Grubbiness

 I don't know if I've mentioned this on the blog before, but Noelle is a very grimy, grubby girl.  To make it sound better, the girl sure loves her some nature.  She has no problem with dirt, mud, rocks, leaves, bugs... she'd probably be fine playing in sewage.  Sorry, that may have gotten a little too gross. 

Because of Noelle's love of all things dirty, I would like to recognize myself as a recipient of the You-Love-Your-Children-So-Much-You-Let-Them-Do-Fun-Things-That-Make-You-Squirm Award.  You'll be surprised to learn that I just made that award up, right now, right on the spot, but I'm still claiming it. 

It's not that I don't like dirt.  It's more that I just get a little OCD when I think about all the things that Noelle is touching and how she also really likes to put her hands in her mouth.  Ugh.  I mean, we've caught her carrying around a cicada carcass, and she will poke and prod anything and everything she comes in contact with.

Here's just a sampling from our fun playdate yesterday...

Don't be fooled by that look.  She's not grossed out.  I'm pretty sure she's just inspecting.

 Now, this one is A-DOR-ABLE, no?  And it looks relatively clean, too, but it resulted in...

 I am growing every day, being a mom, and not just because I'm pregnant and have a very swiftly expanding waistline.

Riley had a blast, too, and I have to say, she's getting more and more adjusted to messiness, too.  She tends to be more like me (in every human way possible).  She still MUST wash her hands immediately if she's eating and gets something on them.  But when she plays, she's lost a lot of her inhibitions.

 Check out Riley's shoes.  Would you believe she volunteered to wear this skirt that I just made?  It's one of the few times our clothing preferences for the day have aligned.  But she wouldn't budge on the shoes.  She was going to wear her "running shoes."  She also seemed to be confused as to what smiling looks like.  I got some of the most hilarious attempts at smiling out of her.  It reminded me of this:

The lighting in these next ones reminded me of an enchanted fairytale forest. :)

I can't believe how old Noelle is looking and getting these days!

My goal for the day, photo-wise, was to get a good sister picture.  Uh... fail.

 It's hard for me to decided which of the following two turned out to be the best one.  Option A...

Or Option B... Ha!

And since this post has been all across the board, we'll just leave you with some cute solo shots of both girls, in no particular order. :)

 Oh my goodness... that face. :)