Wisconsin '09

We had another great trip to Wisconsin this year! It was hard to believe that last year they were throwing me a surprise shower. My, how life has changed!

We left St. Louis just as the weather was about to turn hot and hit Wisconsin right as they were having a nice cool week. It was great. It could have been a bit warmer for hanging out at the beach, but we enjoyed some long walks in the sand and nice runs in town. We got a jogging stroller recently and have been LOVING it! It is so great for rough trails and uneven sidewalks. It just rides right over everything. Sophie loves it, too!

Perhaps the most exciting thing about the trip is that Matt's dad bought a boat! So fun!

Grandpa bought Sophie a baby life-vest and went out in the boat twice while we were there. We all took turns driving. Even Sophie:

When we first put the life-vest on to see if it would fit, she threw a fit! Did not like it at all! But that was in the house, and once we were out on the boat, she must have understood its purpose, because she did not mind it a bit! She didn't laugh and have a huge smile out on the boat, but she didn't scream and cry either. She was very serious the entire time and seemed a bit nervous.

We tried to keep her occupied with food, which seemed to have worked.

On the last day there, we had Sophie test the waters of Lake Michigan for the first time. The lake was FREEZING cold, but she loved it! She actually cried when Matt pulled her out of the water and started walking back in.

Every year Matt goes into the lake, no matter how cold, and goes all the way under. He wasn't sure he was totally submerged the first time, so he went twice. Here's the series of shots to prove he went under. He's nuts! I'm telling you, that water was SO cold!

Going out.

Going under.

Coming in.

One day we went into town and bought Sophie her first little hair bow. It's not actually a bow, it's a little pink flower, and it is SO cute! She didn't even pull it out. I was impressed seeing as how we've never stuck anything on her head before.

Matt's dad and grandparents LOVED playing with Sophie and were so good with her. It was fun to see their reaction to how big she is now. The last time his grandparents saw her was at Christmas. She's a lot more fun to interact with now.

Until next year...

My Happy List

When I opened up my GoogleReader after a week of vacation with no internet, I had 43 blogs to read. I started going through them today and came across this post. It made me think about the things that make me happy and I decided to make my own list here on the blog to let you all know that I'm not a complete "Debbie Downer." I do need some cheering up, however, so hopefully making this list will help my mood.

15 Simple Things that Make Me Happy (in no particular order):
1. Juicy watermelon
2. Early morning jogs
3. My memory foam pillow
4. Watching a thunderstorm roll in
5. The sweet smell of honeysuckle
6. Sophie hugs & cuddles
7. Sappington Farmer's Market
8. Chacos
9. Ice cream
10. Fresh veggies from our garden
11. "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me"
12. Dreaming about our future with my hubby
13. Good worship music
14. Old quilts from relatives
15. Coffee houses & art galleries

Ah...much better. What are the simple things in life that cheer you up?

5 Things...

...before I head off to bed:

1. Sophie is 11 months old today! I can't believe she'll be ONE in a month! AHH!

2. We got back from vacation in Wisconsin today. Fun trip!! Will post more about that soon...so make sure you check back.

3. I caught a cold on our trip. Not feeling too hot right now. Boo. Looking forward to my own bed tonight.

4.

(Just a sneak peek from our trip.)

5. I'm sad. I'm sitting here at 8:45 watching the finale of "So You Think You Can Dance," with tears streaming down my cheeks. No...not because I love the show so much, and not because I'm getting all choked up at the amazing talent, but because I just realized that one week from today I'll be sitting here having spent my first full day back at work. I only have one more week with my baby girl. I know, I know...don't be so dramatic, Katie. But I love being a full-time mom and it all just hit at once, and I can't help think about how much I'm going to miss her until next summer. (Again, I know this is a bit dramatic, but remember...I have a cold and everything is amplified when you're sleepy and sick.) By the time she's one I'll only have worked for 6 months of her life (because of maternity leave, Christmas break, spring break, and summer break.) I know this is a huge blessing, and that one of the great things about my job is the time I get off, but still... Teaching is exhausting and time-consuming, Sophie's a grump by the time I pick her up in the evening, and I just know she's going to take that first step and reach all kinds of milestones that I'll miss. I'm not going to be there for all of the "firsts" and it just makes me sad.

And on that note...sweet dreams of summer bliss are calling out to me.

Family & Friends

We went on a family hike the other day and Sophie loved it! My mom found a backpack carrier at a garage sale for $5 and it's awesome! About 15 minutes into the hike, we heard a rumble in the sky. Airplane or thunderstorm? Since there was barely a cloud in the sky when we parked and started hiking, we figured airplane. A few minutes later another distinct rumble. Definitely NOT an airplane. So we turned around, picked up the speed a bit, and kept our eyes on the sky. Definitely darkening. A few hundred yards from the car we felt sprinkles and right as we started buckling Sophie into the car seat the sky let loose. Perfect timing! We managed to get a few pics in beforehand:


Today we had a lovely visit from Lauren and McKinley. Sophie slept, McKinley ate; McKinley slept, Sophie ate; Sophie slept, and then finally they were both UP! We got to have some play time on the quilt and then we went for a nice long walk. Our girls love being outside! Here are a few pics of our cutie-pa-tooties side-by-side:

My apologies, my little climber, and a birthday shout-out!

Okay, so the Sophie's lucky break thing was a gimmick and I fell for it. There really is $5000 to win, but the voting process is ridiculous and is a scheme to get people to register for a stupid website or something. Anyway, if you voted, thank you. If you got to it and thought it was a waste of time, I totally don't blame you. I had no idea you had to register, then check your e-mail, then go back to the website, blah blah blah. Annoying.

So...to make it up to you, the start of today's Wordless Wednesday (which isn't really going to be wordless), is of pictures of my little nugget. I've just got to say, I fall more and more in love with her every day. I didn't think that would be possible, but it is. She is just so G.R.E.A.T and such a blessing to our lives. So, enjoy these:

In the past few weeks, Sophie learned how to climb stairs, which transpired the love of climbing on ANYTHING. The following pictures are a progression of her latest love of climbing on the block pile. Enjoy.
"Here I go."


"Hmm...I might want to take one more block with me up here."


"Woah...gotta get my balance."

"Finally...seated on my throne. Now I'm going to kick back and chew on a block."

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Okay, now moving on to a post that is way over-due! My friend Erin celebrated one of those milestone birthdays last week. Not only was the birthday itself a milestone, but also the fact that she achieved a HUGE goal of losing 20 lbs by that said birthday! (Click here to read about it on her blog.) Anyway, there are numerous people out there who think Erin is awesome and several of us wanted to show that to her with a little surprise get together. We enjoyed some delicious desserts and I'm sure she savored each bite, seeing as how she deprived herself of that kind of thing to lose the weight! Erin, you deserve it and we're all thrilled for you! Congratulations and Happy Birthday (last week)! Here are some pics of the gang as we enjoyed our friend and our sweets!

She is very excited about the mountain of goodness in front of her!

I must say, Erin pulls off the sweet smile you have to hold for the entire duration of the "Happy Birthday" song VERY well! I always feel incredibly awkward in those moments.

This was how Erin satiated her sweet tooth all of those months of dieting with WW.

The group.
Beth is to the left of Erin, and she organized the whole sha-bang. Erin was totally surprised!
On the far left is our friend Sarah who just had her baby girl, Charlie, last night!! Congrats Sarah and Scott! We can't wait to meet her. (She was 2 days away from her due date in this picture, but Charlie decided to wait another week to make her grand entrance!)

And this is where I'll cut myself off. Sorry for the long post. You may not return to your regularly scheduled day.

Sophie's Lucky Break

I entered Sophie in a "Beautiful Babies" contest!! My friend Erin took this gorgeous photo of Sophie and I think it should win a contest!!

You may have already received an e-mail from me about this, but I want to make sure I catch everyone! We have the chance to win the grand prize of $5000 and a professional photo shoot! Voting is on now through Monday, August 4 Midnight EST. So, here's what you need to do:

Click on THIS LINK to cast your vote (and you may need to register, I'm not sure) and be sure to pass this along to anyone else you think might want to vote!

Thanks for your support!

Hey, You!

Yeah, you...You know who you are. This post is for you. And just for the records...I made it before midnight.

To all the rest of you: enjoy this silly, beautiful, and all together irresistible face.