Vacation in Corolla Beach

WOW! We had a fantastic time. As you can see we had a big group - including 5 kids (Aubrey and 1-yr old Morgan are missing from the big group picture above), 12 adults and 1 absolutely gorgeous almost 16-yr old!

Most days were spent like this:
Wake up at 7:30 AM
Breakfast around 8ish
Beach in the AM
Back to the house for lunch
Pool in the afternoon
Nap (Sophia)
Wine/beer (Will and Shirley)
Dinner (eat in or go out)
Bed time (Sophia)
Watch TV or play games while drinking my new favorite drink - Parrot Bay Rum(coconut flavor) and pineapple juice!! YUM

From Left to Right: Sophia(2), Aubrey(3.5 months), Riley(2 next week) Cole(4), Morgan(1). Riley and Cole are brother and sister. Morgan's mom, my cousin Lindsey, announced that she's pregnant again and due in April. That was fun news to get!

Sophia literally asked everyone in the house WHAT'S YOUR NAME all week long. She got a kick out of everyone repeating their own name over and over again. Just today Sophia named one of her princess dolls Aunt Shirley Curly after my Aunt Shirley.

I'm having a hard time uploading all 100+ photos, but as soon as I can get them uploaded I will share with all.

Aubrey - tummy time

Aubrey really enjoys tummy time these days! I can tell she's getting frustrated about not being able to move. She wants to get up and go. She enjoys "standing" and shows her gummy grin when she's up on her feet.

She loves to participate in whatever is going on with the "big people" - she'll sit on a lap and just stare at whomever is talking.

She's also still really into sucking on her fingers. She'll take a paci too, but will spit it out or pull it out trying to get her fingers into her mouth.

First Day of Preschool

Today was Sophia's first day of preschool and she absolutely loved it! We've been talking about going to school a lot lately so she was fully prepared this morning. She proudly put on her new backpack and carried her lunch box out to the car. In the car I told her what I had packed in her lunch (a peanut butter & jelly sandwich, a cheese stick, carrots, a small pack of cookies and juice) and reviewed what her day would entail.

When we arrived at school (in the pouring rain) she got a little shy for just a moment and asked me if she could have a sip of her juice. After that she walked right into her classroom and didn't look back. Her two teachers knew we were at the beach last weekend and I could hear them immediately ask her about her vacation. I peeked in just to see if she was OK and she was so I left. I circled the parking lot a few times to get a glimpse inside the window, but couldn't see anything.

Aubrey and I spent the morning shopping for clothes for both girls. I think we're fully stocked for fall now.

I arrived back at the school with Aubrey and Lamby ten minutes early to pick her up. I ran into Ms. Lisa, her teacher, in the hallway and she told me that Sophia had a great day. She went on to say that Sophia seemed to really enjoy herself and told her all about her little dog. (Sophia tells EVERYONE we run into that we have a dog. In fact, she thinks Sadie and Scratch, Tony's dog, are both ours!)

When I got to her classroom door Ms. Dawn, her other teacher, sent her right out to me. She ran into my arms and said SO GOOD TO SEE YOU MOMMY! COME SEE! and she grabbed my hand and pulled me into the room so that I could see the flower toy she was playing with all morning.

The theme of the day was Good Night Moon. I'm guessing they read the book and then did some "moon" projects. I gathered her art projects and headed out to the car. As we were walking out she said BYE to a lady in the hallway that I'm assuming was her computer teacher. How adorable!! Outside she loudly proclaimed I HAVE LEARNING!

I hung her artwork on the frig when we got home and looked in her lunch box. She must have been too excited to eat at school because the only thing missing was the cheese stick. She gobbled the rest of her lunch down while watching some tv and then she told me she really wants to go back to BIBLE SCHOOL. Ha ha ha.

.....our little girl is growing up....

Block tower...

Sophia loves stacking blocks now. She's quite good at it too. I think she enjoys knocking them over and making a big mess a bit more than building them up, but who can blame her?

Back from vacation

WOW! We had a wonderful time on vacation in Corolla, NC (Outer Banks) last week - and there will be a long blog post about it, but I have some catching up to do on a few other posts prior to vacation...

The night before we left for our trip our family was invited to Addie's house for dinner. Haley's family was there and so was another Mom/daughter combo.

Addie's mom is a wonderful cook. Sophia barely ate any of her chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, or corn, but she wolfed down the delicious chocolate chip cake - and so did I! Sophia had a fantastic time playing with her best friends. Here's a picture of the three girls at the end of the night.

Playdate with Haley

Last week we had a play date with Haley at the McArther Center Mall in Norfolk. It's such a great mall and has a wonderful play area next to the food court. The play area has lots of fun, soft rubber things to climb on including an enormous plate with a hot dog, chips and cupcake on it, a "spilled" soda complete with ice cubes scattered on the floor around it, and a big piece of watermelon.

The girls had a wonderful time playing for a while. We treated them to a Hershey's ice cream cone before we headed home. I love getting Sophia a cone because not only do I get to help her eat the ice cream, but I always get to eat the cone, which I think it the best part.

Computer on the fritzzzzzzzzzzz

Forgive me for not posting updates to the blog. The power supply port is not working properly on my laptop and most of the time I can't even get it to make a connection at all! It's been really annoying.

Next week we'll be on vacation at the beach in North Carolina. Can't wait. I hope the hurricanes stay far away for another week.

This week has been packed full with errands to get ready for our trip and the flat tire I got on Tuesday in Chesapeake didn't help matters. Today we had to take Sadie to the vet to get a shot so she can stay at Petsmart for a few days before Uncle Dan picks her up on Wednesday. He and a friend are taking a vacation while we're at the beach and they're staying at our house. Sadie is soooo happy about it because it cuts her stay in half and I'm happy because it cuts the bill in half too!

Like sister, like sister

Ok, so maybe Sophia and Aubrey look alike. In fact, they couldn't be more alike....or more different and I find it fascinating!

How ironic that they both absolutely HATED this cute little hat!?!?!

The top photo is Sophia at 3 months.
The bottom photo is Aubrey at 3 months.

Aubrey is following in Sophia's footsteps -- er -- Will's footsteps. She's grown an impressive 3 inches in the last month. Last week I measured her at 26 inches...which puts her off the chart for her age (see below). She weighs 14 pounds (90-95%). She's now wearing 6-9 months clothes - just for the length.

I bet I can confidently say that I'm going to be the shrimp of our family.

3 months old already

Aubrey turned three months old earlier this week and, of course, I need to take a few moments to brag about her skills and talents!

1) She's on the verge of rolling over. I thought she was going to do it today, but she stopped short.
2) She's an expert at sucking on her fists and fingers
3) She LOVES to grab onto fabric - her clothes, blankets, my shirt, etc...
4) She adores Sophia (and Sophia seems to adore her now too). Sophia was playing with Aubrey without any prompting from me the other day. Sophia was making Aubrey's feet kick.
She was a little tired when I tried to take these "3 month" photos, but just look at how innocent and cute she looks here. Notice the slobber mark on her dress....

Bumbo...

For those of you that watched Sesame Street in the early 80's this is for you:

Can you guess which kid is doing her own thing?
Guess which kid is kind of the same.
Well can you guess which kid is doing her own thing?
Now it's time to play my game...time to play my game...

Open invitation....

There is a standing open invitation to any and all of Sophia's picnics. Look at how many of her friends showed up to the one she had on Friday!



She spread one of Aubrey's blankets out on the deck and then went to gather her "friends". She put them all in the stroller and then wheeled them outside with her. Then she asked me to sit down with her and place all of them on the blanket. She said HI to every single thing - even the purse and the plastic food.

When I suggested that we go back inside she loaded everyone back into the stroller (without me even asking) and she wheeled them all back into the house.

Sophia would be thrilled to see you at the next picnic.

Aubrey videos

I cannot begin to explain to you how happy Aubrey is - ALL THE TIME. She begins grinning as soon as she sees me. In fact, she grins at anyone who says hi to her. She even laughed at me last week. She especially loves watching Sophia these days and has attempted to interact with her a few time.

Here's a video of Aubrey laughing


Here's a video of Aubrey doing some tummy time

Aubrey Alexander

Before Aubrey was born, I honestly don't think I ever even heard her name. AuDrey, yes. AuBrey, no. In fact, I googled Aubrey a day or two before our darling was born and discovered that the only famous Aubrey, to date, is a sexy, 20-something female in one of Puff Daddy's hip hop bands!

Well, it seems that everywhere I go I find out about another Aubrey. I've already posted about the family we met that has two daughters - Sophia and Aubrey. On Friday at the WoW Garden I heard a Mom telling her Aubrey to be careful. This morning at the grocery store the cashier told me that her sister's 6-year old is named Aubrey.

According to the Social Security Administration's website Aubrey ranked 69 in 2007. It's growing in popularity:
2007 - Rank 69
2006 - Rank 92
2005 - Rank 153
2004 - Rank 190
Etc.....

Hopefully our Aubrey will put the name on the map and be the most famous one of all.

Three Girls (and a Lamby)

Now that Aubrey can hold her head up all by herself I can wear her so that she can look out onto the world. She loves it. The other night Will took this picture of the three of us. I was wearing Aubrey and suddenly Sophia asked me to HOLD YA and I just couldn't resist picking her up.

WoW with Taylor & Riley

We hit the WOW Sprinkler Garden this morning with Taylor(6) and Riley(18 mon) and Amy(Mom).

Sophia simply adores Taylor so she had a fantastic time leading Taylor around and showing her all the cool parts. I had to feed Aubrey when we arrived so I was stuck in one spot for a while. It was so cute to watch Sophia touring Taylor around the Garden. I was so proud of her and so humbled when after each little adventure she ran back to say HI - to me!!!

Sophia's imagination is running wild these days and she played "House" with Taylor today in the playhouse so I'm sure next time we're there she'll be "making" and serving tea and cookies.

See all the pictures.

Growing Up

We're going to tour a preschool today at a church pretty close to our house. The program is called Mother's Day Out. Several of my friends sent their kids there last year and are also enrolling again this year. Sophia won't be starting until October because they require all the kids to be 2 1/2 before they start school. It's a 1/2 day program (9:30 - 1:30) and she'll be going Tuesday & Thursday. Will is in shock that she'll have to carry a sack lunch with her and eat in the lunch room with all the other kids.

.....Is it October yet?

Don't you just want to pinch these cheeks?

Dopple-namers

Oh my gosh...have I mentioned on the blog yet that we have a neighbor who knows a family with two girls named Sophia and Aubrey?? Pretty amazing, huh?

Well this is even more bizarre. We actually met that family today! We took Sophia to play mini golf and they were the family playing behind us! A few times I heard the Mom calling one of the little girls Aubrey. I mentioned it to Will because we've never met another Aubrey. After we were done playing we introduced ourselves and Aubrey...then we figured out we both have a Sophia too....then we figured out that we both live on Mulberry Loop and then we figured out that each of us is "the other family".

Anyway, Sophia didn't golf. She carried around a club and a shiny red ball. She tried at first, but didn't want any help and quickly grew bored the technique. She found entertainment at all 18 holes and Will and I enjoyed a nice competitive game of putt-putt. Will won. I was horrible today! Must be all that "real" practice Will's had lately.

Recap of Nana's Visit

Sunday: I met Nana at the airport with the girls. Sophia really enjoyed "finding" Nana in the crowd. Aubrey enjoyed meeting Nana. We headed straight to the mall for lunch, play time and shoe shopping for Sophia. It was tax free shopping weekend so I splurged a bit on three pairs of shoes for Sophia to wear this fall. On our way out of the mall Sophia and Nana rode the carousel not once, but two times.

And thus begins Sophia's 6 night stint of going to bed between 9:30 and 10:30 at night! By Saturday she was exhausted and when we went to Daisy's birthday party her horrible mood was in full throttle.

Monday and Tuesday: After breakfast, I left with Aubrey to run errands for a few hours. It was so nice to only have one child to worry about. And I have to admit, I got the easy one! Nana and Sophia entertained each other with ALL of Sophia's toys on Monday and on Tuesday we took Nana to the library. On Monday night Will, Aubrey and I went to see Batman. Believe it or not, Aubrey slept through the entire movie. Oh yeah, and on Monday morning we had Aubrey's 2-month doctor appointment.

Nana was commited to potty training our little darling, but after 1 day Sophia was uninterested. I should mention that we did all celebrate a very special, coincidental pee, but no correlation was made on Sophia's part.

Wednesday: Beach Night! The plan was to take the girls to the beach around 5:00 so we could grab a bite to eat and then have ice cream and watch the puppet show. Oh, and I dressed both girls in white and wanted to get a picture of them on the beach together! As reality would have it the night turned out much worse than anyone expected! Sophia didn't think it was important for Nana and Mom to have dinner and literally whined and cried for 45 minutes until we let her play -- er-- get completely covered in sand for another 45 minutes. This was the same night we LOST Barney! He was replaced within 2 days with a smaller version that sings the same song.

Thursday: I honestly can't remember what we did during the daytime, but since it was our 4th wedding anniversary my mom babysat the girls so we could do out to dinner. We ended up going to McCormick and Schmick's and had a lovely time alone. I had a fancy sweet raspberry drink that was simply delicious. I think I actually liked the sugar on the glass best of all. Yum...

Friday: Chuck E. Cheese's. This is always fun. Sophia likes to cash in her tickets to get mini tootsie pops. In the evening we went to our very first Farmer's Market Hoe Down. Sophia absolutely loved dancing on the kids stage. Will bought her some real kettle corn to share with the other little girls in the "club". Nana really enjoyed listening to the music, but she was stuck on the kids stage with Sophia the whole time.

Saturday: Nana stayed home while we went to Daisy's birthday party. Sophia was overtired so we didn't stay very long.

Sunday: This was Nana's favorite day. We went to CAC (Contemporary Art Center) for their twice a year Family Fun Fest. We toured the exhibit hall while on an easy scavenger hunt and then Sophia got to do a few different craft projects. She loved "making art" and was really proud of her work. Afterward we hit the beach for a few hours of building real sand castles and dipping our feet into the ocean.

Monday: Sophia started a week long Bible school at our church. She loved it and it kind of makes me regret not signing her up for preschool for the fall! Sophia chose to take NEW BARNEY with her on the first day of Bible school. When I picked them up Barney was soaking wet. Sophia had given Barney a bath in the sink and the whole way home she told me we needed to get a towel.

Tuesday: Sophia took Lamby with her to Bible school. Once again she had a blast and didn't want to leave when I arrived to pick her up.

Wednesday: We skipped Bible school so we could take Nana to the airport. Afterward we went to feed the ducks, fish and turtles at the Botanical Garden before we met up with Haley and Addie for a day of fun.

Sophia finished up Bible school on Thursday (accompanied by Digger the Dog) and Friday (accompanied by old faithful, Lamby). She made a noisemaker and a fancy mask with a feather sticking out of the top. She LOVES it. Since Nana has left she's been giving us a run for our money. She hasn't eaten any of her meals at the kitchen table...they must all be eaten on the couch while watching TV! She's not napping and she's been getting up at 6:30 or before every single day...ouch.

We took hundreds of pictures. View at your own risk....there are many, many variations of the same shot.

Twin 1 and Twin 2

Sophia and Aubrey have matching outfits from the Disney store. They look adorable when they are both wearing their Minnie Mouse rompers and people always comment. I've made several other attempts to take a picture of them together, but Big Sis won't allow it. I've got plenty of individual shots of each of them, but can you believe these are THE BEST ones of them together?

Sophia likes it when I call them Twin 1 and Twin 2. She, of course, is Twin 1.

Look what I found!

So kissable....

Aubrey's 2 month doctor check up

Aubrey went to see the doctor on Monday morning. I was really curious to see how much she would weigh and how long she would measure. Drum roll........

Weight = 12 lbs 8.5 oz (90th percentile)
Length = 23 inches (75th percentile)
Head was in the 50th percentile

Sophia was a little skinnier and longer than Aubrey at 2 months.

Weight = 12 lbs 2 oz
Length = 23.5 inches
Head was in the 50th percentile

Nana comes for a visit

Nana arrived on Sunday afternoon and is staying with us through Wednesday the 13th. Sophia is in her glory! I have to say she's being completely spoiled, but we expected that. Each day we've done something fun together, but for the most part Sophia doesn't want Mom or Dad around while she's showing off for/playing with Nana.

Tonight all the girls went to the beach to watch the puppet show, but the puppet show wasn't happening. Instead we were treated to a short high school production of School House Rock. It was a great show. Sophia danced with Nana throughout the entire thing.

We took our time walking back to the car and sat on a few benches. We got back to the car we realized that Barney was missing. This photo documents the very last Barney sighting! I ran back down the boardwalk looking for him, but he was gone. Sophia cried. He will be replaced tomorrow for sure!

Google Baby

Will and Sophia have two songs that they sing and dance to regularly. Both are hip hop songs and it's so cute to watch Sophia dance her ballerina spins to the hard beat.

The refrain of one of the songs says: Google me, baby. You better ask somebody. Google me, baby. etc... I heard Sophia singing "Google Baby" on her way to bed tonight.

The other refrain says: Put the lime in the coconut and twist it all up, twist it all up, twist it all up. Sophia likes to "stir" during this song.

Cause and effect

Aubrey learns about cause and effect. Or maybe these are involuntary kicks? Regardless, she really enjoys playing with this thing.

All of the animal sounds and noises are coming from the toy!

I apologize up front for the shaky camera movements.

Dancing on the Boardwalk

Grancy took this video when she was in town a few weeks ago with Aunt Gennie. It's so adorable.

I'll set the scene:
After dinner at the Oceanfront we were walking down the boardwalk and past a live band performing on the 7th Street Stage. Sophia loves to dance and sing, but on this particular night she was a free bird in her glory while she ran circles around herself the whole way down the boardwalk. Her audience was double it's normal size too.

A day in the life...

It started out so innocent, but quickly turned ugly.