I just don't get it

There are a few things I just don't get lately.

Like this. Why is Pearl suddenly terrified, and I mean absolutely, live-threatening terrified, of ants? How can something so tiny be that horrifying, especially when you have the power to squash it? It's obvious Pearl is trying to bring ants into our house by feeding them.... look at all of those perfect ant-sized bread crumbs she has just chopped up.
Or this. Is having a tea party in just your panties really that exciting? I personally think it might get a bit drafty but apparently not for a toddler. She is quick to strip down too! I went to vacuum up the above said ant feast and when I came back to check on my little tea party princess discovered she was nearly nude in the living room. It's a good thing we managed to put her clothes on (after much wailing and crying) before her dad got home - house rule is you must wear pants.... ironically Jeff has also said shirts are optional though. Hmmmm......And this. Do husbands really think it's that funny to nearly send their prego wives into labor or getting her to swear and pee her pants at the same time? Apparently so. I walked into our bedroom one night, flipped on the light and freaked out when I saw USU's basketball player Jared Quayle's face staring at me. No offense to his real wife, but not my idea of a good time in bed. Oh and another thing. I don't get why we even own a dishwasher. I mean, everyday I still wash dishes by hand and have them stacked up next to the sink. What's the point of that? Sure we'd rather not fill up the dishwasher with tea cups, huge pots, and mixing bowls but come on! It's like doing the dishes twice.

I just don't get it.

Zoo Days

What do you get when you combine a very blustery day, a daughter who refuses to smile or even look at the camera, a mom who is trying to switch out lenses on her camera because she hasn't taken a picture in 9 months and can't seem to figure out the best one to use let alone balance the camera on her big prego belly, and about 100 million other parents with the same idea? Zoo Days... hooray!

Pearl was pretty excited to see the baby animals... I've really confused her with the zoo and Baby Animal Days in Wellsville which is on our plan of things to do this weekend. Luckily there was a baby elephant, although Pearl was scared of the elephant noises the zoo had playing. Not to mention she was scared of the penguins, the one animal I thought she would be thrilled to see! She really is a chicken - scared of ants, bugs, and now zoo animals? Where did I go wrong?This was the first year I decided to fork over the $1.50 for a carousel ride and it was well worth every cent. Pearl loved it! We rode it twice and each time she wanted to ride on the kangaroo. I'm not sure why she was so excited about a kangaroo all of the sudden but that's what she wanted to ride so we searched the entire carousel for one. Luckily the kangaroo isn't the most popular choice with most kids or we could have had a total meltdown right then and there. By this point Pearl was starving and begging me for popcorn. Pearl about lost it when she was told she couldn't take her popcorn on the train ride... that girl LOVES popcorn! Her first instinct after jumping off the train was to run over to the stroller and make sure no one had taken her precious popcorn. Considering Pearl quickly lost interest in seeing the animals and only made it about an hour and a half wandering around I'd say Zoo Days was a success.

So this is what 239 feels like

Pearl gets really excited about birthdays - it doesn't matter who's birthday it is either, although she does know that it has to be my birthday then Ricco's birthday before it gets to be her birthday. This time it was mine. After prepping her for a few days, mainly to stop her daily questioning if it was her own birthday - the day finally came. Jeff drug her out of bed half asleep to sing happy birthday to me, which was super cute, crazy bed-head hair and all. Then we tried to tell her how old I was. When asked, Pearl suggested 2 then 5 and at one point that morning, even threw a 20 in there. But when asked at daycare how old her mom was, she told everyone I was 239. I guess it is pretty hard for a 2 year old to understand just how old 29 really is. It's old... at least that's how I feel!

There is an advantage to being 239 though, you get a pretty cool present. A new camera lens - the Nikon 35 mm AF-S f/1.8G. I've had my eye on this baby for several months because all the reviews I've read about it say it's great for low light situations (like anywhere in our house) and I can do some cool stuff with blurring the background of my photos. Jeff took me to the camera store and let me pick it out last week - along with a new camera bag - but with not practicing my photography skills for almost 9 months, I was shocked at how crappy my pictures are and how little I seem to remember about shooting in manual. I figure once Ricco gets out of me and I can actually bend down and chase Pearl around I'll get back into the swing of things. So after a day at work (birthdays just aren't that exciting when you're old, are they?) we went to dinner. Reminder for next year, let Jeff pick the restaurant. I really just wanted chips and salsa so we went to this joint not too far from our house and when we got there, remembered we really don't like the place. Even the chips and salsa were gross. Oh well, at least I didn't have to cook dinner! And Jeff signed me up for the Baskin Robbins birthday club and sent me a coupon for a free scoop of ice cream... yummy! My husband knows me too well (so does Pearl because she got the free scoop as bribery for being good at the grocery store). Then my neighbors brought over these beautiful tulips. They were excited because as their 14 year old told me, now they can just come over next year, dig them up, stick them back in a pot, and their birthday present is done. And then to top things off, only when you turn 239 can you convince your sister and brother-in-law to come over the day AFTER your birthday for cake and ice cream that you make them bring to you. I can't wait to see what next year brings, that is if I make it!