Anna's birthday weekend (with many many pictures to appease the GA masses.)

She started off the day with a trip to the farmer's market and Lowes with daddy. They came back with strawberries and rat poison. Only one of which went on the breakfast table. Obviously.
Anyhow, after breakfast, we were off to see Anna's favorite firetruck.





Then onwards to the park!





















Then back in the car to pick up lunch.

Chick-fil-A!

And after a good nap, party time!



































We topped the day off with Anna's favorite spaghetti dinner, a slice of cake, and loads of playtime.


On Sunday evening, we met up with Chris parents at the Cheesecake Factory!

And afterwards, Anna played in the fountain...her very very favorite.



It was a great weekend. Thanks for the cards, gifts and phone calls. Anna feels very special. =)

Next week is poised to be one of the busiest of this year, aside from moving or having baby, as it holds a little girl's birthday, an anniversary, a Raven's NFL game, and a trip to Ohio. So, to gather steam we started this week off with Sonja getting sick. That's sarcasm. Anna's joined her and I'm not going to kid myself that Chris and I will avoid it. We'll probably hold out and get sick smack in the middle of next week. And that's pessimism.

Anyway, little Sonja started out Friday with a tiny bit of congestion in the morning that turned into bronchiolitis by Sunday. We took her to the doc, they set her up with a nebulizer and that cleared up her wheezing. They sent us home with a compressor so we could do the treatments and so far she's only needed it twice. We have a follow up tomorrow morning and hopefully her lungs will still be clear. Meanwhile, Anna's taken a cough and fever so the doc can check her out too. I hate when my kids are sick; my brain gets glazed over.

Other than that, China has way too many golds. It's getting ridiculous.

And one cute thing Anna said today- flipping through her Bible story book she came to Noah and the ark. "That's Iowa. Iowa built New York." Are we over-emphasizing geography?

Since the Olympic Games began, we've been staying up pretty late watching mostly swimming and gymnastics. It's been great to have four hours with Chris each night after the kiddos are asleep, but after a week of short nights the house was not the better for it. So this morning we had an agenda and it wasn't to watch the Redeem Team, (though that still happened).
Having Chris home makes a big difference for me when it comes to chores. I have a hard time staying motivated to get everything done when I get interrupted ten times before I get anything done. I believe this is common among moms. Anyway, Sonja napped most of the morning; Anna tackled her dad and I the laundry.
After the house was done, and Anna's nap forgone...not the best scenerio...we met up with friends at a state park for a bbq. Despite Anna's precarious mood, we all had a lot of fun. I played frisbee for the first time since Anna was born I think. And Anna learned how to blow bubbles by herself. She touched the wand a little too close to her mouth and after several loads of bubble solution, she was spouting bubbles independent of wands. Here are pictures of her bubble ventures:



Check out that headband. She does her own hairstyles when it comes to headbands- "Mama not fix it!"
I love this one: Tennis anyone?


And Sonja too.


That's it for now. Back to NBC.

These nesting dolls were a Christmas present, but with the move they ended up in a drawer and didn't emerge until yesterday. Anna is delighted. She stacks one inside the other, shakes it martini style. She puts all the halves together and makes them chat with each other. She hides the baby one under the other halves so I can guess where it is. We're having fun with these.

And Sonja likes watching too.

I can't believe it, but she's four months old today. Time flies too fast. She's settled into a two nap schedule; no longer a sleep all day infant. She is MOVING PLACES. Scooting herself along with her feet both on her belly and on her back. She stays pretty stationary though so long as Anna is close by. As soon as Anna walks out of the room, Sonja starts scooting. Already insisting on 'coming too' I guess. It's sweet to watch how fascinated she is with Anna.

Speaking of, we just put Anna to bed and when Chris gave her a hug goodnight, she said "Thanks for coming over, Daddy." Well thanks for having him, Anna.

Okay, time to stay up way too late watching Olympics...

Anna usually chats to herself when she's going down for her nap. Right now, I'm hearing "Go USA. Go USA. Go USA..."
What an Olympics fan.

Here are a few pictures of happy Sonja.





Teacher and pupil.




First pre-season game...


Well now, both kiddies are asleep for afternoon naps. I feel giddy when both are sleeping during the daytime, especially if I already have showered and the dishes are done, because I'm free as a bird to putz around...I spend half of their naptime thinking of what to do. I think today I'll turn on Food Network, as long as Guy Fieri isn't on, and get out scrapbook stuff. A little slice of leisure time.=)

Okay bambino is down and Anna is "doing jobs". (I cut little cloths for her to dust with so she's cleaning away.) Rather than using this precious time to take a shower, here I am putting up pictures. This is dedication. Or guilt. It's been a couple weeks since I posted?
So Saturday we split this family up into three states. Dad was in DE for guy time, Anna was here in MD with her grandparents at the county fair, and Sonja and I were hitting up the outlets in PA.
These pictures are from Oma's camera:






This is Anna in the seat that was put out for Sonja with the book that was bought for Daddy and Sonja watching the movie that was put on for Anna.


Sonja rocking out.


We are really encouraging Anna to be productive. First thing in the morning, she's tending to the sis.


Then on to laundry.

And putting away toys, while toting the baby.

Then I have pictures of her making pizza for dinner, but we had to take her shirt off for that process.
And finally, a workout with Dad before bedtime.


That's the line up. Anna says it's time to play with her now.

I came on here to post pictures but the natives are restless. Maybe during naps...