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!

Dane and Max

It has been neat to watch Dane and Max lately. Max used to pretty much just stay away from us if we were holding Dane. He really just ignored the fact that he was there. Then he slowly started to sit closer and closer to us, but still paid no attention to the fact that we had Dane. Recently Max would sniff Dane, but still kept his distance. I then noticed Max licking Dane's hand. I definitely tried to put a stop to that because it happened right about the same time that Dane started putting everything, including his hands, in his mouth. One morning I watched as Max walked into the living room. He caught Dane's eye and Dane followed him as he walked across the room and jumped up on the ottoman. Now if Dave or I are holding Dane and Max comes over to us Dane will try to reach out and touch Max.

Monday evening Dane was taking his little catnap after coming home from daycare. He fell asleep and I laid him on a blanket on the floor. When I turned around this is what I saw.....

little Max curled up with Dane for a nap.

They both are quite the cuddlers, so I am hoping they will be nap partners in the future.

Christmas Break.....is over

It's over.....no more days like this for a while.

It seems like December 18th at 3:00 was just yesterday. It was such a great feeling when the bell rang at 3:00 and I knew I had 16 days to spend with Dane. Now they are over. We had a great time! We spent lots of time with family. Dane was entertained by cousins and loved on by grandparents. On days when we were home we spent a majority of the day in our comfy clothes, sitting in the oversized chair, looking at the Christmas tree, and catching up on shows recorded on the DVR (I think I watched shows recorded in October!)

I never take Christmas down until Epiphany on January 6th, but this year I did it early. Dane and I were up at 6:30 this morning and I thought Wednesday is January 6th and I KNOW I will never have time to take Christmas down on a week night. Saturday we have plans and Sunday we will be in St. Louis for Taylor's Confirmation. I just got busy and got it done. It is all packed up and Dave will move it to the garage tomorrow. Then we got some organizational supplies at Lowes for all of Dane's new toys. I have ironed Dane's and my clothes for the week and packed up some stuff to take to Miss Sue's tomorrow morning. All I have to do now is make bottles and then I GUESS we are ready for tomorrow morning.

I just read Dane his bedtime story, A Snowy Day, and he is off to bed. I am checking the weather forecast to see if there is a chance of a snowy day anytime soon. Already looking forward to my next break to hang with my little man.

New Years Family Fun

We headed to St. Louis on New Years Eve and since Dave was on vacation for a couple days we stayed up there for an extended New Years visit.

We spent New Years as a family. My parents had a little family New Years Eve party at their house. We were there, along with my sister, Amy, and her family, and Aunt Katie stopped by for a visit before her night out. We had appetizers and had a fun night of Wii playing and movie watching. There was a point when I thought I might not make it to midnight, but I did.

New Years Eve

Mama and Dane
Mommy and Dane

Dane was in a good mood and actually didn't even want to go to sleep.

The girls on New Years Eve

Mama and the grandkids

Dane has been chewing on everything lately! He entertained us for a few minutes when I was changing him into his pjs.

The Wii players look very serious

Playing Wii

On New Years Day my mom always invites all of us over for the day. We have our traditional New Years Day meal of shrimp and BBQ ham and then she also will pull out any left overs from the holidays and try to get rid of it because of course we all start diets every year on January 2nd.

The Frost kids along with Dave, Dane, and I had spent the night. Papa got up and made breakfast for all of us. Aunt Katie came over for breakfast. Aunt Amy and Uncle Darnel enjoyed their morning of sleeping late with no kids at home and came in a little later, along with Aunt Kara, Uncle Steve, and Claire. We hung out and ate and watched football all day. It was so nice and relaxing because it was freezing cold outside and even snowed a bit. I actually stayed in my pjs all day until mom and I decided to run to Walmart for some Tylenol in case Dane's teeth bothered him over night. While we were out we picked up the movie The Proposal and Mama, Papa, Dave, and I watched it in the evening.

I will have to let Miss Sue know that if Dane is spoiled when he goes back on Monday it is not only my fault. Mama and Dane took a nap together on New Years Day. Dane slept for quite a bit.

Saturday morning Dane slept until 7:30! We got up and hung out at Mama and Papa's, then Dave and I got ready for a little time out. Mama and Papa babysat Dane and Dave and I went out for the afternoon. We were going to go see a movie, but decided not to. We ended up just walking around the mall and hanging out. We headed back to Mama and Papa's house around dinner time. After dinner and watching a little football we headed back home so we could spend all day Sunday getting ready to get back into our routine on Monday morning!