Taken this morning

I just had to post these pictures since I rarely get the two of them in the same frame at the same time. Sophia got a real peacock feather at church today and she was holding it up in the air, but it didn't make it into any of the photos.

Lillian dances and claps

Lilly in the chair

The outfit that Lilly is wearing in the photo below is one of my favorites. Take a look at all the pictures I took of her sitting in the chair. She climbed right up the other day and since she doesn't know how to get down yet she yelled for some help.

She can also climb up the stairs now which keeps me pretty busy.

The Lilly poll

77% of you think that Lilly looks like Will and only 22% of you think that she looks like me. Let's see what you think about Sophia. Don't forget to take the poll.

Another Botanical Garden photo

I took this picture on my cell phone today while Sophia was in her art class.

Lilly and I enjoyed walking around together again, but this time I actually let her walk instead of just pushing her in the stroller. Look how cute she was as she looked up at me.

Daddy and his girl

Can you guess which kid...?

One is easy going and the other inflexible.

One smiles all the time and the other is always very serious.

One enjoys being part of the crowd and the other demands to be the center of attention!

One seems fearless and the other constantly scared.

One eats anything offered to her and the other refuses to eat.

One is a Gemini and the other a Taurus. (Both are frighteningly accurate!) So one is brimming with energy and clever and the other is stubborn and tenacious.

One really really wanted to get into the swimming pool today and even helped the other kids by handing them water discs and the other screamed/cried/wanted to sit on my lap for her entire swimming class! ! ! !

Can you guess? Can you?

Don't you just want to pet her?

Just chillin' with Dad

A bird's nest

Usually when I'm on the phone Sophia interrupts me and makes all kinds of noise because I'm not paying attention to her!

"Mommy, go talk to someone!" That's what Sophia told me to do this afternoon when she was building a bird's nest in the fancy room. She was literally layering paper, leaves that she plucked from one of my plants, and soap that she stole from the bathroom into a new decorative bowl of mine. In a hurry I replaced the bowl with a skillet from the kitchen and let her have at it.

I did go talk to someone - my brother and then my mom. It sure was nice to have some peace and quiet on the phone for a change.

The second photo was taken after the soap bubbles had dissolved.

Loyal Lillian

If there's one thing that Lillian is loyal to it's FOOD! She absolutely loves food. She's gobbles up everything I give her or don't give her. In this case she helped herself to Sophia's chocolate pudding. She even knows how to use the spoon (a task that Sophia still likes me to help her with).

I literally turned around for a split second and when I turned back I found Lilly covered in pudding. When I tried to tear the spoon out of her hands she wouldn't let go. I quickly cleaned her up, but she was insistent on finishing the pudding.

I think someone has a sweet tooth. (She loves donuts too!)

Sophia and Haley at the mall

Haley's got her arm around Sophia. So cute.

Pictures of Lilly

While Sophia was in her art class on Tuesday Lillian and I took another walk around the Botanical Garden and this time we stopped a few times to take some pictures.

She always gives me the best smiles. There are only a few pictures to see, but here they are.

Peek-a-boo

One of Lillian's favorite games is peek-a-boo. She plays it during diaper changes, while walking around the house, and even in the car. She doesn't play by covering her face with her hands. She always uses clothes or her Lamby.

Yesterday she found these beads in the toy box and literally put them around her neck. She also tries to put sunglasses on her face whenever she's lucky enough to find a pair. Monkey see. Monkey do. Or in this case: Lillian see. Lillian do.

Here's a video of her playing peek-a-boo.

Another trip to the Botanical Garden

We took some of our neighbors to the WoW kids sprinkler area at the Botanical Garden on Thursday. Taylor (8) and Riley (2) were so excited to play in the water with Sophia. Check out all of the pictures.

Sophia made a new friend, Lily and the two of them were holding hands and running around together. Lily is going to turn 4 next month. I'm sure we'll never see her again, but we have a few photos of her to memorialize their friendship.

Lilly had a fun time toddling around in the water, but mostly she enjoyed staying dry and walking around the park on the concrete.

(Check out those thick thighs. So adorable.)

Water Water Everywhere

Yesterday evening Sophia was outside playing with the garden hose, a bucket and her imagination. She was literally dumping buckets of water on head and enjoying every minute of it. Her new Dora nightgown was soaking wet when she was finished. Check out the video below to see her in action.

Lilly, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with the water and actually flinched every time she got wet.

Dora

Sophia started her 4-week long art class today at the Botanical Garden. The program is offered through the national art education program, Abrakadoodle. The theme is "Butterflies" in honor of the new exhibit, Flutter Fantasy. (We checked it out about 2 weeks ago and I think some of my photos rival those on the Flutter Fantasy page.)

Sophia seemed to enjoy herself in the class and although her painting didn't really resemble a butterfly at all she was smiling when I arrived to pick her up at 4:30. While she was in class Lilly and I went on a walk through the Garden. It was so nice just to spend time alone with her. I finally stumbled upon Baker's Overlook, where Will and I got married. I've been trying to remember how to get back to the overlook for almost 5 years (yep, we'll be married 5 years next month).

Anyway, when I picked her up the teacher was handing out the completed artwork and she addressed Sophia as Dora. I cracked up and told Ms. Sharlene that her name is Sophia. All the moms that stayed in the classroom during class were laughing so hard at "Dora" because that's seriously what they thought her name was.

She's been playing Dora and Boots with Will for a few weeks. Sophia is Dora and Will is Boots and they pretend to explore and overcome obstacles! She's funny. Today while we were at Target, Sophia's favorite store, I bought her a Dora nightgown. She wore it to bed tonight and told me that she was beautiful. Of course, she was!

Man, give us a break...

About three weeks ago our air conditioner unit basically exploded so we had to replace it - for a pretty penny. Ironically, the same exact night our dishwasher and the overhead light in the kitchen also quit working. Coincidence? Seems like it, right? The A/C guy said the three were not related, but at this point I was still convinced all three things were related and I was blaming the air conditioner.

Sidenote: I've been hand washing the dishes and even though we've switched to throw away plates and cups, there's still a ton of dishes every day. Boy do I pity the people who don't have a dishwasher!

We had friends over this weekend and the guys decided to take matters into their own hands and literally changed the light bulbs in the kitchen and presto that light came back on. I find it rather strange that both bulbs burned out at the same exact time, but OK, I can buy it, I guess. What I can't buy, however, is the fact that both bulbs were CFL bulbs that should have lasted for SIX more years. Sounds pretty fishy to me! (That stupid air conditioner.) The guys also removed the dishwasher and tested the outlet for an electrical current and they definitely found one. OK..that means the three year old dishwasher has to be replaced. And this part is really weird: the kitchen lights came on when the bulbs were changed, but the lights in the dining room, formal living room and the hallway went OUT! (Thankfully the electrician will be here in the morning).

This highly referred electrician, Keith, came today and fixed our faulty light switch plate in the kitchen and presto the light was totally fixed. Keith told me blah blah blah and the wiring company blah blah blah didn't push in the back wire or blah blah something like that. I didn't really know what he was talking about, but I definitely understood when he said NO CHARGE! (Thanks, Keith! Boy it pays to be friends with a builder.) Keith weighed in on my theory that all three things were related and he agreed with the A/C guy. He even told me that bad things come in threes!

Another sidenote: Bah humbug, I'm pretty sure that bad things come in sixes because Sophia's bed broke when I rearranged her room, Sophia broke one of the automatic doors on the minivan, and there was a severe pink paint accident in the play room. I hear new carpet calling. Ugg...

So my new and final theory for the latest series of bad luck is that our house must have been struck by lightening three weeks ago when the air conditioner exploded.

9 teeth

Yep, she's got 9 teeth. She first got four on the top and two on the bottom. Then she got 2 molars (1 top, 1 bottom) on her right side and just 2 days ago another tooth broke through on the right side. What's up with that?

Lillian Walks

In the first video she can only take a few steps, but in the second one you can see that she's mastered the walk (and she has the hiccups).

Messy Room

Every single day Sophia has to go into her room for quiet time even though she doesn't nap anymore. After she's done ripping all her clothes off the hangers and putting 4 or 5 additional shirts/dresses on she then empties her bookshelf and throws all the books on the floor!

She called me into her room last week and I didn't see her immediately, but there she was . . . on the bookshelf!

Update on Lilly

She can:
- Walk
- Wave Hello
- Say Hi
- Dance
- Color with a crayon
- Give a high five

A random Sunday...

Duck, North Carolina

Our trip to the Outer Banks was phenomenal. And I won't mince words...if either Bonnie&Dan or Cynthia&Don want to invest in a beach house in the Outer Banks, I will personally take care of all the decorating, maintenance, winterizing and dewinterizing, etc...

I arrived on Thursday afternoon around 3:30 with the girls and we immediately unloaded the car and hit the swimming pool. Sophia was timid in the pool, as to be expected. She hung out on the stairs most of the time. She was in heaven when we finally got back to the house and she realized she could hang out with her buddies, Addie and Haley, for hours. Lilly played with her friend, Carlie, and Carlie basically showed her the ropes of walking all weekend. As soon as we got home Lillian started walking about 90% of the time.

The next day we hit the beach for a few hours in the AM before the day got too hot. Lillian didn't care for the sand at first, but warmed up to it and learned not to eat it by the end of our trip. Will finally arrived in time for dinner after a long day at work. Everyone was glad he had arrived. Will's always the life of the party.

Saturday was a lot like Friday except we went out for dinner. We went to a pizzaria called The Tomato Patch and had a great casual meal followed by yummy ice cream cones at one of the local shops.

On Sunday morning we hit a t-shirt shop were the girls were able to pick out their favorite decal design and have it heat pressed onto a t-shit of their choice. Sophia chose cats....go figure. She loves cats! I chose a light blue shirt for Lilly and her decal was a little girl listening to a seashell. When we got home we decided to hit the pool instead of going to the beach. Actually Lilly and I joined the crew late because she was taking a nap when they left. Later in the afternoon we took a pair of kites to the beach for some afternoon fun.

Will left on Sunday night to return to the other Ladie in his life, Sadie. (smile) We all missed him dearly.

We packed up the house and left on Monday. We didn't want to leave and I may have even shed a small tear. There's something about the Outer Banks that can't compare to anywhere else in the world. The ocean salt water smells amazing, the sand feels hot and smooth under your feet, and the cool breeze counters the blazing hot sun. Ahhhh.....

So cute....

She's a walker now. Lilly turned the corner this past weekend. She went from a crawler to a walker! My baby is growing up.