Daddy's Girl

These pictures were taken on April 9, 2011, Sophia was 5 1/2 months old.

She loves her Daddy!

Walking Backward, But not Looking Back

We had a nice day.  Well, except for some disheartening news.   Both kids slept in until 8 a.m., so we only had about an hour and 15 minutes to get ready before swim lessons.  We headed to swim lessons, and I was on my game today as a mom.  I remembered the swim bag and the diaper bag.  And we made it to the YMCA 15 minutes early.  Sophia was dropped off at the Kids Zone, and she did pretty well.  She didn't fuss, and actually wanted to go play.  She did turn back to me, and started walking toward me, but the employees helped me by picking her up so she wouldn't cry and I could go with Zander to swim lessons.  Zander is doing so well at swim lessons.  He used the floating device that goes on his back, and was holding the noodle to try to help him swim.  It was cute, while in swim lessons, the last thing we did was play with the ball in the pool.  We are all in a circle and the kids push the ball through the water to the next person in the circle.  Almost every time the little girl pushed the ball to Zander, Zander said thank you.  It was very cute.  My little polite boy.  Then as we were walking out of the YMCA, Zander decided he was going to walk backwards.  It was very cute!  He did it all on his own.  I don't think he has ever seen anyone walk backwards, so I am not sure where he learned to do that.  Another memory I want to remember is how friendly and sociably Zander is.  Zander says hi to everyone, and then he asks them "What are you doing?"  And everyone seems to answer that question.  It is very cute.  Sophia was a very happy baby today.  Okay, let me rephrase that.  Sophia was a happy baby/toddler this afternoon.  I just realized that she is really not a baby anymore. SO, I guess I have to start calling her a toddler instead of a baby.  Sad.  This morning Sophia was fussy and clingy.  She wanted me to hold her all the time.  It was hard getting dressed, and getting ready because every time I put her down she would cry and fuss and the come over to me and try to sit in my lap or climb all over me.  I put both of them down for naps around 12:30 or 12:45 p.m..  Sophia only slept for about an hour.  When she did wake up, she was a very happy girl.  I think she enjoyed getting mommy all to herself.  And I am sure she enjoyed not having her big brother pushing her or grabbing all the toys out of her hand, as he tends to do lately.  She was walking all over the playroom/basement just smiling and giggling.  I had the T.V. on at one point as background noise and she started dancing when some music came on the T.V.  She was getting a little sassy with her dancing and just moving her shoulders up and down.  That was the first time I saw her do that.  It was so cute!  I wish I got it on video, and I tried to have her do it again, but it didn't happen again.  I love that girl.  She is full of joy and love.  And she loves to smile.    

Sadly, I have not been talking a lot of pictures lately.  Today I took videos of Sophia, but no photos.  I need to start taking more pictures.  I am so disappointed with myself. 

The disheartening news is that we had to pay $1600 to repair a friend's car.  My husband hit my friend's car while it was parked in our driveway.  It happened about 1 1/2 to 2 months ago while we were car pooling to work because I was orientating her.  We knew we would be paying for the repairs of the car, but we just didn't realize it would be so much money.  But, I know it was just an accident.  And accidents happen.  I know God will provide for us.  We just have to be really good with our money and budget really well for the next few months or longer.

And since I have a hard time posting a blog without a picture, I thought I would post a few pictures, not of today, but some from this past week. 

These first 3 pictures were taken on Sunday, January 22, 2012

Sophia is a walking machine.  It is so fun to see her walking all over the place. 

And this picture was taken on January 17, 2012

Home from Work

Zander driving our car on September 25, 2011

This is Sophia on March 11, 2011

While I was at work tonight I called my husband to talk to him about his day. He was getting ready to put Zander to bed, and asked if I wanted to talk to Zander. Of course I said yes! Zander got on the phone, and got a little whiny and wanted me to come home. It broke my heart. I wish I could have come. My poor boy didn't understand why I couldn't come home. Thankfully he didn't get too upset, and I told him I loved him and said I would see him in the morning. I love my little boy. I love both of my children. And I am so blessed that God gave them to us!

Snowy fun, birthday party fun, and small group fun

We had a fun day today!  The kids got up in enough time this morning to play outside in the snow before church.  We had fun making snow angels with Zander.  And Zander and I had fun sledding down our little hill in the back yard.  Zander was disappointed because he couldn't build a snowman.  The snow was too powdery.

Zander has his hand up because he does not want his picture taken. 

Some of these pictures are grainy because they are from my cell phone. 

    After playing in the snow we went back into the house.  Brian gave the kids baths and we got ready for church.  Church was great.  I love our new church.  It was a great sermon ending the series on listening to God.

After church we headed to Fuddrucker's for a birthday party.  It was Ava's birthday party.  Ava is almost 2 months older than Zander and she is my friend Amanda's daughter. 



Here is Ava with her cake

   

And her is Zander staring down that cake!

Ava and Zander

I thought this picture was cute, Ava talking to Sophia

While we were waiting for our food, Sophia was getting fussy.  Ava came over and gave Sophia her stuffed animal.  It was soooo cute!  What a sweet girl!  Happy 3rd Birthday Ava!

After church, we headed to my parents house for about 30 minutes because we had a short period of time before small group.  At 4:30 p.m. we headed to our friends Paul and Jen for small group.  In our small group we are reading and study a book called "Radical" by David Platt.  We are going through a chapter each time we meet.  We meet every other Sunday evening.  The first chapter was already deep and challenging, and I am looking forward to reading the rest of the book.  I think this book will really help me to grow in my faith.  But I will admit, I am a little scared of what God may be asking of me.  But I will trust in God. 

Mac and Cheese

This was Zander when he was exactly 11 months old on February 24, 2010.  It was his first time eating Macaroni and Cheese.  My how he has grown.    

Photo Work Day

This picture of Zander cracks me up.  It was taken on May 6, 2010.  Zander was 13 1/2 months in this picture.  He is almost Sophia's age now. 

Fun experiment on days I work

On days that I work I don't have time to blog.  I decided on the days I work I am going to pick a random album in my picture files, and pick one picture from that album to post on my blog.  It will be totally random, and even if I don't think any of the pictures in that album are very good, or blog worthy, I will post one anyways.  SO here is today's photo.  It was taken on August 27, 2011, a picture of my sweet girl Sophia. 

Our Morning

 This is how I found my husband and my daughter spending some of their morning.  My husband loves his kids. And Sophia is such a daddy's girl!

So, Brian shared some of his cereal with Sophia

And then he decided this was how he was going to brush his teeth this morning.  I walked into our master bathroom to find this...

Swimming and Shelving

Sophia had her first swim lesson today.  And Zander came with for the lesson too, because he had to make up for the lesson we missed on Wednesday. 

Sophia did really well.  She loved it.  Zander is still a little clingy.  He always had one arm around someone's neck.  The kids are in a parent-child swim class, so Brian and I both got in the water today with Zander and Sophia.  Zander did warm up after a while and was smiling and laughing when they did the throw the fishy game.  The child throws a fish or duck and then swims to get it. 

After swim lessons, we stopped and picked some KFC and brought it home where we had lunch with my parents.  My parents came to visit us today because they bought shelves for us.  After lunch we began the task of putting all of the shelving units together.  My parents were great because they stuck around for many hours putting together the shelving units.  The shelves are for all of the kids toys in our basement.  And it looks amazing. I will have to put pictures of it on here later.   After all the shelves were up and the toys were organized, I snuck away to do a little shopping.  I had to go to the Disney Store to get a gift for my niece for her birthday tomorrow.  And then I stopped at Kohl's to return something.  

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to keep up with my blog more.  I am going to try and post every day I am off work.  And the days I am working I am going to try to post 1 picture.  I really love blogging, and do it as a way to remember the day to day of my life with my family.  I think it is a great way to record the memories and milestones of my children.  And to remember what they have said, or how they are growing.  They grow up so fast, and I want to remember it all.  I have decided my blog may not be perfect and I am definitely not a good writer, but I am still going to do it.  Even if what I write may not make sense always.