Saint Louis- MEGA Picture Post!

Better late than never, right?? :) I'm going to keep my comments down to a minimum because I've got some many pictures! Sorry if it's too much, but this post is for my memories and my Grandma. :) (Love you!)

We headed to Saint Louis to pick Derek up on Friday morning. We made sure to stop in Sikeston, MO at Lamberts, so the girls could catch a roll or two!

Best friends! I can't believe that Kristen will be 5 in two weeks... which means Anna-Kate is 5 in just 4 months! 

The girls were begging to see the arch. Once we drove by it and got settled into our hotel room we had planned to walk to it, but they informed us they had seen enough of the arch and wanted to swim! I would have posted pictures but Thomas was TERRIFIED of the water and I had no hands! :) 

We went to bed early that night but at 2:00 I heard the scariest sound and realized it was the alarm! It kept saying, "This is an emergency. Please exit to the nearest stairway and come down to the lobby." I'm not the most rational person at 2 AM, so you can imagine the thoughts going through my head while carrying a 2 year old down 7 flights of stairs! 

It turns out someone pulled the fire alarm but everything was okay. We all got back to the room, but it took everyone a long time to fall back asleep. 

Sweet boy was ready for the Zoo! 

And this was the face Anna-Kate decided to give me... apparently it's her goal not to smile in pictures 

I have the 2 AM fire alarm to thank for the puffy eyes! Thomas is joining in on the silly picture posing! 

Thomas kept begging to see the "bish in the waa waa".  The fish turned out to just be coins, but Anna-Kate got that when she yelled "DADDY!! There's money in the pond!" haha

After breakfast, we checked out and headed to the Arch! The girls and Thomas were a bit cranky from the lack of sleep... so we didn't stay too long! 

Big helper taking our luggage down

We lost our arch enthusiasm

Finally a picture with Derek! :) 

We had SO much fun at the Zoo!! 

We learned that Thomas is terrified of butterflies. I'm pretty sure he was traumatized after we went into the butterfly dome. Derek said he acted shell shocked like a war vet. Poor thing! We've been home for about 2 weeks and it's still bad! He's afraid of every flying bug he sees. :( 

We had so much fun at the zoo, we lost track of time and didn't get to see the last exhibits! We were a little disappointed, but worn out! 

We grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed home! 

Watching the fish... 

He loved the children's area

Watching the otter's eat! 

Anna-Kate had to ask the groundhog when spring was coming! 

We liked the goats from a distance... 

She loves animals

Already worn out at lunch but ready to see the Zebras! 

Excited for our train ride! 

Haha... I love this face of Thomas! 

Ryne being a typical teenager... 

Thomas loved the tiger! 

Carousel ride! 

Watching the giraffes! 

Yay! We finally found the Zebras! 

We had such a great time! I'm so glad we got to squeeze a little family time! 

Our Week

Anna-Kate's spring break has been this week, so we've been having lots of fun at home! 

Friday afternoon, we kicked things off by playing outside! Anna-Kate keeps calling tic-tac-toe "hopscotch", so I had to show her what hopscotch actually was. She and Thomas had lots of fun with that.

Derek had to work on Saturday, so I took Anna-Kate and Thomas with me to Sams. Thomas was a little grumpy, but other than that we had a really great little trip! (For those of you that don't know, we live in a small town so we have to drive about 35-40 minutes to get to Sams!) At the check out, "someone" dropped the yogurt on the floor! Sadly, I can't blame that on anyone... it was me! I felt so bad! I can be pretty clumsy! 

We also decided that Saturday was going to be Anna-Kate's first day blankie free! I want to go into more detail on that later, but I will say that the first few days were ROUGH! :) Poor girl! 

I might have gotten a weird look for taking a picture of this, but when you have two little ones and something gets dropped and it's NOT one of them, it's a pretty big deal! ;)

I spent Monday morning cleaning and getting things done around the house, but at lunch my ear was throbbing. I wound up spending a most of the day resting, trying not to make any noise so that my ear would quit hurting. I did have time to make some yummy spaghetti sauce (simmered all day). I love making meals when I can save some of it for another time! In this case, I have enough extra sauce for lasagna and another batch of spaghetti! I whipped up some cheesy garlic biscuits (Red Lobster copy-cat recipe) to go with our meal. It was great. As I was cleaning up I realized I was late to a big consignment pre-sale! I rushed over there and was shocked to see how busy it was!! I was late and there was still a huge line just to get in. Oh and the parking was crazy! The lines were crazy, so I just piddled around and took my time looking. I think some people were in line for at least an hour and a half! Crazy! I found a few really great pieces. Including a blue oxford shirt for Thomas that matches one of Derek's (Derek just LOVES matching outfits...ha ha). 

Tuesday, I tried out making some smoothies for the first time! I feel kind of embarassed about that but I just don't like the "grit" from the berries... and I can't stand chunks of fruit. I felt like it was important to stick it out so that the kids can have a healthy snack to enjoy. I think they thought it was kind of different, but I know they'll adjust to them. Thomas liked it the best. Anna-Kate's comment was "It's kind of getting on my nerves" talking about the texture from the berries. :)

Wednesday was another first for us, we went to the library for Story time!! A friend of mine mentioned that they went, so we met them at a nearby park and then went to hear the story! I loved it so much and Anna-Kate has asked about it every day. I think we will be back soon!

Story time was just what we needed to take our mind off the fact that Derek was gone to Saint Louis for business! I can't stand when he's away, but this trip is a little easier because we are meeting him in Saint Louis for a little vacation! (very little, but fun!)

The signature pose these days... 

It rained all day today, so I knew this morning was my only chance to run to the store. Do you ever feel like you're always out of something? Story of my life... haha. 

We just needed a few things, so we ventured down the Easter aisle! I love spring things! :) 

I still had a lot to do before we leave town, so I was pretty much in a cleaning/ cooking frenzy all day! Anna-Kate skipped her name so that she could help me make brownies and snicker doodle bread (thank you pinterest!!). She enjoyed it but right before dinner Thomas came in the kitchen saying something about her and when I checked on her she had fallen asleep! 

She was sitting up in the chair, but Thomas couldn't stand her being asleep so he tried everything to wake her up. Yelling "KATE KATE", hitting her leg... you name it. Eventually he settled for a good old gut punch, which was just enough to get a grumble out of her and a shift in position! ha poor girl! 

Notice, she's sleeping without any blanket! :) We have had the best blankie-free day today!

We had yummy chicken and dumplings for dinner and tried out the snicker doodle bread- yummy!! 

I've got every thing packed except what we need in the morning! We are leaving and picking up Derek's parents and brother and sister and then hitting the road! We are just staying one night, but I know we're going to have a blast! Anna-Kate is so excited about the Zoo on Saturday! 

Hope everyone has a great weekend!  

A New Perspective

Since May, I have had an ear infection about every 6 weeks. It has been driving me nuts, especially since it takes me about two weeks or more to get my hearing back! 

I get pretty down when my ears get infected because I have the hardest time hearing anyone. Thomas still does a lot of babbling, so when I can't hear I feel bad because I can't understand what he's saying. I know it's usually temporary but I always worry that it could be permanent. 

Tuesday I went to an ENT here in town. I had my hearing assessed and it was really bad! I did not realize it was that bad, especially because I thought one of my ears had "opened up" and it was not much better than the other. 

After looking at my ears more, he decided to put tubes in. I feel so silly being an adult and getting tubes! Right away I was able to hear so much better. It sounds differently, like I've got my hands cupped over my ears. As I was leaving it was almost overwhelming hearing things I've not heard in so long! 

Everyone finally sounds pretty normal, but I still sound strange when I talk. I just can't get over how much I can hear! Actually, I almost prefer silence because my ears throb when it's too loud. I have a whole new perspective! I can hear the cars when they drive by, I can hear my foot steps, and I've caught Thomas trying to be sneaky! 

I'm still a little sore from the tubes, but that should go away soon. Hopefully the tubes work and help keep the fluid out of my ears! 

 Derek has been really sweet to help out extra this week, since I've been pretty tired! He really is a great catch! :)

That's pretty much been our week! I got home around 2 on Saturday and I didn't leave the house until this morning. (Except going to the ENT on Tuesday) It's actually been really nice to slow down this week!

And just because I can't make a post without pictures here are a few favorites from this week: 

This was actually from last Friday... Anna-Kate and Granddaddy at the Father's and Grandfather's breakfast hosted by her class!

Our craft at Carpenter's Kids this week! I thought they turned out so cute! 

Tuesday, Thomas thought that his legs would make a better coloring book. He was SO proud too! 

Me and Thomas this morning! You can tell I'm still not feeling my best... haha but he's cute! :)