My kid is a loud racist in public places!

So today Eva exercised her freedom of completely politically incorrect speech. We were at the toy store picking out a blue horse. She's been earning good behavior coupons for helping me around the house and had collected enough for a trip to the toy store. I had this lovely picture in my mind about how I would have her "pay" for her horse with her good behavior coupons and have the check out person play along. Eva would learn valuable lessons about paying for and earning the things that we want. It was going to be such a wonderful parenting exercise wrapped in sunshine and happiness.

Well, we found a lovely blue Cinderella horse and proceeded to the checkout lane with coupons in hand. The girl in our checkout lane was a young blonde girl and before we got to the front, a dark skinned hispanic woman walked up and told her it was time for her break. I didn't think anything of it but Eva apparently was unhappy with the switch because when it was our turn, she looked at me and very loudly exclaimed, "Mom, I don't want the brown lady, I want the white lady!" Wow. I could feel the four sets of disapproving eyes belonging to the mommies in line behind me boring holes into my back. I wanted to crawl under my cart and wheel away.

Now in Eva's defense, she really isn't racist. Her absolute favorite cartoon right now is Dora and Diego - clearly hispanic. We have black friends at church that Eva plays with and she's never said anything about not liking them because of their skin. She has even gone so far as to tell me how pretty she thinks princess Tiana's dark skin is. So I think her comment had more to do with not wanting a changing of the guard. The blonde girl was the person Eva had walked up to and she didn't want her to leave before we could check out.

In any case, the hispanic woman was gracious about the whole thing. Probably because in the very next breathe, Eva turned to her and said with a sweet smile, "these are my good behavior bucks and I'd like to buy this horse please." She took the fake money and pretended to put it in her drawer as she swiped my card and then gave Eva the receipt. I was still bright red and in shock as I mumbled an appology for what Eva had got out of there as fast as I could. Goodness gracious. I just can't wait to see what offensive thing will she say in public next.

Coolest Wallpaper Ever

So I stumbled upon this cool wallpaper this morning and am GAGA over it! You can draw right on it, or paste up preschool artwork, or family pictures or whatever. How super cool right!

I found it on this awesome website Project Nursery. Soooo worth checking out! Lots of cute DIY projects, great links, just a great mommy site. http://projectnursery.theopenskyproject.com/graham-brown-frames-wallpaper.html

Domestic Diva

I decided to take on the challenge of pre-making meals. It was so wonderful having frozen home cooked dinners in the freezer when we came home from the hospital so I wanted to restock the supply. Mom helped me tackle the task and we spent a full day (noon to 7pm) cooking. We ran out of room in the kitchen so some of the assembly happened on the stairs. In the end we'd made an absolute mess but I had 26 meals large enough for leftovers for the low low price of $150. WOW! I'm so impressed with myself . . . I bet even Betty Crocker would be proud.

Mia's first smile

Today Mia is 4 weeks old and she celebrated the milestone by smiling a big gummy smile at her mommy. Oh the little things that melt your heart!

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day is about love . . . so naturally we decided to spend the day with the two little girls we desperately adore! Who want's to go out to a restaurant stuffed to the rafters with couples trying to drum up some romance when your heart is tied to the two precious darling sweetie pies waiting for you at home?
Mommy got up early to make a tray of cinnamon rolls and cantaloupe slices (Eva's favorite) and we all ate them together in mommy and daddy's bed. We let Eva make the evening plans and her idea of a great night included a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy's and a family movie . . . Beverly Hills Chihuahua. Not the most romantic Valentine's Day ever but definitely sweet. I wouldn't have changed it for the world!

Rosie the Tarantula

On Saturday we took the girls to the Butterfly Pavilion where Eva held Rosie the tarantula! She was so brave. There were older boys who waited in line and then freaked out when they got up to the chair but not Eva. She sat right down, pulled up her sleeve, stuck out her hand, and was totally engrossed. She also got to touch some sea stars and was surprised that one was soft and fuzzy while the other was hard and bumpy. When it came to the butterfly house she had a hard time remembering not to touch the butterflies, they were just begging to be picked up. She spent a few minutes deep in thought as she gazed at the cocoon wall and then turned to let us know that these cocoons used to be caterpillars like the Hungary Caterpillar that ate through all the junk food (Eric Carlisle’s Very Hungary Caterpillar book) so she totally got it. What a smart girl.

Eva and Mia: Sisterly Love

Eva has continued to be such a loving big sister. At bedtime we always read stories as part of our routine. I've been putting Mia to bed first so that Eva and I can have some one on one time together; but yesterday at nap time she wanted me to let Mia join us for her bedtime story. She held Mia in an upright sitting position cradled against her chest so that Mia could see the pictures. She kept absentmindedly stroking Mia's hand or kissing her head. It warmed my heart to see her sweet affection for her little sister. I snapped these pics of the two of them last night. Aren't they just precious little girls!