Ready For Summer

I am really ready for the summer. It's not like summer is really any different for us as far as our schedules or anything like that, I think it's more that we can be outside, enjoy the sunshine, go on vacation and just enjoy some of the fun things St. Louis has to offer. I think also, it has been a weird winter. I have been pretty sick with this baby #2, but I am finally starting to turn the corner. I realized the other morning how sick I have been when I watched Tripp go into the bathroom, lift the lid to the toilet, make some coughing/spitting noises, then flush the toilet and say "I'm ok Mommy." I guess he's seen me do that a few too many times over the past few months. I really couldn't be more thankful/excited for this new life, I am just looking forward to having some days (and nights too) where I don't feel sick all the time. Plus, I know I could have it a lot worse and I know a lot of people who have had it a lot worse. So I have no room to complain. I have seen God's graciousness to me throughout this time and have felt him sustain me through some not so fun times. For that I am very grateful.

On another not so great note, my grandmom passed away a few weeks ago. She had Alzheimer's so I am incredibly thankful she is not suffering anymore, but it is definitely hard to be here without her, even if all she could do before she died was to lift her head and smile. It's also hard to see my mom and grandfather miss her, and to see my grandfather be alone after having been married for 64 years. He told me the other day that he and my grandmom were the third generation to be married for over 50 years. My grandparents loved each other and they both love the Lord. Their involvement and influence in our lives is beyond measurable, and I am just thankful for the time we did have together. Grandparents are definitely a gift from God!

And then on a much happier note, there's this kid.

I mean, he is really just awesome. I am thankful for his sense of humor (which he often comments on "I so funny Mommy") and his big smile. I love spending time with him and feel blessed to be his mom. Of course, we have our moments (like this morning when he cried/pouted for a good 10 or 15 mins cause I wouldn't let him watch a movie. I should have said yes cause it was ridiculously early and I have a theory that any screen time before 6:30 a.m. doesn't count as TV time for the day. It counts as "Mommy is really tired and you shouldn't wake up at 5:45" time but I felt like not letting him make a habit of it so crying ensued. but whatever.). Anyway, he is great, and Nelson and I just love being his parents! I know I've said it before and I know I will say it again, but it's definitely the hardest thing I have ever done but there are times when I have literally felt my heart swell with happiness for him and have cried tears of joy because of his excitement over something (most recently- the carousel at the zoo where he rode the penguin and as soon as we started moving, his face lit up like it was Christmas morning. He exclaimed "We're going up and down AND around Mommy!"). Seeing your kid excited about something is really the best. Just like I would much rather get hurt than him, I would also much rather him be excited over something than me.

Well this is post is getting long, and I think I have posted enough pics of Tripp, so I need to wrap things up. Here's to summer when I have to give Tripp a bath everyday cause he has played hard and gotten all sweaty, when we can go on walks and listen out for the ice cream truck, and when (hopefully) Nelson and I can go out on date nights again and I don't feel like I need to spend the whole time in the bathroom!

Cooking with a Two Year Old

We have a small kitchen to begin with so if you add a small child that likes to sit on the counter when Mommy is cooking, then you are looking at some small space to do any kind of culinary work. Thankfully I found a recipe for some blueberry muffins that only needed five ingredients, so we had enough room to do our work and even found a spot for the fire chief's hat.

Location:Cooking with a Two Year Old

Tripp's Second Birthday

Today was Tripp's 2nd birthday and it was probably one of the best days of his life so far as well as one of mine. It brings a tremendous amount of joy to me to watch him get so excited about things. Perfect example: When he saw the car of his friend who was coming over to play this morning he came running to me and said "Mommy, this is so fun!"
We started the morning at the donut shop eating breakfast.


Then we headed to the fire station with a friend for a visit.


Even though Tripp has been to the station lots before, he could tell this was a special time- even the fire fighters were excited for his birthday (probably cause we gave them some cupcakes)!


We opened presents and then finished off the day with dinner and custard with Nonny and Papa.


What a great day!

Birthday Bike

Tripp has been wanting a bike for a long time and we finally decided on one to get him. So this weekend we got him an early birthday present- a new trike (or bike to him). He also made sure that we got a helmet for him too since all other bike riders wear helmets. I think if he could sleep and eat on this bike he would- he loves it!

Happy Easter

Note to self: when you go out of town Easter weekend, you should probably go ahead and buy the groceries you will need to make the dish you are supposed to bring to Easter dinner. If you don't and wait till Sunday, all the stores will be closed and you will be making something up out of the almost empty pantry that you have. But that's how new traditions are started right? Besides me forgetting about the cheesy potato casserole I was supposed to bring to my parent's, we had a great Easter complete with an Easter egg hunt (inside since it was raining) and some delicious food.

(maybe one day he will learn to smile better for pics)

Tripp got some new animals in his Easter basket and was mesmerized by a little wind-up flipping dog my mom got him.

In other news...

I'm pregnant! Yep, we are expecting number two around the beginning of November. It's been a totally different and crazy pregnancy so far, but we are thankful for this babe, and I am really thankful for modern medicine. More on all this later, just wanted to share the good news!

The best weekend ever

Ok so that might be a bit of an overstatement but not by much. Let's just say that last weekend and the beginning of last week were pretty rough with sickness and some other things and then the week continued to get worse with the culmination of it being Tripp falling down a whole flight of stairs and landing on concrete on Thursday. He is fine, but I am really not sure yet if I am. I saw the whole thing happen (it's a story that I don't really feel like telling again) and I haven't really been able to get it out of my mind yet. Anyway, all of that to say that it was just one of those weeks that nothing seems to go right. Until Friday. While everyone in St. Louis was busy hanging out in their basement because of tornadoes, we were off in Washington, MO enjoying some amazing family time at a log cabin on a farm. It's really a bed and breakfast but you get the whole cabin to yourself. And you can go anywhere on the farm. So for an almost two year old who loves farms, this was almost too much to take it. We got up close and personal with the "cock-a-doos" (roosters) and also hung out with some cows (or as my dad, the cow expert, later told me- some white-faced black angus).

The whole reason the little get-a-way even evolved was because we wanted to take Tripp on a train ride. So on Saturday, after an awesome breakfast at the cabin (part of which included some fresh eggs from the chickens living right outside our door), we got on the train and headed to Hermann. Tripp couldn't believe that there really is a such thing as a conductor in real life who really comes by to get your ticket. So we heard a lot of this while we were riding: "Where's the conductor?" and then "Where'd the conductor go?" Then after looking around: "Here he is! I found him!" this was repeated numerous times throughout the 20 minute ride (at which point we were really thankful we were only on the train for 20 minutes). We were back in time for naps for everyone and then just spent the afternoon around the farm. .




After one more great night, we drove back on Sunday morning just in time for church! This was definitely one of our best weekends together- no other pressures, distractions, or even people to take us away from each other. We are definitely planning on going back!