Big Girl Bed

We have officially changed over Emaline's bed to the "big girl bed". Since she sleeps in a toddler bed at Nana's house, I figured it wouldn't be that much of a change to finally let her get in and out of her own bed at home. It was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be and I don't know why I waited so long. Probably cause I didn't want to deal with the fact that my baby wasn't technically in a crib any longer. But...now that I don't have to pick her up and drop her into a crib is excellent for me :-). We've also gotten a few "baby" things out of her room to get ready for moving stuff over to the new baby's room next door. The rocker and changing table are still in her room, but that's cause I've been seriously lazy and haven't cleared out the guest room. After Emaline's birthday this weekend we'll hopefully get more motivated to take down the guest bed and strip that horrible wallpaper in there. So wish us luck!

Also found out this week that my sister-in-law's boyfriend sells carpet, so hopefully we can coerce him into a deal for the upstairs! That carpet REALLY needs to go...

Check back next week for Emaline's birthday party post!

The 2008 BMW Championship at Bellreve CC

This past weekend, Emaline and I took in the BMW Championship with my friend Robyn and my parents. My parents volunteer every time the PGA tour comes through STL. This year in addition to being able to volunteer, my Dad was contacted by a colleague and asked if we wanted tickets to one of the hospitality suites for Thurs-Sunday. Of course free tickets are always appreciated! So I got two tickets for Saturday's round and my sister got tickets to Sunday's round. Well, being that STL weather is in one word, unpredictable, the Thurs. round got rained out and those tickets could be used either Sat. or Sun. So Emaline and I got to for two days! Obviously we don't have any pictures since no camera were allowed in the golf course, but we had a good time all the same.

Emaline was extremely cooperative for the two days and I think she actually liked being outside with all the other people. I asked her on Saturday if she wanted to go the the park and see "the men" golf and she replied, "yes Mom. Emaline plays golf". When I asked her again on Sunday morning she emphatically replied, "yes!", again. So, we walked what seemed like a million miles to and from parking since there was no parking available in the lots near the course due to the mud and water from the all day rain on Thurs. We ended up parking in the volunteer lots because my parents had two passes (one of each of them) and they rode together when they were working. These lots were roughly a 1/4 mile (maybe a little more) down Ladue from the entrance and then had to trudge through the grass another 1/4-1/2 mile and make sure we didn't get hit by the buses shuttling people in from the general parking at Riverport.

It was all worth it though and I enjoyed the players and shots we did get to see. We didn't get a chance to follow with Villegas because there was just too many people for the stroller to handle getting around, but we did see Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington, Phil Mickelson, Vijay Singh, and a few others. On Sunday we set ourselves up between the 17th green and 18th tee to watch a number of groups go by. Thankfully the bad weather stayed away the rest of the tournament, we had fun! Hopefully they'll come back to STL soon. :-)

Happy Labor Day at the Greek Festival!

This past weekend we didn't do much since Josh had to work most of the weekend, but Emaline and I did some swimming and visiting with out of town friends. The outing of our weekend was her and I meeting our friends Conor and Tricia in the Central West End at the annual Greek Festival at St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church. We went when it opened at 11am on Monday morning and thought we were getting a jump on everyone, boy were we wrong. We had to wait in line for food even at 11:15am! It is amazing how many people come to be involved in such a cool celebration of heritage. Emaline, as I'm sure you can imagine didn't really find the food as appetizing as her mother, but she did enjoy the dancing and the music! After we had a pretty good lunch of gyros, spanakopita and moussaka we were treated to a little celebratory dancing in the main auditorium. Needless to say, it was very hot on Monday and it was nice to sit inside, even if the A/C wasn't on. Emaline danced in between the tables and clapped and even shouted a couple "opas!". Okay, so maybe that wasn't her, but it was fun to watch.

The lines were so incredibly long and in such a confined space it was kind of overwhelming. It was interesting to go down to see it and I bet the night shows, dinners, etc. were much more exciting over the weekend. I would definitely go again next year, cause by that time I'll be able to join in with all the other honorary Greeks, drinking my ouzo and shouting "opa!". Considering this is the largest ethnic festival in the Metro East, I thought it was my duty as a St. Louisan to check it out. There is also a big festival on Memorial day a little closer to my house in Town & Country at Assumption Greek Orthodox Church that I will probably try too! I recommend it to everyone who lives in town!