Thursday, May 26, 2011

Stormy Weather

It's a fact. The St. Louis area gets crazy weather. We happen to live right smack-dab in the middle of Tornado Alley. I don't like it, but that's just the way it is.




This year has been especially brutal in the tornado department. Usually we have a few months to rest easy and not worry about tornados. Not so much this year. The tornado that hit nearby on Good Friday was a little too close for comfort.





Yesterday we had more severe weather. We knew it was coming, even down to the specific hour...3 pm. At about 2:30, I started dragging stuff down to the basement to prepare for our camp out. [On a related note, I have made it a priority to make & keep an emergency kit in the basement so that I don't have to drag so much stuff down in the future. It's just smart.] We headed down at about 3:15-ish.





**Another side note -- the excessive rain following the Good Friday tornado caused extreme hydrostatic pressure to build up under our house and resulted in wetness in our basement. We contracted with a waterproofing company to install a drain system around the perimeter of our basement to prevent this from happening again. The work started on Friday and was completed on this Monday. As a result, our basement is kind of a wreck. There is concrete dust over everything, and the carpet is pulled up where they did the work...and the concrete they poured isn't completely dry yet.**





Amelia had a blast playing downstairs, as expected. The basement had been off-limits to her for about a month and it was killing her. Julian did fine. He didn't get his nap in while he was down there (combination of Amelia playing with noisy toys & running around like a Banshee, and the computer streaming Fox 2 weather report loudly), so he was a little cranky.





Fortunately the storm wasn't really that severe. We stayed in the basement until about 5:30, mostly because Amelia was having so much fun playing AND because I didn't want to drag everything upstairs only to have to drag it back down if the weather got severe again.





I'm sick of this severe weather, but extremely thankful for the finished basement we have.




Guess who found the BeBe Pod and still fits in it




Mr. Julian needs a nap


Sleeping Beauty, I mean Amelia





Diaper change in the basement





Amelia and her train table







The current state of our finished basement





Our drain tile, drying concrete





"Geez, mom. Not another picture. This is embarassing."




Check out little man's neck control! :)





Lake Pontus [AKA our backyard when it rains hard]

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Our Princess

Amelia is constantly cracking us up. She is so funny! She's definitely 2 going on 18. We're so proud of her - she's handled moving into a new place and getting a baby brother like a champ!




Here are some pictures of her cheesing it up!


Modeling her underwear - OVER her pants




Being a princess is exhausting!


Wearing underwear & the cover-up





Princess Amelia in her ballerina dress





How Amelia "helps" me make her bed






Cheese!





Playing with Play Doh





Modeling her singing Ariel jewelry

Smiles! & more

Julian has been smiling and laughing so much lately. He's starting to develop quite a personality. Here are some pictures of our Mr. Julian!


Hooray!




Smiley!


Big yawn!





Laughing at Daddy!






More smiles





Even more smiles!





Tummy time!




Posing like a model, even while he sleeps.

Sibling Love

Amelia & Julian love each other so much! Amelia dotes on him, and always wants to see him. Check out the pics.

























2 Months Old!



Julian is 2 months old already. Where is the time going?





He's [mostly] a very content, happy baby. He laughs, coos, "talks", and smiles the biggest smile ever. Julian loves Loves LOVES his big sister Amelia! He seeks her out, and follows her when she walks around him. I love to watch them interact...it just melts my heart! Amelia adores Julian, too.





Although Julian actually turned 2 months old on Saturday, we had his official check up today. He's a big boy! 13 pounds, 3 ounces and 23 1/2 inches long! Everyone is thrilled with how he's growing. He put on quite a show for Dr. S. -- talking, cooing, and being an all-around happy baby. Not surprising to us, the doctor commented on his excellent head/neck control. Dr. S. did some general check up stuff (all good) and talked vaccines. Shots are never fun. Julian took it worse than Amelia did (as far as I can recall)...he was extremely hurt and upset that we put him through that. He kept giving us this pitiful look and whimpering, as if to say "how could you do that to me?" Poor little guy.





He slept really well the rest of the day. We had a few hours around (our) dinner time where he seemed generally pissed off. He's sleeping now, thanks to some Tylenol.


Just for funsies, I went back and read Amelia's 2 month post. HOLY MOLY!!! I can't get over how much Julian & Amelia look alike. Check it out:

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Some Pictures and a Pair of Videos

We had Little Caesar's pizza for dinner the other night - Amelia was excited.






She helped herself to the WHOLE pizza! :)





How Daddy & Amelia paint - Daddy takes over and Amelia plays with her princesses.






I was FINALLY able to get these 2 videos of Julian to load!

Julian meets Mr. Panda...the ending is the best part of the video, in my opinion. :)










Julian talking & Amelia cracking up at him. [sorry I couldn't rotate the video]









Monday, May 9, 2011

Mother's Day 2011

Mother's Day 2011. AKA - BEST MOTHER'S DAY EVER.





This was my 4th Mother's Day. Celebrating this year with 2 kiddos definitely made it the best one. I didn't get to sleep in, but who does these days? I enjoyed the morning in bed with my family, and then we made our way out to the family room. 2 presents and cards were on the table - Amelia was more excited than I was!





I let Amelia help me open the big one. It was the Keurig coffee maker I'd been coveting! Amelia's reaction was the best - as soon as she saw what it was she said, "That's not princesses!" She's so used to getting everything Disney Princesses, that she couldn't understand why anyone would get anything else. :) Cute. When I explained how much I wanted the coffee maker she said, "This is the best gift EVER!" I agree. My husband also got me the attachment to brew my own coffee in the Keurig. My kids gave me a gift certificate to Beauty Brands (a very popular and USEFUL gift this Mother's Day - my sister & mom got me one as well.). The best gift (even better than the Keurig) was the card from Amelia & Julian. It was a recordable card, and Amelia wished me Happy Mother's Day and told me that she loved me. I could listen to that card ALL DAY. *love*





Helping me




Heaven in a cup!


My whole world.





Sleeping in his crib for the 1st time.




After having a lazy morning at home, we spent the rest of the day with my parents at their house and had a yummy dinner! It was a GREAT day.


Julian in his adorable outfit.





My mom & Julian





Me & Amelia





My little sunshine.





A nap

Natalie's Birthday Party

Natalie had her 2nd birthday (2 already?!?) party this past weekend. Amelia was SUPER excited about going, and played "birthday party" all week to get in the mood (I guess).


We had a great time! It was fun to see our friends - let's face it, we haven't seen too many people since Julian was born. We've been battling illness after illness, and of course Julian had surgery. It was our first appearance as a family of 4 (other than at my parent's house).


Everything went well. Julian slept through most of the party in his carseat. Amelia had fun interacting with other kids and playing with Natalie's toys. She was too excited to eat anything - she didn't even want cake or ice cream. The only not fun moment was when Amelia threw a fit because she couldn't open Natalie's presents. We had tried to prepare her for that, but all rules went out then window when she saw bows and wrapping paper! She didn't actually unwrap any of Natalie's presents, thank goodness.


It was so nice to get out & we can't wait to see Natalie & her parents again!


Julian all dressed up for the party


Amelia all dressed up for the party




Trying out Natalie's bike & helmet





Safety first!




Natalie's Dora the Explorer cake





Natalie's cake




Julian sleeping







Natalie feeding her Mommy

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