Girls' Day

On Sunday, November 16th, we "kidnapped" Stacey and Lauren after church to celebrate their pregnancies.  We went to brunch at Rustico (super yummy!) and then to a cooking class to make macarons.  We ended the evening at Birch and Barley for dinner.  It was really, really fun.  And lots of good eating.

The whole gang

 One table

 The other table (less Theresa)

 With a picture of Jessica Smith - missing her!

Listening to the instructions

 Intent on perfection

 Monitoring the temperature of the sugar and water

Mixing away!

Blue and pink icing for Baby Boy McShane and Baby Girl McGinnis

 Getting ready for the oven

Fresh from the oven

Filling the macarons

 They were delicious

 Birch and Barley food - yum

Pre-school pictures

A few weeks ago was picture day at First Baptist Weekday Preschool.  Jovie and I picked out her outfit together, and I did her hair the only way she lets me do it these days- in barrettes.  I gave her a really brief overview of picture day, figuring that the kid has so many pictures taken of her that she knows the drill.

When I picked her up from school that day, I asked her how picture day went. She said, "I didn't smile, Mommy.  The guy had a puppy on his head, but I didn't smile."  I said, "Really, you didn't smile at all?  Why not?"  "I didn't want to."  (What other answer was I expecting?)  I wasn't sure if she was telling the whole story, because sometimes it's tough to know what school stories are 100% accurate.  So I decided to drop it and wait to see what came back.

Today we picked up her pictures from school:

She was telling the truth.

The Birds and the Bees (sort of)

Today, Jovie asked me her first real questions about being a baby and how she got here.  I was getting her ready for her nap, and because she is still in diapers for her nap, I was talking about how big girls don't need to sleep in diapers.  This led to several questions about being a baby.

First, she asked how she became a baby.  I decided to keep it simple, so said she was created and lived in me for awhile, and I pointed to my belly area, trying to give her terminology that was age-appropriate as well as accurate.  It didn't stick, because then she asked how she got out of my belly.  Her guess was through my throat.  When I gave her some very vague response to give her a general understanding (and erase the pictures of babies emerging from mom's throats, alien-style) she laughed and laughed.  Apparently, this is all hilarious to her.  Thus ended the very simple,  first time birds and the bees conversation.  I felt I had successfully completed one of the rites of passage of being a parent.

Day on the Mall with the parents

Mom and Dad stayed with Jovie while we were at the Hermitage.  They intended to leave on Monday, but their car broke down, so they stayed while it was fixed.  Mike ended up having the day off, too, so we took advantage of the gorgeous weather and the circumstances and spent the day on the Mall.  The next day was Veteran's Day, so it was an interesting day to be there.  Walking around, taking in the sights, having a picnic and enjoying the weather.

 Love the cherry trees in the fall