Another Week Gone...



Do you think mom realizes that almost every picture
was taken in the kitchen this week?



Well, we are pretty good at making messes in here!

Mommy did spend a LOT of time in the kitchen this week. I finally cooked the remaining three turkeys I bought at Thanksgiving markdown prices, as well as cleaned up after the two Munchkins incessantly. Mark is moving on to more foods, such as banana and toast, and that translates to more cleanup.


Did I do that?



Oh yeah, I guess I did!



Don't worry, I'll help clean up!

Grace also has her food eating habits that keep me busy in the kitchen. While she knows better than to purposely drop any food on the floor, she is quite enamored with putting food on the table. Or windowsill. Or anywhere she can reach from the high chair, which has resulted in her being an "island" in the middle of the dining room, in an effort to keep food (and cleaning) from spreading out of control.

I had to take a picture of her goldfish line up however, as it is so typical of Grace and her obsession with lining things up and organizing. Here she is taking the fish out of the cup holder on the highchair, and placing them on the table:


One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish...



Here they are, all lined up and ready to be eaten!

And when she ran out of goldfish, she didn't mind... she just kept putting "pretend" goldfish down!


Here's another one for the line...
uh, I think we're out of goldfish!

Moving out of the kitchen for a moment... I finally was able to successfully put Grace's hair in pigtails! Unfortunately, she wouldn't stand still long enough for me to get a good shot, so I had to settle for this.


Yes sweetie, a crooked part is in vogue right now. Promise.

Well, I actually did get a picture when she was relegated to being locked behind the gate while I returned (once again) to the kitchen:



Really, this picture needs no caption.

I didn't feel too badly (just a smidgen) about taking a picture of her crying, because I felt like crying too. Two minutes prior, I had been doing the dishes, and when I turned the water off, I heard the slight crinkling of plastic... not a good sign. Sure enough, Grace had been sitting in her toy stroller, casually taking things out of the pantry (which she knows she's not supposed to do!) and I found she had opened and emptied an entire bag of nuts onto the floor:


And now you know why things never quite get
finished around here...

Luckily, Mark had been right by my side, so he didn't get close enough to eat anything. And Grace? Well, I can tell you that she doesn't appear to be allergic to walnuts. In case you were wondering.

Speaking of Mark by my side... he's going through the same stage that Grace did at this age. He wants to be right next to me, especially if I'm trying to empty the dishwasher, cook dinner, or do anything else that requires me to take a step. He will hold onto my pants for dear life, and I will slowly walk from one place to the next while he attempts to keep up. It's not very efficient, but it does entertain.

He also likes it when I wear pants that have a pull string, as he can combine his two favorite activities: standing and chewing on strings.



Don't worry, I'm a pro at this.



Not quite as tasty as the string on the pull-along
dog toy, but it will do.

Lastly, I picked up Mark's professional pictures that I told you about a few weeks ago. As promised, here is an adorable picture that would make it to the front of any baby catalog in the country... if they knew it existed.

Oh yeah. Future GQ model right here ladies!

I hope if you spent lots of time in the kitchen, it was enjoying the fruits of someone else's labor. If not, at leat you know you can come here to commiserate. Have a wonderful week and try not to go nuts!