Sophia - 13 months old

Loving summertime!

Bathing suit and sandals - Baby Gap
Photo taken at this sprinkler park in Lyndhurst, NJ

went to Space Farm Zoo

Today I took my girls to Space Farm Zoo in Sussex, NJ with a close girlfriend of mine. It was about an hour ride to get there through rural NJ and the whole way I was fantasizing about owning a country weekend home.

The Zoo was a quirky mix of wild and farm animals that you could feed animal crackers and what appeared to be corn nuts. They had a great variety of animals for a family run zoo including lions,tigers and bears (oh my! - sorry couldn't resist). But also, kangaroos, ostriches and your usual goats, cows and chickens. We had a great day and I plan to visit annually to see how the place holds up..

Olivia by the stuffed body of Goliath (Largest Bear in the World to date)
Outfit - Crazy 8
Shoes - Baby Gap

Sophia enjoying her ride
Outfit - Gymboree
Stroller - Phil and Ted's

Yours truly next to an impressive taxidermy display
Shirt - Juicy Couture
Shorts - American Eagle Outfitters
Shoes - Anthropologie

What are you up to these last days of summer?

went to the NJ Seafood festival

My family and I took a ride down to Belmar, NJ today for The 24th Annual NJ Seafood festival (our first time going - hope it becomes a family tradition). Belmar is about 1 1/2 away from where we live - yes it's the Jersey Shore but no it's not like that Jersey Shore....

We made this trip rather quick and simple mainly because of the girls - 2 babies under 2 1/2 can be a handful.

We drove down along the scenic route, walked along the shore, stopped to pick up some delicious seafood to eat picnic style (whole lobster, corn on the cob, jumbo catfish sandwich, french fries, fresh lemonade). There were free arts and crafts for the kids, Olivia made a sun visor and played in a bounce castle. Later the girls played in a playground right on the beach and in the sand, a round of Italian ice for everyone and we hit the road back home. I'm a lucky lady as I write this my husband is finishing cooking a lasagna - can't wait to dig into that either

Sophia at the festival

PS - When did this blog become an episode on Food Network....I promise to stop eating so much tomorrow





What did you eat today?

is planning a Dr Seuss themed birthday party!

Although I am in total denial, it's true my baby Sophia is almost turning one....



While I was out yesterday, I came across this box of Dr Seuss stickers for $5.




I bought it and decided almost immediately that I would use them as inspiration for Sophia's first birthday party in July. I'm going to incorporate the stickers into the party favors but beyond that I'm not sure where this party theme will lead me.....


Time to start brainstorming...
Any ideas?









PS - I'm super happy for Lee DeWyze.


I've been rooting for him since back in this post on March 20th. What a super talented cutie!

went to a Tinkerbell Tea Party

Today we went to a cute event at Olivia's dance school, A Tinkerbell Tea Party. They do these parties periodically, we missed the last one which was The Little Mermaid but we made it to the Cinderella one back in this post.

It's always cute to see the girls run around playing dress up, dancing to "Shake Your Sillies Out" and munching on teddy grahams and juice boxes. Ah, to be young again.....

Tinkerbell, Sophia (in red), Olivia (in pink)

Some of the other fairies

Magic circle time

One dad even came dressed as Captain Hook!

I can't wait till Sophia can participate more
but for now she was so content to just chew on this butterfly


I had Olivia wear her Tinkerbell pj's and she was a little under dressed...

Were you in Never Never Land today?

celebrated Earth Day

I took my girls to Anthropologie today for a children's Earth Day activity. My friend and her daughter met up with as well and the girls got to plant their own flower in a customized flower pot at Anthropologie. Olivia really enjoyed filling the pot with dirt and making a hole for the flower. Afterwards, they snacked on organic apple juice and cookies. Later we all walked into town and made a few stops for lunch, Starbucks, frozen yogurt and ultimately wound up at the playground. An all around great day.....

Olivia potting flowers

Sophia watching as Olivia helps pot her flower

Olivia and Sophia

The finished product

Olivia enjoying an "organic oreo"

Olivia at playground


Olivia, Sophia and Jewell

I try to be conscious of my actions and impact on the environment daily. I bring shopping bags to stores, bring my own cup to Starbucks, I reuse gift bags, ask for paper bags when food shopping. I am very big on recycling used clothes and housegoods and make frequent donations to various charities. I believe every little bit does help but also that there is always room for improvement. Iit's good advice to think that every day is earth day....





What did you do for Earth Day?




Until tomorrow,

Sophia - 9 months old

Sophia:
You are 9 months old today. I might have to admit that you aren't a newborn anymore....

I caught you on the first step today, you did that all by yourself!

Your sister's always trying to find a new spot to play with you!

When you're tired you'll sleep anywhere!

I love you!

is seriously reconsidering her caffeine intake!

Sophia shows no signs of not getting up at the crack of dawn anytime soon. She's such a morning person, it's like 2 different babies her morning self compared to her late afternoon self. I have to admit I do enjoy the alone time with her, probably the only moments of the day her sister isn't trying to monopolize.

Here's Sophia ready to rock at 5:57am

This past week I've taken a completely different approach and decided, "if you cant beat them, join them". I have bitten the bullet and decided to fully wake up rather than bring her to the playroom and pretend to sleep on the sofa while she bounces in her "car". I have done things this week that no one should do at 6am, rearrange the attic furniture, fold a load of whites, buy Easter presents online. I've been super productive, even today I'm writing today's blog at 7:07am (which is a good idea since I'm looking forward to a date with Mr tonight).

Overall, I feel good except the burning of my eyes from being so tired. I didn't mention that Olivia, woke up at 11pm and 4am in addition.....

I usually am a big Starbucksnista, I even have a loyalty card with my name printed on it. I live for their Green Tea lemonade with light ice and no sweetener. Yesterday however, I needed an additional mid afternoon iced latte from Dunkin Donuts to make it through. I felt so disloyal....


How do you caffeinate?

Until tomorrow,
Hilary

took Sophia to a RL casting!

I took my youngest daughter, 7 months, into NYC today for a Ralph Lauren Fall 2010 ad campaign casting. Ralph Lauren advertisements are breathtakingly beautiful, such as this one:


That would be such a memorable experience if they choose her. We had a great time today at the casting, it was so cute seeing all the kids dressed up and eager to have their photo taken.


We went to the MILK studio in NYC. The space has a hip industrial feel with it's own cafe.








The view from their studio was amazing!


We waited our turn and they took about 5 "headshots" of Sophia.



Afterwards, we went to Chelsea Market for lunch.

I just love walking around that place. All the food looks delicious. As it should considering it's home to The Food Network and is located in the former Nabisco building.

I bought 6 brownies from The Fat Witch Bakery and sampled 1. I had lunch from The Lobster Place, lobster bisque and a Green River roll (my first time having sushi with brown rice).



This was my idea of a perfect leisurely NYC day.

What's your perfect day?

Until tomorrow,
Hilary

woke up at the crack of dawn!

My 7 month old Sophia's (aka the rooster) inner alarm clock is set to 5:30 - 6:30 am regardless of what time she goes to sleep. This morning she was ready to start her day at 6:37 am(read: ready for me to start our day at 6:37 am).
I bit the bullet and came down to living room. We had refreshments, sippy cup of ice water for her and Mexican hot chocolate for me. We had entertainment, Cadillac bouncy chair for her and MTV videos for me. I'm really digging the visuals of Mariah Carey's "Up out my face" and Jay-Z's "On to the next one". I also caught up on some favorite blogs on my Google Reader.


For those of you not in the NYC area check out some iPhone photos I took this morning:

My enclosed "sun" porch

View from living room window

Unplowed roads

What time did you wake up?


Until tomorrow,
Hilary