Hot chocolate sampling. She’s figured out the upturned basket/box/whathaveyou gets her to higher places! Instantly!

That would be an old abandoned-in-the-very-back-of-the-fridge container of cottage cheese, as you can see, gone very bad. She {shudder} got herself a spoon and had a little taste. Eeeeew!!!

Those were both just from yesterday morning. But even so, yes, it was a much better Monday overall. ;)

Leave the stool in a place where the 2 year old can reach the stamps.

That said, I did snap some shots of Arianna playing yesterday morning when it was quiet and the other kids were at school. She drug around Ethan’s carseat and buckled her babies in a bunch of times.

The kids wrapped her gifts. Haha.

We had a little playdate with my cousin Vangie and her babies.

Gave her dishes and this play food collection from Costco.  Still a big hit.

These two are so funny.  I think eventually they’ll be really good friends.  Right now the relationship is completely schizophrenic.  ;)

It’s kind of like looking at Vangie and me in mini form. So funny.

They served us up something good,

And then we ate cake.

After her nap I took Arianna outside to try to get some birthday shots.  Most of them are of her running away from me.  (Stinker.)  A few okay ones:

And then I gave in and let her jump.  One of her favorite things.

Happy 2nd, BabyGirl.  We loooove you and all your funny ways!!

I’ll be back later with the birthday report.

She was so funny – being the big sister, taking her job very seriously.

(My friend Lisa teases me about how often my kids wear stripes. Ha.)

Arianna, for church last Sunday…

This is what happens if you take away her paci:

Top used to be Adelaide’s and passed down, socks ARE Adelaide’s (I just folded the extra fabric under her toes), dress is her own; everything is Matilda Jane and shoes are Livie & Luca, bought last year during a big sale and saved.

(For more mini fashion, visit Small Style at Mama Loves Papa.)

I swear it’s like she can smell me sitting down to nurse the [other] baby.

Yellow knit shorts – Walmart; upside-down skirt – Tea Collection (both Madeline’s).

Inside-out striped tank – Old Navy (Adelaide’s).

No clothes were harmed in the making of this post.

(For more mini fashion, visit Small Style at Mama Loves Papa.)

She had climbed up on the potty lid, loaded the sink with tissues, and turned the water on. So “flood” really was pretty accurate. The hallway, too. Out came the beach towels.

Later, after her nap (which could have lasted all afternoon as far as I was concerned) she pushed a chair over to the kitchen counter and, now this is gross, I can’t believe I’m telling it to the internets, got into the peanut butter that was sitting in the middle of a glue trap that had been sitting there for at least 3 days. (We had a little family of mice move in last week and caught them all – but I wanted to be sure, so I kept putting the sticky traps down every night and then would keep it up on the counter during the day.)  Yeah… she totally ate the peanut butter and got it all over the counter, sink, and herself. Eeew, can’t think too deeply about that one.  At least there were no bugs in it.

This morning I re-installed the gate going into the kitchen… she can probably squeeze through the broken slat, but I figured at least she can’t push a dining room chair in there to get to whatever height she wants.  We had also found all the vitamin bottles messed with in the cup/glass cupboard so I’m pretty sure she had played on top of the counter some, too.

She is SO funny and cute but MAN there is a downside to this age!!!

For such an innocent-looking face, you can be just as sure she’s up to something. And it’s probably going to involve water, sink, toothbrushes, pasta, peanut butter, or anything else messy you can think of.

And also, I found her IN the bassinet TWICE yesterday, once with Ethan’s head (sorta) in her lap and once she was (sorta) sitting ON his head. She’s lightening-fast, you forget to leave the door shut ONCE and it’s ALL OVER.

And also also? She climbed out of her crib last night. I’m thinkin’ that wasn’t a fluke.

Unfortunately.

(And, just now, I found her IN the bathroom sink. Like squatted down squeezed in. Sad thing was she had also turned the water on and it happened to be the hot side and her toes were in the way. It’s rough being 21 months.)

your mama is too tired to chase you around outside.

(And also, Happy Birthday, Papa!)

It used to be so interactive and fun; filling a social need and a fun way to keep up with others in between changing diapers and washing dishes. Commenting was generally higher all around the blogosphere, or at least it was in my experience. Now it usually feels as if I’m staring at a white, sterile, cinderblock wall, trying to think of something to say. (Which is rather boring, no?)

Right. I’m bored with my own blog. And so, so tired.

I know I can’t just quit, cold turkey. I’m sure the grandmothers would stage a resistance and besides, my hosting fees are already paid for two months.

And where else would I share this pudgy face?

(“Singing” in her sweet baby voice.)

I really don’t have a plan. In a lot of ways I feel like the goal is just to survive until this baby is out. Most likely I’ll just continue posting heavy on the photo side but… I guess I needed to tell you I’m taking the pressure off.

For my birthday, Andy took me out to dinner…

…and brought me some roses. (Funny, he looks different already since I just gave him a haircut.)

When we got back my sisters helped my kids throw a little party.

They were so sweet and cute and hilarious, as usual. Adelaide said to me later “birthdays take a long time.” (She means because we celebrated hers and mine near the end of the day.)

This morning we went to our church’s breakfast and Resurrection egg hunt. I thought my camera was in my purse BUT IT WASN’T. So sad. Which means all I have is two pix of Ari getting into the loot after her nap.

Night, night. Happy Easter!

G’morning! I’m linking up again with this fun little party.

Drew’s tee and shorts are from miniboden (my current favorite for boys who are hard on their clothes).

Arianna’s dress is an older line Matilda Jane (my favorite designer for girls), tee is from Target, and shoes are Livie & Luca (ebay).

My sisters came over for a little while yesterday and they have been dog-watching this little puppy. Arianna was very concerned about the leash. Funny.

For other Small Style, or to participate, visit Mama Loves Papa.

After that she walked around just holding her pocket. So cute.

Watching for the big kids to come back…

(It was such a lovely day.)

Presenting “What to do if you don’t want your picture taken, steal your sister’s hairbow.”

Notice Madeline? What in the world!

Ooh, and this one too, just ’cause it makes me laugh:

Can’t remember what she was mad about but whatever it was, BABY NOT HAPPY. (I’m a bad mom to laugh, I know.)

Love baby jeggings, make me laugh:

First popsicle (brrr!):

Think she liked it.

This is a common sight around here; she loves to use my rice cooker pot as a hat:

Have a great Friday, yo.

A carelessly slammed door, a tiny finger in the way. The ER doctor called it a partial amputation. Never thought that would ever happen to my child. We saw red and literally ran out the door. (Thankful for neighbors and sisters that can pick up where we leave off.)

She was a high priority patient and they got us into a trauma room within 20 minutes. The Child Life Specialist (who we knew!) was a godsend, brought us Sprite and toys and bubbles.

I’m pretty sure the nerves had been severed because she (mercifully) wasn’t seeming to feel much in her hand. She played while we waited. The nurse gave her two different meds to sedate her and they had the exact opposite effect. (WILD CHILD.) Dancing, jumping, laughing, yelling and bopping her head. She could hardly walk in a straight line. Would have been funny if…

We ended up having to burrito-wrap her and hold her down while the doctor worked. She wriggled and bossed the nurse the whole time. The doctor basically gave her an epidural in her finger; she couldn’t feel anything. (I made the mistake of looking and got dizzy.) The damage was right below her nail, she also had a hairline fracture. Now she has 7 or 8 stitches and a splint.

But with all that we went through, it could not have gone any smoother. We got back (close to 1 a.m.) to a picked-up house, dishes done, and laundry folded. (I could have kissed my sisters.)

SO thankful we were able to get the immediate care she needed, so thankful they were able to make her little finger whole again. So thankful babies heal quickly and thankful she won’t remember.