Merry Christmas Morning 2009!

We survived another Christmas at the Little household this year, with the added joy of having Piper in our family. The girls were great and Emaline was bubbling with excitement every time we talked about Christmas and starting new traditions we thought she was too young for last year. Like making cookies and leaving them and veggies out for Santa and his reindeer. We even shook things up by leaving chocolate milk out...Emaline is always thinking outside the box. Thankfully we had no problem getting her to go to sleep and Piper just goes down for the count cause that kid really loves sleep. She definitely takes after her father. In the morning, around 8:30am (I was just as surprised as you are at that one) we all got up and ran downstairs to see if Santa had come and sure enough there were special presents left for both the girls and even Lt. Dan. We exchanged our gifts and enjoyed some time with them before heading over to my parents' house. We exchanged gifts and had dinner with Josh's family the night before where the kids got a carload of gifts. Then on Christmas day we headed home from my parents' house with another carload of gifts! These girls are pretty lucky...I think we all are :-) Here are some more shots of our mini celebration at home!

Jeep No More

After fifteen glorious years, the Jeepasaurus has finally went the way of the Dodo. Yes, that's right the Jeep blew it's transmission and we've decided that it was time for Josh to get a new car. It was actually a really hard thing for us considering this was the first car I got, brand new in 1994 and it was the second car that Josh owned. There are a lot of awesome memories held in that Jeep and they all came rushing back when I saw it loaded up onto that trailer. The process was very easy and we were surprised that it went so fast. Craig's List!! It went as is and we got a few more dollars than we thought we would. Now it is on to greener pastures for the 'ol girl. The man that bought it from us said he was going to fix it up nice and give it a good home ;-) Can't argue with that! So, farewell old friend, you have served us well. *sniff sniff*

Oddly enough, I found this old picture of the Jeep from the day it was given to me right after we sold it and I think its only right to post it. :-)

Annual Thomas Christmas Bash

This past Saturday we attended the annual family Christmas party at my parents house and I'd like to say it was a success! Friends and family all came together to chow on Mom's homemade dishes and enjoy some company. This year there were A LOT more kids dominating the party and I'm sure next year will be complete chaos... We were complete and total morons because we didn't take ANY pictures! Whether it was the constant visiting (or stuffing my face), I just didn't think to pull the camera out. I'm hoping somewhere that my Mom or Dad got a few shots of the kids, but let's not bet on it. :-)

Thanks to everyone who came out, especially those that had other commitments as well. It was just so great to see you all!

Katie's, Tyler & Abbie's Birthday Party!

About a week ago, we were invited to a big birthday bash for three of Emaline's friends, Katie, Tyler & Abbie at Gymboree in Webster Groves. I was so glad that we got to go. It was so much fun! Emaline loved every minute of getting to run wild with the other kids and climb all over everything. Above is a shot of her and one of the birthday girls, Katie. It really put a smile on my face to see her have so much fun and she didn't even have any tantrums, A+ in my book! She did some rolls, climbed and had fun with a parachute. Piper and I just hung back and watched all the big kids have their fun, although after about 20 minutes into it, she wanted to crawl into the fun as well. The kids enjoyed some pizza, juice boxes and yummy cupcakes. Thanks again the the Mackies, Minges and Hills for such great fun!

Christmas Tree Hunting

I should have blogged about this weeks ago, but finally decided to put up that we again went on the hunt for a tree to cut down this year. Unfortunately, we did not end up going with my family this year because Kellen made his debut a little early and I had a trip to KC the following weekend with my girlfriends. So...we drove out to Wright City again this year and luckily found one of the last good trees and chopped that baby down and brought her home. Emaline had a great time running around the tree orchard/field, she especially thought it was funny trying NOT to trip over all the stumps. Silly little lady. Piper really didn't have much to add, as she was bundled up and carried around by me the whole time. It wasn't as cold as I thought it was going to be, but it was gray and gloomy and NO ONE was there. It was kinda sad, quite frankly. But, we found one and strapped it to the Equinox and we were on our way home.

I promptly pulled out the ornaments and lights once Dad and I got the tree upright and soaking up some water. Of course Emaline jumped right in and wanted to unwrap/unbox everything and place them all neatly on the two lowest branches of the tree. After I told her that they would all be touching the floor and end up broken, she was okay with me placing them all over while Dad and Piper looked on. It was a long day, but the end result was fantastic. One being that we spent a fun day together as a family and two a beautiful tree was born! Hooray for Christmas! I love it.

Annual Girl's Weekend 2009

With all that was upon us this year, as a last minute thing some of my girlfriends and I decided to have our annual girls trip in KC at our friend Sarah's house. Unfortunately, the gang was not all there and Erin was missed dearly, but Sarah's husband, Paul, gladly stepped in for her and helped us celebrate :-) So, three of us drove from STL to KC, picking up one in Blue Springs, MO on the way and ended up in KC, KS. It was a fantastic time! I always laugh so hard when I'm with these women and I'm glad that we did do something spontaneous. We did a little shopping and ate and drank to our little hearts' content! Then stayed in and played games and and talked and enjoyed each other's company. It was short-lived, but still wonderful. Thanks ladies for always making me feel like I have some the best friends ever. Spring Bake '84 rocked again!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Believe it or not, this was the ONLY picture taken for Thanksgiving by me. I know, I know, horrible Mommy. We did the usually two houses for the holiday again this year and I took the girls and went to my Mom & Dad's in the late morning. The food was delicious, as it is every year and we were pretty full. My sister's in-laws usually come over to my parents' house, so there was definitely a full house! It was really nice and laid back. Josh had to work that night, so we let him get his extra rest before heading to his parents' house around 4:30pm. I think I was so overwhelmed with getting to see my new nephew come home from the hospital that I didn't even think to take pictures of my kids! Kellen made it just in time for Thanksgiving dinner! He came a little earlier than expected on Nov. 23rd at 11:10am weighing in at 9lbs. 2oz. and 20 inches long. Also had himself a full head of dark hair!
We then made our way over to the Little household and met Josh there. Ate a whole lot more good food and hung around so the kids could see PaPa and Grandma for a little bit longer while Josh went back home to get some shut eye. Emaline did do some Thanksgiving baking and made some pies with Nana and showed off her new fall apron.
We are extremely thankful for all the family and friends we love and have in our lives and only wish the best for everyone as the Christmas season comes upon us. We are VERY LUCKY people! Happy Holidays!

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Just when I was going to report my baby Piper was pulling herself up onto the furniture and legs (anyone standing close to her) she decides she will also start crawling the same week! I know that she's been itching to get on the move for quite some time now, but not until today did I see her keep going and not stopping! So proud of her accomplishments and I'm sure if she's anything like her sister, walking and running are not far behind! Emaline didn't crawl until she was 8 months or so (same age Piper is now) and then was walking at 10 months. So we shall see! Here are two videos I took one day apart. The first is yesterday and then the other was this afternoon. The first one is longer and probably more annoying, but they both showcase her talents! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to Me!

This past Saturday, my friend Carrie and I decided to go out on the town for our birthdays (they are within a week of each other). Unfortunately, I did have to work the whole afternoon, which sucked but my Mom & Dad were very nice and decided the girls could spend the night with them. It was so nice to be able to go out and not worry about anything and just entertain myself and spend some quality time with my good friends. We had dinner at Llywellyn's in Soulard, where I had the best "adult" grilled cheese I've ever had. At least that's what they called it, texas toast type bread with 3 different cheeses, tomato and bacon. How can you go wrong? Then, Carrie and I decided to be adventurous and try a new beer every time we needed one. They had some very good choices at Llywellyn's and it was fun to try something different. We had a great night in Soulard, thanks to Josh and my wonderful friends! Again, thanks to my parents for watching my girls--you are the best!

Then Sunday night we went out with my family to the Texas Roadhouse for a deee-lightful steak dinner and it was yummy. Received some fantastic gifts, those being a lovely new plaid coat and ovenware (Polish pottery) from my parents, a beautiful scarf from Kayleigh and New Moon movie tickets from my sisters to be used Friday when we all three go see it together and get dinner afterwards! Ended the night by enjoying some much needed ice cream cake. Kit Kat with coffee ice cream and chocolate cake. It was really tasty. So tasty, I think I need a left over piece right now! Off to the freezer...

Zoo Day!

Since Josh was off all this week and switched over to weekends this past weekend, we decided to take advantage of the awesome warm weather and hit the zoo as a family. We hadn't been yet this year and I was afraid we weren't going to! We got to the zoo around 11:30am-ish and spent all afternoon walking around and talking it up with the animals. Emaline had control of where we went, so basically we saw all the animals she wanted to see, except for the penguins because there was a line to get in! It was fairly busy that day because of the weather, but that and waiting about 15-20 minutes to ride the train were our only delays. Me and Emaline got to ride the carousel and explore the Butterfly and Insect House, something I have not done there before. It was very interesting! Not to mention Emaline asked to see ALL the creepy crawly things and know their names! We spent some good times with the playful tigers and lions at Big Cat Country, saw the sea lions after they ate, and hung out at River's Edge. I'm so glad we have such a great zoo and still for free! Granted, it is $11 to park, but hey it all goes to the zoo and keeping it fee free :-) Hopefully we can take a trip again for the Wild Lights at The Zoo for the holidays!

Basement Remodel: Part VI

We have definitely done a lot since my last post and I think we are well on our way to being very close by the first of the year. We've actually done all the color painting and Dan & Jamie got all the wainscoting and chair rails up. Dan and Jamie have been coming over almost every day because Josh ended up having to take some days off this week because he was comp timed out. It has been amazing because I leave the house in the morning and when I get home things are finished and ready to move on to the next step! I can't believe it. We did end up putting in a bathroom in the basement, although it is super tiny, I know it will be used often. Especially if we spend the majority of our family and down time there. So, Josh tore out all the concrete, our plumbers came in and laid and replace a lot of our old pipe and then Josh and the guys poured concrete back in. I was very impressed! Chad (my brother-in-law) thankfully came and fixed up the electric, then Dan and Josh put in the tile floor. On Monday, the mudder is going to come back and finish our walls so that we can get some paint on them. Finally, as part of the deal our plumbers are going to come back and put in all our fixtures for us! Very excited to keep moving right along :-) Here are a bunch of pics to document our progress.

Halloween 2009!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Halloween Happenings!

Today my sister suggested that we go to an indoor kiddie (smaller kids) Halloween function at the Wentzville Parks & Recreation complex. I thought it would be cute to see Emaline and Kaya all dressed up and seeing other kids in there costumes also without running up and down our crowded street. It was only $2 for the kids and they had a lot of age appropriate games and treats for everything that you participated in. They also had clowns giving out balloon animals! How can you beat that, right? It was very small and well contained and something I didn't have to worry about Emaline running off and getting lost or hiding anywhere--three year olds think this hilarious. It was fun and the girls got to burn off some energy playing ring toss, ghost bowling, pumpkin bean bag games and jump in a couple cool bouncy houses. Thanks to Steph for thinking of it!

A New Haarmann & Wilburn....

Congrats to TWO of our friends this week in welcoming new additions to their families!
First, Scott & Jacki welcomed Jackson Christopher on the 19th, 8lbs 7oz & 21inches. He already looks like an absolute doll and has a fully head of hair! No surprise there really :-)

Then on Wednesday, the 21st at midnight my friend Curt and his wife, Beth were being induced to have their little girl! Lillian Jean ("L.J.", so cute) was then born being 8lb.9oz. and 21in. Mom, Dad and baby are home and doing well!

My best of luck with both families and that they get super stellar sleepers! Can't wait to meet both the little ones!

Craft Room Ideas?

I've been trying to figure out how I'm going to layout this room of mine. This picture above would be my dream, but we all know that's not gonna happen! I don't know why I think it will be the hardest to do. I guess I figure that I'm not exactly sure how efficiently the room will work until I get it set up. Now mind you, I'd like to have the computer and sewing maching out at all times, so that would mean their own spaces. Plus, I would need table space to do my stamping/card making. I also need to do this in the most frugal way as well, since I really want to spend our money on the family area/playroom section of the basement. Hmmm, what's a girl to do? Here are some ideas I've seen and liked, but also would love suggestions if you've got them! The room is 10x9 so its not like I've got tons of space, but just enough to store all my crafty things...
Actually, this sort of work table would be perfect! The matching sewing desk/table would be awesome too. These are times when I wish we had IKEA here! Ugh....

You really should check out how this woman and her husband put this together here. Maybe I can swing it!

Congrats to Joe & Katy!

Congrats to our friends Joe & Katy, who got married a couple weeks ago here in STL! Josh was the best man and did an excellent job coordinating where the groom needed to be and when! (surprisingly!) It was a beautiful ceremony, despite some forgotten items ;-) and they looked extremely happy coming down that aisle. We wish them all the best in their new life together and can't wait to hear about the honeymoon in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Thanks to a fun night out with the grown-ups guys!

Happy Birthday Max Power!

For Josh and Robyn's birthdays, and to just get out of the house and have some fun, we went to Six Flags Fright Fest (on probably the night after a day & a half of rainfall in STL!). It was like a flashback to high school. Literally we were surrounded by teenagers of all shapes and sizes. Although, it wasn't half as crowded as it would have been if it was a completely clear and warmer day. So we got to ride everything we wanted to with limited wait times. Really no wait times. The only thing we had to wait to get onto was Superman and that was roughly 15 minutes. It was a really fun night. We rode Batman 8 times, Evil Kaneveil 3 times, Tony Hawk twice, Superman, Mr. Freeze and Excalibur. It will be so fun to take Emaline back next summer when they open up again. I'm thinking this year at Fright Fest will be too cold and she really can't ride a lot of the bigger rides. Thanks Robyn & Cory for hanging out with us and getting turkey legs and funnel cakes! So fun!

Basement Remodel: Part V

Well, we are just moving right along! My "craft" room is almost finished and ready for furniture/crafts/what-have-you...I just need to paint. My most favorite thing in the world. Can you sense the sarcasm there? Actually, the painting isn't so much the problem, its the cutting in and making sure all the edges and corners are done properly. Otherwise, it just looks junky. So, possibly this weekend I'll be able to get some late night painting in, cause we call know that's when I have the time!

Here are some pictures of the paint and floor:
Now here are the ones with wainscoting and trim up (just have to do the baseboards):
Josh and Jamie also built in some shelves for the laundry room a while back and I thought I would post a picture of them here too: