Isabella's getting married....with clean teeth!

Last week Isabella insisted (and boy do I mean insisted) that she is getting married. "Right now!" she screamed several times one morning. It all started when she put on my engagement ring and wedding ring while I was in the shower. I always take them off to shower and then put them right back on after my shower. Well, this particular morning Isabella woke up and came to my room to dig through my jewelry box while I showered. No "good morning, Mom" or "hey there." She just went straight to the jewelry. Such a female! Anyway, Matt luckily discovered her new jewelry very quickly and took it from her. He explained to her that you only get those pieces when you get married. So she very logically insisted that she was getting married. I told her that when she was a lady she could get married. Well, according to her, she is already a lady. I explained that she was only 3 years old, and she told me that she was in fact not three years old but a lady. Gotta love that.

At least if she does elope soon, she will be showing her pearly whites in her wedding pictures! Isabella went to the dentist for the first time last week. She did awesome. She was so excited about going because she was ready to get her heart necklace like Abby got at her last visit. I don't think she gave a moment's thought to what the dentist's visit would be like. She was on a mission to get her very own heart necklace. I talked up the visit alot that week to prepare her for the cleaning. She was fine until we were called back to the room. A little boy about Abby's age was screaming hysterically. He was terrified. Well, that sent Isabella into fear. She grabbed my leg and wouldn't let go. So Mommy had to do some serious distraction duty as we tried to entertain her with everything they had on hand. We moved down a few chairs to separate ourselves, and thankfully he calmed down soon. She got to choose her own flavor of flouride. She chose bubble gum although she's never had bubble gum anything before. She also picked an Ariel toothbrush which she now uses every day. We promptly got rid of that babyish Little Einsteins toothbrush! Dr. Musgrove wanted her to also switch to the "spit" kind of toothpaste rather than the toddler kind that you don't have to spit out. She did so with great enthusiasm because guess who uses "spit" toothpaste? You've got it. Abby! Isabella did great with spitting. She's a natural!

And about that heart necklace. She grabbed a green alligator out of their toy chest instead of a necklace. I asked her if she really wanted an alligator since she'd been looking forward to this heart necklace for weeks. She then said, "Open the wrapper. I want to eat my alligator." She thought that the alligator was alligator candy (kind of like those gummy worms....thanks, Pawpaw Darrell and BB). So then she put it back after I explained two or three times that it was indeed NOT candy. Then she grabbed a snake. I thought....this is weird. When Dr. Musgrove shut the door, she asked him to open her candy snake. So round three of the treasure chest began. We did end up leaving with a heart necklace as originally planned, and she didn't try to eat it. Thank goodness! Isabella did go home with such enthusiasm as she showed Daddy her "beautiful teeth" and her bag full of dental goodies.

Ali Kate's a Smart Kiddo

Tonight I got the privilege of taking Ali Kate to Kindermusik in lieu of Isabella (who is currently at her Pawpaw Darrell's house). Ali Kate had a tremendously great time. She looked as if she had been in the class all semester. She participated in every activity to the best of her ability, and she followed Ms. Courtney's cues during class. She loved the dancing and movement, but her very favorite was the instrument time. She loved to shake her maracas with wild abandon, and she beat the egg shakers with great enthusiasm. This was her very first mommy and me type class, and we had a blast together. I think we may have to sign up for a class this fall on a weekend morning or while the girls are at preschool. It was awesome to have this hour with just Ali Kate.

Ali Kate's vocabulary is growing quickly too... Abby is constantly teaching her new words every day. She's begun to string words together and putting together 3-4 word phrases like "Move it, Abby" and "Wanna a sticka" (this last one she said at the end of class tonight). She's putting her thoughts into cohesive units, and it's incredible to watch her mind work. Ali Kate is also a very compliant child at this point in her life. That may totally change soon, but she loves to obey and please me every day. She follows simple commands such as "bring me your cup" or "get into your car seat." I'm amazed at how she so compliantly does these things. It was not that way with her big sisters!

Anyway, I wanted to remember how much fun we had tonight. I'm impressed with how my big girl is growing and learning every day!

A Breath of Fresh Air

I only have a few minutes left in me...but I am stopping to jot down just a bit. We've been in our new house for six days now, and we've had our new baby boy for seven weeks now. Life has literally flown by in the Stine household since Grant's big arrival on May 16th! I will definitely journal about his grand appearance one day when I can really record all the details of that special day. Grant Dawson Stine arrived at 1:01 p.m. on May 16, 2008 weighing in at 9 lb. 4 oz. and measuring 21 inches long. Yes, a big boy indeed. He came into the world trying out his lungs, and they definitely worked! He still tries them out pretty frequently, especially during the night! I will definitely post more about his birth in the coming weeks. For now, let it suffice to say that I absolutely love my baby boy with all of my heart. He has won over my heart, and he did it instantly. I love to cuddle with him in my arms, and I could just eat him up! He's too adorable for words! He's really alert these days, and he just stares into your eyes with those huge blue baby eyes. His long, tiny fingers wrap around mine in the sweetest way you can imagine. He prefers his tummy to lying on his back which makes me a nervous wreck considering my children have always slept on their backs. We flip him once he gets good and asleep. Speaking of sleep, that's what I need to be doing right now. I took a few minutes to scour the internet looking for bedding and nursery ideas....and I thought I'd write a bit.

Good night!