Fair Fun

True friends
First stop, the equine barn to check out the horses

We did a little of this...
...and a lot of this - smiling and waving from the rides!
Riding the swings all by themselves and loving every minute of it!
And always the carousel - Miss 'A' on her pretty pony...
...and the girl on hers.

Today we went to the fair with our friends. As soon as we entered the gates the Girls were all about going on the rides, none of which were even up and running yet. So they settled for checking out the animals - horses, dogs, pigs, sheep and goats. Next it was on to some corn-on-the-cob. After that it was finally time for some carnival rides. The Girls rode several rides but their absolute favorite was the swings, which they rode all by themselves...us Moms were a little nervous but they had a great time and nothing but huge grins pasted wide across their faces. They even went on a mini-roller coaster which my Girl loved, she was accompanied by a friend seeing as how pregnant ladies don't get to ride anything (not even the carousel!) and she was screaming "Woohoo" the entire time and waving her arms in the air -- she is definitely her Daddy's girl, a thrill-seeker by nature. But, the ride that they spotted from the parking lot and wanted to ride most of all was the ferris wheel, sadly they weren't tall enough even with an adult and were turned away at the front of the line.

Spin, twirl, dance!

Ask her Daddy which of 'his girls' is more of a princess and he might tell you that it is a toss-up on any given day...I do make my demands you know!

I believe there is an inner princess in every girl, no matter how tough she may appear on the outside. There is no hiding it with my Girl though, she definitely wears her inner princess on her sleeve for all to see!

Tonight it was a brief whirlwind of dress-up clothes, spinning, twirling and dancing to her favorite cd - Disney Princess, The Ultimate Song Collection - before her Fairy Godmother whisked her upstairs to a waiting bubble bath. Along the way she managed to loose a glass slipper on the stairs!

Kisses for Baby Sis

Kisses for Baby Sis







the Girl grabbed the camera,
pointed it at my belly and
exclaimed, "Say 'Cheese'
Baby Sister!"

These photos were taken yesterday - 7 weeks left to go! When I was pregnant with the Girl we took a progress photo every single week, but it is already true about the 2nd child and how you take fewer pictures of them. This time around we didn't even start taking the infamous side shot until sometime after 20 weeks and we've missed weeks here and there since then. But whenever we do remember, the Girl wants to be a part of it and always insists on giving kisses. She is so excited to meet her Baby Sister and is always telling us how she is going to help change her diapers, dress her, feed her, rock her and her favorite - "I'm going to carry her downstairs." Yeah, not so sure about that one! I just hope and pray that her enthusiasm doesn't wane or altogether disappear when her Baby Sister actually arrives.

As for the Girl's sudden interest in Shawn Johnson, it was the first thing she was talking about when she woke up this morning. She pointed to a pair of underwear on her bathroom floor and told me that I needed to wash them so that she could wear them when we "go on the airplane." I asked her when we were going on an airplane and where to. Her reply, "You know, that girl's house, Shawn Johnson." Duh!

Lasting impression

Sadly the summer Olympics have come to a close. Oh how I did enjoy staying up entirely too late to watch most of the action. I have always loved the Olympics, even as a young child when I dreamed of one day becoming the next Janet Evans or Summer Sanders. I was on my local YMCA's swim team for a couple of years and enjoyed swimming immensely, although the Olympics would never have been a reality for me as I hated swimming competitively and only participated in the two big local meets every year as I hated the anxiety and butterflies that came with the public events. Just as the Olympic swimmers never fail to mesmerize me, the gymnasts this year apparently held the same presence in the Girl's mind. One in particular...

As we were standing in line this morning at Wal-Mart patiently waiting to unload and pay for our groceries, the Girl pointed to 'People' magazine, which prominently displayed a photo of Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson on the cover, and excitedly exclaimed, "Look Momma, Shawn Johnson!" What?! I know that she loved watching the gymnastics but I certainly never expected her to remember anyone's name! She then proceeded to take the magazine down from the rack and started turning the pages looking for more pictures. I helped her to find the article and while I unloaded the groceries from the cart she poured over the pictures. Once our full cart was unloaded I told her that it was time to put the magazine back to which she quickly replied, "I'm not done reading the story yet." Then, a few minutes later as I was buckling her into her carseat she asked, "Can we go to Shawn Johnson's house?" I just had to laugh.

This seemingly new adoration (or maybe infatuation?) did not end there. As soon as we got home she put her Little People in their car, hooked up their tent trailer and started pretending that they were all headed to Shawn Johnson's house. This evening as I was making dinner the conversation began again.

the Girl: "Mom can we go to Shawn Johnson's house tomorrow?"
Me: "Shawn doesn't live in Marysville, she doesn't even live in the same state."
the Girl: "Where does she live?"
Me: "In Iowa. We'd have to take a plane to get to her house or drive for a really long time."
the Girl: "What color is her house?"
Me: "I don't know."
the Girl: "I think it's green like us or pink."

And with that the conversation ended as quickly as it began. I wonder, will she remember Shawn Johnson tomorrow?

Who cares...

...if there are dishes piled high in the sink?

...if the dishwasher is full of clean dishes that need to be put away?

...if there is a load of clean clothes in the dryer that has been there for 2 days?

...if there is an ever-increasing pile of unopened mail on the counter?

...if the floor hasn't been vacuumed for two weeks?

...if there is a highly visible layer of dust on various horizontal surfaces?

I won't worry about the inconsequential things, instead I will focus on what really matters - the moments of joy to be found every day...especially the grins and laughter from the Girl when she is being goofy.

City kids...

...for a day. Here they are checking out a live crawfish. (Sorry, I couldn't get the photo to rotate.)















The weather was perfect for spending the day outside playing with friends which included dancing with scarves in the park.















All that dancing made them thirsty and hungry.















Checking out the boats and the water.




















And a perfect ending to a fun-filled, hot summer afternoon...ice cream. Yum!

"Mom, what are we doing here?"

Were the first apprehensive words out of the Girl's mouth as we pulled into the parking lot at her pediatrician's office yesterday morning. I told her that we we were there for her three-year check-up and also mentioned that the doctor was going to take her stitches out. Bad move on my part as it became quite obvious that she was ready to keep those stitches in for the rest of her life. While we were in the waiting room I tried to reassure her that she wasn't going to get any shots and that getting her stitches removed would not hurt. Unfortunately, she didn't believe me and an hour later we left the doctor's office without stitches but only after a half hour ordeal which involved a lot of very loud screaming, one legitimate trip to the bathroom, another trip to the bathroom which was only a stalling tactic and the use of a papoose board to restrain the Girl in addition to myself and three nurses holding her down and as still as possible so that the doctor could remove the sutures. Oh, and I unintentionally lied as she ended up having to get the 2nd dose of her Hepatitis A vaccine, a fact which she immediately pointed out as soon as we were in the car, "You said I didn't have to get a shot!"

Birthday or Bust?

Some birthday fun - vaccuuming.

The girls dancing at Baskin Robbins.

The Girl and all of her favorite little buddies.

Birthday cake time!

Ice cream, yum!

Now that the weekend birthday festivities are over I actually have time to write about them. Friday was the Girl's birthday and we had big plans. First on the agenda, heading to the portrait studio for 3-year pictures. When the Girl was first born I was adamant about getting pictures done fairly often - 8 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months - you get the picture. However, we hadn't taken her in since last year on her birthday and for the past 6 months every single time that we would walk by a portrait studio, whether in the mall or at Target or Wal-Mart she would beg me to get her picture taken and I kept telling her that we would go when she turned three. So all of last week she was so excited about the prospect of getting her picture taken and had even picked out an outfit that she wanted to wear. We got to the portrait studio, changed into her outfit and waited (despite having a scheduled appointment time we've always had to wait at least a half hour past our designated time...so annoying!). Finally it was her turn and as soon as we walked into the room her entire demeanor changed, gone was the smile from her face and no more happy chatter emanated from her mouth. Instead there was an expressionless, tight-lipped face and silence. Sigh. Nothing could be done, despite goofy faces, tickles and exciting props none of us (myself, J, and the photographer) could coax a smile from the Girl. After about 15 minutes and a mere 8 snapshots taken I told the photographer that I didn't want to take up anymore of her time, especially with so many others waiting.

Next stop, the Reptile Zoo. This was something that the Girl came up with all on her own. A few days before her birthday J asked her what she wanted to do and she said, "Go to the Reptile Zoo." No sooner had we stepped through the door than she wrinkled up her nose and exclaimed, "Ewww, it stinks in here!" Then she saw a snake in a nearby cage and immediately stated "Let's get out of here." So we spent about five minutes out front peering in through the windows at the turtles and lizards on display and then got back in the car and drove home.

Upon arriving home I retrieved the vaccuum cleaner out of the closet and started vaccuuming the carpet. To my surprise the Girl came racing over and wanted to help. She spent the next 20 minutes going back and forth, back and forth with the vaccuum in our front room until I had to put an end to her fun because it was starting to smell as if a vaccuum belt was melting.

So the planned activities for the day were a bust but my Birthday Girl sure did enjoy vaccuuming and the evening was progressively better as my parents and sister showed up as well as some friends and we ordered pizza and then went out for some birthday ice cream.

Saturday we woke up to pouring rain...not good for a beach-themed birthday party at a nearby park. I said a quick prayer requesting dryer weather and boy did the Lord provide! Three hours later and within minutes of arriving at the park the rain stopped and it stayed dry for the entire duration of the party, there were even bouts of blue sky and sunshine. The Girl had a wonderful time playing with her friends, all of which ended up splashing in the water despite less than balmy temperatures and after several hours of playing and enjoying the company of many good friends we packed up and headed out. Within five minutes of being in the car it started to rain. How is that for an answer to prayer?!