Christmas at GiGi and Great Harry's

One of the biggest blessings that Jimmy, Sofia, and I have here in Dallas is our extended family. When we decided to move here after we got married, I knew that having my grandparents and Aunt and Uncle here would make it alot easier to adjust, but I never realized what a huge difference it would make in our lives. They do so much for us, and I am not sure how we would function here without them. The best part of having family here is how much they love Sofia. It means so much to me to have people here who want Sofia to be happy and who are willing to babysit her, who invite us over to dinner and spend the whole evening holding her, who delight in her happiness and who spend lots of time loving on her. We miss my mom and dad and Jimmy's mom so much, and I wish that Sofia was getting to know her grandparents more, but I am so thankful that she is getting to know her Gigi and Great Harry and Aunt Jan and Uncle Randy.

Last night we had our first Christmas celebration and it was a blast. Sofia was so little last year that we didn't do much for Christmas, so this was her first real taste of the season. We went to Gigi and Great Harry's house in the afternoon and spent lots of time outside. It was a beautiful day, so we were able to just play and play in the yard. Sofia loved playing with GiGi's big blue ball, watching the puppies run around, looking at Great Harry's reindeer in the front lawn and getting LOTS of attention from everyone. After a yummy dinner, we put on Elmo's Christmas Countdown for Sofia to watch while everyone opened presents. The hight light of my night was the gift that Aunt Jan and Uncle Randy gave to Sofia. Every year on Christmas Eve Harry would read The Night Before Christmas to my brothers and me. My mom even has a picture of him reading to us all in our Christmas P.J.'s. Jan found a recordable version of the book and recorded Harry reading the book to Sofia. It was such a moving present and something that I am so happy I will have for my children to listen to every Christmas Eve!

W e had to do an outfit change because Sofia kept getting into all of the mud and water bowls and other yucky outdoor things.

Watching Elmo with GiGi and Great Harry.

Ready to go home with her new dolly from GiGi and Great Harry.

Festive Fun

Here are some shots of what we have been doing on our VACATION!

We helped GiGi and Great Harry with the hay on their farm

We went to Santa's Village in Richardson. It was OUT OF CONTROL. I am not sure that Sofia knew what to make of all of those people.

Sofia helped me bake some Christmas cookies. She LOVED the green sprinkles.

We went to hear Santa Claus read a story at Northpark. There were sooo many kids there. After the story Sofia had some fun playing on the planters and looking at the turtles and ducks.

Here are some pictures of the Christmas decorations that my mom sent me. We didn't get a tree this year because we knew that Sofia would have pulled it down in like .02 seconds. My mom was sweet enough to send us some fun blue and green ornaments that we could decorate the house with instead of a tree.

We also have not purchased a stocking for Sofia yet....it is her second Christmas and we are still rejecting her. Nice.

It's nice to be home :)

On Vacation!!!!

We are so excited for Christmas in a few days! Well, I am excited, Sofia has no idea and Jimmy is just putting up with me at best. The best part of all is that I get TWO WEEKS to spend time with my little girl. We have big plans....library, Elmo, Santa at Northpark, the lake, walks to the park....basically everything I wish that I could do with her on a daily basis!

Here are some fun pics of took of Sofia this weekend. I was trying to get a good shot for our Christmas card, but she did not want to keep her hat on or look at the camera. She is way to busy for me and my camera....

P.S. Side not on Sofia's new Vans....I always read this blog Lullaby Lubbock and dream that I had the style and creativity of these ladies. They are always doing the funnest things with their kids and embarking on new crafty adventures. Their babies have rockin Vans, and Jimmy has been trying to talk me into buying Vans for Sofia since birth basically. I found a website www.6pm.com that sells discontinued styles of Vans for like 60% off....and I was hooked. Be expecting a pair in every color soon.

Hope that you all have a Holly, Jolly, Christmas!

Happy Birthday Sofia!

I cannot believe that my baby girl is already one! It seems like the last year has gone by soooo fast. I remember so clearly being pregnant with her, and the days leading up to when she was born, but the fist few months of her life went by in a blur. It took us a while to really get into the groove of things. She has brought us so much joy, I cannot even imagine what we did or looked at or talked about before she came along!

We had quite a birthday extravaganza last weekend. On Friday Sofia had some friends from her play group over for a small par-tay/play date. It was so sweet of them all to make the trek on a Friday afternoon. Our little home could barely hold everyone, but it was lots of fun. I am crying inside because I really didn't get that many pictures. There were about 6 babies/toddlers there and 10 adults. Sofia wasn't really sure what to do with that many people in her house, but she took it in stride and learned to love her company.

Saturday was equally as exciting because Grandma and Cousin Ellie, Aunt Jordan, and Uncle Spencer came into town. They came for Thanksgiving/Sofia's birthday and we were sooooooo happy to have them here. We had been talking about it for months and Sofia was pumped. It really made her birthday so special to have such important people here to celebrate with her. When Sofia and Ellie saw eachother at GiGi and Great Harry's, they became fast friends. Ellie is a fabulous cousin and was so sweet to Sofia.

Sunday was Sofia's actually birthday and the family party. Aunt Jan let us have it at her house (we learned our lesson on Friday and opted for a larger location on Sunday), Aunt Jan and Uncle Randy, Cousin Elijah and Cousin Kyndal, Gigi and Great Harry, Grandma, Aunt Jordan and Uncle Spencer and Ellie and Mom and Dad all helped Sofia celebrate one fabulous year. My mom bought some flowers and balloons to liven up the place and I made the same bumblebee cupcake that I made for her play group (since she was a bumblebee for Halloween). Jimmy made a video showing pictures from Sofia's first year (it was so sweet and he worked hard on it!) that we watched after dinner. Sofia LOVED her first taste of cupcake...she dove right in and didn't look back. She also got some great presents (an Elmo music c.d where Elmo says Sofia in every song!, some great shoes and an outfit to match her cousin Ellie, and her very first tea set.) It was a great birthday and we are so thankful to our family and friends for helping us to celebrate.

Here are some pictures....somehow in all of the hustle and bustle, my camera didn't really make it out of the case much.

The bumblebee cupcakes. They were a hit!


Some friends at the party. It was so sweet of all of the ladies to brave Friday traffic to celebrate with us.
Opening presents. Sofia's little friend Kameron was so sweet. He handed her all of her gifts and made sure she was excited about each one. He even helped her try on her new Dora sunglasses.


Watching a little Elmo's World together.
Playing with her new Fridge Farm from Issac.


All ready to go and get Grandma from the airport.


Sofia and Ellie playing at GiGi and Great Harry's house.


Enjoying some pizza and salad at the party on Sunday.


Sofia LOVED her birthday cupcake. She really went to town.


She also had lots of fun playing with the balloons that Grandma got for her party.



This is a rough shot, but it is the only picture we got together on her birthday.



Since we missed Ellie's birthday in September, she also got some presents to open at the party. Here she is swaddling her Elmo doll.


Sofia is rocking her new b-day pj's and playing with her new tea set.

It was a great weekend! More to come on Thanksgiving week.