So Proud

We're so proud of our little Ro (a.k.a RoJo, R.J., Romeo).

Why are we so proud? Two reasons: This weekend Romey started taking a pacifier, and she rolled over. In fact, she rolled over while holding the pacifier in her mouth (such a talented little Menning multi-tasker). Too, her first roll occurred while she was with Dan, so Dan got to witness one of her 'firsts.' We've gotta celebrate the little things! ;)

Fat Mouse

I’ve come to really appreciate a peaceful Saturday morning. Romey’s sleeping, and Dan and Avery are at the ‘Fat Mouse’ (i.e. Chuck E. Cheese—for whatever reason I’ve always called the place Chunky Cheese. My mom and Dan corrected me so I now call the place “where a kid can be a kid” the ‘Fat Mouse’ – funny, right?). Fat mice aside, I love the quiet and stillness of the house, knowing that it won’t last long, and I’ve only got a couple precious “me moments” left.

We’ve had a fairly uneventful couple of weeks. Of note, we celebrated Easter with my parents, and have passed another cold virus through the house. If you were a fly on the wall at our house during a cold outbreak, you’d hear/see stuff like this:

*Hearing one of the baby monitors reporting that someone is in distress. Parents: “Which one is it? Yours or mine?” Both parents: “YOURS!” Both parents: “Nope, definitely yours. I took care of that one last time.”

*Two parents looking through the medicine cabinet at 3:00 a.m. attempting to decipher how much of what to dispense to whom, getting little to no guidance from the medicine packaging because the medicine-maker is too concerned with the prospect of being sued. So Parent A asks Parent B their opinion. Parent A assesses the situation only to realize that Parent B is useless, and performed a small miracle by just finding their way to the medicine cabinet (much less to offer a helpful opinion). Parents A wings it and watches for signs of overdose.

*Two parents face down in the carpet begging for mercy.

A and B are utterly convinced that prospective parents would not become parents if they knew what awaited them. A and B also agree that becoming parents is the BEST thing that ever happened to them. Confusing, right? Bring on the fat mouse….he’ll make sense of it all ;)

For today (and for the moment) we’re feeling grateful—grateful to have a child to feed at 2:00 a.m.; grateful for the ability to take a child to the Fat Mouse. We are blessed.

Ave sliding at the Fat Mouse


















Ave: "Gosh, I'm pretty!"


















Avery smashing it up in a Monster Truck.

Express much?

Enjoy these pictures of our expressive little Romey! She's a sweetheart, and her favorite thing to do is watch Avery. If you'd like to see more pictures of Romey and Avery, here's a link to their recent photo shoot (key: averyandromey): www.pictage.com/442468

Just precious....
















Hmmmm.......so many possible captions for this picture. I can already see the "imp" in her.













I love this hat, and had to get a quick picture of Romey in it (as the hat is already too small). She was a good sport until.........













.......she shot me the "enough" look!

Rambling Ro

Yes, I’m biased, but Romey’s the cutest and sweetest coo-er I’ve ever met. I just love it, and can’t get enough of it, and had to share it. Enjoy.



Aside from Romey cooing and becoming more and more interactive (and fun), we’re all doing pretty well. I recently enjoyed a few awesome kid-free outings (thanks to my mom), and Dan and Avery have begun a new Saturday morning routine of Daddy-Daughter outings. Dan’s really come along way. I distinctly remember asking him (pre-Romey) if he’d take Avery to the children’s museum for the morning. Dan said, “You mean by myself?” Now Dan calls Avery the “easy one,” and Romey’s the one that “shang-hi’s” him! (not sure I spelled shang-hi correctly but you get the idea; she sucker-punches him!). Guess it is easy to be intimidated by the 12 pound coo-er?!?! Ha!

We’re still trying to keep it light around here, and are finding our life with two a little more manageable. Although, for every great Avery moment, there’s a couple nasty ones in between that totally kill my Cadbury egg buzz. If anyone’s heard of boot camp for toddlers I’d totally be interested in learning more. In the meantime we’re looking for Jo Frost’s number ;)