I'm melting! Melting! Ohhhhh, what a world, what a world...

Walked into the bathroom last night and saw this:



It cracked me up.

Britt quote of the day: "Kids are not people. They're just kids and stuff."

Britt's Posse

Sorry I haven't been posting much lately. Facebook ate my life.

There are no little girls on our street, so Britt's only playmates are three little boys who live at the end of the cul-de-sac:



On a recent Saturday, she rode hard with her posse,



then she sat next to me to catch her breath.



She got mad at me for taking pictures,



so she tried to ignore me.



Then she stole my drink,



and then she burped really loud.



I laughed,



so she got embarrassed.



Then she got her own drink.



And then she shot some baskets.



Then she... well, her dribbling still needs work.

Easter Hunny

Easter proofs are in

The usual disclaimers apply: the finished prints will look much better, the color is off, and my scanner is an utterly beshitted pile o' crap. Orders have to be turned in Thursday so make your picks and let me know ASAP.

I love this one from the shoulders down:



I should've done something special with her hair.



Little cutie.



She gets one picture with the rabbit and she's got her hand clamped over it eyes:



Getting so big!

Expelled

After a long hiatus because it's frickin' cold in the winter, I signed Britt up for more classes at the zoo. Which thrilled Britt to no end, because the zoo is the most wonderful, fantastical, magical place in the whole wide world.

Our first class was February 28, except that, um, somebody forgot to set the alarm and woke up at the very moment Britt should have been stepping into the classroom. That somebody was very unhappy with herself, first for screwing up something that would have made Britt unbelievably, deliriously happy and, secondly, because that somebody had to break the tragic news to her.

And so, yesterday, somebody got a second chance to make Britt unbelievably, deliriously happy, because that certain somebody had signed her up for a day camp at the zoo. A day camp at which she would get to help mix treats for the animals. Britt had been looking forward to this event for weeks with almost unbearable anticipation.

This special day finally arrived and that certain somebody was up at the crack of dawn to make absolutely certain there would be no oversleeping on this most important of days. And, finally, Britt was safely delivered unto the day camp and that certain somebody was heading off on a rare shopping trip in an attempt to augment her sadly diminished wardrobe.

And then somebody's cell phone rang. But somebody did not recognize the number and so at first ignored it. Then it rang again. This time somebody answered it. And then somebody took the next exit off the highway in order to turn around and go pick up Britt from day camp at the zoo.

Because she had vomited in class and was waiting for me in the office.

I rushed back to the zoo, screeched to a halt in a 15-minute parking space and ran inside, where I found a very forlorn little girl waiting for me. I felt her head, trying to figure out what was wrong, when it suddenly occurred to me. I had taken her to the doctor the day before because she had some boils on her little booty and on her leg, and I had given her a dose of the prescribed antibiotic just before we left the house. On an empty stomach. Because they always serve snacks first thing at zoo classes, I hadn't bothered to give her so much as a piece of toast.

Fail!

As a consolation prize, since she wasn't actually sick sick, I decided to take her to see some animals. She chose to go to the Aquaticus first, so we went and looked at all the fishies and watched the seals for a while, and then we took off toward the playground and the carousel, looking at an anteater and some meercats along the way. Britt rode the carousel twice:



and we had just bought a token for the kiddie train when I suddenly realized I had parked in a 15-minute parking space.

Epic fail!

With visions of tow trucks and parking tickets whirling in my head, I grabbed Britt and made a lung-busting sprint for the parking lot, where I found the car sitting blissfully untowed and unticketed just as I had left it. I then drove a very sad little girl home.

Our next class is Saturday, March 28, aptly entitled "Going Batty." Pray for us.

How much of a homebody am I?

I'll tell you how much: I've had my new car for ten days and have put exactly 18.6 miles on it.

Guess what's sitting in my driveway

My Funny Valentine

Miss Lily (and her mom) came to visit us on Valentine's Day weekend. Unfortunately, I was a terrible hostess; I meant to take them out to lunch and do a little shopping, but pretty much stayed glued to the couch the whole time. Sorry, Jess! Hopefully I'll be feeling better next time.

Anyway, Lily is almost able to sit up now:



And she's fattening up nicely:



Brittany read her some Curious George:



She thought he was pretty funny:



Aunt Bridgie came over to see her:



There was a brief storm:



But it quickly blew over:



And we all lived happily ever after. Until it was time for them to leave, anyway.

Idiotic manufacturers of children's holiday items strike again

Remember the scandalous Halloween costume?

I was getting Britt's Littlest Pet Shop-themed Valentine cards ready for the party at school today when I saw this:



Uhhhh, no. No way.

I'm alive, barely...

I've been really, really sick the past two weeks. Of course, it wasn't until after I took Britt to see a doctor last weekend that it occurred to me that it wasn't just a bad cold or maybe the flu that I had, but a major sinus infection (which also led to an ear infection and a horrendous case of bronchitis) that could be quickly cleared up with some antibiotics and I could have easily (and should have) signed myself in to see the doctor too. But I was too muddle-headed that day and then I didn't feel like going back, so I toughed it out and it damn near killed me.

As a result, my house is looking pretty wrecktacular right now. I was looking around at the accumulated debris today, trying to figure out where to start while trying desperately not to cry, when I saw this, mocking me:



I took the hint, and went back to bed.

Yes, I've been totally slacking, blogwise

Sorry, but I've been busy. Also, sick. Like hacking, wheezing, passed out, gallons of mucus, sweating out a fever sick.

The busy part was scouring the internet for album cover art. Because if I don't have album cover art for a particular song, it shows an ugly blank page when it plays on my iPhone. And that just... bugs me. But I found almost all of them, and since most of the music I listen to is at least thirty years old, that was quite a feat!

BTW, I've discovered that a lot of music is fine to listen to as background noise on iTunes while I'm reading stuff online, but when it's being drilled directly into my head via earbuds... eh, not so much. So I've been ruthlessly deleting songs from my playlist. Over 400 gone out of about three thousand so far.

Yes, fascinating, I know. Moving on...

Britt hasn't been sick, but she does have a nasty paronychia on her index finger. I took her to the minor emergency center today to have it lanced and get some antibiotics, and she was very brave.

In other news, it was really cold and icy here last week. By the time the weather finally warmed up a little, Britt was suffering from cabin fever and itching to go outside and play. But first she tried to scrub some "pisgusting stuff" off her "gwubs."



And then she put them on all by herself first the first time ever! With her fingers in all the right spaces and everything!



So proud!



The other day I fixed her a hot dog for dinner while she danced around my feet singing something about "fishy dog, fishy dog." I told her nope, there's no fish in it. And then she stood stock still as a more disturbing possibility occurred to her. With big eyes, she asked, "Is it... from a dog?"

And then I died. The end.

Holiday Hangover

I'm still feeling depleted from all the stress of the holidays, but I figured I ought to let y'all know I'm still alive since NOT ONE OF YOU HAS BOTHERED TO CALL ME ON MY NEW iPHONE!

Gah.

Anyway, the very best present I got for Christmas this year was being able to spend a few all-too-short hours with this precious little nubbin:



Our marathon began on Christmas Eve at home,



and then we went over to Candy's where we had snacks and watched the kids open their gifts from her, and Britt made a new friend:



On Christmas Day we were off to the in-laws'. But not quickly enough to suit Miss B, who was saying, "Let's go. NOW."



Because she knew lots more presents awaited her there:



And then we had a couple of days off before heading to Tahlequah to see Baby Sister and Daddy and the rest of the family. And to open more presents!



And to help Baby Sister open hers:



Baby Sister was less than impressed.



She was adorable, though:



Britt spent most of her time outside



playing with her cousins,



while the rest of us stayed inside, soaking up baby sweetness:







Before we all went our separate ways I tried to take a group portrait of Daddy and his girls, but Britt wasn't being very cooperative. This was the best I could get:



Oh, well, they're still a bunch of cuties.