The Cramer Family

Connor's a Cutie

2010-11-29T22:07:00.002-06:00

Connor constantly amazes me each and every day. Since he's turned two, he has really turned into his own little person and is absolutely terrific. David and I love listening to him, watching him and interacting with him! When baby Chloe arrived, he was sweet but wary of her. He preferred to be on the heels of Sophie, but would constantly talk about Baby "Co-lee". It is so cute to hear his little voice say her name as he's learning how to make the "CHL" sound!

As Connor processes EVERYTHING and repeats it back to us, it's so impressive to see our little boy of just 2 1/2 know so much. David is in New York (Long Island, to be specific) this week. As I was spending some 1x1 time with Connor before I put him down for the night, he mentioned "Daddy is at New Work". Well, of course he is in New Work! Didn't I just tell Connor Daddy took the airline to go on a trip to work?

Had to write these cute stories down as time will pass and I'll forget!

Sleeping Beauties

2008-11-08T23:35:00.004-06:00

I had to capture the moment of Sophie's first sleepover guest in her room! We've had so many friends and family visit, but this is the first time Sophie has slept with a friend in her bed! After reading books, lots of giggles and a couple of empty threats, they went to sleep like peaceful princesses!

I'm so glad Sophie & Savannah get along!

Visit with Santa

2008-11-08T17:13:00.008-06:00

This weekend we are having our friend Rod and his little girl, Savannah, stay with us as he plays in a state tennis match! We've been excited all week for the "big visit". Sophie has been having a ball -- with her first sleepover in her room and non-stop play time with her friend! I surprised the girls today with their first visit with Santa for the holiday season. Let me just say, it's been fun for me to match outfits on my two precious children... so I've got to get the most out of it!

Connor was peacefully sleeping in Santa's lap at first. When he finally woke up, he just stared and stared. Then, Santa actually got him to laugh with funny faces.

I was interested to hear what Sophie had to say to the man in red. When Santa asked what she wants for Christmas... Sophie told him she wants a rainbow bear and a rainbow pony (the exact same thing Savannah had told him, too!) Those two peas in a pod!

Twinkies

2008-11-07T09:58:00.000-06:00

I picked up crocheted headbands for the girls - Sophie wanted to get purplicious for herself and pinkalicious for Savannah. They are adorable in their matching smiles and hairstyles!

Super Soccer Kicks

2008-09-20T13:37:00.014-05:00

Today was a monumental day! The start of what will probably be weekends full of team activities and shuffling kids around. Sophie had her first "Kinder Soccer" game. Last week, I took her to a soccer store where we proceeded to load up on all the soccer paraphernalia... she chose her own pink shin guards, pink & black soccer cleats, a water bottle, cute Adidas soccer shorts and her very own purple soccer ball! Of course, being a mommy, the reason I was excited about soccer was to dress her up and look "cute" in her little outfit!

This morning, Sophie was so proud to put everything on and she even let me fix her hair! She was cracking me up in the car as she said she needed "an energy Cliff Bar to play". We even listened to Dora's soccer song to get ready for the FIRST BIG GAME

It was utter chaos and comical to see all these little 3-4 year olds on her team clueless! I must say we were all pretty scared when we saw our opponents... a team of 5 year boys with only one little girl!

I know all parents are proud of their children, but David and I were super proud with our tough little girl. Most of the kids on her team were crying, running off the field or refusing to play, Sophie kept going out and was one of only a few who kept volunteering to go kick the ball to start a new session after the other team scored. And, she was actually running after the ball during play and not just standing there! At half time, I went to tell her I was so proud of how well she was doing. Her response was "Mommy, I knocked a boy down"! All afternoon she has still been talking about that incident! She had fun and we might have a future Mia Hamm on our hands!

Fortunately, deep in the fourth quarter we scored one goal. Even the opposing team parents were clapping. There is no scoring in this league, so I'm not sure what the score would have been... maybe 10-1? I can't wait for next Saturday as I know our little girls & boys on the team will grow with this sport and we'll all have fun!

Daddy and Mommy with the soccer superstar:

Sophie posing before the game - Daddy showed her how to prop her foot on the ball:

One of many future action shots! Look at Sophie go!

Had to post this picture so everyone could see Sophie was getting in the mix with the opposing team's 5 year old boys. She was the closest "blue team" player to the soccer ball! Way to go, Sophie!

We will keep everyone posted on how the season goes!

Bluebonnets in Texas

2008-04-19T21:50:00.001-05:00

I just love living in Texas in the spring! While Connor and Sophie are still young, I will plan on taking pictures in the bluebonnets. Our family went to a "bluebonnet bash" with children activities. Hard to believe we're a family of four now! Before we got started playing at the jump house, seeing the clowns and eating yummy food, we were fortunate to have a photographer at the bash take some fantastic pictures of Sophie and as well as all of us. There weren't that many bluebonnets this year, but we got a couple of good pictures in front of the wildflowers in general.

Connor is less than 3 weeks old! Our sweet little boy is amazing... we can take him anywhere and he's a perfect doll.

YMCA Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-21T22:38:00.003-05:00

For my Junior League placement this year, I get to do various community service projects ranging from delivering meals to the homeless to taking underprivileged kids to Fiesta Texas. This month, one of my volunteering shifts was to support the YMCA in their Annual Egg Hunt. I was pumped - what better way to help the community than being able to take my daughter with me? Sophie experienced her first egg hunt of the year. She also got a free shirt from the event.... love the dress!

Sophie "got" the egg hunt process... run as fast as you can, pick up the eggs, and put them in your Easter basket. When you've gotten them all, you can sit down and open them and hopefully find candy! I just love watching Sophie grow into a little person with ideas and opinions. She just insisted she only pick up pink eggs. So, Sophie is running by/ignoring a ton of eggs because they weren't the right color! Kids are just so funny!

Pottery Barn Playground

2008-03-15T22:27:00.000-05:00

I took Sophie to the mall to get her annual picture taken with the Easter Bunny. I've been so proud of my little girl as she's never been scared of Santa and has been talking about the Bunny non-stop this season. So, imagine my shock when she was too scared to sit on the Easter Bunny's lap! After a lot of cajoling and bribing, we did manage to get one of the pseudo-professional pictures of her standing next to him! Why do we as parents insist we torture our children just for a "cute picture"? I know I do it, yet I cannot stop! As a reward for Sophie's bravado, I let her run wild in Pottery Barn Kids.

Here's my adorable princess, dressed in her Easter dress... with the added flair of the tiara and wand, of course!

Perfect Day to Fly a Kite...

2008-03-15T21:44:00.011-05:00

Well, I'm 37 weeks pregnant and already past the point in this pregnancy of when I delivered Sophie last time around. As I'm just waiting for the "big day" to happen, we decided to go to Zilker Park, enjoy the gorgeous weather and have Sophie burn some energy. What better way to do that than flying a kite? I had found a cute Macaw at my last trip to Costco, so we were set!

I just love watching David interact with Sophie. He is so wonderful with her... warm, patient and just a barrel of fun. She just adores her daddy - there's no denying she's a Daddy's Girl all the way through!

Check out my hot husband with the stylin' Fu Manchu. If I must say so myself, David looks pretty good all things considering the 1970's 'stache. He pulled it off.

Kristin and Ethan joined us for our perfect Saturday morning, too! It was too fun watching the kiddos try to copy us get the kite in the air.

Sliding Sensations

2008-03-09T22:40:00.002-05:00

Central Market is awesome. Love the playground, love the open grassy field and pond to fed the ducks, and love that you can eat lunch there as well. We met Ethan for a few hours of wearing the kids out. These two love doing everything together, including sliding down the slide at the same time! Little brother is going to have to do a lot of running to keep up with these two!

Cutie Cal

2008-03-08T22:38:00.001-06:00

Sophie plays so well with Shannon & Greg's little boy, Cal. He is one year younger than Sophie, but they get along like best buds. As Cal came over to play in Sophie's playroom, she decided to dress him up. "Cal, now you put this tiara on your head, put these shoes on each feet, now hold this wand", Sophie said. Cal kept saying "yeah, yeah" and was SO proud of himself in his pretty outfit. I know two things now, 1) Cal is going to hate this picture when he gets old enough to know better and 2) I am envisioning many years of Sophie dressing up our baby boy who is arriving next month and baby C will not care, as he will love the attention from her!

It wasn't intentional, but Sophie looks like she's giving Cal the 'thumbs up' for his perfect ensemble of clothes.

Pony Rides, Petting Zoo, Oh My!

2008-02-17T22:22:00.000-06:00

After a completely fabulous trip to San Antonio, we had a busy next day. Sophie was looking forward to another petting zoo birthday party honoring her daycare friend, Sanju! The two girls always play together, so it was cute to see how happy Sophie was to go to her friend's house. This time, the zoo party had pony rides as well! The last time Sophie had been on a pony was October.

She has gotten to be such a big girl - she just couldn't get enough of the pony and kept getting back in line to ride it again and again. Of course, this was all without assistance from either David or me!

Wade's 40th Surprise

2008-02-16T01:28:00.001-06:00

What a fun weekend! We drove to San Antonio to celebrate David's cousin, Wade's 40th birthday! Jenn planned the best day -- from the 100 black balloons in the house to the personalized gift baskets for all the guys to play golf to the preprinted cups for the event to the delicious food. I was completely impressed, but wouldn't expect anything less from Jenn. We had a wonderful time surprising the "old man". We loved being a part of this monumental time in Wade's life! And, it was nice to spend time with Jenn, Wade & the kids as it doesn't happen nearly enough! Thank you, Jenn!

Sophie & Ethan having a blast in the jump house in the backyard:

Gigi getting a big, special hug from her granddaughter!

A memory of the night with Jenn, Wade, Holden & Hannah and our family of 3 1/2:

Happy Valentine's Day

2008-02-14T01:20:00.003-06:00

I am lucky to have David as my valentine - on the evening of this big Hallmark holiday, we celebrated as a family. David picked out some beautiful jewelry for me (scored big points with this one!) and he also gave Sophie her own special gifts, which I thought was so sweet! She got some "sparkly" (as she calls them) jeans and princess shirt with rhinestones and an adorable stuffed animal toy I had never heard of! Sophie got a little Pawparrazi Purse Dog named Roxy. Roxy came with a tiny little dog bowl, leash, blanket as well as a faux pearl collar and a matching faux pearl necklace for the dog owner. Sophie was in heaven! We both got jewelry, we had chocolate covered strawberries and couldn't have asked for a better February 14th spending it all together!

Sophie enjoying the gift box just as much as her presents:

Baby Cramer Baby Shower

2008-02-09T00:22:00.000-06:00

I'm so blessed to have such generous, thoughtful and sweet friends! My good friends, Deb, Kim and Shannon so kindly threw me a beautiful baby shower at Chez Zee. The baby shower brunch was perfect as the party favors were sweet, the food was delicious, the gifts generous, and I had a wonderful turnout with both friends & family coming. I couldn't have ask for anything more complete than this!

The grandmothers, who can't wait for Baby C to arrive... my mother-in-law, Gayle (on the left) and mom, Margo (on the right).

Shannon, Deb and Kim - I'm lucky to have you in my life! Thank you again for honoring me during this special time! Plus, I look forward to your little babies being friends with Baby C! I can't wait to meet all of them!

The Daredevil at Pump It Up

2008-02-03T00:04:00.003-06:00

Today we celebrated a very special birthday! Sophie's cousin, Ethan, turned three! We got to go back to Sophie's favorite jump house... Pump It Up! I'm not sure if the parents or kids like the place more -- after a day of jumping in the awesome bounce houses for two hours straight and then eating yummy pizza and delicious cake, there is never a problem getting Sophie to sleep at night! I don't know if it was having all her aunts & uncles at the party, but Sophie went extra crazy. My two year was going down head first a 25 foot slide with no one forcing her to! After exerting all her energy, she got to sit next to Ethan in his birthday throne and refuel!

Happy Birthday, Ethan! We loved your party and were so happy we celebrated with you! Thank you for turning three! I can't wait to host Sophie's three year old birthday party there, too!

Austin Zoo Visit

2008-02-02T23:51:00.000-06:00

With only two months before Baby C arrives, I have been wanting to spend as much time as possible with Sophie before she's no longer my "little baby" and only child. Sophie and I went to check out the Austin Zoo. It isn't the nicest/cleanest zoo I've visited, but for a little 2 year old it's perfect. Sophie was able to walk the majority of it and we got to ride a cool train all in few hours one beautiful February Saturday afternoon. An added treat was getting to feed the baby deer. Since we see wild deer all the time in our yard, she loved being able to get "up close and personal" with them!

Pink Pigtails

2008-01-28T23:39:00.000-06:00

There's not much to say about this, except I thought it was cute! After much waffling back & forth I've decided to grow out Sophie's hair. Little girls are so darn cute with pigtails and Sophie finally was able to get them! She's such a daddy's girl - so happy with David!

Caroline's Animal Farm

2008-01-19T23:04:00.002-06:00

Sweet Caroline turned two and celebrated her birthday with a petting zoo. Sophie has had the good fortune of being exposed to animals in her short 2 1/2 years of life, but I can say my friend, Heidi, had the best petting zoo at her home for Caroline's fun birthday party. There were so many animals and we were allowed to spend a lot of time with them. The kids were going crazy feeding all the goats, pigs, geese, bunnies, chicks and cow! I loved watching my daughter show such free delight. As she gets older, I know she'll continue to love animals more and more.

Thank you, Caroline, for inviting us to a perfect birthday party! We had a wonderful time! Because of how much fun we had, I'm already planning a petting zoo for one Baby Boy's birthday parties!

Babymoon in Cabo

2008-01-13T22:04:00.001-06:00

Being pregnant brings me the wonderful feeling of carrying my precious baby in my belly and feeling his constant flips & turns. Another great thing about being pregnant is taking a babymoon! For those of you who are not familiar with the term, according to Wikipedia, a "babymoon" is a vacation taken by a couple that is expecting a baby in order to allow the couple to enjoy a final trip together before the many sleepless nights that usually accompany a newborn baby.

Babymoon has now become a tradition for us so we can be a couple before life become more chaotic. In my mind equates to relaxation, lots of sunbathing, long leisure dinners and not to mention quiet time. David and I were lucky to be able to leave Sophie with Yiayia, Papou and Aunt Mary and sneak off to Cabo San Lucas for five blissful days. The vacation was perfect.

We stayed at the Sheraton Cabo Del Sol, which has pools that rival the best resort pools we've ever seen. I loved the hotel and the town. It was a slice of heaven for us! I can see why all the Hollywood stars vacation in Cabo! It tops my destination list of best resort towns in Mexico and we are definitely going back, with the kids next time of course!

The picture-perfect view from our balcony:

After finding out we were staying next to one of the "Top 100 Golf Courses in the World" (ocean course) according to Golf Magazine, we were lucky to get David on for a round of golf. I relaxed at the pool and David got to experience one of the best courses at which he has ever played. The golf course itself was beautiful and the surrounding scenery was amazing.

David at the famous 17th hole:

Just to remember our trip:

Not only was the daytime balcony view perfect, but we watched beautiful sunsets every night.

We took a similar picture on our babymoon while I was pregnant with Sophie. Baby Boy Cramer has to get credit for this fabulous trip. I'm a little bit more ready for him to arrive now.

Birthday Parties Galore

2008-01-05T21:51:00.000-06:00

The spring is birthday season in our books! It seems as if all of Sophie's friends, relatives and classmates celebrate their "big day". Even if Sophie is still young to totally "get it"... the fun activities, pizza, candy, cake and goodie bag, Sophie runs wild, has a blast and burns tons of energy! I love attending parties! What's not to love?

Sophie's taking pretty good aim at the pinata at Ryder's 3rd birthday party.

She loved gathering the candy after it all fell out! Here she is with her loot.

Finally, cake AND ice cream? What an afternoon! Thanks Ryder, for having a special "nautical" birthday party and inviting us!

Beautiful New Year's Eve

2007-12-31T22:45:00.000-06:00

Since neither Kristin nor I had to work on New Year's Eve, we decided the weather was too perfect to stay inside. Ethan and Sophie hadn't seen each other for a while, so we planned a play date at the Central Market playground. I just love the park over there. It is just so pretty. I still get a smile on my face seeing the differences between boys and girls... Sophie insisted on holding Ethan's hand while Ethan insisted on holding a stick! I have the sweetest daughter and the perfect nephew!

Christmas Morning

2007-12-25T22:18:00.001-06:00

I don't know how, but Sophie woke up at her normal time on Christmas morning. I was hoping to sleep in after our fun-filled Christmas Eve. After gathering all the troops, we opened the doors to the living room and the room full of presents! Sophie was a bit overwhelmed when she saw what Santa brought. Since Sophie had been consistently asking Santa for an "orange present", she was looking straight at a mini-trampoline and TWO orange presents sitting right on it. Good thing Daddy was there explaining it all.

Sophie was intrigued that the cookies and milk were all gone... with the exception of a few remaining crumbs. Santa must have loved the late night treat! Yummy!

Action shots of Sophie on her new trampoline... look how how high she jumps!

After getting her fill of the trampoline, Sophie started opening up her orange presents... orange wrapping paper covered UT crocs. How much more orange can a girl get???

David, Sophie and I stop for a bit before we started round #2... the adults opening their presents. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect Christmas holiday! It was amazing for us to experience Christmas in the eyes of our child, who understood the traditions we've put into place. Next year will be more fun with the birth of our sweet baby boy! I love my family!

What a Merry Christmas Eve!

2007-12-24T20:29:00.004-06:00

With all the Christmas build-up we've had over the past month, I was so looking forward to our Christmas Eve. It is special for David and me to have such loving families which we can spend the holidays. As Christmas was with the Kalfoglous, my mom & dad (Yiayia and Papou) invited over Fivos, Amalia, Georgios and Alexia for a Christmas Eve dinner. It was nice to have our extended family together for the holiday celebration, since I don't see them nearly enough. Sophie got all dressed up for dinner in her special Christmas dress and her "ballerina tights". You could just tell how pretty she knew she was as she kept twirling around in her dress and acting like a princess.

David and I have an annual tradition to take a Christmas picture of just our family, which I scrapbook and you can see the progression of us through the years. You can see how much our family has grown as it not only includes Sophie and Breezy, but Winnie the Pooh had to be a part of it this year!

My mom prepared a delicious, fancy dinner and Sophie even had her own seat at the adult table. Fivos was enjoying feeding her. She ate really well and was perfectly behaved. The best part of the meal for Sophie was dessert. Yiayia made chocolate mousse in chocolate dessert shells topped with fresh berries. Our daughter, who definitely thinks for herself, took all the berries off her work of art and was slurping only the mousse out of the shell and then ate the entire shell. Sophie was in chocolate heaven!

Right after dinner, Santa paid a special visit to the Kalfoglou household and gave Sophie an early Christmas gift. He told her to be a good girl that night and he would come back and bring the rest of her Christmas presents. We were very lucky to see him in the evening!

A final picture of everyone before the Kazilas family left to go home. We missed Kiveli, John and Ioli. Hopefully, next year when they are back in the States, we can all be together.

Sophie with Yiayia and Papou before our next round of Christmas Eve fun!

We decided to change into comfy clothes and then open our Christmas stockings. Sophie got to wear her brand new Christmas PJs, which have Frosty all over them (her absolute favorite this Christmas season). Sophie loved handing everyone their stockings and participating in opening everyone's gifts. Sophie fit into Papou's lap pretty snugly and you can tell was really into this gift thing!

After stocking stuffers, we couldn't believe how late it was yet Sophie was still hanging tough. Right before bed, Sophie and I put out milk and cookies for Santa. He needed fuel since he was flying his sleigh everywhere dropping off gifts to all the good boys and girls. If Christmas morning is half the fun of Christmas Eve, we are going to have a perfect day! After a quick read of Twas the Night Before Christmas, we all went to bed. Good night!

Christmas Vacation in Houston

2007-12-23T23:41:00.001-06:00

On December 23rd, we drove to Houston for five fun-filled days of celebrating Christmas! It was wonderful to see my family for an extended period of time because all of our visits are always so short! Our first night there, Aunt Mary got alone time with her niece while my mom, dad, David and I went to see A Wonderful Life musical at Hobby Center. We had a delicious Italian dinner downtown without any interruptions. It strange, but blissful, not having to worry about a 2 1/2 year old at the table! Thanks Mom and Dad for the generous gift of a great night -- the musical was really good and we loved the company! And, thanks to Mary for letting us escape for a few hours!