A Cowgirl's Day

Long story short - our Internet is down. Lord willing, everything will be fixed sometime this week. Sooo much has gone on. I have lots and lots to update y'all on! I don't have much time, but I wanted to get Soph's birthday party pictures on here for all our family that is not on Facebook.

Soph's party was last week. As I posted it earlier it was Jesse and Woody themed from Toy Story. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect party! All the kids (and adults) played so well together! Soph had a blast! The talented, Sarah Holland, snapped some pictures of the party! I sure am glad to have a professional BFF that has been there to capture all our precious moments. Not the figurines - actually moments.

These are only a few of the amazing pictures Sarah took. Click here to see the entire album of Soph's party.

Sophie's Sayings

My daughter is 3 going on 13. Seriously. Y'all start praying for me now because I'm pretty sure that this Momma is gonna need it come 10 years from now. Soph has so much heart! Everything she feels she feels deeply. I can't even tell y'all how many times a day we have this conversation...

"No, I don't wanna." "Well, Sophie, I didn't ask if you wanted to. I said for you to do it. Sometimes we have to do things that we don't want to do." To which usually ends with her in a heap of mess on the floor. It can be exhausting for both of us.

Today was we had a "milestone" - Soph was upset with me and slammed the door on me. When I walked in anyway she threw herself on her pillows and sobbed. I would be lying if I said that I expected it to start this early. She is so little and cute that it took everything in my not to laugh and kiss her all over!

Another fun conversation was when Soph was making a mess today and I told her that she was going to have to clean up. She told me that she didn't want to. When I gave her my favorite line, "If you can make the mess, you can clean the mess." Her response was, "I'll stop here then." I about lost it! It was such a grown up thing to say!

Slacker

Well, this past week I have been worn slap out once the girls are in bed. I just haven't been able to muster up the energy to post anything! The girls have been saying and doing the funniest things too! Of course, I can't remember a one of them now! To give my brain a rest I think pictures are the best way of "catch up" right now!



This picture captures Elle's personality perfectly! She is my wild one!





I was desperate for family pictures for our Christmas cards. Since my photograph/BFF left me for Tennessee I had no one to take our pictures in time. The pictures are such horrible quality that I scratched the whole Christmas card thing this year. However, how sweet is Soph holding Elle's hand?! Love these sweet babies!



Elle is into everything. Literally.



Momma's little "helpers". Soph is real into helping me these days. And what a helper she is...I'm always finding dirty dishes stuffed in random places that she has so graciously decided to take out of the dish washer and put away for me.




Baby Elle came with us to story time this week. Typically it's mine and Sophie's special time, but Elle enjoyed it so much that I think she'll start tagging along!

The.best.picture.ever. Soph likes to put make up in the mornings with me. I ran into my closet to get dressed and when I walked out I saw these beauties and about died. They were perfect. I mean she couldn't have done them better if she tried! Hello Flo. Nothing would be more spectacular than if she wore this get up too!

MERRY CHRISTMAS, Y'ALL!!!! I just love this time of year!!!

I'm here, I'm here

Lord help, life has been crazy since my last post! I feel like my life goes in these cycles of being so busy that I don't even sit down until the girls go to bed and being uneventful. I wish life would even out instead of being a roller coaster! But I guess that's just life...and the time of year it is!

We've had some big changes here. Well, really just one...Joe has a new job. He is now a district manager for Aramark. It's his first week and he is loving it so far! Yay!

My MIL came a few days for Joe's birthday. We had lots of fun shopping and being with the girls!

Joe turned 30! Such an old man ;).

The girls continue to grow and mature every.single.day. All of the winter clothes that I have gotten Soph were huge when we purchased them and now fit perfectly. I'm getting a little concerned that come middle/end of winter she's going to grown completely out of them. Let's hope she slows down a bit.

Soph officially starts Montessori in the Spring. I have very mixed feelings about this. I know that it'll be beneficial to her and that she'll love it. But I know this is just the start of me having to let go. I'm not sure I'm ready for that. Home school, anyone??

I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving tomorrow! It's one of my favorite holidays! I'm also looking forward to decorating for Christmas this weekend! I'm trying to convince Joe that we need two Christmas trees. So far he's not buying it. Literally. Ha!

Hope y'all have a fabulous Thanksgiving!

Talking Points

I know I say this every time but Soph is talking more and more every day! I love it! She is such a fun little side kick! I understand that no one is going to care about all Soph is saying these days so this is totally for my memory!

- After seeing our play/swing set had been completely busted to pieces by the wind. Literally....
    "Oh no! The slide fall down. It broken. It hurt. It cry."

-  My mother-in-law is coming into town tomorrow so I was talking to Soph about it...
    "She Ellie Nana too"

- Her calling Elle "Ellie" is funny too! Although her name is Ellie no one calls her that. Soph just randomly started calling her that.

- After hitting her knee on the table...
    "My knee got beat up"

There was another conversation that cracked me up, but I think it may be a little gross to put out there on a blog, ha!

We went back to the doctor and pretty much ruled out Soph being lactose intolerant. He put her on some Zantac, but would also like for her to see an allergist in case she has a food allergy. We'll see how this goes. Poor thing has had a terrible tummy since she was born!

I need a personal assistant

Ok, well, I don't see a personal assistant anywhere in my near future. Or future at all. So I guess it's just me. I would be lying if I said that my life wasn't turned upside down once Elle became mobile. This child is every where and into every thing! For whatever reason (my husband says it's my doing), my girls are pretty clingy to me. I love it, but it does make cleaning/organizing pretty difficult at times. A couple of weeks ago I was completely overwhelmed. I'm sure y'all could tell by my posts, ha! I knew that I needed to get my act together. I had to get more organized. For several reasons that I won't waste time to explain on the blog, I didn't try to get back to a schedule after Elle was born. I have to live by a strict schedule/list or else you'll find me in lala land. Seriously.

For the last two weeks I have started cleaning first thing in the morning because the girls play best by themselves in the morning. It has done wonders! I have also brought back my trusty cleaning schedule! Another break through. And then tonight I ran across this blog. And that's when I heard the angels singing.

If you love lists like I do, do yourself a favor and check this blog out! It's amazing!

And because I hate to leave y'all with out any pictures...



Another classic outfit by Soph! Please check out her little tutu tucked into her tights. Bless her.



Chatti Patti

I don't know if y'all remember me telling about Elle coming up to me and just shootin' the breeze. I'm pretty sure in her mind she is convinced that she and I are having a legit conversation! Especially at the end when I ask her if she is suppose to be doing that (motor-boating). I don't care if she is motor-boating unless she is eating, at which point, food is flying every where. I love how at the end she seems to comprehend what I saw. Watch her little face. She's just too precious for words! I love this baby girl!

What?? No naps???!!!!

Nothing new in the "Q" house. Soph is still doing her nightly costume changes. It's still stressing me out. This morning "slicked back willy", AKA Soph with Vaseline in her hair, welcomed me. That was a nice surprise at 6:30am. All my brilliant ideas for getting Soph to stay in her bed are failing miserably! I welcome any suggestions!

Soph has also stopped taking naps. Not that she doesn't need them. Ohhh, she needs them! Come 4pm our house could be mistaken for the wailing wall. However hard it is now maybe it's a blessing in disguise! More than likely Soph will be starting Montessori in the Spring. The only classes that the school have availability in are from 12:15-3:15. Right smack dab in the middle of Soph's naps. Sooo...hopefully I'll be thankful to be going through this craziness now instead of her getting kicked out of pre-school. Ha! She's not really that bad!

Soph at 6:30am...maybe she slipped out to the club lookin' all fancy?!

I'm pretty much over cleaning her room 3x a day! "If you can make the mess, you can clean the mess". Btw, her room was spotless when she went to bed. Apparently she's taken a midnight shift  called "let's destroy our room".



Baby Elle just hanging out waiting for Sissy to finish so she could play!

I know I've said this a million times, but it seems like everyday the girls enjoy each other more and more! They just adore each other! Yesterday while Soph was having "quiet time" in her room Elle crawled back there and just sat outside her door. Sweet little thing! And despite what the picture looks like I'm not wearing jean shorts! They're gray khakis. Annndd...Soph dressed herself. I didn't have time to argue. Obviously.



What in the world??

I'm not sure what happened with the post below. I guess I hit publish instead of save? Oh well, it'll have to wait :). Gotta go finish lunch! Happy Sunday!

What have I created?

Yesterday I could tell that Soph was getting a little restless being inside all day. I was trying to get creative on what I could distract her with. Since I've been planning her birthday party I thought that maybe she could help me decide on her invitations. I've been stuck between a couple and thought she could be the tie breaker. Wrong. The child didn't like any of them. I would ask her if she liked this one. "No!" was her response. Then she happens to see one of the cupcake toppers and says, "Ohhhh, look at that! Like that one!" Haha! I cracked up! I thought that she was just giving me a typical "no" response of a two year old, but apparently she knew what she wanted. As if I should be surprised! This should be fun when she is a teenager!


Soph brought me a shirt and belt of mine that she wanted to wear. How cute is she?



Soph has been stressing me out with her changing clothes 6x a day. That is not even an exaggeration! Now she has even started getting up in the middle of the night and changing PJs. What in the world?? She has always been the neatest child. And when I say neat I mean she never made huge messes. Well that is out the window! She loves to take my clothes out of my closet and put them in different places. The other day I was putting my make up on and the girls were playing in my closet. They just kept laughing and having themselves a good ol' time. I loved hearing them having so much fun together until I turned around and saw that they (and when I say they I mean Soph) have dumped ALL my shoes out of the shelves. Lord help, I about lost my religion. I hope we get out of this stage fast!

Chit chat

The girls have been cracking me up lately! I'm sure it's mostly because I'm there Mama, but they're a hoot! Sophie has been talking a mile a minute lately. I can understand her for the most part, but sometimes she just talks so fast that I can't understand a bit of it. I just get really excited with her and that seems to work! They other day Soph and I had a conversation and it went something like this. Imagine it in the sweetest, most delicate voice (that she did not get from her mama! ha!)....

Soph: "What's that"
Soph: (Answering herself) "It's a trash can. I throw up in trash cans."
Soph: "Where is the trash can? There it is"

Ok, so that was more of a monologue. And also pretty sad; she does actually throw up quite a bit. Poor thing! Btw, Soph has had more "episodes" of throwing up. We went to the dr and he has her off diary completely. We'll see if this helps.

Elle has decided to do some talking too. She thinks it's hilarious to drop/throw things and say "uh oh". She crawls around the house saying alternating between "uh oh" and "quack". All I hear is "uh oh. quack. uh oh. quack...." It's too funny!

Elle had some Southern "firsts" last week. Grits and Dumplings. It was my first time making dumplings and I've gotta be honest. They were amazing. I was shocked! My aunt and uncle are coming over for dumplings  tonight and y'all know that they're not going to be nearly as good! Why does that always happen? My cooking never seems to turn out as good when I have company!

This child is the messiest eater. Period.

She loved the dumplings. It's in her genes.

Trick or Treat!

Last night we had some friends over for chili and to go trick or treating. Soph once again refused to wear her costume. That was a waste of money! 



Sophie and I made cupcakes, but they didn't turn out as cute as I had envisioned. I should've done the owl cupcakes like I had planned!





checking out her loot!



I guess Joe took a picture of the girls this morning. Please check out Elle peeping around her big sis!

My sweet babies!

Halloween and Night crazies

Last night was the Halloween event at our church. Joe was working so it was just me and the girls for the first part. Soph refused to have anything to do with her costume. Which, btw, I knew would happen! Even when her best little friend from church came as a dinosaur she was adamant that she was not wearing that costume! Thankfully I did snap some pictures the night we bought it so y'all can see what a darn cute dinosaur she makes!  



Daddy teaching her to saw "Roar"



Baby Elle actually didn't make any fusses about her costume!

 

This morning Soph came out and told me she was ready. Apparently she is channeling an 80 year old with her shoe choice.

I bet y'all can't even handle all the "awesomeness" in this picture! I'm sure Soph will be willing to give some fashion advice!

 Our night time saga continues. Around 3:30 this morning I hear slamming doors. I drag myself out of bed cussing the whole time. Ha! Not really, but I felt like it! I was not even prepared for what I was about to find! A naked Sophie saying, "I poo poo." I look down and I am a scary one inch away from stepping in poo poo. Lovely. I get her cleaned up and talk to her about how only Mommy or Daddy can change her and she needs to wait for us. Then I go back to lay in bed for another two hours because I'm so awake I can't even think about sleep. Fast forward to 7:30: I walk to the girls hall and smell poop. Long story short I was cleaning up poo poo again. Not sure what in the world is going on with the girls these past two weeks. Whatever it is makes me want to cry. Seriously. It has been chaos here!

On top of this our dryer is broken. Awesome. I have clothes drying all over my house. I think that I'm suppose to learning some patience. What do y'all think??

Last week was one heck of a week! So much so that it has taken until now to write about it, ha! It wasn't that a huge amount of terrible things happened. It was just little things here and there that had us all as wound up as a pressure cooker! If I could sum up the week with one word it would be draining. I know y'all could care less about all that happened so this is mainly for the grandparents and my memory. Some of the highlights:

- locking myself out of the house with the girls INSIDE. Joe had to pretty much shut down the branch to come let me in. Thank God I had my cell phone! And thank God they were asleep! Although if they were awake Soph could've let me in.

- Elle fell out of her highchair. This obviously was the worse! She was ok, but it scared us all! She only fell about two feet and onto her side. Thankfully she didn't hit her head! I've noticed that her highchair wasn't making the clicking sound when it locks but it felt secure so I thought it was ok. Well, I guess it wasn't locking because it just let loose. I was right there and able to get her quickly, but it did really scare me!

- Mine, mine, mine. Is all I hear. All.day.long. Sophie is still having some difficulties with sharing. Everything Elle touches Sophie tries to take it. And Elle gets mad. I swear she comes and fusses to me about it. She just crawl right up to me and fuss away like she is letting her sister have it!

- Both girls are teething and it has been a nightmare!

- Sophie has been getting "scared" lately. She says there are monsters in her closet. I don't know where she even got this from! Is it just programmed into kids to be scared of monsters in their closets? Joe says it's from Monsters, Inc., but I'm not sure. She hasn't seen that movie in ages! One night this week I was freaked out because I could've sworn I heard someone walking around our house. I open my eyes and I'm face to face with Sophie. I nearly peed my pants. She said she was scared so she crawled into bed with us. Joe thought that was fun. Not.

- Soph has discovered she can get out of her room at night. I am not a fan of this! She has also discovered that she can climb in Elle's crib. Also not a fan of this! I was woken up to Elle screaming this morning. I go running and knew immediately what was going on. Soph had turned on the light, climbed in bed with Elle, and was trying to pick her up. Bless her heart, that is an awful way to be woken up! I'm thinking that we may have to put a gate outside of Soph's door! Did I mention that this happened at 5:30am? I'm not sure about y'all, but I still consider that to be the middle of the night!

Elle has started playing peek-a-boo, but she missed that you're actually suppose to hide! Love her little heart! 



Soph has really gotten into dressing herself. She was dressed to the nines to go see Nanny!



Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday we went to the pumpkin patch down the road. I was so looking forward to it and so was Soph! Well, it was a little disappointing! The pumpkins were outrageously overpriced! I expected for them to be overpriced because we're paying for the experience as well. But even I couldn't bring myself to pay those prices! The $10 "big" pumpkins were seriously the same size as Wal-Mart's $.78 ones. There was a bit of confusion and we thought that Soph would be able to ride a horse/pony. Didn't happen. That was fun to explain to a two year old! It was crazy windy too so overall it was just an okay experience. Mama and I are going to take Soph next week to one in Lexington. We made sure they have a pony!

They did have some neat games for kids. Here Soph is racing a rubber duck by pumping water.



I love these precious, chubby feet!



Ha! Elle is trying so hard to stand up, but she just can't figure out how to actually get up. She'll just stick her rear up and kinda bounce her arms.