Seven Month Sweetie

I really don't know how it is even possible to be writing about Hannah's seventh month! Sadly that means summer is dwindling down and the school year is about to gear up. But enough about that and onto Miss Hannah. We returned from our first family vacation (which I will post more about later) just in time to celebrate Hannah's "month" birthday. I know I've said it before, but I love watching Hannah's personality develop throughout the month. Just recently she developed her "cheesy" smile which makes her look like an old lady who forgot to put her teeth in, but it is so cute! (It is even cuter when she has a little drool coming out of her mouth!) Besides her blossoming new personality she is also developing physically. She can completly sit up by herself (just in case you can't tell in the picture) and loves to explore her world from this new angle. She is also starting to stand up holding on our hands and maybe when holding onto something. She still does not want to roll from her front to the back, but I really think she is close! Because she loves being on her back she is not making much of an effort to crawl yet. From what I've been told, I should cherish this time because once they figure out how to get mobile, it doesn't stop! The most important thing is that she is a healthy and very happy little girl! Thank you, Hannah for bringing joy to our lives every day!

All-Star Fan Fest

It's always fun being a Cardinal fan, but it has been especially fun this year. St. Louis is the host city for this years MLB All-Star game and the city has been hopping all this past week. It is an All-Star tradition to have an interactive Fan-Fest with booths about baseball history and tons of fun games for the kids to particpate in. My mom and dad had tickets with their Cardinal package but they were on vacation, so we were able to use them. It was a very fun day! We decided to avoid traffic and parking prices and take the MetroLink from the Shiloh station. This was Hannah's first trip on the Metro and she did very good! We then headed to America's Center for the festivities. We knew we wouldn't be doing much or any of the interactive part, but we loved seeing the exhibits of both the Cardinal's history as well as MLB history as well. It's even more fun for a Cardinal fan with three players in the All-Star Game, including our family favorite, Albert Pujols! Since it was also home run derby day, we decided to walk down to Busch Stadium to take in the sights and sounds of this historic event. We even hung around for a few minutes while batting practice started. Here are some pictures of us enjoying our "Monday Excursion" downtown! Hannah and Daddy waiting for the Metro Link train on our way to Fan Fest.This was a really cool picture - an employee for the Pujols Foundation saw that Hannah had her Pujols shirt on and asked if we wanted to get her picture with one of Albert's game worn batting gloves! How awesome is that?!?! Hannah and Mommy before Hannah took a little snooze during Fan Fest.

Timmy watching batting practice, and wishing we were inside for the Home Run Derby.
Hannah and her new sippy cup - we are slowly starting to learn how to drink from a sippy cup.

Just Hanging Out

When we are not out and about, we love to just hang out at home. Some of Hannah's favorite activities include learning to sit up, reading, playing with her toys, watching TV (especially Cardinal games) and most importantly looking cute. Here are some fun shots of Hannah just hanging out.

Happy Birthday, America!

Hannah celebrated her first Fourth of July with rain. Bummer! We had planned on going down to St. Louis to watch the annual VP Parade with my mom and dad, but the rainy day kept us away. Instead, we headed to the mall for a Macy's one-day sale. Later that evening, our neighbors John and Kelli (who are due with the first little one any day now) came over for dinner and fireworks. However, the rain shut down all of Mascoutah's festivities. So we did eat dinner and hang out but had to wait until Sunday evening to watch the fireworks. They were not too exciting for Hannah because she was already in bed. But she did prove to us that she sure does love to sleep -- she didn't make a peep even with the fireworks going off right outside her window! I hope next year she will enjoy the traditions that make this holiday fun!

Friday Excursion

Tim and I were so excited to spend Friday's together this summer doing fun things around St. Louis. Well, June was so busy that our first Friday Excursion was today, the beginning of July. That is okay though, we had a lot of fun! We went to Kimmswick, MO which is about 25 miles south of St. Louis. It is a small town with a historic section that dates back to around 1859 or so. They had cute little shops with antiques and other items. They also have this amazing homestyle breakfast/lunch restaurant called the Blue Owl. It was so yummy, especially the desserts. It was a very fun day and a great way to kick off our Summer Friday Excursions! Here is a picture of Hannah and I waiting to eat lunch.