sweet girl

my sweet sophia...she brings me so much joy.

i love how much she loves the color blue. sitting in a blue chair, eating out of a blue bowl, coloring on blue paper with a blue crayon, blue rubber bands in her hair.

she is speaking clearly now. i-zay-ah! good morning! i love you mama. each time she says something clear as day, it's like i've heard it for the first time.

the thumb sucking. it has to stop...but not yet. the way her little lips curl around it...it's just too cute.

her skin is so soft and cushy. i love to kiss her cheeks, and squeeze her thighs. i love to watch her chubby fingers grabbing for things.

my sweet sophia...she brings me so much joy.

st. louis with great aunt lydia

this past weekend we headed out to st. louis to spend time with matt's aunt lydia. she lives in southern california but was refereeing a college volleyball tournament in st. louis. so we all met up and had a really fun weekend.

we headed back to the magic house, an absolute favorite. we also went to the arch...where matt, lydia and isaiah traveled to the top. mommy was just fine to stay on the ground with the girls.

it was a perfectly timed escape. much needed and a huge gift. thank you aunt lydia for your generosity and for making it happen.

instagram sunday

pammy was my bear when i was little. i love seeing them play with my thing.

little hands, little feet

friends

tree climber

alaythia is the only one that cooperated

little soph had a procedure done yesterday. while we were
waiting she was singing with daddy.

taken at 11:11am on 11-11-11

across the country

it's amazing really that it all worked out, considering there is roughly 2400 miles between our house and the west coast where our family is. one grandma flying out east, two parents flying out west, makes for an incredible opportunity.

matt and i were able to go to rocklin a couple weekends ago to attend, and help out with, michael and hallie's baby shower. while we were gone, my mom came out to stay with the kids...all by herself. there were so many cool things about the time.

getting to celebrate this new life that will be entering our family in just a few short weeks! getting to spend focused time time with our nephew and niece. getting to spend time and seeing family. matt and i flying with out kids, which might i say is amazingly relaxing!

the momma and daddy to be

i found several ideas on pinterest that i wanted to give a try.
i was very pleased that things turned out how i had hoped!

favors and dessert

here in kentucky there were cool things happening too. grandma getting to know the kids at a different level. fun adventures at the zoo, parks, crafts and movies. grandma getting to teach isaiah in school. and frankly the fact that grandma rocked it all on her own.



it feels like a blip in time, like did that really happen? after all, who flies to california for the weekend? but at the same time, i'm so thankful for the time. such rich, intense, different space. i know i've said it before, but we are extremely blessed to have parents that make sure we stay connected and repeatedly give generously to us.

halloween 2011

what a fun night. we went to some friend's house for dinner and to trick or treat in their neighborhood. although there was only 4 families there, we had 12 kids total. it was mayhem when we let them loose to go house to house. isaiah and the older kids sprinted, and i do mean sprinted, from house to house. poor sophia did her best to keep up. holding mommy's hand most the night she kept asking where brother was. to his credit he did slow down for a few houses to go with his baby sister.

this year we had rapunzel from the movie tangled,
the mighty thor and dora the explorer.

i seriously can't get enough of this girl!

the sweet princess.

thor with his hammer ready to strike.

ever wonder?

for halloween we thought we would try to straighten alaythia's hair. believe it or not, in all of her four and half years, i've never tried it. she felt so old and ran her fingers through her hair all night. most people didn't even recognize her, and one little friend was convinced it wasn't alaythia with that straight hair. as fun as it was for one night, it's amazing how her curly hair fits her personality perfectly!

haircuts

it's a big deal when a girl gets a haircut in our house. alaythia has only had one in her lifetime...soph, never. so when i made appointments at a salon for the two of them, it was an event! we went just us girls, and had the place to ourselves.

she's waiting to get her hair shampooed. i'm so thankful
for this picture. i feel like i can get a glimpse of her in 10 years.

all done and so happy.

after watching big sister is was no big deal to have her haircut.
she was so excited to have it be her turn.

such big girl and so proud!

the park through instagram

waiting patiently to be tagged the 'goose'

sometimes, most times, i look at her and am amazed she's mine

it's football season...he is rarely found without this.
fantasy teams, stats and playing the game.

looking up

running to daddy

it's hard to get a picture without a scrunch face

kentucky in fall is VERY hard to beat.
the perfect weather, the crazy colors, we are basking in
our fall splendor!

see? never without it