And now he's sick too

So Ian was up a couple times last night getting sick and couldn't keep down his breakfast. Lovely. When he's not sick he's acting fine though, and he doesn't really have a fever, so our best guess is it's just the stress from traveling and not sleeping. Yup, definitely staying home for the next couple of years.

Hmmm....maybe closer to stupid

First the bad news. We're not leaving overnight again until Ian is 18.

Nights were pretty terrible. The first night we got into the hotel at about midnight. Ian was exhausted so he didn't put up much of a fight going down. He was up about 4 times but did go back to sleep with some reassurance. Not great, but livable. It was the second night that sealed the deal. Over two hours trying to get him to sleep, then he was up for over three hours straight in the middle of the night. And of course since we only have one room, anytime Ian was up, so was Rinnah. Blech. We actually seriously debated coming home a day early, but since we knew we weren't going anywhere again for a very long time, we decided to tough it out for one more night, which was better but certainly not awesome. So now we have two very overtired kids with some overtired parents. Oh, and Rinnah screamed for a good portion of the 4.5hr ride home. I'm disappointed since this has pretty well dashed our hopes of making it to California this year. Between a little one who screams while in her carseat and now a toddler who isn't great in the car and apparently has major difficulty sleeping away from home, I think it's just too far for us right now.

On the bright side, Ian LOVED the Children's Museum. Everything was geared towards younger kids and there was so much he could do and explore. He loved pushing all the buttons, turning gears, and pulling handles to see what would happen. The water exhibit was a big hit too. And he loved the car room with toy cars to race. He also got a big kick out of just seeing what would be next with so much to do.

The Museum of Science and Industry went better than we expected too. We actually got to see (at least briefly) most of the museum. There was an Idea Factory exhibit for kids that Ian thoroughly enjoyed-lots of balls and bubbles to play with there. And he loved climbing in the big tractor and combine and pretending to drive them. Jeremy's favorite exhibit was definitely the toy factory-a whole room full of fancy robots & computers to drool over. We all enjoyed the huge model train exhibit too.

We have pics, but that will have to wait until after I get some real sleep.

Overall, I'm glad we went. Partly because it was a lot of fun to watch Ian exploring and enjoying all the different activities. And partly because now we really know what our kids are like when we uproot their schedule and leave home overnight. I think this was a stretch for them, so it's good that we found this out before trying to travel somewhere 12 hours away instead of 4 or being gone for a week instead of a few days. Hopefully they'll be better travelers in another year or two and we can try again.

Day 1-Shedd Aquarium

The trip up here was better than we expected. Not as good as we had hoped, but better than we expected. Rinnah made it almost 60 miles on the highway either happy or sleeping, which was great. Then she had a meltdown, and it was 10 more miles before there was an exit, so she was pretty hysterical by then. After 25 minutes or so, we got her calmed down and fed and we were back on the road. That lasted for another half hour-ish, when we had to stop again. We did diapers for everyone and hit the road again. And both kids dozed for the most part. Some fussing from both, but no more all-out hysterics. Things were going great until the last 4 miles of the trip, when there was construction taking the expressway down to one lane. So the last 4 miles took 40 minutes. We arrived at the hotel close to midnight, and had everyone asleep by about 12:30.

This morning we headed out to the Shedd Aquarium. Ian had a lot of fun. "ish!" he kept saying ("fish"). Just like his daddy, he found the buttons and touchscreens more interesting than the actual fish. There was also a play area where kids could climb in a tent, pretend to cook, sit in a boat, play with stuffed fish & raccoons-he really enjoyed that.

The drives today were a little rougher, but we survived.

We also visited my grandma. She's in a rehab center (not THAT kind) since she was in the hospital last week and the doctor wanted to be sure she was strong enough to go home. She's feeling pretty sick right now, but she was excited to see Rinnah for the first time. We visited with her for a little while this evening after the kids had a short nap.

Ian looking at the fish

From Shedd Aquarium

Riding the turtle

From Shedd Aquarium

Playing raccoons with Daddy

From Shedd Aquarium

He's eating me!

From Shedd Aquarium

Cookin' up something good

From Shedd Aquarium

Almost ready!

From Shedd Aquarium

Let me taste it...

From Shedd Aquarium

Paddling the boat

From Shedd Aquarium

Mom, can I keep 'em?

From Shedd Aquarium

Just like his daddy

From Shedd Aquarium

Brave or stupid?

My dad used to say that sometimes the difference between brave and stupid is determined by the outcome. I guess we'll know in a few days which is the case for us.

We're going to Chicago this weekend. Woohoo! We've been wanting to do the museums and such for awhile, and we wanted to go before the weather gets bad or we have to haul baby food for Rinnah. So we're going this weekend! I snagged a cheap hotel on Priceline that even has a kitchen, so food & lodging costs will be kept to a minimum. We're going to the Museum of Science and Industry, the Shedd Aquarium, and the Kohl Children's Museum. Once we get there, I think Ian will LOVE the museums. And we're excited about that part too. It's just the car rides that we're worried about-4.5 hours to/from Chicago, plus 15-45 minutes to get from the hotel to each attraction. Our plan is to go first thing in the morning and stay until Ian is pooped, probably around 2-3:00. Then go back to the hotel for a nap and find easy entertainment for the rest of the evening, like going for a walk. Hopefully Rinnah will be her usual easygoing self.

Seat Check Saturday

Today was declared some sort of statewide child passenger safety day, so there were 93 checks held across Illinois. I helped at the one in Sprinfield. Ian spent the morning with Grandma Fox, and Jeremy and Rinnah came along to the check. Jeremy was able to help with directing traffic and passing out clipboards while Rinnah slept in the sling. I got to check seats. I really enjoyed it-I love educating people about carseats and it was great to do something other than just the mommy thing. It's the first check I've done since Rinnah was born.

I brought some seats that we've had at home from other checks hoping they could be used or go to someone else who does more checks than I do. I'm glad I did, because we had a 2 yr old boy with Down Syndrome come in. He was very close to 40 pounds, and came in with an old seat with twisty straps that he can wiggle out of. One of the seats I brought harnessed to 65 pounds, which he really needed. He's definitely not ready for a booster yet. It was great to see that seat going to good use to keep that sweet little boy safe.

This afternoon I finished painting Rinnah's room. Well, except for a little touchup that needs to be done on the ceiling. It's a pale pink, and on Monday we have some rose-colored carpet coming. We got brown curtains and I found some ribbon that matches the carpet, so my mom is going to sew that on the curtains as a little border to tie the room together. I think it will look nice.

We're also getting new carpet for the playroom. That will be great. Once those two rooms are done we'll have redone all the floors on the main floor of our house except for Ian's room (kept the hardwood) and sort of our room (we pulled up carpet and left the hardwood).

I even managed to get Ian's outgrown clothes consolidated into plastic storage bins and labeled with the sizes. It was a very productive day!

93 bottles of Robitussin on the wall, 93 bottles....

Ever wonder what 93 bottles of Robitussin would look like?

From Robitussin

From Robitussin

From Robitussin

We made a sweep of the Walgreens in Springfield on Saturday morning. Final total:

-90 bottles of Robitussin
-3 boxes of Kleenex
-5 bags of Robitussin cough drops
-25 votive candles
-toy ball for Ian
-toy boat for Ian
-6 packets of seeds
-2 Dove chocolate bars
-$300 in Shell gas cards
-countless funny looks from cashiers

All for $99.99, of which $50 was covered with prepaid visas from a previous Walgreens deal. And if I can come up with 5 addresses, I can even get $10 back in Robitussin rebates!

We'll be keeping a few bottles, giving a few bottles to family & friends, and donating the bulk to an orphanage in Romania.

A big thank you to Walgreens and Wyeth for teaming up to pay for gas for our car for the next few months!

Party!

Yesterday was Ian's birthday party!

It was a lot of fun! A few people couldn't make it because their kids weren't feeling well, but we still had a good turnout. The rain held off for awhile, it just sprinkled and had that threatening it-could-rain-at-any-moment look outside, so we were able to sit outdoors for awhile. When it did start raining we went inside and it was good that not everyone was able to come because we just wouldn't have had room for everyone.

We had a cookout (well, a cookin in the garage) and everyone brought side dishes. We were able to use some of the free hot dogs, cheese, & lemonade I got awhile back. We also made hamburgers and cake. It was a really good meal. I was hoping that we would be using up some food, but I think we actually have more food now than we started with because of the leftover side dishes.

The kids had a good time, and Ian really enjoyed playing with everyone. Some of the bigger kids were trying to show the toddlers how to play bocce ball, which was amusing. He was very excited about the new toys his friends gave him also-a toy drill that talks, a pig in a car that makes noise & drives when you shake it, and a toy dog that walks with a little remote control leash.

Here are some pictures from the party:

Some friends

From Ian's 2nd birthday

Eating at his outside table

From Ian's 2nd birthday

Uncle David, Grandma Fox, and Uncle Daniel

From Ian's 2nd birthday

Learning to play bocce ball

From Ian's 2nd birthday

Opening a gift

From Ian's 2nd birthday

I think he had fun. We sure did!

But I'm one of your best customers

There's an awesome deal at Walgreens this week. You can make $7 profit for every three bottles of Robitussin you buy with the right coupons. On Tuesday I went in and did this deal twice, and the manager followed me out and asked me not to buy anymore!

I have mixed feelings about this. I understand not wanting to run out, but the shelves are stocked full and bottles are stacked on top that won't fit. I offered to wait until Saturday or take a rain check for the sale price and come back next week-he turned me down on both. But he said he doesn't want to lose my business. *scratch head*

With that deal though, I think it's worth a trip to Springfield. We'll see what we can do tomorrow.

Monday

Ian had his first speech therapy appointment today. Right now, she's just playing with toys with him trying to get a feel for where he's at and build some trust with him. He had a blast today, especially with the bubbles. He kept signing "more, please" so she'd do them again. :)

We're working on Rinnah's room right now. We got carpet ordered. That was a fiasco, but it's done and we ended up with a good deal in the end. Now we're getting the room cleared out so we can start painting. The carpet should be in next week, so we don't have much time!

And Ian's birthday party is this weekend! It's so hard to believe he'll be two already. On Saturday we invited over all the little kids from church and their families. We're going to have a cookout and play some games in the yard. It should be a fun time.

Weekend

We had an awesome weekend with Laura. Didn't go anywhere terribly exciting, but we had a nice time catching up, sharing pictures, and playing with Ian. It was wonderful to have a visitor since it seems like it's gotten so difficult to leave the house for more than a five minute drive.

Things have been pretty busy getting ready for the benefit concert. My brother Michael had the idea to do an outdoor concert to raise money for leukemia research in honor of our dad, and we're also doing a silent auction. Mom has taken things on with her usual obsessive gusto, so she's been eating, sleeping, and breathing concert & auction prep for the last few weeks. I wish I could have been more help, but running all over town to talk to businesses about donations was just not in the cards for me with two kids in tow. And the things I have offered to help with she has wanted to stay in charge of. Oh well, I tried. Hopefully the benefit will go well.

We did order carpet today. We're going to fix up our office/guest room as Rinnah's room, and while we're at it we're recarpeting the playroom. Between getting lousy service and discovering that Lowe's would be cheaper, I managed to haggle several hundred dollars off our total at Home Depot. And of course I had a coupon. ;) So the end total wound up being almost $500 less than they originally were quoting us. Very exciting. We should be getting the carpet installed in a few weeks.