Listen to this little lady talk!

Last week, she pointed to a big red ball and says, “ball.” I was shocked beyond measure! I do not spend nearly the same amount of quality time with Lise as I did with Ava. I honestly didn’t think Lise would talk until she was 2. But she obviously has her Daddy’s big ‘ol brain because she manages to pick up words all on her own.

It seems that she is learning a new word everyday!

(it took a lot of tries to get her talking on video, but I finally did it while she was on a changing table in the ladies room!

IT’S that wonderful time of year when Farley gets shaved. I love it when she gets shaved. Less hair in our bed. Less hair on the floor. Less hair in Annalise’s mouth. And the best part for Farley is less hair = more belly rubs!

Ava is very good at “training” Farley. Ava gets her to sit, lie down, and roll over!

I’m sure many of you are familiar with the children’s book author Laura Joffe Numeroff. She wrote the books pictured above and many others in this series. Anyway, I know nothing about this woman, but I would bet money that she must’ve had a toddler or a preschooler at some point in her life. I am certain that this is where the inspiration for these books came from! If you haven’t read them they begin with a child offering a tasty treat to an animal. The animal then comes in the house. Eating the treat gives the animal an idea, which sparks another idea, which breeds into another idea, which snowballs into another idea…. until the entire house looks like a tornado ripped through it and the child is exhausted. These stories are about Ava. She is the animal, I am the child. And this is my every day.

My every.

single.

day.

Here’s just one example from this morning:

And do you think I’ll get to go clean the tub? No. Because she’ll ask me to read her a story!

I am trying to get a handle on this house cleaning thing. Yesterday when Nancy took the girls, did I catch up on cleaning?

No way! Instead, I headed to the library and checked out this book:

It’s teaching me to love the messes because of all the fun that just took place. And that’s what I’ll keep telling myself when I finally get the chance to clean the tub.

It’s the beginning of Thanksgiving vacation and nothing could have set the mood better than snow!