the summer with Josie

I love being home!!! (even though I am getting a bit of an itch to get back to school...a feeling that can be easily ignored =)

This summer, Josie and I have made it a point to get out a ton and visit the St. Louis area to experience all it has to offer. We have been to the Arch, Botanical Gardens, Butterfly House, St. Louis Carousel, Magic House, Ted Drewes, The Hill, and W&P Train Station. We are currently volunteering at our church for Vacation Bible School. We also have been hitting the pool often! She has been trooper, playing through nap times, and behaving wonderfully. We have learned how independent and exciting our little one can be. She is one heck of a social being. She watches people everywhere and studies. What a fun lady she has become.

As well as becoming a tourist, she has also become a full fledged eater! No more formula for Josie!!! Yeah, for mommy and daddy. She will eat anything that we give her and for now, she loves her fruits and veggies.

Here are some photos of the fun! And this was only June and July...we still have August before I go back to school. We are not done yet...


Josie's first ride on a carousel. It was hard to hold her and take a good picture. She liked the stationary house much better than the moving one, but still had a good time.

Josie and Brendan checking out and trying to follow the fast moving butterflies. They were whizzing by and there were tons of them. Even though in the climatron was terribly hot, it was worth the site.

Josie on one of the butterfly chairs. I want one at home...they are so cute!

We went to the Butterfly House with our friends, Mandy and Brendan. After surviving the intense humidity of the butterfly's climatron, we cooled off in the learning center, with costumes, books, games, and toys. Here is Mandy helping Josie stack the blocks.
Josie the little butterfly!

At the train, we were able to ride a mini train into the wilderness. Overall, it was cute for Josie. She loved having the wind hit her in the face and watching all the trees go by.

The whole train.

Dave's aunt came into town for her birthday, and the gift she wanted was to spend time with all her nieces and nephews. So we went many places, here is the Magic House. Most of it was dedicated to the older children, but we found a spot for 0-24 month kiddos, and Josie had a blast. She wanted to spend more time here. It had ramps, mirrors, and so much more.

And a ball pit. We have an unfilled sandbox at home, forget the sand, I am buying plastic balls.

She picked apples at a part of the Magic House.

Also with Aunt Barb, we took Josie on her first trip to the top of the Arch. I was worried about her ears, but no complaints! She loved climbing on the ramps and looking out to the city. We had a gorgeous day! Notice Busch Stadium in the background...of course!

On the ride up with Dave's mom, Cathy. If you have ever ride in this egg, you know what a tight squeeze we had to maneuver to get this shot.

At the Botanical Gardens. We took a break from the stroller and let Josie show off her new skills of walking. She is getting better and better everyday. What a big girl! Her face here cracks me up!

Aunt Barb, Nana, Josie, and myself at the Botanical Gardens.

update on the twins

We went for an ultrasound on Monday and was able to see the little nuggets hanging out and moving around. The tech confirmed that they are fraternal. She described it as they live in two separate bedrooms in the same apartment. They have their own cords, sacs, fluids, everything, but just in close quarters. She also confirmed my due date, which is now official, January 15th, 2011. However, she also agreed with my doctor that they will be here before the end of the year. They both are a little over 5 centimeters long. Without Dave home, I am having trouble scanning the pictures in, so here is my best try at taking the pictures of the pictures. Hope you can see them.

Fetus 1, the one that sits lower.

This is Fetus 2, the higher one.

Here are both of them just "hanging out" as it says.

This is the best pic I think. 2 peas in a pod. You can clearly see their separation.

I am officially 3 months along, and feeling so-so. I just wish that I would stop throwing up. It is not daily anymore, but still more than I prefer. I don't sleep well at night either. So it is great that I am at home all the time, so when Josie sleeps, so do I.

The big easy

The first day we got into town, we stopped that the Aquarium. Here we had a bit of fun.

At Pat O'Brien's enjoying dueling pianos.

The second day of sightseeing, we headed out of the city for a swamp tour in a bayou. There were many gators, birds, and sights to see.

One day, we had a couple hours to kill before dinner, and the tourist lady suggested the trolley. For $2.50 round trip, we traveled through the city, garden district, and Mardi Gras parade route. It lasted an hour and a half and was worth it. What a beautiful place.

We took a day trip to Biloxi, Mississippi. We saw the remnants from Katrina, took a little tour, and of course found a mini golf course. It is the only one that rebuilt after Katrina.

This is the ferry that we took everyday. It is expensive to park in the French Quarter, so we took the free ferry and paid the $1 toll for the bridge on the ride home.

At the New Orleans Zepher's minor league baseball team. It is triple-A for the Florida Marlins. We were winning until one player from the other team hit two grand slams. We lost 10-5.

It was Dave's birthday while in New Orleans so we made the best of it. We started the day with a walking tour of the French Quarter. It was hot! But we loved it...and learned a ton about the Quarter. What a neat place. If you ever go, let us know, we will tell you the best things to see.

Our tour guide in front of St. Louis Cathedral and Jackson Square. It was amazing inside.

For lunch, we walked to Emeril Lagasse's flagship restaurant. The food was great, a bit of fine dining for us. What a treat!

Then, we walked around the block to the National World War 2 Museum. They played a 4-D movie about D-Day. Worth all the money to see.

Here was our dinner...holding hands, I mean claws. I am seafood-ed out. It was weird to see our waiter walk by with the lobsters directly out of the tank to the kitchen...right past us. We saw our food both alive and dead. It was delicious, but too much for me. I don't think I will do that again.

We decided to take a stroll through Harrah's. It was on the way to the ferry and it was his birthday so why not test our luck. Come to find out, there is a birthday slot machine. He won a free buffet! It was lunch the next day.

Total we walked out of there with an extra $11.

Our meals were paid for!

One the last night, we took a steamboat dinner cruise on the Creole Queen. They had a jazz band playing. It was sweet.

A couple celebrities that we met in New Orleans. Here I am proudly standing with Anderson Cooper from CNN.

We met and talked with two major league baseball players at the Zephers game. And this is Chazz Palminteri who always plays a gangster role in movies. Dave noticed him and talked to him a bit. He is best known for his role of Sonny in a Bronx Tale.

Busch Stadium from a new view

Since we will be out of town in New Orleans over Dave's birthday, I wanted to take Dave on a tour of Busch Stadium, so we did it before we left. Accompanied by our friends Mandy and Ryan, we had a blast and learned a ton about Busch Stadium. We Love the CARDINALS!!!

Cardinal Dugout

Ryan and Dave having a race on the warning track

Calling the bullpen. While we were there, Kyle Lohse was doing some rehab work. We got to see a player too. What a day.

What a great view from the field. The stadium has an incredible view of the Arch in the background.

This is one of the large party rooms. This wallpaper is the personal baseball card collection of Bill DeWitt (owner of the Cards). They enhanced the pictures, blew them up, and turned it into something spectacular.
Us four in the dugout. During the next game, Dave and I both pointed out many of times where we were in that dugout and which major league player was standing there one day later. Pretty incredible feeling. I love taking tours of our favorite places.
This is the ball that Mike Shannon sits on every game to announce for the radio. He even takes one on the road. An interesting fact.
Us in the press box.

After the tour, I ordered a Gus's Pretzel in the shape of the Stl emblem. If you have never had a Gus's you must stop through and buy one. They are delicious.
We stopped then in Soulard for lunch at Hammerstones. A great little hideaway! What a fun day...it was a fantastic weekend.

I turned 27!

June 12th was my 27th birthday. We started the day at the Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure. I have only gone once before, and had a blast. Plus, I really wanted Dave to see the breathtaking view. As you come down a hill on the streets of downtown St. Louis, you are able to see thousands and maybe millions of people all supporting women!




We went with our friends Mandy and Ryan with their little guy Brendan and their families. Ryan's mom died of breast cancer in November, so it was wonderful for all of us to honor her memory.



Josie was hilarious, she fell asleep as soon as we started walking the race on the tray of her stroller. It was 90+ degrees and smoking hot, but she seemed comfy!





After the race, we made our way to my mom's house for lunch and drop Josie off. She spent the night with grandma and grandpa. That night we played in a Texas Hold'em tournament. We play monthly at our church and have a great time every time we go. Even though it is for the church, don't let it fool you, it is competitive. Dave and I both made it to the final table but we both didn't make it to the final five. I was 6th. Oh-well, there's always next month.