Reunited!

So happy to have Sophie home! She's a little smarty pants as well! I can't believe everything she can do! Beware... I'm about to seriously brag.

Here's her list of words:

Hi

Bye bye

Sophie

Baby

Uh oh

No

Yeah, yeah, yeah

Down

Up

Out

Thank you

happy

Auntie

Papa

Mommy

Daddy

Yabba Dabba Doo

Zap!

Choo choo

Amen

Woof Woof

Meow

Kitty

Doggy

Moo

Owie

Oh Man!

Nana (means food!)

Dora

Din ev Cry! (Didn't even Cry!) So cute!

I'd know! (I don't know! while shrugging her shoulder with hands out)

Nama (Grandma)

is lil piggy (This little piggy)

She can do "I'm a little teapot." "Itsy bitsy spider," "Patty-cake"

She blows kisses to EVERYONE

She can do a somersault!! I love it!

She recognizes Jesus and says "Jee-us!

And my FAVORITE thing! She can pray! I love it! I have the cutest video of her doing it. She folds her arms, squints her eyes, speaks a little gibberish, and says, "Amen!"

I'm so in love with my little peanut! When she came through security she was walking, she spotted me, and ran as fast as she could and jumped in my arms! I was crying my eyes out! She just layed her head on me. So so sweet! Cory and I are just eating her up!

She also got her first haircut today. It was very bittersweet... she looks like such a big girl! My baby is growing up!

P.S. Only two weeks of school and I'm DONE for good! Yahoo!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Our sweet Sophie and HUGE Bodie!

What are you having for dinner?

I haven't blogged much simply because there isn't a lot going on! Sophie is still cute as ever and is growing up before my eyes... I kind of hate it.

Here's the highlight of our week! We took Soph ice skating. She preferred being held rather than skating herself... but when she did it, she was pretty good!

Aren't the tiny skates to die for??

On another note... Cory and I are getting sick of our regular dinners. I swear we have about ten that we just cycle through! So, if anyone has some great, easy suggestions... I'm all ears!

Here are a few of our favs:

Chicken Fajitas

Chicken

Orange Pepper

World Harbors Fajita Sauce (in my grocery store its by the bbq sauce and ketchup)

Slice your chicken into strips. Put it in a pan with oil. When the chicken's a little over half way cooked I add the sliced pepper. When everything is cooked I pour on the fajita sauce and let it simmer for a bit. So easy!

Put it all on a warmed flour tortilla with your fav toppings... mine are a little cheese, sour cream, and lettuce. Cory likes to throw on some olives.

We have it with chips, guacamole, and mexican rice.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I buy the Pillsbury pizza crust. So yummy.

Cook a large chicken breast in the oven on 350 for about 45-60 min. Let it cool and dice it.

Roll out my pizza dough.

Mix together BBQ sauce and a couple spoon fulls of Pesto sauce.

Slather it generously on the dough

Throw on the diced chicken, some mozzarella cheese, pineapple tidbits on my half, and olives on Cory's. (Are you noticing a trend that Cory really likes olives?) Sometimes Cory likes me to put pineapples on his half... and then he picks them off. Strange, right? Cory doesn't like warm fruit but, "likes the residue it leaves behind." Weirdo. Oh well, more pineapples for me.

Its ready in a jiffy. We throw together a salad and Voila! Dinner's ready.

Grandma's Lasagna Casserole

12 oz. Egg Noodles

1 c. cottage cheese

1 c. sour cream

1 can tomato sauce

1 lb. hamburger

Cheese

Brown the hamburger (I sprinkle on garlic salt and Italian seasoning) and boil the noodles. Combine everything in a casserole dish (minus the cheese). Sprinkle the top with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. Throw together a salad or garlic bread. Yummm.

Another simple recipe is Spaghetti. I must admit, this is my favorite dinner (as well as Sophie's)

1 lb. hamburger

Beef smoked sausage

Spaghetti Noodles

Spaghetti Sauce... my fav is Classico Traditional Sweet Basil

I brown the hamburger and boil the noodles. When the hamburger is about halfway done I throw in the sausage. I only use half the package and slice the sausage into edible bites. I let the hamburger, sausage, and spaghetti sauce simmer for about 10 minutes... then we dig in!

I'm pretty sure my mom's the only person that reads this blog.... But, if someone else out there is reading this, please give me some of your recipe ideas! We are desperate to get out of this rut! :)

And I'll end the post with another darling picture of my little lady at a wedding we went to Friday night...

Introducing, Bodie

A week after Mherra died, we made the decision to get another dog. I definitely didn't want a puppy and we're all about adopting dogs from the humane society. Why support breeders when there's dogs in shelters waiting for families? The humane society uses ASPCA's Meet Your Match evaluation system to categorize dogs into specific energy levels (Purple, Orange or Green) and personalities (ie; Busy Bee, Wallflower, Go-Getter etc). They use this MYM system to match the new dog adopters lifestyle with a dog's personality to make a "perfect match". Mherra was a "Purple-Constant Companion" and she was great. We knew we wanted a "purple" dog, so that's the first thing we looked for. There were three purples at the humane society.

1. Achillies, he was a jumper- no, thank you.

2. Libby, she just didn't mesh well with me...

3. Bodie. 126 lbs of pure LOVE. A sweet Mastiff that looks eerily identical to Mherra (besides the enormous head)! He's a "purple- teachers pet" that loves to sleep and eat. We adopted him on Wednesday and every time we see him, we're still surprised by his size. He's 3.5 feet tall and 4 feet long. And I'm pretty sure Sophie thinks he's Mherra.

We're excited to have Bodie in our lives! However, we are not excited about his gas and enormous poops! :)

We love you, Mherra!

I have been avoiding writing this post because it makes me so sad. Our sweet Mimi dog got hit by a car last week. I'm not even kidding, it felt like we lost a family member. We adopted her in August of 2009. Everyone was skeptical (and by skeptical I mean condemning) that we adopted a pit bull while I was 5 months pregnant. However, we knew she was perfect for our family. She minded well, slept all day, protected our family, played with Soph, and adored Cory. She was all around a good doggy. The night she died was devastating. I'm not sure the last time I cried that hard. And seeing poor Cory so sad nearly broke my heart. They were the best buddies. I am super glad we adopted her though. We gave her and extra year and a half of life that she probably wouldn't have had if we didn't adopt her.

We love you Mherra!

Cory will miss playing hide and seek with you.

Sophie will miss laying on you and giving you fruit loops

I'll miss sharing my popcorn with you.

Success!!

Today was a success! I was ready for it to be a total failure because I decided to take away Sophie's bottles for good... She's no longer needs lactose free formula so I've completely transitioned her to cow's milk. She went down for her nap and only cried for two minutes! Then tonight when she went to bed she only cried for four minutes. I'm so proud of myself! We are now binky and bottle free in this home! Yahoo!

Now if I could just get rid of the diapers... haha jk :)

I love this sweet video... I was reminiscing with myself her newborn days...

(Sorry that the first few seconds with Cory are a little Blair Witch! Also, Cory really likes to get close ups!)

And... blowing kisses :)

Mherra

Today, Sophie realized Mherra likes snack time too! Hey... at least she's sharing!!

4-Wheelin'

Sophie riding on the back of her new 4-wheeler with her cousin Jaxen at her birthday party

Waffles!

The other day Cory and I taught Sophie how to dip her waffle into syrup. She definitely got the dipping part down :) She hates having dirty hands so I knew she'd love the concept!

Happy Birthday Sophie Joy!

Miss Sophie is ONE today. I may or may not have cried. I just love my little bug so much and she is special in every way. There isn't a day that goes by that someone doesn't tell me she is such a delightful and happy baby. We feel truly blessed to have her in our lives.

Here's what she's up to:

Walking, walking, walking!

She only has 3 teeth :)

She's a great eater

She blows kisses at everyone she see's

We can put her in her crib awake and she falls asleep by herself

Words:

Mama, dada, papa, nana (banana), dane do (Thank you), baby, Uh oh, peas (please), whasthat (what's that), night night, bye bye, hi!!

I say to her "blow a kiss" and she puts her hand up to her mouth and goes, MMMMUAHH!

So cute!!

Here's pics of one of her parties I planned. We did the exact same party in Logan on Wednesday night. I left my camera at my mom's so I'll have to get pics from friends asap!

See ya 2010!

The only hospital visit I enjoyed this year was the one that brought me my little Soph. Other than that, it's been an unhealthy year for me! However, I think my medical issues have come to an end.

On Wednesday, December 15 Soph and I flew to Indiana so I could figure out my medical problems. I saw a doctor on Friday who referred me to IU Medical Center to get an ERCP. Apparently IU has the best medical facility and doctors to perform this procedure. The possible complications to the ERCP were pretty scary, but the worst risk was pancreatitis! So, I wasn't too worried :)

The ERCP is an exploratory surgery and they actually ended up finding out what was wrong! I had Sphincter of Oddi Dysfunction (SOD, which Cory calls Sphincter of Garfield. Hilarious, I know). Anyway, I feel so relieved. I was so grateful I didn't get pancreatitis and wasn't hospitalized over Christmas. I was sick for a few days but I am now feeling good.

I had the most wonderful Christmas with my family and Sophie was the cutest girl EVER! She had to take a nap after opening just two presents. Haha! She's a walking and talking machine. She walks everywhere and can even stand back up on her own if she falls. Her running is pretty hilarious too. I just love that little bug. I've got to starts writing down the things she says! I'll be so mad if I forget!

We also had the cutest birthday party for her Dec. 27 which was also Cory and I's 2 year anniversary! We have yet to celebrate our anniversary... but I'm sure we'll get around to it :) We're having another birthday party for her on Wednesday night here in Logan. I left my camera at my mom's so I'll post pictures soon!

My new year resolution? Stay away from the hospital!!