Feeling Refreshed

Yeah, it's March! Why am I so excited about this? The three coldest months of the year...December, January, and February are OVER! Crossing my fingers, March brings more spring like temperatures. Today, however, was still a bit chilly, but I do have thirty more days to be hopeful! March also includes one of my favorite holidays...St. Patrick's Day! Why do I love St. Patrick's Day so much? It's my birthday! Also, you may have noticed my cute little gadget on the right side bar. March is also my One Year Blogoversary! Wow, I can't believe I've been blogging for almost one whole year. Where do the days, weeks, months, and years go....way to fast!

Last night, we went out sans Kyle and the camera...LOL! This was our first experience using our babysitting service. John and I liked the sitter and best of all Kyle seemed to as well. John and I went to dinner at the Wild Horse Grill. I'm sure you are wondering what we ordered...John had the shrimp and scallops which he rated four and half out of five stars and I ordered the veal picatta, which I would rate with five stars! As you can see, we enjoyed our dinner! After dinner we did a little shopping which is always nice without Kyle in tow. Our next stop was to a local bar for a cocktail and listen to a band. It was a nice, relaxing evening and best of all we feel refreshed! We have another date night planned in a couple of weeks to celebrate my birthday (a little early) which we are already looking forward to. Yeah for reliable babysitting...what a wonderful feeling!

I hope everyone in the blog world enjoyed their weekend!

Hanging With The Girls

This morning, Kyle and I went to my friend Angie's house for a little playdate. Just thought I would share a few pictures of Kyle with Riley (age 4) and Hayden (age 3). Angie and I met each other while Kyle and Hayden were in the NICU together. They were both preemies and each spent 86 days in the hospital. By looking at them today it's hard to believe...they have both come such a long way and certainly have grown up!

Riley, Kyle, and Hayden

This picture makes me laugh because Kyle thinks he is so cool sitting

between the two girls. At the age of three, Kyle is already such a stud...LOL!

Kyle and Riley hugging each other goodbye....so sweet and adorable!

Angie, thanks for having us over this morning and getting me hooked on Wii Tennis!

Happy Mardi Gras

HAPPY MARDI GRAS

FROM THE SPENCES

Being from New Orleans, I obviously grew up with Mardi Gras, traveling from one parade to the next, attempting to catch every bead and doubloon that came my way! I would love for Kyle to have the opportunity to experience Mardi Gras as he grows up. Kyle has been once when he was sixteen months old and I know he won't remember the trip. We were just in New Orleans last month so we weren't able to make another trip so soon, but I would love to make it an annual tradition for our family!

We had to have our own little family celebration here in St. Louis...including decorating the entrance to our house with Mardi Gras decorations.

Recently, Kyle received a little Mardi Gras "care package" from CeCe and Poppy (my parents) who still live in New Orleans. The package included the Mardi Gras shirt he is wearing in the pictures above and purple, green, and gold beads to give to his classmates. To dress it up, I packaged the beads in purple bags and made Happy Mardi Gras tags. Kyle wore his Mardi Gras shirt to preschool today and also brought the gift bags! As mentioned in a previous post, we brought a king cake back from our recent trip for Kyle's preschool class to enjoy! I enjoy helping to bring additional fun to his preschool experience!

HAPPY MARDI GRAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kyle's New Room

Shortly before Christmas Kyle moved to his "Big Boy" bedroom and I'm finally getting around to posting pictures (better late than never!). As mentioned in a previous post, we chose the Planes, Trains, and Trucks theme. A very fitting theme since Kyle loves anything "transportation" related. John and I had so much fun redesigning his room...new flooring, paint, furniture, and the most fun...the decor! I LOVE the room and think it is absolutely adorable!

By far, my all time favorite pieces in Kyle's room are the table/chair set and the toybox. The moment I saw these two items I automatically knew they would be a perfect addition to the room! Aren't they just the cutest pieces????

Not Meant To Be

Well, today is the day my world was going to change...in the phone, internet, and cable arena. We have continually had issues with our current service and decided to make the switch to a new company about a month ago. I had my hopes up so high to have an upgraded cable/DVR system, and an internet and phone connection that actually works. John even decided to take the day off to be home in case any technical questions came up that I would be unable to answer. Unfortunately, the installer arrived, and after checking numerous items, determined the service wouldn't work at our house since we are too far away from the junction box. Needless to say I'm a bit disappointed, but I guess it wasn't meant to be! On a positive note, I don't have to change my email address!

Since we knew the switch was scheduled to take place, we haven't called to have our current service repaired, but I guess it's time to do that now. John is off to work to save some vacation time for the future. Kyle and I will find an activity to keep us occupied until naptime. Hope everyone has a great day and weekend!

Babysitting Solution?

Maybe, just maybe, I found a solution to reliable babysitting... well, we shall see. Since we had Kyle, we haven't found a very reliable babysitter so we don't get date nights on a regular basis. It seems the majority of people are blessed with the help from family. I really hope these people realize how lucky they really are to have family at their disposal to babysit or even watch their children overnight, etc. I was browsing through the St. Louis Kids Magazine yesterday and came across an advertisement for Seeking Sitters. This is a service that you must first become a member and from their they arrange a babysitter for you. John and I decided give it a whirl and we have our first babysitter scheduled for next weekend. We were able to view pictures, read introductions, and hear customer feedback on the babysitters and we chose several which seemed like a good fit for Kyle. I truly hope this works out because it would be such a wonderful feeling to have reliable babysitting service for date nights, special occasions, holidays, etc. The downfall to this type of situation is the fact that it cost more than a typical babysitter, but it is reliable and guaranteed. All the babysitters employed with Seeking Sitters are 18 years or older,highly trained...many whom are studying education in college, and must pass a background check. The babysitter also comes prepared with age appropriate toys and crafts for your child. I have a good feeling this will be great for John, Kyle, and me.

Has anyone else used a babysitting service such as this before or do you think we are completely crazy for attempting this? I will definitely update on how our babysitting experience is next weekend and if this will be our babysitter solution afterall. The next step is to decide what our date night will consist of...I have a feeling it will involve dinner...LOL!

What's For Dinner?

Parenting sure can be hard! I'm sure every parent encounters certain challenges when raising a child. I have always been a worry wart and becoming a mother, especially to a 25 weeker, certainly hasn't helped me in this department. One of the main struggles we have had with Kyle since he was a baby is eating. Unfortunately, this still is a constant, daily struggle in our life. Recently, I was reading a parenting magazine which stated that toddlers don't need to eat as much since they aren't growing as rapidly as when they were infants. The article also stressed the importance of giving your toddler a vitamin. We have always been very diligent about giving Kyle vitamins...he loves the My First Flintstones...especially the grape flavor! Kyle grows up (height), but doesn't grow out (weight). I've come to the realization that Kyle will most likely be a string bean for many years to come. I can't believe he is my son because I LOVE to eat...LOL!

In the past I've heard a lot of hype about a book called Deceptively Delicious. I recently purchased the book and am on a mission to locate some good recipes to assist with Kyle's eating...mainly in the vegetable department. Unfortunately, Kyle has two bad eating habits; the first being the fact he is a big snacker and second, he loves to drink (milk and juice). We need to work on limiting intake in these two areas to make sure he is hungrier at mealtime. Does anyone have any great recipes from this book or any other cookbooks geared to feeding children? Hopefully, the book will have some brilliant ideas to help me answer the question...What's for dinner? If I locate any that Kyle particularly enjoys I will be sure to share them with everyone...because if Kyle will eat it...it must be good! I would love to hear any great ideas that may help me answer the question as well. Thanks!