Tubby time.

The girls love their tubby time! If you look closely, you will see a bandaid on Nati's forehead. It was due to her headbutting (total accident by both kids!) a boy named Jonas. Apparently, his head is tougher than hers. He has nothing on his head, and Natalie has a big ole lump. Her teachers reported, though, that she did not cry. The kid has the highest pain tolerance ever.

Exciting night tonight. History is being made....

How to Make Meagan REALLY happy!

I am so jealous

That my brother is in Denver. I want to be there.
I survived my first day back with our students. I feel rather ambivalent about the day. It went smoothly, like no major problems, but it was not perfect either. I just keep on reminding myself that it won't be like last year, and I WILL want to go to work again. The bright spot was that the majority of the students seemed friendly. I think it is so weird that we are starting again! Time has been flying.

Will someone leave me a comment???

I am a big nerd, obviously because no one makes comments. Either I am really boring, or no one is reading this, or you are in a rush. Well, whatever it is, feel free to just write HI!

My American Prayer

I know this is in everyone's inboxes right now. Also, I know everyone is sick and tired of politics and ready for this election to be over. I feel the same way. Still, I feel inspired by this election like I never have in the past. I have been researching Joe Biden, and I honestly believe this this is the ticket that can make a difference in the world. I want to be certain that my children, and my grandchildren for that matter, live in a country that they can be proud of in the future.
http://myamericanprayer.com/

Only natalie...

would take a container of Vaseline and rub it all over her hair, bed, body, and baby Jenny. She was waaaaay to quiet this afternoon and had been "asleep" for 3 hours. I went in to check on her and there she was in all of her shiny glory. I couldn't even get mad. It was hilarious. I washed her hair 4 times and it still looks soaking wet. There were big globs of it everywhere. I must point out that this is after she, this morning, got green paint on my carpet that was just cleaned a week ago. Andy and I can't believe how different she is from Meagan, who would simply never do anything like either of these things. Luckily, she is still rather cautious physically. She doesn't jump, climb, etc, but now that she is catching up with her peers, who knows what is to come.
She is lucky that she is cute! And she really is cute.

Helping!

Meagan is enjoying helping us lately. She has learned how to sweep at school (we are at a montessori, not an illegal maid company!) and has fun doing that. Also, she loves slicing veggies and fruits, like the mushrooms she is slicing above. Admitedly, it is kind of difficult to find veggies that are easily sliced with a plastic knife, but she will eat whatever she cuts. Natalie's new thing is making little beds all over the house. She pulls things like towels, blankets, or t-shirts that are big enough to cover her or Baby Jenny all around the house. She reads Jenny stories and then cuddles up with her. My girls are very funny.

First few days back to work!

Yesterday was my first day back, and while waking up early was no joy, it was nice to see everyone. Today we went rafting. I have been dreading it...you know, one of those team bonding thingies that would not be fun. I was wrong! I had a good time. We lucked out because it was heavily overcast and not very hot. Even more so, I was lucky enough to be paired with April and two guys who have experience with rafting. I have been rafting a decent amount of times, but we always had guides because the rapids were a little more impressive than the Guadalupe. So, I had NO idea how to steer, etc.
Big breakthrough...Natalie is very near totally potty trained. I thought we were going to have a barrier with the #2 thing, but she is very proudly pooping in the potty. :) She is nowhere near dry at night, but we are totally fine with that, as long as she does her thing during the day. Major celebrating around here!

The pledge by Sara Hickman

Sara Hickman is my new very very very favorite Austin performer! She has created a wonderful collection of music, but I most adore her childrens' music.
These are the lyrics to a song (song used loosely...it is really more just a reading) on her CD, Big Kid. I highly recommend all of her kid's CDs. Newborn has some lovely lullabies and silly tunes.
The Pledge by Sara Hickman
I pledge allegiance to my family
and to the love that created me
I promise to honor and respect my liberties at hand
And all that is wondrous in each of us.
To listen, and to be listened to
To help, and ask for help in return
To right wrongs
To be a friend
And to recognize that each and every child is deserving of love, shelter, education, healthy food,freedom from terror and fear
and an entire life of liberty and justice for all.

I think it is pretty darn awesome.

It doesn't get better than this!

Absolutely incredible. I just watched, along with much of the world, Michael Phelps capture his eighth gold medal. As Americans, we are well aware that the world may not be totally enamored with us right now. Michael Phelps makes me feel proud to be from this country. I was not around yet when Spitz swam his races, but I know I won't forget these Olympics.

Uncle Peter's photos of the girls

Peter took some great photos at Central Market on Wednesday. There are a lot of pretty ones, but I posted the two above because they were particularly fun ones that captured the girls' personalities. The best part of having a photographer for an Uncle is that the girls don't act all formal or not themselves. They love posing for him. The rest of the pictures can be seen here:

http://gallery.me.com/pgreenstone#100088

Random Stuff

Natalie has been doing pretty well with the potty training. She is very proud of herself. Of course, she is having lots of accidents. She is getting better, though. At school she goes just for the praise, but at home she wants a chocolate chip. I think it is very funny how excited she gets over the one little chip. She carries it around until it melts usually, so she doesn't even get to eat it.
http://www.theimpulsivebuy.com/
This is a cool blog I found a few months ago. They review all new products, but usually food. It is a good read.

Trying hard...

...but not too positive about this- Natalie wore underwear rather than diapers to school today for the first time. The child has been so stubborn about potty training! I honestly think that she prefers the diapers, which is beyond my understanding. She tried it yesterday afternoon and went from 4:30 to 9:00 with no real accidents. Notice, I qualifed that "no accidents" with "real" because Meagan had to run her into the bathroom because Natalie was dangerously close to making a big mess. I will just leave that to your imaginations!

So Meagan has never shown an interest for baby dolls. That was left for Natalie, which is ironic because Meagan was the one who had a baby sister. A few weeks ago, however, Meagan began to ask Nati constantly for Baby Jenny. This would not fly with Nati, as Baby Jenny is her one true love. Meagan would bargain with her, offering her toys, food, whatever she thought Nati would like. It did not work and Meagan was very sad. Finally we gave in and took Meagan to Target, where she selected the baby doll above. We have no idea why she liked that one so much, but she does like her. Since she is a Cabbage Patch Kid, she has an offical birth certificate with the name "Esther Daphne." Andy insists on calling her Bubbles. Esther gets the good life around here- gets to sit in the doll high chair, gets wrapped in Meagan's old baby blankets, and wears little diapers. Nati thinks this is great since Meagan is not trying to get Baby Jenny.

Countdown to loss of my freedom (i.e. going back to work): 6 days.....

Happy Belated Anniversary to Grandma Sandi and Papa Bob, as well as Sandi's birthday!!!

It is all about the Princess!

No weekend is complete without dress-up of some sort. Meagan did not want to go to the party that we were going to on Saturday without her tiara. She had to have her hair perfectly braided for a princess, and then the tiara was placed upon her head. She has this new sassy little pose that she loves to make when posing for photos (see top photo,) which probably comes from a bad influence like Hannah Montana. I don't get that show. One episode that I was forced to watch recently had Hannah and Miley (the alter-ego) dating the same guy. At the end he is surprised to find out that they are the same girls. Are you kidding? The only difference was a blonde wig. Whatever. Anyway, we had a nice weekend with Grandma Lois and Papa Joe. Meagan didn't get to bed until 11 last night and I was worried she would wake up early, but miracles do happen and she slept until 9.

Dental ickiness

Natalie did a great job! I am so proud of her. She had to have iv sedation for multiple cavities, big ones. Before you say to yourself, "man, she is a crappy mom for not brushing her teeth," rest assured, we do brush her teeth. The teeth that were worked on are less than 3 months old and just came in not formed correctly for whatever reason. The anesthesiologist told us that she would need a shot of sedative to get the IV in, but I asked him to try without it since the recovery would be easier. No problem at all! She sat there telling us about her Slip in Slide, happy as can be. No tears at all, even when they put in the IV. She came out of the sedation crying, but we are home now. She is acting 100% normal. Of course, "Normal" in Natalie's case may at any time mean screaming, laughing, yelling, or giggling. Baby Jenny and Natalie are jumping up and down currently "dancing."

Paris Hilton for Prez

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

No matter what your political views are, I am sure you can agree that McCain was out of line by showing Paris Hilton in a recent ad. Apparently, Paris agrees.

Meagan is going to be Famous!!!

Meagan makes us watch this girl over and over again. She has told us that she wants to be on America's Got Talent, which is hilarious because she wouldn't even perform in her school's holiday show last year.

Mighty suprised!

Natalie is loving her new bed! She didn't wake up until 9:00 today, and happily is getting into bed for naps. I know it might now stay this way, but I am enjoying it right now.

we are proud, but sad

I tucked Natalie into her big girl bed tonight for the first time. Granted, we are not so sure that she will stay in bed, but our emotions are mixed none the less. With Meagan, we knew that we still had another baby. Now we know that this is the end; that Natalie is not a toddler anymore. Meagan was a great transition to the big girl bed. Until she hit four, she never once got out of her bed before we came to get her. Natalie has always been a fabulous sleeper (she woke up at 9:15 this morning) so I hope this does not change her habits! She is so proud of her bed. Carefully, she went through all of her stuffed toys in her crib (and if you have ever seen her crib you know what I mean) and selected the ones that get to go into her bed with her. Of course, Jenny made the cut, but so did a huge knitted bear Grandma made her, a carebear, a purse full of baby gear, and several blankets. She looks like E.T. in the closet, hidden amongst all of the stuffed animals.