***strong man alert***

Abraham rolled over today! what a champion! only 3 1/2 months! such an overachiever! Go Son!

picnic perfect

today we had a wonderful picnic in the park. i cant get enough of Forest Park and love to take the kids there. today we had a picnic in front of the Planetarium in a shady little area way from everyone. we ate apples, pears, cheese and crackers and of course, Maggie's favorite, a juice box.
we cant wait for fall to come!!!!

sweet girls

i have been meaning to blog about lots going on but nap times have tended to mean nap time for me too. lately, our nights have been full. mojo is usually studying and i have been blessed with some super fun gals. all their husbands study too, so we can just walk to each others houses and chill for a bit and then go home. its lovely here. i'll blog about that more later but here are some pics of maggie, her friend mya, and the new puppy sinclair.
sinclair belongs to our friend laura who lives a few apartments over. they have sinclair, who's new, and solomon, who is a bit bigger. maggie LOVES to run to see solomon and knows both puppies by name. laura's husband, walter is the sweetest guy and lets maggie play with the pups whenever she wants.

mya lives right next door and we couldnt ask for a nicer little neighbor. her parents moved in a few months before we did so we'll get to see mya grow up for the next couple years. we'll see her off to pre-school and maybe even kindergarten and maggie will have her etched in her "seminary memories" forever.

maggie adores mya and whenever we are walking by the house she says "mya home? mya sleeping? mya eating dinner?" if i say, mya isnt home. she'll ask "bryan home? lisa home?" she loves mya's parents almost as much as mya.

last night mya left her flip flops here during a late night playdate while their daddy's were at class. all morning long maggie has been trying on those flip flops, saying "mya's shoes!"

mya, we're so thankful you're right next door! please excuse maggie when she repeatedly rings your doorbell!!! its just cause she likes you so much!!!

stranger in a strange land

so on sunday i actually felt like a foreigner in my own land. here's why: discount food stores.
i had my first experience with Aldi's the other day and spent 45 minutes there and left with nothing. i was so discouraged i almost headed straight to Whole Foods Market to redeem the day. heres what happened-
when i got to the the store i realized you need a quarter to get a shopping cart. well, of course i didnt have a quarter so i just stood there until someone came out and i asked them for their cart. (they actually happened to be international students, which is what i felt like). after the cart exchange i immediately got a stomachache which stayed with me the rest of the day. i felt so out of control! when i walked in, it felt like i was in Sam's Club or Costco. I wasnt really prepared for that so i couldnt find what i really wanted. My sister told me they sell rotiessierie chicken for $3.99 and thats the whole reason i was there but couldnt find it anywhere! i ended up getting some good deals on eggs, grapes, and peaches. i threw in a few more things to make it worth my time. during check out, i realize its a "bag your own" kinda thing. i guess that also saves us money down the line, but really?
when i go to pay, the guy goes...we only take cash or debit. and b/c of incompetent bank people (except you emily!), we still dont have our debit cards. so i only had a credit card. i just stood there, at the cash register, staring at my wallet. its like my brain couldnt comprehend that i would indeed be leaving with nothing in hand. the guy said, you can go to the ATM, and then come back and i will keep all your groceries here. (this is when i started thinking about Whole Foods)
here's what i learned: they are called discount food stores for a reason.

sweet baby girl

my sweet baby girl turned 2 on sunday!!! her Mimi and Papa Joe came to celebrate her life and we had "all things animals" weekend...with a fun trip to the zoo and animal cupcakes. Maggie has a ridiculously good time when she goes to the zoo and I love to watch her see the animals.

These past two years have flown by but then on the other hand, it feels like she's been in our lives forever. Matt and i were reflecting on Sunday that two years ago she was in my belly! This big ol' girl was once so tiny! Her beginning of life in this world was no clue to me what she would be like. Her very lonnnnggggg and laborous labor gave no indication of how EASY and KIND this child would be. We are constantly amazed (and convicted) at how generous and sweet someone (who is suppose to be in their terrible twos) can be. She loves her daddy so much and its so great to watch them together. There is definitely a special bond between those two. We are so thankful for her life and that we get to be her parents!

Happy Day Maggie Maggie: Two!!!

Might not get cuter than this:

evan

you'll probably want to watch it a million times. like we did. alice, he's grown so much...even in the month we've been gone. all grown up evan!!! we miss you too!!!

m & m

miss mya is 6 months older than maggie and 6 mos. wiser. she taught maggie that on hot, hot days-you dont just play WITH the water table, you play IN the water table. much giggling and squealing follows.

dress ups days

my hip hop girl


channeling Dee Dee Ramone

Shout out to my East Nashville Hood

rainy day in the lou

this morning its raining hard. the kind of rain where it is dark outside. i want to just curl up in my comforter and stay there for a few hours. i am pretty tired this morning. Abraham got up a few times last night...we're still working on it.
maggie and i are watching Curious George learn how to make compost {its actually very informative}. I'm glad we have a playdate scheduled for today or i'd be tempted to keep everyone in their jammies and sit in front of the tv.{which would actually only last 45 minutes with Miss Mags.}

last night mojo and i had our first date, out in St. Louis. it was a needed night out. {little abe was with us though.}
our sweet friend two doors down and her hubby came and sat in our house once we put maggie down. thats the great thing about our complex. you dont have to make a huge effort to be with people, you just walk outside!

we went to pf changs and it was good. and it was familiar. i wanted to go there because this week was lonely and uncomfortable. I think i am hitting the hill, which i must climb, where things about living in a new city are hard. i'm uncomfortable b/c i am tired of mapquesting everything. i'm tired of googling things....i'm tired of not knowing the ins and outs of a place. i dont have my "go tos" like i did in Nashville...people and places. The downtown Library, the Y pool, Marches, the dog park, Bongo Coffee...

i know i'll have my stand-bys soon enough, but this week its felt like hard work getting to know the city. its also been really hot (and sticky) which makes for a grumpy momma.

and i've felt lonely despite the folks we've met. once you've been known by such a large number of people, like we had in east nashville, its hard to go to starting over. i just want to jump to the "knowing each other really well" part...but i know it takes time.
i'm sure if we were invited over everyday somewhere, i'd still feel this way. it just takes time.

mojo on the other hand is in hog heaven. he comes home from class bubbling with information and excitement. i'm probably going to get a PhD just from listening to everything. he's making wonderful friends here and because of the nature of what the guys are studying...he's always having deep conversations with everyone. its been wonderful and rich.

i'm starting a class with him on Monday. so that will help me to get out of my brain, meet people, and have something to do other than play with little ones {which i adore.} more to come, i am sure, on all i learn. it will be good for us to do this together!

so last night we had a great time connecting over plates of steaming rice, talking about what we love about st. louis, how blessed we are to have such sweet and kind children, and how God's plan for us is really just to know him more. here's a grainy pic of the little area we walked around after dinner.

our playdate is coming soon and we are still in our pjs...