One For The History Books

Like you didn't expect me to blog about this....you're craaaaazyyyy!

Well folks, we did it!  We pulled it off!  The St. Louis Cardinals are the 2011 World Series Champions.

What a ride it was!  So much excitement, so much anxiety, so many tears (yes tears about baseball) and so many cheers!

I remember quite vividly Thursday night's Game 6.  A must win for our Birds!  The Rangers were only 1 win away from winning the Series.  The game that went on forever, into extra innings.  The emotion (and trying to keep it quiet emotion as the clock passed 11 and neared midnight and the lil' one was all tucked in nicely in her crib) was overwhelming.  The husband and I cheered (quietly) and whisper screamed and yelled.  And then our man, our hometown boy (we went to the same high school and he's of course younger than me like most of the team, except for Rhodes and Berkman) David Freese saved the day and we officially made it through another game with another victory but now...

Friday night.  My hubby's 40th.  We cancelled our dinner plans we are so serious.  Game 7.  This is it.  Just the 3 of us (well 5 of us if you include the fur children) camped out in front of the TV.  Someone will walk away as World Series Champions tonight.  This game just had a sweet feel about it.  In comparison to the night before, there was a bit less stress and why or how I have no idea.  The game started off with a 2 run lead by the Rangers (sh&@!).  But I just knew it.  I had a feeling and I'm so glad that feeling was spot on. 8 innings later, we were Champions!  And my girl, stayed up for the entire thing.  I videotaped the last out and everyone's reaction!  Quite priceless I must say!

I've experienced 4 World Series so far in my short lifetime.  The first at only 4 and 3 just in the past 9 years (2 only winners, but 3 nonetheless)!  I've been able to attend 2 of those.  Wow!  For a girl who loves sports, especially her St. Louis Cardinals this was quite a ride!  I'm so happy to have watched every moment, stayed up way too late on many a school night and possibly drank more than necessary on many a school night.

We sealed the Series and this amazing experience with a visit downtown yesterday afternoon with family and friends to cheer on our Cardinals one more time during the World Series Celebration Parade.  We had so much fun!  And yes, I took a few pieces of the confetti for our scrapbook.

Budweiser on this special day!

Sportin' her gear!

Awww....Cardinals LOVE!

All the kiddos...and Ben is quite the ladies' man can't ya tell?

With the announcement of Tony LaRussa's retirement this morning, 

the big question still remains - will he or won't he?

Have a great week!

Happy Birthday!

Tomorrow is the big day!  My Hubs turns the BIG 4-0!  I'll be the first one to confirm that he is not thrilled about this "milestone."  He's never been a fan of birthdays because he just says he's another year older.  I'm working on that.  Birthdays are a time to celebrate not put yourself into a depression.

40 is a big year though.  Think about it.  30 was a big deal for me, but 40 will feel different.  I can agree with him there.

We celebrated big this year! Headed to Vegas and slept, drank and played like we were 22.  Tomorrow we will celebrate some more, go out to dinner and we'll give him his gift, created by the hands of his daughter.

To my Hubs,

To me age is just a number.  To you it's another year of getting older.
To me it's another year that I've grown to love you even more.
To me it's another year of watching you become an amazing Daddy.
To me it's another year to spend together as a couple.
To me it's another year to spend together as a family.
To me it's another year of memories.
To me it's another year of having you in my life.
And to me...I'm happy to celebrate you and us and the family we have created.

After all this is what life is all about!

Wordless Wednesday - Painting by Mia

Melt Your Heart Out

One of the greatest things about having an amazing Dad IS...

watching your amazing Dad as an awesome and caring Papa.

There is no doubt a great connection and relationship is building between Mia and her Papa.  My Dad (God love him) drives to our house and watches Mia one day a week, so they get to spend a lot of time together.

She knows her Papa, loves her Papa, talks about her Papa ALL the time and can easily navigate through Papa's iPad (Bongos anyone?).  And Papa?  He knows exactly what to do to make that little girl smile and laugh and it just melts my heart, every.single.time.

And who wouldn't love a guy who takes you on wagon rides?

Life is busy, life is rough, life is stressful, but life is also really, really phenomenal.  I'm very blessed to have what I have and there are always moments where you need to be reminded of the awesomeness :)  My family is one of my greatest blessings and I'm so very thankful that my parents not only provided me with what I needed to be a good Mom, but also provide my Mia and my nieces with some pretty outstanding grandparents.  And for that, I will be forever grateful.

Talent With A Little Bit Of Inspiration

I'm lucky to have sisters.  I may have covered that once or twice here.

My youngest sister as I've talked about on multiple occasions is a true artistic talent in many senses of the word.

We joke about her "visions" all the time, but truly she is a modern day Martha Stewart with her artsy fartsy ways.

So as I perused Pinterest for the 1,435th time while planning Mia's party, I came across some really cute photography ideas.  I wanted to do something special to capture each year.  Now that Mia is wrapping up her 2nd amazing year of life and the month by month collage was completed for her first year, I needed a idea of how to capture some of her favorites moving forward.

Here is the finished project that I will have blown up to a poster size print that will go perfectly in her play room.

I'm a sucker for photography, it's one of those things that I love to do but wish I could spend more time doing.  There's nothing more special than having a sister who is willing to help bring your "vision" to life.

Have a great weekend!

For more information on my sister's photography business for you local viewers, feel free to visit her website anytime...stayed tuned because she will be including some of my engagement pictures and maternity pictures that she captured for us very soon!

LKS Photography

Yup!

Game 1. Check!

And I couldn't show my emotion any better than this...

And if you are annoyed by my abundance of Cardinals/World Series based posts lately, sorry. 

 I'm just that excited.  Clearly.

Wordless (Not Really) Wednesday - A Family Of Red

We were blessed to have the opportunity to attend the Cardinals Playoff Game last Friday night.  Besides the fact that Mia peed on my leg with one inning left, we "saw" (using that term very loosely when attending a baseball game with a 2 year old) a great game, but most importantly had an awesome time as a FAMILY!

As we entered the stadium, the Hubs suggested we go to the same spot where he proposed to me 6 years ago and take a family picture.  He is becoming quite the softy as a Daddy.  It's turned out pretty well, especially thanks to my new iPhone and the forward facing camera which is sheer genius!

Game 1 of the World Series is tonight!  Go CARDS!