Eleven Months

It's hard to believe that Miss Sophia is eleven months old! She is so fully of joy and laughter and we love that she is a part of our family.

She's learned to smile for the camera (if she'll stay still long enough!).

Her hair is still pretty sparse, but it's finally starting to come in. We (I) like to put cute things on her head.

Sometimes she'll leave her hats or headbands on for several hours, but once she realizes she can grab it, off it comes. After that it's a losing battle to try to put it back on.

She can stand on her own for several seconds at a time, and she's getting pretty good at landing on her bum!

She raises her hands in the air while she's in her high chair. We all do it with her and say, "Wheeee!" like we are on a roller coaster. I think she wants to go to Disneyland or something?!?!

She has also found her voice. She'll call out to Olivia to get her attention (not sure what she's saying exactly, but it's clear that she's yelling in her general direction) and while we are in the car I can hear her babbling to herself. She says "mamama" when she's really tired (not 100% convinced that she's actually saying "MAMA" rather than just making noise, but a girl can hope, right?).

She loves to play with toys and especially loves to play with Coleman and Olivia.

She has FOUR teeth!

She crawls all over (and has lightning speed) and climbs stairs (which we found out when I was upstairs and she was downstairs being watched by her siblings who were also watching TV... before I knew it, she was right by my side.... we didn't see her or hear her, but she made it up the stairs in record time).

We love, love, love this little princess.

Good for Giggles

I love reading Coleman's creative writing assignments.

Not sure where the desire to go to Four Corners came from... but hey, I'm up for a road trip! I love that he wants to bring me along.

Glad he is thinking ahead... I hope that his $100 will pay for many of semesters of tuition and books :).

Coleman has wanted to start a sticker collection for a long time, and we finally dug up this little notebook...

...and his categorizing skills made us laugh so hard. I'm not sure he is going to find too many BODY PART stickers, so if you happen to see any stickers of legs, arms, or torsos, could you please send them to my cute boy?

Valentine's Treats

We tried out a few yummy new recipes for Valentine's Day. I don't know if you need any new treat recipes, but I thought I'd share the links in case you do!

First are some irresistable Nutella sandwich cookies. They are made with oatmeal and some whole wheat flour... healthy, right?  I heart Nutella in many forms, and these did not disappoint. The recipe is from my amazingly talented cousin, Katie at Kate's Plate. She has a plethora of great recipes on her blog.

My sister in law Laura is always experimenting and making delicious desserts. I love that she shares the recipes (and the treats!).  She made and posted about these Chocolate Mousse Filled Cupcakes with Ganache... hers are much prettier than mine because she used pink non-pareils and cute Valentine's toppers, but ours were just as delicious! They are a chocolate lovers dream.

And finally, strawberries with cream... Yum. Laura provided this recipe and inspiration here. We had some cream left over and some other strawberries that made delicious crepes this morning.

**What Valentine's treats did you enjoy?

Happy Hearts Day to You!

Christ Like Love

Coleman's Valentine

Guess what Coleman gets to eat tonight :) ?

Happy Birthday Grandpa Gee Gee

We went and celebrated Ryan's Grandpa Harper's 82nd birthday (today!) a few days ago. We call him Grandpa Gee Gee because when Olivia was born his wife Lucille (who left us in 2005) wanted to be called Grandma Gee Gee (stands for "great grandma").  It was so fun to be with Denver and Jan--we are so grateful that we belong to their family. Happy birthday!

Love Notes

Olivia read about a fun idea earlier this month in the Friend magazine and has wanted to make some cute boxes to hang on our doors. She keeps asking me to get to it, and I finally did. They are the perfect size to fit little notes and treats.