Sophia my friend

     Lately I have felt like everything Sophia does is the end of my rope! I didn't like it. What happened to my sweet, fun, sassy girl that used to make me laugh at her silly antics? Normally I would analyze it, her routine is messed up, she isn't napping anymore, delayed reaction to Joel being born. Maybe it was partly all of those, maybe it was me expecting that a 2 yr. old should understand that a baby needs me and she needs me and someone is going to have to wait their turn. Then I realized why would a 2 yr. old understand that? All she remembers is that mom used to be hers and isn't anymore. I also realized that I needed to remember what it's like to only have one child every once in a while.

      So Sophia and I started hanging out. I decided we needed our own mom and daughter time. We started going on dates. The first one was amazing and I was hooked! So was she! On our first M&D date we started by running some errands for me then I took her to the Disney store (Sophia heaven!) and we just walked around. We stopped at whatever toy she wanted to, touched anything she wanted to, said WOW, I want that, and Not right now to almost everything ha ha.

     The best part she just listened to me, smiled at me, didn't argue, she definetly new this time was special and didn't want to ruin it! So we have done it a few times more. Each time as much fun as the other, all kind of randomly planned, all special to me and her. I can let her have more independence which she loves and she behaves like the angel child I know she can be and we are both at ease.

     Our last M&D date was my favorite. We had just finished helping Sara pack and move to Ely. We got home all tired and not dressed for the day but with no plans. I grabbed some clothes for both of us said see ya to Tyler and we headed out the door. We just went shopping at some stores but I let Sophia walk through the clothing stores just with me. No stroller no cart. She walked in the door and goes "WOW Mom it's BEAUTIFUL!" Ha ha Then as we are walking down the isles her little fingers are stroking all the clothes and fabrics the other hand held firmly to mine. She kept telling me how pretty it all was. She even sniffed some clothes ha ha!!  The times when I needed to let go of her hand she twirled in a circled right next to me like a princess in her closet. It is one of my favorite memories ever of her!

     At our last stop I told her we could go get a treat on the way home I asked her what she wanted. She said very excitedly Water! ha ha I asked her again when we got in the car. What do you want for a treat? Water!! ha ha so we went and got big ice cold waters. I also bought her a cookie because she asked for one earlier that day but he was perfectly happy with her ice water.

     I love these dates and plan to start them with Joel as soon as he is old enough! They remind me how much I love Sophia's personality. They remind me we are friends to as well as mom and daughter. They refresh our patience level with one another. They give me awesome memories! I hope she wants to do these forever!

I love this picture! It shows Sophia's personality to a T. Sassy, Cute, Funny, all while remaining her composure. 

"There's power in looking silly, and not caring that you do."

-Amy Poehler

~A

Thrice and Ely

      June has been a busy busy month in this house. Our days have been filled with family. friends, pool trips, road trips, father's day, and Sophia's 2nd Birthday!! Can you believe my little girl is 2? I can't!! It is crazy time flies so fast! Anyway I have some catching up to do. So we will start at the beginning of June. The second weekend in June we had a fun, long weekend planned. It started Thursday with a trip to Salt lake. Tyler and I had tickets to the Thrice's farewell concert. Tyler has been wanting to get me out to one since we  were dating. This was our last chance so we took it. My parents watched Sophia for us and we had a fabulous time.

      We started with dinner at a place in Slat Lake called Bruges Waffles and Frites. Its is a European waffle and french fry house. It is AMAZING! If you ever have a chance to go there DO IT! seriously waffles so yummy, they have like chunks of butter and sugar cooked inside them so it is literally melt in your mouth. Their french fries are so perfectly cooked and they have amazing sauces that aren't even close to being like a fry sauce but are so good! Anyway I could go on (can you tell I am prego?) but it was delicious!

      After dinner we went and got in line for the show. I got quite a few funny looks for being 6 months prego and being at a rock concert! 

     There were 2 opening bands for Thrice and they were the worst opening bands I have ever heard in my life! Not kidding so bad! They let us in the doors at 630 and Thrice didn't even start playing till almost 10. I was done by then ha ha but once thrice came on it was so worth it!! the started with one of my favorite songs and they are amazing performers live! I am so glad Tyler took me to see them because it seriously made me love them! It was well worth the wait. 

     Friday morning we jumped in the car and headed to Ely for the weekend. The annual Fears, Beers, and Tears bike race was the same weekend. We always love going down to Ely. It is nice and relaxing and during the race there is always all kinds of random people there and it is so fun to get to know all the new people that stay at Kent and Saundra's place, and to see the people that come back every year. 

     Tyler was nervous about the race because he hadn't ridden since last years race. He decided to race the beginner loop, which his little brother Seth also decided last minute to race. Seth is 13. The loop is 17 miles. It was pretty impressive! Anyway Tyler was so surprised he took 3rd place! He probably could have taken first but his chain broke the last mile of his time section. He was excited and I was proud of him! Seth didn't even take last he took 11th out of like 15 riders. Kent took first in the expert loop. Which is like a crazy amount of miles, I don't remember but something in the high 30's or 40 miles. Yeah he is pretty awesome.  

    The boys and their trophies.  Anyway our weekend was a blast and Sophia got to spend some quality time with grandma, which she loves! We all went home Sunday exhausted but happy. 

        ~A

Park City

     Last Wednesday Sophia and I were both going stir crazy after being trapped in the house for a couple of days. Tyler got off work early so we decided to go on a family outing. We had some gift cards to city deals so we used one to buy a gift card to a restaurant in park city. Park City is about an hour from Provo. We drove up there and had dinner. The drive was really fun, Tyler loves it because it has a lot of twist and turns and different things to look at. Sophia even enjoyed it ad kept pointing out things she saw out the window. The food was pretty good, all in all we had a good time.  

     Funny story about this family pic. This old man who could barely walk came over to us in the restaurant and asked if we had a camera. I said yes, quite hesitantly, he asked us if we would like a family photo? We said sure, he took one said "There now you have a nice family picture" and proceeded to walk away. Ha ha it was so random and funny. The picture did turn out quite nice though. Was it that obvious we were't from Park City? ha ha 

     Sophia got a hold of my camera and took like 50 pics, this was the one with the most face on it!

     The restaurant was actually in downtown Park City not over by the outlets. I had never actually been downtown. We walked around the million dollar houses after dinner and then headed home. It was a fun family outing! 

    ~A