April 30

I frickin' love Facebook! It's crazy addicting, but so enjoyable. I particularly enjoy sharing my digital scrapbooking and seeing what my friends have done. It's a guilty pleasure I guess!

April 29

I was struggling to find a picture to take tonight since I worked late, but caught a glimpse of the sun setting. I looked out my front door and saw the light hitting the trees in front of our house just right. I love the warmness of the light that changes the color of the trees with the beautiful blue sky behind it.

April 28

Mmmmmm... freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. Is there anything better? I decided to make this treat so Matt has some sweets to take with him this weekend for his mountain bike race. Oh, and I didn't mind sampling them myself! Sophie got a taste of the cookies too and kept saying, "mo, mo!" Go figure!

April 27

Sophie loves to climb all over us and tackle us in the evening before bed. It's her little ritual I guess, and we usually enjoy it. The exception is when she steps on our tummies or other painful areas! Tonight, she grabbed a book, settled in on daddy's stomach, and enjoyed her story. Matt was a good sport and suffered through the story for her benefit!

April 26

We spent the afternoon playing on the beach at Mary and Tod's house on Cooper point. Sophie had been to the beach before, but this time she really got to explore. She had the best time, finding crabs, playing with the sand, and throwing rocks into the water. I loved this quick shot of Matt, skipping rocks, acting like a kid again. So cute!

April 25

Today was the annual Procession of the Species parade in downtown Olympia. It's a crazy festival where people get to dress up as their favorite earth element or creature. Sophie loved the parade and was engaged almost the entire time. There is a lot of drumming during the parade, so Sophie showed off her dancing skills, like you see in the picture!

April 24

So doing this 365 thing is to help me become a better photographer, but also to show what my everyday life is like. I have a lot of pictures of Sophie smiling and pretty flowers, but real life happens too! When Sophie and I got home, she was in a crabby, crabby mood. When she doesn't get her way, she goes from 0 to 90 in no time flat! We're heading into toddlerhood, that's for sure!

April 23

Grandma came over tonight while Matt and I went to our second camera class. Before we left, I caught a cute shot of Grandma and Sophie reading together. It's rare that I can get Sophie to smile on cue, and it turned out perfect. Mom had a great time with Sophie, and Matt and I learned a lot in our class!

April 22

Sophie enjoys hanging out in her toddler bouncy chair. She's a little old for the toys that dangle from it, but she still insists that they are on there. Go figure! I love how the light hits Sophie's face in this picture while she's playing. It has a warmness to it that exemplifies her warm spirit!

April 21

Over the last couple of days, I've been more motivated to get out and walk/run in the evenings! Yay me! The weather has been perfect and since Sophie goes to bed on the early side, I can still be out before it gets dark. On my way home, I always admire my petite rhody on the side of the house. We got it a few summers ago, but it always has produced little. This year, it's exploded along with the rest of our plants! Since I don't have a lens with a smaller aperature, I stepped away and zoomed in. I love the flower with the softness around it.

April 21

A day home with Sophie due to a nasty cold and fever that she can't seem to get rid of! She was coloring in her high chair and every now and then would give me these looks. This one says to me that she's pondering life's questions...

April 19

My poor sickie! Sophie caught her daddy's cold and has been fighting a fever and snotty eyes and nose. We went over to Trina and Nelson's this afternoon, and Sophie used up all of her energy (and hardly ate a bite). As soon as we got home and put Sophie down, she was out instantly. The sweet girl had just used up all of her energy! Let's hope she sleeps through the night!

April 18

After Sophie's nap, we took a trip to Lowe's to look at some paint samples. We plan to paint our house this summer, and I'm not looking forward to all the work, but it needs to be done. The baby blue that we are sportin' right now needs to go! We're looking at a sage green called "Green Tea Leaf." Let's hope we make the right choice!

April 17

A couple of weeks ago I picked up a new hummingbird feeder so we can enjoy those amazing creatures! We have seen quite a few birds visit the feeder, but I have not gotten a shot of them. They're too darn fast! Sophie enjoys watching the birds and chants "bir," "bir" everytime one comes to the feeder. When the birds fly off, she always says "oh, no" as if it happened by accident. Hopefully we'll be able to enjoy the hummingbirds throughout the summer!

April 16

Such a beautiful afternoon today! Sophie and I took advantage of it by exploring the yard and taking a little walk. She loves walking in the grass, but has a hard time with her footing (especially in her favorite green boots!). She also has a desire to walk into the street, so I am constantly pulling her away, which of course makes an 18 month old unhappy! She had fun pointing out "fowers" and checking out what else our front yard has to offer.

April 15

Play time with Sophie! We spend most of our evenings on the floor playing with toys or making up games. Tonight, the game of choice was to knock over the towers that daddy was making with her Mega Bloks. We would cheer for her and then I caught Sophie giving daddy five. Too cute!

April 14

I caught a cute glimpse of Sophie and daddy hanging out together tonight. They really love each other! :)

April 13

We have a tree in the front of our house that puts forth gorgeous blossoms in the early spring. I had been meaning to catch a few shots of it for several days now, and finally got a shot inbetween rainstorms. I loved that there were still some raindrops on the flowers, and I even got this without the 1.8 lens!! :)

April 12

Happy Easter! We started the morning with Sophie discovering her Easter basket and she was thrilled with the contents! We got her some Little People and some treats, but the best part was her opening the egg and discovering that there was something inside! After church and Sophie's nap, we ate dinner with Dad and Marcia and Mary and Tod. Then, Sophie had her first egg hunt in the house because it was raining a lot. It was a very fun day!!

April 11

Today we dyed Easter eggs with Sophie for the first time. She was very interested in the whole process and watched intently as we got things ready. I prepared the dyes and she would plop the eggs into them willy nilly, not caring about splashing mommy or daddy! After the eggs dried, Sophie decorated them with stickers. I asked her to point to the sticker she wanted, peeled that one off for her, and then she placed it on the egg. She loved every minute of it and they turned out pretty well! I loved this shot of the eggs as they were drying.

April 10

Ahhh... the last day of spring break! It went by so fast, but we had a fun and busy one! Sophie and I met Karen and Will and Becky, Hannah, and Sydney at the Hands on Children's Museum (along with the rest of Olympia!) and had a great time. Now that Sophie is bigger, she can enjoy a lot more of the museum. She especially enjoyed driving the ambulance (pictured here).

April 9

Lots of pictures of Sophie this week since we've been attached at the hip over spring break! Today she was supposed to go to daycare so I could run errands, get a haircut, and clean the house, but she had/has a temperature. Grrr!! This girl had been doing so well, and now is coming down with something new. Hopefully she'll feel better tomorrow!

April 8

Today, Sophie and I ventured to the eastside of the mountains to meet up with Miriam, lil' Victor, and baby Ethan. She lives in the Tri-Cities, so Ellensburg was about halfway for us. We met at McDonalds, chatted for a long while, and then visited the Children's Museum. It was a tad on the ghetto side, but the kids had a great time playing together and I got my baby fix! It's so nice to see an old friend and catch up too!

April 7

Karen and I took the kids to Point Defiance Zoo today. It was a warm, sunny day and the kids had a great time. We spent a lot of our time in the "Kid Zone" where they could run around and see little critters like the meerkats. Next they fed the goats, and Sophie squealed with delight, yet again! Last, we visited Beethoven, the beluga whale, as well as the elephants, tigers, monkeys, etc. I love this picture of the two, waiting for Beethoven to swim by. So cute!

April 6

Tonight Matt and Angie Tuttle came over with little Olivia (9 months old) and we enjoyed every minute of it! Sophie was so good with Olivia, bringing her toys, talking to her, and touching her gently. It was fun to watch Olivia learn from Sophie and it assured Matt and I that Sophie would be a good big sister someday! I loved getting this shot of the girls before they had a little kiss. So cute!!

April 5

One of my favorite places to go when I was a student at Western was Lafeen's donuts. It's a bit of a hole in the wall off of Electric Avenue, but they make amazing treats! Sophie enjoyed her donut as well, and talked Matt and her grandpa into bites of theirs too!

April 4

The gorgeous view of Bellingham Bay at Western Washington University. We spent our weekend there with Matt's folks and had a wonderful time. The weather was amazing and I loved reminiscing of my college days. It's like I never left... sigh!

April 3

I LOVE Sophie's eyes in this picture! She loves to grab a book and plop down in my lap (without looking, mind you!). Today, she plopped down without a book, just for the chance to sit with her mommy! I adore these moments!

April 2

This picture doesn't look like much, but it's heaven to me! It has been a crazy week with three late nights and a field trip, but spring break is right around the corner! I am looking forward to climbing into bed to watch the series finale of ER, and then off to dreamland!

April 1

Today was our annual trip to the Capitol building. It was a terrible day weather-wise, but a good trip nonetheless. We toured the Legislative building and the Temple of Justice, the students asking questions all the while. The Senate was in session, but we just missed seeing it by a few minutes. Bummer! There's always next year!