Fun with Tay

Sophie's BFF here in LG is named Taylor. Sophie usually calls her "Tay" or "Tay Tay!" She can say her whole name but she prefers calling her by her nickname! A few weeks ago Jessica, Taylor's mom, and I took the girls to a harvest event at a greenhouse out of town a few miles. There was a pony, face painting (which Sophie wouldn't do!), and lots of hay bales and "punkies." There was even a little slide, hoola hoops, and other games. We had a great time with the girls and look forward to going to a pumpkin patch this Thursday and hopefully going on a hayride. The girls also got to go watch the EOU parade on homecoming weekend. Of course it's one of the few times they are actually allowed to have c-a-n-d-y!

"Audra" comes to visit

Sophie says Audra for her big sis named Audri. She recently said Audri but again she prefers to use the original nickname she gave her! Audri and her boyfriend Paul came to visit us a few weeks ago. We had a very nice visit them. We went up to Wallowa Lake one afternoon. Even though it was raining here in La Grande it was sunny up there! Audri and Paul also got to watch Sophie at swimming lessons one evening. They took a few pictures and video to send to daddy. :)

Sophie's friend

I completely forgot to post these pictures with the other photos of our trip to Portland at the begining of October. Sophie REALLY likes the little boy and the "puppy" bench on Grandpa and Grandma's front porch. She enjoyed going out there to sit or to hug and kiss them! She also loves the trampoline at their house. I call it the giant playpen because it's completely enclosed and she can run and jump and have fun!

Horses and "punkies"

This past weekend Sophie and I went to Portland to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We had a very nice visit with them. On Grandpa's birthday we took a drive to Astoria since I had never been there. We had very yummy fish and chips and I even climbed all 165 steps up the Astoria column. After going to the beach for a bit we headed to Seaside so that Sophie could ride the carousel. It was a very fast carousel and she wasn't sure about it as she had her arms wrapped around my neck when I was standing next to her. But after she got off of course she kept saying "horse again, horse again." We didn't go again but maybe in a few months when she is a little bigger! As we were leaving Seaside she kept saying "bye bye horse." It was too cute!

Then the next day we decided to go to Roloff's Pumpkin Patch. They are the family who is on the show Little People Big World on TLC. A few years ago I had a little bit of nervousness about Little People since I had never really been around them. After watching the show with Eric and now going to to their farm (twice!) I think I have officially gotten over it! Sophie and I even had our picture taken with Matt Roloff while we were there! Sophie was very excited about all the "punkies" as she calls them. She also enjoyed the petting zoo and getting to see a baby lion and tiger.

Sophie will be going to Grandpa and Grandma's again at the begining of November while I go visit Eric in New Orleans. I always worry and get sad about leaving her but I know she will get spoiled rotten at the grandparent's house. :)

Farewell Daddy....be safe

This blog post is a week overdue. It has been hard for me to look at these pics or even think about Eric being gone without crying this past week. However, I think I'm finally doing better. There have been (and there will be more) tough times. The hardest part is when Sophie asks for daddy repeatitively and I can't explain to her in a way she can understand. She sometimes gets very frustrated and agitated that I cannot produce daddy. I do my best to distract her but sometimes that doesn't work and we both just have a good cry. Then we get up, carry on, and move on. It's the only way we're going to make it through a whole year.

The Mobilization Ceremony was very nice and honored the 3-116th CAV. We were happy to have several family and friends here for it. Thanks to Eric's folks for driving across the state and also to my friend Gina and her husband Russ who came from Idaho. Audri was also able to take a day off of school and drove over from Idaho. We were all so happy that she was able to make it. My mom, step-dad, and grandma were able to attend as well. Thank you mom for playing with Sophie so I could actually watch the ceremony!

It's going to be a long year but we will make it through with the love and support of our family and friends. There is a possiblity that I may get to go to Mississippi at the begining of November to see Eric for a few days. It would be too quick of a trip to take a toddler though. Keeping my fingers crossed that everything works out for me to go.

SO HAPPY TO SEE DADDY!

Sophie and I headed to Boise on the 9th to see daddy and go to a family BBQ/Concert for soliders and their families. Needless to say Sophie was ECSTATIC to see daddy! She kept repeating the word daddy and didn't want to be more than two feet away from him. At home Sophie had been kissing his picture on the fridge several times a day and constantly asking for him. It had been a long four weeks for us and we both were so happy to see him. It was also very nice to have Audri join us for the BBQ/Concert. We of course weren't able to stay for the entire concert since it started at 7pm and Sophie did not take ANY nap that day (first time in her life!). The next day Eric came home and we have been trying to savor every moment we have left together. He and I were able to have a little getaway earlier this week while my mom kept Sophie. We just went to Tri-Cities but it was nice to have some time to ourselves. We went to movies, did some shopping, went on a nice walk by the river, etc.

Sleep Over!

While Eric was gone Sophie and I had a sleepover with Jessica and Taylor. Taylor's daddy was also working out of town for a few weeks so we had a girls night. It was lots of fun! The mommies had take out and the girls had mac n cheese...so we all got our favorites! Taylor let Sophie wear her Elmo jammies which Sophie was VERY excited about. After the girls went to bed Jessica and I stayed up late watching our shows and chatting. The next morning we put the girls in the jogger/bike trailer and walked to the park and let them play. Right before we left for the park Sophie's scab finally fell off. Her owie is looking better and we are continously putting cream on it.