Innocence Lost

I knew this day would come. I just didn't realize that it would come so soon. I didn't really expect that my girls would remain innocent forever. I just thought we might make it to the double-digits before it happened. Well, too late; it's already happened. My sweet little girls have figured out the difference between girls and boys. That's right....you heard me. Sugar and Spice know the difference between boys and girls. Oh, I know what you're thinking..."What kind of mother would allow this to happen? Obviously they've been exposed to something they had no business seeing or hearing." Well, I really don't know how it happened. But they found out. And just in case you haven't heard....girls have eyelashes.

Our First REAL Emergency

On Tuesday night, we experienced our first SERIOUS child-related emergency since Sugar was born a little over five years ago. As we prepared to go to Nana's house after dinner, the girls went out to get in the car ahead of us. Spice took the opportunity to play for a moment and was bitten by some type of ant (we think) as she stood in the grass by our driveway. As I was coming outside, Sugar was racing into the house to tell us that Spice had been bitten. We put some StingEze on her foot, gave her a bag of ice and proceeded to head over to Nana's house. On our 5-minute drive, Sugar began to complain that her 'lip wouldn't go up'. When I looked in the backseat I thought that her lip had gotten numb because she was putting the ice pack on her mouth. As we neared Nana's driveway, she began to complain that her 'eyes were going down'. I looked in the backseat again to discover that her face appeared to be swelling. When we stopped, Paprika jumped out to check her, while I ran into Nana's to find out whether she had any Benadryl on hand. She didn't. So Paprika, being the level-headed, rational person in the family, thought to rush back home and get a hefty dose of Benadryl in her before we attempted to go to the nearest emergency clinic. The Benadryl had the desired effect....her swelling did not worsen...and the CareNow clinic physician prescribed a steroid, which we were able to fill the next morning. Two days later, her swelling has almost disappeared, and she's back to her normal wild self. Thanks be to God for His faithfulness to us and His care for our little Spice! And now here's Spice's version:

And They Swam And They Swam All Over The Dam!

For the last couple of weekends, we've had the pleasure of spending Sunday afternoon swimming in the pool at my brother's best friend's parent's house. Got that? The girls just love going 'swimming', although neither of them can swim yet. Sugar would still rather die than go under water, and Spice isn't too much better about it. However, I am finally seeing some progress and now have hope that maybe one day they will actually be able to swim. Look at Sugar floating on her back and swimming all over the pool! She even jumped into the shallow end by herself. (Okay, I bribed her with the Swan Lake Barbie movie, but it still counts!) There's just a tiny section of Spice doing her thing, but that's because everything you see in that section is everything she does in the pool. She's just gotten comfortable floating with the life jacket in the last couple of weeks...up until then she would have a panic attack when she couldn't touch bottom any more. So she's making progress, too. I predict that we'll have a couple of swimmers next summer!

Little Gymnasts

Every summer for the last three years, Sugar and Spice have gone to the Little Gym for classes. It's one of their favorite things about summer and they really look forward to going to their one-hour class each week. This year I've really been impressed with how much their confidence has increased! Both girls are walking on the high beam without assistance and jumping off the end and both of them can do a basket hang from the bar (hands and feet on the bar). See for yourself!

A Picture Paints A Thousand Words, Oh Yes It Does!

Both Sugar and Spice have now had their first experience at the wondrous place known as the Build-A-Bear Workshop. I took Spice for her birthday in April after she received a gift card from her uncle. May I introduce you to Princess Aurora Royale? No amount of coaxing could convince Spice that PAR needed any type of clothing, accessories, or other paraphernalia. She finally acquiesced to a small bouquet of flowers on her front right leg, but later had second thoughts and promptly removed it.
And, here is Princess Estella Royale. Sugar sincerely apologizes for the lack of fancy gold and silver sandals, a skirt, and several other items that her cruel mother would not allow her to purchase. Painfully, she was limited to only two additional items of dress and was thus unable to properly adorn her new companion.
Yep, these pics pretty much sum up my girls' personalities.

Cowtown Camera Girl Rocks!

A couple of weeks ago my friend and colleague Nell Valdez, who is not only a super librarian, but also an extremely talented photographer, got some new equipment. She offered a free sitting to someone who responded to her blog post and I won! Last Wednesday I took the girls to her new house (it's beautiful!) so that she could shoot them wearing some tutus that she purchased for her business. Here are a few shots from that session:

After the tutu shots, we went to a nearby ice cream store so that Nell could get some summertime ice cream cone pictures. I haven't seen those yet, but I'm sure that they will be just as good! Nell has lots of interesting ideas and an amazing eye for what will make a fantastic photo, plus she shoots her subjects very naturally so the finished product shows the real expressions and smiles that you love. You can see more photos from our tutu session, as well as more of Nell's work at here blog, Cowtown Camera Girl. Here's the link to the complete session!

Spice Does Her Librarian Mother Proud!

I know, I know. Spice is NOT actually READING this book. She has memorized it. But, still....my baby is taking her first steps toward reading and that does my heart so good. Just look at how proud she is!

III : the time, it does fly...

April 10, 2006

April 10, 2007

April 10, 2008

April 10, 2009

Can my baby really be 3 already?

Bye-Bye Diapers!

After a couple of my colleagues were discussing mothers of 3 year olds who had not yet potty-trained their children, I decided that in light of Spice's upcoming *ahem* 3rd birthday *ahem * that I had better get serious about this affair. So we started earnestly working on the potty visits two weeks ago. We had an ENTIRE weekend where we were basically at home, so it was a good time to start....or so I thought. Previous attempts to make this step toward big girldom were met with serious resistance so I wasn't entirely hopeful. However, it seems that the time was right...she didn't protest much at all, and although she had several accidents the first week we seem to be well on our way to the end of the diaper era. She's been accident-free this week and even took herself to the potty last night to poop! Whooo hooo! My baby is growing up....and yes, I'm a little sad about it.

The Ghosts of Christmas Passed

Well, it's over for another year. All but the tear-down, that is. Paprika and I have always disagreed on the time-frame for the Christmas un-decorating. I have always felt that I must dismantle everything and have it stored away on the day after Christmas. By noon, if at all possible. Paprika is a little less stringent about the timing, perhaps willing to leave everything in place all the way to THE NEW YEAR. *Deep breaths...slow...deep breaths.* I have (in my mind) a good reason for this need to clear away all the Christmas stuff....my school break is two weeks long. Depending on the way the calendar falls in any given year, this gives me approximately a week of Christmas doings and a week of total vacation. How can I POSSIBLY enjoy said total vacation when all these Christmas items are staring me in the face every day reminding me that they must be taken care of before I return to work? Well, I can't, I tell you!!! Or I should say I couldn't. I find myself relaxing a bit this year...not in quite as big a rush to complete the tear-down and get on with other things. Maybe it's the fact that I've got two little girls who will be so disappointed to see Christmas go. Maybe it's the fact that we've rushed ourselves silly for the last month or so and I am all rushed out. Maybe I'm finally learning that time will go by quickly enough and I better not wait until everything is just the way I'd like it to be before I can relax. Yeah, that's it. At least I hope it is.

Spice's First Haircut

Spice got her first haircut today and I think I can state without reservation that she thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Just see for yourself!

Spice, She LOVES the Jewelry

We were at my brother's house a couple of weeks ago when Spice found her cousin's stash of plastic necklaces and bracelets. She proceeded to don every single one of them. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present 'Missus T'!