St. Louis

Hmmmm since I last posted a lot has happened at the Kies house. Most significantly we did some traveling which proved to be very pleasant despite the addition of a moving, active, AGGRESSIVE 10 month old. Last Friday we headed down to St. Louis for the much anticipated 1/2 marathon. We stopped half way at Wendys for dinner. Maddox has been doing soooo well with her pottying. NO accidents during the day for weeks! But, she has ( had) a fear of public toilets. I didn't get a picture but I"m sure it would have been priceless....seeing Maddox doing her business on her little potty right in the middle of the Wendy's parking lot. Little did I know that by the end of the weekend the FEAR would be gone. Saturday morning we met up with Aunt Diane, Uncle Brian and cousin Hannah. We had planned to go to the famous St. Louis zoo but the weather apparently did not get the memo so we headed to the mall instead. It was there that Maddox miraculously learned how to go to on the public potty. I finally learned Aunt Diane's trick!! She was secretively telling the potty to 'be quiet'. Who would have thought something that simple would calm Maddox's flush fears and allow her to do her business on the public potty. It has literally worked every since. Thank you Aunt Diane!!! We celebrated Uncle Brian's birthday Saturday night with a carb filled dinner and strawberry cupcakes with bright pink icing whisked up by Maddox and Aunt Diane. Maddox got to SIT on the counter AND help Aunt Diane break the eggs into the batter. What a special treat. Sunday morning Brian picked Eric and I up to head to the race while Hannah and Diane got the kids ready to go down and be spectators. I must admit I had some reservations with Diane attempting to get the kids dressed, fed, and loaded up in the car seats to head down to the big city but she did it with flying colors. Maddox and Kennon got to see us 'buzz' by them at mile 12 just before the finish. I use the word buzz in italics....because I wasn't really buzzing by that point. I didn't have the best run but finished nonetheless. Eric did super as did Brian for his first 1/2 marathon. Way to go boys!! I am hoping to redeem myself at the Distance Classic half marathon on Mother's Day in the Quad Cities. We packed up back at the hotel after the race, grabbed some Taco Bell ( nothing like a good burrito post 13 miles) and headed to Keokuk to do some visiting with Grandma Doris and the Kies clan. The kids were SO ready to get out of the car when we arrived Sunday afternoon. They got their energy out by crawling/running around Grandma Doris' house like crazy. We had a yummy dinner and then hit the hay. Monday morning we hopped in the car one last time and headed home. It was a great weekend and so nice to be away. Thanks to the Gillaspies and the Kies for the great food and hospitality. The kids did GREAT in the car. Kennon slept the majority of all the car rides and Maddox was entertained by the DVD player and various videos ( I think I can pretty much site 'Horton Hears a Who' from memory now). Unfortunately Kennon did not sleep much at all at night while we were gone. Maddox did fairly well sleeping, did not have any accidents, and woke up dry every morning. Both the kids were happy to be home and back in their own beds Monday evening. Kennon is getting really efficient at crawling and has been trying his hand at walking the last couple of days. His new best buddy is the beloved giraffe that you all are familiar with from Maddox. He is already able to grab onto the handles, much like Maddox did, and walk behind it. He is still a little unsteady and needs to be on the carpet but it is not going to be long before he is motorin'. I really think he'll be walking by his 1st birthday if not very soon. Maddox is NOT so keen on him using her favorite toy. Mind you, she hasn't touched the giraffe in the last 6 months but now that he is interested in it she is too! He is really into all of her stuff and actually thinks it is really funny when she tries to push him away and gain her stuff back. He is really aggressive and this crazy fun hour after dinner. He is so happy and just plays about with lots of smiles. I just love Kennon's smile in some of these pictures. He is a happy little boy and has the cutest darn expressions lately. Maddox is going through the terrible 2's and is not always the most pleasant child but when she is rested and happy she is really cute and does love her brother. She even shared her free HyVee cookie with him today, slightly prompted by me, but she does get a kick of feeding him little bits. Today I caught her giving him a HOP. They are these little rabbit shaped cookies and are MUCH bigger than anything he has had so far. He looked at me with wide eyes as it was too late to snag it back out of his mouth. I think he LOVED it and definintely would have devoursed the 3 others Maddox left on the carpet for him if I had left them. He is going to figure out real quick to keep his eye on her as she is going to be a great source of treats in the coming months! We plopped them in the bathtub tonight TOGETHER for the first time. They did pretty well and most of the water stayed IN the tub. I managed to get a few good shots. So I am just now posting this ( saturday afternoon) even though I started writing it on Wednesday night.  The picture of Eric, Marty, and Maddox is at Eric's office.  It is Maddox's first official 'financial planning' meeting. I'm sure they are discussing The Planning Center's awesome budgeting software/theory called First Step ( for those of you who are familiar with the tool!!) So cute! Honestly I'm not sure what they are discussing but I think the picture is adorable. I love how Eric and Marty got down on HER level. The aim to please  at The Planning Center :0