Beach Babies

We decided to take the girls to Isle of Palms today. They had a ball! Sophia was covered in sand and Ella was so busy making "boy friends" that she couldn't get in any trouble. Despite two applications of SPF 50 sunscreen, my babies got a little sunkissed! Mom and I enjoyed an illegal beverage under the umbrella and watched Sophia eat sand covered crackers..yuck. Sophia fell asleep on the way home (about 2 minutes after getting in the car) and Ella didn't fight her pm nap like she normally did. All in all, a great weekend!

Our Bridge Walk

The girls and I decided to get out of Big Daddy's way this weekend and visit the fam in Chas. We had beautiful weather and had a great time. On Saturday,my mom and I took the girls to the new Ravenel Bridge (previously known as the Cooper River Bridge) and walked with every other health nut in Charleston. You walk 1 painful mile up (about 1/2 way across)and 1 mi down. We made it, surprisingly. We then ventured to Juanita Greenburg's and had an iced cold beverage (draft Dos Equis) before headed back to Mt. Pleasant. (The picture of me has some hair or bug blocking part of it. My luck...)

Loving Daddy!

Here are some recent pics of Daddy lovin on his girls!

Big Daddy is 34!

Tripp's birthday was Saturday, so his sweet Mamma came to Columbia to babysit so that we could enjoy a peaceful Carolina game. Hard to say we enjoyed it, but it was nice to get away for awhile. These are some pics of the girls and YaYa in their Carolina gear! Sophia can sport pigtails now. Her hair is out of control right now, so I keep it in pigs.

Singin Bee

Here is Ella singing her own version ( over and over again) of "Oh, Susanna..." Note how she changes her accent in the last line. Hilarious!

Ruby and The Purse

This weekend the girls visited their great-grandparents in Augusta. My Aunt Annie and her husband, Billy, drove down from Tennessee and had presents for the girls. Ella got a new Barbie with beautiful handknitted outfits (hat, dress, purse!) and Sophia got a precious "purse" with giant fake lipstick and keys, etc. She will NOT put it down and its gotten to the point that Ella tries to hide it behind the TV. She has also taken a liking to Ella's naked doll, Ruby, which you can imagine causes a huge problem. So here she is prancing around her favorite things!

Wrestling Video

My Little Wrestlers

Grandma and Pa came for a visit today. I have to work and Tripp has a meeting tomorrow. They brought some gifts for Ella and Sophia:Hannah Montana hats(from the dollar store).Ella's has some rhinestones on it because she is a DIVA. She thought she would sport the hat like a thug. Watch the wresting match between my sweet 3 yr and 15 mth old! It is hilarious. Sophia can take her.....

The Daytime Party Group

Supernanny Tara must have had some help with the camera today because I found this new pic of Ella, Sophia and Michael with her. The girls love Michael and can't keep their hands off of him. I am sure he is excited to see his Daddy at the end of the day, but he is probably happier to get away from the girls!

New Hair-do

Well,we finally broke down and took Ella for a new haircut. The ends were very frazzled and she kept putting it in her mouth and chewing on it. We ended up needing to cut more than we thought we would because the front was shorter and it was in the worst shape. She looks precious!

The World According to Ella #4

Today on the way to the zoo Ella was struggling to stay awake. She had bad dreams about Swyper last night, so she didn't sleep very well. As we were driving, she asked me to "turn off the light" b/c it was in her eyes. I looked on the ceiling and didn't see any light on. After telling her there weren't any on, she said, "No, the big light outside, you know...the sunlight." I laughed and said the only thing I knew to say, which was something along the lines of "only God can turn that light off, Ella". She sat there for a minute and then said, "Well, Momma- can you call God and ask him to turn it off 'cause I'm trying to take a nap back here!"

Saturday Fun

Today we went to the Zoo with Ms. Linda and Mr. Jeff. We all had a great time. We were brave enough to venture to Chick-fil-A on a Saturday at noon! It was so hot Big Daddy put water in the baby pool and the girls splashed around. Here are a few pics!

Smarter Everyday!

Sophia has really started understanding the purpose of certain toys. She actually builds with blocks and flips through books. She said "peez" for the first time (at the right time) ever! I would venture to say one of her first words was "thank you", but please just wasn't happening. She still says NO to most everything. She enjoys her little flash cards just like Ella did. They are so different, yet they have some of the same quirks. Here are some videos of Sophia carefully planning her block building, learning some new words and blowing Ella's nose. I tried to make the video vertical, but it kept fouling up.

Picnic at the Park

Ella and Sophia got to have a picnic at the park after school. I think Sophia is enjoying her "Tara Time" while Ella is in school. When I asked Ella how her day at school was, she said everybody threw sand in her hair.Who knows. The teacher didn't tell Tara she beat the tar out of anyone, so I guess she took it well. She did have sand in her hair when I bathed her. Big Daddy said he's gonna tear someone's.......

3K Here We Come!

Well, it finally came! Ella went to her first day of preschool today! Surprisingly, we didn't get any notes or calls about her singing "I Kissed A Girl and I liked it...." or about the fact that I forgot to put her bloomers under her dress. Big Daddy, Supernanny,Sophia and I all accompanied her to the school, then Tripp and I dropped her off in the room. I thought there was supposed to be a "drop-off", but when we rolled in the parking lot everyone was walking their child in. It sounded like a Doctor's office in there, unlike the orientation night! Crying everywhere. Check out the picture of one of her classmates who is still crying. Ella's sweet teacher, Ms. Cyndi, was very excited about the brownies we brought. Ella kissed us and walked away. We also found out on the ride there that somehow Ella knows all the words to "Swing Low Sweet Chariot"! Yes, my friends, 3 years old...going on 13.

The World According to Ella #3

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day Weekend! I worked and Big Daddy kept the girls. I was on call last night, but had today off. We had a lazy day, except for Daddy, who cooked a gourmet chicken pot pie from scratch. Ella and I made brownies for her class and she watched "Cinderella".
#3 On the way back from Ashleigh and Will's house Friday, Tripp and Ella were working on the learning the Lord's Prayer. (I think he is trying to prepare her for any bible geniuses that may challenge her at her preschool...) She has an excellent memory(unfortunately)and was learning most of the words. Tripp got down to the part about ..."on earth as it is in Heaven" and she started to recite it. Suddenly, she stopped and said "heeyyy...I don't live in Heaven- I live in South Carolina, Daddy!!!"