... and then Zoe used the DSLR for the first time.

I woke up Monday morning excited to get started back to our normal routine.

It starts with having my alarm clock wake me. I have 2 clocks... one is named Zoe and one is named Ana... and I never know which one will sound off first. Monday it was sort of Ana, who woke to nurse at about 6 am. But then she went back to sleep. So I guess it was really Zoe, who came tiptoeing in around 7am.

Once Zoe is awake and I've convinced her to snuggle in my bed for as long as she'll allow, we head for the bathroom where she sits for a bit while I collect the underpants, clothes, socks, etc. She gets dressed and we head downstairs for breakfast. For about 3 weeks now Zoe's breakfast has included 4 mini pancakes and whatever fruit I can sneak in as a side. Monday it was grapes. I wonder how long the pancake trend will go on.

Zoe eats her breakfast over a little Playhouse Disney. Monday they screwed up our routine a little bit. Mickey Mouse clubhouse WAS on at 8:30. Usually we have an "as soon as Mickey is over it's time to get to school!" warning. Now they've changed their show schedule and it's on at 7:30. Zoe got all excited an hour early today. It took all I had to convince her school wasn't for another hour. I wonder if it's a permanent schedule change. One plus, after Mickey is over at about 7:50... they've added in a "new" short... Shaun the Sheep. We love that show and watched it a number of times on ToonDisney and even added it to our DVR. It disappeared for a while but now we see it EVERY morning. Yippee!

Once Zoe's eating I get to work with the coffee brewing. Mmmmmm coffee. No day can start without coffee. Sometimes it goes with toast, or toaster scrambles, or cheerios. Whatever it goes with... there is always coffee.

At some point Ana politely announces that she'd like to join us. OK... she screams and yells and carries on until I snatch her out of her crib. But, then she's all smiles. Sometimes she's up right after we get downstairs and other times I have to snatch her out of her crib to take Zoe to school. She usually pops into the high chair by about 8:30 for her cereal mixed with whatever fruit seems to catch my fancy that day. Monday it was prunes. I think we're needing a poop sometime soon. (I know... thanks for sharing, right?) Sometime after Ana finishes eating I change her from her pjs to her clothes.

On most days I squeeze in a shower. Sometimes after Zoe and I eat and before Ana wakes. Sometimes after we've all eaten and Zoe's watching TV and Ana is jumping in the doorway jumper (her FAVORITE activity of all time). But at some time... I hop in the shower.

At about 8:50 we all start scrambling to get on shoes, and coats, and hats, and mittens. We grab bags, and keys, and Ana in her car seat and run out the door. Sometimes... we make it to school on time at 9am. Mostly we wander in by 9:10. We're never alone dropping off no matter what the time.

That gives you a general idea of what the normal morning chaos looks like in our house. Generally we have 2 hours (give or take a bit) from wake up to school. We squeeze a lot in to those 2 hours.

So, Monday morning we got a little thrown off. Somewhere after Zoe had her 4 mini pancakes and grapes in front of her... but before my coffee was done brewing... I opened my e-mail. I deleted all the random junk, checked out a few FaceBook notifications, and then opened and e-mail from Chris at Dad of Divas. The e-mail subject was "check out my post"... and all his e-mail said was "I tagged you in a post today!!!" So of course I clicked right over... because you all know I love a good tag.

Well... he tagged me alright. And here are the rules...

1) Take a picture of yourself right NOW!
2) DON’T change your clothes, DON’T fix your hair… Just take a picture.
3) Post that picture with NO editing.
4) Post these instruction with your picture.
5)Tag 10 people to do this..

And here are the results...

Obviously the Zoe needs some work on using the viewfinder to aim...
OK... after about a dozen tries she's getting a little closer...
Oh... look... there I am! A little crooked... but not bad (considering she tried for about 2 dozen clicks just to get my head in the shot). Don't you just love my fuzzy comfy teal green robe?

And look... there is Chris' post in the background. I am impressed with Zoe's aim. Make sure you click on over to that post. Chris is a great dad... and seems to enjoy a good game of "Pretty Pretty Princess."

And to tag some people. (10 people???)
Kathy (because she was VERY enthusiastic about seeing this picture when I told her about the tag)
Laura
Miss Banshee
Carrie
Christina
Natalie
Allison
and I give up at 7. Zoe's not napping... and now Ana is crying in her crib. Everyone has colds. No one is sleeping well. And it's icy and rainy and yucky outside. I give up!!!
Anybody else that reads this and decides "hey! I wanna take a pic of myself right this minute and post it!!!", well you let me know and I'll happily add your link!