January in Review

We spent New Years' Weekend with family and good friends. Brian's sister, Susan, and her husband, Aaron, came to visit from Alexandria, VA. Our friends, Jim and Marie, were in town for most of the week visiting their family. Brian had the opportunity to play golf with Jim twice and both he and Marie came to the house on Saturday for a sports extravaganza - football and ice hockey.

We went to the newly renovated Dallas Aquarium with Susie and Aaron. It is small, but has some really amazing fish and sea creatures.

Clare touched a Bamboo Shark!

Ian had a great time looking at all the fish.

And it would not be a trip to the Aquarium without seeing a TUR-TUL...the picture does not do justice to how big this turtle really is. He is HUGE!

Ian is 10 months old and into everything he can manage to open. One of his favorite places is the linen drawer in the kitchen. We childproofed almost all the cabinets from Clare when we moved in, but it looks like we may need to add a few locks.


We got our first snow of the year. It did not last long, but it was enough for Clare and Brian to build a "Robot" snow man.


Ian's first snow.

Our Little Foodie

Fatboy started cereal right before our trip back to Virginia in September. Like his sister, he hasn't slowed down yet. I honestly can't keep up with him. He has had sweet potatoes, acorn squash, carrots, bananas, avocados, pears, green beans, peas, puffs and Cheerios. He's definitely ready to move on to bigger things, but the kid has NO teeth yet at 8 months.

Clare is quite the comic...

This morning, Brian was out playing golf. Clare, Ian and I had a leisurely Sunday morning. Pancakes for breakfast, cereal with pears for Ian, the usual. We finished eating and Clare and Ian were playing in the family room while I cleaned up the kitchen. I look over to see Clare "in the pose". I could tell she was busy as she stood with the telltale look on her face. I said, "What are you doing?" She looked up at me and said, "I have a poopy. You need gloves." That was 2 hours ago and I'm still laughing hysterically every time I think about it. I'm starting a sidebar with her sayings because they are so funny sometimes.

While the Big Cat is away...the mice will play

Brian took a much deserved trip to meet his buddies in Alabama for a long golf weekend in September. After a 2 hour roundtrip drive to the airport (it usually takes 45 minutes) in the pouring down rain, Clare, Ian and I came home to brave a tropical storm, tornados touching down 20 miles away, road closures due to flooding and Clare throwing up all over the sofa caused by overindulgence in milk. By Saturday, we were stir crazy and headed to see the big purple guy. Yep, you read correctly - we met Barney. This was a treat: 1) because Barney has been viewed in our house all of 3 times. 2) Brian would never have agreed to go 3) We stood in line for an hour to get a 30 second picture with Barney.

Go Hoos

The first football game of the 2010 season brought out the UVA attire. We spent the day with our good friends, The Jordans. They have 3 boys - the youngest is Clare's age. They are Georgia/Georgia Tech fans, so we went to their house to watch games.

Brian had to quickly cut the grass, so Clare offered her assistance.

Proof that there are Marchant genes in this one...

Check it out...Ian has inherited the Marchant male trait of sticking out his tongue when he is concentrating. At almost 6 months old, it is finally making an appearance. We knew there had to be some of my genes in there somewhere.

Swimming in June

Texas heat provided the need for lots of swimming and we started taking Ian in with us. At first, he wasn't sure, but has started to love it.


And here is one of his sister - same time last year. She has gone from a baby to big girl in such a short time...



Ian usually falls right to sleep after a swim.

First Day of School

Clare started preschool today. She is going on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 AM to 2 PM to a local church program. We met her teachers on Tuesday. That afternoon, we were practicing their names. I said them and asked her to repeat them which produced huge smiles. She said Miss Becky, shyly, then Miss Regan, another cute smile, then I said, "And Miss Florence". Clare smiled and repeated, "Miss Flowers".

We got up early today. Clare normally sleeps until about 8:15 and had to get up at 7:15 today so that we could be on time for school. She didn't eat much for breakfast - mostly because I was rushing her. She is used to leisurely drinking her milk and then eating, so it was a little different today. We made it out to the car with her lunch, nap mat, change of clothes, her Lolly (stuffed monkey) and her little brother. We also managed to get to school early. She went right into her class as I talked to her teacher. Her friend, Jacob, got there at the same time, so she had no qualms about going inside. I'm not sure if she had realized at that point that I wasn't staying with her, but I think she was quickly occupied by the other teachers.

This is the best we could do for pictures. As usual, she is more interested in playing in the flower beds than taking a picture or getting in the car.

Ian was excited to have Mommy all to himself for a few hours!

I ran a few errands at a leisurely pace - I'd forgotten how easy it is with just one. I went back to get Clare at 2 PM. As I turned the corner to go down the hallway to her classroom and heard crying and thought to myself, "That sure sounds like Clare." Her class takes naps at the end of the day and apparently, this was not on Clare's agenda. She wanted no part of it and really gave the teachers a test. My little girl was not happy. Parents are not allowed in the classroom, so I waited at the door for her. Luckily, I was the first parent there for pick up, so they brought her to me and she began to settle down. So, we'll be practicing with her nap mat this weekend.

As we walked out of school, she tripped and skinned her knee a little. So, I let her ride on the back of Ian's stroller - she sits across the carseat bucket that attaches to the stroller. When he saw her, he lit up. He was so happy that his big sister was with us again.

Ian goes swimming...

Ian loves the water as much as his big sister.

Silly Parents

He says, "These crazy parents of mine... they stick me in this seat in the middle of the table at dinnertime every night. They don't feed me. They expect me to sit here and watch them eat. Ridiculous."

And we oblige...

The shirt says it all... Ian at 5-1/2 months weighs about 19 pounds!

That is Big Mike in the background. He loves that animal.

A Good Time was had by all..

I love this picture of Ian and Clare with Grammy. Our typically happy boy was showing us his belly laugh.

Swimming Again...

Clare took Grammy to the spray park for a much needed dip. August in Texas is HOT!!! Most days it is 100 degrees by 11 AM.

Clare's First Red Sox game

Clare is a 3rd generation Red Sox fan and got to go to her first game with Daddy and Grammy. They played the Texas Rangers. She witnessed five home runs in the 3rd inning. That was almost as good as Grammy's popcorn, the ice cream in a hat and lemonade! She had a ball and made it to the end of the 7th inning. It was 100 degrees!

Butterfly Babes

Grammy came to visit us a couple of weeks ago and we went to the Butterfly House at the Texas Discovery Gardens. Clare loved looking at all the butterflies. We were able to see them release some new ones while we were there.

Blue Eyed Baldy!

Is he not the cutest thing you've ever seen? Clare thinks so. Every morning when she wakes up, she says "He's so cute."

Nice Tan!!!

Clare took full advantage of the sprinklers one night after Brian cut the grass. Check out her tan lines. Don't worry, Mimi - the neighbors can't see her running around in her diaper.

I am a Piascik...

Yes - those are black olives on Clare's fingers...you have to like them in order to participate in a Piascik holiday dinner!

***Disclaimer - there IS a plastic garbage bag covering Clare's chair. She now sits at the table with us in a booster seat. We're protecting the chair from toddler destruction. The garbage bag is temporary until I can manage to make an appropriate cover.

Bagel ABCs

Clare had a bagel for breakfast this morning. She took the first bite and held it up and said "C". She took the second bite, held it up and said "J". The third bite was an "L". Little Miss Smarty Pants.

Tonight, we were eating dinner and I was holding Ian so that he faced Clare. He was just laughing. Clare wasn't doing anything in particular - just eating dinner and minding her own business. Ian was full on, belly laughing. The greatest sound in the world.

I know that I have a lot of catching up to do and I will post some pictures ASAP.

Late night at the Piascik house

Clare is fighting going to sleep tonight - it is currently 10:53 PM. She spent an hour and a half in her bead yelling before Brian went to get her. Right now, she is sitting in his lap and we're all watching ESPN updates. She looked down at his shorts and pointed to the Virginia logo - looked her dad in the eye and said, "Go Hoos?". Yep, Daddy said she can stay up as late as she wants now.

Yesterday - the first thing she said when I went to get her in the morning was "I need a bird, a sheep and an elephant." This is what Laurie Berkner says on one of the episodes of Jack's Big Music Show. JBMS has been her favorite since she was about 9 months old. She still watches it frequently - mostly during her late night meetings with her dad. Brian has been on Clare duty during the night since Ian was born and even before then - JBMS is our go to at night when she won't sleep or wakes up crying.

Ian has been asleep since 9:00 as he is almost every night. He is a fantastic sleeper - he usually sleeps until about 5 or 6 and then wakes up to eat and goes back to sleep for an hour or two. He is making up for his insomniac big sister for sure.