Beautiful Characteristics {Fav Foto Friday}

Those eyes! So full of emotion!
I love looking into those dark marbles!

Speaking of eyes...
Wow.
Blue/Gray beauties!

One of my favorite pictures ever!
I love seeing his sensitive side develop -
with a little push help from sister!

Reading to his baby doll.
He also laid her down, covered her up, & kissed her goodnight.
{love!}

This girl is killing me with how beautiful she is!
She makes friends everywhere we go, with ease.
Love her confidence!

Teaching!

Xandra announced the other day that she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. I was blown away. I think that would be so awesome. I think she'd be very good at it... at least by her doll-teaching standards. :) 

(She's got some cookie remnants on her mouth...)

She is very focused when she is "teaching" her dolls. She has all the patience in the world. And she is very caring. It makes me so proud of her. As I spy on listen to her, I hear all the phrases that she's learned from her incredible teachers at pre-K. I snuck in tonight & caught a few pics of her before she noticed. 


What makes me even happier about this, is knowing what an incredible big sister she will be. I have no delusions that there will be plenty of sibling rivalry. Our quiet little home will soon become very chaotic. :) As the oldest of five kids myself (I'm older by a range of 7-12 years to the rest of my brothers & sister), I know what it will be like for her to be a big sister. I hope I'll be able to help her, but I don't think I'll be needed a whole lot! She's got a good head on her shoulders. She's made this parenting thing way too easy! Most of the time, she takes care of me! ;) I love that girl of mine!

Snow Day, Round 2

As if the ice storm wasn't bad enough yesterday... Overnight we had wind gusts @ 50 mph. It did dry up the ice, but now we've got snow falling. And tonight, they're calling for more sleet, freezing rain, and wind. Grrr!! I *really* do not like cold weather!

So, we've been stuck at home again today. I know it's only been 2 days, but I think we're all going stir-crazy. I decided to move all of Xandra's B*arbie's to the Rec Room at the top of our stairs. We've never used that room as a "Rec Room." We threw a cute love seat & chair up there a few years ago. We used to have a tv in there, but moved it out when Xandra was born (anything to keep the baby asleep!). So, it became a pass-through area.

Some may recall a few posts ago, when I posted the picture of B*arbie madness in our front room. Well, now it's moved upstairs:

As much as I don't like this, I think it's still better than before when everything was in our "entertaining" area. So, now our front room looks like this:

I really wanted all of the toys to be moved upstairs- that was my original plan. But I neglected to fully realize just how many toys Xandra has, and just how large some of them are (see kitchen set). I know a lot of families tend to put the kids' toys in the kids' rooms. I'm not that person. We still use Xandra's room as her "calming down" area when she has a tantrum. So, I don't want her to have a bunch of toys to play with while she's contemplating what she's done wrong. We may need to rework some things when Milo comes home- we may even need to get rid of some toys (trust me, I've already been contemplating that one for a while!). We'll see how things go with our new setup for now.

Tidal Wave of Barbies

This is how our house looks on a daily basis... I'm not proud of it. Granted, it's been worse, but this is pretty bad. Xandra got 13 new barbies for Christmas. That's added to the however many she had before. What is not shown is the storage container of barbies & accessories, plus the 2nd barbie mansion, & the 2 barbie cars.

I never liked barbies when I was growing up. I don't get this obsession. I much would have rather had a soft stuffed animal or a baby doll. But my girl is totally into them, so we indulge. And now we're paying the price. I've attempted to corral them with a little plastic drawer container + the storage bin. But, when Xandra starts playing, they all come out, and they all end up on the floor & her especially favorite spot - the middle of the walkway.

What I'm worried about the most is what will happen when Milo gets home & he starts to amass some other type of toy that gets mixed in with this already large mess. I enjoy having Xandra in an area close by to us when she's playing (i.e. on the main floor). The drawback is that our house's floor plan is really open - it's what drew me to the house in the first place. Now I regret it. I have no space to just shut off the toys. And with the open layout, this is often the first thing our guests see when they walk in the front door. There is really no storage that can hold all of this, so we improvise. I'm seriously thinking about calling in an interior decorator or professional organizer to help with this, because I'm at a loss....

Double-Meaning

Xandra posed with her baby dolls

Miss Xandra came home from school today & started setting up her baby dolls (see above for her intricate display). She began telling me about each doll - their name (99% are named "baby"), and what they like. When she came to the one in the red dress, she announced that it was "A's baby." I had been only half-listening until I heard A's name- that caught my attention. A is a little boy in Xandra's class whom she adores. She adores him so much, she has been separated from him before because she can't keep her hands off of him. So, back to the story - she has designated this one doll as his baby. While I know she has no idea the double-meaning to that phrase, it still took me off guard. Oh lordy, what am I ever going to do when she gets to be a teenager??!! AHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Xandra's upset with mommy for making her get her pj's on (what an awful mommy!)

X being silly after I told her she could stay up a little later