Niece #3!!!

Liliana Mae was born today at 10:59 a.m. She weighs 6lbs. 8oz, and is just as perfect as she can be.
My sister Kelly went in Wednesday evening to prepare to be induced the following morning. As the inducing took place, Lily's heart rate should have been fluctuating with the progressive contractions, but it wasn't. They call it a "flat" heart rate, but it doesn't mean "flat line." (Learn something new everyday--I got scared when my mom said "flat heart rate," that's a scary term.)
They ended up doing a C-section, and found that Lily had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck, poor thing! It's interesting because it's almost like history is repeating itself. My mom had me when she was 21 (my sister is 19), and my mom moved out, despite her mother's attempt to keep her at home, and I was a c-section birth as well; although mine was an emergency because I definitely had the cord wrapped around my neck, and my heart had stopped. I weighed 6lbs., 6oz (very close). Interesting. It's also interesting how when I was born, I was considered a preemie and put in an incubator for nearly two weeks, and Lily is just fine. Funny how things change, yet how much they stay the same. :)

Play-Date Bust!

Every Tuesday, my mom (Emmy) and I take turns taking one of the girls. Last night was my night with Sophia. I was sooo excited. Sophia and I haven't had the opportunity to bond like Cecilia and I have, so I was ready for a fun and exciting play date! I picked her up after work (around 4), and we loaded the car, and off we went.
Side note: Sophia hasn't been to my house very much. Every time I have a play date, it's either at Emmy's or Kerri's, not sure why, that's just how it has happened. Anyway, I didn't take that into consideration when I was figuring the success of our time together.
Well, Kerri also failed to tell me (until I came to pick up Soph), that she was teething. Great. I know the joys of teething, and they are few and far between. I was determined to make the best of it.
We pulled up to my house, and groggy Soph was sitting nicely in her car seat. When I pulled her out of the car, I set her down, thinking that she would run around (I live on a farm, and she loooves to be outside, so I thought it'd be perfect), well, she didn't. She pointed at my house and said, "side" (inside), so we went inside, but she was really apprehensive to go in passed the foyer. I showed her toys, let her walk around and explore, but she just wasn't feelin it. So she pointed at the door, "side?" (outside). "Oh, okay, let's go outside!" Once we get outside, she runs to my car, looks at me, waves, and says, "Bye? Mommy?" "No, Sophia, we're not going bye-bye, we're going to stay here and play!" She didn't care. She was tired, and crabby. I took her inside and tried to lure her with food, but that did nothing. I knew she wasn't feeling well when she didn't want to eat.
Finally, she started giving me pillows off the couch. At first, I started to smack her with them a little bit, in a sort of came, but she shook her head, as if to tell me that I didn't know what I was doing. I asked her if she wanted to lay on the pillow, and she shook her head. So, I grabbed a few books, laid down with her and started scratching her back---she was snoring in no time.
She ended up sleeping until her mother picked her up, then she woke up all smiley and happy.
It turns out that my sister stopped at Emmy's house before going home, and my mom said that Sophia was a hoot! Well, I guess so, since she slept for 2 hours.
Oh well, hopefully the next time will be better.
Next Tuesday I have Cecilia! And she loooves my house!

Wedding Weekend

This weekend my sister, Kerri (the mother of my nieces) and her boyfriend, Mike, finally tied the knot. They got married Friday, and we had the reception at my mom's on Saturday. It was a blast! Cecilia and Sophia had a sitter for the evening, and she brought them after the dinner hour to dance and hang for a little while. I saw them come in, so I gravitated in their direction, like I always do, and Cecilia ran over and jumped in my arms. She was tired, but she let me dance with her. She kept playing with my hair (it was up in a clip), and she took out one of my earrings. I took her out front at one point, and we sat in the yard, then she wanted to roll down the hill (my mom's front yard is on a little hill). So, we rolled. One roll too many, Cecilia knocked her head on the sidewalk. She still decided to go another time, but before she rolled, she said, "Weesa [that's me], watch my head when I roll." Ha.

Sophia danced with me a little bit, but she was very concerned with Mommy and Daddy and a little tired, so she wasn't entirely entertaining.

Late that night, my other sister Kelly (mom-to-be due on August 15th), fell down, right on her belly. She seemed okay, but, naturally, she was a little upset. She's had a difficult time with this pregnancy. Through her tests, she learned that she has a very common kidney disease, which is treatable, but she has to be watched carefully. She has had some significant swelling as well. Last week, the doctor told her that she was on bed rest, so she was trying hard to do as little as possible. After she went home from the reception, around 2:30 a.m., she started bleeding, so she and her boyfriend (who she lives with) went to the hospital. I didn't find this out until Sunday. I was at my cousin's house, and when I called my mom, she was taking Kelly food. She was there overnight, but she's been given the green light, so she's home now. The baby's heart rate is good, but she's only about 5lbs/14 oz, so they want to wait a little bit longer, if they can, and Kelly's feeling fine. Just bored. Poor kid. She'll have this kid soon, I don't think they'll let her wait full-term.

So, Sunday, after I stopped in to the hospital to visit with Kelly, I went over to Ma's to see if there was anything to clean up, or eat...teehee. There was plenty to eat. So, since we were all recovering, we just did little stuff, ate, chatted, sat under the tent, you know, putzing. Kerri came over with Little Miss Sophia. She was so freakin cute. We still had the dance floor up, and she was just running across it, smiling, and screaming. She was being super-cute. She took out her ponytail, handed it to me, then bent her head in my direction, asking me to put it back in. When I did, she looked up, smiled real big, and said, "Ouch."

Sophia and Emmy

Finally 2008!

Okay, this is also a kind of catch-up blog, but from here on in, everything will be current. :)

January 31, 2008, Sophia Louise had her 1st birthday! It was a blast. Sophia almost has a little bit of a suspicious personality. Like, she's not sure at first, then once she has assessed the situation, she's good. There were a lot of kids at her party. It was border-line ridiculous. She wasn't sure at first, but when it came time for cake, she was good to go!
Sophia is always happy when there's food around--my girl can eat!!!

This was taken on May 18, 2008 (my brother Josh's red velvet birthday cake--I think she liked it).

Cecilia's 3rd birthday was May 26 (May tenty-ticks, as she says). She had her first "friend party" which was the cutest thing ever.

My girls are growing up fast. Cecilia says something new every time I see her (at least once a week). She once told my that my "tickle feels wike a wadybug." The greatest thing ever. One day I accidentally scratched her when I was tickling her, and she looked at my nails and said, "I had cwippers at my howse, you come today, I cut dem for you." I felt like I was at the nail salon.

Sophia isn't saying much but "Daddy" "Momma" and "Arf" (Yup, she "arfs" instead of "woofs" when she hears dogs.) She, like Cecilia, loves to be outside. They'd much rather be running around in the yard--rain or shine.

She was so excited because she could hear the rain on her hat! Ha!

My assessment: Cecilia is the New Princess. She doesn't like icky things (getting her to catch fireflies was a bit of a process, but now she's hooked). She hates having her feet dirty and her hands, yet every picture I have of her has something on her face. I guess that doesn't bother her because she can't see it. She has a great imagination (thanks to Dora the Explorer). She loves to dance (especially outside). She'll say, "Tum 'on, wets go dance outside." She likes to pretend she's a ballerina. Now that she's 3, she's pretty whiny, but she's good for me (and that's really what matters). We're buddies.

Sophia: She is a tough cookie. She laughs when she falls. If she cries, you know it's serious. Otherwise, she's wipes her hands and giggles, getting back to whatever she was doing. She's difficult because once you know her, she's warm and gives big hugs, but sometimes it's like she doesn't want to open up. She's not too crazy about dogs (even though she "arfs," I think she likes them at a distance). My mom has a 125 lbs chocolate lab, Tucker, and Cecilia will sit on him, ride him like a horse, pull his face, poor Tucker gets a beating from that kid. Sophia, however, understands that he's there, but she doesn't really associate with him. She doesn't even pet him. She just tries to steer clear. His tail is lethal, and I think Sophia got smacked one too many times, and now she's done. Last week, she finally realized that she could give him the food that fell on the floor. She would pick up the scrap off the floor, walk over to Tucker (sitting smack-dab in the middle of the kitchen floor), she would stand two feet away, and toss the scrap. Then, she got scared when he jumped up quickly to catch it. She jumped a little, then smiled, and came running over to me as her base. Pretty funny.

Okay, I think the catch-up is complete.

Here we go!

Still Playing Catch-Up

Sophia caught on quickly--with a big sister not that much older, Sophia was dying to catch up. She was very strong and beautiful--capturing everyone with her smile.

She was a smiley, drooly baby. She had to be held. At all times. Honestly, that annoyed me--it annoyed everyone. Once she became mobile, she was a little less demanding.

To me she seems like she's up to something sometimes.

This was Thanksgiving, 2007. Sophia was 10 months and on the brink of walking. Cecilia was 2 1/2 and on the brink of whiner-town. Cecilia learned at a young age that her facial expressions created reactions, and she used that to her advantage. Sophia just laughs....at everything.

Here, Cecilia was showing us different facial expressions she had learned. I did a series of pictures asking her "Let me see your happy face!" "Okay, now, let me see your sad face!" She didn't comply for long, but I'm glad I got the shots I did. She is too freaking cute!

Fast Forward

I got my digital camera in October of 2006--Cecilia was already 17 months. The first pictures I took of her are classic!

At this point, she was jibbering and jabbering in fun baby talk. I always talked the talk back, and she got a kick out of that. Some more classics from October:

She was jibber-jabbering to me about the goats. Pretty cute.

I love this shot. She is really unsure about what's going on. :)

Cecilia is a wild child!

This is one of my top favs!

She looks like one of the lost boys! (That's my youngest brother, Josh.)

The Christmas before Sophia was born (2006), Cecilia was a blast. It was better than her first only because she was so much more interested in her gifts. Her first Christmas, she was still pretty young and mostly played with the paper. Her second Christmas was much more exciting!

She was so excited about her fire truck! Teehee!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from the past. There will be more to come!

I'm so desperately trying to play catch-up, but it's harder than I thought. :)

Sophia Louise

I tend to say that Cecilia was born talkin' and Sophia was born smilin'.
From the moment I looked into her eyes, I got the feeling that she knew something we didn't.
She was (and still is) a giggler. She was sweet, and again, I fell in love instantly. She was a little more demanding than Cecilia through infancy, but she was (and is) very personal. She loved to watch your face; whereas, Cecilia would watch the room. She had to be held, and did not catch on to the whole self-soothe idea that Cecilia had. Either way, she was a joy to be around...for the most part. ;)

Cecilia was a good big sister, when it suited her. At that point, she wasn't even 2, so she really didn't care. She did help mommy change her and feed her, and she was very concerned if her sister started to fuss. But after someone rescued Sophia, Cecilia was content again. I get the feeling the two of them are going to be quite the pair.