Birthday Celebration

Sophie and Isabelle are all decked out in their party gear to celebrate Ed's birthday.


The girls are searching the little drawers in this house for cheerios!

We celebrated Ed's birthday a little early because he and Isabelle are birthday buddies (both born on the 22nd.) and we are celebrating Isabelle turning 1 next week. I realize that there are no photos of the birthday boy...oops! But how could I resist taking pictures of these girls!

Kids, Starbucks, Banana Bread and a Backyard!

Sophie and Sophie...I think they were a little confused as to who was calling who Sophie
Clearly the car was a big hit. Go Paige!
Jake was such a sweetie, hanging out with ALL the girls!
It was so nice to talk with other moms and watch the kids play with each other. Thank you Sarah, Sophie and Jake for having us over!

I never thought she would be this big!

Our friend Ali gave us this coat when Sophie was first born. At the time, the coat looked huge to me and I couldn't imagine the day when Sophie would be big enough to wear it! Well here she is, our baby girl wearing this BIG girl coat....where has the time gone?

Sophie tested.....Mom approved

Sophie's solving her own housing crisis (See Hilary's blog)

By Popular Demand......

Mom's Spinach Dip
Pre-heat oven to 350

Ingredients:

• 20 - 22 oz of sour cream (you could even use just 16oz as my sisters do)
• 1 package chopped frozen spinach (thawed and rung out - I use about 80% of the package)
• 2 cups of white extra sharp cheddar cheese, grated
• Knors or Lipton Vegetable Soup Mix

1. In an oven safe dish with no cover ( I use corningware), mix together; sour cream, veggie soup mix, spinach, and cheese.
2. Bake in oven for about 25 - 30 minutes, mixing 2 or 3 times during the cooking time.
3. Serve with crackers (typically Triscuits, but really any cracker will do), veggies or bread.

Tastes good reheated in the microwave

Surprise date night!

Sophie exploring nailpolish...."no Sophie, it doesn't belong in your mouth"

My sister Anne and Ed were in cahoots to plan a secret date for me and Ed. Anne offered her babysitting services to Ed (no easy feat for her as she lives in Topanga and has an 11 month old herself). Ed told me to be ready Saturday night at 6:30, I thought Sophie must be coming with us and even began to plan what she was going to wear for our evening out! Anne arrived at 6:30 and Ed whisked me off to dinner at Mangiamo Ristorante in Manhattan Beach. Sophie loves her Auntie Anne so much!! We had a fantastic time and enjoyed an incredible dinner! Thanks Anne and Ed for our date...it was a much needed date night!

A Busy Saturday

We started our Saturday morning with Ed making us breakfast, on the menu: eggs and french toast....and of course lots of coffee, even Sophie helped cook! We can now add scrambled eggs and french toast to the very small list of foods that Miss Sophie will eat.
Risking the rain, we went to the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair. Still to small to ride the horses, she loved to look at them. She kept pointing and saying, "doggie, doggie".
Sophie scored the last fireman hat at the fair. She kept taking it off her own head and putting it on Ed's.
At the petting zoo, Sophie loved to look at all the animals, but wasn't to thrilled when they got to close to her.

Park on Friday

<- Paige and Sophie



Sophie and I met Hilary and her daughter Paige at the park for a...... girls run around and use up all that energy and moms catch up and enjoy a delicious pumpkin spice latte, compliments of Hilary. Our new friend Sarah and her daughter Sophie ( I know, what a coincidence) and her baby boy Jake were there as well.. We had a fun morning...thanks ladies!!


Paige and Sophie

Two on Thursday

Trying to "grab" the water

Sophie is a budding artist! I put down one of those sticky placemats made to bring to restaurants so she could draw without drawing everywhere!. I stuck it on Sophie's highchair, mainly serving two purposes: 1, Sophie can not climb out of her highchair and start coloring all over the walls and 2, the paper is stuck down which basically means she has one and only ONE place to draw on. Sophie only tried to eat the crayons a few times and then realized they didn't taste that good. I taped the picture to our door so that when Ed came home from work he would see it right away.

Impromptu Dinner with Friends

Sophie and Paige playing on Paige's kid size chair.
Why they insist on practically sitting on top of each other I will never know
Hilary reading to the girls, the girls were so sweet sitting on her lap.

Our friends Clay, Hilary and Paige had us over Saturday evening for homemade pizza. Dinner was delicious, even Sophie couldn't stop eating the pizza and she doesn't eat anything or ever try anything new! The girls played so well together and it was nice to have some adult conversation on a Saturday evening. Thanks Zachry's!

The Duel of the Bottles...my money's on Isabelle

Cruisin Cousins.......

A little under the weather

Miss Sophie came down with a cold this weekend and it just took the life out of her.

Never without a baby

Fall Lineup....it's looking good!

With the writers strike over...finally...and the SAG strike still in limbo, there might actually be a few good shows to watch. Of course without TiVo we would never have time to watch even half these shows.......

• Life - Can't miss this one, completely underrated last season!
• Biggest Loser - Yes it can drag on...but hey Ed's a fitness buff
• Private Practice - It's so good......it's sooooooo good!
  
• 24 - It's been to long, we need Jack Bauer back!
  
• Fringe - It's new, we're open to it
  
• Heroes - Sci-fi, usually more Ed's thing then mine, but this is a good show!
  
• Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles - Ed, all the way
  
• Criminal Minds - So good
  
• Lipstick Jungle - Absolutely fantastic!!! A can't miss
  
• Brothers and Sisters - Smart, funny, dramatic.......
  
• Star Wars: Clone Wars - All Ed

Why is the toilet the place Sophie loves to go to????

For those who know me, you know that I hate the bathroom; hate to clean it, hate to talk about it and now hate for Sophie to love it! Why the toilet? Of all the things/places to go in our house, she goes to the toilet......yuck!

Sophie's new Princess car

Top 8 Reasons Why We Love Fall

Although a California fall is nothing like a New England fall, it's still fall and we still love the new season!

Top 8 reasons why we love fall:

1. Football Season! (ok, so this is more Ed then I, but still fun)

2. Best beer season ever!.....so says Ed. Try a pumpkin beer or Sam Adams Octoberfest
beer.

3. Pumpkin Spice latte's from Starbucks....get one, you'll enjoy it!

4. New Wardrobe! Another excuse why you need to buy new clothes

5. Weather change. Even though we love the constant sun and heat, sometimes its nice
to need to put jeans and a sweater on.

6. Lazy fall days are acceptable and long Sunday afternoon naps are inevitable....I
suppose Sophie might have a different idea about this!

7. Cookie season is coming soon!!!!!!!!!!!

8. Christmas is just around the corner!

A True Fan....GO PATRIOTS!!!!

Sophie the Stylist

She walks!

Labor Day Weekend Recap

Labor Day weekend began with the kickoff of college football...GO SOONERS!! We went to happy hour to celebrate!.......
......and then Sophie started to walk this weekend...YAY for Sophie!!!!!
.....and then we went to Santa Barbara for the day, what a beautiful day...
.....and took Sophie to the Santa Barbara zoo where she called every animal we saw doggie


.....and then Sophie overcame her fear of the big dog guarding the entertainment center...they are officially now friends.

It was a fantastic weekend, lots of relaxing, great family time, BBQ's and of course no work!