who's that girl?

I believe my three year old - princess - is going through a bit of an identity crisis. 

Either that or I am losing my mind.

Or a combination of both.  Or perhaps one is a result of the other ... yeah, that's probably it!

I never know what to call my daughter.
I never know which name she will answer to. 

I make a simple request like, "Natalie, please put on your shoes."

And in reply I hear, "No, mommy, I'm not Natalie.  I'm Tiana." It takes great restraint on my part not to say, "What does that have to do with your shoes?!"

Or I make a suggestion like, "Natalie, let's play a game," and she says, "I'm not Natalie.  I'm Ariel.  Ariel likes to play CandyLand, mommy."  Okay, great!

At least for now ...

• she is sticking to princesses, which narrows my pool of name choices to some degree!
• she is answering me ... it's better to be corrected than to be ignored, right?!

 When you're this cute, you can be whoever 

you want to be, my little princess!

These photos are from a playdate we went to way back in August.  

Love the sunshine and the combination of trampoline jumping and dressing up!

pets and wet sleeves

Breakfast conversation is always interesting with a three year old.  Between shoveling spoonfuls of mush in CJV's mouth, pouring a sippy cup of milk, adding cream cheese and sprinkles to NHV's "princess" waffle, and doing my best not to trip over my (annoyingly) needy cat ... Natalie entertains me with some pretty interesting thoughts.

This morning she said to me, "We have a cat, right, mommy."  "Yes, that's right."  In my head: He's kind of hard to forget when he's rubbing all 16 pounds of feline neediness against my shins and calves!  

"Do you know anyone else who has a cat?"

"Uh-huh, aunt Missy has a cat.  Grammy and Grampy have a cat - he's not very nice.  Sebastian Paul has a cat."  Pause.

"And, mommy, some people - they have a dog at their house."   "Yep."  Trying to figure out where this is going ... not having any luck.

"Cee-Cee.  She doesn't have a cat or a dog.  Why Cee-Cee not have a cat or a dog at her house?"

"Well, Cee-Cee has a fish tank.  She has fish as her pets."  Natalie nods in agreement but seems still to have something on her mind.

"Mommy, people cannot PET fish."  Why's that?

"Because you would get your sleeves all wet!"

good news, bad news ... it's been too long!

Good News: NHV is still sleeping at 8:20 am.

Not-so-great News: CJV has been awake since 6:30 am, which in turns means I have been awake since 6:30 am.

Bad News:  I didn't go to bed until 1:00 am.  It's my own fault, but still ... this mama is tired!

Back to the Good News: I've already showered, made scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast, played with and fed CJV, caught up on Facebook, cleaned two (out of three) toilets, took out all the trash, and folded a load of laundry.

More Good News: The SUN is actually shining today!  It's been too many days since I've seen those pretty rays!

Really Good News: Only 2 more days until Halloween weekend!  And that deserves a sneak peak of the girls in their costumes ... 

mornings with my girls

I took these photos at 7:30 in the morning on Wednesday.  

Charlotte still in her adorable pink footsie pajamas and wearing a baby mohawk, a result of a bath the night before and me rubbing her head while she nursed before bed.

Natalie already out of her {Ariel} nightgown - the only pair of pajamas she will even think about wearing - and into her {Tiana aka the Frog Princess} dress-up outfit: hot pink leotard, fabulous skirt made by my friend CrazyCraftyCarrie, and ... socks as gloves - that's her new thing this week :)  Look closely and you'll even see a stuffed frog in her lap.

Charlotte can't take her eyes off me.  She wants her big sister's attention. She wants to play and sing songs and be smothered with kisses.

Natalie is quick to give me a smile when she first wakes up, and she usually chats a bit about her dreams. Some mornings I can talk her into a quick snuggle. After transforming herself into the princess-of-the-day, she usually plops down (in the W sitting position) and reads a stack of books.  Looking at the camera before she's had her breakfast, well, that's not going to happen :)

I love the time I spend with my girls in the morning.

MuffinBrain

BJ_Mama recently made a comment about my new-found obsession with muffins.  To which I replied, "Didn't I tell you I am starting a third blog ... MuffinBrain?"  The funny thing, I think she actually believed me ... and even more hilarious, I seriously considered it for a minute or two :)

Anyhoo ... I am at it again; baking muffins - from scratch, and this time PUMPKIN is the main ingredient.  *Note from CPV - He is not a big fan of pumpkin-based baked goods.  Sorry to hear that ... more for me :)

Ingredients:

2 medium eggs (Not sure how that translates to large eggs ... but that's what I used)
3 cups flour (1 cup wheat, 2 cups white)
1 cup brown sugar (I used light but would suggest dark.)
1 cup milk (Almost forgot this and the batter was nearly impossible to mix!)
1 cup pureed cooked pumpkin (For me, it was canned ... )
½ cup unsweetened applesauce (Just enough left in the jar - phew!)
2 tablespoons white sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
¼ teaspoon cloves (*Didn't have any - skipped it.)
¼ teaspoon allspice (*Didn't have any - skipped it.)
¼ teaspoon ginger (*Didn't have any - skipped it.)
* Note to self:  Must update my spice collection; it's currently quite pathetic!

I also threw in about 3/4 cup of chopped pecans and tossed a few milk chocolate chips on top - because, really, anything is better with chocolate ... right?

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.

2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl; mix until smooth. (I adore directions like this!)

3. Fill sprayed muffin tins with mixture until ¾ full. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean.  *Note to those thinking of trying this muffin recipe:  It makes A LOT of muffins!   I made 12 regular-sized muffins and 24 mini-muffins.  The minis took about 14 minutes.

Original recipe found at http://www.pumpkinrecipes.org/pumpkin-muffins.html

Will try to add a photo if I find a spare minute ... HA!

10 Things I Love About You, CJV ...

Charlotte Jane is 10 months old today!

Hard to believe?  For me, too!

10 Things I Love About You, CJV ...

1. Your adorable (and almost constant) full-face grin - the two bottom teeth just add to the appeal.
2. The way you giggle when I pretend to sneeze ... and you never tire of the "Where's Charlotte?" game!
3. Your infinite patience and go-with-the-flow attitude.
4. How you roll from one side of the room to the other.
5. When you clap your hands and then "throw your hands in the air ... "
6. The way you absolutely light up when your big sister pays attention to you :)
7. How you curl up against me and knead with your tiny hands when you're nursing.
8. That you've started sleeping (better and) on your tummy - just like your daddy
9. Your feet are in constant motion ... kicking, pedaling, ... and often in your mouth.
10. The sound of your sweet voice; you are a baby of few words, but when you do talk, I can't get enough!