On a day like today

In this photo set, you can almost taste how much fun it is to be two. She wakes up and the first thing outta her mouth? "Time to go play?" But play sounds more like "p'way." And yes, that is totally adorable.

Her favorite color teeters between purple and red.

Her love for Baby Angel and Baby Sara seem unfaultering. Ever since Baby Princess lost her clothes, she's no longer the talk of the town.

happy birthday to me. happy birthday to RJ.

I missed UPS yesterday b/c they delivered totally off schedule... so i had to stay home ALL day on my day to run errands for fear of missing the ups man again. Wouldn't you know he showed up at 10 til 6. Nevermind, I have a new lens at last. Check out the pictures from Rosa Jane's 2 years and 4 month birthday. Which means it's my 34 year and 4 months and 1 day birthday. Rosa Jane tried to steal my thunder saying it's HER birthday. I said, get used to it honey... we'll be sharing our birthday for a long, long time to come.

To Catch a Predator

Okay, not really a predator because we're talking about a squirrel, but still I wanted to catch him. He found a nook & cranny in our home within which to call his own. I did not like this, sam I am. With all that scratching, it made me think he was creating a hole and soon we'd have him fall onto our floor. Me no likey squirrels. They're real squirrely after all. And can't be trusted.

Sally will appreciate this -- I called our local version of a Trapper Jack.

He came last week before the real cold spell and we've been sitting with an empty trap on our roof for the past week. Today "trapper jack" took away the trap without catching the varmit, but instead closing up the hole.

I'm trying to figure out if this makes me feel. I expected to catch a squirrel AND have the hole closed.

I wanted that squirrel "to go live on the farm. with wide open spaces." Dead, whatever. I wanted the peace of mind knowing he was gone. I'd happily have eaten him myself with some dumplins. That's a southeast Texas delicacy. Yum, delish!

Instead, the trap is gone and the hole is closed.

What would you do? Should I call Trapper Jack to come back and get me my token squirrel?

An Interview with a Very Sweet Girl

A conversation with Rosa Jane from obkb2000 on Vimeo.

Embracing Motherhood

Untitled from obkb2000 on Vimeo.

RJ's first encounter with a lobster.

RJ's first encounter with a lobster. She calls them "monsters."

The Great 2008 Shake Up

We're getting ready to embrace motherhood full on every day every afternoon for the rest of my life and beyond. That's right... the days of full-time (8:30 - 5) childcare being available on two days a week is about to go bye-bye. In exchange, I'm ready to embrace community and neighborhood and 4 hours on three days a week. I'm terrified that I'm going to go crazy, but I'm excited about all the fun we're going to have together.

She's excited about her new school and so am I.

Live In Technicolor

As we were leaving our mom group last week, one mom rolled down her car window to ask me, "Does your daughter dress herself, too?"

I replied, "Unfortunately she has only me to blame at this point in her life."

She said, "oh, my 2.5 year always insists on dressing herself and today she is half-princess/half track athlete." She then added, "I've never met a mother who could dress her daughter in such a fun way."

Despite growing up with a mother who likes matchy-matchy, we like lots of color in our house. After being schooled by the great fashionista Robyna, there is no such thing as too much color.

two of my favorite people

eating popcorn in the late afternoon. we went to the salt lick for the first time yesterday after our morning at the gym. what a truly great day!

How come?

How come the mere mentioning of wanting to run a marathon has completely catapulted me as far away from the treadmill as I can get?

Seriously. I don't think you could drag me to the treadmill at this point. It looks and seems completely unappealing and over-rated.

Ain't That a Kick in the Head?

Right after Christmas, we took down Rosa Jane's crib and she's been sleeping in her big girl bed. At first we still dealt with random crying in her bed in the middle of the night and having to go to her. A couple of mornings I came into her room and couldn't find her, but could hear her wimpering. She was UNDER her bed with no covers in a cold room.

Then one morning at 5am, she discovered that she could get out of her bed and come to us. What a more pleasant way to start the day -- the sound of pitterpatter on the hardwoods and the occassional bump into one of her misplaced toys on the floor. I thought this was a pretty good deal and it has become her recent habit to come into our room in the 6ish hour to awaken us.

Over the weekend Rosa Jane woke up twice during the middle of the night and came into our room. This meant near sleepless nights for Don and me. I couldn't figure out what was going on.

I started my usual projecting, second-guessing what could I be guilty of this time while trying to do my best parenting my little precious peanut. Maybe she doesn't like her bed. Maybe it's too uncomfortable, too hard and we need to get a new mattress for her. I kept these thoughts to myself, but it was definitely a chant in the back of my head.

Last night as Don was putting RJ down for the night, he had a little talk with her about how if she wakes up, she can just roll over. Roll over and pull up her sheets and get all cozy again and fall back asleep. It must have worked because when she came into our room at 6:30 we praised her how proud we were that she stayed in bed all night. She beamed.

This morning I noticed while brushing her teeth that she has three new 2 yr old molars busting through her gums. That explains the sleepless nights!

Just when we think we have all the answers, we forget to check the most obvious of places. Parenting is tough and I always feel like a huge dunce when the problem is so simple and yet so over looked.
Forgive us, Rosa Jane. We're doing the best we can.

baby angel makes her so happy.

baby angel got her name after the nativity scene's angel. i love that my daughter listens to people's names and names her baby dolls after people she knows and the names really stick time after time.

here are some funny things coming from the lips of the babe:
"bless you, daddy" after hearing don sneeze in kitchen upon returning from his "fast walk." don went in her bedroom to check on her and she was curled up, face down still in bed just barely awake.

"they're not doing it." after the teacher said, "Rosa Jane, you don't have to clean up after the other kids. Let them do it!"

"thank you mommy for this delicious dinner" after we all sit down to eat whatever i pulled together at the 11th hour.

"i wanna watch barney."

A shout-out to Granddad

A Special Message to Granddad from obkb2000 on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday, Granddad!

Everybody loves Granddad. Especially when he doesn't mind giving the kids the window seat and he takes the "hump."


There has been a real reversal in how the elders are treated in the family. Here we have evidence of Granddad being pushed to the middle. At Christmas dinner, the grandparents had to sit at what was once reserved only for the kids -- the card table. All of this and global warming? What is the world coming to?

The Scars of our Parents

Yesterday I took Rosa Jane to the good doctor to get her last in the series of flu shots. She cried briefly as a delayed reaction. The nurse and I were so proud of her. She recovered immediately and didn't want to leave the office. She wanted to stay and play a while. Everyone at the office was like, "Wow!" Bring her back anytime. ;-)

Last night over dinner, RJ told Daddy about going to the doctor and how brave she was. Don told the story of the first time he remembered getting a shot and asking his mom if it would hurt. She said it would feel a little bit like a tiger bite.

Good luck with that.

Here's Rosa Jane robbing the cradle. She just loves the baby Jesus.

While in Richland we got to see the birthday girls, Tori and Taylor. The girls had a lot of fun making faces with each other. Check out the photos for more.

Happy New Year!

Come see the fun we had in Richland with Brett and his two costumes received from Santa.