Bacon-faced Badger

This morning I cooked bacon in the oven- a bit for Reese and Ryan for breakfast, and a bit more for something I was making later for dinner. I thought that I'd cook it now so it would be all ready to crumble later without the hassle of cooking again. Once it was done I put it on paper towels on a plate on the counter to cool before sticking it in the fridge. I then set to work on some relief society 'to-do's'.

Anyway, there I am, clicking away on the laptop, consumed by the new contact list I am working on when I suddenly notice that the room has grown silent. . . and there is. . . munching in the kitchen. I turn around and there is Reese, a fistful of bacon in each hand, snacking away as she watches the last of a Disney movie, happy as a clam.

Without me noticing, she had pushed a chair over to the counter and helped herself to the pile. When she saw me staring at her, she froze for a moment and then promptly stuffed the remaining two or three pieces into her cheeks and chomped away before I could pry them out. The air was thick with guilt, but I suppose that, like the crazy dog in that old Beggin' Strips commercial, the scent was just too much and she couldn't help her shameless thievery. The look on her round little face read, 'It's mine- mine! You can't have it, and there's nothin' you can do about it now!'

When I looked at the plate I found only two lonely pieces sitting there- she had polished off something like 6 or so before I caught her!!! Good grief!! So much for healthy eating-- or planning ahead.

Ryan laughed so hard he fell over when I told him about it.

Photo Catch-up!

Eating snacks at Reese's 'End of Summer Pool Party' put on by her nursery, soon after she decided to take a dip in the deep end- like mother, like daughter I guess.

Reese loves balloons, and since yellow is her favorite color I wasn't surprised that after getting it from Macey's the other day, she took it everywhere in the yard as she dug and played.

Sporting one of her Aunt's childhood outfits- (sorry guys, I don't know which one of you!) unfortunately, our little baby has a much larger head. :)

The turkey I made for Ryan's Thanksgiving Birthday dinner. I was pretty proud of it.

Reese LOVES being big and now takes it as an insult when I put her in her carseat instead of letting her sit up front with me.

Twin Bedheads-
and somehow I've been wondering where in the world she got her crazy hair?!

Taking her best friends on a short hike.

Caught trying on Momma's bracelets- I love this shot!

Listening to some tunes with Aunt Mae-Mae

So there's the latest and greatest- as always, almost everything we do revolves around our Little Miss Muffet, which is just the way she likes it. I can't believe how much she is growing up, and how fast it's coming!

Fall is Fantastique!

I decided that the easiest way to catch up on the last while would be to tell you a few reasons why it is so incredibly wonderful to have a 2-year-old in the Fall--


First teaching how, and then spending hours tromping and kicking through the fallen leaves in our driveway.

Blowing the last of the dandilions into the wind, and watching Reese lick the stray fluffs that stick to her lips and then pronouncing them, "Yummy!"

Taking time to examine rolly-pollies (a.k.a. potato bugs)

Screaming, knocking things over and eventually killing GI-NORMOUS spiders that find their way into our house and then watching Reese mimic all of my actions the next day (AHH! Mama- isss a SPIDE!) and then proceeding to whollop her own imaginary intruders.

Collecting chestnuts from the ground to give Melese and Kyle each morning before our workout

Eskimo kisses- lots and lots and lots of Eskimo kisses.

Pretending to be 'ghosties' chasing each other around the house


Basically, I just feel like a big kid again, which is tons of fun. So with all the stress and increasingly frazzled nerves I'm acquiring as the mommy of a very active two-year-old, I'm delighted to report that I'm also extremely happy and have never enjoyed life more!

Nothing like a hyper toddler to remind you that life is not a never-ending list of to-do's, but actually the most awe-inspiring, purely blissful journey we'll ever take!

Wow.

I was totally surprised by the number of comments on that last post-- nothing like a little 'poop talk' to get the conversation rolling, huh?

But seriously, thanks so much for all the suggestions and sympathies. Great to know we aren't the first to deal with this mess. :) And I'm REALLY excited to have a few new ideas to try out!

Thanks a million!