Wow. What a trip. We had a great time in Pennsylvania and Sophia even got to wake up to snow flurries one morning. It was cold, but bearable.
We got off to a late start on Tuesday because Sophia's dance class was getting their pictures taken in their Nutcracker costumes. The dance instructor told me that Sophia did not smile for any of her individual shots. She said they got some very serious artistic shots. We'll see on the 10th when the proofs are ready. I got a few cute shots of her before the photo shoot began. I got a few good shots of Sophia and Haley hugging each other.
Take a look.
After the shoot we drove straight to Grancy and Big Daddy's house for a quick overnight stay. We barely got to see them because we arrived late and headed out again fairly early on Wednesday morning.
We arrived in PA in the late afternoon. Sophia and Lilly were both anxious to get out of their car seats and run around in the house. Lilly especially enjoyed exploring Nana and Poppy's house and playing with all of Nana's toys for the very first time.
On Thanksgiving day we celebrated Thanksgiving by indulging in a wonderful meal and then opening Christmas presents. The kids couldn't have been more excited. Again, Lilly got to open presents for the first time and loved it. She didn't need any instruction, she just saw Sophia and then dove right into her presents in the same fashion.
Sophia was really beside herself when she opened up with Wonder Pets Fly Boat. She's been wanting it for a few months now. Nana was the "big winner" this season. Sophia also loved her princess costume and set of Disney princess dolls...all 6 or 7 of them! (Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Pocahontas, Ariel, and the new princess whose name eludes me right now.) She also got a white princess horse. Right now she's absolutely obsessed with princess. Her favorite is Snow White and the 7 dwarfs. Santa is going to bring her the movie.
My mom and I braved the crowds on Black Friday and went to Kohl's and Target. We were in and out in less than 2 hours and even made it home with enough time to get back into bed and catch an hour of sleep. We had fun. . . or at least I did. My mom spent most of her time in line for me.
The rest of Friday was spent visiting family. First we went to visit my cousins and their kids. All of the kids are getting so big. They all played individually, but in the same room. Maybe next year they'll want to play together. Here they are in order from youngest to oldest. (Kale, Lillian, Morgan, Riley, Sophia and Cole). Kale and Morgan and brother and sister and Riley and Cole are brother and sister.
In the afternoon we visited my grandmother. Well, my brother and I visited with her while my mom played with the kids.
My mom was prepared. She had a craft for Sophia to do (with help from Mom and Nana). When we were finished our snow cottage looked really good. I was impressed with our ability to "figure it out" without any directions.
On Saturday Sophia got to decorate cookies with Nana, Poppy and Uncly Danny. She loved dumping the sprinkles on the icing, but even more so she loved showing off her creative decorating talents. I think she ate a total of one cookie even though she took bites out of three of them. Lilly, of course, finished all of the cookies she was given. . .probably 5 of them. She routinely out-eats Sophia.
Poppy and Nana had fun playing with Lilly and she fully warmed up to them by the time it was time for us to pack up and go home.
Lilly and Sophia shared a room and Lilly's crib was near the light switch. Since light switches are one of her new interests she got a kick out of turning the light on in the dark. Once she even woke up her sister in the middle of the night. Lilly woke up extra early two mornings in a row so Will carried her into our bed to sleep with us. We haven't done that since she was an infant. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing her tiny little breaths and feeling her warm body next to me.
We left on Sunday and headed back to stay with Grancy and Big Daddy. It took us over 7 hours to arrive. Not a fun trip because Sadie had rolled around in something really stinky and her stench was permeating the minivan. YUCK!
We arrived at Grancy's house in time for dinner with Rob and Christina and then we headed over to their place for a look at what they've done to it while Grancy put Sophia to bed for us.
We finally arrived home on Monday to five loads of dirty laundry and a full week ahead of us. Sadie got a bath that night and STILL smells good five days later. We're all glad to be home, but wouldn't have missed out on our chance to visit our family in PA.
Take a look at all the photos.
Merry Christmas to all of our family and friends. 
Our family membership to the Aquarium ends at the end of this month so I took the girls one final time last week. Will was supposed to join us because he had the week off, but unfortunately he had to go into work that day. The girls and I enjoyed our membership, but to be completely honest if you've been to the Aquarium once then you really don't need to go back to see the exhibits. We mostly went for the special programs they offer.
We got to see Komodo dragons, crocodiles and tons of turtles. The dragons were enormous. Part of the exhibit included a new touch tank which housed a bunch of small sea creatures like starfish and after watching them for a long time we touched them. Sophia was scared at first, but after she watched me touch one she wasn't quite as nervous about it. Lilly slammed her hand into the water as soon as she saw both of us put our hands into the water. 
On Sunday night we went to the Botanical Garden for their Polar Express program. We went with all three of Sophia's friends (Addie, Haley and sister Carlie, Cameron and brother Trip) and their families. It was a great time. 
The finale was a ride on the "Polar Express" tram through the garden of lights. It was freezing that night, but we were smart enough to think ahead and bring a large blanket to wrap around us.
It is a rare occasion that Will and I get our picture taken together. We were at a going away party on Saturday night and a friend of ours took our photo (and it's even a good one).
Last Sunday Sophia went to a Princess Tea with Grancy and Christina. Will took Sophia up to Grancy's house on Saturday and they celebrated Uncle Rob's birthday and then spent the night. Sophia was chomping at the bit all week just anticipating her visit with Grancy. I know she was excited about the Tea too, but Grancy was her #1 priority. 
Anyway, Lilly and I had a magnificent time on Saturday playing with all of her toys. And for once she got to play with whatever she wanted to without worrying about her big sister getting mad.
Since she sees Sophia brushing her teeth in their bathroom she also wants to be a big girl and brush her teeth too. While I was putting some clean clothes away she was in the bathroom standing on the stool giving her teeth a good scrubbing.
On Wednesday Will, Lilly and I went to Sophia's school holiday program. It was similar to the Halloween show in that each class came out individually and sang a few songs and then at the end they all sang together.
OK. Here's the deal. Sophia has been in dance class since September and her final recital (portions of The Nutcracker) is this coming Saturday afternoon. Grancy is going to come and watch her perform.. .or not perform. 
I found Lilly trying to ride this! It's actually not a ride-on toy. Instead it's a makeshift ride-on toy that only a toddler could imagine. It's a sand card with wheels and two car battery chargers piled on top. Hysterical, don't you think?
Before Will too Sadie for a walk one night last week he came back into the house calling for me. He wanted me to see the moon rainbow in the sky. It was so cool. The shining ball in the middle is the moon. Impressive, huh?
Lillian had her 18 month checkup yesterday. She weighs 23 lbs 14 ounces and is 32 1/4 inches long. That puts her just above the 50% in weight and just under the 75% in height. She just had a bit of a growth spurt and grew a bit longer, but I didn't think she was in the 75 percentile in height. I secretly hope she's tall like Sophia.
Will suggested that we do something fun like Chuck E. Cheese today and I threw my suggestion into the mix as well. I wanted to go to the mall and say Hi to Santa and get pictures. I figured it would be early enough in December that the line wouldn't be very long, but boy was I wrong. The line was no less than strollers deep. We decided to bag my idea and looked threw a few stores for our Secret Santa people and didn't find anything. Better luck next time.
Wow. What a trip. We had a great time in Pennsylvania and Sophia even got to wake up to snow flurries one morning. It was cold, but bearable. 
We arrived in PA in the late afternoon. Sophia and Lilly were both anxious to get out of their car seats and run around in the house. Lilly especially enjoyed exploring Nana and Poppy's house and playing with all of Nana's toys for the very first time.
Sophia was really beside herself when she opened up with Wonder Pets Fly Boat. She's been wanting it for a few months now. Nana was the "big winner" this season. Sophia also loved her princess costume and set of Disney princess dolls...all 6 or 7 of them! (Cinderella, Snow White, Belle, Sleeping Beauty, Pocahontas, Ariel, and the new princess whose name eludes me right now.) She also got a white princess horse. Right now she's absolutely obsessed with princess. Her favorite is Snow White and the 7 dwarfs. Santa is going to bring her the movie. 
The rest of Friday was spent visiting family. First we went to visit my cousins and their kids. All of the kids are getting so big. They all played individually, but in the same room. Maybe next year they'll want to play together. Here they are in order from youngest to oldest. (Kale, Lillian, Morgan, Riley, Sophia and Cole). Kale and Morgan and brother and sister and Riley and Cole are brother and sister. 
My mom was prepared. She had a craft for Sophia to do (with help from Mom and Nana). When we were finished our snow cottage looked really good. I was impressed with our ability to "figure it out" without any directions. 
Poppy and Nana had fun playing with Lilly and she fully warmed up to them by the time it was time for us to pack up and go home. 
We left on Sunday and headed back to stay with Grancy and Big Daddy. It took us over 7 hours to arrive. Not a fun trip because Sadie had rolled around in something really stinky and her stench was permeating the minivan. YUCK!
Lillian said her very first unprompted word(s) yesterday. I put her into her car seat and was getting ready to shut the door when she started pointing and saying something. I listened very carefully to what she was saying and then I looked at what she was pointing at on the passenger seat. She was saying HEAD PHONES and it sounded exactly like HEAD PHONES. I was amazed. Of course, she wanted Sophia's headphones so she could hear the Tom and Jerry movie in the DVD player, so I don't know how happy I should be...but I'm ecstatic. 
We really need to have a picture taken of the four of us. We have lots of me with the girls and a of Will with the girls, but not very many of the four of us and definitely not in the last 6 months! 
Day one: It's a warm rainy day. Not too bad.
Yep, we're getting POUNDED with rain. A full blown Nor'easter. The schools are all canceled today and it's really miserable outside. On a cheerier note, Sophia loves to play in the rain and yesterday morning she got all decked out in her rain gear and went outside to have some fun. The fun didn't last long and she was back inside within a half hour. I think it was too windy for her.
In the afternoon Sophia and I played school while Lilly was rummaging though their bathroom drawers. At Sophia's parent/teacher conference last week Mrs. Harden told me that Sophia is ready to get her first phonics book and start learning how to read, BUT she can't put her into the book until Sophia can write her upper case letters. Mrs. Harden must have said it 10 times...she's ready to read! We've been practicing writing her letters at home, but I'm sure she listens to Mrs. Harden better than Mom or Dad. She goofs off every time I try to work with her. I bought her a few phonics story books and we've been reading them to her at night. 
Listen to my other natural-born performer. Lilly does an awesome rendition of "The Wheels on the Bus" in the bathtub and then she shows off some of her words. 
I mentioned before that I've been trying to get a photo of the girls in their matching purple princess costumes. Well, so far I haven't been able to. This photo is as close as I've come. They both had their dresses on over top of their clothes yesterday, but wouldn't let me snap a shot of them together. I got a few separates. Take a look.
Our party was a huge success. All of the kids had so much fun, in fact each mom emailed me the next day and told me so. 
We've got a big weekend planned (again). On Friday morning we're going to the Rec Center for a Halloween Parade. I think the format goes like this: open play for 1/2 hour, snack and craft for 1/2 hour and then a trick-or-treating parade from the Rec Center to the Library. Fun fun. 
I'm not sure what her costume is going to be for these two parades. If it's nice she wear her hula outfit or maybe her ballerina outfit. I'm leaning toward the ballerina outfit, but we'll see what she wants to be. (Probably a princess)... The best thing about Friday is that Will is going to stay home from work so he can come with us. 
