RETRO: Building a Bathroom & Swings 06.14

My stepdad Mark framing
My cute mom swinging Heidi
Rich framing
Nana giving Addie an underdog

RETRO: Swimming Last Wednesday 06.14

Addie
Rich
Rich throwing Addie
Daddy & Goggled Addie (Heidi in the background)
Abby & Marshall (my youngest siblings)
Heidi & Daddy

RETRO: Evening Swim 06.15

Heidi gives Papa Mark a kiss
Heidi very serious about swimmin' (Uncle Marshall in the background)
Mom & Addie swim (Tyler in the background)

It's My Favorite and My Best

Between my early pregnancy sickness and my current prescription for "rest," I have watched lots of kids' TV. And the shows are pretty good, actually. Thankfully, we can tivo all the episodes of the ones we love and not watch the really annoying ones.

Of course the kids have their favorites. Heidi loves Little Einsteins, which can be annoying, but it teaches her so many cool things. My favorite episodes are "Farmer Annie" (because the pigs are so dang cute) and "Whale Tale" (because the music is beautiful). All the art and music are classics--it's like a pre-school humanities class--and I have even learned some stuff I had forgotten from college!

Addie has recently gotten into The Fairly Odd Parents which is a plain ol' silly old school cartoon, as is SpongeBob Squarepants (so, so annoying). But I can still get her to watch good shows she used to LOVE like Stanley (animals) & Charlie & Lola and the very best ever, Sesame Street.

My personal favorite is Charlie & Lola. It just cracks me up, and it's only 15 minutes long. Last summer we tivoed the C&L marathon and had like 15 episodes! I just found out that my favorite episode is a book! I'd love to read it to the girls in my best fake Brit accent (the same accent I use when I read Beatrix Potter and old Winnie the Pooh).



Even if you are not sentenced to 2-3 hours of children's TV each day, I highly recommend watching Charlie & Lola. You can even see some clips on the link above.

PS: Read here about one of the genuises of Kid TV, Josh Selig.

RETRO: Grant's Farm in St. Louis

Last Friday, Mom & Mark took us to see Grant's Farm--80 acres settled by Ulysses S. Grant later purchased and fancied up by the Busch/ Anheyser-Busch family. The Budweiser Clydesdales are raised and trained there, and there are wild animals and farm animals there, too. Me, Mom, Heidi, Abby, & Addie at the entrance to the Clydesdale area.
Addie pet the big horse...
the big horse had a little baby sleeping next to her in the dirt.
Heidi riding the tram with Daddy as we toured the wild animal park...she had more fun making faces at Nana & Papa.

The goats at Grant's Farm are a little aggressive--Daddy led Addie into the yard to feed them.
Heidi stayed outside the fence to feed her baby goat.
Addie fed her baby goat in the yard.
Heidi & Addie in the double stroller...such cuties!
Watching the elephant show...Heidi on Nana's shoulders, Addie on Daddy's. The cute African elephant danced, flapped its ears, showed us its teeth, picked up a dime with its trunk, and blew up a balloon with its trunk!

Me & Addie watching the animal show at Grant's Farm
The gang in front of the pretty Bavarian Beer Garten at Grant's Farm
The beautiful bald eagle in the animal show

Solstice

My Great-Grandma Marie was born on June 21, 1912. She passed away in 1996, but would have been 94 yesterday. I always think of her on the longest, sunniest day of the year.

Four Generations: Grandma Lyn, Gramarie, Me, & Mom

Visiting Gramarie in Pasadena- she and Grandpa always put up this swing for us.

Baby Update

I had my almost-28-week check up yesterday and I got busted! My first BP reading when I arrived was 162/90 (!!), then 142/85. I also lost 3 pounds since my May 30th visit, which added up to some concern. I guess gestational hypertension can slow down baby's growth rate if it's not monitored and treated, so now I am being monitored and treated, just in case (even though I am measuring fine & baby seems to be very active). The first step is an ultrasound next Friday (6/30) to check for growth and general organ health. The next step is monitoring the blood pressure EVERY week now and having about 4 more ultrasounds to monitor growth, too. Actually, the VERY first step is me resting for 2-3 hours a day, about half of that on my left side. As you can imagine, that's not going over well with the girls! Although yesterday I had a good hour nap when Heidi was napping and Addie watched "A Bug's Life." My iron went down this month, too--I was so proud of my "39" hematacrit count--a record high for me--but it's down to 32 now, so I'm back on daily iron--YUMMY!

All of that aside, I feel better than I ever have before in a pregnancy, so even though we're in a potentially dangerous situation, at least have have a little bit of energy to deal with it! And I am not too sick to take my vitamins. Click here to read about baby (I tried to post the imge and text, but blogger images is not cooperating).

The Road Home, part 1: Kansas

The most exciting part of our trip home from Missouri was our first stop in Lindsborg "Little Sweden", Kansas for Midsummer's Fest! After checking in to our hotel--The Swedish Country Inn--at 4:00pm, we caught the tail end of the fair at Swensson Park and walked down Main Street to see all the shops. Our first stop was the world-famous Hemslojd shop, where our girls rode this Dala Horse, and we bought a welcome plaque and some dala Christmas ornaments. Giddyup! Addie & Heidi ride one of Lindsborg's Wild Dalas
Another Dala horse down Main Street.

Two Swedish Dolls! Heidi with a doll at the entrance of the Swedish Country Inn
Addie & the Wild Dala outside our Inn
Dinner at the cookery around the corner from the Inn. The girls had a burger and fries; Rich had Swedish pnacakes with Lingon berries; I had the Swedish sampler with meatballs, dill red potatoes, green beans, rye bread, and a dessert called ostakaka. There was a bakery area full of fantastic-looking pastries, but we got full on our dinner and headed out to raise the maypole!