We have some very exciting news! We bought a new house! It is 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath and 2850 sq feet. The house is in a great family neighborhood and close to schools. It is a home that we can happily live in for a long time. The closing process took longer than usual, but we finally now have the keys! I am very anxious to move ASAP but there are a couple of things that we have to do first- namely paint. I tried to take some pictures of the house, but they are not very good.

When you walk in the front door the dining room is off to the right and the stairs lead up to the 3 smaller bedrooms. Beyond the dining room is the kitchen, living room, master bedroom, guest bath and laundry room.

This is the dining room- the wall is actually more of a purple than wine and is one of things that needs to be painted. We probably won't keep it as a dining room- but make it into more of a sitting area/ another play area.

This will be Sophie's room, you can see she has already been busy playing with the blinds. This room alternates in color between neon green and bright blue. The neon green walls are almost
blinding. It will take an entire can of primer to cover them up. Needless to say, this room will be painted as well.

This will be the baby's room. The ugly border will come down and the room will be painted a light blue. Since I am 28 weeks I am extremely anxious to get the baby's room done. When I was pregnant with Sophie I was on bed rest at 30 weeks and had her at 34 weeks. The clock is ticking very quickly! We are going to move as soon as the painting is done, and I have someone lined up to come this week. Hopefully they will sense my urgency and get it done quickly!

Something about Mary

Sophie has never named any toys or animals that she plays with. The stuffed animals that she sleeps with every night are named bear, bunny, and kitty cat. I'm assuming you can guess what they are. Whenever we ask her what we should name the new baby she just looks at us and says, "baby." So it came as quite a shock when she actually named one of her Little People toys. The picture above is a little doll she named Mary. I am not sure where she came up with this name, as she has never met any Mary's before. It is a surprise that she named this doll- she rarely plays with it, and it usually hangs out with the rest of the Little People. Regardless, this doll is always referred to as Mary. Hmmm

Sophie has also named her step stool Toobie. This name took me forever to figure out what she was talking about. Unlike Mary, who is very rarely played with, Toobie is a central figure in Sophie's life. She is constantly carrying it around to reach new places and see what new trouble she can get into. Silly me, I thought the step stool would just stay in the bathroom. Whenever someone new comes over to the house, Sophie will run and get her step stool, pat it affectionately and say "Toobie." So far, everyone has had the good sense to smile and act impressed.

Low Key Valentine's Day

Sophie has had a remarkably healthy winter. Usually she has a cold from December through March. Not this year. I was feeling pretty good about things, thinking that she has built up enough immunity that we were in the clear. Sigh. This year everything hit all at once. Within the span of a week- and taking her to the doctor twice- I was told that she has an ear infection, the flu, and strep throat. Oh boy. The result was a very sick little lady, with a fever of almost 104, that barely ate, drank, or slept. It's been a looong week. Valentine's Day was therefore uneventful.

Trying to stimulate Sophie's appetite, she was given all sorts of treats to eat that normally would not have been allowed. She had a cupcake on Valentine's Day, which was when we noticed that she was really sick because she only ate a couple of bites. Clearly not Sophie behavior.

She ate her first popsicle- and loved it. Now that she is feeling better she asks for them all the time. Her grandparents came over to babysit and give us a little break, and she had 2 in an hour and a half. Oh those grandparents. Sophie has been asking for them to come back- I will have to go to the store and stock up first.

Sophie's favorite game right now is to take all of her animals and put them on the couch, or her bed, and then jump in the middle of them. She will sit and play with them for over an hour. This usually happens during nap time, where little napping takes place anymore. We are glad to see our Sophie feeling better!

Let it Snow!

It finally snowed! We have had an unusually dry winter until last week. Sophie has been thrilled with the snow in our backyard. Every night when Carl gets home, Sophie runs to him and asks if she can put on her snow clothes. (For some reason, in Sophie's mind playing in the snow is strictly a daddy-daughter activity. I'm fine with this.) Carl is usually happy to oblige, and out they go. Sophie never cares about being cold or what the temperature is outside. She will happily play outside as long as you let her- even if it's only 5 degrees. Brrr!
Daddy has a lot of games that he plays with Sophie. In this game they make snowballs on top of the hot tub and then throw them at the fence. Or Sophie throws them at Carl. Also fun.

Carl has a course set up that he pulls her through. There is even a small hill, which she always screams with delight everytime she goes over it. I have a cute video of it, but for some reason it plays sideways. I am still trying to fix it.

After being outside, Sophie runs to her chair to get "comfy, cozy." We're not exactly sure why she calls it this, but it requires getting wrapped up in 2 blankets. We're hoping that it will stay snowy for a while, because it is such a great activity for her- and she loves it!

Big Sister!

Sophie is very excited to announce that she is going to be a big sister! We are expecting a baby boy on June 8, 2012. Right now, Sophie is excited for the new baby to arrive. She really has no idea that her whole little life is about to change. Since we talk about babies a lot, Sophie has just started playing with baby dolls, and acting like a little mommy. When I see her play so nicely with her baby I feel hopeful that this will all go smoothly. However, when I see her chuck her baby on the floor in favor of a different toy, I get a little nervous.

So far the pregnancy has gone really well, actually it has been pretty easy. I did not have any morning sickness this time and made it through the 1st trimester pretty much just feeling sleepy. If I had not been pregnant before, I would wonder what all the fuss is about. However, I do know better, I also know that the easiest half is behind me- and I still have the much, much tougher part ahead. Since I have a strong nesting instinct when I am not pregnant, I am officially driving Carl carzy with all of my to-do lists. I want to get things done and get things ready NOW. He of course, is much more laid back and does not see what all the hussle is about.

Here are some of the things on my to-do list:

*Potty train Sophie

*Move Sophie into a big girl bed

*Finish Sophie's scrapbook

*Buy baby boy clothes

*Pick out a baby boy name

*Get baby room entirely ready-months ahead this time

*Clean entire house and take lots of items to Good Will

*Clean spare room- also known as dumping ground

*Paint deck

*Eat large amounts of cake- because really, after doing all those things you would need cake. We'll see how much stuff gets done.

Merry Second Christmas!

We had another wonderful Christmas in Portland! Sophie, of course, got way too much and completely spoiled- but seemed to enjoy every minute. It was a very relaxing trip, filled with many meals out and visiting family. It was great to see everyone, and leaving always makes me wish that we lived closer to family. But we are extremely lucky that we get to fly so often! We are looking forward to Nana coming and visiting us soon! Here are some of our favorite pics from the trip:
Nana and Sophie made a gingerbread house. I was completely prepared for Sophie to cover herself with frosting and gorge on candy, but this was not the case. Sophie took the task of making a gingerbread house VERY seriously. She added each and every gum drop with precision and did not attempt to eat a single candy. Sophie and Daddy on Christmas morning.

Sophie is just starting to become interested in potty training, so we bought her a Dora seat. She was thrilled and carried it with her everywhere. She did not use it as intended, but decided to sit down on it whenever she needed to sit. Of course, sometimes she wore it as a hat, so we’re not there yet.

Even Dora got in on the act.
Sophie and Rosie delivered presents to the neighbors. Sophie was thrilled that Rosie was a Reindeer.

Merry First Christmas!

We had our first Christmas yesterday, and had a wonderful time. We came out to the cabin bright and early in our pajamas and found Sophie’s cousins excited and waiting for her. We had a quick breakfast and then prepared for the whirlwind that is opening presents with kids. Sophie needed no encouragement or help opening presents this year. She charged in and had to be reminded to slow down, and wait her turn. She received many, many gifts that left us wondering how they might all fit in our little house. Sophie loved every second of it, and will be thrilled to learn she gets to do it all again next weekend.

Uncle Ry looks on as Sophie and Kyle build blocks.

Santa brought Sophie a Dora backpack and map. Sophie was thrilled and has been carrying it around ever since. Santa also brought Dora underwear, we get the hint Santa- it's time.

Grandma and Grampa got Sophie and Elly Princess Chairs. They both loved them!

After all the presents were opened, we bundled the kids up and headed outside into the snow. All the kids were thrilled to play in the snow, and played outside at least 3 hours. It was a wonderful day!

Carl and Sophie out on the frozen lake.

Sophie and Elly in their Snow Chairs that Val built for them.

Kyle escorted Sophie and Daddy around in the golf cart.

Grandpa braved the cold and built a snowman with the kids. Sophie is adding a finishing touch. By the way, the clump of snow on top of his head is a hat.

All the kids posing by the finished product! They worked great together!