Conversations with Ariel

Alana has really been into making her dolls talk to each other the last couple of days. Its all I can do to not start laughing when they are having such serious discussions with each other. Here's an example of one of their conversations they had yesterday:

King Triton: "Ariel, wake up! Wake up!"

Ariel: "Leave me alone King Triton!" (Yes she calls her own dad King Triton).

King Triton: "I said wake up! NOW ARIEL!"

Ariel: "Waah! Leave me alone King Triton!" (Then she makes Ariel attack the King Triton doll).

After a brief altercation between the two dolls they restart an identical conversation and this time I get the feeling that King Triton has even less patience with lazy Ariel and she is dreaming of a world where fathers don't reprimand their daughters, who are just bright young women, sick of swimmin', ready to stand!

Santy Claus

Gotta love free Santa pics at Walmart. Alana was pretty excited and when we got there Santa was M.I.A. I was adamant about not leaving because I really wanted a picture and didn't want to wait in line at the mall and then have to pay $12 for one picture. When he was finally finished with his lunch break (is there some kind of Santa union that states they should get breaks?) he made his way back to the photo area and Alana got really excited and tried to give him a hug. She said she was gonna tell him she wanted a cookie for Christmas cause she already has toys. When it was finally our turn both girls sat on his lap peacefully and took a picture with zero tears, which is more than I can say for some of the kids before us. I didn't think Alana would cry since shes not afraid of anyone at Disneyland even Captain Hook. Ava is too little to even care who is holding her so she just looked at me and patiently waited to be picked up again. There aren't a lot of years when they still believe in Santa so we have to take advantage of it while we still can.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving 2009 was a pretty fun holiday. The past couple of years I have started breaking my former tradition of not eating breakfast on Thanksgiving and making something delicious instead. We had french bread french toast with orange zest and maple butter for breakfast and honestly I could have stopped eating for the day after that because it was so good. Food is almost the best part of Thanksgiving for me.

Alana didn't want to have french toast for breakfast, she wanted pie. I thought "Who am I to judge when thats what I'm having for breakfast tomorrow and Thanksgiving only comes once a year" - so she had pumpkin pie for breakfast. The rest of the day she just wanted to eat cool whip for every meal but we managed to sneak in a little macaroni as a side dish to the cool whip. She was a little dramatic as the day went on and she got more and more tired. She was okay till the cat scratched her at my parents house then she was mad about it for the rest of the day and I think she blamed my dad cause whenever he tried to talk to her she would get mad again. Hopefully she will remember not to pick cats up by the tail anymore.

It was Ava's first Thanksgiving and I think she liked it. She ate some sweet potatoes at dinner and the rest of the day she mostly just wanted to eat her hand. She is quite the little thumbsucker. She was pretty tired from all of the excitement of the day and tired of watching football so she slept for over an hour at my parents house. Its true that the second baby is a better sleeper cause people were going in and out of the room and taking her picture as she slept sucking her thumb and Alana was watching movies in there and she slept through it all. She is so mellow and well behaved - she just smiled at everyone all day and let everyone hold her while she sucked on her thumb. I am so thankful for her and her sweetness and cuteness.

David spent most of the day watching football after briefly playing video games with Josh. Luckily the Cowboys won for like the fourth year in a row so he was in a good mood. He is crazy and thinks that turkey isn't that good so he always complains about the food and asks why we aren't having ham. I make pecan pie for him so he doesn't have much to complain about anyway.

Thanksgiving was a success (if success is measured in how much pie I eat). I am so thankful for my two hot ladies and my husband. Holidays are definitely a lot more fun when you have kids to enjoy them with. Next year will be even funner with Shermans for my ladies to play with and keep Alana entertained. She does love her rat boy cousins and cries a little less when she has Jayden to play with.

Alana still cracks me up!

Since my post yesterday about all of the crazy things that Alana says she has said 2 unbelievably cute things today! This morning she was playing with her littlest pet shop "duys" and she said "OH MY GOSH! Its a spider! Kill it!" It was a littlest pet shop spider and she was pretending to smash it with a toy skateboard. Then a while later she was crying about something and I asked her what was on her face. She said "Tears!" in the saddest voice imaginable. It was hard to keep from laughing.

Alana cracks me up!

At least 10 times a day Alana says something crazy or just so cute I can't help but laugh. Here is a list of my top ten recent faves in no particular order:

1. Maybe Santa will buy me that for Christmas.
2. Money buys groceries. We have food though. Theres a pizza in the freezer.
3. Play pet shop "duys" with me. Not like that. Like me.
4. Mommy, I'm home! I came back and I "wub" you!
5. Yey me!
6. You did a good job coloring that Mommy. Yey you!
7.  Me look nice, like Barbie!
8. Me want cottage cheese and yogurt to watch "tb" in da bedroom.
9. Me go to bed. (This one just surprises me cause what 3 year old asks to go to bed?)
10. Me just love Mommy. Not you Daddy. Just Mommy.

Lazy Tuesday

As a stay at home mom there are just some days that I lack the motivation to change anyone, especially myself, out of their pajamas. What is the point of getting dressed every day if I have no intention of leaving the house? It does save on laundry just a little because if I'm too lazy to change my ladies out of what they wore to bed the night before then I have a couple less outfits to wash next time I do laundry. Sometimes Ava doesn't give me a choice about changing her because her diaper leaks and I can't in good conscience leave her in poopy clothes all day. That kind of crosses the line.

Nine times out of ten I put them in their clothes and comb Alana's hair even though we won't see the light of day. The statistic for me is probably a lot worse though. I'm gonna estimate that I get dressed about 60% of the time. Its not that I don't shower, its just that after I shower I put on clean pajamas, no makeup and just dry my hair. Drying my hair doesn't improve it much since without the aid of a flat iron its texture leaves a lot to be desired.

In a couple of years when Alana goes to school I will have to improve on my lazy days because theres no way I'm gonna be that lady who looks like she just rolled out of bed taking my kid to school. Not in a million years will I ever be some frumpy looking housewife at the grocery store with baby food in my hair and holes and stains on my clothes. If I even attempt to go to Walmart without makeup or looking less than glamourous I always without fail see someone I know. And that person always looks like they have put some sort of effort into their appearance. I will just have to be lazy while I can still get away with it.

My littlest lady

Tomorrow Ava will be 3 months old! She is definitely growing up so fast and before I know it she won't be a little cuddly chubby baby anymore. She is already rolling over and she holds her head up and smiles so much. I think she has grand plans to sit on her own and crawl soon so she can keep up with her big sister.

She is such a mellow and sweet baby. She loves to be held but shes equally content just laying on her playmat on the floor and looking at her reflection and the toys dangling above her head. She already has super secret thigh rolls that are only visible when she doesn't have her diaper on and now her thighs are getting chubbier and she has a cute little double chin. She is so pretty and so chubby! I like to kiss her chubby little neck and her plump little cheeks. She has such  super long eyelashes and shiny black hair that sticks up just enough in the back. She is definitely going to look like her big sister when she gets older but she has a very different personality.

Having Ava made our family feel much more complete but at the same time it made me really want a 3rd baby. They are so small and sweet when they are born and your heart is just filled with so much love for this little person you just met. Labor with Ava was really easy and before I knew it I had my second little lady. My Dr. induced me the day after my due date and I was super grateful since it was August and it was really hot! Despite the summer heat I really love being pregnant. Call me crazy but I think its exciting and fun just waiting to meet your little one and picking out cute little clothes for them to wear. Plus its the one time in your life to don't have to worry about having a flat stomach!

36 weeks pregnant with ava

right after she was born - slimy but still cute!

holding my newest lady right after she was born

me, ava and david

alana meeting her little sister for the first time

1 day old with her cute hat the nurses made

ready to go home from the hospital - she had scrawny little legs

one week old

one month old

2 months old

almost 3 months old

My favorite things about Ava are:

  *her easy going sweet nature

  *her chubby cheeks and thighs
  *her long eyelashes and big dark eyes
  *her cute little voice when she "talks"
  *her obsession with staring at the ceiling fan
  *the way she waves her arms and legs like a crazy woman when shes on the floor
   *her sweet smile
   *everything!

She is the sweetest baby ever and I'm so happy to have her!

Haircut #2

     Alana wasn't exactly excited about getting her haircut yesterday. I actually had to bribe her with a bubblebath of all things. She wasn't big on the idea of getting her picture taken either as you can see above. She got her first haircut in June because it was really uneven but I only cut off a little bit because I didn't want her hair to be super short. I decided yesterday that since her hair was still uneven and way longer and thicker on the left that I would cut off an inch or two. It probably ended up being closer to two but it looks so much cuter. I don't know how three year olds end up with split ends but she had her share of them and her hair is so fine that it gets tangled really easily. Now she has a cute shorter haircut that doesn't weigh down her pretty little curls and doesn't require as much effort to brush. I can't believe she is big enough to get her hair cut 2 times already!

Sisters

My 2 hot ladies Alana and Ava are just so cute! They are such good sisters right now. Alana is always insisting that she get to hold her baby sister although at this point its more Ava just laying across her lap unless I prop her up next to her in the chair or on the couch. Ava just looks up at Alana and smiles. They really like each other right now.

I'm sure they'll fight when they get older, that's what siblings do. Its easier for them to get along right now since Ava is not old enough to want to play with Alana's toys so there are zero sharing issues. At some point Alana is gonna want someone to blame stuff on too and who is an easier target than your sibling. If you're an only child and something goes wrong, goes missing or gets broken you're the only suspect, but with a sister the blame is split and you can just deny, deny, deny.

I may have blamed my sister for stuff when I was young. (Not an admission of guilt). When a couple of Barbies mysteriously showed up with super short hair and my mom asked who did it, I pointed the finger at Nicole. Sorry. How was I supposed to know that if you cut Barbie's hair it doesn't look cute. Not at all. It sticks up in every direction and you can see every little hole where they shoved the hair into her little plastic head. Lesson learned.

I know all of these sibling rivalries are in the future for our family. Lots of Mom, she's looking at me funny. Mom, she pinched me. Mom, she won't do what I want her to do. Why does she get a candy bar and I don't? How come she never gets blamed for everything? Its not fair! I guess I will have to deal with it and referee the fights as they come along. Until then I'm gonna enjoy the peace and quiet.

Mr. Tato Head

Alana has been super obsessed with her "tato head" the past couple of days. She dumps out all of the pieces (there are a LOT of pieces), hands me one of the potatoes and we build a couple of masterpieces. She also finds it hilarious to put the lips and ears on herself and make herself a sort of mutant potato with lots of extra body parts. Then she says "take picture of me" and insists on seeing the picture right after and thats when she fake laughs at how crazy she is. I have to admit its pretty cute so I don't mind sitting on the floor for like an hour while she demands that I play tato head with her.

cindyrella and the yadybug

alana wore this same outfit on her first halloween so we had to take a picture so we could compare and contrast - she looks pretty similar except she is older and therefore chubbier




alana was "cindyrella" - before halloween when anyone would ask her what she was going to be she would say "cindyrella" and that her baby sister was going to be a "yadybug" - she was so impatient to go catch up to her cousins that she did not want to pose for a picture - all day she wanted to put on her costume and she was so antsy that i had to practically force her to sit down so i could do her hair - when i put her dress on she was so happy she was twirling around and smiling at herself in the mirror - she was shy at the trunk or treat and didn't want to take candy from people but she definitely had to play games - when we left st david to go trick or treating she was crying and saying she wanted to go home and go to bed - she can be a little bit dramatic sometimes - we actually had to talk her into going trick or treating but once she realized they were all giving her candy she was on board - she got way too much candy because we kept emptying out her pumpkin so people thought she didn't have very much and they would give her more - needless to say i ate way too many pieces of candy



my chubby little "yadybug" - i couldn't resist kissing those chubby little cheeks in this costume - she hated being in the carseat with this on though because the head kept getting in her face - i had to add a black bow just to make sure everyone knew she was a girly ladybug - she got a little tired of trick or treating since she wasn't the one getting all of the candy so she just went to sleep on my shoulder and kept me warm while we walked around benson - she was a snuggly little ladybug