Sunday, February 28, 2010

Weekend Update with K. Laughlin :)

Friday...
Kelli and Natalie came into town for the Tim McGraw concert and spent the night. Friday we headed to lunch before they headed back to St. Louis. It was great to see them and hang out. Friday night Mike's parents came over to see us and hang out with Evan. It had been awhile since we had seen them, so it was good to get caught up.



























Two of Mike's coworkers who got to escort Tim to the airport after the concert....I'm so jealous!!!




















































Saturday...
Mike, Evan, Jack and I headed to St. Louis for the Morrison's game night. (one of the last ones in STL!) Ryan starts his new job on the 8th in Nashville. We had a great time with the Swinigans, Malones, and the Morrisons. We dropped Jack off at my parents house and hung out with them for most of Saturday morning. It was so fun for them to see Evan walking! Thank you mom and dad for watching Jack for us!!! We really appreciate it and know he had a fabulous time because he's been sleeping most of Sunday away! :) We met Ryan, Heather and the kids at Chick-Fil-A for lunch and then  hung out at the house for the rest of the friends to get there. We had a great dinner of Garlic Chicken Ranch Pizza and played What's Yours Like? and Pictionary. Pictionary was girls vs guys and let's just say after a horrible start by me (I didn't know that chimpanzee's didn't have tails!) we pulled it out and came away with a win! I've never laughed so hard during that game and actually had tears in my eyes. Before putting the kids to bed, we had to get a picture of the three boys in their identical pj's. What's funny is that we all had them there that night!


























Kye and Evan couldn't stop looking at Sawyer! It was too cute!


























So cute!!!




























The only bad thing of the night was Evan decided that he didn't really want to sleep. I'm not sure if it's his teeth or what (two more are coming in the top). He didn't sleep well at all and from about 11 until 3:15 in the morning I slept with him cradled in my arms in the rocking chair. Let's just say it was a fun night ;) He them slept in his car seat from 3:30 until 5:15 and then in the crib at their house from 5:30 until 6 am when he decided he had had enough and wanted up to play. Then didn't want to nap this morning before leaving their house. Needless to say, at 6 pm he was in bed....and I'm about to head there myself! :)

Sunday...
We had a great breakfast of German pancakes (I think Heather is going to post the recipe because it's delicious!) We hung out there for the morning and then headed back to pick up Jack from my parent's house. We got back and Evan and I napped and Mike did laundry.It was a great weekend to see family and friends! Hope you had a great weekend! Too bad the USA couldn't pull it out against the Canadians in overtime during the hockey game this afternoon. Oh well...silver ain't too bad! :) And just because one day I know I'll get some sleep...he's the sleepless 9 month old! :)





































Saturday, February 27, 2010

9

 9 short months have gone by and we love you more and more each day. Happy 9 months Evan!





Friday, February 26, 2010

40 for Friday...

 Thanks Kristi for this...Happy Friday! Have a great weekend everyone!

  1. What would you like to appear in your hands right now? A mocha...craving coffee!
  2. What was the last thing you ate? Raisin Bran Crunch Cereal
  3. What is your favorite episode of a tv show? Jim and Pam's wedding on The Office
  4. Have you ever ridden in a limo? Yep...1st time was our wedding
  5. Which is better, your cursive or your printing? printing
  6. What photos are living on your camera right now, waiting to be downloaded? And why are they still there? Ones from this morning when Evan and I were playing with the shadows from the sun reflecting off the couch and ones with Aunt Kelli. Still there because I haven't had time to upload.
  7. How many pregnant women do you know? 5...my cousin Lyndsay, my friends Sarah, Shelby, Bethany, Cortney, and a couple more I'm sure I'm forgetting.
  8. Three things you did this past weekend: Church, St. Louis, family time...
  9. If you could only visit three websites for the next month, which would you choose? yahoo mail, my blogs, and google reader
  10. What did your family do for vacations when you were a child? Our vacations were always built around soccer trips...we went to Washington D.C, San Diego, Texas, Florida, South Dakota, and every single state in the Midwest for soccer tournaments.
  11. Law & Order or Boston Legal? Definitely Law and Order
  12. Do you mind if guests show up uninvited? Yep....I don't like drive-by visits....at least call and see if we are busy.
  13. When will you next travel by plane? To Florida for spring break
  14. What did the last text message you received say?  "Yeah, I'm so excited" Kelli is coming into town with Natalie to go to the Tim McGraw concert tomorrow night.
  15. When was the last time you got dressed up? Church on Sunday
  16. The perfect sign of affection is: a hug or kiss...
  17. Do you use your real name online or do you go by a screen name? real name
  18. What do you miss when you’re away from home? Jack if he's not with us and my bed
  19. What are you completely & totally over hearing about, reading about, discussing ad nauseum? Tiger Woods...
  20. Do you reply to comments on your blog? I try to! Everyone needs to change their profile email to allow people to reply back to you! Go to Sign in and next to your profile picture, click on edit profile. Under identity, put in your email address and under privacy, click the box for show my email. This allows people to email you back from your comment. 
  21. What are three things that you are looking forward to? Spring, sunshine, and doing projects around the house (painting cabinets and rearranging/switching rooms)
  22. What is your favorite kind of tree? Weeping Willow
  23. What is the newest thing you own? hmmm....A new bag...I have no idea! Nothing big recently...
  24. If I do anything well, it’s: trying to remember to send birthday/anniversary cards to family and friends...
  25. What is your favorite dessert? Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream or apple pie
  26. Do you use a planner? yep...a small one that can fit into my purse and then a large one for our fridge
  27. What is your all-time favorite tv comedy? Seinfeld and The Office
  28. What is your current obsession? Learning how to use Photoshop Elements (anyone have any good tips on how to use it!)
  29. Three signs Spring is here: sun, birds chirping, and Mike not having to scrape off his car each morning
  30. Do you balance your checkbook or wing it? Wing it...we have our budget and look at our statement online at least once a week.
  31. What kind of grapes do you prefer? green ones
  32. What is your favorite store-bought cookie? oreo
  33. What was your fifth grade teacher’s name? Mrs. Holmes
  34. High school was: amazing! I loved everything out it...friends, sports, growing up...I can't believe it was 13 years ago!
  35. Describe your dream kitchen. Something open, bright, clean, and an island
  36. What would you really like to purchase? a new car and a new house
  37. How many of your friendships have lasted more than a decade? lots...too many to count...soccer friendships, elementary school, high school, etc.
  38. Are there times when you still feel like a kid? Definitely...
  39. What teacher from high school comes to mind first? almost all of the sports teachers and coaches and English teachers (Mrs. Rainey, Coach Bayens, Coach Garrison, Mrs. Bollinger, Coach Bellers, Coach Robinson)...way too many! I loved school!
  40. What magazines do you read? too many...Parents, People, US Weekly, Entertainment, Redbook, and Parenting
And just because he's cute...























Like his Jr. Police badge?! :)

Thursday, February 25, 2010

My Thursday Thoughts...(could also be a late top 10 tues!)

  1. Evan still isn't sleeping through the night...we are getting close, but we're not there yet. He's getting up a few times a night but can put himself back to sleep, but the 4ish one he seems to not be able to go back to sleep from that one. We'll get there...soon I hope! :)
  2. So excited to see my sister and our friend Natalie tonight. They are coming to town to see the Tim McGraw/Lady Antebellum concert tonight at Mizzou Arena. Mike's working the concert so that's fun too! We are going to go out to brunch tomorrow too before they need to head back to STL. 
  3. Love the sunshine we've had recently, but seriously...the cold weather needs to go! I am so sick of being cold! I want warm weather...
  4. I wish I had unlimited amounts of money (like everyone else out there I'm sure!)...I want to do lots of things to our house...or better yet, get a bigger house. We are going to move Evan's room to the back spare bedroom and make his room into a playroom. That means repainting, organizing, moving stuff...not looking forward to that, but definitely looking forward to having our living room back. Also getting ready to paint our bathroom cabinets in both bathrooms. I am going to wait until its a little bit warmer to paint the kitchen cabinets so I can do it in the garage and not freeze my toosh off. 
  5. For some reason, I'm not a big fan of American Idol this year. I don't think it's Paula being gone either. Maybe the singers aren't that good...who knows?! I didn't even want to watch all the guys sing last night so I turned it off. Maybe it will get better once it's down to 12. we'll see...
  6. Family prayers....My Aunt Barb had some lung pain and headaches recently and went back to the hospital...thank goodness they didn't find anything in her brain (cancer growth) and she is back at home with some new meds. Mike's grandpa is still fighting with congestive heart failure and is retaining fluids. Also, pray for Dan's knee surgery tomorrow, he tore his ACL again and it has been dislocating...thank you!
  7. Excited to see our friends Ryan and Heather this Saturday. I still can't believe they are moving to TN! We are going to miss them...
  8. A few things I want to remember about Evan recently...he loves his da-da. While Mike is getting ready for work in the morning Evan crawls from room to room to watch him. It's pretty cute. Also, when Mike goes out to his car, Evan sits in my lap in the chair and laughs, smiles, and says da-da. When the car backs away, he stretches and cranks his neck around to see him. Also, Evan had on some slick pants yesterday and during nap time decided that he didn't want them on. I went in to get him after his nap and saw that his pants were off and he threw them out of the crib. Good thing he hasn't figured out how to take that diaper off! :)
  9. Has anyone sold any big items on Craigslist? We are hoping to get rid of a huge desk and a couple of other things but wanted to know if that was the best way to go...thoughts? 
  10. Glad I have some really great friends to talk with online and through email about being a first time mom. Some days I feel like I am doing nothing right and others I think I'm doing ok. I know every baby is different and does things at their own pace, but it's nice to know that I'm not going through this thing called parenting alone. I often only blog/write about the positive things about my day and with Evan, but I'd like to start documenting our not so sunny moments too. It's hard though when others are reading...other people who you don't know and other family members that you do know. I don't want to be judged about being a mom and what I write or how we are raising Evan. Anyway...I just wanted to say thanks for my friends to I can go to for advice! :) Happy Thursday!!

9 months...

Here are some of Evan's 9 month pics...

I can't believe he's almost 9 months old! That means he's been here in our family just as long as I was pregnant...that seems so crazy to me! Happy 9 months Evan Samuel! We love you...


 

  

  

 

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Wordless Wednesday


Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Dave and Sarah!!!


























Here's to many many more!
Love, Evan, Mike, and Kasey


Monday, February 22, 2010

A big day around here...

Evan decided that today would be the day to walk multiple steps across the room! Wow! I'm not sure we are ready for this! :) He'll be 9 months old this Saturday! It's pretty cute watching him explore and see what he can do. I love this age! Enjoy the videos...











Monday morning fun...

Wrapping paper rolls are SO much fun :)
This is how we spent our Monday morning! 

 

  

  




Sunday, February 21, 2010

Birthday fun...

Had a busy Saturday with family and friends before heading back to Columbia to see Mike. Kelli came over and we headed out to lunch at Applebee's with my mom and grandma. It was so yummy! Evan had some Cheerios and usually munches/gnaws on celery but this time was having nothing to do with it. It was funny watching him crinkle up his face and push it away. Grandma and Great-Grandma got a kick out of that! :)  It was a great day and nice to see Mike and Erin and celebrate a 30th birthday as well as catch up with Rodney and Gina. It was fun to see my family and celebrate Kingston's 1st birthday! It was nice to get back home, especially coming home to a surprise! Mike painted our front door and closet door white (which we have been meaning to do for awhile now...as well as fixing our squeaky back door.) Thanks honey!! What a great surprise! Enjoy the overload of pics! :)




 

 
 

  

  

 
 

 

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Rock on!

Happy Saturday!!!

Friday, February 19, 2010

a former student, an old friend, and family...

Today was a busy, but fun day. We went to surprise one of my former students. Brittney was in my 6th grade class when I taught in St. Louis, and she is now a senior! yikes! I can't believe she is getting ready to enjoy her last few months of high school. She is performing in her last high school play and I wasn't able to make the performance tonight, so we brought her flowers to school instead. She was SO surprised to see us and the smile that she had, brightened the room. It make me really happy to see her. She is one student who I will NEVER forget. When she was in my class, her mom passed away from a heart attack (her dad had passed away when she was a toddler). She came to school the next day because she didn't have anywhere else to go.... :( That year, she came to our house to celebrate mother's day that year with my family and she is definitely a strong woman. She is heading to college next year to be a theater major and I couldn't be more proud. It's definitely a small world though, because her drama teacher from high school is a friend of mine! Lara and I started school together in the 4th grade and were together in school all the way through high school. It was great to see her as well and catch up. Definitely a fun memorable day!








Had another great day hanging out with family...Evan liked hanging out with my Aunt Barb and Uncle Mark and running errands. I think his favorite part of the day was playing with grandpa and grandma and taking a bath in the huge tub! :) Happy Friday!





























































Thursday, February 18, 2010

StL

Evan and I are in St. Louis until Sat. evening while Mike is working lots of overtime for high school wrestling. We've been hanging out with family and I met up with  my great friend Krista today for lunch. She is getting ready to move to Portland for a new job so we were excited that we were able to catch up before she leaves. After lunch, we met up with Heather for a little bit. It was great to see all of the work they are doing in their house to get it ready to sell. Anyone want a fantastic house to buy in O'Fallon??? Tomorrow we are headed over to see my Aunt Barbara and then Saturday we are going to hang out with the Malone's for awhile to celebrate Erin's 30th and then go see my cousin's baby boy to help celebrate his first birthday. We do miss Daddy though! :) Can't wait to see him on Sat. Here's a few pictures from today...


Krista and Evan

  Us...then and now...

 

Evan's Valentine's day present from Grandma and Grandpa Merritt

  

  

  

  

  

  Another one of his Valentine's day presents...he loves it! :)