Some of them were leaning sideways in the wind of the storms but here they were still standing. So very cool, those trees. Haha!

Book 'em

2010-05-05T15:23:00.000-05:00

For the first time in a few years, I've read a book not related to parenting! Finally, I've ~~had~~ made the time to read a novel. Getting a book club together was the best thing to motivate me. Picking up a book and only reading the first 20 pages has been the story of my life for a few years now. Hmmm, wonder what's been going on for those 3 years?! :)

Three and a half books in and I'm so glad I have to be accountable to my group because I always seem to find something else to do during kids naps and bedtime. So far, we've read and discussed The Complete Persepolis, The Sea, The Sea, and The Help. Currently in the middle of Animal Farm and set to discuss it in a little over a week. Not disappointed with any of them so far...hope to keep up the good streak.

Recall! Ugh!

2010-05-03T22:40:00.000-05:00

Just love having a product recall when it is something for my kids....and we've used it. For everyone with kids, there is a Tylenol and Motrin recall on certain lot numbers, of course ones that I have. Obviously no major damage as far as I know but still, scary when you trust that medicine you are giving is safe and helpful. Anyway, wanted to share.

We Miss Lab

2010-05-02T22:18:00.000-05:00

Gosh, Kyle has officially been out of the lab since oh, February and we have been crazy around here. It is a serious change from the flexible hours he used to have. Preston (and mommy) had a hard time adjusting. On Kyle's first couple of call days, Preston would wake and ask for Daddy but wouldn't get to see him until very late. I'm glad we are on a late schedule in our house because the kids wouldn't see their dad for nearly two days in a row every week.

During his 3-month medicine rotation he is on call. That means he has to stay in the hospital with his team to take new patients being admitted from 7am until 9pm. Each team does this every 4-days. He We just finished a 12 day run with no days off. It was pretty brutal. The first time he had a long stretch (7-days on) I cried on that seventh day as the kids and I were on our way to Noodles and Co. for lunch. I was feeling sorry for myself, my kids and Kyle; basically our family situation. I felt lonely. I think I'm getting used to the schedule a little more but honestly, I don't want to get too used to it because frankly, I love our family time and I love being able to hang out with Kyle! :)

We've been going out to Gaga and Papa's house once a week and they come down here once or twice a week. Gaga Cheryl has been driving down a couple times per month to help, too. I'm so thankful for these family members, ~~life~~ I would be crazy without them.

A family visit I never blogged about in late January. Obviously, couldn't coordinate everyone to smile. I took several and in each pic, someone was looking crazy! Love that P is pointing and laughing at Kyle. Wonder what he was laughing at? Haha!

Is There Any Point?

2010-05-02T15:02:00.000-05:00

It has been FOREVER since I've updated the blog...sad that it has been 3 months. I don't want to give up on the old blog, so I'm making it a point to catch up. Bummed about having just a handful of posts for our blog book. Awhile back, I decided that the blog book would be a nice physical documentation of our lives from the mundane to the extraordinary. The baby books were going to be abandoned in lieu of the family blog but wow, busyness has kept me from sitting down to document. I want to get back to it so I might just flood our May blog with tons of entries.

And here are three pictures from early in the year.

Little Devil...

2010-02-10T14:47:00.000-06:00

...ate the Angel Food cake! This morning, Preston and I made an angel food cake and I had it turned upside down on a bottle for cooling. I was petting Girlie on the floor while Preston and Claire played around the house. Claire ran down the hall and back into the room with me. Finally, Preston came in saying, "cake." I asked him if he thought the cake was cool enough to eat. He thought it was so I went back to check on it and found that the stinker (or a giant mouse) had already climbed onto a chair and helped himself! I actually thought it was quite comical. There were crumbs all over the floor and the dogs made good use of themselves cleaning it all up. So happy that cake wasn't for someone's birthday. Just something for us to eat whenever and I guess Preston decided when he'd have his share! Notice half the perimeter of the cake and the nice giant hole! Haha! I don't know how he did it without knocking the bottle of liquor over. I'm just thankful that wasn't a shattered glass on the floor.

Little Celebration

2010-01-20T23:02:00.000-06:00

I most certainly dropped the ball on a first birthday party for our little princess. The first time doing the holiday rush with two kids AND Clairey's b-day a few days after...ugh, no great excuses I suppose. I fully intend to do a half birthday party for her this year to make up for the non-to-do on December 30th. Twenty years from now she'll remind me of the photos from Preston's 1st birthday bash and say she needs therapy for being so neglected...haha! Kidding, of course. I just need time getting used to the late December busyness.

We did however have a mini-celebration with Grammy, Papa, Uncle Adam, Daddy, and Preston. The cake was also the most delicious cake ever, I think it was Preston's help, really, no kidding.

Claire is walking/running all over to keep up with her brother and "talking" so much.
Her words are:
ligh = light
dada
mama
sh = shoe
ball
papa
go
hi
bye
ah-puh = apple
eat

As for the one-year well baby...she is...well! 30th percentile in weight, 50th percentile in length and...dun dun dun...90th percentile head! Too funny!

You know we love you baby girl!

A Moment

2010-01-14T16:00:00.001-06:00

Kyle brought Claire to physical therapy this morning while Preston and I stayed home. We had breakfast together and then I began doing my work. I don't know how long I was in front of the computer but I noticed that Preston had been quiet for some time. I walked into the next room to check on him and he was sitting on the floor playing with his fire house. I went back to work and I heard him talking...I heard him say, "Two yahdies out." (Yahdie = fire truck) Then he called, "Mama?" I told him I was at the computer working and he said, "Uh, huh." Minutes later he was in the same room as I playing at his train table. He was playing independently and he does so well at this that sometimes I feel like I take it for granted. On random occasion I think to myself how great it is that most days I have time to do what I need to at the computer or around the house because he keeps himself occupied pretty darn well for a 2-year old. And then...I think, I don't want these times to go by so fast and by "these times" I mean his age. I love being able to pick him up and hold him.

So there I was sitting at the computer working on getting those wedding photos edited and suddenly I had this incredibly emotional moment. It was one of those points in time where you almost feel outside of yourself. Like you are viewing things as if you were reading it from a book and it were someone else's life. I got out of my chair, picked him up and told him I loved him. He squirmed but I didn't want to let him go. I didn't want to let the moment slip by. I put my nose on his head and breathed in deeply to smell his little Preston smell and I thought, "I want this smell to be emblazoned in some store of my brain so that I can think of it and actually smell it at will."

Then as he squirmed more and said, "DOWN!" I gave him one last squeeze and let him go. I know that one day, much sooner than I know I'll be ready for, he'll be a grown ~~boy~~ man coming home to visit us from college, or whatever. I suppose parental attitudes change and maybe we're able to let go as they grow (or grow as they grow), but right now, I feel like he will forever be, my little baby no matter the size of his body, sound of his voice or accomplishments he's made. Hmm, reflections from a momma about her boy. :)

Thank You, Dad!

2010-01-10T22:43:00.000-06:00

It's my dad's birthday today, so we want to say, happy birthday, dad (and Grandpa), we love you! I hope you enjoyed your day relaxing and watching football. Your Big Red was a winner, too!

For the longest time, our kitchen sink faucet was leaking and spraying water all over the place. We were just dragging our feet on really checking it out because we didn't want to have to do any major repair work or have to fork out a bunch of money. Thank you so much for helping us out this week. I can't believe Kyle and I thought we had to replace our whole faucet. For just a few dollars and a few hours we had our faucet fixed as well as our leaking sink drain. It's great having such a handy dad.

Christmas Night

2010-01-10T17:12:00.000-06:00

We went to Grammy and Grandpa's for gifts and dinner on Christmas night. The dinner was a huge thanksgiving style spread, super yummy. Preston and Claire danced like crazy and play, play, played all evening. The kids received lots of clothes and some very cool toys. Preston, as usual, has a few more trucks added to his ever growing collection. The biggest hit was a surprise to me. It is a tea set for Claire. Both kids love playing with it, but Preston is absolutely hilarious. He has been pouring "hot tea" for us and when we go to drink it, he shouts, "Hot!" When he first said that to me, I acted as if it were so hot and asked him to blow it for me. It has become our little game. He has been learning shapes from the cake pieces that come in circle, square and triangle. Claire licks the cake pieces and "drinks" from the tea cups.

This holiday season was so much fun. Oh, and I almost forgot to add, we had a white Christmas! Way cool!

Christmas Morning

2010-01-10T16:57:00.000-06:00

We had quite a few gifts under our tree, so we decided to let the kids open their gifts in rounds. Actually, we spread it out over a couple of days because they'd get so preoccupied with certain things that they didn't want to open anything else. Opening gifts over days is nice because they get renewed excitement for a couple days. The drum has been huge success. They are so cute playing with it (except when Preston bonks Claire with it on occasion then we just put it away for awhile).

Daddy helping Claire

Preston and daddy checking out an airplane

Little Drummer Kids

Both kids enjoying Claire's toy from Grandma Cheryl

Sibs

2010-01-10T16:41:00.001-06:00

Just wanted to post this for you Eash siblings. I was going through old pictures..see how much you've changed from Christmas 2003 to Christmas 2009.

2003

2009

The Greats and Stockings

2010-01-06T10:30:00.001-06:00

Before lunch on Christmas Eve, we opened our stockings and had a visit with Preston and Claire's great grandma and grandpa Eash. This was Claire's first time getting to dig into a stocking stuffed full of goodies. Preston did have a stocking last year but I guess it just felt more exciting this year since he is older and we have two kids. It was so much fun for Kyle and me to see. Preston got a winter hat that he put on and kept on for the duration of stocking opening time. Claire got a little white stuffed puppy that she has been loving ever since.

Arriving in Bloomington

2010-01-03T11:17:00.000-06:00

On our first night in Bloomington for a holiday visit with the family, the kids got to play with their aunts for the first time for some. It was awesome having everyone together as well as being able to see Preston and Claire interact with their aunts (and uncles) for a couple of days. Preston's best friend was his Grandma Cheryl and one of their favorite games was playing trucks in the basement. Whenever Preston saw Grandma Cheryl was free, he'd grab her by the hand and say, "Play trucks!" Kyle and I were definitely enjoying being able to relax knowing everyone was so helpful in kid watch duty! :) With Claire walking everywhere we needed the help. Here are a couple snapshots of Wednesday evening.

Claire at 11 Months

2009-12-28T16:01:00.002-06:00

I took these pictures of Claire at the beginning of the month. As she begins to show us more and more of her personality, I thought these images capture so much of her character. Maybe she should have been a Taurus because she can be so bull headed and strong willed? Maybe Leo since her scream is so fierce? Aunt Kendra, you know more about the signs, maybe you can tell us how she fits into her real zodiacal sign, Capricorn! :)

Happy Girl laughing at mommy

Pouty Girl smashing her cracker

Innocent

Sassy

Cold Weather Hits

2009-12-28T15:37:00.001-06:00

The kids finally had to be bundled up here in St. Louis. They are such good sports about being suited up to go out. Kyle will take them out on a little walk most nights after dinner if it isn't terribly blustery. Claire goes in the stroller but Pre walks while holding his favorite flashlight. Here they are in their first layers without the outer shells of their coats.

Holiday Kickoff

2009-12-28T15:32:00.002-06:00

Wayyyy behind on keeping up with holiday happenings. I seriously need to find a little time to post as things occur instead of waiting so long. Back in November, Kiener Plaza had their tree lighting and Macy's downtown had their holiday open house where they also unveil their holiday window displays. There was a marching band, fire performers and fake snow blowing outside as everyone waited for Santa's arrival. We had a blast with the Gourley's checking out all of the different things Macy's had going on on each of 8 floors in the building. Fred Bird, Santa, free popcorn and candy, Disney Radio DJ's, St. Louis Ballet Company performances, and free cake and sugar cookies. That building is so cool. Preston did not want to sit with Santa, Claire on the other hand sat on his lap and checked him out.

He's Too Much

2009-12-20T22:48:00.000-06:00

As many of you know, our son only knows foods that are white and yellow or basically in that color range. Well, he knows other foods he just refuses to enjoy the beautiful range of flavors offered by foods of any other color. He will live this year of his life mostly subsisting on macaroni and cheese, cheesy broccoli rice, plain rice, fried rice (no veggies), scrambled eggs, corn on the cob (only on the cob), yogurt, shredded cheddar cheese, toast with cinnamon sugar, Auntie Anne's cinnamon sugar pretzel sticks, French toast, milk, grilled cheese sandwiches, Ramen noodles, cheese pizza, crackers, shortbread cookies, bagels with cream cheese, applesauce, water and apple juice. So, in some ways, it isn't the absolute worst situation, but certainly he could do soooo much better. In order to make sure he is getting all of the vitamins he needs, we fold a crushed Flinstone's vitamin into his applesauce.

A few nights ago, I went out to do some Christmas shopping and Kyle stayed home with the kids. Dinner menu was macaroni and cheese and applesauce for dessert. Tonight at dinner, Kyle asked me if I avoided putting the purple vitamins into Preston's applesauce. I don't actually avoid using the purple vitamins and use whatever color lands in my hand out of the jar, so I asked why he would wonder such a thing. Apparently, Kyle used a purple vitamin the other night and Preston refused to eat the applesauce. When Kyle asked him why he didn't want to eat it, Preston replied that it was, "dirty." That boy is so stinking silly! Haha! I don't want to forget this one.

Sugar cookie with lots of frosting...never denied

And All She Wants to Do is...

2009-12-14T17:38:00.000-06:00

...Walk, walk, walk. Don Henley's song may say dance, dance, dance but our girl is walking up a storm. It's official, she is a walker. I know everyone's definition of walking is different. I think when the primary mode of moving is on two feet, that is walking, and the girl is doing it 80% or more of the time. She started this last Monday evening. I've been needing to get some blogging done and this is one of the more exciting topics. I checked yesterday to see when Preston started walking and I found something to be a bit an uncanny, they both started walking exactly seven days past their 11 month birthdays.

Claire is going to have to be tough with a brother like Preston. He is always bowling her over, pushing, shoving, etc. (no we don't encourage it but we can't stop it every time). I just can't believe she is so courageous to even think about walking with Preston around. He is not slow moving or gentle around her. Kyle and I actually made a bet with one another as to when she would start walking. I said the end of January...he won. Here's is a quick video.

Just Wow

2009-11-29T22:37:00.000-06:00

After speaking with the doctor this afternoon, we were told to head to Children's Hospital. Total side note, I sounded like such an idiot at one point during the phone conversation. We were talking about the size of the gash and I actually got out the ruler and measured it (that's not the idiot part). It measured one inch long --relayed that information and then I measured the width...it measured 3/4 mm wide, mm hmm, yep, 3/4 mm. Uh, what? 3/4 mm? That's like a paper cut! Haha! Kyle heard me and said, "That can't be right, more like 3/4 of a centimeter." Of course after I told her that she said we needed to go to the hospital. Definitely not thrilled about going there in light of flu/cold season and long waits. When we arrived, the triage nurse was already expecting us. We checked in quickly and were headed back to a room within minutes. The staff as well as Kyle and I were wondering why it was so...not busy. No complaints here but really, it was strange to have no one waiting. We truly were the only ones there.

We spoke to the ER doctor about our options. Glue, stitches that dissolve or ones that have to be removed. She said the best were the ones that needed to be removed (for various reasons). They stuck a numbing gel patch on his cut in lieu of lidocaine shots and gave him baby percocet. After 30 minutes the doctor came in and commented that little man "didn't seem stoned." We said we thought he'd be the one to get hyper from the meds. The next part was flushing the wound. Kyle held Preston as they irrigated the cut. It actually made me a little sick watching the water power spray open his cut more. I had to look away. So far, P was handling things pretty well.

What followed was not fun in any way. They took a sheet and rolled him up like a burrito, laid him on his back and put the medical lights on right over his head. This is where it became pandemonium. Preston broke out into hysterics. Screaming, kicking, squirming, crying...I could not take it. Kyle was holding his body, one nurse was holding his feet, another nurse was holding his head and the doctor began her work. I began to sob. P kept yelling, "down, down, no, no!" and then, "momma!!!! momma!!!!" My heart was broken, I could not help him because I was crying my eyes out. Nothing Kyle said calmed the boy. Then, another nurse watching said to me, "well, the stitches will dissolve." Uh, no they won't, the doctor said she was using the ones that need to be removed! I then asked out loud, should we maybe not use those kind since he is so traumatized by this? The doctor agreed and then had to remove the first stitch to replace it with the other kind. Meanwhile, Preston was still freaking out. As Kyle says, suddenly, I rallied and went to my boy's side. I began to talk to him and for whatever reason, he listened to me and began to calm. We did some deep breathing and counting to ten. After several counts to ten he realized it was not over and began to work himself up again. I kept looking over wondering how in the hell it could take so long to do 3 stitches. I just wanted unwrap Preston and hold him. I told him about the trains we were going to see in the hospital and that calmed him again. Then it was over.

The baby percocet and hysteria had the boy a little woozy, so I carried him to see the trains. We headed home for a nap with 3 stitches. My fears of going to the ER with Preston have finally become reality. I just hope we don't have too many more of these and definitely nothing more serious. I need to take pictures tomorrow.

Another Owie

2009-11-29T12:45:00.000-06:00

Waiting to hear back from the doctor to see if we should go and wait for, oh, 12 hours in the ER for yet another Preston bash up. This time it was spinning around Preston vs. wall. I think it needs a couple stitches but my husband isn't sure so he wants us to wait to talk to the doc. Ugh, not my idea of a Sunday afternoon/evening/night. What do you think?

One Down...

2009-11-24T23:37:00.000-06:00

One down, one to go...
He did it!
Finally!
Hello, doctor.
Kyle Eash Ph.D

Just a few ways of saying, Kyle Passed His Doctoral Thesis Defense Today! He was officially awarded his Ph.D, today. I attended his defense this morning and I am so incredibly proud of him. I don't think I understood 75% of what he said (too much science stuff for me), but he sounded good! :)

So, he technically needs to get the signature of the Chair of the Department, but that is just for official purposes.

Next on the plate, M.D.

It Takes All Kinds

2009-11-18T16:42:00.001-06:00

Not as hot topic as this post, but more funny to me than anything. Kyle is up and ready to head out the door bright and early with the kids for his Saturday morning crazy-dad-get-up. He puts the kids in the BOB, leashes up both dogs and throws on his Rollerblades for exercise and to get the kids out...ummmm, this isn't the funny part...or is it?!

I'm sitting at the desk in front of the computer and Kyle comes back in to grab bags for the dog poo. He says, "Is it odd that our neighbor is on a ladder in front of his house cleaning his windows with a huge stogie lit up at 8am?" Seriously? Hilarious and odd, being that he is about 25 and not 70. Let me share with you, this. Our neighbors moved in a few months ago and the husband introduced himself to me one day while Preston and I were out front playing. I know his name and he did ask what my name was as well as Preston's. About two weeks later, he got out of his car and P and I were outside again. Our neighbor said to me, "I don't believe we've ever met. I know my wife said she met you, but I'm _____, and your name is?" Okay, strange, but I humored him and answered. No joke, another week or so goes by and deja vu, it happened AGAIN! He said, "hello," and then, "I don't think we've met before, I'm ____, what is your name? And little man's?" Really, what is going on here?

His wife is always running away when she gets out of her car and she laughs nervously and loudly every time we see her. She goes, hahah, hehehe giggle, giggle and then "Hiieeeeee!" They have a baby Claire's age that we have seen maybe three times.

Another day, we were looking out back because their dogs were barking like crazy at someone. Well, they don't have a fenced in yard and apparently the dogs were in the alley barking at a woman and her dog. The wife was telling the lady the dogs were friendly and then the husband comes out of his house with no shirt on and boxers, yelling, "Come here, boys!" It was so funny.

The strangest thing is, I love our neighborhood. We have all kinds of people and it is great. I wouldn't leave. I don't need or want Whitopia...can't wait to read this.

So, a rambling post, but question to you all. Would that seem odd to you? That? Which part, right? Mostly the stogie deal because I know the introductions thing is definitely out there.

Oh and a picture for the great grandparents and grand parents, too.

Potato Corn Chowder

2009-11-18T15:56:00.000-06:00

A friend posted this recipe on her Facebook page a couple months back. I talked about it here and I think a third request for a post on this recipe is a charm. Here it is and thanks to C for her recipe, it is delicious. I changed a tiny bit of the recipe for our liking and I'm sure you can ad lib if you think of something else.

(1) 14.75 oz can of creamed corn
4 cups of frozen corn
3 large potatoes cut into 1" chunks
1 medium onion diced
32 oz carton of chicken or vegetable broth
1 and 1/2 pints of Half and Half
1/2 stick of butter
2 tsp. of salt
1/2 tsp. of pepper
(1) 13.5 oz can of coconut milk...this is an addition I want to try...got to give my Islander roots a shout out

Add everything except Half and Half, butter and coconut milk (if you are trying the cm) into the Crock Pot. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or high for 3-4 hours
Use an immersion blender and puree to your liking (I prefer a chunkier texture as does, C) or use a slotted spoon and put in a regular blender to puree (add some of the liquid)
Return everything to Crock Pot and add Half and Half, butter and coconut milk
Cook on high for 1 hour
(Serves 6)

What Would You Do?

2009-11-08T15:22:00.002-06:00

I don't get many comments on a regular basis, but I am really asking my readers (family, friends and strangers) to please leave a comment.

On Sunday early afternoon, Kyle took Claire to the park to play on the playground while Preston napped. He reports that a few minutes after being there, a couple arrived with their child. They stood on the perimeter of the playground but on the playground and began smoking a joint. I will not say what Kyle said or did. I just want to know what you all would do.

Regardless of what you do or have done in your life (smoked it in the past, currently smoke it or never touched it) are there boundaries for this when in a public place especially a playground? I know some would argue that marijuana is no more harmful than a cigarette and it is just a matter of what the government decided should be illegal...fine, then would smoking a regular cigarette in close proximity to babies and children be legit? You certainly don't have to tell me where you personally stand on the wider issue just simply let me know what you would have done/said or if you would have done/said anything at all if you were there with your 10 month old.

Whatever

2009-11-04T10:40:00.002-06:00

-Yesterday, I had one of those moments with Preston where I just felt crazy mad. He was going from one stinker thing to the next, I felt like I could just lock him in his room for the morning. He has taken to body blocking his sister when he doesn't want her to have something of his...it's no surprise being that his parents are/were dog trainers and he sees us do it with our dogs. Body blocking is quite effective, just not so nice when the one being blocked is a 10 month old who falls over with a little shove. P has also taken to sitting and bouncing on Claire. It started out with the two of them playing on his little chair, he kind of bounces on her and she laughs but as I'm sure most toddlers do, Preston takes it too far. Apparently, any toy that Clarie had, was worth gold because she could not have anything without it being snatched from her hands by her big brother. The bathroom sink has become an obsession and whenever we forget to close the door, Pre heads in and turns on the water and leaves it on until either Kyle or I go in and discover it. Whining, oh, God, the whining! We just decided yesterday that we are going to count whining because it is a mommy hot button. I can deal with a little whine here and there but when it goes on and on, it feels like my nerves are being sent electrical shocks.

Was my point of this little replay of my morning all just to vent and complain? A little bit yes, especially since Preston can read this someday and see how much he could make mom feel crazy! But, I wanted to share the redemption story. Of course, it always occurs (me forgetting about the bad days) but this particular moment was just so sweet, I wanted to make sure I remember it. After lunch, Preston took his duck lovey and put him on his lap, put his blanket on him and said, "book." P then walked over, picked up his favorite Curious George book, went back to the couch and started "reading" his book to duck. He even put duck's face up to the pictures to point out certain things (like the dump truck). Finally, he brought duck over to his chair, put duck down on his belly and covered him up. This routine is what we do with Preston for naps and bedtime (except he doesn't sleep on his little chair, haha) and we have never pretended to do the routine with duck. I forget how imaginative little brains are.

-Why do I love Google Reader? I think everyone should have Google Reader if they read blogs. Even if your list of blogs to read isn't long, it is great. First off, I have iGoogle set as my home page when I open the Internet browser. I have Google Reader added as one of my page elements. So, here is why I like this set up. Whenever someone writes a blog, it pops up in my reader and I avoid having to check their blog regularly. The best and possibly weirdest reason, is that when I see several new posts, I get that feeling I used to as a child when I had a pen pal. Remember pen pals? Oh, my, do kids do that anymore? Anyway, it's like mail of the sort that I want to receive (no bills or junk mail) and it's different than email because my inbox is always full of junk/spam (but I do like personal email from friends). Okay, rambling, but just another random thing on my mind!

-She took a step! A single step, but a step nonetheless. Very exciting and she only just turned 10 months. Now, she could wait to walk until she is 15 months old for all we know, but still, we were pumped. Honestly, I want her to walk, this crawling jazz is annoying with dirty clothes and hands that pick up every speck of dust and animal fur on the floor. She is already mobile and getting into things so let's just take it to the next level and get vertical, Claire!

-Sunny and mid-60's predicted for the week. Must get out and enjoy because it doesn't last long! Boo on daylight savings, the sun goes down way too early! Oh, and whose crazy idea was it to do this spring forward and fall back thing? Seriously, the kids bodies (sleep schedules) just don't get that concept. Stupidness, I tell ya.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T14:52:00.005-06:00

I have not made a crafty thing in I don't know how many years. When I was younger, I really got into that kind of stuff. I figured with kids, now is the time to tap into that fun creative spirit again...umm...or something like that. My first attempt at it was not the best but then again, not the worst. Preston's Halloween costume was homemade and I thought it would be nice and cheap to go this route. Well, let's just say, not so much. After buying everything needed, I spent more than I would have on a ready made costume. It's a good thing it was "fun" (I just keep telling myself that) because it was not cheap.

I have never gone into a fabric store and why would I? I don't own a sewing machine and I have no idea how to sew, knit, cross-stitch?(is that a word), or quilt. Now, maybe I could have shopped around to price things out, but being my normal procrastinating self, I waited until Friday to buy the components of P's costume. A yard of felt was 6 dollars...FELT?...six dollars! Faux hair, a small square of red felt, fabric glue, hot glue gun, thimbles, glue sticks, face paint, black sweat pants and black t-shirt...what does it make?

Trolkenstein!

In poor Pre's defense, I made the head piece too big so it kept falling over his eyes. He was supposed to be Frankenstein but I didn't have time to search for a used black blazer or black boots...we went with his old tan blazer from last year and tennis shoes. We consistently had two guesses as to what Preston was dressed up as. Thankfully, for mommy's self esteem, most people guessed Frankenstein, but about a quarter of the people guessed Troll. Shoot me people, I made the head too tall! Actually, Kyle helped make this and he was the measuring and cutting man. I was super paranoid about us burning ourselves with the hot glue and Kyle thought it was a great opportunity to freak me out by screaming out when I put the glue down onto the faux hair and told him to press it down, very carefully.

Claire was easy. No wrong guesses on our little flower!

She loved going trick or treating. Every house we went to, she wanted down to climb steps, crawl around or practice standing alone. No candy for the girl and almost no candy for Preston. He has never had a piece of candy, lollipop, gummy bear, M&M or otherwise. I have a ridiculous sweet tooth, so I don't get it. He loves cookies and cake but he won't touch candy. Well, I opened a mini-packet of Reese's Pieces and told him to try one. "NO! NO!" He wouldn't try it. So, I told him they were "baby cookies." Ha!Ha! Baby cookies! Well, he tried them and liked them so much he kept asking for, " more bady (he uses 'd') cookies!" That boy!

Dad and kids before heading out

Frankenstein and Purple Flower Girl

I must mention that the start of our Halloween 2009 was kicked off with a costume birthday party for our good friend, Eva Malone. She turned one. How fun will it be to have a Halloween birthday when she gets older? Good times.

Friends, A Crocodile, and Well Wishes

2009-10-29T11:19:00.008-05:00

-If I could capture a picture or video of Claire doing her dramatic face and cry, I would. This girl is ridiculous. I've been saying for some time, that I know Claire is going to have a short fuse like me, but every day, it seems she makes her desires more and more apparent...and not by asking, "pretty please." She has a particular face that is like the rev up. Her mouth opens wide, the corners turn down, she squints her eyes and then she screams a certain way. Then the tears flow if she doesn't get what she wants and of course the screaming continues.

Over the weekend, Kyle took the kids to the zoo for a 1 hour quick visit while I did house stuff. Later that evening, he said, "Claire really embarrassed me today." I was rather curious. He went on to tell me that upon their arrival into the zoo, Claire was riding in the stroller while Preston walked with Kyle. Suddenly, she began to scream and cry (with tears) like something hurt her. He promptly took her out and...voila, the faucet was shut off in an instant. He carried her for a bit and then tried to put her back. He said it was like wrestling a crocodile to get her strapped back in with all of her wriggling and stiffening and screaming. Well our little girl with the crocodile tears cried very loudly making daddy feel like everyone was watching him torture his child. I suppose her tears aren't totally faked, but when the Claire-bee wants something she makes it known. Grandma Cheryl even got to witness this for the first time on her visit earlier this week. Our girl is gonna be a sassy one.

-Awhile back, I wrote a note to myself that I wanted to blog about an article I read in Parenting. "6 Friends Every Mom Needs" Here they are along with the first little blurb reason why you need them.

1. The Mom in the Same Boat---She gets it.
2. The No Kids Friend---For adult conversation and you can act like you're still cool.
3. The Been-There, Done-That Mom---She helps you through the moments when you don't know what to do.
4. I'll Do Anything For You Friend---She'll pick your kids up when you're in a pinch or help you with your yard sale
5. The Slightly Glam Friend---She helps you realize you can be a fashionable mom...and she can lend you her wardrobe
6. The Brutally Honest Pal---We all need to hear the truth sometimes.

Do you moms have all of these friends? I think I have a friend that fits the bill for each of these, some friends are sometimes a combination of a couple. The one friend that is hardest for me to find is the 'Been There, Done That Mom.' I try to grow friendships with moms with older kids (more than just a couple years older) but somehow, it is hard to keep up. I wish I did have a close friend of that sort because it would be nice to get advice here and there from a friend who might have a similar parenting philosophy as mine but has already made those hurdles that I come upon. Plus, it'd be nice to get advice from people with older kids other than say, my mom (even though she's awesome!). My 'Glam Mom Friend' is great to the extent that she makes me aware of current fashions, but in the end, I always end up om my go to everyday wear...sweats, t-shirts, running shoes and ponytail. Blah.

-My mom finally decided she was done dealing with the flare ups of a herniated disk in her neck, so she had surgery. She came out of surgery in one piece...(I guess technically, one piece less) and is at home healing up. The recovery time is going to be about 2 months and we are going to miss her twice weekly evening visits. Preston and Claire love having their grammy here to play and Kyle and I love her company as well as the help we get from her occupying the kids. Get well, mom! Hopefully you'll never have to worry about the pain again. Here is a picture of your sweet grand kids to help make you feel better!

This and That, etc.

2009-10-23T14:53:00.002-05:00

Every fall, I get this wild hair. My mind starts churning. I feel like blogging more (I don't actually blog more) and I have more random thoughts that I want to write about just because. Not that I think any of these thoughts would be particularly interesting for anyone, I just get stuck in my own head sometimes and writing feels nice even if I just jot a few notes about these random musings.

-I haven't been huge on texting. Actually, I had a moment very recently where I said I was going to boycott texting because I read this article on SMS messaging (aka 'texting) in TIME. Cell phone carriers are making a boat load of money off of us when we text. My personal prohibition of texting didn't last very long, though. We had free phone upgrades and moved up to 'fancier' phones with unlimited texting in our plan. I just started texting and have been doing it here and there but certainly, I've sent more texts in the past two weeks than I have in my personal history of owning a cell phone.

This texting stuff can be dangerous. I haven't looked at the video that apparently went viral in Facebook, the one with the kid getting into a terrible crash while driving and texting...but I have started noticing A LOT of people texting in their cars while driving. It makes me nervous and I didn't pay attention to this until this week. I just started seeing random drivers engrossed in their phones sometimes while at a stop light (less worrisome) but sometimes while driving right next to me. I admit, I do look at my phone on occasion while driving but I haven't actually attempted texting. Has anyone else noticed this? Or do you text while you drive? Just wondering.

-That 5K I was training for, um, it didn't happen. The "training" went on for 2 weeks and I worked myself up to a whopping 1/2 mile of non-stop jogging and then the bad weather hit and then, no gym membership and I just kind of dropped the ball on it. I suppose we're getting out of training season for runs but Evie and I have agreed to start training together at the end of this month when she moves to my neighborhood. My personal goal is to run one of these by spring. I would say I'm committing to one of the upcoming holiday runs but I don't want to get barraged by more bad weather and not be able to stick with the program. Clearly, getting in shape is a much slower process than I ever imagined it would be, (I'm no longer a physically fit twenty something) so I need to make sure I give myself ample time to gear up. Ugh, if only I loved working out like some people (weirdos, haha) say they do!

-I am so proud of Kyle. He received a merit award through the American Society of Hematology which includes an honorarium, air fare, taxi, hotel, and food stipend at the ASH convention coming up in December. He also finished writing another paper for publication. It is submitted and we are waiting to hear if it will be published. My evenings have been a little lonely since he's been burning the midnight oil, but it seems his work might be paying off.

-How do you find a balance between living your life and trying to keep your little ones healthy in this cold and flu season? I'm not going to lie. I don't want to get the swine flu or any flu at that and I really don't want my kids to get it either. Now, I know there isn't anyone who wants to get it, but I feel particularly worried about it since I have asthma and since I've read that H1N1 especially gets the little ones more severely than seasonal. Although I know it is a really small percentage of kids who actually die from flu(H1N1) complications there is a statistically significant increase in pediatric deaths caused from the new flu compared to type A past season's deaths. I know most people, kids included, will just feel lousy for awhile, but I still feel nervous thinking, what if one of my babies were one of the unlucky ones? For me, it's like, the vaccine can't get here soon enough. We are doing what our pediatrician suggested...avoiding enclosed public places at their busiest (most crowded) times unless it is absolutely necessary, washing our hands frequently and this sounds kind of funny to me, but I guess it makes sense, staying at least 6 feet away from a person with a cough since the flu is passed through the air. Ask me in another month if we haven't gotten vaccinations whether or not I'm still trying to avoid busy times at indoor places. I might just be a little cooped up at that point. We shall see.

-Last week, I made a delicious Crock Pot meal. A friend posted the recipe on Facebook and I decided to try it out. Potato Corn Chowder. Yum. I want it again. BUT, I have so many recipes for the CP and it just happens to be Crock Pot season and I have to say, I love it because there is no easier way to make a meal than to throw all of the ingredients in and have a home cooked meal hours later.

-Halloween is coming up way fast. I bought Claire's costume but kind of wish I'd come up with something homemade...easy store bought or use my brain and creativity homemade?...I bought the girl's this year but I am going the other route for P. I'm really excited and hope he will wear it. Must get to the fabric store this weekend, though.

-Last night was a super fantastic evening out with a couple of my girlie friends. The conversation was quite lively, hilarious at times and rather deep at other moments. I wish I could do this every week. It was a total psyche refresher to get out, have a drink, have a meal and talk with adults. Those 4 hours flew by so quickly. Thanks for the good time, ladies! Oh, and Pi was great. Must try if you are in the mood for not a regular run of the mill type pizza.

-The kids are so big now and Claire barely seems like a baby, sometimes. She is acting more and more like a pre-toddler (ha...you know, like preteen...I know, dorky) and I've been having fleeting moments of baby fever. You know, wanting another, very likely our last, but then I snap out of it. It's not time...yet. :)

-OH! Even though I'm going to have a separate post on this sometime soon, check out my new (very sparse) photography blog. Haven't had much time to do anything with it. It's been sitting around with no posts for weeks and then I decided to say a little something. I even posted a link to my very small portfolio. Anyone need pictures? Anyone? Buuuuueller?

Drool

2009-10-13T22:47:00.004-05:00

And I thought the girl was being difficult for no reason. Crabby, waking up earlier than usual, not falling asleep easily, these were some of the challenges we were having with little Claire-bee for over a week. We couldn't put her down, or I should say, when Kyle was around, Claire wouldn't let him put her down (princess is a daddy's girl through and through). She is fine when it's just me but when we are both here, she wants da. Someone was always trying to keep her happy.

What could be bothering her? Since we just went to see the doctor, I actually ruled out the crab inducing cause--teething. Dr. Schmandt inspected C's mouth on the 1st and said there was no sign of any teeth so I just forgot about it. Maybe the excessive drooling and chewing on everything should have been a tip-off but for whatever reason, I didn't give it much thought. Anyway, I guess a week makes a difference because on Sunday, I randomly decided to give her gums a little feel, lo and behold, a scratchy little tooth poking through on the bottom. Hooray for Claire! Her first tooth beginning to appear!

Random Claire tidbits:

Did I mention how well this girl is eating? She enjoys tasting whatever we give her.

Tonight was the first night Claire actually balanced herself while standing. I didn't think she'd do it since she'd normally just plop right down onto her butt if we encouraged her to stand. She also took some steps while holding my hands and that, too is something she generally doesn't do.

Preston's tools seem like good teething toys

I almost feel like I could wipe the drool off of my computer screen

Eight is Great

2009-10-07T21:42:00.005-05:00

I tagged along with Chris to take some pictures of her friend's family....of eight! They were truly amazing, all of them so sweet. Can you believe they have TWO sets of twins and the second set (one month old) was a surprise! I loved working with the H family. Here a few from that day.

Baby Mia (her twin, Max, wasn't feeling so hot with reflux, poor baby)

Big sister, Remi checking out her sleeping sister

Pretty girl

The big twins holding the newborn twins

The beautiful family

Pumpkins and Pies

2009-10-06T21:12:00.005-05:00

It seems this past weekend was THE weekend for every last person to hit Eckerts or any other pumpkin patch/apple picking place. Sunday we headed to the Milstadt location to meet Mindy, Matt and their boys. Let me warn you if you haven't been, Milstadt charges $8 per person over 2, whereas the Belleville location is free. We've always gone to Belleville but I think it was a great idea to take Preston to Milstadt. They had tons of fun kiddie things and felt at times a little circusesque (not a word)...Camel rides (camels in the mid-west?) a small petting zoo (again, I felt kind of bad for the lonely kangaroo), pig races, carnival rides, kiddie karaoke, lots of carny food, tractor rides, apple and pumpkin picking, and some variety shows. Oh, and I must mention there were bees, lots and lots of bees. Mostly the bees were in the apple orchard but when I say there were bees, I mean like thousands. I realize I have a bug phobia but I'm allergic to bee stings so it only fuels my panic. Anyhow, it was the perfect day for our outing and the kids were happy the whole time, then again, we were outside. The tractor ride was the hit of the day. Preston loved it.

Just arrived and P wanted to ride...not for long!

Daddy with P and Claire in the Ergo...AND his "dad bag"

He surprised me when he said he wanted to go on this ride

Claire enjoying some of daddy's apple

This evening, I put a big lot of those apples we picked to good use. They were bound for the deliciousness that is apple pie and my mother in law's apple pie recipe, no less. I am not a fan of the super sweet apple pie variety so this recipe is perfect for my taste. Today was the first day that I got that fall/winter weather, urge to bake. I get it every year. Overcast, breezy, cool, perfect conditions for baking sweets.

We all got our flu shots today and Preston was completely cool. He sat on my lap while the nurse stuck the needle into his thigh and boy did she jab it in. All he said was, "ow," then it was over and he was off and running. I won't bet on it that he'll stay this calm about shots as he gets older but we shall see.

Now, off to enjoy some of that pie with Kyle.

Admitting It and Saying Goodbye

2009-10-02T15:46:00.002-05:00

Preston has been a pretty easy kid. His demeanor has pretty much been laid back, if another kid took a toy out of his hand, Preston would look at the kid like, "Okay, whatever" and then move on to another toy. Honestly, I kind of worried that he'd get bullied because he never gets into the "mine" game and hasn't cared too terribly much when his toys are played with by others. I've been around quite a few other toddlers acting normally with regard to the possessiveness stuff. This is all to say, maybe I'm now getting my comeuppance. Suddenly, everything is "no" and he's testing us on a regular basis. Climbing up on the toilet to get anything down from the sink and to turn on the water. Getting into my makeup if I don't put it away (it's my fault if it isn't in a place he can't get to). Running into the dogs to get a reaction. He's also begun experimenting with giving Claire a little push here and there when she has something he wants. If we offer him food, he refuses only to come and get some just two minutes later because he must do everything himself. I know this is all normal behavior for a 2 year old but my it is a crazy sudden change. A switch has been flipped.

To be fair, P is still pretty amenable to what Kyle and I suggest. We've just had to begin more discipline and this is new for us because as I said, Pre has really been super easy and listened when we'd say something once. I've officially begun using our books 1,2,3 Magic-Effective Discipline for Children 2-12 and Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood (what's with the 'magic'?). The counting has been great but the staying calm with "love and logic" definitely presents this hot headed mommy a real challenge. With the counting, when we get to 3, a time out happens and we use a timer. The timer is a great tool for Preston to visually see how long he must remain in timeout and the beeping is great so he knows timeout is over. There are now days that I just want to scream as loudly as I can when the whining and crying and defying goes on seemingly endlessly. Frankly, I can see, in some of those moments how parents want or do spank because sometimes you just feel out of control right along with your little ones. But, I tell myself that therein lies the problem, if I feel so out of control to want to spank it is precisely the thing I should not do...someone's gotta hold the emotional reigns down and I'm the parent, blah blah blah. We just don't want to teach the kids that we solve our conflicts by hitting or hit because we feel out of control (or hit at all, even if we want to). Those days always become "outside" days, I must get the kids outside or we will all go crazy. I highly recommend both books though.

So, I give my easy days of parenting a farewell (better be a temporary one) and welcome quite reluctantly the new challenge of the terrible twos. Oh, the baby princess is a little more like her short tempered mommy. If she doesn't get her way, let the screaming ensue. So I've got a two year old and a drama queen, to boot!

Stark Beauty

2009-09-30T23:02:00.005-05:00

Over the weekend, my friend Evie S allowed me to photograph her family so I could get some practice. Taking pictures of my little ones has become a serious problem. You see, I have hundreds (in just one month) and they are probably growing tired of the camera. It won't stop me from snapping away at them but I needed to expand my horizons.

On my very first outing exclusively to photograph a family other than mine we headed to Laclede's Landing. What a wonderful idea, Evie. Here are a few results from my first go.

The gorgeous family

Little man in the big city

The ET finger

On the lookout

Does mommy know how to dress this boy or what? (Scarf=cute)

Not a Toy for Tots

2009-09-30T09:15:00.006-05:00

Our little lady has been moved up by her physical therapist, we're trying the big guns. She still has a head tilt with this pesky torticollis. The stretches and exercises are helping, just not enough. Claire gets to sport this really cool "necklace" the TOT Collar, two times per day for 1 hour each time.

Yay! Clap your hands!

At first, she was not happy with it on and who would blame the poor girl. After a little treat, she pretty much forgot about it. Now when we put it on her, she might grab at it for a moment or two but then she is off to play.

Picking up puffs

On to other Claire news now that she is a 9-month old. Healthy all around and Dr. Schmandt couldn't get over how developed her gross motor skills are (just like her big brother!). The girl would not be still in the examination room. Crawling, pulling up, banging on things, cruising the tiny room, showing off her vocal skills with lots of 'da da da's,' and Claire even demonstrated her perfect pincer grasp, the doctor was impressed. When she left the room, these were her last words, "Take care! Claire is great. But, she is...WOW! I mean, wow, she is just a ball of energy. She must tire you out!" Considering Preston's penchant for moving at full speed, I guess my point of reference may be a bit skewed. Both of my kids are wildly active and we love it (most of the time).

Numbers, shmumbers...big ol' head, did you expect it to change...90th, weight and height both right at 50th (19 pounds and 27.5 inches). Still, no teeth, not a single one even beginning to show its crown. She's eating meals like a champ though. She and Preston shared mac and cheese yesterday. The girl much prefers our food to the mushed up stuff. Doctor's orders were to continue giving her a mix by offering her both our food as well as the 3rd foods stuff she is growing bored with.

The girl loves this silly toy

Last bit, which seems to be a frequent topic of discussion but it's not so much about Claire, although she did receive a regular seasonal flu vaccination today. I asked about the H1N1 deal not unlike probably 98% of the rest of parents visiting the pediatrician. Both of our kids are still in the high risk group (under 5). The safety of the vaccination...Dr. Schmandt said she just attended a talk at Children's Hospital regarding the safety of the vaccine and pretty much all things related to the strain. She explained that the manufacturing process is exactly the same as the regular seasonal flu vaccine. Because this is a novel flu strain it has been tested on more people than the regular seasonal flu vaccination and so there is no logical reason to believe the regular seasonal flu vaccination is safer. A video link to Barnes-Jewish infectious disease specialist discussing H1N1. Our family will all be getting flu shots this year. Kyle works in the hospital, our kids are young and I have asthma that is only aggravated by upper respiratory colds and also allergies. Stay healthy wherever you come down on the decision to get a flu shot. :)

If you want to get a flu shot free in St Louis, they are doing them at the Center for Advanced Medicine (3rd floor) on the Barnes Jewish campus. Both adult and pediatric vaccinations are available at this location 8:30-5:00 October 5-9th.

Random fact: The amount of mercury in one 5.6 oz can of tuna has .115mg of mercury and the amount of mercury in a flu vaccine is .025. Anyway, clearly less is present in the shot.
Source: EPA. Mercury study report to Congress: Vol 4: An assessment of exposure to mercury in the US; 1997. www.epa.gov/mercury

In Lieu Of

2009-09-16T15:06:00.003-05:00

Thanks to my friend Jenn G, I will have another reason to post more frequent updates concerning the kiddos. I knew there was a way to have your blog printed into a book but I never much explored that option. A couple of weeks back, she sent me a web address that does the blog printing and it is amazingly simple. I won't print mine until the end of the year but you can divide it up into years or make one big book from all of your archives, if you wish. I see Christmas wish list written all over this and it's not too pricey.

Keeping up on the kids baby books has been utterly embarassing, as in, Claire's hasn't even been cracked open and Preston's hasn't been touched in a long, long time. Well, here you go, my little babes, baby books for you to look at when you get older and much more detailed in some ways than doing the old fashioned kind. Truly, it should be pretty cool for the kids to be able to read the blog in book form when they are grown. I know I would have thought it was pretty awesome. It'll be like looking back at real snippets from our lives, beyond just knowing when their first tooth came in or how much they weighed at six months. The pictures posted on the blog are also printed in the book...of course the videos won't make it, duh. We can save those to DVD's though.

I'm sure there are other companies offering blogs in print form, but this is the one I've checked out, but as I said, I haven't ordered one yet. It is called Blog2Print by SharedBoo k.

Cruising On

2009-09-15T21:49:00.003-05:00

The little lady is now eight and a half months old. Seriously? Can my little baby be just a few months shy of turning one? Oh and with that birthday comes the new year and the new year will bring a new schedule for daddy and, well, everything feels like it is rushing right on by. No savoring, simply being, doing, acting in the moment. But, before I go thinking the next three and a half months by, it is time to share recent Claire developments.

It seems this girl is motivated by her big brother, to get moving. She is officially pulling up on anything and everything. Over the weekend she began cruising the sectional...the incentive was Preston's Matchbox car. Clairey loves her brother's cars and trucks. I wonder if it has anything to do with not having much else to choose from since mommy hasn't gone out and purchased many "girlie" type toys? I am beside myself happy to say the commando crawling is waning and conventional crawling has become the primary mode of getting about. I forgot how many clothing changes I had to do when there is a kiddo mostly on the floor. I have never vacuumed and mopped more than I have this past month. We were getting close to pinning a Swiffer cloth on Claire's shirts everyday since she'd been doing such a wonderful job dusting the floors with her clothes!

Pincer grasp down pat. Self feeding bite sized pieces like a pro. She loves all kinds of food. It's great being able to give your child something to eat and they actually try it! We've moved on to Stage 3 foods and Claire has tried all sorts of food from our plates.

Little lady loves repeating sounds we make. Right now, she says, dada, baba, ma, ka, eeee, aaaa, and ahhhh. This age is so fun and as far as I'm concerned, it just gets better. And now for the pictures.

Committing

2009-09-15T16:09:00.004-05:00

I have not worked out in over 3 years. Yes, you read that correctly, three whole years. It feels kind of embarrassing to admit that but then again, I've been pregnant for much of that time and well, I was just a little afraid to do much more than walk with the scares I had carrying our babies. So here I am, out of shape and ready to turn things around.

Mindy came by with Nathan this morning and we walked to the park with the kids. Standing next to her makes me feel a lot bit doughy since she is seriously in shape. Well, my friend has become my motivator. She invited me to do a 5k with her next month and I accepted. I don't know if it is possible to get my terribly jiggly body, low capacity lungs and slow beating heart ready in just 4 short weeks after being essentially sedentary for 365 days x's 3 (well I haven't been completely sedentary running around after Preston, but). I know its just over 3 miles...I bet I couldn't even run a quarter of a mile without stopping at this point. So, I'm putting it out there in writing for you all to know. I've agreed to do this "fun" run; let's just hope I can say it's fun come 4pm on October 17th. Getting there will likely be torture. She asked if I'd be interested in training for and running a half marathon with her and although I'd love to in mind, I told her I'd better do this little 5k before agreeing to a possible suicide! :)

Well, my excuses only work so long and I'm officially ready to take my first, ummm, steps. Anyone interested in getting out there with a 33 year old on pace with the 70 year olds?

FINALLY!

2009-09-08T22:52:00.003-05:00

I am happy to share, Preston has finally taken a little interest in his little sister. He has been getting down on the floor to play with her on random occasions and when she is doing her commando crawl (or as I like to call her, The Terminator) down the hallway towards Pre, he runs away laughing and then runs back towards her to make her laugh. It's adorable. Then yesterday and today, they've been playing with toys together. We are so loving this.

Here they are clearly into the ambulance

Buddies? We hope so!

Sleepers

2009-09-08T22:40:00.003-05:00

Our little ones love their blankies. The other day, I went in to wake Claire from her morning nap... WHAT?! Waking a baby from a nap? I know, I know, it's actually not a usual event that happens around here, but I had to run errands and the girl decided to take a marathon nap. Well, I so wish I had brought my camera in with me because she was sleeping in the funniest, cutest position. She apparently fell asleep sitting somewhat. She was slumped over her blankie, booty on the bed, chest and face down, arms hugging the blanket. Description not as cute as the scene, oh well.

Over the weekend, the kids both napped well and I took a snap of them both. Pre was especially cute with the pillow between his legs. Love these two!

Beanie Baby

2009-09-03T22:38:00.005-05:00

Claire had her first taste of real steamed green beans tonight. She was loving them. I took this little video of her munching on them. I know they change but I am hopeful that she won't be as picky as her big brother.

Helis

2009-09-03T14:53:00.004-05:00

I've loosely referred myself as a "helicopter parent." I've read about this type of parent and know that I try to protect my kids more than I try to control them by demanding and yelling orders like the "drill sergeant parent." After reading a bit more, I've decided that I am really not a helicopter mom. I won't be telling my kids teachers they are wrong on a regular basis, I won't write papers or do projects for them, I won't try to check in on them every moment they are away as they get older, I definitely encourage them to make their own choices (little choices with Pre) to help with independence and, well, this helicopter parent is just as ridiculous to me as the drill sergeant.

My thinking of myself as the helicopter mom began when I found myself trying to keep Preston from smashing himself up all the time. As many of you know, our boy is of the ilk to throw caution to the wind and just go for it. If the choice is walk slowly and carefully or carefree, speedily and wildly with a chance of falling, let's just say Preston always chooses the latter. To his credit, he has mastered many gross motor milestones earlier than many of his peers but this doesn't help little old me feel any better about the countless scrapes, bruises, gashes and smashes. You see, my hovering only goes as far as physical injury prevention. I wish I'd taken a picture of all of Preston's decently big bang ups for reference someday. This child has had way more injuries, big and small than his close friends (probably combined). As a person completely shaken at the slightest sign of blood, it figures my son is giving me a rather strong, therapeutic dose of psychological flooding.

Last week, about thirty minutes before naptime, P dropped a toy truck behind his PBK Anywhere Chair. He whined for me to get it for him but I reminded him that he is a resourceful guy and could most definitely figure out how to get that truck. Making a heaving sound for effect (one of his new sounds while picking up large objects) he pushed the chair into the middle of the room. Retrieving the toy was simple and I suppose boring so on he went to some other task...climbing on and jumping off of the repositioned chair. I told him he should put his chair back in its normal position and that what he was doing could be dangerous. Those words left my mouth and must have somehow thrusted him forward over the back of the chair face first into the coffee table. Howling screams followed and I picked him up to check out the damage. Oh, my, I was panicked because he was covering his eye and I saw his face land near the knob of a drawer on the table, so he must have landed just right (more like, wrong).

His eye was swollen about 1/3 shut, his cheek was puffed up, scraped and red and his upper lip was gashed open. I've seen enough of the swollen bumps and scrapes, I was afraid that his eye was damaged. After calming him down and putting a bag of frozen peas on his face I called the pediatrician. Of course they wanted him to be seen for a corneal abrasion but no appointments so they said I should try a pediatric eye doctor at Childrens or bring him to the ER (no thanks, not interested in a 5 hour wait). Omitting more of the details of calling, waiting, discussing, etc. the eye doctor said it didn't sound like mister Preston needed to be seen. Yes! Another near disaster thwarted!

The next day, fifteen minutes before nap, I let Preston know he had five more minutes to play and that I was going to get his blankie and books for our naptime routine. Running off to play in Dozer's crate was this day's game. Looking through the books, I heard coughing and gagging, so I asked out loud, "What is going on?" He walked toward me from the other room and began crying. I went to him and saw he was rubbing his eyes, and sticking his tongue out with something soapy/slimy all over. Suddenly, I realized what it was and my body got a bit tingly. I ran him into the bathroom, held him up to the sink and began splashing water into his eyes and mouth repeating "Spit, buddy, spit!" As freaked out as I was, I had to calm him down. I turned on the bath water and stripped off his clothing that reeked of Renuzit scented gel pearls I keep next to the cloth diaper pail (on top of the crate) to help with odors.

I ran to get the phone and called Kyle. We hung up so that he could call poison control while I continued rinsing my baby's mouth, eyes, and skin. I think I washed him about 10-15 times with baby wash but that scented gel stuff was still hanging around. Again, phone calls from and to Poison Control as well as to and from Kyle. The biggest concerns from this product would be inhaling too much which would have caused pneumonia like coughing for a couple of days, stomach upset if swallowed cured by eating something (anything) with no induction of vomiting, and skin/eye irritation taken care of by rinsing and rinsing. Everything turned out fine but it was so scary. We have all cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom childproofed, who would have thought the kid would have crawled into the dog crate only to poke at the scented stuff, flipping it upside down onto himself and having it pour all over his face. I'm thankful he is such a picky eater here, I know he would certainly not enjoy eating that stuff. Two missed disasters!

And one more for good measure. We picked Kyle up from work so that I could go run an errand sans children. Preston must have wanted me to stay home. Upon arriving home, I had to pee before leaving so I helped Ky unload the kids and ran into the house. I heard Preston screaming and knew what he did without even going outside. His new daredevil thing out front is to run down the front hill as fast as he can and I'm talking full speed. I am constantly telling him to be careful and to slow down but you know how it goes, he's just got to be crazy man. Well, I asked Kyle what happened and could see blood all over his shirt and Preston's knees dripping. Band-aids don't "aid" in calming Preston but are quite helpful in creating more whining and crying for the rest of the evening. Monday was a long night. I finally just held him down and pulled those things off his knees, oh and that brought on more tears. Fun, Fun!! By the way, if you are around us and wonder why I'm constantly telling Preston to be careful, maybe you might begin to understand. Parenting a boy like this is not an easy job.

Trains, Slides, Coupes and Laughs

2009-08-24T16:27:00.005-05:00

This weekend we had a great time hanging out with Preston and Claire's Grandma Cheryl and Aunt Karley. They came down to visit us Friday and Saturday and the weather couldn't have been more lovely. Preston had so much fun leading Grandma around by the hand showing her things. They played trains and crawled around under the table having a good old time.

We took a nice walk to the park to check out the Farmer's Market and playground. It was great having Karley and Grandma around to keep track of the busy body (actually both kiddos are busy bodies now that Claire is crawling). Daddy brought Preston's Little Tikes Coupe out front and let's just say Preston loved playing with his grandma Cheryl and aunt Karley. Good thing Karley's summer job included going up and down hills because Preston had her going up and down and up and down the front lawn.

We all had a great time. People watching was fun, too! Fanny packs, high waters, black walking sneakers, BMX bikes...too much!

In the morning before our walk

Claire with cups and Preston with oatmeal

Man on the run

Someone else gets to have fun at the playground nowadays!

Buddies

2009-08-24T16:15:00.004-05:00

Preston and Will have been lucky enough to enjoy several visits with one another over the past week. Not many pictures of the two in action but a house visit (actually out front) with Preston leading Will around by the hand to show him things, Laumeier Sculpture Park (playing soccer there), Francis Park playground, Tower Grove Park playground, Noodles for lunch and Target. Good times to remember--I just need to remember my camera to take video more often.

It's funny how we remember moments but a video brings so much more back from time past.

Stoopin' It

"Talking"

Song (Number 6)

2009-08-24T15:56:00.002-05:00

Artist: The Red House Painters

Song: All Mixed Up

I went to see these guys with N and J at the now defunct St. Louis venue, The Side Door in 1996. It was an amazing performance in a small intimate setting. I remember feeling peeved with a group of guys showing no respect for the performance by talking loudly through a large part of the set list. The Red House Painters' (Mark Kozelek) music is always perfect for a good cry when you are already feeling emotional.

Skipped

2009-08-24T15:49:00.004-05:00

Whoops! How did I miss Claire's 7 month post? In one more week, she will be 8 months old, so I'll save a Claire update for then. I suppose that post of her clapping and crawling could be her 7 month post. Anyhow, here are some pictures of our pretty baby girl. She is most certainly becoming a ham for the camera. I love it!

Required Viewing

2009-08-24T15:24:00.002-05:00

When I first found out I was pregnant in 2006, I didn't know anything else except that I was ecstatic. I went to the ob/gyn I'd been seeing for years and that was that. Ultrasounds at 8 weeks, 12 weeks, take prenatal vitamins and Dramamine for the morning sickness...that is about all we were told. In general, this is all most healthy pregnant women need as far a prenatal care, so I'm not upset about that. The point I'm making here is that I didn't enter my mind to interview Dr. B about his philosophy and practices regarding pregnancy and prenatal care. It wasn't until I had the miscarriage that I began to ask questions. I wanted answers and not only did Dr. B have no answers, he didn't seem very empathetic about our loss. He didn't seem curious about what may have caused a miscarriage at 17 weeks and I suppose that is fine for him not to personally care but the fact that we wanted to know something wasn't enough for him to humor our desire to investigate things a bit further.

It took something pretty traumatic to happen for me to find out I'm happy I didn't have to see Dr. B all the way through to delivering my baby. I can almost guarantee with the way things went with my labor with Preston, I would have had a c-section. The end of the world, probably not, but not the way I would have wanted to bring my son into the world. The recovery of a major surgery just isn't what I'd consider an ideal birthing experience and this is kind of the way things are going right now.

I've blogged about this issue before. It is something I feel rather strongly about. I want women to educate themselves about the choices they have when they become pregnant. Over the weekend, Kyle and I watched a film called The Business of Being Born. There is a wealth of information in that film and I believe if more women watched this, there would be way more questioning happening about the practices of their doctors. I have to add that I am not here to judge what individual women choose for their birthing experiences. I do have an opinion/stance but I also think each woman does have a right to choose what she wants as long as it is an educated choice.

I highly recommend this film to not only those pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant but also to anyone interested in the way healthcare is happening for pregnant women in our country. There are some pretty staggering statistics. The Business of Being Born is educational, emotional, and all around worth the 84 minute run time.

Bustin' Shocks

2009-08-16T22:10:00.003-05:00

When Preston was much smaller, as in, when he loved to be in his Exersaucer, we'd laugh at how he'd jump so hard in that contraption that he was going to break it. One day, when Adam was over, he said it sounded like the "shocks" on the saucer were going to bust. After that, when we'd hear Preston jumping in it, we'd say he was "bustin' the shocks."

Now Claire is the shock buster, but for some reason, Preston requested a turn in the Exersaucer...perhaps for old time's sake? I don't know, we just obliged and got a few pictures out of it. The boy looks ginormous! It's like looking at a scene from the hallway in Willy Wonka when I see him standing in it.

My, oh my!

Check out those legs!

Giant Boy

Song (Number 5)

2009-08-16T21:16:00.002-05:00

Artist: Incubus
Song: Aqueous Transmission

When I hear this song, I am reminded quite vividly of my labor with Preston. It was one of the songs on my "relaxation playlist." I didn't have all that much time relaxing but I think my playlist was nice. We had lots of comments about the great music from all of the nurses/assistants/doctor during my time in L&D. This song came up several times but it was always a welcome tune. My goodness, we have a TWO year old now! How did that happen? :)

As the Beastie Boys say...

2009-08-11T14:24:00.003-05:00

No Sleep til Brooklyn...or more accurately til she starts crawling. The Flairey has been freaking me out with her sleep requirements (or lack of) this past week and a half. She has been waking a little before Preston, napping less than him in total hours during the day and going down at night at the same time. We kept hoping there might be some reason why she hasn't been napping much and thought it may be teething. Well, so far, no teeth or any sign of one about to poke through, BUT she now pushes herself up to sit and she is getting fast at her version of crawling (the army crawl). The other day, the little lady also started clapping when I was clapping. I thought I'd test it out to see if it was a fluke and she continued to ape me. I took a couple of short videos of her newest tricks. Here they are!