The Jost Family

Half Marathon

2010-04-11T15:06:00.004-05:00

After 12 weeks of training, Suzy (my sister), Maureen (my neighbor), and I finished our first half marathon. When Suzy brought the idea up to me late last year, I just kind of laughed. She slowly worked on me until I agreed. I never thought at that time I would be able to finish it or that I would enjoy it. Today was such a neat day.....the weather was great and I really enjoyed the entire race (minus a few hills). I am very proud of us. Thanks Suzy for encouraging me to do it and thanks Maureen for being my partner in training. I'm already looking forward to our next one!

Easter Weekend

2010-04-08T20:12:00.004-05:00

Easter weekend was a very exciting weekend in the Jost household. Rikki and I were confirmed in the Catholic Church Saturday Night and Sammy, in addition to being welcomed into the church, had 2 full days of Easter! Mama, Papa and Uncle Wade came to town. Between them, Aunt Suzy and Uncle Clay, the neighbors and all of the Josts (Todd's family and the 2 of us), Sammy was spoiled more than normal

Sammy Chilling with his glasses and his Easter Suit courtesy of Papa Jost

Enjoying a "Big Milk"

The Gauldin Girls looking good! (if i were to call them the Golden Girls, which way would that be taken?)

All the Gauldins

Family Pic before Easter Vigil

Sammy with the Jost and Winker Kids

Sam's birthday party

2010-03-22T20:47:00.005-05:00

I know a lot of you will find this very out of character for our family but Sam's birthday party theme was Mizzou.....specifically Truman. I was excited when a few weeks before Sam's party, Gregg comes home and says that he found a "Truman costume" to rent. Talking the night before the party, Gregg all of the sudden announces, "you know it really doesn't look like Truman, right? It is just a tiger costume but I thought we could just say it was Truman". Let's just say, that Sam was not fooled at all by this Truman, in fact he was scared to death of it. It is not a bad looking tiger, but it was pretty scary.

Sam is in the pic with the tiger but not happy to be there (and would only sit there if an adult was with him, Thanks Aunt Suzy)

We could not talk him into this one above with the rest of the kid. It think we have learned our lesson on the life sized characters showing up to his parties. He was terrifed this year and last year by his surprise guests (last year it was Elmo). We are going to have to figure something else out for next year. We will look back and have lots of laughs though.

The spiderman pinata (Sam above, William below)

Out of all of the nice gift/toys he received for his birthday, playing with the cheap helium balloons we bought to decorate, were the high light of the night for him.

Sam turned 3!

2010-03-22T20:42:00.002-05:00

I was giggling looking through these pics. We were trying to get a pic of Sam hold up "3" for his 3rd birthday party invitations. As I think is he case with most 3 yr olds, capturing a good picture was not exactly easy. Here are a few of the outcasts:

The winner was:

2010-03-22T20:36:00.002-05:00

They probably will not like this pic in a few years but it is pretty darn cute right now!

We got to celebrate my birthday with my family and the Winkers. We enjoyed a dinner, beverages and a Tiger victory together. Sam, Ben, and Eli have become quite the little buddies and kept each other entertained for most of the dinner

Butterfly House

2010-03-22T20:28:00.002-05:00

These pics are old but I am trying to do a little catch up. We enjoyed a cold, winter day off from work at the Butterfly house with Aunt Suzy. It was a nice little get away from the reality of the cold St. Louis weather. Sam thought all of the butterflies were pretty cool too!

The basement is finished

2010-02-06T09:58:00.004-06:00

After months of work, excitement, frustration, picking out details after details, the basement is finished. We are very happy with how it turned out and hope to spend lots and lots of time down there!

Here are some before and after pictures:

Stairs/back of basement:

The workout area:

The entertainment center/shelving:

The bar:

bar/wine room:

The wine room:

Christmas

2009-12-27T21:26:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas!!! It's been a long time since we've done one (and it's Gregg writing this so it's been a VERY long time since i've done one), but what better time to do it then now! The last couple of days have been great!!! This is Sammy's first Christmas that he can piece everything together and the excitement he has is contagious! Below is a train set that was his big gift this Christmas - and he has played with it about 3-4 hours each day! The same can not be said for Papa as Sammy was very protective on who could play with his trains - but after 2 days he finally gave in and let Papa play.

The next 3 pictures are from Christmas Eve with the Gauldins. A nice little family picture, a portion of the gifts that Sammy was spoiled with (he had that grin on his face all week!), and when Sammy went to bad, Rock Band - Beatles style kept us up to the wee hours.

Mama and Papa stayed all day on Christmas Day and they celebrated the Jost Christmas with us. Beatles songs continued throughout the day and i was the star! Okay, i was the butt of jokes as Sammy and William (my 3 yr old nephew) scored higher than me singing a few songs (i'm not joking). (pictrues to follow in another post)

Christmas is in the rear view mirror now, and right after we celebrate New Years Rikki and I jump on a plane and spend 5 days in Puerta Vallarta while Sammy spends time on the farm with Mama and Papa. We will miss him tremendously as neither of us have been away from him for more than 3 days, but we are looking forward to 5 days poolside at an all-inclusive resort in 80 degree weather.

Happy New Year everybody!

School pic

2009-11-19T20:24:00.002-06:00

I thought these pics were really, really good for his preschool pics. Maybe Gregg and I should listen to everyones advice and get him into modeling, he is pretty darn cute!

A beautiful fall day

2009-11-10T09:24:00.004-06:00

The gardener

2009-09-03T20:21:00.002-05:00

Our yard has stayed in tip-top shape this year, thanks to our personal gardener:

I like to ride my bicycle

2009-08-31T20:39:00.002-05:00

Sam has really gotten the hang of riding his big wheel. Once he was finally able to reach the pedals he just took off on it. He got the bike for his birthday in Feb, and has just been scooting along on it with his feet until the last few weeks. By the way, he usually does wear a helmet, I was a bad Mom tonight (we forgot).

Another prayer

2009-08-23T20:15:00.002-05:00

I am sensing a theme to this night time prayer routine. Sam's prayer tonight was:

"Thank you God, for hotdogs. Amen."

I starting to wonder if we need to start pushing a healthier diet with this kid.

What do you say?

2009-08-21T23:03:00.002-05:00

Well, I wasn't going to tell this story but Gregg thought it was hilarious and needed to be posted on the blog. We were just home from work the other day and our dog, Buzzy, must have been a little excited over something. I can't really come up with a way to say it in a nice way but , the dog had a red rocket sticking out. Sam turned to me and says, "Mommy, is Buzzy pooping". I didn't even know how to explain that one, all I could say was "No, Sam, that is not poop" A topic for later date.

Thank you God....

2009-08-18T21:17:00.002-05:00

We have been trying to get Sam to say a prayer with us every night before bed. Tonight he finally contributed to the prayer. He says....

"Thank you God, for pizza."

I think he finally understands and we can now definitely say that he is his father's son.

Potty time!

2009-08-17T21:10:00.003-05:00

One of the good things that came out of July was that Sammy suddenly became potty trained. He totally amazed us. Sam asked about wearing underwear so we let him try it a few evening at home and he did great. He than begged to wear underwear to school one day so we gave it a shot. I pick him up that evening and find out he has used the potty all day without one accident. Ever since he has done awesome with only a handful of accidents (and most of them have been pretty understandable). I guess he was just ready and I am sooo thankful he was this easy.

He even did great using the potty on our camping trip. Like a bear in the woods:

Hello August!

2009-08-10T13:10:00.006-05:00

Hello everyone! Did you think I had totally given up on the blog? Well, I kind did during the month of July. It was a bad month and we are glad to have moved onto August. Now back to blogging too.

Here is a quick little catch up from the month of July.

4th of July Party in our court:

Camping in Columbia:

Botantical Gardens with Mama and Papa:

Happy Birthday Papa!:

Leaving Grant's Farm with Sam's buddy, Ben:

2009-06-12T07:14:00.003-05:00

Gregg and I had a great anniversary yesterday! It is hard to believe it has been 4 years. We actually got a night out to dinner with Sam at home with a babysitter and all. It was nice to catch up and talk without having to tend to Sam's every need (not that we didn't miss him a little too).

I am proud of all that we have done in our 4 years of marriage: traveled and had some fun before we decided to have kids, had a beautiful son, live in a great house and wonderful neighborhood for Sam to grow up in, while both holding down demanding jobs. Most importantly we still love being together especially with our family and friends. Here is to another fun filled year and lots more adventures in the coming year.

The start of a bad habit

2009-06-11T20:26:00.003-05:00

Sam has over the past week been a little more difficult to put to bed. He tries to extend how many books we read, doesn't want to get out of the bath tub, wants to go say goodnight to everyone again. In other words, he tries to find ways to push back his bedtime. On top of that over the past few days, he keeps calling out "Mommy, Daddy" after we put him to bed. I know I probably should just ignore it and let him just to get to sleep. The last few times he has done this have been when Gregg is not here, and I am just not very strong on my own. I need Gregg to give me the moral support to ignore Sam and let him go to sleep on his own. So, anyway I have been going in there to check on him. As soon as I get in there, Sam says "Mommy I need to cuddle you". How do you turn that down? Than of course I end up rocking him and cuddling for way too long. It is so cute, but I know I am probably starting a very bad routine. I just look at him cuddling with me and know he won't want to do that forever so it is sure hard to put him back to bed. Oh well, I am sure this will also pass but I think I might enjoy for a little while I can.

Happy Birthday Mama!

2009-06-07T10:03:00.003-05:00

Memorial Day weekend fun

2009-05-26T20:54:00.003-05:00

Despite the fact that I had to work the entire weekend and Gregg had a monster sized honey do list, we managed to have a little fun this Memorial Day weekend.

The neighbors invited Sam over to play on their water slide/pool. He had a blast. This kid is definitely all boy and fearless. I wish I would have gotten video of him on the slide, b/c his giggle after going down each time was priceless.

Suffolk Court is newsworthy

2009-05-20T21:24:00.002-05:00

Sorry no pics yet of the wedding from this past weekend. Everything was perfect and Clay and Suzy are enjoying their honeymoon in Jamaica now. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera this weekend so I am waiting on others for pics. Hopefully I can post some soon.

In the meantime, here is an article from the St. Louis paper today. It is actually all occured on the court we live on. Read on, pretty interesting. We are so proud of the kids in our court for speaking up and allowing us to keep our basketball hoops!

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/stories.nsf/stcharles/story/3BA97ED104F2C5DB862575BB007907B3?OpenDocument

9 days until the wedding!

2009-05-07T18:30:00.001-05:00

Suzy and Clayton are getting married in 9 days! Wow, the time has gone by so quick. I can't believe it is almost upon us.

This past weekend, we made a trip out of Mount Pleasant Winery (the site of the ceremony)

to do some last minute planning/preparations. Everything seems to be in good order. While we there we of course had to also enjoy some of their wine. Doesn't everyone look totally stressed?

We're back!!!

2009-05-06T06:26:00.003-05:00

I apologize as I have not been on to blog in a very long time. I am going to try to get back on track.

Things have been a little crazy lately, Gregg got laid off from Charter, I went back to working fulltime, then Gregg found a job (very quickly I might add).. He will be selling advertising for ESPN radio (101.1), the same line of work he was in a Charter. We feel very lucky to be out of work for such a short period of time and that I was able to go back to fulltime work without any difficulty. This just goes to show what a great leader Gregg is in his field of work, he was talking with companies about job possibilities days after he was laid off. We do believe things happen for a reason, Gregg is very excited about his new job opportunity and he would not have attempted looking for a job in this economy if he wasn't forced into it like he was.

So now we are adjusting to both of us working fulltime again. It just requires a little more teamwork and running more errands in the evening. It has not been a difficult adjustment for Sam, he loves going to "school" (daycare). Gregg and I are also adjusting fairly well, we are just very tired.

Well here is a little recap in pictures of the month of April:

A trip to the Magic House

Looking at the giraffes at the St Louis zoo

Visiting the Easter Bunny

Hunting for Easter eggs at Grandma and Grandpas
Watching a concert in Newtown

Eating dinner in the backyard

Our swingset Flying a kite in the backyard

Halftime show

2009-03-22T16:48:00.003-05:00

Hey Mom and Dad, recognize the shirt. I am pretty sure I have had it since jr. high. Sorry I do look a little sloppy, I was doing yard work earlier.

Doctor

2009-03-04T18:45:00.003-06:00

Sam had his 2 year old checkup with his doctor last week. We talked a lot about the doctor leading up to the appointment because he is much more skeptical about everything these days. I thought that it might save a meltdown if he was prepared. On the car ride to the appointment we were talking some more about the doctor and he kept saying something over and over. I couldn't figure out what it was at first. Here it is:

If you couldn't understand, he is saying "no more monkeys jumping on the bed", well more like "no monkeys on bed". I think my parents have a book that goes through the whole monkeys jumping on the bed story/song. Somehow he had remembered that and I guess thought that was what the Doctor was going to tell him. And by the way, that story never came up during all of our talks about going to the doctor. I just never know what this kid is going to say.

Go Tigers!

2009-02-27T14:22:00.004-06:00

In honor of Mizzou's basketball team making an appearance in the top 10, here are some pics of Sam's first Mizzou basketball game. We took Sam to his first game on Valentine's Day (also Gregg's birthday). Sam was totally enthralled by the whole experience. He was content for a majority of the game sitting on our laps and just watching everything (sitting still is very unusualy for this kid). He loved Truman, the cheerleads, the band, and of course the basketball game.

birthday pics

2009-02-26T08:15:00.003-06:00

Sam blew out the candle before we even finished singing Happy Birthday.

Elmo arrives at the party.....Sam is a little freaked out by Elmo

but he will take a present from him.....
after Sam opens the presents, he keep repeating "Elmo go bye-bye"

Sam telling Logan, it will be OK, "Elmo is bye-bye"

Logan is a little smitten over Eli

Happy 2nd Birthday, Sam!

2009-02-22T19:04:00.004-06:00

Sam turned two today:( sniff, sniff. I still do have a few hours of him officially being one, as he was actually not born until 11:12 p.m. I really don't need to get upset about until tomorrow, right?
Sam had a great birthday weekend. We had lots of family and friends here to celebrate. He was even lucky enough for "Elmo" to make an appearance at his party. I think Elmo become much too real for Sam when he showed up to his party. I don't think he really envisioned Elmo being adult sized in real life (I don't know if any of us really do, but hey that is the only costume they had for rent). Sam now talks like he enjoyed Elmo being there but he was definitely not too keen on him at the time. When he showed up to the party Sam clung tightly to me, would not hug him but he did not take his eyes off him the entire time he was there. It was like he did not trust that crazy red monster for a second. Finally, he started telling Elmo, "Elmo, go bye-bye" over and over until Elmo finally decided it was best to leave. Oh well, we got some funny video that I am sure he will enjoy watching in a few years.
Here is a little clip of Sam from today. I will post more party pics in the next few days.

Smile?

2009-02-12T19:59:00.002-06:00

I was a little nervous this morning when I asked Sam how he was going to smile for his pictures today. As you will see on the video, he gave me the cheesiest smile ever. This was by far the most challenging photography session with Sam, but they did still get some great shots. His 2 year old pictures are now complete, how did he grow up so quick?

M-I-Z

2009-02-10T20:02:00.002-06:00

Z-O-U

Go Tigers! Boy was that fun last night. I have to admit I gave up on the Tigers several times but did thankfully watch the game to the end. I was really dragging today but definitely worth it. Gregg and I are heading to Columbia for the game on Saturday- it will be our Valentine/Gregg's birthday celebration. They better pull out another W for us!

Mr. Manners

2009-02-10T19:49:00.003-06:00

Sam has made us so proud lately (not that he doesn't everyday), he has become very polite. Now he is saying "thank you" and "please" unprompted. The person he is thanking does not even have to be with him at the time.
For example, the other morning, we were getting dressed and he insisted on picking out his clothes. He picks out a shirt that my parents gave him and somehow remembers who gave it to him (this kid remembers everything!) Sam than proceeds to say, "Momma, Papa! Thank you, Mama. Thank you Papa". I guess he is very thankful to may parents for giving him that shirt, it is definitely one of his favorites.

Mamas night out

2009-02-05T12:53:00.002-06:00

This past weekend I met up with some my friends from college in Columbia. We don't get together as much as we used to, as we are all are married and most of us have kids. It used to be several times a year we would get together for weddings, showers, etc but now even the baby showers are dwindling down.

We had a fun night out. The night started by going to the Mizzou-Baylor basketball game. That game has now invigorated my love for Mizzou basketball. After watching the win last weekend I was on the edge of my bed watching the Mizzou-Texas game last night! It was pretty late before I could get to sleep last night.

After the basketball game we hit some of our old drinking establishments. We made it to Harpo's, Black and Gold, Shiloh and even ended the night at the Diner with the ever famous "stretch" (all of you Mizzou alumni will be familar with all of those fine establishments). We acted like we were in college for another night but we all did not quite recover the same the next day. Thankfully, Gregg understood when I had to take a nap as soon as I got home.

It was a fun night, lots of laughs with some of my favorite people. I hope we can get together again very soon!

My brrr....

2009-02-03T20:42:00.003-06:00

A conversation with Sam from this past week:

I say to Sam: "I am cold!"
Sam says, "No, Mommy, my brrr!"

I guess that is another way of saying, "I'm cold". In fact, I really think it may become some sort of new slang term for cold.

Eskimos

2009-01-28T17:58:00.004-06:00

This morning we woke up to a blanket of snow covering the ground. It was pretty but knowing I had to get out in it, I wasn't exactly thrilled. I had no choice but to go in this morning as the hospital never closes. Gregg decided to go in a little late, as his car is extremely low to the ground and they had not plowed our neighborhood yet. All of the schools in St. Louis/Charles were out today but Sam's daycare was still open (his daycare has not been closed once since we started- they are hardcore).

Gregg decided to ask a few of the neighborhood kids to keep an eye on Sam so he could get a few things done from home. His plan was to work from home until they plowed our street. By midmorning he was ready to go into work but the neighborhood kids didn't want to give Sam up. So Sam ended up staying at the neighbors house all day. He had a blast!

Here is what I see when I pull into the end of our court. Apparently, someone in the neighborhood had used their Catepillar to plow all of the extra snow into a huge pile right in the middle of the court. The kids thought it was fantastic.

Isn't he smart?

2009-01-27T21:11:00.003-06:00

All of the sudden last week Sam joined me through most of the ABC song from the backseat of the car. Sorry about my voice as I prompt him in a few places. As my parents told me over the weekend: "we were never like the parents of the horrible singers on American Idol are, we never told you that you were a good singer."

You will notice he is a little distracted by something behind me. I had to play Sesame Street on TV in order for me to get him to stay in one position long enough to capture this video.

Dr. Sam

2009-01-26T08:54:00.002-06:00

Sam got a medical kit (kids version of course) for Christmas. Over the weekend he was doing his usual check ups on us- checking our ears, hearts, etc. He decided we all needed shots so he made sure to put on these glasses prior to administering the shots- guess he has his Mommy's eyes.

Swedish visitor, birthdays, a baptism, and a move....whew!

2009-01-25T19:48:00.005-06:00

Here is a quick catch up on the last few weeks:

Aunt Angie's Surprise 50th birthday Party

Yes, she was surprised but she can't get enough of that Grandbaby of hers (she can't even take her eyes off of Logan for the picture:). The party was at the shop (many of you are familar with the location from the infamous Critter feeds). Notice how filthy everyone is in the picture- smart move by me to wear a white sweatshirt!

Sam got to play with Molly and the Boedecker twins- they had a blast at the party.

My Dad's friend, Peter, even came in from Sweden for the birthday bash. Peter is a friend my Dad met in college. He was a foreign exchange student who came to Mizzou and stayed in Farmhouse while he was there. My Dad and him became very good buddies while he was at Mizzou. Just recently they reconnected and Peter came to visit my parents in Marshall while he was in the States for work. It was fun meeting him. He took so many pictures that night- I don't think he could believe the whole scenario. He kept showing me pictures of me and my filthy sweatshirt and saying he was going to take it back and tell his kids/friends that was how we dressed here in Missouri. I am sure they will be so impressed!

Baby Logan's Baptism.

The day after the birthday party was my cousin's little girls baptism. Sam and Molly

are very good at keeping Logan entertained.

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of this past weekend. My sister Suzy and her fiance, Clayton moved into their 1st house yesterday. It is such a cute and nice first home- we are so happy for them. I was sick again! I felt bad for not helping much but the rest of the Gauldin moving crew did sweep in and get the happy couple moved in, in a snap. Despite my illness I did have a great weekend as my parents, my brother Wade, and sister in law Ashley were all in for the occasion. Sam made my birthday by coming in first thing in the morning singing, Happy Birthday to you....so cute, I need to get it on video.

Sam got bundled up today to play in the snow.

No way!

2009-01-20T21:50:00.002-06:00

I know I am actually putting up a post- amazing. I don't even have pictures to share this time, but will upload some tomorrow b/c I am off!!!
Just a short little story. The other night I asked Sam to go in and sit with Daddy (I was trying to get a few things done but being unsuccessful as Sam was right at my heels the entire time). Sam's answer to my request was.... "No way!" Not just "no" but "no way". I don't think that is a term we use a lot around here (until now)- we will just have to blame it on daycare again.
He definitely keeps us laughing.

Its all fun and games at Grandma and Grandpa's

2009-01-08T19:25:00.005-06:00

I am really late on getting more Christmas pictures posted- oops! The last few weeks I have been working full time and I guess I am not used to it. I have been so tired when I get home. It probably wasn't great timing to pick all of these extra days during the holidays but a little extra cash to pay off Christmas will be nice.

Anyway, here are some pics from the Gauldin Family Christmas. As you can see, Sam is the only kid in the family right now, everyone in my family will do anything he asks them too. This day Sam insisted we all pretend to be presents and get into this very oversized gift bag.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-26T13:42:00.004-06:00

We had a very Merry Christmas in the Jost household. Sam was so much fun this year. He go sooo excited over all of his gifts and opening presents. We got to spend a lazy Christmas morning in our p.j.'s, playing with Sam's new toys. Gregg's side of the family than came over for the rest of the day. Sam was so tired by the end of the day from an exciting day of presents and playtime with his cousins. Unfortunately, during all of the excitement Sam has come down with a nasty head cold (runny nose and cough). He just has bad luck- he has been so healthy since Thanksgiving- oh well! We all enjoyed having Grandpa Jost and Uncle Scott come and visit from NY. Now it is off to Marshall for the Gauldin family Christmas this weekend. First we are trying to enjoy a quiet day here to hopefully deliver a healthier Sammy to my parents. I am pretty sure that Santa is making another stop at my parents house tomorrow!

Merry Christmas to you all!

Our little Angel

2008-12-23T21:12:00.004-06:00

Sam brought a gift home from daycare today for Mommy and Daddy. I, of course, could not wait to open it. The gift is definitely a keeper. I told Gregg that we are going to have to find some way to preserve this to bring out for years and years. Thankfully, Sam is not yet to the age that he is offended when he gives Mom a gift and she starts hysterically laughing when she sees it, b/c this is exactly what happened. Oh, but it is so cute, isn't the look on his face so angelic:

I think our Christmas season is now complete, I mean, what else could we need?

Puzzle whiz

2008-12-16T10:47:00.003-06:00

Thanks Aunt Keller for the puzzle!

Book worm

2008-12-15T20:00:00.002-06:00

Sam has recently acquired a bit of an attention span. I would that Sam having a love for books is an understatement. While he has always liked reading and looking at books he could never sit through a whole book until recently. Over the past few weeks he has been unloading his entire basket of about 40 books that we have in our living room for him and sitting on the couch and looking/reading them one by one. He really has a system too, if I try to put a book that he has already read into his "to be read" pile, he gets very upset. He usually lets me know with a very loud: "No, Mommy, No!".

It really has been so nice, he will sit there and read the whole time I am trying to cook dinner. I haven't had to rely on "Elmo" (Sesame Street) in a few weeks to get dinner ready. Not that he doesn't learn anything from Sesame Street but I would much rather have him reading. He does "read", well at least he names all of the pictures and remembers a few phrases in books like "Hello Fredbird" (from his Cardinals book- Hello Fredbird) and "M-I-Z Z-O-U (from his Mizzou/Hello Truman book).

As long as Santa brings a few books this Christmas, I think Sam will be a happy little boy.

Tis the season!

2008-12-08T14:24:00.004-06:00

We started our Christmas season with a roar this past weekend. Gregg and I had two Christmas parties: Friday was Gregg's work party and Saturday the neighbors had a party. On Saturday we took Sam to a breakfast with Santa at our elementary school. We also put up our Christmas tree, decorations and did a little shopping.
Sam shocked us when we went to see Santa. We were standing in line and he saw a few other kids walking up to sit on Santas lap. After we figured out what was going on he took off running to do what the other kids were doing. I actually had to hold him back until it was his turn. When it was his turn he just ran right up to Santa and sat down. Once he was sitting on his lap he totally clammed up but gave Santa a huge grin when he gave him a candy cane. I am just thankful we were behind a bunch of kids that were not afraid of Santa because he may have reacted totally different.

The donuts may have been the highlight of the breakfast with Santa.

Sammy and Santa

Who would think a swimming pool of cotton balls could provide such entertainment?

We are still Thankful....

2008-12-02T20:56:00.004-06:00

What a crazy Thanksgiving weekend it was. It started on Tuesday night, we had Gregg's family over for dinner. Gregg's cousin, Amanda is going to school at Truman. She is from NY so she came to St. Louis to share Thanksgiving with her family in Missouri. We ordered some good old NY style pizza so all of the New Yorkers would feel more at home. We all had a good time, especially Sam, he loves playing with his cousins!
Than early Wednesday morning Sam woke up with croup (the famous seal bark cough). He came down with this several times last winter and spring but the summer had given us a welcome break. I knew the routine from his previous episodes, we took him to the Dr. and he prescribed him steroids. This did the trick every time last year. Unfortunately, I had to work on Wednesday so it took a little maneuvering of our schedules to work in that Dr. appointment but we figured it out.
We had already packed our bags on Tuesday night and were ready to take off to Marshall for Thanksgiving. After running by Walgreens to pick up Sam's steroid prescription we took off to my parents as planned.
Sam did feel better by Thanksgiving day but still had a pretty nasty sounding cough. Unfortunately, we found out that the reaction Sam has to the steroids is much more intense this year now that he is more mobile and closer to the age of 2. I fully blame his new personality on the steroids but he turned into a crazy child: he ran wild, screaming, hitting, biting, taking my cousins kids toys, not sleeping well, climbing on anything and everything. I think my Mom actually needed a break from Sam after this trip- she would never say it but I am pretty sure she rested well after we left.
On top of Sam's illness, I came down with the stomach flu on Saturday. Not a very pleasant end to the weekend. I thought I was the only one cursed by it but I talked to my sister (who had left on Friday to her fiance's family) and she had the exact same symptoms hit her on Saturday. We were the only lucky ones- I hope, I sure don't want to wish that on anyone else.
We also came home with a broken camera. I guess the camera had taken too many falls in a home with a toddler. This camera has taken lots of abuse from Sam taking off with it but a simple fall off of an end table was the last straw, I guess. Thanks to this fall we do not have any pictures to document the weekend- oh well a bunch of pictures of us being sick wouldn't be too exciting, huh? Instead I just posted one of my favorites from earlier in the football season (you all see what a good sport I am, I didn't even bring up our loss- actually I has too sick to sulk too much over the game).
Despite all of our illnesses, craziness, and lack of sleep, we did have a great Thanksgiving weekend. We got to see my entire immediate family, unfortunately not all at the same time but everyone did make it to Mom and Dad's at some point during the weekend. It is great we are still able to get together now that we are all having to juggle making it to both sides of the families. We also made it to my Aunt and Uncle's houses on both sides of the family. Sam has so many cousins to play with this year- he is no longer the baby in the family.
Gregg and I often say how thankful we are to have such a loving and fun family. That is what we are most thankful this year. It is easy to get caught up in what we don't have and what we wish we had but Gregg and I continue to remind of ourselves of how lucky we are to have everything that we do have.

Cheese!

2008-11-24T21:36:00.004-06:00

Sam constantly brings the camera up to me now and says cheese. He usually turns away before I can actually get a picture though. This time he wanted Mommy and Sammy to say cheese. Everyone says Sam looks like me, I guess I can see it. He is just a lot cuter, I don't think I could pull off the cheeks.

ABC's and 123's

2008-11-23T15:21:00.003-06:00

Sam is talking like crazy these days. It amazes me from day to day what he says and understands. He is not usually one to say anything when you ask on command- guess he is already letting me know he has a mind of his own. I was able to capture this little clip on video. For some reason he seems to be partial to the letters EFG and numbers 1 and 3. Sam definitely has the cadence of the MIZ-ZOU chant down but is still working on sounding out the letters. For awhile now he has been doing the MIZ ZOU whenever he sees a football game on T.V. He suprised us last night when we were at the store, he saw a Mizzou shirt and started in on his MIZ-ZOU chant- it made his Mommy so proud! I think he definitely got the Mizzou fan gene from my side of the family.

My boys.

2008-11-22T15:44:00.003-06:00

I realize that poor Richter and Buzzy have not been mentioned on our blog much since we started. I don't think it is uncommon but they have gone down in status in our house since Sam arrived. We do still love them and Sam really loves them. The dogs are really great with Sam. They put up with him hugging them, aggressively petting them, pulling them around on a leash, etc. It doesn't mean they really like all of it but they are very gentle with him and they only react with a lick in the face or run to the other room if they have had too much. In this picture, Sam insisted that Ricther and Buzzy sit with him and read books. That has kind of become a trend lately, he wants Richter and Buzzy to be doing whatever he is doing at the time. It is crazy how clearly he says there names these days. I think the dogs will eventually come to appreciate the extra attention from Sam b/c they just don't get as much from us these days. Sorry dogs!

Time gets away from me

2008-11-21T15:00:00.003-06:00

Where have I been that past few weeks? Not blogging, obviously. I went to post today and I didn't realize how long it had been since I had put a new post up- oops. It is not because our life has not been as fun and exciting as it usually is. I mean, look what we did last weekend while at my parents house.
We were all suffering head colds as this glorious cold season has sprung. Therefore we decided to go out and buy earwax candles for all us to clear our heads a little. The kids, as you can tell, watched on in amazement. Nothing like an ear wax party on a Friday night! Wish we could have invited more of you but it was a pretty exclusive crowd- family only:)

Gregg, unfortunately had to miss this excitement. He was in Florida for his annual football trip with all his buddies from NY. It sounds like another fun weekend for the crew: lots of football, beer, and college girls to look at. The guys have already started trying to figure out where to go next year. Gregg may have a more difficult time going after seeing how exciting it came be back here when he is gone.
More post to come soon!

The last nice day?

2008-11-05T19:36:00.004-06:00

I have a feeling this could well have been the last nice day we will have this season. Sam, Aunt Suzy, and I got out and enjoyed it. We spent the afternoon at the park in New Town. Sam had a blast, I think Suzy and I were tired just watching him running from thing to thing. On top of that he was very insistent on us going on the slide, swings, etc with him. Suzy and I did get a little nervous about pushing the weight limit on the equipment when he made us both go across the bridge with him at the same time. This poor boy doesn't get his way very often, does he? I guess I should be working on it but it is too hard to tell that sweet little voice no right now. I know my sister can't say no to "Su-Su come on, slide!"

Happy Halloween!

2008-11-01T10:06:00.006-05:00

It was a fun Halloween on Suffolk Drive. We did not officially go trick or treating but Sam did run around the court with all the neighborhood kids and got lots of candy.
He started the night as a sweet little bear.

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Midway throught the night we changed costumes. We were talking to one of our neighbors last week and she was mortified b/c her teenage kids both wanted to be gangsters for Halloween. We thought we would make her feel a little better....

Our jack o lantern

Thankfully I did not take any pics later in the night. All of the parents in the court put the kids to bed and came back out with the baby monitors on them. We sat around a fire pit in the middle of the court talking, laughing, and maybe having a few drinks into the wee hours. Our neighbors are so much fun but Mommy is taking a nap when Sammy does today.

"Mess"

2008-10-30T20:04:00.004-05:00

While carving our pumpkin the other night, this is what Sam kept repeating over and over: "mess, mess". I have to kind of agree with him, it is a mess. He was brave and stuck his hand in the pumpkin a few times to clean out the stringy mess but soon decided that gathering the pumpkin seeds was a much more pleasant job. Mommy got stuck with the messy party of the job. We think he did enjoy the whole thing, at least after we cleaned up the "mess".

What a difference a year makes....

2008-10-29T08:34:00.001-05:00

Its on me...

2008-10-28T13:09:00.003-05:00

Sam so kindly paid for our dinner while we were in Columbia. I am so glad he is able to pitch in during this down economy.

Homecoming

2008-10-27T19:45:00.004-05:00

We had a great weekend. Homecoming was fun, although we didn't even stay to watch the game. My parents, Gregg, Sam and I tailgated and drove to Marshall before game time to watch the game from the comforts of my parents home. We decided it would get a little too cold for Sam. It turned out to be a good decision because I picked him up from daycare today and there was a note telling me he was running a 102d fever. I am sure sitting out in that cold would not have helped this oncoming illness. Plus, the game was a blowout and Sam loves being at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Sitting on the columns!

Tailgating

We snuck Sam on a few floats for some pics on our way back to the car.

This was actually on our way to the game- you would think this would be taken after a few hours of tailgating.

Homecoming here we come!

2008-10-24T11:31:00.001-05:00

We are off to Columbia for Homecoming weekend. It will be the first year in a long time that we are going to go early for house decs and the whole sha-bang. It should be a fun weekend and please Tigers we need a win! We should have some fun pics to post when we get home.

Enjoying Fall

2008-10-23T19:12:00.000-05:00

Some of the neighborhood kids raked up some leaves for Sam to play in the other day. He had a blast! I don't know if I have mentioned how awesome our neighborhood is. Not only are there lots of younger kids around his age, there are 4-5 kids around the ages 10-14 and they just love Sam. It is great they come running over when they see us come home to play with him. I am able to unload my groceries, get dinner started, while Sam is outside playing with the older kids. Not to mention our handful of very responsible high school aged kids who love to babysit. We feel like we live in the perfect neighborhood.

Too busy playing to blog

2008-10-22T20:18:00.005-05:00

Sorry I have been so bad over the past few weeks. I was out of town this past weekend. We had our 2nd annual girls weekend at the Lake. My mom, sister, aunts, and cousins all go down for a weekend of fun, shopping, and lots of laughs. It was a fun weekend again, I always go home sore from laughing so much. Sam and Gregg had a fun weekend together. They got lots of father-son bonding in. Sam did say his first four sentence while I was gone, "I want my Mommy". Hearing that while you are out of town is enough to break your heart. While I did have fun being away, I was so glad to see my boys when I got home.
I have had a light schedule at work this week so Sam and I have done lots of playing. On Tuesday we spent the morning at the zoo and today we went with the Winkers to the Museum of Transportation. Sam had so much fun at both places. He is at such a fun age. He takes off running to see everything and gets so excited that he can't stop giggling. He is such a happy little guy- I sure hope he stays this way.

The penguins: of course the fake ones were just as exciting as the real penguins

Not sure what we are looking at here but it was just good to get a pic of him looking at an animal. He would go look at an animal for a short time, turn around to me and say "other one", that meant it was time to move on to another animal.

This is the excited look he usually has on his face but as you can see I can never capture it because he is usually so excited that he is running to whatever he sees and giggling

Sam and Ben playing at Creation Station in the Museum of Transportation

Checking out the trains or "choo choos" as he says.

My little helper?

2008-10-06T19:55:00.004-05:00

Sam has really been into "helping" the past few months. He loves helping me unload the dishwasher, put clothes in the drier, dust, sweep the floors, or assist in whatever I am trying to do at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I do want to encourage this while he enjoys doing it. The other day, I was folding laundry and he of course decided he needed to help me with this. He proceeded to pick up shirts and shake them out and do his best attempt at folding them. After a few attempts at the shirts, he takes a pair of my underwear and a sports bra and puts it over his head and than starts stuffing socks down his shirt. I'm not really sure what to think about the whole thing, pretty strange but it was funny.

Pumpkins, a victory, and a birthday.

2008-10-05T19:54:00.005-05:00

On Saturday, we took Sam to pick out a pumpkin (of course it ended up being a few pumpkins). While walking up to the huge selection of pumpkins, Sam yells out "wow". This is now what he says to anything new he sees. If any of you have spent a morning with Gregg as he watches Sportscenter highlights, you will know exactly where he gets this phrase from.
Sam had a blast picking out the pumpkins and found two that he just could not put down. He insisted on carrying those pumpkins to the car and then attempted to carry them around the neighborhood when we got home and was playing with the neighborhood kids. Suprisingly, he did not insist on taking them to bed with him.

We ended yesterday by having some friends (mainly our neighbors)over for the Mizzou-Nebraska game. We had a great time and enjoyed every moment of that victory! Go Tigers!! It was a shame I had to wake up and work this morning. I have to admit that having to work today was probably for the best- many of you know that I can get a little too carried away celebrating a Tiger win over the Cornhuskers.

and last but not least:
Happy Birthday Todd!!!

Lamaze class reunion

2008-09-29T16:22:00.004-05:00

There were a few girls from our Lamaze class that reconnected shortly after we had our babies. This has been the best group of girls. We email each other often, although not nearly as often as we did during the early months with questions, problems, things we were going through with our babies. It was kind of our own little support group to ensure us new Mom's we were making the right decisions, etc. We still try to get together periodically to catch up and see how all the kiddos are doing. Even if it doesn't happen as much as we would like. The dads even have a good time getting together now.
On Sunday we got together and once again had a great time. Unfortunately a few couldn't make it and were greatly missed. It was so fun to see all of kids running around and talking. It is crazy because there are already two girls from the group that have had a second child. We were all glad to meet the two new little girls.
I hope we all get together again soon.

Busy Week For Mommy!!!

2008-09-28T08:03:00.004-05:00

As you can tell with no post's being written yet this week, Mommy's been on the go all week long. A week ago Friday we took Sammy to his first "talk like a pirate day party" in Columbia. While Sammy wasn't looking the part, he sure didn't have any problems playing the part with Keller's father. That was followed with some time with Aunt Ashley and Uncle Wade and the Mizzou Football game.
On Tuesday, Rikki went over to Kelly's for a "Southern Living" party. Is it just St. Louis, or do women everywhere come up with party ideas for a salesperson to sell something to them just so they can all get together? Rikki has had about 6-8 of these in the last 6 months. What's wrong with meeting up at a bar? Ok, so i am probably missing the point. It's not the first time or the last.
Thursday after bringing Sammy up to our volleyball league, Rikki and I went to see Pat Green play (country artist) at Harrah's. Great time, great music, and set the stage for a LONG Friday at work for me.
On Saturday, Rikki's social calendar had Bunko night with the girls in the neighborhood. We didn't gamble a bit at the Casino the night before, yet the next night Rikki walks home a winner of $10!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile, i was introduced to Root Beer Floats (root Beer Schnapps style) by a neighbor. No need to say anymore!
And lastly, the family went up to a festival Saturday in the next neighborhood over. After meeting up with half of our neighbors, 5 hours later we got home. However there was plenty of time for Sammy to run around the grass, have a front row seat for the concert and become part of the entertainment on stage!

Happy Talk like a Pirate Day!

2008-09-19T15:52:00.003-05:00

Man, I have been a slacker with the posting this week. I really don't have a good excuse except that I have been working on getting the bathroom painted. It always turns into a bigger deal than it should in our household- being that Gregg nor I are the least bit handy. Oh well I think we are in the home stretch.
We are packing the car to go to Columbia for the weekend. Tonight we are headed to a Talk Like a Pirate Day Party. Did you all know today is Talk Like a Pirate Day? I was not aware of this holiday (if you can call it that) but my good friend Sarah Cleary's Dad is a very big fan and puts on a party every year. This will be our first time attending and we are very excited.
On Saturday, we are going to the Mizzou game and are excited to meet up with family and friends. Busy as usual in our world but all fun and we wouldn't have it any other way.
I am sure we will have lots of pics to share after the weekend. Boy am I going to get points from Gregg for posting this pic of Sam in his Giants jersey!

Happy Friday!

More pics from the wedding

2008-09-15T20:25:00.003-05:00

I don't have any pics myself today to share but I wanted to share the blog of the photographer from the wedding. She posted a few sneak peeks from the wedding today on her blog and said she would have more tomorrow. She is an awesome photographer! We had family pics taken by her last fall and we absolutely loved them. Now she has taken my sisters engagement pics, Ashley and Wade's wedding, is going to be the photographer for my sisters wedding, and many of our family and friends have seen her pics and met up with her on her many travels for a photography session. If anyone is wanting family pics, etc I would highly recommend her. Not only is she a wonderful photographer, she is a lot of fun too. She is from Iowa but travels all the time, she has stopped in St. Louis a few times on her way to somewhere else just to take some of my friends, families pics. Anyway if you get a chance to check her out, I think you will like her. Her website is www.kathymccloy.com
Enjoy!

The best sound in the world

2008-09-12T19:17:00.006-05:00

I hope it is always this easy to make Sam laugh. Watch out Richter and Buzzy because he laughs hysterically at anything that involves tormenting those poor dogs. And yes, b/c I know we will hear comments from some of you.......Gregg and I are finding new ways to entertain ourselves on Friday nights.

Check out these body mechanics!

2008-09-11T18:05:00.000-05:00

Grandpa gave Sam one of the watermelons he grew this year. He really thought he could lift this watermelon that is bigger than him. We did bring it home and were able to give some to all the kids in the neighborhood and still have half a watermelon. It is very tasty watermelon if anyone wants any, I think we still have more than we can eat.

Check out these moves

2008-09-10T16:50:00.000-05:00

I think I finally figured out how to load one of these videos of Sam dancing at Ashley and Wade's wedding. He has some killer moves- I think he may have inherited his Daddy's dancing abilities. He has been to 2 wedding with us and both of them he have literally had to drag him off the dance floor- he loves it. This was the best video I could get b/c as you can tell, early in the night the kids dominated the dance floor. I am not sure who had a better time the kids in the beginning of the night or the adults on the dance floor late that night. Which ever you decide they were all throwing down some pretty crazy moves.

Ashley and Wade's wedding

2008-09-08T19:05:00.000-05:00

Ashley and Wade's wedding was really a great event. Ashley is quite the planner. She had everything ready to go and was very organized. I know Ashley and Wade are enjoying their honeymoon right now because they really worked hard to pull off a great wedding weekend.
We were very proud of Sam. He actually walked all the way down the aisle for the ceremony. We were kicking ourselves that we were not able to get it on camera but that was difficulty since Gregg and I were both in the wedding party. He was a little distracted in the beginning and totally threw Molly (the flower girl) for a loop b/c she turned around about 1/2 way down the aisle but Sam looked around and just kept walking. Soon after he walked down the aisle Grandpa got out of his sit to get him. He sat quietly watching the ceremony for the rest of the wedding
Here are some pics from the day.

The Gauldin Family

For some reason Sam loved rubbing Tyler's head; Tyler (our cousin) was standing by him during some pics and he just kept reaching up to rub his head

Ashley and her two sisters, Jamie and Lindsey

Sam dancing with our cousins little boy, Chase. I know you can't see Chase's face but you can definitely tell these two little boys are related

The brothers and their boys: Gregg and Sam, Todd and William (Gregg's brother and nephew)

Sam and Molly (the flower girl, my cousins little girl) working hard on something at the kids table

Happy Birthday Suzy!!

2008-08-31T18:47:00.000-05:00

This is a shout out to my sister Suzy, whos birthday is today. Even though she feels old to be 23, she deserves a little praise on her birthday. Suzy is really the best sister, sister-in-law, and Aunt in the world. I have been so proud of her over the past year. She has graduated from college, has transitioned well into the working world (she is a RN at Barnes), and is now getting married to a great guy (Clayton, we love you too) this coming May. It is hard to believe my little sis has grown up so much.
Sammy loves his Aunt Su-su (as he says) and rightfully so. You can just tell she loves him to death and gives him all of her attention when he is around. You Mom's out there know what a great feeling it is to see someone else love your kids almost as much as you do.
Anyway, Suzy, Happy Birthday! Your 23rd year looks to be another exciting one.

We love you,
Rikki, Gregg and Sam

Let the season begin!!

2008-08-31T17:15:00.000-05:00

What a fun weekend! Julie and Jeff Hagar (friends from college who lives in Atlanta), my parents, and Gregg's cousin Amanda (who goes to school at Truman) all came and stayed with us this weekend.
My parents were nice enough to watch Sam while Gregg and I went with the Hagar's to the Mizzou-Ill game. Of course my parents (and Sam) did come in the afternoon for some tailgating but left before the game to watch the game from the comforts of our living room. From what I hear Sam did stay awake for a lot of the game and loved to yell "Touchdown!"
We did a lot of tailgate hopping at the stadium and were able to meet up with a lot of friends and family. My sis, Suzy and Clayton and the Mignerone's also went to the game with us. Of course we enjoyed the Mizzou victory- Go Tigers!!

Sam and I are headed to Marshall on Wed to help prepare for Wade and Ashley's wedding. I am sure we will keep you updated and have lots of pics/stories to tell after the wedding.

We got ya!

2008-08-24T19:08:00.000-05:00

While talking to my Mom late last week, I could tell that she, 1. Was getting a little worried about getting everything done for my brother Wade and Ashley's wedding (which is Sept 6 at my parents house), 2. Really missing Sammy. So Gregg and I decided to drive to Marshall on Saturday morning to surprise them and of course help out a little. My Mom was surprised to say the least. We were really glad we went, we had a great time and I think we helped out some anyway.
Sam absolutely loves being at Grandma and Grandpa's house. He just runs the whole time we are there. There is just so much to get into out there on the farm and he can't decide what he wants to get into from one moment to the next. His favorite thing to do though is ride the riding lawn mower with Grandpa. Unfortunately, we forgot our camera in our last minute packing but here are some pics from earlier this summer of Sam at the farm.

Sam is going to be the ring bearer in Wade and Ashley's wedding. While we were there this weekend we figured we needed to start practicing this whole walking down the aisle thing. We bribed him with some snacks at the end of the aisle, hoping this works for the big day. Here is a video I took on my phone, as you can see we may get him down the aisle but will have no control over his speed.

Steely Dan

2008-08-19T13:06:00.000-05:00

My sister, Suzy and I took our dad last night to see Steely Dan in ooncert at the Fabulous Fox. It is a fabulous place to watch a concert. In typical fashion we procrastinated on buying the tix and ended up buying them on craigslist. We didn't think they would be great seats but at least we were there. The seats were in middle balcony but were still very good seats.
The only disappointment of the night was that not a single person in our section got up to dance. We held out to the very end of the concert but couldn't resisting standing and dancing. There were actually people who got up and walked to sit in front of us. Oh well- Suzy and I had to dance to at least a couple songs with our Dad while he was watching his favorite band ever.
It was a fun night- I hope we do it again on the next tour.

AHHHH.....Fantasy Football season is here

2008-08-17T19:15:00.000-05:00

We started this fine Sunday morning with our friends the Winker's coming over bright and early for Gregg and Mark's Fantasy Football draft. Unfortunately the season is here. Don't get me wrong, I am happy that Gregg has a hobby that he enjoys, that is relatively harmless. It is also good to see him talking to his friends in NY more throughout NFL season, even if the conversations always revolve around trades and over analyzation of each player he has on his team. I just dread the late hours of research, distracted thoughts on possible trades whenever I am trying to talk to Gregg, and several months of not being able to get much accomplished on the weekend, specifically Sunday.
All this being said, we did have a great visit with the Winker's. Ben and Sam are becoming quite the buddies; and Sam really loves his Baby Eli. He just wants to love and kiss on Eli the whole time he is here. He became very concerned today about keeping a pacifer in Eli's mouth. If Sam noticed Eli fussing, he would scramble to find his pacifier and put it right in Eli's mouth for him. It was very cute. Here is a pic of Sam helping little Eli out

Until next time Ben.....

Hope to do it again soon, Winkers, even if it does revolve around Fantasy Football:)

Where has the summer gone?

2008-08-13T08:05:00.000-05:00

I know I probably say this every summer...and spring and fall. I definitely don't say it in the winter, but really this summer has vanished. It is already mid-August! We are sad to see the summer nearing the end but on the other hand are excited about the fall, especially Mizzou football! We received our Mizzou-Illinois tickets in the mail today. They are definitely nose bleed seats but we will be excited to be there anyway. Sam is very excited also, his favorite book these days is "Hello Truman"- the story of Truman, the Mizzou mascot. Everytime he sees Truman in a picture, t-shirt or whatever he says "Hello", hasn't got the Truman yet but good enough. He also loves the part in the book where they say the M-I-Z Z-O-U cheer. He pumps his hand in the air and attempts saying the letters, it is actually pretty close at times. Surely in a few weeks, he will have it down and be officially ready for the season.
Getting back to the summer ending soon, here are some of our favorite pics from this summer. Hope you enjoy.
He is going to hate me for the one if the giraffe boots but he insisted on putting those on one day when we were airing his bottom out from a case of diaper rash. The other pics are of: Sam with Grandma and Grandpa at Julie's wedding; enjoying an ice cream sandwich after being totally filthy at Grandma and Grandpa's house; Jake Quigley and Sam on our trip to NY; and our best attempt at trying to get a picture of all of the cousins together (after that we determined that was nearly an impossible task:)

Time to breathe...

2008-08-10T21:15:00.000-05:00

I have been trying to get this blog going but have been so overwhelmed this summer. We are so busy all the time. I feel like we take tons of pictures and I don't even know where to begin on telling the tales of the Jost family. This August has started out being kind of quiet- we were actually home all weekend this past weekend. I decided that a quiet weekend would be a good place to start.

Our "quiet" weekend included hanging out with our friends the VanRonzelen's on Friday, going to the Zoo on Saturday morning, having Aunt Suzy and Uncle Clayton over Saturday, and starting the process of staining Sam's new swing set (which was kindly given to us by our neighbors).

The rest of the summer has of course revolved around our Sammy. He is growing up right before our eyes. This is such a fun age but boy does he keep us busy. He is saying new words everyday and it is amazing to see how much more he understands the world around him. On top of this we have traveled to weddings (including one in Chicago), have reduced ourselves to only have one mortgage (we rented our other house), made many fun trips to see Grandma/Grandpa Gauldin, gotten a little more settled in our new house, enjoyed getting to know our new neighborhood, and are preparing for the other Gauldin children's weddings (Wade in Ashley Sept. 6 and Suzy/Clayton May 16).

So hopefully we keep up on this but here is a start anyway.