The Lieslands

simply livin' it up

Birthday Season

Heading into birthday season (Erin won the pre-season tournament), we have put a fun couple of weeks behind us. We have had a lot or get-togethers and a lot of fun time as a family. This has been aided by the fact that all of the kids have been relatively healthy and Elliot has been a gem. He is happy most of the time when he is awake, and when he is not happy he needs to go to sleep. He has been letting us lay him down for his naps, which makes the day a lot easier for Susan.

I put up a few new pics.

Not much action on the house.

My eye is looking & feeling a lot better, but I fear I may have to have it drained because I am just about done with my medicine and I still have a medium sized bump.

This blog is over three years old now.

We joined the Y.

Later. . .

Anniversary Happenings

In keeping with anniversary tradition, we (Susan, the kids, and I) ordered some Larosa’s pizza last night and had a little picnic at the park where we had our wedding reception. It is always nice to go there, even though the kids can be a little hard to contain.

The kids were still really tired from the camping trip, which turned out to be a nice blessing, as they went to bed a little earlier than usual.

In a totally unrelated event, I added a few pictures to our 2007 photo gallery. I also put our pics back under password protection, so let me know if you would like the login info. I think it may have changed slightly from the old one.

Insaniversary

I’ve fallen behind. I didn’t mean for it to happen, but it did, and I am sorry.

  1. Today is our third anniversary. No, not you and me (unless you are Susan), but me and Susan.
  2. My right eye has a Chalazion.
  3. We just got back from a very short camping trip at John Bryan State Park in Yellow Springs, OH. The trip was fun. We went up Sunday morning and were joined by Simon and Rachel Sunday afternoon. They watched the kids while Susan and I went to the Greene Memorial Hospital in Xenia to have my eye looked at. We cooked hot dogs over a fire, made some s’mores, slept in a tent, hiked at Clifton Gorge and ate Ha Ha Pizza. Fun trip.
  4. Elliot is 3 months now. He is doing well and still likes to sleep, though he is not that good at it.
  5. Still not much activity on the house

I think that is it. I will try to stay on top of things.

May Photos

I put up a few new pics from the past couple weeks: 2007 gallery.

Swinging in the Rain

Andrew & Mari Swinging

If you can’t see the video, Click Here.

What a fun weekend! We started off Saturday morning at the Cincinnati Waldorf School. They have an annual May Fair which the kids (and I think the adults) really enjoy. It is kinda’ like a church festival, but a little more chill. I like it because I don’t get to interact with the Waldorf families as much as Susan does, so it is nice to get to see everyone.

After the fair we went home, rested, and then hit the road again, headed for our friends’ child’s first birthday party. We were a little late, and the rains came soon after we got there, but I was glad to be able to congratulate them and glad to get to a city park that I have not been to yet. There was a light rain most of the time we were there, but the kids weren’t phased, so a good time was had by all. We capped off the day with our nightly walk.

Sunday we were up early and off to cheer on the runners of the Flying Pig Marathon. One of my friends from work was running, as was one of Susan’s La Leche League leaders. We managed to see them both, a couple friends we didn’t even know were running, and some cool outfits. After rest-time, we headed to my cousin Dawn’s baby shower.

It was a fun weekend. Now all we need to do is out away a lot of laundry and clean our house.

Later. . .

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Ears

Elliot has his first ear infection, which would explain why he has been a little fussy the last few days. Looks like he takes after me & Andrew, and will have plenty more ear infections to come.

Later. . .

Two

We are the the point now where we are close to two milestones:

1. In two days Elliot will be two months old. Amazing, huh? Seems like the time is flying by. I know that Susan and I both feel that way.

2. In about two months Mari will be two years old. When people ask I still say that she is one-and-a-half, but she is acting a lot more like a two-year-old now. She insists on doing many things herself and knows how to throw a good fit.

Later. . .

Elliot Smiling

Elliot has started to smile, and I finally caught some of it on video:

Elliot Smiling

If you can’t see the video, Click Here.

I also just added some pics to the 2007 photo album. There is a great picture of Elliot smiling at Mari.

Enjoy. . .

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Bottoms Up

  • Elliot – Elliot is doing well. He has started smiling, which is fun. It is nice to get a little feedback other than crying. He is developing well and has become a little more fussy lately. We know it will pass, we just hope that it passes quickly
  • Mari – Mari has been a little crazy lately. We think she is getting a lot cuter as she learns how to express herself more and better, but man is she crazy. She really knows what she wants and she will let you know if she is not getting it.
  • Andrew – Andrew has been showing some signs of stress also. He is still very well behaved and we really enjoy his presence, but he has been testing things a little more lately. I notice it most when I am trying to get Mari to sleep. He used to lie in his bed very quietly and usually fall asleep before Mari was asleep, but he has been pushing things a little more lately, rolling around, talking, playing with the curtains.
  • Me (Rob) – I am doing well. I am getting settled in to my new job here at Xavier. I have moved from the behind the scenes application support world to the web world, which has been fun. It is nice to do something different and learn some new skills.
  • Susan – I think that Susan is doing well. Elliot has been sleeping a little less at night, which means that she is more tired. Now that we are more than six weeks out it seems as though she has recovered well. She says that she thinks it takes nine months for her to recover, but I would say that she is most of the way there. I think that the hardest part right now is the lack of sleep at night and the inability to rest during the day.
  • Visitors – We have had some visitors lately, which has made things a little easier. Our to-do list fills up quickly these days, and visitors are a nice break, amongst other things.

Later. . .

One Month

Elliot is a little over a month now, and things are chugging along. Elliot just had his one month checkup and he is developing appropriately. It looks like his eye are going to be a dark brown, and the dr thinks that he has my nose. His head is not as large as Andrew & Mari’s were, and we fear that he is going to get my nose and Susan’s head. Poor kid.

We are wrapping up a pretty crazy week. Andrew and Mari were both sick starting last Saturday and lasting until mid-week. We even had to take Mari in to the Dr to make sure that she was not dehydrated, which she wasn’t. they are both feeling better now, though they are still really whiny.

The warm weather has been a nice help to get things back on track. We have been trying to spend some time outside to keep the kids entertained and not needing to be held the whole time.

We have had some showings of the house, but still not much doin’ there.

Later. . .

Three Weeks

We are three weeks into it now, and things are going petty well. I am back to work full time, and Susan this is the first week that Susan has been home by herself with all three kids.

The weather has been making things a little easier. Since it has been so warm Susan and the kids have been able to spend a lot of time outside, which makes everyone happier. Last night we even got out for our first family walk of the year, which is nice. It is supposed to be warm again today, but then it will get cold again. I guess it is still winter, so I can’t complain too much.

Elliot is doing well. He is awake a lot and fights sleep like Andrew used to. He has been doing OK at night, usually having one wakeful period.

Catch ya later. . .

Quick Hits

  • I put some new photos up in the 2007 gallery.
  • Andrew took off all of his clothes yesterday — in the back yard — and declared that it was summer. About two minutes later he told me he was cold and he wanted to get his clothes back on.