October 31

Happy Halloween! Sophie enjoyed being Cookie Monster this year thanks to a hand-me-down costume. We had a great time at a party given by the Daily's, equipped with yummy tasting eye balls, fingers, and mummy pizzas. Sophie enjoyed playing with the kids and really getting into trick-or-treating for the first time. She still wasn't willing to knock on doors, and kept her distance from people, but did enjoy the reward of a lollipop once we were done!

October 30

Tonight my friends took me out for a nice dinner at Aqua Via to celebrate my birthday. It was nice to relax with friends after a crazy two days of parent conferences. I enjoyed a goat cheese fondue, lovely chicken with scalloped potatoes and green beans, and a fresh salad. It was a lot of yummy food (I indulged a little) and it was worth every bite!

October 29

I had fun playing with my new speedlight that Dad and Marcia gave me for my birthday tonight. Sophie and I were taking portraits of ourselves and she enjoyed smiling with mommy at the camera. We got some cute shots, but this one's my favorite (even though it's not totally in focus)!

October 28

I'm 33 today... nothing too incredibly exciting about that age. Ever since I had Sophie, my birthday hasn't seemed as important anymore. It's fun to celebrate, but I'm just so grateful I have her, even through the tough times. She was quite the 2 year old at dinner tonight, but was so sweet when she and my mom sang happy birthday to me over cake in the evening.

October 27

Sophie always has a great time in the bath tub. She giggles, splashes around, and plays with the billions of toys that are in there.

October 26

It seems that all my pictures have been of Sophie in her pajamas lately! I am so busy with playing that I forget to get my pictures in sometimes! Tonight, Sophie enjoyed tackling me and running all over the place. She is one active toddler!

October 25

Sophie and I went over to Papa and Grandma's house this afternoon for dinner and some pumpkin carving! Papa did the carving and Sophie did the scooping of the guts (with some help of course). I was so happy that dad did the carving because I'm lousy at it! Sophie had a lot of fun watching her papa, but kept saying "my turn now!" She wanted to be in the thick of the fun!

October 24

Sophie "helped" me rake leaves this morning. She has her own little rake thanks to Papa and Grandma, so she copied me. The only difference is that she raked leaves out of my pile instead of in! I showed her how to jump in the leaves and she got a big kick out of it. It's fun being a kid!

October 23

I had to take this picture because the color combination of Sophie's pajamas and her toy was so crazy! I thought it would make a vivid picture, and I guess it does!

October 22

Check me out mom!! She loves showing off her artwork to me, I guess she likes the recognition!!

October 21

It was a rainy, icky day today, so Sophie and I played in the garage. I love that she feels like she's going outside (we put on our coats and shoes) and she has all of her outdoor toys out there to play with. She rides her trike, goes down the slide, and has a great time! Here she's concentrating really hard while playing with one of her musical toys.

October 20

Sophie has the cutest jammies that have little bunny feet on them. She always giggles when she puts them on and loves to dance around so her little bunnies dance. After getting three shots today, she was a bit crabby, but we had fun playing with her bunnies before bedtime.

October 19

My favorite snack right now is Planter's peanuts that are lightly salted with sea salt. I am not a huge nut fan, but peanuts have been awesome with my weight loss. Yum, yum!

October 18

Gramma came over for a visit this afternoon and Sophie enjoyed showing off her new Elmo book.

October 17

Sophie and I headed to the pumpkin patch this morning. The weather was terrible, but I thought if we showed up at opening to avoid the crowds and hopefully the weather, we would be set. We totally lucked out because no one was there and the weather was perfect the entire time we were there! Sophie enjoyed searching for the perfect pumpkin and wanted to take more than a few home! She also loved giggling at the goats and pigs that she got to see. It was a fun morning!

October 16

My cute little girl! Tonight we played and played and played! I think Sophie pulled out every single toy she owns and we had a great time!

October 15

It's coming upon Halloween, so I've taken out my pumpkin decorations. The first time Sophie saw them she said, "hot" thinking they were real. She has since learned that she can easily pick them up and I'm just waiting for a broken bulb. Maybe when we get the real thing she'll be preoccupied with those instead!

October 14

Sophie enjoyed one of the apples off of Gramma's tree tonight. She ate it like a pro!

October 13

Sophie got a belated birthday gift today from Will Daily. When she saw the present she said, "Oh my gosh, big present!" She couldn't wait to get home to rip into it. She had no problem opening the gift quickly and was thrilled with the Little People castle. She impatiently waited while I put everything together and then played with it most of the evening! Thanks Karen, Will, and Marc!!

October 12

The best garage sale deal of the summer was this vacuum I got for only $0.50 (retails at $25.00)! I gave it to Sophie for her birthday and she's really started to enjoy it this week. She mimics how I vacuum of course, picking up things, and it's so cute! I can't wait for her to be big enough to really help me with the vacuuming!

October 11

My little bookworm! Sophie spent a lot of time today reading her books. She has memorized many books and I enjoy listening to her "reading" through them. I got in a little reading myself today too (until Sophie comes over and says "no!" to my book). She certainly likes it her way!

October 10

Today Sophie and I went to the Lacey Childrens' Day celebration. For the first 30 minutes, Sophie eyed everything cautiously and didn't want to leave the stroller or my side. After she got brave enough to climb on the fire truck, it seemed that she wanted to try everything. There were several blown up toys to jump or slide in, and she finally attempted to go down the slide. There were about a billion kids and she was so distracted by them that she wouldn't climb the ladder. I thought I would have to go up and save her, but she ended up making it to the top and flew down the slide with a huge grin on her face. We went to another bounch house that wasn't as busy and she jumped and went down the slide in that one several times. My little girl is getting so brave!!

October 9

My darling daughter was quite the challenge tonight. She liked everything her way, right away, and if it didn't happen, tantrum city. We did manage to have a couple of cute moments together which included her enjoying her new camera. Just like mommy!

October 8

I got Sophie a Sesame Street book for her birthday that has several doors that she can open. She absolutely loves it and must read it each night before bed. And no, we certainly can't skip any of those little doors, cause she will know it!

October 7

I tested something tonight... Sophie played in the garage while I walked on the treadmill. At first, she was wondering what I was doing, but after awhile she was happy to blow bubbles, go down her slide, and watch a bit of Elmo. I only walked for 30 minutes, but was glad to get some exercise and to watch the munchkin play!

October 6

Sophie will hate me for this one! Today, Sophie's new Dora potty seat came in the mail. I had ordered it through the Pamper's rewards and it was free! She was excited and wanted to use it right away. In fact, she got out of the tub quicker tonight so she could climb back on. She didn't produce anything in the toilet tonight, but hopefully this will get her interested again!

October 5

My first day the entire year without a picture. Today was an extremely long day due to missed flights and crummy service on Delta's part. By the time I got home and had a few minutes with Sophie before bed, I had completely forgotten about taking a picture. I figure I'm allowed one freebie for the year!

October 4

So the theme in our unique hotel is penguins. They are everywhere! On our floor, there were two penguins that would periodically move around. Sometimes they were facing the wall, sometimes they were in the corner, we caught them kissing once, and mom was surprised by one in the elevator. It was a fun little extra thing to enjoy while we stayed at 21c.

October 3

Wedding day! Tim and Antonia were both as lovely as ever, which didn't surprise me when the ceremony happened. It wasn't a traditional ceremony, but it fit them to a tee. I loved every minute of it and was fairly weepy seeing my big brother take the plunge. I have never been prouder of him than I was at that moment!

October 2

Tonight was the rehearsal dinner, set on the beautiful Ohio River shore with a wonderful Mayan style dinner. It was so fun to see Tim and Antonia happy as ever while enjoying some great stories. Tim was gracious enough to say some kind words about me too which made me feel very loved!

October 1

We arrived in Louisville, KY tonight in time to check out some of the amazing artwork in our hotel. The family stayed at 21c, the only museum hotel in the country. This hotel is part museum, part restaurant/bar, and part hotel with lots of extra amenities. Needless to say, it was super nice and thanks to my brother, much cheaper than it should have been! This picture shows what you see above you in the elevators. It's some simple lights surrounding the perimeter of a mirror. The cool part is the reflection (not my camera lens that you see!).