Out to Eat in St. Louis

Tonight our little family went out to eat for the first time here in St. Louis. It was great!

We headed out early in the evening with no exact plan of where we were going. We drove for several miles just seeing what all is in the area, and discussing where it is we should go. We finally decided upon The Macaroni Grill!

Livia & her Mommy just before our meal arrived

I had no clue what kind of food they had there, but was soon VERY pleased to find out... That it's an Italian restaurant! Very classy atmosphere, delicious food & drinks, and great service. I was quite glad that I'd actually spent a little time on my hair, makeup, and wardrobe. Perry just loved the sweater dress! (Thank you Laura Belle for talking me into all those cute clothes!!!)

Another one of Liv & Me

The only thing that didn't seem to belong at this super-nice restaurant was our ornery little daughter... She did not want to stay seated, she sang & talked SO loudly that we had other tables standing up to look our direction, and let's not even talk about the screaming!

Ugh, it's nights like this that I can't wait to find some good babysitters here in Missouri! My husband & I have obviously realized that such a nice restaurant should be reserved for the two of us. At least until we get out of these terrible-two's!

That little stinker looks SO innocent in this photo!
I promise, she was all but a little terror.

The food was amazing, though I wish we could have enjoyed it just a little more! I think we know why Livia was acting up even more than usual. She didn't get a nap until very late in the afternoon, and I didn't want her to sleep more than an hour by the time she actually went down. Our daughter must have been quite sleepy, hence the misbehaving...

One piece of great news for the night, Liv is doing GREAT with potty-training! I told her that once we moved to St. Louis, she would have to start going in the big girl potty all the time. Looks like it's working for the most part!

Perry with Livia just before we finally left

I was just praying that she wouldn't have an accident while we were out -- I completely forgot to bring along any extra pull-ups! Lucky for me, she did great! I took Livie to the restroom twice while we were there at The Macaroni Grill, and she was still dry when we arrived back home.

One last thing about the evening: When Livia got in trouble, I was the one who had to discipline her. Perry just can't do it! Guess who has her Daddy wrapped around her little finger?

She's such a Daddy's girl...!

More Singing in the Bathtub

Guess who just loves to sing when she's in the bathtub? Well, yes, i do... But Liv's singing is a whole lot cuter! i just listening to our daughter sing!

Bubble Bath Time

Tonight Livia got her very first bubble bath here in St. Louis. She loved it just as much as she did back in Evansville! No surprise there, right? :-)

When I Knew

I've known for several months that moving to St. Louis was a definite possibility. There was one day in particular that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that this really was what God wanted for us. That day was October 26, 2009. I remeber the date very well because I posted up a small blog entry on my KLOVE profile.

I showed that post to my huband late last night...

Moving...
Posted: 10/26/2009 08:31:04 PM

I got to thinking today, and in many ways we are always moving in relation to God. We're either moving closer to Him or further away from Him. Very rarely are we ever just standing still... Even if it's just a little bit of sway, we're almost always moving one way or the other. And though it's seemingly impossible to continually move closer to God, with Him all things are possible!
I think about my own personal life, and I remember how excited I was when I decided that I wanted to be baptized. I didn't think it would ever be possible to be more excited about God than I was at that moment in time. But the reality is that though I've had my good and bad days, I actually feel closer and more excited about my God now -- more than ever before! It's somewhat of the love you feel for your own child. You think you can't ever love them any more, but that love just keeps growing. And this is only but a shadow of how much our God LOVES US!!!! Our God is an AWESOME God!

The title says it all. Though nothing in the body even mentions the possibility of moving, deep in my heart I knew. I knew that this is what God wants for us.

This was weeks before my husband went to St. Louis for his face-to-face interview. God was already beginning to open my mind & heart to the possibility of a move.

Isn't it amazing how God works in our lives & hearts when we let Him?

:o)

Safe in St. Louis

So, we made it here to St. Louis safe & sound...

PRAISE GOD!!!!

I know this is all a part of His divine plan.

I just pray that we will continue to walk in His light, and that God's Will be done in our lives in ALL ways!

Thank you God for all that you do for me and my family.

Sometimes I may not know everything anything behind God's direction for me & my family.

Praise God, that in HIS infinite wisdom, he designed me so that I don't have to know or even understand the Lord's Leading.

All I have to do is trust Him.

And trust I do!

I've learned lean not upon my own understanding, but upon the path that God leads me & my family.

~ Praise God ~

So, that said...

I am VERY much enjoying my very first night in St. Louis!

As soon as we made it safely into town, Liv and I went to my husband's work & met some of his co-workers. I am so happy for my husband in his new job, and I already love his co-workers & bosses! It was a real treat to get to see him as soon as we got into town.

After we left Perry's work, Livia was cryin' the hungry-kiddo blues. So we got Liv some McDonalds; which meant she was extra-good while we picked up a few groceries.

Then we arrived at the corporate apartment that Perry's company has us in. It is really nice! Plenty of living space, fully furnished, and tons of hiding places for Liv. (She just loves to play hide & seek!)

Unbelievably, we even had our munchkin in bed before Perry's home-made pizza was done.

(Oh, how I LOVE my husband's home-made pizza!)

And now, here I am relaxing with the Love of my life.

Just watching a movie.

Such a fabulous day!

We've officially made it safely into St. Louis!! I'm so excited and happy to finally be here!

Crash

No, not the car! Just Livie :-)

Livie & Loaded

Liv in the back seat amazingly not yet asleep! she's using much of our packing as entertainment, and as footrests. I think she's tryin to get all comfy for a nap - oh i hope! ( ps : the photo was taken backwards hence the funny angle )

Almost Ready...!

To leave for St. Louis!

I'm hoping to post updates througout our trip, seeing as I've figured out how to post via cell phone!

There are some photos I need to upload from last night too -- got to spend our last night here in town going out to eat with my Mom & Sis (fun stuff!!!) LOTS of cute & funny photos, even tho the quality rather stinks. It's the memories that matter most anyway, right?

So I'll have lots to post (as always!)

But I PROMISE -- no texting while driving.

I'm planning on making it there alive, thank you very much.

Plus I've already typed in a few messages and saved them to my drafts. I know, sneaky-sneaky, right?!

Wish us luck!

Superbowl 2010

Our day of Fun Photos in support of our favorite team making it to the 2010 Superbowl:

Livie the Cheer-leader!

She's already got the poses down  :o)

And what a killer smile -- all that's missing are some braids

Well, Aunt Laura took care of that!

Love it!

Liv watching TV with her Papaw

No, she's not actually watching the football game

But she does at least know what football is!

Me tying to corall Liv for some cute pics of us...

Which we were actually able to get!

v-- I think these 2 are my fav's --^

Then Uncle Michael & Aunt Laura played

"Swing the Toddler!

Livie just loves her Aunt Laura & Uncle Michael

Elmo 2 & More

The 2nd cell phone video of Liv calling out for Elmo in the middle of Target:



I'm SO excited that I've figured out how to post things from my cell phone! It's just been so incredibly busy around here... Since Livia and I are down to less than a week that we'll be going over to St. Louis for good!

I'm having the very best time ever with Perry and Livie here this weekend. Even though my poor husband has had the worst cold ever. I almost told him that he should just stay there in St. Louis, but he really wanted to see us (ok, Liv).

My last day of work will be Wednesday, and I should have plenty of time to get our essentials gathered & packed. I'll pick up Livia from day care just after noon on Friday, and we'll be on our way to St. Louis! With any luck, she'll sleep a good portion of the way there. Guess we'll see though, right?

And with any luck, I'll have some time to catch this blog up on the holidays and such after we get settled in St. Louis. I really look forward to posting up lost of photos on this blog and videos on the other. I broke my own protocol on a couple of posts this week, but I'm rationalizing it with the fact that they are low quality cell phone videos. And the one from earlier in the week was posted directly from the cell phone!

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well! I'll have many more updates and pics soon to come :o) Much love to all and God Bless!

The sun DOES Shine!

Welcome to southern Indiana, where it may be easy to truly forget where you are. We have had fog, rain, & overall dreary weather for the last week or more. I'm starting to feel like i live in London with all this fog! Well, yesterday for the 1st time in what feels like forever, i got to see the sun! It was for only an hour at most, it was so wonderful! Especially since the yucky-muck is back yet again today (as proven by the photo below)... Ha!

From St. Louis with Love

A picture my husband sent me as he was traveling back into the city. Hard to believe I'll be there with him in just a little over a week! The time is going by so quickly... Makes me realize how precious time really is. And though our time here in southern Indiana is relatively short, the drive to & from St. Louis is but a few short hours. We WILL be back all the time!!

Wow!

Wow! I just figured out how to post to the blog via text/video from my phone -- how cool! Well maybe now i have a prayer of keeping it up better!

Elmo

Elmo 1

Happy [Late] New Year!

With all the craziness going on around here, I'm letting our lives go un-published! Trust me, I've taken many pics & videos (especially over Christmas-time)... And I'm making a promise to myself -- call it a late New Year's Resolution -- to make sure that I don't let my blog fall by the way side. Especially since we'll have so many new and wonderful things to blog about!

Right now is just very busy for us, with Liv and I getting ready to move to St. Louis. My husband is already there, but that will include Liv and me very shortly. Thank Heavens that we have finally set a 'move date' for us! I hate only having my husband here with us on the weekend. It's hard enough for me to be without my husband... But how on earth can I explain to my little toddler why her Daddy isn't home during the week? When she cries for him, and I have to tell her that "Daddy isn't here right now... He's working in St. Louis" it breaks just a little piece of my heart each time.

So, I'm hoping to get some wonderful pics and stories up here soon... But until then, I have but just a short time until my husband must leave to go back to St. Louis! Much love and God's Blessings to all!