Conversation

People that know my family know that we're talkers. My kids definitely carry on that gene. I can't get a moment of peace in the car when Mina is in there. It's one conversation after another. In fact, most of the conversations are challenging.

For instance, today she was "married" in preschool. Her teacher informed me of her nuptials when I picked her up.  I asked Mina about it and she told me all the details, down to her dress. She also told me that Brayden is the daddy and she's the mommy. Apparently in her sweet world, anyone that gets married will automatically have children someday.  Mina thinks the opposite is true also. She's been bugging me for a baby brother or sister simply because she wants to go to our wedding.

Okay, back to the preschool parking lot. Since she had to tell me all about her husband/baby daddy, she also had to point out the girl that stinks. Awesome.  I asked her for more details and Mina made sure to tell me that she doesn't tell the girl that she stinks. Phew! She said she smells like smoke. I made some comment about smoke being stinky, but little kids can't help it if their parents smoke.  Mina then had to tell me that people die from smoking. Crap. Any time she gets going talking about dying, I know it's going to get weird.

Today was no different. She asked me why our bodies are put in the ground. How does God take our souls to heaven? Can we drive to heaven to ask God? Can we die even if we don't smoke? Those are just a few of the hard-hitting questions Mina had for me today. It's a good thing I have all the answers. :P  It's also a good thing that the drive from school to the gym is only five minutes so the conversation had to end quickly.

Charlotte is trying to work on her conversational skills. She's recently learned, "MOVE!" and says it at the appropriate time.  I'm so proud of her for expanding beyond, "GO AWAY!" Oh, and she's really good at lifting the flaps in Mina's potty book and exclaiming, "POOP!"  What a little lady.

Charlotte also pooped when I took her to the pool yesterday. That wasn't cool.  At least we had fun before "the incident". She loves bobbing around in her puddle jumper and I love not having to worry about her so much.  I'm a nervous nelly with water since I almost drowned a few times while growing up.

Oh, and I do have some birthday pictures, but they aren't ready to share yet. We just got a new computer so my photo software isn't installed yet. Can you believe we were still using the computer I had in my teaching days? It was eight years old.

Evidence

 Sometimes I seem like I've got it all together. I know exactly where I stand when it comes to parenting and life and get it "right" much of the time (according to some and all wrong according to others in the parenting debates). I cloth diaper, did homemade baby food, extended rear facing with car seats, blah, blah, blah.  I'm definitely not perfect though.  There's even photographic proof!

Exhibit 1: I take pictures of my naked children and post them on the Internet.  Not only that, but said naked child may or may not be standing and about to dive into the tub.  She could get injured.  What a great photo opportunity!  Fortunately, I didn't take a picture after this same naked child pooped in the dangerous tub.  How uncivilized are we?

 Exhibit 2: I'm willing to put a choke hold on a baby in order to steal a kiss. How awful is that?  Charlotte is not very generous with her loving unless I'm watching TV or it's time for her to go to bed. She'll sit on my lap and watch cartoons with her mouth open zombie style sometimes for as long as I'll let her.  She'll kiss as much as I want in order to delay bed time. I attempted a smooch out of those parameters here so the strong arming tactics had to be used.

Exhibit 3:  I let my oldest daughter, Mina, jump from her desk to her bed. Not only that, but I had her do it again so I could get a better picture of it.  She isn't allowed to do this during nap time or bed time, but other than that, jump away! Please don't use this one against me when she breaks her arm or leg. She had fun, darn it.  She also jumps off of the couch and any semi-stable object she can get on top of.

 Exhibit 4: Mina has her own camera, but we let her run around with the "real" camera.  Don't tell my insurance agent (AKA Dad).  I do believe that toddler mishaps are covered under our personal articles policy.  This was her self portrait. I could also share the 50 pictures she took of her books.

 Exhibit 5: Mina got photo proof of the crap that Charlotte eats sometimes. Here she is eating a blueberry pop tart and a turkey meat stick. I doubt you'll ever see a picture of Charlotte eating a vegetable. I do offer them and then she offers them to the dog. At least Mina eats veggies (maybe because I was still trying hard when she was young).

 Exhibit 6: Mina likes to copy me and is ready to kick and punch in this picture.  She's seen my kickboxing gloves and she's ready to go for the title. I really hope she doesn't try any of my moves on the playground!

 Exhibit 7: Hey, there's nothing wrong with this one. Isn't Charlotte just adorable?

 She can even do baby yoga.

 Exhibit 8: I took a picture of everyone doing a bridge and didn't let Jon take a picture of me doing a bridge. I'm awesome at doing bridges. Really awesome. I can't stand to look at my body in pictures though. It sends me into a downward spiral. Isn't that sad?  I work out 5-6 times a week, but still focus on my midsection pudge instead of my strength.

 Exhibit 9: On a less serious note, who takes pictures like this with their child and husband? Me.

Exhibit 10: This one's about perfectionism in life, not in parenting. It took me a month to finally hang these canvases I made because I was so worried about getting them lined up perfectly. I gave up and they look good enough. So there!

Finally, I thought I'd share my new hairdo for fun.  My hair was a little long and I had some roots so I brought in some pictures and my stylist did a great job. Sleek, shiny, and wonderful. I even like wearing cute barrettes while I workout now to keep my bangs out of my eyes.  Here's the before and after front view.

Here's the before and after back view. 

Charlotte turns 2 this weekend so I'm spending the rest of the week forming cake and brownie balls and decorating them. Yum!  I'll take some pictures when I have them all done.

Feeling Sentimental

I just wrote the final blog entries for the girls' blogs. I have to admit I shed a few tears when I finished with Mina's post. Her blog helped us stay connected with the family when we lived far away. I loved posting on her blog throughout the years. I was so excited to share the pictures and stories. It never felt like a chore.

I never really got into the groove of it after Charlotte was born. There. I admitted it. My focus on the blogs was split. It was difficult to figure out how to post about holidays. A post on each? A post on one and then the other skipped that holiday? It was confusing. It was frustrating. I love my sweet Charlotte to pieces, but her blog really threw a wrench into my well-oiled machine. I hope this blog fixes that.

I've had a fantastic day. My mother-in-law takes the girls for me every other Wednesday. I use that day to regroup. That means generating and completing to-do lists, running errands, and very rarely sitting down. I sat today...at least for a bit, until I made myself come and blog. I even watched part of a Lifetime movie and ate some popcorn. It was glorious (not the movie though, it totally sucked).  Sometimes I need to just slow down a bit.

Yesterday was crazy. I spent a good chunk of time looking for "Pinky". Pinky is Charlotte's snuggle blanket. She has two. She was only missing one so it wasn't a major emergency. However, I am very vigilant about Pinky. What if we couldn't find one when it was time to sleep? The horror! Anyway, after hours of looking around here and there (because I couldn't look constantly while still mothering the two girls), I found it under a pile of winter clothing in a walk-in closet in the playroom. Of course. That little bugger hid it under there like a squirrel with an acorn or a dog with a bone. She's going to be trouble.

Finding My Voice

I've been blogging in my daughters' voices for the last four years and I've forgotten how to write anything but completely cheesy silliness. However, I'm soooo sick of trying to keep up with two blogs. I decided it was time to be me again....imperfections and all.

You really shouldn't expect a lot out of me. I'm not a writer. My life isn't every exciting. I tend towards either stewing over things or bragging about sunshine and rainbows.  My main reason for blogging is to keep a record of what's going on in our life. Every year I print the blogs into yearbooks. My kids love to look back. I'd never be able to keep such a detailed baby book if it wasn't on the computer.

I said I'd start this blog in the new year and we're one week in. What held me back? My perfectionism reared its ugly head. It bothers me that I don't have a focus for my blog and I can't figure out how to edit my background the way I'd like. I'm frustrated. I despise Google Chrome. I wonder why I'm even bothering to blog at this point.

I need to keep it simple and remember my focus.

Oh, and here's a conversation with Mina for your entertainment.

Me: I'm going upstairs to get your sissy because it sounds like she's awake.

Mina: Okay, just make sure you bring her down naked.

Me: Why?!

Mina: So I can look at her cute body.

You can look forward to lots of gross posts in the future now that Charlotte has entered potty learning mode. Also, Mina has been uncharacteristically naughty for the last week.  I'll try not to complain about her too much since she'll be reading this in the future.