Buon Compleanno Sofia Vincenza!

Our first born and well over thousands of pictures and how to come up with just a handful for a collage, it's too difficult to pick from the many my favorite. So, I made a collage and then found many more that I loved too...

The girl that made us parents...8:11pm on Thursday, March 29, 2007. What a night and what an amazing 9 years we have had growing with this girl who would later become a big sister twice around.

Adorable...

Sweet...

Funny...

Thoughtful...

A lover of nature...

A fashionista...

A great hugger...

A really great girl. Who is now 9 and onto her last year as a single digit age. I know I make everything sentimental but how did this tiny little baby suddenly become this little lady?! 

In celebration of someone's upcoming 9th birthday...

la citta eterna

Of course there are more Italy pictures to post from this past summer. Beginning prep for this coming summer trip and I still haven't gotten all of last year's trip posted. One of these days...

How about today? Well, some from our final days in Italy in one of the amazing cities, Roma! I love Rome so much and it had been too long since our last visit...when we were pregnant with Sofia!!! Yikes! But it was so wonderful to be able to take all 3 with us on this trip for their first visit and they really enjoyed it a lot and asked to go back too. That's a plus considering all the walking we did and how hot it was at the time of our visit. Thank goodness for gelato bribes!

Of course Rome would have a restaurant named for our son

Vittorio Emanuelle or informally called the wedding cake monument

My little model posing in front of a very cool building near our apartment.

I spy a little boy walking through the street in front of the Colosseum.

Walking all afternoon and now resting on the statue in Campo di Fiori taking it all in, love those girls.

Castel Sant'Angelo

Love turning the corner from Castel Sant' Angelo and seeing this view..

Waiting in a long line to get in the Vatican, totally worth the wait.

Note to self when getting family pictures in amazing spots, check the picture before leaving the site to make sure you like it. It's ok, we got a family picture inside but this one makes me laugh.

Stay tuned for more from our Roma trip!!!

Torre di Palme, Marche

studying by candlelight

We lost electricity not too long ago and this little girl had some studying to do for a test. I thought it was too sweet of an image to not capture. AND she made those flash cards up all on her own. AND she got a perfect score on the test.
Brava Sofia Mia!

A favorite toy for toddlers...and older ages too!

One of my favorite things are toys that all 3 of my kids can play with happily for a good deal of time. Having an 8, 6 and 2 year old can cause this to be a little difficult but not with playmobil. It is honestly the gift that keeps on giving...especially for some guaranteed good playing with for your child(ren). The few sets we own are part of the 1-2-3 line since I'm still nervous about my little man putting things in his mouth, but I think we're going to be moving out of this stage soon and am excited to get the kids new sets. Something to set out in their Easter baskets!

Have a toddler to shop for and want to get them something that they will play with for longer than 5 minutes? Consider playmobil and I dare you to try and not sit with your kid while they're playing. It's fun for adults too!