The Meyer Family

Spring Break

Spring Break was last week and I took the kids and two of their cousins to Fun City in Burlington, Iowa. It's a great place for kids, with an indoor waterpark, arcade, bowling alley, go carts and laser tag. For the grown-ups, there is a casino and spa. It's a pretty reasonable trip and extremely kid friendly. We had a great time and everyone had lots of fun. Lake loved the water and never cried once. Meredith got sick the last day, so that was a downer. She wound up having strep throat and had a really difficult time getting over it. Lake started running a fever after that and it turned out that he had a double ear infection. What a way to finish of a vacation. Two kids on antibiotics can put parents over the edge. Everyone is well now though!

Check out Meredith eating her sundae while talking on the phone.

Not really sure why Hannah isn't holding on here.

Air hockey is Meredith's favorite arcade game.

The week before the trip, all Hannah and Meredith talked about was taking Lake down the Slide. I don't think he really cared either way.

Our little fish!

Grade School Reunion

Two weeks ago I was fortunate to be able to attend a grade school reunion in St. Louis. I attended grade school at Epiphany of Our Lord from K-8th grade. We mostly all went on to different high schools, as is common in St. Louis. This was such a great night as I had not seen many of my former classmates for twenty years. It was so cool to see how much and how little people had changed. The conversation was easy since we all had spent our childhoods growing up together. I think we all agreed that it was a shame so many of us have lost touch over the years. Thanks to technology and Facebook, we were all able to reconnect. Now there is talk of making this a yearly event. I was kind of taken by surprise that some of my old classmates didn't recognize me. In my eyes, I don't feel like I have changed much. Check out the pictures below to see what you think.

In case you can't see it that well, I am the second one down. Did you read my goals? Such ambition!

2nd one from the right on the bottom row. These were my skate or die days. I think I used a can of hair spray each week.

2nd row, 2nd from right.

Saving the best for last. Here is my 8th grade graduation. I didn't get the memo that said wear pastels. That would be me in the royal blue dress and dyed shoes to match.

So what's the verdict? I think I look practically the same!

Family Update

Sorry it has been so long since the last post, but it seems harder and harder to find time. I'll try to give you a family update with some pictures thrown in here and there.

Lake just turned six months old. He is as cute as ever. Seriously, I would love to have another baby if I knew he/she would be as easy as Lake. He is starting to eat some baby food, mostly fruits and vegetables. He wants to crawl, but just doesn't have the motor coordination for it yet. He is sitting in a high chair and has decided high pitch yelling is his new form of communication. No luck in sleeping through the night yet, but we're making it.

Hannah will be eight next month. This is so hard to believe. She will be finishing up 2nd grade soon. Hannah is a great student who really likes school. It would be amazing to see her potential if she would actually apply herself. She likes to get by with as little effort as possible in everything she does. Right now she is involved in baton and basketball. For some reason, she absolutley loves baton lessons and has gotten quite good at it. Basketball has been going well. Hannah has a height advantage right now which helps a lot. You never know, but it appears that she is going to be tall. She is constantly outgrowing her clothes and shoes. Here she is in purple (the one who looks like she is getting ready to fly).

Meredith will be four next month. She has been sick for about a week now and hopefully she is finally on the mend. Thank goodness for grandparents! When we had Hannah, everybody kept telling us to wait until the "terrible twos". When she turned two, we were like big deal, that was nothing. Then she turned three and our lives changed dramatically. Meredith has followed in her footsteps. Three has been really rough. She is sweet as can be sometimes and then we wonder what happened to our precious little girl. Some crazy monster takes over and there is no reasoning with her no matter how hard you try. It's interesting though, because she never acts like this for anyone else or in front of anyone else. Meredith is going to start soccer this spring and is really excited about it. It will be interesting having two children in sports.
Josh and I are doing great. Busy with work and raising three kids. It takes quite a bit of coordination to get everyone where they need to be, but we're getting into a routine. Well, I'm off to church for Ash Wednesday.

Sorry for the Long Delay

Toby gets really jealous if you are paying too much attention to Lake. He will wiggle his way on to your lap and sometimes on top of Lake to get you to pet him. Little does he realize that Lake's favorite thing to do now is pull hair. Lake also attempts to eat Toby, another new favorite thing to do. It is to your advantage to stay away from Lake's mouth and hands right now. He is trying so hard to cut those first teeth. Drool is everywhere in our house and there is no hope for keeping his shirts dry. He soaks right through his bibs. Meredith didn't get teeth until she was over a year old, so I hope this isn't six months of teething. Luckily, it has not made him cranky in the least bit. Still happy as a clam, always smiling. This Bengals shirt is from Josh's aunt. His dad is from Cincinnati and they really like the Bengals. Aunt Gale, if you still read this, thanks for the outfit. He looks great in it. Maybe one day he'll wear the real thing. I'll try to get more pictures posted soon. We have been so busy that it has been hard to find time. I'll leave you with Hannah and Meredith's favorite YouTube clip. It's called Charlie Bit My Finger. It scares me that Hannah wants to access YouTube, but I guess this is how the new generation is going to be. I'm going to have to learn how to put some blocks on our computer soon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_OBlgSz8sSM

Lake turns five months, Merdi learns to dance and mom learns that cooking with kids is not easy.

Lake turned five months old today. Isn't he the cutest thing ever! Not much has changed since the 4 months post, except he now eats some fruits, babbles more and sleeps a lot less. Long gone are the days where he slept more than he was awake. He is very observant and loves to watch what his sisters are doing.

On t.v. and in the magazines you always see the cute pictures of moms cooking with their kids. The kitchen is always spotless and the mom has a big smile on her face. It was our turn to bring dessert to the family dinner and the girls wanted to help make brownies. No problem until they started fighting over the aprons, Hannah didn't wait to read the directions and Meredith threw a fit because she couldn''t do it by herself. I found myself counting to ten several times in the 20 minutes it took to make the brownies.

Is anyone else lucky enough to have the Bella Dance Video or the Bella Cheerleading Video? It comes with its very own dance mat and accessories (and the most annoying songs in the world). Goes a little something like this "Bella Bella, Bella Dance A Rella." Hannah has the cheerleading one and Meredith received the Disney one for Christmas. Meredith absolutely loves hers. She dresses up in her dance clothes and follows right along. Hannah would kill me for telling anyone, but she actually likes to do the Disney Dance moves also.

I love this kid!

Ok, I'm sure every mom feels this way, but Lake is seriously one of the best babies ever. Does he sleep through the night? No, but I don't even care because he wakes up smiling at you. You feed him and he goes right back to sleep. Does he sometimes get fussy? Rarely. Is he always smiling? Yes. Seriously, he never quits smiling. His cheeks have to hurt. He is just so laid back and happy about everything. Check out these pictures. They aren't staged or anything. I should probably worry because this most likely means he is going to think he is funny like his dad :)

Christmas 2008

Christmas this year was very relaxing for the Meyer Family. Our last day of school was the 23rd. We spent Christmas Eve at Josh's parents, where the kids were spoiled with lots of gifts from grandpa and grandma and aunts and uncles. This is always a fun time for the family with lots of good food to eat. Santa came to our house on Christmas morning. Hannah was up at 4:30 asking if Santa had come. She was convinced to go back to bed for a while. Hannah's favorite gift was her cupcake maker. It only takes about 45 minutes per cupcake :) Meredith had asked Santa for a washing machine for her playhouse and was so excited to see that he had brought it. Lake could really care less about any of his gifts. I actually rewrapped some of his gifts from the night before so the kids wouldn't wonder why he didn't get as much. They never even noticed. I really couldn't justify spending a bunch of money on gifts Lake wouldn't be able to play with for quite some time. I let each of the girls buy something for each other and for Lake. This was really cute and they were really interested in whether the other person liked their gift. In the afternoon, we went over to my brother's and opened gifts. He had a really neat train set that the girls liked playing with. I remember growing up and my grandpa always had a train that went around his tree. I just might try this next year. Friday we headed to St. Louis to visit my family. We had a great time just hanging out. Hannah became a Wii champ and Josh realized he usually goes to bed at a reasonable hour for a reason. We had dinner with my aunt and uncle and their family Saturday night. This was a great time to catch up with family. The girls have lots of cousins on the Silvernail side of the family that they don't get to see too often. Sunday morning, we were up bright and early and headed to The Mills for some much needed shopping. Hannah and Meredith have outgrown all of their clothes and were in desperate need for some new ones. I have never seen such great deals. We could have spent hours there, but needed to get back to celebrate my nephew's 16th birthday. Now we are back to reality and the cleaning has begun. I didn't know it was even possible to accumulate this much laundry. Here are some pictures from the week.

Meredith and Lake telling Santa what they wanted for Christmas. Meredith was so sweet and told Santa what to get for Hannah.

Meredith loved Christmas this year. I think she was finally old enough to get the whole concept.

Lake happy as always. This kid is way too easy.

The kids at grandpa and grandma's before the mass opening of presents began.

Hannah with her first cupcake from the Cupcake Maker.

Uncle Jeff is always trying out new things with Lake.

Meredith was so excited to receive her manicure set. Aunt Jodi did such a beautiful job!

SNOW DAY (Friday)

I remember when I couldn't wait for a snow day. My how my life has changed. It is quite difficult to entertain three children, especially when two of them keep telling you how bored they are. Hannah is at the age where she is bored unless she has a friend over to play with. Then Meredith wants to play with them and of course a fight begins. We finally decided to go to Wal-Mart. I am embarrased to say that we were there for almost three hours. Luckily, they have a Subway inside. We didn't even buy very much, but the kids were entertained by the masses of people shopping.

Lake is finally old enough for his saucer! The box said four months although he still needs a blanket to hold himself up. He is such a happy baby. I love when he smiles, which is quite often lately.

100 Things

I was talking to Rebecca at work about this post and how many things she had done so far in life. She thought I would be surprised at how much I have accomplished. Let's see....
Things I’ve Done (in burgudy)
1. Started my own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than I can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sung a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched lightning at sea
14. Taught myself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown my own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitchhiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of my ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught myself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had my portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had my picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Rode an elephant

Wow! I have a lot of things to do still!

Long Post with Lots of Pictures

These last few weeks have been pretty busy for our family. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with extended family and then took the kids to a new waterpark that opened in Iowa, near where we were having Thanksgiving. It was nice to just relax and let the kids play. They took full advantage of the park's operating hours. One of their cousins who lives in Iowa met us there, so that gave Hannah someone to play with. The difference in Hannah and Meredith's ages have really started to show lately. They don't have much in common and find any and every reason to fight. Who knows what we will have on our hands when Lake gets old enough to join in. We also had a trip into St. Louis to visit family and friends. It was so nice to get together with everyone and the girls loved seeing their Aunt Jodi. I like where I live, but when I visit St. Louis I realize

how much I miss it.

Lake was baptized this past Sunday. It was a really nice service. Our priest was pretty witty. He made the comment that we "didn't have the River Jordan, but we had Lake Jerome". This certainly entertained those who have thought his name was a bit unusual. His godparents are Mike and Amy Bartig, friends of ours from Kirksville. Josh and I thought long and hard about Lake's godparents and really wanted a couple that was strong in their faith and had good family values. The Bartig's certainly fit the bill! Josh's grandma, Lake's great-grandma was able to attend, which was really neat. Josh was really uncomfortable with the christening gown Lake is wearing, but we assured him it was okay. Josh's mom made the outfit for Lake after I couldn't find one here in Kirksville. He looked so cute and innocent in it, which I think Baptism is all about.

Hannah has been preparing for her First Reconcilliation, which she will receive this weekend. She will then start preparing for her First Communion.

Christmas is approaching soon and we are not even close to being ready. The tree is up and Josh made a gingerbread house with the girls. They thought this was really cool. There are a couple of presents wrapped, but that is about it. There are still more presents to be bought and wrapped, cookies to be made and cards to be sent out. Our community has really fallen on hard times and we are making an effort at school to help those who may go without a Christmas and the stories I hear get sadder and sadder. It has really made me reflect on and be thankful for everything that we have. It's hard to go buy things my kids don't even need when there are families who may not have enough food to eat over the holidays.