Explanation Coming

In repsonse to Kyle's comment, I will compose a post to explain how Michael Franti's "Say Hey" takes me back to some wonderful times but not right now. After this weekend passes I will be one happy lady (not to mention a lot less busy) with time to write the post. Until then Kyle (and anyone else who's curious), know that's it's in the works.

Say Hey

Heard this song on the radio last week and loved it. I then heard a interview with Michael Franti, the singer/songwriter on NPR about the song and the video. I checked it out this morning and was transported to another time and place. Brings back such memories...

AWOL

I've decided that today is the day that I return to the land of blogging. My kitchen is a mess right now from breakfast, but hey something's gotta give. These days blogging is kinda low on the priority list, so I've decided to change priorities (at least for today).

First of all, can you believe that it's 12 degrees right now? What??? Yesterday I took the kids to run some errands and was almost blown over by the wind. Running from the car to the storefront was a bit like those prairie stories when people would get caught in winter storms and perished 20 feet from home. But, the good news is we made it and I'm alive to tell the story.

After Thanksgiving, Christmas-Concert-Craziness 2009 commenced and so far I've been successful at keeping atleast my nose above the water. Last week I was a soloist in The Bach Society's annual From the Garden Live broadcast on Classic 99 (most likely our last due to the sale of the station- booooo) and Tuesday I was interviewed for this segment on KSDK. A little bit of holiday 'cheese' for you. Seriously though, it was fun and I scored two free tickets to our Candelight Concert (sorry, I've already given them away!). This week I have rehearsals each night for Handel's Messiah with the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and Orchestra (performances Fri/Sat/Sun) and Sunday I have a double header between the Symphony and the Masterworks Chorale Christmas Concert (you've officially gotten your fill of onomatopoeia in this post). After this jammed packed week, that leaves the Candelight Concert next Tuesday and then it's bonvoyage for the Southern Regions to visit family for Christmas. All I want for Christmas this year is for December 22nd to arrive.

I missed my opportunity to post something for Eva's one year check-up so I'll make up for that now: weight 10th %, height 25th %, head 80th % (yowza- let's blame this one on Rodney). She's talking like crazy. She adds new words everyday (today she said 'Go Che', her first 2 word combo). Looks like head size is not the only thing in which she takes after her brother.

Not much to report with Will other than we're pretty sure he has asthma. Will's been in a big boy bed since Halloween and that's going really well. They sleep in the same room at night but Eva's in the pack 'n play for naps in our room still. It's a good arrangement.

I'll leave you with some amazing photos that my friend, Marisa took. She is a promising new photographer with a blossoming business and I am so excited for her. Please visit her website and check out her amazing holiday promotion. I LOVE these pictures...

To the Grandparents and Great Grandparents

Video time.

The first is a capturing of Eva's first clear word (previously mentioned) taken the night she said it (that's why I sound so dorkily excited). For some reason I had her repeat it like 5 thousand times.



The second is of Will dancing due to his overwhelming emotional state in response to the timer going off for lunch. Translation: "Yay for the lunch." then "I'm all done."

One

On Halloween, our baby girl turned one! I really can hardly believe it. It seems like just yesterday she was hooked up to tubes and machinery to monitor her delicate state, being born 6 weeks premature. Now she is completely healthy and thriving, matching her brother developmentally in nearly every way.

It's funny how now that she's reached the milestone of turning one, she's doing so many new things, almost as if to live up to her new age. For example, just last week she took eight consecutive steps (Gma and Gpa got to witness this on Skype- unfortunately Daddy was out of the room :(), she said her first distinguishable word last night in the bathtub ('go') and today she pointed for the first time. She also plays peek-a-boo on her initiation, claps and makes her voice mimic a "yay," clicks her tongue, and crinkles up her nose with a big cheesy smile when she's trying to be cute. She has 4 teeth with 2 more pushing through and is a tiny girl (she wore Will's first Halloween costume as a one year old- he was 5 months old). I love her more than words can express.

We had a great time celebrating Eva's birthday with our good friends Jess and Evie, who turned two the same day. Thanks to Susan and Brent, I didn't have to clean like a mad woman before the party! Thanks for hosting, guys =).

Check It

Remember that one post a while back when I mentioned that I'd been staring at my calendar a lot? Well, a friend today wanted details thinking it was something more glamorous than the truth, so I've decided to explain lest anyone else out there is thinking that I'm pregnant or something.

I decided that a photo (albeit blurry) was the best way to explain. Basically I was bracing myself for this craziness:

Pink= voice lessons, Orange= Bach Society, and Yellow= Symphony Chorus. These past few days I've been able to come for air, just in time for Eva's birthday party and Halloween.

Novemeber will be a more "normal" month, even though I have a few Octoberlike bad-boys left before summer hits. Here's a shot of Turkey month:

December will got back to relative craziness, but nothing like October. October takes the cake, so to speak ;).

Sunday was the first day in almost a month that I got to spend time with my family with no agenda. Here's what we did with our time:

[Once again, sorry for the blurriness. I've discovered that the pictures show up on my computer fairly clear but then blur-up when posted on Blogger. Also, the last two photos were taken at dusk and I'm no expert photographer!]

Pumpkin Patch

Last year we didn't make it to the pumkin patch because our own little pumpkin, Eva was being born. So, this year we are happy that we made it because the day was absolutely beautiful. It was about 68 degrees and sunny, perfect weather to visit a little place called Stuckmeyer's Farm in Fenton. Nestled in the ozarks, it was a cute little place. There was a gigantic pumkin patch, picnic tables for lunch, hayrides, a petting zoo, a mini-corn maze, and a really cool wooden play-area. The best thing about it was the lack of people (I'm assuming because it was earlier in the day and a weekday).

They had a gigantic stash of Radio Flyer wagons for the patrons to cart children and pumkins. There was no charge for using these, as well as no charge for entrance. Score 2 for Stuckmeyer's.

The Great Pumkin Hunt

"How 'bout these?"

Dum Ditty Dum

She Ain't Heavy- She's got two pumkins...