Sophie is a Monkey!

I know I haven't blogged in a while and I have a whole backlog of pics to prove it! I figured I better just start somewhere. These pics are what I found my little one doing after turning my back for two minutes. If you know Sophie, you know she's always been a climber. If you've seen her recently, you know two things....(1)Sophie likes to talk in the 3rd person and (2)Sophie likes to pretend to be all kind of different animals. When I found her like this, she proudly said to me, "Mommy, Sophie's a monkey!"

PS to Grandmas: Of course I made her get right down after making sure I had some good shots. :)

Cheap Labor

This Week in Pictures

Here are a few pictures from the week. You can definitely tell a "school" day from a non-school day.

PS. Will you check out those long legs? Does anyone else remember when Sophie's whole body practically fit in one of Dustin's hands?! :)

First Day of School!

Today is a big day. Sophie is going to her first day of "school."!!! She's all ready with her big hairbow and backpack. She's very excited. But don't worry everybody I am sure Mommy will be ok too. :)

School Time!

Next Wednesday, Sophie will have her first day of "school." She'll be going to a two day, 2K program. Today she had a mini-visit where she got to meet her teacher and see her classroom. It fell on Clemson's sacred "First Friday," so of course Daddy insisted on a Tiger outfit. Go Tigers!

A Day at the Zoo

Saturday was a really nice day, so we decided to take Sophie to the zoo. Every time she goes, it's like a brand new experience for her as she gets older. Here are some pics from our day. (Click on "View All Images" to view the pictures in a regular format.)

Being 2

My Super Sweet Family

I have to let everyone know what a super, great family I have, especially my husband! Friday was my 36th birthday and I thought I was just having a nice birthday lunch with my Mom and Dad Friday afternoon and then a nice birthday dinner with my husband Saturday night. Well, MUCH to my surprise we had weekend house guests! Julie, Matt and Mackenzie drove after work Friday all the way to Greenville to help me celebrate. All planned by my sneaky husband!

While Friday night, I thought Dustin was just being super sweet by offering to get me whatever I needed, he was really just trying to keep me out of the kitchen so I wouldn't see all of the food in the refrigerator. He planned (and prepared) a really awesome dinner for all of my family. It was very special because there is nothing I love more, or could want, then for all of my family to be together.

Babysitters were already planned for Saturday night and our celebration continued with all of us going to a fun new restaurant.

It was a really, really great weekend and a birthday I will never forget. Thank you Julie and Matt for making the effort to drive all the way here. Thank you Mom and Dad for being a part of the weekend (and having me, of course). And Thank you Dustin for being my sweet, thoughtful husband. I love you all very much!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Pics to probably be included on Julie's blog since I was too surprised to think about my camera. :))

Our Squirrel

Re-Decorating

Nobody told me that children are born with natural interior decorator tendencies. Since Sophie has been born, she has decided that my coffee table works better in another room so she has more room to dance, that corners of rooms look much better with baskets of toys or books, that my once nicely furnished office really looks much better with a rug of interlocking puzzle pieces and that apple juice stains on the floor are always in fashion. Now apparently she has decided to teach me that there is another meaning to "window treatments." Ahhh....such small prices to pay for such a sweet face. Thankfully, Big Bird never goes out of style. :)

Our Mackenzie Time

After much begging, Mom and I convinced Matt to bring Mackenzie to us for the weekend while Julie had a girls' weekend nearby. Here are a few pics so that Julie knows that we didn't keep Mackenzie in the closet. Note the ever present post-activity snack pic. No event would be complete without a Sophie and Mackenzie snack shot.

FINALLY...Beach Pics!

A Helpful Hint for Play Dates

Yesterday, Sophie and I hosted a play date/pool party complete with a "big pool," "alligator pool," Nemo sprinkler, 7 moms, 8 little boys, 4 little girls, and one baby. (Crazy, I know) With every play date, of course, are snacks for the kids and when you are outside, it's hard to keep the pesky flies away. I read about a helpful little trick that I decided to try out and it actually worked! Quarter a lemon and stick some cloves into the cut sides. Set out the lemons on your table to keep the flies away. Apparently, the flies don't like the citrus scent or the musky smell of the cloves. I had a garbage bag a few feet away and there were flies all over it, but not a single one on the table with things like goldfish and watermelon. I was really amazed that this worked so well, so I thought I would share.

PS. For the Grandmas (and special aunties) who could probably care less about my helpful hints and only want, as always, more pics of Sophie.....I will try to have some more soon. :)

Still Cute

Just because I don't post all the time, doesn't mean she isn't still cute! :)


Sophie and I had our first Mommy/Daughter lunch today. I know that seems weird but there has always been someone else with us when we have lunch out. Today is rainy, so we went to Barnes & Nobles, picked out some books, then had lunch at Mimi's Cafe like big girls. We had a lot of fun (which means Mommy's stress level was low the whole time) and only experienced one "outside voice" scream at the table. :)

Friends for Lunch

Shari and Lily came over for lunch and some Alligator pool time today. Little Lily is getting so big! She looked so totally cute in her little bathing suit with her legs hanging over the pool side. Sophie, of course, was more than happy to be Lily's entertainer and Ms. Shari's helper (whether the help was needed or not). :)

Hope we see you guys again very soon!

Thank You Ms. Ali!

Those of you who have checked out Ali Wilson's blog, know that she has been extremely crafty lately making her own bows and a dress for her little Stirling. Well, Sophie has been the lucky recipient of Ali's craftiness. Ali made us a wonderful bag of beautiful bows for Sophie's hair. I have waited soooo long for Sophie to finally keep her bows in her hair, so this is the best present ever!!!!

So THANK YOU MS. ALI (Stirling's Mommy)!!!!!!!! We LOVE our new hairbows!!!!!!

Mommy to the Rescue

So here I am today, enjoying a nice Sunday evening with my book and a glass of wine. Daddy is out taking the dog and Sophie for a walk in the neighborhood. I hear a noise and look up from my book. "Hmm...what is that noise?" I don't know, so I read a few more lines of my book. I hear the noise again. I look up. Oh my! RAIN is pouring from the sky! I think to myself, "Dustin needs my help!" So I run out and grab his large golf umbrella thinking that he will need this to cover the stroller and Abby. As I get to the end of the driveway and the rain starts to pour harder, I realize "duh" Dustin doesn't need an umbrella to save him....he needs a car!

I race to get my keys, jump in the car and start down the streets looking for my little family. I finally find them huddling underneath a tree....a big guy, holding a little pink girly umbrella (thank goodness for mommies who are prepared), a dog who doesn't see what the big deal is, and a little girl with a look of bewilderment. As I pull around the corner, I wish I could have captured the relieved and silly grin on Dustin's face! :-)

Everyone got bustled into the car and back home safely. However, it was such a nice summer rain, we just had to let Sophie play in it for a few minutes.

Thank goodness for mommies!!!!!

Swim Diapers

Sophie LOVES her "swim" diapers because she knows that if she is wearing them then she gets to play in the pool. She is constantly getting into the package. Today she decided to take matters into her own hands when I didn't move fast enough for her taste.

Relaxing by the Pool

Snacks

Sophie and I recently went to see Julie and Mackenzie while Matt was out of town. It's so cute how well they get along. They play really well, but I think their most favorite thing to do is have snacks!

Mommy's Get Away and Lesson Learned

A couple of weeks ago, I had the most fortunate opportunity to go out of town and have some much needed "mommy" time. Sophie and Daddy had quite a time as well. Sophie got to do quite a few things that she probably would not be able to do with Mommy. She got to ride in Daddy's "ruck" (truck), she got to run wild through the halls of Daddy's office, and she had pizza for dinner!

The best part though was getting to run around the field behind our house while Daddy hit golf balls. These pictures show how much fun she was having, but I would like to point out that what is also funny about these pictures is her OUTFIT! Yes, that is a floral skirt. Yes, that is a Mast General t-shirt that doesn't really fit. Yes, those are tennis shoes with lace socks. And, Yes, the lace of those socks are flipped up around her ankles!

So to all of my mommy friends, please take my advice....if you too have the fortunate opportunity to have a little away time by yourself.....PICK OUT YOUR CHILDREN'S CLOTHES BEFORE YOU LEAVE!!!!! :-)

We're Back!

Sorry everybody....Mommy's been a complete slacker! :) I am not even going to make excuses for myself because I know everyone is busy and everyone does a MUCH better job keeping their blog updated. So, with that said, keep an eye out because I am going to be adding a few new posts today. Then, hopefully, I can start keeping up again.

Dress Up

Ok, so maybe girls never really stop wanting to dress their dolls! Last year, Sophie wouldn't hardly keep her sunglasses on. This year she loves putting them on and looking at herself in the mirror. That means I get to buy ones that match my doll's (I mean my daughter's) outfits. :)

PS Grandparents....we have our first 2-year molar! Let's hope all of them pop out without us knowing about it.

My First Fingerpaints

For the past week, Sophie has had the worst stomach bug. As anyone with a sick toddler can tell you, entertaining them can be a chore. So, of course, as any mommy would, I bought the grocery store out of any and every cheesy little toy item I thought might entertain her (and help keep my sanity). Yesterday was the first day she started really feeling better and we had our first experience with the finger paints I found! Ok...well...they were actually the Crayola kind that are invisible everywhere but on the special paper. I'll work my way up to the really messy paints. She wasn't sure what to think at first, but figured if Mom was letting her put her fingers in something messy, then she would go for it! She has on her special "art" smock. She looks like a little kindergartner!

Has anyone seen Sophie's shoe?

Our Sunny Day Downtown

This weekend we were supposed to be in Auburn to see Julie, Matt and Mackenzie. Unfortunately, our poor little Mackenzie is sick and we had to stay home. So instead, Dustin, Sophie and I spent the day downtown. We stopped at the children's water fountain. The water sprays up in different intervals, so just as kids walk over to stick their hands in the water, it disappears and pops up somewhere else. Sophie had a BLAST! She shrieked and screamed and laughed. She thought it was the best. It didn't take her long to figure out that if she stayed in one spot, the water would eventually come back. As you can tell from the pics, we started with a dry girl, but took home a very wet one! :)

Cool Biker

You've seen her on her bike and you've seen her in her sunglasses. But...have you seen her on her bike, in her sunglasses?!

My New Sunglasses