Soooo....I have been reminded by my good friend Johanna this weekend that I have been slacking on my blogging.  So this is what is going on with us...

Sophia is going to be 4 in less than a month and is registered for preschool in the fall.  She will go Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons to preschool on top of going to Julie's.  She already so smart and gets so much from Julie's house.  We are excited to see how "school" goes for her.  Our Sopha Lopha is getting so big and independent.  She loves to tell Momma and Daddy that she can do it on her own which we try to oblige of course.  She has become quite an eater most meals.  She is eating almost every meal we make at this point.  There are very few things that she won't at least try-even lettuce salad!! I miss my baby, but love the little girl that she is turning into.  

                                                 Sophia with Pinkalicious in March.

Claire is going to be 1 in less than a month! I can't believe how much of a little spitfire she is! I love her personality and has a face for every emotion.  She is extremely independent as well.  She was crawling at 5 1/2 months and has been walking for a month now even though she is not walking far.  She is starting to use words like "hi", "ma", and "da" just to name a few.  Claire is an AMAZING eater! She has been on ALL "big girl" food for about a month now.  She eats everything.  Just tonight we had Enchilada Pie and she ate it like it was going out of style.  She still loves her bottle, but we are working on that as well.  I can't wait until this summer when I can watch her grow everyday all day!

                                                        An example of Claire's attitude.

                                                             Claire's walking skills!

Not much to update on Joe and I.  We have collectively lost about 60 pounds since last July.  We are proud to say, although we got off of the weight loss wagon for a couple months, we have jumped back on and are both seeing progress already.  Only 10 more days of school with kids and 2 extra for me.  Joe will be working this summer again, but he has adjusted hours so he will be leaving work around 12:30 everyday.  We have really enjoyed the freedom that gives us in the summer to do things with the girls in the afternoon.  

Our family vacation, although not far away or that exciting per se, consists of going to Chicago for a long weekend in July! We have it planned and the hotels booked already.  We are excited to show the girls a big city and things that they have never seen.  We will be visiting Lincoln Park Zoo, Shedd Aquarium and the Magnificent Mile for some shopping.  

We will be going to a couple weddings this summer as well as visiting our friends Megan and Ryan (and Graham) in Minneapolis a couple times as well! 

It brings me to my closing for this blog. I was reminded this weekend what an amazing husband  and friends I have.  Joe planned a weekend away to Des Moines for my 30th birthday which is on Friday.  Everything was such a surprise: the necklace, the massage and especially our best friends from Minneapolis, Megan and Ryan, standing in the lobby when I came back from the massage. We all met up with Johanna and Forrest (friends from college) as well.  I had a great time and I couldn't ask for better people in my life.  I sure missed my girls, but they were in good hands with grandma and grandpa. 

I am going to try not to have as much time pass between each update, but I can't promise.  So until next time....

So many new things...

Well, it has been a very long time since I have updated you on my family! 

First of all, Joe and I are have started our weight loss journey.  As of now, Joe has lost over 40 pounds and I have lost 25 pounds since we started this journey in July.  It is slow going, but we are seeing our progress and are very excited to continue this journey.  

Sophia is turning into a beautiful, smart little girl.  She is still going to her sitter Julie's everyday we have school.  She loves it there and misses it when she does not go.  Her friends are great there.  She is also learning her alphabet and numbers and has become very interested in doing puzzles and using technology.  She definitely follows in her daddy's footsteps.  She is looking forward to Christmas and can't wait until we get the Christmas trees up next weekend.  I love her curiosity and her love for her sister!

Claire has changed the most.  She is sitting up unassisted (when she wants to that is.)  A couple weeks ago we started giving her rice cereal once a day.  She really likes it.  We tried some sweet potatoes and that didn't go over as well with her tummy so we are holding off for a week or two to try fruits and veggies again.  She has been rolling for quite a few months so she has been able to get around very well.  As if that wasn't enough, she has now began to do a modified crawl that looks more like she is a worm.  She has the idea, she just doesn't know what to do with her hands/arms.  She will be 6 months on Friday and according to all the emails I get about her development, she "shouldn't" be crawling until 7-10 months! It is way too early! Claire is getting so big.  I am excited to see how she has grown on Friday at her doctor's appointment. I am not excited about the shots, but so far she has done very well with them.  

The two of them together are amazing.  They can get each other laughing so hard and I have no idea why they are laughing.  Sophia is such a big helper and wants to play with her a lot.  She is also becoming very responsible for her big girl toys and making sure they are getting picked up so Claire doesn't get into them.  

I imagine there will be another update very soon with Claire's specs. from her doctor's appointment on Friday. Until next time...

13 things I am thankful for

I am thankful for...

13. The people that read this blog. 

12. My wonderful friends, old and new. 

11. My home. 

10. My job.

9. My students that both challenge me and make me laugh everyday.

8. My fantastic in-laws that have accepted me as one of their own children/siblings.

7. My wonderful mom who is always there for me, even when I am not being the best daughter in the world.  

6. My dad (more to come.)

5. My amazing brothers, who would drop everything to come to the rescue of their little sister. I am truly lucky to have them.

4. My beautiful daughter, Sophia, who has taught me what unconditional love is. My life without her would be incomplete.

3. My beautiful daughter, Claire, who has completed our family (for the time being at least) and amazes me every single day.  

2. My fantastic and amazingly handsome husband.  Over 9 years ago we began working together and became friends.  Over 8 years ago we started dating.  Now being married over 6 years, everyday I realize how lucky I am and don't know what I would do without him. 

and...

1. Most of all, I am thankful for my dad's health.  I was lucky and privileged to spend Thanksgiving day with him (and the rest of my family).  Although the events of this summer were extremely stressful and treacherous for everyone involved (mostly Dad), I learned many very important things.  The most important thing I learned from it was not to take your loved ones for granted.  You never know when something very unfortunate could happen where they could be taken from you. I am thankful to be able to pick up the phone and be able to talk to him whenever I want.  My baby girls get to grow up knowing their grandpa and that makes me smile.  

I am extremely lucky and thankful to have all these people and things in my life. Without them, I would not be the person I am today. Thank you for reading...

Size, smiling, sleeping, singing, sitter and salsa...

This is the blog of 6 s'es.  Claire has now graduated to 3-6 month clothing.  She is getting so big so fast.  I miss the baby already.  She is smiling and talking a lot.  She has been sleeping through the night.  But there is a trick to that.  She is able to roll from her back to her belly now.  So every night she rolls over during the night sometime and stays asleep all night.  Claire also loves her fingers. She is definitely more of an eater than Sophia ever was.  With her talking, we have also realized that she can sing! She loves singing Twinkle, Twinkle with Momma.  

Sophia is really starting to love playing with her! She is really a great big sister.  I think we have future best friends on our hands for sure.  She always wants to help with Claire and she love talking to her when she is fussy.  It makes Claire smile.  Sophia is also very excited to be back at Julie's, her baby sitter. 

Today we made some fresh salsa and canned it.  It is too hot to try yet, but it looks delicious! Can't wait until supper. We are having enchiladas and salsa and tortilla chips! Should be yummy! I hope everyone is having a great weekend and a great Labor Day! Until next time...

And there she rolls...

Claire is officially rolling from front to back! Although the video is a bit painful to watch, I hope you enjoy it!! :) 

I am also attaching a few pictures that we took recently! 

School starts tomorrow so Sophia will be going back to daycare and Claire will start daycare full time starting tomorrow. I will miss them immensely.  We are heading outside to enjoy the fantastic weather.  Until next time...

The vacation of a lifetime...

So you are probably thinking we went to Hawaii, Europe or Australia but the fact is, we went to Des Moines! Yes, Des Moines was the vacation of a lifetime for Sophia.  She has been wanting to go to Disney World since those silly commercials came on where they show home videos of parents surprising their kids with a Disney World commercial.  She could be out of the room and if she hears those commercials she comes running yelling "Disney World, Disney World. I want to go to Disney World." So naturally seeing the Adventureland commercials, she was slightly interested.  When we told her we were going to Adventureland, she was as excited as she was seeing those Disney World commercials. 

Last Thursday, Joe worked until 3:00 and then we heading out to the big ol' city of Des Moines.  Thursday night we were set to have dinner with friends at Jethro's (a Man vs. Food restaurant) and then go swimming at the hotel.  Sophia couldn't contain herself! She was so excited.  We got back to the hotel around 9 pm and she got to swim with Joe for about 30 minutes.  We went back up to the hotel room and got ready for the next day full of fun!

Sophia getting ready to jump in the pool.

Claire at the pool.

Sophia jumping in.

Friday came fast with not enough sleep in a hotel bed. Sophia was excited to get moving.  We had breakfast and put our sunscreen on only to realize that it was going to be cloudy all day with a chance of rain.  The whole week we planned on no rain!! WHAT happened!? We went ahead and checked out and drove the 3 minutes to get there.

We parked and walked right in! Right in the gates was the carousel.  I am not going to lie when I say that I was a little choked up by Sophia's joy just walking through the gates much less going on the carousel the first time. 

 

Sophia on the carousel.

After the carousel, she went on the airplane ride.  From that, one of two things could happen: Sophia would hate the ride and be scared and we wouldn't have anything to do the rest of the day OR she would love it and want to ride every ride under the sun.  Luckily it was the second of those.  She loved it and wanted to ride ALL the rides.  We had to tell her no on a few of them.  

  Sophia's favorite ride although it may not look like it!!

She figured out that she could make it go up and down.

Riding in the semi with Daddy.

She even tried some of the more adult rides.

It started sprinkling around so we rested while watching a show about rain forest animals. She enjoyed seeing all the animals up close.  Luckily the rain stayed away except for a few sprinkles.  We did some shopping and saw some Adventureland characters before we left.

We headed out of the park around 5:00 and started making the trek to a friend's house to stay for the rest of the weekend. 

Saturday we went to the Blank Park Zoo.  Sophia loved seeing all the animals.  Her favorite animals were the monkeys and giraffes.  She actually got to feed the giraffe. 

We went to eat that night at a restaurant called The Tavern with our friends Megan and Ryan and their son Graham as well as Ryan's mom, sister and sister's boyfriend.  It was great pizza and a fun time. Then we went to MaggieMoos for a Cold Stone type ice cream.  Delish!

Joe and Ryan their their semi-matching clothes

Sunday we went to the Jordan Creek Mall for some shopping.  Sophia is quite small and we have a hard time finding jeans and pants that fit her.  I have some coupons and there were some good deals with it being the tax free weekend.  We did get a few things for both girls. We also ran into a show that was going on for Chow Gymnastics where Shawn Johnson trained. 

After a long weekend, I am happy to be home. I am sad to say that this is my last week home with my girls before school starts again.  I am not real ready to go back yet, but it is coming whether I like it or not.  Tomorrow and Thursday, both Sophia and Claire are going to the sitter for a few hours. 

Hope this finds everyone well...until next time...

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