Nap time

Isabella does not want to take a nap most days but once we get her baby, her bear and her bunny (plus a few blankets) she is good to go. I never know just how I will find Isabella after nap time. Sometimes her clothes are on backward or thrown out of the bed. Here is an example of Isabella after nap time.Notice all the items Isabella has tossed on the floor which was pretty much everything in her crib. Her dress, pillow, Elmo, baby dolls and her special blankie.

Wakie Wakie Bella
I am not sure how much longer Isabella will continue to take a nap. But its a good thing she can not get out of her bed yet!

Heat Wave

Isabella was sad it was too hot to go outside but little did she know all the fun I had in store....A heat wave made its way through Richmond last week with temps over 100 degrees. The added humidity made it hard to enjoy being outdoors. The best way to cool off was to stay inside and enjoy a few rainy day activities such as reading, finger painting, baking and playing in the tub. Check out how my girls keep their cool....



Isabella is really into books these days. There are a handful of books that we have read so many times that she now knows the stories by heart. In the morning she loves to sit by herself and flip through books.
Sophia is into smiling and showing off those (5) pearly whites!

Who me?

Bella's creativity was flowing as she enjoyed the smooth texture of the paint

Sophia's 1st art project

See Mom?

crumple crumple

look who switched seats!

After bath time giggles

ready for story time before bed

Sisters having fun!

The thing my daughters enjoyed the most was interacting with each other.

Blessed Baby

On Saturday Sophia was baptised. The 5pm mass was at Our Lady of Mercy Church in Potomac, Maryland. It was in this same church that we were married and had Isabella baptised. It seemed fitting to have Sophia's baptism in the same church. Sophia wore a precious family heirloom. Her gown was approximately 150 years old. It was very special to have Sophia in the gown.

The girls are ready for Mass
A prayer of Baptism

Our family with the godparents - Mike & Meredith

Sophia snuggles up with her godmother after a long day

Doggies Doggies

The SPCA was our destination for playgroup this week. We had recently been to a birthday party there so we were looking forward to returning. The SPCA in Richmond is really nice. They had story time for the kiddos (which was when Isabella could not seem to sit still) and then we took a tour of the facility. In the photo below Isabella and her friend Madelyn are checking out a dogs personal room. The house broken dogs get nice rooms like this. The room photographed below had a few dogs on both sides in individual kennels and boy was it loud when they all started barking. Isabella found a dog named Bella.

A very sleepy Sophie checking out the dogs

The gang. Bell was being silly as you can see.

Isabella even found a few new friends too....

Jumping for Joy!

Sophia enjoys the jumper especially when her big sister jumps with her. I enjoy the smiles and giggles.

Here is a video of the girls having fun. Enjoy!

On an exciting note, Sophia's 5th tooth is in!

Bathing Beauties

My girls LOVE the water! In the tub, sink, pool or sprinkler its all fun to them. I even enjoy the random splashes to cool off a bit. We set up the pool , water table and/or sprinkler about 5 days a week. Lets just hope there is not a water shortage this summer since I don't know how I would explain that to Isabella.

My skinny mini was bringing flowers to Daddy while the pool was filling up. She loves her Daddy! She also loves the sprinkler this year

ready to JUMP into the pool

big hugs from the big sister

Rubber Ducky your the one. You make pool time lots of fun!

Rubber ducky you are the only duck for me.

Little Chomper

Sophia's 4th tooth is now in! It followed close behind her 3rd tooth as if they were in a race to see which could come in first. So now my daughter has 2 top center teeth and 2 bottom center teeth. She loves to show off her pearly whites.

Busch Gardens

Another trip to Busch Gardens was lots of fun! Here are some snapshots of our day...

Isabella with her friends Jackson & BennettThe Red Baroness
Isabella was not too sure of the Carousel

My little trooper

driving a bug.... not a Volkswagen but a ladybug

eagerly waiting to ride the boat

The photo below is how I found Isabella at the end of the boat ride. Notice the missing shoes on Isabella's feet. Thank goodness there was a net around the boat the keep everything inside. Also, notice the seat belt is not around her lap. Isabella is like a magician always getting out when she is strapped in...no matter how tight I make the straps. Let me tell you that keeps me on my toes.

mid morning nap

cooling off

checking out Big Bird

Isabella wants to know "Where is Elmo"? Talk about a blow to Big Birds ego. Ha!

Here is a video of our Carousel ride. Its a short video since Isabella leaped into my arms when the horse started moving.

Little People

My days are surrounded by little people and I love it! It has always been my dream to be home to raise my children. I feel VERY fortunate to have this opportunity. Don't get me wrong there are moments where I count down till nap time and adult interaction is always appreciated. However, I talk to my kids more than anyone else. So its no surprise when I find myself singing kids songs while in the shower or even jammin' out to them in the car when the kids are NOT in the car. Trust me this is not what I would choose to sing or listen to but being around little people all day has re-wired my thinking.

I officially have Mommy brain. Everything I do is for my kids. One of my favorite things is to have a conversation with Isabella. Last week she told me "Bella go to beach with Daddy. Daddy hold my hand". So sweet and a great talker too. Another comment I was surprised to hear out of my 2 year old....was "Thank you Mommy" which was said in a cheery voice after I had vacuumed her room.

My little person, Isabella did not want to take a nap because of all the water fun. However, she passed out within minutes of going to bed and then I had to wake her up. Isabella did not even hear me come into her room. She played hard and napped hard!

Here are some more little people. Can you tell which child is older? If you judge by appearance/ size it would be Sophia however Sophia is 5 months younger than Olivia.
I love my little people!