Five Phases of the Ice Cream Cone

Phase 1: Catching initial dripping. Tongue and some lip involvement only. Face is still clean



Phase 2: Eating the ice cream. Definite face involvement now, although clothing is relatively spared


Phase 3: Eating the ice cream...continued. Chocolate now dripping down the arm and onto clothing. Clothing no longer spared



Phase 4: Tearing of cone paper (which has now become soggy and partially adhered to cone. Often a fit will occur over inability to completely remove paper)


Phase 5: Checking for belly drips. Cone is nearly gone. Whole body involvement in the eating process now. Notice immodest sitting posture resulting from full belly


By the way, the Barbie dress didn't make it...not even after a soak in OxyClean.

Going vertical

Our 3 bedroom house was feeling even smaller with the girls' stuff constantly underfoot, so we decided to get bunk beds. Having Meagan and NiNi share a room frees up the remaining space to be used as a toy room/office. Now I can just close the door instead of clean...Yeah!

We bought the beds over the internet...the first furniture purchase we've made like that so I was a little skeptical, but the beds are awesome...even better than the picture on the website and very sturdy solid wood. The only down-side was that my poor hubby had to assemble. He's not too thrilled as you can see from the picture.

It was a little sad saying goodbye to the crib, but NiNi loves her new big bed and, shock of all shocks, actually stays in it at night.

Meagan quote of the week

Chris very humbly asked Meagan the other day, "What can daddy do to be a better daddy?"

Meagan replied, "I don't know dad...you don't spend enough time with me for me to answer that question."

Wow, talk about brutal. (I might add that Chris happens to spend a lot of time with the girls and frequently asks us for input on how he can be a better father, husband, etc.)

And here's a little bit of NiNi to entertain you...

We were having a family devotional about the "little lost sheep", which included a special emphasis on how special the sheep was to the shepherd. We used marshmellows with little chocolate eyes as the sheep and acted out how we would take care of them (i.e. keeping them safe, giving them food, a soft bed). After carrying the marshmellow sheep to his special "bed", NiNi picked him up and said "Bye-bye sheep!" and crammed the whole thing in her mouth.

I doubt that the "good shepherd who eats his sheep" was the image that Jesus was going for on that one.

Holy Slugs, Batman!

She's a big one! Sorta makes your skin crawl, doesn't it? We found this under a log while cleaning out a flower bed the other day. I thought it was a snake! The girls "played" with it (ewwww!) for about half an hour before we let it go under some trees. I googled it...it's called a "Grey Great Slug" and can grow up to 8 inches!

Holiday World and misc.

This post is for my friend Monica who complains to me that I haven't posted anything new in awhile. It's true, I have been a little delinquent. I blame it on having a toddler. Which, by the way, also happens to be my excuse for the huge pile of clothes currently blocking the entrance to the laundry room, the 3-4 sippy cups of curdled milk laying around the house, and an unsightly jumble of post-vacation garbage that never made it beyond the entryway. It's not that I'm a slob, but rather my children suck all of the energy from my body on a daily basis. A case in point: The other day I was talking to someone about adoption and mentioned that NiNi was on the "special needs" list. Meanwhile, NiNi is rolling around on the ground at my feet. The woman got a very serious look on her face and said, "Oh, because she's HYPERACTIVE." Ha Ha! I guess I should be grateful that most people don't even notice her lip.

NiNi graduated from First Steps last week! She is officially developmentally on track compared to her peers. Here is a picture of her with her speech therapist (it looks like she's crying but she's laughing)



We had my niece over for several days while my sister took a class. Her and Meagan are only 9 months apart. Here are a few shots taken at the children's museum




We finally checked out Conner Prairie with my friend and her kids. Very cool...





And last but not least, we went to Holiday World with my sister and her family this past week. The kids thought they were in junk food heaven, not to mention the waterpark, rides and staying in a hotel with an adjoining room to their cousins. It was quite a treat. Meagan even rode one of the big roller coasters (Chris told her he would pay her $5.00 to get on...that breaks some cardinal rule of parenting, I'm sure, but it worked)










I like the call this one "Toddler Plugged-in." I have never been a big fan of portable DVD players (like they don't get enough T.V. at home?) BUT, they sure do come in handy on long trips

More adoption day photos...

Nini looking scrumptious in her Chinese dress...it still fits!

Family photo outside of PF Changs...gone the way of all other family photos before it: Meagan is mad and NiNi is pointing to a puppy in someone's car


Very excited to have her very own "mini" dessert

Gotta love the CHEESY grin

One Year Ago...

One year ago (June 12th) Shan An Ni officially became a Reuter, and our lives will never be the same!