This is dedicated to one I love.....

This post is dedicated to Aunt Julia (my sister). Some of her favorite pictures of Sophia are ones of her sitting in her chair in interesting ways. Here you go....

She was watching Elmo and they were talking about bananas so she had to have one.

This is her posing in her new shirt.

The final set of pictures is her newest accomplishment. Quite interesting isn't it??? It kind of gives me a heart attack though. I have all kinds of visions of her falling and cracking her head open. But, I let her do it. I am crazy. She is actually pretty good at it. She can balance there for a good minute and a half.

Ps. The destruction you see in the background is only a few hours worth. Amazing.

The Second Annual Blackwell-Cissell Train Show

This weekend the annual train show came back into town. Sophia really enjoyed herself this year. However, now she knows how to say those precious words, "I want that", and says them over and over and over. It was a lot of fun though. I wish that I had been feeling better. I would have been a lot more lively. Sophia walked away with several new Thomas trains. She got James (a bright red engine) and James' tinder car, 2 aquarium cars (one has a shark and the other a squid floating in them), a cow freight car that moos when you open and close the door and then the milk car that has a huge jar of milk you can put in and out of the car. She loves playing with them. Thanks for a good time Pardie!!

This year Sophia was much more interested in seeing the trains but she is still too short to see most of them without being held. But carrying 22 pounds around for a couple hours is not easy. My cold was beginning to escalate and I really needed a tiny break. God bless the woman selling Tootsie Roll pops. It made a mess but was sure worth the 20 minutes I got out of it. It was by far the best 25 cents I have spent in a long time. Poor woman. If only she would have known I would have paid 5 times that amount. She could have made a killing. Maybe I can sell them next year and turn a profit. Hummmm.....

Before the secret weapon......

After...

It's magic.

***Take notes Aunt Julia***

My favorite train. Pardie says it probably cost a fortune. I knew I had good taste.

It is now flashback time. Since it is our Second Annual Train show, I thought I would compare with pictures from the first.

I am constantly in awe of how much she's grown.

Bath Time

It's been a long time since I took bath time pictures. Sophia is such a big help now during her bath. She moves all around the tub which has caused me more than a few minor heart attacks.

Showing you how she can swim

Washing her feet

This time last year......

What a difference a year makes. Little tub. Little baby.

Best Friends

Sometimes Sophia and Chloe are best friends and other times they fight like sisters. I got a video of them at their better moments. Sophia picks up Chloe's food one little nugget at a time, dips in in Chloe's water and then feeds it to her. Chloe loves it. I don't know why but it sure is cute.

Swim Suit Season

What?? I bet that's what you're thinking. But for Sophia and I, it has already started. This week started swim lessons at the YMCA. This class is a repeat for Sophia and Libby but I think that they are going to get even more out of it this year. The first class went great. This year Sophia can understand more so when she is supposed to kick, she kicks. When it is time to "jump" in, she jumps. It is so much easier for me too. I didn't realize how wobbley she was last year. We had a great time together. I think you will get that idea from the photos.

Getting ready to get in by singing our song. This is the way we wash our legs....

I love that little girl.

This is the time in the lesson where they get a few toys to play with and we are supposed to make them reach for the toys. It helps them get more comfortable in the water. They can't be holding on to you and reaching for toys. What you can't tell from this picture (why is she laughing) is that Sophia's hands were full with two toys already when she wanted the third toy, a frog. So she grabbed it with her teeth. It was a squirty toy so it squirted water everywhere including her face.

Kicking so good. Best friends.

A lot has changed but some things stay the same. She still is not a fan of going underwater.

Flashback... What a difference a year makes.

It's a Girl!!!

My sister went for her 20 week appointment today and found out it was a girl. I am so pumped. I can't wait for her to get here. I think they need to move closer now so the girls can play together. What a lucky little girl. I am sure they will buy and get new clothes too but all the hand-me-downs she can have. WOW. There are just boxes of cute clothes (probably a 1/3 that Julia bought) just waiting in my basement for this new little girl. I can't wait to start buying pink stuff for her!! YEAH!!!!!!! Is it time yet...is it time yet...how about now???

She EATS!!!!

For those of you that don't know, Sophia doesn't eat much. I don't know how she manages to stay alive on the little she eats and how busy she is all day. It is amazing. But last night and tonight she decided she would eat. And then today she ate a whole plate of tortellini tonight. Halleluhah!! That is approximately 9 tortellini and then moved on to my plate. It was such an occasion I made Cory take pictures to commemorate the winter night in January of 2008 that she ate.


Look how happy I am that she is eating. Ridiculous.





Funny position to watch TV

***Yes, those are autumn/Halloween pants. Her jeans were too big for her and I just put these on. As you will see, this happens a lot. It might have something to do with the fact that she NEVER EATS!!! And yes, in the bottom picture she is wearing those Halloween/autumn pants and a snow girl sweater. It's the latest thing in fashion.

Lazy Saturday

This past Saturday we hung out together all day. It was a very lazy, wonderful day. I never even changed out of my pajamas. It was GREAT! I took some cute pictures of the day....just thought I would share them.

Watching Elmo. Notice the new Elmo slippers!

The good thing about lazy Saturdays.....we discovered she loves popcorn.

She is starting to get the idea of pretend. Here her and her Daddy are pretending to be asleep. If you look close in the first picture you see the binky in her hand. And in the other pics you see one in her hand and one in her mouth. One binky just won't do anymore.

Sophia and Daddy wrestling. Here Daddy plays "tickle fingers".

Absolutely my favorite picture!!!

Hat party!

Sophia got 2 new hats from her GUK and GAC (that's Great Uncle Ken and Great Aunt Cheryl) when she went to visit them in Florida. We decided to model them.



She looks so grown up here.


I love this picture of the 2 of us. Her smile is so adorable.


I thought I would snap a couple of other pictures too. She is just too cute.


Say "CHEESE". Hard to believe these 2 pictures were taken like 10 seconds apart. She doesn't even look like the same kid.


This is how she likes to watch TV. For those of you that don't know....that is Pooh on TV during the "Think, Think, Think" song. Scary that I know that.

Yes, the decorations are still up. I will get them down before Febuary this year. Don't worry. As I always say, lazy Saturdays are much more fun that putting away Christmas decorations.

Clarification:
**No, I do not thing that a sweater and turtleneck look good with fleece pants. The sweater and shirt actually have really cute matching jeans that go with them. However when Cory put them on her this morning he did not realize how big they were on her. Donna said they fell all the way off of her. These are the back up pants we send with her. It's always interesting finding pants that fit her. I have found that Old Navy, Gap, and Janie and Jack are the best places to get pants that have the adjustable waist so they don't fall off of her. Of course that means that I spend the same amount on her pants that I do on mine. Oh, the trauma of being skinny. Man, that just stinks. **