New Family Pictures!

Once again, our friends over at Trystan Photography have made magic. Take a look at our new family pictures, they're awesome! I don't know how Charlotte did it, but she has Silvia smiling in almost everything even though that little angel cried nearly the entire photo shoot.

They've hooked us up with their special Friends and Family rates for a limited time, so if you'd like prints, please order them from the site. Thanks!

Anna's fashion sense and a trip to the zoo

You'd never know from the smiles that the girls were not exactly on their best behavior at the zoo. Oh, well. The photo makes the memory, right? As far as the future is concerned, the trip was all smiles.

Don't you love Anna's choice of pattern and color combination in the first pictures? My world has never been so vibrant since she started dressing herself.

Choking Scare

Oh, man. That so sucked. I don't think I've been that scared for my child since Anna nearly threw herself down some concrete stairs.

Last night we took the girls out for pizza at a local joint. They love it there, Silvia especially because they have awesome corn chips that she always dips in their homemade ranch dressing. She usually ends up happily covered head to toe in dressing and eats about two bites of pizza.

Last night, I had looked away to talk to Kurt a bit. When I glanced back at her, she was arched back, sliding off her chair, mouth wide open. She wasn't making any noise and look terrified. I freaked, pulling her onto my lap and pounding on her back. Nothing. Kurt grabbed her from me as the people sitting nearby started to call out, flipped her over upside down and beat her back as hard as he could. She finally coughed and started screaming. I've never been so happy to hear that cry in my life.

It took her quite a while to calm down (me, too!). She threw up a little bit, getting the stuck chip fully out of her throat. After that, she happily wandered about and then went to play, all giggles, in the kids area at the back of the restaurant.

The whole thing probably lasted less than a minute, but my skin is still crawling.

No more corn chips.

Sleepover

She thinks she's ready, but I don't know if I am.

Anna wants to have a sleepover. In a big, big, BIG way. She's got it all arranged in her head: there will be sleeping bags and PJ's and then in the morning there will be breakfast. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. We had dinner with friends this weekend and their daughter, Ella, and Anna hatched this plan. Since Sunday night, I have been inundated with requests to know when Ella would be coming over and when Anna would be going to Ella's and WHEN IS MY SLEEPOVER, MOM!?

I tried to explain to her on Monday that this wasn't something we'd be able to just throw together and that we'd have to set it all up with Ella's parents. Anna's response was, "Ok, you can Charlotte today and we can have our sleepover after school." You can probably imagine the dissappointed hysterics when I gently informed her that this wasn't the case.

Probably she'll be fine over with Ella and probably Ella will be fine over here. I don't anticipate any troubles with the girls. I am more hesitant only for nostalgia's sake. Is it possible that Anna's old enough for sleepovers? Hard to imagine that so much time has passed since she was miserable anywhere but in my arms.

Remember? (Photo -and sleepover Ella, strangely enough- courtesy of Trystan Photography)

Emotional Attachment

Since Anna's been rather messily sick this week, we gave her this blue barf bag to keep nearby in case the mood should strike again. In a bizarre twist, she has become COMPLETELY dependant on the bag. She's been walking around with it, like in the picture, held to her face at all times. Every time I've tried to get her to set it down, you know, to maybe take a drink or something, she has hysterics and NEEDS HER BARF BAG BACK RIGHT THIS MINUTE OR ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE.

Last night I spent many long hours gently pulling the suffocation device away from her face as she cradled it in her sleep. Tonight, Kurt thought he'd solved the problem by simply snipping off the bottom of the bag. Sure, it wouldn't really serve its mess-prevention purpose, but it made her feel better to have it and now she could breathe at night, too. Perfect, right? No.

DADDY BROKE HER BAG. She finally calmed herself down by fiercely clutching the cut portion closed in her hand, while at the same time still holding the ring firmly to her face. She hasn't actually thrown up in almost a whole day now, but I'm not sure we'll ever get the bag away from her. It's a shame, really. She has such a nice smile, I'll miss seeing it.

There's not too much new going on around here, lately, but that's the nature of staying home with preschoolers. Every day is a little adventure in unique repetition. This week has been a little bit novel in that both girls, and I, were really sick. They'd seem ok during the day and then, with blissful oblivion to their parents despair, stay up all night, in need of new diapers, new jammies and fresh hugs.

We seem to be through the worst of it, though I'll probably have to keep them out of school tomorrow, too, just for good measure. As for school, they're both doing really well. Silvia speaks about as well as your average three-year-old. Precocious, isn't she? Just like another little girl I know. Anna, too, is ahead of the game. She's started reading vocabulary words, which just impresses the heck out of me. She sounds them out, gives it a moment of thought, and then jumps to the next step of putting the sounds together into an actual word. It's not just "cat" or "dog", either. Last night she put together "computer". She's also picking up on the short and long vowel sounds and how different letters make different sounds when you put them together, like "oo" and "th" and "sh". Pretty soon I'll have her on Gone Away Lake, just about my favorite book from my childhood (and still, for that matter).

Kurt and I have been riding a wave of exhaustion since we got back from his birthday ski trip to Park City, Utah. We had a blast, though I decided once and for all that skiing is NOT for me. Kurt made the most of the slopes, though, but upon our return he has been in the office for long hours and weekends, trying to catch up. Hopefully we'll get some relief this weekend, from work, repetitive stay-at-home days, and sick kids.

Sorry it's only a few mismatched pictures, I'll try and remember to grab my camera more often. (Ha! good luck with that, Megan!)