The party was a hit! Annie enjoyed herself immensely and received lots of fun gifts. She and the other children at the party swam in the pool, wrote with sidewalk chalk on the basketball court, and played in and amongst the garden plants. Their was lots of laughing, squeeling, and running around. The cake caused quite a stir, too. It must have been the Polly Pocket dolls lounging in and around the pool. Most gifts were all things princess, and Annie wouldn’t have it any other way. She received 2 princess gowns and is breaking them in very well. She was kind enough to let Mimi wear one today. Fortunately, there were also 2 tiaras given to Annie. Now Annie and Mimi each have a full princess outfit to wear to the ball. Thank you to all who attended and gifted Annie with such wonderful presents. Mike and I were so exhausted once the celebration died down. I did manage to take some pictures. Have a look, they are located on the Memories page under “Annie’s 3rd Birthday”.

A few weeks ago Mike went on a field trip for school in Baltimore, MD to visit the National Dental Museum (don’t know if that’s the official name), and he also got to visit Edgar Allan Poe’s grave. Below are some pictures from that day.

Then on yet another day, Mike got to see the President of United States of America. The Pres. had his yearly physical at the Bethesda National Naval Medical Center which happens to be the same place where Mike attends school everyday. Mike was very excited about the event. Unfortunatley, the only pictures he got were of the President’s back. See below. Mike still thought is was cool to be that close to “the man”.

Whoa! Life really took off around here the past couple of weeks. Not in any particular order, we went to a surprise birthday party, a family fun day sponsored by Mike’s work, a baby shower, a couple of dinners with friends either here or at other people’s homes, and this Saturday we have Annie’s birthday party. I’m not trying to brag about our jet-setting life or anything; I’m just trying to explain why I haven’t posted lately and why my house is a mess. The messy house will have to be cleaned though since we’ll be having several people here in a couple of days. The shredded junk mail that the girls threw around our entryway probably won’t pass as a new trend in decorating.

During opening weekend of the movie “Talladega Nights” we went all out. A classmate of Mike’s has connections which led to us acquiring some promotional items for the movie. These items included t-shirts, hats, sunglasses holders, drink cozies, and mini fans. The fans were the highlight of the evening as they illuminated a message within the running fan blades that spelled out”Talladega Night”s while swirling and blinking. Mike still covets that thing. Another classmate decorated a fabulous cake that nobody would believe that he actually decorated himself. We were all very impressed with his skills. You can view pictures from our fun night on the memories page under “Talladega Nights”. After the premiere party most of headed over to watch the flick. Good times!

First off, you’ve got to check out the recent pictures of the girls on their August 2006 gallery located on the girls’ page. With all that said, we now have a 3-year-old residing with us. It was official yesterday. Grandma Hauer serenaded Annie over the phone, and Annie gushed about that event all day. Now when asked, “How old are you?” Annie proudly holds up three fingers and says, “Free!” Her potty-training is finally over and can now do all the numbers in the white bowl and no longer needs a diaper at night. One of the biggest changes that made me realize that Annie’s unmistakably a kid now is that she can carry on a telephone conversation without my constant coaching. I don’t know if that’s a good thing though because I have vivid memories of spending ages 13 to 15 years with a phone permanently attached to my ear. I suppose I would have been a good candidate for Blue Tooth, and I’m sure Annie will be, too, one day. It’s all things “PRINCESS” around here as well. If she spots a princess costume in a catalog or something pink in the toy section at the store, then I inevitably hear, “Mommy, I need that!” Annie overheard Mike and me discussing her birthday party, so it’s been non-stop jabber about that, too. We’re all very excited though. Since we have a pool, the best theme seemed to be a pool party. Our newly acquired cake-decorating skills will be put to use again. Of course, I will post a picture of it and also pictures from the bash. Speaking of Annie’s party, below is what I sent out for her invitations. I know it’s the same set of pictures I’ve posted before, but it IS going to be a pool party. HELLO!

Mimi, well, what can I say about Mimi? She’s pure cutie! Her vocabulary is really taking off. Anytime she spies Dora the Explorer, she shouts, “Da”. I hear it a lot because Dora is EVERYWHERE: on her shoes, on her yogurt, on mylar balloons at the grocery store, EVERYWHERE! This is kind off-topic, but I was reminded of it just now. Recently at the grocery store, Annie asked if she could get Dora cereal. Figuring that Dora cereal didn’t exist, I agreed. So what did Annie immediately find when entering the cereal aisle? Dora cereal!! What could I do? I managed to change the subject really quickly in order to avoid a tantrum from Annie. It worked until Mimi hollered, “DA!” Somehow I managed to exit the store without a box of Dora cereal in our cart. Anyway, back to Mimi. Mimi can be such a bear sometimes. If she’s not getting her way, she will throw items across the room, hit someone or something (even the dog), or just fling herself onto the floor and scream. I’m sure Annie went through this stage as well, but Mimi seems more aggressive about it. Annie eventually grew out of it, so I hope the same is true for Mimi. Mimi likes to mimic her sister quite a bit. “What’s that?” is a favorite phrase she picked up from Annie. Mimi shows a lot of interest in Annie’s toilet time. Maybe we’ll be able to train her much sooner than the first born. I’m not holding my breath though.

Mike is still very busy with school and seems to get busier with each passing day. We do manage to spend oodles of time together on the weekends, but I don’t get much, if any, help around the house or with the girls. No, I’m not complaining. It’s just hard sometimes. He is finally seeing patients now. Unfortunately, that’s no cakewalk either. Apparently, the first 25 patients have to be done without some modern technology and equipment, and I don’t think he ever gets an assistant for the two years in school. It was a rude awakening for him, but I’m sure he’ll manage.

I’m still up to the same old stuff. The girls and I had to take a break from the YMCA this week because their babysitting room is closed. We’ve coped by doing other fun stuff. More time is being spent in the pool. The bike/trailer is getting used again. We spent today shopping for kids’ clothes. Clothing and shoes are tax free until Sunday, and I had a few coupons to use. The girls really did need some new threads. Annie doesn’t look so cute in her “babydoll” length dresses anymore (they didn’t start out that length on her), and Mimi’s hand-me-downs will not be the right season/size come this fall. Plus, how can I resist some of the cute fashions that are popping up? Wish us luck with getting through Saturday—a house/pool full of little girls. Aaah!!

We had the pleasure of attending yet another ball this weekend. It was nice to have a night out without the girls and get all dressed up. The brown ball gown from last year’s ball made another appearance this year but was unknown to all who attended (except Mike and me). As part of the festivities, there was a centerpiece contest in which Mike was a contestant representing the endodontics department. He decided to bake and decorate a cake as his centerpiece. It didn’t win the contest, but we enjoyed it anyway. You can view pictures from our event on the Memories page under “Navy Ball 2006”.

Mimi has jumped on the noodle band-wagon. She can float well on her own but hasn’t mastered kicking yet. Someone has to pull her around to get her moving. The girls love to play choo-choo train where Annie grabs onto Mimi’s feet and then Daddy pulls them around the pool. It even has a theme song. Let me sing it for you, pardon my tone deafness.

All aboard the choo-choo train
all aboard the choo-choo train
all aboard the choo-choo train
all aboard, all aboard.

It’s actually a tune that we hear every so often on the Disney Channel, so I can’t take credit. Some friends came over tonight for dinner and a swim. Two of their three boys introduced Annie to “Noodle Wars”. Hopefully, we can de-program that game out of her brain.

I’ve haven’t been posting much because there really isn’t much new going on here. It’s the same ol’ stuff. The girls and I keep busy during the days either going to the Y or meeting up with play groups. Mike and I are finally starting to get acquainted with some great people. I even had a shopping date yesterday (without kids, hooray). Don’t know how many more of those I’ll get to have since Mike is wicked busy with school.

I’m waiting on a picture. When I receive it, I will post about our Talladega Night. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a photo of Mimi cheesing for the camera (and, yes, that’s food all over her face). Mike says I don’t take enough pictures of Mimi. Here’s a way to prove him wrong.