2009_10_31 Saturday

Wow, we've had an incredibly fun Halloween this year!! Yesterday, Dave took off, and we spent the afternoon/evening with the NY Hardwicks. Their town shops sponsor trick-or-treating, so we walked through their downtown. Jonathan was a garden gnome this year, and his cheeks fit the bill perfectly. We didn't see a double, and he really was a huge hit. He also caught on very quickly how to get candy. Then we saw their house and the in-progress kitchen. We had pizza for dinner; I had my now-typical pepperonchinis too! (what the??) We stayed until about 9:30 before everyone was getting sleepy.

Today, we all spent the morning raking the yard. What fun. The most disappointing thing was that once we finished an area and moved on to another, the first was already covered up with fresh leaves again! It did feel good to get outside and work, though. The piles out front are mountainous!! Jonathan was a huge help; we may need to get him a mini-rake!. He also drove all his trucks around the yard and parked them in lines. We all went trick-or-treating up and down our street. Again, Jonathan was a huge hit, although a lot of people thought he was Santa! By the end, he was even telling people he was "a garden gnome" and showing them his shovel. So cute. Unfortunately, the wx wasn't great; it started raining as we were finishing up.

2009_10_29 Thursday

What an insane day! We started it off (after inhaling breakfast) with a class at the nature center. Today's theme was, of course, Halloween. We did a nice (short) walk around the property and inspected a couple of huge pumpkins. Then, we got to decorate mini pumpkins. Jonathan immediately picked out a pair of googly eyes. The rest didn't interest him nearly as much. But, he stuck on some stickers and window-pane paper. He really seemed to enjoy glue-ing.

Then we had to fly over to my doctor's appointment. Everything is great. I've gained another 3 lbs, and all is well. We got to hear the heartbeat today too. It's really amazing how good Jonathan is there. I bring his backpack full of goodies and my snack pack full, and he's set for however long I need. They even commented today about how great he is. :o)

Then, we went nearly back to the nature center to check out a tile store, as we are getting serious about creating the master suite. It would be really nice to have it completed before Baby2 arrives. That store was a bit of a disappointment, but it was worth checking out prices.

Boy, did Jonathan and I nap well today!

Finally, after Dave got home, we had an appointment with a designer for the master suite. She redid our bathroom, but it's much better now. And, she helped us with picking out tiles, colors, etc. I was so jazzed after meeting her that I wanted it all done right then!

2009_10_21 Wednesday

We picked up Dave at the train station today with a Happy Birthday sign.

Then we took him out to dinner at our new favorite, family-friendly pub. He likes it because they have a few nitrogen pulls, except that they haven't worked any of the times we've gone! As it happened, it was family night, so they had a balloon guy working the family room. We didn't make it in there, but the boys hung out and watched in awe. I got a little quiet time to enjoy some calamari. Jonathan got a fish, whose tail promptly popped. But, dinner was great. I managed to embarrass Dave with a cake/ice cream and the wait staff singing to him. haha. Jonathan sang (his favorite song now) and blew out the candle. It was a really fun evening.

2009_10_17 Saturday

Today was a rainy, cold day. I had had great plans for an ag festival, but we opted out because of the weather. Ditto for pumpkin picking. As we tried to figure out what to do, I took the front of Jonathan's crib off so that he's officially in a "transition bed" now. It's basically a day bed with two short guard rails.

We took Dave to a local shee-shee mall. They darted around other shoppers while I mozied behind them. We had a nice lunch at a burger joint. Afterward, we stopped at a fountain, and Jonathan asked, quite politely, "Mommy, may I have a penny please." with his head cocked to the side and eyebrows as high on his face as possible. How could I resist? So, he threw 4 pennies in.

He took his nap with very little objection, and he managed to stay in his bed the whole time. I had to wake him up at 5:30.

Then, the best thing happened to me in a long time. I took 2 hours for myself to get a mani/pedi, and I feel amazing...and rejuvenated.

After his dinner, we all played in the den for awhile. Jonathan is just amazing with his speech. He poses complex questions and can answer with such detail ("Mommy, I hit the blue train with the red hammer."). I also was pretending to sleep, and he came to me, rubbed my head, and gave me a kiss to wake me up. How sweet is this kid?!

He's also getting good at pee-ing in the toilet. He's not 100% yet, so I see diapers in our future. But, it's pretty neat when he tells us he has to go and then actually goes.

2009_10_13 Tuesday

I have big news to report: I'm pregnant!! We are insanely excited. We won't find out the gender of this one, and I'm due April 23, 2010.

2009_10_11 Sunday

We had to get up early today for Olivia's baptism and then Julia's 2nd birthday party. This was Jonathan's first time in a church, so I was a little nervous. We met Carrie/Craig/Izzie/Nate there, and between us we had plenty of food and toys (and Bianca the bear) to keep everyone occupied. Jonathan did really well with whispering inside the church and not getting too crazy. Then we headed to the party and had a great time. We had the whole restaurant, and luckily there were tons of other kids. Jonathan sang "Happy Birthday to Julia," which was adorable, and then tried to blow out the candles from a good 10 feet distance. On the way home, he kept saying, "Mommy, I whisper in the church and shout outside!" and "I'm a very, very good boy." too cute.

2009_10_10 Saturday

We had breakfast at the diner this morning and found out that Betty has retired! yikes! Then we strolled over to the park, where the city was celebrating Green Day III (eco-friendly, not the band). And, we ran into our friend Jen/Ryan/Lilia, so we hung out with them for about 2 hours. We also saw our realtor and chatted for a bit. Jonathan got to finger paint, which I was shocked at since he's hated it in the past. He did pretty well this time with blue paint on his hands. He also played with the tike trucks for awhile. Then he painted with mud, grass, and a flower at our environmental center's station. He also got to touch a boa constrictor. And, we met Governor Corzine (is that a good thing?), and I saw our town mayor, although I didn't realize it at the time. Jonathan and Ryan also got a lot of energy out by dancing/jumping on stage to the live bands. He seemed to have a good time, and he slept like a baby for his nap.

Unfortunately, his night sleep was awful. For some reason, he was wide awake at midnight. ugh! I'm thinking in hindsight that he had too much energy/excitement. Funny, I sure didn't!

2009_10_05 Monday

First for the gross news: When I changed Jonathan's diaper this morning, I nearly had an anxiety attack. His diaper was this electric blue/green. Then I realized it must have been the Smurf ice cream from yesterday. Lovely.

Jonathan and I went to Imagine That!, a children's museum-sort of place. One of the mom's had organized it, so we got a discount a typically high admission cost. We really had a fun time. The place was huge, and Jonathan loved driving an old-fashioned fire truck, flying an airplane to see Aunt Shannon+, sitting in Uncle Raj's dentist office, playing TV weatherman, shopping and cooking, climbing a pirate ship, playing with trains, banging on drums, painting like Picasso, and more. We also got a private puppet show and a space for snacks. We virtually had the place to ourselves; that was really nice too.

Afterward, we had a quick lunch at Applebee's. I couldn't resist. Then, home for a very long nap; he was pooped from all the running around and the excitement. When I go in to get him now, he greets me with, "Mommy, no more sleeping. I'm awake!" and he pops his eyes open.

And, we had two days in a row of peeing on the potty. wahoo!

2009_10_04 Sunday

We had such a wonderful family excursion today! We met up with two families in my babysitting swap at a 'local' farm (about 40 mins from here). I also bumped into a mom/daughter from our nature center classes! The kids had a total blast. Dave and Jonathan climbed a huge hay stack. We tried to pick blackberries, but they were either red or raisins. So, Jonathan ate the 10 that we did manage to find. Dave and I are scratched up from wading through the briars, though! Then we wandered through a pumpkin patch, but they were just too big for us. One of the other couples picked some bell peppers and decided they didn't want them, so we took them. I'm sure I can use them. Jonathan took a small bite out of one anyway! Then, we took an "Opa's Tractor" ride around the farm. Dave and Jonathan scooted through a hay tunnel, which he loved, twice. And, we topped off the day with homemade ice cream. Jonathan picked "Smurf" flavor, which was electric blue, so we took off his white shirt to avoid stains. Check out the photos of him: hilarious!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANA!