clean and simple: January 2012

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Blues Game 1.16.2011

Dave loves hockey. He'll always accept an invitation to attend one of the St. Louis Blues hockey games. And if he isn't attending, he's likely watching it at home. He isn't in front of the TV with a Blues jersey on, pretzel in hand, and jumping up and down. But he's still a big fan.

Whenever D goes to a game, Winston's always bummed that he can't go. So for Christmas, I gave Winston and Dave tickets to a game. Just W and Dad; kind of special.

Turns out, if you're under three, you don't need your own ticket, so I tagged along on their special date last week. And it was just that: special. W wore his Blues hat, just like his dad. He cheered, "Go Blues!" over and over. He ate a whole pack of cookies by himself and shared part of daddy's treat, too. He loved the crowds. He loved walking to/from the game outside in the city. He had a lot to say all night long. So fun to just be mom, dad and W. It was a treat to watch. He was delighted.

{Walking to our seats}

{Fascination.}

Several of the Cardinals players were in a suite behind us. W was happy to see David Freese.

{Go Blues!}

Thursday, January 19, 2012

KC

Made a quick trip to Kansas City over the weekend. Nearly four hours in the car and the kids were champs. Champs!

{Books, toys, treats, games only lasted so long. Martha Speaks and Cars to the rescue.}

{KC Temple, near completion}

{Pooped! Riding in the car is a lot of work.}

Phone dump

I still have yet to post about Christmas. Seems I can't make it to the computer for longer than two minutes at a time. So here's our phone camera documentation of life lately.

{Butterfly House -- W trying so hard to be still so a butterfly will land on his arm. No luck.}

{Rainbow Room -- indoor playground showroom and best kept secret around town}

{Unseasonably warm weather}

{Early lunch at Pappy's BBQ. W has never consumed so much in one sitting. He could've won an eating contest.}

{Stroll/bike through Forest Park}

Friday, January 6, 2012

Photo Series: EVR Rolls and Wrinkles

Thursday, January 5, 2012

EVR: Nine Months

December 31, 2011

Lizzy-girl is nine months old.

Height: 29 inches (95%)

Weight: 20lb 15oz (60%)

She is crawling at light speed, emptying every book case, standing wherever she can possibly pull up, and eating us out of house and home.

I joke that in her nine months of life she has consumed more vegetables than W has in nearly three years. Sadly, though, I don't think it is a joke. This girl can eat!
She always seems to be so smiley and excited. She is happy and has such a funny, grunt-like laugh that can be tickled out of her.
She never sits still -- never! She turns into a little fish as soon as the bath water turns on, squirming and excitedly flailing about. Once she's in the tub, it's like a water park; toys, splashing, squealing, water everywhere.

She turns into a dragon/pterodactyl when she has to wait for food and roars/cries like said pre-historic animal (animal?).
She insists she doesn't need to sleep, which makes nap time and nighttime sporadic and unpredictable.
When she wakes up for the day and cries to be rescued, W rushes upstairs with his guitar and piano toys, climbs in her crib, and they begin band practice. It's kind of ridiculous.

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Christmas Festivities

I never got around to following up on the Christmas festivities. It's time that get that wrapped up.
We had such a good Christmas here in St. Louis. It was relatively low key, but so fun and special.

Christmas Eve we went to dinner at Charlie Gitto's, a restaurant here in town. Laura and Stevie were in town. D's aunt, uncle and cousins also came. After dinner, we headed back to Papa and SheShe's for luminaries, the nativity and dessert.

W played Joseph. Lizzy was baby Jesus (who climbed out of the manger). Laura was the angel, and her costume was spot on. Johanna played Mary. Sarah played an angel. And Thomas played, well, the animals and wisemen. Good job, Thomas.

We weren't sure how Christmas morning was going to work out. We had church at 9:00 a.m. We hadn't put any presents under the tree before Christmas (W's curiosity has a way of unwrapping things), so we knew W wouldn't head to the tree first thing. The stockings were filled, and W would see them when he woke up and came down to our room. So D and I just listened for W in the morning. Around 7:30 he woke up and came down. We pretended to be asleep and just listened. First he stepped on the dog, then he just kept saying, "Oh, it's so cute, Mommy. It's so cute." Then he brought in his new Zoo Parent shirt that had a picture of a mama and baby gorilla on it (a gift from D's boss). That was how Christmas started.

We Skyped with my parents who watched W open his stocking, which included several Thomas the Train pieces. Soon enough, it was time to get ready and head to church.

Following church, we came home and headed for the Christmas tree. W had been asking for a Buzz Lightyear for months. Both D and I were so excited for W to open this gift. He opened more train pieces. Then the Toy Story 3 movie. Then mini Toy Story action figures. And then....the big Buzz. The excitement was priceless. The gasp was perfect. He was over the moon. Any remaining gifts didn't really matter, including mine and D's because we spent the next 20 minutes trying to extricate Buzz from the packaging. I'm serious.

Next we headed to SheShe and Papa's for brunch and more Christmasing. Grandpa D brought these flying disk launcher things. They were a hit. The remote control helicopters were the humorous highlight. And Laura got right to work opening her embroidery shop with her new machine.