AJ at 18 Months

Oh, Andrew James.  Before you were born, my mother told me there soon would be a time when I would not remember what our family was like without you.  So true!  You have stolen my heart and made our family complete.  You challenge me and bring me joy in ways entirely different from your sister, and I love you to bits!  You are such an interesting mix.  On the one hand, you are all boy.  You are an incredibly motor driven child.  You walked by 10 months and now are walking backwards, running, and climbing up and down stairs.  You tackle huge playground equipment like it's no big deal.  You explore literally everything around our house.  Drawers and cabinets that your sister never even noticed?  You've opened them a million times.  Toilet paper?  You've unrolled it.  Dog food?  You've sampled it.  On the other hand, you are such a little love bug and giant sack of sugar.  You still cry every time that our nanny Stacie walks in the door.  You adore her but know that her presence means Mommy is going to leave for a while.  You love nothing more than a soothing bedtime routine...a long hot bath, warm jammies, a bedtime story, and snuggles.  Holding you and having you rest your tired head on my shoulder is one of my very favorite things in this world.  I think the fact that you had a rough start (colic, reflux, ear infections, oh my!) bonded us in inexplicable ways.  It is so wonderful to see you happy now and exploring all the world has to offer!  Your developing relationship with your sister is also one of my greatest joys.  Certainly, there are times when she is less than excited about your growing mobility.  She is used to being queen of the castle.  But there are many more times when she is sharing, leading you along, and showing you the ropes.  In those moments, I just stop, sit back, and smile.  Your daddy and I could not be more blessed!        

 

"I wanted you more than you ever will know, so I sent love to follow wherever you go...You are my angel, my darling, my star.  And my love will find you, wherever you are."

2015 Holidays Mega-post

Wow, what a full and fantastic holiday season we had in 2015!  It is hard to pack all the special moments into one blog post, but I am going to try!

We started the season with one of our absolute favorite KC traditions, Friendsgiving.  It started as a dual housewarming/friends' Thanksgiving party the year that we moved, and I am so so happy that we have kept it going.  It is rare to get all of these people in the same frame!

For Thanksgiving, we packed up the crew and headed to the Lou.  The kids always love the adventure of staying in a hotel.  Truthfully, who wouldn't like a place with a "transformer bed," a pool, and free cookies at bedtime?  :)

It also is fun watching the kids identify the unique things about Grandma and Grandpa's house - dog Sierra, the grandfather clock, the piano...

We had a classic Thanksgiving meal with all of my favorites (green bean casserole - check, stuffing - check, mashed potatoes AND sweet potatoes - check), but we did add one new tradition in the form of s'mores.  Delish!

Back in the OP, our Christmas season got off to a busy start, with The Nutcracker, my work Christmas party, and the Murray Christmas party all in the same day.  Kelly and I had such a ball getting dolled up with our little ladies and treating them to a special afternoon of girls only time.  They were both golden and made it through the entire ballet.  :)

In the evening, Adam and I took an Uber from party to party, landing at the Murray home for the end of the night.  There are two things I especially love about this party.  We always adopt a family (the family this year had TWELVE children!), and everyone wears their holiday finest.  :)

We put up our Christmas decor in stages this year.  Many stages.  Seriously, I believe it was Christmas Eve when the final items were put into place.  Annalise made sure that her bedroom tree was one of the first items on the list, though!

The first Santa spotting of the season happened during Christmas brunch at the club.  Considering there are four children age five and under, I would say this photo is not too shabby!

In 2015, we tried to spend a little less time running and a little more time enjoying the quiet moments of the season.  We did a lot of driving around looking at Christmas lights, baking cookies, sipping hot chocolate, and wearing our Christmas jams.

In my mind, the one day signaling that the Christmas season had truly arrived was December 17th.  It was the date of Annalise's Happy Birthday Jesus party at school and her evening Christmas concert.  The final projects for my classes were due the next day, but, for a change, I submitted them early so that I could actually enjoy myself!

The next two weeks, from the Christmas program until New Year's, were a delightful blur of celebrations with family and friends.  

This was my year to work at the hospital over Christmas, but I managed to make it to Christmas Eve mass in the nick of time.  Props to Adam, Annalise, Andrew, and the Green family for arriving an hour early to save our seats in the insanely packed gymnasium!  On Christmas Day, we did some gift opening with the kiddos in the morning, with Mommy watching via FaceTime, and we made them wait until nighttime for the rest, so that I could be there in person.  

 

The day after Christmas, I finished the last of my holiday shifts and breathed a sigh of relief, and the St. Louis gang arrived with another sleigh full of goodies.  We always need at least one pic capturing the chaos that is the gift opening session...  ;)

Highlights this year included Beauty and the Beast, West Virginia camo part two, and world's craziest rainstorm, necessitating an emergency home repair by the Marmot crew.

When it was all said and done, I couldn't help but feel that the holidays keep getting better every single year.  Each Christmas seems to be the best Christmas ever!  I suspect we have two little ones to thank.  I never could have imagined how fun it would be to watch my children enjoy the season and to see everything through their eyes.  Even Andrew is old enough now to get it on the fun!

We closed out 2015 with the Mosiers and the Jennings at our home.  It was a quiet night with our families, and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!

The Keys

The blog is back!  Just when I think I'm going to stay on top of things, life happens, and I go months without making a post.  Time to catch up...  

In November, Adam and I were treated to a wonderful week away.  We were very ready for a trip sans kiddos when our dear friends, the Mosiers, mentioned that they were planning a Key West vacay.  A drive on the overseas highway had always been on our bucket list.  Adam also had a recent obsession with the Zac Brown Band, and they were playing in West Palm Beach in mid-November.  The stars aligned!  We were fortunate to have an amazing committee of grandparents step up to care for A&A&M, so off we went...

The Zac Brown concert was fabulous and the perfect way to kick off our trip.  They sounded even better in person than they do on the radio.

On the second day of our trip, we drove from West Palm Beach all the way down to Key West.  It was good to be "free," and the ominous storm clouds definitely made it feel like an adventure!

We stopped for lunch in Marathon, one of the larger keys on our way down.  At Burdines Waterfront, we were introduced to what would become our favorite dish of the trip - conch fritters.  YUM.

Once in Key West, we checked in to our guest house.  Atlantis House was perfect - peaceful and quiet, yet within walking distance of Duval Street.  I remember when we first located it on TripAdvisor and discovered that it was less than a ten minute walk (down the beach!) from the Mosiers' hotel - SOLD!

Our first night in Key West was a whirlwind.  In a matter of hours, we hit all the major sights.  We did a quick clothing change at the guest house, fast walked to the Southernmost Point in the USA for a photo op, and then headed northwest across the island past Ernest Hemingway's house and one of the coolest trees I've ever seen, finally arriving in Mallory Square.  We made it to the Square in time for the Sunset Celebration, which is an eclectic group of street performers and revelers.

The sunset was, in fact, well worth the wait.  :)

After nightfall, we hit a few of the hotspots on and near Duval Street.  We listened to fantastic live music at Sloppy Joes, sampled the famous frozen concoctions at Fat Tuesday's, and enjoyed some of the best fresh seafood at Half Shell Raw Bar.  We made a habit of going to each establishment for one drink/dish and then moving on to maximize our sampling power - definitely a tradition that we will continue on future trips!  

The next day, Adam ran around the entire key (literally - I tracked him on the Find My iPhone app) while I laid on the beach and posed next to palm trees.  ;)

We fell into a leisurely routine of taking afternoon naps, fixing ourselves up, and then heading out in the late afternoon for happy hour.

Adam was not afraid of the girly drinks!

For dinner on Thursday night, we ate at Hot Tin Roof, which was easily the best restaurant that we tried in Key West.  They offered amazing sunset views - and lighted menus!

On Friday of our vacation week, we were eagerly anticipating the Mosiers arrival.  We enjoyed some morning beach views while waiting for their flight to land.

As soon as they called, we swooped in and picked them up.  It was somewhat surreal to be together, just the four of us adults, miles from home.  Felt like the old days!  Over the next few nights, we relaxed, reminisced, and shared a few delicious drinks.  We even got in a few rounds of our favorite card game.  It had literally been years since we'd played!

These are my favorite photos, taken on the last night of our trip.

Couldn't resist snapping a pic at this interesting musical show, and the boys had to take a seat in the giant chair...

On our way home, we flew out of Fort Lauderdale.  We arrived in town early enough to have lunch with an ocean view.  The city was more beautiful than I remembered from my college years.  Here I am soaking in the last of Florida.

Time to go back to our bucket list and start planning the next trip!