Anniversary Eve

I am happy to report that, for now, Ari's newest skill is not presenting a problem. Tony said he only had to put her back in her crib one time at naptime yesterday, and since we got home past her bedtime last night, she pretty much conked right out. I'm not foolish enough to think it will be this easy, but I also refuse to let 2 years of fantastic sleep habits be ruined. If she tries turning this into a game, I am employing the trick I learned from SuperNanny--I will pick her up, march her butt back to bed, with no eye contact, no words, and certainly no hugs or cuddles or smiles. She will not win--you don't mess with me and my sleep.

In other news, Tony also reports that she peed on the potty THREE times yesterday. When he told me this, I looked down at her and said, "What--did you decide to just grow up all of a sudden and do it all today?" A little later in the evening, she said she had to pee, so I dutifully took her to the potty where she sat there for 3 seconds and then declared, "All done." I insisted she sit a few more minutes, but nothing happened, so I let her get off. I was not at all surprised. She has always cooperated better with Tony and done things for him she won't do for me. Which should make this whole potty-training thing interesting.

Also, her hair seems to be growing super-fast all of a sudden. I swear, when she got up the other morning, it looked thicker than it had when she went to bed the previous night. And her bangs seem to be much longer on her forehead. Perhaps my long-awaited pigtail days are not far off.

---

I discovered a new lip gloss the other day, and it may be my new favorite. It's called "Softlips Pearl," and it says it's a "tinted lip conditioner/sunscreen." I don't do lipstick--I am a gloss girl all the way. And if the gloss has a bit of a tint to it, that's a just a bonus. Of course, I feel compelled to mention that this is the 5th tube of lip gloss taking up residence in my purse right now. I also have a Lip Smackers (strawberry), another Lip Smackers one called "Kiss of Color" (which I hate because it's sticky--I don't know why I haven't thrown it out yet; hang on... I just did), and 2 tubes of Burt's Bees--one tinted ("Rhubarb") and one called "Radiance" that has no color but has a nice minty taste. Even when I don't bring a purse with me somewhere, I always stick a tube of lip gloss in my pocket. I'm well aware that it's an addiction. But at least it's a healthy one--keeps my lips healthy, anyway.

I was looking for a pic of my new gloss... and I see that there are 3 varieties of this tinted lip gloss. And I'm really digging the "Rose" one. It looks like it's a much better shade for me. Hmmm...

---

I got an extra couple hundred dollars in my paycheck this week. I forget the reason, but it's something about there being an extra biweekly pay period in this calendar year, so for this pay period, they didn't take out health/dental insurance. Whatever the reason, it's always nice to have extra money. And it couldn't have come at a better time, because we're going out for dinner tonight, and Dawn is watching Ari. Not sure where we're going--but I don't really care. By the time dinnertime rolls around, I'll just be looking for a place without a long wait.

---

I just texted Tony to wish him a "Happy Anniversary Eve." Because I am so clever like that. But speaking of text messages... I have several text messages saved in my phone, that I just can't bring myself to delete. I'm sure you can guess who they are from. (I transcribed them exactly as they were written--hence, the "shouting," lack of puncutation, etc. My editorial comments are in italics.)

-----

GOOD I AM TOTALLY IN LOVE WITH YOU TOO

(in reply to a message from me, telling him I was so in love with him)

-----

I JUST WANTED TO SAY THAT I LOVE YOU SO SO VERY VERY MUCH MUCH! All my love, Tony

(The "so so very very much much" bit is one of those goofy, sappy little "private joke" phrases we use with each other. I made it up because I thought it was funny--and because it's really fun to say out loud. Go on--try it... See?)

-----

YOU ARE REALLY SEXY!

*blush*

-----

THANK YOU I LOVE YOU A REALLY WHOLE LOT

("A really whole lot" = another one of those goofy, sappy phrases)

-----

I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I will be home as soon as I can so get some rest after feeding Ariana. Love, Tony

(sent to me shortly after Ari was born, when I was home alone with her and he'd been out all day)

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BEAUTIFUL WIFE! Yes. That's you! I LOVE YOU :-)

(I'm sure you can guess the occasion for this one...)

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I just ABSOLUTELY LOVE YOU SOOOOOO MUCH! :-)

(And, sometimes, no occasion is necessary...)

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I LOVE YOU TRULY, MADLY, DEEPLY--MORE THAN WORDS COULD EVER EXPRESS! :-)

(Savage Garden's "Truly, Madly, Deeply" is "our" song.)

-----

And then, in my "Sent" box, there is just one message, sent from me to him, that I also cannot delete. This was sent on February 15, 2006, the day after The Big Ultrasound.

O my gosh we r having a girl!

(Yup, I totally wanted a girl--I will fully admit that.)

---

And tomorrow is our big 10-year anniversary. Which, of course, means... be on the lookout for a big, long smushy-gushy entry all about him/us.


Widgets & Flash Toys

If you change your mind, I'm the first in line

I saw "Mamma Mia!" last night with Dawn, and loved it even more than I thought I would. It was much funnier than I thought it would be, and I even ended up crying at one point. Word to the wise: make sure you stay through the credits. You will not be sorry.

Also, there was one actress in the movie that looked so familiar to me, and I couldn't place her. I watched for her name in the credits, but even seeing the name "Julie Walters" didn't help. I looked her up on imdb.com when I got home (one of my favorite websites) and discovered she's the same actress who plays Mrs. Weasley in all the Harry Potter movies. I would never have guessed--and I'm usually pretty good at that.

I must--MUST--get the "Mamma Mia!" soundtrack now. That music is simply infectious. "Dancing Queen" was the only ABBA song I really knew before seeing this movie. Well, I kind of knew "Take a Chance on Me"--but only from that episode of "The Office" where Andy and his a cappella group sing it to Angela to get her to go out with him.* Anyway, I have to learn these songs. The music reminded me of "Hairpsray"--makes you tap your toes and leaves you feeling all happy inside afterward.

* I miss "The Office." *sigh*

---

I have decided that I am a sucker for hair products. I recently bought this new Pantene Pro-V "Beautiful Lengths" shampoo...



... because I read somewhere that its new "AquaCurrent" technology makes your hair impervious to moisture, thereby banishing frizzies. (And if there's anything that will convince me to try a new hair product, it's a label like "new technology" because surely if it's all scientific and stuff, it has to work, right?) I'm here to tell you... that is not true. Not that I hate the shampoo (it smells pretty, anyway), but my hair still turns into a puffball in this humid summer weather. I think I should just give up on my hair--nothing on earth will protect it from the hazards of humidity--not even the famous Frizz-Ease.

---

Speaking of being a sucker for new products, I think I definitely need this...



Its name is "Clocky" and according to its description, "Clocky is the uniquely designed mobile alarm clock that is guaranteed to get you on your feet. It gives you one chance to get up, but if you snooze, Clocky will jump off of your nightstand and wheel around your room looking for a place to hide. Mischievous and loud, Clocky is both hands-down adorable and surprisingly effective."

Anyone who has ever lived with me knows that this product was designed for someone like me.

---

I got a phone call from Tony this morning. "So guess what your daughter just did."

"Uh oh. What?"

"She just came and woke me up."

It took a moment for it to sink in. And then I realized, She climbed out of her crib. "Oh no," I answered. Then I jokingly corrected myself. "I mean, uh, yay. Good for her."

He said he'd heard her making noise, but didn't think anything of it until she suddenly appeared beside the bed, giggling softly as she watched him open his eyes. "So it will be interesting to see what she does at naptime, since I'm usually downstairs then."

"Maybe she'll forget, like she did last time," I said referring to the last (and, up until now, only) time she'd climbed out of her crib.

"I don't think so. She seemed pretty proud of herself."

He sent me a picture message on my phone this afternoon, of Ari sitting at the table in her room, with the caption, "Naptime from now on." Then he called to explain. He laid her down for her nap, and she immediately got out of her crib. He laid her back down, walked into the bathroom, and by the time he turned around, she was out again. So not only can she get out of her crib, but she can get out quickly and easily.

I think life as we know it is over.

See that girl, watch that scene

Am I the only one who feels like this summer is just flying by? I mean, it's going to be August by the end of this week... What happened to June and July?

This week is another busy week. Here's my "schedule" (aside from work):

Tonight: Go see "Mamma Mia!"* with Dawn and her daughter
Wednesday: Church-related meeting
Thursday: Out to dinner with Tony for our anniversary
Friday: Our 10-year anniversary--I have the day off work, but we're not spending the day together. Tony is going to a huge all-day Christian music festival with Wayne while I do a girls' day with Ari and my Mom (and possibly Jess).
Saturday: Lunch with Matt and Kristin; birthday party in the afternoon

*Am I the only one who hears that movie title and thinks of "Bohemian Rhapsody"? Yes? OK, then...

I know all those events are fun events--I'm not stressing out or anything. But I guess this explains why it seems like the days are zooming by.

Random Ari story... (See, I told you I'd think of more stuff as soon as I posted that last entry...) She has started saying "bye-bye" to people/things all by herself. It used to be that we would have to prompt her to say good-bye to anyone (and we still do, with mixed results), but now she does it spontaneously... and randomly. One day when we were leaving the house, I made her take off her princess dress-up shoes to put on real shoes, and as we walked out the door, she sadly called out, "Bye-bye, shoes." Last night, as we left Target, she said, "Bye-bye Tah-git." (Yes, she knows the word "Target"--we are raising her well.) As we left the house this morning, she said "Bye-bye" 3 or 4 times as we walked out the door, swiveling her head around as though she was looking for something specific to say good-bye to. If that's what she was doing, I guess she never settled on anything--when I asked her who she was saying bye-bye to, she didn't answer. Maybe she didn't know. Or maybe it was just a generic "bye-bye" to cover everything in the house.

I thought I had more to say, but apparently not. Oh well. I suppose this balances out yesterday's huge entry. And the huge entry you'll be subjected to on Thursday night or Friday. (You've been warned.)

The A-Files

(A picture entry below.)

At one point during Steph's visit, I took over feeding Jimmy his bottle. For that entire time, I had Ari's complete attention. She stared at him, touched him gently, and after I burped him, she insisted on putting the bottle back in his mouth and holding it there (with my help, of course). When that got old, she resorted to tickling him, and was surprisingly gentle (when she tickles us, she kind of jabs us with her fingers--the only way we know it's supposed to be tickling is because she shrieks, "Tick-oo, tick-oo!"). Once I gave him back up, she climbed into my lap with her sippy cup--a bit odd, maybe, but not entirely unusual. But then she proceeded to lay back in my arms, until I was holding her the same way I'd been holding Jimmy, guzzling happily from her sippy cup. I just looked at Steph, and laughed. "She NEVER does this." Ahh, jealousy is a beautiful thing.

Speaking of Ari, it's probably about time I got around to that "Ari update" I've been working on for a while now, huh? It's getting ridiculously long, because the smart little booger just keeps learning/doing new stuff, so this may be a 2-part entry. So if that kind of stuff bores you out of your mind, you might as well leave now. No hard feelings.

Ari has started that typical toddler habit of asking "Who's that?" about random people she sees. But, instead of asking "Who's that?" she simply points and says, "That." And it's more of a statement than a question. But we know what she means. She also likes to do it with people she already knows, as though she wants to test us and see if we know who they all are.

She's also starting to learn the difference between genders, and loves to point at strangers and declare "boy" or "girl." It's particularly comical when she points at a grown man or woman and says this. We're trying to teach her "man" and "lady" as well, but she mostly sticks to her original titles, and I have to say, it's pretty cute. And if the other person notices, they usually smile and get a kick out of it. Of course, it gets slightly awkward when she announces the wrong gender--I simply correct her while I silently pray the the person either didn't overhear or doesn't get offended. But the whole game gets a little more tricky when Ari spies someone at a distance and it's too far away for me to tell if the child is male or female. And then there are the times when, even close-up, I'm still not sure. I sense a lot of embarrassing outbursts from her in the future.

We were at a friend's house the other day, and Ari picked up a rubber band off the floor. She kept holding it on top of her head, saying "hair" as though she wanted me to put it in her hair. For a moment, I was puzzled--I've put the occasional barrette in her hair, but never a ponytail holder. Then in dawned on me--she's probably seen me put my own hair in a ponytail. I can't wait for the day when she actually has enough hair to do pigtails/ponytails. (I refuse to put a Pebbles ponytail on her--you know, the kind that stick straight up from the top of the head.) It's close... I can feel it.

I was walking with Ari a few nights ago, and keeping her entertained (or maybe she was keeping me entertained) by asking her what sounds different animals make. We went through doggy, kitty, sheep, cow, birdie, duck, frog (she practically roars the word "ribbit"--it's too cute), lion, etc. Then she started saying something to me that I couldn't quite make out, while she waved her arm around oddly. I simply chalked it up as babbling and repeated my question. She kept doing what she was doing and then it dawned on me--she was saying "elephant" and the arm motion was her imitation of the elephant's trunk. The babysitter taught her this months ago (complete with a "trumpeting" sound), but I haven't quizzed Ari on it or seen her do it in a long time. Show-off.

She still adores Ivan, and lately, has been getting much more playful with him. She kind of wrestles with him in slow-motion. What I mean is, she doesn't run at him or jump on him, but she'll hug him and then slowly roll her weight on top of him, and then wiggle all around, hugging him and giggling when he nuzzles or licks her. He, of course, just eats it up. The only problem is, she tries to act the same way with other dogs (Sasha, for example, and our friend's dog) because she doesn't realize that not all dogs are fond of being treated like that. Sasha simply walks away from Ari, but I know we need to start teaching Ari to be more gentle with dogs in general. She has also figured out that if she grabs on to Ivan's collar, she can lead him around the room. And she's learned to be quite bossy with the dogs--loudly declaring, "Move!" when they're in her way.

She loves to be a little helper, and any time we are heading out to the car, she insists on carrying something, and struts around like she is the coolest thing. Of course, it slows her down a bit, and then she'll balk at the curb, as though she can't figure out how to step down while still carrying her cargo. If she's not "thinking" about it, though, she's fine.

She is definitely learning the difference between "yes" and "no" and sometimes we can even see her contemplating her answer before she speaks. But even when she says no, she usually says it so sweetly that you can't be offended (even if she's saying no to you asking for a hug or kiss). Other time, she'll shake her head and say no with a little grin tugging at her lips, as though she's saying no just to be ornery.

Speaking of that, she is learning to make jokes and play tricks on us. Sometimes she'll call an animal the wrong name and smile as though she knows she's wrong or is just testing us. Other times she'll trot toward one of us as though she is going to hug us, and then spin around and run the opposite direction at the last second.

My sister sent us pictures of my nephew Matthew the other day, and included a tiny, smaller-than-a-wallet-size one for Ari. I showed it to her and told her it was Matthew. She said his name both as "Mah-foo" and "Mah-shoo" and insisted on carrying the picture with her. One day, she had it while I was changing her diaper, and when I was done, I picked her up to carry her downstairs. She held the picture close to her chest, and declared, "I carry Mah-foo."

Tony told me that she insisted on playing hide-and-seek with him the other day--behind the blinds, in the dark bathroom, and under a blanket on the couch. The only thing was, she wanted Tony to hide with her. But she would still say, "Where's Ari?" What a goofy girl. He said she kept herself entertained like that for almost an hour.

I've mentioned before that she likes to pick her nose. She's moved on to "eating" it, too. Honestly, I've never seen her actually get anything out of her nose, but she'll stick her finger up there, pull it out and glance at it, and then make a point of sticking it in her mouth. And despite my efforts not to make a big deal about the nose-picking, she seems to sense that it is a big deal--she likes to calmly call my attention to it, especially when we're in the car. I can even tell by the way she says my name--she uses a very particularly calm tone when she says, "Mommy" and I know what she's doing before I even turn and look.

She's been amazing me lately with her memory, too. It seems like more and more, we only have to tell her something once and she remembers it. Likewise, she also notices and remembers things on her own too. I was walking with her the other night, and across the street, someone had a charcoal grill going with some pretty decent flames. She pointed at it and said, "Hot." I didn't comment except to agree that yes, it was hot. The next night as we were walking, she started pointing and saying "hot" over and over, getting louder when I didn't respond. It took me a minute to figure it out, but then I realized she was pointing at that same grill--which wasn't even on. In fact, I could barely see it, since it was "camouflaged" pretty well against the wall and trees behind it. But she remembered it from the day before.

She's pretty much completely feeding herself now--yes, I've gotten over my neuroses about messiness and have even let her feed herself pasta. She's actually not as messy as I anticipated, and of course, the only way she'll get better is to practice. She still has a problem with tilting the spoon before it gets to her mouth, so liquidy stuff like applesauce slides right off. But she'll still miraculously manage to get some in her mouth--it defies all laws of physics. We've attempted to let her use a cup with a straw (since she got several cute ones for her birthday), but that's a concept that she hasn't figured out--she insists on tipping the cup the same way she does with her sippy cup, which results in her spilling the drink all over herself. Again, I know--practice makes perfect.

And that about covers it. And I bet when I get home tonight, she'll do something else cute/smart/charming that will instantly make me think, "Oh, I need to blog about that!" Not that I'm complaining at all.


Widgets & Flash Toys

Another weekend visitor *EDIT*

I feel like every Sunday night (or, Monday morning), I sit down and write a big "weekend in review" entry. I just can't ever seem to find time to write on the weekend, and we've had a few busy weekends in a row (with no end in sight, it seems).

Friday night, we went to see "The Dark Knight" in IMAX. It was a good movie. I can see why everyone is buzzing about it. There were lots of scenes where I could just feel myself tensing up from all the drama. The only thing I found odd was that almost every time The Joker said something, the audience would laugh. And I get that he's a quirky character, and I laughed too, but a part of me kept thinking, "Don't laugh, people! The guy is a homicidal maniac! How is that funny?" I know--I'm weird.

Saturday morning, Tony got up early to help a friend with some house renovations, so it was just me and Ari for the morning. I got up at a decent hour, which gave me plenty of time to walk with Ari, get myself ready, and make a salad. Tony got home about half an hour before I needed to leave for my sister-in-law Jess's baby shower. It was a surprise, and there was no doubt in anyone's minds that she was definitely surprised when she got there--we all huddled in the kitchen so we could all see her come in, and when we yelled "Surprise!" she nearly fell off the step. It was a really nice shower, and she got a ton of stuff. And her sister-in-law was the designated photographer, and she made a point of getting a picture of Jess with each guest, as well as some nice family shots. Here's me, Dave (the proud papa-to-be), Jess (doesn't she look fantastic?) and Mom.



When I got home, about half an hour later, we had our next weekend visitor. Steph is an old college friend--Tony met her before he met me--and he met me in the very first week, so she was one of the very first friends he made in college. And once Steph started dating Dan, all 4 of us became friends. After we graduated, Tony and I stuck around while I got my master's, while Dan and Steph moved to New Orleans, where Dan went to Tulane for medical school. We visited them almost every weekend we possibly could, but since then, our visits have been very few and far between. They currently live in Germany, since that's where Dan is stationed (he's in the Army). Anyway, Steph called just a few days ago, telling us she was in our area and wanting to know if she could crash at our place for a night. Of course we didn't hesitate a moment to say yes. The last time we saw her was more than 2 years ago, so we'd never had the chance to meet her kids (Ana is 2 and Jimmy is just 5 months old).

We had a nice relaxing evening on Saturday night--we let the girls play together, and they did really well. Ari kept calling Ana "Kailey," probably remembering the little friend who visited last weekend. When we finally got her to say Ana, she called her "Nana," pronounced the same way she says "banana."

We ordered pizza for dinner, took the kids to the play area and then put all the munchkins to bed. Once they were in bed, us adults got a chance to catch up, which included a quick run to the grocery store to get some ice cream.

Steph and the kids joined us for church and afterwards, us girls and the kids went to Friendly's for lunch (minus Tony, who had to do a baptismal service). I finally remembered to grab my camera and get some pictures. Here is Ana (short for Anastasia, one of my favorite names)...



And this is Steph and Jimmy. He is such a sweet little guy--the first time he laid eyes on me, he broke out into the hugest grin.



A family picture that, unfortunately, came out blurry.



In order to keep our little posse together as we walked out, we got Ana and Ari to holds hands. And it was too cute not to get a picture of.



One of them insisted on putting Jimmy's blanket on him. (Wanna guess which one?)



Then it was time for goodbyes. We tried to get Ana to hug Ari, but she already had her cup and blanket in her hands and was quite content not to dish out any hugs. So Ari hugged Steph instead.



I love this picture. Figures that my kid isn't looking (she was trying to swipe that bear).



And just a random daddy-daughter picture. I swear, Ari's hair got thicker overnight. It was humid today, but it's ben humid a lot of days this summer, and I don't remember it being so poofy.



All 3 of us crashed in the afternoon--we laid Ari down for a nap, and Tony and I followed suit shortly afterwards. We slept longer than we meant to, but I can't say it didn't feel good. We hung out at Pastor and Dawn's for a few hours in the evening and then came home. And I should probably think about going to bed sometime soon. See, that's the problem with afternoon naps--then I'm not tired at night when I should be.

*** EDIT ***

I was so preoccupied with getting all those pictures uploaded that I forgot to mention my exciting news... in about a week and a half, I'm going to CALIFORNIA! My brother, Steve (who is in the Air Force, studying to be a linguist) is graduating from his language program on August 7, and my generous, amazing parents have given me the opportunity to fly out there. I fly out in the afternoon on Wednesday, August 6, then I'll be there all day Thursday and Friday, and fly home on Saturday, August 9. I am so excited--not only to see my brother and his family, but also to see California. I've been there once, but I was less than 3 years old, so I don't remember a thing. I've heard that the area they live in is really beautiful, and I'm going to get to see it with my own eyes.

I didn't say anything before because it was going to be a surprise for Steve, but Eden decided to tell him so that he could look forward to it. And now I don't have to worry about accidentally spilling the beans (I swear, I avoided talking to my sister-in-law Jess all last week because I was afraid I'd say something stupid like "See you Saturday!") I talked to Steve on the phone yesterday, and he sounded excited. I even talked to my niece Lyvi for a few moments, and she had a lot to say. It's going to be fun hanging out with her, too.

So of course I had to make myself a little countdown clock...


Widgets & Flash Toys

Pictures from another busy weekend

I had a friend from out of town come visit for the weekend with her 2 kids. Her little girl is 6 months older than Ari, and despite having only met once before, the 2 girls were practically best friends by the time the weekend was over.

Ari likes to help Tony let the dogs out now, and he sometimes lets her hold Sasha's leash. As you can see, she takes this job very seriously. The only reason she's not wearing her shorts is because I took them off to put a belt on them (which was easier than trying to get her to hold still so I could do it while she was still wearing them).



We went to local kids' museum on Saturday, and all 3 kids had a blast. One of the rooms was a theater room which featured a dressing room with all sorts of dress-up clothes. Tony put this robe on Ari, and she declared herself "Sin-dee-ruh-ruh."



Putting fish on the conveyor belt in the fishery room...



Trying to figure out how to hold that third apple in her already-full hands...



Trying to figure out how to drive the car with her hands full... (She ended up chucking on of the apples across the room.)



Ari fell asleep in the car on the way home, and this getup is all her own doing. She grabbed the hat and put it on her head and she pulled the blanket into her lap. Only my kid would need a hat and blanket in the middle of summer.



Ari being a bad influence on her little friend. (Yes, mere moments later, they were both standing on the table.) Oh, by the way, this is the table that Tony's mom and brother gave Ari for her birthday. It actually folds up flat too (somehow), which is another handy feature. Ari loves having her very own furniture outside.



And last but not least, a random picture of me and Tony. Man, I'm short. And I was wearing heels, too.

Sears 2-year portraits *EDIT*

Short edit at bottom...

Ari's Sears pictures came in today, but since I didn't have the receipt with me, I wasn't able to pick them up. We did, however, finally get the session ID and password we needed to view them online, so without further ado, here you go. (Since these are online proofs, they're going to be fuzzy, but you get the idea.)

These flowers were her main source of amusement. In fact, she loved them so much that we had a hard time getting her to tear her eyes away from them to look at the camera.



We got a 10x13 of this pose for ourselves. I liked it because you can see her entire outfit (most of the good shots are close-ups of her face) and you can see how banged-up and scraped-up her legs are.



I started a game of peekaboo with her to get her attention on me.



One of my favorite shots--we got 5x7s and lots of wallets of this one.



Being typical Ari--making weird faces.



Being charming...



Another favorite... if only the top of her head wasn't cut off...



Another goofy face...



The more I look at this one, the more I think we need to order a copy of it. Sure, she's making a weird face, but it's such a "typical Ari" picture. Plus it would be a great picture to embarrass her with later.



And that's all. We now return you to your regularly-schedule web-surfing.

*** EDIT ***

Just had to add a quick note... that last shot, with Ari making the pouty face? We did end up ordering a copy of it. And when Tony did that, they asked his permission to include that shot in their "scrapbook"--it's a sort of portfolio that they keep on display at their studio to show off their photographers' best work. Maybe someday we'll look back on this as the very start of Ari's modeling career.... ha ha ha.

Such a little girly-girl

Ari is just entering that little-girl stage where she's playing "mommy" with her baby dolls. When I was on the computer earlier tonight, she insisted on sitting next to me, holding her baby carefully in her lap. I reached for the camera and asked her to smile.



See how she's cradling the baby in her arms? (And, no, I have no idea what that weird bruise-looking thing is on the baby's knee. No clue how it got there.)



I asked her what her baby was doing, and she said, "Nigh-night." (It's one of those dolls whose eyes close when you lay her down.) Then she proceeded to pull the baby's eyes open.



She finally figured out that all she had to do to get the baby's eyes to open was to sit her up.



And then she laid the baby back down... and picked her nose. (No, I am not kidding, and this is not staged. She really did this.)



My mom sent her a set of 4 pairs of Disney princess dress-up shoes, and we just got them in the mail yesterday. I opened them for her tonight, and she put the Belle ones on (I swear, she picked those all by herself) and strutted around the room. She walked cautiously, staring at her feet as she wobbled in the heels, and chuckling happily to herself.



Now she is sitting next to me, putting the shoes back in the box, taking them out, putting them back in, taking them out... and this has kept her amused for at least the past 10 minutes. I keep hearing her say "Nigh-night," and I'm not sure if she's telling me the shoes are going night-night, or if she's ready to go night-night. Hopefully it's the latter, since it's past her bedtime.

Wait. Now she is piling the shoes one on top of another right next to me. And now she is lining them all up in a row. And now she is transferring them one by one into a row on the floor. And now she's putting them back in the box.

It's nearly half an hour past her bedtime, but I just can't bring myself to tell her she has to stop.

Sunday: The Great Fireworks Finale

(Weekend pics from Saturday in previous entry.)

Sunday was church as usual. Tony stuck around after church to help set up for VBS (which will be happening this week) while I took Ari home to get lunch and a nap. I put her down for her nap shortly before Tony got home, and when he got home, he decided to take a nap, too. I went for a walk, read a bit of a new book, but soon found my eyelids getting heavy. I set the book aside and drifted off into dreamland myself.

When we all woke up we headed back to town for the big fireworks finale--the culmination of all the weekend events. On the way there, we stopped for gas, so I whipped out the camera and asked Ari to show me her teeth. This was her response.



I could tell it was going to look washed-out (I don't know why the flash thought it needed to go off), so I gave it another try. I asked her to show me her teeth again. And this is what I got.



We parked at Brandon and Kerry's house--they live just a short distance from the town green, yet far enough away that we wouldn't have to deal with crazy traffic at the end of the night. We got to the town green a little after 7 and joined our friends on the blankets they had laid out. There was, as usual, a huge group of us--Brandon and Kerry and their kids, Pastor and Dawn, a whole huge bunch of Dawn's relatives (all of whom we know and who treat us like part of the family) and even a few other friends from church. Ari kept herself entertained by playing with Tyler and Molly (and, later, Abby, a friend from church) as well as some of the adults--anyone who would humor her, basically. Tony wandered off in search of some glow necklaces for Ari, and returned with this light-up spinner toy. He said some guy gave it to him, saying, "My kid didn't like it--do you want it?" Ari was mesmerized, and was instantly popular, since all the other kids wanted her toy.



Look at Little Miss Serious. I think she was trying to figure out how it worked.



The entertainment for the evening (well, you know, besides the kids) was The [State Capital] Symphony Orchestra (ha, how's that for vague?) who did a tribute to Motown. They were fantastic--one of the best acts I've ever seen at this town celebration.

The fireworks didn't start until almost 10--well past Ari's bedtime, of course. But she did so well. By the time the fireworks were ready to start, she had settled herself into my lap with her blanket, her sippy cup, her binky, and her spinner toy. Before they started the fireworks, they had someone sing the National Anthem, so we all had to stand. I figured Ari wouldn't mind, but she insisted quite loudly on having all her "supplies" in her hands while she stood, silly girl. Once I handed them all to her, she quieted down, and when we sat back down, she happily nestled into my lap again.



Tony said I wasn't smiling, so this is the next picture he got. (Gee, I don't know why Ari acts all goofy for the camera--I can't imagine where she gets it from...)



Ari did great with the fireworks. I was a little apprehensive, thinking she might be afraid this year. She was fine last year, but now that she's a little older and a little more aware of things being scary, I thought she might be nervous (for example, she's recently decided to be afraid of the vacuum cleaner). But she was totally chilled through the whole show. She just sat quietly at first, taking it all in...



...and then after a little while, she got more vocal. She would point at the sky and say, "Fire!" and "High!"



About halfway through the show, I sat up to adjust my position (since I couldn't get comfortable) and Tony thought I was trying to pass Ari off to him. He held out his arms, and she went willingly to him--and I didn't protest.



Ari was just as relaxed in Tony's arms--maybe even more so. She was even more animated with him, too. She kept saying, "I touch it" (which is what she says when she wants to touch something).



When the show was over, we lingered, waiting for the crowd to clear a little before starting the walk back to our car. By the time we got to our car, it was after 11, and Ari was still awake, though she looked completely wiped out. She even stayed awake in the car until I remembered to give her her blanket--within seconds she was out. She barely stirred when we got her out of the car (which is unusual for her), and went right back to sleep when we put her in the crib.

And so ends another busy weekend. The next couple aren't looking like they're going to any less crazy. I think my big plan to catch up on sleep on the weekends isn't going to work out so well anymore...

Saturday: Nick's Birthday Party

(Lots of photo ops this weekend, so there's a ton of pictures to share. But I'm going to split them into 2 entries because I'm nice like that.)

This weekend flew by. On Saturday, Tony got up early to go help set up a booth for our church at a nearby town's 4th of July celebration. This town always does a full weekend celebration for the 4th of July, and they chose this weekend so as not to compete with other towns. We've gone to this town celebration for several years now, and our church had a booth there last year. After he was done with set-up, Tony came home... to find me and Ari still asleep. It was a bit past 9, I think, and it felt so good to sleep in. We all got ready and headed back into town for the big parade. We found a spot along the road with our friends Brandon and Kerry and their little ones, and were joined by a couple other friends from church and their kids. Ari and Tyler (who's about to turn 4) had a great time with the parade--Ari started doing a crazy little dance, and Tyler imitated her for a while. The parade was long, though, and the kids lost interest by the end. We headed home afterwards so that Ari could get a nap before our next event.

After she napped, we headed over to Matt and Kristin's for Nick's 2nd birthday party. The kiddie pool was out, so we got Ari changed, and she spent tons of time in there. The kid loves water.



Getting water dumped on her by "Uncle" Matt...



I just love her posture in this picture--she looks like a little ballerina or something...



When the pool got old, she kept herself occupied with Nick's tricycle (she couldn't figure out how to pedal, so she scooted herself along with her feet, Flintstones-style).



She loved this bike, too, but again, couldn't figure out the pedals...



So, she did this...



She also loved this doll stroller. I think we need to get her one. She's taken a sudden liking to her baby dolls, carrying them around, cradling them in her arms, hugging and kissing them, and wanting them in her crib when she sleeps.



I took this picture from a distance and then cropped it, so it's a little fuzzy, but I love the look on her face. Something about this picture makes her look so grown-up.



This would have been such a nice picture if someone had cooperated. (I took away her toy to get her to pose for the picture, so I suppose I deserved this.)



I wanted to get a clear shot of her shirt. It says "Love Bug" and when I saw it, I had to buy it, since I call her that all the time.



And that was Saturday. Stay tuned for the next entry, about Sunday, featuring the great fireworks show.