Counting Our Blessings

One.

Two.

Three.

And much, much more...

Happy Thanksgiving!

Previous Quote of the Blog

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

-Alton Brown quoting John Hammond

Cute as a Button

Mavs Game

Over a week ago, one of Neal's friendly co-workers offered us tickets to the Dallas Mavs vs Orlando Magic basketball game since her husband was not going to make it. So we, of course, accepted and our wonderful friends stepped-up to babysit and we had ourselves a fun date night. The Mavs, of course, lost but we had a great time.

Daddy Takes Care of His Daughter

So from the post below you know it was cold this weekend. Neal noticed that Sophie's hands were cold in the morning and went to town getting her properly warmed...

And a bit over-accessorized!

Cold Front Arrives

This is what it looked like when the cold front made its way over us this past Friday afternoon. We woke up to some very chilly weather on Saturday.

Sophie Quirks

When mom and daddy kiss, Sophie says "bye-bye" because one of us is usually on our way out the door. So it really catches her off guard when we just kiss for kissing sake.

Everything comes to a stop when Sophie's toothbrush is flashing it's red light (we turn it on after the brushing and it goes for 1 minute). When it goes off, we can easily remove it from her hand, say prayers, goodnight kisses, and sing a bedtime song before putting her down for the night.

Her new favorite accessory is her semi-empty bowl of food worn as a lovely hat.

When she hears good music she will put her hands up and make a kiss noise (her sign that she wants up) so mom can hold her in her arms and with one arm out dance around the room (ballroom style).

Our smarty pants loves to play a game where we spread out her flashcards on the floor (they are usually there anyway) and then say, "Where's the ___?" Then she will search for the picture and pick it up. She is right about 85-90% of the time. Hmmm, time for new flashcards.

When out running errands, if she see another toddler, even older and bigger than her, she will sign "baby" and point to them.

She says hi to everyone and even cars or mailboxes now and then. If dad is holding her, after a while of cuddle time she will lean in right in front of his face and give him a cheerful "Hi!"

We love the huge build up for a jump. It doesn't matter if it is a 2 inch step, she will squat down and hold her arms back preparing for the big jump and then gleefully step off the edge. No jump, just a wind up. But she is quite pleased with her "jump."

She hates having her noise wiped (like most toddlers) and if she sees me coming to her with a tissue, she runs and hides behind the lace curtain where I can't see her.

We are encouraging her to crawl into her car seat which she is doing pretty well most the time. This brings tears to our eyes and relief to our backs.

We love our Sophie!

In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

On the 7th of NOVEMBER, we saw TWO houses decorated for CHRISTMAS! One with its lights up and the other with two holiday inflatables on the lawn. That's nuts!

Problem Solved!

Brilliant! Grandma Susan sent us a bunch of clothespins to keep Princess Sophie's royal robes (blanket) on tight. See post http://nealandkeri.blogspot.com/2008/10/fun-with-sophie.html if you have no idea what is being referred to. Thank you oh genius of a Grandma!

Autumn Days

We are experiencing some wonderful, breezy, mild weather. The trees in our backyard have turned golden and are dropping their leaves in today's wind.

Fistful of red, armful of gold-
throw them up high and jump!
Bunches of scrunches
and crunches of color
land in a crinkly lump!
--Ann Burg
Below is a nearly 2 minute video of Sophie having some fun in the backyard. She likes to run through the leaves and listen to the rustling. This is 2 minutes of your life you will never get back again.

Celebrating Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone!