Our new home!!!

Okay, so it is not really new!! We did get a tree removed from the front yard!! You know life has changed when events like this really excite you. The tree covered a good 1/3 of the house. Now it is GONE!!!!! Now all we need to do is get our neighbor to do the same with his....

Mardi Gras Pet Parade!

My parents and nephew came to visit the weekend of Presidents Day. This also happened to coincide with Valentines Day and the Mardi Gras Pet Parade. We had a fun busy weekend.

Saturday, Valentines Day, we went to the Gateway Arch in the morning. My nephew brought a friend with him as well. So we did the tourist thing. After the second or third time going up to the top Nate and I have refused to go. It is neat to see but not much changes and it is tight quarters. The boys, and my poor Dad, loved it though. Unfortunalely we forgot the camera. Elyse really enjoyed the museum they have down under the arch. She liked the stuffed beavers the best. I practically had to wrestle her down to keep her from going over the rope after them! Saturday night Nate and I took advantage of the free babysitting for a nice dinner (yeah us!!)

Sunday we went down to Soulard for the pet parade!! I was not sure if we would all make it. It started at 1pm, which is Ellie's nap time :0 She actually did really well, with help from a small nap in the car beforehand. We did not forget the camera this time!!

Here are Ellie and Papa at the parade.

This is not my mom, but I swear she will do this one day!!!
What a crazy lady!!

Here are some of the dogs that were around and in the parade.
People really get into it dressing up their dogs, getting them to do tricks.
It is wild to watch...

Is it a bee or a dog??

Westward Ho!!

New breed of Cow Dog...
Lizzard dog...

Elyse, my parents, my nephew and his friend all had a grand time. Nathan and I did as well, but we had been before. Elyse was thirlled with all the dogs and the fun of the parade. She is also really into the beads!! She is still wearing them at home.

Snow Day at the Park!!

After the full snow arrived we decided to take advantage of a day in the park. Gosh it was such a beautiful day. The snow was crisp on the ground from the sun shining and it was not that cold.   So we took the whole family, dogs included, for playtime! Gershwin and Lexi loved it! They are starting to get cabin fever too! 

Don't they look happy! (Yes this is their happy look)

They had fun nocking Ellie over too!

Daddy had fun making snowballs!

Mommy and Ellie bounced on the teeter-tauter!

Nate's Birthday!!

Woo Hoo! Nate had his 33rd Birthday! We had celebrated the night of his Birthday going out to dinner with some friends. So the next night we celebrated at home with the family. This also gave us an excuse to get a Maggie MOO's ice cream cake! It is a bit of an addiction for us. We are trying to come up with monthly occasions to get them! At least this month's is legit! 

Elli really enjoyed helping her Daddy blowing out his candles. At first she wasn't sure as you can tell by the look on her face. She enjoyed the cake though asking for seconds and thirds. Or as she says "mo pees" (translation more please!)

HMM, what is this?

Still not sure...

Mom? What is daddy doing?

OH! Helping daddy blow out his candles!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATE!!

Finally some snow!!

We finally got a little bit of snow...Yeah! So Nate and I bundled Ellie up and took her out. We had a great time with her though she couldn't move to well in her snow gear. Not quite as bad at The Christmas Story' Randy but pretty close.
Here she is getting bundled up...

"Help I've fallen and I can't get up"

Playing in her house.

She also likes my Schnauzer wind chimes. She will go out and hit them to make noise

She also has this thing with sticking out her tongue? I am not sure where this came from.


Catching snowflakes on our tongues!

It was a fun day. She did great in the snow.

Playdate with Walker

We have made quite a few good friends in our neighborhood here in St. Louis. Luckily My friend Jen was able to watch Ellie the other day for me. She has a son Walker who is two months older than Ellie. THey have fun together, as 17 and 19 month olds do. Jen was nice enough to get some pics of them together as they 'played'. 

My little chef

I remember making cookies with my mom and grandparents when I was young. I don't think I was this young but oh well. Ellie and I were hanging out today and she was quite restless. So I pulled the dough out of the fridge and put on her apron! She did really well I think. She didn't eat as much as I thought she would. We had a good time!