"Holy TP Batman!"

Once upon a time silence was blissful. Silence was comforting like a large, snuggly blanket. Then I had Sesame. Then she became mobile. Now silence is the most terrifying sound in my home. After 7.921 seconds of eerie, echoing halls, I begin to tremble with the terror of what - or who - I will find breaking a rule. Homer isn't sinless in this house. So today when Sesame disappeared from sight and all I heard was "thump, thump *giggle, squeal* thump" I began to tremble.

I rounded the corner of our entryway to find this sight in the half bath.

This is the most appropriate time in her short life that the pterodactyl/gremlin face has surfaced to date. Clearly, she found the toilet paper.

And clearly, she had a good time playing with the physics of said toilet paper.

This is her "Crum! I'm caught!" face. I love it even more because she has toilet paper hanging form her mouth. I'm sure we'll have some interesting poops here in the next few days...

Again - TP on the tongue.

What is she doing!? Does she really think she'll make it very far with TP in her mouth and her hand!?! I wasn't born yesterday Nells Bells!! This Momma is in control of her child and will reprimand her where is appropriate.

And clearly I did an A+ job with the parenting today. That's right - I let her climb the stairs - TP in hand and mouth - while I punished her took photos. I'm such a great Mom. :)

Oh, Good Gravy...

As if the pigtails weren't enough Sesame went and developed massive curls overnight...

Sigh. I'm sorry to break it to you Sesame but Momma won't be brushing your hair much anymore if this is what it's going to do out of the tub! OH! And in addition to the happy, springy curl-e-cues Little Miss went and tinted her hair with even MORE red. What is this?! Her hair is KILLIN' me, just KILLIN' me!

A First

A curious incident unfolded yesterday in the Golbov household.

Someone discovered that Sesame had enough hair to play with.

I'm not going to name names, but those piggy-tails ended up lookin' pretty darn cute!

Especially in this photo. I think they are the most flattering addition to the pterodactyl/gremlin face. Particularly in this seventies-esque color edit.

Oh no. I think we have a who-baby from who-ville living in our living room.

Good thing she's always happy and expressive or we'd have to kick her out. :) Happy first pigtails day sweetheart. There are many more hairstyles to come! :)

Look Out Ladybugs

Dear Ladybugs of the world,

It has come to my attention that you are in need to warmth. How do I know this you might be asking - because you are swarming my home. I saw five of you clinging to the outer screen of my window last evening whilst doing dishes. Five. I found three of you shriveled and faded in the window sill of my bed room. I even discovered two on the mauve carpet where I sit now and type.

I understand that winter is upon us. These blustery fall days are nothing compared to the negative 20 temperatures lurking behind the northern skies, but do you realize that you are risking your life when entering my house!? Let me explain:

We have a large black lab. This may seem unimportant, but I assure you, he gets very bored during the day, and snapping at little ladybugs could provide hours of entertainment. Hours of entertainment that I would be yelling GO! Homer GET 'EM! KILL Homer KILL! encouraging.

We also have mounds of unread, unused and soon-to-be recycled magazines. I hear they roll nicely. I also hear that they make a very resplendent Whack! sound. In otherwords, if you haven't read the New Yorker, you will be up close and personal soon.

Oh! I almost forgot our best defense. Nells. It's true. She may seem young, inexperienced and a tad bit ADD, but she is fearless. Why just today I saw her snatch a spotted companion of yours and plunk it into her mouth. Of course, she promptly gagged and choked just as I was arriving to clear said ladybug friend from her six pearly whites, but she cleared you from the room without question indeed.

That being said, I honestly think you should heed the phrase I have so often rhymed at you the past few days: "Ladybug, ladybug fly away home, you're sure to die here, whether by Nells or by Homes. "

The Beauty of Writing

I love writing. I love reading writing. (Something about that statement screams obvious.) Nonetheless I love reading writing that comes from the heart and reflects Jesus in tiny, daily occurrences. It just makes me smile. :)

More to come later today. I have a happy baby calling "Momma - La Na."

P.S. If anyone knows what La Na means...please send an email to lettersmoving@gmail.com. It's a new and frequent word in our house that sounds rather important when stated. Urgent even. Then again, Little Miss. Yammer Express always sounds urgent. :)

Argyle Much??

Busy week! Lots of photo-work, teething, standing & cleaning.

What? I didn't tell you someone in our house was standing now??? Oh, my bad! :) Nells is a stander--it's true! :) I don't have a photo of that for you, but I do have these:

Husband is under the impression that these photos will scar her for life. Something about gigantic bows & too much argyle??? I don't know about you but in my world too much + argyle is an oxymoron. Unless maybe someone was crazy enough to put a matching argyle hat and sweater with the above argyle tights and dress. Then MAYBE I would call the argyle police. Or just take the hat off and stick a giant bow in the poor, sweet babe's hair. :) Until I'm sick of editing and dirty dishes again! :)

There Are Days...

When our photo shoots go something like this:

And if I'm lucky I'll get one like this:

Or this:

Sometimes...

...I sneak upstairs when Nells wakes up from a nap just to sit/stand outside her door and listen to her entertain herself. :) I love the sound of her squealing to herself, her Parker bear and Blankie-boo. It's this Momma's paycheck. :)

Jazz, Bathrooms and Broken Batcaves

Wow. So once again I've had a BAZILLION ideas for mini-posts this weekend. I just can't seem to write it all down fast enough!? :) So here we have a post with several little mini-posts or blurbs. A much faster and lighter read, in my humble opinion. Moving on...

1) Husband scored major brownie points. It's true -- a surprise trip to Chicago on Friday which included the Museum of Science and Industry (they have TONS of free admission days AND we LOVE museums - yes, we're admitted geeks.), FABULOUS food at Wildfire Restaurant AND to top the night off -- DIANE REEVES!?!? HELLO!? Our seats were the on stage ones at the very edge -- best. day. ever. :) We returned home at 3 am -- but it was totally worth it! :) Love good quality time with the husband.

2) On the return trip we made a pit stop at the Lafayette Meijer. Now I heart Meijer. We do a large portion of our grocery shopping at the one in our town. Meijer is a generally nice store. Clean. Well-kept. Un-grossified. These are adjectives I usually apply to the store. But not the Lafayette one. No. I sauntered in (around 1:30 am) to the restroom. I blinked a few times thinking I must still be sleeping. The baby changing station was parallel to the wall - not the floor. If one was to strap their child in they would be changing them SIDEWAYS. Oh, but that was IF you could GET to the baby changing station by way of pillaging through the ankle high toilet paper. I think someone had a little TP confetti party in the bathroom. It reminded me of the day Homer discovered he could snag the end of the TP roll and run through our house. Nice. The mirrors were caked in some think dust substance, the toilets themselves cannot be mentioned on a family friendly blog. Suffice it to say I left fairly quickly.

C) Our batcave toilet is leaking. The rug is soaked. The magazine tub is icky. The molding is soggy. I think it's time to get a new toilet.

4) Sesame adores playing alone, calling "Momma," watching me walk over excitedly because she's using her words and then swift as Superman she crawls away. She laughs hysterically at this game. We've played it a bazillion few times today already. Love that girl

X) I pulled my cello out of the closet today. Then I put it back in. It screamed when it saw the light. I think she needs time to slowly adjust to humanity again.

&) Sesame discovered the dog dishes. I'm anticipating she will consume at least three pieces of dog food this week. Not that I'm trying to get her to -- I just think she's that fast now. Let's hope she doesn't! Best part is - she seems more interested in clanging the bowls together and sloshing water on the floor than playing with the contents inside. :)

*7) So clearly Sesame is still obsessed with crawling under objects. For this very reason I think I'm going to construct a Table Tent for her for Christmas - via inspiration from homemade by jill. I think she's gonna like it! :)

92) I'm done. I had more -- all best ideas have left the building! :)

This Is For You Becca Boo...

Dear Becca Boo,

I don't have any sisters. At least, not that are blood related. You and Abigail have always been my two younger sisters though. And now here you are - a senior. I would be lying if I didn't say that I sobbed shed a tear while looking through our photos from yesterday. You have grown into quite a young woman of God. Your beauty is true, effervescent and all-encompassing. Your smile is infectious. That Pretty Woman laugh of yours shines through in photographs. I cannot believe this woman is the same one I carried around in Harrisburg when she was 5 years old, looking at farm animals. I am so very proud of you. Seek after the Lord's will and you will always be covered in His grace. I love you Boo!

Food.

It happened. Sesame reached the monumental age of 9 months on Monday. We were a little unsure there for awhile, what with her adventurous nature, if she would survive the falls and tumbles. But she made it. :)

We reached a milestone just yesterday too. She ate couscous, veggie puffs (I could KISS the person who invented those things...unless of course they weren't my husband...then I could not kiss them.) cheerios and corn. Are your tastebuds watering? I know mine are! :) Little Miss. grabby now thinks she owns everyones plate and insists on reaching for all foods. I know we have a green light for meat but - and I'm just guessing here - I think spicy peppercorn barbecuemight be a little much for a first meat. I'm thinking hot dog or something. Or maybe chicken. Yeah, maybe a real meat should be her first instead of something with contents labeled "parts." Just a thought.

Oh yes, she also decided that tupperware, rather trapping her toys IN the tupperware, is the most hilarious form of entertainment EVER! I'm so glad she's easily amused. We Santa can fill her stocking with wooden spoons & measuring cups. No expensive toys for Nells, no siree! You know, she might even like the coal!!!

Momma: "What's up Nelli?"

Nelli: "Oh Nothin' Momma. Just hangin' around."

(chuckle, snort, snort, chuckle)

Ah yes, nothing like a good hat brim to teeth on.

Hi Momma!

Gotta love it! :) She's just so darn fun!!!

Bathroom Books

Hang on to your chairs. Are you ready for this?? It's going to be a shocker:

Our Bathrooms are mini-libraries.

True story. They are each (2 1/2) stocked with papery magazines, collections of essays and even, dare I say, novella?! Some of you might remember what our nursery looks like. If you don't, check out the link or just keep reading. :) It's a Dr. Seuss nursery. We love The Seuss. It's true.

We love Dr. Seuss not just because he dared to made up his own words, and not juts because he wrote fabulously hilarious children's tales, but because of this book:

That's right. For those of you that didn't know - Dr. Seuss wrote very controversial comic strips in the 1930s-1940s. This book is a collection of those very comics. He caused the paper to receive some very fiery "Dear Editor" letters. It's worth a read if you find or visit our house and use the bat cave - aka the fortress of solitude. (P.S. If someone can tell me why 's it's just wrong that I called the batcave the fortress of solitude there will be a reward. (: )

Also among our bathroom repertoire:

This is one of my favorites as well! It's DEFINITELY worth a read. Especially in a bathroom. Visit our half-bath for more details.

Also found in our rooms of rest:

I don't know that either of us have actually read this one...the title and cover alone are just so HILARIOUS that we couldn't resist it in a cheap 25 cent bin. :) See section Master Bath for a peek at the jacket cover.

What books live in your bathrooms????