Preschool

I didn't get a "before" picture....  but here's the "after" picture:

I'd say it was a busy-fun kind of first day of preschool.

It's okay baby, sleep it off.  

Jammin' Baby Moose

Moosey and I are chillin' this morning with Will. i. am.  My sister said something that made me laugh this morning after I told her about Eva and an altercation with our cat.. "you mess with the Moose, you get the horns."  Funny, no?  

School Rules!

It's back to business for the Texas Cuties

 This year we have a third grader and a very excited kindergartener.  Although you can't really see "excited" in these photos.  That's just Miss. Mia.  It takes some serious work to photograph a smile on that little face.

 Ali is very ready to be back in school.  As soon as we hit the front doors it was, "Ali!" "Ali!" "Look, it's Ali!".  And she takes being a big sister very seriously.  She insisted on taking Mia to kindergarten before going to her own class.

 They worked hard this summer planning their first day of school outfits.  The result was two very hip and cool students with sequined tops and "twinkle toe" shoes.  "Second day of school outfits" are already laid out and ready to go.  I love these girls.

 Just by luck of the draw, Mia has the same teacher Ali had.  We couldn't be happier!  Kindergarten is going to be great!

Once the girls were situated, we joined the other kindergarten moms and dads for a "Tears and Cheers" breakfast.  Eva seated herself with a donut and juice and said, "uh oh!  Where Ali?  Mimi have donut too?" Of course we explained that the girls were in school now and it was just going to be us for a while.  She took a long drink of OJ (I think she was actually toasting their absence!) and then smiled sweetly and said, "okay, we go park now?"  

Eve of Destruction

What happened to my sweet baby??  I would say that the "terrible twos" have arrived with reinforcements, but I have a problem with "terrible".  I prefer "delightfully naughty".  Because even at her worst, I think she's delightful.  But boy is she a lot of work.  Among her favorite new phrases is "You like a baby!" which in our house full of big, independent girls is the biggest slam and insult imaginable.  The classic "No!" is used frequently and usually paired with "I won't!" or "thank you!".  That's right.  "NO THANK YOU!".  At least she is naughty, defiant AND polite.  =-)

This morning she nicely asked if I would paint her nails.  So I did while emphasizing that "big girl princesses with painted nails go potty in the potty chair" and she seemed to agree.  We put on some Oomie Zoomie while her polish dried.  I answered a phone call.  I checked my email.  I noticed Eva was not where I left her.  I found her in the bathroom painting her whole princess with pink nail polish.

Yesterday she conned me into letting her out of the stroller at JCPenny and then she took off at a dead toddler sprint across the store.  I lost sight of her while trying to give chase with the stroller and a bunch of clothes and shopping bags.  When I located her, crouched beneath the girl's plus size dresses at the other end of the store, I gave her the big "YOU DON'T RUN AWAY FROM MOMMY", buckled her into the stroller and had to listen to her scream, "I want my DADDEEEEE!" all the way through the checkout.

Want more?  She ate a tube of toothpaste before one of the sister's caught her.  She said those three little words every mom loathes;  "I poopoo floor."  She dumped half a bag of cat food in the general area of the cat's food dish.  She stuck an opened peanut butter and jelly sandwich to the wall.  She's a boomerang at bedtime.  She screams anytime you approach a TV with a remote when she's watching Dora.  She pushes her cousin Iris down, just to watch her fall.  She bucks and arches whenever you attempt to buckle her into her carseat.  She could qualify for the Olympics in the 5 meter run-from-mommy dash.  She yells, "I mad!" and throws things.

And she wakes me up every morning by perching at the foot of the bed as silently as she can muster, with a big grin on her face.  She says "Oh, I so happy!" and "Howdy!".  She calls me "Pincess Mommy".  She is feisty and busy, naughty and nice, and I love her from her runny nose down to her overly painted toes!

Laughed so hard...

Hello friends!  I've been enjoying all the great info out there this National Breastfeeding Week.  I have found some funny posts too!  And all that breastfeeding made me think about childbirth, which is one of my most favorite things to think about/talk about/study about.  And then today I came across a post about milk sharing that I thought was great!  I loved it so much I decided I was going to tell y'all about it and then I found another post by my new favorite blogger (and imaginary BFF) and decided that YOU HAD to read it.  I know I'm over-tired and pretty giggly anyway, but if this doesn't make you almost wet your pants (consider this ample warning ladies like me with 3+ babies), than I don't know what will.

I also spent about 3 hours watching homemade videos and slideshows of home waterbirths on youtube that had me bawling my eyes out and my husband wondering how I am going to be an effective professional midwife if I'm in the corner of the room sharing kleenex with the grandmas.  I promised him I'd only cry after the birth when mom and baby are doing great and I'm on my way home.

So if you haven't stumbled upon BecomingSarah already, I hope you'll enjoy her blog as much as I did.  And maybe share your favorite horror story with me?!