Mo' Faux Birthday

Matea requested dinner at Red Robin for her birthday. This was totally random since she's only eaten there once and it was quite a while ago.

First, she pre-partied on the way to her dinner. Doesn't she look comfortable?

Then she dined on her favorite appetizer, mozzarella sticks.

Had her first experience with a restaurant birthday song. Total deer in the headlights. When they walked up clapping, she immediately looked behind us to figure out where they were going.

Lastly, she chose to lick her sundae instead of using a spoon because it was her birthday and she could do whatever she wanted.

Happy Faux Birthday Matea!

I had to wake up baby girl this morning so she could see her present before papa left for work. It's a Go Diego! "motorcycle"!

She fueled up with some breakfast birthday cake and then hit the road.

She was really excited about it and especially loves all of the music and sounds.

She's still getting the hang of pedaling so Bella's there to help out.

First Day of Summer School

Here are the outfits they picked out...

Ok, not really. But I did drop them off at Steve's work dressed like this on Monday.

I had them pick out their clothes the night before and was nice enough to let them pick one outfit from their new back-to-school stuff if they wanted to.

Tatey still isn't sure about the whole school thing. I had to sneak out yesterday and today she seemed dead set on leaving with me again. So, it looks like sneaking out may be the routine for a while. Her teachers say she's great at school and that Bella is being a wonderful big sister. They're always sitting together at the table when the classroom door opens, looking really sweet. Then we walk to the car and the magic of school wears off and they're back to screaming and slapping.

Teaching an Important Life Lesson

Lying.

Matea's birthday is Friday. I requested the day off but didn't get it. I put up a note almost three weeks ago asking someone to take my shift, explaining that it was Tatey's birthday and I'd like to be home to celebrate with my family that night. No takers. So, as it stands, on Friday, I'll be home with the girls all day, drop them off with Steve at 5:00, go to work, see them briefly the next morning and then go to work again. No family celebration.

So, we're bumping up Matea's birthday to the 23rd this year. She'll never know. I'm pretty sure Bella will know and will definitely question us all day and night about it but I'm thinking I'll throw in a lollipop if she can zip her lips on the secret.

So, if you call to wish Matea a Happy Birthday on Friday and she tells you her birthday was the day before, just pretend like she's right.

Tomorrow, I Begin My New Life

All Gonzalezes (or is it z'?) under the age of 18 will be in summer school. I'll be home all alone for three hours a day, three days a week, for the next three weeks.

For the grand opening celebration of my new life, I'm going to Walmart to get Matea's birthday gift and won't have to try and hide it in the cart by purchasing a towel or something else we don't need just to cover it. Then I'm going to the local beauty school to get my discount hair cut. Alone. I'll go to the ATM at my bank and not have to worry about finding a spot right on the curb at the ATM so I can leave the kids in the car and be 5 feet away.

The next day, I'm going to make my first solo trip to Costco. I might spend all three of my free hours there.

A New Super Hero

Matea: Bella, do I look like Super Man? (while pumping her chocolate pudding covered fist in the air)

Bella: I think you look more like Pooper Man!



Well done, Bella. Normally, we're very strict about language and potty talk but I was actually quite proud of Bella's wit and play on words.

Little Fish

Somehow, in the space of about a month, Bella has gone from screaming as though she's being tortured when asked to take her swimmies off to casually swimming about the pool all on her own. I always knew she had the skills to swim, she just wanted to be in control (and piss me off) of when and how she did it.

We've been to the pool a few times this week and today she just hopped right in and took off. She looks more like a Golden Retriever than Michael Phelps but now we are confident that if she ever falls into a pool, she can swim to safety and that's all we really care about right now.

Sorry for the very poor video quality. I used my new cell phone but plan to get better video of her soon.

The New Green-Gonzalez Family Truckster

A 2000 Honda Odyssey. Now when grandparents come to visit, we won't have to take separate cars everywhere. We got a really great deal and bought it from one of Steve's customers so we know the car's maintenance history. Both girls are really excited and so is mama.

And I said "Green-Gonzalez" in the title because we recently realized that the girls think we have a hyphenated last name instead of Green being their middle name. As far as they're concerned, we're Steve and Kelci Green-Gonzalez. Too bad great grandpa isn't still here because I'm sure that would bump us to the top of the inheritance list.

4th of July

We went to a friends' neighborhood block party again this year. The girls got to drive around a motorized jeep, play with a parachute, eat lots of treats, and do sparklers in their jammies.

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.