Mariner's Game

Back in August I had an idea for taking Camden to his first baseball game.  I knew I wanted to do a day game and due to our travel schedule and commitments, the only day game left was the Mariner's last game of the season.

We told Cam about it and when he would ask when we were going to the baseball game, our answer was always "October, buddy."

Well, October 4th came and this little guy was excited.  And newly obsessed with his tongue.

I had no idea how long he would last because he's quite the busy child and the first pitch was scheduled for 12:10pm (aka nap time).  Thankfully, we were on the main level and only a few rows up from right field so he could see everything.  He was in awe.  And it helped that whenever an adult got up to use the bathroom - Cammy tagged along to stretch his legs and distract himself from being tired.

Of course, Zo Zo was there too and (hallelujah) didn't make a peep the whole time.  She was happy to eat, sleep, or watch the game.

Again with the tongue!

There is a Seattle Children's Hospital-sponsored playground at the ball field, but being that this game was "Kid's Appreciation Day," you can imagine how crowded it was.  It was so crowded that you had to schedule a time to play.  Yeah, sorry buddy. 

Instead we walked around a bit and got our picture taken with the Dave Niehaus (Mariner's announcer from 1977 - 2010) statue.

One of Cam's favorite songs is "the baseball song" (Take Me Out to the Ballgame) so my goal was to make it to the seventh inning stretch so we could sing it loud and proud.  The look on his face when the song started playing was hysterical and full of confusion.  It was like "whyyyyy are all these people singing my song?"

I took a video of it but you can hear me singing horribly off-key (as if there was any other key for me to sing in?) so I will absolutely spare you.  He sang off and on (again, because he was distracted by all the other people singing) but gave me a big and enthusiastic "... at the old ballgame."

We wanted to catch the 3:00 ferry so we fled the stadium and walked briskly to the ferry terminal.

The poor kid was falling asleep in his carseat on the way home but it was after 4:15 and I wanted him to stay awake so he could have an early bedtime, so every time he would start to nod off I would wake him up.  I'm so mean, but seriously - early bedtime.

It was a great experience and I hope to get him to more than one game next year.  And the Mariner's won!!  How about that?  Such good luck charms, we are.

Take Luck,

LP

Weekend in St. Louis {Part Two}



So, where was I?

 

Ah, I blubbering my eyes out to Anna's father-daughter dance song and we fled the wedding reception before our children melted down into hysteria. 

 

Sunday morning was quiet, and again, it felt like all of a sudden it was time to get dressed and ready for church. 

 

Back in June (I think?), we had a FaceTime date with the Webb's and to our surprise - they asked us to be Rory's godparents.  I'm pretty sure I had to pick my jaw up off the floor because I was so surprised and honored.  Tears were shed, for sure.  They were able to arrange Rory's baptism for this weekend so we could be there and not have to make a separate trip.

 

Camden wasn't so interested in sitting through mass, but tolerated the baptism ceremony decent enough, as long as he was being held by his Grandma Chris.  Not pictured is Zoey who is screaming her head off in the background because sister was hangry.  Bless Ryan's Aunt Cindy who was trying to give her a bottle of formula.  I am pretty sure Zoey was thinking "Who the eff are you and what the eff is this?!"

Again with my love for getting pictures of the kids with their great-grandparents.  This is Ryan's dad, Danny's mom, Midge.  She reminds me (physically) so much of my Grammy that sometimes I catch myself staring at her and then feel a little ache in my heart. 

Four generations of Peters!  Not pictured is Camnado.  I think Grandma Chris had taken him to run stairs (I mean, burn off some energy).  

 



We made it back to the Webb's for Rory's baptism reception.  Cara is seriously superwoman and the hostess with the mostest.  After Zoey took a little nap and I got all our crap packed up, it was time to visit and take more pictures before heading to the airport.   

 

I love this of Zoey Bear with Great-Grandma Carol. 

Grandma Chris and Grandpa Danny with Zoey, Camden, Liam, and Rory.  Cara pointed out to me that Liam is wearing two different shoes and I sort of love it.  I suppose that's life when trying to wrangle four kids under the age of four.  At least he's wearing shoes.  My tornado child is shoeless.

 

 

A Peters, Schwartz, and Webb group shot.  This picture is going up in our house somewhere, mark my words.  

 

And just like that, it was time to head to the airport.

 

With the baptism, reception, and needing to leave for the airport, there was no way I was going to get Camden down for a nap.  I was terrified for what awaited us, but we weren't in the car for three minutes and I looked over to see him slumped over in the car seat.  The poor kid slept the 30 minute ride to the airport, through check-in and security, on Ryan until we boarded the plane, and for the first few minutes after we got seated.   

 

The siesta meant he was awake for the entire flight, but he was super quiet and easily entertained, so I didn't complain. 

 



I fed Zoey as we were taking off and then she slept the rest of the flight.  I was worried about how her ears would handle the descent and landing pressure changes in Seattle because I always have a hard time, so like a moron, I woke her up to change her and latch her on.  She did just fine and fell back asleep.It had been several hours since she ate and I didn't want to have to feed her before leaving the airport or have to stop on the way home. 

 





We got our bags super fast, and an airport employee was kind enough to load all of our luggage and car seats onto his giant luggage cart and help us to the shuttle pick-up island.  It was way past Camden's bedtime at this point and I think he was borderline delirious.  Delirious or not - he didn't overlook that he got to ride the "school bus" again.   

 



 

Zoey slept through the whole ordeal and Camden fell asleep about 20 minutes after we left the airport.  By the grace of God he was dead to the world and stayed asleep while I transferred him to his bed.  Zoey on the other hand, was bright eyed and ready to party when I brought her car seat inside so I fed her and prayed that she would sleep until some lovely, late hour of the morning.

 

I literally fell into bed and said, "We survived" before promptly passing out.

 

This was a crazy, but wonderful trip.  We were happy to be able to celebrate Anna's wedding and absolutely thrilled that we got to be a part of Rory's baptism.  It is truly an honor to call that sweet, chunky baby our godson.  Thankfully, we don't have long to wait before seeing our favorite Webb's again.  They'll be making the trip to us in a few short weeks. 

 

Take Luck,

LP  

Weekend in St. Louis {Part One}

This Peters Family just returned from a super quick (and crazy) long weekend trip to St. Louis for Ryan's cousin's wedding and our godson Rory's baptism.

We flew out of SeaTac on Thursday morning.  Someone was incredibly excited that he was finally getting to go on the airplane and as a bonus, got to ride the "school bus" shuttle from the parking garage to the airport.

I wasn't super worried about how the kids would do on the flight - Camden has flown a lot and Zoey is a good little baby.  Our flight was supposed to depart at 12:10pm (right at Camden's nap time).  With that said, I'm sure you can deduce that it in fact did not depart on time.  Two gate changes and an hour and half delay later (an hour of which was spent on the godforsaken plane), and we were off.

 I got Zoey to sleep while trying to convince a tired Camden to lay his head down on my lap.  He wasn't having it and eventually pointed to my Ergo and said "I want in there."  So, in he went and about 30 seconds later, he was comatose.  While Cam was in the Ergo and Zoey was asleep with Ryan, a flight attendant asked me if they were twins.  Not even kidding.

The flight was smooth and uneventful.  Camden slept for about an hour and a half and Zoey snoozed (and ate) off and on.  After the hour we spent on the plane just sitting at our gate and the three and a half hour flight to St. Louis, we were more than ready to be done with airplanes for the day.

Aunt Cara picked us up at the airport and was a welcomed sight.

We made it back to her house and were welcomed by the rest of the family (sans Rory who was snoozing like the good, chunky baby he is!).  I let Camden get some of his crazy, pent up energy out playing with Liam and being the mean mommy that I am - made him go to bed.  The four of us were sleeping in one room together so I put Zoey to bed first.  Cara had set up a pack-n-play for Cam but he wasn't having it so I moved a twin size blow up mattress into the bedroom and laid with the overtired terror for two hours before he fell asleep (at 11:30pm Central Time).

You can imagine how thrilled I was when I was feeding Zoey at 6:20am Central Time Friday morning and I see my elder cherub pop his head up wide awake, ready for the day.  I made him lay in bed with us until 7:00 (still only 5:00am on his little body clock!) and then we went upstairs to start my intravenous coffee drip.  I mean morning coffee.

Friday was low key.  The kids and I hung around the house with Cara, Liam, Rory, and my mother-in-law.  And I drank more coffee.

  One of my favorite things about going back to St. Louis with Ryan is that I almost always get to meet up with some of my girlfriends, too.  Friday afternoon I met Alex and her family at a local park/playground.  Her husband, Mike, chased (er, supervised) the boys around the play area while the girls just laid there so she and I could catch up.  It was so great to talk facet-to-face and I kept thinking how funny it is that through social media, I feel like I know her kids (even though this is only my third time meeting Patrick and first time meeting Rosie) and am already so up to date on her life!  She is an amazing and passionate photographer and was gracious enough to take some pictures of the kids and me during our visit.  I'll post those in a separate post because, trust me, they deserve their own.

After we left The Mooney's I took my crying children back to Cara's and waited for Becky to arrive. She was dying to see Camnado and meet Zoey.  Cam would give her hugs and kisses, retreat downstairs to play with Grandma and Liam for a while, come back upstairs for Aunt Becky lovings, and repeat, repeat, repeat.  It was so great to sit and talk and laugh with Beck and hear about her new job!  

One of my next favorite things about going back to St. Louis is that the kids get to spend time with their three (yes, three!) great-grandparents.  Maybe this isn't such a big deal to some people, but for someone (me!) who doesn't have any living grandparents, let alone great-grandparents, this is huge!! 

This is Ryan's mom, Chris, with her parents, Bob and Carol, and her four grandkids.  Camden, Zoey, Liam, and Rory are four of Bob and Carol's six great-grandkids - Zoey being the youngest (and only girl!).

  

Friday night Camden only needed me to lay with him for an hour before he fell asleep and by the grace of God slept until 7:45am Central Time Saturday morning.  That's still only 5:45am on his body, but it's much better than the previous morning's 4:20am wake up call.  His sister won the "favorite child of the morning" award and slept until after 9am.

We had a slow morning and then it seemed like it was all of a sudden time to get ready for Ryan's cousin Anna's wedding.  The big boys stayed behind to nap during the ceremony so Cara and I only had to get the babies ready and I'm pretty sure I will forever be swooning over these two in their wedding-wear.

The ceremony was beautiful, short, and sweet so we were able to get back home where my wild child was already awake from his (very short) nap and ready to rock.  I guzzled more coffee before we packed up and took the crew to the reception.

I may or may not have gave thanks for the invention of the iPad about 12,000 times during the beginning of the reception because it was the one thing that kept Camden from running circles on the dance floor... Around the cake table.  I don't know how many times I tried to tell him that the dance floor was for dancing or walking, but he was hell bent on being defiant and running, or jumping like a frog, or twirling.

And his great-grandpa wonders why I said "no cake for Camden."  I know, mean Mommy.  But seriously, do you think my child needs any help in the energy department?

The reception was lovely and fun and I may or may not have sobbed (and sobbed) during the father-daughter dance.  Good lord.  They played the most awful song ever (not really, it was beautiful and is what sent me over the blubbering edge) and all I could think of was Zoey and Ryan someday dancing the father-daughter dance.

Like a moron I downloaded it the very next day.

The Webb's and I waved our white flags, packed up the kids before they imploded, and set out for home.

I'll be back for Part Two of our trip soon.  Ish.  Soonish.  I hope.

Take Luck,

LP

Maternity & Family Photos

Several weeks ago, my cousin, Cheryl (or Tricia according to Camden) hopped across the pond to take some maternity and family photos for us.  

You can imagine my elation (as I wait for what seems like forever for this baby to decide she's ready to arrive) when I got an email from her today.

So while I impatiently wait for a squishy baby to swoon over, I'll be swooning over these pictures.

Take Luck,

LP

  

Easter 2015

Thanks to a 4:15am wake up call from one little big-boy-bed-fleeing bunny, our Easter Sunday was a very slow and quiet one.  After I escorted him back to bed, he did fall back asleep until 5:50am, which as sad as it is to admit, made me really happy and even prompted me to say, "Good job, buddy!  Yes, we can go downstairs."

Even though I know it's silly, I had a lot of fun picking out little things for the (ahem) Easter Bunny to put in Cam's basket.  Nothing crazy of course, but in his basket was a new Thomas & Friends train (Henry), a Bubble Guppies coloring book, jumbo crayons, bubbles, fruit snacks, and a small bag of M&Ms (that I am hoping to later use as bribery).  Cam really only cared about the new train, and couldn't have cared less about any of the other little goodies.  I may or many not have eaten his fruit snacks.

The Easter Bunny also brought Ryan this book and a sugar-coma inducing amount of candy.

We had planned on attending church service and an Easter egg hunt, but not only was early-rising-Hammy in no shape to have a late nap - this mommy was dog-tired and completely content on staying in her jammies and doing absolutely nothing.  I mean, totally getting some things done around the house. 

Ry and I hid plastic Easter eggs around our main floor and let Cam loose on the hunt.  I was so excited to see him get excited by each and every egg he found (especially the one's with two jellybeans inside) and proud that he made such big strides in his egg hunting abilities since last year.

After Cam's lengthy and much needed nap, Ryan offered to do the grocery shopping and I did not turn him down.  Happy Easter to me!

Depending on who in the house you asked, Sunday was either "Easter" or "MLB Opening Night."  I'll give you a second to figure that one out. Ryan was pumped to be able to wearing "matching" Cardinals jerseys with his best little buddy.

My parents came over for Easter/Opening Night dinner and I took the opportunity to get a not-our-Sunday-best family photo.  It may not be our Sunday best, but at least we got out of our jammies.

The smiles on both Cam and Ryan's face just slay me.  I sure do love those boys and feel very lucky to call them mine.

Take Luck,
LP

Effing Cold Midwest

I mentioned before that we spent the long, President's Day weekend in the effing cold Midwest while I was being inducted to the SIU Athletic Hall of Fame.  While the induction experience was pretty incredible, it was made better by getting to spend time with Ryan's family and see a few of my college teammates.

In the six plus years since I left the Midwest, I forgot just how bone-chilling cold it could get and how the wind can whip through the wide open space.

Ryan, Camden, my parents, my sister, and I all flew out to St. Louis on Thursday morning.  I felt like a completely different person than my typical high-strung-pre-flight-self because I knew that it wasn't just up to me to keep Cam entertained on the three and a half hour flight.  I had six extra hands (eight if you count sleep-deprived Ryan) and just knowing that was like a belated Christmas present.

We got settled in our seats, Ryan immediately fell asleep (he is on graveyard so got home from work at 6am and we left for the airport shortly after), and then we waited on the plane for an hour while some mechanical issues were fixed and a sick passenger was taken off the plane.  I could tell that Cam was getting really sleepy at this point, but I couldn't strap him into the Ergo until we took off and were in the air.  He ended up drifting off to sleep just sitting in my lap -- totally one of those singing angels moments.  This was our first air experience having to pay for his seat (since he is over the age of two) and I'm pretty sure he sat in said seat for maybe seven minutes.

He slept and I sat uncomfortably in my seat, patting his bottom, and sending death stares to the extremely obnoxious family sitting in the row in front of us.  Seriously, loudest kids ever.  Cam slept for about an hour and 15 minutes or so and after he woke up I happily passed him across the aisle to my family to entertain him.  He wanted to watch a show so I reached into my backpack to grab my laptop - only to find that his milk had leaked (I assume from the altitude change) and had taken residence all over my Mac.

Lovely.

It was hard to tell just how much milk had seeped out and how much actually got on the laptop, so I wiped it off, booted it up, and was happy to see that it turned on no problem.  I handed the spritely child and laptop to my sister so they could watch Bubble Guppies and it was only a few minutes later that Rachel hesitantly told me, "It shut off."  Mother effing eff.  Knowing there was nothing I could do while flying at 32,000 feet, I told myself to let it go and not worry about it.

We landed in St. Louis, got all our crap, walked outside to be greeted by 20 degree temps and wind, and made our way to Ryan's sister's house.

Camden was so excited to see his cousin Liam, who turned three in October, and I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual.  The two of them were really entertaining (not to mention heart melting) to watch  interact the whole weekend.

Friday morning was quiet before we headed south to Carbondale.  Cara captured the pajama-clad boys looking out the window to make sure their daddies weren't leaving their sight. 

Saturday morning in Carbondale we got to see my teammate, Krystal, and her husband and daughter, Bella, when they joined us for a chilly swim in the hotel pool.

I am kicking myself for not getting a picture with Krystal, but glad we at least got a picture with the kids.  They last saw each other at Becky's wedding.  

Speaking of my college roommate, Becky, we got to see her when she came to our hotel and then again when she and her husband ate lunch with us at Quatro's.  Clearly, I really suck at documenting reunions with my girlfriends because I didn't get a picture with Krystal or Becky.

On Sunday morning we headed back to Columbia.  My parents and Rachel were flying back to Seattle, and Cara was hosting an open house baby sprinkle for us (and baby sister) so Ryan's friends and family could stop by and visit.

I always make sure to get a picture of Camden with his great-grandparents.  He wasn't interested in sitting with his great-grandma Midge by himself (jerk) so Ryan and I got in on the picture too.

The boys were the primary entertainment during the open house, so come the early-evening, they were ready for some cozy, quiet time and settled in to be adorable and watch a movie together.

 Weathermen and women were calling for five to nine inches of snow to fall starting Sunday night and carrying on through Monday.  Considering we were scheduled to fly out Monday night, you can guess how elated I was to hear this forecast.  I hoped and hoped that it would miss us or at the very least, that the roads would be clear by the time we had to head to the airport.

It never ceases to amaze me just how entertaining certain things can be to kids.  These ladybug balloons, for example, kept the boys bopping busy for a good hour on Monday morning.

(Seriously.  Are these not the most adorable cousins you've ever seen?)

We got bundled up and ventured outside into the snow.  Liam was totally digging it, while our little Pacific Northwesterner was completely stoic for the first five minutes or so.  He was even less impressed after his cousin hit him in the face with a baby snowball.  Is it bad that I thought the snowball incident was hysterical?  I'm pretty sure Cara was horrified.  There were very few smiles from Cam during our time in the snow.

I wish I had asked someone to take a picture of me in my makeshift snow attire.  I packed light and didn't bring much in terms of warm clothes (I forgot socks for goodness sakes) so had on Ryan's romeo shoes/boots, yogi's under my pajama pants, Ryan's heavy dress jacket, and Cara's green (and floral) headband.  I looked absolutely ridiculous.  

After about forty five minutes of play time, we all came inside to warm up.  Ryan's mom's parents live two doors down from Cara, so they came over to visit.  Much like with Midge, Cam wasn't interested in sitting still for a picture with them all by himself with his great-grandma and great-grandpa, so we improvised.

I was compulsively checking our flight status the entire day to watch for any delays or cancellations.  Thankfully, the people of the Midwest know how to handle snowy conditions and roads much better than the people of the Pacific Northwest.  We made it to the airport in plenty of time.

Thankfully, the flight home was (on time) and really smooth.  Camden was awake (and sat in his own seat!) for the first half of the flight, and then slept on me in the Ergo for the second half.  My back was killing me, but it was a small price to pay to have a sleeping (and quiet!) child for those two hours.

I can't say enough about how thankful I am to have been able to go back to SIU, where everything truly began, and spend time with Ryan's family.  We don't get to see them nearly as often as we'd like - so any time we do get to visit is very special.

As good as it was to spend time with them - we couldn't have been happier to be welcomed home by nearly-60 degree temperatures.

We'll head back to the Midwest in August for Ryan's cousin's wedding.  It's hard to believe that we'll be traveling with another child in tow, and will get to meet a new nephew.  In August, instead of complaining about the effing cold, I'll be complaining about the effing heat and humidity.

Take Luck,

LP