Broadway, Here We Come!

Here is a video of Sophie dancing with her Daddy. She loves music and she loves to dance!!

Glamorous Pregnancy

Who was it that said you glow when you're pregnant? I don't believe that person was thinking clearly about the constant, all day nausea (morning sickness?... yeah, right) or the acne that would pop up all over my face, shoulders and back. Gross. It's like my pubescent self from high school has come back to haunt me; a sort-of "kick her while she's down" scenario.

Granted, I've been through this once before, so I knew what I was getting myself into. But somehow I forgot about those things in the midst of this:

toddler-waddling on fabulous, squishy legs;
giggles that seep into the core of your heart and melt it into a big puddle;
huge blue eyes that look up at you while holding a book and begging to be pulled tight into your arms and lap;
a tiny one running to me, finding comfort in me and holding onto my leg so I don't leave her;
little hands and lips that try so hard to do everything just like Momma...

It's no wonder I yearned for another. Just as our Father longs for each of us. One just isn't enough - He wants us all.

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." 2 Pet 3:9

We're Back!

Praise God! We made it back with no glitches last night at about 8:30. We had a great trip! Sophie really did amazingly well for sleeping in 3 different places and missing many naps. She especially loved the boardwalk in Ocean City, where she watched people all night, ate ice cream, and flirted with some 10-year-old boys. Here are some pics from our trip.

Sophie at my cousin Ralph's wedding; she's showing us how old she is!


Sophie dancing with my dad:


This one below is a little blurry, but I couldn't pass it up. Sophie wanted so badly to help her grandad push the cart in the hotel. So cute!


The whole family the morning after the wedding (although whoever took the picture somehow managed to leave out my uncle Eddie on the far right; sorry Ed!):


On Sunday we drove to the beach house. On the way there, we stopped in Annapolis, MD to meet up with my dear, dear friend Sarah. She and I went to graduate school together, and then she and her hubby moved to Dover, Delaware. It had been two years since I'd seen her, and she had never met Sophie. It was so good for my heart to spend an hour catching up with her in person!! We love you, Sarah (and you too, Philip!)!!


Monday morning was our trip to the beach. Sophie wasn't so sure about the (**cold!!**) water, but she spent some time checking it out. She LOVED the sand and had a blast playing in it.





Here are me and Sophie with my dad and my uncle Ralph:


Sophie playing in a pail of water with my dad:


Here me and Soph with my parents and my aunt and uncle on the porch of the beach house:


Me and Soph with my mom and dad:


We're glad to be home; it was great to sleep in our beds again last night! We close on our house this afternoon at 2! God is so good!

Maryland or Bust!

Today Sophie and I will leave the green plains of Kansas for the coast of Maryland. We're going with my mom and dad to visit my dad's family. Ben couldn't take off work, so he'll be "batching" it for a whole week while Sophie and I enjoy the Maryland beaches.

We'll start our visit in Olney, MD for my cousin Ralph's wedding, then we'll drive to the coast on Sunday and spend M-W as beach bums at my uncle & aunt's beach house. Tough life, huh?!

I probably won't have a chance to blog while we're gone; I'd like to promise some beach pics but I don't want to leave you with the bitterness of unfulfilled expectations.

Please pray for our safe travels there and back, and especially for our timely delivery back to Wichita next Thursday night, the 24th (we're supposed to close on our house the next day)! Please also pray for my hubby that he survives without us.

Bon voyage!

Pigtails and Bookworms

The pigtails were worn about a week ago to church. I just adore them!

I know I've written before about Sophers loving books, but seriously, my daughter has a major case of the bookworms. I don't know if any of you have children who were so focused on reading at the age of 12-months, but from conversations with my friends, Sophie seems to be on her own on this one. While other kids like books and will sit for a couple pages, my daughter is the one who picks up books (sometimes even 2-3 books) and follows Momma around with them, babbling about how she wants to hear the story. She doesn't relent. Eventually, I give up what I'm doing and snuggle her up close for some good readin' time. And you do have to settle in, because anything less than four books is not acceptable. I'm not kidding!! She sits there for at least 4-5 books and listens to it all with a smile on her face (often she even tries to repeat the words). It is too, too precious, and I'm really not complaining. Although there are moments I have to tell her that we aren't going to read and she needs to go play with her toys. Again, I can sense a "Mom of the Year" nomination in the near future.

Semper Fi, Uncle Jeremy!

In all of the excitement about the new baby (ETA: Feb 22, for those of you who are asking), I forgot to post sooner about my brother Jeremy's recent decision to join the Marines. He signed with the Marine Corps about a month ago, and this Monday he flies out of Oklahoma City for San Diego, where he will endure 13 weeks of butt-kickin' boot camp.

Although I'm sad that Sophie won't have her Uncle Jeremy around anymore, Ben and I are so proud of him. We ask for your prayers in his new venture. Please pray for his success, safety, and full reliance on God in a not-so-godly atmosphere.

Please also feel free to leave comments of encouragement for him on this post!

We love you, Jeremy!

Sophie Has a Surprise!

"Sophie's Surprise" video was made around 3 weeks ago. Enjoy!

Happy Independence Day!

Pics Galore (Tyson update at bottom)

Last week we had a wonderful time with our Baker family (my sis and her fam) being here to visit. We started the week with Delaney in town from Sunday night through Weds morning without her mommy and daddy. Delaney and Sophie had so much fun playing together. Then Katie, Troy and Nolan came on Wednesday afternoon and spent the rest of the week with us.

Here are the two girls playing:

Proud Uncle Jeremy with his nieces and nephew:

Sophie and Nolan; Ben with the girls:

Another cute "Princess Sophie" picture; Grandma with her girls:

Katie reading to the girls:

At the zoo! Delaney and Sophie on a saddle together; the whole group minus Katie (don't miss cute little Nolan at the bottom left snoozin' in his stroller!):

Grandad with the girls in the double stroller; Katie's cute fam (again, don't miss snoozy Nolan!):


I started my PRN job this week; I'm going to pick up a little bit of Home Health speech therapy here and there to make us some extra money. It went well this week although I was just shadowing another speechie to "learn the ropes." Going into people's homes isn't as scary as I thought it would be.

The most exciting news is we are in the process of signing a contract on a house! We made an offer on Tuesday night, and after some back and forth negotiating we have come to an agreement. We won't actually have their signatures until Monday due to the holiday, but they've agreed and we're SO thankful to God. It's an older house, built in 1957, which I never thought we would do, but God is so good to us and is helping us pay off some of our school loans early by having a slightly smaller mortgage payment than expected! We're ecstatic to finally be back on our own again (not that my parents haven't been FANTASTIC to us while we've been here).

I probably don't say this enough, but God is SO GOOD!! He is always faithful to us, always teaching us new things and disciplining us to mold us more into his likeness. It is fabulous and humbling to be called a child of God!!!