Mother's Day

Make a Smilebox slideshow

I finally managed to get these Mother's Day pictures up, and you shouldn't be surprised that they're in slideshow form! I seriously love these things! I plan on using them for all major and non-major holidays, plus anything in between that sounds good too! They are so convenient to use and I love that I can show so many pictures so easily!

Anyway, we had a two tiered mother's day this year. Usually I host a big brunch extravanganza at our house for both sides of the family, but to be honest, I just didn't feel up to it this year. I have already done some hosting this spring and I'm just tuckered out. In some ways it was nice to not have the responsibility, and in other ways I kinda missed it. I do hope to recreate the tradition again next year, though! Saturday night we had dinner and fun at Anne's house with Sue and the others. It was easy going and nice to kick-back. The girls played and I ate two of my favorite things...salami and chocolate cake! (not together, although don't put it past a pregnant woman!)

Sunday we had a quiet morning. Charlie and Sophia got me McDonald's breakfast, definitely a Tori favorite, and I was able to relax in bed for just a little bit reading my book and listening to some tunes on my new Bose i-Pod dock. I haven't gotten to fully utilize my i-Pod and I'm excited to finally have a place to play it... and boy does it sound good! In the few days since Sunday, Sophia has really enjoyed it as well. She dances to it every night! Stacy hosted a late brunch at his house and everything was absolutely delish! I experimented with my french toast casserole (a serious favorite among the family) by using not french bread, but cinnamon rolls and then stuffing it with cheesecake filling. Not low calorie by any means, but seriously yummy!

Charlie and I got a treat later that night when mom volunteered to keep Sophia overnight so we headed to the movies and snuggled ourselves into Monday. I hope all the other mothers out there had a wonderful day too!

Twin Day

Sophia keeping watch over the girls
Well, clearly she needs some help breaking free from this device!

Lauren enjoying the tractor

Aubrey soothing those nasty teeth

Sophia holds reading hour for an audience

She desperately wanted to "hod it!", referring to Aubrey, but we settled with a semi hug/head lock while sitting together on the floor. Poor Aubrey!

Group shot! Sophia took the initiative to make herself at home on Auntie Jill's lap too...apparently she thought there was enough room.

In honor of the twins' visit, we wore twin shirts!

We had another lovely play date with Jill and the girls last week. They ventured to our house this time and everything went smashingly! Sophia was a bit apprehensive to share her toys at first, but warmed up to the idea quickly. She was excited to see the babies and did interact with them. It was too cute to see her "reading" them a book and then offering up toys to them. She did break free and do her own thing a few times, but, in the end, she couldn't resist Jill's lap!

Biting the Bullet

So, I've broken open the maternity clothing tub! I really needed to unearth the bra, which has been both a relief and a tragedy, really. I mean, no one should have to wear a "G", and they're only getting bigger. I honestly think I could smuggle a small child out of the country with these things.

This evening is the first time I'm wearing actual maternity clothing...yikes! ;) Actually it's fine. They are pretty comfy, not to mention stylish! Wendy ordered me my very first pair of maternity Lucky's and I must say they were worth the wait! Plus, I started thinking that if I wear too many of my regular clothes throughout my pregnancy, I'll be plagued with the thought that I look pregnant wearing them when I try and wear them post-pregnancy, so it's really just better to start wearing the maternity clothing!

We have the "big ultrasound" this week at the doctor so we're pretty excited. No, we haven't changed our mind and are still planning on not finding out the sex, but in the off chance it should spread it's legs and we have no choice, we'll share the news with everyone....but don't count on that happening! ;)

In other baby news....Sophia seems to have baby-fever this week. She is really into carrying her babies around and loving on them every chance she gets. She pushes them in the stroller, takes them in the car, sleeps with them, eats with them, there is real separation anxiety going on from Sophia's side! She still doesn't really get that there's a baby in mommy's tummy, but she hears us talking about it enough, she figures she might as well join the club! I included a couple of cute pics of Sophia with Baby Belinda!

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Fore!

It's really much easier to get it in the hole this way.

Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen to our beautiful show...

tra la la laaaaaa!

It's now time for Sophia's guitar solo

They had a hospital fully equipped with patients and medical instruments!

Uh, Oh...I hope they have malpractice insurance!

Why does my kid have to be the one to eat the blocks?

back on track!

So we tried out a new place today, the Johnson County Museum. It was pretty fun with lots to see and do, and of course ya gotta love that it's free! I've been trying to check out the current events lately in order to broaden our horizons a little and get out there and try new things. Plus, a girl and her momma can get tired of the same old stuff! At the museum right now is an exhibit featuring "the neighborhood". It included a park, a construction zone, a book store, a hospital, a theatre, and a women's clothing boutique. Sophia was not into wearing any sort of hat or costume but did enjoy the other things. The museum will be featuring this exhibit all through the summer so we may find ourselves back again before the season is over.

The Dog Whisperer

Here is the long awaited video of Sophia's dog training. Maybe she has a future on the Discovery Channel...?

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Our little munchkin...

wearing a Pink Floyd t-shirt???!

running through the witch's castle

sliding through the Emerald City

Hard to tell, but we're about to take off on the witch's broom stick

So these pictures are actually from last weekend, but we've had a lot of pictures lately so I tried to spread them out this week! We headed down to Crown Center for the last day of their Wizard of Oz exhibit. I wasn't quite sure what we were in for, but it turned out to be super fun! They had set up an area that had Auntie Em's house, all the main characters, the witch's castle, the forest, and the Emerald City. There were two slides and other fun things to do that involved pushing buttons. We even got to watch the Wicked Witch melt. It was a bit small and thankfully not too crowded, but it was cute and fun. The next exhibit is about Legos, so we'll surely check that one out too!

After Oz we headed outside to the fountains...

In case you weren't aware, Kansas City is called the "City of Fountains" and we sure do have a bunch of them! This one is a popular hot-spot for kids of all ages. In the summer there are truly people who wear their swimsuits here and stay all day! Sophia thought it was way fun to play in the water...the fountains go up and down on a timer so it was cute to watch her reaction when the water went away and then returned once again! It was a bit chilly and we didn't have a change of clothes, so we put the kibosh on it as quickly as we could!

No worries though, because Habitat for Humanity had their playhouses for display! There's always much to see and do at Crown Center! Habitat auctioned these playhouses off the day before to raise money for their charity, but in the meantime they were still available for play. Some were pretty cool while others were only okay, I'd have been interested to see what some of them went for...?!

checking out the Lego house

Hangin' with Daddy in front of another fountain!


We rounded out our evening by heading to a great burger joint I'd been wanting to try only to get there and find out they're not open on Sundays! Ah, the luck. As we turned around in the parking lot about to discuss what we should do instead, Sophia shouted "PIZZA!" from the backseat. It was hilarious...she was right on cue! We ordered on the way home and she gobbled it up, no surprise there! But, really, who doesn't love a good pizza pie!

Go Ahead and Melt

Each morning when Charlie leaves for work he says goodbye to both of us and I love you. Sophia started responding with "bye, bye, Daddy. Luh you." I mean could it get any cuter? It is really the most precious thing you've ever heard. Of course Mommy still hasn't received the "luh you" but Daddy gets it every day! Here are some other cute things she's been up to lately:



counting to 10: So, she doesn't get every number right, but she comes darn close!

squealing: This isn't always a desirable trait, but when she knows she's going to see her friends or go someplace fun she squeals with delight at the news.

hugs and kisses: She is starting to give her friends (and some relatives) hugs and kisses hello each time she sees them. She still gives hugs and kisses frequently to her animals, but is usually stingy with the kisses to mom and dad, oh the nerve!

memorizing books: She has a few books that she's begun to memorize. Also, she now knows many of her books by name or at least by a main character or phrase. Her favorite book right now is The Mitten by Jan Brett. She thinks the bear who sneezes is about the funniest thing on earth!

talking on the phone: On the "real" phone she isn't such a talker, but on her play phones, watch out! She speaks into them like me...scary! She usually starts out with hello followed by a bunch of gibberish and then puts the phone up to my ear, just like I do to her. She will sometimes talk on the real phone but doesn't say much besides the other person's name.

sliding: she says "weeeeeeee!" every time she goes down a slide

sharing with Walter: again, this is not always a desirable thing, but it can be really cute...she will try and put her sippy cup towards his mouth, she tries to include him in games, talks to him often, and gives him lovies every morning.

dancing: She is still quite the dancing machine! She dances in the car, in the house, at the park, on a walk, whenever the mood strikes her. Recently she was dancing to a toy that she has, a stuffed bunny that sings when you a push a button. After she was done she pushed a button on another toy and a song played. She put the bunny on the floor, looked at it and said "dance, Bunny."

trains Coco: Coco is a life-size stuffed Golden Retriever and Sophia loves her! She recently began trying to train her and give her commands all on her own. This is maybe some of the funniest stuff ever! I have a darling video of this that will posted soon!

achoo!: her latest game, probably derived from reading The Mitten, is to say Achoo! over and over again. She will then say the name of someone else in the room who is to continue with the achoos! until she deems fit. On a side note, she will say "bless you" anytime someone in the room sneezes for real. Gotta love good manners!



I'm sure I could go on and on...but I'll stop here for now!