Knocked out

The season is changing, praise the Lord. It's cooling a little - this week didn't even have one day in the 90ºs. And people are out and about - finally. So, is it allergies? Is it a cold? What is it that my family and I all haaaaave?! It's nothing horrible; it's of the irritating and won't-go-away sort.

We decided to try Adeline's luck with one of those amber teething necklaces - an acid in the amber is supposed to be absorbed trans-dermally and have an analgesic effect. We put it on her last Tuesday and had 2 bogus nights in a row before scrapping it ... then her and Paul's runny noses and coughs set in. So we had more sleepless nights. Dylan finished a bottle of the overnight cough syrup in the last week, and I caved and started the breastfeeding-safe(r) version on Wednesday of this week ... with no luck in the sleeping department. I try to stifle a cough so as not to wake Ada, but I just toss and turn and head to the sofa. Womp, womp.

The kiddos are back to normal, though! Yay! I was about to lose it with Ada crying on - I dunno - I think Wednesday of this week before Dylan suggested we try the amber necklace again, now that she's got her game back. *Crickets* I was an unlikely candidate for those things, and now I'm a convert. I'm hoping once I can knock this random no-other-symptoms-cough rather than it knocking me down, we'll be getting some (nearly) normal sleep around here!

Since last post, we've had another visit from Nanna & Pappy, and while they were here, I was introduced to Angelo Brocato's, ie Heaven on Earth. Well, Italian Heaven in the southern US. It did remind me a bit of Italy, but it mostly reminded me of Brunetti's in Melbourne. Aaah.

And let me close with just another little comment about the weather, in case you missed it. It's cooling off! It didn't hit 90º, and it feels amazing. It reminds me of a great reason for moving here.

F•R•I•E•N•D•S

Last week was full of first and second dates. Mom dates. Here's how it went down:

Monday I met E, a mom with a 2-yr-old and a 6-wk-old, by forcing myself onto her via bringing her and her family a shepard's pie. Turns out she's Catholic and would love to tire her 2yo out.

Tuesday I had a second date with C, who has a 3-yr & 18-mos-old; she and I met previously at The Parenting Center, ran into each other at the Aquarium, and then intentionally met again at the Parenting Center one other time. C studied French. While we were there, E and her outta-town-sister-in-to-help-with-newborn showed up! 

Wednesday was Costco shopping morning, so no dates. 

Thursday I had a sort of dad-date. A little different. I met M, who's the husband of SR, and they have an 18-mos-old. Now, I've met up with SR about 4 times on Thursdays for a little playground fun and then the brief story time at the library. SR couldn't make it this time, but she likes for their little one to get his scheduled outings ... so Little M came with Big M. They're a military family who's just moved to the area, too!

Friday I met E at the playground for our first date, and she even brought me coffee. During our couple of hours wearing out the toddlers, I met SA and her 18-mos-old; she's expecting her second next Spring.

Saturday was party day at the library down the street. It was a back-to-school fest officially, I think, but there were tons of non-school-aged toddlers ready for cupcakes, music, and games. It was great! SR, SA, E, and my cousin, Rena, with Francesca were all there! Later that evening, we had our first real-live dinner guests who aren't related to us or visiting from overseas. We met M & K and their 4-mos-old back at a 40 Days for Life event, and we have tons in common ... as we suspected. Yes!

With the exception of C, who lives in Uptown, and M& K, who live in Kenner, all of these moms live right here on the Point. And there are so many little boys! It's wonderful. Paul has often shied away from (big) little boys, but I think because he's a smidge older than they, he's jumped right on in.

This week's been a little slower, with random playground meetings, except for Thursday morning with SR tomorrow; and I had an offer from C, but since Paul's been a little sick yesterday and today, I had to say no. We did go to dinner at Rena & Doug's Tuesday night, and that was great! Little Francesca's a doll, and she and Paul warmed up nicely to each other, especially over the piano. (Ada was smiling at a dog but freaked out at being barked at by him. Not used to that sound. I think it'll be cats for her for a while.)

All in all, making friends is looking up.

And now for a quick shout-out to old friends in MN, Pete & Denise, who just had their firstborn baby boy, Finn Peter, on September 10th! Hooray!

Growing family!

We have exciting family news: we're gaining a new member...

... Ryan Bivens!

See what I did there?

Ryan proposed to Ginny last week in the wee hours of Sunday into Monday. Sunday would have been my mother's parents' 79th wedding anniversary, and Ginny is now wearing Mammaw's ring. So, even though it was technically after the midnight mark on September 1st, the day really rolls over with a sleep, right? Well, maybe they'll just get to remember 2 days.

In any case, here's the happy couple:

Here's the beautiful ring Harry Tormey gave Frances Moore in 1931, which Ryan gave Ginny:

And here's ma sista:

So very happy for y'all, and I can't wait to hear everything you'll have to share in the coming months! Love xox

This is supposed to be weekly?

Another 3 weeks gone by, and I've just gotten myself to click the "new post" button. Partly because we've been busy, partly because we've had friends or family over for 3 of the past 4 weekends, and partly because Dylan and I finally caught on to how bedtime kept pushing further and further back. Tonight's bedtime is 8pm, sharp. Bam.

Back up to how I said "in case there's no update for a little while" because of French friends and Gin & Ryan. Yes, that weekend we had our French friends, the Denizards, in for 4 days of their month-long US tour. (More on that in a minute.) Then I turned 30 with Ginny & Ryan over to visit from Thursday to Sunday. And then it was our 6th anniversary / Labor Day weekend. And then we had Nana & Pappy over to visit this past weekend.

It was lovely hosting Valérie, Xavier, Alice et Basile! They arrived on a Saturday afternoon and stayed through Wednesday morning. We ran it like a B&B&D, sorta, with their planning their days for themselves but coming back for dinner all together. And, as expected, there was very little French on Saturday, a teensy bit more Sunday, and Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday followed suit until we were perfectly comfortable again. Then they left! Of course. It was fun to get to speak French again and expose Paul to it, too, beyond just books. In fact, he and Basile hit it off great!

Quick turn around! The next day, Ginny & Ryan arrived for a long weekend and my first "birthday weekend". Leave it to my sister to plan a whole weekend for me! It was full and fun! I can certainly say that I welcomed thirty with a bang. We started with dinner at Pascal's Manale. Friday saw the. best. happy hour. ever at Broussard's with $3 delicious mussels & fries and then gourmet cupcakes at home. And champagne. There was champagne with practically everything! Saturday was a bit more low-keyed: slip-n-slide in the back yard! Pete was with us, too, for everything thus far. Then on Sunday, we had brunch at the little place around the corner. Full. On. And awesome =) Thank y'all soo much!

Then there was this little sitting monkey while we were all backyard-hanging:

The next weekend was our 6th anniversary and the first one to fall on a Saturday again, like 6 years prior. It was certainly funny to think about what we were doing at such&such a time then as compared to now. Dylan started it with his delish blueberry pancakes, and then we headed off to the Aquarium! The Family Pass was Mom & Dad's pressie to us - so, so awesome, as it gives us access to Audubon Zoo, the Aquarium of the Americas, and the bird and bug place, too! Then that evening, we got to be dinner guests at Aunt Cyndi & Uncle Ben's, where we've stayed over many, many times but almost never just come over to visit for a few hours. It was lovely and delicious!

Lastly, this past weekend brought us Nana & Pappy with Gus & Ben, much to the delight of Paul & Ada! We met Pete & Serena for dinner on Friday night, stopped for beignets for dessert, of course, spent a long time playing in City Park on Saturday, and finally walked to dinner on the Point. And this happened:

The rest of the time not spent weekend-ing with lots of people in and out has been full of pottying for Paul and sitting up for Adeline, yay on both accounts! And I've been making mom-friends, yes! Ada's also been getting more and more real food. She's up to a fruit for breakfast, a veggie for lunch, and a grain/carb for dinner. By "a fruit/veggie" I mean about 6 or 7 tiny bites of banana or a strawberry or fork-mashed sweet potato - she loved the baked potatoes! Also, Paul's learning to pick out and name the letters needed for "Paul" "Ada" "Mama" & "Papa". Neat!

And this one's just a random day's evening nap, and I love it:

Too busy living to write...

Rude, huh? And not at all how I feel, but I've heard this line from others. It doesn't make any sense to me - why post things or have an online life at all if only out of boredom? I like to write and post updates here precisely because we are busy, and I want to share with you and remember stuff! The past month has been particularly busy, and I've been exhausted, too. Once the kids are in bed at either naptime or nighttime, I hit the pillow ... or at least I try to, dishes, laundry, and showering aside!

It's simply been to long since last post to give details about everything the kids, Dylan and I have been up to, so I'll try to just sum a few things up ... and post Mom's and Ginny's photos at the end that they at least took to document.

view from Algiers Point

Nana came to New Orleans for a few days back on July 22nd, before taking me and the kiddos back to Houston with her on Friday the 25th, Ada's 6month mark. She, Paul, and I stayed with Nana & Pappy & the boys (Gus, Ben, Willie, & Waylon) til Monday, August 4th. It'd been a full year for me since last being in Texas. I heart TX, and this trip didn't disappoint. Dylan drove over and joined us for the weekend, and we, Knolls, headed back to NOLA on that Monday. We broke down in Beaumont - yike$! - but 3 hrs later got back on the road. High-fives all around for still liking each other and no tantrums, woo!

Last week back in NOLA was a little tough in the beginning after so many days with Nana's help ... and Paul's having gotten used to so much one-on-one. Plus, with Pappy, the animals, and visits from Tante Nini and Ryan, there was just so much going on that I think the quiet and "Eine Minute, Paul"s were a little boring. Come the weekend, we fared much better, and we've re-liked each other since ;).

Somewhere in there we tried out our local (read: one block away) library and its kids' story time, as well as had lots of playground play, walks along the river, and tower building, his new fave with blocks. Mega cute factor: he loves making Ada laugh. Swells my heart.

Little Miss Adeline is sitting, eating a few things more than just licking ours - carrots, peas, green beans, grits - and she screams. Not in a bad way - she just AAH shouts a little AAAH at random times. Another maga cute factor that this time makes Paul laughs.

We've gotten a rhythm down for meals, play, and sleep that's comfortable and more or less predictable, and it allows me at least a smidge of time with simultaneous naps.

On the adult front, firstly, Dylan and I have been involved in spear-heading a New Orleans chapter of Communion and Liberation, which we loved in St. Paul. There are just 3 of us (our family, a family of 7, and an engaged couple), but we're all curious and excited to see what might come of it. Secondly, Dylan and I will teach our very first NFP class on Friday the 29th! Thirdly, we're still church shopping for the right fit... And lastly, Dylan signed his first client!! Huzzah! He's a real lawyer running his own real firm, yay!

This weekend we're hosting good friends from France for 4 days as they hop all over the US, and next week, Gin & Ryan will be in town for my 30th. Just a little heads-up in case another while passes without an update ;)

I want to post a.s.a.p., so photos will accompany shortly; do not let your heart be troubled.

Gin's lunch dates at Bayou City Seafood

Gin's lunch date at Barnaby's ... she steals!

AdalovesPappy ... and the whisk

ice cream sandwich at bathtime, wut?

New normal

Let's pick up from where we left off: last weekend. 

So, this happened last Sunday:

That's Müller chasing Götze after scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 113th minute of the World Cup finale. And then Pete came over after the game for lasagna. It was awesome.

Then the rest of the week kind of flew by with Dylan's getting several calls for meetings (!!), organizing more of his firm arrangements, and the kids' and my running around as usual, trying to find a good balance between doing our thing and Papa working mostly from home. And then the early mornings. Whyyy must there be so many early mornings. We used to think 8am was normal, somewhere along the line, Paul pushed that up to 7:30, where it stayed for months. And now? We hope to make it passed 6am. This morning was 5:45. 5:45am. The garbage truck passed by -- who needs their trash taken away so early on a Friday, the second day of the week that they come 'round -- and then we hear a quiet, "Müllwagen" (garbage truck). Then, "Müllwageeeeeeeen!" OK, we're up!

And now for the week in photos:

Madeline (7 wks) and Adeline (5 months) 

PS - Dylan saw how I began this post and asked, "Is that all you're gonna say about it? Not that Deutsches Haus was insaaaaane?" So here we go, a little more about the WM (Weltmeisterschaft). We watched at the Deutsches Haus, and it was insane. When Germany finally scored one, anyway, in extra time. It was packed, the kids were great, and Paul ran around a lot - even got up in front of the screen =), like so:

All the people up front said he was cute, though, and encouraged us in making a little soccer fan out of him. Way to go, Deutschland!

"Normal" week

Normal just means that we didn't have anything fancy on: no family over, no meals out, nothing planned. We grocery shopped, post-officed, and otherwise kept busy with the usual cleaning, playing, bathing, and chasing each other around.

Two things stick out from this week in particular. One was an exchange on Thursday between Mom, Ginny, & me, and the other is a lesson that needs learning as long as Dylan is working from home.

So, the first: Thursday became a "Day in the Life" via picture text messages between Momma, Ginny, & me. Our days are all so different, we thought it'd be neat to see. Ginny was at work, as was I, and Miss Franny was down at the beach with a friend on Padre Island, well la di da. Needless to say, her hour-by-hour pictures were all achingly similar: mom on the beach, mom with a pelican, mom on the pier, mom with a drink on the beach ... you get the drift. Ginny showed us her day at work via her office view, her ideas board, her snacks and breaks (ha), and her keys-in-hand-at-5pm entitled "Freedom". And these were mine:

Hr 1:

 Hr 2:

 Hr 3: one naps, one plays

Hr 4:

Hr 5:

 Hr 6:

 Hr 7:

 Hr 8, post-nap snack & bubbles:

 Hr 9, hard to please:

 Hr 10:

 Hr 11, calm after the chaos that is dinner hour:

 Hr 12:

 Hr 13, beeeeedtime!

I learned something through all of this - yes about Momma & Ginny - but also about myself. And it reminded me of this quote from Padre Pio, "One day the Eternal Judge shall call each of us and ask us to give an account of our deeds and how we made use of our time. We shall have to give a most strict account of every minute." Or Romans 14:12, "So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God." Now, I'm not saying that showing my mother and sister that I went to the park with Paul is the same as my accountability to God, but what I am saying is that being held accountable hour by hour last Thursday really helped me embrace my time with Paul & Ada and left me wanting to be good for them all day. I didn't do anything extraordinary just so that I could take a picture of it to send, but I either kept on top of engaging them (silliness between lunch/nap) or relished the normalcy before us (morning smiles).

Apparently it takes me a day or two to figure stuff like that out, though, because Friday was lame. It's like I hadn't made any connection whatsoever between what I did the the day prior and was doing in the moment. Now in hindsight I wonder if it weren't just the disappointment after such engagement. In any case, I carted the kids off to run errands with me, and somehow managed to make everything Dylan's fault for the rest of the day. We ended up having a chat about our expectations when he's home/nothomebutworking and should do better in the future. There's likely to be an adjustment period, but I think it'll be good for us all.

Now lookit these - Ada likes books! And Paul likes making funny faces: