Our Budding Photographer

This is her best work, I think.

A self portrait?

Guess who got a hold of the camera while Mommy was in the other room this morning? I'll let you be the judge, but here's a hint: her name starts w/ a "B", ends with and "N" and rhymes w/ queen. :) I think she was going for some abstract looks. And she followed one of the rules of photography: take lots of pictures. Oh, she took a lot alright. About 20 or more! I posted her best shots...ones that weren't just floor.

Easter outfits

Can I please get a rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus???? The kids' Easter outfits are done!!! And two weeks early, too! I will admit, I had some help w/ the Bean's bishop dress. I smocked it, but my friend April put it together for me. The initial idea was for her to teach me how to put a bishop dress together, but instead I am doing some monogramming for her in exchange for putting the dress together, and she'll teach me on the next go-round. (Right, April???) But I did do all of Bub's outfit. I am going to get my friend Jessica to take their pics in these outfits soon. Anyway, I am really pleased w/ the way they both turned out.

And for my next trick...

This is how Bubs looked when I went in to get him this morning. Not a snap was undone on his jammies, but he had gotten his arm out. My little Houdini!

Google Fun

A few of my friends have done this, so I thought I'd do it just for fun too. You Google your first name, then a verb (likes, hates, eats, etc.) and see what comes up. Here are a few of my faves:

Amanda needs to pee.

Amanda hates feet.

Amanda hates good music.

Amanda likes to distract herself with silliness.

Amanda likes to write.

Amanda eats pandas.

Amanda eats airplanes.

Amanda thinks yawning is funny.

Amanda thinks she's a banana.

Hope you thought they were amusing too!

Hide and Go Seek

Proof that he's under there! This was taken after I lifted up the bumper and had unsnapped half the top sheet.

Where's Bubs??? Bubs' feet are under the blanket, and his head is down toward the right. Diagonal lump.

Up near the top of the crib toward the right is Bubs' head.

It often takes Bubs a while to fall asleep in the afternoons...so today was no exception. I went upstairs after about 20 min of "nap protest" and turned his music back on, and then after another 20 min of the protest had gone on, I went up to check again and to turn his music on. Only when I went in the room, I looked in the crib and there was no Bubs. I knew I had heard him on the monitor, so I knew he was there somewhere! I looked under his blanket in the crib - no Bubs. And then I noticed a diagonal-shaped lump under his top sheet. (We use one of those "Ultimate Crib Sheets" that snap onto the crib...they're awesome...if the baby wets/poops/spits up on the sheet, just unsnap it and there's a fresh fitted sheet underneath. No need to take the bumper out, change the fitted sheet, etc. Again, AWESOME if you don't have one. The Bean uses one too, and this is the first "incident" we've had w/ it in 2 1/2 years.) I thought, "No, he couldn't have crawled underneath his top sheet!" I mean, it snaps to the crib slats in 6 places! But Bubs found the one opening big enough to fit through, and he wriggled his way in there 'til you couldn't see one inch of him! It was hilarious, and being Mom of the Year, I immediately went for my camera instead of taking off the top sheet. Incidentally, he did fall asleep afterward.

Zoo Trip

Aww! The Bean holding hands w/ her new friend, Micaiah. (Hope I spelled that right, Jessica K.!)
Lauren and the Bean

Micaiah, the Bean, Molly and Annie

We went to the zoo yesterday with some friends and had a great time! Oh, and half of Birmingham was also there. It was crazy crowded. Sorry there are no pics of Bubs, but he was chillin' in the stroller and wasn't as good of a "subject." Also, as a little money-saving tip, I recently found out you can join the Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ) and get free admission to the B'ham Zoo...and it's about $40 cheaper than a B'ham Zoo membership! Plus you can visit over 100 other nationwide zoos for free or discounted admission. Just check w/ your local zoo to make sure they honor the FONZ membership.

10 months!

Note the curly hair.

Walking w/ the push toy.

Again w/ the curly hair!

Baby G is 10 months old! I can't believe that the one year mark is creeping up on us. He is pulling up on EVERYTHING and is cruising on the furniture. He's even using his push toy...and he can walk pretty good w/ it! But no standing up by himself yet. He pulled up in the bath tub the other night and fell and bonked his head on the faucet, poor guy! And this is random, but his hair is getting curly! (If any of you have kids w/ curly hair, please feel free to leave styling tips. I don't know anything about fixing curly hair!) We've added meats to his diet now, although he's not a big eater. But he is eating more and more table foods, which is nice. He's had the worst time w/ colds this winter (He'll get better for a week or two, then it's another week or two's worth of colds again.), but no ear infections yet, thank the Lord. And still only 4 teeth. I keep thinking he's getting more, but not so far. Also, I think I'm changing Baby G's online alias to Bubs. That's what we call him all the time, sadly. I need to start calling him by his real name, but I started calling him Bubs, and the Bean caught on, and the rest is history. Happy 10 month-a-versary, Bubs!

Easter Ideas

I've been trying to think of some easy Easter crafts/activities to do w/ the Bean this season, and I'm having a hard time coming up w/ anything meaningful besides the Empty Tomb Cookies. I've also heard of the Resurrection Eggs, but I don't have any of those yet. I want to teach her about the resurrection, obviously...anybody have any ideas? Wooing My Flock, Blue Hutch...I'm counting on you two especially!!!

Snow Day '09

Warming up w/ some hot chocolate

RR and the Bean only added to this snowman, I think...some other kids actually built it. There was also a 2nd snowman in this field...hence the lack of snow on the ground.

The kiddos and I...I do not have cold weather clothes either. I have on sweats, Timberlands, a hat and scarf, and my nice coat. I think I look kind of scary, actually. :)

Ian and the Bean...note the Bean's pageant feet. Thought that was funny.

All bundled up

Yesterday the Bean woke up to quite a surprise - snow! This was her first "real" snow...we had some flurries last year, but nothing significant, so this was her first time to see snow. She wasn't quite sure what she thought about it. She wasn't in any hurry to get outside, and once she got outside she was kind of just wandering about. :) Several of the neighborhood kids, including the Bean's friend Little I, were outside playing. Baby G and I made a very brief appearance outside, since he's a little under the weather right now. Then we came inside to warm up with some hot chocolate. It was a little interesting to dress the Bean to go play in the snow, since we really don't have a lot of cold weather clothing. The hat and gloves were 12-18 month size and therefore were squeezed on her, and we just layered up really good. She has a turtleneck, a sweater, a hoodie, and a coat. But just one pair of pants. Harder to layer pants. :) I honestly think she enjoyed the hot chocolate more than the snow, but RR and I had fun watching her play in it!