Just one

I stayed home from work today, sick with a head cold. YUCK! Actually, I probably should have went to work because I was bored to tears. I think I watched 5 straight hours of the Food Network. So here's just one of Little Bit that I took this weekend. It had just rained and the girl LOOOOVES to play in puddles. GiGi bought her the worlds cutest pair of rain boots and "brella" so we went outside and hit the streets. 

Character Breakfast & Week 5

Without further ado, here's a few pictures from Saturday. We had a whole table full of kidd-os, including Gracie, Emma & Ethan, and Hailey & Max. The Soph was super shy at first. But of course as we were leaving she didn't want to leave Dora's side. She went gaga over Cinderella and kept telling the girl that she was "pretty" and "bo-tee-ful."  That had to make ol' Cinderella feel pretty darn good.  They also had some huge bounce houses set up. And of course there were tears when I pulled her out of one of those to go home.  But it was HOT! And when mama gets hot, the party is over. But we'll DEFINITELY be back next year! And this post is gonna count as week 5, in the "Sophie & Me" posts. 

Andrea and the Twinkies were there too! 

Ta-da! El Captain Jack Sparrow! You can even tell that he had the walk down! 

I love how Hailey is patiently waiting for her turn. 

Little Bit wanted to hug "Rella" so bad, but alas, she chickened out every time. 

Keys?

Check. Phone? Check. Mountaineer hat? Double check! 

Forget the shoes. Who needs shoes at the Walmart? 

I'm also not sure what kind of wireless plan our cordless house phone has. 

I love seeing her in her daddy's WVU hat. Especially after spending the morning in Turd country(oh did I type that out loud? I meant Herd country) at the Character Breakfast.  It was sooooo much fun, except of course the part where Marco the Buff-a-ho was announced. I guess he's a nice enough buffalo but the seed of hatred must be planted early. We'll DEFINITELY be making it a yearly event. Best part, I got my pic taken with Captain Jack Sparrow! And this dude was an AWESOME Cpt. Jack. Had the swagger down perfectly and did awesome at staying in character! Thanks again Lara for inviting us!

Boys Boys Boys

Sunday we headed over to my cousin's house to help celebrate her little boy's 1st birthday. BUT she has  not one, not two, not three, but four boys! And I might have their ages wrong, but there's Travis 12, Andrew 5, Evan 3, and Daren who just turned 1. YIKES!  I don't know how she does it but she manages to run a well oiled machine. I don't think ANYTHING bothers her, unless maybe one of them came running in the house because his leg just fell off.  But it might take a little more, like their head popping off. But boys are messy and Little Bit was TOTALLY not cool with it. Daren making a mess with his cake just about pushed her over the edge.  I may pick on Little Bit a lot, but the girl is an awesome mess free eater. 

The Birthday Boy who has the bluest eyes! Notice Little Bit's hand inching up on the tray. 

Girlfriend waiting for some CAKE. She's celebrated ALOT of birthday's in the past few months. 

And so it begins....

This cute little girl....

Who can't even peel a banana and who is wearing a "pippie shirt" (hippie shirt) in these pics,  is in LOOOOOVE. I'm talking, blushing, getting shy when he talks to her, cute little smile, LOVE. And do you know what makes it worse? Worse than a two year old having a serious crush. She has two, yes, TWO crushes! 

The first lucky fella, is sort of like one of those celebrity crushes. Sort of like the one I have for Sawyer on Lost. You know, the kind of guys that you only see in pictures and on TV. So lucky fella number one is Steven's best friend Josh, who was best man in our wedding. Now Little Bit has only met Josh a few times. But since she discovered our wedding album a few weeks ago, she has become OBSESSED with Josh and his picture. Wants to look at it EVERY night and EVERY morning. And we hear "Josh is niiiiice" and "Josh funny." We've even had to call Josh a few times to tell him "nite nite." 

Now the second lucky fella is more "real" in the sense that she sees him everyday and his name is Chris or "Kiss" as Sophie calls him. He's about 20 and works at the daycare with the school age kids. So we see him every morning as he sits out front with the school kids while they wait for the bus. And Sophie is 100% smitten. And when he talks to her, oh my god, it's like cartoon birds appear and start singing. Girl friend gets an ear to ear grin, lowers her head, GIGGLES, and says "hiiiiii Kiss." Apparently, "Kiss" is "nice" and "funny" too. At least she picks good qualities in her suitors. 

Poor Steven is gonna be totally gray headed before she turns 13. And remind me again why I prayed every night for a little girl? I got one alright, and she's a piece of work! We are gonna be in deep caca.

The Great Outdoors

Are you guys totally lovin' this warm weather?!  For 3 days in a row now, we've ate dinner outside. I LOOOOVE eating outside. And Sophie is lovin' it too. Everyday now she looks at me around dinner time and says "eat outside?" Of course, right now it's spring and the bugs aren't eating us alive. Talk to me around July and I'll probably be back in the house. We desperately need a new grill. But I can't seem to convenience the hubster of that. 

He seems to have the grill under  control here. 

I'm definitely NOT a food photo-expert but I had to post a pic of these AWESOME hot wings that we whipped up. Another blogger hooked me up with the recipe, thanks again Sarah! 

And Little Bit and daddy taking an after dinner stroll. 

Week 4

Ole girl still hasn't figured out how to ride her tri-cycle. In fact, pushing it seems to be a lot more fun than actually riding. So in this pic, she's a little p-o-ed because I'm not letting her push it. Man, do I need to get my hair "did."  

The Circus

Well we survived the Greatest Show on Earth. I have to admit that I am absolutely SHOCKED that we made it through the entire show. We only had to take Sophie out once to give her a "talkin' to" because she would NOT stay in the same spot for more than 5 minutes. Not a surprise. I think she would have preferred being down there performing with the circus rather than sitting in the stands. So here's a few pics.

Tip o'the day. Don't wear a skirt when riding a tiger. 

The ONLY time that Gracie and Sophie sat in their respective seats. Had we not bought them seats, they would have wanted their OWN seats. It's a loose loose situation. 

This was Stephanie almost the ENTIRE time. Love their faces! 

Total awe. 

This is what the Greatest Show on Earth does to a girl. 

Smile, and the world smiles back.

or, in the case of Little Bit's new smile that she now flashes for the camera, the world looks at you like your NUTS! 

I don't know why she decided to start striking this particular pose when we tell her to smile. And what's up with the closed eyes? Crazy kid! Oh and LOVE the slow melt popsicles, the ROCK! 

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes. I've been 30 for less than 24 hours and so far so good! 

The Day After

So it's April 16th and we've started a new tradition. An "after tax day breakfast celebration." This morning before we rushed out the door to work and daycare, we took an extra hour and had breakfast together.  Yum-o! Of course I needed a nap afterwards and totally didn't feel like going to work! It's soooooo awesome to have my husband back. And Sophie is loving having her daddy to play with in the evening. So here's Sophie drawing on her Bob Evans place mat! She was REALLY good in the restaurant. I probably just jinxed us! 

Month 25

I feel like I should start this month's post by saying that I realize that your birthday was on the 16th day of March and not the 15th. I was looking through the previous months and realized that I always post on the night before the 16th. Just thought I'd clear that up. So now, on to month 25.

Dear Sophie B

This month it's just been the two of us. Daddy had to work countless hours so we've been having lots of girl time. Lots and lots of girl time. And I've love it, and I've, err...well I've loved it. But I will say that your daddy is due to give you a bath for like the next two months. I need a break!

Your vocabulary has completely taken off this month. Girl friend, you are now talking in complete sentences and can carry on a mini conversation with us. Every day you amaze us with some new word that you bust out. And I'm proud to say that you've YET to repeat any curse words. I've really been working on that. I'm sure it's bound to happed. You are my daughter. And at 3 I once told my great great uncle Lewis to get his GD chickens off the porch because there was chicken sh*t everywhere. Nice. And that my dear, is the DNA that flows through your little body. Embrace it kidd-o. 

In just the past month, a new woman has entered our lives, and her name is Dora. And apparently, she's the center of the earth and we all revolve around her. Swiper the Fox has now swiped all but one of your pacifiers while you were sleeping.  "OH MAN." He just needs to swipe one more and you'll be free from your nighttime crack pipe for all of eternity. YAY!  

And your new favorite phrase in the whole wide world is "Who's dat?" Or "What dat?" And we now read no less than 10 books a night. And it's getting to the point where I can't skip pages. You totally call us out! Overall, you are just growing WAY too fast. I know that any moment I'm going to take you to school and your teachers are going to inform me that you'll soon be moving to the next room.  I look around and you and Gracie are now two of the oldest kids in your class. 

So now we are heading toward month 26. We have lots of stuff planned as it gets warmer. And I can't wait for you to experience everything! And I'm asking you now, PLEASE don't give us a hard time when we move you into your big girl bed. PLEASE for the love of god, stay in your bed. We value our sleep more than health insurance. 

Happy 25th month Little Bit! 

Week 3

Disclaimer: I'm not claiming that these pics of Sophia and me are the best pics in the world. Infact, in my personal opinion some of them are HORRIBLE, as you'll see in the following photo. However, I'm just keeping it real. So years later Sophie can look back and say yep, that's my mama.

Case in point: 

If this isn't the real me, I don't know what is!! What makes me really laugh is that I have on my uniform, again. I go through AT LEAST 2 or 3 white v-neck tee shirts a summer! I love 'em! 

Easy Sunday

Time for one of those random posts. We had an easy sunday. Visited Papaw Rocky, baked brownies, and made dinner. So here's some random things going on. 

-Only two more days left of tax season. YAY! 

-Only 4 more days until I turn the big 3-0. Ouch! 

-Operation big girl room has started. I ordered Sophie big girl furniture last Friday and I've had her bedding for about a month now. But there's this little voice in my head that keeps telling me that I'm crazy for wanting to move her out of her crib. I'm probably going to be opening up a HUGE can of worms.

-Operation "Pumpkin Patch" is also under way at Papaw Rocky's farm. Today he did some clearing and burning. Last year we headed to this sad little pumpkin patch (the only one in the area) on the side of the interstate and paid WAY to much for some crappy pumpkins and a photo opportunity. So a few months ago I had a epiphany. Rocky has a 600 acre farm, pumpkin seeds cost pennies, so we'll have our OWN pumpkin patch. Complete with a party this fall for all of our friends and family with kids! FREE PUMPKINS! We'll probably have pumpkins coming out of our ears!

-We are 6 days away from the "Greatest Show on Earth." I just hope that Sophie isn't the "Greatest Brat on Earth." Sadly, I can't wait for the $10 bag of cotton candy. 

-We have some Memorial Day plans in the works with Gracie and her parents. A trip to the Pittsburgh Zoo and Idlewild park (home to Mr. Roger's neighborhod). Sophie LOVED the zoo last year and I have a feeling that it's going to a thousand times better this year.

-Oh and finally. And this is big so you might want to sit (of course you probably are sitting if you are on the computer). The WIGGLES are coming to Pittsburgh in AUGUST! OMG. This is like the Beatles come to America big. Sophie just might have a heart attack seeing Jeff live and in person! 

I'll leave you with Sophie and Oscar the Boxer. You can see the love on Oscar's face. 

Movie Night

Doesn't everyone love Mary Poppins? I do! So I'm making it my solum duty to make sure that I brainwash my child with everything that I loved as a child. This includes, but is in no way limited to: Mary Poppins, Annie, the Smurfs, Fraggle Rock, the Wizard of Oz, Swiss Family Robinson, the Muppets, all Disney movies, and an obscure little number called the "The Last Unicorn." Has anyone besides me and my cousin EVER watched this bizarre-o 80's movie? We watched that thing until we wore the VHS tape out! 

Anyway, Little Bit and I came home this evening, popped in Mary P, covered the ottoman with a towel, and had a dinner of COMPLETE junk, corn dogs, grapes, popcorn, and sprite. It was supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Proving Me Wrong

So today's doctor visit was the COMPLETE and UTTER opposite of last week's visit. Of course I'm happy about it BUT this visit probably set a world record. We walked in and before Sophie even had a chance to pull the "I pee" trick, they called us back.  So I couldn't really put her to the test. But she did do well while we waited on the doctor. I pulled out the $1 etch-a-sketch and she sat on the table and played with it like a big girl. She weighs 25 pounds and is 34 inches tall. The nurse, however, go an earful when it was shot time. Little Bit was totally ticked off and looked at her said "OUCH, dat a boo-boo." 

Oh and she is now completely paranoid and petrified of alligators and 100% believes that one lives behind GiGi's house. And apparently he followed us home and bit her because when I got her out of the car she kept yelling "ALLIGATOR, I need ice." And then he apparently decided to jump in the bath tub with her because all of the sudden she jumped up and screamed " I WANT OUT OUT, DARES A ALLIGATOR."  She's crazy. Perhaps even certifiable.  I'm gonna have to ask her teachers if they have been reading alligator stories at school. Or like I said, she's just nuts. 

Wish Me Luck...

...and send good thoughts, and pray for me. Tomorrow at 3 o'clock I will be escorting Sophie to Dr. C's office for her 2 year old well visit. Yeah, the SAME place where we had that lovely experience last week. I have a few new cheap-o toys in her backpack and I plan on taking some animal crackers and juice. And maybe I should try to locate a stun-gun between now and tomorrow afternoon. 

Here's Little Bit yesterday afternoon before I stripped her down and we gave Oscar the Boxer a bath. Last year I bought this cute pillowcase dress off Ebay but it was always too big. Looks like it will fit this year! 

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Making Al Gore Smile

It's probably no surprise but Steven and I are undoubtedly two of the most wasteful humans on the planet. We leave every light in our house on, run our air conditioner constantly, throw EVERYTHING away, leave the water running while doing dishes, shaving, or cleaning. I could go on and on. But I won't because we are literally turning over a new leaf around here, a green leaf that is and all of the cool kids are doing it. Maybe it's the arm and leg cost of gas. Or maybe it's because I don't want Sophie to grow up in some crap-0 trashy world. And the PENGUINS! Dear god, the penguins, their ice cap is melting right under their little webbed feet! 

So I signed us up for recycling, which in the past i saw as a HUGE pain in the you know what.  Actually we are the first people in our hood (over 150 houses) that have the yellow recycling can (but ok in their defense our trash company just started a recycling program in February). I now have canvas bags to take to Walmart (those crappy plastic bags rip when you put in 2 cans anyway). Oh and here's a little fun fact for you,  did you know that thepetroleum used to make 14 plastic bags could drive a car one mile.  And lets see, we are slowing switching out all of our light bulbs to those ubber expensive long lasting suckers. AND, AND I'm currently looking for some kind of clothes line to use this summer. When I was little my mom ALWAYS hung clothes out on a line and I LOVED the way they smelled. 

So no promises that I'm going to be 100% environmentally correct. I'll still be driving my SUV. But at least we'll be doing something and that's gotta count for something right?! 

And here's my little nature lover being a little grumpy over me asking her to put a Coke can in the recycle can. Actually, this is the same expression that Steven gave me too! Looks like she's gonna hurl it at me! 

Week 2

Boy, you can really see the enthusiasm on Little Bit's face in this pic. In her defense she had just about had it at this point. We had her pictures taken at five, then we went out to eat, and then we came home to do some stuff outside. And THEN I remembered that I hadn't taken a weekly photo of us. Oops. So this is as good as it gets for this week. Her two year old pics turned out great! She was definitely in a picture taking mood, and performed her take on the Cha Cha Slide for everyone. I'll figure out a way to post some of them.  

Busy Boppers

Yesterday we helped to celebrate Miss Hailey's 3rd birthday at a really cool place called "Busy Boppers." It's sort of like a kiddie gym. Tons of stuff to climb on, swing on, jump on, and ride on.  Basically, a kid's dream. AND a mommy's dream too becayse you can just let your kid run wild and when they are finished they are good and tired! Little Bit was a little shy at first but it didn't take her long to start bouncing around the place like a escapee from an insane asylum! 

Little Shoes all lined up.

 

The Birthday Girl

A little "monkey see" 

 "monkey do" action

Emma was there...

And so was Ethan! 

Thanks Heather for inviting us! 

All Girl

Are boys obsessed with the phone too? Little Bit could talk on the phone 24/7. We have to call GiGi every single day. Of course somedays she'll call and talk up a storm. Other days, she wants to call just so she can push the button and hang up. Regardless, I have a feeling that she's gonna want a cell phone by the time she's 5! 

I ♥ Etsy

I absolutely, positively, without a doubt love Etsy. And if you haven't heard of Etsy then you are missing out on one of the greatest e-shops in the history of the Internet. It's ALL handmade, awesome stuff. One of a kind stuff that you just can't get at your local Walmart or even, yes even, Tar-jay. So the other day I was using the new "pounce" feature on Etsy and came across something that I just had to have (btw, the pounce feature will show you items that have just sold, so you can check out different shops). And here it is:

Get it? I hope so. Ok some of you may be a little slow, just kidding, I love you all, but it's "Sophie" and a "Bee", "Sophie B." And I think it's ADORABLE! An super nice lady named Lea who runs the shop called "Ohana By Lea" custom made it for me. And the best part, it was only $28 including shipping! She can customize any type of mother's necklace (or regular old necklace) your little heart desires. So if you haven't, by ALL means kill some time at work and check out Etsy. Just WAIT until I show you what I ordered for my nephew and the Twinkies' 3rd birthdays. It totally ROCKS. 

So who wears the pants...

in your family? It seems as though we are having a little power struggle around here. And seeing as I'm the queen bee that causes a problem. A little 26 pound person who also lives here has been throwing fits lately when she doesn't get her way. I told you that I took her to the doctor yesterday but what I didn't tell you is that she was a complete a-hole while we were waiting to be seen. Yep, I think a-hole pretty much describes it. 

We walk into the waiting room, full of sick quiet kids and infants and IMMEDIATELY Sophie starts telling everyone "I POOP!" followed by "I PEE!" As we are potty training, it's hard to ignore that little comment. But I am quickly learning that she uses it as an excuse because she knows that she gets to go somewhere (i.e. down the hall to the bathroom). So we go to the bathroom, not once, not twice but THREE times. Each time her behavior getting worse and worse. Running down the hall, not wanting to go back in the waiting room.  Even pulled my hair (visisons of CPS taking her away stopped me from totally flipping out when she pulled that stunt). Finally, the forth time she screamed "I PEE," I lost it and said "too bad, I guess you'll pee in your pant." I mean seriously, it's like the "Little Boy Who Cried Wolf!" She completely emptied a box of tissues. And she laid in the floor kicking and screaming when I tried to make her sit in a chair. It didn't help that some people were laughing. Which makes it worse because she thinks she's putting on a show! As she writhed in the floor, all I could do was look at an older woman (probably a grandma) and say "Lord help me." I don't know what in the heck to do with her! I've thought about going to the dollar store and buying a bunch of crappy toys to pull out in situations like this. It's like she's bored. But who knows if that would work. Maybe I'm just doomed to deal with an a-hole until she's 25!