All good things must come to an end.

I am officially declaring Halloween over at the Lashley house. After three trick-or-treating events before the 31st, things are getting out of hand. Mia is constantly sorting and resorting her candy all the while coming up with creative ways to eat more than her daily allotted amount ("Mommy, come and pick out your favorite piece and then we can share it!"), Andy ate an entire Nerds Rope at 1:00 this morning, and unfortunately my diet doesn't include the peanut M&M's that I ate for breakfast. So, when the porch light isn't on tomorrow night you will know why - the Lashleys are in fact home but too busy shoving fistfuls of candy into their mouths to come to the door.

Having to pick just one costume for Halloween - oh the horror!
Mia was Snow White for the church's fall festival:

She was Belle for about ten minutes before OC's trick-or-treating in the dorms (until I nixed her idea of wearing the skirt as a strapless dress and insisted she wear the complete outfit):
And finally she settled on Pocahontas:
This is her "silly pose." And yes, I sent her to Sonshine School today with no shoes because, as Mia so delicately and politely put it, POCAHONTAS DOESN'T WEAR SHOES AND I AM POCAHONTAS!!!!!!!!!!!

Quote of the day

In the car listening to a random song on the radio: "Mommy, who sings this song? Is it God or the Beatles?" I didn't know who sang the song but I knew it wasn't John, Paul, George, Ringo or God.

Congratulations Andy, your work as a parent is now complete.

Eight is Great

Well, the unthinkable has happened. Andy has managed to stay married to me eight years and he only has minimal regrets. To celebrate the fact that we haven't killed each other (especially the past two months) we went to The Melting Pot and paid an exuberant amount of money to cook our own food. I don't cook at home so he has to take me to a nice restaurant to do it. It was actually a lot of fun and we even got to have adult conversation with Jesse and Ashley - just like old times. (This is the face Andy makes every time I cook).


I will spare you all the sappy reasons that I am still madly in love with this man but here are my two favorites at the moment:I may have watered down the gene pool considerably, but at least they turned out pretty cute.

2 months and a day

Poor Bode

I'm pretty sure he is miserable in these pictures. I guess I am not helping things by running to grab the camera when I catch Mia in his crib about to suffocate him instead of rescuing my little baby.

Birthday Party - Round 2

And no, the picture was not framed....

Mia's final countdown

This is a daily occurrence at our house. In true Mia fashion, it ends with her running out of the room in a huff (which is followed by the slamming of her bedroom door). You gotta love it.

I have to admit, I am more than a little concerned about what her teenage years might be like.

Thank you Uncle Lucas and Aunt Aubrie for putting this little remix together. You are the best!

One of the many reasons I am the "Undomestic Goddess"

This is how I am framing pictures these day. I simply set the picture that I want in the frame in front of the frame and pretend that it is really neatly positioned behind the glass. Now, instead of posting this blog I could actually be putting that picture in the frame but why would I want to be that productive? I have a name to live up to.

I would like to promise that it will be fixed by Mia's birthday party on Saturday, but don't hold your breath. I am becoming quite accustom to this look. As a matter of fact, I kind of like it. Whenever I get sick of my own kids, I can just look at the models in the frame and pretend they are my children and are away at a fabulous boarding school where all the parenting is done for you. Everyone wins!

A dream is a wish your heart makes...

Last night I had the most glorious dream. I was at a restaurant that didn't have a playground. My memory is kind of hazy but I think there was conversation with actual adults...and then I woke up to the lovely cries of my 7 week old who was pretty insistent on taking a trip to his own personal restaurant attached to my chest.
Some dreams just weren't meant to come true.

Birthday Party - Round 1

Mia had her family party last night. The costumes my grandmother made her were the hit of the night. Yes, I know the princess thing is completely out of control. The mass marketing beast that is Disney can not be stopped. Here we have Mia wearing a Snow White shirt and Belle panties while holding a Cinderella doll. She needs a recovery program.

I think I'm in love.

On a completely unrelated note: The doctor told us not to panic if we noticed a little bit of milk coming out of Bode's nipples (something about his body adjusting to my hormones). For the love of all things scared how could this not alarm us? I am now officially obsessed with my sons nipples. I check them constantly for any signs of moisture. So far we are in the clear. I will definitely keep you posted.

She's back and better than ever

So long stomach virus (and sleepy child).

I'm in heaven

Both children asleep at the same time (during the day no less).

And this only because Mia has a nasty stomach virus (don't even drive by our house, the germs are palpable). I must go now and enjoy about 30 more seconds of quiet bliss.