Sydney is now talking to us in third person. It's quite funny! She says things like:

"Sydney's hungry"
"Sydney needs a drink"
"Sydney's a little sleepy"

Very cute:)

Mmmm, Yummy!!

So Sweetie and I were driving to drop off some supplements to a friend and we drove by the place where I had to get 3D ultra sounds done when I was pregnant. As we passed the building we had the following conversation:

Me: "Sweetie, thats the place Mommy used to go to get pictures of you when you were in my belly."

She thought about that long and hard and said, "Mommy, I wasn't in your belly. I am right here."

Me: "Yes, before you were born, you were in my belly."

Sweetie: "I was in your belly when I was a baby?"

Me: "Yep, before you were born."

She was quiet for a long time and then in a very anxious voice said:

"Mommy, you mean you ate me and I was in your belly? Mommy, why did you eat me!!"

At this point I was crying I was laughing so hard but had to quickly pull it together and change the story around a little bit so she doesn't go around telling people that I eat her!!!

I get such a kick out of the way a 3 year old mind works...they take everything literally!! Can you imagine the horror she felt when she thought I ate her and she was in my belly!! Poor thing:)

It's been 7 long years today since I last held you Mom. I am so grateful that I can still hear your voice in my head. I can still feel the comfort of your touch. But I so desperately wish I could hold you again.

Up until Friday, I was still putting pullups on Sydney when we left the house and at night time. Starting Sat., we ended that and have only been putting pullups on her at bedtime. She has not had ANY accidents in 4 days!! And we have been doing a lot of errands the last few days!! I am so proud of my sweetie!!

More 1st's!!

Sydney and I have had a busy couple of weeks. Last week she had three babysitters in two days - that's a record for us!! On Friday afternoon, she went over to our neighbors, Sheila's, and spent a couple hours while I went to the doctor. Later that night, I went to a MNO (Moms night out) event at another moms house and Amara came over and babysat Sydney until Greg got home from work. She must have had a great time because the first thing she said to me when I got her out of bed the next morning was, "Mommy, can I go play at Amara's house!" Then on Sat., she went to Aunt Peggy and Uncle Michael's house and played while I went and got my hair done!! She loved it and was exhausted when she got home!! Then, that night, she had her first sleep over at our house! Jace and Addison slept the night while their parents enjoyed a night out! Needless to say, we were all pooped out on Sunday!!

Sydney and Addison having juice in the morning during her 1st sleepover!!

Before I share the rest of the pictures I need to share some of Sydney's words she is using right now:

"Shive" Shy

"Pupcakes" Cupcakes

Oh shoot, I can't remember anymore right now!! I need to start writing this stuff down as she says it!!

Yesterday, we went to the Children's Museum for the 1st time. It was so cute and Sydney had a blast. We took Sheila, our neighbor and friend, with us. I so enjoyed watching Sydney interact with other children as she explored her imagination! She really is such a smart, loving, compassionate child:)

This is a huge jungle gym contraption made totally out of recycled materials. It's HUGE and all enclosed so the kids (and adults) can safely go very high. Sheila and I climbed up it with Sydney and had a very interesting time trying to get back down!!

This is Noodle Forest!! Very cute!

Sydney doing the grocery shopping!! We were in this room for a very long time as she did all of our grocery shopping for the month!!

Here she checking the food out!! Notice the jug of protein powder!! That's my girl!!

I loved watching the kids interact in this environment because they were all so serious! It was so interesting to see how they see us adults as we complete these tasks - because that is what they are doing here - reenacting how they interpret us shopping. Even the foods they were putting in their carts represented how their families eat. It was nice to just sit back and observe for once instead of chasing!!

I LOVE this picture! She is having so much fun here pretending to make her puppet talk and interact with the other puppets. This picture brings me so much joy!

Puppet show!!

Paining the castle!! She LOVES to paint!!

Going through the car wash with a little help from Sheila!

She still struggles with peddling a trike by herself. We really don't have a place for her to practice much because our driveway is so steep and it's way too hot out to ride bike!! She'll get it soon enough!

The textile room has a huge playhouse that the kids can climb in and out of and put soft cushioned furniture in and out. She spent a lot of time in here helping the kids remodel the fort over and over and over. She kept singing the "Teamwork" song from "Wonder Pets"! It was way cute!!

Taking a much needed rest from moving all of the furniture!!

Ziggy looking after Sydney's babies!!

Sydney loves arts and crafts! Here is a mask that she made!!


These were our 4th of July rice crispy bars!!

Ready for some fun in the sun!!!

Being silly with her bear!!

Miss Sydney informed me of how she was going to address me for now on:

"Mom, I am not going to call you Mommy anymore. I am going to call you Mom"!

The "Princess" as spoken!!

Summer Fun

Sydney continues to be the center of attention wherever we are!! She loves to paint and use her markers to draw pictures - mostly smiley faces. I will take picture of one soon and post it. They are very detailed for her age - big head, eyes, ears, nose, mouth, hair, arms, legs!!! Very impressive!! She also loves her playdoh and will stand for 30 minutes playing with it!! She loves to put on her Barbie shoes and hold her pompoms and do shows for us!! She has become a good swimmer and will now jump in the water. Thank God we have our pool out back because it's been so darn hot, there is nothing else to do!! We went to a movie to day, "Despicable Me", it definitely wasn't as good as the Toy Story 3 but it was something different to do in the AC!! She is doing great with potty training!! She wants to be in the bathroom all by herself now! Sometimes she doesn't even tell us she has to go and we will all of a sudden hear the toilet seat bang down and a flush!! She's very independent - and I think she gets that from her Mommy!!
Below are some pictures over the last two weeks. Enjoy...


JoJo is home for the summer and Sydney is loving her playtime with him!! He is so good with his sister:)

We took Sydney to see fireworks for the first time on the 4th of July. We went to Aviano park which is just across the way in another neighborhood. We layed out a blanket int he park with several other families and watched the firework display right above us. It was a beautiful 30 minute display of colors and booms!! Sydney was a little nervous at first but then quickly became captivated by the magic. It was priceless and yes, I cried!!!

Watching the fireworks!

This was before the fireworks - Sydney had so many choices of kids to play with and she decided that playing soccer with the boys was what she wanted to do...great!!

At Aviano park - trying to decide who she wanted to play with.

Summer fun = Popsicles!!

Getting ready to jump in the pool!!