10 months.

I constantly have to remind myself to stop comparing her to Mason. She is a separate person. She will develop differently. But as I look at the many photos I can't help but see how the similarities.

How she is becoming a lover of books

and cars.

And actually prefers them and anything else Mason refers to as boy toys over her baby toys. I don't blame her. They are ALL OVER THE HOUSE and way more interesting because her big brother tries to keep her away from them.

She even sleeps with her butt in the air just like her big brother did.

And shoves as much food into her mouth as physically possible. Just as her brother did at this age (and even still does to this day).

I wonder why I bother to cut them up into such small pieces in the first place. It's a small miracle though. It only took a whole month but she is actually eating more adult foods (bananas, strawberries, grapes) as well as the gerber puffs and yogurt melts that dissolve in your mouth without managing to choke and spit them back up. Phew! I was a bit worried last month.

And just to make sure she doesn't choke and getting her full nutritional diet; there is Mason, the ever attentive big brother, breaking up the food into small pieces. He even takes the time to feed them to her.

Oh these are the moments that make everyday with two little ones so totally worth it.

Their relationship? It's one of love and hate. Like any siblings would. Mostly though it is love. Shopping with these two is so incredibly fun. I know. Did I just say that? Let's try that again.

Yup. Shopping with these two is so incredibly fun. And yes, for the most part that is a true statement. I can't seem to leave Wegman's without someone commenting on how well they get along, how cute they are, how funny, how sweet my son is to feed his little sister, etc. The list goes on. And yes, to all those who've made such comments, I DO feel so incredibly blessed. They are a handful and a riot all at the same time and I wouldn't have it any other way.

And If you've been wondering just what it is these two are eating in the various photos. It's called Coco Pop. Mason mostly loves to watch them come flying out the machine. It is pretty cool, I'll admit.

They are like rice cakes. Made of corn, wheat, rice and sea salt. Doesn't sound too appetizing. But these two LOVE them. And when I say love, I mean if one of them has one the other has to as well. And I better grab a handful of those samples if I know what is good for me. Not to mention Sophie jumping up and down like she has a full diaper when she sees me bring out the bag. I swear it is the newest crack.

And speaking of jumping. Is this insane or what?

Cracks me up every time I watch it.

She continues to work on her walking skills. Though the preferred method of transportation is crawling. Of which she has become incredibly fast.

Though I feel walking isn't too far off in the distance as I once thought.

Along the way she rode her first ferris wheel and I think enjoyed it more than Mason.

Has two more teeth coming in on the top. And LOVED the wagon at a bbq at a friends house.

She even added another word to her vocabulary.

LOVE IT. Can't get enough of hearing this. She has even started saying it at the appropriate times, such as when the phone rings or Fred walks in the door. SO FREAKING ADORABLE!

And just as we were talking about needing to find the hardware for the baby gates because she was eyeing the stairs, this happened.

She was halfway up the stairs by the time I found her. Heart pounding and thanking God that she didn't tumble.

Yes Mason, I agree. It's time for baby gates. And the last month of our first year together.

Can a pair of glasses make you look fat?

Well can it?

I pose this question mostly to myself after I got a chance to see myself in the mirror last night. This after I had my yearly (well semi yearly...maybe. shh don't tell my doctor) eye exam and needed to boost my prescription in order to see better. Not a shock as I've been having some difficulty focusing on things at a distance within the last, lets say six months. LOVING my current frames, I decided to just get new lenses and reluctantly handed over the coveted pair resorting to my back ups. At the time I didn't realize that my backups were just that. Plain jane, NOT meant to be the everyday pair of glasses. Meaning, NO transistions, NO anti-glare, and absolutely NO style. This means I have no sunglasses and therefore no eye protection from the scorching rays of sun.

Oops.

My eyes are hating me right now, thank god today is a overcast rain day. They feel uncomfortable, make my eyes hurt trying to focus through smaller lenses and full on frames with no anti-glare (this is a big deal) and I am crossing my fingers that it really only takes a week for my new lenses to be installed. This all before I examined myself in the mirror and saw a more rounder, chubbier face and immediately thought, These glasses make me look fat!

What do you think?

Ahhh! Much better.

5 years

Five years ago we said, "I do."

The whole day I was uncharacteristically calm until it was my turn to walk down the aisle. The butterflies arrived, I squeezed my father's arm and he simply said, "breathe." It was the most significant breath of my life.

Proof is in our son, our daughter, our home. The life we have built. The love and friendship we have shared.

Five years, and you still give me butterflies.

Happy Anniversary!

Easter.

Easter is one of those holidays that I enjoyed as a child. A small child, like elementary school. As I got older is was one of those holidays that fell by the wayside as the nostalgia for dyed eggs and hunting for them wore off. Now that I am older and have a family of my own this holiday has made it's way back onto the list of ones we celebrate. We hadn't really done the Easter thing till last year.

This year, Mason being three I felt it was time to try dyed eggs. Mason couldn't wait for the day to arrive. I had found a neat technique on this website for dying eggs and wanted to give it a try. It seemed simple enough. So Saturday we got the supplies together and sat down to dye our eggs. However it turned out to be more of a pain than she let on. It was extremely difficult to peel the punched images from the freezer paper. With an impatient three year old the process seemed to take years. Our end result was not as great as the author of the Lolly Chops blog. I guess I didn't press down the images hard enough because on some the dye bled, leaving the images not as sharp, but altogether not bad. Besides he's three. He's not expecting the Mona Lisa or anything.

and here is a close up of a few that came out more distinct because of the dark color.

Easter morning could not have arrived fast enough. Mason having begged if the eggs are ready since we dyed them. And anyone who is a parent of a toddler knows how incessantly they ask about things and how quickly that becomes the most annoying thing. My parents and sister arrived early to watch him search for eggs.

He had a blast. We hid plastic eggs from last year around the house which he instantly found a few as soon as he woke up. However the egg hunt outside with the real eggs was the best. That silly Easter Bunny kept hiding eggs in the dirt. If I haven't mentioned this before, Mason has never liked to get dirty since he was a baby. He's improved much since then but still some things just aren't meant to get dirty. Silly Easter Bunny!

He was happy to see Bertie Bus in his basket as he had just mentioned the day before that he wanted this particular Thomas the Tank Engine character. (Shhh, don't tell him but it was from the stash of trains I bought a year ago during a 50% of sale at A.C. Moore. We'll just let him think the Easter Bunny is that good).

The rest of the day was spent hanging out. We enjoyed tasty Chicken Parmesan Bundles, courtesy of Kraft Foods, with green beans and mashed potatoes. It was really simple to make and I even used my brand new micro cooker from Pampered Chef (thank you to my MIL). Never ones to waste a beautiful day we even broke out the Bounce House (thank you very much to our neighbors who so graciously offered it to us for free when they moved) to give it a trial run.

We might have had just a little bit of fun. Mason jumped in it till his face turned bright red, huffing and puffing and probably on the verge of passing out. I call him my Energizer Bunny. He keeps going and going.....

I'm highly anticipating next year when Sophie can join in on all the fun. In the words of The Fresh Beats, What a great day!

Spring has Sprung

About a week ago the tree outside our home looked like this.

Buds beginning to appear, weather warming up to the 70's and even the 80's. The four of us spending time at the park, blowing bubbles, going out for ice cream. We even went to the first cruise in/car show at Chick-Fil-A on Friday. A favorite of Mason's from last year.

Saturday morning on my way to the store for last minute Easter supplies I got a wonderful surprise.

The tree practically bloomed over night and continued to bloom the whole day. A lovely sight after the monstrous amounts of snow the winter brought.

We finally got around to building and planting the victory garden we've been talking about since we moved in two years ago. Thanks to my wonderful husband who slaved away in the hot sun to make this a reality. You are the best. It came out beautful. And of course Mason, who came inside face bright red and panting for, "just a splash of milk" and insisting he "[had] to go back outside and help the guys."

A week later, it's really started to grow. We are highly anticipating the first produce of our hard work. Strawberries, onions, peppers, grapes, tomatoes, raspberries, carrots. Honestly, I'm just excited about the money it will potentially save us in groceries.

Inspired by the nice weather, Fred and Mason planted flowers in the beds around the trees and did an excellent job. The curb appeal of our home has drastically changed and improved ten fold in the last two years. Something I'm sure our neighbors are jumping up and down excited about. For two people who pretty much know nothing about landscaping, we sure do fake it awfully well.

Always our little helper. You gotta love this little man of ours. His efforts to be involved in and do whatever it is we are doing puts the biggest smile on my face. The pride he has in learning something new and making accomplishments in turn makes me so proud to be his mother.

This wonderful day ended with Fred and Mason throwing and chasing the ball around and Sophie and I sitting on a blanket in the backyard watching the fun. It was one of those great family moments that make you sit back and say, this is a lovely life.

And it is.

Sophia @ 9 months

Nine months.

Wow! It is going by so fast. I know I've said this before, but it's amazing how fast they grow up before your eyes. So is it just me, or does she get cuter with every month? I just want to eat her up.

Nine months has brought with it the start of Spring. Well maybe. The weather can't seem to make up it's mind. And warm Spring days mean trips to the park and not so cranky kids or Mom because we are cooped up inside. Much to my surprise Sophie had her first experience with the swing March 9th and LOVED it! It got the official stamp of Proud Mom moment. Especially since Mason didn't enjoy the swings until he was two. She continues loving the swing each time we take her and I really enjoy pushing her. Gives us something to do while Mason runs amuck. *Isn't that head band so damn cute? Loving this 60-70 degree weather!

So I know two months ago I was screaming about how she isn't crawling yet and thinking to myself just do it already! If I have ever needed to put my foot in my mouth, that moment would be now. SHE IS GETTING INTO EVERYTHING, and moving with excellent speed. I can't sit down for a moment. Constantly running after her, steering her away from the stairs, bathroom, tiny pieces of Mason's toys and any other no-no things lying on the floor or within her ever expanding reach. It was easy to baby proof with one kid but with two; it's a losing battle.

Her explorations have given new life to old toys or should I say toys my husband was not happy about having been purchased. Such as my tweet on March 11th:

Nine months and a second child has given me a new role to add to the many I currently play. Referee. It never occurred to me that my daughter would prefer my sons toys (seeing as they are in abundance and constantly littering the floor) over her hand me down baby toys. But this is our reality. Thomas trains, matchbox cars, plastic food in a toy kitchen, whatever Mason happens to be playing with. Because really if her big brother is playing with it, it must be cool right? Mason, is not so down with this. Pushing her, dragging her, knocking her over, screaming, whining anything to get her away from his precious toys. Sharing is another ongoing battle. This usually results in either Sophie crying, us putting Mason in time out, or just a lot of yelling on our end to get it all to stop. Redirect Sophie to some other toy but she usually finds her way back. But despite this sibling rivalry (I mean who hasn't picked on their younger brother/sister it's a right of passage in childhood) they have the most adorable relationship.

One that has him racing up the stairs when he hears she is awake happily saying, "is that my girly?" or "there's my girl!" LOVE IT!! One that has Sophie smiling, giggling, and bouncing up and down, just generally happy when Mason walks into the room. One that has Mason wanting to hug and kiss her all the time. One that has her still calming down when he sings to her. One that has him running up to me in Walmart with a t-shirt or dress or outfit for Sophie and saying, "how about this one Mommy? This one is sooooo cute!" One that has Sophie getting especially excited on the swing when Mason insists he can push her all by himself. One where I look in the rearview mirror to see two small hands reaching out from their respective car seats searching for each other and holding tight.

*a close up of their adorable hand holding that has become a ritual when riding in the car these last few days.

Their relationship reiterates why I became a parent. It's also a helpful reminder when times are tough and I want to give up.

Nine months and she has developed quite a personality.

I can't help but smile when I look at her. From her funny faces to her developing flirtatious character I am totally loving the girl. Lately she has been in what I call Mommy mode. It started the other night when I handed her off to Fred to help Mason with something and she broke down into screams. And I mean SCREAMS! Reaching for me and crying till I held her again. Of course I had to tweet it and update my status on facebook.

Because with all the time I spend at home with the two of them, they both said "da-da" first and always want to go to daddy instead of me. It really makes me feel good that she only wants me now. Especially when she teases Fred. Like the other night. I was holding her then she leaned out reaching for Fred and when he reached out for her to take her, she shot around like a flash grabbing on to me giggling and smiling. I couldn't help but laugh. Even after the fourth time.

At her nine month check up she weighed 22lbs. and I was happy to learn she is back on the chart with a 92 percentile. Height, she is like 85th percentile and her head shot up to the 75th percentile! Her brain is growing. Our awesome pediatrician, have I mentioned before how lucky we are to have a pediatrician who is also our friend (well his wife and I and our kids are). Anyway, he mentioned that we could start giving her those puffies. You know the Gerber puffs that dissolve in your mouth and introduce your baby to more solid foods without the risk of them choking. After all she does have two teeth now! Yay! Excited to get her eating more solids I happily went to the grocery store and bought the veggie puffs and proceeded to feed one to her. What transpired next I have never seen or experienced before. My daughter got the most disgusted look on her face, started to gag and choke and proceeded to throw up all over me and herself. I sat their totally shocked at what just happened. In disbelief that my daughter just choked on dissolvable puffs! She since has not done much better with the dissolvable foods, but we are working on it. Note that toddlers when reintroduced to these puffs are instantly hooked for a second time. I don't know what it is about them. I've tried them and quite honestly don't blame Sophie for getting her diapers in a twist. They are pretty bland. But hey they are veggies so I let Mason indulge every once in a while. It's not like miss princess choke on dissolvable foods is gonna eat them, might as well not waste 'em.

She slowly starting to cruise around things on occasion. But no real walking just yet. In anticipation I bought her a cute baby stroller walker (since the one Mason used was halfway to broken when he was a baby). Though if given the choice we heads towards the Tow Mater walker/rider. Figures. But I'm sure she'll be taking those steps here soon. If I can get Mason to give her some space to breathe and explore.

Till then I'll be busy planning her uber cute first birthday party, fretting over the baby gate issue, continuing my role as referee and loving my baby girl while I can. Embracing and soaking up each moment she is this small. Because in reality it won't be like this for long and I will look back missing the days of sweet two teeth smiles, baby giggles and babbles, that oh so fresh baby sent and being able to hold her so close and her actually wanting to be there.

a note.