Two Posts For the Price of One!

I hope all of my American family and friends had a fabulous Thanksgiving!!

I could totally go for some turkey and stuffing right about now,yum!

I just wanted to post a video of Sophia walking for all of her Grandparents and Aunties out there!

She has never looked back since taking those first steps and she walks everywhere!

It never fails to make me smile when I look over and see her walking, I am so proud!

In other news I have been learning how to sew!!

I have my moms old sewing machine.

My sister came over the other day and taught me the basics of sewing.

I did take sewing in grade 10 but at the time it went through one ear and out the other.

My social life was much more important than retaining useful information!

I have been itching to learn how to sew for a while and can't wait to get better and better.

My mom is a fantastic sewer.

She sewed everything from our clothes to our bedding to curtains and dolls.

She even made my prom dress.

When I wanted something cool from the store she used to always say...
" I can make that for you".

Ugh how that used to get on my nerves!

Maybe that was the reason why I was so passive when it came to learning how to sew as a teen.

But now I find myself saying...
"if I just knew how to sew I could make that".

Funny how life is!

So here are my first projects as a new sewer. I hope you are proud mom!

The larger bag is for diapers and wipes. The second is a little bag for makeup or what have you.

I also took in some of Sophia's pants in the waste. I felt very motherly and domestic! I love it!

The Last Of The Birthday Parties

Saturday was our little friend Paige's first birthday party!

She is the last one in our baby group to turn one.

I still can't believe they are all one now!

We have gone to four 'first birthdays' since the end of September.

It has been so much fun and the babies always have a blast playing together!

So do the mommies!

I might go into withdrawals from not going to any more birthday parties!

Here is Sophia dressed and ready to party it up!

Playing with all of Paige's awesome toys!!

Actually eating Paige's cake!

She has never once touched birthday cake...even her own! I guess Paige's cake was the best!!

I just had to show you the party girls little bloomers!!

She had the cutest little dress on complete with crinoline and bloomers!!

AND the cutest picture ever!!

Sophia and her girlfriends looking out the window!

I just love these little girls!

(It's just a small picture because my friend emailed it to me. I don't have the original picture)

November 22

Last year this was your due date.

Instead you arrived on October 13, 6 weeks early.

So now you are technically a one year old for reals.

You sit watching me while eating french toast with jam all over your face.

Love to hear you babble.

Love to see you take your wobbly steps.

Love everything about you!

Boo Hoo

Last night the contest closed for Calgary's Cutest Kid!

Thank you everyone for voting for our sweetie pie Sophia!!

Sadly we didn't win.

Obviously we were robbed of the title!

We know who the cutest kid is in our hearts!!

If you want to vote for your favorite out of the top ten then click here

Ok they are pretty cute...I think I am voting for the little girl in the red hat. She's a cutie.

Murphey's Law

As soon as I wrote that last post she started acting like a little angel!

I guess I should complain more often!

Kidding.

Yesterday I managed to clean out my linen closet and pantry cupboards!!

Feels so good.

The whole time my little angel played with all the mess I was pulling out and she couldn't have been happier.

All is right in the world again.


AND....

Don't forget to vote #1802

Have I mentioned that you guys ROCK!

Keepin It Real

I'm going to admit something.

Something I don't like to admit.

I am going through a rough patch with Sophia these days.

It is taking a toll on me.

I love her so completely.

She is awesome and fun and wonderful and silly and divalicious.

She is also clingy.

Like really bad clingy.

Like throw a tantrum clingy if I am not sitting, playing or holding her.

It is tough.

I feel like I don't know how to deal with this clingyness.

How do I teach her to not whine and be happy playing independently again?

It is hard not to get frustrated.

I don't know how to teach her that it is ok for mommy to wash dishes or cook dinner or do anything productive for that matter.

I'm not even out of her eye sight and she is devastated that I am not right there next to her.

She is also very sensitive if other kids are in her space.

I am going to find some fun classes for her.

I think we will do swimming lessons again.

I also want a class where she is interacting with other little ones.

She used to be a socialite. She loved chilling with her peeps.

Hopefully this phase will pass.

I just needed to share my struggles.

I love her so much and I don't like talking negative but I know some of you can relate.

Or you have been there done that.

Any advice out there for me?

Attempting to get a picture of her pigtails...

"But mommy can you just hold me please?"

I love you little stinker!

Her new thing is to pile all her toys in my lap..too cute!

She also loves to climb into her toy box and play.

She is also very into her dollies! I love it!

Look Who's Walking

Ordinary boring old yesterday turned out to be a big day in Sophia's world.

Firstly one of her top teeth finally broke through! Mommy is very happy about this one!

Secondly she just started walking...like out of the blue!!!

I would not say she is an expert walker yet by any means.

She just started taking 6 steps at a time last night, fall down, get up, and do it all over again!

Chris and I just looked at each other and were like 'wow' this came out of nowhere.

I guess we will have a walking baby very soon!!

I was so worried about her being a late crawler.

She was 10 months before she crawled.

She had no 'practice' crawling before hand.

There was no wounded soldier crawling (a term coined by my sister), no rocking back and forth crawling just BAM...crawled like a pro and took off.

I think it might be the same with this whole walking thing.

Here are some pics from last night as I frantically tried to take pictures of her first walking moments!!

So proud of you my little peanut!

P.S. Don't forget to vote!! I have no shame!

Weekend Reminder!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

We are having a nice relaxing weekend and I am actually going to get a full nights sleep tonight!

Chris is taking over baby duty for the night! Sophia is teething and I haven't slept well for a few weeks. Who am I kidding I haven't slept well in over a year!! Can't wait to close my eyes and sleep all the way till morning! That is unless insomnia strikes!

Just wanted to let you guys know that the page Sophia is on for voting has changed...

Here is the new link #1802

I know this contest is really annoyingly long but I appreciate you taking the time to vote!!

Thanks again!

Now I am off to enjoy my peace and quiet!

Going To The Zoo...How About you?

While Sam and Gina were here we went to the zoo!

As a baby shower gift my sister Gina gave me a years pass to the local zoo.

Let me tell you what a great gift idea that is! I have used it so many times I have lost count!

I have to say though that this particular trip was by far my favorite!

It was the perfect day.

I was so happy to be spending time with my amazing sister and nephew.

The weather was perfect.

Not too cold.

There was hardly anyone there.

It was like our own private zoo.

The animals were all out front and center...like they were waiting for our arrival.

I have never been so close to two massive hippos in my life.

The baby giraffe played and ran right in front of us.

The baby gorilla and the silver back gorilla were right there...just waiting to say hi.

Sophia LOVED it!

She was laughing and pointing and having a great old time!

Such a great day to spend with my sister and nephew.

I miss them so much already.

Me, Sophia and Sam

Cutest, bestest nephew on the planet

"Auntie Lorda" and "Cousin Kophia"... that's what Sam calls us.

Enjoying a snack together!

*** DAILY REMINDER!! ***

Dont forget to vote today!

Click here and find # 1802 and vote,vote,vote!!

Or go to the main page

She is on page 36 #1802

You guys are the best and I really appreciate you taking the time to vote!

A Bit of A Mish Mash

Do you remember this post?

I feel like part of the reason I am failing on blog posts is because I still have a hard time getting good pictures of Sophia.

I have a big camera. It is a great camera but not very stealth.

It makes a huge flash.

If I don't use the flash I end up with a blurry picture.

As soon as she sees the camera she charges me.

As soon as the flash goes she makes her "pirate face" and closes her eyes.

It is so frustrating, yet really funny.

(my sisters and nephew with Sophia the pirate)

Anyways so much has happened since her first birthday.

Sophia went to the dentist.

I will save that for another post!

My parents were here.

Chris parents were here.

My sister and cutie nephew were here.

My sister in law was here.

I failed at taking pictures!!!!

So I will try and salvage some pics from the 'closed eyes, pirate face' photos I have.

When my parents came they brought with them a bag full of clothes. The clothes were from a Vietnamese family who has a little girl. Sophia scored all her clothes that she has outgrown!

...hence the reason Sophia is wearing an Ao Dai while helping mommy fill the bath




Grama Linda and Sophia sharing her new 'cat eye' sunglasses while wearing her party dress.

Trying to get a picture of Sophia wearing her new bracelet from Grama and Grampa, didn't work very well...

Trying to get a picture yesterday with no flash...yet she still is squinting, funny girl!

I am on a mission to get some quality pictures i tell ya!!

*** DAILY REMINDER!! ***

Dont forget to vote today!

Click here and find # 1802 and vote,vote,vote!!

Or go to the main page

She is on page 36 #1802

You guys are the best and I really appreciate you taking the time to vote!

(Today the website is up to speed and should work with no glitches!!)

Love ya!

VOTE VOTE VOTE!!

Today is the day it begins!

All you party people out there please help Sophia win Calgary's cutest kid!!

You can vote once a day until November 20th!

If we are lucky enough to make it to the top 10 a new round of voting begins...

but don't worry if when we get there I will let you know!!


So click here and find this pretty little picture of Sophia and vote,vote,vote!!

Or go to the main page

She is on page 36 #1802

Did I mention we would get free groceries for a year, a free 2008 Honda Odyssey for 3 years, monthly spa packages, family portraits for 5 years, free kids clothes for one year, and a giant playhouse!! Swweeeeeet!!

So help a sista out and vote!

Breathe

Today is the first day in a long while where we are back to normal.

Just us.

We loved having company.

We had so much fun and it was fantastic to see everyone.

Tons of happy memories.

But...

It feels good to be back to just us.

You are napping and I am making barrettes.

I will get back to blogging with pictures very soon!!


* Look for tomorrows post where we have entered Sophia into Calgary's cutest kid contest and we need YOU and your VOTES!!

Baby Bloom

I finally did it!

I started an Etsy shop.

Babybloombarrettes.etsy.com

I have made Sophia barrettes for a while now and always have so much fun doing it!

She gets compliments when we are out and about when she is wearing the blooms.

So I decided what the heck lets start an Etsy shop!

Etsy is just so very cool and I admit it does intimidate me.

People sell the coolest handmade items on Etsy and I feel a bit out of my league!

I love my barrettes and have faith that someone out there will love them too!

I have different sizes available. The small barretes are just perfect for the little girl with barely there hair!

So take a look. I hope you like what you see!!

Where to Begin?

Hello my long lost bloggy buddies!

Sophia and I have been busy little bees around here!

First we had Sophia's Lola Joy and Grampa Joe come for a visit.

Then Auntie Gina and Cousin Samuel came for a visit.

I made my "pirate face" for them.

I decided that I didn't want to celebrate Halloween this year and instead decided to get a high fever for a few days. That was fun.

I also decided that while my cousin Sam was here I didn't want him to play with my toys or hug my mom or come within a 3 ft. radius of me. That was also fun.

This was what I looked like for most of the visit...

...but my cousin Sam and Auntie Gina were good sports and we love them and miss them so much!!

Samuel had daily jam sessions and the kid has quite the rhythm!

Oh did I mention my mom decided to rearrange the whole house in between visits?? I think she is crazy and likes to make her life difficult. She managed to paint the whole basement and make the playroom downstairs. It was lots of work and I had to smell paint for a few days but it was worth it! I love my new playroom!

Did I also mention that my Auntie Sandy is coming from Kelowna on Saturday for a visit? Our house is Grand Central Station! I am a very lucky girl and very much loved!!

I also have a birthday party to attend and a zoo playdate.

One more thing.... it snowed today!! Maybe later mommy will bundle me up in my new snowsuit and play in the snow!