Sophie's Pink Little Pony :)

Here's a video of Sophie riding her little pink pony. Grandma and Grandpa Dickinson got her this pony for her birthday and she loves it! It's so funny to watch her ride it. She truly is my daughter, she loves horses. That's my girl! She cracks me up! Love you soo much Sophie! I can't believe I uploaded a video! It actually worked! Yeah! Many more videos to come, but for now I've got to go. Toodles!

4th of July

So the Fourth of July here was ridiculously cold--no, freezing is more like it! We took some pictures to document just how cold and windy it really was. The fireworks really weren't even that great, but it was still fun to have Josh there. This is the first 4th of July he's been with us in about 3 years or more. Every year he has to work on the 4th, so I loved that part. Of course, the week after the 4th it was blazing hot. Washington weather is so weird! But I still love it here, it's beautiful and so unique--I mean, I got to watch fireworks over the water for free at a golf course! So cool! I loved the way it lit up the water and Sophie would just say, "Oooooo!" Everytime one went off. It was soo cute! She fell asleep right before they went off because it doesn't get dark around here in the summer until like 10 or 10:30, so she was tired. But she woke up part way through them and loved them. All in all, it was a lot of fun. And cold. :)

Our family!

Matt trying to fly. I love this picture because the blanket is blurry, like it's moving, but he's not. So cool!

Daddy and Sophie.

Everyone playing on their gadgets trying to stay warm and waiting for the fireworks, it took FOREVER!

Grandpa and Sophie. Everyone wanted to hold her because she's like a little heater. :)

Cute girl! We got her a bow to wear to church for the fourth, I love it! She's so cute!

Mommy and Sophie! I love how her eyes are soo blue, and mine are so brown, looks kinda cool in pictures.

Mommy and daddy getting blown away!

She really does look like she's getting blown away.

Sophie and Grandma, look at her cute hair!

We missed all of our other family that we couldn't be with on the fourth, i.e. my family. But you were there in spirit! Love you all and happy fourth! I'm so thankful to all those who fight for our freedom and to be able to live in a country where I can worship how I want. The Gospel is so important to me and I can't imagine living somewhere where I wasn't allowed to live it. I am proud to be an American.

Lotsa Stuff!

So tons of stuff has happened since the last time I blogged, what was it now, 3 months ago?! Holy cow! We moved, got an awesome new iMac, which I'm still adjusting to and learning how to use, Josh got a full time job at Wild Waves as the Foods Manager (hallelujah!), and our baby turned 1! Where did the time go?! So here are a few pictures to satiate your tastebuds. ;) I'll be trying to post more over the next little bit. We've done A LOT of stuff!

1. Sophie's 1 Year Birthday Party!

Sophie on her royal princess couch from Grandma and Grandpa Dickinson. Look how popular she is already...haha j/k It was fun to have all those kids running around though.

So these are out of order because blogger is stupid and I don't have time to rearrange them, so work with me here, but here is her demolished cake. I seriously have never seen a kid actually eat their cake like she did. It was awesome! She ate it true fatty style!

After. I don't know what's on her eye, I don't think she got cake on it, maybe it's just the way the picture turned out. Still pretty cool though!

Before. I had to help her dig in, then the rest was history.

Mommy and Sophie on her 1 year birthday.

Her birthday hat and pin.

Her cake.

The cake for everyone. It turned out awesome! Go Safeway! (Nope, I didn't make it. I'm not creative like that. Safeway did a great job for me! haha)

The decorations, courtesy of Josh and his brothers. They actually did a really good job!

2. We went on vaca with my family to Lake Mojave, it's been a few years since I've been there, or seen the sun for that matter. :) haha Josh couldn't come because of his awesome new job! We missed you!

Sophie with her Grandma and Grandpa Bateson (my parents), her Great Grandma and Grandpa Bateson (my dad's parents), and and her Great Great Grandma Wagstaff (my Grandma Bateson's mom). Wow!

Sophie wasn't too fond of the the dogs at first.

But she warmed up. :)

The desert IS beautiful!

Sophie on the beach, she loved it.

We went innertubing! My little daredevil!

First bath camping. Fashionista!

Sophie and Tommy the Turtle. They were friends. haha And yes, that is my sister shaving her armpits in the background--hahahaha The joys of having a blog that your sisters don't check. :)

3. Josh and I went on a date to the temple, I hadn't gone since before Sophie was born! Awful, I know...but it was soo nice to go back!

I love us! Especially him ;)

I love my new dress! Thanks Josh for letting me buy stuff I don't technically need, but really want every once in awhile! I think it's healthy to do that sometimes. =0)

4. Random goings on at our house. The zoo with Josh's brother David, his wife Kimberly and their adorable little girl, Lydia. Etc., etc., etc.

Kimberly and Lydia.

The polar bear was actually awake!

Sophie looks happy.

My crazy little munchkin, oh how I love her. And do you like my pedicure, I did it myself, I was very proud. :)

It's been a lot of fun moving into our own place, we LOVE our apartment, it even has a dishwasher (woo hoo!), having Josh start work again, and watching our baby grow. I can't believe it's already July, partly because time goes way too quickly, and partly because it still feels like it's January--it's been oh so rainy and dreary here. I love my life, sometimes I get lonely staying at home with Sophie all day, but I'd rather be here than anywhere else in the world. It's been interesting managing our own budget again, making our own food again, and being our own family again. Josh's family was so gracious to us for letting us live with them for a whole year, but it's really nice to feel like a real mommy and wife again, I kinda felt like I was faking it when I wasn't able to make meals for my family and really feel the full weight of being a wife and mother. I must say, it feels good to do laundry and take care of my own house; to be alone with Sophie and see how just the two of us interact. It's refreshing. Maybe that's why we had to live with Josh's family, so that I would really appreciate being able to have my own family and being a stay at home mother. I look at it as a blessing now, and not a curse. Not to say that everything's perfect and that I don't get frustrated, bored, overwhelmed, lonely, etc., sometimes, just that I love every minute of it--good or bad. I love the time we spent with Josh's family, but I love my family time even more. :)

More posts to come. Hopefully I can finally figure out how to get videos on here that don't need to be shorter than 2 seconds. :)

Great Wolf Lodge

So for President's Day Weekend in February we went to the Great Wolf Lodge. It was Sophie's first time playing in water besides her bath, and she seemed to like it! We have some great pictures to commemorate the event. Sophie got 2 new bathing suits, which are both soo cute! We had a great time! And please disregard our whiteness--we've lived in UT for 4 winters, and Washington for 2 summers. It was hopeless that we'd tan. :)

Josh on a ride--what a dork! I love him! I know he's hott, but please refrain from drooling over him, he's a married man. :)

Our family! Again, please refrain from Josh's sexy hairyness. I love him!

She's so funny! Love's mouths.

Cheese!

We thought this one was so artistic. I was pretty proud of myself for taking the picture.

Toodles!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

So I know it's a little late, but Sophie wanted to say, "Happy Valentine's Day!" :) Love you all!

Recent Happenings

So here are just some random pictures from our recent excersions and such. Sophie is now 8 months old, as of yesterday, and has her two bottom teeth. She really is such a mellow kid. She just kinda goes with the flow. She doesn't really cry, and when she gets overtired or upset, she goes stiff as a board and crosses her little legs straight out in front of her--it's so funny. And it's always left foot on top, we've tried to put her right foot on top and she always uncrosses and then recrosses them, the "right way".

Here are some things I love about my little Sophie:

1. Her squishy, soft face
2. Her blue, blue eyes
3. They way she smiles, even if you just look at her
4. Her sweet little spirit
5. They way she watches new people until she deems them ok
6. That she touches my face sometimes and just watches me talk or make silly faces
7. I love that she usually doesn't cry very much, I hate when babies cry--I know, I know, our next baby will be a cryer. :)
8. That she crosses her feet when she's overtired or upset
9. That she sits and plays by herself for long periods of time
10. That she's so mellow--it's like she says, "It's cool if I don't crawl, I'll just roll there, no big deal!"
11. She's cautious about situations until she knows it's ok--like the way she watches people
12. That she LOVES the kitty and talks to him, sometimes he comes over while I'm out of the room and will lick her--GROSS! I know, but she loves it. She gets so excited and will kinda pet/grab him. He's a really good kitty and doesn't scratch her or anything.
13. That she rolls under the coffee table and plays with your feet.
14. That her tongue is always sticking out, especially when she's concentrating or happy. :)

There's so much more that I love about her. It's wonderful to be her mother and have a set rythym in our day now. She makes everything new and exciting for me. I get so excited because she's excited. I've been amazed at how children come with personalities all ready to go. It reaffirms my testimony in the Plan of Salvation and that we did live in the preexistence before we came here. I am so thankful to have her as a part of my life forever.

The crossed feet, she must be tired.

Touching the sea creatures with daddy.

Cute face!

She loves her unicorn that Gramla got for her. And I love her little barette. So cute!

Our little beauty on her 8 month birthday. Gorgeous darling! I love her little sunglasses!

At the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. I LOVE this place. MayrLu and Clay got us a membership for my birthday, and I love taking Sophie there. She loved the fish.

Sophie with daddy looking at the fish. I made her hat, I was soo proud! I love my new calling as an Activity Day Assistant. We learned how to loom hats. Awesome!

She's blinking here, but she loves to roll under the coffetable. Half the time I don't even know how she gets under there, but she especially loves it if someone if sitting there because she'll roll under the table and then start playing with their feet.

Momma and Sophie on her 8 month birthday. Yay for Sophie!

Coming soon--our trip to the Great Wolf Lodge! It's an awesome indoor water park, because it's always raining in WA, and Sophie's first time playing in water besides her bathtub. The pictures are on my in-laws computer, so it might be a little bit.


P.S. Josh has been applying for work everywhere, but still no responses. There is one place that he's had 3 interviews with! But they still haven't let him know if he's got the job or not. They're driving me crazy! If you hear of any work near Tacoma, WA, let us know! Thanks! :)

Sophie's First Encounter with Santa

So here's our family at the ward Christmas Party on the 19th, which was actually Sophie's 6 month b-day (she's getting soo big)! Josh looks a little drugged up, but that's ok because me and Sophie look cute, which is really all that counts. :)

So this is actually the second picture we took with Santa, because Sophie woke up for it. She wasn't scared of him or anything, she was just kind of indifferent. But still, fun memories none-the-less!

Here's the first one, where she was sleeping. So cute! (and I loved the elf, oh Taylor!)

Daddy and his girl! Apparently Josh's face tasted good--weird! haha

So funny!

The End!