Peppercam

8:08 I make us breakfast. Bella tells me she's already had breakfast. Wha??? But that's ok, she'll have more. We have yogurt with strawberries and granola.

8:11 We hear a little shout. Mimi is up. We go up to get her. She's bouncing in her crib, excited to see us. She shouts some more. We sing the "Good Morning Song." She yells.

8:14 Change Mimi's diaper and get her dressed.

8:17 There. Quarter after eight and we're all out of pajamas. Not bad!

8:30 Give Mimi breakfast. She has a bowl of baby oatmeal and some strawberries. She makes faces when I feed her the plain Greek yogurt that Bella and I like, so I don't waste it on her. More for me. yum.

9:44 Girls tromp upstairs as giggling princesses. We all play school, have a cookie snack, and play princesses.
11:40 Cousin Nick arrives on a SCHOOL BUS  

11:56 Time for lunch. Libby serves up bagels and cream cheese and fruit. One of my favorite lunches! Uncle Dave calls and is flustered when I answer at his house. He has called to see if he should eat the cafeteria fish for lunch. We all laugh at him. Because that is funny.
12:45 We are all off to Kiddywampus to get a birthday present for a party tomorrow. Libby leads the way in her van and Bella watches like a hawk. "Mom! They're getting away! Press on the gas! They're stopping! THEY'RE USING A BLINKER!"
12:58 At the toy store, there are a lot of ideas thrown about by the three kids (Emily is sleepily riding around the sling so doesn't have much to say) but we settle on the Spin-a-Paint set. A good choice I think.
1:21 We bid adieu to Aunt and Cousins, who are going to stay and play some more at the toy store.
1:30 Bella requests Neil Young in the car and quickly falls asleep. Mimi too.

1:54 I park in the driveway. I can't transfer both girls inside without one waking the other up, so I let them sleep in their car seats for a while. I go inside to make an espresso. I bring it out and drink it in the van while I knit on my moebius cowl and listen to Science Friday. A lovely bit of me time. Usually Bella "rests" (not really, it usually sounds like a country bear jamboree) in her room for an hour in the afternoon while Mimi naps, so this is weird.

2:50 Mimi wakes up
2:51 Bella wakes up

3:08 Bella watches a TV show to help her wakeup. She is a little cranky from her abrupt awakening.

3:08 Mimi is ready for a snack after being too wound up to eat much at her cousin's house. Cheerios and a Yobaby yogurt.

3:20 I make some pizza dough for dinner. Set it aside to rise. (That is a picture of my recipe sheet)

3:33 Bella has a snack. Fruit strip, saltines with butter, and a glass of milk.
3:35 Mimi is on the loose doing what we call "her chores" (emptying cupboards). Bella says to her, "Mimi, that cupboard isn't going to empty itself!" (something she must have heard me say).

4:00 Mimi out of bath. Very upset. Missing her bark chip? Who knows. Normally she likes the bath so she must be tired. We snuggle while Bella plays in the bathtub.
4:30 Put Mimi down for a nap. It's a weird time for a nap but is clearly needed.
4:50 Get Bella out and get her in PJs.

5:09 Start making pizzas and fruit salad. Bella is having a good time smashing her dough, spreading the sauce, and sprinkling the cheese.
5:25 Mimi lets us know she is awake and feeling better. We go get her and put her straight in her highchair for dinner.

5:31 Dinner is served! (Normally we would wait until 6:30 and eat with Brent, but he is going out after work tonight)
Dinner gets a thumbs up from Bella. Mimi is not so sure, so we play "Pizz-a-boo" instead.


5:50 Dinner concludes with Bella putting pizza in her eye and telling me she's a "pizza-rate" (pirate). I guess I started it! I clean up a little while Bella washes up and gets ready for a special treat.
5:57 Brent butt dials home. I listen for a while but no one is talking about me so I hang up. Bella is confused.
6:06 The special treat: we get to put Hoppy and Muffy (a bunny and bear) into their "Easter" outfits. Bella loooongs to change their clothes and would do so multiple times per day if allowed. Mimi is doing her best to crawl away with any outfit pieces left unguarded.
 
6:26 All dressed! (a carrot, an eggplant, a tomato, and a nude pig) Bella runs to get Brent's camera and takes pictures too. Yes this is totally normal at our house. We have dolls. We dress them. We take their picture.
6:27 Time to tidy the playroom. Bella finds a wet diaper. WHA???
6:35 Mimi pulls a little chair down on top of herself. We all get a scare but she is fine. Lots of crying.
 
6:46 I turn on a Nickelodeon show for Bella while I put Mimi to bed.
 
7:11 Tiptoe out of Mimi's room.
7:14 Bella gets a before bed M&M cookie and some milk. We go brush teeth and read a couple chapters to finish up "Bella the Bunny Fairy."
7:34 Goodnight Bella! Mimi is shrieking, dissatisfied with her bedtime. I go downstairs to tidy up and then watch a taped Project Runway while I work on my cowl.
8:00 Mimi finally asleep? I can hear Bella "reading" in her room.
8:24 Talk to my brother on the phone. Quite out of the ordinary so it is a nice surprise.
9:00 Bella requests glass of water. But she is sleepy and it spills. Change her bed and her pajamas.
9:34 Bella appears to finally be sleeping. The nap must have thrown her off, because this is very late.
9:54 I put out some Easter decorations and check my email.
11:12 I work on my cowl in bed until I hear Mimi fussing. I go get her a bottle. I am exhausted. She sucks it down and goes to sleep for the night.
11:27 Lights off (except one little one left on for Brent) and time for sleep!

THE END

We have been trying to get outside more. It is just so much work to bundle everyone up! And I'm more into lazy parenting. Let's play Barbies while momma drinks coffee. That sort of thing. But I'm getting better at motivating us all to go out and Bella is pretty self-sufficient now with her snowpants and all that.

One of my new year resolutions this year was to have a vegetable garden. Here's our plan. What do you think? My dad is making us a 4x8' raised bed in our very sunny back yard.

Seascape Strawberries, Yaya Hybrid Carrots, Karina Garden Peas, and four different kinds of Tomatoes--Mortgage Lifter, Sweet Baby Girl, Viva Italia, and Wisconsin 55. We are new at this so if anybody has any advice, we'd sure appreciate it! The plan drawing part was fun so we are off to a good start.