At Jeff's

This post is LONG overdue, but I still just had to tell the story. Back in July (See? I told you. Long overdue) we went over to our friend Jeff's house. Norah still talks about it to this day. Between the llamas, the two momma horses with their babies, and getting to pick and eat her very own strawberries right off the bush, the day made quite an impression. Sometimes I hear her on her little cell phone talking to Jeff about his animals. You know, just checking up on everything.

Our friend Jeff's house is one of those places where a girl like me can instantly relax. It's so homey and cozy, with just a touch of "did I really see that?" whimsey. There's plenty of eclectic, knick knacks to inspect and every one has a story. "Oh yeah, I got that at this little art fair I stumbled on in Santa Fe. That one? Oh I just made that on a random Saturday." There's a fantastic vegetable garden, flowers, the above mentioned animals, an arbor with four chair hammocks for outdoor conversation, plenty of grass to run and play on, an indoor fish pond, and a few cowhide rugs thrown in just for fun. Seriously, it's like a place you'd read about in a novel about a young child who has to live with her distant relatives but then discovers that they're magic. I can't even describe how much fun we had lazing around on a lovely July day. I've shared a few pictures in other posts, but here are a few more.

Norah, relaxing in her very own "fwing chair".

Helping Jeff water the flowers.

Look Mom! I helped!

Picking fresh snap peas in the garden.

The apple tree photo shoot.

Me, relaxing. This is the best picture I've had taken of myself in a while. :-)

Speaking of which, I got almost no photos of the grown ups present (except as background scenery in the garden photos) and sadly, I didn't get any pictures of Norah with the horses. Looks like I'm going to have to call Jeff and arrange another play date!

Letters of Intent - Time Out

Dear Time,

Stop moving so fast! Seriously. Take a breather, will you? I'm grateful for your ability to slowly increase my child's interest in potty training, but her growth is getting a little too overwhelming for me. Currently she may only be depositing a Tinkerbell phone and princess keys into her purse, but when she says, "I'm goin' out." and means it, I'm blaming you.

Sincerely,

The Mom Who is NOT Getting Any Older

Dear Sweet Baby Jones #2,

It may feel like a lovely, squishy, warm waterbed, but what you are jumping on is actually Mommy's bladder. My day is much less efficient when I have to run to the bathroom every 20 minutes. Your big sister will be happy to inform you that you are not, in fact, allowed to jump on the bed at all. I'm not sure how I'd put you in time out at the point so... don't make me stop ignoring my gummy bear craving!

Love,

The Lady Who Decides What You Eat

FAIR-ly Cute

When you ask Norah about The Fair, she makes the same face every time; the face that she made on the car ride home. And yes. I'm pretty sure that's her first fist pump.

A FAIR-ly Good Time

On Wednesday I was taking Norah home from school (she still goes once a week). The major intersection that we cross on the way home is right across the street from the county fairgrounds. We had to stop ot the light, so there was plenty of time for Norah to see all of the lights and attractions across the street. She pointed and exclaimed, "Yookit that!" (she still says her Ls like Ys)

I told her that was the fair and that we were planning on visiting over the weekend to see the animals. She got really excited and yelled, "Norah play with the alligators!!" Um... no. :-) I explained what kind of animals were at the fair and that we probably wouldn't get to pet too many of them, but we'd get to see lots and lots. She was slightly disappointed about not getting to play with alligators, but super excited about the rest of it. So on Friday afternoon we headed to the fair.

We saw TONS of animals, including the pygmy goats, which were a big favorite. Notice that she is actually taller than the goats. She was really excited about that. They were also some of the best "talkers". I wish I'd gotten a video of it. They would "baa" at her and she would laugh back at them (which was a pretty accurate approximation of the sound they were making). Then they'd "baa" right back at her again.



For the record, there are no pygmy goat pens currently being built on our property. I'm just sayin'.



Norah also got to pet a goat who was on a walk with her owner. I was so busy helping her not to be afraid that I didn't manage to get a picture. Imagine a full-grown goat (maybe the same height as a Great Dane) on a leash, being held by a 7-year-old girl with pig tails standing patiently as Norah pats her slightly harder than necessary on the flanks. Yes. It was that adorable. Especially the sweet little girl who stopped in the middle of her walk to make sure my baby got to pet a goat.


Finally, another sweet lady offered to take her show bunny out of her hutch so that Norah could pet her. She had been talking all week about petting bunnies, so I thought she'd be thrilled. After a little bit of coaxing, she was. I'm so grateful that we live in a community where people are willing to take the time to share. It's so much fun to see Norah have all these new experiences.

Later on I'll post a picture of the face she makes when you ask how she liked the fair. Stay tuned for cuteness!!

Finally Friday

I think we've been workin' too hard.

Tew On Ah-Gust

This is what Norah has been saying for months when asked the question, "How old are you?"

"Tew on Ah-Gust"

We don't know exactly where she got this except that she maybe overheard us telling other people that she would be two in August when they asked. It's a pretty common question when your kid is about the size of an 18 month old and talks like she's three.

Wait. How old is she?

She'll be two in August.

The week of her birthday, which was the 5th, we started prepping her. Once her birthday came, when someone asked how old she was she could just say two! If she wanted to give a longer answer - because you know, sometimes you just want to use more words - she could say, "Two years old." She liked that and took to it rather quickly. Now she happily replies to anyone who asks her age, "TWO!" or sometimes "Two yees oat." That's my grown up girl.

She also had a blast at her parties. "Huh?" you may say to yourself, "It totally looks like she just wrote parties... as in plural. For a two year old." Well, you got me. At first it was just going to be a small affair with a few friends and all of our family. Mark's parents and brother DROVE out from California so we were definitely having the whole family up for a party. Long story short, the guest list got longer than I originally thought it would - because I can't resist an excuse to have people over - and it ended up being a better idea to split the parties up into slightly more manageable groups.

So we had around 20 family-type people up on Friday evening and 24 churchy-friend-types up on Tuesday. My AMAZING husband handled dinner for both nights. I'd say that he should be a caterer but I'd rather he have a job where he, you know, sees us every once in a while. I didn't get a ton of pictures because I was "surfing the chaos" as my friend Jill likes to say. But here are some highlights.

First Party:

Whenever we asked what she wanted for her birthday, she said, "Cupcake. And candles. I blow on 'em." We can only hope that she'll always be that low maintenance.

But, of course, she got some presents too. I only got a picture of her with the present from my parents. But believe me, there were more.

At some point I'll get some pictures of her with the play kitchen my in-laws got her. She absolutely adores that too. So much so that she tried to insist that it be in the middle of the living room forever. Um, no.

I ended up making her a tutu. I know. Since when have I been crafty? Since the only ones I could find online were $40 with shipping and since I knew that my daughter would be just as likely to tear the tulle apart as to dance in it. She was so excited about it that we didn't get a good picture because she was so busy spinning in it - a hallmark of tutu making success I'd say - but here it is, proof that I can do something crafty that turns out nice enough to document with pictures.

The colors look better in person. And next time I'd use thinner ribbon. But still, not bad for my first attempt. And I did most of it while sitting in front of the TV. That's my kind of craft!

Second Party:

I got a few more pictures of the second party. That was mostly because all of the moms present at the second party also blog and they reminded me to take pictures. Thanks guys!!

She'd gotten some practice at blowing out candles by this point. For some reason though, at both parties, she could only blow out the one on her right. We had to help her with the other one.

This is what happens when you tell a table of four girls and a boy to "Say cheese". The girls snap to and the boy looks away and keeps eating.

This is what happens when you tell the Big Kid Table to "say cheese". The boys show you the food in their mouths and the girl looks around to see if she's the only one saying cheese.

And this is what happens when you try to get eleven kids to stay still and smile for the camera.

Also this.

Then eventually this.

I wish I could have gotten a shot of all the parents standing behind me yelling "CHEESE!!!!". It would have been just as hilarious.

So thanks to everybody who came out (especially those who drove forever to get here). You all truly made Norah's birthday a party to remember. Um... both of them.

It's August!?!

This has been a crazy last few weeks. I did so well blogging for the first three weeks of July, but then life took over again. Thursday evenings are usually my blogging time. Yes. I set up three or four posts at a time and then "set" them to post at random times throughout the week so it looks like I'm super consistent. It's the 21st century version of mulit-tasking. The last few Thursdays have been super crazy and as a result, no blogging. Not even any early morning, mid-week posts.
So now I have a few things to catch up on and a TON of new stuff to tell all three of you about. Thursday was Norah's second birthday. We had a family get together yesterday evening since Mark's parents and brother drove all the way out from California, but they're only here for the weekend. Pictures are coming later in the week, but let me tell you, it was a fiesta!
On Tuesday evening we have a little get together with friends. There will be more than 10 kids there for that "little get together". I'm hoping that we'll have time to capture some hilarity on camera.
So to all of you busy moms out there... believe it or not, it's August!