There's always something new going on in the York household! This is a place for us to share that with you, our family and friends. Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

"I two" -- Sophie York

Dan and I cannot believe we have a two-year-old!  We celebrated her big day (a month ago!!) with a small party at a local park.  Hot dogs, hamburgers, swings and slides... What more could a 2 year old want?
 
Her chariot!  A wagon adorned with balloons
Such will power!



Grandma and Grandpa Swartz were here to help with the party and celebrate with us.  Sophie received lots of nice presents from all of her friends and family.  Since she loves Elmo so much, we decided that would be a perfect theme for the party.  Grandma Cindy and I made our very own Elmo cupcakes!  What an adventure that was!  They didn't turn out too bad...




Dan and I got Sophie a few things for her Birthday as well.  Her Dad knew exactly what to get her.  A plush Minnie and Mickey doll!  When she opened that gift, she hugged them so hard like she would never let them go!  It was really sweet.

 
We also got her a bubble machine!  What a great invention!  I don't have to sit there and get sticky bubbles all over my hands while Sophie is insisting on blowing the bubbles out of the wand herself.  Actually, when she blows the bubbles out of the wand, it's more like licking the wand and wondering why bubbles aren't floating around.  Such a silly girl....
Again, trying to eat the bubbles...

So precious
Grandma and Grandpa got her A LOT of great stuff!  Grandma was busy sewing cute outfits and accessories for our girl.  The one she can't get enough of is her "Princess" outfit.  She sees it, demands to have it on, and refuses to take it off unless you strip it off her wriggling body while she's throwing a tantrum on the floor.  It comes complete with a cape, a hat and sparkly shoes!
The best picture I could get of her with the Princess outfit on.  Playing in leaves!!

Digging up dinosaur bones at the Science Center.  Grandma and Grandpa also got us a membership there!

Grandpa's gift to Sophie.  A little fishin' hole!



At the park with Grandma and Grandpa

Playing a game with "Gamma"
 
After Grandma and Grandpa went home, Dan's family came to visit for Spring Break!!  I took a week off of work to have some fun in the sun with them.  We had a great time going to the beach, visiting theme parks, and swimming at the pool!  What a beautiful week it was.

The cutest cousins!


Aunt Donna!


Can't get enough of these two!!

Shoppin' with the girls
 


What a "cheesy" face!


Since these blogs are few and far between lately, I will catch you all up with loads of pictures!

A calm Saturday morning...


We have a playhouse in the backyard that was a hand-me-down from some friends of ours.  Sophie has a few pots and pans that she enjoys cooking with in her kitchen.  She loves to walk up to the side window and pretend to order something from an imaginary person inside the house.  If I ask her to make me something, she does this every time.  Her conversation at the window goes something like this, "Lee-l, (garbled words I can't understand).... cookies!!"  Lee-l is what she calls a lizard, it really is the cutest thing I've heard.  So my understanding is that she is ordering her cook, the lizard, to make some food for us.  She is so imaginative already!

Speaking of lizards, Sophie was witness to something that she won't let me forget.  One morning we were outside doing laundry when I spotted a lizard.  It was hanging out in the washer.  Being the nice mommy I am, I got a cup and scooped that lizard up saving it from a death by drowning in soap suds.  Naturally, I let Sophie take a look at it and she wanted to hold it.  So I poured it out onto her arm and she loved it so much she couldn't stop giggling.  This must have scared the lizard, despite being thrown onto the arm of a two year old, so it made a run for it and jumped off of Sophie's arm.  Then it made a mad dash up my pajama pants leg.  This is where it all went horribly wrong.  I started shaking my leg to get it to come out, then I started jumping around to get it to come out, and when there was still no lizard in sight, I decided the pants needed to come off!  Luckily we were in the backyard that is fenced in, so no neighbors were witness to this. 

When my pants were removed and there was no lizard climbing up my leg, I was shocked.  Our dog Lucy was the brave one to sniff out the lizard that must have been smashed to smithereens while I was jumping/dancing/stripping to get thing off of me.  There it was, flattened on my deck, lifeless.  I felt awful and scooped Sophie up to take her in the house while I got rid of the evidence.  I had a feeling that she had seen what happened, and that was later confirmed when her dad came home.  One of the first things she said to him was, "Mommy kick Lee-l."  Dan looked at me confused.  I had to explain what had happened, and realized that not only was my two-year-old telling on me, she was never going to let me live this down.  "Mommy kick Lee-l" is a phrase she says way too often.  I'm hoping she doesn't remember what I did, only that when she says this, she enjoys our reaction because Dan and I cannot help but giggle every time.
She loves cooking in her kitchen!  We regularly make soup and cookies.

Sophie and Daddy at Universal

A "Selphie"!!



Mom's and Dad's need a night out too!!
It has finally happened!  We transitioned to a toddler bed.  Sophie had finally figured out how to climb out of her crib and seemed to have so much fun doing it that she wouldn't stay in it if she was awake.  One morning she came into our room at 7am and said, "Mommy, I awake."  I was so startled to have her in the room, it was the last thing I was expecting to hear at that hour!  After she did this a few more times, one of them being the next morning at 630 am, we decided the crib rail had to go.  So, off came the front rail, and on went a smaller guard.  The picture below is the first night in the new bed, and she did really well!  We closed her door that night, and when she got up she played with her toys for a little while before yelling for us.  No more 630 am wake up calls!!  The cutest thing is hearing her call for us, only to go to her room and see her peaking out from under the door with her little fingers waving at us.
 
More fun in the leaves
Silly hair!
 
 
Check back soon with an update full of pictures from her 2 year photo shoot!
 
Lots of love,
The Yorks

Monday, February 3, 2014

A Wonderful Winter


After all of our fun fall activities, December rolled around and kicked off winter fun with my birthday!  In the spirit of keeping things low-key, a friend of mine from work went with me to a painting class.  In these painting classes, you can bring your own beverage (a bottle of wine), and an instructor teaches you how to paint one painting in 2-3 hours.  The step-by-step instructions are broken down so easily, anyone can create a masterpiece!  Not to mention a little adult beverage to get the creative juices flowing...


Dan and I attended a holiday party hosted by his department at Universal Studios.  We got dressed up and had a great night with friends!
Our beautiful tree

Christmas Party time!

Sophie attended her best friend Sloane's 2nd Birthday party.  They held it at a park with a playground and grilled up some hot dogs and hamburgers.  It was Cowgirl themed!  Sophie got dressed up in a cowboy hat and a cute bandanna.  She ate two hot dogs, lots of chips and one giant sugar cookie.  She worked on that sugar cookie for about 30 minutes.  We kept asking her if she was done, to which she promptly answered, "No!".  When we put her in the car seat to leave, she was still working on that cookie.  After a few minutes, she fell asleep with the cookie still clenched in her hand.  "Sweet" dreams!

"Howdy y'all!"

We went to see the Macy's Holiday parade again this year.  We took Sloane and her parents with for the fun.  The girls were mesmerized!  Sophie kept waving and saying "hi" to every balloon and character that walked past us.  The evening ended with a wonderful show by Mannheim Steamroller!
Sharing snacks before the parade


Look closely, two stunned little girls!


Mannheim Steamroller
Grandma and Grandpa Swartz came to visit this year again for Christmas.  They spent nine days with us and it only felt like two!  We had lots of fun baking, cooking, playing with all of Sophie's new toys, and taking many trips to the park.

Sophie had gone with me to the airport to pick up her Grandma and Grandpa.  When we pulled into our driveway, after getting her out of her car seat, she yelled "Papa!" and dashed over to her Grandpa with her arms up in the air.  Someone must have made an impression on her the last time he was here.  Over the course of their visit, Sophie regularly called out for "Papa" or needed to sit on his lap. Such sweetness!

One evening, as Dan was getting Sophie ready for her bath, he removed her diaper and to his surprise, found it was "dirty"!  Sophie took off running (per her usual streaking stint before bath time). We all heard Dan shout, "Someone grab her please!"  I didn't realize the gravity of the situation, I just thought we had a naked baby running around.  Grandpa was the first to get his hands on her, only to find that some of her dirty diaper was still stuck to her bum!  When I walked around the corner to see what was going on, I find the following situation.  I grabbed my phone and snapped a great moment!
HA! HA!  Two guys and a little lady...

Her first present this year under the Christmas tree from Santa. A doll house!

This girl loves Elmo!  An Elmo train track from Grandma and Grandpa

Tickle time with Grandma

A wagon from Grandma and Grandpa Swartz

Elmo doll: check!  Elmo PJ's: check!  Elmo blanket and pillow: check, check!

Walking with Daddy

On the swings with Mommy
In January, we went to see the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus while they were in town.  Sophie's friend Sloane was going for her birthday, so we decided to take Sophie as well.  She did a great job sitting through most of the show.  I guess I've never been to the circus, or it's been a long time, but it's so long there is an intermission!  We saw tigers, elephants, dogs, tightrope walkers, trapeze artists, motorcyclists, and much more!  Sophie made the noise of every animal she saw.  Needless to say, after the 11 o'clock performance, it was way past Sophie's bedtime, and she passed out in the parking lot before we even made it on the road.

Silly Mommy


The death-defying sphere of motorcycles!

Fun with her buddy Sloane
We have finally had a few cold days here in central Florida!  This Midwestern girl was so excited!  But also a little unprepared...  Grandma Cindy to the rescue!  She sent Sophie a hat and pair of mittens to keep warm during our time at the park.  Sophie loved them so much, she frequently wears it around the house.

The City Beautiful!  A day at Lake Eola feeding ducks and swans
A sassy pose!  When I want her to smile for a picture, I tell her to say "Daddy!"  This is what I got, along with a sassy hip!



We are finally slowing down a tiny bit before we rev back up for another party!  We will soon have a two-year-old in the house, and we plan to celebrate this with a little get-together.  Check back for all the party details!

Love,
Dan, Jess, Sophie and Lucy