My Best Friend is Moving to Dallas

As you all know I created this blog to keep in touch with family and to share stories about Sophia. However, this blog is going to be a little different. My best friend of 17 years will be leaving Houston and headed to Dallas to start a new chapter in her life. I am so excited for her but at the same time I am going to miss her immensely!

I will never forget the day she called me to tell me that she had been offered the job in Dallas. I kept my composure over the phone and told her that I was happy for her. As I hung up the phone I just started crying. I went to tell my husband and I couldn't even get the words out but somehow he knew and he just held out his arms and I cried on his shoulder. When I finally was able to talk and told him that Angie was moving to Dallas his response was,"are you going to be ok?" I just looked him and said, "No, but I guess I will be putting some miles on my car." He made a comment that he never could understand our friendship but that he was jealous of our friendship. It was in that moment that I knew I had something that most people did not have, a true friend.

For the last 11 years Angie and I have worked together and I did not realize what a gift I had until the day she put in her notice at work. Even though I knew it was coming it was still very hard to swallow that soon she would not be down the hall from me. I can not put into words how difficult this is going to be for me so instead I am going to tell you a little bit about her and why she is a big part of my life. She is the kind of person that will tell you like it is even if the truth hurts because in the end you will be a better person because of her honesty. She is a compassionate person and will do anything for her friends. She is the life of the party who has never met a stranger. She is a strong individual who knows what she wants and goes after it. Other than my husband, Angie has been a constant in my life and I could not imagine my life without her. I know that no matter what happens I can always count on Angie to be there for me. I love Angie like a sister and I wish her the best in Dallas. I want her to know that she can always count me to be there for her whenever she needs me.

Before I go I do have to mention one other small tiny reason for the move to Dallas. His name would be Dustin. I have met him and believe me I wish I could say that I don't like him and that he is no good for Angie. However, he is probably the best thing that has happened to her in a long time. He makes her happy therefore I am happy. If anyone deserves to be happy it is Angie!

If you are friends with Angie then you should feel honored that your life has been blessed by this wonderful person. If you do not know Angie, that is your loss!

So I am not going to say goodbye. I am going to say, "See ya soon!"

Luv ya girl!!!

Breakfast: Bag or Bowl?

The decisions that kids have to make these days. Every morning I ask Sophia what she wants for breakfast and she is very specific. For example, here are some of the things she asks for:

1. One blueberry waffle in a bag, three sausages in a bag and syrup in a cup.
2. One big donut and one sausage kolache. No little donuts.
3. Jelly sandwich (no butter) in a bag.
4. Cereal in a bag and put it in a bowl when we get to school.
5. Cereal in a bag, no bowl.

These are just some of the things she has had in the past few weeks, but lately she has been wanting just cereal. However, there is much drama if I put in a bowl versus a bag. It changes daily. She definitely keeps me on my toes. She is only 3 and she knows what she wants and how she wants it. The only thing that I have to worry about is keeping the Ziploc bags in stock. Can you imagine if I ran out of Ziploc bags? She would probably look at me and say "seriously"!

Long Time, No Blog

Well it has been about 4 months since my last post. So I thought I would give a little update. Sophia turned three on February 7 and her party was great! She got lots of dresses to keep her happy for awhile. She is growing up so fast. Everyday she is doing something new. Some of her new sayngs are: actually, seriously and your making me a headache. You don't realize how much you say a phrase until your 3 year old repeats. The other day I asked her to pick up her room and she looked at me and said "seriously momma" and I just said right back to her "seriously". She still loves to dress up in her princess outfits and is very girlie. Now she is watching cartoons that we watched when we were little, Tom and Jerry, Spiderman and Batman. The other night she went to Steven and asked him to watch Tom an Jerry with her and he happily obliged. You can't pass up that kind of invitation. I think Steven laughed harder than she did. It was a great moment! At one pont Sophia said, "that cat is funny". We just laughed and smiled ar her. It was like we were reliving our childhood days. Also, now that she watches Spiderman and Batman she is into the superhero theme. The other day she came to me and said I need my superhero outfit. I thought to myself, what is her superhero outfit. Well, here it is:

Yes folks it is "Super Princess". She runs around the house in her heels and acts like she is riding her horse. It is so cute! She definitely has an imagination and I think it is awesome! Her next adventure will be swimming. She loves the water and she will start swimming lessons in July. I can't wait to tell you all about her swimming adventures! I promise it will be sooner than four months!

Home Sweet Home

I returned from New Orleans last night and even though I was exhausted I had a blast with my friends. It was nice to get away and spend time with my friends. Obviously I love being with my husband and daughter but there is nothing like a good time with your friends. Well, enough about me because we all know it is all about Sophia. When I got home Sophia was already in bed and Steven looked exhausted. It looked like she decided to decorate the house with her shoes and dresses. It was funny becuse there was one shoe in our bedroom, one shoe in the bathroom, a dress in the living room and a shoe in the kitchen. I thought to myself, I have been there and believe me you just leave everything where it is because she will come looking for it as soon as you put it away. I was sad that she was already in bed but I knew I would see her in the morning. When I got up this morning I took my shower and ran into her room and said," Good morning phia bia" and she rubbed her eyes and held out her hands and said, "I missed you momma." Then she hugged me and we sat there for a few minutes. So we did our normal routine and went into the living room to watch Mickey while I got dressed. After I got ready then I went to get Sophia a couple of dresses to pick from because she will not let me pick her dresses. When I brought the dresses out she said, "Momma you pick" I about fell over. I could not believe that she actually wanted me to pick her dress. So we got dressed and I cooked her breakfast. Her breakfast consist of Ego French toast sticks in the toaster oven. I am the best cook ever!!! We gave daddy kisses and we were off to school. It was a great morning!

New Orleans Here I Come....

I am headed out for a girls weekend in New Orleans. That's right folks. Steven is going to be alone with Sophia for three whole fun filled days. I don't know if many people have heard the story of when I went to Vegas last year and left him alone with her. Let's just say there was lipstick involved! Anyway, I know he will do fine with her. She is just a very busy little girl these days. Steven is just so relaxed when it comes to her and I am just so stressed that something is going to happen to her. We have two different styles when it comes to watching her. I watch her like a hawk and he just goes with the flow. When Steven wants to know what she is doing he simply calls her name. If she answers she is fine. If she does not answer then he will go check on her. I should probably be more like him and let her be independent but I know the one time I do not pay attention I would probably find her jumping on my water bed with my high heels creating an indoor swimming pool. Then Steven would have a story to tell people about me. Folks, this can never happen. So as I begin packing for my trip I can only imagine what this weekend will be bring for father and daughter. Tune in this Sunday to find out how Steven weathered Hurricane Sophia by himself.

P.S. I am hiding all the makeup in the house!!!

Dress or No Dress?

After work, I headed to the daycare to pick up Sophia. I was anxious to see how her day went. I was hoping that she behaved and she could go back to wearing dresses. As I walked in the daycare, there was Sophia in the hallway with the other kids. Without even prompting her she ran to me and said, "Momma, I not bite my friends and I say sorry to Ms. Liz. Now I can wear a dress!" I knelt down and gave her a big hug and a kiss and told her that Momma was very proud of her and that since she behaved at school she would get to wear a dress! We got in the car and we headed home. The whole way home Sophia kept repeating, "Momma, I get to wear a dress and my tiara." I told her yes. I think that car ride seemed forever and the daycare is only 10 minuted from the house. We got home and she ran to the door. I couldn't get my keys out fast enough. She ran to her room and this is what she put on:

As you can see, she is a very happy girl! I am very proud of her and I am definitely going to bask in the moment of our success. But I know it is short lived and our next hurdle is right around the corner. Stay Tuned!

Bite or Not to Bite

Well, I picked Sophia up from school yesterday and she had bitten one of her friends. Apparently, she wanted a toy that the little boy had and when he would not give it to her she bit him on the cheek. Apparently, it was bad because all the directors and teachers knew about the incident. I was so upset that my daughter would actually do this. On the car ride home I found myself thinking about all the times that she was bitten when she was 1 and how I felt about the kid her bit her. Now I was the parent that had to deal with the biting. I did not know what I was going to do. When we got home her daddy and I sat her down and talked with her about the incident. For some reason she could not communicate to us about what she had done. Finally, she admitted to what she did and we told her that biting was wrong and she needs to share the toys with her friends. So we all ate dinner, she got a bath and she was off to bed for the night. We did not let her play with any of her toys or watch any movies. I told Steven that I think the only leverage we have over her is that she likes to wears dresses, ao we would not allow her to wear a dress until we got a good report from school. This morning she was hesitant to wear the pants but she put them on. As we were going to daycare Sophia said, "Momma, I not going to bite my friends and I listen to Ms. Liz and I get to wear a dress." I thought to myself maybe this will work. Here's hoping.

New Year / New Adventures

It is amazing that once you have kids that is all you talk about. Sophia will be three in February and I know that this year is going to be even more eventful than last year. Here is an update and a few stories:

We started off our new year in Colorado! We visited my sister-in-law, brother-in-law and new nephew. Sophia rode a plane for the first time and she did GREAT! I let her sit by the window thinking that this would keep her occupied. When we took off in the air Sophia turned to me and said "Momma, we are leaving Earth!" I just giggled and told her that we were not leaving earth and that we were going to Colorado to see Aunt Lynda, Uncle Rob and baby Levi. I was amazed that she came up with that all on her own. After that, she slept the rest of the flight, yeah for me! Once we landed, Rob and Lynda picked us up from the airport and we were on a way to the Ranch. The drive was beautiful! Once we got to Estes Park, we headed up a mountain and we saw a herd of elk crossing the road. I thought to myself "really!" As we headed up the mountain I got nauseated and had to keep my eyes closed. However, Sophia kept me well informed about "all the rocks" and "all the trees". She kept repeating over and over "look at all the rocks" and "look at all the trees". Let me tell you Colorado has LOTS of rocks and trees! We got to the ranch and it was gorgeous. When we got there it was was about 40 degrees on Thursday and we mostly slept because of the traveling. We woke up Friday and there was still no snow, but it was Uncle Rob's birthday. So we went into town and did little shopping. After dinner, Steven and Rob played Wii and I held Levi while Lynda ate. I remember those days but now Sophia just hovers by our plates asking for food like we don't feed her. That night we watched the weather and snow was expected for Saturday. We woke up Saturday and there was SNOW! Sophia was so excited and she could not wait to go play in the snow. Thank God for Aunt Lynda. She bought Sophia snow gear. Steven took her out. Here are some pictures:

Sophia loved the snow. She threw snowballs, rode on a sled and rode a horse. We were able to play in the snow on Sunday as well. Here is a picture of their backyard:

We had a blast! We loved our visit with them. Especially, with Levi. It is so awesome to be an Aunt. He is the sweetest little boy. It almost makes me want to have another one! I said "ALMOST!" He was such a good baby. He reminds me a lot of Sophia when she was little. Oh the memories of diapers and restless nights.

Steven and I want to say thank you to Rob and Lynda for their hospitality. They made it feel like home. We had great meals and an awesomely huge birthday cake. Sophia loved hanging out with her Aunt and Uncle. She knew Levi was there but she was more interested in the snow. However when Levi cried she made sure to let Aunt Lynda know that he needed some milk. We were very sad to leave but we will definitely go back.

We got back to Earth on Monday, January 5 and got back to our normally routine. At the end of the day when I was putting Sophia to bed she sweetly said, "Momma, thank you for the snow." I gave her a kiss and told her "your welcome".

Here is a short video of Sophia in the snow:

New Way to Communicate

I thought I would copy my sister-in-law and brother-in-law and create a blog. Since they moved to Colorado they created a blog to keep in touch with their family and friends. So I thought I would do the same. I also forgot to mention that they just had a baby in November! My nephew was born on November 6. I am finally an Aunt and I am waiting patiently to meet him. I wanted to create this blog so Rob, Lynda and Levi could be entertained by what their niece does everyday because in Sophia's World everyday is a new adventure.

Sandy