Poor Mickey

This is what happens when a kid snaps the elastic on his new Mickey Mouse hat against his face. Don't worry--as soon as Mommy finished taking this picture she gave him a big hug and everything was all better. Thanks, Megan and Paul, for the super cute hat. It has his name embroidered on the back.

Crazy, hectic, fun days

We have been so busy these past couple of weeks. Two weeks ago now we had air conditioning installed in our house. This was a three-day process during which our home was invaded by workpeople who insisted on arriving at 7:30 in the morning. Early. The air conditioning had better be worth it this summer, because we are otherwise not too happy with the work. We had to replace our furnace in association with the air conditioning installation, and the heating system is now loud and as far as we can tell, less effective than it used to be. And we have to do cosmetic work in the kitchen to cover up where they installed ducts and put holes in our drywall and pretty hardwood floors. It won't be horrible, but it's work that we don't really feel like doing.

But last week was fun. Matt went to New Orleans for a conference and Will and I went to Houston to spend four very nice days with Julie, Oliver, and Tobias. The picture above shows me and Will in the beautiful park across the street from their apartment. Here are some more pictures from the trip:


Oliver and Will looking at a duck


Will having the time of his life playing in a puddle in the park


Julie wanted a picture of Will and my big belly


Julie guiding Will in his first experience with finger paints

We got back from this trip on Thursday and then spent Saturday in DC with my sister Meagan, Chris, and my Aunt Wendy, who was in town for a conference. We had a good day and ate really well (Austin Grill brunch, ice cream in the afternoon, Chipotle dinner). We also met Meagan and Chris' new cat (see picture below) and took Will to a neat playground.



Then this week my parents and Emily and their dog Molly visited for a few days, and Meagan came on Tuesday and we had a birthday party for my mom. They brought their Wii, and Will, who now repeats pretty much anything and seems to learn about ten words a day, spent most of the last few days saying, "Wii! Wii! Wii!" until someone would turn the thing on and play tennis with him. It was pretty cute, but there were some problems today when they went home and took the Wii with them. It took me a while to get Will to understand that playing Wii was no longer an option.

More Renovations

Thanks to Megan and Paul, who came from Pittsburgh this past weekend, our dining room and play area are now a light shade of green. I will post more pictures once we have everything moved back in and curtains up, but this picture gives an idea of what the new color is like. Matt and Paul worked very hard on Saturday to put up two coats of primer and two coats of paint while Megan helped me entertain Will for the day. I am very happy with how it came out, though Matt thinks it's a bit light. Still, considering how little natural light that room gets, I think it's a big improvement.

Our next big move is to buy a new crib for Will. This decision is turning out to be far, far more difficult than it should be and I don't know why. Basically we want to spend next to nothing and get something great. I guess that's why it's so hard.