Farewell 2011, I Won't Miss You At All

On a different note...Rosa was just playing with my wedding rings and I taught her to say:
"Daaaaddddyyyy....I want diamonds!". 
Folks, my work here is complete.  On to the next task...

Ode To A Potato Chip

Nobody can eat just one.

*Yes, her hands are a little dirty.  It's mud.  From the tree farm we got our Christmas tree at.  I'm just building the excitement for a Christmas post.  Strap on your seat belts.

Look Out Downtown Nati

You're getting something pretty special.
 

We were practicing our "Jim from The Office" faces.  Obvs.

We are all very proud of you! 
Love, all us girls.

Short Nap. Short Story.

Rosa woke up just after 4am this morning.  I thought certainly (insert sarcasm) she would take a nice luxuriously long nap this afternoon.  Nope.  She does have some lingering congestion from her cold last week, which is best explained by Rosa herself.
Me:  You didn't sleep nearly long enough.
Rosa:  I snorting like a pig, but I not a pig.
Me:   *uncontrollable laughter* Aww, you mean you're snorting because your nose is stuffy?
Rosa:  Yesh I do'ed.

Who's Mommy's little piggy?

Well Played

Just as I had threatened to cancel Christmas due to some atrocious behavior all morning, by calling Santa on my direct line, I overheard this while I was cleaning up from lunch:

E:  Rosa, you are my best friend. (complete with across the table double hand grab).

Go ahead, dry your tear...I'll wait.

Saved themselves just in the Nick of time.  Hahaha!  Get it?  St. Nick.  Yeah whatever, you love it.

We've Got Spirit Yes We Do

Emmy's all about school spirit.  She rocked that sweatshirt with her skinnies, cause she's trendy and spirited.  Double threat.

That's all I got for today.  The leaf blower dude arrived just as I put the girls down for a nap and he has been here for AN HOUR AND A HALF! and still going.  Seriously?  I'm all for thorough, but COME ON.  I am simultaneously threatening to take that blower out of his hand and beat him with it (in my head for now), whilst watching Rosa try to scale her crib in protest that she should ever have to sleep.  Ever.  Yesterday after she refused to nap I told her to go get me all her sleep sacks so we could give them away to children who sleep.  She did.  Happily.  If passive-aggressive threats don't work, I got nothin' left.

Black Friday

I felt it was best to expose them while they are young.

You can see they had different opinions on the early morning shopping...

ps - Emmy's wearing my hat.  We have the same hat size.  This explains so much.

Dear Rosa

Dear Rosa,

Thank you for stealing half of my bagel every this morning, licking off all of the cream cheese and then handing it back to me.  You are a delight to share a meal with.  And by "share" I mean literally share my meal with.  Regardless of what you have already eaten.  I suppose I should thank you for saving me those extra calories.  I probably shouldn't have eaten that saliva soggy bagel half, but I did.  That's just how much I love you. 

xo,
Mama

ps - stop stealing my breakfast.

Belated Gratitude

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and here I am writing a super late post, because that's who I am.   Stop judging me.  You find it secretly charming.
We had another scrumptious dinner at The House of Lloyd.  Where all good things to eat come to my plate. 

1. Rosa is grateful for ice cream.  Any dessert at all really.  I am grateful that Rosa knows the first two verses of Santa Baby and sings them often. 

2.  I am grateful for cousins who the girls love and get to grow up with.  And sweet little smushy baby faces.  Delish.

3.  I am grateful for that smile.  Which lights up the world. 

4.  I am grateful that Pat puts so much thought into what will be fun for everyone.  Pumpkin bowling?  Quote games?  Yes, please.  I am also grateful for that little nephew man I get to be related to.  He's pretty awesome. 

5.  I am grateful for family gatherings of any kind.  I love that my kids get to grow up so close to their grandparents and Aunties and Uncles.  Sorry about your luck La Jolla.  Another time.

6.  I am grateful for the intense focus of kids.  When they are doing something they want to do.  Otherwise...

7.  I am grateful for celebratory high fives, stones (avec peek-a-boo from Drew) and all kinds of celebration dances.  Rosa has some mad break dancing skills, but that's another story.

8.  I am grateful for the magic light saber coming from my chin, that Drew captured.  I am also grateful for my husband's endearing impracticality when it comes to auctions and estate sales.  Every once in a while he comes over to the dark side.  And I like it.

9.  I am grateful for Rosa's colors.  All 5,679 of them.

10.  Most of all, I am grateful for this.  Best friends for life.

Happy belated Thanksgiving to all, and to all a good night.

Dear Grammy, Stop Brainwashing My Children

Emmy came up from the basement as I was cooking lunch, with a tote bag full of stuff.  So, I asked her what she was up to.
Oh nothing...just heading off to The Ohio State University.

This is not a normal statement from a 4 year old. 

PS - Sorry 'bout that loss to Penn State.  Bummer.

On Generosity

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, Rosa offered me her sock toe fuzzies this morning while I was changing her clothes.
I passed, but thanked her for the offer. 
Miiitter Puddy!  You want my toe fuzzies miitter puddy?
He passed too.

Nothing A Quarter Bag of Pretzel M&M's Won't Cure

Do you know how hard it is to discipline/lecture/redirect someone who, when you tell her "don't walk away, I'm talking to you", her reaction is to put her hands on her hips, lean forward and raise her eyebrows while making her eyes extra big (to feign intent listening)?  Impossible.  And then I get really mad that I have to turn around and walk away to conceal my laughter.  Which really just ruins the whole thing.  And then I'm all distracted and forget what I was saying to her and.....oh.....wait....she knows this. 
I'm losing to a 4 year old.
Help.
I think I'm going to place an ad for a part-time disciplinarian who's not easily amused to come take my place as needed.  Like Supernanny, only just to bring the hammer down.

That's her sweet and innocent pose.  Pose.



"That's a bit aggressive little bunny"

Baking has gotten more and more "interesting" (I'm using this word, though I mean something else) as the girls get older and more independent.  Today we made pumpkin scones for the first time, because that is their favorite treat from Starbucks.  Aside from a triple-grande cappuccino-dry as a bone, obviously.  And well, Starbucks isn't getting any cheaper.  And if we're cutting back expenses there, guess who is more important?  Me.  Yeah.  That's right.  Mama need her fuel.
Emmy has taken on the roll of director of the baking process.  She fancies herself the CEO of operations around here, redirecting Rosa (see post title) and attempting to send her into time out for various infractions. 

I mean who better to organize this chaos than moi?  Step off Martha Stewart.  This is my kitchen.

Nnnnuuummm num num num num num num....cooooooookkkkkiesssss.

*On a separate note, Rosa and I were at the Disney store this morning during preschool and I got some disapproving looks from other parents when I was holding up the "Animal" from The Muppets doll next to Rosa to examine the similarities.

So, today I began a new rule of baking I like to call "Hands up" (It helps if you say it very quickly).  Basically whenever I need to get up to grab an ingredient or step away from the dueling chefs for a moment I call "hands up", and they drop their utensils and keep their hands in the air until I return for monitoring.  In a word...awesome.  This significantly reduced the amount of flour, sugar, etc...that was tossed out of the bowl on purpose by accident, when I have my head turned.  Who would've thought they would actually do this without question?  I did it a few unnecessary times just for fun.  You should try it.  It's a great stress reliever and makes you feel super powerful, which is why I do most things.

Currently Playing On My Video Monitor

Rosa:  Mommy!  Mommy! Mommy!  I'm done napping now (1 minute after I put her down).
           Mommy!  I'm all better now.  I done napping.
           Mommy!  It's not nappy time.  Not my nappy time now.  Mommy?
           I'm happy!  I'm happy now, I done napping!  Mommy!
           Mommy - a monster is coming!  Come get me! 
Emmy: (through the wall) Go to bed Rosa!

In One Word

Mermaids...

Cheese...

Cuuuuuute...

Tubby times are happy times.  Also, because Drew is officially in charge of tubby times which means I am officially not in charge.  Also, don't be jealous of our blue tile. 

Dear Pop

Happy Birthday to you!!!  Thank you for being our favorite Pop; then, now and always.

We couldn't love you more!  With lots of hugs and smoochies,
Your Grandladies

Just Pretend It's August 26th, Kay?

It's super hot outside, the sun is shining, the flowers are in bloom and my baby girl just turned 2!  Just yesterday, I swear it.  Which was August 25th, remember?  Now then...about my sweet Rosebud...

We started off the day with a Happy Birthday muffin, because hey, you love a muffin and I am way too lazy to bake a cake at 6am.  By the way, 6am is not sleeping in.  I know you think it is with your usual 5am wake up calls.  I will remind you frequently of this period of your life during your teenage years.  Maybe with the help of some cow bells, very loud cow bells. " Gotta get me some more cow bell." (Daddy will think that is funny, you will not get the reference).



Daddy had to go to work on your birthday (lame, I know), so we opened some smaller gifts to entertain you until the party could begin.  You are pretty easily entertained and entertaining really.  Grammy likes to call you "passionate" when you have temper tantrums (which is often).  I like to call you other things, but we won't get into that here.

When Daddy got home, we had a special "Rosa dinner", which consisted of all your favorite foods.  Let's take a look at that cuisine, shall we?  Pesto pasta, turkey kielbasa, guacamole, strawberries and warm rustic bread with olive oil and sea salt.  Maybe each item represents a fraction of your personality?  Salty, sweet, etc... You are all colors of the rainbow.

Our little party was simple and sweet as we were having a bigger celebration on the weekend.  The basement was finished just in time and you love it!  You spend equal time rolling around on the new carpet and "carving" images into it with your faux kitchen knife.  You are a complex child.

You got some great new toys, which big sis helped you unwrap.  As soon as you got one thing unwrapped you would toss it aside and move immediately to the next.  It's best to survey all of your options.  I get that.

Dessert!  You love anything chocolate, just like Daddy and Emmy.  If you don't like something, it is pushed aside with a very dramatic "Yyyyut!"  (you pronounce c's and k's as t's, and it's crazy cute).  I'm thinking you know you are adorable and use that to control people's minds.  It's very hard to resist a request for "chotlate? (eyebrows raised, head tilted)".

We danced it out before bedtime, because we love to dance in this house!  You have made up your own dance move that we like to call "Sweep the Floor".  In a word...awesome.

Grammy and Grampy joined us for your party on the weekend.  We dressed you up fancy because we do a lot of pretending in this house too.  You got more presents!  Can you believe it?  You "ooh" and "ahhh" at everything with the most exaggerated mouth maneuverings.  I don't know where that comes from.  Steven Tyler?

You scored some awesome gifts, but totally failed to send any thank you cards.  How rude.  Blame it on a busy summer.  I'll insist you do better next year.  I mean this might start to reflect poorly on me.

It had rained a bit earlier, so we went outside to splash in puddles.  This is a favorite activity of yours.  Others include but are not limited to:  strollering your babies around the neighborhood, swinging at the playground, shoveling sand into your diaper playing in the sand, stirring whatever we are baking,  playing hide-n-seek, kicking me in the abdomen when I'm trying to change your diaper, pretending to be a dinosaur, eating candy, playing "night night", embarrassing me in public places, and playing with your big sister - most of the time.

You went outside for a walk with Grammy while Daddy and Grampy were putting the finishing touches on your last present.  You decided it was more fun to throw grass clippings at Grammy instead.  You are a combination of your Pop and your Grammy.  In aesthetics and level of mischief.  We often call you "Lil Bill".  We also call you:  Rosebud, Roo, Rosaboo, Rosaroo, Rosarito, and when you are in trouble Emmy calls you "Rosalind Everett!". 

You are in the drivers' seat in more ways than one my little friend.

And a final dessert was had in celebration of you and the 2 years you have rocked our world!  You have entered the 2's in full force, and I expect that one day many many people will answer to you, as they do right now.
Happy Birthday Rosaroo!  You are loved more completely than you could ever know.