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.

Funny Things

So life goes on in our house as I try to be less stressed and more "Zen"! Ha! I appreciate every one's support and words of encouragement! It really did make me feel better and help to put things in perspective. Things in the sleeping category have been better the last few days, so I'm hopeful that they continue to rise!

I thought that since my last few posts were full of angst, I should include some funny things that have been going on here lately!

I'll start with myself...I was driving to the doctor's office on Wednesday and from my peripheral I noticed a car that kept creeping in and out of my vision. I finally looked over and there is a guy who's mouthing 'hellos' and 'hi's' at me and then gave a short little wave. My first thought, literally, was "Oooh, I need to shower more often!" and then I thought, " Oh poor guy, he doesn't know the half of it!" Although my husband makes me feel beautiful and special all the time, I must say a little ogling felt pretty good, even if it was from a creepy highway driver!

Since Sophia is much funnier than I, she gets most of the recognition here...Enjoy some of the stories from the last few weeks.

* She now must spit out water and toothpaste when she brushes her teeth. It's very funny and is more messy than functional.

*She still loves to read, but in true Sophia form, she directs how I must do it. If I try and put the book on the table, she instructs me to do it with "two hands, Mommy."

*She is getting more talkative on the phone, but is still much more so on her play phone. She calls everyone and goes on and on about all kinds of things. She often says things like "Hi. How are you? I great!"

*She is very into pretend play with her dolls. This kid loves dolls, much more than I ever did! She loves to give them baths, put them on the potty, take them all around, etc. She also says the funniest things to them like, "No jumping on stairs, Belinda." and "I have to go change Calli's poopies now." She feeds them, pats them and even tells them "Mommy got you" It is really precious to watch, and very eye opening for sure! ;)

* She is very into coloring and drawing and likes to write her name. She of course just scribbles and what-not but she tries to say the letters of her name as she does it. She gets most of them.

* Every morning when Charlie leaves he of course showers us with goodbye hugs and kisses. The other day, just after he left, I went to change her diaper and as she was laying there she looked at me and said, "I want to kiss more lips." Then she puckered up.

* Someone recently asked Sophia if she wanted a baby brother or a baby sister. Sophia replied with, "I want fruit snacks."

* I often tell Sophia that I love her very much. Recently I said, "I love you Sophia." She looked at me and said, "much." Uh, yes.

* My belly button usually pops out later in the evening after a full day of being on my feet and eating. The first time Sophia saw it she was very upset and declared my belly button broken. Now she often checks to see what state it's in and if it's "broken" she tries to push it back in.

* Another morning on the changing table, where apparently great revelations are made, Sophia looked at me and said, "I'm the princess." I said "You're the princess?" "Mmmm, hmmm" Glad we have that covered. No question who's in charge around here!

* Charlie took Sophia to the pool recently and she jumped in from the side all by herself! She did not hold on to his hands, just squatted and jumped! Aaaaaah! She was so proud of herself and this game kept her entertained for a long time!

* Whenever I tell Sophia that we're going to church, she immediately puts her finger to her lips and says, "Shhhhhhhh." I only wish she took her own advice, but at least she knows the drill!

* We pulled into my brother's driveway yesterday and very excitedly Sophia exclaimed, "Hannah's house!" Hannah is the dog.

I Am Not a Patient Person

When I used to tell people that I was a teacher, so many would respond with such things like, "oh you must have the patience of a saint!" Blech! That is untrue. In fact, I am not patient, I am mostly very impatient, I just have a very rigid set of rules that I expect followed and when they don't get followed I'm patient enough to follow through and do what I have to do. That's pretty much how I run my life. That being said, I'm going to take a few moments to vent because I am truly and literally on the verge of a nervous breakdown.


As I mentioned a few posts ago, Sophia is in a non-sleeping stage. I'm not really sure what kind of stage this is, ie: teething, exploring, testing limits, not feeling well, etc. I tend to think it's more of the testing variety, but I can't be sure. For a solid week now she has been refusing to take naps and/or go to bed at night. During the very first week of her big bed she did this a little bit and we simply placed her back in bed and all was well. So, when I tried that tactic again last week...well, let's just say I stopped counting when we hit back-to-bed 45 times in an hour. This tactic, although tiring and stressful, sort of worked for a few days. Then it just became a game, so I figured I ought to mix up my strategy. But, no matter what I try one night it doesn't seem to work the next. By the time she goes to bed at night, I am really and truly ready for her to be in bed. It is my one real break of the day and I need it. When she resists the bed my stress-level instantly triples and I become a crazy person. It takes all my strength to keep it together to deal with her and once she finally is asleep I become a complete nightmare (so sorry, Babe!). I burst into tears, don't want to to talk to anyone, become even grouchier and just want to lie in bed. I know that some of this is hormonal, but some of it is that I am completely terrified that this will never go away and we're going to go all the way to Baby Day with a non-sleeping Sophia. I fear that she'll never be able to spend the night away from home again...speaking of which, props to Anne who kept her one night over the weekend and didn't complain about her entire night of lack of sleep! But, even though I had a few hours of peace I paid for it three-fold the next day. With the baby due so soon (7.5 weeks for those who are counting! Gulp!) my anxiety is already aroused and I just don't know what to do. I walk through my days tired from the night before and fearful of the night to come.



Charlie is trying his best to be supportive and do what he can, but Sophia wants nothing to do with him at bed time, as long as I'm here. It's all me all the time and I am not sure I can deal with that. Is that wrong? Do I sound like a totally bitchy mother who doesn't even want to be around her child, because sometimes that's how I feel?! On the other side I sometimes blame myself for having such a clingy child, doesn't that sound crazy!? I even think I sound whacked when I say things like "maybe I spend too much time with her"...is that possible for a mother to do?! But when she gets so hell-bent on spending every waking, and apparently non-waking moment with me I enter Tori Meltdown Stage!



I am not sure what the days and weeks ahead will bring us in this area, but I hope and pray that things ease up and she reverts back to my calm, lovely child who looks forward to going to bed. Any advice or stories of similar issues with your child will be welcomed, because as I said, I am teetering on the edge here!

He's Nesting

I have to give a shout-out to my husband who has been in super nesting mode today! Yay! He's been on the go since he woke up this morning and things are really coming together. He finished putting together the two bookshelves we got for Sophia and moved them into her room. He finished moving the baby's furniture into the nursery, did all kinds of work on our kitchen table, finished it and put it back in the kitchen, emptied the dishwasher, put away party accoutrement from last night and even swept and mopped the kitchen and hallway! Whew! I'm glad that I was able to support him so well during all his tasks today! ;) I really appreciate him and all his work today has really started to whittle away at our 'Baby-To-Do-List'.

We've been having some sleep issues with Sophia this week, which I am frankly too tired to go into, but I have been a bit on the brink of sanity this week because of it. Anyhow, the past two nights have been better, but not perfect by any means. Anne volunteered to take Sophia overnight tonight, which makes me nervous because she's been so "off" but after being encouraged by multiple sources to take her up on her offer and finally get a full nights sleep for myself I'm looking forward to it. Charlie and I are going to run some errands and then maybe even sneak in a movie before I take full advantage of our baby free night. And I'm going to try my best not to worry about Sophia and enjoy my time!

She and Charlie Brown blew bubbles

I couldn't resist this picture--it is absolutely too precious!!!
We put Luca and Sophia in the bath together last night because they were both pretty filthy after a morning pool date and an evening playing outside with bubbles, dirt, and popsicles.