Vocabulary Development

As of her 2nd birthday, Sophie had 295 spoken words and 47 signed words. It is average for a child to have between 200-300 words by age 2. So Sophie is extraordinarily average.

Previous Quote of the Blog

The nine most terrifying words in the English langauge are, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."
--Ronald Reagan

Birthday Bonanza!

Neal and Sophie have their birthdays only a couple days apart so this weekend was busy with a lot of celebrating. On Saturday we started celebrating Sophie's birthday. We gave her a chance to run through the sprinklers but she wasn't that into it. Then she opened some gifts. These pictures are of her opening gifts from Aunt Kira and Uncle David in Colorado.

Then Mommy adorned her sweet 2-year-old with handmade bows befitting for the early Independence Day celebration later that evening. Isn't she a cutie?!

That night Sophie was presented with her rice krispy treat "cake." She needed zero coaching on blowing out the candles. In fact they were out before we could offer coaching or get a picture. After sampling her yummy cake, Neal and Sophie were off for an exclusive daddy/daughter date at the Allen, U.S.A. celebration. The Allen, U.S.A. festivities always are held the weekend before the 4th of July. This year attendees enjoyed a free concert by Smash Mouth. It was the first time the original band members were performing all together since 2005. They did a great job! Sophie had fun running around and dancing, spilling Sprite on herself, and becoming a darling, sticky, sweaty mess. Afterwards Neal and Sophie enjoyed the fireworks display.On Sunday evening, we enjoyed Oma and Opa's company. We ate enchiladas for dinner and Neal and Sophie were able to open gifts. Neal and Sophie were given a Transformers birthday cake (really more for Neal) and Neal got to lick the icing of truck and then transform it into Optimus Prime. Neal was also able to show off his new camera (that he has been saving up for for more than a year) to his Dad and Becky. This Monday night Neal will celebrating his birthday by going to see the Transformers movie. Thanks to all who sent birthday wishes to Neal and Sophie this year. We appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Our Lovable Kids

Okay, okay! So they aren't lovable all the time but we manage.
Sophie is actually mocking her little brother in the above picture. The teasing begins already.
She can walk better in high heels than her mommy. But she can't wear them out until she's 12 or 13.

Did somebody order a burrito?

So Long to Grandma

After a 3-week stay, Grandma Judy, Keri's mom, has returned to her home in CA. She came out to help us a couple of days after Rhys was born.

We just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for babysitting (to give us a break), giving both Neal and Keri back and/or foot rubs, changing diapers, bathing our kids, feeding Rhys (including consecutive midnight and 2 am feedings so we could sleep), soothing him, entertaining Sophie, helping Sophie adjust to our new family member, reintroducing Sophie to the potty, sweeping, doing dishes, taking out trash, cleaning toilets, folding laundry, clipping coupons, helping Keri through the baby blues, cooking meals, and treating us to See's candy, among many other seen and unseen acts of service. We appreciate you more than you know.

We also loved visiting with you and enjoyed our chats and laughs. You rock! We love you.

She's Growing Up So Fast

Sophie looks like a star in her new shades.

She also loves to help Mom and Dad shop by pushing her own little cart. She's sneaky though, so we have to make sure she doesn't add items on her own. Admittedly, she's not all that selective. On our last trip to the grocery store she tried to add Ensure. Mind you, no one in our house needs a meal supplement.

Blooms

A gentleman in our church was able to get his hands on ton on zinnias for free from a wholesales person who was going to be getting rid of them. We were happy to recieve two flats and beautified our front yard a bit.Also, we've heard of Christmas in July, but will late June do? Several trees in our front yard are in full bloom and with every slight breeze white petals lightly shower down like snow. It's lovely.

This week in photos

Let the good times roll! Judy, Keri's mom, is visiting us for her 3rd and last week. Keri, Sophie, and Judy attended the concert in the park again this week. We were happy to see many of our friends there. We also made it out to the park in the morning before the triple digit heat hit us.

Food Lover

So anyone who knows us, knows we love food. Here is Keri enjoying her favorite meal for her birthday, German sausage, red cabbage, and potatoes, served with applesauce. Yummy!

And our dear friend, Kari, made Keri a giant chocolate cupcake with turquoise frosting and a yellow sun. The blue was amazingly powerful! It stained Keri's tongue, teeth, and lips. And her mom had to get a picture because it was quite disturbing. But that cupcake was oh so good!

Keri Turns 35

We celebrated Keri's 35th birthday by visiting at Opa and Oma's house, playing in the pool, and being treated to delicious Bar-B-Q. The night was a lot of fun until it abruptly ended when Rhys covered Grandma Judy with projectile spit-up! We continue our celebration tonight with Keri's favorite dinner (German red cabbage, sausage, and potatoes) and yummy dessert provided by her mom, Judy. Thanks to all who called, emailed, and stopped by to offer well wishes.