"I want this"

Earlier this week I made a cake and while I was cleaning up the mess, this is what I turned around to see...

Bunnies on parade

It's that wonderful time of year again...Peep Time!! Even though you can find them practically year-round, I always associate Easter with these delectable, sugary treats. I prefer to keep the package just barely opened so they get a little hard and at that point they don't last long in the home. Unfortunately, Anthony isn't a fan, so I have to sacrifice one for the team and eat them all by myself. I know, poor me!

Happy Love Thursday!

For the LOVE of pudding!












I'm not sure that this really counts as a Love Thursday post, but Sofia really does enjoy pudding so much that I couldn't help sharing these pics. She's also using the spoon a ton better...could be the need for the pudding to actually go into her mouth rather than all over the place!

"Mommy has ashes on head"

Sofia and I went to mass this morning for Ash Wednesday. During breakfast, brushing teeth and getting changed I was telling her that she was going to get the sign of the cross on her head with some ashes. Of course, she had no clue what ashes were prior to the mass, but she was excited nonetheless.

As soon as we got in line to receive the ashes, Sofia started staring at everyone's head that received ashes before us and the look in her eyes was pure amazement. I was holding her and received mine first and I wasn't sure whether she was going to try to grab the lady's hand from my head or she was going to grab the bowl of ashes. The walk to the car and the drive home was a constant string of "Mommy has ashes on head." As soon as we got home, I took her in front of the mirror so she could see herself and she was through the roof excited "Fia has ashes too!" Such a little cutie!

Now I need to think about what I'm going to give up for the next 40 days...my old standby of chocolate is out of the question since it would be impossible this year. The baby likes chocolate too much to deprive him or her of it!

Playing with the Princess

Mommy stealing some kisses from Sofia


Listening to the baby and trying to see if he/she would kick for the big sister


Playing run-around-the-balloon - she loves this game!


A kiss on the nose for daddy

Weekend in Maryland

We were in Maryland this past weekend visiting my family and fun was had by all. My parents enjoyed watching Sofia run around their house and playing with her toys, Sofia loved getting to play with Zio Antonio and Zio Scott and Anthony and I ate a lot! Each time I return from being at my parent's house, I feel like I can't eat for the next couple of days since I go on this crazy eating binge where I just can't get enough of my mom's cooking. Being pregnant assists this habit also and I go into overdrive and need to eat more of everything since I am eating for two. Just looking out for the growing baby!

Anthony and I were able to spend some time with Scott and Chaela as well and that's always a good time. Again, eating was involved...we picked up ice cream on the way to Scott's house and ordered pizza while we were there. It never stops! We did manage to fit in 2 movies amongst all the food over the course of the weekend, Eagle Eye and Kung Fu Panda, which I thought were both worth watching. Sofia saw a bit of the latter and kept asking "see panda" whenever he wasn't on the screen, so I'm guessing she liked it as well!


Letting Zio Antonio carry her around like a baby...it was her idea!

Looking at the birds outside with Nonno Nick


Dad and Anthony playing cards, I'm not sure who's in the lead at this point


Sofia playing with her own set of Scopa cards


Kisses from Nonna Lisa

Nonna Linda, Daddy and Leandro lovin'

Just a little chit-chattin' with the princess...Enjoy!

Market trip in Sosua, Dominican Republic

We spent a morning in the small town of Sosua (about a 15 minute drive from our resort) at the market. Nicely positioned right along the water so to our one side were the vendors, bars and restaurants and to the other was the breath taking view of the sea. A very nice outlook no matter where you turn!



You can't tell from the picture, but the machete was about 1.5 feet long!


Tired from shopping? Grab a beach chair and enjoy the view!


Very impressive


Enjoying coconut milk - YUMMY!


Tired and ready to go back to the resort

Mia Hat

Sofia loves her "mia" and she loves to play pretend with her whether it's making mia dance, giving food to mia or even using mia as a hat. She will throw it on her head and run around yelling "mia hat" at the top of her lungs and giggling uncontrollably. It's hysterical to watch and I was able to snap a picture of her before she took off running down the hall. My Little Miss Imagination!

Like mommy, like daughter

I've been scanning in some old pictures of my family over the last year or so to better preserve them. It's hysterical some of the ones that I have come across that I will most definitely share at some point - Scott's not going to be too happy with me!

This isn't bragging or anything, but some of my pictures when I was just a few years old look so much like Sofia today that I just had to post them. She has my hair color almost exactly along with my eyes, but I think she still has her daddy's cute round face!

Happy Love Thursday!

I love gerber daisies and especially bright red ones! What a perfect little plant this one is that two of the daisy heads are joined together, ideal sentiment for love.

Hope you're not tired of DR pics just yet!

Our trip was pretty relaxing for us. Aside from the occasional 10-minute walk to the beach or a short 15-minute drive into town for the market, we didn't do really much. Anthony did go dune buggy driving one day with his parents and golfed another afternoon on a "breathtaking course" but that's still fun stuff and relaxing in a sense. I enjoyed sitting by the pool watching Sofia and Anthony playing in the water, sipping my non-alcoholic fruit drinks and doing nothing. No laundry to tend to, no errands to run or places to be, a very nice change of pace for a full week.

Our resort, Coconut Palms


Back from dune buggy riding caked in mud


Lizard in our room...Anthony caught our "friend" with a strainer to set him free


Yummy...my non-alcoholic strawberry daiquiri


The cliffs along the coast in Sosua


Anthony taking in the splendor of the crashing waves on an overcast day


Sharing mommy's banana smoothie and really loving it!


The end to another great day!!!

Random cuteness

Smile for the camera "Cheeeeese!"


"I want camera"

Coloring with Daddy

Sofia has lately been asking to color just about every 5 minutes and it's a nice little past time for her. I love to color, find it very relaxing, and am ecstatic that she's at the age where it can keep her attention for more than 10 minutes.

This evening we were out running errands and I had a burger craving and since we were in the neighborhood, decided to stop into Nifty Fifty's for a quick bite. Rule of thumb has been, what pregnant mommy wants, pregnant mommy gets!

Swimming with Daddy

She obviously wasn't as excited as I was that she was swimming around in the water while being videotaped, but I loved watching her with Anthony in the water. They both had a great time and I'm hoping she's becoming more comfortable in the water so that this summer we will have a little fish on our hands!!!

Up and away hairstyle

Sofia's hair is getting pretty long and I love being able to do some different styles with it. Of course, it's all dependent on whether or not she keeps the clips/bows/ties in her hair for longer than five seconds. She does like having her hair up away from her face and rarely complains when we pull it straight up into a bun. Out of her way AND she looks so adorable in this simple no-frills hairstyle.






She is so cute!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Running around with her Valentine's Day balloon from Nonna Lisa


I caught up to her and she stood still long enough for one decent picture


Sweets for my sweeties on Valentine's Day

Hand-me-downs

When we got married, my parents gave me a ton of my old baby things for us to keep at our house for our future children. Some of my baby clothes Sofia never had the opportunity to wear since I was born in August and she's a March baby. Most of my dolls and stuffed animals are now in her playroom, but the one thing she uses almost every day that used to be mine is my Step-Up-Stool. I don't remember at what age my parents bought me a red stool and Scott a blue stool, but I always remember it being a part of my toys and getting a lot of use out of it.

Now Sofia loves to drag it to the kitchen counters to try and grab things she shouldn't be touching, sitting on it to flip through her books or kneeling beside it to use it as a table. It's still in very good condition, a few little bumps and bruises, slightly discolored from years of use, but there seems to be still plenty of loving that this old stool has yet to be a part of.





Enough with the camera mommy!

Happy Love Thursday

One more way to love chocolate!

Chocolate Chip Bread





Ingredients:

3 cups flour
1 cup sugar
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 egg, beaten
1 1/2 c. milk
2 TBsp. oil
1 tsp. vanilla

Directions:

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Stir in chips.

2. Combine remaining ingredients. Add to dry mixture all at once. Stir just until moistened.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 to 70 minutes in a lightly floured greased pan.

I have been searching for the perfect chocolate chip bread/muffin recipe for some time now and while this one came out very good, the quest is still on. As long as I'm experimenting with chocolate, I will try anything once!

Pool Time

Sofia loves the water and had a great time with the pool at the resort. Whether she was just splashing her feet around or "swimming" around with Anthony she was in a very good mood. She kept asking to go "simming." Too cute!





Drying off on a lounge chair, but really wanting to go back in the water

Day 1 in the Dominican doesn't disappoint

We woke up on our first full day in the Dominican to gray clouds and light showers but that didn't keep us inside! We went for a walk to the beach, which is about 10-minutes on a dirt road through a couple farms. Sofia had fun looking at the horses and cows along the road and the fresh beach air helped us all take a nice long afternoon nap. That evening a small band performed during dinner and came to our table to serenade our little princess.

Grazing horses along our walk





Nonna Maria with a just fallen coconut


After waking from her nap, Sofia decides to make some calls...





Playing dress-up with Nonna Maria's hat


Completely loving the little serenade at dinner that evening