What about Bob

Bob the Builder, that is. That's what both Emmylou and Miller call bulldozers and whatever else those construction thingies are called. I think Tripp started it (and my kids obviously thought it was super cool) so whenever we're driving around town I'm never surprised to hear random shouts of "Bob Builder!" when we pass construction sites.

I thought Miller was going to bust a gut this evening when we pulled into our driveway across the street from this new house that just went up and is almost finished. First we had to go inside our own house and eat dinner, but Miller was having none of that. ALL he wanted to do was go see "Bob." So finally after dinner, Emmylou hopped on her scooter (and donned her Dora mittens, natch) for the arduous 30 foot journey across the street.

Emmylou walked all around Bob,
noticed that the tires were taller than her,
and checked out what was in the scooper/digger/whatchamacallit...
Meanwhile, Miller was terrified! He was literally trembling in my arms! When I asked him if he wanted to touch bob, he shook his head "no!" Was he scared? Overwhelmed with excitement? I don't know! But this is the closest he came:
Then we took a little walk down our street and it turns out Bob wasn't the only unusual vehicle out today. Check out this weird Swiss Army (it said "Suisse" something) truck we saw:

Finally we went back home and someone was feeling a bit more comfortable in his own sweet ride:

Shiny Happy People

Even better: Clean, happy people.

The classic: "Mommy, I have a beard!"
Bubbles always make a bath so much better.
Blurry but too cute to not post...

Come aboard, we're expecting you

Attention! Attention! Princess Birthday Cruise departing at 0-800 hours.

Okay, not really at 8 a.m., but we did have a birthday party on a boat out at Grammie's lakehouse the weekend of Emmylou's real birthday.

Prior to setting sail, Emmylou got properly dressed for the occasion in Grammie's birthday present to her: a custom made, real, live princess dress (ZOMG!). She even got to pick out the material herself (pink, pink and more pink with sparkles, please).

Here she is when Grammie gave it to her...
Must. Put. On. Immediately. L-o-o-o-o-o-o-v-e it.

But sometimes princesses are very serious, too, you know.
After getting into THE dress, she put the finishing touches on a little cake made just for the boat party.
Of course the boat was decked out with balloons (doesn't Grammie think of everything?!).
"Why exactly must this atrocity be worn over my spectacular new gown?"
The captain and first mate:
"I'm the queen of the world!!!"
Grammie love...
Once we docked back at the house it was time for Emmylou to open her birthday present from Emily. As soon as she saw that Disney-princess-pink box (you other moms of girls know the color, of course), she was beyond excited.
Oh my, what could it possibly be?
Not a Disney Princess Cool Bake Magic Oven!
Must bake disgusting, I mean, delicious cakes immediately. With ice. Mmm-kay.

Happy birthday, Princess.*


*I seriously can't believe I just called her that.

Pearly whites

Emmylou finally went (I know, I know, I was really late in taking her) to the dentist last week!

And how lucky are we that our dentist happens to be our friend Angie, Gaby's mom? Angie has saved Gary's butt (or, rather, his teeth) more than once and she's currently helping me get my teeth back in shape after being too busy (taking care of a couple of kids I know) to worry about going to the dentist.

Just know that the next time you see us as a family you may need to wear sunglasses because our teeth will be so dazzling white! Thanks, Angie, you're the best!

Emmylou's birthday party

Emily gave me the photos from Emmylou's carnival-themed birthday party the other day and there were so many good ones I decided to make a slideshow. How good of a photographer is Emily? You can hardly tell that the weather was absolutely miserable! Thanks again, Em!

Someone please pass me a paper bag

I'm starting to hyperventilate!

How can my baby girl possibly be 4 years old now?!

Lots of posts in progress... Check back soon!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

These two are so cute it hurts

No, not my children, but these new additions to the Austin Zoo!

Memphis and Anastasia are 7 week old Barbary Lions that only come out for 1 hour on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons to greet their adoring public.

Emmylou's friends Luke and Scarlett (our neighbors) inspired an impromptu visit this past Monday. It was cold and a little rainy but the cuteness was well worth the hassle.


Apparently there are no Barbary Lions left in the wild and only around 100 left in captivity. :(

And here are my wild animals...

Emmylou, attempting to poke/torment a peacock with a pencil she found in the bottom of the stroller:

And Miller, so unhappy to be strapped into the stroller when he could be running around tormenting peacocks:

And here are the adorable twins:

If you're in Austin, go see the lions!

Miller is 18 months old!

Dear Miller,

You're one and a half, Little Man! Holy moley! I'm not sure how this has managed to happen but it has, so let's deal.

These days you have one strong personality. You are stubborn like a mule and your main means of communicating is "the slap." You don't want to eat? You slap the food. You don't want to drink? You slap the cup. You don't like Emmylou in your face? You slap her. Have you noticed yet that she slaps back?!

I'm reminding myself daily that this is just a phase and I'm begging you here to please make it quick. I know you're really frustrated because you don't have the words you need to talk so I'm hoping they're right around the corner. It seems like just this past week you've started talking a lot more, spouting out more sentence-like speech which is completely unintelligible but really cute. Most of it has to do with "choo choos," I think. "Choo-choos" are your favorite thing at the moment followed by cars or anything with wheels. Good thing we're on Mopac daily because we are constantly seeing choo-choos up and down the track. You get SO excited.

You're still pretty stingy with your kisses (you'd rather be tossed around on the bed and tickled or rough-housed) but you're even more cuddly and hug-able now than ever. You were never one to sleep much on my chest or snuggle a lot but that seems to be changing. I love it.

When Emmylou isn't practicing her Ultimate Fighting Champion moves on you, you guys actually get along pretty well. I'm always a little surprised at how happy you seem when she appears and she takes a lot of pride in making you happy when you're sad or mad. It doesn't take much coercing for her to share a snack or toy with you and lately she's been asking me to have another baby so she must like you pretty well. (Not a chance.)

You are both a whirlwind of energy and a careful observer. You love to run and climb and you think you can go down staircases all by yourself (yes, you slap my hand if I try to help you!). But you also love to really look at toys and you seem to already be trying to figure out how they work.

Even though you're turning 18 months today, I just took you to the pediatrician for your 15 month check up (yes, I'm way late) a couple of weeks ago. You were in the 75th-90th percentile for your height and 25th-50th percentile for your weight. Even though I think you're pretty skinny, the doctor says it's okay to give you a little tough love with your picky eating. No more days of eating nothing but graham crackers and yogurt! We're going to work on that a lot this month. Please don't waste away to nothing.

And please stop hitting me and everything in sight.

I love you, Miller-Boo!!

xoxoxoxo,
Mommy