Winter Carnival

Today we went to check out the Winter Carnival. We went downtown St. Paul to look at all of the beautiful ice sculptures and be a part of the almost last day of the festivities.

While we were there, several of the sculptures were already starting to melt. It was the most perfect day to be there. Sophia really enjoyed seeing all of the people, but the thing she enjoyed most was wearing her boots and playing in the snow.

One of the bigger sculptures was a stage with two large throne chairs on either side. We took advantage of the perfect picture opportunity and got some great shots.

When we got home we ate lunch and then went outside. Sophia loved her new sled. Some of the neighbors came outside and Sophia met the girl who lives across the street, Emmerson who is 2. She is cute and told us about dance, which we were looking into for over the summer. Emmerson loves it so hopefully Sophia might too.

Tonight we're going to stay home and relax. It's been really nice to have a weekend to just hang!

My new sled and my grandparents

Last night we had a family dinner together with all of the grandparents over. It was fun to have everyone together! Grandpa Hal is going to Utah for a while and Papa and Nana will be gone for the month or so in Florida. We hope they all have safe travels.

Papa and Nana brought Sophia a sled to use for the hopefully warm weather we will have tomorrow. Sophia was absolutely thrilled with her new sled. She got right in it and then proceeded to have people pull her around and pull her baby around in it. I can't wait to take her sledding tomorrow.


Tonight we had dinner with the Gutts (Loran, Christy, and Ella). We met them at Bostons in Woodbury. We had a great time catching up with them and hearing about their vacation to New Orleans. Thanks for the fun night guys and we can't wait to see you again!

Tomorrow we're going to head out to the Winter Carnival and do a little sledding. I am looking forward to a relaxing day/night of no real plans.

Happy Friday!

Counting to ten

Check out these counting skills. I am so amazed at what she does each day!

Aaachoo!

Sophia's new favorite thing to do is put a tissue to her nose and say Aaachoo! I was lucky enough to get her to do it for this video.



Tomorrow night I get to have dinner with all of my Tesseract girls! I am excited to see them. The rest of the week will hopefully go quick. I am excited for the weekend to come.

Girls Lunch

Yesterday Sophia and I had lunch with my college roommate Alyssa and her daughter Callan. The girls had a great time playing toys and having mac and cheese together. It was so fun to see Sophia want to do things like Callan. Here are two cute pictures from our lunch yesterday!

The girls typing on the keyboard

The girls and their mommies

Sophia has made some big potty accomplishments over the past couple of days which is exciting. What is even more exciting is that we noticed this weekend she is actually forming sentences of three or four words together. When I called to my parents house this weekend, she answered the phone. It was the most adorable thing ever! Wow I am totally blessed!!

The horses that go up and down

Yesterday we had such a busy day. I got up at 6 to go and work out. Then I quickly came home and took a shower before heading to the Bodyflow launch (the class I teach) at the Y. We had almost 35 people in class!! It went well, but I'm glad it's done. Then off I rushed again to my friend Emily's baby shower.

We're thrilled that Sophia will have another playmate, but we will have to schedule playdates in advance as they live in Iowa.

My friend Emily due April 6th

Then I went to pick Sophia up at my parents house. We decided since it was too cold outside for the Winter Carnival parade that we would go to the mall. So we headed out to Maplewood Mall to take Sophia on the carousel. She wanted to go on the "horsies that go up and down". It was so cute how excited she got when we approached it. She wanted to get on right away. I gave her a choice of ponies and she picked this beautiful white one. Here are a couple of pictures from her adventure:

Sophia and Mommy getting on the horse

Getting ready to ride

After the mall we went to Target and Sams Club and had a low key night. Today my college roommate is coming over for lunch. Then we are off to a farewell dinner for my parents before they leave to go to Florida for a month. We will miss you Papa and Nana.

20 months old

Today my little girl is 20 months old! Tonight when we were running errands she found her sunglasses. She decided she needed to wear them in the car and in the stores. Check my funny little girl out!

A fort in my family room

Last night Hal and Sophia built a fort together in the family room. Hal said they had a great time playing in it, even though it got quite warm inside. Sophia really enjoyed bringing all of her stuffed animals and baby dolls in and out of the fort.

When I got home from the Y I got to play in the fort too. It was quite creative!

Here are a couple of pictures from the fort:

Sophia inside of the fort


Sophia and I hanging in the fort

Tonight we have some errands to run before heading home. Tomorrow night I think we will go swimming at the Y. Should be fun! The weekend is approaching and we have lots of things going on. I'm sure we will have more fun to come.

Great Grandma's 88th Birthday

Last night we had a family dinner to celebrate my grandmother's 88th birthday. Sophia was thrilled to see Great Grandma Erma and was very careful of her arm. My grandmother fell last week and fractured her arm in over 5 places. We're hoping she will get a cast on today instead of having to have surgery on it.

Erma and her sister Lillian came over for dinner and enjoyed every minute of Sophia. Of course Sophia showed off as much as possible. Then after dinner she helped Grandma Erma open her birthday card. Her actual birthday is today!


All in all, it was a great evening spent with family! Today is of course a busy day. Sophia will hang out with Hal until I get home from the Y tonight. It is my last night before the new launch on Saturday of my class. I will miss this track.

Is it almost Friday yet?

Yee-Haw

Sophia has been on this kick lately of riding her unicorn and her pony over at my parents house. She has finally mastered rocking on both of them without falling off. Today my mom taught her how to say, "Yee-haw"" when riding on her horse. It was quite funny. Here's a quick clip of her at our house tonight.



It was great having the day off. My mom and I took Sophia to the Mall of America today to do some spring shopping. We had a great time and all found some fun spring clothes. Then we went back to my parents house and my mom and dad watched Sophia so I could run at the Y.

Ta-dah! I had a new time today.....drum roll please.......5 miles in 42 minutes! Sophia was proud of me when I came home and told her. She said, "hooray mommy". Sophia and I went back home and got dinner ready. Hal came home and we ate a great dinner. I tried out a new recipe tonight and it was quite good.

Tonight Sophia and I met my mom at Gymboree to do a little more shopping since our trip today was cut short of this store due to the fact that we thought the little turkey would take a nap today. Of course no such luck.

It's going to be a short, but busy week. Tomorrow we're having a family dinner to celebrate my grandmother's birthday. Sophia can't wait to see Great Grandma Erma.

Think Spring

It was so nice to finally hit over the 0 degree mark this weekend. Friday night Sophia and I went swimming at the Y. She had a great time and I thought for sure I wore her out. No such luck! Saturday morning she was up at 6:30. I guess she was ready for the day. We played for a while in our jammies and went to the grocery store. Then Sophia and I met my mom at Babies R Us and went on a quest looking for yarn for my scarf. We found some really cool black yarn at JoAnn. Sophia had a great time feeling all of the yarn and pulling several pieces out. My mom and I had a great laugh in the store. I'm sure they people that worked there didn't appreciate us though.

My mom dropped us off and I went on a run. Sophia didn't nap and then we got her up and played some toys. Then it was off to Papa and Nana's house for Sophia. Hal and I went out to Bucca Di Beppo with a whole big group of friends. We had a great time hanging out at the restaurant. Then we went back to my friend Courtney's house and played Rock Band until 1am. What a late night!

My high school girls all together!

Today I picked Sophia up from my parents and we went to church. She was thrilled to watch the baby get baptized. Then we came home and had some lunch. I got this great picture of Sophia getting ready for spring.

Sophia wearing her new sunglasses

Then we went and ran some errands. I got a great deal on this cake carrier I had been looking for forever and we also bought some conatiners for flour and such at Home Goods. After Home Goods we went in serach of a sled and then went to Barnes and Noble.

We came home and Sophia again didn't nap. We played for a while and then had some dinner. After dinner, Sophia was zonked. Tonight I went to see Marley and Me with my mom. It was such a wonderful movie.

Tomorrow I have the day off and Sophia and I are going to hang out with my mom. We are getting as much time with Papa and Nana as we can before they leave for the rest of the winter to head south. We will miss them!

Rules and Regulations:

Link to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Write 6 random things about yourself.
Tag 6-ish people at the end of your post.
Let each person know he/she has been tagged (or let them get tagged by reading your blog).
Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

My 6 Random Things:

1. I enjoy getting up at 5am to run.

2. My husband Hal and I met walking down the aisle together when two of our good friends from high school got married.

3. Sophia had to have her belly button cauterized when she was younger because it didn't fall off like it was supposed to.

4. While on our honeymoon Hal was offered pot while in the market and the man told him it would be the best Christmas present for his wife (me) ever!

5. I got to meet Tanya from the Real World and Real World/Road Rules challenge in Acapulco, Mexico while they were finishing up filming.

I'm tagging: Jen H., Sarah W., Liz J., Molly L., Laura S.

Brrrr baby it's cold outside

This morning while Sophia was tucked warmly into bed, I got up and went running. While running, I was crossing my fingers hoping that school would be cancelled. Of course no such luck.....all of the schools by our house were closed, but not us!

Sophia was a tired girl this morning. Corey said she is taking pretty short naps now. Normally she never sleeps on the way to Corey's, but she did this am. When I picked her up today she was her happy little self with one sock on. What a funny girl.

Tonight when we got home we played toys and ate a bite of dinner. We were waiting for the cable guy who showed up and bless his heart fixed everything. Then we cuddled Sophia and played lots of toys. Here are a couple of cute pictures from tonight.

Sophia playing with mommy

Hanging with daddy

Tomorrow night Hal is headed out with friends, so Sophia and I are going to head to the Y and go swimming with her cousin Abby and her auntie Sarah. Happy almost Friday!

Kissing Farm Animals

Due to the fact that our Internet, phone, and cable aren't working it will be a sketchy next couple of posts. Hopefully they will get it up and working soon.

Sophia did the most adorable thing last night and I wish I could get a video of it to share. We were playing with her Little People Farm. She picked up the cow and goat and was playing with them and making them dance on the roof of the barn. Then she did the cutest thing ever......she made a kissing sound and put the two animals together so that their mouths were touching. Hal and I have never witnessed Sophia doing this with any of her toys. She will give her baby doll kisses and her other stuffed animals (pink puppy and Elmo) kisses, but we have never seen her have two of her toys kiss.

She proceeded to have them kiss each other several more times and made the kissing sound with her mouth too. It was so funny!! So....what do you get when you mix a cow and a goat? The answer is unknown to me!

Lunch with Big Bird

Today Sophia brought the Big Bird doll downstairs this morning and put him at her table. Then she proceeded to make Big Bird lunch. It was so cute that I couldn't resist taking pictures of her.

Here she is sitting with Big Bird and having lunch

Here she is feeding Big Bird a sandwich

Later in the day, the little stinker took all of the pillows and cushions off of the couch and made herself her very own little bed.


Tomorrow it's back and school/work. I'm sure the week will fly by again!

Lookout Ridge

This morning we got up bright and early and headed over to Lookout Ridge in Woodbury. It was a really great time! The center is an indoor play area for children and is set up like a huge indoor tree house. There are nets to climb through and a jumper for the smaller kids. Sophia had a wonderful time going through all of the tunnels and down the slides. She even loved the jumper which she didn't like before when we went to our gym class. Here are a couple of pictures from our adventures today.

Sitting in the boat

Crawling through the tunnel

Playing in the jumper

Crawling up the rock stairs to the slide

Going through the tunnel

The rest of the day we spent hanging out and running errands. We made a trip to Babies R Us and World Market. After coming home, Sophia ate some lunch and attempted to take a nap. While she sort of didn't sleep, I went to work out. When I got back, she was still awake. So we decided to head out again and finish our errands. We went to Gap, Children's Place, and the grocery store. After getting home, we ate dinner and Sophia had a bath. Then it was off to bed for her!

Tomorrow will be back to the Sunday rituals of laundry and getting ready for Monday. I'm quite excited to go see Bride Wars tomorrow!

Tarzan

This morning I went to wake Sophia up like usual. When I walked in she was sleeping on her tummy with her hands and feet tucked underneath her. Then she stretched her arms out and I noticed the funniest thing.......Sophia manage to get one arm free from her jammies. Keep in mind they were still completely zipped up and buttoned and the rest of her body was in her jammies. She just had her one arm sticking out. So I called her Tarzan and she thought it was just super funny. We left her Tarzan jammies and headed over to the potty. While she was sitting I always ask her if she slept well and what she dreamt about. Normally she doesn't respond to the dream question, but this morning she told me she dreamt about Papa and that they played Chase. It was quite cute!

My little ham

I don't have much to tell about Sophia today other then the fact that she is turning into the biggest ham! Check out this funny picture that Hal took of her last night.

Tonight we went out for dinner with my friend Becca, but Sophia was not in the picture taking mood. She did however chat up the patrons all over our section in the restaurant. The comment I heard over and over was...."How cute is she!" What a wonderful compliment to hear as a prouder than proud mommy!!

Tomorrow night is my holiday work party so Sophia will be hanging out with her daddy. I'm sure they will have many adventures to tell me when I get home.

Names, Names, and More Names

Sophia's favorite new bedtime activity is to go through all of the names of people she knows. Tonight we added a couple of friends from daycare to make the running total of names to the following:
daddy
mommy
papa
nana
jenna
adi
andrew
mason
mocha
becca
corey
peyton
ella
I have to giggle as it is quite funny when I'm rocking her to sleep and she just keeps going through this long list of names.

Two times a charm today on the potty. Unfortunately the first time was at 5am! Her cold is still going strong and I'm hoping she gets over it soon. I don't want anymore slumber parties that start at 12am!

Tea Party and Pizzzzza!

Yesterday I caught this cute picture of Sophia having a tea party with her dolls. It was so adorable watching her with her little girls and listening to her telling them to "sit" on the chair.

Sophia also had a first tonight. She had pizzza for dinner. She got really excited about it and it sounded super funny when she said it as she would get so overly excited!

Today it was back to reality, but when I picked Sophia up from Corey's I knew that it was all great. She just loves going to Corey's and she said she had a great day. Only four more days this week.

Back to reality

Today was filled with doing errands that started bringing us back to reality. Sophia is getting excited to be back on a normal schedule. She has been talking about Corey the whole break and can't wait to get back and play with her friends at daycare.

We spent the morning together at home playing toys, hide and seek, and playing the piano. Then we got ready and braved the cold to go to Target. We looked around and got all of the back to school/work things we needed. After Target we headed to Marshalls and Famous Footwear so Hal could get some new jeans and a new pair of running shoes. Of course little miss Sophia got a new dress for the summer. I can't wait to put it on her!

After returning home, I went to the community center and got back to find Sophia actually taking a nap. This is quite exciting as it is the first nap she has taken in 3 days. I do think it is because she has the beginnings of a cold. She has been stuffed up and snotty all day. Hopefully this too shall pass. The community center was busy with someone having a Vikings party upstairs and the workout room full downstairs.

Tonight we're going to get ready for the week and spend a little more family time together before getting back to our normal schedule. Looking ahead to the coming month, I think we have almost all of our weekends in January full already. I can hardly believe it!

I'm getting a case of spring fever. I might have to go tanning to kick the horrible craving I have for shorts and warmer weather.

Go Gophers!

Last night Sophia went to Papa and Nana's house to spend the night and Hal and I went to the Gopher Hockey game. They won 6-2 so of course it was a really fun game!

Today we saw Grandma Jayne off back to Utah. We spent some time with her this morning and then headed home. Sophia again didn't take a nap today. Both Hal and I were hoping she really would, but no such luck. While she was supposed to be napping, I went running and Hal played with her.

Tonight Hal went to the Gopher game again with Matt. While he was at the game, Sophia and I hung out at home due to the bad weather. We did however make a really fun art project. Sophia made her very own cotton ball snowman. Here are some pictures from our creation tonight.

Sophia putting the cotton on the snowman

Sophia pulling the cotton apart

Tomorrow we will be hopefully watching the Vikes game and getting ready to head back to reality. I'm quite sad that this break has come to an end. What a lucky mommy I am to have been able to spend two full weeks with my daughter and one week with my hubby!

Hanging with friends

Over the past two days Sophia has had the opportunity to hang out with several of her friends. Last night we had the whole LaFleur/Wickman clan over for dinner. It was great to have everyone together. Sophia loves seeing her cousin Abby.

Sophia sitting with Abby

Last night Sophia also discovered her Uncle Nate. It was pretty funny watching her show her toys to him and watching her follow him around. Here's a really cute picture of Nate with the two girls Abby and Sophia.


Sophia also had some quality Grandma Jayne time last night before she heads back to Utah.


Today we went out to lunch with two of my friends from school and their little girls who Sophia just adores. We have had play dates with both girls before, but it was really fun to have all three girls together. Adi will be two in March and Jenna just turned one this week. The girls had a great time watching each other, poking at each other, and sharing food. Sophia showed off her many words and Jenna gave great hugs to all of the girls.

Sophia and Adi sharing some apple together

Sophia getting a hug from Jenna

Sophia getting a hug from Adi

Tonight Sophia has yet another sleepover with her Papa and Nana as Hal and I head out to watch the Gophers get a big "W"!

Happy New Year 2009!

The new year is off to a wonderful start! Last night Hal and I had a night out with our friends Sarah, Nate, Matt, and Renee. We had dinner at Pazzaluna and it was wonderful. Sophia spent the night with Papa and Nana. I'm sure she had a wonderful time like always.

Yesterday Sophia started saying her own name along with connecting three words together forming short sentences. I am completely amazed with her each day at how much she changes and grows. My little girl is really growing up! She is also crazy about broccoli! Last night for dinner she had broccoli and corn and that was it. It's really neat for her to have her own opinion and pick things out on her own. We really try to let her do things like a big girl.

Today we're going to head out to the mall again. I know, we went yesterday, but it seems as though it is the perfect place for us to look and stay warm. We will see where todays adventures take us.
Sophia making a wish in the fountain for an excellent start to 2009!