LOL

LM looooooves MM. The kind of love where MM should probably take out a restraining order against her.

Needless to say, I spend a lot of time saying, "Please don't touch your sister. Please don't touch your sister. PLEASE DON'T TOUCH YOUR SISTER. STOP TOUCHING HER!!!!!"

MM has reflux, meaning she'll barf pretty much on command, or whenever she feels like it.

I just heard LM entertaining MM and she was saying, "I'm making you laugh! {insert funny sister-entertainment}. I'm making you laugh! Oh no, I made you frow up."

Not so funny, big sis. Not so funny.

Sister Wives

LM: When I grow up, imma be a mommy like you!

Me: Okay, but please get married before you have a baby.

LM: Okay, I WILL! I'm going to marry my daddy.

Me: But I'm already married to daddy.

LM: Then I'm going to marry him TOO!

Babytalk

MM is talking to her shoulder. It's kind of hilarious.

Isn't she lovely

Career Day

Sassy, LM, MM and I were in Publix this morning, and as we're skipping and dancing through the aisles (because shopping there IS a pleasure!), LM announces, "I'm going to be a chef when I grow up!"

Sassy and I exchange proud, knowing glances, because my lil bro is a chef and isn't that cute, LM wants to be just like her uncle...

"No, no, no... wait. I'm not going to be a chef, I'm going to be a Princess."

Alrighty then.

Potty Talk

I have until August 11th to have LM completely potty trained. She, like her sister, had absolutely no interest in using the potty, and I have absolutely no interest in potty training her, but with that deadline looming, we both apparently have to be interested. I don't mind changing diapers and since we're in cloth, it's not like we're paying for diapers anyway.

We're on day 3. So far:

Day One: 4/5 (score!)
Day Two: 0/7 (ouch!)
Day Three (so far): 2/5- including but not limited to a successful tee-tee attempt at Wal-Mart and the first poop on the potty.

Thank goodness I have a little over a month- because we're needing some serious practice. Oh, and make that 2/6 for today. Sigh.

It's My Party...

LM turned three today and we had a very small family party (she didn't want to celebrate at all, but she sure didn't mind all the presents.) Despite her complaints and request not to have anyone sing Happy Birthday, I do think I have a party girl on my hands- last year she got naked before all the guests left and this year she threw up in the car on the way home. I am not especially looking forward to her turning four.

Post party wrap-up to come...

Later, Alligator

Our library puts on a program of sorts every Wednesday, and today was the first time this summer we've been able to go. Today was "Reptiles with Jason" where this man brought a bunch of snakes and a baby alligator to show all the kids.

Jason's real job is "Reptile Rescuer" and he goes all over the state rescuing reptiles from the people who are scared to death of them. (Aka, "Oh my goodness, I have a snake on my front porch, what do I do?!?!?!?!) So he was telling the kids about how he rescued a baby alligator (holding said baby alligator) and he then he began telling the story of how he rescued an 8' alligator from downtown of the state capitol... and it weighed 300 lbs.

I whispered to BigM, "Can you believe he rescued a three hundred pound alligator?!?!?!" and BigM's eyes got as big as saucers and she whispered back, "THREE HUNDRED POUNDS? That's almost as much as you weigh, Mama."

Uh...........

Please use your Inside Voice

Have your kids every said anything really loudy in public that embarassed you? That has never, ever happened to me. Ever.

Today we were eating lunch at the Drugstore, and LM saw one of the customers ordering and she yells incredulously, "Look, Mama- dat man has a PONYTAIL."

(Me, very quietly- hoping my voice will encourage her to use her inside voice.) Yeah, sometimes men have ponytails. It's not a big de........

(LM, still yelling.) "NO dey don't. Boys not S'POSED to have long hair."

Sigh. Totally not embarassing, at all.

Moving on Up

DM's company is building a new office, hoping to open sometime in November. Last week, they finished framing and things are moving along quite nicely. We drive by there maybe once a week and as we drove by a few days ago, I pointed out to the girls that the workers were putting on the roof.

LM asked, "Does Daddy work dere now?"

I told her, "Not yet, Sweets, it's not quiiiite finished."

BigM very knowledgeably informed us, "Yeah, all they have left to do it paint it and put in a bathroom. Then Daddy can work there. Oh, and they need a fridge for all the food."

I'll have her let the contractor know he's way ahead of schedule.

Being Green

I have an sealed envelope somewhere in my house- it has a picture in it. A picture with some very interesting information. Many of you already know we are expecting #3, and some of you may be learning this information for the first time.

There are a lot of things I can tell you about this baby: like it's due Nov 16th, it has a really cute nose, it bounces around like a Mexican Jumping Bean and it made me so sick during the first trimester that sometimes (not often) I wished for death. (Unfortunately, that is true.) But we made it through and yesterday we went in for the "big ultrasound" where they check all the stats of the baby and if the baby cooperates, you can find out if it's a boy or a girl.

We always said we'd find out. We never thought we wouldn't- it never crossed our minds to be surprised.

DM wasn't sure he could get off work in time and he just wasn't sure he even wanted to go, so I had always planned to go alone and I would find out the sex of the baby and then I'd come home with a big announcement. It had been planned for months.

Well, Lolli and SIL asked if they could come so I wouldn't have to go alone, and since they were my babysitters, that meant BigM and LM would be coming too. I was excited, because I really did want them to get to see their sibling and this was the only way I could make that happen. And seeing the baby is a big deal, so I always love taking people who are excited about it with me. SIL had never seen an ultrasound done, so that made it even more exciting.

At the last minute, DM was able to leave work a teensy bit early, so the 6 of us piled in the car and headed to the midwife's office.

As my entorage entered the room, the tech asked the big question- "Are we going to find out the sex of the baby?" We knew we wanted to know, but we weren't sure we were ready to find out. Because once you know, you know, and there's just no mystery about it. So we decided that we'd have her put the results in an envelope and we could open it when we felt ready.

The ultrasound tech at my new office is nothing short of amazing. As she examined and took measurements, she explained every single detail about how this precious little baby is measuring absolutely perfectly in every area- and I know I realized at that moment, the sex of the baby really. doesn't. matter.

Ever since we announced we were pregnant, numerous people have actually said to me, "Oh, I hope you'll get your boy this time," or "I sure hope you're not having another girl." Maybe you were one of those people. And if you were, I am positive you didn't mean it to be hurtful. In fact, I'm sure I've even said it. I mean, it's no secret that DM would like a son. He's a man. Most of them do. But that doesn't change the fact that we do know that this baby has ten perfect toes, and ten perfect fingers (and in the right places!) and is developing just like it should be- so right now, that's all we need to know.

So guess what. We're not going to open that envelope- at least not right now. Because whatever I'm carrying will fit into our family perfectly, because it was perfectly planned. If that means three little girls, then I hope you will pray for us 'cause Lord knows we'll need it, but I also hope you'll be as thrilled as we will be when we announce the birth of our third precious child.

Hello, Summer!

Sniff, sniff

BigM had preschool graduation. As soon as I stop bawling, I will post some pictures and tell you all about it.

When did she get to be so big?

Beach Baby, Beach Baby...

We're at the beach this week- it's been cold enough to stay inside most of the time, so we're really just at the beach house this week. Should get nice by the end of the week so we can actually do something.

G-Pops promised to take BigM to play Putt-putt. That should be the highlight of the entire trip, no matter what the weather does.

Been Too Long

This is what we looked like this morning. About 4 years ago (when I was pregnant with LM), my MIL's best friend, Ms. Kathryn was diagnosed with lymphoma and while she was undergoing treatment, she (like many) lost all of her hair. I usually have long, lucious locks (which DM loves) but I really felt like I wanted to do something, so I scheduled a haircut and chopped it all off. Pantene Beautiful Lengths makes free wigs for women who lose their hair due to cancer and they only require 8" (not 11" like Locks of Love), so I chopped off exactly 8". I prefer my hair shorter and DM likes it longer, so I grew it out again and chopped it all off again two summers ago (09.) I even got BigM to do it with me that time. She looked adorable with her lil summer bob.

It's been about time to cut it (donate- yes, that's the only time I ever get my haircut- sad, I know) again so I've been asking BigM if she wanted to do it again for a few months now. "No, I want long hair like {insert names of 3-4 classmates with hair practically long enough to sit on.}" Well that's all fine and good if you have long, lucious locks like {insert names of 3-4 of BigM's classmates} but unfortunately, BigM inherited very fine hair so it gets tangled really easily.

It's always some major drama to comb it in the mornings, which usually ends up in tears and a stern talking to from Mama. "Part of having long hair is having it brushed so you don't look like a homeless person. If you are going to whine abou having it combed, we will skip school this morning and go straight to the salon and have them chop all your hair off."

That usually ends up in wails of "But then my hair won't be long like {insert names of 3 - 4 of BigM's classmates}" and a promise to tough it out.

Well, on Monday during my routine speech, BigM said, "Okay. I want it cut off. Today. Right after school."

I could not get on the phone fast enough- as soon as the salon opened, I scheduled appointments for both of us.

No turning back...

You turn... better be sure about this...

(I love that she still looks like a little girl in this picture, because...)

she CERTAINLY doesn't look little here:

So we're ready to mail off our ponytails and we're both thrilled to start the summer off with our cute new bobs.

When I picked BigM up from school, I asked her what her friends said about her new 'do.

"Well, some of them liked it and L said she wanted her hair cut just like mine." Way to be a trendsetter, girlfriend!

Come Dance and Twirl...

with the Birthday Girl!

Due to Easter being the same day as BigM's 5th birthday this year, we decided to have her birthday party today. It was pretty much the most awesome party ever. I'll let the pictures tell you how it went, but here's the Cliff's Notes. Ms. Lucy (her ballet teacher from last year and a very good personal friend of mine) came to teach the girls some ballet. Yes, I am insane and I made all of the tu-tus. No, I will not make one for your daughter.She wanted Strawberry Shortcake for her birthday cake.

All the girls sitting on the swing (minus LM, she didn't want to participate. No one should be surprised by this.)
Warming up...


"Free dance!"

Learning the dance from Ms. Lucy- so cute! I took over 100 pictures of this, but lucky for you, I picked the best ones (and the ones that didn't have Ms Lucy in them, she asked not to be featured in the photography.)

Happy 5th Birthday, BigM!

Egg Hunt: Little Mouse Style

Apparently LM isn't really a fan of Easter Egg Hunts.Apparently she is a fan of cupcakes.

Obviously, her first school Easter Egg Hunt didn't go so well, she didn't want to pick up any eggs and the only reason she had these is thanks to Ms. Heather and Ms. Emi, who felt bad for her and didn't want her to have an empty basket.

Maybe she'll have better luck on Saturday at our neighborhood hunt.

Footloose

BigM: Hey Mom, want to watch me to this? Um, okay... I think. BigM: We do this in ballet. Oh, okay! Show me. (watches BigM perform a ballet move) LM: Hey Mom, want to watch me do somfing? Sure! LM: Okay, I'm gonna lick my foot.

City Mouse, Country Mouse

We took the girls to DC this weekend to visit SIL for the Cherry Blossom Festival. We all had a blast- especially LM, who experienced her first airplane ride! SIL has the pictures because I didn't take my camera (it was all I could do to get the kids and myself out of the house on time) so as soon as she sends me some (hint, hint) I will post them and tell you all about our trip.

Grumpapotamus

If I looked like this, I'd want to get back in bed too.

Going Bananas

I really don't like messy crafts. My kids bring home tons and tons of "projects" from school, so we just don't do a lot of that around here.

Every once in a while, we'll get wild and decorate white paper with crayons and stickers. But the rules are hard and firm, you don't put stickers anywhere except on your shirt or on the paper, and my kids are taught this rule as we're bringing them home from the hospital.

Today at lunch, LM peeled the sticker off her banana peel and stuck it on her high chair. After we'd eaten and I was wiping off the table, I tried to remove the sticker. Of course, a little bit was left behind, so I reminded her of our very strict rule.

(Sighing deeply) "LM, where do we put stickers?"

"On bananas."

Note to self: amend sticker rule to include shirts, paper and bananas.

Ole, Ole, Ole Ole, Ole, Ole.

BigM had soccer practice tonight, and her team scrimmaged another team that was practicing.

She scored her first goal. She and DM have called everyone we know to tell them.

This is a huge step up from last year, when she spent the majority of the games doing yoga poses at the midfield line.

My kid is hilarious: It's about Time Edition

I have been receiving calls and emails because I haven't updated the blog recently. I'd like you to take that up with my children, because they haven't been funny in quite awhile. Until today, so you're in luck.

We listen to the same kid's cd in the car, so even LM has all 51 songs pretty much memorized. Which is hilarious because according to LM:

"Joshua fought the battle of Jericho... and the walls bane chuggaling down."

Don't you dare try to correct her, because she will argue you to the death. As I tell BigM at least 29 times a day, "Let's not argue with the two year old."

And speaking of BigM... I was emptying her backpack before school and came across this little book of pictures she had colored and described for her teacher. You may not be able to read this, but it says, "Me inside my house." Our conversation went a bit like this:

"This is 'Me inside my house.'"

What are you doing inside your house?

"Nothing. Just hanging out. Chillin'."

Chillin'? (raised eyebrows- where does a four year old hear the term, "chillin'?")

"Yeah, just chillin'. Because it's wintertime."

(I was actually hoping she'd tell me where we have rainbow-striped walls in our house, but her description was much much better.)

Headbanging

It was bound to happen sooner or later.


BigM fell off a chair and split open the back of her head. It's a teensy split, but it bled a whole bunch nonetheless. (Sass, G-Pops- relax, this was last Thursday and she most certainly is fine. Her dad is a doctor, don't forget.) But I didn't realize how serious it was until I was getting her up off the floor after consoling, cuddling and reminding of what goes in chairs (bottoms)- and saw her back covered in blood.

I watched enough Grey's Anatomy before Addison left for Private Practice to know that her eyes being slightly dialated could mean she had a concussion (she doesn't) and that the fact that the wound was not spurting blood meant we could skip the ER visit until DM got home from work (which was going to be within 20 minutes.) Had it been lunchtime, I'd have packed us up and headed in. Upon his arrival, he assessed the damage and confirmed my diagnosis that she did not need stiches.

Friday morning when she woke up, the first thing I asked her was, "How does your head feel?"

She pondered the question and very deliberately said, "It only hurts if I yawn."

I suggested that maybe she should do her best not to yawn and she rolled her eyes and said, "I have to do what my brain tells me to do, Mom."

I feel confident in ruling out brain damage as a possible side effect from her injury.

Suck it up, part 2

Day 2, no paci.

She hasn't minded one bit and we're going to wrap them up and give them to our L&D friend to give to the new babies.

Cause every newborn just out of the womb needs a used paci.

Once Upon a Dream, Part Deux

A few nights ago, BigM woke in the middle of the night because she had a nightmare.

I ran up the stairs to comfort her, because that's what moms do. (I also ran up there quickly to comfort her so she wouldn't wake her sister up.)

I was lying in the bed with her all snuggled up next to me and I whispered, "Do you want to tell me what happened in your nightmare?"

She began to tell the tale.

"I was standing with my magic wand, and T was helping me kill all the bogs and one jumped on me, and Daddy grabbed it off of me and he saved me."

{heart melting} "He did? Don't you feel so safe knowing that Daddy will protect you even in your dreams?"

"Yeah, he used a really mean voice and he yelled, 'GET OFF OF HER!' and he saved me."

He is the most awesome Daddy ever.

She fell back asleep almost instantly, so I headed back to my bed. I almost woke DM to tell him he's a hero, but I didn't because I am the most awesome wife ever.

Suck it Up

Close your windows, lock your doors, the Apocolypse is coming. Seriously, stand back. Lightning is about to strike.

I've been telling LM for a few weeks now that when she turns three (which won't be until June), she won't be able to sleep with her paci anymore. She has fought me to the core, telling me, "My need it. My WILL sleep wif my paci." Sometimes, she'll wake around 4 and cry out, and I'll have to get my lazy tail out of my cozy bed and trek upstairs because she can't find the dang thing. It's almost always between the mattress and the bedrail, thankfully. Once it's securely in her mouth, she goes back to bed while I'm left to lie there wide awake until the alarm goes off.

Tonight after brushing teeth and before story, I was looking for it and it was nowhere to be found. She knows it must stay in her bed, and the only time she's allowed to have it is when she's sleeping. I asked her where it was and she said matter-a-factly, "My not need my paci. My big girl. My not sleep wif dat anymore."

Say what?

Seriously? You're going to go to bed without your paci?

"My big girl. My not need it. Tomorrow, we get dem all and wrap them up for the baby." (I've been telling her that the "baby" needs the pacis. Now I have to find a baby she can give them to, preferably a girl since most of them are pink. No, the baby in question is not currently residing in my uterus.)

I told her if she really slept the whole night without it, she could have marshmallows for breakfast. (I really said that. And I really meant it. If she'll give up her paci, she can have a pony. And I might even let her wear her princess dress to school. Don't tell her I said that.)

I gave hugs and kisses to my best girls, turned out the light, tucked them in and walked downstairs. It's been over 3 hours and I haven't heard a peep out of either of them.

I should probably write a book on how I got her to give up her paci so easily. I'd be a bazillionaire. Now I just have to figure out what I did.

The Magician

It's only been 22 months since we moved in this house, and while we still haven't finished unpacking, we finally, finally got gas logs for our fireplace. Cozy, isn't it?

Since we like to pretend we're high class around here, we got a remote control. (And since we're not fancy high class, we only got an "On/Off" remote, rather than a "variable remote"- one you can actually change the flame height. By remote control. I'm not kidding.)

BigM was at school when they installed the logs, so when the installers finally left, I hid the remote from LM and told her to say a magic word. Voila, the fire appears. She looked at me through squinty eyes and said, "My not do dat. You do dat, Mama."

Gig's up, lady.

When BigM came home, I tried the same trick and we spent a good ten minutes of her trying all different magic phrases (only "Abracadabra" worked, in case you were wondering.) I was laughing so hard I was crying, while LM was rolling her eyes, clearly superior to all our nonsense.

We probably should have gotten her a variable remote. She's obviously more sophisticated than the rest of us.

She was also most unamused when the new logs set off the fire alarm.

Cold Feet

It was unseasonably warm this past weekend. On Monday, I asked the girls to go play by themselves for a little bit so I could get some things done. After about 15 minutes, BigM said, "Okay Mom, we're ready to go out in the snow."Judging by the looks of them, I believe they were.

Once Upon a Dream

Oh, it's begun. I can't believe it's already here, and I can't believe it took so long.

LM is obsessed with Disney Princess, specifically Sleeping Beauty.

Is there something more intense than obsessed, because that would probably be a better description.

Aunt Train, Lolli & Pop went to Disney a few weeks ago so AT & Pop could run the Disney 1/2 marathon. (In other news, I went for a walk today and a 1/2 a mile in asked LM if she could push me in the stroller.) Little did they know we had watched Sleeping Beauty for the first time and boy, did my LM fall in love with that story.

I have been singing "I Know You" to them for weeks now, after we made it through Beauty & the Beast (oh, I didn't tell you about that? Dad, you're right. I have totally been slacking on the blog.) We borrowed Sleeping Beauty from a friend the first week of January, and have watched it no less than 1.2 million times since then.

Lolli, AT & Pop brought the girls back matching Sleeping Beauty nightgowns. That was January 9th, and LM has only taken hers off twice since then to go to school, since the rules around here include (but are not limited to) 1. No Pajamas outside of the house unless you are sick and 2. You can't wear dress up clothes to school. (That's right, LM has only been to school twice since the beginning of January, thanks to the massive snowstorm of 2011.)

I consider myself a pretty reasonable parent.

Every day this past week, LM (dressed in her nightgown, of course) has asked me to dance with her (while singing the "I Know You" song) at 4:45, right before DM comes home. (How she knows it's almost time for him to arrive is a mystery to me.) If that isn't cute enough, when DM opens the door at 5:05, I am cast aside like yesterday's garbage and she dashes over to him, batting her pretty little eyelashes and coos, "DM, may I haf dis dance? My be Sleeping Beauty and you be Pwince Phih-wip?"

He falls for it every time, and sweeps her up in his arms and they twirl and spin around the room while HE sings "I Know You." There is nothing more precious in this entire world. I dare you to try and find something that even comes close to comparing.

(Okay, this isn't her Sleeping Beauty nightgown, but it's her second favorite dress up dress. This one she got from Santa.)

On Thursday morning, I woke her up and told her she needed to get dressed for school. I bet you could hear her screaming fit from your house. She threw herself on the bed and shrieked, "My not taking dis off. My Sleeping Beauty. My wear dis to school." She's only two and she weighs 23 lbs, but I couldn't even wrestle her out of that nightgown. BigM explained the house rules to her, "You can't wear dress up clothes or pajamas to school unless it's Halloween." (So she does listen to me!) Shrugging her shoulders, BigM dressed herself and went downstairs to get some breakfast.

Finally, after 10 minutes of arguing and cajoling and pleading and promising things I never thought I'd promise my child, LM finally said through tear-stained eyes, completely exhausted from her tantrum, "My wear dis to school for Halloween?"

"Of course you can, Sweetheart."

"My can? My can wear dis to school for Halloween?"

"Absolutely, that is a fantastic idea. Wait. You know today isn't Halloween, right?"

"Today not Halloween? My not wear dis to school today?"

Oh good gracious. It's January.

"No, sweets, but I bet you can tell Ms. Heather & Ms. Sonya that you will wear your nightgown to school when it is Halloween" 10 months from now, when you're in a different class.

We compromised with a church dress, and the promise that she could wear her Pwincess Aurora nightgown as soon as she got home from school.

I had no idea she was such a diva.

It's a loooooong time until October.

Mother Knows Best

Why don't you get in my bed and take a nap?

"My NOT tired. My NOT taking a NAP."

Okay, then why don't you get in my bed and you can watch a movie instead?

"Okay, my do dat."

Smells like Trouble

THIS is the child who came to me yesterday and proudly declared, "My made a mess. In da bafroom. Wif da toylet paper."

And this is the Mess (with the toilet paper, in the bathroom) that I discovered when I finally went in there.

At least it was just toilet paper.

My kid is hilarious: Weirdo Edition

BigM was dying to get outside and play in the frozen tundra today. I didn't have the heart to tell her it's not even snow, but just a giant, huge yard-sized sheet of ice so I asked her to get dressed and this is what she put on.

After I cracked up, I begged her to let me take her picture, and she said, "Okay, but I'm going to take off these sunglasses, because otherwise I'll look weird."

Nice try, Coco. You pretty much sealed the deal with the rest of your ensemble.

Snowed In

It's officially the third day of school being cancelled, bundling up in fleece and drinking so much hot chocolate that we've run out of milk. (I'm not entirely sure how that happened, I consider myself a true Southerner.)

We spent the majority of Monday with BigM's best friend who lives a few doors down. She and LM have the same middle name and BigM told LM (over hot chocolate), "Her name is "L. E. Rockstar." Rockstar sounds a lot like LE's actual last name, so from now on, her BFF will be refered to as "Rockstar."

Here are some picture of BigM, LM and Rockstar playing in the snow.

"Here, eat this!"

When you live in the South, rain boots double as snow boots.

Ready, set, go!

She doesn't make the best snow angel. We'll blame the ice.

Who needs a sled?

Let it Snow, Again.

It's snowing, again. I live in the South on purpose, because stuff like this isn't supposed to happen.

The kids are going to go bonkers when they wake up tomorrow. School has been canceled, so we're going to play all.day.long.

I can't wait. I wish my babes could be home with me all the time. And DM doesn't go to work until 2, if at all. It's kind of amazing how there is no bread or milk at our one grocery store in town-because as everyone knows, the second Southerners see flakes, they eat an entire loaf of bread and wash it down with a big ole glass of milk.

Sound the Alarm!!!

Today is the last day before the kids go back to school.

I let them sleep in and decided it would be a pretty good idea to let them do whatever they wanted to do this morning. LM woke up first and I fixed her some eggs and let her watch t.v. while we waited for BigM to wake up. She came down about 30 minutes later and I fixed her breakfast. While she was eating, we heard someone's car alarm go off. It stopped pretty quickly then started again. Stopped and started. Finally, it went off and didn't stop. BigM doesn't like loud noises, so she complained about it and I had to tell her someone probably didn't know how to turn it off.

We live in a neighborhood of about 40 houses where I can reach out my kitchen window and hand my next-door neighbor an egg. As we listened to the car alarm go on and off for the next few hours, I began to pity the poor person who kept setting the alarm off. And soon, in my head I began to make fun, just a little bit. Finally I got annoyed because honestly, it was really annoying and I couldn't imagine who was that stupid to let their alarm go off like that.

About noon, I was thinking of taking the girls to lunch, so I went to get them dressed and realized LM was chewing on something. Further investigation revealed she had the keyless entry remote, meaning technically *I* am the stupid one who kept setting the car alarm off. Repeatedly. All morning long.

Sorry about that, Neighbors. But at least it wasn't as bad as this. (Mom, Dad- click on the word "this.")

Your Highness

Yesterday I was getting the girls ready to eat Hoppin' Johns and Greenbacks ('cause everyone can use a little luck and we could definitely use a few more greens around here.) The girls, of course, were slated to wear matching outfits.

BigM pretty much dresses herself, but LM still needs a good bit of help. After I got her fully clothed, I almost couldn't believe how cute she looked so I told her, "LM, you look like a pretty princess." She scrunched up her face, put her hands on her hips and informed me, "My not pretty pwincess, my a KING." Her decree having been made, she turned on her heel and marched her royal self downstairs.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the Mouse House.

Interesting fact:

DM will turn 33 on 11/11/11