Family Day!!!

Today was family day! Sweet and simple!


And without really intending to, we also welcomed (early!) our little guy!

Last Christmas season, in a very unfortunate laundry accident, the snowman, reindeer and santa heads that bobbled so festively from our stockings came, well, undone. Emerging from the dryer were three headless stockings with a little less festive feel.

So this afternoon we found super sweet hand-knit stockings in all the right colors. And what da ya know? They were on sale. Well, not really. But they were priced really low in a way-too-expensive store so the way I calculate things, they were technically almost on sale. So we picked out four.


I suppose this Christmas the fourth stocking will be stuffed with goodies for a newborn that one very mischievous two-year-old who I know will most likely unstuff very quickly. But next year, there will be four stockings stuffed - each with a rightful owner present!

It's a . . .

I am supposing that everyone knows by now as good news spreads like wildfire, but just in case some are still in the dark, we are anticipating the arrival of a new baby near the end of February! We're super excited to be parents again and Soph is very much looking forward to having a new brother/sister/baby/girl/boy (how she finishes that sentence changes daily)! We, however, no longer have to wonder HOW to correctly complete her phrase as today we had the ultrasound which showed, first and foremost, that everything is developing wonderfully and our baby looks to be in good shape thus far! And secondly, we learned whether we'll be painting more pink or if we'll be switching to a blue hue this time!

Here's Soph lovin' up my belly this morning pre-appointment!



Oh, I almost forgot. Our new little arrival will be donning outfits such as this:


and this:


and this:


It's a BOY!
I felt the first flutters in my tummy last Saturday so now it is real, real, real! Now to boys' names . . . Jacob? Edward? Emmett? Jasper? Hmmm . . . I see a theme here*, but I am truly hoping that our child doesn't emerge a vampire or a werewolf (although, if I had to choose, I would go vampire all the way!)

*For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, pick up a copy of Twilight or the world will soon leave you behind.

Yippee - a BOY!

A Getaway Close to Home

Before we roll into fall's activities, I wanted to post some quick photos of our summer fun! First up, our family's mini-trip north of PV to Hotel Villa La Estancia - a resort waaaaay too fancy for us (but it was free), food sooo yummy I could have eaten nonstop, a pool sooo beautiful and refreshing that we pretty much spent all day every day in it! Aaaah, good memories! A few photos from our stay!

As soon as we checked in, we walked the grounds to check the place out! Soph managed to wiggle out of her shirt, plop down on the stone wall and request we take a photo of her. She was just getting revved up for the week of playing in the sunshine!


And when I say this place was fancy, I mean it. Seriously, our room was the size of our house! This was the living room, dining room and full kitchen. We had a hugggge bedroom, two bathrooms, private laundry room and full balcony as well. Hmmm... I'm thinking of just moving in permanently. Did I mention they had awesome A/C. Oh yes, in case you don't remember, it is THAT time of year again in PV. In fact, pretty soon I'll blog one of my ranting posts in which I can no longer tolerate the heat. It's coming... I feel it. But I digress. I LOVED the A/C.


Then it was just days of fun, relaxation, pooltime and sunshine!







The next-door sister hotel had a Sea Lion Performance one day in their main pool! It was super fun to watch, and then Pablo and Soph stood in line to get a fishy kiss from the big guy. Sophia was pretty nervous and wouldn't take her fingers out of her mouth (her newest nerve thing), but she came back feeling quite excited about her cheek stinking of fresh fish. Mmmm.



The hotel, besides its other fantastic restaurants, had a super lovely Steakhouse where we dared to dine one night. (Dress code required dresses so I'm sure you can imagine why it was only one night. Seriously, Soph and I in dresses for several dinners? I think not. Especially when we can dine poolside - aaah.) Nevertheless, we did eat there one night and it was FAB. The best service ever - with the waiters bringing Sophia exactly what she requested - mashed potatoes and veggies! She couldn't have been more excited when they set the plate in front of her! And our meals weren't too shabby either. (Again, note the sarcasm. Shabby is not even an option on the comment card. It ranges only from The-Best-Steak-I've-Ever-Had to The-Steak-Was-SOOOOO-Amazing-I-Almost-Died-from-the-Cholesterol-and-Went-to-Heaven.)




And because no blog post is really complete without one of these . . . our last day Selfie. Aaaah, won't be too long until there are four of us in these selfie shots! :)



We headed home on a Thursday with 24 hours to pack and get ready for our flight to WI the following day! Summertime!!!!

For Luna!

Luna, Michelle's furry friend and our sometimes-adopted-puppy, is having surgery today for hip displasia. We'll be thinking about her and kind of wondering if hobbling around on only three legs for a couple weeks will slow her down at all or if she'll be her usual spirited self despite her temporary handicap! Good luck Luna, we love you!

Summer Vacation, here we come!

Today begins our summer vacation whirlwind! (This is a GOOD kind of whirlwind, not that crappy tornado kind that ruins vacations!)

We are heading to our annual summer mini-vaca about 45 minutes north of PV! This year, we'll be staying at Villa la Estancia which looks like it will do.

(Either you know me enough to know that the comment "it will do" was purely sarcastic OR you think I am a total snob!)

We are super excited and can't wait to be lounging in the pool! Our first vacation in the area when Soph was only 4 months old was a bit more challenging as she was too little to handle the heat and humidity of summer. Last year was much more fun as she became quite the little fish in the pool, and we were also able to enjoy ourselves a bit more! This year, we're expecting full-on fun - she is super psyched for vacation, and so are we!

We'll be back on Thursday afternoon and have 24 hours to do laundry and repack, then it is off to Wisconsin on Friday for a full month of family fun beginning with a trip to the Milwaukee zoo with the Uncles and Gram and Gramps! Obviously, trying to pack for two consecutive trips (with different weather) has been a challenge! This is what our bedroom looked like yesterday! (Where in the world is Waldo . . . I mean, Sophia!)


She did a great job of playing amidst the mess while we packed!


This won't be the first summer trip to the states - I was so fortunate to visit Minneapolis in June for Raphaela's bridal shower and then last weekend for her wedding! Lots of photos to post from those events, but you'll have to wait until we're de-vacationed! Happy Summer!

White Wonderland

Sophia is learning to open everything.

Things she can now open that are helpful:

Playdough Containers
Yogurt Cartons
Doors


Things she can now open that are the opposite of helpful:

Powder

Rockin' and Rollin' . . . or not!

Most of you know that we enrolled Sophia in her first "school" back in February. (See here for the story of her first day.) This May, they invited all the parents to their first Music Festival - a supposed demonstration by all the musically-talented children of what they had learned in the past few months! I must admit, the school has an extremely talented music teacher who is a gift to the youngsters, and as excited as they were pre-concert, things quickly changed once they had an audience!


(Of course, being that I am all American and punctual, we were among the first parents there! I must remember showing up 20 minutes late actually means right on time. Nearly 10 years, and I still haven't gotten the hang of that!)

Both the older and younger groups were quite lively, clapping, laughing and dancing around the garden!



But as soon as Sophia's group emerged, they sat in their chairs, stone-cold, no smiles cracked, no funny facial expressions, no clapping, no singing. Nothing. Stares. Four whole songs they sat there like that - these lively rambuctious creatures who normally won't sit still for 8 seconds much less 8 minutes. At one point they were given instruments, and again, they listlessly banged on them (still with stone-cold stares) while their teachers sang away happily (and a little embarrassed) to the songs!




Nevertheless, they received a huge applause from all of the in-love-with-their-two-year-old-parents, and of course the second they were done, they ran for their parents and watched another group perform.


And then ... suddenly, they all came to life! Jumping and dancing and shrieking - most likely making up for the eight torturous moments of silence they had endured earlier!


I suppose Sophia wanted to set the bar low so that if she cracks a smile in her next performance we'll see it as a grand improvement! Smart girl.