This weekend we celebrated Sophie's 1st birthday. Grammie and Pop and the Khans (stayed with friends) were able to come down from Alabama to join us and it was so fun to have them around. I thought a few months ago it would be funny to have a "snow themed" party since we are living in Florida now. It's January and what else do you think of other than cold weather? (I also had some inspiration from a kids party book my father-in-law had given me.) I went to the Dollar Tree before Christmas and bought snowflakes to stick on the windows and foam ones to hang from the ceiling. I had these huge ideas of how to decorate the house, the cake, the goodie bags, games we could play, but I knew I was crazy for trying to tackle that for a child who won't even realize there is a party going on. So I simplified. We had a small party around lunch time on Saturday (still used the snow decorations I'd bought) and I didn't realize until the week of the party that all the little kids that were coming were boys. But that's what Sophie is used to being around, so it was quite fitting. Since I made Christopher's first birthday cake, I thought I'd do the same for Sophie. We made pizzas for lunch, had birthday cake (I forgot to serve the ice cream) and then opened presents. Christopher was really tired so he actually asked to go take his nap and crashed on our bed during lunch and missed most of the party! Sophie had so much fun eating cake and did a great job opening presents. She got some wonderful gifts, including clothes (for herself and one of her babydolls), books, a toy purse, new chair (used to help climb over the couch earlier in the week!) and get this.... nail polish!!! (Thanks Aunt Jenny and Uncle Trey!) We had a wonderful time with everyone and thank you to all who remembered her special day and called, emailed or sent cards. I'm working on getting other photos, ours didn't turn out as well. I'll post them as soon as I can get them.

Sophie's cakes were chocolate on the left and a yellow "smash" cake on the right. They were boxed cakes, but they were delicious, the icing was homemade. I'm not an icing girl, but this stuff was amazing! If you want a simple and yummy white icing recipe, let me know. I have always wanted to learn how to decorate cakes, so this was my first attempt at it. It was so easy! Of course I did probably the easiest decoration known to man, so there's nothing to brag about!

Sophie wearing her new tutu from her buddy William. It was so cute!! She loves wearing these. Hopefully we have a little ballerina in the making.

Sophie not liking her hat, but loving her icing. She really didn't care for the cake, until the chocolate one came out. She's a chocolate girl!! (Just like her mommy!)

Sophie and one of her biggest fans, "Uncle" Matt. Our kids love the Ramages!! (But who doesn't?)

I don't know if I've talked about what a climber Sophie is or not, but she is insane! She makes you think she wants to sit in your lap, but really she wants to climb onto the side table or over the back of the couch onto the window ledge. She will climb up onto Christopher's PBK chair to get to the big chair to grab the tree and try to pull it over. The other day at the store I had her buckled in the front of the cart and this one had a strap between the legs that snapped to a strap on either side. She got out of it. She also was able to climb up on the chair outside that is used to get onto the trampoline. Now don't panic, she couldn't get onto the trampoline and the only reason she got onto the chair was b/c the legs are dug into the ground to prevent it from tipping over. Last Saturday night we were watching our friends' kids while they had a date night (we went the night before) and found Sophie on the top shelf of the little cabinet in the kitchen.



This morning I was doing the dishes and caught her and Christopher using her new chair (Land of Nod, I love it!!!) to climb over the side of the couch over and over again. (They didn't know I was taking their pic, they both just happened to turn around at the same time.)


Then this afternoon we were at Walmart and I strapped her into the seat, but she kept trying to turn around to see Christopher. I thought I'd try putting the two of them in the big area, but once we got to the food section she kept trying to open everything so she had to go back to her seat. We are almost done shopping and she's trying to turn around again and making some progress. She is now facing backwards, on her knees and suddenly flips over the back of the seat and is hanging upside down still strapped in, legs kicking in the air!!!!! A teenage girl came over to see if I needed some help b/c I was having a hard time unhooking Sophie, but was more mad than anything. How horrible of a mother must I have looked? Thankfully the girl's mother said her daughter was the same way when she was a child. I had to carry her the rest of the shopping trip, which wasn't easy b/c she didn't want to sit still. I finally had to put her back in the seat and pull the strap as tight as it would go. Next time I can't forget my cart cover. It's the only way to contain her. Tie he down in every direction.

Thank you so much to those of you who gave me some lunch ideas. I feel like they should be downing fruits and veggies all the time and get that "Mom guilt" when I give them chips instead. Christopher won't touch fruit and only eats like 2 veggies. Sophie would eat grapes and bananas all day long if I'd let her! (Sometimes I do!) We did have quesadillas the other night and they liked them. I guess I should make them more often! Thanks again for your help!

Does anyone have any good lunch ideas for kids? I'm running dry and need some help. Our days seem to consist of chicken nuggets, hot dogs, mac and cheese or a PBJ sandwich. Sophie still can't have peanut butter, so that's out and she doesn't like lunch meat. Other than that, she'll eat pretty much anything.Today we didn't make it to the store so they are having popcorn, don't worry, it's the 100 calorie kind. I know, it's not the best meal but we are out of everything (except chicken nuggets and she won't even eat them anymore). But she did have some grapes and wheat crackers. If any of you have some ideas, PLEASE let me know!

It's been a long hard week here at the Hemphill household. Brandon was on call last Sunday so, he was home all day Monday. To be honest, I don't even remember what happened that day b/c it feels like 3 weeks ago! I think I ended up waking him so we could go grocery shopping, but he told me he wanted to go and I couldn't start dinner until we got back. (For those of you who don't know me very well, when I have it in my mind that something needs to be done, it has to be done right now. Not in 5 minutes, 3 hours or 2 days, NOW!) So I felt bad about waking him, but we desperately needed to go. This can be a good and bad thing, taking your husband grocery shopping, b/c you know where everything is, he doesn't as well. You have a system for attacking the store, his isn't as planned out. So when he asks what he can do to help all I want to say is, take the kids and I'll see you in 30 minutes. BUT we are there together, so I look at my list and give him 3 items that are in the cold section (thinking it's easy enough for both of us) and off he goes with a kid in tow. We get home, have dinner and honestly, the rest of the week is a complete blur. I don't even know how I remember that day! Maybe b/c it's the last time I feel like I saw my husband. Here is how the rest of the week went:

Tuesday - MOPS in the morning. Sophie falls asleep on the way home. I feed Christopher then put him down for a nap. I shut his door, Sophie wakes up. I play with Sophie, put her down for nap #2, then Christopher wakes up.

Wednesday - We run to Target in the morning. Sophie falls asleep on the way home. I feed Christopher then put him down for a nap. I shut his door, Sophie wakes up. I play with Sophie, put her down for nap #2, then Christopher wakes up. (Are you picking up on the pattern yet?)

Thursday - Christopher and I have a dentist appointment that morning. Sophie falls asleep on the way home. I feed Christopher then put him down for a nap. I shut his door, Sophie wakes up. I play with Sophie, put her down for nap #2, then Christopher wakes up. Sophie wakes up just in time for us to rush to the post office to mail birthday gifts.

Friday - Christopher has Mother's Day Out. Sophie falls asleep on the way home. She naps, I'm terribly upset to see that Ugly Betty didn't come on the night before. Now I have nothing to watch while I fold clothes.

The best part of the week was that Brandon and I got to go on a date Friday night. Our "new" best friends (we make new ones every 2 years when we have to move) here have kids that get along extremely well with our kids. We try to find a weekend once a month to have "date weekend" and take turns watching the kids so the other couple can go out to dinner. We got the first night and I thought we should go to Panera to have dinner and search online for where we'd like to go for our 5 year anniversary this summer. (We thought we'd like a cruise, but decided to use our season passes to Disney instead and go without the kids!) It was the most perfect night!!! Brandon and I were able to sit and talk about so much! I forgot just how much I really loved him and it made me miss him even more for being gone so much lately.

Saturday - Brandon is off to a yard sale he's working. (Raising money for medical trip to Peru in a few weeks.) The kids actually sleep until 7 and 7:45 (NEVER happens!!!). We have breakfast and then head over to yard sale. We stay longer than I thought we would and so we have to stop and get lunch on the way home. Christopher is screaming (can't catch his breathe crying, which he never does... just shows how tired he is) all the way to Chick-fil-A b/c he wants his Daddy and the only thing that makes him stop is telling him he can have his very own lunch and there might be a Franklin book inside. We get home, (not without another meltdown) the kids crash into bed and I take my first shower in 3 days. I'm not lying. I hasn't washed anything but my face in 3 days! I actually let the hot water run out. I'm exhausted and fall asleep in the bed with wet hair. I wake up at 4:00 and thank the Lord that my husband has picked up and been playing with the kids. I haven't seen the floor in our house in days. (mostly b/c of the tunnel that keeps getting pulled out, the only way I could get ready in the morning) The Newells drop their kids off at 5:45 and we play and have a blast until 7:45 when Chrisotpher has his 3rd meltdown of the day and we just put both of our kids to bed and play with the 2 still awake that aren't even ours. (But we'd claim them any day!)

Finally, Sunday - Brandon is on call (again!) and I'm am taking the kids to church even if we have to wear pajamas. I'm desperate for a break and some time with God. I drop Sophie off, she's crying and I just Chrisotpher to run b/c I know she'll stop any minute. I drop Christopher off and he could care less b/c he's found a box full of cars to play with. Church was just the break I needed and (here we go again...) Sophie falls asleep on the way home. Christopher plays in the back yard, I finally get to try my Christmas gift, Bissell Little Green cleaner, and then he comes in b/c he's tired and hungry. He can't decide whether to eat or sleep and thankfully our neighbors, and dear friends, the Ramages come walking up. William and Christopher take off playing. I have some adult convo with Matt and Tiffany and Sophie wakes up. After they leave (another meltdown by Christopher b/c he hit Tiffany in the face with a plastic sword and wouldn't apologize - I'm still embarrassed!!) I feed the kids, put Christopher down, play with Sophie and then she acts tired so I put her down again. I can't believe it. I'M ALONE!!!!! I watched Monk, Psych and started Wii Fit and then they woke up. I didn't care. We played on it together before heading up to see Brandon.

If you think that was a long one, just imagine how I feel. I do find peace in knowing that God never gives us more than we can handle, but like that saying goes, I wish He didn't think I could handle so much! As I look back I realize no matter how frustrated, exhausted, angry, mad, whatever I get, I am truly thankful for 2 very healthy children and a wonderful husband who loves us more than I even realize. I told Brandon at dinner the other night I wonder what our lives would be like if we didn't have kids yet, to which I immediately said, "Boring." He laughed and started naming all the things we could be doing, but we both know we wouldn't do any of those things. I told him I had no regrets and wouldn't change a thing. I AM exhausted and headed to bed to disappear into another book, but I want to end by saying, I love my life!

Sophie and I went to the commissary (on base grocery store for those unfamiliar with military, like I was until 6 months ago when we moved on base) to grab a few things and it took forever! Never go to there during lunch hour. I had to wait forever to check out of the quick, self-checkout lane. Thankfully I didn't have much to pick up b/c Sophie, our little climber figured out how to get out of the seat belt while it was still buckle between her legs and wanted to stand up the rest of the way. This was fine while we waited to check out, but once it was our turn it became a problem b/c I was at the back of the cart and she was at the front. The woman running this area even tried to come help, but Sophie yelled at her and scared her away. So, I just picked her up and set her in the big part of the grocery cart thinking she was trapped. I'm stupid b/c she immediately stood up, put one foot on the 12 pack of Cokes and threw the other leg over the side and started to climb out. Thankfully I caught her before her butt went too far over sending her straight to the floor, but this just made her mad. My older brother was known for being a daredevil climber at a very young age. I loved hearing the stories, thankful that my son didn't scare me like this, never thought my daughter would.


Before I end this second post of the day (I know, I can't believe it either) I have to share with you my ultimate deal of the week. Remember my post about all the baby and maternity items that I dropped off at the consignment store? Well, apparently some of them sold! I went by there to pick up some things that couldn't be sold, not knowing that I'd actually made some money and so I thought I'd look around a little. I had $18 and some change credit plus, everything was 40% off. I ended up having to pay $3.64 and here's what I got:



An apron for Christopher, a dress and skirt (pink and white stripe) for Sophie, What To Expect With a Toddler (had very detailed potty instructions) and a gift for my sister who's expecting her first in July. I was quite pleased!

Here are a few more photos from the week:

Nothing like a tutu and a truck! She still loves Christopher's trucks. I think it's cute!

Here they are having milk and goldfish for breakfast while watching Franklin. This is Chrisotpher's perfect way to spend the morning and I thought I'd see if Sophie could handle it, she did pretty good.