2009: Year in Review

2009 was an eventful year at our house.

Here's a recap of my year:


January
Jake has a LUMP removed from his eye

February
I create some MONSTERS


March
We celebrated 5 YEARS together


April
We own a new HOME


May
Sophie now needs to do things BY HERSELF












Before .............................................................. After
June
Lots and lots of REMODELING


July
A new KITTY


August
We get a new baby SAM


September
Goodbye giant TREE


October
APPLE PIE seems appropriate for a 3rd birthday


November
DISNEYLAND

December
We enjoy a fun CHRISTMAS


And here's to 2010!
How was your year?


(visit my 2006, 2007, & 2008 if you wish)

Christmas 2009

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

Lots of family, lots of food, and lots of fun.

All last week, Sophie wrote a letter to Santa daily, asking him for a ball. When she found one under the tree, she grabbed it, yelled "YAY!!!" and ran around the house with it.

At Grandpa's house, she was surprised with a new Big Wheel. It's a good thing she has those long legs, cause she can already ride it like a champ.

As for Sam, he enjoyed days of being held constantly by various relatives.
Just what he wanted.

Bear?

Sophie was (is) such a blanket lover.


I think this time around we may have a bear lover on our hands. He's currently holding this bear, jabbing its eyes. True love.

Sibling Love

Today we're just hanging out at home.

Here's Sam

I have the hardest time taking a picture of Sam. For some reason, I can't capture him as he really looks in real life. (I've always wondered if I have the same problem with the camera, because I usually hate every picture that's taken of me.)


But today, I finally have pictures of Sam that look like he really looks. Thanks (again) to Ashley, I can finally have documentation of this little cutie.

It's Not Just the Hair

He's cute with a hat on too.

Sam Had Other Plans

My plan for this morning:

1. Feed Sam
2. Snuggle with Sophie
3. Lay Sam on my bed for Step 4 of my plan
4. Set up movie for Sophie & get her some warm milk
5. Give Sam a bath
6. Put Sam down for a nap

Sam's plan:

1. Eat
2. Lay on Mom's bed while she gets Sophie some warm milk
   
3. Fall asleep

The bath will have to wait.

We Went to Disneyland!

We went to Disneyland last week. Guess what. Sophie loved it. Weird, right?

Recap:

The boys all ready to go.


The Family.


Sophie's first ride of the day.
That's sheer excitement on her face.

Sophie's favorite ride was the Teacups. This is my favorite shot. All 3 additional riders are doing some sort of hand motion toward the camera, and Sophie's not sure what exactly they're talking about.

Sophie wearing her Minnie Ears.

(They're individual hair clips, not a headband or a hat like you normally see. And they were adorable.)

Mickey's house
You may recall the last time we visited Mickey's house:

It went a lot better this time.

And finally, here is a glimpse of what each character meeting went like:


She was totally excited to meet everyone until, you know, she actually approached them.

Yard Sale Day

It hasn't rained here for about 3 months. What are the odds that it'll rain on our garage sale?


Hmmm. Apparently, there was one rain cloud over our city on Saturday, singling out my house. Everyone that came to our driveway full of wet merchandise drove up in dry vehicles and commented on our soggy situation.


This is what we felt like:


But we had fun. And we all decluttered a bunch.

Blessing Sam

Our Families (sorry Cathy)

Last Sunday, Jake blessed our Samuel at church. Our bishopric encouraged us to make it an intimate affair, so we chose to only invite our immediate families. Jake did an awesome job, and Sam looked especially handsome. He wore the same outfit that Jake wore as a baby when he was blessed. Awesome, right?

This is my favorite picture from the day. It wasn't planned to look this way (we were trying to convince Sophie to stand up), but I think it turned out so perfect.

Then, about an hour later, we headed out to Danny & Lindsi's church to see Danny bless Baby Chase.


Here are the two baby cousins hanging out together (Sam on the left, Chase on the right). Or, as Ellie described it, "Two Chases!"

Halloween

Sophie went Trick or Treating for the first time this year. She was looking forward to it for a week, and practiced all the time to yell "trick or treat!" ("Fwi oh fweeee!"). We only went to a few houses around our neighborhood, but it was enough for her. As she was leaving one particularly good house, she exclaimed to me "This makes me SO HAPPY!" It totally made my day.














Note about the costume: We had a size 12 month duck costume from a previous event two years ago. I added yellow foam letters spelling "DUCK" down both sides, bought a pair of orange tights, and turned her into the Word World duck. Anyone with a 2-year-old got it, everyone else just thought she was a cute duck.

My Black Tie Optional Attire

Jake and I were invited to a Black Tie Optional wedding. As you can imagine, I had nothing to wear. And on top of that, it was nearly impossible for me to shop for it because I was growing increasingly big with child during the months leading up to it. And on top of that, have you ever tried to search for a cocktail dress with sleeves? Ridiculous.

Enter Stephanie.

She offered to make me a dress if I found a pattern. So I did (this one).

And this is what she turned it in to:


And here I am with my two handsome dates.


It was tons of fun to dress up for a night, eat good food, and see our good friends get married.

Wanted: Ducky

Sophie, age 4 months

This was Sophie's favorite first toy. It's a rubber ducky with a bunch of rubber tubes sticking out of it. We don't have it anymore and the exclusive store I bought it from three years ago no longer carries it. Has anyone seen anything similar? Or do you have one I could buy from you?

I think he might like it too.

The Sams

On Wednesday, Jake's brother Sam returned home from his mission in Argentina. Our Sam (who shares the same first & last name) prepared to meet him for the first time by dressing for the occasion.

Welcome Home Sam.

Apple Pie Birthday

A couple of months ago, Sophie proclaimed to me that she wanted apple pie for her birthday. Having never tasted or even seen a real apple pie before, I can only assume she got the idea from an episode of Word World.
Anyway, the idea stuck. Every time she talked about her birthday, she mentioned that she was going to have apple pie.

Who am I to disagree with that?

So, last Friday, we had all her local grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins over for her Apple Pie Birthday Party! I even made the pies from scratch.

Sophie had a great time (I think she ended up taking one bite of pie), and everyone there seemed to appreciate celebrating with pie instead of cake for a change.