Photography by Bella

A Very Special Gift

To: Grandma
From: Matea

A broken nose.


For reals.

A Modern Twist

on barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.

Topless,baby belly, socks only. Steve's fantasy finally came true. Unfortunately for him, the wrong family member fulfilled it (barf).

And in keeping things modern, boy undies because this three year old feminist isn't limited to frilly girl panties.

Don't let that sweet smile and cute hiney fool you. Baby Girl is turning into pure evil right before our eyes. When Bella was 2, I remember telling some friends (who had older girls) that she really wasn't showing any signs of the terrible twos. They all laughed and said, "Just wait until three". Seriously, for about a year, all hell broke loose for several hours every day. I vividly remember sitting outside with Matea when she was just a baby (so Bella was the age Tatey is now), while Bella was in the house totally freaking out and screaming for over an hour sometimes. I didn't want the neighbors to think she was being mistreated to I'd sit on the front steps with Matea as proof that whatever her problem was, she was bringing on herself.

This morning, Matea spent a full hour screaming and foot-stomping over an apron that I apparently could not tie correctly for her. She followed that up with 15 minutes of freaking out over shoes. Pretty soon I should be able to spend most of my day on the front steps alone, reading a good book and drinking ice tea.

If you don't think they look alike

you're obviously wrong.


I found this picture of the girls today and couldn't believe how much Tatey looks like Bella at this age. Bella is just a few months younger than Matea is now in that picture. Other than the fact that Bella's face was fuller, it's really hard to tell them apart. When we were at Steve's parents house a few weeks ago, we both had trouble figuring out which kid it was in some of the baby pictures they had hanging up.

In other news, it looks like Tatey Cakes is finally gaining some weight. She's almost up to a whopping 30 pounds! Even though she's still fairly tiny, her legs are getting long and she's definitely out grown all of her 2T clothes. Only another month or so until our "baby" is 3!

Is it possible...

to die from exposure to excessive whining? If so, I'm concerned for my healthy safety. It's like I'm trapped on that compound in Waco, TX when they blared the torture noises at the cult (sorry, I was young and don't remember exactly what was played).

On a totally unrelated note, have I mentioned that Bella's been on summer vacation for about a week now? I used to say, "I'm counting to three and then it's naughty time" approximately one hundred times per day. Now I've switched to, "You're whining so I can't hear anything you're saying."

It wasn't exactly hot today but lucky for us, Mesa Dunes keeps the pool heated to about 90 degrees. And that's not an exaggeration, the manager herself told me that the pool is kept at either 86 or 88 degrees (I can't remember which one). I swear it was even warmer today, like a hot tub without the bubbles.

Bella took off her swimmies and practiced her "skillz" for about 10 minutes and for once, didn't put up a fight (which usually involves lots of screaming). I did the whole "jump off the step, I promise I'll catch you" trick and got her to swim 5 or 6 feet on her own. She was scared and gave me the look of death but once she realized she wasn't dead, she was really proud of herself.

The Graduate

Today was Bella's Pre-K graduation. And I didn't cry. I teared up this morning when I saw her all dressed up and excited about her big day. And I teared up again looking at the pictures of my big girl. But, I didn't embarrass myself and cry at the ceremony.

Grandma and Great Grandma were nice enough to drive two hours each way, just to come to the ceremony and then have a little celebration afterward at our house. We gave Bella a special dress to wear today and also gave her the camera she's been earning money for (we picked up the tab on her balance due). Tatey dressed up for the occasion and spent the whole ceremony saying, "I can't see Bellaaaaaaaaa". Bella spent a lot of time smiling at the crowd, waving to her family, and striking her best princess pose.

We're both sad about this year being over because it really was great. She had absolutely wonderful teachers and made some really great friends too. But now that I'm working part-time, I'm really looking forward to a slower pace this summer with far less running around.

Breakfast Convo

Me: Maybe you should just leave Matea alone. She seems to be grumpy a lot during breakfast.

Bella: Well I think she's grumpy to me all the time.

Me: I don't think that's true. You only have one sister for ever and ever so you guys need to treat each other nicely.

Bella: Really? Because last night, I thought she was going to kill me!

Me: Whaaaaaat?


For the record, I worked last night so I don't know whether anyone tried to kill anyone here on the home front.

Bittersweet

I took the girls over to Avila Barn this morning to buy freshly picked blueberries and feed the goats. There were some adorable tiny baby goats and I tried to get Bella to put one in her pocket so we could bring it home but she didn't go for that idea. While at the barn, two things dawned on me.

Number One, I'm irritated that my friend Kristi got my dream camera lens and rubbed her awesome pictures in my face yesterday. I might have to accidentally have one of the children steal it next time we're over at their house (it's almost as big as Matea so that might not work out though). And number two, I won't be able to do this kind of stuff next year because big girl will be in school. I've gotten so used to spontaneously driving down to the zoo in Santa Barbara or heading over to Morro Bay to check out the fabric store and then take the girls sea lion watching. Sure, I can do this stuff with Tatey next year but it won't be the same without Bella's crazy imagination there with us.

She graduates from preschool next week and I got all teary eyed yesterday when she handed me a flier about graduation that her teachers put in her cubby. I don't know why the whole thing makes me so emotional. I think it's just a reminder of how quickly time passes once you have kids. And Steve and I are immensely excited for her to go to kindergarten. We know she's more than well prepared and she's such a social butterfly, she's going to have the time of her life.

I shouldn't say it

But I will. I think Steve and I make beautiful children.

I gave Bella two little french braids today and it was so nice to see her bangs out of her eyes and finally be able to see her pretty face. Tomorrow is a big day for our big girl. She has kindergarten round up at the elementary school she'll be attending next year. She's so excited to see more of her new school and hopefully show off some of her reading and spelling skills.

Mother's Day

I enjoyed a very low key Mother's Day. Steve and I have both been very sick the last 4 or 5 days and Bella officially came down with it over the weekend. We stayed in our jammies until lunch time and then went out to Me n Ed's for pizza (we had a coupon) and went shopping across the street at CVS for some deals (with more coupons). Steve asked me whether I just wanted to drive all over the coast looking for bargains and good coupons today but I declined and applauded him on his mocking.

I got the wonderful gift of not having to tend to the children this afternoon and an amazing yard metal sculpture piece that Steve made for me. We saw something similar at Art in the Park in Pismo last weekend and I wanted it for my Mother's Day gift because I thought the flowers could signify each of our girls. He told me he already had something planned for Mother's Day so we didn't get it but the big fat liar made me my own one of a kind version. I love it!

Medical Mystery

Out of no where this morning, I noticed Matea's back was covered in hives. She's never had them before and we're not really a high allergy family so we're having troubling figuring out what caused them. The only thing she had eaten were some raisins she got out of the pantry herself and she's had those before so we don't think that was the culprit. She wasn't itchy or bothered by the hives and they disappeared on their own within about 20 minutes. A medical mystery, I guess.

Wollah Kating

I bought these skates for $2 at a yard sale several years ago when Bella was even younger than Matea is now. They're adjustable and the smallest setting is just small enough for Tatey and the biggest setting is just big enough for Bella. Matea begged me to "wollah kate" yesterday so each of the girls took a turn.

Family Day

Last Saturday was my first weekend day off from work since I started working at Carters. We decided to make the most of our day together by packing it with activities.

We started at the Charles Paddock Zoo in Atascadero and then visited the park next to the zoo. Then we had lunch in Morro Bay and had planned to walk around and look for sea lions but it was really cold and windy so we headed to the natural history museum instead. Next, we came home for relaxing and a movie and then headed out to the beach to play and roast marshmallows. A great day for all of us.