Fun Times

This is Sophia in her "room" (AKA the closet). The 4 of us, Shelby, Sophia, Charlie and Myself, all had to share one room and with Sophia being such a light sleeper we decided it best to put the pack-n-play in the closet and see how it worked. And, surprisingly it was PERFECT! We didn't latch the door and in the morning she would push it open and call out to us to come get her.

Once Evan finally talked us into blackjack, we couldn't get enough! Uncle Owen kept us in line and instructed us how to play according to "The System" and although we were just playing with chips (no real money) everyone had a great time! Shelby and I were fairly new to the game and really honed our skills!

I also played Dominoes for the first time. We played regular style, Mexican train, and then Shelby and Jenny enjoyed just stacking them up and knocking them over too. Mexican Train was the most fun for me!

Sophia learned how to hoist herself onto the piano bench all by herself. We were entertained by her musical stylings all weekend!

Maren and Sophia hug it out after a long day of play!

Happy Thanksgiving

Sophia and her new buddy Jake--if it were up to her, she'd climb right up on in there to cuddle!

Charlie putting the squash down on Shelby and Connor's DS challenge

Everyone pitched in to help cook...here's Shelby chopping chestnuts for the stuffing!

Sophia and Aunt Jenny were two peas in a pod!

We traveled to the great state of Minnesota for Thanksgiving this year. All in all we had a wonderful time and couldn't have been happier to spend this time with family. We managed to leave just before 5am on Wednesday and it really worked out well. We stopped for breakfast in Des Moines and arrived at our destination right about noon. Which, as it turned out was perfect because poor Aunt Ellyn had just returned from a trip to the ER resulting in 5 stitches! Yowser! This way Sophia got acclimated to her sleeping conditions, which just so happened to be in the closet and we got to help prepare both Wed. and Thursday night meals.

Pumpkin Pie face! This was dessert, of course, and Sophia ate it up!

One Crazy November

So I know there's really no excuse, but seriously, this has been one heck of a month!!! Now, I realize that some of my stress I totally brought on myself, but I'm working on that too! In this month alone, we've had 4 birthdays, the anniversary of my dad's death, and 3 parties--and that doesn't even include the upcoming holiday and all the stress and travels that go into that! I feel like I have barely posted this month, so I tried to catch up before the holiday.

Here's a Sophia overview to help you get started! ;) Sophia is now speaking about 15-20 words. Her latest words include socks (which sadly sounds a little like sex), Shelby, and read. She is still very interested in books and she is starting to choose that most of her free time is now spent reading. She is also still very interested in the outdoors and that, sadly for Mother, has not diminished at all with the introduction of cold temperatures! We did just recently get her a winter coat and snowsuit though, so we're looking forward to the fun that will bring!

Cutest story of late: We were at dinner tonight and the woman at the table next to us began sneezing very loudly. Her sneezes truly didn't even sound human as they were very guttural and a little scary. Anyhow, Sophia, who was busy with other things at the time, only heard this noise drifting from the table next to us. She immediately popped her head up, smiled and pointed at the woman at the next table. Sophia then began imitating her by saying "woof, woof, woof!" She just smiled, clapped her hands and continued to woof at this poor woman while the three of us died laughing. Thankfully, this poor woman didn't notice Sophia (or was too humiliated to admit it) and we got off without having to apologize for our toddler...this time!

Shelby is SOOOO Much Fun

Okay, I think I'm ready

Enjoying the view

A double slide means double the fun

Even Walter likes the park!

Shelby hung out with us all morning on Saturday. It was really perfect because she was able to help me out and play with Sophia while Charlie took a much needed birthday break in front of the television! Sophia absolutely adores Shelby. She picks out her picture right away her name is one of the only others that Sophia has said besides Mommy and Daddy. If Shelby is in the room, Sophia is there too and you should just see the looks or adoration she gets from our little munchkin. They are really too cute together and I so enjoy being able to watch them together.

The ladies (and Walt) headed to the park even though it was a little chilly. It was so cute to watch them play together. Shelby is turning into quite a little babysitter and we're excited to have her with us for our Thanksgiving adventure too!

Happy Birthday, Charlie!

My luscious dessert buffet

The theme: classic movie theatre snacks revisited!

M&Ms: M&M cookies

Reese's PB Cups: peanut butter and chocolate molten cake

Sweet Tarts: lemon bars

Twizzlers: Twizzlers dipped in semi-sweet chocolate

Junior Mints: chocolate cookies with mint chips

Popcorn: popcorn with blue cheese, chives and walnuts

Special Birthday Treat: Coconut cream pie (okay so it didn't fit the theme but it was personally requested by the birthday boy...what's a girl to do!)

Charlie and RaeAnn getting a cocktail!

Cathy and Chris ready to enjoy the show!

So I had my first HouseParty this weekend in honor of Charlie's birthday. If you haven't visited the HouseParty website you really have to check it out! It is super fun and addicting! Anyway, we had a party to watch the premiere of a new show on TNT called Leverage. It's an action adventure show that has a bit of a Robin Hood twist. The show actually premieres in December but we got to see it early! The general consensus was that it was a fun show and most people would want to watch it again. And because it was a "Premiere" Event, I had to elaborate on that theme, hence the movie theatre buffet! And...since it was Charlie's birthday I tried to incorporate his faves (coconut, lemon bars, chocolate mint). It was nice to get together and have a double-duty party. I think that Charlie had fun and that's what I was after. His birthday also commemorates the anniversary of the day we met 5 years ago! EEEEEK! We reminisced about that night and giggled to ourselves about what a long road we've traveled. I love you, honey and thanks for finally getting up the nerve to call me, even it was a week later!

The Joys of Self Feeding

I don't even know what this food is???
It looks a little like jelly, but I don't remember giving her jelly?!

Ah, yes, the classic hummus face.

Oh and the popular smash stuff in my hair technique

After meal antics in full swing!

Peek a...

Booo!

Sophia has been feeding herself for a long time now, since she was 8 months to be exact, but it's seemingly more messy now than it was then?! How can that be!? I'm really not sure, but it's pretty fun. She is very good with a spoon and fork now and went through a short phase where she demanded either one at every meal, but now she's content to eating with her hands again. I'm not too worried about it really, but am a stickler with the spoon on certain foods: yogurt, cottage cheese, and soup. She is still a champ at the dinner table is good about trying new foods. She even ate a clementine this week! I was cutting the pieces up because I was worried about her choking and she wasn't too interested, but when Charlie just gave her the whole piece she stuck it in her mouth, smiled and proceeded to eat the rest of it...ah the magic of Daddies! She also ate shrimp at dinner and has been pretty good about eating other fish. Overall, her eating habits are almost nothing like her mother's...ha! We do share a love of olives and hummus (maybe it's a cultural thing!) but her love of seafood definitely comes from Charlie!

Rub a Dub, Dub

Well, I have finally taken the looooong awaited plunge and moved Sophia into the full sized bath tub. I know, I know, way past due. Up until a few weeks ago I was still bathing poor little Sophia in her baby tub. She was very cramped in there but really she didn't seem to mind. Besides, it was way easier to fill and used much less water so it was kind of a good thing, right?! Anyway, we have sticky ducks on the floor of the tub and her toys fit much easier this way and she's still happy as a lark during bath time.