Don't Pee on the Princesses!

That is our goal; Don't Pee on the Princesses. We are diving into potty training yet again this time with a little more seriousness. The first round a couple months ago didn't go so well because I don't think that Sophie was completely ready nor was I to be honest. I selfishly did not want her to be ready because I was not ready to venture into the world of public restrooms and all the other fun stuff that comes with potty training, but mostly it is the public restrooms, I am such a germ-a-phobe. I liked my carefree world with my child in diapers. I decided that it was time, I had to put my selfishness aside because Sophie was starting to show more signs of readiness; staying dry for longer periods of time, increasing interest in the potty, the ability to pull her pants up and down, and occasionally telling me when she peed. The real jump start came on Thursday when she stayed dry for over an hour and then peed on the potty! So here we are again, Sophie sitting on the potty and Neal and I sitting on the bathroom floor reading her a book or two while she attempts to pee in the potty for the simple reward of a sticker. She has brand new Princess underwear and Princess Pull Ups for when she is at school, so our new motto is, "Don't Pee on the Princesses" so far she is doing pretty good, but then again it is only 9:30am! She has had two accidents and one successful pee on the potty. The first accident she ran to her playroom and peed and looked quite shocked that she was soaked, the second time was a little less wet and she came to us and said, "Uh Oh I pee Ariel underwears" so I feel like that was progress since recognized the accident. The successful pee on the potty came when Neal had just put her in time out for not listening to him and she was crying and then said "Uh Oh pee, pee, pee, so Neal rushed her to the bathroom where she successfully peed in the potty! Go Sophie! So as of right now we are still in the Jasmine underwear or "Jabis" as Sophie calls her. So keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue on our potty training adventure!

So excited about her Princess Underwear!

Sheer joy on her face, all because of Princess Underwear!

Sitting on the "Big Girl Potty"

Daddy's New Toy

Neal is in his GLORY. He has a new camera that he is so excited about and of course he tested out the first shots on his little muse. The story of how Neal got his new camera really shows you how God has his hand in every little thing. He listed our camera for sale on Craigslist and he had about 5 people interested, but they were scams, they wanted him to send the camera to South Africa.....yeah OK, I think not. So after the scammers, Neal prayed that everything would work out so that he could move in the direction he wanted for '09 as far as photography goes. Low and behold the VERY NEXT day a local guy emailed Neal and asked if Neal would be interested in trading our camera for his camera, turns out the camera that this guy was offereing as a trade was the EXACT camera Neal was going to purchase with the money he made from the sale of our camera. God heard his prayer! Needless to say Neal was over the moon excited, I love seeing him so happy! The shots themselves are really nothing special, just Sophie being Sophie and having fun with her princess stickers and her "Nogurt" that is Sophie language for yogurt, but the quality of the pictures is amazing.

We go through at least a pack of stickers a day.

Showing Neal Cinderella.

Dinner time, spaghetti and yogurt.

Sweet Sophie.

New trick.

Amusing herself.

Some Day My Prince Will Come......

Sophie eagerly awaits Neal's arrival from work everyday the minute she hears the garage door open she says, "I hear Daddy, Daddy's home!!!" These are some really adorable shots he got of her at the window waiting for him, complete with her Snow White costume that she decided she wanted to wear after she got up from her nap!

Perfecto!

Neal's two co workers, Erin and Blake are headed off to Sundance film festival, yes that's right SUNDANCE!!!! YAY Erin and Blake. They entered a short 5 minute film into a world wide contest called Project Direct on YouTube where the public voted on all the submissions along with a panel of Sundance judges. Not only did they win the trip to Sundance, but they also get their film put on a DVD (along with the 2nd & 3rd place winners) to be distributed at the festival!!! Check out their hard work below!

You're So Vain

With a camera constantly in her face, naturally Sophie loves looking pictures of herself and is giddy with laughter when she sees a video of herself and must watch the video over and over and over again. Ahhhh the blatant vanity of a two year old. Lately, she has been really into watching a little movie that Neal put together a while ago of some footage from our April 2008 trip to Boston. Back story: Sophie, myself and my mom went up to Boston to visit with family and surprise my cousin, Jenn, at her baby shower and while we were there Sophie got reacquainted with her cousin Braedon and I was faithfully two steps behind with the video camera! They are only 5 weeks apart in age so it was a blast to watch them together. They were inseparable for the entire week we, it was so sad to tear them apart. I think that we have shared this video with everyone before, but she has been so hung up on watching it lately, demanding,"I watch Sophie and Braedon!" so I had to share again! I am getting a kick out of looking back at a mere 9 months ago and seeing how much she and Braedon have changed in the time between then and now. Enjoy......again!

*****DON'T FORGET TO TURN YOUR VOLUME ON/UP TO HEAR THE MUSIC********

Moustache Monday

While my husband is very, very talented, he is also a free spirit, which is why his job in the creative department of INSP fits him to a tee. Like Neal, many of his co workers are also free spirits, so in true form they decided to host their own Moustache Monday where they all grew out their moustaches, for what purpose I am not sure, and how they came up with and decided to do this, is also beyond me! The pictures of Moustache Monday speak for themselves! Keep in mind they do actually get work done......I think.

My Very Talented Husband

Anyone that knows my husband, knows that usually you don't see much of his face since he is typically behind his camera snapping pictures left and right of whatever it is we are doing, which is precisely why 2 years into Sophie's short little life we have surpassed over 14,000, yes that is right FOURTEEN THOUSAND pictures, of JUST Sophie! I love, love, love that we have so many pictures of her, I love to document everything and look back on the memories. I am so lucky that I have such a talented man behind the camera to capture the many wonderful moments that we have experienced with our little girl. We all know that Neal has a great raw talent and passion for photography, the way he frames everything up and captures everything just at the right moment, but lately he has been playing around with some new editing techniques that really make the pictures pop and stand out. I am loving the editing style. I am simply in awe of the passion that he has to pursue something that he loves so much, everyday I catch him researching new ways to make himself a better photographer, it is wonderful to see him enjoy something so thoroughly.

Yesterday (Saturday, Jan. 3rd), we met up with our friend Shane and his son (one of Sophie's best buds) Jackson, Sophie calls him "Jacksis", in Fort Mill at the Starbucks in Baxter Village. We had a blast hanging out and letting the kids roam around for a bit, Neal got some really great shots of the kids and really captured their little personalities. Check out some of the best shots from the day!

Sophie and Jax entering Starbucks like they own it!

Jax and his big beautiful baby blues.


Telling Neal, "I'm havin' a BIG cookie".


Checking out his hot chocolate.


Shane and Jax.


Wearing Daddy's glasses looking like Ralphie from "A Christmas Story"!!!






Best buds!

Crazy 1 and Crazy 2!!!