veggies

Time to eat...first time trying veggies

I did some research to find out what is recommended as far as starting solids and it seems that most people recommend starting with rice cereal, then adding veggies, then fruits one month after starting veggies. So even though we are so excited for them to try something sweet we are going to hold off and start with the veggies...hopefully this will trick them into liking their vegetables later in life ;)

Anyway, I accidentally started with stage 2 veggies, not realizing that stage 1 veggies are important to start with so you don't have problems with allgergies or spices - woops! Sophia really enjoyed the stage 2 sweet potatoes and didn't seem to have any issues so I guess we are okay. Isabella did not enjoy the potatoes but she did okay with the squash we tried today.

I can't wait to post more pictures of them eating - it is quite a sight! We usually put them in their bumbo seats and feed them at the same time. So what ends up happening is they get cereal and veggies all over their faces, then they stick their hands in their mouth or in their sisters mouth and that's when the food really starts flying around. I never thought it would be this messy! Good thing it is also fun for us so we don't mind cleaning up the mess :) But we can basically plan on having to change their entire outfit (even the socks) after eating solids.

6 months old!

The girls are 6 months old today....how time flies!

Monster Bash

Everyone had a great time at our halloween party last night. The costumes were all amazing so it was pretty hard to pick someone to vote for the best costume!

The Cat in the Hat (Jolene) won second place and the Oompa Loompa (Terri) won first place. They were both homemade costumes and very cute. James and I were vampires and the girls were asleep before the party started :)


We had lots of great food...burritos, rice, beans, chili rellanos and a kitty litter cake. Both of our moms helped us out so much with the food and the punch. Terri also brought sherbert punch and Mirinda helped out with an appetizer as well - thanks everybody for all of the help!!

Anthony made an ass of himself as a half-naked hospital patient and Mirinda was his nurse. Too funny!

My dad was Indiana Jones and my mom was Marion, his girlfriend.

Dracula with the witch from Sleeping Beauty (his mom) and Emily an adorable witch.

We have lots more pictures, too many to put in this post so please click on the Monster Bash Slideshow link (top right corner of the blog) to see everybody's costumes. Hmmmmm.....with all of competition you better start planning for next years costume now if you want to win the prize!

Rice Cereal

We gave the girls rice cereal with a spoon for the first time yesterday...














Sophia picked it up right away and seems to looooove eating with a spoon. She opens her mouth when she sees the spoon coming and even makes a lip-smacking sound when she is finished...so cute!















Isabella on the other hand, does not seem to like it. She makes a funny cranky face and spits most of it back out. I think we will give her a break for a few days and try again later :)


We made another trip to the pumpkin patch this past weekend, this time with Carrie, Christian and adorable Pete (Isabella's boyfriend). Here are some pictures...

We have a tooth

Apparently Sophia has been teething the last week or so....her behavior is all starting to make sense now that we see a spot of white poking through. Yay for the first tooth - way to go Sophie!!

Another fabulous milestone this week - Sophia is finally sleeping through the night! Isabella has been doing this since she was around 8 weeks old (we literally do not hear a peep from her from 7pm to 7am) but Sophia gets lonely and enjoys palling around with her daddy in the wee hours of the night. We had to have her cry it out for an hour or so a few nights ago and ever since then she has been happy in her crib alone all night. It is funny how she moves so much in her sleep (just like she did in my belly!) she lies on her side and turns in circles all night long - every time we look at the monitor she is moving around! Isabella acts like she is super-glued to the mattress, she does not move one inch all night.

The funny thing is...James still wakes up at 4am and goes in to hold Sohia because he misses their time together!

Monster Bash and Zoo Trip

James and I started our planning for our annual Halloween Spooktacular this weekend! I sent out the invitations last week and we picked out our (top secret) costumes over the weekend. Now it is time to start decorating the house and picking out the menu. Last year the mexican food went over really well so I think we will do that again. One thing is for sure - it's going to be a great night - we are getting excited!

We had a ladies day outing to the Denver Zoo on Sunday and guess what...I forgot the camera! Oh well, the girls and I went with my friends from work Lee and Priscilla, and Priscilla's neices and her sister (8 girls all together). It was tons of fun. We saw almost all of the animals and it was a georgous fall day - with weather in the 70's, the sun shining and autumn leaves turning gold and falling on the walkway. What a blast! I am very excited to take the girls to the other fun things we have in Denver such as the Children's museum, the aquarium and the natural history museum. I guess I am going to have to learn somehow about all of the things around here to take the kids to - we don't want to miss anything!

Smiles

The girls are smiling so much more everyday, we are really enjoying this time with them. Lots of laughing, smiling and cooing - what could be better? Funny how they continue to change personalities back and forth on us. Isabella used to be nicknamed "fusspot" and "crabby patty" (not good nicknames for a baby!) and lately she is the happiest baby ever - she hardly stops smiling and laughing. She just looks at you and waits for you to make eye contact so she can smile - so sweet. Sophia on the other hand used to be our little angel. She never cried or fussed as a newborn. Now we have our hands full with little Sophie! She is our resident crabby patty these days...but we still get lots of beautiful smiles in between the fussing! I guess we will never know who is going to be the good baby for the day!

These are pictures of the first time Sophia smiled and cood at Isabella. She was really happy to see her sister!
This is Isabella with her beautiful smile! Hard to capture on camera since every time she sees the camera she gets a funny look on her face - like total shock

Viva Las Vegas

We just returned from 3 nights in fabulous Las Vegas....What a crazy place! As the time grew closer for us to leave we were very worried about being away from the girls...but it turns out we had an amazing time and very much enjoyed our vacation alone so we could reconnect and take a break from all of the events that left us housebound throughout the last year or so. Mimi and Papa had the girls for 4 days while we were gone and it sounds like they had a great time! Though I did hear several times after we returned "they really keep you busy don't they!" We are so thankful that we have mimi and papa to help us out so we can get away.

We stayed in the MGM Signature - which was very nice condo within 10 minutes walking to the Strip. The highlights of our trip included an evening performance of the Phantom of the Opera, which was incredible! We also had a romantic dinner at Olives which is outside on a balcony right next to the Bellagio fountains and with a beautiful view of the Eiffel Tower....perfect!

Of course we tried our hand at blackjack and some slot machines and did not walk away any richer. All in all we had a great vacation but decided our next trip is going to include the girls and probably involve a sandy beach :)

Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we took the girls to a pumpkin patch just north of Longmont. They had a big pumpkin field, a petting zoo, horse rides, carnival rides and even a corn maze! We went to take pictures of the girls and show them off in their halloween costumes and we ended up having a great time. Isabella was in a really good mood and being so adorable. Sophia was a little peeved that we woke her up mid-nap to take pictures. So we had a happy cat and a grumpy pumpkin on our hands :)

Isabella (black cat) and Sophia (pumpkin)

Isabella in a pumkin carriage

Our family

The girls in the pumpkin patch

Fall is here

James and Isabella ready for kickoff
James and Sophia watching the broncos



First time in the side-by-side stroller with Proud Daddy!

Sara with Sophia and James with Isabella

James at the top of the pass - beautiful view of Mt. Evans

It was a little early to see much color - but here is one pretty area we saw along the way

Fall is finally here and we are trying to enjoy every minute. We took the girls to Georgetown a few weeks ago, then went over Guanella Pass to see the color change. The weather was beautiful and we had so much fun showing them off. Can't wait for next year when they are older and we can stop at the lake to take them fishing and for a picnic! James has also been very excited that the bronco season has officially started and is enjoying watching the games every Sunday. We have little broncos cheerleader outfits for the girls and they love watching the game with their daddy.

Looking Back

Sunday, August 31st 2008 at Spirit of Christ Catholic Church the girls were baptized. It was a beautiful ceremony with many of our close friends and family there to witness. Sophia wore a baptism dress that has been in Sara's family for 100 years, carrying on a beautiful tradition. Isabella wore the same dress her cousin Emily wore on her baptism day almost 5 years ago, starting a new Sandoval family tradition.

The children stirred the water in the baptismal font before the girls were baptized, then there was blessing of the mother and the father. After they were baptized each child had a godparent light a candle in their name. The whole ceremony was very emotional and beautiful, and as you can imagine I cried the whole time!

The girls are so lucky to have JoAnne, Kent and Dianna as godparents!

After the baptism we had a BBQ at our house. Mimi made a special baptism cake for the girls and also brought our favorite Spring Fling. The food was catered by Famous Dave's - yum! Sophia enjoyed every minute -she loves to be passed around and entertained by people. Isabella on the other hand, enjoys the comfort and quiet of her swing. She was not in a social mood after all of the activity that morning. We had so much fun spending time with our dear friends and family - what an amazing day!

On vacation in Paris (May 2007)