Monday, April 22, 2013

Earth Day!



We love the Earth!
Yes- in a hippy sort of way even.
So we throughly support the celebration of our wonderful planet- Earth Day!
Sophia is a tree hugger.
No, seriously- she literally hugs trees all the time (see above).

We started out the sunny morning on a nature hike through the (still dead) woods. 
Still fun without much green. 
All these cute little guys.


That afternoon we got to tour the local recycling plant!
So cool! It was smelly (yep, garbage smells), but it was amazing the bulk of materials here.


Huge dump trucks piling it all around.


Conveyer belts transporting the goods.


Us posing in front of the finished 'bales' of recycled material. 
Really really interesting.
I would totally recommend this as an educational outing to anyone.


Finishing off with some daddy-daughter bubble blowing in the grass.
Part of Earth Day is just enjoying Earth itself.

Happy Earth Day!

Saturday, April 20, 2013

Family of nerds.



Spent Saturday afternoon at the Science museum.
Rick and Sophia had way too much fun.
Nerds.

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Hotdogs



This girl LOVES Costco hotdogs. It's an unhealthy obsession.
And she won't leave without one (cue tantrum).
So now we have to time all of our trips around lunch time.
Geez.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Spring at Greenfield Village



Oh, beautiful day of sunshine!
Went to Greenfield Village a few days after it opened.
Sophia and her buddy looking so cool.

Changing diapers. Taking names.



Changing monkey's diaper.
Her idea.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Sophie and the Chocolate Factory



We got to tour a chocolate factory the other day, and it was as amazing as it sounds.
The best part? The free samples at the end.
One of my friends commented on Sophia looking like Augustus Gloop (no offense kid) - haha!

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Martian Half Marathon



I did it! I ran my second half marathon!
And it was fantastic!
Compared to last time, I felt so good- I felt like I could keep running.
It was such a cool experience to have trained through all the winter, and reap the results.
Here's us at the Expo the day before. It is called the Martian Marathon. (I have no idea why.)

And it happens to be in the city with the largest Arab population in the whole country!
Result? Carb loading with schwarma and baklava. Nom, nom, nom.


And race results?
I cut about 1/2 hour off my time! Amazing!
All those early morning sprints paid off.
I'm still not the fastest runner, but I have gotten so much better, and learned so much.
I have learned about proper gear, and proper nutrition, and how important they are for long distance running. I was a big 'ole dunce before! It has made a WORLD of difference.

And I better keep learning because I felt so good running, I fooled myself in to doing twice as much! That's right- I signed up to do a full MARATHON in September!
Ahhh- crazy!
I am running at least 3 more half marathons before then, so I should be nice and ready.
The biggest thing running has taught me- we are so much stronger than we think.
Running has changed me in every positive way possible- physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Who would have thunk?

Friday, April 12, 2013

The dentist



Sophia's first trip to the dentist.
She loved it! Mostly because they had Mickey Mouse on.
Now she asks to go back all the time.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Rainy Museum Day


The Spring rains and gloom have been here.
We couldn't take another afternoon indoors, so we escaped to some fun museums.

The Michigan Science Museum- so cool! 
Sophia loved the diabetes display the most- she's so sweet (haha-nerd joke)


And just across the street is the Detroit Institute for the Arts.
Our go to favorite. Sophia knows her exact favorite location. She went straight to the elevator, and asked for the 3rd floor. Maybe we come too much? Nah.
I love the picture of her staring at the big painting. 
She's so cute and little.

I've always loved going to museums. I'm glad I have a little buddy who loves them too.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Little foot


Sophia's new favorite movie.
A Classic.
She goes around quoting Ducky all the time
"Oh, Petrie" and "Yep, yep, yep!"
Serious 80s flashbacks coming on.

Sunday, April 7, 2013

Birthday parties



Kids birthday parties are so much fun!

Bubbles!



Sophia has learned to blow bubbles in the water, and loves to do it as long as you'll let her.
My little fishy.

Undies!



We went to pick out Sophia's first pair of undies.
She chose boy underpants, because she wanted the choo-choo trains.
No gender stereotypes for this girl!

Just playin'



We went to this cool library- they had so much to do.
Sophia's favorite part was the music room.


She loved pushing the babies in the stroller, and also dunking the basketball.
Eventually the baby doll got dunked as well.


Photo Crazy continues.


She LOVES this cute little tea set from Oma. When I get home from work, she whips it out and serves me play dough cookies.

She's so much fun.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Easter and March Recap


We have had a great Easter and a great March!
Before we 'hop' in to Easter pictures, here's a quick recap of our last month with Sophia.
Favorite moments this month:
-Let me introduce you: Sophia loves to introduce us to people "This is my mommy". Lately this has progressed one step further, and now she says "This is my mommy, her name is Lisa". Haha- I guess that's how I introduce her, so it's only fair.
-"Watch me!": She always is telling us to "watch me!" when she does something- jumping, twirling, dancing. etc. All the world is a stage?
-Onomatopoeia: Sophia is a big fan of sound effects. Her current favorites Kabonk! and Kaboom! It makes life interesting.
- Vocabularian: I know that's not a word, but it describes how fast she's picking up words and their meaning. One of her favorite books recently is 'Green Eggs and Ham'. We were reading it the other day, and she pointed at the main guy (the one who doesn't want to eat the eggs- he doesn't have a name) and said 'he's frustrated'. I was like, wow?! one- where did she get that, and then second- that she understood what it meant and when a character reflected it. Umm, my baby is a smarty pants.
- Water artists: she loves to paint with water by spilling/spitting her water on to the table and drawing in it. We're trying to help her learn to not spit out her water on the floor or table, but it is creative?
- Joker: Sophia loves to laugh, and love to make us laugh. She learned to tell one knock knock joke, that doesn't really make any sense, but she thinks it's hilarious- and tells it all. the. time.
"Knock, knock"
"Who's there?"
"Banana"
"Banana who?"
"Orange who! hahaha!"
I think it's a take on "Orange you glad I didn't say banana?"- but it's still funny to me!
- My friend: I love that she's my little buddy, and when she sits down, she tells me "you can sit next to me"- melt my heart, why don't you.
- Scared-y cat: she's developed a thing of saying anything that makes her feel uncomfortable "is scary". It's funny how all of the sudden she is very vocal in letting you know what that is- be it a dinosaur or the blender.
- A very merry Un-birthday!: Sophia has not had very many birthdays (only 2 to be exact) but apparently they've made an impact. Because now she always is singing "Happy Birthday" and will give me random things (like her leftover toast), and say "Happy Birthday Mommy!" Um, thanks? We'll have to work on gift giving.
All in all, she is a hoot, and more and more so each day!
On to Easter!

My little model Bunny


Here comes Sophie-cotton tail...


Cheating at the egg hunt.
Bad bunny.
 

Don't worry to much.
Once she figured out there was candy in the eggs, she stopped hunting altogether, and started eating.
Yep, that's my girl.

 

Daddy bunny showing Sophie how it's done.

Dye those eggs.
 
 
 

Sophie's Easter basket

Daddy's Easter basket

That's a great dress daddy...

....now for some chocolate for breakfast!

Admiring herself in the mirror in her Easter dress

I LOVE buying Easter dresses for her.
My pretty little girl.
These are the few minutes she'd keep on her headband.
 
 


Some afternoon sun- got to snap a few pictures
 

She's like a ray of sunshine in this dress.
 
 

Easter egg hunt with our friends before the traditional feast

We had so much fun- lots of ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, and chocolate.

I found her like this after everybody had left.


May your Easter be full of friends and candy-
and leave you passed out at the end of the day!

Potty Time!



We purposely haven't pushed potty training with Sophia, but just have been exposing her to it.
We got this potty a while ago, and let her sit on it in the morning and before her bath at night- but she's never done anything on it.
She also loves the movie 'Elmo's Potty Time' and this potty book. 
So she's known what is expected, and was excited about it.
And today it paid off!
We were so excited and called up Oma and Grandma right away!
Way to go my big girl!

You never thought bodily functions could be this exciting.