Rainy afternoon

Tennessee is mostly sunshine, but sometimes, it rains and rains.  This leads to stir crazy toddlers and, later, dads getting thrown out into the backyard with these children so mom can find her happy place while finishing dinner.

Chinchilla

Here's E sporting the chinchilla ears she made in zoo class.  Low tech cuteness at its best.

Zoo class

Edie is enrolled in ZoosTwos, or some such name, which is a class for - you guessed it - two year olds at the Nashville Zoo.  Each week, they talk about a different sense (this week it was sight), explore that sense a bit, meet an animal or two whose sense is notable in some way or another, and then make a craft.  Her dad took her the first week.  And that was good. I took her this week. And I am very tired now.  But it was fun.  She met a Flemish rabbit named Pheasant and a Rose Hair tarantula named Sir Rantula.  The bunny was very big. The tarantula was unsettling.  Afterwards, we went to the zoo proper, wherein we visited goats and I pleaded with my pants to defy gravity and just stay up for once.  Suspenders should be acceptable maternity wear.

Tired Family

The pose is fake, but the exhaustion is real.  Will is working hard at everything but getting enough sleep lately, and Miss Edie is going through a bit of a rocky period with nap time.  Though she is far short of emotionally stable when she doesn't sleep enough, that does not seem to be a compelling enough consequence to actually rest some days. 

So here are pictures of the two of them taking a pretend nap together, which is at another level, the nap they both need and want.  We are getting meta over here!

Egg Hunt

The neighborhood moms group put on an Easter egg hunt last weekend.  It was way too hot for March, but it was a fun time.  Will and I were both able to go, and Edie got to wear the dress we picked out together at Costco, which she is infinitely proud of.  And now every time Edie sees a little plastic egg, she says "There's chocolate in there."  So the jig is up!  She knows where we hide our chocolate now. 

Garden Helper

My meager gardening prowess has been met with great enthusiasm from little Edie.  She has learned the names of most of the flowers we planted (petunias, azaleas, marigolds, and daisies).  And she also helped me plant seeds for a small vegetable garden that I'll be attempting to put into the ground in a few days.  She is quite pleased with the little sprouts we've gotten (as am I).  Mostly, E wants to water the plants, and that's now a morning ritual.  Keeps me on my toes, because you can never be 100% sure that a 2 year old isn't going to turn the hose on you.