Because I didn't have enough to do

I've been a little removed from the blogging world for a bit now; mainly because of the time of year. Yep, I've finally decided to get my rear in gear and finally get the books in order, so I can prepare our LLC tax return, so I can assemble everything we need, so I can prepare our individual tax return. So I can move on with life... I've been putting it all off for a while now, but the end of March is drawing closer; it's time to knock it out. Poor Alex is footing most of the house work right now, because I'm camped out in front of the computer ALL day. Good news is, I think we should be getting a fairly good sized refund, so hopefully it will be worth it in the end.

On a funner note, I've decided to add one more thing to my schedule: just a little girls' morning in time. If you're like me, you have several just-started or half-done craft projects that I never make time to get to. Well, they say the best way to accomplish things is scheduling and accountability. So I'm hereby announcing to everyone that every Wednesday, from 10am to noon, I will be having craft time in my home. Anyone is welcome to come, craft, and chat with me. Bring your unfinished projects (scrapbooking, knitting, bows, sewing, painting, whatever floats your boat!) Or not, just come to shoot the breeze! I'm hoping this will be a fun way to give me some incentive to remember to just sit down and do it. I'll provide some snacks and hope some of you take me up on my invitation.


On a side note: Baby A can sit up now (as long as nobody distracts or startles her into falling down) and we started her on her first solids this week. We have a little tradition that they get to eat their first solids from a silver bowl and spoon that their grandmother gave us. We pulled out the bowl and spoon, washed them up good, and were all excited to give her her first tastes.

She was so funny. She's not taking to the new flavors very well. I started with green beans; she made a horrible face, pursed her lips, dry heaved a little, and wouldn't eat anymore. I tried carrots next and she actually threw up the second I put some in her mouth. More dry heaves and faces when I tried rice cereal, first plain, then mixed with peaches for flavor. Even after moving on to sweeter items like sweet potatoes and pears, she hasn't been thrilled. (She's really got that gagging reflex down!!) After a couple days, she will now swallow little tastes of sweet potatoes and pears. Still can't get her to take a whole spoonful, but we're working our way up to it. Baby steps... And I thought she'd be so thrilled to try solids (like her sister before her!) I hope this doesn't mean we're in for a very picky eater.


Can you see how very unexcited she is? And this shot was a "good" day with sweet potatoes!


There's my happy girl!!

New Camera!

So, my birthday was yesterday and my dear husband bought me a new camera! Not that the old one was terrible, I was just getting irritated that it couldn't take a non-blurry picture with the flash turned off, and it ate batteries for breakfast. The new one is sleek looking and comes with great reviews (for a point and shoot that is). I'm excited to learn how to use all the features.

Here are the first shots with the new toy:


This is the compromise cake: (I asked Alex to make his famous chocolate mousse pie, and Princess M wanted a "Bider Cake"; The result was delicious!)


After doing M's princess hair, I decided to try a style out on myself for my birthday. Having short hair limited my options to some of the baby hairstyles I've seen. This was a knotted clippy thing (looked cuter in person).


Remember Princess M's day-after hair?:


This was mine:


Yeah, I'm crazy to be posting this. It's the stuff blackmail is made of.

Holy Roller

Two days ago Baby A became mobile. She's now very accomplished at rolling over both from front to back and vise versa. Gone are the days of setting her down and turning your back for even just a little bit. Look out world!

5 Month Pics

My sister-in-law, Rachael, came over to take some 5 month pictures of Baby A and a few of Princess M as well. I made sure Baby A was fed, diapered, and well rested from a long nap before she came, and she still decided to be fussy for the shooting. Rachael and I worked our tails off trying to catch a smile, and in the end we got a few. Considering how uncooperative she was, I'm surprised we got as many good shots as we did. But once again, Rachael came through with some fantastic photos that I'm completely thrilled about! Thanks, Rach!!

I understand that Rachael is starting to offer her talented skills for a VERY reasonable fee. Check out her photo blog at http://picturesareworth.blogspot.com/

More Dos and Lots of Pics

I found this picture taken a while ago of the last time Princess M got caught in my makeup.


The other day I taught M how to use a mouse and found her a couple free online toddler games on the Internet. She LOVED it and asks to play her games everyday now.


She also LOVES to get her "princess" hair done every day. I've been excited to try out all these new hairstyles on her. Inspired by a lovely, homemade gift M received for her birthday (the cute silver flower you can see below,) and the new excitement over "princess hair", I bought a few plain metal clips and pulled out the hot glue and old, fake flowers we have around the house. We spent a fun afternoon creating new hair clips. I thought they turned out really neat. You can see M wearing one below.


Here's some of her more recent dos:










This is the do Baby A is sporting these days:

Princess M's Greatest Hits

Well, I finally figured out how to upload mp3s to the internet and thus to my blog. Here's a bunch of songs I've been collecting from Princess M. I've also added them to the blog playlist on the side of the blog.

Happy Family
Cinderelli short
Rain is Falling
Jingle Bells
Baby Mine
Snowman
Cinderelly
Twinkle Twinkle

I also captured M saying the quote we listed in the "Kids say the darndest things" section on the side. You can go there to hear it first hand.

FINALLY!!!

Although M is a true princess in every sense of the word, she has never ever liked having her hair touched. She doesn't like brushing, styling, or even just fondly stroking. I was looking at a very cute blog here, wistfully wishing I could try some of the very cute hairstyles demonstrated there on my dear daughter, when she walked into the room, fresh from a nap. I started showing her some of the beautiful "princess" hairdos and asked if she would let me try some on her. She actually said YES!! And she seemed pretty excited about it to boot!




She even sat still long enough to let me try 2 different styles out! She was so proud to show her daddy, and is very excited to wear one to church where everyone will be able to see her.





I hope this is the beginning of a new era in hairstyling for my little princess.