Happy Birthday Worm!

Last year at this exact time there was a warm squirmy little baby laying on my belly instead of in my belly for the very first time. This year there is a beautiful little one-year old girl laying peacefully in her bed after a busy birthday. What an amazing year this has been!

After a leisurely morning Worm got a surprise visit from Nana and Grandma who brought her a bright pink balloon, some birthday cards, and her first present of the day! After a short visit she went down for her afternoon nap while mama sewed away at a little dress for Bebe Do. We are having family pictures taken tomorrow and I thought Bebe Do needed a dress to match the rest of the family! When Sofie woke up we hustle-bustled around running errands. Sofie wore her new red patent leather shoes (or doos as she calls them) and many strangers stopped to admire her. We told everyone who asked that it was her birthday today and got lots of well wishes!


We arrived home in time to fix dinner before daddy got in from work. The birthday girl had quite a good time with her spaghetti and required a bath afterwards rather than the usual quick mouth-wipe!


Afterwards we took a trip to Toys 'R' Us where daddy helped Sofie pick out a birthday present...a new tradition which should be fun until she turns 16 and wants him to take her to the Honda dealership! We arrived home late, conjured up Gran Debbie and later on the Vance family on the webcam to watch as Sofie thoroughly enjoyed her "cake" and opened lots more presents from the Colorado crew and of course her Bebe Do!

What a fun day! Tomorrow we're heading to Tuscora Park for pictures and preparing for Sofie's birthday party on Saturday. I imagine I'll be in a baking frenzy about this time tomorrow night since I am making about 70 cupcakes and a smash cake for Bean!

Thank you to everyone who was thinking of us today. We sure do have a well-loved little girl!

Premature

Today Sofie and I traveled to Toland's Doll Shop where I am proud to announce we purchased Sofie's first baby doll and she is actually at our home and in our hands tonight!! We decided on a Corolle Bebe Do doll and she is beautiful, smells delicious, and resembles Sofie with her chubby cheeks and peanut nose. This was our second choice doll, but it's ok because she was only bumped to second choice because she didn't have any beans in her bottom and remarkably if you take the time to go to an actual real live baby doll store (or baby doll hospital as they like to be called) they will happily put beans in baby doll bottoms for you!

So...Sofie had a chance to try out her new baby doll since she was being removed from her box for her um...procedure (butt implants?!). After a few minutes of bonding (which included batting at her face and carrying her by her foot...) I casually tried to take the baby back to be returned to her box awaiting Sofie's actual birthday. Unfortunately, by this time, she had grown quite attached and I was greeted with hearty shrieking. So because I am a pushover I let Sofie play with her baby all day today and because I am a mean old mommy at heart I snatched the doll up after Sofie fell asleep and packaged her back up nicely in the box to be wrapped!

Anyway, the point is that I caught this adorable and completely unprompted video while Bebe Do was out of her box this evening. Notice that she had already lost her pants!

Hoodrat

In a bizarre ceremony this Saturday, August 16th, a goofily garbed professional draped an elaborate piece of fabric over my head and dubbed me a doctor! Which makes it all official-like and means that from this point onward I will only be answering to: Dr. Sam, Dr. Mama, Dr. Wifey and maybe if I'm feeling very gracious, hey you Dr. Lady.

On a more serious note, I'd like to thank everyone who has been there to support me through this very long road. Most of all my Mom whom I could have never made it through without. Over the past year she fixed us dinner, cleaned our house, changed countless dirty diapers, did our grocery shopping and more without a single complaint. (In contrast, I've been doing it for about six weeks now and I'm pretty sure I complain almost daily!) In my mind she has earned a doctorate of her own for relentless supportive parenting. I feel quite lucky to have such a wonderful role-model. Thanks Mom!

Once Upon a Time by Beans McGee

I would give just about anything to know what on earth she is saying!

Slow Down!!

Life just keeps whizzing right on by...!

Buds

I thought you might like a glimpse at the special toys in Ben's and my past. Baby Bobbie was my first baby doll and My Poor Monkey was Ben's (very very well-loved) favorite stuffed animal!

As Promised

We took Sofie on her first merry-go-round ride a couple of weeks ago at a corner carnival. She wasn't quite sure what to think.

Daddy got a turn too! (That kid in the back kept warning Ben that he was going to get in trouble if he didn't sit down. She was quite concerned!)

Right before she called China...notice Daddy's super-cool helmet hair.

"Uh guys...you're really gonna let me play with this all by myself?!!"

"Score! This thing is sweet!"

"I wonder what will happen if I just push on these like mom and dad do..."

"Oh my!"

"Help! Mom thinks I'm a kewpie doll!" (Good teeth shot!)

This is the view I am all too familiar with these days...

An impromptu nap on the couch after a fun day swimming with her new boyfriend!

There's nothing sweeter...

Doll Drama

...and the saga continues...

I got a pesky e-mail the morning after I ordered Sofia's baby telling me that the baby that I wanted was no longer available. Unfortunately, after lots of time wasted scouring the Internets for a duplicate, I discovered that the baby I chose has been discontinued. Fortunately she is available in other outfits. Unfortunately I have discovered (or maybe confirmed is a better word) that I am quite stubborn and picky and I am not a fan of any of the other outfit options. Fortunately I started searching for a baby doll months in advance of Sofie's actual birthday and if I'm lucky I might just find the right one with a day or two to spare!

I promise that my next post will not make any mention of baby dolls. In fact, I promise that my next post will be full of pictures (although they might be blurry) and say something even remotely stimulating!

Gee...is it Wednesday again?

Oh...whoops...Thursday you say? Bummer!

1. The kid...she is a crazy! Have you noticed the lack of pictures on the blog lately? Yes?! That's because she won't stay still long enough for me to snap one. She has also grown quite fond of shrieking whenever there is something she can't quite figure out how to communicate. Sort of like, "Squeeeee!" I'm in the seat of this cart and you're not looking at "Squeeeeeeeeee!" me and why won't you "Squeeeee!" let me out so I can "Squeeeeeeeeeeee!" push it into the end cap and "Squee!" where's my cookie woman?!!! Let's just say that I've turned into that mom. You know, the one with the really obnoxious child. The one who makes you mumble under your breath, "I am never having children." It's a good thing she's so darned cute!

2. I have finally purchased Sofia's first baby doll. (Cue the fanfare from the heavens!) She is not any of the options that I provided links to and I'm going to be cruel and make you wait and be surprised with Sofie. She is notably simple, but she is sweet and soft, daddy approved and machine washable. I have lovely visions of her being dragged around naked by one arm and I am hopeful that her face will not be tattooed by any curious ink pens. (Did I ever tell you about Ben's stuffed monkey from his childhood? The one whose name is My Poor Monkey? He lives in Sofie's room now with his crusty, smooshed banana grin! Remind me to post a picture.)

3. Sofia has her first official play date tomorrow with a new (boy)friend from a Mom group we attended on Monday. I'm pretty excited to actually get to spend some daytime hours talking to an actual grown-up person!

4. I broke down and bought invitations for Sofie's birthday and a lovely purple glitter pen to fill them in with. Expect yours in the mail soon!

5. I picked up my OAMC book from the library today and it is everything I could ever have hoped for with several meal plans to choose from complete with grocery lists and step-by-step cooking instructions. I'm going to start with a 2-week plan since there are only three weeks left in the month and the recipes are meant for a larger family so we should have plenty of left-overs. I'll be sure to let you know how it all works out (and of course you're invited for dinner!) I made the full bread recipe on Monday and individually wrapped five loaves and froze them all together in a large freezer bag before their second rising. Interestingly, they continued to rise in the freezer and burst out of the bag! I pulled one out today to bake, allowing it to thaw and rise for several hours. It was mighty tasty, but it didn't rise quite as well as the fresh dough did. Next time I'll freeze them in individual bags and see if that makes any difference. Even if it doesn't, the bread is well worth the effort!

6. Lest you think that my life has become nothing but domesticity I'll make a mention that there are some pretty exciting prospects floating around behind the scenes here. I feel sort of funny saying anything, almost like telling someone a birthday wish, so I won't say much more unless something becomes solid. With that said, I'd appreciate all the crossed fingers and pixie dust you can muster!