Nothing like sister love.....

I truly would have been happy with whatever sex of baby we got as long as it was healthy but deep down I am so glad Sophia has a baby sister. I am also so happy they are so close in age. Our days are busy and there are times I want to pull my hair out but when I see these two girls together it makes it all worth it.

Elise idolizes her sister and Sophia bends over backwards to keep her sister smiling. It is so cute to watch them interact now. Elise stares at Sophia and as soon as they make eye contact her whole face lights up and she squeals. Today Elly was in her exercauser and started to fuss. I was busy in the kitchen saying "just a second Elly I am coming" when the fussing turned in to giggles. Sophia was standing in front of Elly dancing to entertain her. She was saying "watch this Elly Boo", "it's okay honey", "shh shh shh Sia is here". It is so sweet.

Each morning they lay in our bed together to watch Dora and Sophia holds Elly's hand. 9 times out of 10 Elise falls asleep snuggled with her sister.

I am very close to my sisters and couldn't imagine my life without them. We have a real special closeness that I think sisters just have. I am so thankful my girls will grow up with that unbreakable bond.

Miss Elly Bean :)

Ohhhhhhh my sweet little Elly Bean.

I love her to bits but she sure is giving me a run for my money!!!

Elly is almost 5 months old and can often be found in her Mommy's arms with big ol' smiles on her face.......or........not in her Mommy's arms with HUGE crocodile tears and a frown on her face.

Elise is VERY attached to me and depending on the time of the day she will be thoroughly annoyed if anyone even makes eye contact with her from across the room. During the day Elise is quite happy. She squeals and giggles, plays in the exercauser, rolls over from back to front and front to back, or will just spend time lying with Sophia and me telling baby stories. She lets her Daddy hold her during the day but as soon as 5 pm hits Elly turns in to another baby. She fusses, screams, wiggles, yells, smiles, yells, smiles, screams, ect. She has to pretty much be attached to me until I put her down to bed and then there is some peace and quiet in the house.

She has also went from sleeping 8-9 hour stretches to 2-3 hour stretches. It is slowly sucking the life out of me but I know this stage will pass.

I love love love love Elise and would do it all over again in a heart beat. She is a beautiful little baby and it is kind of a nice feeling knowing she 100% adores her Mommy. It is pretty nice being somebody's ultimate favorite person :)

My big 2 year old girl....

My big girl Sophia is a busy girl but so much fun!

Sophia is just over two now and growing up way too quickly for us. She is pretty much potty trained except for night time pull-ups. We have had about 9 days in a row of no nap time wettings and 3 days of no pull-ups at nap. Fingers crossed it continues.

Sophia is a very good big sister and proudly shows Elise off to anyone with eyes. She announces "my baby sister Elise" to everyone. When Elly cries, Sophia is the first to get to her and will stroke her head, put her soo soo in and say "shh shh shh Elise, Sia is here". My heart seriously melts.

Sophia is also VERY busy, in to everything and very independent. She loves dressing and undressing herself so much that I now have to give her a choice between two outfits each morning and then shut her door to keep her away from her clothes. Everything is "I do it my myself"!

She prefers to walk everywhere we go, goes on every piece of playground equipment with no fear, snaps herself in to her car seat and is really in to 'helping' change diapers on Elise and make dinner with Mommy.

She LOVES Dora the Explorer these days and when I try to get something from her she will put her arm out and say "no swiping no swiping no swiping..... Awwww Man"! I have to laugh.

Although it can make for looooooooong days I really am enjoying this age. Sophia says the funniest things, keeps us very active and makes me smile almost 24 hours a day.

Her latest 'make my heart melt' thing: At nap time and bed time or on the phone she will say "I love you thiiiiiiiiis much" (arms spread as wide as they will go). Then she will look me in the eyes and say "That's a lot of love". Man oh man.