Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Catching Up

*This was written 3 months ago and I kept saving it until I got around to attaching pictures to it. I know blogs are much more fun to read when there are photos to go along with the stories but as I am clearly the worst blogger ever, you'll just have to use your imagination. I just decided to go ahead and post it! I'll get better, I promise!


I will have to get better about doing this more often! I have so many things I want to put in this blog, like Sophie's milestones and things that have happened over the last two years of her life. I think I will start doing that gradually and adding pictures so we can get caught up. I decided when I was pregnant that I would start keeping a journal for Sophie once I had her and I did (occasionally), so I am going to put some of those entries in the blog and post pictures along with them. I was horrible about keeping up with it and the idea of a blog had not occured to me at the time (dummy... that would have been a lot easier than my hand almost falling off after writing in that journal all night.) So... Anyway, here we are now!

We had a nice weekend, but it went by way too fast. WAY too fast! Friday night Jim, Sophie and I had a low-key evening. When Jim got home from work the three of us hung out in the yard while Sophie drove her new Barbie jeep around. She specifically requested that we have "pee-yaah" for dinner... More often than not, that seems to be our go-to plan on Friday nights as I am tired of cooking all week and want to relax and celebrate the weekend. So the three of us had an exciting evening of browsing and buying a few things at Sam's and then picking up a pizza on the way home. Then we all played until it was time to go to bed. I am amazed by all the things Sophie has learned and all the words and information she has absorbed in the two short years she has been here. It's like she went from a 2 week old to a full-on mini adult overnight. She says the funniest things sometimes. I love that I can actually have a conversation with her and that she understands everything I'm saying. It's so much fun. She's my little buddy. This girl has attitude for days but is still the sweetest, most loving little person I have ever met. You know what she told me today? We were eating lunch and I asked her if she wanted a bite of my chicken. She said very seriously... "I not want nicken... It make me sick!"  Where did she get that??? That's the third time she has said it lately. Last time she said it was about some macaroni I made the other night (although she still proceeded to eat it). Jim may have put that idea in her head about the macaroni though. He has issues with my macaroni and cheese, but I could write a whole other post on that. Apparently back in the days when I wasn't as FAB a cook as I am now (truly, I have drastically improved in the last 4 years that we have been married. When I met him I didn't know how to boil water) ... I got this great macaroni and cheese recipe (I thought it was great!) and liked it so well that I may have made it a little too often. One night he finally mentioned in so many words that he was sick of my macaroni and cheese and that I had made it something like 4 times in a month and that he'd had enough. My usual self would've probably told him to shove it and cook dinner himself if he wasn't a fan of what I had cooked, but I was pregnant and extremely hormonal at the time. So I stood up, burst into tears and went to the bedroom. HAHA! He had to have felt so bad. I'm happy to report that my cooking has improved tremendously, but he is still (most of the time) pretty cautious about criticizing anything I have cooked!

Saturday night was Girls Night In with a few of my friends, and I hosted. We sort of made it into a little surprise birthday party for Rachelle, whose birthday was this past week. Nothing crazy, just some good food, wine, birthday decorations, girl talk and the best cupcakes you have ever had. Sarah got the cupcakes from Ann Olivia's in Hernando. If you haven't been there you should really check them out. I'm not knocking Muddy's or Gigi's, but I have been to both and I will say without a doubt that Ann Olivia's cupcakes are bigger, better tasting and best of all... CHEAPER!! They even have a maple bacon cupcake which sounds absolutely disgusting but I tasted the cake part of it Saturday night (not a fan of frosting) and it tasted just like a pancake with maple syrup on it. My favorite is the peanut butter banana cupcake though. DEE-LISH! I almost forgot to mention that the GNI was a pajama party (yes, we are a bunch of 8 year old girls). When Sarah and I were planning it we were thinking of some fun, traditional "pajama party" games we could play and I was so looking forward to that but once everybody got here we just drank wine, ate and chatted, which was just as fun. Kind of funny, that's how it always ends up. We have tried getting a bunco game together on more than one occasion. Somehow the time usually gets away from us and we just run our mouths and gulp sip wine and try all the good food everybody has brought and before we know it, it's late and we never did play bunco. Isn't that how it should be though? We all stay so busy as moms/wives/taxi drivers/queens of the household ; )  that when we get together we have so much fun catching up and talking that we lose track of time and just enjoy each others' company. I love my friends. Girl time is always a treat!

Sophie spent the night with my parents Saturday night so Jim and I went to pick her up Sunday and the three of us had dinner with my parents. My dad grilled hotdogs and my mom made some things to go with them. As always, it was delicious! My parents adore Sophie. Trying to explain their adoration for her would not do it justice. They have a special bond (especially Sophie and my dad... my mom and I joke that their mutual admiration for each other is almost sickening sometimes like two lovers in love!) and Sophie is so, so blessed to have such wonderful grandparents. If you looked up the word "grandparents" in the dictionary, I swear I think there would be a picture of them. I know there are lots of different kinds of grandparents and not everybody thinks they should or are able to "spoil" their grandkids and do something special with them just about every time they see them or buy them treats and nice things just because they enjoy doing so, but I am thankful that my parents are those kind of grandparents. Sophie loves going to see them, not just because they do all those things with her and for her, but because they genuinely love spending time with her and take the time to play with her and make their time together extra special. She just loves the attention she gets from them and it's so sweet to watch. Sophie and my dad have a whole list of things they love to do together including going to the mall to ride the carousel, swinging in the backyard, going to Chuck E. Cheese and most of all, playing with Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars together. He always has a new car (or 5) for her when she comes over and he will get down in the floor and play with her for hours. She loves it! I know it's stupid to categorize certain toys by gender, especially when kids are just toddlers, as they love to play with all toys no matter if they're intended for a boy or a girl, but I have never seen a little girl who loves cars as much as Sophie. She has a ton of those little cars and she carries them with her in her purse everywhere she goes. She will play with them in her room for a good hour by herself. (I come in and out and talk with her and check on her of course, but I love that she is at the age now where she can play by herself and be content for longer periods of time.) She loves to line them up and count to 3 and then she yells "Go caws!!!" and "races" them! She has learned the names of a few of the models and she will line them up and name them off for you. "Cor-bett, Mutt-nang, Jeep, Hot Wod"... It is seriously so cute. I am going to have to get it on video and post it.

When I started this post I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to come up with much to write about. Boy was I wrong... Here I am rambling away. I am going to leave you with this fab sandwich recipe that we had for dinner tonight. I discovered Pioneer Woman's website today and enjoyed reading about her life and adventures. I decided to mosey on over to her recipes and she had some great ones that I'm sure I'll be using in the future. Usually I cook while Sophie relentlessly hangs all over me and begs to sit on the counter next to the stove (not happening!) so needless to say it is a little stressful sometimes! So the best part about dinner tonight was that Jim volunteered to cook! It was delicious!!! He even did the dishes. Yes, he has his moments!

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/01/the-mm-sandwich-pw-style/   It's not at all healthy, but extremely delicious!