January in St. Louis

I really can't believe January is over, but I have to say I am not too sad to see it go. We did do some fun things, but I am itching to get outside more, and so are the boys.

We actually got lucky today though. It snowed about 5 inches last night, and they only made "mandatory personnel" go to work today at the Air Force Base. So we got to have Dad home! We went to Chuck E. Cheese (which just got remodeled and is huge and fun now!), and the mall to do some returns and lunch.


Cooper has loved spending Saturdays playing Mighty Ball Basketball! Yes, they do basketball for 4 and 5 year olds with smaller balls and 8-foot hoops. He gets so excited for his games, he can't sleep the night before. It is so fun. The only disappointment has been we missed the first week, and the coach has forgot his team shirt 3 weeks in a row. :) His coach actually does a great job with the kids! He is a high school basketball player. Cooper does get better each week, but it is funny how literally they take direction. I told him to put his "hand in their face" on defense, and he literally stuck his hands in a little boys face. :) He loves to steal the ball and run the length of the court (without dribbling), and shoot it up. They spend about 40 minutes practicing and about 20 minutes playing a game. It has been a perfect introduction for him to organized sports, and he already can't wait for soccer and t-ball!

We love watching him too, except that our cheeks hurt from smiling and laughing by the end. :) It just kills Gunner to not get to play too, so Andrew and I play on the side with him.

Our boys are playing better and better together, and it is cute seeing them defend each other. Cooper often says, "be nice to Gunner Mom, he just meant to...". Cooper loves to teach Gunner how to do things. They also get into trouble together too. :) They love to sneak treats in the kitchen, and we often find them sitting inside a cracked fridge with chocolate chips, cheese, juice, etc.

The "skeleton skateboard" shirt Cooper has on in this picture has been hilarious (thanks for the hand-me-down Riley!). He loves to wear it so much. He wore it two days in a row this week, because it wasn't worth the fight. As soon as we got in the grocery store, and Costco, he says, "Mom, will you take my coat off? I want people to see my cool shirt. If other kids see it, they will want one like it from the Easter Bunny." Too cute.

Another cute story from the other day, was Cooper was trying some more recent hand-me-downs on from his cousin, Tate (thanks Waites!). He said, "Mom, I smell something." I said, "do you need to go potty or something?" He said, "No, I smell my cousin Tate far away!". He was smelling their clothes that he was trying on, and remembered it smelled like them! So cute.

Cooper and Gunner do their "quiet time" before naps and bedtime on our bed watching the shows they pick at the library that week. Gunner has been wearing this visor to bed for a week. It is fun to go in and see them both asleep next to each other...often times holding hands. Aren't they cute when their sleeping. :) Gunner has to be moved to his crib still though, if we want him to stay asleep very long.

**I have to add that we recently got a memory foam mattress topper from Costco, and we LOVE IT! We had a down mattress pad before, but this beats all! Andrew used to wake up with back aches, and we thought we needed a new mattress, but this solved all the problems. I am so much more comfortable pregnant too!**

We have had a few fun family outings this month too.

We went to Family Story Night with Frosty at the library on-base.

We also went to the "Magic House" children's museum on MLK Day. The boys got to meet Clifford there. They also loved fishing in the fake pond, the lego race track, the ball experiments, the water room, and the sand. It is an amazing children's museum and huge! They also have lots of fun facts all over the walls. One of my favorites was "The average 4-year-old asks 437 questions a day!" Cooper is average. :) We went with our friends the Whittles, and then had a great lunch at Uno's.

Playgroup last Friday was a Family Swim Night at a rec center nearby with an "indoor waterpark". The big slide was too big for the kids, and they didn't let the kids in the hot tub, but they loved the toddler area, the "vortex" toilet bowl area, swimming the lazy river, and jumping in. Gunner actually got really cuddly at the end, and when we got home he had a 102 degree temperature! Poor guy was shivering some, but we had no idea! He was a good sport though.