sleeping on mommy

sweet feet

they just keep getting cuter

Abruzzo

Our second week in Italy will be spent in Abruzzo, where Anthony's family is from. We will be seeing his 88-year-old Nonna, Nonna Linda who can't wait to see Sofia and meet Olivia. I just can't wait to arrive...the wait in the airport, 8-hour flight, 6-hour car ride to Puglia will be well worth it all!

Puglia

Just a few pictures from the thousands I have of Puglia, where my mom is from in Italy.

With only a couple days to go, I still have lots to do!!! Of course, it's much more fun to play with a cute 2-year-old and a 2-month-old than it is to pack. Slowly I am making piles of things to take with us and then I will go through those piles once before packing to take out the stuff we don't need to bring. The plan is to take one suitcase for the 4 of us along with one carry-on and then a diaper bag and our backpacks. We'll see how I do!

Playing with Zio Scott

The girls LOVE their Zio Scotty!!

Already asking for the keys...

Playing dress up already

A friend of the family just recently went to Panama to visit family and friends and was kind enough to bring back the girls a gift. Here is Olivia trying out her little Panamanian dress and doesn't she look just adorable?!?

One more week!!!

One week from today we will be leaving for our Italian vacation and I am so looking forward to every second. We will be gone for 2 weeks for Sofia's 3rd trip over and Olivia's 1st trip. I can't wait for our family and friends to see the girls!

It was hard to choose pictures for the collage seeing how I have well over 3,000 pictures from our Italy vacations in just the 5.5 years we have been going since getting married. These were some of the many favorites of special memories!

Little Laundry Helper

Being the adorable 2-year-old that she is, Sofia is getting a lot more curious as the days go by. Whether we witness this by her "why or why not?" after most things we say or wanting to try out everything on her own. My favorite lately is the wanting to help with household chores. Who would think that she would want to help "fold" laundry but she did...sort of anyway. While I folded, she unfolded and put everything back in the basket for me and said "they're dirty mommy." I did manage to get the clean clothes folded and put away while she amused herself with her daddy's clean socks.

It may have taken twice as long to accomplish a little chore but it was so cute to see how involved she wanted to be and the smile on her face when we were finished was priceless! Do you think she'll feel the same way when I try to get her to clean the bathrooms?!?

Olivia's 1st Blog Video

Within the last couple weeks, Olivia has been making some pretty adorable noises. It all started off when she was laying in her cradle kicking her feet and waving her arms around like crazy and then all of a sudden she screeched. The look on her face was so cute and she actually scared herself in the process. Here she is making some other cute sounds! Enjoy!!!

How many chins do you see?

Olivia just had her 8 week appt last week and was so good for the doctor. She weighs 11 lbs and is 24 inches long - what can I say, the girl loves to eat! It was also time for her first vaccine and it was the first time we heard that little cry of pain. Actually, there was nothing little about it - she has got a set of lungs on her! She calmed down as soon as mommy and daddy held her a bit and she knew she was away from the nurse. And after her big sister said "It's ok Olivia." So cute!

My girls

Gelato!

Ok, one more cute video from yesterday...I couldn't resist and I hope you don't mind!

Ciao Nonna Linda

We keep talking about our upcoming trip to Italy with Sofia to get her excited and keep reminding her of the family and friends we're going to be seeing. Each morning, we're still going into the living room to say 'Buon Giorno' to her great-grandmother, Nonna Linda's picture and hopefully this helps to connect the face to the name once we arrive.

Little Diva

Happy Love Thursday!

Our daisies are in full bloom in the yard and looking gorgeous! I love flowers, but these simple daisies really do put a smile on my face.

Creative AND cute

I'm sure I've written before about how much Sofia enjoys being outdoors and playing with just about anything nature related. Lately, she's been a big fan of the herbs I've got growing in the pots on our side patio and she can't get enough of them. She loves picking the rosemary and smelling it, playing with the basil and parsley and this week she has begun "painting" with the mint.

I gave her a couple cups of water and she had a blast dipping the mint in and "painting the patio." As she was being creative, she told me she was drawing mommy and daddy, olivia, an airplane and, of course, Mia.

Free and clean fun for a toddler, what more could a mother ask for?!?

Peeking in on the girls

Anthony, Sofia and I were making dinner in the kitchen when Sofia decided she needed to go get her book. She didn't return after a few minutes and it was very quiet in the other room, so we popped in to check things out and this is what we saw...Sofia talking to a sleeping Olivia! It was adorable! The audio isn't too great, but she was saying hi to her, showing her a toy and just sitting there staring at her. Anthony and I were so excited to see her bonding with her baby sister.

Sofia Mia

My little girl and her mia

Patriotism at its best

A very fun 4th of July

Hope you all had a fantastic 4th of July! Anthony was off on Friday which made for a very nice 3-day weekend for us. It was a nice mix of accomplishing many of the items on our to-do list as well as just relaxing around the house and taking it easy. Saturday evening we did take the girls out to see the fireworks which was a ton of fun. This was the first fireworks show on the 4th for both girls since we didn't take Sofia her first year since she was only 3 months old and last year she was in Italy.

Sofia has been talking about fireworks for weeks now and was beyond excited. She was so good as we drove to the spot and "tail-gated" for over an hour before the show began. We popped open the back of the Pilot and Anthony, Sofia and I set up camp in the back with our drinks (tea and milk) to watch the display. Sofia was fascinated with all the people there and kept asking to see the fireworks. Once the show did start, she sat on my lap for about 20 seconds before she decided she had had enough and wanted to go home. She didn't cry but did ask about 15 times to go home! Anthony and her sat in the back seat for a few minutes together and then she ended up watching the rest of them from the back seat peeking out from under the head rest. It really was too cute!

Waiting for the show to start with Daddy


Watching the fireworks with Mommy


Sound asleep for the entire time!

Put up your dukes

Like most babies, Olivia tends to keep her little hands balled into fists the majority of the time. It's so cute but it looks like she's ready to pounce any minute and hit someone! Every once in awhile when one of us is too close to her face and talking with her, we will get a fist to the face which is hysterical. Only 7 weeks old today and she's already tired of listening to us!

Strike a Pose, there's nothing to it

When she's in the mood, Sofia loves the camera and has little problem with being silly in the pictures. Unfortunately, I'm not taking as many pictures these days but hopefully when I get into the swing of things, I will make up for lost time and capture more of our little girls on camera.

Baa Baa Black Sheep

And when you thought she couldn't get any cuter...