Susannah, following the the traditions of her older siblings, loves (tolerates) the neglecto-matic! Thank Heaven!
The Life and Times of James, Chiara, Norah, Luke and Susannah Hemsley
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Birthday Presents
Norah had a ton of fun putting together some of her birthday presents this year! In the background is a birdhouse from Nonna and in the foreground is a really neat fairy garden that took us a LONG time to make. First, Norah painted the fairy's house and the toadstools and the stones. Then she painted the container. Then, we filled it with the special dirt (which had sparkles in it--the prettiest dirt I done ever did see!). Then, we planted some grass seeds and beans and put the fairy and some butterflies in. Then we watered it and now it's growing! Luca so desperately wanted to help, so here he is trying to weasel his way closer to the garden so he can "help, too!"
Monday, June 18, 2012
Big Girl
Norah is a great big sister; she wants to hold Susannah all the time! So does Luca, but he loses interest pretty quickly.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
First real bath
Susannah's umbilical stump finally fell off (praise the Lord!) so we could give her a real bath! She liked it until we got to the part where we wash her hair!
Quilts Galore!
Oma's good friend Linda made these quilts for Norah (we have had this one for a while) and Luca (he just got his!). Oma helped to quilt them...the kids love the colors and patterns in their quilts!
Thanks, Linda! Thanks, Oma!
Braiding the Challah
Challah is a braided bread...Norah knows a lot about braiding because we often braid her hair, and she has tried to teach her daddy on multiple occasions (though he seems unable (read: unwilling!) to commit the process of braiding hair to memory...).
Challah Bread
I asked Oma to make come Challah bread for us, and Norah helped! It was delicious! We had Challah French toast that evening for dinner!
Future Founder's Fan!
I put Luca in this (woefully small) Founder's t-shirt--his belly hung out the whole day! Here he is watching for the garbage truck--one of his favorite activities!
By the way, for those of you who are not from GR, Founder's is a GR brewery where Chiara's sister Francesca and her longtime beau, Jarrod, work!
A better view!
Norah fell and scraped both knees pretty badly--a nice lady at the zoo gave me some bandaids (which were the ONE thing I didn't have in my diaper bag!!!!) and she took over in Luca's stroller. Luca was a trooper and walked a lot, but he also got some fun rides on Grandpa's shoulders! He was terrified at first, but then liked it!
Butterfly Garden
Norah got a Fancy Nancy book for her birthday from Grandma and Grandpa H called "Bonjour, Butterfly." We were at the zoo, and she just HAD to see the butterflies! They were really neat. None of them landed on us, but they were flying all over!
Poolside
Norah had hurt her knees at the zoo, so she didn't particularly want to go into the water...but she did dip her feet to stay cool!
Lake Zurich
Oma, Grandpa, the kids, and I went to Lake Zurich to check it out...there we found a massive wooden play structure (complete with wooden car for Luca!) and shady oak trees, picnic tables, and a lake for swimming and wading. It was a really nice time!
Monday, June 4, 2012
A quiet spot
Susannah had to eat while we were there, and we found the perfect, breezy, shady, quiet, out-of-the-way spot to feed her! I would tell you where...maybe you will have to visit and come to the CBG to find out!
Beautiful Girl!
Norah took us to the top of the waterfall Garden, which she and Oma had discovered. She was so proud to take us somewhere we had never been before!
A beautiful day!
Oma arrived on Saturday, and the next day was a gorgeous day in Chicagoland, so we went on an outing to the Botanic Gardens. Luca was a trooper--he walked almost the whole time!
Favorite Place
Susannah's favorite place in the first few days was the changing table (formerly known as our kitchen table). The light from the big picture window is nice there, and she loved chilling (read: sleeping) on her changing pad.
Happy 5th Birthday, Norah!
Hemsley birthday week went on, and next in line was: NORAH, who officially turned five! She has been saying she is five since her party, but now she actually is five! What a day! Daddy took her swimming at the YMCA all by herself, and they had a blast!
First (Sponge) Bath!
Susannah's long hair was looking a little grease-tastic, so we thought we should probably give her a bath. The umbilical cord required us to make that a sponge bath, which was awkward at best. She screamed a little, but not too bad!
New "Rain!"
Luca got a new (used) train set for his birthday from Mommy and Daddy. As predicted by Daddy, he loves it!
Luca turns 2!
Luca turned 2 shortly after we arrived back home, and one of his favorite gifts was this (big!) Tonka Truck from Uncle Peter and Aunt Liz. He pushed that thing around the yard for at least an hour!
Nonna visits
Norah and Luca's grandma (Nonna) took care of them while we were away at the hospital. Here's Nonna, Norah and the baby having some (more) quiet time. New babies sleep a LOT!
Home at last!
We came home on Memorial Day, and Norah wanted to hold Susannah again. We are glad that she is taking such an interest in the baby.