Playing at Mama and Papa's House

We spent the night at Mama and Papa's house on Saturday night. Mama and Papa bought an exersaucer for Dane to play in while he is at their house. Dane laughed, smiled, and squealed the whole time he played. He seems to love his new toy!
Aunt Amy told Trey that Dane was at Mama and Papa's house and he begged her to bring him over to play. Amy dropped Delaney off at a birthday party and headed over. Trey was so cute. He would sit behind Dane and hold his hand up so he could catch Dane if he happened to tumble over. When it was time to leave so Amy could pick up Delaney Trey did not want to leave. Mama let him stay and play. I can only imagine what it will be like when Dane gets a bit older. Trey was playing with a box from a computer my dad just bought. He wanted me to put Dane in it to play with him. Of course Molly, the dog, kept jumping in the box also so I wasn't sure if it was a good idea.

It was a very relaxing weekend. Mom and I went and picked up dinner and brought it back to the house. Then Mom, Dad, Dave, and I watched a movie Saturday night. It was nice to just hang out.

This morning was the first morning we had to take Dane out of church because of his behavior. About 5 minutes after the service started Dane rubbed his eyes and put his head on Dave and instantly fell asleep. I guess he just needed a little recharging. He woke up about 20 minutes later, right when the morning message started. He was laughing and squealing so loud Dave had to take him out. Everyone around us thought he was really cute, but I am not sure how much of the message they could hear. After church we went out for breakfast, then headed back to Mama and Papa's house to hang out and wait for Aunt Katie to come visit.

Aunt Katie had been out of town over the weekend and she asked us to stay at Mama and Papa's until she got back. Dane had just finished his lunch so Aunt Katie fed him his bottle.

Before we headed home I ran to Target and spent $120 on everything I have always wanted: diapers, formula, and babyfood. I should have had Delaney with me to prove I do spend money on Dane. A couple of weeks ago Delaney asked me something and I said, "Oh, I don't have enough money for that." She said, "Aunt Stephanie, you have lots of money." I told her, "No, Dane costs a lot of money." She said, "He is just a baby. He doesn't cost any money." This was also about the same time that Amy was driving down Hwy 270 and passed Missouri Baptist Hospital. Trey said, "Mommy, there is where Aunt Stephanie and Uncle Dave GOT Dane." Those two crack me up.

A Snow Day Without Snow

Yesterday as I was waiting with my class for the 3:00 bell to ring one of my students said, "We don't have school tomorrow, do we?" I said, "Yes, why wouldn't we." He said, "It is supposed to snow." Well trying to hide my real feelings about possibly getting a snow day and a three day weekend I said, "Oh it isn't supposed to snow very much. I am sure we will be here."

I knew the snow wasn't supposed to start until the early morning hours. Ste. Gen loves to call school the night before, but in this situation that would not be possible. Therefore, I worked really hard to keep telling myself that I WAS going to school today. Last night I found myself lingering on facebook and watching a DVRed Dr. Phil. It was a lot later than usual when I finally went to iron Dane's and my clothes for Friday. I got bottles made up for the sitter and wrote out her check for the week. I climbed into bed thinking wow, I am going to be tired tomorrow. Thank goodness it is Friday.

I woke up at 4:45 AM and came out to the dining room to check out the snow fall. There was NOTHING. Not one flake in the sky. I WAS TIRED. I got back in bed to get as much sleep as possible in the next 45 minutes. I couldn't fall asleep. I looked at the clock for the last time at 5:13, thinking I have about 15 minutes until I have to get up. Well I dozed off......and then the phone rang. It was 5:20 and I answered it to hear a recorded message from the Assistant Superintendent. Ste Gen Schools will not be in session today. I couldn't believe it. I hung up the phone, but couldn't go back to sleep. I checked outside and I THINK I may have seen a flake or two. I came back to bed and turned on Channel 5 News. Sure enough, I wasn't dreaming. There it was, Ste Gen Schools-Closed.

Dane woke up as happy as can be. I told him I had a snow day and got to stay home with him all day. I seriously think he got a little happier after I said that! We had a great day! We played, ate breakfast, then snuggled in the oversized chair for a morning nap.

Dane, Max, and I all snuggled together for a morning nap!

Dane played in his exersaucer while I got ALL of the laundry done.

I watched Channel 5 and they kept saying, "Snow is coming." The 3-5 inch strip went right through Ste. Gen. I kept looking out the window. There was nothing. Finally about 4:00 I looked out and if I looked the right way I could see some flakes starting to fall.

12 hours later and the snow is here!

Oh well, I totally enjoyed my day!

So Many Pictures!

Despite the fact that I really don't enjoy the month of January it has gone pretty fast. We spent our first Saturday night at home last weekend since November 21st. Since one month of the new year is practically gone I am really trying hard to work on some of my goals for 2010.

First, I really like a clean house. If you ask Dave I am kind of obsessive about it. My goal is to spend just a little bit of time each night on just a couple of chores. This way, slowly, throughout the week my entire house gets cleaned. I tried to get Dave on the bandwagon, but he really wants no part of it.

My next goal is working out. I did really well before Christmas, but then things got busy and of course I ate a lot during the holidays, so I am starting again. I was successful in getting Dave to join in, at least a little. He doesn't participate everynight, but usually a couple of nights a week I can get him to head downstairs to the 30 Day Shred.

One of my last goals is scrapbooking. I am kind of, just a little bit, still doing scrapbooking with the paper, stickers, and actual photos. I thought I would try to get through Dane's first year, but I am not sure if I will. My goal is to move to digital scrapbooking. I got Adobe Photoshop for Christmas. I haven't gotten much time to play with it yet. My plan is to keep up with this blog and digital scrapbooking. I have slowly began to organize my photos.

This is what I discovered:

January 2009- 13 photos taken the entire month

January 2010- 246 photos taken this month so far

January-July 20th 2009- 150 pictures taken

July 21st (Dane's birthday)-January 21, 2010- 2,345 pictures taken

One of the many pictures I took as we played tonight. Daddy and Dane reading the new book I just bought for Dane.

Hoping for the best with my goals for the year!

6 Month Dr Appointment and 6 Month Pictures

I was off work on Friday so Dave and I could take Dane to his 6 month checkup. Dane was in the best mood. Dr. Andersen played with him and he laughed and flirted with her. He showed off his skill of sitting up on his own. She said he was perfect! Dane weighed in at 19lbs, 6 oz! We laughed because he was 80% for weight and 30% for height. Wow, what a big boy! He is just solid!

It was funny because the nurse took us down the hall to weigh him and when she said, "19lbs, 6 oz", Dr. Andersen stuck her head out of her office and said, "Oh my, did you say Dane weighs 18lbs!". She about fell over when we said, "No 19!" Quite a change from that scrawny little boy that had to go to the Dr. every week for the first month of his life because he wasn't gaining weight.

I just hate it when he gets his shots because every single time he lays on the table at the Dr. he looks at himself in the mirror and laughs and smiles. He has no idea what is going to happen. Luckily Dave was with us this time and he rubbed Dane's head during the shots. Dane really only cries for a minute, once I pick him up he calms down pretty quick.

Dr. Andersen said we should add meat to Dane's diet now and get ready to move him to the next carseat. I can't believe that next time we go to the Dr. Dane will be 9 months old.

We then celebrated Dane's 6 months by spending the afternoon with Mama, Aunt Amy, Aunt Katie, and Trey. We had lunch at St. Louis Bread Company, then went shopping. We picked up the meats for Dane-Chicken and Apples, Sweet Potatoes and Turkey, and Vegetables and Beef.

Aunt Amy then introduced me to clearance shopping. I absolutely HATE clearance shopping. I just want to go in and get what I want when I want it. You would think I have money or something. Amy is a bargain shopper. She is always buying for her kids for the next season. We went to Target, Old Navy, and Childrens Place and because of Amy I got a TON of stuff for Dane and probably didn't spend $30. At Old Navy all of the clearance stuff was an additional 50% off. I got shirts for $0.97! My total was $8 for 7 shirts! I also got a pair of shoes at Target for $1.78! Amy helped me decide what size to get for Dane of certain things and told me certain things not to buy because it is too hard to figure out when they will be in a certain size. The only problem is
I came home with this stuff and it is so cute I want him to be able to wear it now, not next fall!

Friday night Dave had to head back to Ste. Gen and I was having a "Girls Night Out" with the teachers from Ste Gen at Westport. Dane stayed with Mama and Papa. He had fun and they sent me pictures of my little guy throughout the night. I sent them a text at one point asking if he missed me and they said, "No. He is getting lots of love, even from Molly". Molly is their dog. When I got home and asked how things went Mama said she had just put Dane to bed. I about died, but then she said he was just so cute he had to hold him for a while.

Saturday morning Aunt Katie came over to take some 6 month pictures of Dane. I wanted to take some pictures of Dane in his camo for Dave. I think they turned out pretty cute! He really is quite adorable!

6 MONTH PICTURES!

Dane is 6 months old today!

I can't believe that Dane is 6 months old! The time has gone by so fast! He is changing so much these days and we are having so much fun. Gone are the days of sitting in the chair holding him while he sleeps on and off. He is so active and noisy now! We love it!

• Dane is growing fast! He is wearing size 3 diapers and size 6-9 month clothes.
• Eats oatmeal or cereal and a bottle for breakfast, fruit and a bottle for lunch, 2 veggies and a bottle for dinner, and then takes a bottle right before bed....and he screams if you don't feed him fast enough. He doesn't take a bottle right when he gets up anymore, he waits until 8:00. It means I get to sleep 30 minutes later, but I do miss our snuggle time in the morning.
• Sleeps great at night! He goes to bed about 7:30 p.m. and sleeps until about 6:30 everyday. Many times I have to wake him up for daycare.
• Everyone who knows me well knows that I LOVE to nap. So how is it I get a baby that can't decide if he wants to nap or not?? One day he will take a 2 hr morning nap and a 2 hr afternoon nap and the next day he will only sleep for 25 minutes the entire day. Poor Miss Sue, she never knows what she will get.
• Enjoys his time in the jumperoo or exersaucer
• Loves TV
• Chews on everything. We have had a couple of rough days of teething, but no teeth yet!
• Had a playdate with his friends, Tyler and Aiden Deters.
• Started using a sippy cup. We started with a little bit of water, but now he will drink a couple ounces of formula from the cup, then takes the rest from a bottle.
• Since Christmas we now have 2 baskets filled with toys, plus several more toys in the basement that we haven't opened yet! We are busy playing everynight and he LOVES it. Unfortunately he will only hang out in my arms for a little bit without being entertained.
• Had a bad cold with an awful cough. We went to see Dr. Andersen, but she assured us it was just a cold.
• Celebrated his First Christmas and New Years
• First snowfall, which was also the first time he got to stay home with mommy on a snow day. He will one day realize how great those days are!
• Sitting up quite well these days!
• Taking a bath in the big tub now!
• Laughs and squeals so much!
• Dane just started reaching for me, which is just about the best thing ever!

Mommy and Dane on his 6 month birthday!

What a happy little guy!

Happy Birthday to my Uncle Darnel!

Today is Dane's Uncle Darnel's birthday!

Happy Birthday!

The Top Ten Reasons I Love My Uncle Darnel

1. He is a WONDERFUL Godfather to me.
2. He lets me spend the night at his house, even though sometimes I wake up at 6:00 AM.
3. He babysits me so I don't always have to go shopping with all those girls.
4. He carries me when my daddy isn't with us.
5. He holds me during church services.
6. He likes to feed me my bottle.
7. He is Trey's daddy and I LOVE Trey.
8. He got me My First Baseball, which makes me laugh everynight when I play with it.
9. He loves to hold me.
10. He is a GREAT Uncle

Uncle Darnel and I at church

Hanging out watching sports

I hope you have a great birthday!

Love Dane

A Fun Weekend!

This weekend we had dinner plans with friends and a family birthday party!

Saturday morning Dane and I headed up to St. Louis. Dave was taking a test in Jeff City all day and we were going to hang out with Mama and Papa until he needed us to pick him up in Arnold. After we ate lunch with Mama and Papa we went to grab a couple of things at Target. Of course there are tons of things are clearance right now. Mama and I wandered through the shoe dept. and happened to find some shoes for $3 that were perfect for Dane.

He looks so big in his carseat these days!

Add a pair of cute little shoes and wow, what a big boy!

About 3:30 we headed out to Arnold to meet Dave. He took the Firefighters I and II certification tests in Jeff City and passed BOTH tests! YIPPEE! Now just two more weeks of class and then this is all over with!

After picking Dave up we went to Rhonda and Don's house to spend the evening. For those of you that don't know: Rhonda and I had never met when we were paired up as roommates at SEMO in the fall of 1992. We were roommates in the dorms, a house, and then two different apartment complexes. After graduation Rhonda moved to DC and I was in St. Louis. She was in our wedding and I was in hers. Rhonda and Don moved back to St. Louis about 3 years ago. Rhonda has a beautiful three year old daughter, Katherine. I will never forget the day I got an email last January. She said, "What is your due date again?" I told her July 28th. She said, "Oh I was hoping we would be able to share a room at Missouri Baptist." Seventeen years later we had baby boys born 20 days apart. It was great to hang out with the Lynotts. The guys watched football and Rhonda and I hung out and talked about our babies.

Dave and Dane hanging out at the Lynotts

Our boys- Thomas born August 10th and Dane born July 21st
Thomas was really checking Dane out

Katherine really entertained the boys. She wanted to get in on the picture.

Dane finally seems to realize there is a little boy next to him.

We spent the night at Mama and Papa's. Dane always sleeps so well there....he slept until 7:00. We decided to go check out Pierre Marquette to see the Eagles. Papa, Mama, Dave, Dane, and I went to lunch, then met Aunt Amy, Uncle Darnel and the kids to head up towards Alton, IL. We stopped at the Lock and Dam Museum.

Dane was sleeping, so Dave and I got our picture taken in front of the big blown up eagle by ourselves.

Inside the museum you could make Eagle hats. Dave made one for Dane.

Delaney and Trey loved their hats!

A real eagle in the museum

An eagle sitting on ice in the river

We also spotted one in the tree

After our afternoon of eagle watching we went back to Mama and Papa's house to celebrate Uncle Darnel's birthday. Trey was so excited that Dane was wearing an outfit with a train on it!

We had Spaghetti-Lasagna, which was a new dish for our family, it was absolutely delicious! We then opened gifts. Dave and I got Darnel a Mizzou shirt.

Dane gave Darnel his first Godfather card and a giftcard to Target

We had cookie cake, Darnel's favorite, and Turtle Ice Cream cake

The Frost family with their Birthday Boy!

We headed home Sunday evening after eating entirely too much food!

Baseball and Baths

It is so fun to watch Dane play with his new Christmas toys. He got this "My First Baseball" toy from Aunt Amy, Uncle Darnel, and the kids and he absolutely loves it!

Daddy is so proud of his baseball skills already! He hits the ball on top of the tee and it bounces back and forth and a crowd cheers loudly. He loves anything that makes noise.

He is sitting up very well these days, but we usually sit behind him or put him in front of the couch with pillows at his sides just in case he topples over.

He gets so excited when he hits the ball and the cheering starts!

After a rough night of baseball we head to take a bath. He still LOVES bathtime. He kicks, laughs, and smiles at me the whole time.

Gosh, what a cutie!

An Unexpected Sleepover at Mama and Papa's House and a Good Sunday!

Our plans for Saturday and Sunday:

• I was going to a party at a friend's house on Saturday afternoon while Dave stayed with Dane
• Dave would go to work from 11pm-7am
• As soon as Dave got home and changed Sunday morning we would head to St. Louis for church and to see our beautiful niece, Taylor, have her Confirmation.

Our Weekend:

Dave came home from work on Saturday morning with his eye swollen shut. Friday he had said his eye was itching a lot, but didn't think much of it. At work overnight it got red, oozy, and swollen. He went to sleep for a bit and woke up with it looking even worse. He headed to Ste. Genevieve ER and I got Dane and I ready to attend the party at my friend's house. Dave did come by the party on his way home from the ER and said he would take Dane, but Dane was being so good that I kept him. It turned out Dave had an infection in his eye. He was given some medicine at the hospital, but had a prescription for a steroid he needed filled. Now in good old Ste Genevieve nothing was open to fill a prescription, after all it was 5:00 on a Saturday evening. Since Dave couldn't really drive too well because he had a big patch over his eye he asked if I would drive to Festus with him to get the prescription. Well Dave was also given a note from the ER Dr. that he should not return to work until Monday evening. We thought about it and figured if we were driving to Festus to get a prescription and then were going to St. Louis at 8:00 Sunday morning we might as well just stay up there Saturday evening. So in about 20 minutes I had all three of us packed and ready to go. We called Mama and Papa and told them we were coming and we headed up.

Dane had a great time at Mama and Papa's Saturday night. He watched football with Papa and Dave while my mom and I went to get Dave's prescription filled. He was waving his arms, kicking his legs, and laughing so much that Papa took a video of him on his Blackberry and sent it to me. Mama and I watched it while we were sitting at Walgreens waiting on Dave's medicine.

Sunday morning we went to church for Taylor's Confirmation. Dave and Dane were ready and were waiting for me and Dane just fell right asleep on Dave's lap. Dave got quite the looks from Dane and the nieces and nephew since he had the patch on his eye.

What a little cutie in his khakis and sweater!
Dane slept until right before service started. He was so good when he woke up. As Taylor recited the Apostle's Creed he smiled like he could see her and she was talking right to him, then when she finished he let out a little squeal like he was cheering for her.

After church we headed back to Mama and Papa's house for a Confirmation Party! We had a delicious lunch, relaxed, and hung out. Dane showed off his new skill of sitting up. Claire is really on the move now. She is taking a few steps here and there. She really likes to go after Dane.

Since we spent the night at Mama and Papa's we had to take Max with us. Max absolutely loves my Grandma. He sat by her a lot. When I said, "Come on Max, time to go," he jumped up on the couch and snuggled in next to my Grandma like he was staying with her. We really think she should get a dog like Max, but she says she's too old for that.

Another Snowy, Cold Day at Home!

The call came yesterday afternoon around 4:00. No school again today! It is funny to think that a year ago snow days meant sleeping late and a day of doing nothing at all. However, I LOVE these snow days even more because I get to stay home all day with Dane. I actually told my principal that if we didn't get a snow day on Thursday that she needed to find a sub for me because when I left Dane on Wednesday morning I told him I would be home with him on Thursday and I surely didn't want the little guy not to trust me.

Dane did sleep a little later than usual. He woke up in his usual cheerful mood about 6:30. Since it was so cold I kept him in his little fleece, footed sleeper for a bit and then when I changed him out of that I changed him into another footed outfit. We were comfy all day!

A snow day was the perfect time to show Dane his new sippy cup that he got in his stocking. I put just a tiny bit of water in it. I held it and pretended to drink out of it, then gave it to Dane. He did a great job holding it and putting it in his mouth. I am not sure he tipped it back enough to get a drink, but then I helped him a bit and I think he got something out. We will be practicing for a while.

He is looking at me asking, "Is this right?"

Holding it and drinking perfectly!

As much as I enjoy days like this I have to admit, I am exhausted! How does Miss Sue do it everyday?? By 9:00 we had played with an entire basket of toys and read 6 books. It is amazing how much he has changed in the last month. He loves to play with his toys. I think it is funny, when I would put him on his tummy he would work so hard to roll over. Now I put him on his back and he immediately flips over. He kicks his little legs and will work really hard to get toys that I put in front of him. I am sure I will be chasing a crawling baby in just a few months.

In my pjs and playing with mom in the middle of the day??

I LOVE snow days!

A Fun Snow Day

Wednesday at school the kids were talking about the snow. As teachers we try to act like we aren't going to get much and that it isn't that big of a deal, but secretly we are usually hoping for snow just as much or maybe more than the kids. I always do my lesson plans for the next week on Wednesdays and I didn't even do them this Wednesday, because I just knew we would be off for snow later in the week and it would just mess everything up. I asked Dave to go to the grocery store on Wednesday afternoon and get good "snow day food". When I called to see what he got he said, "Stuff to make chili, some chicken, milk, and eggs." I ran through after school and picked up avocados for guacamole, chips, brownie mix, and frozen pizza.....good snow day food. I don't know why I was so excited about a snow day, I mean I did just have 16 days off!

The snow started falling in Ste. Genevieve about 5:30 or so and it was slow at first, but then started accumulating fast. In my 11 years at Ste Genevieve I have learned that it doesn't take much. Due to the area that our school district covers and the back roads the buses travel we are usually an early call. About 8:30 p.m. the call came, No School On Thursday!!

the beautiful scene from our front door

In our new neighborhood in Ste Gen there are several boys right about the same age. Colton, a year old, Aiden, 8 months old, Tyler 2 1/2 years old, and then Dane 6 months old. I am sure there will be lots of fun times as they grow up. Aiden and Tyler's mom, Vicki, is off work on Thursdays and stays home with her boys. Dave got the driveway cleared and around 11:00 drove Dane and I down the street to Troy and Vicki's house for a play day with Vicki and the boys. It worked out great because Troy was plowing in St. Louis and Dave was working on a plumbing issue in the house, plus he needed to rest because he was working Thursday night.

It was a great day! It was so fun to watch the boys play together. Tyler entertained Dane and Dane watched Aiden, who is just two months older, and seemed to be thinking, how can I do what he is doing? The Deters also have a TON of toys and it was neat to watch Dane play with different things. Vicki and I just hung out watching the boys playing and talking.

The Three Boys

Tyler and Dane
Tyler is such a great big brother to Aiden. He entertains the little boys very well. Dane loved playing with him.

It was funny because we planned for this to be an afternoon playdate. Dane and I got there at 11:00, we had pizza for lunch, the boys took naps (well sort of catnaps), then when Troy called Vicki and said he would be up in St. Louis for another night of plowing we called Dave and told him to come on down and we would all have dinner together. We got home about 7:00 p.m., right in time to give Dane a bath and put him to bed.

It is so nice to have such good friends close by. I am hoping Vicki continues her schedule of Thursdays off during the summer. With the pool and park in the neighborhood it will be fun to have someone to hangout with, plus the boys will be a fun age next summer and I think it will only get better!