welcome Lily!

Dan’s brother Matt and his wife Cami (well, mostly Cami) gave birth to their first child Friday afternoon in Virginia.  She’s a sweet little thing!  We couldn’t be happier for the new mom and dad.  Congrats!

little miss personality

Here are pictures of Sophie (and Tessa) enjoying some of her birthday gifts this week:

 

Mama MIA I take so many pictures!  Sorry for the photo overload, but just know there are PLENTY more where these came from. :)  Anyway, I just wanted to take a few lines to gush over my 3 year-old.  As you can see a bit in the pictures; Sophie has BIG BIG BIG personality!  I’m a fan of lists so here’s what Sophie’s up to at 3 years old:

• Vocabulary is just sky rocketing! I added a section on the side-bar to put down some of the funny things Sophie says.  Her new favorite is saying the same things to me I always say to her like, “Don’t say no to me!”  and, “Mommy YOU can do it.”
• Sophie enjoys drawing and coloring and does it often.  The picture above was taken today and it’s her first “person” she’s ever drawn!  She hasn’t stopped either, she’d drawing more as I type and saying, “Check it out!” After she finishes each one.
• she’s a potty pro, been dry through the night since we came back from Houston last month although it seems like longer than that
• Sophie’s good at sharing with her sister and friends, OR giving them an alternative toy.
• She’s very much a boss and ring leader to whoever will put up with it
• she still loves to sing and dance, some of her favorite songs to sing lately are “Nephi’s Courage,” “Dora the Explorer,” “Boom, Boom, Boom, chicka Boom…”
• picky eater – her diet is very limited and she rarely will try new things (that aren’t candy)  I’m a definitely up for advice on this one!
• princesses, she’s all about everything to do with them
• she’s so smart, and often to my detriment as she figures out not only how things work but people too!  Also, Sophie can tell you which letter any word (except the tricky ones) starts with by sounding it out.

That’s all I can think of right now and speaking of Sophie, I really need to get her to bed!  We really love our little Sophie princess and can’t wait to see what else the future holds for her.

Sophie’s 3rd birthday party

No surprise at all, Sophie loved her birthday party.  Turns out being the center of attention, eating cake and ice cream, getting tons of presents, and playing with her friends are all good things.  Seriously though, she was in

HEAVEN!

We did her party a few days before her birthday so it wouldn’t interfere with our upcoming Ward Conference and temple day, plus this way Grandma, her cousins, aunt and uncle were still around and could come too!  It’s been awhile, but I decided to do a few scrapbook pages, hope you like them.

We played simon (or princess) says, musical hearts, pin the princess on the castle, red rover (my mom’s version where you give hugs), red light/green light, and ate cake with our guests.

Sophie got so many nice gifts!  It’s so nice that she’ll play with her new toys lately!!  This girl is a movie fanatic and it’s a miracle whenever she’ll play on her own. Thanks everyone.

Sophie’s lucky to have such wonderful friends and family that made her party great.  Here’s Brinley, Mia, Eden, Paul, Sophie and Elise.

We sure love our Sophie girl! 

Here are a few more pictures that didn’t into my scrapbook page themes:

feeling loved

What makes you feel loved?  A phone call, a card in the mail, a compliment, an act of service, a gift, a hug, grandma flying over for your birthday party, how about a mother and father willing to drive 9 hours each way with 2 young children in a small car to wish your little girl a happy birthday?  I feel loved.  K so I maybe I’m pre-menstrual but thinking about the sacrifice involved in the last item brings tears to my eyes!

We are so glad that my mom and the Wells came to see us this last weekend, thanks for coming everyone!!

Cherry Creek Mall

Cherry Cricket

- (the guys waited outside for our table to be available while us girls went next door to my office to keep warm)

 

Valentines Dinner

I didn’t get pictures of most of the stuff that Ann did, but it was AWESOME!  She decorated the apartment beautifully.  Then we had barbeque meatball subs, (sort of) heart-shaped pizzas, shrimp (off a heart-shaped tray), chocolate dipped strawberries, heart-shaped brownies, and dum-dum flowers!  Who’s hosting who?  So spoiled.

We were serenaded by Daniel, Sophie and Elise.

Tessa bonded with Uncle Brian, watching sports.  And enjoyed a brownie with Jake.

We really do feel so loved!  The girls had so much fun together, just dressing up and playing around the house.  And having Grandma at your beck and call is HEAVEN. 

Up next:  Sophie’s birthday party

I only have eyes…. for YOU

Don’t worry this isn’t a gushing post about how much I love my husband (although I surely do), it’s about what we are all obsessed with lately.

But first; I’m a sucker for girls snuggling with their daddy.  I have taken so many pictures like this… the kids just keep getting bigger.

They both love daddy, but Tessa ESPECIALLY loves Daniel!  She talks about him all the time saying, “da da,” and pointing to the front door where he left out of, or his shoes on the floor, or the bathroom she saw him get ready in.  Often she feels the need to further explain who she wants by finding pictures of Dan in the house and pointing them out to me.  It’s so sweet.  When he walks in the house she always runs and latches onto his leg while he takes off his coat.  She always hugs and then pats, I love it.

Know what else we love?  But not as much as Dan, of course.  The library!!  We went to a different one the other day that is brand new and SO COOL!  They have a decent size kids’ area with games built into the the ends of the book shelves, a magnet board, floor cushions and the favorite this week:  big soft blocks and circles.  Some older kids used them to build a car using the circular ones the wheels.  Sophie thought this was an amazing idea and much to the chagrin of the older children, she awkwardly joined the assembly.  She talked about it the whole way home so we decided to make one out of a soda can box.  Not too impressive and more like a van than a car… but hey Sophie doesn’t judge. :)

Also, this weekend Dan had the opportunity to play his viola at a baptism.  I love to hear him play and it doesn’t happen enough these days with him so busy with school and work.  The girls were quite taken by him and joined in the serenade.

By the way, I don’t know how many of you are aware, but Dan is a VERY talented musician his viola paid for his undergrad education completely as well as performances in Germany, Austria, and Sweden.  He had planned a career in viola performance and totally floored me a year into our marriage when he told me he wanted to go to law school.

As for me, I only have eyes for crafts these days. I want to make a couple of these for the diaper bag to keep my girls happy in church or the doctor’s office.  I think they’re adorable.  I’ll let you know how they turn out.

Today while my girls napped…

…I shirked my cleaning responsibilities and made these:

It was much more fun that what I was supposed to be doing.  I got the block tutorial here and the elephant template here.  I can’t wait to give these away this weekend!  Isn’t the internet grand?

now THIS is exciting

Dan’s cap and gown order brings a smile to my face.  Amazing how quickly 3 years go by!  He graduates from law school in May.