Pretty in Pink

Sophia is such a girly girl and looks SO pretty in pink! Here's a glimpse at the last week of her perfectly pink life.

I used my flowers from Valentine's Day to practice making a floral crown for Sophia's whimsical and feminine birthday party full of fairy tales and unicorns. Hopefully, I don't drop the ball on her birthday party this year. Sorry for the blurry photo.

Sophia and her Build-A-Bear friends! She loves them. And she loves flowers!

Sophia, how does a squirrel eat?

A dress full of animals for a little girl that loves animals? Genius!

GO!

 Johnny's family drove through town today and stopped by for a quick lunch with us. I finally got a picture of all the cousins. How cute are they?

And, of course, we had to stop at the park on the way home. 

The dinosaur is her favorite.

What's next for us? Well, we are looking for a place of our own!! Hopefully we'll be all settled in time for Sophia's birthday. I've had my dream home decorated in my head for some time now ;)

We're also ready to tackle potty training, move Sophia into a big girl bed, and hopefully find a swim class for Sophia. Happy Friday and have a good weekend!

Oh Happy Day

Other than Sophia's little cold, we are having the best weekend.

We celebrated Valentine's Day with Sophia Thursday night with dinner and a trip to Build-A-Bear. Her favorite part was picking out the "heart heart!" for Ellie the Elephant. It's the pinkest, girliest, little elephant you've ever laid eyes on, and she loves it. She calls her Heart, gives her kisses, and shares her milk with her newest friend. Sophia sure does love stuffed animals.

Friday, we took advantage of the warm weather and headed to the park for a two-mile walk. 

We stopped at the playground along the trail. Sophia started squealing the second she saw it! P.S. She LOVES her kitty shoes and usually cries when we try to take them off.

Her favorite part was running and jumping up and down on the playground bridge. I just die for her little giggle.

It was so much fun, and we can't wait to do it again before the Houston heat kicks in. At that point, we'll only go outside for pool time…woohoo, can't wait!

Before heading out for Valentine's dinner, we attempted to take some family pictures. Obviously we are incapable of that. At least Johnny and Sophia had some super cute father-daughter moments.

And while I worked today, Johnny and Sophia had more father-daughter time. He picked out a little pink soccer ball, and Sophia had the time of her life playing in the backyard.

Hahaha that ponytail gets me every time :)

Sassy Sophia

Recently Sophia has been incredibly sassy…finger waving, fake crying, and all. 

My sister even captured her fake cry.

Then she'll turn on the sweet and charm her way into anything.

It's so cute until I tell her no, and she gets angry. She'll literally start shaking and biting anything…ANYTHING…toys, books, her shirt, her sippy cup, etc…in sight until she calms down. I'm a little concerned about the biting and how to redirect her frustration. I don't even know where she learned to bite like that.

And then, just like that, she's fine. And shrieking and giggling again.

Oh and Sophia went on a play date last week. How cute are these three?!?! I'm so glad I met Karina and Marissa, and I look forward to our monthly play dates!

(Photo courtesy of Marissa)

We're Back!

I've taken quite the blogging hiatus, but we're back!

Sophia is growing and changing so quickly. And talking up a storm. She knows (and understands) so many different words and phrases in both English and Chinese. "Ariel" and "thank you" are the newest additions to her vocabulary.

Her favorite phrases are: "Where's mama? Where's dada? Mama? Dada?" 

"Where'd it go?"

"I want eat eat eat."

"I want sit."

"Let it goooo…." (when she's singing to the Frozen soundtrack)

Communicating with her gets a little easier every day, but, of course, there's still phrases that only Sophia understands.

Every morning, Sophia grabs a couple hair ties, pats her head, and plops down in my lap for some pigtails. They usually last about thirty minutes before she rips them out. It's a love-hate relationship. I'm just excited that her hair is finally growing. Maybe people will finally stop asking me if she's a boy or a girl.

She loves going to the park. The slide is her favorite and always puts a huge smile on her face. She also loves going to feed the ducks with my dad. This girl has a soft spot for ducks and dogs.

She's attached at the hip with her Snoopy. We recently added Ariel, the Disney princess bear, to her stuffed animal collection during her Build-A-Bear play date. (I learned during this play date that although it takes her awhile to warm up to people, she's super friendly and loves giving her baby friends lots of hugs.)

We're starting her Disney education young in preparation for our Disney World trip early next year. I can't wait! My family used to visit Disney World every other year, and I used to think it was the most magical place in the world. I hope she thinks it is just as magical.

I'm looking forward to everything that 2014 will bring for our family. Sophia turns two (eek!) this year, and every stage gets better and better. But before that, we have to tackle potty training. My goal is to give it a try in two weeks. Wish me luck and lots and lots of patience!

18 Months

This post is a bit delayed because Sophia turned 18 months last week! I've been a bit preoccupied between working Black Friday and a week of the stomach flu hitting every person in the house. And a mom fail? I wasn't able to get her in for her 18-month-check-up until...January. Oops!

Age: 18 Months!

Favorite Foods: Cantaloupe, Broccoli

Favorite Words: "Wo wo" for dog

Favorite Toy: Snoopy

Favorite Activities: Riding her new bike, Watching Vine videos, Helping out :)

Least Favorite Activities: Going to sleep without mommy AND daddy in bed with her

Nicknames: So, B

Signature Moves: Blowing kisses, Putting her hand under her chin & saying "cheese"

Biggest Change Since Last Update: She is able to communicate everything she wants with us even without saying a word. From our room, she'll pull me to the baby gate, throw her arms up to be carried down the stairs, and point at what she wants once downstairs. That's not to say that her vocabulary has remained stagnant. It has grown significantly, and she can put together some phrases. Her understanding of everything we say is pretty incredible as well.

Here's some photos of her riding her new bike. She doesn't have the hang of moving her feet to get around, so sometimes she just pushes it along. P.S. Yes, that is my favorite shirt on her.

Hi Friend!

Hi friends! Worst. Blogger. Ever. When I'm not at work (holiday season has taken over the retail world, eek!), I'm running after this crazy lady. Her current obsessions are fuzzy slipper (the white ones on her feet & the duck ones for her hands), drinking from water bottles, and hoarding my EOS chapsticks & bouncy balls in her puppy purse. Love her and all her craziness!

Suggestions?

For some time now, I've been considering opening up my own handmade shop to bring in some extra money and to eventually be able to stay home with Sophia. The only problem is I can't decide exactly WHAT I should make. I absolutely do not want to do anything that has already been perfected and "taken" by someone else. I hear about copycats in the homemade community so often, and it's not even something that I want to be involved with. So I turn to y'all...what do YOU want that you feel is an untapped area? I'd prefer to stay in the baby girl market :)