Monday, September 27, 2010

Words Only

So that my faithful 1 or 2 followers don't have to wonder what happened to me with my lack of posting last weekend and this next week...I'll provide a word update...no pictures :)

I spent a fabulous weekend in Florida with my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, and honorary Aunt Jane. My mother-in-law's birthday is coming up and she wanted to celebrate with a girls weekend. I think it was just what the doctor ordered - sun, beach, shopping, girl talking, eating, movie watching, and sleeping. A little bit of heaven! It was truly a wonderful weekend, so wonderful that I think there were a total of 3 pictures taken and they are not on my camera, because I didn't take my camera, in order to be truly liberated. It worked.

Scott and Nate kept busy in my absence - building Legos and a new closet for Nate. The house was even clean when I got home - Bonus! They also watched football, did a build project at Lowe's and roasted marshmallows. Our first truly fall weekend and boy am I thankful for some cooler weather.

I have to be out of town this week, but it will the last time until after the baby is born. I'll be home / STL bound for the remainder of baby girl's incubation period (unless you count that quick trip to Columbia to see the Tigers in a few weeks). I am so thankful for my job and how it provides for us, but I'll also be thankful not to have to make travel plans for a few months.

Baby Girl is doing just fine and I'll start going to the doctor every 2 weeks after my next appointment on Friday. She may actually have a name now, or at least we are getting much closer (Amanda, I finally got Scott to agree to something, so we will see - thanks to all those hours at the Orlando airport, he had to talk to me!! Blessings:) Her room is starting to take shape...okay, not really, but it has been cleared out, the carpets shampooed, the rocking chair taken for cleaning, and the crib is in the room (it's not put up yet, but at least the location is right). And of course her closet is growing. My word, is the little girl stuff cute or what?!? I had no idea just how much cuteness I was missing!

I feel good, just a little awkward and beached whale-ish at times. She is moving around and has gotten pretty good at wedging her foot under my right rib. Guess my children love to do this as it is very reminscent of Nate's stay in there.

Peace, love, and happy Fall!

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Monday, September 20, 2010

Washing Dishes

Following in my foot steps, Nate loves to wash dishes in the sink. I used to love to do this when I was younger. And don't leave out cleaning the sink with the sprayer when you are finished - loved that too, as does he. Funny how that changes with you have to do the dishes and wash the sink.

Maybe I could get him interested in vacuuming?

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Disney Tired But Happy!

First of all, I think we have confirmed the old saying, "There is no tired like Disney tired!" But it was all worth it for our first family vacation. As Nate says, "Mom, we've been lots of places," but we've never done anything just us for multiple days. So I believe this to be our first family vacation. Baby Girl included, well...sort of.

Our first stop was the Lego Store...of course. Scott & Nate were absolutely in awe. Building creations...what a neat store...I will admit it.

All the Lego creations were amazing - Scott couldn't quit taking pictures of them.

Only at Disney World...eating an oatmeal cream pie in bed.

Our first day at Magic Kingdom - Nate was slightly overwhelmed. Turns out he is deathly afraid of the characters. So was I at that age. We ended up canceling the character breakfast we had scheduled, but just as well - it gave us more time to do the things he did like.

The tea cups - his first real ride. He wasn't so sure about it at first, but quickly learned to love this old favorite.

Followed quickly by his second ride - the race cars. Scott thought it was turtle slow, but Nate loved them, so multiple rides were completed.

Visiting Toon Town - I think this is Donald's boat, which is right across the street from Mickey's House & Minnie's House. Funny how there is a bedroom in Mickey's house but not in Minnie's...wonder how many parents pick up on this! I had to go inside the houses before Nate would go in to make sure they were not at home. I hope he'll think this is funny in a few years!

Checking out Minnie's fridge...

Riding Dumbo - he said he liked it, but we couldn't get him to ride it again. I'm sure it didn't help that Scott just had to make it go up and down.

He didn't like the characters, but was enthralled with this talking trash can. It even talked directly to him and he went up to look inside. Ya just never know what is going to scare them.

Oh the Buzz Lightyear ride...the first of many tours on this ride. And one of his favorite parts was seeing Zurg in jail at the end.

We stayed at the Polynesian and went to their Luau on Saturday night. Nate was tired that day, but we perservered and stayed until the fire eating guy at the end. I'm not sure he remembers much since he was in a zombie like state, but Scott & I enjoyed it.

On Sunday, we went to Hollywood Studios for the best ride ever, Toy Story Mania. Loved it!! So did everyone else that was in the Orlando vicinity. But we worked the system and managed to ride it 3 times while we were there.

Waiting in line while Mr. Potato head talks to you. Nate didn't want to get too close.

The 3-D glasses were a bonus!

I love these next 2 pictures - he looks so small in Honey I Shrunk the Kids and I love the look of awe on his face. Not sure what he is looking at, but I'm pretty sure we saw this look many times over the course of 5 days.


There was not a big Cars presence, but we managed to find Lightning McQueen and Mater for a picture.

Playing the arcade games at Pizza Planet (from Toy Story). The pizza was actually pretty good, very surprisingly.

Back at the tea cups - love this picture.

At Epcot - we didn't spend lots of time here as there is not much for Nate to do. But we did manage to get him to ride Soarin for those of you that know it. Even I was a little scared, gripping the side of my chair. But Nate did fine - he just told us when we got out that he was NOT going to do that one again. Trying new things got to be a little easier as the trip went on.
Outside of Test Track - Nate and I waited outside of a few rides for Scott. It didn't seem to bother Nate at all, he was glad for Scott to ride it and tell him all about it. Just as long as he didn't have to go anywhere near it.

Scott had to get his picture taken with Mr. Potato Head on our return trip to Toy Story Mania. Nate would not get in there with him - too close to the big guy.

On the Buzz Lightyear ride for the 8th time in one day. Yes, we rode over and over and over again. Nate even knows what a FastPass is now. He absolutely loved this ride. You had to shoot these little Z's for Zurg and he was just fascinated by the whole shebang.

Well this could have turned out better. But it didn't. The sun was bright behind us and we were in a hurry to go. But at least we are all in there together.

It was a great trip, one that I will remember always. Just the 3 of us. We are so excited to meet "our baby sister" as we call her but it was also nice to spend quality time with just our baby boy for a few days. Now we are counting down the days to her arrival - so much to do, so little time!

Monday, September 6, 2010

Making Memories

Nate and I went to the Botanical Gardens on Friday. It was a gorgeous day with temps in the 70s! He has been wanting to see their special exhibit, DinoQuest, and I can say that it did not disappoint - as evidenced by the 4 times we walked through it. They had it setup like a jungle with all the plants that lived when dinosaurs lived (or similar ones at least), with life size models of the dinosaurs. He loved it.

In honor of the Missouri Tigers playing on Saturday, I had to take this good luck charm of a picture. It was my favorite flower of the day and I guess it worked because after a less then stellar first half, they came back to get their first win of the season. Go Tigers!

Another good omen for the Tigers - this tiger swallow-tail feeding on the flowers. Beautiful.

I love taking pictures of Nate and for the most part, he is a great subject. He does get a little tired of it by the end and declares "NO MORE PICTURES," but I try to get as many as possible before then. And with my new camera, it's easy to do. L-O-V-E it.





This turtle would have let Nate pet it if Nate would have been brave enough to do so. I guess they get fed because when Nate laid down, the turtle swam right up to him and kept coming back. Nate thought it was great!

We had such a great day. One that I will remember for a long time. We walked, held hands, teased each other, hugged, took rest breaks, ate snacks, talked about how we would do this with a baby next summer, and genuinely enjoyed just being together. Sure, I'm a little emotional these days, but I love making memories with him. And hopefully in a few years when I'm not so cool, we can both look back on these trips and remember that we do enjoy being together!