July

Nick's finally got upgraded to the fun zone of the shopping cart.

Uncle Bob decided it would be ok if Adrienne crashed Keri's baby shower where she proceeded to inhale not 1 but 2 cupcakes!

Our neighbors came over Friday eve with their baby Mya (3 1/2mos). In a very brave move Liz (Mya's mum) asked Adrienne if she wanted to hold her. She put Mya in her lap and Adrienne said "TOO HEVVV-VVY!" Mya is tipping the scale at a hefty 12lbs.

But then we did manage to catch a pretty decent shot of all 3 of them which is FAR better than any of my attempts to take pictures of Adrienne with their chihuahuas...

Later that evening another rousing firefly chase - Adrienne managed to catch a few ALL BY HERSELF and Ryan (Mya's pop) devised this slightly deadly, ad hoc bug catcher where the first few drowned in the remains of Greg's beer.

Welcome to Adrienne & Nick's very first, first cousin - Olivia Caroline! (Not sure why she looks like she's going to pop me....)

Adrienne actually getting to 'meet' Olivia...

"The Cousins Picture" & in another 7 weeks or so this will be +1

And here they are, the newest Billowseses

Balloons = BEST TOY EVER


We found this little park where Nick went on his first slide. (Maybe it's not his first slide - who knows... you lose track of these things with the 2nd kid. First time or not, he loved it.)

If she ate all her dinner (pizza - one of her favs) she got dessert. She took about 2 bites and insisted on playing with it. We gave her about 42 chances before I threw it away. And that means no dessert. This meltdown had already gone on for quite some time before I finally got my camera. And then continued for almost another hour. Talk about DRAMA! Watch how she reaches longingly toward the garbage where her beloved pizza lies...

It was 'rodeo' week at Camp Childtime complete with horse rides. She BARELY made it on to the horse long enough for them to snap this picture - guess we'll stick with the non-live horses on the merry-go-round for now.

The whole hallway is covered in wanted posted with 2yr old outlaws... is this NOT just the funniest thing?!

Nick's first Pampers box ride...


And Adrienne's first firefly chase...

I swear she stood still - STARING at this bug - for more than 15min waiting for this stupid insect to light up.
Of course the second she looked away & I took my finger off the camera the !%$@# thing lit up.

So there's actually video of this and I've watched it about 42 times. I laugh harder EVERY time which makes me think that if I want to stay married & not be shunned by my brother in law I better just post the photo. POINT IS, Anthony (giant bubble guy) let us borrow his kite. Peter & Greg spent about 30min "flying" it. Let's see... they're both 6' 5" so I'd say the kite probably reached its max flying height of about 8' for about 3 seconds. Adrienne & Nick could NOT have had more fun chasing after the guys & the flightless kite - I think if they ever actually see real kite flying they'll be sorely disappointed...!!!

Another choo-choo-train ride. This is the best $2.44 you can spend.

Little Mermaids
An impromtu visit at Donna's with ALL the RU girls, their hubbies & their kids. Our first attempt at getting a 'kids' picture left Adrienne headless & Greg in the shot...

Next up - as close to perfect as you can get with 8 kids

Then it was time to ham it up with crazy faces

Adrienne helped eat our annivesary cake (5 years!!!! crazy, right?!?). She actually did get some IN her mouth...

They each had a checkup appointment at the doc's - Nick is closing in on Adrienne with 2lbs, 4oz more to tie up their weight (they're 19 1/2mos apart!!!) and his big ol' noggin is bigger than Adrienne's. Are you surprised?! Look at him! It's a miracle he can keep that melon upright!
Adrienne was gettin' her drink on preparing for the holiday weekend.
Nick was simply trying to escape.
Her first foray into BAKING! 4 ingredients, a bowl, a spoon & a toddler = a recipe for being able to actually COMPLETE an entire project without losing interest. Now THAT'S impressive. Thank you Betty Crocker!
The first 4th of July BBQ at Mima's house although we had to make a pit stop at Yiayia's house right before (As can be seen by the ring of chocolate M&Ms all over her mouth. I thought they were supposed to melt IN your mouth, not on it...)

Greg & Greg Jr.
It's a GOLF CART.... so how fast were they actually going that both Ryan & Adrienne were glued to the back of the seat...?

After such excitement in the golf cart they took a dip in the Burke jacuzzi...

On to BBQ #2 at the Peterson's... the annual all-day-all-night-eat-and-drink fest. Adrienne checking out pictures of Morgan (also 2) on Uncle Mikey's phone (not to be confused with her boyfriend Mikey). And Alex & Mark might be my new favorite boys. They were obsessed with the keg & what better excuse to play with the keg than to be bartenders & bring us beers all afternoon!
Speaking of obsessed, I LOVE the Peterson's bathroom. Figured I would forever immortalize Adrienne while we were getting her ready for bed. This picture doesn't do it justice... but that's ok. I have several pictures of it... all taken at varies degrees of consciousness & lucidity. It's a little Erte, a little 70s disco, a little 60s trippy... just FABULOUS!

Greg suggested going to a Patriot's game on Sunday so I went & bought beaucoup $$ killer seats (ok, $10). Check out how close we were to the field. Forget the game, Adrienne just wanted to eat her fries... although she did stop chowing long enough to clap every time there was applause (and if you've ever been to a Patriot's game you know there is applause ~2min).
And Nick... this was his first game. He thoroughly enjoyed those practically on-the-field seats as well.
(We have since learned there are $5 (!!) fenced-in lawn seats where the kids can all run around & be crazy together. Needless to say we'll be sitting there next time...)
Greg teaching Adrienne the art of eating peanuts
Unfortunately I didn't have video rolling but I did have it on continuous shooting... this is Nick eating ice cream - which he actually loves - and will throw a hissy if he sees you eating it & not sharing. But watch the agony on his face as he eats it... You can tell he's already wincing before the spoon goes in...
I'm finally standing yeah yeah yeah...



Nick's first time playing ON the jungle gym.

How can I yell at him for playing with the cable box when he's such a cutie naked baby?!?

Life is just soooo nice when he's not pulling her hair & she's not pushing him over...

Adrienne, on dating:



And this would be Mikey (she's about to go in for the kiss so he's about to book). He's the son of the director at ChildTime. Going for an older man AND a man in a power position. She's one smart little cookie!