Josh & I visited the 9|11 Memorial on our first trip to NYC | read the full post here I'm not sure if I've ever posted about where I was on September 11, 2001. It's hard to write about such tragedy when five years later I delivered the most beautiful baby girl. The tragedy of the day is tempered a bit by that addition to our family on the five year anniversary. I woke up that morning in my parents' home. I was living at home for my senior year of college, preparing for graduation and a summer wedding. My dad and I were having coffee before I left for class when the phone rang. My aunt was calling to tell us she wasn't on the plane in NYC (at the time she was living in DC and traveled regularly to New York). We didn't even know what she was talking about until we turned on the news. ...
Six.
Six. How are you six years old? Happy Birthday to the girl who made me a mama. To the spunky rock star who knows the words to every song on the radio. To the fashionista who knows the difference between "matching" and "going together". To the girl who insists that cowgirls show their stomach and only wear button down shirts. She's conscientious and thoughtful, she loves her little sister and can roll her eyes with the best of them. The past six years have been the best of my life. I love you, Bellsy. BIG. ...
Rammer Jammer
It's hard to believe our trip to NYC was almost a year ago. It was after that weekend, we decided that taking a kid free trip involving an airplane and an empty hotel room was a yearly necessity. Although a football game doesn't really compare to 5 days in the Big Apple, we knew we wanted to go to the season opener in Arlington and what better way to celebrate the kick off of football season than a mini-vacay with your favorite person. I opted not to take my camera and instead enjoy having fun instead of trying to document it all, so we have plenty of iPhone snaps, but not a single actual photograph of us the entire week. We boarded a plane last Thursday afternoon and were in our Ft. Worth hotel room eating Dominoes delivery by midnight. I hate I didn't document my travel outfit (one of ...
Sophie-isms
Sophie is seriously the cutest thing ever right now. Her personality is larger than life, her voice is sugary sweet, she has the fiercest grin and the most contagious laughter. She thinks potty humor is hilarious and she says poop at the most awkward and inopportune times. I cannot get enough of her. Like sometimes, I pull up the same picture of her on my phone a hundred times a day to see her silly face. She is loud and says "CHEESE" with her mouth wide open everytime you point a phone or camera at her face. Her new favorite name is Courtney and she makes us call her that sometimes. I'm serious when I say you can't say it with a straight face, but she still answers to it. When you ask her who made a mess or who got in trouble, her answer is always Courtney. That picture on the right ...
Bedtimes & Blanket Forts
On Monday night, we had both girls in the bed at 7:30. We've established a new evening/bedtime routine in an attempt to alleviate stress and have a much happier time at home together. Over the summer, I've been really lax about bedtimes, dinners and television. The girls ate what they wanted and we rarely found time to cook, they whined their way out of a regular bedtime and they both watched as much TV as their little minds could muster. At times I felt very guilty for my attitude towards structure these last few months, but more often that not I attributed it to summer and reminded myself that it would pass and we would resume a normal, scheduled life come August. When we got ready for bed on Sunday night, there were tears about clothes and tears about television and even more tears ...
The First Day of School!
Ella has been so excited to start school this year. We went shopping several weeks ago and she picked out plenty of "big girl" outfits for her first week. We are officially done with frilly and smocking and as sad as it makes me, she's actually got great taste! We made many a compromise, but we were both pretty happy with her back-to-school wardrobe. I'm hoping to share a Fashion Friday post with all of her first week outfits provided that SD takes good pictures this week. Hint, hint. We laid out our clothes on Sunday night, packed her backpack, talked about what she wanted for lunch and laid her "night-before jitters" confetti near her pillow. Both girls slept great and were up bright and early Monday morning for breakfast and cartoons. Sophie wasn't thrilled about posing for ...
Sophie’s 2 Year Old Interview
After Ella completed her homework and folder review after school on Monday, Sophie insisted that she had homework, too. We whipped up twelve quick questions and persuaded her to answer. Of course, this would be much cuter if you could hear her precious voice! 12 Questions as answered by Sophie (2 years/4 months) 1. What is your favorite color? pink 2. What is your favorite toy? my giraffe (random, it's a giraffe pillow that they keep in the car) 3. What is your favorite television show? Mickey "Nouse" 4. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? a breakfast bar and a "fueezy" (applesauce pouch) 5. What is your favorite snack? apple sauce and goldfish (because that's what she had today, short term memory!) 6. What is your favorite game to play? princess (I'm guessing she ...
Ella’s Kindergarten Interview
25 Questions as answered by Ella (5 years/11 months old) 1. What is your favorite color? pink 2. What is your favorite toy? Courtney (a baby doll that the girls share) 3. What is your favorite television show? Good Luck Charlie 4. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? bran flakes 5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Jack's hamburger with bacon & fries 6. What is your favorite fruit? watermelon 7. What is your favorite snack? Reese's cup or mint chocolate chip ice cream 8. What is your favorite cereal? bran flakes 9. What is your favorite drink? sweet tea 10. What is your favorite outfit? a Gap tshirt with "fashion" girls and a denim skirt 11. What is your favorite game to play? "I don't have a favorite game" 12. What is your favorite animal? "I have ...