Time

So, perhaps this poem is "overdone" but this is the first time I experienced it in its entirety. Granted, right now we only have one little one, but I think about this all the time. Especially as she is eating lots of solids so our nursing time is coming to a close, and she is starting to look more like a little girl than my little baby. I stole it from one of my mom blogs, momopoly.

“Song for a Fifth Child (The Value of Values) “
by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth!
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing and butter the bread,
Sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking!

Oh, I’ve grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(Lullabye, rockabye, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(Lullabye, rockabye, lullaby loo).
The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew
And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo,
But I’m playing Kanga and this is my “Roo.”
(Lullabye, rockabye, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
But children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs;
Dust, go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby,
And babies don’t keep.

I'm off to play with my little baby while she still is one. Luckily, she still finds (folding) playing with the clean clothes enjoyable! :)

Our . Stinkin. Cute. Baby!

I know, I can barely handle her cuteness either! :)

Father's Day 2011

Well here it is! I bought these two hats and Sophia's apron at JoAnn's, and then I bought the ribbon, little frog, and puff paint. Then my dear Sister in Law Tessa helped me put it all together. It was a blast - and both Shaw and Sophia love it!

Sophia's hat says "Daddy's Sous Chef" and Shaw's says "Chef Daddy"

House

Well, in 32.5 hours we will be closing on our first house.

We are very excited.

It is a cute little 3 bed, 2 bath ranch with a full unfinished basement, 3/4 fenced in yard and a 1 car garage. BUT IT WILL BE ALL OURS!! At least it will be in 30 years after we pay off our mortgage.

The first two places we lived after we were married were houses. Our first was a cute 2 bed 1 bath house with hardwood floors, stain glass accents and french doors. Don't be fooled - it was a dump. We lived there for the first 6 months until we realized we didn't want the washer and dryer in the kitchen (literally, IN the kitchen, next to the cabinets) and we didn't want to live with the front yard perfectly vertical, nor did we want to live next to druggies with HUGE angry dogs.

The second house was better - a 1.5 story, 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. It was a hallway house, that had a special little bonus - RODENTS IN THE BATHROOM (and bedroom). We are talking LARGE ANIMALS. Feel free to click the link for further details.

Then, we moved out of Atchison (thanks be to the high heavens) into a pleasant 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, 1,000 + sq. feet apartment. It was a lovely time, living between my sister on one side, and my sister-in-law, her husband, and our niece/goddaughter. That is, until my sister got robbed at gunpoint, and SWAT teams raided our gay/druggie neighbors at 6 AM (sophia slept through it all).

And now, what do we have to look forward to? Our own, little, beautiful, quiet ranch. 10 minute walk to Holy Cross, with a garage (that we never have had before), that we can plant a large garden in (Shaw is struggling to hide his excitement), play with Sophs in the backyard, FINALLY be able to host fun parties/bbq's (esp. Shaw's kegger/graduation party coming up in May) and raise our family.

It has been an adventure getting to this point in our lives. Could a person be happier or more blessed? I have a husband that I am head-over-heels in love with, the smiliest, charming little daughter, I am surrounded by fabulous friends and supportive family, and now we will be moving into our little home where Sophia can play in the sprinkler.

I would be hard pressed to imagine life better than this.

More Pictures

Here are some fabulous pictures from our dear friends Nate and Nila. We went to South Lake Park which is very close to our new house (15 days!). We have great memories of taking our Friday afternoon picnics here when I was pregnant. We did the photo shoot after walking around openind day of the OP farmers market, and afterwards we ate at our local burger place, the Snak Shack. It was a great day with friends!

St. Patrick's Day

We spent Sophia's first St. Patrick's Day over at the Henderson's Casa along with Nila's little sister Anna. We had a great time watching basketball and eating delicious Irish food, along with Nila's AMAZING Irish Car Bomb cupcakes. Seriously, there is nothing better than those cupcakes!

Nate was kind enough to shoot a few family photos for us, and they turned out SUPER cute!

Updates

So, our Sophia is growing, growing and growing! Such a beautiful little girl we have,

We have start the house hunt! We are in quite the time crunch, and it is a very frustrating process, but hopefully soon we will find the home of our dreams! At least a place with a nice kitchen (for Shaw) a great backyard (for Sophia.....and Shaw) and lots of rooms for kiddos!

Here are a few photos for your enjoyment.

Sophia and Hagar the Hungry Hippo - her Valentine's Day present from her daddy.

She is bigger now, and really does ALMOST appreciate it. However, in this picture, she really didn't understand what she was supposed it do! :)

Does this picture really need any description? Only that this was one of 7 bottles that we owned!

SNOW DAY!

CUPCAKES!

Sophia