Girls Gone Wild

3 Carrs will be going on a short hiatus until Sunday. It was 6 months in the making but on Friday I’m headed to Snowshoe with 5 of my girlfriends from law school for a manless, childless, stressless weekend of F.U.N. Including tons of food, adult beverages, gossip, and spa treatments. I am BEYOND excited. I just hope us old ladies can stay up past midnight! I’ll miss Little Bit dearly (and I would say my hubby but since it's still tax season I haven't seen him since around February!) but I know she is in good hands with her daddy and GiGi. In fact, she is going to spend all day Saturday visiting with her great grandparents.

I'm also changing Internet providers so if I don't post a lot next week it's because Verizon hasn't sent me my modem yet. So everyone have a good weekend, I know I will! Oh and one more thing, do any of you guys have a Mac? We are starting to shop for a new computer and I'm thinking about making the switch. If anyone has any Mac pro and cons I'd LOVED to hear them!

Evening Play Date

So when I was little the term "play date" didn't exist. Sure my mom would get together with her girlfriends who had kids my age and sure we would play but no one would have dubbed it a "play date." I was talking to one of my good friends today and we both agreed that our "play dates" consisted of our moms telling us to go play outside. We weren't allowed inside unless there was blood and then the situation would be accessed on the porch. After the knees were bandaged and the crying stopped we would then be told to "go play." Well times have changed! This evening Sophia had an evening play date with her friend Gracie from day care. As was pointed out by my husband, yes they get to play together all day long BUT we don't get to see them play. It's the cutest thing watching 1 year olds interact. The rain prevented us from pulling out the wagon but the girls still had a blast pushing one another on their ride-ons and tearing GiGi's kitchen completely apart.

And they say kids shouldn't play with plastic bags, phooey!

Wiggles Mania & I've Been Tagged

The last time I was "tagged" I thought my readers were going to throw a coup d'état because I failed to post a photo. Well I've been tagged again to post "Things you may not have known...or cared to know for that matter," by Janice and Jami. Sorry fellow readers but blog laws say that you can't ignore a tag. But don't worry this time I'll leave you with a picture of Sophia enjoying the fab four. No not the Beatles but the fab four from Australia, the Wiggles! So in the words of Anthony Wiggle, Shalom Alechem everybody!

Four Jobs I've Had In My Life
American Eagle Sales Clerk (HS)
Tanning Bed Receptionist (HS)
State Payroll Clerk
Law Clerk
(gee I've been dubbed a "clerk" a lot)

Four Movies I Would Watch Over and Over
National Lampoons Vacation
Love Actually
Steal Magnolias
Space Balls

Four Places I Have Lived
Williamsburg VA
Wichita KS
Siena Italy (for a whopping 2 months)
Morgantown WV

Favorite Bands And Singers
Dave Matthews
Alabama
Fleetwood Mac
Snoop Dogg (go ahead make fun)

Four Loves of My Life
Sophia
Steven
My mom
Select Family Members (you know who you are!)

Four Most Memorable Moments
Seeing Sophia for the 1st time
My wedding
Landing in Italy
1st day of college at WVU

Four of My Favorite Foods
Mocha frappuccinos
Any seafood
Tiramisu
Fillet

Four Places I'd Rather Be Right Now
Culebra Island Puerto Rico
Home
Anywhere in Europe
St. Martin

That's all folks. So now I'm tagging Andrea and Heather. And as promised here's a pic of Sophia. Do you think she's close enough to the TV?

Just a Swingin'

Sunday was a perfect day. The weather was beyond perfect, Sophia was perfectly pleasant, and Steven was home from work by 5. We capped the day off with a visit to the park, which by the way, the Putnam County park is fabulous! More importantly, CLEAN and fabulous! We had the entire place to ourselves. Sophia loved the swings but had more fun crawling through the tubes on the jungle gym and sliding down the slides. I'm really starting to realize that one of the great things about having kids is that you get to be a kid again yourself. What excuse would you ever have to climb on a jungle gym or swing if you didn't have children??

We even stopped for ice cream on the way home. I've been doing really well on the ole diet (down to less than I weighed before I got pregnant, yee haw) so the ice cream stop was definitely my idea but Sophia seemed to be a big fan of it too!

A Room With a View

1 can of primer- $13.00

1 can of blue paint- $25.00

1 toy organizer- $48.00

2 valances and 1 curtain rod-$21

Getting a room together while working around a 1 year old- VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE

But somehow in less than 6 hours with the help of my mom we managed to convert the useless guest bedroom into a play room. I still need to add some finishing touches like blinds, pictures and shelves but for the most part the room is finished. We can throw in the toys and shut the door! Now the big question: will the toys "stay" in the play room?

I wish I had some before pictures. This has to be the world's smallest bedroom (I've seen bigger walk-in-closets). Before the room was god awful Marshall green, puke! But I'm not so sure that I'm digging the blue. What do you guys think? Of course no matter what I think of the color it will probably be a cold day you know where before GiGi grabs a roller anytime soon!

Little Bit gives the room her seal of approval!

I realize that this one doesn't show off the room, but isn't that the cutest seersucker jacket!

Baby Huey

Allow me to set the scene. Picture it Winfield, Saturday March 17. Sophia and Steven are back in our bedroom and I'm in the living room. I hear the following conversation:

Sophia: Uh...uh...dada dada dada

Steven: No Sophia that is for babies

Sophia: dada dada dada dada

Steven: Sophia you've wanted that all day long and I said that it's for little babies. Sophia, you are going to get hurt trying to get that out.

Sophia: CRASH, waaaa waaaaa

Steven: FINE...you want it out, I'll get it out and you can get in there.

Enter mommy to the following scene.

Now kept in mind that my child has shown ZERO interest in this bouncer since she was 5 months old. For some unknown reason (which there is probably a very good reason in Sophia's mind)when we dug the bouncer out for a visit with Baby Ben, Sophia has been all about it. A few times she's placed her baby dolls in it but for the most part Baby Huey wants to sprawl out in it herself. And for those of you who haven't been introduced to "Baby Huey"you can click here. I myself had never heard of him until my sarcastic dad brought him up. The description of Huey in no way describes my Little Bit...but she did sort of look like him with her big butt strapped in an infant bouncer!

Chair Etiquette 101

And now for your viewing pleasure, Sophia will demonstrate the proper, wait strike that, I mean the not so proper way to sit in a chair. What am I going to do with this child!?!

See the toys in the background. Keep your fingers crossed for me that my mom and I can get started on converting the guest bedroom into a play room this weekend. I soooooo want to be able to contain the toys to one room. I'm thinking of painting it a nice serene blue, which will contrast nicely with the utter chaos that the room will contain. Anyone have any nice blue paint suggestions?

The Details

I mentioned that I was trying to round up some birthday party pictures. Well today Anne made my day when she posted a few of hers from the party. I'm sure that some of you have already seen these from her page but what the heck, I thought I'd re-post them (I worked my butt off on that party and so did GiGi, along with my pal Jenny who helped set up). Of course it figures that I would forget to take a picture of the entire room...oh well. Here we go...

The pièce de résistance: The Cake. Two tiers of heaven covered in butter cream but created by the devil since this confection caused me to fall off the wagon. The diet wagon that is. How sad is it that this stinking cake is bigger than my wedding cake! But in my defense we only had 25 people attend our Puerto Rican wedding. (There was a little oh-oh when then the cake lady was sitting up...but that didn't change the taste!)

The favors: #1 shaped sugar cookies. Again made by Tina the cake lady. Ok so not really the devil but OMG does she make sinfully delicious goodies.

The smash cake: And as the name implies it was smashed everywhere!

And this one just because I LOVE it!!! Sophia only lasted 2.0 seconds opening her presents. But wouldn't you know it that when Ethan decided to help out... little Miss Sophie B. got a little jealous. The day will come when Sophie would rather die than set on my lap, way too embarrassing. I guess I'll be able to whip this out to remind myself that there was a time when she was all about me!

A Little Dirt Never Hurt

Right? This evening Sophia and I decided to take a little jaunt around the hood. Of course we didn't get very far because she quickly discovered the little pebbles that litter the street and driveway. She'd take 5 steps, drop to the ground, and start shoving god knows what into her mouth. And she would NOT stay in the driveway, making it impossible to snap very many pictures. I'd carry her all the way back to the garage and she would immediately head to the street (good thing we live in a rather quiet neighborhood). Imagine that, only 1 and already trying to hightail it to the places she isn't suppose to be. Great!

The face...

...only a mother could love. This is an interesting face wouldn't you say? Not sure what it's all about. I love the expressions that kids make. So random and just plain weird. Sometimes I truly think kids are nuts. Or maybe we are the crazy ones and they are just enjoying life. Stay tuned for more b-day pics. I'm rounding them all up!

Here's another fun one from the other day. Here Gracie actually handed over her beloved blankie. But the look on Sophie's face seems to say "are you sure?" And Gracie seems to be thinking "now that I think about it...you need to give that back."

The Party's Over

Well the festivities are over. Sophie's party went off without any problems what-so-ever (except for the fact that I was so preoccupied with the party that I didn't get to take many pictures, darn it, I had a feeling that would happen.) I was so happy to see that so many of our friends and family were able to make it down. It figures that it would pick Saturday to snow! All of the kids were beyond cute and well behaved. I was shocked that my own Little Bit remained in a good mood the ENTIRE time. She even kept her b-day hat on while eating her cake! I could watch Sophie and her little friends play for hours, it's just so darn cute how they all interact. But as figured she was more interested in playing with other kids than opening her presents. Andrea was right, it is sort of embarrassing when your kid shows no interest what-so-ever in the gifts that people bought her, but I can assure you that mommy and daddy appreciate every single one! Here's just a few pictures until I can collect pictures from everyone else.

Sharing some cake with daddy!!

Getting a wagon ride from Ethan...isn't that nice of him....with Emma looking like the Secret Service following the motorcade! And you can see Anne's Ethan in the background cruising around on a pink and purple ride-on!

The Big One

Warning: This post will probably be super sappy.

In a few hours Little Bit will turn one. You hear it from everyone with kids about how fast the first year goes by. And after having spent the most incredible year of my life with the most amazing little person I have ever had the opportunity to know, I feel as though I can attest to the fact that in the blink of an eye a year will come and go. I never knew that each day out of 365 could be so different. Some days were clam and awe inspiring. Some days were chaotic and discouraging. But everyday was wonderful in its own way. It's truly amazing the changes that take place over a year. One minute you are wishing she'd learn how to roll over and the next you are watching her take her first steps. So on one had I'm a little sad that my pipsqueak is growing up so fast. But on the other hand I can't WAIT to see what she has in store for us. So without further adu, here's a montage of Sophia's first year.


And here's another warning: It's about 10 mintues long, sorry but you just can't squeeze 12 months into a 5 minute video. And I'm planning on showing it at her party on Saturday so some of you guys might get a double dose of Sophie B.

Photo and video editing at onetruemedia.com

Missing Daddy

This year is our 1st tax season with Sophia. Last year at this time it was the midst the tax season but we were anxiously awaiting Sophia's arrival. Maybe it was the excitement of having our new little baby in the house and the sleepless nights but time seemed to fly by. Not so much this year. April 17th (my birthday too by the way) won't get here soon enough! Steven is desperately missing his little girl. And the dog is a total wreck, he's lucky to get the basic necessities of food and water and walks are out of the question. I wonder if Sophia realizes that something "isn't right." Usually we alternate bath night but for the past month it has strictly been mommy giving the baths, which is definitely not as fun. I'm usually all business and then play time. Daddy on the other hand is all play and "oh yeah, we had better wash your hair." At least he still gets to take her to day care every morning...it's their "thing"

Otis

I posted some bath pics a few posts back but these new ones are just so cute! I'm very proud of the fact that I was able to capture the little water droplets with my camera. This is a great accomplishment for me! In the first one she looks a little like a drunk who fell one too many times. Her eyes are like little slits. Notice the goose egg bruise on her forehead from falling at daycare today and her upper lip is the size of Angelina Jolie's due to falling this evening on the hardwood floor (blood went EVERYWHERE). So just for tonight I nicknamed her Otis from Andy Griffith, you know, the town drunk.

And here's the first one again but in color. I can't decide which I like best.

Wagon Season

That's right folks the time has changed, the weather is beginning to break (ok not all the way because the forecast said it's suppose to get cold again this weekend but you get my drift)...now where was I, oh yes, the weather is beginning to break, and mommies across the land are itching to take their little ones outside! And that's just what we did this weekend! We broke out an early b-day present from GiGi and PaPa, a red wagon with some monster wheels (after all we do live in West by god Virginia where the monster truck show comes twice a year...ok seriously I have NEVER been to one of those nor will I ever.) Actually, the purpose of the wheels are to traverse over sand this summer at the beach. I figure it will be perfect to haul Sophie and the 40 books I read every year at the beach. She was a little leery of the wagon at first so I couldn't get a good picture of her smiling but I have a feeling that we'll be taking a lot of walks around the neighborhood this summer.

It's not just wagon season for Sophia, little Hannah headed out in her new red wagon this weekend too!

Where's Sophie?

The answer according to Sophie: "Dare". Meaning "there." We play this game CONSTANTLY! It's really cute when she just sits in the middle of the floor and turns her head away from you. I guess she thinks that if she can't see us, we can't see her. What a NUT!


Here's another one from today (I'll probably post a lot of pics from today because we were finally able to go outside! YAY!). Here she is in her new Elmo chair . It shakes and laughs when you sit down. GiGi has made a bet that Little Bit will like her $30 Elmo chair more than the "we'll not mention the price" Pottery Barn chair. She's probably right but Elmo is staying at GiGi's house!

Ready, Set, Shop

"Hi daddy. I just thought I'd call you up on my Little Mermaid cell...yeah, I know it's Saturday and all and you are stuck at work...April 15th will be here before you know it... but don't worry, mommy and I have it covered...she says we are headed out to go spend all of your hard earned money...yup...that's what she said...but after all...it is my birthday in less than a week!"

I have the best little shopping buddy EVER! Today we headed out with GiGi and PaPa to do some last minute b-day shopping. What a little trooper!! We hit 6 different places and even squeezed in lunch at Red Lobster. Little Bit could not have been more pleasant! Actually, we were more proud of PaPa who made it through 4 1/2 hours of shopping with us girls unscathed!

This Box Rocks!

I've said it countless times in the 11 1/2 months that I've been a mom(which is long enough to make me an expert wouldn't you say?) but I'll say it again. Kids would rather play with empty boxes, Tupperware, and paper over high tech "learning" toys any day of the week. I learned this lesson back when Sophia was around 6 months old and began grabbing for things. So I know this but yet I still search high and low for the perfect toys and gifts. For her upcoming birthday we (actually I) decided to buy her a PB Anywhere Chair in pink (of course) with her name smack dab in the middle just in case any one comes over and wonders who the midget chair belongs to. I haven't given her the chair yet but the box appears to be a huge hit. Even her baby, "Miss Giggles," likes hanging out in the box. How much do you want to bet that she won't sit for a minute in the Anywhere chair! (don't ask me why her eyes look a little funky in this picture...i guess it's because of my mad camera skills.)

Sophia says "Thank you Mr. UPS Man for bring such a treasure to our house but if you've got a refrigerator box laying around that'd be even better!"

A Screaming Baby

So you are probably expecting a picture of Sophia in the throws of a tantrum. Pretty safe bet considering the last few days around here. Well this is a different type of screaming baby. It's a cake! I first saw the screaming baby cake almost two years ago when Lyndsay posted pictures of her baby shower. The next shower that I had anything to do with I so knew they were going to get a screaming baby cake. It's perfect! Why should we give cakes embellished with storks or booties when in reality the new parents are getting a "screaming baby!" The lucky winner of the cake is Jill a good friend from work. She's going to LOVE it!

The woman who made the cake does AMAZING work. She's making the cake for the party in a few weeks. I can't wait to see it!

Digital Scrapbooking

I know that many of you have seen this adorable page that Anne made the other day (hmmm you know, come to think of it, if it wasn't for Anne here lately I wouldn't have anything to post! I seriously need to get my camera out and get to practicing). Anyway, with her permission, I wanted to repost it for my peeps who may not look at other blogs. I love Anne's creativity and in the words of Shelby from Steel Magnolias, "pink is my signature color!" This whole digital scrapbooking thing is all new to me but what a marvel idea! It has to be cheaper, less time consuming, and easier than the old fashion scrapbooking.

And we are T minus 10 days and counting until our big 1st birthday blowout. YAY!

And...Paula if you are reading this I'd love to see some pictures of baby Lydia!

Lesson 1

Here are a few pics from our first swimming lesson last Sunday (these were taken by Anne. I could just see me dropping the camera to the bottom of the pool.). Aside from finding Sophia a new pediatrician, signing her up for swimming has to be one of the best moves I've made. She absolutely, positively LOVED swimming. She's a bubble blowing champ! Surprisingly, we were able to dunk her under the water and she'd come up smiling! Having people you know around makes it even more fun, thanks Anne and Stephanie for signing your kiddos up too! I can't wait for our next lesson.

Learning to float!

And here's my favorite! Gotta love that tongue sticking out!

Shrimp

Obviously Steven and I were not going to produce a Shaquille O'Neal sized child. I measure in at a whopping 5'1" and Steven might top out at 5'8" and that's "stretching it. So is it just me or does this picture not highlight just how much of a shrimp Sophia is? Check out how bunched up her pj pants are. The child has no legs! I of course wasn't blessed with legs either. To emphasize just how "legless" she actually is, the other day she tried on a pair of the cutest baby capris and they turned into PANTS on her! Long pants at that!

So the WNBA is out of the question. Walking down a cat walk modeling the latest fashions of Versace is out. She'll probably never be a Rockette high kicking it to New York, New York. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that a gold medal in the hurdles, high jump, and volleyball is not in her future. So that leaves us with jockey or gymnast. I'll go with gymnast because guess what? I'm allergic to horses! So I'd be never able to be up front cheering her on at the Kentucky Derby! So go Sophie Lou!

Happy Friday

Yay it's Friday and I have the day off! Now I should use the day to be productive and clean my house before CPS is called on me. Not to mention that I desperately need to clean out Sophie's closet. It's time pack up all of the stuff that she has outgrown (many of the items in her closet still have tags!). But...I'm not going to be productive today. Instead Little Bit and I are meeting PaPaw Rocky (I swear to you that's my dad's real name) at the mall to go b-day shopping! So which would you rather do clean or shop on someone else's dime? Duh, SHOP! So I'll clean out that closet as I'm putting new stuff in!