Fierce Enough to be a Star

Amber is in complete Princess mode these days, and her favorite apparel comes from the dress-up bin instead of her dresser drawers. Here she is modeling her Ariel/Aquamarine garb and showing off her newly-acquired strutting skills. Thank you, Project Runway.

Call Me Carlos

Long ago, Amber began calling Karli "Carlos". She made up the nickname all by herself and it made me laugh so hard when she, out of nowhere, said, "Hey, Carlos, get over here!" I thought this picture was fabulous because Karli has a cute little Mexi-stache made from caramel frosting. Now all she needs is a poncho and a sombrero.

Life's a Breeze When You're Not Picky

Rex loves to suck his thumb, but he'll settle for any of his fingers as long as he can put something in his mouth (thus he's been sleeping like log through the night for more than a month now, yay!). Here is a sample of the various comfort mechanisms he employs.

Shear Genius

I've become a huge fan of some competitive reality shows on Bravo lately: Top Design, Project Runway, and Shear Genius. While I watched an episode the other day, Amber ran into the bathroom and emerged with all of my hair styling tools. Then she said, "Mom, who is that girl with short blonde hair? I'm her." So I said, "Hi Nicole. Can you cut and style my hair for me?" Nicole/Amber said, "Sure, but I need you to hold the scissors." She handed me some invisible scissors and went to work on my atrocious style (or is it atrocious because I let these amateurs have at it every day? Hmm...). She was using all the lingo from the show and explaining the steps she took just like the stylists on T.V. did. Then Karli became the assistant and held up the mirror for me to see. She kept asking me, "You look pretty? See?" It is now an every day occurance and it's so cute (that would be the situation...obviously not my hair)!

Ready, Set, Roll!

Rex can now roll over all by himself. He did it first on Thursday and now loves to sleep on his tummy and make us worry about him all night. The best part is that he usually needs the leverage from having his thumb in his mouth to get all the way over. I can't believe he's growing up so quickly. It's fun but sad (what a mommy thing to say!).

Just Leave Me Alone

Karli is learning so many words and phrases at this point, and sometimes it's downright hilarious to hear such a sweet, adorable little voice say some of the things she does. Here's a perfect example; she sings "I Feel My Savior's Love" and then tells Amber to leave her alone.

I'm Leslie

Our friends Leslie and Derrick had their baby boy last week, and we took our kids over to see him last night. Upon returing, Karli immediately took out her five baby dolls and re-named them Oscar after the new baby. Then, she re-named herself Leslie and has been taking great care of her "babies" ever since. It's adorable! By the way, congraulations to the Larson family!

Slap Your Grandma

Here's a clip of Amber singing her favorite song, "Honky Tonk Badonkadonk". She thinks the title is "Slap Your Grandma." It's pretty cute to hear her sing jibberish when the words say "Keepin' perfect rhythm, makes you wanna swing along."

Intriguing Tragedy

I am so fascinated by the Caylee Anthony case; it's all I watch on T.V. and can't get enough of Greta's analysis (Amber now recognizes her and was disappointed when Greta took the night off last week). I guess I just can't comprehend how a mother could appear so empty and nonchalant when her darling daughter has been missing for two months. Adam says it's the perfect defense because it's easy to prove insanity when there's no emotional reaction or excited statements. I'm dying to see how this case plays out and hope law enforcement gets to the bottom of it very soon.

No More Law School!

Adam's last day of law school was Friday. As soon as he came home from turning in his final paper, he hit the hay for some well-deserved rest. I'm so proud of him for making this grand accomplishment and for setting a goal and attaining it no matter the cost. He has sacrificed more than I can document for me and our kids, and we all think he's the greatest dad, husband, friend, student, and pugilistic-near-attorney ever! :) Congratulations, Adam. We love you!

Urban Cavalry

If you read my post last week, you know how I feel about these Rascally devils who cruise around town on their state-supplied motor scooters. While outside with the girls this morning, I saw five different riders eek by on their pimped-out chairs (I think I saw hydraulics and a bass cannon on one..he he), and I felt good to know that one of the largest ladies was miffed because my girls dirtied up the sidewalk where she had to drive. Giddyup!

FYI: The guy in the green shirt is not an offender in my eyes; he's actually disabled.

It's Official: We're White Trash

The minute Amber woke up this morning, she said, "Mom, I have the BEST idea. We can get Rex's tub and fill it with water and take it outside and dump it in the dirt and put on our swimming suits and play in the big........huge........MUD PUDDLE!" Despite my ever-increasing desire to avoid messes at all costs, I could tell that the wheels in her little brain had been turning all night to work out every detail, so I couldn't say no.

The girls loved rolling around like piglets in the mud puddle we created between the sidewalk and the seven or eight feeble blades of grass that are left of our front lawn, and to make this vision of low-class living even more authentic, I was still in my pajamas. We were quite the hee-haw spectacle, but the girls had a grand time and I even got a little bit of a sunburn line on my horrifically white feet.