Fun in St. Louis

Last weekend (yes, this post is long overdue...) we went to St. Louis for a picnic with the Down Syndrome Association of Greater St. Louis. It was a lot of fun--music, icees, popcorn, and bounce-houses. The weather turned cold during the morning and the wind wouldn't stop. That didn't seem to bother Gavin much. He really enjoyed bouncing around with other kiddos. Ainsley hung out in her stroller and tried to stay warm. She bounced along to the music, "dancing" in my arms when I held her.

This week was also Ainsley's first Cardinals game. We got to join the Pujols Family Foundation for a Cards - Cubs game on Tuesday. What a perfect night for a game! Gavin & Ainsley looked awesome in their little jerseys. Gavin insisted on wearing his Illini hat, convinced that "Chief will come dance on the field"....ummm, not tonight. Not here. But I'm glad that you will miss that as much as I do, buddy.

The foundation made arrangements to sit in one of the owner's boxes, so the seats were awesome! That was the 2nd time out of 3 trips to Busch Stadium that Gavin's gotten to sit in a box--he's going to think that everyone watches games from a box with dinner served in a posh air-conditioned room behind them. Bleachers are going to be a tough dose of reality! Cards won that night and also swept the series. Woohoo!!! A big Thank You to the foundation for the invitation and for making the evening so much fun. We had a great night!!

Today is 8 weeks from when Baker Baby #3 will join our family. We're so excited to meet her! Gavin wants to go buy her a special outfit to come home in. Maybe we'll do that this weekend. I'm making excuses to get the kiddos out of the house while Adrian is busy remodeling their bathroom. More on that later. Let's just say that I have a great hubby that totally goes the extra mile for his family. Love you, Adrian!!!

Enjoy the Memorial Day weekend!!

Mohawks, T-Ball, and Dog Treats

It warmed up enough this weekend so we could finally sleep with the windows open. That is one of the things that I look forward to the most. Some nights it gets cooler and I have to snuggle under the covers, but I love it even if it's a bit chilly when I step out of bed. Both Gavin & Ainsley get really hot when they sleep so I think that they enjoy it, too.

For about a week, Gavin wanted his hair spiked in the morning. This was a big change from the kiddo who never wanted anything done to his hair. Suddenly, he wants a line of spikes--right down the middle. A mohawk of sorts. Gavin got his hair cut last week and wanted a mohawk cut. I asked Helen to make it a kind of faux-hawk because I was afraid that he wouldn't want it after it was done. And sure enough, the next morning he didn't want it done. He just wanted it to lay flat. Whew...I think we would have had one unhappy camper if there had been a well-defined stripe of hair down the middle of his head.

We finally got to have a T-Ball practice on Friday night. The way it works in our league is that the kiddos have their coach pitch the ball to them 3 times before the batting tee is put out for them to hit off of. This gives them the opportunity to learn to hit a ball, and a backup if they are struggling a bit that night. Gavin connected with the ball the 2 times he was up to bat and loved it. Good job, Gavin!!

Ainsley is everywhere these days, exploring all corners of the house. She's figured out how to let our small dog out of her cage. The black lab usually gets left in her cage because Ainsley hasn't discovered that there are actually 2 latches that keep Abby's cage shut. It won't take long, though. Her other favorite is to open a cabinet in that room that holds the dog's treats. Adrian discovered her sitting on the floor with both dogs seated in front of her and a bag of their treats in her lap. She would reach into the bag, pull out a biscuit, and feed it to one of the dogs. We were surprised that Abby didn't just knock her over and run off with the whole bag of biscuits. Nope. There she sat, waiting patiently for Ainsley to get another treat out of the bag, then gently taking the treat from Ainsley's hand when it was offered. Lots of fun to watch, but not something that we want to allow everyday.

We've got a few baby appointments this week. I'm 28 weeks tomorrow...only 84 days 'til the due date. I can't believe how fast it's going by. Gavin loves to feel Baby Jabba moving around in there and tells me that he can hear her talking to him. So sweet!

Fun video!

I saw this video online & had to share it. Looks like a lot of fun--enjoy!

Local news

I am an employee of Schutt Sports, and one of the issues that our management team is considering is consolidation of our facilities. We currently have 4 facilities: 3 in Litchfield, IL and one in Salem, IL. As a way to make the company run better, moving everything under one roof has become an option. Schutt is asking for help from the city of Litchfield to help fund an expansion of one of our current facilities.

One of the important steps in this process is the question on the ballot on April 7. A website has been developed to explain why the passage of this proposition would be so beneficial to Litchfield: http://www.growlitchfield.com/


There have been several letters published in the local papers in support of the 1/2% increase in sales taxes. One of them is here. This is great!


So if you are a Litchfield resident and registered voter, vote YES on April 7. Thanks!

Cure for Cabin Fever

We've been enjoying the warmer weather here in central IL lately. Gavin & Ainsley love being outside, and Adrian & I love how well they sleep after a busy day outside. (We're seriously blessed to have such good sleepers, even when they haven't been outside!)

Gavin has been starting to spend more time on his bicycle. I'm hoping that we can take the training wheels off sometime this summer.

Ainsley had fun visiting with the neighbor girls. She is crawling everywhere, so there are times that I have to take her out of the stroller and let her crawl and explore...even if that means that she's crawling on the sidewalk or driveway. Clothes were made to be washed, right? Maybe this will encourage her to start walking sooner since dragging bare knees on concrete won't be a fun way to spend the summer.

We had our IFSP (Individualized Family Service Plan) meeting this week. We get together with the therapists and the service coordinator to review Ainsley's progress and re-work our goals for the next 6 months. Ainsley is doing great--learning to do all kinds of new tasks! Our goals for her include things like making more progress towards walking. She can walk with the assistance of a push-toy that we added some weight to, but she will not seek it out to help her get from point A to point B. She still prefers to crawl. That will change as she learns to walk faster, then figures out that she can get around faster by walking than by crawling.

Gavin sat at the table with us and reviewed the paperwork as the therapists presented their information. When he'd had enough of that, he went to the kitchen and recruited Miss Dana to help him make chocolate chai for our visitors. Such a sweetheart!

Adrian has been working hard on the Citizens for Growth committee. Litchfield has a proposal on the April 7 ballot about increasing the sales tax rate by .5%. You can read all about it at: www.growlitchfield.com I think that this is something that Litchfield desperately needs. Now we just have to convince the majority of the voters.

March Sonogram

On Tuesday, Adrian & I took Gavin to the sonogram. He's been excited about the baby lately, so we thought it would be fun for him to "see" her. She was active & gave the technician a run for her money. Cris is great at her job and was able to get everthing she needed and some great pics for us.

Here's one where the baby is "waving" at Gavin. He thought that was really neat!

On Wednesday, Stephanie and Mark had their first baby--Chase Wayne joined the world at 4:10 pm. He was 8 lbs. 3 oz. and 21" long. He's got a full head of black hair and blue eyes. With Mark's brown eyes, we're waiting to see if the blue holds on. Gavin & Ainsley went to see him that evening. Gavin was impressed and Ainsley didn't quite know what to make of all of it. Won't she be in for a shock when we bring home our bundle of joy in July?

It's a beautiful day here, so we're going to get out & enjoy it while we can.

Sad but true

Tonight Mimi Edna came over for dinner. Adrian and Gavin made beef stew and Yorkshire pudding. It was simple and so good on a cold night.

After dinner we played Memory. Gavin is awesome at this game! The instructions recommend that we only play with 36 of the 72 cards with a 4-year-old. Not necessary at the Baker house. We play with all the cards and Gavin beats the adults. And all of us are trying to beat him. When he knows where the match is and we get it wrong, he laughs like a crazyman before he picks up the matching pair for himself. Yes, I lose to a 4-y.o. And I couldn't be happier!