Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today was Pat's birthday. It was great celebrating his birthday with Sophia for the first time.


Here a few pictures of his birthday cake. We decided to let Sophia try some cake for the first time. We figured she would be trying some cake for her first birthday next month so why not?

 

 Pat was just going to feed her some cake. But then she saw...

...G'Bob's cake so she "swiped" it right off his plate. 

She loved her cake but we took it away and she grabbed another piece and Mommy screamed and made her cry. :/

It just shocked me that she took the cake. I didn't mean to make her cry. But, how sweet is this face?


 

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I got to spend time with Sophia on her first Valentine's day! Now, that is sweet! We are so blessed. 

This is the first year I have not been teaching. I kind of missed seeing my kindergarteners and doing Valentine's day activities. I have some sweet memories of my little ones giving me Valentines. I miss how their whole face would light up when they me a Valentine. :)

I watched my niece Dylyn today for a few hours. So, Sophia and Dylyn got to play together.

Tonight the three of us went to dinner at a fun Mexican restaturant. I love Meixcan food. 

 Opening her Valentines...I think she liked the lens cover the best.

Harpers Ferry Adventure

Today we decided to take advantage of the sunshine so we went out for the day. We went to one our favorite outdoor spots-Harpers Ferry.

 On the way to Harpers Ferry we stopped at a bakery because there was a sign that said, "fresh kinklings". We've never bought kinklings before so we thought it would be a fun start to our adventure. They were really good.

 I just love how her little baby feet are poking out.

 He was showing her the water in this picture. He also showed her some rocks. I just love how he teaches her to explore.

Family shot

She was sleeping in this photo. So cute!

Today was such a fun day. We went hiking at our favorite place. Patrick actually proposed here 5 years ago. It was still a little chilly but the sun was shining. We used to come here and hike a lot before Sophia was born. Although I have a feeling we will be coming here more this spring and summer. I'm looking forward to some good hikes. :)

You can check out more about Harpers Ferry here:
 http://historicharpersferry.com/

Other activities that we've done here:
1. tubing
2. white water rafting
3. I love the unique restaurants and gift stores

Ice Sculptures

 Just a few pictures from the weekend...

 Sophia making faces while eating puffs.

Patrick and I had a date night Saturday night. Downtown Frederick had "Fire & Ice". I had to get my picture taken with the Hood College sculpture. I graduate in May with my Master's degree from Hood.

 We also had to stop and make s'mores.

Patrick didn't want to be in the picture.

Sophia's first field trip to the Baltimore Science Center

The four girls :)

 Love this girl!

Her "favorite blanket" aka my shirt. :)

Just a few pictures from today. We had a great time at the Science Center in Baltimore. I'll admit I was nervous traveling to Baltimore alone with Sophia but everything went well. Very thankful! It was a gorgeous day but extremely windy. But at least it was not raining or snowing. 

Seeing the exhibits at the Science Center brought back so many memories of visiting it as a child. Oddly enough many of the exhibits look the same. The dinosaur exhibit by far was the most fun. I wish we had been able to spend more time with the "dinosaurs".

So, now this trip makes me want to go on another field trip. Where should we go next? Where would you go?

Belated birthday gift

Thankful for the people in my life...

Saturday I got a facial. It was a wonderful birthday gift from my husband and his family. I don't do things like this for myself very often. It was so refreshing and rejuvenating to go to the spa. I like to take care of my skin. What spa treatment would you get?

My mom came over Saturday morning for a visit. It was so nice to have her over and to play with Sophia. 

My father-in-law came for a visit in the evening. He brought fruit to make smoothies. I love smoothies-they are so healthy!

This past fall God really put the words "less is more" in my heart. It's certainly true. Since I am not working this year we have cut down on expenses. We also don't have the time to go out as much as we used to before Sophia was born. However, the things that we do are much more special.  It just makes me a little more aware of how family visits are truly wonderful. I savor the special treats like a facial that happen now and then.

I think it's truly important to say thanks to God for the things in your life. What are you thankful for?

 I love impromptu photo shoots. These pictures were taken at my church. We were waiting for Pat to finish stacking chairs in the sanctuary after the service. We were waiting for him in the lobby. However, Sophia was desperate to get to him. So I took her to the sanctuary and held her hands so she could stand up. She was so proud of herself standing and watching all the movement of the chairs being stacked. Then after the chairs were put away we played some "basketball". Well, she had fun dribbling and shooting for the basket with her daddy. 

How did I lose the baby weight?

I am an extremely active person. I love to be outside. I'm so glad Sophia was born in March because the weather soon became nice and we were able to get outside. 
 
What activities helped lose the baby weight?
1. Breastfeeding :)
2. I walked every day. You can't work out for the first 6 weeks after the birth but I did try to walk when I could during this time. Then after 6 weeks I made it a point to walk every day. She still loves taking walks in the stroller.
3. When she was 4 months old I got a Bob revolution running stroller. I LOVE this stroller and highly recommend this stroller if you are a runner or want to be one. :) She got a morning nap while I got a morning run. We love our runs in the stroller.
4. Stroller Strides class. Stroller strides classes are held all over the United States. It's a way to get a work-out with your little one and meet other mommies with little ones.
5. Spin class. I didn't start going back to spin class regularly until she was about 6 months old because of the demand of breastfeeding.
6. Jillian Michaels 30 day shred work out dvd is great. There are 3 levels of intensity. So, you can decide if you want to really challenge yourself and do level 3 or take it easy on yourself and do level 1. The work out is only 20 minutes long so you can tell yourself the work out will be over in 20 minutes. It incorporates strength, cardio, and abs. I also like that it's only 20 minutes because sometimes I can do the dvd with Sophia. Sometimes she plays with her toys while watching me.
7. Mommy & Me yoga. I started this class when Sophia was 5 months old. I love mommy & me yoga. However, since Sophia is crawling she has kind of out grown the class I was taking. 

Work-outs I'm looking forward to this summer:
1. Swimming
2. Bike rides outside :) 


My biggest piece of advice is be kind to yourself. Don't stress yourself out about losing the weight. I used to work out so much before Sophia was born but there are more important things in life. My little one keeps me busy and she is much more important than a work-out. It's nice that my husband is supportive and knows that a quick work-out break makes me a better mom.

Mommy & Me Yoga 

 One of our morning runs this past fall