It's a....

Girl! Little Sophia was born in March and wow, has time flown by.

First time...

What an exciting week...not only did we ring in the New Year but we established many, many firsts for our family, mainly Saylor Lillie. New Year's Eve brought us our first snow fall. I'm not sure who was more excited, Saylor or Daddy. Daddy had been talking about taking his little girl sledding since the day she was born in a snow storm. Well, the time had finally arrived - hence, our first #1, a sledding experience. Needless to say, Daddy's expectations were short lived. Next, we moved on to First #2 - our angel made a snow angel. Basically, she made the angel and continued to roll in the snow for about 5 minutes. In an effort to divert her attention, daddy gave her - First #3 - a taste of snow. This was the demise of the day. She could not get enough and would not stop!

Unsurprisingly, the only way to ultimately lure her back inside was with bribery, snow for dinner.

First #4 followed with our Big Girl's second birthday party (a few days early). Since Nemo is the only movie she has yet to sit through, it was natural that we selected a Nemo Theme fete. Holding true to the theme, we had Nemo balloons, Nemo Cake, Nemo Pinata and even bestowed Nemo's (aka Beta's) as a party favor. Honestly, I think the pinata was Saylor's favorite only because of what it contained...suckers. I was pleasantly surprised how smoothly the party went, given the fact that 9 kids under the of 4, devoured cake, ice cream and punch. It's amazing our little girl is turning two...it's amazing how fast time flies.

Finally, to cap off our final firsts of the week, First #5 & 6. The introduction of a BIG GIRL BED. We've been waiting and waiting for the basement to be finished and her Big Girl room to be complete - the time had eventually arrived. It took over an hour to rock her asleep. The lengthy time stemmed from the fact that she is never rocked completely asleep - usually, just rocked for a few minutes then placed in her crib. But, my thought process was, if she was out, she wouldn't care which bed she was in. In the end, tucked into bed and coerced into pleasant dreams, she was asleep. And to finish the firsts for the week...#6, she stayed in her bed until morning!

Big Belly Girl

Look mommy, my belly is smaller... So, this is what 31 weeks is all about?? I swear I was MUCH smaller during my last pregnancy, although, I'd obviously suppressed all those memories.

Happy New Year

It's hard to believe that 2007 is here. Hope everyone has a Happy New Year and holds to the resolutions. Our resolution - eat more McDonald's!

Sucker from Santa

all month when asked "What do you want from Santa," Saylor replied with one request, a sucker. Well, her wish was granted. Ahh, the joys and jollies of childhood. The happiness that one, dum dum cherry flavored sucker, brought our child is something no one can bottle up or capture - her reaction was, as they say, priceless.

Thank you Santa! I hope your Christmas was as Merry as ours.

Merry Christmas!

Backtrack Blog

What do 21 kids, sugar cookies and Papa Bruce Santa equal - sheer madness with many memories. Last Friday we had a kiddo Christmas at my girlfriend Jen Walkers house. Santa arrived bearing gifts and a delivered a semi tedious "Twas the Night Before Christmas" story.
We had kids running in every direction. I welcomed the chaos and embraced the later 3 hour nap. I'm not sure if it was Saylor questioning the identity of Santa with a "is that Papa Bruce" or just the simple fact that all she wants for Christmas is a Sucker, but somehow, some way, she warmed on up to his lap and contently stayed. The afternoon ended with hopes of an unsoiled, spotless little princess dancing around in my head...Oh well, I guess you're only young once. :)

Ho Ho Ho

Well, a year's past and we're a LITTLE warmer with Santa. At least we didn't experience the outcrying debacle of last year's episode. See Photo 3 (sleeping Tatum is snuggled up on Santa's lap and Saylor is screaming, reaching for a getaway) . We enjoyed a lovely brunch (except this year they forgot the chocolate fountain, which is pretty much the only reason why I went) at the Country Club before racing off to K-State's debut of the infamous Bill Walker.

Pretty, Pretty Princess

A good luck kiss from daughter to Daddy before the wedding. Little Saylor Lillie surprised us all this weekend as she walked flawlessly, glitch free, down the isle as a flower girl in our babysitter's wedding. Josh and I beamed with pride, delight and shear glee.

We miss Kristen VERY much but are elated that her and Jon have found blissful happiness. It doesn't hurt that her little sister Mara is now a freshman at K-State.

The Big 30...

A family picture taken before Josh and I headed out for our date night.