Decisions, decisions.

When a life altering moment in time is about to occur one must take great care in deciding what to wear.

Today was one of those days.

18 months old=NURSERY for Mikayla.

What to wear?  What to wear?  Yep, Mikayla, that was my first thought, too (NOT!).

She spent all morning trying to find the perfect combination.

Hat or no hat?

No hat. 

How about strawberry sauce?  While it was pretty and pink, Mom and Dad vetoed that idea.

Okay.  Now we're getting down to business.  The flower petal headband and the tiara.  Do you think the blue flowers are a little much?

Me too.  

Out with the flowers, out with princess skirt, out with the "shopping bag" (block bucket).  

This is getting frustrating.  Maybe the black eye is causing the coordination problems.

A bracelet!  That's it!  That was the missing piece!  

But, if you have a bracelet, someone is going to look at your wrists.  

And if someone looks at your wrist, chances are they'll see your hands.  

And if they see your hands, they'll probably notice your nails (can you tell that If You Give a Mouse a Cookie is a favorite around here these days?!)

And if they notice your nails...

They'll check to see if they're painted.

(This is the "Mom-blow on my nails like this face...she was adamant that we blow on them and she showed us how to do it.  The best part is what a prima donna she looked like with both arms outstretched while Dustin blew on one hand and I blew on the other and she supervised intervening with blowing instructions as needed.  If she is dressing up this much at 18 months we are in serious trouble with a super GIRLY GIRL on our hands!)

Painted nails-check.

Cute outfit?

Check.

Smile?  Not so much.

Good day in nursery?  Most definitely.  Good thing she was so beautiful for her debut.

I sure love this girly girl who thought she rocked the world walking out of church after nursery.  I guess all the cool kids go to nursery these days. :)

You can see by my face that I am a clown, too.

You seriously have to click on this last picture to make it bigger and see the full awesomeness of it.

Fancy

Purple eye shadow and red lipstick.

What can we say?  That's just how we roll around here.

(What is it about the ketchup face that I can't get enough of?!)

Yes.  Just one word.

FANCY.

And, to clarify-Dustin and I are not abusive, but the bathtub doesn't always get along well with Mikayla.

Our jungle, our mighty jungle.

We got our trees yesterday!  I'm not even going to apologize about the fact that I am going to post a gazillion pictures because we had a blast yesterday playing in the dirt and we are SO excited for our trees!  Our yard was just a hot piece of dirt before and it is already so much prettier!  I realize not everyone shares our excitement over a stick growing out of the ground (especially if you live where big green trees actually grow on their own), dirt and tractors, so feel free to skip this post! ;)

Waiting on the tractor for our trees to come!

My Dad was the hero of the day.  We could've NEVER done it without his tractor and his handy work at maneuvering the tractor.

Dustin next to his pride and joy-his Desert Museum Palo Verde, which is his absolute favorite tree and has now taken residence as the centerpiece in our backyard.

Digging holes for the couple of extra trees Dustin added on at the last minute. :)

I put Mikayla in one of the tree holes while we were letting it soak with water and she played in it FOREVER.  Over time she slowly slid deeper and deeper into the hole until she was completely swimming in the mud.

A new found love for drinking out of the hose...we introduced the hose after she was laying on her belly in the mud drinking the muddy water.  We thought perhaps the hose water would be a little fresher.  Maybe?

Auntie Maren joined in the fun and helped Mikayla learn how to throw mud. 

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end...

Hard working boys...

Okay, we're finally approaching the end.  

To remind you what our yard looked like on the day we moved in, here's a picture of our dust bowl.

And, a picture taken this morning from pretty much the same view.

Remember Dustin's prized tree?  Here it is in all its glory!

The side yard with a couple of mesquites for afternoon shade and to block whatever neighbors we have in the future.

Didn't our boys do amazing?  Thank you, Dad and Dustin for a day full of hard work!

Meet my lovely assistant.

She helps me do EVERYTHING.  Not really sure what I'd do without all her help.

(another long post...sorry, I just have to write random things I want to remember)

We do our hair together (aka wrestle).

When I get ready in the morning (or in the middle of the afternoon right before Dustin comes home on some days-who are we joking?  Please tell me I'm not the only one!) she sits on the ground right by me or hangs out in the shower with her little ankles crossed just watching me.  When I brush my teeth with the electric toothbrush she dances.  I love it.

We cook together.

Dustin's mom gave me these matching aprons for Christmas when I was pregnant with Mikayla.  We've finally unpacked them and I put it on her a couple of weeks ago when I was cooking dinner.  Now every time I put on an apron she signs please until I put hers on.  As soon as I take my off though, she's tugging at hers trying to pull it off.  It's scary how closely they watch you.

See those cookies?  Those were for the neighbors.  They never made it there.  We gave up after one attempt of nobody being home.

We do crafts together.

We "clean" together.

Do your kids make pack rat nests all over your house?  It's like Mikayla is scared that I am going to take all her "treasures" and put them away (heaven forbid!) so she piles her junk in random corners around wherever I am hanging out and guards it.  When I move, so does the nest.  I seriously don't know how she manages to carry so much junk.

I'd be lying if I said she was partial to me.  It's probably the exact opposite. She makes a pretty good assistant for her Dad when he is home, too.

They read together.

They build stuff together.

One of Mikayla's favorite pastimes is hanging out in the garage while Dustin in working on projects.  She goes styrofoam hunting.  You know those little styrofoam balls that get everywhere?  She is obsessed with them.  She begs us to go to the garage so she can gather as many of those nasty styrofoam pieces as she can and hoard them in her hands.  It's like fighting a war to get her to open her hands and empty them when it's time to go inside.

Dustin was working on the chair railing in her room and she discovered the coolest bracelet EVER-the air compressor hose.  She thought she was pretty hot stuff.  I think it was the onesie that made the outfit.  I love diaper bubble butts that look extra big in onesies or stretchy pants.  Is that wrong?  Oh well.

Looking at the resemblance in hairdos I think Dustin and Mikayla like to do their hair together, too.

What would we ever do without this chick?