The Ruder the Better: Busy Days...

I can't believe I've neglected our blog for so long. But I have a good excuse, we've been traveling and living life to the fullest lately which means we are way to busy for blogging :) We also found out that we are expecting TWIN BOYS to join our family late this summer! The weekend of Sofia's birthday we welcomed Tim's parents into town for her birthday party. It was a small group because SCO's spring break started the day before her party and most of our friends left town. Even though it was a small group for the party, I think it worked out well because she didn't have any stranger anxiety and we had an excellent first birthday party. I decided to plan her party around the book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar". This is the book that Tim read to Sofia almost every day while she was in my belly. We still read it all the time now, Sofia loves flipping through the pages. The theme was also appropriate because we have a very hungry caterpillar on our hands, our sweetie is in the upper 90th percentiles for both height and weight. We have one healthy little girl! We were blessed with beautiful weather for her party and here are some of the highlights from the weekend.

Most of the food from the story...notice we are missing one plum (there is an avocado in it's place) You can ask Tim's mom about the missing plum :)

The caterpillar cake! I found some designs online and I was quite proud of the final product. I am not a very artistic person and I was very pleased with how the cake turned out.

Family picture, you may even be able to see my baby bump...

Sofia was fascinated by her cake, Tim brought her close to blow out the candles and she actually stuck her hand in the flame. Thankfully, no injuries were suffered.

First taste of sugar and frosting.


She had a lot of fun digging in the cake but ate very little of the actual cake.

A few days after Sofia's party we took a family trip to Florida. With the boys on the way we wanted to have a special family trip with Sofia before things get wild. With such a busy year we all needed some fun, sun and relaxation on the beach. We were lucky enough to be able to stay with Tim's Aunt Peg and Uncle Russ who spoiled us all rotten. We even got to spend a few days with Tim's cousins who came in from Orlando to see us and let all of our kids spend time together. I think Sofia was meant to live in a warm climate on the ocean. She absolutely loved the beach. She just sat in the sand, sometimes in the shallow water and played with a bucket and shovel. She was as happy as can be splashing around in the water. Here are some pictures from the trip, actually a lot of pictures. It's hard to choose when there are so many from a great trip.

Sofia loved being able to swing in the sun. This swing was tied to a very high tree which made it a ton of fun for Sofia. I think she is definitely a little thrill-seeker like her parents.

I love this picture, Tim is giving Sofia a pep talk to walk into the pool. She hadn't been swimming since September.

As soon as she got in she was all smiles, Sofia LOVES swimming, bath time, anything associated with water.

LOVE them!

Wading in the water.

Tim built a sand castle and put Sofia in the middle. She was not pleased and quickly broke out.

This was one of those vacations where I get so caught up taking pictures I hardly get any pictures with me in them, here is one Tim took from one of our days at the beach.

Our happy girl playing in the water.

Family picture


Is there anything cuter than baby thighs/legs? I love her determined look while she walks.

Finally, a few days after we returned home from Florida we left for Baton Rouge, LA. My sweet husband was an angel and drove from 3am-7am while I slept and I drove the rest of the way. We didn't want to spend money on a hotel the night before the conference and driving at this time of day works best for Sofia. Baton Rouge was hosting the 2011 SCOLT Conference for foreign language teachers and I presented at the conference. We made a quick stop in Baton Rouge so I could present and then we decided to spend a night in New Orleans since we were so close and have never been there before and have no plans to return to that area of the country. We enjoyed waking around the French Quarter, Bourbon Street and along the water. The city was nice and definitely had some great food.