Clue #2

And the clue is...

Our little baby girl will have a Shakespearean name.

Baseball day!

Lily had the last day of her t-ball clinic yesterday with a final game. Lily hit a double...of course, this was only determined by how far the kids chose to run. They pretty much hit the ball, then hopefully run in the right direction until they decide that they want to stop. Once the ball is hit, there is a little scramble on the field to get the ball. Once someone gets it, they just hold on to it and look around. It's all pretty entertaining to watch.

Angela happened to be passing through town and got to see the game...and the kids....too! Yay! After the game, Ang, mom and I enjoyed a yummy lunch date together. Later Carl, William, Lily, and I went to the Cardinals game (pictures below). Go, go super fun day!!!

William and Lily's First Cardinals Game

Thanks to my mom and dad for giving us rockin' Red Bird Club tickets for the game last night, we all got to go to a Cardinals game - Lily and William's first. I didn't know what to expect with a 20-month-old and a five-year-old at the game, but they were amazing. They lasted all 9 innings and entertained the other fans around us with their enthusiasm. We received several comments about how good our kids were, and I couldn't have been prouder of them. As a bonus, the weather was perfect. Good times and great memories.

View of the Arch from the stadium


Out of nowhere, William threw up in the third inning. However, with 5 runs scored by the Blue Jays in the third inning, most Cardinals fans wanted to throw up. William slept from the 5th through the 7th innings and then woke up his normal, happy self for the rest of the game.

Before the game, Lily was not shy about telling us that she had no interest in going to see the Cardinals play. However, once she got there, she really enjoyed the atmosphere and cheered them on the whole time.

Go Cards!

Our out-of-focus, silly family picture.

William shakes his groove thing

Missouri Botanical Gardens

Yes, those hanging plants are for real. If my hanging plants could walk, I believe they would take themselves right over to the Botanical Gardens. Seriously.

Last Saturday was Mary and Katie's last day in town, and we spent it at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Thanks to Angela who took all of the pictures in this and the next two posts!

Lunch on The Hill

After the Missouri Botanical Gardens, we all headed to The Hill for a delish Italian lunch. If you are not from St. Louis and come for a visit, you must visit The Hill. It is our Little Italy, and I would argue this area has one of the best selections of Italian restaurants in the country.

Ladies' night luau

Last Saturday night both of my sisters were in town, and we had a girls' night at my Aunt Kathy's house with a luau theme. Why a girls' night? Why a luau? Why not, really. That's just how these crazy cats roll.

Summer camp

Lily is now into the 3rd week of her Jumpstart to Kindergarten camp, and she is really enjoying it. Of course, the biggest thing is that she gets to take the bus. I drop her off at school in the morning, but then the bus takes them from the school where camp is being held to her "home" school. This has been a really good introduction to the bus since she will be taking it to and from school in the fall. I debated about whether or not to send her on the bus in the fall since the school is so close to our house and we could easily walk. However, with the new baby coming, it will be nice to have her picked up and dropped off at our house so I don't have to wake any sleeping babies!

I signed William up for his first class on Friday mornings while Lily is at camp. It is a Parent/Child Interaction class held by our school district, and it is fantastic. They do such a good job having age-appropriate activities and keeping everything flowing for the hour and a half class. There are about 13 kids in the class and all but two are boys!

William's favorite toy by far is this cozy coupe. He goes straight to it every time and then drives it all over, waving bye-bye.

William does a good job with the art activities as well. Between our Friday class and toddler story time at the library every week, I've been able to really gauge his attention span compared to that of his peers, and I have to say that he can be a very focused and attentive little guy for his age. While others are kind of all over the place, William is really able to attend to the task at hand. In the last couple of weeks, William has also started saying multiple new words every day. So I think we've finally entered the language explosion stage. His words are probably not as recognizable to everyone else, but I can understand them in context which is all that really matters to me right now! Yay for communication!!

Loving the basketball hoop

Nesting

Yes, at a mere 22 weeks into this pregnancy, I am experiencing "nesting" like never before in any other pregnancy. The amount of work that we have done in the past few weeks preparing for the new baby has been crazy. Carl has been very sweet to help in all ways possible to help me accomplish my goals (although anyone who knows Carl knows that he will never turn down an opportunity for an even more neat and organized house). I think I'm just trying to fill time (as if teaching three classes and having two kids at home wasn't enough) because I feel like this pregnancy has been SO slow. I can't believe that we still have 4 more months to go! And the truth is that I do like being pregnant, despite the throwing up and indigestion and all the other fun things that go along with it. It just feels like I should be farther along by now. I am happy to report that everything has been right on track so far. The glucose test will happen in a couple weeks, and I'm a little nervous about that due to my history with William. I think no matter what, I'll try to follow a modified diet just in case, but actually being diagnosed with gestational diabetes could mean a lot of other unpleasant things as well, so I'm really hoping to dodge that bullet. Below are pictures from a couple of our "bringing home baby" projects.

It turned out to be a monumental task to go through all of William's clothes (for the gender-neutral items) and Lily's clothes (0-5t). But, after dragging up every article of clothing that was being stored in the basement and reorganizing all of them, it is finally finished! All of the 0-6 month clothing has been washed and either hung up (which you see in the picture) or put in the chest of drawers.

This I can't even explain. I started to go through Lily's old shoes, and every time I thought that I had them all, I would find another bag of shoes. After a while, I could not believe the amount of shoes that were piling up so I had to lay them out and count 'em up. The total number.......75! Seventy-five pairs of shoes in 4 years. It baffles the mind, especially since I've been wearing the same three pairs of shoes for the last three years. Anyway, I guess admitting that you have a problem is the first step, right?

Let the games begin!

So, I think we can go ahead with the first name clue. I'd say we are about 90% set on the name. With William and Lily, there was a lot of discussion and thought about choosing the right names. When I found out we were having a girl this time, the very first thing I thought of was this name, and every time I think of her, I automatically use this name. I've really tried to stay open to other options, but everything else just seems wrong. It really feels less like picking out a name and more like this just is her name. So, I think we can go ahead with clue #1 (which of course is going to be very non-specific)....

It is no secret that we like to look to our past and honor our families when naming our children. Lillian Meyer was named after my father's mother while William Oscar stems from Carl's dad's father and great-grandfather. So, as we plan for this baby to be the last addition to our family, we would like to honor both my mother's family and Carl's mother's family with the baby's first and middle names, respectively. However, this time, the specific names we chose are not found in either ancestry. Instead, these names pay tribute to the families in other ways - either by having the same meaning as someone's name in the family, being a derivative of a family name, or honoring the heritages (Italian and/or Irish names). I know this is vague, but it is only the first clue!

William's Big Boy Room

So, okay, technically William does not need a big boy room until we move him from the nursery which will be in September sometime, but does it hurt to be prepared? And could I stop myself from obsessing about a decorating project anyway? The answer to both is no. So why not just get the room done so I don't have to obsess for 3 more months? I will still probably add just a few more finishing touches, but for all practical purposes, William's room is done.

We obviously went with a safari theme, and so far William loves it. He loves to point to every animal on the wall so I will name them (several times in a row); then he will move on to the sheets so I can name those animals as well. Both he and Lily have enjoyed bouncing and snuggling on the bed. A big thanks to my mom and dad who picked up the bed for us and to Carl and dad who put the bed together while my mom, Lily, William and I went for frozen yogurt! :)

I'm nervous about the move to the big boy room because William is such a fantastic sleeper, and I'm afraid of changes that may occur when moving to the twin bed, but there was not much of an option there. I'm not going to buy another crib, only to have to switch him to a regular bed in less than a year. Also, he is so tall, and I'm afraid that he is eventually going to attempt to get out of his crib. I'm kind of hoping that by having the room finished early, he will spend time in there and be comfortable with the new room before he actually moves into it. In my mind, this will help with the actual sleeping issue, but this is probably just a far-fetched hope.

Now that this task is largely completed, the next step will be dragging out and washing Lily's baby clothes. I plan to hang them in the closet of William's new room and then just switch them right before the baby arrives. Unlike the clothes Lily and William outgrow now, Lily's baby clothes were very neatly packed away and labeled according to size. I suppose this was the result of having only one child, but the early organization should help this next task considerably.

The next major project will not happen until September when we get the nursery ready for little baby girl. Of course, the bedding a wall decorations have been picked out, but we will be waiting to purchase those.

One final note...in terms of names for the baby, we've narrowed it down to a few strong contenders. Once we decide, the name game will begin!!

Girls night

Carl had a Pathology conference on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of last week. On Thursday night, all the participants had a dinner and reception after the conference so it was a late night for Carl and his colleagues. One of Carl's colleagues happens to the the dad of one of Lily's BFFs so we decided to all have dinner together while the guys "worked" late. After dinner, Lily dressed up her friend in some of her most fabulous attire.

Wild about the zoo

The ultra cool string ray and shark exhibit

Petting the bunny in the children's zoo

Feeling right at home at the zoo

Mary and William, ready for their safari adventure

Our wild ones

A sweet end to our Thursday adventure at the zoo

Cousin time!

Suzanne, Mary and Katie returned from their trip to Ohio and stayed in St. Louis for a few days. As usual, we kept a jam-packed schedule, and I think everyone needed some rest after this little vacation! On Tuesday night, we did some swimming and then had dinner at mom and dad's house. On Wednesday, the girls played at our house with Suzanne while we had our ultrasound for the baby. For those who have not heard, we are having a little girl!! After the ultrasound, we hit the Magic House and went to Imo's for some St. Louis-style pizza. The pictures below are from the Magic House.

A new addition to the outdoor garden area - fun foam blocks and noodles


Mary and Lily take a moment for a photo op

William and mom play trucks

So many options - what to play with first?!

Little charmers

Lily after her second day of camp (which she loves!)

William playing with his interactive animal puzzle

Lily's dance recital

During their tap number. Lily is in the very center.

During their ballet number. I love the little tutus!

After the show

Lily with her friend