Trip to Utah

Well, technically we went to Idaho, too, but I didn't pull my camera out until the second leg of our trip. I'm horrible! We had a great time with my family, despite it raining every day for the 3rd year in a row. It's become kind of a joke.

The girls and I (Steve stayed in Reno and worked. Bummer.) made it down to Utah for a few days before heading back to Reno.

We spent a lot of quality time together. Ivy gave Carter some yoga lessons.

We tried to get a shot of the girls before church.

Anyone with a 1-year-old knows how hard it is to get them to stay in one place when they finally start walking and have more freedom.

Lydia had things to attend to.

Appointments to keep.

No time for cousin pics.

Fortunately, posing for pictures is one of the few things I can get both of my girls to do simultaneously.

Ah-ha! Great-Grandmas are really smart. We finally got all three of them in one picture. All smiling, too!

A-a-a-nd, one of us. Minus Dad.

Off to church!

After church, Uncle Devin reads to Lydia and Sophie.

Nice, Soph.

Sophie is sitting on the bed that my sister used to sleep on when we would visit as kids. My bed was on the other side of the room. I think they'll always be there!

Dad missed us while we were gone. Luckily we made it back by Father's Day!

I just remembered that I said something about an interview with Sophie. I'll have to pull that out and post it. 

Honestly, I forgot about it... this past month has been crazy. Did I tell you I catered a wedding open house 3 days before we left for our trip? It was fun, but seriously, what was I thinking? Then we had house guests the day after we came home (glad you came Beadles!), and two days after that I taught a pizza making class to some girls in our ward. Sundays are never a day of rest anymore, either. I kind of crashed on Monday and all I wanted to do was sit on the couch and eat cookies.

Sports Equipment

Oh yeah, I have a blog over here. Ugh. I'm sorry.

I'm working on another big post, but I wanted to post these pictures real quick. Sophie got a baseball bat set and a little plastic set of golf clubs for her birthday. Here's how it went down...

Mom explains how they work and what you do with them. (5 min)

Girls use them as canes and stick them in every puddle or container of water they can find. (15 min)

Girls resume Sleeping Beauty reenactment, baking "cakes" out of books and puzzle pieces, and humming in high pitched voices while the sports equipment lies untouched in their bedroom closet. (The last month)

We'll give it another shot sometime.

Odds & Ends

While I work on Sophie's interview post, here's a few random little photos that I've been meaning to post....

Steve is such a cute girl dad. He'll be a cute boy dad, too, someday (Hopefully... I don't think our house needs any more estrogen.)

There is never an inappropriate time to wear heals. Or a tutu. Especially while gardening.

Sophie got some sportsy stuff for her birthday - a bat and ball, as well as a little plastic set of golf clubs. I took them outside and explained what they were for. After blank stares, they made up their own games and pretty soon the baseball bat and golf clubs turned into canes and hiking sticks.

When Ivy starts giving out kisses, she's very thorough. She makes sure all of her bases are covered: eyes, ears, nose, and... teeth. Believe me, that was her idea.

Here's a photo from Mother's Day. I look a little worn out -- maybe because I didn't get to lay around in bed all morning. Nope, ward counsel at 8AM. Seriously, who does that??

You know those mornings when you didn't get enough sleep because you stayed up too late partying in your bedroom? And the light hurts your eyes?

I'm not sure if that was one of those mornings or if they just wanted to be "cool girls" at breakfast.

2 going on 15

Do I really need to say anything about that photo? I think it's self-explanatory. That little thing she's holding plays music and goes with a book (from your house, mom... it ended up coming home with us. Oops.) It kind of looks and functions like a toddler version of an iPod.

The days she lets me do anything to her hair are so rare. I think we're at once or twice a week. . . maybe. She looks so grown-up in those pics. It kills me. I'm glad she's tiny and cuddly still. It keeps me from thinking third baby thoughts.

The girls helped make Mother's Day cards for the grandmas.

I'm not sure what this was about - I didn't even know Steve took it. I like their faces, though. Typical.

Four

Sophie turned four last Sunday. I could have sworn she was turning three again. After looking through some photos of just a year ago, she (well, both of them actually) seems so grown up. I decided to do an interview with her, so I'll post the video and text from it a bit later. I wanted you to see some photos from her birthday.

Sophie's been talking about her cake since November (Ivy's birthday). She was pretty set on a Belle cake until I made a cake for a Relief Society dinner in March. Then she changed her mind. It was pretty easy, too, so I was relieved that I didn't have to capture Beauty and the Beast in cake form. Just a 9x13 chocolate cake divided into two layers with chocolate frosting and circled with chocolate-covered strawberries. Sophie is a chocolate fiend. And a strawberry fiend. I realized that every year so far he birthday cake has either involved chocolate or strawberries, and this time, both.

They were a lot of fun the rest of the day.

Steve's mom Judi and his sister Kimi came to visit and we all went out to Mexican for her birthday. (Her request. She could eat rice and beans and tacos every day of her life.) This was the only photo I got from the night (thanks!) Ivy didn't get a nap that day and didn't make the drive over to the restaurant.

Speaking of Kimi, I'm so glad she and Judi were here for Sophie's (very small) party. We had planned on having it at the park (mostly so I wouldn't have to stress out about entertaining the kids), but because the wind was whipping really hard at the park we had it at our house.

Kimi took charge and played a bunch of games with the kids in the backyard. I don't know what I would have done without her. Probably herded the kids outside and said, "Go play! There are lots of rocks out there!" I'm so not good with stuff like that.

Ivy, her little sidekick was right next to her the whole time. Like last year's party. I love seeing them play (nicely) together. They really are best friends.

Sophie picked out the candle and the sparkly red frosting (despite my doubts about it being edible)

Steve was a good little photographer and got some pics of us together. It's nice to have proof sometimes that my kids really do have a mother.

More presents.... 

Her actual birthday was on Sunday, so we staggered her presents all weekend. I'm so glad we did. I think when kids open a big pile of presents all at once they don't get as much attention as when it's stretched out over a couple of days. Three days, in Sophie's case.

We saved the box my parents sent her for last because I knew there was something in there she'd been asking for since just after Christmas.

Uh, no. Not a baseball bat. She wasn't sure what that was, so we had to have a lesson out in the backyard about sports equipment. (She also got a little plastic golf club set at her party. Not a clue about that, either.) More about that later. . .

THIS was what got her excited. As soon as she saw the fluffy yellow fabric, she got a silly grin on her face.

And didn't hesitate ripping it open.

Naturally, this is what happend next. . .

Not even 10 seconds after she got the dress out of the box.

Complete with white gloves, even. (Nice touch, Mom.)

We had to hold the real thing up to compare. I'm not sure what that look was. Probably, "please get the picture-taking over with so I can go spin around and sing in a high-pitched voice about true love."

Happy Birthday princess!