Two

How can that be? It seems like yesterday she was my little baby waking me up at all hours of the night.  Oh right, that was yesterday!  Not sure how this kid looks so cute and well rested all the time because she sure doesn't like to sleep.  Or get her hair brushed.  Or wear a sun hat.  Or get licked in the face by doggies. Or bugs. Or swimming lessons.

But she does love:
Kitties, quiche, oranges, snuggling, dancing, singing, Elmo, Caillou, Diego and Dora, coloring, eating play doh, having her back rubbed, digging in dirt, playing in puddles, watching airplanes and school busses, playing with Natalie, playing with anything belonging to Natalie when Natalie isn't looking, noticing other peoples "owies", wearing anyone else's sunglasses, dried cranberries, unloading the dishwasher, dressing up, baby dolls and bubbles.

Her first complete sentence:  "I toot!"  Lovely.

My favorite phrase of hers:  "Um Thee, Um Thee!" (come see, come see)

Her favorite phrase of hers:  "Me do!"

 This is Audrey's new picture face. 

Eyes closed in 90 percent of the pictures she knows are being taken.

 Why yes, I am reading my birthday card upside down

while wearing a princess dress backward and a firefighter hat.

 And I'm doing it all with my eyes closed!

 The next day she still polished off her look with the firefighter hat.

This is her pirate/lion/bear growl. 

Such a sweet little cupcake she is. 

Happy Birthday, snuggle bug!

Bye Bye Arizona...

and Hello California!

We're moving in 2 short weeks to Walnut Creek, CA and we're slowly (or, actually, rather quickly) saying good bye to all we love in Phoenix. This includes Auntie Ashley and Paul, great friends, a fantastic church, a park within walking distance, a farmer's market within walking distance, cheap gas, desert sunsets, mesquite trees, saguaros, geckos, bath towels that dry in 7 minutes, life without actual winter, a babysitter who lives next door, the hospital where Audrey was born (we wave at it everytime we drive by!), Paradise Bakery, and did I mention Auntie Ashley?  It's going to be hard to go but we're really excited about this next family adventure in the Bay Area.

Although Natalie loves the desert, I think the kid will be excited at the natural color in a different climate.  Here she is transplanting oleander blossoms to dead ocotillo branches to "make them look prettier!" She's also had quite a few breathing difficulties since we've been here and we've never been exactly sure what's causing it.  We're hopeful that life with cleaner air will make a difference.  I'm excited to have grass at our rental house in Walnut Creek.  We've lived without grass the entire 4 years we've been here (even though we've lived 3 different places in this valley!) and I'm tired of living in desert-scape.  But when we announced to Natalie that she'd finally have grass, she said, "but where will we play in the dirt, Mommy? We love the dirt!"   Good gracious!

Grandma Lala

It's been weeks ago now, but Grandma Lala came for the weekend a while back and I never posted these cute pictures.  The girls, of course, gobbled her up while she was here and didn't want to let her go.  Many times since Natalie has said, "Mommy, I just want you to play like Grandma Lala does!"  There's a lesson there...mommies should play as often as grandmas do.  Thanks for visiting, Mom!  Love you!

This is just a picture of a beautiful tree in our backyard in full bloom.  The yellow blossoms are long gone now but it absolutely glowed for weeks!  I never expected to find such beautiful trees in the desert!

Strike a Pose

Last month when Audrey and I were in Reno, Aunt Karen was kind enough to look after her for 2 full days while I attended a conference. They played, they visited grandma (Audrey's great grandma!) and they even went to the new children's museum downtown. Somehow Aunt Karen also found the time to take these really cute pictures of the little dumpling! Such a ham...just like her big sis.

I love these...the lighting, the expressions, the view.  If I don't get my act together soon they may be her official 2 year portraits!

Audrey is turning into such a little person these days. She has her likes and her dislikes and she's not afraid to tell you about either. One of her likes is being wrapped up like a baby after her bath and sung to. She likes a goodnight song that Corey and I made up our own words to over the years to the tune of the most common lullaby song on earth that I don't know the actual name of. Anyway, it's known around here as "the baby song" or the "goodnight song". Well, Audrey and I recently started parent/child swimming lessons and as I got her out of the YMCA pool the other day and wrapped her in her towel she asked for the baby song. So there we sat in the 100 degree heat with her wrapped up in a beach towel being sung a "sleep tight" lullaby song. I'm sure the other parents thought the heat had fried what's left of  my mommy brain.  The cutest part is she brings her baby to me along with a baby blanket and wants me to swaddle it tight so she can cuddle and sing her baby the song.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow!

The school where Auntie Ashley teaches put on a production of Annie and she offered to take Natalie to see it on Friday night.  Needless to say, our little natural performer was CAPTIVATED during the entire show.  She loved it.  She would silently creep into Ashley's lap when the movement on stage took the performers temporarily out of her line of site.  And then she'd return to her seat just as quietly when she could.  She loved meeting the performers and asked if the girl's name in real life was Annie!  And she's been humming the songs ever since.  So have I!!  I think Annie was the first musical I ever saw as a kid and I still love it. 

Thanks, Ash.  She had a great time!

Splish Splash

The temperature is creeping up, up and up here. We took the girls to cool off at a splashpad last weekend and they had a great time. We're lucky to have a splashpad within a 5 minute walk from our house but it hasn't opened for the season yet.  So, there's one at a shopping center nearby that serves us well in the meantime.  And the added bonus is that there is a Starbucks just beyond the jets!

Even though it was probably in the 90s already when we were there (and it wasn't even 10 am yet!) our little desert divas got chilled after all that splashing.  Audrey wanted to snuggle in a towel but Natalie preferred to warm up next to the mega fireplace that borders the splashpad.