Halloween 2011 - Jessie and Rapunzel Style

Well, it's official. Sophie fully understands that on Halloween you get to knock on neighbors' doors and they will give you candy. Now we just need to convince her that this doesn't work every day, only on Halloween. Sophie was Rapunzel this year and she was the perfect Rapunzel. So beautiful! Only two people asked me if Sophie had extensions in her hair. Nope...she is just blessed with gorgeous hair!

The very first house she went to she said "trick or treat" and when they gave her some candy she looked in her bag and very seriously said "I want more." I quickly apologized and shooed her on her way. She finally figured out that she had to go to more than one house to fill up her bag and after each house she said "I wanna go different house." She had so much fun!

Prior to Halloween I told Adam that I was going to have Sophie carry a frying pan with her. He said "won't that be heavy?". Really? The plastic one...from her play kitchen? No, I think she's good. What the heck? In his defense not many people understood why she was carrying a frying pan. Apparently I have a bizarre sense of humor, who knew? I'm so misunderstood.

Jessie and Rapunzel at Pumpkin Fest

I just like this one because it looks like Jessie is stealing a pumpkin

I mean COME ON...she's ridiculously cute

Yes, she is carrying a frying pan...not many people got it...do I just have a really strange sense of humor?

"Daddy, I wanna different house"

Dollywood...AGAIN

YES...OKAY...FINE...I made everyone go to Dollywood with me AGAIN. What can I say? This girl LOVES an amusement park...it, well, amuses me. The first time I went Adam was not with us (he was still training in Seattle), the second time it was just Adam and I for my birthday (so we could ride the roller coasters), this time it was Adam, me, Sophie, and my mom. Sophie had so much fun. She wasn't quite as adventurous with the rides as she was the first time we went, but she still rode the egg beaters which is all that mattered to me (it's one of my favorites). The first time we went she was still on Topamax and not only did it impair her cognitively, I have a feeling it made her have no fear. She is off her Topamax now, so some of the fear is back...but so are the ABCs, storytelling, signing songs, etc...so it was a good trade off! 

She would have ridden these 50 times...she LOVED driving!

The egg beaters...a Hart favorite

Bumper cars

My cuties...I love this picture!

Family Funnel Cake

Falling Behind...

My excuse is this...I tried to get on here and update my blog two months ago and my phone started eating SD cards so I couldn't download my pictures. Once I got that fixed I was at Vanderbilt for the month and they tried to work me to death and I just didn't have time...but now I'm back, for a little while at least.

Sophie took quite possibly the most important field trip of her life with me last week. I took her to KRISPY KREME in downtown Nashville. She got a little hat and got to see how doughnuts are made. Okay, I confess, it wasn't actually an approved field trip...it was just my excuse to get a doughnut (or two). She LOVED it (and so did I).

My little sassy Sophie...where to begin...how about some funny stories. These are stories she will probably kill me for posting, but I know someday I will want to look back and will have trouble remembering them if I don't record them somewhere.

My first one we will call the "Cinderella Story". This is the one that she will really hate me for later, but it was really funny. Sophie has become very interested in her "girl parts". Since I am a nurse I feel strongly that she should know the correct word for all of her body parts so everytime she points to it and says "mommy, what's this" I tell her. She thinks the word is hilarious, or else she senses my discomfort with it, but every single time she repeats the word and then giggles. Five minutes later she will ask me again. One night while I was making dinner she kept asking me repeatedly "mommy, what's this". I answered her with the correct term every time, she repeated it and then giggled. After about 10 repetitions she asked again, I answered, and she said "no mommy, that's Cinderella" and pointed to the girl on her panties, laughing. Well done Sophie...you got me.

Sophie has also become very interested in books. So interested that she wants to "read" them to you. Everytime she opens a book she starts with "Once a time" (her version of once upon a time) and then tells you who the people are on the page and flips through the book. She also does the correct sounds effects, like when she sees the wicked stepmother she says "oooooo, witch". And every single time she sees a Prince she says "look, it's daddy". So sweet. Many times after I leave her room I will look at her on the monitor and she is sitting in bed with her legs crossed reading her books. Most of the time she is telling her stories out loud, it is seriously cute. One night after we were done with her stories, we were saying her prayers. I started and she stopped me and said "no, Sophie first". I said..."go for it Sophie". She bowed her head, put her hands together and started her prayers with "once a time". I am sure God got a chuckle out of that one.

The other day I caught her in front of the potty with her pants down around her ankles...trying to pee standing up. That's all I have to say about that.

Sophie will be starting a pre-school 4 afternoons a week. She is so excited about it she can barely stand it. She woke up from her nap on Saturday and said she wanted to go to school. When I told her school wasn't open on Saturday she had a complete melt-down...and I mean complete. I could not convince her that I wasn't being mean and that school really wasn't open on Saturdays. I finally had to walk away from  her and told her she needed to get herself back together. 30 minutes later she was still sobbing. Good Lord child. I hope she is this enthusiastic throughout her educational life.

The other day we took Zoe on a walk. Sophie rode her scooter. About half-way around the block Sophie barely bumped her knee on the scooter and wanted a Dora band-aid. I told her she could have one when we got home (though there was no injury). When I told her she had to wait, she asked for Josie. When I told her Josie was at school, she asked for daddy. When I told her daddy was flying, she asked for her Dora band-aid. When I told her we had to go home first she lost her mind. I ended up carrying her home on piggyback with her scooter and helmet in one hand and Zoe in the other. Oh the drama...

This is pretty much what she looked like...

I may be the only mother who actually finds these temper trantrums amusing (most of the time). I guess I'm just happy she has an opinion and is voicing it!

Every night at bedtime Sophie has been asking to see Nana, Poppy, Nana, Pap-Pap, Wendy, Josie, Ms. Debbie, and Daddy. I have been teaching her how to “send” kisses. When I was a kid and missed my parents when I was at a sleepover I used to kiss my stuffed animals and throw them up in the air so they would take my kisses home to them (yes, I know...I was a strange kid…I also played with receipt books). Since I can just see one of her doggies ending up shredded in the ceiling fan I'm teaching Sophie to blow kisses up instead. She sends up about 100 every night. It is so sweet.

That's all for now. I will go back and update previous months once I get my pictures off my old SD card. And be ready...Halloween is coming and Sophie is READY. 

Sophie's 4 Year Pictures

Sophie had her 4 year old pictures taken at the Factory in Franklin. Laurel Pankratz of http://www.eilas.com/ took the pictures. She is amazing. Sophie had so much fun. She could have posed all day long! Toddlers and Tiaras...here we come! Forgive me while I bombard you with my "favorites"...okay, almost all of them...

Sophie is FOUR years OLD!!!

I don't even know where to start this posting...I cannot believe my baby is FOUR years old! I thought I would be so sad to see her grow up and in some ways I am. But really I cannot describe the joy it brings me to watch her discover new things. take on new challenges, and grow up into a beautiful little girl. Sometimes I look at her and wonder what I did right to deserve such a wonderful child. Other times I look at her and feel like I have known her all my life.

When I was pregnant with Sophie I often wondered what kind of person she would be. Would she be sassy like her mommy? Would she be laid-back like her daddy? Would she be funny, silly, or serious? Would she be adventurous or timid? Shy or outgoing? A perfectionist or laid-back? As I watch her grow up I find it so fascinating to watch her personality develop. She is such an interesting little person and I can't wait to see who she becomes.

Now that she is a BIG girl we have made major strides. At the beginning of the summer Sophie was still my timid, cautious, nervous child. In the beginning of the summer she chanted "no big pool mommy, no big pool" the entire way to the pool. Just a short month later she is jumping in without holding my hands and without floaties (I'm very opposed to floaties, but that's another story for another day). When she goes under the water she comes up laughing. Who is this child? I'm amazed by her every day. She has had a tough four years. She's been through more medical issues than I have in my entire 36 years. She is brave.

Here are my favorite things about Sophie at FOUR years old.
1. She loves to dance. She reguarly (as in almost every day) wants to watch her dance recital DVD and does an amazing job of imitating the dances. It is extremely entertaining, especially the hip hop.
2. She still loves her doggies. However, she has allowed a slightly different type of doggy into the rotation. Thank GOD. This one I can still get without having to buy it on ebay for $40. We now have 6.
3. She loves the swings and the circle slide.
4. She truly believes that she IS Rapunzel. Whenever the movie is playing she will say "that's me mommy, that's me"
5. During the braiding scene on Tangled she always asks for a braid.
6. While her speech is improving, I still love some of her pronouciations. Please=Peas, Thank You=gank you, Caroline=carwowine, Yogurt=gogurt, Ballerina=bawareena...but sometimes sounds suspiciously like bananarama.
7. She loves to read books, but is usually jumping on the bed while you are trying to read to her.
8. She still loves her bubbles.
9. Her favorite shows are Sesame Street, Caillou, Angelina Ballerina, and Swamp People. Yes, you read that correctly, Swamp People. She calls it the "grrs" and NO I did not allow her to watch it the first time.
10. She loves her cousin Josie the best.

Since daddy was out of town we just had a small birthday celebration at Nana and Pap-Pap's and on her actual birthday we went to see Cars 2 with Wendy, Josie, Jason, Michelle, and David. Then we had pizza at Mineos. She had so much fun!

My sister got her the entire princess set of Barbies. Sophie actually screamed when she opened it. She was so excited I could not get them out of the package fast enough. She also got Pretty Pretty Princess, the game. She isn't quite clear on how to play it yet, but she sure does love the crown! Then..the icing on the cake...Colleen, Michael, and Lucy got her a Tinkerbell doll. She is in Barbie heaven (a place I never visited as a kid). She LOVES them. She also got a complete dress up set with a crown, necklace, earrings, and a ring from Blake, Michelle and David. I have a picture of my lunch with the queen, but my phone is acting up so I will have to post it once Adam figures out what's wrong with it. Let's just say that I was extremely underdressed for the occasion.

Gorgeous...

July 4th at the Lake!!!

Sophie and I spent another wonderful July 4th weekend at my parents house on the lake. Sophie LOVED the boat and wanted to ride on it all day long. She definitely gets that from me. My family has had a boat for as long as I can remember. Some of my absolute favorite memories are riding on that boat. In the good old days it was always a crapshoot as to whether the boat would start or not (we didn't take it out very often), but these days it starts...it's just a matter of how dramatic re-docking it is. Anyway we had a blast. Adam wasn't able to go with us this year because he was in Seattle training to fly the big planes! Go daddy go!