It's Apple Pickin' Time!

 Happy Fall!!  It's apple pickin time down here and Daddy and Grandma took us to the farm!

 Uh oh!  What's wrong with this apple?

 Ewww, gross!

 It's rotten!

 Here's a good one for ya!

My vocabulary is expanding.  I now say: Shoes, No, Fight, Please, Cheese, Lilly, Anna, MiMi and...um...well I said "expanding" not "expansive."  Hard to believe I'm almost a bona fide year and a half old.  I'm not a baby anymore!  Mama has been in "baby mode" constantly for the past 3 years it's hard to believe we are out of the woods (almost for all intents and purposes).  It's all so bittersweet.  It all makes Daddy want to procreate again (back off, Dude).
Bedtimes have gotten to be quite fun (and long) since Lilly and I moved into the same bedroom.  Last night Mommy and Daddy heard the following exchange:
"No!"
"NO!"
"NOOOOOOO!"
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!"
Daddy rolled his eyes and looked at Mama and said, "Well are you going to go up there?  It's your turn."  Mama thought, "Eh."  But then after 3 or 4 long minutes of said exchange she walked upstairs and in her best Mommy voice said, "Okay girls, what's the problem up here?"
And Lilly looked at Mama and said in her best "duh, are you stupid" voice, "We're just PLAYING."
And Anna was sitting up in her crib smacking her hand against the rail saying, "Fight!  Fight!  Fight!"
And Mama said, "Oh, well of course that all sounds very good natured and fun.  Good night, girls."
And then Mama was walking down the stairs Lilly said, "Good night Mommy!  I love you, TOO!"
Mommy has been smiling all day because of it.  Except for this morning when we woke up and were major grouches because we didn't go to sleep until well after 9 o'clock and then Lilly had a nuclear meltdown because Daddy had the audacity to give her a peeled banana and I showed Mommy exactly what I thought of her orange juice (because we're out of milk at the moment) when I poured it all over the rug (not the hardwood of course, that would be easy to clean!)
Good times, good times.
Love,
Lilly and Anna

Bon Anniversaire, Papa, Part Deux

Mmmmm...frosting.  Yummy.  Do you know what else is yummy?  Cake!  We helped Mama frost Daddy's cake.  Do you want to know what we DIDN'T help Mama do?  We didn't help her make it.  Thank.  Goodness!  Mama learned a very important lesson last Thursday.  DO. NOT. EAT. RAW. CAKE. BATTER.  Mommy got sick.  REAL sick.  So sick she's the skinniest she's been since college!  Woo hoo!  Puking has it's advantages?  Mommy that is horrible.  Mommy did not think that at all Thursday night when it was just her and the porcelain throne for 6 long hours.  Ew, gross.  Mommy is telling you now - don't do it!  It's not worth it!!  Mommy pledges she will never eat raw cake batter, brownie batter or cookie dough again which is a damn shame because chocolate chip cookie dough is one of the greatest treats on Earth but there's no way Mommy will touch anything with raw eggs again.  Ever.  It was THAT bad.

Ha ha ha!  Mommy was going to write captions for this series of photos, but methinks they speak for themselves.  Ha ha ha!

 Daddy got new shoes for his birthday.  And socks and underwear.  Isn't it so fun to turn 34?  We had to use pink wrapping paper for his box because - well, why else?  I did the bows myself.  Well, Mommy tied them. I picked them and placed them.  Tres magnifique, no?

Blogger has tweaked it's format again.  It's much faster to download pictures now, and we're trying the larger size.  Let us know what you think!
Au revoir!
J'adore,
Lilly and Anna

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Happy Birthday Daddy!  I love you for all the times you dress up like a Princess and have tea with me, for all the stories you read me, for all the chicken nuggets/cheese/vegetable juice/grape dinners you make me, for all the bedtime snuggles you give me, all the Tinkerbell movies we watch and so much more.  You're the best Daddy ever!  Happy Birthday!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!  You are so much fun and I love when you play tickle games with me, when you take me on jogs, when you make my favorite dinner s'qetti, when you read me bedtime stories even though I never listen, when we play hide and seek in the closet and when you chase me around the house.  I love you Daddy!
Happy Birthday!!!
Love,
Lilly and Anna

Over The River...

Over the river, through two cities, past what's left of Big Butter Jesus is our Grammy and Grampa's house!  We spent the weekend there a couple weeks ago with Daddy when Mommy went on some trip or another...  Grammy and Grampa have the prettiest backyard ever.  Perfect for kicking the ball around...

And for taking a dip in the little pool!

The midwest makes awesome late summer corn.  Grammy gave me some corn to try for the first time on the cob and I LOVED it!

Not one to be doing anything in moderation I went to town on this sucker!

And I am quite proud of myself.

I am talking a whole lot more, but I still don't have much to say.  One thing Mama loves is that I haven't quite been able to say, "Mama" I say, "Mimi."  It's so cute.  I'm so cute. 

As a side note, I am about the EXACT SAME AGE Lilly was when I was born!  GASP!!!  It's so crazy now being "almost out of the woods" to think that I came along right about now!  NUTS!!  One day in the future Lilly and I would like to have another little sister so we can firmly outnumber Daddy and gang up on him.  We'd "settle" for a little brother, though, too.  Can you imagine a boy in this family?  Hope he likes wearing pink tights and tutus because that's what he'll get! 

And since we've gotten back from Grammy's now I like to have my hair blown out every night and styled before bed.  This doesn't make a whole lot of sense to Mommy who would love to style my hair in the morning but just like Mommy I'm not much of a morning person and I don't want her touching me in the morning.  So Mommy does my hair at night, it gets all jacked up when I sleep, and I complain about it in the morning but there's nothing she can do about it because she doesn't have her coffee until she goes to work anyway so we all just kind of lay around in a funk in the morning and complain about our hair.

Thanks for the fun weekend Grammy and Grampa!

Love,

Lilly and Anna

How Bout a Little Backyard Campin?

Now that the weather is finally starting to cool down, Daddy thought I might be up for a little backyard campin.  This was special Lilly/Daddy time.  Mommy and Anna got to sleep comfortably inside on beds.  Boo!  That's no fun!  What's fun is pitching the tent in the backyard, pulling out the lil grill mate and roasting marshmallows on it, then reading books inside the tent by the neighbor's spotlight - which they graciously (ahem) kept on for us all. night. long.

Camping out is so much fun.  Mommy doesn't remember doing it much at all when she was little.  Duda used to take her ICE FISHING on a frozen lake.  Which, Mommy thought that was as much fun as I think camping out in the backyard is.  Mommy can not imagine how much fun that would be now - pitching a tent on 13 inch think Minnesota ice, drilling a hole and sitting there with a pink Snoopy fishing pole and little pink bobber for hours on end waiting for something to bite that you take home, clean and eat...well, now that Mommy is remembering it, it does sound like fun, doesn't it?  Little girls remember doing these kinds of things with Daddy's.

See?  Fun!

Love,
Lilly (and absentee Anna)

Fancy Pants

I've got more than a few Strasburg dresses in my closet now (thanks Ms Amy), and they are all I wear to church on Sunday, and sometimes just for fun.  This is great, because you either need to dry clean or iron these puppies, neither of which Mommy wants to do.  I have expensive taste, and I'm not even 3!  Thank goodness for consignment sales, which we have a big one coming up in a couple weeks.  Mommy is going to try her hand at consigning some of our stuff, so come buy some of it!  Which is good, she can use whatever money she makes towards paying for the Strasburg dresses she bought us on her shopping trip this past weekend.  They are not cheap but boy they are CUTE and PRECIOUS!
THIS is Mommy's 300th post on the blog!  Two and a half years, 300 posts!  Thanks for your loyal patronage!
Love,
Lilly and Anna

My Little Turn on the Couch...

On your mark: Mommy has got the camera.  I rev up my baby bootie engine...

Get set: Lean forward, in to the camera...work it, work it!

GO!  Cheesy smile!
I just don't think I could BE any cuter!!

I Sing Happy Birthday

Awesome!  Birthdays may not be what they used to be (I mean, what fun is a birthday without a party?) but nothing's better than this!
XOXO
Love,
Lilly and Anna

Happy Birthday to Me - I Mean, Mommy!

Today is a very special birthday for Mommy, it is a birthday and an anniversary all rolled into one!  It's Mommy's 5th year in a row turning 29!
Happy 29th birthday, Mommy!
Here are some pictures to make you smile.  Just another day at the Princess Palace!

Happy Birthday Mommy!  We were so excited for your birthday we woke up at 6 am so you couldn't sleep in.  Now, go eat some carbs, processed foods, and sugar and don't feel guilty about it tomorrow.
Love,
Lilly and Anna

Two-Fer Tuesday

Yee Haw!!  It's TUESDAY after a loooong holiday weekend!  Hallelujah!  Mommy disclaimer: She intends NO disrespect whatsoever for what she is about to say, the views and opinions contained herein represent only Mommy's views and opinions and not her opinion or views on anyone else.  That said, THANK GOD I'M A WORKING MOM.   I don't know how SAHM's do it, and I don't WANT to know.  Daddy worked all the livelong weekend which means it was "Mommy/Lilly/Anna time" all weekend (he's on 12 hour shifts from 7-7).  Pray tell: what to do all day?  This was a holiday weekend!  LOTS to do, right?  TV from 8-11 AM, eat, eat, eat and sure, how about on Sunday we pack the van full of all of our crap, change Anna's diaper, change it again because she poops the second you change it, use the potty, use the potty again, bring the snacks, the sippies, the books, the myriad of stuffed animals and blankets we can't leave the house without, use the potty again, and head to downtown 'Ville for the WORLDFEST on Sunday only to get there and realize the stupid f&*(%n festival ENDED on Saturday!
Lilly: "Mama, where's the bestibul?"
Mommy: "&*C()*DYS)(#&*@*)("
Lilly: "Mama, I don't see a bestibul.  I don't see any kids."
Mommy: "^%&(&**(^*(&*P"
Lilly: "Mama, you said there was a bestibul!  You said we could play games!  Mama, can we ride the police horse?  Mama!  Mama!  Mamaaaaaa!!!!!"
So we meandered around downtown 'Ville for the heck of it because, why not?  We drove clear down there which you know when you are by yourself with 2 toddlers = no easy feat.  Mommy topped it off with a trip for dinner to McD's playland.  Round out the day with a rounded out healthy meal.  I like to eat the french fries and that's it.  Anna likes to eat whatever she finds on the ground.
So MONDAY Mommy found a "bestibul" at one of the world's largest churches (no lie, the sanctuary is the size of Rupp Arena) where we got to take our first pony ride!  Mommy bribed a lady to walk with me because there is one of her and two of us and "all children must be attended on the ponies".  Please, don't make us wait in line for 35 minutes (with a 1 year old and a 2 year old and a completely unsympathetic audience) just to tell Mommy that "no children may ride unattended."  It's a CHURCH FESTIVAL FOR CHRIST'S SAKE WILL SOMEONE JUST HELP ME OUT?!?!
Wow, Anna is a natural and LOVED riding the pony.  Walked right up to it while Mommy was putting me in the saddle, smacked it's behind (lovely) and yelled at it.  Nice.  Mommy walked with the little cowgirl and I walked with "the lady."  I had a GREAT time, look at that smile!  Mommy can't wait until phones can take photograph quality pictures.  Don't worry, there's nothing wrong with Anna (looks like an Indian Sunburn - how's that for politically incorrect?), it's just the way the photo turned out from the camera phone.  Mommy may not be "stay at home" material, but she ain't negligent!
For the rest of the day we did the only other thing Mommy knows to do with us when you just can't take any more time at the park and in front of the TV.  We went SHOPPING and bought all kinds of shit we don't need.  That killed a good hour.  Only an hour.  And Mommy realized she is "that Mom" who lets the two of us run wild around the clothesracks and the shoeboxes because, hey!  It keeps us happy and entertained and in the air conditioning. Mommy will endure a few sneers and snide remarks from childless strangers in exchange.
And then, as a reward for being mildly well behaved at the store we got to play at - the park.  We got home at almost 6:30 which is a full hour past our usual dinner time and Mommy whipped up some microwaved vegetables, fish sticks and macaroni and cheese in a frenzy and all we ate was yogurt and cookies.  To top it off, Mommy drank a beer, shoved us right into Daddy's arms when he walked in the door after a 12 hour shift on his feet and ran off this morning like a crazy woman leaving the scene of some crime or a NYC sample sale.  She was in such a rush to leave she almost forgot us (okay, that's an exaggeration) but when she told us we were going to Mary Lou's this morning, even we cheered.
I hope everyone had a real nice, relaxing holiday weekend!  If you ever want some excitement, come babysit us, please! 
Love,
Lilly and Anna

P.S. Blue snokones do not come off faces with wipies.  They just don't...

Daddy's On YouTube!

Remember camp?  Here's a video of Daddy talking about his camp experience!  Check it out!  Maybe if you know a child with special needs who would be interested in going to camp all by him/herself for FREE, you should holla, Daddy can hook it up.  He's special like that.  Seriously!
Love,
Lilly and Anna