sometimes i just can't get enough of her.

mums for mum

These are the flowers I finally bought for my planters, which have been sitting empty on my porch since, oh....about April. I buy plants so that my mom can water them for me and keep them alive. Well, Josh waters them, too, but I really do think it is my mom who keeps them from dying. Are you glad I finally added color to my porch, mom?

The mums came with a grasshopper, which I saw when I was at Garden Heights, but apparently, he loved the plant so much, he held on until we got to our house.

"Oh really? A grasshopper?," she said.

"Hi Kaa-peer." (Translation: "Hi caterpillar." Because I guess grasshopper=caterpillar in her mind.)

Living in peace with each other. (You can see the grasshopper in the lefthand corner of the picture.)

I think I'm more interested in my apple.

choo choo

Huntleigh and I were invited to a birthday party at The Creation Station which is at the Museum of Transportation, out on Barrett Station Road. It is a very large and fun indoor place for kiddos to play and imagine. But one of the best parts of being there, was the train ride that we took on this cool train. Huntleigh has really gotten into trains, lately, and I have to be honest, but this train is far superior to the zoo train. It is beautiful and you don't have to make any stops. It would be a fun playdate, friends, if anyone is interested.

botchie

Now seriously. I know she is my own child, but she is just too cute. This is an excellent picture of her botchie, a.ka. a pacifier. I don't know where the term "botchie" started, but I know that my brother and I called them botchies and my cousins did, so it must have come from my mom's side somewhere. Huntleigh loves her botchie, and I have to be cheeky about hiding it so that she doesn't have it all day long. Otherwise, she would be a happy camper to keep it in her mouth and just talk right through it. The funny thing is, she is quite efficient at talking with it and I can pretty much translate everything she says even though it's in her mouth. This is me in 1978.

saturday morning in maplewood

I finally went to Cooper Ella in Maplewood. I can't believe how it's been around for seven months and we only just got around to going there. I did go four times this past week, however, so I think I made up for not supporting Maplewood boutiques for awhile. Josh and I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Huntleigh, here enjoying her strawberry syrup. And then I went back one other time for lunch with Shannon, and two times to get two different gifts for people: one gift was really for this baby in my belly. I thought that even though we are having another girl and we have all the clothes we could possibly need for girls, I wanted to get her her own special outfit for when she is just born. It was just irresistible.

what we've been up to.

Sorry to those of you who are my faithful blog viewers who are tired of checking, only to see nothing new. Thanks for persevering. We've been busy here at the Hager house. Summer finished up and fall has most certainly begun. I mean, the weather is still somewhat hot, but classes and activities fill our days with constant flurry. It's fun, but just consuming. Here's a few pics of what we've been doing in the down time:

We went to our last baseball game of the season. It was a Cubs-Cards game, which we lost (no surprise), but it was still fun. We sat next to a very nice die-hard Cubs fan who knew everything there was to know about baseball. Afterwards, we celebrated my mom's [30]th birthday at Dewey's Pizza. You must have the carrot cake the next time you go there. It is unbelievable.


We've become very good at playing independently. I love this child more than ever and she is such a joy to watch grow. Here we are doing puzzles, some of her favorite things to do and one of our favorite words to hear her say (besides "poop," as in Winnie the.)



I found some old videos of the hunts on her blog and showed them to her one evening. She could have watched herself for hours. It's so cute for her to see herself even younger than she is. She was just fascinated by herself!

city living

This is our city's public transit train system, the MetroLink. Nothing about this picture is exciting, other than the fact that it was our first time to ride it and Huntleigh loved the idea of going on the "choo-choo!" Josh and I felt like city-dwellers, once again, even though we just live in a suburb with the word "City" in it (University CITY). Our days of public trains are behind us, with the MTR in Hong Kong. I am, admittedly, the farthest thing from being green as I drive my big gas-guzzling Tahoe around in our town. I wish I were more city-savvy in my own hometown.

balloon glow

This year we made sure to go to the balloon glow with Josh. The balloon glow is when all these hot air balloons come to Forest Park and just after dusk, they fill up with air and then light up from time to time. (That is the most boring description of what it is actually like to be there. I'm just not full of words tonight.) It's really just an excuse to join thousands of other spectators in Saint Louis and to have a fun picnic in the park while being able to watch some unique entertainment. Huntleigh was fascinated, but the slightest bit frightened...not the crying kind of frightened, but the kind of frightened that made her want to stay in Josh's lap the whole night. It was some of our most favorite family time yet. Family time feels rare with Josh being so busy with school right now that we take all we can get. I love to watch Huntleigh's curiousity and excitement as we experience new things like this together. She is such a joy to us.

good friends.

This is my friend Jennifer and her sweet baby girl Adalae. I took a quick trip to her home in Alabama to be with her and her family for a few days while Josh did some business a couple towns away. It was another excellent trip and we talked about everything we could possibly manage to talk about...and then all those tangents that we trailed off to, as well. Did we even finish discussing some of those things?! I am a big believer in visiting good friends in their homes, whether it is the little places in the the world, like Clanton and Cedar Rapids, or the mid-range places like Tallahassee and Chattanooga, or the exciting places like London and Seattle. When Josh and I lived in Hong Kong I understood for the first time the extreme value of having close friends and family come visit us. It made life more real to everyone...and more tangible. I like to be able to picture someone in her livingroom when I am talking with her on the phone. And I like the memory of having sat in that livingroom at some point in time with her. It's about the daily life and living it together, no matter the distance that lies between. Thanks, jd, for opening your home to me again. It was good to be together.

sparklers are for everyone

Scott found these huge sparklers that were tucked away in the laundry room at the farm and we had our fun with them. They were about 2 1/2 feet long. Very fun. All in all, Labor Day weekend was awesome. And we have doves to cook, so if anyone wants to come over for dinner to try it out, let me know. They are excellent.

funny about frogs

I love this face of Huntleigh's because it shows how freaked out she was by this little frog. She would say "Noooooo!" in this little voice but then, she would want the frog to be near her without touching her. The frog didn't so much understand Huntleigh's wishes and he kept jumping on her. She tolerated it for only so long before the "Noooooo!" process started all over again. If you look really closely at the bottom picture, you can see the frog. Harmless, but hardly as friendly as a little green plush stuffed animal that says "ribbit!"

fun playground time

artillery couture

Yep. It's begun. We spent the weekend at Racoon Ranch just so that we could get away from our regular routine. We spent the time eating good food, relaxing, and hunting doves. I love hunting pictures with my pregnant belly. When I was pregnant with Huntleigh, I was much more preggers at this time of year, so the picture is funnier. But Josh's cousin was sweet to describe me as looking "artillery couture" with my fun camo clothes. I loved his description. The key to being cute in no matter what clothing you wear as you are becoming a fatty is the bella band. I have found it resourceful in the past couple of days. I got mine at Baby Style in Seattle when I was there this summer, but you can order it several places online. And I get my fun camo from Delia's.