Gotcha, Boccia

Lately...

1. Our house is still home to a princess. Lately she's been Jasmine. She still has to have THIS hooded towel when she is a princess, and my red shoes are her favorite accessories. We have a princess book that talks about all these qualities of a princess; one page says how Jasmine is brave and stands up to the evil Jafar. Well, now Sophie has decided that one of us has to be Aladdin and the other is "the ezhul Jafar." We think it's funny although I prefer to be Aladdin. :)

2. Nathan and Sophie went to the last night of extended summer hours at the zoo. He took a lot of pictures, but this was my favorite.

3. I took Sophie to an open house at My Gym to see what it was like. It was like...lots of parents, lots of kids, lots of noise, and a weird Elmo. :) Sophie went in a ball pit for the first time and it took her awhile to figure out that she could actually move around in there and she didn't have to just sit there crying. She ended up liking it.

4. We had a little family outing to Bradley Fair. Nathan wanted me to see the inside of Cocoa Dolce. Very fancy. In this picture you can see the chocolate that is embellished with edible 24K gold! Everything is handmade in the store and some chocolate seriously looks like artwork! Each little piece is $1.75. Sophie very much enjoyed her sunflower-shaped sample piece of chocolate. Is it bad we didn't actually buy anything? We'd like to someday!

She looked so cute sporting her new hat! I've had so much fun looking through bags and finding all the stuff I got super cheap last fall for her to wear this year. We don't have anyone to get hand-me-downs from right now but at least eventually Talia can use Sophie's stuff. :)5. Last night we went to Nathan's parents' house for a Mexican feast. There was SO MUCH FOOD! It was a little strange to be eating there and not having Italian fare. :) Lots of his relatives were in town and it was fun to spend time with them. Sophie and Olivia were adorable playing together, as usual. Sophie was Jasmine and she was telling Olivia that she was Aladdin and they were going to get married.
Michael (Nathan's brother) and his fiance, Erin, brought their dog, Ember.
6. Last, but not least, baby updates. :) I have felt Talia moving since the 17th week, about two weeks earlier than I felt Sophie. Nathan first felt her about 4 weeks after that, at about the time you could start seeing movement on the outside. So cool! I am 24 weeks today. I think about her all the time, wondering what she will look like and what her little personality will be. We've bought a few things for her and have also been given some clothes already. Look at this sweet little onesie my friend Jen made! Some progress has been made in the basement--most of the ceiling is done. This afternoon we went shopping and picked out paint for the basement (just a neutral color called Pecan Sandie) and for Sophie's new room--two shades of pink (Pink Punch and Mulberry) and also a cute green color (Key Lime) for a bookcase. Nathan is calling it "the watermelon room." :) We got too sad looking at carpet. It is crazy expensive. :( We did enough damage for one day anyway.
And that's it!