There are no photos of this epic event

Let me set the scene... Sunday morning the 3 of us go out for pancakes, take Kevin to the swings then we find a baby wading pool at the park and Kevin enjoys the pool & is so happy splashing in the pool. So far, a perfect family day, right? Then we come home and it's nap time. We put Kevin in his pack&play (since we are still in Iowa he is without the luxuries of his cozy crib). We have brought along several of his favorite fuzzy animals to make it feel more like home.

A few hours go by and Nate & I are happily watching the Cubs game, relaxing and so pleased that we are enjoying the nice Sunday afternoon. Finally, after 3 and a half hours of quiet we get curious and decided to open Kevin's bedroom door. Well what happened next might not shock the more seasoned parents who read this blog, but Nate and I were SHOCKED.

When we opened the door the first thing Nate noticed was that Kevin was naked. At first I thought, "wow, what a smart kid, he got his diaper off". Then the smell hit me & Nate. We were instantly frozen in shock, then a giant wave of laughter hit us both as we looked down at our adorable baby COVERED in poop. Maybe this has happened to some of you, but we have never seen anything like this. Poop, everywhere. Thank goodness Nate was home. This was a 2 man operation to clean up. Nate took Kevin for 2 baths. Like a carwash, the first round was to rinse off the major grub, the second was more of a scrub. I was faced with the challenge of cleaning up his poopy bedroom. There was no way to salvage the crib sheet, I tossed it. Thank goodness too that stuffed animals can survive a swirl in the washing machine. I took the pack&play into the backyard and started scrubbing. It was a sunny day so it dried really fast. I think we both did a great job with cleanup, although we are still paranoid that his room smells like poop. Oh well, at least it's his own. Good job Kevin for not throwing it on the walls or carpet!

Lesson learned: Never, under any circumstances, put your baby to sleep wearing only a diaper & a t-shirt (even if you think you are being nice by letting him enjoy the summer breeze).

Midwestern summer past-time

With all the rain this year, the mosquitos have been really bad. Kevin has heard us say "mosquito" then clap to catch it. Well this is proof that babies will mimic their parents. We better watch out!

Nothing better on a HOT summer afternoon

To keep cool on HOT summer afternoons in Iowa, we got Kevin a new baby pool. Kevin loves the spray fountain on the front of it. Can you believe we inflated it on Monday, and it still hasn't popped? Tomorrow is going to be extra hot and we are headed to a friend's lake house for some boating & beach time :)

BUBBLES

What kid doesn't LOVE bubbles? We were laughing so hard.

Enjoy!

Happy 4th of July

We LOVE summer

We are in Chicago this week! With Nate hard at work in Iowa until Thursday, Kevin and are keeping busy with our friends, family & lots of swimming. On Sunday & Monday Kevin played with one of his birthday presents - a baby pool. Grandpop setup the pool for Kevin to enjoy. His favorite part was crawling in and out of it. Over. and. over. again. and. again. Today we went swimming at Shari's pool and tomorrow we have an invitation to another friend's pool :) Don't worry, we will load up on the sunscreen!

For some reason this picture is so small (I don't know why!) We wanted to show you that Kevin loves to climb into and onto ANYTHING.

Local zoo

Today Kevin & I checked out the Des Moines Zoo. The best part about it was that it wasn't too big, and very kid friendly. I didn't like the petting zoo/farm, but luckily Kevin is still too young to beg me to feed all the animals. He watched from his stroller as older kids fed the donkeys, sheep & ducks. That is not my thing (to say the very least, Daddy will definitely have to come along for that adventure!)

Kevin seemed to like the giraffes the best!

The big news at the zoo is the momma & new baby elephant

Toy overload at Brenda's house

My good friend Brenda is on vacation this week so she offered to let our nomadic family stay there this week. It's been a great way for us to check out our potentially new neighborhood (the house we like is just around the corner!!!) Aside from me scoping out the neighbors, Kevin has had a ball with all the new toys & books. Check him out:

Nate would much prefer Kevin to be playing with a tool set or dinosaurs, but he loves Eliana's kitchen set. To be fair, I did set it up with all the toy foods & dishes to lure Kevin in. Hey, if he will be home with me all day, he might as well enjoy cooking! There is nothing wrong with a boy in the kitchen, he could be a star chef some day!

Garrison has funny sunglasses from "A Bug's Life" movie.

Last night we went to a picnic with Nate's new co-workers. Kevin did not wear his chef's hat or funny glasses, but helped us to make new friends nonetheless. I had him dressed in my favorite Chicago Cubs outfit, so that was a natural way to make conversation. Iowa folks LOVE the Cubs too.