the dress and GG

This is the most perfect princess dress GG could ever hope for. Sophie wore this dress in my brother Andy's wedding. I kept it (like i did most all of her clothing) for years. Thank goodness I remembered it in time for GG to enjoy. It fits her perfectly. 

And no matter how sweet she looks in the above pictures, below proves she still our same funny GG. That girl makes me laugh every single day.

A Mom and Her Firstborn

A cup of tea

or hot chocolate. 

Today GG and I decided to have a nice, warm cup of hot chocolate.

Perfect for a chilly morning.

I served it to her in my mothers wedding china. 

She said " Oh no Mommy. That's not for me. It's breakable."

I told her she was old enough now to drink out of these big girl , breakable cups. 

It was a sweet moment sharing a cup of hot chocolate with her. Enjoying our morning.

A Little Bit o' GG

Cereal with milk. This just makes me look at her and know she is no longer a baby. She's a big girl that can eat cereal with milk for breakfast without making a mess.

And it's that time of year again. Footie pajamas. This makes me feel like she's not so big after all. She is so small and cozy and warm when she wears these. I love to snuggle up with her like this. 

It's also time for the first cold of the season. And it's a doozy. Fever and everything.

Get well sweet girl.

Babysitting 101

Sophie had her first paid babysitting gig on Saturday. It was for GG, but it was paid. I did instruct her to not treat her like her sister. She was to treat her like someone was paying her to care for their child. Even though they are 10 years apart, they still have spats like sisters sometimes.  I left (with Shep in tow) to go to a baby shower for two hours. Cell phone in pocket. When I got home GG was napping and I had artwork to prove they actually did activities. Sophie painted with her. GG loved it. 

They did handprints. 

I just adore this girl.

GG told me all about it. 

"Sopie paint my hand"

" I got my bwue"

" I got my ornge"

"I got my yeyow

"I got my pink"

"I got my green"

Relief

... that is what I feel right now. The past week and a half has been crazy! We started off last Saturday with Josh waking up not feeling well. By that evening he was in so much pain we went to the emergency room to have them release him at 3 am with no diagnosis. Sunday was horrible for him so on Monday we got in to see his DR. They immediately admitted him to the hospital with an infection that required IV antibiotics. So he was in there until Tuesday night.  They let him come home but he was ordered to rest for the week. 

He went back to the DR this past Monday and they released him to head back to work this week. Today is his first day back. It was a really scary couple of days for us. I am SOOO happy he is ok. 

This picture of G.G. just kind of sums up the week in our house. Josh not feeling well and resting, me nursing a baby and Sophie started middle school. The toddler had free reign. 

Let me just say I can't believe my little Sophie is in middle school. She switches classes every class and has a locker. This has been a huge deal for her and her friends. She was even quizzing Josh and me about when do we think she should go back to her locker. After every class or every two classes? It is really cute how new and exciting everything is for her. I love it. I miss her so much though. I wish I was brave enough to homeschool, just to have her with me all the time. I'm sure she would have none of that though. She's a very independent, social girl.

The two little ones are doing well. Just growing and growing every day. I can't stand it. G.G. is really into identifying all her colors right now. She talks all the time and just makes me laugh every day. She loves to sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" in this really funny voice because she knows it cracks me up. She is also running, climbing and jumping constantly. She had a couple of big falls off the couch the other day, so we'll see if any lessons were learned there.

Little Shep is just my precious baby boy. Nurses like a champ and sleeps all night. A couple of nights ago he woke up at around 11 pm and then again at 4 in the morning. I think he is beginning to teethe. He's been a little cranky lately. He just rolled over from back to tummy a couple of days ago.  He smiles all the time and we are just enjoying every moment of his babyhood. The milestones are exciting but I'm sure not rushing them! :)

This little girl

What would I do without her? She has brought so much energy and life and laughter to our family. She has her moments, that's for sure. But doesn't every toddler. Every child. Every mommy :). She is almost 22 months now. She says so many words and phrases. She's learning her colors, but everything is green right now. She counts but she doesn't start at one. She says seven, eight, nine, ten! She loves her big sister and little brother to pieces. She is fiercely independent and very strong willed. Both my girls are. Where did they get that from?

Today I just took her to a summer fun day at our church. She'll be there from 9am to noon. This is her first time away from me like this. I took her to her room with her little lunch bag packed. She was so big and said " Bye Mommy!" gave me a kiss and off she went to play.

 I miss her already.

My little man

almost 10 weeks old

14 pounds

slept from 9 am to 5 pm two nights in a row

won't do it again for a while because i just bragged about it :)

he smiles so much now

 even though he looks so serious in these pictures

he loves watching his sisters play and run around

he loves cuddling with his daddy

and mommy... well she's the one with the food ;)

* update: i wrote this last night before bedtime. he only slept 6 hours last night waking up at 3 am. i'm ok with that...i  can function on 6 hours

Milestones

Class of 2015!?!?

Wow, that gives me a reality check. She is growing up.

Sophie's last day of 5th grade is today. She'll be on her way to middle school next year.

Time flies.

I read a quote yesterday that really spoke to me. Because it is so hard to let her grow up and know the joys but also the heartache that is ahead of her.

" When we loosen our grip, He tightens His "

She is not mine. I have been entrusted to be her mother for these past wonderful 11 years and hopefully many more to come. But it is my God who holds her in His hands. 

I am so proud of the person she is becoming. 

It's a whole new world

At least it is for Sophie. She can see now! Poor thing has been telling me for a while she had trouble seeing the board at school. I finally made an eye appointment and, sure enough, she needed glasses.



She loves them.

I think she looks absolutely beautiful in them.
And more importantly, she can see!

She's mobile!

I sat G.G. in the living room floor and went to get ready to pick Sophie up from school. I could hear her playing and then all of the sudden realized it had become really quiet. I went to the living room and found this. She was having so much fun. I guess it's really time to babyproof.

All that braggin

All that bragging I did about her getting on the honor roll and she couldn't even give me a smile.

Ahh... the pre- teen years!

Proof of how fast they grow up

This is my precious firstborn baby Sophie. She is now 10 years old and proof of how fast they grow up. She loves arts and crafts and drawing and sketching her own fashion designs. She also loves to ride her bike and play volleyball and run like crazy. She likes her new school and made all A's and B's on her progress report this week. I am so completely proud to be her mother and in awe of the young lady she is becoming.