Six Months Ago Today...

Today, the Little Prince is 6 months old.



















He's my last baby; my last child.



















My only boy.













My bubba.

The Sweet Spot

The Little Prince has a sweet spot.

It's not his cheeks.
(His cheeks are so chunky that if you're standing directly behind him, you can still see his jowls.)













It's not his thighs.
(Obviously, but I had to throw in a picture of them. Just look at those thunder thighs!)













It's not even his feet.
(Please ignore the spit-up on his pants and simply enjoy the cuteness of baby feet!)













It's his ears.

When he's tired and nursing, trying to go to sleep, but fighting against it with his entire body, all I have to do is rub my finger around and around his ear. His body instantly goes limp, his eyes roll back while his eyelids close, and soon, he's blissfully asleep.

How to Wear Out a Two Year-Old

First, make sure it's 80+ degrees out during the day (the hotter the better), necessitating the use of the air conditioner.

Next, make sure there's a windstorm that night, thereby forcing you to leave the windows closed all night so the house doesn't cool down.

Have the two year-old accustomed to sharing a room with her five year-old sister. If the five year-old snores, even better.

Then, have the wind create a wind tunnel right outside your daughters' bedroom window. (The five year-old will, of course, sleep through this, snoring peacefully away, so you won't have to worry about her, fortunately.)

In addition, make sure you set up a cat-sized WWF ring right outside their bedroom door, so the cats can practice their moves after being cooped up inside all night. It especially helps if you can get them to growl and hiss at each other.

Force (and I mean force) all of these things to coincide at exactly 3:00 am, thereby waking said two year-old up and sending her crying to your bedroom door. Bring her in bed with you.

Make sure you don't let her fall back to sleep; keep her awake at all costs. Flail your arms around her head, knocking gently into her every once in awhile. Whisper her name over and over until she answers you. Squiggle around until she spits out, "Go to sleep NOW!"

Have your husband drag her out of your bed at 5:00 am to watch him exercise. Have him force sugary Apple Jacks down her throat at 6:00 am. Make sure he keeps her occupied until he leaves for work, then prop her eyelids open so she can watch a Baby Einstein until her five year-old sister wakes up at 7:30 am.

After that, go about your business as usual, serving lunch at 11:10 am. At 11:30 pm, finished or not, cuddle your irascible, whiny, exhausted two year-old to your chest, change her diaper, rock her, sing to her, and put her in her crib with her books, blanket, and dolls. Tell her goodnight, and that you love her. Close the door and breathe a sigh of relief.

Don't hear another peep from her until after 4:00 pm.

That's how to wear out a two year-old.

Aloha Friday

It's time for swimsuit shopping. Again.

*sigh*

So, here's my question: What kind of swimsuit do you wear?

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For more questions you just may have the answer to, check out An Island Life.

Two Years Old

Sleeping Beauty turned two yesterday.


And I forgot.

Cinderella had to remind me.

My problem was that we celebrated Sleeping Beauty's birthday on Sunday evening, since we knew we wouldn't be around the house last night.

Regardless, she is now officially two.

And being two for her means new things to discover, explore, and try.








Being two for me means having to admit that another one of my babies is finally growing up.

That and trying to finally capture the smile of my second daughter with my brand new camera. It's rare we get a picture of her actually smiling. Sleeping Beauty is so cute in person, but definitely not photogenic.

10 Things You're Dying to Know About Me

The fabulous Pamela tagged me for this, and since I'm going through a phase, I'm going to play along.

1. What is your current obsession? Facebook. Sad, I know.

2. Which item of clothing do you wear most often? Probably my Haflinger slippers. Oh, Haflinger, how I love thee! These slippers are one of the few things I really splurge on every couple of years.

3. What's for dinner? BBQ flank stead in the crockpot, green beans, and I'm not sure what else yet.

4. What are you listening to? The girls sucking/crunching lollipops at the lunch table.

5. Say something about the one who tagged you. Pamela is the owner of a wonderful line of baby clothes, Happy Panda. Her firstborn sounds a lot like the Little Prince, size-wise.

6. Favorite vacation spots? St. John, USVI. Disneyland.

7. What am I reading right now? Prague Counterpoint, by Bodie and Brock Thoene; Hood, by Stephan Lawhead; and The Pox Party, by M.T. Anderson.

8. Four word to describe myself. Smart, sarcastic, problem-solver, mom (yes, I know that's technically five words).

9. Guilty Pleasure? Ice cream, chips (can't have them in the house), Oreos, right now (my dad brought over a Costco box; those things are from the devil!).

10. First Spring thing to do? Planting flowers.

Now, I will pass this on to: Hillary, L Harris, Colleen, Baba, and Hit 40.

Problem Solving

I think my problem with blogging lately is that I'm not sure where to go with this thing. I created my blog title and handle when Cinderella was so into princesses, they consumed her life.

That's not exactly the case anymore.

And while Sleeping Beauty likes princesses, she's definitely not as obsessed as Cinderella was.

As for the Little Prince? Well, he's a boy.

I think I need a change.

I'm working on something in my head right now, and I'll share it with you all soon. I'd like your feedback, so when I do share, please be honest.

I'm thinking new blog title, new handle, possibly new background (again), though I really like the one I currently have.

I'll post again soon; I promise.

Apparently, I'm a Wuss

I could survive for 28 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor