2007

I have been so bad at taking pictures as of late, that this is the most recent that I have, I think. To be honest, I don't even know if there is anything current on the camera. The plus side is that I know where the camera is, which is saying something.

We have had a rough couple of weeks. I have had surgery - again - and Melanie has hit 3 1/2. 3 1/2 is not so much fun, really. She is just so emotional - more so than usual - and wants mom - and only mom - and mom is really feeling rough. The good news is that the new teepee is helping some. That's what's in the picture.

I'm vowing to get the camera out and do better and taking pictures. I've missed most of 2007 already. Need to get on it. It's too sad to miss that many days.

Hope everyone else is doing ok. I'll try to do better at keeping up with the good stories.

All WHAT goes to heaven?

This day has been EXHAUSTING!

The whole "picture is worth a thousand words" thing is very accurate in this photo, don't you think? Please, I'd rather you NOT comment on two things: #1 - the condition of the toilet, or #2 - the sick mind of the mother who photographs the goldfish funeral.

Today marks the (unofficial) passing of Charlotte & Wilbur. (They actually died yesterday, but we were trying to decide whether Charlotte Jr and Wilbur Jr were going to join the family.) We have decided to take a break from the goldfish way of life for a few days.

She was very confused, and very sad. Tears. Lots of tears. And a lot of questions, some that we were so heart wrenching, and some that were....well, here's a list.

1. Why do they have white spots and black eyes now mom? (the answer to this is that they had "ick" - and yes, that's a real thing).


2. How are they going to get to heaven?


3. Am I going to have to die too, since I am sick?


4. How does the toilet get into heaven?


5. Does my poop go to heaven, too?


6. Can I flush the potty?


7. Can I have a bunny now?


8. Does a bunny go in the potty when it dies too?

Now do you see why I am exhausted? Trying to think on your feet while your husband is cracking the heck up over the poop in heaven thing is not easy. We did finally come to the conclusion that one pipe under the potty leads to the place where the poopy goes, and one is just for fish. Jesus takes care of the fish line.

I think I'd like to take a break from the funeral scene for a while.

Grammy and Poppy got a set of maze/tent/things...and we hadn't opened it up until post-funeral support. The teepee is over 5 feet tall, and the little tunnel things are about 6 feet long.

Here is Brian, stuck in the tunnel.

He and Melanie were in the tent; well, Brian was in the tent, and Melanie was trying to get in the tent. She said, "Scoot over, Daddy, I want to sit on the other side!" He answered, "Melanie, there IS no other side when Daddy is in here." For some reason, I totally cracked up. It's a true statement - and the tent is tall, but not very wide. The two of them crammed in there was pretty cute. She spent over 2 hours in that little tent tonight, coloring, doing puzzles, playing cards. She also loves her princess tent. I think she likes the small, inclosed space.

Strange bird, my girl.

A Long Trip...Upstairs

She looks so sweet & innocent, doesn't she? This is Christmas Day, with Cookie the bunny. We don't own pets with fur, because of allergies, but she sure does love other people's pets with fur. She looks very cute here.

Her cuteness is one of the things that is a challenge more often than not.

Last night, she went upstairs to go to the bathroom. She does this often, as her bladder is approximetely the size of a mini-altoid tin (which are really cute, as a side note!) She is normally up there 5 minutes or less, even when there is a..."number two"...involved. Well, we had kept calling up there, because 10 minutes, passed, and then 15, and then 20. She was "still in the bathroom" each time.

Then clarity hits. She was not "still on the potty" or "still washing her hands"...she was "still in the bathroom".

Bandaids. Need I say more?

When we asked her what was up, she said, "Well, I needed some Dora bandaids because of all of the pretend booboos." Brian told her, "Melanie, you need to ask Mom and Dad each time you need a bandaid, so that we can help you and keep you safe." Sounds reasonable to me.

Her response? "Even the pretend booboos?!"

It's never dull. I was trying SO hard not to laugh during the entire thing. She has the little eyebrow lift down to a science, and she does it with charm and class. The only thing is, she also knows how to use it - to be a sassy little wench, and also to do her standup comedy routine (which I swear she works on after we go to bed!)

I can't believe how blessed we are. And how tired we're going to be.

Happy New Year!

Can't believe it's 2007 already. I'm sitting here on the sofa, waching Brian and Melanie work on handwriting skills. They're laying on the floor, working with the Alphabet Princess book. Melanie is such a perfectionist, so she gets really frustrated when she can't do the letter exactly like the example the very first time. She gets the big sigh and the chin on the fist with the rolling eyes.

I wonder who that is like? (blushing!)

She had a quiet time earlier today and was upstairs listening to music and doing Aquadoodle. She was laughing like a little loon up there listening to Sesame Street music...I'm trying to remember what song had her singing along. I think it was Farmer in the Dell. She was singing at the top of her little lungs. Love that.

Christmas was a jolly affair this year. She was much more aware this year of what was going on, and while I think she got a little bit overwhelmed with all the stuff, it wasn't as bad as last year was. We had a terrific time with Grammy & Poppy; spent a little more time at home than out running, which was very nice for everyone involved. Here are the highlights:

1. Christmas Candy Lane at Hershey Park. She wanted to get her picture taken with that Hershey bar something fierce. Whoever the dude (or dudett) in the costume was, he had her number. He kept knocking her hat off, and she would do that big deep belly laugh, and it was cracking us all up. She was all over that, man. He even hid around the corner and was playing around with her. We also did the rides, which I wasn't sure how she'd do. She was not scared of anything - I mean, she even rode the Scrambler - and it takes some talking to get Brian on the Scrambler! She loved that - well, I don't think there was anything she didn't like, actually. We even had hot chocolate, Hershey style. That was pretty dern good. Definetely a memory making night. Of course, the batteries died in every camera that we had with us. Figures.

2. Time with Grammy & Poppy - especially reading books. She got lots of new books for Christmas, and lots of craft stuff, so she did lots of fun stuff to do with Grammy & Poppy. Once again, Poppy's reading of "Dooby Dooby Moo" and "Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type" were the highlight of the reading experience (thanks to Aunt Normie for those Christmas books!) By the way, if you're a reader, get those books. They're some of my favorites. (Also, please notice my new couch there - we finally have grown up furniture!)

3. Tea parties & Dress Up - she received lots of dress up stuff, and a new tea set with Dora on it, so we had lots of fun with the tea parties. This particular one had real tea - and real milk, and real sugar (and was a real mess!). Notice Grammy right in the spirit of things in her pink boa - and Poppy not so much in the spirit, in his lovely dress-up-trunk tie. He did not like Melanie tea (which is basically warm water with a tea bag dipped in it for color). And each cup was like 1/2 a swallow - more for choking you than for drinking, truth be known. It's an exciting event - you sit in your best clothes and call each other darling the entire time. Pretty fun stuff...I am so looking forward to the next one!

4. Wilbur and Charlotte. Our newest family members were gifts from Zac & Aly, and boy, if they could just sprout legs - or get some water oxygen tanks or something - Melanie would have them doing everything with her! She really tried hard to have them take a bath with her, since they could breath in the water, and she could play with them. No matter how much logic I used, I could not disuade this - you know the argument that finally worked? I didn't want her to smell like fish. That was the deciding factor. She's such a girly girl. Seriously though, these fish LOVE her - I think because she feeds them. If she gets up in the chair beside the table, they start flipping out - all over the top of the water, and on whatever side of the bowl she's sitting at, showing off. It's pretty cute. She calls them her pets, and talks about them all the time. Definetely a hit.

5. Watching Melanie explore it all. She was very aware of what Christmas is about this year, and even though we made some people mad with our Santa explination (that he's a nice man who likes to hear what people want for Christmas, but he doesn't come to bring the presents to your house), we still had a great time together as a family. The little moments - rocking her to sleep at night, sitting beside her in church or at a meal, watching her face when she opened the things she really had been asking for - that was pure joy. We are so thankful for her - she is our greatest gift!!

Another Manic Monday...

I have no idea why I am quoting music from my teenage years. It does feel like it's been one of those weird, thoughtful kind of days though. I keep thinking of things from a year ago, and how much progress we've made - and then in the next breath, how much further we have to go! Arg. Thankfully, God is not finished with me yet, much less little miss.

We had a great time at gymnastics. She's grown so much -we even saw a little bit of toddler bum on her hiney - she never used to have much butt. She's growing so much though - and she's STRONG. She had a great day though - and listened well, learned some new stuff. She actually did a handstand today - with the teacher's help of course. It's fun to watch that, although my heart jumps up into my throat each and every time she tries something new. She was also swinging back and forth on the rings today. Crazy stuff!! But she loves every minute of it.

She also helped with the laundry today. Normally, that just means a little extra work for me - but she loves to help, so we make it work. I get a big basket (which is actually a very small basket, but it works for Melanie) and she sorts socks and rolls tights. She thinks she's big stuff, and we get to talk and stuff in the process. It works for us.

She saw commercials today for the first time I think pretty much ever. We just hardly ever watch commercial tv with her around, and I think it's paid off for us - because she doesn't normally ask for things. But man - she was all over the commercials today. "Can I have that mermaid doll? Can I have a house like that? Can I... Can I... Can I?" I was dissapointed, and learned my lesson. We did have a nice talk about not getting and not wanting everything that you see - but that's so hard to learn as a three year old. Who am I kidding?! That's hard to learn as a 30-something year old, too!!

Anyway! Off to do another load of laundry - number 7 from today...I'm playing catchup!

Happy Thanksgiving - a day or two late...

Whew - it's been a little bit crazy here lately! We had a terrific Thanksgiving at Aunt Lori & Uncle Kevin's house - it was so fun to just relax with the family. Melanie was all dressed up in her party dress - picked out especially for Zac - and stayed in it all day,which I didn't think she'd do. I thought she'd end up changing clothes, but she was good. She even laid down for a bit, even though she didn't sleep. It worked out ok that way though, because then we were able to put her to bed pretty early Thursday night. She even slept in curlers the night before so that she could have "curly hairs" - and they stayed in pretty much all day. I think I've finally learned the special combo of stuff that she needs to let the curl stay in her hair without being all heavy and yucky. Live and learn!





Friday, she had a very special day. She and Doctor Miller went on a date for his birthday. He took her to see Happy Feet, and out to dinner at Macaroni Grill - her favorite! Man, she LOVED that! I was a little anxious about the entire thing - no one has ever come to pick her up and take her away before - but she didn't have a qualm at all. She was ever so patient trying to instruct him how to fasten the carseat, and all the other little details. They even did the bathroom thing ok - they worked out a system. It was adorable to see them together. Connie (Dr. Miller's wife) was so sweet to her as well. They're wonderful, and Melanie just thinks they rock :).

Today we have a somewhat relaxing day. I had a class this morning, but the rest of our evening should be restful. I also have a rehearsal this evening for the youth band, but that will be after Melanie goes to sleep. She'll be home chillin with daddy.

You Are My Sunshine

Here's a little preview of our daily lives. She is a rising star :)

We have had an interesting few days here. She has let her personality out or something...I'm not sure what is going on. She is curious, and very outspoken. And FUNNY!

We went to a Chinese restaurant the other day. I'm not sure if we haven't done that before, or if she is just more aware of her surroundings now. We walked in, and she asked, "Are we in China?!" Even after we had explained that we were not in China, she was asking about everything.

Well, when I went to the buffet to get her food for her, she and Brian stayed at the table. The waitress - who was obviously Chinese - came to the table to ask for drink orders. Melanie looked up at the girl, and asked in this hushed voice...."Are YOU Chinese?!"

I'm so glad I wasn't there....

The lady answered, "Yes, I am Chinese! Are YOU Chinese?"

Melanie looks at Brian and says..."I have no idea!"

Oh, brother. When Brian tried to explain to her that she is American, she thought that he told her that her name was Meredith. No matter how we explained it, it never really made a click there.

Faltimores & Such

We finally had a family day! Whoohooo! Brian has been working so many extra hours lately, which is good, but it's hard on our quality time. Sunday, I actually had a morning off, so we took a trip to Baltimore (aka - Faltimores - no matter how many times you tried to correct that). There is an awesome children's museum there called Port Discovery. They have a Clifford exibit right now, and I knew that she would dig that, as she adores Clifford and Emily Elizabeth. So off we went. Here she is with Clifford and Emily Elizabeth - that dog was HUGE! One of the pictures above is of her and Brian - and Brian is standing straight up to reach her up to Clifford's nose. She had a blast. They had the entire neighborhood there - all Clifford's friends' homes, and the stores, and the postoffice, etc. She got to deliver mail, and plant flowers, and sail a boat, and do a music show, and build sandcastles, and....well....needless to say - she did a LOT!

That took over 4 hours of our time. And we could have spent longer there! That is definetely a place that we'll go back to.

One of Melanie's current passions is Hide & Seek. We take turns hiding and counting, but unfortunetely, she always hides in the same place. Lying on the couch, with her head under the blanket. No matter how many times we hide, no matter where in the house we start from.

I think she thinks that if she can't see us, then we can't see her. I'll play along for a little while :)

Gymanstics today was really fun. Here are a few from today - we started the rings. (I say "we" like i had something to do with it - thank goodness, the mom's are not required to perform!!)

That's Melanie in the black. She's practicing how to start a cartwheel.



Here she is with her teacher trying the rings for the first time. She's strong. She'll do great.

Get Your Own! View Slideshow

Not our best day...

This picture pretty much says it all. She has been all attitude, sass and just plain ornery. We have had more trouble with disobedience today than in the past 4 weeks combined. It's really not a great day to blog happy thoughts.

I would like to say though, that even at her most disobedient, she is creative. And darn it if she's not still cute!

Sigh.

A Melanie list...

Today, I thought I'd share two things with you. One, a new song that Melanie wrote. And secondly, a list of questions that I've been hearling lately. One can never have enough wisdom.

First, the lyrics of the song, which was sung in my backseat on the way home from church last night.

Why Do I Have To?

by Melanie

Why do I have to be kind to my friends?

Why do I have to wipe my nose when it runs?

Why do I have to use a tissue when I pick my nose?

Why do I have to wipe the front hole and the back?

Why do I have to obey with a happy heart?

Why do I have to go to bed before the grownups?

Why do I have to be three?

I was trying so hard not to laugh. She was singing in this really high, little girl voice, and the "why do I have to" parts were always the same notes - it was like a real song, but no rhyming. Too funny.

Here are some of the questions I've been hearing in the past few days, just so you know what I am dealing with.

• Why doesn't all the "stuff" come out of one hole when I go potty?
• How do eyebrows know where to grow on your forehead?
• How come girls can't stand up to go potty? We are much more busy and in a hurry than the boys are, that just doesn't make sense!
• Why do we have to have 6 different "memotes" (remotes) to work just 1 tv?
• Why do the fingernails have to be cut? Why don't they just stay the same like real nails?
• Why can't we SEE the trees and grass growing when it rains?
• How does a body know where to grow the hair, and where not to grow the hair? What if it grows in a wrong place? Can it suck back in?
• Why does the mailman carry a purse?
• Why can't letters just make one sound instead of like fifty-two-hundred-nine?

There's a glimpse into the day in the life. I'd appreciate your prayers :)

Gotcha Day

Happy Gotcha Day! And what a full day it has been...lots of fun stuff to make memories with!

You know the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words?" This picture says it all.

We started the day by waking up at 5:45. Mom was not happy about this. At all. And little miss never did go back to sleep, even though she was sent back to bed. It was not the ideal setting for a warming family moment :)







We then went to gymnastics, and today was Bring a Friend Day. FUN STUFF! We took Kollin with us, and spoke on the way there about how Kollin was "counting on Melanie" to be his friend and show him around today. Both kids did so well. Here they are in their glory.

You can tell by looking at the picture - Kollin was so into this. Melanie was so NOT. Not gymnastics, specifically, but into the entire photo-with-her-cousin thing. She actually almost got into trouble, because she got really sassy. But finally, we got this one, where at least you can tell who they are. The other photos on the camera were poor at best, so we'll take this one without too many complaints.






Today, we really wanted to do something special for Melanie. We wanted to give her something commemorate this day, but didn't want it to be something too expensive, and we also wanted it to be symbolic and special. We researched and thought and talked and prayed, and finally decided to get her her first bible. We chose "My First Bible" - it has the entire scripture in it, as well as some "story book" sections, where they have pictures and a story-type reading. It also has some scripture memory parts, and lots of other things that we really liked.

Her comment when she opened the bible up was, "Wow!" I told her that a bible was God's special words to us, and that we must take very special care of it, and try to read it often so that we can learn about God. She said, "You have a special bible, right mom?" yup. "Dad has a special bible, right mom?" yup. "Now I have a special bible too! I'm really part of this fambily!" I had to do a lot of blinking on that one! I dont' think you ever really know what will get them. She did love getting that bible though. I thought she might be dissapointed because it wasn't a toy or something, but we never heard that at all, nor did she ask for anything else. I think God blessed that choice!

We also went to Chuck E. Cheese tonight, and celebrated with some of the families that prayed for us while we were picking Melanie up. I'm telling you, I think Chuck has some kid drugs or hypnotic music or something. She LOVES Chuck. She wanted to follow him (or she dressed as he) all night long. It was pretty funny, actually! We had a great time with our friends, and they prayed for and with us for Melanie tonight too.

I still can't believe it's been a year.

With a wink & a smile...

Well, here's the smile part. She is eating dinner, and told us that she had finally learned how to wink. Now, this is a big deal. She gets very upset at us for winking at her, because she can't do it. Do you think she's competitive? Anyway, here is the shot of the wink.






The wink is really more of a turn-the-head-to-the-side and close-both-eyes, but since you can only SEE one eye closed, it counts. And you have to do your mouth like this, she says. That's what makes it a winky face.

I learn so much from my daughter! I didn't know you had to hold your mouth like that for the winky face. I need to remember that!




Tomorrow is "Gotcha Day!" I can't believe that it's been a year already. Some days it feels like weeks, and other days I can't remember what it feels like before she came home. We're going to celebrate tomorrow, and I'll let you know how the party goes :)

I leave you with our local pirant, complete with spyglass. I really should scout the dollar stores and get a pirant costume for the dress up trunk. That way I don't have to save all these toilet paper tubes, or keep going trash diving in my own house.

Melanie the Swift

Well, I'm not sure what she's been drinking, even though she has to ask for everything that goes into her mouth. But today, she decided that she was Melanie the Swift. I asked her what "swift" means, and she said "weely, weely fast, Mom!"

At least she knows her vocab.

I'm pretty sure that the Melanie the Swift thing comes from The Backyardigans. One of the new episodes is "The Legend of the Volcano Sisters" - and Pablo is Pablo the Swift. She also was telling us stories - but they were all "The Legend of" such and such. She knows what she's talking about.

At gymnastics, they are learning how to do sit ups and push ups. To teach them muscle control, discipline, etc. Melanie is supposed to practice these at home. So, here are pictures of Daddy and Melanie "working out."














She loves it. We had to make her stop to get ready for bed. She is stronger than a 3 year old should be. Brian is really sore now, which is a little bit funny, I have to admit. He told Melanie that he'll have to start doing his pushups and situps so he can catch up with her.

I'll just take pictures!

Bathtime tonight was a hoot, too. She had a haircut, and we removed fingernail polish and trimmed her nails. She calls it "grooming" when you do all those things together. So now she has shorter everything. And she's "shiny" clean - but not sparkling, because I won't let her have the soap with the glitter. It's a weekly battle.

She told us when we got her into bed that her mouth was "waggly". We can not find a webster definition of waggly. Not sure exactly what that means, but we told her that waggly mouth or not, she is going to sleep.

An hour and a half later, she is still upstairs with her waggly mouth. And still not asleep.

Life with a 3 year old is not all fun and games.

But she sure is cute!!

Ahoy, Mighty! I'm a Pirant!

That's right. A Pirant. And no matter how many times we try to get her to call us "matey", we get "mighty" each and every time. She has been carrying around the same toilet paper tube for about 5 days now as her "spyglass".

Sometimes I wonder why I buy toys. She doesn't need them. We just need to sort thru the trash can every so often. There are tons of "buried treasures" in there.

Today we ate lunch at Panera Bread. (Tasty stuff there, by the way...but I can never decide what I want, so I always end up getting their "You Choose Two" option - works out better for me!) Anyway....I digress! We got our food, and Brian said, "Melanie - will you pray for us?" Normally at home, this means a nice quiet singing of "God Our Father" (sung to the tune of "Are You Sleeping"), and then on we go to the eating of the food. Not so today. Today, my little angel folded her hands, closed her eyes, and belted out the song at the top of her not-so-little lungs. And I mean it was LOUD! You could have heard a pin drop in that restaurant...everyone got all quiet. And this isn't a little hole in the wall place - this is a nice, big, crowded restaurant. Brian and I sat there with our eyes wide open looking at each other - not sure whether to shush her, or to just go with the flow. We floated. What else can you do? But boy, it was hard not to laugh!!

We had pasta the other night, and I asked her if she wanted some parmesan. Her response:

"Who's a John?"

I almost spit drink out of my nose.

She's turning into quite the little card. She knows she's funny. She also knows she's sassy, although she's starting to show sincere remorse for things. Those moments are few and far between still. Age three is not as easy as I thought that it would be.

But she sure does look pretty cute in the hats, doesn't she?

We're only 4 days shy of having her for an entire year now. It doesn't seem possible. I can't really remember what life was like before she came home. It seems like she has always been ours. I guess she always has been, we just didn't know it yet...

Just Pictures....

Especially for the Grand Parental Units. I haven't done a lot of pictures recently....

Twick or Tweet

Well, we did it. Our first trick or treating night. I know it's funky - we trick or treat here on the Thursday before Halloween; I've never really thought of it before I guess - because we did it that way where I grew up in Ohio too. But my hubby says that it is weird. I think it's a saftey thing.

Anyway. I digress.

She went as a bunny. A white bunny with a pink tummy. Pink nose. Whiskers. And a little pink tale (which she says feels weird when she sits on it). I gotta tell ya, she was a cute bunny! I got her costume at a second hand children's store for less than $5. You GOTTA love that! Here she is in her glory.

Bri says that she even does the bunny teeth. I thought about painting teeth on her face, but she kept making that bunny face, anyway, so there was no need. I didn't have any pink lipstick, so I made face paint (the joy of the internet), and used an old eyeliner for the whiskers. The bucket is a princess bucket from Target; it opens up from the bottom so that you can safely sort thru the candy and pick out what you want after the kid goes to bed :) (Just kidding!) It is a saftey feature though. It worked for us.

She made out like a BANDIT! It's the cute face, I think. And she said "twick or tweet" so nicely, and thank you after each and every piece...and most people gave her HANDFULLS of candy. I'm gonna have to hide the stuff...it's a little sad.

Here she is rooting thru a candy bowl at Aunt Normie's house (thank you Normie & Mr. Normie's dad!) She got presents there too - and read her new book tonight with her daddy before she went to bed.


















Here's her haul. The bag on the floor, the bucket is full, and the pink bag in her left hand is full to overflowing.

We're going to need to go on a diet after this!!

Princess Lulee

Well, as I write, Princess Lulee's creator is upstairs crying. Our new monitor (which is, actually, a used monitor we got at the second hand store) is picking up every sigh and sniffle. Sometimes these things work too well, I think.

Anyway, here is the bedtime story I was told this evening. (Does anyone else see something a little backwards about that sentence?)

"Once upon a time, there was a princess named Lulee. She liked to go to sleep with her pet dragon, whose name was Homemadeish. Her mudder was bery grumpy, and she told Princess Luleee that she had to go to sleep right away, with no fussing! Princess Lulee was not bery happy. And they did not live happily ever after."

I'm seeing some similarities there, aren't you? I'm not sure where Homemadeish came from - I think because we were talking today about things being home made...I'm not sure. Actually, now that we're talking about it, I have no clue where Lulee came from either.

Melanie is definetely becoming a little story teller though. She narrates, and says "he said" and "she exclaimed" and things like "with a deep sigh" - and I'm not sure if she's getting it in books, or in the made up stories that Brian and I tell her. But it is definetely entertaining to listen to her tell stories. They're a lot better than mine!

Today we were on the way to a friend of mine's house because I was getting my hair cut. Melanie was going to go there to my friend Lori's house, and take a nap while I got my hair cut, because Brian was called in to work today, and he was supposed to be off. Anyway, it's about a 25 minute drive to my friend's house, so we were chit-chatting away. She was talking again about Baby Kayana, and how Aunt Nykki feeds her with her boobies, and how that is a little bit strange. She then asked me, "Do babies eat on the daddy's boobies too?" I said, no, that it was just a mommy job, not a daddy job. Her response: "Whew, that's good! Those hairs on the daddy boobies would be really nasty!"

Point taken. That would explain why God gave that job to the moms, huh?

We also talked a lot about how Jesus and God help her do things. She had a whole list of things - from being kind to obeying, to making up songs. That one was pretty funny. She had samples of all the songs that Jesus had helped her make up. The thing is - she remembers her made-up songs, and sings them over and over again. Now, part of that is because she only does 1 tune - but still...for a three year old, I'm finding it rather impressive.

We were stopped at a stop light today on the way to Lori's, and she saw a sign for Babies R Us. She said, "Mom, is that Toys R Us?" (her favorite store). I said nope, that Toys R Us has a "t". She said - "Oh! I get it - that one is B for Babies. Is that how all signs work?" I don't know what little light bulb clicked in her head, but it was pretty cool. She's still all over big signs that have any of the letters of her name in it. Home Depot gets high marks, because it has an M and an E - and she informed me today that those are her two favorite letters in her name.

So, the new haircut. I went thinking I was going to get a little bit trimmed off. I mean, my hair was LONG - down below the middle of my back. I hadn't had it cut since well before last year, and it was pretty healthy overall, but just heavy. It's thick and straight. Not much you can do with it at that length. Here you can see the average picture of me - it's either in a pony tale, or up in the "buns" as Melanie called it. So, I took my little magazine picture of some Herbal Essences woman with the haircut that I was going to get. I got there, and the stylist - whom I've known for a few years - started commenting on my hair when it was shorter, and how I used to tuck it in these little clips in the front, and how well it suited my personality, etc etc etc.

Peer pressure.

So, now here it is. Cut a little above my chin, in all these razor-y layers. I'm not 100% sure of the way she dried/styled it, but I can see some potential here. I'm looking forward to playing with it!! Needless to say, I have a lot of scrunchies and assorted hair doo-dads I won't be needing for a while, but ya know - I'll grow it out again or shave it all off. I have an adventurous spirit when it comes to my hair. It's just hair - it grows back.



Good news: I found a few pictures from the weekend that I had forgotten that we took. Uncle James & Aunt Ashlee, and then Poppy, bookreader extraordinaire! :)

That picture of the story-reading cracks me up. Poppy did the voices of the characters, including singing the songs when Pooh made one up. Melanie was really into it - and the rest of us enjoyed it as well. Poppy is a good sport. Melanie even told me tonight that I didn't read Winnie the Pooh as well as Poppy did.

Can't be the best at everything, I guess!

P.S. - Princess Lulee & creator are now snoring in the monitor. Time tells the real story - she was TIRED!

Need to catch up...

Man, I need to get better at this blogging thing. I know that some people might actually want to read this. (I may be totally decieved there - thinking I'm more important than I really am...but it's a decent feeling). Seriously though, I'm going to forget things of I don't keep up with it, and I sure don't want to do that.

It's been a crazy week. I have a new niece - Kayana. She was born on Friday the Thirteenth - and mom and baby are doing fine. Here's a little picture of Baby Kayana, as Melanie calls her. Brian called her just "Kayana" today, and Melanie got all bent out of shape, telling him that her name was BABY Kayana. It's hard to explain that the baby is not really part of her name. We've said it that way for so long!













We also had a visit from Grammy & Poppy, and Uncle James & Aunt Ashlee this weekend. Do you know I did not take ONE picture? That has to be the first time that's ever happened. Something must be wrong with my clicker finger. Very weird.






Other than that, we're plugging along. Melanie is three - and all of it. She is sassy and moody. My girlfriends who have been through this before all assure me that this is part of the age, but goodness! I feel like I do a lot of correcting - a lot more than I used to, at least. We have had some really fun times as of late too, though. A tea party with real tea (which now she wants every morning) and some great times reading and playing Polly Pockets.

I'm not getting much work done though. Ah well. You only have each day one time.

Speaking of Polly Pockets, I think that there is a "force" of some sort that eats the clothes and shoes. I know that we have plenty, but things just keep turning up missing. That drives me crazy. I wish you could just replace pieces of each of the little kits, but you can't. Which means that the pink and purple swirly shirt no longer has a skirt or pair of pants to match it.

Bummer.

We've really been into the original Winnie the Pooh book by A.A. Milne. I didn't think she'd be as into it as she is, because it is kind of chapter-book-ish, and, well...long! But she hates to put it down! I actually have ordered her some other Pooh books for Christmas from Amazon.com. They'll be here sooner or later, and hopefully I don't forget where I hide them in the mean time. Heck, who are we kidding? I will probably give them to her long before Christmas. I can't keep a present that long.

My friend, Normie, is a Christmas shopper extraordinare. She knows how many days till Christmas already (I think she knew back in January and on June 11th, too), and she already has almost all of her Christmas shopping finished. I haven't even THOUGHT about it yet, except for the books for Melanie. It sure does make more sense to think about it all year long. Much less stressful.

Gymnastics are still going well, although Monday's session was kind of a zoo. The girls were just not focused. But man, they sure are cute in those little leotards with their hair up and bouncing around on that springy floor. Cheryl is their teacher, and I think she is going to get extra jewels in her crown in heaven!

Backyardigans has began season 2. I have to tell you, they are just as good!! So far we have seen three of the new episodes - and we have the DVR scheduled to record the other two that air this week. She really liked the Samarai Pie one that we saw yesterday. More on these as we review our favorites on the DVR later in the week.