my niece rode the black hor. Wait.....what????

OMG, 2 year olds are funny little people! I have to document this story so I can use it to torture her someday. As I'm sure you're aware, 2 y/o's are just learning to talk and can say some pretty funny stuff.

My niece pronounces the word horse as "hor". And she loves the carousel. Last Saturday, my mom and sister took her to the mall to ride the carousel there and, apparently, Kendall ran screaming through the mall "black hor! black hor!". LOL!  Can you even imagine???? What's funnier is that she ended up riding on the tiger, but whatever.

Yesterday Kendall stayed home w/her Grandma Pam....and got to ride the black hor. Today, as my sister dropped her off at day care, she apparently told her teacher all about riding the black hor. Is that not hysterical? I mean, seriously?

That kid is too much, I swear.

Stunning

I've got to brag on my niece just a bit more-hey, it's my blog, I can if I want to. K recently had her 2 year pics taken and my sis shared one of them....I had to share it with y'all because quite honestly, the pic is stunning. I mean, we all think she's beautiful, but this pic pretty much proves it:

The aftermath

What should have been a peaceful Easter weekend was anything but here in St. Louis. As the world knows by now, an F4 tornado (the 2nd worst possible, winds 166-200 miles per hour), hit St. Louis Friday night, leveling whole neighborhoods, and shutting down highways and our airport. It was devastating. And now, the clean up begins. On Saturday, as my parents and I headed back to my grandpa's house, we had to go on 270 and saw firsthand the path the tornado took-a whole section of trees cut in half, someone's shed lying on the side of the highway, mangled, fences down, roofs on houses missing. How no one was killed I'll never know. It really, truly was a miracle, there's no other explanation for it. I'm so thankful that no one I know lost anything during this horrible storm. I'm still a little freaked out at the knowledge that I was in between two of the tornado touchdown points on Friday night.

Here's a couple of pics I found to display just how devastating this storm was:

Both of these pics are at Lambert Airport. It's back to about 90% functioning today, but hard to imagine that even being possible by looking at these pics. Please pray for us as we have the potential for more tornado producing storms today.

beautiful girl

Had to share this pic of my little munchkin. Her PaPaw Al took this of her. The green is green bubbles! Apparently they come in colors now, who knew? Is she not the cutest darn thing????

Tornadoes are no joke

There are two things I'm most afraid of-tornadoes and clowns. One of them attacked tonight. 

I think I've finally calmed down. It's been stormy here for the last few days, so we're kinda used to it by now. But nothing prepares you for when a tornado really does happen. I was at church with my aunt and cousin for Good Friday. The tornado sirens were going off throughout the service-and I must say, with the darkness of Good Friday (literally, the lights were dimmed), it was quite an eerie thing. Mind you, no one got up from their pews while the sirens went off. That is, until our senior pastor stood up, announced he'd just been informed that there was a tornado on the ground at 270 and 70 (not far from where we were), and that we needed to get to the basement. Once down there, I saw people crying, just terrified. I appeared calm, but I was shaking. Remember-scared to death of tornadoes. Then again, I was kinda glad I was in a church when it happened-I kinda felt protected. 

After we got the all clear, we finished our service and after we got in our cars to go home, I kinda lost it a bit. I think it finally hit me just how scary it was and how lucky we were. I then drove by Grandpa's house to make sure all was well there-it was, but his neighborhood looks like a war zone-trash cans and boxes in the street, branches everywhere. I could hear sirens all around me. 

The real craziness began as I tried to head home. "Try" being the key word. Turns out, the tornado hit our airport-theres extensive damage, the roof is gone, but miraculously, no one was killed. There is no power and the airport is closed indefinitely. Once I hit the highway, I quickly saw that traffic was at a standstill. There were overturned semi trucks, debris and downed power lines ON the highway. There were ambulances and police cars everywhere. To get off the highway, I followed some other cars going the wrong way up an exit ramp (no one was coming the other way) and I completely backtracked until I was able to make it to 70 going the opposite way that I needed to-but I couldn't go toward the city because the airport is that way and the highway was shut down. So on my long way home, I went by my office park, I couldn't see much because the power was out, but I think everything was in tact. It took me an hour and a half to get home.....I've never been so glad to see my apartment. I'm a little too keyed up right now to sleep. I just thank God no one was killed. It was pretty horrible tonight, but could have been so much worse.

I'm guessing having the urge to stab something (or someone) is not what Good Friday is really all about......

I'd say Happy Good Friday to you all, but it's really not so much a "happy" event. So how bout Happy Earth Day? What are we supposed to do on Earth Day? Anything in particular? I threw a cardboard box in the recycle bin today, does that count?

My co-worker Jeff said it best this morning when he said "when is it going to end?". He's referring to our hella ridiculous workload. For weeks now, we've received empty promises that it's gonna get better, that management is working on a solution, that they are full of crap. That last statement is the only thing that's true. It has NOT gotten better and they have NOT offered us a solution. Now, I'm trying to be all Pollyanna around the office and not dissolve into tears from the sheer volume of stress, but it's getting harder and harder everyday. People that normally don't crack under pressure are......cracking under pressure. Somethings gotta give or we are all gonna become the patients we serve. For serious.

Let's focus on the positive, shall we? It's Easter weekend and my parents will be in town. I think we may be helping out at my sister and brother-in-law's new house tomorrow, helping them get it move-in ready. That, and I have to bring Kendall her Easter basket. I think she's getting 4 total. Lucky kid. Man, life is gonna get expensive when 2.0 comes along....I mean, I have to spoil him equally as much as I do Kendall. It's only fair. And my job as the aunt. Tonight I'm having dinner with my Aunt Diane and cousin Jackie at the greatest pizza place in the world....Pirrone's. Going there and then to church is my Good Friday tradition, only, typically I go alone. It'll be nice to have some company this year!

Happy Easter to you (if you believe in such a thing). I expect it to be standing room only at church on Sunday.......

That didn't last long

The Cubs are no longer in 1st place as both the Reds and Cardinals won today. Granted, the Cubs didn't even play today, and are only .5 back, but still. I believe 1st placed lasted just a hair under 24 hours. Well played boys, well played.

Attention America, The Chicago Cubs are in 1st place

Ok, so it's a four-way tie with the Reds, Cardinals and Brewers....but first place is first place! And, ok, so all four teams are only .500.....still first place is first place! Wooooo! Let's enjoy it while it lasts, k? The Cubbies split a doubleheader with the Padres yesterday, but still took 2 out of 3, so, I'm not complainin about that. And I just read something kinda interesting, so far this season the Cubs have been 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, 5-5, 6-6, 7-7, 8-8 and now 9-9. Isn't that wild?



And in headlines that make me giggle like a school girl: "Cubs walk off in 11th with Johnson's dinger"
Come on, how are supposed to NOT giggle at that?????

Back the F off, Mother Nature!

Look, Mother Nature, I get it. You're pissed. Why, I don't know, but I get it.

Mega storms raged through much of the midwest last night. It was pretty scary stuff (I mean, we were the main headline on the Weather Channel and everything!). Parts of the metro area got (literally) golf ball sized hail. There were several reports of tornadoes which freaked me the hell out-there are two things I'm most scared of in the world: clowns and tornadoes.

It took awhile for the storm to hit St. Louis City, but when it did, it did with a vengeance. Yikes. It for real sounded like the world was ending-I don't know how else to describe it. The hail and wind was so loud, I'm not sure I've ever experienced that before. And then the tornado sirens started. As I'm sure I've mentioned before, the tornado sirens in St. Louis City talk. Yes, a deep voiced man can be heard throughout the city saying "THIS IS A TORNADO WARNING. PLEASE SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY". Creepy. And effective. My happy ass was down in the basement. I started to freak out when I heard of a possible tornado in Florissant near Washington and St. Catherine....um, that is right by my grandpa's house. I also freaked out when I heard of a tornado about 25 miles from Salem...my hometown and the place where my parents and brother still live (all are safe and sound, by the way). It was eerily quiet once the storm finally went away, but what a night.

The biggest travesty of all, however, is the fact that the weather coverage kept interrupting the new episode of Glee. I was none too happy about that. Seriously. Oh and both the Cubs and Cards games got cancelled and are rescheduled for today. Yes, that's right, double headers today for all! Yippee!

Our budding fashionista........

Two year olds are hilarious! Seriously. Check out Kendall's accesories she chose herself-note the zebra print purse that goes oh so well with her pink and black checked shirt...paired with a blue ring and purple necklace. She is STYLIN! I love it. That kid cracks me up more and more every single day.

Remembering Alyssa

It's hard to believe an entire year has gone by.

One year ago today, my brother-in-law's beautiful 26 year old sister Alyssa, passed away. She was Kendall's only other auntie.

The last few times I was around her, we had such a good time. Two of those times were babysitting our then infant niece. One of the things that makes me saddest is that she hasn't been here for this last year to see how much our Kendall has grown-to see what an amazing, smart, funny, beautiful kiddo she's become. And I hate thinking about the fact that she won't be here to meet our nephew and get to watch the both of them grow up. I struggle with feeling guilty because I get to do those things-I know it's irrational, but nonetheless, it's how I feel.

You sometimes don't realize the impact someone has on your life or the world....until they're gone. Alyssa, for better or worse, left a giant hole when she left us. Last Friday as we all gathered to celebrate Kendall's 2nd birthday, we were all acutely aware that one key member of our combined family was missing. That sucked.

I like to think that she is Kendall's (and 2.0's) guardian angel. She watches over her from above, and I do it from here.

Alyssa, I'd give my right arm to have you back with us. We all truly, truly miss you so much. You're gone, but never, EVER, forgotten.

12 games in.....KD's perspective on your 2011 Cubs

Ok, our boys are currently .500 at 6-6. I can't really complain about that. There's been some bright spots this season....and some not so bright spots. Let's discuss, shall we?

1. PLEASE keep Castro and Barney as your 1-2 hitters. They are leading the NL in batting average and on base percentage. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

2. It pains me to say this....but my beloved Tyler Colvin may need to go down to AAA. He is striking out WAY too much, his BA is WELL below the Mendoza line. And while he is adorable, and has more RBI's than anyone would have guessed with that horrendous BA, something needs to change. Go work on your swing kid.

3. Stop leaving the starters in one inning too long. Granted, there are parts of our bullpen that even a team of t-ballers could hit, but you ruin a perfectly good start in one little inning. Take Big Z last night. Dude was cruising....had a great outing (even hit a homerun!)....but was left in one inning too long.....and imploded. Not good.

4.  All Cubs fans should just go ahead and call their docs to get a script for hypertension, cuz watching Carlos Marmol pitch the 9th is ALWAYS gonna cause your blood pressure to rise.

5. Rami is lookin good so far this season.....in more ways than one (wink wink, nod nod). He's hitting, he's fielding, he's got a sweet ass. Ladies, the Rami we know and love is back!

6. Sean Marshall keeps getting sexier and sexier. And I don't typically dig facial hair, but he is rockin the beard. Missouri's own, Blake DeWitt, not so much.

7. I don't know who will ultimately take this division. For the moment, it's anyone's to win. Even the Cubs. Lets see how the rest of the 150 games play out.......

I have no shame.........

Yes, that is my knee. Isn't it pretty? Kinda looks like someone took a baseball bat to it, huh?

This injury is the result of my fall at a local grocery store on Saturday. My mom and I ran to the store Saturday morning and, as we were on our way out, yours truly slipped and fell. Turns out, there was a puddle of water where water shouldn't have been...and that's what I slipped on. My mom ran for the manager because I couldn't get up-I was in shock at first and wasn't sure of the extent of the injury. You should have seen the look on the manager's face, she was totally like "aw hell, she's gonna sue us". I was helped up and was able to walk. She made sure I had her name and store number just in case I needed to go to the doctor. It really didn't hurt much at first, surprisingly. Saturday night it was a bit swollen and gushy when you touched it, but by Sunday that was gone. The bruise probably looked it's prettiest yesterday-as seen above. Yesterday my leg started aching a bit-not enough that I couldn't walk-but aching nonetheless. Today, the bruise is very, very sore, and my knee is stiff, I think because it's healing. I don't think I'll need the doctor, but I wanted to share my totally bad ass bruise. :)

My niece's 2nd birthday

Kendall, or "Hendall" as she now refers to herself, had a great 2nd birthday and party! I can't believe my favorite little munchkin is already two. It doesn't seem possible. I know I'm waaaay biased, but seriously, she is such a beautiful little girl-big blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair. Her paternal grandpa Al says she's gonna be a heartbreaker. I think he may be right. She also might cause her daddy to get a few more gray hairs here in the coming years.....

Friday was her actual birthday. When I arrived at the house, she was standing in the window waiting for me. She gave me a big hug and was in QUITE the good mood. She had a t-shirt on that her Pam-maw (or as Kendall calls her "Pee Pee"....yes, it's hilarious) made her for her birthday. I asked her about her party at school-she and her little friends enjoyed a kosher cookie cake and they all sang happy birthday to her. I think she said it was fun, she may have just said "yea" to get me to leave her alone. We played in the basement until my parents and brother arrived (she was VERY excited to see her Uncle Tim...he may be her new favorite), and then headed out to dinner. She was in a great mood and even went up to a table of boys that were probably about 11 and she......danced for them (Um, see paragraph 1 and the part about causing her daddy gray hairs.....). My previous post detailed one of the most fun events-the announcement that Kendall is getting a little brother. But this night was still mostly about her. After dinner, we headed back to the house and let her open her presents. Now she was having a party on Saturday and my sis requested no presents, but of course, that excluded immediate family, so we did the present thing on Friday night. Kendall's Pam-maw and Papaw set her up with tons of clothes-super duper cute-that she got out of the bag and tossed on the floor. My parents got her a bunch of dress up stuff-princess dresses (with a Cinderella doll to match), purses and fake dress shoes. She LOVED the shoes. She was strutting around in these shoes that were way too big for her. Watching her try to walk in heels was absolutely hilarious. And then she insisted we all wear a pair as well....so yours truly got stuck wearing a red pair with Snow White on them. Hot, I know. She next opened part of the gift I got her-a mix of stuff. Her eyes lit up when she saw the Play-Doh (I'm sure her parents really appreciated it), she didn't so much care about the clothes, but the I'm a Big Kid Elmo book? I struck gold with that one. She stopped everything to sit down and look at  her Elmo book and tell us the names of all the characters in there. I also got her an adorable tricycle (with mom's blessing), she tried to stand on the box (I hear it is now together and she took it for a spin in the driveway...she also took it for a spin in the foyer but got in trouble for that....oops). She then moved on to her gifts from Uncle Tim...which included this way cool book about animals (she LOVES animals)...on each page was a pop-up pic of the animal...we all oohed and aahed about how cool it was...until she turned to the turtle page. All of us (Kendall included) were a bit startled as this giant 3-D turtle popped out at us-it was quite lifelike and just a little freaky.

Saturday was Kendall's party at the carousel, which, apparently, is THE place to have your two-year old's birthday party. She arrived in her adorable pink dress that her P am Maw made for her....she also had one of the purses my mom got her on her arm (quite the lady, don't you know). Kendall, for the most part, ignored everyone and just wanted to ride the "hor" (her word for horse and not, um, a lady of the night). Most family members took turns riding with her. Aunt Kerri was hoping to avoid getting on the carousel because I get motion sick very easily. I thought was in in the clear....however, little miss grabbed my hand and insisted I ride with her. Oh the things we do for those we love. Her party was a lot of fun, even the part where my brother-in-law's friends threatened me with their mob ties if I didn't tell them the gender of the baby. They found out soon enough anyway....my sis had arranged for the inside of Kendall's birthday cake (that was two-tiered and shaped like a carousel, by the way) to be dyed blue. Only it turned out kinda green, so no one actually got it, so they just had to announce they were having a boy.  This will be the 8th great-grandchild in our family and only the 2nd boy, so I'm sure my cousin's little guy Brayden is more than excited to have another dude in the family. :) I'm not sure how they're gonna top this party, it was a pretty good one.

Happy Birthday again to my favorite girl. I can't wait to see how much she changes this next year. She already looks bigger to me. :(

2.0 is a.............

I'll write a separate post later about Miss Kendall's 2nd birthday, but for now, 2.0 has the spotlight. On Friday, my sis and brother in law finally let the cat out of the bag. In approximately 19 weeks, I'm gonna have a.........................NEPHEW! Yes, 2.0 is a boy! I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited, you have no idea. One of each? Perfect. Now I don't have to play favorites-I can have a favorite niece and a favorite nephew. Easy. :)

So, how'd they tell us? My sis informed me beforehand that they weren't creative, but they did tell us in a creative way-even if they stole the idea.

On Friday, I called my sis to see what time she'd be home, I was already in the neighborhood and planned to head over as soon as she was home. She was stuck in traffic and a bit stressed that she may not make it to the bakery before it closed (she'd ordered cupcakes for Kendall's birthday), I offered to go get them for her...she was like "no, no, I should be able to make it" and left it at that.

Fast forward to Kendall's birthday dinner. As we were sitting there, it dawned on me. I whispered to my brother "I think the cupcakes have something to do with 2.0, somehow that's how they're going to tell us", because all through dinner, no one mentioned 2.0. So....after dinner, my sis went to open the box of cupcakes. I was sitting right next to them, hoping to get the first glance....I did, and what I saw was a dozen cupcakes with green icing. Guess I was wrong......right? Well after we sang "happy birthday" to little miss, my brother-in-law's dad cut his cupcake open and was showing Kendall that the middle had icing in it-totally oblivious mind you-and my sister said with great emphasis "yea, what.color.is.the.middle". That's when yours truly caught on, spotted the BLUE icing and I looked at my sis and said "is 2.0 a boy?". Then a bit of chaos ensued as everyone else slowly figured it out. YAY! I'm soooo, sooo excited! On Saturday, after all of Kendall's birthday festivities were over with, my mom and I headed to Carter's and started loading up on baby boy stuff...fun, fun, fun! This little guy is already loved soooooo much. I can't wait to meet him!

Happy Birthday Eve munchkin!

Tomorrow is my niece's 2nd birthday! She's apparently very excited. I love that she is having a little party at school tomorrow. She goes to the Jewish Community Center (no, we're not Jewish) so any food brought in has to be kosher. No worries, my sis was directed to a grocery store in the area that indeed sells kosher party treats. Crisis averted.

I'm excited because my whole little family will be together tomorrow! It's usually all about Kendall when we're together, but tomorrow it really will be. Aunt Kerri got K's gift wrapped last night. Let me tell you this-I am not a good gift wrapper. No sirree. I'm a throw it in a gift bag kind of girl. But.....the gift I got her is too big for a bag, so, I had to actually wrap it. I gotta say, while it won't win any best wrapped present awards, it doesn't look too bad. Not that K will care. She is an expert on ripping off wrapping paper. It's a fine skill to have.

We find out 2.0's gender tomorrow! YAY!

5 games in, let the angst begin

Well, just as us Cubs fans were riding high on an above .500 record for the first time in two years, we just as quickly were brought back down to Earth. Who ordered the Karma?

Yep, not one but TWO of the Cubs starters were placed on the DL today. Andrew Cashner-who had a marvelous MLB debut as a starter yesterday had some tightness in his shoulder. And apparently Randy Wells has some forearm issue-he also pitched well in his first game.

Not gonna lie, this sucks. BUT, for once, I think the Cubs are being really smart about this. Both injuries are minor, putting them on the DL now allows time for them to heal....and to not let the problem become a bigger one down the road. Plus, I think you'd rather have this happen during the first week of the season rather than, say, during a possible playoff push late in the season (hey, it could happen!).

My main concern is, who do you bring in to replace them? I hear Casey Coleman is being called up, that's fine, whatevs. I also hear they may use James Russell (he pitched well yesterday in relief, so I'm ok with that). What I'm NOT ok with is even the remotest possibility that Jeff Samardjiza be allowed to start a game. Sure, Shark did ok in relief yesterday, but this guy is a hot mess, he is not a good pitcher, should have stuck with football. Just sayin. Not only that, but with his ridiculous long hair and weird facial hair, he looks like one of the Three Musketeers and, my friends, that is not a good thing.

Dear Karma Gods, haven't the Cubs been through enough the last century or so? Hoping these injuries really are minor and that Wells and Cashner will be back in their rightful spots in the rotation soon.

How 'bout them Cubbies?

Five games into the 2011 season and your Chicago Cubs are 3-2. Startling fact, this is the first time they have been over .500 since 2009. Seriously. Wow.

How bout lil Tyler Colvin yesterday, huh? As documented over and over and over and over again, Tyler is among my favorite Cubbies, not just because he's adorable, but because I really feel this kid is gonna do some great things in MLB. Yesterday, he got his first ever Major League start at 1B since cutie pie Carlos Pena had a bit of a thumb boo boo. He did a very capable job at 1B, no errors, but more importantly, he hit his first homerun of the season and helped the Cubbies win, ensuring they'd take at least 2 of  3 from the D-bags (going for the sweep today, baby!).

At this moment in time, the Cubs are tied for 2nd in the NL Central. Those punkass Reds are in 1st, undefeated. Makes me want to punch Joey Votto in the mouth. For reals.

Hendall

Happy Hump Day y'all!

I have a bunch of random stuff floating through my head today. It's been a rough week at work. For reals. Monday we were four people short, Tuesday we were three people short. And my boss hasn't been to work since last Thursday-she apparently has pleurisy. Do people really get that? Apparently. Given work is already overwhelming when we are fully staffed, you can imagine how stressful the last two days have been. But, I am happy to report, I've done it all with a smile on my face. Sometimes it was forced, but I haven't had one meltdown. Haven't dissolved in tears once (unless you count when I was watching Dancing With the Stars, but that's a whole 'nother story.). Haven't gotten mad, or irritable, or frustrated. I decided to put my big girl pants on and tackle the workload head on. My teammates and I (the few that were actually at work this week) banded together and made it through. Today we are only down one person (maternity leave), so I'm hoping things will be better. That, and I'm off on Friday so today is like my  Thursday.

Why am I off on Friday? Well, in my profession, you are made to acquire CEU hours every two years in order to keep your license (trainings and stuff), so I have a delightful 8 hour training on Friday (sucks, but still better than actually being at work)  and then...and then..........

Friday is Kendall's SECOND BIRTHDAY! I cannot believe my favorite little munchkin is already 2! I'm gonna get sappy here-having her in my life has been the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. For realsies. That kid is amazing. She is having a birthday party on Saturday at the carousel (it is THE birthday hot spot for the toddler set here in the STL), but on her actual birthday,  both sets of grandparents, me and her Uncle Tim are all meeting up to see  her and give her her presents. AND......on top of that, I believe my sis and brother-in-law will finally reveal the gender of 2.0. I have my suspicions. They have known for a week now, and have been very good about not slipping and giving it away-kudos guys! The gender really doesn't matter to me, I just want to know so I can stop calling 2.0 "it". "It" is not a nice thing to call a child.

Kendall is very excited about her party. She's a big fan of parties and I'm sure once she realizes this one is all about her, she's gonna ham it up. Should be fun!!! Also exciting, she has finally started saying her own name! She's been calling herself "you"-this is our fault. You see, every time we'd look at pictures, we'd say "Kendall, that's you!"....well, she took that literally and has called herself "you" ever since. Until this week. Now she is apparently calling herself "Hendall". Still struggling with the "K" sound (she's still calling me Heewi), but I love that she's figured this out! She's just plain fascinating. Saturday she said the word "pyramid". That seems to be a pretty big word for a 2 year old, but she said it crystal clear (it was during a fascinating episode of Dora). She also said "sandbox". I was amazed, for real.

So, lots of fine family fun coming up this weekend. I can't wait to celebrate our girls' big day! And find out if she's getting a little brother or a little sister. Exciting stuff people!

Colvin is getting the start at first base today!

Oh boy, my favorite Cubs kiddo is starting at first base today, thanks to Carlos Pena and his apparent thumb issues. GO TYLER GO!!!! He didn't look too bad at 1B during Spring Training, but now it's the real deal. Good luck Tyler!!!!

Andrew Cashner is getting his first MLB start today. Are we nervous Cubs fans? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't. His spring wasn't great. Perhaps he'll pull it all together today.

Um and in other exciting news, while the season is still young, it was announced that the Cubs Starlin Castro was named co-NL Player of the Week. WTG Starlin! I guess batting over .600 will do that. The person he was "co" with was some Cardinal. Meh. We don't talk about them on here.

GO CUBS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!