Beating the Heat

We decided that today we would beat the heat with a redneck waterbed and a kiddie pool.  We filled up L's pool and played in it for quite a while.  All 3 of us ended up completely soaked.  Then dad put together the redneck waterbed and we had a blast on it while it lasted!  We accidentally bought the thinner plastic sheeting this time though so it sprung a leak pretty quickly; oh well, it was still an absolute blast!  L had a great time on it, he would flop down on it and roll around hehe.

After he romped on it for a bit, my husband and I decided to add shaving cream to the waterbed.  This was such a good idea, and it made things so much more fun!  L loved spreading the shaving cream all over the waterbed and rolling in it.  All 3 of us ended up covered in shaving cream again, it was so much fun!!

Of course, it wasn't long before dad and L began romping and wrestling around as usual.  It looked like such a fun time that I cleaned up for a second to snap a few pictures.  These guys love to wrestle with each other, and a redneck waterbed with shaving cream added was the perfect recipe for romping!

This was a great activity, but I think it was mostly because of the shaving cream.  Haha, I think that L could play in shaving cream every day of his life and have a blast with it.  Afterward we had a blast cleaning up because we got to chase and spray each other with the water hose.  We played in the pool for a bit longer and then all went for a small walk in the neighborhood and we were completely soaked, I'm sure we were a sight :p.

Indoor Play

We've been trying to stay cool lately, it's so hot outside!  During the heat of the day we try to do mostly indoor activities and the playroom is getting good use!  L absolutely loves to paint.  He wants to pull out his paint and paint brushes at least once a day and go to town.  We're getting quite the artwork collection from our little man.  I also think he's started to learn his colors since we put in the art corner of his playroom.  He really gets a kick out of watching himself in the mirror sometimes too haha.

He's also really getting into crayons and markers now.  I can see a small improvement in his fine motor skills already and the pictures he colors are awesome.  I love doing artwork with him so much!

Have I mentioned that L is really really obsessed with choo choo's?  He wants choo choo's on all of his clothing and he pulls out his little train set several times a day to play with it.  He also loves to read all of his choo choo books and sometimes just flip through the pages and look at the pictures.  If it has a choo choo on it, this boy gets so excited!  When he is wearing a choo choo shirt he'll randomly stop and point to it and say "choo choo!" with such excitement and pride...it's pretty much the cutest thing ever.  :)

Obsessive Nesting

So the obsessive stage of my nesting has begun.  I'm giving baby J somewhere around two weeks until his arrival and I'm getting so insanely excited!!  Up until this point I've felt excitement mixed with sadness because I've felt like I'll be losing something with L, but now I only feel pure excitement at the thought of another little boy joining our family!  My nesting instinct is in overdrive though, I want everything organized and finished right now!  Yesterday we hung shelves and completely re-organized the playroom.  It was an all day task, but so worth it!  There is now a nice art space in there and a little extra room on the shelves for birthday and Christmas presents.

On the wall that I couldn't get in this picture there is a large toy box full of blocks, a cart that L loves to put things in and push around the house, and three drawers with animals, cars, and legos in them.  On top of the drawers is a fiber optic light and a jar of shapes that L likes to dump and stack.  I'm really pleased so far with how this turned out.  In the art corner we have paint in spill proof cups, paint brushes, crayons, markers, paper, play dough, and play dough utensils.  L woke up this morning and went straight for the play dough!  Then he wanted to color, we had a great time in there this morning!

  After we spent some time in the playroom we went outside to play and I made up a little sidewalk paint.  L really loved squirting out all the paint onto our carport.  It was raining out so he wouldn't really leave the carport or garage area but he had a blast painting it!

Our Evening

After we came home from the farm we had plenty of adventures in store still!  Our neighbor's niece was visiting and she is very close to L's age so they had a blast playing together in the sandbox and pool.  I won't post the pictures I took of them together but I still got a few good ones of just L.  He got into painting a little on his easel and had a great time with that.

His dad helped him make a mud pit in the garden we tilled but never got around to planting anything in.  L had a great time digging around in the pit with the garden shovel.

He also learned to ride his four wheeler after watching the little girl that was visiting do it!

After a long day of playing, L decided he'd like to go on a walk around the neighborhood.  He started out pushing the stroller but soon decided that he was really tired and would rather just ride in it haha.

Notice that he really got into body painting today, this was one of the first days that he's really wanted to paint his whole body.  I love this kid so much!  Every day with him is such a blessing.

A Day on the Farm

Today a local farm had a small gathering and we decided to go.  L had so much fun, he looked like he had lived on a farm his whole life!  He was in heaven.  Our day started out with a car ride to the farm, we gave L a protein bar because he seemed hungry.  Halfway through the trip we looked back and saw that he was completely covered in chocolate.  We stopped to clean him off and I snapped a quick picture.

When we got to the farm L was absolutely fascinated with all of the animals!  The only animal that he was hesitant about was the turkey; it made a loud gobbling noise and I don't think that L was a fan of it haha.  He never could get close enough to a chicken to pet it but he loved pointing them out to us.

  Sometimes he really had to squat to get a better look at the llamas ;).

He absolutely loved petting this baby goat through the fence, he wouldn't touch the big goat though.  The baby goat was pretty sweet, I pet him for a while and you could really tell he was enjoying the love.  It almost reminded me of how a cat acts when you pet it.

He had an absolute blast (and got pretty muddy) chasing this group of ducks around the farm.  He just kept running after them and they just kept running from him until they could get behind a gate that L couldn't cross.

My husband and I were both able to milk a goat while L watched very intently.  He was really interested in the whole process until the milk squirted out and then he was off to observe the rabbits.

While dad talked to the goat lady, L and I walked out of the stables to pet on a miniature cow.

We finished up our trip to the farm with awesome food that the farm owners had made for a cookout.  L had a great time and was covered in mud by the time we left.  He just looked right at home on that farm, we'll definitely be going back!

Countdown to baby

Since I have 3-5 more weeks until the new baby arrives (and around 2-3 weeks before my husband starts medical school), I have decided to make them count!  We have been doing a few fun activities and have more planned.  Our first activity was making Oobleck.  L really really got into it this time.  Last time he kind of played with it, dumped it out and was finished with it.  Not this time!  He really got a kick out of picking it up and letting it drip out of his fingers and onto the driveway!  He sat there forever playing in it.

This was the first time that my husband had experienced Oobleck, and he really loved it as well!  I think L and his daddy could have played in Oobleck all day.

Earlier today I broke out some play dough for a little down time.  L is really into putting things in bags lately (and later taking them out) so I made sure he had a freezer bag.  He really got a kick out of putting all the play dough in the bag bit by bit and carrying it around the house haha.

Later, dad came home from running errands and the REAL fun began!  We squirted a whole can of shaving cream into his small pool and I'm really not sure who had more fun on this one.  My husband and I had a small shaving cream war and L had a great time smearing shaving cream all over his easel, his slide, the grass, and eventually his sandbox.  It was pretty awesome.

Eventually I decided to just get in the pool and L followed me right in.  We had a blast together, smearing shaving cream on each other and generally just making a glorious mess.

When we finally finished playing with shaving cream, L decided to clean up.  He went straight for the water hose and had a blast spraying down his easel, slide, and pool.  Then he decided to come after me!  I snapped one shot before the water/mud wars began.  :)

Even though it is kind of sad in a way to be losing so much one on one time with L, I'm really excited to get baby J here and to have another little boy to join in on all the fun!  Today was great.