ROAD TRIP!!!

We took a family roadtrip to Wisconsin to attend my cousin’s wedding and introduce Sophie to my mom’s side of the family! We decided to drive since Sophie was officially over 2 and we would have had to buy her a ticket for the plane. The mistake we made was choosing a route through Chicago. Now, in our defense, we decided to take the route with more major cities so if we had car trouble or anything we would have more options. This seemed like a good decision…until we hit construction outside Gary, IN which delayed us just enough to hit Chicago at RUSH HOUR. Thankfully I was driving, or my sweet southern husband might STILL be stuck somewhere outside Chicago waiting for someone to let him in. However, by the time we got out of Chicago my nerves were SHOT. We continued to hit traffic jams even 30 miles outside Chicago. WHAT??? Are you kidding me? When we left Indianapolis, our navigation said we had 4.5 hours left…7.5 hours later we finally arrived. But despite the 14 hour drive we had a blast! Sophie was an absolute ANGEL in the car. I was the problem. Adam has an application on his phone that keeps up with traffic. It was totally green until about 1 minute before we hit Chicago. Then it was totally RED. I must have asked him 5,000 times how much red was left. It was awful! On the way home we spent the night in Chicago and got to eat at Gino’s East!!! It was worth it, and it was so great to be with my family! But the best part was watching the girls play together…they are so close!
 

First day of "school"

Since Adam has been “working from home” on the days I work, Sophie has very little interaction with other children (other than the gym and church nurseries). We decided it was time to put her in something a little more formal. One of the girls I work with gave us the name of an in home pre-school that both her boys attended and we decided to give it a try one day a week. Other than some trauma related to sleeping on a mat at naptime.I think she enjoys it. Ms. Debbie said that Sophie sleeps much better if she sits with her. Yes, the only 1 1/2 hours of peace Ms. Debbie gets during the day are spent sitting with Sophie, the sign of someone truly meant to be teaching pre-school! I’m really hoping it will help her with her speech, she barely says any recognizable words.though she can talk your ear off in jibberish. Here she is with her bag packed on her first day of school.

This is what I imagine she looked like when she found out she had to sleep on a mat at naptime.the princess and the pea!

First Baseball Game

Some of my favorite memories as a child were of nights spent at the softball diamonds with my dad and his team! My dad played softball for as long as I can remember.in fact I was almost born at a softball tournament in Bay City. We decided to take Sophie to a Nashville Sounds game for her first baseball game followed by her first fireworks show. She LOVED it all! The Sounds games have A LOT of music.and if you know anything about Sophie, you know how much she loves music. She danced the whole night. The little boy in the picture is David Hamilton.I love the look on his face. If you are wondering why we are all red.it was 96 degrees when we walked in and 86 degrees when we walked out. We were technically melting. Sophie even loved the fireworks. I thought she would be terrified because they were so loud, but turns out she’s actually more tolerant that I am!

Jump Zone

Wendy and I took the girls to the Jump Zone. Josie loved all of it...Sophie loved some of it. About what I expected from our sweet, timid girl. Sophie did find a few things she enjoyed...Josie didn't find anything that scared her!

Okay, this is my speed...

Borrriiinnnggg

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Sorry Soph...no room for you...

Yes...this is the BIG slide!

Pink Polka Dot Bikini

I have nothing else to say…the pictures speak for themselves.

Sophie's Franklin Party

Here are some pictures from Sophie’s birthday party in Franklin!
 

Chattanooga Day Trip

We decided to take Sophie to the Chattanooga Aquarium for a day trip. WOW what a disaster. We arrived at peak nap time (what were we thinking?) and she screamed through the entire thing. We did take her to the IMAX movie (her first movie) which she enjoyed so much she talked, laughed, and happy screamed through the whole thing. YES.I was THAT mother. I couldn’t take her out without disturbing half a row of people so I just tried to keep her as quiet as possible. At least she wasn’t crying. The aquarium was awesome.but next time we’ll try for better timing. We did go to Lookout Mountain as well. I wanted to “see Rock City” but it was $18 per person and I’m a cheapskate.so we settled for a little park that overlooked Chattanooga. This was by far Sophie’s favorite part!

Sophie's 2nd Birthday at the Discovery Center

Wendy and I celebrated Sophie's second birth "day" at the Discovery Center. We went on a nature walk even though it was hotter than hades. For the most part the girls had a blast...except for the canoe picture below. What a great CHEAP place to go for a day of fun!

Sophie is TWO

Sophie turned TWO on July 9th.no kidding. I can barely believe it! She had 3 parties this year. One at my parent’s house on July 4th, one the day before her birthday with Blake, Michelle, David, Jason, & Harrison. And one the weekend after her birthday with her Franklin friends. We did a Sesame Street theme and had so much fun! Here are the pictures to prove it! Keep in mind that she REALLY hates hats.

 
 

July 4th, 2009 Sophie's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Sophie's 2nd birthday during our annual 4th of July trip to Knoxville. The Poteets and Grand-mommy and Poppy Huskins all helped to make it a special day!

My mom got the girls these matching chairs, we could not get them to face the same direction

Aunt Wendy with the girls

Extreme tickle me Elmo...belongs to Nana

The Poteets: Darrell, Brooks, Logan, & Julie