1st Ponytail!!

This morning while Sophie was absorbed in a grover clip on youtube (it's the only way she will ever let me do anything to her hair!), I decided to attempt a ponytail and IT WORKED! Amazingly enough, all her hair (or most of it, at least) fit up in the ponytail and I was dying over the cuteness of it all. Here are some pics of the zoned out girl in her new do. Come on, people - seriously, how ADORABLE is this?!?!?

I can't get over how old she looks in this picture - it makes me so sad that she's not my little baby anymore!

Happy Sunday

So these pics are actually from about a week and a half ago, but I had to post them. Some friends from home gave Sophie some hand-me-downs when she was born and we've been waiting almost 24 months for her to fit in this dress. Finally the day arrived! Of course Sophie was in no mood to have her picture taken (she never is), but she was somewhat pacified by having Dad in the pics. :)

Towel Cake

My lovely sister-in-law, Katy, is getting married next month, so we threw her a little party this weekend to celebrate! After seeing an adorable diaper cake on a friend's blog, I decided to try a towel cake. To my surprise and relief, I thought it turned out really really cute! Katy registered for brown towels, so it was a chocolate cake - perfect!

Anyway, it was a nice little party - with great food, if I do say so myself! :) Here are a few pics of the event...

The "Chocolate" Towel Cake!

Sisters: Renee, Katy & Betsy with their beloved roommate, BeccaSophie is BIG into giving kisses lately. And she always has to say, "mmmmwah!" while giving the kiss. Aunt Katy was the lucky recipient this time.The Bride-to-be and some of the spreadSophie "helping" Katy open presentsCongrats Katy! We are so excited for the big day next month!!

Hey Good Lookin'!

My mom has undertaken this massive project with her photos and stumbled upon these gems taken during the prime of my high school years. Amber, Mona and I definitely knew how to have fun! I totally wish that I still had some of those crazy clothes - that green turtleneck was classic, and the gold dress... irreplaceable! Anyway, it's nice to see that at one point in my life weight melted off just like that - in a matter of seconds! Here's hoping that the same thing happens after this baby is born!! Haha.

BEFORE

AFTER

Tulip Festival!

Sophie and I went to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point today. It was a BEAUTIFUL day (finally!!) and we loved every minute of it. Unfortunately, there weren't many tulips in bloom yet, but we enjoyed walking - or running if your name is Sophie - around. I tried and tried to get some pics of the little miss, but she just doesn't make it easy, you know? By the time my camera actually takes the picture, she's off doing something else or looking somewhere else, or not really smiling anymore... you get the idea. Here are a few that just don't quite capture the cuteness level of a little girl and flower fields, so you'll just have to use your imagination.

In front of a waterfall

this "smile" kills me!

Sophie LOVED smelling all the flowers

One more bending down to smell the flowers

In other news.. strawberries have been on deep super sale around here. I don't really know what I was thinking, but I bought an entire flat! Hey, it was a DEAL! But then came the dilemma of what to DO with all of them! I found a recipe online that looked promising and it turned out! Voila Mock Lemon Chiffon Cake (with strawberries). It was a good thing that we had a bunch of people of last week b/c otherwise most of this would most likely have ended up in my stomach. Of course, this only used up a very small fraction of the berries... you can believe that we've been eating strawberries on any and everything: oatmeal, toast, ice cream, cereal, etc... yum!

I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

I LOOOOOOOOOOVE this picture. Two of the best human beings on the planet!!!

Da Boyz

Last night at dinner we ran out of seats at the dining room table, so these big boys got to sit at Sophie's pink princess table!! Doesn't Cris look so excited about it?!

Bryce trying to take the kiddie table like a MAN. :)

And I believe that Jamie is trying to show us the latest bottle of hot horseradish sauce - these guys will eat that stuff on anything!!

You Know You're Pregnant When...

So last week, my sister, Marci, and I took Sophie and Sam to a nearby mall to play at their play area. We stopped at a Motherhood store on our way out and while Marci was checking out I found a cute top I wanted to try on. Soooo, I run into the dressing room and tried the top over the layering tee I was wearing under my um, normal shirt, I guess you'd call it? Anyway, the top ended up looking WAY cuter on the hanger than on me, so I put it back and tried to pry a stuffed giraffe out of Sophie's arms as we got ready to leave the store. Lucky for me, Sophie happened to grab my shirt, which made me look down and realize... I never put my over-shirt back on!!! Hello. I was just wearing the layering tee. Not the cutest look I've ever pulled off I must say. But I had completely forgotten to put the other shirt back on in the dressing room! I ran back into the dressing room and - sure enough - there it was sitting on the bench. Lovely. I must be pregnant or something...

Team Celebration

Today we went to lunch with all of Bryce's first semester group to celebrate that they all received fabulous summer internships (in fabulous places including, CO, CT, OH and UT). The restaurant of choice was Tucanos and they did not disappoint - esp if you like eating meat. Or grilled pineapple, as in my case! Congrats everyone!! Now to find that summer housing...hmmm. Which is more difficult? Getting the internship or finding temporary housing? We'll let you know when we find ours!

The crew

Bryce liked the top sirloin, I liked the grilled pineapple, and Sophie? She liked the straw.Drew and Ariana - the future Mr. & Mrs. Stevens

Teammates: Catherine, DJ, Adam, Jeff, and Bryce - happy as pigs in mud to be so close to the carne!!