Asleep at the wheel.

It's been a rough couple of days at the Schuerman house. Aidan has been running a fever, which means that he's crabby and clingy. Wendi's worked from home most of the time. The week has been draining on both of us due to the lack of sleep because of the burning hot tornado that's been rolling around between us. I made a comment that I was beat and Wendi said "I have a headache." Both of us have been dealing with a bit of stress on the job and this being "hell week" on campus (a.k.a. move-in week) which demands more of my time along with Aidan's health it has all been a bit overwhelming.

Thankfully Friday afternoon has come which means the weekend, but even the weekend brings more to do so we need to catch up on sleep at any given moment.

Have you ever seen how somebody that's completely drained of all energy can fall asleep mid click?

If only Carter would learn to leave sleeping people alone this nap may have lasted more than 15 minutes.

Taking steps

Yes, the baby is growing into a little boy and taking a few steps. Last week Aidan started getting braver. He perfected sliding down the stairs while Daisy was home, and has moved onto moving more. He will now stand up beside furniture and walk between pieces. He's also getting good at standing up in the middle of the floor.

Last one out shuts the door

We implemented a new rule in our family last weekend, last one out, shuts the door. After the Schwan's employee picnic, Kelly and I were both pretty beat from the heat. But, we needed to get some groceries, so we took naps (Aidan and Mommy) and then headed to the store. Wendi opened the side door for Reed and Carter, since it no longer opens from the inside, and Kelly got Aidan. Wendi then proceeded to get the 'green' bags from the back of the van, and we went into the store. Shopping took a while, due to our exhaustion. About an hour or so later, when we leave the store, we notice a van with the side door - still wide open! Aparently neither Reed nor Carter knew to shut the door. We're just thankful that we live in such a safe community - Wendi's purse was there, untouched! So, last one out - shut the door.

Rogaine

Sunday was the annual Schwan's "torture our workers with small children picnic" at Independence Park. Don't get me wrong, if I were 6 it'd be a blast. Each year we continue to take our children because they have a wonderful time on the blow-up carnival rides and playing the carnival games while Wendi and I wonder what on earth possessed us to come. The only thing we can think of is the free food, but in all honesty it isn't that great of food (other than the Ice Cream and for everyone but me, the watermelon).

In the end we're left with the confusion of why on earth did we put ourselves through that? Bingo? I've never had the privilege of saying that word, Wendi either. In fact the only time I get numbers covered up on my card is while playing stand-up bingo. How unlucky can one person be? To add to the istinkatbingo misery I get to listen to my children complain about not doing what they want to do. Do you see where this is going? *sigh*

To add to my personal misery I now have what has become known as my "rogaine line". I was foolish enough to wear a visor instead of a cap and was even more foolish to not put on any sunscreen. A lot of people wouldn't have a problem with this but well...you've seen my forehead and when you consider that Wendi cut my hair on Saturday to the perfect length of 1/8 inch even more of my precious scalp was exposed to the glorious sun.

At least now I know where to rub in the rogaine since I have this lovely laser-level-like line separating the pasty white flesh of my forehead with the roma tomato red on the top of my head. Pics to come.

Daisy's visit

We were so excited to have Daisy home last weekend. She didn't have a room to sleep in, which created a few challenges, but overall it was a great weekend together. The boys were so excited to have her around, and Aidan clung to her all Friday night.

We picked her up in the afternoon, and then went out for supper in Sioux Falls, a treat for us all. Then, off to pick out bedding (finally!) for Daisy's new room. They didn't have the style she had picked out from the catalog, but she did find one she liked. Plus, there was a sale, so Carter got a new comforter to match his new room and fit his "big boy bed".

We started on preparing Daisy's new room on Saturday, and got it primed. Sunday we accomplished the stripe and back wall. I'll provide pictures in another post, as I know Daisy is excited to see how it's turning out!

Sunday afternoon, and Daisy's trip back to Plankinton came too quickly for us all. But, summer is almost over (sad) and Daisy will be back home with us again.

We miss you Daisy!

Health Updates

Yea, everyone is finally healthy again. A flu bug made it's way through our family but has *finally left us. It started with Wendi, and we thought maybe it was food poisoning, because Diane was sick too. Then Kelly was affected, along with Diane's husband. Then Aidan suffered it as well. His sickness was the hardest on us. We went through two sets of sheets, and had two midnight baby showers (not the gift style). But, the next morning, he was more back to normal than mom and dad, due to the lack of sleep on our part.

The other children didn't seem to be affected, for which we are grateful, and a week has pasted, so I think we are safe and clear.

Room Swap Progress

We have started! The room swap is underway between the children in the Schuerman household.

We started on Saturday with moving everything out of Daisy's room. A gray primer worked nicely to cover Daisy's bright pink and purple. We went with a dark (navy) blue on three of the walls, and a dark red and off white stripes on the fourth wall.

The next step of the swap is new beds for Reed and Carter. Tonight we assembled the new bunk beds. We need all the extra floor space we can get with having three boys in the one room.

Next on the agenda is finishing the strips, building Aidan's new dresser, and moving the boys into their new room. We are also hoping to get Daisy's room prepped and primed so we can paint when Daisy is home this weekend. She just needs to pick her bedding and colors first, so we can choose the colors.

Stay tuned for updates...

LEGO class

The first Schuerman family LEGO class was a fun time for all! Kelly worked with the boys on free building cars. They started with a basic framework and then built a car based on their imagination. Kelly helped reinforce basic techniques such as crossing their lines and color coordination.

Reed and Carter thoroughly enjoyed the class. So much in fact that Reed has tried having his own class with Carter.

Aidan's Checkup

Aidan had his '9 month' checkup today, just a month overdue. He's growing quite well, still long and lean and very smart (big brain anyway). His stats:
Length: 31 1/4" (95 percentile)
Weight: 20# 7 oz. (40 percentile)
Head 47 cm (75 percentile)

Everything looked good and he's still 'perfect'.

At daycare today he stood by himself a little while and even took a couple 'steps' to keep from falling to the couch. It won't be long and he'll be at a full walk. He has the strength, just not the courage.