Spring Break Part 2

Alex with Chris Carpenter and the ball Chris autographed for him.

My boyfriend Scott RolenDavid Eckstein- this is Alex's favorite player

Adam Wainright, my other boyfriend!

Spring Training is a great place to get up close to your favorite Cardinal players... and that is just what we did. Before the two games we went to we spent some time at the practice fields to watch the cards warming up. It is so neat to literally stand behind the fence and watch them take batting practice just a few feet away! The coaches are there giving advise to them and they guys talk to eachother about everything! Many of the players also sign autographs. It's funny to see how intense some of the adults are about getting autographs.. they will even push in front of the poor little kiddos! Alex helped us get some signatures and Jerry's favorite was Anthony Reyes... he was like a little kid getting that autograph! One I really wanted was Scott Rolen as he has been my fav player for the past few years... to the point that I like to call him my boyfriend. He wasn't signing the days we were there :( oh well. Roger Dean Stadium where the Cards play is quite small so you are pretty close to the field... one day we were onyl 4 rows from the first base line... pretty cool! I have more pics to post but I will save them for later!

Spring Break Part 1

View from our hotel room. I took this early morning before the sky cleared.. it was very windy!
Mom and Alex splashing in the waves.
Alex burried in the sand,
Alex's fort- later it had a cup holder as well.
Jer and I built a cardinal bird under an arch. People were stopping to check it out! It's head it a little big but hey I never said I was a sand artist!
Alex and Jerry playing Lacrosse on the beach. They'd never played before so it took some time to get the hang of it!

Well Jer and I have returned from sunny southern Florida! We had a great time. We went to Jupiter for Cardinals spring training and some beach fun as well! I took a ton of pics so for now I am just going to post the beach pics.... since I returned it has been rainy and dreary here in the Lou.... I wanna go back! I'll post some pics of the Cards later!

To My Friends

Just wanted to give a shout out to all my friends. Those of you whom I lost track of and found again and those of you whom never left... many of you were around for those high school days and Madrigal Swingers.... heard this song this morning and it brought the memories flowing back! So thanks to all my friends.. you have all touched my life in some way!

Friends- Michael W. Smith

Packing up the dreams God planted
In the fertile soil of you
Can't believe the hopes He's granted
Means a chapter in your life is through
But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

Chorus:
And friends are friends forever
If the Lord's the Lord of them
And a friend will not say "never"
'Cause the welcome will not end
Though it's hard to let you go
In the Father's hands we know
That a lifetime's not too long to live as friends.

With the faith and love God's given
Springing from the hope we know
We will pray the joy you'll live in
Is the strength that now you show

But we'll keep you close as always
It won't even seem you've gone
'Cause our hearts in big and small ways
Will keep the love that keeps us strong

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Alex and I at the downtown parade.
Katherine showing off her shamrock!
Jack in his penguin hat!
Giant leprechaun balloon.

I hope everyone had a great St Patty's Day. No green beer for me... but fun nonetheless! We met up with my cousins at the parade... it was so fun to see their expressions as the floats and balloons came by. Then we headed over to Dooley's Ltd for lunch. Our friend Kevin's family owns it and if you've never been you should go... they have awesome burgers and fries! In the little Irish pub we finally warmed up ate yummy food and headed home. After a nap for me... we went to dinner at another place called d. Dooley's .. no relation to the other Dooley's but they had corned beef and cabbage with potatoes so I was all for it. After stuffing ourselves and listening to some irish music... it was time to go to bed. Quite a fun day... cold for sure but fun.

It's a Girl!

Above is her head and back ...across the top you can even see her spine!
Here are her legs all stretched out!
A little bity foot!
waving hello... see her hand?
We had our appointment this morning and it was so fun to see our baby girl moving around in there! I could have watched that screen all day long. Too bad I'm not married to Tom Cruise so he could buy me an ultrasound machine for my house! I drank a little coca cola to make sure the baby would move around in there... and it worked. We had some great shots so I posted them above. The last picture is her first complete matching outfit... I bought some and mom bought some. This little girl will be a princess for sure! Thanks for the votes are well wishes!

Boy or Girl?

I have an ultrasound on Tuesday morning and we are so excited to find out if our little peanut (which is now the size of a magic eight ball) is a girl or a boy. It's been so hard to wait this long and I sure hope peanut cooperates and isn't too shy that morning! Show us what you've got little one! So anybody have any opinions? I'm thinking girl and Jerry is thinking boy. After surveying my class Jerry found that all the girls said it would be a girl and all the boys said it would be a boy. According to the jump rope rhyme the girls do on the playground I am having a girl.... and according to the old wives tale of swinging your ring above your belly also says girl... however the Chinese Calendar says boy! All of this is just facintaing to me.... so what do you think?

Katherine and Jack

On Saturday afternoon my mom was babysitting my cousins Katherine and Jack. They moved back to St. Louis last spring after living first in Columbia Missouri and then Baltimore Maryland. We are so hapy to have them back and we just wish we got to see them more often. So of course when we found out they were going to be visiting my mom we HAD to go see them! They have a lot of energy and they are pretty entertaining! The first picture is Katherine doing a pom pon routine for me (but I had to tell her to pose because when she was moving so fast the pics were turning out blurry) Katherine is in first grade and she is a spunky, creative, imaginative, dramatic and very loving little girl. The fam says she is a lot like me (me dramatic?) The second pic is of Jack playing the piano for us. It was such a pretty song let me tell you! Jack turns 3 next week and he informed us that he wants a car cake for his birthday. (he loves the movie cars) He likes to sing Life is a Highway which is in that movie. He is a cuddler at times but loves to run around. He tackled Alex a few times (well alex let him) and I was lauging too hard to get any pics of that! I took Katherine and Alex to the FUN FAIR at my school. Katherine played game after game running from one to the next.... when I finally got her back to my mom's we both collapsed! She got some neat prizes and Alex even won Jack a blow up Cardinal ball since he couldn't go with us (no car seat). All in all a fun day as we really love spening time with those kiddos!

Happy Birthday Brynn!

Today is my cousin Brynn's 4th birthday! She had a Tinkerbell party at her house and she was dressed head to toe in Tinkerbell apparel! My job was to help with the fairy wand craft.. so I didn't get any pictures of that fun! The first picture is Brynn looking quite serious with her cake. The second one is her trying to blow out her candles but my uncle had used trick candles so the poor girl was so confused why they wouldn't stay out! When my aunt asked her if she wanted chocolate or white cake... she said she wanted Tinkerbell's head.... unfortunately it was in the middle of the cake! The last one is after opening presents and she is showing me her Tinkerbell slippers... although you can barely see them! We had a lot of fun and Jer and I are looking forward to taking Brynn out for the day to the place of her choice.... that was our present to her. She's one sassy little red head but we love her anyway!

Field Trip to Botanical Gardens

Only half my class.. but still a cute pic.
You can only see 3 kiddos but there were like 10 total in the buttress of this tree.
Looking up at the Banana plant.
Learning about the layers of the Tropical Rain Forest.
Planting our Philadendron cuttings.

We had a great time at the Botanical Gardens! It was cold but we didn't care.. we were inside the Climatron and a classroom. The kids showed off their knowledge and learned a lot too. We are so lucky to have places like this in St. Louis! Don't you love their T-shirts... McCoy's Monkeys!

Pancake Breakfast

This is my friend Elizabeth's little boy Caden wearing his Ladies Man shirt to the Sweetheart Pancake Breakfast at our school. He was a wild man! Elizabeth and I took turns chasing after him. You can only see the string of the heart balloon, but he was yanking it up and down like crazy!

My cute story to share for the day goes like this......

The invitation for the breakfast says "bring someone you love". A little girl in my class that I absolutely love (I had her older sister for two years when I looped and the family has become close to me) came and gave me a hug. Then she said "I told my mom that you wouldn't have to bring anybody because you have the one you love in your tummy!" Is that not the sweetest thing?

So between Wild Caden and Sweet Emma and some yummy pancakes... it was a great morning.

First Bump Picture

This picture was taken last week at 13 weeks. I had to take it myself in the mirror but next time I will have Jer take it so it turns out better. As you can see my belly has started to stick out a bit. I can still wear most of my clothes, but they are getting pretty tight! Just wanted to share for those of you who don't get to see me very often!

My Mastercard Commercial

Clomid for a 16 months -$360
Progesterone for 16 months- $600
Various Doctors Appointments -$15 dollars each
Lots of Tests -mostly covered by insurance
Money for gas to drive to and from St. Johns 3 times a month - who knows!
Many more things I won't go into detail about - misc.

Finding out I am going to have the baby I always dreamed of- PRICELESS!

Yes.. Jerry and I are expecting our first baby!!!!!!!! We couldn't be happier!We have mad eit through the first critical 12 weeks and baby is due to arrive August 3! I'll keep you posted!

Kat comes to town

Yesterday my friend Kat ventured to the Lou with a friend for some shopping at the Galleria. I suppose they thought the shopping is better here than in Columbia Missouri! I met them at The Chesecake Factory for lunch. It was so nice to catch up in person.... Kat and I talk everyday on the phone but rarely get to see eachother. I miss hanging out with her all the time like we did in our college days. She is a great friend! This is a picture from our birthday party two years ago. I didn't whip out the camera at Cheesecake Factory and I don't seem to have any more recent pics of th two of us.

Lunch With Friends

Friday I went to companion in Clayton with my best friends Stephanie and Dana. Dana is doing her residency in North Carolina (she's going to be a pediatrician) and only makes it home like twice a year! Steffi lives here but is busy being a lawyer and I don't see her enough. So lunch with them on Friday was priceless! A lot of girl talk and some good food. Similar to the old days of slumber parties... but there was no truth or dare this time! I love you girls! Thanks for making the highlight of my week!

Merry Christmas (Belated)

The first three pictures are from the weekend before Christmas. We went to my cousin Kristen's house to bake and decorate cookies with all the kids. Jack escaped the pictures cause all he did was decorate a cookie and then eat it.... it was a lot of fun... and we all ended up with icing everywhere.
Next is a picture of Brynnplaying her Barbie Piano on Christmas Eve. She had been dancing and singing so she was a mess! It was hilarious watching her, mom and my Aunt Neetz sing and dance to Love Shack and Hot Legs.

Then you can see Jerry, Alex, Andy and I in our Christmas Jammies and wearing our Cardinal's stocking caps on Christmas morning.

The last two pictures are from Christmas Day. First Jerry, Alex, Andy and I with our Mizzou pullovers from Nancy, Derek, Brock and Brynn. Last Brynn sitting on my lap.....before she got wound up dancing again!

Happy Birthday Mom

Today is my Mom's 50th Birthday! We had a surprise party for her on Friday Night. It was a lot of fun. My mom is truly the greatest! I love you mommy I hope you had fun at your party and that you have a fantastic birthday. Here are a few pics from the party!

Santa

Here are the pictures of Hudson! Isn't he cute?

Visiting with Friends and Family

Jerry with Katherine- she recently got glasses- if you can't tell... they are purple and she is missing one of her top front teeth and the other one she can wiggle with her tongue. She is most definately a first grader!
Jack didn't want me to take his picture at first- he had just woken up from a nap and was eating a hot dog.
Jack kept wanting to play this game where he said "cover me up" and we would cover him up he's crawl around knock of the banket and ask to be covered up again!
Jerry was lifting Katherine up in the air- this is her superman move.
Here I finally got Jack smiling!

We enjoyed a great weekend of visiting with friends and family. Saturday we went to visit my cousins Kristen, her husband John and their darling kiddos Katherine and Jack. They were a hoot! Then we went out to visit with Amber, Matt and Hudson. When we got there Hudson was dressed in a Santa suit and we taught him to say ho ho ho. He tries to say everything and he is just an absoulte riot. He gave Jer and I kisses before he went to bed. Then Amber Matt Jer and I played the 80's version of trvial pursuit.. I was alright with the music questions but the rest were kinda hard! It was a lot of fun though. Ok blogger won't let me upload the pics of Hudson so I'll make another post.