Our Life And Times

March 2011

2011-04-09T09:53:00.000-04:00

One of these days I'll get around to posting more than once a month....maybe then it won't be so picture heavy. Hey, at least I'm posting!

A few good pictures at the playground.

We are trying to get more pictures with me in them since I'm the one who is usually behind the camera.

We played Michael Jackson experience on the Wii. Sofie's getting the hang of it too!

Kristi and Caroline came to visit. I had so much fun visiting with them as well as Melissa and Jeffry! I haven't giggle that much in a long, long time. We hung out at Melissa's house on Friday, we went to IKEA Saturday afternoon, and went out to dinner in the City Saturday night. My only pictures are from Saturday night.

Caroline trying to master the art of picture taking from an above angle. She didn't quite understand that you don't have to tilt your head at all.

There, that's better!

We were getting a little picture happy at this point.

The whole table.

I love this one of Melissa!

We were playing some drinking game (Melissa and I had water, being the only parents at the table) and Caroline didn't want to drink her turn, so she started giving directions to some phantom person who knocked on the door.

You go North and then you go East....

We went to Opening Day for baseball season 2011 at Nat's Park. The Atlanta Braves were in town and they won!

We giggled to stay warm!

There were fireworks

Sofie slept for 4 innings

Sofie and Bunbun shared a funnel cake.

February

2011-03-05T10:50:00.000-05:00

Sofie went to a birthday party at the local bounce house.

On a sad note, my aunt lost her battle with cancer in February and we took an impromptu trip to Ohio.
Craver-Riggs Funeral Home & Crematory: Obituaries

The service was beautiful and I was truly in awe of how many people came to the reception the night before. I can only hope a quarter of that many people show up when it's my turn to go. Sofie was a true ray of sunshine through the whole ordeal.

In other news, Marc is training for the Bataan Memorial Death March at the end of March. And the 2011 baseball season starts in about a month. Any suggestions on an easy to make cheerleader outfit for a 3.5 year old?

I'm training for Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon. I'm loving the occasional warm day and the fact that it stays light out longer! It makes it so much easier to get motivated to get out the door.

Snow!

2011-01-27T11:38:00.000-05:00

We got snow last night. Only about 7-8 inches, nothing like last year in terms of amount. BUT! This storm hit right at the height of rush our and came on so fast and quick (2-3 inches an hour) and heavy (you should see the downed trees) that it stranded motorist. The entire metro region was gridlock! Thankfully, I took advantage of a 2 hour early release and got Sofie and got home just as the sleet and thundersleet/snow started. Marc, however, was trapped on his commuter bus for 5 hours! (Considering others in the area had commutes up to 13 hours, 5 seems not so bad.) And then he walked a mile from the park-n-ride home as the road was a parking lot and it was quicker to walk.

And to top it all off, we woke up with a sick kid-o this morning. I think it's generic crud (fever, snotty nose, lethargic), but we are watching it.

A few pictures of our snow.

Someone just abandoned their car. Of course, then the snow plow couldn't clear the parking lot.

It is so heavy, it squished lots of small trees and bushes and really weighed down larger trees.

Catch-Up

2011-01-23T18:34:00.000-05:00

Oh geez! Where to begin?!

July
Mimi and Papa came to visit.

Sofie became fully potty trained!! She got a new Barbie house to celebrate.

August
Beth, Jeff, and Elaina came to visit.

Marc's baseball team won the championship.

The Twins turned 12!

Went to Hershey Park, PA.

September
We went digging for potatoes with Christa and her kids.

Saw a minor league baseball game.

Sofie even got to run the bases after the game (even though she cried once they got started).

Sofie turned 3!

October
We went apple picking with Michelle and Lolly.

Sofie and I took a trip to SC.

We went to the Renaissance Festival with some guys from Marc's baseball team and their families.

Went to a Pumpkin Patch.

Went Trick or Treating.

November
Took a little hike with Michelle and Lolly.

Saw a Thanksgiving Parade

Family Photos

December
Went to see Ice! at the Gaylord Hotel.

(That is all ice! They kept the room at 7 degrees to keep it from melting...hence the giant blue overcoat.)

Baked some cookies.

Saw Clark Griswold's cousin's house.

Went to SC for Christmas.

I didn't take one picture as we were opening presents. I was too busy enjoying the moment to photograph it.

January 2011
Sofie had her Winter Gala at school.

Marc and I celebrated our 6th anniversary.

We went to the Natural History Museum with Melissa and Sean and their boys.

And.....that's what you missed! (a la Glee, which I recently discovered)

Hello Blog

2010-07-24T20:38:00.000-04:00

It's been a looooong time. I'm not going to pretend like I'm going to post here super regularly....I'll try, but no guarantees.

Warning! Lots of pictures and stuff ahead.

Since the last post....We've been to a few birthday parties.

Our old neighbor Stephy.

Finely from school

At this age, the kids really don't understand watching their friends open presents. There were almost a few tantrums.

Our good friend Sebastian's party was at Chuck E Cheese.

Sofie was more worried about the giant mouse than taking pictures.

Ran a few races.....

Marc ran the Marine Corps 17.75K

Hard to tell, but Marc's in there. He's wearing a navy shirt, next to a guy in a red shirt.

I ran the Reston Women's Distance Festival 5K.....and sprained my ankle at the post race festivities and haven't run since. :-(

(I'm the one in the white hat.)

Again, not in front. White hat right behind the first girl.

Sofie really enjoyed Mimi and Papa's visit on July 4th. Unfortunately, there are no pictures with Mimi.

Our first taste of sparklers.

Last Saturday we took Sofie to the Reston Town Center to play in the water fountain.

I relaxed in the shade.

Sofie thought looked like a good idea and did the same.

We also bought new furniture last weekend. We brought some home with us when we purchased and waited on some to be delivered. The last of the deliveries showed up yesterday and someone came and took all the old away today.

New Sofa

We got some new bookcases and created a play area for Sofie behind the sofa.

New Dining Room Table

It has 2 more leaves we can put in to make it larger. But it only came with 4 chairs. So we are on the hunt for 2 more that accent the set. I'm thinking something along the lines of a parson chair.

And we moved the desk to try and make the dining room and living room flow better. I guess you never have all the space you need. ;-)

(Desk is on far side.)

Whew! I think we are all caught up now.

Fun Times in New Hampshire Part II

2010-06-03T18:53:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, the guys went deep sea fishing while Krissy and I took the kids to the lake.

This is pretty much what Sofie did the whole time.

Bella was the first to get in the water.

Sofie checking Bella out.

Krissy friend Karen came with her daughter Kendal. This may be the only time all 3 were close enough to be in the same picture.

After the lake (and fishing) we played on Bella's swingset.

Sunday morning the girls made pancakes, Sofie's were pink and Bella's were purple.

Then we headed to Portsmouth for lunch and some sightseeing.

The "Tall Ships" were in Portsmouth.

Fun Times in New Hampshire Part I

2010-06-02T18:40:00.001-04:00

We went to New Hampshire to visit our friends Donny and Krissy and their daughter Bella. We had a great time with them! I can't believe we haven't visited sooner.

We crossed a few bridges getting there.

The first day we visited Mt. Washington. The highest mountain in NH. It was a little scary getting to the top....super narrow road, but yet for 2 way traffic, on the edge of the mountain. Thank goodness Krissy and I were in the way back chit chatting to take our minds off it. And it was the perfect day to be at the top.

A ski run without the snow.

These two were inseparable all weekend!

Too bad the stranger taking this didn't take more than one.

My Lovies!

Sofie climbed the summit, all on her own.

Got a hair cut!

2010-06-01T22:08:00.000-04:00

So far I love it! I'll let you know tomorrow when I have to try and style it myself.

Happy Birthday Abby

2010-06-01T21:09:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time. Let's get right to it. Plenty of stuff happened that I forgot to take pictures of....like Mimi's visit or Beth and I running the Marine Corps Historic Half. But I do have pictures of Sofie at her friend Abby's birthday party. And really, that's why all of you come to visit, for the pictures.

It was barnyard themed.

There was a station to make animals out of ballons with stickers. Sofie choose a piggy.

And we decorated a barn.

Ate some good food....

...and some yummy cupcakes.

Acted a little silly.

And saw some ANIMALS!

This poor horse didn't look well taken care off. Poor guy.

Trying to catch up

2010-05-08T09:39:00.000-04:00

Back in February my dad came to DC to visit a client. He stopped at our house for dinner and Sofie time.

In April I took the Certified Government Financial Manager (CGFM) exam....and I passed! We also had some daycare issues in March/April. The school just put Sofie with a different 2 year old teacher and things seem to be tons better now. We are weighing the options of keeping her with the new teacher and waiting it out through the summer (she transitions into the 3 year old room at the end of the summer) and switching her to a new school.

And earlier this week, a co-worker and I went to go meet the Pioneer Woman (Ree Drummond)! She was at a Borders Bookstore in the area.

She chatted with the crowd a bit before the book signing (more of a Q&A type session). It was hard to get a good picture from where we were.

We connected over redhair. We talked about how we are a dying breed.

And then we compared tans.

And then it was Becca's turn.

I'm Famous!

2010-04-11T08:43:00.000-04:00

I'm supposed to be running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler this morning, but the exam is tomorrow and I haven't been running consistently. I fully expect to not pass and have to retake a part of the exam, but I have 3 years to do it and can fit it in on my own schedule (ie when I'm not super busy at work or having daycare issues). My running will be back to its regular scheduled programing come Tuesday.

So, I'm not running the race, but I did pay for it and figured I'd at least go get my t-shirt and see what vendors were at the expo. And low and behold, I see a picture of myself in one of the advertisements that every race participant gets! I believe this picture was taken during the fall of 2008 when I participated in Potomac River Running's Running 101 to help myself get back into running shape post-Sofia.

Hello Blog

2010-03-29T20:45:00.001-04:00

It certainly has been awhile! This is just a quick hello and to let you know I'm not dead. I'm currently studying for a certification for my job (exam is in 2 weeks). And we are getting ready to hit one of our 4 "busy seasons"-quarterly financial statements.

Lots has been going on, like going to a circus, running my first 8K and 10Ks of the year, Marc starting a new job, good friends moving back into the area. I promise to post more regularly soon!

The circus....

Sofie's new best friend who just moved back, Sebastian.

Pre-race at the St Patty's Day 8K. What is with the bird costume?

Me studying at Panera...well, people watching. These two were napping!

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More Feb 2010 snow

2010-03-05T20:29:00.001-05:00

Feb 2010 Snow

2010-03-05T20:27:00.001-05:00

Just getting around to getting these videos off the camera

Jingle Bells

2010-03-05T20:23:00.001-05:00

Sofie is still singing Christmas carols 2 months after later.

Random

2010-02-16T17:23:00.000-05:00

Can I just tell you how much I hate the bathroom where I work.

First, we have the automated, handicap door to get in. Even when you don't use the button to engage the handicap feature, the door opens on it's own as soon as you start to open it. Then it hangs open for entirely too long so everyone who walks by the bathroom can hear what's going on inside. Except on the weekends (yea, I know, what am I doing at work on the weekends).....the weekends it never works! What if a handicapped person were in working on the weekends?

Then we have the automated flush mechanism. It NEVER works correctly! It either flushes 3 times while you are in the process of sitting on the toilet, or it doesn't flush at all! And there is no rhyme or reason to this, except it seems to flush way too often in the morning. Suppose it's excited to be used after a night of rest. Come lunch time, it's exhausted and you have to manually flush. Then again later in the afternoon it seems to be working again (and by again, I mean flushing more than once while you are in the process of doing your business). Weekends are hit or miss here too. Does not seem to be tied to the automatic door.

Then we have the fabulous lighting! It's dim flourescent lighting. Need I say more?

At least there isn't usually a line to use the facilities!

I'm ready for summer!

2010-02-10T22:08:00.001-05:00

Just a few pictures from round 2, with 9.7 new inches (on top of the 30 we got a few days ago) being reported here in Reston. Federal Government is shut down again tomorrow.

These cars got snow and they were in the carport!

Trying to take a picture of Sofie and I...

Ah, finally! I think my hat may be a tad too big though.

In the middle of the road

This car was cleaned off yesterday afternoon.

Daycare is planning on opening tomorrow at 10am, so we are going to try and go in and get some work done. Let's hope the roads are somewhat clear. When Marc went in on Monday, only one lane in the outer loop of the beltway was plowed! Only 1 lane!!! The beltway is the main loop around DC, a major highway.

Snow Round 2

2010-02-10T10:45:00.001-05:00

Just trying out some new panorama software. Woke up this morning to almost white out conditions due to the strong winds and it's snowing. When I took these pictures it wasn't as windy so you could see farther. But this morning you couldn't see more than the first few trees.

Snowmaggedon

2010-02-06T21:41:00.000-05:00

That's what they are calling it around here. A little picture heavy, but it gives you an idea although the pictures don't really do it justice.

This is how the cat spent the whole day.

Snow, Snow, and more Snow

2010-02-05T20:13:00.000-05:00

If you haven't heard, Mother Nature hates me! We are in the process of getting our 3rd snow storm in 1 week. Yes you read the right, 7 days. Last weekend we got 3-6 inches in the metro area (I'm going to guess that the snow piled up on Marc's car was about 4 inches). Tuesday night we got another storm....about 2 or 3 inches in our parking lot. And now... (shaking my head)....we are in the process of getting 20-30 inches of snow! That is almost 3 feet of snow. I miss the south!

Marc and Sofie went out a little while ago to walk the dog and make a snow ball or two. Marc estimates that we already have 3, 4, 5 inches on the ground. And it just keeps coming! I see movies and chili in our future tomorrow.

I figured I should go ahead and blog the pictures from last weekend's snow before I get too far behind.

Not happy at first (she hates the process of putting on snow pants and snow boots)

Our parking lot

Ok, maybe this isn't so bad.

And some video..

Snow Wednesday morning from the Tuesday night storm.

And this was from the start of today/tomorrow's storm. At 3:25pm.

4:45pm

And Sofie brought a snowball inside.

She loves it!

And in non-snow related news, I was excited that I got Sofie's hair in a double french braid and she sat still long enough for me to do it! All it took was once. Now she requests braids every morning and she'll sit still for them...even if they are only half way down her head.

Another Video

2010-01-21T14:21:00.002-05:00

I've tried to post this video a few times and it's just not working. If you care, head on over to youtube and check out Sofie and Daddy being silly.

Sofie goes bowling

2010-01-21T10:11:00.001-05:00

Sofie loves bowling! We took her bowling a couple of weeks ago, and no one got a turn. Sofie bowled for everyone.

Sick-o's

2010-01-21T10:07:00.001-05:00

Sofie and I have been sick lately. She is on the mend and hasn't run a fever since Monday. I on the the other hand, have been on antibiotics since Tuesday afternoon and I'm running a fever again. I'm headed back to the doctor today. And this past weekend, my brother-in-law, Bobby was here. We weren't very exciting since we were sick. We thought Sofie was on the mend so we went and got dinner. Of course, her fever spiked while we were out and we headed back home as soon as we were done eating....which took quite awhile. Bobby got a 32 oz steak!

I didn't even know such a thing existed!

He finished almost all of it too!

Brothers

Sofie feeling crappy

Sofie and Mommy

Mommy didn't start feeling crappy until the next day.

Frostival

2010-01-03T10:52:00.000-05:00

It is so cold here! This morning it was 15 degrees out, but with the wind chill it feels like -5 degrees! Yesterday we went to an indoor festival, Frostival.

Sofie rode her first 2 carnival rides and enjoyed the bounce house.

She wouldn't actually go in this bounce house because they wouldn't let the parents in with the kids. But she did go in another one, but I forgot to take a picture.

And a little video of the first ride.

Christmas 2009

2009-12-28T20:58:00.001-05:00

Hope this works!

Merry Christmas

2009-12-27T20:55:00.000-05:00

Christmas was great! Sofie actually played with the toys Santa brought instead of the wrapping and boxes that the toys came in.

Sugar Plums danced in her head in the week leading up to Christmas. Many nights she went to sleep in her Santa hat.

Mommy played around with the camera trying to get some Bokeh (WIkipedia & Pioneer Woman definitions). Shocker, but I actually got better bokeh with my point and shoot than I did with my big DSLR. I think it's my lense. I need a smaller f-stop to get better bokeh and I think mine won't go low enough?

This one isn't really bokeh, but its fun!

Our tree

We decorated cookies for Santa

Christmas Morning

And I have a video of Christmas morning, but I'm having issues uploading it. I'll post it soon, I hope!

SNOW!!

2009-12-19T15:00:00.000-05:00

I'm not even sure how much snow we have, but it's over a foot and it's still coming down!

But first, we went to Hilary's almost annual cookie party last night (they didn't have one last year).

Sofie just loved Barb! And Barb was great with her and entertained her most of the night.

The spread....
Hilary and Colin's "Most Festive" cupcakes.

Barb being silly with Sofie.

Marc chilling (check out all those lights on that tree!!)

I had to wrangle Sofie out of her "Pretty Woman"boots before we could go play in the snow.

Getting dressed. Can you believe every store was out of snow pants yesterday? We checked Target, Wal-Mart, and Babies R Us. So we had to make do with 2 layers of sweatpants. At least we already had snow boots.

Sofie had a blast. She kept trying to eat the snow.

What have we been up to? Part 3

2009-12-17T19:00:00.000-05:00

What else could we possibly be doing??

We met Mickey Mouse at the nursery where we bought our Christmas tree.

We put up and decorated our tree. Again, Sofie was not happy to part ways with her ornaments to put it on the tree.

We went to our very first movie in the theater! The Princess and the Frog. Cute movie, great music! (Lighting was horrible for a phone picture without a flash.) She did great!

Daddy took a nap.

And we had to get a picture of BunBun.

What have we been up to? Part 2

2009-12-16T19:00:00.000-05:00

What else have we been up to??

We watched Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with the dog.

Did a little shopping with Elaina...
Do we want this nice sports car?

Nah, I think we should we go for the wagon.

We had some snow...but not enough. I'm sorry, when it snows I want enough so I don't have to go to work. I want to snuggle with a blanket, a good movie, and warm beverage.

We saw the Bull Run Festival of Lights. Disregard the blurriness...they don't let you stop your car to get a good picture....but on the up side, we ran into Marc's best man who we lost contact with and hope to see them again in January.

We celebrated poop in the potty! (Now if only I can get her to do it again!) We celebrated at Dairy Queen.

We rearranged Sofie's bedroom to get her bed away from the drafty window (and get the toys out of the living room).

Well, most of the toys. There are a few still out there.

What have we been up to? Part 1

2009-12-15T21:44:00.002-05:00

I know, I know....I've been bad. I'll try and catch you up and we'll do better going forward.

So, we've been throwing some tantrums....princess tantrums no less.

We "sold" some hot dogs out of our Roach Coach.

Partied so hard we slept with our head hanging out of the bed.

Went shopping with Michelle.

And insisted on trying on adult clothes in the dressing room....diaper free. Notice the wet spot. I don't recommend being diaper free in a dressing room.

We went to Cathy's 50th Birthday Party. Happy Birthday Cathy!

We played.

And we got another ear infection.

Andee rocks!

2009-12-10T17:47:00.001-05:00

Just got my copy of Pioneer Woman Cooks. Andee had it autographed for me.

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2009-11-11T13:24:00.001-05:00

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

So much to catch up on!

2009-11-03T20:45:00.002-05:00

There is so much to catch up on, I don't know where to begin. It's a good thing we've been taking pictures. It helps me remember what to post about.

3 weeks ago Lolly had her 9th birthday party at the bowling alley and Sofie looooved bowling.

2 weeks ago Marc went to Illinois to visit his daughters, Hayleigh and Alicyn.

And while Marc was gone, Sofie and I crashed Jacob's indoor soccer class (it was pouring here that weekend). Jacob is our bounce house friend (his mommy and I used to work together and occasionally run together).

Sofie decided that her Mickey Mouse ears weren't so bad the weekend Daddy was in Illinois.

And she also slept with Mommy (read = hogged the whole bed).

Then a week ago, Beth, Michelle and I ran the Marine Corps Marathon and Jenny ran the 10K.
At the Expo

Waiting on the metro

Sofie's sleeping arrangement for the weekend (she rolled out of her air mattress in the middle of the night).

Pre-race (with an early wake up call!)

Post race (we did it! my poor feet!)

Then this past weekend, I found a super cheap, last minute flight to Greenville. Sofie and I popped down for 2 days and did some visiting with the grandparents.

Beth, Jeff, and Elaina were up in Simpsonville visiting with some of Jeff's buddies (about a mile or two from my parents house, how convenient!), so we tagged along and went trick or treating with them (and the dauling Minnie Mouses). Do you know how hard it is to get 2 2-year olds to look at the camera at the same time?

Not happy that Elaina was in the other car.

Fighting over Beth

And then Jeff

Sofie would only let Jeff hold her candy for her.

Then back to Mimi and Papa's to burn off some of the sugar and play in some rain boots.

Apple Picking

2009-10-12T20:26:00.002-04:00

We went apple picking this weekend. Sofie had a great time!

One of the trees.

The orchard looking out to the mountains.

Sofie trying to pick up the apple picker thingamajig.

Ok, let's get some apples.

My favorite shot of the day! Sofie hated stepping over all the apples that had fallen on the ground.

This apple is yummy!

2 Pictures I Forgot

2009-10-09T06:56:00.002-04:00

Sofie loves to ride her bike around the house (read: Dad pushes her)

Yesterday morning I got up to meet Michelle for a run. I noticed Sofie's door was open. I peeked inside her room and this is what I found. She had gone into the living room and brought her Pooh bean bag chair back into bed. Guess she felt lonely?

Consignment Sales

2009-10-08T22:19:00.002-04:00

Oh how I love thee! I actually got to go in tonight for the volunteer pre-sale. One of my co-workers is volunteering and couldn't make it, so I went in her place. It was so nice and calm and not crowded. Plus, you get first dibs on everything!

Here's the loot....

An umbrella stroller

A bike seat for Sofie to ride with Marc or I

A winter coat and snow boots

3 new DVDs

2 Dresses

Look at the adorable smocking detail

5 pairs of pants and a t-shirt

Those pink pants are LL Bean and were new in the package....for $5!

And...1 Halloween costume

1 set of Mickey Ears, 1 Minnie Mouse Dress, and 1 pair of glitter black dress shoes.

Army 10 Miler Weekend

2009-10-08T22:01:00.002-04:00

This past weekend Marc ran the Army 10 Miler, pretty quickly I might add (net time 1 hour 25 minutes).

Marc pinning on his race bib.

Sofie watching....Mommy, tell me again why we are up this early.

The parachute-rs

Sofie got a hat when we looked at the fire truck on display. However, she didn't want to wear it.

Mommy, you wear it.

Yea! Daddy's done!

The race starts and finishes at the Pentagon. We figured since we were there anyway, we'd go look at the new Pentagon Memorial for the victims of the attacks on Sept 11, 2001.

Worn out after the race, waiting on lunch.

Sofie and I went to playground later in the afternoon.

One last...

2009-10-02T06:36:00.002-04:00

One last picture from the old camera

Beth, It's a Cannon Powershot SD1200 in this pretty blue color.

New Camera

2009-10-01T20:58:00.002-04:00

Got a new point and shoot camera tonight. It's a keeper if for no other reason than when you push the button to take the picture, it actually takes the picture! Imagine that! You actually get a picture of what you intended to get a picture of. The old one would think about it, think about it some more, then maybe take the picture.....after your 2 year old child had moved on to something less cute. I've got so many pictures of Sofie looking drunk or half asleep.

Birthday Pictures

2009-09-26T17:10:00.002-04:00

I'm sure there are still pictures on the little camera, but these are the ones off the big camera.

This is the cake that I was going to make for Sofia's party, that never was. I made this the weekend before as a test cake, to make sure I had everything I would need.

Opening presents, with a little help from Mimi. Notice the boots and the shorts and the Clemson jersey. Papa bought her these boots and she loved them! Wouldn't take them off.

She had to have every single clip put into her hair before she'd move on to the next present.

And here is the actual cake I made. We'll do Mickey Mouse another time.

Of course she prefered the icing.

And this is what I found this morning when I woke up. I have no idea what time she got up but I guess she eventually got bored and fell back asleep on the sofa.

Happy 2nd Birthday Sofie!

2009-09-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

It's hard to believe that this

From Sofia - In the hospital

Has turned into this beautiful young lady.

The above picture is about a month old. I will post new ones soon. Most are still on the camera.

We had a birthday party planned for Sofie this past weekend, but she would have none of that. She came home from daycare Friday afternoon with a fever of 103! Thankfully, I was able to rush her to the pediatrician's office before they closed for the weekend. She was still on antibiotics for a sinus infection she had been fighting the previous week, so they were a little concerned. She showed no signs of the flu, nor any other known illness. Just a random virus. We canceled her party just in case, because we didn't know what she had and didn't want to pass it on to other kids.

Mimi and Papa were already here when she got sick, so we at least got to visit with them. We opened presents on Saturday and had a bite of cake (all still on the camera).

Tonight we are going to Jumping Jack Sports with a friend to celebrate. I'll be sure to post pictures soon!

They're finally married!

2009-09-07T21:19:00.003-04:00

We went to NC this weekend for Chris and Caroline's wedding. We rented a nice log cabin with Scott, the Donaghay's (Melissa, Sean, and Thomas...however I don't have any pictures of Thomas), and the Moreland's (Beth, Jeff, and Elaina).

We got there kinda late the first night and rushed Sofie to get a clean diaper and put her PJ's on. She started crying for Elaina. It was so cute. Both girls had been anticipating spending the weekend together and couldn't talk about anything but the other one. Here are Thing 1 and Thing 2 eating Mac N Cheese.

A family photo after the wedding ceremony.

A group shot of most of the Clemson Crew in attendance. Of course, the groom is missing, and so are two husbands (Marc is behind the camera....but where is Jeff???).

Bad Blogger

2009-09-02T18:43:00.002-04:00

Sorry I've been MIA lately. We haven't done too much exciting stuff. Pretty ordinary around here. But if ordinary means no broken legs, I'm all for it!

We did however find Sport Bounce! And Sofie (read Mommy) loves to go. It's $6 for Sofie to get in (although it will be $10 after her birthday), and parents get to bounce free! Open bounce is Thursday nights and we went 2 weeks in a row.

Sorry this one is on it's side.

This one is Sofie's favorite. That's an obstacle course in the middle (split in two), once you reach the back, you climb a ladder and go down the slide on the outside.

And they have a small room of toddler toys for the younger kids. It's hard work bouncing the whole time.

Last weekend we watched our friend's daughter so she could go to the Redskins/Pats game. Since most of our toys are geared toward a 2 year old, we brought out the video games. Sofie even had fun playing on the Wii Fit.

Then Saturday morning, Sofie stole Lolly's PSP while Lolly was still sleeping.

Other than that, working and running (I intend to update over there tonight too). Running 16 miles kinda wears you out. So do 4am wake up calls. I'm lucky if I'm still up at 9:30 every night!

We have a fun weekend planned in the NC mountains. Hopefully, I'll have more pictures and updates after the weekend.

Big Girl

2009-08-18T21:33:00.003-04:00

Haven't had any more potty excitement, but Sofie is moving into the next classroom in 2 weeks. They really start working on potty training once she's in the 2's room.

Over the weekend we also converted the crib into a big girl bed. The first nap and 2 nights were a little touch and go. It's different. But tonight, she went running and jumped in on her own and kept saying "night night". I changed her into her pj's and read her a story, then she proceeded to wave me off and say "go, go, go". So independent.

We interrupt your regular scheduled programming...

2009-08-17T19:18:00.002-04:00

...to bring you this late, breaking news update....

We have had pee pee in the potty! 3 times. Yesterday morning, this morning, and this evening after dinner.

Sorry if this is TMI, but we are so excited!

Update and lots of pics

2009-08-10T19:55:00.003-04:00

Sofie's starting to put 2 and 3 words together to make sentences... "Where's Daddy?" "Come on Daddy" "I'm coming" "No, mine, big girl" (when I tried to help her keep from dropping her snacks while we were walking the dog).

Marc's baseball team won the championship on Saturday.

And I'm running lots with my marathon training. Other than that its the same ol, same ol. Wake up, run, work/school, cook dinner, make lunches, rinse and repeat.

A few recent pics....

Sofie's new backpack (I hate my camera, it thinks about taking a picture, thinks about it some more, then decides to take it once Sofie has turned around or moved onto something else and is no longer acting cute).

New shoes

Being Silly

At one of Daddy's baseball games

You mean I'm supposed to potty in this and not just sit on it?

Playdate at the mall

"Watching" Daddy play baseball

Marc's baseball team won the Championship!

We're #1 (or 5)

Too bad there was only one trophy, hard to share among 15 guys.

Meee-mouse

2009-08-07T22:17:00.002-04:00

This is my attempt at a Mickey Mouse cake. Sofia loves Mickey Mouse and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on Disney, so I thought I'd make her a Mickey cake for her birthday. I've been looking at Wilton online and at the party store, and it looks like the Mickey Mouse cake pans are out of production. And I didn't want to pay $25+ for one on ebay.

Then it hit me, a regular 9 inch cake pan and 2 smaller corning serving dishes! I found some 4th of July Funfetti cake mix on the clearance rack at Target this week and decided to give a test run before the big day. I think it turned out pretty good!

Pictures! Finally!

2009-07-21T19:05:00.003-04:00

I think this one is gonna get long....I'm going to try and post in chronological order and get all caught up.

Again, we had visitors for July 4th weekend. Here are a few pictures from our weekend...outside of the professional pictures, we didn't take too many. Sorry these aren't the greatest, they're all we've got.

Waiting on the metro.

At the Washington Monument

4th of July cookout at Michelle's, trying on her shoes.

July 5th in the ER. Waiting on the doc.

Mommy, I'm hungry and tired and in pain....why can't we go home?

Ok, I'll entertain myself by taking pictures of myself with the camera.
(You won't believe how happy she was to take pictures and try and flip it around and see the image before the screen went dark.)

Just got done with casting, waiting on the doc to release us.

Sofie bellied up to the bar with Kellie after Marc's baseball game on the 12th.

I bought this really cool cake pan that makes a bundt cake in the shape of a flower...for $3!

This past Saturday I went to a bridal shower for my friend Hillary.
The bride and her matron of honor.

Showing off one of her gifts.

Everyone that was at the shower.

After the shower, we caravaned to a few local wineries for tastings.

Barb taking of picture of me taking a picture of Barb. :)

After the wineries, all the girls went to dinner and then went out partying. I didn't go because I had to be at my running group at 6:30am the next day. It's a good thing too, I was sacked out on the sofa by 8pm with a migraine. But it sounds like I missed a good time!

Breakfast this past Sunday

On the way home from Marc's game....notice the chocolate face. I brought donuts for the team and Sofie went to town on a chocolate covered one.

Phew! I think we are caught up now. I'm off to make lunches and get in bed before 9! Michelle and I are running 6 miles in the morning.

Leg Update!!

2009-07-15T21:02:00.002-04:00

Sofie had her check up with the orthopedist today. Last week the doctor couldn't see anything on her xrays, but he said it could have been fractured in the growth plate, which he told us would not show on the xray until it started to heal and show signs of calcification. She's been in the splint for 10 days and she had new xrays. And there were still no signs of fracture! Whoo hoo! At this point, since she can't tell us where or how it hurts, we can only assume it is a bad sprain. She walked on it tentatively and jerky, but she walked. She hasn't walked since, she's scooted and she's crawled on her hands and knees (which leads me to believe it's in her ankle).

We had a house full with Marc's daughters, our two nieces, and Marc's dad (they were here for 4.5 days). Sofie had her leg incident their last day here. Then my parents came up to love on Sofie while my dad was here for a meeting.

This week we've finally had our house back to ourselves and we are trying to settle back into our routines. I still have pictures from the girls' visit but they are on my camera. I'd never get around to blogging if I kept putting it off until I got the pictures. I've been running at 4:45am and 5am, rushing home to get ready, drop Sofie at daycare, learning a new job (finally got to meet my client!) and commute. By the time dinner is done and lunches are made, all I want to do is go to bed and start it all over again.

Family Photos

2009-07-06T09:46:00.002-04:00

My father-in-law is visiting and he brought my step-daughters and 2 nieces with him. One of the first things we did was go have family photos taken. Our last one was horrible!

All the girl cousins (my nephew, Bobby is missing)

Front row: Sofie, Vanessia (my neice)
Middle row: Araceli (my other niece), Hayleigh (step-daughter)
Back row: Alicyn (step-daughter)

The West Coast cousins

Araceli and Vanessia

The Illinois cousins

Alicyn and Hayleigh

All of Marc's girls

Sofie, Hayleigh, and Alicyn

Marc and I

Marc and I with our girls

Alicyn, Marc, me, Sofie, and Hayleigh

Grandpa with the girl grandkids (again, grandson, Bobby, is missing)

Alicyn, Grandpa, Sofie, Araceli, Hayleigh, Vanessia

Our First ER Visit

2009-07-05T21:18:00.003-04:00

Sofie has a fractured leg. She was going down the slide with her big sister (we've had house guests, hence no recent posts, will update soon). Her shoe got caught on the slide and her foot stayed put while the rest of her body kept going down the slide. Her leg bent behind her and Marc heard a pop. She wouldn't walk or put any pressure on her leg afterwards. We called the pediatrician who recommended we take her to the ER. A few x-rays later, they are pretty sure it is fractured near the growth plate, down by the knee. Apparently, it's pretty hard to read x-rays for kids this small since they are still mostly cartilage. So, she got a splint to immobilize her leg and we are headed to the orthopedist tomorrow. I will update more once I know more...and better pictures too.

Whew...busy couple of days

2009-06-28T18:09:00.004-04:00

I've had a busy couple of days around here. Thursday morning after Michelle and I finished our morning run I got it in my head that I wanted to paint the master bedroom. And Marc had already left for work....which means I moved all the furniture either out of the bedroom or into the middle of the room by myself.

I got paint everywhere!

Even in my hair....not sure how that happened.

Here is the finished product...the picture doesn't show it too well and some of the blue tape is still up. (Disregard the mess....we were still moving stuff back in the room.)

It was a dirty eggshell color before. I'm so happy just to have fresh paint! I would have been pleased with a fresh coat of plain old white.

Thursday night I went to the Nationals vs. Red Sox game with Michelle. And the Nats won! Whoo hoo!

Friday morning I finished painting our bedroom. I had extra paint leftover so Sofie's table got a coat of paint too.

Here is the princess on her way to school Friday morning. She loves her sunglasses.

Yesterday and this morning was full of running.

We also had Empire Floors out here yesterday for a price quote on having the floors replaced from Jack's incident. We have also looked at Home Depot and Lumber Liquidators. Empire's price includes everything...moving furniture, putting it back, ripping up the old stuff, disposing of the old stuff, laying the new floor, the cost of the new floor, laying the quarter round, everything! Home Depot and Lumber Liquidators had the same prices as each other (and were cheaper than Empire), but the nickle and dime you on moving the furniture, laying the quarter round, all the extras. It will end up costing the same or more as Empire with the extras. And they can't do it next day. It'll be at least a week and their product isn't as nice.

Sofie playing Rock Band with Daddy this afternoon.

Water Play

2009-06-24T10:11:00.003-04:00

This week started summer camp activities at daycare and Mondays are always water play days. Of course, I forgot and didn't have any of the appropriate clothing for her. Yesterday I went out and got her a surf top and some board shorts, all meant for getting wet. And some cute new shoes for Sofie came home with me, too. What can I say, LL Bean was having a sale.

Doesn't she look tall in this picture?

Can you believe this little out fit is a size 4?! I bought it expecting that it would be too big but it was the smallest they had. I figured with the adjustable waist band it would work. It fits perfectly. (I think its supposed to be very fitted.)

Since Sofie was already dressed, we decided to throw on our swim suits too and we all headed over to the pool. Sofie had a blast. She's getting more and more daring. While she and Marc played, I practiced some laps (I'm thinking of doing a triathlon).

This little outfit is so much easier than a normal swim suit. It's easier to get on and off and easier to change her diaper. And it gives her more coverage from the sun.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T22:03:00.002-04:00

We went to the Museum of Natural History on Saturday with Kevin and Hollie and their two daughters. It was so great to see them! Kevin was my big brother in Kappa Kappa Psi and I can't remember the last time I saw them. Plus, it was nice to interact with people. I'm going a little stir crazy waiting to get on with my client.

This is the only picture I got of the kids together, and it's still lacking Ella Grace. Sofia and Alle Marie.

Sofie waiting on lunch

Alle Marie snacking on goldfish.

After we had lunch, we went back to the museum. But Sofie was tired and ready for a nap. She started screaming and laying on the floor in the middle of the museum, so we had to jet out of there pretty quickly. I really wanted to get a picture of all 3 kids together. And perhaps some of the adults too. But it just didn't happen.

It was so humid and stagnant out, we were all sweaty messes by the time we got back to the metro. I tried, and succeded in getting Sofie's hair into pig tails. I suppose they are actually tri-tails since the one on top and in the front is still in too.

We love visitors! Anytime y'all are in the Washington DC area just let us know.

Happy Father's Day to all you dads out there!

Finally!

2009-06-16T08:55:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to let you know that today is the first day in 5.5 months, that my bangs have stayed out of my face without bobby pins, barretts, headbands, Bondi Bands, hats, hairspray, etc. I'm very, very happy about this!

Strawberry Picking

2009-06-15T14:12:00.002-04:00

Coda thinks the new bookcases were put up just for her.

Saturday we took Sofie strawberry picking. I remember having so much fun doing this as a kid and thought she would enjoy it too. I think she would have enjoyed it, but we picked a bad day (hot, humid, stifling) and a bad farm (no clear cut rows to walk between, lots of weeds mixed in with berry plants, plus it's the end of the season so we had to hunt for choice berries). Marc ended up picking berries, while Sofia and I played in the dirt road away from the scratchy plants.

It started out good.

Then she had to be up and it had to be now!

Sitting in Mommy's lap waiting on Daddy to get all our berries.

Sofie finally reached her limit. She could not be made happy...so we rounded Marc up, hitched a ride on the tractor, and went back to the store with 4 quarts of strawberries. As much as this field wasn't ideal for picking, this farm did have lots of other stuff to do which was great. They had a petting zoo (we just looked), a putt-putt course, a playground, a giant chess board, a "corn" box, a maze, and much more.

After a wardrobe change (tried to drink Gatorade out of a bottle all by herself), we wandered around to see the other stuff and found this great wooden tractor.

Then we "played" in a giant mud puddle.

I'm not sure if she didn't see the puddle or went in it on purpose. Either way, she slipped, fell, and hated every minute of being dirty.
Daddy, my hand, its dirty, you need to clean it now.

The puddle

Another wardrobe change and we decided it was time to go home. Everyone was hot and tired.

Digital TV Transition

2009-06-12T16:05:00.000-04:00

Anyone have any issues with the digital transition last night?

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Wine and Food Festival

2009-06-11T10:32:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday we went to the Wine and Food Festival at the National Harbor. We were going to go with some friends we haven't seen in awhile, but things came up, as the always do. We were bummed we didn't get to spend time with Jen and Steve, but we enjoyed ourselves none the less. And while we enjoyed ourselves, we are very glad that we got discounted tickets and did not pay full price. Between all the samples of food, wine tastings, and the 2 free beers each**, we got our monies worth. However, I'm not so sure that it would have been worth $70 each had we paid full price.

**Really? Go to a Wine Festival and get tickets for 2 free beers? Why can't I get tickets for 2 free glasses of wine. You know, have a taste test at all the vendors and then decide which one I want to drink a whole glass of? Yeah, didn't make sense to us either....but we sure drank them!

The Awakening Sculpture...used to be at Haines Point. This is the first time we've seen it in it's new location. I'm kind of partial...I liked it better at Haines Point.

Marc and Sofie in the beer line.

Sofie and I sitting in the shade. Marc had gone to get another sample. The entire time he was gone Sofie kept scanning the crowd trying to find him.

2009-06-07T22:24:00.002-04:00

My baby got her first bike today! Guess she's not much of a baby anymore. :) She can actually reach the peddles, peddle them backwards to break, but hasn't quite got the hang of peddling forwards. But she loves to hang on and be pushed.

What happes when...

2009-06-03T22:08:00.006-04:00

What happens when you go from working out of the house part time for the last 18 months (and usually home the days you aren't working) to working full time outside the home??

You're dog has an anxiety attack, abandonment issues (we think he was ditched previously so this is understandable), and rips up the carpet trying to get into a closed bedroom door.

At least it lays back down.

(Not to mention the things I didn't get pictures of.....a chewed up diaper and some snacks he stole out of the diaper bag....all over the living room. He also tried to chew his way into a bottle of children's Tylenol.)

And then your daughter crawls in your lap while you are trying to take pictures and is all cuddly, so your anger eases much quicker than expected.

(Notice dog sulking in the background after being scolded.)

Then she goes and gets her new hat and puts it on without any coaching (from the girl who hates hats).

Another Race Weekend

2009-06-01T19:29:00.003-04:00

Two weeks ago Michelle and I ran the Marine Corps Historic Half Marathon. And this weekend, Beth joined us to run the Zooma Annapolis Half Marathon.

Beth's flight was severely delayed Friday night (we had some pretty bad thunderstorms up here). We had plans to go celebrate my 30th birthday, but it was all we could do to chit chat for about 30 minutes before everyone wanted to go to bed.

Saturday, we all woke up early. Marc took Sofie with him for a run so that Beth and I could sleep in, but neither of us could. Once Marc and Sofie got back, we all got breakfast, then the girls went shopping and Marc had a day to himself. Beth ended up with a Garmin (I think she's hooked on running!), I got more wick away undies and new work shoes, and Sofie got a new water bottle and I puppy dog. Everyone was happy! Then we went birthday shopping for Marc...his birthday was Sunday. If anyone is in the market for a new blender, I highly recommend this one! Not one single ice chunk! It was like drinking the frozen drinks out of the fancy machines at the Mexican restaurant.

Pics from Saturday.....

Sunday started with a 4am wake up call. We wanted to be on the road by 4:45. Of course we were moving in slow motion and were late getting out the door. Good thing the beltway is fairly empty at 5:30am on a Sunday! We made it to Annapolis in perfect time for Beth's first half marathon! So proud of her. Race report here.

Michelle, her daughter Lolly, Beth, me, and Sofie at mile marker 13. We look pretty darn good for just running 13.1 miles!

On our way back to the car, we saw this painted in the parking lot at the Naval Academy football stadium. Beth and I thought of Eric Zaiser! Anyone know how to get in touch with him to share the picture?

We went to Old Town/downtown Annapolis after the race. It was Marc's birthday and he wanted crab cakes and we were definitely in crab cake territory. Sofie and Marc were playing peek-a-boo across the table.

Michelle and Lolly had a mean game of hangman going on.

And I finally made it in a picture (instead of always being the one behind the camera).

After lunch, we went in search of this cupcake place that was supposed to be at the post race party. They were there, they just left their booth before us back-of-the-packers made it. We found the place but the cupcakes didn't look nearly as good as we had built them up in our minds. We opted for ice cream instead.

Beth and I went to the pool and hot tub Sunday afternoon. We couldn't win. The pool was fairly comfortable temperature wise, except for the wind. And the hot tub was way too hot (not to mention the annoying teeny-bopper couples). We left and got Mexican. Everyone was in bed by 9:30!

Sadly, Sofie and I dropped Beth at the airport at 7am this morning. Beth is already looking for the next race for us to run!

This pic is not from this weekend, but it was too cute not to share. Sofie looooves her new swim suit!

And, finally, promised pictures of our new bookcases.

Happy Memorial Day!

2009-05-24T20:46:00.004-04:00

Busy, busy weekend! And it's not over yet!

But first a picture from when we were waiting to go see the pediatrician last week. We went and got smoothies because I thought it would help Sofie feel better...she loves smoothies. She didn't really want to drink them, but she thought she should hold all the cups.

Our good friends Donny and Krissy, and their daughter Bella, were in town this weekend. Donny and Marc were in the Marine Corps together. But they had the nerve to move back home to New Hampshire about 2 years ago. Saturday we meet for drinks with them and a bunch of guys who were in the Marine Corps with Marc and Donny.

Bella and Sofie playing outside the restaurant. (Bella is only about 5 weeks older than Sofia....look at all the hair she has!)

Then we decided last minute to go to the National's baseball game. This was Donny's first time at the new ball park (you can see him in the background taking pictures). Krissy was showing Bella the field.

Marc showing Sofia the field.

Sofie and I during the game. It was free hat night.

Bella and half of Donny.

While we were waiting for the Metro, Sofia and Bella started giving each other hugs.

Then we went to the Zoo today. Kyle and Krissy A. came with us, with their son Joe. (Joe is about a month older than Bella.) Our 3 kids are the ones on shoulders in this picture. Kyle in the foreground with Joe in the red shirt. Donny and Bella (in purple hat) in the middle. And Marc and Sofie just past Donny.

We tried to get all the kids to pose by this statue.

Sofia thought about petting it. But this is about as close as Bella got to it.

Yeah, didn't go so well.

Sofia crapped out. She had a long day.

Saturday, before we met for drinks, we went to IKEA. They were having a major sale on some bookshelves (which we needed). And Sofia got a table and 2 chairs....Sofie sized.

And she got a little tent to play in. She made Mommy join her and pretend to go night night.

She loves her new tent.

Pictures of the bookcases to come once we get them put together and have stuff in them.

Sharing

2009-05-19T21:06:00.003-04:00

The little stinker, and by stinker I mean Sofia, has shared yet another sickness with me. She came home yesterday with a fever of 102. She and I stayed home today, and I thought she was getting better. Then I gave her a bath and she freaked and was not herself (she loves bath time). So I called the doctor and they were able to squeeze us in after hours. Turns out Sofia has coxsackievirus. The doctor said that, aside from one other boy, this is the worst case he's seen! It all boils down to a really bad sore throat/mouth. I asked if I should go see my doctor since I too have a sore throat, so he looked in my mouth and said I too have it, only a mild case, and no need to go see my doctor since it's a virus and we just have to let it run it's course. Oh yeah, and that course is going to be about 4-5 days until we are no longer contagious and we might have a sore throat for up to 10 days! Great way to start my second week at a new job....by not showing up. So far, everyone has been understanding. I think it's really that they don't want to get what we have!

Sofia and I will be going to the store in the morning to get "smooth" (doc's words not mine) things to eat that will feel good going down...maybe a a redbox movie and we'll be hanging out at the house the rest of the week.

What Do Tigers Say?

2009-05-15T17:55:00.003-04:00

We are going to make a Clemson Tiger out of her yet!

Happy Early Birthday to Me!

2009-05-09T20:04:00.003-04:00

Marc, Sofia, and I went over to Fairfax Corner because REI was having a huge sale. I ended up getting my birthday present! The Garmin 405 with the heartrate monitor was on sale for $90 off of retail. Then to top it off, they were offering a $50 mail-in rebate. That ends up being a total of $140 off retail. I couldn't let that little gem just sit there for that price. We are going to a family test run in the morning...followed by some chocolate chip waffles.

While we were walking around, we came to the "common" area with tables and such....and a water feature. Sofia had a blast!

Shoes!

2009-05-08T16:20:00.003-04:00

This was bound to happen sooner or later. Suppose we are need of a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. (And don't we have ugly wallpaper in the kitchen? It came with house.....it wasn't our choice.)

Sofia and I discovered that we have a Crocs Outlet Store! I got 4 pairs of Crocs (1 for Sofia, 1 for Elaina, and 2 for me) plus 11 jibzits (the colorful things that go in the holes) for $43!

Sofia's Mary Jane's with strawberry jibzits.

My Mary Jane's

My Clemson orange ones (and I even found some paw jibzits and a tiger jibzit...and a random baseball).

And Elaina's pair with Mickey Mouse holes.

Full Weekend

2009-05-03T16:16:00.003-04:00

We had a pretty full weekend. Saturday Marc rotated the tires on his car and reattached something on my car (I ran over a piece of 18-wheeler re-tred doing 75 miles an hour on my way back from SC a couple of weeks ago), we went to the Pet Fiesta at the Town Center, and we went to a Potomac Nationals game. The Pet Fiesta was a bit of a let down, although we did see a bunch of dog breeds we don't normally.

The baseball game was pretty exciting. The Nats beat the Keys, and there was a free fireworks show after the game.
The mascot, Grand Slam.

The fireworks.

Today Marc was scheduled to have a baseball game of his own, but it got rained out. So he rotated the tires on my car while Sofia and I went to Wally World looking for a pattern and material to make her a cheerleading uniform to wear to Marc's baseball games. Then I remember when I was in elementary school my mom made me a t-shirt dress out of some colored mens t-shirts. I started looking through the kids t-shirts and they happened to have the right color orange! Marc's team is the Loudoun Beavers and their colors are orange and black. I thought black would be too hot in July and they didn't have grey, so I got white and orange. Then I found matching orange grogan ribbon to make the "B" for Beavers.

Sofia was being a ham and started acting silly every time the orange light on the flash came on.

I finally had to have Marc hold her in place to get a picture of her outfit.

She even wanted me to take a picture of her lamb instead of her.

This is from a few days ago....I forgot all about it until I was downloading this weekend's photos. Girl loves shoes!

Cute Pictures

2009-04-30T08:24:00.001-04:00

Go check out Beth's blog from some cute pictures of Elaina and Sofie playing together.

Sofia Dances

2009-04-29T20:00:00.002-04:00

Sofia's latest thing is to run to Marc's side of the bed and turn his clock radio on and off and on and off and so on. And while it is on, she dances. And sometimes she changes the alarm settings. Thankfully, Marc has learned to check his alarm every night before bed and hasn't been late for work yet.

(excuse the video quality...the batteries died in anything that would take video except my cell phone)

I love Goodwill!

2009-04-24T07:29:00.002-04:00

We found this little gem yesterday at the Goodwill....for $3.99!! (It retails for $76.) This is some of the best $4 I've spent in a long time. She hasn't stopped playing with it since we brought it home.

I found Sofia here yesterday before we headed out. I have no idea how she squeezed in there!

And Coda thought maybe she'd like to get on the internet....But she couldn't figure out how to open the screen, so she thought she'd sleep on the computer instead.

(She's awfully big, isn't she?)

Lots going on (and lots of pictures)

2009-04-19T18:33:00.003-04:00

Whew! It's nice to be home. Sofia and I were in SC for a little over a week. We went down to spend some time with my parents (and any friends who happened to be in the area). We ran the Easter Bunny 5K with Beth and Jenny, saw some reality tv stars and had an Easter Egg hunt. We put Marc on an airplane last Sunday so he could come back home to start his new job (Ellie, we aren't moving. It's a new job in the same city.) I stayed on in SC so that I could get some work done with my dad and Sofia could have a week of "Mimi Daycare."

Sofia, Jack (the dog), and I drove home yesterday.....just the two of us. I was really, really dreading this. I could just picture us going 70 miles on hour on I-81 and her screaming in the backseat with me not being able to do a thing about it. Normally, when we take a trip as a family, the passenger can reach around and give her a drink, snack, toy, etc. How was I to do this by myself? It turned out just fine. I had a bag of snacks and a cooler of drinks in the front passenger seat. I could just barely reach her hands enough to pass her a drink or snack or any other item out of the front seat to keep her happy. I could also reach play button on the DVD player. We stopped every 1.5-2 hours for bathroom breaks and to stretch our legs....stopped for a half hour at lunch, and it only took 30 minutes more than normal to get home. And Sofia was a doll! I would definitely give it a try again.

Sofia fell asleep with her "Baby" (new lamby the Easter Bunny left her, that is as big as her) within 30 minutes of starting our trip

And she kept asking for "Baby" any time he'd fall down.

Playing with her animal crackers

Happy on the way home

(Please forgive the fact that the picture isn't center.....I was shooting blind since I was paying attention to driving.)

Jack was so happy to be out of the car, he let Sofia put stickers all over him (you know, address labels in case he gets lost). And Sofia was so happy to see her daddy.

And few ended up on Sofia.

Some how, Sofia ended up in just her diaper. Then she decided that she HAD to have her shoes on. Then she found her rain coat and HAD to wear that too.

Then she started opening and closing her coat....just like a streaker!

Once Sofia went to bed, her bedtime Bunny had to have minor surgery. He got a boo-boo while playing with one of Mimi and Papa's dogs. Dr. Marc working hard on Bunny's stitches.

This morning I got up and ran a 5K. There was another past Biggest Loser contestant at this race also.

Then we high tailed it home for showers, to pack a cooler, and headed to Marc's baseball game.
Marc is #7, playing catcher.

Sofia had a blast running around the bleachers, playing with her sidewalk chalk, and getting filthy.

Sofia decided that her sidewalk chalk would work better as make-up.

Happy Easter, Y'all

2009-04-12T19:28:00.002-04:00

We had a very enjoyable Easter today. Sofia got up to see what the Easter Bunny had left her...sidewalk chalk, a giant stuffed lamb, bubbles, rubber duckies, and a little bit of chocolate. We had eggs and pancakes for breakfast. Then we noticed that the Easter Bunny had left some treats outside too.

Sofia was so funny. She had to open every egg to see what was inside before she would move on and find the next one. Some had M&M's and some had fruit snacks. She didn't want anything to do with the fruit snacks, but had to eat every M&M before we moved on to the next one. We finally got wise and made sure the remaining eggs only had 1 M&M.

Then she got the hang of it and start collecting without inspecting.

(Of course, the dogs ended up with the fruit snacks.)

We had an late lunch/early dinner of yummy ham and sent Marc to the airport so he can start his new job tomorrow. On the way home from the airport, I came across this beautiful cross at one of the local churches.

Fun in Clemson

2009-04-11T20:53:00.006-04:00

Today we went down to Clemson to visit with some old friends and run a race (see the race report here). And we ran into some celebrities.

We had a great time visiting with everyone! And there was a kids Easter Egg hunt after the run.

Sofia and Elaina both had a great time hunting eggs....

Mattie loved playing with the eggs.....

We got tons of loot!

And Sofia loved seeing what the surprise inside was...

And Sofia had a participant cookie.

Then we had yummy BBQ. Jill is so ready for a nap!

And when we got back to Mimi and Papa's, Papa had a nice pink hat for Sofia to play with.

Oh yeah, and we got to meet baby Erin on Friday!

Star Struck

2009-04-11T20:25:00.007-04:00

Even if it is a B-List star during her 15 minutes of fame. Today we (Marc, Sofia, Beth, Jenny, Mattie, Beth's cousin, Jill, and I) ran the Easter Bunny 5K in Clemson, SC.

We saw Amy Parham of last season's Biggest Loser (which wasn't a total surprise since she lives in Greer, SC) aaaaand Tara Costa of this season's Biggest Loser. They were running the half marathon. We talked to Tara's trainer in the port-o-potty line (we ended up saying you're cool and looking good to Tara in the port-o-potty line as well) and he confirmed that it was indeed her. He also said that since it still the middle of the season and she has not been kicked off yet (I think she's working on being one of the finalists) that she can't take pictures with anyone, etc, etc. Ok, sure, whatever, I busted out my zoom lense. Oh yeah, and Marc won his age group (while pushing Sofia).

Tara coming in to the finish

Looks like she finished in about 2 hours and 10 minutes.

See Jenny and Mattie in the foreground....just to prove we really were there.

And Amy....didn't get too many of her.

Cherry Blossom 2009

2009-04-05T19:47:00.004-04:00

Bear with me folks, this is a long one, and picture heavy. But I actually took pictures all weekend! I normally forget when Beth is here to take them until the last minute when she is packing up to go.

Beth, Jeff, and Elaina got her Friday afternoon. Sofia and I did some last minute cleaning/tiddying on Friday....well, I did the cleaning, she found another pair of shoes to keep her busy.

Saturday morning we got up and went to the Cherry Blossom parade.

The girls were not interested. Both preferred to sit in their strollers and ignore the festivities.

(My child is not possessed....I caught her mid blink)

The wind was so bad the tents at the festival were coming off the ground. We decided to skip the festival and head straight to packet pick up for the race.
Sofia got a new headband.

Then we had lunch at Gordon Biersch...yum, garlic fries!

(our attempt at a self-family portrait)

Lunch went straight through naptime....the good news is we only had one meltdown

This morning had us with a super early wake up call and out the door by 5:45am.

(Beth in the Shirt that Races, check out Beth's blog...I'm sure she'll update on the Shirt that Races soon, if not go bug her to do it sooner.)

Here are some mid-race pics with my $9 camera. Not too bad for running and taking pictures at the same time with a crappy camera.

We did it! And Beth did it for the very first time!

Official chip time:
Lauren - 1 hr 59 min 08 sec
Beth - 1 hr 59 min 09 sec
Michelle - 2 hr 04 min 58 sec

Other than a sore ankle and really tired and sore feet (debating about whether or not new shoes are in my near future), I felt great! My legs still had plenty of energy and my lungs weren't burning. I also feel like I could maybe start working on bringing my per mile time down. If I keep up what I've been doing, I'll be in great shape for my upcoming half marathons (which is great incentive to keep getting out there and training, it's not so daunting once you know you can do it). With that being said, I'm thinking of adding 1 day a week of interval type training to help me speed up a little. I'd love to get back to my pre-Sofia pace of 10 minute miles (and I thought I was so slow then! I'd love to be that fast again).

On our walk back to the metro, we took the long way so Beth and Jeff could see some of the monuments and get some pictures. (And by long way, I mean almost 2 miles out of our way....I checked! My sore ankle knew it was more than half a mile or so.)

And what started it all.....the Cherry Blossom

Marc had his first baseball game of the season today (sorry, no pictures). Sofia and I went to watch the second half after Beth, Jeff, and Elaina got on the road. Sofia was so worn out, she fell asleep on the way home. Notice the half eaten nugget in her hand. So tired, she couldn't even finish her dinner!

Sofia's Tutu

2009-04-03T10:27:00.002-04:00

I was rummaging around in Sofia's closet last night, trying to clean, organize, put away, and realized she hasn't worn her tutu in quite some time. Well, she wanted nothing to do with it. I finally got it on her, but honestly, I think she enjoyed getting her shots last week more than this. Marc and I tried to show her that the tutu wasn't scary, but of course, it's too small to go around our waists. We turned it into headgear.

What do you think? Is this the next great look for Clemson football fans?

Because I thought it was cute

2009-04-01T09:13:00.003-04:00

This morning I dropped Sofia off at daycare, like normal. I hung her coat up and got all her snacks out of her lunch box to put in the fridge, like normal. And she begged to be let in with the other kids, like normal. Then, she runs up to her best friend and gives her a big hug and a smile. It was so cute! Finally, I tried to get her attention to say good-bye. She was in her element and didn't want anything to do with me (which I'd rather have instead of her crying and distraught that I left her there). This other little boy tried to get her attention to say good-bye to me and she gave him a big hug and smile, too! Who knew that April 1 was not only April Fool's day (and the anniversary of when I became a brother), but it's also Big Hug and Smile day.

Hard to believe it's been 10 years since I became a member of Kappa Kappa Psi. Zeta Love!

If you're interested...

2009-03-31T13:56:00.004-04:00

I've started a running blog as well. Just trying to keep track of all my training (and trying to keep motivated to keep doing it).

You can follow me here.

18 Month Check Up

2009-03-28T09:18:00.002-04:00

My baby is 18 Months old (guess that means she's not a baby anymore...). She's happy and healthy and right where she should be.

Her stats -
Height: 33.25 Inches (90%)
Weight: 27 lbs 14 oz (90%)
Head Circumference: 48 cm (80-85%)

She got one shot and a little blood drawn....and no tears! She only cried when they put a band-aide on her and she couldn't get it off.

Developmentally, she's right on target. She has a 7-10 word vocabulary....Momma, Dadda, cat, dog, poop, "nanna" (banana), all gone, sit down, more, shoes, no. She can climb the stairs (holding an adult hand, of course), climb onto the sofa and into her high chair. She pushes and pulls the recycle bin all over the house. She knows the milk and water are in the fridge, the bananas are on the counter, and the cheerios and goldfish are in the pantry. She runs to her room for a diaper change and knows when Mom needs to go potty we go in the bathroom (still don't trust her to run around by herself). She can point out her belly button, nose, eyes, and head. And I can tell her to go get her cup, her cheerios, her bunny, and she runs into the other room to find the item and brings it back to me.

Worn out after the doctor's visit.

And, because I'm super excited...they are expanding our Wal-Mart into a Super Wal-Mart. It's expected to be done next fall. You can bet that's where we will be doing our grocery shopping! (Please don't hate...I know some people have negative feelings about Wally World, but I love it!) Here's a shot of the steal frame work going up.

More Pictures

2009-03-20T21:11:00.003-04:00

I guess Sofia has a new love of glasses. She found these at Michelle's the other night.

I think we might have a new tooth coming in.

I was in an client's office this week, so I had some dress shoes lying around the house. Sofia found them this morning and decided it was time to start playing dress up. She got them on all by herself!

We went to meet Daddy for lunch today (don't have any pictures of that). Then we went to the marathon expo for the Suntrust National Marathon that is in town tomorrow. I got lots of Bondi Bands (to keep those pesky bangs out of my face!). They were nice enough to give Sofia a kid's size one for free (and she left it in and didn't fight it or try and pull it out....we'll see how long that lasts).

And with the lack of sleep and missed naptime, Sofia was worn out. She feel asleep on the way home from the expo. She was sleeping good, too. Check out that drool/spit bubble!

Just a Few Pics

2009-03-19T19:39:00.000-04:00

We decided to give chocolate pancakes a try last weekend instead of waffles. We can cook up 4 pancakes at a time vice 1 waffle, so we thought we'd save some time. But it just wasn't the same.

Then Sofia found my Harry Potter glasses from one of the book's release parties. She had fun with them. She'd beg Marc to put them on, then she'd take them right off and want them back on immediately.

And this morning, ah this morning. Sofia and I had just had a shower and we each got a bowl of oatmeal. This is what Sofia decided to do with hers.

Aw, come on Mom. I wanted another bath!

More Consignment Sale Goodies

2009-03-14T15:57:00.001-04:00

Decided to go back for the half price sale today. We got tons more goodies for $27!

I got this gorgeous dress, new with tags, for $10. (I know it's too big for Sofie, it's for a friend's daughter.)

And I got this dress for Sofie for the holidays this year, for $2.50!

And I got the rest of this stuff!

A fleece pull over

2 tank tops

2 shirts (one new with tags)

A skort

A Talbots outfit, shirt and matching shorts

And a fleece jammie type thingy

Why did I ever stop watching ER?

2009-03-12T23:05:00.002-04:00

With all the hoop-la of George Clooney and the original cast coming back, I had to watch it tonight. And now I'm kicking myself for not watching all these years! And of course I get hooked in the last few episodes of the last season.

I know why I stopped watching...silly me, thinking I actually needed sleep. When I first moved to DC, I worked 6am-3:30pm. That had me in bed every night by 9pm. Staying up to watch ER at 10pm was just not in the cards. Now I'm trying to figure out where I can find all the lost episodes so I can catch up!

I love consignment sales!

2009-03-11T15:11:00.001-04:00

Just got home from one of the spring kid's consignment sales in our area. I love consignment sales! I got all this loot for Sofia for $49. Yup, that's right, $49.

1 pair of sneakers

3 sets of Baby Legs (and the real deal, too, not knockoffs)

2 dresses

3 pairs of PJ's

2 t-shirts

5 pairs of shorts

1 skirt

This particular consignment sale restocks items every morning (so not all the stuff was out today when I went). Saturday is half price day and Sunday anything left goes for $1. I'm debating about going back tomorrow or Friday for the restocked items or if I should wait until half price day (when I can get some really good deals, if anything is left, and Marc can help me wrangle Sofia).

Oh, and our new curtains. I'm not sure I 100% love the actual curtain, but it was very inexpensive and will work until we find something we love. (Please disregard the mess in the living room.)

Worn out

2009-03-05T14:21:00.003-05:00

Asleep in the shopping cart, yet again! She fell asleep in the 5 minutes it took us to go from Wal-mart to the grocery store, so I thought I'd try to see if I could get her in the cart without waking her. Jackpot! She slept right until we got to the checkout lane. Good thing I didn't need too many items...

I just thought this was funny looking. The picture doesn't do it justice. This snowman is melting as the temps rise here...but he's melting into the snowman version of Jabba the Hut.

Snow

2009-03-02T08:51:00.004-05:00

Snow...in March...I'm so ready for spring!
I took the ruler out this morning and it measured 5 inches and it's still coming down.

Jack loves the winter/cold weather!

Playground

2009-02-27T11:15:00.002-05:00

We went to the playground today. It's 60 degrees out! But it's supposed to pour cats and dogs later and maybe have a wintery mix on Sunday. So we thought better go now, even if it is super windy. Sorry for the quality, these are from my phone.
(don't know why this pic is reversed...mirror image)

She's a climber! Did this all on her own. Even got to the top and stepped over to the platform (while holding Mom's hand) to go down the slide. The slide was her favorite today!

A week with Grandpa

2009-02-22T10:25:00.005-05:00

Warning, lots of pictures ahead.

Marc's dad came Tuesday to visit. Here is Sofia showing him her cigar box and all the stuff she likes to put in it.

Thursday, Marc took Bob to work with him. So, Sofia and I went to the mall to get rid of some pent up energy. We went before the stores opened, and it was great! We were the only ones there for awhile. No big kids running around like idiots while their parents talk on their cell phones and don't pay attention to their children.

I finally finished a knitting project! I made a shawl. I should have made it a little less wide. Then I would have had more yarn to make it a tad longer. Oh well. At least it's finished.

Yesterday we went to the Marine Corps Museum. These are the only 2 pictures I have. First, she's sleeping on the way down. Second, us waiting on Dad and Grandpa to finish looking at stuff.

And this morning, we woke up to a sick kid-o. She was sitting in her own puke. Who knows when it happened. After we got done bathing her, she had diarrhea. She hasn't had any more incidents since, but she's already taking her second nap of the day....this from the girl who hates naps.

Sofia Dances

2009-02-16T20:35:00.001-05:00

Weekend in Pictures

2009-02-16T19:58:00.004-05:00

I'm sorry for any confusion, I thought everyone knew already. Marc had his gallbladder removed last week. He had a gallstone, about an inch big. It was causing him much pain and it was too big to pass (and has been bothering him for years now). It was a laproscopic procedure and much less invasive. He's got 2 small incisions, 1 larger one, and 1 in his belly button. And yes, having the gallbladder removed is really the only way to treat this. Once the gallbladder is diseased, you can't live with it forever. Plus, even if they were able to remove the stone, another would come back.

Some pictures of our weekend...

Sofia decided to help me make waffles this Sunday. She brought the chair over (with a little help).

She helped stir the chocolate chips in.

Yes, we are both wearing Christmas PJ's in February. That's just how we roll.

This morning, Michelle and Lolly went to IKEA with Sofia and I. Marc still isn't able to lift much weight at all, so I talked Michelle into going with me in case I couldn't pick up the item on my own. IKEA was selling the MALM dresser for $39.99 (regular $79.99) for one day only! They also happened to have free breakfast! So we came home with one of these snazzy dressers for Sofia's room (to replace the changing table). And of course, you never leave IKEA with just the item you went in for...Michelle ended up buying a dresser as well and a new lamp, I bought a lamp to replace the broken one in the living room, bought more plates that are Sofia proof (i.e. plastic), and light bulbs for all the new lamps. I had a gift card from Christmas from Aunt Barbie and Uncle Tom. Thanks for Sofia's new dresser!

Sofia supervising Daddy putting the dresser together.

The finished product.

Chocolate puddin'

2009-02-15T08:03:00.005-05:00

Marc had his surgery on Thursday and all went well. He came home Thursday after it was all done. He's been up and moving around since and he keeps getting better day by day.

Mimi came to stay with Sofia while we were at the hospital (THANK YOU!). Could you imagine chasing a 17 month old around the hospital and keeping her happy for 6 hours? While she was here she got Sofia some new shirts, one modeled below.

Everytime I tried to take a picture of Sofia and I, she made this silly face. As soon as the red-eye reducer light came on, she got all silly.

We decided to test out the weather shield on the BOB. It was great. It kept her warm and toasty and protected from the super wind we had the other day. Now, if only we could get Mommy a weather shield.

Chocolate pudding for dessert last night.

Picture Update

2009-02-08T10:14:00.006-05:00

I guess you could say we have a new tradition in our house. We've been making chocolate chip waffles on Sunday mornings for the past few weeks and now it seems funny not to do it. Sofia loves the waffles! The way to Sofia's heart is through her tummy.

Sofia also decided to help Dad change a light bulb today. She climbed all the way up the ladder herself. (Don't worry, Marc was just outside the picture to grab her should she lose her balance.) We've got quite the monkey on our hands.

I don't remember when this pic was taken. But she's in a Clemson sweatshirt and finally liking hats again, so I thought I'd post it.

Sofia and the Snow

2009-01-27T17:45:00.003-05:00

Sofia hated the snow. Any time I put her down in it she cried and reached for me. Ahhh, she is my child. We're beach bunnies!

But she did have fun running in the carport where there wasn't any snow on the ground.

I thought these 2 were great.

Snow

2009-01-27T10:50:00.003-05:00

Sorry, no Sofia pictures this time. Maybe this afternoon when I get her from daycare we'll go out and play in the white stuff and take some then. We are getting 2-4 inches and it doesn't look like it's going to stop anytime soon. It's supposed to be icey and sleet tomorrow. Ick!

The view out our back window.

My lazy animals.

Jane Fonda/80's Jazzercise ain't got nuttin' on me!

2009-01-18T22:28:00.005-05:00

So, Sofia scratched her belly on the dishwasher today. The door was down so we could load it and she was trying to "help" and scratched herself on some part of the door. She's ok, but we put neosporan and a band-aide, but she wouldn't leave the band-aide alone. So we put her in a onsie so she couldn't get it. But she was in such a funk (partly because of the scratch and partly because she was just having a bad day), she didn't want to have any part of putting pants on. So I put some leg warmers on her and off she went. As the evening progressed, she told Marc she needed her Winnie the Pooh shoes too, and then she swiped my fleece beanie cap (but she took it off after the first picture and wouldn't put it back on). It was quite a look she had going on there. :)

New Coat

2009-01-18T22:23:00.002-05:00

My Great Aunt Debbie sent me this wonderful barn coat the other day. It matches the coat on my bear! Let's hope it warms up a tad so I can wear it soon (it didn't get out of the 20's here yesterday....I could stay in my fleece footie pj's all day on days like yesterday).

New 'Do Number 2!

2009-01-10T16:51:00.006-05:00

This time its for Sofia. She got her first hair cut today. It's hard to tell the difference in these pictures, but it's got a shape now and it's not scraggly anymore. It looks really cute, now if she'd only leave the clips in.

Before

During

After

(You'll notice I already have my hair pinned back...I still like the bangs, but they drive me nuts before the day is over.)

At the grocery store with our new 'do...giving the kid carts a whirl. We will not be using one of these carts ever again! They are hard to maneuver, the store was packed, and she ended up wanting to be held anyway.

New Year, New 'Do

2009-01-04T16:33:00.003-05:00

2008

2009

Still getting used to the bangs. And I'm on the fence about keeping them, but I've only had them for a day and I've been without bangs for 15 years now, I'm sure it'll take some getting used to.

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T19:55:00.003-05:00

Some pictures from our breakfast out New Year's Day. Sofia enjoyed dipping pretzels in strawberry jelly. She didn't want anything to do with the yummy pancakes. Go figure.

15 Month Check Up

2009-01-02T19:51:00.002-05:00

Sofia had her 15 month check up this past Tuesday. All is good.

Height: 31 inches (70th %)
Weight: 26.8 lbs (90.95th %)
Head Circumference: 47.5 cm (85th%)