I have been terrible about posting things about Emmie--or keeping a baby book. Poor second child. Anyway, our little girl loves to move, cuddle, explore, and tease. She is a social butterfly and never meets a stranger without a smile.
Today she had a doctor's check up for 15 months.
She weighed 19 lbs 9 oz (7%)
Is 31.5" long (80%)
She is a petite built, tall thing. She is a bright little ray of sunshine.
Showing posts with label famly. Show all posts
Showing posts with label famly. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Monday, June 3, 2013
C's preschool graduation
Our little guy graduated 2 weeks ago. I am so far behind, but here are some photos.
C with E and his cousin, G
in the ceremony. they sang lots of songs and each got their name called to accept their certificate of completion. we were holding our breath to see how C behaved. he is always a wild card. i need to send a few more photos from my phone to add. i am so lazy with this b/c it takes a lot more work.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Emmie's First Month
Emmie turned one month old. She is actually 5 weeks old today, but her 1 month checkup was yesterday.
She weighed 10 lbs 1 oz, and she is 22.25" long. She is a big girl She is so heavy compared to what her brother was at that point. My shoulders, neck and back are feeling it as she loves to be held.
Her favorite things are sleeping and eating. She is just starting to spend more time alert to actually play. I can't wait for her to start developing a personality and start smiling and cooing, but the snuggles are fun, too.
Emmie's best time is morning, so I try to cram all my errands in early. She doesn't seem to mind. She even went on C's field trip to Dierberg's yesterday. C was so proud to show off his sister--and very worried about people giving her germs.
Here are some pictures of her each week of this first month
She weighed 10 lbs 1 oz, and she is 22.25" long. She is a big girl She is so heavy compared to what her brother was at that point. My shoulders, neck and back are feeling it as she loves to be held.
Her favorite things are sleeping and eating. She is just starting to spend more time alert to actually play. I can't wait for her to start developing a personality and start smiling and cooing, but the snuggles are fun, too.
Emmie's best time is morning, so I try to cram all my errands in early. She doesn't seem to mind. She even went on C's field trip to Dierberg's yesterday. C was so proud to show off his sister--and very worried about people giving her germs.
Here are some pictures of her each week of this first month
10 days old
2 weeks
3 weeks
another 3 week shot
4 weeks
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Red envelopes 1-4
Here are a couple of the Nativities we saw on the Hill Saturday night.
I was a bit disappointed in how few businesses had them up, but we probably saw close to 10. Then we went to dinner at this pizzeria/bar that was really delicious.
Day 2 was watching the new Grinch, but we still haven't done that. We got really busy putting up our tree.
Day 3 was watching Santa Claus is Coming to Town.
Day 4, tonight is making a donation to Bethany Adoption Services in honor of Stella.
Just for good measure, a couple of photos I just recently "found."
These are from July
this one is Thanksgiving Day at my aunt's house
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Kicking off Xmas
Advent doesn't begin until tomorrow, but we kicked off our 25 days of Red Envelope activities today. I am being a bit more ambitious this year with how much we are trying to do b/c we might not be able to do much with a 9 month old next year. Even though we've lived in St. Louis before doing it with kids is a whole other thing.
Our box holding the envelopes--found it at JoAnn's.
Day 1
Pretty Xmas paper...it's the little things that make me happy.
Day1: Celebrate the Nativity
Start reading our advent books (b/c they go 25 days, but Jesse tree starts tomorrow (even though I wrote it here--oops). Bonus activity--Christmas on the Hill. We are going to the Italian neigborhood of St. Louis for their Christmas extravaganza. All the shops have Nativities in their windows, they hand out Salamites (some secretive Italian treat), chestnuts, you can do carriage rides, and a free concert. Not sure how much of it we will do, but we are going to head down this afternoon to walk the storefronts and eat dinner at a yummy Italian restaurant for sure.
We've already discussed our Nativity this morning and read about the Holy Land.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Giving Thanks
I found this project/board on Pinterest that I fell in love with. Really it was 2 ideas. The one was a board with all 30 days of November with a pocket to hold a blank card to write on each day something you are thankful for. I felt this was too advanced for C to come up with 30 things or to write. I loved the concept though. Then I found this sewn project with a similar idea, but it provided ideas in each day of things kids could be thankful for and an accompanying activity. I melded the two ideas together, and here is what I came up with.
I plan to make my activities more uniform in size for next year b/c they keep slipping into the pockets, but other than that I'm really happy with this. I also had to handwrite a couple b/c I only found 22 stock activities, so I added a few. We are having so much fun each day remembering to be thankful and doing something fun or kind.
Here are the links to the ideas I used.
this is what I followed for the exterior. I used a canvas instead of plywood b/c I was too lazy to go to Lowe's. I decorated mine slightly different, and I couldn't find very large letter or # stickers, but oh well.
these are really good with quite a variety. i added a few activities that added some things i wanted to do. it would be so easy to adapt these activities to different ages. Some are simple, some require an act of service, and some are just plain fun. I feel like these are definitely geared to 8 and under.
Monday, October 8, 2012
C's weekend with Luther
It was C's turn in his class to bring home the class mascot, Luther Bear. Luther comes home with a book of his previous adventures, a ton of clothes, and a spot in the book to add your own adventures/pictures. C lucked out and got to have Luther 2 extra days b/c of a field trip on Friday (that got rained out).
Here's a peak at his adventures. He absolutely loved Luther and was sad to see him go this morning.
Here's a peak at his adventures. He absolutely loved Luther and was sad to see him go this morning.
Luther got to go out for Mexican on my birthday! Notice C is wearing his Captain America costume. Yep, we're those parents.
Luther also got to enjoy my chocolate-covered strawberries my sweet friend Bree sent me for my bday.
Headed to soccer
Playing Just Dance
Sleepover at grandma and grandpa's
Just b/c he's cute dancing here.
Finally a family photo long in the making. Our first one in 13 months...seriously. This is after we attended the Cards game bundled for winter. We picked C up at Walmart, so that is the awesome backdrop for our current family photo. I love this photo of C.
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Apple Picking
We headed to Eckert's Family Farm for apple picking and fun with Scott's parents, his sister's family, and our friends the Schaffers. We had a great time. We saw them shoot the pumpkins from the cannon, watched 3 rounds of pig races (which was hilarious), picked apples, and let the kids ride rides. We stayed for about 3 hourse, and when it was all over we were all so pooped.
posing with the other big kids. i guess he was trying to do Dracula
riding the swings with Mia. the admission to the farm is pretty steep, but once you're in the entertainment except animal rides are free. They have 4 or 5 rides, a haunted house, apple picking a jumping pillow, a giant slide, and I'm sure stuff I'm forgetting.
this kid was full of weirdness
Sampling his first apple in the orchard. The trees were so picked over. It was hard to find many good ones. At first C was paralyzed with fear b/c of the bees, but after about 10 minutes he relaxed and tried an apple.
Still enjoying that apple on the ride back.
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Preschool update
C loves preschool...I mean loves it. Here are some things we are noticing this year.
C is becoming kind of a loner at school--pointed out by his teacher. He hasn't quite figured out how to make friends. He often times chooses to play alone instead of with others. This makes me sad, but I just have to respect his personality while encouraging him to be kind and courteous to others. When I come to pick him up, I often see little girls trying to play with him, but overall he'd rather play with boys or alone. It is funny to me that he is such a loner b/c other kids always seem to know him and talk to him. He is just such a funny bugger about interactions. He will hardly say hi to girls when we enter school. He says grandpa is his best friend, but otherwise he really misses his friends from Normal.
C hates to write or use a pencil. He can do it, but he gets frustrated quickly. I think at the root he is a bit of a perfectionist, but knows his skills don't match up, so he gives up. He can't seem to remember not to pick up his pencil when he shouldn't. Last week they worked on tracing lines--straight and curvy. He was so proud and yet ashamed to show me his work. He pointed out every mistake he made. Even though he doesn't enjoy it, he is always so proud to show me his worksheet of the day--which starting this week has begun focusing on a letter of the week and writing skills. He was so proud how he didn't get tricked. You can't see in the picture, but he traced his name in the yellow--poor kid just has terrible writing skills--which both Scott and I had as well.
He is keenly observant and somewhat more sensitive than I ever gave him credit. There is a little girl in his class that speaks almost no English. He told us all about it from the very beginning. He was very concerned about her. He asked us to help him find some Korean words to say to her. He tried, but I don't think she either understood him or he pronounced them correctly, but he's still very concerned. She is one of the only girls' names in class he knows. Crazy. The teacher even spoke to me about his observancy.
He is taking a biweekly computer class through school to help improve his fine motor skills and just to become a bit more tech savvy. He loves it. His teacher always says what a great listener he is and what a great memory he has. I was kind of shocked about the listening part b/c he goes straight there after 3 hours of preschool, so I didn't know how he would be.
He is very excited to be a big brother. He asks me questions all the time like when will the baby be here and when will we find out if it's a boy or girl. He is very aware and sensitive to the fact I don't feel well. He tries very hard to be good and helpful. He even helps me clean bathrooms and dust!
His eating habits are a mystery to me. Sometimes he gladly eats whatever and then other times he sees a spice or ingredient that freaks him and out and he flat out refuses to eat anything. He's been getting away with being pickier since I've been sick, but I was floored when he told me his favorite snack he's had at school so far were carrots with dip. He's never shown any interest in dips/dressings. Today at lunch he asked for carrots and ranch. He doesn't use much ranch, but he downed lots of carrots. Thank you preschool.
Finally my biggest worry about preschool--lice, which was enhanced by 2 incidents this week. First our friends who live about 30 minutes away got lice from school. 1 of the 3 children got it and the mom. YIKES! I don't know if any others ended up with it, but that sounds miserable. Second Scholastic books sent a little packet home for parents with info and coupons. Check it out.
C is becoming kind of a loner at school--pointed out by his teacher. He hasn't quite figured out how to make friends. He often times chooses to play alone instead of with others. This makes me sad, but I just have to respect his personality while encouraging him to be kind and courteous to others. When I come to pick him up, I often see little girls trying to play with him, but overall he'd rather play with boys or alone. It is funny to me that he is such a loner b/c other kids always seem to know him and talk to him. He is just such a funny bugger about interactions. He will hardly say hi to girls when we enter school. He says grandpa is his best friend, but otherwise he really misses his friends from Normal.
C hates to write or use a pencil. He can do it, but he gets frustrated quickly. I think at the root he is a bit of a perfectionist, but knows his skills don't match up, so he gives up. He can't seem to remember not to pick up his pencil when he shouldn't. Last week they worked on tracing lines--straight and curvy. He was so proud and yet ashamed to show me his work. He pointed out every mistake he made. Even though he doesn't enjoy it, he is always so proud to show me his worksheet of the day--which starting this week has begun focusing on a letter of the week and writing skills. He was so proud how he didn't get tricked. You can't see in the picture, but he traced his name in the yellow--poor kid just has terrible writing skills--which both Scott and I had as well.
He is keenly observant and somewhat more sensitive than I ever gave him credit. There is a little girl in his class that speaks almost no English. He told us all about it from the very beginning. He was very concerned about her. He asked us to help him find some Korean words to say to her. He tried, but I don't think she either understood him or he pronounced them correctly, but he's still very concerned. She is one of the only girls' names in class he knows. Crazy. The teacher even spoke to me about his observancy.
He is taking a biweekly computer class through school to help improve his fine motor skills and just to become a bit more tech savvy. He loves it. His teacher always says what a great listener he is and what a great memory he has. I was kind of shocked about the listening part b/c he goes straight there after 3 hours of preschool, so I didn't know how he would be.
He is very excited to be a big brother. He asks me questions all the time like when will the baby be here and when will we find out if it's a boy or girl. He is very aware and sensitive to the fact I don't feel well. He tries very hard to be good and helpful. He even helps me clean bathrooms and dust!
His eating habits are a mystery to me. Sometimes he gladly eats whatever and then other times he sees a spice or ingredient that freaks him and out and he flat out refuses to eat anything. He's been getting away with being pickier since I've been sick, but I was floored when he told me his favorite snack he's had at school so far were carrots with dip. He's never shown any interest in dips/dressings. Today at lunch he asked for carrots and ranch. He doesn't use much ranch, but he downed lots of carrots. Thank you preschool.
Finally my biggest worry about preschool--lice, which was enhanced by 2 incidents this week. First our friends who live about 30 minutes away got lice from school. 1 of the 3 children got it and the mom. YIKES! I don't know if any others ended up with it, but that sounds miserable. Second Scholastic books sent a little packet home for parents with info and coupons. Check it out.
Lice can affect you. Thanks for confirming my fears. I've never had lice, and I taught summer camps one year where I was petrified I'd get it.
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Pregnancy Confessions
So, I have this baby growing that has been making me miserable. Shocking, I know, right? Some of this post will be funny and some not so funny and some just plain whiny. You've been warned.
What I miss most!
This can itself be broken down into several categories, but mostly they involve foods, activities, and more foods, so I'll just stick to the food part.
Food
Of course there are the obvious ones that you have to avoid: cold lunch meat, unpasteurized cheeses, too much caffeine, pre-made deli foods, etc. Then there are the foods that I either can't stomach the thought of consuming right now or really want, but they are too painful on the way up.
Foods I can't stand right now
Most chunks of meat. I am consuming much less protein than is healthy I think. I am a walking pre-diabetic currently with the amount of carbs I am consuming out of necessity. Wait til you read the list--I'm not exaggerating.
Coffee--I think it would hurt, but it just doesn't sound good
Peanut butter--it just seems revolting to me right now, but normally I love it. I ate a ton of it when I was pregnant with C
Foods I would like to eat, but just can't, but hope to soon
Dairy. I miss this the most. I eat a small amount of cheese, but that's it. I've just started trying to incorporate yogurt back into my diet with some success. I just can't consume too much or it makes a reappearance.
Tomato products. I love tomatoes--I mean love them, but they are a no-go. They are just too painful to throw up. This means no pizza, no marinara based pastas/lasagnas, no chili, no vegetable soups w/tomatoes, etc. Tomatoes are a major staple in our house, so everyone is kind of suffering here.
Chocolate. It just doesn't sit right in too large of a proportion. I occasionally try a little bit, but for the most part, it is a no.
Spicy foods. See tomatoes above for the same reasons.
Water--technically not a food, but a drink, but it's my normal beverage of choice. Having to find other beverages to consume has been painful. If I put too much water on my stomach, it comes right back out. I don't really understand this, but the nurse practitioner from a year ago told me it's highly normal for someone with my symptoms.
Eggs--I generally eat eggs for breakfast every other day. Right now maybe once a week is all I can stomach--and it can't be fried right now--I can't stand to look at the yolk.
Salad and other raw veggies--I seriously have dreams about eating salad. I want salad so badly, but see tomato products. Salad is not pleasant.
Nuts are the exact same. They tend to get caught in your throat.
Fresh fruit--this is something that I can sometimes eat successfully and sometimes not. If I'm feeling okayish, I usually try. I have had some miserable experiences with peaches, grapes, kiwis, and applesauce previously during the weeks I was at my worst.
Foods I am so tired of
Any carbs--seriously it's getting old. I generally choose one carb item and binge on it for a week and then can't stand the sight of it. I have blown through goldfish, regular pretzels, Ritz crackers, honey nut cheerios, animal crackers, and honey wheat pretzels. The bad thing about the reflux/morning sickness problem is you have to keep food on your stomach at all times, which leads to a week binge (not really a binge, but just a constant eating), so then I'm so sick of that item after about a week, I can't return to it. I'm out of ideas for a new snack next week, so I'm hoping this general queasy feeling is ready to relent.
White bread--I am a whole wheat girl, but whole grains are too hard to digest, so I have to eat processed white bread.
American cheese--it seems to be the most gentle on my stomach, so I eat a cheese sandwich almost daily for lunch.
Ramen noodles--these often accompany my cheese sandwich at lunch. There's something settling to my stomach about that sodium overload.
Pop tarts/toaster strudels--my usual breakfast choice (along with almost all the above these are not normal staples in our house, but fit the non-nutritive, easy to digest requirement.
What I worry about most (some are pretty irrational, but based on past experiences)
These are mostly irrational fears, but they are what I'm feeling
I am paranoid that I will start bleeding at any given moment. I am paranoid that because I've started to feel a little bit better that there is something wrong. I just keep waiting for my next appt (every time).
I struggle keeping my house clean to a level I like. The stairs are daunting. This week has been better, but I just don't have the endurance or motivation that I normally have. It stresses me out to not have things picked up and clean, but at the same time, I just can't seem to get it done.
I am paranoid I will have gestational diabetes b/c I have been so sedentary and have eaten so poorly.
I
am paranoid about my teeth--but the dentist told me yesterday that things look surprisingly good and gave me some tips on how to manage caring for my teeth with all the acid I throw up.
I feel bad for how little stimulation I am providing C. We mostly watch tv. Any activity beyond that (up until this week) is just too much. I can play outside for about 10-15 minutes, but then I generally start to feel bad. My mind is kind of foggy, so planning things is difficult. Until this week I could barely read. I hope to start doing activities, but honestly before this week, driving/riding in the car for more than 10-15 minutes was stressful and being away from home was equally stressful.
2 weeks ago I was losing weight b/c of how little food I could keep down, now I'm gaining weight--and probably too much b/c of all the stinking simple carbs. This does not bode well for the coming months.
I need to exercise, but I'm unmotivated (and prior to 2 weeks ago it just wasn't possible). I'm so out of shape, the stairs wind me. Up until 7 weeks ago, I was working out hard 6 days a week, so there goes all that work).
I have felt a lot more melancholy with this pregancy. I felt sick with C, but it never really depressed me. I think b/c I had too much going on with keeping up with a new job and such that I just didn't have time to worry or feel down. Last time I really thought everything was going to be okay b/c everyone (doctors, etc) kept saying everything was fine/looking good even with my complications until the very end, so even though I felt really sick, I didn't worry too much. Now I feel like I have to protect myself more just in case. I think some of this is Scott has been gone a lot. He started another new job this month, so it has changed our schedule completely. He used to work from home about 50% or more of the time, so he was just around a lot more, and home almost always by 5 and never gone before 7:30 usually. Now he's gone by 6:30 and home by 6 or so. He's been OOT a lot recently for holiday kickoff stuff, so it's just made everything harder. Then he is so tired from his long day and long commute.
What I miss most!
This can itself be broken down into several categories, but mostly they involve foods, activities, and more foods, so I'll just stick to the food part.
Food
Of course there are the obvious ones that you have to avoid: cold lunch meat, unpasteurized cheeses, too much caffeine, pre-made deli foods, etc. Then there are the foods that I either can't stomach the thought of consuming right now or really want, but they are too painful on the way up.
Foods I can't stand right now
Most chunks of meat. I am consuming much less protein than is healthy I think. I am a walking pre-diabetic currently with the amount of carbs I am consuming out of necessity. Wait til you read the list--I'm not exaggerating.
Coffee--I think it would hurt, but it just doesn't sound good
Peanut butter--it just seems revolting to me right now, but normally I love it. I ate a ton of it when I was pregnant with C
Foods I would like to eat, but just can't, but hope to soon
Dairy. I miss this the most. I eat a small amount of cheese, but that's it. I've just started trying to incorporate yogurt back into my diet with some success. I just can't consume too much or it makes a reappearance.
Tomato products. I love tomatoes--I mean love them, but they are a no-go. They are just too painful to throw up. This means no pizza, no marinara based pastas/lasagnas, no chili, no vegetable soups w/tomatoes, etc. Tomatoes are a major staple in our house, so everyone is kind of suffering here.
Chocolate. It just doesn't sit right in too large of a proportion. I occasionally try a little bit, but for the most part, it is a no.
Spicy foods. See tomatoes above for the same reasons.
Water--technically not a food, but a drink, but it's my normal beverage of choice. Having to find other beverages to consume has been painful. If I put too much water on my stomach, it comes right back out. I don't really understand this, but the nurse practitioner from a year ago told me it's highly normal for someone with my symptoms.
Eggs--I generally eat eggs for breakfast every other day. Right now maybe once a week is all I can stomach--and it can't be fried right now--I can't stand to look at the yolk.
Salad and other raw veggies--I seriously have dreams about eating salad. I want salad so badly, but see tomato products. Salad is not pleasant.
Nuts are the exact same. They tend to get caught in your throat.
Fresh fruit--this is something that I can sometimes eat successfully and sometimes not. If I'm feeling okayish, I usually try. I have had some miserable experiences with peaches, grapes, kiwis, and applesauce previously during the weeks I was at my worst.
Foods I am so tired of
Any carbs--seriously it's getting old. I generally choose one carb item and binge on it for a week and then can't stand the sight of it. I have blown through goldfish, regular pretzels, Ritz crackers, honey nut cheerios, animal crackers, and honey wheat pretzels. The bad thing about the reflux/morning sickness problem is you have to keep food on your stomach at all times, which leads to a week binge (not really a binge, but just a constant eating), so then I'm so sick of that item after about a week, I can't return to it. I'm out of ideas for a new snack next week, so I'm hoping this general queasy feeling is ready to relent.
White bread--I am a whole wheat girl, but whole grains are too hard to digest, so I have to eat processed white bread.
American cheese--it seems to be the most gentle on my stomach, so I eat a cheese sandwich almost daily for lunch.
Ramen noodles--these often accompany my cheese sandwich at lunch. There's something settling to my stomach about that sodium overload.
Pop tarts/toaster strudels--my usual breakfast choice (along with almost all the above these are not normal staples in our house, but fit the non-nutritive, easy to digest requirement.
What I worry about most (some are pretty irrational, but based on past experiences)
These are mostly irrational fears, but they are what I'm feeling
I am paranoid that I will start bleeding at any given moment. I am paranoid that because I've started to feel a little bit better that there is something wrong. I just keep waiting for my next appt (every time).
I struggle keeping my house clean to a level I like. The stairs are daunting. This week has been better, but I just don't have the endurance or motivation that I normally have. It stresses me out to not have things picked up and clean, but at the same time, I just can't seem to get it done.
I am paranoid I will have gestational diabetes b/c I have been so sedentary and have eaten so poorly.
I
am paranoid about my teeth--but the dentist told me yesterday that things look surprisingly good and gave me some tips on how to manage caring for my teeth with all the acid I throw up.
I feel bad for how little stimulation I am providing C. We mostly watch tv. Any activity beyond that (up until this week) is just too much. I can play outside for about 10-15 minutes, but then I generally start to feel bad. My mind is kind of foggy, so planning things is difficult. Until this week I could barely read. I hope to start doing activities, but honestly before this week, driving/riding in the car for more than 10-15 minutes was stressful and being away from home was equally stressful.
2 weeks ago I was losing weight b/c of how little food I could keep down, now I'm gaining weight--and probably too much b/c of all the stinking simple carbs. This does not bode well for the coming months.
I need to exercise, but I'm unmotivated (and prior to 2 weeks ago it just wasn't possible). I'm so out of shape, the stairs wind me. Up until 7 weeks ago, I was working out hard 6 days a week, so there goes all that work).
I have felt a lot more melancholy with this pregancy. I felt sick with C, but it never really depressed me. I think b/c I had too much going on with keeping up with a new job and such that I just didn't have time to worry or feel down. Last time I really thought everything was going to be okay b/c everyone (doctors, etc) kept saying everything was fine/looking good even with my complications until the very end, so even though I felt really sick, I didn't worry too much. Now I feel like I have to protect myself more just in case. I think some of this is Scott has been gone a lot. He started another new job this month, so it has changed our schedule completely. He used to work from home about 50% or more of the time, so he was just around a lot more, and home almost always by 5 and never gone before 7:30 usually. Now he's gone by 6:30 and home by 6 or so. He's been OOT a lot recently for holiday kickoff stuff, so it's just made everything harder. Then he is so tired from his long day and long commute.
Saturday, July 21, 2012
True Suburbia
We live in stereotypical suburbia. Seriously. You think of the definition of suburbs and we are in it. I'm not saying that's necessarily a good or bad thing, but it's the truth.
A little background: I was pretty much raised in suburbia of some form my entire life. I've never lived in a town smaller than 30,000, and I've always been within 45-60 min of a bigger town (except in college I guess we were more like 90 min). Anyway, I'm comfortable with suburbs. It is my wheelhouse, but Chesterfield wrote the book on them--especially upper end suburbs--not super high end, just upperish end.
Here's my "proof".
We see as many luxury cars as American cars out here. It is no thing to be at a stoplight less than 2 miles from my house and see a Mercedes, an Audi, a beat up Chevy truck, a BMW, a Honda, and a Jaguar all together.
If you can think of a chain restaurant, we've got it. Especially mall chain restaurants. Now we have a lot of great independant places, too, so no worries. If you can think of most middle-of-the-road stores, we've got it. I feel like I can get to most anything if I drive 10 minutes--seriously to anything (more culturally inspired) in 20 min.
We drive everywhere. I have been racking up the miled on my car b/c so many things are just 20 minutes away--zoo, science center, upscale shopping, small town shopping, museums, etc.
There are awesome bike, running, horse riding trails. Yep, horse riding. We live in a suburb that still has tons of horse farms on the outskirts.
When I took C to YMCA camp, I was dropping off with moms in Range Rovers, Suburban Hybrids, Tahoe, regular Suburbans, fancy mini-vans etc. Let's just say my 2005 Pilot wasn't turning any heads, at least not in a good way. All the moms wore their stay-at-home mom uniform of stylish workout clothes (lululemon of course) at drop off. By pickup most were showered and fancied up in sundresses.
We live 1.3 miles from a high school C will not attend (our neighborhood practically dumps out across from it, but only a portion of our neighborhood is in that school district). Yet we live 3 miles from where he will attend. The way these towns and school districts are drawn out here boggles my mind. You really can't tell where one town or the next begins and the same goes for school districts.
I'm starting to think the "Joneses" might have hailed from Chesterfield.
But in all seriousness I do love our new 'hood. It is a great place for outdoor activities. We have a huge art community, tons of live music opportunities, great library programs, great schools and so much more. I find people in St. Louis to be very friendly as well, so it really is a great place to raise a family.
A little background: I was pretty much raised in suburbia of some form my entire life. I've never lived in a town smaller than 30,000, and I've always been within 45-60 min of a bigger town (except in college I guess we were more like 90 min). Anyway, I'm comfortable with suburbs. It is my wheelhouse, but Chesterfield wrote the book on them--especially upper end suburbs--not super high end, just upperish end.
Here's my "proof".
We see as many luxury cars as American cars out here. It is no thing to be at a stoplight less than 2 miles from my house and see a Mercedes, an Audi, a beat up Chevy truck, a BMW, a Honda, and a Jaguar all together.
If you can think of a chain restaurant, we've got it. Especially mall chain restaurants. Now we have a lot of great independant places, too, so no worries. If you can think of most middle-of-the-road stores, we've got it. I feel like I can get to most anything if I drive 10 minutes--seriously to anything (more culturally inspired) in 20 min.
We drive everywhere. I have been racking up the miled on my car b/c so many things are just 20 minutes away--zoo, science center, upscale shopping, small town shopping, museums, etc.
There are awesome bike, running, horse riding trails. Yep, horse riding. We live in a suburb that still has tons of horse farms on the outskirts.
When I took C to YMCA camp, I was dropping off with moms in Range Rovers, Suburban Hybrids, Tahoe, regular Suburbans, fancy mini-vans etc. Let's just say my 2005 Pilot wasn't turning any heads, at least not in a good way. All the moms wore their stay-at-home mom uniform of stylish workout clothes (lululemon of course) at drop off. By pickup most were showered and fancied up in sundresses.
We live 1.3 miles from a high school C will not attend (our neighborhood practically dumps out across from it, but only a portion of our neighborhood is in that school district). Yet we live 3 miles from where he will attend. The way these towns and school districts are drawn out here boggles my mind. You really can't tell where one town or the next begins and the same goes for school districts.
I'm starting to think the "Joneses" might have hailed from Chesterfield.
But in all seriousness I do love our new 'hood. It is a great place for outdoor activities. We have a huge art community, tons of live music opportunities, great library programs, great schools and so much more. I find people in St. Louis to be very friendly as well, so it really is a great place to raise a family.
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Avengers Party Part 5: Guests/Candids cont.
A few last photos. I somehow misplaced the Hawkeye mask sometime after Colin was playing with it earlier in the week. I'm puzzled.
I had these cute little signs for the food that I didn't get a photo of, so I will try to get one of that, too.
Cupcakes! Still not the best photo...oh well.
Cupcakes! Still not the best photo...oh well.
Enjoying his new sprinkler from Aunt Laura and Uncle Dave.
Avengers Party Part 3: Cake and gifts
We headed inside b/c it was soooo hot for cake and presents to let the kids cool down from destroying Loki.
Not a great photo, but we had a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing. C and I sprinkled the arc reactor on it. The cupcakes turned out really well, and looked good. I will try to get a better photo with what I have left. I had made cupcake trays to look like the arc reactor and Captain America's shield. We also had bomb pops, too for people that didn't want cake.
He blew out his candles in one try. I was impressed.
licking the icing from his iron man pick
mitch giving his cupcake what for
Colin got some really cool gifts! We, along with my parents gave him the swingset.
He also got a cool fire hydrant sprinkler attachment from Dave and Laura. He totally enjoyed it after everyone left. Most friends know that C gets a bit anti-social when lots of people are here.
He also got some nifty Avengers undies from Aunt Laura and Uncle Dave
Examining his new Avengers Squinkies from AJ and Elise. He had never seen them before, but was smitten. He's been carrying them around He also got money for the movies and a new glider for his playset from grandma and grandpa; a CEC gift card from Jack and Brody; and a bags game from Aunt Sarah and Uncle Mitch. He is pumped!
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