Neil's First Day of School

Today was Neil's (much anticipated) first day of preschool here at our new home.  It was challenging getting up and back in the swing of things after our crazy summer and all the new things we have to take in.  But, we did it!  Neil was very nervous, so we prayed for peace and comfort first thing this morning.  And, it must have worked because, when we got to his classroom, he ran right in and I had to call him back to kiss me goodbye and take some pictures! 

I am more nervous than I thought I would be and am really looking forward to when I get to pick him up, so I can see how he liked it.  After having him with me almost every second for 3 months, it feels kind of strange not having the little guy around today. ;)  Here are the pics I got of him this morning.  He is just too cute and is at the age where he LOVES posing for pictures.  (SIGH) Our sweet little man is growing up way too fast!  But, I am loving every minute of it!

BIG smiles!!!

Going out the door, another big CHEESE!!

One quick shot with Mommy and sister in the classroom doorway. 

Neil with one of his teachers, Miss Erin.  You can see Miss Lora in the background, too! 

I am SUPER excited to see how the day goes!!!  I think he is going to LOVE it!!

Daddy Time at the Park!

Yesterday Bobby took both kids to the park and gave me some much needed alone time to get some things done around the apartment.  (Hanging pictures is not easy to do with a one-year-old climbing the step stool behind you and pulling on your leg!)  Plus, it was good for the kids to have some special time with just Dad.  Here are some pics Bobby took of their little adventure.

Happy girl!

Notice the bubble he is blowing while pointing.  He just learned how to do it in the last couple of weeks and he is so proud of himself!

CHEEEESE!!!!!

  Here are some pics Bobby got of the kids in a tunnel on the playground.  I just LOVE them!

Of course, Miss Ella can find ALL kinds of things if you sit her on the ground ANYWHERE!  We call her our "little scavenger".  Here she is, doing it again!

And, of course, our little social bee couldn't go to the park without making a friend!  Here is Neil with a little girl who was also enjoying an afternoon at the park.  They look so deep in conversation...too cute!

Our first trip to the St. Louis Zoo!

Bobby took some time yesterday afternoon to spend with me and the kids and we decided to go check out the zoo.  It is free here and so many people have told us about how wonderful it is that we just had to go check it out.  It definitely did not disappoint!  Here are some of the pictures we took on our visit!

Family pic by the pond

 

 

Neil and I petting the Stingrays.  It was awesome!

Daddy and his girl...she LOVED riding on her Daddy's shoulders where she could take it all in!

The coolest part of the whole visit (literally and figuratively) was the penguin exhibit.  Here is Bobby with the kids right outside the exhibit, where some of the penguins can come outside through a hole behind the waterfall.  Ella was squealing and wanting to touch them.  It was too cute!

Here's Neil and I inside the exhibit.  It was dark, so it is hard to see, but if you look carefully, you can see the penguins in the background.  It was wide open and some of them were so close you could reach out and touch them if you wanted to, although I don't think they will let you.  There was a half-wall of glass like an aquarium that came up to about my chest, so you could watch them swim under the water and then look over the glass and see them floating on top.  Hard to put into words, but absolutely one of the coolest things we have ever seen!

Neil riding a giant beetle.

Neil lovin' the elephant!

Sister checkin' it out, too!  This was her first trip to a zoo and I am pretty sure she loved every minute of it!

We had such a fantastic day and want to go back again before the weather gets too cold!  That is the plan anyway, but we'll see!  There is so much to see and do here that it is hard to choose!

Hip Hip Hooray! MDO/Preschool Saves the Day!

Today was the big day to meet the kids' teachers for their Mother's Day Out/Preschool program.  Neil is going to go 2 days/week and Ella 1 day/week.  So, I will have 1 day/week without kiddos to help Bobby with the business and maybe even grab lunch with some girlfriends on occasion (once I have some ;)) or hit the gym (What's that?!).  Whatever I do, the time will be treasured and well-spent!  I absolutely ADORE my children, but a little "me time" is also good for the soul! 

After attending the Parent Orientation today, I am very excited and trust that they will be in good hands!  From what I can tell so far, it is a FANTASTIC program!  I was extremely impressed!  Neil just LOVED his teachers and wanted to know if he could start tomorrow!!!  Ella was a little timid, as she has never really been away from me, except at church or with family.  But, I think she will adjust well with time.  Her teachers seemed very nice. 

Unfortunately, it was a bit crazy today, since we didn't know what to expect, so I didn't get pictures.  You know how it goes...put the camera in my purse, got sidetracked with all the excitement, and never took it out!  But, I will definitely get some pictures on their first days of school and post them.

Look Who's Walking!!!!!

It will most likely never happen again that I will blog twice in the same day, but something happened today that was more than worthy of a second blog entry.  Ella took some steps all on her own without any prompting!!!  She had taken a few steps the day before we left Texas (we lured her with some car keys), but she hasn't shown any interest since then.  Today she was just doing it all on her own.  We are thrilled that she is well on her way to walking and are so excited to share the moment in this video!  Enjoy!

Memories from Texas

Here are just a few pictures of the wonderful memories we made before leaving Texas.  The kids and I traveled all over the state visiting family and celebrating Ella's 1st birthday.  It was a blast!

First, a picture from the weekend before Bobby left for St. Louis.  He had to go ahead of me and the kids, so we were apart for 2 weeks.  I just love this picture! 

Here are all the cousins

 

After Bobby left, the kids and I headed out to Granny's house for a quick visit and to say goodbye.  We had an early 1st birthday celebration for Ella while we were there.

Ella and Granny singing the Happy Birthday song

The very first taste of birthday cake...YUM!!!!!

Next we stopped by Lito and Grandma's house for a visit.  We had so much fun swimming and playing.  It was a wonderful time!

Chillin' at the pool with Lito and Grandma

The kids at the pool

After our visit with Lito and Grandma, we headed back home for a day.  Then it was off to Pap Pap and Nana's house for more visiting and celebrating.

Ella getting ready to celebrate her 1st birthday with her sweet brother and cousins Shea and Cole.

My very first homemade birthday cake by Betty Crocker! ;)  Thanks to my sis-in-law for encouraging me to give it a try and thanks to Nana for the beautiful cake plate to display it on!  It was a huge hit!

My sweet babies!  The napkin tucked into Ella's bib is from some birthday decor that was mine when I was little.  It was neat to use it for my daughter.

I think she liked the homemade cake!  I can't believe my sweet baby girl turned 1!  She is such a blessing to our family!

 So there are just a few of our "Great Adventures" in Texas before we left.  I will post some of our more recent ones here in Missouri soon!

We made it!

It seemed as though it would never get here, but we finally made it to St. Louis!  The boxes are slowly but surely disappearing and the apartment is beginning to feel like a home.  It was a tough transition that I definitely would not want to do again, but, as the saying goes, "what doesn't kill us makes us stronger".  It is beautiful here and the weather right now is amazing compared to the unbearable heat of Texas.  That has been a welcomed change for sure!  We are hanging in there and taking it day by day.  I will try to post some pics soon!