Desert Living

Need a shower?

How about some sleep? With maybe 49 of your best friends.

Maybe a trip to the bathroom?

We've got a carrot eater. She grabbed the whole huge thing and just went to town. Glad she likes her veggies!

Smiles

We're getting tons of these around here these days and it sure does make all the lost sleep seem especially worth it.

Sophia-ism

The other day we found our jump rope that had been lost in the mess of toys. Sophia and I were playing tug of war and when she won I told her she was the winner. Then, she wanted to turn the rope, so we started saying "winner, winner, chicken dinner." Good times, except what is hilarious is that Sophia was saying "winner, winner, chicken little." Now, every time she wants to play with the jump rope she says "mommy, let's do chicken little."

She sure does know how to bring a smile to my face. Love her.

'Cause we're the two best friends that anybody could have..

And we're the two best friends that anybody could have. We're the two best friends that anyone could have. We're the two best friends that anyone could have. And we'll never ever ever ever ever leave eachother. We're the best two friends that anyone could have. I mean the two best friends that anyone could have. Cuz we're the two best friends that anybody could have...

Or maybe not so much, although at least one of them is having fun below.

Momma Said Knock You Out...

We Don't Do Themes

in our family. But if we did, I can't imagine what this one would be. Presenting, the cutest frog and skeleton I've ever seen.

Recent

How cute is this little girl's smile? It's rare to get a "real" smile on camera, so had to show it!

Rhys raisin' the roof.

Modeling the awesome quilt from Grandma.

On a hay-rack ride at the pumpkin patch.

The latest

*Sophia decided last Monday that she wanted to start potty-training. She's doing really well, and having HER choose to do it has been the biggest help.

*Rhys went to bed and slept until 3 in the morning. Thank you little boy, thank you.

*Sophia loves to tell me, "Remember, mommy, remember?" after talking to me about things we've done in the past. She's got a pretty good memory and is constantly amazing me with what she DOES remember.

*Rhys is getting better all the time at holding his head up. However, today during church he lost control and smashed his head into mine during church. Way to switch it up bud.

*Sophia is getting more social with people she doesn't know. THe other night, she even answered a stranger's questions at the store. Questions like her name, her age, etc. This brings a lot of mixed emotions as I'm glad she's gaining more confidence, but part of me wants to scare her into not being chatty with some "stranger danger" lessons.

*Rhys smiles while he sleeps. It's cute, but I can't seem to catch it on camera.

*Sophia grows a little more interested in her brother all the time, talking to him, and trying to help him get his pacifier into his mouth.

*Rhys enjoys moving. If you bounce him, while standing, he's prett content. Stop or sit down, and he lets you know that he dissaproves.

*Sophia likes to make plans for our days. Typical things included are: calling daddy, going to chuck-e-cheese (a place she's only been once, over a year ago), going to the zoo, going to friend's houses, going to cousin's houses, going for a walk, going swimming, etc. If only we had the time to do all the fun things she desires to do each day!

*Rhys' hair is so long and constantly gets comments from those around us. Especially since it's usually in a faux-hawk.

*Sophia colored on the wall for the first time. Unfortunately, it was with permanent marker. Magic eraser won't take it off. Who wants to have a painting party with me?

*Sophia is SO excited for Halloween. She loves to tell everyone around that she's going to be a frog, Rhys is going to be a skeleton, Mommy is going to be a girl, and Daddy is going to be a boy. Whenever we see Halloween decorations she talks about going trick-or-treating. Her excitement is contagious and I can't wait to go out with her on the 31st.

Homecoming Parade

These girls had a great view of the parade...

Our life is kind of bitter-sweet right now, but these are definitely some of the sweetest moments!

Sophia needed a jacket and hat like Daddy; even if it was almost 80 degrees out.

Rhys is just pretty sweet all around, until you try to change his diaper.

She loves her little brother. And how cute is that morning bed-head?

You can see where our kids get their good looks.

We got to bring our much healthier baby boy home today.

Bliss.

Rhys Warren

6lbs 1oz, 20 inches, 08:30, August 28th

Decided we would be alright to come hang out with on Sunday morning at 8:30am. After he was born, the nurses were telling us that he is what they call a "miracle" baby. He was born with a true knot in his umbilical cord, meaning at some point during his in-utero time, he swam around, tying off his cord. These babies usually miscarry, but ours made it. Hence the miracle.

He's got us all falling in love with him.

Growing

From this family on Wednesday,


to this expanded family on Sunday.

My favorites

I'm pretty lucky.

Who says concrete isn't comfy?

Sophia thought so one day while we were at the pool awaiting a reopening (that didn't happen-lame).

The Bob

Between the heat of this summer, Sophia's hatred for getting her hair-did, and all the uneven, thinness at the bottom, we decided it was time for a chop. And we're all a lot cooler and happier because of it.
Before:


After:
She didn't feel like being a model that day.

Did I forget?

The whole reason for our trip was that Curtis, along with some of his co-workers, received some national awards for all their hard work. I wasn't surprised--he's pretty great at his job, wether or not he'll clue you in on that. Here he is all handsome and ready for their awards banquet.

The National Zoo

We saw the real giant pandas, but this one was a little more accomodating for the picture.

Proof I was on this vacation too.

The lions were tired according to Sophia.

Between the zoo and the airport, Sophia got plenty of practice pushing a stroller. All courtesy of her own demands to do so.

They had TONS of elephants, but this one was flying solo.

The National Mall

Walking the national mall was one of the things I was most excited about. It really didn't dissapoint for any of us.
Except for this: the reflecting pool is under construction. But, if we looked into the sun just right, then looked down, it was almost like you could see the water where all the piles of dirt and pipes were.



Reppin' the home state...



Asleep with the TV and lights on and mom and dad still up. Something unheard of for this girl when we're away from home.

Planes, Trains, and.....Buses?

We took a quick trip to see the sights in Washington D.C. and enjoy some family time together.
We flew there, directly through a storm. Needless to say, it was the most turbulent flight I have ever been on, leaving me feeling pretty nauseous. Sophia, however, loved it and would just yell "Woah!" and smile everytime the plane bumped. Not sure our sleeping neighbors appreciated it, but I definitely prefered it over a crying/screaming 2.5 year old. When not busy shouting praises of our ride, Sophia enjoyed a movie.

Once we got to the metro, we took a hotel shuttle, aka a bus. Sophia was so excited that I'm pretty sure we could've just ended our trip right there and she would have been completely satisfied.
While there, we used the Metro train to get around. As someone whose never used public transportation like that before, I was really impressed with how clean and easy it was to use, especially since we had Curtis with his navigational skills to get us around.

Every time we went down into the metro stations, Sophia would say "I go see a movie!" because it was so dark and apparently she correlates that with the movies. Having a two year can make the most mundane things a lot more entertaining.