Christmastime is Here....

Oh, can't you just here the Peanuts singing?? Love that song....anyway.....

With Thanksgiving still a week away, I thought I would post some pics of Frass trick-or-treating and also making cookies with Papi. Finally, with snow flying, we put up our Christmas tree. Enjoy and Happy Turkey Day.

Happy 3rd Birthday Frassy!

Insert cliche here:

...Where does the time go....
...She's gotten so big...
...She's not a baby anymore...

There are many suitable phrases to describe your only child turning three, and let me assure you-they're all true.

Ann Elizabeth is blossoming before my eyes. Every day there is a new (sometimes ugly) addition to her burgeoning personality. I love every minute. Monday, October 20th was her birthday and I thought we'd celebrate with her first "real" haircut.

The child is a diva. She posed in the mirror and loved the salon chair. Much better than the screaming ball of terror I thought I would have to wrestle into submission.

We ended the week with an improptu photo session courtesy of Aunt Ann. I will let her help me post those so that I may do them adequate justice-they are truly gorgeous.

So, I will leave you with some salon photos and a promise for more!

Photogenic

I have failed Frassy as a mother. When I was little, I had perfected the "pose". Every picture my family has of me from ages 2-6 show me with my head coyly cocked onto one shoulder smiling as big as I could with various arrangements and numbers of teeth. I mean it. EVERY picture.

My child, on the other hand, has not yet perfected the pose. She moves too quickly. She says "cheese" and smiles while staring at her feet instead of the camera. It has been impossible for me to take pictures of her anymore. Three year old pictures at a studio should be a blast...NOT. Here are some examples of what pics look like at our house.

Zootastic Frass...

Okay, not really. The first hour was great. Frassy darting here and there between animals, marvelling at the humanoid qualities of the orangutan, and then it was over. The heat and humidity quickly melted my charming, exuberant Frass into a puddle of angst and pitiful whining.

"I NOOO get in the stroller!!!"

"GJ carry me!!!"

"Papi, Papi! Up! Pleeeeeeaaaseeee!"

Oy.

My only moment of peace came after I had to *gasp* spank her to get her into the stroller and Mom and Dad wheeled her off to find some "gi-rabbes" as my "F's are B's" Frassy says. Aunt Ann and I snuck off the other direction to check out the Meerkat colony-Aunt Ann's favorite animal ever. Though our visit with the little rodents lasted about 90 seconds, it was quite the relief to have a moment away from the Frassy I had just demoralized.

The giraffe stick-horse and a tube of tiny resin zoo animals from the money pit, um, I mean gift shop at the exit quickly cured all ills. Frassy proudly held her tube and watched Mary Poppins (a new fave) all the way back to Lexington.

Everyone else slept.


(For a far more philosophical glance at our day at the zoo, whip over to Aunt Ann's blog at www.annbransom.blogspot.com )

Testing. Testing.

Well, Mommy is persona non grata. David came home late Friday night and since he greeted Frassy Saturday morning, she has been an absolute tyrant. Mommy ran a pretty tight ship while Daddy was gone-rules followed, punishments doled out appropriately, bed time observed. However, since David has been home, she has sensed a disturbance in the force. She is testing every boundary and carefully calculating each weakness, looking for a chink in the armor of my iron-clad parenting. I am not slayed by her cuteness. Her baby blues and sweet looks effect me not.

David, on the other hand, is completely Frassy-whipped. I came home from dinner with friends tonight expecting to find my freshly-washed, tooth-brushed, Bible-read child neatly tucked away into her crib. Instead, this is what I find...a greasy-haired, pearl-clad child loving on her weak-willed father WELL PAST BEDTIME!! Alas, my ship is sunk....

Doomsday is upon us...

No Daddy. Now no GJ and Papi. They leave Wednesday for Colorado Springs. Ugh. Frassy will have to be picked up by a very gracious Aunt Peggy this week. Poor Peggy. She is going to have a VERY cranky Frass on her hands. She has been so out of sorts with Daddy gone. Thank goodness she'll get a full-on "Daddy fix" this weekend.

A Glimpse of the Garden...

Beautiful cukes, pathetic onions, and bolting lettuce bed NOT featured... ;)