Oh How I love October

what's not to love? scarves, boots, soups, cardigans, pumpkin cookies (let's be honest, anything pumpkin), SOUPs (oh wait, did i already list that one?), leaves, my birthday, AND sofia's birthday. i seriously look forward to this month all year, almost as much as christmas.

so here's some fun things that have been happening throughout this bless-ed month...

GIRLS NIGHT! i live for girls night. wish i had them weekly. ok, i'll admit, wish i had them daily.

these are my gym junkies. i go at 6 am with these crazies and they motivate me to get my baby weight off...

aren't all these ladies so hot? i love having mama friends.

sofia's party was so fun to plan. she has so many little 2 year old buddies and it was so great to see them all dressed up.

my boys...

 what's a party without a pinata? we are so mexican...

 reddick bliss and lucas crane are bound to be besties one day. look at these boys, ladies look out.

grandma queen got sofia this amazing vintage kitchen. sofia has been cooking ever since.

i took this picture when she turned one year. look at this little girl.

so i took the same picture this year. she has grown so much.

i love this little girl. even though her favorite thing right now is to hit other kids (really, it's so embarrassing). i feel like we can't go in public til this phase is over. her favorite word is still "no". oh she is going to be the end of me, but i can't live without her. never want to. happy birthday my sweet little 2 year old. thank you for being such a good little helper, for giving bear hugs to lucas, for taking diapers to the trash for me, for having dance parties with me daily in the kitchen, for being obsessed with the little mermaid, for being able to speak spanish, for saying "hey guys" when you walk in to every room, for saying random "sorrys" to people in public, for popping out from behind the couch and saying "coo coo," for loving your grey boots and wearing them with everything, for pretending to know the lyrics to every song, and for learning so much every single day. i love you every time your heart beats.

mom

Party in the Crane House

over conference weekend, the stephenson clan came from oregon to be with us. 12 people in the crane household. seriously, a party. it was a super quick weekend, but it was enough for sofia to use blake as a punching bag. sorry blake.

i'm surprised that a restaurant let us in. i think they were happy to see us leave (mainly because of sofia). sad that mine was the loudest out of 8.

 
girls night at spark! we are definitely doing this more often. thanksgiving time ladies??

here they are...all 8 of them! can you pick out which one is mine?? blake looks a little like he could be mine :)

ice blocking down rock canyon park!

thanks chad, traci, faith, kayla, paige, carly, blake, and jenna for coming to provo! loved having you.

Always Playing Catch Up

i don't know where the time goes. one minute i'm changing diapers, the next it's 3 weeks later.

my in-laws came in to town to see ash's off broadway play, "persuasion." she was absolutely amazing. seriously, i was so proud of her, like she was my own daughter. anyway, "papa" and "mama" (sofia's version of grandma and grandpa) were so kind to come for a quick weekend to support their daughter. we loved having them stay with us.

no one made her do this. she loves looking through ads, magazines, etc. she was "papa's" perfect morning buddy...

look at this face. seriously, just look at it.

sorry it took me a while to post this, dave and pauline. we loved having you here!

"bye dad"

in the morning, sofia is so used to saying "bye dad." she actually says it randomly, even when jeff isn't leaving. she'll just look at him and say, "bye dad." last week we had to say bye dad for a few days. jeffrey, with a few other grad students, flew to north carolina to present research with a professor at a national conference. he's so cool, isn't he? i'm so proud of him.

anyway, he told me about this conference when i was about 5 months pregnant with lucas. i totally freaked out at the thought of being alone with 2 kids, one of them being as young as lucas, and the other as scary as sofia...and lucas wasn't even born yet! i know, i'm ridiculous. moms do it all the time. so, when the time came for him to leave, i was a mess. all i have to say is that i am soooo glad he's back. and that he not allowed to die while we have young kids. we took this picture of him and lucas right before he left:

dad, please don't ever leave us again.

Go Diego Go

sofia is obsessed with dora the explorer. what's not to like? a little latina with a monkey friend who talks, and travels through jungles, picking berries, and fighting swiper the fox. oh yeah, and she has a backpack that is like a magical genie. man, i want one of those.

anyway, she was psyched when i told her that she has a cousin named diego, just like dora, and he was coming to visit her. she has loved having people her size around. diego and my sister Melody came for a quick visit and we got to spend some one on one time with diego, and we loved every minute of it.

diego needed a bath, and of course, if the water is running and the bathroom door is open...sofia HAS to jump in as well.

these are two really cute, half mexican kiddos. don't you agree?

a nice surprise

i got sick again. mastitis only hits 10% of nursing moms, and i get it 2x in 2 and a half months??! what the what? anyway, my tia mary and all of her kiddos came up for a quick surprise. it was the best, and perfect timing with me getting over my sickness. i wish she could come up every weekend and help me out.

sofia and alec, alec and sofia. it was love at first sight. they were so cute together, and surprisingly played really well. i say "surprisingly" because sofia is at "that age" where sharing is not her favorite thing in the world. can you believe that? a one year old who doesn't share? crazy.

there is also one more picture with them taking a bath together, but jeff really doesn't like those kind of pictures. he thinks they are inappropriate. so i won't post them :)

tia mary spoiled lucas. seriously, he loved being held 24/7.

but who wouldn't want to hold this kid. love him.

tia, if you'd like to surprise me monthly, i'd be ok with that. sofia LOVED it. and i LOVED it. that should be enough.

love you Zelalas.