Piper does this thing...

...where she gets that look on her face like she wants to squeeze something to death. Then she grabs my head and pulls it to hers so we're nose to nose. She squeezes and grinds her teeth and gets as close as she can. We do this for a couple seconds then laugh. Man I love that girl.

Five years ago today...

...I had this sweet, tiny baby boy.

Today, I have this still sweet but not so tiny boy.




Rhett has been really excited to turn 5. In his mind, all good things come from being 5. He gets to ride the bus to school (when he goes to kindergarten), he gets to play sports (We've always told him when he's five he can do any sport he wants. Mainly because we didn't think he was ready for organized sports of any kind. And to be honest he hasn't been really interested in it until now.) and I think he doesn't feel like a little boy anymore. To him five is a big boy age. This morning when I woke him up he asked if he was five. It was the first thing out of his mouth. When I told him yes he said "Yeah!" and then we continued with our silent morning routine.

Rhett's had a big year. We started him in a full time preschool program that is basically like going to school. It was a big adjustment for all of us especially Rhett. Up until then we did so much for him like get him dressed and we didn't require a lot out of him. School has really changed that for the better. He has matured so much this year and is a lot more independent. He truly has become a big boy this year.

Piperisms

Piper did the cutest thing the other night. At night when I put her to bed we usually read a few books then I rock her for a few minutes then put her in her crib. Usually when I rock her the light is off and lately we've been playing music from her little dog stuffed animal she got for Christmas. It's pretty cool because it will play 2, 5 or 10 minutes of bedtime music then turn off. (Thanks Dad and Cara!) Anyway, as I was rocking her listening to music she was pointing at varies parts on my face and saying what they were. It's something she does a lot. I think mostly to make sure she keeps herself awake to avoid sleep at all costs. This particular night when she got to my nose instead of saying "nose" she squeezed it a few times and said "beep beep". Of course I started laughing which made her laugh and then she proceeded to do it as much as she could even as I was lifting her down into her crib. I have no idea where she got that from but it was about the funniest thing I've seen in a while. Man that girl can make me smile.

Rhett and Piper

This isn't the greatest quality picture since it was taken on Russ's phone but I just love it. Piper will do anything to be with Rhett. And if Rhett is kind enough to take interest in her, then jackpot. She could stroll down the isles of Target like this all day.

Evening Routine

Piper and I are getting into a pretty nice evening routine. Since it's starting to get colder at night I've started blow drying Piper's hair after her bath so she doesn't go to bed with wet hair. Please don't get me wrong thinking I'm one of those people. You know who I'm talking about. Those overly fussy moms who tend and tend until there is nothing left to tend. I am not one of those. To be honest I just really enjoy our routine.

Okay, so here's how it goes down. Piper sits on the counter in Russ and I's bathroom, we turn on I'm Yours by Jason Mraz and Piper rifles through everything on our counter while I blow dry her hair. She makes a huge mess and I think she's chipped some glass jars a few times but we both have a blast.

She is such a girl.

Big Cedar 2009

I don't really have it in me right now to go into a lot of detail but wanted to share some pictures. We went to Big Cedar this weekend with all of Russ's family. This was our third year getting together like this. It was really fun. Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the weekend.

The Pioneer Woman

Ever since Terra posted a recipe that she made from The Pioneer Woman's website months ago I've been hooked. Addicted some might say. Some being Russ. I'm not sure what it is exactly. It might be the love story behind her and her husband's marriage. It might be her wittiness that cracks me up all the time. It might be the awesome giveaways that I can only dream about winning. Or it might be the recipes I hope to make when I feel like I can actually get in the kitchen again and cook. Whatever it is I love her. She recently came out with a new cookbook. I was so excited when I heard she was doing one because first of all I love her and second of all I have an addiction for collecting cookbooks. (You can see the trend with addictions. Don't get me started on Diet Coke.)

Along with her cookbook coming out she was going to be doing a Book Trip to promote it. And since she's from the Midwest I was lucky enough to be living in the fine City of Kansas where she was going to be making a stop. At first she was only going to be here on a Monday in the middle of the day. Although, that really wasn't going to deter me from seeing her. Luckily she added an evening event that same day. I talked Deb into coming with me and we headed to the Plaza this past Monday for her book signing. It wasn't just a book signing. They had a little question and answer session with her so you got to actually see her personality a little bit. Not just read it. It was really cool. Deb and I got there right when the doors opened (which was an hour and a half before she was getting there) so we got a good seat in the second row. It was fun to just hang out for a little while and chat without any kids. We're observers too so we did a lot of people watching and made fun of the crazy blogger fans. (I won't mention that I could arguable be a part of the group. Russ would tell you that I am.) Before she came out her husband, Marlboro Man, hauled some stuff onto the stage followed by their two boys and you would have thought Brad Pitt just walked in the way some people reacted.

When she came out she was everything she portrays on her website. Very down to earth, funny, pretty and even a little nervous. After the question and answer part everyone lined up according to ticket numbers to have her sign their cookbook and get a picture with her if you wanted. We had ticket numbers 264 and 265 and they went in groups of 50 so it took a while for us to get through. But I can't complain because I think there were at least 500 people there. I was a little nervous when I had to actually go to go meet her. I didn't know what to say and small talk really isn't my forte. Russ told me to just tell her that I'm one of her blog stalkers and that I live my life through her website. Ha Ha. Very funny. I didn't say that. I said something stupid like, "Are you sick of signing books yet?". She said no, that this was the fun part for her. She really does seem like a cool person. Overall, it was a great night. (Minus Deb and I almost getting hijacked in the parking lot afterwards. Okay so maybe it wasn't that serious but the situation Deb and I made up in our heads was. But that's another story.)

Here is my picture to prove that I really did get to meet the infamous Pioneer Woman.