Pumpkin Patch

I love the month of October. It is absolutely and eternally my favorite! This past weekend Oma was in town, and we did our standard thing: shop shop shop! We were just leaving Hulen Mall when I saw this great pumpkin patch where they usually sell all those flowers, by the main enterance. Now, I'd love to tell you that I'm the kind of fly by the seat of my pants mom that just pulled over right then and there and snapped some great pictures. But I'm not. We were running late to lunch and needed to get Sophie home immediately after for a nap. Besides, she was wearing this multi-colored dress with hot pink leggings. I know kids can get away with anything, but I don't do orange and hot pink. SO, after lunch, after the nap, after changing her outfit twice, we headed back to Hulen Mall to snap some pictures of Sophie in a very urban feeling pumpkin patch....because, let's be honest, it's in a parking lot next to a busy street. But, the real highlight of my day was what we miraculously got in her hair ;) What a big girl!

 look! look what's in her hair!

see her spunky locks just blowing in the wind? good thing she's got a bow on!

and her classic "I'm on a mission" crawling face, just because...

Enjoy this fabulous month- Happy October!



One Year Photo Shoot

We have been wanting to capture some pictures of Sophie in an intentional way. We take lots of pictures, but they're real life day to day kind of pictures. They usually incude messy faces, stained clothes, diapers showing, toys strewn about the floor, etc. Real life with a one year old, I know! And as great as those are, we also wanted to take some beautiful pictures of Sophia free of those things. So this past Sunday we dressed her in a super cute outfit and headed to the Botanic Gardens for some picture taking.

Maybe I had my hopes up. I thought Sophie might just decide she loves grass and would happily play in it making cute sweet faces at me with no toys whatsoever. We spent most of the time struggling with lighting, keeping her occupied with nothing, and keeping her on the ground by herself. So that didn't work. You will find shoes in the mouth, lovee in hand, and many others include things like diapers, wipes, baby cell phones, you name it. The girl just wanted to sit and unpack her bag. And we let her. But at the end of the day, we got a few great shots. They may not be as down to earth as our normal pictures, but they certainly seem to capture some of Sophie's sweet personality and audacious ways. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Sophia! (part 2)

Our party was wonderful and we loved celebrating Sophia's life with all of our friends and family. But Sophia's real birthday was on a Wednesday. I just couldn't send her to school and be apart from her. That day was so special to our family. We also needed some intimate family time. So Andy and I both took off work on Wednesday and we had a special birthday celebration- just the three of us. It started with breakfast- a number 1 pancake with some raspberry maple syrup. She LOVED it! As you can see, she couldn't wait to take a picture before devouring. :)

After a little morning nap, it was off to the zoo! Andy and I didn't know quite what to expect. Would Sophia be interested in the animals? Would she even notice them? To our surprise, she did notice the animals and was somewhat interested in most of them. The bigger they were or the more they moved, the more we found her staring and at times laughing at what they would do. The gorillas, elephants, monkeys, and sea otters were her favorites!

Notice how many pictures Sophia's Bebe is in- she has become a constant companion!

a quick break for lunch- it was a gorgeous day!

very intrigued by the colorful fish and yikes! a shark!

exploring a pretend bat cave with Mama

As Sophia has gotten older and entered toddlerhood, she is less and less apt to sit and cuddle. She wants to be on the go go go a lot of the time. Daddy took advantage of the Baby Bjorn to sneak in a little love time.

We have loved our Baby Bjorn, but as Andy walked around with Sophia, we decided she's gotten a bit heavy to carry around in it. When we took it off her, she had these dark red marks on her arms where it was pinching her. So Sophia thinks she's too big for it as well, and our Baby Bjorn days are officially over!

I was really excited to go into the reptile museum of living art. I don't love reptiles and insects, or like them at all. But every time I'm there I think of the scene from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. And I thought Sophia would get a kick out of "walking" around looking into the glass and seeing the animals so close up. Turns out she did love walking and crawling all over, but never really noticed that there was anything going on on the other side of the glass. Still, she looks cute doing it, doesn't she? What a doll!



We came home and all took a great nap and enjoyed a leisurely evening together- it was a great day! Happy Birthday Sophia! We love you sweet girl; this year with you has been the best of our lives!

Happy Birthday Sophia! (part 1)

No, I can't believe it either. How did a year go by? I feel like I was just meeting her, looking into those bright eyes for the first time. In some ways, it feels like years have gone by. She is so familiar to me now. Life before having her seems foggier, harder to remember. And in other ways, I feel like it has flown by, and here she is nearly walking and talking, and I'm left breathless.

We wanted to plan a birthday party that would be here at our home, out in the sunshine, with all of our friends and family together. And that's just what happened- it was a beautiful day in so many ways. Here are some pictures:

Lord, we love you and thank you for our sweet girl. She is beautiful to us! Thank you for creating her just the way you did. Thank you for her health and vitality over the past year. Thank you for her sweet personality: her spunk and energy, her adventurous spirit, her curiosity, her easy going nature, and the trust she has in us.

We ask you for your continued blessing of health in her second year. And we plead for the health of her soul. We pray that her heart and mind would be ignited by the truth of the gospel. We pray that she will find Jesus to be beautiful, his love irresistible. We pray that seeds planted, even now, would find fertile soil so that in the coming years, belief and trust will blossom from them. This is a work only you can do, God, so we ask that you would do it, and that you would do it quickly! Continue to teach us how to bring her up in the way of salvation, with grace and love abounding. We love you God! Amen.