Scared

We had a pretty bad storm the other night and Little Bit didn't know what to think! The wind was blowing like crazy causing a tree limb to fall on our neighbor's truck, electric lines fell, and the power flashed on and off. Needless to say she was freaked out. She would run to the door, point and say "daa-dee" with the above scared look on her face. Maybe she was worried that Steven hadn't made it home yet. But he finally made it home safe and sound and Soph was off to play a game of "where's Sophie" and her nightly ritual of feeding Oscar. Have I told you that she HAS to feed Oscar every evening? I'll have to get a picture of it because it's a hoot. Not a lot of his food makes it into the bowl and she prefers to hand feed him.

Accessories

A girl just can't go anywhere with out an old purse containing a broken watch, an old bracelet, a matchbox car, and an old 35 mm film canister, now can she? I guess she would make a great contestant on "Lets Make-A-Deal" if the opportunity ever arose. (Remember when Monty Hall would ask people in the audience if they had those random items in their purse like an egg timer or a spoon? Great show.)

And what's with the McDonald's cup you ask? That my dear friends is my latest addiction, Mickey D's sweet tea. Have you ever tried it? If you haven't I'd suggest that you never ever ever order it. It's only $1 but you'll fall victim to its sweet deliciousness in a heartbeat. And you'll learn quickly which McDonald's around town make awesome tea and which ones are idiots and pour boiling hot tea over ice cubes negating the term "iced tea" very quickly. Morons. And not to worry, I wasn't allowing Little Bit to drink down my sugar and caffeine rich beverage, I had already sucked that cup dry a long time ago!

Play Time

Sophie wanted me to relay a big thank-you to Emma and Ethan for allowing her to come over this morning and play. She had a blast and Emma and Ethan were super nice to share all of their toys. I'm not so sure that Andrea's house appreciated the play date. You should see what three kids do to a play room in 15 minutes. Sort of looks like this:

I tried and tried to get some good pictures of the three of them together but it was impossible! But I did managed to get all three of them on the swings but of course they aren't looking at the camera. Oh and let me tell you that Emma is now sporting the cutest, most adorable pair of glasses I have ever seen!

Banned from Wallyworld

Ok so not literally but we SHOULD be. I've never been so embarrassed in my life! Allow me to set the stage. At 2 this afternoon Sophie had an appointment with an allergist. The appointment lasted forever and obviously that should have been my first clue that shopping afterwards was a bad idea. But regretfully, we stopped at Walmart on the way home. Everything was fine until we reached the checkout. At that point Little Bit snapped. Or demons entered her little body and took over. It started with her standing up in the cart. GiGi and I both put the fear of god in her but it had no effect. I take her out of the cart thinking that she would check out the stuff in the check out line. Nope, not so much. She ran from me. And when I caught her, she threw herself smack dab in the middle of the floor and not in our small little area...oh no...she ran out to where EVERYONE could see her and flopped around like a fish out of water screaming. Now when I get nervous, I laugh, uncontrollably. So here I am laughing (but not because I think the scene is funny but because I'm a nervous wreck and totally 100% mortified) and I hear some old man say "wow, she's not very happy."And my mother is standing back in the checkout pretending that she doesn't know us. Of course I can't say that I blame her on that one! So I finally manage to wrestle her into a death grip and head for the door, kicking and screaming the entire way. Had those Gypsies been out front I'd be kidless right now because I would have paid them to take her!

It baffles me that one mintue a kid can be happy as a clam and the next thing you know they turn into the spawn of Satan. Just look at these pictures. These were taken 45 mintues before the breakdown. The doctor gave her a sucker and she sat and ate it like a big girl. I'd never given her one but she apparently new exactly what to do with it and loved it. Little did I know what was about to go down in less than an hour!

Just Plain Silly

She's a nut! The girl turned 16 months and is having the time of her life doing the most random stuff in the world. Basically she's just "happy to be here". She preformed this little pose for us after dinner this evening. She dumped an entire bottle of bubble solution on the patio and then commenced to rub her head it and smile for the camera. Oh and did I tell you that we've now performed "Ring Around the Rosie" 2,938 times? And NO ONE is exempt from a chorus of Ring Around the Rosie, and I mean NO ONE. She flat out refuses to let the song go on if someone is sitting out. This includes making her daddy and Gracie's daddy hold hands, sing, and "all fall down." God what I wouldn't give to have that little number on video! Currently we are working on our kicks to New York, New York. But I don't mind one bit, singing for no apparent reason, especially Broadway tunes is right up my ally (and GiGi's).

Puddle Jumpin'

What can I say. We went outside. There was a huge puddle in front of our neighbors house. We let her go for it. And go for it she did! I don't think there was any water left in the puddle once Little Bit finished with it.

And I'm having bloggers block so I'll bore you with some mundane details of our piddly little lives. There has been a little change in ye ole schedule around casa de Carr. That sucker is pretty much chiseled in stone and I hate to mess with it. Normally we start Sophie's bedtime routine a little after seven and she's normally sound asleep by 7:45. However, for the past 3 nights she has screamed and cried for almost an hour when we put her in her crib to go "nite nite" (it's so cute when she says it!). So we decided that since she's getting a little older maybe she doesn't need quite as much sleep. This evening we didn't start the routine until 7:30 and everything went much smoother. Right now it's 8:30 and she's sound asleep. Did anyone else's kiddos go through and anti-nite nite phase around 16 months?

It's a girl!

This Sunday I helped host my friend Katie's baby shower. Little Jordan will be arriving on the scene towards the end of September and I can't wait to meet her! The shower went off without a hitch and the food was superb, thanks to my friend Jenny who is the BEST cook I know. Of course you can pretty much guarantee that when us girls are together there is good food to be had and plenty of it. I left the joint busting at the seams! No surprise there, I guess I can blame it on the massive amount of cupcakes, fruit tart, and ham that I shoved down my face!

Baby showers with soon to be new moms are so fun. It makes us somewhat new moms feel like old pros. As Katie opened her gifts you could hear us veteran moms around the room say things like "oh you'll really use that" or "you can't have enough of those." Katie got lots of cute things including a ton of baby girl clothes. People just LOVE to buy girl clothes, they are so darn cute! I would post a picture of Katie but I would have KILLED someone had they posted a picture of me bloated beyond recognition. So I won't do that to her, even though she does look super cute. So here are some decorations instead.

Can it get any cuter than a clothesline full of pink! Thanks Maria for the idea!

Stuff, stuff and more stuff!

Little tidbits of butter cream bliss!

Missing

Has anyone seen a little girl around? She goes by many names including but not limited to Sophia, Sophie, Sophie B, Soph B, and Little Bit. Oh and she's about 28 inches tall, has light brown hair, and I've yet to determine exactly what color you'd call her eyes. And she's got these big ol' lips and the cutest little gap between her two front teeth. Have you seen her?

Never mind. I must be going blind because I totally didn't see her.

I know it's blurry but this is my Little Bit in all her glory. She's just so darn cute these days and getting so big! We find her randomly walking around the house with a towel or blanket over her head like this just begging for someone to shout "WHERE'S SOPHIE?" Well she's either playing hid and go seek or she's a card carrying member of some extreme Islamic group that requires women to cover up!

Des vacances pour moi...

sans mon enfant! For all you non French speaking peeps that translates to "A vacation for me, without my child." (Don't ask me why I often feel the need to translate things into French, I guess it's because WVU made me waste 4 semesters on a foreign language so I figured I should bust it out sometimes). Anywho, yep I'm going on a little mini vaca with Steven. Actually I should just say that I'm going on a vacation. Steven has to go to Orlando for a conference and I'm tagging along. I'm going to be poolside with Harry Potter in one hand and a frozen cocktail in the other for 3 glorious days. I can hear the angles singing now "Hallelujah, Hallelujah." I had a blast at the beach with Sophie and family but I have to admit that I was a little disturbed over the fact thatI was unable to catch my 8 hours of deadly UV rays. I mean Steven was still able to get in over 2o some hours of golf, not fair! But all is not lost because in less than three weeks I'll be hitting the Royal Pacific Resort. It looks pretty darn fabulous and it's connected to Universal. And you know what makes me even happier? It's home to Emeril's Tchoup Chop!

Twin Pops

Here's Sophie and her BFF sharing a Popsicle after a dip in Gracie's pool. Notice the shoes on Gracie's tootsies. Those are Sophie's swim shoes but Gracie insisted that she put them on. Cracks me up. What ever one is doing the other has to do too. Of course right after they finished their Popsicles they got in a fight over the empty wrappers. Kids are odd little creatures what can I say.

And this just in on the Little Bit front. Steven called me at work this morning (he's in charge of getting her to day care) to tell me her latest trick. He walked into her room this morning and she was straddling the rail of the crib and riding it like a horse!!! And the crib is down as far as it can go! He caught her red handed so she didn't actually get to the floor but still! She's so freaking short I can't believe she can even do it! I always put her to bed when she's still awake and sometimes she cries b/c she "thinks" that it shouldn't be bed time. I'm scared to death that she'll now try to climb out! Des anyone have any experience with this or has anyone used those crib tents?

A Wedding Day

So most of you know that this past Saturday Steven and I headed to Indianapolis for my friend Beth's wedding. First, I have to say that Indy seems like a really cool place! I was really disappointed that we only planned a one night trip. I would have liked to have had more time to actually visit the city, after all we were in Peyton Manning country! Actually were in Fishers Indiana which is a really cute little burb of Indy. Second, the wedding was so much fun! Beth looked beautiful and so happy. Steven was happy that the wedding part was short and sweet. Men have no appreciation for a lovely ceremony. The reception was a blast too! I was able to hang with some of my favorite Chi-O chicks and relive the old days. And get this. My very best friend from when I was like 4 years old until I was 9 happens to live in Indianapolis and owns her own tux business. Well she did the tuxes for the wedding and was at the reception. I hadn't seen her in years (unless you count meeting up on myspace) and it was so much fun talking to her. It's a small world after all!

My favorite part of any wedding...the CAKE! I definitely went a little over board on the tilt.

Me and my hubby, who according to this picture has one eye bigger than the other.

Lobster Boys

So you know those money sucking machines where you stick a dollar in and you use the claw to try to win some POS stuffed animal? Well at our favorite dive of a restaurant at the beach they have one of those machines but instead of stuffed animals it contains live lobsters! So you stick in 2 bucks and try to win a lobster and they'll steam his butt up and bring him out to your table on a plate, complete with melted butter and wet naps! I figured that the chances of actually winning a lobster ranked up there with the odds of winning a stuffed animal. I've spent tons of money on those things during my childhood...I HAD to have that rainbow bright doll. Anyway, one try and hubby o mine, with the help of my nephews, managed to snag one of these delicious creatures. YUMMY! Although I think the boys got a little freaked out when they made the connection of live and kicking one minute and red and dead and on our table the next!

And I'm pretty much finished with our vacation pictures. I'm getting bored looking at them. We just got back from Beth's wedding in Indy this evening so I'm sure to have a new subect to post!

A Quick One

I don't have much time this evening. I'm busy doing laundry because on Saturday we are headed to Indy for Beth's (one of my sorority sisters) wedding. I can't wait to see all of my old friends!Little Bit will be hanging with GiGi and Papa this weekend.

I'm slowly going through the photos that I took of Sophie one evening on the beach. I took almost 100 but the ones with her and Steven look to be the best so here are a few more for now. From going through all of my photos I've noticed that I have a problem. I seem to take more photo's of backs rather than faces! What's up with that? This first pic is very similar to the first vacation photo that I posted.

And here's the first one in black and white. But I think I like the color version better.

Eatin' & Drinkin'

Who could ask for anything more? You guys have no idea how much Sophia is like me in the eating department (ok some of you might). Unlike my hubby who eats to live, I LIVE to eat. And I have the thighs to prove it! Going out to eat is like my all time favorite past time especially if it's a new restaurant. Sophia appears to be taking after me. The girl is like a vulture! She sees food (or a drink) and she comes running signing and saying "moe moe" (her version of more). But I have to admit that we have had a little problem lately. Recently she's started to throw food on the floor when she's finished eating. And I'm talking launching carrots like she's pitching for the Yankees. Or she'll get mad and dump her entire plate or smack everything off of her highchair tray! Anyone have any advice. A few people have told me to sternly say "NO" and after the next time, remove her from her highchair and dinner is over.

Dedicated to Janice

Meet Sophia's cousin Zachary. He's 11 months older than Sophia. So all last week I couldn't help but think of Janice. Her kids are 11 months apart and she deals with the non-stop action 24/7. I only spent one week with these two tots and they completely wore me out. And it's not like I had them all by myself! Zachary's mama was with us AND Grammy! I never realized it before but 11 months is a HUGE difference developmentally. They aren't at the play together stage but I was able to catch a few shots of them playing in the surf. Oh and a few times when I did have them by myself or with just Grammy people would comment on how cute my kids were. I QUICKLY corrected them and I so wanted to ask if they were crazy and/or thought I was crazy. Because in my mind I know that I would be in the nut house if they were mine and thus the reason wer are only having one child. Janice (and anyone else out there with 2 little ones close in age) I don't know how you do it. You are an amazing mama and awe inspiring. So here's to you blogger friend, I tip my virtual glass to you! Oh and my cousin Kelly truly IS insane. She has 4 boys and 3 of them are under four! So I'm not even gonna go there. (love ya Kel!!!)

I just love how she has her hands over her face!

Up Close and Personal

Ya don't say? This sign at Barefoot Landing totally cracks me up. I'm shocked! Alligators may bite? Do you think some moron actually got his arm taken off before they had to put this sign up? Now that I got that off my chest, on to our vacation. Last week Andrea mentioned how a crazy woman at the Cinci zoo ticked off a lion by taking pictures of him. Well I COULD NOT pass up this opportunity. Granted this is a tiger but like Little Bit knows the difference. To her both lions and tigers go "ARRRRRR." So when we came across this fella we had to stop for a look see. At least this man eater was enclosed behind glass. Sophie could not take her eyes off him and he paced back and forth and would get right up in her face! She was mesmerized!

After leaving Mr. Tiger we came across the carousel. Aren't carousels usually slow paced? This sucker went warp speed and blew her hair straight up in the air. And the best part, she got to ride a lion!

And finally we came across a Pirate which made me SUPER happy. Why I didn't get my picture taken with him instead of these two clowns I'll never know. They obviously don't appreciate pirates. Check out the looks on their faces. Steven is saying "get this stinky hat off my head." And Sophie is saying "just get me out of here!

Ok for some strange reason, blogger isn't letting me put a title on this post. Hmmm.. Anyway, I'll be honest, day one started out a little on the rough side. We drove during the night and arrived at the Grand Strand around 6 am. We handed Sophie B. off to her PapPap Sam and Steven and I manged to sleep for a few hours but that definitely was not enough. Especially when you wake up and have to deal with a one year old who sawed logs while her mommy and daddy drove all night, a two year old who was up and ready to go, and two five year olds who wanted to break out their boogie boards! But we sucked it up and had some fun on the beach. We also managed to squeeze in a visit before dinner with my college friend Maria and little Miss. Ashley. Maria and I were best buds during our stint at WVU. She lives in DC now and I don't get to see her very often. I was so excited that we were all going to be at the beach together! I had yet to met Ashley and she's already 7 months old!!!

Chubby legs on the beach!

Sophie and Ashley meeting for the first time. Ashley is the happiest baby I have ever seen in my life! And Sophie was all about giving her kisses!

Getting ready for dinner. HOWEVER...they sky opened up and poured down rain after this shot was taken. Needless to say we ate dinner the first night at BURGER KING! Can you believe that, I still shudder at the thought!!! But when a kid's gotta eat, a kid's gotta eat.

I need a vacation...

from my vacation!!!!! Oh my god. That's all I can say. Oh my god. I seriously could end it there but I'll elaborate. To those of you who already have children you can ignore the following because you've been there and done that but to those of you who have yet to have children or have yet to take your children on a vacation listen up. Going on vacation with your children is unlike anything you have ever done in your life. There is nothing and I mean NOTHING to compare it to. Think back to every single trip you've ever taken in your life. Now etch those memories into your brain because those kind of trips are a thing of the past. BUT after you take your little one on vacation you have a whole set of unforgettable memories to file away despite the sheer exhaustion you've experienced!

We made it home this afternoon. I have a billion pics to go through but I thought I'd start out with one that I'm super proud of! Sophie and daddy-o playing in the surf. We had a fun and crazy time. As I go through my pics I'll tell you all about our trip. But for now it's off to unpack and unwind.

Greetings

Well we made it! We pulled an all nighter and drove through the night arriving here at 6 in the morning. Sophia slept the ENTIRE way and woke up as we were pulling into the condo, which must have been nice because Steven and I looked like third world refugees when we got out of the car. Sophia LOOOOOVES the beach. At first she wasn't a big fan of the sand but now she's all about it and cries when we bring her inside! And I've already taken some super cute pics!! Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers last week. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends!