Fun times at Sky Zone Fenton!

Last night AR and I got to invite our friends to have a party at Sky Zone in Fenton. Sky Zone Fenton offers open jump, 3 sky slam courts, skyrobics fitness classes, foam zone, ultimate dodgeball, sky hooks, and a challenge zone. Right now they are offering $5 off open jump or $50 off a birthday party with this coupon.

When we arrived, we were welcomed by this sign which made it easy for our friends to find us.

All the girls got checked in and got some awesome sky socks, which they were all digging the new pink colored ones.

As you can tell, we had a variety of ages which is the great thing about Sky Zone. The youngest in our party was 1 and the oldest was 12 but they were all entertained and had an awesome time.

AR was pumped to see Soph and Emma and we're so glad they were able to come out on a school night to hang out with us. 

Haley was happy to skip Girl Scouts and bring her friends to jump.

While the big girls were great about hanging out and helping with the little girls, they did sneak off a few times to jump on their own... these two didn't notice though because they were having such a great time!

The girls were all over the place! They were jumping on the trampolines, doing flips into the ball pit, and doing cartwheels up and down the long trampoline area. 

As you can tell, it was hard to get them to stop playing to snap this picture!

We got to jump for an hour then we headed up to the party room where we had pizza, drinks, and cake. All I had to provide was the cake and Sky Zone took care of the rest. It was super easy on this momma's end!

There was plenty of room in the party room and it didn't feel crowded at all. The party hostess was super polite and very helpful.

And Haley finally gave me a shoutout on the Snap! #auntwin

Now, straight from the mouth of the girls themselves, I think it's safe to say the foam pit and trampolines were the major hit of the party!!!

Thank you, Sky Zone Fenton, for having us come out and check out your party!

Cardinals' Spring Training 2016

Back in March, AR, my sister, and my niece all headed to the airport bright and early before the sun was out. We were catching a plane to sunny Florida for spring break to catch our STL Cardinals at spring training. It was a great trip, hot and exhausting, but lots of baseball and fun times! We caught four Cardinals' games and hit up three different stadiums. Our first stop was Space Coast Stadium, home of the Nationals... and Bryce Harper. Here's AR yelling, "Come on, guys! You can do it, I know you can!" Poor girl was so excited for the game but exhausted for the early wake-up call and passed out for the entire game.

Here's the Cardinals' "bullpen"

Bullpen catcher, Teran, that Haley and I were buddies with

This was the inning after Gyorko passed Matt Adams running the bases. I can only imagine what they're saying here.

Oh, swoon-YADI!

A rare moment of AR loving on her Sha Sha

 

 Now, here's the most awesome story of the trip! Last season, AR got to meet Matt Adams before a Cardinals game at Busch Stadium. My friend Laura got this great picture of them talking and Matt has a huge smile on his face. Seriously, the guy is amazing with kids. I had the picture printed in an 8x10 in hopes that we'd get him to sign it for her... and he did! This is him walking straight to her.

 

He took the picture and looked at it. AR informed him that it was a picture of her and him. He laughed and started to sign it but AR stopped it and asked what he was doing. Matt said, "Well, I'm going to sign it, put my name here. Is that okay?" AR thought about it then nodded and proceeded to tell him her full name... in case he wanted her to sign anything!

There she is in the pink hat watching him sign her pic.

 

 Ta-da! When we got back home, I bought a frame and put it in her room. The night I did it, AR came up to me with a Batman sticker and said, "Mommy, thanks for putting the Matt Adams picture in my room. You can have this sticker." She's such a sweetheart!
 

Haley and I went on the field one day for batting practice. That was cool to see all the players so close and the kids got a few autographs. 

AR got Jacob Wilson's autograph, who Haley is in love with!

Roger Dean Stadium, home of the Cardinals and the Marlins

This was at Tradition Field, home of the Mets

This was by far the hottest day if you can't tell by this picture.

We enjoyed dinner out a couple nights and ordered in a few. AR insisted on trying a lemon... bad idea, chica!

OH! Bryce Harper!

The girls got Tanner Roark's autograph from the Nationals

 

Although AR was much more interested in eating Pringles

All ready to get some autographs!

Another hot game day... at least I got a good tan to start the summer with!

Thank you to the Yankee fans that sat beside us and gave AR their Cardinals' popcorn helmet!

 

We got to meet Curtis Granderson of the Mets up close and personal thanks to his cousin, Tameka. This guy is so genuine, waves to every fan, signs at many autographs as he can, and ALWAYS has a smile on his face... with a smile that good, why wouldn't you?

My friend Laura was down there with her family. AR and TJ hit it off and were quickly best friends.

AR was in charge of the spray bottle and ice, a great job for a toddler!

Sunday was Easter and the Bunny stopped by our hotel. He did forget a basket so luckily we had that popcorn helmet to use. AR got a necklace with her name on it and that girl hasn't taken it off except for gymnastics class!

Then it was back to reality on Monday morning and a flight back to MO!

Busch Stadium Tour & Cardinals' Hall of Fame...

...My sweet niece H turned ELEVEN this past Thursday! Seriously, where has the time gone? Before I know it, AR will be eleven but let's NOT even go there. Today, we had her family celebration with a tour of Busch Stadium, brunch at Ballpark Village, and then a visit to Cardinals' Hall of Fame. Whew-it was a busy but fun day! And what a perfect day it was for all of this-I heart fifty-degree weather in February!

Great pic of the cousins!

Papa and H by the August Busch statue

Sha by home plate

Matt and AR in the visitors' dugout

H under the Arch

I seriously love our town! So many awesome things to do!

Daddy's shoulders are the best seat in the house

Papa was in heaven!

Fam pic by the Stan Musial statue

Coolest aunt EVER! You know, cause I take selfies and such.

Of course we had to see Papa's brick

Brunch at Ballpark Village, it was delicious and hilarious watching the drunk guy on the balcony eat his breakfast.

Cardinals' Hall of Fame-Of course, my kid finds this picture and says, "Oh, hi Emma! I missed you!" And this dog does actually look a little like Emma, too.

This was really cool. It was an announcers' booth where you picked plays throughout the years and recorded yourself broadcasting it. We had a great time in here!

Oh and we got to wear real World Series rings. These are the rings that the company designed and sent to the Cardinals for approval.

Papa got to hold Stan Musial's bat which was awesome. You actually have to wear gloves to hold any of the bats.

Grandma was really enjoying the bling too!

Happy birthday, H!

Cousinly Love...

...The Tuesday before New Year's was my last day off work after a week of vacation. AR and I spent the day with H and Sha. First stop Target, second stop McAllister's-yum!!! Can you FEEL the love here?

Nothing like your favorite cousin, a cosmic brownie, and a monkey before bedtime!

My sister watched AR while I went to work on New Year's Eve. The next morning, AR and H had popsicles for breakfast (AR had a sore throat, more to come on that!). AR spent the rest of the morning checking on Champ.

They all went to lunch at Chili's. This was AR after she announced she was done eating. Love the legs crossed!

The girls had a great day together (despite the first picture!). I'm so glad that we live close together so we get to hang out with them!

My First Author Signing!!!

...So remember I told you all I wrote a book? Well, I've actually written four and all will be published by 12/31/14. There's also another book already finished that I'll be releasing in March 2015, plus at least two more in the Burning Lovesick series, one more that I'm currently working on, and possibly a short, sports novella that will be in a boxed set releasing next summer. So yeah...just like everything else I do, I've kinda jumped in head first and am fully submerged!

There's definitely a learning curve, but luckily, there are tons of resources, fellow authors, and reviewers that are willing to support me and help me out, which I need lots of that! It's an expensive process and I have yet to break even, but the way I'm looking at it is like this: I enjoy writing. It's a hobby. Hobbies cost money. If I wasn't writing, I'd be spending money doing something else. If I end up breaking even, that's just a bonus. I won't be quitting my day job for this and I highly doubt I'll be going on "tour" any time soon either. ;-) It's just fun, I enjoy it so it is what it is!

Last Thursday, I attended my first "signing event" at the local library. I was all set up with the first two books in the Burning Lovesick series, Love is a Fire and Burst Into Flame and I even had copies of my book The Right Pitch that won't be released on it's own until the end of December. I felt like I'd officially made it! I was the real deal...however, it was a little odd to introduce myself by my pen name!

While I didn't end up selling any books, I still had a great time. I met fellow, local authors and exchanged ideas with them. The lady beside me and I agreed to share our secret with each other if we even figured out how to make it big. I met the library staff that's been so supportive whether it's through stocking my book on their shelves, retweeting my tweets, and hosting this awesome event. I also met some readers in the community and handed out some business cards. Hopefully, over the next year, I'll get some more local readers that will come see me next year.

Oh! And I had a pretty awesome assistant with me for the evening!

In case you're looking for a great, personalized Christmas present or just want to purchase the ebook, here are the links to my books (if you want an autographed copy, contact me and we'll work it out!):

 

Burning Lovesick Series

Love is a Fire

Burst Into Flame

 

 

Everybody's After Love-This book is based here in STL and the main characters are loosely based around Matt and me. This book is available for pre-order and will release 12/3.

 

The Right Pitch-This book is available for pre-order and release 12/31. HOWEVER, it is a part of a boxed set that will release 12/8 which will include stories from ten other authors and only be 99 cents. I will update with the pre-order link when it's available.

Trunk or Treat...

...Sunday night the church where AR goes to preschool had Trunk or Treat. I'd never been to one before and the cars were all really decorated awesome! We've been to quite a few Halloween events and this was actually one of my favorites. My wild child that was singing Frozen in the dressing room at Kohl's earlier in the day was so quiet and soft spoken at Trunk or Treat, it was crazy! Even with her own teacher she was quiet and shy!

Finally! I got to meet her friends from school, they're triplets! We see pictures every week and I think she's been calling the boys by the wrong names but hey, at least she's got friends.

Here's my mermaid in the "Red C"

My sis and H came with us. Here's H as the Queen of Hearts in front of a castle.

This trunk had a ring toss and did I mention that all the booths had some great candy???

Hello Reeses!

The trunk had their two black labs dressed up. They were sitting perfectly still that I almost thought they were fake. The kids loved petting them.

They also had a hayride which AR LOVED!!!

The mermaid and the Queen of Hearts

We came home with a bag full of candy and two happy girls! It was warm enough that I just put her gymnastics leotard underneath her "shell bra" and all was good. Excellent event and I'm glad I got to talk to her teachers since I hadn't seen them since open house in August!

While Daddy's Away...

...While Daddy's been away, us girls have played...HARD! I'm exhausted. I've worked all week, we've had something every night in the evening, and I've been staying up WAY past my bedtime. This week has been nice and cool too so I'm loving all the outdoor activities. Since I'm so tired I can barely function, here's a quick recap of our week...

Tuesday-Gymnastics (easiest night by far!)

Wednesday-Employee picnic where I teach at. It was pretty cool...dinner, bounce houses, pony rides, ice cream, peddle boats which I thought were paddle boats??? Someone please leave a comment letting me know the difference. I think this picture is hilarious! Got my snocone in one hand, my arm around my girl, pony pulling me...life is good.

Thursday-OMG! I can't even believe how much we crammed into one day. I worked for a few hours in the morning while AR went to swim lessons. We met up with my sis and H spent the day with us. First stop for the three of us, we dropped off my book to my creative editor, Jimmy! He's so supportive and I'm so glad we were able to work together.

Then we went to the Magic House! H hadn't been since she was in kindergarten...five years ago! I don't think she got the full experience since she was helping AR out but we all had fun and I may have yelled at a few camp kids who tried to cut line in front of us.

This is the third time I've taken AR and I feel like every time there's more stuff that we didn't discover before...like this bubble thing!

A quick lunch at McDonald's where AR ate the majority of BOTH H and my's lunch and then we headed to Aquaport (review coming...sometime!). It was a beautiful day but the water was a little chilly for this old lady.

The two girls didn't think it was too cold though! Thank goodness H was there and the two of them had a great time.

H brought AR some goggles to wear and the child absolutely LOVED them!

After Aquaport, we headed out to the fair to see Daddy. This year she was old enough to ride on rides by herself! She giggled and waved every time she'd pass me. We both loved it!

And oh hey hot firefighters who happen to be holding my book! You know I'm always a fan of hanging out with firemen.

Friday-I worked, AR went to the sitter's, and then we went back to see Daddy at the fair. I finally went to bed earlier...you know, eleven!

 

Saturday & Sunday-This morning I'm headed to an adjunct conference while AR plays with Nanny. Then we'll go BACK to the fair this afternoon and tomorrow we have a wedding shower to go to.

 

See what I mean? I'm exhausted!!!

More than just #cakehunting...

...Aside from cake hunting on Memorial Day weekend, we did have more fun with my sis and H. The girls played with bubbles.

My child created a whole new concept with bubbles when they came out her nose!

First off, AR got this great selfie of both of us while driving from cake to cake.

We tried lunch at a place we'd never been before: Hamburger Mary's! They had fries so AR was happy.

We ended our night at Ted Drewes to celebrate our 44 cake finds on Saturday.

Our monkeys found bars to hang on so they were happy.

We wrapped up Sunday with some swimming.

I can't wait for it to warm up so our teeth won't be chattering!

Me and my girl trying to stay warm after a dip in the pool!

AR waited patiently for a snack.

Until she couldn't take it any more so she decided to lay down to rest.

And of course, I got out the DSLR and got some great pics of AR and my sister's dog! I love to practice with my camera and my child will have some many pictures of herself when she grows up.

We woke up Monday morning and went outside to paint our nails. Wow, she's got some crazy hair going on here, huh?

It was a nice, fun, but busy weekend! Now when will we find the rest of those cakes!

P.S. Rabbit, rabbit!

AR & H Open Gym!!!

...Before the cake search last weekend, H invited AR to open gym at her gymnastics studio. Last time AR was there, she was only 9 months old! She was able to get into a lot more fun this time.

The big kids were on the bigger trampoline but AR still had a ball on this small one. It's just her size!

Look at H helping AR do a backbend. I think she'll make a good teacher one day!

Balance beam time!

AR ran down this tumble track and then jumped right into H's arms in the foam pit.

My little monkey, always loves to hang!

Table Time!

Of course, AR thought doing a table this way was much more fun!

And they had a slide there that was just her size so she went down it over and over and over...

She didn't always land so gracefully...

But most times, she'd jump up with a ta-da!

Thanks for inviting us, H and Sha!

Gotta Be Eight!!!

...Tomorrow is my sweet niece's birthday, she'll be turning 10! I still remember when she was born and AR's age, crazy to see her so grown up. In our family, the rule is you have to be 8 years old to get your ears pierced. Don't ask me where that age came from. I just know that my sister was 8 when she got her ears pierced so when I wanted to get my ears pierced, she told my parents I had to wait until I was 8. When we both had daughters, we knew we'd abide by the "Gotta be Eight" rule. Well, eight came and went for H and she didn't want to get her ears pierced. Finally, this year, she decided she wanted to do it! So on Saturday, we all loaded up, H, my sis, me, AR along with Papa (my dad) and her friend, and headed to Sweet and Sassy for the big event. Since I took over fifty photos and I recently realized that you could make a video in Picasa, which is what I use for editing, I decided I'd try it out. See the big event for yourself! Congrats, Little Sister! You did a great job and I'm proud of you.

Here I am double checking that the marker dots for the holes are even.

Catching the newly ear pierced girl getting her pic taken.

Of course, we had to hit up Justice! Papa was the only boy in both stores!

Happy birthday, H! We love you!

Life in the Fast Lane...

...When I had AR, I put my life on hold. I didn't want to miss a single second with her so I basically did nothing besides work and be a mom. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining at all, I wouldn't do it any differently, but now that she's a bit older, I've started doing more...exercising, reading, socializing, etc...And in true Alyssa fashion, do you think that I gradually eased into things? Maybe for a couple months, but now my plate is full. As in, big girl, pour on more potatoes, my plate is overflowing! Here's my life in the fast lane these days...

Exercising/Weight Loss-As you've all seen my posts, I'm trying to lose weight. It's a never-ending battle. As this time, I'm really maintaining but hey, I'm almost forty pounds lighter than I was six months ago so I'll take maintaining and lose what I can. I'm trying to do boot camp 2 mornings/week, swim one morning/week, and run twice/week.

I'm an ambassador for Hospital Hill Run again this year. I love that race! I've been visiting local running stores to pass out info about the race. My goal is to run the half again, first half since having AR. I won't start my official training until March but I've got to build up my endurance between now and then.

They're getting new mileage club shirts at work which is the motivation I needed to get back into the pool! Oh, plus there's talk of the Tri Girls reuniting for the triathlon in August. I don't know what' s more frightening-competing post-baby in a tri or wearing a swimsuit in front of co-workers?

Teaching-Today is my first day of teaching...a college class! I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I basically have everything ready through the end of February, still prepping the first test, but I feel prepared for this first week. I've already been asked to teach again this fall. I haven't committed yet as I wanted to make sure I enjoyed teaching and I'm good at it. I did the math and if I do this for four years then I'll have enough money to buy AR's first car before she even turns five!

Product/Book Reviews-I have quite about five products to review right now and a few books to finish reading. My goal is to try to schedule and review two/week so I don't fall behind.

Valentine's Day-After I go to Costco this upcoming weekend, I'll have all the supplies I need to make AR's Valentine's. I'm pretty excited about them and I hope they turn out! I have to make twenty for a playdate and the kids at the sitter's.

AR's Second Birthday-Although it's four months away, I'm already full swing in party planning mode! I even made a trial cake to see if I could do it. FYI-it turned out pretty awesome!

Writing-I've started writing and I don't mean blogging. Through all the book reviews I've been doing, I've been introduced to the world of indie publishing. I decided to try my hand at writing a love story and I, well, loved it! I've had a few people read it and I'm on a critique website. I've gotten good feedback and best of all, no one's straight up told me it sucks to that's exciting! It's a long, tedious process and I just wish I had more time to devote to it, but alas, I don't. I'm going to keep pushing on and hopefully, you'll see a post about it one day!

Photography-I did a "photoshoot" for a couple this month and it's made me want to do more. Not that I want to actually be a photographer but I want to be able to take photographer quality photos of AR and our family. I've talked to Katie Beach, our wedding photog, and she's going to do a natural lighting class on March 9. If you're interested, email or leave me a comment. I'm looking for three other people to do the class with me. I'm also already working on some pictures for the February Photo Challenge I'll be posting on here.

AR-Dude, she needs a social coordinator! Tuesday nights we have gymnastics. Mondays we've started swim lessons. I want to do a Mini Kickers program (soccer) but it's only offered on Tuesday mornings so I'll have to keep looking. She's got a playdate and birthday party coming up on the 9th plus we're going to be celebrating H's tenth birthday soon! Seriously, how did H get to be ten already!?!

I'm also trying to sell her baby stuff. I think I've come to terms with being okay with her being an only child. That should be a post in itself and it will be when I'm 100% okay with it. In the meantime, I've been posting pics and meeting people to get rid of some of her bigger baby toys to make room for all the new ones we got at Christmas. I also need to do a post on her since I haven't done one devoted fully towards her and her developments since, oh, you know her 12 month post which was eight months ago! FYI-We're still not 100% over her cold/sinuses/whatever you want to call it. The doctor said her lungs sounded clear both times we went so I guess that's good but I wish this cough would go away!

So that's what's going on in my world these days. You know, aside from working, being a mom/wife, and trying to keep my head above water in the household department. These next few months are going to get crazy! But hey, that's life in the fast lane, right?

Hot Chocolate 5k Race Recap...

...Well, the big event has come and gone. Yesterday was the day of the Hot Chocolate 5k here in STL. We had received an email from them on Friday saying prepare for extreme cold temperatures...as in 5 degrees-holy moly!

Early Saturday morning, we got snow...lots and lots of snow. Luckily, Jenni picked up all of our packets at the Expo so I didn't have to brave the roads and take AR out in the snow. Supposedly part of I-70 was closed for awhile yesterday.

Then bright and early on Sunday, earlier than expected because my daughter decided to wake up at 4:30am, I woke up ready to face the Hot Chocolate 5k. I met Jenni at 6:40 then we headed downtown to meet my sis and H were we all added more layers and made our way to the starting line. Our crew, the Turquoise Turtles back at it again! They kept trying to talk to me, but I couldn't hear anything because I had on ear warmers, a hat, that scarf wrapped around my head 2-3 times and my hoodie!

Unfortunately, I didn't really use any of my training. Having already had knee surgery once, I'm always very cautious on ice. Good news though, the only person I saw fall on ice was my husband as he watched me back out of the driveway and told me to watch for black ice...maybe he should take his own advice, huh?

Instead, H and I ran/walked the whole race...hand in hand. Yes, we held hands the entire time until our hands were so sweaty we couldn't stand it. Then I put my arm around her and we'd walk until we'd start running again and then hold hands once more. We ran almost to mile one then probably walked the next mile-mile & half then ran off and on until the finish. I may not have had a stellar performance, but hey, at least I was out there! Haley and I finished in 46:36 so that's not bad considering my goal was under 45 and we didn't run as much as I wanted to. Oh and the winner of the 15k barely finished before us, too. :-)

Oh and I forgot during mile one, we saw Santa and his elf. While AR & I are Santa Stalkers, H is absolutely terrified of Santa and any other character like that so it took a bit of convincing to pass them.

We finished the race and waited on my sis & Jenni. Then we got in the massive line to get our Finish's Mug. I know I'd gotten a few emails that they were looking for volunteers so I'm not sure if they were short or what, but they could've used some more manpower in this area to keep the lines moving. We'd wait in what we thought was a line only to find out it wasn't. Once we got close enough, we saw if we kept moving to the left then there were REALLY short lines. I was pretty stoked to get my finisher's mug!

Unfortunately, our Rice Krispie treat was frozen and my hand was covered in chocolate when I dipped my mini pretzels. My fondue also hardened before I could finish it, but the hot chocolate was amazing! It was an excellent post race treat.

When I got home, Matt and AR weren't home yet, but they had hung garland around the living room (see beads in the left corner of picture). When they did get home, they had a Christmas tree!

Here I am in my awesome hoodie! I picked a larger size since I'd registered back in August and you can tell by the baggy part under my arms, but it's still awesome. My husband was jealous when he saw it so I better keep a close eye on it or he might be trying to wear it.

Definitely a fun race and I hope next year that I can do the 15k. Hopefully, there won't be snow/ice on the ground and it won't be so cold, but with Missouri weather, you never know what you'll get in December!

Game 5 NLDS-CARDS WIN!!!

...go Birds, go Birds, go Birds!!! This past Wednesday night, our beloved Cardinals won the National League Division Series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. We were lucky enough to go to the game! This was AR's second game and her first playoff game out of the womb.

 

After the last game we took her to, I was very concerned about how she'd be especially since it started at her bedtime. She did AWESOME though!!! I think it helped that it was much cooler and she loved everyone sitting around us. She gave fives to all the fans around us, she clapped and even "cheered" aka screamed a few times.

 

Here are the girls before the game

An infamous brick picture family style

 

Here's our crew: Matt, me, AR, H and my dad. This pic was right when we arrived and she wasn't so sure what was going on.

As soon as we sat down, the boys went to get dinner and brought back two, yes two, napkins. When AR saw Daddy's french fries, she grabbed herself one and dipped them in the ketchup AND cheese...what a mess!

The Mister and me

Me, H and Papa

AR trying to take control of the camera

Much better pic of me and my girl

Thank goodness for this water bottle! She was entertained for a good 2 innings just opening, closing and drinking out of it like a big girl. We even had an extra seat by us which worked out nicely so she could sit in it and also so she could walk back and forth.

We took one break from our seats around the 5th inning. We visited the team store and AR fell in love with this foam finger (which we left at the store). Once she found the bats then I knew it was time to head back to our seats.

She started fussing around the 8th inning which was about 2.5 hours past her bedtime. I told Matt to hand me a snack, thinking he'd pass down the Cheerios, but no, I suddenly see her reaching for a cupcake in her Daddy's hand. Didn't make much difference though because about half an inning later, she was passed out in my arms. She missed the last three outs then woke up to celebrate the win and once we got in the carseat, baby girl was passed out again.

Fredbird after the game-GO BIRDS!

The boys celebrating their big win!

Matt took our DSLR and was obsessed with taking pictures of Waino

Adam Wainwright was amazing and is the 27th pitcher to have a complete game victory in a winner-take-all postseason contest. Now, let's GO BIRDS!!! Keep it up!