Read all about it!

Tonight before bed, BigM was trying to do anything to avoid going to sleep, so she grabbed this book (pic to follow, camera battery is dead) and no kidding, she read me the entire thing. It only makes sense that the first book she read from start to finish was about Dora, since she is mildly obsessed with Dora.

And just because you can't see inside this book, I'm going to copy it here. Cause I know you're just dying with anticipation, and I'm pretty sure it's not illegal. I'm not claiming I wrote it or anything.

Hi! I am Dora.
Do you like surprises?
Then follow me!
Hop across the rocks!
Hop! Hop! Hop!
Splash in the water!
Just like me!
Row across the lake!
Row! Row! Row!
Slide down the hill!
Just like me!
Are we there yet?
Not yet!
Swing on the vines!
Swing! Swing! Swing!
Jump over the logs!
Just like me!
Here we are!
Guess what we see!
An ice-cream party!
Yummy!
We did it!

Dora likes a well placed exclamation point just as much as I do. I'd like to claim that I taught her to read (along with the help of Ms. Mary Lynn & Ms. Emily, or course) but most of the credit should go to www.starfall.com- that is an awesome website and if you have a reader, or a soon-to-be-reader, obviously it works pretty well.

What was your favorite part? I liked that part too.

Paint the town

We went to a festival today with our kids and came home with a kitty cat and a "fuh-lower."

My kid is hilarious: Beach Bum Edition

LM is just like me. We both hate to have dirty hands or feet, which poses a bit of a problem when you're walking on the beach. She was kind of freaking out a little bit because a couple of grains of sand had infiltrated her flip flops, so Sassy suggested they wash her feet off in the ocean.LM thought that was a grand idea, until they got about halfway there. LM stopped dead in her tracks, pointed at the water and said, "I not get in dis ocean,""I want to get in DIS ocean," pointing down at the puddle she was standing in.And since this blog isn't just about LM, here's a cute picture of BigM, who enjoys getting sand all over herself, just like DM does.

My kid is hilarious: Cereal Bowl Edition

Okay, so this is worth reading to the end, but you're going to need some background.

We've recently come to the conclusion that LM is slightly lactose intolerant. I believe the proper term is lactose sensitive because not everything upsets her stomach. So she's not allowed (by me) to eat ice cream anymore (because I'm the one who changes her diapers, yo.) It only took me 2 years to realize the heinous "unexplained" diapers I've been changing aren't just random, and we're still figuring out what she can and can't eat.

My mom's favorite thing on planet earth is to offer my children an ice cream bar 23 seconds after their meal has been served. So imagine her distress when I told her LM can't have ice cream any more. That certainly didn't stop her, she just comes to my house armed with sorbet or sherbet instead, because you know I don't keep that stuff in my house. (Sassy, I'm grateful, I promise. I love that you want to spoil my kids. Just know I'm sending them to live with you sometime in the near future.)

Anyway, my dad is a dessert connoisseur and his contribution to the Thanksgiving extravaganza has been key lime pie, pecan pie, 2 different flavors of gelato- and some raspberry sorbet for LM.

Last night after dinner, LM was eating her dessert and we looked over and she was drinking the melted sorbet of her bowl. I ran for the camera, but the memory card wasn't in it, so I snapped a few pictures with DM's cell phone. We all clapped and cheered like she was a little show pony. Way to encourage good behaviour, right?

Tonight, while we all enjoyed gelato and key lime pie, she happily ate her raspberry sorbet with her fingers. (Awesome.) When she had finished, she grabbed her bowl with both hands, looked at me and said, "You take me a picture?"

Most definitely, cutie.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is most definitely my favorite holiday. To me, it seems thanksgiving is the "forgotten" holiday, smooshed between Hallowe'en and Christmas, who both are kind of a big deal, commercially. I kind of feel sorry for Thanksgiving and I just like to cheer for the underdog... oh, and I can't even begin to list all the things that make me thankful. Honestly, I am one blessed Mama, and I know it.

This year, we're at Hilton Head with my family- 80 degree weather, chasing my kids in the edge of the water- that's something to definitely be thankful for.

My mom cooked this beautiful meal- another thing to be thankful for (especially because I wasn't responsible for cooking any of it. Thanks again, Sassy!)These two- yes, I'm grateful beyond words. Even when they look like this:

(maybe especially when they look like this?!?!?)

We were sitting around the table listing all the things we're thankful for-

BigM: my family

DM: my family, my job, a healthy family

Me: (ditto DM, it's like he copied off my paper)

and then there's LM, who said she is thankful for, "La-da, la-da, la-da, la-da, la-da, la-da."

I'm even thankful for that.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The good news is that LM can take off her clothes all by her self! What a big girl.

The bad news is that LM can take off her clothes all by her self! I've found her naked as a jaybird at least 4 times already today.

Happy Thanksgiving...

from the beach!

The Gift

I'm trying to get BigM to tell me what she wants to get LM for Christmas. She's been suggesting some off the wall things, so I asked her to think of some things that she knows LM likes.

"Well... I know she likes food. And she really likes eggs."

BigM, you're absolutely right. Maybe we should get LM a chicken for Christmas.

A day in the life...

After dress up, we decided not to carve a pumpkin (cause that would be ridiculous. Halloween was over a week ago. What kind of weirdos would even consider such a thing? Not us, that's for sure.)LM decided to mow the lawn. Obviously she's wearing the perfect outfit for the job. Notice her brown suede boots?

And we made these super cute shirts for my favorite holiday!

On the first day of Christmas...

... I will have already stuffed, stamped, addressed and mailed my Christmas Cards. I am either really on the ball or I mail them out Dec 24th. (My apolgizes that you got a New Year's Card last year; in 2008, I had them ready before Thanksgiving- remember?) In true fashion, as it always goes, DM took 99 pictures and only 2 of them were usable, so here's some of the bloopers to tide you over you get one in the mail.

Okay, honestly. How does something like this even happen?Let's discuss the common denominator here. This kid is a ham, to say the least."Make a serious face."
I actually love this picture, but not for our Christmas card.

How about you, have you even thought about your Christmas card yet?

Just for Kicks

We were coming home from church earlier today, and due to a long series of very unimportant mundane circumstances, LM was riding forward facing in the extra carseat in her normal spot.

(Usually she rear faces behind the driver's seat. Don't worry Crystal, I will be putting all the carseats in their rightful, correct positions later this afternoon. And before you try to get all up in my business and tell me I'm mean for making her rear face (Mom), she only weighs 23 lbs, which is approximately the weight of your average one-year-old. That means she is five times safer rear facing than forward facing, and 70% less likely to be decapitated if we were in an accident. And the newest recommendation from AAP says to have them rear face until age 2. Not that the AAP has it all together anyway, but that's another post for a different blog.)

I know, I know, I'm sorry. Back to the story. DM asked her to stop kicking the back of his seat, and she pondered that for a good full minute and said, "Daddy, you can get out of your seat and den I can kick it?"

We'll just overlook the fact that she doesn't recognize a single color, at all. She's got street smarts, and that's what counts, yes?

Jack-o-lanterns

Who carves pumpkins on Nov 1st? We do- that's who.

(Look closely, or you'll miss the two little faces peering into the pumpkin...)