Life Without Daddy...

Travis is gone down to Texas this weekend, but will thankfully be back tomorrow.  This starts a long year of him being gone for various reasons.  It's always hard when he's not here and I guess I never really appreciate all he does around here until he is away.  I'm so thankful I have a husband who is willing to help me out in whatever I ask.  This has been the first time he has been away that Sophie has really taken notice too.  She loves to have her daddy to snuggle with in the mornings and play with when he comes home from work, I think she gets bored with me when he's not here!  She looked for him underneath our covers the other morning, it was too sweet.  She is definitely a daddy's girl!

To help time pass while Travis is away we sometimes just have to get out of the house so we go on walks around the neighborhood.  Yesterday, while on our walk, we saw pretty flowers, birds, trees and two antelope lying in a field.  Something I did not anticipate seeing was a giant RAT swimming in drainage trench that runs through the park in our neighborhood!  It was so disgusting and kind of freaked me out.  I mean he was right there at us.  I saw him as we were about to cross a small bridge, he went under and we quickly crossed to get away from him.  Needless to say, we won't be going through that park for a while!

Another thing I am trying while Travis is away is getting Sophie off her pacifier.  We'll see how this goes, I think I need to be the strong one here!

15 month check-up

We had a very busy day today.  It started out with Sophie's 15 month check-up.  She is still around 25 lbs and is 34 inches tall!!!  That's almost 3 feet.  I think she will be around 6 feet tall when she is older, we'll see!  She is very smart and the doctor was very impressed with her, which is always good to hear.  She had to get two more vaccinations today and was such a trooper when it came to getting the shots.  She even got to pick out a sucker in the end!

This was Sophie dressed up for church yesterday.  She liked wearing her bracelet and her silver shoes!  She's a very girlie girl, which I think is just great :)

This was Sophie a year ago...

This was today!  

What a difference, it's crazy how much they change!

SUMMER!!!

We certainly had a busy summer and I cannot believe that it is rapidly approaching its end!  We have been super busy and I thought pictures would best explain our summer :)

Mimi came out for a visit the week after Sophie's birthday.  Sophie really loved having her around and all to herself!

We went to a pool party for Pastor Dan's grandson, Cameron.

Sophie has learned how to play dress up.

Sophie and I went to NC while Travis was on a missions trip.  No one knew we were coming except for my older sister Vanessa and her family.  It was such a great surprise and we got to be there for my nephew Duke's 1st birthday!

Sophie really loved Shelby's cows!

Before we had to leave for Wyoming, we had a big cook out!

 We took Sophie to the Big Horn mountains for her first real mountain adventure.  She loved the water!

We've been trying to take advantage of all the warm weather by going on long walks and taking Sophie to the parks.  She loves to slide!

 Sophie road a horse for the first time when we were at camp.  She also turned 14 months old!  

She also really enjoyed playing with our friends Mike and Liz dog.

Just playing at home in between trips!

We decided to drive to NC this Summer instead of fly.  It was quite a long drive, but we got through it and Sophie was great.  We got her a DVD player to help pass the long hours.  I think we watched Curious George the most, I was just glad it kept her happy!

We stopped in VA on the way to NC to see Travis' grandma.

His mom was also there!

On this trip to NC we took Sophie to the beach for the very first time.  She absolutely loved to water and we had to keep a close eye on her as she would often run straight for the ocean.  I'm so glad she wasn't afraid!

She liked to be out far in the water.

We had one rainy day.  She and Duke decided diaper boxes were the best entertainment!

Us on the beach!

Out on the pier, there are always pelicans.  Sophie liked them! 

On our way back to Wyoming, we stopped at Wall Drug and took Sophie to play in their backyard, she really seemed to enjoy that!

Sophie went to the fair for the first time.  It was also the our first time to the fair in Wyoming.  Of course Sophie loved the animals.  Here she is petting a baby goat.

We rearranged when we got back from NC to make Sophie a playroom downstairs and reclaim our living room!  Travis had to give up half of his "man-room," but the new set-up seems to be working great for everyone.  Downstairs is now truly a family room.

Sophie at 15 months!

Snack Time!

Sophie was enjoying a nice snack of Fruity Cheerios and a cup of milk.  I started giving her the cheerios instead of fruit loops because I figured they have less sugar.  They still, however, make her hands sticky and for whatever reason she likes to run her fingers through her hair.  This is the hairstyle that resulted from her sticky fingers!

We are also glad that Summer has finally decided to begin in Wyoming and have been enjoying more time outdoors!

Sophie's 1st Birthday!!!

Sophie's birthday was last Wednesday and was so much fun.  It did however snow on her birthday, but that was okay!   We just had a party with the three of us at lunch to celebrate her birthday, but I wanted the whole day to be special.  I decorated the dining room, which she loved!  For breakfast she had muffins and of course a candle!

Later when daddy came home for lunch we had birthday cake!  She needed help from dad to blow out the candle and then I thought she'd just dig in, but she decided the better approach would be just to stick her face up to the cake and lick the icing off.  She didn't eat much cake!

After lunch she got to open her presents!!!  She got a lot of great things.

It was a Wednesday, so we had youth group that night.  Travis and I decided to take cake so everyone could celebrate afterwards.

It was such a great day and at the end before bed, she got to enjoy her new bath toys!  I think she had a great 1st birthday!

What a Difference a Year Makes!

Where has this past year gone?  It's hard to believe that I was still pregnant with Sophie at this time last year and only a week away from having her.  Now we are only a week away from celebrating her first birthday!!!  Travis always tells everyone that this has been the fastest year of his life, and it truly has. Sophie has been such a blessing to our family and I cannot imagine life without her.  She is so funny and is a lot like her daddy, her personality really shines through and she is such a people person, which is good since she is a pastor's child!  It's so fun watching her grow and discover new things each day.  She is saying new things and trying to do new things;  everyday she changes and it feels like if you blink, you'll definitely miss something!  God has blessed in so many ways with Sophie and I never want to take one second with her for granted.