Its a marathon, not a sprint

Reina, Liam and I are cruising through the weekend. I'll let the pictures tell the stories though...

Peanut butter only Daddy! And I'll help spread with my "sharp knife"

Bravely went to the top of the tallest slide and went down. Once.

WAK IV and WAK V - self portrait

RMK tossing rocks at the fishies

Pensive

Screw you guys - I'm going this way.

Swinging

Chillin'

I'm actually not sure that girl ever lost a race.

Sharing a movie. This movie moved every 3 minutes as they "shared."

Seriously? Why is there a frog on my head?

Look at the pure bliss and enjoyment. Why Reina is on backwards is beyond me.

Losing steam...

I believe the original title was, "Reina doing CPR on John, while Libby perfected her Wii Mii and Bill was working on his 6th beer.

All is correct except for the 6th part...

Fin

While the Mommies are away, the Daddies will play

Annie and friends Dre, Steph, Jamie and Natalie packed up the wagon and headed off to Chi-town for the weekend. That left Chris, Jordan and myself to play Mr. Mom for the weekend. Jordan opted to work all weekend - that left Chris and I. No sweat, right?

Day 1: Zoo and Daddies' Hospital

Pucker up Buster.

Gimme some sugar

Dr. Chris and the kids checking out the swimming polar bear

Look Reina! There's a waterfall down there!

Proof: Liam came too. Unimpressed though.

More polar bear.

Capt Reina

Ground control to Major Logan

Roger, Roger. What's our vector, Victor?

After zoo fun, we went home and most of us had naps. And by most of us, I mean Reina and Liam. Naturally, they napped sequentially, not in concert.

After a killer 3 hour nap, of which Reina had to be woken up from at 6pm, she got a chance to talk to Gram on the phone for the first time in a long time. Lisa, Lily and Jack came over for a few, and then it was time for a Red Robin dinner with Gina-Mom, Michael-Dad, Aunt Katie and Uncle Austin.

Naturally, home too late, and up too early - but we are taking the weekend by storm.

For Saturday? I think we'll go to the Puppy Rescue Shelter to, ummm, look...

Bubba and the Boss

Lately Reina has been flexing her independence muscle more than usual. As is typical for kids her age, she often wants to do things herself, to the extent that I occasionally have to undo my action so she can redo it her way. Obsessive compulsive much? In the past several weeks, she has taken this to soaring new heights, now she even enlists innocent bystanders into doing things for her at her command. She delegates like a Harvard MBA, including cousins Colin and Ryan, Nana and P-Ga and of course, myself, in her daily duties as QUEEN. She has been rather bull headed lately about her bedtime routine. Insisting on only Mommy Mommy Mommy. However, during our recent visit with my parents, she wanted either Nana or P-Ga...I was happy for the respite.

As usual, she is still delightful and hilarious. Always surprising us with her sunny side, language advances and sense of humor. She is sweet to Liam, blowing kisses to him in his crib and wanting to be the first to open his door after a nap.

Liam is wiggling and kicking and rocking...everything but rolling himself over. He nearly jumps out of your arms when you hold him and yet hasn't quite figured out what to do on his own. His balance is getting better when sitting (with assistance) and it won't be long before we find our house is woefully under childproofed. He's been eating like a piggy lately, all bottles still. I'm not sure how much longer we'll hold off on solids. Since he thankfully sleeps through the night, I haven't been tempted to start them quite yet. He doesn't seems to be deficient, either, since he has rolls Reina never did.

Last week we had some adventures, not the least of which included a waterfall in the basement from the septic backed-up toilet upstairs. Lovely. New basement carpet here we come...we also hosted our first official dinner party. For 11 med-students we had never met! All went well except I think they were so happy to have free food I could have stressed less about the menu, they even took home leftovers.

Bill took off with the guys for a weekend of golf, fantasy football drafting and a little gambling in Indiana. I think his gambling came out about even, the football team remains to be seen.

The kids, dogs and I took off for my parents' house. I had only been there once since Christmas, so a long overdue visit. We went to a park with very extensive gardens called Inniswood. Reina kept looking for the slide (no playground at this kind of park) but seemed to enjoy running around just the same. Liam finally met my Memere, having missed her on July 4th when he met Pepere. It was nice to relax with my family and get a little break from all the mommy duties Reina insists I do at home (not that Bill doesn't try...she just won't always let him).

Now we have a couple of days for laundry and grocery before I take off again. This time to Chicago with the girls (all the wives of the husbands who went to Indiana with Bill). Needless to say, I am SO EXCITED! I will miss Bill and the kids, but can't wait for the trip. It seems as though numerous outside factors have prevented Bill and I from vacationing together this summer...but he has time off in October and we WILL go SOMEWHERE. Promise. Anyone want to babysit Bubba and the Boss?

You sure you want to babysit this little dictator?

Bossing around the flamingos at the garden park...

telling us to retrieve the coins people had tossed in the fountain...

happy little buddy, no idea of the tea party and dress up fate that awaits him...

Memere, Liam, Pepere, me and Reina making a break for it.

P-Ga and Liam...must have been a break in the golf on TV they watched together.

Nana and Reina...too much fun.

Finally got both kids in their sibling shirts on the same day. Goofing off at nap time.

Reconsidering babysitting yet? Look how well they get along!

A O.K.

Our clan continues to grow as our sister-in-law Lauren delivered the newest member safely last night at her and Andrew's home in D.C.

Oliver John Knight now surpasses Liam as the youngest of the cousins and is baby brother to Milo. All are doing well and this tiny boy is likely only hours away from mischief and adventures with Proudie and Milo.

Congratulations to Andrew and Lauren and welcome little Oliver! We can't wait to meet you in person!

Good News and Gray Days

Well, the good news is, barring any last minute SNAFU's, we will finally be closing on our house tonight. Amazingly, we went around and around with appraisals, underwriters and mortgage brokers, only to end up with exactly what we needed. I guess patience IS a virtue after all. We've been loving our daily life around here, occasionally having visits from family and actually enjoying daily chores in our new environment (ok, laundry is still laundry, but I do have great new machines, just the folding is about the same).

This summer began for us on moving day/my birthday and seems to have flown by so fast. I've taken the kids to the pool a grand total of once, and the weather has been cooler and rainier than any summer I can remember. With all the rain we've spent quite a bit of time watercoloring and playing with a hand-me-down train table (thanks Lily and Jack!). My little weatherperson now knows exactly where her frog boots are kept and when to use them.

Liam keeps threatening to roll over and has started to join us in the high chair at meal times, although otherwise remains fairly immobile. He is thrilled with slurberts from his sister and any attention in general, rewarding us with giggles and attempts to bite any body part we carelessly leave within his grasp.

1st hula hoop attempt...lack of rear or hips were a real hindrance

Some awesome face painting by new friend Peyton at the recent SWAT Team picnic. Reina got ahold of the paintbrushes later and tattooed some sleeves on both arms. FYI, doesn't come off clothes as easily as it comes off faces, despite fancy new washer and dryer.

Liam hangin' in his jungle gym...again.

Me with the kiddos, Liam-papoose and mommy jr. with her "baby girl"