Happy Birthday, Walter!!!

Here's Walt with some birthday cookies and his new bone!

He enjoys anything tennis ball flavored!

On the way to the pet store to get his toy!

He kept trying to climb over the seat, but we managed to keep him wrangled!

Sophia was trying to pose with her buddy

Today Walter turns 5 years old! It's hard to believe that if he were an actual kid, he could be in Kindergarten! Yikes! :) I remember the day Charlie brought him home, he was so cute! He really has prepared us more than anything for having a house full of kids, that's for sure! Even though he's been a bit mis-behaved lately (perhaps he's acting out because of the baby??) we all love him so much! We loaded everyone up in Marsha, Walter's maiden voyage in the back by the way, and headed to PetCo so he could pick out a toy. I haven't been able to find any Frosty Paws, so we settled on some cookies and he was quite keen on the tennis ball covered bone. When we got home all he wanted to do was chew it and all Sophia wanted to do was pet him! He kept running away from her because he thought she wanted to take his toy and she kept running after him saying take our picture, Mom!!

Twins Squared

Mmmmm, chocolate cookies and lemon loaf!

We love to play ball with Auntie Jill!

Assisting Lauren with some paci intake


3 little girls playing so well together!

We had a play date of sorts today with Jill and her sister, who's in town with her set of twins! I was interested to see how Sophia would react to the littlest set of twins (5 months) but she pretty much ignored them! Ha! She did not, however, ignore Lauren and Aubrey...she was too excited to see them and had the grandest of times! Sophia is the youngest in our usual crowd of kids and although I love seeing her interact with the older kids, I am really enjoying seeing her now with Lauren and Aubrey who are younger than her. She did really well with sharing and she and Aubrey played the cutest game of catch! Sophia also followed Lauren around and helped her with her pacifier a couple of times. In her usual Shepherd like form, she made sure she knew where each of them were at all times! Lauren and Sophia also love to hug each other and Sophia even bent over and kissed her on the forehead at one point...it was absolutely priceless! I think we have a good big sister in the making! Plus, it'll be fun to see Lauren and Aubrey interact with our littlest baby at this point too! So thanks to Jill's mom who not only let us play at her house but baked delicious cookies and lemon cake, that Sophia loving referred to as lemon loaf.

What Was That I Said?!

So, remember that little tiny sentence I put in a recent post about eating too much junk food in the last two weeks...that was apparently no joke! I went to the doctor today and as he measured my stomach, at a whopping 38 cm, both of us sort of did a double take. He went back to his notes and indeed...I had grown 5 cm in two weeks...are you kidding me???! He also said that I gained "quite a bit of weight" but since I'm on a strict not-looking-at-the-scale-for-any-reason regime, I didn't bother to ask exactly how much, because quite frankly I don't want to know. He then ended our conversation with these uplifting remarks, "you're a pretty good size." Hmmmm, just not words you want to hear. ever.


My saving grace did come at the end though, as I was making my next appointment, he said, "oh wait, didn't you start the Prednisone?" Indeed I had, exactly 2 weeks ago, he was then kind enough to throw me a bone and say that those pills were probably the cause for a good part of my weight gain. Well thank God for small favors! I will say that I probably should curb by junk food intake anyway, especially since these steroids aren't doing me any favors, and I can't blame it all on the steroids, but to be honest, I probably won't. Even though I know it's counter productive and sort of backwards, because I feel so huge, I just don't care. I figure what's another scoop of ice cream at this point?!


I'm down to every week appointments, which consists of only 3 more appointments before Baby is born! I asked him if he thought I would go earlier than 39 weeks and although he said he didn't think so, he also said that wasn't really a guarantee. Super. Part of me would be ready to have this kid tomorrow, but the other part of me, the crazy part...needs to get through Sophia's birthday and then I'll be fine. I just have to lay low and keep that baby in there for 3 more weeks! We can do it! I've been focusing on trying to be positive and active the last few days and I think I'm doing pretty well. I will admit that my house is suffering a tad bit with cleanliness and laundry upkeep, but Charlie is being pretty understanding about that too. I'll be sure to keep everyone posted about any and all baby news...we're down to crunch time!

Meet the Mallow

Hello, Marsha...

...goodbye Rose. :(

yes, all you haters, the giant cup of too many pencils has left with Rose, never to return again!

side view of Marsha

Sophia loves riding in her too!

a glimpse of the navigation and dash

a rear view...and look how much space is left even with the stroller in the back!

So Monday evening we brought the ol' girl home! It has been quite an experience, let me tell you what! Firstly, I think Charlie and I were both surprised by the ease it took to actually purchase this car. Neither of us had either owned a Honda before, and it seems that maybe it's just the way they do business, but it took little negotiating to get what we wanted. It partially left us thinking, "Should we have asked for more?!" But, let's get down to the good stuff here...First off, her name is Marsha the Marshmallow. Wendy helped inspire it actually, as the names I had in mind just weren't "sticking". I feel that she's a girl car and she's big and boxy, like a marshmallow, and although soft and gooey, strong enough to survive a fire! She has many features, in fact, all of the options available! We really stopped at nothing this time! She's fully loaded and here are my favorite aspects:

• Power windows!!! Pathetic, I know, but seriously I was so overjoyed! There aren't many of you left out there who know the hassle of pulling up next to someone when they want to talk to you and you have to either lean over and crank the passenger side down, or motion that you just won't be able to hear them. Or trying to get some air to your baby and having to lean back and wrench your arm to roll down her window when necessary!
• Factory Installed Window Shades: Ya know those annoying suction cup baby window shades that suck?!...well Marsha has them already in the windows. They slide, unnoticed, in between the door frame when not in use, then you just pull up and hang on the hooks installed in the top of the windows...ingenious!
• Trunk Space: I loved Rose, but she had little of this!
• The Seats: Not only are the seats heated, but you can program Driver 1 and Driver 2 so if Charlie drives my car I don't have to spend 20 minutes trying to figure out where I want my seat again.
• Rear Back-Up Camera: Okay, this is seriously awesome! I'm having trouble adjusting to Marsha's size, but this camera really enables me to feel better about not running into any trees or over any small children! I even safely maneuvered leaving the garage and backing around Charlie's car the other day! Woo Hoo!

Here are the things Charlie loves:

• EVERYTHING!: He is such a little kid in a candy store, it's too cute! Of course I am extremely thrilled with the navigation as well, but Charlie is such a boy about all the technie stuff in the car. I kind of make fun of him, but seriously I'm glad he's psyched about it b/c then he can learn all about it and just show me...so much easier for me! ;) He's currently trying to figure out how to sync my phone for voice command while driving, love it! and he's all about learning the navi system as well as the DVD/bluetooth headset stuff. He's already declared that we need to take a road trip somewhere so that he and Stacy can sit in the back seat while I drive and play Playstation 3! We also have a free 3 month trial of XM Radio and that's cool for both of us too...so far I've been listening to all 80s and Oprah Radio...can't beat it!

I was sad to see Rose go, but I am happy about this new chapter in our life. Hopefully Rose will go to a good home and they will care for her deeply! I probably should have left them a note, but you just can't be too pushy. The car salesman gave Charlie some trouble about finally getting around to getting his wife a nicer car and boy, howdy, did he do it this time! Charlie is very excited for me, as he even said that I'm now officially part of the Mommy Club! He said I can roll up to Boot Camp in style with an SUV looking like one of the club! Thanks, Honey, I love you!

On Monday evening, Mom kept Sophia so we could get the car and not worry...here's what happened Tuesday morning when I picked her up:

Me: Are you ready to see our new car, Sophia?

Sophia: Yes!!! (we then walk out to the driveway where Marsha is parked)

Sophia: She stopped in her tracks, looks at it and says, "too big, mom." then I open the back door and she gasps, points to her car seat and says, "Daddy put it in!!"

Me: Yes he did! There's even space next to you where we're going to put Baby Brother or Baby Sister's car seat.

Sophia: Baby Sister sit over there?!

Me: Yes, but what if it's a baby brother?

Sophia: I want a sister

One final funny kid story...this happened yesterday when we met Jodie, Emma, and Isabelle for coffee:

Jodie: Emma, do you like Miss Tori's new car?

Emma: That's her new car?

Jodie: Yes

Emma: What happened to her other car?

Jodie: They traded it for this car.

Emma: They traded that dirty red car and got that? (incredulous voice and face)

That story made me laugh too hard...yes, Emma if it were only that simple!

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!