Saturday enjoying our home

This morning, I was able to shower and dress completely before Lilly woke up, which rarely happens. Shawn surprised me by getting up earlier than usual, but he entertained himself while I got ready.

We had pancakes for breakfast and then we played with Legos in the basement. Lilly showed off some dance moves to a musical airplane toy and worked hard to join in Shawn's Legos (or taste them). 

http://youtu.be/ADhAsPG1FaE

While the kids played, I hauled out a bin of Shawn's old 12 month sized clothes to see what Lilly might be able to use. I got really nostalgic seeing his old stuff and a bit emotional at the realization that my baby girl is turning 1 tomorrow! 

I'm not ready for this.  Sigh.

Later, Shawn asked if he could take a bath during Lilly's nap!? So, he tested the jets in our tub for the first time. Just a couple squirts of his regular baby shampoo/soap foamed up great. The water looked a little discolored once the tub started to fill up, but not as bad as the first time I turned these faucets on. (The water was so brown then that I didn't feel comfortable having Shawn bathe in it - he definitely would not have gotten any cleaner!) Raj and I agreed that it's probably a combination of those pipes not being used in at least 3 months (probably more) and simply being well water. (Even the cement on our front walk is slightly discolored orange in some places due to the well water.)

This afternoon, we took advantage of the sunshine and played outside. Even though it was still chilly, it was one of the nicest days we've had this year! A neighbor even came over to introduce herself and welcome us to the area. I wonder how many people we'll meet once the weather improves even more! 

It's so nice having a yard of our own to run around in. Raj and Shawn even played basketball on the driveway. Lilly loved going down the slide on the playset, though we're anxious to get it fixed up and in better shape with safer construction. (There's rust and rotten wood.) Baron was thrilled to spend so much time outside without getting too cold, though he was visibly sore when we came in. 

This evening, Lilly hit it right on the nose! Our noses, actually. She was pointing out our noses on command over and over. Her face showed her pride and excitement. We didn't even mind getting poked in the nose repeatedly!

 

 

A Day of Rest - in Theory

Abby was feeling better today, so she joined us again. We originally had plans to go to the Children’s Garden at the Morton Arboretum with Melissa and Blake, but they had something come up and cancelled. We contemplated going anyway, but it was a nice change of pace not to have any plans today. So, we stayed home!


After breakfast, we played with play dough and a box of tools and molds. They really got into it today! We played with it all for over an hour! Abby really liked smashing the dough into molds and making play dough balls of every color, too. Shawn stayed busy pushing dough through his Play Dough Factory and conveyor belt. He liked using the molds too, but kept asking me to make them for him. I collected the pieces of dough that were drying out and crumbling, added some water and kneaded them back to life. We don’t have the same variety of colors that we once had (blue, green, yellow, and mud!), but at least we have more useable dough to work with.

Next, they changed into swimming suits and played outside in the kiddy pool and sprinkler. I brought a tunnel outside too. They had fun pretending there was a rain storm coming and taking cover in the tunnel and under the shade of the kiddy pool. Shawn and Abby were able to tolerate the +90°F temperature more than I could. Grant it, they were playing in the cool water much more than I was. Since they were having so much fun, I served lunch outside, too. Naptime was a good excuse to come inside and cool off.

They'd hide under the pool canopy when the oscillating sprinkler would shower over them.

 

While Abby napped, Shawn had quiet time. He asked if he could do a project with his paints and I was all too happy to get out the supplies for it. He started with some watercolors and then transferred to washable paints instead. I only got 2 paintings out of him this time, but he was very serious about blending the colors with his brush and watching them swirl into new colors.

After naptime, we played inside. Things got a little wild and very loud for no particular reason, but they had fun playing with airplanes, Legos, and calling each of the Disney princesses on the phone! When Bill came to pick up Abby, Shawn invited himself to play at their house until dinner time.  Bill sent us this video of Shawn and Abby's basement rock concert.

Raj later retrieved him and we ate dinner while we watched Zoo Keeper in the cool basement. It's not exactly an excellent movie, but Shawn had fun seeing animals talk. 

It was an easy and relaxing evening to a fun filled, yet still partially relaxing day!

I Want to SCREAM! (in a very good way)

I anxiously called my doctor’s office to make schedule my first prenatal appointment, but got their answering service. Too early. ARGH!! Another ten minutes later, I got through. I have to wait until I’m eight weeks pregnant before they’ll see me… August 30th may as well be an eternity from now! I remember having to wait when we found out we were pregnant with Shawn, but I didn’t remember it being so long. Luckily, according to an online Pregnancy Calendar , I’m already three weeks pregnant, so just 5 more to go… Will I make it?

It’s so hard not to announce our news to everyone I see!


I dropped Shawn and Abby off at Spanish class and had to leave the center in order to stop myself from talking too much to the staff. I camped at Panera a few blocks away instead. While I had a list of things I should have been doing, I browsed pregnancy websites and tried to remind myself of what to do while pregnant – what types of foods to eat (and not), etc. I downloaded pregnancy apps to my iPhone…

I’m pregnant!!

 

I can’t concentrate on anything else!

Ok, I'll try.

 

After having a few weeks of inclement weather, Shawn and Abby were thrilled that class was outside at the park today. They were excited to tell me that they put bandaids on a stuffed teddy bear and a kitty cat coloring page because they were pretending the animals had 'ouchies.' They learned words about being sick or hurt, though they couldn’t tell me what they were. (It's a good thing they brought home a sheet explaining different vocabulary, so I can attemp to help them practice.)

While Abby napped, Shawn and I spied on a baby rabbit. He looked about palm size and grateful to have found shade behind some planters in the backyard. I wanted to offer him cool water and greens, but I knew that opening the door would startle him away. Still, it was sweet to watch the little bunny rest.

Eeek! I’m pregnant!!

Happy Birthday, Shawn!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHAWN!

Again, there was no rush to get out of the house this morning. I did think ahead last night and left the blinds and curtains in Shawn's room open so the sun could wake him naturally rather than me doing it. It worked nicely. Even though he had a very hard time going to sleep last night knowing that today was his birthday, he woke an hour earlier than normal and, most importantly, smiling and in a great mood! He was even awake early enough to see Raj off to work. Shawn's breakfast wasn't photo worthy this morning, but he was thrilled to have blue eggs and muffins (fudge and chocolate chip).


Once everyone was fed and ready to go, we headed to the Children's Garden at Morton Arboretum.  After coming almost half a dozen times already this year, I went ahead and got a membership to the Arboretum. If I had gotten it earlier, it would've almost paid for itself by now! Oh, well. We'll keep coming back. Maybe one day, we'll actually see what else is there besides the Children's Garden! Not today, though.


Shawn and Abby knew exactly where they wanted to go (usually together), while Opa and I tried to keep track of them. They worked their way through the Backyard Discovery Gardens and the Adventure Woods. In the Discovery Gardens, I think their favorites are the Curiosity Garden with a small waterfall and polished bronze frogs spitting water into a pool of smooth rocks as well as a tunnel and bridge that leads to two log cabin play houses and Every Which Way which is a playground looking area with a mass of cement tree roots to hide beneath, steep slides with a mulched cork wall to climb, a water pump to operate and guide the water down multi-tiered canals (though the pump has been removed), and a play structure with rain sticks to spin and a Plexiglas dome to ogle through. Of course, every single garden area also had a bright red water pump that was irresistible. They had no hesitation to stand directly under the spout while the other pumped the handle - possible trying to get a drink, but get doused in the process! (It's a good thing it was warm and dry today. I'm sure the water pumps helped cool them off.) In the Adventure Woods, their favorites were the Wonder Pond, which is swarming with tadpoles (and people trying to get a closer look at them), the tree house / rope net bridges that make up Under the Trees, the man-made Grotto and Secret Stream (though Opa and I would cringe every time a child would splash a small boulder into the water, hoping that no toes or fingers would be squashed in the process), and the Evergreen Walk and Lookout with another tree house / rope net bridge that led to view finders and staged critters in the trees. We stopped for a snack and drink break at the Lookout point before working our way back out of the Children's Garden. We did stop at the Central Plaza to marvel at the giant ball of granite (approximately three feet in diameter) with various leaves carved into the sides and spinning on a fountain of water. The kids had fun trying to change its rotation and felt very strong when they were successful.

Back at the car, we had another snack and changed the kids into clean, dry clothes. I was absolutely certain that they would be snoring by the time we drove out of the parking lot, but they were still chatting away when I made a detour to pick up some newsletters for Mothers & More. Abby was fast asleep minutes later, while Shawn somehow stayed awake the entire drive home! I was even able to transfer Abby to bed without waking her at all. An hour later, I let Shelley know that Abby probably wouldn't be waking on her own at her usual time because of the extensive outdoor playing we had done, so unless she needed to be awake, there was no reason to rush home to pick her up by 4:00 pm. Shelley agreed and said to let her sleep. Bill came to get her at 5:30 pm and she reluctantly woke from her three hour nap.


In the evening, we walked to our local Frontier League baseball game to see the Schaumburg Boomers play the River City Rascals.  We picked a spot to sit on our picnic blanket at the top of a hill in the lawn.  Nearby was a kids’ area that had a bouncy tent obstacle course and inflatable slides.  Shawn ran through the course dozens of times and used a Boomer’s blanket to add some slip to his his slide.  While he was burning some energy, the New Jersey Hardwicks called to sing him Happy Birthday.  Raj arranged for the announcer to broadcast that it’s Shawn’s third birthday today.  We didn’t catch it displayed on the scoreboard, but we definitely heard it.  The game didn’t end in our favor (L 12-3), but the fireworks show made up for it.  Too bad that Shawn fell asleep moments before the pyrotechnics began.  The incredibly full day exhausted him to the point that he slept through all of the booms and bangs and half of our walk home.  I had hoped he’d stay asleep to I could put him directly to bed, but I knew better.  Shawn had just enough of a rest to keep him up well into the night.

On the plus side, he got to open a few birthday cards when we got home.  One card revealed that we are going to Disney World in a few weeks!

Happy Birthday, Shawn!

Posted on FaceBook:

Having a wonderful day celebrating my little man's 3rd birthday! Happy Birthday, Shawn! We love you so very much! — with Paul Demmert and Rajiv Puri at Schaumburg Boomers.

Mandy Nye, Sara Bellini Pandolfi, Mona Mann, Kristen Weller, Katie Stump Holt, Nicole Roof Robinson, Gina Kawell Snow, Edward Demmert, Reena Uppal, Leslie Demmert, Melissa Rubalcaba Riske, Kenny Thor, Carolyn Wilke Wojtal, Toni Marcinowski LoVerde, Jonathan Demmert, and Evelia Krzysik like this.

Shelley Veloz Powell Happy Birthday Shawn! Hope you guys are having fun!

Leslie Demmert Go Boomers Go doesn't quite ring like go Cubs Go, but I hope they win for you.

Joni Demmert Anderson Happy Birthday Shawn! (PS I like your shirt!)

Melissa Bujak Dresen Happy Birthday little guy

Lorinda Oertel Anderson Happy happy birthday Shawn! Have a fun filled evening ♥ Conrad & Miss Lorinda

Deborah Johnson Clemons Happy Birthday Shawn!!

Sara Bellini Pandolfi happy birthday!

Liz Ri Many sweet Happy Birthday wishes!

Edward Demmert A big happy birthday to Shawn from the CA Demmert's!

Hema Puri Happy Birthday Shawn, God Bless You. We will see you soon.

Bm Bär Happy Birthday, Shawn! Greetings from Germany!

Stacey 'Dunlap' Porter Happy Birthday Shawn! Congrats Shannon -sounds like a lovely time

Debbie Fairbairn-White Happy birthday Shawn. Hope you had a great day.

Mona Mann Hi Shannon wouild u please give Shawn a big hug & some kisses from me tell him I wish him a day fill w/ fun, balloons & a big cake to taste Happy Birthday Shawn I love u bye baby