Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

We had so much fun tonight at the Cardinals game.  Brent & Rebecca called us this afternoon because they had two free tickets to the game and did we want to go?  YES!! YES!! We really wanted to go!

We arrived in the 5th inning and although we lost, we still had an amazing time!  Jameson enjoyed the wonderful marvel known as the Dippin Dot, Reese did not like ballpark peanuts and both Aidan & Reese perfected the .... "CHARGE!"  So much fun had by all.  

Thanks Brent & Rebecca for the good times!  We love you!

The Gourleys take Kansas City

Since Daryl started working for Edward Jones, one of the highlights of our summer is the Edward Jones Summer Regional Meeting. This year's meeting was held in Kansas City, Missouri and we stayed at the Intercontinental Hotel & Plaza at Country Club Plaza - sounds fancy, doesn't it?

Daryl lived in Kansas City for about 10 minutes as an infant and I had never been. I am always excited when I get to visit a new city and the meeting planner in me starts going as soon as I know I'm going somewhere! I searched on the Internet and even requested a brochure from the Kansas City visitor's bureau. We got back on Sunday and I still haven't received my brochure - I guess Kansas City didn't want me to visit, but I showed them!

     Mr. Karaoke

At the EJ family dinner, the entertainment was Karaoke and they were selling raffle tickets to benefit the United Way. This Karaoke experience was a little different than the Clinique meetings that I used to attend. At the Clinique meetings, you could not get people to give back the microphone. At this meeting people were actually giving donations to the United Way to not have to sing! Because none of the adults would sing, Aidan took that opportunity to dazzle the audience with his "ABC's" - twice.

One thing that I was really looking forward to was spending time with Andrea Yoder. Her husband Jeremy started with EJ last year and we have become really good friends with them. While the boys were at meetings, Andrea and I did some sightseeing with the kids. We walked around Country Club Plaza. We loved all of the fountains and went into a few of the shops. There is a Burberry store there and I was so happy to be in there! It really made me miss my good friend Holly and our tea time at the 57th Street store.

I also took one for the team and ate at Arthur Bryants. For those of you that are not familiar it's a local chain of BBQ restaurants in Kansas City. I really do not like BBQ, but Daryl loves it and when in Rome... While waiting for our table I got yelled at by one of the busgirls. The place was packed and there was a six-top table that had the scraps from the last guests still on it. We had 5 people so I motioned to Ms. busgirl to ask her to clean the table when she could. She gave me a dirty look and the conversation went like this:

Ms. Busgirl: Do you really need this table? How many are you?

Me: Um, uh, we have 5

Ms. Busgirl: Ugh! (points to clean 4-top table). Just sit there and pull up a chair. (Ms. Busgirl exits)

Okay then. I pulled up an extra chair and we dined at the 4-top table. She eventually had to clean the table to a more deserving family (ironically they were another EJ family) that had 6 people. No wasted seats in this place. The food was delicious and they serve ice cold Coca-Cola in a giant souvenir cup - this place is okay by me.

Earlier in the day Andrea and I had gone into a popcorn shop and purchased popcorn and some Jelly Beans. Not just any jelly beans - the really disgusting ones called BeanBoozled. After the awards dinner that evening, we encouraged (aka tricked) a few people into trying the Jelly Beans. Some of the flavors include baby wipes, vomit, pencil shavings, and moldy cheese. Just to keep you guessing you could get lucky and get peach, juicy pear, or licorice, but most of our victims got skunk spray, boogers or the previously mentioned flavors. Good times.

    The Duck Derby

By the looks of our photos and the list of how many places we visited, it would seem that we were there for a week. Nope - just 3 days. We went to Union Station, Crown Center, Nelson-Atkins Art Museum, Country Club Plaza, and we even saw the Duck Derby.  I didn't quite understand what the Duck Derby is and I still don't.  You purchase a rubber duck (yes, just like Ernie has), the proceeds go to charity and your duck participates in a race down the river and you can win prizes from gift certificates to a Harley Davidson.  We watched this "race" and it takes 30 minutes for the ducks to travel 1/8 of a mile so you can imagine that it was a real nail-biter!  The Gourleys were bored after 5 minutes and we moved on.  Back to St. Louis we went.

6/6/09: Green Acres is the Place To Be...

Farm livin' is NOT the life for me.



I love my sister-in-law, Natalie and I can appreciate HER love for country living. I stress that it is HER love for country living, NOT mine. I am SO not made for the country. In fact, I think I may be allergic to the country. In the words of the great and fashionable, Liz Pruitt, "I'm a city slicker, through and through."


On our way back to St. Louis from Orlando, we detoured to visit Natalie, my brother-in-law Tim, and my nephews Guy and Levi. They live in a gorgeous house that they built together. You can see Natalie's style in each of the beautifully decorated rooms of the house. It is so cozy and warm (on the inside). Outside there are bugs and frogs and dirt - not my idea of a good time.



As soon as we arrived, we brought the kids to the backyard. Within the first few minutes, Reese was attacked by a dragonfly and freaked out! Her scream reached a pitch that I wasn't even aware exsisted!







The one thing that Reese really loved about their house was Lillie, their horse. Tim brought Lillie from the barn and Reese immediately wanted to go over to her. She was probably wondering where Lillie's carriage and coachman were because the handsome cabs are the only horses we ever see! Reese was a natural! She wanted to ride Lillie! I couldn't believe that she wasn't scared! Tim lifted her up onto his lap and they rode the horse all over and Reese loved it.







Aidan on the other hand loved hanging out with his cousins and experiencing all that country livin' has to offer. The boys searched for frogs - which I now know pee all over you when you pick them up. Excellent. Here's Aidan with one of the frogs. If the picture was clearer you could see the eyes popping out of the frog's head because Aidan was squeezing him. If this had sound you could hear the frog begging to have his life spared!



The boys put all the frogs in a bucket and even a lizard and some other creature got in there too. Again, excellent.



Later we enjoyed dinner together and celebrated Tim's birthday. Reese and I helped Natalie water her flowers and we got eaten alive by more bugs. After I couldn't take it anymore - which as it turns out was not a very long time, we went back in to the house.



The boys decided that they wanted to sleep in the tent in the living room but they were too excited and didn't want to go to sleep. Diana even got into the tent to try to get them to go to sleep - sorry I wasn't able to get a picture of that. In the end it was too hot in the tent and they ended up in Guy's bedroom.







All in all - great family fun, but I can't wait to get back to my loft!

6/4/09: All Good Things Must Come To an End...

Today is our last day in Florida. We'll be heading back to Hotlanta for some more toilet fun tomorrow. All in all it was a wonderful trip. Many great discoveries were made:

• Nat and I disagree on how amazing his driving skills are. I do not wish to read the VIN number on every car we are driving behind when he is at the wheel.

• Diana is terrified of rollercoasters – even though she is on the ground and has no intention to ride one.

• Reese HATES to swim

• It is nearly impossible to get a tan at the pool or beach when you have children. I have accepted the fact that I will have dark (or lobster red) shoulders and arms and the rest of my body will be albino. No more reading People Magazine or Martha Stewart Weddings magazines at the beach/pool for me – have to make sure that the turkeys don't drown, drink pool water or eat sand.

• Reese believes that every time we stop the car it is time to eat.

• Aidan loves hotel living and never wants to leave.

• After a week with their grandparents, my kids are so spoiled that you can probably smell them from where you are sitting. I'm learning to let it go. My mom spoils them, Nat and I Diana do it, I know it comes with being a grandparent, but grandparents – you are the same people that made us finish our vegetables before letting us have dessert and made us go to bed early. Our kids do not eat in the car, but I looked back and Reese was holding her hand out proudly expecting more Almond Joy from Nat. Another incident - the kids had white powered donuts all over their faces, hands and car seats. Not acceptable. Can't wait for reality to set in when we get back home.

• Aidan loves his cousins! He and Reese had so much fun playing with Asia, Nathan, Jasmine, and Ashlyn. We enjoyed visiting John Mark's church on Sunday and then went to their house afterwards to swim. The kids played so well together, it seemed like they had always been friends.
  

• The DVD player in the minivan is a lifesaver. I don't know how we would have made the trip without it!
  

• Although it is completely practical, I still stand by my original thought on minivans – they are just not cool!
  

• Once again, my Phil & Teds stroller has proven to be the best investment we ever made.

• I was excited to go home, but we didn't have enough time here to do all the things we wanted to do!

Today the weather forecast predicted afternoon showers so we decided to make the most of the morning and head over to SeaWorld. I had been to SeaWorld with Kelsey, Uncle Jeff, Aunt Jill and my grandfather over 10 years ago, and I couldn't wait for Aidan & Reese to see the Shamu show!


We caught a live Elmo show – I couldn't believe how mesmerized the kids were. I also couldn't believe how many parents were purchasing those glow sticks. I guess a sucker is born every minute at these theme parks. I have purchased my fair share of junk in my day, but come on people. Does "little Johnny" really need a toxic glow in the dark stick that costs $10 and will last for only 10 minutes. I guess at an average cost of $1 per minute to keep "little Johnnie" quiet it must be worth it. My kids were too focused on watching Elmo and friends to worry about the glow sticks – that or they are too young to know what they are. Either way, I'll take it!

They loved Shamu! We didn't end up sitting in the "soak zone" and I am so glad. We got to the show early and we had plenty of time for snacking – thankfully this time, I was smart enough to bring my bag with the snacks. Because I had my bag with me and Diana and I couldn't afford to ruin our hair, we decided to not sit in the "soak zone." We still enjoyed the show and managed to stay dry.

I wished my uncle Jeff was with me this time because they now have two really crazy roller coasters there and he would have loved them. We didn't ride anything for two reasons – the kids are obviously too little and Diana was terrified of the coasters. You could hear the thrill seeker's screams as they would fly right over your head. Aidan thought it was awesome and he squealed with excitement. I thought Diana was going to pee her pants each time they flew past us. I can't wait until Aidan is old enough and tall enough to ride, but it might be a while for these carnies.

6/2/09: DON'T TOUCH the Breast Implants (I mean Jellyfish)!

It was a day at the beach, literally. We drove out to Cocoa Beach with our sand toys, sunscreen and Subway sandwiches.


Note to self – Do not eat at the beach. We should have eaten at Subway and then continued on to the beach. Not only was the cheese melting as I was eating my sandwich, but I had sand and sunscreen all over my hands and it was interfering with my sandwich. I usually put potato chips on my sandwich to give it a little bit of a crunch, but I didn't need to because the sand was already making it crunchy. YUCK!


Now Reese, who apparently loves the taste of sand, had a different view on the situation. She clearly viewed the sand as a giant all-you-can-eat salad bar and went to town. I had to scold her several times. "No Reese, we do NOT eat the sand."


I love the beach, but having grown up in the Midwest, I have only been to the beach a handful of times. With that said, everything at the beach is still very novel. So you can imagine my surprise when I saw what I assumed to be several breast implants on the shore! I have viewed said implants at the American Society of Plastic Surgeons Convention that I attended when I worked for Clinique - how was I to know that what I was seeing on the shores of the beach were in fact jellyfish!



Thank you to Walt Disney & Pixar for teaching all of us what can happen to you when you get stung by a jellyfish. I was able to explain to Aidan that he didn't want to get stung like Dory did, so DON'T TOUCH the breast implants (I mean jellyfish)!

6/1/09: It's a Small World After All...

Today I went to Disney World. This should actually read, "today we took Aidan & Reese to Disney World." I'm not going to lie; I was probably more excited, if not 110 times more excited than they were about going. As a kid we did not take vacations and we definitely never even thought that going to Walt Disney World was even an option. Mr. Gourley is amazed by this because in his late teens his family lived less than 40 miles from Walt Disney World and they vacationed all the time. They thought nothing of packing the car and driving anywhere, we'd be lucky to get to downtown Chicago to my grandma's house without killing each other or without mom killing us because we couldn't stop fighting. Thus we never planned vacations or trips to Disney. But today was my day! Oops, I mean Aidan & Reese's day.

It was the most beautiful perfect Florida day. Nat dropped Diana and I off with the kids on at the parking lot of Walt Disney World. As we started towards the ticket line, I started to cry tears of joy and I thanked Diana over and over again for making my dream come true. She slapped me and said "oh shut up, we are not even there yet." Aidan proceeded to tell her that saying "shut up" is not very nice and she should say sorry to me. That was all the laughter I needed to pull myself together.

Lord forgive my mother in law for telling the people at Disney that Aidan is 2 years old and not 3. She is now $63.00 richer for having sinned. To the Disney people, I'm absolutely certain that we more than donated that $63.00 and then some to you in souvenirs, soda and snacks.

We had our tickets and I (I mean we) are finally there! No wait we have to take the ferry to get there. Let's board the ferry (makes me a little choked up too - but because I miss my New Jersey life). As the ferry nears I can see Cinderella's castle. There it is. I am seeing it with my own eyes - here come the waterworks! We're here! No wait - must go through security. After we pass through security and then go under a tunnel and enter Main Street. I look at Diana and say "Are we here yet?" "Yes, NOW you are here."

I was overwhelmed by everything around me. We do not know where to look there is so much going on. We stopped to take our picture in front of the castle and turns out we are right on time for a show on the stage of Cinderella's castle. We waited in anticipation and as soon as the characters came out, Aidan and Reese cannot take their eyes off of them. Amazing. This made it completely worth the trip.

Next stop, It's a Small World. We were greeted at the line by a "Cast Member" who instructs us to leave our stroller (which has two fresh sodas in it) at the stroller parking station. The line is approximately 30 minutes long. Let me get this straight, we have to wait in line with the children and whatever we can carry with us? I have never visited a theme park with my own children or even thought of how I would manage with my entourage. My stroller also cost me a pretty penny, so the thought of leaving it unattended made me cringe, but it is all for the good of the cause. Armed with two children, my camera and two cups of water for the kids, we entered the line and waited. Not bad. We kept moving and then entered the boat. We enjoyed the ride and apparently it was too much for Reese and she passed out before our boat made it back to the station. We returned to our stroller to find two very watered down sodas - note to self no more soda today. In fact I think that I have it coming out of my pores and I should probably switch to water for a while. Also, the ice here does not taste delicious and it is making my beloved Coca-Cola not taste delicious!



While Reese was getting her beauty sleep, I took this opportunity to take Aidan on Dumbo and then to play in the water at Ariel's Grotto. I had so much fun watching him splash around. I couldn't bring myself to wait 45 minutes to see Ariel, so we moved on. Our goal was to make our way to Toon Town and meet Mickey, Minnie and the Princesses.



We entered a big top Souvenir shop and to our surprise, this is where we wait in a very long line to meet the princesses. After 45 minutes (read: an eternity) we are finally brought into a room where Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty are waiting for us. Reese was excited and Aidan could't believe it. He couldn't take his eyes off of them and whispered to me... "There they are Mommy, it's the princesses!" He was so star struck. We waited our turn and then we met Cinderella first. She's Reese's favorite, but true to Reese's personality, she dirty looked Cinderella. Now in Reese's defense she had a lot of make up on and they all had bad wigs. Reese can be very judgmental and I just can't imagine where she gets it from! We took pictures of Cinderella and then Belle was next. Pretty much the same scenario there. Aidan got kisses, Reese gave dirty looks. Now for the one he's been waiting for, we met Sleeping Beauty (Princess Aurora). This is the fan favorite in our house because this is the movie we watch all of the time. Aidan skipped over to her and gave her a big hug. Aidan got more kisses and she whispered a secret in his ear and they danced to "Once upon a dream.." Aidan is in love!



We went to Tomorrow Land and rode on the racetrack, we rode the train, we visited Minnie's house and Mickey's house and then waited in a long line to meet Mickey & Minnie. The kids spotted the playground and wanted a little fun time. With so much to do here, they just want to play on the playground! We got some great photos of the kids and it was a good time for Diana and I to rest.



Our day was not complete without seeing the electric parade and the fireworks so we held on to the bitter end and lined up with all the rest of the sweaty, cranky people on Main Street for the parade to begin. It was amazing. What was even more amazing is that this is the moment that I figured out how to use the record a movie feature on my camera. Once the parade was over and we were done being trampled we ducked into a gift shop to waste time until the fireworks. We carefully chose our gifts - Aidan got mouse ears and I convinced Aidan to get Woody & Buzz Light-year figures that the limbs come off and Diana won't forgive me because she thinks they are junk. Reese got a set of Princess Dolls and I picked up a few things for Finni (my friend Lisa's daughter who is a huge Jasmine fan). We were just in time to step on to Main Street for the fireworks. I cried again.



It was the perfect day - one that I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life!

5/29/09 : When you wish upon a star...

So after 31 years of dreaming, my wish is finally coming true! I'm going to Disney World! Now I know I should be more excited for Aidan and Reese, but the truth is, I've always wanted to go and I can't believe it! My inlaws, Nat and Diana already had plans to spend the first week of June in Orlando at their timeshare and I thought it would be fun to bring the kids and spend the week with them. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, here's the catch...we had to drive. This is the part where I take a moment and think long and hard...two days of driving...two days of driving with two toddlers...It will be all worth it because I'm going to Disney World!

In preparation for my trip I DVR'd all the programs on the Travel Channel about Disney World and Sea World (which we were also planning to visit) and I watched them with Aidan and Reese. Yes, that's right people, my 3 year old and almost 2 year old and I watched these programs with me and got all pumped up about our upcoming trip. Seeing their excitement made me tear up a little bit, I could wait to experience it for real!

So here comes the fun... How do you get 3 adults, two carseats (with the children in them), luggage, beach toys, 1 double stroller, Nat's shaving kit, Diana's hair curlers, a portable high chair, two kids backpacks full of toys, a portable dvd player, and my fountain soda in an Aviator? The answer is... you don't. You come to your senses and decide to take the Grand Caravan after you've already packed the Aviator and had a good night's sleep.

Nat and I packed the Grand Caravan, and I have been a longtime hater of the minivan and I hated it even more this morning. I think I hated to admit that it was so convenient! It was my easiest carseat installation ever - I hate you minivan! Everything fit in the trunk - I hate you minivan! There's a stow and go area???!! Woo Hoo! No wait - I hate you minivan! It was so easy to get the kids in and there was a place to put the portable DVD player for hours and hours of Finding Nemo and The Little Mermaid. Thanks again minivan, you really stuck it to me again. No matter what I will continue my crusade against the minivan. It's just not my style and I think there is rule against them in the bylaws for the loft building that I live in.

We started on our journey about an hour and a half later than scheduled due to the repack (see two paragraphs above). We fueled up (with sodas) and were on our way to Hotlanta. The GPS, who we named Gertrude, said that we would be there by 5:30pm. Not bad, except that with all the potty breaks, fill ups, and lunch Gertie kept changing her mind and 5:30 became 6:30, and 7:00 and so on.

We finally arrived at almost 8:00, which thanks to the time difference is actually 9:00. Our hotel room was beautiful! We started unpacking and Nat ordered a pizza. The toliet had a slow flush, but no big deal, maybe that's how they roll in Hotlanta? We settled in quite nicely, let the kids play with their toys, we all enjoyed the delicious pizza and were just about ready for bed - read: we were all in our pajamas and in bed, when... Diana comes running out of the bathroom because the tricky toilet had overflowed all over the bathroom and her skirt. After some careful negotiations by myself and Nat, we switched rooms (at midnight), Nat was credited his Hilton Honors Points and we were offered a complimentary stay for a future visit. Can't wait to come back!

The Adventures of the Gourleys September 2007 - May 2009

My name is Shanna Gourley and it has been 1 year and 10 months since my last post. Hello Shanna.

Yes, I am a big loser. Right after Reese was born I thought - what a great idea - I'll start a blog and let my family and friends know what's happening with our family. I made two posts and never emailed them to anyone. Read the original posts below and you can see what happened in the two months right after Reese was born. Now here we are almost 2 years later. Oops.


So let me catch you up.

August 2007 - December 2007:

• Daryl started working for Edward Jones. He spend spent the rest of the summer/fall studying for his tests. He passed his tests and is officially a Financial Advisor. We found out later in the year that he would be taking over an office downtown less than a mile from our apartment in January 2008. YAHOO!


• Shanna was still working for Clinique as a Regional Assistant in the St. Louis office. I really missed my job in New York and am grateful to still be able to connect with my coworkers in my new role. Also still benefiting from the perks of amazing free make up and skin care products.


• Aidan & Reese started at a new daycare after a very brief 'at home daycare' experience. It is just not for me or my family. I am not judging anyone that runs or has children that attend 'at home day cares,' we just had a bad experience and I have found what I always knew to be true, I love the structure and institutional methods of daycare centers. Something about the cubbies lined up in a row with each child's hook labeled with their name and the daily status sheets that they send home each day just makes me happy. The kids are happy there and they learn so much. Plus our new daycare is only 1 mile from our loft.


• Aidan is walking very well (read: running) all over and has an amazing vocabulary. He learned sign language at about 8-10 months old and it has been a huge help for us. He is also an expert at falling - he must get his balance from me. I keep Vaseline with me at all times - turns out it is a great remedy for bumps and bruises. I have also purchased stock in Spiderman BandAids and Neosporin. BandAids are my Windex - for those of you who have seen "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."


• Reese is growing too. She is so different from Aidan - it will be amazing to watch them grow up together. Reese laughs, but she almost always has a very serious look on her face

• We became friends with Melissa and Oscar Iglesias. They live down the street from us and moved here recently from New York City too. They planned to open a New York style pizzeria in Spring 2008. Their son Marin is 6 months younger than Aidan. We walked almost daily with Marin and Melissa and spent so much time playing on the St. Louis Memorial Arch grounds.


• For Halloween Aidan was a monkey and Reese was a banana. How cute is that?

• We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Natalie, Tim, Guy and Levi and even celebrated Natalie's birthday!

• My mom, grandma, sister Emily, and nephews Tristian and Elijah visited us for Reese's first Chanukkah. This is a huge treat for Aidan and Reese because they get 8 presents from each person. My dining room table and living room were cover in presents and then later with torn wrapping paper.
• 
  We had a great Christmas too! I took the kids to meet Santa - Reese dirty looked Santa too. I guess it doesn't matter at this point because she couldn't ask Santa for anything anyway. Aidan loved Christmas. He really enjoyed all of the presents.

January - December 2008:

• Daryl got his own Edward Jones office in January. He worked a lot of hours all year. Everyone told us that the first few years are the hardest. We'll let you know when it gets easier. We went to our first Summer Regional Meeting for Edward Jones in Memphis, TN. It was hard work for Daryl, but I got to spend time sightseeing with the kids. We walked Beale Street, went to the Fire Museum, and saw the ducks at The Peabody Hotel.

• Aidan and Reese attended Music Together classes. I love watching them participate in the class. They are getting more active and Aidan even knows the words to some of the songs. I think he will be a drummer, they boy has rhythm.

• Aunt Peggy visited us in April. Really she was in town to see Barry Manilow and we happen to live here too! We had so much fun showing her our neighborhood and our loft.

• Aidan and Reese enjoyed their first Peeps on Easter! Yeah sugar!

• Aidan turned 2 years old and we celebrated with a Dinosaur theme birthday party. His cousins Trisitian and Elijah were there and so were his friends Marin, Finni, and Max.

• Aidan, Marin and Reese are such great friends!

• We celebrated Reese's first birthday. She loved her cake and loved opening all of her presents. All her friends came over for a pool party.
  

• Aidan started potty training. I ending up doing a LOT of laundry. I tried the "one day" training method. I know it has worked for some people, but not us. Otherwise, this is the longest day of my life. Reese was staying with my mother-in-law for the weekend so that I could totally devote my time to the "potty party." For those that don't know the method, you are supposed to get a doll that pees and a mini toilet. You "teach" the doll to successfully go in the potty and throw a "potty party" whenever the doll makes in the toilet. I had all my supplies - doll who pees (we named her Charlie), mini toilet for Charlie, cupcakes, party hats, streamers, party horns, and lots of juice. Keeping the kid pumped up with juice and sweets is supposed to make them have to go and after all the attention that Charlie got he is supposed to want to have his own "potty party." Everytime they "go" you are supposed to cheer and give a lot of hoopla over it. By 10:30 am, Aidan wanted his own party. All was going well and thought I was a genius until 1pm when Aidan couldn't stop peeing all over himself. We had too many "parties" and he "broke the seal." There was no stopping him now. The big problem ahead of me was nap time. I knew it would be disaster because he was wetting his pants every 10 minutes. I would change him and then throw everything in the washing machine. This continued through the afternoon. We skipped naptime after I couldn't get the sheets off the bed and decided to dismantle the bed and make it into a daybed. The new daybed didn't have a rail and Aidan kept falling out which freaked him out so he didn't want to stay in his bed. IMMEDIATE trip to Babies R Us needed to purchase crib rail. With the help of daycare, a lot of patience, and Daryl's phrase "drop a duce," which Aidan loves to shout out in public places we got better as the year came to a close.

• In June my job with Clinique was eliminated along with the jobs of many of my other co-workers. I was excited and devastated at the same time. Summer was in full bloom and the only positive spin I could put on being unemployed was the idea of being a lady of leisure for the summer. Then it hit me - Once my stockpile ran out, I would have to pay retail for my cosmetics. Tear.

• My friend Evie had her baby boy Noah in August. Having been off for most of the summer, I spent so much time with Evie as she prepared for Noah's arrival. I was so excited that he was finally here. Another downtown mom and another playmate for Aidan and Reese!

• Reese was a flower for Halloween and won 1st place in a costume contest. Aidan was Superman. He loved his cape! He was so proud and excited to be Superman! Aidan won second place in the costume contest!

• Reese finally started walking in December! Best Christmas present ever. I thought she was so stubborn that she would never walk only because I wanted her to so bad!

• We had breakfast with Santa and Reese managed to dirty look Santa again this year. Hopefully next year will be better.

January 2009 - April 2009:

• Our friends Melissa, Oscar and Marin moved to Barcelona. We are so sad because we miss them so much. Aidan asks about Melissa everytime we walk by her apartment building. I told him that they moved to Barcelona, but I'm sure he doesn't understand what Barcelona means or how far it actually is from St. Louis.

• We decorated Easter eggs. Aidan handled the eggs like Lenny from "Of Mice and Men," so we decided not to eat the cracked and possibly poisoned eggs. Reese and Aidan both loved their Easter baskets, especially the Cadbury eggs!

• Aidan turned 3 in May. He had a Train birthday party at Tower Grove Park. My friend Sarah let me use her niece and nephew's life size train set and it was huge hit! All the kids wanted to ride it. It was a beautiful day and the birthday boy had a wonderful time. He is now telling me at the end of any event big or small, "Mommy, we had fun, didn't we?" Yes, we did buddy, we had fun!