It's Official!!

Sophia is going to be a big sister in December! We are very excited and are looking forward to the arrival of our new little LaFleur. Summer has been going by fast so far. Sophia has been busy with dance and gymnastics. She is loving both of them. We also went to a cabin for a couple of days and spent some time with friends. We are gearing up for the fourth of July and all that is to come this month. Should be another great month!

Happy 5th Birthday Sophia

It feels like just yesterday I was holding the tiniest baby in my arms. Sophia Belle LaFleur was born May 22nd 2007 weighing in at a whopping 6 pounds 4 ounces. Not bad for being overdue and trying to come early at 30 weeks. Over the last five years we have had more adventures with Sophia than I can count. Every small milestone from learning to walk, learning to talk, starting dance, starting gymnastics, being in the swimming pool, our first trip to Disney World and the list goes on. I cherish each and every day of being a mom. Sophia has been one of the greatest gifts to me. Now she is our big girl. Doing dance and gymnastics, almost ready for Kindergarten, constantly singing songs and performing, as well as putting together some pretty tough Legos. I will continue to look at each and every day as a new start and a new chance to make memories with my baby girl. Happy Birthday Princess! We love you!

Ultrasound Picture of Sophia

Welcome to the world Sophia!

Sophia's 5th Birthday

Graduation Day

I can hardly believe that in just a couple of short weeks Sophia will be graduating from Pre-Kindergarten and enter Kindergarten in the fall. She has had such an amazing school year at Stepping Stones. She just absolutely adores her teacher Ms. Sarah. She looks forward to all of the learning and fun each day. I have noticed a change in her recently. She's not my baby anymore. She's officially a big girl! On top of that she will turn five later this month. It is hard to believe that five years ago she was just this tiny little thing. She has grown into such a lovely little lady. The actual graduation is on June 5th. I can hardly wait to tear up seeing her in her little cap and gown. Here's a preview of the big day.

Special Sunday

Yesterday at church we experienced a very special Sunday as a family. Sophia was presented with her very own Spark Bible. She could barely wait and was eager and ready to go when she got up. She put on a dress that she picked out and then did a twirl. It was quite adorable.

I reminded her that when she is up front, everyone will be able to see her so she should smile and be a good listener. They did the presentation toward the beginning of the service which was a good thing, but before they did, we had a palm parade. Due to the fact that it was Palm Sunday they told the kids about how people shared their palms and made a path for Jesus. So they gave each child two palms (one to share) and we paraded around the church.

When the presentation happened it was so adorable to see all of their eager and excited little faces. The best part is that they were gift wrapped.

Sophia has been showing EVERYONE her bible. She is so incredibly proud and we are too! Here are a couple of pictures from the day:

Working on Writing

Lately we have had several occasions where Sophia has had to as we teachers call it, "Work on Writing". I know....a silly catch phrase from my reading curriculum Daily 5. Her writing continues to progress. I am amazed by the amount of time she is willing to take sometimes writing her name or words she wants to spell.

She had two birthdays in one week at school and she decided she wanted to make cards for both of them. One was her teacher's birthday and the other a friend Harrison in her class.

I took a picture of the card she made for Harrison because, it was just so sweet. Check it out below:

Living Life Gluten Free

So after working through many years of horrible stomach problems, I had two friends and my trainer suggest that maybe I should get rid of the gluten in my diet. Low and behold......
IT WORKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been gluten free for a little over two weeks. The change in my body is an amazing one. I am actually stomach problem free. It has taken a bit of getting used to. We have worked together as a family to do quite a bit of research regarding brands I can have and can't. We have modified and adapted some recipes, but so far so good. It is quite amazing at the amount of food out there. I have gotten on a celiac support discussion board to keep updated. I have also found some new blogs to follow as well as connected with several friends through facebook. The support has been incredible.

We made our first gluten free pizza last night and it was really good. I also made my first batch of gluten free brownies this weekend. Later this week or this weekend, I am hoping to get to Burnsville and Eagan to hit up two highly recommended gluten free shopping places for groceries.

So even a little wheat can't stop me....next up gluten free cake pops. Yep my baking will never end.

Sophia's First Manicure

On New Years Eve we decided it was time for the girls to get pretty. This involved Sophia and I get manicures together. She had such a wonderful time at the nail salon and all of the people thought she was just about as cute as ever. Ryan's girlfriend Carly even came with us. After we got done, Sophia was left with bubble gum pink nails with silver sparkles on top. She was a pro! When we were leaving she asked me if we could come back again. I told her maybe for her birthday. She said that next time she wanted to get a pedicure and manicure. What a girly girl.