Hello!! We are still here!!!















Hello there - it has been a little while since our last real post on here. We were actually pretty busy while Auntie Lolo was here - it was a really nice week and she did a great job of watching Millie. She really came through for us big time! You may recall that Shannon posted some pictures of the house we were going to rent in Fairfield. Note the use of the word "were" as that house fell through. The owners had an attorney draw up a lease and it was the most convoluted thing ever - in addition to it placing unfair and ridiculous demands on us. This after waiting to see the lease for a month. We made changes to the lease and sent it back and they kept only the minor changes, so we bailed! Our realtor also said she had some indications that they would be cheap. Just a bad scene.

So, we were pretty bummed about that. They wasted about a month and a half of our time and it was back to the drawing board. Shannon, Lolo, and Millie looked at some new houses last week and were not impressed. We were becoming pretty discouraged, but looked at a couple more last weekendin Fairfield. One was nice and big but out of our price range and we weren't crazy about the neighborhood. The other we liked quite a bit so we made an offer on it. We left twisting a bit the last few days since the owners had a few competing offers - but we won!!! Woohoo!! So now we have another house to rent that we like better than the other one. It is actually eerily reminiscent of our house in Michigan - added on to in the back with the deck, on a dead end street, etc. So now we are happy again. Although, these owners are also having an attorney draw up the lease, so no celebrations or counting chickens yet.

So all of that stuff has kind of been taking up our time and attention, in addition to work and all. Not to mention Millie - Millie is doing great and is literally all over the place. We really have to watch her! She also has decided that bed time is fun time. But she is very happy and getting bigger and making Mommy and Daddy laugh every day!

The Nanny

Millie spent her first day with Auntie LoLo today. I'll let Auntie tell the story :). Four more days to go! LoLo is going to be one tired girl by the end of the week -- she was exhausted by the time I got home today! Hopefully tomorrow she will be able to put Millie down at some point...

On the Move



Millie has finally gotten the hang of crawling on her hands and knees instead of pulling herself along with her arms. She's also decided she's big enough to stand up. Only problem is, she hasn't figured out that she needs to hold on to something to do so. She'll be sitting in the middle of the room with nothing around her and attempt to stand up. We think she's trying to imitate the talented (and slightly older) Tavi who she had so much fun watching at the cape :).

Millie and I went to the airport yesterday to pick up Auntie LoLo. They were very happy to see each other again, though Millie hid her excitement a little better than LoLo ;). They spent the evening getting re-acquainted and sharing fashion tips -- LoLo brought Millie some new hip and trendy clothes and Millie oohed and aahed (and drooled) all over LoLo's cute shoes. We had a nice dinner out in SoNo where LoLo got to see what life with a baby is like -- kinda like life with a rock star :). Millie got lots of attention from the staff at the restaurant and flashed her smile to anyone who would look at her. When we got home, LoLo learned how much more difficult it is to change a baby who squirms and wiggles and flips at every chance :). It was a fun night for everyone.

It will be a quiet day at home while we get ready for another week of work. I'm sure Millie will keep everyone entertained :). Tomorrow it will be just LoLo and Millie -- perhaps will let LoLo do a guest post to report on that one!

Steppin' Up

Oh dear...



Are you watching this LoLo? Get ready for a week of baby fun!! :D

Suburban Hiking

Our hike this weekend (Saturday) was a little different than our others. No woods, no trails. Instead we decided to walk around Fairfield (where we are hoping to move to in August), and get a feel for distances. The distance from the house to the train station -- about 1.3 miles, an easy walk for Scott; from the house to Stephanie's -- about 2.5 miles, an easy bike ride; from the house to my work -- also about 2.5 miles; and the distance from the house to the local farmer's market -- just about 3 miles. We didn't hit all of those markers on our walk, but we hit quite a few.

The plan was to park at the house and walk to the farmer's market and back. And that's what we did, we just didn't take the route we were planning on. The walk to the market was good and pretty easy -- about a 50 minute walk. Unfortunately, the market was pretty lame. Just a couple of stands, not a lot of variety. We did pick up some cherries that we quite delicious and some swiss chard (also quite yummy). We stopped at a deli to get some beverages before we headed back and being somewhat familiar with the area, I told Scott we could either go back the way we came, or we could turn and circle back around. We decided to circle back around. Not a terrible plan, but I was less familiar with the route than I thought and it was MUCH longer than I recalled. There were several times along the way when I paused and mumbled that I wasn't sure we were going the right way. But we kept trekking. The scenery was beautiful -- I guess you would call it Connecticut "countryside." Lots of trees, rolling hills, stone walls and big houses. Not a lot of traffic to worry about and not really any place to stop... Here's a map of where we went:



In my mind, we were taking the yellow road there "Hillside" -- kind of. Though I knew we would be coming out north of Brookside, I just didn't realize how FAR north... We ended up walking for over three hours (including our stop at the market/deli) and traveling almost nine miles! We thought about stopping at Stephanie's and hitching a ride back to the car (we still had about 2.5 miles to go), but by then we were just happy that we knew where we were, so we decided to keep going. Of course, then it started raining... Just a light summer shower, nothing we couldn't handle :). In the end, we had a really good, long walk, and we were able to laugh about the whole thing! Of course, Scott did insist that I treat him to dinner after all that -- someplace with BEER... So, that's what we did!

Millie thought the whole thing was great. She rode in the baby carrier for about half the ride and got in a good nap. We carried her the rest of the time. She enjoyed looking at the scenery and watching the cars go by. She wasn't even phased by the rain. She was even up for dinner at a restaurant after it all -- again, just enjoyed all the people watching. Very lucky for us that she didn't decide to get upset on our walk!

So, now we know northern Fairfield pretty well. I don't think we'll have much reason to go back there except for the scenery since there wasn't much else around! Next time we'll head to downtown and the beach -- I think I know I good way to go ;).

Happy Independence Day!!

Our trip to Philly was canceled unfortunately because Christian had some family matters to attend to. So, it is just a quiet day at home for the little family, which is okay given how busy we have been. Millie is celebrating by showing off another new skill, clapping!















And she is really starting to get up on those knees. She is also trying really hard to stand up. It is crazy, she just starting really crawling.















Our mobile baby is also busy getting into things. Here she is checking out her collection of bibs (which is pretty impressive).

It should be a relaxing and quiet rest of the holiday weekend. We hope everyone is having a happy and safe 4th!!

MMMM Baby Kisses :)