A Day At The Beach - In Your Backyard

It's been a steamy summer so one day, instead of piling into the hot car we set up a day at the beach at home. It worked very nicely, except when Odin decided to use the pool as a great big water dish. :)

Getting Ready For Baby Brother

Some of you have been asking me whether we've gotten things ready for the new arrival and slowly and surely we have. We've decided that for awhile, he'll sleep in the pack and play in our room, next to the bed, then in Sophia's room until we decide if we're having a third one (in which case, odd gender out gets their own room), or that having two in one room really does produce the horror stories some parents relay to us.

For now, we've carved out a corner of the girl's room for a little boy with green (to match) and some monkey's to make it his own. My parents bought the new crib (THANKS, Grandma and Grandpa) and it looks great with the green. There are some frog's hanging around the room and we bought a glider this time for rocking the little tyke to sleep. He's sort of got a lot of animals going on, more like a jungle theme - something special just for him. He's due around the very end of August, and we'll do our best to bring our family out to the various family reunions, football games and birthday's this fall. So see you soon!

Visit With Lilianna

Well, the Cramers came for a BBQ on Saturday and it was great. We got to talk, coo over Lilianna (which was a dream baby - so good) and watch Sophia be a little mom. She even gave Miss Lily a hug goodbye.

They're still up in Hartford/Slinger and say they are doing great. They've adjusted to life with a little one easily - Lilianna's 7 months now. She smiled A LOT, especially at the dog. No fear when her father was playing tug of war with the big, black hairy mongrel which most people say looks like a bear.

She got to try out Sophia's tree swing, and Sophia was a good little sharer (for a two year old anyway). Sophia especially liked when she got to bounce Lilianna in the bouncy seat - it's a good thing she's a tough little baby. She laughed as the seat went up and down rather faster than was necessary. It was pretty amusing. Sophia seemed taken with Lilianna, so we have hopes she will enjoy being a big sister more than she'll be jealous of having to share her parents.

Little Human Jumping

At some point, every kid discovers the joys of jumping on the bed. Especially, when their father fake wrestles with them while they're doing it. So besides the obvious hilarity, there's the fact that Sophie also says her name, which is a fairly new development. It sounds more like SHOW-FEE, but it is the cutest thing I've ever heard.

KISS!

Mom turned off the TV and told Sophia to find something else to do. Hmmm, not sure that's exactly what I meant. :) It was funny though.

And no, I don't really know why the magazine had lip stickers in it to begin with.

HAPPY FOURTH!

It was our first fourth of July in Waukesha, so we went to the Parade and even caught the fireworks that night. Sophia was okay with the parade, but not as fond of the fireworks. She ended up spending most of the time in the car with Grandma, but she didn't start screaming, just requesting strongly that we go that way (away from the booms).

Oh, and don't worry, Joe is tickling her...as usual. :)

Low Rider

Grandma and Grandpa Burger decided they couldn't wait until October to give Sophia her birthday present...so here she is with her brand new bicycle. I'm told this was the only one she deemed worthy and refused to try any others in the store. It's got a bell, and those little dangly things from the bars. And it's shiny. Sophia is still working on pedaling forward...backwards seems easier for whatever the reason. And pedaling while watching the road-well, sidewalk to steer away from the grass is taking a bit more concentration than Sophia has. She's sticking with it, however and I'm sure she'll be cruising with the wind in her hair soon.