The First 48...

...or maybe I should say the first 4 - 8 (hours that is!). Kathleen was correct, these first hours and days are critical and luckily, we caught a break! Belinda is home and safely in bed with her mommy tonight. Thank God for small miracles! As I was running on the treadmill tonight, after giving up more hope, I got the call. A security guard had spotted a mysterious object on the top of the claw machine and went to investigate. Upon arrival he realized it was our girl. A little dirtier, but mostly no worse for the wear, Belinda was rescued. So, we made the long haul back out to the mall in rush hour traffic to reunite with our loved one. Sophia was beside herself with joy. We celebrated (thank goodness for Daddy's forethought to pick up dinner while I was in gridlock) with some sandwiches. I also read her Belinda Goes to Paris before bed. We're going to try and keep a much closer eye on that little one from here on out!

Amber Alert

Belinda

(the baby in the middle)

has gone missing...

It's possible I may be more traumatized than Sophia, but we seem to have lost her beloved Belinda. We have "lost" her before but it was always a situation where we knew exactly where she was when we left her, in this case, not so much. We have it narrowed down to somewhere in the mall. Lovely, huh? Yes, I have already called mall security and every store we entered, but no-go. This is not good. Sophia had a total meltdown about it and even I got teary eyed! Seriously, you ask...but yes it's true. All the places took our number and will call us if she turns up, but I don't have a lot of hope. We went back to the mall and scoured all the other places we could think of, and again, no luck. She was visibly shaken by the time we left the mall without her and after some water and snuggles, she did get to sleep while cuddling another of her babies, but she keeps telling me she wants Belinda. It's very heartbreaking. So Belinda, if you're out there and can hear our pleas...please come home, Baby...Mommy Sophia misses you so much!

Contrary Mary and her Sidekick Destructo

So, I'm hoping that this is just a phase and not a personality trait, but I'm not so sure. Sophia is in a very contrary stage right now and it's all I've got to not loose it! EVERYTHING that we say is incorrect, wrong, ridiculous, and not even a little bit true. For example, we were driving yesterday and Sophia asked if I had seen the kid on the bike I replied no, because in fact I hadn't seen it. Very adamantly from the backseat came her insisting that I did see it...no I didn't...yes you did..! You get the idea. Most of the time I just give up and let her roll with it but inside I'm annoyed. Please tell me this will stop??! Or is she me?? ;) Other than that, we are really happy with her creativity and outgoingness lately. She is really getting good at being silly and understanding jokes. She loves to play games and she is becoming even better at keeping herself entertained (she's always been pretty good at that, though). She is still a great big sister and always concerned about Leo. She's not a great sharer of toys, but that will come in time (or else!) and she loves to play with him and snuggle him.




Leo on the other hand has entered the destruct-o phase of life. He has now discovered how toilet paper unrolls, tissue endlessly pops up and the grand allure of the bathroom cabinets. If he's in a room for a few minutes it looks as if a tornado has hit it with play food, puzzle pieces, books, and toys everywhere! I still continue to be worried (paranoid or not, I'm truly not sure) that he isn't hitting his developmental milestones. I mean he's very happy and his gross motor skills are good, but his fine motor skills aren't that great and he is not interested in reading books at all. He literally just wants to crawl around, take stuff out and put stuff in his mouth. I try and sit with him and play games, but he's not into it. Charlie tells me it's just him "being a boy" but it doesn't ease my mind. He doesn't really wave, I don't think he has any clue on pointing and I feel like with only a little over a month left until his 1st birthday he has so much yet to accomplish. On the up side, he does seem to be pretty verbal. He babbles constantly and enjoys hearing himself talk! He uses lots of different sounds and says Mama all the time, but only says Dada occasionally. Sometimes it sounds as if he's trying to repeat words we tell him but he does things so inconsistently that I never know if he's "learning" or if it's just a fluke. I know I'm a worrier and you all probably think I'm nuts, but I do worry about him.




We're getting so close to both their birthdays and I just can't believe that another year has gone by so quickly! It's both exciting and worrisome, (as I mentioned!! ;) but I do love the time I get to spend with them!

Double Double

everyone loved to play Elefun!

safari vogue

present time!

Lauren gets ready to blow out her candle!

Now it's Aubrey's turn!

Sophia enjoys the cake too!

lovely ladies!

Two cuties turning two! Hurrah! Their actual birthday is tomorrow, but we helped them celebrate this past weekend with an elephant themed party. It was fun had by all playing games and eating cake! Happy birthday, Girls...we all hope that this year is filled with more joy, laughs, and learning!

Clogs!

Here we are in our fabulous clogs, we had to break them out of the box as soon as we were home! Aren't we cute?! Sophia has a gay old time dancing around in her shiny shoes and has had many compliments already!

Our Door County Vacation

Slideshow design made with Smilebox

The retreat of the woods was pleasant, I just wish it had been closer! ;) After the family vacated we moved into the smaller but air conditioned cabin. It was better on the heat front, but the beds were still terrible. We had a very difficult time sleeping, plus the kids had to share a room and they didn't fare too well with that either. It was closer to the lake though and had some play equipment and a fire pit, so all in all it was a good move.



We kept ourselves busy the last few days by ourselves and really had a great time. We hit the beach, of course, for some sand castle making and splish splashing. The beach was a bit seaweedy but the kids didn't seem to mind at all while Charlie and I were fairly grossed out. He even took his water shoes on the subsequent trip! Sophia really had fun building a sand castle with me as I attempted to make a bridge and a moat. She got her boat to sail a bit before all the water soaked back into the sand and really had a fine time trying to fill it back up over and over again.



It also happened to be County Fair time so we decided to act like locals and get our country on. I must say it was a bit disappointing, but Sophia had an absolute blast on the Midway. We were both unsure whether or not she'd be interested in the rides, as she sometimes is a bit frightened of new things, but she was ecstatic! She rode ride after ride after ride all night long. We literally had to rip her away at the end of the night. I expected to see more animals, maybe because it was opening night, but we were disappointed on that front. So, the next day we hit a local farm called The Farm, so creative! ;)



The Farm was a bit like Deanna Rose but much more of an authentic farm. There were kittens everywhere along with baby goats galore. Seriously, Sophia may grow up to be a goat herder. She loves those stinkin' goats! She got to bottle feed one and before we left she literally went goat to goat (as many as she could see) and tried hugging and kissing them goodbye. She's a riot. We also got to see a very plentiful garden, different kinds of cows, ducks, geese, donkeys, horses, and pigs. Whew! If we ever make it back to Door County, this will be a must stop again!



One day we drove up the coast to other towns and visited Al Johnson's Swedish restaurant. It is a local favorite and quite popular because it has goats that live on its roof. Talk about a riot!! There were three goats that we could tell and they had a fine time just lounging about and eating grass. They also had a cute little shop in there and both Sophia and I got some fabulous new clogs for the fall....well, at least mine are for the fall. Sophia is wearing them now and for the price of them, she better keep on wearing them! I think it will be worth it, we got them a size bigger so they'll last longer and honestly, she is pretty darn happy to clomp clomp around all day!



We decided to make the trip home all in one day (we had gone there in two parts, stopping at my Aunt Ellyn's for an overnight) and it really wasn't bad. We did eat at McDonald's twice in one day because you really can't beat the play place/eating combo. It took us about 13 hours and the kids did amazingly well. In fact, it was the first time ever on a car trip that we busted out the DVD player. Sophia's eyes were wide with wonder when I told her she could watch a little Barney. She was pretty happy and by the time she watched two Barney DVDs we were home.



The fear of the road trip is definitely behind us and I think that anything else from here on out will be easier...as long as there's two of us that is! ;)

Confessions Part 2

1. Road Tripping is waaaaaaay better with multiple adults! ;)
2. A portable CD player for Sophia was the best $12 I have ever spent!



After well over 24 hours and more than 1,500 miles logged, we are back home in one, very tired piece. We headed up to Door County, Wisconsin last week for a Jones Family Reunion. The last one was held 15 years ago, also in Door County, so "it's been awhile" is an understatement. If you're not familiar DC is the upper peninsula of Wisconsin, near Green Bay and is absolutely beautiful! Of course, as our vacations seem to go this year the weather didn't cooperate! It was unseasonably warm (as it was unseasonably cold during our FL vacay!) there this year. Usually the temps are about 75-80 during the day and 60 at night, but alas, they were well into the 90s and the nights were just as bad in our un-air conditioned cabin. BUT...the company made it all worth it! As many family events are likely to do, this one was no exception in how I missed my Dad. It was hard to be around the whole family and take group pictures and notice that again he was missing. Hopefully he was there in spirit as all the cousins remembered younger days!



We had a busy few days celebrating birthdays, catching up, meeting new family members, and just generally playing and having fun! Sophia was her usual self...the life of the party! She was very funny and had no problem making friends with cousins young and old! (and by 'old' I mean old-er and certainly NOT past any prime!;) She and Maren were great friends and the one day that Sophia got to spend with Sophie was absolutely thrilling for her. They had a fabulous time playing together. Leo, as usual, charmed the masses with his giggles, gurgles and beaming smile!


The actual reunion went from Saturday to Monday. Tuesday morning all the rest of the family dispersed and Charlie, the kids, and I all stayed on for the remainder of the week. It was heavenly (despite the spiders and terrible beds!) to get away and spend some time as a family of four. More pictures from those days to post soon!


We're already looking forward to the next reunion in 2015, which as it seems, Louise and I have been nominated to plan...!

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This picture didn't make the slideshow on accident! We couldn't forget those lovable outlaws! ;)