A big day in our little house.

It was my little girl's first "first day of school." Oh, and also, we found out whether Nubaby is a boy or a girl. All on some random Tuesday in August.

First up, Lily's first day of school. It's not just plain 'ole daycare anymore. She has to go every single day. No more two whole days a week at home with Mama. Time for school supply lists, attendance requirements, and even homework.

I almost made it through the morning without crying. Almost.

And then there was the matter of the ultrasound. Here's the disclaimer to the announcement: 16 weeks is still a little early to determine the sex. This was not the purpose of my early visit, and it wasn't one of those "just for funsies" ultrasounds. I have cervix issues that need to be watched, and the doctor told me today that my "cervix looks beautiful." That has to be the weirdest compliment that I've ever gotten.

But of course we asked if we could find out.

The tech said she would give us an educated guess, but "don't start painting any walls." That said, I have a feeling she was pretty confident. She told us what she thought and why, and later on we got a different angle, and she said, "Oh yeah. It's a ____."

So, in an effort to be obnoxious but not quite to the level of the whole "gender reveal party" thing, we share the news with you in the same way we shared it with Lily. (Don't believe me about the parties? Google it. It's a thing.) If videos annoy you, scroll way down for the spoiler.













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Turns out we did some painting this weekend anyway. What started out as a project to clean out the garage turned into cleaning out the guest room and then morphed into painting walls in the living room. Welcome to nesting with a crazy pregnant woman who's been out of town for too long.

And naturally, Lily had to paint, too. She actually did a pretty good job.
Mostly.

So there you have it. Big girl. Baby boy. Painted walls. Something current on this blog. All on some random Tuesday in August.

Little Miss Matchy Matchy.

So my mom made three matching pillow case dresses for three little cousins.

That's right, I said THREE. And I've been trying to get a picture of all THREE of them for months, but somehow, even though we all live within an hour of each other, getting the three of them together doesn't happen all that often. So when I had my chance, I took it. Even though I didn't have enough time to find a nice spot with a good background and good light. Between good background and good light, I chose light.

Turns out, while 4-year-olds are far more willing than their former toddler selves, they are MOODY. Lily happy. Pearl happy. Lia missing.

Lia back. Lia happy. Lily missing. Pearl missing.
Pearl missing. Lia sad. Lily sad.

Lia happy. Pearl happy. Lily sad.
Pearl happy. Lily happy. Lia sad.

Everybody happy! Now we're getting somewhere.

Looking anywhere but at the camera.

There we go. That's the shot I wanted. More or less.

Chickens and the beach. On Father's Day.

Let's just pretend this post is even a little bit timely, mmkay? Because it's not, but for some reason I want to post it. And it's my blog.

So for Father's Day we made a visit to St. Pete to see Khan's dad because it was his day, too, after all. But personally, I just wanted to go visit my sister-in-law's new baby chickens. They just got four chicks, and I missed the first visit to see them. I forget their names, but I think this one might be Buttercup.
Look how cute! Don't you just want one of your own? I do. But ooohhh nooo, stupid HOA and its stupid rules. And then there's the fact that we don't have a coop in our 4-foot-yard. And we don't know jack about raising chickens.
But look how cute!
And hard to catch = endless entertainment.
After visiting the baby chicks Khan's dad, we went to the beach. Lily got a new kite, and we were ready to fly it. What better place than the beach, right? (Forgive the crappy pictures.)

And that was true enough -- the beach was the perfect place to fly a kite.
The only problem is that there are so many OTHER things to do at the beach, too. Lily had her kite up for about 14 seconds when she decided she wanted to build a sandcastle. Or collect shells. Or go swimming. Or anything else. Poor Khan just wanted to fly the kite.

And she was REALLY excited to take her $1 store mermaids for a swim in the ocean.

I attempted to take pictures of the sunset.

Then I decided to try to get one of those really cool silhouette shots agains the sunset -- maybe one where Daddy is holding his little girl up in the air or something. How perfect would that be for Father's Day, right?

But it turns out I don't know how to do that. "expose for the sky" is just not enough instruction for a remedial student.
So this was what I got instead.

Oh, Debby.

I'm pretty sure if you were looking for a Floridian whose favorite season is summer, you won't find one. (Well, you might, I guess, because there are a lot of people in this state with questionable decision-making skills.) But it probably won't be the parent of a small child -- a child with energy to burn and only an anthill-sized pile of options, thanks to the heat and humidity.

There's the pool, if you've got one. The beach, if it's feasible. The park, if it's before 7 a.m. And all of those options go out the window when a tropical storm with a typo in her name comes along and dumps rain all over the place for 72 hours.

Near the end of Debby's rain (ha!), I finally came up with an idea to get out of the house: puddle jumping. (Yeah, I know it's obvious. I'm a little slow sometimes.) So with rainboots on and an umbrella in hand, we went out in search of a good puddle for splashing.

And we found a little one.

Considering all the massive puddles I saw while out driving, I really expected more. 

So we went around the block to find something bigger. But it turned out it was more fun to play with an umbrella anyway.
So we headed back home.

And just when we got home, we were surprised to find that Daddy left early to avoid rain sloshed traffic.

And we were done.

Interview with an almost-4-year-old: A Father's Day gift.

Last year for Father's Day, Lily and I had a little interview. I used her answers and some photos to make a photobook for Khan, and I also posted it here. I was pretty happy with how it all turned out, so we did it again this year. Hope he likes it :-)

This year, we started with drawing a picture of Daddy.

Perhaps it needs some explanation. Here's her commentary as she was drawing:

Mommy: “What’s that?”
Lily: “A picture of Daddy. He’s going to have a smile.”
“A green nose and a green smile.”
“I made long hair for daddy. But some boys have long hair. It’s OK.”
“He’s spooky arms.”

“Now I need mud.”
Mommy: “Mud?”
“Yes. Bubbly mud.”

Mommy: “Is this a spooky picture of Daddy?”
Lily: “Yeah! A spooky picture of Daddy.”
“I’m going to put a fun bubble in the sky. And hearts.”
“I gonna put Daddy’s face in the bubble.”

Examines her work.
“And short hair!”
More examining.
In a sing-song voice: “Two faces! Two faces! Two faces!”
Lily: Hands it to me. “Here you go!”
Mommy: Points at the blob in the sky. “What’s that?”
Lily: “Daddy in the sky.” Points. “That’s Daddy in the sky, and that’s Daddy on the ground.”

Just the facts.

Mommy: “Tell me what your daddy looks like.”
Lily: “Daddy has short hairs, brown eyes, and black hair.”
Mommy: “How old is Daddy?”
Lily: “40.”

Mommy: “Do you know what your daddy’s first name is?”
Lily: “Khansay.”
Mommy: “Do you know daddy’s last name?”
Lily: “Daddy.”
Mommy: “Do you know what your last name is?”
Lily: Answers correctly.
Mommy: “Do you know what my last is?”
Lily: “Nope.” I tell her.

Mommy: “How are you and Daddy the same?”
Lily: “Daddy’s even bigger than me, but he has the same color hair as me.”

Mommy: “How are you and Daddy different?”
Lily: “Daddy likes pants and I like skirts and dress.”

Mommy: “What does Daddy do when you’re not here?”
Lily: “He cleans all the bedrooms.”

Mommy: “What does daddy do when he’s at work?”
Lily: “I don’t know because I’m not there.”
Mommy: Laughs. “What do you guess he does at work?”
Lily: “He does he’s computer. Works on his computer.”

Favorite Things.
 

Mommy: “What is Daddy’s favorite food?”
Lily: “Ummm, roast bease.”
Mommy: “Favorite color?”
Lily: "Ummm, blue and green.”

Mommy: “Favorite game?”
Lily: “Go fish.”
Mommy: “Favorite TV show?”
Lily: “Curious George”

Mommy: “Favorite princess?”
Lily: “John Smith. I mean, no, Aurora. She’s a princess.”
Mommy: “Why Aurora?”
Lily: “Because she has sparkles on her and on her crown.”

Mommy: “What’s Daddy’s favorite animal?”
Lily: “A flamingo.”
Mommy: “Really? Why does daddy like flamingos?”
Lily: “Because they’re cute.”

The places we go.


Mommy: “Where does daddy like to go?
Lily: “Disney World!”
Mommy: “What’s his favorite part of Disney World?”
Lily: “Fireworks!” While waiting for me to finish writing, she has her Minnie Mouse doll say ‘Good answer!’
Mommy: “What’s Daddy’s favorite ride at Disney World?”
Lily: “The scary ride because the boat goes backwards!”

Mommy: “Do you and Daddy go to the park? What does daddy do at the park?”

Lily: “Daddy swings with me.”
Mommy: “Is that his favorite?”
Lily: “Just swings. Daddy only fits on the swings.”

Mommy: “What’s Daddy’s favorite thing to do at the beach?”

Lily: “Daddy likes to go swimming in the water.”
Mommy: “What else?”
Lily: “Building sandcastle. He knows how to build sandcastles like me.”
Mommy: “Oh, did you teach him how?”
Lily: “No. He teach me.”

Mommy: “Did Daddy teach you how to do anything else?”
Lily: “Yeah! He teach me to swim. I kick my feet and close my mouth and do my arms like this,” dog paddles with her arms, “I tell daddy to let go; I can do it by myself and I did!” Grabs Minnie and says in her Minnie voice, “Good job! I can’t swim.”

Daily life.


Mommy: “Is Daddy really good at anything?”
Lily: “Cookin’!”
Mommy: “Is he good at cleaning?”
Lily: “Yeah. “
Mommy: “What does he clean?”
Lily: “Um, the tables.”

Mommy: “What do you and Daddy do at bedtime?”
Lily: “Bedtime snack, brush teeth, go potty, read books.”
Mommy: “What’s daddy’s favorite book?”
Lily: “I’ll show you.” Goes to bookcase and digs around. Pulls out Angelina Ballerina and the Royal Wedding, which she picked up at the library, and I might not be able to ever take it back. “Ballerina and Royal Wedding.”
Mommy: “What is Daddy’s favorite bedtime snack?”
Lily: “Special treat. Ice cream on the inside and the chocolate on the outside.”

Mommy: “What is Daddy like in the morning?”

Lily: “In the morning? Daddy likes to still sleep because he’s still sleepy.”

Mommy: “What does Daddy like to do after dinner?”

Lily: “Play games.”
Mommy: “What games?”
Lily: “You said games already.”
Mommy: “Well, what games then?”
Lily: “Go Fish!”
Mommy: “Just Go Fish?”
Lily: “Go Fish is my favorite!”

Mommy: “What is something Daddy always says to you?”
Lily: “Cookie!” Giggles.
Mommy: Tries again. “What does Daddy say when he picks you up from school”?
Lily: “Can you give me a hug and a kiss.”

Mommy: “Does Daddy have any rules?”
Lily: “No tantrums. But I don’t have any more tantrums because I’m a big girl.”

Mommy: “Where do you go for walks together?”
Lily: “Beach.”
Mommy: “To the beach? The beach is kind of far.”
Lily: “The beach is way past the park!”

Mommy: “What do you do on walks with Daddy?”
“We go see some of our neighbors. We sing songs to our neighbors.”
(Note to self: Remember to ask husband how often they go caroling.)

Special occasions.

Mommy: “Has Daddy ever given you any presents?”
Lily: “Yeah to my cousins.”
Mommy: “How about presents for you?”
Lily: “A princess doll. And jelly beans. And sea shells. And lair-a-vee. Yeah! What’s on My Little Pony. Lair-a-vee.”
Mommy: “Oh, Rarity.” (Rarity is the name of one of the My Little Ponies. She actually does not own that pony.)

Mommy: “What present should we get for daddy for Father’s Day?”
Lily: “Um, the fishing game where you pull the thing because I broke the other one.”
Mommy: “What should we do for Father’s Day?”
Lily: “I can paint a picture and wrap it up. And you can hide and I can hide, and when Daddy comes home, we can yell, ‘surprise!’”

Emotions.

Mommy: “What makes Daddy sad?”
Lily: “When I don’t listen to him.”

Mommy: “What makes Daddy happy?”
Lily: “Um, Daddy goes for a walk with me.”
Mommy: “Do you know anything that makes your daddy mad?”
Lily: “Look! A frog! You forgot the yellow one, mommy.”
(Indeed, she spotted the frog that I didn’t find in the game we had just played.)

Mommy: “So what makes your daddy mad then?”
Lily: “Anything.”
Mommy: “Anything?”
Lily: “No. He always love me. Because he’s my dad!”

You got that right, little girl. And so do I.