We returned from Georgia Tuesday last week. (Chigger free- that is important.) It was very restful and laid back. So much so that it has taken us five days to get back into our old groove. Here are photos:

Sonja getting to know Hunter dog.

Anna helping Uncle Rob sweep the floor.Wii bowling.

Chess with Aunt Hannah.
Feeding time at the zoo. This was Anna's favorite activity. The iron bars around the stairs comprised her cage. She spent half of our time there in her cage, asking to be fed through the bars.
Corn husking for the first time. DW dog and the look alike aunt and neice.

Warmed up to DW. The girls in Sunday best. =)
The four of us.
Sonja's first corn on the cob and she was a-happy about it.
Anna's first time strawberry picking.
So the girls had a blast there. Things were a little rough the first few days home on account of a drastic drop in the entertainment venue. I simply couldn't fill the void of four aunts, two uncles, two grandparents, two dogs and of course daddy too. But the girls are back to entertaining themselves most of the time so we're functional again.

We're two hours into Georgia roadtrip #2.

Cheers!

The girls are still napping. The new Martha Stewart Living magazine is on the kitchen counter, unread. I would love to sit back on the couch and immerse myself in her other-world but I know the moment I open it, naptime will be over. It just works that way around here. My kids have sensors- beep, beep, mom's not working, beep. Quick! Whine, potty, require, divert her attention to yourself, etc. Sigh...
Chris has a sensor too, if only subconsciously. If I really want him to come home early, I just turn on the computer, prop my feet up, have the girls to dump all the legos out on the living room floor and fight over them. It also helps to have no idea what's for dinner.
Is it just me?

Okay, Sonja's up. She has extra sharp sensors today. I was only thinking of looking through the new pbk catalog...

These three made Mother's Day a wonderful day round here. Sonja decided to start the morning pretty early, but Chris was a good sport about that. I was wakened by an aproned man serving up breakfast. He wouldn't let me post any pictures of him Williams-Sonoma-ed up, but it was cute. Real cute. After church, we had a quick lunch and then we three girls all took naps and Chris did the dishes. We spent the rest of the afternoon in the backyard taking in the gorgeous weather. Chris grilled up an excellent dinner paired with a fantastic wine from a local vineyard. And then he did all those dishes too. A VERY nice day in my book. Lots of sleep, food prepared by someone else, no dishes, sunshine...makes a mom feel real special. =)

And today, we're back to reality. But I'm recharged- I need that every 365th day. I was inspired to get a hot breakfast going this morning so we could all eat together before Chris left for work. That doesn't happen as often as would be nice. I bathed my kids- which also doesn't happen as often as would be nice these summery-playing outside-covered in mulch-days. And THEN, it wasn't even 8:30AM and we drove to a trail near our house and I went for a run with the kids in the jogger. I seriously did. This is so not me and I'm sure I'll be feeling back to normal by tomorrow morning. Until then, I should get as many major house cleaning tasks in while I'm still riding this wave of rechargedness goodness...

Here a couple pics from out back.

Getting a little help up the slide.

Getting cut off and saying "Hey!"

The reason I get up in the morning.

(That's not really a sweet sentiment, it just really is the reason. I wouldn't get up if I didn't hear "I need to go pooooooootty!")

Okay, back to work. Hope everyone's having a good Monday!

Happy Thursday. It's been raining all week here. Lots of random things going on here so here are snippets and pictures.

Last weekend, Chris' bro and sil were in town. They brought a little something for Sonja, and she just couldn't believe it:

On Monday, her big girl carseat arrived and we buckled her blue eyes in.

On Tuesday, I finished painting this growth chart for the girls.

On Wednesday, the girls and I made a quick trip up to Philly to see big Sonja who had this cool chair swing from Mexico. Anna loved it.

We cruised back into MD in time to meet Daddy for Anna's soccer class:
And today is Thursday. Anna had an appt with her eye doc and will be getting bi-focals next week. It wasn't raining when we came out from her appt so we stopped at the park to try out my early Mother's Day present! We had picked up a double jogger from craigslist because, once upon a time, I was athletic and the jogger seemed like the best way to reclaim some of those sarcomeres. Anyway, we just squeezed in a run between cloud bursts, stopped by Dad's work for a high five and scooted home for lunch and naps.

So, those are the random events that made up this week. Sorry for the choppiness...Chris just came home and has those girls out for a walk so this is prime time for dinner starting. More articulate blogging later...

A contracter at Chris' work gave him tickets to Monday night's Orioles game so we packed a million snacks to appease the girls and headed up to Camden Yards. We had some extra tickets so fellow grover Steve and his fiance joined us. Nitrate overload. I had no part in this.

At inning 6, we moved over to an empty-ish area so the girls could run around. We were still in foul ball territory though so Chris and I, okay mostly me, were in hyperactive hyperdrive every crack of the bat. I just wanted to be close enough to get between the ball and my kid's head, you know. And it's not like you have a lot of time to get there. Stressing me out just remembering it. Anyway.

We left during the 8th inning. The O's were losing. It was way late for the girls. We got out to car and realized Anna's pink Oriole monkey, Markakis, was still watching the game...(She had just got him at last week's game and he is her new VERY FAVORITE EVER stuffed animal.) So, Chris took a little jog, returned with the monkey and we went home.

Welcome, summer weather! Welcome warm sunny days, the smell of sunscreen, the salty taste from kissing your sweaty kids, sleeping with your feet sticking out of the covers, the snowball stand...summer, I just plain love you.
To celebrate the wonderful sunshine, we went to the Baltimore Zoo with Chris' parents on Saturday.

Here is a Chinese Alligator and a volunteer who incorrectly thought the language barrier was suitable to keep gator and child apart. Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I liked the fence.

Checking out the giraffes.

Sisters.

Best way to view the kudus (or whatever those African gazelle type things are that are on every single crossword puzzle...)

Lily pad hopping.

Playing Pooh Sticks.

Anna inside an Oriole's nest and a good lookin' Orioles fan.

Tortoise shell.Anna brushing a headless goat. Just kidding. It had a head; just seeing if you were paying attention.
Well, now that I've spent most of the girls' nap posting these pics for you, kindly leave a comment as to what's for dinner this week. Okay, back to my list...enjoy the weather! =)

Got out of the shower to this:I didn't even know she could open the fridge...

This is Birdland.

Chris and Anna at the Orioles' game last night.

They went with Chris' dad and our good friend JT. I stayed home with Sonja, who went to sleep ten minutes after they left, so I had almost 6 hours to myself! I was pretty excited about it for the first hour...then I was ready for them to come home. I'm a people person, I like the people. Or more so, a Chris person. I like my evening hang out time with the man. However, with screen support from Steve McQueen, I left off my couch slumping and put some time into projects.

Anyway, I need to log an update on Sonja:

We had her one-year check up last week. She isn't on the chart for weight. We feed her ice cream every night.

She is walking around a bit, but still crawls everywhere. The most I've counted is five steps in a row. Her first tooth- bottom right- came on tax day. Her second- top left- came three days later. The other five are bulging the seams. She'll have a whole smile by next week.

She says- Hi, Mama, Dada, Anna, All done, Help, GROWL (what does the tiger say?), Duck and quack quack. Her main form of communication though is a series of whines and "Eh" sounds.

She is a mama's girl. On Sundays, I stay with her in the nursery for the sake of everyone.

She is Anna's constant follower and part-time antagonist. They do play well together 75% of the time. The remaining quarter is usually Sonja trying to take everything Anna looks at. Sometimes vice versa.

Yesterday, Easter Sunday, this little girl turned one...

The girls woke up in the morning to surprise Easter baskets. I was even surprised- Chris put them together on the sly. He's the fun parent like that.

Anna sporting the new stuffed animals, bunny slippers, training pants...

After church, we photo documented.












Then the girls went down for naps and we set up for birthday...
Sonja woke up from her nap and saw THIS! And clearly was elated.
Oma and Opa joined us for a sweet little party time.












(My dear cousins, THANKS for the matching water bottle, but silly REI sent it without water in it. I was marginally disgruntled...and threw something of a small fit.)


The fringe benefits of sibling birthdays. After dinner, Sonja was mildly alarmed by the fire on her cake. Going for a handful.

Not happy about the gooeyness and the fact it didn't come off her hand. Such a girly girl...

And finally, with some forced hand to mouth action, she tasted it, and things were alright.

So Happy Birthday Sonja! We think you're great.

(And you are currently calling from your crib...)

I will post more, often, later.