The One With Lots Of Parentheses

Michael is on a business trip this week, so after preschool today, the girlies and I headed to Waterworks Park to run out some energy. Well, *they* ran out some energy. Between allergies and the lone parent thing, plus going to bed way WAY too late, my energy is very low already! Sierra, my super duper awesome friend, met us at the park with Isabella and Isaac and brought me a passion-tea-lemonade (my favorite!) from Starbucks. Because she is awesome. Did I mention that already? Anyway, of course the girlies needed to have some of the drink. Maya asks very sweetly ~ "Mommy, can I please try just a little sip of your drink?" (which means, if she gets ahold of it, I'd better watch out or she will very quickly drink a *big* sip!). Charlotte, on the other hand, just points and screams while I pretend to not know what she is asking for. What? You would do the same thing. Don't lie. Anyway, because I am so kind and generous, I did let Maya have a "little" sip (several, actually) and let Charlotte try it, though she hasn't quite figured out how to use a straw and is always surprised when she gets something out of it! To be fair, she does the same with a regular cup and a sippy cup :P Anyway, even after the drink was long gone and only ice remained, Charlotte demanded that she be the one in charge of the cup. She carried it around the playground like she carries her babies at home...which of course means she dropped it several times, shook it up and down on occasion, and then abandoned it on the ground when she got tired of it...what a good little mommy :P

We also met up with another awesome friend Adrianne and her adorable (and very photogenic!) daughter Kendall, and the girlies all played together very well!

The girls and I had a pretty great day, but I am *certainly* looking forward to Michael coming home on Friday. We will be counting down the minutes by then, I am sure! And on Saturday morning I get to go to book club (yay!!!) by myself (double yay!!!) while he takes the girlies on a preschool field trip (I know, right??? Don't worry, I am sending him with the camera and the instruction to document EVERYTHING).

And without further ado, here are some pictures of our time at the park :D

I love this picture, and am so sad that "Baby Jaguar" (who is actually a tiger) got in the way!

Your eyes are not deceiving you ~ the girls are playing on the same toy. TOGETHER. And they are not fighting.

The very photogenic Kendall

Thinking...

It was just too tempting. Though she did stop when I asked her to. I use the "you need to be a good example for Charlotte, since she's just a baby!" reasoning. So far it works pretty well :D

A random toy (cake topper?) that we found. Well, that Charlotte found. And put in her mouth. Gross.

Charlotte and her cup

She also kept going after Sierra's drink. The girl is determined!

Just A Cute Picture Of Charlotte Tickling Herself

My Little Model

We just pulled out the fall clothes (yay fall!!!) and Charlotte is finally fitting into the several pairs of pants that my mom crocheted when Maya was a baby. I'm loving this! Charlotte can totally rock them, too.

Of course I have to give equal time ~ Maya also made them look pretty stinkin' cute :)

And in case you were wondering, Maya is just over 5 months old in that picture (and newly sitting, if I recall correctly). Charlotte is teetering on the edge of 15 months in hers.

Monkey See...

...monkey do.

Also, Charlotte looks more and more like Aunt Katie each day!

The One With The Budding Photographer

Almost every time I pull out my camera, Maya asks me if she can "help". I usually bribe her by saying that if she gives me a really pretty smile, I'll let her push the button the next time.

Yesterday, though, she really *really* wanted to take a picture of her doll. All by herself.

So, after lots and lots of instruction on being veryveryvery careful, I handed over the camera. I showed her how you look through the viewfinder and push the button when you see what you want to see.

Then I stepped back and let her snap a few. She loved it!

This definitely won't be a regular thing (I'm gonna have to get her her own camera...one that can withstand all a toddler can throw at it, literally!), but she actually did a pretty good job!

The photographer and her subject:

*all photos except the final one were taken by Maya*

The One With 5,000 Words

The One With The Cousins

This weekend my mom, sisters and I hit the big city (ok, Cleveland) for the Women of Faith conference. We had a great time ~ we laughed (Anita Renfroe), cried (the Chapman family), sang, listened, learned, and loved. We have decided that we will have a girls' weekend every year because it was just so good to get together with each other! The girls did FANTASTIC away from me ~ a small part of me hoped that Charlotte would have a really hard time and that there would be tears and clinging and running to me with joy when we reunited; because she is still my baby and I want her to need me just as much as she always has. But she showed me that she is strong and independent and, while it makes me a little sad, mostly I'm just so proud of my baby and glad for the strong attachment that we have formed, that she feels ok to be with daddy instead for a few days (not nights, though ~ gotta have mama at nighttime! :)).

I don't have any pictures of the conference itself, but we did get lots of the kiddos at the hotel when Michael was doing drop-off and pick-up for Charlotte. I'll post more tomorrow, but here is one of my favorites. My girlie is just so big and such a good cousin. We sat her down and asked her to hold Jacob (my nephew). She took her job seriously! She was not gonna let go, and when he laid his little (ok, big!) head on her cheek, she was just as happy as could be. She didn't even want to turn her head for the picture, lest she wiggle him too much! If only she was that careful and considerate of her sister... ;)

If You Think Her Arms Are Full...

...you should see her heart!

The Grandma/Grandkids photo shoot went about as well as we could have expected :D

Duck, Duck, Silly Face!

A couple of nights ago we ate dinner outside, and afterward Michael thought it would be fun to show the girls the "pull the tablecloth out from under the dishes" trick. As you can see, it turned out really well!

There is no cup.

After that, he continued to be goofy as I tried to capture a picture of the two of us...and lest you believe that he finally relented and was trying to be nice, in the last picture (or 3, actually) he has his eyes closed ON PURPOSE. Silly silly Michael :)

Then we went to feed the ducks.

This duck got a little too close for Michael's comfort, mostly because Charlotte and Maya were very interested in it!

And this is my favorite picture from the evening. I was trying to be all creative and artsy, and looking at the picture was thinking, "woohoo! I succeeded!" And then I realized that instead of focusing on Maya like I had intended, I focused on Charlotte, in the background, screaming like a banshee. Nice :)