Ready for Some Football

For crying out loud! Is it time for football yet? Just over a month until gametime, but these should get you in the mood...

Butterfly in My Tummy

I actually felt a little more human today and had some energy this afternoon, so after my hair appointment I went and did some shopping for some maternity clothes to start back to work in. I really hate the in-between stage: my regular clothes are too tight and maternity clothes are either too big or just look silly. I compromised and got some gaucho capris, a couple of empire waist tops, a couple of stretchy cotton dresses and some leggings. That combined with what I already have should just about get me through the rest of the warm weather.

I picked Caleb up from daycare and we came home to chill out for about 30 minutes before we got back in the car and went to the library. They had a kids' concert tonight with the Sugar Free All-Stars. He liked the music, but was more interested in the merchandise table that had some star-shaped sunglasses, which I proudly did not give in and buy. After the concert, we checked out a few books (Caleb picked a Thomas the Train book...UGH!). He said he wanted a hamburger for dinner, so we stopped at Wendy's and had a quick bite before coming home. His kids' meal came with an audiobook on CD and he was all jazzed about that even though he didn't really know what it was. I promised that he could listen to it when he went to bed. When we got home, he watched his obligatory 30 minute TV show and I convinced him it was time to go to bed so he could listen to his CD. Turns out, he thought it was a DVD and he was going to get to watch more TV. After that fit was thrown and I actually started the CD, he never made another sound. I'm guessing he was asleep within minutes.

I came in the living room after putting him to bed and fired up the computer. As usual, my pre-bedtime routine includes Facebook, e-mail, blogs, etc. Considering how much busier I've been today than the past few days, it sure feels good to sit down and relax. (Rudy is gone to the annual band directors' conference in Little Rock for a few days. Mom will be here tomorrow for the weekend.) So...I'm sitting in the chair, chatting with Stacy on Facebook when I felt a very definite *flutter* in my belly. HotShot has apparently decided that vacation is over and it's time to start moving around and making his/her presence known. Or, maybe it was just time to flip over on the lounge chair to avoid an uneven tan. :) Either way, this little one was first felt at 12 weeks, 5 days. Thus starts my favorite part of pregnancy...

YaYa Day

Leslie, Cindy and I used to get together every year for homecoming and sometimes we'd manage an additional get-together in between. This past year was the first year in a long time that we had to cancel the homecoming weekend. Homecoming and Halloween were the same weekend and with 4 kids between us - there was no way we could make it work. The last time we were together was July 2008 - a whole year ago. Cindy suggested that we do something this summer and offered to come over to NWA for a day. We managed to schedule last Thursday as our YaYa (and Petit YaYa) Day.

Cindy and Haven came to my house from Tulsa and we met the Lyons family for lunch at Slim Chickens. After lunch, Nick went to play golf. That left the 3 of us, plus 3 children in car seats and one child in a booster seat. We were like clowns getting in and out of my car, but that's why I got the car that seats eight! We took the kids to the Rogers Splash Park and let them play for a while. It took everyone but Haven a while to get used to the idea of the water, but once they did, they had a great time. Caleb was the most reserved of the group - preferring to play with the sprinkler that was the shortest and least likely to surprise him by blasting water in his face.

Here's Caleb playing in the little sprinkler:

And Haven having a blast:
And Jackson running and gunning:

After the kids wore themselves (and us) out, we came back over to the house and let them play while we visited sporadically between tantrums, drink requests, potty breaks and an endless string of other interruptions. They had a blast and we enjoyed each others' company. We did decide, however, that we definitely need a kid-free girls' weekend soon.

Here's Grace enjoying the shade:

And all 4 of them launching the air rocket. Jackson taught them how to jump hard on the pump so it would fly. Caleb was fully impressed with Jackson's mad skills.

A Caleb Update

In one of my recent posts, I said that we were having some behavior issues with Caleb. I'm glad to announce that Caleb's behavior has leveled off. He's still 3 - don't get me wrong. He's certainly no angel, but most of the time, he's close to it. The complete meltdowns have diminished to one or two a week and the yelling at us has all but stopped. Looking back, I attribute the whole situation to a few factors (in addition to the fact that he's three):

1. Routine, Routine, Routine: It's summer. We don't really have a routine in the summer. He was going to daycare 2 days a week to stay in the swing of things, but it really wasn't enough. One day on, one day off, one day on, 4 days off - that's not routine to a 3-year-old. We've increased him to 3 days a week (Tues, Wed, Thurs) and that has helped. I'm considering 4 days this week and 5 next week just to ease on back into the full-time schedule. Oh...and a lot of his friends moved up to an older class and some younger kids moved into his class. Caleb is (temporarily) the oldest in his class and is learning some not-so-lovely behaviors from the younger kids. He moves up to the older class in a few weeks - something that I'm happy about...but sad to move on from Mrs. Natalie and Ms. Lindsay, who we adore!

2. Sleep: We relaxed Caleb's bedtime for the summer. C'mon...it's hard to go to bed when it's still light outside! I think that plan backfired on us. He just wasn't getting enough rest. He hardly ever takes a nap at home (almost always does at daycare) and always gets up between 6:30 and 7:30 - no matter what time he goes to bed. So, basically on the days that he wasn't going to daycare, he was losing 2-3 hours of sleep a day. That does not make for a well-rested child...and a well-rested child is a much better behaved child.

3. Travel: This sort of goes with the other two. Since we've been out of school this summer, we've spent a lot of time traveling. Our trip to Florida, plus our trip to St. Louis, plus a week-long trip to LR and Hot Springs added up and took its toll on all of us. Rudy and I were tired and Caleb was extra-tired.

4. Grandparent Time: We LOVE our parents and Caleb LOVES his grandparents, but we all know that the rules are more lax and the little man runs the show when he's with his grandparents. Grandparent detox is completely worth it for Caleb to make the memories that he makes with his Grandma, LaLa, Pops, Pepapa, Mamaw, Memmie, Poppie, Nana, Grandma Morris and Grandpa Morris. We're certainly not complaining about that part...but it was a factor that can't be ignored.

Happily, things have smoothed out around here. Caleb is back to being funny and lovable for the most part. He's only going to time out about 2-3 times a week instead of 4-5 times a day, and I haven't even threatened to spank him in over a week. That's a huge improvement! His meltdowns these days are typically related to being tired, coming inside and cleaning up. That's totally to be expected.

Here are a few Calebisms just to prove that he's back to normal...

Random things he says for no particular reason - and directed to nobody in particular:
Float like a Cadillac, sting like a Beemer (this is from Cars)
Oklahoma! (this one worries us a little)
Go, Cardinals!
I big. I so tall now!
What's the big idea? (this is from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse)

A recent speech lesson gone awry -
Caleb: I want one piece of poilet paper.
Me: TOIlet paper.
Caleb: Terlet paper.
Me: laughing hysterically at my ghetto child

Fascination with HotShot -
My baby is HotShot. He growing bigger and bigger!
HotShot in Mama's belly.
HotShot growing in MY belly?
HotShot eating your food, Mama?

Me: "What will we call HotShot if it ends up being a girl?"
Caleb: (complete with look of exasperation) "Haley"
Me: "That won't work. My name is Haley and we can't have 2 Haleys."
Caleb: "Yes we can, Mama. HotShot is Haley AND you are Haley. It's okay."

He's pretty fascinated with names right now. He knows that my "other" name is Haley and his Daddy's "other" name is Rudy. He's a little confused that Daddy has 2 "other" names, but so is everyone else. :) He wants to know everything's "other" name - even if we have no idea what he's talking about!

Aside from Calebisms, he's completely smitten with baseball. Rudy bought him a t-ball and t-ball glove at WalMart yesterday and he loves it! He is getting pretty good at hitting the ball off of the tee and we'll probably sign him up for tee ball next spring. He still loves movies and has recently discovered The Incredibles. It scared the pants off of him the first couple of times, but now he watches it repeatedly. Mealtimes are getting a little better. We've started practically ignoring him when he doesn't eat or says he doesn't like what he has. We tell him he doesn't have to eat it, but he has to sit with us while we eat. Lo and behold...he usually cleans his plate. Caleb LOVES the swimming pool. Rudy got him a life vest that has floatie arms and a band around his chest and he can really get around the pool with it on. It keeps his face out of the water and he's all about it! (I'm signing him up for swimming lessons next summer.)

Oh...and my greatest accomplishment for the summer has been teaching Caleb to hold up the right amount of fingers to go with 1-2-3-4-5. He still struggles with the fine motor part of it, but he usually gets it right. I didn't think he would ever learn that!

Okay, enough of all that for now. Keep in mind - I just document to remember. You choose how much you want to read. :)

2 Arms, 2 Legs and a Strong Heartbeat

We went today for our 12 week OB appointment. Before we saw the doctor, though, we had another ultrasound. This ultrasound is an optional one called an "early screen" or "NT screen." It checks for the probability of several chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down Syndrome. We won't have the results for a week or so, but the ultrasound tech said that everything looks pretty good to her. Her exact words were, "2 arms, 2 legs and a strong heartbeat." (Heartrate was 155 bpm - that's in the high range of normal.) Really, that strong heartbeat is the thing we want the most. We can deal with anything else that comes our way. We chose to have the screen just for our knowledge and preparation. It wouldn't change anything. It's not like we would ever choose not to have the baby - we just want to be as prepared as possible for any curves in the road. We know that we can't be prepared for everything that life throws our way, but when you have the opportunity to possibly know ahead of time without any harm to the baby or me, why not take it?

We didn't find out the gender yet. That'll be in late September. I hope the little stinker will be more cooperative then. (S)he didn't move hardly at all this time. We got 5 pictures and they are all almost exactly the same. The ultrasound tech said, "this baby is on vacation...laid back and relaxing." That's my kind of kid! I'm 12 weeks, 4 days pregnant and the baby measured 12 weeks, 6 days. Close enough, right?

Here is the latest of HotShot's photo sessions:

After the ultrasound and a lovely finger prick for blood tests, we went to see Dr. Ford. She didn't do any exam at all. She just asked how things were going, made sure I hadn't had any bleeding or cramping and said, "see you in 4 weeks!" I asked her about my UTI and she said that my in-office culture was fine, but that she would send it to the lab since I'm still having some kidney-area discomfort. I also asked about my feet swelling this early and she said it was probably more related to something I ate (too much salt) and the heat of summer. I told her that I've felt like I had the flu all summer with this crazy exhaustion and nausea. She said to give it 2 or 3 more weeks and I should be getting better. She (obviously) wasn't concerned about anything. I've always said that you can go into an OB's office with your arm hanging off by a tendon and they would say, "That's normal. It's just part of pregnancy!"

I go back to see Dr. Ford in 4 weeks.

Yikes! Two weeks to update...

For some reason, I haven't felt much like blogging lately. Normally, it's something I love to do. I find it very cathartic. The crummy part is that I have good things to tell - no reason to avoid it. So, here's my effort at making up for 2 weeks of non-blogging.

On Sunday (7/12), Rudy started working at the UofA junior high music camp. Caleb and I left for a visit to central AR. Our first stop was in Sherwood, where we spent two days with my grandparents, Memmie and Poppie and my cousin, Mary Beth. We met them for lunch at Red Lobster. Caleb told me before they got there that he was going to by shy...and he stayed true to his word. It took several hours before he finally opened up. I was feeling a little extra-nauseous during lunch and ended up only choking down a baked potato. Caleb ate a few fries and he was done. It was a stressful meal for me. After lunch, we went to Memmie and Poppie's, where I managed to get Caleb to take a nap and took a short one myself. When Caleb woke up, we made a quick trip to Target for a few necessities and back home to play before bedtime. We stayed at Memmie and Poppie's until Tuesday morning.

When Caleb and I got up and around on Tuesday, we headed out for Hot Springs. As soon as we pulled in the driveway at Mom and Mr.L's house, Caleb giggled, "I so excited!" When I got him out of his carseat and he saw Pops in the doorway, he took off running to him and gave him a great big hug. It was great! From that moment on, he and Pops were joined at the hip and I got some much-needed rest. I seemed to struggle a lot with my pregnancy symptoms that week. I was tired and nauseous a lot. I hoped that it was a peak and I'd be feeling better soon.

Tuesday night, I had the pleasure of joining Mom and Aunt Harolyn for a get-together with 4 generations of women from our family. We visited at Aunt AnnaBelle's house and then had dinner at a restaurant. I have not laughed that hard in a very long time! It was a wonderful experience!!!

Wednesday through Friday, we did very little and it was great. We took a boat ride one evening, had dinner with friends on the back porch and caught up on lots of rest. Mom bought me a couple of dresses for some upcoming events and got me some new makeup too. Caleb just played...a lot. He fished with Pops and even caught a couple of little fish.

We left there on Friday and I dropped Caleb off at Jan's on Friday afternoon. I came home and Rudy and I had a quiet evening at home. Saturday, we went to run some errands. We took advantage of being kid-free and went to the AT&T store to look into upgrading our phones. I went in planning to get a Blackberry and ended up walking out with an iPhone instead. I really thought it would be more expensive, but it was actually cheaper! I've been learning to use it since then and have really enjoyed it. Rudy got a nicer phone than what he had and he likes it a lot too.

On Sunday, we went to Ft. Smith to get Caleb from Jan's and then met the Morrises for lunch. After lunch, we went to their house to visit for a while and then headed home. Caleb needed a little time to adjust to being home and back to our usual expectations. He has really been having some behavior problems lately. We've endured lots of tantrums and meltdowns, lots of refusals, yelling, etc. Mealtimes have become almost unbearable. I keep telling myself it's a phase, but it's a phase that we have to get through with some sanity. It seems to be getting better the past couple of days, so we'll see. We did start sending him to daycare 3 days a week instead of 2. I'm hoping that the increased routine will help. He'll do 3 days for a week or so, then bump up to 4 in anticipation of back-to-school week. (ugh)

Rudy's neck is bothering him this week. It started yesterday (Tuesday) and he was down for the count. Today he pushed through it because he couldn't stand sticking around the house again for a 2nd day. He's still hurting tonight, but has managed to stay away from the pain pills.

I am gradually feeling better. Some days are much better than others. I made it all day yesterday without any nausea meds, but not today. Sleep has become an issue. I am so tired all the time, but as soon as my head hits the pillow, my eyes pop open and my mind starts racing. By the time I finally fall asleep (wee hours of the morning), I conk out completely and then morning comes very quickly. I've been sleeping in and taking naps as much as possible to make it through the days. This has to get better soon, though! As bad as I hate to admit it...August is right around the corner.

I go to the OB next week. On Tuesday, I'm doing the early screen and then seeing Dr. Ford for my usual checkup. I had a bladder infection last time I went and the antibiotics that I had to take made me really sick - to the point that I wondered if I might have the flu. I'm hoping that the antibiotic really knocked out the infection because I don't want another round of that.

10 weeks - 1st belly shot

Let the fun begin! Here are the first of many belly shots of this pregnancy. Granted - I didn't exactly start out with washboard abs to begin with. I can assure you, though - this is bigger than my usual self. My clothes are getting tighter (seems like every day!) and my pants that used to fit no longer button (including the ones I'm wearing in this picture). I wear my Bella Band with almost everything except for a couple of pairs of shorts that started out a little big. I've only gained a few pounds - even with 2 vacations - but I can definitely tell a difference in my waistline...or lack thereof. Everyone said this would happen quicker in the 2nd pregnancy!

Of course, Caleb had to get in on the picture-taking! Here he is showing you that I'm 10 weeks pregnant...

3 year well visit

Okay, so we're a couple of months late on this one. It's the earliest appointment I could get during the summer. Whatever.

I took Caleb for his 3 year well "baby" visit on Wednesday. I wasn't so sure it was going to be a well visit, since he ran a mystery fever from Monday night until Tuesday afternoon. He perked up, though and the nurse said we could go ahead with the visit. (He does still have a nasty cough and a raspy voice. He may have to go back tomorrow!)

Dr. Scherer looked Caleb over and asked me about 1000 questions about his skill development and pronounced him healthy. He is concerned about his height/weight proportion, though. I swear, people, he doesn't eat that much and he's on the go constantly! He weighed 35 lbs, 9.6 oz, which is at the 79th percentile for weight. He's 37.25 inches tall, which is at the 30th percentile for height. Yes...I see the disproportion. No...I'm not concerned. We continue to offer him new foods and he's started to like more fruits, but won't touch vegetables. We'll keep offering them, but we won't force them. He doesn't eat a lot of sweets, but does like them when we give them to him. He gets lots of exercise and plenty of sleep and he's meeting or surpassing his developmental milestones. Not that I'm being defensive or anything... :)

Therapized Calebism

Therapized is a completely made-up word that I like to use to refer to kids who have been in speech therapy for so long that they do and say things that only speech therapy kids would know. It can be used as an adjective or a verb.

Apparently, I have therapized my child. Actually - I think I therapized Rudy too. He's the one that has been trying to teach Caleb how to say "Cardinals" instead of "Cardiners" for a while now. I guess he has seen me prompt Caleb to "watch my tongue" or "watch my mouth" when teaching him new words.

Caleb: We watchin' the Cardiners?
Rudy: Yep, watchin' the Cardinals.
Caleb: Watch my tongue. Cardiners...Cardiners...CardinALS! I did it!

Tonight, they repeated the whole routine while trying to learn to say the word "girl." However, tonight's therapy session took place in front of the bathroom mirror at Caleb's request. Apparently, he wanted to watch his own tongue.

While I'm on the subject of Cardinals, we're trying to figure out who "Todd" is. I know Todd Wellemeyer is a pitcher, but I don't think that's who Caleb is fascinated with because he always talks about Todd when he's hitting the ball, not when he's throwing it. I think he heard us say "Yadi" (Yadier Molina) and has also heard us talk about his uncle Todd and he's just confused. Tonight, he and Rudy were playing baseball in the backyard and he said, "Daddy, you be Yadi, I'll be Todd."

Saint Louis ~ Sunday & Monday

After a late night at the fireworks on Saturday, we slept in a little on Sunday. Sherry had responsibilities at church and when she got home, we had lunch and played the marbles game that Rudy and I brought from home. Caleb was pretty content to watch a movie and play with Rebecca while we played marbles. He was so worn out from all of the fun we'd been having. We got dressed for dinner and met some of our St. Louis friends at a restaurant near our old house. We were excited to see the Eslicks, the Albrechts and the Aratas! Many of our friends couldn't come this year because of scheduling, but we had a great time with those who did come! I didn't take any pictures at dinner because I was having such a good time visiting with everyone and watching the kids play. It never really crossed my mind. Caleb loved playing with Molly, Aidan & Bella outside after dinner while the grownups talked.

When we left the restaurant, we made a quick drive through our old neighborhood, but nobody was outside to say hi to. We headed on back to the house and played THREE more games of marbles before we all decided we'd better turn in for the night. Jerry and Sherry had to work on Monday and Rudy, Caleb and I had a long trip home ahead of us.

Our trip home was (thankfully) uneventful. When we got home, Caleb said he was tired, so he and I took a nap together in the bed while Rudy took one on the couch. I tried to wake Caleb up for Gymboree class, but he wouldn't budge!

Saint Louis ~ Saturday

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Our 4th of July started out with a trip the St. Louis Mills. Sherry and I were looking for some great buys at Archiver's. Jerry jumped on the Crocs wagon and Caleb just wanted to ride the train and play on the playground with Rudy. After the Mills, we came back home to eat leftover Cunetto's and rest up for the trip down to the Arch.

We made it down to the Archgrounds at about 6:00 and quickly found our perfect spot to set up camp for the concert and fireworks. Rudy and I took Caleb to the kids' zone where we made a hat, played some games and listened to some music. We went back to our seats for a while so that Jerry and Sherry could get something to eat and then traded out with them while Rudy and I went hunting for fabulous fried food on a stick. When we got back, the Train concert had started and we settled in for a while to listen to the music and eat our dinner. Caleb devoured his corn dog and some fries then had fun playing with Jerry and his daddy.As soon as the concert was over, the fireworks started. We weren't sure Caleb would handle the fireworks well. Last year, he covered his eyes the whole time. This year, he's started to be afraid of loud noises. We did get some earplugs that were a lifesaver! I told him they were kind of like medicine for his ears and they would keep the scary noises from getting him. Problem solved! He watched the fireworks in my lap and never once complained. He said he liked the green ones the best. When the fireworks were over, we made the trek back to the car and took an alternate route out of the city to avoid the crazy traffic we sat in on Thursday night!

Saint Louis ~ Friday

Friday was our designated ZOO DAY! Caleb was so excited about going to the zoo and seeing all of the animals. We drove back into the city and joined what seemed like every other person in St. Louis at the zoo. We saw a former student of Rudy's who now works at the zoo and he said that it was one of the busiest days they've had in recent history. I completely believe it! There were people everywhere. Fortunately, it wasn't too hot for a July day and we were able to enjoy seeing lots of animals...and people. The animals were really active and out where we could see them. The first thing we did when we got there was ride the train to the back side of the park so that we could go to the sea lion show. We got there a little early, so we walked through the big cat habitats first. The tigers were all laying out in full view and a lion was lazing under a tree just yards away from us. We had great seats for the sea lion show (thanks to Rebecca) and we all loved watching them perform. After the show, we held our breath as we very quickly perused the monkey house and then exhaled outside because Caleb wanted to see the "giraff-amos." (That is what he and Pops call the giraffes in one of his books!) Caleb kept asking to see the bears, so we managed to see them and the penguins too. We also took advantage of the new stingray interactive exhibit where you get to pet real stingrays (barbs removed). That was pretty cool - even for someone like me who really doesn't like animals all that much. We made a quick jaunt through the children's zoo before we called it a day!

And just for some perspective...

Here is Caleb at the zoo in July 2008:
And in July 2009:

After the zoo, we headed straight for our favorite restaurant in St. Louis: Cunetto House of Pasta! We waited over an hour for a table and it was worth every minute of it. Caleb even said, "Mmmm! This s'ketti is delicious!" The rest of us showed our appreciation by eating until we were miserable. BUT...no trip to St. Louis is complete without a trip to Ted Drewe's on Route 66! I'm not ashamed to admit that I played the pregnant card and requested a Ted Drewe's concrete on the way home. The line was all the way to the street (as usual), but the concretes were oh-so-worth-it!

Saint Louis ~ Thursday

Sherry suggested that we go to the Butterfly House on Thursday morning. Surprisingly, we had never been there, so we decided it would be a great idea. While we got ready to go, Sherry packed a picnic lunch for us. When we got to the Butterfly House, Caleb was very excited about the bugs that were on display. He loved looking at all of them. Here he is in the middle of about 500 cockroaches! There was a man in the lobby holding a millipede and Caleb got to touch it. He also got to feel a butterfly's wings and see a tarantula in a case. Notice that I took this picture from a few feet away. Sherry is braver than I am!As we were walking through the bug exhibits, I reached up to scratch my head and there was a beetle IN MY HAIR! I did the only thing I could: squeal like a little girl and throw it to the ground! I'm sure it provided a lot of comic relief to the volunteer workers who were watching! We went into the butterfly conservatory with strict instructions not to touch the butterflies. Have you ever tried to explain something like that to a 3-year-old? Not easy! We learned quickly that Caleb isn't a mosey-around kind of kid. He tired of the butterflies pretty quickly and Rudy took him out to look at more bugs while Sherry and I finished taking pictures in the conservatory. After the conservatory, we went outside into the garden. There are lots of beautiful flowers there, but we didn't see any butterflies. Caleb loved the trails, the pond and decided to dance under the event tent.

Caleb and Sherry also had fun climbing on the big caterpillar outside:

After the Butterfly House, it was time to head over to the park to enjoy our picnic. Fortunately, some nice people at a table next to us had some bread to share. Sherry packed a wonderful picnic lunch, but forgot the bread for our sandwiches. Oh, well - it all worked out!

After our picnic, Rudy let Caleb play on the playground for a little while. Then we went to 2 different malls in search of t-shirts to wear to the Cardinals game that night. We finally found what we wanted and headed home for a little bit of rest before leaving for the game.

We picked Jerry up from work at 5:00, then picked Virginia up at her house. We headed downtown for the baseball game and parked (thankfully!) in Sherry's office parking deck. We were only a few blocks from the stadium and got there shortly after the first pitch. Caleb was (not surprisingly) scared everytime the crowd cheered. He devoured a hot dog and some chips and enjoyed going for a walk in the concourse with Rudy. He came back armed with a bright red miniature bat, which he now loves dearly! He got so excited when he saw Fredbird dancing on the dugout and asked lots of questions about the ballgame. I think we have a lifelong Cardinals fan on our hands! Here are Rudy, Caleb (what a face!), Virginia, Sherry and Jerry at the game:

After the game, we walked back to the car and stopped to take a few pictures in the park. These cool arches are set up for the All Star Game next week. We thought they were a perfect photo op! (We even saw a wedding party taking pictures with them!) We were ready to get home but traffic wasn't in our favor. It took us over an hour to go just 5 blocks before we could get on the interstate. Once we finally maneuvered through the massive traffic jam due to lane closures, we were headed for the house and couldn't wait to get comfy and relax!

Saint Louis - Wednesday

We were excited to make our annual trip to St. Louis this year! We got up pretty early on Wednesday morning to hit the road for our 6 hour drive. Caleb did great except when we stopped to eat. He got a slight attitude adjustment from his daddy and we made the rest of the trip just fine.

We got to St. Louis around 2:30 and went straight to the Magic House. It was amazing! They've doubled the size since we last visited right before we moved. Caleb loved it...and Rudy and I did too! I'll put all of the pics from our trip on Shutterfly, but here are a few of my favorites:
One of the new parts that we haven't seen before is the government area. It has a courtroom, a legislative chamber and an Oval Office. Here's Caleb on the witness stand. We told him to say, "You can't handle the truth!" He did and got a big laugh, so he repeated it about 20 times. He thought it was hilarious!

And here's our future president hard at work in the Oval Office!
After the Magic House, we went to Jerry, Sherry and Rebecca's house. They are so gracious to not only give us a place to stay for free, but also to feed us and agree to whatever we want to do the whole time we're there. We love visiting with them and always have a great time. We were treated to a wonderful homemade lasagna dinner on Wednesday night!