Counting Games

Libby and I have started playing a game after her naps where she throws all of her stuffed animals and babies out of her crib and then I throw them back. She especially loves when I hit her on the head with the soft ones. (I haven't ever hit her with a hard one, but something tells me she wouldn't like that as much.)

The first time I did it, I counted the animals as I threw them back in, and Libby has picked this right up.

Anytime she counts, she starts at eight and goes to nine. Then repeats. Also, sometimes "eight" sounds like "ice."

St. Louis

Jared had a work meeting in St. Louis last week, so Libby and I tagged along to take advantage of the free hotel (and because I hate being left out) (and because there are actually things to do in St. Louis) (and because we wanted a vacation, despite having been home for only 5 days since our previous vacation).

We were able to visit the zoo twice, the science center, the art museum, the botanical garden, the Arch, and the children's museum. And when I say "we" I'm mostly referring to me and Libby. Jared had to do this lame thing called "work," but he was still able to go with us to a few places.

St. Louis was a great city. It's big enough to have tons of things to do, but not so large as to be overwhelming. I was able to get around downtown and the surrounding suburbs, by myself, in the rain, even when the GPS malfunctioned. Booyah! We'll definitely be going back.

Trip West + Painting a couch?

A few weeks ago, we made an impromptu trip to Utah/Idaho. Jared's parents had some furniture they were willing to give us and there were also a few things of his grandma's that were being handed down to us after her passing in September. We decided to make a vacation out of the trip, because there are always people to see and things to do when we go out west.

We were able to catch up with a few friends over the weekend we were in Utah (so sorry we couldn't see everyone we know and love in Utah!) and it was fabulous to have real, live friends to talk to. We are such loners these days! We also went on a beautiful hike with Jared's sister, Rachel, up to Elephant Rock in Bountiful. I was surprised I was able to do the 6 miles pretty easily, being pregnant and unused to the elevation! I was so glad we got to do this hike, because hiking in the mountains is probably the #1 thing I miss about Utah.

We got a couple nice pictures from the top of the climb, but tragically, my memory card got corrupted and I lost all my pictures from our vacation. Boo! Just imagine a picture of me with a pregnant belly, Jared carrying Libby in a backpack carrier, and Rachel, who is incredibly athletic and amazing and did this hike 2 days after running a marathon.

We also went boating with Rachel's family and Libby got to go tubing (in dad's lap). She was so adorable in her life jacket and had a good time sharing chips and cookies with her cousins on the boat.

We spent about a week in Idaho and hoped to be able to do some fun things like take Libby to the zoo and the lake and send Jared golfing with his dad, but it was chilly and windy and drizzly most of the time we were there. We did all go out for snow cones and Jared and I got to go out twice without Libby (the last time that happened was Thanksgiving!) so it was still a nice vacation.

We also spent quite a bit of time packing...dishes, furniture, all sorts of stuff that we were taking home with us. One of the big items we brought back was this couch:

It's long and comfortable and in remarkably good shape for being...50, 60? years old. The upholstery, however, is a bit, ahem, dated. I discovered upholstery spray paint and decided to give it a shot on 1 on the 2 coordinating chairs that go with this couch. Sigh. The results are disheartening. Jared says it looks even older than before. I can't post pictures yet, because I keep hoping it will get better with one more coat of paint. BUT, before I admit defeat, I discovered another method for painting upholstery that seems to have better results. I'm going to try it out on the other chair before tackling the mammoth couch. Unless anyone has a better idea for me, that is... Wish me luck!