STL Weekend

At the beginning of June we went down to STL with my cousins and their son, Jackson.

First stop - the Zoo!!

The monkey exhibit was awesome.

Kristen and I were repulsed by all the birds, but the boys loved feeding the ducks at lunch. 

Check out the baby Joey in the pouch! 

Looking at the "puppy" - aka Jaguar

I love this picture. So happy to cool off!!

Picking out his lion. 

Such a happy boy! Until Sunday - but that's another story. 

After the zoo we went back to the hotel for a bit. We had joining rooms, and the boys loved bouncing back and forth between the two. 

The next day we went to the Magic House. That place is super cool. The adults even had a lot of fun! 

Pure joy!

HATED IT!

We wore the boys out!! 

It was a fun mini vacation. Who cares if half of us came back with a virus and don't want to go back to the house of germs anytime soon. We still had fun! No, the Magic House isn't to blame - but that's what we're blaming it on. Can't wait to plan our vacation next year. 

Sometimes...

Sometimes I dust by just blowing the dust off things and then calling that clean. I just "dusted" my whole room, and I feel pretty satisfied with this method. If someone really enjoys dusting, please come over.

Aaron loves to clean. He likes to vacuum, wash dishes, and sweep. And he sometimes gets on board the laundry train, and helps me throw the clothes into the dryer. Sometimes I count Aaron's sweeping and vacuuming as actual cleaning, and call my cleaning complete for the week day. I'm just proud I'm raising a boy who likes to clean - at least for now.

We've been busy!

We've been so busy this past month! Here's what we've been up to. Ok, so here's what Aaron's been up to since I know you really only care about him ;-)

We got some Mommy and Me pictures done with my best friend and her son. This made me so happy since I'm rarely in any photos with my son. And it was a bonus to get some pictures of the boys together where Aaron isn't crying. I also got some great pictures with my own mom. It was the perfect day, and the pictures turned out great!

We've played outside a lot. Got the gardens planted. Aaron likes to help water. He also loves playing in his water table.

We went to the Farmer's Market with my friend Megan, and her daughter Lyla. Or should I sayAaron's girlfriend, Lyla. Seriously, could this girl get any cuter!? Aaron is a lucky man! We had a ton of fun, and can't wait to go with them again.

We went to a delicious fish fry at my grandparents' house. Aaron loved the fish! And loved playing in the yard with GiGi.

And we got to see my girlfriend, Allison. Aaron loves Ali. We miss her so much, and beg her to move back home all the time. I had to throw that in here because I know she reads this blog. Love you, girl! But seriously, move back. You can see how upset Aaron is about it in this picture.

It was a busy month of May/early June. We're loving the nice weather and outside time. Stay tuned to read about our mini family vacay to STL. We had so much fun, and are currently still recovering from it.

Hope you're enjoying this Spring!

Sometimes...

Sometimes I vacuum like this...

Which brings me to a new blog article I'm going to call "Sometimes." Because sometimes you just have to take shortcuts. Every so often I'll update the blog with some type of shortcut I took that week. Whether it was for Aaron, Bryan, myself, the house, or the cats. Whatever I can do to make life easier on myself so I can enjoy more time with my kid, I'm going to seek it out.

Maybe some mothers out there will feel me on this. Maybe you'll say, "Yep, been there." Maybe you also bathe your child with the hose baby wipes on occasion. Or maybe these posts will make you feel like super mom because you find a way to do it all. I'm not ashamed. Hell, I found Bryan vacuuming the couch the other day...with the ENTIRE vacuum. He lifted the vacuum off the floor and proceeded to vacuum the couch cushions like it was the carpet. After I picked myself up off the floor from laughing so hard, I asked him if this is how he vacuums on a regular basis. It is. So even dad's find shortcuts.

If nothing else, hopefully you'll find the humor in these posts.

Happy Birthday, Jackson!

We celebrated Jackson's first birthday over the weekend with a Kentucky Derby themed party. Ryan and Kristen did such an awesome job with this theme. We had a lot of fun! And if you need a good mint julep recipe, please contact my cousin, Ryan.

Can't believe this little man is now 1!

First day I met him 

First birthday party

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JACKSON!!

First Haircut

Yes, we did it. We cut off these beautiful locks. It was a very hard decision. I didn't want to get rid of his baby hair. I thought he looked pretty rad. And those curls. How could anyone bare to cut off those curls. But the time came. So we went to my hair stylist for a little trim. 

Being a ham for all the ladies at the salon.

I had to hold him for the haircut, so I didn't get any good action shots. But this is what it looked like when we were done. So handsome.

He was very happy to get his first sucker.

The best thing about all of this  - his hair is still curly!! That made this mommy very happy.

Worn out from a very busy day!

Yard work with Grandpa and Grandma!

Aaron stayed very busy working in the yard with is grandpa and grandma, or as he likes to say - "Papa" & "Mama"...but in a very deep voice.

We haven't had many nice days like this, so we took advantage. We spent a lot of time outside Sunday. We got my parents' yard ready for spring, and I helped mom decorate her porches. And Aaron got some quality time with his Uncle "Dadam". Grandpa didn't approve of his Cardinals coat, so I foresee some new Cubs gear coming his way very soon.

Happy Spring!!