Sophia playing with a box of Cheerios, one of her favorite snacks!Lessons from Living with a 10 month old:
In the last month, we have not had much time to sit down, as 99% of our home life now consists of chasing Sophia around the house. She is such an explorer; She literally gets into EVERYTHING! It's just amazing to follow her around and watch her explore our home. She has gotten into some mischief...but it's all so cute and innocent that it's really hard to be upset with her when we were the ones who took our eyes off of her! Like last week...Matt had just got home from work, was greeted at the door by a Running-Smiling-Sophia. Since he was home, I knew this was my chance to escape for a second to run and grab my school things from the car. (They didn't make it in when we got home, as with a baby and diaper bag and purse in tow, my hands were full) So I ran out to the garage for a second. Literally a second. I assumed Matt was watching Sophia. Well Matt went to the back to get changed and assumed Sophia was with me. Upon coming inside, I can hear Matthew saying, "No Sophia" so I head to the back. Only to find a little girl with sleeves soaking wet. I could only imagine what she had been up to in the seconds that I was gone. Matt had found her dunking the toilet paper roll into the toilet. That's right...the toilet. YUCK!!!! So we bathed her, and changed her, and giggled....but then really thought about how bad the situation could have been....and have since vowed to keep toilet seats down, and bathroom doors closed. :) Parenting is a learning process my friends!
Busy Katie, Busy Matthew & Our Busy Little Bee:
As many of you know, Carly and I decided back in August that it would be fun to participate in the Colusa County Christmas Craft Faire this year. So, we got to crafting! :) I started off by making a bunch of French Memo Boards, and framing them. After doing that, I got into making Hair Flowers by the dozen. Then, the craftiness passed down from my Grandma Jean got the best of me. Sewing. Sewing was something I had not done in years. Grandma Jean had taught me to sew when I was very young, and it was something I always enjoyed doing. So I got to thinking about what I could make to sell at the craft fair, and Carly came up with a fun idea. Coffee Cup Cozies! :) Carly, in the meantime was super busy sewing up some Nerf Dart Belts, Crayon Rolls and Bibs.
We set up our booth (with the help of our Dad and Uncle Bill) on Friday evening and were set for the weekend. We had so much fun and we were really surprised by the outcome! People just loved Carly's dart belts, the hair flowers and the coffee cozies! We even had several people tell us about other fairs we would do well in, because they had never seen the things we had before! So, we'll see where this takes us. But maybe the best part of all, was the booth competition. On Saturday, the Fair Board and Miss Colusa judged the booths, and ours won! It must have been thanks to the awesome "fire" that Uncle Bill put into our fireplace! So this means that next year, we get free booth rental! :) Can't beat that! So check us out online, and remember those co-workers, friends with kids, and that there will be some stockings to fill very soon!!!
Click Here to visit our website! (we just went today to sign up for the Gridley Craft Fair on December 4th, so if you didn't have a chance to see us in Colusa, come on out to Gridley!!!)
While I was busy getting ready for the craft fair, Matthew was busy himself. As we mentioned in the past, our home has very little storage space. And I am so thankful to have a husband who listens to me when I say things like, "I wish I had space for this." or "This cupboard has no more room" or "Where am I going to put this?" And Matthew listens so well, he gets ideas and plans and begins drawing and measuring. And the next thing I know...We have NEW SHELVES in the garage!!! This is something I am so super excited about. If you know me well, you know I am an organizer, so I can't wait to get a free Saturday to get out in the garage and organize! :) But when we're going to find a free Saturday....I'm not sure. So in the meantime, I get to look at the empty shelving and dream about how organized it will be, and how much more space I will have in our cupboards very soon!
Grandpa Whit and Matthew building the 2nd set of shelvesIn the midst of all the sewing and shelf building, we took a day off on Halloween. Sophia, aka our little Love Bug, was a Bumble Bee for Halloween this year! ( I know it feels very weird to be reading about Halloween while looking at this Christmas themed blog, but we've already established...we're very behind on our updates!) We were a little worried about how she would do in her costume, would she hate it? would she rip the hood off? would she scream and throw a fit? But, she did none of those things. She was adorable. The costume went all the way down to her ankles and when she walked, she looked like she was waddling; it was the cutest thing! She did such a great job in her costume and while we hauled her around to visit all of the family. Great Grandma even snuck in a chocolate treat...which somehow managed to stay on her face and hands and not get even a speck on her costume. But after making our rounds, she was tuckered out. We didn't even make it to Auntie Carly and Uncle Josh's before she fell asleep!
Sophia carrying the pumpkin Grandma Sue picked out for her
Checking out the insides of a pumpkin
Uncle Josh's, Aunt Carly's and Our Pumpkins
Daddy and the Bumble Bee
Great Papa and GG (Great Grandma) on Halloween...just before they snuck her a kit-kat!!!!
Passed out on the way home from visiting all the family10 Months with our Love Bug:
Dear Sophia,
On November 12th you turned 10 months old. Every time we look at you we are amazed and overwhelmed by our love for you. You are one amazing little girl. Always watching, learning and imitating just about everything you see us doing. Which is just so cute, mind-boggling, and scary all at the same time. It's like we can literally see you growing up, right in front of our eyes.
Just this week, I followed you, as I have been for the past month, as you walked into your bedroom. On this day, you walked in, looked at your toy basket and decided to pick up the plug to your humidifier, and began poking it at the wall. At the same instant I was amazed and full of fear. Your innocent little acts of imitation show us that you are constantly learning. But they also show us just how much you pick up from the environment around you.
This latest discovery, on our behalf, has us both excited and scared for you. There are so many things in this world that you will be exposed to. Some of those things we are anxious for you to discover and experience, and we can't wait to be there when you do. Like all of the the interests you will have, and all of the hobbies you will be into, and the fads you will want to follow. But there are other things in life that we just want to shield you from, to keep you safe and protected.
We know that as we go through this adventure called parenthood, not only do you learn something new everyday; But we do too. It's definately a process of learning, one day at a time. And each day our love for you grows and grows. This past month, we had your Baby Dedication at church. It was such a special day, and you were showered with love from all of your family. But most importantly, your Daddy and I have made the decision to raise you to know Jesus. We know that we can set as best of an example for your life as possible, but nothing is as important to us as knowing that we are raising you in a Christian home. There are many times in life that we will do our best to help you, but mostly, there will be times that you will have to make your own choices. All we can do is raise you to make the best choices and follow your convictions and leave it up to you. But we're confident that as you grow, you will make some mistakes and learn from them. We promise to be there to guide you when you need it, and to let you make your own choices in life when you are ready. We love you more than you'll ever know.
Love Mommy & Daddy
2 Thanksgiving Dinners
(Thursday with the Taylor Family and Friday with the Sterk Family)
(Thursday with the Taylor Family and Friday with the Sterk Family)
