Our busy summer fun

Wow, it's been forever since I've posted. We've been busy having lots of summer fun and rearranging all the rooms in our house it seems like. Dan and I are finally ready to have a second baby. Fiona is super excited and has generously donated many of her old toys and clothes to the new baby. Since we're still heavily potty training right now, Fiona also talks about how she will teach the baby to use the potty. I hope she makes good on this promise because potty training one has been enough at this point. Things are going along but there are still lots of accidents and frustrating moments. She just gets so involved with playing that she forgets she's supposed to be paying attention to her bottom. So that coupled with the fact that our poor dog is slightly neglected since we're concentrating on Fiona so much right now, it seems like there is pee around every corner. I'm glad we'll be taking up these carpets hopefully this winter when there's nothing much to do outside.

The other really exciting thing is that back in May Fiona and I went to a benefit walk at the Zoo with my mom to raise money for Wigs for Kids (who I donate my hair to every 4 years or so-it's almost time for my third donation, but it's hard to cut so much off all at once). Anyhow there was a raffle there for a play house and we won it!!!! We were so excited. Dan and I have been working for 2 months now on the house. I feel like we could seriously do habitat for humanity now. It's more completed now than the two pictures show, but the first one gives you an idea of the size-- It's HUGE!!! The second is a cute picture of Fiona painting the house. She had a great time helping out.

From blog Fiona in the house-you can see the adult sized back door

From blog The front has a little kid sized door and two windows that open and close

At this point the house is pretty much done, we only have to finish the interior. We're in the process of painting the walls and then I want to put some of that rubber interlocking floor matting down so it's nice to play on. I still can't believe we won this.

The other big fun of the summer was taking the train to Chicago for Fiona's 3rd birthday. Dan, Fiona, my mom, and I all drove to Michigan where we picked up Dan's mom. Then we took Amtrak to Chicago. Fiona had so much fun on the train. I think the three hour ride was the perfect amount of time. She did a lot of playing, we read some stories, got a snack, and watched the scenery flash past.

Some of the fun things we did in Chicago were going to American Girl Place where we had dinner in the cafe and a special birthday cake. We also went to Build a Bear on Navy Pier. I think this was the highlight of the trip for Fiona. She had so much fun picking out her kitty to make and finding clothes for it. Then we took the water Taxi to Shedd Aquarium where we met up with my friend Virginia and her two daughters that are about Fiona's age.

It was such a great trip and I hope we can do something similar someday. Maybe once little baby number two is older. I kind of wish they weren't going to be so far apart in age, but between moving and just starting a new job three weeks ago, we've decided it's best to wait a little bit.

Here are some quick pictures from our Chicago trip...