Eat. Poop. Read.

This is a onesie that Steff bought Miranda 5 years ago and I laugh every time it catches my eye. And I love this hat. I can't decide if it's more like the hat Madonna wore in the Borderline video or like something Lucille Ball wore but I love it.

Zoo Too

Took the kids to ride the zoo train today (day 3 of 5-day-weekend and needed. to. get. out. of. the. house.) and they talked me into going into the zoo as well to see the animals we didn't see on Day 1 of Spring Break's 5-day weekend. We had a ball!

Waiting for the zoo train

(Ballet class this morning, hence the leotard!)

In front of the zoo entrance

These are the goofy faces I get when I say "Smile!"

Silly faces at lunch before seeing animals.




We went through the South American part of the zoo first, which has some of my favorites.

New basilisk lizard on display. The kids learned all about him on a Wild Kratts episode, and love the fact that he can run on water!


Military macaw


The anteater, the Reid Park Zoo's mascot


Up on a termite mound




The Motmot, my favorite bird at the zoo.


The capybara, who I came to love because of the Bill Peet book, Capyboppy.


The tapir


Gratuitous baby shot


A gibbon, checking us out


Makena, our new female otter right before I told off some dumb-ass mom who thought it was no big deal to throw the otters goldfish crackers because she "just wanted them to come over so her daughter could see them better".


Peacock showing off


The back view is just as beautiful


It was very close to giraffe lunch time, so they were very close to where the people were.




Miranda's elephant, Double Half (don't ask, I can't explain the name) found a friend


Finally got some pictures of the M&Ms with nice smiles instead of grimaces!

New Sheets!

When Miss Em was born, my sister hand made new sheets and a blanket for the crib. They're gorgeous!

Washcloth

Miss Em is starting to put everything she can randomly grab into her mouth. I turned around the other day to find she'd grabbed her washcloth and was gleefully cramming it in! She was so pleased with herself and I had to take a pic.

ET

We had to pull all of Miss M's guys off her bed today to change her sheets, so we set them all up and then sat little Miss Em in them. Miss M just *had* to be a part of it!

Smile, Emily!

The kids are quite interested in making Miss Em smile these days, which is happening more and more. Miss M particularly wants to be the reason her little sister smiles, which in the past few days has resulted in hands-squishing-face "I'm helping her smile, Mom!".

The fairly benign "help"...


The "help" that has to be moderated by Mom a little bit ("No honey, you can't squeeze her face until she smiles.")


All in all, the big M's are really loving their baby sister who is doing more and more each day, and reacting more to them in ways they can understand. It's so much fun!

(Look at those lovely, fat thigh rolls! ♥ them!)

Tennis Kids

Michael has been intent on tennis lately, so Dan got his rackets down from the storage in our garage and they have been whacking tennis balls against the back wall outside. They're so pumped about tennis summer camp this June!

Miranda in her ballet gear from earlier in the day...

Michael trying to balance a ball, although he doesn't believe his dad that it is a skill builder.

Dan had mad tennis skills back in the day!

Zoe in the hole she dug in my flower bed. This is her favorite cool spot in the yard.

Max!

E. Rose

I love Emily in clothes with roses...almost like they were made just for her!
This is a pic my friend Teena took at Beyond Bread the other day.

This Is How She Likes To Nap

I swear, she likes to nap with the blanket ON her face.

(By the way, this is a little handmade blanket that we just love!)

Bed Time!

I came in the other night to tuck in the kids after Dan had gotten everyone loaded in to their own beds, and this was what I found.




Close your eyes, Emily! Everyone is supposed to be asleep!

Baby Burrito!

At Em's 2 month well-baby check-up yesterday, she had to get 3 shots. :( After we got home, she couldn't settle down to nap until I turned her into a baby burrito. After that she slept for 6 hours straight!

Park Day

Dan took the kids last month to burn off extra energy and snapped a couple shots with his iPhone.

Mr. "No-don't-take-my-picture!"




Dan got a really nice one of Miranda.

Snuggly

The M&Ms really love having a baby sister and always want to snuggle! Here's some morning shots as everyone was waking up this morning.

Baby Camo!!

This is my favorite nightie of Miss Em's right now, I think she's just so pretty in this rose print. My cousins Doug & Karel sent this as a gift when she was born and I love it! Where's the baby, can you see her?

Smiling Baby!

I l♥ve it when a new baby starts smiling for me, and Miss Em is no exception.



And here are her big brother and big sister's early smile pictures. :)