FENCE PROJECT

It is complete! And boy does it look AWESOME! Eric and his Dad put in a lot of work last week...and it has really paid off!!! We hired a great guy off Craigslist to dig the posts (and whew! that was sooo worth it!) then Eric & Marty got to it putting up the boards. Debbie, my Dad, and I all jumped in various times to help as well.

Now we can look forward to Sophia having a fenced in yard as she grows...she can go in and out of the side door without us worrying, and who knows...maybe a pup is in our future? *clearing throat* Eric?

My garden is now protected from neighbor dogs, rabbits (maybe not entirely, but at least much more so!), deer, and various other intruders.

Here are some before, during, and after pics. Enjoy!

Eric's Bday Bash!

We had fun celebrating Eric's birthday this month! It was the big 2-9....last year in his "twenties"!

We had a great day playing disc golf, eating tacos (Eric's all-time fav'), ice cream cake (another fav') and going to a Grasshopper's Baseball game. He lucked out landing his birthday on a Thursday this year....you know what that means....thirsty Thursdays of course! $1 & $2 draft beer at the ball game...we all got a taste! My Dad and Eric's good bud, Josh Morin, hooked him up with a beer in each hand before the game even started! It was SO fun to hang out with family, friends, enjoy a beautiful summer evening, and celebrate Eric's life!

Here's to another wonderful year!

My little laundry helper...

BANANAS....YUM!

Sophia has added a new food to her diet besides breastmilk! BANANAS! And she loves them! If she is gnawing on a piece and you take it away, look out! We are currently working on the sign "all done" so she knows what's coming... :)

In a couple of weeks, we will start introducing solids full-force and we are excited! She definitely shows interest....staring at others eating and will watch you take your food from the plate to your mouth. She has also starting chewing on the side of a cup and will actually drink some water from it! Granted half of it ends up on her bib, running down the side, but she is learning!

Visit to Florida

Sophia took her first long road-trip this month! We drove 9 hours in the car, down to Jacksonville, FL for a Parrett side family get-together. Sophia got to meet her great-grandpa Parrett, DeDe, Aunt Sandy, Uncle Pepe, Aunt Kari, Megan & Joe, Jena, and of course spend more time with Uncle Donnie and Mimi & Pops. It was very special to have 4 generations together...next time we'll remember to take a picture of the whole group!

We had a blast staying with Aunt Sandy/Uncle Pepe and getting to hang out at Aunt Kari's beachside condo that she rented.

Ready for a game (or 68 games) of peek-a-boo...to stay entertained? :)

She continues to love her "daisy" cow lovie...so sweet.

getting her diaper changed and stretching out a little at a rest stop...she really did so well being content for the most time in her car seat! she didn't nap that much, but out of the 9 hrs, less than 1/2 - 1 hr was spent fussing/crying! we thought that was doing GREAT! She is at such a fun age, where she can really engage in being read books, playing peek-a-boo, being sung to, tickling, playing with a rattle or teether....she LOVES when someone sits in the back with her and keeps her company!

Meeting everyone was a little overwhelming...she was her usual sweet-dispositioned self, but a little more reserved that usual, just trying to take in all the new smells and surroundings away from home

Aunt Sandy getting some smiles while Jena was sweet to hold her

Meeting her great-grandpa Parrett! What a special memory! Before we know it, she'll be trading in that bikini for a snow suit and learning how to ski out in Colorado with her Great-Grandpa!

First time in the big pool! It was so fun; wish we had one to go to in NC!

Doing gymnastics....no, just kidding. Everyone was attempting to defy gravity and physics instead...

What a fun family to be part of and spend time with!

Celebrating 6 years!

Eric and I celebrated 6 years of marriage on July 2nd....what a lot to rejoice over this year! My parents graciously babysat Sophia all day so that Eric and I could go on what we called our 'interval dating' (which meant going out to do things/eat but having to be home every 3 hours for Sophia to eat) :)

We started the day with breakfast at Ollie's bakery (YUM) and ate our croissants & coffee while playing disc golf. Then we came home, Sophia ate, we got cleaned up and then went to Proximity Hotel (Printworks Bistro) for lunch (MAJOR yum). Then we came home to feed Sophia. We were going to go back out so we could catch a movie matinee but the timing just wasn't lining up so we decided to go to a 9 pm showing since we knew Sophia would already be down for the night at that point. In order to prepare for our late night showing, Eric and I both took an afternoon nap, which was great! :) Then we had dinner with Mom & Dad, popped in the wedding video and reminisced about a fun wedding week. Both of us said though, for how fun the wedding was, the relaxing week in Mexico for the honeymoon definitely was what we would want to do again. Who needs to renew their vows when you can take a 2nd honeymoon?

Then off to the theater where we watched Transformers in 3D (very cool) and munched on popcorn. It was so fun to be out to a movie!

It was different than any other anniversary celebration but we had a blast and are so thankful as to WHY we didn't go away somewhere this year. We are so happy to have Sophia join the family we created 6 years ago and what we really started 9 years ago (when we started dating). We can't wait to see what the next year holds, but we can't imagine how the next 12 months could be any better than the last 12 months!

Here are some shots of our anniversaries over the years...

the day we became our own little family...

the dream honeymoon...who wouldn't want to go back HERE?!

celebrating 1 year in NY

2 years at the beach in FL

Hmm....I can't find our pics of 3rd year anniversary - we rented a beautiful cabin near Boone, NC. It was lovely.

4 years in Italy, Switzerland, Paris, Germany...that was another nice trip I'd like to re-create soon :)

celebrating 5 years at Grove Park Inn...technically Sophia was with us here :)

And here we are this year, out to go play disc golf! Eric, you are the love of my life and will always be so thankful for you!

5 Months!

It feels like I am updating another month birthday every other day...it is crazy. Sophia is literally changing and learning before our eyes! I didn't think I would notice the growth as much since I see her every day but it is so apparent to me on a daily/ weekly basis just how big my baby is getting!

*One of our biggest milestones between 4-5 months has been cutting two bottom teeth! They are sharp!

*She is great at grabbing toys, hair, fingers, shirts, anything! and bringing them up to her mouth

*very aware! has become distracted while nursing...has to quiet or she will turn her head to pay attention to what is going on/sound rather than eating

*still sleeping through the night gloriously. (teething has thankfully not affected sleep or mood) we feel so blessed by her great sleep! still taking 3+ naps depending on the day...usually a morning and afternoon nap lasting 1.5 - 2.5 hr and then another 45 min cat nap to get her to bedtime

*we stopped swaddling before naps/bed on her 5 month birthday! she still loves to cuddle and be tucked close, but our double-swaddle "aka straight jacket" is no longer necessary...

*eats 5 times a day, usually 7a, 10:30a, 2p, 5p, and 7:30p at bedtime

*nothing sweeter than her laughter and giggles. loves zerberts and raspberries and thinks its HILARIOUS when you breathe like darth vadar :) no idea why but we do it for the joy of her giggling!

*blows raspberries A LOT and due to teething, drools like crazy. amazing she gets in enough fluids to produce that much drool!

*smiles and laughs when Eric plays guitar and sings to her

*starting to sit up on her own! still have the leaning tower of pisa thing going on so we have to stay very close, but she is getting stronger!

*continues to add new sounds and 'vocab' sounds all the time. currently pulls her mouth down like a platypus and says, "blar, blar, blar, blar" it is adorable. she has also said "mamamamama" twice! ah! the day is coming when she associates and knows me by name!

*with help can roll back to tummy and tummy to back but just isn't that interested in being mobile. would rather chew on a teething toy or her hands and stare at objects above her

*she found her feet! grabs her toes and pulls them up in the air

Sophia - you are joy to us every day! We can't get enough of you!

Playdate with Zach

Sophia has a very special friend, Zach! We love him very much! They get to hang out a lot but we don't have many pictures of them together yet. Glad we took a few last week! Zach and Sophia have been destined to be good buddies....the Lord brought them into the world on the same day in the most amazing, unbelievable story of grace.

Also, it is so fun to see them both growing to be so healthy and *ahem* "sturdy". Zach and Sophia weigh about the same, both in the 90% percentile for their age and wearing 9-12 mo clothing as 5 month olds. I love it!! Two peas in a pod!

They were being so sweet sitting together, holding hands... :)

And one more because they are both just so darn cute!