Softball, Baseball, and Vacation Packing

Though there are no photos to document (Adam threatened me so I was not able to bring my camera), Adam has spent every Monday night this summer playing softball in Forest Park. He is on a team from his work and I think the girls and I showing up a few nights with the stroller, dolls, and McDonald’s was enough to embarrass him so I tried not to make it worse by photographing the ordeal! Even though his team was pretty much horrible, (sorry to any fellow players who may be reading this but it is the truth) he really looked forward to it every week. Since there were no game time photos, I did take a post game photo of the girls (Emma does not get the concept of looking at the camera as you can tell). I wish I would have taken a picture of Emma’s feet to show how filthy they were! She really loved playing in the dirt.

Now onto baseball. We got all ready one evening to go to a Cardinal game only to have it rain like crazy. This would have been Emma’s 3rd (we have taken her to one a year) and Audrey’s 1st. Since it was raining so hard, we decided not to take them but we did grab one photo of the girls though it is not the greatest. Emma has also been really into feeding Audrey. It would be helpful if she was interested in doing it for more than 20 seconds!

And here they are while I was trying to pack for our vacation. I thought I might lose my mind. Emma took things out of the suitcase as fast as I could put them in. And then when it came time to load the car, I thought I might die from a heat stroke. Thankfully we left for vacation during the hottest week of the year. Unfortunately, so did the lawn watering, which turned our grass completely brown while we were gone!

Notice Audrey’s hand in Emma’s hair. Recent hair pulling has been causing some drama in our house as of late. Emma screams and Audrey belly laughs. It reminds me of the youtube video “Charlie bit my finger”. And like the video, Emma keeps coming back for more!

And two more photos of my little ladies…..

Cousins and Trains

Way back in July (things were busy so the blog got behind!), we got to spend some time with some of our IL cousins.

To start with, we spent a week at Grammy’s house swimming with the Blair’s. Can you tell that Annetta’s kids are used to having their photo taken?

Then after that, Debby, Jackie, Ava, Elise and Lana, all came to our house to spend the weekend. We did a little swimming, watched some Dora, played in the tent, and wrapped things up with a train ride.

The train ride was pretty neat. It had a real steam engine and the ride went along side the river and through the woods. We will probably going back in the fall when all the leaves are changing colors! By the way, I can’t wait for fall! It is my favorite time of year!

5 Months

Audrey was five months old on the 26th. I love waking up to her smiling face every morning (and recently at 1 and 5 am). She is always happy, recently accomplished rolling from her back to her belly, enjoys playing with her toes, and loves watching her big sister Emma. She is so precious and I couldn’t love her more!

The Things Emma Says.....

Emma is a ball of energy. Sometimes this is a good thing; sometimes it is not so good! The other day Adam and I were talking about the little sweetie and he said “If we just listened to Emma talk for an hour we would probably be laughing the entire time.” It made me realize that I should probably document some of the things she has said recently because I know I will forget them. Here are a few I can remember…..

1. Recently, when we put Emma in her crib, she has been requesting for us to sing some random made up song to her. It is usually about her room, her shoes, her tent, her “people” or her fan. The other night when I was putting her to sleep she said “Mom sing me a song about when the Lord baptized Audi.” For some reason, Audrey’s baptism was a very memorable event for Emma which she talks about often. It always makes me smile when she talks about it.

2. Someone was discussing what Emma and Audrey could be for Halloween that would go together. They were going through all kinds of pairs like Dora and Boots, Ariel and Flounder, Belle and Mrs. Potts, etc. Emma chimed in and said “or poop and turd”. Some days, I think she should have been a boy .

3. Audrey was in her swing awake and being pleasant when Emma went over to her and said “No Audrey, please don’t wake up, mommy will spank me!” She must be remembering one of the thousand times Audrey was sleeping pleasantly and Emma would scream in her ear “AUDI WAKE UP!” then look at us and say “Audi just wake up!”

4. During the second day of potting training I was rushing around to get ready for work before Grammy got to our house. Emma was naked and running around refusing to get on the potty chair. I grabbed her and started to put a diaper on her when she put her hands in my face and sternly said “I don’t like diapers. Grandma Cathy told me that I don’t like diapers so I am not going to wear them, ok? Ok mom?”

5. Emma recently found my stethoscope and has been lugging it everywhere listening to our “heartbeats”. This morning she was playing doctor and came over with a box lid, pulled my feet up on the lid and said “Mom, I need you to step up here so I can get your weight!”

Eckert's

There was a heat warning out on Saturday so we thought it would be a great day to go pick peaches! We waited to start until after lunch just to make sure it wouldn’t be too chilly! Oh, and we drug along our 7+ month pregnant friend Steph and put her in charge of wild Emma! Dave was along too and he was so hot he was threatening anyone who accidently bumped up against him! The peaches were delicious but I much prefer the fall and apples! Also, just to add to your description of the day, it was over an hour drive each way and Emma climbed out of the carseat a hundred times, we had to pull over to spank her, and Stephanie and I were in the back of the van. Then just a few minutes ago I saw a commercial for Schnuck’s (our local grocery store) advertising “Eckert’s Home Grown Peaches” for $1.47/lb. We paid $1.59, nearly suffered from a heat stroke, and burned a tank of gas. Adam too saw the commercial and said “Hmm, I guess they charge you more to pick the fresh ones.” I think we just got ripped. Lastly, it was so hot I was not in the mood to take pictures so they are all crappy.

I know it doesn’t sound like it but we really did have fun! During the car chaos, Stephanie and I were planning a driving trip to California as we had one seat open between us for new baby Ryan’s carseat! I should mention that the trip included Stephanie and I being medically sedated!

July Happenings….

July has been a little slower for us than June was. We have been taking it easy. Audrey started eating cereal and Emma has taken over the parenting duties of her.

These photos represent some of her skills. I had just pumped Audrey a bottle and sat it down on the table. I was getting ready to feed her but then I got distracted in the kitchen. Audrey started getting fussy in her swing so I tried to get done with what I was doing to get back to her. Amidst my hurried work, I realized Audrey had gotten quiet. I looked over to find Emma feeding her and saying “It’s ok Audrey, I can feed you. Here is your milky Audrey. You want your bottle Audrey?” Since she had it under control I let her continue. She then managed to prop the bottle in Audrey’s hands and said “Just a minute Audi, I need to get my milk. Can you hold your milky Audrey? There you go.” She went over, grabbed her milk and came back to finish the job! She is such a good little helper sometimes!

And when she saw that I was photographing it all, she had to grab her camera to document as well!

First bit of cereal…..

She likes it! She is easy to please!

And in other news, we have begun potting training on days we are in the mood to do so but I will spare you those photos!

Adam's Birthday

This post is a little late but here are the pictures from the “surprise” party the girls and I had for Adam. We were all decked out in party hats when he walked through the door which gave Adam a good chuckle!

Audrey in place ready for the party……

“Surprise Daddy!”

Emma changed clothes mid party and came down stairs wearing this Christmas outfit. She said “now I look like Santa”. Too bad it is July and 101 degrees outside or that may have looked nice Emma!

Emma and I made Adam this delicious and lovely cake. He had the smallest thinnest slice of cake I have ever seen. Apparently the icing was loaded with trans fat. The main problem with Adam taking such a small portion was that it left me to finish off the rest of the cake. It was a shameful job but I hate to waste.

This was one of Adam’s birthday gifts. We like to get gifts that the whole family can use as you see by this book! He also got some Carmex, apple butter, and a photo of each of the girls for his desk. As you can see, we go all out for birthdays! Happy Birthday Adam, we all love you!

Fourth of July Weekend

We had a very busy holiday this year. Adam was on a five day vacation from work so we had tons of fun. We spent time with both of our families and have lots of pictures. I think I gained 8 pounds from all of the good food I consumed! Here are just a few hundred pictures to show you how much fun we had!




Can you eat four crackers in one minute without taking a drink? Apparently this is impossible (for my dad and Adam who both tried) but not for Eric who was able to do it with a second to spare!

My grandma organized a very large round of egg toss and had prizes for all of the participants. Al and my Uncle Greg won. Adam and my Uncle Harry were second. Adam was disappointed to say the least.

Washers, sidewalk chalk, and a serious game of mafia (the card game).


To wrap things up, we watched fireworks, Emma went off the diving board, and we had a pre birthday celebration for Adam!

Summer Days at the Pool

I have been so lazy about keeping my blog up lately and am now trying to play catch up. But it was not without good reason. We have spent much of our summer at the pool. And here is the proof…..