This was WAY too easy

today we had the dreaded time change. all of us with children know that it usually takes a while for the little ones to figure out what is going on and adjust their sleep schedules accordingly. well.....
bean went to bed last night at 8:00 like always. i was a little worried about the wake up time (normally 7:30, which is the new 6:30!). i woke up this morning. is was light in the bedroom. i looked at my clock- it said 8:05!!!! bean had been asleep for 13 hours and was still asleep!
she woke up about 10 minutes later. she isn't ready for breakfast right now, she wants to watch a little "t.b." first. this is also completely out of the ordinary! she usually wants breakfast NOW.

why did this go so well for me?? .... and is something else going to go horribly wrong instead? wait, don't answer that, i think it will be better for me not to know. ;)

Who's Cute??

yesterday i was dressing bean. i looked at her after i got her clothes on and hair brushed and said "oh honey, you look so pretty today!"
she said "no mommy. i not pretty!"
"well, i think you are beautiful," i responded.
"no. no i not"
now i feel bad. why doesn't she think she is beautiful or pretty? she is only two! "why not honey" i ask, fearing the answer.
"because i cute!" she declares.
relief! "oh, you would rather be cute than beautiful?"
"yes! i'm cute!" she says with a big smile on her face.
"ok you big cutie, come give mama a hug!"
she flings her arms open and throws her little body toward me. it's a great hug. my girl IS cute.

Memories (or lack there of)

i was reading christina's post today and it made me start thinking of all the cute things that bean used to say. like when her daddy first taught her to say please and it came out only as "pea!" and when she learned about the swimming pool she called it a "poo". (when she wanted to go swimming she would stand at the door and say "poo, pea! poo, pea!" ha ha ha!!!)
i remember last christmas when she got her nativity set she called baby jesus "baby gee-zee" (we all thought it made him sound like a rapper!!) and she adorably called santa claus "santa paw".
she had great pronunciations for hippopotamus (hamma-pamus) and yogurt (whoa-goat). she sweetly said "hold you me" when she wanted picked up. she covered her face and said "pee-koob" when she wanted to play peek-a-boo. she liked to pick out which pair of "nammies" she would wear to bed.

sadly, i know there are lots more that i just don't remember. as a parent you just can't fathom ever forgetting some of these moments then, just months later they are gone! i mean, i NEVER thought i'd forget that she called the swing in the backyard her "fing". but i found it written on a piece of paper i had thrown into her baby book when i was glancing through it last week. sigh. i only wish i had written more of these things down!
SO, on that note, here are some cute things she says now that i hopefully won't forget!
"an-nonder"- her pronunciation of "another". no matter what we do we can't get her to say it right!
"cheetas"- what she calls cheese puffs- a slight mispronunciation/misunderstanding of "cheetos" i believe.
"heart beep"- what she likes to listen to when i go to my o.b. appointments. she can't wait to "hear the baby's heart beep" :)
"ms. kins-bear"- her name for one of her bears. WE named it "mrs. bearkins" but no matter how many times we correct her she still says "ms. kins-bear" (when we correct her she looks at us like we are complete fools. as if to say "duh mom and dad, that is what i just said!!")

i love the way little ones talk but it just doesn't last that long. one month they are calling "oranges" "ohr-noos" and the next they are actually saying "oranges". it can be a little sad at the time, even though you are happy they can now say the word properly. i mean, you don't have any idea how sad i will be if bean decides to call santa claus anything other than "santa paw". seriously, very sad.

Thursday's Theme: Mama

wow! i almost forgot it was thursday... the theme is mama. and i also discovered that NO ONE takes pictures of me and bean together. there were so few pictures that i'm even partially in... kinda makes me sad and jealous of everyone else's pretty mama pictures. i guess that's what happens when you are the photographer in the family though!

this is a picture of bean and i right before we left the hospital. that is why i look so happy- i couldn't wait to get out of there! ha! we were just waiting for the nurse to come back and cut off her little alarm (you know the ones they wear so you can't steal a baby off the maternity ward). i don't look half bad for giving birth just 48 hours before, huh? ...please lie to me and say i look beautiful. ;)

if you want to see more mama pictures head over to tracey's. enjoy!

Trick or Treat!

here is bean and her daddy heading off to find the next house to trick or treat at. it was a really beautiful evening!

i know that i thought she was adorable in her costume, i'm the mama after all. it wasn't just me though. we heard "awwwww" and "oh my! look at the cute pumpkin!" and "oh my goodness, what a cutie" at almost every house. even men handing out candy by themselves were going gah-gah over her when she looked up at them with her big eyes and said "trick or treat" in her little two year old voice. she said "trick or treat" at every house and only had to be reminded a couple times to say thank you (daddy did this by shaking her arm gently). after a while she started going up to houses by herself!!!! we were so proud!

it is funny how every time we do something like this i now realize that next year we will be doing it with two kids. i mean, sprout will only be like 6 months old next halloween and won't actually be trick or treating but he/she will be there for it! crazy!

hope you all had an equally excellent halloween experience!!!

Happy Halloween and Cute Pictures of Bean!

Happy Halloween!!!

(picture taken at the pumpkin festival)

and now for cute pictures of bean!!

here are a couple cute-y pictures of bean i took yesterday. she was in a much better mood and actually sat still for more than .2 seconds!! wow!
we sat on the front porch and bean had her first taste of pumpkin seeds- which are "yum" by the way. she was loving on her pumpkins and showing off her halloween tattoos. she has 4 total, one on each hand and one on each cheek! :)

today we have playgroup and the children are all dressing up. it should be super adorable cute... as long as i can get bean to wear her costume! then tonight we are off to a halloween party and trick or treating. i'm sure there will be plenty of pictures taken!
i hope you all have a happy and safe halloween! (i can't wait to see everyone else's little trick or treaters!)

Pumpkin Fun

to get into the halloween spirit we decided to make some pumpkin shaped cookies. we made the dough, rolled them out, cut them out and decorated them. bean mostly enjoyed the decorating part. every time i turned my head she had either the frosting knife or a handful of sprinkles in her mouth!!! (at least this made more sense than the time that i stuck the cookies in the oven and turned to find her eating the raw dough off the table. ha ha ha!) bean LOVES to make things in the kitchen and is very upset if i try to do anything in there by myself. which can be a little aggravating at times but mostly it is fun.
then, after cookies we carved pumpkins!! bean helped me design a face- she insisted on triangle eyes. then she helped me carve out those eyes as seen in the picture. you maybe wondering, why is she crying in the next picture? well, see that bowl of pumpkin guts sitting next to us? she slipped off my lap and half landed in the guts! OH THE HORROR!!!! she did NOT want to touch guts! she cried and cried because she got guts on her! ha ha ha! i couldn't help but laugh.

here is the final product. i gave him triangle eyes with eyeballs! and bean said he had to have teeth so i gave him some funny buck teeth. he isn't going to win any awards but i think he turned out all right. bean loves him and his candle (as long as she doesn't have to touch guts! he he he) and that is all that matters in the end.

now, my job is to convince bean to wear her pumpkin costume to playgroup. she thinks that it is only for trick or treating and if we aren't trick or treating at playgroup then we can't wear a costume. "we don't play in them!" she informed me yesterday. sigh. why does she always have to sound so logical when she disagrees with me?? she is only 2 for goodness sakes!

Best Shot Monday

oh yeah, it's monday.... we had the in-laws here this weekend. it was a good time. bean loved playing with her aunt all day friday. and she was really excited to have her grandma and grandpa join us on saturday and sunday. i'm am now beyond exhausted though. we didn't even do that much! sigh.

here are my best shots. bean, her aunt, and i went to the zoo on friday. these were obviously taken in the aquarium. she has ALWAYS loved the aquarium, since she was wee little. as a baby she would just sit there and stare in awe. as you can see she still likes it... she just doesn't sit quite as still as she used to!

this time when we got to the aquarium she didn't ask to touch the animals in the touch pool. she has the past three times and has chickened out every time. this child will pet a snake in the reptile house but not a starfish!?!? she is such a goof ball sometimes! ;)

it was a beautiful day to be at the zoo. it was cloudy and there was a 50% chance of rain- that meant there was VERY few people there with us- that is always the best! bean even made a new friend! :)

don't forget to stop by tracey's and check out all the great shots everyone is sharing over there!!

Making new friends

when your favorite orangutans aren't in their outdoor exhibit when you visit the zoo, what is a little girl to do????

why, make a new friend! DUH! ;)

this tiger was AWAKE! (a rarity!) we went up to the window, rubbed our hands on the glass (no tapping- glass tapping at the zoo is a huge pet peeve of mine!) and said "hi big boy!" he would pace by and rub his head against the glass where we were standing!! so cool! tiger may be bean's new bestest friend at the zoo. ;)

the weekend with the in laws was fun but exhausting.
hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Overheard this weekend...

saturday, while changing bean's diaper we have this conversation...

bean: mommy, is baby thumping?

me: no, not right now. baby was thumping after we ate lunch though.

bean: (grabbing at my shirt) can i see baby thump?

me: no, baby is still too small. when baby gets bigger you might be able to see and feel baby thump.

bean: not now?

me: no, sorry honey.

bean: that's ok mommy. (then she smiles and runs off to find her aunt)

:)

Mistake!

so, it was a mistake to tell bean this morning that we would be going to the airport this evening to pick up her aunt. she is all super excited and won't nap, won't sit still, won't read books or do ANYTHING remotely resembling rest. she is going to the airport to get her aunt and then to a restaurant to eat dinner!!!!!!!! ahhhhh, OMG!!!!!! you would think there is nothing better in the whole wide world..... she is such a spaz!

note to self: never tell her something exciting this far in advance again....... it is very exhausting!

we are entertaining the in laws this weekend. see you next week!

Thursday's Theme: Glow

today's theme is glow! i was going to take a picture of bean's pumpkin last night for today's theme... we haven't carved it yet! DUH! so here is bean's first two halloween pumpkins. i know, my carving leaves something to be desired! ha ha ha!





that is my glow for today. what is yours? visit tracey and join in the fun!!

maybe we will get around to that carving this weekend....... ;)

Crafty Goodness

here is bean making spiders. she really wanted to make spiders for halloween! so we went to the store and got pipe cleaners and wiggle eyes so we could do it.

we started with painting the egg cartons black. silly mommy had no black tempera paint... she had every other color of tempera but someone insisted on black spiders! (gee, can you guess who that was? ha ha!) we ended up using acrylic! ahhhhh, acrylic with a toddler! scary huh? then we had to wait for them to dry. but, due to the damp air around these parts and the thickness of some of the paint bean applied, dry time extended into the next day.

next, sticking on the legs. lets just say that sticking pipe cleaners through egg cartons is a lot easier said than done!! this was a mommy only part of the project as it involved using a large tack to make holes to feed the pipe cleaners through. (this is also when mommy was cursing the fact that she let bean make 6 spiders!)

then on with the eyes! bean did a great job of sticking on the eyes. they are even kinda straight. ;) the biggest problem we had was that she was insisting on mouths (and still is when she thinks of it). i don't know how to give the spiders mouths and have been trying to talk her out of it. spiders have tiny mouths, so small you can barely see them... just in case she asks you. ;)

lastly, she decided that they should hang above our dinning room table. so, i had to find thread and hang them. i must say they look pretty darn cute up there!!

we also made banana bread today.... yeah, i'm an over achiever. HA! the reality is that i make too many promises (we will do this and that and whatever this week) and she has a superb memory and reminds me to do the stuff constantly until it is done. sigh. when will i ever learn!!!!!

Sprout-y Update

o.b. visit went fine. afp blood work came back all normal. uterus is measuring just perfect. we had trouble listening to the heart beat- sprout would not sit still! we finally got a good position and bean just sat and smiled as she listened to her baby's heart. :) sprout's heart rate is in the mid 150's just like bean's always was. everything looked great. i was told to keep up the good work.

next appointment- nov. 20th.

Pumpkin Fest

here she is- the bean at the pumpkin festival! like i said yesterday it is unbelievably big- they basically shut down the entire town for 4 days. there is more clog your arteries fried fair food, carnival games, and midway rides than i have ever seen in one place! bean loved watching every thing! but mostly she loved the pumpkins!! now i thought that there would be more pumpkins.... but what do i know?!?! ;)


bean looked at the gourds. bean looked at the pumpkins. we told her she could get one pumpkin. oh, that is hard! what pumpkin did she want?? take a good look at that picture there to the left. which pumpkin is she pointing at? if you said the pumpkin with the blue ribbon on it, you win! of course that one is NOT for sale. but the pumpkin man was very nice and offered her the one behind the blue ribbon pumpkin which she decided was ok.


we set it on the ground next to her while we paid the man. she smiled. then she looked puzzled. she looked all around her pumpkin. she looked up at me and said, "mommy where his face?"! ha! i told her that we had to make his face. she said, "oh! ok!" then she smiled real big and hugged and kissed her pumpkin. she really wanted to carry that big ol' pumpkin back to the car herself. of course she could not even get it off the ground... daddy had trouble carrying it that far himself.

she had a great day at the festival. we even broke down and let her ride the pony ride. i have to say that i always feel a little bad for those poor ponies. they walk in a circle all day toting little children around and around. BUT she really wanted to ride it when she realized that the "merry go round" had real horses on it. so we shelled out the $4 to let her walk in a circle. she of course LOVED it.

we will probably go back again next year. she will be big enough to ride the rides then and well, you can't beat pumpkin donuts! ;) BUT next time we will probably stop at this pumpkin farm that we passed on the way there. that way she will get the walking in a field of pumpkins experience too! :)

well, that is it. i gotta go get ready for my o.b. appointment!

Best Shot Monday

it is monday, isn't it? oh dear! guess i better dig out some best shots. ;)
we've got 2 today- a sleepy bean and a happy bean.

first, the sleepy bean... can you all say, "awwwwwwwwwww!" HA! so, this is a shot of bean's all too infrequent naps. (we are down to 2-3 a week. sigh.) i went in to check on her and this is the position i found her in. she had taken off her pants and thrown them out of the crib! and that arm thing looks mighty uncomfortable! the way children sleep is amazing sometimes!

here is the second, happy bean. bean requested a leaf pile to play in. i thought that was funny because last year she was not real thrilled with the idea. this year, it was SO much fun! she jumped, she danced, she sat, she threw leaves in the air, she even rolled in the leaves! when the pile was completely flattened she tried to re-rake it. unfortunately the rake was much too big for her to maneuver, so mommy was in charge of all rebuilding efforts. did mommy get in the pile? of course... could you say "no" to that face?!?! the only thing she couldn't manage to do was get the magpie into the leaves. the magpie wanted NO part in that nonsense!! ha ha!

our journey to the pumpkin festival was a good one. i've never seen so many carnival games and trashy fair food in one place though! wow! i'll share some pictures of that tomorrow.
if you want to see more great shots go visit everyone over at tracey's, you won't be sorry! :)

For Mommee...4 Things

ok, mommee wants me to do this so i will. it is a little difficult though... i don't know if i have four of some of these things!

4 jobs i've had:
1. assistant to director of safety town
2. department manager at a large retail store
3. latch-key teacher
4. department manager at an art/teacher supply store

4 places i've lived:
1. bowling green
2. athens
3. dublin
4. here... dude, i have to maintain a little mystery ;)

4 movies i love:
1. the maltese falcon
2. the princess bride (can quote it like mommee quotes dirty dancing!)
3. monty python's holy grail
4. this is spinal tap

4 movies i want to see: (wow, this one is HARD)
1. the hobbit (when they finally get it made)
2. harry potter and the half-blood prince (when it comes out)
*really sad but i can't think of anything else! i just don't get all that excited about movies anymore. most of them just seem so lame when i see the commercials!

4 favorite foods: (i'm soooo healthy, HA!)
1. cheesecake
2. most things chocolate
3. pizza
4. left over thanksgiving turkey made into sandwiches... that is why we have thanksgiving, right? ;)

4 weird things about me: (hmmm, what isn't weird?)
1. i love tomatoes and tomato soup but i'm disgusted by the thought of tomato juice and ketchup
2. i LOVE LOVE LOVE the smell of coffee (i could sit in a coffee shop all day!) but... OH THE HORROR of the taste! GAG! shudder
3. the sheets and blankets on the bed NEED to be tucked into the bottom of the bed and very smooth or i CANNOT sleep! (this makes my husband crazy because he wants them un-tucked)
*i can't think of anything else even remotely interesting. sorry.

4 places i'd rather be:
1. london, england
2. salzburg, austria
3. on a cool (temperature wise) windy secluded beach... completely alone
4. sleeping...

i'm not tagging anyone... if you want to do it, go for it! ;)

Costume Mania

here we are! we finally got the bean to put on her costume... i think she likes it! HOORAY!

these pictures are especially for my bloggy friend christina and her little girl nadia. see bean loves to look at pictures of nadia and really loved the pictures of nadia in her cat costume. (oh, is it cute!) so she wanted to show nadia her pumpkin costume! :) here it is nadia! what do you think?

i normally wouldn't have taken a picture of an orange pumpkin in front of an orange wall BUT that is where the bean wanted to stand.... and you kinda have to do what the bean wants when trying to get a decent picture! so after 2 shots against the wall she agreed to go outside. (thank goodness!)

yes, she is barefoot outside in october BUT it was 75 degrees out so she was not cold.... she my have been a little hot in that costume! she ran around the yard, went into her playhouse, got the magpie all riled up... you know the usual... all in pumpkin costume. i think this means she likes it and she will wear it again. oh dear, you don't suppose i just jinxed myself do you?!?

we are heading on a road trip tomorrow- pumpkin festival here we come!! bean needs a pumpkin and well, where better to go then a festival that celebrates the pumpkin (and has a generous supply of pumpkin donuts!) oooo, yummy! AND i will, of course, take pictures! so look farward to those next week. :)

hope you all have a lovely weekend!!!

Thursday's Theme: Star

hey, its thursday and our theme is star!

here is my little star strutting her stuff across the stage a few months back. we were at a park and decided to have our picnic in the amphitheater. (we were looking for shade, for the love of pete! HA HA!) bean got up on the stage and started with this... what i like to refer to as her "mick jagger strut". ha ha ha!
you know, someday i will actually take a picture specifically for thursday's theme. although, i wouldn't hold your breath if i were you.... ;)

so this is my star, what is yours?
and don't forget to visit picture this more more stars!

Ms. Smartie Pants

bean is ms. smartie pants now. about 3 weeks ago she suddenly discovered that "m" upside down is "w". then, OMG, "w" upside down is "m"!! that fact that she understood it and was purposeful about doing it was pretty cool. well, yesterday she realized that "z" turned sideways is "n". Holy cow! then she had to find the "n". she found the "n", and what do you know, "n" sideways is "z"!! she kept showing me over and over that she could change "n" to "z" and "z" to "n". how she suddenly figured this out is totally beyond me! boy, i'm glad we have those magnetic letters!!

what else is new? bean has been talking to sprout. last night she looked down at my ever expanding belly and said, "hi there, babers!" babers! HA HA HA! then she said this "you too small to come out. hurry up and get big so we can play!" oh dear! so we talked about how it was still going to be a VERY long time 'til "babers" (tee hee) would be big enough to come out. and she said "yeah, after the snow." i tell you that kid remembers everything! we told her quite a while ago that she would have to wait until after halloween, after thanksgiving, after christmas, AND after the snow is gone before she could meet the baby. so she "knows" but doesn't quite understand the whole thing yet. i just can't believe what she can remember and for how long!!