more pictures

Here are some more pictures:

Here's Sophia waiting for Thanksgiving food

Here Sophia is showing a gymnastics move that's supposed to be done on the floor, of course


Sophia's outside on a chilly, windy day drawing with chalk. Any time it's windy she insists on having a hood.

She's riding her bike in the garage since our driveway and road are both too steep.

Stella is so proud of herself for getting into the chair and turning around all by herself.

The difference

Here's a picture of the girls eating dinner last night. They make such a mess with spaghetti, especially Stella since she's just learning to feed herself everything.


Sophia is helping Daddy rake the leaves in our front yard so she can jump in them!

It was actually really cold and windy this day. Sophia LOVED being outside but her face and hands (even with mittens) were freezing before too long.

As you can tell, she loves the leaf pile, even though it's pretty small.

This is Stella after eating Thanksgiving dinner. That outfit was Sophia's at her first Thanksgiving when she was almost 10 months old. I was surprised that Stella fit into it...there have been many, many outfits that I haven't been able to use because their birthdays are opposite seasons.

Sometimes I feel like I could write a whole book every day on all the silly things the girls say and do each day. Today is no exception. I'll give a few glimpses of what happened:



cute scenario #1

Stella screaming in the car.

"Are you ok, sister? Are you ok, Stella? It's ok Stella. It's ok baby girl." This is Sophia trying to console her sister in the cutest voice. She tries to mimic my tone and inflection in her words.

"Mommy, I need to wipe her tears. These sleeves are not long enough to wipe them." She has on short sleeves today considering it is 78 DEGREES here on DECEMBER 10th!

"It's ok Sophia, we have tissues in the car. You don't need to use your sleeve to wipe her tears. That's so nice of you to think of Stella."

"I know it is, Mommy."

"It's ok Stella bella boo, it's ok." Sophia consoles some more. This continues for a good 15 minutes or more on our way to run some errands.



cute scenario #2 (this happened the other night in the car)

"Mom, what's that?" Sophia asked, pointing out the window to a construction site on the side of the highway.

"Well, it looks like they are building a new building there, Sophia."

"No, Mommy. That's a big thing for fishing with a hook to catch the fish!" I burst out laughing because I realized she was talking about a huge crane that was at the construction site. She's right, it does look like a big fishing pole....



cute scenario #3 (only cute when said by a toddler)

"I will put the music on after I stop and get gas, Sophia." I said as we were about to reach a gas station.

"Gas? Gas is what you do from your bum." Only little minds are so innocent.

"Yes, Sophia, but gas is also what you put in a car to make it work. Otherwise, your car will not run."

"Is your car not working good?"

"Well, right now our car is working fine but if I don't put gas in it, it will not work at all once the gas runs out."

"Can I have my blanket, please?" She can switch from one subject to the next so fast that you don't even know what you were talking about before.



I realized today two things. First, it is odd living here and having the weather be 78 degrees today and it's almost the middle of December. We were in short sleeves and sandals and both girls had skirts on with no tights. It just doesn't feel normal when you look around and see Christmas stuff up everywhere. Thursday night will be quite an adjustment as we drive North and run into colder weather by the hour.



The second thing I really realized today is a huge difference in Sophia and Stella's personalities. They have lots of similarities and lots of differences, but this trait is totally opposite in the two of them. Sophia was always a very daring baby. She walked at 10 months and then proceeded to climb on everything and fall often because she still didn't have the balance to do the things she wanted or didn't know how to catch herself. Stella, on the other hand, is extremely cautious. She didn't walk totally on her own all the time until 13 months, but once she started walking with no crawling, she never had any balance issues or falling issues. She made quite sure that she was steady on her feet before ever taking off. She also has a sense about her for getting down from things. She can climb in and out of the rocking chair or on and off the couch with no problem and no help. Of course, I'm still always right there because I think she's so young, but she never has a problem doing it herself. She's most funny when she comes to a small step down (like off a curb) or a threshold (like going out to our garage or front door). The step can be only an inch high and she'll still either want you to hold BOTH of her hands, pick her up, or she'll get down on her hands and knees if there is no wall or door to brace herself. If she's holding the wall or door, she turns sideways and inches her foot forward just a tiny bit at a time until she can feel the ground. If she thinks the step is too big (when she could totally do it if she tried), she will look up at you with this scrunched up face and make a noise like, "hey, come get me." It's so funny! It's crazy how you can have two babies be SO different in one area like they are. She is, however, becoming quite the dare-devil in her high chair. When she's done, she pulls off her bib and stands up! She has just recently started running, so we'll see how that goes, and she's trying her hardest to jump. If you tell her to jump, she squats all the way down and then comes up as if she's going to get off the ground. It's great! I noticed this last week when we were walking in a parking lot. Sophia and I stop and jump over cracks and Stella was trying to do it, too! She was beaming with pride! They're both so silly and certainly keep me on my toes in such different ways! I couldn't ask for girls that are more fun!

Shopping

Sophia put her headband on Stella as was telling her how cute she looked. They are in a big, empty diaper box lined with a blanket. Silly girls...

Sophia asked for a treat after dinner (something she rarely gets) and she is sure to always share with Stella. Sophia is feeding Stella an M&M. Even if she only had two she would share one with Stella without being asked or told.

They were being very silly.

Trying for a Christmas card picture. Stella was waving at me while Drew had the camera.

Also trying for a Christmas card. Sophia happened to be sitting on Stella's hand. Obviously Stella didn't like that but Sophia thought it was quite funny!

Today Sophia and I went out to some stores to get a few things. We had four stops to make and at each store at least one person stopped to comment on how cute Sophia is and how much they like her curls. I don't think I've ever been out to a store with the girls where I haven't gotten at least one comment about them. People are really drawn to kids with curls...I'm sure the girls will really get tired of hearing how much everyone likes them by the time they're in middle school! I'm also sure they'll be asking me to straighten their hair before long...you always want the hair you don't have.



Sophia was walking around the stores today carrying her imaginary chicken. It was cute. And at one of the stores she insisted we needed to buy some donkey food for her donkey. She's got quite the imagination.



The girls played for AN HOUR tonight in a big, empty diaper box. The silliest things can keep them busy! We also tried for over an hour today to get a good Christmas card picture. It was quite an ordeal. We came up with one that is decent but that was after a LOT of work! Stella's got a mind of her own when it comes to posing. She will smile for you if you ask, but only when she feels like it, and it never ends up being at the same time as Sophia. Here's hoping that next year will be a little easier...maybe I can bribe them with something good...

You're just kidding me, right?

So today we realized that Stella is saying mmm mmm for excuse me. It's funny because she can say other things but chooses to just make those sounds for excuse me every time. Sophia is always reminding Stella to say please and thank you and excuse me. One thing I am very proud of as a mom is having a very polite two year old. Sophia very rarely needs to be reminded to say thank you or please and is always so nice about it. For example, she'll be eating dinner and look up at me and say, "Thank you so much for giving me this food, Mommy. That's so nice of you giving me this food." I love having her be so thankful and it makes me know that my hard work is paying off.

There are a few new phrases that Sophia is using repeatedly every day recently. The first is 'you're just kidding me, right?'. It's so funny to hear her say it. She'll ask me a silly question to sort of test me on something, and I'll purposely answer wrong. She'll laugh and say "You're just kidding me, right Mom?" She'll also say "You know why?" to anything she tells us so that she can then give us a detailed explanation for anything she says. Here's an example:

"Mommy, if you use my potty (meaning the toilet in the regular bathroom), you can't use my Dora potty, you know why?" She's talking about the Dora potty seat that fits over the regular toilet.
"Why is that, Sophia?"
"Because, Mommy, if you sit on it the Dora potty will break." I've told her before that that potty seat is special and only for her and when anyone uses that toilet they will move it out of the way.

The last new phrase that comes to mind is 'you know what?'. She says that often throughout the day and then tells us some story or something she wants to do. It's so great to see how the mind of a 2 year old works. You really never know what she's actually going to tell you.

Every once in awhile (more lately) Sophia will be rough with Stella. Well, starting yesterday Stella has decided to fight back! Sophia will knock Stella down or walk by and hit her and then say sorry as soon as she realizes Drew or I saw it. Yesterday, Sophia pushed Stella and Stella hit her back! I couldn't believe it so I started laughing and had to turn away because it really was so funny. I've told Sophia that Stella doesn't like to be pushed but now she'll really understand since Stella is giving her a taste of her own medicine!

Today, at the store, Sophia amended her Santa wish list. It now has two things on it, a Cinderella dress and a hula hoop! We use hula hoops at gymnastics and she loves to jump with them. I'm thankful that she's asking for such cheap gifts! I'm sure this is the only year it'll be so easy to complete her wish list. Next year we'll have two kids that can actually request certain things!

We've got a busy week ahead! Tuesday and Wednesday we have cookie exchange playdates so the girls will get to play with their friends. Thursday night we're leaving for NH right after dinner. I hope the girls fall asleep fast in the car. We're going to try to drive through the night so we can maximize our time visiting. Sophia is SOOOO excited to go to NH and MA. She always talks about everyone who lives so far away and quizzes me on where everyone lives. She knows her town (Easley, South Carolina...you should here her say it!) and Daddy's work (Clemson) and where her friends live. She knows who is in NH and who is in MA and that Nono Alex is in Boston. She also knows that those places are VERY far away. So when we go somewhere about 30 minutes away from our house, she'll say it's a little far away. Hopefully she'll be ok with the 17 hours (that's without stopping) of driving it will take to get to my parents' house! And Sophia will be easier to entertain than Stella. I'm sure we'll here the same cds over and over all the way there! Hopefully the trip will be worth it and we'll have a great time without any drama....

The Beginning

I've never done this blogging thing before, but I figured there is a purpose here, at least for me. I'm going to use this to have a record of silly/funny/cute things my girls do and what's going on in our lives. Once you become a mom, especially a mom of two, your memory is not so good. So, this will serve as a place for me to remember all the fun things that happen to us in the Athans family! And maybe a place for you to once in a while catch a glimpse into the world of Sophia and Stella. My primary motivation for doing this is so that I can remember stories to tell my girls as they continue to grow. I had a friend die just two weeks ago and it taught me that life is too short to forget all the cute little things every single day! She was so young, only 30, with two small girls, and died very suddenly. Those two girls, one who turned 3 last week and one who is just 4 months old, will never know their mommy. That scares me and I think about it every day. I certainly hug my girls a little tighter (if that's possible) and give them even more love.

So, as I write this today, Stella will be 16 months in 4 days and Sophia will be 3 in just two short months! Time has certainly flown with the two of them. Stella is learning lots of new words and things from Sophia. Sophia is expanding her already huge vocabulary and saying the cutest things. Just last night we were eating dinner and she looked at me and said "I love you. You're my best Mommy." I thought it was so funny because I tell her all the time that she and Stella are my best girls. Then, last night in the car after going to buy her some new shoes (her feet are growing so fast!), she said "Stella, I love you. Guys (referring to me and Drew), I love you." It was the cutest voice and tone....it was just so sweet. It was past her bedtime and we were driving home. She kept telling us she was just going to take a short little nap in the car but needed to look for Christmas decorations first. I swear you could sit and just listen to her talk all day long and you would not get bored. She's full of great stories! Every night before bed she has me tell her two stories while we rock in the rocking chair. Her favorites at the moment are gymnastics and the zoo. The zoo story is every detail about the last time we went to the Greenville Zoo. If I leave out even one tiny part, she corrects me. The gymnastics story changes each week after we've been to our gymnastics class. I tell a story about every single thing that happened at gymnastics, and if I forget something, Sophia definitely lets me know. She will only let me put her to bed most nights because she says "Daddy doesn't know the stories." It's not his fault, of course, but I'm home with her so I know the things that happen. Every once in awhile I can convince her to have Drew put her to bed because he does know a few stories. He knows the story of The Wiggles (we went a few weeks ago!), the apple orchard, and now the horse farm we went to last weekend. Sophia rode on a horse for the first time!!! I think she had a smile on her face the ENTIRE time! Santa was there but Sophia refused to sit with him. She does have one thing she keeps asking for from Santa. Good thing it's something I had already bought her for Christmas. She wants Santa to bring her a Cinderella dress, and for Stella she wants Santa to bring a Sleeping Beauty dress. She's very into playing dress-up at the moment, and totally into princesses.

Sophia has a new trick - hanging like a monkey from the side of her crib. Each day when I go get her from her nap she insists on showing me how she does it. It would only take one slip for her to fall and get hurt. We are switching her to a toddler bed for Christmas. She is SOOOO excited to get a big girl bed! She's requested a purple blanket, so I'm going to make her a quilt, and she wants Stella to have a pink one. She's always thinking of her sister, too! I'm going to get her some princess accessories for her room so we can decorate and make it a big deal. I hope the transition goes well. It'll be so different for me to have her not be in a crib anymore. It will obviously give her a lot more independence in her room. She's recently learned to reach the light switch so I envision her staying up late looking at books when she's supposed to be napping or sleeping! I hope bedtime goes smoothly once we make the switch.

Stella is a little character. She knows exactly what she wants and how she's going to get it. Just yesterday she climbed up on the couch and sat there like a big girl. Then, she stood at the end of the couch and got some toys from our toy rack to play with on the couch. She could not reach the toys from the floor, so she found another way! She's now saying "more please" and "thank you" during mealtimes. She says "night-night" when we put her down for bed. Of course, she's got her own silly language, too. And Sophia talks to her all the time. Stella's most favorite thing is going outside. I take her out with me to get the mail and when we come back in she gets quite upset. Yesterday we kicked a ball around in the backyard for a long time and she was still mad when we went inside. Today we went to Chick Fil A for a toddler story and craft time and then played on the climbing structure outside. Stella's still too small for part of it and gets so mad when I move her away. She wants to keep up with Sophia and the other kids so much. She LOVES the park, especially the one at the zoo. She also loves the play area at the mall. She brings me books to read her every morning before breakfast. Periodically throughout the day she brings me her shoes because she wants to go outside. If I tell her we're going outside, she goes to get her shoes and walks to me, turns around, and sits down on my lap or at my feet so I can put her shoes on. It's sooo cute! She's growing too fast! She's also becoming so independent about feeding herself.

Both my girls have made a GREAT group of friends since moving here to South Carolina. We have playdates at least 2 or 3 times a week. It keeps us all so busy. There are so many family things to do around here. We belong to three moms groups in the area and do some great activities. It's so funny for me to think how busy the social lives of a one and two year old can be. I have made some fantastic friends here and will really miss them if Drew gets a job up in the New England area. Especially at this time of year, I'm so thankful for the friends our family has made here. We try our hardest to make our girls feel loved every moment of every day and to surround ourselves with great people! The first four months here in SC were VERY challenging, but we've definitely adjusted well now. We certainly miss our families but it helps to have so much to do here and so many great people around.

Now that I've written so many random things, the rest of this blog will be for daily/weekly updates on silly or cute things. Hope you enjoy!