Doing my Duty!

The preschool that Carter will be going to this year is a co-op preschool. This means all the parents have a job they must do during the school year. This helps keeps costs down and forces all the parents to be involved (I am not sure force is the right word, if you didn't want to do this you would have chosen a different preschool where this is not required) Anyway...my job is the monthly clean helper (or janitor as Nick calls it). My job requires me to take the classroom toys home and clean them each month. Since school starts this week I have had to start my job...it is not as easy as it may sound, there are A LOT of toys at this preschool, but what kid wouldn't want their Mom to bring home tons of toys for them to play with each month?! Here are the toys that I have had to clean so far (I don't think I will post about this every month, but even I was astonished at how many toys there were!

The Mr. Potato Heads (Carter calls his school the Potato Head school because when we went to visit they had the Potato Heads out to play with)

The water table toys that we obviously played with in our "water table"

I learned after cleaning the potato heads that the bath tub was the best place to clean the toys (soak them in bleach solution) and then to dry them on the deck in the sun. The potato heads were a bit of a disaster trying to clean them and it took way longer than it should have!

The kitchen food.

Each month I will have a variety of things to bring home to clean as it rotates through the school year. From the kitchen food, to kitchen toys, legos, bristle blocks, etc. I will be a cleaning fool!!!

The Tire Park

Last weekend I packed a picnic lunch and we headed to the tire park to play around! It was GORGEOUS outside! We had a great time and would have stayed longer if there hadn't been so many bees!

Sophia, Sophia, Sophia

I haven't posted much this summer so I made this collage to show what Sophia has been up to...

She has been playing in her exersaucer, going swimming (which she really enjoyed by the end of the summer!) had her 1st 4th of July, experimented with bows, made some funny faces, hung out with her big brother, went on her first vacation to Bethany Beach, took some walks in her stroller, and was always smiling! What a busy lady!!!You feel bad that I have to look at her everyday don't you!!!

Captain Underpants!

Need I say more?

Sophia Gets Baptized

We had Sophia Baptized in July. It was a beautiful day and so many friends and family came to celebrate with us. Nick's, Dad's cousin Monseignor Vaghi (who baptized Carter and married us) did the honors at his church, The Church of the Little Flower, in Bethesda Maryland.

Sophia wore the same Christining gown that both me and my sister wore when we were baptized.

My sister, Karen, and Nick's brother, Vince, are Sophia's godparents. They are also Carter's godparents.

With Grandma and Nana and with Great Grandma! (in my 2nd dress of the day what a fashionista!)

It was a long day!!

Bedroom Makeovers!

Ok, we didn't completely make-over the kids rooms but some additional items have been added to each one that have made them more complete. Here are the new additions...

In Carter's room he got a new floating shelf for his piggy banks and some pictures, and a new bookshelf (that matches the shelf). We can now display the bookends we got for him in Myrtle Beach (they matched his crib bedding, but they are still cute!) and put out the collection of Shel Silverstein books I got for him.

Sophia got a handmade mobile (courtesy of Etsy and me! they are actually flower pin cushions!) a floating shelf, bookends from Myrtle Beach (I am thinking of getting her a collection of Dr. Suess books to put between the bookends), Carter's old bookshelf stuffed with books, her name proudly displayed over her bed (another DIY project, we stained the letters ourselves!). She also recieved a few accents for her room at her Baptism from family friends, the Hard's. She got a zodiac baby block (the year of the Ox) and an adorable clock.

What lucky kids!!

4 Months Old! - Move Over Tyra Banks!! (stat update)

Sophia is 4 months old today! How time flies! We have been up to many things (I will blog about them) and we have enjoyed Sophia being a part of these activites. We are on her first vacation in Bethany Beach right now!
What she is up to...
Sophia can now hold her head up very well and enjoys looking around at what is around her (ie. hates being in her carseat)
She is spending more time in her exersaucer but is still a little floppy in it, but she is getting better.
I believe she has begun teething (drool city!) but no teeth yet! Carter got his first 2 teeth right at 4 months so it wouldn't surprise me if they popped through soon!
She rolled over for the first time yesterday (from front to back)! Carter did not do this until he was 5 months old.

She LOVES blowing raspberries! It is her newest trick!
We love waking up to her smiles (after she has slept for 12-13 hours!!!) She is still not napping too well, she naps about 1 1/2 hours a day and only sometimes in her crib (I am working on this) mostly in her swing (after being put to sleep by the sound of the vacuum cleaner!)
And love when she "talks" to us!
Chewing on EVERYTHING, especially her fingers!

With my big brother (who is 3 and 1/2!!!)
She is getting better with the "photo shoots" and only fell over a couple times, but not because she couldn't stay up herself, she was trying to sit up on her own and toppled over!
We love you Buggy!
***Stat Update***
Weight: 15lbs 3 oz - 75%
Height: 27 in - >95% (the length of an 8 month old!)
She is going to be a SUPERMODEL!!!