Hazelbaker the Cupcake Maker

What I thought was going to be a laidback Monday evening turned into an evening full of excitement! My friend Laura, who lives in Cape, texted my sister and I that Cardinals outfielder Jeremy Hazelbaker was going to be signing at Rally House in Brentwood. Ever since AR saw Hazelbaker at spring training, she has called him Hazelbaker the Cupcake Maker and when he's up to bat at Busch Stadium, she always yells at him to ask, "Do you bake cupcakes?"

This past weekend, my sister saw him in Pittsburgh and told him about AR and her cupcake question so when Laura text us about his signing, my sis said she'd grab the cupcakes and meet us there. As soon as AR set them down in front of him, he immediately recalled the conversation with my sis. AR kind of froze up and he had to kind of coax the cupcake maker part out of her. Then when we snapped this pic, he asked someone to take a picture on his phone, too!

He signed a ball and a picture for her then we put the stuff in the car and came back in to look around. As we were looking at visors, he came up and admitted that he had a sweet tooth. Our convo:

Hazelbaker: Yeah, I've got a sweet tooth.

Me: Only on your cheat days though, right?

Hazelbaker: Every day's a cheat day.

Me: Yeah, me, too.

Somehow it came up in conversation what part of town he lived in and I told him about a cupcake place close to him.

Me to AR: Remember that place? We met Mary Poppins there a few summers ago. *I turn to Hazelbaker* Mary Poppins, Hazelbaker... you know, I'm sure they'd love to have you sign there, too!

He laughed and then some more people came in to get autographs so we bought a visor and he went back to signing. The store gave us another photo of him so AR went up to have it signed. Their convo:

AR: Can you sign this for my sister, Haley?

Hazelbaker: Sure, I can sign it for your sister. Where should I sign? *they have a discussion deciding where to sign* Think I should put her name on there?

AR: Yeah, it's Haley.

Hazelbaker: How do you spell that? H-A-L-E-Y?

I nod to AR who looks at Hazelbaker: Pft! That was easy!

Hazelbaker, laughing: Yeah, it was. I shouldn't have even asked.

AR: Thanks for keeping me up past my bedtime.

Hazelbaker: Oh, are you supposed to be in bed?

AR nods

Hazelbaker: Aw... I like it!

Then we thanked him and told him good luck with the season. I posted this pic on IG:

And as if the evening was already awesome enough... HE LIKED OUR PHOTO!!!

Thank you, Hazelbaker the Cupcake Maker, for your time and making this little girl's night. You have a new fan for life now!!! And then he posted this on his Instagram page and AR is even more in love with #hazelbakerthecupcakemaker

Foto Friday!!!

...Here are a few random photos AKA photo dump!

We went to my dad's a couple weekends ago. H wanted to drive my car into the garage and ugh, she really looks like she could be old enough to drive!

While we were in Cape, we went to our second cousins' dance recital. Here's a pic of H, AR, and their cousins.

We also had the last of AR's third birthday celebration. She requested popsicles for her birthday treat... ask and you shall receive!

Last week some of Matt's friends had their daughter. They have always been good friends to us thoughout all the hardships we've had over the years and were one of two of our friends that visited us in the hospital when AR was born. We loaded up with some hand-me-downs of AR's and some new outfits that AR helped me pick out and went to visit. On the way there, AR was so sweet and said, "Mommy, maybe when Baby King is bigger, her mommy will let me hold her." When we arrived, Julie asked her right away if AR wanted to hold her and she was so excited, just check out that smile on her face! Welcome to the world Baby Lillian! When we were driving home, AR said to me, "Mommy, maybe next time we see Baby King, I can hold her by myself and you won't sit by me." Umm... we'll see about that...

Last weekend I bought a huge watermelon and we cut it up outside on Saturday afternoon. I swear this child was eating it as fast as I was cutting it. We pureed a few pieces and put them in our new popsicle molds and she drank the juice that was left over. This girl LOVES her watermelon!

Labor Day at Sha Sha's...

...I'm a little late on this post but I just got the pics. I had to work ALL Labor Day weekend. On Saturday, my stepsis Jo watched AR and they had a great time hanging out at our house, visiting me at work and checking out the library. Then on Sunday, my sister and H watched her. So even though I was stuck at work, AR had a pretty awesome weekend.

 

First thing when she got to Sha Sha's, she had to check out the fish tank. 

Then she gave Papa's picture on the fridge a few kisses.

After a nap, it was time for lunch-yum!

Then she got lathered up in sunscreen.

And they all headed outside to swim.

AH-look at this sea monster attacking AR!

After swimming, my sister cut open a watermelon. At first, AR was very ladylike about eating it...

Then she said to heck with it and dug in!

Then I called to say I was on my way and she was so excited!

I spent the night there Sunday night and we spent Monday shopping. I scored a ton of deals and have almost all of AR's wardrobe bought for next year! We're very lucky to have so much family close by that can help us take care of our little girl.

Spray Pad Fun!!!

...so today after work, H, AR and I returned to the Spray Pad. This time I was better prepared and brought a swimsuit and towels. It was a steamy, hot day...perfect for cooling off and luckily, I had H to chase her around in the water. Think she liked it?

She was a bit surprised sometimes by the water...

but she loved it and kept going back for more!

Despite this picture, the water was very warm.

Oh to be a kid and be this excited about the spray pad! Although, now being a mom and seeing my daughter's face like this kind of makes me feel the same way too. :-)

Always exploring...

And excitedly running out of the water!

I'm going to have my hands full when she starts running!

3D Art Around Town...

...H is staying with us this week and going to camp. AR is loving having someone to play with every morning and night plus we're trying to do fun stuff after work too. H also has brought her Girl Scout badges to work on. So far, she has written observations about AR (Child Care Badge), made predictions on what her group will wear (Math Wiz Badge) and today, we visited the Cultural Art Center to view some 3D art.

Here's AR and H with one sculpture:

This was 3D, the purple beard pops out and this entire thing was made from duct tape!

Here's AR with another sculpture

The girls hanging out at the back rack which is in the shape of a bike

Then we took a walk around the Center outside

She looks like an old lady here

She wanted her H to stay with her

And when I made H come stand by me, AR was not happy

She was pretty excited to discover another sculpture though!

Tomorrow we're going to hit up the splash pad-woohoo!!!

The Color Run 2013...

...this past Saturday, Jenni, my sister, H and I did the Color Run. My other friend, Shawna, actually is the one who asked me if I wanted to do it and I figured, sure why not. Then Jenni got registered but it sold out before Shawna and my sis & H could sign up. Luckily, I have 2 friends who had extra entries so my sis and H were able to register.

 

I created the team, the Turquoise Turtles. My sister and H made us all shirts and then they also made onesies for AR and Emma:

AR and I spent the night on Friday at my sister's. H painted my toes and fingernails to get us in the spirit. I even painted one of AR's big toes.

Turquoise Turtles representin'! Oh,it was also raining and a little chilly.

So throughout the race there are 4 color stations. The color is this powdery cornstarch substance that they squirt on you out of ketchup bottles. A young boy squirt yellow right in my face and up my nose! Now I know why they recommend you were a handkerchief and/or sunglasses.

H and I held hands the whole race, being with a kid meant I got lots of extra color, everyone's always nicer to kids!

Turquoise Turtles post-Color Run

Jenni post-race:

Me post-race. In my former life, I must've been a cheerleader, check out that pose:

Jenni and I held the onesies throughout the race to get color on them. Here's AR's:

My sis and me, oh and it was her big 3-8 birthday!!!

After the race, we headed over to the stadium. Here's the first backstory: In 2004, my sis and I bought my dad a brick to be placed outside the stadium (it's in front of the team store, section L). Every time we're at/close to the stadium, we have to find the brick and someone (typically my dad) has to lay down beside it and take a picture. I have quite a few pictures of my dad, H and random friends by this brick. Since we were just a few blocks over, we all went over and each took turns laying down beside the brick for a picture:

Second backstory, my sister always makes my dad a Cardinals calendar for Christmas with various pictures of all of us in Cards gear throughout the year. This was the best pic we could get at the stadium since it was raining and no strangers really wanted to stand out there with us. We thought this would make for a different pic than we usually use.

After the stadium, a phone call to Papa to check on AR, we sat on our tableclothes and put one between us and the seatbelt and headed home!

Early in the week, the Color Run sent us a code for a free picture download. This was the only one we had to pick from.

It was a good time! It would've been more fun if it wasn't raining and I was about 50 pounds lighter so I'll work on those things before I do it again. Thanks for coming and joining us Jenni! Go Turquoise Turtles!

H's 9th Birthday!!!

...my baby neice is turning 9 on Tuesday. That's just insane to me because I still remember driving across the snowy state of Missouri to be there when she was born and now she's 9!!! Yesterday was her gymnastics birthday party. My job was to take pics with my new camera. We took 700. Yes, let that soak in, 700...beware of sports mode! I gave the memory card to my sister so she sent me some but I when I get them back I may post some other cool pics. I feel like I did a pretty good job of taking the pics but had my baby not been sick and almost her nap time, then I could have gotten some other cool angles because I wouldn't have had her on my hip. Yes, she was on my hip almost the entire time. Or I was laying on the floor to get a different angle and she was standing and patting me. She was so sweet though and I think she enjoyed the party too!

 

Here's AR on the beam:

She was helping H stretch before the party got started. 

H doing a straddle in mid-air

AR watching the big girls and taking mental notes

When the big girls got done with the obstacle course, AR took her turn with it

H on the bars

The cousins!

AR was pretty exhausted after the party

Happy birthday H! Thanks for letting us come to your party. We love you!