Warm Weather

Susan and the kids are out enjoying warm weather even as I type. Yesterday upon arriving home they were playing out in the back yard. I got to play a little "soccer" with Andrew. Mari sat in the swing, just as Andrew used to do. When Andrew was Mari's age we used to spend countless minutes in the backyard swinging. I don't get that opportunity with Mari, partially because there are two kids now, partially because it is almost Winter.

Barbecue chicken pizza for dinner tonight. Andrew suggested we make it because Susan asked about it a week ago and he has been asking for it ever since. It is interesting to see his concept of time develop as his memory does. Last night we were trying to explain the meaning of "Happy New Year" to him, which was complicated by the fact that he did not know what a year was. I think he can understand a day, because of the sun. A year is harder.

Last night was Andrew's first night without his night-time diaper. Since he has been potty trained he has barely ever gone in the night. We have been lucky up to this point, but I know we will have to deal with some waterbeds.

Mari has started a new game: filling her pajamas with blocks. Andrew likes to get in on the fun as well. It is pretty funny to see their legs appear swollen, saggy, and with sharp corners. They keep the blocks in until they start to hurt too much, which takes longer than one would think.

Andrew likes to sing Jingle Bells. So does Mari.

I like to sing "Christmas in Hollis."

I don't know what Susan likes to sing. I bet she would do a good Silent Night.

Oh My Gosh. . .

I can't believe it has been so long. Blogging is a funny thing. Sometimes I want everything to be out there, sometimes I don't want to put anything. I think that when things get crazy I just need some time to process.

That being said, things have not been so crazy lately. A little crazy, yes, but not too crazy.

I made a list of things I think I need to write about, so I will go in that order.

We had a great Thanksgiving. We headed to Des Moines the Sunday before and made it back the Sunday after. It was our first trip in our minivan and things went pretty well. The biggest difference in taking the minivan instead of our car (other than the gas mileage) is that in our minivan there is no third seat in the middle row, so we can't sit with the kids. Normally one of us is sitting in the back seat the whole time.

We had a great time in Des Moines. Before we left our friends Sarah, Kevin & Samuel stayed with us for a few days. Aside from leaving our house cleaner than we usually leave it, they also prepared some great meals for us before they left, which was definitely a great surprise to come home to. Coming back from Des Moines is always a little challenging for the kids and it was nice to be able to devote a little more time to them to help them settle back into the daily routine.

For Christmas we are making the kids a set of playstands. It is going OK so far and tonight we are going to put the first one together. I am a little nervous because I know that things will not be perfectly flush and level, but I am excited to have a finished product.

There was some good commentary on NPR about James Kim. Since becoming a parent touching stories like this get to me a lot more than they used to. I heard this Saturday morning on the way to get an oil change and I almost started to cry. I think that having a wife and kids of my own has allowed me to love and connect like never before.

Speaking of my wife and kids:

Mari is doing well. She still likes: getting up early, shoes, taking things in and out of bags. She is liking more and more: playing with Andrew, reading books, talking, running. She is definitely fun to have around. I usually get a good hour with her in the morning before Andrew wakes up, which I really enjoy.

Andrew is still Andrew. His enthusiasm for things appears to be growing. He understands more about the world than ever before, which makes him want things differently than before. He likes to eat out, to go out alone with people other than his parents (which he does not do very often), and to do things. His excitement with these things has seemed a little different lately than it used to be.

Susan is about thirty-one weeks pregnant now and things continue to progress well. She has had to watch her carbs lately, which is a challenge. Now that we are in the third trimester, protein is all the rage. Objectively, I would say that she is understandably tired. I think I would be two if I had to stay home with two kids all day, nurse, and be pregnant.

I am doing fine. I am really excited for the coming year, as I think that 2007 will be a great time with a lot of challenging growth. It can be a little stressful, but there will be some fun changes.

Our house is still for sale. We haven't had a showing since before Thanksgiving, and I think that we may as well settle into Cincinnati for the winter and hope to see an increase in the Spring. The good thing is that we are really in no hurry to move. There is no reason why we need to move anytime soon.

I think that's it. If you made it this far, you have a better attention span than I do. I will try to write more often.

New Pics

I put some new pics up. You can check them out at our picture page. All of our photos are password protected, so if you want the password, drop me a line.

Stabilization

Things appear to be stabilizing a bit at home. We have the kids on a pretty good schedule again. Andrew is still whiny for no reason and Mari is still extra-tired. Her teeth may be bothering her. Her teeth come in very slowly. Mari's mystery rash has finally faded away.

Our cloth diaper adventures continue. Last week I order 24 children's washcloths online to use as wet wipes. They are working very well. I think that we also finally have a good cloth diaper system to use at night. With Andrew out of diapers it has given us a little more breathing room to experiment.

Dr Update

Susan just called me after the dr and said that the Dr did a strep test, which we will find out about tomorrow. She said that her throat looked a little red, but it was not too bad.

Still Struggling

We are still struggling to find our feet. We thought we had the kids back on their schedule a few days ago, but Andrew took another nap yesterday (is he still sick?) so he was up late. Neither of them have a fever anymore, but Mari is going to the Dr this afternoon because she has developed a strange rash.

We are supposed to have a La Leche League pot luck tonight, but Susan and Andrew may have to go alone, depending on what happens with Mari's rash.

The weekend looks busy enough. I have a soccer game and Susan starts her prenatal yoga tomorrow morning. Hopefully we will have some good weather so that we can spend some time outside.

More Than Just The Time Has Changed

I was not looking forward to the time change. Mari had been getting up earlier and earlier every day. Then, the dreaded weekend was upon us. Friday night we were up late celebrating Holly's birthday. I was optimistic that this would help them adjust to the time change. They were both up early on Saturday. Mari may have slept in, but Andrew was yelling "I need someone to put lemon juice on my stomach" at 6:15 in the morning. We got him his lemon juice and everything appeared to be back to normal. No big deal.

We were up late again on Saturday night, at BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin). We stayed out late into the wee hours of the night (8:30 PM) carving pumpkins and eating cheesecake. At 2 in the morning Andrew was awake, this time with a fever. We got him some medicine and spent the rest of the night in the basement.

Since then we have been going to bed late (because when Andrew is sick he usually takes a nap, which causes him to stay up late) and getting up early. This morning Mari and I didn't get up until 6, which is pretty good. Andrew slept until around 7:30. He appears to be getting better, but Mari is getting worse. She was back to bed by ten this morning and she now has the fever that Andrew had on Sunday. Hopefully this will all pass over the next couple days and we will return to our normal existence.

What else has been going on? Hmmm. . .

• Susan doesn't have gestational diabetes
• Andrew's potty training has been going OK. Sometimes he gets a little lazy, but he does well for the most part
• Mari is totally cool
• Soccer season won't seem to end
• Andrew is going to be a clown for Halloween
• Mari is going to be some type of bird (I forget if it is a duck or chick costume)
• Our house is still for sale
• We are still enjoying the new minivan
• Susan is still on a special diet, where she doesn't eat yeast and is avoiding refined sugars. This means at in general we are eating less pizza, which makes all of us sad
• I just order Mari's one-year photo book, which is something that we are trying to get for all of our kids
• I am about to up for another year of Tracfone, our pay-as-you-go cellphone provider
• Susan and Andrew just finished up the fall session of Parents and Tots at the Cincinnati Waldorf School
• The Bengals are idiots, but I am doing OK in the Reagen Ranch football pool
• Susan and I are trying to figure out when we are going to be headed out West for the upcoming holidays
• Ani Difranco is apparently pregnant, which we were way out of the loop on

I think that's it for now. Enjoy.