POSITIVE INTEGERS

There are three kinds of people: those who can count and those who can't.

Ha.

We're doing a lot of counting in our house these days. Counting the days until we become a family of four, counting the stairs as we climb them every morning and night, counting the animals in our storybooks, counting the numbers on the scale as it groans under Momma's increasing weight...

Below are some recent videos of Miss Priss showing off her numerical skills.
Yes, you heard her correctly: she does leave out the number six.

Every.   Single.   Time.

She just refuses to say it.  It might be a pronunciation thing, or it may be that she just doesn't like the number. But "six" is never in her calculations. 

If we read a book that has a picture of seven chickens, all of a sudden there are eight chickens because she skips six and goes straight to the number "seh-BUN."

Forget ten monkeys, there are always eleven - simply because six doesn't exist in her world.

Why is six afraid of seven?
Because seven eight nine!!
( Seven ate nine. Get it? Durrrhhh.)

And last, but not least, below is a recent video of the bouncing baby boy in Momma's tummy. Luckily, his activity level isn't to the point of being very painful yet. 

However, he's pretty much this active every evening. (Which is why you should NEVER ask a pregnant lady if she's able to get any restful sleep. The response will always be "No!")

I can only imagine the increasing force that will be behind these punches and kicks in the next few weeks. At one point, while pregnant with Evie, I put an empty dinner plate on my stomach and she was able to kick it off. 

Oh, the things pregnant gals do to amuse themselves.



Yes, I realize the camera angle makes my stomach look incredibly large compared to my chicken legs.  Oh, well. Everything about me is disproportional right now.

By the way, do you know the first derivative of a cow?
Prime Rib!

  

What happens when a triangle gets into an accident?
It becomes a "WRECK TANGLE!"

 

How can you tell that a mathematician is extroverted?
When talking to you, he looks at your shoes instead of at his!
 

Evie and Baby Boy are doomed. 

Both of their parents went to an engineering school.

(Which means I now have to throw a science joke in just for good measure!)

Platinum and Silver are sitting in a bar. 

Gold walks in and Platinum says, "AU, get out of here!"

.
.
.
.
.

Do I hear crickets chirping?

BOTTOMLESS FUN

The record to beat is four.   Four times in one day.

That's the total number of times Evie has gone potty consistently in a single day.  Considering she goes through only about 5 diapers per day, that's pretty good! We're getting there.

In the meantime, there's a lot of pants-less partying going on in our house. 

Especially on weekends.  Just warning you... ya know, in case you drop by our house and are surprised by the nekkid dance party that is usually commencing in our kitchen:

Showing some serious white-girl overbite during her dance marathon.
She gets that from her dad, I swear.

And who could forget the pants-less horse grooming?

She's conscientious enough to keep potty paper on hand at all times.

"Evie, do you need to go potty?"
"Lemme check..."
Classic. She'll just love me for posting this pic... one day.

No, we aren't teaching our child to be the next pants-less Hollywood celebrity.
She (usually) knows she needs to be wearing clothes to leave the house.

Sassy britches.
22 months going on 22 years!

BALANCING THE BANGS

We're in the process of letting Evie's bangs grow out. 

Why? I have no idea, just seemed like a good idea. Plus, her Dadda doesn't really like her bangs, so he suggested we let them grow out.

So far, Evie has handled it like a trooper. But, it's a delicate procedure for us parents - trying to keep the frontal hair daggers from attacking her eyes, while also keeping the rear mullet growth in check without the temptation of just snipping the bangs in front at the same time. 

Not that there is anything wrong with a good mullet, ya know.

Gabba Gabba came to visit last Friday evening, which allowed Momma and Dadda a dinner out to celebrate Momma's birthday. We lasted a pitiful 2.5 hours out. Stuffed our stomachs full of delicious food, discussed name options for the Little Lion Man (narrowed the list down from 250 to about 20 options),  and came home in time to kiss Evie goodnight and crawl in bed ourselves. Ahhh... parenthood.

While we were out, Gabba and Evie came up with a terrific hairdo to keep the bangs in check:

Ya like it?!

What? Too much color for ya?

How many of these things are up there?

Sadly, Evie can't wear these hair clips to school, since some of the younger kiddos in her class have a tendency to try to snack on them.

But that's okay, because she's spending more and more time "visiting" the older kids in the next classroom. Her teacher thinks she's ready for the move-up to the next class, which means...... more potty practice! 

I come bearing gifts.

Not much, but it's the best I could do!


We're so very proud.

EVIE'S EARLY BREAKFAST SOIREE

What: A Breakfast Soiree

Where: The Yankee & Peach household

When: Early Morning, Sunday, the 7th of August
(sorry you missed it, hopefully you slept in instead!)
Menu:

Medley of Fruits & Yogurts

Whole Wheat Waffles
Liquid Libations

Welcome to my breakfast soiree!

Today, we will analyze optional dining techniques and maneuvers.

What, the inclined head doesn't work for your digestion?

Well, then...
we'll move on to the wine pairings.

Wait! Wait! Wine, you say?!

Let me explain!! You see, Dadda...

Momma has only given me ONE glass this morning.

You should really be worried when she gives me FOUR to start the day.

Now, let's examine proper technique for holding a wine glass.
I realize this position is incorrect, as you should never hold the glass by its bowl, only by its stem since the heat of your hand will quickly warm the liquid.

This technique is acceptable - especially if you are taking the time to inhale the aroma.  Some tasters claim that you can get more aroma by holding your nose an inch or so above the glass after swirling. They think you catch more than you would if you put your nose all the way into the glass. Try both ways to see what works for you.
I prefer to stick my nose in as close as possible.

Did you know that 80% of our sense of taste is actually in our nose? The aromas can be quite different depending on how far into the glass your nose goes. What do you smell?
Keep in mind, there is no proper sniffing technique.

But I will warn you, wine tasting at an early hour can result in artwork being done in the nude shortly after.

Don't look at me.
I just live here and have to put up with this stuff.

*Wine = Minute Maid Fruit Punch

FABULOUS FRIDAY!

Whew. It's been a pretty long week for us here at the Y&P house, but I'm sure we're not the only ones who are ready for the weekend to come.

Time to shed the work clothes and put on the play clothes for a while!

I can see the weekend from here - it's just around the corner!

 

A few things on our weekend list of 'to-do'...

-Homemade chocolate chip cookies with my little sous chef (or would that be "baker's apprentice?")
(Got the ingredients, just been procrastinating in making them!)

-Catch some of the final episodes of Shark Week on TV.
(you know it's awesome. as long as you're not at the beach while watching.)
-Birthday party for our little buddy Owen, who's turning 3!
(Evie has pointed out his invitation posted on the fridge every day since we received it)
-Massive amount of weeding in the flower beds and garden
(fingers crossed for no heat advisories so pregnant momma doesn't pass out? Dadda is in charge of all the grass mowing, but as he says "I don't do weeds. I don't know what to pull. It's all green to me." I've added a few new plants to our flower garden that he may not recognize, so he's got a good point... if I want my new plantings to survive!)
-Clean the chicken coop and add new bedding and pine chips(Evie is a big help. She plays in the chicken run and feeds the ladies entirely too many snacks while Momma cleans it out.)
-Spread the old bedding into the flower beds/garden
(The tomato plants LOVE the chicken coop remnants... hello, natural nitrogen fertilizer!)
-Fix up my old art easel that Gabba Gabba gave me for Evie to use
(Dadda will cut a few small pieces of wood for me to add for shelving and I'll probably put a fresh coat of paint on the whole thing)

-Homemade ice cream with Miss Priss
(I have a feeling there will be strawberries involved.)

-Possibly paint our front door. (It's in need of help and I've been wanting to paint it since we moved in four years ago. Hmmm... this may have to wait till we have cooler weather.)

-Hit the local water park. (Because it's too dang hot not to!)

-Keep the door to the office closed till next week. (Not even going to think about organizing that mayhem right now.)

Happy Friday, y'all!

THE CALLAWAY KIDS - Then & Now

Evie's school was closed Friday for a teacher work day, so we decided to hit the road for a mini-vacation.  Dadda had some Marriott points to burn, so we booked a few nights at The Lodge & Spa at Callaway Gardens.

Some of you may remember Callaway Gardens was the scene of the crime: we held our wedding reception at the beautiful Sibley Center! Most of our wedding party and guests stayed on the Callaway property and the Lodge & Spa hosted us on our wedding night.

Although Callaway is just a quick drive to Momma's parents house - we thought staying at the resort would be fun.  With a toddler, it always seems your "day out" is cut short when you try to figure out where nap-time will fit into the schedule. This usually means we stop what we're doing and have to leave to find a bed or quiet place for Evie to zonk out for an hour or two. Not this time - we had a room to go back to, so we could quickly pick back up with the fun when nap time was over!

We started our Callaway vacation  by visiting the Sibley Center - which, sadly, Dadda and I haven't been back to together since our wedding reception. (I've visited a few times, but Dadda hasn't made the trip with me.)

"This one-of-a-kind garden/greenhouse encompasses five acres of native and exotic plants within its tropical conservatory, sub-Mediterranean Conservatory, sculpture garden, fern grotto, main conservatory, 22- foot waterfall and outdoor garden. Unlike most building projects, the principal architect for the Sibley Horticultural Center was a landscape architect.  The late Robert Marvin of Walterboro, South Carolina, was known for his pioneering environmental design concepts that provided maximum energy conservation." 

The gardens set up for our reception in 2007.

 

Momma's Cake & Dadda's Cake.
(at the time, better known as the Bride & Groom!)
Wish they were around for us to nibble on for this recent visit!

Who knew that exactly two years from the day
this was taken we'd be a family of THREE?!
Yup, Evie was born on our second wedding anniversary!

Fast forward almost four years....

Come on, Dadda. I saved you a spot on the bench!

Our little lady checking out some of the scenery.

Inspecting the wildlife..

... and lizards!

Following Dadda to the waterfall

Woah! This thing is cool!

Simply fascinated... And really wanting to jump in.
(Momma was really glad that big ol' noggin of hers can't fit through the railing.)

I gotta call somebody and tell them about this thing!
Waterfalls are awesome!

Just a few feet from the waterfall is an elevated platform where Momma and Dadda shared their first dance as a married couple...
 

Of course, you say the word "dance" to Evie
and she has to show you how she can shake her booty.

I'll just sit here and watch you guys dance now!

She took one last peek at the waterfall....

 

And then it was off to the races down the garden walkways... 

Until she saw the goldfish...
that she found could feed all by herself!

Sooooo cool, Dadda!

Here, fishy fishy fishy.

Contemplating life...  and goldfish.

And then more dancing!

After the Sibley Center, we grabbed lunch and checked out the Lodge's pool... where we discovered our little lady enjoys pina coladas, but loves strawberry daiquiris even more.

We went back to the room for a quick dry-off before nap time, but our exhibitionist had other plans..

Hmmm.. checking out the goods in the mini bar and fridge.

 

What's out here?

Giving other Callaway guests a free show! 
HELLO, world!

We also hit Callaway's Robin Lake and their beach activities for a few hours with Uncle Battle, but Momma didn't bring her camera, so no beach pics. (whoops)

However, the camera was on hand at the pool the next day when we had Gabba and Grandaddy meet us at the Lodge.
 

Practicing her jumping skills.

ONE!

TWO!

THREE!

Dadda and Grandaddy parked under the shade of the poolside bar -
and supplied Evie with an endless supply of her new addiction: strawberry daiquiris!

You wouldn't know the daiquiris were alcohol- free, since our little lady started stripping off her swimsuit after just a few sips. Watch out!
(We really do have an exhibitionist.)

After getting all dried off,
we decided to head out to dinner...

But stopped in for a quick round of
shopping at Chanticleer in Pine Mountain...
where we met a nice new friend.

Momma, I don't think he speaks my language.

All in all, we had a fun - albiet too short- vacation.

And even though we stayed at the Lodge & Spa... sadly, Momma didn't make it to the spa for any treatments (a prenatal massage is on my list of things-to-do before baby boy gets here!).  But we were just too busy having fun to slow down for stuff like that.

I'm thinking next time, we'll have to rent the Ramblin Wreck to drive around in... just for old times sake.  

Adios, kiddos!