So long, first trimester . . . (I WON'T be missing you)

For a few weeks now I have felt like a maniacal, unattractive female with some serious gastrointestinal dysfunction. My behaviors have included an inexplicable combination of avoiding food, constantly snacking, and vomiting. I have been incapable of doing approximately 75% of what I SHOULD have been doing, and spent way too much time on the floor, on the couch, or in bed. But what I have been doing, presumably, is growing a baby (hooray!). If it's not a baby, it is definitely an alien parasite.

At any rate, here is the bump at 14 weeks:

Second trimester, it's good to see you.

jumping out of the page and coming to life

At some point--I'm not sure how or why--we began dedicating enormous amounts of time to these types of creations, pictured below: characters cut out of coloring books and glued onto cardboard.

We have developed quite a collection as we have gone through such phases (and coloring pages) as Disney Princess, My Little Pony,The Fresh Beat Band, Strawberry Shortcake, and Lala Loopsy.

Ramona has been very absorbed with coloring, lately, and both she and Mika love playing with these paper-doll-esque things as much as any of their other toys. I have even had to repair some of them as they became worn and torn from their adventures with the girls. Through this process, we have used quite a lot of glue, cardboard (cereal boxes), and pink crayon. I wonder if there is such a thing as a refill package of pink crayons for little girls like mine.

all that is left of one pink crayon