Welcome, Baby!

A very special congratulations to my cousin David and his beautiful wife Jenny! Jenny gave birth to this stud muffin yesterday, Andrew Gillespie Wiens. He weighed 9lbs 3oz, just 2 oz short of big cousin, Leo! They live all the way up in Wisconsin but we hope to get to meet him in the near future! Welcome to the world, Andrew and congrats Dave and Jenny---he's beautiful!!

Clifford Exhibit

Juan, Sophia and Isabelle playing in the train car
using the belt for Clifford's food

Just like at home, Leo wanted to play in the dog bowls

Juan sliding down Clifford's back

Sophia and Isabelle used the conveyor for each other too

Clifford the Big Red Dog had a little exhibit going on at Crown Center. We love to visit those free exhibits and even though they're small they provide tons of entertainment. Plus, we usually eat at Fritz's the train restaurant and hit up the candy store for a special treat. We met our new friends, Juan and Andres, there and everyone had a good time! Clifford closes this weekend and we look forward to what's next!

Splishy Splashy Play Date

A determined Lauren

Leo scoping the scene

Sophia and Aubrey having a splash fest!

Lauren wants to splash too!

the odd man out, Leo played with toys

Lauren and Sophia enjoying teeter-gator

pushing her brother

(incidentally I think he looks so much like my dad's kid pictures in this pic!!)

Jill and the girls had us over for a fun play date last week. She busted out the pool and outdoor toys and all the girls (and Leo) had a great time! Sophia loves the pool, and she was able to wear her fancy new 2 piece swim suit! Woo Hoo! I bought this ages ago thinking that when we potty trained it might be nice to have and although Sophia didn't need to potty at all while wearing it, I'm sure it will prove to come in handy! ;)

Later that night Wendy and her super cute new beau, Chris, came over for a kabob dinner prepared by yours truly! I just had to include these pictures of Wendy and me roasting marshmallows over the "fire"! It was fun to "double" with Wendy and we love Chris and can't wait to have more dates together in the future!

Muffin Mayhem!

two sweet helpers
Angie getting her mix on!

thanks to Aunt Cathy for our adorable muffin cups in the shape of butterflies, dragonflies and ladybugs!

Aunt Chris "holding" Leo! She learned how quickly it is that Leo is wanting to be back on the go!

adorable and tasty muffins!

almost too pretty to eat!

Angie was here last week and the girls had a great time. She joined us on a play date and after naps, they were thrilled to help me make blueberry muffins from scratch! Yummy! They both enjoyed our "new" (okay, maybe not so new, but I forgot I had it!!, thanks, Cathy!) muffin tin. Sophia was sad that we ran out of room and to resort to the regular muffins!

Potty Like a Rock Star

I've been hesitant to post any updates and therefore cause a jinx, but I actually think we might be in the clear (knock on wood! Just in case!) so here's an update on Sophia's potty training progress...


We started two Mondays ago where we had a few accidents the first day followed by one or no accidents the following days. By Thursday of that week she was accident free. By Friday she was taking herself to the potty and declaring that she could do it herself, thank you very much. By Tuesday of this week she was napping in her panties totally accident free. She is still wearing a pull up to bed at night. Some mornings she wakes up dry, others a little wet, and still others... a lot wet. I'm not worried about overnight so much, it's actually going in a much better direction than I expected. So, basically, I have a potty trained child. She knows when she has to go (which is surprisingly not very often) and just goes. She loves wearing panties and has showed them to everyone, appropriate or not, whatever, it's just exciting! ;) We're really proud of her and I feel good that I waited until the time was right for her and she just caught on and rolled with it, no tears or bribery. Before the panties, I was worried that it would be a lot harder than diapers, but really, I think we both appreciate the freedom!

Almost There!

Leo is 11 months old today...hard to believe! Even though I've been longing for this time, I am a little vehclempt thinking about his birthday which is right around the corner. He's so grown up and just gets bigger every day (literally! LOL!). We look forward to this last month of "baby"! My baby.

Here Leo and Luca are adoring little Francesca...so cute! Big Brother might be a little protective of a potential suitor! ;)

And my furry baby...

Okay, since my last Walter post was a bit wrought with frustration I thought I would take this chance to brag about him a little. There are times I appreciate him, just not when he's sitting on the table! ;) Anyway, as you all know, Walt is a herding dog by nature and since he's been a puppy he has always herded us, especially when walking down the stairs. He also likes to sit in a central location so he can see all of us at once, he does not appreciate it when the sheep separate! One of Leo's absolute favorite pastimes is playing in his water bowl (along with splashing in toilet and eating toilet paper. He will go into the bathroom just to accomplish these tasks. He will even try and push Sophia's buns out of the way whilst atop the potty, so he can splash below her...sigh) and even though we tell him "no" about 500 times/day it still hasn't sunk in..at least to Leo. Walter now understands that this a no-no activity and although he is not aggressive with Leo being near his stuff in the slightest, he knows mom and dad said it's not okay, so if Walter sees him going for it, he will rush over towards him, leap in front and lather him with kisses until he either turns around to go the other way or is retrieved by someone else! He also does this when he gets too near to stairs as well. It's kind of a sight to see! Sometimes Walter will even leap directly over the baby so that he can block his path! It is too cute. Maybe he's a good dog after all!

Bama Time

cuddles with Uncle Stacy

French toast for lunch...YUM-O

ice cream...? Of course!

playtime!

I tried to get a picture of them actually sharing the toy...amazing!

We hung out at mom's the other day for good old fashioned grandmotherly fun. Sophia has been anti-everyone, except her mother, lately, so it was nice to see her so excited to go to Bama's. I chuckle to myself though, because I remembered the reasons we usually leave the kids with Grandma (any one of them) and then leave...because they get spoiled rotten! ;) I know it's a grandmother's prerogative so I try not to get too bent out of shape about it, but there was chocolate, french toast, and ice cream all before noon! I'm thankful for all our special grandmas though, and I know the kids are too!