Easter 2011

Easter Sunday was so different this year from past years. Wes was gone for job training out of state and we didn't visit any grandparents so it was just the kids and I all day. And it would have been different this year without my grandma as the Easter decorations just wouldn't have been the same. One of the things that we always got a kick out of was how she decorated every dessert with jelly beans. Every cupcake was topped with them and every cake was outlined with jelly beans. And she must have bought them in bulk as the jelly bean decorations on desserts seemed to continue all the way through Christmas. Since Wes was going to be gone on Easter day the Easter Bunny visited our house a day early dropping off several goodies for the kids including some new Nintendo DS games and a sewing bear for Jaidyn, Barbie's and a Barbie DVD for Addy, Disney Cars and toy guns (loud, annoying, light-up) for Levi and Reid scored with a cradle swing which he LOVES. On Sunday morning I was determined to snag some great deals on things at Walgreens with my stack of coupons (if you don't go on Sunday morning, the shelves are cleared all week of the great sale items) and by the time I got through the checkout with all 4 kids we weren't going to get to church but a few minutes early. It didn't help that it was pouring down rain all morning either. Church was so packed that we ended up sitting in the very last row sharing of the foyer sharing two folding chairs. Oh well, at least we were close to the hallway with the bathrooms as I knew Levi would have to use it. It is great that he is finally potty trained, but we take many trips now to the bathroom. While I managed to get all 4 kids through church and an Easter Egg Hunt after, I am definitely not winning any Mom-0f-The-Year Awards as we didn't dye any eggs and our Easter meals consisted of Wendy's for lunch and frozen Totino's Pizza for dinner. Sad, I know! Regardless of our pathetic meals, we did enjoy a fairly relaxing rainy day together.






Levi in his Thomas The Train conductor hat.






Easter Sunday Pictures

I had a cute little spring colored romper for Reid and even though it was sized as 6 months, I was barely able to get it over his head and I was hurting his arms trying to squeeze it in to the sleeves so I opted for putting him in a soft cotton onesie instead.

Pretty, pretty girls!

Levi took this picture for us...not too bad for an almost 3 year old.


This was the closest I could get to getting any outdoor pictures on Easter day. The rain was pouring down so I was only able to get a picture of the kids on the porch.

I just can't help but laugh right along beside him. Reid's giggles and smiles are too cute!



We have been begging Levi to try out a shower instead of a bath for months and then out of the blue, he asks to take a shower. So here he is piled in the shower with the girls. It only lasted two nights as he is now back to wanting to take baths again, but hopefully it is a step in the right direction.


I hope everyone had a blessed Easter weekend!

Happy Baby Taking A Bath

Reid loves kicking his chubby legs and flapping his arms in the bath. It's a good thing he enjoys his baths as it takes me a little bit of extra time to make sure that I get between each of his little crevices. I'm hoping he likes the pool and lake this summer equally as much as he likes his bath.






I think Wes looks to be a little exhausted from his day of work.

Spring Sunday Baseball Game

After church, Wes and I had good motivation to hurry and get the house cleaned so that we could enjoy a nice spring afternoon at Hammons Field for a baseball game. We made the kids play outside with the exception of letting them come in only to use the bathroom so that we could get the floors mopped and bathrooms cleaned. And after finally getting it all clean it only further motivated me to cash in on my Christmas present from Wes...hiring someone to clean a couple of times a month. I have someone coming on Friday to interview and give us a bid. I'm really hoping it works out.


The Clydesdale horses were in town. Jaidyn took lots of pictures with her camera of them parading around the field before the game started.






Levi getting his ticket signed by one of the players. Maybe Levi will keep the ticket and someday this player make may it to the big leagues.


The kids with Louie The Cardinal. I gave Wes the camera for just this one picture and Louie's head gets cut off. :)Later in the game we were taking the elevator up to another level and Louie gets on the elevator with us. The kids were completely silent and just stared at him...kind of an odd elevator ride.

We almost always buy general admission tickets and bring our own blanket and sit out in the outfield. It is so much easier with the kids this way. And I don't have to worry about one of the kids spilling their drink down the back of the person sitting in front of us. Yes, this did happen a couple of years ago and he was wearing silk...who wears a silk shirt to a ballgame? :)










Papa J.R. was the high bidder on one of the special St. Patrick's Day jerseys that were auctioned off for charity during the game. We were so glad that Papa J.R. and our niece Haven were able to spend the afternoon with us.


Jaidyn brought me this "card" home from school. She said she made it during her center time. So sweet! It is definitely one that I will keep.

Mother's Day Card
Mom you rock. Mom you roll. I love you. You are 32 years old. You like blue. You like J for Jenny. For Mother's Day I will take you shopping.


Reid looks forward to seeing Jaidyn when she gets home from school.

Jaidyn had her Easter Egg hunt at school yesterday. Isn't her milk carton Easter Bunny basket the cutest? I can't imagine how long it took for her teacher to cut out the shape and make the faces for 21 baskets. Her teacher is so creative. Super cute!

Good Times With Friends & The Family

Last weekend we took a road trip to St. Charles to hang out with some of my college volleyball teammates and their families for the weekend. The prep work of packing for 5 people (Wes packed his own), filling a snack bag and drink cooler, and all the baby items I couldn't do without was somewhat of a daunting task but I only managed to forget to pack both Levi and I's pajamas. A normal what could be a 4 hour road trip took us every bit of 6 hours. We had several bathroom stops as Levi has been great at using the potty, but he just has to go often and we would stop so I could nurse Reid. And poor Levi got sick on the mix of jelly beans and cajun trail mix that he snacked on so we had quite the mess in his car seat the last 20 minutes of the drive. Thankfully we were staying at my sister's house the first night so we had access to the washing machine and the garden hose to hose down his seat. Wes was tempted to hose Levi down too, but we didn't think it would look good blasting a 2 year old with the hose. Ha!

On Saturday, we attended the Tartan Days Scottish Festival down by the River Walk. The weather couldn't have cooperated more nicely.

We ate lunch at the Little Hills Restaurant and Winery while waiting for the parade to begin. While eating at the winery with 4 kids isn't the most romantic experience, the bottle of strawberry wine that Wes and I split sure made up for it.






The Tartan Days Parade

Jaidyn and Addy were quite concerned seeing all the men wearing "skirts". We had a nice little culture lesson on Scottish attire.

The kids enjoyed the dogs parading through the streets even more so than the candy being handed out.

You don't see law enforcement officers on horseback very often.

Watching a small group of people playing bagpipes. Why is Jaidyn holding the foam football between her legs? I didn't even notice that until posting this picture.
We all just lounged around on blankets in the grass and the kids played with the hoola-hoops, bubbles, and in the mud most of the day.

Showing off their spiders they purchased from one of the booths set up.

Levi took a tumble down the hill right into the mud so he was shirtless most of the afternoon.


Reid is so sweet! He didn't sleep much all day, but did manage to catch a few ZZZ's under the shade tree.

Later that evening, all our families went out to eat and finally agreed on Buffalo Wild Wings. Our other choices were too busy and didn't have room to seat a party of sixteen. By this time of the evening we were all so exhausted and it would have been much more enjoyable to have ordered pizza and eaten at the hotel or back at the festival. Oh well, lesson learned for next time.

All of us girls. Pretty sad I am bigger than Tara who is almost 8 months preggo. And I am just loving the splotchy sunburn that I have going as I could see the imprints of Wes's hands on my shoulders.

The entire bunch of kids



Griffin was so good entertaining the younger kids all day. I think Addy had a little crush on him as she kept wanting piggy back rides and would just watch him and smile.



Poor Tara, 8 months pregnant and squeezing in the back seat with all the kids. Thankfully we only had to cross a couple of parking lots to get back to the hotel.

The four of us girls had plans to go out for awhile, but exhausted from the full day we decided to hang out at the hotel and enjoyed each others company in the breakfast lounge with a bottle of wine. Wes, the wonderful dad that he is managed 3 of the kids in the pool by himself and my sister watched Reid for a while so I had a couple hours with just the girls.

Not wanting to waste Sunday all day in the car, we decided to take the kids to the St. Louis Arch before heading home.












This was the longest road trip that we have attempted since Reid was born and while I am not in any hurry to do it again soon, I loved every minute of the time with my family and friends.

Reid is the BEST baby. The only time he is fussy is when he decides he is ready to eat and he just doesn't give much warning and wants to eat immediately. Three of the past 4 nights he was went to sleep around 10:00 and slept all the way through to at least 5:00 in the morning. Ahhhh, what a wonderful feeling it is for me to get a full night of sleep. And his grin with those chubby, chubby cheeks to too cute!



"Property of Mom"


Last week Levi and Addy were riding around the house on their horses. Giddy-up!