The Only Thing That Separates Us From The Animals Is Our Ability to Accesorize.

This is how we left the house today to pick up Greyson - not one, not two but three purses (including cell phone and keys of course). Oy vey the teenage years are going to be hell.

Oh and mad props to the first person who gives me the 80's chickflick movie that my title quote comes from!! (It's one of my favorites)

Out for a spring morning stroll

Big Girl, Big Bed...

After some minor drama with the delivery company (which is for another time) Quinn's big girl bed arrived! She was so happy - it was like Christmas around here. She sat very patiently and watched the delivery man put it together and kept clapping and laughing and doing a dance as she sang "I've got my big girl bed." We of course spent all afternoon playing in it and she went right to sleep tonight in it. Here are a couple of pics of the bed and the very happy little girl.

End of An Era

If you ask either Raif or I if we want to have more children you will receive a resounding "No" from both of us (though Raif's would be a bit stronger and more heartfelt). We are quite happy with the size of our family - we fit nicely at our small 4 person kitchen table, although we don't have one, we could all fit into a sedan comfortably and Raif and I have gotten pretty good with our man to man defense in relation to our kids (more kids requires that we retool to play a zone). Many of my friends are either pregnant or gearing up to become again and I don't envy the midnight feedings and the haze of exhaustion that haunted me through the first four months of both my children's lives. I am enjoying my children more than ever - both verbal and both (almost) potty trained. I love being able to have conversations with them and love developing a relationship with them that encompasses more than a desire to be fed and changed.

With that being said, I sit here with a suprisingly heavy heart as I look toward tomorrow. For tomorrow Quinn's big girl bed is being delivered and with that we will be saying goodbye to cribs in the house. But for me it is more than that - it will be saying good-bye to the last bastion of babydom in our lives and that is making me a bit hollow inside.

Now don't get me wrong - actual 'babies' left our house a long time ago. Anyone who has spent time with Quinn knows that she went from baby to preschooler (completely skipping toddlerdom) in a matter of months. At 12 months she was crawling and babbling and by 15 months she was walking and using full sentences. But she still slept in a crib and therefore I could still consider her my baby. Tomorrow that is going to change and my baby girl is going to magically transform into my little girl. She, of course, is thrilled. Her desire to grow up almost equals my desire to keep her a baby.

I know that I don't want another baby but I just wish I could hold on to the one I have a little longer. While I won't miss the 2AM feedings, I will miss that quiet moment of peace we had together in the middle of the night after tummies were full and the snuggles that only babies give best. I will miss that content sigh they make as they fall asleep on your chest knowing that they are safe in your arms. I guess the next time I will get to experience that will be with my grandchildren and that seems like such a long time away though considering how fast Greyson and Quinn are growing it might not be as long as I think.

OD'ing on the Green

As everyone knows yesterday was St. Patrick's Day and of course the Erims got into the spirit. We started out the day with green shamrock pancakes and of course sported our new green shirts (I can't imagine who bought them for the kids). We decorated the house with shamrocks and for dinner we had green milk and flank steak with chimichurri sauce (a parsley and olive oil based sauce which is of course green) followed by the traditional holiday cupcake. (It appears I can only think of festive things to do that have to do with food). We also discovered a new taste sensation that is sure to sweep the nation. Greyson thoroughly enjoyed dipping his cupcake into the chimichurri sauce...mmmm devils food and parsley and olive oil - delish! Hope everyone enjoyed their St. Patricks Day.
Oh - if anyone has any ideas of how to keep my daughter from taking every barette out of her hair that I put in please let me know. I am getting tired of pictures where all you can see is her hair.

Sun Bread

My friend Cindy recommended a great book to us called Sun Bread. The premise of the story is about a small town baker who tries to bring some sunshine into her gloomy, wintry town by making a sun out of bread. I got it for the kids at the beginning of the week and they love it - it is in our read all the time category. It is also quite timely since it has been rainy and dreary here ever since we got the book. So yesterday was another miserably rainy day so we decided to make our very own Sun Bread. The kids had a great time.

They mixed the ingredients all by themselves and
had the best time kneading the dough and making the sun.
Here is our finished product. We had delicious sun bread with our dinner last night and they were so proud that they made their very own contribution to our meal. Thanks Cindy for recommending the book.

Erim Family Day

Yesterday, we once again headed to the theatre. I didn't realize when I bought these tickets a couple of months ago that the plays would be so close together. This time we went to the Nashville Children's Theatre production of Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. It was a really great show and was actually an amalgam of several Lilly stories. I think the kids enjoyed this one a lot more than the Gruffalo. Greyson sat in his chair the whole time and laughed at the silly mice on stage. Quinn was fascinated by Julius, Lilly's baby brother, and was quite dismayed anytime he wasn't in a scene.

We saw the 10AM production and so afterwards we all went out to lunch together. Since it was the kids day we asked them what they wanted to eat. Being true children of both of us - their reply: Steak!! So we went on an adventure to find an open steakhouse for lunch - finally managing to find the third one we tried open. After an artery clogging Kansas City strip the kids then kept the nutritious afternoon up by stopping at Maggie Moo's for ice cream. It was a really great day and I think everyone enjoyed it.

This time I did manage to remember my camera - now as for the subjects I couldn't control what they did....