Movin' On Up!

SO, I'm probably getting ahead of myself here, but I think we may be moving. We've been talking about adding on to this house for a long time now. We just need more room. We also have decided after the recent tornadic events in the surrounding area we need a basement or a storm shelter. Our plan was to build an addition with a basement underneath that....well scratch that idea...apparently concrete is REALLY expensive right now. As much as I LOVE this house, I know that it is just not big enough for us, and if we decided to have another baby, there is no way we will all fit in here with all the stuff we have. I also LOVE my neighborhood and my neighbors, it really hurts to think that we have to leave them...so much so that we are actually considering buying a bigger house in this subdivision that has a basement. The only problem is, that house is WAY over priced compared to similar houses about 10 miles from here. and by way over priced, I'm talking $100,000 more than a bigger house with more land located a few miles away. Both houses are brand new, and the one in this subdivision actually backs up to railroad tracks, making it even less attractive. As much as I hate to move from here, I just think it is what will happen...my dream of course would be to buy the house in this subdivision, but that would just be crazy if they won't come down off the price...by like $90,000...hehe. SO if any of my neighbors are reading this, and you want to move and give us a super good deal on your house, we might just bite on it! I know this is probably the worst time ever to try to sell a house, so of course that has to happen before any of this can take place, so lets pray for a boost in the real estate market, k? or at least pray for this one to sell quickly.
The though of having my house on the market just makes me nauseous. When someone decides they want to look at it, it's never, "we want to look at it tomorrow" it's "we want to look at it in five minutes" Great! Come on over..wade through the toys! fold my laundry while you're at it. oh, and put the dishes away, k? I just hate having to keep my house spotless 24/7. Which, by the way, is impossible if you have a one year old...especially my one year old who thinks pulling all of the clothes out of the draws in his room and throwing them on the floor is fun. Or who thinks my kitchen cabinets need to be cleaned out daily. Or who thinks throwing his breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack on the floor is a good way to signify that he is finished and wants no more. Or who believes that he can not play with just one or two or three or even four toys at one time, because there must be at least 10 available for play at any given time. Or else. SO a little notice would be nice, mainly so I can be sure to pick up whatever storm damage my little tornado has left, and remove myself and him from the house so no further damage can be done. My favorite is when there is a car sitting in your driveway and the phone rings "just wondering if we can come take a look" Ahh I love cell phones. It must have been nicer to sell a house before cell phones were invented, at least you would have had the time it took them to get from the real estate office to your house...well maybe not, because they probably just came up to your door, didn't knock, got the key out of the box and came on in. Gee...I wonder how many real estate agents have walked in to see something they've only see on Showtime after 2 am? Bet that would teach them to call and make an appointment from now on. So I must say, even though I am SO VERY excited about the idea of buying a new house, I am very sad to leave my neighbors, and totally not looking forward to having my house listed. Again, lets just pray that the first person to see it, sees it clean, and buys it. Ahh wouldn't that be grand?
Love ya all!
-Sha

Extra Long Easter Weekend Means an Extra Long Post!

Hey everyone! Happy Easter, I hope the Easter bunny was good to you this year. Mine and Carter's weekend was extra long. On Thursday we left early and head to St Louis to go to the zoo with my Aunt Brenda. Carter had a blast! He loved looking at all the animals.

After the zoo we went to my cousin Jayme's house. She lives near Valley Park, MO which, if you didn't know, has been hit by a lot of flooding this week. We got off the interstate at her exit around 3 pm. The water under the interstate had 2 lanes blocked, and the traffic was starting to back up. The road that we take to get to her house was flooded, so we waited at the gas station for her to get there to show us another way into her house. It took her a long time to get there, the traffic was REALLY backing up. By the time the 10 o'clock news came on that evening, the entire intersection that was starting to flood when we went through, was completely under water. It was closed. Brenda and Don got Carter Easter presents too. He got some new outfits, a sand bucket, bath toys, a toy truck, a cup, chocolates, and a farm animal noise making toy. Thanks guys! The next morning the water was still rising. Carter and I were planning on leaving that morning and going to Grandma Beth's. But with the water still coming up, the interstate was backed up as crews worked to sandbag along the Meramec River, to keep the water from completely shutting down the interstate. At first I thought we would have to stay another night, but because the water wasn't suppose to crest until Saturday afternoon, I was afraid the interstate would be under water and we wouldn't be able to get home until after it reopened, which could have been sometime today. So Jayme called on her way to work and said the interstate didn't look too bad, and if we were going to go, we had better go before they had to completely shut it down. Well we did. It wasn't too bad from where Jayme was when she called, but just beyond that...whoa, it was a virtual parking lot. It took us nearly 3 hours to go 10 miles. I took a lot of pictures while we were sitting there doing nothing. The flooding was incredible. The traffic was even more incredible.

We finally got to Beth's house about 4 hours after we left Jayme's. Beth has a camp ground on the Gasconade River in Jerome. It also had flooded this week, but the water had already crested and was going down pretty quickly. On Saturday morning we drove down to the river and their cabin was no longer under water...but it was a mess! There was mud on everything. I'm sure they are having a great Easter weekend cleaning up the mess the river left for them. We spent the night at Beth's, and Jen and Cooper came down so the boys could play for a little while. Saturday afternoon, Carter and I headed to Grandma and Grandpa Z's for a little Easter Celebration. The Easter bunny had already been there and had hid eggs and Easter baskets for Dylan and Carter.

Once the boys had found the plastic eggs and their baskets, they colored some hard boiled eggs. Grandma got an 'egg spinner' that colored the eggs and was really easy for Carter to use...where was my camera? Right next to me...I have no clue what was wrong with me...I missed an opportunity to get some cute pictures. Grandma got Carter some bubbles, a tractor and a beach towel for vacation this summer. Katie and Dylan got Carter a bouncy ball, arm floats for the pool, and a watering can so he can help dad in the garden (mom kills things in the garden, so she's not allowed out there). When we got home last night, I cooked a few eggs and Carter and I colored them, so that I could get some pictures.

The Easter bunny came last night and brought Carter a bubble blowing lawn mower, some candy, and a Cardinals outfit. We are going to the Springfield/St. Louis Cardinals game next Saturday. So he needed a new Cardinals outfit, I'm glad the Easter bunny did his research ;). Carter and I also went to church this morning. We are looking forward to seeing Daddy this afternoon, we haven't seen him since we left Thursday morning, he had to stay home and work :(.

Hoppity hop hop...Here he comes!

Carter went to the mall to see the Easter Bunny. All the kids in front of him were screaming and crying....I tried to distract him so that he didn't notice what they were crying about, but of course, he kept looking around me to see what all the fuss was about. Once he saw, I thought "oh no, I bet this isn't going to be pretty." Well when it was our turn, he walked right up to him (which I think was actually a her...she had a pretty bumpy front if ya know what I mean) touched his fur and smiled...I put him in his lap and he reached around grabbed his face and was just as happy as could be, so it was a success.

I have yet to have a Christmas/Easter Picture taken that I am completely satisfied with...this one 3/4 of the picture is background, why didn't they zoom in a little? I'll never know, lol.

New Toys!!

Here's a video of Carter playing with his new toy from Aunt Shelly. He loves it! He loves all his other new toys and books too! My living room looks like a garage with all the cars/trucks/tractors/trains parked in it..there's big ones to ride, and little ones to push...Carter said he would consider cleaning his toy box out and donating some of his "old" toys to mommy to sell on ebay. After Easter, there is going to be no more room for anything!

Birthday Party!

Yesterday was the big day. WOW was I ever behind. I was up til midnight Friday night making Carter's cake, and then I was SO busy Saturday morning that I almost didn't get it all done. Actually, I didn't get as much decorating done as I wanted it to, but that's all right, it still looked pretty good. Thank goodness Shelly was here Friday to help me with the cake and Saturday morning to help me get the food ready and decorate.
Carter got so many great gifts! Thank you guys all so much, he is truly blessed to have so many loving people in his life. When we came in from the party last night we opened a big box that was from Carter's best buddy Preston. Preston lives in Nebraska, so he mailed his present. It was a hat and a baseball toy. Carter put the hat on long enough for me to get a picture. It's a little big, but that just means he'll be able to wear it longer ;). Mommy likes his baseball toy, she tries to hit home runs. Thanks so much Preston, we can't wait to celebrate again when you come home!
Thanks again everyone! We had a great time!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday Dear Carter,
Happy Birthday to You!!!
Aww, my little guy is one today. I thought it would be a little bittersweet, but I would say I'm taking it quite well. I miss having a little baby, but I know we will have another one again some day, and I would just rather spend my time cherishing the moment we're in right now, then reminiscing about the past.
We've been busy getting things ready for his party all week, but today is his day. Carter had waffles with EXTRA syrup for breakfast this morning. And later we are going to Toys R Us. Geoffrey the Giraffe sent him a $3 gift card and promised him a balloon for his 1st birthday. We are also going to Cold Stone Creamery to get a birthday cake ice cream treat. Maybe we'll go out to lunch too while we are out and about.
So I've got a lot to do today, and I'd better get to it! Here's the pics from his one year session-

Great weather!

On Friday it got up to almost 60 degrees. Carter rode his little bike for the first time...he's says it's much more fun to push then to ride. Yesterday it got up to 71, we went for a walk and played on the swing set. It's suppose to be warm again today, but then rain later and snow tomorrow.

That line in the sidewalk is tricky to step over :)

Going for a walk!