The unthinkable

I've done the unthinkable in the Sophie en Sophie household. I deployed sprinkles on an everyday lunch.

The kid needed to eat some prunes, if you know what I mean. Today has turned out to be one of those days where I'm not in the mood for talking about eating prunes, or begging her to eat prunes, or chasing her around the house with multicolored toothpicks stacked with prunes... Sophie likes to play in the spice cabinet and found some sprinkles that are who-knows-how-old. She said "peeeeees mommy?" And we've been working on manners. So, I had to.

I generously applied sprinkles to her plate of prunes and some also made it on to the peanut butter sandwich. She gobbled them up. Was it worth it? We'll know in about 2.5 hours (hopefully she sleeps that long, mommy needs a nap, too)!

That's what she said

Adios summer, it's been real. Lake Michigan

There is no shortage of articles and studies in the world on parenting and how one should talk to their children. I've read that if you talk in baby-talk, the child will have a harder time getting the real word right themselves. While a higher-pitched "motherese" is more interesting and garners more attention from the babes, using proper grammar is still important.

Friends, I've sort of fallen off the wagon. Now, I'm not saying I chase Sophie around asking if she wants some "wa-wa," but there are some words that she says in baby-speak that I can't pass up repeating. Allow me to divulge some of our favorite Sophie-speak:

Hummy = hungry

Muk = milk

Manno = Maddy

Sacks = snacks

I yuh you = I love you

Fooney = smoothie

Bucklebuck = buckle up

Mo = more

Mickey hou-hou-house = Mickey Mouse

Shawt, Kissit, Maset, E-it, KK = Shawn, Kristin, Mason, Ian, Kaelin

Wha Daddy doit? = What is Daddy doing?

Poopies awwww got = Mommy, thank you for changing my dirty diaper (Poopies all gone).

And folks, that's what she said.

Helluva start

Hi friends! Our little family has just had a helluva start to the week and I really wanted to share.

MBD got back into his early morning workout and I made egg white omelets with orange peppers, spinach and provolone, coffee and smoothies ("fooney" as Sophie calls them).

1 cup tofu

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds

1 cup fresh cantaloupe

1 cup frozen organic berries

1/2 cup rice milk

Sophie got to push the buttons on the blender which I think blew her little mind. We then had a playdate with Sophie's cousin Hannah as half the town was flooded from a ridiculous amount of rain last night - and who wants to get out and about in that?

Hannah introduced little miss to My Little Pony cartoons, they colored together like best friends, and played a little hide and seek while Kristin and I sat in the baby's room brainstorming. Sophie ate her whole lunch of apples and corn tortilla quesadilla (with organic chicken and cheddar cheese), and then hit the hay for a lovely little nap. So did mommy.

A quick run to the grocery, a long walk with the dogs and some playtime at the park rounded out the afternoon. Daddy came home early and we had our most successful family dinner attempt yet! I made pork chops with apples and Sophie ate nearly every bite on her little divided plate! (I added carrots and doubled the onion and apple in the recipe.) The couscous on the side was probably her favorite thing.

Dinner was cooked and eaten, dishes done, cookies and milk shared, playtime done, books read, teeth brushed, pj's on, and tomorrow's lunch packed all before 7pm. Phew! Hope you are off to a great week!

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Fall is here, or at least more palatable temperatures, the scent of bonfires and the turning of some leaves (in our backyard the leaves are simply falling. And falling. And 13 bags have been raked and discarded already). This momma has been feeling a bit renewed with the changes in the weather! The last two weeks have been very productive - after I gave myself a little kick in the pants and a pep talk. I tackled (with the help of hubs) painting a dresser for the baby room, a few little crafty projects (oh, Pinterest, why so addicting?), and get this - we had two, count 'em, two, family dinners: this and this.

I've been wanting to write more, but haven't made the time. I've been wanting to revamp the look of the blog and rename it, but am having a hard time narrowing it down... Here are a few thoughts:

Addicted to Pinterest

And Baby Makes Four

My Poor Dogs Never Get Love

Sophie is Hilarious

Crafty Crafty Me

I Have The Best Family

I Love To Cook

All The Reasons MBD Rocks (My Baby Daddy)

I Love Preschool

At least that sums up life in the Barber household as of late.

And the following photos should sum up our fun-filled weekend. Sophie's school hosted their annual Fall Festival and fun was had by all.

The two loves of my life.

OK, cut me and the slow-moving pony handler out of the picture,

one would think Sophie was trotting at break-neck speed.

She kills me. And she LOVED riding Twix, the pony.

Bryan literally had to go in and pull Sophie out

of the bounce house. Doesn't she look graceful?

To minimize the trauma of being pulled from the bounce house,

she got to ride her second horse.

Could she be any happier about her condolence prize?

Sophie LOVES to practice her animal sounds.

Here she is on a bail of hay giving the Lion "Roar!"

complete with hand gestures.

Other animals she's mastered: elephant, kitty cat, doggy, froggy, monkey,

horsey and cow.

Warning: If this can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.

Preschool art has eaten my refrigerator.

Did I mention I was getting crafty?

Here is a sneak peak at the nursery color scheme,

and my latest project that is almost done.

Hope you and your family had a awesome Fall weekend. xo

Enough excuses...

It's only Tuesday? Is it too soon to be looking forward to the weekend?

Other questions plaguing me this week:

Why won't a grapefruit peel the same way an orange does?

Why, when Mickey Mouse turns his head, do his ears stay in the same place?

Who invented Pinterest and where can I send a thank you card?

Can someone just go ahead and create a pregnancy-safe Red Bull?

I have SO much to do and not near enough energy to do it. I keep thinking that once I get into a routine that balances raising a child, feeding a family, taking care of our Boxers, making a house a home, decorating a nursery, growing a human etc. that I'll be able to resurface as "Amy." But... then I remember that 10 weeks from today I'll have a newborn and then my world will be a little upside down again for a while. So, my real question is: Did "Amy" go into hiding when we started the moving process and she'll reappear once baby number two is sleeping through the night? Hardly seems fair to me or the people around me...

This is the point in my writing where one might expect a pledge to blog more, or put less pressure on myself as a wife/mom, but I won't make promises I can't keep. We have some projects to work on for the nursery, so you can definitely look forward to an update on those soon! I've been cooking more and (finally) have a working dishwasher, so a few new recipes have been realized. And I just might have the sweetest and smartest toddler on the planet; I really should write more about.

Anyhoo, just wanted to tell you that we're still alive, just busy getting to know our new surroundings!

Weekday school!

Ode to proud parents and Facebook posting: I am one of you. I appreciate your photos. I appreciate reading your proud moments and your victories, and I am so glad you appreciate reading mine (or, you wouldn't be here reading, right?).

I am loving everyone's first day of school pictures! Not to be left out, I got a quick blackberry picture of Sophie before we left for her first day of weekday school. She really has been this excited both mornings so far. I hardly slept the night before her first day (due in part to an enormous dinner from Jeff Ruby's that did not want to digest) so I was just as exhausted as she was later in the day. At the end of day two today I think she's already working on a little cold. Guess I really need to get on the horn and find this baby girl a pediatrician!

What she's eating: I have expressed my love for quesadillas on several occasions. Sophie has a new favorite - she gobbled up organic chicken, cheese, blackbeans and the smallest bit of bacon in a quesadilla last week! I've also experimented with empanadas as of late (using different doughs and different fillings - mostly southwest style with corn, salsa, beans, and organic beef or chicken) and Sophie hasn't turned her nose up at any of them!

Mommy's sweet tooth has taken over the kitchen on an occasion or two lately. Homemade doughnuts and the latest cover of Southern Living: Apple Cream Cheese Bundt Cake (believe me, I do not bake). This cake is freakin amazing. Perhaps I'm a little biased because the Gala apples we used were actually hand picked on a farm outing by this fine specimen:

I'm really quite obsessed with this picture right now: mouth full of apple, sweaty little curls, big 'ol belly, marching off to some adventure... pretty much sums up my little peanut at 20 months.

Back in the saddle

I may not be able to find the time to do many fun things, like, write in this lovely blog as of late, but we've been busy busy. Lamenting over my lack of healthy cooking for Sophie I got back in the saddle.

Yesterday morning's breakfast began with roasted butternut squash and flax seed pancakes.

Breakfast then ended with "Mo cakes?" We just might be making them again today whenever Miss Sleepy Head decides to rouse from her slumber.