"That Didn't Take Very Long!"

This past Sunday morning, we woke up to find our new pet frog belly up on the bottom of our bowl. Yep, that would be only 5 days after her adoption. So being the responsible parents that we are, Michael quickly "took care" of it while I distracted the kids. Later, Michael and I were ready to break the news to the kids and were prepared to have this great conversation with Ella and Will about life & death and pull in spiritual things about how we can be certain of our heaven (not frog heaven) if we believe in Jesus, etc. So, we sit them down and start out our fantastic parenting moment with, "Guys, we have some bad news...". Will's very prompt and oh-so cute response was "Well that didn't take very long" and he was done, moving on, pretty much ending our conversation. Even our sensitive Ella wasn't too concerned or bothered either by their beloved frog's death. So our serious, life changing talk lasted all of 10 seconds....they were inspired!

As a final note, we're certain that Anna would have lasted at least one more week had we spelled her name correctly as Ana. Our spelling must have doomed her:)

Introducing Anna

Will introduces his new pet which he proudly named Anna. FYI, this is not her but just a pic I found on the internet but this is just what she (or he) looks like. Anna is an african dwarf frog who can live happily with Jonah, the betta, in his bowl on our kitchen counter. Anna was seriously harrassed by Jonah (there is truth to the siamese fighting fish name) the first day but they do seem to be living in fine aquatic harmony now. And so the Baker family pet collection continues to grow.

Ella's New Do

Here she is just earlier this week:And after a visit to Cool Cuts 4 Kids yesterday for a chin-length bob, she left with this trendy hairdo. It is super cute on her but boy, does it make her look older. It is a real big girl do that is stacked in the back and left longer in the front. She loves it and I sort-of do but just don't want my little girl to grow up too fast and a real style just seems so old to me (especially since I still don't have a style!). It already begins....my daughter is much trendier than I am!

Mom of the Year Award!

While I was busy saving the world or actually just cooking dinner a couple of nights ago, which does seem like quite a feat some days, I forgot all about Cal's afternoon nap (gasp from all moms of toddlers) and put the boys in front of a video. Within 10 minutes, I turned around to find them like this:

The amazing part of this story is not that they fell asleep in a chair and on the couch (which is a first for Cal, by the way) but that I really did forgot his nap. This kid loves his naps but I love them even more! I could be having the greatest day out doing something super fun, but I WILL be home to get that boy in his bed for a nap. I LOVE his naptime and usually work my day's agenda around his naps. So, this poor third child has once again proven himself quite adaptable and easy going, while I once again have proven myself quite ditzy. And Will also reminded us why he should never ever nap again, as he was up until midnight that night after his hour nap in Cal's chair. Wonder where he gets it?

Good Morning!

Guess what delicious breakfast of champions this discriminating boy is enjoying?

Well, it would be pickles and pancakes, of course. Oh Yum!

Every morning, Cal walks straight to the refrigerator and using his own form of communication (mainly grunts and fingerpointing) shows me exactly what he wants. Most mornings he points straight to the orange juice container saying "num" (which translates into yummy, I think). But no O.J. this morning, the pickle jar caught his eye and he forgot all about his juice and had to have a delicious sour pickle. Sure enough he ate it first before he touched his whole wheat pancakes, that didn't have any syrup on them I might add...can't say I blame him!

First Day of Preschool

The big two started at a new preschool today that we are all super excited about. Here they are this first morning just before heading in:

Here's big Will striking a pose after I asked him to show me how big he is now:And here's his "Like that, Mommy?" pose:
This boy makes me laugh!

Ella was able to bring Kit for Show & Tell which was an added bonus for the first day!

I missed my two big kids a ton this morning (5 hours is a long time! How will I ever survive kindergarten?) but am looking forward to some sweet time alone with my little man Cal.

Family Beach Trip 2008

We just got back from a fantastic 5 days on South Padre Island. We went with the Goldenberg side of the family and had a blast relaxing together away from life in Dallas. The kids loved playing in the sand (mainly building rivers and pools), jumping in the waves, going on boogie board rides from Dad, taking naps on the beach for Cal, and swimming in the pool. Besides the multiple sunscreen applications for a very opinionated 3 year old, a great time was had by all! Here are just a few of our many fun shots of the week:

THANKS MIMI AND POP! The beach house was amazing and our time of fellowship was so refreshing!

Just as icing on the cake, we were able to spend a night at Michael's parents house on each leg of our drive. Here are pics of the kids having a blast on their new surprise at Grammie's and Poppa's. Here's one more reason our kids will be begging us to head south to Austin!