THIS is Autumn?

I've lived in southern California for ten years. (Whoa.) I hear that it's normal for September to be hot. I'm still not used to it. I think last year I broke out my "autumn" decorations on August 31. This year the boxes haven't even made it out of storage. BUT, at least our blog represents what I know and love to be autumn: fall foliage!

That said, I finally uploaded our July & August pictures to the web album (though I did manage to get them on Facebook a few weeks ago).

This may end up being my lonely September post, but who knows? Maybe Alice & Emma will decide to nap at the same time next week. On a good day their naps are almost completely staggered. After this week I'd love to have a "good day" like that next week.

Terrible twos are in full-swing in the world of Alice. She really doesn't like using words, though she does talk. All. The. Time. Right now I can't get much done without listening to whining and crying from her direction. So, not much is getting done. She definitely has the word "hungry" (even though it sounds more like "honey") down, and tells me that she's hungry every moment of the day unless I've distracted her with something else. Then at meal times she doesn't want to eat anything but raisins ("da-deen") or grapes ("bite-ee"). Sigh. At least we're almost halfway to three. Then again, I've been told that it's the "terrible threes" for some. Please, Lord, let that not be Alice.

Army crawling is Emma's favorite thing. She especially likes army crawling to daddy's books on the lowest bookshelf and eating them when mommy's not looking. The cord to the floor lamp is also a popular chew toy.

Speaking of which, I definitely bought my children dog toys from the Target clearance section yesterday. And I didn't even realize they were dog toys (Warning label reading: For Dog Use Only. Not for Children), until I gave them to Alice in the car. So now she has three colorful rubber balls that squeak and a green frisbee which she has no clue how to use. HA. I'm such a good mom :-)

I hope you enjoyed these pictures of my charming daughters. Clearly they will be the epitome of "ladies" as they grow.

Well, it's been fun, but the fireworks are going off (thank you Disneyland), which means I need to get the bedtime routine going before it's 11 and I'm still awake. Good night and good luck.