Rice Crispies v. Babies: 0-1

Saturday night Seth & Dixie Christian came over for dinner (they brought Zayli, of course). For dessert Dixie brought some YUMMY rice crispy treats. We tried to eat them without the children noticing, and that didn't work out too well in our favor. Did you know that if you have a dessert Maggie and Zayli turn into "please" vultures??? Dixie got them to take a bite at the same time. I don't remember why shirts are off here, but they are.
My little beggar:
Dixie's little beggar:
The beggar babies:
And, after treats, those chocolate-covered kids needed a bath!
Seth put Maggie's hair up like that - how funny!

Quite Fashionable

Maggie is learning how to take off her clothes! Earlier this summer, she learned the art of "take off my diaper in bed" (and pee on my bed). We've moved on to taking off shorts and shirts. The shirt wasa challenge. It became a shrug for a little bit before she got it all the way off. The shorts followed shortly (no pun intended) after. Maggie's trying to bring the birthday suit back as high fashion!

I want to wear Mama's earrings

Sunday Maggie kept pulling at my earrings and fiddling with hers, so I finally asked if she wanted to wear "Mama's purdies". Earrings are purdies in our house. She actually said "yeah" and I thought about it for a minute, because the last time I changed her earrings I had to pin her down and it took 15 minutes. Wouldn't you know it? She sat still for me to take out her earrings and put mine in. She didn't even seem to mind that they were so much heavier than the simple hoops she's been wearing!

Belly Buddies

Tuesday I watched our friends' little girl, Zayli. Maggie and Zayli are destined to be BFF (for you older folks that Best Friends Forever). As soon as her daddy dropped her off, Maggie came over and pulled up her shirt to show Zayli her belly, then pulled up Zayli's shirt to see her belly. Then they decided it would be a LOT of fun to pull up their own shirts and push bellies together. Well, I didn't get that money shot, so this one will have to suffice. They had a lot of fun!

SHHH! Baby sleeping

Maggie put her (my old) cabbage patch doll to sleep while we were getting her ready for bed the other night. She just learned "Shh!" holding her finger to her mouth. She was even nice enough to cover baby Toby with a blanket.

Nice Pictures, Part 2

Monday after dinner, we took more pictures in the backyard using a white sheet. It was a lot of work, and we got some good shots, but I wasn't totally please with the coloring. So, I made an appointment at the WalMart photo studio. What a big mistake! Maggie WOULD NOT: sit still, sit on her bottom, smile, stop fussing, stop trying to get off the platform, etc. I would give her lamb to settle her down, and in went the thumb. I'd get her happy, and she'd smile at the door, not at the camera, or down at me, or anywhere but the camera. To make matters worse, the girl taking the pictures was really impatient and NOT a good photographer. She actually said "You need to get her to sit still". Does she have children? Even one? Does she know what you can't get them to sit still or do what you want all the time? It's not like a scolding or a spanking would've worked. Duh. Needless to say, I left without any pictures. Frustrating!

I went back through the pictures we took on Monday, and found two that will have to work for Maggie's 18-month pictures to send out to family. Aside from the cut on her nose (of course we have to cut our nose when I want to take pictures!), I really like this picture.
And, a quintessential photo of Miss Maggie with lamb in tow and thumb in mouth. I do love how she's being stand-offish in this one.

Trying to take NICE pictures

So, I thought we'd take Maggie to the park to get some nice pictures for her 18-month pictures and save some money doing it ourselves. What a hassle. It's been stinkin' hot here for 3 weeks now and the past week has hovered around 100, the grass is mostly scorched and crunchy not green and luscious, and by the time we got there Maggie wasn't happy any more. So, no pictures good enough to consitute her 18-month pictures. Above are the best ones I took so far. Maybe Daddy needs to take the photos and I need to wrangle her. If tomorrow goes poorly again, it's off to Wal-Mart for photos.

Reading Time

Maggie got up in her glider with her children's Bible the other night before bed. She even tried to cover up her legs with a blanket, it's mostly stuck over on the left side of the picture. It was really cute!

Did someone say Cheese?

Monday Maggie hid her sippy cup full of milk. I could not find her sippy cup, and began to question my own sanity. I looked everywhere each day, hoping it would turn up. It did turn up on Thursday. We were getting ready in the morning and tyler yells "Mel, Mel! What's this water doing on the bedroom floor?" I immediately thought Maggie had wiggled out of her clothes and diaper and peed on the floor, but I saw her scoot down the hall fully clothed. The "water" was coming from her Pooh-mobile - her ride-on toy. "That's odd," I thought to myself, it hasn't been outside in the rain or anything... and then it dawned on me! That was NOT water, it was whey - the water that separates out of milk as it curdles. Maggie hid her sippy in the storage compartment of the Pooh mobile, and it had been sitting there for 3 days.

I cleaned up the VERY stinky, smelly liquid on the floor, and in the Pooh-mobile. Then I went to tackle the sippy cup. Uck! The milk had turned to cheese. I am not kidding, cheese. The fat in whole milk curdles really easily, and since we keep the house about 78-80 in the summer, it was nice and warm to let that process continue (for 3 days). Below is a picture of her sippy cup right before I dumped the cheese and remaining whey down the drain. It had the smell and consistency of a soft Feta cheese, but I wasn't brave enough to try it. Who knows, maybe Maggie will be a cheese connoisseur when she grows up!