Snow Day

I'm snowed in with three of my favorite people. I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing!

I have cooked breakfast, gone through baby clothes, measured the snow (a little over 6.5 inches), emailed my two mommy friends, finished my morning chores, stuffed a load of diapers and washed a load of laundry. I'll be building a snowman with The Muffin as soon as it stops sleeting/snowing/raining.

Ellie is everywhere! She gets this determined look on her face when she sees something across the room that she wants...and then she goes for it! It takes her a while to get where she wants to go, but she is persistent.

The Muffin is enjoying extra time with her daddy. She is adamant about not sledding with him after almost landing in a small pond the last time. She's looking forward to watching a movie from the Library a little later.

I'm still in my pajamas because my favorite black yoga pants are in the dryer. I really love the Olay moisturizer after a couple of days use. The Aveeno feels great too. So far, Big Daddy hasn't noticed my glowing skin. I'll let you know if he does, but don't hold your breath.

From Yesterday...

a few pictures of our Thursday morning before the Library.

Maggie picked out her own outfit and I let her wear it to the Library. What can I say, it was Thursday and she had completely wore me down over the course of the week. She says that it matches because of the pink and brown. I couldn't argue with that logic.

Baby Ellie enjoys hanging out in her crib and likes to stand up and wave at me. This isn't so cute at naptime, but I can't help but smile.

You may notice that both Maggie & Ellie are playing Kindermusik instruments! The Fiddlesticks, Stir Xylophone and the Zig Zag Blocks have been getting a GOOD workout this week! Muff is know a somewhat certified Kindermusik instructor and Ellie is her faithful student!

I'm updating this on Friday morning to let you know that my new moisturizer is already working! I decided on an Olay product for night and an Aveeno product for day. Both have UV protection so that's good. Anyway, we were eating breakfast and Muff said, "Mommy, I love you. You look so pretty today." I haven't even brushed my hair yet, so it must be the miracle cream!

So...

I've been doing research online (you know, in my spare time, also known as 10 minutes during nap yesterday) and I think I've made a few decisions about moisturizer (see last post), but I'm still open for suggestions. I'm going to go shopping a little today and look at a couple of products from Neutrogena and Olay.

Neutrogena makes my new favorite hand product for my terribly dry hands. I'm thinking about a tinted moisturizer since summer's coming (eventually) and I don't like to wear make up in hot weather. It also offers sun protection.

My very special VP Mommy friend, Jen, recommended a couple of Olay products and I'm a big fan of anything Olay. I'm thinking about an Olay product to use at night.

Of course, I'll look at everything else moisturizing and age-defying while I'm out at the pharmacy and the not so super center. I'll probably think it over before I make a purchase...just because that's what I do.

Happy Thursday!

We're off to Storytime and then The Muffin is going to spend some time with Nana. I'm planning to play with Ellie and put more of the clothes that she's outgrown away.

Well...

We had a horrible morning! I was literally getting Maggie and myself dressed in the kitchen while shoveling oatmeal and bananas into Baby Ellie. I brushed my teeth as we headed out the door. It seems we all got used to sleeping until 8:00 during that one week Winter hiatus from preschool!

All of the running around so that Muff could get to preschool and Baby Ellie could go to her "8 month well baby visit" (that's what I said when I scheduled the appointment) that isn't supposed to occur until she's 9 months old. Anyway, the doctor checked her ears and said that the fussing must be because of teething. I was relieved. We had a much better night last night.

After Ellie's appointment, my mom and I did a little shopping. We both bought one thing at H.obby Lobby. (And Tara, they have green tractor Easter baskets, as in John Deere green tractors!) Of course, I'll need to spend more money getting artificial something or other to go in my new ($7.50) thing. So frustrating what it costs for fake flowers and stuff.

After nap, I'm taking the girls to the grocery store so that we can pick up a few things in case we get the winter weather that may come this weekend. We're also going to the Library to return books and get a few more. We made the mistake of going after Storytime last week and I'm not doing that again.

On the bright side, me and the mommies are trying to get together soon. We've started saying things like "I love you" and signing emails with "xoxoxo" again so it's definitely time! I miss these girls so much! There's something that really bonds you about going through motherhood and pregnancies together. We have to find the time to get together with our kids in tow, of course! I swear, I'm busier as a mom than I was on my busiest, craziest day as a working woman.

And now, on the down side...I asked Big Daddy what he wanted for Valentine's day and he said, "Nothing. My credit card bill is $$$$. I just want to pay it and save money." Then he rambled something about tuition being expensive and those new tires on my SUV and I lost interest. Uggghhh. I guess that means that I shouldn't ask for perfume. I plan to treat myself sometime soon to a few girly pleasures like new make up and moisturizer...which I'll by with my money.
Any recommendations for good (cheap, maybe)moisturizers would be greatly appreciated. Maybe something in the anti-aging department. I'll be asking about hair color before you know it, since I pulled out gray hair number 2.

Growing Too Fast

My girls are growing too fast!!

I put Baby Ellie in her bed for a few minutes so that I could clean up one of her messes and came back to find her STANDING. I knew it would happen soon enough, but I'm just not ready for my baby to do these things! I pulled out the playpen this weekend so that I can keep her confined when I need to and she loves it! She crawls around mostly in small circles, so it's pretty easy to keep track of her for now.

She's been spending a lot of time in here!

Ellie seems to really love drawers!

The Muffin is officially moving out of the toddler area in stores now. She picked out a dress this weekend from the "big girls' section". Of course, almost the same clothes sell for a few dollars more, which sucks. It's also hard to find matching/coordinating outfits for both girls now.

The Muffin in her "heart dress".

They absolutely adore each other!

We missed church on Sunday because of Big Daddy's illness and a very grumpy Baby Ellie. I didn't want to leave her in the nursery because she was so fussy. Big Daddy felt really bad, so I didn't want to leave her with him either. I'm sure that she is a) about to get more teeth or b) has an ear infection or c) both. I called yesterday to schedule her 8 month appointment for next week and they scheduled it for tomorrow. After being up with a crying Ellie every 2 hours last night, I'm SO ready for this doctor's visit. I hope that her ears are clear, but an infection would explain her fussiness. She is also throwing up all through the house. It's fun times around here!

Breaking News!!!!

Guess who just started crawling???

Baby Ellie!!!!

She was trying to get The Muffin's NRA magazine. Ellie doesn't realize that she'll receive her own monthly mailings once her daddy gets her a Life Membership in the National Rifle Association.

And in other news...

Big Daddy has been diagnosed with shingles. I'm getting ready to start a plethora of research so that I can know as much as possible about what this means for Ellie. She could technically get the chicken pox (since she hasn't been vaccinated) from it. I'm also wondering if I should keep her away from other children because of the chicken pox incubation period. She could have it, but not show symptoms for several more days. I'll give her pediatrician a call in the morning.

Have A Great Weekend!

Day...I've lost track

I'm still having headache issues and I'm SO tired of it! I have been able to sleep later than usual this week and our mornings have been sort of lazy, (Muff's out of preschool for "Winter Break") but I haven't felt like doing anything all that exciting. I think I've been free of a headache for about 12 hours since Saturday.

Of course, it was sort of exciting having the dishwasher repair man, our builder and the plumber come by on consecutive mornings this week. None of them caught me in my pajamas and I'm happy to report that all is well and that I used the dishwasher (for maybe the eleventh time) this morning. The plumber's personality was horrible, but I can't wait to call Kevin the repairman if anything around here goes haywire. He had a great personality, good manners and a sense of humor. He was by far The Muffin's favorite visitor.

Another exciting little event from this week occurred yesterday. Muff asked for her chocolate chip pancakes and we only had the stuff for blueberry pancakes. She happily had blueberry pancakes for breakfast and then we went shopping for more pancake mix. She picked out strawberry, blueberry, banana and of course, chocolate chip. She only has pancakes about three or four times a week. She also loves boiled eggs or cereal for breakfast.

We have no plans for the weekend, other than church on Sunday. The Muffin is anxiously waiting for her "Worship and Music"class on Sunday night. I'm equally excited about my parenting class. Baby Ellie may stay at home from church this weekend because her bottom is extremely red and sore. I wouldn't want anyone to have to change the poor thing's diaper. I guess that's what happen when you have constant bowel movements! I am ready for some new teeth to come in so that our sweet girl can get rid of the Desitin and get back into her cloth diapers! (You aren't supposed to use fanny creams with cloth diapers unless you use diaper liners and since she is one big stinky diaper these days, I'll gladly use disposables)

Big Daddy has another doctor's appointment tomorrow. This will be his third one since Sunday and he never goes to the doctor. I'm thinking of tagging along and making sure that I understand the original diagnosis and the course of treatment. I'll save the details for sometime when I have nothing else to blog about, but I would appreciate your prayers for him. It's hard to put your trust into a doctor and hope that they are giving you the correct information and Big Daddy doesn't ask questions the way I do. I may also try to see how open this doctor is to having a patient (me) that likes to diagnose herself and then request the medicines that she'd like. After nearly ten years of migraines, exacerbation of asthma and severe bronchitis, I know what I need, but I have to have a doctor write out the prescriptions for me.

Anyway...that's all for now unless something exciting happens!

Happy Weekend!

Favorite Things- The Mommy Endorsement

I have had a little mental list going in my head of some of my favorite baby/mommy things for a long time. These are things that have made my life a little easier over the past (almost) four years. I read my friend Tara's list the other day and decided to finally write these down.

A stationary entertainer.
Ellie loves her Bounce Bounce Baby. We drag it from room to room and outside when we can.

A pizza cutter.
I saw an interview with a mom of multiples who listed this as one of her "must haves". I adopted it as one of my "must haves" a long tome ago and it makes life so much easier! I use the pizza cutter for cutting pancakes, spaghetti, sandwiches, meat and so many other things. I have a metal cutter and a plastic one so I can use one or the other on pretty much any surface. It saves quite a bit of time when preparing food for a self-feeder.

Sippy Cups.
We own all sorts of Avent products (from the Avent Isis IQ Uno B.reast Pump, Avent bottles and pacifiers to the Avent Magic Cups) but both of our girls have started first using this sippy cup from Nuby. No matter what I've tried with the Avent Magic Cups I just couldn't get Ellie or Maggie to drink from it until they were older. I love Avent bottles and cups because ALL of the pieces are interchangeable, but this is our started sippy cup. The entire top is silicone and soft like a nipple and it's BPA free.

Sleep sacks.
I think I sleep a little better knowing that little arms and legs are snug as a bug in a rug at night.

The Munchkin Fresh Food Feeder.
This is great to give a teething baby! Ellie will be happy in the highchair for the few minutes it takes me to prepare the plates IF she has something to chew on. We have found that apples work best in our feeder. Pears were to juicy and bananas made a stringy mess. I've also heard that frozen grapes work great.

Sheet savers.
It's so much easier to change a sheet saver than it is to change the actual sheet. These are especially nice if you have a baby that spits up a lot.

Painting with water.

This was totally my mom's idea, but it keeps Maggie (and Callie) entertained for the longest time. All you need is pavement or concrete, a bucket of water, paintbrushes and a day warm enough to be outside.

Fanny cream.
I haven't had to deal with diaper rash very much with Ellie, (thanks to cloth diapers being SO much better on the skin) but we're in the middle of bad times around here! Ellie has been having a dirty diaper at nearly every change. I'm blaming it on solid foods and teething and it's wreaking havoc on her little bottom. I love the smell of Palmer's Bottom Butter and we've also used Dr. Boudreaux's Butt Paste. I think the original (or creamy) Desitin is hard to beat, but it isn't quite as easy to put on and wipe off. Triple Paste is great for bad rashes, but it's a little (okay, maybe a lot) pricier.

A toddler that's not having a tantrum.

I think the sunshine, warmer weather and fresh air had everything to do with this smile.

Have A New Kid By Friday
I really think this is a great book and it should help with the above! It really is about changing the way that we parent so that we can achieve the results that we want. I have found it very challenging to change the way that I did things, but it has helped with certain aspects of Maggie's behavior. This book really is about raising and parenting your child, not just changing the kids' behavior.

Day 5

Today is day five of me having a really bad headache. It's just on the verge of being a migraine, yet I'm still managing to keep bottoms clean, the house is presentable, laundry isn't behind and dinner is ready every evening when a certain someone comes home from work.

Although I've been a high-functioning mommy this week, the headache started messing with my mind on day three. I convinced The Muffin (after she had assured me that we had already returned our library books) to go through the whole house with me on the hunt for our books so that we could take them back to the Library this week. After ten minutes, maybe more, I remembered that the books had been returned last Thursday.

As if that wasn't enough fun, there's more. On Monday night I heard a strange hummmmming noise when I was putting Ellie to bed. It was just enough of a noise to annoy me. Big Daddy heard it too, but he didn't go through each room in the house trying to figure out what it was. He sat on the couch with the laptop and worked on homework. I put both girls to bed, hunted for the sound, went through each room in the house and the garage, walked upstairs and checked the bonus room and attic, took a shower and then realized that the sound was coming from his laptop bag on the stairs. His work laptop was on and the fan was running making just enough of a hummmmm to drive me crazy.

I have only the slightest hint of a headache today and I'm hoping that he end of it is near. No matter what, I'll be taking the girls to the Library to get new books today so that we can miss the Storytime rush tomorrow.

I'll try to post pictures of our afternoon outside in the sunshine a little later.

Favorite Things

My mom made a quick trip to H.obby Lobby and picked up the little sister for me! I love these two together!

Big Daddy and The Muffin put stickers all over Ellie during lunch on Saturday. I think she liked it!

Our family does NOT eat without pants on. This is strictly a Muffin thing!

Baby Ellie has the biggest, sweetest cheeks...and I need curtains for the living room. I haven't found the "right" ones to go with the new furniture, so we're curtain-less.

I Have Decided

If you read my last post you would find today so amusing!

After about 15 minutes in my today, I was sure that I didn't want/couldn't handle another child!

My sweet, strong-willed Muffin has given me a run for my money today AND the dishwasher decided to leak all over the kitchen floor, but we managed to get to church early this morning! Our house and dishwasher are only 5 months old and I think today was maybe the sixth time that the dishwasher has been used. Luckily, I caught the leak at the beginning and only half of the hardwood floor in the kitchen was underwater.

I'm about to start cooking dinner and then I'll be taking the girls to church all by myself. Muff is super-excited about her Worship and Music class and I hope that Ellie will enjoy more nursery time. I'm looking forward to my parenting class and I know that God must have a great discussion planned for tonight because today has kicked my butt.

To top it all off, I think I found my first gray hair.

Enlighten Me

My phone rang on Monday and I got all excited. It was my mommy friend A's ring. She called earlier than we usually talk and it was a preschool day. Ellie was being fed in her highchair and Muff was happily chowing down on something. As soon as the phone touched my ear, Muff and Ellie started playing and laughing. After a few minutes Muff left the room. It wasn't long before she was yelling for me to wipe her bottom. Because I'm a good mom I yelled, "Wipe it yourself". She chose to spend the next ten minutes yelling, "COME WIPE ME". Then Ellie started crying.

After I finished my phone call (yes, I made her wait) I went to the bathroom to check on her and she had only peed. I reminded her a) to be quiet when mommy's on the phone and b) I don't wipe pee pee bottoms.

So...my phone conversation with A was cut short and I finally called her back yesterday. We talked and talked until her big boy, C, needed her. We can't have a conversation over the phone without one of our four combined children needing us.

Last night, I wanted to go to the pharmacy to get a pumice or something to help with my horrible feet, but it didn't happen. There was a baby to feed, dishes to wash, a kitchen to clean and husband that wanted to talk about his day and the beach. Then there was a husband that needed to do his homework, a baby that was fussing and a big girl to bathe. Then came two little girls that needed to go to bed. It seems never-ending.

At least a few times a day I think, "I can't wait to____". Usually the blank is filled with shop alone or sleep. I'll do both when I'm older, I guess.

The truth is, these are the days that I'm going to miss the most. Sometimes I just want Baby Ellie to crawl and get all of her teeth so that she'll stop fussing. But then I'll have no more babies.

I read MckMamas blog today and found out she was pregnant. I'm jealous. But I'm also finished. If anyone would have ever told me that two wouldn't feel like enough, I would not have believed them. My friend A and I talk about this all the time.

Big Daddy is SO content with two. Two little girls. Two pink shotguns. Two college funds.

We talk about how three would make us want a fourth bedroom (because Big Daddy must have his bonus room) and a minivan and we'd never get to have a beach house or a date night for goodness sakes.

So...on certain days two is enough and other days I wonder how we could not have three.

There aren't plans for any more McMillan Miracles but please enlighten me...how do you know when you're really done???

Two Girls and A Wedding

We have a very busy weekend ahead of us!

My brother-in-law is getting (re)married tomorrow (Don't even get me started on this) and we are taking Maggie & Ellie. It is presumably going to be a very small ceremony since we just found out about it a couple of days ago. I have no idea what I'm going to wear, but I'm leaning towards trouser jeans, heels and hopefully something from my sister's closet. I'm going over tonight to "shop". I really don't care if I'm under-dressed.

Big Daddy and Maggie are both slightly perturbed (sp?) that they'll be missing their Saturday morning at the gym. I'm missing my three hours alone with Ellie and a little quiet time to read and partake in the 30 Day Shred.

Someone is hopefully getting a little brother or sister tomorrow. It's this guy...or is it a girl?? Big Daddy likes my little thingamajig so much that he told me to go back and get the smaller one too! I'm hoping that H.obby Lobby will still have one on their clearance aisle. I even found something around the house to fill it with and we both really like it.

Baby Ellie is extremely grumpy today. She has red, dry places on both hands where she's been gnawing on them. I'm expecting more teeth anytime. Poor thing is SO desperately trying to crawl, but she just can't get the hang of it yet.

Maggie has been the sweetest thing for the past couple of days! Now, that's worth writing about! Maybe she's trying to make up for her grumpy sister, but I'll take a well-behaved Muffin any way I can get her.

Sunday will be busy with church, lunch, nap, dinner and then Maggie goes to her Worship and Music class, we go to our parenting class and Ellie goes to the nursery. My sweet mommy friend A also bought the book that we're doing so we'll be comparing notes over the phone.

Someone's crying, so I'd better go!

Straight from the camera

I try to clean off the memory card in our camera every once in a while. Here are a few that made me smile today.

Me, Ellie and my mom went to H.obby Lobby today because I needed the apothecary jar of my dreams if it was still on the clearance aisle. I couldn't commit to it, but I got this little ditty. I took a picture of it on my mantle because I'm at a loss as to what to do with it. This is a close up.

The Muffin is such a sweet big sister. She's helping Ellie master the sippy cup.

The Muffin is obviously imitating her daddy.

I took several pictures of Big Daddy for him to post as part of his first assignment for his class.

I think these two look an awful lot alike!

I love the way the girls take over my bedroom in the morning while I'm completing the chores of the day. Muff brings her B.arbies in and gets busy!

Ellie loves to see where I am at all times. I love it when she looks over her shoulder at me.

The Muffin put Ellie's tea set in the fridge "so that the tea could cool". It's right above our sparkling cider from New Year's Eve.

Sometimes there's a puppet show before dinner.

Ellie and her sippy cup.

Random Stuff

Today has been one of my "do nothing" days. Meaning I did laundry, home-keeping and taking care of the kids and not a whole lot else.

My mom came over a little before lunch and I talked her into walking into our favorite pizza place to pick up salads for us to eat. She was much more presentable than I was and I was not about to go into the restaurant the way that I looked. I managed to put on my favorite black yoga-ish pants (which now have the smallest drop of bleach midway down one leg) and a "nice" t-shirt before she came. Baby Ellie puked all over herself. I was so relieved that I caught most of it in my hand and that the freshly cleaned hardwood floors were spared. I changed her clothes and then she puked all over me...and the hardwood floor just as my mom was arriving. I'm blaming her tummy troubles on teething, but who really knows!?

I'm on a break from the 30 Day Shred. I did it four days last week, and had planned on doing it three or four days this week, but I'm having shoulder issues. I'm pretty sure my shoulder hurts from doing normal little daily tasks while trying to hold my big ole wiggle worm! Baby Ellie is in that awkward phase where she desperately wants to crawl and she can't sit and play for more than a couple of minutes before she tries to get moving and falls or gets really mad and screams for her mommy. Once in a while, she gets really busy playing (like now) and I feel like I get a little break from trying to occupy her.

Big Daddy has a 5:30 meeting so he'll be late tonight. Once he gets home he'll eat dinner and then go up to the bonus room to do school stuff. Both Ellie and Maggie love it when he comes home, so it's hard for them to understand why he has to eat and run.

I did three loads of laundry yesterday and a load of diapers and still had a full load to do this morning. When I die, I'm pretty sure my tombstone will be shaped like a washing machine.

I'm officially ready for Spring. I know we still have a few months of winter ahead of us, but I'm ready for longer days, breaks from preschool and Big Daddy's school, long walks after dinner and trips to the beach.

The Weekend

Our little "date" went well. We ate at Panera (which is fast becoming our favorite place to eat out at) and went to T.arget. I think we were away from Maggie & Ellie for a little over three hours! I always feel like I'm in such a hurry to relieve their babysitter, a.k.a. Nana!

On Sunday, we went to church. Ellie's Sunday school teacher invited Maggie to join in the Spring semester of the "Worship & Music"/children's choir. I talked it over with Maggie and oitched it as sort of like K.indermusik. She was excited to go and seemed to have a really nice time. Big daddy and I dropped Ellie of in the nursery and went into the sanctuary for the Spring Discipleship kick off. We couldn't agree on a class to attend (he wanted "The Truth Project:Revisited" and I wanted "Have A New Kid By Friday"...maybe that was a sign that we should've signed up for "How to Build a Lasting Marriage"!) so we decided to stay in the sanctuary...then we decided to take the parenting class: "Have A New Kid By Friday". Of course, it's about modifying and changing your parenting methods more than your child! Kristen is talking about it today, so now I'm even more excited. The associate pastor and his wife are leading the class and they are parents of a strong-willed child, so it should be fun and interesting. I also ran into a parent from Maggie's preschool, so we should be able to talk a little between Sunday night classes. Big Daddy promises to read the book, but he may miss a few classes because he is resuming his MBA classes.

Anyway...I'm really excited about learning better ways to parent and getting to know a few people in our very BIG church.

So Exciting!!

First of all, Patrice Karst left a comment on my previous post about our library books! How exciting is that!? She is the author of The Invisible String. This just may be my new favorite book for older preschoolers! (Maggie has enjoyed it so much that I will probably purchase it in the near future.) I cannot wait to read Patrice's latest book The Smile That went Around The World.

Now for a little more excitement...Big Daddy and I are going on a date later today! My mom offered to keep Maggie & Ellie last week (as if she doesn't help us enough) so that we could have a little date, but we took them with us for a little lunch out. We really don't go out very much as a family, so it's hard to leave them behind. Other than our very rushed Christmas shopping date, this will be the first time we've been without both of them for a meal...except for the burgers that we had after we closed on our new house.

We decided to go for a late lunch so that Maggie & Big Daddy could go to the gym and so that we'll be home in plenty of time for bath and bedtime. We had picked out a restaurant and then five minutes later we were both leaning towards Panera! It's really cold outside, so soup sounds delightful!

And in other news, Maggie has planned her birthday party a few months in advance! She wants a "balloon cake", hot dogs, chips, ice cream and a party with Cousin Callie and just family. I went through all the possibilities of other cousins and friends, but right now it will just be my parents, my sister and her family and my two aunts. Maggie has become so shy so I really want to honor her wishes even though I want to invite my mommy friends and their kids. (And just so you know, we don't label her as shy in front of her, or at least I don't. I also don't encourage or force her to talk or hug people if she doesn't want to.)

Happy Weekend!

Library Books

Since we moved back to my hometown, I've started checking out books at the local library for The Muffin. I never checked out library books in Sanford, but we would always read at least one book in the children's room after Storytime each week. At our new library, we try to get a few books at a time and The Muffin also likes to get at least one movie. I've found that it's best to go any other time than Thursday before or after Storytime.

I usually only get to read the books a couple of times because Muff likes to make up or retell the story in her own way. This provides lots of entertainment for me and Ellie! I try to browse through the books to make sure that there aren't too many words and I also look for inappropriate words since I found the "F" word (fart, not fat or that other "f" word) in an Arthur book once. If a book has great illustrations then I'm more likely to want to read it to the girls.

How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen & Mark Teague
There are lots of other How Do Dinosaurs ___ books to go along with this one. It would be great for a little boy or girl who is interested in dinosaurs or that needs a little help in one of the areas mentioned in the books.This has rhyming words and great illustrations. I remembered this one from our old library and thought it would be nice to read again.

Celestine Drama Queen by Penny Ives
I'm sure you can guess why I picked this one for our little drama queen!! Celestine is a little duck that wants to be a star! She creates little outfits for herself and sometimes insists on being called by a different name. (I think this book is about my Muffin) Maggie really enjoyed this story and it's illustrations. It had a few more words than what I like, but it was so cute!

Llama Llama Mad At Mama by Anna Dewdney
This is another series that we love! Llama Llama is a lot like Maggie too! Little Llama goes through lots of the same things that our toddlers go through from tantrums and separation anxiety (Llama Llama Misses Mama) to having trouble going to bed (Llama Llama Red Pajama). This book also has rhyming words which are great for teaching toddlers how to rhyme and keeping them interested in the story.

Along Came You by Karona Drummond, illustrated by Estelle Corke
This was the last book that I picked out and I'm sure it was the pink cover and glittery letters that caught my eye. And maybe that the mom and daughter on the front reminded me of me and my Muffin) This book would be sweet to give a new mom as a gift. The mom goes through all of the things that have changed in her life since she became a mother, from decorating her house to going out and about.

The Invisible String by Patrice Karst, illustrated by Geoff Stevenson
I started reading this one in the library and had to stop because it was that sweet. The mom tells her twins about an invisible string that always connects them to the ones that they love...even their loved ones in Heaven. The pictures are simple and cute and the story really stuck with Muff. I'm going to read this one to her several times and remind her of the invisible string that connects us when we're not close together.

Another Ordinary Day

I've been feeling a little bit like life is passing us by lately, so I'm going to try and take more pictures of the little things that we do during our days. Sort of a snapshot of our everyday life. I'd like for Maggie and Ellie to look back at our "scrapbook" and see a bit of all of the things that we did with them.

Tuesday- Here's The Muffin and Ellie doing what they do while I cook dinner. I had to go to get a four wheel alignment (or something) done on my SUV so my mom kept the girls for a little over an hour. I also made a quick stop by the library for new books, too. I grabbed five books really quick and they were all big hits with The Muffin! She made up stories to go with the pictures until I could read all five books to her while dinner was taking care of itself. I'll share a little about our books later on.

One of my favorite things about the kitchen is the way that the sun shines in the windows in the evening. At our old house, we watched the sunrise while eating breakfast, so this is a neat change.


Baby Ellie is always so happy to see her daddy when he gets home! She wiggles and waits for him to pick her up. Big Daddy has a bad cold this week, so he was already in his pajamas, but managed to remember to wear his cell phone.

This picture really shows the personalities of our two girls! The Muffin is so silly and can do her "cross eyed face" with absolutely no effort. Ellie is all smiles 90% of the time. She managed to get green beans all over her pants so I put on a pair of Babylegs (courtesy of Aunt Lisa) and of course, her sister needed some too. I'm not sure how Muff can run around without pants on all the time, but she does it and she very rarely ever complains of being cold. One of her new favorite looks is socks, p.anties and a shirt, with Babylegs thrown in there once in a while.

Wednesday- It looks like Dorothy is back! I can't say that I've missed her. We came in from preschool and The Muffin wanted to wear her Dorothy dress. I decided to get her clothes changed so that we could move on to lunch without any major tantrums. Of course, she needed pigtails too. About 25 minutes later, we were finally ready to eat.

I managed to accomplish lots while The Muffin was at preschool. I folded laundry (from the day before), played in the floor with Ellie, fed Ellie, put Ellie down for a nap, did the Shred, put laundry away and then gathered the stuff to do another load of laundry after lunch. A snapshot of my everyday life would always include laundry! Up next, I'm going to have a hot cup of Earl Grey tea, wash a load of diapers and clean the counter tops in the kitchen. I've learned that if I don't dry the granite after I wipe it the water spots drive me crazy, so this takes twice as long as it used to, but still not long at all.