Randomness

*** I have been so busy lately trying to be efficient. I'm on this efficiency kick and maybe I'm not very efficient at it. But I'm trying. The shock of having 2 kids has worn off after 5 months. Having only one kid is so much more forgiving to lack of efficiency. So I'm modifying how I do certain things. I'm going to bed pretty tired at night, but I'm still having lots of fun with my kiddos. Trying to enjoy them first and foremost. Becoming more efficient around the house should allow me even more time to enjoy them.

*** I did not even try to do baby scrapbooks with my kids. I knew good and well that if it was not online and digital that I was not going to spend time with it. Hence the blog and the website that I did for Analese. My entire photo library is digital and backed up very well. But I realized that I need to archive my blog somehow. So I followed these instructions for archiving a blog found on Laura C's blog. She has made these wonderful blog books out of her blog. I may eventually do something like that, but until then I found her instructions on archiving to be very helpful. So far I spent an hour and a half yesterday converting 3 months of my blog to a word document. I have 5 months to go. I plan to make this a monthly task once I get caught up. Right now I have a giant word document. I plan on converting to a PDF document once I have it formatted the way I want it (with page breaks in the appropriate spots). At least I will have a nice digitally archived copy of my blog. And I could always print it out on the color laser printer to place in big three ring binders if I want a hard copy. Or there is also the option of publishing at lulu.com the way Laura C and some other bloggers have done. I could also make 100 page books through the Apple store. Anyway, options abound once I format it. So that is another project that is keeping me busy now.

*** I'm enjoying cooking and eating food once again (something I do not enjoy while pregnant). I like to check The Pioneer Woman's cooking site every few days to see if she has posted up any new recipes. I just love her recipes! They always taste great. So last night I made her Springy Shells. It was so absolutely unbelievably fabulous! So funny because at the end of her post she says she will not serve this to her meat eating husband and she refers to this dish as a "quintessential chick dish." My husband actually likes chick food and appreciated this dish very much! I added this dish to my cafe menu!

*** Mariele's goopy eye is gone! Well, her eye is still there, but the goop is gone! I have not seen goop in her eye for a couple of weeks now! I guess I just get so used to seeing the goop and not noticing it. Last week at The little gym, one of my mommy friends noticed that her eye was cleared up. And sure enough, it is! I'm so glad we don't have to take her to the ophthalmologist!

*** Analese's vocabulary is expanding so much! She watches these Sesame Street podcasts on my iPhone and picks up the vocabulary words there. She will ask me if I know what gigantic means or what amazing means. Then she will proceed to tell me the definition! She also wants to know every word in Spanish! This morning she came into my room and the first thing she said was, "Good morning mommy. How do you say good morning in Spanish?" I told her "Buenos dias," and she has been saying that all day now. I would LOVE to raise her bilingual. Problem is, I am not. I have a pretty good Spanish vocab. Constructing actual sentences is a different story. I need to find a good resource for teaching foreign language to a preschooler, because she is SO interested in learning. And she has developed a good Spanish vocabulary as well. She knows how to count to 10 in Spanish and she knows most of the colors in Spanish.

*** Analese really knows how to make Mariele laugh! Lately Analese will crack Mariele up by pretending to be a frog. She will hop like a frog and say, "RIBBIT," and Mariele will laugh like it is the funniest thing in the world! Yesterday Analese really had Mariele all worked up with the laughing. I knew that by the time I went to get the video camera that the moment would be over. I did get this super short video clip of one laugh this morning. I will try to get another one when she is laughing even harder:





Well, off to do a little blog archiving before my kiddos wake up.

Wordless Wednesday - First Position and Butterfly bow!

Happy 5 month birthday to my Mariele!

I was looking forward to Mariele's 5 month photos because I wanted to recreate Analese's 5 month photo pose! When Analese turned 5 months, we were having some Indian summer in Colorado. So the same outfit worked for Mariele today in the heat of a Texas summer. As you can see from the post below, I got some very similar shots. The atmosphere did not look identical - more overcast for Analese's photo. But you get the idea! And the photos really are freakishly similar!

I had to keep this one because of the strand of drool hanging from her mouth. That (and the date on the photo) is how I can know it is Mariele. She is such a drooly baby!



Here are some more good ones:





We got a couple of Analese and Mariele together:




And a few of me and my girls!

Time for another edition of who's who!!

Some Jazzy Bug photos . . .

Yng Yng took these through the glass with her camera. Anita and Analese are in this session of dance together at The Little gym. They just look so cute in there together!

Yet ANOTHER iPhone app!

I am such a sucker for apps! Laura C was blogging about apps that she likes yesterday, and she mentioned this CameraBag app. It simulates different lenses and filters on your iPhone camera. Pretty cool, so of course I had to get it. I still think $1.99 is a bargain for the fun that Analese and I will both have with this app. So here is the original beautiful bird picture that I snapped on our stroll yesterday:



Here are the different effects:

Helga:



Lolo:



Magazine:



Instant:



Mono:



1962:



1974 (the year I was born HA HA!):



Cinema:



Infrared:



Fisheye:

End of the Week Randomness . . .

Well I made it to Friday and I guess I'm still in one piece! My meal planning organization scheme worked great this week. One short trip to the grocery store and 4 delicious evening meals (tonight is leftover night). I've dug out from under the laundry mountain. I've tackled some more home organization projects. The girls and I went to Target this morning and I found this great banana leaf weave storage trunk for hiding the toys in the den. By some miracle I got it home in the passenger seat of my Rav 4. Not the most comfortable driving position, as I had to hold it up with one arm so it would stay off of my gear shift thing! Would not fit in the back cargo area with the double stroller. You all would have been truly sad to see my struggle with this trunk in the Target parking lot. Geometry and spatial analysis are not my strong points. Really really sad. But here it is in the corner of my den where a random toy pile has been accumulating:




And here is my smart girl, Analese. The other day on the way home as we were stopped at a stop sign, Analese said to me, "That is a stop sign, mommy! It is an octagon. It has 8 sides and 8 angles!" Sesame Street is so educational! She learned about octagons from a Sesame Street (or eh street, as she has called it since she started talking) podcast on my iPhone. Another favorite statement of hers this week is, "When I was a baby, you put A & D on my butt!" That is because she was watching me slather some A & D ointment on Mariele's butt during a diaper change and I told her that she also got A & D on her butt when she was a baby. She still loves her little desk. I love it too. Very nifty, and she keeps her art supplies under the seat. She is concentrating so hard here:





Look up and smile Analese!



I dusted off the old exersaucer and the old jumperoo for Mariele this week. Here are some pics of her in the jumperoo. She does not quite jump just yet, but I know it won't be long before she figures it out. Check out the drop of drool on her chin!



I tried to get a big smile out of her, but ultimately only Analese could accomplish this task!