Snow Day!

Today was absolutely awesome! I normally cringe at the thought of spending all day in the snow because it is oh so very cold, and Annabelle cannot seem to get enough until she sets foot in the door. And, then, "Waaahhhh! My toes! My toes hurt Mommy! Waaahhh! Noooooo! Don't touch them! That makes them hurt more!" And just minutes before I would ask her, "Are you ready to go inside?" "No," she would reply. "I think we need to go inside and warm up for a little while," I replied. "Okay," she would finally agree.

But with 4.5 - 5 inches of snow and ice, let the games begin! We actually measured 4.5 inches when we measured around 4:30 p.m. We apparently set a record with the most amount of snow in metro Atlanta since 1953! How about that? Our first white Christmas since the 1800's and a record amount of snow since the 1950's. We all have celebrated firsts together as a family.

It was so much fun to be a kid again! We sled down the big hill at the top of our street numerous times because the roads were also covered in snow and ice! How much fun is that? And Annabelle tromped her own little self all the way to the top and rode down with us. She wasn't scared at all! I couldn't believe it as there were a few times I thought we were going to knock down a mailbox or two or run head on into a parked car. It is an absolute perfect hill for sledding!

We only saw one vehicle leave our neighborhood today, so the streets were completely empty, so we had no fear of running into a moving vehicle.

Hubby said, "Do you want to move to Minneapolis?" Ummm. Let me think about that for a minute. Nope! He thinks he's all big and bad now since he pretty much lived in Minneapolis back in the fall of 2008. I think he actually believes he knows how to drive in this stuff now.

And we ended the day enjoying homemade snow ice cream with our neighbors at our house followed by homemade chili and homemade pizza at their house. It takes a snow day to finally follow through with that "we need to have you guys over for dinner" when they moved in almost 6 years ago. Too bad they treated first, and we're the ones who made the original offer. We are serving up ham and potato soup at our house tomorrow night for everyone. So much fun!

Sophia napped most of the snow day. But she got her fill when I plopped her down on top of the ice which was on top of the snow. Before that though, she got to watch her sissy, Mommy and Daddy all sled down the big hill.

Mug Shot

Joy

This little girl brings so much joy to my life! She makes me not want to spread my kiddos 3.5 years apart again because life raising more than one child isn't so bad! Too bad the timing of a 3rd child (if I have anything to say about it this time) depends solely and completely on our living quarters. She makes me wish I had decided to bear children much earlier in life.

Sophia is definitely my easy going, very loving child, but with quite a temper. I suspect she will probably be more trouble than her sister as I suspect her easy going personality will wipe most of her fears away.

Hubby took this picture this evening as Sophia was patty caking. On Saturday, Nonnie sang "Patty Cake" to her. Nonnie wasn't even clapping as she sang it. Sophia smiled that tongue smile above and started clapping. It is so funny how things just suddenly click. She used to just smile at me when I played "Patty Cake" with her. That was until Saturday. But now, she claps every time. In fact, she loves clapping now, even when we aren't playing patty cake.

This is by far my favorite age! Of course, I really love the first 2.5 years. You know, before they start talking with the ability to actually voice their opinion with words. LOL!

Dear Sophia,

I love you sweet girl! You are growing up so fast, and as much as I'd love to keep you little, I have to remember how much I'd miss out on if you stayed 8 months forever!

I love you always and forever!

Mommy

My Little Susie Homemaker

I just had to post this picture because I am in love with it! I managed to snag the adult size apron as our white elephant gift at our Sunday School's Christmas party this year. It was a hot item, and I strategized to keep it. I don't think my strategy really worked, but I got it!

I got it alright, along with an awful massive mug of an old man that has apparently been one of the gag gifts since the Sunday School's first Christmas party 10 years or so ago. I actually had opened the plate that matches the mug, but hubby and I tried to strategize with another guy to get a more optimal gift. It backfired for all involved!

The matching plate was created from the match to the mug which was actually another mug that had been broken after the initial Christmas party but then glued back together to form the plate. It is UGLY! I guess that means we have to attend the Sunday School Christmas party again next year to rid ourselves of that awful mug!

Garbage Pail

Just because I named my youngest child "Garbage Pail," she decided to go and change her habits on me. After she realized that there is more to a baby's diet than peas and green beans, she started to have an opinion of her own.

I used to always have the camera and video camera in action whenever I gave Sophia a new food just to capture her expression on camera. She always gave the same face, with absolutely no expression, every time we gave her something new. So we named her "Garbage Pail" for a few days because she'd eat any and everything we gave her.

But, apparently, she wasn't such a big fan of the name. And she learned that there is more to life than peas and green beans. Now she refuses to eat anything green. She loves her yellow veggies and almost any fruit. Mango included!

As for the plain Cheerios and scrambled eggs, she is not a fan!




At least I finally did get that funny expression that I wanted so badly on camera on Tuesday. Notice the scrambled egg in mid-fall in the second picture.

And before you go and judge that I'm feeding my 8 month old scrambled eggs (Gasp!), please realize that the doctor said to start feeding these allergy prone foods earlier rather than later because the American Academy of Pediatrics has changed their take on it. They now think it is better to have those allergy prone foods earlier.

The good news is that she did not have an adverse reaction to the eggs as her sister did when she was a baby.

If it was perfect

I wouldn't know what to do!

I am slowly trying really, really hard to let go of the need for everything in my life to be picture perfect. Because it hasn't been...in quite a long time...if ever! But definitely not since either one of my girls entered into my life.

I have always tried hard to succeed at everything I do, and not just succeed, but succeed with flying colors. And I have failed miserably. Because you cannot be good at everything. It just isn't possible. There are not enough hours in the day.

So, while looking through some pictures I took today, I decided to enjoy the less than perfect shot and see it for what it is. Just another typical day with loving sisters. These girls truly do love one another, but they often do not want to be bothered by the other.

And as I found this picture, I remember taking a family shot for a family at Wills Park in Alpharetta on the 4th of July this year. I took one picture with a digital camera. I then asked the grandmother if she would like for me to take another picture of all of them. She responded, "No, if it was perfect, we wouldn't know what to do." And for some reason I have not forgotten her response to me.

And my heart melted

Sophia took off crawling for good on Monday as there is no stopping her now! She officially started crawling the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but she's been pretty lazy since that Saturday and until Monday would only scoot a few feet if she really wanted something. And, scoot is the key word as she learned to crawl up on her knees the Saturday after Thanksgiving, but she pretty much resorted to scooting until Monday.

Despite her new found independence though, she still needs her mommy! On Sunday, I left the room while we were eating dinner. Her eyes followed me as I left the room and she babbled "Ma-Ma." She had babbled "Ma-Ma" months ago although it completely had no meaning to her. And then she stopped babbling for awhile. But, she's really been babbling quite a bit lately. It has mostly been "Da-Da" with an occasional random "Ma-Ma" though.

Though I'm not certain yet she knows her Daddy is "Da-Da," I am fairly certain she meant to say "Ma-Ma" as I left the room on Sunday. Or perhaps it was just a coincidence.

But, my heart truly melted last night when this sweet girl who was oh so very sleepy started fussing and babbling "Ma-Ma, Ma-Ma, Ma-Ma" as she crawled her way across the room to find me. She still needs me, and I love it!

I don't remember Annabelle ever doing that, although I am sure she probably did. But, that Sophia of mine truly melted my heart last night! It is still smiling!

As I rocked a fussy Sophia to sleep last night, I smiled and wondered why my heart was so unsure of this child a year ago. And last night my heart actually ached at the thought that God could possibly make this our last child. Although there are many days that I feel I am not worthy to raise any of His children.