The Zoo...Again. (Yes, I seem to have a problem)

I went to the zoo last week.

Yes, I was just at the zoo. But, that was on a field trip with Elisabeth's class. This time, I went with my friend Rachel and her kids (who had the day off of school) and Julia. Elisabeth had school. Now, before you get all huffy and puffy about me taking Julia and not Elisabeth, let me tell you how I explained it to Elisabeth:

"I took Julia to the zoo while you were in school because we went without Julia with your class. Now you two are zoo-even."

She totally got it. She's weird like I am and gets my reasoning.

Anywhoo, Rachel called me the morning we went and said she was taking her kids and meeting a friend and the friend's daughter at the zoo and Rachel had a free pass, would I want to come along?

Yes. I heart the zoo.

And, so does Julia. You see, the last time Julia was at the zoo, it was December and cold and she didn't really get to walk around and see much. The trip before that, she wasn't a good enough walker to handle all the hills, so she was also in the stroller a lot. But this time, Julia flipping LOVED it! Which made my heart so happy.

She super liked feeding the giraffes. She says giraffe in a very cute, 23 month old way and she wasn't at all grossed out or intimidated by their long purple tongues.

This baby giraffe is 3 weeks old. I got a picture of him next to his mommy's backside so you could see how little he is. He kept staring at us and Julia kept cooing at him. It was cute.
Mabel enjoyed leading Julia from animal to animal. Julia LOVES Mabel and calls her "Babel" or "Boobal" which sounds like "bubble", which is adorable.
She also got a lot of help from Rachel's oldest, Henry, whom Julia calls "Hi" or "Henny". I heart nicknames from toddlers.
The zoo has a little area where you can feed the birds...for tuppence a bag. (Sorry)

This feller landed on my popsicle stick. I squealed with happiness.
Peter was all business about catching one. He really was happy, but was worried if he moved too much (you know, like to smile for my camera) he'd scare it away.

Julia liked the birds and was talking to mine.
But then she tried to poke him and he flew off.
Julia calls Peter either "Peetah" or "Pooh". She calls him "Pooh" because he has a Winnie-the-Pooh shirt he sometimes wears and will also watch Winnie-the-Pooh with her when she's at their house.
I really liked this bird.
Julia tried to catch one.
But, alas, no birds flocked to her.
The weather was perfect this day and the animals were almost all out.
A tired Julia. Good thing Henry was around to push her up the hills!
Julia really liked the turtles. She thought they were "nice".

Look how big she is here. :(
I asked Julia if she liked the zoo. She said yes. I asked her which animal she liked. She said the monkeys. And, if you ask her what monkeys say, she will hilariously tell you.

Oh, how I do so love the zoo.

One blustery day...

I sent the girls out to play. Elisabeth found them umbrellas to play with. I found my camera.

At Peace with my SAHM status. Finally.

My big computer that I normally use for blogging and sharing my (300+) pictures that I just downloaded is being slooooow and stupid today, so I will just have to be thankful that I can upload my cell phone pictures on my tiny kitchen computer.

I love you tiny kitchen computer.

Elisabeth is at school right now. Her last day is Thursday and then she has break until August 4th. She is very upset that she will no longer ever be in 1st grade ever again (because she is her father's child), but, she is also thrilled. There will be lots of frolicking as pictured below.

I won't lie, I'm excited she's on break too. Since Julia is older (have I mentioned that she will be 2 next month!!!!!!!!!), she and Elisabeth can actually play together and it makes it a lot easier on me to get things done around the house or when we are out and about running errands.

As I look back at this past year (yes, we have lived in Colorado over a year now! how crazy is that?!), I can't help but notice how much I've changed my views on me being a stay-at-home-mom. I really, really, really struggled with it in the beginning. (See this where I am in despair about the intensity of my children and this where I am lamenting that I don't have a job). I worked full time when we got pregnant with Elisabeth and, since we were both college students and Evan pursued law school right after undergrad, it wasn't even a choice for me to stay home with Elisabeth. And, with Elisabeth's personality, she loves loves loves people and a day care environment was a really positive experience for her. She was so sad when she started kindergarten and had to say good-bye to The Growing Place.

But, with Julia, it's different. Evan was the stay-at-home parent for her first six months during the "after the BAR exam but before Air Force training" wait period. And, when he left for training and the girls and I moved to Pekin before moving to be with Evan out here in (GORGEOUS) Colorado, I worked as a substitute teacher with my mom watching Julia when I needed her to. So, Julia has never experienced a day care. I actually don't think she'd fair well. She's not very social (I'm sure you're shocked) and she likes being home (again, never before heard facts, right?).

But, here's the thing...I like being home now too. I like the schedule the girls and I have. I love the fact that both girls know that there is someone home for them. And with the long hours Evan works a lot of the time, having someone home to get things done around the house, run the errands, and cook the meals is easier on all of us. Plus, the lovely thing about being married to Evan is that, if the tables were turned and it was me with the super busy full time job, Evan would be okay being the one at home if that's what worked best for our family. And, right now, having someone home is working.

Plus, we have friends and things in the community that we throw into the daily grind of being home, so Julia's being exposed to friends and things and learning.

She loves going grocery shopping with me. I let her help if we don't have a whole lot to buy and she is proud of herself when she gets to put food in the cart.

She also helps me with laundry, which is by far her favorite chore. She takes after her Aunt Kyle.


Actually, at times, I kind of feel bad that I didn't get to experience this with Elisabeth. I know, I'm starting down that slippery slope of "coulda woulda shoulda" that all parents go through.

So, I guess I'll have to take advantage of the stay-at-home-mom time I have now with Elisabeth. She's growing up way faster than I thought children could. She can do simple multiplication for goodness sake and is reading chapter books alone after we tuck her into bed!!!

And this one?

Well, she's only a year away from preschool.

Excuse me, I need to go sob into their baby books for a few hours. I'll talk to you all later.

Inspired

One of the things I enjoy about having my blogs (besides sharing the interesting and weird things my children say and do) is meeting fellow bloggers. I have a few that I read on a daily or weekly basis that I adore because they are fellow moms who are also sharing their triumphs and disappointments in parenting or people who love cooking as much as I do and are way better at it.

I read Sarah's blog. We actually are from the same home town and I found her website through my mother-in-law who was belly laughing at one of Sarah's posts. I, too, now belly laugh constantly at her wit and humor. I have also learned to be a bit pickier about my beauty products. She's also the ring leader of the All Kinds of Pretty site that I occasionally put my two cents in at.

Nicole's blog I found through Sarah. Nicole's stories of her children make me smile and laugh and sometimes say...wow, that sounds messy. Her children and my children would honestly reek havoc in a very interesting, creative way. Nicole is also a contributor to All Kinds of Pretty and I really wish I had an H&M store close to me after some of the things she's found there and posted about.

I found Corrine from being apart of All Kinds of Pretty. Corrine's blog is poetic. I love how her words are not just pretty to read, but also make me feel like I am where she is, smelling the salty sea air, feeling the wind off the ocean, hearing her children's laughter. Her pictures are beautiful and I want her camera as my own. I get excited when Corrine has a new blog post up.

As for Ree Drummond...oh, my. Pioneer Woman. That lady is the reason I started my own cooking blog. I heard about her through a friend who went to Ree's cook book signing. I had never heard of Pioneer Woman or her husband Marlboro Man and their punks. My friend told me I'd love her, and she was quite right. I spent a good portion of my time reading her site and catching up on her confessions and her cooking and her love story about how she met her husband. She is phenomenal!

I also have a few cooking blogs I frequent: Smitten Kitchen and The View From the 32nd Floor are two of my favoritest that I've actually used recipes from and loved.

And, because of these fine bloggers, I try to stay creative with my story telling and my writing. I find myself completely understanding where they are coming from and wanting to share similar parenting or cooking stories with all of you.

So, I am taking this challenge:

I don't really know what she has planned, but I'm excited. :)

Spidey is bigger.

Spidey has gotten big. He's shed again and is almost a full inch in length. He eats about 2 crickets every other week. We had to move him to a large canning jar instead of the little canning jar he was in.

But, I'm pretty sure he's a she due to how large he is getting and the fact that female tarantulas are bigger than male tarantulas. However, until I am absolutely certain, I shall refer to him as a he and be in denial that I may have him for 20+ years.

Do you want to know a secret, though?

I stinking love that stupid spider.

I am a nerd.

This past week...

This week, we realized that Elisabeth has totally outgrown her bike and we will need to replace it this summer. Dude, look at her knees. Poor Ebeth.
This week, I decided to trim Julia's bangs. The girl looked shaggy and unkempt.
So I attacked her with scissors while she ate a brownie to pacify her.
And perhaps I cut them a tad too short...(shut-up, Rachel).
This week, I thanked the lord that Elisabeth's grown up teeth are finally coming in. The girl has looked like a jack-o-lantern for weeks now!
This week, Spidey moved to a bigger jar.
This week, Julia learned how to open the pantry door, which is a door knob.
She now has access to ALL of the snacks her heart desires. Crap.
This week, we bought a dining room table from friends of ours. We are kind of like grown-ups now. (Thanks, Kim and Chris!!!)
This week, Evan smoked ribs I bought on his grill for 5 hours. He was most excited by the challenge and we all ate them like starved animals. They were heavenly.
And, finally, this week, Julia sings you a song. It's a song about her Daddy, I do believe. (Please note her attempt to enter the pantry, but her failure since she is, in fact, not left handed.)