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You may have heard the rumors, and they are true: we are selling our house. We are selling “For Sale By Owner” and we anticipate it will take a long time. If you like, you can check out our website, 2911Montclair.com. We just put the sign up a week ago and are slowly building a marketing campaign.

After the house sells, I hope to find a new job in Des Moines and we will move out West to check things out.

In other exciting news, we have had some radical shifts in our sleeping situation. Our bed used to be composed of two twin mattresses and a crib mattress on a platform, all put together. Andrew slept on the crib mattress and Susan, Mari and I shared whatever was left. Mari has been taking up more space, which makes everyone sleep poorly, so we decided to change things up. We moved Andrew’s old mattress on a platform to my side, for Mari to sleep on, Susan and I share the two twin mattresses, and Andrew has moved to a crib mattress on the floor next to our bed. It is a little sad, as he takes another step toward having his own bed, in his own room.

Mari has learned ot stand on her own. About two weeks ago I witnessed her going from sitting on the floor to a standing position, without holding on to anything. It is pretty cool. In the past few days we have witnessed her taking a couple small steps, but she still has a ways to go.

Mari has had a fever the past few days, and has been very fussy. We took her to the Dr yesterday, who said her ears look great and she probably has Roseola or a urinary tract infection, so we need to see what happens over the next couple days.

Since my last post, we also went on a fun trip to Des Moines. Being there in the summer is a blast because there is always something to do. Andrew is finally getting a little more into playing in the water, which I also enjoy. While we were there he also went down a huge slide, that he thought about going down again, but decided once was enough.

I think that is it for now. We’ll keep you updated.

Settling In
A few days later, we are still getting settled in to our new names. We have changed most of the important stuff. I still catch myself using the name “Hyland” too often, but I think that I am getting better.

Moving Out
After two and a half months of fun and fellowship, our friend Julie is moving out of our basement. When she moved in it was agreed that she would stay for just a couple months, and so now it is time for her to move on. It has been a lot of fun living with her and we are glad that she was able to subject herself to the joy of the early-morning pitter-patter of footsteps.

On the Go
Mari is moving around marvelously. She is a very good crawler and she has just recently learned to turn around and back down from steps and furniture (though she has yet to master the stairs). Her signing is also progressing. She is working on more, eat, and down.

Trying to Go
Andrew’s potty exploits continue. He has a long way to go, but he keeps trying. I would say that the success rate is increasing ever-so-slightly.

I just posted some new pics of the family on the photo section of our website. Check ’em out.

After months (technically years) of conversations, brain-storming sessions, and deliberations, we have officially changed our last name to LIESLAND ! ! !

Susan and I got married a couple years ago, she kept her name and I kept mine; we decided to hyphenate the kids’ names. We have never been too thrilled about the name situation, and we began kicking around the idea of changing all of our names to one common name. Over time the idea gained momentum, until finally, this summer, we decided to do something about it.

Rather than picking one of our last names, or using a hyphenated name, we decided that we wanted to go with a suitable and ear-pleasing combo. “Liesland” sounded the best to us, so we went with it. Along with the fact that we like the name, it is also a great way to represent the joining of the Liesses and the Hylands, which is manifested in our marriage.

Andrew pooped in the toilet yesterday. We would like to believe that is a step in the right direction.

Something strange must be in the water at our house (my mom would say it is probably just hormones). Ever since Andrew stopped taking a nap he has been consistently sleepy at 8 in the evening. For the past week or so, he has gone to bed in less than ten minutes. Well, I guess he has had enough of that. Last night I took him upstairs at 8:15, and at 8:30 I decided I was wasting my time. We went back downstairs and played until abuot 9:30. He has been this way for the past two days. Not only is he going to bed late, but he slept in today until 8:45.

Mari has been having some slep adventures of her own lately. She just can’t decide on a firm routine. Last night she fell asleep in the sling on our walk at around 7:30. I tried to lay her down, but she refused and eventually woke up and was up until 10.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: experts always say that kids need consistency, but I think that parents need the consistency. I wish that my kids would just make up their minds already.

Some hot weather has greeted as as we get back into the swing of things after our trip to Des Moines. Susan and the kids were out there for a week; I made it out by lunchtime on Friday. It was a pretty busy weekend, with Mari’s 1st b-day party on Friday night, a brunch (which Susan attended) on Sat morning, followed by the World Cup game, mass, and Susan’s ten-year high school reunion. We left Des Moines Sunday morning and made it back to Cincinnati just before dark. I should have some pics up soon.

Things are getting a little back to normal in our house. The kids’ sleep schedules are still off from the trip, but hopefully we will get them back on track tonight. Andrew is much more fun to hang out with when he is sleeping right.

Speaking of the World Cup, which I did a little bit ago, the US is still hanging in there. We need a win on Thursday combined with an Italy win to advance to the round of 16. There are actually other ways in which we could advance, but they are a real stretch.

Mari is moving around really well. In Des Moines she learned to go up the stairs. She pulls herself up a lot and likes to stand now, which is a radical shift from a month ago. She also learned the sign for “more,” which she puts to use a lot. She also likes to wave “hi” and “bye.” She even occassionally waves at cars as they drive past.

Susan is going to the Ani Difranco concert tomorrow night. It should be a great show and it is at a cool outdoor venue. I really wanted to go, but Mari and Andrew are still a little too demanding these days when it comes to bedtime.

I am headed to the Pearl Jam concert on Saturday with Holly. It is in Cincinnati, which is nice. Last time they were supposed to play here (my birthday, 2003) it got cancelled because the venue was flooded. Hopefully they will play a good make-up show.

Julie is out of town taking her massage boards so that she can be a licensed masseuse in Ohio. She will be gone until Friday. I just noticed that Susan and I haven’t watched a movie since May, so maybe we will be able to get one in this week, if the kids ever go to bed on time.

Catch ya later!

Two years after we joined the fray, the Reagens are on board with a blog of their own: Reagen Blog: Random Notes from the Reagen Southern Division.

Susan had Wild Women Wednesday last night, and it must have been wild since she was out past ten. This afforded me the opportunity/challenge of getting both kids to sleep, by myself. I had done this once before, and was very successful. Last night I was again fortunate and the kids were asleep within twenty minutes. I fear that sometime they are going to stage rebellion, and I am going to fall down the stairs crying.

In other useless news, our hummingbird feeders are doing well. We don’t get too many hummingbirds, but we have seen consistent activity at our front hummingbird feeder, and yesterday Susan saw our first hummingbird at the back hummingbird feeder. Exciting stuff, I know.

In baseball news, the Reds just swept their second straight series and are now tied for first place in the NL Central with the St. Louis Cardinals. They now have a ten-game homestand and hopefully I will be able to make it out for a game while Susan and the kids are in Des Moines.

Did I forget to mention that Susan and the kids are headed to Des Moines? We are going to meet Nate at his old elementary school in Normal, IL for the handoff on Sunday. I get to come back to Cincinnati and work while Susan vacations in Des Moines.

I’m not talking about gas. I’m talking about our house. Erin, Nate, & Ian are visiting right now, which means that we are just about filled to capacity. With Julie in the basement and kids all over the place, we don’t have room for many more people.

The Reagens (E, N, & I) got into town on Saturday for a quick little visit. So far we haven’t gotten around to doing much, with so many naps taking place. I think that they were going to try to do something today, but I am at work, so I don’t really know.

The kids are well. Mari is eating more and more. Andrew is Andrew.

Susan is Susan. I think that she is trying to take up knitting, but I am not sure if that will catch on. I don’t quite know if the embroidering wave has passed yet.

That’s all I got.

Let’s just say that some change is on the way. We are not exactly sure when, but it is coming.

The past few weeks have been pretty good to us. Mari finally got over the hump and has started crawling. We are working on some video, but it seems like whenever we get the camera out she stops crawling. She appears to like getting around, which works out well most of the time. It does present some problems, such as it being easier for her to get into Andrew’s things.

Andrew continues to do well. He is always surprising us with how much he is learning.

Susan made some great May Crowns for the kids’ May Festival at the Waldorf School. I will get some pics up in the photo section soon and put up some links when I do. They turned out great. Next up: knitting. We tried to figure it out the other day from a book, but we didn’t get too far.

I have been up to the same old stuff lately. I go to work. I have been running several times a week, which is great. Soccer is going well. We just have a few more games left.

Julie finally moved in. Wait a second, Julie? “Who is that?” you might be wondering. Julie is our friend who is going to be living with us for a few months. She finally moved in this week and her presence in the house will certainly add a little twist on the everyday routine.

That’s all for now. Check back soon for some great video of Mari getting around and some pics of the May Crowns.

UPDATE: I put some video of Mari crawling on the cute kids page and I added some Easter and May Crown pics to our photo page.

Having kids is crazy. I think that most of the people who read this have kids, but if you don’t have kids then there is one thing you need to know: it is crazy.

The past few weeks have not been an exception.

Anyways, here we are near then end of April. Mari is getting cuter and cuter. The more she does, the cuter she is. Andrew is awesome. He has his downtimes, but in general, he is awesome. Nothing makes me happier these days than seeing Andrew and Mari play together. Maybe happy isn’t the right emotion. Maybe it is.

Susan and I had a great relationship with a jogging stroller for a couple of weeks, but we had to give it back. Our hearts are broken. Mostly it was nice because it allowed us to run together. We are on the lookout for another one.

We recently added some good stuff to our movie review page.

The Reds are doing OK.

PJ played their first show of the season last night.

My soccer team is 1-1, with the chance to avenge our loss tomorrow.

FIFA World Cup 2006 starts in a few weeks.

Should we join the zoo or renew our children’s museum membership?

Yesterday’s post didn’t quite cut it, so I will try again:

Mari has her first ear infection. She has been a little fussy/clingy for a while. Susan and I kept lieing to ourselves and saying that it was her teeth, but eventually she forced our hand. Two nights ago she cried, which she doesn’t do very often. We finally gave her some Tylenol and she had one of her best sleeping nights ever. Yesterday morning she was still fussy, so we took her in. We paid the obligatory $25 to have someone look in her ear and say, “Yep, she has an ear infection.” Then we paid the obligatory $10 for the amoxicillin, and we are on our way. This morning she was back to her old self: smiling, sitting in her seat for more than three minutes, eating cheerios. Only 27 more doses and we are in the clear.

Spring. I love Spring. Who doesn’t? Maybe people who make their living shoveling snow; but I bet they like the break. This Spring has me a little more excited than usual.

Our Kids:
I was talking with one of my friends who is finishing up here at Xavier. He was telling me about how he spent his Spring Break in Costa Rica, and all of the things he did. He asked me what I have been up to. I said, “Nothing.” Sounds pretty boring, but now that I have kids “Nothing” is pretty exciting. Having kids makes even the most mundane things interesting, exciting, and fun. As the weather gets nicer I look forward to walks, playing in the backyard and at the park, eating dinner outside on our picnic table.

Visitors:
We love having visitors. Susan’s sister, Mary, Mary’s son, Luke, and Susan’s mom, Kathie, just left after visiting for a few days. Susan’s dad, Gary, comes to town tomorrow night, and Susan’s mom comes back Monday.

Weddings:
The next six months bring five weddings in our direction, starting in May: three in Cincinnati, one is Chicago, and one in Denver. Along with these weddings come several wedding showers.

Those are the big ticket items. Here are the small ones:

• Soccer starts Saturday
• Reds’ Opening Day is April 3rd
• Pearl Jam in Detroit on May 22nd
• Our second anniversary
• Getting to use our new tent (Simon and Rachel’s backyard, here we come!)

I think that will do.