It's a Rubber Ducky Birthday

It was a Rubber Ducky theme for Sophia's First Birthday Party.



I made this duck cake floating on water. I think it came out halfway decent and kinda cute. He didn't bake up right so he was leaning to the side and he got worse as the day went on. I told everyone he was in rough waters.

We also had a duck crossing in the kitchen.

Sophia had just woken up from her nap in this picture, 10 minutes before her party was due to start. She looks excited, huh?

She had more fun with Daddy.

Halfway through the party, my duck committed suicide. :( It was okay though because he sure tasted good.

My mom had to hold up his head while we sang Happy Birthday. I think Sophia was looking around wondering why a whole room of people were staring and singing to her.

We decided to go ahead and give her the whole duck head. She tore into that thing! She loved it!

My camera died while Sophia was eating her cake so I didn't get an aftermath shot. But trust me when I say she was completely covered in cake and icing and needed a clothing change.

Because my camera was down for the count, we got resourceful and used Madeline's camera for the rest.

After seeing all these photos, I realized I didn't get any pictures of all the guests. Argh, it's hard to do everything. I should have hired my friend Tammy to take pictures. Anyway, it was a great party and I think everyone had a good time.

Happy Birthday Sophia!

Dear Sophia,

From the first day we brought you home, you have been so easy, mellow and content. You are our observer. Our listener. Our thinker. You sit back and just take it all in. We think you get your personality from your daddy. You especially love to watch your big sister. Your friendship is just beginning but you already look up to her in admiration.

You also are our sleeper. When you were a baby, you slept all the time. Compared to your sister, we felt lucky to have a baby that slept through the night. Now that you have gotten older, you still like your sleep. Although, you aren't too good at taking naps. You still like to take two or three catnaps a day.

Even though you are growing up, you are still very much a baby. You love to cuddle with your Momma and cry for her attention whenever she is near. You are definitely Momma's little girl!

All kids put things in their mouth, but you are better at it than most. You are like a chipmunk with your four front teeth and leave your mark everywhere. Your sister is a voracious reader of books. You are a voracious eater of books. Even your teachers at daycare comment that all of their books have your distinct chipmunk markings. It doesn’t end there….your winter coat….your shirt sleeve…..your socks….you have even started taking aim at your crib.

This next year will be an exciting one! You just started taking your first crawling “steps” yesterday. Walking will follow soon thereafter. You babble Ma-ma and Da-da already and we look forward to hearing more words from you.

Your loving and devoted parents,
Mommy and Daddy

My Big Girl

Madeline has started preschool! She moved up at her daycare center and she LOVES it! She has a lot of favorite things about her new room…the costume and puppet bin, the kitchen and the computer with games. But I think her most favorite is the arts and crafts area. They have scissors out that she can use whenever and I think she cuts paper every day.

This room has more advanced activities and is all about learning independence. They each get a daily chore to help out, like Light Helper, Snack Helper, Line Leader, Friend Counter and Calendar Helper. They also serve meals family style. So Madeline has to get her own food and pour her own milk. I can’t imagine how the milk pouring goes. I’m sure lots of paper towels are involved.

She is way into being a pretty princess now. She wants to wear dresses, skirts, earrings, a necklace, etc. all the time. She acts like a girly, girly too. I guess at least we are getting more use out of her Christmas dress.

The world through Madeline's lense

Yes, this picture is actually from Madeline's camera. It can take a good picture if you hold it steady enough. There are LOTS of pictures of Andy.

She doesn't always have the right angle.

Missed again.

Dinner

Look at the gourmet meals Andy is missing out on.


Yes, they are Mickey Mouse shapped chicken nuggets.

Snow Angels

Kids Music Hour

There is a coffee shop nearby that hosts a Kid's Music Hour every week. I've been meaning to go for months but just plain forgot about it. I sure wish I would have remembered. It was so much fun!

The owner (I think that is who it is) sits up on their stage and sings kids songs while playing his guitar. He has 2 microphones for the kids to go up on stage with him and sing along.

This is as far as Madeline would leave my side, but as you can see, she was having fun.

"the babies on the bus go wah, wah, wah....wah, wah, wah"

Fia was really enjoying it too. She was clapping along.

11 months old

Christmas put me behind on her 11 month update, but better late than never.

I added this last picture because you can see her chubby legs better. :) Love the rolls!!

I can't believe it's time to start planning her birthday party. Craziness! Even though she is almost a toddler, she is still very much a baby. She is a big cuddler and will grab me tight when I pick her up and nuzzle her head into my neck.

She is SO close to crawling. She still gets around though and has started getting stuck under things now. It’s kinda funny.

I’ll be glad when we are done with bottles. For one thing, I’m sick of cleaning the darn things out every night. Not to mention it will clear up counter space to not have the drying rack out. But also, I’ll be glad when I don’t get milk spit in my face every night. I don’t know why she does this, but she’ll stop sucking and get a mouth full of milk and then decide at that moment to cough. It happens almost every night.

Table food is going really well. She eats just about anything now and prefers foods that she can feed herself. Although that doesn't mean she isn't picky, because she is. She will purposely eat around food she doesn't feel like eating and will look at me like, "Okay, what else?" Oh, and she doesn't like applesauce and cheerios. What kid doesn't like those?! She will slam a cereal bar like nobody's business though. And she loves graham crackers, Gerber yogurt melts, waffles, eggs, french toast, pasta, meatballs, and cheese cubes. I'll be starting her on cow's milk soon. Hopefully she does well!

New Years 2010

We celebrated New Years Eve with a great bottle of vino and good friends. That one bottle turned into several and lets just say I had a little too much fun that night. I think I'm good on wine for awhile.


Our friends brought their daughter who is also one of Madeline's friends from daycare. I got them glow-in-the-dark necklace/bracelets and party hats.

Sophia was there too partying the night away.

We let the girls have a toast with some "special juice", also known as sparkling grape juice.

They loved it and finished their cups right down. Madeline even asked for more.

Cheers! Here's to a new year and bright future for our family. 2011 stands to be a great year for us, with Andy starting a new job and us moving back home to Cincinnati. We can't wait to get it started!