President's Day Weekend

We needed a little get-a-way, so we went and spent a night just over the river in Collinsville, IL.

We started with breakfast at McDonald's. Then we went to the Children's Museum in Edwardsville, IL. It is in an old schoolhouse that was built in 1809! Here is everyone busy at the grocery store!

Sydney had fun dressing up in lots of fancy clothes. Then we all had fun looking at ourselves and each other in the curvy mirrors.

Kathryn was excited to say, "Fireman in the hoooouuuuussseee!" It was random and funny.

Then we visited Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. We toured the visitors center and Mike and the big girls climbed Monks Mound.

Then we went and ate at Lotawata Creek Grill. We arrived at 3:45 pm and there was a 60 minute wait! We waited the hour and really enjoyed our meal. As we were waiting the wait-time grew to 2 hours!

We had fun spending the night in a hotel, swimming in the pool (twice!), and eating the complimentary breakfast.

We also visited the St. Louis Arch. We watched the movie about Lewis and Clark, and we all rode up the tram to the top of the arch!

Valentine's Day!

We had a nice Valentine's Day, even thought Mike was in the Dominican Republic for work. Kathryn was sick, so she missed 2 days of school, and her Valentine's party! It was also "Dress for Respect" day, so I surprised Sydney with a new dress.

Here are the girls with their Valentine goodies. Sydney got a new dress-up gown and shoes, Kathryn got KidzBop 21, and Reagan got a small little bear.

For dinner we had heart shaped pizza, sparkling apple cider, and chocolate dipped strawberries. The girls dipped them and ate them right away before the chocolate hardened. They prefer it that way!

These were the Valentine's that they handed out to their classmates. We cut slits above and below their hand and inserted a DumDum sucker.

I'm 33!

I had a good birthday this year! Some of my friends surprised me with sweet treats and cute decorations.

Mike took me to the Boathouse in Forest Park for dinner on my birthday. They do a seasonal shrimp boil on Thursday nights that I've always wanted to go to. We had a nice dinner, went shopping for a new stroller (aren't we romantic?), and got Orange Leaf on the way home.

I also went to eat at Texas Roadhouse with some of my girlfriends on the following night. My friend Natalie B. provided me with all my sparkle to wear. I asked her if she was celebrating me, or trying to embarass me! She said, "A little of both!"

Cruise to Cozumel

We wanted to get a quick vacation in before the new baby arrives, so we booked a short cruise to Cozumel! We flew Mike's mom up to stay with the girls. We went with our friends, the Peffers, from Washington state.

This is my absolute favorite thing to do on a cruise! I love sitting in the sun, feeling the breeze, and maybe reading a book or just watching people go by. This day Mike found me a good spot at the back of the boat where it wasn't so windy. There were 30-50 mph winds on deck! He got burned on the first day, so he didn't want to sit with me and explored the ship and watched some football instead.

21 weeks pregnant!

Mike and Mike about to climb the rock wall.

Mike really liked to be out on this deck (#4) and watch the waves go by.

In the dining room for our 8:30pm dinner.

We cruised on the Liberty of the Seas and it was huge!

We saw boy parts!!!

Here are a few of the ultrasound pics that were taken on 12/30/11. We can't believe we're having a boy! Part of me still feels like I'm going to deliver a baby girl! We are having fun trying to come up with boy name options. We are finding it more difficult that coming up with girl names!

Zoo Trip in December

We headed to the Zoo on Thursday because it was forecasted to be close to 60 degrees! We enjoyed the Children's Zoo, seeing the hippos and elephants, eating lunch, and riding the train!

Lunch with Daddy at work!

We visited Mike at work and had lunch with him on Wednesday, December 28th.

Kathryn lost her tooth while we were eating lunch at his office! We all thought it was pretty funny because she said, "Aaahhh...I think my tooth is coming out right now!"

With Daddy in his office.

Christmas Day!

We got downstairs around 7:30 to open stockings and eat breakfast casserole. The girls also discovered what Santa had brought them! Madame Alexander dolls for the big girls and Lollipop dolls for Reagan! Santa ripped part of his suit on our fireplace and knocked some of our Christmas cards down! We had church at 9am, so we went to church, then came back and opened the rest of our presents!

Here is our humble, not-so-fancy, but thoroughly enjoyed Christmas dinner! Ham, rolls, cranberry sauce, corn pudding, sweet potatoes, and cheesy potatoes!