March 31

This little trinket decided to malfunction today, so it was mighty cold when I got home from school. This is the igniter to my furnace. We have had a lot of trouble with our furnace and have needed to replace the igniter several times. Really, we need to replace the furnace! Luckily, Sophie has a little heater that will keep us warm for tonight until I get the replacement tomorrow!

March 30

I love it when my child is in a great mood when I pick her up from daycare! We came home and made cookies (which I haven't done in like a year!) and did a lot of playing. She was in her playroom for a few minutes, really quiet, so I was curious what was going on. I mean really, it couldn't be good if she's that quiet, right? Well, she was hidden in her little cardboard house, having the time of her life innocently playing with her markers. I snapped a picture from above to her surprise!

March 29

Sophie got a little treat at her cousin's birthday party this weekend, and she was thrilled. Not only is it pink and has a princess on it... it is make up! She loves watching me put on make up in the morning and constantly asks for me to put some on her. Now, she has a little of her own. It's only lip gloss, but to her, she's a big girl with lip stick!

March 28

Not that I like to encourage Sophie to climb on the furniture, but I peeked around the corner from the kitchen to see her perched like this. She had undone the snaps on her pants, grabbed a library book, and was singing about the peacock in the book at the top of her lungs. I couldn't help but giggle and grab a snapshot of this moment! She was a goofy girl tonight and we had a lot of fun playing (since it was raining like crazy today!).

March 27

Mom and I went to the Capital Wine and Food Fair that is held at St. Martin's each year. This year, it was incredibly busy, but the wine was good! I had fun sipping my reds while mom tried the whites, and then we ate a yummy meal from Tofu Hut. I treated myself to a bottle of Waterbrook, one of my favorites from the evening.

March 26

Most of the time Sophie wakes up in a good mood and today was one of those days! She enjoyed thumbing through her library books while I did her hair, and she started to get a little silly. She loves to ham it up for the camera, and this morning was no different!

March 25

After a long day of conferences I was beat, but Sophie was full of energy! We went to the library, read, played with streamers, danced, jumped off of her stool, played with baby, and had a great time together. She had fun showing off her jumps and then her baby had to try it out too! It's easy to forget about the craziness of other things when you have a sweet little girl to keep you preoccupied! I just love her!

March 24

I'm going to have to retire my marathon training sweatshirt for a little longer since my calf is still giving me grief. After 2 weeks of rest, I gave it a go today. I got about 2 1/2 miles when I needed to stop and rest it. It wasn't as bad as before, but it still felt tight and was starting to get worse. I imagine that if I had continued running it would have been far worse! I guess I'll rest it awhile longer and have to wait on my 1/2 marathon for this spring. There's always this summer! It could be worse...

March 23

I finally got a new cell phone! I have been waiting for two years to get a new one and with my new love of texting, I wanted a phone with a keyboard. Well thanks to T-Mobile and Samsung, I got it! It definitely takes some getting used to, but I like it!

March 22

Sophie was in a mood tonight! Nothing made her happy. Finally she said, "Mommy, I want to cuddle!" Who can resist that? She grabbed her blankie and library books and we snuggled on the couch. Nothing is better than my daughter wanted to spend quality time with me like that! I grabbed the camera to try and grab a snapshot of the two of us cuddling. It didn't work out so well!

March 21

No picture today, just got a cute video of Sophie checking out her first pea plant growing in the garden! I am going to work on getting a screen shot.

March 20

A beautiful day in March today!! Sophie and I went down to Capital Lake to walk around and then we checked out the shooting fountain. It was too cold to get wet, but Sophie loved watching the water shoot out and splash. Fun opportunity for photos too!

March 19

Mara and I rendezvoused in Tacoma for dinner at a favorite restaurant - Gateway to India, and a concert with our favorite band - The Indigo Girls! I was fun to have a mom's night out in Mara's old stomping grounds, and so enjoyable to be with my oldest friend. 25 years is a long time! We loved the show, as usual, and sang along. Luckily everyone else was singing along too, so we didn't annoy anyone!

March 18

Sophie and I went over to the Justis' for dinner with Grandma and Papa tonight. When dinner was over, Grandma, Sophie, and I went for a walk in the yard. Sophie enjoyed picking flowers and looking in the pond for frogs. She was disappointed to not see any since she really wanted to touch one. Maybe next time!

March 17

Ahhh... it's St. Patrick's Day and the leprechaun (or leopard as Sophie likes to call him) came to visit last night. He made a big mess of the place, leaving shamrocks and green balloons on the floor, hanging up green streamers in the doorways, and turning Sophie's breakfast green! Sophie was a little apprehensive as she woke up this morning, but was very excited when she saw her breakfast and the goodies that the leprechaun left behind. It's so fun to see life through your child's eyes!

March 16

Since I got Flip camera yesterday, Sophie has been wanting to see herself performing on there constantly! I hooked it up to the TV tonight, so she could see herself on the big screen. She loved it and kept saying, again, again! You can see how thrilled she is to watch herself in this picture! The video below was taken in the car while waiting for a red light to change. Don't worry, I wasn't driving and taping at the same time!

March 15

Karen found a screaming deal on the little Flip cameras for teachers, so we both took advantage. I had a lot of fun playing with it tonight on my muse, Sophie. I thought, maybe I should change from a picture of the day to a video of the day! Well, today, you get both!

March 14

Since Sophie decided she didn't need a nap today, I took her over to Michael's to do a little craft project. It seemed easy enough... painting a little flower pot to look like a lady bug. She was very into it and did well (with A LOT of mommy's help of course!). It was a fun $2 and she took a nap on the way home. Phew, it would have been a long evening without one!

March 13

When I got Sophie up from her nap today, I came in to discover that she'd made a mound of her stuffed animals with all of her blankies on top! This is a first, and she was giggling uncontrollably because of the look on my face. At dinner tonight she said, "Look at my eyes!" and she'd roll them up and to the side. She's going to be a goofy one, isn't she?

March 12

When I got Sophie up this morning, the first thing out of her mouth was, "I wanna play my game!" I told her that she could after I got her dressed and she had her medicine (she's getting over an ear infection). She did just that and enjoyed playing Candyland by herself while I got ready. It's a rare treat that I can put on my makeup and do my hair without a little one asking me to put makeup on her or to do her hair too!

March 11

We ran to Target this evening for a few things, and I picked up Candy Land for Sophie. I had been meaning to get this board game for some time, but kept forgetting. Boy, was it a hit when we got home! She does well with her colors, so she enjoyed moving her guy on the board according to the card she got. We played the game for quite awhile, so long that we were past her bedtime! Oops!! She was quite upset to be done with the game... again, again she said!

March 10

I got a free sample of diapers in the mail, but they were a size 3, too small for Sophie. She said, "Me see them" so I gave them to her. She decided that she wanted to put the diapers on her babies, and enjoys taking them on and off. This morning she kept saying to me "Baby has lots of poopies in diaper." I'm hoping that she starts to see that babies poop in diapers and that big girls should use the potty! Hopefully she will clue in to that sooner than later!

March 9

My little girl is growing up! She's somewhat mastered putting on and taking off her pants and she can put her shoes on by herself, but she's had trouble with t-shirts. Tonight, she said "my try it!" and she did. It took her a few tries and a little coaxing from Gramma and me, but she did it! And oh, how she was proud of herself!

March 8

I wanted to snap a few pictures of my happy little flowers before the cold weather sets in. I'm fairly sure they won't survive the cold snap, so I'll enjoy them while I can!

March 7

We got outside so Sophie could blow bubbles and I could get a little yard work done. I had promised her that we would plant the peas soon, and today seemed like a good enough day to do that. I cleared a section of the garden and showed her how to place the seeds. She wanted to put them all in one group, but we spaced them out. She helped cover them up with dirt and watered them, so we'll see if anything pops up in the near future!

March 6

Sophie and I went to Gig Harbor today for Justin and Genevieve's baby shower. Mara and Soren joined us in Tacoma to carpool and it was so nice to catch up with her and spend time with her little cutie! Sophie was pretty shy at the party, but warmed up when Justin brought out the bubble maker! It was fun to reconnect with everyone and to see all of our kids together!

March 5

Nothing much to report today... was very tired after very little sleep and forgot to take a picture! Oops!

March 4

It was a nice day, so after I picked Sophie up from daycare, we headed to the park. I have been trying to come up with names for the parks we go to so Sophie can help choose which ones she wants to visit, so this was the "blue" park. She enjoyed playing on the toys and was adventurous enough to give this jungle gym a try.

March 3

Sophie loves her "brary" books. She spends a lot of time looking through them, and often prefers them over her toys. She is particulary passionate about a ballerina book that we just picked up. I told her tonight how we are going to take a ballet class together this summer and she was super excited about it! Who knows... maybe I have a future dancer on my hands (just as long as it's not a pole dancer!).

March 2

After a successful visit with Sophie's "hip" doctor, Grandma Sue and I took Sophie to Pt. Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. The weather was supposed to be crummy, but we lucked out. Plus, there was hardly anyone at the zoo, so we essentially had the place to ourselves! It was a wonderful visit, and all of the animals were easily seen and willing to show off for us!

March 1

Sophie's sticker book isn't anything special... it's a notebook that I originally bought to keep track of her diaper changes and feeding when she was a baby. But, she loves it! She draws in it, she places her special stickers in it, and she looks through it. I'm glad she finds joy in the little things, and I'm reminded to do the same thing!