What More Can A Toddler Ask For?

We had a good day yesterday.  A REALLY good day!  Logan was in heaven.
Our trip started with a train ride!  We took the Metro into the city and Logan was so excited to be riding on a train. 

Logan and I on the train

Our reason for taking the train into the city was a simple one.  We were going on a Busch Stadium tour!  I know you are all shocked that we haven't toured Busch Stadium!  We have toured five other stadiums, but had yet to take the Busch Stadium tour.
It was a gorgeous day which was great for the tour.  I do have to say that Busch Stadium tour has probably been my least favorite tour to date.  It was extremely rushed.  I'm not sure if this was because we were in a big group or what, but it was really rushed.  I didn't feel like we ever got time to stop and really look at the things they were showing us.  The tour guide said "Hurry, Hurry, Hurry!" over and over again. 

The 2006 World Series trophy in the Champion's Club

World Series Rings

View from the press box

Logan was getting a little restless by this point...

There was a swiss ball in the press box...Now I wonder who prefers to sit on the swiss ball....

This is special wallpaper made from a baseball card collection! Cool!  I want it for our Cardinals room.

Display in the Cardinal Club.  You can buy a season ticket in this club for only $14,000 per season, but you have to buy at least 2 seats and commit to 10 years.  Guess we won't be doing that...

Evolution of a Cardinal

Logan was a big fan of the photo on the bottom right side.

Logan and I would have loved to stand and look at these collectibles for a little bit but we were rushed on.

All in all, a cool stadium with a not so cool tour.  I'm glad we went and we had a good time, but we probably won't do it again.  We did have some great family photo ops, so at least we walked away with these awesome photos.

Logan and Jeff in the dugout

My two favorite Cardinal's fans

Our family chillin' in the dugout

What a view!

On our way home, Logan needed a haircut so we stopped at the  mall.  We figured we would hit up the Easter Bunny while we were there.  Logan was a big fan!

Jeff decided to mow the grass and this is what I found when I came back from stepping out of the room for a minute...

Yes, Logan was standing in the window watching Jeff mow the grass! (I had to get a quick photo before pulling him down and telling him to never do it again.)

Don't worry, after the grass was mowed, Jeff gave Logan a ride!

Logan pretty much had the best toddler day ever!  Train+Ball Park+Easter Bunny+Mower ride= Awesome Toddler Day!
Now bring on Opening Day 2012!!

Memory Monday: Encounters With Wildlife!

I'm going to make fun of myself just a little today.   Some of you know about my fear of snakes.  Some of you may not.  I'm really afraid of snakes.  Irrationally afraid of snakes.  It is so bad, my heart starts beating rapidly when I have to go out into my yard between the months of March to November.  Here are a few funny stories (at least funny to you, not so much to me) about my escapades with snakes.

My first encounter with snakes was when I was about 5 years old and my Dad pulled one out of our ditch and held it on a stick.  I didn't like it.  Pretty sure there were tears involved.

Later on, I remember running back into church during choir practice insisting I had almost stepped on a snake with pink and purple diamonds outside.  I'm sure I saw a snake, but I question the coloring I thought I saw...

In high school, I took a Zoology course.  We had to do a three week section on snakes.  It was horrible.  I made it through that section and can still identify almost all the snakes in Missouri.  The bad part of the class was bug hunting.  We had to go outside and make a bug collection.  No biggie, right?  Except for the fact my high school was in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of woods infested with snakes.  I had decided to stay on the edges of the sidewalk and just collect bugs that came to me.  (I didn't have a stellar bug collection...)  The boys in my class decided it would be really funny cornering me in the science room waving a snake in my face.  I didn't think it was at all funny!

When Jeff and I first started dating, he took me to a local lake and we walked up the side of the spillway.  Once we got to the top, he makes this statement.  "Wow! I'm surprised we haven't seen any rattlers!"  He is very lucky he didn't have to carry me down the spillway.

We have a jet ski and I'm pretty sure that people get a good laugh at me when I fall off the jet ski.  I fall off it pretty often because I am a bad driver.  You would be shocked at how fast I can get back on that jet ski.  I'm not taking any chances staying in that water too long with the snakes!

Jeff and I went to Kentucky with my family and we stayed at a National Park.  There were lots of hiking trails.  Jeff and I took out hiking on a 6 mile trail one evening.  About one mile in, there was a big ole black snake slithering across the trail.  I went into hysterics and jumped and cried the entire mile back to our cabin.  I find that jumping allows my feet less of a chance to step on a snake.  When we got back, my family wondered how we had made it back so fast.  My response was "We had an encounter with the wildlife."  Let them assume it was a lion or bear.  Jeff ratted me out.

Most recently, Logan nearly stepped on a baby snake on our sidewalk and I grabbed him (Logan.  Not the snake!) and we stood on the porch shouting "Bad Snake" while Jeff killed the snake.  I'm pretty sure I'm scarring Logan for life.  He now always refers to snakes as "Bad Snakes".  I'm pretty ok with that.  I don't want Logan coming home with a snake EVER!

Just the other day, this is what I woke up to.

A snake on my purse!!!!

I didn't think it was funny.  I'm pretty sure this was Logan's doing.

How Am I Doing With Lent?

So, it's a few weeks into Lent and you may wonder how I am doing with my Internet giving up time.  Don't have a clue what I am talking about?  Click here.
I'm doing ok.  Not great, but ok.  I am most definitely more aware of my choices.  I find every time I think about opening my laptop, I look around the house to see if there is something else I should be doing or if I could be spending that time with Logan or Jeff instead. 
This means I am on the Internet very little during the daytime.  Usually during Logan's naps to do a quick catchup and then again after he is in bed.
Although, I am not sticking to my 1 hour limit every day, I am for sure that this little Lent activity is benefiting not only myself, but my family too!
I definitely just want to keep this going every day of my life, not just for Lent.  Pinterest and Facebook are just time suckers that will impact my life only in the short term.  Spending time with Logan and Jeff will impact my life in a positive way forever!!

Speaking of Pinterest...here's a wreath that I made using an inspiration from Pinterest.  Here's a link to the tutorial.  I used a wire coat hanger for my structure and mixed in spring colored fabric scraps instead of all tulle.

Baby Jack Jack

Our niece Jacklyn Marie was born last Friday!  We have all been anxiously awaiting her arrival.  Especially Logan (although I'm pretty sure he really didn't know who or what Baby Jack Jack was and thought she was actually coming to our house).  He has been watching our front door expectantly for the past few weeks.  Ha! 
We took the trip back home to see this sweet little bundle of joy this week and I am such a proud Aunt!  She is perfect, just like her sister Lillie and her cousin Logan!

She is so little!  You just really forget how little newborns are!

Jeff is a pretty proud Uncle too!

Logan has not been around very many babies, so he wasn't quite sure what to think and preferred playing with Lillie over taking too much interest in Jacklyn. He did keep trying to feed her from Lillie's baby doll bottle though and he was very good and grabbing diapers during diaper change time! We finally convinced him to hold Jacklyn and- oh my!- the pictures say it all...


He let Lillie hold her little sister first.

Logan decides to give this baby holding thing a try...

"This isn't so bad" (Well, except for Jacklyn.  She doesn't look so happy here!)

Cousins!

"All Done." 

Yes, he did.  He let go of the baby and signed and said "All Done." 

Thank goodness Mommy Laura was nearby and was able to get Jacklyn before she slid to the ground.  We all laughed since everyone was just fine, but I don't know that I will be letting Logan hold Jacklyn for a while now.  Haha!
It was so great getting to spend the time with my family.  Seeing Logan and Lillie play together was a blast!  Now I just wish I could get my hands on that sweet baby Jacklyn all the time!

I laugh every time I see this picture.  It is funny on so many levels...

Oh, by the way.  You will notice that some of the pictures are better quality than my typical posts.  No, I am not becoming an amazing photographer...My Dad took several of these photos and I just used them here!  Thanks Dad!

Memory Monday: Coffee Milk

When I was little, one of the coolest things about visiting my Mama and Pappy was getting coffee milk.  Coffee milk was definitely more milk than coffee and probably lots of sugar.  It was delicious!  It was a big treat since my brother and I never got it when we were at home.
Logan got his first taste of coffee milk this past week.

 After insisting he needed to drink what I was drinking (coffee), I got a mug out, filled it with milk, a splash of coffee (don't worry it was less than a teaspoonful of coffee, wouldn't want to take any chances of stunting his growth.  Genetics already gave him the short end of that stick...) and you would have thought it was the best drink he had ever had!  Oh, I omitted the sugar too, but I don't think Logan noticed.

It may have been the rooster mug that made the drink so good.  Jeff and I love our rooster mug!  One of my Mama's famous "shelf presents".

Logan was attempting to give a "thumbs up" to Coffee milk here...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

 Happy St. Patrick's Day! 

To Cook or Not to Cook...

We eat out a lot.  Basically because I am too lazy to meal plan.  It just takes too long for me to figure out what meals I want for the week, what is on sale at the grocery store, and then making my list.  So I don't cook.
I actually can cook, though.  It's just the planning that doesn't go so well for me.  In the past few months I've started using a meal planning website called EMeals and it is great.  Not only does it pick 7 meals each week for me (sides included), but it picks the meals based off the sales at my local grocery store, and makes my grocery list for me.  It takes me about 5 minutes to be ready to head out the door to the store.  Awesome!  It is pretty inexpensive (about $7 a month or less depending on how long you sign up for).
I've recently went back to Weight Watchers (the winter was rough on me).  I've found that EMeals isn't working as well for me because although the recipes are delicious and easy to prepare, they are not always super low fat and calorie meals and the nutrition info is not included.
Today, I stumbled upon a new site called Relish.  It is nice because it has lower calorie choices and all of the meals have nutrition facts by them (including Weight Watchers points plus).  The only drawback is it does not coordinate the meals with my local grocery store (so I don't necessarily hit the sales as well) and you have to pick your meals.  It is nice to be able to pick your meals each week from a large database, but it does take a little more time.
I did my grocery shopping today using Relish's meal plans so we'll see how the cooking goes this week with them.  I may be back to EMeals next week.  We'll see.
What I do know is that we have been eating out less lately!
If you are interested in a 2 week free trial to Relish, click here (FYI-I get nothing for linking you to this site, just trying to be helpful!)
Now to think about freezer cooking...

My Small Addiction

I love books.  I REALLY love books.  I would choose a book over a movie or TV show any day.  In fact, I have often seen a trailer for a movie or TV show and Google to see if the movie or TV show is based off of a book and then just read the book. 
I read a lot.  I always tell people that I even read the back of toilet paper packages!  Once I start reading, I just can't put a book down.  This feeds into my night owl habits.
I have recently started reading the Plum novels by Janet Evanovich. It seemed like a good long series that would keep me in books for a while.  I started reading them about one or two months ago.  I'm on the ninth book.  Yes.  The ninth book.  You do the math.
I have always been a reader.  I grew up in a really small town and by the time I graduated high school, I had read pretty much every book in the library that looked like a good read to me.  In the summers, I would go to the library weekly and check out multiple books.
My Mom and Dad always read to me and my brother.  It was just something we did as a family.  We read books.
I want that for Logan too.  Our home book library is ridiculous!  I have so many books now for Logan that our TWO bookshelves won't hold them all.  Logan loves books though.  When the house gets quiet I almost always find him in his bedroom "reading" a book. 
We read books every single night before going to bed and have since Logan was a baby.  Now, I did not read to him when I was pregnant...it just seemed weird to me even though it is highly recommended by a lot of folks. 
These days, Logan prefers to "read" books with me just sitting nearby.  He is getting so big!  It is really cute how he makes up stories based on the pictures.  Jeff hates to read, but he always reads to Logan.  It makes me so happy to see them reading together.

Logan needed to check out the Scholastic book order flyer before getting into the bath tub...

"Book.  Me.  Me."

I'm always looking for a good read.  Any suggestions?  For Logan or me!

I Swore I'd Never...

Oh, to be pregnant again with all my awesome plans.  My son was not going to be allowed sweets except on special occasions and he was not going to have more than one hour screen time per day.
Yep-that worked out well...



Logan found my chocolate stash...

Yes-he's eating chocolate and watching TV.  So what?!

It's funny how things change.  I did really well sticking to my "rules" when Logan was little.  He rarely watched TV unless it was during long car rides, did not get any sugary sweets until he was over a year old (really!  Although, Uncle Dean did slide him some icing at his Baptism...), no Bumbo, no Exersaucer, and he definitely had hours upon hours of floor play and tummy time.
Then he became a toddler.  Wow!  TV, iPad, and fruit snacks occupy a good amount of our day sometimes.  Often, it is the only thing that makes him happy.  I'm all for a happy toddler.  Am I rotting his brain?  I hope not!  Trust me, we still play lots of games, do crafts, and play outside.  Truthfully, in the summer, the TV is rarely on, but winters are a little different.  Whatever...my bad. 
I just laugh at my pregnant self and move on.
I read a book when Logan was just entering toddlerhood and this book is hilarious and a must read for anyone with a toddler!  "Naptime is the New Happy Hour" by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. 
Here's one of my favorite quotes!
"When Smug Mama tells you straight to your face that she absolutely allows only one hour of mind-enriching, educational TV a day, just go ahead and add two hours.  If she tells you 'No TV ever!' add six.  It's that simple."
Hahahaha!!!  Cracks me up!
Anyhow, Logan has had some non screen time fun the past few days too!

"Helping" me sort the clothes...

"Where's Logan and Dog?"

I really thought he was gonna pass out in the box!

Cheesing it up for Mommy's camera

But by far, my favorite moment of the week thus far was inspired by a TV show.  "The Fresh Beat Band".  Check out this video of Logan's mad dance skills!

This is typical for Logan when watching TV...he rarely sits still.  Always on the move!



Memory Monday-I Got Nothing...

Yep, that is right.  I'm drawing a blank.  I have been running nonstop since 5:15 am on Friday and I have nothing.  Any memory I can think of doesn't seem worth the post. 
I do have an ironic story for everyone.  No pictures.  It's just one of those days.
I was attending a continuing education course several hours away from home on Friday.  The course started the morning with a lecture on Emergency Preparedness.  The speaker was really great and she had some great ideas for creating an Emergency Kit. 

It's storm season here.  As she was lecturing, we start to hear sirens. 
Sirens of the head for cover variety. 
During a lecture on Emergency Preparedness. 
What are the chances?
Everyone was just fine after a quick trip to the kitchen for cover.  I was really hoping for cookies.
No cookies.
I guess this qualifies as a memory, albeit a recent one.

Just like Mommy?

My Aunt Vicki is going to kill me for this post.  Sorry, Aunt Vicki!  These photos were too cute not to post!

My Aunt Vicki from Virginia visited last week and she had shoulder surgery a while back.  She is a great patient and even did her home exercise program while visiting!!  Logan gave her a little help one morning.

Logan assisting Aunt Vicki with the pulleys

Teaching her the proper form by holding her shoulder down

My little future Physical Therapist!