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!