Happy 3rd Birthday Sophie!!!....

Sophie Leigh turns 3!! Its weird to think that we've only known this little girl since creating her being 3 years ago. We have an entire lifetime of memories already and more are made everyday. Being her parent is so amazing and we cannot have asked for a single thing more.





Sophie. Almost 3 foot tall and 25 pounds she's our sweet, sensitive, sassy girl. She has quite the imagination in almost everything she does whether that be telling a story about her imaginary friend "blue guy" or when playing with toys and reading her version of a book. [Particularly Knuffle Bunny...one Mike and I will NEVER forget]


[First attempt at writing her name...]


[Oh. Yes. Headbands.]

She's a talker. She almost never stays in her bed after being tucked in. She uses excuses such as "Mommy, I gave you a bad kiss" or she finds the need to tell me that "Charlie is a good girl" just so she can get up. She recently found fear of not only the dark but going into rooms alone. I could attempt to be a child psychologist here and say it's because of her favorite movies...Rio, Tangled, How to Train Your Dragon and Gnomeo & Juliet [which we've seen no less than 100 times each] but I think it's safe to say that all little tykes have a fear of something so we'll conquer hers one day at a time.


[Her finished coin bank monster she painted today at Clay Cafe...]



She loves to play in her kitchen and grocery store. Loves playing swords with Daddy and reading books in her tent. Has a shoe fetish. LOVES Katy Perry. Sings in anything that looks like it could be a microphone. Dances. Likes jumping on the trampoline. Has to get the "tickle fot" when brushing her teeth before Daddy takes over. Adores her little sister. Is impatient and has a TINY temper. Loves the outdoors. Likes to help with anything and everything around the house. And...is still our happy little animal lover who smiles ALL the time.









She's our fruit loop in this world full of cheerios and we pray that will never change.

Happy 3rd Birthday baby girl. We love you more than stars, fishes and way higher than the moon!

Lots of love to everyone reading.

First Hair Cut...

Sophie got her very first haircut yesterday. She was such a brave girl and Mommy was so proud of her. She didn't cry not once!


[Before...]

Started off with a "coco-nutty" shampoo and condition...of course, she was too little to sit in the chair by herself so I held her tiny body up over the sink to get her scrub. She laughed and said the water sprayer "tickled".

Then, off to get a snip and style. She felt more secure holding my hand [which was totally fine by me] and she had her a HUGE lolly-sidekick too. She listened so well when asked to "freeze"...[we know this action all to well from our infamous Yo Gabba Gabba episodes].







Still our Sophie girl...only with a few inches [3 to be exact] off the bottom! She couldn't get enough of herself in the mirror...



Thanks to Vicky for being so patient and making our princess feel comfortable during her first haircut endeavor.

Have a great day! Love.

Five Months...

Sniffle.

Charlie angel is already 5 months old. This month kind of snuck up on me [hence the reason for the late post] and our littlest princess has begun to do so much. She is grasping objects when held in front of her...all of which end up directly in her mouth. I swear she is cutting teeth. She's so violent when putting things in her mouth almost as if she is going to rip it to pieces. Crazy chick. She fights sleep. Is impossible to feed...moving her head everywhere to see everything and touching/pulling with her hands. Fun times.





She can hold her head up steady now and will do so in any seat just to show you she can. Sitting up at playtime on the floor is becoming a habit. Of course, with support of Mommy behind her. She also much enjoys laying on her back under her activity gym, on the couch or on the bed [with enough room to kick her feet continuously]. She is very ticklish on her thighs and shoulders. Is laughing a lot more. [So freaking cute, btw.] And ABSOLUTELY LOVES her Sophie girl. She watches her every move and thinks whatever she does is hilarious.


[Talking to Sophie...]



Sampson and Owen have been on her radar lately, too. Sampson more-so only because he is normally eye level with her highchair waiting for someone to drop food. She will reach out anytime either one is close enough to touch. And just within the last week or two she has totally become one with her voice-box. She can carry on a conversation for several minutes and when she does it's so amusing to listen to the different sounds she can create. Pure sweetness!



She'll go next month for her weigh-in and height check so I'll be sure to post the specs. She's growing like a weed!

Love to everyone reading!

Merry Christmas!!!...

Four Christmases this year, one less than last year, and all were great. Saturday's Christmas Eve cajun lunch was awesome and the girls had a blast with their cousins. Aren't they a group of cute tykes...??



Christmas morning Charlie waited patiently for sister to wake up but once she did...one-by-one each present was torn into. Of course, our neat freak [Sophie] was trying to clean her wrapping paper mess as she went. Daddy insisted she throw the paper everywhere so towards the end of the stack she started to let loose!






[Charlie checking out her activity gym...]


[Sophie testing out her new wheels...]

Third Christmas brought us to Pa and Ram's house for food and more gifts. Here Sophie stayed in her hanging tent [along with Daddy] while Charlie became attached to her bunny rattle.


[In the tent...]


[Trying to figure out the musical flowers...]

And finally the last Christmas back at our house for the traditional "Goedel" dinner. We had every italian dish you could think of and ate until we were sick. Of course, some might have been sick from other resources the next morning.

Christmas is never complete without family so thanks to all our family and friends for making this year special, yet again!

Merry Christmas!!! Love!

Weekend Fun...

Or really Saturday fun. Took the girls to the South Plains Wildlife Rehabilitation Center for their second open house [of the year]. Here workers/volunteers bring out all the injured wildlife rescued from the South Plains area. They have multiple owls and birds, a fox, a bobcat, and even a possum. We got to see baby squirrels being nurtured since falling out of their nests and a very sleepy prairie dog. Of course, Sophie's favorites were there...Huey and Jasper [or "Jaspert"] the owls. It was reassuring to see that most of the injured animals we saw earlier this year were already rehabilitated and delivered back to the wild.


[Bobby the bobcat...]


[One of Sophie's fav's, Huey....]


[Oh so sleepy, Charlie...]

Then, the evening took us to the POLAR EXPRESS!! [Or "Polar Fress"] Sophie was so anxious the entire trip waiting patiently to see Santa and his elf's. She talked to almost everyone who asked her about Christmas and what she wanted Santa to bring her. Charlie was pretty excited during the trip also...so much so, she talked herself to sleep.


[Seeing Santa's elf's climb aboard...]




[Couldn't wait for Santa any longer...]


[Getting nervous, Santa is approaching...but so excited to tell him she wants a bike for Christmas!...]

It's moments like these today that make parenthood so wonderful. Now we are anxiously awaiting CHRISTMAS!!!



Hope everyone has a great day!

Four Months...

Charlie had her 4 month checkup today and she's up a few more LB's weighing in at 14lbs 10oz. She measures 24.5 inches and is the happiest baby girl. She's a little under the weather with a nasty running nose but that hasn't stopped her from LAUGHING! Yes...Sophie got her to laugh for the first time last night. She probably thought we were crazy laughing so hard with her.



Aside from laughing, Charlie smiles ALL-THE-TIME. She likes to look around at her surroundings and loves to be talked to. She's recently started to sit in her bumbo chair and can hold her head up pretty well. We're thinking about tummy-time but not too sure we like that yet. She's suffered her very first ear infection and flew on her first plane ride all in the same month. And she's seen her first SNOW FALL!!





She's a puker so a bib is a necessity everyday. She likes to watch cartoons and loves to be cuddled in a soft blanket to fall asleep. Much like her sister...she likes to be held upright so she can see the world and is trying to sport a fuzzy mohawk.



To be continued...

Lots of love to everyone reading!

The Bahamas...

Mike's younger brother's wedding brought us to the Bahamas this year. The girls both did fantastic on the drive to Dallas and the flights to Nassau, Charlie sleeping through most of the flights. The weather was pretty nice, a little chilly with the wind in the evenings, but overall perfect.



We stayed at the Atlantis resort and if you've ever wonder about this place...it's pretty AMAZING and definitely a kid kind of place. The aquariums alone are great...we couldn't get Sophie away from them. Even Charlie was watching all the fish and stingray's swimming around.





We took Sophie to swim with the dolphins. [or dolphin...Kelly] She was the bravest little thing wanting to touch Kelly non-stop. She gave her a hug and a kiss. It was adorable...and she said "Kelly the dolphin is my friend". She's still talking about her on a daily basis. Most definitely the highlight of her trip.



We ate some awesome food at Carmine's, took the kids to make stuffed animals, shopped around...looked at more marine life [turtles, piranas, sharks, etc], went swimming...of course, not in this particular order and certainly not all on the same day. It was a great relaxing getaway.





And, finally...the WEDDING!! [With the cutest flowergirls and ring bearer, I might add.] Congrats to Stevie and Fallon [and little Miley, too]!! We wish you the best for your new life together. Thanks for bringing the family together in such a great place! We'll forever remember your special day!







Love, love, love.