July 2010

Meet Me in St. Louis

Josh had to go to St. Louis for work, so Kellen and I decided to tag along. That's one of the perks of having my summers off! We stayed right downtown, with views of the St. Louis Cardinals stadium. And, when I say views, I mean we could actually see inside the stadium. It was pretty cool, even though the Cardinals are our enemies!



While Josh was working during the day, Kellen and I went out and explored the city. Josh was off a few days, so we took advantage of that and went to the St. Louis Zoo, the Arch, and the Mississippi Riverbanks. We even took Kellen swimming for the first time in our hotel pool. We also met up with my cousin, Dayna and my friend and her husband, Katie and Dave. We had a great time!

Taking a bath in the hotel sink!

Daddy & Kellen on the banks of the Mississippi.


Cousins!

This was the view from our hotel room!

The St. Louis Arch, taken from my cell phone! Pretty cool picture, huh?

Daddy & Kellen in the hotel pool.

Beach Baby!

Kellen had his first trip to the Beach this week. Well, not the real beach...The Beach Waterpark! Our neighbor, Ellen, has a pass and she can get a guest in free on Mondays and Wednesdays. She has been wanting to take us, but it just hasn't worked out until this week. I got Kellen lathered up with sunblock and we hit the road. The Beach has a nice area called The Pearl, which is an oversized, heated spa pool. It was nice and warm, as well as shaded from the sun. We went early enough in the morning that the sun wasn't too hot yet anyways. Kellen really enjoyed the pool. We stayed in for about 20 minutes and he kicked the whole time! We might have a swimmer on our hands here, folks! Here are some pics from Kellen's first time swimming!

Err, ok...so the pictures aren't uploading for some reason. Stay tuned!

Wordless Wednesday

Kellen's First 4th of July

We had a great holiday weekend. We started the weekend off by meeting my Mom and Mike (her fiance) at Findley Market. This is a large market in downtown Cincy that has many outdoor and indoor vendors. They sell vegetables, fruit, meat, bread, sweets, flowers, etc. Josh and I had never been and were so glad to get down there. It was amazing! We're definitely going back in the very near future. I would much rather support independent, local businesses than big stores like Kroger.

That afternoon/evening, we headed to Josh's brother's house. They live in Waynesville and have a HUGE 4th of July party every year. When I say huge, I mean like over a hundred people. They have a pig roast and a live band that comes and plays the whole night. There is a poker tournament and a cornhole tournament too! One of our friends is a skydiving instructor and he arrived at the party by skydiving! (Jeremy and Becka have several acres of land, so he had lots of room to land) It was a very cool thing to witness---I never realized just how fast they approach the ground! I have a feeling I would end up seriously injuring or killing myself if I tried something like that! Later in the evening we enjoyed a fireworks show, which Kellen seemed to enjoy. The 4th of July is one of my favorite holidays---I can't wait for next year!

Single Parenting

Is not for me. Period.

As many of you know, Josh is in the Air Force Reserves. This means he is gone one weekend a month and 2 weeks during the summer to fulfill his duties. This hasn't been that big of a deal...until Kellen came along. This summer, Josh's unit had to travel to Savannah, GA for their 2 week annual training. So, yours truly got to care for a 6 week old for 2 weeks. I was a single parent and it sucked! I was fine during the day, since Josh is normally at work anyways. The worst part was at 6pm when Josh usually gets home and I can hand Kellen off to him and get things done around the house. I just had to let those things go and focus on Kellen. Luckily, I am very fortunate that Kellen is a very easy baby (God help us with our next one!). He really only gets fussy when he is hungry or is very sleepy. If he had been a colicky baby, I don't think I could have done it!

While Josh was gone, I made sure to keep busy. Very busy. I don't know what I would have done without my sister. Kellen and I hung out with them many times over those 2 weeks---thanks sis! I also attended 2 birthday parties, wedding shower and 2 playgroups. Kellen and I also did a lot of shopping! I had to get out of the house each and every day or else I might have gone crazy.

The worst part about Josh being gone was that he missed his first Father's Day. Obviously, this means more to me and Josh right now than it does to Kellen, but still... We celebrated when Josh got home though. Kellen gave him a framed picture of 3 of his newborn pictures for Josh to take to work. I also had Josh's OSU "Foley" print (that I got him for Christmas 2 years ago!) framed. Now it can finally get hung up in the basement!

Here is a picture of Kellen and Daddy reunited again: