Mommy and Me

This past weekend Corey had a bachelor party for his buddy, Chris (a.k.a. Bass who was a groomsman in our wedding), down at Noah's Ark.  Ok, it's called Lake of the Ozarks but Carly and I have always preferred and enjoyed calling it Noah's Ark :-)  Anyways, I figured it was going to be just us gals at home for the weekend and that we might as well make an adventure out of it and head back to Michigan to see family and friends. Given that we won't be back in Michigan for the holidays and then won't be traveling anytime soon after Baby Boy is born, it seemed that a trip back 'home' was definitely in order. It also happened to be my cousin, Michael (Topper) and his wife, Gailin's, baby shower weekend.  An opportunity to see nearly all of my family (the females at least) under one roof? Couldn't pass that up!

In an effort to make the trip more financially reasonable, I took the route of a 'lap baby'.  For those that aren't aware, children under the age of 2 are able to travel for free. The catch? They share a seat with you and sit on your lap.  Unless of course you're lucky enough to be on an empty flight (do those exist anymore?!) or, in our case, happen to have a flight with one empty seat that magically falls next to you thanks to Southwest's approach to seating.  "Take an empty middle seat next to this lady and her small child or go back a few rows and take the middle seat that doesn't have a wiggly toddler adjacent to it?" We'd all be lying if we said we'd take the one next to the child. As the mother of said child, I'm happy that she scared them away. All in all, Lill was very good on the flight. Between some milk, snacks and a few new books, the hour and 15 minute flight went by much quicker than expected.

The 54 or so hours that we had at home were spent playing 'kitchen' with Grandma and Grandpa, visiting with family, including Great Grandma Lill,  meeting some of G&G's bowling friends, celebrating Baby Topper and going to the cider mill (yes, cider and donuts!!!!) with friends.  Mommy also enjoyed some girl time with friends and a little 'me' time getting a mani and pedi.

The trip was short but oh-so-sweet. It's hard to imagine that we won't be back for 5 months.  However, given all that will be happen between now and then, I have a feeling it'll be here before we know it!

The flight home went well too.  I ended up asking the flight attendants if we could move to the very last row which happened to be empty.  Lucky for me, Lill used her charm to woo said flight attendants which made for another quick and easy flight.

We survived our first flight just the two of us!

Great Grandma's first selfie!

Kinsley and Lill checking out Baby Topper's toys

Her first cupcake (s) and she LOVED them

Managed to find a spot waaaay back in the middle of all the gifts

Lill (16 mo), Ashliegh (23 mo), Cameron (4.5 years)

Baby Bruno and Baby Topper both due to arrive in January!

Mama's and Grandma's

Halloween goodies with Grandma

We survived the flight home thanks to empty back rows and baby-friendly flight attendants!

Mission Accomplished

Each fall since I moved from Michigan (yes, even back in Chicago), I've longed for an apple orchard experience like we knew back in Michigan. Apples, cider and cider donuts. For some reason, Chicagoans, Illinoisans (I may have made that word up) and St. Louisans didn't get the memo about the deliciousness that is a fresh cider donut dipped in a glass of apple cider on a crisp fall day. Thanks to my STL facebook mom's group for the insider info about a little family owned farm, a little further down the road from the bigger, well known, circus...I mean, 'farm' that everyone knows and goes to. The most important detail was that this farm had a little bakery with "the most amazing apple cider donuts". Count me IN! 

Corey thought I was a little crazy when we got in the car and his GPS said 40+ minutes. "Is this the closest one?" "No, but it's the only one with cider donuts" He knows how much these fall activities mean to me so he followed the directions, which led us right past the 'circus', down some dirt roads and to the cutest little farm. Friendly and helpful workers, hayrides out to pick pumpkins and apples, a little play area for the kiddos, animals (probably Lilly's favorite part), and...wait for it...the bakery! The hayrides weren't crowded, the lines were short and we had plenty of room to explore and pick apples without the company of others. Corey and I are sold. We know where we'll be frequenting each fall. It was a beautiful fall day and I especially loved experiencing one of my favorite fall activities with our little gal!

"How old are you, Lill?"

60% of the way there

As of Friday, we're 24 weeks along in this 40 week journey until we meet the little guy.  Overall, I've been feeling really well; very similar pregnancy as with Lill. I have my mid-afternoon nausea from time to time, but that's nothing a little Vernors can't cure. Similar cravings as last time in terms of ice cream, tacos (or anything Mexican, really), and vegetarian dishes. This time around, however, I have the opposite of a 'craving' towards chewing gum. I now despise it. I have tried on a number of occasions; popping a post-lunch mint piece of gum to cover the onions I forgot to hold on my sandwich. I can't make it 6 chews before the disgust and nausea sits in and I have to spit it out. I've given up; no more gum for this lady. We'll just be sticking to good ol' fashion teeth brushing (my precious whites will thank me).

I've been very bad about taking 'bump' pictures this time around. I guess we're a little preoccupied?! ;-) At 22 weeks, we finally remembered. So here it is, the side by side of Lill and little guy at 22 weeks.

 

Bison and goats and camels, oh my!

This past weekend we headed to Grant's Farm with Uncle Ky, Aunt Mer, Carter and Taylor.  Grant's Farm is one of the many free family friendly attractions in St. Louis.  You read that right, free.  And they serve free beer! Anheuser Busch is the best.  A kid friendly AND parent friendly attraction - check! While we didn't take advantage of the beer this time around, I'm sure we'll do so in the future. Especially since Ky and Mer are moving within walking distance of the place.

After parking, you take a long tram ride through the grounds, over hills, past Ulysses S. Grant's cabin, and animals of all sorts.  And these animals are close.  Like too close for comfort (at least for Uncle Ky who was a little freaked by the close proximity of the bison to his seat).

At the end of the tram ride are a number of animals that you can see, pet and even feed. Our favorite spot? The goats chugging milk from bottles.  Lill's giggles during this part of the visit were just priceless. At the end of it all is a large beer garden with concessions to fuel up for or cool down from your visit. It was a beautiful day to get out and explore with cousins and we'll definitely be back!

Lilly enjoyed the up close and personal animals

Our Phoenician Friends

I don't even know if that is a word, but I was trying to figure out the Phoenix version of 'Michigander' and that's what Google suggested.  I'll take it.

You may recall our trip to Phoenix this past March for some warmth and sunshine as well as to visit our dear friends, Andy, Andrea and Nicholas.  Well, this August we were lucky enough to receive a visit from them! They stayed with our other friends, Paige and Chris, but we spent as much of the weekend together as possible.  Corey even spent the night there one night; sipping fancy bourbon (or so I hear) and reminiscing about the Northwestern days.  They got in on Friday so we all headed over to the Larose's.  The kids played and the parents caught up. The kiddos then took a group bath before bedtime.  (Lill went down over there such that mom and dad could enjoy dinner with the adults and spend some more time with the Stone's during their visit)

Saturday we made our first visit to the City Museum before an afternoon nap and then adult night out. We went to I Fratellini, a quaint little restaurant with delicious Italian cuisine and a wonderful ambiance.  Wonderful food with even better company; all while relaxing without kiddos?  What more could you ask for?

Sunday the crew headed over to our place for a pool party and barbecue.  Unfortunately the weather didn't really coopoerate at it was unseasonable cool (which is rather ironic as the last time the Stone's visited, Labor Day 2013, was unseasonable sweltering...they just can't win).  The kids and dad's got in for a little bit and the kids enjoyed playing with the water for hours to come.  We ate, played and enjoyed our last day all together before the Stone's headed back home.

It was a wonderful weekend and is so fun to watch these great college buddies reunite.  While so much has not changed, so much has....like the number of 'mini-me's' running around.  And next year will just add 2 more.  That's right, the Stone's shared that they are expecting as well just a couple months after us!

Exploring at the City Museum

It's a...

Bouncing Baby Boy!!!

I still don't really get why they say that...but the ultrasound technician said that he was moving all over the place so she was having trouble getting all the views she needed.  She managed to get them all, just required a bit of maneuvering from her and mama :-)

Lill came along and was a bit concerned by what the doc was doing to mama on that bed thing in the dark.  Once we found 'the goods', Grandma took Lill out to the hallway to run around and let off some steam. Corey and I stuck around to confirm he had all the parts; arms, legs, cute little feet, 4 chambers of the beautifully beating heart, two kidneys, etc.  Most important of all, it seems we have a healthy little guy on our hands (or, in my belly).

We ended the evening by picking up carry out, heading home to share the news with big boy cousin, Carter and the rest of the family.  We whispered the news to him so that he could tell everyone.  He was very excited to shout, "IT'S A BOOOOOOOOYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!"