Happy 10 Months Together!

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Sophie's First Bikini!

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Family fun in Florida

Sophie with Amy, Annie, & Uncle Bryce (my youngest brother).

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Just one of the girls!
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Having fun with Uncle Bryce!

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He really makes her laugh-

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aDaddy & Sophie take a dinosaur ride.

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Sophie gets a ride from Amy at the fort in St. Augustine.
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Sophie, Mommy, Amy, & Grandma Rae (Graaaa) ride the cannon at the fort!
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Spring Portrait

One Year Ago Today...

One year ago today, I experienced the single most magical moment of my life- the moment that I saw my sweet baby girl's face for the very first time. I remember slowly slipping her referral papers out of the big brown envelope- her photos stapled to the top right hand corner. I will never ever forget that moment: the moment I fell in love at first sight; the moment I saw the most beautiful face in the world; the moment I laughed and cried at the same time; the moment I gave away the biggest part of my heart; the moment that changed my life forever; the moment I first looked into the eyes of Sophie Lu.

One year and thousands of gorgeous photos of her later, these are still and always will be my very favorite photos of my beautiful daughter...

Happy 1 Year Referral Anniversary to the families in our group! As always, my love and wishes for speedy referrals to those who are waiting...

The Girl in the Wicker Chair

When I first looked at these photos (taken on my mother's porch), I was reminded of the first picture I ever saw of Sophie Lu. She was sitting in that white wicker chair all bundled up and wearing those goldfish slippers. She insists on almost always being barefoot now, but she's still my little Goldfish Girl in the white wicker chair!

Easter in Florida (Part 3): The Egg Hunt

After visiting with the Bunny, a very excited Sophie Lu pulled us along in the Easter Parade.
aAfter hours of egg-finding practice, we were surprised when Sophie Lu wasn't snatching up all the eggs. She seemed a little dazed and overwhelmed at the whole experience.
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Finally, Daddy handed her a pretty, orange egg for her basket...
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Then, she turned right around and gave it away to the little girl in yellow! (That's my sweet, sweet Sophie Lu!)

Easter in Florida (Part 2): The Bunny!

Guess what? The Easter Bunny came all the way to Florida to see me on Easter! He was wearing shorts and looking cuter than ever!
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He just makes me so happy! And I think I make him happy too, because he spent lots of time with me (even though there were many other kids waiting).

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But then the Easter Bunny's boss told him to see the others, so he had to go. I was so sad; afterall, I didn't even get the chance to show him my Easter basket. So I chased him.

And he came back! I showed him my basket, and he loved it!
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Then, I gave him a big kiss! SMOOCH! (And he loved that too!)

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Oh, Easter Bunny! You are the MOST!

Easter in Florida (Part 1)

Sophie Lu Earns her Wings!

On our way to Florida, the airline pilot gave Sophie her first wings!
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And then she got the chance to earn them!

Sophie Teaches Holden her Pointy Dance!

Here's a glimpse of Sophie teaching Holden her popular "Pointy Pointy Dance"...

Sophie Finally says "Yes"!

Until now, Sophie always answered in the affirmative with "Please", "Sure", or "Si" (one of her many Spanish words). Finally, today, she said "Yes"; but, as you'll see below, she still reserves the right to say, "No"...



(I just love the way she says yes with her tongue between her teeth- sooo cute!)

Surprise! (Easter Bunny Part 3 of 3)

Surprise!!! I decided the Easter Bunny wasn't so scary after all. I gave him a kiss, and he gave me my very first lollipop! I love you Easter Bunny. Happy Easter!
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p.s. I am a big girl now. (Mommy said so!)

Easter Bunny! (Part 2 of 3)

The Easter Bunny! He's finally here! And he is so cute!
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I think I love him!

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But then I got a little scared of his buck teeth, so I made Mommy sit with us for the photo...

The Easter Bunny's Late for a Very Important Date (with me!) Part 1 of 3

I am sad (& kinda mad). I am the first one in line to see the Easter Bunny, but he is late. 15 minutes late.

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Where could he be? I'm gonna look for him.
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I guess I'll walk up onto the set and play with some of these eggs while I wait. Oh, Easter Bunny, where are you???
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Someone's coming... Is that him? Is that him? No, it's just the photographer (who doesn't want me on the set playing with the props).

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But, she can't stop me. Because I'm too cute.

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Two. Two Easter Baskets.

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Now, I am sitting in the Easter Bunny's thrown. Hey- what is this pink stuff?

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What, Mom? Put that down before the fan blows it everywhere? What fan? Oh- the same fan that is blowing my hair? Too late. (There would be photos- but my Mommy was too busy running around chasing the flying pink grass.)

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Well, I guess I'll practice my pucker. This is how I'm going to kiss that Easter Bunny when he finally shows up!
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Oh my gosh, here he comes...

Sophie just can't get enough of those goats!

So we visited the goats at the petting zoo, once again. It's funny- Sophie ignores the ponies, is baffled by the sheep, but just absolutely loves the goats. This is funny:

(video length: 1 min)

Sophie's Art Project #2!

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So this is Sophie's 2nd official art project! She had a lot of fun; and now we have a wonderful set of her 22 month old hand prints!
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Winter Water Fun!

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Sophie loves playing in water- even when it's cold outside. Here we are at KidSpace again, where we couldn't keep her away from the randomly shooting fountains. She had so much fun- face full of water and all!

Sophie Lu Makes No Promises!

Sophie Lu was such a big girl at the park today!

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First, she drove a "car"!

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Then, she insisted on going down the big kids' slide!

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Then, she saw a boy climb this climby thing, and despite the sign which read "Ages 6 & up", she insisted on climbing it too! (against my wishes- I was so scared!)

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Then, we encouraged her to run around and around (secretly hoping to wear her out so she'd take an early nap)!

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Finally, she started talking about "night night"... but as you'll see below, even a sleepy Sophie makes no promises!

(Video length: 16 seconds)

A Visit from Grandpa Elliot

Daddy, Sophie, & Pappy!dd

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Sophie had so much fun running around in the sun with her Pappy!

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A Visit from Kylie & Cami!

Kylie & Cami came over to play and have dinner with Sophie Lu! We all had so much fun together playing shuffleboard and basketball. Then we got to watch the video of Kylie & Cami's ice-skating competitions (they both won 1st place!)
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Sophie supervised as Kylie & Cami learned to play shuffleboard!
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She really helped out by handing the disc to Kylie.

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And she stopped the game several times to give hugs of encouragement! Come back soon, Kylie & Cami!

A few minutes without bows...

Sophie is carrying the first gift I ever bought for her: Mama Kitty & her Kitten (attached to Mama by a cord- when pulled, it plays "Memory" from Cats.)

Sophie & her collection of kitties wait for friends to arrive...

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"Mama, bows... pleeeease??"

And all is well, once again.

Is it too early for Sophie to have an imaginary friend?

Like most technology-crazed young girls, Sophie Lu is fascinated with telephones- especially cell phones. Since she's always trying to steal mine, I found an old one for her to play with. Well, just now, I think I caught her talking to her imaginary friend. Here's how the conversation went:

Sophie: H-ro? H-ro?
Sophie: Me!
Sophie: Draw?
Sophie: Sure!
Sophie: Bye.

And then she just put the phone down and went on her merry way. She just cracks me up! (I'm either going to tap her calls or try to catch the next conversation on video!)

A Visit from Gra Gra, Poppa, & Go Go!

Sophie's big brother Mikie (Go Go) and Michael's parents (Gra Gra & Poppa) came to visit, and we all had a wonderful time!

It's so cute to watch Sophie and her Go Go having so much fun together! They just laugh and laugh!

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Sophie shows Daddy Gra Gra's beautiful butterfly pin!

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Of course, Grandma brought gifts for Sophie Lu who is her 10th grandchild!

Kisses and a big thank you to Gra Gra!

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Sophie loves Grandma's gifts, and she proudly decides that the ladybug should ride the kitty!

fgsdfhfgSophie snuggles up to Poppa. Hmmmm... what could she possibly want?

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Poppa quickly learns that Sophie is a glasses thief and foils her plan!

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But that's okay- Miss Sophie has a new plan! Hey- no free kisses, Daddy!

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Score! That's my girl!

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And now that Sophie is wearing glasses, she can give a big kiss to Poppa! :)

Leaf Math: Counting Lesson- Part 1

After Sophie counted to five perfectly twice, I finally decided to grab my video camera. What made me think she'd do it again- I don't know! Of course, I think my
baby girl is brilliant, but I guess I have to remind myself that she is only 22 months old! Oh, and not to teach
math using leaves and a table with holes...

(video length: 1 minute)