My Big Girl House

A View into the Nursery
slightly cramped quarters

but we're making it work!

Rocking chair is a must!

closet full of organizing bins and a picture frame with Baby's siblings: Walter and Sophia and blank spot for Baby



Sophia's Room

a view from the door

opposite view

we're making the dresser serve double duty as a changing table for a while


Dining Room

the table with both leaves in

a view of the table color and chair

china cabinet

looking into the living room

Ever since we started the transition to Sophia's big-girl room it's kind of been my joke that I'm getting a big-girl house! We really started buying/moving furniture around so that I actually am starting to feel like we have grown-up things! The dining room, which we desperately needed, was sort of an impromptu purchase. We went to Macy's to look for a mattress with my mother and walked out with a new dining room set...whoops! Actually it was a floor sample sale that was too good to pass up and since we've been literally looking for a dining set for 4 years, we snagged it! I am excited too to have my china finally out of the basement and ready to use. Plus, with 2 leaves available for the table we are able to fit almost the whole family at the dinner table at once...hoorah!

Sophia's room is basically done...I would really like to have some pictures for those big blank walls, but I sort of ran out of energy, plus I couldn't find anything I liked enough to pay for. The other pictures were lovingly made by Grandma Sue and Aunt Cathy. Sue made these cute puppy dog pictures from some fabric that Sophia adores and Cathy made a collage that includes some of my favorite pictures of Sophia. Both were welcome additions to the room because not only are they cute...I didn't have to do them! ;) I think Sophia really likes her new room and it's amazing how different it looks! She has a lot of room to play in there if she wishes and her bed is FULL of her animals and dolls.

Lastly, the nursery is complete too! It makes me feel much better to have this room done, especially since we are now less than 4 weeks away! Surprisingly, I like the look of the bedding even more in the new nursery. Of course I loved it to begin with, and with Sophia's yellow it looked nice, but this green really makes everything pop and it looks all new and fresh! We included all the old pictures that Cathy, Pam and I made for Sophia's nursery as well as added a few new things like the monkey, the chick hanging for the door and a sibling picture frame. This room is significantly smaller, which presented some design challenges, but I made it work as best I could! Once the baby is older and we can move out the rocking chair and changing table, it will open things up. On other baby news, I am really getting to the point where I'm ready for Baby to get here. I still have my crazy fears, and I'm slowly resigning myself to the fact that I will have two children up with me all night, but I think I'm ready for Baby...BUT that doesn't mean I want him/her to get her early! Everyone seems to think I'm going to go early, which is possible, but I don't think so. Technically my c-section is scheduled at 39 weeks, so that's already a week early and I'd be surprised if I go earlier than that. I am very low and very uncomfortable but I think we're still on track. It's also possible that I look bigger lately, because not only is the baby growing, but so is my junk food intake! I have been worse the last two weeks about caring about what I eat, which isn't good, but I'm so tired and huge feeling that I feel like, oh what the heck! My belly button is in an almost permanent outie stage, which I love! I always wanted my belly button to pop with Sophia and it never did so I now I feel "official!"

We still have busy days ahead as I prepare the rest of our house and my sanity for birthdays, Baby and daily life. We did purchase a car yesterday, by the way, so more news on that soon! Everything is falling into place!

Feed the Goats!

"I feed the goat!"

Sophia and Luca were so sweet...they chased around the goats trying to feed and hug them all!

Goats are so fun!



"Feed the goats, feed the goats!" was the chant all the way to the farm this weekend! Julie, Luca, Sophia and I (Massimo was already there fishing with his daddy) stopped at Starbucks before heading to the farm this weekend. We sorted our coins to make sure we had enough quarters to feed the goats and both children were beside themselves the entire ride there! Who knew goats could be so fun!


Later that night, Charlie and I took Sophia out for pizza and she was eyeing the restaurant's gumball machine and playing with it. A nice couple was watching fondly as we had to tear her away from the colorful gumballs and over to our table. Later that evening the same nice man came over and gave her a quarter so she could get herself a gumball. She smiled at him so lovingly and when he walked away she held it up to us and said, "I can feed the goats now!" Yes, sweetie, you sure can!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Cathy!

Birthday Hugs!

a true ladies night!

snuggling with Grandma

always happy with cake and ice cream!

(I wonder who she got that from?!)

helping Aunt Cathy with her gifts

she was quite pleased with the plastic balloons from the top of the cake

and here's post cake sugar rush...always a joy!

Sophia's favorite song right now is Happy Birthday, and you shouldn't be surprised by the amount of parties we've attended in the last few months. The month of August, however, marks the beginning of the birthday season in our house. Between August and December we have 16 birthdays, and that's just our immediate family. If you count all the others that I send cards, gifts, emails, whatever to...that puts the count up to somewhere around 21-22. When you throw in the holidays, it makes for a busy time! Whew! So, I hope you won't tire of seeing Sophia eating cake and ice cream because there's surely more to come!

As for Cathy's birthday we had an absolutely lovely time! She decided to celebrate at Grandma's place so that she could join in the fun and it was just perfect. Grandma was thrilled and hopefully Cathy was too as she got presents and chocolate cake, two ideal things on your birthday I think! Sophia was very happy to visit Grandma B's two days in a row and had a blast playing with her aunts and Grandmas. It was a nice ladies evening and we happily celebrated another year of Cathy's life! Happy birthday, Cath! We love you!

French Fies for Everyone!

Sophia enjoying her hamburger
Grandma B and Sophia sharing some fries and some conversation

a beautiful day for a walk and a cuddle

Grandma B has her own personal assistant

What would I do without Grandma B and our bi-weekly excuse to eat McDonald's, I mean I can't be expected to deny an old woman what she wants! Sophia has now taken to the hamburger happy meal and she seriously pronounces hamburger just like the Pink Panther, it's truly hilarious! As much as this kid loves cheese, she prefers her burger plain, plain, plain. It was such a gorgeous day that we even got Grandma out and about for a few minutes to take a stroll around her complex. Sophia was quite the helper as she insisted on pushing the wheelchair. I helped her, of course, but at one point she looked up at me and said, "I do it self." Sorry kid, I just don't trust your driving skills yet!

News About Spud

So today officially marks 34 weeks...deep breath...that means that I have exactly 5 weeks until delivery date! I am both excited and terrified by this. As you all know by now, I'm terribly neurotic and I worry way to much about everything! My latest internal and, who am I kidding, external, breakdowns have been about how maybe I'm just not cut out to be a mother of two. I mean, people are pregnant all the time and lots of people have been chasing after a toddler or two while doing it, but why do I find it so hard?! I've been tired, grumpy, stressed, and a lot overwhelmed the last few weeks. The first 6 months I really felt like a model pregnant woman, calm, collected and ready for baby...but lately, not so much. I think a lot of it stems from our continuing sleep battle with Sophia, but a lot of it is also just my general neuroses coming into play! Overall, I know it will be fine and once the baby arrives, everything will work out. I continue to tell myself this in hopes that one day I'll believe it! ;) In the meantime I have definitely taken Kathleen's advice and resorted to ice cream as much as possible.


As far as Spud's progress everything looks great! I went to the doctor again yesterday and we will have one more 2-week visit and then we're going to every week. The heartbeat was great and Baby is head-down. Now, I know that this is perfectly normal and acceptable, but since Sophia never achieved this head-down status, I am totally fascinated by it! I'm just sort of in awe that it's following directions and getting ready! It has not, however, chosen to slow down in the slightest bit. I kind of hoped that with space getting tighter in there it might choose to move less, ummmm, no. The past few nights I have literally gasped in pain/shock when it feels like it's doing crazy flips and turns in there...and it's not just once. It usually lasts for 1-3 hours and I must admit, it gets a little annoying. But...then again, I think it might be better than having Sophia's head permanently stuck in my esophagus so I shouldn't complain! Additionally, the pressure on my bladder has very significantly increased and this kid knows exactly where to kick to make Momma run to the nearest restroom! This, compared to my first pregnancy, is also a new development. I, of course, felt pressure with Sophia but this is very different. I'm sure it has to do with the positioning of the babies, ie: head down, but wowser, I had no idea!


Finally, the update on my PUPP (pregnancy rash) is that I am now taking steroids. After last weekend where I made myself and my husband miserable with my constant state of scratching I have asked for a prescription and began taking them this morning. My doctor assures me it will help and so I'm ready because this itching business is for the birds! Sophia had even started lifting up my shirt for me and scratching my belly randomly throughout the day...a sure sign that I needed some relief!


The nursery is basically done. There are a few odds and ends that I need to do, but nothing major. The pictures are hung, the bed is made, the clothes are put away (at least the yellow and green ones!) and it's all ready for Baby. I must post pictures soon, I just keep forgetting. In fact, I need to get around to posting pics of all our new furniture and room arrangements. These last five weeks are going to be a whirlwind, I'm sure of it! We have lots of birthdays and social engagements coming up, not the least of which is Sophia's 2nd birthday...AAAACK! With all of this activity I shouldn't even have time to worry about anything else...right?!

Sports Camp Sunday

Mommy giving some batting practice
all on her own

cycling for one

cycling for 2

bubble blowing

You know it's an action packed afternoon when everything from the garage ends up on the front lawn! Sophia also participated in golf and soccer, but I failed to capture those moments on film! She had quite a time but was most thrilled with her "new" bike, courtesy of Jason and Jenn. We'd like to find some training wheels for it, but she's quite happy just sitting on it and having someone wheel her around! Baseball is her latest love, don't know where she got it from or where she's seen it, but she's all about it. Jason let us borrow their tee and she had a ball (pun intended!). She did quite well hitting it off of there, but sometimes forgot to use both hands, much like her golf swing! ;) She's actually fairly coordinated for an almost two year old and I think she'll do pretty well at sports...although, I think I have to use my veto card early and declare NO on women's rugby.

Birthday Time!

Sophia being quite a helper, indeed

we tried to encourage her to supervise as much as possible!

everybody's gotta chew on something!

Lauren and Aubrey get ready to blow out the candle on their giant cupcake!

Sophia enjoying a cupcake of her very own!

Jill's twins turned one last week! Holy Cow! It's hard to imagine it's been a whole year and here we are about to welcome our second child, it's funny how it all works out. We had a good time at the party and I must say that Jill and Matt were very gracious with Sophia. She just wanted to be in the middle of everything! I swear the rest of her family is going to look back at the pictures in years to come and wonder who is that other child! She wanted to help with all the presents and then she, of course, wanted to play with all the presents. She ran over more than foot with the girls' new baby stroller, a stroller I might add that was so stinkin' adorable I may have to look into for Sophia's birthday, and I already know she loves it! It's exciting that both girls are beginning to walk, Lauren a little more slowly than Aubrey, but she's on her way! I know that this will only lead into more exciting times and playdates for our two families! Happy birthday, girls...here's to more years of health and happiness!

Had to Do It

Reference Picture...

So one of the fun Daddy/Daughter things that Charlie likes to do with Sophia is to watch Sesame Street Cartoons on the computer. They really have a good time and Sophia loves to see the characters and sing songs. In fact, Jill and I were just discussing yesterday the crazy crack-like magic that Elmo has over little kids. Anyway, this morning Sophia and Daddy watched a new video and when the main Muppet came on the screen Sophia excitedly pointed to him and squealed, "Daddy!" Check it out and see what you think, but I have to say, there may be a resemblance! ;)

Artist in the Making

Cari, with Blake and Brady, helping Sophia get suited-up
Everyone listening to the story

and by listening I mean acting goofy and repeatedly chanting "I want to paint!"


at last...painting time!

Here she's using the ever-popular double brush technique

enjoying the stamp wall

Blake, Brady, and Sophia show off their finished masterpieces!

after a hard earned pizza lunch, they enjoyed lollipops

We had a wonderful morning hanging with new friends and checking out new places today! My friend Cari often watches her two nephews on Fridays and although they're obviously a bit older than Sophia we decided we needed to plan a play date, because let's be real, play dates are often for the parents (or aunts in this case) more than the kids anyway! Blake is 5 and Brady is 8 and both boys were just too sweet. They were both very good with Sophia. Blake was great at sharing and holding her hand across the parking lot while Brady was great at making sure Sophia was following the rules. We all had a great time and hopefully we will get another chance again, even though school is about to start up for them, maybe Cari and I can have some play dates!

We visited a paint your own pottery place called Paint Glaze and Fire. Every other Friday morning they have a program called Paint Me a Story. The kids listen to a story and then they paint a figure that goes along with the theme. This week's story was Smiley Shark. I found it really cool that they did let the kids glaze their projects and they will fire them for us to pick up in a week. I really expected that they would just paint something so they could take it home that day and it would be less muss and fuss, but that was not the case at all and I was happily surprised! The price also includes a snack and a drink for the kids and there's a coffee house built into the shop, so that was perfect for me too! I would like to go back there for both this project and others...it had lots to offer!

Fore!

She's going to be famous for her one handed approach to teeing off

golfing in this heat is just too much

Yesterday Sophia and Shelby did some serious golfing in the front yard! Today we headed to the pool for one of our final afternoon swims! It is a serious travesty that the pools close during the day starting next week. I know they are short staffed, obviously with kids going back, but there has to be someone that can work to at least keep a couple of pools open for the under 5 crowd! Grrr!

Sophia taking advantage of the bump

Don't you just love trying to take pictures of multiple toddlers!

Isabelle, Luca, and Sophia all enjoyed their time.