Apples, Trains and Friends

Last week my high school friends Lara and Kevin came down from Oshkosh with their 2 year old Annie for some fall fun. Actually, I say high school, but Kevin and I have been friends since our days in preschool together and Lara and I since the 6th grade! We spent Saturday at Eckert's family fun farm picking apples! We pretended it was fall weather - even though it was 85 degrees.

Sunday was perhaps the best day of Isaac's life thus far! We took him to see the real live Thomas the Tank Engine. This kid lives and breathes trains. He freaked.

Riding the little choo-choo waiting for our trip on Thomas.

Thomas the steam engine.

Our little engineer in all his glory.

And a couple pics of Isaac and Anne playing so nicely together all weekend.

Big Boy Room

A couple of weeks ago Isaac decided the time had come and he was no longer going to stay put in his crib. He successfully scaled the crib 7 times in the course of one Thursday night, so Friday morning we decided the crib was a thing of the past. I was afraid it was only a matter of time until he fell and split his head open attempting theses great escapes. So that Friday evening we came home from work and began the move into Isaac's big boy room. Although our crib does convert to a toddler bed, we didn't want to go that route seeing as we need the crib and nursery again in a few short months. Instead we decided to go full blown big boy bed and move him into the queen bed in our guest room! Isaac thought moving all of his things out of the nursery and into his new room was a blast. He helped move all his clothes and put them away in the drawers of his new dresser and in his new closet and move all of his beloved stuffed animals and books and pictures. He even made us move his lamp and the art on his walls that night! We took the mattress and box springs off the frame and put them on the floor so in the event of an accidental fall he wouldn't have far to go! And in an effort to make him proud of his new room we whipped out the Pottery Barn Kids choo-choo bedding I had scored big time on eBay a few weeks prior. We tucked him all into his choo-choo bed with his choo-choo pj's on and closed the door. I sat on the floor outside the door for 45 minutes just waiting....waiting for him to realized he could crawl out of bed and come on out to play. Nothing. Silence. Right to sleep. I figured this was a fluke and he was probably too scared to move and the next night would be the first of many we would fight to keep him in bed and go to sleep. Happy to report a few weeks later that we have yet to lose a moment of sleep over the transition I've been dreading for 6 months! Completely uneventful. And you've never seen a kid so proud of their big boy room!!

IT'S A GIRL!!

Big news this week - a baby sister for Isaac!! We still can't believe it! She looks perfect and right on schedule for mid-February. Enjoy her newest photos - isn't she beautiful?!

Isaac's 2 Year Photo Shoot

A sneak peak from Isaac's photo shoot the other night. He was a total ham. We wanted to capture him in all his 2 year old glory to forever remember his love of trains, his obsession with his frog boots that no longer fit but he doesn't care, his security blankie and his "backback" where he keeps all his most prized possessions. I'll always remember when I see this pic that we was singing us "wheels on the bus." What a little love. More pics to come in the next few weeks!

Baby 18 weeks, Isaac 28 months, Mommy 30 years.

Pregnancy Yoga

On Sunday I started pregnancy yoga. I wanted to do it when I was pregnant with Isaac and just never got around to signing up. I wasn't sure what to expect since I wasn't very good at yoga pre-pregnancy and surely my ever expanding tummy wasn't going to be much help in the balance and stretching department. I was pleasantly surprised. The class was so relaxing and calming and since there are ladies in all stages of pregnancy its really tailored for your individual abilities. Love it. I think what I enjoyed most was an hour and a half to myself to just focus on baby. With crazy work schedules and never ending laundry and dishes and cleaning and toilet training and dog walking and the endless energy of a toddler to contend with day in and day out its hard to take the time to really focus on a new member of this family. Regardless of whether I leave this class any more "bendy" than I was before, I'll be thankful for that time for just me and our new addition!

Summer Vacation 2010

It took us all summer but we finally got to take a little family vacation together the last week of August. We spent our first day exploring the City Museum here in St. Louis.

Isaac was the only kid on the train ride. He went 3 times in a row.

Then he rode the tiger 3 times in a row.

And he and Daddy spent an hour exploring all of the caves.

A wonderful time complete with a green slushie to finish it off!

The next day we took off and drove to Kentucky to Lake Barkley for some sun, sand and swimming.

We stopped for gas in Metropolis, IL, home of Superman.

After a long afternoon at the lake, we piled back in the car and continued our trip south to Nashville for a long weekend with our friends the Collins family. Three 2 year olds in one house makes for a fun-filled adventure! Good thing Alicia's parents let us stay in their giant house for us to have plenty of room to spread out!

Sam, Will and Isaac in a rare still moment.

Just for fun, a pic from the first time all three boys were together, Isaac 3 months and Sam and Will 6 months.

Worn out after a super fun day.

Ike, Will and the kiddie pool.

All in all a fabulous vacation. Given Jeff's schedule it will be awhile until we get away again!