Roll Over

I don't have a picture to share, but Sophia rolled over today x3!! Can you believe it? She is barely 11 1/2 weeks old and she can already roll from her tummy to back.

She actually performed this trick for the first time while gettting her pictures made. She was laying on a synthetic fur blanket (white in color) on her belly. It was obvious that she was a bit frustrated by all of the fuzz, and all of a sudden she rolled over!

Since I'm on the topic of developmental milestones, I am going to also mention that she has been sleeping through the night for the last 3 weeks. Lucky us huh? Now I am going to go "knock on a piece of wood" and hope that this doesn't jinx us for tonight.

Once we get the proofs from our pictures, everyone we'll be able to view them online. We tried a new photographer and had a ball. The photo session lasted an hour and a half. The girl loves to take photos of babies and had some really fun ideas. I can't wait to the pics!!

Happy Turkey Day!!

Sisters

Here's a glimpse of Sophia's little smile. I didn't catch it in time, but she has two dimples that are so sweet. She loves her butterfly rattle that lights up and laughs when you move the wings.
Maura really cares and loves to play with her sister. Just this afternoon, I was giving Sophia a bath upstairs, and we were finishing up (putting on clothes, lotion, etc) and Sophia was crying. Gary heard Maura say, "Here I come Ophia. I will save you." So here comes Maura running up the steps to check on us. Another example, Sophia was sitting up on the couch and Maura was on the cushion next to her. I was in the kitchen and encouraged Maura to talk to Sophia. Maura then asked, "Ophia, Like my shirt? Has teddy bear on it." I just smiled--it is so nice to see them interacting. Here's a fun shot. Maura planting a zerbert on Sophia's belly.
And then there are other times, that just make us laugh. Gary and I were in the kitchen earlier and when we walked into the living room this is what we saw.

Hmmmm....I wonder who could have put the Christmas tree pole on Sophia??? :)
I'm sure she had something to do with it.

Speaking of tree...our house is a wreck right now. I have started putting it together. It is quite a job. I figure if I work on it a little each night then I won't be as overwhelmed (our tradition is to put the ornaments on it on Thanksgiving night). I use to always insist on a real tree, but for the last 2 years I have settled for an artificial tree. It's not the same, but it works. If we have time, we might do a cedar tree outside and decorate it for the birds.

I am so excited for the holidays...I can hardly wait.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Pow Pow Pow

I will admit...I have a slight grudge against deer season. It probably has something to do with the fact that it falls immediately after football. Just when I think I have my husband back something else snatches him from me.

Gary was raised in a family of four boys and hunting was a big deal. On opening day, he's like a little kid again.

This is a shot of him with the girls in between outings. So far he hasn't killed anything yet. He wants to take Maura as soon as she is old enough to go. Whenever we mention deer....Maura quickly responds "Pow Pow Pow". "Daddy gonna shoot that deer". Daddy in woods...really quiet." She's all decked out in her camouflage too. Pretty cute, huh?

Miss Sophia has been up to some new tricks lately. She spends the majority of her time blowing bubbles, smiling and cooing, kicking her socks off, and shaking her rattle.

And for those of you who are wondering....yes...her cough is better.

A sack of potatoes

Sophia had her 2 month check up yesterday. Gary and I were elated to find out that Sophia weighs 10 pounds and 9 ounces (5oth %)!!! Woo-Hoo!!! She's a sack of potatoes!!

Now must of you won't understand why that is such fantastic news to us and that's okay. But it might help if I mention again that Maura was barely in the 5th percentile for the first full year of her life. People would initially look at her and their first resonse was "Oh she's so tiny!" After a while we grew use to it, but it always kind of bothered me. Since she was our first, I didn't know any different. But looking back on it.......she really started out with a few strikes against her. Thank goodness she's such a spitfire and fighter because she made it and is definitely okay!!

Anyways back to Sophia...the doctor checked her over really well and her lungs are totally clear. Each day her cold is getting better. She's not quite 100% but getting closer. I've been told by everyone that the older child brings home sickness to the younger baby. Anyways, I guess this is our first taste of it. Gary and I had a nice day with just Sophia. We ate at Ocean Zen and went to the mall for a little while.

Hope everyone is enjoying the color on the trees.....

and Isn't life just amazing?

Sleeping beauty!

There is nothing more precious than a sleeping baby.

Within the last two weeks, Gary, Maura, and I have all recovered from some kind of sickness that was going around. I was really thinking Sophia would be fine considering I'm nursing her. Well guess who woke up Saturday morning with a hoarse voice, cough, and slight congestion....yes.....our sweet Sophia.


She does seem much better today though. I feel bad that she's got this stuff and I absolutely hate it when our kids are sick!
Here are some recent shots of her in the last few weeks.


Practicing push ups.



I took this under a really bright light. It looks like her eyes are probably going to be blue. She looks so old here, doesn't she? Nine weeks today. We have her two month check up this Tuesday along with her first round of shots.


Have a great week everyone!

Candy! Candy! Candy!

So do you want to hear the good news or the bad news first?

Good news: Halloween was an absolute success! We had fantastic weather, the costume was a hit, and Maura loved it!

Here's the bad news....we have candy running out of our ears! Argh! I can honestly say that I don't think I've eaten this much candy in my life. And it goes for Maura too...she wakes up and says "Have a candy please Mommy?" or "Daddy, have a treat?" Someone must come and bag up all this candy or are teeth are going to turn rotten and our bottoms are going to expand. We'll try to get a handle on it. Thought you would enjoy the laugh! :)

This is a shot of us after we had trick or treated for 3 hours. Pretty hard core, huh? No, I enjoyed taking Maura to town. We had some nice Mommy/daughter time. Gary stayed at the house and handed out treats to his school kids. He really enjoys seeing all of the costumes and he was able to spend some quality time with Sophia.

Even with the bad news, I'm sure we'll do it all again next year.

Guess who turned 2

This is my niece Olivia who recently turned two. She's such a doll! We celebrated her birthday this past Sunday in a nearby city.
Here are the kids all decked out in their party hats. I think Logan must have thought something was going to explode so he covered his ears. Liz finally managed to get the candle lit with all of the wind. Look at Olivia's cake platter. Neat idea sister!
My sister is the Martha Stewart of our family. Here are some more of her creations. Rather than a birthday cake she make 4 different flavors of cupcakes that tasted divine. The kids had their choice of zoo animal which rested on top of each dessert.


The pavilion was next door to a nice playground area.

It's easy to tell where everyone spent the majority of their time.

Once the party was over, we headed into the zoo.