Picture Time

Last month, we took Emily to get her photo taken. Emily was pretty good for the first 30 minutes or so, but after that, she decided she had had enough... luckily we were able to get in some good shots before her fussy spell. Feel free to check them out for yourself... Claussen Studios. Click on the "Client Login" link and find Stuart on the list. The password to view the photos is barbara. Enjoy!

St. Louis... take 2

We had so much fun on our trip to St. Louis with Amber, John, and Makayla that we decided to take Josh and Caleb there for our annual family vacation. We revisited the City Museum for a day of climbing and sliding and made a quick stop at the arch, then we added a trip to the St. Louis Zoo, and the Magic House before we had to make the long trip back. Even though the drive was long, it was worth it. I would definitely recommend a trip to St. Louis for a great family vacation. I wish we had more time (and money) to spend there, because there were still a lot of things I would have liked to have done that we didn't get to do.

Our first stop after we got to St. Louis was the St. Louis Zoo. Here is Andrew and the kiddos in front of a waterfall at the beginning of the day.

Andrew spent the day torturing Josh with the video camera. I think he hated being in front of the camera more than I do.

Andrew, Emily and I on the train at the zoo.

Andrew heading down a spiral into the enchanted cave at City Museum.

Emily and I hanging out on a whale's fin while everyone else is climbing around.

Josh coming down the 3-story slide at City Museum.

Caleb making his way through a hollowed tree trunk tunnel.

Working Mom...

So today ended my 12 weeks of maternity leave. I can't believe it flew by so fast! I started back at work this morning... bright and early at 6:00. Andrew is staying home with Emily in the mornings, then we switch off at noon. While it was hard for me to leave Emily, I felt good knowing that she was staying home with Andrew... and that I was less than 10 minutes away. I've heard it gets easier... I guess time will tell.

Father's Day

I think we had a pretty relaxing Father's Day. We started with a big breakfast... not in bed because Andrew gets up too early for Emily and I. Then we gave Andrew his big present... a croquette set. Emily and I thought he would enjoy it, and it will give us a lot of outdoor family fun for years to come. We went out to the park for a picnic after church and walked around the gardens and played on the swing set. The day ended with dinner with Royal and Jane. We grilled steaks and roasted some vegetables... and enjoyed some sorbet that I made in my ice cream maker. Then we finished the night trying to avoid getting eaten by mosquitoes while we were playing croquette.

Emily and I swinging at the park.

Everyone enjoying croquette in the front yard... Emily is starting her lessons with dad early. She's going to have to practice to be able to beat Grandpa Bacon while we're in Seattle in August.

Our Growing Girl

Last week Emily had her 2 month check-up at the doctor's office. She got weighed and measured and checked out from head to toe. Dr. Wan says she looks great! She has a mild case of cradle cap (baby dandriff), but aside from that, she has a clean bill of health. Here are her stats... Weight - 10lbs 12oz (50th percentile), Length - 23 inches (75th percentile), Head circumference - 39 cm (75th percentile).

Emily's first road trip...

Last weekend marked a momentous occasion... Emily took her first road trip. We left from Tulsa Friday afternoon for a weekend in St. Louis. Those of you who frequent our blog may recall that we were planning a trip to St. Louis to attend a concert, but we didn't think we were going to be able to make it. Thankfully, Amber, John, and Makayla came to the rescue and volunteered to come along with us and keep Emily for the evening while we went to the concert. While we were in St. Louis, we also went to City Museum... I would highly recommend it. Especially if you have kids with you. It was like a huge playground.

We also went to the arch, of course, and while we were there, we started Emily's passport to all of the National Parks. Basically, it is a book where you can keep track of all of the national parks, reserves, etc. that you have visited. You get a sticker to put in the book and you get to stamp your passport for each place you visit.

The drive was long, but Emily did well. We had a great time. The concert was awesome... and we had fun visiting a city I had never been to before. I think Emily's first road trip was a success.

We passed by the arch on the way to City Museum from our hotel. We decided to walk because we didn't know if we would be able to find parking... the walk there was so long, we decided one way was enough and found a ride back.

Andrew is climbing up this spiral "tube" to a network of tunnels in the ceiling. I couldn't make it up there with Emily, so I had to take the stairs to meet Andrew upstairs.

There were also caves down in the museum that you could wind your way around in. Andrew and Emily just squeezed their way through a tunnel to get deeper in the "cavern."

Emily isn't quite sure what to think of all of this, so she's holding on just in case.

Amber, John, Andrew, and Emily wandering around in the dark maze that keeps getting smaller and smaller. We finally gave up when the openings got so small we couldn't get through them easily.

We also made a quick stop at the "Midwest Spatula Museum"... ok so it was inside City Museum, but we visited it all the same.

When we got back from City Museum, we decided to hang out in the room until it was time for us to leave for the concert. Emily got a little hungry, so she decided to snack on her toes.

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We decided to spring for VIP tickets, so we got to see Dave Matthews and the Black Crowes back stage before the show (from a distance). We also got a "gourmet buffet" and free beer and wine... oh yeah, and we got really cool sparkley pink wrist bands. Very exciting. Here are a few pics from the concert.

The Black Crowes opened, but they only played for about 45 minutes... they played some of their new stuff, and a few old songs. I hadn't heard the old songs they played, but I don't know that many.


Here's the stadium as it is beginning to fill up. This was the first concert at the new Busch Stadium. They covered the outfield with metal panels so the grass wouldn't get damaged.


Dave came on and played for 2 1/2 hours. He put on a great show...


Here we are after the show. It was a long day, but we had a great time.


Meanwhile, in the hotel, Emily and Makayla are hanging out on the bed watching a movie.

Weekend of Visitors

We had quite a busy weekend... my niece, Casandra, came up to see her newest cousin as did my brother, Kenneth, and his kids Dicey and Bubba. Well... Kenneth really came to see Casandra, we just happened to be here. Friday night, Casandra came with us downtown for dinner and a view of the Tulsa Tough Riders cycling competition. Later that evening, Kenneth, Dicey, and Bubba came over for some company and some Wii. Saturday involved more Wii and hanging around the house during the day... then we went to Kenneth's hotel to go swimming before dinner. Sunday morning was stormy, and Casandra was freaked out about the chance of a tornando. We assured her that the sirens would go off if there was a tornado, but when an ambulance drove by while we were in church, it didn't put her mind at ease any. Here are some photos from their time here...




After years of correcting everyone who called my niece my cousin, I started making the same mistake ... I kept asking Emily if she was excited about meeting her "Auntie Casandra." I think she was.



Bubba really wanted to hold Emily, but every time he tried she kept being fussy. We finally got her to behave, and he didn't want to let her go.





Dicey and Emily... I can't believe how old Dicey is now... I remember when she was Emily's size.





Casandra and Emily... Emily was pretty fussy the first day Casandra was here, so it was a while before she warmed up to her. Not to worry, they're good friends now.





Kenneth and his newest niece.




Bubba showing us all how easy Expert is on Guitar Hero...





Emily hanging out with Casandra.