I....wanna rock and roll all night....and sleep all day!

Dear daughter Sophie,
Night time is for sleeping. Daytime is for napping. I, unlike you, do not have the luxurious lifestyle of being able to stay up all night and then spend the day at the babysitter, sleeping from 9 - 12, and then again from 1:30 - 3. I have to work with crazy 11-year-old children who make me mentally and physically exhausted. Nap time is not allowed for mommy, because mommy likes getting a paycheck. Hey, how about tonight, you sleep between the hours of 2:30 - 5, ok? That would be swell.

Oh, also.....you're getting too big. Knock that off right now.

Looooove, Mommy

On another note, Sophie Lou is rolling from tummy to back all the time. Probably because she hates her tummy, so she has quickly learned how to get out of the torture situation. For the last few days, she has rolled about 75% of the way, and then stayed on her side for quite a while! Today she just talked, sucked on her hands, and hung out on her side for 30 whole minutes. Its funny. And cute. Most things she does are.

And the tradition lives on....

Ahhh, I love tradition! The Christmas season is my favorite time of the entire year, mostly due to traditions we honor year after year. On of the best is Wadsworth Christmas, which always includes lots of food, games, and laughing until someone pees their pants. Its usually Sara.

The Wadsworths are our family best friends. They were some of our first friends when we moved to Kansas, and Jessica and I were in the same 5th grade class. We looked amazing in 5th grade by the way. Doesn't everyone?
Wadsworth Christmas has taken place for many, many, many years. I don't know that we have ever skipped a year! In the early years, we made gingerbread houses. It didn't take long for that to become predictable, so we made gingerbread trains, cookie creations, and one year we forsake decorating all together and participated in the Christmas Olympics. This year, we had the challenge of depicting a Christmas song using candy and frosting. As usual, our team ROCKED it. I don't know if we actually won according to the rubric (oh yes, there was a rubric) but I'll just say we won.

Katie, Jessica, Tim, and Bryan working hard with sprinkles :)

Jessica gives a thumbs up while Katie concentrates

Sophie did not pull her weight AT ALL. She slept through the whole thing. Not a team player.

The old folks breakin' a sweat

The young folks hard at work

Ok, this is the parents' creation. Can you guess the popular Christmas song? Answers below!

Here is the young peoples' contribution

And the BEST one, OUR CANDY CREATION!

Answers
Picture 1: Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer
Picture 2: that dumb song about Christmas shoes and not having enough money to buy them
Picture 3: duh, O Christmas Tree!

Unrelated to Wadsworth Christmas, we played poker the next night. I just want you to note Tim's small sad piles of chips and my amazing winnings. I am a secret poker star.

Stalker Much?

Hi, my name is Tamara, and I'm a Pioneer Woman-a-holic. There, I said it. And I'm not ashamed of it really, I just adore that funny lady's blog. Its over there to the right under "My Blog List", go poke around for yourself. I want to write like her, I want to take pictures of food like her, I want 4 kids like her. Basically I want to be this woman's best friend. I love the friends I have, I just want her too. I don't think I want to live on a working cattle ranch, but that's just one way we will be different. I'm actually convinced that if I saw her on the street I would stop her and said "Hey Ree! Its me, Tamara!" and she would for some reason know who I am, even though I've never commented on her blog, and be my friend back. Then we would go shopping. For shoes. Or groceries. It would be fantastic.

Reality kicks in, so I just admire from a distance and read her musings and copy down her recipes. I made this tonight: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/12/spicy-lemon-garlic-shrimp/We ate it with pasta. My tummy is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

Super Duper Tutu!!

Our dear friends, Dac and Alisha, take amazing photos. Like, really good ones. I love them so much, they capture our little love bug so sweetly! You should check them out at http://dacandalisha.com/blog/. But first, look at my cute baby. You know you can't resist!

Tis the Season for Christmas Jammies

How cute are baby clothes? I mean seriously, footie jammies and sweet onesies with matching sweatpants, SO adorable! And lots of the clothes have little labels on the outside with little sayings like "Sweetheart" or "Cutie Pie" (just in case you forget how great your baby is, there is a label to remind you!) The holiday season brought so many blessings to our family, but one of my favorite things was the Christmas jammies Sophie Lou got to model. I leave you now with picture time.

Our little family

Sophie Lou and her Nana at church

3 months already!

Sweet Baby Sophie Lou,
I can't even begin to tell you how happy you make your Daddy and me. I just stare at you and giggle at how stinkin' cute you are.Your hair is getting more curly after your bath; when you are older I'll teach you my tricks to tame your curls. Sorry you got my hair love. You smile all the time, and you're staring to talk and tell us "stories" about your day and your life.We are figuring out that large groups of people stress you out; not taking after Mommy there, but once we are cozy at home with the 3 of us you are content :) You are just now outgrowing your 0-3 month clothes, and its time to move up to 3-6 months. Right on track! You are grasping toys and rattles now, and you love to stare at your hand. You also love mirrors; there's another baby to play with you!You are really good at sucking your thumb, and you almost prefer it to your paci now. I think you are just perfect and beautiful and I'm excited to give you little brothers and/or sisters to play with some day (not soon, but someday). Thanks for being my sweet baby!

Bumbo-rific!

I'm free! Well, just a little free. But I'll take it. My little love has found another place to hang out besides my arms: the all-powerful Bumbo chair! Before we had our little sugar dumplin' I took it upon myself to educate my husband on all things baby: don't put her to sleep on her tummy, burp her after she eats or she'll spit up on your sharp-looking polo, and the joys of both a Boppy and a Bumbo...which he still mixes up sometimes. She can finally hold her head up enough to chill out in the Bumbo and, like all things she does, she looks stinkin' adorable in it.


She does have a few factors working against her, first she hates being on her tummy, so I know her neck isn't as strong as it could be. I really do try to be a good mommy and put her on her
tummy at least once a day, but sometimes I can't stand to hear her cry on her tummy...its so pathetic! Second, she has chubby cheeks that rival the jowels of a bulldog, and I'm pretty sure they weigh her head down considerably. But now, big girl is doing great and I have my hands free to play Betty Crocker and domestically make cookies....let's be honest if you know me at all you know I don't make cookies. But I have hands free to EAT cookies. Mmmmmmmm :)