Easter

Look out – I took about a million pictures on Sunday, and thoroughly annoyed my family in the process.  :)  

We started out at church early for the annual pancake breakfast.  Sophia had a ton of fun dancing in the sanctuary while we waited for “Mama” and “Bapa” (a.k.a. Grandma and Grandpa) to arrive. 

 

 

It was a nice service and we even got to sing a variation on my favorite hymn - Up From The Grave He Arose.  Well, everyone else sang it – I have a problem with worship songs when I’m pregnant.  If I try to sing them, I just end up crying, so I listen to everyone else instead!

We were able to get a family picture of the seven of us.  We might have one somewhere, from when Sophia was about three weeks old, but it’s been lost.  Good thing we finally got everyone in…since we’ll have to do a whole new one come September.  :)

   

This one is definitely my FAVORITE picture from the day!  I can’t look at it enough – they’re so adorable.  This one will absolutely be in a frame, and we’ll have to send one to Grandpa for his office!


When we got home from church, we finally let Sophia check out the goods in her Easter basket.  Not an issue for us this year, but who does your Easter basket come from?  For some reason I’m okay with lying about Santa for a few years, but not the Easter bunny.  maybe because a giant costumed bunny is downright creepy and I don’t want to participate in that tradition. :)  I think our kids’ Easter baskets will just be from Mom and Dad.

 
Once she emptied the basket of her toys, Grandma showed her how to have some fun with the paper at the bottom.
  

I would absolutely host Easter dinner every year.  It’s SO much easier and more relaxed than Thanksgiving or Christmas.  Especially since ham is traditional and comes pre-cooked and pre-sliced.  Dan was a HUGE help and we got most of the food ready the night before, so the day of was easy and fun.

We’re not big into place cards, but I couldn’t resist monogramming everyone’s eggs.  :)


We also do an egg cracking contest every year.  Do I know anyone else who does this??  You crack the ends of your egg on other people’s eggs and whoever ends up with one end still in tact wins.  You don’t win anything, but it’s a fun tradition.  My mom saw this done on My Big Fat Greek Wedding so we’re thinking it’s an orthodox tradition.  
I wasn’t sure how well Sophia would catch on to an Easter egg hunt, but she dove right in and found them all.  Daddy did a great job of placing them in pretty obvious places for her, so that helped.  She also made sure to shake them before dumping them in the basket, just to be sure they were worth taking.

This Easter was my favorite holiday in a long time.  It was all fun, no stress and a nice long day of spending time with family.  I hope yours was just as wonderful!

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Wishing for more days like this…

 

…and less snowy April days.  Maybe someday…hopefully this weekend!

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Talented AND Helpful

No, we did NOT help her with this – and it’s even a pattern!  Smarty pants!!

Lucky for me, Sophia doesn’t like mess.  Well – she doesn’t like dirt.  She’s perfectly fine being a tornado with toys and leaving them all over the place, but one speck of dirt drives her crazy.  Sometimes, it gets to be a bit ridiculous – one spot of yogurt on her high chair tray and she won’t stop saying “uh-oh” until someone wipes it up.  Other times, it’s nice and helpful.  She brings “yuckies” to the garbage can, helps pick up often, and now, she apparently takes out the trash.  She’s figured out how to open the back door at work (a development I’m not thrilled about) and won’t let me wait to take a bag of garbage “side” (outside).  We’ll see how much she likes cleaning up when she’s five and it’s her room we’re working on. :)

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Potty Training 101

Sophia has been showing a LOT of signs that she is ready for Potty Training.  She’s not a fan of having a dirty diaper and wants it changed as soon as it’s full.  Recently, she’s wanted to try sitting on the potty, and Monday morning it was the first thing she wanted to do after she woke up.  So, we made a special trip to  Target and made a few new purchases. 

This is our new potty chair:


If you’re wondering if I find it as ridiculous as it looks, I do.  BUT, it sings(?!), can be just the potty chair, or separates into a seat for on top of the regular toilet and a step stool.  It wasn’t a small factor that it was one of the cheaper options available as well!

 

When we got all loaded up with the potty chair, picked up a few other items and I converted one of the drawers in our bathroom for potty training.  We have some novelty underpants (just for fun on top of the diaper – SUPER cute!), wipes, diapers, Clorox wipes and flushable wipes.  {I’m just now realizing how many different wipes are in that drawer AND we realized later that flushable wipes won’t work in the sewage system at home.  Bummer – I guess we’ll need extra trash bags too, just in case!}


So, everything went REALLY well.  I opened the box, put it in the corner of the bathroom and she went!  Wow!  I might have gotten a bit excited and Sophia may, or may not, have started to sob because of my reaction.  Whoops!  I started thinking that it was my fault that she is now TERRIFIED of anything related to “potty,” but we’re now thinking that the act itself scared her, since she now begins to panic and backs away from any potty in complete fear.  Oh well, when she’s ready again, we’re all set!

 

A friend asked about advice for potty training recently and I realized how lucky I am that when potty training for Sophia really happens, I’ve already been through it twice and have a few experiences to lean on – one with a boy and one with a girl. 


I thought I’d share some of my experiences with you:

- Girls are easier!  A LOT of people say that this is the case, and I don’t think it’s a hard and fast rule, but in my experience, it’s definitely true!  In fact, I had so much confidence with the little girl I watch that we went out, on Day1 in just underpants (no diaper with us) and went to Barnes and Noble.  You might not need me to tell you that she had an accident.  Obvious mistake, right?  But, within a week she was pretty much done and knew what to do.

-With Ev, we had a LOT of books available for rewards and we spent HOURS in the bathroom just reading.  Sometimes I’d read to her, other times she’d read to me, and sometimes we’d read separately.  It was actually pretty fun and she was perfectly happy to just sit there and wait for something to happen.

  

 

-I think that summer is easiest, especially for boys.  You can spend your whole summer outside and not worry about finding a bathroom for a boy.  Any bush will do.  :)  It also can be easier for girls because they can just wear dresses and it’s easier to make that trip to the bathroom faster.  Whatever you do, elastic waist pants are helpful – precious seconds could be lost by working on buttons, if you know what I mean…

-Have a lot of rewards available – it helps!  Kids LOVE earning things, no matter what it is – jelly beans, M&M’s, books, toys, stickers or special outings with mom or dad.  You can have a sticker chart or a jar to fill up, whatever works for you.

- Know that there will be L-O-T-S of accidents and it’s OKAY to throw away the really icky pairs of underwear.  If you have a lighthearted attitude about the whole project, they won’t get stressed, everyone ends up happier and it’s a more positive experience.  It’s also okay if they seemed ready, but they change their mind.  If you push it, it’ll probably take longer and be a lot less successful.

- Sometimes you need them to be ready even if they’re not showing any signs that they’re interested (for example, most preschools require that children are potty trained – at least for the most part).   Go ahead and give it a try – what’s the harm?  You can always give up for a while if needed.


As for us, we will be waiting a bit longer.  Especially, since this picture pretty much sums up how Sophia feels about the potty right now:  

The potty is still in the bathroom, but I folded it down, so it’s less intimidating.  If she wants to great, if not, no biggie.  Although, if I’m honest, I wouldn't be devastated if this baby shows up and we end up with only one in full-time diapers.  Here’s hoping!!

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Big Girl Bed!?

My FAVORITE way to buy new things is to first sell old things/things we don’t need on Craigslist and then use that money to buy the new items.  So, when I sold our Snap' & Go stroller a couple weeks ago, I put the money aside for some new bedding for Miss Soph. 

When did my babe get so big?!?  I can’t believe that in just 5 short months she will be TWO YEARS OLD!  And the closer we get to that milestone, the closer we get to Babe #2, which means:  Toddler Bed!  This is probably going to happen sooner than originally planned, since our little monkey is so good at climbing and is working hard to figure out how to climb OUT of the crib.  No good…


I’ve had the week off while the kiddos are on a spring break vacay and have very much enjoyed the time off with Sophia.  Today, we headed up to Maple Grove to visit some of our favorite friends Amy and her little one, Haleigh.  These little ladies have been buddies since before they were even born and we like to think the friendship may continue for many years to come.

We loaded the girls up and headed to Pottery Barn Kids.  I had thought I would just get Soph a toddler pillow and pillow case, just to get started, but then there was a great deal on the very last set of girl toddler sheets, so we went ahead and used the rest of that Craigslist stash to get her a full set-up.

The girls had a great time playing with all the wonderful-ness that is Pottery Barn kids, and the mommies enjoyed browsing.

 
Sophia loves our pillows, and she loves to bunch up her blankets and sleep on top of them, so she was pretty thrilled that she had a pillow of her own.  I’m pretty sure it will be awhile before the top sheet stays on top of her, but it’s fun to see her in what will be the bedding for her Big Girl Bed!


How cute is the pattern on these sheets?!!  Finding something you were looking for on sale is great, but when said sale item is this cute, even better!!

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“Camp Snoopy”

  
I was a big fan of Camp Snoopy and am not too thrilled with Mall of America having changed the amusement park over to Nickelodeon Universe.  Camp Snoopy was so cute and friendly looking, while now everything seems to be neon orange and all about Sponge Bob (whom I despise). 

 

Regardless, the rides are still fun and a couple weekends ago, we headed over to enjoy them on our way home from church.




Sophia ALWAYS has to try to figure out how something works – the Merry Go ‘Round was no exception.  (Check out that creepy baby head on the back of her horse – SO weird!  I noticed that a lot of the animals on this ride were a bit “off” while I was watching her ride.  Is that normal?)
 

I am usually at the Mall during the week, so I didn’t really think about how long the lines would be.  We did two rides and it took at least 45 minutes to accomplish that.  By the end we were all tired of lines – Sophia especially.  Long lines and toddler do NOT mix well, but we did have a lot of fun.

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Bubbly Toes

First bubble bath!


 

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Sophia has a secret…

She’s pretty excited about it…any guesses?

It may have something to do with the shirt she’s wearing UNDER her sweater…


She’s excited because this shirt:
 
Has something to do with this little announcement:

(Which by now, should actually read 7 months)

More on this to come!

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Accessorize!

Valentine’s Day was a lot of fun for Sophia.  After dinner, we gave her two cookies and a chocolate covered marshmallow – more treats than she usually has in a week.  :)
  

We also gave her a bucket full of accessories – something EVERY girl needs!

 

Here’s a hint:  If you’re looking for fun, cute and CHEAP accessories for a little girl who likes dress-up, head to Party City.  I got two of the necklaces and two bracelets for a total of $1!

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Would you be mine?

Would you be mine….if I gave you a big box of treats??! 

Despite being exhausted yesterday (up at 4:30 – ugh!) and not really having the energy to do so, I went a little crazy getting treats ready for Valentine’s Day.    Dan asked for something to bring into the office and Sophia’s one daycare day happens to be Valentine’s Day, so I made homemade boxes of ‘chocolates.’  (You’re also getting a sneak peek at Sophia’s Valentine bucket below…)



We made heart shaped chocolate chip cookies and marshmallow s’more  bites (graham crackers and marshmallows dipped in chocolate – Yum!  I saw somewhere online an idea to make it look like you made a box of chocolates at home and decided to make a much less fancy version for our treats.



I found pink and red foil cupcake wrappers to put the treats in and then wrapped them up.   

I LOVE holidays where you get to give people presents…especially because you love them, so this is one I love to participate in! 

Oh, and for the record, Dan did NOT let me leave the ribbon on his box of treats for work.  :)  Can’t imagine why not!

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Just in case…

 

Just in case you’ve forgotten what our babe looks like (I’ve been a bit of a blogging slacker lately!), here are a few reminders:


She’s got big beautiful brown eyes can make you melt when directed toward you. 
She also is constantly on the move and makes it VERY hard to get a good pic!
 

Adorable as she is, she has a tendency to get a teensy bit crabby from time to time.

…you know…just a teesy bit.

She loves to play dress-up, even if the only supplies she can find are her coat, boots and hat.  (Don’t worry Sophia – wait for Valentine’s Day and you’ll have a few more special dress-up items!)

She’s been known to put a bit too much food in her mouth at one time.


She is truly a little monkey and enjoys climbing on counters, tables, window sills, and the like.  
 
She is our very silly little girl and is growing up so fast. 


Happiest girl in the world!

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