Nature Walk at Powder Valley

Baby girl and I went to Powder Valley for the Parents As Teachers Stroll with Me event. We had a wonderful time. They had 5 stations set up--songs and rhymes, viewing station, bubble on the blanket, parachute play, and a nature craft. The nature craft was adorable. She made her first real craft project. (pictures to come) We of course are getting it a frame and hanging it in the office. It was such a simple idea for a various group of ages. I was suprised at how calm the area was and how all of the children were enjoying the craft.

We have had a great year with Parents as Teachers. It is really unfortunate that this program is not available to all families in the US. We have loved every minute of it. We are looking forward to next year's events and repeating favorites with the new baby.

She had her 18 month visit last week and she is certainly her daddy's little girl. Aside from looking just like him, she has his height--over the 100% for her age. She is doing very well with everything and sounds like she will be talking any day now. She has lots of signs and learns new ones as soon as she is shown, so communicating is not too difficult.

A day at Purina Farms

Today baby girl and I went to Purina Farms with some other moms and children. The Easter village was too cute. Baby girl loved looking at the little pigs, bunnies, chicks, and dogs. She of course thought all of the cows and horses were dogs, and would say woof, woof to them. Then when we got to the dog area she was so happy. She kept running from dog to dog sticking her hand and face up to the kennels so they could kiss her. She also gave out many kisses to the dogs that were out with the handlers. She must have really had a lot to say, because she talked to one of the employees off and on for a good 20 minutes. I am so happy I have been able to do these things with her. We have such a good time and the day really flew by. We got there at 10 and did not leave until after 1. She only had one brief period of crying, and then passed out on the ride home. I did take a few pics and if I ever get our Flicr account linked here, you'll find the pics under the April 2007 folder. If you have not been to Purina Farms, I certainly suggest making a visit. It is very child friendly and free, so it is worth the drive.

Big News

Mark and I are expecting baby number 2. I am due September 25. We are both excited to grow the family. I'm not sure baby girl is excited yet, but she does love babies. Of course she usually carries her baby around by the head and smashes her in the trunk of her car when riding it around. I may have to really start working on teaching her gentle in the upcoming months.

Everything else is going great as well. We have been busy with everything other than the house so it is now time to focus back on getting that together. Baby girl has been enjoying Little Gym and Kindermusik. She walks on the balance beam (holding my hand) and today even layed down for the baby massage part of music class. This was a first--I never believed it would happen.

We went to Missouri Botanical Gardens this past weekend for the Orchid show. How beautiful. If I ever get my flick account linked here, I'll share some pics. Baby girl was really good. She stayed in her stroller and looked around most of the time. We of course got the typical reaction when people asked how old she is. She's soooo tall! We all laugh when Mark is with us and people comment on her height. Of course she is tall, look at her daddy. Although, I do have to admit, that she does look kinda funny with those little feet hitting the bottom of the stroller and that tiny little nearly toothless head pearing out.

The snow has melted

Wow. The past week was freezing. Baby girl and I stayed inside as for days. Mark was gone so it made for a long week. We did go to the free family night at the Magic House Children's museum. (What a great concept, once a month, a free family night, so wonderful for those who can't afford the $7.50 per person admission price.) We spent about 1.5 hours there and had the best time. I think we will be purchasing a membership because I can really see us going there a lot. It is close to home and a great activity for those long afternoons when she wakes from her nap early and it is a struggle to keep her up until bed time.

Things are back to normal now with Mark home. Today we went to visit an old friend of mine who has a sweet little baby girl who is still in the non moving phase. So while the little one sat playfully on a blanket, I ran around my friend's house calling my little explorer back to the area where I could see her. I guess baby girl just wanted to take a tour of the entire house.

I'm hoping the nice weather continues for a bit. I really want to get outside during the day and take a walk. I'd really love to go to Mo Botanical Gardens or the Zoo this weekend. Guess we'll have to check out the weather reports.

Other than that, we have our gym and music group classes this week. Baby girl sure loves these. She is so happy to see the other little babies. And she is starting to really like the teachers too.

So many new things to do

We are getting a very busy calendar. I've signed us up for a class at The Little Gym. We had our first class this past Tuesday. It was great. The class is small and there were a few dads there, which is great since Mark comes along.

Next week we start Kindermusik, just baby girl and me. It's a daytime class so no daddy. We went to a trial and of course had a great time. She loves the music and loves to see the other kids and play games.

And our parent educator came for the first time today. I just have to say--Parents As Teachers is THE BEST PROGRAM EVER. Seriously, I think the people at Fit Pregnancy need to explore St. Louis more because I can't believe the support given to families here. PAT has the most amazing workshops, and they are all free. Some are child and parent activity classes and some are parent only classes. We have all of our home visits scheduled and I can't wait to see what we learn from each session. Not to mention, our parent educator is a great resource for fun, free events and places for babies and toddlers.

We've also started going to the MOMS Club events and we had a great time at the social. Baby girl ran herself all around the gym. She hopped on the backs of cars and little boys took her around, she sat and ate a snack, and played with everyone there. She's certainly not shy.

I'm really excited to check out a new place in Mapplewood, CooperElla. This sounds great. And it is near another favorite place of mine, Kangaroo Kids, a resale shop that has great stuff and best of all, lactation consultants, a nursing support group, and baby slings.

Well, enough for tonight. More this weekend on what fun stuff that we have planned for the next couple of weeks.

Happy To Be Home

I have recently moved back to St. Louis with my sweet daughter and wonderful husband, who left his family, all of his friends and a lifetime of living on the East Coast to make me happy. While there are things that I miss about the East Coast, I am ecstatic to be back here. I'm hoping to use this blog to share thoughts on all the things for moms and families around the St. Louis area. I really do think this is a great place to raise a family and I want to share all the wonderful things to do with anyone who wants to read. Please feel free to let me know of your favorite mom and family events too. I'm always looking for things to do.