Chicago

Scott and I finally went on our first vacation in at least 5 years. These past few years it seems all our money and time off go into trips to Utah (which is nothing like a vacation). We chose Chicago because Scott was going there anyway for a bachelor party, so we just thought it'd be fun if Sophie and I met him there a few days later. We arrived on Sunday, rode the train to downtown, ate breakfast and checked into our hotel. We took a short rest, as Sophie had been up since 5:45 and was exhausted. After our rest, we walked to Navy Pier. It was super close to our hotel, which was great. We spent a good portion of the day there just walking around and enjoying the weather, people, and beautiful views.

After Navy Pier we went back to our hotel and took Sophie swimming. Our hotel wasn't the most kid friendly, but she still had a blast in the pool. After the pool, we got cleaned up and headed out to Millennium Park. (We were actually on our way to a Blues Festival, but never actually made it there because it was getting late.) We had dinner nearby and then walked (a very long walk) back to our hotel. Sophie was a champ and stayed happy and fun the whole time.

On Monday we woke up and headed for Lincoln Park Zoo. I was very impressed with all that they had being that it is a free zoo that runs on donations. Sophie is really in to animals right now and would probably spend every day at the zoo if she could. After a long day at the zoo, we headed back towards downtown to take a walk down the Magnificent Mile. We didn't do much shopping, but were able to get some really yummy pizza. After our long day out, we finally headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest.

We left to come back home on Tuesday afternoon, but before we did we spent several hours at the Science Museum. Scott and I both love Harry Potter and they were having a big exhibit with a lot of the props from the movies. It was so fun! They had the wands, outfits, Buckbeak, Hagrid's Hut, a dementor, the flying car, and so much more. Pictures weren't allowed in the exhibit, which worked out well because my camera had died the previous day at the zoo.

Even though the trip was short, it was a much needed vacation and we had a blast. Click below to see some pictures from our trip.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7330247@N02/?saved=1

Sophie

Little Soph is almost 2! Here's what she's all about:

Likes (In no particular order):

1. Bananas ("nanas")
   
2. Goldfish crackers ("fish" or "crack-kers")
   
3. Treats ("Tweats")-- (the girl has a sweet tooth just like her mom!)
4. French fries
5. Eggs
6. Elmo ("Melmo")
   
7. Dora ("Nonawah"??? Yea, we don't get it either.)
8. Going to the park ("cark")
   
9. Going to the zoo
10. Reading books ("gooks")
    
11. Playing with Leela (our neighbor) ("Lala")
    
12. Snuggling ("guggle")-- only at night time or first thing in the morning.
13. Her blanket ("ganket")-- She loves to gnaw on it and make it totally mildewy and stinky. Ugh.
14. Playing with diapers ("bipoors")-- putting them on her babes or just unsticking the tabs.
15. Helping set the table
16. Helping unload the dishwasher--but only if she gets to stand on her stool.
17. Playing in the car
18. Her house-- She really is a homebody. When we're camping, or even when we're driving somewhere, she often says, "Mome" (Home).
19. Spinning (or flying, as we like to call it)
20. Looking at pictures of herself or our families ("ditchers")
    

Dislikes (Again, in no particular order):

1. Sitting still
2. Getting into the car and not being able to play in the car.
3. Washing hands-- This has just happened over the past 2 days. Me requesting her to wash her hands has resulted in a total meltdown comeplete with crying and flopping on the ground.
4. Wearing clothes. What can I say, the girl loves to be naked. We kind of like it too because she is so much more pleasant. (And for some reason, it makes her want to dance.)
   
5. Walking barefoot on the grass, although she is getting better at this.

Sophie is such a sweet and happy girl. She has said loads of single words for several months now, but within the last 2 or 3 weeks she has really been working on putting the words together. She has such a fun personality and has a good sense of humor. She is kind and sensitive. She hates seeing kids cry and feels bad when she knows she's hurt someone.

Sophie is so adaptable to change and has been really easy. Getting rid of her binky or switching her from a bottle to a cup, or her crib to her bed have been incredibly easy. She is happy to go with the flow.

These past two years have been so much fun, and we couldn't be happier to have her as part of our family. I am grateful everyday and I know Scott is too.

Camping

Spring is here....well, sort of. We've had some good days here and there. On one of our good days, we got the itch to go camping. We went to a state park about 2 1/2 hours northwest of Minneapolis. We discovered the most fantastic way to camp! They have these little camper cabins all over the place. You get all the good of camping, like cooking over a fire and hanging out outside, but they have these little tiny cabins with heat and electricity. You, unfortunately, still have to use a group bathroom, but you get to be warm. We had so much fun! We were practically the only ones there. We went hiking, laid in the hammock, read books, and made yummy food. I love spending time as a family!

Camper cabins! This cabin was brand new and so cute! Sophie did so good sleeping on the bed, that we came home and converted her crib to a toddler bed.

Aaaah... Soph and her dad.

Relaxing in the hammock, munching on some licorice.

Our Proudest Achievement

After 20 long months, we can finally get the tiniest of ponos!

Sophie update

Our little girl is almost 19 months old. I am amazed at how she has learned and how quickly she has grown. She knows a lot of words, so many, infact, that I had to give up on the word list...I just couldn't keep up. She is beginning to put words together and can understand most things that we ask of her.

She is getting funnier and funnier every day. Here are a few things she's been doing that constantly make us laugh and smile.

I recently went to throw a dirty diaper in her diaper pail. When I opened the lid I found her little baby doll.


She's starting to dress herself. And she loves putting on shoes, just not her own. She even puts her dad's shoes on her baby.

She's been giving LONG kisses. Not just a quick little peck, but really holding her face against ours. It cracks us up.

Playing mother to her little baby dolls....and Elmo.

Christmas videos

Here are two videos. The pictures from this morning are on flickr. You should be able to click the photos link on the side. Merry Christmas everyone! And thank you for the wonderful gifts!

Merry Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

A pure adrenalin rush

Since both mine and Scott's bio professes our love of the Utah Jazz, it seems only fitting that I do a post about them. Last Tuesday Scott, me, and 4 of our friends went to the see the Jazz play the Timberwolves. We had fantastic seats (Thanks Steve!!) and got see them up close. And yes, we were even on t.v.

Here are a few pictures, compliments of Jesse.


Boozer and his bling. Between his watch and his ring (that you can't quite see), we were briefly blinded.



We were disappointed to see that we weren't the biggest Jazz fans there. Circled in red, is crazy superfan. No, she didn't have a rubber chicken, but she stood, shouted, and pointed angrily during nearly every play. It was surprisingly distracting.


For the win!! The Jazz beat the Twolves by 3 points.

Wuzzat?

Sophie is a very inquisitive little girl. All throughout the day she will point to something and ask, "Wuzzat?" Occasionally we ignore her because we don't know what she's pointing at. Sometimes we ignore her because we've already told her what "that" is numerous times just moments before, and sometimes we just ignore her because we're trying to do something else. So, as a work around, Sophie has taken to shouting. She gives us a chance and repeats herself once with quiet, "Wuzzat?", and then slowly she gets louder and louder and louder. She is hysterical! We love her so much!

Survey

My friend Gavin said that if I didn't complete this survey that I would wake up tomorrow with a third nipple....on my forehead. His survey is FOREVER long though, so in the essence of time I have selected a few questions-

What was the last song that was stuck in your head? "On the Turning Away" by Pink Floyd
Favorite Superhero? I don't remember from when I was younger, but now I would have to say Batman.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Veterinarian
Favorite 80's band? Um, DuranDuran... is there anyone else?
Favorite Vegetable? Green beans or asparagus

Favorite cereal? I go through phases, but Kashi Go Lean Crunch is always up there... with blueberries!

Night person or morning person? Neither, really.
Have you ever met anyone with extra fingers/toes? No, but my mom once babysat a little boy that was born with an extra thumb.
Favorite smells? My clean baby, clean laundry, and rain.
Favorite Season? Spring (mid to late, when everything is green and it's getting warm)
Countries you most want to visit? Anywhere tropical, Ireland, Italy... the list goes on. I really hope to travel some day!