Weekend with Daddy...

Mommy had to work all weekend, so Daddy was "babysitting". My mom used to get so aggravated when we referred to my dad watching us as "babysitting", she would say -- "He's not the babysitter, he's your father!" In our minds, what was the difference -- neither one knew the routine or the rules. I do have to say that Brian does a GREAT job. He knows the routine and even takes the kids out - including Walmart! To actually shop. For things. That's commendable.

Lucy is changing so much every day. I am pretty sure she said "ma-ma", though of course she won't repeat it. She loves patty cake, and tries to clap her hands along with the song. On occasion, we have been able to get her to clap when we say "Yea for Lucy!"

Patrick now has his own cellphone -- some demo unit that the store was just going to pitch. He makes several calls a day, usually checking in with his Daddy at work. And if you ask him what Daddy does all day, besides drive the black truck around, he will tell you that he works on laptops.

The kids are sitting on our "picnic mat" in this picture. If the weather is nice, we almost always eat lunch out here -- and Patrick loves that!

7 month check up

Lucy is 7 months old! She had her check up today, and she weighs 18 lbs 4 oz and is 28.5 inches tall -- consistent with the 90th+ percentiles we have been seeing. Our pediatrican was quick to point out she is "all Bretz, sorry Mommy". She is sitting up by herself, rolling both ways, and now saying "da-da" much to Daddy's joy. We are trying to upgrade to some new foods, trying some mashed peaches and bits of baked potato -- but not quite sure about the consistency. Lucy is going all night without eating more often than not lately -- 11 to 12 hrs straight -- which Mommy is THRILLED to see!

Fun week!

We had a great week! Daddy was on vacation and we did all kinds on fun things! We went to McDonald's for lunch, took some nice walks (even one down by the river), swam at New Harmony pool (Patrick loved the slide -- they went down over and over and over, even Lucy enjoyed splashing in the baby pool), and treated ourselves to dinner at Hacienda. Friday we headed up to Indy and hit the Children's Museum on the way. Saturday we stopped by the McNulty family reunion (where else can you drink a beer in mass?) and went over to the parish festival that afternoon. It was REALLY hot, Patrick was the most content on the rides (yea- air flow!) and with his elephant ear and lemon shake-up. As usual, everyone met back at Grammie and Papa's for dinner each night -- aunts and uncles, cousins too -- which is a really FUN tradition we enjoy with Mommy's family. We can't wait to go back in August!

4th of July

We enjoyed grilling out at Freeman's and returned home for a few fireworks and ice cream cones. Patrick was pretty impressed with the bottle rockets and dancing butterflies, needed some help with managing the sparklers. The "boys" have been throwing the snaps around the driveway for a few days now. Of course, the kids were all decked out in their patriotic colors. God Bless America!

The Rules of the Game

Patrick loves his vehicles. Loves them. We have so many tractors, implements, dump trucks, diggers, semi's -- you name it. Recently, we made a barn out of a shoe box and that has been a huge hit. However, there are some rules. Only Patrick can drive the black pick-up and trailer. He selects your vehicle -- usually it is one of the less cool, or broken, ones that can be yours to borrow until you start doing awesome jumps or making neat sounds. Then it is his again. All but one of the tractors are green, but in Patrick's world they are all blue. One tractor is responsible for transferring bales of hay to the trailers or wagons, and all the hay is kept in the barn. Vehicles can come in and out of the barn, no one is allowed to stay in there for any extended length of time. This is a working operation. Everyone must sit on the floor around the coffee table to play, no sitting on the couches. Lucy may not disrupt the farm. These are the rules as we are realizing them, just in case any of you would like to play some day.

Summer days...

Most of our days are spent outside--we rarely come in, actually. Every day Patrick asks to have a picnic with "2 chips", so even our meals are outside. Makes for a nice clean up, though! Patrick is pretty helpful with the watering -- there is no lack of hydration for our landscaping. The past couple of days we have taken some nice walks/jogs mid-morning, to the tune of Patrick cheering "Go, Mommy, go!" He has become quite the momma's boy lately, looking at me several times during the day with a soft smile on his face and saying "No work, Mommy home". Lucy is sitting up pretty independently these days. She can now roll from her back to her belly --which we have yet to witness during the day--she has woken herself up a few times when she has done this during the night. I have been wondering if some teeth might be poking through soon -- we had a nice crying spell last night and she is just going to town on her toys and her hands. She loves her books and just realized that we have a cat -- sorry, Chloe!