The Cissells

New Stuff

2009-06-01T21:05:00.003-04:00

Sophia has been saying some of the craziest stuff. Some of it is made up words and others are just little tidbits of advice she has for me. I wanted to get it down so I can remember it. Great-a-ful: "Sophia, did you have fun in the sprinkler?" "Yes, Momma. It was great. I mean great-a-ful." Candy Bubble: On trying honeysuckle for the first time... "Mommy, I really like the candy bubble." (the little liquid drop you drink) Booby Trap: Sophia was very quiet in the bathroom today when I was getting ready. I looked over and she was trying on my bra. (It is a little early for that stuff.) I asked her what she was doing and she said, "I am trying to put on your booby trap." Driving Lessons: Sophia-"Mommy, don't drive to fast because you could run over other cars." "Make sure you keep your eyes open when you are driving." (I thought that one was very useful.) At bedtime: "Mommy, make sure you check on Isaac. He is just a baby and sometimes has trouble sleeping." Thanks Sophia. She is always making up words and saying that they mean this or that in Spanish. Yesterday she expanded to French. So yes, she now knows 3 languages. Or knows of 3 languages. That's pretty much the same thing isn't it? Impressive, huh?

Chocolate Eye

2009-05-21T22:31:00.001-04:00

If you've been reading this blog for any length of time, you know about Sophia's love of anything chocolate. It never ceases to amaze me how she can get chocolate everywhere when she is eating it. Doesn't matter if it is an M&M, chocolate cake or candy, or even chocolate chip cookies she will get it everywhere. But I believe today is the first time she managed to get it in her eyebrow. She did a pretty good job though. She colored "in the lines".

More Corn Please

2009-05-19T22:27:00.000-04:00

Sophia has a true love of corn although her greatest love is butter. She can eat it by the spoonfuls. So naturally, corn on the cob with butter is the perfect vegetable for her. I humored her and put quite a bit of butter on her corn tonight. She sucked the butter off the corn before eating it. She is ridiculous.

You've heard of milk mouth...how about butter mouth?

That is truly gross. With that much butter is the corn still healthy? Or is it more healthy because that amount of butter could be a serving of dairy?

Whole Lotta Love

2009-05-17T21:43:00.003-04:00

Today Julie and Eva came over to play for a little while. There was a whole lotta lovin going on. It is so much fun to see the cousins playing so well together.

Just because he is so handsome...

And because he is so handsome, he'd better get used to all the girls loving on him. Cousin love

I think that face says, "Help".

I love it!

Playground

2009-05-12T20:54:00.000-04:00

On Mother's Day we took Sophia down to one of the playgrounds by Waterfront Park. If you haven't been there, I suggest that you check it out. We went to the one by Tumbleweed. Sophia had a great time. I didn't know that there was a water feature so she was not dressed to get wet. But try telling that to a 2 year old. So, I decided to let go and let her get drenched. At one point her pants were so wet she could barely walk so she pulled them down right there in the middle of the playground. After much deliberation on my part, I went with it and decided to let her be a dirty, wet, half dressed kid. After all, what's more fun than that?

My 3 favorite people

Love this shot

Half naked, dirty, and wet girl. Guess that's like hitting the trifecta for a 2 year old.

Could he be any sweeter?

2009-05-11T21:45:00.000-04:00

I'm in love....

Kingfish

2009-05-09T21:54:00.005-04:00

Tonight we met Cory's family at Kingfish to celebrate Mother's Day. We had a good time but it was very hard keeping a 2 year old in her seat when there was a playground outside. So after we said our "goodbyes" we headed outside to play. She had a great time. I apologize that most of these pictures are of Sophia from the back, but that is all I could get of her. She was so busy playing and running....she wouldn't stop. I love simple, fun, family times together. I can't wait until Isaac can get in on the action but I did love cuddling with him while Sophia and Daddy played.

Making her way down the steps

Ready to play

This picture came out blurry but that is why I like it. Ponytails back, skirt up, that's when you know it's a good slide.

Running around

Isaac was enjoying himself

Learning from Daddy

Deep in thought

Love this pic but if you look closely the wind blew just right to puff up her shirt. It makes her look like she is wearing one of those fake muscle shirts.

Doesn't he look so happy?

I love your mad side...

2009-05-07T23:24:00.003-04:00

Sophia has a book that we got her for her first Christmas called, "I love you through and through". If you don't have this book for your little one, you should get it. Or, I could just recite it to you.... Anyway, one of the parts says, "I love your happy side, and your mad side...." This picture captures her mad side perfectly. I LOVE IT! So funny.

Giving the "evil eye". It's hard not to laugh.

Making Cupcakes

2009-05-04T22:29:00.003-04:00

This evening Sophia, the mermaid princess, wanted to make cupcakes. Once we were done, she got to lick the bowl. I think this is the only reason she likes to make cupcakes. She was a mess!

Derby 2009

2009-05-02T22:17:00.000-04:00

I was given some awesome tickets to the Derby this year. I think we were one section away from the "finish line". Cory stayed home with the kids and I took my Dad. We had a good time even though my winnings total was $6.40. Not so great. But I was only out $25. I know....big spender.

Amy & Pardie

Really bad picture but how excited does Calvin Borel (jockey for Mine That Bird) look right after winning?

Pictures of things to come

2009-04-30T21:56:00.000-04:00

Watch out on the roads. Here they come!

2 month visit

2009-04-30T17:51:00.003-04:00

Well, he isn't as big as I thought he was going to be. He is 12 pounds and 23 inches long. That's an increase of 2 pounds and 2 inches in a month. I think he might have actually lost some weight because he has been vomiting a lot the last week. And yes, vomiting not spitting up. His doctor is somewhat worried about this (as are we) and he ordered an UGI for next week to evaluate for pyloric stenosis. Apparently this is most common in first born males at around 6-8 weeks. Well, that fits him to a T. But it could just be his reflux worsening. We'll have to wait and see next week. And he had his shots. 4 of them. Horrible. But he did great. There were 2 of the silent screams (hate those--please just breathe) and then he was fine. He was smiling and talking with the nurse within a minute of the shots. He is such a happy little guy. We are so blessed to have him in our lives.

Outside Fun

2009-04-29T21:25:00.004-04:00

Today we enjoyed some of the beautiful weather. Yesterday Cory's mom and stepdad took Sophia to Walmart and let her pick out whatever car she wanted. She picked the princess truck. That's my girl! She calls it her princess monster truck. The sound still kind of scares her so she didn't drive much but just played in and out of the truck. I guess these things just take time to get used to.

Then we played with some bubbles using a bubble wand. She was a huge fan of this. She kept running around saying, "Everybody loves bubbles.". Well, I guess that is probably true.

Stylish

Hanging out with my boy

Running to pop the bubbles

Always with her mouth open and tongue sticking out.

Growing Up Fast

2009-04-29T11:08:00.003-04:00

Well, it's official. Isaac is now fully in 3-6 month clothes and just graduated to size 2 diapers. Good grief. He's only 2 months old!!! Compare that to Sophia who is almost 3, wears size 4 diapers, 24 month pants, and a 18-24 month bathing suit. By the time Isaac is a year old, he will probably be in the same size as Sophia! I can't wait to see how much he weighs tomorrow at his 2 month check up. I have almost stepped on the scale with him because I am so curious, but have held off. I am not looking forward to the visit though. Shots!! I hate shots.

The First of Many...

2009-04-28T21:08:00.002-04:00

...BooBoos. Today Isaac had a little accident when one of his toys fell down and hit him in his cute little face. Poor guy let out one of those horrible silent screams. I hate those. But he is just fine now. I am sure his eye will turn all shades of purple, blue, and green. Oh, well. First black eye is checked off the list.

Afternoon with Eva

2009-04-28T21:02:00.002-04:00

Today we got to watch Eva for a little bit while Julie went to the Social Security office. I was a little concerned how she would do because she is a bit of a Mama's girl, but she did great. We had a good time playing together and no tears were shed. That's a win in my book. Come back anytime Eva.

Princess Eva

It doesn't take long for Eva to learn computer skills when she is around Cory.

I forgot how everything goes in the mouth. Eva sometimes gets a little carried away with it.

2 toys at the same time. Calm down, girl!

Happy Baby Boy

2009-04-22T20:33:00.000-04:00

Isaac is such a happy boy. He brings a smile to my face every day. He is really starting to "talk" and move around now. I love watching him grow up but it is happening so fast.

Now, that's a FULL belly!

I love this picture. It looks like he is dancing. Well, he kind of was.

Mushy Stuff

2009-04-22T13:46:00.002-04:00

Ok, I don't get mushy very often, but I came across this quote today and thought of both of my children. I know that all you other parents out there feel the same way about your child or children.

Before you were conceived, I wanted you. Before you were born, I loved you. Before you were here an hour, I would die for you. This is the miracle of love.

I love you, Sophia and Isaac.

Thunder

2009-04-18T08:51:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, we went to Thunder. It was a good time. Little Isaac stayed home with Mimi and enjoyed himself. We all enjoyed a lot of free food. Sophia especially enjoyed her fudge bar which required an outfit change after she ate it. Eva got agressive with the Lil' Crunchies. That girl is a fast learner! I love fireworks and am so happy that Sophia shares my love for them. She was in awe. Pardie and Cory got us home in record time. 25 minutes!!!!!

Double fisted

You can't tell, but the ice cream is running down her arm and dripping onto her pants. She was a mess!!!

Popcorn with Pardie

We got these glow necklaces for free and Sophia spent the entire time playing with them. Here she is learning how to spin them around her wrist.

Instructions from Daddy

Love this picture. Getting kisses from Daddy.

These cousins love eachother

Eva looks so big here

Watching fireworks

Ooohhh! Aaahhh!

The Aguilars

Dress Up

2009-04-18T08:49:00.000-04:00

I love these days of dress up. Sophia wants to enhance any outfit with jewelry, crowns, a dress, or even a tutu over top of whatever outfit she has on. She must take after her aunt. She has an amazing sense of style.

Love the dancing!

Zoo Trip

2009-04-17T12:12:00.000-04:00

Today was such a beautiful day, we decided to go to the zoo. I have decided that taking 3 kids under the age of 3 to the zoo is one of the hardest things I have ever done. As it usually happens when you go out, our routine was thrown off and Isaac didn't want to sleep at all. Sophia, who used to be scared and cling to us, had no fear and jumped out of her stroller at any time and ran to see the animals. I am so grateful that Julie and Gilbert were there with me. I couldn't have survived without them. We did have a good time and I look forward to doing it again. The next time will go smoother....I know what to expect. PS. Sophia ate an entire thing of Puffs and Lil' Crunchies. I only bought them so she could share with Eva. I think Eva got 2 or 3 crunchies. Sorry, Eva. Gotta get in there and shovel them into your mouth to keep up with Sophia!

Eva was a little unsure of the goats

Looking at the tiger

Enjoying Lil' Crunchies

Looking super cute in his panda shirt.

Sophia waited all day to ride the merry-go-round

Eva enjoyed the ride too....I think

Momma's girl

Poor Julie had to stay behind with Isaac

Thanks Julie!

She loved every minute of her ride.

My Baby Panda

2009-04-16T20:46:00.000-04:00

I have been waiting and waiting for Isaac to get big enough to wear this too cute outfit from Great Aunt Cheryl. He finally is!!! Yeah!! He looked so cute, I decided to take a couple pictures. Sophia had to get in on the action too. By the way, he is 7 weeks old and that is a 3-6 month outfit. Good grief! He's not going to stay a baby long at this rate.

Thanks for the necklace, Sophia!

Model/Senior picture pose

With the hat and necklace, he looks a little like a baby gansta.

Love those lips!

Thanks Easter Bunny!

2009-04-15T12:50:00.002-04:00

Thanks for all the chocolate, Easter Bunny!!

The Many Faces of Julia

2009-04-13T22:19:00.008-04:00

In my family, making crazy faces for the camera and or catching someone in a not so flattering action shot is somewhat of an artform. My dad started this many years ago with constant pictures of people eating. I have some great ones of him. But when I was reviewing my pictures from Julie's birthday dinner, I realized that I had a good collection that really speaks to how diverse Julie's facial expessions can be. I picked some of my favorites to honor her for her big 30th birthday. And yes, I am aware that there will be an attack on me as there are countless crazy pictures of me floating out there.

My personal favorite. Julie's eyes are almost always red in photos and I think it just adds to the character of this picture.

Fake smile #1 This one is a 2-fer with Gilbert in the background eating.

Being weird reading her birthday card. I hate when people read cards outloud. Don't know why, but can't stand it. I am sure she was saying something really important.

Super fake smile #2.

Blurry, but priceless.

Julie, I love it that you are my sister and we have so much fun together. You are gorgeous. Just to even the playing field, here is a picture of me that Cory took.

Way less flattering that the ones of you, don't you think?

Easter/Birthday Dinner

2009-04-12T22:11:00.001-04:00

We had Easter/Julie's birthday dinner at our house this year. My mom made all the food and it was delicious. It was so fun having everyone over.

Julie getting some loving from her girls. I love this shirt. If you can't see it, it says, "Mommy's new man". It is so true.

Mimi made the girls matching dresses. They were so cute. I hope someone got a better picture than I did. These 2 are hard to capture.

Lamb cake is a huge tradition in my family started by my Grammie. Lamb cakes are frequent for birthdays but always present at Easter. I love some lamb cake.

Juju let Sophia help blow out the candles.

Easter Morning

2009-04-12T22:00:00.001-04:00

Easter morning started early. 6:50 am. Good grief. The Easter Bunny hadn't even hidden the eggs yet. So, while the Easter Bunny sprang into action, we watched a little Dora. The E.B. decided to hide the eggs inside this year since it was so cool outside. Sophia didn't seem to mind. She loved finding the eggs and loved the chocolate. It was fun seeing her get so excited. Since then, we have hidden and found eggs probably a dozen times.

Going for the chocolate Delicious. You love the outfit, right?

Finding eggs on Daddy's desk.

The blog pose

Do I take a lot of pictures of Sophia? Hum. When I asked her to smile for a picture with her eggs, this is what she did. I think the answer is, YES.

Showing off her egg loot.

Isaac wore himself out with all the excitement.

Dressed in his Easter finest. Can you even stand it? Check out the shoes.

The Cissell Men

Daddy and his girls (Might as well include baby doll. She goes everywhere we do.)

The Family.

Isaac is looking a little disgruntled. Poor guy.

Dinner with Juju

2009-04-11T21:53:00.000-04:00

Sophia loves her Aunt Juju. She wants to go over to Juju's house every day and play with Baby Eba (Eva). She especially wants to go to Juju's when she is in trouble or it is time to go to bed or take a nap. So she was really excited to go over after her nap to eat dinner. The first part of the evening she spent running around the kitchen and family room squealing and playing with Eva. Those 2 girls are a hoot together. I hope they grow up to be good friends. Julie fixed a really good dinner. It was pork tenderloin. I ate 2 pieces which must be a lifetime record of meat consumption at one sitting for me. No, I am not a vegetarian. I just don't particularly like meat. So, 2 pieces is a big deal and just speaks to how good it was. Thanks for inviting us over. We had a great time. Aguilars: I know things have not been easy for you 3 since you have moved here, but it is times like these when we are all hanging out, that make me so happy that you are here.

Isaac enjoying his meal.

Sophia's favorite part. Playing in the playroom.

Easter Eggs

2009-04-11T21:34:00.000-04:00

Today was the day to dye easter eggs. Sophia and I were both really excited about it. I have such fond memories of decorating eggs when I was younger and I was looking forward to sharing this memory with Sophia. Well, we created a memory, that's for sure. It is really stressful decorating eggs with a 2 year old. I read other blogs about how much fun people had and how wonderful it was.... Don't get me wrong. There were moments of wonderful and fun but mostly just stressful. I think it is Sophia's attention span. Or lack thereof. She wanted egg after egg. I was trying to get her to put more than one line of paint on the egg but she just wanted to keep moving. It was fast paced that's for sure. We burned through 2 dozen eggs in record time. That girl always keeps me on my toes. And yes, we will be doing it again next year.

Painting with glitter paint. Not the best idea I've ever had but she loved it.

Daddy teaching her how to dip the eggs.

The most fun she had was splashing in the dirty paint water after we were done decorating.

Our masterpieces.

Love

2009-04-10T21:59:00.002-04:00

It is amazing how much Isaac and Sophia already love eachother. Sophia loves her little brother and always wants to "See hims little face". And Isaac is really starting to love being around Sophia. It may help that she isn't trying to move his arms and legs all around anymore. Good grief. It is so awesome to watch how she tries to protect and mother him. He smiles and "talks" to her more than he does with either Cory or I. And just the way he looks at her.... it is adorable. I caught a few pictures this morning.

In case you are wondering about Sophia's new fashion.... She had to wear that summer nightgown and it was cold in our house this morning, so this is what we ended up with.

Love the look on his face here.

Her idea to hold hands for the picture.

Singing to Baby Isaac

6 Weeks Old

2009-04-06T19:40:00.005-04:00

I can't believe Isaac is already 6 weeks old!! Where has the time gone? He is doing great. It turns out that he has reflux just like his big sister. We recognized the symptoms early and his doctor agreed so he is now taking medicine. He is still not too happy about taking the medicine but he is getting better. I have never met someone who can "cheek" a liquid medicine but he can. How can he do that and be so young???

Today we ran errands together. He was a perfect gentleman and slept the entire time. He looked so cute in his outfit from Aunt Juju that I decided to take some pictures when we got home. He even cooperated and gave me a big smile. What a cutie!!

So sweet

What a cute boy!

When I grow up....

2009-04-01T22:27:00.001-04:00

Sophia's new thing is saying, "When I grow up...." and fill in the blank. Some of my more favorite ones: "When I grow up I am going to be a doctor so I can help people feel better." "When I grow up I am going to drive a car. I will drive you around, Momma and you can sit in my carseat." "When I grow up I am going to use scissors." (What??? That is my favorite one. So random.)

Beautiful Day

2009-04-01T22:20:00.003-04:00

We just had to get out of the house today. It was so beautiful. It was the first time we took out the big stroller. It was like pushing around a semi. After we were almost back home, Sophia let me know that she was really tired because the walk was tiring. Give me a break kid! It was good to get some fresh air. We have been inside a lot the past couple of days. Last week Sophia and Cory were sick. Sophia got better but Cory has continued to get worse. After multiple trips to the immediate care center, emergency room, and our doctor he was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia. What? He is only 32 not 92! Poor guy. He also has a torn muscle on his side from coughing so much. He is home again all this week. We are praying that neither one of the kids gets sick. Cory is carrying around hand sanitizer. If you have a minute, remember him in your prayers.

Don't worry...Cory wasn't allowed to push the semi (I mean stroller). It was just for the picture.

Pardie's Birthday Party

2009-03-29T22:02:00.000-04:00

Before we went over to Mimi and Pardie's for a birthday celebration, Sophia wanted to get dressed up in one of her princess dresses. I fully support dressing up so I helped her down to her rose tights. I think she looked beautiful. She was definately the most dressed up of the bunch.

Thomas the Train is not just for kids. My dad is a huge train fan so his birthday theme was Thomas this year. The party favors were a lot of fun. Both the girls seemed to enjoy them. We each got our own Thomas cup. I chose to drink my wine out of it. Classy, I know. Eva enjoyed some cake and got some practice in for her upcoming first birthday.

Thanks for a wonderful dinner, Mimi. And Aunt Juju, the cake was awesome!

Princess Sophia riding on her pony before dinner

The family minus the girls. Couldn't fit them in. Isaac just couldn't wait for the rest of the crew to eat.

This pic cracks me up. Not only is her smile hilarious but her hairbows look crazy under that Thomas hat.

Aren't we sweet?

Check out all that smoke!!!

Sophia "cleaning" off the candles

Was that cake good, Eva?

Aguilar girls after a quick clean up

Cousin love

Dance Party

2009-03-28T15:40:00.003-04:00

It is amazing how the words "Dance Party" mean entirely different things to those that have kids versus those that don't. Perhaps you were thinking that Cory and I went out dancing on a Saturday night at a local bar or nightclub. You would be wrong.

First, the family enjoyed a movie. Or part of a movie because Sophia can't sit through an entire movie. Unless it is Dora. And they are only like 45-50 minutes long so I don't count them. We watched Aladdin. I never realized how scary that movie is until I watched it with Sophia. May just leave that on the shelf for a few more years. Isaac was not impressed with it either.

Do you love her outfit?

(Angie, that is the hula skirt that came with the bathing suit that she wore to her and Libby's party. Yes, it is size 12 months and still fits.)

Then we headed into Cory's office for a Dance Party (Sophia's words not mine). When we lived in Florida, Cory listened to a lot of Jimmy Buffet. When Sophia was born she had a bad case of reflux. We nicknamed her the "Screamin Demon". You get the picture. So, Cory used to turn up Jimmy Buffet until Sophia stopped screaming. It worked like a charm. Fast forward to Saturday night....she still likes Jimmy. We had a great time at the Dance Party. Her favorite is Cheeseburger in Paradise. She knows quite a few words. Isaac got in on the dancing and if you can believe it, fell asleep. I love Saturday nights at my house.

FYI: The pictures on the ceiling are what is left over from Cory's father's day "present". Yeah, last year. There was a sign that said, "Daddy, I love it when you..." and then I put pictures of Sophia and Cory doing different things together and hung them from the ceiling. It was a big hit. Will have to update it this Father's Day I guess. Never thought it would be up this long though. I offer an explination everytime someone comes over so they don't just think we are too weird.

Picnic in the Park

2009-03-24T11:01:00.000-04:00

Today we went to the park for a picnic. We had a great time. I am so glad that Julie lives close now and we can do this sort of stuff. I look forward to many more picnics and family fun times together.

Look out!

The Aguilar Girls

Isaac taking a rest before chowing down

I couldn't keep that hat on his head very well so in this picture it looks more like a do-rag. Oh well, I guess that just makes him extra cool.

What is it with kids and puffs? What do they put in those things? Heroin? Here Aunt JuJu is opening a fresh container. Check out Sophia's face. Isn't almost 3 years old a little too old for puffs? Not according to her.

Now check out Eva shoveling in a handful of puffs. Amazing. And that kid hardly eats anything. But she can put away some puffs.

My beautiful girl

1 Month Old

2009-03-23T10:36:00.001-04:00

It is so hard to believe that Isaac is already 1 month old. He is getting so big. He has gone from looking like Cory and Sophia to looking like his own little person. Don't get me wrong, there is still a strong resemblance, but nothing like when he was born. We are no longer breast feeding. After multiple trips to the lactation nurse, multiple different attachments/devices, herbals, prescription drugs, and a feeding/pumping regimen that left me little time for anything else, it was time to call it quits. I actually didn't even make the call. Isaac did. At first I was devastated but am now getting used to the idea. And let's be honest. There are benefits to bottle feeding. Such as now Cory can take a feeding and I can sleep. Fabulous. Little Man (that's what Cory calls him) is such a joy to be around. He is such a wonderful baby and just loves to cuddle. He is already smiling although it is at nothing in particular. However yesterday when Cory was changing his diaper he told Isaac not to poop while he was changing him. He told him to save that for Momma. Isaac smiled. And guess what happened about an hour later when I was changing him??? Yep. He pooped on me. Crazy boys. Already conspiring against me.

Getting his Elvis snear on

The boys

So precious

New take on "I don't want to"

2009-03-18T12:07:00.003-04:00

Sophia is coming up with the funniest stuff to say in order to get out of doing things we ask her to do. Last night we found stickers stuck all over the kitchen floor. Cory: Sophia, come over here and pick up these stickers off the floor. Sophia: No, Daddy. You have the big muscles. You should pick them up. On finding a half eaten M&M on the floor.... Cory: Sophia, come over and pick up this yucky M&M off the floor. Sophia: Well, that is yucky. I am a princess. That is too yucky for a princess to touch. Oh, I love that girl.

Photo Opportunity

2009-03-17T10:17:00.000-04:00

Taking pictures has become a very difficult task. It is hard to work in pictures in addition to all the responsibilities of 2 kids. I am working on it though. I decided to try and take a couple pics tonight though. Getting pictures of a newborn is hard though. I don't know how photographers do it.

Looking very grown up

Done with picture time!!

Big sister and Little brother

When did this happen?

2009-03-17T10:14:00.000-04:00

07/15/06

03/17/09

So Sweet...

2009-03-15T10:23:00.000-04:00

This is not the best picture quality. The flash was on, I was wearing white, he was wearing white.... It got a little overexposed. But, I thought it was so cute how he had his hands folded. He is such a sweet, cuddly little boy.

Beauty Shop

2009-03-11T10:41:00.000-04:00

The day before Isaac was born, I took Sophia to get a manicure and pedicure. Well, really just to get her nails painted. I wasn't sure if she would even like it. Boy, did she love it. She has been obsessed with painted nails ever since. And 2 year olds are very hard on nail polish. It doesn't last very long at all. So, tonight we went up to Walgreens and she got to pick out 2 colors of polish. She picked red and green. Okay, whatever. After I painted her nails, she wanted to paint mine. Since my toes were already red, I got out of having to let her use red polish. Red polish in the hands of a 2 year old did not sound like a great idea. So, I got green fingernails. She actually didn't do too bad. I was impressed. And yes, my fingernails are still green.

Hide and Seek

2009-03-05T10:39:00.000-05:00

Sophia loves to play hide and seek and is getting better at finding places to hide. Today she found the cabinets in the island. She is such a funny gal.

Updates

2009-03-04T15:08:00.004-05:00

Just a few random pictures over the last several days.

My favorite 3 people

My dad gets each of the grandkids a Vermont Teddy Bear. Isaac loves his.

On Monday, Julie, Gilbert, and Eva came over and cooked us dinner. It was delicious. We tried to get a picture with the 3 kids. This is the best one that I got. It is going to be very interesting when we get family pictures made.

I don't know why this picture loaded like this but I liked it. My 2 babies.

Tuesday was Isaac's first doctor's appointment. He is up to 8 pounds 5 ounces and doing great. He looks like such a little boy in this outfit. Who says you can't have fun with boy clothes??

Introducing Isaac Grant Cissell

2009-03-01T14:51:00.000-05:00

Isaac Grant was born on Febuary 23 at 8:56 am. He was 21 inches long and 9 pounds 3 ounces. What??? Yes, I was carrying around a 9 pound baby. Good grief. He is absolutely perfect and looks a lot like his big sister. Cory must have extremely dominant genes. Sophia loves him to pieces and he loves being around her too. I can't wait to see how they interact once he gets older. He loves to cuddle and makes little noises that sound like purring when he is really comfortable and happy.

He lost quite a bit of weight while we were in the hospital. I guess it was a good thing he started out over 9 pounds. He got down to 8 pounds 1 ounce which necessitated us staying in the hospital for another day. But he is on the path to gaining weight now and is doing great.

The Cissell Family

Baby Isaac (a little yellow, huh?)

The triplets (that's what I call them)

Proud Big Sister

Isaac got Sophia some wonderful jewelry. I thought it would be fitting that the first girl he bought jewelry for would be his sister.

Cuddling with Momma

I'm kinda freaking out....No really freaking out

2009-02-22T21:13:00.002-05:00

So, here we are. The night before Isaac Grant will make his entrance into the world. I've done this before. No need to be nervous/anxious/scared/ect, right? Well.... I've never been a mother of two before. It seems so much more adult and grown up than the mother of one. I worry about how Sophia will react. She is so sweet now and talks about her baby brother and how she is excited. She gives my belly hugs and kisses and talks to him every day. But what will it be like when he is here? What happens when she wants to play ponies and I have to feed/change/rock her brother? As much as I love the 2 year age, let's be honest. It can sometimes be more than a challenge. Am I going to be able to be patient with her while I am running on fumes from night feedings? She is such a sensitive girl. I don't want to hurt her feelings or make her feel left out. And then there is something else that wasn't quite there the first time. Certainly I thought about it. But not like this time. As I prepared for the birth of Sophia, once or twice the thought went through my head, "What if something happens to me during the c-section?". I am sure every mother has thought something similar. But as much as I loved Sophia then and as horrible as it would have been....the amount of love I had for her on July 10, 2006 was nothing like the love I had for her on July 11, 2006. And neither one of those amounts come close to comparing to the amount of love I have for her on Feb. 22, 2009. That little girl is my world. And the same is true for Isaac. Sure I love him now, but nothing like how I will love him after I hold him. I don't want to miss out on even a second of them growing up. Now I know that I am in God's hands and am sure that I will be just fine, but that little voice of fear is rather annoying and has gotten quite loud tonight. The only thing to do now is to trust and pray. Will blog soon with photos.....

Presents for Isaac

2009-02-21T22:34:00.004-05:00

Today we went to Earth and Fire Pottery so that Sophia could make something for Isaac. She had a great time this Christmas painting pottery, so I thought that she would enjoy it again. She picked out what she wanted to paint him and we even let her pick out the paint colors. It is so hard to let her do "whatever" without fixing it or giving more suggestions, but we tried. I know that they will turn out perfectly.

Isaac's room has circus animals in it so Sophia picked out a giraffe, hippo, and cow to paint for his room. I know that you are thinking that the cow is not so much circus-y but I guarantee you that if you saw a white cow speckled with red and blue, it would be in a circus.

I can't wait to see them when they are all done. I know Isaac will love them.

"The Before"

Sophia hard at work on the giraffe.

Daddy helping out with the cow.

Momma helping with the hippo

The finished product

Funny Stuff

2009-02-18T20:21:00.004-05:00

This is just a reminder for me of how funny 2 year olds can be and how their minds work. Sophia has an ear infection and of course the cold to go along with it. Yesterday when she got up from her nap she was coughing. Sophia: "Momma, how are we going to get this cough out of my mouth?" Me: "Well, Sophia that is why we are taking the pink medicine. To get rid of your earache and cough." Sophia: "Momma I have been taking pink medicine. It not working. Now what?" I love this age.

Brief, Overdue Update

2009-02-18T19:44:00.009-05:00

It's been a long time. This last trimester has flown past and I have just not had the time or energy to sit down and blog. So, I will give a whirlwind pictorial update and then try and stay more current. Great Wolf Lodge: We had a great time. Sophia loved the water and Cory loved all the rides. Sophia even went down a couple of the kiddie slides but wasn't too terribly sure about them. There was a show in the evening that she loved. It even snowed indoors at the end of the show. She thought that was the coolest thing.

Enjoying the "snow"

Next came a visit to Florida. Cory and I couldn't get off work, so Mimi and Pardie took Sophia to Florida to visit with Great-Grandparents, Aunt and Uncles, and cousins. She had a great time. Mimi and Pardie took her to Disney one day. Mimi said that when she got on the Pooh ride she told them that she had been on that ride before with Momma and Daddy. Crazy, huh? She was only about 20 months old when we did that. I can't believe she remembered. They also took her to the beach and she had a great time. That girl is such a beach girl. She is really going to be upset when she learns she is a Florida born girl and we took her away from the beach. She still asks at least once a week for us to go to the beach. I wish it was that easy. For Christmas Great Uncle Ken (GUK) and Great Aunt Cheryl (GAC) got her a beautiful Cinderella dress. She loved it and wore it all day long at Disney World. It was so hard to be away from her for those couple of days, but I know that she had a great time and everyone enjoyed having her around.

She looks almost like a doll in this picture.

Next came Christmas. She was really into presents this year and became quite a pro at opening them. She got a little too excited and wanted to open everyone else's presents too. We will work on that for next year. Her big present from Santa was a huge dollhouse. We heard that it was quite something for Santa to put together. Maybe next year Santa will get something a little easier to build.

I love this picture. She was in awe when she saw the dollhouse and realized it was for her.

Loving the keyboard.

Then came the big snow of '09. We lost a tree and our shared fence due to the ice but our poor neighbors didn't fare so well. They just got their roof finished in December from the windstorm. This time a huge oak tree from their yard fell into their house and through their roof. It went through into 3 bedrooms upstairs and into their kitchen. Everyone was okay but what rotten luck. Sophia enjoyed the snow a lot. Our neighbor from across the street came over and Sophia had her first snow fight. She loved it. She even got her Daddy a couple of times.

That brings us up to current day. Baby Isaac will be here on Monday and I can't even believe it. I am excited and nervous. Knowing in some ways what to expect (interrupted sleep, teething, cuddly baby times) but not knowing how it will be the second time around and how Sophia will adjust make me a little more apprehensive than I was the first time around. I can't wait to meet him though.

Surprise!!

2008-12-13T08:50:00.000-05:00

This year I really wanted to surprise Cory for his birthday. He is such a great husband and a great daddy that I wanted to get him good. He has been talking about going to Great Wolf Lodge for a couple months now so I knew that is what I wanted to do. I thought it would also be a great trip for us to take just as the 3 of us. I will have you know that this trip for him did come at some personal sacrifice for me. I always seem to plan these bathing suit outings when I am VERY pregnant. For our 5th wedding anniversary, we spent a night at Disney and spent most of the time in the outdoor pool. I was 8 months pregnant. This time only 7 1/2 months pregnant. I hated to even think about the swimsuit. But, the things you do for love, right?

I emailed his boss and made sure he could have the day off, asked my boss for the day off, and packed everything on Friday night when he took Sophia to gymnastics. Saturday after Sophia woke up from her nap, we gave him his present. I made him a binder with a letter from Sophia and then pictures of attractions, activities, and restaraunts at the Lodge. It was the only way I could think of that he would have something to open. I think he was surprised.

Giving Daddy his present

Helping Daddy open (good practice for Christmas)

I love the progression of these pictures. Cory starts out a little confused and gets more and more excited as he reads and figures out what is going on. Sophia gets less and less interested. But I do love the legs crossed at the ankles. Sometimes she is such a proper little girl. I have no idea where she gets that from. Not me!

Meeting with Santa

2008-12-13T08:36:00.007-05:00

I wasn't sure how this meeting would go. Last year the closest she would get to Santa was on the bottom step of 2 steps up to Santa's chair on her Daddy's lap. That was last year's picture. So this year we decided we had better not spend the money for a picture with Santa and instead try out the free one at Bass Pro Shop. She had a great time with the crafts, their decorations, and the other toys they had there to play with. I was not expecting it to be as crowded as it was. Geez. We could hardly find a parking spot. But all 3 of us had a GREAT time together.

Coloring a picture for Santa

Waiting for her turn to make a craft

Gluing on the eyes

The finished product!

Loving the snowman Really loving Santa's "reindeer"

It's good to see all that military training put to good use with the Red Rider BB gun

Sophia getting in on the action

Taking a quick break for some cookies.

Getting excited to see the big man

Remember how I said she wouldn't get close to Santa last year? What a difference a year makes. She walked right down that red carpet like she was born to do it!

She wouldn't tell us what she told Santa but they seemed to have a great conversation.

Enjoying her first candy cane. What a mess!

On the way out she found something else she might want for Christmas.

Sophia's Christmas Tree

2008-12-09T08:55:00.000-05:00

Today we decided to decorate Sophia's Christmas tree. First I took her to Target and let her pick out what color of Christmas ornaments she wanted. She was very set on purple. She also found these really beautiful (and incredibly messy) glitter snowflakes. I thought that silver and purple was a pretty good color scheme for a 2 year old to pick out.

Getting started

Would you like a purple ornament?

(you like the chocolate on the face too, don't you?)

Not too excited for this picture

The finished product.

Shower Markers

2008-12-09T08:49:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I got Sophia these markers to use in the bathtub. She absolutely loves them. After decorating her Christmas tree, we were all covered in glitter so Cory and Sophia decided to take a shower together. She takes her art very seriously as you can tell by the looks of total focus.

Christmas Tree

2008-12-08T08:42:00.001-05:00

Sophia was really excited about decorating the tree this year. She loved being "in charge" of putting the ornaments wherever she wanted them. She is getting to be such a big girl. I can hardly believe it.

Cory explaining the finer points of decorating a Christmas tree

Cory and Sophia putting their trains on the Christmas tree.

Very carefully picking the spot for the snowman.

As you can see, most of the unbreakable ornaments ended up on the very bottom of the tree. I did decide to move them up a little after Sophia went to bed.

Christmas Pictures

2008-12-06T18:48:00.001-05:00

On Saturday evening we went to Click for family/Christmas pictures. I wasn't sure how they were going to turn out since the appointment wasn't until 7 pm but Sophia did a great job. She is constantly surprising me. The Family Picture: I was pretty impressed with it. We all look fairly normal. Our beautiful Sophia Grace: Belly shot: I wasn't too sure of this one. I didn't get belly shots when I was pregnant with Sophia but wanted to give it a whirl this time. This one turned out just perfect! I couldn't have asked for anything better. I think Sophia looks so sweet hugging her little brother.

Nativity Set

2008-12-02T20:58:00.001-05:00

My mom bought Sophia this great little nativity set that is unbreakable. She loves it. Almost everyday, when she gets home, she wants to play with it. Today she was lining all the characters up and I asked her why she was doing that. She said, "They all have to wait their turn to see Baby Jesus". It wasn't until I looked closer at how she lined them up, that I saw exactly what she had done. It was just too sweet. And, yes, that is a tacky bottle of Tums on the coffee table. Sorry about that. It has reached "that time" in this pregnancy. Even Baby Eba got in on the action.

Sweetness

2008-11-25T21:00:00.002-05:00

Sophia has bravely entered the "terrible twos" and we have been forced to follow right along with her. My sweet, precious little daughter has become this occassional beast with attitude that would rival any 16 year old. I have no idea where she gets that from. We go from sweet, to attitude ("You can't tell me no, Momma"), to screaming fits in under a minute. But my sweet, sweet Sophia is always there when I need it the most. I am now 27 weeks along and already getting really tired. I didn't think that was supposed to happen this early?!? Maybe it is the running around after a 2 year old thing. I have also been fighting off a cold for about a week so energy is really low. Just when I had reached my endpoint with Little Miss 'Tude tonight, she put her arm around me and said, "Momma, you're the best". I thought I was going to cry. She is such a wonderful little girl and I thank God every day for her. I know that this determination, stubbornness, and attitude is all going to work out to make her a strong and independent woman and I wouldn't have her any other way. Except maybe at 10:00 pm when she still hasn't gone to sleep.....

One Year Ago...

2008-11-24T20:57:00.000-05:00

I was looking through some old pictures and found these. One year ago, this was our little girl. What a difference one year makes. She went from babyish to big girl. Why is it going by so fast??? Can someone please slow this time with her down?

Smore time

2008-11-19T20:46:00.004-05:00

Tonight Cory made us a fire. It was so lovely and warm and really got me into the winter/holiday spirit. While we enjoyed the fire, we watched Sleeping Beauty. I just love that movie. Sophia tried her first smore and was not impressed. I think it was the graham crackers that she didn't like. She loved the chocolate but her favorite was the gooey marshmellows. I think I made her about 6 marshmellows. A little overkill I know, but it is so hard to say no to that face.

Notice the big cheek on Sophia. She's working on the first marshmellow while I work on the second.

Poor Eva didn't get to have any. Maybe next year sweets. I wonder if marshmellow goodness is transferred through breast milk???? The world may never know.

What a smile!

Does life get any better than this???

We've been stickered!!

Thanks Cory for such a fun night.

Julia Child

2008-11-18T16:42:00.001-05:00

My sister is quite the cook. It has been nice sharing meal prep responsibilities with her. We have had more home cooked meals than ever before since she moved in. I think this picture says it all though.

It is truly a great, professional look.

Chuck E. Cheese

2008-11-16T16:19:00.002-05:00

On Sunday evening Cory had the great idea to take Sophia to Chuck E. Cheese. I wasn't sure how she was going to react, but she loved it. Over the last few months she has really become a lot more outgoing and a lot more willing to try new things. I am so proud of her. There wasn't a whole lot of pizza eating going on (although she did eat all the sausage off my piece) but when you're a kid....you don't need to eat. You just need to play. After seeing all the cool stuff to do, she was ready to give up the baby doll and get to playing. She enjoyed the rides..... and the games. (For those of you that don't know, Cory and I have had an extremely competitive air hockey relationship that goes back to the begining of our dating days. It is nice to see Sophia playing with her Daddy. She needs a couple pointers from me though. I have to make sure she beats him with as wide a margin as I do!!) Now the gerbil tubes (what do you call these things anyway?)... As soon as she saw these, she wanted to go in. I wasn't sure about it. There is a slide at SIGS that is covered and took her about 8 weeks to get up the courage to go down it. (remember that, Angie?) She kept saying (about the slide) , "It's dark in there". So, with a whole contraption that is covered aka. dark, I wasn't so sure. What if she got up there and wouldn't get down? I surely could not go and get her. Not with this preggo belly. But, I didn't want to hold her back either. So, I took a deep breath, and said OK. She was too short to climb the stairs that get you up in this thing so Cory and I took turns helping her climb the stairs. Once she was up those, she was off. There were moments of panic when she had been up there a while and you couldn't see her, but she was fine. She loved it. I think she must have gone up into that thing and down the slide 50 times. If only we could figure out how to install one in the basement. And yes, my preggo self got into that hole, helped her up the blue stairs, and then managed to get back out again. It was an engineering marvel. At the top jumping up and down in the cage. She would roar like a tiger. These two pictures are probably my favorite. Cory is trying to play the toddler game to get some tickets for his little pumpkin, but is having some problems.

Stickers

2008-11-10T16:16:00.000-05:00

Sophia loves stickers. She goes through a sheet at a time. You better watch out when she's got a hold of some. You may be her next sticker victim.

Sophie-isms

2008-11-07T14:21:00.003-05:00

Sophia says the most grown up stuff lately. We were all in the car a couple days ago and she was "talking" to Mimi on her princess phone. Cory didn't realize what she was doing and tried talking to her. She finished her sentence, told Mimi she had to go, and then hung up the phone. She said to Cory, "Okay Daddy. I can talk to you now. What's the matter? What do you need?" We were going to pick up our stolen-for-2-days-car-but-now-we-have-it-back (Thank you God!) but forgot the keys so we had to turn back around and get them. Cory ran inside really quick, got the keys, and we started back on our way. Sophia decided to make up a song for the occassion. It went something like this: "Daddy saved the day, Daddy saved the day, Daddy saved the day, ect. ect.". Of course, Cory hated that song. It was too cute. I just love the little person she is becoming. We are so lucky to have her in our lives.

Bouncer

2008-11-01T21:53:00.004-04:00

Today I decided to bring out Sophia's bouncer. I have been wanting to set it up outside but since the windstorm I have been very nervous about it. Our next door neighbor had about 30% of their roof blown off and a lot of it ended up in our backyard. That mess included shingles and nails. So, I have been very concerned that we haven't found all the nails yet. Don't want to puncture the bouncer! That would be a major party foul. So, I had the idea to set it up in the basement. Sophia was in heaven. That girl could bounce for days. Cory got in there with her and she loved it. She has some amazing wrestling moves. I have no idea where she comes up with them, but she can certainly put a hurting on her Daddy.

Having fun with Daddy

One of her many wrestling moves. That's gotta hurt.

They are so cute together.

Poor Daddy was worn out.

Trick or Treat

2008-10-31T21:23:00.000-04:00

We had a lot of fun trick or treating this year. Eva and Julie went with us to a few houses and Eva was a huge hit in her lion costume. Sophia had a blast. She loves her basket and loved carrying it up to the doors and whispering "trick or treat". I swear, sometimes she is so quiet. I have no idea where she gets that from!

She had 2 favorite things of the night:

1. Her flashlight. She had a whole routine juggling it and her basket.

2. Fireworks. Yes, I did say fireworks. Some people down the street had leftover fireworks and set them out periodically through the 2 trick or treating hours. Sophia loves fireworks. She is not scared of them at all. She just yells, AGAIN, AGAIN! She is a funny little girl.

Looking so cute and grown up!

I love this picture of her. It captures her personality.

The sunflower's chariot

Sophia always loves seeing her Mimi.

Thanks to Gilbert for being the "candy man" (aka Willy Wonka). Cory and I were able to go trick or treating together. I loved that!

I love this picture with Eva reaching out to her big cousin.

What a big girl!

Riding home in style.

Annual Trip to Hubers

2008-10-26T13:43:00.001-04:00

Cory's work has an annual trip to Hubers. Usually this happens in September but the date was changed due to some roof issues at Hubers. We were unsure if it was going to be rescheduled and finally heard that it was going to be this Sunday. It was a BEAUTIFUL day for it. The only wrinkle in the day is that I forgot my camera. That was so sad, but because of that, I was able to focus more on interacting with Sophia in the moment instead of worrying about photo ops. I did get a couple of pictures with my camera phone, so I apologize about the quality, but what can you do?

Highlights of the trip:

1. Sophia's lunch consisted of butter (yeah, I said butter), ice cream, and a cookie. Well rounded don't you think?

2. Went on the tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. She loved the ride and loved picking out her pumpkin. She picked a white one.

3. Went to the petting zoo. I was so proud/embarrassed that she knew just what to do since Mommy and Daddy were out of quarters. You pick up the corn from the ground to feed the animals. Yeah, she's done that one before. She is so loving with all creatures and it kind of "bit" her this year......

4. Got pecked on the finger by a chicken. She screamed but never cried. What a strong little girl.

5. Went on a pony ride. I thought she might be a little freaked out. After all, it was her first time even being that close to a pony. Nope, not at all. Half way around the first lap she said, "Let go of me, Mommy. I okay". The second lap she had only one hand on the saddle and was petting the pony with the other.

6. Went down the slide so many times with Daddy. She loved it. Last time we went (with the Banets) she wouldn't consider going down without her Daddy. Not this time. She told Cory that she would do it herself and came whizzing down the slide at full speed. What a difference a few months makes.

We had a great time. I love going on these little trips with her when she is 2. It is so much fun. This has definitely been my favorite age so far. (but I think i have said that at every stage)

Her pumpkin! I love that she picked the $3 pumpkin size. I knew we were doing something right!

As you can see (barely) she is pumped. Can't wait to get up again and go back down the slide. Not even looking behind to check out where Daddy is.

Yeah! One great pic with the camera phone.

Trick or Treat at the Zoo

2008-10-25T14:03:00.001-04:00

On Saturday we ventured out to the zoo for trick or treating. We were supposed to meet up with Angie and Jill, but that didn't quite work out (see their blogs for coverage on that). We almost didn't make it though due to a 3:30 wardrobe malfunction that included a ripped seam on the front of the costume. Luckily, I know of a GREAT seamstress/crafty/fix-it woman, Mimi, and was able to race to her house, she fixed the costume, and we only left 5 minutes late. I think Mimi deserves a big reward for that one. I am still thinking about what it should be. Once we arrived at the zoo, we had a great time and were there for about 2 hours. Sophia was so into the whole idea of trick or treating. It took us a while to walk around because she didn't want to ride in her stroller. She wanted to walk holding her basket like the big kids were doing. She is getting so BIG. I have to say, that she was by far, the most beautiful sunflower that I have ever seen. Her basket that Mimi expertly put together was a big hit. Sophia and Daddy snacking on some popcorn as we travelled. I absolutely love this picture of her!!! She loved the 3 little pigs but was concerned for the third little pig that was all by himself. She decided he needed a hug. She is such a sweetie!! Loving looking at the animals that were out. I thought these costumes were great but Sophia was not a fan. She wouldn't even look at the camera. Asserting what a big girl she is. Trick or treating by "herself". I think this picture is so funny. It looks like Cory is trying to hit on the Cheshire cat. What a smooth one he is.

Gymnastics Update

2008-10-24T14:28:00.001-04:00

Just wanted to share a couple of pictures from gymnastics of our gymnast in action. The pictures are a little dark because of the way their lighting is, but you can see how much she loves doing it. Thanks to Dena for the leotard. It is her favorite one. She doesn't say that it has smiley faces on it, she calls it her "funny faces" leotard.

Getting some last minute instruction from Daddy.

Doesn't she look so professional with no help from Daddy and her hands on her hips?

Daddy's Girl?

2008-10-15T21:41:00.005-04:00

Now, people frequently tell me that Sophia looks a lot like her Daddy. I am not so sure. I will let you be the judge.

Caution ladies.... this is a really hot picture of Cory. Remember, he is all mine.

Cory circa 1981

Sophia Grace circa 2008

Baby Cissell

2008-10-14T21:22:00.000-04:00

Finally..... The much awaited ultrasound. I have been so anxious about this ultrasound. I really, really wanted to know whether we were having a boy or a girl but was also very uneasy about the health of the baby. You would think that I would be more relaxed about it the second time around but I just kept thinking that Sophia is so healthy.....can we be that lucky twice?

My mom met Cory and I at the office. The measurement part came first. It seemed like that took FOREVER! Then we saw all the organs. Everything looked good. We have a healthy baby. Then we saw something else.... what was that? I didn't see that the last time. Yup. It's a boy!!! It will be so fun to have both a boy and a girl. Although this little boy is going to have to learn his "handy man" talents from someone other than his parents. I also found out that I was a little farther along than we had thought. BONUS! The new due date is February 24. We are all really excited.

And in case you are reading this Kristin, Sophia says, "I am going to have a baby brober (brother) just like Austin". They are destined to be married one day.

Now, that is a good looking boy!

Any doubts?

Birthday Party

2008-10-12T21:04:00.003-04:00

Sophia has been talking about having a birthday party and birthday cake for about a week now. It is nowhere near her birthday or near anyone's birthday in my family, but she wanted a cake so bad, that I said we could make one. I was at a loss as to who's birthday it could be but then Mimi came over and saved the day. She brought each of the girls a treat bag for Halloween and Sophia's had a little cat in it. Perfect. Sophia named the cat Abby and then Abby had a birthday party. Sophia decorated the cake with Diego decorations since those were Abby's favorite. We even sang Happy Birthday to Abby. Thank you to Mimi, Aunt Juju, Baby Eba (or Eva), and Daddy for playing along and joining in the singing. Sophia was very proud. I love having a 2 year old. It is so much fun!!!

I think she has a future in cake decorating. What do you think, Jen?

Singing to the birthday cat

Yummy cake!

The birthday cat's first photo. Let us know what size and how many copies you want.

The Gymnast Graduates

2008-10-10T20:55:00.000-04:00

Friday was the last day of this session of gymnastics. Both the girls did really well. Sophia finally worked up enough courage to go down the big, green slide. She went down 5 times!! Mimi came to observe how much fun Sophia has during gymnastics and Sophia kept pointing at Mimi and saying, "That's MY Mimi!" Afterwards, Miss Shelly gave each of the kids ribbons. The girls were very excited about them. Cory was trying something new with the camera, so I couldn't pick just one of the pictures to post.

Aren't these ribbons cool?

Can you see my ribbon?

Our budding gymnast

2008-09-05T21:25:00.000-04:00

I finally broke down and bought Sophia one of those million dollar gymnastic outfits. She absolutely loves it. The blue part is velvet and she kept rubbing her hands over it saying, "Pretty, Pretty". It really was worth all those pennies.

You can hardly tell she likes her new threads in this picture.

Beach videos

2008-08-30T21:29:00.003-04:00

We took several cute videos of Sophia at the beach, but I wanted to post our 2 favorites. It really shows how things changed in a matter of a couple of minutes.

Sorry. I hate that this video is sideways but I don't know how to fix it.

The Beach

2008-08-29T20:55:00.000-04:00

When we went to Florida, we decided we should take Sophia to the beach even if it was only for a little while. We spent about 1 1/2 hours there and it was worth every second. Last year in NC, she was afraid of the water and not that into the sand. What a difference a year makes! She had a great time looking for shells, playing in the sand, jumping waves, and letting her feet sink in the sand. It was so much fun. It reminded me of all the great times you have as a child at the beach rolling around in the sand with no thought to your appearance or how dirty you are getting. It was just wonderful to relive that again with SGC. When we got back to my Aunt and Uncle's house I was shaking out our beach towels before putting them into the washer and Sophia's swimsuit had about 2 times more sand than in any of the towels. I still don't understand how her tiny weeny yellow bikini held that much sand.

Getting used to the beach Getting in the waves with Daddy. Within a few minutes, she was a huge fan. Jumping the waves with Daddy Looking for shells Playing in the sand Check out that beach babe! Cheese!

Gymnastics

2008-08-16T13:15:00.006-04:00

Well, we are back in gymnastics. Sophia's first session was when she was 15 months old and I think it was just too late for her. She had a great time but multiple meltdowns on each lesson. This time we were hoping for a much better time.

She hasn't been taking good naps the last few days and I think she didn't even get one on Friday. She fell asleep on the way home from McDonalds eating a chicken nugget. She slept through Cory changing her diaper, shirt, pants, and shoes. Good grief. She slept during the "long" ride to gymnastics (about 4 minutes), through getting out of the car, and through about 10 minutes of waiting for the class to start. Cory and I were very worried about how the class would go but after about 5 minutes, she warmed up and had a great time. We did have 2 meltdowns though. One at the end of class when she realized we were going to leave. She rolled around on the floor crying and saying "Again, again". Then she had another one in the parking lot when she and Libby split up. "I want my Wibby" is what we heard all the way home. All in all, I count it as an extreme success. We can't wait to go back next week.

This is how lessons started out. We were really nervous.

Jumping in and out of hula hoops. This girl loves to jump.

Listening to Miss Shelly's instructions

Libby loved the hula hoop part. Sophia was not interested. Doesn't Libby look so cute and professional in her leotard and pigtails?

Tumbling in the obstacle course with Daddy

She loves the balance beam. Cory is doing an excellent job spotting her.

Jumping down the "road"

Waiting with the other kids at the end of the class to get their stamps

Update

2008-08-16T13:10:00.004-04:00

Yeah, it's been a while. A long while. I am going to try and be better. I had a month off so I can come back to the blog more whitty and interesting than ever. (Haha) I published a few brief posts just to get you caught up and now will promise to try and keep current. We'll see. For those of you that don't know.... Cory and I were suprised to find out that I am pregnant. Aaaahhhh! We were planning on having another child but were going to wait a couple more months. But, I guess God had different ideas. It is much better this way though. I went through a rough year of heartaches every month trying to concieve with Sophia. I am glad we don't have to go through that again! The baby's due date is March 4 but as I did with Sophia, I am popping out early. We have asked Sophia what she wants, a boy or girl. First it was a boy and she named him Jack (which isn't bad) and now after spending the night with Mimi, now she wants a girl. Cory and I don't have a preference. Just want a healthy baby who is rough enough to keep up with his/her older sister.

Dressing to impress

2008-07-22T13:03:00.000-04:00

Sophia goofing around in my socks and shoes. She definately has her own sense of style.

2008-07-19T12:53:00.000-04:00

We took Sophia to the Newport Aquarium. She really enjoy it. A hint to all those bloggers out there.... NO STROLLERS ALLOWED. This made for a long day. But we all had a great time anyway. She loves learning.

Playing the drums

Looking at the giant turtle with Daddy

Family shot

Climbing on the frogs

Not quite as tall as the shark

Sophia's Birthday Party

2008-07-13T12:41:00.000-04:00

Sophia had a great birthday party. She had people from Kentucky, Indiana, Texas, and Washington state all here for her birthday celebration. She is a very lucky girl.

The theme was Tigger and Pooh and I continued my tradition of making her birthday cake. It turned out pretty good. It was a little more difficult than last year. It looked even better before she decided to take a taste of Pooh's foot!

We got a tray of heavenly ham and turkey but I think her favorite was the cheese. I think she had about 4 pieces. And then of course was the chocolate fountain. She was a huge fan of that.

She had fun opening all her presents. She is so funny with wrapping paper. Even if she just tears off a small piece, she has to hand it to someone or throw it away before she will continue unwrapping. Needless to say, it makes for a very long process.

Mom found her this adorable dress for her birthday. I thought she looked adorable. She is modeling the new shoes Aunt Juju got for her and sitting in her new rocking chair from Meme.

Thanks to everyone for coming! Sophia had a really great time.

Sophia's 2nd Birthday

2008-07-11T12:31:00.000-04:00

For Sophia's 2nd birthday, we just had a low key day together. We met Daddy for lunch and just hung around the house and played. After Daddy got home, we gave Sophia her big present. She was so excited. She loves to bounce like a Tigger. Then we went over to Mimi and Pardie's for some cake. She had a great time.

One happy, bouncing, birthday girl

Reading her card from Mimi and Pardie

Beautiful ice cream birthday cake that Cory made, I mean picked out.

Mischevious 2 year old

She loved drinking milk from a big girl cup. The second picture is of her saying, "Aaaahhhh" after she swallowed her milk.

First Movie

2008-07-04T21:15:00.002-04:00

Today we took Sophia to see her first movie. She did all right but was more interested in climbing in and out of the chair than watching the movie. We had a good time anyway and she really loved sharing popcorn with her daddy.

Excited looking around and talking about the big TV and all the chairs.

Berry, Berry Tall

2008-06-27T20:50:00.001-04:00

Tonight Sophia and Cory decided to "make a house". Sophia loves to play with blocks and frankly, so do Cory and I. As they were building, Sophia said, "Look Momma, it is berry, berry tall!". That is the first time I can remember that she has used adjectives like that to describe something. Her speech is getting clearer and clearer. It is amazing.

Fun day at the Zoo

2008-06-22T19:07:00.000-04:00

Sunday was Eon's day at the Zoo. So, Cory, Mimi, Pardie, Sophia, and I packed up and headed out to the zoo. First on the agenda was the food tent. As usual, Sophia didn't eat much. She did enjoy the chocolate chip cookie though.

After lunch Sophia was getting restless so we headed to the inflatable jumpers. At first Sophia wasn't sure exactly what to do but she got the hang of it and loved it.

There was popcorn and snow cones. I really wanted her to have a snow cone but didn't want the mess of one, so Mimi suggested that we let her have a plain one. What a great idea! Sophia loved it. Anything to get her to stay in her stroller.

We went to the reptile house for the first time. She really seemed to love the snakes. Gross.

Then it was off to the train. She enjoyed the ride with Mimi and Pardie a lot.

We headed over to the carousel. It is great to be able to do those things every once in a while. We usually don't do them because they cost extra.

We saw a few of the animals on the way to the water park. Sophia wasn't sure what to do at first. The last time she was there, she and Libby could barely stand. She got into it after a while and didn't even mind the water in her face.

By the time we got to the car, she was out. Thanks for a great time Pardie!

Day Off

2008-06-18T16:18:00.001-04:00

Today I had the day off. It was great to spend a day with Sophia after I was gone for several days for a business trip. We did all sorts of fun things.

Sophia loves cereal and would eat it for every meal if we let her. This morning was no exception. She requested cereal and enjoyed eating it while watching Little Einsteins.

Then Sophia made me some breakfast and sampled it herself.

She wanted to take some pictures, so I let her use the camera. There were a lot of pictures of the ceiling and especially the fan. I picked two of her better pictures.

I just had to get a couple of pictures of her with her first set of ponytails. Is she the cutest or what???

Then we went to Daddy's work and took him out for lunch. We went to a mexican restaraunt. Sophia had her "mexican cheeseburger" but enjoyed the salsa and chips. She has been watching a lot of Dora lately and has embraced the word "delicioso". We were getting a big kick out of her saying it over and over again.

Then we went back home for naptime. On the way home, I gave Sophia some Dora stickers and she decorated herself with them. They were all up and down both legs, on the bottoms of her feet, her hands, and her face. I could only get a couple of pictures before she peeled them off. I had a couple of ideas for things that we could do when she got up, but she took a 4 hour nap!!! Good grief little girl. I guess she must be growing.

After dinner we went on a wagon ride. She enjoyed it a lot. We will have to do that more often.

The perfect way to end the evening....a sucker and some more Dora. We had a great day together. I wish we could spend every day together.

Notice Chloe always waiting for Sophia to drop something.

Naptime

2008-06-11T15:48:00.004-04:00

Sophia's new favorite game is hiding from us. All it involves is her on her changing pad, in her bed, or on our bed with a blanket or towel over her. We have to pretend to not see her and try and find her. She loves it. She always says, "Again, again". Well, today I laid her down for her nap. I guess she was trying to play hide from momma. I am not sure. This is what I found when I went in to check on her.

You can't even see her. Did she escape?

Proof she was here

Where's Sophie? At this point I thought she was still awake and just hiding from me. I was a little irritated.

I guess the poor girl fell asleep waiting for me to come and find her. It's so sad. I bet you can relate can't you, Juju?

Ponytail

2008-06-11T15:37:00.005-04:00

Angie's post inspired me to see if I could get Sophia's hair into a big girl ponytail. It worked! Well, kindof. I think Libby's hair might be a little bit longer than Sophia's. But she still looked adorable. It really brought home just how old she has gotten. She isn't my little baby anymore. Today is her 23 month "birthday". I think this will probably be the last time that I think of her in months instead of years. Oh, so sad. But I am really looking forward to all the cool big girl memories to come.

Sophia's very first ponytail

Aerial shot

I don't know why this picture wouldn't work. Side shot

Pretty, big girl

First swim of the season

2008-06-10T22:37:00.003-04:00

After dinner, we decided to get into the pool for a few minutes. Sophia wasn't sure of it at first, but warmed up to the idea after a few minutes. As always, her favorite place in the pool was the steps. She went up and down the steps and even jumped to me a few times. We are looking forward to many more fun times in the pool.

Modeling the swimsuit Aunt Juju gave her

Fun with Daddy

Cheese!

Cutting Grass

2008-06-08T22:28:00.001-04:00

This evening, after dinner, Cory went out to cut the grass. Sophia now wants to do everything Daddy does, so she had to cut grass too. Mimi gave us a little lawn mower for Sophia, so we headed outside. I know she is not in the most conventional outfit to cut grass, but I fully expected her to get outside, hear how loud the mower is, and then get scared and want to go inside. I was wrong. She was very interested. She did soon discover that mowing grass, even with a play mower, is not as easy or as fun as it looks when someone else is doing it. We eventually moved to the deck to finish mowing.

Diaper, crocs, and a mower....what more do you need?

Quite possibly the world's cutest picture

Getting pointers as she watches Daddy

Taking a short break to talk to Chloe

Happy Pardie's Day!

2008-06-06T21:44:00.002-04:00

Since I am going to be out of town on Father's Day, we decided to celebrate Pardie's Day on Friday. We took Pardie to Olive Garden. For some reason Sophia decided she wanted to try olives. She ate 3 olives one right after eachother and then wanted more. What a strange little girl. What almost 2 year old likes olives? Crazy kid.

Sophia loved seeing her Pardie and then spending time with Pancho as well. Whenever she gets in trouble now or isn't able to do something she wants to do, she askes for 1. Mimi, 2. Pardie, 3. Pancho. I guess she thinks they are going to bail her out. She's probably right.

Coloring with Daddy

Posing with her olive

Tasting....delicious

Daddy and Sophia enjoying their fettucini

Helping Pardie with chocolate gelato

Looking really cool in Momma's glasses

Huber's Petting Zoo

2008-05-31T21:11:00.000-04:00

Angie and Gary had a great idea to go to the Huber petting zoo on Saturday. It has been a while since the girls have spent a good amount of time together. They are funny together. We had a great time. Thanks for the invite, Banets!!

Giving the goats kisses

Picking up some of the corn off the ground to feed it to the goats.

Libby gets to feeding while Sophia won't stop picking up corn off the ground. She would pick up a piece, drop 2 pieces, pick up another.... you get the picture. It was hard to get her to stop and just enjoy feeding them.

Feeding the bunnies

I never realized how great peer pressure can be at the age of almost 2. Sophia does not like pickles at all (she usually says, "Stinky") but when Libby bit into her pickle, Sophia had to have a bite of one.

This is as close as she got to taking an actual bite. Teeth in the pickle but no actual bite. These two girls are a mess together.

Shoes

2008-05-31T18:40:00.000-04:00

This one if for you JuJu. Your niece loves shoes almost as much as you do!

SGC's favorite character is....

2008-05-23T20:51:00.000-04:00

This post is a little out of sequence but I wanted to post it anyway. Sophia's gift before I left for Julie's house was her favorite character...... Buster. He is Darbi's dog off My Friends Tigger and Pooh.

Caution...She may be getting cuter

2008-05-22T16:24:00.009-04:00

Eva and Julie are doing great. Today was the big trip home. Eva has lost some weight but is still in the normal weight loss category. She is such a sweet little girl. Just a few pictures from the last few days.

This picture just won't do right. But if you hold your head just right, it looks beautiful!

Two hot chicks

I think they're in love.

So peaceful

Getting ready to go home. She's got a lot of growing to do. She looks beautiful in yellow.

Teeny Weeny baby girl....oh, yeah and her momma

The happy family

Well, look at that. She looks beautiful in pink too.

Eva Renee is here!!!

2008-05-19T20:00:00.005-04:00

Eva Renee Aguilar was born today, May 19, 2008 at 9:32 am. She weighs 6 pounds 6 ounces and is 21 inches long. She is a tiny little thing. She has a full head of beautiful, black hair. Mom and baby are doing great. Just a few quick pictures....she is such a doll.

Check out that hair!! It's beautiful in a mohawk.

Our last supper

2008-05-17T23:27:00.005-04:00

Tonight we went out for supper and dessert before I leave for Texas. I had a great time and know that all will be well while I am gone, but I will sure miss my little family. First we went to Famous Daves and then had dessert at the Homemade Ice Cream and Pie place. It was delicious. Sophia decided that whatever I got to eat was way better than what she had, so she ended up eating half of my dinner and dessert. I believe it might be a new weight loss strategy.

Look, french fries again!

Trying Momma's sandwich

Showing me where more sandwich is supposed to go.

Completely taking over my sandwich.

Time for dessert

I think you can see her tonsils.

This may be the cutest picture EVER of SGC. I love it.

Stay tuned for pictures of the newest member of the family who will be arriving on Monday!!! Please keep Eva, Julie, and Gilbert in your prayers.

Time for new shoes

2008-05-16T21:11:00.005-04:00

Sophia has been complaining that her tennis shoes hurt for about a week, so we decided to go out tonight to get her some more shoes. Now, she is in a phase where she says everything hurts. All the time. Making a night of this reminded me of going to get shoes when I was young. Back in the olden days. I remember getting dressed up in a dress (can you even picture it?), with ponytails with matching ribbons, and lace socks just to go to the Stride Rite store. Well, we didn't get dressed up or anything (my hair was brushed though), and went to California Pizza Kitchen first. Sophia loved their mac and cheese. She just loves mac and cheese. I wanted to get a couple of pictures of her because she looked so darn cute with her two ponytails. Notice the matching holders.

Her tennis shoes were a size 5. We have been putting her in other shoes which are also a size 5 with no complaints from her at all. Want to guess what size of shoes she needed????

6 1/2!!!

Boy, do I feel like the worst mother ever!!! And it was so nice of the 15 year old salesperson to point out that she had little indents on her feet from her little mary jane shoes. Thanks. Her foot always went in the shoes okay. I sure do wish that child would give me a heads up. Oh, well. Guess I'll know for next time.

On the way home she pulled out her ponytails. It made her hair look like a mushroom.

She is very proud of her new shoes. Probably because her foot isn't all squished in them. She loves to model shoes. I think she pretty much has it down pat. What do you think Aunt Juju?

We are such big dorks that Cory and I were very excited all day because today there was a new episode of "My Friends Tigger and Pooh" on Disney Channel. (As I type, Cory is singing the opening song of the show.) All that excitement today must have worn Cory out because he fell asleep while watching the new episode. Can you believe it??

Bringing home Piglet

2008-05-14T21:00:00.000-04:00

This next week I am going to Texas to be with my sister as she has Eva Renee. Yeah!! I am so excited. The only downside is that I am going to be away from Sophia for almost 8 days! I am so nervous about that. I am not nervous about Cory taking care of her, he does a great job, I am nervous about being without her for that long.

As I get ready to go to see Julie, I can remember all the thoughts I was having on the days counting down to Sophia's birth. Am I going to be a good mother? Am I going to make it through the spinal without passing out? Is she going to be a 40 pound baby? (I gained 55 pounds with her) And the ever so popular, Why in the world did I want to have a baby in the first place? Can she stay in a little longer? I don't think I am ready. But here I am, almost 2 years later, and it is so hard for me to fathom being without her for a week. Strange how kids and time changes us. She is so much fun and such a joy to be around.

On a lighter note, because I am going out of town, I decided to go to the Disney store and pick up a little present for Sophia. I got her favorite character of all time. I'm not telling what it is. You'll have to wait until Sunday to see. But I also picked up Piglet. I couldn't wait to give it to her later, so I gave it to her tonight. It was amazing how excited she got.

I love this picture.

Sophia and Piglet laying down for "night-nights".

Thanks for the cool "honey" shirt Juju. Do you know that Pooh eats honey?

Hanging with my Daddy

2008-05-11T20:53:00.000-04:00

Tonight when it came time to put on pjs, I couldn't find any spring/summer ones that were clean. But I did find a "Belle of Louisville" t-shirt that was mine when I was little. I put that on Sophia and she loved it. She loves the "boat shirt". I remember wearing this shirt so it was weird to see it on my daughter. But she had a great time in it and an unforseen upside to the t-shirt is she was unencumbered enough to really wrestle good with Daddy.

Running in the hall to get away from the camera. She should have known. A blogging momma always gets her girl.

If you notice the ponytail holders in the second picture, those are from Sophia. She loves to wear them as bracelets.

Using her Daddy as transportation

She found these rainboots in the closet. Here she is modeling them. She sure has a thing with shoes, Juju.

Boots

2008-05-11T11:41:00.003-04:00

Sophia loves the pink snowboots she got from the Jewells. I had them put up for quite a while but once she found them, it was all over. The boots are a size 7 and she still wears a 5 so they are a tiny bit big. But she loves to put them on and stomp around the house. She has a rather unique fashion sense. It reminds me of my sister when she was young. Remember the grimace outfit and the striped shirt and skirt, Julie??? I think Sophia may have a future in fashion design.

The Zoo

2008-05-10T17:09:00.007-04:00

I made a special request to go to the zoo this weekend. Today was a beautiful day for it. We had a great time. We haven't been in a while and it was a completely different experience than 6 months ago. Sophia had a great time and seemed to enjoy all the animals. I can't believe she went strong, without a nap, in a good mood until we started the walk to the car at 4:30. That's about 3 1/2 hours past nap time. She's getting so grown up.

She still really loves the petting part at the zoo. She looks like such a big girl now.

What a difference a year makes!

Getting some lunch

Looking at the gorillas

Waiting for the larikeets. This year and last year

Cory wooing the larikeets

Enjoying some ice cream. She kept going back and forth between chocolate in a cup and vanilla in a cone. She really likes the cone.

We played for a while on the smaller slides but once Sophia saw the big slides she had to try those out too. Cory helped her up but she went down that big slide all by herself. What a big girl. Only 2 more months and she'll be 2!!! AAAHHH!