We interrupt the Christmas posts...

...to bring you this special video. Lately I have been trying to do more arts and crafts things with Sophie. She's loving paint, glue, markers, play dough, etc. So while we were painting w/ her new watercolors from Kyle and Liesl, I took a little video. Obviously doing crafts w/ a 2 year old can be very nerve-wracking. I can't tell you how many close calls we had with the cup of water, but it's worth it to see our daughter using her creativity.

Speaking of creativity, she was eating a "Papa snack" tonight for dinner (my dad's preferred snack of Saltines with peanut butter) and decided to rub peanut butter all over her chin and cheeks and informed Erik, "Look, Daddy, it's my razor." It constantly amazes us how observant kids are - she picks up on things that we have no idea she's getting, even if she's a little confused about her terminology.

One thing that I think she's a little confused about is the strange things happening to mommy lately. She sees me walking around the house gagging and asks, "Mommy, does your tummy hurt?" She knows I'm sleeping a lot (and she's getting to watch a little extra TV), and for some reason we keep telling her she's going to be a big sister and there's a baby in my tummy :).

So that's the biggest news as of late - we're just about 11 weeks along and I'm feeling pretty good - just tired. I'm due in mid-August and am seeing a cardiologist in conjunction with my OB for regular check-ups to make sure that my heart is doing okay. I had an echo yesterday and things looked good, so we're all pretty optimistic, but we would really appreciate your prayers throughout the pregnancy.

Okay, here's the video:

An Alabama Christmas

Christmas #1 was celebrated in Prattville, AL at Erik's parents' house. We went down in mid-December, in conjunction w/ Erik's birthday, and had a long weekend with the fam.

Uncle Pete and his gorgeous locks - I'm seriously jealous of this man's hair.

With my see-uh-sters - Jenny and Liesl (or Weasel, as Sophie calls her).

The newlyweds

The ridiculous

Roger, the mountain man

Aunt Jenny

Erik's birthday - 28 going on 5

Sophie in her awesome new tree fort tent - Roger and Carol insisted they thought it was going to be small. Unfortunately it takes up our entire downstairs - just kidding guys - sort of.

Sophie's new monkey slippers

Gigi and Sophie watching "Harold and the Purple Crayon"

Um...

Sophie doing the "Snoopy" - after lessons from her father.

Eating some peanuts - I learned from a friend that it doesn't really matter how expensive a gift you give your child - you can get away with giving them a can of peanuts if that's what they love. And she does...a lot.

Christmas - Part 1

Well now that it's practically Valentine's Day, here is the first of several Christmas posts. These are just some misc. pics of Christmas events - our annual trip to the Opryland Hotel, Sunday morning w/ Sophie before church in her precious hand-me-down coat and hat from Alyse, and a cookie decorating party I had w/ some of the girls from church.

Thanksgiving and More

Back in early November we had some amazing weather, so we decided to do a little landscaping in front of our house. Sophie woke up from her nap and Erik dressed her and brought her down to help us plant some shrubs. So here are a couple of flashback pics of Sophie as she would have looked in the 80's. I seriously think I had that exact outfit when I was little.



For Thanksgiving we got to visit Erik's siblings and their spouses in SC. It was great seeing where they live and work and spending some quality family time.

Sophie having a little pre-Thanksgiving lunch turkey snack - courtesy of Gigi

The goods - prepared by Carol, Jenny and Liesl. We got there just in time to eat it.

Pete reading to us from Colossians.

It's like they're related

The whole clan - and a wild Sophie.

Typical Pete and Jenny behavior

Sophie got some fun birthday presents...

...which Kyle enjoyed playing with.

Here Jen is undoubtedly trying to convince Roger of some brilliant plan - the best idea ever (if you know her, you know).

Liesl with the greatest mother-in-law of all time, and incidentally, Liesl is pretty great too

Sophie was a little worn out on our last day so she took a nap in the living room while we played games. This was one of the closest things to a miracle that I've ever seen.

Our dear friends Danny and Rebecca came down to Charlotte to hang out on our last day. It was great to spend time with Beccs and Jenny - two of my closest friends from college.

Proof that Sophie is a Strode

This first video was shot a couple of weeks ago when Sophie was exhausted one mid-morning...it's such a perfect Strode moment to make her Papa and her Uncle Jo-Jo proud :)




And this one is a little bit of footage from Jared's football game:

Fall Fun

Now that it's getting close to December, I decided it was time to post some pics from October. The weather here has been amazing so we've spent a lot of time outside at our house. Here Erik is demonstrating one of his many strange talents. Of course Sophie immediately wanted to join him, so the next two pictures show him holding her up so she could "swing like a monkey."

This picture should be accompanied by the monkey noises she made.

In mid-October we went to the pumpkin patch with several friends from church. This was a really well-done farm with lots of activities for the kids and several farm animals for them to feed. It also included several opportunities for education, as seen below:

Sophie & Ava playing with corn

Ava playing peek-a-boo

Sophie was super excited to be there

Then she tried to hide in the corn and run away

Our good friends, Lindsay, Amber & Grandma Jan

Family picture attempt #1

Family picture attempt #2

Family picture attempt #3

Thankfully Grandma Jan got a good picture of our family for us. I also had to include one more that she took at her son, Jared's, football game. Sophie is a little bit in love with Jared, and since the game we hear "Go, Jared!" at least 5 or 6 times a day. So her face is extra sweet in this picture out of joy for seeing Jared play. Sunday when Erik was watching the Titans play I said, "Sophie, can you say 'Go Titans!'?" and she said "Go Jared!"