The Many Faces of Sophie

Update: Sophie has 4 teeth and is a professional crawler. She is now starting to pull herself up to stand (time for baby girl to get some sneakers). Last week when we took her to the doctor she weighed 18 lbs. 9 oz. She will now hold our fingers and "walk." She's getting much better with foods with texture, rarely gags and is even starting to eat the meat dinners (this is a BIG accomplishment). She's starting to eat finger foods. Mostly just the Gerber snacks but she ate a couple pieces of a waffle the other morning. Seems to do it better if we don't pay attention to her, she's shy. She grows and changes each week, I can't wait to see how much she changes by her first birthday, which is so close it's not even funny.

Oh, but don't let these cute little faces fool you. This little girl, with all her personality, has some ATTITUDE!! Oh lord, the toddler years are going to be a challenge, I can see it now.

Family Visits

Some pictures to share! The first set we have here are from this past weekend. Mike and Sarah came to visit. We went Downtown Charleston and ate at Fleet Landing. It's a restaurant on the water and is very good. I think that might be one we have to go back to (especially on Friday, they have fish tacos, YUM!). We walked along the battery and took some pictures. It was kind of a cloudy day but the temperature was perfect. Sophie was so good and just loves to people watch! Uncle Mike pushed her in her stroller. Fun times!

The second set of pictures are Sophie and Gran. I went to visit my family a couple of weeks ago. My dad had back surgery (and he's recovering quite nicely). It was a nice but short visit. Once Sophie gets a little older I think it'll be easier to travel in the evenings with her. I get home so late from work sometimes that it's hard to get everything together and then travel. But never fear, it will only get easier!

Sweet Girl

I took this picture about a month or so ago with my new Nikon camera (I love it!). I got bored one day so I downloaded Picasa and did a few effects. I don't remember which effects I actually used, but I love the way this picture turned out. Not very helpful am I? Sorry, sitting here at work taking a short break and decided to share this picture.

My little watermelon head is so pretty! She's growing up so fast.

Sloppy Joes Pioneer Woman Style!

Last week I saw a recipe for sloppy joes on my new favorite blog www.thepioneerwoman.com. I haven't eaten sloppy joes since I was a kid and I remember I was not too fond of them at the time. This recipe was awesome, such a different flavor than I remember (these have a bit of a kick).

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons Butter
2-½ pounds Ground Beef
½ whole Large Onion, Diced
1 whole Large Green Bell Pepper, Diced
5 cloves Garlic, Minced
1-½ cup Ketchup
1 cup Water
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Chili Powder (more To Taste)
1 teaspoon Dry Mustard
½ teaspoons Red Pepper Flakes (more To Taste)
Worcestershire Sauce To Taste
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste (optional)
Tabasco Sauce (optional; To Taste)
Salt To Taste
Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
Kaiser Rolls
Butter

Preparation Instructions
Add butter to a large skillet or dutch oven over medium high heat. Add ground beef and cook until brown. Drain most of the fat and discard.
Add onions, green pepper, and garlic. Cook for a few minutes, or until vegetables begin to get soft.
Add ketchup, brown sugar, chili pepper, dry mustard, and water. Stir to combine and simmer for 15 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste. Also add tomato paste, Worcestershire, and Tabasco if desired. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
Spread rolls with butter and brown on a griddle or skillet. Spoon meat mixture over the rolls, topping with a slice of cheese if it makes your skirt fly up. Serve hot with kettle cooked chips!

Side note: I did serve this with kettle chips (reduced fat) but also served a salad.

Two plus one more equals three!

You love how I can do simple math don't ya.

In just a matter of a day Sophie has cut another tooth! The lower right just started poking through yesterday when we got home from daycare and work. Way to go Sophie!!

Anxious to see if the upper left one will cut next. For some reason the 2 front teeth are being stubborn. They are so close to the gum but just won't cut. It's just a matter of time. Would love to have my sleeping baby back!

And then there were two

So after enjoying a very nice mini vacation, last week turned out to be the week of "things that can and will go wrong." We get home from the beach and realize that our air conditioning is on the fritz. Actually we realized this before we left and made the appointment for the heating and air company to come out, but being that last week was the hottest week of the year, it was hot in the house. So guy comes out and there's a part that has to be ordered, take about a week, yada yada, enjoy your nice hot house.

Then Thursday my car battery dies. Sophie was all loaded in the car and ready to go, cranked my car, and ta da! Luckily we have an extra truck and I have a handy husband who knows how to install a car battery. Not too terribly difficult to deal with, just a pain in the butt because I was late for work.

So my mother-in-law tells Ricky earlier in the week that bad things usually happen in three's. Thursday, end of the week, almost in the clear until.....

Friday. Beautiful day, all is well. I get out of the office at lunch and go shopping (that's because I was on time for once). Then about 30 minutes after I get back I get a call from daycare. "Sophie isn't feeling very well." She won't eat, won't nap, crying her eyes out. Great. So I leave work early and get her. Decided that it sounds like she could be getting an ear infection because she's had a runny nose and cough all week. Luckily I got a quick appointment and sure enough. It's the beginnings of an ear infection.

Yep, bad things happen in three's. I'm a believer. Why can't good things happen in three's?

On a happier note Sophie cut her second tooth yesterday. It's the upper, not middle upper but the next one over. I know, weird. So Sophie has her lower left and upper right. Feels like the lower right and upper left are next. Not sure what's up with her 2 front teeth. Poor kid. It's no wonder she hasn't been in a good mood. She's got 4 teeth trying to come through! She's a trooper though and she was a very good travel partner this weekend visiting her Gran and Pop this weekend.

AND she is 10 months old today!!! My baby is not going to be a baby much longer, sniff sniff.

The Greatest Blog Ever

About a month or so ago I stumbled across this blog about a woman who went to school and lived in L.A. until she came home to the Midwest (not exactly sure where) and met a cowboy. They fell in love and next thing she knows, she living on a ranch.

Sounding a little interesting? It is. You should check it out. http://thepioneerwoman.com/. She has some of the greatest stories and they are a hoot. She also cooks and has some tasty looking dishes. I haven't made any yet but I plan on tackling the cinnamon rolls in the near future.

When I have some time.

Wait when do I have time do anything anymore?

Mini Vacation to Cherry Grove and Easter Pics

I had to throw this one in there. Sophie LOVES Wylie. She loves Zoe too but Wylie lets her do anything she wants to him. She gives him hugs, pats his belly, pulls his ears, sticks her fingers in her nostrils, even lets her touch his paws (which is forbidden in Wylie's world).

Mommy and Sophie on Easter Sunday.

The Bell Family (see how I got us all to color coordinate?)

Daddy and Sophie checking out the waves

My little beach bum

Since both Ricky and I had Good Friday off, we decided to take Thursday off and have an extended weekend. Going back 2 months, Ricky found a website http://www.homeaway.com/ that has homes and condos you can rent through the homeowner, not a rental company (I think that's how it works). So he found this 1 bedroom condo at Cherry Grove Beach for a really good rate for 3 nights. The rate also included the dogs so they got to tag along. This was our first trip as a family (aside from the trips we've taken to Charlotte). Couldn't have asked for better weather for April. It was sunny and in the low 80's with a slight breeze. It was just gorgeous weather.

We enjoyed ourselves and I think Sophie enjoyed her first real time on the beach. She didn't seem to fond of the sand, but as everyone knows, it gets everywhere and then you get some in your mouth, and it's just annoying sometimes. I have a feeling that will change over time. As much as I hope to take her this summer, she'll LOVE the sand :)

We drove back Easter Sunday and had dinner at Gigi and Poppie's house. Sophie's Great Granny and Papa were there too. We got some pictures taken, it's a rare occasion for us to get a family picture. It's usually me taking the pictures.