time of my life

18 weeks and counting

Well, hello there! It has officially been way too long since I've posted, but what else is new? Although I do have a good excuse this time...really, I promise!

I am 18 weeks pregnant and finally feeling well enough to do some things other than sleep or have my head over a toilet. It's great to feel a bit like my old self again, except for the huge belly that I am sporting now. How quickly your body remembers!

It has been a hectic Fall for us - the girls are both still enjoying school, although Lola has figured out that 1st grade isn't quite as much fun as kindergarten (I don't get to play as much, momma!). Lola is taking ballet again, which she just loves. We started Bella on ballet also, but she did not enjoy it as much. I think she needs something a bit more active, so we will try tumbling at the first of the year.

My sister visited us over Halloween. Unfortunately I was tired and in the middle of morning sickness while she was here, so it may not have been as much fun for her, but it was a great help to me. The girls really enjoyed her visit, as did I and we miss her much.

Lola has lost her two top teeth, and one of them is almost completely grown back in. Wow, what a change! Now she has three other teeth that are wiggly.

Bella is starting to read - I know Lola was starting to read at this age, too, but it feels as if the girls are growing up so fast!

It's hard to believe Christmas is upon us! I haven't done much decorating around the house, although I did find a really cute advent calendar with Olive the other reindeer (a really cute book about a dog that wants to be a reindeer) that has a pop up house and each day a new paper figurine to add.

We got to visit Santa twice! Once at Kaz' work party and again at the Nutcracker with their grandma. The Nutcracker was a lot of fun for all of us, and it was just so great to see the amazement in Bella's eyes as she saw the ballerinas for the 1st time.

that stylin' kid

After having a bit of an accident this past week, all is well in our household, with no major (permanent!) damage to Bella thankfully. Truly, if anyone can pass off a missing top tooth for a couple years with style, it's her!

first day of school

Well, the girls are into their second week of school. They are both enjoying it a lot, although when I asked Lola how her day went yesterday, she replied -
   'It was boring!'
   'How come?' I asked.
   'All we did was work!'
I guess the first few days of taking it easy are over!

another one gone

Lola lost another tooth today and was so excited. Even though it's been loose for a while, I think it took her by surprise as she has been wiggling it for what she thought was forever. 'I never thought it would fall out, but it did...just like you said, momma!'

I think what surprised me was once the excitement wore off, she was quite sad about losing it. She of course wanted the tooth fairy to come, but she also didn't want to give up her tooth. 'Can the tooth fairy come, but leave my tooth with me? I've had it so long I'm going to miss it!'

So we compromised.

She gave it a hug and talked to it before putting it under her pillow. 'I'll miss you tooth, thanks for helping me eat my food.'

We took a gazillion pictures of it. From every.possible.angle.

It made her happy. Which of course made me happy.

mud is fun.

We have a small area by our fence that we have not been able to get anything to grow. It gets a lot of sun in the summer and not too far down in the ground are the roots from our neighbors climbing vine. I can spread some wildflower seeds and they will sprout for a bit and then die off pretty quickly. It's the same year after year. Plants for a bit and then nothing.

So...
for now it stays dirt
for now it is a place for the girls to
   .dig
   .bury
   .find worms
   .pretend
   .get muddy
   .have fun

impromptu camp-out

We took advantage of this past weekend's why-we-pay-up-the-wazoo-for-where-we-live kind of weather and had a camp-out (hot dogs and s'mores included!) in our very own backyard. Truly, it was just gorgeous out - mid to upper 70s, nice breeze, and oh-so-quiet.

Kaz bought our tent pre-marriage and kids, so it's a bit small for all of us to fit in now. So I ~~had a perfect excuse~~ begrudgingly volunteered to come inside and sleep in my own bed. Ha, ha. Really, I am looking forward to going camping away from our home once we get a larger tent. You laugh. Yes, I can hear you all the way over here. I am looking forward to it...just as soon as we get that tent...which just happens to be w-a-y down on our list of things to purchase....way, way down.

summer entertainment

sprinkler + Bella and Lola = one fun morning

bespectacled beauties

We recently went to the eye doctor and both girls needed glasses. I guess that's not too surprising since Kaz and I both wear them. They have done really well with them, Lola only needs hers for close-up while Bella needs to wear hers all the time. I honestly thought it would be a struggle to get Bella to wear hers, but I think it has made such a difference to her that she actually wants to wear them. Who knew?

Well, here they are - our bespectacled beauties...

...being their usual goofy selves!

like father, like daughter

I'm so proud...Kaz's words last night to me when we had to tell Lola that she needed to put down her book and go to sleep.  Although she wasn't using a flashlight like Kaz used to do, she was up late trying to read her book in the dark.  I so love to see her love for reading grow - she and Bella have always enjoyed books, but now that she can really read she is just sopping it all up.

Lola was too cute and so so surprised when I told her that yes, we really did know she had been reading in the dark.

     'Momma, daddy didn't even realize I was reading when he came in to check on me!'

     'Well, not really Lola, we took a picture of you reading'

     'Oh, so that's what that flashing light was on my book!'

happy birthday to me!

Now let me just say even though it truly is my 36th year, I consider it my 35th.  I had Lola 5 weeks prior to my 30th birthday and remember absolutely nothing about it...zilch, nada, zero, zip.  It's amazing what a lot of sleep deprivation can do for you!  So I figure I can skip a year for that, although I think I'll store it up until my 40th, that way I can be 39 twice.  Or I could just do as my mom used to and say, 'I'm 35+'.  I really like that one, although I would still like to be considered only 30+ at this stage.

The girls and Kaz made me a cake (from scratch!) to celebrate.  It was DEE-LI-SCIOUS! 

I saw this idea on another blog and really liked it.  36 things to do before I turn 37.  Sounds easy enough, right?  She had much more interesting things listed on hers (like climb a mountain, ride in a  bike race, etc. etc.), but I thought it would be fun to put things down  that I would enjoy doing, even if they are pretty low-key.  So here's to a great 36th, one I will hopefully be rested enough to remember!

here, wormie wormie!

The weather has been amazing lately, and the girls have been having lots of fun playing outside. They spent over an hour this morning digging for worms, one of their favorite things to do. Me, I still cannot stand to touch the little wrigglers, but I try to at least sound excited for them when they find one.

They found 12 total, but I think Lola dug up about 10 of those. After Bella kept pulling only bits of worm out of the ground, she said 'Momma, Lola is taking all of the good worms on this side of the earth!' So then Lola tried to show her how to pull the worms out without breaking them...thank goodness for big sisters!

'nuff said!

a welcome summer rain

What began as a few drops of rain on a hot summer day...

...turned into a 45-minute rainstorm...

...complete with thunder and lightning - momma, did you see that???!!!

So what's a girl (or two) to do? Get on a bathing suit and rain boots, of course! As you can see, the girls had a blast.

hurry, hurry, you must hurry, momma!

Momma, come quick, come quick! You must hurry, hurry, hurry! We found an animal you must see, but come now-now-now before it runs away!

Okay, here I come...

oh, hello there little snail!

heat, rattlers and...dirt

Okay, so after eleven hours, we finally arrived in Arizona - exhausted, but oh-so-happy to be there. Despite being up since 4:30am (oh, were we supposed to fall back asleep at some point in the car, mom?), the girls did great - no fighting, polite to one another, singing, reading, coloring - truly I could have not asked for a better drive. (The drive home was a whole 'nother story - tired, cranky...and that just describes me!)

I was surprised by the heat - even though it was around 102' each day, it was not as hot as I had imagined. I grew up in the desert, but have forgotten what very little humidity feels like. Even when fat plops of rain were falling on us outside, the humidity was only 18%. As long as we stayed in the shade, it was very pleasant.

The girls and I had so much fun, they were their usual goofy selves making everyone laugh. And even though we were warned about snakes and other critters to keep an eye out for, it still scared the c**p out of me when I opened the front door to a 3-ft. rattler. Needless to say, I didn't get a picture of that.

summertime!

We kicked the summer off by having a movie night and making some treats to go along with it!

Kaz had to work late, so the girls and I watched Toy Story and made some alien cupcakes. We had so much fun decorating them...and tasting along the way!

The girls and I also sat down and made a list of things to do over the summer...don't you just love our new front door decoration? Really, it was fun to see what the girls are looking forward to doing. Lola is so excited to have a lemonade stand and Bella can't wait to go to the petting zoo. I think I'm looking forward to some less hectic days and just spending some fun time with my girls.

Next stop...Arizona!

school is out!

Lola had her kindergarten graduation the other night, and is now a first-grader! She asked me
the other day to drive her by what will be her
new school - "Wow, momma! It's SO big!"

cutest.kid.ever

Aah, that Bella. Into everything...and I do mean everything. Hard to see the dirt in the picture, but she was covered in it - face, arms, legs and clothes from smearing her body along Kaz's car.

It is just too darn hard to get upset when she gives you this face...