But I do have...

A ton of new and recent photos. Pictures of the kids being silly. Wren trying cereal and bananas for the first time. Mom and Wren. Dad and Atticus.

They're still trapped in iPhoto, but I'll try to get them up to Picasa soon. I need to up my storage at Picasa - eek, I think I'm actually running out of room! There are also some YouTube videos that need to be uploaded. I'll let you know once I have those links.

Raking Leaves

I'm such a bad mom. I don't have any pictures from yesterday's romp in the leaves -- but Atticus and I had a lot of fun. We took turns raking the leaves (I know... and I said I wouldn't ever rake leaves!) and then Atti and Zoe (from across the street) jumped and kicked the pile of leaves all over the yard. Then we repeated the process. Zoe is practicing being a "big" sister... her mom, my new bud, Summer, is currently 20 weeks pregnant.

Zoe's best quote from our hour long romp in the leaves, "Jen...how do you get Atticus to do one thing for longer?"

That my dear, is the million dollar question! Spending time with Atticus is like a day trip with Flight of the Bumblebees. He's off and humming from one thing to the next and then back again. Always in motion!

No... no tree

There really aren't many Jewish folks in Toledo, Ohio. Most people I've met here are completely baffled by the idea that our family won't have a Christmas tree. I tell them, well... our family is Jewish. We'll have a menorah and celebrate Hanukkah.

The typical response: So, you won't have a Christmas tree?

Sigh. No... no tree.

I haven't had the heart to tell them that we also won't be taking pictures of the kids with Santa. :)

Wren's 6 Month Stats

As of yesterday, here are the stats (although I don't trust the weight and would like to redo it using a digital scale...)

Height: 26.5" - 79%

Weight: 16lb 11oz - 67%

Head Circumference: 41.8cm - 32%

All told, she's right where she needs to be. She's gaining weight, growing taller, starting to sit up unassisted, etc. We haven't had much babbling yet, but she's definitely finding her voice. There was quite a bit of squawking over the weekend - high pitched short squawks!!

I'll have to see where Atti was at this stage and update the post...

So Much To Say

Oy... where to begin. Life has a funny way of keeping moving forward, even when you're not posting updates to the blog. Hmmm. That sucks because how else am I going to recall when things happened in order to update the baby books, friends and family?

So... here's a quick rundown of the past week or so:

• Greg passed the bar exam! Woo Hoo! Now all that's left is some formality paperwork.
• Greg went out to Pasadena with the Judge to sit on some cases on the 9th (I think I have that right) circuit. (We're in the 6th circuit and I know Texas is in the 5th...)
• Greg's bud Rob flew out to Columbus and they had a boys weekend at the Ohio State/Penn game with some awesome tickets.
• Wren has started sitting up for longer periods of time unassisted.
• Wren had her 6 month check up yesterday and has been given the all clear for solids. (This actually makes me a little sad because it means she's leaving "baby" stage...)
• Atticus has become an expert at the iPhone and iPad. Eeeek.
• Atticus has been stringing together 3 word sentences!
• Jen had some bad Pad Thai and is now convinced she should stick to simple foods here in the Midwest.
• Jen is now within 5 pounds of her pre-Wren weight! Woo Hoo. (I don't know how people say they can't lose weight after having kids... maybe I'm lucky - but I never have time to eat, I'm constantly bending/squatting/swinging/climbing/running/jumping etc. I don't even need the gym!!!)

That's the quick and dirty version... more exciting updates to follow.

Mom vs Mommy

We've had a breakthrough. On Friday, when Atticus and I were leaving his daycare, we passed another woman on her way into the school. Atti looked at her, then looked at me and said, "Mom". I replied, yes... that is someone's Mom. He then looked at me, touched my leg and said, "Mommy." He then looked very pleased with himself that he'd figured out the distinction.

Way to go little man!

High Maintenance

I think I'm a little high maintenance for this town. And I'm okay with that... It all started before we moved to Ohio. Our landlords were talking to the neighbors - and mentioned to the family across the street that we needed someone to mow the lawn. Yes, the landlords were leaving their lawnmower here at the house -- but I wasn't going to mow the lawn, and Greg had no interest in doing it either. This is apparently pretty uncommon here -- you don't see lawn service companies on every corner. Brianna, the 22 year old neighbor's daughter had originally offered to do it for us -- but the landlord's son has been the one thus far with the exciting duty. :)

I learned a lot of this last week when Brianna was over to babysit Wren. I asked her about the piles of leaves at the corner of the lawns -- apparently, you're supposed to rake your lawn and leave these piles at the edge of your lawn/driveway. A couple times a season (?) these big trucks come down the street with a HUGE leaf sucker attachment and suck up and mulch the leaves, dumping them into a big truck.

On a side note - I attempted to rake leaves for the first time today over my lunch break. I know I'm high maintenance because I'd definitely rather pay someone than do that again! And I didn't do that great of a job... whether that's because I've never raked leaves, or I just gave up about 30 minutes into the task... not sure. But anyways -- I'll probably give it one or two more attempts over the next few days - but YUCK.

Back to the conversation with Brianna... what happens when it snows? She just laughed and said she'd shovel our driveway. But now I'm feeling kinda bad. Really -- we're going to pay a 22 year old girl to shovel our driveway? I just really really don't see Greg out there shoveling. Ha. Maybe he'll prove me wrong. I doubt it. Brianna said that when she heard from the landlords that we don't mow our own lawn, she was thinking -- geez, what kind of high maintenance people are moving in?!?

Do you know how to paint your toes when pregnant? I recall my sister-in-law, Yvonne, asking me that when I was pregnant with Atticus. She was giving me tips on how to stand with your foot on the edge of the tub or toilet seat to make the "reach" easier. I know I laughed and said, yep -- I have another way too! I go and sit in a big squishy chair, with a warm lavender scented neck wrap, and let someone else massage my feet and paint my toes! :)

It's not that I'm opposed to the DIY method of bathroom cleaning, lawn mowing, snow shoveling (okay... maybe I am opposed to the latter) - but I'm spoiled. And high maintenance. And there are so many other things I'd rather be doing with my time...