Daily dose of cuteness

How is this for cute? Little Jo-Jo was practicing tummy time, propped up on a pillow. 

Then he got so tired, he fell asleep, still propped up.

Saying goodbye...

We've been trying to see all our friends to say goodbye before we leave St. Louis. 

Hard to believe that these little kids may not remember knowing each other! 

We'll definitely have to come back and visit often.

 Cooper, Josiah, Molly, and Thomas

 We were friends with Matt and Mo in NJ and then all moved here to St. Louis.

Thomas plays trains with Tobin, our former next door neighbor. These two are fun to watch together--they're so similar in terms of interests, behavior, and general 2-year-old-ness.

Meramec Caverns

There's nothing like an imminent move to accelerate the crossing off of items on a to-do list...that being said, in addition to getting the house ready to sell and closing up everything here, we wanted to visit a local attraction that we hadn't gotten to in the last four years. We took our first family of four field trip to Meramec Caverns. It was worth the trip! Check out the stalactites and stalagmites below. Amazing!

 Family photo!

 Josiah napped through the whole visit.

Thomas was enthralled. And also the loudest person on our tour. But he did a great job, partly walking, and partly on Ed's shoulders. 

We had an impromptu play group at our house this weekend. Our friend Devon, who now lives in Janesville, WI, was in town visiting. She hadn't met any of the babies in the photo below except for Thomas, so we got together. All three of the other girls worked at A-B together. The older two boys had fun playing, and we all had fun passing around the babies.

 from left: Carrie holding Ethan (22 months), Devon holding Carrie's younger boy, Jacob (5 months), Maureen and her son Kieran (8 weeks), me with the Josiah (5 weeks) and TJ (2.5 years). All boys, can you believe it?

 Thomas shared fruit snacks with Ethan. He kept hugging "Efan" (when not pushing him down) and the two ran around giggling and chasing each other. So cute to see!

Fun Friday

We had a busy, fun-filled Friday--a morning at the zoo and then the balloon glow Friday night! I'm trying to live it up with fun activities before my maternity leave ends...

Check out the headdresses on these birds!

Love our free zoo!

Karen Hamlin was TJ's buddy at the zoo, while
I carried Josiah. It's so much easier to go places
with an extra set of hands, and great to have time
to catch up as we visited all the animals.

Thomas befriends a seal (or otter, or something?).

Friday night our family went to the balloon glow in Forest Park. There were probably 30 balloons blown up, and every time a horn sounded, they all lit up. We took a picnic dinner and enjoyed the site. Thomas liked the balloons, the people watching, the buses and bikes we saw, and the cheese from our picnic!
 

Josiah came along for the ride and slept the whole time,
all bundled up.

I took Thomas near the balloons for a close-up view.
This picture perfectly describes his feeling about being
so near the balloons--the flames roar when they light up
the balloons, and he was not sure about that at all.
 He clung to me and said, "let's go back to daddy." :)

Goofy kid kept showing us his belly, even though
it was chilly outside!

Check out TJ's big boy bed!
He loves it and we love the extra storage space underneath!

Pure Michigan

If you live in the Midwest (particularly Wisconsin or Illinois), you're probably familiar with the "Pure Michigan" ad campaign. Even though my heart belongs to my home state of Wisconsin, I find these ads to be incredibly compelling. (Check out the link below if you don't know what I'm talking about...video of ad from michigan.org).


http://www.michigan.org/Topics/Pure-Michigan-Ads/Default.aspx?q=2245

If you're wondering why I'm pushing Michigan, it's because "Yes, there really IS a Kalamazoo." (Another ad campaign for, you guessed it, the town of Kalamazoo. T-shirts, mugs and bumper stickers available. Seriously.)

And...we are moving there! Ed has accepted a job with Bell's Brewery (yep, he'll still be making beer!) in Kalamazoo. We're still working out a lot of moving logistics, but sometime this fall, our family of four will become residents of Michigan. While we'll miss all our friends in St. Louis, we are VERY excited for this (big) change and looking forward to all it has to offer. We'll keep you posted...

One month old!

It's hard to believe Josiah is one month old! Here are his one-month stats: 

10 lb. 9 oz. (up from 7 lb. 7 oz. at birth)

22.25" (up from 20.25" at birth)

At the moment, he's growing at about the same rate as Thomas did, 

though he's about a pound behind his big brother at the same age.

Wearing the outfit Ed wore home from the hospital--I almost waited too long to take this picture--it just fits!

A week's worth of photos

Just chillin'

Enjoying Gino's East pizzas courtesy of Jen and Cliff.
Brings back fond memories of Chicago. Yum!

Check out that deliciousness!

And speaking of delicious...we received this turtle cheesecake
from Ed's work. Double yum!!!

Our neighbors Rikki (above) and Barry (below) take turns
holding a snoozing Josiah

Cooler weather meant that we could have a fire
in the backyard. So nice!

Rusty and Melanie practice for their own new arrival (coming in
January) by holding Josiah while we enjoy the nice night and fire.

TJ helps daddy finish the installation of the metal balusters upstairs.

Best buds: TJ, Josiah and Abbey.
Until J came around, Abbey always seemed so tiny to us.
Now she seems like such a big girl!

TJ really liked Abbey's birthday present. He wanted to take
Josiah for a ride in the attached trailer.
(for photo purposes only!)

Brotherly love!

Six years ago today...

...Ed and I got married! Two kids and several moves later, we're still enjoying the ride. We've been blessed with a wonderful life--two sweet little boys, wonderful family and friends, and days that are never boring, to say the least. We're so looking forward to the next six years and beyond!

Packer fans and more

 Ready for the first game of the season! Go Pack!

 Reading with daddy

 Thomas was VERY helpful while Ed was reinstalling the handrail on the back staircase. I can't wait until he's old enough to be sent to fetch tools from the basement, as that's still my job right now!

Morning snuggles on the couch! 

So relaxed...

Grandma and Grandpa come to visit

Tom and Alice came to visit for a long weekend over Labor Day. They soaked up lots of snuggle time with baby Josiah and lots of play time with Thomas! We had a great weekend hanging out, despite the 100 degree temperatures that mandated inside fun!

Hello, Grandma!

 Hi Grandpa!

 Josiah's first time out at a restaurant--PW Pizza with Grandma, Grandpa, Katie and Tucker

Our table was by a mirror and Thomas was being a ham--making faces into it for our enjoyment.

Moving bread pieces in the dump truck when dinner got too long

Watching construction with Grandma

 Josiah is not yet interested in construction like TJ is...he napped during our walk!

 Thomas likes to sit on the arms/back of the couch, meowing like a cat. It also gives him a good vantage point for seeing Josiah.

Cuddled up for a nap

Alice, Thomas, Josiah and I went to the Magic House for some TJ fun. 

Check out this cool bubble maker!

Josiah and I watch Thomas playing with the magnets.

Magical floating balls!

TJ was enthralled by the trains. He and two other boys his age egged each other on, shrieking in excitement every time the train went by.

Tea party with Grandma

 Four Ruble men/boys

 Grandma and Grandpa with their grandsons