At almost two (4 days to go!), Sophie is at the perfect age to enjoy most everything. Talking about her birthday and the arrival of the Easter Bunny has elicited much excitement at our house for the last several weeks. Sometimes I wonder how much she's really understanding, but when I went into their room to announce the EB's arrival, she was giddy and couldn't wait to check out the goods. I know that everyone celebrates a little differently when it comes to Easter. Sometimes, baskets aren't even a part of the equation, some people do candy only and others make it look like Christmas. I try to find a happy medium and fill our baskets with things we would otherwise need for Easter along with a few fun surprises. I also let up on our limited sweets mantra and we indulge a little for the ...
sophie
An Egg-cellent Time
I don't usually procrastinate about holidays, but somehow we managed to wake up on Saturday morning and we still hadn't dyed our Easter eggs... or boiled them. Okay, okay, I hadn't even bought them! I also discovered the night before that Ella's basket might have a little more in it than Sophie's, so Josh & I decided to grab dinner (at Chuy's!!) and up pick a few more things. After dinner, we bought eggs and new pajamas for the girls and came home to get our party started. They were exhausted after their second day without a nap and I was surprised we actually made it through the evening with no meltdowns. I'm always stressed about these moments... that my OCD will prevent me from letting the girls have fun and experiment, that my photographs will turn out horrible, that the mess will ...
Won’t you be my neighbor?
Right next door is a pretty little house. It's old and charming like mine. They are really close to one another, share a wrap around drive and some pretty great trees. For the last eighteen months, it has sat empty. We were blessed for several years to live next door to my aunt Heather and her three wonderful children. They were such an important part of our lives and we were so sad when they moved on to bigger and better things. Ella has been pretty depressed about the empty house for awhile and dreamed of having neighbors, especially if children could be involved. We've known for several months that it was very possible some very good friends might move next door. Parker & Ella are the same age, Conner & Ella are in the same class at school and Carson & Sophie are two peas ...
Cold
Saturday was freezing. Like 38* with a wind chill of 22* freezing. Cold and windy. It never let up. It was, however, gorgeous. The sky was unbelievably bright and no matter how much we tried to convince them otherwise, these two refused to stay inside. We bundled up in pajamas, sweats, boots, mittens, hats, gloves and pink puffy coats. Sophie fell down a few times and was so puffy that she couldn't stand up on her own. We bounced and ran, played with the dog, went on a walk and climbed into the Magnolia trees. All in the span of 30 minutes. Because it was cold. And these littles were ready to get warm almost as soon as I got their coats buttoned! ...
the Family Circus
Last Saturday, just like the last weekend of every January, we loaded up and headed downtown for the circus. We are always lucky to get tickets from my in-laws for Christmas and it never disappoints. It's funny to me how we can go the entire year without mentioning it, but as Christmas nears every year Ella asks when it is and if we're going. Since Sophie is almost two (and still free!) we decided to take her along this year. I was certain that she would be entranced because of the animals and would sit completely still. Sometimes I have to remind myself that she is WILD. She did enjoy it a lot, especially when the elephants were in the ring, most of the small animal acts or when there was a parade with lots going on. She was less than impressed with the individual acts (trapeze, acrobats, ...
Everyone
"Guess who likes brownie mix?" Everyone. Just ask Sophie. ...
Tuesday
January is one of those months where nothing special happens. We are recovering from football season, from December, from the excessive spending around the holidays. We stay in, snuggled up watching movies, working puzzles and playing tea party. The girls go to bed early and we stay up late, reading or talking. Work is busy and stressful, design work is starting to pick back up again and we are finally getting back into a routine three weeks after school started. This is what a typical January Tuesday night looks like. Sophie insists on eating yogurt while we cook dinner. She is obsessed with sitting in her chair, wearing a bib and feeding herself. She is getting really good at it, but sometimes uses her fingers to dig the last few bits out of the container. I wish I could tell you ...
The Day After Aftermath
The day after Christmas is one of the days I look forward to most. There is still a Christmas tree and there isn't anywhere to go or do that you don't want to. There is candy for breakfast and you can wear your pjs and strew your toys all over the house without getting into trouble. Don't get me wrong, I love the excitement and magic of Christmas morning, but the relaxation of the aftermath is pretty fantastic. A few years ago we started celebrating with my parents the evening after Christmas. This year, they came over bright and early to deliver a very special gift for the girls. There was a TON of squealing and jumping up and down and cheering when this Hello Kitty paper came off. I think Josh was a little upset that the jumping capacity won't allow us to participate. Heck, I'm ...