love these girls

Anna burps. Says to Nate, "Oh! I wasn't expecting that!"

Nate comes and tells Jane and Cate. Cate starts laughing really hard and says, "That was the silliest thing I could ever heard."

cute 2-year-old talk

I just pulled some corn muffins out of the oven. anna walked into the kitchen, smelled the air and said, "mmm, the muffins smell good. I can almost taste them!"

Happy Birthday to Mom!

Could I ask for anything more for my birthday? Two beautiful daughters and a chocolate cake? Nope, I couldn't.

kid talk

cate told me in the car yesterday that she can "snip" and then showed me how to snap. I love that she still says snip. and she also stills says "stirsty" instead of "thirsty" - I'll be sad when she starts pronouncing everything correctly, which will probably be pretty soon...

anna and I got out of the car the other day and a dog barked across the parking lot. anna exclaimed, "oooohhh! the doggie burped!" which is when I discovered that she thinks the word "bark" is "burp" - love it.

little things

little thing #1:

I'm cleaning up the apartment right now. picked up a piece of artwork from school. on the back it says "the cate." totally made me laugh.

little thing #2:

a little factoid so the "punch line" of this story makes sense: anna and cate each have a 'my little pony' toy car given to them by my mom this summer....that they LOVE. okay, on to the story.

anna has bad dreams maybe 1 or 2 times a month. I have always wondered what a 2-year-old nightmare is made of. this morning she woke up crying and upset super early. I went in to get her and in her half-asleep state she was saying over and over again, "I want my blue pony car! I want my blue pony car!" I loved that little insight into her scary dreams. what a sweet, innocent little mind.

Facebook Follow-Up Vol. 1 - And Cate Plays Soccer!

So, I feel like Facebook ends up being our primary means of updating family and friends of the latest goings-on in the Maynard family. But, well, those status updates are short. AND I feel like they just disappear into the ether at some point and any memory we try to capture is gone. So, I'm going to start doing some Facebook Follow-Up posts, so we can give a bit more detail on something...but mostly because I want to capture those moments for good.

Nate's Facebook Status on September 14, 2010:

Cate just told me all the boys in her class like her and Maya. I kinda don't want to think about this.

This statement by Cate is in fact true. I've witnessed it with my own eyes. There is one little boy named Otis who several times now comes running up when he spots Cate. And just sort of hangs around, smiles at me and her, etc. It's super cute. Well, it was cute until Nate posted this status. And now we know it's not just Otis. Which is a little terrifying. Sure enough, the other morning, Cate was trying to sit quietly waiting for the bell and this other little boy kept following her from bench to bench. So funny. But, seriously, I can only imagine what life will be like in 10-15 years time. {Shudder}

Jane's Facebook Status on September 17, 2010:

sooo...I have an agent, like a totally legit and awesome agent from a totally legit and awesome agency in new york. to write a cookbook. who's life is this anyway?

This is crazy talk, right? An agent from ICM in NYC contacted me a few weeks ago about representing me to write a cookbook. After the initial shock and a bit of research, we scheduled a call. And she was awesome. When talking with her, I found out she represents a friend of a friend, who gave a glowing review of the agent. So, I told her yes and now it's time to write a proposal! I'm excited. And terrified. But excited. I've been thinking about a cookbook forever, and this was the kick in the pants I needed to get it going. I know not where this road will lead us, but I'm just going to try to hang on and enjoy the ride. That is, once I come out of shock.

Jane's Facebook Status on September 18, 2010:

anna's new thing after she toots or burps. Anna: "Who tooted? {Pause} Oh, I think I tooted. {Laughter}" Every time. Never fails.

This Facebook update is the reason I wanted to write this post. I don't want to forget this little Anna-ism. It's so stinking funny. Since we're talking funny Anna-isms, her other new thing is to go "Hunh?" to everything. I'm going to have to pay attention for examples.

And some pictures for the grandmothers.

Last Saturday was the first day of soccer. Cate did awesome. And loved it.

Here she is, ready for the big game!

Anna insists in dressing in "soccer" clothes, so we just dig around and try to find something that looks uniform-ish. Here's what we came up with last week - a NJ Nets jersey and a pair of Cate's shorts.

Cate was literally smiling the whole time she was playing. It was the cutest thing.

And she scored at least 4 goals...here's one of them! Go Cate!

The Many Faces of Anna Maynard, Preschooler

Here she is. Our preschooler. Anna Maynard.

I love every single one of these pictures. Bottom row center - yeah, that's what 70% of the shots look like. The kid has timing...takes after Grandpa Hans, closing her eyes for every shot. Thankfully I took 2 million pictures, so we were able to get some pictures with her eyes actually open. ;)

Neither one of our girls are very clingy, but if you had to call one of them clingy it would be Anna. Last week I was pumping her up for starting school and she'd say, "I just want to stay with you, Mommy." So I was a little bit worried...there was no need. The girl was in HEAVEN. When we went to the open house last Friday, she actually got furiously mad when it was time to leave. When we took her to her first day yesterday, she could have cared less when we left her at school. That's just the way I like it.

It was SO cute when we were walking into her school. She's just walking, carrying her Thomas the Train lunchbox (which, by the way, just barely edged out the Spiderman lunchbox). As she got closer to the building, her pace quickened to a full-on run that nearly ended in a catastrophic collision with the gate. Thankfully, she recovered well. It was just so cute seeing her speed up the closer she got.

Here's the big girl all ready to go into her new classroom!

I think what she is most excited about is being able to paint. She keeps talking about it and it was one of the first things she did when we got to school.

I love preschool. It's so perfect for these little ones. Everything in the room is right at her level and exactly what she is interested in. From the fish tank to the little jars to the painting easel, it's heaven for Anna.

Anna, we love you! You're growing too darn fast...but we still love watching it happen.

the girls love each other

I just need to write a few things down that I don't want to forget about anna and cate and their sweet relationship.

anna is hating having cate in kindergarten. she frequently tells us that she misses cate, doesn't want cate to go, etc. yesterday she was really feeling it. she told me those things a few times. then, when cate got home, she left 15 minutes later for a play date. anna cried for a few minutes, and then told me she wanted cate to come back. it makes me sad that she's feeling such a hole, but thankfully she'll be starting her own preschool next week for 2 mornings a week, so that should help. but this really is an evolution in their life and relationship. after being together a LOT, they just aren't anymore...and won't be again. and anna is not happy about it. I'm SO grateful that this is how she feels...what a blessing to have her love her sister so much.

on cate's first day of school, the teacher had them draw self-portraits to hang on the wall, next to a photograph of themselves. when we went to back to school night and looked for cate's picture, we found and it just went "awwwww." there was a picture of her and anna standing outside together. are you kidding? she drew anna into her self-portrait? how sweet is that?

oh, and when they watch movies/tv together, they always sit RIGHT NEXT to one another. it is the cutest thing ever.

just now (and what spurred this post) cate said the cutest thing. it's morning, anna is still in bed. anna lost her two my little ponies this week and we've searched everywhere and couldn't find them. last night, when we were searching for something that I had lost, we found the ponies. nate set them on a bureau in the living room. so, cate gets up this morning, sees the ponies and says, "oh mom! I found anna's ponies." I told her, "oh, dad and I found them last night in the pocket of the thinking chair." cate said, "who put them there?" I said, "well, anna did." then cate said, "no she didn't." me: "well, did you?" cate: "no." me: "well, then it had to be anna, since none of us put them there." cate thought for a minute then said, "but anna usually doesn't forget!" okay, this may be a story just for me...but I just loved how cate feels like she knows anna so well, it was just the sweetest sentiment in our little conversation.

don't get me wrong. they have their squabbles. what siblings don't? but for the most part, they are thick as thieves...or sisters. :)

Kindergarten!

And just like that, Baby Cate is a Kindergartener! I know time flies, but seriously? Kindergarten?

Cate has been counting the days until the start of school. Yesterday we had the chance to go check out her classroom and meet her teacher Mrs. C. As Cate looked longingly around the room she exclaimed, "I wish today were tomorrow!"

As we walked to school this morning with Dad and Anna, I turned to Cate and said, "Well, tomorrow is today!" She was beaming with happiness.

As soon as they opened the door, she was in the room, I think maybe the first person in. By the time Nate and I could get into the room, she was already sitting at a table lacing a card. She was very focused, it was super cute. (Sidenote: A place where there are hundreds of crayons organized by color is going to be HEAVEN for Cate.)

We put Cate to bed last night at 8:00, 30 minutes past her bedtime. She laid in bed WIDE AWAKE until 10:30. She just couldn't fall asleep. Then she woke up on her own early this morning. She told me "I just don't want to miss the first day!" Cate and I decided the first day of Kindergarten is a lot like Christmas morning. Cate seriously felt just as excited for today as she does for Christmas morning.

I only started to tear up once during the drop off, but I was able to hold it in. See, you can't even tell that at this exact moment my eyes are full of tears.

Mrs. C gave each parent a little white bag as we left this morning. I started to read the note on the outside and immediately started crying, so I stopped reading and stuffed it into the back of the stroller for later. What a mean teacher. Just look what she wrote to us:

Dear Parents,

Here's a little gift for you as you leave your precious one with me on the first day of school.

As you hold this cotton ball in your hand {editorial note: this is where I stopped reading while at school. brutal.}, the softness will help you to remember the gentle spirit of your child.

After you've gone home and dried your tears {she included a tissue in the bag}, make yourself a hot cup of tea {tea bag also included}.

Put up your feet and relax.

Remember that together you and I will work for your child to be the best s/he can be.

Thank you for entrusting your child to me for this special year. I will do my very best every day to be a nurturing guide for learning about and exploring this bright new world called "school."

Sincerely, Mrs. C

I like this lady. A lot. She's going to be wonderful. And I'm not even mad at her anymore for making me cry. That was going to happen anyway, she just helped it along...and even gave me a tissue. :)

I actually didn't cry that much when I read the letter later. But then Anna and I sat down to read a book. She picked an Angelina Ballerina book, one of Cate's favorites. About one sentence in I totally lost it, could barely get any words out. Anna just looked at me, sucking her thumb, and put her little hand up on my shoulder. I just told her I missed Cate (which she had told me herself earlier) and that I love them both very much.

I just love our little girls.

P.S. This is what the little sister's hair looks like the first day of school for older sister. Think I was a little more focused on Cate, perhaps? At least Cate's hair looked smashing, even if Anna looks like Einstein's protege.

Jelly Belly Factory!

Since we only have one week of summer left, I decided it was time to finally drive a kabillion hours to take the girls to the Jelly Belly factory! We went today and had a perfectly fun and wonderful morning together. I wrote about it more on the food blog, but I had to post this picture on here because Anna just makes me laugh.