OK, I promise...no more Vineyard posts. Sorry, it just took me a REALLY long time to get back into the swing of things after being gone for two weeks. And just when I am starting to feel settled and all caught up on life, I have to gear back up for work. I am going back to work in a little over a week and will be working four days a week in the office with Fridays at home. My sister Becky will be watching Ian and Emma Monday through Thursday which I am thrilled about. I am so excited to have her here, and to know that Ian and Emma will get to spend more time with their Aunt.

Since being back from vacation it seems as though we have fallen into a routine...In the mornings we have school/arts and crafts time and then we go for a walk to a local park midmorning or run errands. Then home for lunch and nap. After naps we have more arts and crafts time followed by more outside play. Ian is finally getting to bed around 7:30pm which is a HUGE difference from the 9:30/10pm bedtime he had this summer. Since I feel like I neglect Emma most of the day to focus on Ian the evenings are my only time to really spend with her.

I am having a bit of a hard time with going back to work. I have really loved being home with Ian and Emma, and have really appreciated this time. I know it may sound lame, but I also feel like I have caught up on life and "stuff." I have a cleaning schedule (Jamie, don't laugh), and have been doing things that I have always wanted to do like bake bread and make granola weekly. The thank you notes are finally finished and I made lists of things that I would like to accomplish over the next couple of months. The house is a bit more organized than it was before. And... I did a lot of research and am about to start using cloth diapers (I haven't told Becky yet though). It may be a bit ambitious but I am hoping that I will be able to keep a lot of the same routine when I go back to work, and somehow stay caught up on life.

Ian making a birthday cake for Emma

Hide and go seek

We don't have any rules in this house

Ian FINALLY learning how to gently place the pacifier in Emma's mouth

Finally made a peach galette!

Evenings cooking and hanging out with Emma

We are now Members of the National Zoo!

What I Love About the Vineyard

A glimpse of the Vineyard

Some of Ian's favorite things to do on the Vineyard....

Walks on the beach with Grandpa

Hanging out with all his Rotzell Aunts!

Having dinner with WAY too many people around one SMALL table

Snack time with Will

Visiting the lighthouses with Emma

Arts and craft time

Playing with Awesome Nate (Ian's Godfather) and the clay on the beach

Riding Uncle Pete's motorcycle with Cate and Will

Splashing in the water with mom

Storytime and songs at the Chilmark library

Playing with Uncle Pete

We finally made it to the ferry two days after leaving home. We boarded the ferry with our car, two bikes, two kids, one dog, and more stuff than you can imagine. The day was overcast but boy was it good to be near the water and on the shores of the Vineyard.

Next stop was West Hartford, Connecticut- four hours from my parents house. I love West Hartford! It is the perfect town. We were a little worried about this four hour trip with a dog and two kids but they did great! We arrived just in time for us to discover that Ian had a fever and our dog had a stomach flu. Poor Seth had to clean up after Pippin a few days later when he found the remains of his sickness in several corners of their house. After some pizza and motrin Ian bounced right back. This kid ain't made for travelin though! Ian gets sick on almost every major road trip. I have started to carry papertowels and a change of clothes with us so that we can just keep on moving when he gets sick.

Here is Sally, Cate and Will meeting Emma for the first time.

Havertown

We began our journey North by stopping at my parents house in Pennsylvania. My parents were out of town but my sister Emily greeted us with the best brunch ever! We had only driven three hours but we sure needed it!

Our trek to the Vineyard....

Can't you tell Ian and Emma were thrilled to be in the car?

Right now I am bouncing Emma on my lap with her head tilted as far back as it can go (she likes this for some odd reason) and she is sucking away on a pacifier. Ian never took a pacifier so it is very strange to me that Emma likes it, but it seems to soothe her so I am all for it.

Last night Emma slept through the night for the first time! I woke up at 6:30am completely out of it and realized I had slept straight through as well. Actually, it felt like I had only been asleep for 10 minutes but I was excited none the less.

I am starting to get back into the swing of things after vacation and finally seem to have a routine. The best thing that has happened since I have been back and on maternity leave is that Ian's bed time is now 7:30pm instead of the 9:30/10:00pm bedtime he has had for the last several months. He also will fall asleep on his own now instead of us having to stay in the room with him until he fell asleep. This makes quite a difference in our evenings!

Over the next couple of days I am going to try to wrap up the last four weeks, but it is going to take awhile. A lot has happened. We traveled to Maine for a funeral and to spend time with friends and family, then we were home for three days and then back up to Martha's Vineyard for two weeks, and now a full week back in DC. I highly recommend taking two week vacations! It was amazing. We got to completely relax and spend time with family and friends. We began to feel like we were part of the Chilmark community- going to the General Store, storytime and songs at the library, and to the farmers market twice a week.

But first I will show the new member of our family. While I was in Maine Tim bought a new bike and bike seat for Ian. Tim now bikes to work and Ian gets to go on a bike ride in the evenings with Daddy. Sometimes Ian gets so excited he falls asleep. A great new addition to our family!

I am having a hard time coming back to reality (and a noisy city) after spending two plus weeks on this peaceful private beach with family ( who I am missing terribly right now). Update on the second half of August coming soon.