Flying Solo

Since this past Sunday, I've been flying solo in the parenting department. After a whirlwind weekend for a friend's wedding in Chicago, Bill turned around the same day we got home to fly to California for a research course that will last until this coming Monday. Yes, that's 7 full 8 hour days of statistics. And no beach...Sacramento. Yuk. So, unfortunately neither of us has been enjoying this week much. Reina and I have gone round and round until we're dizzy. She misses Daddy, I miss Daddy, Liam misses Daddy...the dogs miss Daddy. The cats, well, what DO they care about?

I'm really not sure how I would fare doing this long term. I suppose I would get into the swing of things, but I certainly have increased admiration for all those parents who always do it, or the ones whose spouses serve in the military.

In addition to battling with small people who tag team their naps each day, there has been rain EVERY DAY of Bill's absence. Normally this wouldn't bug me. I'm not someone who has to be outside all the time. I think we're getting a little cabin fever, however. On top of that, "The Mess" occurring in our yard has essentially been on hold since it is so wet.

The Mess is our new/revised septic system. We bought the house knowing this would become an almost immediate issue with the county. So here we are. Digging miles and miles of muddy trenches in the side yard. Uprooting landscaping in the front. Anticipating some very muddy dogs for several weeks as our back yard recovers from the injury it is about to sustain with the delivery and installation of two new tanks. All for a place to put...well, you know.

Today was the first day without rain, alas, a Saturday, so no further work done. I have little hope that the original 2 week estimation will be enough time to install this monster. We were able to finally get out to take some pictures of the disaster in our yard, including the heavy machinery scattered about the property. I sense the world watching as nothing seems to progress.

Today we also got some updated photos of (mostly) Liam, but at a new place that doesn't give us digital copies. It was in JCPenney's actually. Not exactly happy about the experience. We had an appointment which we rushed out the door to make only to find we had a 45 minute wait before our turn. So much for happily fed kids in the photos. We finally get in the studio and the computer breaks, which caused the photographer to miss a number of great and cooperative poses from two decreasingly cooperative children.

The high point of the day, however, was when I was re-dressing Liam (yes, naked baby shots) Reina decided to take off. Not just run to the other side of the studio.

She ran away. Into the department store. My heart stopped.

I noticed within seconds, but the aisles are situated in such a way that there is no clear view over long distances. She did not answer me despite my yelling her name like a crazy person. People were staring, no one seemed interested in lending a hand or even saying they saw her. When I caught site of her 50 feet away in bedding, she ran the other direction, giggling. I was scared and now furious. She still has no idea what she did was wrong despite my very serious conversation with her and repeated references the rest of the day. What was/am I supposed to do or say to get through to her to prevent this from happening again? I can only keep her strapped into the double stroller for so long...

Bill, come home!

curious little fungi, about 6 inches tall!

yeah trucks! dirt! SNORT! Too bad Liam isn't a little older. Reina doesn't nearly appreciate enough the potential coolness of all these dirt movers.

sad face :(


the pile of sand out back...half as high as it used to be

Mr. Golden Sun

Chicago Morning

Our bunch of weirdos. Love the look on Hermes' face. Barf.

Hey, did I say today was the first day without rain? Strike that. I hear "flunder" and just saw lightening. Maybe it's just a pop up.

Backlog Blog

Once again I find myself neglecting the updates while life happens all around us...I'll try to sum up:

Nearly every other day we've had some tradesman or other in and around the house. Shower leaks=hole in dining room ceiling, fridge dies=new fridge, septic system is in violation with the county=absurd amount of $ for a large hole in the ground to put you know what in. Ah, the joys of home ownership, old home ownership. We've entered into this new phase with our eyes open, however, at times we've caught ourselves taking bets on what will go wrong next. Bill's theory is that at some point, we'll have everything fixed. At this rate, perhaps sooner rather than later.

Oh well, that's life. We've still been able to find snippets of fun here and there along the way, which I guess is the point. My trip to Chicago with the girls was a blast. We came back refreshed and happy to see our families again. It certainly is something I'd vote to do again every year! Bill and the kids fared well, as you were able to observe via his posts, and Reina even gave me a brief hiatus and insisted on Daddy Daddy Daddy for a day or two afterward. Bill and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary by buying a new fridge for the kitchen after the old one kicked the bucket. Having takeout sushi and not cooking that night was also a bonus.

Over Labor Day weekend Bill had to work nights, but we were still able to spend time with family and friends including a trek down to Kentucky to see cousin Jenna's team play cousin Kirstin's team in soccer. We had a great time, especially Reina, to whom the soccer girls were nothing less than superheros. Now she talks about it all the time.

Reina has begun her first real organized class, a ballet/tumbling combo that lasts an hour each Monday. Only 2 sessions so far but she seems to like it. I have a feeling she's not the best listener, though. I overhear the teacher calling "Reina come here, Reina line up, Reina wait your turn" a little too often for my liking. I know she's really young and hopefully her listening (and obeying) skills will improve with time. Still, for a goody goody teacher's pet like me it is frustrating!

Liam continues to be the happiest baby ever. A "jolly little fat man," according to my mom. He eats, sleeps, smiles and makes raspberries. He has finally started on solids, bananas are the current favorite. Tomorrow we find out just how big he is at his 6 month doctor visit. I feel like he's enormous, especially since his head is about as big as mine...no sitting up yet, no wonder. The kid still won't even roll over. Oh well, probably for the better for now, at least until we can figure out how to childproof around here.

clowning around with Ms. Potato Head

another spud

check out my haircut, blue steel

playing dress up ballerina

actual ballerina after class...good grief

lovey dovey moment

Cousin Jack and Liam...strong family genes or what?

Great Nana M. and a sleepy soccer fan

Labor Day feast at Gina-Mom and Michael-Dad's

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"