Recovering from your first birthday party is tough stuff. We'll have pictures to share with you in a few days, but in the meantime we are relaxing, spending lots of time together and getting ready for the Easter Bunny. On Sunday, I had some time to spend outside with my girls on the playground. Ella was swinging much too fast to catch on camera, but Soph was all smiles. ...
Cupcakes and Lollipops
There huge amounts of leftover goodies on my kitchen counter, three trash bags full of wrapping paper and paper straws and LOTS of books being read all over my house. The weather was beautiful and there were tons of pretty little kids running in and out of the house all morning. The table looked beautiful and I could have eaten every bite all by myself. My aunt Lane made and iced 75 cupcakes yesterday, my mom perfected homemade buttercream icing and Sophie's smash cake was to die for! Josh got twelve months worth of my favorite photographs hung on the dining room wall last night. The baker's rack was stocked with tea, lemonade, water and cokes. There was garland, bunting and paper poms hanging from the ceiling. Our party crown arrived just in time and Sophie grinned from ear to ...
Love Letters: One Year
Dearest Sophie, How can it be that at this moment one year ago today, you were delivered into my arms? After months of prayer and petition, you were finally mine. I woke up at 3:30 in the morning and got ready for the early morning drive. I did a little housework, fixed my hair and did my makeup, took one last look at your sweet little nursery and headed out the door. Your daddy drove us the forty-five minutes into town. The hospital was dark and quiet at 5 o'clock in the morning and we had our pick of parking spaces. I found twenty dollars in the pocket of my maternity coat as we walked across the crosswalk. A good omen, perhaps. I got butterflies as we checked into labor and delivery and found myself undressing and fastening a hospital gown again. This time there was no uncertainty, no ...
One Year Ago Today
I was taking maternity photographs in my front yard. Waiting, wishing, praying, hoping for a safe delivery and a perfectly healthy baby. Packing last minute bags, kissing Ella goodnight as she went to spend the night with Garan, enjoying my new haircut and freshly painted toes. Tonight, I'm listening as my nearly one-year-old blows bubbles in her milk, chants "rock rock," harasses the dog and literally runs around the house while I work. Wow what a difference a year makes. I thought you'd find it funny that I haven't had a sane moment for a haircut and pedicure for the last twelve months. I think it's time. ...
SO Big
This girl is in LOVE with chairs. Especially little bitty ones that she can get into all by herself. At Garan's and Nana's she has rocking chairs, so she is figuring out how to rock. At home, she & Ella have anywhere chairs that they drag all over the house. Soph just figured out that she can make this chair "rock" if she tries hard enough. She loves climbing in and out of this one and even tries to get away with standing in it when we aren't paying close attention. This is her sneaky face {left}. When she is doing something that isn't allowed and we call her on it, she gives this crazy, crooked grin and looks at us like "What?! I wasn't doing anything!". I could just eat her up... silly faces, crooked grins and all. ...
Dedicated
What better way to begin our birthday week than to share pictures from Sophie's dedication service last Sunday. It wasn't my intention to wait until she was almost a year old to have the service, but it was so sweet to think about giving her back to the LORD just days before we celebrated the day he first gave her to us. The only disadvantage to the timing is that she is so lively and animated. She spent the time we were on stage waving to friends and family in the congregation, kicking her legs, pointing people out and squealing at the top of her lungs. It was so sweet, but definitely hard to keep a straight face! And since we had a few very special people who were unable to be there, we made sure to come home with video from the big day. ...
Walking & Talking
Now this is what you call multitasking! SD & I kind of think she looks like Frankenstein when she walks. If you listen closely, you can hear her saying "hello" when she puts the phone next to her ear. ...
Big Girl
Let me go ahead and warn you, that with only twelve days left before the little's birthday, I'm getting a little nostalgic. I'm starting to think about all of the things she's learned in the last twelve months and the milestones she's reaching every day. She has three new teeth trying to make their way in before the birthday, we said sayonara to formula and are drinking full-fat milk and she's been trying all sorts of new foods. Dinner time is pretty eventful at our house. Ella might be the picky eater, but Sophie will at least try everything you put before her and most of the time gobbles it right up. We've discovered that spaghetti is something that both girls will eat with no complaints and it usually requires a second bowl for them both. This week, Sophie learned how to slurp long ...