I got an email from Mike this morning with a snippet of conversation between Lily and him.  It follows:

okay, here’s the gem of the morning:

Lily:      Daddy, no ponytails today?
Daddy:  No, no ponytails today.
Lily:      Boys don’t wear ponytails - they just have their hair like ‘dis (pointing at my head).
Daddy:  Right.
Lily:      Grampa doesn’t wear ponytails because Grampa doesn’t have hair.

—-

Frankly, the thought of Grampa WITH ponytails is just hilarious.  Perhaps dad can try to grow his hair out? 

Thank god it wasn’t a vaginal birth.  Risa’s new “baby” is a 1,000 pound 3 year old horse named Harley.  She called me tonight as she was towing his big butt back to Dallas to tell me the exciting news.  As those of you who read the blog regularly know, she’s been looking for a horse for some time, including a particularly spectacular episode where she got kicked by a horse she had just purchased, tried to return the psycho animal, and was threatened with death if she stepped foot on their property.  She finally got a good one and although we determined that Speck, her current horse boyfriend, would be jealous (in fact Risa said he’d have his horse panties in a wad over sharing her with another stallion), she thought all would be fine in the barn. 

She also told me to go with my gut about the whole house thing.  Right as I was wavering.  Mike and I are still going to look at other alternatives.  For $100K less we can get a big old stupid looking house somewhere.  So we have to really be okay with building a smaller, but much cooler, home.  Mike’s dad is coming into town Friday and Saturday we’re going back to Oak Park so Mike can show him around. I think it will help me to spend some time there again.  And really look, think hard, and figure out if it’s all worth it.  Those who know me well know that I am very decisive. This is one of a few occasions (I can count them on one hand) that I’ve really wavered about what to do.  I guess that’s okay. 

The girls were pretty wild at dinner tonight with Grammy and Grampy.  Grampy calmed Arden down with his sure-fire technique, Saltines.  We joked that I would get a jumbo pack and start carrying it around on my back whenever we’re out in public.  Basically Arden needs food as soon as she is seated at table.  If she doesn’t get it immediately, the whole world knows about it.  I have no idea where they got their demanding and vocal streak from.

Lily and Arden outdid themselves today.  When Arden starts actually speaking, I am in *deep doo doo*.  The two of them are so verbal and loud now, the thought of what they are going to do when they can really communicate with each other strikes fear deep into my heart. 

First I went to pick up Arden, who shared “her” Judi with Jennifer’s Sophia.  She was pretty unfazed by it, but I thought it was cool because now when I pick up Arden, I get to see Sophia, too!  Sophia had a great first day with Judi and actually took good naps and even managed not to barf all over herself too much. Arden began babbling as soon as I got her into the car.  As soon as we reached preschool, Lily’s teacher told me not to put Arden down or let her touch anything.  Apparently a bunch of the kids in her class have the flu or high fevers.  Great.  I’m glad both girls have gotten their flu shot!  Lily told me every detail of her pictures at school today and complained that it was cold out.  “Why is it cold, Mommy?”  Hmmm.  “Because it’s still winter, and winter can sometimes be cold.”  Lily: “I don’t like it.  Make it warm.”  I wish . . .

Lily is either exhibiting the initial signs of OCD or she’s just way goofy.  Now, either when entering or exiting the garage, she feels the need to “sing” the Alphabet Song at the top of her lungs, as fast as possible.  It’s a little bizarre but cute.  It’s EVERY SINGLE TIME we pull in or out of the garage.  She never, ever forgets to do it. We had our usual round of the Alphabet Song on speed while Arden screeched along, bashing her singing spider toy on the side of the car seat. 

The girls played and alternately fought over every single toy they had.  Arden tried to bop Lily on the head with a Dum-Dum sucker after stealing it from her table.  She missed, thankfully, but then tried eating the sucker WITH the paper still on.  Interesting.  We had a temper tantrum from Lily when she futzed around so long with her dinner that she lost out on the opportunity to eat pudding for dessert.  She screamed and cried all the way up the stairs, while I tried to calmly inform her that if she takes 40 minutes to eat dinner, while procrastinating, complaining, and moving food around her plate, she will not ever be allowed dessert. 

Once upstairs she got herself together.  She got undressed for her bath and said, “Mommy, I’m a MESS!” complete with a dramatic hand wave for effect.  She certainly was - two big snot trails running down her face, puffy eyes, and her usual Wal-Mart hairdo from a day at preschool.  After dinner we headed upstairs for the usual bath.  I believe that my hearing has been reduced significantly tonight.  Arden and Lily decided it would be fun to scream at each other in the tub - thinking it was hilarious.  When I say scream, I mean SCREAM.  They took turns looking into each other’s eyes, opening their mouths as wide as they could, and letting out the loudest possible sound they could muster.  This, combined with bathroom acoustics, created quite a ruckus.  I’m fairly certain neighbors could hear us blocks away.  My ears were literally ringing after a few rounds of ScreamFest.  I even called mom to let her listen in, because you had to hear it to believe it.

Arden was exhausted, having napped for a whopping one hour today, so we got her off to bed after reading “One Hungry Monster” to both.  Lily requested a few of her favorite sounds played, and she “danced”.  Her dancing consists of spasmodically jumping up and down while trying to “spin”.  She looks like a blender that is about to come apart.  Mike tried to slow dance with her but she informed him, “I want to dance by myself”.  We just let her have at it and then did our nightly cuddling ritual.  After hugging Mike, she puts her hand on his neck, tells him to stay, and gives me a little love.  She told Mike he smelled of bologna and informed me that I smelled like Cheetos.  Neither of us had eaten either of those two food items, but I’ll take it as a compliment. 

It’s now nearly 9 pm and I am, as they say, enjoying the silence.  It feels heavenly, but I wouldn’t trade the chatter for all the world.  It’s just too funny. 

It’s Bunny pictures at school today, so despite the freezing rain and hail (yes, on my way to work it was hailing), I dressed Lily in her Easter finery for picture day.  Here she is.  And yes, mom, I sent a change of clothes with her so she will be warm after the pictures.  I swear, once a mother, always a mother . . . my mom still reminds me to wipe my mouth when I’m finished eating. 

Yesterday, Lily went to two back-to-back birthday parties.  Thankfully she played so hard, even the 42 pounds of sugar she ingested wasn’t enough to keep her awake at bedtime.  Not having a nap helped as well. 

Watching her at Romp n’ Roll yesterday was so much fun.  Now that she’s comfortable there, and knows the drill, she goes nuts.  She dances like a maniac, she answers questions, she swings from the trapeze, slides, and generally acts like a nut.  Her face was bright red (just like mine when I work out) within a few minutes of the party starting. 

Mike took her to the earlier party at the Children’s Museum.  He was tired and quiet yesterday so I didn’t get many details about it other than what flavor cake they served (I love a man with my priorities). 

Saturday we looked at a house that is for sale in Oak Park.  We didn’t like it.  It had an even worse floor plan than our existing house and was decorated in what I like to call Southern Living at Home meets Flea Market style.  Frankly I’m not much for southern decorating. All those fabrics and patterns competing for your attention - good lord, it stressed me out.  Not to mention the 5 foot “antiqued” white bunny that was carved from wood and displayed prominently in their parlor.  The wallpaper was equally heinous - huge bright tulips in a strange, frantic pattern - all over the bathroom.  There were a lot of “Bless This Mess” signs country wood furniture mixed with chintz, toile, and possibly some other floral prints.  My mind started to block it out after a while. 

After exiting the house, we wandered around the neighborhood trying to find ways into the model homes, as well as the homes that hadn’t been finished yet.  We weren’t very successful but managed to look in a lot of windows and annoy the neighbors.  The girls ran around and sometimes rested in the stroller for a bit.  Sara and Tim were with us and taught Lily about pinecones - she made us go straight home to put peanut butter and bird seed on one of the pinecones she picked up at the lot we are considering buying.  It was nice to be there during the day and also to have some input from my parents, who have built homes.  They looked at the plans and gave us some feedback. 

Saturday night we had dinner with mom and dad and Steve and Vicki at Bonefish Grill, which was delicious.  I ate too much but whatever.  I even drank a daiquiri.  It was wonderful being without the girls for a few hours at a nice restaurant.  Vicki looked at the plans - she didn’t say anything, so I’m assuming that means she doesn’t care for it. Not that I am surprised - they go for very contemporary homes, and this one is patterned after a home that would have been built in the 1920’s or 30’s.  I’m sure many people, not just them, think we’re nuts - why build this house when we could get 4000 square feet in a subdivision?  To which my response is, I’ve been living in a production house for three years and they are crappy homes.  We’ve put as much personality as we can into our house, but that ain’t saying much.  It’s hard to give a rock a personality, you know? 

Anyway, it was a good weekend and the girls had a good time as well playing with Katie Brown and blowing bubbles.  I have lots of other things to post on, but I must get some work done now.