Little Bo Peep has lost her sheep...

I couldn't help myself from coaxing Leila into a cutesy coordinating outfit with her little sister. Luckily, she was pretty excited about the idea of being Little Bo Peep...likely because she had just gone to see the Toy Story movie with Aunt Cassie so it was fresh in her mind.
Thea loved her costume. Mom and Dad brought it over last Wednesday night, and she refused to take the booties off at bedtime, she slept in them. Again tonight she picked the costume up off of the stairs and carried it over to Cory with her sweet little baby begging face on.

Three weeks ago was the last time we nursed...she is finally weaned! And she is beautiful!

Dinner Wars

Leila is a picky eater. If I am being totally honest, she comes by it naturally. Last night as I listened to her cry and whine like I had taken her birthday away at the prospect of having to eat *one* bite of dinner before she would be allowed to go for ice cream, I realized that my mother's wish had come true. All of those times she told me that some day I would have a kid just like me...yep.

I made Zucchini cakes. They were tasty, and not to be confused with anything healthy that I may have tried to make my kids eat. Picture cheese, breadcrumbs, eggs and shredded zucchini fried in a skillet. Like I said, not health food. Leila went on and on before finally, in a last second effort to earn a trip to DQ she choked down a single bite. As she stood there chewing as fast as she could, with one hand plugging her nose to avoid the taste, I was thrown back in time. Sitting at our kitchen table in the farm house in Tabor at the table all alone after everyone else had finished dinner, with a plate full of corn that I did not want to eat, or a plate of spaghetti with "gravy" on it.

This evening I was tempted to take a picture, but then I thought better of it when I imagined my own mother posting a picture of my dinnertime drama-fest from a couple of decades ago.

Tonight it was meatloaf. A dish that I have been making for Cory for several years, and he has always raved about. As Leila whined and cried and choked down her one bite, I had to remind myself that most of the time she thinks I am awesome, so I shouldn't take it too personally that at dinner time she looks at me like I am the evil lunch lady with a ladle full of slop. My daughters are beginning to shake the confidence that I had built up about my cooking abilities.

Motherhood, one day you are on the top of the world from the chants of "Mommy! You are the best!I Love you!" And the next, you are greeted at the dinner table after preparing a thoughtful, wholesome meal with whining, tears and the occasional gag from across the table.

S'more!

Thea's first s'more, do you think she liked it?


I think she did...

Daddy

Happy Daddy's day! As a woman who grew up with an awesome dad, and pats herself on the back all the time for choosing such an awesome dad to make a family with, I love fathers day!

Here is a little father's day love for my baby daddy from the girls....Thea didn't have any answers to the questions below, aside from "da da," so we added a little picture to show how Thea feels about her Daddy.

What is something that Daddy always says to you?
He tells me not to spit at or hit Thea.

What makes Daddy happy?
That I follow his rules.

What makes Daddy sad?
When I don't follow his rules.

How does Daddy make you laugh?
He tickles me.

What was Daddy like as a little boy?
I think he liked new books.

How old is Daddy?
29 (smart girl!)

How tall is Daddy?
about as big as Steve.

What is Daddy's favorite thing to do?
Play with me!

What does Daddy do when you are not around?
He works.

What is Daddy really good at?
Playing hide and seek.

What is Daddy not very good at?
tricking me...He can't trick me!

What does Daddy do for his job?
he types.

What makes you proud of your Daddy?
That he can stay here with me all day as much as he can.

What do you and Daddy do together?
We play together a lot.

If Daddy was in a cartoon, who would he be?
Prince Naveen!

How are you and Daddy the same?
How we will stay together forever.

How are you and Daddy different?
I am the smallest and he is the biggest.

How do you know that Daddy loves you?
Because I love him and I am his sweetest 4 year old girl.

What is Daddy's favorite place to go?
The museum



What is Daddy's favorite food?
I think Daddy's favorite food is meat.

What is your favorite thing to do with Daddy?
I like to play games with Daddy, like baseball and soccer.

Most of the time I am not a fun mom. Its ok, I can admit it. I yell at my big kid a lot. Not because I like to yell, but because for some reason my normal speaking voice is inaudible to her 4 year old ears. I can talk and talk and talk, but until I yell, she simply can't hear me. I spend a lot of time counting, or threatening to count, (1-2-3 Magic, if you get to 3, you dole out a time out). Leila hears a lot of "be quiet" "stop that" "be nice to your sister" "put that down" "its time to go now!" You get the picture. I don't like it, I wish we could be buddies, and have fun together all of the time, but the fact is, she is a bit out of control, and I owe it to her and the rest of the world to keep things under wraps in the hopes that when she leaves my home without me, I won't get a call to come and get the beast.

I love my kids, I love to please them, and I really love to surprise them. Today we went to visit a friend of mine and her babies for a while after lunch. Leila REALLY didn't want to leave, but I made her. We had the talk that we frequently have these days when she is being forced to leave somewhere that she wants to stay. The talk goes something like this, "Leila, you know that Mommy wants to take you to fun places, but if you want to get to come back you need to be a big girl and leave when I say it is time to go." After a couple of rounds she usually gets it, and today was one of those times. On the way home she said to me, "Mommy, I really didn't want to go home." So as we turned off towards our summer home and approached the elementary school that we drive past nearly everyday, I pulled into the parking lot and said to Leila, "How about we don't go home? Wanna get out and play?" And so we did. I followed my girls around the playground trying to snap pictures and also keep Thea from taking off and out of my reach. Leila wasn't interested in slowing down for a photo op, and I can't blame her, this was stolen playground time. This wasn't a typical planned trip to the park, this was an out of left field, pull into a parking lot and explore a playground she had never seen before kind of afternoon.

The babes

I really like this picture that Cory took of Thea. She loves this toy and has gotten to the point where she can open and close the doors herself, and then she claps to celebrate. So stinkin cute!



We went to a summer festival in Cedar Rapids last weekend and we had a fun time. Leila got to play on inflatables, which she LOVES and we all got to hang out and enjoy the nice weather before the rain set it.



This is another picture of Thea that shows her little personality. She has started to carry around this purse and stick treasures in it. I just love seeing how much she is picking up from other people. She is doing lots of sign language these days, including "all done," "more," "drink," "milk," and "bath." I can't get enough of my little princesses and they both seem to really like each other and seek each other out to play together during our days together. Life is good!

Fun in the sun!

I am loving the new camera, but I am also incredibly frustrated by it. I want to take great pictures. I have no aspirations of being a professional photographer, but I want to be able to take pictures I want hung on my own wall. So far, using the standard settings on my Nikon produces far supperior results to anything I attempt on manual, and it doesn't seem to me like my adjustments create the kind of results that the internet tells me they will. I am thinking a class of some kind is in order. Now just to find the time!

Bedtime

Tonight I was rocking baby Thea in a failed attempt to get her to sleep. Over the course of her lifetime, the bedtime routine has been fairly consistent. I will nurse her, and sometimes that is enough to send her to dreamland but if not, Daddy would step in and take Thea down to his man room to rock her to sleep while he plays NCAA football on his Xbox. Now that we have the apartment and no second living room, I have had the duty of rocking baby girl to bed on occasion, while Cory keeps Leila occupied (and quiet) in her room.

If you have ever done any reading about getting babies to sleep then you know that one of the rules of thumb is to avoid eye contact with your baby when you want them to sleep. Maybe that is why I am a fairly consistent failure at rocking to sleep...I can not resist those sweet little eyes and every time I look down at her, she reaches up, touches my face and giggles in delight. Rocking baby duty, even if not successful is definitely a rewarding job.

All Done

For some time I have speculated, but I now feel confident in saying that along with "Dog" Thea also says "all done."  After she nurses she will pull herself away from me and she says, "ah-da."  Since we use the sign for "all done" and ask her if she is finished at the dinner table, this makes sense to me, oh, and its cute.

10 Months!