Favorite Things

I am totally and completely out of blog topics.

We haven't gone anywhere or done anything. It's 1000 degrees and we've pretty much been huddled around the air conditioning vents. Nothing is happening in this house. NOTHING. No baby steps (yet), nothing new.

So...I'm going to steal Oprah's idea and give you a few of my favorite things right now!! Here goes...

1. Favorite dessert

I never post recipes because I don't like baking and I'm no good at it, which is probably why I don't like doing it. But this dessert is super easy, pretty and so delicious!! It's Paula Deen's strawberry shortcake, one of my favorite discoveries this summer. You can find the recipe here. It even calls for a store-bought angel food cake so no actual baking is required.

Now, I love a good block of cream cheese as much as the next girl, but Paula goes a little overboard for my tastes. When I made this I halved the cream cheese and sweetened condensed milk and doubled the whipped topping. Also, I did sugar-free cake, jello and whipped topping, and couldn't tell at all.

2. Favorite blogs
I have two. The first is Enjoying the Small Things. This blog is amazing. Amazing, amazing. I love her writing and the pictures...oh, to be able to take pictures like that. This girl knows how to live, too.

The second is I Should Be Folding Laundry. How great (and true) is that title? The writer, Beth, is hilarious, honest and completely down-to-earth. And again with the great pictures.

3. Favorite Camera
Well, I don't actually own this camera...yet. But here's what I'm really, really, REALLY thinking I need. Or maybe I just need to stop reading blogs written by photographers. That would probably be cheaper.


4. Favorite Babies
So sorry, but I had to get a picture of the babies in, didn't I? This is from several months ago, and is the first picture I got of both kids smiling at the same time. I call it "Sheer Luck."

Growing Up

I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but Brooke still sleeps in her crib. She's almost THREE and still in her crib. It's just so easy, though. She's never tried to climb out of it. She can unwind and fall asleep, and I know she hasn't gotten out of bed.

The crib is also, I think, the last piece of babyness, you know? Bottles and pacifiers are long gone. Baby toys have been handed down. Diapers are (mostly) gone. Brooke speaks in sentences and understands things. She recounted the story of Jonah and the whale after church today. She's learning to pedal a bike and knows when to say "please" and "sorry." It makes me happy and proud and makes my heart hurt all at the same time.

So, tonight I tried a little experiment. I put Brooke in my bed to see if she'd sleep there. I lay down with her for a while and we had a little talk. "You get to sleep in my bed tonight!" I told her. "Just stay right here and go to sleep."

I went back downstairs and listened. For a long time it was quiet...and then I heard a little giggle from the steps. I looked up to see her sweet little face poking through the stair rails. I laughed out loud.

Experiment failed. Brooke happily went back into her crib. She's asleep right now.

I know I can't let her sleep in her crib forever. She's a big girl and big girls don't sleep in cribs.

But I'll worry about that another time. For tonight, at least, she's still my baby.

Zoo Trip

What a great Friday! Scot took the day off AND it was nice outside. So we packed up and went to the zoo.

Brooke told us she wanted to see the giraffes, zebras, and hippos. We delivered.



The hippos were kind of a dud. But they're in the tank somewhere.

Nathan was a pointin' fool.



All day Nathan seemed like he was suddenly bigger. Like he must have grown overnight or maybe even in the car on the way to the zoo. He looks like such a big boy in this picture.

Brooke went strollerless for the first time on a big outing like this. She did awesome!

She loved every minute of the zoo and has talked about it all day. Sweetness.

And THEN...Scot and I took Brooke back to our old stompin' grounds, where she experienced a very important "first"...Ted Drewes!


I love this picture. Her smile says "this is the greatest day ever!" The ice cream dribbled all over says "you get to clean me and my car seat when we get home!" Totally and completely worth it, though.

Wordless Wednesday

Well, maybe a few words. This is our baby gate. Also known as the bench that sits in our entryway.








Hmph.

Parade Fun

There's nothing like a little hometown parade to take care of the summertime blues.

Our town has two parades in one weekend for its little celebration. We had such a hot, sweaty good time at the first one that we decided to go to the second one, too.

The parade started off with firetrucks blaring their sirens and horns. Just a little too loud for my kiddos.


There weren't a lot of "floats," in the traditional sense...



...but we had all kinds of fun teaching Brooke to dodge in and out of traffic to grab candy in the street. She scored loads of jewelry. Atta girl.




Scot promised he would do whatever it takes to get to ride a little go-cart in the parade one day, complete with little hat.


Is it bad to give a one-year-old a sucker? Two suckers? Two suckers and a popsicle? Oops.


Soon, our work was done.


So we took our sweaty kids back home.

More Random Thoughts

1. I've been saying this for a few weeks now, but Nathan is so close to walking.

He can walk holding one hand and run holding two hands. He can toddle along behind a toy.

But no baby steps yet. He just needs a little courage. But who doesn't?

2. Confession? Today I'm wearing an outfit that I wore when I was 9-some-odd months pregnant with Nathan. I need to pack it away deep in the basement somewhere so I'll stop wearing it already. SCA-RY, but so comfy, and it's that kind of a day. I may even go out in public.

3. It's not a million degrees today. Brooke and I played basketball, of all things, for 30 whole minutes. That's roughly 4 hours in toddler-attention-span time.

4. Hey, Brooke! Be a ballerina!



Loving this.

5. One of my favorite baby boy outfits is overalls with no shirt underneath. Cool, easy and cute. Definitely a look you can't get away with past the age of 5 unless you're going for a Deliverance kind of thing. So if you see a disheveled blond woman around town carrying a little Tom Sawyer-looking baby, that's us. Don't be scared, come over and say hi. :-)

Ballerina Girl

This week Brooke and I started a Mommy & Me ballet class together!

I am in heaven! I danced for several years growing up, so it's exciting to watch Brooke dance, too.

We dressed her up in tiny little pink tights and a tiny black leotard.



We filled up the little dance bag I bought before she could even sit up.


Off to dance class we went!


Sitting and waiting for class to begin, it occurred to me that the class could be really good or it could be really bad. Three-year-olds have a one-minute attention span, if you're lucky.

The class was awesome! It was pretty obvious that the ballet teacher had taught many a three-year-old. There were tons of songs and activities. Class ended with a big "bear hunt" which included a cave (crawl-through tunnel), a tree to climb (a big wedge) and a field to walk through (a balance beam).

Brooke almost cried when we had to leave.

My ballerina girl and I had such a good time together.